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Mencken's Notes on Democracy relevant to The Bahamas

by Rick Lowe

Just about done reading H.L. Mencken's, Notes on Democracy. It's a quick read, around 200 pages, but it is well worth the time.

Of course he has an acerbic wit leaving no politician of his era unscathed.

Read an article by Murray Rothbard  here... to get a feel for Mencken if you've never heard of him.

Buy your own copy of Notes on Democracy, and many other books on Liberty for that matter, here at Mises.org.

Information alert for Obie Ferguson Bahamas Union Leader

by Rick Lowe

Mr. Ferguson recently asserted in the press that The Government should mandate a "redundancy fund that would assist those people and others in their time of need".

He was/is referring to those workers that were laid off as a result of the tough economic times The Bahamas, and the world, are going through at this time.

Lessons in Freedom: Democracy, When It Suits Me

by Tibor R. Machan

Back in the 1970s I think it was, California had one of those referenda on whether to slap huge taxes on oil companies and the thing lost. The person who was an avid supporter—maybe even the main organizer—of the effort, Bill Press, was very unhappy with the result. If I recall correctly, he alleged that the election was rigged, that Big Oil bought off the voters, etc., etc. Press didn't simply accept that his side lost.

Colours - Song of the week - December 29, 2008 - Callin Crab

by Rick Lowe

For those Bahamian's abroad, and those at home, that enjoy Junkanoo hope you enjoy Callin Crab by Colours Junkanoo Group.

Happy Holidays to all.

Happy Holidays Bahamas

After all the eating, drinking and merriment for the holidays, I thought this article in The Week was most appropriate in one aspect, but it really emphasises the absurdity of some government agencies:

Cow flatulence: Will it be taxed?

There’s a wind of change blowing from Washington, D.C., these days, said Richard Luscombe in the London Guardian, and many farmers don’t like how it smells. They’re in an uproar over a recent Environmental Protection Agency report that included the suggestion that the government should consider taxes on businesses that emit globe-warming greenhouse gases—including farms with "belching and flatulent cattle and pigs." It’s less crazy than it sounds, said the Chattanooga, Tenn., Times Free Press in an editorial. Counting both its ends, the average cow pumps some 500 liters of methane into the atmosphere every day. So any such "gas tax" could be significant, up to $175 per dairy cow annually. "Everyone’s against air pollution," of course. The problem is that fees like that would have a silent but deadly effect on U.S. agriculture.

Intellectual Property Rights and the Bahamas

by Adrian Gibson

WITH the continuing layoffs and an economy that’s now in the doldrums, this Yuletide season is likely to feature a spike in crime, the occurrence of fraudulent activities and an increase in the sale of counterfeit items.

Having this in mind, it is rather perplexing how, in the face of widespread breaches of intellectual property rights, the Bahamas has not been sanctioned and is no longer included on the Special 301 list for its blatant abuse of international copyright laws—particularly since it has had a constant presence there for the past six years and has done very little to combat the violation of intellectual property rights.

The Ubiquitous Bahamas Import Duty (Excise Tax) in the Spotlight

by Christopher Lowe

One reality is irrefutable: Nothing is for free. If the government gives it, it was taken from someone else first. Perhaps the same one receiving the “gift”.

Every Bahamian is aware of Duty, the import tax, but beyond a passing aversion to it and its association with returning home, most know little more than that.

Little do they know that it is a tax on their very existence, based upon their consumption of everything they consume or acquire from outside this country, which amounts to everything, because we produce almost nothing.

Lessons in Freedom: American Commisars

by Tibor R. Machan

Back in 1859 Abraham Lincoln noted that “All this [the economic success of America] is not the result of accident. It has a philosophical cause. Without the Constitution and the Union, we could not have attained the result; but even these are not the primary cause of our great prosperity.

There is something back of these, entwining itself more closely about the human heart. That something, is the principle of ‘Liberty to all’—the principle that clears the path to all—gives hope to all—and, by consequence, enterprise, and industry to all.” In a related vein, Lincoln also said that “No man is good enough to govern another man, without that other’s consent.”

Like Obama, the setting is ripe for inspiring local leader to emerge in The Bahamas

by Adrian Gibson

BARACK Obama’s remarkable ascendancy to the US presidency should serve as an example to Bahamians as we seek to rid the Bahamas of certain grubby little crooks in our political system, some of whom having already graced the halls of Parliament.

Obama’s election appears to have brought a new political culture to world politics that the Bahamian electorate should also demand, rather than accepting and re-electing many of the same re-packaged, old washed-up do-nothing politicians to the House of Assembly.

Quote for the ages - Dr. Robert Higgs

by Rick Lowe

Anyone familiar with Dr. Higgs work, knows he pulls no punches, but here's a recent quote from him that should live into perpetuity:

"Everybody knows that the only way to find out who your true friends are is by noting who stands by you when you are down and out. Political principles work the same way. If you are prepared to throw them out the window when times are tough, then you never really held them in the first place. Principles are intended especially to guide our behavior in difficult circumstances. If they don’t do so, then our proclaimed principles stand revealed as having been nothing but rhetoric in the worst sense of the word."

Read the complete commentary here...