It's going to be alright

So, how are we feeling? If your presidential candidate of choice won the election, congratulations. I hope America does incredible well under his leadership. I believe nobody seeks democratically elected office to do harm. Because otherwise you’d get voted out the next go around. The winner on Tuesday did lose back in 2020.

If your presidential candidate of choice lost on Tuesday, well, there’s a finite end to your perceived suffering. Four more years is just that: four more. It can’t be anymore than that! And then the pages of history will continue to turn. Spend these next fours years focused on yourself and the people around you. Quit social media and go outside to touch grass often (as the kids say these days).

I read that there was a wholesale shift towards the Republican ticket this time compared to 2020. But I think we have to wait for the total vote tally to tell the full story. If Trump got roughly the same amount of votes as his two previous campaigns, and it’s the Democratic ticket that got less votes, then that’s an entirely different conversation. Where did that chunk of blue voters go? It can’t be entirely California…

Is it as simple as it’s the economy, stupid? The stock markets may be at all-time highs, but inflation is indeed pernicious. Even though inflation supposedly normalized this year, it’s not like the inflated prices then went back down, right? The prices merely stopped going up. The grocery budget is still unaffordably high for lots of people. While the President of the United States can’t really do anything about that, it comes down to this: the vibes are bad, so we need something different.

Wasn’t that the case in 2020? Difficult to believe that COVID was that long ago now.

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Back and forth.

No presidency for old man

Ladies and gentlemen, our national nightmare is over: President Joe Biden will not seek reelection this November. Thank you for your multi-decades of service, Mr. President. Think about this: Joe Biden retired from politics before Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out.

Anybody who watched the (first and only) debate between President Biden and Donald Trump can tell that Biden is simply not mentality fit for the job. Not right now, not for another four years. Democrats are no better than Trump supporters if they bury their heads in the sand about this. Trotting out a senile old man and pretending everything is going to be just fine. Hey, vote for our caricature of a fully functioning human, because, you know, the other guy is truly horrible!

Cognitive decline for someone in his 80s is fine, normal, acceptable. You simply cannot expect President Biden to serve competently for another four years. Have you seen how eight years of the presidency has utterly aged Barrack Obama? It would be cruel to make Biden continue on, honestly. He deserves to retire and live the rest of his life as peacefully as possible.

Good news for Americans: our Sophie’s choice between a convicted felon and a senile grandfather is no more! Short of nominating Bernie Sanders (who is even older than President Biden), any candidate the Democratic Party nominates will seem like a breath of fresh air, a ray of excitement. Maybe it’ll be enough to sway those who otherwise would not vote for either Trump or Biden.

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Intersecting.

Taxation is theft

There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you're not paying for it, someone is. 

It seems in response to and in preparation for upcoming elections, a sizable faction of the Democratic Party have been gaining traction, offshooting from the success of Senator Bernie Sanders during the 2016 primary. They're the Democratic Socialists (of America), and the group is heavily in the spotlight recently due to congress-hopeful Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unseating a Democratic incumbent in New York. Some proper party-on-party friendly fire. 

President Trump have swung the Republican party so much towards the right fringe that the inevitable pendulum swing back left would naturally match it in severity. This explains the rise in popularity of the DSA platform, with promises of free health care, free higher education, and a decent wage for every worker. The platform’s emotional appeal is immense, a left-leaning equivalent of border security and ridding the country of illegals for Trump’s base. 

It sure sounds good on paper, doesn’t it? Who would say no to job guarantees and free college? 

Right, but then the age old question becomes: how are we going to pay for it? Indeed there are no free lunches. The obvious and sole avenue to acquire the money is to tax and tax a lot, especially the super rich. Because both parties can’t seem to cut spending ever, we can only resort to take from the rich to increase revenue. 

It bears repeating: taxation is theft. 

Do the wealthy have a moral responsibility to give back and take care of the poor? An argument can be made for the affirmative. However, agency and decision should reside with the individual, rather than compelled by government (i.e. tax). I think Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have done well to corral a hundred or so billionaires and millionaires to donate their wealth. The campus where I work at is full of buildings and wings made possible by generous donors (The Coppola family, to name one). 

People say for a country as prosperous as the United States, it ought to have no issues in providing socialistic services. But think of how the United States become affluent in the first place. It certainly wasn’t socialism. It’s Capitalism, and we’d be careful to deviate from that at our peril.

Because how is Venezuela doing these days? 

Currently reading: Ray Dalio's magnum opus.