Institutionalizing Aggression Among the Peaceful

"There will come a day when you will wish that you had done a little evil to do a greater good."
--Sybilla (Kingdom of Heaven)

Statists prefer to employ the strong arm of government to advance their interests, whether those interests involve material gain or psychic income obtained from furthering a social agenda. Most statists do not consider themselves violent sorts. Yet they are serve as principals of violence who contract with government agents to exert force on others for personal gain.

Statists face a cognitive dissonance problem. Although they view themselves as peaceful, they sanction acts of aggression against others.

To cope with the mental stress generated by this inconsistency, statists must interpret reality in a manner that provides psychological relief. Some statists might view some offensive force as necessary for the advancement of society. However, that explanation would keep their psyches on the hook for fostering violence. As such, it should be a minority justification among statists.

Statists are more likely to rationalize government as an instrument of peace rather than of aggression. Government is seen as an institution of benevolence. Or, alternatively, government is a defensive mechanism that engages in actions that protect people from harshness in the world. In either case, the strong arm of government is seen as furthering good.

To cope with the obvious counter that doing good for some might mean, for instance, taking property from others under threat of force, statists must once again construct explanations that keep mental stress to a minimum. One such argument is that actions such as paying taxes are 'voluntary' acts, not a shakedowns. Rather, people have implicitly agreed to paying taxes as part of a latent 'social contract' in force as a condition of living in 'civil' society.

Such rationalizations create one of the great paradoxes of social life. They serve to institutionalize aggression among people who view themselves as peaceful.

Wait a While

"I'll wait a year or two."
--Liesl von Trapp (The Sound of Music)

This tweet gets right to the point.

Name a lasting #monopoly that wasn't created or propped up by government regulation, subsidy, or policy.

We'll wait. pic.twitter.com/i1NOgYJ9Zu

— Mises Institute (@mises) March 29, 2018

They'll be waiting a while on that one.

Liberty Pole

Benjamin Martin: May I sit with you?
Charlotte Selton: It's a free country. Or at least it will be.
--The Patriot

Early American coinage sometimes captures Ms Liberty clutching, or in the vicinity of, a long stick with a brimless cap on the end. This is a symbol of freedom called a liberty pole.

1856-O 50c PCGS AU55 CAC

In republican Rome, slaves who were granted freedom were often given a soft felt cap. When Julius Caesar was assassinated, the cap was placed on top of a pole to symbolize that the Roman people had been freed from tyranny. The liberty pole was born.

Before and during the American Revolution, colonists erected liberty poles in town squares and on public land. Violent struggles sometimes ensued as British soldiers sought to strike down the symbol. This proved difficult, as it was hard to eradicate such a simple-to-make symbol.

Perhaps we will see a renaissance of liberty poles as the modern struggle for freedom continues.

Not Working and Dependent

"From East Egg, then, came the Chester Beckers and the Leeches, and a man named Bunsen, whom I knew from Yale, and Docter Webster Civet, who was drowned last summer up in Maine."
--Nick Carraway (The Great Gatsby)

With headline unemployment numbers at decade lows, one would think we would be enjoying a period of prosperity that we haven't experienced in some time. However, when you look under the hood of the jobs numbers, there are several eyebrow raisers.

An important one is the labor force participation rate, which as been been marking multi-decade lows for years. This means that less able bodied people are actually working as a fraction of the total.

How do people who are not working get by? Some may be living off past savings (either their own or perhaps inherited). Given our low saving rate, the number of people in this group is likely low.

Others may have retired early due to rich pension plans. Instead of drawing from past saving, early retirees draw income from the production of others to fund their lifestyles. Stated differently, early retirement involves people with productive capacity are sitting it out in favor of living off the backs of others.

Still others, as noted by Dan Mitchell, are on simply on the government dole. They are not working because can live off the welfare state.

Early retirement and the welfare state create conditions of dependence, They leech productivity, and perhaps even morality, from economic systems, thereby hindering prosperity.

Battle Cry

"It's trench warfare out there, pal."
--Gordon Gekko (Wall Street)

Trench warfare continues in the Battle for the 200 Day Moving Average. Bulls made 'em bounce the last two days but early indications today suggest the bears might press them back toward the maginot.

My growing sense it that the more drawn out the battle here, the greater the chance that the winner will let loose with a powerful victory lap.

position in SPX

Lawless Special Counsels

"And when the last law was cut down, and the devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, the laws all being flat?"
--Sir Thomas More (A Man for All Seasons)

Judge Nap notes two of the most glaring problems with the Mueller investigation--and with nearly all 'special counsel' investigations for that matter. One is the FISA warrant charade. By seeking a search warrant via the FISA court, investigators circumvent the Fourth Amendment requirement to produce evidence of probable cause. This is clearly unconstitutional.

The other involves the practice of indicting 'low level' individuals in the investigative food chain--often of trivial crimes unrelated to the investigation--and then offering them leniency in exchange for information that the prosecution can use against 'high level' individuals in the investigative food chain.

This is a form of bribery. You tell us what we want to hear on the witness stand and we'll go easy on you. The courts have granted only prosecutors with the ability to commit such bribery. If a defense counsel offered a gift to a witness in exchange for favorable testimony, that attorney would be indicted.

People tend to look the other way when this lawlessness occurs in pursuit of an enemy. You can bet that those same people will view the process differently when the counsel turns on them and their interests.

Hampered Money, Hampered Economy

After three days of the desert fun
I was looking at the river bed
And the story it told of a river that flowed
Made me sad to think it was dead
--America

Stated differently, when the monetary system is hampered, then capitalism cannot exist in full form. Yes, some people may act in capitalistic manners. Some people might save and invest, for instance.

But when money is messed with, distortions build, moving the economic system further from the capitalism pole and toward the socialism pole.

A destination that can never be reached.

Trench Warfare

 "We went up and down that dirt pile for six days and nights. Fixed bayonets. Hand-to-hand. Fought them something fierce."
--Sgt Major J. Choozhoo (Heartbreak Ridge)

Battle for the 200 day moving avg continues. Bears breached the line yesterday but couldn't hold onto big inroads yesterday afternoon. Bulls reclaimed the line this am.

Robots sit in the wings awaiting guidance from the trenches on which way to jam 'em.

position in SPX

Breaking to the South Side

We chased our pleasures here
Dug our treasures there
--The Doors

Heavy action out of the gate this morning finds the SPX thru the 200 day moving avg. Key will be where it closes.

Should we remain on the south side, then the trading robots may find cause to turn their hats around and look to sell 'em.

position in SPX

Life and Freedom

Miriam: I am afraid.
Esther: No cause. The world is more than we know.
--Ben-Hur

Christ's death and subsequent resurrection reminds us of the sanctity of life. Not just life on earth, which is fleeting. But of eternal life. Death is not to be feared, as it is the gateway to eternal life.

Easter is also a celebration of freedom. Just as Jesus was free to walk the path to the cross, or not, so too are we free.God created each of us in His image.

As He is perfectly free, so are we.