The Oldest Reality Show in Town

Realpolitik (German: real “realistic”, “practical” or “actual”; and Politik “politics”) refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on practical considerations, rather than ideological notions. The term realpolitik is often used pejoratively to imply politics that are coercive, amoral, orMachiavellian. Realpolitik is a theory of politics that focuses on considerations of power, not ideals, morals, or principles.

Thanks for that wikipedia, my old friend for quick answers.  Thanks, anonymous reader, for asking me to write about realpolitiks.  It's one of the more misunderstood concepts in modern politics.  When George Bush used strong words with North Korea and Iran, he wasn't just being boisterous, he was being diplomatic.  He was using on of the oldest tricks in the book.  Otto von Bismarck, Chancelor of Germany under Wilhelm II, coined the term.  The Cold War was also a wonderful example of a time period of the use of the device.

Why did we invade Iraq but not North Korea?  Realpolitik dictates that North Korea's nukes make them a more difficult target than Iraq.  They were both ruled by dictators with less-than-stellar human rights records and they were both in Bush's Axis of Evil.  We also didn't invade Iran because they are supported by Russia (which is interesting with regards to history, but who likes history?).

I think I've done enough of a definition and history of realpolitik, I'd like to now look at its use and future.  Realpolitik is not the actual use of force, it is the thought of force.  It is not the game of Risk, it is the game of Diplomacy.  (All rights reserved)  Realpolitik is why I love politics.  You don't ever actually use force, but you make sure that everyone knows exactly how much force you have and you make really sure how much force everyone else has.  George Bush wanted to play the game but wasn't very good at it, he was too much of a cowboy.  If I had to pick one person who was the best I'd say Vladamir Putin.  I absolutely love Vladamir Putin.  It's not surprise that I called the Georgia invasion.  It was an application of realpolitik.  Didn't I just say that realpolitick wasn't a use of force?  Yes I did.  Let me help you all get rid of the dissonance.  The invasion of Georgia wasn't an invasion of Georgia.  Russia didn't care about Georgia.  They had two objectives in that conflict: show Turkey that they still wanted the Dardanelles Strait and show the US that a country can be invaded and left.  They succeeded in both of these objectives.

that was one of the most recent and successful examples of realpolitik.  Now for the future.  The United States is going to wallow in the memory of former glory as China and Russia and India rise in power.  This does not mean that the United States will be meaningless, like so many writers like to state.  They will however, no longer be the bully.  We will have to learn how to share the world with the rest of the people that live on it.  Developing countries are going to continue to develop in the wake of our fall.  If we were going to learn one lesson, we should learn from England.  England has had a graceful fall from power and enjoys a position of power without force.  Everyone remembers how great England used to be and those diplomatic ties will not be severed easily.  We should tell our government to get out of the way of business so that we can continue to bankroll the development of the rest of the world so that China doesn't reap the enormous benefits.

When it comes to political force, it really is a zero-sum game.  Not to sound like a Barberian active negative, but there can only be so many voices shouting in a crowd that can be listened to.  The real players of real politics will last over time.  The oldest trick in the book will be the last trick in the book.

The Problem With Government Globalization

I would like to come out and make a statement: I like global government.  I like it a lot.  I think that a centralized government could bring about a new pax romana.  I think that with technology and communication where they are now, in ten or fifteen years border lines are going to be practically nonexistent.  Business has been working for years to fudge the lines and people are starting to come along.

That being said, there is a problem with global government as it stands right now.  We have an international legislature.  The United Nations does a wonderful job of being a bigger version of the United States Congress.  They talk a lot and they come out with a lot of statements.  The difference is that Congress actually has some form of power.  The United Nations has been balked at by nations such as Iran and North Korea.  The rules of the body have allowed Russia and China, and much to the chagrin of this blog the United States, to single-handedly prevent any meaningful action.  Even if the group were going to pass an important law that would either guarantee rights in nations that don't have them or block the rights of some nations that have broken the rules of the Geneva Conventions, they don't have the authority or the power to impose these rules.  I'd enjoy hearing that the UN imposed a sanction on the United States for invading not one, but two, foreign nations illegally and broke several human rights laws in the imprisonment of individuals at Guantanamo Bay.  Or the same for Israel in their latest invasion of the Gaza Strip.  It would also be great if the UN would tickled this new issue of piracy.  or old issue of piracy.  Or whatever.  But they won't.  yes I know that the last few sentences were not properly punctuated and i dont care.  there:  see what i think of your punctuation*  tee hee.

There is also an international court.  They face the same problem as the legislature.  The International Criminal Court has tried in recent months to try such major criminals as the President of the Sudan, whose list of crimes is too long for me to desire to reasearch.  A few problems.  Under what authority is this court imposing its verdict?  Where are they going to fulfill the sentence of the court?  Who is going to force the President of Sudan, for example, to show up for his trial?  Should the President find that his trial was unfair or mishandled, where will he appeal the decision?  Who picks the judges?  Like I said, this group is a great idea but it wasn't planned for long term legitimacy.  Much like any act of our new Congress, it seems that the appearance of doing something is more important than actually accomplishing something.

There is no international executive person or body and there is no measure currently in existence to enforece the laws, which is the purpose of any executive.  Until there is an executive person or body in place that is supported, at the very least, by all of the members of the United Nations, neither the legislative nor the judicial bodies can have any real power.

Now, to make libertyhound happy, let me say why I'm glad the system doesn't work.  I am glad that the international system doesn't work because the world isn't ready for it.  Right now each country has too many personal problems to be able to function properly in a larger group.  Especially in the United States people need to remember the phrase, "To thine own self be true."  One of the reasons that the authors of this blog are so displeased is that we have one vision of the direction of this country in mind and the current leadership seems to have another.  It's not even about single acts of Congress or decisions of the Supreme Court.  It's about the state of mind.  Right now there is a large portion of the country that wants the government to be God and there is a large portion that doesn't.  I don't want to talk to the large group that doesn't think about the government becaue they don't read my blog.  HAHA.

Until we have a serious discussion in this country about what the PURPOSE of the government should be we can't even begin to have a discussion about what the actions of the government ARE.  Every individual has to go through this at some point.  I went through it fairly early I think, so I should be avoiding a midlife crisis.  Our country has hit its midlife crisis and we need to stop buying the proverbial sports car with endless spending on healthcare.

I'd like to ask each of you to respond to this post by telling the Road what your main issue is.  If you had to pick one issue in the pantheon then what would it be?  Let us know.  We're not going to start writing about what you want to hear about to pander for readers.  I've been writing on this blog for almost a year and have seen readers come and go.  I didn't pick authors based on their following.  I picked authors because I knew that they would improve the quality of the discussion for my few readers.  As we continue to try to spur the conversation about the purpose of government in this country, please take our points and use them in conversation.  If you don't agree with us, please tell your friends what you don't agree with.  I have said a lot of things in the last few months that have ended up being true.  I am going to try to continue this pattern of accuracy and hopefully open my own psychic hotline.  Not really but admit that you laughed.

Maybe I Should Get Texans A Dictionary

So-cial-ism

noun

A theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

Now, if you want to argue that Obama on a political spectrum is further towards Socialism than any previous president in recent memory, you may make that argument - and I would whole-heartedly agree with you.

I fully agree that many of his policies have us heading to a Zimbabwe state of hyper-inflation, but still, we are not even close to socialism. Denmark and Norway are both closer to Socialism than we are.

I keep seeing these signs at the Texas rallys for secession that say things like "Obamanomics is Fascism", "Obama is socialism with a smiley face", and the such. Please, just stop. You are making yourself look dumb.

If you want to say you disagree with Obama's socialist policies, then go ahead and state so. I voted for him and I don't agree with some of them also. However, you are hurting your cause even more by proving just how ignorant and stupid you really are by trying to sensationalize.

All I'll say on Texas's secession is that, if the majority of the state wants to use Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter as role models: Feel free to get the hell out of my country, we'd be better off without you.

Coach is Quitting

After being one of the greatest coaches in the league, John Madden went on to be the most recognized broadcaster in football (Howard Kosell is already dead I didn't forget about him). The release of his annual football video games has almost become a national holiday. Today, John is going home to put some tough-actin' Tinactin on his feet and supplement his retirement by putting in a shift at ACE, the helpful hardware place. boom. I'm gonna go weep now.

Update

Hey folks! There have been a lot of things goin on with those of us on the Road Less Traveled. On St Patrick's day the three of us for together in My home town of Pikeville KY. This was the forst time all three of us have been in the same room. There was a lot of talk about politics and political philosophy. What amazed me about these conversations was how close we all really are. The three of us are pretty seperate politically. We are all true patriotic Americans. We all truly want what is best for this country even when that means shaking things up a bit. We all truly believe that what is best is not always what is the prettiest or easiest way out. We talked about eh bail out adn the damage it will do to our nation. We talked about drug policy and how prohibition is not working. We talked about how war is rarely the best answer. We talked about how Ron Paul is the greatest living American. Well, I talked about that one. 

Another change that has been keeping us busy here on the Road is my new roommate. You all know him as the Leviathan. I now have that pompus know it all sleeping across the hall form me ... another pompus know it all. I sort of feel sorry for my poor girlfriend who will never  live another day without hearing a political or religious argument shouted through the cloud of beer, bourbon, and pipe smoke. Well, between us we have a fine library of books and movies. Look forward to many more posts and possible some new video posts, as well as many other changes around here. We really appreciate you guys sticking with us through our crazy lives and participating when we have time to rant and pontificate. Thanks for joining us on the road and stap in, its gunna be a long trip.    

We Could All Use a Drink

I just saw a rerun of the Colbert Report in which the guest was the president of a college who started the conversation at the academic level of lowering the drinking age to 18.  No longer is the argument only being held in college dorm rooms by pissed off teenagers who want to have a drink at the bar because that's where all the hot women are.  It still continues there, but there is a growing number of collegiate presidents who are thinking that the drinking age should be lowered so that there is less of a taboo feeling surrounding drinking.  Evidence can be found to support the thought that drinking out in the open is more safe than drinking behind closed doors.

The only reason that I think it is really important to be talking about this right now is this: with a 'war' that has gone on for 8 years (in which 18 year olds can fight), a global recession, numerous foreign problems that this blog has reported on previously, and the sudden realization that life after high school is full of this thing called responsiblity, I think in these times everybody, especially 18-21 year olds, could really use a drink.

The District of Columbia wants to have representatives in Congress. This will be short. What state do they live in?

Please comment any answers.

God's Name is Jim?

I don't know how many of you are fans of the Daily Show, but I am. A couple nights ago, there was a ruckus between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer of CNBC. Go to the Daily Show website and watch it. This entry was made on my new smartphone, so it's going to be a little short. However, the next blog post will be very special, so stay tuned.

Noticing Patterns

I don't know if anybody is a big enough nerd to know that Tuesday was Square Day, it was 3/3/09.  I heard about it, I didn't celebrate; promise.

Today it's 3/6/09, no fancy name, but it still follows a pattern, which I think is interesting.

A bit of insight into the way my mind works, I studied music and then math and then history in college and each of these studies are similar in one major aspect: each of them is a study of patterns.

Here's an interesting pattern I've noticed: every time that a member of the government mentions that a company is getting bailout money or that a new stimulus measure is being passed the dow falls.  Why?

Here's my theory.  If you give them a little when they're doing ok but not great, you'll give them a lot when they're doing bad but not terrible.  Just imagine how much we'll give them when they're paying you to take the stock.

Anybody?  Bueller?

A Normality that is Golden

Also known as the Gold Standard. Ron Paul, seen in this video, discusses the beginnings of the Federal Reserve.

Mentally Ill-ussion

Thanks for the great idea, Beck.  Great title too :)

There's a disease in the justice system.  It has permeated the minds of great legal thinkers.  That is the mentally ill defense.  If a person is under great duress or has some other medically proven mental inability they can become exempt from their crimes.

This is not justice.

If a person with bipolar disorder can say that they were not aware of their actions, or if aware not in control, the same defense should be able to be used by drunks.  "I was too drunk to know that driving my car into that guy was a bad idea!"  "OK, go to detox for a few months and enroll in AA."  But Leviathan, someone might say, the drunk chose to be drunk, the mentally ill don't choose to have their problems.  Does that make their debt to society any lesser?  No.  If a person commits a crime against society they have to pay for it.  Just the same as everyone else.  That's justice.  No one will argue that the unabomber was completely sane, but I think everyone can agree that it's a good thing he's in jail and not a mental home.

I am a fan of equality.  If the mentally ill desire to be treated equally in society, they must be treated equally in the courts.  Same as blacks, gays, women, and any other group of people.

Update

Hey guys.  It's time for an episode of good news bad news.

Good news - I got a job.

Bad news- I still have to work in working and writing, but I'll get it going within the next few days.

Good news - Conan is taking over for Jay and Jimmy is taking over for Conan.

Bad news - I have to work early and don't have DVR, so I don't know when I will sleep.

Good news - The world has been fairly at peace.

Bad news- I haven't had as much to write about and readership has dropped off.

What would you guys like to read about that I can write about in the future?

The Son Prepares To Carry The Heavy Torch of Liberty

From the very beginning of American politics, there have been families to make politics their family business. Our second president, John Adams, would see his son reach the presidency. Then, of course, there are the Eisenhowers, Kennedys, Clintons and Bushes. Now the Pauls?!? Anyone who pays any attention to American politics or who watched the republican debates and results from our last election will know, Dr. Ron Paul has become an icon in libertarian and conservative circles. Dr. Paul was laughed at by republican candidates such as Rudy Giuliani until he won debate after debate, and finished ahead of candidates like Giuliani state after state. Those in power began to fear Paul and kept him out of the later debates. Dr. Ron Paul has been a mainstay of Texas' 14th and 22rd Districts since 1976. Holding seats from both districts in the US congress. Now, Rand Paul, the son of the great Dr. Ron Paul is considering throwing his hat into the ring of the 2010 senate race from the state of KY.

Dr. Randall "Rand" Paul is an eye surgeon in Bowling Green KY and has been raised learning the ways of Ludwig von Mises and John Locke from his father. He would be the most liberty oriented senator since another member of a famous family, Robert Taft. While i would lovet o see Rand move toward an executive position, having 2 Pauls in the US congress would be a huge step toward returning liberty to the US. The power the Pauliticians could give to the modern libertarian revolution is immeasurable. The power and dedication of the Ron paul supporters would be a very powerful ally for a Rand Paul campaign. Already, the internet is abuzz with planning and preparation for the possible Paul Senate run. Rand Paul has rousing speaking style and a depth of knowledge with which no candidate could compete.

As a Kentuckian, nothing would make me prouder than to see a liberty lover elected from out state to the US congress. Well, except maybe for one to be elected Governer or President. I am pleased to be able to say i will be volunteering and supporting Paul on 2010.

A Season for Service

I went to an Ash Wednesday service at my church tonight and was reminded that during the season in which Christians remember Jesus' time spent in the wilderness we are called to reflect on our own path and look for ways to serve.

Last night Barack Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress and told the nation that in the wake of the stimulus package being passed it is each American's time to look for ways to serve while we all go through a tough economy.

The two messages, though from different sources, have the same meaning: we must each look into ourselves, find our skill, and use it for the betterment of all around us.  Even a little bit helps.  While you may not have joined me in fasting today, certainly you have joined me in my concern for the future.  As Gov. Jindal correctly said last night, "Americans can do anything."

If we all do our part we can not only pull through this tough time, but we will look back at this and say, "What depression?"

A Lesson For Schools

I have personally argued since its inception that No Child Left Behind is the worst piece of legislation outside of the Patriot Act.  While the Patriot Act can be seen as responsible for breaking most constitutional standards of privacy or due process, NCLB is just badly put together.  The idea is great: get the kids who are doing the worst to do better.  Anybody can agree with that.  Education is society's equalizer, goes the saying.  With an education anybody can do anything.  Unless the economy goes into the biggest recession since '29, butI'm going to leave my diary out of this.

Here's the problem: local schools are run by local districts who are elected at the local level and are paid for by local school district and property taxes.  Anytime a person starts talking about a national educational standard, Parents and educators across the country are up in arms about losing the control of their schools.  This act of Congress, however, neither leaves control of local schools in the hands of local school boards nor creates a national standard of education.

Proficient in Mississippi is failing in Maryland.  Schools are told by a federal agency that they have to get certain numbers on their tests or else they don't get funding.  Now kids' performance on tests is directly linked with the school's ability to buy books.  If a school falls behind, they get less funding.  This would be fine if they were like any other business.  Unfortunately, Wall Street is getting tons of cash for not being able to keep their business together and children are told that if they just did better they'd be fine.  So what's a state to do?  Ah, the wonderful teacher's union will tell you.  Lower the standards and then it becomes easier for the teachers to bring all children up to the standard.  I'm glad we're so worried about the kids at the bottom.  What about all the wasted talent at the top?

I already wrote a post about W.E.B. DuBois and his theory of the talented tenth.  I'm not going to mention it again for the fear of sounding redundant.  Now Ohio wants to make a child's score on the ACT part of graduation requirements.  Anybody else see anything wrong with this?

I have tried for years to express the problems with our educational system.  Unfortunately, everybody's too worried about the kid next to me who can't spell to talk to me.  Tying school funding to test performance is not the appropriate method for teaching children about work and rewards.  That's what jobs are for. 

In an era that recognizes the existence of different learning styles, the value of different assessment techniques, and the relationship between school funding and school performance, I would have thought we would understand that giving every student across the country the same test but having different standards set at the state level by people who haven't taken a test in 20 years and making the results of that test make the difference between firing teachers and buying computers is not acceptable.  Maybe Congress missed that day in class.  I hope it's not on the test...

Economic Policy

I have noticed a significant drop in readership since the last post on drugs, but that has not affected my decision to write on the topic.  I would like to begin the article by stating plainly that I am discussing the economic argument for legalizing not just pot but all drugs.  I do not really want to hear about the health issues or the safety issues because we do not know them.  Everybody knows someone who uses drugs.  I do too.  A lot of my friends know how to control their habits and are perfectly normal, some are not.  However, since tobacco and alcohol are legal I don't want to hear about safety or health.  Thanks.  On to economics.

Have you ever stopped to think about what this country was really founded for?  This country was founded on the principle that free men can make their own choices and their own money and that as long as they have the right to voice their opinions in government they didn't mind paying taxes on any and all goods.  Now the government tells us what we can and can't eat, drink, inhale, inject, own, and marry.  Doesn't sound very free to me.

If Congress legalized drugs there would be several ECONOMIC benefits.  I'm going to start at the production phase and move on through the line.  First you have people growing or otherwise manufacturing drugs.  They have to own land to grow the plants that drugs come from, there's both land purchasing and property tax.  They have to sell their raw materials to processers, there's sales tax and income tax.  The processers have to own buildings to use as factories, there's even more land purchasing and property tax.  The processers sell the finished product to stores, once again you have sales tax and income tax.  The stores sell the product, and we have a third round of sales and income taxes.

Now that we've looked at taxes, let's look at jobs.  You now need farmers, construction workers for the processing facilities, processing plant owners, processing plant workers, store owners, and store employees.  That's a whole lot of jobs whose taxes have already been discussed.

Now that you have people using any drugs they want, you have to think about what happens after they use them.  Police have to keep our streets safe from those people who break the regulations and go out driving, or stealing, or breaking other existing laws (sounds like alcohol).  Drug rehabilitation facilities will have to be built and staffed.  Research into the actual affects of many newer drugs will have to be built and staffed.  New companies selling 'the patch' or 'the gum' for whatever drug you want will have to be created after research finds ways to glean people off these now legal drugs (sounds like tobacco).  That's a whole lot more jobs, property taxes, and income taxes.  Also, for people who break the regulations that are to be set up, they have to pay the fines and court fees.  There's even more money coming in.

Okay, I think I've covered all of the possible government incomes from legalizing drugs, how about the savings?  Half, yes one in two, of all federal prisoners are in prison because of NONVIOLENT drug-related crimes.  They all get let out.  Wow, we don't need nearly as many jails do we?  Tax money doesn't get wasted on the unfortunate enough to get caught doing something studies have shown 8 in 10 young people try does it?  The 7 BILLION dollars that have been spent year to date in the war on drugs is now unnecessary.  That's to date, it's only February.  In 2003, the government spent 19 BILLION dollars on the war on drugs.  That's one year.  How much money have they spent all time?  Go look it up, it's more than Iraq and Afghanistan combined, and I think it's probably greater than the new stimulus bill.  We also lower the case load for public defenders, jailers, bailiffs, judges, and police who can now focus on murderers, rapists, and other VIOLENT offenders.

Wow, more money coming in, less money going out, can this get any better?  Yes it can.  We also can improve trade relations with Mexico, Brazil, Afghanistan, and most if not all of Central America.  Now all of the money that we're getting in income and taxes is spread to these other nations as well.  Sounds great doesn't it?  What's the only drawback?  The government has less control on the private lives of its citizenry.

Long and Winding

The United States is walking down the road to the future.  While many leaders have the vision to see the ending, I'll let them argue what end will come, few have the sight to see what the next step is.  In the Christmas classic movie, 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town,' the Winter Warlock sings a song about putting one foot in front of the other.  We as a nation must do that now.

We must start developing our own skills and marketing them.  If you're good at sewing, make your own shirts and sell them to your neighbors.  You'll get extra income and they'll get cheaper shirts than they would at the store.  If you're good with computers, tell your friends you'll do technical repairs so that they don't have to spend the money on a new machine.  Yes this hurts big business.  Yes this hurts the economy.  Big businesses are getting government money and are being run badly.  The economy is too big for its own britches.  Big businesses need to fail and the economy needs to shrink to a maintainable level.  It's going to hurt, but if each of us work hard to make ends meet they will meet.  That's called free market.

We must all recognize that other people are not always at fault for their problems.  If a friend lost their job, invite him over to dinner.  If a coworker can't afford his car payments, offer him a ride.  If someone you have never met says he lost his job, give him five bucks to shovel your driveway.  That's called generosity.

Those are the left foot and right foot that each of us must use to tread forward while our leaders look forward.  They can afford to look at how he economy will function in two years or four years or ten years.  We can't.  We have to live day to day and month to month.

I have a lot of material saved about how the economy should change and how the government should change, but I think we've all heard enough of stimulus and foreign policy.  I heard of a woman at my church who turned 50 this year.  She told her friends not to get her lavish gifts or plan a wild party, she asked them to instead plan 50 acts of kindness.  By the time her birthday came around, 57 acts had been completed.  This is what makes America strong.  We must all come together as a nation and work together.  There's a reason that this nation didn't survive as a confederacy in the first 4 years after the end of the war of independence.  Bickering and blame plagued the first confederacies and the Second Continental Congress were able to see what we need to see now.  There's only one way this nation of states can survive:

United.

WOW! What a citizen!

I have long had a theory about MMO Games ability to make people more open minded because of the diverse environment they play in. While many people regard gamers as geeks and outcasts of society that provide no benefit, it seems more information is coming out that the opposite is actually true.

Gamers are better citizens.

The games make people adapt to a very diverse climate, interacting with people from all over the world in different regions and countries with very different ideals and beliefs and research is showing that is making them, for lack of a better term, better people.

Here is an article analyzing one such research area:

“For the uninitiated, she showed some of the "chaotic and complicated" World of Warcraft, which even has its own virtual economy dealing with the things necessary to succeed in the game.She explained how game players she studied collaboratively use scientific problem-solving techniques to succeed in World of Warcraft.”

She continues on to say:

“Her work included analysis of message boards where World of Warcraft players get together. She found 86 percent of the talk was "productive," featuring very detailed questions and serious discussion, with players exchanging ideas and making counter-arguments using data and reasoning and building on each others' ideas.”

But that’s not all, just read about the civic flexibility the players showed:

“She found that 65 percent of the discussion was "evaluative" vs. 30 percent "absolutist" -- "My idea is right and not open to discussion" -- and 5 percent "relative" -- it's just opinion and no one is right.

In contrast, she said studies have found that the U.S. population is only 15 percent evaluative, 50 percent absolutist and 35 percent relativist.”

Those figures are incredibly statistically significant, people in games actively debate over 4 times as often as those in the United States general population and the absolutist attitude is almost half as likely to occur in game as in reality.

You have to wonder how games are really opening the eyes to the fact that there is no “right way” of doing things.

Maybe the people labeling gamers as outcasts should take a lesson from the open-minded.

Paper Bull

After World War II, China referred to the United States as a paper tiger, meaning that we looked threatening but were actually very weak.  Nobody gave the thought any real credit because we seemed to do pretty well for 60 years, but I think that we have to give that sentiment another look with the realization of recent events.

For sixty years we were the dominant economy on the globe, in fact our money was in many ways more powerful than our military.  Then we started borrowing to afford a military occupation.  It seems that while our military is being given a bad name overseas our economy is being given over to other hands.  The power of the United States during the Second World War came from our ability to mobilize the entire economy for war and our unified belief that our cause was in good faith.  Now the money comes from China and I think we can agree that most people don't think the military is doing the right thing.

I don't mean that individual soldiers are acting improperly by serving their country.  I mean that the leadership is making poor decisions on how to use the military.  Get off me.  God.  You people and your patriotism.

Back to what I was saying.  Our hard power has crumpled like a cheap piece of paper and the tiger of our influence has been declawed.

China on the other hand, is the third largest growing economy behind us and Japan.  In a couple years they expect to pass Japan.  They are working hard with Russia to improve a relationship that has been rocky at best.  They are working with Iran to give them nuclear power, if not also weaponry, because they recognize that Iran is a power in the making.  China is also making sure that they don't allow territories like Tibet or Taiwan out of their grasp because it allows them to feel the power of their permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.  They are buying up United States debt to make their economy powerful over ours.  They have been a bull in the market of debt.  They have been optimistic that we would be able to pay off our debts.  Unfrtunately, just as banks are realizing that many people they gave mortgages to are unable to pay them off, China will learn that we are currently unable to pay them off.  Their economic prowess is merely a show.  They are no more certain than we are but their authoritarian control allows them to seem united regardless of fact.

We are more of a paper tiger than anyone in the government wants to allow for, but China is also a paper bull.  The only problem with everyone being made of paper is that inflation can be a real pain in the ass.

Dr. Paul's Walls II - Taft on the Draft

Ron Paul from Texas details why the United States should never return to a draft system.