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Being an atheist has nothing to do with my protest of the pope today

Trying to write more - so heres a quick missive before I head out the door to todays protest. Whilst ill as a very ill thing.

I find it fascinating that it appears assumed that most people protesting the pope will be atheists. Is it true?

Either way that assumption allows Joseph Ratzinger to diminish all criticism as being the work of aggressive atheists hating God.

This morning as thousands head towards Hyde Park Corner to protest the easiest way that our comments can be ignored is by people being able to diminish the protest as purely atheist in nature.

That as an atheist I cant criticise the sexist treatment of women, or the luddite and murdering approach to contraception (especially with the regards to HIV and Africa), or the systematic and calculated cover up of the abuse of children because deep down Im really complaining that these people believe in God.

I find this absurd. But, listening to the words of the ppe during this trip, in all his silly hats surrounded by pomp and parade, Ive realised something. His comments against the secularising of UK society and marginalising of faith in this country is not a plee to become a Catholic. Although obviously he would like that. The reason for all these strong words is to fence off the secular and atheistic view point in the minds of the general public.

I think he wants to remind people that religion is magic, and thus so criticising it is dangerous, and even if you are apathetic towards it you need to respect it.

In addition, the unfair position that the Pope has been given due to his position as head of state (of a citizen-less state no less) is a reason to protest today all by itself. If we gave state visits to the heads of every faith then this would be acceptable, but as it stands the Pope has been given a position above any other faith to come to the UK and criticise our way of life. Which we will pay for the pleasure for.

So, that being the case, a defence of our way of life is just.

It isnt due to my lack of a belief in God that I protest today – but because I do believe that, for all its flaws, when it comes to equality, family planning and religion this country is progressive and civilised and as such closer to any God than the man that today will wear a silly hat inside a stupidly named car who preaches famine as contraception and that no women can ever equal a man.

Even though, in my opinion, no God exists. Obviously.

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Because that hack they got to do the Romeo Juliet one was terrible

Shame they couldnt get Lurhmann himself to write it, though. I hope this Fitzgerald guy can pull off his style.

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Beware of Politicians Who Do Not Understand Economics

The following quotation is attributed to Abraham Lincoln in the 1912 three-volume publication Industrial Development of Nations by George Boughton Curtiss. The story is also recounted in the book Free Trade, the Tariff and Reciprocity by Frank William Taussig.

“I do not know much about the tariff, but I know this much, when we buy manufactured goods abroad, we get the goods and the foreigner gets the money. When we buy manufactured goods at home, we get both the goods and the money.”

The quotation is a good example of a passage that sounds persuasive in a political speech, but has no merit when subjected to scrutiny and the application of basic economic principles. To see the fallacy of the protectionist sentiment, use the same logic on a personal level:

When I buy food and clothes from stores, I get the food and clothes and the store owners get the money. When I grow my own food and make my own clothes, I get the food and clothes and get to keep my money.

It is essentially an argument to never buy anything from anyone. But that is absurd. It ignores the economic concepts of specialization, trade, and opportunity cost. People and societies benefit when they devote their time and energy to goods and services they can produce at a relatively lower absolute or comparative cost than others. People then use the income from their specialized activities to purchase the things they are not able to produce as efficiently. Indeed, one of the primary sources of economic growth and prosperity is the willingness and ability to specialize and trade.

Modern politicians are equally guilty of populist appeals that lack economic credibility, such as claims that the primary source of economic growth is lower taxes and reduced regulation of business, or that tax cuts increase government revenues, or that significant reductions to the U.S. budget deficit and the U.S. public debt can be achieved without sacrifices in the form of higher taxes and reduced government benefits.

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