A Cynical Trip Over the Fiscal Cliff

I wish I was a better man.  I try to look on the good side of human nature.
I do believe that most people will try to do the right thing, given a chance.

So why do I have this nagging suspicion that all the talk during the 2012
election, and after, regarding the fiscal cliff has been an elaborate dance...a
political gavotte, mesmerizing the  public and pundits, setting the stage
for a political kabuki play.

President Obama, the Democrats, the Republicans, all appear to be
aghast at the tragic consequences for our country if we go over the "cliff".
All parties are jockeying for position to blame the pending tragedy on
the other side.  No-one wants to admit that they might be the cause
of such an unthinkable event.

But, what would happen if (or when) we do go over the fiscal cliff?

First, the Bush tax cuts would expire, and taxes would go up dramatically
on ALL Americans, not just the top 2%.  In addition, drastic spending
cuts would be SLATED to occur.  The Apocalypse has begun!

Then, President Obama and the Democrats will blame the Republicans.  The
Republicans will blame the Democrats.   Independents will blame all politicians.
Same old, same old...and their true believers will will continue to follow their
lead.

Who gains?  Now, BOTH Democrats and Republicans will have all that extra
tax money to spend.  They can blame each other for their good fortune.

And God knows, it's important to the Republic that we avoid letting those
drastic spending cuts destroy the country.  Republicans can save the defense
budget, etc., etc.  Democrats can save entitlements, etc., etc.  Magically, the
money has arrived in the nick of time.

The rate of growth of the debt has slowed a little, but the debt has not been
reduced.  The red ink continues to flow.

So, in the end, Big Government gets the money and the taxpayer (and the
private economy) get the shaft.

The politicians even get to pretend to be statesmen, doing what needs to be
done to save life as we know it.

I know.  I know.  I feel guilty.  A guy that could come up with such a
devious scenario  involving such treacherous politicians must have had a
terrible childhood.  Washington can't really be that bad, can it?

Let's hope not.  I'm sure they'll do the right thing.



     

A Commencement Redress

Congratulations!  At last you're here...at the culmination of years of
academic effort...after forming lifelong friendships and relationships...
you've earned your degree and the right to be proud of it.

Enjoy it!  The key to your future success is in your hands.  Use it to
open doors that lead to places where you may never have dreamed
of traveling.  Party tonight and celebrate with family and friends.
You've reached one of the key turning points in life.

But keep perspective.  You've just won your first race on the way to
the Olympics.  There are many races and competitions to go, and you
have to make it to the finals to win the gold.



You've proven you can complete the course work.  You have proven
you have a good memory.  You understand and use language and
mathematics well.  You can follow directions, and you have shown
you can think, organize, plan, and prioritize your time well enough to
succeed in academic work.

In short, you have proven a lot, and you have a right to be proud,
but you haven't won the gold medal yet.

Most likely, though, you still have yet to prove that you can deal with
some of life's more difficult challenges, such as...

1.  Are you brave enough to stand up to life's difficult
     challenges, and persevere when all goes wrong?

2.  Are you wise enough to know when to hold 'em and when to
     fold 'em...or when to go all in or all out?

3.  Are you strong enough to stand up for the honorable thing, even
     when it is not to your personal advantage to do it?

4.  Are you are smart enough to recognize the right thing, when
     it appears in front of you?

5.  Are you generous and unselfish enough to sacrifice some of
     your personal ambitions to benefit your family, your loved ones,
     or the community, if necessary?

6.  Are you resilient in the face of persistent day-to-day frustrations?

7.  Can you listen to others and learn from their perspectives,
     even if they are not as "educated" as you are?







Hundreds of thousands have sat where you sit today, proud of
their achievement, and sure that they, and their generation, will
solve the problems that bedevil our society and the world.  Same
as you, they were trained by professors, who also teach and advise
corporate and governmental leaders, special interest groups, quasi-
governmental organizations, and politicians.

Their solutions have always been pretty much the same.  One, take
money from individuals and businesses so that it can be spent on
government programs.  Two, take more money from individuals
and businesses so they can spend it on expanded or new programs.
Finally, three, put your trust in well-educated bureaucrats to make
the wise decision for you.

The solutions almost never result in a choice to eliminate unnecessary
or inefficient programs, to apply new technology to substantially
eliminate waste and graft, or to spend less in tough times.

The bad news is, the money is running out, and the old solutions
aren't working.  The good news is, you're going to be part of the
generation that will have to find new solutions to old problems.

I know, you've just earned your way into the "well-educated
bureaucrat" (or corporate, or professorial) class.  Am I trying
to tell you that you're the problem?

If you can't come up with better solutions, you WILL become part
of the problem, and the future for your generation looks dark.  If you
CAN come up with better solutions, your future can be bright
and shining.  You control your destiny.  You control the country's
destiny.





Lyndon Johnson started the "War on Poverty" almost fifty years
ago.  After spending billions (trillions?) of dollars on program after
program, have we eliminated poverty?  After years of spending
billions on the "War on Drugs", have we eliminated the drug problem?
Did the "best and brightest" manage Vietnam well?

How about business?  Have all those MBAs done right by Wall
Street...or in Washington?  Did all those well-educated regulators
and Wall Street titans foresee or prevent the mortgage market
meltdown, even though it would seem to be a no-brainer to require
proof that a mortgagee has enough income to pay back a loan?  Has
greed, corruption, or foolishness been eliminated?

All those people who helped create this world that you may think is
all screwed up;  they sat where you sit today and thought they were
going to make the world a better place to live.  Hey, Bernie Madoff
sat where you sit today, as happy and optimistic and proud of his
future as you are of yours today.  Don't do Bernie.

Remember, you're at the beginning of your road, not at the final
destination.  Don't think you know all the answers...hopefully, you
will know to ask the right questions.  Keep your eyes and ears open,
and feed what you see and hear into an open mind.  You can learn
from the most unlikely sources.

Formal education is not learning.  Life experience, simmering within
an engaged mind, over a lifetime, leads to learning and to wisdom.
Question what you've been taught and what you hear.  Believe in
yourself and don't be afraid to speak your truth.

I envy you today.  A page is being turned, and your life is starting
anew today.  You have a new beginning, and you are free to choose
what you make of it.  Live it.  Enjoy it.  Revel in it.

Make this world a better place.  

Dueling Mind-Sets

For almost all of human history, the mind-set of governance has been that leaders lead,
and all others are either enforcers for, or followers of, laws created by the elite leaders.

This has been true of leaders endowed with power by divine right, endowed by religious
theocracy,  by the power of the sword, or by the power of a democratic election.

The basic rule is that powerful elites set whatever rules they want, and, as long as they
have the power to enforce their decisions, everyone else must follow the rules...and, if
another set of leaders takes control, then the new leaders set the rules.  Same
mind-set, different rulers.

When America was formed, a different mind-set took hold.  The basic idea was that
each individual should have the freedom to choose their own road in life, and accept
the risks and rewards that come with their new found freedom.

No longer would a powerful elite control all individuals, and, to ensure that the
federal government would not have the power to intrude into citizen's lives, the
federal government was limited to specific powers, with other specific powers
delegated to the states.

In addition, individual rights were specified that could not be violated by the federal
or state governments.

Finally, the federal government was divided into three distinct parts, legislative,
executive, and judicial...in order to make sure that no one in the federal government could
achieve enough power to prevent individuals from attaining life, liberty, and their
own pursuits of happiness.

Granted, this is all basics civics, but the difference between the two mind-sets is
still in play in the politics of the current day.

When you listen to politicians, do not pay attention to what they are labeled or to
their political party.  They might be Democrats or Republicans, Conservatives or
Liberals.

What matters is their mind-set.  What matters is how they think. Listen to what they
say and ask yourself "Do they want the power to control my life, or do they think I'm
competent to make my own decisions?"  "Do they look at me as an individual, or
do they look at me as a cog in a demographic group that they can manipulate?"

Actually, a better question would be "Do I look at myself as a competent individual, or
am I just a mindless part of a demographic group?".

There have always been, and will always be, elites that feel they know better than you
how you should live your life.  They have always thirsted for power to enforce their will
upon others...always, of course, for your benefit, not theirs.  And, it is true that some
limits do need to be in place to prevent individual freedom from turning into anarchy.






But it is no coincidence that somehow, in the history of the world, those elites have never
delivered the freedom and the economic and human progress that the American
Experiment did in just a few hundred years.  For all its problems, America is still one
country that has most learned to embrace diversity and live together; a shining symbol
showing the rest of the world what can be accomplished with good will and tolerance.

Even in America, little by little, year by year, elites have slowly been "transforming" the
federal government from its originally intended limited purposes into a gigantic
conglomerate of regulations, entitlements, promises, spending, and power...a
conglomerate that is well on its way to bankruptcy or to oppressive taxation for
future generations.

Before you vote, listen.  Listen hard to what politicians are saying, and ask yourself, "Am
I voting for a safety net, or am I voting for a way of life?

Look.  Look hard, not only at what they are saying, but at the effects of what they are
doing.  Whether by good intention, or not, the effect of much of the federal legislation
over the last hundred years has been to curtail individual freedom and initiative, and to
replace it with regulation, intimidation, and favoritism.

Its a good thing to have control enough to prevent anarchy...but too much control is a
vice, not a virtue.  Do not throw away that which has made us great for that which will
make us mundane.

The greatest gift mankind had ever been given was the freedom our founders
bestowed on this country. 

The burden of history has fallen upon this generation.  We will either be remembered
as the generation that gave that freedom away, or as the generation that took it back.
I don't know how this story will end.  I hope we'll fight to take it back, but I fear
we'll give it up.

Each individual will have to take a side. I hope you pick the right side.      
            

     

Money, Property, Contracts, Morality

If you believe in the concept of the "Universal Morality", you must be able
to determine if agreements between individuals and groups are being
forced, or if they are voluntarily agreed upon.

Agreements that are physically forced would obviously be immoral.  Less
obviously, agreements secured by lies, cheating, obfuscation, duress, etc.,
would be equally immoral, even though physical force was not used.

But, even if you do not accept immoral agreements, you still need a method
to measure and evaluate agreements that were made mutually, voluntarily,
and morally, between individuals and groups.

Humanity has come a long way since the days of "bartering" services.
Modern society relies on currency and law to regulate relations between
competing, and often conflicting, interests.

If you accept that each individual has the freedom to put a value on their own time
and labor, then, money is one way (not the only way), by which we value our
time and labor.  A system of currency aids both individuals and groups in evaluating
decisions they make.

Without the freedom to value our time and labor, we are all slaves.  With this
freedom, each of us becomes an agent in control of our own life.  One may wonder
IF some individuals are worth what they are paid, but, if no one was FORCED to
pay them, then, obviously, enough others DID think they were worth it.

If an individual has the freedom to own property, then money is the medium
by which we value it, sell it, and buy it.  Without this freedom, we are all
serfs, existing at the behest of those politicians that would assign us our living
quarters and possessions.

And, if individuals and groups have the freedom to make agreements and
decisions amongst each other, then contract law is how we enforce those
agreements.  Without this freedom, we are all peons, endowing politicians
the political power to decide our conflicts for us...and opening the door to
cronyism and, eventually, to tyranny. 

Systems of currency, property rights, and contract law are all intrinsic to human
freedom.  To think otherwise is to endanger human liberty.  

Young Americans and the Parable of Stockton

Public employees in Stockton, California are upset that the city's bankruptcy
filing will affect their careers, their health benefits, and their pension benefits.  One
retired lady in particular was angry that her promised health benefits would be
cut or eliminated, and she was furious with the mayor and the city council.

I understand her anger and the tragic position she finds herself in...but the
current city officials are not the cause of her problems.

First, her problem was caused by incompetent or corrupt politicians, long gone,
who promised her pensions and health benefits beyond the funds they could
provide for them.  Then, they "guaranteed" her pension benefits "at little or no
cost to the taxpayers" because they were only providing backup for benefits
that would be paid for out of pension fund earnings.



They knew they would be long gone before the bill came due, and some other
poor sap would be stuck with it...and she probably voted them in office again
and again because they "cared for her".

Secondly, her problem was caused by the pension fund managers, who, year
after year, continued to project fund earnings far in excess of actual likely
earnings.  This made their budget look good, and, if they didn't reach the
earnings, the taxpayers would have to put up the money to guarantee the
benefits to their members.  No sweat.

And thirdly, the problem was caused by the public service union that represented
her, using her dues to bankroll the election campaigns of politicians who would
reward the union with sweet-heart deals.  Those deals made the union look
good to her, at least until the money ran out and taxpayers got tired of being
taxed to pay for better benefits than they, themselves, received.

But, she was probably pretty happy to take those benefits and to vote for
the candidates that her union told her would give her more.  In short, she was
lied to and used by politicians and unions in their search for power and
influence, and now she should realize she's been suckered.

OK, young Americans, what's the lesson in all this for you?  What do you
care about her problems?

Well, what do you think the "Affordable Health Care Act" is all about?  It's
going to let you stay on your parents health insurance for a few more years?
Wow!!  It promises everybody something yet, somehow, costs taxpayers
less?

What it really does is put you on the hook to pay for yours, and everyone
else's, health insurance as well...as well as give politicians the right to decide
what you will pay and what coverage you need.

Regardless of what Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and President Obama say, there
is no free lunch...and, if you're dumb enough to believe there is, you're
going to be stuck paying the bill

And, when Republicans and Democrats alike say they're lowering the "payroll
tax" to put more cash in your pocket, what they are NOT saying is that the
money is coming from your social security account, or, they are borrowing
the money to replace it in your social security account and are increasing the
national debt that you will have to pay, sooner or later.

One way or another, it affects you.  Go into this next election with open eyes.
Be aware of the consequences of your choice, when you vote your
conscience.  Don't think you're getting something for nothing, and end up
being tuckered and suckered all the way down the line.   

Henry Kissinger and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

"Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter" will soon be screening in movie theaters throughout
the country.  I've got to admit, my first reaction to this was pretty negative...but then
again, it is pretty creative to piggy back the good vibes of a national hero onto a schlock,
pop movie.

One of our pressing national concerns is what to do with Washington politicians out of
office.  These sad, derelict vagabonds wander far from the halls of power, reduced to
using their inside knowledge to lobby their replacements.  True, financially, they are well
rewarded...but spiritually, they are shattered souls, begging for favors from the new
power brokers.

Or, they are reduced to lecturing at elite universities, confirming to already pampered
and entitled students, that it is indeed noble to go into public service and tell the rest of
us how to live our lives.

To provide a productive life for these lost souls, we could do worse than offer them
employment as actors.  Instead of using dead politicians to make new movies, we
could use live politicians (when they are out of office) to remake old movies and
television shows.

Who wouldn't want to see Chris Christie and Barack Obama as "Laurel and Hardy",
or Barney Frank and George Bush (either Bush) as "The Odd Couple"?  How about
Boehner and Obama as "Martin and Lewis"?

White-bread Mitt Romney could change his image, playing a street-wise Richard
Roundtree in "Shaft", or as Marlon Brando's "Godfather".  How about George W. Bush
as Jon Voight's "Midnight Cowboy"?

George H. W. Bush as John Wayne, "Read my lips, pilgrim".  Bill Clinton would be a
perfect Alec Baldwin in "It's Complicated", or playing Charles Durning's Governor, singing
and dancing to "The Sidestep" in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" (never heard of
this one?  Look it up on youtube).

Perhaps I'm a wee bit sexist (OK, I'm a pig), but wouldn't you like to see Hilary, or
Condoleezza, "Do Dallas"?  Why not "Hilary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, and
Madeleine Albright--Tomb Raiders"?

Las Vegas could get in on the action, too.  How about a Chippendale's Review with
Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack
Obama as "Presidents Gone Wild!!"?  It won't be the first time someone waved a dollar
in front of them.

OK, so maybe it would be a little bit exploitive of, and demeaning to, their former
positions (or to themselves)...but at least they'd be earning an honest living...and
when they die, Hollywood could turn them into vampire slayers with a clear conscience.
 





   

A Citizen's Decision

In their heart of hearts, all believers see perfection of the human condition as a possible
and worthwhile goal.

If you're a cynic, you believe that you can use the popular sentiment for such noble
causes as the means to achieve your more worldly goals of achieving political power
and control.

If only enough of the correct, enlightened, people are in positions of political power,
the believers know our problems can all be solved, if only we behave as they tell us
to behave...because, of course, they know best.

What a wonderful world is in store for us, if only the liberals or the conservatives, the
socialists or the fascists, the theists or the communists, or the monarchists, have their
way.

Even Ayn Rand and the libertarians seem to believe that rationality will deliver us to the
promised land...as if humans could, or would, ever attain pure rational behavior.

The truth is, no man is perfect.  No man knows the entire truth.  No man would see
himself, or his family and friends suffer, if he had the power to prevent it, even at
the expense of others.

OK, maybe "no man" is an exaggeration.  Perhaps there are some, few, truly exceptional
individuals out there who fit this profile.  You and I and maybe Jesus come to mind,
but other than us, I can't come up with any politician, bureaucrat, executive, professor,
businessman, or union leader who fits the bill.

Actually, I'm not that sure about you, either...and, if I'm really honest about it, I know
I'm no saint, for sure.

It continues to amaze me how the founders, so many years ago, saw the problem with
human nature and designed a structure to protect the individual from abuse at the hands
of a federal government run by the few and the powerful.

None of the prior, existing forms of government, or the more recent structures such as
Socialism, Communism, or Fascism, have proven themselves more effective or more free.

And the more modern incantation of American government...a sort of cacophony
of Democrats and Republicans competing for re-election funds from corporations,
unions, ethnic groups, religious groups, environmental groups, and every other
special interest group conceivable, does not seem to be much concerned about
the freedom and welfare of the individual, either.

The founders knew that, if the power was there to be used, it was there to be
abused...and it IS human nature to abuse it.

It's time to reel in some of the power the federal government has taken, to limit the
reach of the government, and to return it to its original mission of protecting
individual freedom.

But the truth is, fault lies not with the politicians and organizations that abuse the
system for their own benefit, but with the individual citizens, who do not see
themselves as individuals, but as part of a collective group that is trying to pressure
the federal government to confer benefits on their group at the expense of other
individuals or groups.

Somewhere, somehow, it has become more important to be a black, white, Latino,
or gay American...to be a businessman or union member, to be gender-centric, or an
American with disabilities, or of a particular religion, etc...than it is to be an American.

When citizens identify more with their interest group than with their rights and
responsibilities as individuals, they become easy prey for politicians who would
divide and manipulate citizens, in their search for power and control.

Preventing the federal government from taking from some and giving to others is
a proper goal in many instances, but it will never happen unless citizens view their
individual liberty, rights, and responsibilities as more precious than is their right to
organize into collective groups to petition the federal government to take from
others and to give to their particular interest group.

Citizens do get the government they deserve.