Contrasting Economic Visions

Posted on July 28, 2006 by Jeff Block

This morning on the way to an appointment, I was listening to Bill O’Reilly‘s Radio Factor podcast from 7/18 (I’m a little behind), and the topic of the second hour was welfare and the 10th anniversary of the 1996 welfare reform.  This legislation was proposed by President Clinton, and passed overwhelmingly by congress.  Only the most committed liberals voted against it, some of whose names you would recongnize as they’re still in congress today — Boxer, Finestein, Kennedy, etc.

Bill’s stated purpose was to talk about the success of the legislation.  He cited some fascinating statistics, and of course made all kinds of interesting and provactive comments.  Check this out…

In August 1996 (the year the reform was passed), 4.5 million families were on welfare.  In December 2005, 1.9 million families were on welfare.  That’s a drop of 57.6%.  Wow!

Bill also cited a USA Today article which tracked 3 families from 1996 to 2006, which was really interesting as well.  Article clearly leans conservative, but still pretty stark.  Here’s are the three families (their state in ’96): 

  • 2 children, 3rd on the way, neither had a job, no education
  • 25, 3 children under 8 by three different guys, never married, no education
  • 32, cut from welfare after being on for 15 years, 5 children, 4 fathers, no education

I’ll let you read the article to get more details, but the summary is that they are all much more successful now that they’ve been forced to actually work for what they have.  What I found really poignant in Bill’s comments was that he pulled no punches about the fact that these 3 women all had two things in common:  1) no education, and 2) kids, too many, too early, too un-married, too irresponsible.

So, three things…  First, an analysis of the two sides of the debate and a few definitions.  Second, my opinion.  And third, my opinion…

Liberal / Socialist

The government has an obligation to generally provide for citizens.  Citizens have a right to have what they want.  “The government takes care of me.”

Outcome:
High taxes.  Safety nets.  Government attempts to provide guarantees to people.  Income is redistributed.  A person’s motivation is drained from them.  Even if I don’t work hard, I have the right to have.  Appears fair to whoever’s on the bottom, and weak/permissive/destructive by whoever’s on top — it’s about “the little guy”.  Focus is on society; my life is the government’s responsibility.  Ultimiately, government ultimately controls the economy.  Believes that the economy is driven by the worker (the poor).

Conservative / Capitalist

The government has an obligation to provide opportunity and security only for citizens.  Citizens have a right to opportunity, and a responsibility to work hard and help provide that opportunity for others.  “I take care of myself.”

Outcome:
Lower taxes.  Few safety nets.  Few guarantees, except for opportunity.  I keep what I earn.  Motivation is the key.  The harder I work, the more I have; if I don’t work, I have nothing.  Appears fair to whoever’s on top, and cruel/unfair to whoever’s on bottom — it’s about “the man”.  Focus is on self; my life is my responsibility.  Ultimiately, private industry ultimately controls the economy.  Believes that the economy is driven by investment (the rich).

Bill’s opinion…

“Ameria is the land of opportunity.  If you seize the opportunity, you will succeed.  Honest, work hard, get educated, you’ll succeed….  If you’ve got 3 kids by the time you’re 21, and there’s nobody there supporting you — no husband, no boyfriend — then you’re gonna be poor.  That should be in bold letters in every school in America.”

My opinion…

I can’t disagree with Bill at all on this one.  He’s right, and so is the conservative perspective.  If we create a society that depends on the government … that depends on other people giving me stuff … then we cannot success.  At best, we’ll be like Europe (socialistic and weak).  At worst, we’ll be overrun by the Islamic fascists.  We are in the middle of World War III, and we simply can’t afford this kind of weakening from the inside. 

America is a wealthy nation.  We absolutely have the responsibility as a society to help those among us who are less fortunate.  But that responsibility is to help them to succeed and get out of any kind of dependence, not to help them be continually dependent.  Self-reliance is the key, not hand-outs … and you can teach people to value either.  The liberal mindset, predominantly, is to teach dependence.  The conservative mindset, predominantly, is to teach independence.

Should those who have be generous and share with those who have much less?  Absolutely.  Should the government be given the power to force people to do so?  No.  If they are given that power, how will we be any different than the USSR?  And for those of us who remember, the whole communism thing doesn’t really work out all that well.

Posted in Business and Finance, News, Politics and Culture | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Need for a Source of Moral Authority

Posted on July 27, 2006 by Jeff Block

On my way to work this morning, I listened to a radio program on which they debated stem cell research. Of course, you’re probably aware that President Bush recently vetoed a bill proposed by congress to publicly fund embryonic stem cell research. He did so on the moral grounds that destroying an embryo (for any reason) is killing a human being … or at the very least, a “potential” human being. Protesters went crazy, saying that he’s cow-towing to religious fanatics in doing so, and were outraged that Bush would bring to bear his faith as a Christian as some kind of moral authority to veto a bill that could help so many people.

Could stem cell research help a lot of people with very serious and horrible diseases / conditions? Yes.
Can stem cells be retrieved from something other than embryos? Maybe.
Is this question a complicated one? Absolutely.

But I don’t want to debate the issue at the moment. Instead, I want to focus on this question of “moral authority”. There are so many people upset about Bush’s use of the Bible / his Christian faith as a moral authority. They want to make sure that there’s a strict “separation of church and state” … between decisions made based on faith and decisions made based on … what?

That’s my question. If the Bible isn’t our souce of moral authority as Americans, then what is? I think the debate to this point has been somewhat fallacious and misleading, because the secular folks neither cite- nor in my opinion understand that they too are arguing from a source of moral authority. Is it the constitution? Is it “science”? Is it atheism? What is it? Because here’s the rub … it can’t be nothing.

There are only two kinds of decisions — preference decisions and moral decisions. It is not possible to argue anything significant from no source of moral authority. If it’s not choosing which shirt I’m going to wear today or what I want for dinner, then it’s a moral decision. Every decision, every judgment, every belief has to come from somewhere. And anyone who tells you that they are making decisions based solely on fact, they’re either lying or they just don’t get it. Were you there? Did you do all the research yourself? ‘Cause if you weren’t or if you didn’t, then you’re basing your decision on belief .. trust … etc. And that means that the belief you’re basing your decision on has to come from somewhere.

President Bush claims his belief comes from the Bible. I can’t speak for his beliefs, but mine absolutely come from the Bible. Of course, I know many others for whom this is also true. It could be Buddha, or Islam, or the constitution, or myself (that’s a big, very dangerous one — because it basically means I’m god — and the human nature loves to be god). But it has to be something.

Wherever you get your moral authority, that’s your right. That’s what pluralism is, and I support your right to believe whatever you want. But there are a couple things we need to be honest about…

  1. Not all authorities are equal. Sorry, but the Bible is a superior source of moral authority to the US constitution. I know many don’t want to hear that, but every single person who WROTE the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution would agree, so…..
  2. It’s dishonest to claim that having an opinion informed by the Bible is invalid in public discourse. If it’s not possible to have NO source of authority by which I make a statement in a debate, then honest debate seems to demand that we permit people to just have their opinions based on their beliefs. Very legitimate. But in the final analysis — and here’s the clincher — we lend more weight to the most credible sources for that moral authority. So, we return to rule #1.

So let’s stop pounding on Bush for being a Christian. Let’s stop saying that because someone openly admits their source for moral authority that it makes them a religious fanatic. If that’s true, then each of the people making that accusation are also religious fanatics — it’s just a different religion.

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Posted in News, Politics and Culture, Theology | 6 Comments

Who was Philip Charlwood?

Posted on July 26, 2006 by Jeff Block

Philip W. Charlwood, 95, of St. Louis, MO died on Thursday, September 4, 2003.  He was born October 12, 1907 in Marissa, Illinois.  The son of Alfred Charlwood and Mary Poehner Charlwood, he married Caroline Virginia Mueller on January 6, 1938.

He was preceded in death by his wife Caroline on January 10, 1987, his parents Alfred and Mary, and his six brothers and sisters: Theodore, Lilly, Fred, Alma, Dorothy and Robert.  He is survived by his daughter, Carol Block, son-in-law Donald  Block and two grandsons, Jeff and Mike Block.  He was loved and will be dearly missed by all who knew him.

Philip was a member of Bridgeton Lodge #80 AF&AM, as well as several other civic and fraternal organizations.  An avid gardener, he was a charter member of the Ritenour Men’s Garden Club of Missouri, where he won Master Gardner awards and many ribbons for his flowers and vegetables throughout the years.  He retired in 1972 after 40 years at Wagner Electric as a Journeyman Millwright.

This was his obituary; Philip Charlwood was my grandfather.  Here’s what I wrote about him the day after his death three years ago…

For most of his life, my grandfather’s been bitter and somewhat angry at the church (which has represented God to him), because he felt he was robbed of the life he deserved.  For several years now, my family has been praying for him and sharing the gospel, hoping that as he aged, the Lord would soften his heart and wait to take him until he gave up his bitterness and found peace in Christ.

As many of you know, grandpa was hospitalized 3 weeks ago (while I was away on business in Dallas) after a stroke left parts of his face and throat paralyzed.  Both his speech and his ability to swallow were impaired, forcing the doctors to put a feeding tube in his stomach, because he was unable to swallow food without getting it into his lungs.

On Monday, August 18th, I talked with my mom (grandpa is her dad) about the urgency in speaking with grandpa about his spiritual life.  I feared we were running out of time, knowing that I couldn’t get to them until Sunday (6 days later).  Mom wanted to talk with him, but it’s so hard for her, so I prayed for her on the phone and left her to that task. That night at 3AM, for seemingly no reason, grandpa was moved from his
single room to a room with a roommate.  When mom came in the following morning and prayed for grandpa, his roommate heard, came over to the bed, and asked a number of direct questions about grandpa’s spiritual state.  After clearly outlining the gospel and the cost of discipleship, grandpa’s roommate asked if he wanted to pray with him to receive Christ.  He did. 

After decades of stubborn independence and countless prayers from those who loved him, I can testify anew that “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  (2 Peter 3:9)  And by that afternoon, the roommate God had sent to my grandpa had checked out of the hospital.  He wasn’t even grandpa’s roommate for 12 hours.  We don’t even know his name.  For all we know, he was an angel.

So, at 11:20AM, August 19, my 95 year old grandfather “came to repentance”.  God kept His promise.  I don’t know how many times I’ve prayed that the Lord would not let him die without knowing him.  God is
faithful.

After visiting him here in St. Louis last Monday (when I got back from Dallas), I had called the hospital’s Pastoral Care department, and asked if they would meet with him regularly to pray with him and read to him
from the Scriptures.  I knew he probably hadn’t heard more than the 23rd Psalm and the Lord’s prayer for longer than I’ve been alive.

So, for the last two weeks, a wonderful Chaplain named Jenny has been meeting with him almost every day to pray with him and open God’s word to him.  She reported to me yesterday that he’s even been asking for her
to do so.

Faith and I were on vacation (with the Nenn’s) over Labor Day weekend. We found out Wednesday (9/3) that grandpa had taken a turn for the worse, and that he was in bad shape.  Mom spent all of Wednesday night by his side, just recalling memories of him in her own mind, praying and holding his hand.  Yesterday morning (Thursday), Faith and I came down to St. Louis to be with him again.  He seemed somewhat better, and had a couple wonderful visits — one yesterday afternoon with my parents, and another with just Faith and I last night.  What I wanted to tell him most was that he was loved. We did.

Last night, at 11PM, the call came.  Grandpa had died.  Of course, we were and continue to be sad.  Mom and dad have been gone all day making arrangements.  We had just gotten the family Bible out for Faith to sign as the newest addition to the family, and the same day mom wrote a second date by grandpa’s name.

But I’m writing you all this not just to tell you that he’s no longer with us, but to focus on God’s faithfulness in that he waited so patiently until He could make sure that grandpa’s leaving us meant to be immediately with Him.  So, in the midst of sadness, it means everything that grandpa is finally resting with God.  No more bitterness.  All the years he thought he wasn’t living the life he wanted have ended, as he now lives the life for which he was created.  And finally, he has begun eternally to do what he was so reluctant to do all of his earthly life — to walk with Jesus.  And my heart aches with joy, knowing that I will be with him again.  I have to wonder if he’ll tell all the same jokes in heaven that he told here.  🙂

Posted in Family and Friends, Tribute | 4 Comments

Will Geopolitics Trump Technology?

Posted on July 25, 2006 by Jeff Block

In a previous post, I threw out the idea that politics can get in the way of technological advancement. I hope this idea is pretty obvious to anyone reading. A great example would be the fact that we are STILL not pursuing alternative fuel sources in the US the way we should be. When you combine big companies with lots of dough (like oil companies and automakers) with the reality that politicians can be bought, you end up with a climate in which the intertia is against technological advancement. Oil companies and automakers are putting their money behind the status quo, and as a result: no hydrogen fuel cells, no ethanol, and far too few cars getting more than 30 miles to the gallon. There are hybrids, yes, but they’re still way too expensive and the technology is still young. The fact is, as a nation, we’re just not taking this problem seriously.

But my thoughts are running in a different direction today. I submit that there’s another way politics can get in the way of technology. We’re poised on the brink of so many advancements, it’s dizzying. Every month we do fusion a few degrees cooler and superconductivity a few degrees warmer. Every day we get a little closer to mapping the protein sequences in the body (the Human Proteome project — the next big advancement built on the Human Genome project). Quantum computers are making strides. Carbon fibers are now at the strength to make things like space elevators possible. We’ve even seen reasonable theories for faster-than-light travel. And the list goes on.

So what could get in the way? I contend that politics can. I throw economics in there too, but in many ways that’s a function of politics, so let’s stick with that for now. I mean, let’s face it. It seems like more people are blowing more other people every single day. The news is as depressing as it gets. I’d love to see technology advance by leaps and bounds in my lifetime — people living on the moon, etc. But I think the unfortunate reality is that we just can’t afford it. We’re putting so much political and economic energy into just keeping the world from blowing itself up, that I think we may be stuck with tinier, shinier cell phones, faster computers, a growing web, and a few personalized medicines. Beyond that, I’m not sure we’re going to see the really cool stuff any time soon.

Think about it. What happens if Iran and North Korea really get nukes? (Actually, only one has to get them — either would sell to anyone who hates us.) What about if Russia reverts to it’s familiar communist ways? Putin’s definitely making that fear seem more real. How about the fact that we can’t seem to stop the handouts from being handed out within our own borders? And to make that situation worse, I can’t turn on the news without hearing somebody call for giving a pass to a few million more illegal aliens. The whole world seems to think we’re a bunch of Nazis (read: we have very few allies). And if the ACLU and others get there way, we’ll put the rights of the terrorists above our safety one time too many, and end up with DC or LA getting turning into a grease spot by some terrorist wacko with a nuke.

To say the least, these are not the ideal conditions for massive technological advancement … at least not in the world of someone who’s played Civilization as much as I have.

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The Invasion Has Begun

Posted on July 24, 2006 by Jeff Block

Lego Mindstorms 8527

I spent half the day today playing with Lego robots. How fun is that! Every since I was a young child, I’ve absolutely loved Legos. Now, because I work for a software / media company that’s all about gadgets, I get to do things like write articles about the newest gadgets out there. Today, it was robots.

So, I thought you might be interested in reading the article I wrote on TechLore about my experiences with the new Lego 8527 Mindstorms. I also wanted to encourage some discussion around the topic of robots in general.

A friend of mine recently made the following two predictions concerning robots coming into their own…

  1. Robots will be “bigger than PC’s” — meaning that their impact on society will be even more signifcant than that of the personal computer.
  2. Robots will mature twice as fast as computers have — meaning that what computers / PC’s have done in the last 30 years (from the Comodore 64 to the Pentium Duo laptop with a nice 17″ LCD widescreen and 2 GB of RAM), robots will do in 15.

So my question to you is, “What do you think?”.

I admit that robots are going to be hot and that they’re getting there fast, but my friend’s claims are HUGE. For me, I think he’s a little overzealous. Plus, frankly, I think geo-political realities could get in the way of technology just running amuck in the robotic world. I think space travel, medicine, and other fanciful soon-to-no-longer-be-science-fiction topics have the potential to suffer the same fate. If the wars keep raging and the economy keeps stretching and we keep investing in the gimme-gimme-gimme society we’re building, we’ll end up being so buried in all the crap that we might not be able to make all the cool stuff happen any time soon.

I’m sure I’ll follow-up more on that topic later. But for now, what say you? Robots making a bigger splash than PC’s in half the time? Or not?

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Posted in Science, Engineering and Technology | Leave a comment

Intelligent Scoring Blog Launched

Posted on July 23, 2006 by Jeff Block

Remember when I said that this blog would be my personal blog, and be about everyting except Intelligent Scoring? Well, I meant it. However, I wanted to fill my vast readership (snicker!) in on the fact that I launched “the other Blog” today.

To read about what I do with Capable Networks, and about the exciting new concept of intelligent scoring, check out my other blog at: http://is.capablenetworks.com.

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