Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Sep 17, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/the-military-and-the-commons/
A few days ago I received notice of a New America Foundation (NAF) hosted conference in Washington, D.C. called “Beyond Primacy: Rethinking American Grand Strategy and the Command of the Commons.” At the conference NAF released a formal report on the subject: Whither Command of the Commons? Choosing Security Over Control. The authors, Sameer Lalwani,… Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Aug 12, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/sp-says-microsoft-more-creditworthy-than-us-government/
Two days after Standard and Poor’s downgraded US government bonds, David Llewellyn-Smith, writing in The Sydney Morning Herald noted, “We now face the ludicrous circumstance in which the United States government holds … a lower (credit) rating than Microsoft, despite issuing its own currency (the world’s reserve), being able to raise taxes when it chooses,… Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Aug 5, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/we-will-grow-the-economy-by-shrinking-it/
Throughout human history societies have been informed and instructed by the superstitions of their age. For thousands of years we believed a single person–a king, a pharaoh, a high priest– should have life and death power over us. Any other social structure was unthinkable. We believed the gods that brought drought could be appeased only by animal and, sometimes, human sacrifice. Today these superstitions seem ridiculous. How could thinking people ever have believed such preposterous notions? Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Jul 7, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/why-is-the-most-wasteful-government-agency-not-part-of-the-deficit-discussion/
In all the talk about the federal deficit, why is the single largest culprit left out of the conversation? Why is the one part of government that best epitomizes everything conservatives say they hate about government— waste, incompetence, and corruption—all but exempt from conservative criticism? Of course, I’m talking about the Pentagon. Any serious battle… Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Jun 23, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/why-is-mighty-time-warner-scared-of-tiny-salisbury-north-carolina/
Thanks to Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance for contributing to this article. You can, and should follow his reporting on public networks at www.muninetworks.org. Conservatives would have us believe the public sector can’t compete with the private sector. The private sector itself knows better. Nowhere… Continue reading
Featured
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
May 18, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/and-the-winner-is-the-public-sector/
“Unlike the public sector, the private sector is bred for efficiency. Left to its own devices, it will always find the means to provide services faster, cheaper, and more effectively than will governments,” said James Jay Carafano. I suspect the vast majority of Americans would agree with Mr. Carafano. They probably consider the statement self-evident. The facts, however, lead to the opposite conclusion. When not handicapped by regulations designed to subsidize the private sector, the public sector often provides services faster, cheaper and more effectively. Continue reading
Rule
filed under
Banking, The Public Good
| Written by
admin
|
| Updated on
May 5, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/rule/bank-of-north-dakota-2/
North Dakota is the only state so far that has established a publicly owned bank. Founded in 1919, the Bank of North Dakota has a mission to “promote agriculture, commerce, and industry” and “be helpful to and assist in the development of… financial institutions… within the State.” BND functions primarily as a “banker’s bank” by providing loan participation and other support to local banks. Thanks in large part to BND, community banks are much more robust in North Dakota than in other states. North Dakota has 35 percent more banks per capita than South Dakota, and four times as many as the national average. While locally owned small and mid-sized banks account for only 30 percent of deposits nationally, in North Dakota they have 72 percent of the market. Continue reading
Featured
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Apr 29, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/all-hail-the-public-library/
“The word “public” has been removed from the name of the Fort Worth Library. Why? Simply put, to keep up with the times.“From the Media release on the rebranding of the Fort Worth Library Fort Worth, you leave me speechless. You’re certainly correct about one thing. The public library is indeed an institution that has… Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Apr 18, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/the-real-american-exceptionalism/
For Republican presidential candidates the phrase American Exceptionalism has taken on almost talismanic qualities. Newt Gingrich’s new book is titled, “A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters”. “American the Exceptional” is the title of a chapter in Sarah Palin’s book America by Heart. What is this American exceptionalism Republicans so venerate? David Morris digs deeper in this commentary. Continue reading
