Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Democrats vs. Republicans

(Click above link above link for context)

And this isn't simply filled with hate?

What I make of this is that if I tell you I am a "Republican", then this is what you are going to assume about me and my beliefs and the only philosophical grounds I stand upon is racism, homophobia, and equally support any and all proposals by any person that has ever identified themselves as "Republican" or "Conservative".

And if I told you I have never listened to Rush Limbaugh, never watched Fox News, and was never a political fan of George Bush, I don't live in a Trailer Park, and I have never hit a woman could I guess that you would say that I am not really a Republican?

You want a real list of conservative values, why not ignore the BS on BOTH sides and get a better understanding of the argument, then try to look for people that stand on the principled ground from which good policy is going to come from.

Some sites that have attempted to delineate conservative values for conservatives to focus on and debate:
• http://www.thecontract.org/the-contract-from-america/
• http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2009/03/03/declaration-of-orders-we-will-not-obey/
• http://theamericanconservatives.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=62
• http://www.campaignforliberty.com/about.php
• http://www.gop.com/index.php/learn/what_we_believe/

And of course you have rating scales that measure how certain candidates stand up. By some measures I have seen, Jim DeMint has a good prospect among Republican members of Congress for being elected President in 2010
• http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/jim_demint.htm

On The Nolan Scale, I know where I agree and disagree with Jim DeMint. I believe his proposals for Health Care reform are among the very best that are comprehensive, but I do not agree with his positions on everything.

The Nolan Scale is very interesting in my opinion and is a good measure of political ideology, and I think a discussion over why one might be in a particular position pn the Nolan Scale (beyond, of course, just the issues at question in The World's Smallest Quiz) that could actually give people some insight into why two moral people that disagree with each other can still respect each other.

Of course there are other political spectrum theories. I was impressed with the Wikipedia article on the issue and was impressed by how similar and yet not so similar arguments over political spectrums were, and the quality with which they support their arguments, particularly in how some compare and contrast socialism and communism. More and more I have felt like each "side" has a very different perspective on the political spectrum itself and where other people lie :
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_spectrum

But if you would prefer baiting by which we take anecdotal evidence of wrongs or downright hypocrisy on one side and stereotype individuals that put themselves out as members of that party, don't be too shocked when those not intimidated by your remarks don't come running to vote democrat.

To be a Democrat you need to believe...

1. The Civil War was over the right to keep slaves.

2. People that support States Rights want to bring back slavery.

3. American Jurisprudence begins with Holmes and ends with Warren.

4. Economic Theory began with Adam Smith and ended with Keynes.

5. There are ten articles to the Constitution, beginning with Free Speech and the Separation of Church and State.

6. Democracy is the process by which we make our laws.

7. It is the job of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution.

8. Free Markets are great, but Congress needs to make sure everything is fair first.

9. The president is the leader of the nation.

10. Murder should not disqualify you from being a member of Congress as long as you are really sorry, or just too drunk to remember.

11. "This is a White Man's Government!" is the slogan of the Republican party.

12. If you went to college you are an authority on every subject, unless you are a Republican then you are an authority on no subject.

13. If you worship a big white man on a little black cloud you are crazy, but if you worship a little black man in a big white house you are enlightened.

14. #13 is proof that I am a racist.

15. #14 is proof that I am a racist.

16. People other than you or anyone you know that have a lot of money got that way because they are greedy and therefore can not be trusted to spend their money in personally or socially responsible ways.

17. People other than you or anyone you know that don't have a lot of money got that way because they are stupid and therefore can not be trusted to spend their money in personally or socially responsible ways.

18. In Brown vs. Board of Education the defense shared findings that Black students in segregated schools more greatly preferred playing with white dolls than those students in integrated schools.

19. Ernesto Miranda was set free because his constitutionally protected right against self incrimination had been violated.

20. The purpose of a corporation is to give people jobs.

21. People are elected to office because the average person is too ignorant and stupid to understand complicated issues like buying health insurance or healthy food, but also explains why republicans sometimes get elected.

22. People that believe in personal responsibility and getting things when earned have been brain washed by right wing extremists.

23. The Tea Party is the militant branch of the GOP, and every non-white is a token. All the white ones wish they were Timothy McVey, but gun control stops them from fulfilling the dream.

24. Eugenics isn't politically correct, but probably necessary because the world is over populated.

25. Al Gore

26. Immigration Laws are fine so long as they are not actually enforced.

27. The Lost Decade was due to a lack of government regulation, with bailouts and stimulus money that didn't come as big, as fast, or as often as they needed to be to combat the problem.

28. Any time Barack Obama makes a wish and it doesn't come true, a Republican did it.

Yay, now we both have lists. Want to discuss conservative principles, or what democrats believe?

Monday, April 05, 2010

In re Constitution

The biggest different between VAT and Fair Tax is that a VAT would just be another turd on the pile of crap that is our tax code. The Fair Tax, AT LEAST, makes the number of people that would be potential criminals for trying to work and earn a living WAY down; Fair Tax repeals the income tax.

And as long as we are talking about sobering reality, I heard some unfortunate news that I can not dispute. The Constitution is dead... and as much as it is not dead it is simply meaningless. Thomas Woods and Kevin Gutzman make a strong argument that the Constitution was on its way out the door with the Wilson administration and the philosophy of Oliver Holmes. The Constitution today is like British nobility: It is an interesting piece of history and a symbol of our cultural heritage, but other than that it has absolutely no force of law. The Constitution was a contract between the states for mutual self interest for which the federal government is an agent, and anyone that believes that is utterly delusional. Today we have much more a democratic republic, not constitutional federalism.

Many people today, to me, seem to think that kings and dictators are bad because they are evil, greedy, and selfish rather than finding the philosophical superiority in self governance.

Today the freedom many people desire is the freedom from responsibility. It only further breaks my heart that these people get away with calling themselves "liberals", for which they are anything but.

Today we have a compassionate, but none the less absolute, tyranny. The fact that government does not exceed anything greater than its own desire for control is no limit at all. It just means they are nice... except when they are not. We also find it acceptable because remember the other problem with kings is that we didn't vote for them. If we could just vote for our king, then everything would be fine, right?

btw, this isn't blaming anyone in particular, just pointing out the end result.

So basically, there is no question of constitutionality because there is no Constitution.

I am curious what is going to be the result of the April 9th Article V summit in Washington DC. The hosts have some great suggestions, not to mention some good ideas from state legislatures on how states can protect themselves (for which naming would go beyond the scope of this comment).

But remember, any amendment will still only be a symbol on an already dead symbol. An amendment would only be a formality for the real process of fortification (protect citizens from being individually attacked by the fed; take a look at what Montana and Arizona are doing) and nullification (reject federal authority).

Anything less and all the amendments you pass are just make a bigger constitution to wipe your tears with.

Sunday, April 04, 2010

On Capitalism & the Free Market

I am no scholar on the issue, but a friend was telling me about the history of Sudan with the rise and fall of their socialist system through the 70's until the oil embargo. As a strong proponent of the free market and capitalism, but I think one of the ironic about human beings and what makes a free market system and capitalism is that people will work their ass off to be lazy. The thing is that once people get what they want, they stop wanting.

Leave people to their own dreams with delusions of great inventions and great societies free of responsibility. They are going to believe it in their hards and it will become a religion, and people will work till their hands bleed and keep going.

But as soon as you convince a person we already live in a perfect world, or be already got it figured out, or don't worry just HOPE because there is someone else assigned to the job; the lazy inside of us doesn't cheer (but maybe a little) but instead just says "ok, nevermind."

We don't need to encourage hardship to "watch the human spirit overcome great adversity" as I think many liberals believe what the free market is about, but leaving people alone, free to have wild delusions and make it a reality for them and anyone else that choose it for himself, or moves on to make his own dream.

I love my dreams, dreaming is one of the greatest experiences of life. There are so few things we can really have much power in this world. Why in the world would anyone want to pay (or vote) someone else to do that for me.

I can't imagine a more important purpose for our being here.