Day: March 22, 2012

So Now I Am A Nazi! Go Figure!

In my years of activism and radical political thought I have been called many things….a pinko, a commie, a bastard, etc etc…..but the one I have missed I all those years was…….a Nazi.  I figured that with my political views I could eliminate that one as an insult to my beliefs……but I was mistaken!  I am officially a NAZI!

First, I am pro-choice and I know that some of my readers are not……I seldom debate the value of either because no matter how much we twist and shout….our opinions on the subject will stay the same and in these exchanges tempers flair and stuff is said that should not have been said……..I respect my friends that are pro-life and I would hope that they will respect my views also…..

With that said, I am officially a NAZI!  I know….I know….why would I say that?  It was not me that says that but a person on the Right…….

Liberty Counsel’s Matt Barber, at least, has been very open about this.  Just a few weeks ago, he plainly stated that those who support marriage equality or a reproductive rights are “on the wrong side of history” and “advocating things that are equally as horrific” as what the Nazis did.

But just in case that wasn’t clear enough, Barber followed it up today with a another Bonhoeffer/Nazi comparison where he explicitly stated that he is comparing those who support a woman’s right to choose to the Nazis

Let’s be very clear here. What we’re talking about here is, as we’ve long called it, an abortion holocaust. Are we comparing the pro-choice movement to the Nazi movement? Yes! Absolutely.

In recent weeks we talked about how the pro-life movement really embraces the mantle of Dietrich Bonhoeffer …This is the modern-day anti-holocaust movement; the pro-life movement is.

And, you know, I was, a few months ago, in the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC and I was taken by how the arguments that the Nazis made in order to dehumanize the Jews are the same arguments that we hear coming from the so-called pro-choice movement to dehumanize the unborn child.

There you have it….it is official!  According to Barber I am a NAZI!

I try to avoid using insulting language to describe one of my political opponents…..and I will take the high ground here and only say…..if his IQ ever makes it to 80 he should sell!

What Is This “Economic Freedom”?

This is  continuation of my post yesterday,  “Where  Is This “Free Market”?

I have heard the term, economic freedom used for many elections and this one is No different….Mitt has started using it as his latest bumper sticker to impress voters.  But what is this “Economic Freedom” he speaks of in Illinois?  Did the slogan help him win in the prairie state?

I have studied economics in the past and I do not have a handy definition I can offer up….and let me interject here that academics are paid big bucks for the knowledge and their brilliance to obfuscate……so like any good techie I went to the internet, especially answers.com….

Economic freedom is a term used in economic and policy debates.  As with freedom generally, there are various definitions, but no universally accepted concept of economic freedom. One major approach to economic freedom comes from classical liberal and libertarian traditions emphasizing free markets and private property, while another extends the welfare economics study of individual choice, with greater economic freedom coming from a “larger” (in some technical sense) set of possible choices. Another more philosophical perspective emphasizes its context in distributive justice and basic freedoms of all individuals. Other conceptions of economic freedom include freedom from want and the freedom to engage in collective bargaining.

The free market viewpoint understands economic liberty as the freedom to produce, trade and consume any goods and services acquired without the use of force, fraud or theft.   This is embodied in the rule of law, property rights and freedom of contract, and characterized by external and internal openness of the markets, the protection of property rights and freedom of economic initiative. There are several indices of economic freedom that attempt to measure free market economic freedom.   Empirical studies based on these rankings have found higher living standards, economic growth, income equality, less corruption and less political violence to be correlated with free market.

Mitt’s ranting about the subject….what does he really mean?  Well first of all, it is election time and No one but him knows what he means……because it is election time he is lying….why?  His lips are moving.  But since Mitt is so strong for economic freedom what does he mean of all the different definitions?

You decide!  I think he is just campaigning and has no idea what he means when his speech writers throw the concept into his latest stump.