Here's a letter that I sent on Friday to the Gray Lady:
Times often make unsubstantiated, over-the-top claims about Democrats
and left-liberal causes ("The Big Hate," June 12).
Prof. Krugman
should chill. These media – no less than the likes of CBS and your own
paper – are in business not to inform but to entertain. And presumably
the fictions that so irritate Mr. Krugman do entertain their intended
audiences – entertain these audiences no less than do the fictions that
are routinely emitted by 'progressive' media entertain their intended
audiences. How else, for example, to explain the routine accusation
that members of the Chicago school of economics applauded (or at least were indifferent to) Pinochet's
tyranny in Chile? Or the incessant refrain, from outlets such as The
Nation, that multinational corporations seek to 'impose' free trade as
a means of effectively enslaving workers? Or the common assertion that persons who
endorse free markets are really just mean-spirited mercenaries paid in
some coin to protect the privileges of the rich with cynical arguments
that confuse and confound ordinary folk?
Aren't these arguments just as incendiary and unsubstantiated as are those that Mr. Krugman attacks?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
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{ 33 comments }
Paul Krugman's comments confuse me. Now I don't know if he should be referred to as Professor, Doctor or as you have done, Mr. I'm saddened, I suppose, by his having chosen to be an apologist for the progressives, and in so doing, separated himself from the objective. A shame I fear.
Tom
Krugman has devolved into a hack…nothing more, nothing less.
Multinationals are trying to enslave workers?
Why am I always the last to find out about these things? I'm putting enslavement into my company's policy too now.
No room and board. Only strict 9-to-5 slaves need apply.
Prof Boudreaux objected to "the routine accusation that members of the Chicago school of economics applauded (or at least were indifferent to) Pinochet's tyranny in Chile…"
If they want to accuse me of that, I'll gladly plead guilty.
Bravo, Dr. B.
Heh heh.
Nicely done!
"Now I don't know if he should be referred to as Professor, Doctor or as you have done"
I prefer apparatchik.
Krugman has all the objectivity of the muirduck, which is to say nothing more than blind stupdidity on Krugman's part.
The Washington times was considered the hourse organ of the Bush administration? Oh Jesus, and just what is the Washington Post, New York Time, Houston Chronical, SF Chronicle, LA Times, etc etc. if not in competition to see which can stroke the socialist the most? Of course Krugman can't be bothered with the prepoderance of proof that the MSM is almost entirely socialist.
One, just one, conservative news outlet and it just kills the socialist idiots like Krugman that Fox is not marching lock step with the illusions of marxism. Makes this man want to puke.
“the threat posed by lone wolves and small terrorist cells is more pronounced than in past years.”
I'd like to see Krugman come up with the name, or proof, of just one, just one, Freaking conservative, Republican, rightwing, terrorist cell, or group.
Meanwhile I can name a bunch, PETA, Sierra Club, Earth Liberation front, Animal Liberation front, Anarchists, Federal government, etc. etc.
Krugman can call the 9/11 WTC attack the worst terrorist attack and the Oklahoma bombing the second worst, but in my mind the worst was the government attack on the Branch Davidian compound at Waco, and the second is the government attack on Randy Weaver and his family at Ruby Ridge. Yeah the numbers don't stack up to the WTC attack or Oklahoma, but they were done by our own freaking government on people were guilty of nothing more than believing things that the mainstream finds unusual. How horrible is it to realize that those who are trying to kill you are those who "represent" your neighbors, and who you think are there to protect you.
Yes, I saw the video of people jumping from the upper levels of the burning WTC and I cringe inside at the horror of it; but, how many of you have heard the sounds a man makes when he is being hunted, wounded, tracked down to be killed by fellow humans, some of those sounds will curdle your blood. Has Krugman? No of course not.
Krugman is a sick f.ucker, a moral pissant, no more no less; but, then naming him as the socialist he is make the "sick f.ucker" redundant. No lie, no distortion, no abusive accusation is to little or two big for such as him. This is true of all socialist, it is how they advance their agenda.
Hate, nobody does it like the left. They learned media manipulation from Reagan and his people, then they learned media use from their screwup with George W. Bush, and they aren't about to let it happen again.
Isn't it passing strange that with all the evidence to see establishing fact, the MSM can't see the vast leftwing conspiracy of evil marxist white men? Such as Krugman and Letterman, to name two public socialist who are as public and vocal as Limbaugh.
As governer, Bush received relatively favorable press from the MSM, and it cost them the election in 2000. They aren't letting that happen again, hence the constant and repetitive media denigration against Palin and the denigration of Bobby Jindal. No plausible opponent of Obama in 2010 is going to go unscathed. No more chance happenings when they control it all now.
Krugman will be right there in his little short skirted cheerleader's outfit doing his rah rah against anyone who stands opposed to socialism.
This crap makes me sick, no thanks to you Dr. Boudreaux for bringing it up.
I just feel so guilty for wanting to be free. I must be evil.
This should have read:
Meanwhile I can name a bunch of radical leftwing terrorist groups such as PETA, Sierra Club, Earth Liberation front, Animal Liberation front, Anarchists, Federal government, etc. etc.
vidyohs… it sounds like you need a cookie and a glass of cold milk.
It alway makes me smile just a little, even if it is just gas sometimes.
B.T.W. naming PETA a terrorist group is a little embarassing. I'm not sure them sneaking into another country and freeing bunny rabbits is going to ignite the level of fear normally reserved for terrorists.
Our dangerous terrorists are the for-profit killers such as Blackwater, Lockheed, etc.
The implications of his article negate any high ground he's trying to capture. The irony obviously escapes him.
"B.T.W. naming PETA a terrorist group is a little embarassing. I'm not sure them sneaking into another country and freeing bunny rabbits is going to ignite the level of fear normally reserved for terrorists."
Posted by: K Ackermann | Jun 14, 2009 10:36:30 PM
You really need to watch the Penn and Teller on Peta.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqlF2rvcYIs&feature=PlayList&p=89AD05CC54EDD41A&index=1
Videos,
Why don't you let us know how you really feel.
Mike, I watched that video… and I am at a loss for words.
Remember those people wearing Nike's that tried to take their special elevator up to see the UFO? Those people probably called PETA effin whackos.
And they would, of course, be right.
PETA is a great parody of "human rights" organizations parroting similar bullshit, not to mention all the nominal "libertarians" whining about their nominal "rights".
"Or the common assertion that persons who endorse free markets are really just mean-spirited mercenaries paid in some coin to protect the privileges of the rich with cynical arguments that confuse and confound ordinary folk?"
This is the one that really irks me, because it is just a dismissal disguised as a refutation, absolving its proponent from having to do any thinking or critical analysis. I have had someone tell me that I have been sold a "bill of goods" concerning free market theory, which is tantamount to calling me a dupe. How arrogant.
I have to say, however, that the fears of some about racist and anti-government extremists is not entirely without merit. OK city was ostensibly a reprisal for Ruby Ridge. Left wing extremists don't need terror cells. They have acquired the reigns of "legitimate" power, and their violence is done through legislation, and the destruction of the Bill of Rights.
K. Ackerman,
"B.T.W. naming PETA a terrorist group is a little embarassing. I'm not sure them sneaking into another country and freeing bunny rabbits is going to ignite the level of fear normally reserved for terrorists."
The FBI has long stated that 85% of the political terrorist acts committed in the USA are done by radical leftwing groups such as the ones I named, yet the MSM is absolutely dead silent on this.
Furthermore I personally attended a meeting here in Houston at the St. Thomas U., a meeting specifically held to organize those groups to coordinate more closely their anti-capitalist anti-government actions.
I personally heard the U. of Texas Professor from El Paso, Tex, representing ALF & PETA, say that burning down buildings known to contain animals for testing or just records of testing was a moral act even if humans were in the building and were burned with it, and I heard the cheers and saw the head shaking in agreement from the crowd.
Thanks for the cookies & milk suggestion, but I prefer a good Syrah and a slice of Manchego.
Furthermore,
"Our dangerous terrorists are the for-profit killers such as Blackwater, Lockheed, etc.
Posted by: K Ackermann | Jun 14, 2009 10:36:30 PM"
Just what is the track record of these commercial forces that you'd would cite in order to support such a ridiculous statement?
Clausewitz said that "War is a continuation of politics by other means". I think its actually the other way around. Politics is a continuation of war. War is total aggression and politics is aggression with rationalization. So why should we expect other than propaganda and counter-propaganda? The trick is to somehow find a path that is above the fray, but in a highly politicized world finding such a path is difficult and perhaps impossible. Easier to simply choose a side.
K. Ackerman,
My point to you is that my input on the domestic terrorist groups mentioned above is not anecdotal, I witnessed it.
Yes, I just watched the video passed on above by Mike. And, yes that is the same professor that came to Houston whom I mentioned above, whom I saw addressing the large group of college stooges at St. Thomas U., Steven Best.
Yes, he is one crazy dude, but the anarchist that spoke after him makes him look tame when it comes to pure stupidity. The anarchist was the one who had the crowd chanting "kill capitalism".
Unfortunately the Earth Lib Front representative who was scheduled to also speak was unable to attend; but, I'd give even money that he was of the very same stripe.
"The anarchist was the one who had the crowd chanting 'kill capitalism'."–vidyohs
The big difference between this and what happens to lemmings is that the lemmings aren't really acting on a suicidal impulse.
Saul, Lemming suicide is a myth.
>>PETA is a great parody of "human rights" organizations parroting similar bullshit, not to mention all the nominal "libertarians" whining about their nominal "rights".<<
Martin, are you intentionally trying to be provocative with this? Is this just another way to get your dig in at those people who belive in property rights and you asserting that there's no such thing without the state enforcing it? If so, just to appease you, I am no longer going to label myself as a libertarian. As of now, I will refer to myself as a minarchist. Perhaps it is more accurate but that's not why I'm making the switch. It's to take away this provocative argument of yours that serves to cloud an issue and gives me some wiggle room to support some aspects of government that I believe are neccessary.
John: Exactly. Thats what I meant.
LowCountryJoe: Its a bad reflection on the person you are arguing with if you have to play around with labels like that instead of actually arguing the particular issues involved.
@vidyohs –
Let's make a distinction here.
There are those radicals who want to extinguish capitalism because they see it as the engine that justifies animal abuse.
Then there are the radicals who want to extinguish capitalism for their own moral certitude, and they see animal rights and environmentalism as an engine for recruiting allies.
>>LowCountryJoe: Its a bad reflection on the person you are arguing with if you have to play around with labels like that instead of actually arguing the particular issues involved.<<
I think that's it's a worse reflection on me for not wearing the correct label to begin with: apparently the true libertarian is one who would argue that property 'so-called' rights are not natural and needs the state to enforce — therefor not libertarian. However, in another breath, will argue that the state's coercion into forcing the younger generation to pay for a retirement entitlement [Social Security] is justified because society has not honored its immediate family committment to take care of its parents.
will argue that the state's coercion into forcing the younger generation to pay for a retirement entitlement [Social Security] is justified because society has not honored its immediate family committment to take care of its parents.
Martin does not actually argue that, though he may seem to at times. You have to read him very carefully, like a legal document.
Yes Ike, that is true, and I am aware of it.
The point to consider, in my mind, is not what the anarchist said but how the crowd of young people responded. That was the more telling feature of the scenario.
That revealed such a shallow, if any, and grossly distorted understanding of captialism. Without capitalism having been in play, it did not occur to any of them that they would not be standing in an air conditioned hall, dressed in comfortable clothes, well fed, leisure time to spend, and tons of printed literature spread around the different groups tables.
This has obviously gone slightly off topic now, so I'll add this.
Am I the only one who is struck with the hypocrisy of the fact that videos can be made of these terrorists planning, encouraging, and teaching terrorist attacks and tactics, they can reserve rooms at upscale universities for meeting at which the speak openly, boastfully, of the art of using terrorism as a weapon; and, not a single thing is done to censure them by denying them access to students, the professor, Steven Best, still has his cozy job. The MSM ignores them which is the same as aiding them, their goals are well known and well announced. The Center for Disease Control, which tracks hate groups, will not admit they exist and only focuses on what they call rightwing hate groups.
All of that, and no one able to identify by name an appropriate counterweight group or people of the right wing persuasion who have done or are doing the same type of open goals announcements.
Again, it makes me want to puke. And, some of you probably still wonder why voluntarily deny the government every penny I can.
I ain't paying for any more of this crap then I can help.
Vidyohs, you forget that as far as the leftists are concerned, the ends do justify the means. Therefore, it isn't terrorism if they do it, it is fighting the good fight. Only right-wingers can be terrorists, just like only white people can be bigots.
Why fret over what a bunch of extremists say whilst they are in their safe havens, vidyohs. You could probably go to a KKK meeting and here how many would like to see a great deal of violence against non-'true whites'. But how many people like to talk tough in their safe havens but never have the guts to do anything about it?
Besides, so what even if you point out that for every extremist-enviro who does engage in violence there's 99 of them at home cheering them on even if they wouldn't admit to it in public? After all, for every anti-abortionist who kill an abortion there's probably another 99 at home cheering them on. And, for every Libertarian who shoots dead a police officer there's 99 at home cheering them on.
"Krugman is a sick f.ucker, a moral pissant, no more no less; but, then naming him as the socialist he is make the "sick f.ucker" redundant. No lie, no distortion, no abusive accusation is to little or two big for such as him. This is true of all socialist, it is how they advance their agenda."
No seanooski, I didn't forget.