Month: January 2011

Ethics, Government, Law1 Comment

Kafka and Kelley

Podritske

Kelley Williams-Bolar may not be familiar with the literary works of Franz Kafka, but her life recently has been a Kafkaesque nightmare. After serving 10 days in jail, convicted on a charge of falsifying residency documents, she faces 3 years probation and slave-duty to the State with 80 hours of “community service”. Why? She wanted her two daughters to attend a safer school than the one designated for her home in downtown Akron, Ohio. The area is riddled with crime mostly related to the illicit drug trade; police have recorded 12 break-ins at her residence. Kelley’s father, Edward Williams, lives … Continue reading Kafka and Kelley

Economics, Government, PoliticsLeave a comment

Era of Big Government Not Over

Podritske

The question of whether Barack Obama would tack to the political center in Tuesday’s State of the Union address was answered resoundingly. Over the course of sixty-two minutes President Obama clarified that he remains a Big Government man. The mercantilist export, socialist education, corporatist industrial and Marxist taxation policies implicit in his remarks can be summed up as “statism”—that is, the state is the preferred means to achieve peace and prosperity. Burdened by an unsustainable debt load and the failure of interventionist policies, the obvious prescription is for fiscal restraint and political statesmanship. What do the American people get instead?—promises … Continue reading Era of Big Government Not Over

Canada, Ethics, PoliticsLeave a comment

It’s Not About Faggots

Podritske

Last week a controversy arose in Canada after an individual in St. John’s, Newfoundland was offended. He was offended by the word “faggot” in the lyrics of “Money for Nothing,” a song by Dire Straits.  The offended one took his complaint to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) which ruled that the song be banned from broadcast on all Canadian radio stations unless edited. Comments and observations across media channels ranged from pleas for understanding the artistry of the songwriter to whether or not contemporary culture is more enlightened than that which existed in the 1980s. The song won a … Continue reading It’s Not About Faggots

Ethics, Government, RightsLeave a comment

What’s the Big Idea?

Podritske

The most significant development of 2010 was a life-affirming idea demonstrating the concept of spontaneous order and implying the cardinal virtue of independence of the individual. One frustrated individual, Rick Santelli, ranted on-air at CNBC on February 19, 2009 about certain oppressive interventionist actions of government and called for a new Tea Party. Some credit this rant as the start of the movement. Whether Mr. Santelli was the catalyst or not doesn’t matter. Despite broad media and political efforts to trivialize the phenomenon, Tea Partiers collected support across party lines, social classes and cultural subgroups. The influence of the Tea … Continue reading What’s the Big Idea?