Culture vs Counter-Culture

“Would you like to join our club? It’s a lot of fun!”

“Um, well, what is it exactly?”

“Oh, it’s fans of old movies, all eras really, pre 90s. Harvey, Citizen Kane, Cool Hand Luke, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Billy Jack, Red Dawn, Rear Window, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Maltese Falcon…  a complete blast! Exciting! Great discussions!”

“That sounds neat. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Hi everyone. I really like old movies. Especially Harvey.”

“That movie was stupid.”

“And Billy Jack.”

“You’re a hippie.”

“And Stand and Deliver.”

“Obviously, you don’t think for yourself.”

“That movie’s too cool so it’s stupid.”

“That movie’s too stupid to be hip.”

“That movie’s too hip to be smart.”

“That movie’s too mainstream to be worthy.”

“That movie was cool. But, then it became popular. Now it’s just dumb.”

“What happened to everybody? Where’d they go?”

“What?”

“It was your group. Where’d they go?”

“It was never my group.”

“I thought you were so passionate about it.”

“Passionate? Passion is overrated. It’s also the food of the masses, which makes it uncool, not hip, too emo, too cultish, a product of society, a statement made by the counter-culture; it’s too much effort, and mainly, it will only leave you disenchanted. Besides, it makes you look stupid, manipulated and of low intelligence.”

[sings softly]
“You say… that we’ve got nothing in common
No common ground to start from
And we’re falling apart
You’ll say the world has come between us
Our lives have come between us
But I know you just don’t care

And I said what about “Breakfast at Tiffany’s?
She said, “I think I remember the film,
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it.”
And I said, “Well, that’s the one thing we’ve got.”

I see you – the only one who knew me
And now your eyes see through me
I guess I was wrong
So what now? It’s plain to see we’re over,
And I hate when things are over -
When so much is left undone…”
[trails off]

“I always hated that song. Too mainstream. Fodder for the lowly, impressionable masses. Sorry.”

Beer Analogies and Taxes

This was a bulletin from a friend, who may or may not want attention drawn, so I’ll leave it anonymous until they say either way to me.

Another friend gave me a link which continues on about tax breaks in a funnier and more realistic sense that surpassed my hopes of discussion. See below!

Tax Analogy with Beer ( First Edition)

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. ‘Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free.

But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. ‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’ declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10! ”Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too.

It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!!

”That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks! ”Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!!! ‘The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important.

They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!!!!!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works.

The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.

For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

Professor of Economics University of Georgia”

——–End First Edition——-

Now, Dr. Kamerschen above denies ever having written that viral email and bulletin which has been passed around since 2001 or 2002.

—————Revised & Painfully Funny Edition———

How Taxes Really Work

To start with . . . .

In the US and throughout most of the rest of the world, the tenth man would have paid off a politician for $10 to get a beer subsidy of $30 per night(to create jobs for the bartender). Of this $30, $10 of course would have covered the lobbying expense, $10 would go in his own pocket, $1 would go to the bartender to keep his mouth shut, and $9 would go to the bar.

The Bar would give him a kickback of $10 each night for bringing in his 9 buddies to make them into alcoholics, repeat customers for life.

The Bar would then raise their prices to $130 citing inflation and higher taxes.

The tenth richest man would then secure his finances in a Dutch Holding Company managed by a trust in Ireland which invests in Chase and Bank of America. He would then explain to his buddies that he is as poor as the rest of them and can’t afford to pay himself as he cries into his beer that night citing his latest financial report which shows him to be broke on paper so that he doesn’t have to pay taxes in the United States ever again.

Citing his former generosity, the other nine men would agree that the tenth man can now pay nothing like the 4 poorest.

The others would then be faced with an adjusted amount of

• The fifth would pay $3.
• The sixth would pay $10.
• The seventh would pay $22.
• The eighth would pay $38.
• The ninth would pay $57.

Now the group would recognize that this is not fair and so would lobby the Government for an Earned Drinking Credit for the Poorest men. The government would oblige and give the four poorest men $2 each, but they would tax the 5th – 9th men $2 each as well.

• 4 men receive a total of $8 and 5 men pay $10.

The adjusted amounts would then look like this for all 10

• First Receives $2 pays $2 | Net 0
• Second Receives $2 pays $2 | Net 0
• Third Receives $2 pays $2 | Net 0
• Fourth Receives $2 pays $2 | Net 0
• Fifth Pay $1 to bar pays $2 to tax | net paid $3
• Sixth Pay $8 to bar; pays $2 to tax | net paid $10
• Seventh Pay $20 to bar; pays $2 to tax | net paid $22
• Eighth Pay $36 to bar pays $2 to tax | net paid $38
• Ninth Pay $55 to bar; pays $2 to tax | net paid $57
• Tenth Man:  Tax Credit Received: $30 ;

  Pays $10 to politician;

  $1 to bartender;

  Receives $10 from Bar

  Net RECEIVED $29 per night and free beer

Of course this can not go on forever as the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth men can’t afford to pay those rates forever. So they start paying with their credit cards held by Bank of America and Chase.

The tenth man would start demanding a higher Return on Investment from his investment managers, who would be hearing similar requests from all of their other investors. They would then expand their holdings into mortgaged back securities where a good deal more profit could be made.

Meanwhile the Fifth through ninth men are racking up debt on their credit cards from drinking every night, their health care costs are increasing as their liver fails, and they are also spending more on gasoline as they drink and drive as they can no longer afford to cab it.

Ultimately, they end up refinancing their credit cards into their house where they have equity. The mortgage broker promises them a 4.9% interest rate on the refinance which sounds good as their credit card interest rate is up to 21%. The broker promises them that they will not have to verify their income, provide W2’s nor copies of their tax paper work.

Their mortgage broker doesn’t tell them, but lies about the value of their house in order to refinance their credit and help them avoid paying private mortgage insurance. At their current income levels, and without verifying their income, their mortgage would be classified as Sub Prime and the interest rate would be 10.9%

The mortgage officer lies about their income levels as well to boost the internal credit scoring mechanism and get them financed, not at 4.9% but 5.9%, which is better than 10.9% and happens to pay the mortgage broker a higher commission than a loan at 4.9% that is not sub prime.

The mortgage broker also promises them a payment of $900 per month, but fails to mention the balloon payment of $50,000 in the 5th year and doesn’t mention the adjustable rates in year 3.

The men separately show up with a hangover and sun glasses on the date of their close for their new mortgages. They trust their broker and do not read the paperwork in detail flipping and signing almost as fast as they could raise a beer bottle to their lips.

The loan closes, the mortgage broker gets a fat commission, the bank securitizes the mortgages by selling them to an Irish Hedge Fund and pockets collectively a billion dollars in profits that year.

The hedge fund holds the investment for a year, shows a 35% gain on paper and starts selling shares to retirement funds and 401ks in the US that the Sixth through 9th men just happen to have the rest of their life savings sitting in.

The tenth man sees the writing on the wall, literally magic marker on a stall in the restroom of the bar.

“The end is Nigh”

He pulls his money out of the Irish Hedge fund invested in real estate and invests in Gold at $600 a troy ounce.

Meanwhile, he lobbies congress to tighten bankruptcy laws for credit cards which he still has a sizable investment in. Congress tightens bankruptcy laws and makes it impossible to absolve credit card debt, forcing people into chapter 13 where they must pay off the debt within 3 years or go to debtors prison where they can work it off in 7 years.

Gas prices are still going up so the President ignores a minor terrorist threat, allows the terrorists to blow up a major building and then goes to war with the terrorists home country where there is no oil, and simultaneously with a country that sits on 10% of the worlds oil reserves that has a decimated military infrastructure.

Oil prices shoot through the roof with Gold following close behind. The President whose family comes from oil barons make a fortune and become famous at their skull and bones country club outside of Yale.

Meanwhile our famous 10 guys, start paying even more money at the pump. The first 4 guys end up taking second jobs working at Wal-Mart and have to give up drinking at the bar so that they can try and beat their teenage kids out of a promotion.

The fifth and sixth guys get foreclosed upon. They were forced to stop paying their mortgage payments so that they could pay their mandatory credit card payments as required by the new bankruptcy law.

The seventh, eighth and ninth men all previously traded up their homes for McMansions that they can not afford with interest only payments of $2300 a month. When foreclosures start happening their plans on flipping their McMansions and cashing in on the equity slips through their fingers.

To make matters worse seven and eight get laid off from the companies they work for when their jobs get outsourced to China. The ninth man keeps his job at a law firm, but fails to notice that his 401k fund is slipping and has lost 10% in the last year. Things are looking up as his law firm seems on the edge of landing a big contract with Merrill Lynch.

Then the real estate crash and sub prime mortgage scandal erupt. Banks start dropping like flies to be saved not by the cash strapped government that can barely afford the war for oil any longer, but by China. Oil and Gold soar, Gold hits $900 a troy ounce and Oil hits $130 a barrel (about the same amount for 10 rounds of beer prior to the crash). Beer prices hold steady for the first few months, but then start to edge up as gas prices for delivery creep into the bar owners expenses.

Then the first four men one night remember their favorite bar. They sneak around back around 4:30 am and steal 50 empty kegs that just happen to be made of pure aluminum. Those kegs are now worth about half the value of a keg that is full in scrap metal prices or about $80.

They are not stupid and don’t want to get caught turning the kegs in at the dump where the police are already looking for keg thieves. So they head out to the closed down manufacturing plant where they used to work. They start a big fire, and melt down the aluminum into big messy aluminum splashes on the cement.

They turn in the aluminum for cash and get caught up on their back alimony and child support before heading back to work at Wal-mart where they now work for their teen age kids that beat them out for that promotion earlier in the month because their job skills weren’t as good as recent high school graduates.  They then begin dreaming of new ways to find aluminum alimony allowances.

Meanwhile, the banks and mortgage companies lobby congress spending about $10,000 a head in an election year to bail out the economy. Congress provides the major banks with government backed loans to refinance the bad sub prime loans so that the government can personally guarantee those bad loans. They also put $100 billion of actual cash into the hands of Americans hoping to stimulate the economy.

Americans however, are all in debt up to their eye balls and use the extra $1200 they receive to make 2-3 credit card payments. They take the $300 for each kid and buy groceries for the month and then they start worrying about next month.

The banks get away free as they have Chinese financing now and no bad loans as they have refinanced them over to the US Government. The US government had to print more money to pay for all of these actions and so Gold goes up to $1500 a troy ounce.

The tenth man is now worth Billions and moves to Costa Rica to retire taking the new trophy wife that used to be the bartenders girl friend with him.

The first four men end up going to county prison for 3 months for stealing aluminum dog crap receptacles after running out of kegs to steal.

The fifth and sixth men end up living in an apartment and then homeless after they lose their jobs at Wal-Mart.

..The seventh and eighth men whom we previously left hanging in our story after they lost their jobs and ability to pay for their homes, end up losing their homes, and their kids. They and their spouses are each convicted of mortgage fraud by the FBI in a major sting operation after it is revealed that they lied on their mortgage applications. Their mortgage brokers who actually did the paper work cop a plea agreement in exchange for immunity with the Feds and rat out each of their unsuspecting customers.

The ninth man ends up losing his entire retirement fund which took a big hit as the dollar rapidly plummeted into free fall. He ends up refinancing his own house under a government backed loan for $650,000. Unfortunately, a tornado comes through that winter in a freak coincidence and levels the home. FEMA promises to provide assistance but never shows up and the ninth man freezes to death attempting to salvage the shreds of his belongings. His home insurance policy refuses to pay as they claim that his house was over valued and then they prove it with comparables studies from his own mortgage brokers database.

The tenth man ends up dumping his new bride a year later, moving back to the states a year after that when the US appears to have hit rock bottom and he leads up a Chinese real estate investment initiative in the states. He makes another $10 billion in ten years, but is then executed in Beijing for espionage.

Meanwhile, the bar tender goes on to win American Idol and sleep with Paula Abdul. They are now blissfully happy, doped up on anti-psychotics, and the biggest two idiots the world has ever seen.

———-End Revised Edition———–

Now, discuss please!!!!

Obama in St. Louis & Kansas City

Record Breaking Obama Rallies & Largest Gathering in St. Louis since 1904 World’s Fair (update)
Current mood: excited
Category: News and Politics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2iwBERO7Gk

The event was unprecedented!
Oh, what a day! I will never forget standing in line with more people than has every surrounded me for any reason in my life! I was interviewed by some reporter, she took a picture, Obama waved 15 feet from me from his motorcade that I didn’t even know was going to come down that street. There was NO negativity in that crowd. There were blacks and whites, friends and families, and more white males between 40 and 65 than you could have imagined. I think the older crowd outweighed the college crowd 3 to 1. The feeling of the crowd? Unity. We are one. We have changes to make.

That is the Rose Bowl above. It seats 91,200 or so. There is no way there were ONLY 100,000 people who showed up, and only with 2-1/2 days notice, I might add!

And, later in the afternoon, an estimated 75,000 more at the Missouri/Kansas border showed up in Kansas City to hear him speak!

America The Hypocritical? No! No! No!

Opponents to same-sex marriage uniformly declare that the “traditional” definition of marriage is a commitment between a man and a woman.” Pressed further, the common denominator to this argument is a faith based determinant.

One person recently told me that they have no problem with gays having some kind of  “legal union” or power of attorney, but just not a “marriage” — again saying, because it is against their faith.

In a country founded on the freedom of religion, this argument flies in the face of our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

So, to both of those opponents of same-sex marriage, I say this, respectfully:

This is America.

We do not legislate faith. We enact law.

Separation of Church and State via Example

Law cannot be written to define which religion is correct, which ones are incorrect or if religion itself is a requirement to citizenship. The First Amendment granted “freedom of religion” which should imply also “freedom from religion.” One free of any imposed religion, then, could not be forced to follow the religious rights of another. Nor should someone from a religion that allows homosexual marriage be barred from it based on a different belief.

And then, there is another amendment, the Ninth. It states that the rights that have been enumerated heretofore do not deny any rights that were not enumerated. Translation: any right that is perceived by all to be a basic right of all people, say… the right to marry, should not be denied. Law, therefore, cannot be written to deny this unenumerated right of any and every adult in America — to marry another consenting adult. Period. No quibbles.

Just in case there was potential for abuse of power, our forefathers wrote one last amendment to the original Bill of Rights, the Tenth Amendment. It states that the powers not granted to the federal government in the Constitution lie with the states and with the people. This was to keep the powers to be, ad infinitum, from eating away at the liberties of the people, a little at a time.

Now then, that ol’ Declaration of Independence… the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness… Does it not include a right to a freedom that does not infringe on any other’s and does it not allow for the pursuit of a legal and committed relationship as one path to happiness? Was it the Declaration of Heterosexual Independence? Certainly, any heterosexual would consider the right to a committed, faithful and legal relationship one normal act in the pursuit of  happiness.

Consider this, also. Law has not ever been written to  deny the ingestion of pork (based on Islam), the ingestion of beef (based on Hinduism), the eating of shellfish — (based on the Judaism) nor have citizens been denied eggs and dairy (to appease the began religions.) Can you imagine if coffee, tea and chocolate were forbidden to all?

All religions do not, by law, have to eat food that is considered Kosher, for example. Nor have we enacted laws that say, instead, that the ingestion of all types of meat will be enforced, because we will all be subject to the new food laws put forth in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.

These things are clear:

• Beliefs are individual.
• Faith is strong.
• Creeds are diverse and contradict each other.
• Law should not be written in America to steal our rights or liberties.
• Law should not tell us which belief is to be followed, nor which religion is correct.

Marriage

Marriage is a social rite that has been recognized and performed throughout time and across all belief systems. It has had various connotations: sometimes religious, sometimes not.

The rite of marriage can allow two people to enter a legally binding relationship: of joint ownership or the ability to visit in a hospital, or the power of attorney. It allows family health care benefits, a different tax status, the simple recognition of a legitimate, sincere relationship and, even, the distinguished honor of having a spouse, instead of a significant other or partner.

For what it’s worth, a partnership or a civil union is not a marriage…

if you can’t call it a marriage and
if it is not recongnized legally and completely as the same on every level.

It is not “separate but equal” — any more than this sign ever provided separate and equal consideration to all people.

From the beginnings of the founding of our country to the amendments that followed throughout history — we have endeavored to remove discrimination and protect individual liberties. Lyndon Johnson made a huge step towards the equality of all, regardless of race, gender, color, creed, national origin, and Bush Sr. provided the Americans with Disabilities Act. It should not end there. It cannot end there, lest we be hypocrites.

According to the very documents by which our country was founded, according to the very spirit by which we live and persevere, I say to you: this is a democracy for the people, by the people, of the people. ALL of the people. We cannot discriminate anew or stagnate in old, inhumane beliefs, making one segment of our modern society a pariah and a victim of a divisive judgmental approach that has no place here.

Here.

Isn’t this America?

The New America? It Could Happen.

The rain drizzled outside as the low rumble of thunderstorms moved in the distance. Chris moved through the house in its shaded state and found the remote control. Aimed at the television, the remote was ineffective. Puzzling. Sitting down at the computer and wiggling the mouse did not bring the screen out of slumber.

“Must’ve been a power outage,” Chris mumbled and pressed the power button. But, the computer did not fire up. “What?” Looking around, wondering, getting up and flipping a light switch. No light. “Ah, okay, the power is out now! From the storms.”

Sighing, Chris returned to the bedroom, picking up the only land line in the house. Cordless phones don’t work without power. The phone was silent, no dial tone. Making it back into the living room and grabbing the cell phone on the desk was reassuring. It lit up when buttons were pressed. Calling Terry and waiting, and waiting, the phone did not connect. More perplexing was the fact that no recorded message replied. Trying several more numbers got the same response.

No power. No television. No phones. No cell either. Going to the stove, out of curiosity mostly, Chris turned the knob to light. The flame on the old stove appeared, but lasted only seconds and went out. Relighting did not work, and the gas sound was no longer present.

This feeling was indescribable. Uneasiness. Fear. Quiet panic. Standing there, not knowing where to move next. Finally, the inevitable, the move to the windows (seeing nothing), the back door (seeing nothing) and the front door (seeing nothing.) Getting the courage to quietly walk outside and look around, the street was quiet. Down the block, a car drove past an intersection. Quiet again. Sirens in the far distance came closer and faded. Silence again and minutes passed.

A car began to zoom up the distant side street, coming around the curve and crashing into a telephone pole. The driver got out and began to run, but was shot over and over in the back as he fell to the ground. The shooter came into view. Shooters, actually. Chris was confused. They were supposed to be the good guys.

Backing away slowly, making it into the safety of cover, Chris could hear the sound of sirens again in the distance. At last resort, opening the desk drawer and taking out a wind-it up weather and emergency radio, the winding began. One full minute of winding, and the search for a station. Any station. There was only static…

2008 Presidential Election: Two Separate Issues

You know that I am voting for Obama. But, when it comes down to it, why? I have two major reasons and one thought that keeps nagging at me, so I decided to share.

But, first, I’ll digress on the non-nagging issue. Reason Number One.

Policy: Domestic and Foreign.

First, I have read the policies of both at their websites and at independent websites. I’ve been to several “who should i vote for?” sites that allowed me to take quizzes and matched me with the candidates. This was a neat one: http://www.votehelp.org/.

I’ve also visited http://www.electiontaxes.com/ to review the tax plans of both for myself and my mom. I like that site because it allows you to input your income, capital gains, itemized expenses if you have them, and child care expenses.

Overall, (but not completely), my views line up with Obama’s on how policy should be approached. Should I win the lottery tomorrow, my views on that will not change, because there are many more issues than just my income.

A digression within the digression. Joe, the Plumber. His words were: “I’m getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year.” What neither Obama nor McCain addressed was that is COST not INCOME.

If the company costs that, the cost has to be offset on his taxes, whether it’s a Schedule C or bigger. He has to offset the investment, payroll, materials, supplies, and vehicle depreciation or mileage. After all of that is done, he transfers the amount to the income form on his tax return, where he then backs off his exemption and his son’s, any IRA expenses, his itemized deductions on his home mortgage interest, unreimbursed employee expenses, and then has to pay in his SE form if it’s a Schedule C. If the business “makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year” how much to buy it? What about expenses? Is it a three million dollar company making that in income, because if so, he’s no middle class Joe. If it’s cost to buy is $250, then that’s not his income. He’ll claim a loss for years as he pays down the purchase of it and pays salaries, etc.

When it’s all said and done, if his NET income after all expenses is $300,000, he would pay $4000 more on Obama’s plan than McCain’s. I have to tell you, if you’ll pay me $300,000, I’ll give you $4000. and, if Joe made only, I mean only $250,000 in net income, he would pay $2211 more. So, that whole argument is hardly worth the argument. It annoys me and I consider it a distraction.

Anyway, back on topic: Policy. I lean Obama’s way farther than Pisa leans. (5.5 degrees. No need to go look that up.)

Now, for the second thing. And, this is the one that has been nagging and nagging at me. I don’t have the perfect term for it. For lack of a better way of putting it, I’ll call it:

Presidential Presentation

When I remove policy from the equation, and I remove the other candidate and across that table last night, I put any foreign leader across the table in any type of negotiations, the difference is alarming.

If McCain cannot disagree on policy without being disagreeable, if he cannot contain his snorts, sneers, eye rolls, shrugs and faces… with Obama — how could he meet with world leaders and not offend them?

Every debate I have watched, he has stated his message and come across with a condescending, belittling, “I’m right, that one’s wrong”, pedantic tone. He has been called on it, but can’t shake it. His smiles are strained and tense. When he believes he is right, he believes the other is wrong. There is no middle ground. There is no room for negotiation.

The world is watching to see if we elect a negotiator or a bully, who have chosen respectively, a negotiator and a bulldog for a running mate. (I do not think Palin is a pit bull, but a bulldog, grabbing onto the ankle and not letting go.)

If my policy were leaning the other way, I would still have to vote for Obama. This has happened to me before. My policies leaned Democrat, but I voted a Republican into office. Twice. I tried to vote for the better person for the job, the better domestic leader, the better international leader.

And, policy aside, I’ll be doing it again.

America: Get Up!

Time passes slowly to three generations, but within the time line of all history we are but a speck of dust. Our problem, as Americans, is not that we aren’t innovative, strong or intelligent. Our problem is that we’re short-sighted, hard to involve in activities outside our routine and, basically, creatures of habit whose greatest wish is to live the American Dream without stumbling.

We’ve all taken the strength of America for granted and we have assumed, yes assumed, its longevity. It’s been here long enough that it does feel fresh, precarious, teetering on the brink of extinction on decline. Most forget, our country is one of the youngest countries on the globe.

It is very plausible that a paradigm shift could occur, and within this or the next generation! We could become the new India or the new China, while India and China take over the spotlight as power players in the global economy.

The fact we think we became the alpha male of the globe within this short stretch of global history is not fact, but our opinion. This opinion has been overvalued by us and not recognized by many who live on foreign shores.

In analogy, we were the lion cub grew up, split off from our pride and along the way, won a few good fights, establishing a proud and fearsome new pride. We called it the United States of America. At different times in the past two hundred and thirty plus years, our country joined with other prides, forming coalitions to patrol and stand down power hungry nomads who were bent on the control or eradication of others.

Over time, our country prospered in many ways: Economically, technologically, scientifically and more. Other countries valued our trade agreements and innovations, as it strengthened their own countries. This barter system of sharing and growing worked well, when not interlinking it with any other repercussions. Exporting grain to starving countries was a noble cause. Exporting arms to an area of turmoil and counteracting that empowerment by arming surrounding countries has been failed policy and lack of foresight.

Not only has America had trouble with image and policy abroad, we have had setbacks in every area of strength we possessed. We left Great Britain while under the rule of King George III, unhappy with two major issues: freedom of religion and taxation without representation.

Yet, in America, we have fought against ourselves at the meaning of the very definitions put forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

We have fought to ensure that all races and both genders were documented as people with voices, not property. In the quest for freedom from slavery, we fought internally for years, and we have grown for more than one hundred years, divided and bitter, not wholly but enough to unnerve the comfort zone. Fifty-five years after the 13th Amendment abolition of slavery, women were granted the right to vote.

Taxation. The first collected income tax levied, in 1861, helped to fund the Civil War. It was called the “Revenue Act of 1861″ and was rescinded in 1872. Then, in 1994, the Wilson-Gorman Tariff tried to impose the first ever peacetime income tax. It was taken all the way to the Supreme Court and found to be unconstitutional. Income tax would not show up again until Congress passed the 16th Amendment in 1913, which has met with controversy since its inception with an argument that the amendment was never fully ratified and is also in direct violation of our 9th Amendment right to unenumerated rights? Complicated enough?

There is a proposed Fair Tax Act, encouraged by Libertarians, that would abolish income tax completely in lieu of a national sales tax. What would that really do? Well, the current cost of the Department of the Internal Revenue Service would certainly be a reduction in spending, as they would not have to review all citizens’ honesty and audit questionable tax returns. Taxes would be based upon purchases, and thereby those with less would buy less and be taxed less. Ironically, this bill has been contested feverishly and adamantly. One reason is that we already pay a sales tax. Oh, and we already pay income tax. Why mess with a system that taxes us when we earn it and when we spend it?

Technology. In our quest for growth and independence, we have polluted our water, our land, our air, and further up and out: our protective ozone layer. We may have nailed innovation, production and technology in the short term, but without regard to consequence, in the short term or long term. We treated those who spoke of consequence as witch doctors selling sugar water. In short, we treated environmentalists with disdain, disrespect and even satire. We now face a plethora of ills in combating and reversing even a portion of the damage we’ve done.

Religion, or more specifically, freedom of religion. We established this country, not in a small part, based on a feeling of persecution in Great Britiain. Yet, our lawmakers still let religion interfere between the people and the law. Same sex marriage is one example. Let us look at a few religious beliefs: Jews do not eat meat with cheese and the utensils that touch one may not touch another. Muslims do not eat pork and consider it a dirty meat. Hindus do not eat beefs, as they believe cows are sacred. Hare Krishnas are lacto vegetarians, abstaining from all meat, fish and eggs. Rastafarians choose food with no preservatives or chemicals. Now, if we were to respect ALL religions and abide by them, no American would be legally able to eat beef, pork, fish, other meat, egg or dairy. We would all be eating a nearly Vegan diet. However, Americans do not have dietary laws that force us to limit our diet in such a way, due to varying religious beliefs.

The argument against same sex marriage has been that it violates the sanctity of historically traditional marriage and is solely to be formed between a man and a women. There is an irony in the fact that the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 pushed through to legally define, for the first time, that marriage is between a man and a woman. When asked why a person who defines marriage this way, the often heard comment is that this feeling comes from their faith. Faith. But, we are allowed freedom of faith, are we not? And, while one faith eats pork, another eats beef and another abstains from meat, it is not illegal for any. We founded America on the basis that no one’s else faith could infringe on our own, inalienable rights. Just as there are religions that consider homosexuality an abomination, there are those that do not.

It is true that atheists (of the opposite sex) can marry in a civil union, or in a church if they so desire, and reap the benefits of a married couple. It is true that Satanists (of the opposite sex) can marry in a civil union, or in a church if they so desire, and also reap the benefits of a married couple. Yet, two atheists or Satanists, or those of any other religion in the world cannot marry in America due to… what? When specific religions that forbid homosexuality are removed from the equation, what legal grounds remain?

When blacks were freed from the chains of slavery, there were those who considered them white man’s property found it distasteful. When women were allowed the right to vote, there were those who considered them a husband’s property and found it distasteful. Growth always brings with it discord, but I ask you… by what non-religious grounds, in a country founded on religious freedom, can we not allow two non-related adults to consensually enter a binding agreement of intimate partnership?

America, the lion cub, who grew into a great, alpha lion and led the pride in the world against oppression and against terror. Are we that same America today? We oppress our own, legislate the eradication of our rights, our privacy, our pursuit of happiness to all men created equal. And, we got lazy and cocky. The cub stopped paying attention to old alphas in other places that seemed small and powerless. The cub talked cocky, rattled a few sabers, angered friends and made new enemies while it allowed the members of its pride to falter, to lose hope, to lose their way.

The defining advantage of America: education and hard work, became a melting pot placed on the back burner, traded for convenience and leisure. Americans dismissed education, mocked math, science and our elders who spoke of the Great Depression. And, sadly, Americans found the buffet, the all you can eat buffet.

Over thirty years, we studied less, polluted more, discriminated more, and ate even more than that. While becoming a nation of video gamers, slackers, complainers and tv watchers, other countries studied more and underbid our wages. The tables have turned sharply and, subsequently, we may not be in a good position to deal with it. I am not insulting this generation of which I speak. I am of this generation, and I see, think, feel and live it all too clearly.

It is time for us to stand and deliver, time to study again, time to value education. We need math geeks and science nerds and environmentalists to be our heroes. We need linguists and economists and teachers to stand proud. We need bullies to feel the scorn of a nation bullied too much by its own. No slacker need bully a genius to feel better, when it is that very slacker who will weaken the country the genius can save. We need video gamers to use their skills for military defense, programmers who have a desire and a purpose that is greater than hacking a computer or spreading the newest worm virus.

Americans have long since relegated nations to common denominators. Germans for their automobiles, Japanese for their radios and televisions, Colombia for its coffee, and the list goes on. But as we stereotyped others, what nation have we become? What are we known for globally? And, what yet can we become?

It is up to us. We are one generation away from becoming a leader again or becoming a third world country, dependent on foreign lands’ generosity to keep us alive. Get up. Stand up.

Does It Really Matter If I Vote?

A plea from me to undecideds and possible non-voters…
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If you get laid off, how long can you live on your savings?

If your bank declared bankruptcy tomorrow, would your accounts be available for withdrawal immediately?

If your mortgage was due on the 1st, but your mortgage lender declared bankruptcy this week, would you just go ahead and mail the check or should you call someone?

If your daughter said her school sports program was canceled due to lack of funding, or if your son brought home a note that said hot lunches would no longer be provided, please send lunch boxes… would it matter?

If school buses stopped running, would it affect anyone you know?

If mass transit went bankrupt tomorrow, would you be affected?

If your company (like my friend’s) had to end everyone’s insurance coverage because they could no longer stay afloat if they paid it, would it affect your family at all, or anyone’s family you know?

If the gas stations were empty, would you get by?

If your daughters and sons were required to register for the draft and serve tours of duty in the middle east, would that be just fine with you?

If the money in the 700 billion dollar bailout helps those that make over $100,000 to millions a year keep their jobs at that current salary, should there be no repercussions for them? Is it possible they could stay on at a 20% salary reduction to help pay for the bailout, if that offered them the tax break by only taxing the amount they received?

If people who were laid off and took lesser paying jobs were allowed to refinance for longer, at the same interest rate, to reduce their monthly payment, wouldn’t that be better than letting the loan default?

If people who were laid off (from Starbuck’s or Chrysler, for example) were actively looking for work, would it NOT be better to offer a mortgage deferment (like a student loan deferment) as long as they met criteria of actively and aggressively looking for work?

If you know one person who could be affected so badly in the next four years that it could destroy their life, does it make the difference?

Does it matter then? Because, it matters to me.

Cult of Personality: Last Century, This Election

In a political group in which I’m a member, somebody said not to get to hopeful about Obama winning the election. The person stated that in the past thirty years, only one Democrat has been elected. Carter lost. Mondale lost. Dukakis lost. Gore lost. Kerry lost. And, not only that, they were all white. Point being that Obama has a challenge they didn’t even face.

Going back further, after Dem Woodrow Wilson and WWI, Republicans took office through the Roaring Twenties until the stock market crash and the term of Herbert Hoover. For the next twenty years, Democrats reigned as FDR took four straight terms and then Truman was nearly coerced into the VP of his fourth term.

As irony has it, Truman became the president by default only three months into that four years, and a tumultuous four years it was. Surprisingly to many, he won over Republican shoe-in Dewey and served a second term. You all remember that famous picture of Truman holding up the newspaper declaring Dewey’s win over him!

So, anyhow, that finishes World War II, takes us into the Korean War, China, Pakistan and a plethora of controversial issues. Truman has been called the most unpopular president ever in some history books, though most of us only remember that smiling picture. General Eisenhower, who courted neither party, was then courted heavily by Republicans, drafted into their team and ran against Truman’s Bush-like popularity with reform promises a simple slogan: “I like Ike.” He served two terms, defeating Adlai Stevenson both times. Why they chose to run Adlai Stevenson against him both time, ask someone else. I do not know.

So, time for a change. Kennedy was ushered in a landslide. Nah, I lied. It was one of the closest races of popular votes in history: 2/10ths of 1% or 49.7% to 49.5%. Weird, huh? And, guess who he beat in that one? Richard Nixon.

Kennedy got shot. Johnson finished that term, and ran against Barry Goldwater for a second term. Back then, there was this ad called the Daisy Ad. It showed a girl with a daisy, petals being picked off one by one as she counted to ten, then a countdown of ten to one brought the conclusion of a nuclear blast with the message to vote for Johnson. Point made was: Goldwater meant nuclear war. It worked, too. A real landslide this time.Lyndon Johnson won. Oh, guess who found a copy of that ad for you? You don’t have to search it out, if interested.

1968 election. Wow. The times must have felt crazy. Even crazier than today. Robert Kennedy Jr. was running. He was assassinated. Martin Luther King was speaking about equality. He was assassinated. The Democratic party was split into arguing factions. People were protesting Vietnam. George Wallace carried a lot of the south in a third party, often accused racist.

Nixon was back, running against Democrat Hubert Humphrey. Eugene McCarthy (polar opposite of Josephy McCarthy, known for McCarthyism) had been trailing for the nomination, and Robert Kennedy was in second until his death. Humphrey lost to Nixon, who ran on a campaign of perceived stability in unstable times, and appealed to the conservative majority who were unhappy with the hippie movement and protestors. The truth is, if the Dems hadn’t factioned so badly, Humphrey might have won. The race was close.

The 1972 landslide victory of Dick against George McGovern (who ran an anti-war campaign) was a landslide in the sense McGovern took only one state, and it wasn’t even his. He was from South Dakota. He took Massassachusetts. Another odd fact. Still alive, he actually has appeared for interview during the campaign process.

Now, before Carter lost, Carter won. After the mess of Nixon stepping down, Ford taking office and immediately pardoning Nixon, he wasn’t very popular. The tides changed, and Ford running actually made Carter a bigger shoe-in for the ones who had lost trust in the government. Again.

Okay, so with Carter, he had at least two thing killing him going into a second term. One, he was running against a new kind of candidate, celebrity turned politician. Second, there was an ongoing hostage crisis and a failed rescue attempt. Carter was diplomatic, but seen as ineffective. Oh, and inflation skyrocketed as job growth stagnated, coining the term: stagnation. I’m simplifying his issues, but those were two major ones, with a lot of little ones peppering the election.

Back to the writer who said Carter lost. Mondale lost. Dukakis lost. Gore lost. Kerry lost. I say Woodrow Wilson won. FDR won. Truman won. Kennedy won. Carter won. Clinton won. Gore did win the popular vote, and was later said to have won the election to which he conceded loss.

Now, the black thing. The Muslim thing. The old thing. The cancer thing. The experience thing. The war thing. All relevant in today’s election. Can Barack Obama (which sounds so much like Osama), whose middle name is Hussein (like that bad guy who got hanged), who’s had a questionable pastor, a questionable birth certificate, questionable ties to terrorists, plans for tax increases, unleashed spending, and little experience…

…win against…

John McCain, the Maverick, who voted with Bush unless he was against him, who supported his stances, unless he changed them, who accuses Obama of slimey attacks even when he spews them, who has battled cancer four times and is the oldest candidate in the history or history when he ridicules Obama’s naiviete? Can the man who spent eighteen months ignoring or diminishing Barack’s years of teaching constitutional law, years in the state senate, and time in the U.S. senate and choice of a foreign policy expert as a running mate defend his VP pick, citing her experience in the PTA, mayor of a town of 5,000 (at the time), and experience in a gubernatorial position that only oversees a state that is about the size of Indianapolis?

Can he accuse Obama of lies or exaggerations when he uses Palin’s proximity to Russia as actual experience and title of the head of the Alaska National Guard, when record states that she has never needed to utilize that power once? Can he point out Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s connection to Obama but dismiss Palin’s odd church videos turning up on YouTube where her church prays away the gay and prays over her to protect her from witchcraft?

I think both will struggle. I have taken the time, this election, to read every page presented at FactCheck.org and see how much each candidate speaks the truth, stretches the truth or ignores the truth. I have also read the pages at JohnMcCainDotCom and at BarackObamaDotCom to get informed on the nitty gritty details of their stances.

Personally, I like Obama because he is calm, polished, eloquent and inspiring. I think his style is very Kennedy-esque. I am not part of an Obama cult. I am not blinded by Obama Wan Kenobi and against Darth McCain. Heh. I think McCain’s been nasty, negative, petty, dismissive and condescending. I’ve caught him in lies and when I saw him go after Barack for “lipstick on a pig” and saw the context, then the video of him saying the same thing regarding Hillary Clinton’s health care plan, I was disgusted.

Besides that, his platform, his entire platform…I like it. His stances on economic issues speak to the people at a time when people truly need it. His ideas on foreign policy are aligned with mine and would potentially bring a friend of mine home alive sometime within the next presidential term.

I disagree with John McCain on virtually every stance, from choice to AK-47s, to gays, to war and “bombing Iran” and to the campaign ads and tactics I’ve watched him use. I’ve even watched as he changed his message to change and reform MID-campaign, and agreed with Obama that we need it, but decided he would be the one to bring it. And the Trojan Horse of Sarah Palin was supposed to make us think everything was different. They’re still anti-choice, pro-war, pro-big business, pro-degregulation, etc. Country First means little to me when I watch the man use 9/11 to garner attention, being a POW to garner attention and then constantly attack Obama instead of give details… that’s with a D… about the specifics of how he will help me, you, our soldiers, and another huge one: our image within the world.

Obamas’s choices of slogans cut right to the heart of his overall message: The audacity of hope. The time is now. The change you need. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

He has a way of doing the one thing that, in today’s society, is more difficult than any other: inspire the little people, the common man, to think… to realize they can make a difference in the future of our country by shedding the apathy, complaint, disappointment and shadows of the past. We win a little bit, then a little more, then a little more…. just by showing up!

Anyway, on one last note, thatnks for reading my ramble. I think this cult of concern should be just that, a concern over the issues, not a Cult of Personality, although I think McCain’s personality sucks balls, when it comes down to it.

I’m not asking anyone to vote for any candidate they don’t want to see in office, the lesser of two evils or whatever.

I’m not asking anyone to agree with me, with my views.

I’m just asking, actually…hoping people care. That’s it. That’s enough.

<3

Obama: Ready at the Helm vs. McCain: Ready at the Trigger

Thinking back to Sarah Palin’s RNC address, she refused to even once state Obama’s name. She merely referred to her “opponent” as if NAMING him gave him a deference that she wouldn’t allow. At the time, I noticed it and thought how petty that behavior was. It almost seemed like cloaked racism, but I knew Barack Obama would never pull that race card and stoop to the level of the current Republican campaign.

Now, during the first presidential debate in Mississippi, Senator McCain made a point of not looking at Obama, even when asked to address each other by Lehrer. He looked at the darkness that was the crowd and made a plethora of faces as Obama made statements to Lehrer, to the crowd and to John McCain himself. He blinked as if confused, smirked as if he was hearing nonsense, rolled eyes and shrugged as if Obama’s words were “just silliness, my friends,” made hand gestures of time wasted on lies.

He basically was dismissive and condescending to someone who took the time to be respectful and courteous, even when objecting to a perceived misstatement. McCain interrupted more hastily and spoke to Lehrer and the crowd as if Obama was as inexperienced as Palin. He paid no attention to Obama’s work in South Chicago, his “constitutional law” experience (when he cited the desire for any Supreme Court Justices he might appoint to be “strict constitutionalists on The View”. He ignored Obama’s state senate effectiveness (other than to bash earmarks) or his U.S. Senate time as having any meaningful use brought to the table of experience. He acted as if Obama is a flubbering novice and he is an expert on both foreign policy and the economy, though he’s been proven otherwise and even admitted his own flubs in the past.

I think when Obama saw the strategy that McCain was using, he changed his own. His early aggressiveness morphed into calculated sportsmanlike conduct, to frame McCain very clearly as the aggressor: a testament to McCain’s ill temperment. Obama stepped back and behave the gentleman and leader: eloquent and confident, gracious and graceful. He hit home where needed: that Spain is an ally, McCain’s Bomb Iran song, and on Iraq saying “You were wrong. You were wrong. You were wrong.”

He showed comprehension by simply following Lehrer’s request to address the candidate. This showed respect to Lehrer’s wishes and he also complimented and respected McCain, while showing disagreement on the issues.

He showed true bipartisan appeal by addressing his common ground with McCain BEFORE stating the fundamental differences. Though the McCain campaign tried to present this as weakness, on the contrary, it shows his appeal to future peace talk negotiations and humanitarianism efforts in the global issues.

Also, I believe he knew that this was supposed to be McCain’s strongest debate. He met him head on and equally, but did not overtake and overdo an aggressive stance. That was a good first strategy, though it has disappointed many staunch Democrats. As a black man, race is still a factor in this race. He may not address it publicly as an outcry, but he has to deftly walk the fine line that he allows to remain invisible, but sees quite clearly.

He has to be wary of aggression and evangelical passion. His polished, very calm, informed, jovial confidence will go well to winning those who were concerned he was a Jesse Jackson type in sheep’s clothing.

I believe he did win over some undecideds with his stable demeanor and he allowed McCain to “act out” if you will, showing the  cantankerous, condescending, dismissive, pandering flip-flop king his negative attacks to be his only strength. McCain will be called out for this sharply, by the press and by the people. Obama was placing himself in the catbird seat and can quietly sit back and let the people attack. Then, deftly, he can place appropriate ads showing the reactive and destructive McCain being so out of touch, he cannot even debate with eye contact or say the words “middle class.”

I see good things ahead. Last night was the continuation of the plan that allows McCain to dig his own political grave while Obama merely steps into the Presidential role during the campaign, subliminally getting the voter to see it as the inevitable and only choice for true change: no condescion, no double talk, and a strong, proactive and productive leader at the helm.