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Joined:
May 1, 2010
Continuation of an older account.
About Me:
I'm agnostic. I'm a humanist. I do not fear government in the sense that it is evil, but that it is mismanaged and stupidity and extensive greed run rampant. Just as government is a broken tool, so is business. Business could stimulate growth and prosperity of all people, but instead those involved are merely profit driven, and multi-national corporations' power is ever-increasing. (Yes, I'm making generalizations, and there are those in business which use their power to effect a change for the better, but even a few kind-hearted titans cannot undo the spreading influence and affluence of the entire system.) Government and business may still be salvageable, however dark things seem. As Donne's "...never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." proclaims, all of us are connected. It's our duty as thinking humans to strive for a better world. If we as individuals resolve to champion all other people as people instead of tools, we may yet see the system follow suit.
I believe in:
1) A strong national defense, which entails decreasing our military presence in other nations followed by diplomacy first and, as a last resort, strategic strikes against those who despise us for what we've done and cannot be persuaded to drop their grudge, even if we change and their homelands are no longer in danger.
2) Regulating business to ensure that consumers and employees are not taken advantage of, but leaving the markets otherwise untouched.
3) Reducing the pay for congressmen and our national executives. They deserve the national average, plus a little extra on top as a thank you, but not triple the average.
4) Perfecting wind and geothermal energies, and finding a more efficient and less costly alternative to gas/diesel vehicles. Our dependence on foreign oil must be reduced or even eliminated.
5) Cutting spending and keeping taxes low.
6) Making reductions in welfare; promoting job training and creation.
7) Reducing penalties for minor crimes; refocusing the prison system so as to rehabilitate criminals. Two-time offenders should receive harsh punishments. The death penalty should be limited in its application as it is costly and crosses into the realm of immorality, but it should not be eliminated.
Selected Quotes:
"It is not clear that intelligence confirms a long term survival advantage. Bacteria and insects will survive quite happily, even if our so called intelligence leads us to destroy ourselves." - Professor Stephen Hawking
"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country." - President Abraham Lincoln
"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." - Thomas Paine
"The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design." - Friedrich Hayek
"The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live, and fear breeds repression. Too often sinister threats to the bill of rights, to freedom of the mind, are concealed under the patriotic cloak..." - Adlai Stevenson
"Men most fear in others the motives they feel predominant in themselves." - "The Fifth Horseman" - book (Richard Sherbaniuk)
Country:
United States
Interests:
Music, Writing, Photography
Movies:
Aliens, Casablanca, The Birdcage, Der Untergang (Downfall)
Music:
Classical Music, Alternative Rock...just about anything for that matter
Books:
The Whole Truth, The Fifth Horseman, Extreme Measures, Act of Treason
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