Jon Stokes

Educator, CPA, old-school Christian, pragmatic anarchist, hobby gardener, cloud- and star-watcher, sarcasm aficionado.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

I've probably infuriated more people with replies about economics than any other topic. It's ALWAYS about left or right, and the other side is the bad guys.

Actual economic isn't about left or right, though. You can learn it WITHOUT political ideology.

https://t.co/AXNwcbvZNM

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@thanks55273 A phrase like "stealing the surplus value" tells readers that you're the economic equivalent of a flat-earther, clinging desperately to an obvious falsehood and rejecting an entire field of knowledge because you think it means you "know" the "truth" that experts are hushing up.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@tautolog @MrSpIcEz @RockChartrand Calling BS on your because-I-say-so is not having trouble staying on point. And "too powerful" is yet another meaninglessly vague phrase.

If you can offer something better than proof by personal fiat and barely relevant quotations, now is the time to demonstrate it.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@tautolog @MrSpIcEz @RockChartrand Your point is false, to the extent that it's even coherent since "work and residence" are vague enough to be easily motte-and-baileyed. The same is true of "bad." Substituting feelings and value judgements for solid positions and arguments.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@DefenceU How does it make sense to use a drone on a single human target?

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@tautolog @MrSpIcEz @RockChartrand "So by remaining, you agreed"

Nope. That's not how agreements work. And the idea that anyone NOT economically illiterate and shallow-minded enough to be impressed by empty platitudes like you are must be inadequately educated is...special.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@aripari18 It's not possible for "the workers, as a whole" to get rich if the individual isn't free to engage in entrepreneurship in the first place. The way to get more for yourself under socialism is not to be a more effective producer, but to cozy up to the decision makers.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@Autark5 @Hortysir The system doesn't kowtow to those who vote, it tricks them into thinking that by choosing which of two crooks controls a certain expression of state power, they're masters of the state itself. Vote or don't, you're outnumbered either way.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@Autark5 @Hortysir A non-action doesn't cause anything. Vote or don't, the system will continue to "drift tyrannical." The tyrants, or at least tyrant enablers, account for the majority of the electorate.

There are reasons to vote and reasons to not, but short-term impact isn't one for either.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@tautolog @MrSpIcEz @RockChartrand Corporations are a VOLUNTARY "collective ownership model." You can choose to participate, or not, and neither choice imposes additional obligations on you. You're certainly not threatened with harm or dispossession if you opt out, as is the case with the state.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@AncapAir People - especially Americans, it seems - are very good at not understanding things that contradict narratives they're emotionally invested in.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@RepJeffries A political hack calling someone else a political hack.

This is why we can't have nice things, America. People voted for this guy. They chose him to represent them.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@TTraxis @RockChartrand To a sufficiently shallow-minded and ignorant person, that probably seems very clever.

To a reasonable person, it confirms your unwillingness or inability to produce anything but economically illiterate talking points and delusions of enlightenment.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@TTraxis @RockChartrand "Leash"? Good grief, you're even more delusional than the standard economic flat-earther.

If you want the benefit of other people's property or labor, you have to compensate them, because they are not your slaves. Sorry that's so difficult for you to grasp.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@TTraxis @RockChartrand You can still be your primitive version of "a free man" on BLM land. But most of us prefer a higher material standard of living, which requires the benefit of other people's property and labor. Since other people are not our slaves, we have to compensate them for that benefit.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@tautolog @MrSpIcEz @RockChartrand Capitalism consists of private ownership (rather than state or otherwise collective ownership) of the means of production. It's linked to individualism in the sense that individuals and voluntary associations are private parties.

The "destroy the economy" bit is just silly.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@alechenrhin @RockChartrand A cherished argument of authoritarians all over the globe, but not one that stands up to even light scrutiny.

That the state demands control of something does not prove that the thing in question can only exist by state control.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@RareGAIndie “They thought all along that they could call me a libertarian and hang that label around my neck like an albatross, but I’m not a libertarian.”

-Rand Paul

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@carney What little data was included in your piece does not by any logical reasoning support your claims about cause and effect. I did in fact read it, and it's not substantial enough to respond to.

Reality is not "folklore" because you prefer your narrative either.

[Jon Stokes @JDStokes79]

@carney They are literally covered in the first semester of econ. Equilibrium. Shifting of supply and demand curves. Deadweight loss.

That you choose to remain ignorant of the basics of a field does not make it "unfalsifiable orthodoxy."