VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

I have a lot of strong opinions about politics. I will agree with many of you. I will disagree with many of you. But please, if you do anything today, go out and make your opinions heard.

This morning via facebook Nate Winder and I were having a political discussion via facebook, which forced me to really articulate some of my thoughts regarding our current economic system and the election of today. Posted below you will find an exerpt of my thoughts, which I'm hoping will at the very least make sense even if you don't agree with them:

"I think in a lot of ways people are frustrated with the laissez-faire system of
economics. Laissez-faire works pretty well as long as citizens are prudent and
there is an equality of wage and prosperity, prosperity being measured not
necessarily by amount of capital but by increase in capital. It isn’t the size
of our piece of the pie, it is how much larger our piece is becoming.

Currently this system is extremely out of balance. I know the
invisible hand is eventually supposed to work everything out, but the Great
Depression is a good indicator of how the free market system can potentially be
extremely cruel. It took a whiff of socialism (not pure socialism, by any means)
in the form of the New Deal (and, yes, I know, WWII helped as well) to get us
out of the Depression. In equally challenging economic times, I think a little
touch of equalization may be just what we need. Never fear… we are at heart
Capitalists. Capitalism is the American dream. But capitalism doesn’t care for
human welfare. It is a cold system. I know that many argue that it isn’t fair
for the wealthy to pay higher taxes; they worked hard for their money and
deserve to keep it. True, they are working hard. But they aren’t working any
harder than the recent college graduate with two kids who cannot find a job
because everyone is cutting back or only hiring works for five to ten years
practical experience.

Please don’t confuse what I’m saying as a
comparison of Obama to FDR. Only time will tell. I just think Americans are
looking for an alternative to business as usual, which is why they are leaning
so far to the left. And I do think it may prove to be just what we need. Not for
always, but at least for now. Things are out of balance, and they need to be put
back into balance. If things go too far the other way, I think we’ll elect
someone more conservative. Especially if we somehow find a collective prosperity
again, in which case we will certainly want to protect our increase. It isn’t
the size of our piece of the pie, it is how much larger our piece is becoming."

In January we will have a new president. It is always exciting, and always a little scary. Is our new leader going to be your ideal candidate? Probably not completely. Will he bring about the Apocalypse ? I don't think so (although if you ask my stepdad...) Just please remember that God's party is not the Republican Party and Satan's party is not the Democratic Party... and if you look at yourself and realize you base your voting decisions on candidates/parties that were supported by your parents and not on what they stand for, please evaluate your own system of voting! Know the issues, and get involved. It is none of my business who you vote for, just please make sure your don't base your vote on your parents preference for Pachyderms or Equids.

I once had a member on my mission say that he didn't think you could hold a temple recommend and be a democrat. I said, "Why not? Clearly you've demonstrated that you can hold a temple recommend and be an idiot."*




*this response was only in my head. I was a missionary after all.


UPDATE: After I gave Nate the information in this post, he gave me a link to the following article, which I suggest you read. It is certainly contrary to what most of us where taught in school, and really gets you thinking:

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FDR-s-Policies-Prolonged-Depression-5409.aspx?RelNum=5409