Voting with your feet
(Latest posts at the bottom)
Posted 8/7/05
One last personal anecdote and then back to business (and there is a lot of it too!). I mention this because I am a great proponent of the 'voting with your feet' argument. Regardless of ideology, people are very good at doing what is best for them and so the migrations of persons across countries or states is always of great interest to me, as it is generally indicative of successful government policies versus poor government policies. People always flee communism and generally flee socialism. I've touched on this principle often throughout this site, noting that the only time where there was a net exodus of people from the United States was when socialism was enacted during the Great Depression. I discussed California's liberalism woes and how the South and West (so-called Red States) were gaining population at the expense of the (Blue Democratic leaning states) in 'Welfare; History, Results, and Reform' with this chart:
The reason I mention all of this is to bring up the city of Henderson Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas where I am currently residing. Henderson was the fastest growing city in the entire United States for eight strait years 1990-1998. From the Henderson business brochure:
The growth numbers of the population are staggering – unless you have lived in Henderson for 20 years and are used to seeing the mind-boggling statistics. In 1980, nearly 30,000 people lived in Henderson. Just 25 years later, the city’s population is estimated at almost 240,000.
Why are people flocking to Nevada and Henderson? Is it for great subsidized health care? For plushy retirement benefits? For its anti-poverty measures? For its income redistribution schemes? For union jobs? For government housing?
Of course, people move here for none of those things, in fact, whether they know it or not, people move here to get away from these things. People move here for freedom; liberty that can only stem from limited government.
This past December, a survey of 458 chief executive officers from across the country – conducted by the publisher of Chief Executive magazine – ranked Nevada as the second friendliest state in which to do business. In contrast, Nevada’s bordering state, California, ranked as the worst state. (The brochure goes on to list the many awards and rankings from business organizations given to Henderson and the state of Nevada) And Henderson will continue to grow, with more raving reviews coming in about the area’s business climate.
How does the mayor of the fastest growing city in the United States for eight strait years talk?
We’ve made a conscious effort to control the cost of government and the size of local government. And we’ve made a conscious decision to be faithful stewards of the tax revenues that our citizens have entrusted to us over the years.
...and one of the lowest property tax rates of any city in the state. And our property tax rate has not materially changed for some 15 years.
I know I say this every year, but it bears repeating. Our city maintains one of the lowest city employee-to-resident ratios in Southern Nevada with close to six employees per 1,000 residents. As we hire new personnel, we keep pace with the demands associated with our population growth. We don’t just simply grow government.
Mr. Mayor, it does bear repeating: We don’t just simply grow government. But the mayor has a message for those who would hinder the freedom that Henderson enjoys. First he hits out at the Federal Government, which owns 90% of Nevada!
Growth has been the chart upon which we’ve plotted our course here in Henderson for so many years. Sometimes though, that chart is drawn for us, not by us. It is drawn by the federal government, and shaded by market forces, through release of federally-owned land to private ownership, and it is drawn in the ink of a tax structure that remains growth dependent. These land releases determine where growth is to occur, how much will occur, and when it will occur. By annexing land, by bringing it into our city boundaries, we are able to influence that future growth, and direct that growth in ways that are supportive and compatible with our existing residents and businesses.
Next he attacks the state legislators:
We recognize the great challenge that faces our state legislature this session. We’ve heard the taxpayer voices which have resonated throughout our community relative to taxes. And as local government, as the first line of representation, we have been responsive to our taxpayers. <.> We’re expecting prudent tax relief to come out of the State legislature. <.> At the same time, we are all concerned about the effect on families occasioned by the surge in assessed values and property taxes. <.> Tax relief needs to assure us that no one is impoverished by accelerating assessments.
In other words, "Washington, Carson City, keep your grubby hands off! Let us be, let us grow, and let us prosper in peace!"
(posted 6/11/05)
I am going to contrast two seemingly unrelated articles and then comment:
Evangelical Christians Fight for a Church
6/10/05 MoscowTimes.com
In
1996, the church was granted a plot on Prospekt Vernadskogo, and spent "many millions of
rubles" over the next few years preparing the project, said Alexander Purshaga, who is both
Emmanuel's chief pastor and president of the Russian Assemblies of God, an organization that
includes 38 other parishes nationwide. <.>The
church was then abruptly told that the land had been previously promised to the city government for
public use, Alexander Purshaga said.
Billionaires Battle For Business
6/10/05 Associated Press LAS VEGAS - On one corner of the Las Vegas Strip, Steve Wynn runs his signature $2.7 billion megaresort and busily plans another. Across the street, Sheldon Adelson is building the Palazzo hotel-casino next to his successful Venetian. Soon to be shimmering near both properties are Donald Trump's gold-glass hotel-condo towers, and Phil Ruffin has ambitious plans for the aging New Frontier casino. Four billionaire-sized egos. A slew of big-budget projects. All within stone's throw of one another.
Now, why contrast these stories? Because they respectively illustrate why the United States is the richest most powerful country in the world and Russian citizens are, on average, nearly four times poorer than the average American. Who has trouble buying or improving land in Las Vegas? Who gets beaten by police for illegal protests? Could you imagine the Mayor of Las Vegas claiming that the city was too crowded? (Well, actually he could since the thieving Federal Government owns 90% of Nevadan land, but that's besides the point) Each month 7000-6000 people flock into the Las Vegas area in search of the unabridged Freedom it offers. Freedom to develop and own property. Freedom to create wealth free from government, all equal in the eyes of the law. Freedom to give some of your excess wealth to an accountable charity of your choosing.
"But.. but.. but.. Why would people go somewhere where it's so unequal?", our
friends on the left whine. Because people don't give a damn about inequality if they can improve
their lives! If you're improving your life, creating and earning wealth, who cares if people around
you are becoming trillionaires? In fact, the same political structure that is making it possible for
these billionaires to become billionaires, is making it possible for the average Joe to succeed as
well. New millionaires, hundredthousandaires, and tenthousandaires are being created every day in
Las Vegas. If you attempted to make Vegas more 'equal' what would happen? You would immediately
destroy the business climate that resulted in the massive immigration to Las Vegas. Capital would
flow out of the city, businesses would fail, and (gasp!) ordinary people would stop coming! But how
can this be? What is good for the big fat rich cats is good for the average Joe too? Of course, the
answer is a resounding YES! There are no classes in America, only a political party that would
divide us into class. By attempting to use government to make people more 'equal', or provide
'benefits' to the 'less fortunate' (via legalized pillaging),
you instead create a wasteland of desolation, like Russia, which, on a side note, probably has a
lower international poverty rate
than us.
The
government of the United States is a device for maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the people,
with the ultimate extinction of all privileged classes.
Calvin Coolidge
Posted 8/17/05
A week or so ago I posted some of the characteristics of the fastest growing city in the United States from 1990-1998, Henderson, Nevada. Contrast this with Detroit, Michigan:
Detroit found to be most liberal U.S. city
8/11/05 Washington Times A group
called BACVR compiled the political leanings of 237 US cities and Detroit took the cake.
Shrinking Detroit has 12,000
abandoned homes
8/14/05 AFP There are more than 12,000 abandoned homes in the Detroit area, a byproduct of decades of layoffs at the city's auto plants and white flight to the suburbs. And despite scores of attempts by government and civic leaders to set the city straight, the automobile capitol of the world seems trapped in a vicious cycle of urban decay. Detroit has lost more than half its population since its heyday in the 1950's. The people who remain are mostly black -- 83 percent -- and mostly working class, with 30 percent of the population living below the poverty line according to the US Census Bureau. The schools are bad. The roads are full of potholes. Crime is high and so are taxes. The city is in a budget crisis so deep it could end up being run by the state.
Another example of 'voting with your feet'. Is it any coincidence the most liberal city is also impoverished and shrinking?
More happenings in the most Liberal US city:
How
the Unions Killed a Dream
10/26/03 Time magazine - Joe Klein details the sad story how inner city Detroit schools lost $200
million: In
1999, an unassuming Michigan road builder named Bob Thompson sold his construction company for $442
million, an amount he and his wife Ellen believed was far more than they needed for retirement.
<.> After doing some research, he offered $200 million to build 15
small, independent public high schools in the inner city. A few weeks ago, Thompson withdrew his
offer after the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) led a furious, and scurrilous, campaign against
his generosity. The philanthropist is in seclusion now—friends say he is stunned and
distressed—but his is a story that deserves telling.
Mayor hungers for bigger tax bite out of fast food
5/9/05 Associated Press Would
you like fries with that? Either way, the Detroit city treasury would like a bite.
And just how is "fast food" defined? Besides the obvious chains such as Wendy's and White
Castle, officials have mentioned takeout pizza places and Detroit's ubiquitous chili-dog restaurants
known as Coney Islands. It's uncertain, however, where Starbucks or the corner deli would fall.
Kilpatrick
lives it up while city struggles
5/3/05 Free Press
In conclusion, we see Unions in charge and the corrupt anti-obesity policing tax hikers destroying a city with their liberalism.
Posted 9/17/05
Federation for American Immigration Reform
An interesting article I accidentally stumbled across (btw, I don't agree with their platform):
For example, more African
scientists and engineers work in the United States than in all of Africa—leaving the entire
African continent of 600 million people with just 20,000 engineers and scientists.1 The
United Nations calls brain drain one of the greatest threats to economic development in sub-Saharan
Africa.2
A few years ago, Zambia
had 1,600 doctors; now only 400 practice there. More than 21,000 doctors from Nigeria are working in
the United States while Nigeria suffers a shortage of health care workers. Sixty percent of
Ghana’s doctors left during the 1980s, leaving the health care system in critical condition.3,
4
There reportedly
are more Sierra Leonean doctors living in the Chicago area than in all of Sierra Leone.6 Seventy
percent of graduates from the country’s College of Medicine and Allied Science have left the
country.5
More than half of all
Ghanaian medical doctors have emigrated.9 One third of Ethiopa’s general practitioners
left the country between 1988 and 2001.
While twelve percent of
Mexico’s labor force lives in the United States, 30 percent of Mexicans with PhDs live in the
United States. Mexico reports that 79 percent of the science students it funds to study abroad never
return to work in Mexico.13
75 percent of Jamaicans
with a higher education live in the U.S.14
Four of out every ten
Indian software developers are now working in the U.S. In 1998, the renowned Indian Institute of
Technology sent 30 percent of all of its graduates to the United States, including 80 percent of its
computer science graduates.19
Why do all these people come to the United States? Why is the United States the most powerful nation in the history of the world? Liberals have trouble answering these questions, because people don't come here for the policies they advocate (higher minimum wage, universal health care, higher taxes, more regulation, more lawsuits, bigger government), in fact, people come here to flee those policies elsewhere. The answer to these questions can be found here: 'The Founding of the United States and the Constitutionality of Charity'.
Added to 'Voting with your Feet' among others.
Posted 10/24/06
Chinese Immigrants keep US well fed
10/9/05 Taipei Times The vast majority of these workers, like Xue, are undocumented, and have paid tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege of being in the US. In the Delaware-size area around Fuzhou, a city that has become China's leading exporter of restaurant workers to the US, the going rate for being smuggled is now around US$60,000, Guest said.
Why do these folks pay $60,000 to come here? It is not for universal health care, for food stamps, housing, welfare, or other government goodies. They come here for the opportunity to make money, they come here for capitalism, and they come here because of the prosperity and economic opportunity found in the United States. Yet, there are those who believe government must spend money to help the 'poor' in this country. If things are so bad why would penniless immigrants pay $60,000 to come here? Of course, things are not bad here and most often the poverty and misery that exists is created by the very forces attempting to use government to end it.
What Detroit Can Learn From Bangalore / A booming city’s lessons for a town in decline
June Reason Magazine Added to 'Voting With Your Feet'
Posted 7/26/06 (By Travis)
Wealthy
French say au revoir to taxes
7/20/06 Detriot News On average, at least one millionaire leaves France every day for more wealth-friendly nations, according to a government study. <.>
Eric Pinchet, author of a French tax guide, estimates the wealth tax earns the government about $2.6 billion a year but has cost the country more than $125 billion in capital flight since 1998. <.>
Socialist leaders and some government officials say the rich are shirking their social responsibilities by fleeing with their millions.
Lol! Imagine a thief breaking into your house every Friday and then honestly believing you are irresponsible when you leave the neighborhood. And, recall, since rich and poor are affected equally by erroneous government policies, you can rest assured that it is not just the rich who are leaving, although, of course, I'm sure people living in countries less free than France still desire to immigrate to France.
(Added to 'Voting with Your Feet')
See also 'Amnesty From Government'
See also 'Nevada Politics'