Blog Heap of Links for the day 6 February 2013

The Chastity League in Orwell's 1984.

In 1948 the real commies were all about free-love, in a world where that was frowned upon. In 1984 the book, the commies were about repressed chastity, in a world where everyone was hard up. Orwell did this on purpose.

It doesn't matter to the State whether or not sex or chastity is good for the individual or for the community, it matters to the State that IT gets to make personal decisions for the individual on every intimate choice.

The same for recycling garbage, or carpooling, or volunteering at inner city middle schools, or pediatricians handing out gun safety brochures. It doesn't matter to the Machine whether or not any of those choices are effective, it only matters that they made the decision for you.

The massive invasive tax code and welfare system exist in their current form, instead of a guaranteed minimum income system, so that the State can continue to micromanage every transaction of every person in North America.

Leftism is a mental disorder, not an actual political ideology.

Everything the left does has untoward and unwarranted results, often of the catastrophic variety. Gun control = more gun violence. Rent control = higher rents. The "war on poverty" = no change or even increases in poverty rates. "Affirmative action" = no change or even declines in minority participation rates. "Living wages" = less employment. Emissions caps = higher utilities bills and no real change in pollutant levels. Higher minimum wages = lower employment. Etc.

But you can't even discuss these matters with leftists. They're lost in space. Loco in the membrane.