Chronicles of My Philosophical Journey

It's been a while!

2008-05-26T16:08:00.002-05:00

Not sure anyone is reading this - BUT - it has been a while!
Many things have changed - new job - and many things have stayed the same.
I recently heard Andrew Bernstein speak (again - saw him last year as well) and am reading his "Capitalist Manifesto" book. The lecture was focused on goverment schools.

I am also in the process of reading Tara Smith's Ayn Rand's Noramtive Ethics.

Not sure what I am going to do with this blog - I have enjoyed writing it, but haven't had a lot of time to write. Once I figured out what direction I want to go, I will start writing again.

Craig Biddle on "Living Purposefully"

2006-11-07T20:37:00.000-06:00

Saturday night my husband and I had the opportunity to listen to Craig Biddle. the Editor of The Objectivist Standard, give a speech on how to live purposefully. It was a really good presentation, and althought the concept seems to be common sense, he was able to offer the Objectivist perspective on it.

Maybe later when I have time I can write up a synopsis of the talk.
I must say Craig was an engaging speaker, and very friendly. I only had a short conversation with him near the end of the night, but he certainly is a very approachable fellow, and a great voice for Objectivism.

Last night I was surprised by a good friend that went ahead and purchased a gift subscription to TOS for us. I cannot wait to get the next issue!

Fall in TX

2006-10-12T19:12:00.000-05:00

It is finally getting a little cooler here in TX. It almost actually feels like fall! Too bad we don't actually have foilage down here like there is in New England. I do miss the colors. The KaPOW! of the orange, reds, and yellows of the leaves on the trees up there is just beautiful.

Ah well...

Better Off Dead

2006-09-29T20:59:00.000-05:00

I have been informed that it would be easier for some people if I was dead and faithful than alive and an infidel.
Go figure.
=/

Pleasant Discovery

2006-09-24T16:54:00.000-05:00

I was speaking with one of my sisters on the phone today, and it turns out that she read Atlas Shrugged about a year ago, and has interest in Rand's philosophy. She told me she doesn't agree 100% with Objectivism, but it sounds like she is at least keeping an open mind, and even has one of her books of essays.

It was a pleasant discovery, to find a relative that has read something of Rand's work. I haven't really brought it up with any of my siblings. Mostly because I have only been studying it for a short while, but also because I don't want to be seen as jumping from one ship (religion) to another. I think, given the religious background we are from, it would be an honest mistake for many of my siblings to come to that conclusion.

Anyhoo...it made me happy to hear that. Well, to speak to my sister in general too, and hear that she is doing okay.
(And if you are reading this: come visit me next year!)

Objectivism: Almost a Year Later

2006-09-23T23:16:00.000-05:00

So here it is, the nearly the end of September, 2006.
It's been almost a year since I started attending the North Texas Objectivist Society, and studying Objectivism. I have read a lot of books by Rand, both her fiction and non fiction, as well as other authors, and done a lot of study.
I am still attending an OPAR study group, and participate in the discussion board on NTOS's meetup site, and occaisionally Objectivism Online. (The fellow that started that site also attends NTOS and is a great guy btw.)

So would I consider myself an Objectivist now? No, not yet. Though I have a much better grasp of the philosophy than I did last year, or even a few months ago, I wouldn't say that just yet. I would still say I am a student of Objectivism.

Well, in the company of my friends that are Objectivist, I may kid and say I am an OIT: Objectivist in Training.

Not sure if I mentioned it before...and too lazy to look it up right now, but my husband found The Early Ayn Rand Reader at Half Price books. It is full of some of her early short stories, and most of them are quite enjoyable. I had often wondered if Ayn Rand was a fan of O. Henry, and this book confirmed that she was.

Vandals have come a calling

2006-09-09T01:35:00.000-05:00

At the end of July, I purchased a new car. Well not a brand new car, but it was pretty new for me, a 2001. I have never EVER had a car that new. And it is a sporty thing, a Mustang. I have never had a car that fun, nor cool.

My husband and I realized we needed another car because we enrolled our youngest two kids in a private Montessori school several miles away from home. My husband was also about to start classes at the local college, and it would really be too much on him to have to do all the driving. And, it kinda sucks to be stuck at home with out a car all day. Orignially we were just going to save up a couple of thousand dollars and get a decent but cheap vehicle. But the more I thought of it, the more I realized that with the nasty heat (40 days over 100 this summer), and the fact I would be carting little children around many miles several times a week, it would probably be wiser to spend the cash to get a decent car.

So, I hopped online, and looked around. I started sending my husband links of Mustangs, saying "Hahaha, this is what we need." I was kidding, because I didn't want to spend a lot of money. We went to the local Carmax. Didn't really see anything that I liked and could afford with decent gas mileage. They did have a couple of Mustangs, though...and the prices weren't bad, but still, we decided we should go to another Carmax and see what they had in stock.

Well, truth be told, I saw a neat blue Mustang, that was really cheap, and I was smitten. I did look around the rest of the lot, and there was nothing else with decent gas mileage that was as cool for the same price. (Unless I wanted to get a icky Ford Focus. Sure, sure, it was a 2004, but who wants to pay that much for a Focus when you can have a Mustang for the same payment?)

I was all excited, because I was able to get the car loan on my own. This shouldn't be a big deal, but for the past few years I was self employed, and it didn't fair well for this kind of thing. But here I was, feeling like a grown up, getting a cool car FINALLY.

I felt like a Kellog's Frosted Mini-Wheat: The kid in me was excited because it was a sports car, and the adult in me was pleased because it got good gas mileage because its only a 6 cylinder.

Anyhoo.....my first payment is due next week. All was going well...until....

2 nights ago some @#$)%$_% decided that a piece of concrete they found lying somewhere would look better in my car than on the ground. So they hurled it through my back window. The punk didn't even try to break in the car. Whoever it was just wanted to vandalize something.

According to the police officer that wrote up the report the next morning several other cars were hit in the night. I spent a long time carefully picking up glass and vacuuming it out, and today taped on a plastic sheet until I can replaced the window next week.

It angers me because people can be such pricks. The police officer said to me "If we find the kid or kids that did this, the parents are responsible up to $5000, but they usually don't have the money." I didn't say anything. But I was thinking: I don't care about that. If they find who did this, they will pay me back. I don't care if they have to pay me back $5 a week until the debt is paid. There is no excuse. I don't care if the person that did this was high on drugs or molested by the neighbor's cat. It's just wrong, and even if it was some 15 year old kid, they should be held responsible. I am not looking for anything more than justice. (I must admit, I did have thoughts of a beating...but it passed.)

ANYWAY...it's just a car, but it was a bit of a symbol of accomplishment for me. I finally had something that I had wanted for a very long time that I could afford (barely, true, hahah.)

I must say though, it is amazing how clear a view you have in the rear view mirror when there is no window.

Confrontation =(

2006-08-13T02:22:00.000-05:00

Well, we got some cool bookcases from IKEA last month.
Inspired by their awesomeness (yeah, I am queer, I know!) I decided to put all my philosophy books out in the open on their glorious shelves. I threw my bibles up there too, because, well, I still read them from time to time. (Hey I like mythology.)

Anyhoo...this isn't a big deal, but my mom is visiting. I haven't been very vocal about studying Objectivism, or that I am an atheist. The last time she visited, we didn't really talk about the philosophy my husband and I was interested in. I told my husband, though, that I was just going to throw the books up, included my other bible translation. I figured while we were out of town on vacation and my mom was hanging out with my sister my mom could flip through the books should she so desire.

Well, between that and my 6 year old, things came to ahead Saturday night.
My mother was kind enough to watch my youngest 2 while my husband and I went out to dinner with some friends. When we returned, my mother informed us that our daughter had told her that she (my mom) believed in the spaghetti monster, but that my mother did not. She also told my mother that we didn't allow her to use the word 'god' and that we didn't believe in that word and neither did she. And that the book that used that word was wrong.

WELL. My mom wanted to know what the spaghetti monster was and if what the rest of the conversation was true. We figured that our daughter misunderstood what we had told our son. We have been asking him to stop exclaiming "my god!" when he gets upset or excited about something all the time. Because he does it way too much. So I think she was using spaghetti monster as a substituion. I then explained what the FSM was, and assured her that my duaghter knew that he was fake.

THEN...the real conversation began. I admitted, yes, everything she said was true. We don't believe in god, and that I don't believe the bible any longer. My mom was appalled. She remained calm, but I could tell it was hard. She stated she couldn't believe that I would abandon my believes, and spend so much time "reading philosophy" etc...that I would still have to be accontable to what I used to believe even if I didn't believe them...it was pretty painful. And it is hard to go into any more detail. I felt like I was a child, disappointing my mom.

I don't feel guilty for upsetting her. I didn't earn guilt to be upset about. But I am upset that she is hurt. Angry that religion has such a hold over her, and afraid that this new knowledge that she has about my lack of belief in god may hurt or relationship. I told her that I never brought it up because I didn't think it would be fruitful. But that I have NEVER lied to her about my belief, or lack thereof.

The discussion stayed calm right through the end. I went to the bathroom, and stood over the toilet with the dry heaves. I spent the next 30 minutes being comforted by husband as I cried like a baby. I do wish she had someone to hold on to and cry with too. Because I am sure that is what she was doing at the same time.
=(

Cayman Trip

2006-07-31T17:08:00.000-05:00

My family and I just returned from a vacation on Grand Cayman Island.
Oh, it was fantastic! We had never been any where "exotic" like this before, and it was the first time that my children were out of the country. (Actually, we were only able to take three of them. But since the other two spent a week in Florida and visited all the major theme parks there with grandparents, everyone had a good summer!)

We stayed at a really cool private residence that some friends had already rented out. It was right on the beach, and on the East side of the island. A few of the things that we did was:
1. Snorkeling (my husband and son actually, I haven't mastered the breathing yet)
2. Swimming with stingrays (well, the 4 year old and I mostly was on the boat. She was afraid)
3. Hanging out with sea turtles
4. Eating turtle (husband)
5. Riding on jet skis (all but me. I was feeling ill and didn't want to make "a mess" hahah)
6. Playing with hermit crabs tiny to huge!
6. Just floating in the ocean for hours (I think that was my favorite part)

One of the neat things about The Caymans is that there are no taxes, so you don't pay any sales taxes. Well, that isn't exactly correct. Everything coming into the country has a duty on it of course. But, it was great not having to add sales tax onto all of our purchases. Of course, things are WAYYYY more expensive down there, but it was worth it. And the money is pretty if you chose to use it instead of the US Dollar.

I am proud to say I am now an ambidextrous driver and know how to drive on the left and right sides of the road. Very exciting. Sometimes even at the same time.

Madeleine Albright, John Stossel & Mary Higgins Clark: What Do They Have In Common?

2006-06-13T12:41:00.000-05:00

Besides the fact they all spend a good amount of time in or near New York City...
I am reading their work.
(OOOOO....lucky them!)

The last several months most of my reading has been Rand and Objectivist geared. I am still reading in that area, but here are a few others I have read recently or am reading:

Madame Secretary , Madeleine Albright’s autobiography. I started reading this in the summer of 2005, and am almost done. It is quite interesting, actually, and I am really enjoying it. (I do love autobiographies.) It is an interesting story of her life, politics, and pretty much a study in pragmatism, hahah. For those that have the time, though, and are interested, I recommend it.

I am not a democract, nor a republican. Regardless of politcis, this is a compelling book. Albright does a great job telling her story. She covers her childhood, young adult hood, climb of her career, break up of marriage, etc., very well, without it being too distracting from the book. This isn't a gossipy book, but there is enough peronal stories in it to make it interesting. There is also a lot of insight into how things get done when dealing with other countries, and our own. Ms. Albright may not agree, but her book offer many examples as to why pragmatism is not an appropriate philosophy to live by.

Give Me A Break, by John Stossel. My son picked this up for me at the library last night and I finished it this afternoon.

I grew up watching Stossel on 20/20 as a whiney consumer rights reporter, and was happy when he grew into a more objective reporter. When I started studying Objectivism last year, I was surprised, and pleased to see that many would refer to him as an Objectivist, and I saw some references to him mentioning Rand's work.

I have never seen anything to show he calls himself one, though he admires Atlas Shrugged, Rand, and seems to be pretty tight with David Kelly and The Objectivist Center. (He quotes Kelly in his book a few times and mentions the center. He was even on one of his specials. If you type "John Stossel" and "Objectivist" into Google.com, you will pull up links with him and David Kelly and/or the Objectivist Center all over the place. Me thinks he could use some balancing with ARI, but hey, that's another story.)

But I cannot see anything in the book that even hints at any serious study of Objectivism on his part. I was disappointed by that. By what I had read on other websites and discussion boards, it sounded like Stossel was an Objectivist. I made the mistake of assuming he was from the articles he has written, and from of the posts I have read online at various discussion boards.
I figured it would be best to find out for myself, and so decided to start with this book. (This book shows how he went from a liberal reporter to an objective reporter. That’s why I figured it would be a good book to answer my question.)

It's still a good book, and I recommend it. However, just with this caveat: While Stossel is friendly to some of Objectivist philosophy and capitalism, he is NOT an Objectivist, nor does he claim to be.

Perhaps some would think I am being anal about this. However, in studying Objectivism, it is really easy to allow yourself to be 'stumbled' by things that are written by those that may not have a correct understanding, or may not be in agreement of Objectivism. Had I picked up this book last year, thinking the ideas written near the end was written under Rand’s Objectivist philosophy, I would have been quite confused as to what Objectivist philosophy agreed with or not.

(In order to judge something, you have to know what something is first. That’s why I keep pushing that those who want to embrace or reject Objectivism need to study it first. And that is also why I refer to myself as a student of Objectivism, since although I have read and study much of it, I still have a lot to learn about it.)

Anyway, off my soapbox. Kudos to John Stossel. He really is a heroic reporter. I have more respect for him than before I read the book. We need more reporters like him.

Second Time Around by Mary Higgins Clark. Just finished that a few days ago. I do love my light fiction. I have been reading her stuff for over 20 years. She is my favorite pop fiction writer. Although not as clever as Agatha Christie, she is pretty darn close. (I do love Agatha too!)

Net Neutrality Ammendment Dies

2006-06-09T11:07:00.000-05:00

I was very pleased to read this article Provision U.S. House Shoots Down Net Neutrality over at http://www.cio.com/ this morning.

There must have been a great popping sound heard in Washington, DC, as the House of Reps removed their heads from the sand and voted down the net neutrality ammendment 269 to 152.

I won't go into all the details, but the ammendment basically would require that broadband provides offer the same service at the same speed to everyone. Regardless of how much bandwidth they suck.

The article talks a little about both sides of the coin, but, I see the bottom line as this: these companies have invested millions and millions, if not billions of dollars into their network. They offer a service for a price. How dare the government come in and try to mess with that? How dare they? And, why shouldn't a company that is sucking big band width be told they need to pay more, because they are getting more service from the broadband provider?

Of course, all these consumer groups don't get the fact that this ammendment will do for the internet what the Every child Left Behind Act will do for education: It will make the internet suck for everyone, and take choices out of the hand of providers. Actually, it will be even worse. At least with education, if you are really disgusted with public education, you can home school or send your kids to private school. With government regulation of the internet, indvididual's rights are violated even more so.

Check this site out regarding the issue:

Hands off The Internet Some people don't like this "coalition" because they are compromised of big companies. But they don't hide that fact, and they should be the ones leading the fight, since it is THEIR busines that is at stake here and their property rights. I don't agree with 100% of what they say, but I agree with NO REGULATION of the internet. They have some very interesting posts on the blog.(Read the Blame Canada entry Blame Canada . It is particularly funny.)

I don't agree with the site 100%, but Hands Off does a decent job of using the governments own words to explain why regulation isn't required, by bring up the FCC's "principles" for consumers rights to accessing the internet, etc...they then use these 4 principles to come up with their 6 principles, which stresses the government only getting involved in cause of fraud and criminal activity. Check out the Hands Off Principles page for details.

Interesting Hair Look at the guy pictured on the right. No, I don't know him, but I am fascinated by the hair. Is it real, is it fake? Is there a pack of small furry animals missing a member somewhere? Well, congrats to him on his promotion, anyway.

Excellent Article On Immigration & Individual Rights

2006-05-24T03:10:00.000-05:00

My friend David sent a link out on a discussion list we both belong to. It is an excellent article, entitled Immigration Quotas vs. Individual Rights: The Moral and Practical Case for Open Immigration by Harry Binswanger.

I haven't been to Capmag.com for quite a bit, but there are a lot of interesting articles there, well worth spending some time reading.

Enjoy!

"Math is Hard"

2006-05-20T04:00:00.000-05:00

This is the joke between my 18 year old sister and me. We often will say it, in our stupid voice.

However, it seems I have made the mistake of saying it too many times around my 6 year old daughter. Besides her previous revelations of how powerful math is, she has taken it upon herself to give me some lessons in some important math basics.

Thursday night she got out of bed because apparently I didn't really understand the basic concept of what exactly math is. She put into these simple terms, "Mommy, 1, 2,3 is just like A, B, C. Just like 1 +1 = 2, you can have A + A = B."

I just looked at her. I wasn't sure if I was annoyed that she was up an hour past her bed time or amazed because she is just finishing up kindergarten. Not really sure what to do, hahah, I figured it was safer to say this, "Yes, I get it honey. Math is a language. Now GET TO BED!"

Of course as soon as she skipped back to her bed, pleased with herself because she had given me yet another lesson (hey, I took algebra in high school...she isn't past me yet....at least not for another 2 years at least hahah) I ran into the office and told my husband what has occurred.

He was pleased of course. The problem now is to figure the best course of action. Of course we want to encourage her interest. She has already qualified for a special program at school, as did one of her older sisters. So she will get some challenging work. Which is great. We are very fortunate to live in a school district that doesn't suck. But, since we have to deal with TAKS and the EVERY Child Left Behind programs, we want to make sure gets to keep her math appetite satisfied.

Being a parent is fun...but dang...math is still hard....it sure isn't hard to tell which parent she gets her brainiac skills from is it?
=P

Conversations with a 6 year old

2006-05-15T00:38:00.000-05:00

Last night we went out to eat at a local BBQ restaurant. Somehow the discussion of children came up with my 4 year old daughter. I am not sure how, nor do I remember exactly what we were talking about.

I do remember though, rolling my eyes at one point and saying, "I will tell you what my mom used to tell me: 'Someday you will have a daughter just like you! That is how I will have my revenge!' HAHAHAH!" We had a good chuckle, because all the kids have heard it a thousand times before. (This particular child though, is my “Mini-Me”, so, my mom’s “curse” came true, haha.)

My 6 year old daughter piped up and said something funny, and so my husband laughed and responded with something about the greatest curse would be for her to have a kid like the 4 year old, and the 4 year old to have a kid just like the 6 year old. My 6 year old stopped smiling and got a serious look on her face.

"But I am going into science," she stated matter of fact. We explained to her that was fine, she could have kids and “go into science” or not have kids, whichever she chose was fine with us. We then got caught up in rounding everyone up for the last visit to the restroom before we left.
Now that she was in her “science” mode, our 6 year old she was talking about how cats cannot fly.

“What if you put them in an astronaught suite with a jet pack? Could the go to outerspace”I told her it wouldn’t work out too well because they didn’t have opposable thumbs, nor the intelligence to work the controls.

“...or an ant in a little rocket ship...”We started discussing how there would need to be more than just a tiny rocket ship or jet pack, that there are physical laws at work. Then there was a comment about using math to figure that stuff out.

She was quiet for a few minutes, and then we heard her say, ever so quietly:
"With math, you can know everything."

”What was that?” I asked, not sure I heard her right.“Nothing,” she said, after a pause. I asked my husband if he had heard what I did, and he said he had.

When we got home she waited until we were alone and told me that she had said it, but that it wasn’t meant for us to hear, that she was only whispering it to herself.

Later, my husband asked what she meant, and she said, "Math takes away the unknown. If I am having a nightmare, and I am in a scary dark forest, I can use math to count the trees. Then, I know how many trees there are. So it isn't so scary. Because it isn't unknown, how many trees there are. "

This, from a 6 year old. It is amazing to hear and watch my kids learn how to reason. This isn't something we taught her. She is using what she is learning at school and at home and piecing it all together, forming concepts.

All I can say is: WOW.

Slowest reader....ever!

2006-05-13T23:30:00.000-05:00

Yeah...I guess that would be me.
I FINALLY finished Atlas Shrugged tonight. Granted, it is 1069 pages long, and there was almost a whole month of illness where I didn't read much of anything...but still...

I wonder if this means I get to find out the secret handshake at the local Objectivist group I intend?

=)

Don't Ask Me To Give If You Won't

2006-05-11T02:33:00.000-05:00

My 10 year old came home from school today with a pledge form for a jog a thon. She said that they were raising money for a new marquee sign out in front of their school. I looked at the paper, and read it, and then handed it back to her.

I thought for a moment. The sign out front of the school is two sided. One side has stuff on it in Spanish, the other in English, with reminders and announcements. It is quite handy sometimes, but really, I didn't see why they needed a new one.

"Why do they need a new sign?" I asked, wondering if maybe she knew something I didn't. "It looks fine to me."

"I don't know."

"Well, honestly, even if they needed a sign, I really don't see it being that necessary. So I am going to decline giving any money for this. But you can ask your Dad when he gets home."

Before he got home, though, I tried to use the opportunity to throw in a lesson here. I said, "You know, even though I don't care to contribute to this particular fund, I think it is great that the school is asking for VOLUNTARY donations instead of just taking DEMANDING money from people don't you?"

I didn't go into taxes or anything like that (after all she is 10), but I told her that this was an example of the school asking polite for funding help. And me politely declining because I have other places I want to spend my money. Then I said, "You know, you have $2. It is your money. You are free to donate that to the new sign if you wish."

She looked at me, and seemed to get it and said." I don't really care about the sign either, not enough to give MY money." She then told me that it was voluntary to get pledges, but that they had to run. It is part of gym class though, so that isn't a big deal, at least not to me.

I think I probably made a mistake though. I probably should have asked her in the beginning if it was something she valued enough to part with some of her own money, becuase if she isn't willing to give some of her own money, how can she justify asking others to donate to the cause?
I spoke with my husband about it tonight after she went to bed, and I think this weekend we will speak with her about it in more depth.

Celebrate Capitalism

2006-05-10T16:09:00.000-05:00

I have been off work sick the past few days, in and out of lucidity, and stumbling online here and there, sort of playing the "6 degrees of Objectivism" if you will...going from link to link. Sometimes you find something good...sometimes you find crap, heh heh. Now, not sure how you would classify this...I think it is kind of clever, actually. I have never heard of this guy, but I guess he is fairly well known (at least in Down Under).

Some guy called PRODOS, he has a radio show, has interviewed a lot of people including Tara Smith, Peikoff, etc..etc..etc...ANYHOO...there is an interview with him on The Atas Sphere The Atlasphere. He has some interesting songs...one I got a kick out of is called We Invite The World. There is even a flag to go along with it called Sara. OOO....more link clinking: Prodos has a Celebrate Capitalism Day and here is the Declaration that goes along with it I haven't processed all this yet (brain...working...slowly...) I need to re- read it all a little more thoroughly.

Celebrate Capitalism is June 4, 2006...that is a sunday. I think perhaps I could grill a hot dog or hamburger to that!

On another note: June 6 2006 is 06/06/06....too bad that wasn't on the weekend. It would be fun to have a mock end of the world party as a former xtian hahah. ( that is 666 for those that don't get that lame joke right away.)

Failing To Put My Best Foot Forward

2006-04-23T19:10:00.000-05:00

My family and I went to the Scarborough Renaissance Festival today in Waxahachie TX. While we have all been there before, it is our first time there together as a whole family.

A few other families that we know from a local Objectivist group also attended and we met up with them for a little while. That was a lot of fun, but unfortunately, didn't last long. The youngest in our clan has been quite difficult lately, and I have been feeling not too well. So we split off from the group and decided to go to one of the shows so we could just sit and watch for a little bit.

We did meet up with one of my husband's friend's for work for a few minutes, and then later some from the Objectivist group before we left to chat for a little bit.

When I got home, I was relieved to pull my sneakers off my tired feet. Then I was horrified when I looked down and realized that I was wearing two different sneakers.

Interesting...hopefully if anyone noticed they just thought I was in costume hahah...so much for trying to put my best foot forward I guess hahah.

Capitalism Activism

2006-04-18T13:58:00.000-05:00

I was reading on Objectivism Online's Metablog listing and came across this interesting blog post entitled Form 1040 and 'rational ignorance' on a blog entitled The Rule of Reason. It is a very interesting piece regarding the current tax situation, and how those of us that don't like it, well, we should DO something about it.

He makes a very good case, I think, for donating money for activism that supports capitalism. When I think about it, it makes sense. Think of all the interest groups that are out there with activists, pushing their agendas that work against capitalism. A lot of people don't get that the more this country gets away from capitalism towards socialism, the fewer opportunities individuals have.

Oh, by the way...the ferret is home again. A neighbor caught him yesterday afternoon, and was kind of enough not to turn him into a slipper.

Taxes & Easter

2006-04-17T06:57:00.000-05:00

Well, after 2 months of dragging it out, we finally finished and filed our taxes this past week.
Man, each year it gets more complicated! I don't think compulsory taxes will ever be abolished, but at least they could go with a flat tax or something. Make life a lot easier. Sheesh!!

Easter was this past weekend.
Except for the few times we have gone to my inlaws house for a meal, we have never done much about Easter. Sure, we usually do some egg painting and egg hunt for the kids, but nothing too formal. Easter has never had any religious meaning for me, even when I was a Christian.

We didn't do the egg painting yet at our house. Our pet ferret snuck out of the house this weekend, and it kind of ruined the mood. (We haven't found the little guy yet.) Next weekend we will probably do that though, since it is always fun. (And, all the candy will be half off...how convenient MUAHAHAH!)

Anyhoo, we attended a NTOS meeting Saturday night, and there was an Egg of Reason Hunt for the kids. The kids had a great time searching for plastic eggs full of candy. There was no pretending about an Easter bunny.

My husband and I have decided to totally dispense with the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and even Santa Claus this year. We are not going to make a big deal about it; that's not really necessary, since 3 out of 4 of them don't believe in them any way.

This past meeting at the NTOS was excellent. In fact, my husband had a great discussion with a long time Objectivist about raising kids to be selfish, but in a proper way. I will write more about that later as I have more time.

MAss Insanity only gets worse

2006-04-06T18:19:00.000-05:00

Okay...here is another article that makes the whole health insurance issue in Mass even scarier:
Health bill premiums may exceed predictions
Ability of some to pay at issue

Hmmm...so no high deductible plans allowed....so they are cutting out choices, so they will only have high premium insurance plans....not very smart.
Interesting article.

MAss Insanity

2006-04-06T17:23:00.000-05:00

Here is a very scary story:

Health insurance may be mandatory in Mass.

MA just passed a bill that is going to screw many businesses and individuals.
If an employer doesn’t offer health insurance, it will be fined $295 per employee.
If an individual can afford health insurance, but does not purchase it, they can be fined up to $1000.

I am not an economist, nor have I ever played one on tv, but here is what I think will happen:

1. Layoffs, and rehiring of temps: Employers layoff their workforce, and rehire them as temps through a temp agency. It will be cheaper for them in most cases, even with the mark up for agency fee;

2. Employees being laid off and rehired as 1099 contractors: You don’t have to pay 1099 contractors benefits. The problem will be making sure the employer’s relationship with the contractor is in line with employment laws regarding the differences between 1099 and W2 employees.

3. Employees laid off: just laid off…because the employer cannot afford all of them. Have to pick your most vital and let the rest go.

4. Moving the business: either outside of Mass or to state lines, hoping to attract out of state workers.

Now, #1 could be a great boon to temp agencies. And there are a lot of great temp agencies out there. The problem is that it creates the illusion of job insecurity. I say illusion because you can work for a temp company for years. Just like any other job. But, for many employees, it can be stressful.

Regarding #2, this takes some heat off the employer if they do things right. It puts the responsibility of buying insurance where it belongs: with the individual. Working on a 1099 basis can be a boon to many people if they take the time to understand what they can legally write off and what they cannot. Also, they may actually be able to make a little more an hour because the employer doesn’t have to pay unemployment or medicare tax any longer. But, they may be required to purchase other insurance, such as liability insurance to be able to work with a client.

#3 is the saddest of course. But there will be some smaller companies that will have to make the decision to cut a few people so that they can afford to keep their most valuable/necessary employees.

#4: hey....come on up to NH! No sales tax, and no income tax. Just set up shop over the state line and you may even keep many of the same employees.

Something I find interesting is that that those under a certain income (but not poor enough to get insurance for free) will be able to get insurance on a sliding scale. Hmmm...so the government will be subsidizing that. Hmm...kinda like Section 8 housing. So where is the money coming from to do that? I need to read more on this, but I wonder if they expect to use the fines levied on the individuals and businesses to support the subsides? That is a scary idea. If that is the case, then the plan woudl be a failure if everyone complies with it.

Of course, there is the federal government. I wonder how much of a nightmare it will be for insurance companies to get their subsidy money from the state and/or federal government. We have all heard how much doctor's offices hate dealing with medicaid and medicare. I wonder if insurance companies will start pulling some of their plans out of the state because even with subsidies their profits will plummet.

And there is no provision to raise taxes anywhere to pay for the poor on the plan? Where is THAT coming from? I guess that is the only good news...no raising the income or sales tax or property tax to pay for it...yet!

Oh, look at the web that this spider is weaving. Good luck people of MA.

Update On Rand Readings & Objectivism

2006-04-05T08:31:00.000-05:00

Well, it is now April, and I am still not finished Atlas Shrugged.
It is a very long book (over 1000 pages), but I just have been busy between being sick, and the kids, and work. (Without going into boring details...I am just glad the past 6 weeks are over!)
I have made a special effort over the past few weeks to read more of it, though. I am about 80% through it.

The more I read it, the more I can see how many view Atlas as such an amazing achievement. I posted in an earlier post Going Through Ayn Rand Novels, that I just didn't get a few of her characters. I mentioned that I viewed Roark in The Fountainhead as unrealistic. While I found this a little annoying while I was reading the book, my husband pointed me to an article, Ayn Rand's Playboy Interview in 1964 that cleared things up for me a little bit.

Rand wrote her heros, and heroines the way she thought men and women OUGHT to be. Not necessarily the way many are in real life. Ahhh...okay, that changes my out look a bit on her writing. It is a great article, actually, and answered some questions that had been nagging me.

One thing that you don't see much in any of her books are children. Motherhood wasn't something Ayn chose. I wondered if it was something she felt was not worthwhile for other women. This article gives her take on it, and I think it is interesting. Basically, if you are going to be a mother/housewife, you should practice it as seriously as you would a career. I am not sure many would appreciate her saying that chosing motherhood over a job as a career may be impractical. However, she makes a good point, because, "because a home cannot be a full-time occupation, except when her children are young."

It makes sense to me. Personally, I have known other moms that once their kids hit school age, or are in their teens, they sometimes feel like the are without a purpose. I don't think this necessarily HAS to be the case. But I think Rand's point is that if you don't have a purpose to give you a reason to get out of bed everyday, well, then you don't have much.

Here is another thing that I think a lot of women don't think about: Do some women hide behind our family obligations so that we hide from finding a personal purpose? I think we see this when we meet women that later in life, after the kids are grown will wistfully say " I could have done this, this and this if I didn't have to take care of the family."

See, to me, this is a whole new issue altogether. We read about people making sacrifices for their children...blah, blah, blah. Well, sure, it isn't easy, and you do have to give up something for the sake of the kids now and then. That's called an opportunity cost. My husband and I "gave up" a few things in order to have kids. That isn't a sacrifice. We get a lot of value and enjoyment from our children. Along with the things we get from them, is the responsibility for caring for them. We wouldn't have had to deal with these responsibilities if we had not CHOSEN to have kids.

I am still reading the OPAR book, and occaisionally attend a local study group, and my family and I attend a local group of Objectivists. Which is helpful, because they it is nice to interact and ask questions of those that understand Rand's philosophy. The group is very helpful because there are a good number of families there, so you can see that Objectivism isn't just a philosophy for the young and childless.

I don't think Ayn Rand is infalliable, nor a goddess of some kind. In fact, I think, being imperfect, she probably had a few times where it was hard to stay true to her own philosophy. But, just because a person isn't perfect doesn't mean you cannot learn something from them.

Why the 10 Commandments Are Wrong for Children

2006-04-03T17:55:00.000-05:00

"Why the 10 Commandments Are Wrong for Children"

I just recently read two very interesting artciles regarding how the 10 Commandments can actually be harmful. They are as follows:

"The Ten Commandments vs. America"
An opinion piece found in the Wednesday, March 2, 2005 edition of the The Courier-Journal by By Harry Binswanger

(You can also find it on the ARI website at here.

You can find the article at this link:
"Protect My Children from the Ten Commandments"
by Lewis Vaughn, as published in Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 19, Number 4.

I enjoyed reading both articles because they give two opinions on the 10 commandments from two very different viewpoints:
1. Objectivist viewpoint
2. Secular Humanist viewpoint

I haven no problem with my children knowing the 10 commandments. In fact, I plan on making sure my kids have an opportunity to learn about the bible and christianity in general and other religions, and even expose them to some good old Greek and Roman mythology. I consider it a part of their education in learning something about the world. The 10 commandmnents are not appropriate to use in order to teach my kids how to be decent people because:

1. They are not being taught to think critically or rationally (other than you will incur God's wrath there is no reason to obey them)
2. They are not being taught to personal responsibility

These are fairly short pieces, and I would encourage all to take the time to read them, as I really cannot do them justice.
But, as you can see from both articles, there are sound reasons from a societal/humanist and obectivist/individualist point of view as to why using the 10 commandments to try to teach children to behave is harmful.

For me, I think Ayn rand summed it up best:

"If I were to speak your kind of language, I would say that man's only moral commandment is: Thou shalt think. But a 'moral commandment' is a contradiction in terms. The moral is the chosen, not the forced; the understood, not the obeyed. The moral is the rational, and reason accepts no commandments."

(John Galt's broadcast in Atlas Shrugged...thanks Bruce, for mentioning where the quote was from in the comments...I finally got to that part in the book, but just finally got to update the blog.)

Chicken Pox

2006-02-01T00:48:00.000-06:00

Sigh....my daughter has a different kind of avian affliction than the bird flu: Chicken Pox.

When I was a kid, getting chicken pox was no big deal. If one kid got it, it wasn't uncommont to bring over relatives' kids or neighborhood kids so they could get it too. Get it over with before they got too old. No biggie...

But since the chicken pox shot has been around for many years, I guess it is fairly rare.
My daughter did have the shot a few years ago, but here we sit, almost 1 AM in the morning. She is awake, not feeling well with the chicken pox. Sigh....

I am just relieved it isn't something worse. I can handle the chicken pox. The doctor confirmed how I planned to handle it (baths, calamine lotion, pain reliever and fluids) was just fine.

So...the next several days we will be me and my daughter at home. I won't get any work done, but hey, maybe a little time together won't hurt.