Q & A

Every so often, people ask me questions either here in the comments section, on Facebook, through email, or in person. These questions often require long answers, so I turn them into blog posts. Here are some questions I have received recently:

Q: Can you share your thoughts on any ways that you think government actually works well?

A: No, I can't because government does not work well. The closest thing to a government success would be the interstate highway system and the beginnings of the internet. But for the most part, government does a shitty job of everything. We have a Postal Service that sucks and runs an annual deficit. I watch empty Amtrak trains running. Government regulations do nothing to stop corporate abuses and actually lull consumers into abandoning due diligence.

My favorite example of government interference is television broadcasting. Over the air in most places, you get three to five channels. On cable, you get 300 to 500. What's the difference? The FCC has little control over cable and satellite. In every other technology, the trend is to go wireless. In TV, it is the other way. In England, broadcasting is a complete wasteland because of the BBC, and pirate radio is the only way to get variety.

Government fails because it leaves the decision making up to centralized bureaucracies. As a result, you have less of the things you want at a higher cost. The only advantage of government is you might receive something at the expense of someone else. For beneficiaries of welfare, this may seem great, but it diminishes our standard of living.

The only thing I can cede to the state is the power over criminal justice and war, but the anarcho-capitalists make the case that even this is unnecessary. When you consider the misery inflicted in these areas against the innocent, you have to wonder if there is a better way.

Government is at best a necessary evil. There are failures in capitalism and the free market, but they are punished severely by the market itself. Goldman Sachs should have gone under long ago. Instead, we have the government rescuing them. This is not capitalism. This is fascism.

Q: Why do you not work a white collar profession?

A: There is no honor in it. I don't want to insult people who work in offices such as engineers, computer programmers, and data entry personnel. But I have no training in these areas, and they don't interest me very much. But the work they do is honorable.

For me, jobs that require a tie are largely bullshit. These are middle manager jobs, lawyers, government bureaucrats, financial professionals, salespeople, and the like. Any job that requires me to lie is not a job I care to do, and I find that most of the people in these jobs are liars. The ones who speak the truth get fired. There's also a lot of office politics in these jobs that I can't tolerate. I am a straight shooter.

I identify with people who drive trucks, operate cranes, weld metal, and saw timber. I know a woman diesel mechanic. The people I admire are the ones who do real work in the real world.

I had a girlfriend once who would continually berate me for not having a "real job." To her a real job was wearing a tie and working in an office. Needless to say, I am not with her anymore. I have no regrets there.

People want status and money, but they don't realize what they have to give up in order to get it. It means compromising your integrity. It means playing a sycophant to your superiors and sticking it to your customers. I can't go along with this. In the case of my ex, she wanted me to sell annuities. I don't believe in annuities. Put your cash in treasuries and collect the interest. This is what the insurance company does.

Q: Why don't you teach?

A: I get this question at least once a week. The answer is simple. It doesn't pay enough money. The benefits are good, but I make more doing what I do now. In fact, I could make more doing almost anything other than teaching. Plus, I wouldn't keep a teaching job long maintaining a blog filled with the kinds of things I write. A teaching job is the same as an office job except the pay is lousy, and you babysit teenagers instead of adults. Plus, the lies you have to tell are government lies.

Q: Why do you not take vacations?

A: I am not good with free time. Work gives purpose and action to my life. Without it, I become bored and irritable and depressed. I like to write, but I can only do it for about four hours at a time. After that, the well is empty. Most of the things I write about come to me while I work.

I don't find leisure preferable to work. I find work preferable to leisure. Naturally, people invite me to come mow their lawns or paint their fences as if I would work for free. I don't work for free. I am going to get money for it or at least some artistic satisfaction from it. I will paint your fence, then I will burn it down. But I'm not painting it for free.

A puritan once said that there was no joy in idleness, and I agree. Work and happiness go together. I get plenty of relaxation when my head hits the pillow each night. I need work during the day. Leisure sucks.

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