Category Archives: Capitalism

“Saying ‘I’m a Socialist’ = Saying ‘I’m a Massive idiot'”

Britain, Capitalism, Celebrity, Fascism, Hollywood, Socialism

“About the only people who haven’t figured out that saying ‘I’m a socialist’ is the same as saying ‘I’m a massive idiot’ are Western academics and zillionaire celebrities.”

Nice, pithy blog post at ProfessorBainbridge.com, as to why “aging ex-supermodel Elle MacPherson,” who professes socialism, is known as “the Body” and not “the Brain.”

I disagree that the US and UK continue to enjoy capitalist economies, as Professor Bainbridge cheerily asserts, but his point about the stupidity of a well-rewarded celebrity class is well-taken (and well-made).

What MacPherson desperately needs is for the proto-angel from It’s a Wonderful Life to take her on a tour of what MacPherson’s life would have been like if she had been born in, say, East Germany or the Soviet Union in, say, 1955. Maybe they’d have time for a quick visit to the Gulag Archipelago. Or the angel could show her what her life would have been like if she had lived in Cambodia in the late 1970s.

Besides, we hear a lot about undue corporate influence on politics, but precious little of Hollywood’s access to the Idiocoracy in DC.

Soak The Rich? How About ‘Drench Almost Every American Family’

Barack Obama, Business, Capitalism, Economy, Taxation

Most Americans own shares in major American companies, often through pension funds. “According to the Investment Company Institute,” reports the WSJ, “about 51% of adults own stock directly or through mutual funds, which is more than 100 million shareholders.” However, come 2013, the malevolent freak who inhabits the White House intends to “triple the tax rate on corporate dividends,” hurting these Americans (most of us). The “new dividend tax rate in 2013 would be 44.8%—nearly three times today’s 15% rate.”

…retirees and near-retirees who depend on dividend income would be hit especially hard. Almost three of four dividend payments go to those over the age of 55, and more than half go to those older than 65, according to IRS data. But all American shareholders would lose. Higher dividend and capital gains taxes make stocks less valuable.

Afterthought About Afwul Obama

Barack Obama, Capitalism, Free Markets, Intelligence

Lost in what Obama heralded in his State of the Union address as “an economy built to last” is Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand.”

As philosopher Adam Smith’s wisdom went, the public good was optimized when each individual acted in enlightened self-interest—and not when, as preached by Obama, people were roped in the service of a politician’s definition of the common good.

“By pursuing his own interest,” wrote Smith in “The Wealth of Nations,” “[man] frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.”

Alas, when it comes to Barack Obama, the wisdom of Ron White applies. That great satirist from the great State of Texas teaches that “You can’t fix stupid.” “There is not a pill you can take, not a class you can go to. Stupid is forever.”

UPDATED: Bitch Pitch (Orgasmic Oracles)

Business, Capitalism, Elections, General, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Media, Taxation

In anticipation of their president’s performance tonight, the pitches for BHO coming from likes of CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux and her colleague Jessica Yellin reached a crescendo today. Yellin was yelling about her man’s achievements, no less. After all, the economy looks good through the eyes of a sinecured CNN, left-liberal correspondent.

Malveaux sought out a professor who was able to smuggle into his conversation about problem solving a word about different presidential cognitive styles. Hint: Obama, aka “You Can’t Fix Stupid,” was “professorial,” deliberate, thoughtful. Bush, an equal-offender moron, was an impetuous Decider.

Malveaux set the scene for questioning a tax expert about Mitt’s money by framing the discussion thus: “He [Romney] hasn’t done anything illegal, has he?”, the link between having money and criminality having been established.

To be charitable, these bimbos are so dim, they operate hormonally, on a subconscious level. They know not what they do, although forgive them you should not.

UPDATE: Just heard Jessica (I don’t watch CNN, John; I listen to it while doing chores). Made a point of not watching her act all in heat. What has excited Yellin so? The president is going to present a “vision” for the nation, she tells us. He will pose a question [to the same stupid people who cannot read his previous, almost-identical SOTU]: What kind of America do you want? One in which rich people [many of whom were once poor] rob the poor, or one in which each has a fair shot? Here Jess cracked a greedy, goulash smile, for (and I’m paraphrasing), as she added, while prez will not point fingers, you will KNOW exactly to whom he is referring.