Update/Political Opinion

Update

This last week has been one of the most demanding in my college career. Midterms, overtime at work, and general conference pretty much filled every little bit of time I had. I just finished the last midterm (for now) and did not do as well as I hoped. I studied more for this test than I ever remember studying on any test before. I lost sleep and skipped classes to study for this. I got an 82% which isn't good enough for the amount of effort I put in, nor is it bad enough for me to loose any more sleep over. I'm just glad its over.

On a happier note, I found out that my ward's Halloween activity will be on the 25th! Why is that good news you ask? Because that means dressing up on the 25th, the 30th (I'm going to a event with a bunch of film people where we will view "scary" movies that we make), and the 31st. Normally you put money and time into a costume only to wear it once.

Presidential Race

On a less happy note, the more I watch of the presidential race, the more dirty it seems. I feel like the candidates (and vps) spend most their time trying to smear their opponent rather than presenting credible reasons why they should have my vote. It is like a popularity contest where the opponents are just trying to ruin each other's social standing. Are we in high school? You know, at first- I was impressed with Palin and liked her raw character, but the more I see of her, the less impressed I am. I'm tired of hearing "Maverick" and "Outsider" and "Track Record." It was acceptable and inspiring when she was first chosen as McCain's running mate, but now it seems naive. I think she needs to stop leaning on this idealistic dream and start basing her remarks on real and effective plans and strategies. I still disagree too much with some of Obama's agenda for McCain to loose my vote at this point, but I sure wish there was a better choice.

The Bailout

My accounting teacher kind of opened my eyes to the bailout that has been the subject of the news lately. First, he brought up the accounting equation Assets = Liability + Owners Equity. If we are missing a trillion dollars (cash is an asset), then that has to be reflected on the other side of the equation. I won't bore you with details, but basically what I am saying is- the money didn't just disappear. It went somewhere. Now... have the president or the presidential nominees really explained what happened here? No. I have heard a lot about greedy CEOs and stuff, but come on. A trillion dollars? You don't think someone would notice if a handful of people were pocketing that amount of cash? That is not the answer. I was actually please with Palin for at least mentioning the real cause of this crisis in her debate with Biden. Yes, she did cite the preditors who loaned unqualified people sums of money... but she at least brought up the real problem.

Our society has a growing problem of dodging responsibility. Parents increasingly want schools to raise their children. Americans always want someone to blame for thier problems. We are ever the victim. Well, the real reason for the current financial crisis the the U.S. (and therefore the world) now faces is not the greedy elite. It is primarily the direct result of the common greedy American. Where did that money go? Into our pockets. Americans have borrowed against their mortgages and taken out loans so they can live a lifestyle beyond their means. We as Americans need to learn to live within our means! The church has been teaching this for decades!

Okay, so what. We've fled responsibility for our actions and call on government to fix it all with this bailout. Well, everything we do has consequences. What are these consequences?

1. We are surrendeering our freedom to the government
2. The rest of the world is paying for our exravagence

We are allowing government to take more control of our lives. We are giving up our freedom to fail. If we never fail, can we ever succeed? Maybe failure is what we need as a people so that we learn from our mistakes. We are quickly growing our government and surrendering our freedoms because we don't want to take reponsibility. Are we children still? Do we all need a mom to tell us what to do and give us curfews. We need to take responsibility. Now, of course no one wants a depression. But is that what would happen? We will never know. We are giving up the freedom to choose how to act in the face of the trial that would come.

The lifestyle Americans have been living is a good and viable cause for other countries to hate us. Why should their economies suffer for our citizen's actions? I am not saying that I am exempt from the tendency to live beyond my means. I do it as well. But when we don't have consequeces, it is hard to learn when our actions have a positive or negative effect. We, as Americans will never see the true consequence of our actions because of this bailout.

I also don't want to say I'm against the bailout, because I think it really will prevent a lot of the damage that can be done (or at least minimize it). But I am opposed to the freedoms we are giving up and the lessons left unlearned by this bailout.