Right to Opine

Thomas Sowell lays out the reality behind the recent media hype over “income disparity.”

It is easier and cheaper to collect statistics about income brackets than it is to follow actual flesh and blood people as they move massively from one income bracket to another over the years. […]
The Internal Revenue Service can follow individual people over the years because they can identify individuals from their Social Security numbers. During recent years, when “the top one percent” as an income category has been getting a growing share of the nation’s income, IRS data show that actual flesh and blood people who were in the top one percent in 1996 had their incomes go down — repeat, DOWN — by a whopping 26 percent by 2005.
How can both sets of statistics be true at the same time? Because most people who are in the top one percent in a given year do not stay in that bracket over the years.
If we are being serious — as distinguished from being political — then our concern should be with what is happening to actual flesh and blood human beings, not what is happening to abstract income brackets.

But if we did that, we’d have to have honest dialog about class mobility and the rewards of hard work, patience, and fiscal responsibility. Can’t have that, now can we?

Upon prodding by a liberal friend, I decided to look up the official “Declaration of the Occupation of New York City” to see their specific grievances. It doesn’t contain any more depth than the call to action I examined yesterday. Here goes, with my rating of each of their, um, “points.”

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

Partial truth. Yes, there have been numerous cases of wrongful foreclosure. Most foreclosures, however, are the result of failure to make payments. Duh.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

Partial truth. Most, but not all, of TARP has been repaid, as the funds were not actually bailouts but loans (unlike the GM and Chrysler bailouts, which benefited the unions over the manufacturers’ creditors). Side note: conservatives (not to be confused with Republicans) opposed TARP, which was passed by the Pelosi/Reid Congress and signed by the (rather un-conservative) Bush.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

Partial truth. Discrimination of all kinds is hardly unique to the corporate world. Neither is it rampant throughout the corporate world itself. Abuses should be addressed individually rather than by lumping all corporations together. (I won’t even get into whether gender identity and sexual orientation should be protected. Whole ’nother can-o-worms.)

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

Partial truth. Our food supply is hardly poisoned. If it were, we’d all be dying of poisoning rather than from the side effects of obesity. And the agricultural industry has been harmed far more by government intervention in the form of subsidies (a bipartisan affliction) than by any corporate actions.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.

Partial truth. I’m not sure who’s hiding the fact that drugs and other chemicals are tested on animals before humans. It’s quite true that such testing harms and kills thousands of animals every year. Without that testing, however, we simply wouldn’t have the amazing medicines available today. Every human that is saved from cancer as well as parasitic, viral, and bacterial disease owes his life to animal testing.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

Partial truth. If “negotiate” means “unionize” then, yes, many corporations do fight unionization. If workers were smarter, they would as well. Consider the case of auto manufacturing. Not a single foreign maker in the U.S. is unionized, yet their employees enjoy similar pay and benefits and nary a one of those evil corporations has ever been bailed out by taxpayers. Union dues pay for very big union boss salaries and hefty donations to one of our dominant political parties (bonus points for guessing which one). They don’t help the worker all that much.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

Lie. Students make a voluntary choice to acquire debt in the form of student loans, and they have both a legal and moral obligation to pay them back. Further, a college education isn’t a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

Partial truth. Outsourcing simply hires one group of workers in place of another. Any intelligent business will outsource work that can be performed more affordably by external labor. Most often, outsourcing does not result in a reduction in pay or benefits, but a reduction in employees for one company and an increase in employees for another. There’s hardly anything unfair about it.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

Lie. Corporations do not have the same rights as people. In a growing number of states, for example, corporations do not have the right to ban employees from keeping a firearm in a locked vehicle parked in the company’s lot. The right of the individual trumps the right of the corporation. Are there cases where the reverse has been true? Certainly. But to equate the two is plain silly. And responsibility? Companies pay billions every year settling lawsuits. The system is far from perfect, but we do have corporate accountability.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

Finally a true statement.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

Lie. We, ourselves, have sold our privacy for the convenience of using credit cards, cell phones, the internet, etc. Read the fine print before you sign anything. Whatever happened to individual accountability?

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

Lie. No press/media in the world have anything approaching the freedom enjoyed here, and our military and police have done nothing to encroach it.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

Partial truth. Some corporations have been guilty of failing to voluntarily recall products. More often, as in the recent case of Toyota, recalls are entirely voluntary. No corporation has ever refused a government-mandated recall.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

Lie. Corporations have no say in determining national economic policy. Their own corporate policies are sometimes disastrous, but blame for overall economic policy falls directly on the federal government and, in turn, on the voters who elect charlatans like Frank and Dodd, whose actions directly led to the Fannie/Freddie debacle.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.

True. And in recent years, that money has gone 2-1 to Democrats. Vote ’em out.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

Lie. Corporations aren’t blocking anything. They are pursuing profit, which currently means oil and coal. There’s nothing illegal or immoral about that. A growing number of corporations are investing very heavily in alternative energy, including some of the evil oilers (like BP was long before the big spill). Nissan, for example, just this week announced a prototype automotive battery cell that holds the promise of being recharged fully within 5 minutes. Realization of that promise is still years off, though, and in the meantime we need oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.

Partial truth. We grant limited patent protection so that big pharma—which invests literally billions in research, most of which goes nowhere—can profit from their efforts and recoup their investment. Generic forms aren’t blocked. They’re delayed for a few years. If you don’t like the system, lobby your reps to change the law.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

True. Such behavior, however, is hardly limited to corporations, and won’t be eradicated until we figure out a way to eliminate all forms of dishonesty from humanity. We should certainly keep working at it, but it’s not something new or unique to corporations.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

Lie. Never in the history of humanity has a society had so much access to so much information. The rise of the internet (the infrastructure of which is developed and operated by, um, corporations) has made it virtually impossible to keep anything secret for long. Besides, the vast majority of mainstream media tilts left, with only the Wall Street Journal (ironically) and Fox News leaning right. I would bet less than 0.5% of the OWS protesters has ever voted conservative, so who exactly are they complaining about?

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

Citations, please. I’m aware of state-directed executions. Haven’t heard of any murders.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

Lie. Someone needs to reread the definition of colonialism.

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

Partial truth. There have been a couple corporations involved in the interrogation and death of people outside our borders. (I quibble over the terms torture, murder, and innocent.) So go after those individuals. It’s not something endemic to corporate America.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.

Partial truth. A relative handful of companies (as a percentage of all U.S. corporations) create weapons of all kinds (though we haven’t created any new WMDs in years) at the direction of our federal government, i.e., at the request of “we, the people.” That can be changed at the ballot box. Targeting WalMart isn’t going to stop the business of arming our military.

So we have a list of half-truths twisted into lies sprinkled with a couple true statements. Most of the grievances, where they have any legitimacy at all, are properly directed at a handful of corporations, and are the result of liberal, big-government policies and government interference. Demonstrating against corporate America is not going to change anything. Voting conservative—which the OWS folks would never consider—would.

OK, so my curiosity finally got the best of me and I had to head over to the Occupy Wall Street site. Now this is a movement of intellectual giants.

(From the official web site, front page link to the “call to action.”)

First, their principles:

1. If you agree that freedom is the right to communicate, to live, to be, to go, to love, to do what you will without the impositions of others, then you might be one of us.

Um, yeah. Anarchy has a very successful history. Besides, these freedoms exist with reasonable limitations or society simply couldn‘t function. Corporations have done nothing to limit them.

2. If you agree that a person is entitled to the sweat of their brows, that being talented at management should not entitle others to act like overseers and overlords, that all workers should have the right to engage in decisions, democratically, then you might be one of us.

Every individual in the U.S. is already “entitled to the sweat of their brows” as it is. If you don’t like working for a corporation, then don’t. Start your own business. Nobody’s stopping you. But business isn’t and shouldn’t be democratic. Twenty unskilled, uneducated workers very rarely have the business experience or knowledge to make good decisions that a single manager often has. That doesn’t mean managers always call it right—not by a long shot. But the people who have skin in the game, i.e., stockholders, have the legal and moral right to choose the folks who make decisions—it’s their money at risk.

3. If you agree that freedom for some is not the same as freedom for all, and that freedom for all is the only true freedom, then you might be one of us.

And this has what, exactly, to do with Wall St & corporations?

4. If you agree that power is not right, that life trumps property, then you might be one of us.

Yeah, so…?

5. If you agree that state and corporation are merely two sides of the same oppressive power structure, if you realize how media distorts things to preserve it, how it pits the people against the people to remain in power, then you might be one of us.

Let’s see. Wall Street gave significantly more to Obama in the last election. His admin has been full of Goldman employees, etc. The media have slanted leftward for decades. Oh, and conservatives would like to significantly decrease the size and power of the state. So all these protestors are going to vote R instead of D next time around?

And the call for action:

1. We call for protests to remain active in the cities. Those already there, to grow, to organize, to raise consciousnesses, for those cities where there are no protests, for protests to organize and disrupt the system.

Yes, let’s disrupt the system. Gas and food prices are rising. Real income is falling. Let’s turn a bad situation into a full-on disaster.

2. We call for workers to not only strike, but seize their workplaces collectively, and to organize them democratically. We call for students and teachers to act together, to teach democracy, not merely the teachers to the students, but the students to the teachers. To seize the classrooms and free minds together.

Frightening and moronic. Organize workplaces democratically? Right. What, exactly, do the hourly workers at my company know about the physics, chemistry, etc., required to manufacture LEDs and semiconductors? For the most part, nothing. And when they do apply themselves and gain the knowledge and experience required to make good decisions…they get promoted and paid more.

And democracy in the classroom? Please. Our students don’t need more democracy, they need to learn calculus and physics, and how to communicate in coherent English—and they need teachers who actually know those subjects instead of drones who’ve been inculcated with child psychology but couldn’t solve a simple math problem or parse a sentence to save their lives.

3. We call for the unemployed to volunteer, to learn, to teach, to use what skills they have to support themselves as part of the revolting people as a community.

Almost a good idea. Why not focus all that energy and effort into producing goods or services your community wants and needs—and making a profit at it so you’re not only supporting yourself but capable of supporting others instead of leeching off those of us who do productive work?

4. We call for the organization of people’s assemblies in every city, every public square, every township.

Funny. The Tea Party’s been doing just that for a couple years without crapping on police cars or destroying public and private property. The main difference is that Tea Party assemblies naturally disperse after a couple days because they’re comprised of responsible people who have jobs. I guess the next group they’ll direct their misplaced anger at will be the employed.

5. We call for the seizure and use of abandoned buildings, of abandoned land, of every property seized and abandoned by speculators, for the people, for every group that will organize them.

Hold on a second. I thought it was, “power is not right.” Mob mentality. Lovely. And then what? “Organize them” to what end?

Meaningless pablum straight from the pen of Saul Alinsky.

Herman Cain has penned a perfect response to the mindless blatherings of the Wall Street protestors.

Given the current state of the economy, the 2012 presidential race should be Perry’s to lose. If he fails to take advantage of this opportunity…

Money quotes:

Adversarial unionism is one reason the Midwest slumped. It turns out that the 1970 assembly line, with union shop stewards always poised to shut it down, was not the highest stage of human economic development. When you make labor more expensive, you create incentives to invent new machines and create new jobs elsewhere. Foreign auto manufacturers built plants in a South recently freed from state-imposed racial segregation. With no adversarial unions, management and labor could collaborate and achieve quality levels the Big Three took decades to match.

and

Mr. Perry points out that his state, with low taxes and light regulation, has been producing nearly half of America’s new jobs.

Perry needs to avoid discussing the other Republican candidates and focus entirely on the things Texas is doing differently, why they are working when liberal policies in other states are failing, and how they can be extended to the country at large. It’s hard to argue against success.

The left in America would have us become more like Europe: a largely secular society with cradle-to-grave “security” provided by the government. After seeing the rioting in England—public depredations that can only be described as evil—I’ll pass.

MOBS have begun stripping people and taking their belongings as police struggle to control riots in London and in other major English cities…

A young man is shown being forced to hand over all of his clothes after appearing to be stripped naked during the third night of lawless riots…

Another picture which emerged shows an unnamed woman completely naked next to a police officer after apparently having her clothes taken from her…

…another shocking video shows a bleeding teenager being robbed in broad daylight by lawless thugs who pretend to help him to his feet.

[Note the stirling security provided by the British government. The Bobbies—yes, that’s one ‘o’ and two ‘b’s, not the other way around—can’t control the mobs, and the people have been entirely disarmed by their own government so that they can’t protect themselves. But that’s a whole ’nother can-o-worms.]

And what are they rioting over? The big-government teat at which they’ve been feeding is drying up. This is swiftly becoming a recurring pattern—riots in Greece, France, and England by a populace weakened and spoiled by decades of government coddling. Once people grow accustomed to being cared for, they lose the ability—and the moral determination—to care for themselves. Think that couldn’t happen here? Yeah, I’d have thought the same thing a few decades ago when I lived in Europe and visited the U.K. with my family. But I was young and naive then.

The most recent NY Times/CBS poll shows what many of us have feared for a while (and the last presidential election confirmed): Americans are confused, self-contradictory, and clueless. Consider:

Mr. Obama has considerable support for his proposal to end tax cuts for those households earning $250,000 a year and more: 72 percent of respondents approved of doing so as a way to address the deficit.

[…]

Given the choice of cutting military, Social Security or Medicare spending as a way to reduce the overall budget, 45 percent chose military cuts, compared with those to Social Security (17 percent) or Medicare (21 percent.)

Sorry folks, that’s not going to solve the deficit problem. You could tax everyone in that bracket at 100% and you still wouldn’t put a dent in our deficit. There just aren’t enough folks making that kind of dough to make a difference. And even if you shut every branch of the military completely down, we wouldn’t break even. Not even close.

55 percent of poll respondents said they would rather have fewer services from a smaller government than more services from a bigger one, as opposed to 33 percent who said the opposite, a continuation of a trend in Times/CBS polls.

[…]

Twice as many respondents said they would prefer cuts in spending on federal programs that benefit people like them as said they would favor a rise in taxes to pay for such programs.

Yet more than 6 in 10 of those surveyed said they believed Medicare was worth the costs. And when asked specifically about Medicare, respondents said they would rather see higher taxes than see a reduction in its available medical services if they had to choose between the two.

Yep. Americans want it all. Fewer services from a smaller government. Spending cuts instead of higher taxes. More Medicare (as it grows rapidly) and higher taxes. Which is it? You really can’t have it all.

The opposition by Tea Party supporters to raising the level of debt the nation can legally carry was shared by nearly two-thirds of poll respondents, including nearly half of Democrats…

OK, so in a nutshell, we’re going to cut spending but we can’t touch the biggest fiscal boondoggles (Social Security, Medicare, & Medicaid) on the ledger. We’re going to raise taxes, but only on the “rich” (tell that to a two-income family in CA who makes $250K but pays more than $500K for a small home on top of exhorbitant state income taxes; no, wait—they deserve it for repeatedly electing the craziest state government in the union). We can’t increase our debt limit but at the same time we can’t cut the entitlement programs that make up the bulk of federal spending.

Basically we want everything but we don’t want to actually pay for it. We’ve become the perfect credit card society. This can’t last long, folks.

Throughout the current recession Hyundai has not only remained profitable but has significantly expanded its manufacturing presence in Alabama and Georgia. Other foreign auto makers have had similar success. Why is it that the Big Three in Detroit have struggled so much—with two being handed generous taxpayer-funded bailouts—while we hear nary a peep about Honda, BMW, Hyundai, etc., who all have plants here?

The United Automobile Workers union has long tried to organize plants in the United States operated by foreign carmakers, most of which are in the South, but has yet to succeed anywhere.

No unions. Unencumbered by the dead weight of the UAW, foreign makers are able to offer competitive salaries and benefits while remaining competitive and profitable in a down market. Workers at GM, Chrysler, and Ford could learn a valuable lesson from this. Will they?

Remember just a couple years ago when the U.N.’s IPCC issued a report claiming the Himalayan glaciers were melting—due to man-made global warming, er, “climate change”—and would disappear within a few decades? Well, we already had good reason to believe that was false because the head of the panel—Dr. Rajendra Pachauri—has acknowledged the claim was made based on unchecked research, although

he maintained that global warming was melting the glaciers at “a rapid rate”, threatening floods throughout north India.

Well, hold onto your hats, because even that isn’t true.

Researchers have discovered that contrary to popular belief half of the ice flows in the Karakoram range of the mountains are actually growing rather than shrinking.

You read that correctly. And the research was done by scientists at the University of California—not exactly a hotbed of right-wing conservative climate change skepticism.

“Anthropomorphic global warming” is nothing more than a tactic to throttle private industry and increase governmental (and U.N.) control over the economy. This becomes clearer with each new revelation.

While the rest of the world expands oil drilling, we shut it down and will inevitably wind up buying even more of what we need from foreign sources. While sucking the energy life-blood out of our own economy we pour billions into other nations’ oil ventures. Brilliant, that.