An economics titan, Milton Friedman, passed away today at 94.  If you’re an economist, you know him for monetarism, helping end the Keynesian revolution, and the permanent income (consumption smoothing) hypothesis, each of which is nearly good enough for a Nobel on its own.  If you’re not an economist, you ought to know him for his work rescuing the US economy from 70s stagflation, changing conventional wisdom on the cause of the Great Depression, creating the Earned Income Tax Credit (an economically-respectable anti-poverty tool), promoting school vouchers, helping Chile’s economy become the strongest in S America and helping to end the draft in America.

I didn’t realize until today, however, that Uncle Milton (as he is called by economists) began his famous book Capitalism and Freedom as follows:  Kennedy said that we ought not ask what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country.  Friedman notes that neither the first nor the second clause represents what it means to be a citizen in a free country: in the first, we are the ward of the state, and in the second, we are its servant.  I’ve long hated that Kennedy quote (as I’ve mentioned here on this site); we ought ask that government perform competently the justifiable functions of government and otherwise leave free citizens alone to pursue their dreams.

So I didn’t write about the election before it happens, but I’m quite happy with the result. I’m not a democrat; I’ve been a registered Independent since I turned 18, and I would be surprised if I ever affiliated with a party. George Washington was famously wary of parties and their scheming, and if it’s good enough for the old-school George W, it’s good enough for me. In every election until this one, I’ve voted for the man and not the party, and my votes have gone to Dems, Republicans and third parties all. This election, you would have to be nuts to have voted for the Republicans.

It’s not a matter of ideology; it’s a matter of ethics and competence. *Five* members of Congress (all Republican) had to resign in ethical scandals. The administration, aided by the Congress, has essentially committed war crimes and sullied America’s good name around the world. Lobbyist influence has never been higher, and it’s the result of a direct project of Republican leaders (called the K Street Project). This couldn’t be allowed to continue.

One day, there’ll be a party for us “leave us alone in social and economic matters but don’t go batshit crazy about it like the Libertarian party” types. We’ll see. I’m not waiting with bated breath.

On a nonpolitical note, we’re getting near the end of the college football season and the ridiculous arguments that “Well, Team A is bad because they lost to Team B, who lost to Team C, who is terrible!” I like to check to see where this argument, continued, can take us. Right now, either USC, Arkansas or Florida is likely to play for the national championship. Any of those three teams can be shown to be worse than 4-7 Division II Augustana College (go Augies!) by the above logic. Here’s the chain (where A->B means A lost to B): Florida -> Auburn -> Arkansas -> USC -> Or State -> UCLA -> Washington -> Stanford -> Navy -> Tulsa -> Rice -> Tulane -> UTEP -> New Mexico -> Portland State -> Montana State -> Ewash -> C.Wash -> MSU-Mankato -> Augustana College.

And yeah, I really do need more to do at work.

Let’s tie it all together, though: one part politics, one part college ball. My favorite college “symbol” (not mascot!) is Illinois’ Chief Illiniwek, with his fancy dance at halftime during big games while the “Three-in-One” anthem plays. You can grab a video of the Chief at Youtube, of course.  Now it’s, let’s say, skirting the line of being racist, but there’s got to be a way to be PC and still keep an 80 year old tradition, isn’t there?  Call him Illiniwek, take away the feathers and keep the dance?