Decisions, decisions

The 2008 election cycle has begun already. I can't really think of a more depressing statement than that, but there it is. We have now almost two full years to judge people who are putting on a show and trying their best to be anyone but themselves. I think Hillary is a great example of that. When asked what her favorite movie is, she replied that her people would think about it and get back on that one.

So in the next nearly two years we need to consider and choose a candidate we think will represent our values while in office. This means we need to determine what our values are. The politicians will tell you there are many issues that distinguish them from eachother.

They look for people who aren't "single issue" voters. This is supposed to be some sort of insult, as if to say that having a favorite issue makes one "low brow" or ignorant. I for one am a single issue voter, and I'm not afraid to say what that issue is. It's the economy.

The economy weighs heavily on my mind, and I fear what the wrong person will do. At the turn of the century our economy was slowing down. In 2001 our economic center was attacked and our economy suffered because of it.

In 2003 tax cuts were enacted and they had the desired effect. Right now tax receipts significantly exceed expectations. We are at what economists consider full employment. The stock market continues to surge and reach new highs. The news outlets don't talk about that very much, but it is all true and can be checked.

So what I want is someone who won't screw it up. The Leffer curve works. When tax rates were lowered, tax receipts increased because we were too far to the right of the curve. So while I need to care for my family I want someone that isn't going to push us back to the right side of that curve. That will increase tax rates, lower tax receipts and increase unemployment. All things I'd like to avoid.

For those that espouse the domestic agenda of wealth redistribution (aka Robinhood syndrome of taking from the rich and giving to the poor) I offer the following observation. If unemployment is low, wages will necessarily rise and the poor will gain a greater amount of income. Wealth in our global economy doesn't need to be a zero sum effort. We can all win, with the right strategy.

The second item of concern to me relates to health care. But rather than demanding govenment regulations and price impositions, I'd rather see something done about tort law. Law suit abuse is one of the largest causes of rapidly escalating health care costs, and such abuses place America in as much danger as unions have as late. Unions had their place served America well back in the day. Today, I believe they are sucking American business dry. Lawyers are doing the same through lawsuits for hangnails misdiagnosed, etc. So tort reform is the second issue.

Sure, there are other issues; abortion, stem cell research, global warming. Those are all things I don't really care too much about. Yes, I have personal feelings, but the resolution of any or all of those items won't put a single scrap of food on my families table. If you can think of a solid reason I should move those items up on my list, please feel free to write me a note. Good luck, and may you choose something that doesn't screw things up for me and mine.

Moral Compass

I won’t go into the convoluted train of thought that brought me to this subject. I will say the topic came to me in my most cherished thinking time of day. This is a time when I wash the cares of the world from me and ponder whatever comes to mind. If you don’t have such a time, I highly recommend finding one. It can provide clarity to cloudy thought and enlightenment on abstract topics.

What occurred to me today was the metaphor of the moral compass. Since everyone should know what a compass is I won’t delve into that definition. The comparison to something related to morals and values seems obvious. A moral compass points in the direction indicated by one’s value system.

This gets especially interesting when I extend the metaphor and contemplate battlefield tactics and the ways one can be led astray. A compass is really only useful when used in conjunction with a map. Without a map it is a pointer. It points somewhere undefined. (In mathematics undefined is depicted as ∞, what we call infinity outside of math. I think that is interesting.)

There are many maps one can use, depending on the value system. For the sake of brevity I will stick to a religious map, scripture. Scripture is word from God provided to man could find his way back to God. Following the scripture should lead one back to his maker. But a compass is needed to navigate the map, a moral compass.

The moral compass is that which points in the proper direction. It tells us right from wrong. Scripture is sometimes thought to do this, but it doesn’t. Scripture delineates right from wrong, but it is the moral compass that “whispers” in our minds when something we are contemplating is right or wrong. This moral compass is also known by other names, notably the Holy Ghost, light of God.

Now back to the interesting part about battlefield tactics. An enemy will try to confuse and disorient in order to gain an upper hand. For example, since maps are readily had, as are compasses, I might want to set up a base near a large iron deposit. This would cause the compass to begin to point in the wrong direction. Since I wouldn’t want my enemies compass to point right at me, I’d put my base in the opposite direction from that deposit. I would know how to navigate, but my enemy wouldn’t and I’d have some surprises waiting nearest that deposit. I would also make sure there was a well worn path leading towards the deposit. This lulls the enemy into thinking they are on the right path and causes them to discard their map. Without their map and with their compass conflicted, they are now lost and ripe for picking.

So it is with our own moral compass. If we discard our map and rely solely on our moral compass, it can become disorienting with outside influences. Things we want, influenced by people we know, can cause our moral compass to point in the wrong direction. We ignore that voice in our mind because the voice of our own desire, screams louder. “Take the candy, you want it and you should have it!” “It feels good, so it can’t be wrong!” And soon we are on a well worn path, ignoring our map and following a deviate compass. We are on a path that will surely lead to destruction. We are ripe for picking.

We can rescue ourselves from this predicament if we recognize the error and correct it. It may take some work to extricate ourselves. The path back could be much tougher than the one that led in.

Our return is only as good as the information we have available. For example, were I to want to navigate my way to the North Pole, I could grab a map and a compass and begin traveling. However, what would happen is I would end up miles from the North Pole, and wind up at the magnetic North Pole. Without knowing the difference between magnetic north and true north I would be totally lost.

Scripture is similar in this regard. The canon we accept as the Bible, for those Christians out there, was established in the 4^th century at the council of Nicea. This was a group of men deciding if the writings they had in front of them were holy or not. Simply following it would lead us to a place close, but not our actual destination. We need the help of prophets communicating with God to tell us the difference between “magnetic north and true north” on our map. We have that today, and with the help of the Book of Mormon we can find our way to our ultimate destination.

Those are the thoughts I pondered in my thinking time. It was maybe a 15 minute thought journey. I’ll let you know of others as they occur to me; as long as they aren’t work related (I sometimes ponder work things in my thinking time).