COACH WEST WILL BE MISSED

We are deeply saddened at the loss of Ray West, Okarche High School basketball coach, last week.

We don’t think we have known anyone more passionate about his job (calling) than Ray was. If he wasn’t coaching basketball, he was thinking and talking (or writing) about it.

He was the same person day after day.

He called and wrote college basketball coaches to discuss plays and theories and they called him back.

He was preparing for his 46th year of coaching.

He was an honorable man in all ways – the kind of person you felt comfortable about being in charge of your kids.

Rest in peace.

'LEARNING FROM LUDWIG'

Bob Bomhoff of Okarche recently dropped off an item from the Summer 2019 edition of Range Magazine entitled “Learning From Ludwig,” written by one Vess Quinlan, who described himself as a “recovering political junkie.”

The item is based on the writings of Ludwig von Mises, an Austrian School economist who emigrated to the United States in 1940 and in over two decades of teaching inspired an emerging Austrian School in the U.S.

An illustration inside Quinlan’s column shows a photograph of von Mises and the cover of his book, “Socialism, an Economic and Sociological Analysis.”

A caption under his picture reads: “The dead mouse in the socialist stew is that the political entrepreneur is usually as greedy for power and control as the capitalist is for profit.”

The current wave of excitement by some members of Congress for a socialist system demonstrates von Mises’ philosophy perfectly.

We don’t know if the current crop of socialist cheerleaders are convinced of their rightness or are simply parroting drivel they heard in a college class taught by a latter-day hippie who is filled with hatred for the United States and its system of economics and government.

So many of the young people today have grown up in a land of plenty and peace and take it for granted (mistakenly) that it’s the same everywhere else in the world.

Quinlan begins his discourse this way:

“Ludwig von Mises published “Liberalism” in 1927. In it, he considers classic liberalism, which is the exact opposite of what we call liberal thought these days. Liberals tend to believe in and support socialism as a more humane form of government.”

He points out that opponents of classical liberalism have managed to turn the definition upside down and backwards, adding:

“If one were to mount a soapbox in the public square and espouse classic, liberal philosophy of maximum individual freedom, capitalism and a constitutional government limited to doing only those things that individuals cannot do for themselves, some ignoramus would try and pin a little mustache on his (your) upper lip and call you a right-wing Nazi. Your rude detractor might not know that Hitler and his Third Reich were socialists believing that a select group and a powerful government could and should decide what is best for society.”

He also points out that turning the meaning of words turned inside out is a favorite tool for socialists, pointing out that today’s socialists have created the illusion that their construction of the word liberal means open-minded, generous, tolerant and well-meaning ” while conservative equals narrow-minded, stubborn, intolerant, selfish and backward looking.

After several paragraphs explaining the socialism is the exact opposite of what its proponents claim, he cites the millions of people who have fled socialist countries to capitalist countries, including the recent example of Venezuela.

He calls the socialists’ allegation that the Nordic countries are socialist as false.

Rather, he said they are capitalist countries with extensive safety nets.

He quotes Lars Rasmussen, Danish computer scientist, who said:

“I know that some people in the U.S. associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism. ... Therefore, I would like to make one thing clear. Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy ... The Nordic model is an expanded welfare state which provides a high level of security to its citizens, but it is also a successful market economy with much freedom to pursue your dreams and live your life as you wish.”

Quinlan also wrote:

“History and common sense tell us that when the citizens of a country forget or are never taught where money comes from and begin to make heroes of coupon clippers and manipulators instead of producers, the country is left with an elite ruling class made up of politicians and fellow travelers. Because of a dearth of wealth production, the middle class adapts to poverty, migrates or perishes.”

The column reminds us of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (AOC’s) push for as socialist program called a Green New Deal. You have no doubt read that AOC touts the “Green New Deal” as a means of saving the planet from human desecration.

This is what AOC’s former chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti said about it in a public comment:

“The interesting thing about the Green New Deal is it wasn’t originally a climate thing at all.” … Because we really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing.”

Sensible people have always known that the Green New Deal was a back-handed maneuver intended to sell individuals worried about the end of the world in 12 years as AOC predicted on a socialist system that would cost American people trillions of dollars in increased living costs if they could exist at all and drown the nation in debt.

The Washington Examiner speculated that Chakrabarti’s revelation killed the Green New Deal.

It will be interesting to see if AOC can win re-election without the services of the techie hothead, Chakrabarti. He was a leader at Justice Democrats, a left-wing organization that recruited her to run in first place, ran her campaign and dominated her Washington office.

Many members of Congress, including Democrats who have been stung by Chakrabarti-instigated humiliating attacks, hope she won’t.