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Covid19 Lessons Learned? Socialist, Nationalist, And Future Free Market – Volunteer Pandemic Solutions?

Published on in Activism/Business/Free Market/Opinion/Politics/Poor Pratt's Almanack

What have we learned from the Covid19 crisis? Let’s compare Socialist, Nationalist, and possible laissez faire free market Capitalism/volunteer solutions.

Socialist health care solutions revolve around single-payer Medicare For All agendas. With coming primary care provider shortages, can you imagine sitting for hours in contaminated waiting rooms or postponing treatment due to long waits to even get an appointment? How do you think the quality of health care will benefit from doctors more focused on proper coding for lethargic bureaucratic government approval so they can get paid instead of living up the the Hippocratic Oath? What will happen if doctors find out their diminishing returns will not even pay off their astronomical medical school debt?

Well, maybe “Everything is beautiful” ‘head in the sand’ xenophobic nationalism, hamstrung by protectionist immigration policies and spiraling out-of-control War on Drugs, immigration restriction, and gun law enforcement costs? How has that worked for the bountiful “Everything is beautiful” Covid19 testing kit fiasco that has necessitated rationing and triaging Corona testing for only the very ill and dying with not enough kits available to even test care givers.

Hmmm. Well, how about private sector, free market, laissez faire Capitalism solutions? Cash-basis health care is taking off producing higher quality care and outcomes at a fraction of the cost (10-30% of allopathic insurance-based medicine costs). Why? The sharp contrast is in part due to the much higher percentage of preventative medicine estimated at 70% compared to the estimated 7% of preventive medicine in government mismanaged allopathic medicine

Allopathic medicine is consistently characterized by 10 minute doctor visits with doctors focused on coding-based revenue instead of face-to-face doctor/patient wellness care. Just give em a smile, antibiotic or other expensive prescriptions, and ship them of to their buddy specialists at further enormous additional cost borne by both patients and tax payers that increasingly goes not to the highly-skilled doctors but for the salaries of health care and government officials and bureaucratic elite parasites.

Now, let’s examine more specific free market health care solutions applicable to pandemics. Where the hell are the CDC promised testing kits? Maybe it is time to privatize the CDC? How are government solutions working? Lousy to terrible? How about a cash-basis government and insurance free pharmaceutical industry? Yes, for a well-earned profit not paid by the theft of taxation and at a tiny fraction of the cost of current bureaucratic and cronyism-laden pharmaceuticals?

Let’s be realistic. We do not know all the efficient and cost effective health care and pandemic solutions that could be produced by cronyism-free entrepreneurs because they have had the required freedom to flower to their full potential. Certainly, entrepreneurs are far more trustworthy than politicians and subsidy-dependent health care leeches.

Just the following fact previously mentioned tells the tale. Allopathic government mismanaged insurance-based health care allocates about 7% to preventive medicine. Cash-basis health care is roughly 70% preventive medicine. Why? Because preventive medicine means higher profits for providers and higher quality care and outcomes for a fraction of the cost of allopathic medicine.

Pandemic prevention, by definition, is preventive medication. Based on the 70% to 7% preventive medicine ratio, and the freedom to compete fairly in the cash-basis free market, which do you think will produce better pandemic prevention, care, and outcome? Folks, it is not rocket science. It’s a no-brainer and time’s awasting.

Let’s put on our thinking caps free from dishonest “Everything is beautiful” xenophobic nationalism and Socialist ‘ends justifies means’ lack of transparency propaganda, and think outside the box on how the free market can accelerate efficient and cost effective pandemic solutions in the future.

More to come, especially from you folks who are willing to think outside the box. We are just scratching the surface of potential free market pandemic prevention and cash-basis health care solutions.

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, March 12, 2020

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Would Legally Mandated Pinnochio-Nose GMO Therapy For All Politicians Reverse The Unfortunate Reality That Politics Usually Brings Out The Worst In Us?

Published on in Activism/Business/Free Market/Opinion/Politics/Poor Pratt's Almanack

Here some humorous and serious consequences of requiring all politicians to undergo Pinnochio nose genetic modification:

  1. Proliferation of politicians and candidates on crutches after tripping over their own noses and the noses of their colleagues, forcing governing bodies to provide crutches and wheel chairs as standard equipment for all members of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches
  2. Exponential increase in Guinness nose length records
  3. Explosive new market in nose camouflage products
  4. Sharp increase in the demand for nose job surgeries
  5. Laws passed forcing health insurance policies to cover nose job surgeries
  6. Decline of political correctness as a viable political tool
  7. Nose length contests replace political genital length comparisons
  8. Dramatic shift in political integrity or the lack thereof from liars contests to truth-telling contests
  9. Shoe on the other foot as politicians lose their advantage in dealing with supporters, constituents, and other politicians
  10. Politicians forced to either A) admit that governments exist solely for the benefit of those who govern, or B) suffer embarrassing nose-length consequences
  11. Politicians forced to own up to the fact that there is nothing that governments can do for us that we can’t do better by and for ourselves
  12. Two-party system flounders as smaller parties sporting shorter-nosed candidates win the respect of voters due to physically measurable differences in integrity
  13. Driving home what we already implicitly know about politicians but don’t admit, that the real goal of most politicians is just to gain power over others and the perks that go with power like hot dogs and beer go with baseball
  14. Private sector entrepreneurs, with no incentive or need for political correctness, become our leaders by example with corresponding economic and societal improvements including but not limited to higher standards of living and more freedom for all
  15. _____________________________

Fill in the blank with your own prognostications about the consequences and benefits of the unmasking of politically-correct, disingenuous politicians exposed by the length of their nose.

Even though we recognize that the humorous but unrealistic possibility of politicians with Pinnochio-nose afflictions is a fantasy, we might pause to reflect on this implausible scenario and come to the conclusion that politics invariably brings out the worst in us.

By contrast, we can achieve many more concrete economic and social advances by refocusing on free market successes and private sector leaders by example as they act in their own self-interest and cement their economic success as they establish a reputation for telling us the truth about the benefits of their products.

Most of us are realistic enough not to expect perfection from free-market entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, we intuitively know that private sector leaders are far more trustworthy than politicians spouting politically correct bromides and platitudes intended to pull the wool over the eyes of constituents while ripping them off to the tune of outrageous taxes.

If we are individually insightful and successful in assessing the deceitfulness of many if not most politicians, more truthful liberty-leaning candidates just might win more elections. Those elected in such circumstances just might help us get rid of the delusional notion that politics as usual is the only solution to mankind’s problems.

Point of fact, politics is the problem, not the solution. Further, lying politicians spouting obvious politically correct nonsense are the purveyors of the problem.

The solution lies not in politics but in the private sector. Part of the inarguable proof for this truism is graphically demonstrated by the obvious fact that governments inevitably collapse, typically in less than 200 years due to cronyism-induced bankruptcy if not overthrown before then. Hmmm? Now, what about the longevity of free markets?

Governments and politicians come and go with predictable regularity. However, free markets, an awesome reflection of our rational capacity, have never failed in the entire history of mankind. This historically established fact about the contrasting longevity of governments and free markets clearly suggests that institutional authoritarian ‘politics as usual’ is not a good representation of our rational capacity.

Roll over, politicians. Make room for the real purveyors of integrity and success in dealing with human challenges, our private-sector free-market leaders by example, the motor of the world.

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, January 7, 2020

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Refreshing Libertarian Message? Which Party Do You Trust?

Published on in Activism/Business/Free Market/Opinion/Politics/Poor Pratt's Almanack

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans? It’s not rocket science. Don’t we know that the Donkeys and Elephants stand for disgusting politics as usual capped off by a two-ring impeachment circus magnified by the corrupt cronyism-riddled traditional media in the pocket of political hacks?

So, who would you trust, a used car salesman or an impeachment-armed political hack? I know, we all make fun of used car salesmen. But can we be honest with each other? Wouldn’t you trust almost anyone, including a used car salesman, more than a political hack playing impeachment games? Doesn’t their political nonsense and impeachment charade remind you of the evil authorities in the ‘Hunger Games’?

Well, let’s see? What butters your bread, puts food on the table, and rewards you with the pride of achievement and the ability to take responsibility for your own welfare? More politics as usual with an impeachment circus as icing on the cake?

What if I were to tell you that the Libertarian Party stands for what means the most to the average citizen beleaguered by Democratic and Republican party hacks who spend our money on political boondoggles like impeachments?

What if I were to tell you that the Libertarian Party’s real strength is not politics as usual but support for the private sector, entrepreneurs, and free markets where folks can earn an honest living and take care of themselves?

Do you agree that the Donkeys and Elephants make it more difficult for you to succeed in the private sector? So who ya gonna call? How about the Libertarian Party gov-buster champions of the free market?

Have political hacks and impeachment circuses ever put food on your table? Wouldn’t you agree that only private-sector free markets offer you the ethical opportunity to rise above wage stagnation and poverty imposed on the rest of us by the political elite? Has it occurred to you that the Libertarian Party is the only party that supports your means of making a living, the private-sector free market?

Will an impeachment a day keep the doctor and political vultures away? No? Who ya gonna call next November? Politics as usual Donkeys and Elephants with their politics as usual and impeachment spectacles, or the Libertarian Party champions of private-sector free markets?

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, December 19, 2019

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Nation of Sheep or Free Market Heroes?

Published on in Activism/Business/Free Market/Opinion/Politics/Poor Pratt's Almanack
Nation of Sheep or Free Market Heroes and Heroines?

The following is a continuation of a stimulating dialog with Emily Goldberg, LSLA Secretary, with several edits and additions for clarity:


Emily, I have a higher opinion of mankind. Government and the political process has a way of creating a nation of sheep. A properly tuned LP message focused on the strength of our turf, the private sector and benefits of the free market, will free our nation of sheep.

True, some market leaders gain their nefarious stature through government preferences, bailouts, and so on. We all know who they are. Warren ‘More Bailouts’ Buffet, the ‘Oracle of Omaha’, for one. What a shame that a former astute stock market analyst hero of mine from my home town succumbed to the free lunch temptations of the dark side of progressive economics and politics.

For the sake of transparency, Bill Redpath (long-time LNC At Large and former LNC Chair), my wife Re, and I recently had a group picture taken at Buttet’s Gorats Restaurant in Omaha in front of a life-size image of Warren, a credit to Buffet’s earlier financial accomplishments of hero proportions. I sincerely hope that the significant good side of Warren will see the light.

Unfortunately, as evidenced by Buffet’s Berkshire-Hathaway firm, a large segment of the corporate world is in bed with government. Kudos to corporate leaders who resist that temptation, not to mention all our small business and entrepreneur heroes and heroines who reflect the best of our Libertarian principles.

Emily, expanding on our earlier conversation about heroes, have you thought about the differentiating factor between dubious political heroes and private-sector champions? Could it be the nature of their diverse accomplishments? We all know and admire the achievements of free-market heroes that benefit mankind and raise our standard of living. Politicians, on the other hand, are sadly respected for their aggrandizement in acquiring power over others (the rest of us). From my perspective, power-seekers and power over others is what we Libertarians are supposed to be fighting against.

But political power exists only as long as politicians are in office. Once out of office, their power ceases and the glamour of their power over others rapidly evaporates. Maintaining voter respect for their political power over others is what drives politicians to do whatever is necessary to get reelected, including but not limited to the evils of political correctness, corruption, and cronyism. Politics invariably brings out the worst in us.

Many if not most politicians could care less about the future impact of their corruption and cronyism actions as long as they get reelected in the here and now to maintain their illusory hero status. In economic terms, their focus on short-term power status, available only if they get reelected, represents a high time preference rate. See time preference rate comments in tomes by Hans Hermann Hoppe, including ‘A Short History of Man, Progress and Decline’ and ‘Democracy – the God that Failed’. To summarize, the high time preference rate of politicians is epitomized by their behavior, living for the moment with little interest in saving and investing for the future. After all, it is not their money they are spending at the expense of our freedoms, it is our hard-earned money they so thoughtlessly throw around just to garner votes.

We know that the success of free markets is due to just the opposite, the low time preference rate of saving and investing for the future to maximize not only long-term profits but more important, the benefits to customers and all of mankind that is the overriding motivation for most entrepreneurs and business start-up heroes.

To make a long story short, my abhorrence for power-seeking politics and the cronyism and political correctness required to get elected is why I bypass the political process food fight for power over others and the temporary illusion of hero worship derived from power over others available only while in office. I look to the private sector for the real heroes, the non-politician producers and leaders by example, the motor of the world, who are directly responsible for our well-being and standard of living.

May our Libertarian candidates and political efforts be a reflection of the awesome motivations and achievements of our private-sector free-market heroes. Do you think such a message just might win more elections by differentiating us from duopoly politicians, and, more important, accelerate our quest for freedom, nothing more, nothing less, for all people?

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, December 14, 2019

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