Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

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Wednesday, July 31. 2013

Wednesday evening mini-link dump

I am taking a brief, several day break from my morning link duty (not to worry - we have hired a sub at great expense) to give me a little time for various things, family and personal refreshment.


Therefore, I will dump what links I have right now to clean up my screen.


4 reasons capitalism is morally bankrupt, dying


American Federation of Teachers: It's unconstitutional to demand that professional teachers dress slightly better than unskilled day labor you might pick up milling around in front of Home Depot in the morning


I saw people walking into an Italian wake the other day in shorts and t-shirts.


E-mails Suggest Collusion Between FEC, IRS to Target Conservative Groups


Duh.


Zuckerberg: My net worth only went up $3.8 billion today, so America needs cheaper programmers


I have the same problem hiring Maggie's contributors


Secret Sex Tape: Monica Lewinsky Caught On Explicit Recording Telling Bill Clinton, ‘I Could Take My Clothes Off…’


She's a fun chick ... or was. Everybody does stupid things when they are young. The wise youth stay off the front pages. Perhaps not off the police blotter, but off the front pages.


XKeyscore: NSA tool collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'


If they notice that I check Powerline regularly, am I in trouble?



Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 17:52 | Comments (15) | Trackbacks (0)

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Capitalism isn't dead or morally bankrupt. It is alive and well and thriving. It is making trillions for the Chinese and slightly less for Russia. It of course still makes trillions here in the U.S. as well as Europe and the 3rd world. What is morally bankrupt is government. In economics the government acts as a parasite on capitalism. Some parasites suck blood from their victims but don't kill them. Other parasites suck the blood and destroy the organs and brain and kill off the host. Those governments are generally run by Democrats/socialist (look at Detroit). They are usually hotbeds of corruption and cronyism. The blood is sucked the host dies and the parasites flee to kill again. What is needed is a strong dose of medicine; Tar and feathers would be a good start but a guillotine would be so much better. Tar and feathers for anyone who votes to extend the debt or give the illegals amnesty. Sadly, it won't happen. We must find some way to survive a 21st century great depression and hope an honest and brilliant politician can be found to save us. Just tricking! There is no such thing as a brilliant and honest politicians. Nope! We are all going down the tubes together and some will be flushed out on the other side still alive to begin again. I'm just not sure America can survive the loony left and the uncaring right.
#1 GoneWithTheWind on 2013-07-31 20:09 (Reply)
I pretty much agree. I would broaden my castigation of who or what is immoral to society as a whole. Morality is a brake on behavior and there seems to be precious little braking going on and to your point, that is aided and even encouraged by government.

It's not capitalism to bail out failures (of all kinds). Those banks and Wall Street that Farrell likes to complain about are doing their job - make money. The fact that they are saved from the results of their actions is what is killing things (again to your point about government). They aren't in business to impose or even support morality.

On the other end of the spectrum, it's not capitalism to subsidize personal failure and immorality. But things sure have changed! I remember when subsidy was a dirty word and most people didn't want a subsidy for themselves nor did they want to subsidize anybody else. Now you hear "free market" Republicans (Republicrats?) discuss them openly as valid public policy.

What we are doing - in all aspects of society - is subsidizing failure and rewarding cravenness and taxing prosperity and thrift, and discouraging morality.

Since morality is a brake on behavior, that will require that there be more laws to try to foster an moral environment but in the end, they just force the good to be slaves of the bad.
#1.1 mudbug on 2013-07-31 21:10 (Reply)
If what you call the system we've got now capitalism, than I say good riddance. Let's get back to free market economic principles.
#1.1.1 phil g on 2013-08-01 07:12 (Reply)
That was my point. Ferrell said he was criticizing capitalism but he was criticizing the current system which is certainly not capitalism.
#1.1.1.1 mudbug on 2013-08-01 08:55 (Reply)
What has been lost is our communal belief in the 10 commandments. We were all so imbued with this faith--Christian and Jews tried to behave in this way "do onto others", etc. But we have lost that--that is the crumbling under wall street. Who is to blame?--all men/women working on WS. When did it start?--while Reagan was in office and the "Greed is good" theme came into dominance. It's not that he was a bad president; it is that he tore off the chains of government at a time when the obligations of faith were being destroyed. This left only a vacuum in which the greedy and the corrupt took control of the power. It's first victim? You will be surprised when I tell you it was our institution of journalism! The first to weaken, because they stood at the intersection--their very profession was founded on that sense of ethics that was rapidly disappearing. The canary in the coal mine was too easy to feed.
#2 another one on 2013-07-31 21:05 (Reply)
What a delightful post and comments. Lots of food for thought here - and insightful ideas.. to which I would like to add;

The concept of "contract" is essential to Capitalism, that a person will follow through on promises. If there can't be trust, capitalism will fail. So, for example, when the Chrysler bondholders are stiffed, trust in capitalism necessarily declines and we are the poorer for it.

Practically speaking, rich people don't have to be moral, they have enough money to shield themselves from the consequences of their actions. Poor people don't have to be moral - they have nothing to lose. Only the Middle Class needs morality in our public dealings - we stand to lose a lot when we are seen as untrustworthy or are the dupes of someone without morals.
Susan Lee
#2.1 Susan Lee on 2013-08-01 06:33 (Reply)
Aint it the troof. That is one of my favorite monologues from Alfred P Doolittle http://www.quillsandcallbacks.com/doolittle-2-dramatic-monologue-for-men-50s-60s-from-pygmalion-by-george-bernard-shaw/ I'm gettn married in the morning...
#2.1.1 Karen on 2013-08-01 07:38 (Reply)
Hey, Susan Lee I just realized that you are not qualified to be an English Major based on a post here on MF. Since you had the same deep insight as Shaw you are too smart and alive. Did anyone else find that part of the essay odd?
#2.1.1.1 Karen on 2013-08-01 07:45 (Reply)
Are you in trouble? YBYA. We luv ya anyways.
#3 Sam L. on 2013-07-31 21:35 (Reply)
So how does someone with a third grader's definition of capitalism get a column at MarketWatch?

Capitalism isn't dead. Government-guided enterprise is has been very damaging. Cronyism disguised as capitalism has been very bad. But capitalism, it's a-ok, except for the part where government won't let it function to remove the cancerous growth of cronies and government-guidance. Sure, the legal system can and should ride herd on enterprise. But keeping a few rogue cattle from leading the whole herd astray is a good effort. Of course, when the cowboys start letting their favorite cows run wild, then things go bad. But even if the cowboys are very good at keeping the herd on the trail, handling strays, etc. That still doesn't mean the cowboys would make good cows or even understand how cows work.
#4 JKB on 2013-07-31 21:59 (Reply)
"we have hired a sub at great expense"

I've heard he's very expensive, but very good. And what price, exceptional quality? Sure, BD could have just hired anybody off the street, but when you're dealing with a high-paying clientele like the Maggie's bunch, you've got to go top shelf or anarchy is the guaranteed result.

On the other hand, I worry about the delicate sensibilities of the Maggie's readership. I hear this guy uses swear words and posts pics of naked women and likes guns and dogs and all that other 'real man' stuff, so it's only right to be a little fearful about what ignominies and outrages we're going to see over the next five days.

We'll just cross our fingers and hope for the best!
    #5 Dr. Mercury on 2013-07-31 22:01 (Reply)
    We'll miss you, hope everything is ok and you get some peace and quiet. Of course I remain eternally grateful for your wonderful blog and look forward to hearing from the expensive new sub!
    #6 dianainsa on 2013-07-31 22:15 (Reply)
    --good help doesn't cost, it pays. Or else it snot good help, it's just phlegm-flam.
    #7 buddy larsen on 2013-08-01 02:42 (Reply)
    The wise high-status male doesn't have affairs with someone who has nothing to lose by telling everyone. You didn't see Marilyn Monroe running to the papers describing how she slept with JFK.
    #8 RonF on 2013-08-01 09:55 (Reply)
    --caustic, highly caustic --and perfect.
    #8.1 buddy larsen on 2013-08-01 10:08 (Reply)

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