My first installment of an overview of my opinions.I want to go over my general views on political and economic issues for two reasons. First of all, I have always wanted to put them on paper in a concise format. Second of all, readers can compare their views to mine. There will be much more coming. I roughly used the format of OnTheIssues.org to structure this post.
Abortion
I am 100% pro-life. Abortion is immoral and Roe v. Wade was illogical. We must strive to decrease the number of abortions as part of the pro-life agenda.
January 22, 1973 is one of the most unfortunate days in American history. A radically liberal Supreme Court, whose purpose has always been to interpret the Constitution, succumbed to fringe political pressure and litigated from the bench. In the opinion of the court, Justice Harry Blackmun admitted that the court's rationale did not strictly interpret the Constitution.
"This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy."
"This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy."
The legality of abortion in America is wrong from many standpoints other than just the seedy legal reasoning behind it. Proponents of abortion use extreme examples to suggest that abortion is a woman's right. For example, liberals always talk about rapes, incest, and pregnancies that threaten a mother's life. The reality is over 40 million abortions have been performed in America, mostly as a form of birth control. Recently, abortion has become a form of eugenics so that pregnant women can choose to kill a child with a disease before it is born. God endows humans with life at the moment of conception and fetal life is just as precious as adult life.
I will post a longer article on this later because it is a complex topic and I believe there are realistic ways to decrease the number of abortions.
For a new perspective on abortion, see Watch "Hard Truth" by American Portrait Films. Warning! The video is very graphic and depicts aborted bodies, medical procedures, and blood. Please do not view it if you are not 18 years old. (runtime 6:50)
Civil Rights
The citizens of the United States are Americans first and our political culture must honor that.
The history of the United States of America is ornamented with tales of progress resulting from the individualism and the uniqueness of our citizens. America is a great nation because of the diversity of our population. We have come a long way. Our nation's economy was once supported by slaves, mostly from Africa. Now we operate the largest economy in history with a 2007 GDP of almost $14 trillion (Excel format) without exploitation of labor based on race. We have come a long way.
In 1963, Martin Luther King, one of the greatest activists of the 20th century, said in his "I Have a Dream" speech:
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
These words send chills up my spine because they were prophetic. Without thinking about it, we interact with people of many different backgrounds every day. Some of my best friends, and some of the smartest people I know are from backgrounds entirely different than mine. And that's what makes America beautiful. The rich culture of America is the direct result of our the diversity of our citizenry.
And now for the partisanship! What many people may not know it the fact that the Republican Party was founded in opposition to slavery. Anyone who thinks conservatism is synonymous with racism or elitism is completely wrong. It was the great conservative, Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It is sad that some people believe the myths about the conservative movement.
The Republican Party is the party of Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves, the party of Dwight Eisenhower who sent federal troops to follow through with the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, and the party of George W. Bush whose cabinet, according to The Washington Post, is one of the diverse in history, especially in high-level jobs.
The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is and has always been festooned with opponents of civil rights. Southern democrats were the largest proponents of slavery in antebellum America. The Ku Klux Klan has produced many prominent Democratic leaders. Democrat Hugo Black was a Klansman, a senator from Alabama, and a Supreme Court Justice appointed by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. One of the highest-ranking members of the US Senate is Democrat Robert Byrd, the current president pro tempore of the Senate, the thirdperson in line to be president in succession after Cheney and Pelosi, and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee (which handles spending bills) was a member of the KKK. For more on this read "The Democrat Party's Long and Shameful History of Bigotry and Racism."
Now for some kind words regarding Senator Barack Obama. Although I believe in spirited debate over the issues, and I have vast differences with Obama on policy issues, the Illinois senator is pretty extraordinary in his accomplishments. Senator Obama's candidacy for the position of President of the United States is a testament to the progress of America. Dr. King would certainly be proud that Senator Obama is a serious candidate for the presidency and that he is being judged by the "content of his character."
Education
Education is the most important tool of social and economic progress and the free market could vastly improve education.
There a few things that determine long term macroeconomic stability and growth. First of all, technological change and increases in capital (such as the computer boom of the 1990s or new and better infrastructure) can expand economies of scale in a nation's production, lower relative prices, and increase wealth. Second of all, discovery of new raw materials (finding more oil in the US) can increase output in the long-run.
But, most important of all and most available of all, increases in labor productivity make an economy more successful in the long run. To translate the economic jargon, more, better education makes a nation wealthier. Unlike technological change and discovery of raw materials, education can be generated by the citizens of a country. On the microeconomic level, education gives people a competitive edge. On the macro-level, education creates wealth.
We need a comprehensive plan to make America's youth more successful at school. With better educated citizens, Americans could be the first to discover new things and create new technologies, further spurring long-term economic development. Plus, it is a matter of human dignity that we are educated. There is few things sadder, in my opinion, than an illiterate adult, because illiteracy could be prevented.
The lack of uniformly good education in America's public schools goes back to the fundamental argument between free-markets and planning. Education in the United States is more or less centrally planned. It is difficult to artificially create incentives for schools to do better without having unintended consequences. No Child Left Behind is on the right track because it is incentive-based, but we need sweeping changes in education to make our youth the brightest in the world. Instead of focusing on every child winning, we need to focus on some schools losing. If we allow schools to fail, we will allow every child to win.
Vouchers are best way system to fix the problems. Instead of synthetically creating incentives in schools, we should let the market decided what schools are successful. In a voucher system, parents would have the choice of sending their child to public, private, and charter schools. Whatever school draws the most vouchers is the most successful. The schools that no one enrolls in would fail, leaving the better schools with more funding to accommodate the new pupils. This is not complicated. Most people know which school they would choose already. Many would not choose their own high school if they could go back. In my town, for example, there are two public schools, Cherry Hill East and Cherry Hill West. Nearly everyone would choose Cherry Hill East, leaving it with all of Cherry Hill West's funding to expand and take in more students. The market would fix the problem.
There's much more to be said about education but there's only one topic that I have time to discuss. Teacher salaries are also artificial, and artificially low. For the best and the brightest college students to choose teaching over other professions, they need an incentive. If teaching pays more, a function of the unique skill set necessary to be a teacher, then more people will choose to major in education. Teachers do important work and deserve to be paid like they do important work. We need to let the market work and get rid of "price regulations" that distort the market for teachers. A similar phenomenon affect the health care industry which I will get to eventually (the teacher's market is a price-ceiling-type issue, the doctor's market is a supply issue).
The bottom line on education: There's two places taxpayers ought to be willing to spend more money: defense and education. Let's cut useless government waste and invest in the future of America, education.
I will post a longer article on this later because it is a complex topic and I believe there are realistic ways to decrease the number of abortions.
For a new perspective on abortion, see Watch "Hard Truth" by American Portrait Films. Warning! The video is very graphic and depicts aborted bodies, medical procedures, and blood. Please do not view it if you are not 18 years old. (runtime 6:50)
Civil Rights
The citizens of the United States are Americans first and our political culture must honor that.
The history of the United States of America is ornamented with tales of progress resulting from the individualism and the uniqueness of our citizens. America is a great nation because of the diversity of our population. We have come a long way. Our nation's economy was once supported by slaves, mostly from Africa. Now we operate the largest economy in history with a 2007 GDP of almost $14 trillion (Excel format) without exploitation of labor based on race. We have come a long way.
In 1963, Martin Luther King, one of the greatest activists of the 20th century, said in his "I Have a Dream" speech:
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
These words send chills up my spine because they were prophetic. Without thinking about it, we interact with people of many different backgrounds every day. Some of my best friends, and some of the smartest people I know are from backgrounds entirely different than mine. And that's what makes America beautiful. The rich culture of America is the direct result of our the diversity of our citizenry.
And now for the partisanship! What many people may not know it the fact that the Republican Party was founded in opposition to slavery. Anyone who thinks conservatism is synonymous with racism or elitism is completely wrong. It was the great conservative, Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It is sad that some people believe the myths about the conservative movement.
The Republican Party is the party of Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves, the party of Dwight Eisenhower who sent federal troops to follow through with the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, and the party of George W. Bush whose cabinet, according to The Washington Post, is one of the diverse in history, especially in high-level jobs.
The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is and has always been festooned with opponents of civil rights. Southern democrats were the largest proponents of slavery in antebellum America. The Ku Klux Klan has produced many prominent Democratic leaders. Democrat Hugo Black was a Klansman, a senator from Alabama, and a Supreme Court Justice appointed by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. One of the highest-ranking members of the US Senate is Democrat Robert Byrd, the current president pro tempore of the Senate, the thirdperson in line to be president in succession after Cheney and Pelosi, and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee (which handles spending bills) was a member of the KKK. For more on this read "The Democrat Party's Long and Shameful History of Bigotry and Racism."
Now for some kind words regarding Senator Barack Obama. Although I believe in spirited debate over the issues, and I have vast differences with Obama on policy issues, the Illinois senator is pretty extraordinary in his accomplishments. Senator Obama's candidacy for the position of President of the United States is a testament to the progress of America. Dr. King would certainly be proud that Senator Obama is a serious candidate for the presidency and that he is being judged by the "content of his character."
Education
Education is the most important tool of social and economic progress and the free market could vastly improve education.
There a few things that determine long term macroeconomic stability and growth. First of all, technological change and increases in capital (such as the computer boom of the 1990s or new and better infrastructure) can expand economies of scale in a nation's production, lower relative prices, and increase wealth. Second of all, discovery of new raw materials (finding more oil in the US) can increase output in the long-run.
But, most important of all and most available of all, increases in labor productivity make an economy more successful in the long run. To translate the economic jargon, more, better education makes a nation wealthier. Unlike technological change and discovery of raw materials, education can be generated by the citizens of a country. On the microeconomic level, education gives people a competitive edge. On the macro-level, education creates wealth.
We need a comprehensive plan to make America's youth more successful at school. With better educated citizens, Americans could be the first to discover new things and create new technologies, further spurring long-term economic development. Plus, it is a matter of human dignity that we are educated. There is few things sadder, in my opinion, than an illiterate adult, because illiteracy could be prevented.
The lack of uniformly good education in America's public schools goes back to the fundamental argument between free-markets and planning. Education in the United States is more or less centrally planned. It is difficult to artificially create incentives for schools to do better without having unintended consequences. No Child Left Behind is on the right track because it is incentive-based, but we need sweeping changes in education to make our youth the brightest in the world. Instead of focusing on every child winning, we need to focus on some schools losing. If we allow schools to fail, we will allow every child to win.
Vouchers are best way system to fix the problems. Instead of synthetically creating incentives in schools, we should let the market decided what schools are successful. In a voucher system, parents would have the choice of sending their child to public, private, and charter schools. Whatever school draws the most vouchers is the most successful. The schools that no one enrolls in would fail, leaving the better schools with more funding to accommodate the new pupils. This is not complicated. Most people know which school they would choose already. Many would not choose their own high school if they could go back. In my town, for example, there are two public schools, Cherry Hill East and Cherry Hill West. Nearly everyone would choose Cherry Hill East, leaving it with all of Cherry Hill West's funding to expand and take in more students. The market would fix the problem.
There's much more to be said about education but there's only one topic that I have time to discuss. Teacher salaries are also artificial, and artificially low. For the best and the brightest college students to choose teaching over other professions, they need an incentive. If teaching pays more, a function of the unique skill set necessary to be a teacher, then more people will choose to major in education. Teachers do important work and deserve to be paid like they do important work. We need to let the market work and get rid of "price regulations" that distort the market for teachers. A similar phenomenon affect the health care industry which I will get to eventually (the teacher's market is a price-ceiling-type issue, the doctor's market is a supply issue).
The bottom line on education: There's two places taxpayers ought to be willing to spend more money: defense and education. Let's cut useless government waste and invest in the future of America, education.
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