I grew up eschewing the term "lower class". In my late adolescence and early adulthood, my categorization as such developed into a burning hatred for capitalism and all that it entailed. It was clearly, in my eyes, a battle of the "haves" against the "have nots", and in the end, I felt, the "have nots" would rule the day. While I do not regret this chapter in my past, I have come to grips with an understanding of how deeply misguided I was, and how that misguided mentality was a handicap I ha...

In Congress, the Senate put a delay on the confirmation process of Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court. Not for any sound reason, mind you, but because they could. In the state of Texas, legislators are prepared to go back to Austin in April or May to bring school finance back to the table despite five failed special sessions to do the same and a deadline of June 1 imposed by the state Supreme Court. There's a lot of nothing going on at every level by politicians who are hard at work disregardi...

It's good to be king. So Hutchinson County (Texas) district attorney Clay L. Ballman discovered on May 12, 2005 when he was involved in an accident. He was drunk, and fled the scene, leaving the other individual involved in the attack chasing him down and calling 9/11, where he was found to be intoxicated. He pled guilty, received 4 days in jail and a fine and resumed his job. The mother of the daughter involved in the collision is having a difficult time finding an attorney to help her pe...

I know my history. Knowing my history has given me a sense of identity, a sense of purpose. Because of my past, I try to act honorably, knowing that I have not only my own honor, but that of my family, to protect. About 300 years ago, one branch of my family came to America from the shores of Scotland. Oral tradition has made their exodus an apocryphal tale, but most such tales bear some basis in fact. My ancestral clan was at war with a rival clan, so the story goes, and were due to set sail...

Many organizations in the United States have come up with a new and unique solution to poverty in this country: criminalize it! In my studies on CPS activities, I have found a good number of individuals who have had their initial CPS encounters after enrolling their children in Head Start Programs, taking them to WIC or free immunization programs, or even testing them for lead. If these encounters were initiated because bruises, burns, or other possible symptoms of abuse were observed, I woul...

Imagine this scenario: You are a poor, working class person who works hard to maintain a reasonable standard of living. You work hard, earn a aycheck, come home at night, and are in most ways a respectable citizen. Your one vice is coming home and playing your Clash records so loud you have one of your neighbors pounding and screaming on the walls. your neighbor gets mad, calls crimestoppers, and anonymously reports that you are a drug dealer. He fictitiously reports that people come by your...

In an interesting case for Supreme Court watchers, the United States Supreme Court upheld Oregon's assisted suicide law. It was a 6-3 decision and newly appointed Chief Justice John Roberts was among the dissenters. I have a high regard for life, and would not personally want to undertake assisted suicide under any scenario I can foresee at this point. But I have a great deal of concern about the right of our nation's courts to determine whether or not I have the right to do so; such an ethic...

I am writing this article for those who would describe themselves as conservative on JoeUser. While you are in the majority here and in the US government, your opinions are often shouted down in the mainstream media and in the world. Many conservatives are quick to cry that they are victims; that the attacks on their ideologies are unmerited and personal, when nothing could be further from the truth. And yet I, a former leftist, have not been able to find a home among the conservative camp in...

This is just an observation from those who tend to subscribe to leftist philosophy on this site. Take it for what it's worth, and discard the rest. I personally believe that many of the articles on JoeUser that have been put forth by centrist writers or others who see "both sides", but have veered right have been for one simple reason: Because the nature of most who would describe themselves as "left" is to act on "feeling" and emotion, and because it is far easier to "get your goat" by using...

As i have begun studying poverty in the United States, I have been compelled by the stats to look deeper. I have heard the number "40 million" tossed out as the number of Americans in poverty in the US; a recent article on the afl-cio's website ( Link ) puts the number at 37 million. Either way, the interesting fact is that that represents about 13 percent of our nation's population. That is substantially below the world bank's estimate of the global percentage of poverty at 20% of the world...

One of the biggest wrongs we can commit against the ideology of another is to sum up their ideology in one or two word sound bites (examples: the right, the left, conservative, liberal, Republican, democrat, libertarian, green). And yet it seems to be a necessary evil to address the group that is the focus of our discussion. With that disclaimer in mind, I'd like to make some observations about what I see as the right's key misunderstanding about the left (knowing that a good number of you won't...

NOTE: This article was inspired in large part by a fellow JoeUser's attempt to get U2 tickets. Because the opinion expressed in this article was WHOLLY inappropriate to that thread, it wasn't posted there. But I did feel an acknowledgement was in order. In a recent discussion about obtaining U2 tickets, I could not help but think about the band, who is inextricably linked to efforts to eradicate world poverty through the highly prominent efforts of its front man, Bono. While I disagree with B...

I've been opinionated since the day I first arrived on JU (OK, so I didn't exactly get off to a stellar start with the "Mary Kate" article, but hey, it's still the number one). I've tried to be reasonable and respectful in many of my writings, and have tried to put out an insightful, quality product. Lately, though, I've noticed that former regulars are avoiding me like the plague, and those who comment are commenting as if I'd committed some sort of personal offense against them. I've even d...

Like the much misunderstood underpants gnomes: I, too, have a comprehensive plan for 2006. Although I detailed some of it in a little read article, I have been working for its implementations. My three step plan is as follows: Step 1: Establish domain name Step 2: ? Step 3: Profit! I am pleased to announce that I have completed step 1. I have secured the domain name www.gideonmacleish.com  . While I have not actually DONE anything on the site yet, I hope to gradually w...

We don't get a whole lot of commentary on here from the left, but when we do, it is often self parodying. Take, for instance, my recent arguments on feminism vs. female supremacy. I was called to task for allegedly only supporting "feminism" when it conforms to MY standards of female behaviour (which showed, sadly, that the individual in question didn't read the article through in context). The reason I find that interesting is putting things in proper perspective. My wife, for instance, doe...