Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
“To get an address, somebody’s got to recognize that that’s where you live. That means … you’ve a got mailing address. … When you make a deal with someone, you can be identified. But until property is defined by law, people can’t … specialize and create wealth. The day they get title (is) the day that the businesses in their homes, the sewing machines, the cotton gins, the car repair shop finally gets recognized. They can start expanding.”
That’s the road to prosperity. But first they need to be recognized by someone in local authority who says, “This is yours.” They need the rule of law. But many places in the developing world barely have law.
There can be no real property, without a way to recognize a right to the property.
And for a right to be a meaningful right, it has to endure without regard to who might have a grievance against it being there, or to who is capable of prevailing against whom in a physical contest. If might makes right, order becomes indistinguishable from chaos.
For people to have property, they have to be able to keep it just because they have earned it, and for no other reason. Regardless of who it ticks off, how upset they get about it, or what they can do.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Which is why China is a paper tiger. Their economic growth is confined to large seaboard cities run by cliques of, essentially, gangsters. The hinterland is still a nineteenth century — if not ninth century — cesspool, largely because the ruling gangster clique can take whatever it wants whenever it wants. If China ever exposed its currency to the open market, the whole thing would come crashing down like a house of cards….
….which is why it’s too bad we’re rapidly imposing a caste system on ourselves, but that’s a rant for another day.
- Severian | 12/09/2010 @ 18:48