I was once an idealistic and passionately opinionated kid. My parents must have really wondered about me while I was in my late teens. But life happened to me. You know- having a job, paying bills, getting married, having my own kids, thinking about their future, etc. I'm still a bit idealistic. Still pretty opinionated. But what is different now? I now see a bigger picture- there is more to this world than just ME. And hopefully I'll keep growing, "expanding the envelope" as I go. (That is an aviation term- has nothing to do with my body weight, OK?! 
) <br /><br />I have learned that when you charge something, you have to pay for it. You better have the funds before you have to pay the bill. I learned that those nice people at the bank charge interest whenever I use credit. This makes credit purchases more expensive than just saving up and paying cash. (Hear that, Congress?!)<br /><br />I have learned that many people make promises. The odds of the promise being kept tends to be inversely proportional to the size of the promise unless you have a real relationship with the one promising. Also tends to be directly proportional to the level of details in the promise. "Trust me, it will work out OK later" is NOT a promise which I consider to be worthy from nearly anyone- be it a used car dealer or a politician. ("I have a plan" from a politician without seeing that plan in detail is the same sort of thing exactly)<br /><br />I have learned that often there is more than one way to see things- usually each way has one or more points of validity. This is not to necessarily say each point is necessarily of equal value. Sometimes the best way is right in the middle between the two viewpoints. Occasionally, it can be that one point may be starkly correct and the other dismally wrong. Or sometimes one may be dismally wrong but the other only half right. All sorts of possibilities exist don't they? Sometimes absolutely no one can see which is better beforehand. Only time can test the ideas. Sometimes, though, those who have experienced more life (if they live thoughtfully) have a distinct advantage. On the other hand it amazes me that some may get bolder and stronger in their nonsense the older they get. I guess they never made any connections with reality when they were younger? Without a sound and square foundation many interesting structures have been built.... but never last for other generations to enjoy.<br /><br />Isn't it interesting how some who hold to the most critically flawed ideas can be the loudest and most reluctant to see the truth? It is as if they don't want to be bothered by the facts, they just want their way. It MUST be the right way, they chose it, after all, right? Funny how arrogance is such an incredibly effective blinder.<br /><br />I have learned to never trust anyone who thinks that by their superior intellect that they somehow have a corner on the market of how best to do things. (It is an attitude thing, has nothing to do with intelligence, when it is all boiled down) They will tell you how smart you must be if you are so wise as to follow them. They alone have the better way, and congratulations to you who recognize this! I was seduced by this to some degree during my junior high/early high school days toward the end of the Vietnam War. I had some teachers who were something of cleaned up hippies who were into questioning the establishment. And I thought I was smarter because I agreed with them. Well, turns out maybe elements of the establishment may well have needed questioning. Nixon was a paranoid rat, J Edgar Hoover was if anything worse. Things were not all of what they should have been so far as integrity was concerned. I think some consructive opportunities may have been lost by the right in those days. But what truly positive alternatives did the left offer? None serious that I'm aware of. Lots of emotional appeal is all I can remember. All the billions spent on social programs did little besides help create more who were dependent. I'm not against helping others, just against helping others without expecting them to do their part as well. Anyway, I've learned that questioning can be good if constructively offered, with the intent of bettering everyone in the big picture. Destructive if done selfishly only to weaken your opponent or without consideration of the total picture.<br /><br />The only thing worse than someone who is arrogant is an arrogant elitist. Anyone from any party or part of the political spectrum who elevates him/herself up above those they serve are dangerous. Same for religious leaders. Evil, wicked, dangerous. If a leader exalts himself then he/she looks at "we the people" as mere sheep needing a better shepherd, which they of course are uniquely qualified to be. (Shepherds who act like wolves!) Anyone with this attitude will labor to further empower them self at every opportunity "for our good" Every time they gain power we lose some of ours. The framers of our Constitution had the foresight to realize that some day we might have to rid ourselves of some group which empowers itself to the point of altering the Constitution for their own benefit. I hope we never see such a stacked deck during such a time of crisis that we'll cave in to this!<br /><br />Those who think so highly of themselves will stop at nothing to get elected. They will make grand promises. They will emphasize partial truths. They will outright lie. They will appeal to every emotional heartstring they can find. They will buy their votes. They are completely devoid of integrity when it comes down to it, because as they see it, their getting elected is THE most important thing for our good. (Yeah, right!) They must maintain a semblance of respectability at least until they gain full control. Remember Hitler, Stalin, & Mussolini? History is full of dictators who did this. When the time was right they seized the opportunity. Sadam Hussein. Moamar Ghaddaffi. Pol Pot. Chairman Mao. Literally thousands of names belong on this list. Some extreme right, some extreme left. Makes little difference to those slaughtered by them what their philosophy of politics was. It has happened thousands of times in this planet's history. Because someone was willing to say what the people wanted to hear in a time of need. Think it will never happen to us? Neither did any where it has happened! Now, I am not suggesting this will happen in the next four or eight years. Someday we may have a crisis of all crises. Who will we want leading us then? Who we elect now may set the stage for the future. Do we want to further give our liberties away in return for the government doing more for us, or will we protect our individual rights and liberties? It is my opinion, given a study of the historical trends, that the (real) extreme right is way out of the picture at this point. The moderate right has been relabeled extreme by the far left, but in the context of history this is utter hogwash. But the lie keeps getting repeated, and some have started believing it. The left, on the other hand, seems to be most aggressive and is preying actively among the young who do not have enough life reference to see the whole picture yet. The implications have me greatly concerned. The direction of the far left is socialization. The only thing the socialization of America will achieve is elevating individual arrogant elitist politicians to the place where they can do more damage than ever before. Nowhere, I repeat, nowhere, has this socialization experiment proven effective and sustainable. It has always proven too costly and has resulted in some significant measure the loss of individual liberty and freedoms. It CANNOT work, long term, in the world as we know it. If it requires force of law or force of violence to have it imposed upon us, we do not need it. Even the purely voluntary socially experimental colonies of the late 1800's failed in their attempts at socialism. The problem is selfishness, which like it or not exists in the heart of all mankind. But we can still rise up to do right! Do not be swayed by any unproven leader with great promises!<br /><br />Go out an vote! Vote your conscience! Become active! Just remember this one timeless truth: There truly is no such thing as a free lunch!
) <br /><br />I have learned that when you charge something, you have to pay for it. You better have the funds before you have to pay the bill. I learned that those nice people at the bank charge interest whenever I use credit. This makes credit purchases more expensive than just saving up and paying cash. (Hear that, Congress?!)<br /><br />I have learned that many people make promises. The odds of the promise being kept tends to be inversely proportional to the size of the promise unless you have a real relationship with the one promising. Also tends to be directly proportional to the level of details in the promise. "Trust me, it will work out OK later" is NOT a promise which I consider to be worthy from nearly anyone- be it a used car dealer or a politician. ("I have a plan" from a politician without seeing that plan in detail is the same sort of thing exactly)<br /><br />I have learned that often there is more than one way to see things- usually each way has one or more points of validity. This is not to necessarily say each point is necessarily of equal value. Sometimes the best way is right in the middle between the two viewpoints. Occasionally, it can be that one point may be starkly correct and the other dismally wrong. Or sometimes one may be dismally wrong but the other only half right. All sorts of possibilities exist don't they? Sometimes absolutely no one can see which is better beforehand. Only time can test the ideas. Sometimes, though, those who have experienced more life (if they live thoughtfully) have a distinct advantage. On the other hand it amazes me that some may get bolder and stronger in their nonsense the older they get. I guess they never made any connections with reality when they were younger? Without a sound and square foundation many interesting structures have been built.... but never last for other generations to enjoy.<br /><br />Isn't it interesting how some who hold to the most critically flawed ideas can be the loudest and most reluctant to see the truth? It is as if they don't want to be bothered by the facts, they just want their way. It MUST be the right way, they chose it, after all, right? Funny how arrogance is such an incredibly effective blinder.<br /><br />I have learned to never trust anyone who thinks that by their superior intellect that they somehow have a corner on the market of how best to do things. (It is an attitude thing, has nothing to do with intelligence, when it is all boiled down) They will tell you how smart you must be if you are so wise as to follow them. They alone have the better way, and congratulations to you who recognize this! I was seduced by this to some degree during my junior high/early high school days toward the end of the Vietnam War. I had some teachers who were something of cleaned up hippies who were into questioning the establishment. And I thought I was smarter because I agreed with them. Well, turns out maybe elements of the establishment may well have needed questioning. Nixon was a paranoid rat, J Edgar Hoover was if anything worse. Things were not all of what they should have been so far as integrity was concerned. I think some consructive opportunities may have been lost by the right in those days. But what truly positive alternatives did the left offer? None serious that I'm aware of. Lots of emotional appeal is all I can remember. All the billions spent on social programs did little besides help create more who were dependent. I'm not against helping others, just against helping others without expecting them to do their part as well. Anyway, I've learned that questioning can be good if constructively offered, with the intent of bettering everyone in the big picture. Destructive if done selfishly only to weaken your opponent or without consideration of the total picture.<br /><br />The only thing worse than someone who is arrogant is an arrogant elitist. Anyone from any party or part of the political spectrum who elevates him/herself up above those they serve are dangerous. Same for religious leaders. Evil, wicked, dangerous. If a leader exalts himself then he/she looks at "we the people" as mere sheep needing a better shepherd, which they of course are uniquely qualified to be. (Shepherds who act like wolves!) Anyone with this attitude will labor to further empower them self at every opportunity "for our good" Every time they gain power we lose some of ours. The framers of our Constitution had the foresight to realize that some day we might have to rid ourselves of some group which empowers itself to the point of altering the Constitution for their own benefit. I hope we never see such a stacked deck during such a time of crisis that we'll cave in to this!<br /><br />Those who think so highly of themselves will stop at nothing to get elected. They will make grand promises. They will emphasize partial truths. They will outright lie. They will appeal to every emotional heartstring they can find. They will buy their votes. They are completely devoid of integrity when it comes down to it, because as they see it, their getting elected is THE most important thing for our good. (Yeah, right!) They must maintain a semblance of respectability at least until they gain full control. Remember Hitler, Stalin, & Mussolini? History is full of dictators who did this. When the time was right they seized the opportunity. Sadam Hussein. Moamar Ghaddaffi. Pol Pot. Chairman Mao. Literally thousands of names belong on this list. Some extreme right, some extreme left. Makes little difference to those slaughtered by them what their philosophy of politics was. It has happened thousands of times in this planet's history. Because someone was willing to say what the people wanted to hear in a time of need. Think it will never happen to us? Neither did any where it has happened! Now, I am not suggesting this will happen in the next four or eight years. Someday we may have a crisis of all crises. Who will we want leading us then? Who we elect now may set the stage for the future. Do we want to further give our liberties away in return for the government doing more for us, or will we protect our individual rights and liberties? It is my opinion, given a study of the historical trends, that the (real) extreme right is way out of the picture at this point. The moderate right has been relabeled extreme by the far left, but in the context of history this is utter hogwash. But the lie keeps getting repeated, and some have started believing it. The left, on the other hand, seems to be most aggressive and is preying actively among the young who do not have enough life reference to see the whole picture yet. The implications have me greatly concerned. The direction of the far left is socialization. The only thing the socialization of America will achieve is elevating individual arrogant elitist politicians to the place where they can do more damage than ever before. Nowhere, I repeat, nowhere, has this socialization experiment proven effective and sustainable. It has always proven too costly and has resulted in some significant measure the loss of individual liberty and freedoms. It CANNOT work, long term, in the world as we know it. If it requires force of law or force of violence to have it imposed upon us, we do not need it. Even the purely voluntary socially experimental colonies of the late 1800's failed in their attempts at socialism. The problem is selfishness, which like it or not exists in the heart of all mankind. But we can still rise up to do right! Do not be swayed by any unproven leader with great promises!<br /><br />Go out an vote! Vote your conscience! Become active! Just remember this one timeless truth: There truly is no such thing as a free lunch! 
