Arkady's Thoughts

Now that ObamaCare is here to stay for the foreseeable future it is worth some time to explore why the country remains so divided on a piece of legislation that seems so obviously inferior.   Public opinion on ObamaCare as of a recent RCP average shows a +10.8 on the opposition, but the individual polls vary wildly.  After John Roberts issued the final ruling polling shows an America quite split on accepting the largest health care overhaul in fifty years. The issue is that the manner in which the public engages on these topics lends itself nicely to the liberal narrative and the use of exceptions.   Liberals utilize their inevitable egalitarian positioning to control the dialog merely through exceptions, yet curiously the reverse is not allowed or often just dismissed.  The exception rule extends well beyond health care and is utilized to sway public opinion on issues like food stamps, FDA, gun control and many others.  Allow me to provide some examples. ...

It has been a while since my last post, I have been grappling with health issues,  switching jobs, moving and dealing with tenants.  I have also discovered a fascinating cross-section of politics and economics in the space of nutrition.   An unlikely combination you may think, but upon closer inspection it is not hard to imagine that food should play a massive role in policy.  After all, a hungry population is often an unhappy one. Still, today I would to discuss something lighter but equally important.  American politics.  Now politics as a whole is not something I focus on generally speaking as I prefer to explore the source (economics) not the symptoms.  But even if one were to get engaged then one would get very disappointed.  The political landscape has become intolerable, polarizing and dominated with emotions, stupidity and shallow thinking. Allow me to break it down the way I see it.  There are thee major groups once you be...

Yesterday's results were a bit surprising for those not paying close attention when Santorum finished second in what can be best described as a dead heat.  Paul finishing third was probably disappointing to some die-hard fans, but he had a good showing nonetheless and in line with previous polling data. While I prefer to focus on more macro economic issues, I think it is worthwhile to at least briefly chat about the race.  So what does this mean for the GOP and the candidates? First of all, it is probably very difficult to predict based on Iowa's results how the actual race will unfold.  Simply because America is a very diverse country and people's voting habits differ quite a bit based on their region.  For example the folks that came out for Santorum in western Iowa simply do not exist in New Hampshire.  Similarly the folks supporting Ron Paul do not exist in South Carolina, so forth and so on.  Although Iowa's influence is undeniable as it ...

Everyone knows my high skepticism of the OWS movement as I have written previously about it extensively.  However a video from what appears to be UC Davis of students being pepper sprayed strikes me as excessive, unnecessary and potentially dangerous.  It is unclear as to what is happening and why, but one can glean the following: 1)  This appears to be a university and the crowd consists of youth. 2)  There are students who are purposely blocking a road/walkway of some kind, possibly preventing a police cruiser from driving through. 3)  The students get pepper sprayed while sitting and then arrested. I can't for the life of me understand why the police felt the need to cover students with noxious pepper spray before arresting them?   As you can tell from the video the reaction of the onlookers was rather immediate and galvanized everyone against the police.  While the video eventually turns into the typical OWS chanting it seemed prett...

You are probably familiar with the famous line from the First Epistle to Timothy in the New Testament: "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil", or the more commonly abbreviated albeit somewhat incorrect "Money is the root of all evil" .  We have been conditioned to believe that a love of money is something unhealthy and possibly abnormal, but allow me to simplify this further and show you that indeed the love of money is not only good and normal, but one of the pillars of America and the foundations of mankind. First, what is money?  More appropriately, what is money supposed to be in the most fundamental sense?   At first blush, money is used to "buy" things, but what is the action of buying?  Buying is the same as trading, except that you trade money for goods and services, selling is trading goods and services for money.  Money has no other purpose, it functions as the primary tool for trade.  That begs the question, why are we trading? ...

Oakland is in the news, as it should be given the police violence that occurred there during the encampement clearing last week.  Although the police were provoked to violence by having bottles and rocks thrown at them their response has been deemed disproportional.  One can agree with that. What is equally interesting is the handling of the entire situation by Mayor Quan.  First she coddled the protesters and left them alone.  Then she requested the police to move in and clear out the encampment.  Then she apologized for the way they were treated, vilified the police and allowed the protesters to return.  All of this is costing the city hundreds of thousands of taxpayer money.  A city that is financially strapped and cannot afford excessive waste.  In spite of that, Mayor Quan is now supporting and endorsing a general strike by the protesters. A strike like this will have massive financial implications on the city in the form o...

Quick and important observation.  After last week's crackdown of the Oakland occupiers many accused the police of willfully disrespecting the right to assemble and petition the Government.   What made me especially suspicious is that Oakland is generally a pro-OWS area.  That is to say, the politics and the current mayor are likely allies rather than enemies to the underlying message of the movement. After digging around it seems that indeed, police responded rather than initiated the violence.  Allegedly the police complained that they were being pelted with stones and bottles, either as a form of provocation or as a response by the protesters for being removed from the park. Now it is very simple you see, the local police have their own set of laws they follow and can react accordingly within the larger prism of the Constitution.  So you may have a right to assemble, free speech and protest - but your right becomes impossible to perform if you attack a pol...