In Closing….

Election Time

I am leaving for New York tonight (otherwise known as the Godless den of sodomy) and will not return until Monday night. I am eager to escape some of the political rampage that is impacting California right now and am looking forward to entering a bunker of family and friends and shutting the world out. But before I go I did want to share my thoughts on the historic Presidential race especially in light of both my dad and Sladed’s own political ruminations. Besides, that is what blogs are for. To share your opinions and to exercise the mind. I remind all readers that no one is forcing you to read this.

I recognize the emotion behind this election and despite some of my worse moments I do understand the beliefs on both sides. This post is not meant to disparage or challenge anyone who disagrees but instead to explain the thought process behind my own preference. There is no doubt that we are all living in historic times. The economy is in its worst shape in nearly 80 years, our world standing is perhaps the worst it has ever been, and we are all witnessing an escalation of warfare, terror, and criminality at home and abroad. Our country seems to be terribly divided and the truth is that neither Presidential candidate will likely change that. The 2004 election was heralded as the most important election of a generation. In my view it boiled down to a number of people choosing what they knew in the face of what might be. This is to say they recognized the country was not in great shape, they heard John Kerry saying he could fix it, but at the end of the day I guess the people decided that they were not as optimistic as Kerry and that the smarter, more pragmatic choice would be to stick with what they could expect. This election is shaping out to be like that. Personally I believe that hope and optimism now are more important than they have ever been on both the micro and macro scale. I cannot look anyone in the eye and tell them whether or not Barack Obama can accomplish all that he says he can or that his Presidential administration will live up to the hype. But what I do know is that I am ready to take a chance. I am ready to have hope and optimism that just maybe he will do what he says he can and for that reason, and several others, I will vote for him on Tuesday morning.

A lot has been made of his lack of experience by the McCain campaign, even more so before they selected a less experienced running mate for their ticket. I do agree that there is a dearth of experience in Barack’s presidential bid but I also believe that there are factors that make up for this and that experience alone should not rule the day. Experience matters. However, so too does intelligence, temperament, judgement, and innate leadership. In my opinion McCain may have more experience but in the other key areas, areas that I personally believe are every bit as important, it is not even a contest. We have two major areas of crisis facing this country right now in the form of the economy and foreign affairs. To be clear neither candidate is particularly experienced or accomplished when it comes to the economy. Both will need to assemble smarter minds to attack this problem and I do think that both men will be able to find willing and able minds. I know that Barack wants to change the tax structure and that McCain wants to keep it the same ( I will talk about this later) but what worries me is that both men will take us further into debt. I guess my take on the economy is that between them it is a wash.

On the issue of foreign policy I see two major threats facing America. The first is the real but often over hyped threat from the Islamic community abroad. The second is the loss of political capital and standing our country has seen the last eight years. I don’t care what anyone says, it matters what other countries think of us. On the issue of Islamic terrorism I do think that this is a threat worth looking into. However, when you consider how many people have died at the hands of terrorism versus how much money has been spent on a “solution” there is a massive disconnect. To take it a step further is to compare that figure to the number of people dying from cancer, gun violence, or even hunger in this country. So is it a problem? Yes. But it is not a 300 billion dollar problem. John McCain wants to keep troops in Iraq and continue to fight a war that is accomplishing nothing. Obama, despite what most think, wants to continue fighting, but he wants to take the fight to Afghanistan and Pakistan – you know, where Islamic terrorism was before we brought it to Iraq. I am not completely in favor of this but far more so then the alternative. I also recognize that fighting a smaller war on terror on a smaller front is a far more cost effective attempt to solve the problem. I also think that Barack can do wonders to help our reputation abroad. His calm demeanor and intelligence will go along way to erase the cowboy politics of George W. McCain’s knee-jerk reaction to the Georgian conflict, his commitment to stay in Iraq indefinitely, and his brinkmanship over Iran’s nuclear ambitions I think will all point to a similar MO as George W. and will continue to keep us in the theoretical doghouse. 

On the issue of taxes that so much has been made of. Any person of a minimum intelligence or education knows that Barack Obama is not a socialist. Quite frankly that is an insult to socialists around the world. All punitive taxation is a “redistribution of wealth” so unless we all agree that anyone not in favor of a flat taxation system is a “socialist” lets all refrain from demeaning one another with misguided labels. I can see why some people are upset with his proposals. A small percentage of this country will pay more in taxes and/or higher fees to tax lawyers who will help hide money off shore. I happen to fall into a bracket (like most people in the country) that will actually save some money. The fact is that both sides are engaging in class warfare. The problem with McCain is that when you strip away the rhetoric his tax cuts only help a small portion of the people in the country. I know, I know, but these people being taxed are the employers of those being helped and within six months of an Obama presidency we will see massive lay-offs and closing businesses – as if that is not happening already with a friendly tax structure to small business. The broader point as I see it is that we live in a consumer driven economy. The underlying foundation of a capitalist structure is that there is money available to feed the free market. Right now nearly no one I know has enough money to participate. Taxed higher or not, no small business survives without customers and if people cannot afford new shoes, new car batteries, new homes or new toilets (for you Joe the Plumber) then we all lose. That includes those business outside general consumption industries like mine. So the point is that we are all suffering right now economically and in my own personal opinion putting a little extra cash into the hands of the people that drive our economy may not be a bad thing. I legitimately do not think it can be worse than the current situation.

This issue of “socialism” etc. is perhaps the final component of my selection. It has to do with my earlier post today. To me this election has been perhaps the worst example of “identity politics” I have ever seen or read about. In my opinion a vote for Barack Obama is a vote against the needless labelling and othering that exists all too often in both politics and every day life. Let me be clear that I am not talking about the actions of supporters, surrogates, or fanatics – I am talking specifically about the actions of the two campaigns. The Obama campaign has of course been negative. They have charged the McCain campaign of voting with Bush 90% of the time, have derided his VP pick, and have painted him as an out of touch and angry man ill-suited for the pressures of the White House. The McCain campaign – again the official campaign – has gone as far as to insinuate that Barack Obama is Muslim, terrorist, a member of the Nation of Islam, anti-American, and finally a socialist. Worse yet, McCain himself has gone on the record as saying that he knows that none of these things are true. in a wierd way I would respect it more if he actually believed it. What it tells me is that the McCain campaign made a choice to not run on issues but to run on scare tactics. I understand that the concept of us versus them is a natural human predisposition. But predispostions are just that. We humans have free will and we have the choice to not buy in to this form of mob mentality. They are appealing to the lowest common denominator of human thought and in my opinion the dumbing down of America is the greatest threat facing us. We cannot elect a president who used this very same threat just to get into office. Politicians should run on the issues and not on race or scare tactics meant to distract. We need to communicate our standards and in my opinion the best form of communication is the ballot.

My last thought is that a Barack Obama presidency does several things. First off, we should all be hoping that regardless of who is in the White House that problems start being solved and not compounded. Secondly, and I guess more broadly, I do hope that it teaches the Republican party and the conservative movement that elections are not won through stirring up hate and fear. Our country’s political landscape is an excellent example of homeostasis and quite frankly we need the conservative yin to the liberal yang. A two party system only works when both parties are functioning at a high level. I hope that Republicans take this election as a lesson that they cannot bring people like Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber to us as official spokespeople of the party. We need educated, intelligent, articulate, and competent people at the helm of our country. There is no room for theocrats or uneducated “average” people to be making key decisions that impact so many lives. There is nothing wrong with being “average”, I take pride in my status as such. But I am not qualified to run this world and now more than ever, we need people who are. In my heart I hope Barack can do what he says he can. It is a gamble worth taking for me.

Thought Pondering Email That Was Sent To Me About 11 Times

I know that it is partisan and that many of my esteemed readers disagree with my own political leanings. But the main point of this email is in my opinion outside of politics. Much is made of the bias in the media which certainly exists on both sides. But what about the bias of humanity and the inherent inequality that still exists today. I guess these are just things to think about. Some will agree some will not.

Would the country’s collective point of view be different?

 Could racism be the culprit?

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama couldn’t read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama’s family had made their money from beer distribution?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

Final Thought:

Educational Background:

Barack Obama:

Columbia University – B.A. Political Science with a specialization in International Relations.

Harvard – Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:

University of Delaware – B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.

Syracuse University College of Law – Juris Doctor (J.D.)

 vs.

John McCain:

United States Naval Academy – Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin:

Hawaii Pacific University – 1 semester

North Idaho College – 2 semesters – general study

University of Idaho – 2 semesters – journalism

Matanuska-Susitna College – 1 semester

University of Idaho – 3 semesters – B.A. in Journalism

 

 

On Perspective

Last night on his blog, my Dad articulated his frustrations at the current state of the world and the impact it has had upon not just his life but the lives of people he cares about. It is true that my family, like many families throughout our nation and the world, is struggling right now. My hope is that our situation is temporary and that through hard work and optimism our ship will be righted and we will once again feel comfortable and secure. 

As scary of a time as this may be for so many, I do hope that like so often in life, lessons can be learned through tribulation. It has been said that the positive outcome of record high gas prices would be a reactionary effort to identify and pursue alternative methods of energy. The underlying principle here is that progress and growth are often born out of hardship and that the genius of the human spirit is that in its’ splendor it always finds a way. In my optimistic moments I do dream that this very same principle can and will be applied to the very real and difficult times we all face now.

As my father touched on, our current economic state is largely the result of a culture run amok on excess and greed. Once upon a time in this country, the youth sat in their cap and gown, perched on the verge of social and cultural leadership, and were implored by their elders to be great. Somewhere along the line these words were manipulated and instead of pleads for greatness came the declaration to “be successful”. There is a qualitative difference here and unfortunately this nuance has been lost by the current generation.

To be clear, greatness breeds values, strong family relationships, compassion, innovation, creativity, love, leadership, ethics, and in some cases wealth. In our modern and narrow definition, success breeds wealth and all too often through any means necessary.

This is not to say that success represents an antonym to greatness. Greatness often can lead to success but the key difference is that success is not the goal but the result of greatness and here in lies its’ power to morally guide a culture. “Success” alone does not represent greatness and unfortunately can all too often be attained in the absence of it, as has been the case these past few years.

There has been such a fixation these past few years on the holy grail of success that I think the undiscussed story of this crisis is the lack of true innovation and creativity needed to drive us out. Hidden in the fear of not finding the success and security that was so demanded was a line of thinking that if I do things the same as everyone else then all will be ok. This convinced people with little understanding of their actions to jump into investments that they did not understand, take a job that they were not suited for, and quiet the nagging suspicions and instincts that told them their choices were uninformed. What has resulted is a culture of robots all waiting for someone to tell them what to do. 

My opinion (as if it carries any weight) is that in the context of what has caused this problem there is little that can be done or will be done to get us out of this crisis. Our salvation lies not in approaching our world with the same outlook and plans and blindly hoping for change, but through enacting change ourselves and altering the paradigm of our collective view of the world and our place in it. We need to rid ourselves of our religion of success and security and recognize and understand its’ stifling nature. A shift is needed a the most basic level and we need to realign our priorities, redefine our idea of “success” and greatness. 

The last two days have been difficult for my wife and I personally as we have finally been bestowed the honor (?) of looking this financial crisis directly in the eye. Am I worried? Sure, especially because I am old enough to understand the severity of our current predicament and the potential for a chain reaction of problems to follow. But truthfully I have already learned more in two days than I have in some time as I have been pushed into seeing the correct perspective. I have a wonderful wife who loves me more than I deserve and who I look forward to spending my life with – even if that life is spent in a tin shack deep in the San Bernardino canyons. I have a supportive and lovely family that will always be there for me. I have a mind that works and an education that cannot be stripped away. I have my health. I have my own free will and the ability to find enjoyment in the face of distress. In short I have more things to put a smile on my face than I need and I can choose to let those beat out the few things that are there that push my smile the other direction. 

I refuse to find my happiness in the form of a monthly paycheck, the square footage of my home, or by the car I drive. Too many of us look to these things and others and that way of thinking has pushed us into attaining this form of happiness at too high of a cost. We need to learn to be grateful for family, health, education, humor, and our natural surroundings. I am not naive enough to think that money and resources can be ignored. The need for money and security will always be there but what can be changed is the relationship between those two; more specifically the aggregate formula that defines how much money is needed for security.

The unchecked greed of many has now leaked into the lives of all and as a young citizen of the world I can only hope that lessons will be learned and progress will be made. That old joke exists about the man stranded on his rooftop during a flood who declares that he does not need a boat or helicopter to find safety, that his God will save him. He of course dies and when he finally asks his God about why he was not saved, he is asked what he thought the boat and helicopter that were sent to him were. Maybe this crisis is our boat or our helicopter. Maybe we need this wake-up to realize that we have to change our ways if we ever expect our lives to improve. The spotlight is not on Government or the business community. The spotlight is on each of us, to acknowledge what is truly important in life and to be thankful that we still have it. The spotlight is on us to “be great” once again and to break free of the mold that has been created these past few years that has so clearly led us astray. Unfortunately, I am not sure we have any other options….

Interesting Blog

I found this online (wordpress advertises other blogs on their network) and judging by the comment activity I guess it has quite a following. It is a blog written and updated by two eighty year old women who have been best friends for sixty years. It is a fairly “leftist” blog but seeing as this is the year that a premium is placed on “folksy wisdom” I think their thoughts merit attention. I thought Mom may especially like seeing two seniors with their wits so strongly about them. If you have time to kill, check it out:

http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/

Because It Is Important To Keep A Sense Of Humor 2

Especially in 2008……

Because It Is Important To Keep A Sense Of Humor

Probably not suitable for work (unless you work for APC).

New Design

Thought I would try a new layout, maybe it will inspire to write and post more. I am interested to know what the verdict is, if I should keep it. What do you think?

Funny Video

Apparently Amber sent this to me a few weeks back so hat tip to her! Rover!

Photos!

My wonderful in-laws were in town and Dan played with his camera while I surfed. Here are a few of the shots. You can click on them to enlarge.