A few responses to some posts recently have made it clear we have too many liberals with a dogged faith in the US Government. Though it defies all reason, they are convinced that any programs of aid or assistance need to be administered through the US Government. To me, this is patently absurd. Many students of history have wondered as they have read of the old homesteading laws, what happened to homesteading and why, with our vast public land resources, it could not be done in this day an...

In response to the flap over social security and privatization, I am inclined to ask if a retirement is something we should take for granted, or if it is something that belongs only to those who scrimp and save to provide their own retirement. In answering this question, I think we first need to consider the Social Security system's setup. Begun under FDR, the system works in such a way that those who are recipients of the system receive their benefits based on the earnings of the current wor...

in 1985, I stood with a group of protestors speaking out against the (now renamed) School of Americas, which has recently become known to the rest of the world. Between 1985 and 1988, I wrote over 100 letters for Amnesty International. In 1991, I joined the Socialist Party USA, and was active in the 1992 campaign of J. Quinn Brisben, the SPUSA's candidate, who remains a friend, and whose name my son bears. I have worked with a number of liberal theologians over the years protesting many injus...

Today has been one of my most strenuous workdays as a writer. Driven by my emerging role as a leader (see, "I Don't Feel Like a Veteran ANYTHING"), and my true desire to work to improve American politics, I have begun working on a very serious, and, hopefully extensive, piece that I hope will influence many Americans who are disenchanted with the American political system to rally together to mount a serious attack against the political status quo. While such an effort could truly be deemed q...

Republicans have campaigned over the last several years on the idea of espousing smaller federal governments and expanding state and local autonomy. While I have found a good number of individual Republicans of whom this has been true, this is NOT true of the national party, and specifically not true of the Bush administration. In this article, I will attempt to enumerate several examples of how the Bush administration is antithetical to small government, and why true small government Republican...

In the wake of so many lists of left/right inconsistencies, I was pondering a few the other day. Feel free to add more (or inconsistencies of the right as well; equal opportunity here): Leftists: Believe that a woman has a right to abort a fetus without the father's consent, but if she chooses to keep it, that father better pay for it till it's 18. Believe that developmentally disabled individuals are wonderful individuals, worthy of respect and esteem, but they should be terminated whe...

As California continues to suffer from flood and mudslides, domestic attention is definitely drawn to it. But the international community will not be reaching out to our citizens for aid, nor will they criticize the lack of spending of other countries on our crisis. Nor should they. The California crisis is ours to deal with, and we can and should be grateful for any aid that comes from outside sources as a "gift". While we are indeed a wealthy country, it is our innovative nature and f...

I have been hard at work dealing with one of the biggest paradoxes that comprises who I am as a person. I detest socialism, and see it as being impractical on a large scale (such as ANY sizable government), and yet, I equally detest the money at all costs mentality of many capitalists today. It is equally impractical, and has led to a state of economic feudalism rather than capitalism. This system hurts far more than it helps, as it is reliant upon an oppressed majority for the comfort of a m...

Two and a half months after the left snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, they still don't get it. While I have strongly held opinions, I try to reserve those opinions for my personal journals and discussions among friends and moderate myself to a degree that is diplomatically prudent. I believe that "a faith worth having is a faith worth defending", and I hold my beliefs dear to me. Diplomacy, however,is not acceptable to much of the American left. They attack at every chance, and pu...

A few years ago, a friend of mine, after his third child, decided it was time to get snipped. So, he spoke with the doctors about it, and found out something interesting: In the state of Wisconsin, at least, a married man MUST have his wife's permission to have a vasectomy! Contrary to a statement on a recent blog, it is not required (in Wisconsin, at least) for a woman to receive her husband's permission to have an abortion. There's an obvious double standard here that I just don't get. ...

I think our aid to the countries hit by the tsunami should have some strings attached. I have said from the get go that I think it should be raised through voluntary sources, and I still do. But One of my pet peeves with foreign aid is the irresponsibility of the recipient. In disasters such as this, those of higher income are less likely to be devastated, if for no other reason than that they are MORE likely to be ensured. And thus, aid should begin with ensuring that those who have the m...

At one time in American history, there was a class of people that were promised protection from the elements and domestic threats, housing, medical care, and all of their physical needs to be met in return for their labor. That class of people was called "slaves", and it took the better part of 100 years following our country's independence to gain their freedom. Now, the left presses for a continually socialist agenda, promising all of the above...and there are a great number of people wh...

I logged off the computer yesterday in utter outrage. I had considered adding a JoeUser to my permanent blacklist for what was said. After some "cool down" time, I have decided against tht option, but remain no less peeved. The person in question, was, at least honest. Many of the left don't even meet THAT standard. The offense was by a person who labelled a baby a "parasite". That this person woul have such utter disdain or contempt for human life puts the person, in my opinion, on a phil...

(Note: for clarification of what is meant by "macrosocialism", see my article "Macrosocialism vs. Microsocialism". I introduced and clarified those terms in that article, and this article is a continuation of my thoughts on the theories I advanced). Macrosocialist societies have been a part of our world culture for the better part of the last 100 years. The failed USSR, China, North Korea, and Cuba are prominent examples. Yet each of these governments did and do have long lists of human right...

I have been developing my ideas of how socialism and free enterprise need not be incompatible (socialist endeavours working in a free enterprise economy), and am refining my phrases to better explain the concepts. The best way I can explain it is, I believe in microsocialism, but not in macrosocialism (yes, I stole the phrase from the creationist "micro" vs. "macro" evolution). Microsocialism is a community with socialist ideals that can work within a larger infrastructure. Its principles are...