Saturday

I'm morphing out of Econ Saturday. Why? Simple: my reading interests have shifted to other areas. I will continue to provide economic information and links (as long as I walk in this vale of tears, I have to concern myself with such things to some extent), but Saturday will not be dedicated primarily to mammon.

I hope to use Saturdays to provide a "Week in Review." This is the first one. As always, I make no promises about whether a feature will be long-lived. A blog--and especially TDE--is whimsical if nothing else.

Today's post, incidentally, didn't even turn out like I had hoped. I kinda took a political philosophy tangent that derailed my intent (to present a half-dozen items in brisk format). Maybe I'll do better next week.

Politics

The Republican primary is over. Romney is in. We can all stay home in November. Santorum and Paul hit Iowa hard and Iowa is fertile ground for them, but Romney still squeezed out a victory.

Yet the media is painting this as though Romney's ultimate victory is not a foregone conclusion at this point. Why? Ratings, I assume.

But if I'm wrong and Santorum gains traction, I might vote for him. He's a serious Catholic and he holds my social agenda. He's not nearly as libertarian as I'd like him to be, but then again, maybe I'm not as libertarian as I'd like me to be. In one of the best op-eds of the week, Michael Gerson reminds me why I might still be more conservative than libertarian. It's a wonderful piece that gives conservatives-turned-libertarian a lot to ponder.

But fair warning: He doesn't really seem to understand libertarianism, at least not of the natural law variety taught by Rothbard and his disciples (including Ron Paul). He, for instance, misses the fundamental distinction that natural law libertarians draw between "the State" (always capitalized, much as one capitalizes "Satan") and "society." If a person doesn't understand that distinction, he understands nothing about this philosophical tradition. This line reveals Gerson's ignorance on this point: "Libertarianism is an extreme form of individualism, in which personal rights trump every other social goal and institution." That's like saying "Catholicism is an extreme form of religion, in which religious devotion trumps every other dogma and practice." It simply makes no sense. Catholics press for devotion because it's the logical outcome of dogmatic beliefs and furthers religious practice. The same with libertarianism: It promotes individual rights and activity because individuals promote society and institutions. The State, on the other hand, tear down society and institutions. That fundamental insight is what has prompted me to embrace, to some degree, the libertarian philosophy.

Gerson, incidentally, might be more focused on the Cato Institute's libertarianism. I find the Institute distasteful. It's a pro-homosexual libertine institute dressed up in economic libertarian clothing. It's no wonder it has come out swinging at Santorum. All the homosexuals hate him, so I would expect the gays at Cato to hate him, too.

Sports

My hat goes off to the SEC. I believe its football power is exaggerated and its proponents are among the most obnoxious in cyberspace, but it can't be doubted: At this time, it's light years ahead of the rest of the nation. If you look at bowl records over the past ten years, the SEC isn't as dominant as its partisans think, but this year, it has shown that, as a conference, it's number one, head and shoulders above the rest. Will the dominance continue? It's hard to say, but as demographics keep shifting to the southeast, the SEC will continue to get better.

But shifting back to the north: my mighty Lions are in their first playoff game in twelve years. Tonight at 8:00. It might become known as the "Massacre in New Orleans," and I have no doubt that the Lions have a lot of work to do, but this year was a huge step forward. I expect them to get better and better.

Culture

The King's birthday is tomorrow. He would've been 77. This year is a good year to be a fan: it's the 35th-anniversary of his death, and people are rolling out all sorts of ways to commemorate (make money off) it. If you want to celebrate Elvis' life, check out Memphis Düsseldorf. Its Elvis Presley Museum arguably houses the largest collection of Elvis memorabilia outside of the United States.

Good late night:

"Presidential candidate Rick Santorum is under fire for a remark he made in Iowa about black people. The remark has sparked outrage among Iowa's black community, otherwise known as Steve." Conan

"According to a new study, people with liberal arts degrees are experiencing much higher rates of joblessness. So for all of you Greek classics majors out there, the sweet ride is finally over." Conan

"The Kardashians have a brand new magazine coming out that will be called “K.” And I said thank God we finally have a glimpse into the lives of these mysterious recluses." Letterman

"Tonight, "Jersey Shore" returned to MTV for a new season. Which means that New Year's resolution that we made to become a better person lasted exactly five days." Kimmel