InDefinition.com
            The Acadamic Approach:
“Farmer Brown” is not a compliment to a person.  But suppose a
Farmer Brown of today reads about the  Freedom Engine  (Firetruck)
which broke down months ago,  and has not been fixed.  Explication
of the delay by recondite academic or technical jargon does not
change the fact that “bungling mismanagement is plain as day!”
as Farmer Brown might say it.
Now why raise this simple Farmer to the status of an academic?
Long ago near Athens,  was a Farmer named Acadam.  (Perhaps he
paved the way for Macadam.)  Farmer Acadam was outstanding in
his field -  he was the first Academic Farmer in history!
Acadam had a friend who told many interesting stories.
Acadam invited this fellow to dinner at his house to enjoy hearing the
entertaining stories about “The Cave” and “The ring of Giges” and
Socrates.  He was an ancient Geek,  possibly from Crete -  and they
believed what he told them,  before Epimenides came along.
The man who came to dinner was more pleasant than Monty Wooley,
and he could easily talk with his mouth full.  Perhaps he was a
ventriloquist?  He brought his teacher Cratylus with him to enjoy a
free meal,  and Cratylus seemed to join in the conversation.
Acadam met Cratylus in downtown Athens one day,  and was astonished
to discover that he couldn’t get a word out of him!  Cratylus had been a
student of Heraclitus,  who taught him a lesson-   of universal St. Vitus.
He became apoplectic,  and renounced dialectic,  while waiting for stability.

The clever dinner guest had been putting words in Cratylus’ mouth
(two thousand years before Edgar Bergen and Charley McCarthy). This
loquacious guest ate so many plates of free food when he came to dinner,
they began calling him -  Plato.  Farmer Acadam promoted his  "U-Pick-um"
olive business with Plato's live entertainment:  a primitive Dollywood and
Harlan Sanders restaurant.  (Those who went to hear Jesus at Lake Gallilee
also expected hospitality and good food?)  It became the “in” thing to do for
ancient Geeks to go eat gyros and baklava,  and listen to Plato’s stories in
Farmer Acadam's field:  “Academy”  they spelled it. They were not careless
hippies,  but it was all Greek to them.   Perhaps they kicked a few ideals about
the pasture for public schools, truancy laws,   and a future Woodstock?

Academic certifications do not replace plain, simple, understanding.
Farmer Brown wants to know why the idlers who are hanging around the
Rural Metro garage are caught up with repairs -  only one truck to be repaired.
(The rest are in good form?)  All the City of New York’s horses,  all the City’s
men,  are unable to put into service again -  the Freedom Engine,  after it broke.
Why Not?  Market price signals are the compass which guides personal choices
of social co-operation.  Market prices allow other people to “feel the pain” and
wants of buyers,  and signal which goods or services are most rewarding to trade.
Higher prices signal what is most urgent,  and allow sellers to calculate the best
way to earn personal reward by trading with others.
The Golden Rule is the standard of the market!
The market discriminates for poorer buyers by avoiding waste.
The democracy of the market satisfies those who are less able,  for example,
by allowing them to substitute longer hours for higher skill or strenth.
The blind street musician or pencil vendor receives in proportion to the
satisfaction provided,  not his needs,  or the effort expended for a living wage.
Eleemosynary and productive competitors co-exist because each person can
choose who earns his money votes,  deserves votes of respect,  or is a deadbeat.
Market Democracy serves every voter in a continuous  "Public input" referendum.
Their votes compete to buy resources in the market of voluntary,   unforced,  trade.
Schooling and prescription medicines are traded on the market,   but are regulated
by political votes and funded by enforced taxes.   Should a majority vote provide us
with porkchops or vegables,  evolution or creation theory,   aspirin or heroine?  Every
penny voted is rewarded for minority buyers in the market.   Carnivore burghers and
pork chops,  kosher kohlrabi,   or vegan quiche are available to please unique tastes.
Political Democracy deprives minority voters -   policies of the winners are enforced.
Buying political satisfaction is buying enforcement muscle,   and is an illegal bribe.

William Henry Vanderbilt is remembered by a quoted reply to the question:
"Why don't you consult the public?"   (before you discontinue a passenger train.)
Un-quoted was:  If the public wants my train,   why don't they buy tickets to ride it?

Was the Freedom Engine not a priority for New York City Fire Department?
Was it neglected as a political minority?   Was it unrepairable as designed and built?
Weaker competitors are not killed in "market battles".   They are deprived of control.
Presidents of corporations are reduced to the rank of push-cart peddler  when
"votes" of supporters are diverted to more capable competitors.
Supporting "votes" of enforced tax funding continued to sustain the managers of
the Freedom Engine,  and its builder:  Seagrave Fire Apparatus.


Knoxville News Sentinel        Friday  September 9, 2005
     (Excerpts of Newspaper articles)
      By J.J. STAMBAUGH, stambaugh@knews.com
East Tennessee and the New York department have a
special link through the  Freedom Engine, a fire truck
that was donated to the city by East Tennesseans after
the 2001 attacks.   The campaign to raise funds for the truck
generated more than $969,000,  mostly in small contributions
from more than 6,000 individuals across East Tennessee.
Former NYFD Capt. Stephen Damato expressed frustration Thursday:
"It's been out of service for at least nine months,"  he said.

Knoxville News Sentinel        Wednesday  September 21, 2005
The "Freedom Engine" was returned to its station Friday Sept. 16.
The vehicle has been out of service for approximately 14 months.
The company attempted to replace the truck's swivel from March 13
until Sept. 16.   (six of the 14 months out of service.)
"First,  it was the complexity of the part that broke,"  said Scott Mintier,
chief executive officer of the truck's manufacturer,  Seagrave Fire Apparatus..
"It's not a simple thing.  It's not like replacing the brakes on your car."


Governor Don Sundquist  gratified more volunteers  than "Parson"
William G. Brownlow when he left office.  Brownlow was considered
one of the state's most hated governors during reconstruction.
Governor Sundquist defied campaign promises and pushed a
Tennessee State Income Tax ,  to earn similar vehement opprobrium.


Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis,                     RAIDING RETIREMENT
defies imagination with this                              FreeEnterpriseFund.org
Heraclitian nightmare:
Tennessean.com                                           Social Security is Immoral

Encomium to Heroic Entrepreneurs -  -  -  -  Hillsdale College
Eleemosynary  good business,  and
exemplary technological achievement              Ludwig von Mises Institute
of:  F2G.net


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