Change, The

Apparently, I am going through The Change.

And I’m kind of anxious to see how I turn out when it’s all over. Maybe I’ll finally be energetic, optimistic, and send birthday cards on time! I wonder if I’ll stop worrying, and lose my voracious appetite, and start to like to exercise…Oh the possibilities!

However, I have to admit, that most days the evidence doesn’t support the realization of these hopeful transformations.

I’ve heard that some women display Jezebel-like behaviors as they go through The Change. Some seem to lose touch with reality, and create conflicts wherever they go. These incidents are usually reported by someone who also says, “She was never like this before!!”

I’ve always been kind of afraid of that happening to me…And I’m not sure that it has, or hasn’t – because the overwhelming feeling I have at this time is not malice, but one of being fed up. Yes – just fed up. I’m over it. Not my circus; not my monkeys. Nothing to prove and nothing to lose...I won’t be dropping everything to work on your problem.

My new mantra: I’m going through The Change, and things are gonna be different around here!

I submit that these “Jezebels” just might be women who have been stuffing it for many years and finally decide to speak their mind -- and damn the torpedoes! They say what they see, and don’t sugarcoat it anymore. They register an opinion, and don’t cede their intended plan to the perceived common good. They object, and don’t worry about feelings. They pick up and pursue goals they have left on the back burner for years.

And the people around them are surprised, bewildered, and say “She was never like this before!”

Sorry to rock your world, people…but I am like this now. And it’s not so much about what I’m doing, as it is about what I am NOT doing anymore. I’m done with measuring myself by others’ standards. I will live by my own convictions, and not always strive to be acceptable to the elusive and changing values of the world. I have gained a thing called confidence, and I don’t have time to mess around anymore. Life is for living, not for wishing…And that means accepting what is, and dealing.

And that means, dear loved ones, you have to deal with me too.

Here’s hoping you can see beyond the surprise, and not think of me as Jezebel…And here’s hoping that I retain a little tact even as I accomplish The Change.

Because, you know: total depravity and all that. It’s still a bad mix with hormones.

Part II: The Sanction of the Victim

The second theme from Atlas Shrugged that has occupied my thoughts is the concept of “the sanction of the victim”.

There are many pages of dialogue explaining to the wealthy steel magnate,  character Henry Reardon, that his indifference to the increasing taxation and intrusion of his business by the government had made him complicit in the final takeover of his company. In effect, his passivity was a sanction to those who were abusing his rights.

Reardon’s friend admonishes: “By their {the government} own statement, it is they who need you and have nothing to offer you in return. By their own statement, you must support them because they cannot survive without you. Consider the obscenity of offering their impotence and their need – their need of you – as a justification for your torture. Are you willing to accept it? Do you care to purchase – at the price of your great endurance, at the price of your agony – the satisfaction of the needs of your destroyers?”

Wow! I had to ruminate over this. The inevitable question is: How am I sanctioning my own victimization? What should I be doing to avoid giving sanction to the government when they diminish my rights?

I have to admit that after all these months of consideration, I don’t have many good answers. But – I do see many regulations and government requirements in a new light, and take time to examine my response to them. I do not want to be giving the sanction of the victim. I believe, as God says, that I am subject to the governing authorities, and respect that God has put them there. However, I will not be passive or silent any more in my response to any attempt to diminish my rights as a citizen.

And that conviction to action does scare me, but I feel it very strongly, and even more so after the revelations of the 2012 election.

I think this is the most valuable concept I learned from Atlas Shrugged, though there are many more that have become part of my thinking as well. It’s a very good book, worth the many pages of reading, and the discipline of thinking through the principles therein. My only wish is that it was written with a underpinning of belief in God. Ayn Rand, the author, was an atheist, and so it makes for some curious reading when she writes of “motive power” as your moral code. A moral code based on what? Character John Galt describes that moral code “which holds that man is an end in himself and not a means to any end of others”.

I couldn’t disagree more…and I think how much greater this story would be with the inclusion of grace and redemption. Ayn Rand missed out on the beauty of that – but nonetheless, it is a book that has informed my beliefs and convictions, and has made me a better thinker.

It has also given me a vision of where our country may be going, that is, the consequences that may be ahead. While the possibilities frighten me, again I take inspiration from the Tramp’s words: “…I think it’s a sin to sit down and let your life go, without making a try for it.”

Or to let your country go…I’m more determined than ever to protect our right to freedom, and the country that is the freest in the world.

BOOK REPORT: Atlas Shrugged

It took me three months to read through Atlas Shrugged -- so many pages, so much to think through. When I got to John Galt’s 60 page monologue I almost gave up…but it was too close to the end. I couldn’t quit then!

I am glad that I persevered as I learned so much, and continue to think about it often. Every week, I see something in the news that reminds me of the world of Atlas Shrugged. We are on our way there, and the election confirmed that.

I wanted to write a book report back in June when I finished the book but couldn’t face the multitude of ideas and philosophies that I would have to describe, and the multitude of words it would take. I just felt I would need to tell it all, and how do you do that?

There is so much good in the book, but as time has passed, the message of Atlas Shrugged has distilled down to two things for me.

1) Beware the philosophy of “fairness”.

In the world of Atlas Shrugged, fairness came to mean that all would work to their ability, but would be rewarded according to their need.

The first application of this belief was higher taxation of the rich, to supply the needs of the government, who supplied the needs of the poor. Then it moved to the government trying to redistribute the resources and productions of larger corporations to smaller struggling ones, to make it “fair”. Finally, it moved to businesses themselves where “work according to ability; paid according to need” resulted in workers competing to be the least productive. Why should any one work harder than the next guy? They would all be paid the same –unless you were needy. The needy were expensive, and as productivity declined, the fulfillment of needs reduced the amount of pay available for those without needs. Babies were resented; sickly old women died the night before expensive treatment. Workers could not take the despair of this system and just disappeared.

On a larger scale, factories and businesses could not produce enough goods to stay in business, and closed. In time, people had cars but no fuel to run them. Trains ran fewer and fewer routes per day. The economy was slowly dying and the staples of living became scarce, and difficult to procure.

Of course, this anecdote is from a novel – but take a minute to think about how much “fairness” is talked about in our society. “It’s not fair that corporations make so much money. They should be forced to pay more taxes.” “The rich don’t deserve what they have.” “We should all have our medical expenses taken care of. It’s not fair that anyone should suffer from unexpected needs.” “It’s only fair that a business pay its employees at least a minimum wage.”

We are already a ways down the road of Atlas Shrugged; and the election results seem to make it clear that many Americans want to go there.

I think what the Tramp (in the novel) said to character Dagny Taggart is exactly true: “There wasn’t a man voting for {The Plan to work to ability, paid as to need} who didn’t think that under a set-up of this kind he’d muscle in on the profits of the men abler than himself. There wasn’t a man rich and smart enough but that they didn’t think that somebody was richer and smarter, and this plan would give him a share of his betters wealth and brains. But while he was thinking that he’d get unearned benefits from the men above, he forgot about the men below who’d get unearned benefits too.”

The needy can point to the greed of the rich, but often, their desire is based just as much on the greed they say they despise.

We need to be cautious about fairness, and examine more deeply and thoroughly where a call for fairness will lead. True fairness is rooted in my right to freely possess myself and my efforts. It should be based on equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. If I work harder than the next guy, is it not fair that I am rewarded more than he is?

The people of our nation are embracing, as character Danneskjold says “...the idea that need, not achievement, is the source of rights; that we don’t have to produce, only to want, that the earned does not belong to us, but the unearned does...” “…practicing charity with wealth that {we do not} own, by giving away goods which {we} have not produced, by making others pay for the luxury of {our} pity.”

Tomorrow: Part II

A Book Report in Which I Passionately Go On & On...

For one of my summer books, I chose the not-so-cheerful When Money Dies by Adam Fergusson.This book is an account of the events and policies that let to hyperinflation in post World War I Germany. There’s plenty of talk about the possibility of inflation, and hyperinflation, in our future, so I wanted to learn what I could from those who had lived through such a catastrophe. How did it happen? How do you survive?

Hindsight admits that a more cheerful subject might have been a better choice for this time of year. However, I learned a lot, and I think I know what I will do when faced with the prospect of hyperinflation. (And I'm afraid it involves chickens and large garden plots...maybe some precious metals...and a big fence, definitely.)
Admittedly, there was much recorded here that I had trouble understanding…I need to do some study of economics. But there was plenty that I could grasp, and I must say that living through hyperinflation is not a pleasant prospect.

Obviously, the German situation had its special circumstances –They financed a war, lost that war, and then were obligated to other countries for huge reparation payments. This alone would be big trouble for an economy, but the Germans made assumptions and decisions that exacerbated their problems to the point of catastrophe.

As need outpaced their financial capabilities, they just printed more money...and more money.

They were very fearful of unemployment, so they kept people on the job, regardless of the fact that there was not money to pay them. Unhappy union members threatened violence and retaliation as prices rose above what their wages could buy. So the government raised the wages and printed more money to keep marks in people pockets and, more importantly, keep the unions satisfied. They maintained the jobs, but in actual fact the workers were on the dole.

People blamed producers and manufacturers (in Germany & elsewhere) for higher prices. They believed that prices were being forcibly increased, perhaps vindictively, instead of recognizing that the mark was rapidly diminishing in value. The more marks they printed, the less each one was worth; the more marks it took to buy bread.

The printing presses could not keep up with the volume of marks needed for daily commerce. New and larger denominations were being created and printed, and still they could not keep up. People on fixed incomes suffered and starved. Others bartered away their valuables, for a fraction of their worth, to survive. Businesses could not afford the cost of imported goods so supplies of daily necessities became very low. Manufacturers could not afford imported raw materials, so less and less was produced; less money was made; fewer people had work. People from neighboring countries flooded the borders to capitalize on the low value of the mark – even when the value of the mark dropped so precipitously and continuously that diners in the restaurants were quoted one price when ordering, but owed more than that amount by the time they finished the meal.

Paying taxes became problematic. By the time your documents were filed, you would find that you were liable for more than when you calculated them; and as the fall of the mark outpaced the rise of salaries, you rarely had enough money to pay the new amount.

Anyone of wealth did what they could to get it invested outside of the country so it would hold its value. “Evasion of taxation, fear of socialisation, and inflation have combined to drive capital out of countries with a depreciated currency into countries where the currency is sound or at a premium…” {newspaper article by Arthur Eichhorn, 1920}

Of course, this loss of capital only served to increase the snowball that was rapidly rolling through the entire German economy.

In the end, everyone lost. Indeed, some more than others—to best survive you needed to get your money invested in other countries with stable currency, have your own food source, have real goods to barter for what you need . Still the inflation was so severe that there were few who came through it with much of anything left to their name…And there were those who just didn’t survive.

Times were so desperate that people were willing to accept any leadership. “Economic distress is leading people to be much more amenable to authority as representing the only hope of salvation from the present state of affairs. Unemployment is taking the gilt off the gingerbread of democracy…” {Joseph Addison 1923} “Inflation is the ally of political extremism, the antithesis of order.” {Adam Fergusson}

I’ve always wondered how the German people became so accepting of the philosophy and leadership of Adolf Hitler. Reading this book has helped me understand more clearly. I would never say that the circumstances of hyperinflation caused the rise of Adolf Hitler, but they made it possible.

Finally, action was taken that stopped the freefall, but the cure was very painful. There was still much suffering ahead as the economy and the country climbed back to stable footing…if you can call the rise of the Third Reich stability.

“The immediate basis of stablisation, therefore, was not the closing down of the printing presses so much as the rigorous disciplining of State expenditure by the refusal of further credit to the government and by a return from a floating mark to a fixed parity against gold and the dollar.” {Adam Fergusson}

Certainly we do not have at play the seriously difficult circumstances that Germany did after WWI. However, I see in Germany’s story some similarities to current events…Even in the very recent downgrade of the United States credit rating because of our debt. As you read about what was done in Germany, you recognize that the same mistakes are being repeated here, on a smaller scale…for now. They are evidence of a mindset that will land us in a similar mess if we do not recognize the signs and demand of our leaders a change of course.

In the meantime, I suggest you prepare to protect yourself.

It's not exactly a Death Panel, but it seems like it...

I heard on the news tonight that an Arizona man who has leukemia has been given a virtual death sentence because of budget cuts implemented by Gov. Jan Brewer.

The Arizona legislature, not just Gov. Brewer, made cuts to the state's Medicaid funding because federal mandates about who is now eligible for coverage have created huge cost burdens. They were forced to cut optional services, which included some transplants...including a non-family member bone marrow transplant which would likely save the life of Mark Price, father of six.

The media has brought this to light, most likely because they are not fans of Jan Brewer...because if they were honest about it, they would have to admit that when Obamacare was in process, they mocked the people who predicted that decisions would be made that would cost people their lives.

In this case, it seems that the system requires that more people are covered, at the expense of others with more uncommon problems. Arizona Attorney General, Terry Goddard, and the Democratic nominee for governor, accuses Gov. Brewer that she has not made "tough decisions; she's made mean decisions that hurt Arizona families".  So is that how the families that have gained coverage feel? That the Governor is "mean" for including them, at the expense of others? I doubt it...

I can understand the frustration and grief of the Price family...but how do you decide who gets what? If you make an exception, what will it be based on? Is one person more deserving of life than another?

While proponents of Obamacare would have us think that all our health problems can be addressed and resolved through their system, it's just not true. They would have us believe that everyone has a right to an equal outcome...It's just not possible. There is not an infinite, ever-flowing stream of funding...Choices will have to be made, and when we are dependent on one source, we have no opportunity, or freedom, to pursue our own resources...When this course is followed, eventually we do have an equality of outcomes -- and no one is happy with them.

It doesn't seem like a big deal...Until they come for YOUR freedom...

Our state has instituted “sin taxes” on candy, and soda pop. Some states are trying to regulate fat content of foods, and children’s consumption of foods deemed to be “unhealthy”. The list of regulation grows...

I have to admit that it never bothered me that there are plenty of taxes on cigarettes and liquor – mostly because I don’t smoke, and rarely have an alcoholic drink. But when they come for my candy, my pop, my french fries – I find myself thinking, “Back off!”

The premise behind this is that certain items for consumption, and certain activities, are more likely to be harmful to you. Your use or participation will probably result in physical needs that are costly to meet. So – the powers-that-be seek to discourage your participation by making it more costly to you now, as well as mitigate, with your tax dollars, the future cost of your care.

Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

Until they come for your french fries...or your motorcycle rides...or your diet Coke...or your favorite restaurant’s menu...or your helicopter skiing excursion...or your daily latte...

Then it seems like they are taking away our freedom, and regulating us all to activities that are manageable for them. I don’t like it...and I’m pretty sure that the addicted-to-risk-taking generations that follow us won’t like it either. I just can’t picture Gen X or Y (what letter are we on now?) giving up snowboarding out-of-bounds (with their transponder, of course!)to maintain good standing with their government provided health-care. I’ve always taken encouragement from the fact that Gen Y’ers won’t put up with it, and it will be the death of the idea.

However, recently, the wise Walter Williams alerted me to the problem with the premise that sounds so reasonable.

He explained that while we look at these taxes and regulations as a failure of liberty, they are not. Instead, they are a failure of socialism. Socialism presumes that the government is responsible for our care, all of it. Whether we need our bank bailed out, our health care paid for, our environment cleaned of oil, our cribs made safe, our crop failures reimbursed (the list is endless) – it is the government’s responsibility.

Of course, the government can’t do it all – unless they manage the risks, unless they curtail our freedoms. The problem is not that we choose to participate in certain behaviors. The problem is that we participate in these behaviors, expecting someone else to cover the consequences if we can’t.

Anymore, I don’t take such comfort in the attitude of the Gen Y’ers risk-taking addiction. I suppose they figure that whatever happens to them, someone else will take care of it. It now seems obvious to me that we are a society that believes we have a right to good results...no matter what we do. From ambulance-chasing lawyers, to Congressional hearings about gas pedals, we expect that anything bad that happens to us should be fixed – by the government (or some big, deep-pocketed corporation the government took to the woodshed)!

We can engage in endless discussion of what should be regulated, and why, and how, and who should receive help, and who should be protected – a morass of moral relativism that threatens to swamp us all. In reality, the issue at its basis is simple: It’s not the government’s job to take care of us, to guarantee positive outcomes for all of our lives.

I wonder how our lives might be changed if we knew that our consequences were our own...that, truly, we would reap what we sowed...that if trouble came, we had to figure it out, not submit a form to the government for aid.

It could only improve the country, in my opinion. It might produce a new generation of innovators, and confident problem-solvers, instead of the whining, self-indulgent, and apathetic society we see too often these days.

It’s been a challenge to me, and I challenge you , to recognize where we have accepted the expectation that others should mitigate the consequences of our choices. It is a sneaky little assumption that creeps into our minds more readily than we realize.

And it needs to go!

The Rock and The Hard Place...

Recent buzz has our Governor, Christine Gregoire, as a possible candidate to move from our lovely state, to the Other Washington, to fill the Solicitor General position that may be vacated by Elaina Kagan, nominee for the U. S. Supreme Court.

I'm no fan of Governor Gregoire's policies, or practices, and frankly, I think there was some funny business that went on to win her the election after multiple recounts. I have absolutely no proof -- The situation just seemed too contrived to be legitimate. Call me a conspiracy theorist on that topic!

Anyway, I would not be sorry to see Ms. Gregoire vacate her office and give Washingtonians an opportunity to see some real leadership in our Governor's office.

However...

The Solicitor General is the attorney that represents the United States in cases that come before the Supreme Court...which would mean that Christine Gregoire, with her liberal leanings, and political debts to pay and play, would be the lead defender/ litigator for our country against those making claims against it. Think about that...Oh my!

As much as I want a change for our state, it might be better for our country if we suffered the damage here in Washington for a little while longer...

LONGING...LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGIIIINNNGGG...

That describes me after all the Health Care Reform Hoo-Haw...

I'm LONGING for SOMEONE, ANYONE in the halls (no longer hallowed) of Congress to speak the truth...to make a decision based on what is good for the people he serves, NOT based on what his good for his position, or for his next election.

I believe that I am not the only one feeling this kind of longing. In fact, I think that anyone who had the courage to do this would find himself in front of a very large following. However, besides the lack of courageous people of integrity in Congress (not a dearth, a lack), I think this doesn't happen because most citizens are not aware of how bad things are, and are not paying enough attention to require accountability in their own representatives and Senators.

Was it Plato that said, "The price men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves."?

That's it, folks. We need to make our government representatives accountable. Make them answer for what they are doing...And show the door to those who are in power for power, not to serve.

Easier said than done...but imperative!

Christmas isn't what it used to be...

At the end of a good day of celebrating with my family, I’m pondering that Christmas isn’t the highlight of my year – like it used to be. Don’t get me wrong – today was a WONDERFUL day! We enjoyed the kids, the laughter, the gifts that were thoughtful in generous and joking ways. Last night we had The Turkey Dinner. My parents came to share it, and we laughed and joked as we rode through town looking for crazily lighted houses. Before this week, the shopping and the decorating, the music programs, even the baking heightened the anticipation...Fun in itself to prepare for these few days of celebration.


But tonight, I’m thinking that it’s not the big event it once was – and feeling the usual post-Christmas letdown...Wondering if there was more I should do to build to a greater climax for the Christmas celebration. In the midst of my pondering comes the realization that I’m looking forward to my regular life tomorrow...Puttering around the house, picking up the happy messes of paper and boxes, and used dishes – evidence of fun already had, then walking the dog in the chilly air, sipping coffee while I contemplate what chores I will attempt...I like the everydays too.

In fact, I think I’ve come to the place where Christmas is not THE highlight of the year because I’ve become so much more content with my life...so much quicker to appreciate the good along the way: the peaceful everydays, the intermittent family gatherings anytime they come, the time to invest in friendships throughout the year...It’s really not that Christmas has diminished...It’s more that the moments as they happen have become more appreciated, more enjoyed, more precious...

I will still always love the glitz and fun of Christmas. It’s a special time where the whole world smiles together, and expresses their goodwill. But it’s not the only time, the only day...I’m glad to be in a place in my life where I am content with the CONtent of my relationships, my occupations, my blessings – and do much better at appreciating them any day.

Carrie, Carrie, Carrie...(Prejean, that is)

So someone finally dug up a sex tape featuring the villified Carrie Prejean, speaker of negative opinions about gay marriage. She admits that she made this tape at the age of 17 (um...what???where were your parents, Carrie????) but has since changed her life, and has not and will not be involved in any such thing again.

She also is complaining loudly, not the first time, that it is not fair that she has been targeted for destruction, vilification, and treatment akin to mental torture.

I agree that it is not fair. I agree that I wouldn't want to be her right now...but it also seems to me to be a case where "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen". Ms. Prejean and her supporters claim that when such videos are found starring Lindsay Lohan, or Paris Hilton, those women are not villified or harrassed, or made the top story on the news.

Perhaps this is because such activity caught on tape would not be out of character for the aforementioned celebs. It IS out of sync with the character Ms. Prejean has claimed -- and thus it is news. The fact that she is a conservative woman also makes it a given that she will be held to a different standard, and WILL be targeted, and followed, and harrassed. Sad, but true -- not fair, agreed -- ridiculous, understood.

It's not that I don't have sympathy for this woman. She simply stated her opinion in a cogent way, and a firestorm ensued. However, she decided to ride the firestorm and get out of it what she could.(I'm wondering if, for a while her motto might have been, "the only bad press is no press".) I think she would have been better off to explain her unfortunate actions -- "I was young and foolish, and have changed..." and acknowledged her current "popularity" -- "Because of my beliefs, I have been targeted. I'm not surprised they dug this up. I regret my actions of the past...That's not who I am now...end of story. I'm sure their scrutiny of my life is not over, but I'm not going to be imprisoned by it." Her loud protestations, and appearances on so many talk shows, only take away from her dignity. She's giving her pursuers more power by playing the victim.

So stop, Carrie! You're in the kitchen -- get out, or get some oven mitts!