January 31, 2023

It's not that she's an idiot

Paul Joseph Watson points out that Whoopi Goldberg is an idiot.  That's not really the problem.  The real problem is that some people still believe her when she spouts stupidity.  That's the real problem. Despite her blinkered reality, she still has a platform to spout her garbage. Remember her insane views on the holocaust?  Garbage.  She still has a platform.  That's the real problem (a different one than previously mentioned).

January 30, 2023

Ilhan Omar is vile

What we have here is a failure to divest Ilhan Omar from any sort of governmental role.  

January 29, 2023

January 28, 2023

Milton Friedman spitting facts

Milton Friedman was an economic savant.  This video was one of many times he was spitting facts.  A good video to watch on a Saturday morning, or any morning. Or any time. 

January 27, 2023

The pitfalls of capitalism

I am an avowed believer in and supporter of capitalism. I wholeheartedly support the concept of the free market. My initial foray into the political sphere, as a young teenager mind you, was from that trajectory.  I was first a fiscal conservative before discovering my social conservatism a decade later.  The benefits of capitalism over socialism, communism, fascism, monarchies, dictatorships or any other form of governance are spectacular and incontrovertible.  Capitalism supports the Biblical principle of the work ethic. Capitalism supports the notion of individual liberty as well as individual responsibility.  Capitalism supports the idea of a meritocracy.  The other forms of government do not. In many regards they even reject or overtly oppose much of those ideas.

The pitfalls of capitalism I am about to discuss are not meant as an indictment of it, rather a warning that we cannot allow it's few but obvious weaknesses to derail it from succeeding.  To appropriate some William Shakespeare's Mark Anthony, I come to praise capitalism, not to bury it. Nevertheless, I come to gird capitalism by pointing out where it has failed.  Or rather, more aptly, those who profess to practice it, have failed.

Let me preface the below by saying that while I am talking about capitalism, which is an economic system, it is inherently entwined with democracy.  You cannot have a free market without a free people.  Other economic systems are more often than not a political and economic model combined. My commentary below reflects this mix of the economic side of freedom (capitalism) with the political side of freedom (democracy, a representative republic or similar means of governance).  My critiques of capitalism stem primarily from the shortcomings of governance rather than capitalism itself.

Capitalism has never existed in an unfettered state.  If it were so it would be seen to be more brutal than how we observe it. If indeed we existed in a truly laissez faire capitalist society, taxation would be for the creation of roads, the common defense and provide laws that protect commerce and individuals from unjustness (theft, fraud, murder for example).  But capitalism is managed by humans, and where it is practiced, it does more.  

There is a social safety net to help the most unfortunate and weakest among us in every capitalist nation.  When done properly this is a boon to individuals as well as to the system.  When done improperly it can result in bloat (too many recipients, including those not truly in need), or shortfall (not supportive enough or corruption leaching funds from those in need by government bureaucrats).  It should be pointed out that these are not pitfalls of capitalism, they are the pitfalls of improperly executed capitalism, or warping of it by those who seek to gain from unwarranted opportunity. 

But there are pitfalls nonetheless.  Perhaps the most egregious of these is the advent of a kleptocracy by both government and the techo-industrial elite.

In a kleptocracy, corrupt politicians enrich themselves secretly outside the rule of law, through kickbacks, bribes, and special favors from lobbyists and corporations, or they simply direct state funds to themselves and their associates.

This is not a the flaw of capitalism, this is a distortion of capitalism.  Capitalism's flaw, is to lend itself to such distortion.  A free market system, with insufficient guard rails put in place can easily be corrupted by those with the money and power to do so.  Therein lies capitalism's greatest weakness; the inability to sufficiently protect itself from deliberate disruption by the lazy-greedy.  This extends to deliberate disruption by the unwise. Government in seeking to prevent disruption of the economy often inadvertently distorts the economy it creates bubbles.  The proper way to handle a recession is to endure it, not print money and artificially avoid it until the next election cycle.  This creates bubbles, and it creates incentive to expand the bubble and avoid the pain.  This makes the inevitable bubble-burst far worse.  Capitalism does not provide a way to prevent that.

The solution, good government, is not mandated by capitalism.  The smarter way to prepare for inevitable occasional economic weakness is to provide a sufficient safety net in those times and even more critically, provide the incentive and enable the populace the opportunity to prepare for it themselves. Does anyone save for a rainy day anymore?  Why bother when the government does not set the example and instead is willing to throw trillions of dollars they don't really have at the problem?  This is what is often referred to as generational theft.  The government borrows money that following generations will have to pay back. Lazy-greedy in a different way.

In defense of capitalism, no other form of government protects from this any better.  In fact they all serve a concentration of power that enables fewer and fewer to decide more and more and ultimately that power not only serves their corruption and enables it, it encourages it.  The imperfection of capitalism in this regard is far worse in other forms of system but capitalism is nonetheless not excused.

Capitalism requires a higher bar of protection against these weaknesses.  Not just legal protections are needed, as those can be rewritten or avoided through loopholes government has proven itself all-too-willing to use.   It requires a belief, strongly-held among the people, that government is a servant of the people and must be held to account for every action and decision.  This is a lot to ask of a population in terms of time and effort and even awareness.  The problem is that the awareness has been deliberately eroded over generations and even good intentions fail when awareness prevents their use. 

Coupled with the lazy-greedy issue, is the developed sense of entitlement.  Modern Caligulas across government and the wealthy elite and even the famous, feel entitled to their wealth and do not concern themselves that it comes at the expense of the middle class and poorer classes.  They are entitled after all.  They have lived it and been told it all their lives. They Marie Antoinette their way through life unconcerned that the price of eggs has dramatically increased and life has become significantly more straining on everyone else.

This oligopoly of wealth and power make decisions on governance outside of the purview of everyday citizens but in a way that affects everyday citizens (most often negatively).  Think COVID mask mandates "for thee but not for me" as one example. Think Jeffery Epstein's private island for a more direct and dramatic use of people as objects for another example.  All the while they tell you what you observe isn't real.  Inflation isn't bad, it's just you.  

This concentration of power and wealth builds upon itself.  Those inside the inner circle grow bigger and bigger feeding of the rest of society, and make rules to ensure competition to their aristocracy is fettered and hobbled and can never truly get to the top.  Again this is not capitalism, it is a distortion of capitalism.  But capitalism here is not snow-white and sin free.

Capitalism's inherent risk here, comes from it's strength.  one of the underpinning concepts of capitalism is competition. If there is a need going unfilled, capitalism rewards those who seek to fill that need by providing them with a growth in their wealth.  But competition inevitably means there will be more than one person or business entity that tries to fill that need with a solution.   Not all will do equally well and the best (based quality, price and other factors) will slowly grow market share at the expense of the less ideal solutions.  In a truly free market there is a potential that the one best idea ends up becoming the only idea, obtaining 100% market share (or perhaps 90% say). The competition has destroyed itself.  Capitalism has led to a market monopoly.  Perhaps this is inevitable in efficient capitalism.  But the strength of the best winning out, doing the best for consumers in the end, sews the seeds for its own demise.  Monopolies are not healthy in capitalism.  Maybe in the short term they are fine, but extended monopolies become like government.  They seek to exist for their own existence.  They serve themselves and only themselves. People be damned. This is a further recipe for corruption and perhaps collusion with government; you protect my market from other players and I donate to your election campaign. It doesn't matter if a newer and better option has been devised, it must be destroyed before it can grow and replace my monopoly.

It's a sick twisting of capitalism but capitalism itself has done nothing to prevent this twisting from occurring.  Or rather we have not done anything to prevent capitalism from being perverted. Again, laws exist to prevent these distortions but they happen anyway, because people are corrupt. Not just the elite, people in general look out for their own interests.  It's human nature, or in fact, just nature. What capitalism requires is an institutional way of preventing the corruption.  It requires it at a foundational level and it does not have it. More important than laws are two things; awareness and transparency.

Those unfortunately require complete openness about financial transactions at those levels (and in the interest of fairness the, at every level), and media coverage of anything that has been flagged as suspicious transactions. Yikes. While we are probably at a point where that may be technically possible, there are three things that are wrong with that solution.

  1. The obvious one we rail over already as conservatives; the media is large enough and corrupt enough to become part of the problem already.  They will have no interest in exposing the problems.
  2. There is no appetite to create a financially fully open society; not at the top level, not at any level.  Do you want everyone having the option to know or see everywhere you spend your money? Probably not. Very probably not.
  3. This does not cover every possible transaction because not all transactions are financial. "Write a negative story about x, and I will make sure you have free access to y." That will still go undetected.

Capitalism also demands equality of opportunity (NOT outcome - I will never play basketball well enough to deserve an NBA level salary at the job. I do not have the physical traits such as height, to compete at that level).  Democracy as it has existed so far, does not ensure this is the case.  This requires equality of education, equality of access to opportunities, and a removal of unjust barriers to entry.

All is not lost for capitalism.  These problems also exist in every other form of government in some form or another, despite what utopian socialists or communist would have you believe. The strength of capitalism is invention and reinvention.  If those who believe in capitalism can come to grips with it's pitfalls, they can work more diligently to expunge them.  That can not be said to be true of most other systems of governance. Capitalism is redeemable but it requires constant vigilance and it does not have that, which is our own fault. 

January 26, 2023

Is ChatGPT woke?

ChatGPT is a model-based chatbot cum search engine that does a remarkable job of mimicking human style communication in answering questions posed to it.  Here's the link if you haven't seen it yet. If fed properly posed questions it can provide remarkably well made answers.  Whether ChatGPT and AI (artificial intelligence) are a good idea for humanity is a broader debate, for another time.  There are some specific problems with how the model has been trained and I'll point out one example below regarding climate change.  It appears that the model (or engine or ChatGPT) is woke, at least on this subject.

This, by the way, is not ground-breaking.  Others like Ben Shapiro have already tested it's wokeness on issues and come away at least concerned about it. 

Of course the model is not the issue.  It learns it's responses from the data made available to it.  Garbage in - garbage out.  That's not to say everything it was fed was garbage, but enough of it, on certain subjects, clearly was garbage.  Observe my 'conversation':

Me

Write an article explaining why global warming is not a man-made phenomenon using specific scientific facts.

ChatGPT

 It is a widely accepted scientific fact that the Earth's climate is warming, and that human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, is a major contributor to this warming. However, some argue that global warming is not a man-made phenomenon and that natural factors, such as solar radiation and volcanic activity, play a larger role in the Earth's climate.

One argument is that variations in solar radiation, such as changes in the sun's output of energy, have a greater impact on the Earth's climate than human activity. However, studies have shown that while the sun's radiation does play a role in the Earth's climate, the warming observed in recent decades cannot be explained solely by changes in solar radiation.

Another argument is that volcanic activity is a significant contributor to global warming. Volcanoes release large amounts of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, into the atmosphere. However, the amount of greenhouse gases released by volcanoes is significantly less than the amount released by human activity. Additionally, volcanic activity has been shown to have a cooling effect on the Earth's climate in the short term, due to the release of aerosols that reflect sunlight back into space.

It is also true that the Earth's climate has undergone significant changes in the past, long before human activity became a significant factor. However, the rate of warming in recent decades is much faster than any observed in the past, and the overwhelming majority of scientists agree that human activity is the primary cause of this accelerated warming.

In conclusion, while natural factors such as solar radiation and volcanic activity do play a role in the Earth's climate, the evidence overwhelmingly shows that human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, is the primary cause of global warming. It is important to note that scientific facts are supported by scientific evidence and research, and that global warming is a complex issue with various factors influencing it.

Me

Make a counter-argument to your article.

ChatGPT

One counter-argument to the idea that human activity is the primary cause of global warming is that the Earth's climate is constantly changing and that the current warming trend is simply part of a natural cycle. Proponents of this viewpoint argue that the Earth has gone through periods of warming and cooling in the past and that the current warming trend is not unusual or unprecedented. They may also point to the fact that the Earth's temperature has been relatively stable for the last 9000 years and that the current warming trend is not as severe as some of the warming trends that occurred in the past.

Another counter-argument is that the models used to predict future warming are not reliable and that the warming may not be as severe as projected. Some argue that the models used to predict future warming are based on a limited amount of data and are not accurate enough to make definitive predictions about the future climate. They may also argue that the models do not take into account all of the natural factors that influence the Earth's climate, such as changes in solar radiation and volcanic activity.

Additionally, some argue that even if human activity is contributing to global warming, the potential negative impacts of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as economic downturns, would outweigh the potential benefits. They may argue that alternative solutions, such as adaptation or geoengineering, should be pursued instead of reducing emissions.

It is important to note that while these counter-arguments do present valid points, the scientific consensus is that human activity is the primary cause of global warming and that immediate action is needed to reduce emissions and mitigate the potential negative impacts of climate change. It is also important to consider that scientific research and facts are constantly evolving and that there are different perspectives on the issue of global warming.

[Emphasis added]

Two tries and ChatGPT tried to steer me towards global warming being a real threat; despite my ask to counter-argue it.

This does not represent a robust line of questioning, and ChatGPT does make errors and recognizes them when you point it out to it's credit (I have witnessed it in an unrelated sports chat I had).  Here's the general issue I have with the woke climate change answers as a specific issue and as a broader generalization.  People will come to ChatGPT for answers, perhaps eventually in greater numbers than Google as a search engine. But they will be unaware of potential garbage-in garbage-out issues and take ChatGPT answers as gospel truth.  This will result in a reinforcing of woke culture, just as woke culture is being pushed back for the first time.

More broadly, existing biases and misinformation will become the new common sense or the "new normal" view with an over-reliance on the tool.  Think Wikipedia issues, but on a much bigger scale.

This is not to say that I am at odds with models and improving what AI can do. I believe that improving predictive modeling, even what has been done with ChatGPT can be very useful. However, it must be done extremely diligently with a lot of forethought.  I have built statistical models during my career. When done properly, it is extremely time consuming to ensure the right data is included to avoid biases, the right type of model is used, the model must be thoroughly tested etc.  There is a lot of work involved. Every model I built required a very large amount of documentation, so it could be reviewed the in future for accuracy and robustness.

ChatGPT is not woke.  It's a model built on web data up to 2021.  If 90% of the web says global warming is real, then ChatGPT will provide answers based on that set of inputs. It is not really artificial intelligence, and neither are any models. They are statistical predictive tools at this point, nothing more.  They will likely advance beyond that at some point, but we are nowhere near that point now.  The real danger is that people may believe we are, and accept erroneous or dubious outputs from the tool as gospel truth, and make decisions accordingly.

Are you kidding me?

This gentlemen talks about an article on COVID-19 remorse and the unvaccinated. He speaks for most of us, vaccinated or not, when he responds "you weren't listening".  Kudos to him and his reasoned response.

But the specific accusations leveled at the unvaccinated are far worse than just obliviousness, it actually reaches the level of accusation and gaslighting. The article is a red flag that we are living in Orwell's 1984.

January 24, 2023

Jordan Peterson 'scandal' update

The latest in the Jordan Peterson licensing scandal.  I say scandal because it's scandalous that they want to take away his psychologist license because of his opinions that are anti-Trudeau. Happily Jordan Peterson is not simply backing down but rather standing up for himself.

January 23, 2023

Important pivot in inflation coming soon (but not really).

I recently discovered Mark Moss via the video below. He talks about how he expects inflation (and therefore eventually interest rates) to come down significantly, very soon.  He explains that it's happening due to formula manipulation, rather than real world improvements, and if he's correct that is very dangerous.  

It's also political. The BLS is very political. Take a look at Shadowstats (which he does mention) if you don't believe me. But if inflation and interest rates do drop to the extent Mark Moss is predicting, this is where the political matters.  It's important for the Republican congress to be aware of this and start getting out in front of it to take credit for it.  Don't play the reactionary game and instead GOP, go on offense.

Here's Mark Moss.  The video is a bit long but worth watching through entirely.


I'm not convinced the Fed will change rates very quickly, but it will happen eventually in response to the rates. That has political implications too but also a real impact on consumers as opposed to fake inflation numbers.  Lower rates will stimulate demand and borrowing. 

January 22, 2023

Unseemly conservative split

Unseemly.  Steven Crowder's disagreement with Daily Wire / Ben Shapiro is a business and/or strategic difference on conservative approach to the culture war.  Only they know, and they probably see it differently as to on what it is they disagree. So why are conservatives taking sides and piling on?  That's not helpful to the conservative cause.

For example, Mark Dice posted the following:

Steven Crowder has revealed himself to be one of the biggest frauds in conservative media. Bigger than most Conservative Inc. clowns, all while claiming to oppose them, which is a whole new level of grift. People need to know that he only decided to “expose” the Daily Wire as being Conservative Inc. *after* they turned down his request for $30 million a year (120 million for four which was his counter to their initial 50 million for four).

But he's making it seem like *he* walked away from "50 million dollars." NO. They rebuffed his counter demand of $120 million and cut off all further negotiations with him cuz he wanted too much money and they realized he's a primadonna.

So now he’s grifting, hoping to get people to buy memberships for his mug club so *he* can “reveal” that *they’re* only about money.

How does that help?  This is a specific disagreement, there's no need to take sides. Enjoy them both, or either one you prefer, or neither, and remain silent about their dispute.  DO NOT pile on for either side.  It will eventually sort itself out.  Taking sides, is making rifts where no larger rifts are needed.

Sunday verse

 


January 19, 2023

Debt crisis explained

Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ), pointing out the obvious.  Please watch and share with a leftist.

January 18, 2023

Rupert Sheldrake - Exposing Scientific Dogmas

From the now-banned Ted Talk, Rupert Sheldrake exposing scientific dogmas. While some of the supposed dogmas are reasonable, or at least potentially reasonable, the real problem is not the specifics but rather the fact that they don't want us questioning it.  Science is supposed to question everything, but apparently not itself.

A reaction to yesterday's post

 A reaction video that looks at the very video I shared yesterday:

January 16, 2023

A reasoned monologue on anti-white racism

If you keep talking about race, you perpetuate the problem.  But a reasoned discussion like this one by Charlie Cheon is helpful and positive.

Let's Go Brandon's docugates keep multiplying, Dems panicking

 Not sad over this.

January 15, 2023

January 13, 2023

Must-see Epic Brilliance

Konstantin Kisin's epic, brilliant takedown of 'woke' at Oxford Union Society.

Let's Go Brandon admits to exposing classified documents

Via Tim Pool, Biden ADMITS To Exposing Classified Documents. But are the Democrats behind this because they know how badly he will lose in 2024?

January 12, 2023

True dope, American style

Let's Go Brandon, the Justin Trudeau (true dope) of America had railed on president Trump for removing documents (which he had legally first declassified) as being dubious and deserving of impeachment etc.  Except he's been caught doing it himself, more than once now. Duplicity.

January 10, 2023

True dope

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau's own finance minister admits Trudeau is a clown on economic matters. The western hemisphere's two largest countries, led by true dopes.

January 9, 2023

Border protection or border destruction?

 Let's Go Brandon's recent trip to the border was too little, too late?  Nope, it's worse. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas says Brandon lacks the will to do anything about the border crisis. Nope, it's worse.


Let's Go Brandon lacks the desire to do anything about it.  Nope, it's still worse.  He actively desires to make the situation worse because more illegal immigrants means more potential legal or illegal Democrat votes down the road. It's willfully abysmal politic shenanigans at the expense of the country.

January 8, 2023

January 7, 2023

The Right Angle take on the congressional goings-on

Bill Whittle et al. discuss the GOP house speaker voting (Kevin McCarthy inside-the-beltway vs. fresher, non-insider Republicans).


The status quo is not the answer, and this is why I'm truly disappointed with the likes of Fox and Sean Hannity who are promising that this time McCarthy will live up to his commitments and everyone with concerns should just shut up.

After 15 rounds of voting however, McCarthy has won. Color me skeptical concerning positive change.

January 6, 2023

The future prime minister of Canada on Jordan Peterson

This man is not ten steps above Justin Trudeau, but a factor of ten times better as the future leader of Canada.  Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre makes sense of the Jordan Peterson "situation" in Ontario Canada. It's about free speech.

January 6th. Do we have to keep going there?

January 6th! January 6th! January 6th! Wait, what?


Nobody cares, except the delusional, the desperately uninformed, and of course the Democrats.

January 5, 2023

Electric vehicles redux

Late last year I posted a Bill Whittle discussion about the electric vehicle market, it's a good listen.  Peter Zeihan also discussed it yesterday.  There are some interesting takeaways from both talks.

January 4, 2023

GOP congress in limbo (pt. 2)

The drama continues as no speaker has been selected yet.  Democrats and the leftist media have mocked the GOP for not getting this right, but it's really just one more sign that the party is more diverse in ideas than the Democrats.  That's. A. Positive.

January 3, 2023

GOP in congress in limbo?

Kevin McCarthy is not the guy, despite what this Fox Business video is saying.  There's more to it than "don't have chaos".  Yes chaos is not good but a sub-par speaker is no better, and long term, it's worse.  Kevin McCarthy could do more to unify the party by acknowledging concerns of those who think he's a RINO.  So far he's done nothing.  That says something.



January 1, 2023

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