Category Archives: Politics

Gore Vidal 1925-2012

Posted on by

On monotheism:

“I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to befall the human race. I see no good in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam — good people, yes, but any religion based on a single… well, frenzied and virulent god, is not as useful to the human race as, say, Confucianism, which is not a religion but an ethical and educational system that has worked pretty well for twenty-five hundred years. So you see I am ecumenical in my dislike for the Book. But like it or not, the Book is there; and because of it people die; and the world is in danger.”  (1988)

“The great unmentionable evil at the center of our culture is monotheism. From a barbaric Bronze Age text known as the Old Testament, three anti-human religions have evolved — Judaism, Christianity, Islam. These are sky-god religions. They are, literally, patriarchal — God is the Omnipotent Father — hence the loathing of women for 2,000 years in those countries afflicted by the sky-god and his earthly male delegates. The sky-god is a jealous god, of course. He requires total obedience from everyone on earth, as he is in place not for just one tribe but for all creation. Those who would reject him must be converted or killed for their own good. Ultimately, totalitarianism is the only sort of politics that can truly serve the sky-god’s purpose.”  (1992)

On himself:

“I am at heart a propagandist, a tremendous hater, a tiresome nag, complacently positive that there is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.”  (1956)

“Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.”  (1992)

Romney Tells the Truth. Oops!

Posted on by

Michael Kinsley once said that a political gaffe is when a politician tells the truth — some obvious truth he isn’t supposed to say. There are other kinds of gaffes, of course, but this kind can be especially informative.

Yesterday, Mitt Romney praised the efficiency of the Israeli health care system. It is efficient, since they spend much less than we do per capita while getting better results and providing universal coverage.

Maybe Romney didn’t realize it, but it’s important to note that the Israeli healthcare system is single-payer and government-regulated. It is, in fact, an example of socialism at its best.

Definitely the kind of political gaffe described by Michael Kinsley.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/07/30/whiplash-mitt-romney-lavishes-praise-on-israels-socialist-government-controlled-healthcare-system/

Two Good Ones

Posted on by

Especially this first one, which suggests that the people in the economic middle need to identify more with the people at the bottom than the people at the top. And includes a nice turn of phrase: “money breeds power and power breeds more money”. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/opinion/sunday/why-cant-we-end-poverty-in-america.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

This second one makes the reasonable suggestion that fewer kids should be required to pass that major stumbling block called “algebra”. That way more kids would stay in school or even flourish.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/opinion/sunday/is-algebra-necessary.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Over There

Posted on by

Those poor, benighted Brits — celebrating their socialistic National Health Service at the Olympics opening ceremonies!

Don’t they know it would be so much better to have a system like ours?

One that is reliant on profit-driven employers paying as little as possible to profit-driven insurance companies, who pay as little as possible to profit-driven doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, who charge as much as possible.  

Leaving millions without decent health care, whether or not they have health insurance, while we spend more on healthcare per capita than any other nation in the world and lag behind other developed nations in quality of care.

A system in which people often decide where to live or work depending on whether an employer provides health insurance.  

A system in which a major illness can bankrupt a family.

Crazy foreigners.

Government Regulation In Action

Posted on by

There used to be two Exxon gas stations in our town that sold the most expensive gas in the whole state of New Jersey. Their gas was always at least $1.00 more per gallon than other stations around here. I often wondered if something fishy was going on, maybe someone using these two stations to launder money, since they clearly weren’t selling much gas at those prices.

Last month, a “New Ownership” sign went up on both stations and the prices returned to normal. But why were the prices so high for the past 10 years?

It turns out that Exxon used to own both stations. The stations were operated by a local businessman who rented the stations from Exxon. About 10 years ago, Exxon raised the rent. The guy who was operating the stations decided to reflect the high rent in his gas prices. He says it was a protest against Exxon (but how was he able to survive all those years selling so little gas?).

This year Exxon decided to sell all of their gas stations. Because of a New Jersey law, the people who were leasing the stations from Exxon had “first refusal”. They could buy the stations from Exxon if they could match the price Exxon could get from another buyer. So this local businessman matched that price and now owns and operates both stations. He no longer sells the most expensive gas in New Jersey.

Gas is still too cheap in the US (most of us assume it should never go above $4.00 a gallon), but it’s good to see a story involving government regulation and one of the biggest corporations in the world have a happy ending.