What is the correct number?  Thirty-Two million?  Thirty-Seven million?  Forty million? The correct number of those who died during the period of 1958-1962 as Mao and the Communist Party of China instituted a command economy will never be known.  The exact number will never be known because so many people were dying, primarily of starvation but also because of beatings, executions, and torture that records could not be kept.  The millions did not die because they were some foreign enemies or, as is the case with the Holocaust because of some racial theory; they died because of government incompetence, bureaucratic lying and ignorance of the basic laws of nature.

What exactly is a “command economy”?  The “phrase comes from the German Befehlswirtschaft. It was originally applied to the Nazi economy but was later used to describe the Soviet Union.  Instead of allowing dispersed buyers and sellers to determine their own economic activities according to the laws of supply and demand, a higher authority would issue commands determining the overall direction of the economy following a master plan.  The command principle entailed that all economic decisions were centralized for the greater good, as the state determined what should be produced, how much should be produced, who produced what and where, how resources should be allocated and what prices should be charged for material, goods, and services.  A central plan replaced the market. (Mao’s Great Famine, pp 127).

A “command economy”  then is a top-down system by which the leaders provide objectives and quotas for the amount of grain to be produced, how many tons of steel will be produced, what type and how many shoes, socks, shoelaces, etc. will be produced in what time period, etc.  Operating in a totalitarian system like Communism, each layer below that top simply takes the quota they are given and adds a little more to please the powers that be.  By the time the quotas reach those who produce any given item, the numbers are so large that they are totally unrealistic.  Rather than argue against the numbers (and labeled a right-wing reactionary), the producers “fudge” the numbers to meet the quota.  And an example is the production of rice, a staple of the economy.  If the actual quota is not met, the rice crop is soaked in water to increase the weight as the rice absorbs the water.  Amazing, the quota is met!  The problem with that technique however is that the rice quickly rots and as the price of rice goes up (inflation), the consumers literally have to sell the clothes off their backs to pay for rotting rice.

Ever since the unification of Germany in 1870, the Germans have enjoyed a steady move up in their standard of living.  For decades Germany has been the economic engine that has driven Europe to greater wealth and a lifestyle that is envied by many in the world.  That economy has provided the German people with a welfare state that seemed to know no limits.

Welfare states, however, depend on a common consensus as to values and acceptable activity; each member of the society fulfills their function through work and obedience of the laws and societal norms.  The inclusion of millions of individuals who do not accept those norms, who are a cost not a benefit to the state upsets the smooth running of the state and creates friction which is outside the ability of the average citizen to correct.  Germany faces a challenge to its very existence from a large number of immigrants whose very value system is diametrically opposite to that of the German state.

Additionally, Germany faces an economic power that has learned quite a bit from the German model and who has the finances, education and will to challenge Germany.  That economic power is Communist China.  For decades China has studied, copied, and committed crimes against the intellectual property of Germany (and other states) and suddenly the student is rising up against the teacher as China begins to strike at the very basis of German strength.

The attached interview and overview of the problems Germany faces, economically and politically should be viewed at a minimum by every German.  It should be viewed by every citizen of the Western World as Germany’s problems and challenges are the same faced by every other Western state. 

Can Germany rise to the challenge or has the will of the German people been stifled by decades of easy living.  We can only hope.

I post this as I have some real-world experience with this type of conversion.  Quebec Canada mandated that all oil furnaces be replaced by heat pumps, and this impacted my retired in-laws.  As they could not find any source for heating oil, they reluctantly had the old furnace removed and had a new heat pump installed. 

During their first winter, they found that the warmest room in the house was in the basement due to the equipment for the heat pump.  They found that the second-floor bedrooms were not receiving enough heat and took to using more blankets and even wearing a knit cap during the coldest weather. To help remedy the problem, they looked at adding additional insulation and installing siding over the second story brick outside walls.

In the end, it cost them tens of thousands of dollars, all of it from their retirement funds. 

While subsidies may be available with the California plan, where does the money come from?  The government?  No, the government does not produce anything of value in the open market.  It comes from TAXES. So, the old law of government is proven:

The government creates a problem, then to solve the problem they create a bureaucracy which needs to be paid for by raising taxes.  In some places, this is called (excuse the French) a circle jerk.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/californias-heat-pump-fantasy

Confused about climate change/warming/etc.?  You should be. Especially when the average weatherman, if he was a ballplayer, would not be in the big leagues (oh, I forgot, the “experts” can tell us what is going to happen in fifty-years, but not next week).  OK, maybe a cheap shot, but still, we hear that we only have twelve years until the end of the world while others tell us we have twenty-five years.  What is the real answer?  In reality, no one knows and anytime we are shown computer models, how many of us remember the first rule of using computers: garbage in, garbage out.

The link below will take you to a video which explains some of the problems involved with computer modeling, especially modeling based on a worldwide events over which we have no means of control.  Even assuming the most objective of modeling, the slightest difference of input can make major differences in outcomes.

Watch the video and you will be better able to judge the various projections and put them in a better context.

https://www.policyed.org/policy-stories/challenges-and-realities-climate-modeling/video?_hsmi=271572052&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_wpSAspWFv9mxFHYDWE_PhRoY2xr4q6t11I6NIKT32UDyuXYoyXCP851r3nzV8MPUck0Cc0NsakeNKmsprX8N6NKHhcA

It has taken more time than it should have, but corporations are finally waking up that dealing with Communist China is a poor deal with the devil. 

Recent security laws issued by the Communist Party totally ignore international legal standards of lawyer-client privilege and opens the door to a complete breakdown of trust between the attorneys and their clients.  The action by Denton is a bold move and should make every individual or corporation which does business in China seriously question their legal counsel.  If that counsel does not provide a solid, positive answer, change your counsel.  It is the only answer to give to the Communist government which disregards international norms.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/law-firm-dentons-splits-with-chinas-dacheng-counter-espionage-law-takes-hold-2023-08-08/

During the Obama administration, there were voices who claimed that the United States was on the verge of having a two-tiered system of justice.  A claim of this sort was nothing new as it has always been acknowledged that an individual’s ability to hire the best mouthpiece (lawyer) for the money impacted the justice system.  Our nation has had a long litany of unequal justice, but they have been addressed and attempts have been made to correct the errors within the system.

The claims of a two-tiered justice system during the Obama administration were different, for the abuses were not the actions of a local sheriff or a misguided judge but were rather abuses from the very top of the law enforcement system.  The beginnings of the politization of Federal agencies, such as the IRS, the office of the Attorney General, the Department of Justice, the FBI and others stuck at the very foundations of the Republic. That politization of the DOJ and FBI, carried through into the Trump administration as officials within those departments turned their powers against the duly elected President.

Today, we see a lengthening record of a two-tiered system of justice, and it is more open, more repugnant than ever before.  The linked article by Victor Davis Hanson outlines only the most grievous examples as our system of justice is being warped for political ends.  It is unfortunate that despite the best of intentions, our justice system has never reached perfection, but have we gone so far down the other path that we can still regain our sense of dignity and some sense of idealism?  I hope not.

https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/hanson-two-sets-of-laws-for-two-americas

I remember when President Reagan was newly elected,  he started on a path to defeat the Soviet Union. It was a scary time as it seemed as if the march of the Soviet Union was unstoppable; they were on the move around the globe and the U.S. was still suffering from the fall of Viet Nam. Our military seemed to be in disarray, the economy was struggling to bounce back from the Carter administration and the national psyche was at a low point.

President Reagan believed that the U.S. could defeat the Soviet Union thanks to our powerful economy, but it takes time to rebuild a military which can fight on a worldwide scale. Could we rebuild our military fast enough or would the Soviet Union act in a key area such as Western Europe? We now know that it indeed was a dangerous time because after the fall of the Soviet Union, warehouses of victory banners and medals, Cyrillic Street signs destined for Paris, Bonn and the rest of Western Europe were found in Soviet military warehouses. Despite all the nay sayers, Reagan’s dream of victory was achieved. Unfortunately, there were no Nuremberg trials for those in the Soviet system who had enslaved and murdered millions during their time in power.

Today, we face another adversary, one which is more dangerous, that being Communist China. It is more dangerous not only because it has an economy that the old Soviet Union could only dream of, but also more dangerous because of it’s willingness to pay, with its citizens lives and those of any advisory, to attain its ultimate goal; to become the number one superpower in the world. 

Years ago, I read Unrestricted Warfare by Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui in which they argue that both financial and political forces can be used to defeat a technologically superior force such as the United States. Since then, there is no doubt that China’s military technology has grown enormously (thanks in part to their excellent efforts in stealing Western secrets), and their economic power has also shown amazing growth. Yet the attached link points to another aspect of Chinese military thought, that of the willingness to used biological warfare on a scale never seen before in the history of the world.

Chinese military writings, strictly controlled by the Party, openly writes of exterminating an enemy using biological weapons. At the same time, in the United States, we find the Chinese government purchasing thousands of acres of prime farmland, often near key U.S. military bases, and constructing biological research labs across the U.S. Given that the Chinese government paid no price for their part in the release of Covid-19 which has led to the death worldwide of nearly seven million, it is easy to understand why China believes that it can unleash new horrors on the world.

The attached article should be a wake-up call to those who believe we may be entering into a new Cold War with China. We may very well be at war against a timetable which we ignore at our own peril.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19858/prestige-biotech-china

The classic definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  Western Europe has for decades put proof to this idea.  Massive social spending, increased government regulations, the pursuit of inefficient green policies, a plunging birth rate and a focus on working less and playing more has led to decreased competitiveness in an increasingly competitive world. 

The attached pod cast presents a very scary group of facts regarding the future of Western Europe, and this is without bringing up the elephant in the room, immigration, and the lack of assimilation by individuals who view the liberal values of Western Europe as nothing short of blasphemy.   Expanding welfare rolls (up to 400,000 new claimants in France alone each year) of individuals with neither the education nor skills to contribute only makes the calls for new EU immigration rules even more urgent.

There are lessons to be learn for the U.S. from Europe, but they unfortunately shall be ignored by those on the radical/Marxist/anarchist Left who inhabit the deep administrative state and who put ideology above science and common sense.  Listen to the podcast and then plan your visit to Western Europe while you still may and enjoy those golden days.

https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/google-news-update/europe-poorer-us-richer-as-wage-gap-widens/746b1896-2001-405b-9bee-79815842bf26?page=1

A short book, well written that breaks into three parts: 1) how the people of Rome managed to conqueror and incorporate many of the separate peoples of the Italian peninsula prior to 90 BC, 2) why those people rose in revolt against Rome and Rome’s triumph and 3) the war between Generals Marius and Sulla.  Woven into the history is a tale of governmental corruption on a vast scale by the Senators and Equity class which led to the revolt, the civil war, and the destruction of the Republic. The masses were bought off with entertainment and lost their old virtues.

Marius is painted in a most unflattering light, and to be fair, more should have been said of this General who won so many battles for Rome. The description of Sulla is excellent; pleasure loving but bound to duty, a harsh rule who never forgave a slight and who perfected proscriptions in Rome. The author unfortunately does not mention Sulla’s inscription above his tomb: “I have never had a friend or an enemy I have not repaid in full.”

In the end, it is a book about how a great Republic turned to dictatorship and later, rule by Emperors and finally by bribery.  At the heart of the degeneration is the decline of the populace which ceased to take an interest in their military and who succumbed to lives of entertainment and the public dole.  It is a lesson that should be taught to every child of every nation who wishes to survive.

As I write this, much of the United States is suffering under a heat wave and accordingly, the usual suspects are on television reminding us that if we do not follow their wonderful directions and stop flying to our vacation destination the temperature will continue to rise until we are all reduced to cinders.  After their forecast of doom, they nobly get on their private jet and hurry off to a luxury location where they are joined by fellow travelers who then congratulate themselves on their noble and brave appearances on television.

Certainly, if you were a member of the baby boom generation, you might take the news that we are all doomed unless we begin to cook using electric stoves with just a bit of skepticism.  Why?  Because we have heard it all before; in fact, we have heard the tales of doom multiple times.  Remember the fact that we were headed to a new ice age?  Or, that billions of people were going to starve due to a shortage of food?  How could we forget that the world would run out of oil sometime in the 1990’s, or that all the polar bears were going to die due to the disappearance of the ice caps?  Strange isn’t it that all of those and other forecasts were wrong and yet we are expected to blindly believe and follow the new messiahs as they want us to march bravely backward into the fourteenth century.

Yet, there may be some degree of truth in their dire forecasts, and if there is, individuals such as Bjorn Lomborg will help us all to put them into the proper perspective.  In the article linked below, Lomborg points out that people are not stupid, and that the history of mankind has been a lesson on how humanity lives with and adapts to the natural world. For example, the number of deaths from climate in the last century is down by over 95%.  How is that possible if the earth is going through a major climate change?  Perhaps it is because we have adapted to the world around us and by taking steps to shape our environment. Or, what about those “super storms” who are bearing down on us?  Actually, the number of hurricanes that have made landfall since 1900 is down slightly.

The article helps to put climate change in perspective, in terms of costs, impact, and realistic options.  It is a bit of fresh air that can help you judge better those talking heads and messiahs who somehow fail to lead by example; they continue to purchase huge houses by the shore, travel in private jets and leave behind the largest of carbon footprints. 

https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Imprimis_Apr_8pg_5-23WEB.pdf