WeblogBahamas.com

Lessons in Freedom: Truncated "Liberty"

by Tibor R. Machan (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)

"Genuine liberty means being in full control of one's life not being accorded the privilege of not always suffering the intrusions of one's oppressors."

Some people seem to believe that when they aren't being directly oppressed, meddled with, intruded upon, interfered with and so on, they are then free. Americans often have this conception of being free because their various governments often leave them be. Only 40 percent of their resources is being taxed! Their bars can be open until 1 AM or even later in some places. Blue laws apply only here and there, on certain days. So, hurray, we are free!

Lessons in Freedom: Beholden to our ancestors

by Tibor R. Machan (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)

"The best system for what some call inter-generational justice--for squaring with our ancestors fairly--is the private property system that does a reasonably decent job of securing for everyone what he or she has a right to, what everyone is entitled to."

When the idea of paying taxes, especially the exorbitant ones extorted from the well to do, is debated, defenders sometimes maintain that these are due because we owe it to our ancestors who forged institutions and other results that now benefit us all. So even our own selves, our bodies, health, pleasant looks, and, of course, any inheritance we were left by our elders do not really belong to us free and clear.

Talking heads and food security for The Bahamas and Cuba

by Rick Lowe (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)

Wherever talking heads are gathered in The Bahamas you hear someone mention how wonderful Cuba is.

Stories abound of great health care and educational systems and don't forget food security.

Of course this is a measure of our so called failure here in The Bahamas. We don't farm so we are worse off as a result.

But is it true that Cuba is self sufficient in food? Oh, and don't forget how that dastardly US embargo has forced them to be self sufficient in food and how great the Cuban government is in providing for her people.

I submit that it's all a myth.

Lessons in Freedom: The Unearned Wealth Trap

by Tibor R. Machan (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)

The bottom line is that what one has a right to is one's life, one's liberty, and the property that arises from these whether come by some hard way or easy.

Sometimes defenders of human liberty put their case badly and one such instance is when they defend the right to private property by identifying all expropriation or extortion as the taking of earned wealth. But it isn't a matter of whether the wealth was earned or not--quite a lot of one's wealth, the benefits one enjoys in life, belong to one even if one hasn't earned these.

Lessons in Fredom: Regulation Mania

by Tibor R. Machan (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)

One is based on the phenomenon of market failures but omits from considerations that there is a far greater hazard from political failures when governments regulate the market.

Government regulation of the American economy--with the implication for all economies--is back in favor with politicians, bureaucrats and, most importantly, certain outspoken economists. (Nobel Laureate and Princeton University professor Paul Krugman, who is a regular columnist for The New York Times and a very frequent talk show guest is a good example, as is political scientist James Galbraith of the University of Texas at Austin.)

The Bahamas and "the middle road between the extremes of capitalism and socialism" - another response to Avid Reader

by Rick Lowe (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)

Thanks to Avid Reader for having written again to suggest there are benefits to "the middle road between the extremes of capitalism and socialism" telling us that he or she seeks that "elusive Utopia where capitalism with a human face resides".

One would say both major political parties here are somewhere between capitalists and socialists, using the mixed economy economic model, and the country does not appear to function very well in numerous areas as Avid Reader pointed out a couple weeks back.

But neither capitalism or socialism have a "human face". As Ludwig von Mises tells us, in economics there is "Human Action".

Lesson's in Freedom: One's Right to be Wrong

by Tibor R. Machan (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)

In a recent demonstration outside the Earl Warren Bldg in San Francisco someone was waiving around a sign that read: "A moral wrong can't be a civil right." Well, in fact it can! A simple case in point is when someone writes something that is immoral or produces pictures or movies that are morally corrupt or writes a book that praises Hitler or Stalin or Pol Pot (Khmer Rouge). In America one definitely has a legal or civil right to do all this even though it's all arguably morally wrong. And all human beings have this right, actually, whether their legal system acknowledges it or not.

Indeed, the entire point of having rights is to be in charge of a sphere of one's life, which means one is free to act well or badly within such a sphere--it is entirely up to the individual and others may not invade the sphere even if quite rightly they judge what one is doing morally wrong.

Seeking the middle road between the extremes of capitalism and socialism in The Bahamas

by Rick Lowe ( http://www.weblogbahamas.com )

Avid Reader has responded to my response.

Download his or her Letter to The Editor (PDF) here...

I'm working on another response.

This is fun actually.

Tough Call aka Larry Smith on "What the Economic Crisis Holds in Store" for The Bahamas and the world

by Rick Lowe ( http://www.weblogbahamas.com )

Tough Call by Larry Smith, is always good. Well researched and readable. Whether I agree with him or not.

This week he tries hard to refute Dr. Robert Murphy's take on the US economy at a recent Nassau Institute (video) event.

In the end, it appears to me that he and Dr. Murphy are on the same page though?

Read the entire piece here...

Lessons in Freedom: Power Really Does Corrupt As it Expands

by Tibor R. Machan

Lord Acton, the British historian is widely known for at least one of his observations. This is that "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Acton made this observation amidst a whole lot of insights and analyses that have gone down as the treasures of late classical liberal political thought. His most famous insight has by now become a cliche, a truth that we all know even if we fail to heed it in our daily lives and public affairs.