Almost Classical

There is little doubt that the last two years are the result of lax SEC enforcement under Chairman Cox (R) and the Bush (R) administration took far too long to react to such nonsense as credit default swaps. Add to this the Democratic Congress' refusal to control Freddie and Fannie... here are the results: January 3, 2007 - Democratic Congress seated - DOW = 12,398 November 4, 2008 - Barack Obama elected - DOW = 9,625 (down 22.3%) January 20, 2009 - Barack Obama sworn in - DOW = 8,228 (down 14.5%) February 18, 2009 - Barack Obama signs "stimulus package" into law - DOW = 7,556 (down 8.2%) Close on Thursday February 26, 2009 - DOW = 7,182 (down 5.0%) In terms of decline alone: Total market collapse since Democrats took control of Congress - DOW down 42.0% Total market collapse since Obama elected - DOW down 25.4% Total market collapse since Obama sworn in - DOW down 12.7% And today, the GSEs announce that they need more taxpayer...

There were 200,000 "financial industry" layoffs during fiscal 2007-08 and nearly another 150,000 since this previous summer. Bank of America and Citi announced more than 70K layoffs in 2008, alone. In fact, CNN has reported that layoffs in finance outpace the layoffs in manufacturing this year. That's no small accomplishment. Most people in "finance" are not millionaires. I know. I worked at both a mortgage bank and a title insurance company in the past. The majority of workers were women, inputing data and making low wages. Many of the employees had only high school diplomas and they worked very hard, long hours. (The disparity between the workers and the executives was extremely unbalanced.) I'm sick of hearing people celebrate "Wall Street" layoffs. Sure, there are fat, greedy pigs at some companies. There are scum in most industries -- it's just easier to hate bankers and lawyers. But when a bank closes or an investment firm fails, it...

A few days ago I learned of the Journal of Happiness Studies , proof there is an academic journal for almost everything. Ah, but happiness isn't enough. No, we have to be overtly political. Yes, the University of Minnesota, Duluth, has introduced a Masters of Advocacy and Political Leadership (MAPL, pronounced "maple") for aspiring leftists. The ACORN activists can attend the "Maple" program, which proves how confused they are. Acorns go with oaks — I associate syrup with maple trees. The director of this program is complaining that his students are in debt, but considering careers that don't pay well. These students, he argues, should have all their debts forgiven. After all, they will be helping people in the future. He blames "conservative orthodoxy" for the high cost of college, which is utter nonsense. The high cost is because government gives loans, grants, and directly funds universities. There's so much money, the tuition rose...

The best I can do is be true to what I value. I value education, the mind, reading, writing, etc. I value my personal freedom -- and equal freedom for others. (Unfortunately, "freedom" can be "from" or "to" and I am a "from" sort of person. Freedom from people / authority matters to me.) Am I a "capitalist pig" in theory? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean I personally care about money, power, or anything material. I care about my family, my students, and my community. You don't teach at a university seeking wealth, and most freelance writers aren't wealthy either. My "fight" (when I have the energy) is against limits on my choices. It is the fight against the state of Minnesota telling doctors off-label uses of medication is illegal. I wrote a 50+ page paper on the subject after the doctors here informed me I couldn't take the same meds as in California due to state laws. It is the fight against federal...

This morning I was listening to an interview with Bill Bishop, author of The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart. A few hours earlier, I had been reading the Washington Post online, skimming reader comments on the Detroit automaker mess. There, online, were prime examples of The Big Sort and the results of political isolationism. "Progressives" seem to truly believe that Republicans "hate the working class." Not just some Republicans, but every Republican. Of course, this is absurd, since many Republicans -- including political leaders -- come from the working class. In fact, Bishop pointed out during today's interview that Republicans are overwhelmingly middle class while the "progressive" wing of the Democratic party tends to be richer, better educated... and isolated. In some ways, this isolation is unavoidable. Academics must live near universities. Universities tend to be located in urban center...

CNN and other news outlets are reporting that Europeans prefer Obama to McCain by a 5:1 ratio. CNN: Cafferty File Why do we care do much about European opinions? These people don't have a single popular leader in their own nations. France's president is below 30% in the polls, Number 10 is (ironically) between 10 and 20% favorable, and even Germany, with a decent economy, doesn't give majority approval to the chancellor. So, these are relatively unhappy people, politically. They are beyond cynical — they're just plain unhappy. Part of the problem is that when you have a parliamentary system, the leaders in power seldom win leadership posts with a clear majority. You can cobble a parliamentary majority together with a 30% plurality and a dozen smaller, usually more radical, political parties. The end result is that no one is content. But, there is a larger reason: their systems, which they resoundingly claim are better than the U.S. system and our economic mode...

The downside to being a classical liberal (or libertarian, or whatever you wish to use) is that you find yourself grouped together with social conservatives by liberals who don't know any better and with socialists by conservatives who don't have a clue. I am not a social conservative, at least not in most ways. I am definitely not a socialist. Why people can't understand something in the middle is beyond me. Why do so many people the world to be "right/left" or "fundamental/atheist" in nature? What's wrong with complexity? Nuance? Questioning?