Our State of the Union prayers answered
Posted on 28. Jan, 2010 by OHC in United Kingdom
Yesterday, we urged Barack Obama to follow our, and Cato’s, lead in his State of the Union address. Regulation and reckless spending got us into the recession – only capitalism can get us out.
Obama, of course, did not do as we suggested. But fear not. Not only did Virginia’s (new) Governor Bob McDonnell deliver the Republicans’ official reply, but you get a second helping from (old) Congressman Ron Paul. Enjoy.
Happy Capitalist Christmas!
Posted on 25. Dec, 2009 by RK in United Kingdom
To all our readers, friends and even our adversaries;
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
Yet another KeepRightOnline ‘disgusted’ moment…
Posted on 07. Dec, 2009 by RK in United Kingdom
In our WTF series of images from across London, today in Trafalgar Square, we took this. It seems the climate loonies are pedaling their falsified agenda again. Do these people not have anything better to do? (Ed: You need to ask that question?!)
The system works
Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
So the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has ruled that people are responsible for their own actions when it comes to bank accounts. The court may get stick from lots of sides for its opacity, its novelty, the role of the EU in its creation. But, this morning, when the chips were down, hell yeah, did it come up trumps.
Freedom of contract is the cornerstone of capitalism. Without it, nobody can prove they consented to anything. But the OFT and EU’s principle of whether something’s ‘unfair’ or not, after they’ve signed a contract saying they’ve accepted it, runs counter to that. Charges for overdrafts are standard practice, not sprung on people by surprise – and they’re the price we pay to be the only major country not to charge to use a current account. If they thought it was unfair, they shouldn’t have signed the contract.
Acceptance of primacy of capitalism over government fiat?
Rejection of the OFT’s attempted gold-plating of EU directives?
Refusing appeal to the European Court of Justice?
I’d call that a very successful day in court.
Michael Moore: My film’s a farce
Posted on 10. Oct, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
Last month, we laughed at Michael Moore’s new film Capitalism: A Love Story pathetic attempt to straw-man the free market by depicting our social democratic system to some capitalism wet dream.
Well, here’s a friend of the blog asking Michael Moore at his university whether the free market could really be blamed for any of the problems that us capitalists can clearly point to being caused by government corporatism and socialism:
“We don’t really have a free market. We don’t have free enterprise, as much as they say that we do.” And that’s the United States, and not even in big-government obsessed Europe. So how does that even plausibly square with his criticism of capitalism for the financial crisis or economic malaise?
Capitalism’s defence rests.
Twitter Fights and a Living Wage (a response)
Posted on 17. Sep, 2009 by keeprightonline in United Kingdom
Well known Tweeter @kezdugdale has done the honour of mentioning KeepRightOnline on her blog, in a post entitled, “Twitter Fights and a Living Wage,” following a Twitter discourse we had recently. In her blogpost, she sets out her argument for a ‘living wage’ and argues that the Labour government hasn’t been given enough props for it’s advocation of this interventionism since 1997. I however, feel differently. I’ve issued a full response below, and far from wanting to sound expectant, I have tried to outline why, from experience, I believe the market (not government) knows best, and why those working on a low wage should strive for better, not expect (as a right, as Kez mentions) a bloated salary.
“I thank you for the mention and for the record, I don’t often see a need to resort to, “Oh f**k off.” I don’t debate to insult or debase, I do it because sometimes I genuinely cannot see the rationale behind someone’s stance. This is echoed in your statistics in the post.
I worked in the retail sector for just over 4 years, earning WAY LESS than £7/hr while putting myself through university. Here’s how I see it.
While I didn’t earn any commission in my first job of three years, I learnt the skills and graft needed to move on and up in the company, and did so. With this came ‘keyholder’ responsbilities and with that came a nice little extra in my pay packet every week.
Following this, I managed to apply for another retail position which paid more AND offered commission on top: fantastic times.
Similar applies to the hotel and service sector, having worked in a hotel before, the fact is- if you’re good, you get promoted and you get a lot of tips! While no one should have to RELY upon tips for a living, they should also not expect a basic that they haven’t earned, or that the job doesn’t merit.
If someone had offered me £7.00/hr in my first job, I would have looked at them funny and thought, “Hell, if they’re stupid enough to pay me that, sure!” You can’t exploit the employer in the same way you cannot exploit the employee, and this is precisely what a National Minimum Wage does. It takes away from meritocracy and hard work and like you said, it makes it a RIGHT to receive money that frankly, you might not have earned. As if some places weren’t bad enough for customer service in the first place, you want government to enforce a pay system which will effectively remove employees from having any incentive to work harder or better. I suppose you dislike the ‘bonus culture’ too? Why don’t we all just hand over 100% to government and let it distribute rations and communal housing?
You mention public sector pay, but you forget the perks you get from working in the public sector (pension, job security, clearly defined hours and none of the insecurity of the private sector). Very little risk is associated with public sector jobs, and yet you want to reward them more so than those who graft every day to keep Britain’s economy booming?
It’s a losing battle for you on this one. I don’t want to see anyone being exploited or deprived of opportunity, whereas you DO want to see people rewarded for nothing and businesses penalised for being competitive. Which is why Labour and the United Kingdom are in the state we’re in today.
End of rant! (Thank goodness this isn’t Twitter!)”
And how do they remember?
Posted on 12. Sep, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
Instead of the respectful manner that we ask for respecting those that were murdered in September 11th, the government remembers by exploiting our collective mourning. They play upon our fears and take advantage of our patriotism, by oppressing our rights and taking away the way of life to which the British and American people had become accustomed, and the way of life that we deserve.
Lew Rockwell wrote this response the day after 9/11:
The two buildings were once glorious, and all the more so because they were constructed not to display the glory of the State but to exhibit the creative power of the capitalist economy. Soaring 1,300 feet above the city, a person on the 110th floor enjoyed a panoramic view stretching 55 miles: a broad vision of human civilization. Much more important for the flowering of civilization is what went on there: entrepreneurship, creativity, exchange, service, all of it peaceful, all of it to the benefit of mankind.
And, yet, the state continues to stifle us and take away our freedom that allowed us to build that prosperity and the freedom that makes that prosperity worth having. The British and American governments wrecked the financial system. They compound that when, day after day, they introduce new legislation, preying on the worst of our instincts to trade our essential liberty for some temporary security: ultimately leaving us deserving and receiving neither.
That’s the theory behind the 9/12 Project, part of which is a big march in Washington, DC today (Ed: those Tea Party crazies again?). Because when confronted by a threat to our lives, livelihoods, and lifestyles, we have to do as the brave, yet ordinary, people of United 93 did: fight back.
Will no one rid us of this turbulent prat?
Posted on 07. Sep, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
As if lying about the state of Cuban healthcare (as well as preaching to us Brits about the perfection that is the NHS) weren’t enough, Michael Moore has once again produced a stupendously stupid piece of propaganda for his brainwashed followers.
It’s called ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’, and concludes with the words:
Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil. You have to eliminate it and replace it with something that is good for all people and that something is democracy.
Excuse me whilst we guffaw. The budding comedy of the year is being shown at the Venice film festival on Sunday, and is set to be released on 2 October. If you can’t wait for more evidence of his naivety, just see this preview:
Bailouts? Stimulus? Budget deficits? That doesn’t sound like capitalism to us! In fact, subsidising failing businesses kinda sounds like the form of socialism he’s demanded for years for auto manufacturers in his home state of Michigan.
Now, please, sir, kindly give us our money back. You certainly don’t deserve it.
The Barclays Bounce
Posted on 04. Sep, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
As we all know, government acted quickly to save the world save the banking system back in October, when all was going to hell in a hand basket. Whereas RBS, Lloyds, and HBOS started grabbing tens of billions of taxpayers’ money, Barclays thankfully foolishly decided against participation in the scheme (Ed: and what fools!).
Thanks to this decision, Barclays’s share price has collapsed, and will never recover. Ever. Not in a million years. As this chart of the share price since July 2008 shows:
Barclays' refusal to accept taxpayers' money led to its inevitable colla... wait a minute...
What?! A bank that DIDN’T take all our money has now returned to its share price before the financial crisis hit? Meanwhile, scoungers-in-chief Lloyds/HBOS (down 65% in twelve months) and Royal Bank of Scotland (down 75%) have not had a bounce since the government spent our money on propping them up.
Government isn’t the solution: what are the odds?