The Purpose of the Constitution

In my mind the Constitution was designed to have two conflicting goals: (1) create a strong federal government, (2) create a federal government with very limited powers. That is why Tea Parties and conservatives around the country are angry. There are no longer any limits on the power of the federal government.

The problem is described in the scriptures this way:

We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. D&C 121:39

"Almost all" is pretty inclusive. Too much power in one place invites the worst in people. That's why I would rather power be decentralized to states, counties, and municipalities.

Why I Can't Be Liberal

A person's true colors are revealed by who they look up to.

Many liberals love to parade around about the wrongs committed by America. President Obama had a whole overseas trip apologizing for President Bush. Did Bush make mistakes? Yes. Does America have glaring faults? Yes. America really is the worst nation in the world...

...except for all the rest.

I am sick of liberals talking about how much they love people when they are friends with or fans of genuinely evil world leaders.

Calling conservatives who favor limited government power neanderthals, racists, butchers, and thugs only works if liberals aren't friends with/fans of the Castros (Cuba), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Che Guevara, Che's daughter Aleida Guevara, or Hugo Chavez (Venezuela). They constitute the real thugs, butchers, racists, and neanderthals of the Americas. (To see why I pick on some of those specific thugs, see here.)

No Thanks for Buying My Health Insurance

I'm someone who has spent half of the past three years without any form of health insurance. I had other personal budget priorities and as a single guy in good health, I didn't think it mattered much. (Now that I'm married I sing a different tune.)

Hypothetically, since I have not paid income taxes in several years (not enough income) and haven't had insurance, I should love government provided health insurance. My question is: Why on earth should the taxpayer pay for something I wasn't willing to buy for myself?

My real opposition to health care and welfare in general comes from first hand experience watching the degradation of a society where a sizable proportion of the people receive welfare benefits and generations never rise out of the slums. If people don't have to work they won't. And if people don't work a spiritual darkness descends and holds them down as long as they continue to let it.

I just want my voice on record as opposed to massive new programs that cover the whole nation when the problem was only 10% to 15% of the population. And everybody knows that government spending makes things cost more, not less. So the problem of increasing prices will not slow down unless quality decreases.

I Have Started A Small Business

I worked as a small business consultant while at Texas A&M University. Nothing is better than working with new businesses and helping them develop great business plans and strategy. I am marketing my services around Arizona, but also have an online component. So my small business is designed to help other small businesses.

Go check out TonyBrownMBA.com and leave some comments to let me know what you think so far. It's a pretty simple blog so far, but I built it myself and am pretty happy with it.

Also, I have a suggested reading tab. Let me know what books you think should be up there.

Response to Militant Atheism

Militant atheists like to use evolution as an argument against religion. It only works as an argument against religions that reject evolution. The faiths that have the most problem with evolution also seem to have the most problem with Latter-day Saint claims of modern revelation.

I have no problem with the idea that the Bible is not the only source of truth about where the world came from. In fact, to me the scriptures address the why, and science addresses the how. I expect science to have new things to say about the origins of life and I expect prophets to have new things to say about how to make it better.

Evolution and revelation both fit the reality of an ever-changing and always progressing world.

Economic Growth

Another problem with big government solutions to economic problems is that ALL economic growth comes from small businesses. Small businesses don't do business with the government. At least not new startups. The only thing government can do to promote the growth of small businesses is to get out of the way. Overmuch bureaucracy stifles the kind of creativity needed to make a more prosperous world.

The government can only cultivate an atmosphere where creativity can work freely. They could not have said to Bill Gates in the 70s, 'We think you have a good idea and will give you money to go forward.' Gates would never have amounted to anything had that happened. He had to earn his success to actually achieve it. (I know that sounds a little circular in my reasoning, but I mean it.)

To cultivate a creative atmosphere, there should be a clear set of rules to play by and a limited scope of government so that it is not perpetually gobbling up everything that moves.

Businesses big enough to deal with the billions the government doles out are no solution for a sluggish economy. The very nature of big businesses is that they seek to do more with less. Job one in big business is to increase productivity. So if a big business can do the same jobs with a 10% smaller workforce, they need to either find new things for that 10% to do or cut the workforce.

Growth is a bottom-up, individual, community centered process. Government spending, massive projects, roads, bridges, etc. will never do anything to increase the hiring of a small business. Not the kind that increases national productivity.

I may carve out one exception, and that is some high tech research. The government has more resources for things like that, but the results need to be made available to entrepreneurs and startups so they can come up with new and innovative uses for the technology. But even that I would rather have funded privately.

Economic Leadership

It is easy to lament the state of the economy. Debt rules households, corporations, and government at all levels. But for some reason, the power brokers who have created the vast corporate and government debt haven't been removed from power.

To borrow money and create a false sense of wealth is blatant dishonesty.

This is really a matter of leadership. But the difficulty is deciding who the leader is. Did the attitude of profligate spending start in Washington and households followed suit, or the other way around? Really, the twin debts are mutually reinforcing. And the solution is the same for households and the government. Stop spending more than you make. But that is a very unpopular solution for both.

Politicians or households would rather just have more income. That can work with households, but not so much with politicians. If politicians go for more income they either tax the economy to death or print money which causes inflation to murder the economy.