Our society is establishing a disturbing trend in which we try to silence the arguments that we do not agree with. Being exposed to various points of view can serve as a useful tool to either modify or solidify the views that we already hold. Without exposure to counterarguments, there is no personal growth. Our society yells at each other too much and doesn’t listen enough. We are too often spoon fed what we are supposed to think by others and many of us have lost the ability to even defend our own points of view. We have become intellectually lazy. It has become much easier in our technological age to simply turn someone “off” rather than refute opposing points on their merit alone.
Category: Serious
The Cowardly Act Of Deficit Spending
Prolonged deficit spending by a nation is not only a terrible solution to facing one’s problems but it is completely immoral. Saving our current crop of citizens by spending money that we don’t have comes at a steep cost. This is a price that must eventually be paid by the very young and unborn. This is like storming the beaches of Normandy holding up babies as human shields. It is comparable to adults throwing toddlers out of a lifeboat to make room for themselves. Generational deficit spending is a despicable act and is an embarrassment to our nation’s history. Survival for survival’s sake at the expense of the innocent is a cowardly act. As a people, we should all be better than this.
Supreme Court Gay Marriage Ruling
As a diehard libertarian, I have to admit that I was quite pleased with the recent Supreme Court decision in defense of gay marriage. I have a few friends and many patients who are homosexual and have been mortified to witness how gay people have been treated like second class citizens in the eyes of the law over the years. I do sympathize with people who oppose gay marriage on religious grounds and feel that celebrating this decision excessively would be rubbing it in their faces. Some of the most kind and generous people that I have ever known are deeply religious and are offended by the concept of gay marriage as well as this recent Supreme Court ruling. I know that many of these people are concerned about the level of moral decay in this country and perceive homosexuality as just another example of this growing immorality. My advice to you would be to continue to pray for those around you whom you believe to be living in sin and to keep your hearts open to everyone. What I know in my heart is that the individuals on both sides of this argument are EXTREMELY GOOD AND CARING PEOPLE in general. As long as we remember this and are respectful to each other, I am sure we will find a way to peacefully coexist without violating anyone’s individual liberties.
The Real Meaning of Memorial Day
Memorial Day is not just a day to remember fallen soldiers. This is a day to remember to pay attention to the fact that soldiers continue to die for us regularly. It is a day to assure them that they will not be sent overseas just to be forgotten. It is a commitment to stay engaged in the political process and to become an informed electorate as to what is going on in the world. An uninformed electorate allows for foreign policy to wander aimlessly. Our military does an excellent job defending our freedoms from external threats. We need to do a better job defending our freedoms from the internal ones. Memorial Day should not just be a day to remember the fallen… We should remember to be better Americans in honor of those fallen.
The Birth Of Bitterness
I have worked at a good samaritan clinic for the past six years and I am very familiar with people on financial support and food stamps. I would say first of all that the most judgemental people in life are the ones whom have had the least happen to them in their own. I have seen some very sad stories play out over the years in which very good and hard-working people ended up on public assistance though no fault of their own. I would also be careful in painting this picture with too broad of a brush. There are some people who appropriately use financial assistance as a safety net while there are others that use this safety net has a hammock. My biggest complaint regarding our current system is the disconnect that is created between the providers and the takers. As people are taxed more they begin to feel less charitable. As people are given things that are not earned they begin to feel more entitled and less grateful. There is a vast difference between me giving someone twenty dollars out of my pocket vs someone just pulling my wallet out and taking twenty dollars for themselves. Charity that is not voluntary is theft. It is from this distinction where bitterness is born.
The Last Time The Cubs Won The World Series
The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series was 1908. In that year…
Stamps cost 2 cents
Bread cost 5 cents
A gallon of gas cost 11 cents
Eggs cost 14 cents
Minimum wage was 22 cents per hour
And the average U.S. salary was 300 dollars per year
Laughing at the Cubs for their misfortune? Well, you should be laughing at yourself. The Federal Reserve was founded just five years after the Chicago Cubs won the World Series and since that time, the U.S. Dollar has lost over 98 percent of it’s value. All during this time, we are taught that inflation is “just supposed to happen”. The depreciation of a currency is by far the easiest way to steal from others without getting caught. My name is Michael Guyer. I am a libertarian Chicago Cubs fan and I approved this message.
What The Top Four Mass Murders In The U.S. Have In Common
The top four mass murders in this country did not involve guns.
4) On May 18, 1927 in Bath, Michigan… 45 people were killed in an elementary school using dynamite, firebombs, and a club.
3) March 25, 1990 in the Bronx, New York… 87 people were killed when the Happy Land Social Club was intentionally burned to the ground.
2) On April 19, 1995 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma… 168 people were killed by what was essentially a truck full of poop.
1) On September 11, 2001 in multiple locations… 2,996 people were killed using 12 box cutters.
We continue to hear outcries for the banning of guns in the United States, yet most people do not push for a ban on clubs, matches, poop, or box cutters. In order to address mass murders in the United States, you must address the murderers themselves and not the methods.
The Argument For Gay Marriage
The Supreme Court is about to make a very important decision in regards to whether or not there is a constitutional right to gay marriage. I would like to start by saying that I am a man of faith and that I do not think that the government has any business telling a church what it should believe or how members of a church should practice their faith. If marriage were simply an issue of a church recognizing and institutionalizing the relationship between two loving individuals, then this would be a simple case for me. An individual church has every right to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, and the government should have no say in the matter. The problem is that marriage has now become a hybrid institution with both religious aspects and legal aspects. The government tells us that if two consenting adults choose to spend the rest of their lives together, that this bond will offer legal implications and protections on both the state and federal level. For example, your partner will receive your Social Security benefits when you die. Another example is that you become your partner’s medical decision maker by default should they become incapacitated. History will not look kindly on us during this period and will likely say that America treated homosexuals like second class citizens.
I believe the only good solution is to divide the process of all marriage into two separate entities. Since a marriage in this country is actually two things, it should actually be treated like two separate things. I think that when two people decide to live the rest of their lives together, all individuals can try to find a church that will acknowledge their religious union and everyone will need to separately seek legal protections through a civil union. Some couples may only choose to pursue a legal union and that is okay as well. Some dissenters will attempt to make a straw man argument that this could set up a slippery slope leading to civil unions with children or between people and animals. These same individuals would have likely argued during the Civil War era that we could not risk giving slaves the right to vote because this could also lead to babies and horses getting the right to vote as well. It is a silly argument that is not worthy of discussion.
In the system that I am proposing, all adults will be treated the same. This is the only true solution that still protects the constitutional rights of the church as well as the constitutional rights of the individual. Remember, the constitution is not only designed to protect you from others, it is designed to protect others from you.