By Michael Schaus
Monday, June 10, 2013
Well, it has finally happened: The temperature of Hell
has dropped below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, pigs have full command of the skies,
and I have found a sentence uttered by Paul Krugman with which I agree. Of
course, while his words made sense, and I am inclined to agree with his overall
point, we should keep in mind how the statement illustrates Krugman’s
incoherence.
In addition to the IRS scandal, the DOJ targeting
reporters, and the Benghazi cover-up, the White House is now dealing with the
NSA collecting mountains of data on average American citizens.
While talking about the NSA surveillance of Americans,
Krugman let slip an accidental gem of brilliance. (Well, “brilliance” might be
a strong word.) In an obvious illustration of just how far beyond their bounds
the Obama Administration has gone, the ueber liberal stated that the NSA’s data
mining operation “PRISM” was “authoritarian.”
Indeed, the year is 1984. In his brief moment of
coherence, the Nobel Prize winning economist demonstrated an astounding level
of hypocrisy. Krugman has fought for an expansive government for most of his
career. Government intrusion on otherwise private affairs (both economic and
otherwise) is encouraged by Krugman at nearly every opportunity. His
progressive sensibilities have been behind years of campaigning for higher
taxes, more spending, increased government regulation, and more intrusive
bureaucratic agencies.
With passage of the Affordable Care Act, the most
powerful authoritarian institution in the USA (The Internal Revenue Service)
will be in charge of determining private citizen’s health coverage, eligibility
for various healthcare benefits, and even their ability to pay out-of-pocket.
And, the Paul Krugman we all know and love, saw virtually no problem with such
an invasive government program.
And yet, this champion of increased government seems
surprised, and possibly even indignant, about the NSA’s actions. As if
government would, even for a minute, hesitate to use its “authoritarian” nature
that has been supported by lefties like Krugman for the past century. Krugman’s
incompatability with himself is no different than many other half focused
“progressive” genius of the 20th Century. Their love for government is
unwavering so long as government does exactly what they want.
While the income tax might have seemed like a reasonable
way to raise revenue for legitimate government functions, it quickly morphed into
a tool through which government could engineer “social justice.” Within years
the rates skyrocket; not for want of federal revenue, but as a tool to
implement a socially “fair” burden on success and wealth. I have talked at length about how the most recent
IRS scandal is nothing more than a product of government’s bureaucratic largess
and progressive tendencies. The NSA
“scandal” is more of the same. This is not a matter of those in charge unwisely
wielding power – although that is a part of it – but simply the consequence of
massive government. . . Exactly the kind of massive government Paul Krugman
wants us to let micro-manage the economy.
Maybe this is part of our trouble here in America: A
fundamental misunderstanding of what increased government leads to. So often is
the term “Big Government” used as a pejorative that liberals have abandoned the
phrase. And the reason is really quite simple: Government expansion is
incompatible with the preservation of individual rights. The NSA infringement
on individual privacy is merely the national security dimension of
progressive-liberal ideology and practice.
For some reason, Krugman can correctly identify PRISM as
being “authoritarian” in nature. . . Yet, he fails to see anything
“authoritarian” about punitive tax rates on the wealthy, government oversight
of private health insurance accounts, or the nearly unlimited regulatory powers
in Dodd-Frank.
Then again, maybe he does see the authoritarian nature of
Keynesian economics; and they’re just not a problem for him. Remember, the
progressive geniuses of the early 20th Century loved Mussolini, Stalin, and
Franco.
Paul Krugman, despite his recent statement like most
champions of Progressive notions, are nothing more than supporters of Big
Brother.
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