Category: culture
-
Who Should Adopt?
The debate over who should be allowed to adopt a child is a sensitive one. We have a system which tries to provide the best situation to children in need of good families, but there are more children than available families under the current definition. I think it is natural to be skeptical of the…
-
Human Rights
A post at the Utah Amicus this morning shared a short video based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The video and the overall message is good, but starting at 2:51 in the video the message departs from the reality of human rights and enters the Utopia of idealism. I think it is important…
-
Federalist No. 39
Federalist No. 39 seems to contain the central argument that is being addressed in the debate over ratifying the constitution: "But it was not sufficient," say the adversaries of the proposed Constitution, "for the convention to adhere to the republican form. They ought, with equal care, to have preserved the FEDERAL form, which regards the…
-
Bill of Rights Day
Today is Bill of Rights Day, the day when the Bill of Rights was ratified 217 years ago. This holiday, along with Independence Day and Constitution Day, represents the real celebration of the great country we should be striving to maintain. Interestingly, while Independence Day is the most celebrated of the three our independence did…
-
Get Your Hands Dirty
As I have been making contacts and working to get more actively involved in party politics I have started to gain a new appreciation for what government by the people really is. When I learned about our government in school I was left with the understanding that government by the people meant that we have…
-
One Thing Is Sure
I have enjoyed a number of discussions about politics and our current economic crisis over this Thanksgiving break. During those discussions my father-in-law made the observation that those who advocate for allowing this crisis to run its course without government intervention need to consider the implications of that course and ask themselves if they are…
-
Vietnam
This morning I was surprised to read the assertion (written in 1994) that many students who were too young to remember Vietnam are confused by the protests against that war. I am among those too young to remember Vietnam but I’ve never felt confused about the protests – it was a war we were fighting…
-
An Education on Social Class
I read a chapter today that was intent on destroying the myth of American egalitarianism and our "classless" social structure. I almost laugh at the idea of a society without classes based on the amount of time we spend talking about the middle class (and how to get in or out of it). I also…
-
We Can Do Better
It seems that both parties have been parroting this message all through the 2008 campaign. While they are absolutely right that we can do better, I am not talking about 2008, the Bush administration, or any other recent phenomenon. As I have been reading Lies My Teacher Told Me I am seeing a glaringly obvious…
-
Legislated Equality
I have been thinking about the “equality” that we equate with the American dream – the one that we want our government to guarantee for us. This has lead me to consider the difference between equality of opportunity and equality of outcomes. I don’t think that many people would openly argue for equality of outcomes…