DISQUS

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings;
the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
-- Churchill

Envy and ambition at times motivate people to make something of themselves. The key word is "motivate". Who makes something of him or herself without motivation?

Loved the article. Makes you pause. Some interesting facts on Mr. Vaillant which point to why he is so immersed in the study. Now I want to know more.

"In these places (inner cities), Democrats have been able to establish themselves as the safe and orderly party. President Obama has made responsibility his core theme and has emerged as a calm, reassuring presence (even as he runs up the debt and intervenes rashly in sector after sector)." David Brooks

So according to Mr. Brooks, the Dems are the "safe and orderly party". This while one of their favorite special interest groups, the American Bar Assoc. continues to show more interest in perps than victims. This while the Dems kowtow to the ACLU and worry more about terrorists than American citizens.
This while the DEA dictates that the Dems shoot down vouchers. Isn't that the only hope for kids in our large cities to get any discipline and education? This while the Dems address everything but personal responsibility as the government grows and does everything for everybody.

Brooks is smoking some good shit and washing it down with Obama koolaid.

To go way back to Mike Brock's post, the grass roots opportunity for Libertanians is in sites such as this. Many issues such as vouchers, term limits (power corrupts), reduced spending and our current litigation state which affects everything are not addressed by mainstream media. Whether the coming generations are informed on what the real issues are that impact their everyday life is really up to them. The current and future politicians (who are a bit more informed) are getting more and more of their information and opinions from the internet, a very pure democracy. One can certainly hope that future politicians will bring some of those issues to the forefront for the unwashed masses who are increasingly woefully informed.

I could be totally wrong, but I would guess that the individual (it started somewhere) who first objected to the "Hillary Movie" never had a problem with "Fahrenheit 9/11" or other Michael Moore movies? Perhaps they are not political enough?
This is a frightening precedent and we are entering a period where the lemmings of our country will accept anything as long as it is spun nicely.

Steve nailed it. Specter would have lost the republican primary. He will be guaranteed to get the Democrat nod. In an increasingly liberal state he will win reelection. He will vote as he usually does, liberal. The worst part of this was Gasbag Biden talking at the "announcement" this morning. I almost hurt myself jumping for the remote.

Adoption? Obviously you were exposed to all sides of the "children" debate on this site. If and when it happens, welcome to the club!
As to your new citizenship, to quote the McKenzie Brothers: "Take off you hoser!"

Lighten up Francis. We ALL matter to God. It's just that he's been kind of in a "hands off" mode for 2000 years or so.

"I'd imagine that diets tend to make people unhappy while exercise makes people happy."

Thehova said it right. Take the fast food away from the fat people and they are sad. Put them on a restrictive diet and they are depressed. What is really depressing is to go to any beach and "whale watch". What is amazing is that if you observe any of the fat folks at the mall or the beach, they are constantly stuffing their faces.
Some modicum of excercise will allow us to eat 'til we're full and have an occasional desert. Moderation is not an American trait and I guess as other countries "westernize", they go overboard on the chow too.

Corporate executives who pump up a quarterly performance (like selling off an asset/division for less than it's worth) to get a bonus could be described as greedy. Eventually the smoke and mirrors fade away and the stock goes back down.
Trial lawyers (for individuals or class action) who take 40 - 60% of the winnings are not in it to help the little guy.
Greed is everywhere. But so are good people.

But, amazingly, only this common ancestor of apes and humans evolved into something as "sophisticated" (I use this term cautiously) as humans. Why are there no skyscraper-building, hybrid-car-developing, contemporary housing developers in the lion or walrus families. Oh, of course, no need arose.

JB,
I have no answers. My admittedly weak point is that if we "evolved" from apes, what was the purpose of the evolution? Certainly not survival, as there are still apes. I know that we share most of our biological makeup with apes. No one can convincingly explain to me how some apes suddenly got (technically, like inventing weapons, communications, transportation, etc.) intelligence.

I was raised a Catholic. I lost the faith at about 15.

Why did all the miracles end 2000 years ago?
Why did God ask folks to sacrifice their sons and farm animals in the Old Testament?
Don't you get a whiff of barbaric ritual from this?
I know, I know..the Bible is full of parables.

I hold out hope of the existence of God.

Of all living creatures on this planet, only one clearly does not belong. And in who's image are we "made"? I can't say that I have read everything about evolution. I can say that I do not believe that we "evolved" from apes. Why are there still apes? We could be some extra-terrestrial kid's science project. I have no idea. I can only conclude that we are all much more primitive in our thinking (relative to our existence and origins) than we want to think. All of our theories are just that and no more.

First, I never wanted to get married. That's why my first marriage lasted 5 months.
Then I fell in love and got married a second time. We are still together after 29 + years. We were never going to have children. We both had worked hard to get our careers together, we actually had money to spend. We wanted to travel. We ate at restaurants all the time and got together with friends every weekend.
After our daughter was born everything changed dramatically. I was 32 and my wife was 30. My wife worried about everything. Getting our daughter to childcare, then daycare and picking her up while holding down a full-time job was a challenge for the two of us. Our friends started to have kids. We all drifted apart and our new friends were folks who lived in our town and had kids the same age as ours. We decided to have another kid. It was difficult and took over 2 years with some heartbreak. He is 9 years younger than my daughter and a college freshman.
Has my life changed? You bet. Would I have changed anyway? Sure.
Someone said that it is easier to have children than it is to get a driver's license. What would the qualifications be if you needed a license to have kids? I can only say involvement.
Someone else said that some people should not have pets or children. Why? No involvement or commitment. While it is true that many children with no support system still manage to thrive, the lack of parenting for an increasing portion of our population has not worked very well.
To camp on to what Richcromwell said, the cheap labor method was deployed vigorously by my father's generation with pretty good results. That is involvement with measurable results. My old man had my 2 brothers and I work in his store after school and weekends. We were not amused, but it was expected.
If you want to have fun and worry less, don't have kids.
You'll have much more money to spend, you can travel any time of the year (off-season is a bargain), get-togethers with friends (who also don't have kids) can occur at the drop of a hat - they are much more fun sometimes. You can drive a coupe instead of a sedan..yada,yada.
There is no definitive reason to have kids and, unfortunately, a lot of people who do have children wish that they didn't. This has always been the case. They will warm your heart and make you so proud one minute and they will tear your heart out the next.
If you do not want to have kids, do not marry or partner up with someone who does. And do not have any.

There must be a blueprint for a society's success that does not include population growth. Sometimes I think it (the blueprint) might include a global flood.

The war on drugs is a failure in every way. It burdens the police, courts and prisons. It's a choice - certainly a very bad one in the case of crack, powder cocaine or heroin. Pot is not entirely benign, but I would argue that it is less harmful than alcohol. The DEA grows with no positive results - whatever results society might want or expect from it.
Goldberg's wish to now go after more whites is absurd. Legalization or decriminalization.

Craig,
Great post. To further your thought. Nature or nurture? Even in a benign, altruistic utopia with a history of peace and harmony, don't you think there will be selfish, antagonistic pains-in-the ass who everyone (nice as they are) will just have to give up on and avoid? Face it: we are all different in as many ways as we are alike. We have the capability of responding to the same situation in unlimited ways, based on our unique experiences as well as that most unique and tough to predict self. To some degree, who or what we are is just imbedded in us. Does our environment influence the always evolving product? You bet. But there is an important ingredient that we are born with: self.

Will,
Between your site and Reason, who knows? Maybe someday we can do a doobie with the champagne on New Year's Eve! Ste4ve's point is THE point. Many bad things go away with decriminalization of pot: Mex Mafia, over-crowded jails, harassment of otherwise law-abiding citizens, (probably) corrupt DEA (what do they do with all those seized boats, houses and cash?), fines and folks getting chemo who would like some relief.
There's my piece.
Thanks Will.

I'm sure that the Mexican drug cartel is grateful for your support.

The Mexican Drug Cartel would hate drug legalization in much the same way as Al Capone and company did not want the end of Prohibition. I realize that the 3 or 4 billion dollars spent on the DEA every year seems small compared to the amazing spending spree going on, but combine that with the reduction in needless prosecution expenses and jail time and there are some savings. Anyone with half a brain has to admit that alcohol does more damage than pot (not counting lives ruined by stupid laws). And for those worried about taxes on your pot, even extreme taxation of it should not make it much more than the black market prices of today.
I'm almost 60 and I definitely smoked my share of pot back in the day. I probably smoked more weed in the Marine Corps than I ever did as a civilian. My fear of being busted has made me hesitant to even occasionally take a puff. Besides, where am I going to score it, from my son's friends?

Perhaps if our very well-paid (salary and benefits) representatives thought out the bills that they "craft" for our benefit(?) the original intention of the bills would be realized. But, what with election campaigns always coming up and junkets all over the country and the world for still more research that results in clusterfucks like this, who has the time to research how the money will be spent, let alone read the damn bills?
Gosh, term limits would be great. Think it'll ever happen? Nah.

Daniel's post is great. Let me add to it by saying that parenting "kinda sucks" in the same way that building your own house, garden or career does. The end product can be terrific or it can be incredibly frustrating. The "journey" can be maddening at times and greatly satisfying at others. All true and all very subjective.

Meaning, value, worth. An experience or item has meaning, value or worth "points" with very different scores for different people. Science deals in facts. Meaning is obviously a product of the very subjective opinions of those who look for meaning in whatever.
The happiness one derives from the experience of raising kids (and it's accompanying "meaning") fluctuates madly from one day (hour?) to the next. Is it rewarding? Another word that describes something too subjective to answer with any broad accuracy.
I personally feel that my children are 2 of the best things that have ever happened to me. Can I measure my emotions? Would someone else with the same children or same experiences as me feel the same? No.

I guess many of us are simply waiting for Mr. Satire to castrate, or throw anything but a puffball at a liberal/Democrat on his show. It's has been and continues to be a long wait. It's not that myself or news organizations are looking to The Daily Show for "cues on integrity". It's just that the lampoons are only aimed at the right side of the political fence.

Put the sausage factory on MSNBC, not Comedy Central.

Jon Stewart has much in common with that other "comedian" Bill Maher. Unwatchable. We won't see either one poking fun at the current Prez. I guess that's OK, but if Rush Limbaugh is the "voice' of the Republicans, isn't the Democratic party well represented by Messrs. Stewart, Maher and Olbermann?
Believe me when I tell you that I disagree with Rush on many things and I do not listen to his show. I will say that he makes no secret of his leanings. He's a commentator. Maybe it's fair to say that the nature of satire, comedy or even news (as MSNBC does it) has come to resemble commentary and does not have to pretend to be unbiased.