Month: August 2003

“We are Kevin of Blog. You Will be Assimiliated. Resistance is Futile.”

(Thanks to Kevin Schaum of Lazypundit for the title of this post.)

Kevin of Whizbangblog has this week’s Blogging Kevins post up, and I’m a contributor. Damn, there are a lot of us! (I almost used Kevin McGehee’s post title: “My God! It’s Full of Kevins!” but that would be unethical.)

Steven “Spock” Den Beste has a three part essay up on the difference between Europe and America, and some predictions as to what the future holds for Europe. In particular, I found this passage fascinating:

(T)he general trend in Europe is to continue to reduce the work week while continuing to implement policies which give businesses a disincentive to invest and hire. If there’s any way out of this trap, I haven’t seen any discussion of it.

There are really only a few ways this can end. First, the voters in Europe could come to their senses and face the reality that their current policies are unsustainable. They’d have to accept a radical reduction in entitlements, a radical reduction in business regulations, and a lot of other changes all of which would be viewed in the short term as being hostile to labor and friendly to business. There would have to be broad acknowledgement that Socialism isn’t economically sustainable. But before there can be any chance of that kind of political change, things are going to have to get a lot worse. And if things do get worse, that’s probably not how the voters would react.

For one thing, the kind of people who would feel that way and help push the system socialism won’t be there. Europe has a safety valve to release capitalist sympathizers: they emigrate to the US. People who hate the US system will stay behind and it will be those who will end up trying to solve this. (It’s one of several ways in Europe is badly damaged by brain drain.)

So what’s far more likely is that the voters will blame business leaders. They’re generally thought of as villains now, and eventually someone will point out that if business leaders are unwilling to take the risk of expansion, then the government will need to force them to do so. The business leaders should be making their decisions on the basis of social conscience, not in crass pursuit of profit. Profit is evil anyway, and if the leaders refuse to serve their nations the way they should, well then we’ll damned well force them to do what’s right. And that way we can get job growth without having to eliminate the extremely important and obviously just job protection regulations or reward the filthy money-grubbing capitalists with tax cuts.

As I’ve noted, I’m slogging through Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged for the first time, and that is her entire premise in a nutshell.

I’ve said in here before that she never made a point she wasn’t willing to beat to a bloody pulp, but that doesn’t mean she was wrong.

I disagree with a lot of the Objectivist philosophy, but when it comes down to describing the behavior of socialist governments and the people willing to live under them, she was, apparently, spot-on.

Steven concludes, though, with this cheery prediction:

So in the end what you’ll get is economic collapse. There are various ways in which this can play out, but none of them are good. And as long as Europe is locked in this economic death-spiral, they are unlikely to be a military threat to us, and at least that’s a blessing.

But what comes after the collapse or emerges politically during the collapse? The historical record suggests a new rise of Fascism is the most likely outcome. In the midst of economic chaos, with a huge population of unemployed and people who are dissatisfied, charismatic leaders will appear who will blame the problems on foreigners and claim they can solve the problems if only they’re given unrestrained power. Once elected, they abolish elections, dismantle most of the programs which are causing trouble, and actually do improve the business climate. But they do other things, too, and few of them are likely to be good.

The classic example of this is the rise of the Nazis after the fall of the Weimar Republic, but that’s by no means the only example of that kind of thing from European history. Historically speaking, when things go to hell in a handbasket, Europeans tend to look for charismatic and nationalistic demagogues who promise them pride and glory in exchange for strict obedience. That’s a price Europeans have seemed almost eager to pay.

We can’t discount the possibility that in fifty years the EU and most existing national governments in Europe will be gone, replaced by a new Fascist dictatorship, which among other things chooses to make the investment in a modern military and which hopes to use it in yet another round of world conquest.

And we might not be able to interfere before this point, because France has nuclear weapons. Even though Europe won’t have the ability to threaten us using conventional forces for the next few decades, they do have the ability to threaten us with nuclear conflagration. Of course, if they nuked us we’d also nuke them, but the threat of it means that we might not be able to significantly interfere to prevent the rise of a new Europe-wide Fascist state, which could follow historical patterns and become militaristic and expansionist.

If that happened, the world would become a very interesting but much less safe place.

Which doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies for the future my grandchildren will be living in. But I think Steven makes a very strong case, the same as that made by Alexander Tytler. I just hope that we are able to avoid the same fate here. A lot can happen in 50 years.

This is Too Cool

Aaron the Liberal Slayer has put up the 2008 Blogger Ticket on the right-hand side of his blog so it’s always on the front page. Thanks, Aaron!

Bring ‘Em On

Instapundit has been covering the “flypaper” theory of the American occupation of Iraq acting to draw Islamist militants into conflict with our military there, rather than our civilian population over here. His coverage started back in July, and here’s some more evidence. A New York Times article describing exactly what’s going on:

Iraq luring militants eager to fight U.S.

In much the same way as the Russian invasion of Afghanistan stirred an earlier generation of young Muslims determined to fight the infidel, the U.S. presence in Iraq is prompting a rising tide of Muslim militants to slip into the country to fight, Iraqi officials and others say.

“Iraq is the nexus where many issues are coming together – Islam versus democracy, the West vs. the axis of evil, Arab nationalism vs. some different types of political culture,” said Barham Saleh, the prime minister of a Kurdish-controlled part of northern Iraq. “If the Americans succeed here, this will be a monumental blow to everything the terrorists stand for.”

That’s the idea.

Violence against U.S. troops continued Tuesday. One soldier from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was killed and another wounded when their convoy struck three improvised explosive devices while driving near Ramadi, about 60 miles west of Baghdad.

The death brought to at least 57 the number of American servicemen killed in attacks since the end of major combat operations on May 1.

I believe, however, that these men have died doing what they volunteered for – defending their nation. At least they often get the chance to capture or kill the people trying to kill them.

Well-organized fighters

Recent intelligence suggests the militants are well-organized. One returning group of fighters from the radical Ansar al-Islam organization captured in the Kurdish region two weeks ago consisted of five Iraqis, a Palestinian and a Tunisian.

Among their possessions were five forged Italian passports for a different group of militants they were apparently supposed to join, said Dana Ahmed Majid, the director of general security for the region.

The fighters sneak over Iraq’s largely unpoliced borders in small groups, bearing instructions to go to a safe house where they can whisper one password to gain admittance and then lie low awaiting further instructions, according to Iraqi security officials.

As opposed to slipping over America’s largely unpoliced borders in small groups and doing the same thing over here, but to civilians.

Flourishing amid chaos

Iraqi officials say they expect a broad spectrum of Muslim militants to flood Iraq. They believe that Ansar al-Islam, a small fundamentalist group believed to have links with al-Qaida, forms the backbone of the underground network. The group was forced out of northern Iraq by a huge attack during the war.

“All previous experiences with the activities of the underground organizations proved that they flourish in countries with a chaotic security situation, unchecked borders and the lack of a central government – Iraq is all that,” said Muhammad Salah, an expert on militant groups and the Cairo bureau chief of the newspaper Al Hayat. “It is the perfect environment for fundamentalist groups to operate and grow.”

But for how much longer?

The extent of their activities remains cloudy. But Web sites believed linked to al-Qaida are clear enough about the envisaged fight: “The struggle with America has to be carefully managed, the ‘electric shock method’ must be applied, relentless shocks that haunt the Americans all the time everywhere, without giving them a break to regain balance or power.”

Last shocks of a dying electric eel? We’ll see. The difference between the Russians in Afghanistan and the Americans in Iraq is that we’re trying to make their lives better, and the majority of Iraqi’s seem to know this. But you wouldn’t know that from the reporting the major news media is giving us.

If You Really Think Public Health-Care is a Good Idea, Consider Public Housing, Public Restrooms, and Public Pools.

Chuck Asay, Colorado Springs Gazette.

Talk About Standing Up for Your Beliefs!

Via SayUncle, comes the continuing saga of Francis Warin, a Frenchman who moved to the U.S. in 1961 at the age of 30 so he could be a weapon designer. Peripherally involved in a BATF entrapment case (imagine that!) in 1970, he studied the Second Amendment and concluded (as have a large number of gun rights proponents) that it meant what it said, and not what the politicians and the judges said it meant, he first filed a class-action lawsuit that was denied.

Then he got serious.

He manufactured a machine gun (weapon designer, remember) and refused to pay the $200 ‘tax.’ When that didn’t get him arrested, he took it physically down to the local BATF office where they not only didn’t shoot him or stomp on his pets, they didn’t even bother to arrest him. He finally had to embarrass the government by telling his story to a newspaper before they arrested and charged him.

Let’s just say it didn’t turn out like he wanted. The case was U.S. v Warin, and it was one of the worst cases for gun-rights supporters we’ve seen. It was, in fact, a textbook example of the “collective rights” interpretation of the Second Amendment based on U.S. v Miller and other cases subsequent to Miller. (Remember, this was 1975 – as the gun-control movement and the “collective rights” argument was approaching its zenith in the post-60’s, post-Nixon era.)

Mr. Warin was convicted of a felony and received probation with an interesting stipulation: He had the permission of the court to retain his right to arms even though he was a convicted felon because otherwise he’d be out of a job.

So Mr. Warin went back to his job.

In 1999, now retired, Mr. Warin tried to buy a gun from a dealer. He filled out a Form 4473 and, in accordance with the requirements, indicated that he was a convicted felon, but thought that the court decision allowed him to purchase a gun. Wrong again. And he couldn’t get a hearing on it, either. So he apparently intimated to the FBI that he could “bring a bomb” to them. They were not amused. They raided his home (I don’t know if any kittens were stomped – this was the FBI) and took 22 weapons. But didn’t press charges. He fought for return of his property, and lost.

So this time, he manufactured a suppressed .22 pistol and sent it via registered mail to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Toledo. He got arrested again and thrown in jail where he is now on a hunger strike.

I will grant that Mr. Warin has courage and is resolute in his quest for justice. Unfortunately, I don’t expect him to fare any better than John Lee Haney did when he essentially repeated Mr. Warin’s original argument.

What Mr. Warin did, and is doing again is tilting at windmills. Now, at 72 and starving, he looks the part of Don Quixote. We need people willing to tilt at windmills. We need people to be unwilling to move to the back of the bus. We need people willing to stand up for their rights.

And we need to spread the word when they do, not let it languor on page 6 of section Q of the local newspaper.

Make no mistake, this is civil disobedience by someone convinced he is right, and who is willing to pay the consequences of, well let Voltaire say it:

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.

As for me, I’m an reminded of Claire Wolfe:

It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.

It might not be too late. The next test is Silveira v. Lockyer. Will the Supreme Court hear it? And if so, how will they decide?

Mr. Warin is a brave man, and I honor his grit. I just don’t hold much hope of him winning against this particular windmill.

If I Had Emotions, I’d be Pleased

According to this quiz I’m Data:

A controlled personality with a vast range of skills and behavior, you are often intrigued by the people and places surrounding you.

Can’t say I’m surprised.

READ THIS!

NOW!!! (click the post title)

Via Acidman.

Frank J. Gives Basic Gun Instructions

You’ve GOT to read this! Excerpt:

Here are the different types of guns:

* Revolver: this is a gun with a cylinder that “revolves”

* Semi-automatic pistol: this is a pistol that’s sorta automatic

* Shotgun: this is a “gun” that fires “shot”

* Rifle: I don’t what the hell this is. Apparently it’s rifled or something

* Machine gun: This is a gun that uses a little machine to fire bullets rapidly. Don’t bother looking for the machine; it’s very small.

* Sub-machine gun: Like a machine gun, but it goes underwater.

* Glue gun: Fires hot glue. If you’re creative, it’s great for arts and crafts. If you’re really, really creative, you can kill someone with it.

Sometimes Frank just slays me!