3-9-13 Hodgepodge

McArdle on the Chavez Legacy

I didn't find the opening of Megan McArdle's article on Hugo Chavez's legacy to Venezuela particularly promising, but I read on anyway. I found the piece to be a good catalogue of the ways Chavez harmed Venezuela, a sort of primer for people who need to hear something other than the standard leftist line, and smears against his detractors. She includes a particularly good excerpt from another piece about how Chavez rigged elections without rigging them. Read the whole thing.

Weekend Reading

"Saying what you feel before employing rational thought is like expecting to buy something for nothing." -- Michael Hurd, in "Think Before You Speak", in The Delaware Wave

"Do you really want to be in the good graces of somebody who feels that your time and property just don't matter all that much?" -- Michael Hurd, in "Your Time is Your Property", in The Delaware Coast Press

"Breaking bad laws to build a better life is not dishonorable; it is admirable, provided breaking the law involves no use of force" -- Harry Binswanger, in "Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants is not Enough, They Deserve an Apology", in Forbes

"If we truly want to encourage innovation in the beer market, we ought to pursue ways to liberate small brewers and wholesalers rather than thwart the growth of larger breweries." -- Michelle Minton, in "Beer Market Needs Liberty, not Lawsuits" at The Daily Caller

My Two Cents

The Binswanger piece is the best demolition of the whole notion of "securing our borders" as an excuse for making bad laws I have ever seen.

The "Near Beer" Monopoly

This beer snob was amused by an unintentional pun in the Minton piece. Near beer monopoly -- or "near beer" monopoly? (Think in terms of an old Monty Python joke about American beer.) When I was young, American lager was just about the only game in town in terms of beer. I couldn't see the point in drinking it, so I wasn't a beer drinker. And then I spent a semester in Europe and had, as I put it then, "the real thing". Once I became aware of the growing presence of imports and craft brews, I became a beer customer.

--CAV