Doc Thought

God created an existence in which individuals are sacred. No real good can be achieved for anyone by either an individual killing or harming himself for the supposed benefit of others, nor by an individual killing or harming others for the supposed benefit of himself. The message of the cross was not that we should all be killing ourselves for each other. When man kills the human incarnation of his creator, the lesson is NOT that this is the model for all human relations, by the evil doctrine that sacrifice is the criterion of the good. It is true that when one loves another individual to the greatest degree possible, he is willing to die for that other, because an existence devoid of that individual is not deemed worthwhile. It is one of the greatest evils ever perpetrated to conclude from this that then people all live as spiritual vampires either yielding their own blood to prove love of others, or demanding others' blood as proof of their love for him. Among other thi...

The following was a response to the news of multi-million dollar bonuses to the executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The outrage from those who pushed these institutions into being a major cause of the housing bubble and crash is laughable. Frank, Reid, Pelosi and others should have their pensions, special health packages, and salaries revoked for what they blame on Fannie and Freddie. Of course we don't hear much outrage that *they* are still being compensated in grand manner. Anyway, here's the response: Sigh. There are so many people who should be IN JAIL for the unspeakable fraud that was the housing bubble. Start with Clinton's white house. They forced the regulatory changes that penalized lenders if they DIDN'T make bad loans (bad by any standard traditional measurement --- "good" if being a low income supposed ethnic minority on welfare was counted as a positive indicator of ability to repay.) The regulations also rewarded lenders who m...

Published on American Thinker.

What is the economic system of America? I can imagine the consternation of a well informed student attempting to answer that question for a class. One hundred years ago, he could have answered "capitalism" and been about 99% correct. Today, what we have here is an unholy mixture - a small bit of capitalism, a heaping spoonful of socialism, and a liberal dousing of corporatism. Capitalism is a politico-economic system in which property and specifically the means of any production are privately owned, and men deal with one another as traders - trading value for value. Socialism places property under the (in name) ownership of the entire public, and production and value are distributed (by a few) in an equitable manner "to all" as determined by 'the few.' Corporatism can exist in various forms along with socialism or capitalism, but is generally a deviant form of capitalism in which the government (which is supposed to be protecting the individual rights of t...

On this day of gratitude, celebration, and remembrance, sadly, we see even more clearly than usual, the moral confusion in the American mind. Think how often, on this day, you hear the glorification of sacrifice – over and over lauding the 'sacrifice' of the brave men and women who have served this country. It is clear from the manner in which the many media sources discuss the merit of these men and women, that, to them, it is the supposed sacrifice of the veterans' personal values which makes what they have done so admirable. It is again and again stressed how these service members gave up or disregarded their personal interests or values – IE. sacrificed their personal interests – for the sake of the nation. But is this really what these great men and women have done, or have they rather pursued a true prioritization of values, and is this not the fact that makes them so remarkable? Have they neglected a greater personal value and pursued the lesser personal valu...

The political Right has failed to understand and thus explain the fundamental moral high ground it actually holds. I believe this is due in large part to a misunderstanding of the idea of sacrifice within a Christian or generally religious context. True Christian sacrifice is NOT the trading of everything for nothing, but this is the effectual understanding which has been allowed to stand, unspoken, unchallenged. The 'right' view is to see sacrifice as an INDIVIDUAL choice in pursuit of another human's value based on the conviction that each individual is an end in him or herself (just as we understand God to view each of us). The left's unchallenged, bent view makes sacrifice the submission of each individual's status as an end in him/herself, to the group as a whole. This is exactly as absurd as trying to fornicate your way to chastity. The right has NOT done a good job clarifying this evil ideology, and providing the clear correct alternative for the past 100 ...

We all want people who need health care to get care, just as we all want the hungry fed, etc. In accomplishing this, however, it is immoral to revoke another human's right to the product of his mental and physical effort - his property. It is evil to steal from Bob and give to Jane, and this will always be the case, even if Bob is rich and Jane poor. (This may not have been true in the case of a rich feudal lord or monarch whose wealth came by forcible economic rape of the people, BUT, in American capitalism, wealth is CREATED by the producer of value through mental or physical effort. The value is in the created good or service. Men voluntarily trade monetary markers of value for that CREATED value. Except for those rich who became so and thrive by lobbying (bribing) the government to favor their company/interests with legislation, regulation, or the competition stifling tax code --- except for those evil parasites --- wealth in America is NOT come by through the oppressi...