Saturday, February 11, 2012

Random Thoughts on Various Subjects

1. CAMPAIGN

I don't really have much to say about the presidential campaign. I have sort of stopped thinking about it. I just find it humorous watching conservatives choke on Mitt Romney and vote for the likes of Gingrich and Santorum. Mitt really needs one of these guys to drop out. The fact that Gingrich and Santorum couldn't make it on the ballot in a few states indicates to me they have no fucking chance. But in the interim, they are drawing blood and inflicting heavy damage on Romney. Mitt would much rather begin his battle against Obama, but the GOP won't let him.

Ron Paul is done. It is clear that he is campaigning just to be heard at the convention. All those smug pundits who said Ron Paul couldn't win were correct. He can't win.

2. HALFTIME IN AMERICA

This was without a doubt the most laughable Super Bowl commercial this year:



Clint Eastwood should be ashamed. He hasn't laid an egg like this since Bridges of Madison County. Basically, Chrysler paid a man who is supposed to be a libertarian to help rehabilitate the fact that they received a taxpayer funded bailout. Now, Chrysler is owned by Fiat, an Italian carmaker. I think Remy does a much better job with his commercial:



3. INTERVENTION VS. NON-INTERVENTION

I have been reading and listening to various conservative commentators defend interventionism abroad as opposed to the "isolationist" views of someone like Ron Paul. Basically, it is that whole "they hate us for our freedom" bullshit. It is the good guys versus the bad guys. This issue is what unites Republicans and Democrats, and it is the only reason Ron Paul isn't the GOP frontrunner. This is also why Tea Partiers never became libertarians.

The antidote to this mythmaking are facts. Unfortunately, the facts that the antiwar crowd present are under reported. For instance, Iraq is still a shithole where Shias are now dominant over Sunnis and will certainly become the ally of Iran when that war starts. What has intervention achieved? Similarly, what did intervention do for Vietnam? And why is China liberalizing despite the fact that we haven't invaded?

I am going to have to take pains to reply to the myths being put out there by the interventionists and the neocons. This is some of that asymmetry I am talking about. With the cancellation of Freedom Watch, it certainly appears that libertarians have their work cut out for them.

4. SOME CAREER ADVICE

The best career advice I can give to anyone working today is to always be looking for another job. Companies are always looking for some way to fuck their workforce, so it behooves you to have zero loyalty to any employer. This is because companies have zero loyalty when it comes to you. A job is not a marriage. It is a business deal. Unfortunately, people in deals often attempt to use fraud, deception, threats, and intimidation to get what they want. Workers do this when they go on strike. Companies do this when they lie to their workers or attempt to extract from them work without paying for it. Another tactic they do is to give a worker a certain number of hours to get him hired and in the door then cuts those hours after he has settled into the position. Another tactic is to fire workers to save the jobs of some parasites and then take that work and put it on the ones remaining. In every one of these tricks, the company attempts to get something for nothing.

Termination is a two-way street. Your boss can fire you. But you can also fire your boss. There are other jobs. Going on strike doesn't change anything. Neither does going to the labor board. What changes things is the free market, and it behooves you to shop around for jobs just like you would a new car, a cellphone, or a computer. Bad companies deserve lousy workers. Lousy workers accumulate as good workers hit the exits. As this process continues, that company loses money, managers get fired, and outfits go bankrupt.

Am I looking for another job? Always.

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