Rick Clifton
Registered User
[h=1]Prohibition[/h] An intelligent person learns from the Mistakes of Others.
An Idiot does Not.
An Idiot does Not.
The great inequalities that jwoff is speaking of is only possible when the rich lobby the federal government for loopholes in the tax code. Now don't assume that i'm saying we should raise taxes to make the inequality curve shift I'm most definitely not but the best way for this great disparity to be solved is through a complete capitalistic system. Throw out the current tax code for a flat tax of 17% or 15% and close all loopholes so all Americans pay that rate. Get rid of FICA and phase out Social Security and Medicare by guaranteeing all individuals who have paid into to these programs to receive what their owed and for those who have are still working stop them immediately from paying in and when they hit the retirement age give them their money under this plan current seniors will not be affected at all and everyone is paid. No more capital gains tax or death tax because we shouldn't punish individuals for success. Legalize marijuana and tax it for more revenue. Cut government spending in all areas and eliminate the department of education, energy, and HUD. Audit the Fed PLEASE!!! Repeal obamacare and let the marketplace decide prices. Everything mentioned on here can be solved if we simply remove government from the economy and reduce it to it's constitutional bounds.
Jvarnell i believe your defense policy is a little off because i believe evil only exist when citizens refuse to do anything so allow those people to fight their own battles and let us mind our own business.
Interesting letter.
Iraq War vet pens ‘last letter’ to Bush and Cheney
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/iraq-war-vet-letter-bush-cheney-tomas-young-154541674.html
I am less concerned with where government is headed and more concerned with where people's views of government are headed.
I see more and more people that I meet coming from a similar place as the occupy "movement". Folks who like the idea of wikileaks, who distrust the government from all angles, and are, for all practical purposes idealistically anarchists.
Not practically, because they like things like police, defense, roads, national parks and so forth. But idealistically in that their inclination on matters from education to taxes and a whole range of things comes down to "government bad" where "socialism" gets used quickly, and where they believe, in their hearts, that politicians from one or both sides are evil. Where they assume, without evidence, that every arm of government is rife with waste and abuse.
It is this "government as a cancer" worldview that has a real chance of exacerbating the ennui our youth for two generations have had with participatory government. So few people from Gen X and the Boomers are at town hall meetings and other municipal governance venues I attend that most granular decisions are made by septuagenarians.
I wish people didn't see "government" as a synonym for "socialism", which is clearly not the case - and could come to grips with the fact that the government is us. Made up of us, representing us, and for us. And I fear the current anti-government trend (which Gen Y is eating up, identifying with the wikileaks and other groups ) will turn off Gen Y from participating in government in a meaningful way for many years to come.
And directly I think this anti-government zeitgeist is fueled, underneath it all, by pessimism. A belief that we are in decline, a belief that government is inherently anti-liberty, and so forth. I don't think either has to be the case. But if our youth believe it, then it will be a self fulfilling sort of thing.
Just my take fellas.
And the state and local the real power.
YesBrother, do you, in your heart of hearts, keep up with state and local politics with the same veracity you do national issues?
I have the Texas legislature RSS feeds so I see thing as they are being worked on. The news doesn't cover anything really that is being done.In Texas, if you do that for a couple of years - meet the politicians, take on a few issues, stand for some elected positions, and work legislation in a serious way, then it becomes tough to hold onto that viewpoint and that is a fact. It is a great idea, on paper - the fed isn't helpful, states rights, etc.
I am not in front but behind the scenes for some of it as a SME (subject mater expert) at a local level. It is very hard to keep my sanity because there are more people that say they are SMEs pushing agenda.Then you see the sorts of people who participate in local and state politics. And God help you if you have to deal with them on issues. On television, where most of it is hyperbolic coverage of a handful of polarizing national issues, it is easy to feel like you are smarter than the politicians. Often though thats just hamming for the camera though, they are bright folks usually.
The low IQ thing is what the media wants you to thing about the slow talking Texans so they can marginalize them and make the not effective. Just because some one talks slow and messes up the vocabulary doesn't mean they are dumb, but the media wants you to think that. Please read "rules for radicals" not as what to do but as what the media is doing to the low information voters. Think about the words "good ol boys" those are envious words used by the media to marginalize someone. The constitution was written with the power in the states not the fed. It was the progressive movement of the late 1800's that started the shift to the fed.Not so with state and local politics, man. Not just low IQs, but religious fundamentalists in Texas politics are a dime a dozen, good ol boy contractors/commissioners are in every county, and little old senile ladies gadfly city council meetings and make hour long meetings take three so often it just isn't funny. Shift power to the states and that won't change much if any at all - just those folks get empowered.
I am not talker or writer and I even through up before I turned my masonic work I was so nervous. But I know what the constitution says. I know what Masonary teaches us and I am positive if we limit government control and enforce local laws and have the god given liberty we enjoyed in the past it will all work. I just wish I could be the front man instead of the SME. The front man doesn't always listen to the SME he should.I hear a lot about state/local rights in Texas, but brass tacks almost none of those people participating in state/local politics with that view. And those very same people who talk about state/local rights are often condescending about their views and assume you would have to be ignorant to not understand the states rights idear. Sad, kinda.
The low IQ thing is what the media wants you to thing about the slow talking Texans so they can marginalize them and make the not effective. Just because some one talks slow and messes up the vocabulary doesn't mean they are dumb, but the media wants you to think that. Please read "rules for radicals" not as what to do but as what the media is doing to the low information voters. Think about the words "good ol boys" those are envious words used by the media to marginalize someone. The constitution was written with the power in the states not the fed. It was the progressive movement of the late 1800's that started the shift to the fed.
We are headed toward financial ruin.
Are we headed to war with North Korea? Personally I think it is loud saber rattling by the little chubby guy in North Korea.
His people and his army are hungry.
War is the last thing we need.
The ruin is from penalizing those who want to invest and just give it with out return to those who don't want to pursue a full days labor?We are headed toward financial ruin.
Are we headed to war with North Korea? Personally I think it is loud saber rattling by the little chubby guy in North Korea. His people and his army are hungry.
Although it is pretty loud and one "mistake" by one side or the other could cause a bad situation to get worse.
War is the last thing we need.
Early in the thread was a post that the world is moving from national to corporate. To the extent this is true it breaks so many previous models many mistakes will be made. To the extent this is true discussion of issues using a national model are fruitless in the international arena.
That said go through history and name a country that did deficit spending that didn't result in a disaster. Since about 1948 the only years with a balanced budget have not been years of decreased spending. They have been years of such huge economic booms spending could increase and the budget still balance. But countries that go through currency collapses do recover from the disaster.
Should we as Masons discuss strategies to be proactive about these projected events in non-political ways? Be active as a citizen to try to stop disasters but also be proactive in some sort of investment strategy trying to stay ahead of the curve figuring they will happen ...
Unfortunately that's up to him not us. It only takes one to start a fight. When it happens either you're prepared or not but the choice to start fighting is made by the side that attacks not by the side that defends. Pray for sanity my brothers.
This has never been a good combination across history.
http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/war/
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)
Beat the drum slowly. Glorification of war is a very common thing. It takes a stronger willed man to use logic and reason. In the end, this man of strength wins.
Don't be so quick to shed the blood of the youth of the world. It will come back to haunt you in the person of those who somehow survive the mental and flesh wounds. Awful things are learned in war. The participants become bitter when they realize the actual fruits of war. Look into the eyes of those who actually went through "the shit" verses those who only paint themselves as heroes.
Masonry hates war! Read the wise who led us through the past. What leg does this stand on? Try the steps of the Good Shepard.
Hold the lessons we learned from the Easter season next to your heart. Forget those worthless testosterone commercials and talking heads you see on television. They should remind the good mason more of the followers of Barabbas than those of the redeemer. Then look at the objectives of the zealots verses that of the redeemer.
Never look for the next war. The world is already weary. Soon they will know you to be Rome itself. Be quiet, speak softly and carry a big stick. Learn to share a little of the wealth ye men of entitlement. Then, maybe, the world will look upon you as a friend once more.
We are headed toward financial ruin.
Are we headed to war with North Korea? Personally I think it is loud saber rattling by the little chubby guy in North Korea. His people and his army are hungry.
Although it is pretty loud and one "mistake" by one side or the other could cause a bad situation to get worse.
War is the last thing we need.
Don't be so quick to shed the blood of the youth of the world. It will come back to haunt you in the person of those who somehow survive the mental and flesh wounds. Awful things are learned in war. The participants become bitter when they realize the actual fruits of war. Look into the eyes of those who actually went through "the shit" verses those who only paint themselves as heroes.
Masonry hates war! Read the wise who led us through the past. What leg does this stand on? Try the steps of the Good Shepard.
Hold the lessons we learned from the Easter season next to your heart. Forget those worthless testosterone commercials and talking heads you see on television. They should remind the good mason more of the followers of Barabbas than those of the redeemer. Then look at the objectives of the zealots verses that of the redeemer.
Never look for the next war. The world is already weary. Soon they will know you to be Rome itself. Be quiet, speak softly and carry a big stick. Learn to share a little of the wealth ye men of entitlement. Then, maybe, the world will look upon you as a friend once more.
The way that you use the word war is powerful but it can also be use in many other way that are wise also in Ecclesiastes 1.8 you will see there is a time for war. [/QUOT
Agreed brother.
That is precisely why we should always carry a big stick. Just not always be so willing to wield it.