The RNC 2020 speaker who’s made the biggest impact on me thus far is Maximo Alvarez, a Florida businessman whose family fled Cuba when he was 13 years old. Here’s an excerpt: I heard the promises of Fidel Castro. And I can never forget all those who grew up around me, who looked like me, who could have been me, who suffered and starved and died because they believed those empty promises. . . . Those false promises — spread the wealth, free education, free healthcare, defund the police, trust a socialist state more than your family and community — they don’t sound radical to my ears. They sound familiar. . . . But the country I was born in is gone – destroyed. I may be Cuban born, but I am 100-percent American. This is the greatest country in the world. I said this before. If I gave away… Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Garry Kasparov
Who Will Be America’s America?
And do not forget that nearly all of the countless 20th-century innovations and industries that made the rest of the developed world so efficient and comfortable came from America, and it wasn’t a coincidence. As long as Europe had America taking risks, investing ambitiously, and yes, being “inequal,” it had the luxury of benefiting from the results without making the same sacrifices. Who will be America’s America? — Garry Kasparov Read more →
Talking About the Benefits of Socialism is a Capitalist Luxury
Americans talking about the benefits of Socialism is a luxury paid for by the successes of capitalism. — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 1, 2016 Read more →
Greece is Going Out of Business
I remember the good old days when we only had to worry about small banks going out of business. Then big banks started to go out of business, then non-bank financial institutions, and now small countries. The problem with having a lot of debt is that, with some exceptions (“too big to fail”), bad things happen when your investors get nervous. My memory is not photographic as some of the legends about me say, but I am sure I would remember if the works of Adam Smith included the phrase “too big to fail.” — Garry Kasparov What are the odds that people running companies or countries will make smart decisions about money if they don’t need to make smart decisions — if they can do just as well or better making dumb decisions and being rescued from the consequences? According to the government debt chart below, the next countries… Read more →
When Will Snowden Denounce Russian Spying?
Russia to vastly increase internet spying capabilities. I eagerly await Mr. Snowden's principled denouncement! http://t.co/rWFgYz0j05 — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 21, 2013 I'm sure a Sakharov Prize nominee like Snowden will bravely stand up to criticize the invasive policies of his new homeland. — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 21, 2013 Read more →
Everyone Was Equal
Sorry, but I’m from a place where everything was “shared equally” and it wasn’t as nice as some of you seem to think it would be. — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 20, 2013 Or as fellow grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi wrote in his autobiography: “The Soviets were very successful: everyone was equal — equally poor.” Read more →