MLLG

Taxes – Showerheads – School Choice – Economics

George Noga

The total wealth of all US billionaires would fund government for only 158 days.

Taxes – Showerheads – School Choice – Economics

By: George Noga – January 30, 2022

 

Biden’s inflation tax devastates ordinary Americans: Biden’s tax hikes hit middle- income Americans and even low-income Americans who pay no income tax. Inflation is the cruelest tax of all and it falls disproportionately on low and middle-income families. Inflation is outstripping wage gains and Americans are getting poorer each month. Moreover, unlike other political issues, inflation is impossible to spin because Americans are acutely aware of it every time they buy gas or groceries.

Taxing billionaires doesn’t work: Forbes Magazine counts 614 US billionaires worth a total of $2.95 trillion. If you taxed each $1 billion, it would fund government for 33 days. If you confiscated all the wealth of every billionaire, it would fund government for 158 days – and then it would be gone forever. The narrative of taxing billionaires is pure class warfare intended to disguise from where the money really is coming.

Why some corporations pay no income tax: The poster child for this is Amazon, which paid no federal income tax last year. That’s because Amazon suffered humongous losses in prior years and was able to carry those forward to offset later profits. FedEx paid no tax due to accelerated depreciation on its fleet of aircraft – in accordance with laws passed by Congress to encourage investment and job creation. However, both Amazon and FedEx pay billions each year in payroll, state, local and foreign taxes.

Corporations that pay little or no federal tax are acting in furtherance of laws passed by Congress. It takes chutzpah for politicians to rail against tax laws they passed. Further, per a congressional committee, 98% of corporate taxes are passed through to low and middle-income families, including those who pay no income tax, as higher prices.

Biden is regulating your bath: Prior to Trump, each showerhead could emit no more than 2.5 gallons per minute. Trump eliminated that restriction. One of Biden’s first moves was to reverse this and also to extend the limit to apply to all showerheads in the aggregate – even though fewer than 1% of Americans have multiple showerheads. This is a minor issue in the cosmic scheme of things, but it exemplifies progressives’ desire to regulate every aspect of your life and to diminish your personal liberty.

School choice is a winning issue: It is incandescently clear from polls and elections that K-12 education is the wedge political issue in America today. Parents are shocked and mortified by what they learned during the pandemic including: (1) school boards and PTAs as adjuncts of teachers unions; (2) pornography in grade school libraries; (3) the 1619 project; (4) mask mandates; (5) critical race theory; (6) encouraging young kids to question their gender; (7) vaccine mandates; (8) school closures; and (9) huge gaps in learning versus private schools and other nations. Union control of education has wrought nothing short of total disaster. Universal school choice would immediately end all dissonance about the nine aforementioned issues. School choice demonstrably is a winning political issue as well as the civil rights issue of our time.

Economics: Roger Ream upon receiving the 2021 Bradley Prize in Economics: “Taught properly, economics provides a lens to understand how the world works. It is about how humans interact and make choices and how an undirected market process unleashes the forces of invention, innovation, imagination and improvement. The result is nothing short of miraculous. We ignite a spark in the minds of students as we show them how Adam Smith’s invisible hand motivates a self-interested individual to promote an end not part of his intention and thereby to serve the needs of others.”

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Next on February 6th: Chauvin, Rittenhouse, Smollett, et. al.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

 

MLLG

The Raison d’etre of Government

George Noga

The answer is not more government or even better and wiser government.

The Raison d’etre of Government

By: George Noga – January 23, 2022

Preamble to the US Constitution

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.“

Since the Neolithic Revolution 12,000 years ago, when humans transitioned from nomadic hunter-gatherer clans to settled agricultural societies, people have banded together for security from internal and external threats to their lives, property and liberty. The Declaration of Independence proclaims all men have an unalienable right to life, liberty, and (property) pursuit of happiness. The Constitution, in its preamble above, establishes the raison d’etre for our government as being mostly about security, i.e. justice, domestic tranquility, defense and liberty. Indeed, the social contract between man and the state always has been, first and foremost, about security.

Americans expect government, above everything else, to protect their lives, property and liberty. Progressive government at all levels, national, state and local, is failing in this, the most basic role of government. The Biden Administration is failing to provide for the common defense. Its manifest weakness, on full display in Afghanistan, is an open invitation to Putin, Xi, Kim, Iran and to tyrants everywhere. Moreover, Biden is slashing (real) defense spending as progressives always do when in power. The most potent asset in our defense arsenal is our economy and Biden is weakening it.

Progressives in control of state and local governments refuse to protect citizens and property from mob violence. They defund police, decriminalize larceny, abolish bail, create sanctuary cities and refuse to prosecute serious offenses. They impose gun control to keep citizens from defending themselves and their property from mobs; instead, they prosecute those (McCloskeys, Rittenhouse) who exercise their rights.

Rather than defending Americans’ lives, property and liberty, Biden and his top advisors, all selected based on identity rather than merit, are putting us at greater risk. They are destroying the property and life savings of many Americans by the pernicious inflation they have unleashed. Their profligate spending is hastening the arrival of a debt crisis and a lost generation for our children and our children’s children.

Progressives, and those who enable them, have lost sight of the reason Americans have a government in the first place. It is not for transgender bathrooms, CRT, identity or wokeness. They are placing our lives at risk from both foreign and domestic threats. They are failing to protect our property from criminals, looting and mob violence. They are assaulting our liberty in myriad ways – using the pandemic to abolish our right to assemble, to worship and to be secure in our persons (vaccine mandates).

Ironically, the evils catalogued supra all were promulgated by a form of government most people consider to be among the best in the world and even throughout history. The root cause of our present accursedness is not a failure of government or even bad government – although we presently have both. Rather, it is due simply to immutable human nature and to our government behaving like governments always do.

Indeed, the entire sweep of human history in the 12,000 years since the Neolithic Revolution instructs us that it is foolish to believe people can control government. We can’t; but we can limit it. Dear readers, the answer lies not in better, wiser or even enlightened government. The answer lies in more liberty and less government.

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Our next post January 30th is about taxing billionaires.

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Cri de Coeur for America

George Noga

First and foremost, I write this blog as my cri de coeur for America.

Cri de Coeur for America

By: George Noga – January 16, 2022

This begins the 16th year of the MLLG blog; thus far I have written 600 posts totaling 2,000 pages and 1,000,000 words. During that time readership has grown from 150 into the tens of thousands; whew!. I have labored mightily to present original and compelling ways to communicate the blessings of liberty and the evils (yes – evils) of government. Every so often, it is a good idea to remind readers (and myself) why I write this blog. But first, I offer a preview of my plans for the coming year.

I will continue blogging about my signature issues of: (1) climate change; (2) the spending crisis; and (3) school choice. You may also expect special postings on key holidays; my Independence Day and Columbus Day postings have become classics. Look for new multi-part series about “Poverty in America” and “Policing in America“. I will address timely political, economic and human interest topics. Responding to reader requests, I may write a few posts of a personal nature. As always, I will strive to present new ways to showcase the blessings of liberty and the evils of government in a fact-based, principled manner and without demonizing those with opposing views.

Why I Write This Blog

Above all, this blog is my cri de coeur for our beloved republic. I am standing athwart America’s steady march toward socialism, and ultimately to Gomorrah, screaming “stop”. I am constantly mindful that of the 115 billion humans who have trod this earth, fewer than 1% have enjoyed liberty. Even now, only 10% live in freedom. Alexander Hamilton’s eternal question still lingers, “Are societies of men capable of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or forever destined to depend on accident and force?” I would like to believe that I am providing our children’s children an infinitesimally better chance for liberty. If I fail, at least I failed daring to try.

As Hamilton knew, whether any society of men gets its politics right or wrong affects every aspect of life, and even life itself. If we get our politics right, we live our lives in freedom and prosperity. If we get our politics wrong, liberty, happiness and property are forfeit and our lives are brutish and brief. Our children’s children will be a lost generation living lives of quiet desperation in a Clockwork Orange world of staggering debt and climate madness, surrounded by nuclear armed enemies committed to our destruction. The gods of the copybook headings, with terror and slaughter, will return.

There is a second, and much darker, reason I write this blog. If it proves too late to prevent the self destruction of our beloved republic, I want to leave a historical record so my children’s children will know there once was such a wondrous thing as the fire of liberty and that some of us took great care to preserve embers of that flame until some glorious day when the embers may be used to reignite the torch of liberty.

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The next post is about the raison d’etre of government.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us
MLLG

MLLG Special Unscheduled Posting . . . Of Cabbages, Kings and Insurrections

George Noga

The real target of progressive insurrectionists is ordinary Americans in flyover land.

MLLG Special Unscheduled Posting . . .

Of Cabbages, Kings and Insurrections

By: George Noga – January 6, 2022

This special posting is on the anniversary of the demonstration that took place at the US Capitol one year ago today. It is apropos that the headline above is taken from Alice in Wonderland because the “insurrection” storyline, hysterically promoted by progressives and the media, is worthy of CS Lewis. In fact, Democrats are suffering from Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS), a serious mental disorder characterized by distorted perceptions of reality. Yes, AIWS is real; Google it!
“The time has come” the walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes – and ships – and sealing wax –
Of cabbages and kings –
And why the sea is boiling hot –
And why pigs have wings.”

The Phony Insurrection

An insurrection is defined as a violent uprising against a government. What took place at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 was a political protest that got out of hand; it was decidedly not an insurrection. The demonstrators were unarmed; the protest lasted but a few hours and caused only minimal damage. The only person shot was an unarmed female protestor killed by police. The vast majority of the protestors were peaceful law-abiding Americans exercising their Constitutional rights.
The demonstrators did not intend to overthrow the government. Although a fringe element stormed the Capitol, they were unarmed and not representative of the protestors. To compare that incident to Pearl Harbor, September 11th and even to the Civil War – as Biden did – is beyond ludicrous. Anyone who believes January 6, 2021 was an insurrection has an acute case of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome.
Of course, those people who are screaming “insurrection” know better. They are cynically weaponizing language to demonize those with whom they disagree. By thus using language to frame their narrative of reality, they seek to abnegate the truth. Please see our post of 11/14/21 about weaponizing language at: www.mllg.us.

The Authentic Insurrection

A real insurrection did take place in America; it was the 2016-2021 Russia collusion hoax. Progressives, abetted by their media sycophants and the deep state, illegally misappropriated and mobilized the awesome coercive power of the state and wielded it against a president of whom they disapproved, and also against his appointees. Their aim was nothing less than to cripple or to overthrow a duly elected president.
Every element of the insurrection against Trump was a lie and known to be a lie by those promulgating them. The FBI, intelligence agencies, John Brennan, Department of Justice, Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Steele, Adam Schiff, Robert Mueller, James Clapper, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, James Comey, Lisa Page, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok and countless others conspired in the insurrection.
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The phony January 6, 2021 insurrection did not succeed in any way and it lasted mere hours. It consisted of ordinary Americans and included no powerful elites. No reputations were tarnished. There was no intention to overthrow the government and those who trespassed at the Capitol are being vigorously prosecuted by the deep state.
Contrast this with the real insurrection which lasted four years and was perpetrated and perpetuated by powerful elites. It succeeded in crippling and nearly overthrowing (two impeachments) a duly elected president and it ruined the lives and reputations of many honorable people (General Flynn). Every person and institution participating in the insurrection intended to overthrow the president and knew the Russia collusion narrative to be a hoax. No one has been held to account; instead, many insurrectionists have gotten lucrative book deals, speaking engagements and media gigs.
Donald Trump was the main target of the Russia collusion hoax insurrection, but he was not who they really were after. The deep state insurrectionists are terrified of ordinary patriotic Americans in flyover land and they, i.e. you, were their real target. As Trump often said at his rallies, “They’re really after you, I’m just in the way”.
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Next on January 16th is our first scheduled posting of 2022.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Special MLLG New Year Posting…. DANGER: 2022 Will Be An Annus Horribilis

George Noga

If Putin or Xi ever intend to invade Ukraine or Taiwan, it will be in 2022.

Special MLLG New Year Posting . . .
DANGER: 2022 Will Be An Annus Horribilis
By: George Noga – January 1, 2022
This posting is unplanned. After formulating my investment plan for 2022, as I do at the beginning of each year, I decided to share my analysis with readers. As I reviewed the geopolitical, economic and political landscapes, it scared the hell out of me. It looks like 2022 will be an annus horribilis with a phantasmagoria of likely horrors.

Geopolitical Horrors

Russia has massed 100,000 troops, poised for invasion, on the border of Ukraine. No one other than Putin knows his intentions. Perhaps he just wants to use this threat to exact major concessions. Either way, it is a bitter pill for the US and Europe. China is seriously threatening Taiwan but is unlikely to act until after the Beijing Olympics in February. If Putin or Xi ever intend to invade Ukraine and/or Taiwan, they will do so in 2022 when the US has its weakest leadership ever. Moreover, Putin is visiting Xi soon amidst increasing evidence of an entente forming between Russia and China.
The geopolitical horrors also include Iran and North Korea. Iran could race to develop nuclear weapons, threaten Israel and Saudi Arabia and foment terrorism throughout the Middle East. Kim Jung Un could invade South Korea using the same calculus as Putin and Xi. The greatest horror would be multiple threats materializing simultaneously, such as if attacks against Ukraine, Taiwan and South Korea were coordinated.

Economic Horrors

The greatest economic horror, by far, is inflation. The 7% inflation the US has experienced in recent months is backward looking. In coming months, I expect inflation in double-digits. Inflation savages not just your current income but also your investments. If you have managed to save say $1 million toward your retirement, you will need to have $1.1 million at the end of 2022 (assuming 10% inflation) just to stay even. Inflation will have cost you $100,000 in one year; that’s how pernicious it is.
Inflation destroys not only your income but also your investments
And inflation is just the beginning. The longer and higher inflation goes unchecked, the more Draconian will be the correction needed to restore the status quo ante. Ultimately, the Fed will have to surge interest rates; the last time inflation was this high, rates skyrocketed to 21%. Taming inflation will result in a deep and prolonged recession which will cause the deficit to go thermonuclear. Tax collections will plunge and Biden will print trillions upon trillions of borrowed dollars – all in a futile attempt to end the recession and to salvage progressives’ tattered political prospects. As always, the worst suffering will be among the poor and the middle class.

Political Horrors

One more thing is needed to complete the circle of our horrors – non compos mentis and feckless political leadership. Biden’s cognitive struggles are apparent to everyone including Putin, Xi, Kim and the ayatollahs. Other top US leaders have been selected based on identity, not competence, none more so than Kamala Harris, who got her big break in politics on her back. Their weakness and ineptitude was on full display in the departure from Afghanistan. Did I mention Biden wants to cut defense spending?
The Biden political horror show encompasses every issue: (1) Afghanistan with 60,000 yet to be evacuated; (2) rampant inflation; (3) lack of control over immigration and the border; (4) science-defying lockdowns, vaccine and mask mandates and school closures; (5) lawlessness, looting, bail elimination and non-prosecutions; (6) supply chain disruptions; (7) loss of US energy independence; (8) canceling US pipelines while approving Nord Stream 2; and (9) BBB’s $5+ trillion of added spending.

Investment Horrors

All the aforementioned horrors profoundly impact investing. Financial and retirement plans of Americans are being savaged by inflation and are subject to unknown and unknowable risks. FYI – I have actively invested for 50 years and owned an investment firm for 40 years. Following are the actions I have taken in the past few weeks.
I have moved my investments into a highly defensive posture. I now have over 70% of my investment assets in cash, cash equivalents and ultra short-term assets. Virtually all my fixed income (bonds) assets have durations of only one to two years. I have doubled my allocation to gold and commodities, the best inflation hedges. I want to be positioned to weather the coming apocalypse and to reinvest at or near the bottom.
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I take no pleasure whatsoever in any of this and hope I am wrong about 2022; but I call them as I see them. Worst of all, the horrors all are self inflicted and for the wrong reasons. Americans voted for the phlegmatic government they now have mainly because suburban women voted on the basis of personality rather than competence. They sowed the wind and soon we all will reap the whirlwind!
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Our next scheduled posting is on January 16, 2022.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us
MLLG

MLLG Christmas 2021 Posting . . . Ebenezer Scrooge Gets A Bum Rap

George Noga

Scrooge accomplished much good – prior to his Christmas Eve epiphany.

MLLG Christmas 2021 Posting . . .

Ebenezer Scrooge Gets A Bum Rap

By: George Noga – December 5, 2021

Ever since Charles Dickens published his allegorical novella, A Christmas Carol, in 1843, Ebenezer Scrooge, before he was visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley on Christmas Eve, has been universally regarded as a pathetic hoarder. For nearly two centuries the word Scrooge has been both an eponym and epithet for miserly. Scrooge gets a bum rap; although unwittingly, he was really a beneficent humanitarian.

The definition of beneficent is doing good or resulting in good; a humanitarian is someone who promotes human welfare. Scrooge’s behavior meets these definitions even before his epiphany and reclamation on Christmas Eve. Whether he intended to be beneficent and humanitarian is immaterial; his actions meet the definitions.

Scrooge was a rich, hard-working, parsimonious businessman who hoarded his wealth. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, worked long hours for low pay, the norm in that milieu. Cratchit and hordes of others, who had been largely invisible in rural England, flooded English cities during the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and suddenly became very visible. Their lives in the cities were bleak, but vastly better than the devastating rural poverty they voluntarily fled. Scrooge’s actions did not harm anyone but himself.

Although his wealth did not benefit Scrooge personally as he took his gruel alone by the embers of a dying fire, it was a godsend to humanity. It provided capital to fuel the industrial revolution, then just beginning. While Dickens’ books paint a grim picture, every metric of human well being reveals a golden age for workers started circa 1840: wages exploded, life expectancy and literacy soared, child nutrition and mortality improved and child labor receded as school enrollment surged. There had never before been a comparable period of prosperity – and it has continued to our day!

All these blessings were made possible only by the capital accumulated by Ebenezer Scrooge and others like him. Scrooge’s tight-fisted parsimony and self-denial, whether wittingly not, was a great gift to humanity. Scrooge helped to fund the factories, railroads and equipment that greatly increased workers’ productivity and wages. Indeed, it is not an exaggeration to call Scrooge a beneficent humanitarian.

“May God bless us, every one!” (Tiny Tim)

Scrooge’s thrift benefitted humanity more than if he had tried to do good via Scrooge & Marley. Marley’s ghost fails to understand that by minding one’s business, one best serves mankind. Profit is the best metric of a business’ value to society and Scrooge’s business was highly profitable. Thus, Scrooge had no duty to give back as he already gave via his business. Scrooge’s capital benefitted humanity far more than if he had donated to charity or if government had taxed it in a misguided attempt to do good. The next time you hear Scrooge used as an epithet, remember, it is . . . humbug.

We end this, our final scheduled posting of 2021, by echoing the final words in Dickens’ novella, as spoken by Tiny Tim: “May God bless us, every one“

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Outside-the-box analysis, such as contained in this post, is what readers have come to expect from MLLG. Precious few people would defend the behavior of Ebenezer Scrooge before his Christmas Eve epiphany; yet, one must acknowledge his actions harmed no one and, to the contrary, resulted in great economic benefit to humanity. You may expect more of the same when we resume our postings on January 16, 2022.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS. WE ARE TAKING A HOLIDAY BREAK AND WILL RESUME ON JANUARY 16, 2022; HOWEVER, WATCH FOR POSSIBLE UNSCHEDULED POSTINGS.

Our next scheduled posting is on January 16, 2022.

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Identity Politics and Tribalism

George Noga

Identity politics is a cancer growing in America; we must not let it metastasize!

Identity Politics and Tribalism

By: George Noga – November 28, 2021

With progressives, it is identity politics uber alles. This is reflected in Biden’s cabinet, which includes the first African-American defense secretary, the first gay cabinet officer, the first woman of color to head OMB, the first woman DNI, the first Hispanic secretaries at Homeland Security and HHS and the first woman treasury secretary. Checking off all the PC racial, ethnic, gender and LGBTQ boxes is all that counts.

This monomaniacal focus on identity comes at a steep price. To begin, there are nagging doubts about merit, competence and true equality. Progressives wield diversity mainly as a weapon to silence criticism and opposition. They have created a tyranny of diversity which undermines other values. Moreover, identity politics harms those who putatively benefit from being placed in exalted positions; they are subject to lingering but sub-rosa questions whether they owe their positions to identity or to merit.

Identity politics leads to tribalism, misunderstanding, anger and hostility.

Identity politics inevitably intensifies tribalism, which is anathema to the body politic. Tribalism has been the default condition for most of human history, but life in a tribe is easy in all the wrong ways and for all the wrong reasons. Tribal members don’t ever have to think; they just believe whatever the tribe says is right. Now, due to identity politics, we are seeing more and more Americans becoming tribal about where and how they live, work, socialize, vacation, marry and educate their children. This leads to anger, misunderstanding and hostility. It is a cancer we must not let metastasize.

Identity Politics is a Marxist Construct

Identity politics has a Marxist provenance. At the heart of Marxism lies class struggle, the belief workers, abused by capitalism, would arise, seize the means of production and create a workers paradise. However, as Ludwig von Mises pointed out (see our 10/3/21 post at www.mllg.us), Marx did not see workers also as consumers; he believed they were slaves under capitalism and would remain slaves under socialism.

In actual practice, Soviet-style Marxism brutally murdered over 100 million of its own people. It was a economic disaster; see our 10/24/21 post about the Trabant compared to the Mercedes. The human carnage and economic destruction were so monumental, that even die-hard Marxists understood that workers in Western Europe, North America, Japan and elsewhere would never accept the idea of class struggle.

Marxists desperately needed an alternative, so they substituted race and ethnic struggle for class struggle, which led directly to identity politics and Critical Race Theory. They mean to end private property and redistribute everything according to race. They aim to abolish individual rights in favor of group rights based on race and ethnicity.

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Fortunately, many things unite Americans: culture, history, language, traditions, flag, manners, landmarks, national symbols and sacrifices of past generations. In closing, we recall the salving words of Abraham Lincoln in his first inaugural address.

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely as they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Next: Our Christmas special features that great humanitarian, Ebenezer Scrooge.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us
MLLG

The Authentic Thanksgiving Narrative

George Noga

This year resolve to teach your children the authentic Thanksgiving narrative.

The Authentic Thanksgiving Narrative

By: George Noga – November 21, 2021

This post presents a complete and authentic Thanksgiving narrative. It is an inspiring and uplifting story about human survival, adaptation and triumph over starvation and death. It takes place in Plymouth, Jamestown and Xiaogang, China. The Chinese celebrate Thanksgiving on the same day as Americans; it’s called Gan’en Jie, or feel thankful holiday. They decorate with pumpkins, corn and nuts, connect with family and friends and eat sesame turkey (or duck), cranberries and ginger-pumpkin pie.

The Usual Feel-Good Thanksgiving Narrative

Americans are cannonaded with the narrative of Pilgrims celebrating their abundant first harvest and sharing it with native Americans. It is a warm, fuzzy, multi-cultural, feel-good, politically correct narrative. However, it is incomplete and largely untrue. The Pilgrims’ first harvest ended with them eating rats; over 50% died, most from starvation. In Jamestown, two-thirds died; when another 500 settlers arrived, 440 of them starved to death within six months. In desperation, they resorted to cannibalism. In Xiaogang, people ate roots and ground tree bark into flour to avoid starvation.

The Authentic Story of the Pilgrims

The Pilgrims were governed by the Mayflower Compact that established communal property; everything went into a common stock and was withdrawn as needed. This was pure communism and it soon resulted in mass starvation. Governor Bradford took action. He immediately instituted private property rights, granting a parcel of land to each family. This made everyone uber-industrious and much corn was planted.

If the Pilgrims could not make socialism work, no one ever can. They were deeply religious, homogeneous, few in number and their survival depended on one another. Nonetheless, they starved to death en masse rather than work collectively. They chose death over socialism. Yet, the following year, with private property rights, these same people produced a veritable bounty and celebrated the first Thanksgiving in America.

The Authentic Story of Jamestown

As in Plymouth, everything was placed into a common store owned by everyone and hence, no one. There was no direct connection between work and benefit. Soon there was starvation amidst plenty and 478 out of 576, (83%) died. A new governor, Sir Thomas Dale, arrived. His first action was to give every man three acres. Overnight, the colony prospered as people became inventive and industrious. John Rolfe, husband of the first Pocahontas, wrote about how private property turned everything around. The following year Jamestown enjoyed an abundant harvest due entirely to abandoning socialism for private property. As in Plymouth, the very same settlers who had starved under collectivism now prospered when granted private property rights.

A Chinese Thanksgiving: The Story of Xiaogang

The Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”) abolished private land ownership and forced farmers onto communes. Over 40 million starved to death, with survivors clinging to life. In the village of Xiaogang there was no food. A young farmer, Yan Hongchang, organized a clandestine meeting with the heads of each family. They divided the commune’s land into individual family plots. Each family agreed to submit its share of the quota to the state, but got to keep the rest. The next year, Xiaogang produced a grain harvest of 100 metric tons, equal to 20 years of quotas. The CCP tried to suppress news of the Xiaogang miracle, but word spread like wildfire. Within two years, China abandoned collective farming and allowed people to farm their own land.

The Authentic Narrative for Thanksgiving

A Parable for Our Children and Grandchildren

Once upon a time, good and righteous people seeking a better life came to settle in America; they had sincere and lofty ideas about how they would govern themselves in the new world. They believed that sharing all work and benefits equally was just and even noble. They strove gallantly to make such a socialist system work. But after enduring social dissonance and unfathomable hardships, they came to the realization that a system of communal property is incompatible with human nature. They quickly took decisive action and instituted private property rights. The next harvest resulted in a veritable cornucopia and they held a feast to celebrate, inviting their Wampanoag neighbors. Today, we celebrate this as the first Thanksgiving in America.

Pilgrims starved rather than collectivize, choosing death over socialism.

The authentic Thanksgiving narrative is one of early Americans overcoming starvation, death and collectivism. It is about understanding that socialism always results in starvation amidst plenty. It is about understanding that severing the link between work and benefit is contrary to human nature. It is about understanding that socialism is such a perversion that people chose starvation over living and working communally. People in Plymouth, Jamestown and Xiaogang literally chose death over socialism. Yet, all these same people who, one year earlier, starved under socialism suddenly became industrious, inventive and prosperous when they had property rights. And that, dear readers, is the complete and authentic narrative for Thanksgiving!

This year, resolve to share the real Thanksgiving narrative with others. To our Chinese readers, happy Gan’en Jie; to everyone else, a happy and authentic Thanksgiving!

Our next post presents MLLG’s inimitable take on identity politics in America.

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More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

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Political Correctness: Weaponizing Language

George Noga

Language frames our view of reality and changes the way we think of and treat people.

Political Correctness: Weaponizing Language

By: George Noga – November 14, 2021

Progressives are winning the culture war by seizing and weaponizing language. The best example is abortion. Leftists contort themselves into pretzels to avoid uttering the word abortion. Instead, they use palliatives such as women’s health, right to choose and reproductive rights. All the maskirovka notwithstanding, it is about abortion and only abortion; it has nothing to do with choice, health or rights. Nonetheless, they have largely succeeded in framing the issue as being about choice rather than abortion.

The master of weaponizing language was Winston Churchill. At Britain’s darkest hour even his own cabinet favored negotiating terms with Germany, i.e. surrendering. Then Churchill delivered his famous speech: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Later in this post we present a Churchill collection showcasing how he weaponized the English language, mainly through humor.

Political correctness is propaganda and, like all propaganda, it is a lie.

The term political correctness (“PC”) was first coined by French philosopher Foucault in the 1960s as criticism of unscientific dogma, but its antecedents go back at least as far as Marx. The best definition I have seen is by economist Jeff Deist: “Political correctness is the conscious, designed manipulation of language intended to change the way people speak, write, think, feel and act, in furtherance of an agenda.”

Political correctness is not what you may think. It is not about politeness, good manners, social sensitivity, cultural awareness, inclusiveness, respect, caring, etiquette, deference, courtesy, being nice or about avoiding hurt feelings or slurs. It is an integral weapon in a war for your heart and mind with the ultimate goal of eviscerating the first amendment and criminalizing all speech distasteful to progressives.

We must fight back. We must never surrender the language.

Political correctness is about abnegating realities such as by calling a terrorist attack (Fort Hood) workplace violence. At bottom, PC is propaganda and, like all propaganda, it is a lie. It is about coercion, intimidation, control and totalitarianism. Thought police have existed for as long as demagogues have sought control over others. The only thing different this time is its ubiquity and the sheer lunacy of it all.

We must fight back. We must fight in the schools and universities. We must fight in the blogosphere. We must fight in the media. We must fight in pop culture. We must fight in social media and big tech. We must never surrender the language! Sound familiar? Humor, scorn and ridicule are effective in the battle against PC. And no one was better at those things than Winston Churchill. Following are some of his best uses of the English language to disarm and to put down those with whom he disagreed.

Collection of Lesser Known Churchillian Quips

“She got her good looks from her father; he was a plastic surgeon. . . . If I agreed with you, we both would be wrong. . . . Don’t argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience. . . . Light travels faster than sound; that’s why some people appear bright until you hear them speak. . . . History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it. . . . He has the gift of compressing the largest amount of words into the least amount of thought. . . . He is a modest man who has much to be modest about. . . . I have often had to eat my words, and I have found it a wholesome diet.”

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Run Forrest Run . . . You Won the Election; Now What?

George Noga

Forrest persisted despite heat, humidity, pit bulls and vicious personal attacks.

Run Forrest Run . . .

You Won the Election; Now What?

By: George Noga – November 7, 2021

On November 2, 2021 many Americans won political office for the first time. This is the story of a man named Forrest, who was elected a few years ago. It is about what happens when well-intentioned people encounter the realities of politics.

Forrest Runs for Office

Forrest had fervent views about many political issues and was motivated to seek office to make his community better. He began at a huge disadvantage versus his incumbent opponent who had name recognition, fund-raising prowess and knew the system. Forrest began early and devoted every spare minute to walking neighborhoods to meet voters. He persisted through heat, humidity, downpours, rudeness and vicious dogs.

Forrest made 50 fund-raising calls daily despite his discomfort with asking for money. Many who contributed wanted something in return – same with endorsements. He had to master every issue and respond to personal attacks. Everything in his (and his wife’s) past and everything he had ever written or posted on social media was scrutinized, distorted and used to attack him. Nonetheless, Forrest worked incredibly hard and a week before the election pulled even with his opponent. Then the bombshell dropped.

A politically motivated former coworker accused Forrest of sexual harassment and revealed some intimate text messages. This incident occurred before Forrest’s marriage and he claimed the relationship was consensual. The media printed the most salacious portions of the texts and his opponent used them in a vicious hit piece mailed to all voters immediately before the election. Forrest’s wife was mortified and his children were taunted at school. His campaign was out of money and could not respond. The negative mailers worked; Forrest’s support waned and he lost by a few points.

Forrest Runs Again

Encouraged by his earlier strong showing, Forrest decided to try again, this time vowing to win whatever the cost. He raised megabucks from special interests, giving the impression he supported their agendas – same with endorsements. He dug up dirt and attacked his opponent. He worked even harder then before walking neighborhoods despite being bitten by a pit bull. When his opponent resurrected the sexual harassment canard, Forrest was prepared with his own direct mail savage hit piece.

The final week before the election, the race was a tossup. Forrest urgently needed money for more media, robocalls and another direct mailer. He and his wife took out a $50,000 mortgage on their home to loan to the campaign. It worked. Forrest won but had to continue raising money to repay the mortgage. Since Forrest had won, many donors were eager to contribute – provided of course that he consider their positions.

Forrest Takes Office

Forrest met with many constituents, all of whom wanted something from government. Every committee hearing was an urgent plea to fund a particular cause or project. Government employees and lobbyists fawned over Forrest, constantly inflating his ego. There were no voices urging restraint. And then there were all those promises Forrest had made and the debts he incurred to raise money and to obtain endorsements. Forrest found himself increasingly focused on doing what was necessary to get reelected.

Forrest sought public office to better his community, but he soon became seduced by power and metamorphosized into an archetypical politician. He relished the power and felt entitled. After all, he had worked himself to exhaustion, been attacked by a pit bull, mortgaged his home and endured vicious personal attacks. Therein lies the problem.

How do we get all the Forrests of this world to understand that America neither needs nor wants more laws, regulations, government programs, taxes, debt or spending? In the overwhelming majority of cases, the correct thing for Forrest is to do absolutely nothing. What America needs is more liberty and less government!

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Our next post is about political correctness and the use of language.

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