The Science of Economics and the First Law of Thermodynamics

August 31, 2009

The first law of thermodynamics states that energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed, although it may be rearranged in space, and changed into different types of particles.

Example:
If you spend a fortune and years building the home of your dreams, you are simply rearranging and organizing already existent matter. You have not created anything.

If another person comes along and sets fire to the home of your dreams, burning it to the ground, he or she has caused a rearrangement and reorganization of matter but not destroyed anything.

Having said this, please allow me to comment on our "Economy in Crisis" as the newspaper calls it.

Expert economists complain that our economy cannot recover because consumer spending is sluggish; Americans are not spending enough and employers are laying off workers.

I am not an expert in financial matters, but the first law of thermodynamics tells us that matter (including finances) does not vanish nor can it be created.

Millions of Americans have been borrowing from the future - making debts. Most planned to pay back those debts. If they didn't, they were stealing. Whatever the case may be, these people are now in trouble. The future caught up with them.

Some of these citizens have learned their lesson and are determined not to spend money that they don't have.

But there are other Americans who allowed an irresponsible government to entice them into making new debts "to stimulate the economy." The government said, "Go ahead and buy a new car! We will give you up to $4,500 for your old gas hog."

Millions of other Americans worked hard all their lives, bought health insurance, and saved money for retirement. Much of their savings has disappeared in recent months; their homes have been devalued and the government is cutting Social Security and devouring what is left of their savings.

The first law of thermodynamics in economics is now called redistribution.

Our forefathers fought and shed their blood to build a strong, free nation for their descendants. Thanks to hard-working, tax-paying citizens, America became the greatest nation on earth.

Today, Obama and his allies are doing exactly the opposite. President Obama campaigned for redistribution of wealth and kept his promise. The beneficiaries will vote for him again but victims are angry -- or not old enough to realize they that have been robbed.

Information and Misinformation

August 27, 2009

We live in the so-called "information age" but apparently most of what we get is misinformation.

Obama and fellow Democrats are conducting Town Hall meetings to "debunk myths" that opponents of his health care plan are accused of spreading at Tea Parties and through the Internet.

Obama calls on Americans not to believe what opponents tell them. It simply is not true. The sermon concludes and converts are called to the altar. Some become believers while others return to their Tea Parties.

All across the country, Tea Parties and Town Hall Meetings are taking place where people have an opportunity to ask questions and get answers. Problem is, how do you distinguish information from misinformation?

According to today's Gloucester County Times, the New Jersey Governor's race is all about ethics. Politicians used to campaign on their merits, but they now campaign on the opponent's faults. Is it information or misinformation?

I took this picture back in the sixties when McDonalds claimed to have served over 4 billion hamburgers. No one had the faintest idea of how much a billion was, but no one doubted McDonalds' claim. Most businesses had credibility in those days. Stores where you bought things and manufacturers stood behind their products. Because most things now come from China, you need to spend extra bucks for a service contract and hope it will be honored. In the early sixties, the average person could be trusted. We only locked our cars during the zucchini harvest so neighbors wouldn't load up the back seat.

Honesty has gone out the window. Businesses can advertise anything they want and are not held liable. Even the clergy has gotten a bad reputation. Not a few have gotten caught practicing what they preached against. That leaves the politicians and lawyers.

Most politicians are lawyers and many lawyers work for politicians, guarding their criminal, military, school and, in some cases, birth records. Other lawyers are employed by politicians to formulate laws that only they understand. Politicians don't bother to read such laws. They just pass them and we pay for them. And if we take the time and trouble to study and interpret them, we are accused of spreading myths.

People can be divided into four categories: the gullible, the doubters, believers and those who don't care. Most people see themselves as believers and no one claims to be gullible. The gullible believe whatever they are told and become believers. There are Tea Party believers and Town Hall believers.

Gullible is defined in the dictionary as "credulous, easily deceived." It is closely related to indoctrination, propaganda and brainwashing, tools and techniques implemented in making believers of the gullible under Communism.

I belong to the smallest group, the doubters. That is why I spend much time reading the fine print on the papers that come with medicine, countless pages of clauses in insurance policies, and software licenses. I am a doubter. That is why I downloaded and read many pages of Obama's health care plan.

Obama astutely denies that his health plan allows for government financed abortions. But abortions are not illegal and the government health care would pay for legal procedures that officials deem necessary or advisable. It's all in the interpretation. Obama also denies that his health plan includes death panels. That is a myth. The panel only gives advice and information about end-of-life options that doctors used to give us. I call them death panels because that is my interpretation. The plan clearly states that younger members of the work force will get preferential treatment over older retired persons. I am not jealous, but I prefer the old way, where my doctor and close relatives help me make such decisions.

Is it information or misinformation? It all depends on who you believe. Two thousand years ago, people wondered what and who they should believe. The politicians and clergy had their "Town Hall" meetings and along comes a Galilean carpenter, conducts  a lakeside tea party, and tells the people something else. Who should the people believe? The politicians and clergy accused him of spreading myths. Jesus gave the people some advice that we would do well to heed. "If you want to know the truth, you need to be willing to live accordingly." As with Obama's documents, this is my own interpretation of John 7:17. Read it yourself and decide if it is a myth. Neither Obama nor our representatives are going with ObamaCare. That should tell us something.

The Health Care Debate

August 13, 2009

I expect ObamaCare to get railroaded through with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. Then Democrats will hail it as a success while Republicans argue, "We told you so!"

It seems that everyone has his or her own ideas and opinions about health care, usually based on personal experiences. Activists on both sides of the debate have been showing up at Town Hall meetings and shouting each other down in a very democratic fashion (pure democracy is every man for himself). There is a lot of noise but few are listening and trying to learn.

Hearing and listening are not the same.

I have a PDF copy of HR 3200 on my computer and have read many of it's more than 1000 pages.

Reading and understanding are two different things.

The key to successful conflict resolution is the willingness on both sides to listen, understand and learn. Unfortunately, a readiness to listen, understand and learn is sadly missing in the health-care debate.

Another roadblock to resolution is the reluctance of Americans to accept personal responsibility and get involved. It's like in big league sports. A handful of well-paid people battle it out on the field or track while thousands in the grandstands and many more in front of their TV sets cheer or boo. Some Americans eulogize Sarah Palin and cling to whatever Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity say while others worship Obama and swallow whatever the liberal media feeds them. People are more likely to be motivated by emotions and political alliances than good sound reasoning and logic.

The trust of many Americans in their President and representatives in Washington has never been at such a low ebb, while blind faith and almost worshipful allegiance of others has seldom been so pronounced as it is today. Americans were also divided during the Kennedy Presidency, but the hateful speeches and uncomplimentary cartoons soon vanished following his assassination.

In order to understand why the health-care bill is so controversial, one must first and foremost consider who is proposing it and what their agenda is. Since Obama was elected, the Democrats have enjoyed an absolute monopoly of government power. If Republicans enjoyed that majority, they would doubtlessly act no different. For a number of years now, politics has gotten rotten and stinks! Election campaigns are nothing less than defamation contests of the opponent - even within the party during primary contests. When one party is in power, the losers go into opposition mode rather than offering constructive alternatives.

Having stated all the above, I will attempt to add my voice to the foray without expecting anyone to listen. What I write here is based as much on experiences in Europe as in America. We lived nearly four decades under socialized medicine in Europe.

Before a solution to the health care problem is discussed, we should ask WHY health care has gotten so expensive with costs exploding much faster than the cost of living? That is just plain good logic! I will attempt to answer that question here and leave resolution of the health-care debate up for discussion.

WHY has health care has gotten so expensive? I give six reasons.

1) The possibilities are greater. With modern machines and surgeries, you can keep a person alive almost indefinitely. A 52-year-old friend in Austria was kept "alive" on machines three weeks after he was dead. One machine kept his lungs working and another kept the heart beating. The brain had stopped functioning but as long as the blood kept flowing, so did the money and no one was interested in turning off the machines. If he had been retired, other rules may have been followed. I heard Austrians arguing that smoking and drinking should be encouraged among older folk because they wouldn't live as long.

2) Institutional thinking is another major factor. The insurance company, employer, government and church are all institutions. When an institution pays, no one cares and no one is responsible. The thermostat is kept high in winter and low in summer and that makes everyone happy. Politicians jet around the world at government expense and common workers loaf on the job or call in sick to get work done around the house. No one seems to feel guilty about milking an institution.

3) Money transactions under the table and nice perks for politicians, doctors, business reps, lobbyists or others to gain mutual advantage drive costs sky high. A screw that costs a penny to make and sells for ten cents at the hardware store can cost the military a hundred dollars. It's only wrong if you get caught - like the 44 political entities in NJ who recently got caught accepting bribes for what they should have done anyway.

4) Entitlement is a big factor in spiraling health care costs. We are a bunch of spoiled brats. We are egoists or at best equality fanatics and think the world revolves around us. We insist that someone is to blame for everything bad that happens in our lives and sense no personal responsibility when things go wrong.

5) Lawsuits is perhaps the biggest factor. I hear some arguing for a cap on what a person can sue a doctor or hospital for, but to my knowledge, no one has suggested capping the lawyer's gains from lawsuits. It probably won't happen because most lawmakers are lawyers.

6) Paperwork. This is closely associated with the last point, but there are other reasons for this problem. Big Brother (Uncle Sam) wants to know all about you and so do credit institutions and insurance companies.

We should read HR 3200 in light of these six points and ask if it would address these issues.

If this plan is really so good, why aren't politicians in Washington willing to go with ObamaCare?

"In socialism, all people are equal, but some are more equal than others."
 

How Much Electricity Can You Fit in a Gallon?

August 12, 2009

General Motors introduced a new car called the "Volt," which gets 230 miles per gallon. "Voltzwagon" would have been a better name, but my brother already used that for his refurbished golf cart.

Now that the government has taken over GM, the heat is on to produce economical cars to justify the billions of tax dollars tossed into a sinking ship. Government influence can already be seen in the propaganda of Government Motors. The government talks about billions and trillions of bailout and stimulus money like it was hay. Already Government Motors has begun to use the same astronomical figures in selling its cars.

Two hundred and thirty miles per gallon sounds impressive! A company near us that installs swimming pools promises "500 smiles per gallon" and can probably fulfill that pledge easier than Government Motors. I have done thorough research on the differences in cost per mile and discovered that an electric car is a fabulous deal -- if you charge the batteries at work. I was in Winnipeg about thirty years ago and was at first puzzled by the odd looking parking meters in front of stores and offices. They were receptacles for motor block heaters. If they still have them, I would recommend buying a GM-Volt.

I presently own a bunch of vehicles that get millions of miles per gallon. They are all powered by renewable energy that costs nothing -- zero -- zilch! And most of them are for sale cheap! If you want a wind powered vehicle that also thrives on water and solar energy, give me a call. Oh yes, I always liked fast cars but these vehicles will go faster than I would ever want them to go with me in them.

"A Well-Regarded Positive Corrections Officer"

August 6, 2009

Alfaro Ortiz, Director of the Essex County Jail, can't understand the world. One of his corrections officers murdered her 4-month-old baby, tried to murder her boy friend, Louis Goosby, and then ended her own life on Monday. Ortiz said, "She was a well regarded positive employee." Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. said "McKenith had an exemplary work record... She was a good employee, and she did her job well at our correctional center... It's just a terrible, terrible tragedy."

It turns out that the corrections officer, Kelley McKenith, had been living with Goosby for about a year and the baby was his. Goosby was shot twice but managed to escape by jumping out of a second story window. Goosby had been incarcerated at the jail where Kelly worked at least five times. He has a record that includes drug dealing, weapons possession and death by auto.

In a state where crime runs rampant among top ranking politicians, religion is separated from public life, marriage has been redefined, and just about any imaginable relationship is considered normal, we can expect many more reports of "nice, positive people" running amok.

Coin Drops

August 5, 2009

On weekends when holiday traffic is heaviest, you often see Fire Companies and Ambulance Corps posted on busy intersections, collecting money at so-called "coin drops." If you drive on holiday weekends, you have probably seen them.

It is a hot day and I am taking visiting relatives to Cape May. Route 55 narrows to just two lanes below Millville because environmentalists think constant traffic jams are better for nesting birds than cars traveling at 65mph. As we approach a busy intersection near Leesburg, half a mile of tourists wait at a traffic light. The light stays green long enough for a dozen cars to get through, but today only half that number make it and the line of impatient motorists gets increasingly longer. The Leesburg Fire Department has set up a coin-drop.

These people are supposed to be protecting, rescuing and working to assure the safety of citizens, yet they are out there holding up traffic and causing an unsafe situation for motorists. When the light turns green, cars start moving only to jam on their brakes, nearly hitting the car ahead of them. Some benevolent motorist had sympathy on these guys standing in the hot sun holding plastic buckets and figured they deserved a quarter.

Apparently local citizens don't care for their first responders well enough so they are forced to beg from out-of-towners and even out-of-staters for handouts.

Last week it was the Ambulance Corps on Route 40 and before that it was another Fire Department. Before you know it, the hospital auxiliary, SPCA, Cub Scouts and every other non-profit will be be setting up coin-drops.

We support our local first responders. If our emergency services are in financial trouble, they should say so and I will give more. The day they start conducting coin-drops to get money from "foreigners," I stop donating.

Cash for Clunkers

August 1, 2009

It seems that everyone is happy with the government's Cash for Clunkers program. I am not happy! I am a disgruntled old sour-puss senior that apparently no one can please.

It's just one more example of our government's insatiable OPM addiction (OPM=Other People's Money). First, they give billions to car makers to keep them from bankruptcy and then they bribe people to purchase their products. I don't see any politicians running to trade their gas-guzzling limos for hybrids. As with ObamaCare, they play by a different set of rules. Americans have known for years that their gas-hogging SUVs, Hummers and pickup trucks are wasteful. They bought them anyway and now they are being rewarded for their stupidity (if the President can say that without apology, so can I).

Our only car is an 18-foot-long behemoth of the highway called a Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon. We love it and wouldn't trade it for three times what they offer under the Cash for Clunkers program. Our 15-year-old "clunker" gets 20 mpg, so it wouldn't qualify anyway.

The LT-1 Corvette engine provides plenty of power. We can fold up the third row seats and carry seven passengers comfortably and safely. And when I need to transport a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood, I fold down the rear seats, open the rear hatch either by swinging it to the side or folding it down, slide in the plywood and close the door. Let it rain! I'll take my Estate Wagon to your pickup any day! If our wagon isn't big enough, we can tow a trailer of nearly any size.

Our Buick was made in USA and proves that Americans are capable of producing great automobiles that are practical, powerful, safe, comfortable, luxurious, robust and economical. If Detroit had continued producing cars like these, they wouldn't need bailouts. If there were enough Roadmasters left (the last ones were built in 1996), it would make more sense to buy one and drive it to death than to trade a clunker for one of those things they pass off as automobiles. Consider the amount of energy, raw materials and labor required to build a new car. That SUV is perhaps worth crushing and recycling, but these hybrids are half plastic.

Health Care for Clunkers (Senior Citizens)

August 1, 2009

Under the proposed new health plan nicknamed "ObamaCare", Seniors are viewed as "clunkers" that need to be scrapped (buried). That will fix both Social Security and Medicare. Click here to read or save an overview of what we will get if this bill passes.
healthcare_overview_obama_072909.pdf
That is only one part of what is wrong with ObamaCare. If you don't want the government taking charge of your medical needs, you had better get on the phone and tell your representatives!