The Rational Argumentator

A Journal for Western Man

Issue CCXXI

November 30 - December 7, 2009

Economics
Compulsory Social Insurance (1922):
Ludwig von Mises
December 1, 2009
This essay by Ludwig von Mises is an excerpt from his 1922 book, Socialism. In it, the great economist critiques the concept of social insurance, which ultimately aimed at giving every citizen adequate care and the best medical treatment in sickness and adequate sustenance if he should become incapable of work through accident, sickness or old age, or if he should fail to find work on conditions he considered necessary. Mises argues that compulsory social insurance -- much like what is being proposed for health care today -- has the potentialto increase the prevalence of the perils being insured against.

Should the State Support the Arts? (1850):
Frederic Bastiat
December 7, 2009
Ought the state to support the arts? The classical liberal French economist Frederic Bastiat answers this question in the negative, drawing upon economic logic to refute the commonplace fallacies of his time. A free audio recording of this essay, read by Mr. Stolyarov, is available here.

Sustainability: An Assault on Economics:
Tyler A. Watts
December 7, 2009
The alarmist crusade, which underlies the sustainability movement, should rankle people with an economic understanding of the world. A basic tenet of economics is that markets are self-correcting and orderly; prices indicate resource constraints and guide people in economizing on their use. Prices change as underlying supply and demand conditions change, inducing appropriate adjustments in consumption and production patterns. Prices channel the profit motive — a natural aspect of the human condition — into productive and innovative activities. In short, prices work. Sustainists, writes Tyler Watts, are either ignorant or in denial of this basic lesson. Either way,  economists have their work cut out for them. A free audio recording of this essay, read by Mr. Stolyarov, is available here. 

First You Laugh, Then You Cry:
Marita Noon
December 3, 2009
Marita Noon writes that America is currently in no position to lecture China on its shortcomings. U. S. politicians are borrowing Chinese money, but have no way to pay it back. In the current economy, China holds all the cards.

Politics
Healthcare Freedom or Healthcare Bureaucracy?:
Ron Paul
December 2, 2009
The U.S. Preventive Task Force caused quite a stir recently when they revised their recommendations on the frequency and age for women to get mammograms.  Many have speculated on the timing for this government-funded report, with the Senate vote on health care looming, and cost estimates being watched closely.  Just the hint that the government would risk women’s health to cut costs is causing outrage on both sides of the aisle. Rep. Ron Paul, however, argues that such cost-cutting would become rampant if the healthcare bill currently before the Senate is passed.

The Waste of Tax Dollars Never Ends: Items of Interest:
Tom DeWeese
December 4, 2009
The nation is collapsing under the federal deficit, and Washington can’t find a dime to cut from the budget. In the meantime, Tom DeWeese discusses some of the absurdities that your taxes to the federal government continue to pay for.

Homeland Security or Homeland Enslavement?:
Chuck Baldwin
December 6, 2009
For the last 8 years, the American people have been told they must sacrifice certain liberties in order that the federal government might protect them. And for the most part, the American people have been happy to accommodate this incessant intrusion into their personal liberties. They know the feds are monitoring their emails, personal phone conversations, and even their personal letters when received from overseas. They have sat silently as their banking institutions have monitored and reported virtually any and all financial transactions to the federal government. In today's super-security world, one cannot even cash a check without showing the bank teller his or her driver's license, which is recorded and made available to the feds. Dr. Chuck Baldwin argues that this is not real homeland security; it is homeland enslavement.

Science
Cleaning Out the Climate Science Cesspool:
Paul Driessen
November 30, 2009
Paul Driessen addresses the growing global warming scandal over emails, censorship, data manipulation, and fraud. Mr. Driessen explains why the stakes are so high and outlines actions that need to be taken to prevent further damage to scientific integrity, public policy, and the world economy – before we get locked into cap-tax-and-trade laws and a new global climate treaty.

Climategate: A Willful Ignorance:
Alan Caruba
December 5, 2009 
A week after the revelations of more than a thousand emails between the chief perpetrators of the science fraud that has since come to be called Climategate, an editor at The Economist could still write, “This newspaper believes that global warming is a serious threat, and that the world needs to take steps to try to avert it.” Could The Economist be so uninformed, misinformed, or willfully ignorant of the commonly known fact that, despite a rise in the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere, the Earth has been in a new, natural cooling cycle for a decade? Alan Caruba argues that willful ignorance continues to dominate the mindsets of those who advocate the existence of anthropogenic "climate change," despite the facts to the contrary. 

Videos
Refuting the "Lord, Liar, or Lunatic" Argument - Video:
G. Stolyarov II
December 6, 2009
Some Christians seek to convince non-believers in the divinity of Jesus Christ that either Christ was mad, a liar, or an actual god. Mr. Stolyarov refutes this common argument here.

"Science does not give us absolute and final certainty. It only gives us assurance within the limits of our mental abilities and the prevailing state of scientific thought. A scientific system is but one station in an endlessly progressing search for knowledge." 
~ Ludwig von Mises