Understanding Government

A brilliant open letter written by Bretigne Shaffer says this:

I’m going to make some predictions about Obama’s presidency.  Essentially, I’m going to predict that four years from now, an Obama presidency will not look very different from the George W. Bush presidency, or from what I imagine a John McCain presidency would bring.  If I’m wrong about this, then I promise that I will re-think my beliefs about our political system and about politics generally.  But if I am right, then I’m asking you to do the same.  I’m asking each of you to consider the seemingly bizarre proposition that there really is no significant difference between candidates offered up by the established party system; that Republican and Democrat are virtually indistinguishable; and that neither party has at heart the interests of you or me or “the American people.”  I’m asking you to consider the possibility that continuing to vote for these people just helps to perpetuate the very ills you seek to cure.

I like this letter so much, that I’ll even agree to it’s terms – if Obama proves to be significantly different than Bush, I will rethink my political stands.

Economics and government are connected at the hip. If your economic model is screwed up then your government will end up being screwed up as well. The Bible talks about this several times, including in Leviticus, Proverbs, and Micah. However, the first time it shows up plainly is in Deuteronomy 25: 15-16 -

You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the God is giving you. God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.

Why is this important? Read the rest of this entry »

I found the term from a series of videos at Vimeo (via Coudal), but it seems to fit. In any case, welcome to The New Depression. I have to imagine that this is about what things looked like in 1929.

During the Senate discussions about the impending bailout of the banking system, Ron Paul questioned Bernanke’s authority to create money to purchase bad debt and take a gamble that they can get rid of it later. Bernanke’s response was that the Congress “is given the authority to coin money, and to regulate its value, and they delgated that to us [the Federal Reserve].” (in this video, at the 6:20 mark) Bernanke’s right, but he’s also very, very wrong. Here’s why. Read the rest of this entry »

I may be mentioning this fine woman in the future, but there’s a great interview with Naomi Wolf over at Democracy Now! about her book “The End of America.” In short, in the book she details the ten steps that are common in all downfalls of democracies.

Pay attention.

No doubt, the politicians who came up with the idea of subsidizing the diversion of grain to the production of bioethanol did not intend to starve the world’s poorest people; but the fact that the consequences were unintended does not absolve them of responsibility.

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The guys over at Market Ticker have a nice piece on why we’re experiencing this economic crunch. Here’s some excerpts:

 People blame “Cheney” for the high price of oil and invading Iraq to “boost his buddies” but in point of fact the remaining reason we have high oil prices that are squeezing you like a turnip is that our nation’s accounting is fraudulent, corporately and nationally, and other nations have had enough of it, driving down the value of our currency. The consequence is served up upon you as a consumer in the form of higher costs for food and energy as the price of everything we import translates directly into your wallet.

Oh, and a little bit on the second ammendment

And don’t start with “the army has more guns than I do, therefore it doesn’t matter.” Of course the military and police have more guns than you do! They’re also better trained. So what? The purpose of the Second Amendment isn’t to allow you to “go postal” against the government, it is so that you and all 299,999,999 if your neighbors in this great nation can do so all at once if it ever becomes necessary.

I say, power to the people, not the government (which is not the people, but of the people and for the people).