The Real Solid Politics

Trump Wins New Hampshire.      Donald Trump easily takes New Hampshire from Nikki Haley, although the race was much closer than Iowa. While this gives Trump great advantage, South Carolina may be a closer race than one thinks. Trump has recently been ordered to pay $83 million to E. Jean Carroll in a defamation suit. Wither we believe the charges and such against Trump are true or false, the hits keep coming. At what point will the "straw that breaks the camels back" fall? At what point do we realize that Trump cannot win the general election? Will it be after a November loss? Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is polling at  20% in some political areas. We need to understand that Kennedy is a Democrat who believes that the DNC, and the "woke" citizens, have lost their minds. Even running as an Independent, Kennedy could win. He will pull votes from Trump and many from Biden. He needs to be taken seriously and the GOP needs to take a long hard look, before the South Carolina pr

  Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in picture. Communism is both a political ideology and a social and economic system that aims for the establishment of a classless, stateless society structured upon common ownership of the means of production. It seeks to eliminate the perceived inequalities and exploitation that occur within a capitalist system. The roots of communism can be traced back to various historical movements and intellectual thought, but it is most notably encapsulated in the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Communism, as envisioned by Marx and Engels, is predicated on several underlying principles: Class Struggle - Communism posits that history is driven by class struggle—between those who own the means of production (the bourgeoisie) and those who do not (the proletariat). Communists aim to create a society in which class distinctions are abolished. Abolition of Private Property - Communists argue that private property in the means of production (facto

Karl Marx, 1875 Socialism. The word is thrown around a great deal. What does it mean and why does it matter that we know what it means?       Socialism, as defined by Oxford  is : a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. Generally speaking, it is the opposite of free-markets but more specifically, it is a transitional state away from capitalism to communism. Karl Marx revolutionized and popularized it. He disproved of capitalism and wanted to move away from it. In America, we have what is called a mixed economy.  We are neither an absolute free-market or absolute socialistic economy. It is my view that we are more socialistic than we are free-market. Why do I say this? Name an aspect of our economy that is not regulated. Name an aspect of our economy that is not drastically altered by our government. See?       Every time a politician, or some

  Quick Hits! Trump   Trump wins the Iowa caucus by nearly 30% points. DeSantis and Haley finished at 21% and 19%, respectively. Ramaswamy has dropped out and endorsed Trump. Next up is New Hampshire on January 23rd.  Did any one find this to be a surprise? When my wife told me that Trump had won by a landslide, I responded' " I'm sure by 30% or more." Turns out, I was right. It did surprise me though that Haley came in second, but being only split by 2% points shows that, in my mind, we may see some very interesting things come from republican challengers in the next week. Ramaswamy showed great motivation and is a very intelligent person, obviously. His indorsement of Trump comes as no surprise as he pushed many Trump ideas and was a strong proponent of Trump during his own campaign until now. Ramaswamy is a reflection, in my mind, of a large segment of Americans who are fed up with feeling bad for something they had nothing to do with and the attempts at polarizati

Patrick Henry in the House of Burgesses, National Archives,  Engraving from painting by PH. Rothermel Of note, it appears that a descendant of mine may have been in the House of Burgess, Francis Gabriel Holland      Assigning ourselves to a particular philosophy can be tricky. Are you a Democrat or a Republican? To answer that, we probably need to be more descriptive. Let us ask the question differently, are you conservative, liberal, or somewhere in between? Hopefully, this post will help define such terms so that you can more specifically define your beliefs or better stated, philosophy or ideology.      Liberalism, as defined by Oxford , is a "willingness to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one's own; openness to new ideas." In addition, Oxford says, "the holding of political views that are socially progressive and promote social welfare." Ah, there's that word,  progressive . I am under the opinion that classical (of yester year) lib

Washington Crossing the Delaware, National Archives, Painting by Emanuel Leutze      There is a saying, " Money makes the world go round ." A Christian would say that God makes the world go round, but in our physical world, money is the means we use for exchange of nearly everything material. Money matters .      To further an idea introduced in a previous  article  - we must not create money out of thin air or for any reason we please or with any backing we please. It has been done, with nearly disastrous consequences every time. If we look back to various cultures and civilizations with their fall from their peak in mind, most cases show moral decay and monetary decay. Does this remotely sound familiar?      Early 20th Century Russia? 21st Century Venezuela? Late 18th Century France? Early 21st Century America? I use four very different cultures to prove a point - poor monetary policy negatively effects any and all people . No one is immune . Inflation is the consequence an