Day: April 25, 2009

Of two good things, one is better?

I’ve been wondering about this conservative-libertarian divide and am happy to find this discussion of my man F.A. Hayek on the matter, as here:

The word “conservatism” is a vague term that covers a wide range of ideas. Hayek’s criticisms don’t necessarily apply to every version of conservative thought. A few of his arguments are totally dated, and some perhaps were invalid even back in 1960.

But several apply to various forms of conservatism that remain influential today. In particular, Hayek’s criticisms of conservative for their excessive aversion to change, their attachment to discretionary government power, their willingness to use state power to enforce “moral” values, and their tendency towards “strident nationalism” all retain considerable force.

“My man” in that I have found his stuff liberating in its calm, cool, and collectedness.  He’s the ultimate anti-fussbudget such as abounds in the leftist camp and turns up sometimes also among the right.

His Road to Serfdom is the Hayek intro, but Fatal Conceit: the Errors of Socialism is one to read right after it.

 

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Bad info on Cornelia

This reference, at Many Books dot net, is common on the Internet, including at Wikipedia:

The Man in Lower Ten
by Mary Roberts Rinehart
English, published in 1909
65,298 words (180 pages)
No. 1 in the Cornelia Van Gorder series

But there’s no such character in this excellent mystery novel, also dated 1906 in Wikipedia and elsewhere. 

Caveat lector.

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Ford surges, builder gets inventive

Competition is alive and well in the U.S.A., no matter how the gentiles rage — i.e. “gentes,” or nations, in the Psalms, reading here U.S. Treasury and the governmental leviathan.

The results [lower than expected quarterly loss, thanks to union-contract negotiating and bond-buybacks] reflect in part Ford’s strategy: to steal customers from its weakened crosstown rivals and separate Ford from GM and Chrysler in the minds of the public, investors and lawmakers.

The strategy is part of a longer-term vision that would have Ford rise above its age-old competitors to form a new, global Big Three with the two largest car makers, Toyota Motor Corp. and Volkswagen AG, say people familiar with the company’s thinking.

Look.  It’s natural to man (and woman); so socialists, beware.  You can’t snuff this thing out.

Similarly, the Calif. home-builder builds a better mousetrap, not only installing furniture, but also making it worth a resident’s worthwhile to move in and add to salability.

This $1.2 million seaside pied-a-terre is occupied by Johnna Clavin, a 45-year-old Los Angeles event planner and decorator who has seen business slow. In exchange for giving the townhouse a stylishly lived-in look, she gets to stay there at a steep discount and stands to earn a bonus if the house sells fast.

It’s what you call making do, American-style.  How’d it happen?

Ms. Clavin responded to a Craigslist ad placed by Quality First Home Marketing, a San Diego startup. It aims to fill high-end empty houses with occupants who play the part of happy homeowners, in a bid to remove the price-depressing stigma of vacancy.

Go American!

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