David McElroy

Fear of Big Brother: What good are rights if you’re afraid to use them?

By David McElroy · February 12, 2012

A friend who lives in another country sent me a note Friday to let me know that he’d listed my name and phone number on his application to the U.S. government for a tourist visa. We joked back and forth for a couple of minutes about him coming to recruit terrorist agents or set off bombs or something, but I suddenly realized something I didn’t like.

Even though these were private messages we were exchanging and we were clearly joking in the context of him having to answer stupid questions on a visa application, I realized that I felt just a touch of nervousness. It wasn’t quite fear, but it was close. I found myself hesitant to make completely innocent jokes — simply because of the insanely paranoid police state that’s sprung up over the last decade in the name of fighting terrorism.

There was a time when I had confidence that the things I said in personal online correspondence were almost certainly private, because I didn’t fear being targeted for any reason. But given the increasingly paranoid attitudes and actions of politicians and bureaucrats, I no longer have that confidence.

Keep Reading

Share on Social Networks

More dependence ahead now that half of households get U.S. checks

By David McElroy · February 11, 2012

When people start getting checks from the government, they suddenly see government in a very different light. However they might have felt about transfer payments before, they can find excuses why they’re just fine and dandy, at least in their cases.

People can justify whatever it suits their needs to justify. It’s human nature, and you don’t even know you’re doing it. (You and I do it, too. It’s not just for “welfare queens” or some such silly stereotype.)

Roughly half of U.S. households now have at least one person receiving a check from the federal government, according to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. So what does this mean for the future of the welfare state? I think it’s a pretty safe bet that those people are going to mostly be voting in their self-interest. That means they’re going to vote for candidates who promise to keep the cash coming — even if it’s not morally or fiscally responsible.

The truth is that the welfare state isn’t going away now unless the state goes away entirely. You’re never going to change it through voting.

There’s no such thing as what we used to call “welfare” anymore. You can’t get a check just because you’re poor. But 35 percent of the households get some kind of “means-tested” payment. (See Mercatus Center chart below.) The next largest single category is Medicaid, with 26 percent of households getting some kind of benefits. The ever-popular Ponzi scheme called Social Security goes to 16 percent of households. Food stamps and Medicare benefits each go to 15 percent of households. Various other programs send checks to even more households.

Keep Reading

Share on Social Networks

FRIDAY FUNNIES

By David McElroy · February 10, 2012

We might all need a little therapy, but sometimes the dog has an entirely different reason for you to spend $120 an hour.

Keep Reading

Share on Social Networks

I’m seeing a lot of simplistic and dishonest explanations right now for the current rioting in France. Those on the populist far right claim it’s all about Muslim immigrants to France disrupting the culture. Their message is that this sort of thing is going to happen in the U.S. unless “we defend the border.” On the far left, socialists and their fellow travelers claim the riots are all about wealthy people in France not paying enough taxes, resulting in cuts to government services. The truth is far more complicated, but it’s rooted in the decline of population growth in Europe. There simply aren’t enough young workers paying into the tax system anymore, so cuts in social services were inevitable. There is genuine cultural tension as more and more people immigrate from other countries, but government cuts to education and other services are even more important to what’s happening. The situation is complicated, so don’t let dishonest people with U.S. political agendas tell you that it happens to support whatever they were already promoting for partisan reasons.

Here’s another reason to appreciate the cats in your life: New research involving 93 countries found that places with more cats per person also tended to have happier people. The researchers say the finding fits with previous evidence that living with pets can reduce loneliness and stress while providing companionship, emotional attachment and social support. The study doesn’t prove that cats cause greater happiness, but it certainly adds to the evidence that sharing your home — and your life — with a cat might be good for you.

The company that owns Facebook and Instagram is heavily promoting its new AI-based software assistant called Muse, but people who are using it as it was designed are incredibly foolish. An early adopter of the software discovered that a few days ago when he advertised an item for sale on Facebook Marketplace — and he inadvertently gave Muse full authority to act on his behalf. The software agreed to a lowball offer made by another Facebook user and then gave that man the home address of the man for whom he was an agent. The software told the buyer that the seller was home and waiting for him. When the buyer showed up and waited angrily, the would-be buyer left an angry review for the man. And this angry man had the seller’s home address. It was only well after that that the software reported what it had done and admitted it had made a mistake. I won’t be putting that much power into the hands of any software. I think anyone who agrees to such terms is a fool. And the software’s user agreement says you’re responsible for purchases the software makes in your name. Nope.

Meet my new girlfriend. Her name is Meg. And she’s my little sweetheart. A couple of months ago, a neighbor across the street told me about a new stray in the neighborhood that she and I were both soon feeding. The cat had been very skittish about contact and she had a lot of scabs and parasites in her fur, but a trip to the vet last week revealed that she was otherwise in good health. The vet estimates her to be 1 to 2 years old. I named her for Meg Murry, the 13-year-old protagonist of Madeleine L’Engle’s wonderful book, “A Wrinkle in Time.” (Please read the book. Don’t watch the horrible movie.) Since we lost Lucy almost a year ago, it seems appropriate that we finally have a new little girl to join the household. She’s already captured my heart, but Alex, Oliver and Sam aren’t there quite yet.

There’s nothing socially acceptable that’s as dangerous as drinking alcohol. Most people grow up being told to “drink responsibly” — and all of us see people abusing this drug in one way or another — but the truth is that drinking alcohol is always a terrible risk. The alcohol in these drinks is toxic and the human liver has to work hard to filter the toxins out. What most people don’t realize is that alcohol is classified as a known carcinogen by the World Health Organization — because of the well-established connection between imbibing and various cancers. Many people have taken refuge behind the idea that light or moderate drinking might be safe, but a new study shows that drinking even one drink a day increases the risks of 10 types of cancer. When I was a teen-ager, I looked around and saw the negative effects that this behavior had on a lot of people and decided not to start drinking, so I’ve never even tried this poison. The evidence keeps piling up that I was lucky to have come to that conclusion early.

Related Posts

Related Posts

Related Posts