Government 1B: Lesson 85 Essay – (1) “Are voters informed? If not, why not? According to Professor Caplan, is the problem ignorance or irrationality?” (2) “Professor Casey claims that the idea of political representation is an empty one. How does he defend his argument?”

More than 9 out of 10 voters are uninformed. Voters are uninformed because they would rather spend their time doing other things than educating themselves on politics. This is because they are not immediately and directly affected by their votes. Caplan said irrationality was the problem. It is obvious that an uninformed voter won’t flip a coin to decide who they vote for. They vote with bias. Most Americans are poorly educated on markets, so they will tend to vote against the free market.

“Political representation” is meaningless. A politician can’t represent more than 50,000 people, or even 1,000. How can a person represent people he has never met? He can’t. A representative must do exactly as his principle tells him to. This is impossible if you have 100 different principles.

Government 1B: Lesson 80 Essay – (1) “Evaluate this claim: ‘The New Deal was a wise series of government actions that healed the problems afflicting the economy.'” (2) “Critics have claimed that the housing boom and bust was a result of the market economy. Can you make a case that it was instead the result of government policy?”

The government did not “heal” the Great Depression, it caused it. It was caused by the government artificially lowering interest rates.  During the Great Depression the government increased the minimum wage a lot. Prices were falling at this time so it was basically like the workers were getting a raise and the businesses couldn’t afford to hire as many people leading to more people being unemployed.

The Housing Bust of 2008 was certainly caused by the government. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would buy mortgages from banks. Bankers began to realize they would buy almost any mortgage, so they allowed many people without jobs and money to buy houses and use mortgage loans. Eventually a lot of the risky people would not pay their mortgage payments, so the federal government would print more money to give to Freddie and Fannie. These bailouts and the increasing demand for houses caused higher prices to keep rising and it led people to believe buying houses was great because their value kept rising. Eventually Freddie and Fannie defaulted and the thing collapsed hurting many people who bought homes because their values dropped dramatically.

Government 1B: Lesson 75 Essay – (1) “What kind of success did Africa have with governments that wielded great power over different African economies?” (2) “What are some of the major arguments advanced by the Public Choice school of economics?” (3) “What are front-loading and political engineering?”

African governments were unsuccessful when they tried to control their economies. This was because they enforced super high taxes on people that worked hard. Due to the high taxes imposed and government collectivization people had little incentive to work causing poverty.

The primary argument made by the Public Choice school of economics is that politicians have their own desires. Many people think that the government only serves the people, but the government has its own desires and interests. They spend money how they want to which is rarely to help the public. Special interest groups will pay people in the government to do what they want them to do. Another argument is that voter are uninformed and will frequently vote for bad politicians. Many people will vote for bad politicians because they want free hand-outs from he government and the bad politician will offer that. Voters tend to be uninformed because there are no instantaneous and direct consequences of voting.

Front-loading is when the military over promises what weapon a weapon will be able to do and they say the price will be low. Then they say well it is not all that and it actually is going to cost a lot. You think the government wouldn’t pay it. Then they begin the political engineering part of their plan where they spread the military project into as many districts as possible. This spreads out jobs in these districts and the congressman doesn’t want to stop it because if he does people will lose their jobs and get mad at him.

Government 1B: Lesson 70 Essay – (1) “What are some of Marx’s criticisms of capitalism?” (2) “How might you respond to the criticisms you discussed in question 1?” (3) “Discuss the following three items in brief: a. ‘What Is To Be Done’ b. New Economic Policy c. Ukranian terror-famine.”

Marx thought that employers forced workers to work at wages just high enough to keep them alive. He said that capitalism is bad because of the business cycle (depressions and recessions). Marx thought that the market shouldn’t decide what people produce, they should get to choose or have a “central planning agency” choose for them. He thought that capitalism was bad because businesses and people have to compete with each other. Marx thought that “democratically regulated central planning” allowed people to produce what they wanted to. He said people wouldn’t be forced to work, but would freely choose to work. Marx said the central planning agency would give each person the exact amount of goods they need. He said prices were based on the labor put into creating the products then said that is why a shirt = two drinking glasses. He said workers were worse off in absolute terms over  time under capitalism. He said all workers on the earth will spontaneously find out they are being exploited against. He thought that there would be no government in a communist society because the government in a capitalist society is used by the rich to exploit poor people.

(NOTICE: In the paragraph below my critiques will be listed in the same order as the statements Marx made above.)

Marx did not understand that under capitalism people can choose to form contracts, they were not coerced into them. The business cycle is caused by the government interfering with interest rates not capitalism. Marx did not understand that the “market” is the total of individuals choices. Marx did not understand that competition led to lower prices benefiting consumers. Marx did not understand that if everyone just produced what they wanted and they didn’t listen to consumers, the society would go into a giant depression because consumers wouldn’t get what they want. People wouldn’t choose to work if there was no incentive to work. Hey Marx! How would a “central planning agency” be able to give you exactly what you need? They don’t know you. The government cannot provide for everyone’s personal needs. Marx did not understand that prices were created by supply and demand. He didn’t understand that when a consumer buys milk he values the milk more than  the $4, but the store values the $4 more than the milk. This is a double inequality not an equation where milk = $4. Marx was an idiot to believe that people get worse off in absolute terms over time under capitalism. Did poor people have refrigerators, televisions, phones, and cars in the mid and early 1900s? I highly doubt all of the workers in the world will all realize spontaneously that they are being abused under capitalism. In the U.S. the government is used to take money from the rich then give it to the poor. Well Marx what will your “central planning agency” (government) be called?

“What Is To Be Done?” was a book written by Lenin and he said that communism needs a push. He didn’t think all workers would randomly think to overthrow the capitalists. Lenin knew that they would have to use force and create an army. The New Economic Policy was created by Lenin because people were tired of the government stealing all their stuff. The policy said that as long as the person paid his taxes he could trade in the open market. When Stalin took over he created the Great Terror. This was when he made an artificial famine by forcing Ukrainians to work on government farms and then the government took all the crops and took most of the people’s private crops. This created a famine. He did this to break the spirit of resistance in Ukraine.

Government 1B: Lesson 65 Essay – (1) “What were the primary values of fascism?” (2) “What was life like for the businessman in Nazi Germany? In light of your answer, how would you respond to the socialist claim that fascism is just a late stage of capitalism and the free market?”

Nationalism is one of the primary values of fascism.  A fascist country glorifies it’s state and military. Fascist leaders say they want some private ownership, but they think they need control of raw materials. They think the state is the most important thing. This means individual rights are subordinate to what the state wants .They have a central leader who is basically a dictator and he embodies the spirit of the nation. There is a lot of political centralization.

Life was very difficult for businessmen in Nazi Germany. This was because they need raw materials and the government had all the raw materials. The government would normally not get enough for everyone. So for you to get the scarce materials from the government you had to know someone in the party to help you out.  The government wouldn’t give them to “anyone” that needed them unless you were a special case, having a friend to help you jump through hoops. Capitalism and fascism are completely different. In capitalism individual rights trump everything else. In fascism the good of the nation trumps individual rights. In a capitalist nation there is political decentralization not political centralization. In a capitalist nation the government doesn’t own raw materials.

Government 1B: Lesson 60 Esay – (1) “‘It is unreasonable to confine ourselves strictly to the Constitution. We should interpret the Constitution broadly, to allow the federal government to exercise, even if they aren’t actually listed in that document.’ How would Thomas Jefferson respond to that statement?” (2) “What is the idea of a ‘living Constitution’? In what way could it be argued that the American Revolution was a war against a ‘living Constitution’?”

Thomas Jefferson would say if people wanted to broadly interpret the Constitution they might as well have no Constitution at all. If the federal government is not restricted by the Constitution then it can do whatever it wants making the purpose of the Constitution useless. It’s purpose is to limit the federal government.

The idea of a “living Constitution” is that judges should be able to interpret the Constitution differently because the country changes with time. They think it is too much effort to amend the Constitution. The American Revolution was a war against a “living Constitution” because Britain didn’t have a written constitution to limit the government. They had a Parliament that could pass new laws whenever it wanted allowing it to change with time. American’s fought to limit the government the same no matter how much time passes. If the federal government wanted to change the Constitution they would have to go through the process of persuading the states to pass the amendment.

Government 1B: Lesson 55 Essay – (1) “Describe the models of society laid out by Althusius and Hobbes.” (2) “Can smaller political units contribute to the cause of liberty? If so how?”

Althusius said that society starts off with families that then form villages. The villages combine and form cities. Then the cities can combine and form a country. Althusius believed that all of the groups shared power and that the former groups had liberties that could not be interfered with by the central government. Hobbes believed that society was a mass of individuals ruled over by one central government that had all the power.

Smaller political units can contribute to the cause of  liberty. This is because people can easily leave and move to another country if they feel the small unit is corrupt. This means that the small country will have to treat it’s citizens well so that they will stay. Basically, competition between countries creates freedom.

Government 1B: Lesson 50 Essay – (1) “What is the origin of money?” (2) “Name and explain three disadvantages that have been indentified with fiat money.”

Before people exchange with money there is trade and barter. Then more and more people begin to want the same thing (example: gold). Eventually everyone wants this product or thing because it is easy to exchange with. This thing eventually becomes a generally accepted medium of exchange. Then the government says that the national currency will be a piece of paper that looks a certain way so that people don’t counterfeit. Then people trade in the generally accepted medium of exchange for money that the bank creates itself. It is important to note that in my vision of an ideal society the government says that an ounce of gold can be traded for a set amount of money (in the U.S. dollar bills), no less or no more. This is important so that a person can always trade in a certain amount of money and get a certain amount of gold back. Basically there must be one set ratio of money bills for gold. That way the banks don’t produce too much money which would decrease it’s value. If the bank prints as much money as it wants and there is no set amount it can become fiat money which is bad. This is my idea of how money would originate in an ideal society.

One disadvantage of fiat money is that it looses value overtime. As the government or other group prints more money the money becomes less valuable. Fiat money has no direct use so if people no longer wished to exchange to exchange it, it would be worthless. Fiat money also gives the government or other group a lot of power because it can create as much as it wants and spend it.

Government 1B: Lesson 45 Essay- (1) “The ‘benefit principle’ has been used to justify progressive income taxation. What is the benefit principle? Are there problems with it? If so what?” (2) “What is the Washington Monument Syndrome?” (3) “What is the primary problem facing a policymaket who is trying to design a program to benefit people in unfortunate circumstances?” (4) “In practice, what have been some of the outcomes – intended or unintended – of anti-poverty programs?”

The benefit principle is that a person should pay the same amount of money he receives in benefits (monetary and non-monetary) from the government to the government. Some of the many problems with this principle are that people end up paying the government back for what the government gave them in the first place. It is impossible to measure how much each individual benefits, so this proves this principle to be shit.

The Washington Monument Syndrome is when the government tells a group of bureaucrats it will cut their budget. Then the bureaucrats threaten to cut something that the people value as the most important aspect instead of cutting something that is trivial and a waste of money. Then the people see that something important will be cut so they fess up more money.

The primary problem is that when people get money for doing nothing or very little others will quit working to become moochers, and a country full of moochers is bad.

The only “intended” outcome of welfare is that poor people get money. The “unintended” outcomes are that welfare creates moochers and causes a society to fall. The people that work are then robbed through taxes then the taxes are given to the poor. This pisses off the people that work because their property is being stolen. Then they realize they could quit and get welfare checks. Eventually you end up with a  country full of welfare moochers and no people left to provide through taxes then the government crashes and a new government must be developed. It is important to note that all of the outcomes described are really intended because the policy makers are aware of how the system works when it is developed.

Please help end this crap and vote for Rand Paul. Doom on you if you vote for Hillary.

Government 1B: Lesson 40 Essay- (1)”Explain the basics of the Austrian theory of the business cycle. What is the difference, in terms of consequences, between lower interest rates that result from the saving choices of individuals, and lower interest rates that are acheived artificially, by a government established central bank?” (2)”What have been some of the problems with the federal prohibition on certain drugs?”

When interest rates ate lowered due to consumer saving there are  no problems. Businesses then borrow when consumers don’t want products from businesses, so the timing and costs are better. When interest rates are lowered artificially by the government there is chaos. The business is tricked into borrowing to build a new factory or store when consumers aren’t saving and still want goods from the business and materials that the business needs to build the new place. This creates waste and causes things to become more expensive due to the demand increasing and supply staying the same. This then creates losses for consumers and businesses.

The primary problem with prohibition of drugs is that it is hard to enforce because it is a victimless crime. This means the person doing drugs is not directly harming others. The government will put officers and money into punishing people on drugs rather than punishing robbers and murderers. This means there will be more people getting robbed and murdered.