A Conspiracy Theory

If you're new here, this is a weekly column consisting of letters written to my (eventual) grandchildren (who exist) and my great-grandchildren (who don't, yet) -- the Stickies -- to haunt them after they become grups and/or I'm dead.

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                                                 Glossary  

                                  Just Who IS This Guy?

Irregularly Appearing Imaginary Guest Stars 

Dana -- A Gentlereader
Iggy -- A Sticky (GT*)

Marie-Louise -- My Muse (GT*)

*Currently Grand Touring 

Free market: "... a system which imposes upon enterprise a discipline under which the managers chafe and which each endeavors to escape."
                                                                                 -Friedrich Hayek

Dear (eventual) Grandstickies & Great-Grandstickies (& Gentlereaders),

Capitalism and free market are terms that often should not be sharing the same sentence (or the same dictionary definition) – depending on how ya define your terms.

Merriam-Webster says that capitalism is: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market (my emphasis).

In other words, at least in theory, people compete for your hard-earned money by offering you the best combination of product, price, and service for something you want/need/are willing to pay for.

Dr. Deirdre McCloskey ("Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication" University of Illinois at Chicago) has gone to a great deal of trouble to document the fact that capitalism, starting roughly 200 years ago, is responsible for our age of unprecedented prosperity.

The operative word is the previous sentence is unprecedented. The planet Earth hasn't previously experienced anything like it. Go a-googling if you don't believe me. Here's a taste. The U.S. weight loss market -- that is, just the U.S. --was worth $66,000,000,000 in 2017.

However, Dr. McCloskey likes to substitute the awkward phrase trade tested betterment for the word capitalism due to the frequent bad press capitalism receives from fat reporters/various and sundry ungrateful Citizens of the Republic. However...

Big, No, HUGE But

They have a point, BUT, they're still missing the point, as are their philosophical enemies.

I recently stumbled on an essay published by a website called Bleeding Heart Libertarians, ("Free Markets and Social Justice") titled The Conflation Trap by Roderick Long. 

BHL, consisting mostly of academics writing for academics, is not exactly poolside reading material. However, since I'm a wild-eyed libertarian with a bleeding heart and conservative impulses, I occasionally wade through a posting or two although I frequently find myself in over my head.

While not exactly light reading, the essay in question explains how/why the terms capitalism and free-market aren't always playing on the same team.


Conflation trap refers to the fact that conservative and libertarian free-marketeers often "tend to conflate the results of crony corporatism with those of free markets."

And...

"...where the right-wing version...treats the virtues of free markets as reason to defend the fruits of corporatism, the left wing...treats the objectionable fruits of corporatism as reason to condemn free markets (my emphasisses).

In other words...

Big ass companies, although they often produce shtuff we want and need,  often take advantage of their sheer size to tilt the playing field by...

Rent-seeking, "a company lobbies the government for loan subsidies, grants or tariff protection" (Investopedia). And/or regulatory capture, "...a regulatory agency...advances the commercial or political concerns of...groups that dominate the industry...it is charged with regulating.

[There are many more tactics in their bags o' tricks, the two above are just my personal faves.]

That is, they use their size to cheat. That's not free-market capitalism, which is why conservatives and libertarians should condemn such behavior regardless of whether or not we wind up with cool stuff.

Left-wingers often do condemn this sort of thing (unless the firm in question is politically favored by the Depublicrats or they have a personal stake...) -- and then blame/condemn the free market. I repeat, this is not free-market capitalism.

Conspiracy Theory

Lubbock, Texas. Spring, 1985.

Bob L.: "It's all a con, man."
Me: "It's a freakin' conspiracy, what it is."

O.K., this is the conspiracy part of our literary extravaganza. Like most alleged conspiracies, it's more of a self-reinforcing cosmic coinkydink than an active conspiracy.

That is to say, no secret meetings were/are held at the snack bar of a flea market in Lubbock, Texas -- the one where Ronbo had her purse swiped? It's just gummit employees and employees of The Gummit and politicians and chafing managers (see Hayek quote above) pursuing their own rational self-interest.

The bottom line is a system in which...

The Depublicrats (D.) and bureauons tend to blame the "free" market whenever Giantco Inc. gets caught with its thumb on the scale. Vote for us/we need more gummit, and The Gummit, and Rules&Regs.

The Republicrats (R), allegedly conservatives and/or libertarians, are often prepared to ignore Giantco Inc. getting caught with its thumb on the scale, reinforcing the left's view of the "free" market.

They call for smaller/limited gummit -- and then vote for the corn cartel, the sugar cartel, the cable cartel, etceterel. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the poster children of too big to fail. Bloated and unaccountable defense spending, subsidized this, subsidized that, etceterized, ad nauseam, ad infinitum, ad absurdum.


Mr. Long points out...

[Note: approaching a very cool and perceptive observation.]

...that Big Gummit v. Giganto Inc. is comparable to the church v. the state in the middle ages. They need (and use) each other to survive and thrive while each plots and schemes to gain the upper hand.

Depublicans v. Republicrats? In any given election in which we choose a favorite son/daughter to be a (theoretically temporary) part of The Gummit, better than 90% of incumbents will be reelected. Can't be our fault... I'll bet it's the Pooteen (i.e., Russians) and his evil henchmen! Hmmm...

The Gummit, the pols, the bureauons -- and Giantco -- conspire against the Citizens of the Republic merely by being themselves and doing what they do. Without federal term limits -- we're screwed. Poppa loves you.

Have an OK day. 
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©2019 Mark Mehlmauer As long as you agree to supply my name and URL (Creative Commons license at the top and bottom of my website) you may republish this anywhere that you please. Light editing that doesn't alter the content is acceptable. You don't have to include any of the folderol before the greeting or after the closing (Have an OK day) except for the title. 

Dictators: Things I Think About (No. 3)

If you're new here, this is a weekly column consisting of letters written to my grandchildren (who exist) and my great-grandchildren (who aren't here yet) — the Stickies — to haunt them after they become grups and/or I'm dead.

[Blogaramians: Blogarama renders the links in my columns useless. Please click on View Original to solve this problem and access lotsa columns.]

Irregularly Appearing Imaginary Guest Stars

Marie-Louise -- My beautiful muse and back scratcher 

Iggy -- My designated Sticky

Dana -- My designated gentlereader

"History has proved that dictators can't last forever."  -Lee Hyeon-seo


Dear (eventual) Grandstickies & Great-Grandstickies,

I have a tab on my website, labeled, somewhat childishly I admit, Dick Taters. There isn't much there, there. I haven't done much with it. In my defense, it's relatively new and I'm somewhat preoccupied with other projects just now.

However, my fascination with dictators remains strong. Recently, Li'l Rocket Man (LRM) has been in the news because of his sit down with the Donald. Our dealmaker in chief doesn't appear to have accomplished much beyond agreeing to keep talking.

Of course, talking trumps war. Stay tuned, he'll resolve the trade thing. As for the immigration thing... I dunno.


Big But
From an entertainment standpoint, the meeting was a whooge success...

A Li'l Rocket Man/the Donald Reality Show Special!

Staring...

The Donald 

Li'l Rocket Man 

 <and special guest star >

Dennis Rodman!

<and featuring>

guys in matching suits that run alongside Li'l Rocket Man's limo!

Clearly, the guys in matching suits that run along alongside Li'l Rocket Man's limo need a better name. The Rockettes comes immediately to mind but since Radio City probably has at least one lawyer on retainer... On the other hand, a legal battle could generate a bunch of free publicity if once the papers were served the N.K. Rockettes held a press conference and gracefully backed down.

They could pitch themselves as just a hardworking bunch of young fellas trying to make it in showbiz before they (and assorted loved ones) starve to death, or get executed when LRM is having a bad day.


Speaking of Special!s is that still a thing? When I was a kid it seemed as though there was at least one _______ Special! a week on one or more of the four TV stations my family had access to via a tinfoil enhanced, rabbit ear antenna system.         

I'm so old...
How old are you!

The name most likely to be inserted in the blank above is Bob Hope; we only had one TV; a mom and a dad; tossing an F-bomb was considered going nuclear.


Anyways... Li'l Rocket Man is a third generation bloodthirsty tyrant, which makes him a king and a dictator if you think about it. I'm talkin' about a good old-fashioned, all-powerful, because God said so sort of king. Not just a wimpy, parasitic, ribbon cutting modern sort of king.

Of course, being a communist, at least on paper, he can't invoke God or that divine right bonkercockie.

Wait a minute... given that Sports has replaced religion as the opiate of the masses does that explain the Li'l Rocket Man/Dennis Rodman relationship? Could it be that LRM is shrewdly planning to make Rodman a god, thus reviving the time-tested, traditional church/state/starving peasants meme?

All rise for his royal chubbiness and the multi-tatted, plentifully pierced, omnipotent bouncer of balls!


I, being me, got to wondering. Given that LRM is a third generation enslaver, how common is a hereditary dictatorship?

I'm not talking kings whose evil deads tend to be at least somewhat moderated by their countries military -- google the phrase "countries of the middle east" -- because they want access to Western markets, money, power, and arms sales.

I'm talking LRM level monsters who are kept in power by a military/police force that is as evil as they are. Tyrants who prefer to ally with the likes of Russia or China, both of whom have long and storied traditions of viewing the populace as highly expendable meat puppets.

I went a-googling and found a great article published by the Guardian back in 2010. As I suspected (guessed), hereditary dictatorship is rare. I mean, it seems obvious that your average evil despot has a better than average chance of being murdered.

Also, ya gotta figure their death is like as not to trigger a clutch of wannabe evil despots to go to the mattresses till the (gun)smoke clears and a new national bully emerges.

The writer, Julian Borger, states that the last time a three-generation tyranny occurred was in Paraguay in the mid-1800s. More recently, the bloodthirsty Somoza family ran Nicaragua from 1936 to 1979, but the three jefes only spanned two generations.


What have we learned Dorothies? Dictators, like all bullies, are an aberration with (relatively speaking) short shelf lives. However, we must remain alert. There's a wannabe bully hiding under every other rock. Poppa loves you.

Have an OK day.


[P.S. Gentlereaders, for 25¢ a week, no, seriously, for 25¢ a week you can become a Patron of this weekly column and help to prevent an old crank from running the streets at night in search of cheap thrills and ill-gotten gains.

If there are some readers out there that think my shtuff is worth a buck or three a month, color me honored, and grateful. Regardless, if you like it, could you please share it? There are buttons at the end of every column.]


©2018 Mark Mehlmauer   (The Flyoverland Crank)

If you're reading this on my website (where there are tons of older columns, a glossary, and other goodies) and if you wish to comment — or react (way cooler than liking, and Facebook doesn't keep track) — please scroll down. 

  

                             

Facebook & The Goog

If you're new here, this is a weekly column consisting of letters written to my grandchildren (who exist) and my great-grandchildren (who aren't here yet) — the Stickies — to haunt them after they become grups and/or I'm dead.

[Blogaramians: Blogarama renders the links in my columns useless. Please click on View Original to solve this problem and access lotsa columns.]

Irregularly Appearing Imaginary Guest Stars

Marie-Louise -- My beautiful muse and back scratcher 

Iggy -- My designated Sticky

Dana -- My designated gentlereader

"Sometimes, giving up your privacy is a little like going to the dentist and we have let him have access that no one's ever had."   -Tom Petty

Dear (eventual) Grandstickies & Great-Grandstickies,

Social media has been much in the news lately; the Goog (A.K.A. Google) always seems to be in the news. My psyche's currently featuring a mind movie that's about yinz walking around in the world after I'm dead -- or gliding around in the world on an anti-gravity platform (AGP) of some sort.

You'll be interacting with social media, and the cloud, via an implanted transceiver. Another implant will project a virtual screen in front of you when desired. Both devices, and your AGP, will be controlled by your thoughts.

Your AGP will have a self-driving function so that you can float through the world in a virtual electronic cocoon without having to interact with other meat puppets any more than you wish to.

Well, until all of your devices and software suddenly go dark because you were zapped by a raygun of some sort (I hope I'm not being too technical for you) wielded by an evil ne'er-do-well intent on robbery, or worse, and you land on your face.

There will always be evil ne'er-do-wells. Virtual cocoons are as temporary as real ones. Good -- life would be rather dreary otherwise. Think about this.

The above is not the point I set out to make but since it's a good point I shall leave it stand.

If you ain't paying for it, you're not the customer, you're the product.

That's the point I set out to make. It's certainly not original to me, in fact, you can trace its roots back to 1973.

The reason that social media is much in the news is that a series of scandals/new European privacy laws/revelations/etceterations have revealed to, or reminded, Mr. and Ms. Plebensky that the statement above is true.

I'm so old that I can remember when computers were as big as a small house, required a dedicated AC unit, and, were tended by clipboard-toting technicians in white lab coats.

There was no internet when these giants weren't roaming the earth. Computers were around long before there was much of an internet to speak of. And yes, I miss how much easier it was to maintain a bit of personal privacy back in the Black & White ages.

However, I don't need constant reminding that the data I generate interacting with "free" software and related services are sliced, diced, and sold to the highest bidder.

I'm so old that I know there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Big But

The maxim is not complete. It should be: If you ain't paying for it, you're not the customer, you're the product -- but, everyone wins bright, shiny door prizes just for showing up.

Tell 'em, Johnny! 

Well, Wink, In exchange for letting our Algorithmites, Data Dragons, and Botmonsters lose in your life, social media will enable you to effortlessly exchange all sorts of shtuff with other H. sapiens without having to get dressed and leave the house, free and no charge. 

As to the omnipresent, the Goog, you name it and they've got it, free or on the cheap. Blogging platforms, office suites, world-class search tools, cloud storage, Chrome books and boxes... why, the list goes on and on! 

[Wait,wait,wait... I for one am not crazy about inviting Algorithmites, Data Dragons, and Botmonsters into my home.]     

You're in good (and numerous) company, Dana. But the thing is, you don't have to actively avail yourself of the services of the data harvesting industry. I personally know all sorts of people that go out of their way not to and who are doing just fine.

I know of other people that enthusiastically participate in our brave new world but have discovered that with a little bit of knowledge and effort it's not that hard to electronically cover your electronic tracks.

[Yeahbut I heard you can't erase all traces. And short of living in a cave in the otherwhere, some of your personal data is parked in a database and/or sitting on a server somewhere.]

Welcome to 2018. Until someone develops a subdivision of caves with indoor plumbing, climate control, and Wifi, I'm staying put and counting my blessings.


Hopefully, My Dear Stickies, we'll work it all out without becoming too much like Xi Jinping's (A.K.A. Xi Dada) China. The Zuck's in trouble again for telling fibs about Facebook. Some of the social justice warriors that The Goog likes to hire, and encourage, have begun chewing on the hand that feeds them.

Gotta run. The techs are here to install the T1 line I ordered for Casa de Chaos. Poppa loves you.

Have an OK day.


[P.S. Gentlereaders, for 25¢ a week, no, seriously, for 25¢ a week you can become a Patron of this weekly column and help to prevent an old crank from running the streets at night in search of cheap thrills and ill-gotten gains.

If there are some readers out there that think my shtuff is worth a buck or three a month, color me honored, and grateful. Regardless, if you like it, could you please share it? There are buttons at the end of every column.]


©2018 Mark Mehlmauer   (The Flyoverland Crank)

If you're reading this on my website (where there are tons of older columns, a glossary, and other goodies) and if you wish to comment — or react (way cooler than liking, and Facebook doesn't keep track) — please scroll down.