Looking to a New Decade

As 2010 rolls around and the new decade begins, Americans have a lot to ponder, with perhaps the foremost question being “what exactly did we sign up for when we voted for hope” and “have we really gotten the change we were led to hope for?” The new decade will be as important for making concrete policy decisions as it will for the American people to do some soul searching and find out what it really is that they want from themselves and their government.

It is undeniable that the American character, if not already changing, is under pressure from different groups.  Despite the strong trend of liberal social policy from Congress and judicial creativity from the Supreme Court, Americans are still center right (one reason Obama’s approval rating has fallen from 80% to below 50% in less than a year). Even in light of massive ad campaigns attempting to incite class warfare between the middle class and the rich (at least in Oregon), the fact that Americans are rejecting a generalized dislike of wealthy is  reassuring.

All of this to say that in my opinion, although the challenges are steep both domestically and internationally, hope is not lost as some conservatives have let themselves believe.

Some of the big issues Americans must deal with:

1. Healthcare - both parties agree that our system is broken, but is the answer more government? Can the free market fix what seems to be an obvious market failure?
2. Foreign Interventionism - as we have recently discovered, it seems that America is dealing with an enemy that can relocate so easily that the ‘front’ in the war on terror seems to be a nondescriptive word. Is the front Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, or Yemen? How many more wars will Americans support, especially if it becomes clear that they are awakening a greater enemy than they could hope to defeat?
3. Abortion & Same Sex Marriage – Will the two greatest social issues of this generation find resolution? If and when either finds conclusion, what will be the immediate consequences?
4. China and the East – America is receding, and China is gaining. How will the shifting balance of power affect the American people and their government’s ability to protect their interests abroad? Also, how will the U.S. deal with an increasingly aggressive Russia, and a radically shifting Middle East?

In each of the above scenarios, I hope that Americans make decisions with their civil liberties and civic responsibilities in mind. Freedom is hard won, easily lost, and once handed to the government, difficult to retake.

“Annabel Lee”

Just added this to “selected poetry.” A wonderful poem by Edgar Allen Poe.

~~~

Annabel Lee – Edgar Allen Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

“Selected Art” ———>

Just created a new page based off of my visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I’ve selected my favorite art, which might give you a few ideas of what to look for should you ever decide to visit.

Man’s Modern Bridge to Nowhere

“For it was the mastery of man over his environment which heralded the dawn of the new age, and it was in the stress of expanding economic energies that this mastery was proved and won.”

- R.H. Tawney

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Some thoughts I had while listening to another pro free-market rant in my History of Economics class.

New poetry

Just updated the Original Poetry section with something new.

I haven’t done much blogging on here lately, but my investment blog has seen a little bit more action.

One week.

One week and I will be back in New York City. I cannot begin to describe how radical of a shift it is moving from the slow-moving, tree hugging Oregon community to the focused, fast-paced, electric atmosphere of New York City.

Still, I’m ready. I don’t know what this year has in store – success or failure? I do know, however, that I’m going to give every responsibility that I have as much energy as I can muster. What responsibilities are those?

1. Guiding the House of Bonhoeffer through the year, ensuring that the house is healthy, competitive and growing in both the short and long terms.

2. Leading the King’s Debate Society into a a position of financial and social entrenchment at TKC.  Focused vision, increased competitiveness, a more Christ-centered organization.

3. Growing my stock portfolio, keeping my long term financial prospects strong, and having a good time while I’m doing it.

4. Focusing in my studies, chewing the meat and spitting out the bones. Taking every bit of knowledge I can, mulling it over, debating, pondering, and clarifying.

5. Never forgetting the least advantaged. Never forgetting to love people, to give them my time, energy, and heart.

6. Through all of the above, staying on my knees and remembering Who it is that should be the driving force behind my actions and motivations.

I’m ready. Let’s do it.

I’m now a 50centinvestor

Just a heads-up. I’ve started a new blog to follow my investment experiences and observations, as well as to post my thoughts and stock picks. You can find that at here.

New poetry, and back to NYC

Posted some new poetry the other day. The front page of the blog hasn’t been active for much of the summer, but the poetry section has been updated every week or two with new musings.

In other news, it’s been a great summer, but I’m definitley ready to get back to King’s, and New York City. It’s going to be a big year, and I’m ready to get started. I’m also ready for my mouth to stop hurting, I got my wisdom teeth pulled just a few days ago.

Ciao.

I’m still alive.

I took a few days off. I just added a new page called “[Essential] music”.  I’ll post [essential] music whenever I can find it. You can visit the page to read what I mean by “essential.”

Also, more posts in original poetry and selected poetry.

Phew. Got done reading poetry for an hour and a half. Shakespeare is a genius, Thomas Gray made me laugh like an idiot in the middle of a crowded coffee shop.  If you’ve got a second to spare, go read “Ode (On the Death of a Favorite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes)”

Was it Really Reagan?

In a recent op-ed, columnist Paul Krugman declares Ronald Reagan the architect of the financial meltdown. Singling out Reagan’s support of the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, Krugman writes:

The more one looks into the origins of the current disaster, the clearer it becomes that the key wrong turn — the turn that made crisis inevitable — took place in the early 1980s, during the Reagan years.

Krugman extends his argument:

We weren’t always a nation of big debts and low savings: in the 1970s Americans saved almost 10 percent of their income, slightly more than in the 1960s. It was only after the Reagan deregulation that thrift gradually disappeared from the American way of life, culminating in the near-zero savings rate that prevailed on the eve of the great crisis. Household debt was only 60 percent of income when Reagan took office, about the same as it was during the Kennedy administration. By 2007 it was up to 119 percent.

All this, we were assured, was a good thing: sure, Americans were piling up debt, and they weren’t putting aside any of their income, but their finances looked fine once you took into account the rising values of their houses and their stock portfolios. Oops.

…

But it was the explosion of debt over the previous quarter-century that made the U.S. economy so vulnerable. Overstretched borrowers were bound to start defaulting in large numbers once the housing bubble burst and unemployment began to rise. 

I don’t claim to know anything about Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, and I’m certainly not one to criticize Krugman for narrowing the first sign of regulatory trouble to a single piece of legislation, but Krugman seems to be implying that Reagan’s deregulation forced American’s into investment decisions that they couldn’t afford.  

What do you think? If we grant that Reagan’s deregulatory record opened the doors for American’s to spend beyond their means, do Reagan and his advisers bear responsibility for Americans who willingly spent and borrowed irresponsibly? Was it Reagan, or irresponsible Americans?