The 6 Pack Economist

Beer was by far the most important invention of civilization. The wheel, irrigation, sliced bread, nothing stands up to beer. Without it where would civilization be? Probably still using barley for breads or something not nearly as important as beer. This magical brew was most likely stumbled upon sometime around the dawn of civilization. Who knew at the time it would cause so much stumbling from then on.

From the ancient Sumerians to the Egyptians, the dawn of civilizations have mentions of beer brewing. Brewing and the art of brewing was so important to the Egyptians, the ancient scribes had a hieroglyphic symbol for the Brewer. The first beer was most likely a wonderful mistake. Basically some kid not listening to his parents forgot to take in the barley. His parents must have told him a thousand times, but he lives in a desert and it is not like it will rain or something. Low and behold it rains. He panics and hides the barley. Later with his buddies they see a bowl of these soggy grains. Each one dares the other to eat it. This was Egypt. They did not have frozen polls to stick their tongues to. As most young boys do, he fell to peer-pressure. Then each of them tried to eat more then the other. I am sure the alcohol did not help in moderating these boys. This was the beginning of a long love affair between man and beer.

Who first discovered this magical brew is under some controversy. Both Sumerians and the Egyptians have claims to it. Either way it started where the major civilizations began. This brings up another chicken or the egg controversy. Beer showed up at the very start of civilization. So did humans settle down to make beer or did beer start from civilization? Who cares? It’s more important that we have both.

Beer was a valuable source of protein for early civilization as the fermentation process adds protein to what is really a wet rotten piece of bread. It was also a lot more fortified in vitamins then today’s Budweiser. The filtering process takes much of vitamins out of the beer while leaving badly flavored water and alcohol. Yes, I do not like Bud or any major brew. The original brews were cloudy with yeasts, particles of barley, and various flavorings added throughout history.

Because beer was so valuable to humans they took it with them as they migrated. As humans moved away from the Fertile Crescent, they brought their recipe for brew with them. Changing the recipe based upon natural occurring plants and cultivated crops. Beer traveled west to Greece and Italy, north to Russia, west to Germany and the Nordic lands, east through Persia to China, and finally south to Africa. Each land it met it changed with the people. Honey, ginger, raspberries, and hops were added until in the Middle Ages, when German brewers more or less nailed down the basic beer formula of barley, water, hops, and yeast.

One of the great sanctuaries of brewing was the monasteries. While Islam in the Middle East was outlawing alcohol, Catholicism was perfecting it. These monks many times would go for long fasts, although they did leave a loop hole for themselves. They could drink. And drink they did. The monastery beers were some of the best in Europe. These beers were of course not the tradition bad tasting water brews but the thick hearty ales of old.

When the new world was found beer traveled there too. In fact, the United States was a perfect example of what accomplished and perfected beer could be like. Many of the founding fathers were home brewers. In addition many of the meetings between the leading members of the rebellion met in pubs. The English began taxing beer just like the tea because of the rebellious meetings held in the pubs. In fact, the Boston tea party very nearly became the Boston beer party. When faced with the choice of beer or tea they of course threw over the tea. The enemy’s beer is still after all, beer. If you think about it, the United States started from a severe case of “beer muscles”; a group of farmers taking on the greatest empire on the face of the earth. I think beer played a role in the gross over estimation of one’s own superiority.

Beer, where would civilization be without it? What nice conversation to have over a few brews. I will bring a few of mine; you bring a few of yours and let’s chat. I believe that a quote from one of the great thinkers our time will close this paper nicely “Beer, it is both solution and the reason for all my problems”. Homer J Simpson.

Information was gathered from:

http://www.portsmouthbrewery.com/htmlpages.portsmouth/historyofbeer.html

http://www.beerinstitute.org/history1.htm

http://www.eat-online.net/english/habits/history_of_beer_main.htm

When they came for cigarettes,  I did not speak up
When they came for porn, I did not speak up
When they came for my beer, I was freaking too drunk to speak anyway.

There is nothing like slaughtering the golden goose.  Oregon wants to raise the tax on a barrel of beer by  about 1900% or something like 2.50 a barrel to upwards of 50.00 a barrel.  If you don’t know a barrel of beer is about 31 gallons or two kegs.  In Pennsylvania a keg will run you about 60 bucks for something descent.  So if this was happening in Pennsylvania it would be an additional 25 bucks or almost a 50% surcharge in the price of keg of beer.  You can decide if you think that this is too much, but for me I think it is just a money grab.

You know that I could not preach about something after this but here goes.  Taxes should never have to increase if they are based on a percentage of something.  By something I mean income, stamps, tea, or beer.  In other words if taxes are taken as a percentage of the cost of something then they will automatically adjust with inflation. 

Unfortunately taxes are taken by a group of people who are not held accountable.  Go over budget and the next year you get more money.  Do poorly with the money you have, just ask for more.  Achieve goals and do it for less then you thought, then you lose your budget to someone who did poorly.  This is why taxes never really go down. 

What really sucks is that for you in Oregon, crying in your beer will cost you a lot more.  Oh and they want to raise the taxes on your cigarettes too.

Orginally Posted in September 2008

 I have gone through a change on immigration.  I used to be a “kick em all out and close the borders type of guy.”  I have now changed to “work, pay taxes, and speak English” and you can stay.  I have changed because of personal experience.

 While working on a buddies house we took a break and had beer on the porch.  A few Mexicans came over asked if there was work to be done.  At the time we were pretty much done but even in their broken English they kept asking for work.  They all had jobs for during the week but if there was work to be done on the weekends they wanted to do it.  I have to say I was very impressed with their initiative.  And that if anything embodied the American can do attitude it was this.  Sure it increases the size of the labor force and there by decreases the wages for this labor, but nothing was stopping the rest of the born in this country Americans from working. 

 Of course many large corporations take advantage of this in rather unfair ways but when I see people with limited skills complain about the lack of work available for them I can’t help but think they merely need to ask for the work.

 If you are a highly skilled person and you can not find work in the field that you trained in I feel for you.  You put a lot of effort into acquiring a skill and can not find work in that.  On the other hand if you have no skills and you will not work for whatever you can get I can’t help you nor do I want to. 

 I also believe that the less you work the more apt you are to work even less.  Simply put you are used to sitting on your ass and refuse to get off it.  Aside from temporary unemployment I believe people should pull their weight. 

 This brings me back to the immigration issue.  These people have so many things going against them.  They don’t speak the language, the culture is alien, and they have no connections.  But the work they do merely requires a strong back and a work ethic. 

 I also believe that we have created this situation ourselves.  We have so much in this country.  We have gone soft.  From high school kids to high school drop outs.  Perhaps this is a symptom of the hand out society that people expect something for nothing I am not sure.  It seemed to happen to those about 4 years younger then I.  I remember being in high school and fighting the other dishwashers for extra shifts to make more money.  Later towards the end of college these high school kids would show up to work late if they even showed up.  This was about the same time these same jobs started to be taken by immigrants. 

 It was not the wage.  It was more then what I made when I did the same job and we did not pay the immigrants any less.  It was all under the table by the way.  So it was not a case of the immigrant making more because he did not have taxes taken out. 

In today’s America dual incomes are the norm.  But are they really worth it?  I am not going to look into the value that someone places on going out and earning an income but I am just going to look at it from the stand point of supply and demand.

 I believe that the first people that went out and began the dual income lifestyle were the only ones to truly see a bonus.  This is because they were able to take advantage of the market before it adjusted to the increased supply of labor.  When the two income household began to be the norm it increased the labor force.  And given supply and demand this would have decreased the price of this labor.  The market soon adjusted to this increased supply of labor and soon made dual incomes almost mandatory. 

 This of course was not all bad.  Sure one hours of work pre-dual income was not the same but it also brought down prices because it increased the amount of goods and services.  And I am not talking about the services offered at the Caesar’s of Atlantic city by the friendly women out of you league that talked to you.  They are usually single income households unless she lives with her pimp.  I am talking about the fact that there are more doctors, lawyers, factory workers, etc. that are in the workforce creating things you want or services you need.

 The one thing that I believe that did get out-of-whack was real estate.  This is primarly because no amount of extra labor can make more land.  Well it can but its very expensive and environmentalist don’t like filling in swamps.  The amount of land to put a house on has not increased but the money available for people to spend has.  So if there is more money going after the same amount of resources the price will increase.  And it has.

 I will speak about the other costs and bonuses of dual incomes from a day to day life in a later post.

Guinness is probably my favorite beer that I can get everywhere.  Meaning its a beer I can go into any airport in the world and have a good chance of getting one. 

Guinness’s website is pretty good but you have to enter your age before you enter.  Someone thinks you can get drunk by looking at the page or something.  I seriously don’t get the whole age filter thing what really is the point.  Who cares if some kid under the legal drinking age learns about the creation of guinness.

If you have never had a guinness before your first one can be hard to get down if you drink it incorrectly.  Most people will sip the top for the first time and only taste the bitter head.  They will then put the beer down and ask you why the hell you drink that crap.   But if they drink it correctly it can greatly change their opinion.  If your first time at drinking guinness did not end with some of the creamy head on your nose you did not drink it correctly.  Try again. (Upon second reading I can’t believe the amount of sexual innuedos in this paragraph)

I have to say that the taste of guinness can vary from region to region but it is still best in Ireland.  I know that it is passe to say that it is best in Ireland, but it really is.  I have to say that I only had one bad guinness in my life time and that was at a dive bar that had the old style bottles without the widget.

Guinness Draught is a stout or porter.  This type of beer was created out of a screwup.  Basicly they burnt the grain and sold it a discount to the local pubs.  The pubs discounted it and the porters (dock workers) drank it because it was cheaper.  So that is how this type of beer got its name.  Well a particular Mr Guinness happen to like this type of beer and decided to perfect it in his version called Guinness Stout.

If you are expecting a thick or heavy beer you will be suprised.  Guinness is remarkably light when drinken correctly. 

Its good and you should pick one up next time your are out.  And it has more then a quarter inch of head send it back and tell them to do a two stage pour.

If you are searching for some smut related material you are going to be sorely mistaken.  I am not going to be discussing about the actual act of getting laid.  Only getting to the bedroom, after that you are on your own (what perv searches blog posts looking for porn).

This insight came to be in a discussion about minimum wage.  I know minimum wage and sex how did they go together.   Well as a buddy and I were discussing the raising of minimum wage and the living wage laws, and we were drinking of course (see title of blog).  It came to me.  Why is a BMW different then a Ford, aside from actual driving dynamics, it is its exclusivity.  So why is exclusivity so important?  Because it shows the ability to gather resources and there by make a better life for your potential offspring and partner.  People like to hang with people that can make their life easier.  And in general people that have more money have the ability to make the life of those immediately around them easier. 

But here is the kicker to this whole thing.  Money or the amount that you have is relative.  A millionaire in a room of billionaires is the poor guy.  In more ancient times it was litarlly the size of your club.  And I am not speaking of the club between your legs.  The cave man that could swing the big club and kill the bigger animal or smash the guy who just worked hard killing the bigger animal had an advantage.  It really depends on your morale standard.  They could get more resources in this case food and there by those around them could have more to eat.  Being a little plump was at a time a sign that you were affluent now it’s just a sign you eat too many fries and quarter pounders. 

Ok now your fat and have a big club big deal what does it actually get you.  That’s right a mate.  We have evolved to search for things in our mates that are a sign of health and fertility.  Given our male dominated society this means that men who bring home lots of bank are more attractive.  Women with nice shapes (which depend on your taste, boob guys, butt guys, and leg guys) are a highly desired commodity.  Sorry ladies I am not trying to demean you.  But lets face it the hotties have a selection of men while the rest bitch and moan about blog posters. 

I previously stated that hotties have a selection of men, they begin their selection on some very superficial criteria.  Yes ladies you can be superficial too.  The guy you choose to end up marrying may be completely different from what you went for on first impressions, but getting past date one for those guys was a lot harder then most I am sure.  Just remember we are talking about generality’s here and not a case by case basis.  But lets be honest, a guy who takes you out on a date in a beat-up 80’s hatch-back is not nearly as impressive as the guy with the new Benz.  Why?  Simple a guy with access to the money for a Benz simply shows the ability to make you and your children better off and more likely to succeed. 

Now that we have established guys with cool stuff are better we must take in the relativity factor.  In high school, we students not in the 90210 zip code were moved to the top of the heap by just having a car.  (I did not have a car but I did have access to my parents van.  Yes I was the van guy in high school.  My buddies loved me, but it did not help me a whole lot.)  Having a car was a sign of some sort of success.  It was also and easy way for people to get together.  Of course after high school a car was not enough.  College brought on more competition.  Now you had to have a nice looking car.  You were not at the BMW, Lexus, or Benz level yet but a nice looking one of those cars was pretty useful but not a deal breaker.  After college the badge on the front of the car started to really matter.  So your level of success or access to resources depends on your competition. 

What the hell does this all have to do with minimum wage?  Simple if all you do is raise the last rung of the ladder nothing changes.  It is not about which rung on the ladder you are on or the height at which the ladder is at.  It’s about the height of everyone else on the ladder.  And chicks dig the guys at the top of the ladder.   

One of the ads that google gave me when I was re-reading my post on the death of capitalism was on Socialism vs Communism.   I find it entertaining because the difference is simple.  Socialism is communism with sugar on top.  Its like argueing if its better to be stuck in the water with a bunch of tiger sharks or great white sharks. 

In socialism the incrediably rich don’t have to change their name.  In communism they have register as part of the communist party.  Anyone not part of the super rich get screwed in either system.  Socialism will legislate the small guy out of business while communism just take it.

And remember all big corporations started as small business.

 One of the unique things about America is that super rich families tend to fall from grace.  It usually takes about three generations.  This is because of the competive nature in which America generally works.  Sure family names stay around and old money is still there but even this old money doesn’t last forever.

 It usually starts with one member of the family who is smart, industrious, and most times a little morally repugnant.  This person builds an empire of oil refineries, hotels, movie studios, search engines, or whatever is the flavor of the generation.  This person works very hard to build something from nothing.  Their children see this hard work and eventually after their parent built up the business and they too have gone from something little to something great takes over the business.  The empire grows bigger and eventually starts running on auto-pilot this second generation have children.  But these children have always had everything.  They do not understand the struggles the previous two generations had to go through.  They too believe that life is a bunch of cherries and everything comes easy.  Without these struggles they are handicapped to take over the business.

 This third generation is usually where the hedonistic attitude begins.  Once this hedonism takes over it is quick fall from grace.  Drugs, Parties, Lots of Sex, and extravagant money is no object spending quickly depletes the family fortune.  Occasionally they have some kids that are not morons and keep it going longer but few of these families ever regain their former greatness.

 One great example of this is the Hiltons.  The Grandfather built the empire, his son kept it going and growing, and well Paris will destroy it if she can. 

 This shows that the economic theory of relativity holds another interesting consequence.  Because the third generation never saw what having little was like they have a very hard time imagining the struggles that were need to accomplish this.  They never truly appreciate what they have.

 I wanted to add one other thing about this third generation.  They also tend to be the ones that are more open to income redistribution.  I think this is because they feel guilty for having so much while others have so little, but it also because they did not see what it took to get there and the hard work of those before them.  Perhaps it is a sense of being overwhelmed that they could never build the empire bigger.  I am not sure.  After all I am just a guy blogging who hopes that my grandchildren have an empire to destroy.

Deep inside the stimulus bill was a series of rules and regulations relating to healthcare records.  I highly suggest you read this link about the healthcare record system.  Did you read it yet?  Seriously just read the article. 

Ok now that you are back and hopefully you are scared.  If you are not scared then you did not read the article.  The stimulus package has essentially setup a great big database to keep track of your health records.  The basic idea is pretty noble.  Unfortunately it will not stay that way.

Let’s start off with the comedic result of this debacle since laughter is still not tracked. 

Heather recognizes her husband is having a heart-attack and calls 911.  Lucky for her she called during regular business hours so someone picked up.  Unfortunately she was directed to the non-heart related emergencies and had to call back.  When she called back it turned out that it was during a mandatory break period.  Heather gave up and dragged her husband into the back of the car.

Heather arrives at the Barney Frank memorial hospital but she cannot find a parking place.  She double parks and drags her husband to the emergency room.  With her husband in her arms she goes to the nurse’s station.  There are four people ahead of her.  Two have what looks like broken limbs of some sort, another has a bloody rag on his head, and one other is hacking away. 

After 10 minutes she moves to the front of the line to let the nurse know that this is an emergency.  The nurse responds that she is helping another patient.  But the nurse’s four inch long neon colored nails are preventing her from efficiently punching in the current patients name and address.  Heather drags her husband back to the end of the line again.

Forty minutes later she reaches the front of the line.  Shortly after explaining the symptoms her husband has the nurse tells Heather that she is in the wrong line.  The line for heart related emergencies is down the hall and to the left.  Heather exhausted by this point can barely explain the symptoms to the nurse at the heart related emergency counter.  Mid way through the explanation the nurse informs Heather that it is time for her break and walks away.  A new nurse sits down but the new nurse informs heather that she does not have the proper paper work for this emergency and proceeds to call a supervisor. 

The supervisor comes over to try and help out.  In between taking bites out of his ham and cheese sandwich he punches a few numbers into the computer and then allows heather to drag her husband to a bed. 

The doctor comes over to see her husband.  Heather believing her husband is only unconscious is relieved to see a doctor.  The doctor lifts up the husband’s wrist, pronounces him dead and walks out the room.   Heather in a fit rage screams at the doctor but he keeps walking away only the words “security please” are heard. 

Heather is thrown on the curb.  She is crying and gasping and sees her car is now being towed away.  In shock she has a heart-attack.   She is dead too.

Ok it is not that funny unless you have a dark, dry, and sarcastic humor like me.  In all seriousness I don’t think the system will break down like this quickly.  Instead it will take years for it to happen but gradually it will break down.  If you are one of the truly rich I would not worry as you will still be able to get care.  It is everyone else that will get screwed. 

Eating the rich has always been sort of a sport for most of human history. Unfortunately eating rich people is like eating your seed stock or slaughtering your birthing age cows. Sure the seeds make great bread and the cows make for a really succulent steak sandwich, you will starve later.

If you don’t believe me, when was the last time you worked for a poor person? Ok all of you social workers sit down those people don’t actually pay you. As much as I don’t really like mega-rich people, especially those that did nothing to get it besides win the vagina lottery. They are a necessary evil. They are the only ones that have enough disposable income to invest it into non-consumption based spending. In other words expanding supply by investment.

During a recession or depression (depending on your own personal employment status) there seems to be an excess supply of goods (and services) and a non-existent supply of money. This is only a short term situation. Soon the excess supply will be sold when the price is lowered enough and new goods will need to be produced. Unfortunately the people who owned the original production facilities were turned from rich producers to a rather succulent casserole by those less fortunate.

Unfortunately we normally do not see farther than our own noses when it comes to economics. Part of this is natural, after-all when faced with starvation we look to find food first. But if we eat next year’s food crop to eat for today we will only starve worse later. The more we as a people continue to take from those of us who are successful and give it to those that are not successful the more we eat our seed crop. I should also state that in reality rarely to the less successful actually see a bounty from those that are successful. Usually what happens is the money is transferred from the successful to the politically connected successful.
People have to remember that we are not rich or poor based on the money in our check accounts or stock portfolio but in our relationship to everyone else. And I don’t mean some squishy love crap I mean that if everyone else has the same as you then you are all poor.

And I prefer my “rich people” with a little butter and a nice merlot reduction.