Is it Just Me?

OK I admit it. I'm a staunch conservative. I didn't used to be. Back in the mid-80's I fled a legalistic and extreme religious environment and spread my wings and swung over to a fairly liberal mind-set. That phase only last a few years. Once my rebellious anti-everything-I'd-ever-been-trained/taught mode waned, I began to pay attention and really examine the political world around me. I attended town-hall meetings held by my state legislator, I talked with candidates that went door-to-door and even started watching websites for current and wanna-be candidates. I started listening to talk radio and forsaking the typical news outlets which seemed very slanted to me. I worked hard to actually be informed. I didn't want to blindly follow anything anymore.

Well the news of late has really got me in a very defensive mode. I am starting to feel like I need to defend my personal property, my finances; my general way of life seems to be in jeopardy. The dollar is falling, rampant inflation is probably less than a year away (keep printing that money!). What now? What if I lose my up-to-now safe, well paying job? What would we do if our money became nearly worthless? How would we pay our bills? Buy food? Keep a roof over our heads? It seems that a lots of things I've taken as a given, may actually be in jeopardy. I'm turning 50 in about a month and retirement usually isn't far from my mind. Will I now have to work until I'm 70? Will I even have a job? Ah, so much to think about.

Should I buy gold? Silver? I most certainly want to pay off as much debt as possible, no question there. Debt is certainly a bad thing in our world's current situation. I don't' want to be beholden to anyone if I don't have to.

But man, do I still want to travel the world, spoil my grand kids, help out my kids as they start up their new families, be generous with my charitable giving. I really want that new computer monitor, new software, iPod Touch (thanks for the tip JD!), camera accouterments, and more. Oh and my tires need replacing, the yard is a disaster and needs new sod, and I need a new wardrobe. My house still has a lot of painting to be done and curtains to put up. I can see that I have a real struggle in front of me to curb my years of easy spending.

I've been very reticent about posting my thoughts on this; worried that some will see me as a conspiracy theorist or just plain batty with my concerns.

Too bad.

I am out in the open now.

A Plan for a Plan

I just read a great article today in the Chicago Tribune regarding the upcoming election. It clearly articulates something that has bugged me for a long time: candidate proposals or plans to fix things. How many times have we heard about these plans and then find the elected candidate can't seem to get anything done? Why then do we continue to believe that their plans actually mean anything at all?

Jonah Goldberg has a humorous take on these plans and writes in his October 10th article titled Best Laid Plans Mean Zip, "Every weekend I have a plan for how my 5-year-old child will spend her day. Keep in mind: I am literally the boss of her. She has no money, little education and no reliable means of escape. And yet, she foils my plans time and again. But somehow we're supposed to believe that a plan involving billions or trillions of dollars, millions of people (each with their own agenda) and thousands of communities influenced by countless interested parties and bureaucracies is not only possible, but the highest responsibility of our elected leaders."

Check out the article, it's a fun read. Let us find out what all these candidates actually stand for by examining their character, not their rhetoric, or the spin generated by journalists and others.