Category Archives: Free Market Economy

What we’ve lost

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I was surfin’ the internet over the weekend when I came across the article below. It brought forth the disconnect of what are our liberties are now, to what they used to be—and not all that long ago for some of us.

I have an internet acquaintance, Tom Kratman. I say acquaintance because we’ve never met. We have exchanged a few e-mails over the last several years on one topic or another. Tom Kratman is a retired Army Officer, lawyer, writer, married to a Panamanian lady and he has numerous relatives living in Panama. He knows the country well.

I found this article due to a comment Tom Kratman made on the internet. It drew me to read the article. I expected another America bashing topic. I was surprised, it was not but more of a lamentation what we, as a people have lost…but, in Panama, still is.

It is food for thought when we listen to the news today that Obama, through the EPA, is imposing more Cap ‘n Tax regulations. He’s using federal regulations to punish the country when he couldn’t get similar legislation through Congress.

More freedom in Panama as a foreigner than in the U.S as a citizen? Sure feels that way.

http://www.permanentlypanama.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Freedom-in-Panama-as-a-Foreigner1.jpgBy Alice Beth

Disclaimer: The opinions in this article are not based upon the legal system of either the U.S or Panama, but rather my lifestyle experiences. So don’t get yourself arrested and blame it on me, chief.

“Are you ever coming back to the U.S?”

It’s a question I’ve been hearing for nearly two years.

At first, my answer had a built-in pause. “I don’t know…” I would mutter. “Maybe.”

These days, it’s shifted to a steady: “Why would I do that?”

The sentiment is further rooted during my annual visits to the U.S. It seems that Panama has spoiled me. With its advantageous atmosphere and empowering sense of freedom, I feel suffocated when I return “home.”

It’s the little things, as well as a few major shifts in mindset and lifestyle. There are things I do in Panama that I just can’t do in the states. At least- not without fighting an uphill battle.

The Little Things

The little things are the hardest to explain. When we fall in love, whether with a person or a country, it’s often thanks to the “little things” that we can barely pinpoint yet refuse to live without.

So, what are Panama’s little things? I’ll do my best to describe.

  • It’s the freedom to drive onto the beach to reach that faraway surf break, with no one to yell at you and (barely) any people to hit.
  • It’s the freedom to build a bonfire, pitch a tent, let your dog off the leash, or bring a flask to that same beach (or other public space) with no one to tell you off for it. The police drive by and wave- why would they care? “Hope you’ve got 4×4,” they say, “call us if you get stuck.”
  • It’s being able to walk into a store and have your smartphone unlocked, because you don’t want a 2-year contract, thank you very much. $15 a month, pay-as-you-go, sure beats that monthly $89 bill.
  • It’s affording a weekly manicure, because for $8, why the hell not? You’ll use that time to practice your Spanish, anyway- two services for the price of one.
  • It’s bringing your non-service dog on a public ferry, it’s riding a horse wherever the hell you want, because who are you to tell me I can’t?
  • Sure, buy a freshly-killed chicken from the farmer two houses down. Sell kabobs by the side of the road. Permit? Bah. The FDA won’t bother you.

The U.S is suffocating, with its pussyfooting philosophy. No dogs allowed. No beers on the beach. No sneaking snacks in the theater, and absolutely no monkey bars on the playground. Don’t you dare start that bonfire. And you! You’re trespassing. Get out of this…uh….forest. You’re up to no good.

Land of the free. Home of the brave.

Except everyone is terrified of lawsuits to the point that the country is idiot-padded and accident-proof.

Nevermind the fact that the 9 out of 10 casualty-free scenarios are stripped away from us. Nevermind the concept of, oh, I don’t know, doing what you want so long as you’re not hurting anybody else.

Life Changers

Little freedoms are nice. It’s only when combined with life-changers that a fun place to visit becomes a better place to live.

Living in Panama has enabled me to have a conscious control over my career, the direction it goes, and the rate at which it progresses. I’m not hungrily grabbing at whatever opportunity comes my way. With so many opportunities, I get to pick and choose.

I needn’t operate at the mercy of the economy, the market, and all its fluctuations. I operate according to me.

At 23, I’m in the initial stretch of my freelance career- but you wouldn’t know it by my portfolio. I spearhead projects that most people can’t touch before years of climbing the corporate ladder. The U.S is saturated with bureaucratic bullshit. Bide your time, pay your dues, wait for that promotion, your moment will come.

In Panama, you opt for the grab-what-you-want-by-the-cajones path instead.

The economy has grown dizzyingly fast. Businesses are racing to keep up, to expand, to offer more, make more, and maximize on this historical period. They don’t care how many notches are on your belt. They care that you’re able to grab the reins, bring something new to the table, and produce results.

Read also: Why Panama is like Disney World for Entrepreneurs

I’m sure some would say the same about the States- and I don’t doubt them. But I also don’t envy freelancers or job seekers in the U.S- particularly those who are still earning their stripes, or competing against more people for less openings. Fighting to burst their head through a sea of contenders, just to grab the attention of some company who’s probably not hiring, anyway.

My life in Panama has afforded me a level of autonomy, both personally and professionally, that I’ve never had in the States. My no-handcuff, high-profit lifestyle has become my definition of freedom- and it’s given me little reason to ever look back.

Just stop and think for a moment. Take the things Alice Beth can do freely—in Panama, and what would happen if we attempted to do the same here in the US. With a few moments of thought, it would be come clear what we have lost since the 1960s.

Think some more and add the tyrannies of government education, Common Core, Agenda 21 and all its implications, and the arbitrary edicts of federal agencies gone rogue. Yes, we beat Panama in a small war. We invaded it. Killed their soldiers. But now, 25 years since that invasion, which nation provides the most freedom to its residents?

Should we all pull up stakes and migrate to Panama? No. We have made this nation into what it now is. It is our responsibility to fix it.

The Home of the Brave, the Land of the…

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There oughta be a law!

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Perhaps today’s blog title should be viewed as a question. Why should there be a law?  When I was growing up, our neighbor down the road had a standard statement whenever he was frustrated. “There oughta be a law!”

Be it a matter of taxes, the cost of cattle feed or when he just ran a bad weld on a seam, he said the same thing.  Repetition, of course, diminished the impact. I heard many say the same in the face of life’s adversity. In fact, I think there is (was?) a comic strip with that name. Whatever the reason, people seem to want government to resolve these situations.

Or, do we?

John Stossel wrote a commentary that appeared on Rasmussen’s website titled appropriately, “There ought Not to be a law.” Stossel takes the inverse view of this common statement and explains why more laws are not solutions to our woes. Sometimes the best solution, be it a new law or bailing out mega-corporations, is to do nothing.

 

There Ought Not to Be a Law

 

A Commentary by John Stossel

I’m a libertarian in part because I see a false choice offered by the political left and right: government control of the economy — or government control of our personal lives.

People on both sides think of themselves as freedom lovers. The left thinks government can lessen income inequality. The right thinks government can make Americans more virtuous. I say we’re best off if neither side attempts to advance its agenda via government.

Let both argue about things like drug use and poverty, but let no one be coerced by government unless he steals or attacks someone. Beyond the small amount needed to fund a highly limited government, let no one forcibly take other people’s money. When in doubt, leave it out — or rather, leave it to the market and other voluntary institutions.

But this is not how most people think. Most people see a world full of problems that can be solved by laws. They assume it’s just the laziness, stupidity or indifference of politicians that keeps them from solving our problems. But government is force — and inefficient.

That’s why it’s better if government didn’t try to address most of life’s problems.

People tend to believe that “government can!” When problems arise, they say, “There ought to be a law!”

…

 

The tea party gave me hope, but I was fooled again. Within months, the new “fiscally conservative” Republicans voted to preserve farm subsidies, vowed to “protect” Medicare and cringed when Romney’s future veep choice, Rep. Paul Ryan, proposed his mild deficit plan.

 

It is unfortunate that the United States, founded partly on libertarian principles, cannot admit that government has gotten too big. East Asian countries embraced markets and flourished. Sweden and Germany liberalized their labor markets and saw their economies improve.

 

But we keep passing new rules.

 

The enemy here is human intuition. Amid the dazzling bounty of the marketplace, it’s easy to take the benefits of markets for granted. I can go to a foreign country and stick a piece of plastic in the wall, and cash will come out. I can give that same piece of plastic to a stranger who doesn’t even speak my language — and he’ll rent me a car for a week. When I get home, Visa or MasterCard will send me the accounting — correct to the penny. We take such things for granted.

 

Government, by contrast, can’t even count votes accurately.

 

Yet whenever there are problems, people turn to government. Despite the central planners’ long record of failure, few of us like to think that the government which sits atop us, taking credit for everything, could really be all that rotten. 

 

The great 20th-century libertarian H.L. Mencken lamented, “A government at bottom is nothing more than a group of men, and as a practical matter most of them are inferior men. … Yet these nonentities, by the intellectual laziness of men in general … are generally obeyed as a matter of duty (and) assumed to have a kind of wisdom that is superior to ordinary wisdom.”

 

There is nothing government can do that we cannot do better as free individuals — and as groups of individuals working freely together.

 

Without big government, our possibilities are limitless.

I like Strossel’s writing. I invite you to follow the link and read the entire article. I don’t agree with everything he writes but I do agree most of the time.

His last sentence is intriguing. “Without big government, our possibilities are limitless.” NASA, surprisingly, is taking a step in this direction, albeit a small step.  NASA is privatizing our ground-to-orbit launch systems.  There have been a number of successes, small ones given the size of NASA’s current budget. It is an opportunity for a company or consortium, if they take the risk.

Limited government, limited regulation, will free innovation and growth.  That is what we need for the 21st Century or we will go the way of the Roman Empire, fragmented and powerless.

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Missouri Ranks 5th in personal and economic freedom

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Here’s an interesting column from George Mason University.

Freedom in the 50 States

    An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom
    Jason Sorens, William Ruger | June 7, 2011

    Executive Summary

    This study comprehensively ranks the American states on their public policies that affect individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. It updates, expands, and improves upon our inaugural 2009 Freedom in the 50 States study. For this new edition, we have added more policy variables (such as bans on trans fats and the audio recording of police, Massachusetts’s individual health-insurance mandate, and mandated family leave), improved existing measures (such as those for fiscal policies, workers’ compensation regulations, and asset-forfeiture rules), and developed specific policy prescriptions for each of the 50 states based on our data and a survey of state policy experts. With a consistent time series, we are also able to discover for the first time which states have improved and worsened in regard to freedom recently.

    The entire study can be downloaded in .pdf form.  But the info can be condensed into this ranking.

                                
     
    State Freedom Rankings

    Interesting isn’t it?  The Red states at the top, the bluest of the blue states at the bottom.  If I remember correctly, this study has been conducted for a number of years and each year bears the same, well mostly the same with a little reshuffling, results.
     

    Missouri Ranks 5th in personal and economic freedom

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    Here’s an interesting column from George Mason University.

    Freedom in the 50 States

      An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom
      Jason Sorens, William Ruger | June 7, 2011

      Executive Summary

      This study comprehensively ranks the American states on their public policies that affect individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. It updates, expands, and improves upon our inaugural 2009 Freedom in the 50 States study. For this new edition, we have added more policy variables (such as bans on trans fats and the audio recording of police, Massachusetts’s individual health-insurance mandate, and mandated family leave), improved existing measures (such as those for fiscal policies, workers’ compensation regulations, and asset-forfeiture rules), and developed specific policy prescriptions for each of the 50 states based on our data and a survey of state policy experts. With a consistent time series, we are also able to discover for the first time which states have improved and worsened in regard to freedom recently.

      The entire study can be downloaded in .pdf form.  But the info can be condensed into this ranking.

                                  
       
      State Freedom Rankings

      Interesting isn’t it?  The Red states at the top, the bluest of the blue states at the bottom.  If I remember correctly, this study has been conducted for a number of years and each year bears the same, well mostly the same with a little reshuffling, results.
       

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      IMF threatens change of reserve currency—no more Dollars

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      The US Dollar has been the world’s reserve currency since WW2. The Dollar was the currency of exchange between nations and now due to Bernake’s inflation pump the IMF is threatening to change the reserve currency from the Dollar to something else.

      NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The International Monetary Fund issued a report Thursday on a possible replacement for the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

      — Ben Rooney, staff reporter February 10, 2011: 4:37 PM ET

      Washington politicos are all upset. But, aside from the “honor” of the thing, would that change be a bad thing? Would it hurt us if the Dollar was no longer the reserve currency?

      I don’t think so.

      Yes, we could not buy international products and commodities using Dollars. Yes, there would be costs in the currency exchange to whatever the new reserve currency that would be used. But aside from that and, perhaps, a loss of prestige, would the negatives outweigh the positives?

      No.

      Having the Dollar be the reserve currency means that there is a LOT of Dollars floating around the world. Not only is our currency floating our internal economy, but enough of it must be is use around the world to support the international economy. The method our currency travels from us to the rest of the world is by the purchase of goods, services and commodities on the international market—our debt.

      The more international debt we have, the more of our currency is floating around the world. Outside of the US, as long as the Dollar has strength compared to other currencies, the world is satisfied and accepts the Dollar as the world’s currency.

      The kicker is when inflation hits the Dollar. Then it is a different story. with inflation it costs more Dollars to buy the same item than before. The Dollars in international hands is worth less than before. Those holders are now losing money—more as the Dollar’s inflation increases.

      As long as the Dollar is the reserve currency, the pressure from the world markets continues to push US debt. It makes reducing our debt that much harder.

      If, on the other hand, the Dollar is no longer the reserve currency, the debt pressure is reduced. We now must acquire the new reserve currency. We must now provide goods, services and commodities to the world markets to acquire that new currency. The drive to increase the US marketplace increases or we face bankruptcy like the EU, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and all the rest.

      One thing that the US excels in is competition. All we’d need is for the FedGov to get out of our way and we’d be the #1 provider again, as we were in the last century.

      It’s a sad point when our worst economic enemy is our own government. It’s time to change that.

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      IMF threatens change of reserve currency—no more Dollars

      Posted on by

      The US Dollar has been the world’s reserve currency since WW2. The Dollar was the currency of exchange between nations and now due to Bernake’s inflation pump the IMF is threatening to change the reserve currency from the Dollar to something else.

      NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The International Monetary Fund issued a report Thursday on a possible replacement for the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

      — Ben Rooney, staff reporter February 10, 2011: 4:37 PM ET

      Washington politicos are all upset. But, aside from the “honor” of the thing, would that change be a bad thing? Would it hurt us if the Dollar was no longer the reserve currency?

      I don’t think so.

      Yes, we could not buy international products and commodities using Dollars. Yes, there would be costs in the currency exchange to whatever the new reserve currency that would be used. But aside from that and, perhaps, a loss of prestige, would the negatives outweigh the positives?

      No.

      Having the Dollar be the reserve currency means that there is a LOT of Dollars floating around the world. Not only is our currency floating our internal economy, but enough of it must be is use around the world to support the international economy. The method our currency travels from us to the rest of the world is by the purchase of goods, services and commodities on the international market—our debt.

      The more international debt we have, the more of our currency is floating around the world. Outside of the US, as long as the Dollar has strength compared to other currencies, the world is satisfied and accepts the Dollar as the world’s currency.

      The kicker is when inflation hits the Dollar. Then it is a different story. with inflation it costs more Dollars to buy the same item than before. The Dollars in international hands is worth less than before. Those holders are now losing money—more as the Dollar’s inflation increases.

      As long as the Dollar is the reserve currency, the pressure from the world markets continues to push US debt. It makes reducing our debt that much harder.

      If, on the other hand, the Dollar is no longer the reserve currency, the debt pressure is reduced. We now must acquire the new reserve currency. We must now provide goods, services and commodities to the world markets to acquire that new currency. The drive to increase the US marketplace increases or we face bankruptcy like the EU, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and all the rest.

      One thing that the US excels in is competition. All we’d need is for the FedGov to get out of our way and we’d be the #1 provider again, as we were in the last century.

      It’s a sad point when our worst economic enemy is our own government. It’s time to change that.

      Free Enterprise

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      Here we are on the precipice before Tuesday’s elections. I am encouraged by the momentum of Sean Beilat in Massachusetts against the reprehensible Barney Frank and even have some hope that perhaps an honorable man might move the liar Cleaver out of my congressional district. Hope springs eternal…..

      While thinking about all that’s at stake during this election [granted, the O will still be president and will veto all plans by our side–Gridlock is Good!] I’d like to share a tale of Free Enterprise, free association, and good will. Here’s what happens when the ‘stimulus’ for creating jobs and wealth happens spontaneously.

      A couple of years ago a couple (Carlos and Donna Royal) installed a barn owl nest box in their spacious yard in southern California to go along with their kestrel box, beautiful gardens, bird feeders, etc. Nothing at all happened for two years, but this past January, after a big storm, they noticed noises coming from inside. This box had been installed with a camera that would transmit to their computer/TV in the house. They fired it up and saw the image of a heart-faced owl in the box. That night her mate showed up and the game was on! The adults were named Molly and McGee. The Royals enlisted their 15 year- old grandson to figure out how to share via the internet with Carlos’ mother. One thing led to another and soon family and friends were watching. Six eggs were laid and Carlos devised a way to install a night-vision camera and another day camera with sound during the brief absences at night when Molly left the box. Four of the eggs hatched and by this time 2 million people had watched the Owl Box [word got around!] I started watching right before owlet three hatched….and I was hooked. There was a chat room affiliated with the website hosted by Ustream and folks from around the world were there day and night visiting, cheering, mourning and sharing everything from jokes to recipes to advice about pets, etc. It became a huge community of ‘friends’ united by two owls and four owlets. We watched them grow, swallow whole mice [and watched one mouse, delivered alive, make a break for it out of the elevated door!], turn into fluffy balls of down, venture out of the box and take their first tentative flights.

      From this community Free Enterprise blossomed. Author Eric Blehm, a childhood friend of the Royal’s son, suggested ‘publishing’ a PDF book for children about the Owl Box. Chris Adams, an artist/designer from back east, also a watcher, signed on to do the paintings. Orders poured in. Another watcher, artist John Atkinson from northern California, started a subscription for his delightful cartoons published roughly weekly and finally issued as a digital book and a forthcoming DVD. Adams sold prints of the book art. Carlos set up a Café Press site to sell his spectacular night photos–on absolutely every imaginable item, plus calendars, mugs, and on and on as well as many delightful free goodies for adults and kids. A watcher from Connecticut, a school teacher, wrote songs about the owls and recorded them with her students [they’re available from the Molly the Owl Books site]. A woman from Kansas City collected and compiled a cookbook of recipes offered up by the huge community [900+ recipes!] and put together a collection of her limericks and two Lexicon volumes composed of the novel language that emerged in Chat. The book’s author was persuaded to explore publishing a hardcover book in addition to the PDF version and started his own publishing company, Molly the Owl Books, and thousands of book orders poured in. I received my copies yesterday and they are far better than I could have hoped! Now he’s publishing a coffee table book of Carlos’ color night photos due out the end of December. He had a friend, a silversmith, who created delightful sterling charms based on the owls, including one that is a miniature owl nest box with flip-up roof showing four owlets inside!

      The grandson, by now a true computer whiz, made a DVD with collected photos set to music and sold several thousand of them–enough of them to pay for two years of college–in addition to learning about business licenses, shipping, purchasing, etc. He had a real education.

      The first clutch of the owls left and the Royals were all set to hit the road in their motor home, but the adult owls moved in again, started a second clutch and ultimately raised two more owlets to fledging. In the end there had been more than 20 million views on the site–from Italy, Japan, England, Dubai, Australia, The Netherlands….. The Royals have finally torn themselves away and are off on a road trip but the community still gets together on-line [at the Ustream site of the cartoonist]. Before they left they hosted a picnic in San Marcos and 400+ folks showed up….including the teacher/musician from Connecticut, a fan from Florida, the Kansas City woman and her family, the author, artist, cartoonist, and many new life-long friends. They’ve helped each other through family loss, health challenges, good times and bad…..in addition to learning more than they ever thought possible about some endearing birds.

      This is all a wonderful testimony of what a community can do….desires were expressed and entrepreneurs stood up and met those needs. Carlos did live talks via computer with students in classrooms around the country. [In many classrooms, watching Molly and the owlets was a regular part of the school day.] Good deeds ensued with folks donating books and DVDs to schools and libraries as well as to some owl watchers unable to afford the concrete reminders of our time together. Friendships were formed among the chatters that will last until next year when, hopefully, the Royals plug in those camera cables again for the ‘owlcaholics’–and me!