dangerous liberty

George Reisman powerfully comments on The Sorry State of Our Union (HT: Luskin):

… one leading and downright terrifying fact stands out. And that is that the people’s elected representives do not know what the government is doing. The government is supposed to be of, by, and for the people. The people’s elected representatives are supposed to be in control of that government in the name of the people they represent. That is their job.

The situation we are in, and have been in for several generations, is one in which intelligent, representative government is increasingly impossible, simply because of the sheer size and scope of government. If we want a government that is controlled by our representatives, we need a government that is sufficiently limited in size and scope for it to be humanly possible for our representatives to know and understand what it is doing and what is being suggested that it do.

For the people’s representatives to regain control of the government, its size and scope must be radically reduced.

Reisman concludes

Comparisons to train wrecks hardly do justice to what’s at stake. It’s the wreckage of our country that is waiting to happen, and has been happening. And it’s been happening and will continue to happen for the very simple reason that the government of the United States is out of control in the most literal sense. It is out of the control of the American people and their elected representatives. That control must be reestablished.

This is absolutely true, but how? Where is the plan? Who is doing the right thing? How to bring out the libertarian in John Q. Public? Individualism and self-reliance are no longer attitudes of most Americans, there is a general acceptance of governmental control and now nasty fights over who gets to legislate morality.

Have a look at the Flexible woman. How to describe it in a word? Insectish.

Katrina: What the Media Missed by Lou Dolinar at RCP.

Lou reports on the heroic actions of the National Guard during Katrina, noting the lack of media attention to this incrediblly under-reported story:

Do you remember the dramatic TV footage of National Guard helicopters landing at the Superdome as soon as Katrina passed, dropping off tens of thousands saved from certain death? The corpsmen running with stretchers, in an echo of M*A*S*H, carrying the survivors to ambulances and the medical center? About how the operation, which also included the Coast Guard, regular military units, and local first responders, continued for more than a week?

Me neither. Except that it did happen, and got at best an occasional, parenthetical mention in the national media. The National Guard had its headquarters for Katrina, not just a few peacekeeping troops, in what the media portrayed as the pit of Hell. Hell was one of the safest places to be in New Orleans, smelly as it was. The situation was always under control, not surprisingly because the people in control were always there.

From the Dome, the Louisiana Guard’s main command ran at least 2,500 troops who rode out the storm inside the city, a dozen emergency shelters, 200-plus boats, dozens of high-water vehicles, 150 helicopters, and a triage and medical center that handled up to 5,000 patients (and delivered 7 babies). The Guard command headquarters also coordinated efforts of the police, firefighters and scores of volunteers after the storm knocked out local radio, as well as other regular military and other state Guard units.

As I recall, the predominant images from the Superdome were not of arriving helicopters, but of complaining survivors…

Dolinar’s post is lengthy and will make you proud to be American, because the US Military has perhaps the most intelligent logistical operations. Ever.

Watch this short video of Michelin’s Revolutionary Airless Tires. They are called ‘tweels’.

Related info here and here.

George Reisman writes about Gasoline at 10 Cents a Gallon and Falling, giving an example of the relative effects of inflation. (Hat tip, Luskin)

Luskin notes inflation isn’t rising prices, but a declining dollar. I would add that inflation is literally inflation of the money supply, which dilutes the overall purchasing power fo the currency in that supply, which makes the individual units worth less.

One of the paleos over at Mises.org once illustrated this by noting that a $20 gold dollar would buy you a custom tailored suit 100 years ago. The value of that same weight of gold today will buy you a custom tailored suit as well!

(Note to self: convert paper money to something less prone to devaluation as soon as you get it)

Nifty little networking feature for the blog group Life, Liberty, Property. Thanks to Eric for setting it up!

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Power Line gets it.

Donald Luskin on the 2003 Tax Cut on Capital Gains Entirely Paying for Itself on NRO Financial. A well-supported analysis.

Yesterday in Reason magazine: Vouching for Newark: One of America’s most-maligned cities gets set to elect pro-school choice leadership, by David Weigel. David notes today that the subject of this article won election yesterday and run-off election will determine whether his pro-choice slate will have a big majority in the city of Newark.

Those who support the cause of choice in public education should consider supporting the remaining pro-choicers in their run-off elections…

Nifty radar clip of FedEx arrivals during Thunderstorms over at Airline Pilot Central.

I can imagine the scene on the ground might be butt-clenching to anyone not used to FedEx’s 90 second average. (from this Mephis Hub fun facts quiz)