Big Think

Ossian Sweet commented on Ezekiel Emanuel On Judaism Today on December 29, 2008, 1:38 PM

"Every economist has a secret wish to experience the Depression, and here we are..."Lol. That says it all.Like the song said, "Generals and majors always ... seem so unhappy 'less they got a war."That seems to apply analogously to economists.Exceptions, of course, exist: Hayek, Friedman, Sowell.

Ossian Sweet commented on Mary Robinson on African Affairs on December 29, 2008, 1:13 PM

Ms. Robinson dodges the question...To wit: Is aid from Western nations to Africa, and related philanthropic programs, actually counterproductive to the continent's long-term well-being.Evidence does exist that such aid fuels corruption and undermines private enterprise (the sine qua non for sustainable economic development)."No one does so much harm as those who go about doing good."

Ossian Sweet commented on What is your question? on December 29, 2008, 1:00 PM

"They're young and they have no jobs, so that's a human rights issue..."Will we never learn. Make a job a human right and before long everyone will be employed by the government, and we'll have grinding poverty in which people will only pretend to work and governments will only pretend to pay them.Make food a human right and before long you'll have famine and death.Human rights is not about jobs, or food, or equality of result - it's about freedoms (speech, thought, assembly, religion), assurances that individuals are treated fairly and equally under the law, and protections from cruel punishments.