I, Smartphone. I, Pencil.

A beautiful, modern rendition of I Pencil. It captures the same spirit as the 1958 original poem by Leonard Read . I for one still prefer the original however, given that pencils are supposedly simple devices. Below, for convenience sake, is the original.

***

I, Pencil

By Leonard E. Read

I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write.

Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that’s all I do.

You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery —more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a mere incident and without background. This supercilious attitude relegates me to the level of the commonplace. This is a species of the grievous error in which mankind cannot too long persist without peril. For, the wise G. K. Chesterton observed, “We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.”

I, Pencil, simple though I appear to be, merit your wonder and awe, a claim I shall attempt to prove. In fact, if you can understand me—no, that’s too much to ask of anyone—if you can become aware of the miraculousness which I symbolize, you can help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing. I have a profound lesson to teach. And I can teach this lesson better than can an automobile or an airplane or a mechanical dishwasher because—well, because I am seemingly so simple.

Simple? Yet, not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me. This sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Especially when it is realized that there are about one and one-half billion of my kind produced in the U.S.A. each year.

Pick me up and look me over. What do you see? Not much meets the eye—there’s some wood, lacquer, the printed labeling, graphite lead, a bit of metal, and an eraser.

Innumerable Antecedents

Just as you cannot trace your family tree back very far, so is it impossible for me to name and explain all my antecedents. But I would like to suggest enough of them to impress upon you the richness and complexity of my background.

My family tree begins with what in fact is a tree, a cedar of straight grain that grows in Northern California and Oregon. Now contemplate all the saws and trucks and rope and the countless other gear used in harvesting and carting the cedar logs to the railroad siding. Think of all the persons and the numberless skills that went into their fabrication: the mining of ore, the making of steel and its refinement into saws, axes, motors; the growing of hemp and bringing it through all the stages to heavy and strong rope; the logging camps with their beds and mess halls, the cookery and the raising of all the foods. Why, untold thousands of persons had a hand in every cup of coffee the loggers drink!

The logs are shipped to a mill in San Leandro, California. Can you imagine the individuals who make flat cars and rails and railroad engines and who construct and install the communication systems incidental thereto? These legions are among my antecedents.

Consider the millwork in San Leandro. The cedar logs are cut into small, pencil-length slats less than one-fourth of an inch in thickness. These are kiln dried and then tinted for the same reason women put rouge on their faces. People prefer that I look pretty, not a pallid white. The slats are waxed and kiln dried again. How many skills went into the making of the tint and the kilns, into supplying the heat, the light and power, the belts, motors, and all the other things a mill requires? Sweepers in the mill among my ancestors? Yes, and included are the men who poured the concrete for the dam of a Pacific Gas & Electric Company hydroplant which supplies the mill’s power!

Don’t overlook the ancestors present and distant who have a hand in transporting sixty carloads of slats across the nation.

Once in the pencil factory—$4,000,000 in machinery and building, all capital accumulated by thrifty and saving parents of mine—each slat is given eight grooves by a complex machine, after which another machine lays leads in every other slat, applies glue, and places another slat atop—a lead sandwich, so to speak. Seven brothers and I are mechanically carved from this “wood-clinched” sandwich.

My “lead” itself—it contains no lead at all—is complex. The graphite is mined in Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. Consider these miners and those who make their many tools and the makers of the paper sacks in which the graphite is shipped and those who make the string that ties the sacks and those who put them aboard ships and those who make the ships. Even the lighthouse keepers along the way assisted in my birth—and the harbor pilots.

The graphite is mixed with clay from Mississippi in which ammonium hydroxide is used in the refining process. Then wetting agents are added such as sulfonated tallow—animal fats chemically reacted with sulfuric acid. After passing through numerous machines, the mixture finally appears as endless extrusions—as from a sausage grinder—cut to size, dried, and baked for several hours at 1,850 degrees Fahrenheit. To increase their strength and smoothness the leads are then treated with a hot mixture which includes candelilla wax from Mexico, paraffin wax, and hydrogenated natural fats.

My cedar receives six coats of lacquer. Do you know all the ingredients of lacquer? Who would think that the growers of castor beans and the refiners of castor oil are a part of it? They are. Why, even the processes by which the lacquer is made a beautiful yellow involve the skills of more persons than one can enumerate!

Observe the labeling. That’s a film formed by applying heat to carbon black mixed with resins. How do you make resins and what, pray, is carbon black?

My bit of metal—the ferrule—is brass. Think of all the persons who mine zinc and copper and those who have the skills to make shiny sheet brass from these products of nature. Those black rings on my ferrule are black nickel. What is black nickel and how is it applied? The complete story of why the center of my ferrule has no black nickel on it would take pages to explain.

Then there’s my crowning glory, inelegantly referred to in the trade as “the plug,” the part man uses to erase the errors he makes with me. An ingredient called “factice” is what does the erasing. It is a rubber-like product made by reacting rapeseed oil from the Dutch East Indies [Indonesia] with sulfur chloride. Rubber, contrary to the common notion, is only for binding purposes. Then, too, there are numerous vulcanizing and accelerating agents. The pumice comes from Italy; and the pigment which gives “the plug” its color is cadmium sulfide.

No One Knows

Does anyone wish to challenge my earlier assertion that no single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me?

Actually, millions of human beings have had a hand in my creation, no one of whom even knows more than a very few of the others. Now, you may say that I go too far in relating the picker of a coffee berry in far-off Brazil and food growers elsewhere to my creation; that this is an extreme position. I shall stand by my claim. There isn’t a single person in all these millions, including the president of the pencil company, who contributes more than a tiny, infinitesimal bit of know-how. From the standpoint of know-how the only difference between the miner of graphite in Ceylon and the logger in Oregon is in the type of know-how. Neither the miner nor the logger can be dispensed with, any more than can the chemist at the factory or the worker in the oil field—paraffin being a by-product of petroleum.

Here is an astounding fact: Neither the worker in the oil field nor the chemist nor the digger of graphite or clay nor any who mans or makes the ships or trains or trucks nor the one who runs the machine that does the knurling on my bit of metal nor the president of the company performs his singular task because he wants me. Each one wants me less, perhaps, than does a child in the first grade. Indeed, there are some among this vast multitude who never saw a pencil nor would they know how to use one. Their motivation is other than me. Perhaps it is something like this: Each of these millions sees that he can thus exchange his tiny know-how for the goods and services he needs or wants. I may or may not be among these items.

No Master Mind

There is a fact still more astounding: The absence of a master mind, of anyone dictating or forcibly directing these countless actions which bring me into being. No trace of such a person can be found. Instead, we find the Invisible Hand at work. This is the mystery to which I earlier referred.

It has been said that “only God can make a tree.” Why do we agree with this? Isn’t it because we realize that we ourselves could not make one? Indeed, can we even describe a tree? We cannot, except in superficial terms. We can say, for instance, that a certain molecular configuration manifests itself as a tree. But what mind is there among men that could even record, let alone direct, the constant changes in molecules that transpire in the life span of a tree? Such a feat is utterly unthinkable!

I, Pencil, am a complex combination of miracles: a tree, zinc, copper, graphite, and so on. But to these miracles which manifest themselves in Nature an even more extraordinary miracle has been added: the configuration of creative human energies—millions of tiny know-hows configurating naturally and spontaneously in response to human necessity and desire and in the absence of any human masterminding! Since only God can make a tree, I insist that only God could make me. Man can no more direct these millions of know-hows to bring me into being than he can put molecules together to create a tree.

The above is what I meant when writing, “If you can become aware of the miraculousness which I symbolize, you can help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing.” For, if one is aware that these know-hows will naturally, yes, automatically, arrange themselves into creative and productive patterns in response to human necessity and demand— that is, in the absence of governmental or any other coercive master-minding—then one will possess an absolutely essential ingredient for freedom: a faith in free people. Freedom is impossible without this faith.

Once government has had a monopoly of a creative activity such, for instance, as the delivery of the mails, most individuals will believe that the mails could not be efficiently delivered by men acting freely. And here is the reason: Each one acknowledges that he himself doesn’t know how to do all the things incident to mail delivery. He also recognizes that no other individual could do it. These assumptions are correct. No individual possesses enough know-how to perform a nation’s mail delivery any more than any individual possesses enough know-how to make a pencil. Now, in the absence of faith in free people—in the unawareness that millions of tiny know-hows would naturally and miraculously form and cooperate to satisfy this necessity—the individual cannot help but reach the erroneous conclusion that mail can be delivered only by governmental “masterminding.”

Testimony Galore

If I, Pencil, were the only item that could offer testimony on what men and women can accomplish when free to try, then those with little faith would have a fair case. However, there is testimony galore; it’s all about us and on every hand. Mail delivery is exceedingly simple when compared, for instance, to the making of an automobile or a calculating machine or a grain combine or a milling machine or to tens of thousands of other things. Delivery? Why, in this area where men have been left free to try, they deliver the human voice around the world in less than one second; they deliver an event visually and in motion to any person’s home when it is happening; they deliver 150 passengers from Seattle to Baltimore in less than four hours; they deliver gas from Texas to one’s range or furnace in New York at unbelievably low rates and without subsidy; they deliver each four pounds of oil from the Persian Gulf to our Eastern Seaboard—halfway around the world—for less money than the government charges for delivering a one-ounce letter across the street!

The lesson I have to teach is this: Leave all creative energies uninhibited. Merely organize society to act in harmony with this lesson. Let society’s legal apparatus remove all obstacles the best it can. Permit these creative know-hows freely to flow. Have faith that free men and women will respond to the Invisible Hand. This faith will be confirmed. I, Pencil, seemingly simple though I am, offer the miracle of my creation as testimony that this is a practical faith, as practical as the sun, the rain, a cedar tree, the good earth.

~David Morris~

The Unfortunate Implications of Joblessness (featuring yours truly)

I've personally been out of the job market for the past year. Being as such, I've been approached by Fox News to share my side of the story.

The worst thing about this story, I feel, is that I'm not alone.



~David Morris~

Immediate Economic Impact of Election Results

Massive layoffs. Spike in official unemployment rates across the nation. Return to recession.

What the Electoral Outcome Means, Summed in One Word.

Greece.

Romney vs Obama. The Final Day.

Tomorrow marks an historic election. A choice between the principles that built the United States as the last and greatest hope for mankind, or its down the path of just another failed state. Despite what the polls may say, I predict a sizable Romney victory.

What worries this blogger is the makeup of the senate. By painting themselves as fiscally conservative. Democrats may manage to hold on to their senate majority. This could see the continue of a senate that refuses to pass a budget, and make in all the more difficult for Romney to implement the steps necessary to truly recover the economy in both the long and short terms.

With the polls tied for Romney and Obama at 48%, turnout will be the deciding factor. Given the republican advantage measured by Pew and Gallup, combined with historic pattern of incumbent electoral totals averaging 2 points below their approval rating, Romney remains set for victory.

It remains to the people to secure it.

No matter how he dresses it, the President has no case.

As we approach the second of the presidential debates, many on the left side of the isle offer messaging advice on what the president needs to do to clinch victory from Romney, such as offering a vision, calling Mitt out as a liar, and being energetic.

I predict that whatever comes that may in the final debates however, no performance by Obama will be able to reverse this momentum change in time.If but for a simple reason that can be put succinctly:

Life sucks. And no one is blaming Mitt Romney for it.

Regardless of Obama's performance, its unlikely that Mitt have a meltdown equitable to Obama's own, so a well articulated case will only be seen as a tie at most.  In holding his own, Obama will bump enthusiasm among his base. Alas, cold hard economic reality is simply stacked against the incumbent, forever barring him from independents who've chosen to switch their vote from 2008. Stacked in a matter that gives the challenger an endless arsenal of counter-attacks regardless of how much Obama tries to paint his opponent as a heartless liar who hates middle America.

As of this right, the Right Direction/Wrong Track stands at 39.8 to 54.8.

People are living the dismal statistics of Obama's stewardship, and its hard to vote against one's own overwhelmingly negative outlook for the future.

~David Morris~

My Main Reaction to the First Obama-Romney Debate

The president flopped. So I'm told. One flop in particular had me in such a brain freeze that the rest of the debate became but a haze.

Barack Obama accused Mitt Romney of wanting to cut taxes by $5 trillion. When talking taxes, you normally use rates. Not whole numbers.

The federal government takes in a whole number of $2.3 trillion. So if Romney cut 100% of all current taxes, that'd be a $2.3 trillion cut. You're still $2.7 trillion dollars short of $5 trillion.

So after some simple arithmetic, basically, the president accused Romney of wanting to cut taxes by around 217%?

Huh?

~David Morris~

What Romney Needs to Say

Today marks the first debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. To this point, now marks the golden opportunity for the GOP challenger to create a stark contrast between himself and the incumbent.

A list of points and contrasts I hope to see:

-Framing Obama as aloof and uncaring, given how much golf the current president plays as Americans suffer.

-Reminding Americans that we don't have to accept Obama's failed policies in energy and economic growth.

-Remind that the only reason we have 8% unemployment is because people keep dropping out.

-Constant and consistent attacks on Obama's record. The president needs to be on the defensive. For once.

~David Morris~

It was full.

In the release of his theatrical documentary "2016: Obama's America," Dinesh D'Souza synthesizes the personal journey of President Barack Obama with an examination of how "the dreams of his father" motivates the 44th president. From the meeting of his parents, to the selection of his mentors, D'Souza follows Barack across four continents all the way to the white house, with the attitude of anti-colonialism taking central focus.  Better than any alternative motive, D'Souza claims, anti-colonialism becomes the prime explanation as to this president refuses to triangulate for the good of the country, and leaves a bone chilling prediction of the future should he win reelection.

Now, as for my impressions, this particular conservative went with his family to view the film on a random 7:10 showing on a Monday. Personally I would recommend the film, as it provided insights unknown even to a critic of the president such as myself. For those less politically inclined however; for those who appeared to be learning of the president background for very first time, the reactions were telling.

For some it seemed, the radical communism of his parents and mentors was a deep revelation. The rational link between such ideals and the policy actions of the president was of stunned surprise among some in the crowd. Gasps could be heard from those to hear for the first time of Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Barack Obama, and the extraordinarily anti-american theology he preach to the president for over twenty years. From the ruthless tactics of the Chicago School to how his career started with aid from unrepentant terrorist, everyone it seemed, had a insight into Obama resonating deeply within their heart.

For me, to learn of Barack's half-brother, and the implication behind why the president would leave him abandoned to destitution in a small Kenyan hut was most unexpected; a cold insight into the true nature of the 44th president.

Personally however, the revelation of greatest emotional impact wasn't to be found in the film itself, but in the broader experience of having seen in in theaters.

You see, my family and I had arrived at the theater by 7 o'clock - a safe ten minutes before the previews began. I had just purchased popcorn and drinks whilst my family had already went ahead.

I stepped into the theater.

I turned the corner to face the seats.

I looked up from the popcorn I held, expecting to instantly spot my family.

And I did a double take.

...

The theater was full.

...

Mind you, not quite as jammed as say, the Dark Knight or certain other mega hollywood record breakers one might experience.

But it safe to say that it was full. Already.

Ten minutes before the previews would even start.

On a random Monday.

My family and I were not alone I realize, as I took my seat next to them. Five minutes later, I can distinctly recall other individuals displaying the very same look of surprise as they too would step in:

Turning the corner. Looking up with the expectation that as a "niche" film, they'd have any pick of the seats. Discovering that the theater was full. On a Monday.

It was full.

...

This was not a niche film.

And once it began, all eyes were upon it for the full one hour and twenty-nine minutes that it played. This film had filled a theater, and for its complete run time, not a single individual got up to refresh themselves.

So above all else taken from the presentation, from the radical ideologies of Obama's associates, to the link between the president's decisions and his search for a father's love.

Above all else, this revelation ~that the theater was full~ would cause a tear to shed. I was not alone to watch this film. None were alone, to watch this film.

We the People, watched this film.

~David Morris~

An August Recap of Obama Tactical Errors

Originally drafted 8/09/2012

Busy volunteering for the Romney campaign has left me with little time to blog. Let us return with a commentary of the latest predictable gaffs of  the Obama Administration.

First, you didn't build that. 



Naturally, this will be the king of gaffs for the Obama Administration going forward. In a rare moment, Obama actually spoke honestly about his ideals. Ironic, as given the reaction of the crowd, he no doubt thought himself as having knocked it of the park.

And no doubt, his internal polling after the fact has boomeranged into knocking him downward on polls, having granted the GOP a powerful piece of ammunition to utilize once the post-convention attacks from Romney's camp truly begins.

Next, this ad addressing Mitt the Murderer

Whoever arranged this latest ad for the Obama campaign clearly underestimated the gullibility of the audience. Even those in the media who are utterly dedicated to Obama found themselves flabbergasted at the SuperPAC responsible for the advertisement, which attempted to distastefully link Mitt Romney and his tenue at Bain Capital with the death of “Joe the Steelworker's” wife.

Several issues,

1.       Romney was not active at Bain Capital (he left in 1999) when Joe’s steel factory was shut down (in 2001). After attempting to save it for eight years, the economic recession of 2001 simply took its toll on the industry, to no fault of Bain Capital.

2.       Joe was laid off in 2001. His wife died in 2006. And she was employed.

3.       The biggest problem of all of course, is the very message that its trying to convey: That Mitt Romney is a murderer. Despite the guttural politics most on the left are willing to play nowadays, there are still lines that simply go too far. Accusation of racism, bullying, not paying his taxes, outsourcing or apathy towards the “poor” is one thing. But downright murder simply serves to remind the audience of the complete desperation the President must be at to try and stick such a link to Mitt Romney.

This is all endemic of a larger problem for Team Obama. Unable to stand on their record, they’re only option is to make the opponent out to be a radioactive monster. Try as they might with McCarthy-ite tactics, Mitt proves heavily fortified against character assassination out of this race. Both candidates are tied, yet the true negative ad campaigns have yet to begun. As Obama exhausts his options this early in the race, he leaves himself highly vulnerable to Mitt’s message in the coming months.

At last, we come to the greatest issue of our day. Red or Green?


Truly, if ever there was a reason not to vote for Mitt Romney, its his refusal to take a stance on such important issues of the day such as "red or green" or "what's your favorite superpower." Combined with how the fate of the country is somehow tied to Romney's tax returns, surely such issues are readily exploitable by the Obama campaign in his cruise to decisive victory.

In all seriousness, the days of softball sheltering questions cannot last indefiniitly. With Obama still vulnerable, the final 70 days will continue to draw a sharp contrast between the collected appearing Mitt Romney and an incumbent that continues to implode in his presentation.

~David Morris~

Obama Penalizes the Legal

Obama justifies this executive order by saying that these young illegals will make "significant contributions to society" and that "it's right." 

Well what about all those young people who come here legally? I have personal friends who legally came here while under sixteen who'll get deported if they can't find H1 visa sponsors (which aren't cheap). What about them? Are you simply going to toss them work visas too? What about international university students who must return to their home after they graduate, whom we know are trained with skills we could use. Are they also going to get free visas simply "because its right?"

Are you honestly penalizing them by rewarding those who broke the law to get here? President Obama, are you honestly going to look at true contributing aliens in the eye and say "too bad about your visa, your first mistake was come here legally?" As far as I'm concerned, illegal is illegal. You can't pick and choose by executive order which is which.

You think a constitutional lawyer would know this.

~Alexis Morris~

Govenor Walker "Only Survived"

Last night was a night of decision for the State of Wisconsin.  In 2010, Governor Scott Walker won by 6 percentage points in a climatic battle of economic sense over unions embellishments. Believing the gubenatiorial race to be in contest, media humdrum touted that this could be implicative of the November election. This quickly lost steam as the night dragged on.

Having won his recall now by 7 points, much of the media since settled to describe Govenor Walker's repeat victory over Tom Barret as to have just "survived." In my opinion, most would call it a "decisive defeat" at the least. Perhaps even use the term "landslide."

The Daily Show presented a genuinely entertaining spoof on the results.

"Did you not hear us the first time?"

~David Morris~

The Obama Implosion

With the victory of Scott Brown, the failure of the Bain Capital attacks, and the pathetic job growth of only 65,000 in June, we grow privy to witnessing a unique implosion of an administration.

Let us recount what their strategy has been thus far:

Attack Romney's Wife ~ Backfired.
Attack Romney's Dog ~ Backfired.
Attack Romney for being an alledged Bully ~ Backfired.
Attack Bain Capital ~ Extreme Backfire.

What's most interesting to me is the backfire on Bain capital. Not only did it simply not work on deflecting the issue, it actually caused a mutiny among democrats with friends in capital equity, the infamous "sterling business record" endorsement by Bill Clinton being the most (in)famous of late.

With so many new attempts to frame the opposition under negatives, they return to "the only thing we have left" as a young David Axelrod once put it:

Blame Bush.

Will it backfire?

~David Morris~

The drag on economy continues, and throughout the latest news cycle, one cannot help but to continue noticing the distraction tactics used by the Obama Administration.

The latest ploy concerns the reputation of Romney at Bain Capital. Emphasis has been placed upon a steel plant that was ultimately shut down over eight years after Romney himself ceased to work there. Most ironic about this tactic is that it leaves Obama particularly vulnerable to the hypocrite counter-tactic, simply at the mention of Solyndra.

As always, in the end it will come down to what vision each candidate is able to project for the future. Obama's record has yet to be fully exploited to Romney's advantage, as he occupies his time in consolidating base support. Come fall, it will be up to former governor to juxtapose himself as a credible leader who can translate his experience into a better direction for the nation. Should he succeed, combined with the right Vice President and the right attacks on his opponent's record, and a solid victory can be envisioned for the republican candidate.

For now, it remains uncertain just who will emerge victorious given the ample opportunities for the political winds to change between now and November. Especially when one factors the individual politics of the keymost battleground states to be in play this election. This excellent article by Stephen Green has more on that topic.

~David Morris~

The Distractions Continue

Latest Gallup polling puts Romney ahead of Obama. Why, does the mainstream media ask?

It is truly fascinating to observe such implosions on the left. Touting the "improvements" of the economy and Obama's "likability," the denial of Obama's highly threatened candidacy has witnessed several types of self-delusion as of late:

Romney's Gender Gap With Women.
Fallacies:
•Most job losses in the past three years has been among women.
•Only young, unmarried age group susceptible to "war on women" issue distraction tactics.
•Obama still less popular among women compared to 2008.
•Romney has a reverse gender gap among men against Obama.

Obama's Likability Advantage Against Romney
Fallacies:
•Carter was also "likable." People are not going to vote for excuses.
•Nixon, despite low likability, was primed for reelection before scandal.
•Romney still injured from primary battle. The right VP pick could potentially turn this around.
•The negative ads to remind the people of Obama's record has not begun yet.

Latest among the attempts to distract is Romney putting a dog on the roof of his car. Such irrelevance is bound to ultimately backfire on the patience of the American people.

Nonetheless, expect more attempts to divert the true issues of the day.

~David Morris~

Rick Santelli On the Idea of Taxing Ourselves Out. of the Crisis

A burn to all soldiers of class warfare. A simple illustration of math from Rich Santelli.
~David Morris~

Mitt Romney. Eh.

So many excellent GOP candidates this year. So many fallen. With Santorum officially out of the running, the time dawns upon many that "Mr. Inevitable," Willard Mitt Romney, has truly proven to be the last man standing. Barring a convention upset by Newt or Ron Paul,

At what price one must ask? The negative, marginal victory nature of Mitt's wins leaves many a conservative voter feeling mum about the result. The weak positive intensity among his base must be repaired prior to November. Simultaneously, the Obaminable Machine has promised the most outright dirty, negative campaign to be seen in modern history. They have prepared specifically for the former Massachusetts governor, and will do everything in their power to characterize Romney as a "heartless, rich white republican." The wrong gaffe at the wrong time could be all that it takes.

It shall be seen just how aware of this the Romney campaign is. It is true that Romney's comparative advantage lies in his appeal to moderates. Now he'll require a vice-presidential pick that can sate the fears of the base, whilst continuing to fight back a reputation a faux conservative.

Above all however is this:

He must take the gloves off when it comes to President Obama.

This is to be a election won on offense, not defense.

Considering the nature of his apparent nomination, perhaps the Romney campaign understands this already.

~David Morris~

E Plubis, Divitorium - Out of Many, Division

Obama's un-presidential actions towards the Supreme Court last week should come as no surprise. He simply does as a community organizer does: Divide.

Wall Street vs. Main Street.

99% vs. 1%.

Republicans vs. Old People.

Private Health Insurers vs. Health Customers.

"Green" Energy vs. Viable Energy.

War on Catholics.

War on Women.

War on the Tea Party.

Is it any coincidence that all these new means to divide ourselves, only now miracoulously coincide with the election of Obama? This individual does not think so.

So why the surprise of a new War on the Supreme Court?

~David Morris~

A Morning Meeting With Paul Ryan

As Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Congressmen Ryan's position has proposed several bold solutions to America's varied debt and entitlement crisis, and not without controversy. As the congressmen continues to draw headlines with his proposals, cross-examination into his "Roadmaps" ever continues.

On March 22nd, Ryan sat down with the Heritage Foundation concerned with latest revisions to his proposals. The introduction of means testing for medicare was highlighted as among key improvements to his plan, set to balance by the 2020s. Throughout the meeting, Ryan criticized the CBO for its baseline budgeting projections, as well as the President for his weakness on cost cutting, particularly in the area of defense.

Though Ryan himself identifies $300 billion in Pentagon waste that could be eliminated, he insists that the President's $400 billion reduction in pure defense spending would threaten our superiority given an unexpected conflict. Without such superiority, he reminds us, far more soldiers are put at risk.

Ryan concluded on a hopeful note for his proposals, as he finds support whenever the American people are "spoken to as adults."

Scholar Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute offers further analysis of the Ryan revisions.

~David Morris~

A Single Fire - Part II

My last discourse concerned a question with the development of energy. Why, with the abundance of sources available to us, is the energy industry nonetheless restricted by onerous regulation?

Is it to prevent accidents? We addressed the basic reality of life that accidents can and will happen. Tying it with the analogy of a burnt down home, we note that such accidents do not result in the halted production of housing in general.

Yet somehow this reality of accidents is routinely utilized to block the generation of new energy capital. Save for those favored by government of course. Methods of generating energy that "actually works" however, routinely faces insurmountable regulatory impediments.

It is valid to theorize that, in the end, the justification for such burdens has little to do with preventing accidents. Private companies, who pour millions into the creation of their capital (be it a hydroelectric dam, coal mine, oil rig, genie magic self-perpetuating turbine, or otherwise), are naturally incensed to prevent their loss.

When major accidents occur, one naturally takes to the self to review what happened and to ensure that such events scarcely occur evermore. Not only does the victim reflect, but witnessing neighbors (or rival companies in the case of industries) also join in the interest of reviewing what happened, leading to the self-imposed refinement of internal safety protocols.

A concept known as "risk assessment" is borne of the invisible hand, with entire firms and corporate sub-departments dedicated to cause of loss prevention. Regardless of bureaucratic third-parties who may decide to take advantage of the spectacle in the name of "public safety."

If the true subconscionable purpose for regulations is not about accidents, what else could is be? There are those who postulate that its simply about protecting the "environment" as a general concept. To which you must ask, "Whose environment?"

Globally, the climate simply is beyond our hands and control. Planetary climates et al are destined to change and morph regardless of any life on their surface, and human history is rife with instances whereas the scare of environmental failure on a planetary scale is found to be empty.

Its true that environmental externalities can occur on scales small enough to affect human interests however. How a proposed method of extraction affects the living of fishermen or ranchers is perfectly valid. None wants to suffer smog directly imposed onto their own backyard. Being told that its "for the good of the market" is certainly no solace.

In such cases, the proper observance of property rights and contracts provide solutions where all are better off, both economically and environmentally. Justice for land holders at risk for being negatively impacted is preserved by simple title and deed. And given their necessary cooperation, brutishly sloppy methods of energy extraction are swift to go out of style.

Energy providers, in their own self-interest against liability claims from their landlords, are thus compelled to innovate towards a reduction of their externalized impact upon others. Such is market efficiency. Producers are better off for having expanding their product, at-risk land owners are better off from the provision of royalties, and the all-important consumer is better off from lowered prices.

Recently, such has been the case for energy companies in fact. Contrary to what policy makers in Washington may proclaim, new oil development over the pass four years resulted from this very notion of contracts between private entities, while development on federal lands has shrunk.

Truly, if the hundreds of impediments to energy development were justified by environmental concerns, why develop old technologies such as windmills? Windmills have been documented for harm brought to avian life, resulting in a far more visible impact compared to the fracking and horizontal drill techniques that permit conventional producers to locate far off-site.

If anything, proponents for alternative fuels would champion nuclear energy above all given its ultimate appraisal as a win-win source for energy. A win for the market as it provides on scales necessary to truly compete. A win for the environment as the summarized concept is to simply dig naturally radioactive material from out the ground, slowly deplete its ambient energy, and then return the material to the very ground from whence it came.

Yet even nuclear is denied with routine regulatory interference, same as the traditional resources of petroleum, natural gas, and coal. Hysteria over inevitable incidents (now matter how well their containment fail safes may have worked) is utilized as a politic scapegoat to deny the free-market expansion to human energy needs. Unworkable alternatives are instead ginned up, despite that they to (inherent to all things when one is trying to start a fire or create a spark) hold their own types of risks, even if they were to deliver.

So once more we must ask, "Why?" Subconsciously, why do the proponents of Big Government seek scapegoats to justify the squelching of true energy development? The rationale is simple:

More energy means more freedom, and more freedom always means less power for the state.

~David Morris~