I'm a car "owner" now!

Recently I was finally able to finish paying off my car loan and just yesterday I finally received the title in the mail. Now I can proudly (mostly sarcastically) say that I "own" my car. Or at least I would say that I "own" my car if I actually did, but unfortunately I do not, and neither does anyone else living in this country.

Most people you ask would say I own my car. Even the state of Texas that issued my title would say I "own" my car despite the fact that the state is the true owner of my vehicle. My possession of my car would be much more accurately described as renting or leasing from the state.

If I truly owned my vehicle there would be no way that my car could be taken from me without having my rights violated. In which case I would be able to take legal action and get my car back from the person or persons that stole it from me. This is mostly accurate when it comes to my interaction with other people, except in the case of the state. Every year I have to pay rental/leasing fees in the form of car registration to the state. If I refuse to pay the amount that the state demands my car will be taken from me.

The same goes for anyone that owns a piece of property anywhere in the state. Every year you must pay property taxes to the state, and if you refuse to pay guess what happens to your property.

No one ever claims that they own their apartment. Do you truly own your home or car if you have to pay rent to the state in order to keep it?

Fake News

I used to love watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, before Obama became president. They both made fun of Bush, which was great, because he was ridiculous. The problem is that neither of them make fun of Obama, even though he is no different. Obama has not changed a single policy that Bush started, that I know of.

But I watched an episode of Colbert last night, and was reminded of a major problem we have on our hands. Colbert talked about the Federal Reserve Bank last night, and it's chairman, Ben Bernake. Some senators have been trying to get him booted from his post, and many have blamed him, and the capitalist system he represents, for the current financial crisis. Whether he's guilty or not is for another day, although I certainly think he has had a negative effect. The real problem is that people think we live in a capitalist system. I guess people don't quite understand the meaning. "Capitalist" is the same as "free market," and this would mean no regulation or taxes at all. That's the perfect free market, one end of the market vs socialist spectrum. On the other end, we have socialism, the complete State control of all human action and commerce. Which do you believe us to be closer to?

If you think the answer is "free market," you have not been paying attention in class. If you think we're more free than socialist, name me ONE industry that is completely unregulated by government. You can't, because it doesn't exist. To even BE a business, you need to get permission from the State. There has not been a free market in hundreds, maybe thousands of years. The Statists have had their go at it, and look where we are. Let the free market guys give it a try.

how to make something a lot more expensive

Require a license for it!

And this is serious:

Hottot says eyebrow threading is an ancient technique for removing unwanted eyebrow hairs using tightly wound cotton thread. “Threading is a booming industry in Texas because it is cheaper, faster and less painful than waxing,” he says.

But now the [Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation] has threatened this small business-based industry by requiring practitioners to obtain what Hottot says are “expensive and irrelevant licenses in Western-style cosmetology.”

It doesn't matter that the licensing law never mentions threading. Doesn't matter that requiring licensing always makes services more expensive. I guess it's about saving lives?

hattip reason.com

too many good posts to not link to them today

this one's about global warming

IRS is the mafia

is anyone surprised?

The real reason Obama won the Peace Prize

now it all makes sense!

the poor are getting poorer?

what he said

Gun Violence

The State is determined to take your guns from you. Or, if you don't have a gun, to make it illegal for you to ever get one, or to let your neighbor protect you with his. This is the State's solution to violence, and has been for hundreds of years, and, as is evident in Washington DC, this plan isn't working out quite so well. So, as my girlfriend often asks, what is the free market solution?

In order to solve a problem, we must first look at the cause. No matter what your position is on drugs, the one clear fact we know is that the current state of affairs is very similar to alcohol in Al Capone's day. If a product is illegal, a violent subculture will spring up around it, at every step in the supply chain. As much violence as there is in a cocaine territory war, there was in the wiskey wars in Al's day.

Since we know this is the case, the first step in making us safer from violence is to make these products legal. When was the last time Budweiser and Miller had a shoot-out? This would have the added benefit of making the products safer. I at least know what's in my Bud Light. Not quite sure what's in those pills kids pop at parties.

And then there's self defense. Just like in Washington DC, laws that ban weapons used for self defense--Surprise!!!-- usually end up making victims defenseless. Criminals, by definition, break the law, so making guns illegal does not stop them. The law abiding citizens DO follow the law, and they don't have a way to protect themselves from criminals. When the State passes gun control legislation, they don't decrease the number of criminals that own guns, just the number of legal citizens who do. Gun control ensures that the person or home being victimized does not have a gun. Lack of "gun control" means it's a toss up. What would you risk?