Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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The Right to be Charitable (or Not)
photo credit: Monjori A couple of days ago I heard Jason Lewis on the radio talking about how socialism does not create wealth (after Obama’s “where opportunity is absent government must create it” comment it’s obvious that some people just don’t understand that fact) and that the only way that socialism can seem to work…
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Change I Could Believe In
photo credit: jasoneppink Back in October I wrote about the dangers of a crisis mentality and tried to show that the abuse of crisis was not a one-party trait. I see that Will Wilkinson did a better job of showing that this month in Let the next crisis go to waste: The Aughts began in…
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Taxes: Supply vs Demand
The bulk of the discussion at the legislative town hall meeting last week was focused on fiscal issues of one kind or another. One thing that was briefly touched on was the potential return of sales tax on unprepared food. I have always been a fan of not having that tax, because of its supposedly…
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Defined Benefit Pensions: A Failed Experiment
photo credit: inspecie.co.uk After the town hall meeting I attended on Wednesday I have been thinking about pension plans generally. The state of Utah is looking at changing their pension offerings for new employees to save the state from future financial ruin. I have seen other companies go through that process already. As a nation…
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A Current Example of Being a Good Legislator
Last night I attended a town hall meeting held jointly by my state senator, Sen. Dan Liljenquist; my state representative, Rep. Becky Edwards; and the neighboring district representative in Bountiful, Rep. Sheryl Allen. I came away from that meeting with a number of impressions that I will be sharing in the coming days, but the…
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“Whole Foods” Republican
photo credit: ilovemypit Nearly three years ago I publicly wondered where I fit politically. Since then I have solidly concluded that the Republican party is the best fit for me, but now I have found a term for my general political view – I’m a Whole Foods Republican who Michael Petrilli describes as: independent-minded voters…
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Haiti?
photo credit: United Nations Development Programme These days everybody wants to help the poor people of Haiti – and that’s obviously a good thing but when I think about Haiti it makes me wonder what the proper course of action is for outside nations to help that struggling country. I’m not talking about the proper…
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Ensuring Personal Independence
Last week Charles D. left a short but challenging comment stating: I will be interested to read what steps you believe one can take to insure personal independence in the event of an economic collapse. Today I will attempt to specifically describe what we can and must do to ensure that we are not utterly…
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Strong National Defense for the American Dream
Regarding strong national defense in his Contract for the American Dream Congressman Chaffetz reminds us: The men and women serving in our armed forces are the best in the world. They can accomplish anything they are asked to do, if they are given the proper resources and clear rules of engagement. He believes that we…
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Accountability for the American Dream
As far as Accountability in his Contract for the American Dream Congressman Chaffetz lists our sitation as: Americans have lost confidence in their elected leaders and the direction of the country as a whole. We are being governed by a “nanny state” mentality that is blanketing the country with the misconception that the government can…
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