When Everyone is Super...

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Politicians conveniently harp on a single phrase of the Declaration of Independence while they ignore the rest. They focus on "equality" without really defining what they mean by that and how it differs from the equality the Founders meant. Everyone comes into this world exactly the same- naked, hungry, and crying. What most politicians mean is not equality of station but rather equality of results.

Their policies will render every man the same as everyone else. Then most people will be like most people. The oft to Lincoln misattributed quote of "You cannot make a poor man rich by making a rich man poor" (William Boetker 1942) brings it down to the bottom line. When everyone is equal nobody will be.

Under its auspices, liberalism will make everyone equal and keep them that way. Even then, they cannot guarantee this. Even if we all have the same tools, spend the same amount of time, and do the same job, some will reap 10 fold, some 50 and some 100. Free Labor, Abraham Lincoln wrote, is the only answer, for freedom "has the inspiration of hope; pure slavery has no hope. The power of hope upon human exertion and happiness is wonderful. The slave-master himself has a conception of it. … The slave whom you cannot drive with the lash to break seventy-five pounds of hemp in a day, if you will task him to break a hundred, and promise him pay for all he does over, he will break you a hundred and fifty. You have substituted hope for the rod." Incentivize performance and people will exceed expectations.

Years ago, I worked for WalMart Stores Incorporated. Every day, there was a set amount of work to be done in the warehouse during our shift. It was always more than we could do if everyone just did what was expected of him. It required the best of every person on the team. Some people did it because it was right. Some people only did enough. Some people went above and beyond in hopes that they would be rewarded. That's why I was the one selected for overtime and others were turned away. I may never have received a performance incentive, but if it had ever been earned, I would have earned it every time.

The reality that liberalism will make is that everyone will be poor, miserable, and worse off tomorrow except for those who grow rich at the expense of our labor. Free market principles provide the only hope for men to become better than their station, which is why people continue to flock to our shores where the streets are paved with gold if only you can get people to pay you for what you choose to do.

Federal Reserve and the Mint

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The president asks private banks to compensate what they have cost the American people. What about what the federal reserve through poor fiduciary policy has cost us all in terms of inflation, devaluation of the dollar, and debt so deep that generations as yet unborn will not be able to pay it all?

I'll Tell You What I Know

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The fact of the matter is that I don't know all the facts. I live by a mantra that guides me to stick to what I know until something happens that changes my views. As such, the opinions of others provide insufficient impetus to change my views since they reflect only the views of other people around me who have different "facts".

For now, I believe and follow what I follow because of the reasons I put forth. As I learn and grow by study as well as by experience, I expect my views to change somewhat. By and large, life is kind of like how traveling a route you know well in the opposite direction gives you different perspective on the same truth. You gain experience and knowledge and it changes how you see things.

If I change my views, I will tell you why.

Life Happens When You Make Other Plans

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Last year was wrought with disappointment and challenge. I feel like it was worth it in spite of the fact that I didn't get closer to the goals I had for my life.

Unlike many other people I know, I held my own. Unlike I expected, the challenges lead to other opportunities, and in the fourth watch, reinforcements arrived to safeguard my citidel. I was blessed this year.

I know that if my life had turned out how I imagined it, I would have never met some of the people I know, seen some of the things I have seen, experienced some of the things I have experienced or become the man I have become. If you are grateful for the man I am today, then thank God, for it is His work and His hand that guides my way.

Harry Reid is a Good Man

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The president has forgiven Senator Harry for his racist comments. So should we. Why? Excellent question.

Wil asked me today what I thought about the news. I asked him, "What law did Harry break?"

Since Senator Harry broke no law and gave no offense to me, it is irrelevant what I think of his words. As a public servant, I am concerned with the law. If you think he broke God's law, then let God come and arrest him and try him for his offense. If you think he offended you, then you hold him accountable. I will not be a Capulet and let blood in the marketplace.

Some might be tempted to leverage his comments for political gain. I am content to let them. I know that if I make him an offender for a word, he will return the favor tenfold.

When I "defended" Tiger for his indiscretions months ago, I made this the final part of my argument. If some time in the future you do what he did, what would you like to be said of you?

When Harry Reid goes down in defeat, I intend to make it a matter of policy and principle. His verbal faux pas is just a symptom of the fact that the world of today left him behind.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

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Early to bed, early to rise, and your girl goes out with other guys. I told this to a friend's wife right around the new year. I just really don't understand the fascination with staying out until the wee hours of the morning when they know that in a few weeks school starts back up and they will have to meet deadlines and show up to class.

If they stay out until 2AM, then when they go to sleep I am half way through REM. When they are half way through REM at 5AM, I am half way through the New Testament.

I know this makes me strange. I put first things first.

You show what matters to you by the things you choose. When I went on my mission, we were asked to "retire to our bed early and arise early that our bodies and our minds might be invigorated". Since my return from the mission field, I have continued to keep that schedule as well as the personal study opportunities that come with the fact that I am up at a quiet hour that allows me to finish first the things that matter most to me.

If you do today what others won't, tomorrow you'll be able to do what others can't. This is a major reason why, at 30, I have so much life experience and know so many things about so many topics. Instead of visiting the same haunts and hanging out, I go new places, read new books, and meet new people. Live life.

Why Work No Longer Pays

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I looked at my check and wondered why my income tax withholding for this pay period increased $5.52 and then I realized the Making Work Pay credit expired.

I guess work no longer pays...

Why I Am the Best Candidate

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People ask me what the difference between the other candidates on the ballot is and myself. I have looked at the websites of my esteemed colleagues, and while I think them to all be patriotic and capable, I disagree on one major point and on that I make the claim that I am the best candidate.

Daniel Webster wrote during the revolution of people such as this. He said, "While they mean to rule well, they mean to rule." All of the Republican contenders and most assuredly the Democrat incumbent, all seek greater control of your life in the hands of government. Even those among them who intend to use this power to direct your lives for good intend to use that power. I do something else.

It is my policy that every man might have an equal chance. You know more about how to find your happiness, protect your property, preserve your life, and follow your conscience than any bureaucratic intellectual in a distant capital. I follow the admonition of Thomas Paine that "The government that governs best governs least." Naturally, there are legitimate activities of government, and I propose to scale it back to just those and nothing else.


The above illustration shows a projection of what one might expect under the various candidacies. I have chosen Tarkanian as a representative Republican. The other candidates agree on every facet of policy except the rate and the degree to which government should control your life. I am the ONLY candidate who proposes a reduction in government intrusion. If you are now successful in life or ever hope to be, conservative values are the best road to that end.

How does this serve your favor?

Many people challenge my contention for office on the auspices of deeply seated personal beliefs. Every person carries these with him into office, whether part of a religion or a personal mantra. I am the only one who promises to divest his own personal bias from that of his official duty. As the people's servant, I will do what you ask.

Whereas most politicians have fallen out of love with America and her people, I have a great deal of faith in the American people. I believe that it is common that the greater part of the people desire that which is right. Even then, if the majority desires that which is wrong, it makes little nevermind whether you are ruled by a little intellectual elite or the body in general. For when wicked rule, the people mourn, and if the people are wicked then who else shall rule them? I will make it my business to do the will of the people.

In the absence of common consent from the constituents, I will vote for things that will expand your liberty. If I disagree with common consent, I will explain how such a law will contract your liberty. Governments have an obligation to protect life, safeguard private property, and hold sacrosanct the free exercise of conscience. Sometimes, they will pass laws for the "general welfare" that intrude upon those ideals. I will not let them.

I am the best candidate in this race. If you are better than I am, get on the ballot. If not, I ask for and appreciate your vote.

Thank you.

Projection and Prediction

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When I taught introductory biochemistry lab in graduate school, we taught the students how to measure unknowns. Before each assay, we asked them to build a standard curve, similar to the one below, using a known substance of known concentration.



The students would then test their unknowns and report back. Inevitably, there were errors in their logic.

When a student told me that his sample registered at 83ug/tube, I gently reminded him of a salient fact. The standard curve represents the only known values. If you assume that the curve continues said behavior outside the parameters established, you will come into an error. We do not know, and most of the machines cannot measure, outside the parameters we taught the students. So, to find out if it was accurate, they had to dilute their samples to get it within the range. Sometimes they found out that their first guess of 83ug was really 88ug, because the line follows different behavior outside detectable limits.

Similarly in life, people project things outside detectable limits. We know about the past, and we observe the present, and we presume that gives us sufficient to predict the future. When I graduated from high school, I was voted most likely to succeed. Nobody foresaw the events through which I have since passed.

People meet other people and assume they will be that way forever. What we are however is a result of what we experience, and unless we only experience in perpetuity that which we already know, we will change. Plus, if you only experience things you know, you will never grow... Just because someone is cute now doesn't mean they will always be. Just because someone is rich now doesn't mean they will always be. I could tell you stories...

The future is in motion until the moment of choice. Our reality results from our choices. So, if you don't like what you have, dilute it, get a fresh sample, remeasure your life, and get it to a place you know.

Praise that Made Me Smile

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For the past two weeks, I have attended another ward than that to which I actually belong. I do this for two reasons. First, because there's something in my ward I wish to avoid for the next few weeks. Second, because the bishopric has asked me to keep an eye on people I knew who moved out.

So, last Sunday I introduced myself to Bishop Clark as Jennifer's former home teacher. When he saw me there again today he said, "You must be the best hometeacher in the church." I certainly hope not, but it was a nice thought.