Friday, February 22, 2013

Monopoly: Free and Compulsory

Monopoly is no new word, but the definition shifts in the newspeak of the intelligentsia. A book length's diatribe can be exhausted on the euphemisms used to hoodwink the masses into trusting governmental authority. College students are bamboozled into thinking they are reading American. Someone with the gall, should offer a foreign language course in journalese. The 4th branch would cringe in revulsion. They like secrets.

Monopoly is my favorite board game. It was crafted by enemies of free enterprise to persuade people that private ownership over the means of production is a nightmare. Instead, people bought it as if it were the last Takis bag in the 7-Eleven aisle. The idea was doomed from conception. Monopoly was sold, not given out for free. It was traded voluntarily. Socialists using Capitalism will fail to convince others that capitalism is bad. Slavoj Zizek goes on tour selling books about the evils of book selling.  Makes it child's play to be
an angry prophet denouncing the hypocrisies of our time (Network, 1976).
 The loose lips in news clips shiv monopoly repeatedly with every misuse. Either the term refers to State invasion of free enterprise or not. The 4th branch tells readers and listeners to fear monopolist mergers. Sowing the seeds of jealousy is a heinous act. Monopolies do not come about by merging business with business. When businesses sleep with the State, she bears monopolies. Allowing companies to consolidate voluntarily gives them an opportunity to better serve consumers (us) with lower prices or higher quality. If newcomers are barred entry to an industry, by the State, then it is time to fear the corporations in that industry. Uneven theft exemptions, forced licensing, and bans on voluntary mergers have a common root. The State. She is nothing more than the forced monopoly on security production. Telling the pluses from the minuses of monopolies is hard when the word is purposefully employed to confound.

I work strenuously to ease understanding of politics. Monopoly is no different than other concepts in politics. The same question should be asked of every political issue. Is it free, or is it compulsory?

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I Speak American

The American language is a slut, and a skank. She entertains foreign tongues with the regularity of the rising Sun. This a compliment. The new words complement the lexicon when they label an unnamed concept. If there is nothing new to be gleaned from the word, it deserves the proverbial boot. The great wind of typhoon, comes from China. Flat mountainous regions, known as mesas, come from Latins. American numerals are Arabic. Active participation in the editing process is the duty of every American. Don't sleep.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Charity in Praxis

Los Angeles, California is a stretch of earth that should be dissected by lovers of life. Foodies can bathe in the myriad tastes found while splashing in the melting pot. Seekers of the sublime can stare at the rolling hills and peaceful ocean. Architects can marvel at the downtown skyscrapers, Hollywood sign, Valley mansions, and rustic South Central neighborhoods. Welcome to Watts.

Riots, gang violence, and eye-watering poverty brought about by invasions of the State have defined Watts to outsiders. Never forget, humans live in Watts. Humans work in Watts everyday. Little ones play on their jungle gyms, now ignorantly called apparati. Separate the stereotypes from the facts. There is danger, but caution should be the modus operandus in any trek through unknown lands. Otherwise, stay in your own castle.

I do my part to serve my fellow man. The love of humans is the second great commandment, and I obey the lord God. Father Gregory Boyle, of Homeboy Industries, says
Nothing stops a bullet like a job.
The way to take that to heart is to vote in the 100% democracy of the market economy. Casting your ballot for any old businessman is not going to count. Peacefully exchanging goods and services with locally run industries has a positive affect on community growth. You vote for a family man by paying for his product. He is given more leeway to running his finances, and can better provide for his family. His kids receive more attention, and are able to do better in school. They grow up to be more successful, and give back to the community. Ripples are real.

 An elderly gentleman of latin descent runs a fruit stand within blocks of the school that I work at. He is surrounded by competition in substitute goods. Inexpensive pizza, assortments of meat and Takis the peoples' champion. A veritable who's who of villains, in the eyes of nutrition commissar Michelle Obama. In spite of the penetrating rays of the Sun, he patiently stands and waits for his next trade. He has an orthodox faith in his product. The sign of an entrepreneur.

"I'll have the pineapple slices without chile or lime."

"La pina?"

"Claro que si, sin chile y sin limon."

Peel peel peel, chop chop chop, slice slice slice. He packages the pineapple segments.

"Quiero la, para llevar."

"Si, no problema."

"Gracias patron, tenga buen dia!"

Post Scriptum:

I get cuts at barbershops in South L.A. Cash run industries are muckier for the State than card based industries. I will render unto Caesar what is his, but I will rub it in dirt first.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Honesty

Truth is reality. That which is. Honesty is the act of telling others truths about yourself.

I am reading On Writing Well by William Zinsser. His accolades are numerous. Rarely am I so affected by an author that I will implement their way of thinking before finishing the text. Bravo! I am masticating on each noun with the pace of the renown tortoise, slow and steady. The verbs are being swooshed back and forth in my mouth and spit out. He covers libertarian journalist H.L. Mencken's The Scopes Trial, while I use scope metaphors. Needless to say I have taken it to heart that I need to take words out that I do not need to say over and over.

My work at internofchrist.blogspot.com already contains elements of this style. I re-edited my political piece on charity. Zinsser claims to be indebted to E.B. White, who scribed three classics I read and enjoyed as a child. Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and the Trumpet of the Swan tickled my mental ears into perking. I understand why. Writing is subject to the same natural laws that bind the finite. People are born with different strengths and weaknesses, but these predispositions do not preclude greatness in a skill one was born weak in. A legal midget can train hard enough to dunk on a standard National Basketball Association rim. A blind, deaf, and dumb girl can become an illustrious writer. E.B. White took his katana and practiced the same swinging motion thousands of times a day. Devotion can overcome the inequities of man.

I apologize to those whom have been lured into the muck of my cascading rhetorical flourish. Perhaps my perpetual peering into the powder puff powerpoint presentations of politicians, perturbed my proclivity to prettily pursue poetic prose. Now the word slinger will jet out of the holster straight from the hip. POW! Right in the kisser, and straight to the dome.