Will stupidity enslave the children?

Prior to the protests against spending cuts in London last weekend,
this advertisement was released to help drum up support. It starts
off with a reasonably accurate analogy, but ends with an entirely
nonsensical conclusion that: a reduction in spending in order to
reduce the debt will somehow be what leaves the next generation with
a mountain of debt.

Watch the video here:


News sources reporting on the protests focus primarily on the fact
that it was mostly peaceful, with just a few exceptional cases of
vandalism and violence. While this may be the case, I find this much
less important to discuss than what their message was.

Contrary to arguments made by UK Uncut, there is no doubt that the
government is in debt. Yes, they got us in to this mess through lavish
unnecessary spending; but No, the answer is not to keep doing it!
By looking at the budget, one can see that the UK spends £50bn on debt
interest annually, which is more than it does on defense (£36bn)! This
is an incredible amount, and I really shouldn't have to stress further
why it is important to reduce the debt, for the sake of future generations.

It is important to note that the cuts are not just necessary, but desirable!
The aim is to reform and make permanent change, not just a temporarily
tightened budget.

I spoke on this topic last year at a conference, where I outlined the
idea that crises can be beneficial by being an opportunity to achieve
reform; as well as why in such times reform and an assessment of the role
of government is essential, not just small cuts here and there.

You can watch my speech here:

nemokėsim!

This morning as I left my house I was greeted
by a large mob of student protestors waving
little flags embellished with the phrase "nomokesiu!"
which in Lithuanian means "i won't pay!"


So basically these students were demanding
state-provided free education. It disgusted me.
These students think that they are being cool
and politically active with their cute signs,
loud techno music, and by demanding the government
to take money from everyone to pay for their education.

Since when has the idea that one must pay for what
they use disappeared? One of the essentials in the
marketplace is that if something is worth it to you,
then you will be willing to spend the money to have it.
That determines its value.

Now-a-days, when people want something they
often think, "hmm, maybe I can get the government to
pay for this for me instead" so they work to get it nationalized
or government provided. They'd rather give up
their freedom and the control of their money in order
to not pay for things at the door.

What will make them realise what they are doing?