Sunday, October 27, 2013

Revelation of the October 2013 US Government Shutdown

As a youth in the 1960's, I developed a rather naïve impression of my fellow human beings. Television and newspapers painted a "wholesome" image of the American middleclass, of which I was surrounded by, and a part of. This was typified by the television program, Leave it to Beaver. It went with little saying, and seemed to hold true that if one accepted and practiced American values, life would be splendid. Though I was unaware at the time, in retrospect, I realize that I was young, inexperienced, and privileged.

Upon entering college in the 1970's, my perception began to change. The sanitized media that I was raised on, was replaced by the works of people like Jerry Rubin, Sinclair Lewis, films by Robert Altman and Stanley Kubrick, and the plays of Eugene O'Neill and Edward Albee, specifically Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf. Over the course of many years I was privy to the experience of many people who had participated in and made history.  I read many books. I came to the understanding that virtually all of the American heroes, and specifically politicians that I idolized as a youth, had another side, often dark, to their makeup. At some point I concluded that it was the role of government to keep this component of human nature in check, while nurturing, and not inhibiting, the positive and creative facets of human nature. And America the country, as many have noted including Lincoln; though imperfect- like the people that comprise our country- is the best political system to serve human beings and reach this end.

In October 2013, Tea Party Republicans shut down the American government to actualize their core principle that government is the enemy, and government hurts people and takes away freedoms. Quite the contrary, prior to the shutdown, it was the experience of most Americans, that when government is running smoothly and unimpeded by a radical minority, they hardly notice that it is there. The government shutdown did create a stark realization for many on how important the government is in their lives.

It appears that most people that have a great problem with all government- have a ulterior motive such as the acquisition of political power as in the case of the Tea Party- or more generally are people driven by their dark side- and seek to "buck" or "game" the system, practice fraud or theft, and remain immune from accountability and responsibility. This truth is forever etched in American history. Without the American government, after the great financial crash of 2008, unregulated capitalism would have destroyed itself.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Selfishness, Capitalism, and States' Rights

Republican thinkers are concerned with self and self-preservation at this point in history. From top to bottom their neo-Confederate behavior is for the optimization of themselves, and their immediate constituents and financial supporters, in that order. We're talking about wealth and power. And they fail to acknowledge that this behavior is detrimental to our country as a whole; and ironically will lead to the downfall of America the country.

Red states, on the whole, are poorer and receive far more in federal funds than they pay in federal taxes when contrasted with their blue state counterparts. Their understanding of economics is right out of Alice in Wonderland. Through "private sector vampirism", they seek to divert federal monies away from the needy and working poor into the coffers of the rich and powerful under the misnomer of privatization. Further they are quite content to allow blue states to "subsidize" their states, and profit from it.

The Tea Party Republicans, with the support of billionaires and global corporations, while adopting an MBA mentality, and under the guise of states' rights and freedom, are on a course to destroy America. Again, ironically, the billionaires, Wall Street, and the global corporations appear to be the only ones that can rein them in.

Cost-Effective Foreign Policy

There are many different costs when talking about foreign policy and war. There are human costs, that is, the lives of soldiers and civilians. There are monetary costs. These costs include opportunity costs. Monies that are spent on war could be used internally in our country to stimulate job growth, for research and development, and for education. There are also auxiliary costs that can be measured tangibly. These costs include the interruption of commerce and the global economy and the distribution of natural resources.

The most cost-effective foreign policy limits the exposure of human life, both military and civilian, to harm, uses the least amount of federal dollars to achieve the objective, and minimizes the amount of disruption to the global economy and the distribution of natural resources.

America has long been a forerunner in, among many other things,  technology, the art of information manipulation, and espionage. Though lacking in self-awareness, the Tea Party is fantastic at this stuff. We have the ability, in conjunction with our academic institutions and government agencies, to execute effective foreign policy by using our brains. We can win conflicts though negotiation, the manipulation of information, and the dissemination of propaganda; with force serving as the last resort.

Republicans should take note of this. Perhaps, Machiavelli should be required reading. Bombing and "boots on the ground" should be an option when we have exhausted other available options. Thinking people must be amused by knowing that Obama employed this maxim and accomplished what W. Bush- despite spending billions- failed to do: bring Bin Laden to justice.