My letter to Obama

Although I do worry about some of the things Obama has on his agenda, that most Democrats (who now have majority control of congress) will likely support, I actually have found myself felling better about him then Mr. McCain. I never liked McCain (even being a moderately-conservative republican-leaning voter) as a presidential Candidate and never thought he had a chance at wining.

I actually ended up doing a protest vote for Baldwin (Constitution party) to express my dislike for the options (and wish more people would do this instead of voting out of "fear of the other guy" or simply not voting) as I fell my voice is heard more clearly this way.

I think Obama will actually turn out to be more moderate then some are painting him to be, but I'm also sure I'll find plenty to disagree with him on.

My suggestion is to all of you is to go to his website http://change.gov/page/s/yourstory and tell him your story. Be polite and honest, and you may be surprised at the kind of influence you can have towards affecting the kind of change you want to see. You likely won’t get exactly what you want but you’ll be much closer to it then what you'll get just sitting around and complaining about it.

Here is the letter I wrote:

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I've always believed that life is hard. By this I don't mean malicious, but rather challenging. I've also learned that the things that are most worth living for are the things we must work hardest to archive, or that require the most work; such as faith, family, good friendships, and a prosperous career (yes in order of importance). For this nation to be great, the people in it need to be great, and that means a willingness to work hard to earn the things that are most worth having. Our society today feels too entitled to things they need to learn to work harder for, and then get rewarded generously for their hard work. The greatest generation in the country (40's & 60s), came out of the hardest times this country has ever seen; because they learned to work hard for what they had.

The roll I'd like my federal government to play in this, is simple yet effective regulation to insure that not only corporations are prevented from taking advantage and usurping power from the people, but that governments are also prevented from interfering with our ability to work hard to earn and keep the tings we work for.

I'd also like my government to focus more on the nations infrastructure, national defense (not necessarily foreign defense) and basic standards related to commerce and business; in such a way that it enables the individual to do a better job at archiving the goals they see best for themselves. I believe that as our government steps back, leaving behind opportunity, the people of this nation will find their ability to stand up and fill those opportunities; while having minimal government assistance to insure the people can take those opportunities they are not taken advantage of, through simple but affective regulations.

I believe the constitution of this great country has enabled this country to be great, so long as the people in it are willing to be great; however, it has been walked all over in the last few decades by both sides of the isle, judges who misinterpret it based on their own agendas, and the people who have willingly accepted laws that aspire to regulate and control our freedoms. From this has come some of the biggest problems this country faces today. Basically I see the main problem as an oversize federal government controlled by bureaucrats, special interests, and over-sized monopolistic corporations, that usurps powers that according to the 10th amendment belong to the individual states and the people. I believe our gun regulations and criminal laws are already stricter then is necessary to discourage criminal activity and may even contribute to the delinquency of otherwise law abiding people. This not to diminish the federal governments responsibility towards oversight, but certainly this oversight needs to not be so overly intrusive. The real answer to our social problems is not more regulations and laws, but to untie our hands and enable the people to step up and do what's right for their families and their communities.

Fiscal responsibility is also a big concern of mine, and I strongly disagree with the "Bailout" loans that have been given over the last few months; especially because it's causing a nearly 1 trillion dollar spending deficit - the highest in history - even when accounting for inflation. If there's one thing that I believe will dis-stabilize an economy and cause increasingly larger fluctuations in inflation/deflation and prosperity/poverty it is an economy fueled by debt with the unreasonable expectation of consistent future inflation; usually forced upon us by huge increases in the money supply through deficit spending, international borrowing, and printing of new money. This benefits the rich and the large corporations, but tends to only hurts the people this government is supposed to protect.

I must admit, President-Elect Obama, I did not vote for you, but I also did not vote for McCain, as I feel both parties have lost touch with the "average Joe". I truly hope that the change you endeavor to bring to this country will help enable an improvement in the life and livelihood of the "average Joe".

- Posted By Seth Hollist

The Problem with Politics

I wrote the following in response to a post made on a Political discussion board meant for use by residents of my HOA. The original poster felt there was a need for term limits on Congressmen just as there is for the President.

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What needs to happen is that we need to vote them out, and stop letting Political Parties scar us into not voting for anyone else.

Unfortunately to truly vote someone out and still get a person from the same Political Party that you like means you must get involved in the Primaries and Caucuses. For a country were less then half the population votes regularly, this is asking a lot. Yet when we are offered an alternate choice we get scared of choosing that alternate with ideas such as "throwing your vote away", or letting the worst person win by not voting for the "lesser of two evils".

The real problem with our political system, in my opinion, are the national parties. There is absolutely no Constitutional basis for national parties. Yes I know they are not Constitutionally banned, but they are not necessary either. George Washington, in his fairway address did warn of giving our loyalties to Factions (A word he used to describe a Political Party - see: http://www.liberty1.org/farewell.htm):

"All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community, and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests."

What we have today, is the very thing the Constitution of our Country was supposed to prevent, a concentration of power. We have one Faction that has almost complete control over the government, so that it no longer matters that the government is split up in to three branches that are supposed to balance one-another. This one Faction has enough control of all three branches to the point were they can push forward what ever agenda they wish; despite what the Constitution or "Rule of Law" may say. If you think I'm picking on the Democrats, we had the same problem not too long ago with the Republicans too. In both cases, things got done that I found abhorrent, and that allowed the Federal Government to gain power were it has no right.

One reason I believe the two National Parties are so powerful today, is because we have term limits on the President. Instead of voting for the person we fill is best fit for the job, we end up voting for the Political Party that will try to replace the last person we liked that they got elected to that same position.

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I received an e-mail from one of my state’s Political Parties inviting me to participate in their national convention as an at-large delegate. Something in that e-mail shocked me, and I realized the true problem with the current political parties.

The e-mail had a list of requirements to be considered for either an at-large or an alternate delegate position. The one requirement that made me realize the true problem with having the average person’s voice heard in a nation party was what I would call “the wealth factor”. To even be considered, you had to give them your credit card information, so they could be certain you could afford to attend the convention. The one week long national delegate process was going to cost anyone who went thousands of dollars in fees, travel, and hotel expenses.

For me, taking a week off work, and spending thousands of dollars in expenses is not something I can easily do without careful planning and saving. I can’t see anyone as middle class as myself going to because it's cost prohibitive; let along someone in the poor house. It became clear to me that the people truly running our national parties are either very dedicated to their party or rich enough, with a flexible enough schedule, to be able to take such a trip. The average person’s voice would never be heard in such a venue, and thus I don’t see how we will ever have a presidential nominee from either of the major national parties that truly understands the average person.

What can we do about this? How can the average person ever expect to be heard when it is clear that the well to do have a monopoly on our national elections process? Who can speak loud enough so that the average person can be heard? Perhaps National Parties are not the best way to elect our most powerful public servant after all?

Near the end of the 1700's being dedicated to a party was equated by some to having loyalty to a private selfish faction that stood to conflict with the public good. George Washing himself warned of such loyalties has he left office after his second term as President. He easily would have won a third term (which was allowed at that time), but he knew of one other truth: That absolute power, in the hands of imperfect men, will thoroughly corrupt anyone. Today we have two parties that hold the vast majority of the political power in the USA, a notion contrary to the principle of separation of powers the USA's constitution sought to prevent. This countries loyalty to these factions has undermined this very principle, and that is the real problem with politics in this country today.

These two parties today continue to drive divisions between Americans, and the last time a major party was replaced by a new one was when Abraham Lincoln was elected as the First Republican Party President. Civil war shortly followed. Perhaps the best thing to do is outlaw national party affiliations all together.

Why do we need national parties anyway? The only political office that has any kind of national vote is the one for the executive office, better know as the President. However, the vote of the people isn't really want elects the president, as it really only determines who the individual states will chose to participate in the electoral collage that actually elects the president. Perhaps what we really need is to have people focus on who they are electing to the electoral collage, and let them do the work the way it was intended to be done; without undue national influence from political parties.

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I got an e-mail from the CEO of the company I work for. He was supporting a proposition the local city government was pushing that would get the city into a position of competition with other businesses. I don't want to give to much detail on the specifics of this issue, but what's more important was his reasons for supporting the proposition. He sighted what benefits it would have to the company and how it would help the company save money. he didn't care about the unfair competition it would create, or the tax payers that would likely end up paying for a big portion of if. It gave me another reason to believe that there's a big problem with our political system in America today. Big business and Big government are too eager to scratch each others backs, and help each other out, that they forget that they are stepping on you an me in the process.

That same company also keeps telling us employees how a week dollar is good for the companies bottom line. Another good example why our politicians need to pay more attention to the people who actually elect them, and not the companies who can afford to send lobbyists to Washington D.C. and/or Capitol hill go get their own agendas pushed forward. I've been tool after all that it's the small businesses that make up most of the economy.

2001 Freemen Party Platform

We believe that a people who are free to govern themselves, and are properly educated in the matters of science religion and family, are more capable of knowing how best to run their respective societies then a single central government. We recognize the purpose and need for a central government, but believe it is to only involve itself were it's needs are greatest.

We believe that universal laws grant us inalienable rights that no government has power or authority to control, and an attempt to control such rights will only lead to contention and the destruction of good moral and social values. We believe that these rights are protected within the constitution on the United States, but are in many cases controlled and regulated to a point were the constitution becomes weakened. We believe many of these regulations are unconstitutional and unnecessary.

We believe the family to be the most basic and important unit of society, and that families primarily, but not always, consist of the nuclear type. We believe that the local society in which we live to be an extension of our families, and that this society is primarily responsible for the opportunities for self improvement, discipline, education, and nurturing of the individual. We urge all citizens to serve and honor each other, and to support leaders who do best at serving, helping, honoring and protecting their society.

We believe an individual has the freedom to do and believe as s/he may as long as the individual does not infringe upon the freedom of another. We believe that strong families and well educated individuals create strength within the society. We believe all men to be created equal in spirit, and that all life is valuable. We believe that the taking of life is only warranted to protect life and liberty. We defend and protect the right of the individual, society, and government to protect themselves from influences that would seek to destroy there freedoms and lives, or other wise seek to oppress or terrorize.

We allow the government to organize support and structure for social programs as long as such programs have been shown to be needed. They must also help to uphold and support the aforementioned beliefs and ideologies. In such, we also believe the government to have a responsibility towards the social and economic stability of the nation, and in such grant them the right to regulate and control business for the protection and benefit of the people; however, we also believe the people to have the right to check the government in such that businesses may be allowed to operate according to the needs and desires of the people. We believe that such checks are only one of many that keep the government accountable for it's actions as set forth in the constitution. We also believe the central government has the right and responsibility to protect it's societies from foreign governments, and in such we also require that it maintains, were possibly, good relations with other governments to help maintain peace and economic stability within the world.

We strive to review all laws current and new, past and present, to determine there validity and effectiveness in accomplishing our goals as a political party. We strive to rid all governments, both local and national, of any law that shows itself, in practice, to do little more then restrict the freedoms of the people. We also strive to stop any new laws that would do the same, including laws which attempt to control and regulate the constitutions of the national and local governments. We strive to give the people the ability to chose for themselves, and in doing so we suggest that they chose wisely towards the betterment of their societies.

- Posted by Seth Hollist

Should Affirmative Action be Abolished?

I have a dream, that one day our world will rise up and live out the true meaning of liberty and equality. I have a dream that one day we will longer no label each other by our race or ethnic background, but rather by our merits and culture. I have a dream that one day this world full of disrespect, unfair advantages, and pre-justice will become one united world full of respect and helpful hands.

Two score years ago, this great country of America had fallen short on its promise of inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, towards a specific group of people. These people were labeled because of the color of their skin, and were looked down on as a lower class of human being. These people were still looked down upon, just as their ancestors were, even a hundred years after their emancipation from slavery. These views were evident in the inequality of "Separate but Equal", and "Jim Crow". These people were oppressed, and many were determined to see that they remained a lower class citizen within this very country which declared freedom and equality to all.

Affirmative action was a much needed crutch for a people who were oppressed, and given little opportunity to succeed within their own communities. These were people who were fighting for a fair chance at life, and many even felt as though some retribution was needed for past transgressions. There were many who needed incentive to stop to the oppression, segregation, and hatred towards these people. Affirmative action was a means to give these people the opportunities they deserved, and reward their hardships and long fought battles for equality.

Today, this crutch has become a dependancy for many people, and they use it not for equality, but for a free ride of sorts. Many people today threaten to cry racism every time they are threatened by their own lack of personal quality and merit. Today this crutch has made the legs of those who have used it for decades weak. It is time for them to learn to stand on their own once more, and fight equally for opportunities present it today's competitive market.

Affirmative action has had its time. Additionally, I believe that racism and other forms of inequality will never disappear until we no longer label people based on race. We are ready to take to next step towards true equality and equal opportunity, based on personal merit, with no points for being part of a minority group. We must teach the next generation that such labels are meaningless, and how giving meaning to such labels is detrimental to the inalienable rights of those who thereby become the minority.

I still have a dream, and for this dream to come true, we must rid ourselves of any value placed on labels of race. Affirmative action must be declared un-constitutional, because as supporters of the constitution, we must believe that all men are created equal, and none must be given advantage over another simply based on their ancestry. This would be a major step forward towards overcoming racism.

- Posted By Seth Hollist