Look At It This Way (#LAITW)

Yeonmi Park tells her story, and it’s practically unbelievable. Wise people will learn from her experiences.

https://www.prageru.com/video/yeonmi-park-my-terrifying-escape-from-north-korea

Let’s try a little thought experiment. Einstein used thought experiments to uncover many of the discoveries he made.

It’s about face-coverings for COVID. Picture yourself wearing a typical face mask. You know it doesn’t make a really good seal between you and the open air because if it did you’d asphyxiate. So how good a seal does it make?

For starters, just observe a lot of face masks in action. Are the nose AND mouth covered? Are there gaps between the circumference of the mask and the wearer’s skin? Can you picture air getting out of any of those gaps?

OK, here’s the thought experiment. Imagine yourself in a large ballroom all by yourself in a corner, sitting on a chair, wearing a mask, and smoking a cigarette. I know, it would be terribly hard to smoke a cigarette without disrupting the mask-wearing, but that’s where your brain comes in – imagine that you could smoke a cigarette without constantly taking the mask on and off.

Do you think you would see smoke coming out either through or around the mask? Remember your observations about how masks are generally worn.

Now, imagine there’s another person in this large ballroom in the opposite corner from you. How long do you think it would be before that person smelled smoke? In other words, how long would it take for your smoke particles to get up that other person’s nostrils from many yards away?

Now realize that a coronavirus is smaller than a smoke particle on average.

Does thinking that through change your opinion on the efficacy of masks?

Next time we’ll ask… For whatever help masks provide, what is the price? How, if in any way, does wearing a mask do harm?

As in “F You!”, courtesy of the State of California. I realize most people don’t believe that California is headed in the wrong direction, disastrously, but it’s true nonetheless. Just do the math. Here’s a good article on the devastating effects the recent minimum wage hike will have on California farming communities (on the heels of other stupid environmental and economic legislated pressures). And the overtime pay increase. Ready for the Neo Dustbowl?

Excerpts:

“You would think that such a valuable economic resource [farming] would be cherished, promoted and helped at every turn. After all, we are talking about producers of food – the most basic societal necessity along with water. Incredibly, that is not the case in California. Instead, the California farmer bears the brunt of many a legislative or regulatory bulldozer.”

“Keep in mind that the law [minimum wage hike] applies uniformly to the entire state. That is the very definition of irrational economics. Here is why: The law applies equally to San Francisco and Mendota.”

“The more something costs, the less of it is acquired. That basic law of economics applies to cars and jobs alike, and rakes its havoc on jobs and the minimally experienced after political laws are passed.”

“Why would the government union do that? That’s easy – according to the state’s Legislative Analyst Office, the minimum wage boost will result in $3.6 billion a year in increased wages for the public employee union workers – none of whom will lose their jobs because they are immune from market forces.” The government leviathan grows…

The article.

No matter who wins this election (or any other), it’s still up to you to make your life. Each candidate may make it harder or easier than another, but it’s still up to you.

That may be the best lesson in life.

The RATE is the percentage at which each of us is taxed. For example, 15% of your income is what you might pay in taxes (depending on your bracket). The REVENUE is the total amount of dollars collected by the government from all the tax payers.

It’s a cold, hard fact. When you raise government tax RATES, tax REVENUE goes down. Conversely, when you lower government tax RATES, the REVENUE goes up. Higher tax RATES impede the economy. Lower tax RATES energize the economy. And when the economy is doing well, more people are paying more taxes and it adds up to more REVENUE to the government.

So, if you want the government to be able to hand out more free stuff, you should go with the candidates who propose lowering tax RATES.

Did you know that Bernie is proposing to raise EVERYONE’s tax rate? We will definitely feel the bern.

A Facebook post this morning said something <sarcasm>oh so meaningful</sarcasm> about how one should not have to pay for a mistake the rest of their life. A mistake just means we’re human.

So, assuming there is a cost associated with a mistake, who does get to pay for it until zeroed out? Parents? Siblings? Friends? Schools and/or Churches? Goverment? Society?

Sorry, Jack, you do get to pay for your mistakes. Whether accidental or intentional. Whether big or small. That’s why we (should) spend so much time raising children to learn what’s right and wrong and to appreciate the physics of careening downhill on two sticks of wood or carbon fiber. Consequences! The nasty bottom line is – even if you’re not to blame exactly, you get to pay for your own mistakes. Hopefully, folks learn their lessons early on in life when the costs are relatively cheap.

Well, maybe you can get someone else to pay. Ask a liberal. It won’t be me if I can help it.

You’re being ripped off. That is, your future is being ripped off. Just 8 years ago you only owed about $10 trillion. That will double to about $20 trillion by the time Obama leaves office. Those of you just coming into your 20s and 30s – how long do you think that can go on before some consequences hit you between the eyes. Hell, I’m 60-something and I still may see the consequences!

That would be bad enough, but you’re also quickly losing freedoms such that it will be difficult to be productive enough to fund government as it stands let alone make a dent in that debt.

Good luck.

P.S. I tried my damndest to support Constitutionally limited government. There weren’t many folks out there to vote for in that regard. And I got snookered a couple times (so sue me, it’ll happen to you, too, if you don’t pay attention).

Much like with a drug addiction, our state and our nation will have to “bottom out” before people will wake up. And as you know, not everyone learns their lesson from “bottoming out.” Some never learn. In either case, it’s just a matter of how bad bottom is. I fear we have way too many people who think the socialistic government can continue without consequence.

Come to think it, has any country come back to freedom and individual accountability from a socialistic malaise?

So what if the economy gets messed up. So what if we lose a few freedoms, liberties, or rights. So what if some suffer a bit. No big deal. It’s for the better good, blah, blah, blah.

Well, the game just notched up.

The first time Iran uses nukes, the deaths are on those of you who have supported this administration whether by action or inaction. And some of you are my friends. Sad day.

“A businessman cannot force you to buy his product; if he makes a mistake, he suffers the consequences; if he fails, he takes the loss. A bureaucrat forces you to obey his decisions, whether you agree with him or not—and the more advanced the stage of a country’s statism, the wider and more discretionary the powers wielded by a bureaucrat. If he makes a mistake, you suffer the consequences; if he fails, he passes the loss on to you, in the form of heavier taxes.”

Ayn Rand