Politics continued: Welfare

It seems that more people have problems with welfare than not. Most people do not like the idea of someone taking their money and giving it to someone else. You say "Why don't you go earn your own money." The counter is that the people who receive welfare are incapable of at least momentarily of providing for themselves. That side that is pro welfare would say there is not enough.

Where do I stand. Well the conclusion that I have come to is not on either end of the spectrum, nor in the middle, it is somewhere far off on a radical island with ideas that however logical they may be would never be adopted. The thing is, that I do not see the current system working or any type of logical compromise anywhere along the spectrum.

Lets analyze the system. In a free market system life is dog eat dog. They only handout anyone is going to get is one that is freely given. So welfare is not a capitalist ideal, is it a socialist ideal? yes it is. Hopefully you have read my previous blog and understand that socialism in my view is not a negative thing but it is often misused which is negative and that a pure form of either economy is incapable of functioning.

So welfare is a form of socialism, yes. I say then if you choose socialism it has to be all the way. I point out that the problems come the government trying to keep its cake and eating it to. So if you implement a socialist idea you have to do it all. I say ok you want to take part in socialism you will, if you want money from the government then the government has the right to put you to work however they see fit. Give an individual the freedom to work on their own, attempt to allow them to provide for themselves, if they don't then with the government should have every right to force someone to work. I would suggest having some type of program where businesses reach out to employ people who would other wise be on welfare for maybe a type of tax break, but then we could potentially have road crews manned by otherwise unemployed. (just an example that comes to mind.)

So for the people that are handicapped, Social security, or injured virtually nothing would change at all. I have lived in the ghetto for many years and I have seen first hand the misuse of finances. I saw neighbors (of no specific ethnicity) Sit in front of their house with the door open and air conditioning running for hours,the tv on with no one home, (solution, energy cap.)  Kids drinking soda's and fake juice by the gallons, individually wrapped snacks and just generally food with little or no nutritional value, (Solution, tighter food stamp regulations.)

Are any human rights up in arms, well I say they have the freedom to get a job, make money and spend it how they please(except for the energy part that is just irresponsible.) If however someone else is providing for them, well, who ever foots the bill should have the larger say in how it is spent.

In many forms these ideas are in existence but I feel they are not as socialist as they need to be to function properly. Maybe if you receive welfare for your children you would be required to not have any more or be incarcerated, or possibly subject to some kind of preemptive forced birth control  maybe even sterilized. I mean really, no one has the right to be a burden on the rest of society, so if you cannot use your freedom to be responsible why should anyone be able to keep that freedom.

Man Shane you are harsh. No harsh is Free Market, every man for themselves. I am logical enough to see that if you are going to implement a system you have to do the whole package or else it will not work.

Politics continued (Economic)

I would recommend reading the first part of this continuation if you already have not.

On the subject of The economy:

I am going to have to break this up in a lot of smaller pieces, so let us start with regulations.

Most Republicans are anti-regulation and it looks like most Democrats are control freaks.
I of course have the extremely logical view of "You should regulate what needs to be regulated and regulate as much as needed to be regulated." I suppose many people feel the same way but differ as to the "what" that needs to be regulated and "how much" is adequate. Obviously we can not have companies just pouring toxic chemicals into lakes, rivers, landfills, my mouth , and at least for me anti monopolies makes sense(more on that later) everyone agrees that price fixing for anything is bad.
      So on one side you have Socialism and on the other Capitalism(better, Free Market) With a completely free market there would be no government, everything would be private, including the military and police. In pure Socialism 100% of everything is decided by the government. I firmly believe that neither extreme could function for humans. So how do we decide where on the scale we should put ourselves? I think we should look at what are we trying to produce. I would like to produce Justice and efficiency(lack of wastefulness in, time, material, labor, funds, etc.) Obviously the means to fund this is by taxes. But that leaves out so many things that they tax us for, maybe not as much as you expect. For; to accomplish Justice you need things like roads, to be efficient, I support the idea of public schools.
     Some things that do not fall under my two category are, public funding for arts, I just do not see it as necessary government subsidy, I feel that there are more than enough people to privately fund the arts. Of course there are the different departments that would need funding, there would still be the DMV, Wildlife agencies, etc. So from a macro perspective it would look very similar to how things are now, and I think that is because for most ideas the best one usually rises to the top, at least partially. The problem,  real problem with any governing body is corruption, those in power taking advantage to make their lives better. Theoretically a form of Socialism(not pure socialism) would be better than free market if there was no corruption, it would have the best people to decide what is best for everyone and they would not take the best anything for themselves. There would be one car company, one phone company, one anything company, and it would all be Government Inc. Everyone would get the best phone, computer, car, etc. for whatever purpose they needed it. Sadly history has proven that Socialism is impossible because people are evil, and most forms come with the government telling you where to live and work, what to eat, who to shoot. (I haven't thought of anything else specific that gets funded but shouldn't yet)
     With this ground work I can move on to recent happenings in the economy with recession. So in the deregulated free market we had some major finacial cornerstones basicly fail, along with a few other things that failed, and the government bailed them out. Unfortunately the bailing out of them is a form of socialism that does not work well with the free market aspect. You can not have your cake and eat it too, and you made your bed, now you get to "lie" in it. Were they too big to fail?? No I say, but they have their hands in too many politicians pockets to fail. I think it is obvious that both sides of the aisles make their decisions( by that I mean get their decisions made by) the major contributors that get them elected. The evidence is obvious by the way the system works, maybe you don't see it yet because no one pointed it out, but now you are reading this and you will start noticing.
    What does all this mean, well we are not really in a Free Market or Socialist market, but a oligarchical business government, where politicians gain power by 'entities with money' and most decisions are made based on the investors interests with the remaining details hammered out by Free Market or Socialist ideals. With this form of government only the investors win. The occupy people don't realize this, most people don't, I think if they went after the problem which is the system they would have a lot more success. It is not that companies are bad, or that people shouldn't be rich, The system however shouldn't be where they get make up all the rules to the games and we play by them, it should be that the people figure out the best rules and they play by them.

     For a side note while we are on the subject of Occupy wall street, most of them are bitter, jaded, delusional. How did anyone get money?? well they had something of worth, whether it be, Gold, Labor, an Idea, Money, Land, etc. and they traded it for it a profit, and kept trading it, or creating other forms of something that was of worth diversifying their ability to create profit and they didn't lose more than they gained. They passed down their profit, and/or the ability to make profit. Somehow some people were not born into wealth and may have had a limited ability to make a profit, but over all wealth didn't just pick sides, it was a long process of smart/lucky people gaining wealth from the dumb/unlucky. When you boil it all down no one forced Millions of Americans to give money to a few Americans making them rich in the process, they did it daily little by little, every time they went to McDonalds, Wal Mart, and bought the newest version of Windows.

So to summarize where do I stand, well there needs to be a lot of reform in how our elected officials create legislature and after that over time the proper balance of Free Market and Socialism will happen naturally.

Another Poem, My Teacher Hates Me

My teacher hates me

First day of class,           a paper is passed

I fill it out,                      with no reason to doubt

So many things to say,   Then it is taken away

Later on a shock, from what my teacher has said,

            In un-exact words she wishes all Novelists dead

My mind spins,               She continues and cheerfully grins

What have I done?,        That she hates me a ton

I took poetry class to become a better writer,

            I don’t want to pick sides or be a fighter

Poems are good, and books are nice

            I ignored and forgot it, until she said it twice

Why is it wrong to tell a story?

            Of heroes and swords, kingdoms and glory

Or haunted houses filled with spirits

            But they are only fiction, no reason to fear it

On the third time I’ve become inspired

            For school I write this, at work I could get fired

But if failure on my poem is bestowed

            Is it from discrimination or has it been earned and owed

And like wise for a grade of A or passing

            Did I deserve it, or is it because of the content, her, reacting?

Identity Politics, If you read this post it will change your life

Hi I am Shane,

It seems that over the last couple years I have been hearing a lot about identity and "who you are" based on titles. Right now with the election just around the corner the seemingly most important aspect of who people are is their political affiliation.

There are two main aspects that I am going to cover in this post, they are what I believe politically and why, and the general subject of labeling. This could potentially hurt me more than help, that is only if what people thought of me mattered; but the truth is that it shouldn't except for a small percentage of people who would be so different than me they would be borderline(or beyond) extremest or legitimately clinically insane.(a little redundant but I wanted to make sure that you knew I was explicitly referring to people who are diagnosed by doctors.(I guess I could have just said that,... changed it and erased all this, but that's no fun and this is my blog.)

Who I am, no better, what labels I want to place on myself:
An author, I want to be known as an author, I want to be able to say I am an author, have proof/evidence, and I want to eliminate the ability for people to argue against that.

A Christian, "wait," my christian friends maybe saying, "That should be first on your list," I agree, it should be, and I want it to be first on my list, however to put it first on my list would be dishonest both by my true(only current) aspirations, and actions so if having it first makes me less of a christian, then having it second makes it closer to belonging first where I want it to be.(save the fake it till you make it).

I think the third thing that I want to be right now is a good husband. I spent a bit thinking about how I wanted to word this part, and I went back and forth about it and this is what I decided. "but Shane you aren't married" I know and while I don't think I necessarily have to accomplish this goal before I get married, I think I at least have to begin striving towards the goal before I should. Quick note for accomplishing this one, I think that if I am successful at the two titles above it(especially number two) I will be well on my way to being successful in this one.

On to some titles others use: Democrat, Bulldog, Republican, Trekkie, Libertarian, Socialist, White, Black, Racist, Muslim, Catholic, Baptist, Shintoist(?), Gator, Yankee, Gay, Historian, Harvard Grad, Drunk, Chinese, Heterosexual, Philanthropist  Dentist, Reformist, Gangster, Handicapped, Jesuit, Aggie, Realist, European, King, Prince, Entertainer, Lover, Reader, Gun Slinger, Dish Washer, Realtor, Patron, Trojan, Asian, Spanish, Latino, Cuban, Mixed, Feminist, Nazi, Control Freak, Apathetic....on and on it could go(don't read in the order or titles I chose).

So what spurred all this? Well a friend posted an article "Why I am a Christian Democrat"
Nothing I read was new, I've heard it all before, from all sides for and against. But I have been thinking about labels recently, additionally I recently had a facebook argument with someone I didn't know(it was on a mutual friends wall) that actually changed my stance on a political subject, well it didn't change it technically but more on that later. Long story short I want to write something here that compels people to think a little, analyze why they really believe the way they do and ultimately going from being so stubborn/hardheaded/foolish to being a little more sincere and a lot less prideful(thinking that their way is the only way and they must be right)

What I believe in politically:
I was(Still am just don't feel like changing it) a registered Republican(I want to vote in primaries) My mom is a Registered Republican My Grandparents all are, I don't know if my dad is registered or not but I think that if he were it would be Republican he voted for Bush Sr. in 88, or 92, and G. W. in 00 or 04 (pay close attention to the ors,)
However I have thoroughly distanced myself from calling myself a Republican, They just don't stand for what I believe in(enough) I feel like I relate closest with the CDU/SDU of Germany.

On the subject of (drum roll please) Health care...

This is a big one, I strongly believe that the government has no right to force me to have healthcare in any form or that anyone should pay for mine or that I should pay for anyone else's. Why?, individual rights that the government"s place is not to interfere in my personal life as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else(very libertarian ideal) the democrat argues(but it does hurt society and if you can pay for it now you create a bigger burden, I understand that there are a lot of people who are a burden on society, they are already on welfare, and if the current more liberal system for hospitals and health providers were not in place healthcare would be affordable for me to where I would not be a burden.) Also I believe that the bigger the government the worse it is (very republican ideal) The democrat argues that it is necessary to enforce and mandate/regulate the healthcare, I respond that the government is corrupt, inefficient and does not have the right to (en)force
or mandate that I have healthcare.

The environment:

I feel that the liberal point of view is the most uniformed and follows the most blindly, so you would probably be surprised that I line up almost completely on the liberal side of this subject.

I believe in efficiency, that translate into fuel efficiency, I believe we need to stem our dependency on fossil fuels, I hate wastefulness which means I will out recycle even the greenest of people, I love the beauty of nature, I hate extinction, and pollution.

Did you know that, The eruption(explosion) of Mt. St. Helens produced more pollution of any type, with the exception of radiation, but including greenhouse, than the combined entire existence of the human race. but that doesn't give us the right to just keep making it worse. There are Islands(that were inhabited) on Viking maps that are now completely covered by ice, but at the same time, lands, cities, speculated civilizations, that are covered by oceans from rising sea levels, so it is a natural cycle that the Earth goes through, but I also see the evidence that humans are affecting climate change in a negative way(I feel that "green" people exaggerate it but I still want to prevent it.) We need to do the best job at taking care of the planet that we can, why I am against drilling in Alaska, and pro the mandate that we have to use a specific type of brown coal for electricity, when most of ours are in protected areas (very complicated subject and a decision you probably haven't heard of) because that forces us to use other countries supplies of it, meaning they run out and America still has some. Republicans complain about the debt our children are going to inherit, what about the planet they are going to inherit?

Next subject chosen by way of lottery ball:
Voter ID's

This is the subject that a friend posted a facebook status about and I argued with someone I didn't know, over the course of twenty-four hours. I was hard-lined you must show a valid ID, because of voter fraud, illegals and people who don't have the right voting. My reasoning is that you have to provide ID and jump through much more complicated hoops to purchase a gun so why not voting which affects everyone. They argued that the amount of voter fraud is minimal(they provided websites(liberal ones so of course they skew the information in their favor) I did my own research and ultimately found nothing one way or the other I found compelling) and that it is too difficult for elderly and that in some places there people who try and make it difficult for people to register and then vote. (This is where I say something that is going to really make people mad, but it is the truth) I personally do not feel that providing an ID is difficult, I know of people with Down-syndrome with ID's and there are so many "initiatives" to get people registered to vote it is nearly as easy to get people ID's. I hate I hate I hate, the idea that people who don't have the right to vote do and honestly it does not bother me that people who are too lazy to get, or even bring, an ID would not be allowed to vote. The evidence that people are so disenfranchised and incapable of getting an ID just is not there and the truth is that it mainly affects people who are ideologically opposite of me making the opposing argument carry less weight.(you hate me because I'm honest but if the truth is that Democrats want to keep tabs on everyone and regulate everything so if it were Republicans having difficulties with ID's you better believe the Democrats would have laws in place requiring two forms of ID's and a birth certificate.)
So this is the one that (changed) my stance, and how did it (change?) Before I would have physically fought someone on the subject, but after hearing their side, thinking about it, doing research, thinking about it some more, I decided that it just isn't worth it, as much as I hate the idea of evil people rigging elections(election fraud happens a lot but voter fraud is not the same and both sides have voter fraud(documented, it is real)) with voter fraud, the opposing position was good enough that I do not want to infringe on a voter's rights. Am I still pro-ID? YES. Am I zealous? NO. So would I support requiring ID? Yes. would it bother me if it failed? No!(that is as long as the current trends stay the same, based on the information that I found.)


I have soooo much more to write, but I think I have to split into two posts, please comment, I may reply and actually if you would like you can choose the order/subjects of the next political subjects. Or you may want clarification or more details.

To be continued

A poem I wrote for class, You Can Do It

You can do it.

You can do it

You can do it

You can do it               You can do it

You can do it   You can do it

You can do it   You can do it   You can do it

You can do it, You can do it, You can do it

You can do it, You can do it, You can do it

Youcandoit Youcandoit Youcandoit Youcandoit Youcandoit Youcandoit

I turn to face the immortal beast

Its scream sends a vibration, shaking the Earth beneath my feet

Its piercing eyes black as night

An aura of darkness absorbing light

Rows of teeth countless as the stars

Its armored skin displaying trophies of scars

Its power is hate, eternal Ferocious

I question my fate, Take a bold step cautious

For eternity its rule has terrorized the land

With sweaty palms I grip my sword with both hands

The time has come the hour is here

The gap is closed as we both draw near

Each Step taken swifter than the last

Fate has chosen, her die is cast

You can do it

You can do it

Developing my platform/ This has some real content

I am doing this blog for one reason; to make a name and expand my platform, in order to do that I have to write something here that people like and enjoy and give them reasons to come back so I suppose the best way to do that is write. I will save the stuff that is better for twitter for, well, twitter and things like chapter previews and bonuses I will post to my facebook author page. So with no more delay lets talk about the book I am writing now.

The tentative title is: Swords and Wisdom, I am leaning towards an overall title with a subtitle since I think I could write more books for the same world. I know that seems presumptuous but hey I need to  be overzealous and confident. I mean if I suck so much at writing then my book will fail and none of this will eventually matter, but if my writing is not half bad then even ok authors makes some money. And I do expect to get an editor.

What is going on with my book? Well, the story is this; In a completely separate existence from Earth there is a world very similar to our planet. The planet is inhabited first by Elves, then Dwarves and then a different type of Elves is created, the are called the Grey Elves. Finally the Humans are created and they live on this planet for thousands of years interacting in what I believe most people would guess as normal and then Vampires hit the scene and create quite the problem.   There were plenty of problems before and some of them were solved, but for the sake of my book right now, Vampires are the relevant problem. Then a funny thing happens, Nearly all the Humans are taken off the planet, and there is wide speculation as to why and how, but the important thing is that the Humans that were left all got eaten or turned into Vampires.   Oooh, would you like to know more well I have to save something for another blog post, I have to bring you back somehow. So here is current situation, There are no more humans, their only remnants are ruins and vampires, it has been fairly peaceful for the last few centuries, nothing too major. There is a weak peace treaty between the vampires and the other races, basically they don't do anything stupid and the other races wont try to exterminate them. There is a large section of land between the vampires and the Elves that is more or less a no man's land but a meteorite hits there and often meteorites can be very powerful magically. So the Elves secretly send in a pair of Elves to find and retrieve the meteorite and.........

I think that is enough for today as far as the story goes, I mean if you want to read more you might as well just read the book. But some of the things I want accomplish with my book(other than make money, get famous and genuinely entertain the masses), Is have some macro political suggestions, not Democrat, Republican, and a lot of it wont even be relative to modern times but I want my book to cause a little bit of thinking, I want it to be smart but also be accessible to people who are not necessarily smart.

There you go, I am currently 123,000+ into it and I really really really want to finish this month, you can yell at me to help. I sincerely think that I can finish it this month too and get a bit of editing done. Then I get to consider just editing before the next step or start querying for agents.

Thank you for your time

Shane 

Feel free to comment

Ha ha

So it seems having the ability to write blogs on my phone doesn't help. This is disappointing. My life is to disorganized, I need to hammer out large chunks of time to be productive and then sick to them.

I have an app now

I always think to myself I need to blog, and a couple days turn into months without posting anything. Hopefully this app will change that.

I need people to be excited about what I do! That means you need to know what I plan on doing.

First I decided to add Chapter 0, as of right now it is really just a prologue.
Also I am over 100,000 words. That is cause for celebration. But everything is taking longer than I expected, as far as the writing is concerned it is because I have not been devoting enough time to it. For the editing part I found that it is harder to do than planned.

A little update. Writing is not so easy and it is harder when what you thought is good enough is not. I find my book fun but is it captivating, that is not something I can answer but requires the opinion of others. It is going to take longer to get my book edited than I thought but I will accomplish it :)