No, I don’t always just pull out a book and find these gems; sometimes people send them over (much appreciated!) and sometimes I just stumble upon them. Like this one from Powerline):
I Once Read A Book…
…by Robert Heinlein. It was appallingly bad [Note: I liked it and have read it a number of times -Skip]. I don’t remember anything about it, actually, except that people were going around "groking" things. But this dialogue between Glenn Reynolds and his readers on the subject of energy, electrical, nuclear and otherwise, is characteristically intelligent.
The only connection between these observations is that Glenn offers this quote from Heinlein, which I like. Glenn introduces it:
[I]ntelligent power management is key. And as for vilifying and taxing success — that’s what government is for. Otherwise the rest of the citizenry might develop self esteem problems. This was all addressed by Robert Heinlein, natch:
Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck."
Must have been from a different book.
Of course I had to post a reference to "Grok" – just look at the banner!
It also brings up a good point that I often am saying nowadays given the quantity of slipshod pronouncements from Liberals, from the Left, and politicians of most stripes that the world is going down the toilet.
Actually, compared to the vast majority of human history, we have it made in the shade, folks! Life is better now than ever before. Sure, there is disease, accidents, bad people, bad weather, bad happenings, and poverty. The amazing thing is not that some are still living subsistence style lives as if we were in the Stone Age, Iron Age, or Bronze Age (you get the idea), but that we are not!
Judeo-Christian theology changed the hearts and minds of the West and magnified the individual’s worth in relationship to his or her God, that God cares about each and every one of us. Capitalism built upon that philosophy by recognizing that each of us has our own self interest at heart, but by providing goods and services that are wanted by others, the self effort to produce that will result in betterment for the person doing the inventing and producing of that good. Thus, not only does the producer benefit, but all those around him benefit too!
I just wish the Libs would understand and accept these two simple truths and take them more to heart:
- You can legislate morality, but the more you legislate it, the less moral people become. Which requires more laws (a negative feedback cycle here, folks!).
- Hamstring the producers and those in society dependent on them (I’m not talking family here) become poorer both now and in the future.
(cross posted over at American Princess where I’m still guest blogging for the week)
