What's Your Motivation?

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Last night in my leadership class, we discussed the things that motivate people to act. We began with the list of six basic reasons that motivate people but extended it into a larger discussion. See, these things are not bad in and of themselves. We're after all not talking about people who act because they are feckless followers, because they like killing, or because they hate everyone.

Whenever I discuss politics with people, they either agree with my principles or attack people. You will hear them attack millionaires and billionaires, which is of course a policy based on envy. It presumes that the millionaires and billionaires don't deserve it, that other people do, that the people who have things have them because they committed crimes. Such people then justify crimes as a means to make things 'equal'. Why do they care?

There are three basic levels of motivation. There are people, like those just mentioned, who meddle with others. For them it is not sufficient to pursue their own happiness. They have a plan; they know better; and by hook or by crook you will arrive at the same place by the same means or else. Above that, there is an attitude of motivation to elevate yourself. This is not inherently bad. It's why people learn to play instruments, go to school, work out at the gym, etc. They're interested in becoming better people, sometimes because they can, sometimes to be able to look down on others, and sometimes to serve. Becoming a better person can be a good thing. Finally, the highest plane of motivation is to serve and elevate others. Here, you use what you have to range throughout the earth and bless everyone with whom you come in contact. That is noble.

Our problem is when people in the lowest tier justify their behavior as if motivated by the same things in the highest. They claim noble aims for their actions on the auspices that they're doing good. In their crusade, they hurt other people, which was never part of Christ's plan. Such people think nothing of meddling in affairs that are none of their concern and over which they have zero authority. Furthermore, they criticize those who elevate themselves but who otherwise live and let live, as if self-mastery and self growth were necessarily negative by nature.

They forget one major lesson. Doing good things brings no reward. If it were that simple, to pray, attend church, read the scriptures, etc., then what need have we for a Savior? If you can ablate major transgressions over a long life with an untested however well-meant period of works at the end, why do we have long lives or penal codes? Every criminal who claims a reformation in prison cannot possibly mean it. Beware when people talk in sweeping tones of morality and christianity because they do not frequently mean it, but they know you do. They prey upon your guilt and your discomfort with your own state of grace to beat you down when they are not offended or affected by the same tactics. They have no principles. They have grievances.

When all is said and done, life will be about one thing and one thing only. Either there is no point, in which case nothing anyone says or things matters, because when we die we cease to matter, or there is. Since there is a point, and it is that we matter, we matter to someone. No matter how much we matter to our Creator, we are not as good as He, and hence none of us returns to His presence except by His grace. Our purpose is His, our lives are His, and our actions should be consistent with His. If we matter, the only motivation that matters is to serve our Creator and appeal to Him for grace because we are unclean no matter what we do.

Too often, we spend time trying to be good enough rather than being submissive enough. People in the lowest tier of motivation frequently remind us that nobody's perfect and then act as if they were. Our ideas suck; theirs are always awesome. In the end, they're not happy, and none of us will be as long as we run contrary to our natures to act in accordance with the principles and objectives for which our Creator first fashioned us. Unless you love people, you cannot help them. Until you love yourself, you cannot love others. Until you love others and truly serve them, the Atonement of Christ has no claim on you. We will not be saved by works. No man in the end will boast, and so the other motivators don't really matter. When you hear someone's plan, idea, proposal, opinion, testimony, etc., ask what their motivation is. We settle for "good enough" when it's possible to get what is best.

Common Bathroom Decency

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Forgive the afternoon rant. For several weeks, I have noticed this, and it finally comes out. What is up with all the men who go into the bathroom, pee in the toilet, and neither flush nor wipe up when they finish? There are like eight urinals in this bathroom, and I use the same one every time because invariably someone went before me and neglected to flush.

These are frequently the same people who ostensibly look out for others. They will tell us we should do more to help people. How does it help people when you don't wash your hands, clean up after yourself, and then spread disease because you can't urinate or defecate and confine it to the proper receptacle? How is that looking out for the little guy? Do you mean by 'little guy', a bacteria or virus?

I find it somewhat paradoxical that some of these men are the most vociferous about our obligation to help other people. At the same time they do this, they subject us to what they believe to be small things of little import. Viruses, however small, are no small thing. Maybe they should watch Outbreak, since reading the book on which it's based is probably beyond their intellect or attention span. Shoot, you can even watch "The Sword in the Stone" and see Merlin defeat Mimm by turning into a rare disease. Just because you see no danger doesn't mean it's ok any more than just because something looks dangerous means it will necessarily cause you harm. Tornadoes don't hit everyone who looks at them.

I have to give WalMart credit. When I worked for them, they impressed upon us "clean as you go, not just when you go" and I find myself doing just that everywhere I go time permitting. Since I don't get paid to clean at home, it's not as clean as some people would like, but I do clean as I go. For those among you who proudly proclaim that if we all do a little we can do a lot, I add that if we all do the little things, some of the big things may never be.

Tell Spencer to flush.

Overwrite? No Thanks

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I talk frequently because I work in education with people who don't much seem to like America. They like what they enjoy, but they do not like the path that made it possible. They rail against millionaires and billionaires and think people are not taxed enough. When you confront them, they change the subject. They want to overwrite our society.

I have to give the FLDS church credit. Although I find it repugnant what people like Jeffs do with young women, I find it praiseworthy that they live and let live. Unlike so many other people, they do not impose their way of living on us. The FDLS groups don't even interact with us except when they must, or if you happen to shop at Big Lots in St. George UT.

Many of these people are looking for liberty to be license. The rules forbid certain behavior. They seek to change the rules to make that behavior acceptable. Evil men try to change the rules to fit their behavior. Good men change their behavior to match the rules. If you were to design a board game where the rules always benefit you, chances are nobody would play. They use government to force us to participate.

For the last year or so I have studied in some detail the writings of William Penn. In his treatise to Protestants, he speaks of how the civil magistrate has no authority over issues of conscience. Government authority ends at your door. Instead, there are people who force themselves into our homes and into our heads where they haven't the right and attempt to meddle in our lives because they think they can force people to be better. As they focus on behavior, they ignore the role a man's nature plays in his behavior, because if it looks like a duck and acts like a duck, it must be one. Nevermind that sometimes it's a swan.

Some people argue that things are a matter of perspective. I disagree. If that is the case, then anything goes when it happens to suit you. Do you honestly want to argue that murder is right just because a man claims it so to be from his perspective? Rules and our responsibility to them often hinge not on how we see them but on how we see those who pass them. Jesus' Kingdom was not of this world, and the principles he preached were neither recognized by Ceasar nor enforced by him, at least until the Crown coerced the conscience.

I declare, as did Thomas Jefferson before me, on the alter of freedom eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind and body of man.

Whites and Slavery

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Although we are prone to think of a particular group as subject to slavery, the truth is that white men have plenty of experience on the receiving side as well. Slavery after all was one way to maximize the utility of any nation's common resource- its labor. Even in the richest nations with the most potential, the limiting factor to their development and utilization has always been the people who live there and their skills. White men have been very adept at enslaving one another, and other nations have taken the opportunity to enslave whites when it presented itself.

Vice as a trade

It is common knowledge that there is a white slave trade today. Russian brides, young girls, even unofficial wives of 'polygamists' are frequently pressed into service out of their homes while yet young. This is done without guarantors, contracts, rights, or remuneration. They are put to work meeting the demands of men in other nations. A significant fraction of prostitutes are white, male and female. They even sell children on the market, as food, and as children, depending on your particular ghoulish appetites. People are a commodity too in the eyes of some, and there are those of every race anxious for their piece of flesh. Let's also keep in mind those who are enslaved to controlled substances.

Indentured servitude

Until as late as the 1910s, many immigrants made it to America on promissory notes. These people traded a series of years at hard labor or whatever labor in exchange for passage across the sea. Although terms varied, it was generally terminable after a period of years, and then without so much as 40 acres and a mule. Even in New England, and later in Chicago and Milwaukee, people came across in at least temporary slavery despite the religious tenants of those areas.

Military impressment

As nations expanded, they needed more men to work the fields, pay taxes and fight. We forget that Leonidas had not just 300 Spartans at Thermophalae, but also thousands of warriors impressed into service as did the Persians who marched against him and the Macedonians before them. Even the Irishmen who marched upon Lexington were indentured of sorts. Most of the men who headed to Concord in the British Regiments were Irishmen released from debtor's prison in exchange for a regular service in the Americas. You would not probably know this unless you went there and listened to the stories. This is as true in real life as in fiction, which gives us multitudes of examples as well of this phenomenon.

Second class to citizen

Under the Greek and Roman empires, manpower was limited. Even at this time in civilization, men were still largely tribal in nature, and so in order to establish an empire or to resist empires that came against them, they had to band together. Sometimes, the banding was not voluntary. Under the Roman empire, you could work your way up into Roman society even if you were at first enveloped. For most, this meant service in the legions, but even those who began as slaves could find themselves at least second class and then citizens within generations. It's also referred to as assimilation. The Scandanavians are known for taking women alive by which to breed, and so the offspring would be welcomed in although their mothers were alien. The women did not go voluntarily, and although not sold by their countrymen were still bought with a price.

Some groups were never going to be so elevated. For example, the Jews seem to have the poor fortune of being relegated to slavery by conquering political power, whether that power is Pharoah or the National Socialists. They were there to work for their masters, but they were never considered as valuable as many of those sold into impressment. They are still hated and villified today as a group, no matter how many among them may rise in prosperity and prominence.

Contrary to popular notions, whites are not the guilty as a whole and others the victims. In the movie "Captain Blood" Hollywood tells us the tale of some Scottish rebels who are spared death at the noose for service on the sugarcane fields of the Caribbean. When they break out and turn pirate, the adventure is born, but Errol Flynn tells his white leading lady, who was the one who bought him upon his arrival in Jamaica, that "your slave is grateful for all marks of favor". Think of the thousands upon thousands of white men who died in the American Civil War as a consequence of which slaves were supposedly emancipated although indentured servitude would continue. Think of the thousands upon thousands of white men who died to free the Jews from Hitler, who died trying to stop Ghenghis Khan's push into Europe, who die every day in defense of civil rights on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond. By the blood of our people are your lands and liberties kept safe.

While Europeans are usually villified as the means, cause, and source of slavery, logic shows us otherwise. If the 'out of africa' theory of evolution is true, then the first hominoids were not white, and therefore any slavery before that phenotypic ascension could not possibly be their fault. A significant fraction of slaves sold into the African triangle were taken by others of their own race in war and sold to traders who took care of their goods as would any trader. Also, those of the Founding Fathers who had slaves treated them well generally and often freed them upon their death.

It is contrary to Christian principle for any man to be in bondage to one another. Yet, there are people of every demographic who sell drugs, who offer loans at exorbitant rates of usury, who are physically and mentally and verbally abusive, who are self-centered in their aims, and who in essence enslave others. Whites paid a great price and continue to pay it to right that wrong and let other people live peaceably within the bounds of law. One of our common principles in Anglo-Saxon culture today is freedom by law, and so we will continue to fight against every form of tyranny over the mind, as well as the body, of man, just like that great statesman Thomas Jefferson to whom that idea is first attributed.

He Might Be Bluffing...

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We hear a lot about compromise these days. The fact of the matter is that sometimes, its a bluff. Allow me a personal anecdote...

During the last round of offers I placed on homes, three of them were tentatively accepted. When working with my realtor, he showed me that houses sold on average for 103% of listing price (no, I don't get that either given the Vegas market, but whatever), and so we offered 103.5% of asking price. Then, the banks in turn all turned around and asked for our highest and best. I think the Hellermans wanted me to up my ante. Of course they took me as a client, like all realtors, hoping to sell me a house I liked as quickly as possible. It's just a house, and I had learned by then to be emotionally separate from the transactions.

At length we all felt that the prices offered were fair. So we told them that we had already offered our highest and best. What we discovered in this gamble is that we had called the bank's bluff. I was already the best offer, and if I had raised it, I would have been bidding against and compromising with myself.

Very often, people ask you to show them your hand either promising to do so after you do or without intending to tip it at all. They seek leverage because that gives them power over you.

They're trying to trick you into giving away something.

Our politicians today are involved in a battle of wits. The Democrats are trying to discern things without giving anything away. They do not present plans. They let the GOP put the glasses on the table, say it's not fair, and refuse to offer an alternative game. They want the GOP to compromise with itself, to bid against itself, to up the ante when they have never put anything in writing. Obama might be bluffing.

The truth is somewhat settling. Our debt has already been downgraded. That's why the dollar is weak and why people are investing elsewhere. People in other nations realize that the global economy depends on America, even if it's less than before. If Greece was bad for the world, just think how bad it would be for allies, friends, and neutrals if we fell. Also, we take in tax revenue sufficient every day to service the debt and pay entitlements. They're lying to you about almost everything.

Obama might be bluffing. Call the bluff. If you're wrong, then everything the media said may come to pass (but how often does that really happen?). If you're right, you'll win big in 2012 and keep some of your promises and actually make progress towards setting things in the right direction. Since 2008, we have tried things Obama's way. He controlled all branches of government. If their plan was right, we should have expected to have seen some real positive signs by now. Let's now apply liberty.

When you think you are right, stand fast a little. It might make you a martyr, but it also might make you a hero. Don't let fear of what might happen paralyze you against the discovery of what will.

Capitalism's Virtues

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Any system made up of or run by men is only as good as the men of whom it is comprised. That being said, thus far Capitalism is so far the best system devised by men to maximize opportunity, prosperity, and freedom in the world. I love this video from the late Milton Friedman that explains how it works:

Even in something as simple as a pencil, we have people come together from dozens of industries in several different nations. These people might not like each other, but they do not generally refuse to sell pencils to you despite differences in religion, age, race, or politics who "might hate each other if they ever met", and so we come together anyway as equals at the cash register of civilization.

When you walk into a store, generally speaking in a pure capitalistic society, the price determines intercourse. The clerks do not deny the sale or change the price depending on your demographics or wealth. If you can buy it and want it and accept the price, they will sell you whatever you like. Look at Arabia- where there live millions of people who hate Christian, Constitutional capitalists. Yet, they sell us millions of dollars worth of oil daily because we are willing to pay and because they would rather have the money for other things.

Capitalism is blind to everything except need. While sometimes they create need, they only make and sell things that someone somewhere will buy. They do not make electric cars because it will save the planet unless saving the planet will help them make more stuff. They do not sell pencils only to people born in Iowa or who vote party line or who drive sedans. If you want it, and you're willing to pay, the Henry Higgins of the world will sell to anyone, even if you are to them as Eliza Doolittle was to her teacher.

Look down through time, and the most successful and happy nations ever were those who had largely free trade. No matter what they tell you today, America is not languishing under 'unbridled capitalism'. Obama insists on taxing 'millionaires and billionaires' and evil corporations (nevermind GE paid no tax in 2010). Governments always look backwards, either protecting the industries that exist or endorsing the enhancement of those they happen to prefer. When government withdraws, the successful rise to the top. When government withdraws, the failures fall out of the bottom.

Capitalism responds to the needs and wants of the people. Their transactions encourage the successful and make millionaires of teenagers who design video games, iPhone apps, and other quesquilia because those are things people actually want. Furthermore, the things people actually want do not need government subsidies to survive, just like Apple, once its intellectual property was protected, and Rowling with her wizarding wormhole now dominate store shelves and stock offerings.

Americans are ok as long as their lives are not interrupted. We notice the rise in costs from war when building materials, food, and gas rise in cost because they are needed for war or from countries with which we are at war. Most of the people in those countries are not touched as much because their lives are not as comfortable as ours as a rule and because their leaders use the money to advance the leaders in lieu of the people. However, when people have options and understand how the intercourse of commerce works, they work for peace so that everyone can enjoy what they please as they please and as they can afford it.

Capitalism and freedom are linked. Capitalism by the conscientious requres that good men be put into leadership positions. Corruption begins in the hearts of the men who surround the table, whether that's in a Board meeting or a Cabinet meeting. As long as the men who make decisions govern themselves, you can count on their ability to gover you in such a way that you are happy and free. Businesses do not hurt people. People do that. Businesses are really just a bunch of words on paper. People also do all the good things too, and good people make for good business in every aspect of society.

Why Registering as "Independent" is Unwise

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I've pulled the stats on my own district and seen the polls. I know that a significant fraction of the American electorate is registered as "Independent". I know that some of you did this to protest the status quo of the establishment. I appreciate that you registered to vote, and I certainly hope you do, because only 50% of my district turned out to vote in 2008. I know you like to think of yourself as an independent thinker. I think it might be unwise to register as such.

In 2008, we faced an election between a back-bench, tax-and-spend nobody who crawled out of the woodwork and a mush-mouthed relic of a bygone era (no offense to Commander McCain). That is because of how the primary system works. Primaries exclude independents, and as a consequence few of them show up to the primary. Just because you are registered in a party does not mean you cannot pick and choose candidates yourself.

Unless you intend to actually vote for the Libertarian, Green, Independent American, or other third party, being registered as an Independent robs you of your franchise. If you eventually vote for the DEM or GOP candidate, as an Independent, you didn't even get to pick from the primary candidates the one you like most. You get stuck with what the people who register as party members, who are mostly members of the establishment's GOBNet and prefer the status quo, picked, who is usually someone you don't like as much as others.

The GOP presidential field is full of interesting characters. The problem is that if you intend to vote against Barack Obama next November, unless you register as a GOPer and vote in the primary, you will get saddled with whomever the establishment of country club RINOs puts up. Odds are at this point that Romney will be their guy, he having highest name recognition and funds raised thus far, and Romney thinks we should cooperate with Obama and praise him for his accomplishments and passed Romneycare. How different are they really?

During the 2008 election, a lot of people were upset their guy didn't get nominated. McCain was my absolute last choice from the GOP. This slieu of Independent registrations might be at least partially responsible for why so many of us are "voting against the other guy" instead of voting for the guy we like the most. In a previous post, I talked about how important it is to get behind the right candidate.

Get behind the candidate who best understands and supports the principles of the Revolution and Convention. I'm not talking about the person whom you like the most or who 'has the best chance to win' or who sounds good, looks good on TV, or with whom you agree most. Find the candidate who is most like the Founders and back him with everything you have. Maybe that's not you, and maybe your choices aren't between Jefferson, Washington, and Adams, but if they're a lot better than a Statist or an Obamist, then they're much better than we have today. Upgrade whenever you can. Hold your ground when you get there.

That's not just because it's important as we choose a president in 2012, but also because there are many Senate seats up this time that were protected in 2010 and because every Congressman is up, including, especially in Nevada, some seats without incumbents as they scramble to take the Senate seat Ensign vacated earlier this year.

If you are an independent, consider registering into a major party. What this will do is allow you to affect in a positive way the real choices available in November 2012. Especially if you intend to choose a major party candidate, this will allow you to help pick in the primary the candidate you like most going forward and maybe allow you to vote FOR someone for a change in November.

There is a danger that some independents may skew the election. They do precisely that in the early primaries in New Hampshire. That's why in 2008 it came down to Romney v. McCain for the GOP, because they are hardly the kind most members of the GOP (and now Tea Party) pick if given preference. Right now, good people who 'hold themselves aloof' from the establishment allow other people to manipulate the election because they leave the primaries up to establishment status quo mentality which prefers that things remain as they are in perpetuity.

I Prefer Dry Heat

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As much of the rest of the nation swelters under higher than average summer temperatures, we have enjoyed a fairly mild summer in Las Vegas. A few weeks ago, on a hike with a close friend here, we discussed how we have acclimated to and prefer the desert heat. Sure, it feels like an oven sometimes, but it has its advantages as well.

Sweating in the desert actually helps you. When it's humid, how can the evaporative process cool you if the atmosphere is already saturated? I cannot fathom how the civil war was actually fought by men running around dressed in wool clothing during the summer months under humid and hot summer conditions. Even in the shade, that's your only respite, that the sun is off you.

Even though it sucks to run on mornings where it's already 89F at 530 AM, it beats humidity any time of day. When I go back east, although it's thousands of feet lower in elevation, I feel like there is more resistance when I run. I sweat more quickly, even in the winter, and because there's already water in the air, it feels like I'm being poked by lots of tiny pins as I run.

It's also easier to get cool without extra water in the air. Frequently in humid areas, even though the A.C. is running, you still sweat. In my house, as long as it's dry, I feel cooler because I stay cleaner without sweating.

When I moved to Vegas, I didn't like the heat of the desert. I think I have acclimated. As long as the outside temperature is below my normal basal body temperature, I don't need the AC driving around. Even though it's 106 outside when I play tennis in the park sometimes, it's also in the shade and windy and in a park, and so it's pleasant enough that I get a great workout and sweat it out. It works for me, and I have learned to love the desert west.

It truly is a place that God prepared for me.

Paradoxes in D.C.

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Paradox: Obama runs on a platform of 'change' and then nominates or appoints to office people who are and have been part of the system before his election.

Paradox: Obama demands that Congress fund and authorize him to disburse funds to programs the GOP does not support in the first place.

Paradox: Obama asks for a plan to solve the budget debacle and then doesn't present any of his own and threatens to veto any plan the GOP passes.

Paradox: Obama talks about how he will not rest but takes more vacations than any other person in the presidency.
Paradox: Obama demands that the GOP budge for the sake of compromise and insists that all his ideas remain on the table.


Paradox: Obama gets 95% of what he wants and claims the GOP 'got its way' when they haven't even addressed any of the things the GOP wants.

Paradox: During the twitter town hall, Obama requires submissions to fit the 140 character limit of twitter while he rambles on a series of asinine banalities.

Paradox: Obama surges the war in Afghanistan, starts one in Libya, and engages our soldiers elsewhere and then says we need to cut the military first because it's so massive.

Paradox: Obama talks of reigning in profilgate spending, and yet in two years has outspent all other presidents combined.

Paradox: After a landslide midterm that threw out some of the old guard, Obama insists that Americans want the same policies propagated by those same politicians we just ousted.

It's a little paradoxical that government will fight so hard to protect itself while it encourages the human race to fight against its own dominance and survival. Perhaps it's because government is a self-licking ice cream cone that loves its own taste so much that it tries to become the greatest consumer and producer of everything it can so that it can savor itself without having to move. That sounds a lot like the same hedonistic attitude that brought down other great civilizations like Rome, and I am sad that so close to me I know people who are jealous enough for their own benefits that they will not do what is right for everyone else if they have to sacrifice their own comfort, prosperity, and freedoms. We are willing to go to any lengths as a people, it seems, so long as it doesn't upset our lives, lifestyles, and habits.

The next election will be interesting. It will show if our actions back up our words. I venture a guess that more people bellyache than are willing to act, at least in such a way that actually makes a difference. See, two of the topics about which I am most passionate are the two topics that are socially taboo in polite conversation. If we cannot at least understand one another when it comes to politics, can we really be friends? If we cannot discuss politics, which is quickly becoming the dominant transformative force in society, how can we make a difference in how society moves forward? Too many people talk in platitudes, talk and fume, and foment discord. The paradox is that, just as in 1776, only a third of Americans will probably act to preserve their freedoms when it really comes down to it. We let our government tax us, push us around, and shout us down and think we are free when we are perhaps less free now than we were under George III.

The miracle of 1776 was that Americans learned they could govern their own areas better than the King of England and then won a war against him so they could prove it to the world. The paradox is that the monarchists among us now occupy the positions of power while the freemen are happy so long as they appear to remain free. Semblance is not substance.  Paradox.

Board Games = Social Contracts

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Last weekend, we introduced my sister's boyfriend to what has become a family tradition. After I moved down here in 2007, on days when my sister felt particularly low or bored, we would play the Barbie Queen of the Prom game. So, we forced him to play with us. Despite my very best showing ever, I still managed to keep a perfect streak of never having won that game. He however had beginner's luck.

Board games are far less popular than they once were. They taught us several important lessons about life that may be lacking in the world today, especially among members of the in silico generation.

These games taught us about rules. They taught us that rules exist and that rules apply and that rules apply to everyone equally. We know that even if the game starts with the player to my left and continues around clockwise, eventually I will get my turn. You take yours, and then I take mine, and then and only then do you get another. Sure, there may be cards that periodically force me to be skipped, draw cards, or lose a turn, but everyone has the same statistical chance of being able to use those. If every card said "Skip Doug", I would probably not play, because that would not be a fair rule.

People seem fascinated with the terms 'fair' and 'equal' while they apply rules that are not true across the board. They like to redefine the rules in the middle of the game. Famous are the rules for women, in which one says that if men ever catch wind of the rules, women must change one or all of the rules and that women are always right. I even once had someone try to get me to sign a contract to change the rules between us. The problem with that is that I have frequently kept the rules and delivered my part whereas they try to change the rules before they are obligated to reciprocate, often requiring me to do more to get the original promised terms. In this particular case, I refused to sign, got in my car, and drove away.

Games teach us about the social contract. Whenever contracts are subject to change in terms, everyone is free to reevaluate whether they wish to remain as party to the contract. Whenever someone violates the contract, everyone else is free to withdraw without punishment. Sure, the violators may cry foul and blame you and say you are arrogant, but that's because they are immature. Contracts don't matter to them. Only their own wishes matter. Remember as you run across people who are this way that their unwillingness to play by the rules is nothing more than a mark of immaturity.

When you find yourself in that position, it's really up to you what kind of relationship you have with those people in the future. It isn't that you don't forgive them. It isn't that you're suspicious of trusting them or holding it against them. It's that you choose to avoid entering into future contracts with them, especially when you can enter into contracts with alternative parties. It is not 'fair' or 'equal' for one side to always get its way, but you to have to suck it up because that's what Christ would do. Yet, they reserve the right to do that to you, immediately, without recourse, if you ever approach violation of one of the terms. It's completely fair to choose to do business with someone else and it has nothing to do with what they want it to be. It has to do with return on your efforts. Nobody does anything for others at their own long-term detriment.

The fact of the matter is that you won't always get your way. We enter into contracts because they are mutually agreeable arrangements between entities. When one or more parties changes the terms, it's as if a new contract ensues, and the parties are free to reject or accept them if they are still agreeable. It is, however, not usually agreeable to continue to play a game when you know all of the bad cards have your name on them and none of the good ones. Who would play a game like that?

Politicians are famous for this kind of trick. They will sacrifice something they like and then say they're letting you have your way. Nevermind that they haven't fulfilled any of your terms, requests, or demands. The fact of the matter is they didn't get 100% of what they wanted, and so that means you got your way. Meanwhile, none of the items on your wishlist have even been mentioned let alone addressed. They are always by this technique able to paint themselves as the compromiser, the victim, and the reasonable one, when there's nothing reasonable at all about 'only' getting 95% of what you want when you have given the other party 0% of the terms for which they signed onto the contract or discussion.

Sometimes people are not interested in playing by the rules. Whether in politics, relationships, or in business, some people set rules not because they intend to follow them but because they know you do. They know they can count on you to deliver without them having to lift a finger and that then they can take that and run. It's made me somewhat gun shy. Even if you haven't burnt me before, I have been burned, and so I am cautious until you prove yourself, and although I may give you enough rope to get the job started, it's also enough with which to hang yourself. Someone in graduate school published data I voluntarily shared with him as his own. Women do frequently change the rules on me without warning and without my being able to add input. If you're not interested in abiding by even the rules you set yourself for yourself, don't be surprised if I decide not to play. It's not arrogant. It's not selfish. It's not because I am an irrational white male. It's perfectly normal and justifiable behavior that has governed contracts and long-term human interactions since the dawn of written history.

Some people don't like the rules. They like to win. Despite my sister's boyfriend's beginner's luck, I will continue to play board games with my sister because I know rules matter to her.

Blazing Trails

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As I prepared my hiking plans for Denali National Park in Alaska, I was quite frankly surprised. In a place so wild and lonely, they not only allow but encourage that visitors blaze their own trails. I found this strange because of all the grizzly bear warnings as well as the forboding landscape of the national park that contains America's highest mountain peak. Then, I gave it some more personal thought.

One of the trails I chose sounds a lot like one I have taken several times at Red Rock NCA. If you go to Turtlehead Peak, be prepared. It's a long and grueling hike that takes you up 1000 feet in about a half mile of trail length. By the time you reach that point, the well-worn path becomes very unclear as it winds around and over sharp rocks in a steep streambed or along the eroding edge of the arroyo. For those who make it this far, usually people break apart and take vastly varied paths, sometimes crossing each other and never completely out of eyeshot but largely unguided.

During one of our hikes, my friend and I noticed there were piles of stacked rocks along a route. Piles of rocks are frequently used as trail markers to guide those who come along behind you. As we followed this trail, both up and down, we realized that in the multiple times we had hiked Turtlehead this was the most circuitous and difficult of all the trails we had taken. Accordingly, on the way down, we took it upon ourselves to topple the piles of rocks lest anyone follow them to their detriment.

We live in a world full of paths and choices. People have worn down some sections by constant trudging. Some of the paths are more difficult or dangerous or misleading than others and lead to danger, yet people take them anyway out of convention or out of fear to blaze the right trails in the right directions.

Have courage to blaze trails. There is a famous Robert Frost poem about the road less traveled. I hear it quoted constantly by people who do not do that when it comes to coerced conformity. They fall in line and comply rather than standing out. In the wack-a-mole of morality and principles, people are frequently afraid to stick their neck out because if the hammer comes down on them it might hurt.

There is a great danger to taking the wrong paths. Just because someone has left piles of rocks to mark the way does not make it the best way. I have taken a dozen trails or so at Red Rock where I could not understand to save my life why those who went before me chose that particular route over other alternatives. Just because "that's what everyone else is doing" does not mean it is wise, safe, good, or praiseworthy. We want to arrive and in good order, not follow a trail. Few enough people have reached the summit of goodness such that the trail vanishes after a point like Turtlehead's hike, where people decide the cost outweighs the benefit and go down or diverge enough to expend their energies without ascending the summit.

Blaze the right trails. In the almost-as-yet-by-our-generation-unexplored wilderness of righteousness, it is easy to see the McKinleys of Morality. People take the bus and stay on the road even though none of those trails lead to the peak. It is not enough to say you have seen morality. That does not make you moral. Only a hike on Mount Morality makes you one who has or may one day reach its summit. Let other people choose what paths they may. Choose your own adventure. You just might make it where few others have dared. If you do find a good path, mark it for those who follow you.

Frustrated Fly Syndrome

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I woke up a bit early this morning and was free to spend some time thinking and observing before I left for work. While my dog romped around the back yard, I watched a fly desperate to escape through the closed kitchen window. I am often intrigued by this because, if he just knew it, the sliding door was open about five feet to the south, and he could have just flown out if only he would listen.

We are a lot like the fly. We come up against a barrier, usually due to our own making since the fly was almost certainly born outside my house, and when a large hand tries to direct our life towards an open door, we put on our boxing gloves and resist it. We know better, and in our hubris, we fly again and again and again against the glass, buzzing in frustration as we frantically try to get free.

Frustrated fly syndrome happens to almost everyone, and it has a common source and a common cure. We see where we are versus where we can be, where we desire to be, but there is often something unseen but powerful that stands between us and our goal. Rather than go around it, especially when the invisible hand of Providence tries to guide us, we press forward, unwilling to admit that sometimes in order to move forward we must first go backward. As a consequence, we, like the frustrated fly, waste and wear out our lives in exercises of futility and don't get to enjoy what life offers. Then we feel even more like we're missing out because we can see our objective, but no matter our efforts we seem unable to make any progress.

We feel we have so much we must do/should do/ have to do. No sooner do we overcome one thing than we're confronted with another, just as daunting, and just as exhausting against our efforts and knowledge. Where we are is not the world where we wish to be. We live for something else, and as a consequence we are too infrequently happy now and with what we have when it is frequently a blessing.

The problem is that we try to do to much by ourselves. Whether the hand is a literal hand of help from a good friend or divine intervention, we think we know better. Real men don't need instructions. What we forget is that, no matter how appealing that other and better world, no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God, and we are to him as the fly. No matter what we do, we are and will remain unclean. Flies cannot of themselves change their nature. Only Christ can do that for us.

Too many people among us are frustrated because they try to save themselves without involving the Savior. We do not invite Him into our lives. We only turn to Him when all other lights go out and we are desperate, and because we have been slow all along to hear Him, even when it's nice commentary on us or simple conversation and education, He is slow to hear us in our self-imposed bondage. The only way to truly change is to submit to Christ. As long as we try to affect change without applying the atonement, the more things will remain the same.

In his general epistle, James tells us the formula that works to cure this syndrome (James 4:7-8).

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

We resist the Lord and give in to temptation. So, the devil rarely flees, and the Savior cannot come near us because we cannot dwell in His presence. Remember that the devil desires that everyone be as miserable as possible. He wants us to waste and wear out our lives, not in anything productive, but in lives of quiet desperation accomplishing and enjoying nothing. Once we accept the help of that Invisible Hand and move five feet to the south, even though that be many lengths distant from our present position on the scale of the fly, we will be able to move forward and enjoy all that this world and the better one that follows it have to offer. That is part of the good news of the gospel- that through Christ we can actually enjoy things and that because of His Atonement there are better things to come.

Obama to Raise Taxes $1 Trillion

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I have previously said that according to the Statist you will always have too much money and too much liberty until you have none at all of either. As Obama tries to blame the GOP for the looming disaster, he's about ready to add $1 trillion in taxes, on each and every American who earns a wage by working for a living. I don't care what he tells you in his daily press conferences, he has raised taxes and debt and suffering for Americans more than any other president, and perhaps more than all the rest put together.

Obama's plan is simple and self-directed. He is, like most politicians, his own favorite beneficent, beneficiary and constituent. No compromise is possible with him because Obama believes it necessary to destroy American prosperity in order for utopia to be possible. He loves power, he loves to luxuriate at our expense. He loves himself, but he does not love you. He doesn't even know you.

Plato's Guardians were people who could be trusted to govern because they could gain no advantage they value. Benjamin Franklin said that when the rewards of an office are so plentiful so as to incentivize too many people to aspire to the office the rewards ought to be reduced. When Dean Heller took John Ensign's senate seat, a record number of people swarmed in to the special election. They are not there for you. They are there for them, for their own names, their own legacy, and their own advancement.

Many people do not feel they are represented by government. Good men do not run. Famous men, rich men, ambitious men, and largely unscrupled men do. Other people are busy leading good lives. They do not seek power. They are in the pursuit of happiness, true happiness, and the trouble with money and power is that those transitory things aren't always enough let alone useful to set things right.

American prosperity is on Obama's hands. Somehow, like Pilate, he is always able to wash them and come out looking clean. The gun is always at his head, but like Pilate, he could have stood up and been a man.

Celebrate Good News

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Most of the leakers and sources people choose to report are people who are unhappy. I get a real kick out of the fact that when people choose to acquaint themselves with my Faith, they pick someone who does not practice, and when they try to find out about me, they always seem to be able to find a girl who didn't want to date me. What would never pass the muster in court and counts only as hearsay or second hand knowledge is taken not only as truth but as the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Considering the source, are people who are unhappy with something possible of giving anything but a negative report?

All too frequently, we turn to miscreants and malcontents for information instead of stellar examplars. We laud the leakers of the world like Asange of wikileaks, insiders who write tell-all books about administrations, etc. It's almost as if we like to see other people fail. What it really means is however that we're glad we're not the only ones who get the shaft. Good news just isn't sufficiently sensational to be newsworthy.

I have made it a point to be different when I can. I once called one of those "how's my driving" numbers on the rear of a semi truck. I was towing a trailer in a dangerous canyon at night and needed to move over. The semi held traffic at bay, flashed his lights to signal it was safe, and let me over. When I called, the operator didn't know what to do with praise. A few weeks ago, I was called by Wal-Mart HQ to follow up on some feedback I gave about a store manager. He had been particularly helpful and deserved attention, so I wrote them an email praising his performance. He called me at home to thank me for the kindness. During a trip to Mt. Vernon a few years back, I took the initiative to write a letter of appreciation for how our guide handled a difficult situation with a patron. This patron had complained, and my independent and unprompted comments protected the tour guide's job. She actually wrote me a thank you card, something I have sitting next to me as I type this.

It is too frequent that we are excited to hang other people for a moment. Just as one good deed does not erase a lifetime of wickedness, one mistake does not negate a life of righteousness. Since my job performance is tied to 'teamwork and cooperation' with no more than one certifiable instance of not being a team player, I have been collecting comments in writing as a hedge against the day when they try to hang onto a single negative comment in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Most of the time we are good people, and those complaints are countered by commendations.

Celebrate good news. There is lots of sadness and misery, but it isn't constant in most of our lives, nor are our lives as dire as we feel. Birds still migrate, rain still falls, the sun still rises, there is food in the supermarket, we have electricity, running water, and even a few friends. Life is good. Maybe it's not a panacea, but that was never the promise of this life. Utopia comes only when we apply both the semblance and substance of heaven. Until then, there's plenty for which to be thankful.

Life After Hogwarts

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A week from now, an era comes to an end. For the last 14 years, Rowling's world of witchcraft and wizardry has dominated the lives of much of the rising generation. Most of the students, and a great fraction of my social contacts, are close in age to the actors involved in the series and have hung onto it as a major transforming force in their lives. It's truly a magical story, but for reasons other than at face value.

Yesterday, a writer at the UK Telegraph wrote a mostly lauditory review of the final film. He had only one criticism:

"Perhaps the greatest triumph of this final film is its ability to overcome the deficiencies of J. K. Rowling’s writing," --UK Telegraph

Now, Rowling is not my favorite author. The books in the series I actually read were not very good at keeping my attention or interest. Usually, you have 50 pages to capture my attention, and the only reason I pushed forward was that in 2000, four books had been written, and I had never heard of any of it, having been in Europe for two years. She spent a lot of time and adjectives describing the characters in vivid detail so that I would not have to imagine them and spent too little time on the story. Her vocabulary seemed to me as if she turned to a thesaurus on her word processor so as to sound smart, and the names and spells, mostly latin-based, were hardly imaginary. Rowling is no Shakespeare, let's put it that way.

Then last night, my dad gave me a different perspective. Rowling got an entire generation to read. When I was in high school, we used to groan over The Fountainhead, but these kids read several books almost that long. The kids got involved in a classic good versus evil struggle that, if you choose to take it that way, teaches principled lessons about life, morality, and adulthood, something a lot of young folks seem desperate to avoid. It asked them to confront tough subjects, like how whiney Harry was, relationships, the relationship of students and teachers, sacrifice and even death. It showed them how people can balance the struggles and joys of life. It also taught us how to camp, sort of.

Some armchair commentators criticize her writing. As I work on my own novel, I wonder what people will think of it, and I'm fair sure it won't sell nearly as many copies. I'm not writing to teenagers. I have frequently criticized her writing because I'm not sure she didn't steal it from other people, but the fact is that she put it out there, which is a very brave thing to do. Besides that, some of our media interests are matters of taste. What interests you might not interest me and vice versa. That's the beauty of our world that we have so many options, so if you don't like Samuel Clemens or JRR Tolkien maybe you enjoy JD Salinger or Clive Cussler instead. We have options. For those so quick to criticize her work, I ask them to prove they are better.

For Rowling, this was an excellent option that has given her more. At the time she started writing the series, she was a single mother on welfare. She worked and worked her way out of her station. Her story, even where the books she wrote may not be, is America's story to the world- the chance that you can choose your own adventure and change your own stars if you're willing to work for it.

There will be life after Hogwarts. The battle this final movie depicts does not end with the credits of the film. It goes on every day in our streets. So we don't shout latin and shoot bolts at each other with wooden sticks in our hands, and usually nobody dies. The battle, however, rages on, between principles and power, between those who seek the philosopher's stone to use it and those who seek the stone to keep others from doing just that. I have learned a few things from the series, and maybe one day I will actually own one or more of the movies or books.

I will however wait until it comes out in the $4 theater to go see it unless a cute girl invites me to come along beforehand. Takers?

More Twitter Thoughts

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How many times can one man say “How are you? Good to see you?” consecutively and still be considered articulate?

What mistakes have you made and what would you do differently?

“when I came into office, we were facing the biggest recession since the great depression” The depression was not a recession, it was a depression

“it was absolutely the right thing to do to cut taxes for the middle class so they would have enough money to get through the recession” Thanks for the extra $50/month

“[I would have explained] to the American people that it would take a while to get out of this” What you actually did was dress yourself up as a savior who would instantly calm the winds as at Galilee

“I think that a continuing decline in the housing market is something that hasn’t bottomed out as quickly as we expected. We’ve had to revamp our housing program several times” And it still isn’t working.

“are we investing in R&D in order to emphasize technology, and a lot of that has to come from government. That’s how the internet got formed, that’s how GPS got formed” –I thought Algore invented the net

“more students are getting more affordable student loans than ever before because of our programs” So, you’ve made it easier for them to get into debt? Brilliant!

“more people going to college will not have to pay more than 10% of their income on repayment” Oh, the answer to that is to not get a job, awesome.

“all of us need to find a way to make higher education accessible to everybody” but it isn’t FOR everybody. We have tons of students who are not committed to success or prioritizing school who are not performing

“community colleges is a huge underutilized resource. What we want is to set up a lifetime learning service…” Community colleges are very expensive because they are heavily subsidized by taxes, and they are rarely if ever tied to industry or commercial interests directly. It’s a nice idea, but it isn’t true currently

“typically the government’s always running a modest deficit” what is modest about $12 trillion?

“I want to promote alternative energy everywhere”

“we made the largest investment in clean energy anywhere in our recovery act” and now those companies are failing. “our greatest accomplishment is in advanced battery manufacture” even if true, batteries don’t create energy, they store it.

“collective bargaining is the reason why the majority of Americans enjoy the minimum wage, weekends, overtime. So many things we take for granted are because workers came together to bargain with employers…labor has to take management into account” If management goes bankrupt, then labor goes to the soup line.

“john needs to work on his typing skills” Notice how quick he is to criticize the Speaker when he hears the moderator misspeak that it WAS Boehner’s fault but not correct it when the moderator corrects himself and says it was not.

“over the past 15 months, we’ve seen 2 million jobs created in the private sector” Do the math, and if we’re adding 150,000 jobs per month, that does not add up to 2 million, even if they were all private sector, which they were not, not to mention that we need 1.5 million jobs over that time period just to keep up, not to make up for the unexpected loss

“zero capital gains taxes on startups” Startups don’t have capital gains.

“I’m just going to keep on trying and hope that eventually people will see the light” So, you’re right and we’re just not bright enough to figure out how brilliant you are? What about Republics don’t you understand? You hold your office to represent us, not to dominate us. Oligarchy…

“seeing if we can lower interest rates” So, you want to manipulate banks? Oh, the Ericksons would love you.

Most of his comments are vapid and betray a fundamental misconception of how things actually are

“we were able to get this payroll tax that put $1000 in the pockets of every American…and get unemployment insurance extended (to almost two years), and that was a much better deal than a lot of people expected” Ok, I did not get $1000, and even if I had, that’s a paltry $20 per week

Class warfare rhetoric about corporate jets, oil profits, corporate loopholes

“we need to reduce discretionary spending on programs that aren’t working” which programs are discretionary when they are all sacred cows to someone?

“make sure government is spending within its means” if you believe that, then do it, damn it

Kevin Klein tells us that now that Obama’s in the white house, nobody wishes he were president. He talks about revenue and refuses to cut spending, irrespective of all the waste in government and the new garbage built in as new baseline spending. Cuts in 12 years; revenue increases immediately. Taxes increase, but the benefits never happen. Statists never feel bound to keep their promises. Tell me when the bad guys have ever kept a deal they made. “I tell you Dave, I’ve been over this stuff a bunch of times, it just doesn’t add up. If I ran my business this way, I’d be out of business.” --Dave

“I have cut taxes for the middle class repeatedly”

“we actually now have the lowest tax rates since the 1950s. our taxes are lower than they were under Ronald Reagan”. Which ones? There are lots of things that have gone WAY up since then.

“people like me who have been extremely fortunate, mostly because lots of people bought my book, should be willing to pay a few percent to make sure seniors still have health care and kids still have books” He owes the American people a lot more than that as he luxuriates at our expense and doesn’t suffer like we do. It’s very class warfare rhetoric.

“that’s not an unreasonable position to take, and a vast majority of Americans agree” I guess I’m out of touch with a majority of Americans

“that doesn’t mean we can spend whatever we want. We’ll still have to make tough decisions, like about defense spending” why is it always defense that the Statists want to cut?

“no federal program will be able to solve the housing bubble” then why are you talking about that as your priority if it’s something you yourself admit cannot be done to effect?

“we made a decision” Well, sir, I did not. Perhaps these are decisions that should be remade by every successive generation instead of accepting the whims of another generation distal to us in space and time. After all, you routinely argue that the Founders were out of touch with modern times. What makes FDR prescient?

“it’s important that we get good bang for the buck in education” We are not getting that

“we need to pay for good teachers” Yes, and we need to get rid of the bad ones, which the NEA and other unions will not allow based on collective bargaining, which you so laud

“internets”… yeah, he’s tech-savvy

“reducing our dependence on oil is good for our economy, it’s good for our security, and it’s good for our planet”. They no longer say foreign oil, they hate oil period. The irony with this is that it’s predicated on the notion that one day we won’t need oil, but the economy and national security require oil right this minute and in large quantities.

“we’re going to need oil for some time, but…” That’s not what his policies reflect, and how will wind and solar power make things more efficient? There is no battery system of which I am aware with enough power to provide the torque necessary to run a wood lathe.

“increased fuel efficiency standards on cars” does not make things better except for reduce oil consumption. It does not make cars safer or cheaper or better. It forces people to buy cars they don’t want with loans they can ill afford to impress people and save a planet they may not like.

“as part of the deal to bail out the auto industry we told them to focus on cars of the future instead of gas guzzlers of the past” Ok, I get 39 mpg, but you can’t buy a car like mine today. To get better mileage than that, I’d have to buy a Prius which I can buy here locally for the low price of only $33,000 or about three times what my Saturn cost new, which is a poor way to save money as a consumer to buy a car that costs thrice the price to save on fuel costs, especially when insurance will negate fuel savings. The cars are so much more expensive to comply with these regulations that we might have been better off economically if they had never been imposed at all.

“I see a balanced approach…from the people who can most afford it” What about Obama’s ultimatum to leave certain things out of the discussion is balanced? He’s an Obamist. Also, if we take from people according to their ability and it costs thrice the price for a person who earns thrice the wage, the net wage effect is the same, and he’s only richer on paper, not on a net basis.

“let’s allow the private sector to get in {to space travel}” and this he says after saying if not for government we would never have been there in the first place

Cut defense contract, end war on drugs, end agribus and oil subsidies, and invest in campaign financing

“investing in prevention is the most cost effective thing we can do” then turn the CBP/DHS loose!

“there is no doubt that money affects what goes on in Washington and the more we can reduce that effect, the better things will be” agreed, says the poorer of we two to the richer

“people have an exaggerated expense that we spend a large percent on foreign aid, but it has a big impact” they why do you allow your fans to think nation-building is such a bad thing if it’s statistically insignificant as part of the budget?

We need to raise taxes

“if wealthy individuals are willing to simply go back to rates that existed in the 90s when rich people were doing very well, it’s not like they were poor, and by the way that’s when we say the highest job growth rates and greatest reduction in poverty and businesses were profitable” you’re assuming causality, that tax increases will make economic prosperity possible,

“you’re entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts” yes, remember that. Facts are sticky things and depend a lot on how you gather them. You cannot theorize without them, else you begin to fit the facts to suit your theories.

“a modest increase [in taxes] on the wealthiest of individuals has not shown to have a significant impact on job growth” I would really like to see the data on this

“all our troops are slated to be out by the end of this year” but wait, I heard him say that 10,000 were staying. Deceiver in chief

“we can’t simply lop off 25% of the defense budget overnight” but apparently that is his goal, since he added the time frame qualifier

“the nice thing about the defense budget is that it’s so big, it’s so huge that a 1% reduction is the equivalent of the education budget, I’m exaggerating” AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

“it’s so big you can make relatively modest changes to defense that give you a lot of headroom to fund things like basic research and student loans” Ok, two problems. Defense is a legitimate function and duty of government, but research and student loans are NOT. Secondly, defense is about 20% of the budget, according to the CBO, and that’s while WE ARE AT WAR

“I’m a big supporter of biofuels…we need to accelerate our basic research in ethanol made from wood chips and algae” seriously? That is a Harry Reid program in NV.

“well he you know he he he he here here here here’s what I would say, I think we should acknowledge that some welfare programs in the past were not well designed and in some cases did encourage dependency” 1. How articulate…2. So, now they don’t? what magical change did away with that?

“today, um, welfare payments, ah, are not a big driver of our deficit or our debt. There are work obligations attached to welfare” really? Take a look at that CBO image above

“vast majority of folks getting welfare want to work but cant’ find jobs” then what about policies that will create jobs and get them off it?

“letting them know that we’re there to support you and encourage you as long as you’re showing the responsibility to be willing to work"

“those who say we can’t cut the military at all haven’t spent much time looking at military budgets” or are totally incognizant of how much it costs to wage multiple wars simultaneously

“those who say we can’t make changes to social programs or we’re being mean to people…programs that don’t work, we should be willing to eliminate them” what are the deliverables of welfare, and are they met? Nope

“you would not have twitter if…the DoD had not created the internet” but I thought Al Gore created the internet

What are they creating? Misery, stagnation, dependency, and poverty. It's either more taxes or more spending, and they say they have new ideas. We tried that for two years already, and it hasn't worked even though you promised while you campaigned that it would.  Thank goodness the government keeps getting bigger, else we might not survive.