Happy Memorial Day everyone! I’m off to have lunch now with my grandmother, who is still holding strong at 95. Hope everyone has a fun end to their three-day weekend. And maybe watched a military flick or two on TV.
The Rise of “Ron Paul Republicans”
19 05 2009This fledgling new group has been growing by-and-large through internet mobilization and moneybombs over the past couple of years since early 2007 when Texas Congressman Ron Paul – who has many libertarianesque viewpoints and had previous been touted as a lone, mocking dissenter – decided to run for President. An unprecedented and exponential grassroots movement dedicated to limited government has taken the nation by storm and, despite being ignored by the liberal (and conservative) media, has refused to go away. Once the movement grew so large, and in-your-face active, the establishment has started listening to their faction more, especially with the onset of the new financial crisis, which Ron Paul himself predicted back in 2003. And the movement has grown in the aftermath of the 2008 election through the “Tea Parties” and with the help of many they once considered enemies.
So, what exactly is a Ron Paul Republican. It’s a very broad concept – you don’t have to be exactly like Ron Paul every step of the way. You don’t even have to be a Republican! One among their number was Bob Conley, a Democrat who ran for Senate against Lindsey Graham in South Carolina last Fall. In fact, Ron Paul Republicans are a very diverse coalition who are dissatisfied with both the Bush Administration and the Obama Administration. Many of them care about different specific issues. This was epitomized by the Tea Party where many Republicans, Democrats, Independents and Libertarians gathered to protest high taxation and high spending. As Grover Norquist said, the two are inevitably intertwined and now in the 21st century with the onset of the information era, more and more people are realizing this. My friend Corie Whalen gave a pretty decent description of the crowd out there when she was invited to speak on Fox News, seen below: Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Adam Kokesh, Connecticut, Conservatarian, Conservative, Corie Whalen, Kentucky, Libertarian, New Mexico, Peter Schiff, Politics, Rand Paul, Republican, Republitarian, Ron Paul, Taxes, Tea Party
Categories : Common Sense, Economics, News, Obama Administration, Politicians, Taxes and Spending
Flickr
18 05 2009This is a test post from 
, a fancy photo sharing thing.
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Categories : Uncategorized
New Hampshire Governor Champions Power to Discriminate
17 05 2009I am proud to say that somebody out there is showing reason and Common Sense on the ongoing issue of gay marriages and families, which many are passionate about, but few truly understand the dimensions of. New Hampshire’s Governor John Lynch, a Democrat, says that he is prepared to sign into law a bill that will legalize gay marriage within his state, BUT he gave a condition – that religious liberty be protected in the process. This is an exciting development that I hope that other governors will follow should their states choose to allow gay marriage in the future. Here in Massachusetts there were issues as Catholic Charities was forced to shut down their adoption services because of their conviction against providing adoptions for gay parents. Lynch is following in New Hampshire’s traditional libertarian streak in protecting religion from government, not shielding society from religion. I am opposed to using the term “marriage” in gay and lesbian partnerships, but am a firm believer that any benefit attached to such a bond should be applied across the board, whether through marriage or not. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Adoption, Catholic Charities, Gay Marriage, New Hampshire, News, Politics, Religion
Categories : News, Religion, States
I Need A Break
13 05 2009I love blogging, but sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. Don’t worry, I’ll post again in a few days or so.
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Categories : Uncategorized
Exoplanet Discovery in the Works
12 05 2009I have had a pet interest in astronomy for pretty much my whole life time. For those of you who don’t know, an exoplanet (or extrasolar planet) is a name given to any planet which orbits a star other than our own Sun of Sol. With modern technology we have only recently began discovering the existence of exoplanets during the past two decades. An exoplanet has recently been discovered orbiting a star approximately 20 light years from our own and it is being debated whether or not this new planet is within the habitable zone that might allow extraterrestrial life.
The planet has been called Gliese 581e and hails from the constellation Libra. It is less than double the mass of Earth and is the smallest exoplanet discovered to date. If there is indeed water on the planet, there are a handful of possible explanations: the planet could be an icy one which migrated closer to its star or it could harbor liquid oceans and a potential for organic life. It is certainly a very exciting discovery and I will be anxious to hear more details regarding it in the near future. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Astronomy, Gliese 581e, Science
Categories : Astronomy
Table Saws, Bird Houses and Feed Stores
11 05 2009A nation’s economy involves a large variety of goods that are being demanded and supplied by various consumers and sellers. The quantity of which these goods are sold depends largely on factors such as income, tastes, cost of production and the relation between different goods, which are ever-so complex. An example is the relationship between table saws, bird houses and feed stores. A table saw represents a capital good on the production possibilities model. A feed store represents a consumer good. These are both involved in the cost of production of a bird house (along with wood, something to hold it up and measuring tape.) The three are therefore complementary goods. If the price of one of the components in production rises, the cost of a bird house rises and the demand for all will decline. The builder’s opportunity cost for buying the goods and building the house is other forms of recreation such as a bicycle or a movie. That opportunity cost would seem more attractive if the price of the bird house is higher. There are multiple economies that intertwine in this example. One is the market economy of which the builder of the bird house obtains his goods from. The other is the command economy that depends upon how much the builder’s birds gain utility (and bird lovers hence gain utility as well) where the builder makes the decision and represents the government while birds are consumers. The bird house would then be a public service that allows for their feed to be contained and easily obtained, rather than scattered. The birds would have to sacrifice some of their feed if money was spent on the table saw instead. However they would benefit later when the bird house delivers feed more efficiently and they can spend the time they previously spent collecting scattered feed all over the place on recreational flying, finding a mate or building their nest.
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Tags: Economics
Categories : Economics
Troubles With Foreign Aid
10 05 2009One of the factors that can influence whether a nation-state undergoes significant development is investment. However, in order for investment to stimulate an economy, it must go into new means of production that are required given the situation. If the economy already has a sufficient amount of that component, than the overall effect would be subject to diminishing returns. Since the end of World War II there has been a tendency for rich countries to supply aid to poor countries to be used in investment. The logic behind it goes back to the Domar model of growth, despite not being intended to be a model for growth by its creator.
Billions of dollars have been spent on the aid-for-investment strategy in the past half century, but no major success has been yielded. A major problem is that the money spent on aid is spent on consumption, rather than investment. Investment can help the economy in the long-term while consumption generally provides only short-term utility. When the government of the country receiving aid gets the money, there is much temptation to spend it on consumption. There are a lot of negative consequences of poverty and some immediate relief is obviously desirable. Consumption increases as the overall budget of the nation (after foreign aid) increases. Government-to-government aid certainly has its flaws. Savings and investment, which can help the economy in the long run, suffer in times of high consumption. Sacrificing for growth in the future can only sound appealing so much. Even when investment is abundant, there is still the issue of how the investment is dispersed. Is it spent on resources that are in demand for the market to succeed? Will it help generate output? Are property rights protected enough to secure the growth? Aid to investment strategy is in need of reform if the money spent to help poor countries is to finally be spent effectively.
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Tags: Economics, Foreign Aid, Politics, World Affairs
Categories : Economics, Personal Responsibility, Theory
Whatever Happened to Arrested Development?
9 05 2009Arrested Development was a TV sitcom which ran for three seasons in the mid-2000s. It was different from other shows in that it had a narrator (Ron Howard) and was shot using reality-style video cameras. This made Arrested Development essentially unique as a show and many viewers bought into it. The show had its own discourse community formed by its typical audience. A discourse community is a group of individuals with shared interests and shared knowledge. In this case, the discourse community’s similar interest is Arrested Development and it’s shared knowledge is what happens in the show Arrested Development. I would consider the typical fan of arrested development to be a young adult with a substantial knowledge of pop culture and, more and more as the show went on, a substantial knowledge of Arrested Development itself. This is a description of the average viewer, not all viewers. But therefore, this is representative of the discourse community as a whole.
I myself was a fan of Arrested Development while it was on the air. My parents became fans of Arrested Development before I did and persuaded me to watch an episode with them. I enjoyed watching the show and soon became hooked. Soon my family had Arrested Development nights when an episode was on. I was attracted to the humor of the jokes, references and soon got to know the plots and the characters as well. But the format of the show was also a decisive factor in winning me over. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Arrested Development, Common Sense, Television
Categories : Culture, Fads
My 100th Post
8 05 2009I can’t believe that I have already done 100 posts on Pure Common Sense! Time sure does fly by very fast. Today is Friday, May 8th, 2009. I started this blog with my first post on November 8th, making it exactly six months old. In that time, there have been periods where I would post just about every day and periods where I hardly post at all. I think I have overall done a substantial job in keeping it up-and-running though. Don’t forget, this blog has a mission – to speak the word of Common Sense and analyze through a Common Sense perspective wherever it may be necessary or lacking. I especially mean situations where Common Sense has taken a backseat to hindering forms of Conventional Wisdom, the nastier relative of Common Sense.
Common Sense and Conventional Wisdom do not always fight with one another. For instance, take the premise : drunk driving is bad. Certainly so – it can even be lethal! Common Sense says yes to this and Conventional Wisdom agrees. However, Common Sense and Conventional Wisdom are in no way the same concept. Each one is made of two words, one of which is descriptive and the other of which is ironic. With regard to Common Sense, “Sense” is descriptive since Common Sense is very sensible. “Common,” on the other hand, is ironic, since Common Sense is not always common – which is a deep shame, since Common Sense makes the world better. With regard to Conventional Wisdom, the word “Conventional” is descriptive since it represents the conventional norm and the way of thinking which is predominant. “Wisdom,” though is ironic since to be truly wise one cannot be a slave to Conventional Wisdom! Look at the short story The Emperor’s New Clothes. The vast majority of the crowd blindly followed Conventional Wisdom and marveled at the emperor’s outfit until one little lad revealed through Common Sense that he was, in fact, naked!
The never-ending battle between Common Sense and Conventional Wisdom can also be viewed as mirroring the conflict between “ought” and “is.” Looking around at how many people lack Common Sense might expect you to believe I have a very pessimistic worldview. This is not necessarily the case – I would frown harshly upon such disillusionment. While Common Sense might not be so common at first glance, the phenomenon of Common Sense is such that it is easy for anyone to go through and understand, meaning that even those that lack Common Sense in their present form may yet hold the potential to be a Common Sense Warrior! I sure hope that people reading this blog find it enlightening and take something away from it. After 100 posts, I have found that the process has also been a great learning experience for me and I feel my own Common Sense growing day-by-day. I am impressed with the productivity of my first 100 posts and hopefully my next 100 will be even better! Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Common Sense, Conventional Wisdom
Categories : Common Sense
