Survivalist or Survivor? Your choice...
The chief characteristics to personal stability are self-reliance and being prepared.
It seems to me that what many predicted is coming to pass and whether or not it's a "Double Dip" or a "long term slowdown in recovery" is mere semantics. What I think will really cause a collapse of the system is that the political and bureaucratic classes in DC - the Federal Reserve, the Administration and Congress - are playing with fire by making a game out of the debt ceiling, budget, quantitative easing and more. It is unnecessary roughness that serves only one real unintended purpose on their part and that is their own ultimate demise.
My belief is that is where we are heading. A economic crash and system collapse that is unlike any others in the past since we are in an entirely new era. Prior to the 1930s Recessions and Depressions were called Panics. Only history written down the road will name what we are going through but to my way of thinking the best I've heard is Disruption. We are indeed in a Great Disruption of the world as we knew it the past 100 years, since post-WWI, a turning point in history as big as the Reformation, Age of Enlightenment and American Revolution.
I believe America is going to be divided up regionally and not necessarily by contiguous geography but certainly confined to a certain extent by it, into segments of society who survive (and some will thrive) by taking responsibility for their own physical and mental health and working to maintain it. The amount of money, gold or supplies you have may or may not help you but your preparation, planning and wits will. Many of the survivalist camp think their moving off to the woods or for those who stay in towns and cities, growing your own and stockpiling will get them by. I understand that thinking and I do think that now is the time to preserve what you can, store as much as feasible and think of alternate ways to obtain goods in the future other than paper money. Therein lies material for an entire other blog that I'm still contemplating.
What is clear is that economically, therefore politically and socially, things are not improving and we are not "recovering." That is due to the fact that our recovery does not lie in restoring things the way they were and it's taking awhile to get that message through to the markets, people and institutions. This does not mean pending doom for everyone and there is no reason for gloom unless you are unprepared. I recognize some people are trapped in situations they feel they cannot get out of. My thought is "where there is a will there is a way" and it requires thinking through your situation to come up with the best possible solution.
No one promises that will be easy and it never has been in the history of America. Self reliance, mutual help, reinvention and rebuilding are inherent in the American character even if we seem to have lost that in the past 30-40 years. I have every faith it is still alive and well in this country and also in the inherent values of England and the British people.
Here is my video blog of a few weeks ago when the markets were still relatively stable, economic indicator reports had not come out and the debt situation in Europe and the US had not risen to the forefront again. I stand by what I said then.
http://youtu.be/H8GHuyngLZM
Showing posts with label Corporate Republicans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corporate Republicans. Show all posts
4/12/11
You Can Quote Me On That
The next "Budget Crisis" won't be negotiable...
The Federal Government could learn from Arizona.
The deal-making-as-usual by the standard issue political class of posturing Republicans and Democrats in Washington DC, that held a "down to the last minute" showdown this past weekend, was a mockery to taxpayers. They tried once again to make fools of us. No one really caved and all that happened was a lot of shifting of money and budget figures.
The new State Legislature of Arizona that started this year after the last General Election inherited a budget fiasco due to the tomfoolery of the last Legislature. This month they created a real actual budget that was signed by the Governor. This budget slashes spending and cuts some agencies and services realistically and without sleight of hand shifting of dollars on paper. It also rejects borrowing and recognizes there is a huge shortfall in revenue that will be carried over to the next session of this Legislative Session (Arizona's legislative sessions are two year terms) next year that will have to be dealt with by more cuts. The reasoning is simple: "We ain't got no real money." State revenues are falling and there is no point in creating a budget that continues to spend money that is not coming in.
The next Federal Government budget, even if Bernanke keeps printing phony money, can no longer be a cat and mouse game replete with high drama, back door dealing and accounting gimmicks. That is because we really don't have the revenue to fund a lot of things that the government spends on and it will be worse by then. If tax revenues aren't high enough and since raising taxes only makes an already overtaxed population (yes, the "rich" also) that much poorer, what is there to budget maneuver? And yes again, there will be hue and cry over welfare programs for the "needy," Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, among other things. Repeat: "We ain't got no real money." Nothing adds up to nothing.
If however, the current political class tries those tricks again, as I suspect they might, we would get the government we deserve for voting the jackasses into office. The next budget is not up for high drama and should not be negotiable. If that is what occurs, we would be far better off voting the members of Congress up for reelection out, voting in inexperienced but pragmatic and realistic representatives that reflect us, the real people of America.
The Federal Government could learn from Arizona.
The deal-making-as-usual by the standard issue political class of posturing Republicans and Democrats in Washington DC, that held a "down to the last minute" showdown this past weekend, was a mockery to taxpayers. They tried once again to make fools of us. No one really caved and all that happened was a lot of shifting of money and budget figures.
The new State Legislature of Arizona that started this year after the last General Election inherited a budget fiasco due to the tomfoolery of the last Legislature. This month they created a real actual budget that was signed by the Governor. This budget slashes spending and cuts some agencies and services realistically and without sleight of hand shifting of dollars on paper. It also rejects borrowing and recognizes there is a huge shortfall in revenue that will be carried over to the next session of this Legislative Session (Arizona's legislative sessions are two year terms) next year that will have to be dealt with by more cuts. The reasoning is simple: "We ain't got no real money." State revenues are falling and there is no point in creating a budget that continues to spend money that is not coming in.
The next Federal Government budget, even if Bernanke keeps printing phony money, can no longer be a cat and mouse game replete with high drama, back door dealing and accounting gimmicks. That is because we really don't have the revenue to fund a lot of things that the government spends on and it will be worse by then. If tax revenues aren't high enough and since raising taxes only makes an already overtaxed population (yes, the "rich" also) that much poorer, what is there to budget maneuver? And yes again, there will be hue and cry over welfare programs for the "needy," Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, among other things. Repeat: "We ain't got no real money." Nothing adds up to nothing.
If however, the current political class tries those tricks again, as I suspect they might, we would get the government we deserve for voting the jackasses into office. The next budget is not up for high drama and should not be negotiable. If that is what occurs, we would be far better off voting the members of Congress up for reelection out, voting in inexperienced but pragmatic and realistic representatives that reflect us, the real people of America.
4/11/11
Economic, Social and Geopolitical
Are Free Markets possible with Big Business?...
It strikes me that long ago Big Business and Big Government created a peaceful co-existence arrangement along with Big Labor Unions out of mutual co-dependence, that a truly free market doesn't exist or is even possible under today's conditions. Our country is a big country and that in itself seems endemic to the nature of it, since we whitewashed our regional differences with pervasive look-alike fast food joints, big box stores and regional offices that serve only the headquarters in New York or Los Angeles. The completion of wiping out of all but the smallest differences in sections of our country occurred in the last 30 to 40 years. Regional variations were a valuable component of free enterprise, since they spurred innovation to meet common demands, adapting variations in providing products and services to suit local needs.
In a 1959 TV interview with an intellectually inferior Mike Wallace, Ayn Rand points out that the Industrialists of the late 1800s and early 1900s were the original collectivists, since they conspired with elected officials and government to elect laws and regulations in their favor. In doing so they began the distortion of markets, making them no longer actually free markets, instead closed ones. Workers in reaction to industrial labor laws in turn created labor unions to conspire with government to enact laws in their favor against the robber barons. The end result has been over decades markets have been altered to resemble more as agreements among large businesses and labor unions operating as collectives.
Businesses operate in their own self-interest to monopolize markets, fending off competition by securing laws in their favor, contracts that shut out potential competitors and broad copyright and patent laws that allow them to over exert rights over potential business adversaries. This has gone on so long it is now accepted as normal practice in commercial enterprise when it is not. Large corporations are experts at this, swallowing up anyone who has a better idea that doesn't violate contract law or a patent. If the potential competitor does not give in, they are harassed and become mired in expensive marketing wars and litigation. Unions are complicit with this because they are now part of the status quo and it is in their favor.
Established business leaders no longer seek to create products in the spirit of improving our lives and making things better. Their co-conspirators are business schools who churn out MBA graduates with uniform thinking of how a business should function with specific marketing mindsets. The marketing mindsets serves only their employers, to sell consumers goods they may or may not need. The quality, innovation, improvement and relevance of goods is not a consideration, they are concerned only with selling the idea of a product and not the worth and value of them in real life application. They are the enemies of free market capitalism.
In turn, their enemy is any change or disruption in the marketplace that may shift the balance out of their favor. Technological change such as the internet and scientific products, such as new medicine, that can easily be produced is an example of this. It is also the cause of the current shift in the economic, social and political in markets and why existing entities are filing lawsuits and counterclaims on new products. The result is Big Business and corporations are doing everything they can, with their government counterparts, to preserve the structure they have spent over a century developing. Due to the laws and regulations they have conspired to distort the bazaars we refer to as markets, they are sometimes temporarily winning. Apple still produces an idea and product and then tightly controls it, suing everyone in sight who has even a vaguely similar idea or product.
The question then is will the mutual aiding and abetting by current dominating large business entities, that contain tacit agreements among themselves, that keep markets under the control of a handful of large companies continue? Will the pharmaceutical industry, with the innovation of science and industry, be able to maintain control within a small group of mega-corporations that allegedly "compete" with each other with a wink and a nod? In order to avoid pure collectivism as promulgated by progressives and unionists, breaking down the lobbies of any existing industry that works to close markets must occur.
When Corporate Republicans talk about being for "free markets" it is as much a joke on the American people as when Democrats state they are for the "common man." The same is true when AT&T says they welcome competition and Non-Governmental Organizations say "let the best social service agency win" when competing for the same government grant money. Disassembling this legacy will be piece by piece at first and will seem both painstakingly frustrating and impossible in the beginning.
Just as the Civil War was followed by a more disrupting Industrial Revolution, shook up the economy and way of life of America, the current economic disruption caused by technological and scientific innovation has the potential to do the same. Our challenge is to bust down the walls built by entrenched business and government. Chipping away the bricks and mortar will be slow at first. We are in the beginning stages of a second wave of a current downturn, which has every signs of being an economic earthquake of epic proportions that in a day, the business and political walls will tumble down. The weakness will be from systemic structural problems, new disruptive technology and scientific entrepreneurs chipping away, culminating in a long period of regrouping of markets. At that time we need to ensure that markets are decentralized again, similar to the way business was once conducted regionally, but on a new and different scale. Small to medium sized businesses must then learn again to compete on an even surface, not comprised by government intervention, to reinvigorate the core of American ideals.
Ayn Rand "Destroying Capitalism from Within"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-lptr_0Xck&feature=channel_video_title
It strikes me that long ago Big Business and Big Government created a peaceful co-existence arrangement along with Big Labor Unions out of mutual co-dependence, that a truly free market doesn't exist or is even possible under today's conditions. Our country is a big country and that in itself seems endemic to the nature of it, since we whitewashed our regional differences with pervasive look-alike fast food joints, big box stores and regional offices that serve only the headquarters in New York or Los Angeles. The completion of wiping out of all but the smallest differences in sections of our country occurred in the last 30 to 40 years. Regional variations were a valuable component of free enterprise, since they spurred innovation to meet common demands, adapting variations in providing products and services to suit local needs.
In a 1959 TV interview with an intellectually inferior Mike Wallace, Ayn Rand points out that the Industrialists of the late 1800s and early 1900s were the original collectivists, since they conspired with elected officials and government to elect laws and regulations in their favor. In doing so they began the distortion of markets, making them no longer actually free markets, instead closed ones. Workers in reaction to industrial labor laws in turn created labor unions to conspire with government to enact laws in their favor against the robber barons. The end result has been over decades markets have been altered to resemble more as agreements among large businesses and labor unions operating as collectives.
Businesses operate in their own self-interest to monopolize markets, fending off competition by securing laws in their favor, contracts that shut out potential competitors and broad copyright and patent laws that allow them to over exert rights over potential business adversaries. This has gone on so long it is now accepted as normal practice in commercial enterprise when it is not. Large corporations are experts at this, swallowing up anyone who has a better idea that doesn't violate contract law or a patent. If the potential competitor does not give in, they are harassed and become mired in expensive marketing wars and litigation. Unions are complicit with this because they are now part of the status quo and it is in their favor.
Established business leaders no longer seek to create products in the spirit of improving our lives and making things better. Their co-conspirators are business schools who churn out MBA graduates with uniform thinking of how a business should function with specific marketing mindsets. The marketing mindsets serves only their employers, to sell consumers goods they may or may not need. The quality, innovation, improvement and relevance of goods is not a consideration, they are concerned only with selling the idea of a product and not the worth and value of them in real life application. They are the enemies of free market capitalism.
In turn, their enemy is any change or disruption in the marketplace that may shift the balance out of their favor. Technological change such as the internet and scientific products, such as new medicine, that can easily be produced is an example of this. It is also the cause of the current shift in the economic, social and political in markets and why existing entities are filing lawsuits and counterclaims on new products. The result is Big Business and corporations are doing everything they can, with their government counterparts, to preserve the structure they have spent over a century developing. Due to the laws and regulations they have conspired to distort the bazaars we refer to as markets, they are sometimes temporarily winning. Apple still produces an idea and product and then tightly controls it, suing everyone in sight who has even a vaguely similar idea or product.
The question then is will the mutual aiding and abetting by current dominating large business entities, that contain tacit agreements among themselves, that keep markets under the control of a handful of large companies continue? Will the pharmaceutical industry, with the innovation of science and industry, be able to maintain control within a small group of mega-corporations that allegedly "compete" with each other with a wink and a nod? In order to avoid pure collectivism as promulgated by progressives and unionists, breaking down the lobbies of any existing industry that works to close markets must occur.
When Corporate Republicans talk about being for "free markets" it is as much a joke on the American people as when Democrats state they are for the "common man." The same is true when AT&T says they welcome competition and Non-Governmental Organizations say "let the best social service agency win" when competing for the same government grant money. Disassembling this legacy will be piece by piece at first and will seem both painstakingly frustrating and impossible in the beginning.
Just as the Civil War was followed by a more disrupting Industrial Revolution, shook up the economy and way of life of America, the current economic disruption caused by technological and scientific innovation has the potential to do the same. Our challenge is to bust down the walls built by entrenched business and government. Chipping away the bricks and mortar will be slow at first. We are in the beginning stages of a second wave of a current downturn, which has every signs of being an economic earthquake of epic proportions that in a day, the business and political walls will tumble down. The weakness will be from systemic structural problems, new disruptive technology and scientific entrepreneurs chipping away, culminating in a long period of regrouping of markets. At that time we need to ensure that markets are decentralized again, similar to the way business was once conducted regionally, but on a new and different scale. Small to medium sized businesses must then learn again to compete on an even surface, not comprised by government intervention, to reinvigorate the core of American ideals.
Ayn Rand "Destroying Capitalism from Within"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-lptr_0Xck&feature=channel_video_title
3/30/11
You Can Quote Me On That
Let the Federal Government shutdown...
Not only that, let's celebrate it, make it an extra long national holiday, a break from the political and bureaucratic classes who sharpen their wits with deal-making every day. "Oh NO!" you cry! "What about all the people who need their Social Security and Welfare checks?" "What about Medicare and Medicaid?"
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
I'm pretty confident that deep in the American soul there's enough people with a heart and ingenuity who will take care of people when they don't get the check. That is those who want help anyway. I'll bet it won't be bleeding heart liberals either but regular working people. The so-called progressives will be busy getting busted up by the people they've been "helping," who are angry the free ride isn't being conveniently direct deposited. There's a pretty good chance there are several million doctors and health providers who would love to be free of all the paperwork and provide health service at reasonable cost.
It's one way to sort out the wheat from the chaff.
Let's not talk about a week or two here but months, maybe even years. It will be a shakedown of what "vital services" really are and what the government should be involved in and facilitate solutions for. We would know after a period of time what institutional services really are important and needed versus those who are getting the gravy money and dispensable. For example the Coast Guard would qualify but I'm willing to bet that some of their agencies and people will be found as not necessary. My money is on that most students can be taught exceptionally well by competent teachers, let out of the corral and freed from administrators and unions, liberated to innovate without all the clutter of interference.
What about all the disruption it would cause?
Think of the disruption that's going to happen if we don't stop feeding the beast. The political class, bureaucrats and non-governmental organizations living off "grants" is trying to pirate away our money for a government that doesn't serve those of us paying for it very well. They're hijacking our government and we're the fools for voting them in. We need to get hold of the remote control again. Just as surely as the tech bubble, housing bubble and the stock bubble burst, so will the Big Government bubble burst. Now that will be real disruption.
The point is not entirely tongue in cheek. I seriously think we need to let the government stop, become immobile, cease and desist. Most of it anyway and I mean seriously paring it down to bare bones, not this phony baloney "shutdown" which is really government workers staying home and getting paid with all those accumulated personal days, vacation days, sick time. No, just S. T. O. P....Skid Tires On Pavement before smashing into the brick wall of no return. If bureaucrats, politicians and their staff don't have big savings accounts with their bloated paychecks, I don't feel sorry for them. They can help out at the food bank and get groceries.
What is really needed will still be carried out while we figure out what we need and can afford.
Truly vital communications, defense, electrical power, infrastructure and markets will still run without all the programs, grants, pencil and people pushers while we figure out what really is necessary that we can afford. We need to seriously look at our options now before it inevitably bursts all over us like an overcooked egg in a microwave.
Not only that, let's celebrate it, make it an extra long national holiday, a break from the political and bureaucratic classes who sharpen their wits with deal-making every day. "Oh NO!" you cry! "What about all the people who need their Social Security and Welfare checks?" "What about Medicare and Medicaid?"
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
I'm pretty confident that deep in the American soul there's enough people with a heart and ingenuity who will take care of people when they don't get the check. That is those who want help anyway. I'll bet it won't be bleeding heart liberals either but regular working people. The so-called progressives will be busy getting busted up by the people they've been "helping," who are angry the free ride isn't being conveniently direct deposited. There's a pretty good chance there are several million doctors and health providers who would love to be free of all the paperwork and provide health service at reasonable cost.
It's one way to sort out the wheat from the chaff.
Let's not talk about a week or two here but months, maybe even years. It will be a shakedown of what "vital services" really are and what the government should be involved in and facilitate solutions for. We would know after a period of time what institutional services really are important and needed versus those who are getting the gravy money and dispensable. For example the Coast Guard would qualify but I'm willing to bet that some of their agencies and people will be found as not necessary. My money is on that most students can be taught exceptionally well by competent teachers, let out of the corral and freed from administrators and unions, liberated to innovate without all the clutter of interference.
What about all the disruption it would cause?
Think of the disruption that's going to happen if we don't stop feeding the beast. The political class, bureaucrats and non-governmental organizations living off "grants" is trying to pirate away our money for a government that doesn't serve those of us paying for it very well. They're hijacking our government and we're the fools for voting them in. We need to get hold of the remote control again. Just as surely as the tech bubble, housing bubble and the stock bubble burst, so will the Big Government bubble burst. Now that will be real disruption.
The point is not entirely tongue in cheek. I seriously think we need to let the government stop, become immobile, cease and desist. Most of it anyway and I mean seriously paring it down to bare bones, not this phony baloney "shutdown" which is really government workers staying home and getting paid with all those accumulated personal days, vacation days, sick time. No, just S. T. O. P....Skid Tires On Pavement before smashing into the brick wall of no return. If bureaucrats, politicians and their staff don't have big savings accounts with their bloated paychecks, I don't feel sorry for them. They can help out at the food bank and get groceries.
What is really needed will still be carried out while we figure out what we need and can afford.
Truly vital communications, defense, electrical power, infrastructure and markets will still run without all the programs, grants, pencil and people pushers while we figure out what really is necessary that we can afford. We need to seriously look at our options now before it inevitably bursts all over us like an overcooked egg in a microwave.
1/28/11
Thinking Out Loud
Playing us like a fiddle...
Excuse me, what bipartisanship?
The song of bipartisanship being fiddled to fool the American public by the Democrats and Republicans is music for the tone deaf. We all know that when it gets down to the nitty gritty of deal-making for legislation or any kind of action, neither side will harmonize. Fiddle strings will screech and snap.
Obama and the Democrats are still talking misty-eyed idealistic dreams that the United States will "out-innovate, out-educate and outbuild the rest of the world" in our "Sputnik moment." First we need to educate several generations of what Sputnik was and why it once motivated and inspired us to do better. That costs a lot of money we don't have and the Republicans stated concern is about America's trillions of dollars of debt.
The fiddle strings that screech and snap will be to the tune of high unemployment, low to no GDP and soaring inflation. That s-p-e-l-l-s no more government spending and debt, a subject the Republicans talk about but are just as guilty of doing as Democrats. They just like to spend it on different things.
The truth is "we ain't got no money."
The bottom line is Americans will have to dig themselves out of this hole, first by somehow turning the government spigot off, then by innovating and building our own America back again. The political, bureaucratic and business class has no interest in doing that, we really do have to do it ourselves. Oh and yes, we can...double dare ya.
Excuse me, what bipartisanship?
The song of bipartisanship being fiddled to fool the American public by the Democrats and Republicans is music for the tone deaf. We all know that when it gets down to the nitty gritty of deal-making for legislation or any kind of action, neither side will harmonize. Fiddle strings will screech and snap.
Obama and the Democrats are still talking misty-eyed idealistic dreams that the United States will "out-innovate, out-educate and outbuild the rest of the world" in our "Sputnik moment." First we need to educate several generations of what Sputnik was and why it once motivated and inspired us to do better. That costs a lot of money we don't have and the Republicans stated concern is about America's trillions of dollars of debt.
The fiddle strings that screech and snap will be to the tune of high unemployment, low to no GDP and soaring inflation. That s-p-e-l-l-s no more government spending and debt, a subject the Republicans talk about but are just as guilty of doing as Democrats. They just like to spend it on different things.
The truth is "we ain't got no money."
The bottom line is Americans will have to dig themselves out of this hole, first by somehow turning the government spigot off, then by innovating and building our own America back again. The political, bureaucratic and business class has no interest in doing that, we really do have to do it ourselves. Oh and yes, we can...double dare ya.
10/4/10
Some Americans Are Unhappy With Each Other
Essentially two segments agree on the problems...
They just don't like each other's political answers to them.
It would be an understatement to say there is an ideological political war going on in this country and in this commentary I'll just use the simple "Left" and "Right" to refer to the opposing sides, although it is far more complex than that.
Basically it seems that the Left wants to preserve and create a lot of the government institutions and social programs that have evolved largely since the sixties. Their belief is that all Americans should pool their money by taxation and that the government should provide broad education and social services, provide health care, insure equality by a quota system and regulate business on a number of levels. The government is the mainstay of society and it is essentially a Statist point of view.
Primarily the Right appears wants to dismantle the majority of current government programs that have developed since WWII and increased over the last 40 years. They believe that Americans know best how to disperse their money and that the government should be limited and small, with elimination or privatization of public schools, social services, health care, Affirmative Action quota systems and allow business to operate in a free market. People on a local level know best how to operate society. It is essentially a libertarian republican (lower case) point of view.
For the most part the opposing sides have aligned themselves with the two major political parties, the Left with the Democrats and the Right with the Republicans. They argue over everything from the economy, social programs, immigration, business, individual rights, the role of government...ad infinitum. We all know the topics we've heard them so much and so loudly. They are both rife with hypocrisy and contradictions on what they believe in and what they do.
This is a huge over-simplification I realize.
In my opinion most Americans who align themselves with one side or the other, do not really pay much attention to the finer points of each side, the contradictions within them or the real implications of what each stands for. Really who could, unless you're a political junkie or social activist? I think a lot of people choose sides for cultural rather than political ideal reasons. Alliance relies more on who they are most comfortable and identify with for social and cultural reasons. Sure, they essentially agree with the viewpoint of their preference but often it is based on language, jingo and perceptions of what they think that party stands for. If you listen to the "base" of each, the complaints about "what is wrong with America," are essentially the same. The fundamental disagreement is how to resolve those complaints.
If I were a betting man, I know which side I would bet on that will dominate the upcoming midterm General Election. I would also bet that the majority of common complaints won't be resolved or if they are, in a manner that the dominating party professes to believe in. I would say the same about the opposing side if they were in that position.
That's because we are not even hearing each other, much less listening, we're too busy shouting down the opposition. There isn't recognition the answer isn't in political solutions to manipulate government their way, it is in resolution by finding common ground based in reality.
There is no reality in current politics. We don't recognize that all sides are Americans and do have a voice, whether we like it or not. It's political football, the winner takes all, but no one really gains anything but a cheap trophy. Politics is interesting to watch to me, but I hold no belief that there is a political answer to the present problems in this country. Power really does reside in the people in these United States of America but it isn't in the political arena and until people realize that, we're deadlocked. It really is in the power of people going out and doing constructive things and making change happen in the real world, without being sidetracked by current political party machinations. Our government was structured that way originally...to allow people the freedom to do these things. Early on in our history political parties got in the way but in the past 30-40 years they have all interfered too much and gained too much control. We allowed that. The Political Class has gained a power it was never meant to have and people will have to pay attention to stop that.
It remains to be seen if the Political Class, in my lifetime, is reduced to being representatives of average people, but not impossible.
Both major parties are failing, although it isn't obviously apparent now. If the party not in power now does regain the upper hand in the upcoming election, I would also bet their weaknesses and failings will be displayed (and exploited) in the same manner as the current majority party.
That could be the start of the recognition that neither party serves the American people well and that "the lesser of two evils" is not acceptable any longer. Is it possible for a third alternative to rise up in the near future?
They just don't like each other's political answers to them.
It would be an understatement to say there is an ideological political war going on in this country and in this commentary I'll just use the simple "Left" and "Right" to refer to the opposing sides, although it is far more complex than that.
Basically it seems that the Left wants to preserve and create a lot of the government institutions and social programs that have evolved largely since the sixties. Their belief is that all Americans should pool their money by taxation and that the government should provide broad education and social services, provide health care, insure equality by a quota system and regulate business on a number of levels. The government is the mainstay of society and it is essentially a Statist point of view.
Primarily the Right appears wants to dismantle the majority of current government programs that have developed since WWII and increased over the last 40 years. They believe that Americans know best how to disperse their money and that the government should be limited and small, with elimination or privatization of public schools, social services, health care, Affirmative Action quota systems and allow business to operate in a free market. People on a local level know best how to operate society. It is essentially a libertarian republican (lower case) point of view.
For the most part the opposing sides have aligned themselves with the two major political parties, the Left with the Democrats and the Right with the Republicans. They argue over everything from the economy, social programs, immigration, business, individual rights, the role of government...ad infinitum. We all know the topics we've heard them so much and so loudly. They are both rife with hypocrisy and contradictions on what they believe in and what they do.
This is a huge over-simplification I realize.
In my opinion most Americans who align themselves with one side or the other, do not really pay much attention to the finer points of each side, the contradictions within them or the real implications of what each stands for. Really who could, unless you're a political junkie or social activist? I think a lot of people choose sides for cultural rather than political ideal reasons. Alliance relies more on who they are most comfortable and identify with for social and cultural reasons. Sure, they essentially agree with the viewpoint of their preference but often it is based on language, jingo and perceptions of what they think that party stands for. If you listen to the "base" of each, the complaints about "what is wrong with America," are essentially the same. The fundamental disagreement is how to resolve those complaints.
If I were a betting man, I know which side I would bet on that will dominate the upcoming midterm General Election. I would also bet that the majority of common complaints won't be resolved or if they are, in a manner that the dominating party professes to believe in. I would say the same about the opposing side if they were in that position.
That's because we are not even hearing each other, much less listening, we're too busy shouting down the opposition. There isn't recognition the answer isn't in political solutions to manipulate government their way, it is in resolution by finding common ground based in reality.
There is no reality in current politics. We don't recognize that all sides are Americans and do have a voice, whether we like it or not. It's political football, the winner takes all, but no one really gains anything but a cheap trophy. Politics is interesting to watch to me, but I hold no belief that there is a political answer to the present problems in this country. Power really does reside in the people in these United States of America but it isn't in the political arena and until people realize that, we're deadlocked. It really is in the power of people going out and doing constructive things and making change happen in the real world, without being sidetracked by current political party machinations. Our government was structured that way originally...to allow people the freedom to do these things. Early on in our history political parties got in the way but in the past 30-40 years they have all interfered too much and gained too much control. We allowed that. The Political Class has gained a power it was never meant to have and people will have to pay attention to stop that.
It remains to be seen if the Political Class, in my lifetime, is reduced to being representatives of average people, but not impossible.
Both major parties are failing, although it isn't obviously apparent now. If the party not in power now does regain the upper hand in the upcoming election, I would also bet their weaknesses and failings will be displayed (and exploited) in the same manner as the current majority party.
That could be the start of the recognition that neither party serves the American people well and that "the lesser of two evils" is not acceptable any longer. Is it possible for a third alternative to rise up in the near future?
9/21/10
IMHO: Social Conservatives and Liberals
Social Conservatives are like Liberals...
Nunya business. Keep the government out of my life.
It occurs to me that Social Conservatives place as much demand on the government as Liberals do. They both want to use government intervention and money to forward their social behavior agenda and dictate to everyone their view of how people should behave.
Americans are basically centrist and lean to the right on fiscal issues, and most don't want the government interfering with peoples daily lives, even if they personally hold conservative views on individual behavior. It goes against the grain of their sense of fairness. There is something equally offensive about both Affirmative Action quotas and restriction of women's access to medical abortion by government edict.
Social Conservatives and Liberals need to repeat to themselves over and over again, that the economic crisis and the Great Disruption, overrides everything now. Americans can't afford and won't be distracted by social agendas until their economic concerns are resolved. It explains the Tea Party movement, which is based on one central theme: confronting politicians about taxes, spending, debt and government intervention and not about a myriad of pet grievances such as minority rights or abortion.
Nunya business. Keep the government out of my life.
It occurs to me that Social Conservatives place as much demand on the government as Liberals do. They both want to use government intervention and money to forward their social behavior agenda and dictate to everyone their view of how people should behave.
Americans are basically centrist and lean to the right on fiscal issues, and most don't want the government interfering with peoples daily lives, even if they personally hold conservative views on individual behavior. It goes against the grain of their sense of fairness. There is something equally offensive about both Affirmative Action quotas and restriction of women's access to medical abortion by government edict.
Social Conservatives and Liberals need to repeat to themselves over and over again, that the economic crisis and the Great Disruption, overrides everything now. Americans can't afford and won't be distracted by social agendas until their economic concerns are resolved. It explains the Tea Party movement, which is based on one central theme: confronting politicians about taxes, spending, debt and government intervention and not about a myriad of pet grievances such as minority rights or abortion.
9/14/10
IMHO: Leaders Lacking Imagination
We're being led by Duds and Clods...
You know what really terrorizes me? The enemy within.
They're the people of influence in the Northeast power corridor, especially in New York and the Beltway of DC, that really are not driven by any belief system they are smart enough to understand, even at the basest level. They truly are stupid, unimaginative dull thinkers, far more than we have recognized, and we have placed too much faith and given far too much credit and influence to them in the political class and corporate sector.
I'd rather have a smart enemy than self-interested cunning dullards at the helm. At least you know how to counter with a smarter defense, it's difficult to argue with minds comprised of muddy waters.
You know what really terrorizes me? The enemy within.
They're the people of influence in the Northeast power corridor, especially in New York and the Beltway of DC, that really are not driven by any belief system they are smart enough to understand, even at the basest level. They truly are stupid, unimaginative dull thinkers, far more than we have recognized, and we have placed too much faith and given far too much credit and influence to them in the political class and corporate sector.
I'd rather have a smart enemy than self-interested cunning dullards at the helm. At least you know how to counter with a smarter defense, it's difficult to argue with minds comprised of muddy waters.
5/27/10
Let's Be Done With This One. Next!
What Rand Paul said in full context...
One thing is clear, Rand Paul is able to stir up lively debate on topics that have been "off-limits" in public forums for years. Up next...his views on abortion which differ from his father regarding government intervention of the medical procedure. He is astute enough to know that he is in Kentucky, he has to build his own reputation and distinguish himself as his own person.
Yesterday he did shake-up his campaign and maybe not exactly the way the nervous Corporate Republicans would have him. He moved his campaign manager up to campaign chairman and replaced him with Jesse Benton, a campaign aid to his father known for his courteous and mannerly demeanor. It's a good move. He does need the experience from his father's staff, to avoid the fracas caused when he walked into the gotcha journalism of MSNBC and celebrity TV hostess Rachel Maddow.
Rand Paul and other candidates shaking up the Republican establishment should reopen these debates and speak their mind but they must also be mindful of the media sharks whose real goal is ratings. The only people who are really freaked out over his ideas are liberals. Moderates are wishy-washy and don't have a stand and until they do take a position, they're irrelevant. Republicans, if not openly, are secretly pleased that these folks are bringing new life and a revival to what had become a tired old agenda.
Naked open truth and realness are what is needed in political campaigns now and Rand Paul, among others, should continue to do that but without giving seminars on their views but rather honest summaries.
What happened with Maddow was an ambush in the phony way liberals feign to be fair and unbiased.
These two videos are the full context of what Rand Paul said on the Rachel Maddow show about his views on civil rights, the 1964 Civil Rights act and private business. His only error was to fully discuss a philosophy with a celebrity tv show host who only deals in snippets. My suggestion to Rand Paul is to avoid all liberal mainstream media because their goal is to discredit him, no matter how graciously they gratuitously act towards him.
One thing is clear, Rand Paul is able to stir up lively debate on topics that have been "off-limits" in public forums for years. Up next...his views on abortion which differ from his father regarding government intervention of the medical procedure. He is astute enough to know that he is in Kentucky, he has to build his own reputation and distinguish himself as his own person.
Rand Paul and other candidates shaking up the Republican establishment should reopen these debates and speak their mind but they must also be mindful of the media sharks whose real goal is ratings. The only people who are really freaked out over his ideas are liberals. Moderates are wishy-washy and don't have a stand and until they do take a position, they're irrelevant. Republicans, if not openly, are secretly pleased that these folks are bringing new life and a revival to what had become a tired old agenda.
Naked open truth and realness are what is needed in political campaigns now and Rand Paul, among others, should continue to do that but without giving seminars on their views but rather honest summaries.
What happened with Maddow was an ambush in the phony way liberals feign to be fair and unbiased.
These two videos are the full context of what Rand Paul said on the Rachel Maddow show about his views on civil rights, the 1964 Civil Rights act and private business. His only error was to fully discuss a philosophy with a celebrity tv show host who only deals in snippets. My suggestion to Rand Paul is to avoid all liberal mainstream media because their goal is to discredit him, no matter how graciously they gratuitously act towards him.
5/6/10
Political Junkie Yard Dogs
Curs of Arizona: Politicians...
Dogs always bark louder behind a chain link fence.
The Political Class in Arizona has not served the citizens of the state well in recent years and there are several stand outs at not serving citizens but rather doing great disservice. The election in 2008, due to a combination of term limits, "Clean Elections" along with voters desire for change (they got it) created a bad brew, with the hangover of a Governor who inherited the job and not elected to the position.
The result was during an economic crisis of epic proportions, that created the worst state budget crisis in the US, our Governor and state Legislature did not even come close to rising above but instead lived down to the lowest expectations. Compounded with a US Congressional Delegation that displayed nothing less than contempt for the voters that elected them, a bad storm started brewing. It began with the budget crisis, extending on to Health Care Reform and Town Hall debacles, a disastrous Presidential run by one of our Senators ending ignominiously with the electioneering season and a contentious piece de resistance legislation.
The 49th Arizona State Legislature in the second sesssion decided to cap everything off by passing SB1070 to address a critical, long-standing problem in the state, illegal immigration and border crossing, a reactionary law signed by the Governor who wants to be elected. The Arizona Immigration Bill does little to realistically address the complicated issue and has done a lot of damage to the State and will for a long time. The intent of the bill, to stop criminal activity coming through the gaping hole Arizona border (that the federal government has left the state to it's own devices) contains US Constitutional and liberty dilemmas. It is the States' Right to address the situation but it shouldn't have been done creating a can of worms to be dealt with.
These characters proved to be the epitome of bad, the meaning of "bad" in it's original context of awful and not in anyway cool.
1. Arizona State Senator Russell K. Pierce (Republican, District 18): The Mesa legislator sponsored SB1070 and managed to get it passed by appealing to the basest of people's fear. 'nuff said.
2. Mayor Phil Gordon: (Democrat, Mayor of Phoenix): Obliviously didn't deal with the cities budget catastrophe, then called for a sales tax increase and has now paraded with opportunist Al Sharpton protesting SB1070.
3. US Senator John McCain (Republican, US Senator): Well...let's just say McCain has never met a side of any issue that he couldn't like depending on who he is talking to. He flip flopped so quickly on SB1070 it was awesome (also in the original and not cool context). Then there's that 2008 Presidential campaign...
4. US Representative Raul Grijalva: (Democrat, 7th District): Advocates "punishing Arizona," the very state that elected him and he supposedly represents, by calling for a national boycott. The insanity of an elected official calling for economic damage, cutting your nose off to spite your face, is absurd.
5. US Representative Ann Kirkpatrick (Democrat, 1st District): Walked out of her own Town Hall meetings on Health Care Reform because she was being asked questions by her constituency, who largely was (and is) against it. She has remained silent on SB1070.
Dogs always bark louder behind a chain link fence.
The Political Class in Arizona has not served the citizens of the state well in recent years and there are several stand outs at not serving citizens but rather doing great disservice. The election in 2008, due to a combination of term limits, "Clean Elections" along with voters desire for change (they got it) created a bad brew, with the hangover of a Governor who inherited the job and not elected to the position.
The result was during an economic crisis of epic proportions, that created the worst state budget crisis in the US, our Governor and state Legislature did not even come close to rising above but instead lived down to the lowest expectations. Compounded with a US Congressional Delegation that displayed nothing less than contempt for the voters that elected them, a bad storm started brewing. It began with the budget crisis, extending on to Health Care Reform and Town Hall debacles, a disastrous Presidential run by one of our Senators ending ignominiously with the electioneering season and a contentious piece de resistance legislation.
The 49th Arizona State Legislature in the second sesssion decided to cap everything off by passing SB1070 to address a critical, long-standing problem in the state, illegal immigration and border crossing, a reactionary law signed by the Governor who wants to be elected. The Arizona Immigration Bill does little to realistically address the complicated issue and has done a lot of damage to the State and will for a long time. The intent of the bill, to stop criminal activity coming through the gaping hole Arizona border (that the federal government has left the state to it's own devices) contains US Constitutional and liberty dilemmas. It is the States' Right to address the situation but it shouldn't have been done creating a can of worms to be dealt with.
These characters proved to be the epitome of bad, the meaning of "bad" in it's original context of awful and not in anyway cool.
1. Arizona State Senator Russell K. Pierce (Republican, District 18): The Mesa legislator sponsored SB1070 and managed to get it passed by appealing to the basest of people's fear. 'nuff said.
2. Mayor Phil Gordon: (Democrat, Mayor of Phoenix): Obliviously didn't deal with the cities budget catastrophe, then called for a sales tax increase and has now paraded with opportunist Al Sharpton protesting SB1070.
3. US Senator John McCain (Republican, US Senator): Well...let's just say McCain has never met a side of any issue that he couldn't like depending on who he is talking to. He flip flopped so quickly on SB1070 it was awesome (also in the original and not cool context). Then there's that 2008 Presidential campaign...
4. US Representative Raul Grijalva: (Democrat, 7th District): Advocates "punishing Arizona," the very state that elected him and he supposedly represents, by calling for a national boycott. The insanity of an elected official calling for economic damage, cutting your nose off to spite your face, is absurd.
5. US Representative Ann Kirkpatrick (Democrat, 1st District): Walked out of her own Town Hall meetings on Health Care Reform because she was being asked questions by her constituency, who largely was (and is) against it. She has remained silent on SB1070.
4/21/10
This Is Not America
It is now merely the United States...
America was an achievement oriented country where someone who may not have had a lot of advantages in life, with some intelligence and skill, pluck and courage, using imagination alongside hard work combined with some machination and a little luck, could succeed at making a better life for themselves.
If this sounds cynical and negative to you, so be it. I'm an immigrant who arrived here at 14 years old and started working right away. I don't regret one minute of it and am satisfied with my life because I realize that in my time, most of what I didn't achieve is my doing. On the other hand I am very dissatisfied with the current condition of the United States and the implications it has for the future of all of us and the limitations for some of us. Until the current method of operation comes crashing down, opportunities as they were in America generally do not exist as they did. History is a good indicator of what happens next. Good research is the US Constitutional 16th Amendment of 1913, the Weimar Republic in Germany in 1919, Argentina since 1930, Nixon ending the Gold Standard in the US in 1971.
The beginning in my time for me was in the 1970s when Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Commision Quotas made clear to millions that what you knew, how skilled you were, the education you had, was irrelevant in a vast majority of workplaces and schools. It was all based on who you were based on your gender, ethnicity or race and if you filled a certain slot based on those inherent qualities and not on qualifications. There is no argument there was racism or sexism and no doubt achievement was limited by gender and race. The problem is the resolution was all wrong and allowed people unprepared and without talent to get ahead while highly prepared and talented people were left behind merely because they were not the right gender or color.
This created an environment that is a weird version of the main rule of Jante Law "Don't think that you are anyone special or better than us." It also morphed into equal rights for everyone has come to mean that everyone is equal in everything.
ULTIMATELY THIS IS NOT A LOGICAL AND CANNOT CONTINUE. IT'S A MATTER OF TIME.
In the mean time, during this period when it is the United States and no longer America, the best most of us can do is just that, the best that we can do. It is key to rise above and think positive, be forward looking and think ahead and I can tell you from experience...
That is very hard work but hard work never hurt anyone and is part of America. You can choose to remain a part of America, even if it doesn't exist as "national policy."
Do you want to be what's left of America or fall into lockstep with the current Statism of the United States? The choice is yours.
http://youtu.be/Xz7_3n7xyDg
__________________________________________________
America was an achievement oriented country where someone who may not have had a lot of advantages in life, with some intelligence and skill, pluck and courage, using imagination alongside hard work combined with some machination and a little luck, could succeed at making a better life for themselves. John Baeder American Painting
The United States is a nation-state run by Social Democrats (masquerading as liberal progressives) backed by Government Bureaucrats and Labor Unions in collusion with Corporate Republicans (masquerading as conservatives) backed by Big Business and the Super Wealthy as a Statist country. The average person unless they have connections with Power Brokers, Labor Unions, Family Sponsors, Non-Profit/Non Government Organizations, Big Money, Bureaucrats, the Political Class and similar contacts, now has to struggle needlessly for arbitrary reasons to get ahead.
If this sounds cynical and negative to you, so be it. I'm an immigrant who arrived here at 14 years old and started working right away. I don't regret one minute of it and am satisfied with my life because I realize that in my time, most of what I didn't achieve is my doing. On the other hand I am very dissatisfied with the current condition of the United States and the implications it has for the future of all of us and the limitations for some of us. Until the current method of operation comes crashing down, opportunities as they were in America generally do not exist as they did. History is a good indicator of what happens next. Good research is the US Constitutional 16th Amendment of 1913, the Weimar Republic in Germany in 1919, Argentina since 1930, Nixon ending the Gold Standard in the US in 1971.
The beginning in my time for me was in the 1970s when Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Commision Quotas made clear to millions that what you knew, how skilled you were, the education you had, was irrelevant in a vast majority of workplaces and schools. It was all based on who you were based on your gender, ethnicity or race and if you filled a certain slot based on those inherent qualities and not on qualifications. There is no argument there was racism or sexism and no doubt achievement was limited by gender and race. The problem is the resolution was all wrong and allowed people unprepared and without talent to get ahead while highly prepared and talented people were left behind merely because they were not the right gender or color.
This created an environment that is a weird version of the main rule of Jante Law "Don't think that you are anyone special or better than us." It also morphed into equal rights for everyone has come to mean that everyone is equal in everything.
ULTIMATELY THIS IS NOT A LOGICAL AND CANNOT CONTINUE. IT'S A MATTER OF TIME.
In the mean time, during this period when it is the United States and no longer America, the best most of us can do is just that, the best that we can do. It is key to rise above and think positive, be forward looking and think ahead and I can tell you from experience...
That is very hard work but hard work never hurt anyone and is part of America. You can choose to remain a part of America, even if it doesn't exist as "national policy."
Do you want to be what's left of America or fall into lockstep with the current Statism of the United States? The choice is yours.
http://youtu.be/Xz7_3n7xyDg
__________________________________________________
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