A bad celebrity passed away

Friday, March 20, 2026

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Last week the world lost a bad guy: Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb.

Ehrlich was well known to the public, not just for his bestselling book but for the approximately 20 times he appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

He predicted catastrophic consequences from a growing population, and recommended measures like forced sterilization, the addition of sterilizing agents to drinking water, taxing diapers, rewards for not having children -- a long list.

He said that if he were a betting man, he'd say there wouldn't even be an England in 2000.

He won countless awards and prizes, and who knows how many millions in grant money, and the whole thing ended up being a big turkey. It was like Al Gore's predictions.

Now let's say a word about Julian Simon, the man with whom Ehrlich made the bet of the century.

Simon began as a believer in the population doomsday position, but because he was so data driven, the numbers were what mattered to him. And when the data didn't seem to point to doomsday, he changed his opinion.

While in the Navy, moreover, Simon visited very poor parts of the world, and when he'd visit them again years later, he would see improvements -- suggesting an upward, not downward, trend.

Simon's numbers told the opposite story from what Ehrlich was telling, but Ehrlich was getting invited onto The Tonight Show and Simon wasn't. He had already written his book The Ultimate Resource. What else could he do?

And that's when he decided to confront Ehrlich with: put up or shut up. Let's make a bet. Pick any five resources you think we are running out of, and I'll take the side that in ten years their inflation-adjusted prices will actually be lower (because human creativity will have developed substitutes, various ways to economize on them, etc.).

Ehrlich chose copper, chrome, nickel, tin and tungsten. The two staked a total of $1,000 ($200 per metal, based on 1980 prices). If the inflation-adjusted price of this basket of commodities rose above $1,000, Simon would pay Ehrlich the difference; if it fell below, Ehrlich would pay Simon.

On September 29, 1990, ten years to the day, the inflation-adjusted prices of all five had fallen, and Ehrlich had to pay Simon.

Now my friends, an abrupt change of subject, because something unexpected happened this morning: for the first time in years, Mark Levin attacked me.

At this point, who even cares. There is nothing more boring than podcaster wars. It's all a stupid waste of time.

However, I do believe in the principle that you ought to monetize your haters.

So here is what Levin wrote:
Levin didn't have to do a whole lot to ignore me for "many, many years," because I was simultaneously ignoring him.

The last time I interacted with Levin was when he was defending Barack Obama over the intervention in Libya (which turned out awesome, like all the interventions Levin favors). I was taking the wild position that no, we should not defend Obama.

When I've mentioned this to the occasional Levin supporter over the years they have refused to believe me. Why, Mark Levin would never have defended Obama! Oh, my dear, on this I regret to tell you he absolutely would. 

So in honor of ol' Mark, just between now and midnight, use coupon code LEVIN (come on, you know you want to type that in and get a discount with Levin's name) to take 30% off at Liberty Classroom, my forbidden dashboard university:
 
Tom Woods






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Tom Woods · PO Box 701447 · Saint Cloud, FL 34770 · USA

posted by June Lesley at 11:46 AM 0 comments

Welcome Spring 🌷 Eternity® Hydrangea & Roses Have Returned

The Return of an Icon. Give The Gift of Real Flowers That Last A Year. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

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