A Capital Idea

What happened to the idea that capital economies drive innovation? And that these economies are driven primarily by consumer choice?

In 2012, go to your local hardware store to buy a standard incandescent light bulb. You won’t find a single one. The rule of law (passed by congress and signed by Bush in 2007) will dictate you buy one of those new-fangled spiral fluorescents. What’s wrong with that, you ask? Among other things:

• Less consumer choice (my #1 beef)
• The light is poorer in quality - as an amateur photographer, I hate the tone they give to people
• They don’t work with dimmers
• They contain mercury, and they can break – I have a daughter. The less of that stuff in my home, the better

That’s just the tip of the iceberg…

The intention of this law is energy conservation. In my opinion, it will backfire. In the long run, the good capitalists that make our light bulbs will have less capital pressure to innovate. Allow me to explain.

Which of the following options do you think would benefit consumers, and for that matter, the planet?

• The government tells you that there is not a choice. You have to buy a more expensive, poorer quality product
• You and the rest of the market place decide which light bulb manufacturers produce

By the latter, I mean allowing consumers to vote with their wallets. The buying public is ecologically conscious - there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for the company that creates a better product for less (not an inferior one that costs more). With government intervention, there is no incentive to create green value. In fact, the manufacturers now have another “green” reason NOT to innovate!

This kind of green governance generally serves to stifle innovation and progress. It’s done with the best of intentions, and it feels good. In the long run, we all suffer.

If you’re not buying (or following) my argument, consider the Compact disc. Introduced to the public in the early 1980’s, it did not supplant the analog cassette until the early 1990’s. Why? Because it was not a practical alternative. CDs were double the cost of cassettes, and CD players were prohibitively expensive. Now how long do you think it would have taken for the cost of manufacturing CDs and their players to come down if Reagan signed a law banning analog cassettes in say, 1985? More than a decade, that’s for sure!

The government is assuming you’re too stupid to drive green commerce. They think that they can do a better job. If not for the government, you’d be using “bad for the planet light bulbs” through 2050. Since you’re incapable of exerting capital pressure on the manufacturers to create a better product, they come to our rescue.

So tell your friends - capitalism and environmentalism are not necessarily antagonists. Remember that consumers drive consumption, and the capitalists will make what we tell them to make!

Green Consumption

A few weeks ago, I went to a local shopping mall to buy a few items. Now I’m not the shopping type – I like to get in and out of there as fast as possible. Accordingly, I was looking for a parking space as close to the entrance as possible. And then I saw them - next to the handicapped and expectant mother spaces. Hybrid Parking Only. My God! What’s this about?

Once I got beyond the irony of “green parking” at a shopping mall (a pantheon of capitalism and consumption), I wondered what it was about those dedicated spaces that that bothered me so much. It took me a while to figure it out.

It’s politically correct to go green. As individuals, it’s been en vogue for years. Today, your company better get on the bandwagon, or else. If you’re not eco-friendly, or at least appearing to be, you’re greedy. You’re mean. You’re wasteful. It does not matter what you’re actually doing, you just have to appear “green”. Eco-friendly parking is to a shopping mall, as a Toyota Prius is to an upper class tree hugger living in a 5000 square foot home.

One of these days I’ll get into an explanation of how environmentalism was hijacked by the left. For now, let’s just agree that environmentalism is very important to corporate America. I can’t get passed the irony of that statement.

A Community Service Requirement?

From President-Elect Obama's very own change.gov website:

"Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year."

If a community service requirement is not what they meant, I'd really like to get an explanation. You see, we have something called the 13th amendment which prohibits this sort of thing:

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

Does anyone else see a problem here?

If you know me, you'll know that I am not a fan of President, George W. Bush. But this is one area that he actually understood. I refer you to the following link: http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/tg/pvsainfo/dspAboutAwards.cfm. You see, "voluntary" is a key part of community service. Americans give more of their time in voluntary service than any other people on earth. Why all of a sudden is this type of service required?

Top Ten Predictions for Obama’s First Term

What a day! November 4, 2008. I’ll never forget where I was, and what I was doing when the networks made the call – “Barack Obama is President elect”! This one is firmly on the Mount Rushmore of great dates in American history – an African-American has been elected President of the United States.

So here we are, not quite sober from the high of the moment. As reality sets in, we begin to realize that on January 20, 2009, the real work begins. For me, this is where the milestone-induced euphoria ends, and where the concern over antipodal ideologies begins.

So to kick off this blog, I’d like to provide my Top Ten Predictions for Obama’s first term. It’ll be cool to look back at this in 4 years to see how accurate (or inaccurate) the list was. For some of the items on my list, I hope (for the sake of this country) that I am wrong.

10. The Hip House
The coolness factor of the White House will go way, way up! This will be good for young Americans… I hope that their ability to relate will mean more of them pay attention (Once you reach your late 30's, the term "young people" moves to third person plural :)

9. The dis-armed forces
This one’s a slam dunk. Less spending on defense and a smaller overall force is inevitable. ‘nough said.

8. Baby love
Government provided health care will be a reality - if not for all, at least for children. So get ready for the claims that “Republicans hate babies”, when they vote “No” to the first entry level socialized health care bill.

7. America! What a country!
Anyone that doesn't see this one coming is dreaming. Deserved or not, Bush 43 was an unpopular President, probably more so overseas than here at home. The election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land will improve our international repute.

6. Roe v. Wade through 2040
If there’s one thing I will avoid discussing on this blog, it’s abortion. Some people on both sides are far too passionate to engage in logical dialogue. By the way, my position is irrelevant. One thing’s for sure – Obama will present Congress with Supreme Court candidates that agree with him. They will be young, and they will be liberal. It will take at least 8 presidential election cycles to get back to a 5/4 split in the top court.

5. Yo, bra’ Man! No More Excuses!
This is not as much a prediction as it is a directive. Brothers and sisters have a lot less room to blame “the man” for failure. After all, the man is your brother! The irony here is thick... Obama actually will seek to provide economic justice.

4. Same deal, different century
The New Deal mind set will make a strong comeback. Our collective ideological pendulum will violate Newton’s third law, and swing wildly to the left. Americans will come to expect more from Government, particularly the federal government. This one’s kind of hard to quantify, but let’s take an inventory of what “rights” people think we should have – now, and again in 2012.

3. Will work for food (stamps)
Man, do I hope I’m wrong on this one. Higher corporate taxes will stifle corporate investment. Businesses will adopt a “lights on” operations model to get through the long economic winter.

2. Kilo-what!
Your overall expenditure on energy will go up (e.g. your price per kilowatt-hour). It will go up for you, for me, and for the nation as a whole. Obama’s position on coal as an energy source will save the planet, but kick you square in your right butt cheek.

1. The check is in the mail
Our national debt will sky rocket. In Obama’s defense, McCain wouldn't have balanced the federal budget either. Having said that, if you think Bush 43 spent your money like a drunken sailor, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

I'll elaborate more on these items in the coming weeks. For now, take this in and hope right along with me that I'm way off target.

Congratulations, President Elect Obama!

Well, I lost a bet. I promised a friend that if McCain lost the 2008 election, I'd start a blog... a blog intended to carry the torch for small government, low taxes, free markets, a strong defense, etc. Well here it is!

Before I get this train rolling, let me say congratulations to my brother from the lake! Barack Obama! You're the 44th President of the United States of America! What an accomplishment. This is indeed a historic day!

Okay. That's it. My first post. More later!