Sochi

Putin spent an enormous sum on making the Winter Olympics spectacular and special. He should have hired Mitt Romney to run it for him.

It breaks my heart that the great, talented Russian people have a government and system capable of producing brilliant scientists, world-class-athletes and artists of real merit, but cannot get the plumbing right, the potable water flowing, and the sheet rock up on time before the Olympic guests arrive.

Eric Hoffer taped out this paradox about the Russian 50 years ago. I believe they are the most groupist of the white peoples. Their affinity for crowd living, traditional and institutional approval of and tolerance of bribery, corruption, laziness and mediocre work, and tolerance of authoritarian patriarchs like Putin, holds them down and back as a people.

Let me restate the obvious. People everywhere are created equal. People everywhere cannot reach fantastic riches produced by living under a free market system when the capitalist system is circumvented by central planners coercing the masses to live in a redistributionist, command and control economy. Without free market living, people have not the ability to better themselves by their own ingenuity and hard work, and be rewarded materially without their earned wealth being confiscated by the government. The Russians need small government and a free market economy.

Russians need to be individualist and individuators, and then their fantastic talents can be released to lead the world in many areas once again.

Russians need to live in a constitutional republic.

Putin, let your people go. Let them be free to grow, grow wealthy and lead, full happy lives.