Richard Fields

Tapping the sign

Milton Friedman dismantles the “capitalism = greed” narrative: “Tell me, is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed? Of course, none of us are greedy, it’s only the other fellow who’s greedy.” “The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way.” “In the only cases in which the masses have escaped from the kind of grinding poverty you’re talking about, the only cases in recorded history, are where they have had capitalism and largely free trade. If you want to know where the masses are worse off, worst off, it’s exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that.” “The record of history is absolutely crystal clear, that there is no alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by the free-enterprise system.”

Afroman is a true patriot.Why the Afroman ‘pound cake’ police saga is so delectable wapo.st/3O3mcLL

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The White House says Barron Trump is “too tall” at 6'9" for military service. David Robinson was 7'1" and put his NBA career on hold to serve in the Navy. Height clearly wasn’t an excuse then and it isn’t now.

“We must stop thinking as slaves. We must think as free men.” — Javier Milei

Milton Friedman: “We regard the minimum wage rate as one of the most, if not the most, antiblack laws on the statute books.” “The government first provides schools in which many young people, disproportionately black, are educated so poorly that they do not have the skills that would enable them to get good wages.” “It then penalizes them a second time by preventing them from offering to work for low wages as a means of inducing employers to give them on-the-job training. All this is in the name of helping the poor.”

She’s doing three things at once and hoping no one notices. First, she blurs rate and amount. A billionaire can show a lower effective rate in a given year because of how capital gains are realized, while still paying vastly more in absolute dollars than thousands of teachers combined. The burden isn’t remotely comparable. Second, she strips out timing. Most billionaire wealth isn’t taxed yearly because it isn’t realized yearly. Tax systems don’t treat unrealized gains as income. So she compares a steady W2 salary to fluctuating, often deferred gains and calls it unfair. Third, she redirects attention. Instead of asking where trillions in already collected tax revenue go, she frames the problem as “not enough taken.” That conveniently shields spending, waste, and incentives from scrutiny. So the real question isn’t “why aren’t we taxing more?” It’s “why does more revenue keep producing worse outcomes?” That’s the part this rhetoric is designed to avoid.

“The great enemy of human freedom is the government. By taking money out of our pockets and spending it, it destroys our freedom.” — Milton Friedman

Funny how “greed” only shows up where government is most involved. Healthcare, education, housing… prices explode. But for Tech, TVs, software it's all generosity and falling prices. Same “greedy” people. Different incentives.

Andrew Yang: Congress has a 15% approval rating, yet 94% of members get re-elected “What if 85% of your customers were unhappy but you changed absolutely nothing? That's how American politics feels to the vast majority of Americans”

The fight against @RepThomasMassie by the administration is “fake,” in that they are only fighting against the one House Republican who is still holding true to Team Trump’s original promises. It’s not about actual policy disagreements. Trump has decided to go back on a number of his campaign promises and expects everyone in his party to follow him. Massie doesn’t do this, and so becomes an enemy of the White House. The most non-MAGA thing Massie could do is simply fall in line. classythomasmassie.substack.com/p/massie-theyr…

Anyone with at least a basic understanding of economics knows that rent controls always reduce housing supply and make the housing problem much worse. Why do left morons around the world keep implementing rent controls? What other results do they expect?

Mostly true

What a scam…

Javier Milei is correct. If you want to be an artist, you should have voluntaryist support. Not government grants keeping you afloat by stealing from others.

Reporter: Why did you start a war with Iran? Trump: Israel was under threat so we had to attack. So much for America First...

Please don’t blame capitalism because your Marxist university sold you a dud degree and you were dumb enough to put yourself in decades of debt to pay for it.