Sunday, November 11, 2007
Ladies and gentlemen... Dr. Ron Paul!!!
| I don't know it is exactly that I learn the way I do, but sometimes what I learn makes sense because of the associated topics involved. Philosophy with Literature (antiquity, specifically) and History (Western Civ I) led to my understanding of things that all sort of tied together. Currently, I'm studying a lot of Economics with Algebra and World Religions. And it seems that that formula has stirred an interest in me for politics! I suppose a correlation could be inferred, but that would be absurd. Maybe it's the current social dynamic of there being a bunch of candidates running for our nation's top office. Maybe I'm just a hater who is looking to rip these rhetoric-spinning, lies-telling, "haves" teling what we "have-nots" what is best for us! Or maybe somewhere in the ingredients of microeconomics, public policy, the notion of gurus and the explanation of the universe combined with just a dash of algebra (that I seemed to have forgotten since my last math class in 1997), lies the recipe for politics! So, without bashing certain former first ladies who might've turned a lot of income into wealth over the years at the expense of taxpayers, or former mayors who is TIME-PROVEN to say one thing "as he really thinks and feels" just to act in an other manner, I've decided to take off my 'hater' hat and to don one that seems to align with some of my feelings as a fledgling Economist! I'll admit it, I saw the website on November 5th and made the association to "V for Vendetta" a movie that almost inspired me to carry a crate of barrels of gunpowder under our house of Parliamentary (do we even have one of those here?) and I my curiosity was piqued about this dude, Ron Paul. So, I've started to follow him a bit. His website, specifically the link towards his words pertaining to taxes, has my mind reeling. http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/debt-and-taxes/ Of course you can simply go read it and buy into the sweet rhetoric he, a politician, weaves, but let's be honest, who really clicks on links within blogs?! "Whether a tax cut reduces a single mother’s payroll taxes by $40 a month or allows a business owner to save thousands in capital gains taxes and hire more employees, that tax cut is a good thing. Lower taxes allow more spending, saving, and investing which helps the economy — that means all of us." |
These sentiments affect me greatly! For one, we happen to be covering the topic of taxes in class, and secondly, the problem in my life about not having enough money is that I don't have enough money! Hopefully my investment of time and money and lack of a dating life into school will pay off when I go on from here, but for now, I work and I go to school. So do a lot of people! I don't know their circumstances, but I know that if I could invest just a little more than I already do into my retirement account, I could feel a little more confident in my spending of money on other things like gasoline for one. I might even be able to set aside a little money to hopefully one day put towards a house or the start-up of a business. I'm livid about the idea that I pay SO MUCH into Social Security, and that one day, I'm not going to get squat back from it! Perhaps it's why I'm putting the money that I could be spending as Consumption or squirreling away for items of the American Dream in the form of business and home ownership, into a retirement.
"In addition, the Federal Reserve, our central bank, fosters runaway debt by increasing the
money supply — making each dollar in your pocket worth less. The Fed is a private bank run
by unelected officials who are not required to be open or accountable to 'we the people.'”
Not to mention, if the money that I have and work for, and am scrounging from the corners of the barrel, is decreasing in value, I wonder about my ability now AND later to turn income into wealth. I suppose that I could abandon some of my beliefs about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to ensure my Roth IRA is filled, but why do I even want to live into old age if I've spent all my younger years working just to get to old age?
Granted, my feelings are contingent on whether or not what Dr. Paul says is true or not. But, what if he's onto something? Could an Economist in the White House make a better (a nice value judgement) impact on our nation, and actually align some of our national identity with the beliefs of economics? Could the government actually decrease, regardless of the party affiliation, to the point where it functions as it's supposed to? To me, that efficiency of government would be to provide national defense (as opposed to imperialism) and possibly even clean air (due to the potential and likely effects of positive and negative externalities) and that the markets, the way of things naturally, could allow individuals like me, rationally minded invidivuals like me the opportunity to pursue life, liberty and happiness.
I don't mind competition. In fact, I revel in it! I believe that there are times I can be aggressive with my pursuits and times I can just chill, and in a country that is based on competition, my incentive to be aggressive or to chill could be placed into a market that would reflect a pareto optimality for me, and that would make me happy. But, the fact that I am moving all of my happiness from this stage of my life to some later stage because I am earning a wage that is chopped up before I even see it, irritates the marginal happiness I can have now (consider the idea that I'm glad to be working now to play later).
It comes down to hope that is offered by politicians. Different people vote on different candidates based on the hope that is offered. Being a student of Economics, I am faithful in the ideas of markets functioning to show long run equilibriums and that pareto optimality can be not only potential, but likely. I believe that I can make good decisions for myself and that I can choose as an individual how to spend every single penny I earn and that government doesn't come in and dictate how as much as 30% of it is spent. I believe that my understanding of the necessary role of government will allow me to feel confident on paying SOME sort of tax. The idea that I am free to make my own decisions, is my hope.
So, I believe the shadow puppets that are being presented to me by politicians. And this one in particular seems to be addressing the problems that I believe to be problems, as opposed to all of the other politicians who seem to want to keep me down.
Go Ron Paul!
