When the Libertarian Party’s official publication cannot identify kleptocracy policy errors, resignations are in order. Above is a case in point from the March 2010 issue of LP News. Mindful that we rely on amateurs and volunteers, and must expect them to overlook salient facts embarrassing to the predatory professionals with whom we compete, it is still a good thing to understand what is going on. Two, six, nine and ten are the result mainly of Republicans bombing OTHER superstitious fanatics half a planet away. Four, five, seven and eight are primarily due to reckless, violent, prohibitionist looting of the sort HL Mencken described as Comstockism.
The market crash of 2008 had the same main cause as the crashes of 1907, 1920, 1929 and 1987. In all those cases prohibitionist fanatics laid hands on a weapon with which to threaten the lives and livelihoods of other citizens. In 1907 the Pure Food and Drug act empowered dry fanatics and crony mercantilists to interfere with commerce they felt was sinful. The same occurred in 1920, was nullified by police connivance and participation in bootlegging. It then went ballistic as the income tax liability ruling of 1927 combined with the March 2, 1929 Increased Penalties Act to topple the economy as of early September 1929. Why then? Because that’s when Mabel Willebrandt’s column explained the new enforcement methods. Now fast forward.
In 2007-8 Bush Jr, reelected, had nothing to lose by subsidizing fanatical prohibition evangelists with “faith-based” government appointments and tax money. Grow houses, autos, boats, aircraft, bank accounts and real estate were confiscated at accelerating rates until mortage-backed securities became worthless by dint of wholesale looting and impairment of mortgage contracts–over PLANT LEAVES!
Nobody at Libertarian Party headquarters noticed this mechanism. Even the first Flash Crash two years later did not rouse our eternally vigilant watchmen from the sleepy vagueness with which the Kleptocracy muffles evidence of its blunderings.
THEY sure as hell understand what happened. Bert Hoover wrecked the economy trying to bust Al Capone and thus intimidate the yeast and glucose Trusts. Simultaneous efforts against German narcotics then replacing alcohol led to our empowerment of Hitlerian National Socialism in a sucker’s bargain that got Roosevelt’s repeal party elected five times running.
Superstitious altruistic prohibitionists know that service pistols attacking freedom of trade and production (of grain products and plant leaves) kills people and the economy, but what they care about is Satan. Other superstitious prohibitionists can feel that service pistols attacking freedom of trade and production (of power plants and transmission lines) increases the death rate, but what they care about is individualism.
Get the complete story in Prohibition and The Crash on Amazon Kindle in two languages.
I also produce books and articles in Portuguese, using Brazilian historical sources at http://www.expatriotas.blogspot.com or amigra.us
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