May
10th

The National Whole Life Pension Plan

IMPORTANT NOTE: Readers are advised that the plan presented in the following essay is one which would apply to future generations and would not directly benefit current workers except in such a way as to remove the burden of repairing the current retirement program for future generations. This plan would run parallel to the current […]


May
7th

Crafting a National Pension Plan

Opponents of a national retirement program, commonly referred to simply as “Social Security,” tend to take the view that each person is responsible for their own costs of living and that a secure retirement is something to be enjoyed by those fortunate enough to have earned enough money throughout one’s lifetime to sustain themselves for […]


May
3rd

Defining Social Security

Social Security is really a widely encompassing description for a variety of government assistance programs including Medicare, Medicaid, disability benefits and retirement programs, to name the most common. Social Security programs, specifically the retirement program, have long been considered a perilous “third rail” for politicians, meaning that if you tamper with the existing program you […]


Apr
29th

Poverty, Homelessness, and Hunger

I remember learning back in school about the basic necessities for human life: food, water, shelter, and clothing. While the latter may at times be a matter of prerogative, the former three are indisputable necessities. When these are not available to us, we become incapable of functioning within societal parameters. When whole areas are afflicted […]


Apr
17th

A Nation of Teachers

Every event in a young persons life is a teaching moment, whether we recognize it as such or not. Every first sound, every new sight, every new sensation is an opportunity to learn, especially in the first few years of our lives. And as people grow they continue to learn new things and ideas and […]


Apr
11th

Social Consciousness Or Social Charade

I’ve spent the last few days looking through my tattered, pocket-sized Constitution, searching high and low for the portions within that authorize or regulate our government’s implementation of various social programs that now are ubiquitous in America. I thought for sure that somewhere in the Constitution I would find something about education funding or medical […]


Apr
1st

Mayberry or Metropolis?

Increasingly, we are becoming a world of human anthills. The modernization of our world, both in developed and developing countries, has resulted in the creation of the megalopolis, giant cities with millions of people crammed together in comparatively small spaces. It’s hard to say which part of this equation drives the other. Does the migration […]


Mar
28th

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

When you mention recycling to most people, they instantly conjure images of aluminum cans, soda bottles, and old newspapers. For most of us, that is where recycling begins and ends. In our culture of replaceable products, the idea of reusing something, anything, is almost antithetical. Western culture and the rise of consumerism has instilled in […]


Feb
18th

Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That….

If you ever watched Seinfeld, the title of this essay will immediately reveal the nature of the topic. For those of you who haven’t, this essay is about homosexuality and its quest for equal recognition under the law. As previously inferred in the essay Sex, Morality, and the Law, the practice of homosexuality in and […]


Feb
16th

The Abortion Debate

First, it is important to understand that nobody enjoys abortion. If there is one thing in all the discussions about abortion that can be agreed upon, it is this fact. I state this clearly and right out front so that there can be no misunderstanding on this issue. Religious conservatives do not like abortions. Secular […]