Capitalism is Compassionate…

The most compassionate nation in the world is the United States of America. We are not compassionate because we have special DNA or are some special form of human species, we are compassionate because of capitalism. Capitalism has given us the gift of excess goods, services, and resources that we share with the rest of the world.

At the heart of capitalism is the ability of individuals to produce and create wealth for their own personal use and their family. As human beings, we first must take care of ourselves by producing food, clothes, and shelter. It is the nature of survival that is first and foremost in the human condition. In most economies prior to the capitalist system of the United States, goods and services were assumed to be owned by some ruling class. Production was stifled because the people producing wealth for others is much harder to manage than a system that allows for individuals to keep what they produce for themselves.

Capitalism rewards the hard work of individuals and is destroyed by the policies of taxation or confiscation without due compensation. It is a simple premise that is rooted in human nature. As we create our own wealth beyond the basic survival needs, we create additional wealth that allows us to become more compassionate. Whether that is on the personal scale of donating food to the local food pantry or the on the corporate scale of creating foundations that help other nations climb out of poverty, it can only happen when we create excess wealth. Excess wealth only happens in a capitalist economic system.

There are people and companies that abuse the system but on the whole most people and companies in the United States are a great example of how capitalism is the only system that works is a free society. As the government tries to regulate business and the capitalist system they impede freedom, freedom of individuals, and freedom of markets to conduct business. This limits wealth, reduces freedom, and smothers compassion.

So as you listen to all of the political posturing in 2012, remember capitalism is the most compassionate economic system in the world. It produces both winners and losers. The losers often come back into the market to become winners. But that can only happen when the government keeps its hands out of the arena. Any business or business person breaking the law should be punished. But any business or business person that fails in the market must be allowed to fail and not bailed out by the government.

If the government continues to distort the market capitalism is dead. Once capitalism is dead so is wealth and compassion. It’s that simple…

The Cost of Ignorance…

No matter what they say - ignorance is not bliss. In fact it is dangerous and imperils our freedoms. Our founders understood human nature because they were students of history. The founders had a love of learning and believed that education was a personal obligation to becoming a good citizen. Knowing history is like having a crystal ball to the future. By studying the civilizations of the past, our founders created the foundational principles of the Constitution.

Limiting the capacity of government to be able to control individuals was the principle goal of the Constitution. The main argument for a central government was to create the ability to provide a common defense for the states. They didn’t want to have to beg the states to support the defense of the country as they did during the revolution where George Washington had to make due with very limited resources. The Constitution was designed to contain the tendencies of governments to overstep and control the lives of the governed as was the case throughout history. They believed by putting us in charge of us, and limiting what a central government could do, they could improve the lives of everyone that lived within the constitutional republic. The Constitution was the written culmination of lessons learned that would set a foundation for a brand new form of government. One created by the people for the people. No ruling class or group of people would have power without the consent of the governed. It was a revolutionary concept but could only survive with an engaged citizenry. The founders feared if the citizens ignored the government it could quickly deteriorate into dictatorship so they provided as many safeguards in the Constitution as they could. But ultimately they knew it would come down to a willingness of the people to defend the Constitution. Without the people’s attention they knew the past would repeat itself.

They feared many things when designing the new republic including an all-powerful president. They did not want one man to have too much power or any group of people in the government to have too much power so they used the concept of “balance of powers” between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government. It was the job of each branch to keep the other in check. So no one branch could determine the direction of the federal government without the consent of each branch. It was a design nothing short of a miracle.

As we consider the actions of the Federal Government today and this President, it is apparent that the American education system has failed. The outrageous conduct of the appointments made by this president without the constitutionally mandated consent of the senate yesterday should have received a greater reaction than it did. The limited reaction to these appointments shows how our education system has systematically limited the citizen’s knowledge of their form of government. These radical and unlawful acts should be stirring up a beehive of legal action against this administration. Yet we go on and act as if this is just a game being played by a President intent on creating a rift between him and the congress to be used in his re-election campaign strategy. It is a dangerous and illegal game that deserves the attention of our congressional members and the judiciary.

This President has said he will go around the congress to do the “people’s work” which is exactly what every dictator in history uses as an excuse to implement their own tyranny on the governed. I know most people don’t realize how dangerous this is but they should. No matter what rhetoric is used to justify his actions, in a constitutional republic the law is king not the president. And the law says he can’t appoint people to positions of power within the government without the consent of the Senate. The Senate is officially in session and therefore the excuse of recess appointments is irrelevant.

Following the process of government is like watching paint dry for most citizens but if we expect to live in a country that respects freedom and the rule of law we must pay attention and react when necessary. The congress should threaten impeachment immediately and defund the departments affected by these appointments. This is not business as usual. This is a crime.

The country is worth watching over. It may be boring but it is our responsibility to protect future generations from the ambitions of leaders that would rather dictate than follow the law of the land.

The Constitution and the Founders…

The vision of our founders that was captured in the document we call the constitution is nothing short of a miracle. As we look at the political environment today, it is clear how truly brilliant our founders actually were. The Constitution was created to limit the government from controlling the lives of the governed. For the first time in history the people were put in charge of the government instead of government bureaucrats controlling the people.

You would never know we had a Constitution if you were dropped in this country from another planet. If you were a Founder who had risen from the grave this country’s operations would be an obvious indication the country had somehow been take over by a coup d etat. The obvious questions our Founders would have:

Who allowed the Federal Government to break the law of the constitution? This would have to be answered with We the People. We the people have ignored our duty to hold our politicians accountable to the law of the land. We are also responsible for electing politicians that have failed to abide by the Constitution.

What would compel the people to give up local control for a central bureaucracy? The Founders always suspected the local and state governments would be reluctant to give power to a central government. It was such a contention at our founding that the Bill of Rights had to be added and one of the most contentious amendments was the Tenth. Without the Tenth Amendment the Constitution would not have been passed. As they argued, there were only a few responsibilities the Federal Government would be better at which were very few. The most agreed upon functions were the defense of the country and foreign diplomacy. Now the Federal Government is involved in how much water we flush down the toilets and the light bulbs we can buy.  Think about that.

How did the Supreme Court become a legislative body? The Founders argued that the Supreme Court was simply a judge not a creator of legislation. They believed if the Supreme Court ruled a law to be unconstitutional the Congress would go back and re-write the legislation to comply with the constitutional guidelines. The idea that 9 individuals can dictate laws is exactly that, a dictatorship.

The Founders argued that human nature was known well enough to put safeguards in place to harness the evil instincts and incentivize the good instincts. They also understood natural law that is the foundation of freedom from the enslavement from groups, especially government groups.

We have no one candidate in the race that is even close to understanding the virtue of statesmanship. Statesmanship is the ability to rise above personal objectives and provide leadership based on the common principles that guide our country as outlined in the Constitution. The Constitution is simply a piece of paper without politicians willing to fight and die for it. Our Founders were willing to die for it. The politicians today don’t even read it.

And that is the fault of We the People…

The Problem with Jimmy Carter…

When you say Jimmy Carter to someone in my generation the immediate reaction is “worst president in modern American history.” He is synonymous with failure to us and we turn the channel whenever he finds an audience in the main stream media.

Carter has spent his post presidency trying to change history. But history is a stubborn thing. Kinda like facts, the country was leaderless under his administration which is why Obama is being compared to Carter. The country again feels like there is no leadership from the current president. The presidency is first and foremost the chief morale officer of the country. We believe in ourselves but we always feel better when we know our elected chief executive believes that as well.

Both Carter and Obama blame Americans for the ills of failed government policies. They both have lectured us on how we just need to get over ourselves and do what they say we should do. Nothing angers Americans more than being lectured to by our politicians especially when they barely understand how hard we Americans work, every day.

Any of us that lived under Carter believe that comparisons will definitely undermine this president’s chance for re-election. The problem is that Jimmy Carter’s administration was over 30 years ago. There are a lot of new voters that have never lived under Carter and see him as the X President that builds houses for humanity and seems like someone’s grandfather. These new voters do not immediately think failure when Carter’s name is used.

I am not saying we should stop comparing Obama to Carter. No I think it’s part of an overall strategy. We must reach younger voters by highlighting how conservative and constitutional principles lead to greater opportunities for jobs and a successful future. We need a positive message for young folks who spend little time thinking and too much time feeling. They might feel good that the first Black President was elected during their generation but the Presidency is not to be used as a social experiment. The presidency is about competent leadership from an executive that has earned the experience necessary to make decisions. It is also a position that can only be granted to individuals that believe in our constitution and founding principles.

We need to help our youth understand what has given us the wealth they enjoy today, our constitution, individual ingenuity, freedom and capitalism. It wasn’t Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, or Obama. It was the American people unencumbered by government bureaucracy given the freedom to pursue their dreams and be held accountable for failure, the ability to reap the rewards of their ideas and hard work, and willingness to take risks…  

A Failure to Educate…

What we are seeing with the “Occupy Wall Street” crowd is the result of a failure to educate our citizens properly at the elementary and high school levels. It is embarrassing to listen to these protesters who have little clue about capitalism or the reason they exist in this world.

One of the protesters was asked if you want to change the capitalist system, what would you like to replace it with? The blank stare said it all. The student had no idea what the alternative should be and I would guess didn’t even understand how capitalism actually works.

This country is the greatest economic and moral engine of the world. It is the greatest economic engine because we have a capitalist system. We are a beacon for the world because our moral foundation is based on Judeo Christian values. We have a constitution that limits the federal government from infringing on both of these attributes but the current administration along with previous administrations have ignored these limits therefore giving us the malaise we are currently in.

We spend too much time teaching about recycling, diversity, and political correctness and not enough time on the American history, economics, the constitution, and American values.  We need our kids to be taking a full four years of American history, the constitution, and the capitalist system of economics in High School. Too many schools can’t even teach kids to read by the time they graduate High School. Colleges are now forced to have remedial programs in order to accept certain students.

The United States has been the means of good in the world because we have values and an economic system that enables us the free time to worry about others. Our religious institutions are an engine of compassion. To protest against the foundation of our success is ignorance.

What these Occupy Wall Street people need to realize is the reason they are unemployed is the fact that the capitalist system is being undermined by an out of control government. They should be in Washington DC not Wall Street or Main Street. It is not Wall Street “fat cats” that are the problem. It is politicians and business executives that are stealing tax payer dollars and conducting “crony capitalism” that should be the target of the protest. The problem resides in DC. If these people had the proper education they would be in the Tea Party.

Success begins with education and there are many schools that do an OK job. But the public system needs to be completely overhauled and handed back to communities to control. The federal government has been destroying the family, the economy, and personal accountability for long enough. We need to take back the education system because that is the root of the problem.

Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to the history and future of our country…

The Constitution is About Limits…

There is no better excuse to dictate policy than crisis. Our founders knew the propensity of humans to dictate their will through group think in emotional situations. The founders feared and despised central rule by a King and were determined in the constitution to protect against both dictatorship and group or mob rule.

We are starting to hear politicians that are responsible for creating the current economic mess (chaos) talking about suspending democratic rule. First, we are not a democracy but what they are suggesting is we the people be stripped of our right to vote in or out our representatives to the federal government. These are not fringe lunatics that hold no power; they are a current congress woman and the governor of North Carolina. Their argument is that elected politicians can’t do what they want for fear of being voted out next election. My question is if they are in fear of being voted out of office by their constituents then the policies they are pursuing may be the problem. The reason our representative government does work is that representatives must face re-election every two years.

The constitution was designed with a House of Representatives to be most accountable to the people. That is why all laws are created by the House. The design of the house also allows for the protection against mob rule. There are 435 representatives that represent many districts with many competing interests. These competing interests make it less likely that a majority of these representatives will react with emotion rather than analysis. It is not a perfect system but it is the best the world has ever been able to put together under one set of rules. Those rules we call the US Constitution.

If we were to suspend elections so representatives did not have to face the voters, would this make the people complacent or angry? Forget the fact it would be an impeachable offense, is it a good idea to undermine the rule of law? The majority of the people in the United States want the federal government to reduce spending and repeal Obamacare. The anger, frustration, and ailing economy are being perpetuated by a few representatives that are not willing to listen to the people they represent.

Is the answer bypassing the people or is the answer electing people that will listen to the people and abide by the limits of the US Constitution?

Stupid is what Stupid Does…

The ability to think has been lost by too many individuals in this country. It is harder to think than to feel which is why we have so many feelings getting in the way of intelligent analysis. The economy is about to crash and every thinking man and woman can see it coming but yet we stand by watching as if it were a car wreck on the side of a highway.

How do you grow the economy by taking a dollar out of one man’s pocket and putting it into another man’s pocket? All you accomplish is taking one dollar from one man’s pocket and put it into another man’s pocket. Think about it. What has been created? Nothing is created and never has been in the redistribution of wealth. Hence the word redistribution, otherwise it would be called creation of wealth.

The creation of wealth comes when an individual, small business or corporation develops a new piece of software that does something new; create a new product or service that individuals in the market place find valuable enough to part ways with their dollars to purchase it. Take the iPod for instance. When the iPod was created it was a cool new way to store and listen to music. People bought them by the millions. Musicians sold more music. Accessories for iPods exploded like cases and night stands with speakers and all of these new products had to be manufactured, distributed, and sold creating jobs, jobs, jobs.

The creation of wealth creates more wealth as the market builds off of the new products that get introduced. Clever individuals take the ideas and build off of them, sometimes as competitors, and other times as collaborators to improve the product or service. There is no take one dollar from one and giving to another, it is ideas, products and services generating new wealth and the dollars exchanging hands are for the market value of that product.

The concept is really easy to understand if you think about it. It is not a feeling but a real concept. The people in our government right now are stupid. That’s right stupid. The definition of stupid: Slow to learn or understand; obtuse, tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes, marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless.

The product of our political discussions is class envy and a division of the American people. We have the makers and the takers. The people that are makers are under attack and their money is being taken to be given to the takers. The takers are simply using those dollars to sustain their lives. There is no creation of new products, services, or God forbid an idea. If we were to stop taking from the makers and left those dollars with the makers and they make things, jobs would be one of the results (I will avoid the moral argument).

Government is the agent of the takers and yes some makers. But mostly the government is in the business to take from the makers to give to the takers. That destroys jobs. Hence the economy we are in. And even when Government gives to the makers like “green energy” projects, the makers that become takers have broken a golden rule of successful makers; there needs to be a market place of willing individuals to buy what you’re selling. You can’t force people to by stuff they don’t want, yet.

So the only conclusion you can come to if you are a thinking individual is we are being represented by stupid. Stupid is what stupid does…