Recognizing Evil - Orwell

Via Sundries Shack, “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.” – George Orwell

Wretchard, on the life of Orwell:

The most frightening thing about Orwell’s life is that it took a man as inquiring and perceptive as he was so long to understand his world.

Read the whole thing. Comment thread is interesting, too.

9th of July in Iran

An important anniversary.

More protests in Iran today. Grim. Haven't heard from my Twitter source recently. Don't know if he's still alive or free.

The reviled "Neo-Con" who wrote the first post linked above, Michael Ledeen, advocated non-military support for democratic groups within Iran rather than war with Iraq after 9/11. He believed that the Iranian regime was a bigger threat to the world than Saddam Hussein. Turns out Saddam Hussein convinced his own advisors, along with most of the rest of the world, that he possessed working WMD because he was afraid of Iran, too.

Update: A faint glimmer of hope.

The Economic Crisis and the Law

Why is anyone surprised that the economy is not recovering on schedule (in spite of the massive stimulus bill which we were told could not wait a day or two so people could read it)?

Why would ANY business person without solid government connections want to create something new or re-vitalize something old, given the new legion of bureaucratic 'fixers' coming out of Washington, all ready to fix their projects? How can people in business know what to expect next? Especially with the Obama administration's recent history of disregarding contract law, along with the Congress?

Back in April, libertarian law professor Richard Epstein, who is familiar with President Obama from their days together on the faculty of the University of Chicago, gave a fascinating summary of his observations concerning the talents and shortcomings of the president, here.

He talks about the personable president's extraordinary level of self-knowledge, his self-control, his ability to get others to reveal their ideological positions without revealing his own, and his desire to be in complete control of his environment. He then states that,

The fundamental mistake of his entire world view is that he treats contracts as devices for exploitation. He doesn't treat them as devices for mutual gain. And he assumes that redistribution can take place without any negative impact upon production. And if you live in that kind of fairyland, which I think he does, every one of your major social and economic initiatives is going to (A) misfire and if they succeed, God forbid, in getting through, they're going to lead to an intensification of the downturn that we've already experienced. So, wrong guy for the job in terms of his intellectual format. The question is whether you could force him back . . .

You might say that Professor Epstein's summary reflects his libertarian ideology. But his statements seem to be quite consistent with subsequent events.

It's interesting to me that President Obama, with his apparent desire to control so many things from the White House, does not seem to recognize that other people might have similar desires. Why doesn't he recognize that independent-minded people in the private sector - even those who aren't "rich" - might be more productive with less meddling in their own life's work? And that they might "go John Galt" (like the mule in VDH's analogy) if faced with too much bureaucracy or uncertainty about whether agreements with the government will be honored. Or uneasiness about how the rules will change. Obama's actions in foreign relations are turning out to be less predictably "liberal" than his domestic policies.

Links for the entire series of videos on "Crisis and the Law" are below. The link above is Chapter 4. They're not in chronological order. Chapter 2 has some historical perspective. He gives persuasive arguments that allowing bankruptcies under established law would have been far preferable to bailouts of AIG, automotive companies, etc. For both economic and political reasons. Chapter 5 discusses the legislative act that wins the prize for the most Orwellian name ever, the "Employee Free Choice Act". It promotes employee free choice by eliminating the secret ballot in elections on union formation and also the right to vote on contracts.

For best video quality, click on the full screen icon at the lower right after clicking the start button in the center of the screen:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

How did the housing crisis happen?

Our neighborhood housing boom and bust story
The house next door to us and the one behind it were built by a speculator shortly before the housing boom peaked. They were sold below market value at the time. The one in the back was sold to a middle-aged woman from the coast. She and her husband have another home. They are immigrants, and he cannot read. He drives a truck for a party company. She sells cosmetics part time from home. These are the kinds of people who could aspire to own two homes during the housing boom. She wants to build a small home for her mother on the property, as well.

The house next to us, about 500 square feet larger than ours on a huge lot, was also sold to immigrants, an unmarried couple in their early twenties. The woman was definitely here illegally, did not speak any English and very sporadically worked in the fields. The man was on workers compensation disability from working in the fields and may have done a little double-dipping: working and getting disability at the same time. They may have also had family help, but still. They could not possibly have gone through the kind of scrutiny we did for our home loan not too many years before. That example of irresponsible lending is only a small part of the picture of how the housing boom developed. It is only a small part of the explanation for the misery caused by the housing bust.

The house next to us is now in foreclosure. The one across the street, a much smaller home sold to more responsible young people (from the coast) is now for sale. They could not afford a home where they lived, but wanted to invest in a home for the future. They paid a higher relative price for the little house than the more irresponsible couple next door paid for their big one. They are also Latino, but native-born and therefore apparently not considered to be eligible for special concessions in home loan applications. They bought the little house just after the larger ones next to us were sold. It has been empty for much of the time they have owned it. Even if they can sell it, they will lose a lot of money.

The national story
There are a lot of losers in this crisis. The ones who have acted most irresponsibly will often get the most help in recovering. This will encourage irresponsibility in the future. ACORN, under its new name, is reportedly campaigning again to make it easier for poor people without good credit to get loans. The government is harassing banks which did not make irresponsible loans to people with poor credit. Our government could learn something from the Canadians here. Canadian banks were more conservative during the "boom" period (like the American banks now under renewed pressure to lend to people with poor credit). There was no banking crisis in Canada. We're setting ourselves up for another crisis here, it seems.

Thomas Sowell discusses how the housing boom and then the bust developed on Uncommon Knowledge.. "Now on Twitter".

Side Note: I tried becoming a Twitter follower of Uncommon Knowledge at National Review to see what was there. Not for me. Too many tweets. Better to scroll through the list of topics at the link above (also added to the sidebar under "New Media"). The Corner at National Review is a little like an exclusive Twitter group whose posts everyone can read. But the Corner crew can post reasonably long, substantive statements. Sometimes you have to scroll back to see what they're talking about when they address each other, sort of like on Twitter. That's close enough to Twitter for me, for an established website. The title of the latest post at The Corner is up over on the sidebar. under "New Topics". But back to the housing crisis.

At the links below, Thomas Sowell discusses some aspects of the crisis which most people miss, and puts the things they think they already understand in perspective. Click on the full screen icon at the lower right after clicking the start button in the center of the screen for best video quality:

Part 1: Economics of the housing boom
Part 2: Politics of the housing boom
Part 3: Origins and unique features of the housing bust
UPDATE:
Part 4: Pitfalls of New Deal Thinking
Part 5: Economic proposals of the Obama adminstration

What will emerge from the American Metamorphosis?

The changes currently taking place in America are happening at deep levels. These changes will affect the whole world. Some people are hopeful about the changes. Some are very pessimistic. Some are waiting to see what happens.

Victor Davis Hanson has posted a piece which includes a lot of ideas to ponder carefully. He proposes that America is now in a sort of cocoon stage. He talks about some of the ironic and the unintended consequences of the transformations now underway: First, there are the unexpected changes being forced upon Europe:

As I wrote, a keen Frenchman whispered to me at a reception “There is room for only one to play Obama-and we are already Obama.”

Then there are dramatic changes in our relationships with Latin American nations:

Consider: the U.S. reacted quickly and meddled unambiguously in condemning the Honduran arrest of President Zelaya.

And dramatic expansions in the power of government functionaries at home. The most interesting quote to me:

Obama has surrounded himself with legions of ‘fixers.’ Bright men and women who have Ivy League law degrees, business school credentials, PhDs in the social sciences, and academic pedigrees in science, humanities, and engineering. Quite impressive, these Platonic Guardians of the soon to be perfect state. But most of their careers in finance, government, business, and academia have been well-paid jobs critiquing, administering, regulating, nuancing, writing about, and hectoring those who create things–builders, developers, industrialists, farmers, truckers, transportation execs, retailers, lenders and investors.

We are being run now by film critics, not directors, book reviewers not writers, music columnists, not musicians. And it is far easier to fault than to birth, nuance rather than build. The irony is that the muscular classes carry the regulating and talking classes on their backs. They don’t mind being whipped occasionally and even bridled, but like any good mule will suddenly stop and no longer move when they feel the rider either does not know where he is going, or is going to kill the mule with his switch, spurs, and yanking on the bit. (Emphasis mine)

Read the whole thing. Think about it.

Update: Tigerhawk puts a number to the part of the economy Obama wants to restructure from Washington, with his legions of elite "fixers", HE WANTS TO DO IT ALL THIS SUMMER. Hubris. But Tigerhawk's number did not account for the automotive industry. (Follow the links for a look at the bright young "fixer" Obama has put in charge of GM). The auto industry brings the number to 39%.

Real Men and Women vs. Celebrities

There's been too much focus on celebrities and celebrity images this past week for my taste. As Dennis Prager says, there's a difference between fame and importance. But I have to admit that the number of celebrity deaths during this period was unusual. More on them later, after I think some more.

The departed celebrity who got the most media coverage also seemed the most dependent on careful development of an "image". It is estimated that sixty percent of news coverage was about Michael Jackson during part of the last week.

Via Maggie's Farm, American Digest and WSJ's Photo Journal, a truly candid photo taken when there was no time to think about "image": What a real man looks like. Top photo, read the caption. Description of what happened after the rescue:

And then, for the man reaching out his hand, Jason Oglesbee, and the others involved in the rescue, it was back to work on Wednesday, "We have a bridge to build here," the supervisor said as his men went about their business. -- Des Moines Register

Next photo down in the same link, real men and women in development.

Happy Independence Day

Powerline has put up its annual piece on Lincoln's campaign speech which addressed the issue of Dred Scott.

"Now, it happens that we meet together once every year, sometime about the 4th of July, for some reason or other. These 4th of July gatherings I suppose have their uses. If you will indulge me, I will state what I suppose to be some of them. . . . "

Read the whole thing.

Peggy Noonan has written about the Founders and David McCullough's histories of them. Also from WSJ: why July 4th is more than just an American holiday. Worth printing.

Government over-reach is one challenge today. The Tea Parties have already started. Locally, they're about a regulatory droughts as well as about finances. Big event scheduled in Tulare later today. More than 600 Tea Parties scheduled across the country. From Reason Magazine, a little visual expression of the spirit of independence.

Have a great Fourth of July.

Societal Expectations

Social norms change people's behavior. Visual proof via Darleen at Protein Wisdom.

Words you can trust, actions which make sense

Back in March, I wrote a long, picky piece on Professor George Lakoff's analysis of The Obama Code I was concerned because the language in the piece warped reality and presented a bigoted view of the motivations of conservatives (and libertarians).

He and his commenters also seem to believe that talk radio should be reined in and "progressive" views forced onto mainstream news programs because "About 80% of the talking heads on TV are conservatives." This guy's understanding of conservatism seems to be different from the rest of the country's understanding of conservatism if he believes this. But fine. Let's have a Fairness Doctrine for media. Right after we enforce a Fairness Doctrine for university professors who are paid by the taxpayers.

I guess this isn't the only time the Professor has advocated changing the meaning of words to suit "progressive" political purposes.

Darleen at Protein Wisdom notes the California mainstream media's failure to challenge even the most brazen misuses of language by politicans. The kind of misuse of language advocated by Lakoff. She relates this to the disastrous condition of California's finances and the regulatory drought in the Central Valley. Most people other than journalists would think that State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass uses the words "terrorized" and "revenue" in some awfully odd ways. But the wish of members of the press to promote "progressive" causes leads them to total passivity when this kind of brazen manipulation of language is used by Democrats.

Maybe it's time to teachs kids (and adults) The Propaganda Game. And journalists, too.