Knowing Facts Good or Bad?
"Whether one is a conservative or a radical, a protectionist or a free market, a Cosmo-politian or a nationalist, a churchman or a heathen it is useful to know the causes and consequences of economic phenomena." George Stigler in Basic Economics Pg 1
"People are more concerned about being precisely, factually, and semantically correct than about being morally right." -AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)
Let's examine both of these undergirding principles. The shorthand for these two are GS- Goerge Stigler while Alexandria Occasion Cortez is going to be-AOC. If someone comes spewing that something is a good idea or a great product but tells you that they do not want to have to prove their claim, one of two things are happening:
1. They think that you will go along with it without an explanation or that you cannot understand the value they would propose.
2. They are bluffing above the true value of what they are trying to sell you.
In short, AOC either thinks you are too dull to see the value, or there is no real value, and she just wants you to ignorantly take her word for it, while GS (George Stigler) thinks it's good for all kinds of people from all walks of life to be informed about how the world works. The facts above about economics explain much about the world.
They explain:
I. The role of government in regulating an economy.
2 The role of the government in not managing a currency or how they manage a given currency.
3. It studies how a company will be successful or other companies.
4. It studies what the price of all things should be or could be, like a house or a car.
So, economics studies really 3 out of 4 of what I would like to call our categories of liberties. The economies themselves are an amoral scientific system that simulates the future by studying the results of the past. It cannot give you morality in and of itself. That is the role of theology, religion, and philosophy. Whatever economic decision you make affects the level or percentage of freedom or ability you have to do anything. AOC says do not worry about all this history of what made a country fail or succeed in the past so that you might simulate the most ideal, aka free future, where you get to choose your own expression of the pursuit of happiness, as Thomas Jefferson put it. She wants you to join her cult. Yes, I said it, a cult of feelings.
The only reason anyone would disregard facts is because they do not have any. GS says that all people need facts so that they will not be taken captive by the sway of subjective moral sentiment. A recently deceased economist, Walter Williams, once said in an interview that to get truly compassionate public policy, we must begin with dispassionate analysis. Within the Christian church, we can see this Eisegesis vs. Exegesis. Eisegesis assumes a moral stance and then goes to the Bible to try and prove what they already believe. While Exegesis is when you go to the Bible with an open mind, aka dispassionate analysis, seeking the truth of the text and let that inform your morality instead of forcing your anti factual morality on to the text.
Examples in the world where facts matter:
1. If the price the gas pump is charging you is more than the state amount and you tell them it is charging you $4 a gallon instead of $3. If the gas attendant blew you off and said quit giving me all those facts, you should be grateful to even have gas, you would be rightly upset.
2. If you ordered something online, and it never shows up, but they still charge you. If you called Amazon Customer Service, and they told you that the fact you did not get what you ordered is none of their concern and they can't be bothered with such facts since that would cause them to lose money, you would be rightfully mad.
3. If you expected to get a tax return of $5k, and you only go $2k because the government reimbursed you too little, and when you called them, they said, do not worry, your $3k went to a great use; it fed the poor and took care of the sick and old, aka the money was used for righteous or moral purposes. You would rightly be mad because the government owed you that money, and it does not have the right to steal your money even if it was actually used for a moral cause of helping the less fortunate.
The fact is that doing the evil of stealing your money to do the moral act of helping the poor is immoral still. AOC cannot be bothered by “fools” (as she sees it) and truths like these because she has a cult of reason to be enforced on you. Facts are unnecessary.
Application
So, the question becomes so what? Why does all this matter? Those who do not have the facts nor the truth of the objective science of economics on their side find your constant quest for knowledge and wisdom through actually learning and discerning from our historical blunders a nuisance that they do not have an answer for. Their only hope is that they can stand up taller than you and look down on you. Governments only thrive when the public is:
1. Complacent/Apathetic
2. Unarmed
3. Ignorant
If the information of the British Empire being a tyrant for taxing the people that they represented had not gotten out, we would still be at war with British rule and would be subject to having our money taken, having no say in how it would be spent. Just having a gun and showing how to use it is the means to defend yourself against an abusive and tyrannical government physically. So being equipped with the facts is how you are empowered to push back against the government in your mind. The American Revolution started with people working, then reading and taking to heart what they had been exposed to way before they ever acted Out in defiance of the British government physically. The sad thing is no matter how armed a person is, if the people are unaware of the need to use guns, they will be content to leave their gun hanging above or below their bed.
I stand with GS and say He was right, it is good for all kinds of people to know about economics because whether you understand it or not, you will be subjected to it. Inflation is the best proof of that (more on that later) I want to end with two quotes that I think stand against the AOC’s mindless condescending bigoted propaganda.
AOC wants to say that feelings are more important than the facts, but Ben Shapiro responds to the AOC by saying:
"Facts do not care about your feelings.'' In other words, facts inform morals (feelings), not truth is subject to feelings (morals). Facts are how we know something is there. I know that stealing is wrong because personal property rights are built on the idea of ownership, especially self-ownership. With that, there is no way to know if people should have no personal belongings, but instead share it with the community, or whether people should be able to accumulate hundreds of billions of dollars.
If you combine Goerge Stigler’s quote on the value of all kinds of people to learn about Economics and Former Liberty lover Senator Ron Paul’s quote from his book END THE Fed, you get a rallying cry that should inspire us Americans to learn the truth that the big government left wants us to remain ignorant of so they can control us.
When he said.
"The American people deserve to know!''
End the Fed pg RZ to that I say Amen! Let the Truth Set us free.
Tim is a Christian author. His worldview that informs his writing is Calvinist, Baptist, and Libertarian. His main series is his Christian picture book series, “About God for Kids”, where he discusses the attributes of God in a way kids can digest. He also wrote a Christian Romance novel, libertarian book for beginners, and Christian coloring books. He graduated with a Bachelor’s in Biblical Studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
You can find his works at his amazon author page,
https://amazon.com/author/timbankes
There is a ton of free books at his author page. Also If you are into Christian Fiction, he has made his first book in his Futuristic Christian Fiction series free, Her Dying Wish
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