The Latest in my Liberal-Inspired Wake-Up Calls
by John Reit (April 27, 2006)

This article might sound a bit hypocritical. After all, the theme of this website could be construed as “bashing” America. Let’s clear that up right now. I love America. I love the ideals that created it. I love the Constitution that was written for it. And I love the freedoms I enjoy living in it. It’s because I love all these things that I fear the rising liberal philosophies – even by so-called Republicans – that are turning America into a socialist’s paradise. That’s why this site exists – to do what little I can to prevent that from happening. And while I do believe we’re heading down the socialist path, studies like the one done by economist Professor Tom Hertz remind me how truly great America still is. More...

What was the Alternative to Industrialization?
by John Reit (April 24, 2006)

I recently found a postcard that an ex girlfriend once gave me. It’s a picture of Charlie Chaplin in his movie Modern Times. I was a film student in college and my ex knew that I am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin’s work. In my liberal days, I was even an admirer of his philosophies and politics. The postcard depicts probably the most famous scene in the film – his Big Brother-esque boss makes him fix the “big industrial machine,” and consequently, the Little Tramp gets caught up in the giant gears. The entire movie, and that scene in particular, was Chaplin’s commentary on how the corporate world takes advantage of the average worker in exchange for very little reward. One thing that never dawned on me until I became more economically educated was something that seems to have never dawned on Charlie, and still doesn’t occur to those on the left – what’s the alternative? More...

What Really Separates Capitalism from Socialism? Human Nature.
by John Reit (April 20, 2006)

Despite the scores of people who still support it, it’s virtually impossible to argue that socialism has not proven to be a failure. Over the past century, several countries have tried it with consistent catastrophic results. Even if a nation has not met with widespread poverty, it’s difficult to point to one that has been both socialist and prosperous simultaneously. Countries like China have pretty much abandoned communism as an economic system altogether (keeping the authoritarian aspects of it, though). So, why do many continue to adopt or hold on to such an ill-fated system? On paper, socialism is a wonderful thing – everyone has a home, car, and bread on the table. In practice however, sustaining the system has been difficult. Why? More...

Technically Speaking, Most of Us are Disadvantaged
by John Reit (April 18, 2006)

The argument liberals use most often to justify socialist programs is that they want to help those who are disadvantaged. And it’s important to remember that this refers to their definition of “disadvantaged” – a specific criteria they’ve determined to explain why a certain person or group of people is unable to enjoy the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the majority. These individuals are in need of special federally mandated privileges to make up for this embedded shortcoming and wipe away hundreds of years of unfairness. And as far as I’m concerned, there is still a lot of work to do. Indeed, they are keeping millions of “disadvantaged” people from realizing the American dream. More...

Hold the CEOs Up for Scrutiny… But Leave Our Celebrities Alone!
by John Reit (April 12, 2006)

I might sound a bit conceited with this statement, but to any other person an article about a new SEC rule might have seemed trivial. To me, it was a significant statement about the current American values; and I don't mean a positive statement. More...

When… WHEN, Oh Lord, Will Africa Cease to be the West’s Problem?
by John Reit (April 10, 2006)

Good news to the citizens of Great Britain! Chancellor Gordon Brown just promised £8.5 billion to fund brutal dictatorships and terrorists over the next nine years. Well… actually he’s committing £8.5 billion to provide every child in the world with an educational structure by 2015 – potato, po-tah-to. That’s right. If Gordie has his way, not ONE child walking this wonderful planet will be without a place to learn, including countries with the most oppressive governments in the world. It’s just one more attempt from the Left to try to convince those of us who use logic and rational thinking that all it takes is money to fix society’s problems. More...

Where Businessmen Err
by Mayank Kumar (April 9, 2006)

Is there anyone among us who doesn’t agree the practice of kidnapping is evil? While America has its own issues with this disgusting act, this problem is particularly rampant in developing countries; it has even developed to a scale of industry. The kidnappers execute the risky task because they know that they will get benefits in return of the freedom of victim. They understand that as long as victim and his family compromises with the kidnappers, they will flourish. Now suppose that victim and his family refuse to compromise with the kidnappers even at the cost of life of victim. Suppose that everyone takes a stance of no appeasement with the kidnappers. What will happen then? More...

Is It Wal-Mart They Really Hate?
by John Reit (April 6, 2006)

Just when I think my admiration for the nation's number one retailer couldn't grow any more, Wal-Mart recently announced that it plans to build more than 50 stores in plighted urban neighborhoods over the next two years. All told, the expansion will create 15,000 to 25,000 jobs in these areas. Not surprisingly, the anti-Wal-Mart sites - wakeupwalmart.com, walmart-blows.com, walmartmovie.com, etc. - aren't mentioning the story. Am I surprised? Not at all. The fact is that in the mind of socialists, there is nothing good about Wal-Mart… or with what it represents. More...

Government Managed Economic Policy in a Free Market System
by Johann Robert Reit (April 6, 2006)

Despite a century’s worth of evidence to show how collectivist economies strangle the freedoms and benefits of the common man, our own legislators continue to put their faith in these tested and failed socialist policies – all in the name of power and prestige. For evidence, we need look no further than these very recent examples of how two states decided to “help” their citizens with their energy woes. More...

It’s Always Better to be Righteous than to be Right – Massachusetts’ New Health Care Plan
by John Reit (April 5, 2006)

The inevitable national socialization of health insurance just took another big step forward. And while I have a hard time believing in psychic ability or omniscience, before this article ends, I will be able to give you a fairly detailed picture of Massachusetts’, as well as America’s, future. It won’t be through any special paranormal abilities, mind you. I will simply be forecasting based on history. More...

The Strange Thing Called Anti-Trust
by Mayank Kumar (April 2, 2006)

In Wikipedia, the antitrust or competition law is defined as “Laws which seek to promote economic and business competition by promoting anti competitive behavior and unfair business practices.” These laws led to the dissolution of innumerable companies, dominant of them being Rockfeller Oil and AT&T and almost led to dividing Microsoft into two sub companies in 2000. For not the first time in history, people are punished using these laws for being too good… for raising the bar too high. More...

People Still Think Taxes are the Problem
by John Reit (March 30, 2006)

Yesterday, I received an email a friend of mine that included a link to a website (mywireless.org) that's trying to abolish taxes on cell phone service. He sent it to all of his friends who live in Pennsylvania - a state that levies a tax of about 3% on our total cell phone bill each month. I paid my friend the courtesy of clicking the link and checking out the site. Within five minutes, this website had lost all credibility with me. Not only was it completely hypocritical, it missed the point entirely. More...