September 8, 2005 by s.z.

Hurricane Victims Are Like Hitler, and Other Interesting Facts Here's Steve Cramton, the chief counsel for the American Family Association's "Center for Policy & Law," with a little number called "The Dark Side of Man" -- in it, he will explain how the "anarchy" in New Orleans is just proof of man's depraved nature. The epic tragedy of the New Orleans disaster grows sadder every day. [,,,] Lest anyone respond that the looting is justified because the looters are simply trying to feed their families, I have two responses. First, stealing is wrong under any circumstances. You should let your family starve before you take that soggy loaf of bread from the flooded Piggly-Wiggly.  It's what Jesus wants.  He also said that you should let your ox drown intead of pulling it out of the flood waters on the Sabbath.  He's really strict that way. Second, food is not the primary item being stolen. As one newspaper from Biloxi, Mississippi, reported, in a recent break-in at a convenience store, cigarettes, cigars and beer were taken, but the food was not touched. I'm sure this story of one break-in tells us all we need to know about the looters. One of the most often stolen items is guns. Sure, maybe they think they need guns to protect their families, but like Steve said earlier, stealing is wrong under any circumstances.   The souls of those who have embraced crime in New Orleans are of the same basic essence as the souls of Josef Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer ... and you and me. That's right; we are no different from the worst criminal when it comes to the capacity of our hearts to do evil. Of course, we don't actually steal cigarettes and soggy bread, so we are better than Stalin, Hitler, Dahmer, and the looters -- but the fact is, people are basically scum, and so we shouldn't bother trying to educate them or help them economically.  The heart of man is desperately wicked, Scripture informs us. And the same verse explains simply and without fanfare why we are so quick to excuse our own behavior and think so well of ourselves -- our hearts are deceitful above all things. Desperately wicked, and deceitful above all things. Perhaps this is why we so readily accepted the oft-heard plea to increase funding for education in order to alleviate poverty, which in turn would make our citizenry a better, more moral people. We lie to ourselves, and we like it. And as the looting has proven, the people of New Orleans are horrible people, and we have wasted our money trying to help them.  The only thing that can help them is religion, and if they won't accept it, then tough for them! Now, time for a mention about how society is going to hell in a hand-basket ... Perhaps that is also why we have so easily accepted the so-called separation of church and state, explicit instruction on sex education, evolution, and moral relativism, all of which are echoed on the latest sit-coms and reality TV shows. We tell ourselves it is the law, or that it is only entertainment, or that we are too busy to spend hours pouring over every textbook our children bring home. How much harm can it do, anyway? These developments have no doubt contributed much to the blossoming of full-blown anarchy on the streets of New Orleans. Yes, sex education and "Friends" are no doubt responsible for much of the current trouble.  So, we should be blaming Planned Parenthood and "Desperate Housewives" for this mess, not FEMA or President Bush. But they did not directly cause the problem. The problem is a lack of inner control, control over our souls. And we must all share the guilt. Our society has largely disavowed moral laws. The firestorm surrounding the posting of the Ten Commandments in public bears ample witness of this fact. So, it was the lack of Ten Commandments monuments that are directly responsible for the problem!  Blame activist judges for the hurricane! We must be careful not to belittle the extraordinary physical suffering of so many at this dire time. But as we strive to meet the physical needs of these hurting survivors of Katrina, let us be diligent to minister to the needs of their souls as well. It can make a difference in eternity. Although since most of them are going to hell anyway, it won't do much good.  You should probably use your time and energy fighting the ACLU instead of helping these survivors, because that's what matter most in enternity. 3:27:45 AM

Price Gougers: Better Than Jesus Okay, maybe it was mean of me to give D. Sidhe a photo of Ann Coulter as a birthday present.  So, instead I offer her this John Stossel column: "In praise of price gouging."  (Because Stossel is the git that keeps on giving.)  I hope she doesn't already have it. Consider this scenario: You are thirsty -- worried that your baby is going to become dehydrated. You find a store that's open, and the storeowner thinks it's immoral to take advantage of your distress, so he won't charge you a dime more than he charged last week. But you can't buy water from him. It's sold out. You continue on your quest, and finally find that dreaded monster, the price gouger. He offers a bottle of water that cost $1 last week at an "outrageous" price -- say $20. You pay it to survive the disaster. You resent the price gouger. But if he hadn't demanded $20, he'd have been out of water. It was the price gouger's "exploitation" that saved your child. Sure, the other, more principled store owner might have saved the lives of other kids who needed water, but whose parents couldn't afford $20 a bottle.  However, this scenario is about YOU, the upper-middle-class person around whom the world revolves.  So, the price gouger was actually serving you, by pricing his good out of reach of the hoi polloi, so that when YOU needed water, it would be there for you.   What a great service! It saved her because people look out for their own interests. Before you got to the water seller, other people did. At $1 a bottle, they stocked up. At $20 a bottle, they bought more cautiously. By charging $20, the price gouger makes sure his water goes to those who really need it. And by definition, people who have enough money to spend $20 for a bottle of water really need it, and people who can spend only $1a bottle don't. The people the softheaded politicians think are cruelest are doing the most to help. Assuming the demand for bottled water was going to go up, they bought a lot of it, planning to resell it at a steep profit. If they hadn't done that, that water would not have been available for the people who need it the most. We should give those people medals for their service, because price gougers are the truest American heroes. Oh, and Anntichrist S. Coulter, you heard Mr. Stossel: it's price gougers who are doing the most to help.  So, I suggest you start charging the people in the shelters for those supplies you are passing out.  Buy baby formula for $3 a bottle, and charge $30 for it -- that way you'll get it to those who need it the most: rich babies! Might the water have been provided by volunteers? Certainly some people help others out of benevolence. But we can't count on benevolence. As Adam Smith wrote, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."  Well, we certainly can't count on benevolence from anybody who subscribes to Stossel's philosophy.  So, instead of hoping for some compassion (or simple decency) from our fellow man, we should place our faith in the "Invisible Price Gouging Hand" that magically puts $20 bottle water on the shelves.  Yes, the "Invisible Price Gouging Hand" ensures that people like Stossel never have to be thirsty, not even in the botched aftermath of a major disaster. Any number of services -- roofing, for example, carpentry, or tree removal -- are in overwhelming demand after a disaster. When the time comes to rebuild New Orleans, it's safe to predict a shortage of local carpenters: The city's own population of carpenters won't be enough. [...] Any tradesman who treks to a disaster area must get higher pay than he would get in his hometown, or he won't do the trek. Limit him to what his New Orleans colleagues charged before the storm, and even a would-be hero may say, "the heck with it." Because everybody, including would-be heroes, are only motivated by money.  Greed is backbone of America.  Without license to charge exorbitant prices to folks in need, nothing would ever get done. If he charges enough to justify his venture, he's likely to be condemned morally or legally by the very people he's trying to help. But they just don't understand basic economics. The fools!  They are so ignorant that they expect NOT to be taken advantage of in their time of need.  But thank heavens that the heroic price-gouger has Stossel to explain things to his victims benefactees -- maybe he can include a condensed version of this column on the back of his contracts. It's the price "gougers" who bring the water, ship the gasoline, fix the roof, and rebuild the cities. The price "gougers" save lives. All hail the price gouger!  Bow down before him!  Worship the price gouger at the church of your choice.  P.S.  The last time we read this column, it was called "Price gouging," and it was written by Walter E. Williams.  I guess it goes to show you that Stossel not only recycles his own work, he recycles other people's too. 2:24:24 AM