Disturbing Poll of the Day: Americans favor Socialist Health Care Funding System

In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand described a fictional factory which exemplified the illogical and counterproductive elements that inhere within the socialist model. The factory demanded from employees according to their ability, and distributed rewards to the same employees according to their needs. In the quagmire of entangled interests that ensued, the factory experienced a period of sharp decline before its quick and predictable demise.

Stunningly, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey reveals that Americans favor the application of these nonsensical principles to domestic health care funding legislation over a much more intuitive alternative. As the linked article states, two out of every three committal voters prefer the House version of the bill, which places a higher tax burden on high income taxees, to the Senate version, which taxes according to the value of the policies.

As popular as ethical and moral trends have made them, attempts to deny the interests of the self as the primary motivation for human action remain as futile and as inane as they did in the time of Rand. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need," is a philosophical model that is as incapable of successfully managing a country as it is managing a business. Hopefully those in Washington have more sense than those they represent.

Isabel Paterson: The Goddess of Amazing

She is so cool. Born and raised in the developing Western regions of the United States in the early 20th century, she learned the value of independence. She practiced as she preached, and despite her modest means created a successful career as a fiction writer and literary critic.

Her magnum opus was her only work of nonfiction, and it quickly became the beacon of the infectious ideology of freedom, ultimately earning a spot among the touchstones of Libertarian literature.

"The God of the Machine" venerates the creative capacities of humanity, and proves through logic and historical evidence how the limitation of government creates the political environment most conducive to its growth and expression.

She rocks! She uses phrases like "the age of energy" and "the human dynamo" to illustrate an elaborate and stunningly accurate metaphor comparing the release of human energy to a long-circuit energy system.

Just when you get acclimated to her comparison, she throws a curveball claiming, "This is not a figure of speech or an analogy, but a physical description of what happens." Whoa. That is what I call confidence!

Although the odd title of the book is the subject of much debate, I believe it is a reference to her uncompromising anti-fatalism. She sees collectivists as believers in a mechanistic universe propelled by a perpetual motion machine, which need not be sustained by action once the initial force has been activated.

I believe the "God of the Machine" is the human dynamo, commonly apotheosized througout the book, which she sees not as this initial force, but as the action which does sustain the survival and improvement of the human race.

I haven't actually read this entire book, but when I do I will review it on this site. Isabel is my hero.

Super Leaders Assessment Series: Wiliam Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was born on September 15, 1857 in a small town near Cincinnati, Ohio. After eating it, he moved on to Yale College to pursue higher education.

Much like his predecessor, Taft's political career was largely a product of the progressive climate that dominated the national legislative trends of his time. Taft's primary presidential legacy may in fact be his remarkable lack of political acumen, and an unfailing ability to alienate all interest groups involved in a given issue. This has to be a plus. If the American public is continuously incensed at whichever individual holds the office of President, it logically follows that the position will be abolished eventually.

Taft teased Libertarians throughout his presidency, favoring some policies which furthered, and many which greatly hindered the cause. Most fans of freedom are probably most familiar with Taft's support of the bane of Libertarians. I mean, the Sixteenth Amendment which allowed for the creation of a federal progressive income tax structure.

With our knowledge of this perversion of public policy practically, it would be practically impossible that Taft will pass our Super Leader's Final Score, assuming he was not secretly responsible for consuming dozens of unnecessary government offices while dining at the White House. Altough progressive income tax structures represent the antithesis of Libertarian thought, Taft made a number of more subtle advancements of freedom during his presidency, undoubtedly in order to eschew an unrestrained verbal pummeling in this very assessment.

The primary example of this is his support of the Payne-Aldritch Tariff Act of 1909 which liberated constricted global markets and sparked industrial growth worldwide. Also, Taft restructured Roosevelt's ghastly foreing policy, specifically in Latin America, by pioneering the concept of Dollar Diplomacy, which invested American dollars in the infrastructure of developing economies. Don't get me wrong here. I am absolutely of the opinion that wealth should be invested by those who created it, and not by the government. But if I'm financing foreign operations, I would rather they be profitable and peaceful investments than violent and cost inefficient military conflicts.

Despite these improvements on the previous administration, Taft was known as a liscentious "Trust-Buster", and infamous for the indescretion he used when selecting American corporations to dissolve. Such blatant meddling in the private sector in unacceptable, and negates any positive influence on his score which other policies may have generated.

Super Summary: Although Taft displayed a modicum of public policy preferences favorable to the Libertarian struggle such as tariff reduction and improvements in foreign policy, his key part in overseeing the passage of the constitutional amendment most detrimental to freedom and his disregard for free markets renders him nearly as politically hyperactive as his predecessor.

Super Score: 5 (one fore every meal of the day...)

Super Leaders Assessment Series: Wiliam Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was born on September 15, 1857 in a small town near Cincinnati, Ohio. After eating it, he moved on to Yale College to pursue higher education.

Much like his predecessor, Taft's political career was largely a product of the progressive climate that dominated the national legislative trends of his time. Taft's primary presidential legacy may in fact be his remarkable lack of political acumen, and an unfailing ability to alienate all interest groups involved in a given issue. This has to be a plus. If the American public is continuously incensed at whichever individual holds the office of President, it logically follows that the position will be abolished eventually.

Taft teased Libertarians throughout his presidency, favoring some policies which furthered, and many which greatly hindered the cause. Most fans of freedom are probably most familiar with Taft's support of the bane of Libertarians. I mean, the Sixteenth Amendment which allowed for the creation of a federal progressive income tax structure.

With our knowledge of this perversion of public policy practically, it would be practically impossible that Taft will pass our Super Leader's Final Score, assuming he was not secretly responsible for consuming dozens of unnecessary government offices while dining at the White House. Altough progressive income tax structures represent the antithesis of Libertarian thought, Taft made a number of more subtle advancements of freedom during his presidency, undoubtedly in order to eschew an unrestrained verbal pummeling in this very assessment.

The primary example of this is his support of the Payne-Aldritch Tariff Act of 1909 which liberated constricted global markets and sparked industrial growth worldwide. Also, Taft restructured Roosevelt's ghastly foreing policy, specifically in Latin America, by pioneering the concept of Dollar Diplomacy, which invested American dollars in the infrastructure of developing economies. Don't get me wrong here. I am absolutely of the opinion that wealth should be invested by those who created it, and not by the government. But if I'm financing foreign operations, I would rather they be profitable and peaceful investments than violent and cost inefficient military conflicts.

Despite these improvements on the previous administration, Taft was known as a liscentious "Trust-Buster", and infamous for the indescretion he used when selecting American corporations to dissolve. Such blatant meddling in the private sector in unacceptable, and negates any positive influence on his score which other policies may have generated.

Super Summary: Although Taft displayed a modicum of public policy preferences favorable to the Libertarian struggle such as tariff reduction and improvements in foreign policy, his key part in overseeing the passage of the constitutional amendment most detrimental to freedom and his disregard for free markets renders him nearly as politically hyperactive as his predecessor.

Super Score: 5 (one fore every meal of the day...)

Super Leaders Assessment Series: Theodore Roosevelt

American historians engage in constant discussion and evaluation of past presidencies, essentially grading them on their achievements and failures. Notably absent in these debates, however, (in my experience) is the Libertarian perspective. Although each American President of the past century has been responsible for grievous breaches of justice deservedly condemned by fans of freedom, Super Libertarian has endeavored to review and assess each presidency of the last 100 years so that we can all distinguish the bad from the worse, and also reflect on the occasional pro-liberty policies which provide those elusive glimmers of political hope. All of this will be encapsulated in one bolded number at the bottom of the article so readers can more effectively find a shortcut to actually reading the entire article. while the rest of the text is ignored. So without further delay, allow me to introduce you to Theodore D. Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, and more importantly, the unwitting inaugural subject of the Super Leaders Assessment Series.




If the dashing gentleman pictured above looks as though he has just returned from leading a famously capable Cavalry Regiment that was duped into fighting an extraneous and unjust war, it's because he probably has. Indeed, the older Roosevelt has difficulty overcoming his rise to national prominence in the eyes of Libertarians. He was elevated to iconic status due to his leadership role in the Spanish-American war, one of intervention (upon which Libertarians frown) motivated by nationalistic expansionist insatiability (upon which most concerned citizens with the IQ of a reasonably intelligent pekingese frown).

Although the Spanish- American war freed Cuba from the oppression of Spanish rule, its liberation was mitigated in effect by the manipulative motives of its liberators. More critical to our purposes, however, are the foreign policy developments of TR's presidency. The cleverness of a poet I was unable to identify account quite accurately the nature of Teddy's "Big Stick" diplomacy,

"The Constitution rides behind
And the Big Stick rides before,
(Which is the rule of precedent
in the reign of Theodore.)"

Indeed, Roosevelt circumvented Constitution and Congress on many occasions, often leading to foreign relations disasters. The creation of the Panama Canal, an egregious resource expenditure, was attained only by the notorious "rape of Panama" which evinced his interventionist proclivities, alienating the suddenly "Big Brother" like America to Latin America and Europe alike.

Additionally, Roosevelt is responsible for the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (as you may have guessed by his surname). This policy bore no actual relation to the original and, if anything, was a perversion to it. Monroe had issued his famous doctrine to prevent interventionism in Latin America. Roosevelt's addendum actually promoted interventionism, clearly an effect antithetical to the doctrine's purpose.

Domestically, TR fared little better. Remembered best as the prototypical "Trust Buster," Roosevelt considered it his responsibility (or individual privilege) to break up large corporations. Although the big 2-6 used far more discretion in identifying and destroying monopolies than his successor by targeting only the corrupt, his efforts effectuated many market distortions which had palpable negative effects on the economy. For instance, his imposition of rate limits on railroads sent the industry's stock into free-fall, a precipitant factor to the Panic of 1907, which saw the New York Stock Exchange fall by almost 50% in one year.

Aside from his financial follies, the namesake of the Teddy Bear oversaw a period of the centralization of power in American government. Abusing or ignoring the constitution, Roosevelt liscentiously ceated land conservations, oppressed the food and drug industies with stringent regulation, and increased the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Although each of these efforts is equally deplorable, they had previously been executed in the anonymity of state and local governments. Roosevelt usurped these powers and applied them unscrupulously on a national scale.

Super Summary: Roosevelt ushered in the age of Progressivism, in which government assumed a newly (and more broadly) defined role. He established the precedents of food and drug regulation and foreign interventionism, both of which violate the core principles of Libertariansim. His atrocities are mitigated by his comparative discretion in "Trust Busting" and that his "Big Stick" diplomacy generally succeeded in protecting the nation from harm

Super Score: 3 (and that's with extra credit)

Russian Government Responsible for Cyber Warfare, Theft

Sunday's 60 Minutes featured a segment on computer worms and their shocking prevalence. The piece provided a glimpse of the evils of theft and destruction, but also informed its viewers of the unacceptable inaction of the Russian government.

Don Jackson, director of threat intelligence at computer-defender Secure Works, shared his expertise on the subject by identifying a group of of Russian youth notorious for their computer hacking escapades. This particular "Cyber gang" was arrested at one point, but then subsequently released, and is still practicing their despicable craft.

The problem goes beyond this example. Hacking has become an outlet for anti-Western sentiment in Russia, as evidenced a newspaper article which venerated the aforementioned offenders as national heroes. I am appalled that the same government which invades the lives of many citizens, has essentially nationalized the entire media, and centralized its structure to the point that regional executives (equivalent to American Governors) are appointed by the federal government cannot perform its primary function by preventing crime.

Then again, the Russian state has a history of similar actions. In 2007, following the relocation of an Estonian war memorial, Russia blitzed public and private Estonian domains, creating chaos and damage in the process.

It is quite clear through Russia's omissions in regards to its computer hackers and its unprecedented, irresponsible reaction to Estonia that a prioritization should be in order

Betrayed Employee Tells AIG to Stick It (a bit more politely)

Let's be honest for a moment. AIG has essentially become a U.S. Government asset (the term used very loosely here). Washington owns 80% of the former insurance behemoth, and the company bears little similarity to a privately owned and operated corporation.

So, naturally, Libertarians ought to be irate over the issuance of bonuses to employees of a company funded by taxpayers. However, this situation is a touch more complex. As explained by Jake Desantis, former financial products specialist at AIG, in his resignation letter earlier this week, the bonuses were promised to AIG employees, most of whom abstained from the much maligned credit default swap practice, as an incentive to stay on and help the company remain (or become again?) solvent.

Without the bonus, why else would these professionals turn down profitable job offers from other companies for their $1 annual salary at AIG? Indeed, most of the intended beneficiaries had not only anticipated these bonuses but depended on them as well.

Unfortunately, the AIG bonus debacle is just another example of the trickeration and showmanship of American politics. Attorneys general in New York and Connecticut condemned the bonuses out of ignorance, or, far more likely, desperation for political rabble rousing. The CEO of AIG, more "public servant" than businessman, showed his true colors by matching the politcians' enthusiasm for the repeal (or opressive taxation of) the bonuses.

Mr. Desantis' letter (linked to above) is passionate and remarkably, and I encourage all to read it. Sooner or later it would inevitably become apparent that government and business cannot productively coexist.