print“Bat shit crazy” is what Rep. Ron Paul was called when he suggested that “victims of the flooding of the Mississippi River … should be building their own levees.” What do you know? Before evacuating the area of Vicksburg, Miss, reports NPR, “some residents and farmers took matters into their own hands and built personal levees to protect their homes from floodwaters. Some of the levees rise as high as the roof, if not higher.”
Come hell or high water, people will protect what’s theirs; what they’ve worked for. Government, on the other hand, is engaged in the crooked calculus of attempting to minimize overall damage and maximize the common good. Since its agents have no stake in the property managed, the plans and their execution are bound to be shoddy.
“Entrusted with the management and regulation of assets you don’t own, have no stake in; on behalf of millions of people you don’t know , only pretend to care about, are unaccountable to, and who have no real recourse against your mismanagement—how long before your performance plummets?
“The root of environmental despoliation is the tragedy of the commons, i.e., the absence of property rights in the resource. One of my favorite running routes wends along miles of lakeside property, all privately owned, and ever so pristine. Where visitors dirty the trail that cleaves to the majestic homes; fastidious owners are quick to pick up after them.
In the absence of private ownership in the means of production, government-controlled resources go to seed. There is simply no one with strong enough a stake in the landmass or waterway to police it before disaster strikes.” (Source: “When Palin Agrees With Olbermann”)
This may sound like an over simplification but the basis of all human activity since we stopped living in caves is the concept of personal ownership of property and resources.
I am sure that the majority of Americans DO count on the government to take care of them….
Count me, however, among the Bat Shit Crazy!!! ( I would suggest a “Bat Shit Crazy Movement” but it would almost instantly get corrupted like the Tea Party movement with big government interventionists, social conservative statists, Fair Tax plutocrats, and others…)
If Ron Paul is bat shit crazy … then so am I , Paul is Right On again !
“BAT SHIT CRAZY…like a fox!”
Anyone think a T-shirt for that message would sell? I know a Tee printer in Michigan who can crank these out and, yes, I’ll most likely get a commission for business placed.
ps If I make money, I’ll send a nice donation from my commission to Ilana for her blog site.
MyRon PaulI .. Maybe Ilana , You, James,Dennis,myself & the rest of the merry band of BAB posters are already defacto leading the “Bat Shit Crazy Movement” LOLLLL !!!!!!!!
“Bat Shit Crazy Movement.” I’ve been accused of such ever since I can remember. I suppose I’m in good company.
“Bat Shit Crazy” huh? Well, I’ve been called much worse…I’m in.
Right now I’m proud to live in the much maligned South. In the aftermath of the April Tornadoes there was one event that I think had a lot to do with keeping the looting down. A gas station owner here in Huntsville decided to spend the night in his gas station (we had no power), apparently he had been robbed the night before the storms, so he was ready. This night the would be robbers/looters were met with deadly force. Not that things were getting bad here but, one gas station owner helped set the tone. As in we don’t tolerate that $%*# here. For the most part the people of Alabama have been trying to help one another out. There are always a few scammers but the general rule has been to help through individual efforts and private charities. There have even been a few 20-somethings that have their perspectives on life changed for the better as a result of this terrible set of events.
Our bretheren in Mississippi have shown the rest of the country that the spirit of independence and ingenuity is alive and well in the flood country of Mississippi. Some times that “bat shit crazy” stuff works when it comes to protecting your own property. As the photos show some of these folks in Mississippi have been successful in keeping the flood waters away from their homes and farms by building their own dams.
Maybe, just maybe something good will come out of all this. I’m hoping for a resurgence of our independent spirit and a sense of community to help each other out. I know this sounds a little pie in the sky but, as a depressed optimist I’m always hopeful.