A Real Test for the Candidates

Who will stand up against the completely illegal and unconstitutional intrusion into our lives by the NSA? This is ordered from on high by a White House that is hauntingly similar to the one before it when it comes to individual liberty. Under the guise of counter-terrorism, the federal government has gone about destroying our individual liberty. Privacy is a thing of the past. Every email, every phone call, every tweet and text is now under their watch. Who will stand against this blatant and anti-American activity? Who will call this tyranny and fight it with his last breath? No one in the Republican Party wants to hear the answer. The answer is Ron Paul. Who else talks about returning power to the people? Who else talks about true constitutionalism? Who else refuses to defile the founding principles of this nation by running behind the flag to destroy our liberty? Not Gingrich. Not Santorum. Not Romney. Only Paul. It is the truth, plain and simple...

The Entitlement Society, Part I

In a chaotic scene at Santa Monica College in California, students were pepper sprayed by police after crashing a board meeting concerning fee increases. Students were chanting that "education should be free." This is just another in a long line of instances which, in aggregate, leads the logical thinker to believe that the very fabric of our society is unraveling. Entire segments of our society are in full-fledged denial, or worse yet, ignorance, of what has fueled the prosperity that has made America the richest nation in the history of the world. Their incredibly myopic worldview seems to be centered around the premise that anything that everyone "should have" should be "free." Of course, this runs contrary to every principle of free enterprise (which is supposedly taught in our public schools). Anyone with even the slightest working knowledge of economics understands the basic principles of supply and demand which drive our capitalist system. It is not an exercise which requires great intellectual ability to grasp. As are most of the beautiful things in this world, it is simple and resides primarily in the realm of common sense. So, why is it that so many in our society cannot seem to grasp this? The answer is disturbing, and I hope I am wrong.

I believe that the answer is a lethal combination of ignorance of our capitalist system and outright rejection of capitalism as an essential instrument of American growth and life. It is far from difficult to imagine that our public education system has failed to properly instruct millions of students (who, make no mistake, are more likely than not very apathetic toward the subject) on the basic tenets of capitalism and the mountain of evidence from our history which goes a long way to provide bona fides. When one considers the unprecedented (save FDR's failed attempts) level of government intrusion into our economy today, it is far from inconceivable that young people would believe that things like education should "be free." Our government has embarked on an unparalleled spending spree which has served to take the burden of participating in the give and take of media of exchange off millions in our system. "Free" schools provide "free" breakfasts and "free" lunches which are followed up by "free" dinners purchased with EBT cards. I could go down a very long road of subsidies and handouts provided by the hard-working taxpayers of this country and distributed through the middle-man known as the federal government in exchange for mindless political fealty. The end result of such activity is undeniable. It is the Entitlement Society, and, left unchecked, it will destroy free society as we know it...

Hunger Games: Thoughts on the Gradual Squeeze

As is my usual proclivity, I avoided the crowds who had flocked to theatres to see The Hunger Games. As I watched a decent story decently told, my mind began to turn more rapidly than the blurring action used in scenes of violence to allow for a PG-13 rating (a bonanza of earnings certainly to be worth over $100 million when all is said and done). My mind went into involuntary overdrive as it connected the action in the film to our lives in 2012 America. There has been no shortage or post-apocalyptic cinematic visions in our lifetime. The most common denominator in all of these is the simple question: "How could this happen?" To get caught up in the story of Katniss and Peeta is to lose the essence of the message. The true message of The Hunger Games film is the same that can be found in almost any of these post-apocalyptic visions: Hope springs eternal, and it can be found in our hearts.

During these bleak visions of the future, I often grapple with the idea that people can go from where we are to where they are. Certainly, no one would acquiesce to a direct and violent destruction of their freedom. However, they just might willfully give it away one piece at a time...