On "Spending Cuts"

Right now the congressional "super committee" is negotiating over a series of (what Washington calls) "spending cuts".  What they won't tell you is that these are not cuts at all - they are reductions in the growth of government.

The truth is that even the "deepest" cuts being negotiated would cut less (far less as a matter of fact) than a simple spending freeze!!!

They are negotiating an estimated $1.2 trillion in spending reductions over the next ten years - a period in which government spending will automatically grow by somewhere around $6 trillion!!!  So a $1.2 trillion "cut" is actually a $4.8 trillion increase in spending!  By this logic, a spending freeze would be a 6 trillion dollar cut!!!

No wonder nothing gets done in Washington!

A Reasonable Faith

It is reasonable, (as shown extensively by Thomas Aquinas and others), to believe in God.

It is reasonable to believe that God is absolute goodness.

It is reasonable therefore to conclude that all other beings are necessarily less good than God.

It is reasonable to believe that a God who is absolutely good would have to be absolutely just.

It is reasonable to believe that an absolutely just God would have to punish every instance of evil (i.e. lack of goodness.)

It is reasonable to believe that an absolute good and an absolute just God would also be an absolutely forgiving God.

It is reasonable to believe therefore that God would offer a solution that would satisfy both His justice and His forgiveness.

It is reasonable to believe in Jesus.

What to do about Social Security

So everyone wants to "save" Social Security, but I think I have a better idea.

Here's my proposal:

Part 1.  Anyone who is currently on Social Security, and is over 65 years of age or legitimately disabled (no drug addict/alcoholic 'disabilities' allowed), stays on Social Security until they die.

Part 2.  Everyone else gets their money back!

So part 2 is the kicker.  Whatever you have paid into Social Security over the years is totaled up by the US government which then sends you a one-time check for that amount.  Take the money and invest for your retirement, or go blow it - it doesn't matter - it's your money! 

As for part 1: Social Security payments for those currently on it will come out of the general fund until everyone currently on it is dead.  Then that's it.  It's over.

So what happens when the people not currently on Social Security retire?  Well, if  they've planned ahead and invested wisely, they'll live as comfortably as they can from that income.  And if they haven't done all that?  Well then they don't retire, or they move in with their kids and their kids support them.  That's how it used to be in America before we became addicted to government. 

Isn't it time to return to that all-American concept called 'personal responsibility'?

Obama's War On Jobs

Barack Obama doesn't get it.  He really doesn't.  His "pass this bill now" speech shows a profound ignorance of the government's role in job creation.  He thinks the way to create jobs is to a) spend more money on government jobs and contracts, b) pay people not to work, and c) cut some taxes.  Of these, only "c" is even close.

So the President wants to spend (correction: borrow) $400+ billion in money we don't have (and can never pay back) - and for what?  Does he honestly expect the results to be different from his $1 trillion stimulus that already produced a net job loss?  Come on!  (You know what they say about the definition of "insanity"!)  You don't create jobs by taking money from the producers, filtering it through the bureaucratic nightmare that is the Federal Government, and then handing out the pittance that remains to a few favored unions and contractors.  That's crony capitalism, or, as it's more commonly known: "theft".

What the President fails to understand is that the government's role in creating jobs is precisely this: GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!

Here's an example:  If the government were to simply allow energy companies to drill for all the oil and natural gas, and mine for all the coal and oil shale that sits under the ground on American property, estimates are that this industry alone would add 1.8 million jobs to the economy virtually overnight!!  And how much would it cost the taxpayer?  $0.00!!!!!!!  Yep, that's right - zero dollars to add 1.8 million jobs with just the stroke of the pen.  Plus, the added workers would start paying taxes - thus adding to - not subtracting from - the federal coffers.  It's a win-win. 

And that's just one industry.  There are literally thousands of industries in this country that cannot expand, that cannot add jobs, that cannot build new plants because they are buried under a mountain of government regulations!  And the trend under Obama is for more regulation not less.  He thinks these businesses are evil because they produce that evil substance "carbon" (the same substance you and I produce by breathing!)  So his EPA, and myriad other federal agencies, are doing everything in their power to keep these "evil businesses" from doing anything!!!  If the government would just GET OUT OF THE WAY, these industries could thrive as well.

It's Economics 101.  Unfortunately it's something the President doesn't understand.  It's time to vote him out of there and to vote someone in who understands the role of government.  It's time for a "Change we can believe in"!

On Race and Racism

I'm white so I'm probably not allowed to say this but does anyone else see the racism of the "black leaders" (Sharpton, Jackson, et.al.) in this country?

Now I'm not talking about reverse racism or how they view whites, I'm talking about how they view blacks!  For centuries people of various skin colors have been fighting stereotypes and insisting that skin color does not determine how one thinks or acts.  This was at the heart of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's message personified in his "I have a dream" speech.  His dream was that his "children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

The central tenet of racism is that skin color determines character, that skin color determines intelligence, that skin color determines how a person will act.  The Ku Klux Klan was famous for pronouncements lumping all blacks into a single category based solely on skin color.  That is racism.

And that is exactly what today's so called "leaders of the black community" are doing.  They are famous for speaking about blacks as if their skin color made them all fall in lock step with whatever political agenda they're selling!  That's racism... on a par, and equal to, the racism of the KKK... and it's just not true.  Black people do not all think alike just as white people don't all think alike, just as brown people, yellow people and red people don't all think alike.  Every person on this planet is an individual and makes their own choices.  Nobody makes choices because their skin color forces them to do so!!!

To insist otherwise is nothing more than racism.

Ron Paul is the Michael Savage of Politics

Ron Paul came within a couple percentage points of winning the Iowa straw poll last Saturday but you wouldn't know that by watching the news coverage - even on Fox News.  This is because Ron Paul, like Michael Savage, is persona non grata to the American media.

So why have these two conservatives - each with their own legion of devoted followers - been blacklisted by the American media and especially by the "conservative" Fox News Network?  They're dangerous that's why! 

Both Ron Paul and Michael Savage are considered dangerous by the establishment "conservatives" because neither one of them fits neatly into the establishment's war-mongering, corporatist, globalist, theocratic box: Savage, because he savages so-called conservatives for their double-speak and fair-weather conservatism; and Paul because he stands for limited government in all areas - including foreign policy, social issues and defense.  But what really scares them is that these two men can't be bought - no matter the price!!

That scares the establisment types to death!!  It's a mindset they just can't understand.

I am proud to support both of these true-to-their-roots conservatives.  The best medicine for a sickly America right now is a healthy dose of Savage's "borders, language and culture" and Paul's "liberty and constitutionally limited government".

Amen.

Nature: God’s Artifact

The Fifth Way teaches us that the telos in nature does not come from matter but from mind.  Thus, the matter that makes up a human being does not have, on its own – of itself – the goal of sustaining a human body.  That telos, that goal is the product of the divine mind.  That is the lesson of the Fifth Way.  So, in this way, nature is no different from the artificer’s watch whose pieces do not, of themselves, have a propensity for timekeeping.  Just as the watch’s form or final cause is imposed upon it by a designer’s intellect, so too the form and final cause of nature’s wonders are imposed on them by the Designer’s intellect.

Now the argument (made by many Thomists - including Edward Feser) against this is that – although they ultimately come from God – these forms, natures, or essences are inherent in natural things and thus are not cobbled together artifacts like the watch.  But is that really the case?  Let me ask two questions:  Is the form of the watch a product of its parts?  Is the form of a worm the product of its parts?   I think we can safely answer “no” to both questions.  So the form of something – be it human artifact or natural – does not depend on its constituent parts but rather on an idea, a concept of mind. 

But, it is argued, the constituent parts of a worm do have it in their natures to sustain the overall well-being of the worm while the watches parts do not.  Yes and No.  Although the constituent parts of a worm have it in their nature to sustain the worm, they do not do this on their own.  Their natures are imposed on them by the form of the worm – which is ultimately the product of the divine mind as well.  The arrow (to use Aquinas’ example) does not move toward the target unless shot there by an agent.  Why does matter obey form?  It does so because it is “shot there”.  In this way, the constituent parts of the worm are no different than the constituent parts of the watch – both are “shot there” by an action of mind.

Now the term “artifact” carries with it the connotation “artificial” and man’s artifacts are artificial in that they are natural objects with unnatural forms imposed upon them.  So what of God’s artifacts?  What would be “artificial” to God?  Well, God is immaterial and exists supernaturally (that is, outside of nature) so for God, nature itself – the material world – is, in a sense, “artificial” and the natural world can, in this light, be called God’s artifact. 

Ultimately this discussion boils down to the differing capabilities of the supernatural mind vs. the natural mind.  A natural mind can only take that which is natural and develop it into some other form.  A supernatural mind can form nature itself however it sees fit.  A natural mind is limited – it can only work within nature.  To be sure, a natural mind can impose new forms on natural objects – as it does on the natural elements it shapes into a watch.  What it cannot do is impose new natures on objects – because the natural mind itself exists within the confines of nature.  The supernatural mind is unlimited – it can impose forms on nature from outside nature.  The supernatural mind can instill new natures into substances.  It is not limited by nature – in fact it sets the limits of nature.  Still, what’s behind all of it are ideas, concepts, planning, goals – mind. 

Nature is God’s idea (and life is just God showing off a bit!)