The Pirates Are Here!!!

Well, this is bad.

I don’t remember the exact time I became aware that in Europe there were people some called “Pirates”.  I believe frequent commentator, Dirk, was the one who first made me aware of such people, and I believe we’ve been visited by a few. 

So, what is a “pirate”?  They’re a group of people who spew extreme leftist notions while hi-jacking the Libertarian label, and sprinkle just a dash of conservatism in an effort to make them appear and sound centrist and reasonable. 

So, why is this bad?  Well, for one, they’ve infected Switzerland. 

This fall, a truck dumped eight million coins outside the Parliament building in Bern, one for every Swiss citizen. It was a publicity stunt for advocates of an audacious social policy that just might become reality in the tiny, rich country. Along with the coins, activists delivered 125,000 signatures — enough to trigger a Swiss public referendum, this time on providing a monthly income to every citizen, no strings attached.
Every month, every Swiss person would receive a check from the government, no matter how rich or poor, how hardworking or lazy, how old or young. Poverty would disappear.
The proposal is, in part, the brainchild of a German-born artist named Enno Schmidt, a leader in the basic-income movement. When we spoke, Schmidt repeatedly described the policy as “stimmig.” Like many German words, it has no English equivalent, but it means something like “coherent and harmonious,” with a dash of “beauty” thrown in. It is an idea whose time has come, he was saying.

I’m hoping one of our German speaking friends may be able to add more clarity to the word.  Still, some may say “that’s Switzerland, so what?”

The notion is here, in the US, as well.  And, they’re using the same tactics as the Pirates in Europe.  Oh, I sense some skepticism, already.  Consider my recent articles about the false flag operation in Virginia, and the little black boxes. 

Those started with a LA Times article talking about putting little black boxes in our vehicles to track us, ostensively, for taxing purposes.  The article stated that Libertarians were on board with this.  At the time, I wrote,“[t]here’s not one self-respecting Libertarian who favors a little black box being put in your personal vehicle in order for the government to track and tax you with“.

Now, there’s a NY Times article (where the block quotes came from) which also has this to say ……

They even are whispered about in the United States, where certain wonks on the libertarian right and liberal left have come to a strange convergence around the idea — some prefer an unconditional “basic” income that would go out to everyone, no strings attached; others a means-tested “minimum” income to supplement the earnings of the poor up to a given level.

Here’s what Mike Shedlock had to say about this.

No one who can rightfully call themselves a Libertarian, can possibly support such an economically inane proposal.
To give money away, it would have to be taken, by the government from someone (via taxes) to be distributed to someone else.
Alternatively, money would be printed into existence causing inflation. Either way, it would not be “free”.
There is no such thing as “free money”, and no libertarian would support increased taxes.

Sound familiar?

Worse, if one is a shallow thinker, this proposal makes sense.  Instead of using all the federal bureaucracies as a middlemen for wealth redistribution, we could eliminate most of them and simply disperse cash payments.  Savings, right?  So, the argument would be, instead of foodstamps, HUD, welfare, etc, we’d just have one agency cutting checks.  Or, as the NY Times author referenced,

Charles Murray of the conservative American Enterprise Institute has proposed a minimum income for just that reason — feed the poor, and starve the beast. “Give the money to the people,” Murray wrote in his book “In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State.”

It’s strange.  Throughout my years, I find that many of my thoughts as a very young man are now echoed by others but, considered deeper thoughts.  Well, they’re deeper than most leftist thoughts.

I’m not sure what’s worse; thoughts from an avowed leftist or thoughts from a Libertarian incapable of more than two dimensional thought.  Like the notion of the little black boxes, this thought of a more efficient wealth redistribution lacks any depth.  Sure, on the surface, this would eliminate the many inefficacies of the federal bureaucracies.  But, one needs to take care with what we’re making more efficient.  To quote Shedlock again …..

Clearly Insane
The proposal is clearly insane on many grounds. If printing money and sloshing it around ended poverty, Zimbabwe, Argentina (and lately Venezuela) would be the wealthiest nations on the planet.
The only alternative to printing is raising taxes on the wealth producers as part of a socialist redistribution scheme.

I think what we’re witnessing isn’t just one thing happening, but a confluence of things.  There is deception here, but, mostly self-deception.  People calling themselves and their thoughts Libertarians.  We’re also seeing yet another part of our language bastardized.  People are afraid to call things what they really are because of the obvious connotations of certain words.  But, we needn’t be afraid of the words if the ideas are worth discussing. 

Let’s call these things for what they are.  This is, by definition, an extreme example of socialism.  It is one step away from the leftist utopia of communism.  You can call yourself a Libertarian all you wish, or even a conservative, but, that doesn’t make it so.  I suppose we can redefine those words to mean “wealth redistributionists”, and, I think that’s the point.  It’s a form of deception, either an attempt to deceive other people or one’s self. 

People, the pirates are here.