I have begun to read The Federalist otherwise known as The Federalist Papers. For those who've never heard of it, it is a collection of papers written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay in support of the then new Constitution. It explains the reasoning behind pretty much every part of the constitution.
The edition I have is a "Signet Classic" published by New American Library, a division of penguin group. I don't know if it's the best version, but since I'm basically without income for the time being, It had to be something cheap.
As I read, I will be posting a summary and my initial thoughts about each of the letters. Hopefully, I will get someone to read it, and maybe learn about our country.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Joplin, Missouri vs New Orleans, Louisanna
Joplin, Missouri was hit by a severe storm a short time ago. The storm spawned several tornadoes, including at least 1 EF5, which hit Joplin. At least 200 people unaccounted for, with at least 125 confirmed dead, and at least 900 injured. The entire town is basically gone. Yet despite all of this, people are already rebuilding. Everyone is pitching in to help, and some have already started rebuilding. It is an inspiring view of what America should be.
Let's contrast this with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans a few years ago. Everything was Bush's fault. FEMA somehow caused all of the problems, and the government didn''t just come in and fix things. People basically sat around waiting for mommy government to come and kiss it all better or something, and when that couldn't happen, the result was anger and helplessness, not self sufficiency, or personal responsibility.
Let's view some basic differences:
First a nicely illustrative picture of the attitudes in New Orleans.
Now some comments from Joplin:
Now one could argue that it is simply biased reporting, but I've heard nothing about how the government failed Joplin, only New Orleans. I've also heard nothing about FEMA coming in to take care of things in Joplin. What I hear about are people coming together to get things done.
Now a lot would call this racist, but it isn't. It has nothing to do with race, and everything to do with ideology. Everywhere a socialistic/progressive viewpoint prevails, helplessness prevails, not only are people unwilling to help each other, they are unwilling to help themselves. They sit and wait for someone else to take care of it for them.
In areas where people have a sense of individuality, not only do they help themselves, they help each other. It is a truism, that if you can't help yourself, you can't help others. As we can see, in areas where people are willing to own their misfortune, things are getting better. In areas where progressivism reigns everyone sits around waiting for someone else to take action. The worst part is that in these areas, if someone does stand up to try to help, no one else stands up with him. He is crucified in the court of public opinion for not helping more.
Let's contrast this with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans a few years ago. Everything was Bush's fault. FEMA somehow caused all of the problems, and the government didn''t just come in and fix things. People basically sat around waiting for mommy government to come and kiss it all better or something, and when that couldn't happen, the result was anger and helplessness, not self sufficiency, or personal responsibility.
Let's view some basic differences:
First a nicely illustrative picture of the attitudes in New Orleans.
Now some comments from Joplin:
Now one could argue that it is simply biased reporting, but I've heard nothing about how the government failed Joplin, only New Orleans. I've also heard nothing about FEMA coming in to take care of things in Joplin. What I hear about are people coming together to get things done.
Now a lot would call this racist, but it isn't. It has nothing to do with race, and everything to do with ideology. Everywhere a socialistic/progressive viewpoint prevails, helplessness prevails, not only are people unwilling to help each other, they are unwilling to help themselves. They sit and wait for someone else to take care of it for them.
In areas where people have a sense of individuality, not only do they help themselves, they help each other. It is a truism, that if you can't help yourself, you can't help others. As we can see, in areas where people are willing to own their misfortune, things are getting better. In areas where progressivism reigns everyone sits around waiting for someone else to take action. The worst part is that in these areas, if someone does stand up to try to help, no one else stands up with him. He is crucified in the court of public opinion for not helping more.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Starting Back in College
Well, I've started back in college again. I don't know exactly how I'm going to pay for it all, but I'm in college, I just signed the papers.
I won't go back to take classes from my former employer. I don't care if I'm 90% of the way to a degree there, and could do it in a couple of semesters. I won't go back, because my experience there as an employee was simply too horrid, and a number of people there made it clear that if I did try to come back, they would be out to destroy me.
Now to continue my education, I have to pay around $75.000 to an online college, with a less than stellar reputation (strangely, only very slightly worse than the state school I came from). Few if any of my credits transfer, and I have to take three years of year round online classes to get a degree.
In my opinion it's totally worth it. The cost, the time, and the effort are all worth it. I need a degree, and I hate the university that I gave nearly 20 years of my life to. I've vowed that they will never receive another dollar from me. They've taken too much from me and those I love already. I owe them nothing.
As for my major, I'm majoring in computer science. They offer two (better than my former university), one with an emphasis in programming, another with one in networking. For the time being, I'm going for programming. I'll post about the overall quality of the classes after I actually experience a class.
I'm actually a bit excited. If I can complete my degree, I can get a better job, and more importantly, I can get the skills I need, as my wife and I are trying to go into business for ourselves, as that is the only realistic way to get a job when there simply are no jobs. When measured using equivalent criteria, unemployment is almost double that of the great depression.
We're also talking about my wife going to school and getting her photography degree, and me getting an MBA. This would give us the skills we need to run our business as we get it started, as it is our preference to be self sufficient, rather than reliant on the whims of others.
I won't go back to take classes from my former employer. I don't care if I'm 90% of the way to a degree there, and could do it in a couple of semesters. I won't go back, because my experience there as an employee was simply too horrid, and a number of people there made it clear that if I did try to come back, they would be out to destroy me.
Now to continue my education, I have to pay around $75.000 to an online college, with a less than stellar reputation (strangely, only very slightly worse than the state school I came from). Few if any of my credits transfer, and I have to take three years of year round online classes to get a degree.
In my opinion it's totally worth it. The cost, the time, and the effort are all worth it. I need a degree, and I hate the university that I gave nearly 20 years of my life to. I've vowed that they will never receive another dollar from me. They've taken too much from me and those I love already. I owe them nothing.
As for my major, I'm majoring in computer science. They offer two (better than my former university), one with an emphasis in programming, another with one in networking. For the time being, I'm going for programming. I'll post about the overall quality of the classes after I actually experience a class.
I'm actually a bit excited. If I can complete my degree, I can get a better job, and more importantly, I can get the skills I need, as my wife and I are trying to go into business for ourselves, as that is the only realistic way to get a job when there simply are no jobs. When measured using equivalent criteria, unemployment is almost double that of the great depression.
We're also talking about my wife going to school and getting her photography degree, and me getting an MBA. This would give us the skills we need to run our business as we get it started, as it is our preference to be self sufficient, rather than reliant on the whims of others.
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