Race, creed, religion or politics aside, this message IMHO simply cannot be refuted.
http://www.economicfreedom.org/
http://www.economicfreedom.org/
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A message that everyone needs to see...
- Thread starter es347
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Quality of life: Financially, physically, geographically, environmentally, clean water, clean country side, clean air, mentally happy, fit all the way, happy without any limits, total freedom, PEACE!
The impossible dream!
The impossible dream!
I don't know about the thesis in the video but the production values were incredible! So at least they know which ad agency to use 
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Part of what drives our current problems is declining economic freedom. This is best exemplified by the huge, unelected (and therefore answerable only to the bureaucracy that creates it, rather than voters) regulatory state that we have encumbered ourselves with. By one account this hidden tax amounts to $1.75 Trillion per annum. This is manifest by the compendium of federal regulations; The Federal Register, which now numbers over 83,000! pages and this is before the professional regulator's wet dream that is the 'Affordable Care Act'. The Federal Register has increased in size by 60% over the past 15 years.
Now I certainly don't think we should go back to a completely unregulated society and certainly $1.75 Trillion may be a generous estimate of the costs of the current regulatory regime, but even if it's off by 2x, this represents a serious millstone around our country's economic neck and an impediment to companies' willingness to hire. The sheer size of the regulatory requirements also undermines the rule of law because seriously, who could possibly read, let alone comply with that volume of regulation?
Ask Gary if Singapore is really as "free" as the Koch Foundation is making it out to be. The scandinavian countries may have high per capita gross income but they also have some of the highest personal income tax rates on top of paying GST on practically everything. If you're in the liquor business, Sweden is not free at all. You've got to go to a state owned or controlled store to buy a beer to drink at home.
I read in a blog that many companies in California have to spend boo hoo money on legal fees, not to be in compliance any more, but just to figure out the least expensive way to be "out of compliance", since it is not possible for them to be in compliance everywhere and do business at all.
....and each page is a reaction to the folks who've been finding ways to work the system at any given point in time.
That's the eternal question for the politician isn't it? Do I just go with what the majority of my constituents want or do I go what what I THINK is good for them?
Jack-There are states in the U.S. that are the same way. In New Hampshire whose state motto is "live free or die," the state owns all of the liquor stores. If you live in PA, you have to go to state stores also. Some bars can sell you a six pack in PA, but they make it difficult to buy booze there.
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Haha! You already know the answer, Jack. Almost everything in Singapore is Government controlled, or controlled by a Government-linked corporation. However, it is economically "free" in criteria set out by that presentation.
It's the same with hard liquor in the US. At least in Washington, the state government controls the distribution and retail of alcohol.
Every state is a little different. In Indiana, most large grocery chains can sell you wine, liquor, and beer. But they can’t sell you cold beer. And they can’t sell any alcohol on Sunday. If you want to buy a cold beer in Indiana, you have to go to a package store. You can go to a local microbrewery on Sunday and buy their handcrafted beer to take home though. Make sense?
Some states you can buy beer on Sunday, but only after 1:00 PM. In some other states, you are allowed to buy all liquor on Sunday. Some states have drive-through liquor stores like Kentucky for instance. If you ever go inside one, look beneath the drive-through window and tell me what you see. Why yes, that’s an ice machine. And what do they do with the ice machine below the drive-through window? Make drinks and pass them through the window. You have to buy the bottle though. Oh, and that isn’t legal, it just used to be real common. Now they will tell you they are merely passing a glass of ice through the window.
Some states you can buy beer on Sunday, but only after 1:00 PM. In some other states, you are allowed to buy all liquor on Sunday. Some states have drive-through liquor stores like Kentucky for instance. If you ever go inside one, look beneath the drive-through window and tell me what you see. Why yes, that’s an ice machine. And what do they do with the ice machine below the drive-through window? Make drinks and pass them through the window. You have to buy the bottle though. Oh, and that isn’t legal, it just used to be real common. Now they will tell you they are merely passing a glass of ice through the window.
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Hi
"Free" is a concept an ideal. Nothing can be really absolutely free. We may have to understand "Free Economy" in a context where the choices of the individual are respected as long as the choices are within the confine of given rules. When the given rules come to be those of a majority then we have a democracy which can spurn a "free" economy. If by free we see a free for all, I-do-what-I-please, laissez-faire state of affair, I am not sure there are any proven proof that such anarchy has ever resulted in a peaceful, prosperous State. Actually all evidences point to the contrary. Nothing runs all by itself, the complexity of modern life almost demands that there be rules, many rules . Same complexity mandates their enforcement. 80,000 pages is nothing when one come to think of it .. It is a trial , heroic or even quixotic to get everything right, else too much falls in the cracks, wit often abhorrent results. Rules are a byproduct of democracy, a byproduct tor trying to maintain a free economy. The alternatives to an absence of (or too little ) regulation is not freedom, it is domination by a few, with the catastrophic results we have witnessed in 2008; we are still feeling the tremors of such a hands-offish approach to "free" economy.
I am OK with these people conclusion, not perfect but a free economy (with regulations) tends to produce more prosperity.. It seems to often be one of the happy results of democracy
"Free" is a concept an ideal. Nothing can be really absolutely free. We may have to understand "Free Economy" in a context where the choices of the individual are respected as long as the choices are within the confine of given rules. When the given rules come to be those of a majority then we have a democracy which can spurn a "free" economy. If by free we see a free for all, I-do-what-I-please, laissez-faire state of affair, I am not sure there are any proven proof that such anarchy has ever resulted in a peaceful, prosperous State. Actually all evidences point to the contrary. Nothing runs all by itself, the complexity of modern life almost demands that there be rules, many rules . Same complexity mandates their enforcement. 80,000 pages is nothing when one come to think of it .. It is a trial , heroic or even quixotic to get everything right, else too much falls in the cracks, wit often abhorrent results. Rules are a byproduct of democracy, a byproduct tor trying to maintain a free economy. The alternatives to an absence of (or too little ) regulation is not freedom, it is domination by a few, with the catastrophic results we have witnessed in 2008; we are still feeling the tremors of such a hands-offish approach to "free" economy.
I am OK with these people conclusion, not perfect but a free economy (with regulations) tends to produce more prosperity.. It seems to often be one of the happy results of democracy
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