It's Not Easy Being Pals

If the name “Buddy” gives you the warm fuzzies, then you're going to like this story. In case you missed this morning's news cycle, a great hero dog story is being reported in the media today. “Buddy,” an obviously loyal German Sheppard and family friend, overcame his fears and led police to the scene of a house fire, tremendously shortening the time more police and fire fighters needed to find the blaze. You can see the video here. According to the officer who was intelligent enough to speak dog and follow up on it, Buddy appeared very agitated, spun, ran ahead and looked back repeatedly. He also disappeared once the officer was on the scene – proving that anyone can overcome their fears given the right motivation. Way to go, Buddy. Once again, I'm very proud to be the leader of my pack.

I'm being a bit lazy by posting this quote. But since I haven't posted in some time, and since I'm about to eat lunch, I wanted to do as little as possible while still giving you a bit of pause. It made me stop – twice. The quote below is from a short book I'm currently reading. I'm just curious to know if you can guess the date this statement was made. It's at the bottom. Try not to peek.

“'There cannot be any doubt that this bureaucratic system is essentially antiliberal, undemocratic, and un-American, that it is contrary to the spirit and to the letter of the Constitution, and that it is a replica of totalitarian methods.... It is imbued with a fanatical hostility to free enterprise and private property. It paralyzes the conduct of business and lowers the productivity of labor. By heedless spending it squanders the nation's wealth. It is inefficient and wasteful. Although it styles what it does (as) planning, it has no definite plans and aims. It lacks unity and uniformity; the various bureaus and agencies work at cross-purposes. The outcome is a disintegration of the whole social apparatus of production and distribution. Poverty and distress are bound to follow.'
This vehement indictment of bureaucracy is, by and large, an adequate although emotional description of present-day trends in American government. But it misses the point as it makes bureaucracy and the bureaucrats responsible for an evolution the causes of which must be sought for elsewhere. Bureaucracy is but a consequence and a symptom of things and changes much more deeply rooted. The characteristic feature of present-day policies is the trend toward a substitution of government control for free enterprise. Powerful political parties and pressure groups are fervently asking for public control of all economic activities, for thorough government planning, and for the nationalization of businesses. They aim at full government control of education and at the socialization of the medical profession. There is no sphere of human activity that they would not be prepared to subordinate to regimentation by the authorities. In their eyes, state control is the panacea for all ills.”

Ludwig von Mises "Bureaucracy" – 1944