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So, it's finally over. Something like 75% of the tv channels here in GERMANY had live coverage all night (I didn't stay up, though :) ... I can only imagine what it must have been like in the US the past few weeks. I for one am GLAD it's finally over.
I strongly felt that neither the R or the D candidate represented me in any meaningful way, and thus conscientiously and happily voted for the libertarian party; while Bob Barr is not perhaps my favorite person, I agree with 90%+ of the party's stated principles, and Ron Paul wasn't on the Texas ballot :( (by the way ... absentee voting is SO MUCH BETTER than going somewhere and standing in line. Even if I lived inside the US I'd still absentee vote).
Anyway, Barack Obama won a resounding victory (are people calling it 'landslide'? what percentage do you have to win by for that?) last night, and the Democratic party picked up gains in both the Senate and the House, although it doesn't appear that they crossed the important "filibuster barrier".
Here are a few of my thoughts about his victory and the next few years in American politics. First, the positive:
- I'm somewhat glad that a black man has finally won the presidency. Maybe this will help us as a nation take a step forward in "racial relations". Neither I, my family, nor any of the people I consider being close to take race as any serious factor when determining the value or worth of a person; as much as I can understand about myself, race is simply a non-issue. Is there still systemic racism in America? I guess I don't see it, but many claim that it affects many. Every time I go back to the States I am simply blown away by how heterogenous it is; I DO think that that heterogeneity is one of our strengths. In any case, there is no place for racial discrimination in our country, and if by electing a black man that can be diminished, then more power to him (but not black power, because that would be racist too. unless you raise your fist like Billy Jack, and then it's okay)
- I live in Europe, and if people here had somehow been allowed to vote in the election, it would have been a no-contest. To say that "Obama is well-liked in Europe" is a massive understatement. There were people here crying when he won. In order to fully understand why (it might seem weird to you in the US), you have to understand the deep, deep, deep damage that GW Bush did to our relations not only with Europe, but with pretty much the rest of the world. The USA has an inordinate effect on the world in almost every way: our trade policies, our culture, our environmental policies, and our foreign policies affect the world on a daily basis in ways that you can barely imagine. Our footprint, sociological, economic, and environmental on the world is so huge, that even China with over three times as many citizens pretty much plays to our tune. When the leader of a country that has such a massive impact basically raises his middle finger to the rest of the world, that has serious consequences. When the citizens of that country come across as either oblivious or completely ignorant, that is deeply frightening. When the military of that country invade other countries at the leaders' whim and then keep people locked up for years without trial, while at the same time claiming to be the "good guys", that is downright scary. We haven't seen true fascism in our (short) history (yet), but many people in the rest of the world have, in their lifetime. Some of the things that US has been doing smell veeerrrry similar. Anyway, the point is that Obama appears to be a massive break from the entire philosophy of the past eight years. This is deeply reinvigorating to Europeans, at least, who still admire America for so many things, and despite what some claimed, have not forgotten how much we helped them in the 20th century. McCain never came across (even to me) as anything substantially different than the past regime. I, as an American living in Europe, am hoping that Obama does what he promises in regards to re-entering dialogue other countries. Like it or not, the entire world is too interconnected to be able to ignore. Plus, now I won't have to be defensive when I tell people I'm from Texas and they inevitably ask "isn't that where Bush is from?" Also, the guy at the lunch stand where I often eat told me that I'd get a free meal if Obama won. Free lunch, here I come!!
- As I just wrote, McCain never represented to me any sort of substantial break from the current regime. I used to have some respect for McCain, as he always took a strong stand against torture of any kind due to his personal experiences, but as I saw his principles one by one get locked into the neoconservative ideals, it was clear that a vote for him would be a vote for continuing the same philosophy that has bankrupted us over the past few years, financially, politically and morally.
- Despite some of the panicked email forwards that I've gotten over the past few months, I don't think that the Obama administration will be some sort of "moral apocalypse". Roe v. Wade was 35 years ago; there are still abortions today, and several full Republican majorities (in both executive and legislative branches) have done nothing substantial to change that. Any moral decay that is going to happen started a long time ago and certainly won't be substantially different under Obama. There have always been activist judges appointed, from both sides of the spectrum. There always will be, as long as our system lasts. If you have a problem with activist judges, then blame John Marshall, who slipped in the entire concept of judicial review into Marbury v. Madison in 1803. That battle was lost a long, long time ago.
- The national Republican party needed to lose, and badly. They have become so disconnected with their stated ideals and their power base, that they needed a massive spanking in order to wake up and realize they have completely lost touch. I grew up Republican in Texas; I remember the ideals of self-reliance, diligence, fiscal responsibility, less government, and I still hold to those ideals today. Then I looked at the administration and the Republican congress and for me it was just a big "huh??" I see pretty much the direct opposite being done by the Republicans in Washington, and they need to get thrown out on their heads. Maybe, just maybe this can be the beating they needed for the state and local parts of the GOP to reform and push the ideals back into Washington. We'll see how well that works out.
- Speaking of Republicans, go look at this graph. That's not what I call "fiscal responsibility". You can claim all you want that Republicans are "for less government and fiscal responsibility" and that Democrats are "big government spending", but look at the numbers. Bush has put us trillions of dollars into debt to pay for his wars. That is "big government spending".
- Despite the misinformation flying around the past few months, both candidates promised to cut taxes; it was only a question of who got the different cuts. From the diagrams I've seen, I get a bigger tax cut from Obama's plan than from McCain's. You can argue the merits of increasing taxes for higher earners, who actually already pay an inordinate amount of taxes, but if you actually look at the numbers, 99% of Americans get a bigger tax cut under Obama's plan. (you have to be making over $250,000 to pay more taxes under his plan). Tax cut, here I come.
- FINALLY we have an articulate person as president again. I can't tell you how much I cringe every single time I hear GW Bush open his mouth. McCain is certainly more articulate but his jowls and robot arms scare me. Palin ... the less said, the better. Biden comes across as old white politician, which is better than fake retarded Texan I guess. Obama definitely has a great style, which is probably why so many people feel so strongly about him.
But it's not all roses. Some things I am concerned about:
- When the president is one party and there is a strong congressional majority of the same party, massive amounts of legislation inevitably get pushed through. This happens every single time, regardless of party. I honestly wish that the Republicans had regained a majority in Congress and Obama had won the presidency; I think many of the scarier things that Obama wants to implement can't really be done by the president alone, but for issues such as foreign policy and figurehead-ness, I think he'll be great. The problem is, though, that the Democrats actually gained a bigger majority. With an executive/legislative split, there is often actual debate, as the lobbyists that go after Democrats have to fight against the lobbyists that go after Republicans. There's always pork, but at least it's somewhat striped between the two parties. With full majority and the presidency, stuff goes through much faster. Welcome to Porkville!
- Some of Obama's stated policy desires really do concern me. I'm especially worried that people will see the failures of the neoconservative/big government philosophy (which has been called "free market", even though it has very little in common with that) and swing to the other extreme of protectionism and regulation. With a uneasy populace and a majority in congress, I'm expecting alot of new regulation on everything to come through, which will not only not help things (we've ALWAYS had regulation; the housing market is one of the most highly regulated markets there is) but probably even hurt them. People also seem to forget that Obama voted FOR the bailout.
- The single most telling thing that bothered me during this whole election was the assumption that we need someone to "fix" things at all. This was tangible from both candidates in equal measure: "Our country is hurting, and I'm going to fix it". The only real choice in this election, if you voted for one of the two major parties, was which flavor of "fix" should the government push. Ron Paul was the only serious candidate in this race that raised the question: why do we need government to "fix" anything at all? This was probably my #1 concern about this election, and why I've told anyone who asked why I didn't think there would be any real substantial difference whether Obama or McCain won. Most Americans seem to think that if only the RIGHT candidate won, then HE would fix all of our problems. Very few people seem to ask if there are fundamental problems with the system/structure in the first place. I'm very worried that the next president and congress will try to meddle even more in the economy and everything else, and might turn a downturn into a real depression. So in that regard, whether Obama or McCain won, it doesn't matter since both parties have made clear their true philosophies of government.
I hope that whether or not you are happy that Obama won, you can take pride in the fact that the elections seemed to go smoothly, there was no rioting or violence, and nobody was threatened into voting for one candidate or the other. That IS a blessing we have, that many in the world do not.
I also hope that, if you really believe in America, you stay interested in the system and keep fighting (non-violently) for your say. In the English parliamentary system there is the concept of the "loyal opposition" - the party that is opposed to the ruling party, yet still completely loyal to the Queen. And so I consider myself in the loyal opposition to both the Democrats and the Republicans. I'm actually more interested in politics now that I live outside the USA than I ever was before, and am more committed than ever to upholding the ideals set forth in our Constitution. I only wish they'd do the same in Washington. |
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...that the Republican party is in any way shape or form for "small government".
If you vote for the GOP this November, do so with full realization that they have expanded and are continuing to expand the federal government far more than the other party has done in recent memory.
Also don't be distracted by disastrously inexperienced and corrupt women from Alaska who conveniently forget whether or not they wanted a bridge.
I'm certainly no fan of the Democratic party, but giving any vote to the GOP is a vote for more government in your life and more government in the world.
There are third parties available, despite the fact that both the GOP and the Dems would rather you forget that. The absolute vice-grip that the two major parties have will never be broken until you start voting your conscience and not the "lesser of two evils".
You don't have to vote for Kang OR Kodos. |
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As Kiva.org recently added support for teams, I just created a team for pleonast users who are also Kiva lenders. I have already invited several of you that I know of, but if you are interested please visit our team page at http://www.kiva.org/team/pleonast.
If you don't already know about it, Kiva is a website that facilitates lenders who want to support microloan transactions in developing countries. It's super easy to invest money in development in countries that really need it, and it's a /far/ superior method to actually help people than just blindly giving money to foreign governments or to people, creating a dependency which is not healthy for growth. Since they are actual loans, the beneficiaries are required to pay the money back, and thus must have a valid business plan.
Kiva itself is very transparently run, with 100% of money loaned going directly to the beneficiaries, and operating costs being paid for by separate donations directly to Kiva.
I've been a lender for about six months now and so far about 50% of my loans have been repaid and the rest are still in repayment. Kiva works with institutions in the developing countries and they boast across the board a very low default rate.
You can start with as little as $25 to really make a difference, and you can choose where and to whom the money should go, based on location, gender, business, etc.
For the month of September, if you sign up for Kiva for the first time and join the pleonast team, I will match your first $25 loan with my own $25 loan to the "closest" person to your beneficiary (kiva loans usually get completely filled within minutes, so I can't promise to be able to loan to exactly the same person :) ).
With interest rates being lowered steadily, this is a real way to actually invest your money in making the world a better place!
Please drop me a line at kennon(at)pleonast(youknowwhatcomeshere)com if you have any more questions!
NOTE: If you make a loan for a first time and have it credited toward the pleonast group, please drop me an email the first time so I can know to login and match your loan. I can't view all of the information from your loans and the activity log lags a bit. Just let me know who you loaned to so I can match it - it's kind of spammy and I want to make good on my promise :) |
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I've been using Google adsense for the advertising on non-gold member blogs for awhile now, but their payout has been steadily decreasing over the past year and so I decided to try something different.
Today I turned on ads from "Project Wonderful", which is a transparent marketplace for ads which is based on an auction.
Basically I set up the ad spots and then on anyone can bid to show their ad in that space. Bids are based on a cost per day (regardless of click through) and is always given to the highest bidder.
Right now the high bid is $0.02 a day, but I'm hoping that competition will drive it up a bit.
The bidders only pay for each second that the ad is the highest bidder, so if you're outbid you only pay for the time that you were actually being shown.
One thing I like about this is that I can approve all ads that are shown; on Adsense you can only ban ads that have already loaded but you can't approve them beforehand.
If you, for instance, are interested in advertising almost anything across pleonast (and helping support the site!) you could do it right now for as little $0.03 a day. Just go here to sign up!
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