The last capitalist candidate was Ronald Reagan. Before him, it was Barry Goldwater. Before him, it was Thomas Jefferson.
Do you not like President Calvin Coolidge? His philosophy can be summarized in the quip “America’s Business is Business.” He also appointed Andrew Mellon as his Secretary of the Treasury! James Madison was also pretty good.
With regards to the two party system, I perceive the two party dominance to be a local equilibria that is results from our current electoral system. I think it would be better if the following two electoral forms were undergone:
One potential danger that might arise from having a third party in Congress is that a (smaller) minority party could become just as powerful as the majority assuming all party members vote uniformly. For example, suppose that Congress is made up of 39 members with the following distribution:
* 19 Democrats
* 17 Republicans
* 3 Independents
If all of the party members vote the same way on any issue, whichever issue receives the endorsement of two parties will receive a simple majority regardless of which two parties it is. In other words, despite the disproportionate distribution, every party would wield equal electoral power in this example.
Why did I bring up this issue of electoral reform? I think with electoral reform, it will be easier for new ideas to percolate through the current political apparatus. Of course, this would be dangerous too as many bad ideas would also face less resistance.
Beneficial political reform will flourish in the United States if and only if it is preceded by necessary philosophical reform amongst the leading intellectuals in the U.S.A.
Do you not like President Calvin Coolidge? His philosophy can be summarized in the quip “America’s Business is Business.” He also appointed Andrew Mellon as his Secretary of the Treasury! James Madison was also pretty good.
It’s the primacy and recency effect…I know stuff about the early presidents and the more recent ones. I confess that I don’t know much about Coolidge.
That is where credit comes into the picture. It is the generous offer of credit by the nation’s banking institutions that covers up this big con job of the US government. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from moving into a new career in financial management it’s how severe the American consumer debt crisis is. The average American owes over $60,000 in credit card bills and car loans, plust another $180,000 in mortgage debt. People enjoy the trappings of wealth, but those SUVs, boats and homes are not theirs–they’re the banks’ property. I’m starting to work with families who coming to our parent company for financial planning help and these numbers are taken from the FNAs we do. We get all their facts and figures down on an input form and go back to the office and input them to company software to work out the best debt reduction plan. The debts people have is staggering!! If I hadn’t been hearing these numbers from clients myself, I would not believe them if I read them as statistics.
Over the years I’ve done consulting work for a number of “sub-prime” mortgage and auto lenders. These are the guys who lend money at incredibly high interest rates to people with bad credit. One thing I learned from my experiences is that people with bad credit generally are not in control of their lives. Their credit problems are just a sign of other, deeper underlying problems. Personally, I have a hard time enjoying things I’ve purchased when I know that I don’t really own them. And, I simply refuse to pay credit card interest on my purchases. Just the thought of it makes my skin crawl.
Over the years I’ve done consulting work for a number of “sub-prime” mortgage and auto lenders. These are the guys who lend money at incredibly high interest rates to people with bad credit. One thing I learned from my experiences is that people with bad credit generally are not in control of their lives. Their credit problems are just a sign of other, deeper underlying problems. Personally, I have a hard time enjoying things I’ve purchased when I know that I don’t really own them. And, I simply refuse to pay credit card interest on my purchases. Just the thought of it makes my skin crawl.
I paid off my Mastercard and Visa back in 1978 and tossed both of them. I have not possessed credit cards since then, because credit interest is poisionous. Credit card lenders are also taking to unfair practices of making payments appear late, so they can collect those $29 late fees and use the excuse to jack up the interest rates. No thank you to that.
My philosophy is simple: if I can’t afford to pay cash, then I can’t afford it. I paid $600 cash for my last American car, which lasted me 7 good years. I keep separate savings piles for essentials and luxuries. If I make money selling old equipment on eBay, that is my play money and goes to BassPig endeavors. My regular earned income goes to pay bills and taxes.
Many people have the false belief the credit is magic and can enable them to have a better lifestyle. That illusion can last a year or more and all is well for them. But eventually, as will all situations where expenditure is greater than income, the financial nexus lies ahead. And this year, we are starting to see unprecedented mortgage failures as A.R.M.s adjust/reset to much higher monthly minimums and homeowners of these overvalued dwellings discover that prosperity was just an illusion.
