Environmentalism Is Racist!
The Greens vs. the Non-White Poor
The green movement is anti-free market. It proposes restrictions on the production of energy except for wind power and solar power. It favors renewable energy, especially wind and solar. A representative presentation is made by the Union of Concerned Scientists. (Note: when a group is “concerned,” it is not Right wing. There is no union of concerned gun owners, nor will there be.)
Wind power is a delusion. This is a great article on wind energy.
I am not going to review it here.
Wind power is an economic loser. In rare circumstances, it can work for an individual household, when the house is located in the equivalent of a wind tunnel. Some people who are worried about the failure of the electrical power grid may think it’s worth a huge amount of money to build such a system. But the obvious doesn’t occur to them, namely, that if the power grid goes down, the division of labor will collapse in the entire region where the power goes down and stays down. Civilization will basically disappear in that region. It will be a Mad Max scenario.
What about solar power? It, too, is mostly hype except in regions with a lot of sunshine. The percentage of power generated in the United States by solar power is one half of 1%.
The issue of battery storage is crucial. The pace of development is slow. Prices have not fallen as fast as solar power panels.
It is indicative of the political ignorance of vast numbers of Americans that anybody would take seriously the argument that the American economy can switch from coal, oil, nuclear, and natural gas to wind power and solar power. The only rival to the big four is hydroelectric power, and that constitutes 13% of power generated in the United States. To increase renewable hydropower requires dams. Dams flood the land. The greens are opposed to flooding lands — not because the land is privately owned, but because man-made flooding is not natural. The green site Ecowatch has issued a warning against hydroelectric power.
Anti-capitalists have used arguments against pollution, including carbon dioxide, to discourage the use of nuclear, coal, oil, and natural gas. Burning natural gas does produce carbon dioxide. Therefore, the greens are opposed to natural gas as much as they are opposed to the other forms of power.
Basically, the greens are opposed to the modern division of labor. They are opposed to the United States and the West in general as being enormously wealthy in comparison to the masses of the world, who do not have cheap energy. Over the last generation, the masses of the world have gained access to cheap energy, and this is the primary reason why they have become richer. The other reason is an increase of free trade, both domestically and across borders. But the greens are opposed to both capitalist trade and modern forms of energy.
The greens’ agenda would keep the Third World from getting richer. Cheap energy fuels Third World economic growth.
India and China have growing populations. Why? Economic growth. How? A major factor has been their access to cheap energy. A good study of this connection is here. This is going to continue.
From GaryNorth.com, here.
Where Women’s Wigs Come From
Somewhere in the first few chapters of “Silence Is Thy Praise” by Esther Austern, the book claims women’s wigs were originally introduced (at least in some locales) by the ancestors of the Chazon Ish as a contrived hair-covering in response to a decree against married women covering their connected hair.
I don’t have the book in front of me to quote from.
Judaism: Radical Then, Radical Now!
There is a book by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of the same name. I haven’t read it yet but the blurbs make it out to be a defense of Judaism being proto-progressive, a common theme in Rabbi Sacks’ works.
Anyway, the title is brilliant. It serves as a reminder some mitzvos were ALWAYS considered strange, so we have nothing to be shy about. See Rashi Koheles 2:3 on the passuk “ולאחוז בסכלות”.
Rashi Breishis 26:5:
מצותי, דברים שאילו לא נכתבו ראויין הם להצטוות כגון גזל ושפיכות דמים. חקותי, דברים שיצר הרע ואומות העולם משיבין עליהם כגון אכילת חזיר ולבישת שעטנז שאין טעם בדבר אלא גזירת המלך וחקותיו על עבדיו.
Rashi Bamidbar 19:2:
זאת חקת התורה, לפי שהשטן ואומות העולם מונין את ישראל לומר מה המצוה הזאת ומה טעם יש בה לפיכך כתב בה חקה גזירה היא מלפני ואין לך רשות להרהר אחריה.
Ron Paul Is Hopeful – In the Long Term
Economic Storm Clouds Gather, but Ending the Fed Provides Hope
April 3, 2018
The Federal Reserve recently increased interest rates to 1.75 percent. This is the highest interest rates have been since 2008, but it still leaves rates at historic lows. While the Fed says economic growth justifies future rate increases, an honest examination of the economy suggests that future rate increases are unlikely.
The Fed’s claim that the economy is strong is based on misleading government statistics. For example, the official unemployment rate understates true unemployment by not counting those who have given up looking for work. According to John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics, the real unemployment rate is above 20 percent. Government figures also understate the rate of inflation by pretending that you are not negatively impacted by inflation if you can still buy hamburger when you cannot afford steak. Shadow Stats estimates that the real rate of inflation is as much as four times higher than the official rate.
President Trump’s tariffs will further weaken the economy. While export-driven industries, including manufacturers that rely on imported materials, will be particularly hard-hit, the tariffs combined with the inevitable retaliation from other counties will impact all sectors of the economy. A global trade war could also lead other countries to stop buying US debt instruments, increasing pressure on the Fed to keep rates low.
Since Republicans have held control of the White House and Congress over the last year, federal spending has increased 12.9 percent. Clearly those in Congress serious about reducing government spending are few and far between. The sad fact is that both major parties are happy to increase welfare and warfare spending, although many Republicans pretend to oppose deficits when a Democrat sits in the White House. This puts tremendous pressure on the Fed to keep rates low so as not to increase the federal government’s already high interest payments.
This cannot last forever. Eventually the combination of a spendthrift Congress and a print-happy central bank will cause a major economic crisis. This crisis will herald the end of the welfare-warfare state and the fiat money system that sustains it. The only question is whether the existing system will be replaced by a free market and limited constitutional government or we will complete our descent into totalitarianism.
Fortunately, more Americans are becoming aware of the freedom philosophy and demanding that government roll back the welfare-warfare state and rein in the Fed. Many are also demanding protection of their right to opt out — not just from government programs like Obamacare but also from the Federal Reserve System. For example, Wyoming recently joined Arizona in passing a law recognizing gold and silver as legal tender. Citizens of these states are now able to protect themselves from the coming dollar crisis by using what has historically been considered real money.
At the federal level, the movement to audit the Fed remains strong. As the failures of Keynesianism become more apparent, the movement to audit and end the Fed will grow in size and strength. Hopefully this movement will ensure the end of the welfare-warfare state and the fiat currency system as well as lead to a new era of liberty.
From Lewrockwell.com, here.