Economics 101

“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.”
John Maynard Keynes
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money

“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”
F A Hayek
The Fatal Conceit


Update; March 3 2010.

Va Classical Liberal at the The Daily Kos provides the background of Keynes and Hayek’s thinking in this smackdown.

HT: Little Miss Attila

Roe vs. Wade - Choice

January 22 1973, the Supreme Court decided the case of Roe v Wade -which will in time join Dred Scott, Plessey v Fergusson, Korematsu v. United States in infamy - allowing people to be “deprived of Life … with out due process of law” as guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment in favor of a unstated right to privacy inferred from a tortured piece of illogic.

Screen shot from UTube Video at Rock the Facts 2009 March for Life

If the equivalent of an abortion was done to a convicted criminal - it would violate the Eight Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishments.”



But now we are told that we have choice!

But then we always had choices.



What’s yours?

I Have A Dream

I HAVE A DREAM
By Dr. Martin L. King Jr.
[Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963]

When we lose his dream we are lost!




I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

Book Review: The Four Witnesses

“It’s ALL Constantine’s fault!” The primitive Church of the first Christians was lost with the Donation of Constantine in 313 AD. -- So say many critics offering mutually exclusive and often improbable views of the early Church. But just what do we know about the early Church?



Book Review: Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words

Rod Bennett


Ignatius Press, 2002



“The early Church is no mystery.” Thus Rod Bennett begins his narrative through the first two hundred years of Church History.

The early Church is one of the most assessable parts of ancient history and Roman society. Recorded in the Anti and Post Nicene Fathers and a number of other works which are on line and even before the internet, the essential writings were available in reasonably priced books.

Bennet follows the story with the lives and writings of Four Witnesses, Clement of Rome, Ignatius 0f Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaus of of Lyon. woven into a easy to follow narrative. He tells the story of the Church discovering, once the Apostles had died; the heritage they left, how the Church was to exist as hostile society, worship, and deal with challenges inside and out. All four were in churches that faced major persecutions. Two of his witnesses were martyred and the other two may have been. The threat of a persecution was always with them. But it is also of people who grew in the love and service of the Lord. The issues they faced were remarkably similar to today’s issues as are proposed solutions.



When I first read the Fathers of the Church I found them reinforcing what I had learned about the Catholic faith from more modern sources. Bennet had a rather different experience. As an Evangelical he had been raised with a different understanding of Church History but also with the Evangical idea that the early Church should be the model for the modern Church. When he discovered the Church fathers he dug in to them so he could learn about the early Church and Jesus from those who were much closer to him in time. As he read he discovered that the Early Church was not modern Evangelicalism it was Catholic. Since his Witnesses were writing a hundred to two hundred years before Constantine the “blame it on Constantine” line did not work. His story of working through this is a compelling story in itself.

This book is intended for those just learning about the early Church, but can hold the interest of those well read on the subject. He provides a good introduction of the Early Church, it’s faith, and also a glimpse of the Roman Empire not normally seen in the usual Roman histories. And no Constantine.


Also:
Frank Capra: It‘s a Wonderful Life Bennett’s review of the work of Frank Capra.

Related:
Perpetua and Felicity - Martyrs
They were martyred in Carthage shortly after this period

The Feast of Epiphany

The visit of the Magi to Jesus and His family marks the manifestation (Epiphany) of the coming of the Messiah to the whole world.



HT The Anchoress





Reposted from 2004.



Follow the Star


Little known details about the visit of the three wise men seeking the birth of Jesus.


Being wise men they knew this was to important of an event not bring their wives, so they gladly hired the extra camels and tents so their wives and families could come.

Being wise men they went on the Star Web and got Astrology Positioning System (APS) coordinates and instructions to “follow the star”

Being wise men they always stopped and got directions when their wives suggested.
Also being wise men they realized the directions were mostly useless; checked the APS coordinates and “followed the star”.

They and their wives were truly overjoyed at visiting their Savior and His family.

The whole trip was a great success except for stopping to ask directions in Jerusalem. That was a bummer.

The moral: Wise men and women still seek Him.

Happy New Years

January First: The Solemnity of the Mother of God.






From “Sister Act”. Whoopi is great, to bad she didn’t take the lyrics to heart.

Related:
Mary Did You Know