In democratic societies, government is said to be “for the people, by the people, and of the people.” In the broadest sense, one could infer from this that governing institutions such as ours are not controlled by hereditary clans or moneyed interests, but instead are an amalgam of the interests of the general public, instituted […]

By the end of the 19th century, business interests had grown so powerful in our society that their stranglehold on individual prosperity created an inequity between the common citizens and the wealthy, industrial class. Tired of working harder and getting less than those who owned the businesses they helped succeed, and angered by conditions that […]

To the average person living in a democracy, capitalism, and the social changes it forges, rarely is given much thought. And yet our very lives, not to mention our livelihoods, are so wholly connected to our capitalistic economy, that the line between people and business has become blurred, and the properties of one has been […]

It is often said that the only things you can really count on are death and taxes. Of the two, death is probably easier to accept. Death, at least, is fairly applied to everyone. Taxes, on the other hand, are a complicated, unequal, seemingly arbitrary and often manipulated endeavor. And while we all can accept […]

Nothing puts a glaze into the eyes of average citizens quite like discussing economic theory. At best, it’s a confusing topic. Start injecting things like gross domestic product, prime interest rate, futures pricing, trade subsidies, and compound interest and you’ve pretty much lost most of your audience. But talk to the average person about money, […]

Does society dictate political goals or is it the other way around? It’s getting tough to tell these days. With campaigns based on “family values” that are never really defined and legislation steeped in religious belief, one wonders which horse is pulling which cart. I use these two examples only because they are they easiest […]

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” We recognize the […]

War, as has been said before, is hell. It is that realization that prevents most sane leaders from engaging in war activities unless they have been left no other option. But when war does become unavoidable, it is the duty of every leader to make sure that war is as short as possible, as precise […]

The average American citizen has little or no interest in foreign affairs. Aside from what they read in the newspaper or see on TV, the comings and goings of other countries and their governments go unnoticed in the lives of most of us. And why not? After all, the federal government handles all of our […]

The next several essays will attempt to underscore the difference between religious morality and legal morality. In doing so, I fully understand that these next essays will probably bring about much contentious hand-wringing among my readers who will try to assert that their personal religious morals supercede social legal issues. So, before I dive into […]