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29 October 2008

Leverage Is Not the Issue

Just like his prideful crowing about how “The World is Flat,” Thomas Friedman is beaming like Little Jack Horner over his conclusion that the key to dealing with Iran is realizing that its people are only a bunch of carpet traders. Even more to the point, Friedman is quite self-centered in defining the reason behind the Iranian revolution. His dismissal in the October 29, 2008 New York Times of the religious underpinning of the theocratic regime—”Their whole rationale for being is that they are resisting a hegemonic American power that wants to keep everyone down.”—certainly would prevent a resolution of the antagonisms between the U.S. and Iran.

It is not leverage that American negotiators need to progress our relations with the Persian mullahs. It is a willingness to accept the existence of another cultural outlook in an intelligent, highly educated, aesthetically, historically and resource rich nation.

16 October 2008

Government’s Place

It was surprising that during the October 15, 2008, Presidential Candidates’ Debate, Senator Obama once again acquiesced to Senator McCain’s mischaracterization of the choice that faces American citizens for resolving the problems of the republic. Conservative politicians believe, as Europeans do, that the actions of the state are opposed to those of individuals. In fact, Louis XIV said it most memorably in the 17th Century: “L’Etat, c’est moi!”

However, our system of government is a representative democratic republic. The state is the embodiment of the will of the people. Actions of the state are authoritative only to the extent that they express that will; they cannot be opposed to it. It is the duty of citizens to impose their will on the government, through elections.

When Senator Obama proffers that he would act to make the tax code more equitable, by increasing levies on successful small businesses, like Joe the Plumber’s, in order to finance programs that help other small businesses succeed, he is really a tool that the people can consider employing to carry out their will. When Senator McCain warns that this policy will prevent the people from relying on the market to carry out their will, he is right. Gamblers like Senator McCain would rather take their chances on market-determined outcomes. Over the weeks leading up to the debate, the world has been learning a lesson that gambling on a loosely regulated market can also have harmful consequences.

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