Double Défense

[Copeau]

http://www.liberteaser.com/2005/06/defending_the_i.html

Defending the Undefendable

Walter Block (who?) has a book of the same title as this post, a book that only the most miserable and misanthropic libertarians could love.  In it he explains the benefits to society among the most rotten individuals--like sexists, racists, cheats, etc.  Most of the book strikes me as nonsense.

Today, however, I shall defend an evern more ghastly fellow--France.  I was inspired by this post over at Alarming News, relating to the scores of deaths in France 2 years ago during their heatwave.  Of course France bashing is nothing new.  It's always been part of our culture, although only in the last few years has it become one of the chief sports of the American Right--mainly owing to their recalcitrance with respect to the war in Iraq.

What bothers me so much about this, is the fact that France is by any objective measure a great country.  Despite having terrible labor laws, and nationalized health care, they have a GDP  per capita that would be the envy of most of the world.  There are several high-tech innovators their and their contributions to world-culture are virtually unparalelled.  Although due to protectionism, they've fallen off a bit in this category.  Sure they have their social ills, and problems with minorities, but so does every country in the developed world.

When conservatives (and libertarians) bandy about words like "socialist" to describe France, and Western Europe, they are really just putting a kind face on a horrible economic situation.  If "socialism" could really provide everyone with a per/annum GDP of $28,000 then we should prescribe "socialism" throughout all of the developing world.

I've always felt that the dirty little secret among capitalists is how little of a difference tax-rates make in the health of the economy.  Sure tax cuts may be stimulative, and sometimes downright beneficial (if matched with spending cuts, unlike Bush's), but for the most part having an educated society with decent private property rights is all you need to be wealthy.

In the United States, even, some of the areas with the most redistributive and onerous tax-rates also have some of the most vibrant economies.  New York, and California's Bay Area come to mind.  Sure, the economic strength may be in spite of the high taxes, but that really means very little.

Of course, they sill didn't go along in Iraq, and I know that means a lot to people.  But nearly half of this country had doubts about that war.  Gonna bash them too?

People accuse the French of being pathetic turncoats, but I think the real turncoats are the conservatives who would bash generally like-minded allies just because they disagree with George W. Bush.  How else to explain the venom towards George Soros?  A man whose organizations have spent billions towards bringing down communists.  Remember communism?  That little evil?  Conservatives used to be defined almost in their opposition to it, and now Soros is an enemy.

In their efforts to bring down soros, they'll even attack his profession of being a speculator, a vital aspect of capitalsim--take Victor Davis Hanson writing in the National Review:

    Soros is an unhappy and often cruel character, and he reminds the voting public that all Kerry's cries about Halliburton and Enron fall flat when he is being subsidized with the millions made from international money speculation, which has caused such mayhem in financial markets. After all, nearly ruining the banks and pensions funds in England to make a billion dollars is not a very populist or even kind thing to do. At least Halliburton, unlike Soros and his gang of speculators, creates something real, and its employees risk their lives to build infrastructure for those desperately in need of it.

Could Victor Davis Hanson, the titan of conservative thought, really know that little about markets.  "Mayhem in Financial Markets"?  "Soros and his Gang of speculators"?  Do conservatives really believe this anti-free market tripe?  Soros isn't a gangmember.  He's a goddam businessman, and he doesn't create mayhem, he takes advantage of it, while at the same time helping to strengthen and fix the economies he trades in.  That is utterly pathetic.  And the suggestion that Soros speculates while halliburton creates somethign real is bullshit too.  Hmm, I wonder of Halliburton and their energy business participate in hedging markets, markets that speculators like soros participate in.

Obviously VDH, isn't among the brightest of conservatives, but the point still stands.  When you cross George W. Bush, even if you are are a capitalist, even if you are one of the wealthiest, most Democratic nations of all time, be prepared to get trashed and called a communist, or described as socialist.  Because you're making people mad.

Posted by Joseph Weisenthal on June 24, 2005

[Invité jabial]

Encore un qui n'a pas compris que l'essence du libéralisme c'est pas le pognon mais la liberté.

[melodius]

He's got a point. (et moi j'aime bien "Defending the undefendable" )