The best libertarian writers have no illusions about a what happens in a market with no boundaries.

(They don't seem to have illusions about anything else, either.)

Leftist culture and politics is infantilizing culture and politics.

If the damage stopped with the companies directly involved, your position would have some merit.

Let's see. Capital markets dry up. No problem, I've already got a mortgage. Except my employer buys computer equipment and leases it to companies, along with my services. No equipment, no services, no job.

Sometimes there are no good choices left. We let Congress pull this stunt, just like we let Congress promise us Social Security without a guaranteed means to fund it, ditto Medicare.

They are our employees.

Where do the "dynamists" (from Crid's link) stand on immigration, one dimly wonders?

IMHO, whatever damage could be done by these failures pales in comparison to the long-term damage we're doing to ourselves by bailing these corpulent greed freaks out of their mess.

I feel like we're being held up at gunpoint.

Let's see. Capital markets dry up.
What does this mean? Exactly? What evidence is there that it will happen without a bailout? Why is it worse than a bailout in the long run or the short run?

Listen. What this looks like is one day some guy got out of bed, took a dump and while sitting there decided, "Hey, I think I'll go in to work today and ask for $700,000,000,000."

He may have a great plan, but for $700,000,000,000 I'd like evidence from him and anyone who supports him.

At least with the Iraq war we got to see Colin Powell pretend he had evidence of WMDs and a fair amount of time for public debate about the matter. These fuckers don't even go through the motions anymore.

Thanks for the link, Amy.

I see the answer, then, to how "dynamists" feel about immigration might be "it depends on the state's tax structure"?

Jody, you should also consider making a forehand volley. The matter of concern to you might be emigration, not immigration. Why are people leaving those other nations?

Read TFAIE. VP thoughtfully describes the forces that make a successful society. America has many of them; Mexico (etc.) has few of them.

I'm convinced that this entire problem was started by a ridiculous socialist initiative of the Carter Administration to put every American into a house of their own, even if they couldn't afford it.

Pure greed on the part of bankers then kicked in to give out as many such loans as possible. The end result was inevitable.

The fact that your government is now bailing them all out is understandable from a political point of view, but so incredibly wrong.

"Even defenders of socialism, notes Hayek, acknowledge that an economic plan needs a unitary concept to be effective. "Planning leads to dictatorship because dictatorship is the most effective instrument of coercion and the enforcement of ideals and, as such, essential if central planning on a large scale is to be possible.""

The finest example of this is the British Empire in late 1800. The brilliant dictatorship and capitalism worked together beautifully to the glory of British Empire at the expense of her colonies.

To make Hayek's idea to work, the government must protect the wealth of top 20% of its people from the rest of 80%. As a reward, the top 20% would be more motivated to work harder and smarter as they get to keep all of their money at the end of the day. Along the way, they will create more jobs for the rest of 80%, the economy would grow and we all would benefit from it at the end.

However, the democracy would make sure that the 80% population take the top 20%'s money at a gun point for redistribution. Thus, it kills the motivation of hard working top 20% to get up early in the morning to go to work.

If you want the democracy, you have to be comfortable with socialism just like the Northern Europeans. You cannot have the capitalism and democracy at the same time.
It is just not possible.

> If you want the democracy, you have
> to be comfortable with socialism
> just like the Northern Europeans.

What planet are you from? The socialism of Europe, at least for the past sixty years, has been purchased by the military and constabulary shelter of the US taxpayer... Were they required to sustain themselves only with the value they create, it would be a much different continent.

Seriously, how old are you. Quit quibbling, just tell us already.

"Seriously, how old are you. Quit quibbling, just tell us already."

You know that already. My seventeenth birthday is coming up. I prefer red Ferrari.

You are so going to vote for McCain. Otherwise, you are an hypocrite.

Of course, this has come up before:

Who believes that hypocrisy is somehow the greatest sin of all? Adolescents. Which ought to tell you something.

-James Lileks

Crid, wrt Chang, welcome to my world on Canada's Left Coast. I deal with such folks all the time. They're absolutely convinced that socialism is the greatest thing ever conceived. If you use the USSR as an example of socialism tried and badly failed they just say "it wasn't done right".

Trying to discuss an issue with them is like talking with a 2 year old: it's amusing for awhile but gets really boring, really fast.

Interesting that our Resident Child Socialist mentions a Red Ferrari. If such an automobile were produced in a socialist system it would likely look something like this: http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/resources/2007/07/Woodburning_Yugo.jpg

The guy will vote for McCain AND he's a hypocrite.

LOL, Robert, did you intentionally find one that was apparently waiting for the bus?