Young Americans for Liberty – Ole Miss Chapter

Jerry examines a his less-than-desirable 'doo in "The Barber."

It’s not a very good time to be a free market right now. Everyone blames you for their lost jobs, their foreclosed homes, and corporate exploitation. Although this blame is misplaced, most people are fearful of the free market and don’t take the time to learn and understand that the free hand of the market benefits the consumer. The theory is simple: good products/services thrive, bad ones fail, and consumers are left with the cream of the crop.

Here’s a site with an interesting look at the economics of the popular sitcom, “Seinfeld.”

The Barber: (Competition) Jerry gets a bad haircut but refuses to change barbers because he is loyal. Eventually, he is convinced to leave his barber of 12 years for the barber’s nephew. Bad quality doesn’t persist in the marketplace; it is competed away. Perhaps the answer to bad haircuts is not more regulation, but more competition.

At last, A free market example to which everyone can relate! There’s lots of other interesting economic concepts presented here using Seinfeld. Since the show is a comedy, many of the examples are not only humorous, but memorable and can be useful in understanding free market principles.

This should come in handy during the inevitable fight over the Barbers Bailout of 2011.

(via kottke.org)

James Robertson currently attends the University of Mississippi, where he plans to receive degrees in Political Science and English. He is the President of the Ole Miss Chapter of Young Americans for Liberty.

We all remember the scary dooms-day rhetoric flowing from the mouths of the MSM commentators when the credit crisis finally reared its ugly head. The banks in trouble were too big to fail, and without government aid our economy would turn to dust, take the rest of the world with it, and usher in the return of Christ.

Now, according to a Washingtonpost.com article, the banks bailed out have gotten even bigger. Due to all the government aided mergers, JP Morgan Chase, Banks of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup are now issuing one of every two mortgages, and two of every three credit cards.

Regulators are somehow alarmed that these institution are actually growing larger and more interconnected than ever. Even more alarming, thanks to near-government granted monopoly, these large institutions have actually raised their rates while smaller institutions in America have been lowering theirs:

In the last quarter, the top four banks raised fees related to deposits by an average of 8 percent, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Striving to stay competitive, smaller banks lowered their fees by an average of 12 percent.

So while over 70 smaller banks have been allowed to go bankrupt, and even more projected, the government is  still playing favorites with the Wall Street giants. Its hard to tell somebody no when they are stuffing your pockets with campaign contributions.

Amazing.  Pravda was the offical mouthpiece of the Communist Party in the Soviet days.   Those writers know Marxism when they see it. 

Read here.

As Tom Mullen outlines, the last century has witnessed both parties vastly expanding the power of the federal government, ruining our economy, expanding our empire, and squandering our wealth. 

Read this great article here.

MEDIA ADVISORY
For April 15, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: YAL – Ole Miss Chapter

OleMissYAL@gmail.com

WHEN: Thursday, April 23, 2009
7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

WHERE: Bishop Hall Room 209

University of Mississippi

501 Fraternity Row

University, MS 38677

WHO: University of Mississippi Young Americans for Liberty

           University of Mississippi Constitutionalists

WHAT: Public Speech by Thomas Woods, author of Meltdown.

WHY:  The University of Mississippi Young Americans for Liberty have teamed up with the UM Constitutionalists to attract Thomas Woods to speak on the Ole Miss campus. Woods, author of the New York Times Bestseller Meltdown: A Free Market Look at why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse, will be offering explanations on what caused our current recession and free market approaches to fixing the problem. The two on-campus organizations hope to stir up some discussion among the student body and in the local community on the costs and consequences of what the US government is currently doing to combat the ailing economy. His book has already gained popular recognition with his harsh criticism of government bailouts and the Federal Reserve’s monetary expansion policies.  Mr. Woods will be explaining how these government bailouts will make things worse and the effect they may have on the state of Mississippi.

###

The Republican governor of South Carolina, who has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2012, recently offered a nuts and bolts overview of how the stimulus package could ruin his state’s finances.

One of my friends on myspace is a very serious Liberty supporter. He recently forwarded me an email that he sent to Congressman Childers (who voted for the recent stimulus). I thought I would share what he wrote.

Congressman Childers, I have read your statements on why you voted on the stimulus package. I’d like to point out that you and many of your colleagues are ignoring the fact that using inflation as a means to prop up government spending is not only irresponsible, it’s also highly unethical. You are forcing people to accept the burden of your actions by further deliberate devaluation of their money. If you are concerned with the well-being of our state, why saddle us with the detrimental effects of inflationary monetary policy? The new administration is repeating the mistakes of Hoover and Roosevelt, and seeking government intervention as a means to alleviate our economic woes. Keep in mind that the crash of 1919 was handled much differently (no government intervention) and the economy was back on track in no time. It was this sort of intervention that prolonged the Great Depression. We are being led into the fire by Keynesian economists, who are just as wrong today, as they were in that time. The economists who truly understand this crisis come from the Austrian school of economic thought (Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, F.A. Hayek). President Obama is not an economist. He gets bad advice from Keynesians and he is repeating the mistakes of the Great Depression. If you care about the well being of Mississippians, please take a few moments to look into the Austrian theory of the business cycle and the wisdom of these economists, before it’s too late. If you discover truth in those writings, you can contact one of your colleagues in the House if you want to learn more– Dr. Ron Paul of Texas.

In his classic science fiction novel 1984, George Orwell warns his readers of the psychological propaganda schemes exploited by totalitarian governments.  Essentially, these tactics are efforts to control public opinion with deceitful language.  The George W. Bush Administration is notorious for its use of such propaganda, some instances being more obvious than others.  Consider Bush’s rhetoric in the early days of the “War on Terror” (and the idea of a war against terrorism in the first place), and you may recall such statements as: “Either you’re with us, or you’re with the terrorists,” or, shortly before the invasion of Iraq, “Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof—the smoking gun—that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”

The propaganda continues into the final weeks of the Bush Administration.  Bush seems to have learned his tactics of deception from Orwell himself, who explained the concept of doublethink:

“Doublethink is an unending series of victories over your own memory, reality control; to know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constricted lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancel out, knowing them to be completely contradictory, and believing in both of them; to use logic against logic to repudiate morality while laying claim to it.”

This week’s example of doublethink concerns the executive bailout of the auto industry, for which Bush explains: “I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system.”  Two completely contradictory statements wrapped into one.  Logic does not permit the coexistence of these facts any more than, say, crashing one’s car into a wall to maintain its prime condition.  These rhetorical contradictions stink of propaganda at the highest level of American politics.  The noxious odor dissipating from Pennsylvania Avenue is nothing new; media soundwaves have carried it eastward for eight years.  But it’s become evident that the source of this stench is a rotting rule of law, infested with maggots whose survival depends upon perpetual death and rancid bullshit.

Don’t let yourself be deceived.  Propaganda falters upon its recognition.  Deceitful intentions must be recognized before they can be rejected.

-Dan Blazo

Source: thinkprogress.org

Who better to turn to than the man who predicted the bailout before any other politician? Click below to hear Congressman Ron Paul’s views on the recent government bailout.

Justin made this week’s flyer about the specific monetary values and implications of the recent government bailouts. We think the flyer helps to clarify the extent to which our government is Socializing the markets.

How much is 700 billion dollars? Enough to buy every NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB team, buy them each a new stadium, and pay each player 191 million dollars a year.

This particular bailout is 500 times larger than the controversial Chrysler bailout of the 1980s.

Where is this money coming from? The labor of the people; the markets. We find this to be a strategy of a kleptocracy or a Socialist government, antithetical to freedom by its very nature.

Check out the flyer under the “Bailout” link at the top of this page.

-Dan Blazo