The Manifesto

With the upcoming elections, here at the Simsisms institute for rational thought it might be prudent to declare our stance on the issues. Generally, here at the institute, we have a low tolerance for the bull that infects today's political discourse. We especially roll our eyes any time someone thinks government control will solve a problem, or that outlawing something will make it unavailable.

Issue 1

Immigration

What you should think: You shouldn't care.

You cannot stop immigration. Period. If people are already willing to risk their lives to come to this country, what makes anyone think there is a way to stop them from coming. If you build a wall, it will not stop immigration. Mexico may be poor, but they still have ladders. If you make guard towers ever 100 feet and deploy the entire army on the border to keep people out, immigrants will hop on boats. If you deploy the Navy to blockade all ports and search every incoming ship then immigrants will start forging documents. You cannot keep them out. What's more, why would you want to? What do they do that is so bad? Pay taxes and then return to Mexico before they can draw any benefits? Help save social security? They don't steal jobs from "Americans" because they generally do low wage work that "Americans" would never do. They pay for services and their presence creates jobs. Yes, there is a high incidence of drug trade that is channeled through illegal immigrants, but that is mostly because the current drug laws create huge financial incentives and current immigration laws create a permanent underclass that is easily exploited with offers of financial gain. We spend a fortune fighting the inevitable reality of immigration and we don't need to. The situation is no different than the RIAA thinking it can stop illegal downloading with lawsuits and intimidation. The tide is too great and the damage is too minimal to justify the fight. Accept that they are here and figure out a way to deal with that reality.

Issue#2
Socialized Medicine.

What you should think: You should be vehemently opposed to it.

We've covered this before on this site, but to rehash, most people have insurance. People who don't have insurance for the most part have made a conscious choice not to buy it and spend the money on something else, generally a Playstation 3. The health care you get with your current insurance will be better than what you will get with government care. Having lived in a country with socialized medicine, I can tell you it is not the healthcare paradise people would have you believe. Instead of an HMO telling you which doctor to see and what procedures you can have, you'll have a paper pusher telling you what to do. The same people who brought you the models of efficiency and simplicity that are the DMV and the IRS. Meanwhile, the rich continue to buy private health insurance and the best doctors will work at private hospitals. The current system is not perfect,in fact in many ways it outright sucks, but it is better than the alternative.

Issue #3

Ethanol

What you should think: You should be outraged about it.

Ethanol is the product of the corn lobby, which is massive. Most people don't know it, but in the 60's and 70's the corn lobby spent insane amounts of cash to make corn the staple of the american way of life. Corn products are now in everything. Odds are, you had some corn derivative today. In fact, high fructose corn syrup is the leading artificial sweetener and one of the off cited causes of the dramatic increase of obesity in the country. The corn industry was also able to pick up billions of subsidies to make a fuel called ethanol. Ethanol actually takes more fuel to produce than just burning straight gasoline, however the price at the pump is lower than gasoline because the government subsidizes production. That's right, your tax dollars pay for the production of a fuel more expensive than gasoline so that it costs less than gasoline.

Issue #4

Driver's Licenses for Illegal Immigrants.

How you should feel: you should be for them.

When New Mexico made licenses available to illegal immigrants, traffic fatalities fell by a third. Arguably, issuing licenses does legitimize illegal conduct, but would you rather stand on principle or save lives?

Issue #5

Hydrogen Fuel Cells

How you should feel: You should oppose them.

Hydrogen fuel cells are a fantasy that the auto industry uses to stall progress and continue to force you to buy cars with an internal combustion engine. The fact is, it will take a miracle to make hydrogen powered fuel cells affordable and mass-produceable. By the time they are ready for the assembly line, they will be outstripped by hybrid cars. Hybrids that can be plugged in to an AC outlet in your house are only a few years away. However, there is a billion dollars of federal grant money up for grabs to the auto industry for researching hydrogen fuel cells. Why are we spending a billion dollars to research technology that we will never use and is no better than what we already have?