Life has now quieted down a lot. The violence that occurred during the early stages of the fall, are non-existent now. Crime is almost unheard of, as people are working together to survive and pick up the pieces of their now very changed environment. Most people made it through with just some moderate problems, neighbors stepped up and helped those who were less prepared. The U.S. dollar is still here, but things sure cost more. Food is finally hitting the grocery stores, but not cheap at all. The cities are almost empty, as government crackdowns of civil disobedience turned deadly. Those who could fled, those who couldn’t were killed in the violence or later rounded up. Where they are is only a guess. Rumors have it that a Communist group is trying to take over and form a new government, time to start pushing a better plan, with a new constitution.
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After the Fall: Part Two
The Taxation Contradiction
I was reading through some different articles over the weekend, hoping to find something interesting to comment on, when I happened to stumble upon a series of several articles in a row dealing with taxation. The articles had nothing to do with one another. They just all happened to have taxation in some form or another as the main topic. Each taken on its own painted a picture in support of this plan or that. And all were, in general, the intentions or sales pitches from the Democrat point of view. But my random order of articles revealed to me a disturbing double standard in from the White House in their message. No, double standard isn’t correct. Contradiction fits better. Two articles that I read back to back in particular drew my attention to the contradiction, which I am ashamed to say that I never put together before. It seems that the White House, specifically the President, believes that we should reward the wealthy who conduct business in the US, while at the same time stating that those who are wealthy in America should be taxed higher than they are…
More of Politicians Talking Out of Both Sides of Their Mouth
Let’s Find a Fix 1 – Unemployment (Continued)
I have to admit that I am pleased with the progress that was made in discussing this subject over the first couple of days. The thread was getting pretty long so I figured I would do a bit of a recap here and start with a somewhat clean thread. That way people aren’t scrolling forever to find the stuff they want to further discuss. So I figure I am going to do a somewhat short recap here in what will pass for the “article”. I will then go through the comments and pull out comments that we should continue to flesh out a bit. Obviously, I am going to be picking out the stuff that I think should be brought forward. Please don’t hesitate to bring something else over if you want to discuss it further and I didn’t bring it over. Additionally, I am going to post a few specific thoughts of mine with questions in the beginning comments. My hope is that we can come to some sort of agreement on the answers to them, but I realize that may not be the case.
A Short Recap and lots of Thoughts
Let’s Find a Fix 1 – Unemployment
OK, to this is the beginning of the series I was promising that would focus on the realities that we are facing in today’s America. Instead of the usual premise that government is bad, and thus should keep its hands out of everything, for the sake of this series, I would like to start from a different premise. That premise is that the world is what it is. Government is involved in everything. So the focus now has to shift away from the purely philosophical (although that doesn’t negate it, just changes the focus). What I mean is that it is OK to start from a point where we say, “government should not be involved” as where you would like to find a solution. But if we say that, we need to find a way to get there from here. I would like this to be a really open discussion with as many different ideas as possible. And no condescending to those who offer their thoughts. We have very different views all represented here. The idea behind my site was that we would have a place to discuss solutions despite the two party’s attempts to keep us separated by rhetoric. Time to get to doing that. So here are my rules for how we play this out:
Finding Workable Solutions to Today’s Problems
I Don’t Want to Tame Big Government….
So as you awaken to the beginning of yet another week in today’s America, I offer today a bit of a pep talk, a bit of a rallying cry, and a bit of a further explanation for where I want to go, both personally and with Stand Up For America. I can tell you all that the last 14 months has been a tough time for me. Challenged by many of you, those faithful readers that have digested my daily thoughts, and then took off your kid gloves and smacked me around, I have spent the last 14 months challenging myself. I found that the paradigm that I had been living for so very long….. was not entirely flawless (yeah, I know… Shocker). I found that while I still am smarter than the average bear, I still make mistakes, find contradictions in my conclusions, and stumble as I attempt to find the path to personal freedom, individual liberty, and personal responsibility. My most shocking conclusion (at least most shocking to me) came in my conclusion about government in general.
What I found is that I have absolutely zero interest in taming big government…. I want to kill it.
I Want to Kill It
Defining What Government Does… or Doesn’t
I was reading through the comments on last night’s open mic throughout the day today. Some good stuff there. An interesting discussion with Ray about racism that is forcing me to think hard about my definitions and my perceptions, which is a good thing. I look forward to continuing it. But I was really struck reading the back and forth between BF and Chris Devine concerning government, and the ensuing thoughts that were offered by PeterB. A couple of weeks ago we had a discussion about defining what government is, and why it is important to do so. But this conversation I was witnessing today went a little further than that and I felt it warranted some more discussion amongst us all. If you would like to first review the discussion from the other week, you can do so HERE . There were some interesting discussions. But I want to attempt to refine the conversation, specifically with Chris and BF, as I think differently than both of them…
A Discussion on the Realities of What Government IS
Third Party Viability…. Scene 3, Take 2
I covered this topic once upon a time. In fact it was the 4th blog post that I wrote way back when I started. I covered the topic OK then, but I think I can do better this time around. More importantly, the last time I covered it I only had about 3 readers, lol. I got 3 responses other than my own, one was Revolution, whom some of you have become acquainted with, and another was my wife. I would say we have grown a bit with a couple thousand page hits a day. It is hard for me to tell how many people actually come to the site, but I am sure that the number is significantly larger than it was the last time I talked about this. When I started writing this blog, I was disgusted with the outcome of the elections and disgusted with the Republican party. Those two factors in the equation have not changed. I was also in the firm belief that moving to a third party, possibly the Libertarians, was the absolute best move for me. So let’s talk about a third party and whether that is a viable move in today’s political climate…
Can a 3rd Party Actually be a Factor in Today’s Politics?
Because We Cannot Let Maureen Dowd Suffer
I think you all know what I think of the Main Stream Media. All of them are biased. Most, but not all, of them are biased to the left. I chuckle at the sheer stupidity of anyone who attempts to make the claim that this isn’t true. They point to Fox News, but in reality Fox does pretty unbiased news during the day and freely admits that they turn the station over to conservative hosts at night. But it is far too easy to point out MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Keith Olberman, Katie Couric, and the wonderful Mrs. Dowd…. you get the point. The fact is that the news simply is not the news any more.
The Death Rattles of the Liberal Propaganda Machine
Has the Time Come for Republicans to Marginalize God?
OK, I know that this is upsetting some of you already. You read that headline and the hackles on your back went up. Let me say first of all that I am not saying that the answer to this question is yes. I am also not saying it is no. I am saying I want to have a discussion with all of you smart folks about this. We have been discussing a way forward for the Republican party. I believe the answer may lie in changing the party’s stance in order to re-create the party as one more for the moderate voters in America. And I believe that this question has to be asked as we discuss this subject. It plays into a bunch of platform issues, and the reality is that the vast majority of Americans do not fall into the extreme right or extreme left.
Should the Republican Party Shed the Stigma of the Religious Right?
American Revolution Part Deux
You say you want a revolution? Me too. I have used the word early and often on this site because I am good and pissed off. Wait… that sounds a bit too angry. How about this… I am less than pleased with the outcome of recent electoral processes and slightly dissatisfied with the direction of the two primary political parties represented in today’s national political spectrum. Ah, FRACK IT. I am pissed off. Who am I kidding? I am a little bitter, a little fired up, a little less wealthy, a little more kicked around, a little bit country and and little bit Rock n Roll. Those last two would make a great song… nah, it would never work.
Let’s Not Go Off Half-Cocked Here
Transparency We Can Believe In
Hope and Change, Hope and Change, HOPE AND CHANGE!!! If we say it enough times perhaps we will actually see some of it. But let’s be honest, we aren’t seeing much hope coming from the new administration are we? I have documented the doom and gloom coming from the President. As far as change, it sure seems like the only change is the party affiliation of those who are screwing us most. We can continue to click our ruby red slippers together and chant “There’s no place like Hope and Change” until our feet bleed, but we have to face up to the fact that the American public got duped again.
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain
Pissed Off Yet America? We Need a Change
As part of my daily rituals, I routinely go out and seek other blogs to find out what people are saying. I have been struggling a bit lately with figuring out exactly where I wanted to go with this blog, whether I was going to push Libertarianism, simply give daily reports on current news, or maybe begin writing daily poems dedicated to the trees. I realized that last one might lose me some of my valuable readers, so I ruled it out quickly. But really, how do I want to proceed. I have found one common thread in what I read out there and I think that it may provide me an answer for where I go next….
Treating the Government Like the Aliens They Have Become
A Nation of Cowards… or Realists?
I have to say that I was really disappointed by the statements made recently by the first black US Attorney General, Eric Holder. Allow me to just be up front about this… I don’t like Eric Holder in the first place. He was a horrible selection to be the AG. Perhaps The Messiah’s worst pick of the bunch, which is really bad because The Messiah has made some BAD picks, including several who had to didn’t bother to pay the taxes they want to prosecute us for not paying.
Why Talking About Race is a Dangerous Proposition for Whites
Guest Commentator… You Won’t Believe It
An interesting point of View from a Guest Commentator