More Trouble Muslims in Tennessee

To the relief of certain Tennessee legislators, the new sink in the capitol building’s maintenance closet is not a foot bath for Muslims, reports the AP.

As one member of the Tenth Amendment Center staff remarked, “I don’t know which is more disturbing, that [those] legislators are so uppity that they have never seen the inside of a janitor’s closet, or that they are freaking out that a Muslim might actually wash their feet in the capitol building.”

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish satirical news reports from The Onion and “real” news reporting. In a related note, it’s becoming more and more difficult to take seriously anyone concerned that such stories are worth fretting over.

Will They Ever Start Asking Questions?

Glenn Greenwald posted these three links earlier in the week:

#1

#2

#3

When will the public start questioning the wars?

Ten Years Ago

Ten years ago today the United States government launched the invasion of Iraq on false pretenses. Thankfully, I did not participate in the invasion. Regrettably, I participated in the subsequent occupation, deploying in 2005 and again in 2007. Anthony Gregory described this war as “the worst U.S. government project in my lifetime,” and the same is true for me.

Despite the assurances of Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, George W. Bush, and others, suffering and misery have been the enduring legacies of that misadventure. A million and a half were killed, millions were wounded, and even more were displaced from their homes. A repressive regime was toppled, but a military occupation followed, bringing with it martial law, kidnapping, rape, torture, and wholesale destruction of private property that bankrupted the already impoverished population.

Though most of the American troops have returned, the violence continues. Dozens were killed in attacks across the country today, as warring factions continue the fighting, long after “mission accomplished,” and the war having ended. Please pray for the families affected by this ongoing crime, and refuse to give your support – moral or otherwise – the next time a president launches another war of aggression.

Could This Be the Final Straw?

Well, this might be what they need to justify overt military operations in Syria. According to Reuters, chemical weapons have been used in northern Syria, although it’s unclear which group initiated the attack.

“Syria’s state television channel said rebels fired a rocket carrying chemical agents that killed 25 people and wounded dozens. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, said 16 soldiers were among the dead.”

Read the rest here.

Separate the State from the Banks

As a rule, progressives place little trust in market institutions and are always the champions of government intervention in the economy. This they argue is the only way to protect consumers, ensure competition, and protect the little guy from the greed and excesses of capitalism. Among the favorite targets are banks and the financial services sector in general. Without strict regulation from the state, they say, there would be no limit to the corruption and fraud committed by Wall Street against the folks on Main Street.

The fact that the financial services sector is the most heavily regulated industry in the world seems to make difference. If such government regulation worked as we’re told it’s supposed to, banks and other financial institutions should be the most consumer-friendly and beloved of all businesses. And yet they’re not.

This should come as no surprise, however. Given how tightly controlled the market is, there is little room for firms to adapt to consumer preferences, and the larger institutions have virtual control over the political and bureaucratic processes that direct the industry. Furthermore, the banking system, through fractional reserves, makes establishing business along the lines of a more transparent nature next to impossible. As a result of the state’s intervention, banking has become less about providing a valuable service, as Jeffrey Tucker explains:

There was a time when banks operated like normal businesses, performing a service in exchange for payment, while clearly delineating what part of people’s deposits were at risk (and, therefore, paid a premium) and what part were security (and, therefore, a service to be paid for). But central banking and fiat paper money have confused the issue to the advantage of the financial system, but to the disadvantage of depositors….

This backwards, bankrupt system is what allows the expropriation of Cypriot depositors (or at least the rationale for such a thing) and those of other nations whose governments are so entrenched in the financial system, and so desperate to remain attached to their hosts. In order to truly bring the sort of outcomes progressives claim to want — consumer protection, honesty, and fairness — they should divest themselves of the notion that the state is the only means to achieve such ends.

Again, if intervention could bring about these outcomes, we ought to see the banking industry as the most popular of all. Instead, we find that the most unregulated (at least as far as the state is concerned) markets are the most friendly to consumers, and the most responsive to their needs. This is because the market does regulate itself, to an extent far beyond any government planner can.

Finally, something that always seems to emerge in discussions about the role and legitimacy of government is a rather awkward claim: we’ve never had a truly free market (usually expressed as “that’s never been tried”) along with a warning of how terrible life would be like in a free market. This dissonance is patently absurd, especially coming from individuals who are driven almost entirely by empirical evidence. It’s high time to divorce the marriage between the state and the banks, and give the market an opportunity to do what the state can never do: serve humanity.