Posted on 02/24/2025 4:47:20 AM PST by MtnClimber
In writer Taylor Sheridan’s Western series, 1923, there is a great scene in the third episode (which I will paraphrase) when the show’s Montana cattle-ranching family rides into town and finds a man selling futuristic wares on the street. What’s that crazy thing? Well, ma’am, it’s a washing machine. And that? A refrigerator for keeping food cold. Oh, my. How do they work? They run on electricity through power lines straight into your home. They are modern conveniences that do your chores for you.
Amid the general euphoria among those seeing such strange inventions for the first time, one of the brash, young cowboys asks discerningly, “So you sell electricity, and then you rent all the things that need electricity?” The salesman reluctantly agrees but insists the new appliances will provide time for fun and leisure. “But that ain’t more leisurely,” the young cowboy replies, “because we gotta work more to pay for all this stuff.” The salesman quickly points out that every home in New York City will soon have all these technologies and more. The cowboy shakes his head in disgust and provides a fine lesson on economic freedom: “No, here’s the thing, we buy all this stuff, we’re not working for ourselves anymore. We’re working for you.”
I wish every American (especially the youngest generations) would watch that scene a hundred times and think clearly about its implications. What does it say about our way of life when most of us pay so many different kinds of recurring bills just to stay in our own homes? Property taxes, municipal fees, state taxes, federal taxes, water, electric, natural gas — all just to get started. Want to communicate with the outside world or enjoy some basic entertainment? Those services will require more subscription fees
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
The road to serfdom...
Well... Air Conditioning is nice.
There is a book “Return to Order”.
…which you have to spend a few hours reading.
Well, you have to expect to pay something for these modern conveniences or you’d never have them. My objection is that you are paying too much for them in terms of value received, Some of them are seriously overcharged for and you get very little in return. Then they expect an increase every year. Time to end some of this. Paychecks, regardless of where that money comes from,are just inadequate at times. That’s not even counting that you are possibly getting less & less for your money. Most people have probably noticed, too, that if you pay more for something (usually increased once a year) that other expenses follow suit with their increases.
so don’t pay it ... go run around and catch a few rabbits every day ... barehanded and barefoot ... and cook them over a campfire ...
Very interesting article. Those that don’t partake in all the modern ‘conveniences’ will envy those that do. Next comes resentment.
The ‘most free’ people out there are homeless. A bird is free but must kill to survive. The different levels of ‘participation’ in this give and take is what freedom is. Still, the resentment will be out there because people and governments cannot mind their own business.
Why is ‘business’ the term used to describe activities having nothing to do with business?
The key in the title is Adam Smith. He of the invisible hand. People don’t know it exists. Some won’t even acknowledge it.
“”””Well... Air Conditioning is nice.””””
So are the electric heating and cooking that unplugged your household from the entire firewood industry and all the backbreaking labor of preparing and handling that purchased firewood during winter and summer, during rainy times and night times, when strong and healthy or sick and weak, the milking machines and lighting to use them are nice also.
Electric washing machines were a new wonder? There were washing machines long before the electric ones came out. They were made by Maytag and were gasoline engine driven. I have an antique Maytag two cylinder engine. My dad had several.
But, back to the point of the article, you still had to buy gasoline to run the things.
We can’t escape paying for electricity in today’s world, and other little goodies like food. But we can become more self reliant, independent and above all learn to separate needs and wants when spending our money.
I’ve lived more free than anyone I’m aware of, a lifestyle for years of drifter and years of living where I could literally stand up and walk out the door with the clothes I was wearing, no money, no identification, stick out a thumb and continue my life in other states and other places, sometimes wearing or carrying a jacket, and sometimes not.
“because we gotta work more to pay for all this stuff.”
Let’s get real, it may be true for gadgets (like TV sets or patio heaters) but it’s terribly false for most things.
A washing machine and a dishwasher would spare me at least 10 hours per month. Given the cost of labour, they pay for themselves in a month. And electricity, compared to labour cost, is ‘too cheap to meter’. Labor cost is also why we scrap everything and repair nothing now.
“”I have an antique Maytag two cylinder engine. My dad had several.”” I have a bunch as well as stationaries up to 8 hp. Also have some 32 volt power plants they used for years before electricity came to the farms.
I think the point is to get the audience thinking about the question, evaluating their own lives, etc...
“Taxing a person’s labor is both immoral and detrimental to a nation’s aggregate wealth.”
I have always wondered how they could tax it myself. After all, it certainly is not a profit but an equal exchange. Of course, property taxes certainly do not make sense, especially when based on value and not public service need.
Hopefully the indoctrinators were not successful.
.
“My objection is that you are paying too much for them in terms of value received, Some of them are seriously overcharged for and you get very little in return.”
Well... Don’t buy them! Nobody is putting a gun to your head!
Now, in the case of taxes...
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