Tuesday, May 28, 2024
A letter to the intellectuals about Israel and Gaza
This is the single best statement I've read on the conflict that has been forced on Israel. An Israeli author, Dina Rubina, was invited to participate in an online discussion of her books. But having accepted the invitation, she then found herself being asked to explain her position on the conflict.
She did, and it is magnificent.
The critics of Israel are vile. The critics of Israel's just war to destroy Hamas are vile. And Ms. Rubina has given them the perfect response.
Thursday, May 09, 2024
Unforeseen Contingencies is not dead, we're just dormant.
The entire staff here at UC has been extremely busy, too busy to post until now, but we have a bit of a breather and will get in a few words. Let's do in outline form for conciseness, since there's so much that has gone on and so much to say.
1. Our predictions for 2024 look very good so far. Mr. Trump is the obvious Republican candidate and the Democrats are wedded to Mr. Brandon Biden. And Mr. Trump is well out in front in the polls, which historically have grossly underestimated his support.
2. Israel should pound Hamas to smithereens. The Israelis need to kill the entire leadership of Hamas, and as many of their soldiers as they can. In the years running up to World War II, the two most warlike peoples in the world were the Germans and the Japanese. After WWII these became the most pacifistic people in the world. This benefitted them, as they became among the wealthiest people in the world with particularly functional societies. I wish this success for the so-called palestinians... which means they must be utterly crushed and their dreams of conquest destroyed. Then, and only then, will they be able to rise to a hopeful future.
3. The next U.S. president, who will not be Joe Brandon Biden, must start fixing America, first of all by wiping out the administrative state. It must be wiped out. The Section F strategy, which allows a President to convert as much as half of the bureaucracy to appointed positions, from which they could be immediately fired, would be a great start. So too would be a reconsideration of the Chevron doctrine, the SCOTUS case that in essence defaults to "whatever the bureaucracy says, goes." And it appears Chevron will be reversed before the election, so POTUS piling on with Section F is certainly called for. The administrative state is dictatorial and works for its own power. It must be destroyed.
4. A second fix for the next president is crushing the communists who have taken over education in America. Education is crucial, as it prepares the next generation that will run the world. They must understand that free people, engaged in free enterprise and free trade, are necessary for a successful society, but also an end in themselves. So to further this, the next president must insist that every university and college receiving federal funds obey the Constitution and federal law.* This means removing all pro-Hamas groups, encampments, administrators, professors, and students, and doing the same with marxists, including cultural marxists. All such promotion of violence and exterminationist doctrines violate the inalienable rights the Constitution is established to protect. The university system must be defunded. In addition, the federal government must zealously defend the rights of students and faculty who are Jewish, or libertarian, or conservative, and anyone else who is outside the academic-industrial-complex lockstep.
5. May the Iranians soon be liberated from the mullahs. Dead mullahs and free Iranians would be a hopeful combination.
And after that we can start thinking about the Chinese and Russians. They need to be freed, too.
Happy Hayek's birthday!
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*The irony is that there appears to be only one college not receiving federal funds, and it is the only one meeting the standard recipients should meet.
