Presidential Vices

Plus, are we of the "woke" left... the "far right"... or neither?

“Political ignorance helps explain Americans' perpetual disappointment with politicians generally, and presidents especially, to whom voters unrealistically attribute abilities to control events.”

~ George Will

Joel Bowman, with today’s Note From the End of the World...

Venerated by the ancients... shunned by the moderns... our subject for the week is well known to all: ignorance. 

More on what we do not (and cannot) know in a second. But first, we take a moment to address some reader concerns...

A few disgruntled souls wrote in after last Tuesday’s Note. Some worried we were unduly harsh on The Donald. Others lamented our leniency. The former fear we are with the “woke” leftists... the latter fret we may have fallen in with a “far right” cult. 

One hates to disappoint, but we are neither creatures of the so-called “right” nor the so-called “left.” As Groucho Marx used to say, we resolutely refuse to join any club that would have us. 

Here in these Notes, we aim to provide equal opportunity criticism. Black or white, man or woman, old or young, anyone can earn our ire, from faux conservatives to phony liberals and every hack, twit and hypocrite in between. 

As for our subject at hand... fear not, gentle reader! Ignorance is a big tent. There’s plenty of room for all your favorite politicians, experts and celebritards. 

Whether the subject involves holy land disputes on the other side of the world or the price of money here in the United States... the desired number of hurricanes in a season or the ideal temperature of the earth 25, 50, 100 years from now...to how many pinheads can dance on the wing of an angel... there exists no shortage of earthly homo sapiens professing otherworldly knowledge. 

In private life, such charlatans may be safely ignored. Vote the scoundrel into public office, however, and there’s no end to the damage that can be done...

Include Us Out

Ordinarily, when it comes to politics, we’re into being out of them. As the great Farley Granger used to say, “Include me out.” But in this, the year of America’s 62nd Political Olympic Games, we are compelled to notice two candidates standing atop impossible conceits. 

One claims the knowledge required to restore the empire to its former glory, to turn back the hands of time, by “Making America Great Again.” 

“Not on my watch!” cackles his opponent. Kamala Harris has her own plans and schemes, including who should get welfare at home (she touted “Medicare for all”...until two days ago) and who should receive warfare abroad (her commitment to NATO expansion remains “ironclad”).

And like all avowed Marxists, America’s DEI Veep knows precisely where everyone should end up... and how to get us all there. 

“There’s a big difference between equality and equity,” Harris cooed in a video posted on her X account. “Equitable treatment means we all end up at the same place.”

And yet, despite bluff and bluster to the contrary, it is not earnest politicians that make a country “great” (either again, or in the first place). Rather, the fortunes of a nation depend largely on what the political class does not do. The Founding Fathers of this very Republic recognized as much, when they sought to strap the Leviathan down by means of a Constitution (and subsequent Bill of Rights). 

“A government of laws, not of men,” observed John Adams. 

Public Disservice

The Founders realized that the more the state involves itself with the lives of free people, the more numerous its laws and regulations, the more ambitious its mission creep, the worse it is for citizens in general. Recall Mr. Jefferson’s complaint, as expressed in that most famous break-up letter (addressed to King George III):

“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”

Alas, the problem is not merely one of reliable ignorance on the part of our politicians in public disservice, the glaring reality that no single human, nor committee thereof, possesses the requisite knowledge to comprehend (much less manage or even guide!) something as infinitely complex and dynamic as a modern economy. There are other limiting factors to consider besides. 

The informational dilemma, for example, whereby signals (price, profit, loss, balance, volume, trajectory, momentum etc.) are corrupted the moment any para-market actor sticks his or her grubby mitts into the mix. And yet, this they do almost as a matter of course, as though cursed with a kind of anti-midas touch.

Subsidies, taxes, tariffs... quotas, edicts, decrees... regulations, diktats, mandates... the vast majority of the bureaucratic governmental bloat does little more than impede, disorient and bewilder otherwise self-interested individuals. 

Mr. Trump, for his part, added 60,000 names to the federal payrolls while he was in office, all the while claiming to be “draining the swamp.” He sees tariffs and trade protectionism as the means to bring back American jobs, ignoring the fact that a free and open economy is most beneficial to all, including (and especially) those at the lowest rungs of the economic ladder, who benefit most from lower-priced goods. 

Mrs. Harris in turn makes no secret of her own desire to meddle in the lives of individuals, from race-based college admissions and “diversity” quotas in the classroom and the boardroom. She favors state intervention at practically every level of human activity (except when it comes to locking up criminals, prosecuting rioters and protecting the border, apparently). 

Whether in the east or west, old world or new, in Americas north or south, governments around the planet have a reliable tendency of providing problems where solutions ought to prevail.

Trump and Harris may have very different ideas about what “makes America great,” but neither seems capable of yielding to the greatest driver of prosperity hitherto known to man:

Free markets... free minds... and free people.  

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And now for your Notes From the Week Past…

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We’re nearing the final days of our annual migration, dear reader. A week or so from today and we’ll once again be safely ensconced in our post-apocalyptic, anarcho-capitalistic hellscape down in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We can hardly wait…

Whatever you’re up to this fine weekend, we hope you’re giving it a good nudge. We’ll be back with more from the final leg of our tour, next week.

Stay tuned for more Notes From the End of the World...

Cheers,

Joel Bowman

P.S. Might unpopular ideas – free markets, civil liberties, common sense – be enjoying a resurgence… even in the woke West?

Might thoughtful individuals be ready to ditch the ‘statist quo’ in favor of a more peaceful, voluntary existence?

Might citizens be ready to shrug off the illusion of choice proffered by their would-be political leaders and their puerile porters in the mainstream press?

Such a reality might be closer than you think. Already, millions of people in hundreds of countries have tuned out of state propaganda, meant only to divide, conquer and impoverish people.

How do we know?

Well, we don’t… but we have reason to be cautiously optimistic. Even these humble Notes now reach dear readers in all 50 states across the US… and in 130 countries around the world. Not bad, given that we only just kicked off this year.

Of course, the ideas of freedom, liberty and independence are not going to spread themselves. And that’s where our dear members come in. Thanks to their support, we are able to remain fully independent… which means no advertisements, no bosses and no bias.

Just free markets, free minds and free people… all the time.

If you’d like to support our work and join the growing community of folks interested in these lately resurgent ideas, please consider becoming a Notes member today. Cheers!