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...)