Copybook Headings Outbreak

I've noticed several references to Kipling's 'The Gods of the Copybook Headings' recently.  Here is the actual poem, by Rudyard Kipling:

The Gods of the Copybook Headings

 
 The Gods of the Copybook Headings: Haven't We Learned Our Lesson Yet? - CrownThomas

The point of this poem is that if we decouple ourselves from common sense & reality, we will ultimately pay for it in the end. And each time, as we begin to recover from our mistakes, the "enlightened" ones (who led us down the wrong path in the first place) always pop back into the picture. They once again tell us that 2 + 2 = 5, and we can have prosperity for everyone without having to work for it, thus leading us down the road and into our next crisis.

Hopefully someday we'll learn our lesson.

Instapundit


A God of the Copybook Headings  - Bret Stephens

In today's economy, the hard truth is that we can't spend, consume, manipulate and inflate our way to general prosperity—as opposed merely to the enrichment of Democratic Party interest groups. This was the dominant economic model of the 1970s, with results that were once well known. "The Great Money Binge" makes short work of the theory:

"Demand-side economics holds that the economy derives its momentum from consumption, and it is of little moment if that consumption is financed by credit," he writes. "But if that were true, everyone could merrily use his credit card to supply his wants and never have to work. Maybe there's a logical flaw there somewhere."

The great strength of Mr. Melloan's book is to show, in exacting detail, not only how we came to our current crisis—thank you, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Alan Greenspan and Tom DeLay—but where that logical flaw is destined to take us again.

The alternative is supply-side economics, which, for all the invective heaped upon it, boils down to the inescapable fact that "consumption must be paid for with production"—that if you don't work (i.e., produce) you die (i.e., can't consume). The obviousness of this is so manifest that the real wonder is how it has escaped the grasp of otherwise intellectually competent people.

California Exodus

Joel Kotkin: The Great California Exodus  - Allysia Finley

Now, however, the Golden State's fastest-growing entity is government and its biggest product is red tape. The first thing that comes to many American minds when you mention California isn't Hollywood or tanned girls on a beach, but Greece. Many progressives in California take that as a compliment since Greeks are ostensibly happier. But as Mr. Kotkin notes, Californians are increasingly pursuing happiness elsewhere.

Nearly four million more people have left the Golden State in the last two decades than have come from other states. This is a sharp reversal from the 1980s, when 100,000 more Americans were settling in California each year than were leaving. According to Mr. Kotkin, most of those leaving are between the ages of 5 and 14 or 34 to 45. In other words, young families.

As California Collapses, Obama Follows Its Lead - Joel Kotkin

Obama’s push to nationalize many of California’s economy-stifling green policies has been slowed down, first by the Republican resurgence in 2010 and then by his reelection considerations. But California’s politicians, living in what’s become essentially a one-party state, have doubled down on green orthodoxy. As the president at least tries to cover his flank by claiming to support an “all-in” energy policy, California has simply refused to exploit much of its massive oil and gas resources.

Does this matter? Well, Texas has created 200,000 oil and gas jobs over the past decade; California has barely added 20,000. The state’s remaining energy producers have been slowing down as the regulatory environment becomes ever more hostile even as producers elsewhere, including in rustbelt states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, ramp up. The oil and gas jobs the Golden State political class shuns pay around $100,000 a year on average.

Instead, California has forged ahead with ever-more extreme renewable energy mandates that have resulted in energy costs roughly 50 percent above the national average and expected to rise substantially from there. This tends to drive out manufacturing and other largely blue-collar energy users.

Over the past decade the Golden State has grown its middle-skilled jobs (those that require two years or more of post-secondary education) by a mere 2 percent compared to a 5.3 percent increase nationwide, and almost 15 percent in Texas. Even in the science-technology-engineering and mathematics field, where California has long been a national leader, the state has lost its edge, growing just 1.7 percent over the past 10 years compared to 5.4 percent nationally and 14 percent in Texas.

Some More Equal Than Others

 In Praise of Chumps - Richard Fernandez

The thing about communism, at least to the uninitiated, is that it appears to be identical in all respects to a hereditary aristocracy. If one didn’t know better, it would seem that the more communist a country, such as North Korea, the more it resembles a monarchy. In China, the children of the Politburo members are actually called princesses and princes, and they gad about in a style that makes the current European royalty look like a bunch of low-rent grifters.

How admirable then, that intellectuals like Cornel West, Van Jones, and Bill Ayers can go around and seriously sell socialism and Marxism in the name of “equality” and “egalitarianism”. You know, because they are one with the Common Man. Surely their superior educations must provide a true insight into the nature of Marxist societies, because to the uninitiated the whole thing looks like a scam to trick people into waging “revolution” in which a few odd million will be horribly killed to create a worker’s paradise and green society. All the resulting outcomes we actually examine reveal only societies ruled by an aristocracy no different from — nay, more lavish than — the Court of the Sun King at Versailles. Versailles didn’t even have indoor plumbing.

Dog Humor

Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is probably wishing they hadn't started the whole "Your candidate is cruel to dogs" offensive. The "Dog-eatin' President" response just keeps getting bigger every day.

President Obama: “Dog Eater,” the Music Video

If I had a dog ...

Bam Bites Dog - James Taranto

One time Barack Obama went to an Indian restaurant and ordered the lassi. Was he ever disappointed when the waiter brought him a yogurt drink!

Be sure to pick up some official Barack Obama merchandise for your pet/dinner - Jim Treacher

HEH - Glenn Reynolds

Hitler Finds Out Obama Ate His Dog - John Hinderaker

Dogs Against Romney Defends Obama Over Dog Consumption Revelations - James Crugnale

Conservative Twitter-sphere Goes Wild After Daily Caller Reveals Obama Consumed Dog As A Child - Noah Rothman

Dog-gate - Glenn Reynolds

Obama Bites Dog - Jim Treacher

Engineering Careers

It's time to give college a rethink - Ali Velsh

One word: Engineering

Whether you, your child, or both are financing college, to earn a decent return on that investment your student needs to base academic choices at least in part on employment trends. Universities, which have an interest in maintaining the status quo, aren't leveling with families about which courses of study make the most financial sense. "We know more about this than we ever tell young people," says Carnevale.

The plain truth is that if your child has the aptitude, he should pursue an engineering degree or study math and science. End of discussion.

Those majors can yield starting salaries of $50,000 and above. Accountants, actuaries, software developers, pharmacists, and nurses are also in high demand and highly compensated.