David Hines column

Note: David Hines passed away on April 1, 2017.


Born in a mill town, David Hines has seen work as a furniture mover, computer programmer/analyst, and professional musician. Observation of politics began as a toddler, since the polls were in his parents' store. He developed a keen interest in history when permitted some independent study time in junior high school.

With a wide range of interests, he is accused by friends of possessing more useless information than any other of their acquaintance. He has officially studied music and psychology, and unofficially nearly everything else. Like many a Mensa member, he can usually be found hip deep in books. Detractors can blame the thin air of the Rockies, where he once lived, for the dearth of brain cells.

David Hines

February 7, 2015

A question was raised recently about valuation. Specifically, what is a human being worth? It seems an odd question. What would be the purpose of assigning a . . .

David Hines

January 12, 2015

Kronos has recently yielded to his son Zeus. The infant is nurtured by the goat Amalthea and his presence hidden from Zeus by his guards, who make noise by . . .

David Hines

November 24, 2014

"Please don't throw me in the briar patch!" Collectivists will use any excuse to push ever more collectivism. No matter how many times it fails, they'll . . .

David Hines

October 20, 2014

We have been living with an emergency for millennia and have been entirely unaware of it. Yesterday Facebook experienced a brief shutdown. Los Angeles 911 . . .

David Hines

October 3, 2014

A century ago three cousins went to war. One might think that George, Wilhelm, and Nicholas might be able to work out their differences. But they were caught . . .

David Hines

July 22, 2014

Many people choose their economics like they choose their favorite bands. They enjoy the beat. No analysis required. "I can dance to it" is sufficient.  . . .

David Hines

June 5, 2014

Superheroes have become ubiquitous in film recently. Since the federal government dispenses grants even for the study of turtles' sex lives, some enterprising . . .

David Hines

May 5, 2014

Seems like 160 years ago. The place in question was Crimea. It was then Russian territory. It is today, too – first through lease agreement, then through . . .

David Hines

April 15, 2014

A frequent anti-market pitch is that a free market can't work because there is imperfect information. This is a rather odd contention. It presupposes that . . .

David Hines

February 28, 2014

As I write we're in the mist of the biennial celebration of tribalism and nationalism. Olympians are taking to ski slopes in a beach community on the Black Sea . . .

David Hines

February 11, 2014

It's axiomatic that hell is hot. But "hot" has numerous meanings. Which would apply? Hell is, of course, calorically irate. Wouldn't you be with those . . .

David Hines

December 29, 2013

If you've spent any time at all online, you've surely seen it. Someone declares that if you believe in Christ you will be saved. Then one professed believer . . .

David Hines

December 10, 2013

In movies things generally have to happen fast. A car chase at the speed of Florida retirees would have insufficient impact to draw in the ticket revenues, and . . .

David Hines

November 1, 2013

The government is shutting down, and in its absence there's so much to do – taxes to not pay; raw milk to drink; unregulated lemonade stand to open; pot . . .

David Hines

October 3, 2013

It will surprise nobody that I think funny. When someone says, "Go ahead and...," I invariably think, "Ahead of what?" Such a wise-gluteus attitude might get . . .

David Hines

August 24, 2013

A new crusade for politicians is serving the unbanked and the underbanked. These are people who are said to not borrow enough from, or deposit enough into, . . .

David Hines

June 29, 2013

The media and government officials have some contempt for preppers – those who set aside supplies in case of some discontinuity in business as usual. Odd . . .

David Hines

June 9, 2013

What makes me part of the "we" that hosts the RG (Mensa Regional Gathering)? Is paying my dues sufficient? Seems to me those monies go to all sorts of purposes. . . .

David Hines

May 9, 2013

Copper has long been the poor man's silver. When aristocrats traded with the latter and nobles traded with gold, common folk produced copper coins for trade. . . .

David Hines

April 2, 2013

There's been a lot of Washington Monument Syndrome going around. Turned into an acronym it might just as well be "Weapons of Mass Scaremongering," or "Words of . . .

David Hines

March 6, 2013

Many people complain about the growing disparity between the super-rich and the rest of us. They see the problem, but their proposals for solving it sink to the . . .

David Hines

December 27, 2012

The turn of the year is a time of traditions. One is that many government laws and regulations take effect. This year the talk has been about the dreaded  . . .

David Hines

November 3, 2012

My politics are sometimes called "fringe." That's quite a compliment; perhaps I'm too cynical, but I don't think it is intended to be. The core of a tree . . .

David Hines

October 1, 2012

Populists are disgruntled with the Do-Nothing Senate. A new sheriff rides into town. Suddenly things can get done. Since the new guy crossed the Rubicon with . . .

David Hines

September 3, 2012

It was insufficient for Stalin to eliminate those of whom he disapproved. He had photos doctored to remove the former comrades, erasing evidence that they were . . .

David Hines

July 31, 2012

Many people think that some straightforward reform will solve government's problems. As sympathetic as I am to such a desire, it is an illusion. Ain't gonna . . .

David Hines

June 3, 2012

A number of politicians are adamant about imposing and enforcing economic sanctions upon Iran and other nations. Are these people suicidal or just plain garden . . .

David Hines

March 30, 2012

Some people, including prominent politicians, tell me that some guy in a mud hut on the other side of the world wants me dead. Therefore, they say, if I don't . . .

David Hines

January 22, 2012

Roman Senators were the "fat cats" of their time. They made their money by owning land that overseers worked for them with slave labor. In fact, this was made . . .

David Hines

December 29, 2011

It's fashionable to say that calling for an understanding of one's opponent is "blaming America first." It is believed that this is unnecessary; all that's . . .

David Hines

December 3, 2011

If there is such a thing as an historical Rorschach test, the Greek dark ages would fill the bill. I speak, of course, of the ancient history (1200-800 BC), not . . .

David Hines

November 2, 2011

The Constitution begins, "We the People." Especially during campaign seasons, people read it as, "We Some of the People." Why wouldn't they? It's now de rigueur . . .

David Hines

August 29, 2011

The news has been inundated with wrangling about how to keep going into debt without going into debt. Neither side has been entirely honest. President Obama . . .

David Hines

August 2, 2011

When and why did greedy capitalist pigs arise? The guy who built the first plow was a capitalist. Instead of hunting or foraging for immediate gratification, . . .

David Hines

July 1, 2011

The king of Epirus was not one to allow short-term exuberance to overcome consideration of long-term cost. After the battle of Asculum, Pyrrhus discounted . . .

David Hines

May 7, 2011

"(T)he only thing we have to fear is fear itself." — Franklin D. Roosevelt Uncertainty can be stressful. People are generally more content with a . . .

David Hines

February 27, 2011

There's nothing wrong with taking pride in one's accomplishments, nor with being proud of one's family, friends, and associations. There is something amiss, . . .

David Hines

January 28, 2011

I heard a caller on C-SPAN taking issue with the term "the American people." I must say, he has a point. He didn't have much time to articulate it, so I shall . . .

David Hines

December 1, 2010

Those who thought they owned mortgage-backed securities may have been mistaken. Courts have ruled that MERS, the electronic registration system created to . . .

David Hines

October 28, 2010

Pi is an irrational number. So is the political argument about dividing it. Here are some approximate numbers: Two of the 3 to the left of the decimal . . .

David Hines

August 28, 2010

A guy I've known for decades is freaking out about communists. I'm not at all fond of communism, nor other forms of socialism, but socialists are nice enough . . .

David Hines

July 23, 2010

We libertarians are indeed politically homeless. If it wasn't already obvious, eight years of George W. Bush and over a year of Obama have demonstrated this . . .

David Hines

June 23, 2010

Who knows how long I'll get away with writing this stuff? I may be reduced to such hard-hitting exposes as recipes for pine nuts and how to make dandelion wine . . .

David Hines

May 26, 2010

First they came for the marijuana. Then they came for the vitamins. Now they want your salt. Not satisfied with a theoretical 100% claim on your income, the . . .

David Hines

April 23, 2010

I've long ago ceased expecting political rhetoric to make sense. There has been much talk of how another government program will "unleash the entrepreneurial . . .

David Hines

March 30, 2010

Some items, both new and not so new, have come to my attention recently. At first glance they may seem unrelated, but if one takes a step back they start to . . .

David Hines

December 22, 2009

I recently had occasion to deliver the following words: Decades ago, when lettuce pickers were on strike, Bertha's friends and neighbors had leaf lettuce. It . . .

David Hines

December 18, 2009

The revelations of fraud by climatologists have wider repercussions than may at first be apparent. The reaction by proponents of the Copenhagen accord are . . .

David Hines

November 24, 2009

Two decades ago the Iron Curtain rapidly crumbled. The usual story is that Reagan's policies caused the Soviet Union to spend itself into bankruptcy. There . . .

David Hines

October 22, 2009

The two kids at their lemonade stand were surprised one day when a big black car pulled up. They debated about whether it portended a lucrative customer or, . . .

David Hines

September 23, 2009

Tales cautioning against hubris are common The Bible, for example, tells of the Tower of Babel. We moderns, of course, have grown beyond such warnings, and . . .

David Hines

August 23, 2009

Congress says they're talking about health care. Not so. All they're discussing is insurance. The issue before them is not medicine; it's merely paying for . . .

David Hines

July 23, 2009

Some people think voters are bird-brains. I wish! No bird would be dumb enough to see a picture of food and mistake it for something edible. Even if a bird . . .

David Hines

June 24, 2009

A major US export is being threatened. When we can no longer export it, it will not be just a certain segment of workers who are affected, but all of us.  . . .

David Hines

May 21, 2009

Many are of the opinion that President Obama should seal us off from the swine flu. Well, maybe. As with anything else, actions have consequences. Native . . .

David Hines

April 24, 2009

Whenever you hear ordinary people discuss economic stimulus, someone is likely to suggest that rather than give money to corporations, each citizen should be . . .

David Hines

April 1, 2009

Credit's a good thing, isn't it? You get credit for doing good things. When your bank credits your account, you have more money. But to the bank, the credit . . .

David Hines

February 25, 2009

I grew up around pinball machines. My dad had some in his lunchroom. Today I see a lot of familiar behavior. There were the bingo machines, in which the . . .

David Hines

January 22, 2009

One would have thought that savvy advertisers would have changed the name of the cardigan sweater. The item became popular during Lord Cardigan's brief . . .

David Hines

December 23, 2008

To Athenians Theseus was a national hero. American voters would give him a more ambivalent assessment. Theseus would get credit for consolidating Attica . . .

David Hines

November 25, 2008

It's almost unanimous: voters agree that we are stupid, silly, and profligate. Roughly 98% of the electorate cast votes for candidates who said as much. The . . .