Every so often, one finds support for good policy in unexpected places.
I don’t follow the music scene, so all I
know about Gene Simmons is that he is with the band called Kiss and that he’s famous for his tongue and for sleeping with nearly 5,000 women (whether those two factoids are interconnected is a subject for another day).
But it turns out that Mr. Simmons is an astute observer of political economy.
Here’s what he had to say in the UK-based Sun.
Countries are a house of cards — and when the bottom few cards fall down they all topple over. Look at Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy. …It’s so simple. If you spend more than you tax, you’re out of business. MPs don’t know what they’re talking about. And we created this miserable economic state. It’s like fat people who think it’s the bakery’s fault they got fat. …It’s your responsibility to be a grown-up and take care of yourself. Thank God we have lending institutions and banks. The planes that fly through the sky, the phones we use every day, the cars we drive, the houses we live in, the entire economy is all funded by firms who borrow in return for interest. …Capitalism is the best thing that ever happened to human beings. The welfare state sounds wonderful but it doesn’t work. Governments hand out more money than they have to support welfare and they land in debt. Then they have to borrow money — and then there’s interest on top of that. That’s bad business. And it has created a culture of entitlement. When I was growing up my mother went to work. There was no welfare. If you worked, you made money. If you didn’t work, you had to figure it out — you’d go and wash dishes. The new breed of 20-year-olds don’t want to do those jobs. …People say things like: “Oh, you make so much money. What do you need any more for?” Well, actually, b*tch, I never asked for your opinion. I’ll let you know when I have enough money.
His comments on the entitlement mentality and the culture of dependency are especially remarkable.
I wonder if he watched this video on the debilitating impact of welfare or looked at these cartoons about the welfare state.
[…] observation that you have to have production before you can have redistribution. Heck, even rock stars are beginning to realize that capitalism is the right approach if you want better lives for the less […]
[…] was surprised, for instance, when I found out that Gene Simmons, the lead singer for Kiss, stated that, “Capitalism is the best thing that ever […]
[…] was surprised, for instance, when I found out that Gene Simmons, the lead singer for Kiss, stated that, “Capitalism is the best thing that […]
“(whether those two factoids are interconnected is a subject for another day).
hahahahahahaha!!! hahahaha!!!! hahahahaha! hahaha!!
ROTFL!!!!!
As citizens of our respective countries, it is our duty to inform ourselves about the mechanisms that influence our lives. We then form opinions, argue, agree or disagree, perhaps reevaluate our conclusions, etc. in order to come up with resolutions for problems. Gene Simmons is probably not being arrogant; he is merely being responsible. Putting on black and white makeup to perform on stage does not cease to make Simmons a sentient human being. It is the unique experiences of the individual that contribute to the collective, and, Allah knows, Gene Simmons has had unique experiences.
I wanna Rock -n- Roll All n-i-i-i-ight, and profit ever-y day.
It would hardly be surprising that many people dismiss entertainers are arrogant providers of unneeded political commentary.
Nor would it be surprising to note that -egads!- numerous entertainers do provide political commentary that is about as useful as a sixth wheel on a unicycle.
Yet in most of the cases that Mr. Simmons has spoken on issues of taxes, economics and security issues, he has proven himself to be quite the moderate capitalist conservative…in most of the times that I have heard him speak and opine, he has been courteous, logical and considerate of the views of others. Kudos to you Mr. Tongue Demon. I shall download a song or two from your album(s)!
Who is this arrogant Simmons guy who resists the idea that he is more than 50% owned by the public?
Does he forget what the public does to people who offend the 80%, like Socrates, or that Jewish prophet at the times of Tiberius or myriad others who refused to serve the whole under various –isms? Mr. Simmons should consider himself lucky that we have now built a kinder, gentler world. A world where we will let him get away lightly, simply limiting ourselves to enact laws that seize a good portion of his assets, liquidate them, and with the proceeds we build VolksEnergy solar farms on his expropriated property — arrogant individualist who refuses to serve the people!
This is the new age. The new age where humans have finally changed and where the few dissidents will finally be convinced or, if need be, forced to comply. People, in droves, are abandoning their selfish ways, stop working for the benefit of themselves and their families and are now ever more enthusiastically working for distant unknowns generically referred to as “the whole”. This Nth human attempt to a new era of collectivism will finally be the one to succeed. This time is different! The dream is finally here! Kings are out, red is out, brown is out, black is out. But we’re not out of colors yet! Green is here as the new Red, the holy grail that finally does it! Green is the once elusive, now finally discovered, shortcut to collective prosperity with less effort. A mandatory compassionate society growing at 1.5% is preferable to a free one growing at 3.5%, even if the latter becomes x2.6 times richer in 50 years and x7 times in 100. Cruelty is not propping up my current standard of living by 20-30% with redistributed wealth, not making my descendants three or seven times less wealthy.
I just want to rock and roll all night and fight socialism every day.
“Well, actually, b*tch, I never asked for your opinion. I’ll let you know when I have enough money.”
Way to go Gene Simmons/Chaim Weitz!