Controversial topic

For my political science class I must write a 3-4 page paper on a controversial topic concerning a constitutional amendment. When I finish the paper, I will condense it into a blog post or an article for our news paper. I will probably be posting things I find from my research too, so look out for it in the next couple weeks.

Before I can do any of this I must pick a topic, so does anyone have any ideas for a topic? Right now I'm thinking of Plaxico Burress and the Second Amendment or California and the Tenth Amendment (Marijuana). Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

The Two-Party System: Tyranny of Two Majorities?

I was in a class discussion section earlier today for my History of American Political thought class, and my TA proposed to us a question: "Madison, in the Federalist Papers, warned against the dangers of faction, and argued that if a wide array of viewpoints and interests was not represented in the Congress, a 'tyranny of the majority' would be formed and force their agenda on the populace. Considering the current look of our U.S. Congress, how well have we followed his advice? To what degree are the populace's views accurately represented?"

I raised my hand and replied: "I believe the current system could be called a tyranny of two alternating majorities, where only two specific sets of political ideals get a fair shake and a real say in the legislative process. There are a huge amount of political parties in this country that you never hear about, or maybe you've never even heard of. The fact that the Democrats and Republicans are the only two political parties most people are aware of is proof that we have not followed Madison's advice."

A girl replied to this by saying that I was incorrect, that the Republicans and Democrats offer two very different viewpoints, and within the party there are many different individuals with diffuse interests who accurately represent the people of the nation.

She gave examples of areas where Democrat (she referred to Dems as 'We' and Repubs as 'they') and Republican policies supposedly differ: "Afghanistan, taxes, size of government, Iraq, health care, and education, to name a few" she said.

I challenged her on that. I asked "Just how does the current administration's Afghanistan policy differ from the previous administration? You know Obama has INCREASED the war budget, right? You realize government GREW drastically during the Bush administration? These two parties operate in a very narrow framework and are much more alike than you think."

Then the bell rang, and class was dismissed. I'm glad I was able to get some kids in class to think about the goals of the framers vs. the system we know today. This is why groups like YAL are important. We have to continue to increase our influence on the political system, despite the choke hold of the two dominant factions, and insert viewpoints into the national political dialogue that people aren't used to hearing. That's how to avoid the tyranny of the majority, and make America more free.

Sukawatis vs. The Man

I'm in Anthro 104 - Cultural Antrophology - this semester. Most of the class so far has consisted of depressing statistics about how women are always oppressed and probably always will be. I'm no women's studies major, so I didn't find this terribly enlightening - but there was one horror story that I did pick up on. In Bali, there is an indigenous tribe of agricultural peoples called the Sukawati. They had a beautiful and ancient culture that revolved around ideas similar to Aristotle and eastern philosophies. Unfortunately, they were brutally disrupted when the USSR deemed that they were not productive enough, and were not doing their part to serve the rest of the members of the country - selfishly producing only what they needed to survive, so they decided to force the Sukawatis to grow higher yielding type of engineered rice. Now, one thing we take for granted as US citizens is the ability of our farmers to farm year after year on the same plot of land. This is a relatively new ability of humans, and requries a huge amount of capital and technology. To cope with the problem of overfarming, some less technologically-heavy societies, such as the Sukawatis, use a process of crop rotation to let the land heal. This is no easy process, and they even had extensive cultural practices - rituals, holidays and temples - dedicated to regulating and smoothing out the complex process of crop rotation in a society of thousands. When the new rice was implemented, its shorter growing period threw off all of the tables, rituals and customs these people had known for centuries, and their food production industry crumbled.

What I noticed when I heard this story was something I head noticed from almost every instance of government interaction - their inability to deal with spontaneous orders. Notice that the problem of the Sukawatis didn't arise because of a failure of communication, since even the Suwatis didn't know the purpose of their cultures, or the underlying structure or meaning to their water schedules, since they were both produced by the same invisible hand method, over hundreds of years, without the direct intention, planning or well-meaning of any individual that could be asked. The problem with most government interactions isn't that they haven't been done by the right people, it's that they can't be done efficiently by any human, since their underlying structure and purpose is beyond the scope of any one humans comprehension.

Social Security running annual deficits now

It was reported over the weekend that SS is now paying out more than it will take in because the recession has taken a heavy toll on revenues and more and more old people have been calling it quits because there are no jobs left in the country and have opted into the program earlier than they would have otherwise.

I found the article biased in my opinion. In the second paragraph the AP appeared to praise the federal government for running a cumulative $2.5 trillion SS surplus over the years. The only problem with that is...all that money was spent. It's not there anymore, just a bunch of IOU's sitting in a vault somewhere. So there is no money. SS is the epitome of failed government programs. The situation is so bad I seriously I doubt our parents who have been paying in the system of 30, 40 years will get more of a fraction of what they paid in back.

The other part I found unrealistic was that it claimed after the next two years of annual deficits, SS will run annual surpluses again until 2016 (down from 2040 as of 2 yrs ago I think). This is looking through a rose-colored lens as government always does, just like the CBO budget deficits that get revised a few trillion up every few months. That 2016 date assumes we get out of recession this year and have a substantial recovery. Of course though, through all of the policies being pursued now by the Obama administration we will be guaranteed to be in an economic black hole for years to come. So I'll predict right now on the record that SS will never run an annual surplus again...EVER.

Mothers waking up to Ron Paul

Glenn Beck recently hosted a town hall with mothers, who he feels really get the long-term picture of what's happening in the country more than fathers do. In one part a woman says Ron Paul is the only one in Washington representing the people and then for a second or two pauses to reflect on Dr. Paul before proclaiming in wonderment "What he has done for our country is just amazing." In this next part Angel Robinson from Campaign for Liberty takes it to the Fed for about a minute and half starting at 2:20.

Go Moms!

Student Organization Fair

A few weeks ago, put right across from the International Socialist Organization table, we were at the campus student org fair. Despite being surrounded by arch-enemies, it was tremendously successful. At least a dozen people had recognized our name from the chalking we had been doing for about a week, and we got over 60 new signatures, nearly all of which said that they completely agreed with us. Just goes to show you that there are more liberty streaks than you think, as long as you're willing to unearth them.

We're Getting Noticed!

Working towards the ideals of liberty at the UW Madison campus can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming when you're faced against a student body that can most correctly be characterized as dominated by socialist-liberals, some who have even come to the conclusion that health care is a natural "right". We'll save the health care debate for another day, however I think its important to talk about the challenge of this uphill battle. I often find my own enthusiasm for our message of "freedom from government" a bit bogged down by the apparent lack of support for the subject at our campus, but it's days like today that keep the fire in my belly churning. I opened the opinion section of the Badger Herald today and found a most inspiring article titled: "Realignment coming with Young Americans for Liberty"! I almost didn't believe it, but the author of the article cited our group as, "the right-wing student organization likeliest to effect genuine realignment within the Republican Party". A mention of our passionate tabling efforts on State Street mall for Constitution Day was mentioned as bringing a smile to his face. Well let me say that this article brought a smile to mine. I hold this article with great pride and as a showcase for the momentum of our group, showing us all that we're getting noticed, and more importantly, hopefully inspiring us so that we can achieve even more in the near future! I recommend reading the article for yourself, just try not to smile too much.

LINK TO THE ARTICLE!!!!!