From: punditster@gmail.com   
      
   On 1/26/2026 3:18 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   > On Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:03:34 -0800, Dude  wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 1/26/2026 12:52 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   >>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:35:11 -0800, Dude  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> On 1/26/2026 10:20 AM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   >>>>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2026 10:00:09 -0800, Dude  wrote:   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>> On 1/25/2026 4:09 PM, Julian wrote:   
   >>>>>>> Learning to live with the new tariff reality 250 years after Adam Smith   
   >>>>>>> put the idea of them to bed   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Two hundred and fifty years ago marks the beginning of what I’m   
   terming   
   >>>>>>> the Great Revolutionary Era starting in 1776 and continuing until at   
   >>>>>>> least today and probably ending when we reach AGI and certain powers   
   >>>>>>> fall out of human reach.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> In that year two documents emerged that would shape the modern world.   
   In   
   >>>>>>> March, Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations. In July, American   
   >>>>>>> colonists declared independence. Both were responses to the same   
   >>>>>>> question: who has the right to take your money, and on what terms?   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> The colonists’ answer was simple: no taxation without    
   epresentation. If   
   >>>>>>> you’re going to reach into our pockets, we get a vote on the matter.   
   >>>>>>> This wasn’t mere rhetoric—it was philosophy hardened into   
   revolution.   
   >>>>>>> James Otis Jr., a Massachusetts lawyer, wrote in 1764 that “the very   
   act   
   >>>>>>> of taxing, exercised over those who are not represented, appears to me   
   >>>>>>> to be depriving them of one of their most essential rights, as   
   freemen.”   
   >>>>>>> By 1765, at the Stamp Act Congress, he had sharpened it to a slogan:   
   >>>>>>> “taxation without representation is tyranny.” If you want to   
   understand   
   >>>>>>> what led to a lot of this in acute crisis, you need to understand   
   >>>>>>> banking regulations actually (everything is debts, all the way down),   
   >>>>>>> Tyler Goodspeed’s book on Legislating Instability is an essential   
   read   
   >>>>>>> for this anniversary year. Yes it costs a fortune, that’s because   
   it’s   
   >>>>>>> actually good. He was chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under   
   >>>>>>> Trump term 1, and is a Senior fellow of the Adam Smith Institute. He   
   >>>>>>> knows his stuff.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Anyways, let’s go now to Donald Trump’s tariffs in term two, and a   
   >>>>>>> delicious irony that nobody seems to have noticed...   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> https://mattkilcoyne.substack.com/p/yes-to-taxation-with   
   ut-representation   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>> Finally, something interesting to talk about: The economy and taxes.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> For the record, I have not read the entire five volumes of Adam Smith's   
   >>>>>> Wealth of Nations. That being said, he was definitely mentioned and   
   >>>>>> discussed in my junior college class in Business 101.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> So, I can't remember Smith's exact words, but in a nutshell:   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> "Gov out biz in free mart u prosper."   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> Keep the government out of people's business and let the free market   
   >>>>>> operate for the prosperity of the people and for the moral self-interest   
   >>>>>> it's all good.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> The main idea of the book is to promoted individual  as a driver of   
   >>>>>> prosperity.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Tried that 125 years ago.  It got workers 3rd world wages and   
   >>>>> poisonous products.  The labor unrest took 30 years to finally   
   >>>>> resolve, so labor leaders no longer got hanged or shot, and decent   
   >>>>> wages could be had.  And to get it so that slop off the slaughter   
   >>>>> house floor could not legally be packaged up and sold, among other   
   >>>>> things.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> That is where smitty's ideas lead.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>> So, I'm not sure you didn't make some of that up   
   >>>   
   >>> It is history.  I suggest you learn some at you local university.   
   >>>   
   >>>> , but maybe you've not   
   >>>> thought this through. Everyone wants to be free and prosper and go to   
   >>>> the market - that's a given.   
   >>>   
   >>> Absolutely not a given.  Some of us have other priorities.  People who   
   >>> judge others by themselves would not know that.   
   >>>   
   >> So, I'm not sure you've though this through. Every worker should get   
   >> paid a fair wage for their labor, so they can go to the market.   
   >>   
   >> Otherwise, where is the incentive?   
   >   
   > Ask 3rd world workers who still get 50 cents a day.   
   >   
   Let''s not be hypocritical. Canada is an imperialist country – a highly   
   developed monopoly capitalist state.   
    >   
      
   >>> Some of us have other understandings. from a historical perspective   
   >>> for instance, of how to accomplish prosperity.   
   >>>   
   >> Sorry, Pal. You came to the wrong place.   
   >   
   > Precisely the right place.  There is no sense in my telling people who   
   > agree with me what I think.   
   >   
   Let's just be clear: Canadian and US civil society has generally coupled   
   the economic system of capitalism with the moral system of   
   Judeo-Christian beliefs.   
    >   
      
   >> We Americans believe everyone is equal under the law and free to prosper   
   >> in a free market based on the law of supply and demand. We're not big on   
   >> State supported slave and forced labor camps.   
   >   
   > But wage slavery?  Ubetcha.   
   >   
   It might be better not to mention slavery in this context, since the   
   free market brought the slaves out of slavery. Have you hear   
   d of the Reconstruction Era after the civil war?   
      
   "Radical Republicans" in Congress took control, passing the   
   Reconstruction Acts of 1867.   
    >   
      
   >>>> The question is, which is better for prosperity? Free enterprise with   
   >>>> individual self interest, or the State.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The US does not have a purely free market economy - it is a mixed   
   >>>> economy: government and free enterprise. You might be thinking of a   
   >>>> Royal Kingdom.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> You already know all this from junior college. History proves that   
   >>>> everyone being equally poor does not work.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The key word is PROSPER   
   >>>>   
   >>>> "Go forth and multiply and be fruitful." - God, Genesis (1:28)   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Context: God gave this directive to the first humans, Adam and Eve, as   
   >>>> part of their blessing and mandate to have dominion over the Earth.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Note: As a blessing and command for humanity to populate the Earth, and   
   >>>> was repeated to Noah and his sons after the flood to repopulate the world.   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)