The official poverty rate in the US was 14.8% in 2015, meaning that 14.8% of all individuals were in households below the official poverty line. The rate for children under 18 was 19.7%, so basically 1 of every 5 children lives below the official poverty line in the richest and most powerful country in Read More…
Category: politics
My Vote for Hillary
Like so many of you, I am tired of this election season and excited for it to be over. I am frustrated and mostly want to stop hearing about it, but can’t seem to take my eyes off the train-wreck and yelling at people to get off the tracks. However, though I am unimpressed Read More…
Defending Social Conservatism
In my last few articles, I’ve criticized the concept of limited government, supported Black Lives Matter, and continually stressed the importance of increased investment in education and social programs, even if it means reducing defense spending and raising taxes. I’ve talked about conservative values, but then argued why they lead me to support policies Read More…
The case for a Christian Democrat party
In my last post, I promised to sell you on a new political party. I also mentioned the Libertarian Party because it illustrates a general strategy that I think could be effective. However, while I believe there is value in the libertarian movement, my personal political preferences align more closely with its theoretical opposite, Read More…
Third Party
After a long hiatus, I am attempting to restart this blog. I took a break in the hopes of working on a book, but then I started a Ph.D. program, went from three children to five, and started a non-profit, so the ‘write a book in my free time’ plan went down the drain. I Read More…
A More Perfect Union
I’ve spent the last few posts discussing how political parties and choosing sides in general can have some negative consequences, especially when there’s a lack of independent thought. However, I do firmly believe that it’s important to stand for and believe in something – but what should we believe in? I think a core problem Read More…
Morality in Public Policy
As a follow on to my last post, I’d like to talk a little about morality in public policy. I often wonder how so many people can be so convinced of the correctness of one particular course of action, public policy, or political party. I believe it often happens because politics gets tied into Read More…
Independent
As you may have noticed in my writing, I’ve purposefully avoided allegiance to any particular political party. In fact I’ve made quite an effort to show that one party doesn’t have all the answers. I’ve questioned for some time whether or not this is an effective means of political participation. I believe that party Read More…
Sanity
I wrote not long ago about a day when current events and the news in general gave me great cause for concern. Today the opposite happened; my daily trek through the news gave me a spark of optimism that I’d like to share. I believe strongly in the need for political moderation and cooperation, and Read More…
My Vote
With an election just around the corner, I’ve been searching for the candidates I want to vote for. I haven’t found any – and I’d imagine some of you may feel the same. I spent some time wondering why this is, why my vote seems to always go to the person I feel will cause Read More…