Mike made a long and thoughtful post to my last post, and I would like to respond in two parts. First, I’d like to discuss what I believe the Green Party truly stands for, and how I think that differs from his view. Second, I’d like to look at the difference between government sponsored welfare programs and personal charity. The later I will save for another post.

Mike’s summation of the Green Party was as follows: “They (The Green Party) seek to change the current power structure of our Government, instead of top down control i.e. Nation then States, they propose we put more power back in the hands of our states, but more importantly our cities and communities.” I do agree they want to take back power from the Federal Goverment, but to say that is the Green Party in its entirety falls far short of what they really want.

For this post I will look at the 2004 Platform for the Green Party. The following excerpts are all taken directly out of the platform as decided upon by the Green Party. They are not my own ideas about the Green Party, but the official stance taken by the Green Party during the 2004 election. Below you will find the excerpts in black, and my comments in blue. The following are in no specific order.

1) Young people should be provided with education regarding their own and others’ sexuality at the earliest appropriate time.

- I don’t think the government has any responsibility to educate my future child about their sexuality, any other kid’s sexuality, or the moral judgements they would like to impose. I can almost assure you they would not be teaching a biblical perspective of homosexuality.

2) People of color in this country have legitimate claims to reparations in the form of monetary compensation for centuries of discrimination.

- This idea is riddled with problems. Who deserves money, and how is that decided? How much have they suffered, and what amount of money will compensate that? The hard truth is that the people that really suffered (slaves) have all passed on. While we’re at it, shouldn’t we just start throwing out money to every group of people that have ever been discriminated against? Native Americans, gays, women, children…on and on and it will never stop.

3) We oppose discriminatory English-only pressure groups. We call for a national language policy that would encourage all citizens to be fluent in at least two languages.

-So English shouldn’t be the language of the United States? How dare we ask that people who come to this country speak the language of our country.

4) Ending governmental use of the doctrines of specific religions to define the nature of family, marriage, and the type and character of personal relationships between consenting adults.

- This should be an EYE OPENER to any Christian. The Green Party would do away with marriage as we know it. Gay marriage, brother-sister marriage, the possibilities are endless. I happen to think the institution of marriage that has existed for the last several thousand years is a good thing for society.

5) All people have a right to food, housing, medical care, jobs that pay a living wage, education, and support in times of hardship.

- The key word here is right. I disagree, I don’t think people that are lazy, drug addicts, and alcoholics, have a right to those things. When you say someone has a right to a job, you have entered socialism. It’s no longer about effort because it’s now a handout.

6) We call for restoration of a federally funded entitlement program to support children, families, the unemployed, elderly and disabled, with no time limit on benefits. This program should be funded through the existing welfare budget, reductions in military spending and corporate subsidies, and a fair, progressive income tax.

- Ahh, more Socialism! Two big problems here: no time limit on benefits, and a progressive income tax. So you can be lazy for as long as you want, and the benefits will keep rolling in. And a progressive income tax (which we have now, though I’m sure it would be “improved” upon) does nothing but stifle the desire for wealth creation. The message that is being sent is this: the harder you work, the more money we will take. That is not the way to grow an economy and create wealth. (Note: wealth is not money).

7) We must take aggressive steps to restore a fair distribution of income. We support tax incentives for businesses that apply fair employee wage distribution standards, and income tax policies that restrict the accumulation of excessive individual wealth.

- Less government involvement Mike? This is Socialism at its finest. This is the government taking money from the rich, and giving it to the poor. I disagree that this is a “fair” distribution of income. I think a fair distribution is getting what you earn. Take a look at post WW2 Russia, China, and Cuba. It’s been tried and it has failed. Socialism puts more people into poverty, not less.

We support tuition-free post secondary (collegiate and vocational) public education.

- If someone wants to become a ballet dancer, or a rock guitar player, fine, but I don’t want to pay for it. Our public education system (K-12) teaches people basic skills they need to live in society. Anything beyond that is up to the individual. (Note: Our CSU’s and community colleges are massively government funded already, but affordable and free are very different.)

9) We oppose the arrest, harassment or prosecution of anyone involved in any aspect of the production, cultivation, transportation, distribution or consumption of medicinal marijuana. We also oppose the harassment, prosecution or revocation of license of any health-care provider who gives a recommendation or prescription for medicinal marijuana.

- To me, that sounds like no one can get in trouble for prescribing marijuana, regardless of whether or not the patient needs it. It also sounds like no one can get in trouble for having it also. Put those two together and you have the legalization of marijuana. However, if you think marijuana will make society more productive, I guess that makes sense.

10) A publicly funded health care insurance program, administered at the state and local levels.

- Ah Mike, here is your local control you were talking about. The only problem is publicly funded health care is one of the worst ideas ever, just look at Canada. Sometimes you have to wait up to 3 months just to get a special test because the system is so slow. Senator Phil Gramm said it best, “Do you really want the people at the DMV running this country’s healthcare?” I hope not.

11) We support day-care service offered at every workplace when feasible, or reasonably near-by when not feasible at the workplace.

- Sounds like more government control, not less.

12) We support the establishment of a reduced-hour work week and at least one month of vacation per year for all workers.

- Sounds like the government controlling private business. Know what this would do? The cost for companies to do business would sky rocket, profits would go down, and coupled with mandatory “living wages” our economy would turn to crap. Again, see Russia, China, Cuba, etc.

If you’re still reading this I’m very impressed, but I would like to clarify something. This post is not meant to be hostile to Mike in any way. I honestly don’t think you have a complete understanding of what the Green Party stands for Mike, and maybe the above was eye-opening. However if it was not, and you have in fact seen all these official stances of the Green Party, I would be curious to know why you agree with them. To everyone else that finished this post, I am very impressed.

I’m tired of people claiming to be “victims” and the government throwing out money to make them feel better. Here are some examples:

1) The Poor: Compared to the rest of the world you’re not, get over it! When people were “poor” 75 years ago they didn’t run to the goverment and expect a handout. No, you sucked it up and did what you had to to get by. Despite what the left would have you believe, if you’re poor it’s probably because you’ve earned it. Most of you won’t read that though, but simply put: don’t get pregnant until marriage, find a minimum wage job, and you’ll no longer be below the poverty line! Read that article.

2) Hurricane and other Natural Disaster Victims: Sorry your house fell down, but you should get insurance like the rest of us. Just because you’re poor (and we’ve established that was your fault), why should the government bail you out? I work hard and apply myself so I can afford insurance, so if my house does fall down, I’ll be covered. What is your excuse?

3) People that use Race, Gender, SES, or anything else to claim victim status: Start taking responsibility for yourself and stop blaming everyone else for your shortcomings. If you’re the victim of racism or sexism at work or some other institution and there is actual proof, by all means explore your legal avenues. What you are not allowed to do is run around crying that the reason you are not well off is everyone elses fault! How do you think it makes every successful minority feel when all you can talk about is how oppressed you are? You just sound retarded.

This is what the liberal left, and yes Mike the green party as well, will never understand. The minute the government says you no longer have to take care of yourself, people stop taking care of themselves. Let’s get back to the good old days where individuals, families, and churches took care of themselves, and the government had nothing to do with it.

Yesterday I had to go to the Norwalk Courthouse to obtain a marriage license. It was a nightmare.

For some reason beyond what I can explain, all of the loudest and most annoying people in existence congregate at the courthouse to hang out and make your life miserable. They show up with their little kids and let them run around, stick paper in the soda machine, and never once reprimand them. It literally drives you crazy.

There is an upside however. I think there should be a law that you must go to the Norwalk Courthouse to file for divorce. What this would do is force people to think twice about making their marriage work, because no one in their right mind would willingly go back to the most annoying place on earth!

My big test is now less than two weeks away. To aid in studying I just marked several days in the next two weeks “unavailable” for substituting, and a thought occurred to me. My life has never been busier or more stressful than it is right now. With school, work, testing, marriage, house buying and church…I’ve got plenty of reasons to be a basket case.

But thank GOD I’m not. It is my faith alone that keeps me together. Christ isn’t something you only experience on Sundays. He’s not a historical figure you pledge allegiance to. When he changes your life he invades it. He doesn’t wave goodbye when you leave church, because he’s going with you. Our lives, decisions, and attitudes change fundamentally. Everything we do is seen through the greater lens of Jesus Christ. That changes our values, our outlook on life, and our ability to deal with day to day life.

Knowing Christ and being joyful should be one in the same.

It’s baseball season again, and that’s always a good thing. I was able to watch bits and pieces of a spring training game today, and I got in a few games on MVP Baseball. I’m still trying to find a good difficulty level, but right now I’m 2-4 in my dynasty with the Dodgers. Good stuff.

Tomorrow I start my super CSET studying. I’m planning on putting in 4 hours tomorrow, and another 4 on Sunday. I put in an application at DUSD today to try and get hired for next year. It sounds promising, but that makes it even more important that I pass the CSET. I might be stressing too much about it, but I’d rather be over-prepared.

Stacie and I are still looking at condos and townhomes. It’s an odd predicament…on one hand it’s a little early to buy a place, but we’re also pretty specific about what we want. The danger then is sure we might get the place 3 months early…but that’s better than not finding a place at all. However, having it that soon would give us a lot of time to paint or whatever we want to do.

Everything for the wedding is shaping up pretty well. All our vendors are decided on, Stacie almost has the bride’s maid dresses picked, we’re looking at registries. Fairly soon we need to pick out invitations and I need to do some tuxedo shopping. Kurtis and Kevin are already wanting to know what we’re doing for the bachelor party. Any ideas?

There are certain times and events in your life that flat out make you feel older. Graduating from pampers, A-B-C-D-F grading in 4th grade, starting High School, getting your license….you get the idea. For me, getting engaged and planning a wedding has been quite a “maturing” experience. Even more so than getting married is something else Stacie and I are about to start doing: finding a place to live! The other day I called a mortgage lender. I’m not sure, but the whole buying a house things is more sobering than getting married. Maybe since Stacie and I have been going out for four years the whole marriage thing isn’t as big of a shocker. But buying a house, that seems like a huge commitment. Yes, I realize it sounds like I’m saying it’s a bigger commitment than getting married, but I’m not. There’s just something about buying a house that makes you go “whoa, I’m like an adult now.” Haha, go figure.