Monthly Archives: September 2017

History

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                                         Lesson #1                     Lesson #2                     Lesson #3

 

 

 

 

Progressive

consensus

 Class is ultimately all that matters. All

history is the history of the exploitation of the have-nots by the haves.

 The history of the West is the history of the exploitation of the non-white by the white and the history of mankind is the history of the exploitation of women. Western and US imperialism

are the causes of anti-Americanism and terrorism.

 

This is the lesson of Vietnam, Iraq.
 

 

 

Conservative

consensus

 Communist premises lead to tyranny, injustice,

and poverty —

as in Soviet Union, China,

Cuba, Zimbabwe

 Free markets lead to rising standards of living —in China

As in the US,

Europe, Brazil, Mexico. The West has been a hugely net positive force in world history.

 Peace comes through strength not appeasement.

Weakness encourages aggression. This is the lesson of Munich and 9/11.

 
 

 

 

Is there a middle ground?

 

 

 Free markets lead to rising standards of living —in China

As in the US,

Europe, Brazil, Mexico. The class

Is all that matters premise is false.

The driver of history is human imagination not class struggle.

Property is not theft but the fence of liberty.

 Free markets are not enough.

Education and health are public goods and high standards of each for all are the government’s business. The West has been a net positive force

for the world and this can be measured by the relative degree of gender and racial equality there

 The lessons of Munich, 9/11, Vietnam, and Iraq are all worth remembering.

Hindsight is 20/20.

The choice of the wrong analogy could result in untold human slaughter. What sane person would want to take on

that burden?

(ie what sane person would want to be president?)

 

Constitutional Law

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Time for a 4th Amendment Package?

 

Make more                   Reduce                      Establish                End taxation
“Democratic”               Corruption                Justice/Freedom   without Represent

Abolish Senate Single longer terms for Congressmen Equal schools amendment – equal programs, equal disciplinary standards Balanced budget amendment

Transparent Citizen’s Guide to Financial Report
Abolish Electoral

College

 Single longer term for president Education as fundamental right amendment Rule based monetary policy: violation of article 1, Section 9
Tweak Senate Automated districting to eliminate gerrymandering Basic Income
amendment – end current welfare system 82 programs		 Statehood for DC
Tweak Electoral College Require Congressmen to read bills – if don’t read who wrote? GBrubstake

Amendment

 Statehood for Puerto Rico
E voting Transparency – every clause in every bill author disclosed No zip code safety gap amendment National Teaching and Citizenship Acadenies
Automatic voter

registration

 Limits on donations End affirmative action End rule by executive decree
Mandatory Voting End disparate impact mandates End filibustering
Direct Referenda

(a la Switzerland)

 End Price Controls

(min wage, rent control)

 End executive pardons
End life tenure for judges Make judges electable Universal DNA testing End dual citizenship
End rule of 5 for judicial decisions Abolish elections of Judges Parent licenses and training programs End age restrictions

 

First three packages: Bill of Rights, Reconstruction Amendments, Progressive package (direct election of Senators, Income Tax, Women’s suffrage, Prohibition)

Much has changed in last 100 years, time to make the law of land consistent with these new realities

 

 

Rhetoric

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To be a thinking citizen demands being attuned to logical and statistical fallacies and the propaganda tricks of demagogues.

A rhetorically un-trained citizen is a patsy at the poker table of modern politics.

Logical Fallacies Statistical Fallacies Propaganda Tricks
Begging the Question  Data Omission     Code words
The Straw Man  Correlation and Causation

Confusion

     Manipulative Images
The False Dilemma  Misleading aggregate data     Dog whistles
 Ad hominem  Survey question framing     Wedges
 Appeal to Emotion:

(spite, fear)

  Cherry picking     Old fashioned bold lies
Appeal to Authority Sampling errors     Camera angles
The Red Herring    Composition
Appeal to the Majority    Lighting
Moving the Goal Posts    Testimonials
Fallacy of Composition    Scapegoats
Moral high ground fallacy
Furtive fallacies
Hasty generalization/

Converse accident
Argumentum ad baculum

(might makes right,

appeal to consequences)
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc
Non sequitur

 

A fallacy does not prove a claim false. But its use does undermine it.

Swift quote on lies: falsehood flies and truth comes limping after it.

A lie travels halfway around the world while truth still putting on its shoes.

People remember the lie not so much the truth.

Health Care

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                                           Principle                      Fact                          Solution

 

Side A

  

Health care is a

basic right and should be treated as a public good like education or defense.

 

  

Most other developed countries treat it as such and many have better health outcomes at lower costs.

 

 Adopt universal health care on a

Canadian, British, or French model.

 

Have a public option as in US public education.
 

Side B

  

The key to maximizing the quality and abundance of any good or service while minimizing its cost is the free market.

 

 The history of the Soviet Union, China, Cuba,

Venezuela,

Zimbabwe is testimony to the fact that government control leads to scarcity – to long lines and empty shelves in health care as in all other areas of the economy.

  

Minimize government involvement

In health care.

 

Let the free market do its magic here as in computer technology leading to abundance at low cost and high quality.
 

 

Side C

 

 

  

The real issue is not health care or health insurance but health – maximizing each individual’s potential for joy and productivity.

 

The free market versus government choice is a false dilemma.

 

 Health outcomes are more a function of behavior than either health care or health insurance access.

Most health care and health insurance systems in the world are hybrids.

Problem is too much and wrong kind not too little.

 Re-frame the health policy debate accordingly.

Universal catastrophic care plus health savings accounts.

The greatest health crisis is the 20 MM children living a Daily Katrina of   unsafe streets, second rate schools, and unstable homes.

Education

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Principle                        Fact                         Solution

Side A  

Education is the business of parents, churches, state and local government not the federal government.

  

92% of funding for primary and elementary education comes from non-federal sources.

  

Keep the federal government out of education.

 

Promote vouchers to improve quality and lower costs.

 
Side B  

Education is a fundamental right that must be guaranteed by the federal government.

Equal protection of the laws requires equal quality of schools across the nation.

 

  

Without federal intervention, Southern schools would still be segregated by law.

 

Huge disparities exist in the quality of schools nationwide.

 

  

Education should be nationalized to guarantee equal protection of the laws.

 

Increase federal spending on schools.

 

Abolish charter schools.

 
Side C

 

 

  

Identify best practices and model their application.

 

Address the links between family structure and neighborhood safety and school performance.

 

Focus on joys not skills or fun.

 

  

High standards and high expectations are the keys to a successful school.

 

Schools need the families and communities to reinforce the message.

 

Successful models exist in the US

And elsewhere.

  

Roll out the Harlem Children’s Zone model across the country.

 

Roll out the Education First Party’s 8 point program.

 

Learn from Iceland, Rafe Esquith. Amy Chua.

Justice

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Principle                           Fact                             Solution

Side A  

 

Economic Inequality is the issue or our time.

 

Not fair that some are very poor and some are very rich.

 

  

Top 1% of income make 20%. Top 1% of wealth own, 80%.

  

Tax the Rich more.

 

Raise the minimum wage.
Side B  

 

 

Government is the issue our time.

 

Socialism leads to poverty, scarcity, and tyranny.

  

The top 1% of income pay 40% of federal taxes.

 

The higher the minimum wage, the higher the unemployment of the neediest workers.

 

50% of Americans pay zero net taxes.

  

Slash regulations which are a tax on economic growth.

 

Abolish minimum wage which is apartheid for the unskilled.

 

 

 
 

 

Side C

 

 

  

Economic opportunity is the issue of our time.

 

Economic opportunity is a three front war.

  

20 million children are living a daily Katrina of unsafe streets, second rate schools, and unstable homes.

 

Politicians don’t care because the kids have neither money nor votes.

  

 

Universal basic income, a starter kit, and an end of life package –focusing on quality of life..

 

 

 

  

Climate Change

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Principle                     Fact                              Solution

 

 

Side A

 

 

  

We are in an existential crisis.

The planet is at risk.

 

  

The earth is getting warmer. Carbon dioxide is a green house gas. Burning of fossil fuels is increasing carbon concentrations.

 

  

Shut down the coal industry.

 

Divestment of all fossil fuels.
Side B  

Global warming is a hoax.

  

Warming has been slower than forecast.

 

It is not true that all scientists agree.

 

The human contribution to warming is not precisely known.

 

  

No need to do anything.
 

 

Side C

 

 

  

Prudence dictates taking action now even if the probability is relatively low.

 

  

Scientific consensus should not be ignored even if consensus is not necessarily correct or is exaggerated for partisan reasons.

 

  

Massive investment in nuclear power.

 

Carbon tax or carbon dividend.

 

Massive investment in alternative energy.

 

Foreign Policy

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     Principles           Facts                               Solution

 

 

Side A

 

 

  

If you have the power to stop bad things, you have a duty to do so.

 

  

The defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan would not have happened without US intervention.

 

  

Intervene with decisive first at an early stage to prevent horrific consequences down the line.
 

Side B

 

  

War is hell and must be avoided at all costs.

 

  

Vietnam was a terrible mistake and the 2003 Iraqi intervention a total disaster.

 

  

Stick to multi-lateral, diplomatic solutions to world crises.
 

 

Side C

 

 

  

The right thing to do at any time and place depends on getting the details right.

 

  

The lessons of Munich and of Vietnam are both true.

  

No one size fits all solution.

 

 

Israel-Palestine

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           PRINCIPLE                                 FACT                                         SOLUTION

 

Imperialism is bad and Palestine belongs to Palestinians.

 

 

  

Israel is the creation of imperialist powers –

Britain and the United States after World War II. Secretary of State Marshall was right and President Truman was wrong.

 

  

The annihilation of Israel.

 

 

The clear message of Ali Khamenei.

 

 
 

Israel is the homeland of the Jews who have a right to self-defense.

 

  

If any people on the earth have the documented right to any specific land, it is the Jews to Israel. Jerusalem is to the Jews as Mecca is to Muslims.

 

  

Give full support to Israel who should not give an inch because are surrounded by tyrannical enemies who seek its annihilation.
 

Both sides are equally

right.

 

 

 Both sides have committed atrocities.  

Split the difference.

Two state solution

One state solution.

Business as usual.

Status quo.

 

 

 

Political Process

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Principle                        Fact                               Solution

Side A  

 

No real democracy without proportional representation.

 

  

First past the post disenfranchises even large minorities and facilitates gerrymandering.

 

 Adopt proportional representation’
Side B  

Money is corrupting politics.

 

 

 

  

The more money you have the more political influence you have.

 

  

Over turn citizens United.

 

 
 

 

Side C

 

 

  

Non-elected officials from the judiciary to the Fed have too much power.

 

If Congressmen don’t read bills, who writes them?

 

 

 

  

The Fed Chairman is the most powerful economic actor in America.

 

One swing voter on the supreme court has the power to overturn legislation backed by the vast majority of the American people.

  

Adopt a rule-based monetary policy.

 

Abolish Life tenure for judges.

 

Make unanimity a requirement for Supreme Court decisions.