POTUS Schmotus... Here's Who Should Be President

7/29/15

Politics and Economics: Unfortunately Inseparable

The season is beginning… it’s the one where suddenly, people who couldn’t give a crap less about politics, economics, psychology, law, human rights, or a number of other professional disciplines, suddenly have doctorate degrees in all of the above. In other words, all random Facebook people.

The big question, and topic of today’s article: Who should you vote for, for President of the United States?

The voting event itself is still roughly 15 months away, but things seem to be heating up, with the fiends of both parties starting to load up their powder. Socialists like Bernie Sanders, firebrands like Donald Trump. Who wouldn’t want them governing this noble country?

You might wonder why a blog about money and investing is suddenly delving into politics… well, as luck would have it, my undergraduate studies were in political science, so to this day, I do still hold an affinity for analyzing and “sticking it to The Man” with my digital pen of market domination. 

After all, The Man is the face of the country, and no one wants their country to look stupid on a worldwide scale.

And let’s face it—money and politics are irrevocably intertwined. So, I have to talk about it once in a while. So here goes.

A guy I know works daily as a construction worker, then goes home to drink beer and smoke weed all evening, wakes up in the morning, has a cup of coffee, glances at TwitFace and a few headlines briefly there (not reading the actual articles, though), and looks to have a high-level discussion about the viability of the leading presidential candidates.

He’s informed and educated, after all.

And he’s good—real good. This civilized discussion is full of lol’s, smh’s, lots of name-calling, and accusations about this or that person being a racist, a bigot, or not “nice” enough for today’s “progressive” world.

This is the essence of most discussions I see, in fact. Maybe I run with the wrong crowds, I don’t know. In any case, I worry tremendously for the future of my tablet-infused generation.

What worries me is not the fact that this “friend” of mine wants to be involved in politics or make a difference—he’s doing more than most people, I think, and I give him credit for that. The worrying part about him is the warped philosophy he has about how the world should be. It’s ingrained in him by his upbringing, his experiences, and his reactions to the world around him.

My experiences and philosophies are much different. Worlds apart from his. And I thank the Almighty for that higher illumination (all hubris aside).

What are those philosophies? They are embodied in many articles throughout The Village Id-Vestor blog. While I’d encourage you to read all of my articles from the beginning to get them all down pat, I’ll lay them out in summary for you right here.

I am dedicated to breaking my fellow humans free from the chains of financial stupidity and debt serfdom, and have an overall goal of empowering people to take control of their own lives, destinies, and goals. I want people to learn true principles to guide them throughout their lives, so they become free to fulfill their dreams, whatever they might be. And financial freedom is central to this goal.

I believe these same principles, among others, should be embodied by the man in the White House, because the bully pulpit of the Executive Branch is as strong as ever, and can have a great deal of positive influence in the world, if the right person is standing behind it.

With that being said, I want to share with you today my thoughts on what the ideal man (or woman, I don’t care) looks like who should be occupying the once-most-esteemed office in the world. Your prosperity depends on it.

POTUS Should Stop the Hypocrisy

I want the man in the office to end the hypocrisy of America. The list is exhausting. You got nukes? You gotta let other states have them too, even if their head of state acts as a raving lunatic, putting on a show for his puppet organizations in other Middle Eastern states. Don’t want them to have nukes? Do away with ours.

Don’t want China or rogue nations spying on the US? End the NSA spying, and the spying on our “allies.” Don’t want ISIS occupying Iraq? Stop the US occupation of every other state in the world with our bases all over the place. Bring the troops home, and we’ll have a safer, more prosperous nation.

Don’t want Russia intervening militarily in Ukraine? Stop doing the same in the Middle East. Let Europe and Israel handle things, or let the ME implode itself. It’s their backyard, and they’re big boys. Let them have it out. We can hack it without them. The world’s gotta end someday anyway.

Want China to end its currency manipulation? How about you enact a measure and garner the support in Congress to end the Federal Reserve, to stop the manipulation of the US currency and stock market?

You want equality for all, gay, straight, brown, yellow, black, and white? Get out of the business of legislating morality. Take marriage power away from states, and leave it as a religious or philosophical rite. How about economic equality? Stop passing laws that tax the rich at a higher rate than the poor. Abolish the IRS. Enact a flat tax at 10% for all—married or individual, businesses, nonprofits, and people.

You want minorities to succeed in this country? Then stop treating them like invalids, giving special treatment, and pandering to their every need. Tell them they’re just as good as us racist white boys, and put them on the playing field to succeed. And make them come here legally. Don’t provide incentive for them to sidestep the rules.

The bottom line is, don't hold others to a standard you aren't personally willing to uphold.

Ending the hypocrisy is a good start in being able to...

Take the Moral High Ground

The man who should be president needs to be honest, forthcoming, and blunt when he needs to be. Someone that doesn’t make hollow promises to win votes, or spins other peoples’ words disingenuously. He needs to be forthcoming about what he will do in office, about his aspirations and plans, and needs to work hard to make them happen. Both parties are basically the same, but with a few nuances. The ideal man peruses the a-la-carte of the two ideologies, dispensing with any ideal that is counterproductive to creating successful, independent individuals or societies.

I want a man who’s intellectually honest—doesn’t play stupid political games and play off other candidates’ isolated statements, taking them out of context to mean something that person didn’t. I want someone who is honest and loyal in all aspects—their personal life included. Loyal to spouse, family, and belief. I want someone who owns mistakes, and unapologetically takes responsibility for failures, even if they may not directly be his, and someone who is humble about their successes.

POTUS Should Be a Hard Worker, Have Proven Track Record

Obama hadn’t worked a hard day in his adult life, knew nothing of hardship, frugality, money, economics, or business before he set foot in the White House, and still doesn’t. He got there through connections, political favors, affirmative action, playing on racism, and good public speaking. Yet, we placed him there and gave him power to intervene in nearly every way in these matters.

I want a candidate who has a proven record of success in life. Who has worked real jobs, worked their way to the top, and emerged victorious. I couldn’t care less if he’s poor as a church mouse right now or richer than a Rockefeller. As long as he’s worked for something at some point in life, and can prove it, he’s our man (or woman).

POTUS Respects the Law and Constitution

We need someone who loves America, what it stands for, and what it was founded upon. We need someone who respects those who respect the law, encourages people to come to the US legally, and doesn’t sidestep the legislative process to put in place executive orders to get things done for interest groups. That’s a cop-out. If you can’t get things done the right way, you shouldn’t get it done at all.

We need someone with a bedrock of guiding principles—someone who realizes that America is great because it was destined to be, and has a role to fill in the world order. That role is to guide other states to a position of self-governance, democracy, and freedom, where people will shed the shackles of authoritarianism and create their own prosperity. While he’s at it, make sure the guy we put in office also keeps in place what we have.

POTUS Empowers Society Economically

The man who should be president should empower the masses economically. Let me give you a few hints about what Economic Empowerment is NOT. I’ll explain each one briefly below.

• Free higher education
• Free higher minimum wages
• Free risks in business with no consequences
• Free necessities of life
• Spreading the wealth around
• Taxing people and businesses into oblivion
• Forcing payment into a “retirement” system which is a bankrupt, leaking sieve

The man who should be president will know that anything worth having is worth paying for. That includes a higher education. A nation has an incentive to provide a basic free education to its citizens, so that, you know, people aren’t completely stupid. But higher education is different.

Offering free higher education is giving people a blank check to pursue something even if there are no prospects for it, or there is low earning potential. That is a recipe for unemployment and under-employment, and for wasting the best years of your life in a classroom.

The man who should be president understands that minimum wage hikes only results in worse business performance, less incentive for unskilled workers to get education or training, higher unemployment, unwarranted inflation, and less hours worked for people in this skill level.

The man who should be president doesn’t reward bad business behavior with bailouts. When businesses (i.e., banks, automakers, etc) perform poorly and make decisions that make them unprofitable or close up shop, the correct thing to do is let them fail. They will be replaced by better, more stable companies, who will replace and continue to provide services to people.

The man who should be president believes in economic equality, and in empowering people to achieve economic success—but not handing it to them. Crucial to this is ensuring low tax rates for all—businesses, individuals, etc. It includes eliminating tax loopholes for businesses, charities, and individuals—the rich especially.

Abolition of our current tax code, and replacing with a flat tax system, would empower the rich to keep their money at home, businesses to bring their money home to the US instead of hiding it offshore to avoid our abominably high tax rates, thus resulting in higher returns to investors, and more profitable businesses. It would ensure that people aren’t penalized for earning more money by dropping them into higher tax brackets when they make $1 more than they did last year.

The man who should be president empowers and incents people to save for things instead of going into debt—that includes fun, retirement, and rainy days.  He believes in individual as well as state fiscal responsibility. He believes in economic independence, not reliance on government aid, assistance, and handouts.

He would ensure that any money forcibly taken out of the average Americans budget in the name of Medicare taxes is put into safe, quality investments, and would ensure programs are available to educate Americans about financial matters. He would make the study of money and finance a bigger segment of curriculum in public schools. No matter what career you have, understanding money and investing is crucial.

POTUS Ensures Right to Choose is Not Abridged

The man who should be president should place religious and civic or civil rights on the same plane. None shall be abridged. That includes the right to object to things on religious grounds, or make decisions based on a person’s moral standard. Morals should not be legislated—except to the point where such action begins to result in violence against others. That includes the right of an individual or organization to object to anything based on religious grounds. Baking cakes, performing weddings, performing medical procedures, and everything in between. You get where I’m going with this? Good.

POTUS Understands Drugs and Crime

The man who should be president needs to realize that prisoners, while people, should not be given every luxury while they’re paying their debts to society. No more college educations, cable TV, and other luxuries in jail. That’s a waste of money and resources. Food, water, basic necessities. Once they get out, they can have these other goodies again.

On the subject of getting out of jail… or not getting there in the first place. The man who should be president knows that a hefty amount of those people serving time are doing so on drug-related charges—mostly possession or use. That means, it’s time to decriminalize drugs. An exorbitant amount of time and money is spent prosecuting and holding these people for crimes whose commission hurt no one but themselves. Stop doing this right away.

Let’s start treating drug use as an illness, which it is. It’s an addiction. We don’t put alcoholics in jail unless they hurt people. This applies to hard drugs. Let’s just fine people heavily instead, at the very least. And just jail/prosecute the illegal dealers.

By legalizing and regulating a lot of drugs, we can actually collect a boatload in tax revenue to offset the costs of regulation. Besides, anyone using drugs is, in my opinion, a raving idiot. So legalizing drugs ends up being really just an indirect tax on the poor, ignorant masses. Let them be taxed for their stupidity! That is, until we can educate them.

POTUS Schmotus

The suggestions I’ve made above are all objective—meaning, I’ve tried to appeal not from a biased political standpoint, but from one of logic, observation, and realism. I’ve tried to craft some characteristics of a good candidate which actually work to solve many of the problems in the country today—economic inequality, equality of opportunity, lawlessness, immigration, drugs, etc.

The basis of these tenets is equality, honesty, and integrity. The goal is for America to once again be the land of liberty and prosperity. If you look hard enough over the next 15 months, you’ll see that someone out there exemplifies many of these qualities.

I won’t name names. He/she may not be a mainstream candidate, or the most popular, but he’s the best shot we have of enacting lasting change for the future of this country. 

To paraphrase Michael J. Fox in one of my favorite movies, “Just vote your conscience, you chicken-****, lame-a**!” But if you’re going to do that, make sure your conscience is in the right place, and grounded on a valid, logical, empowering, liberating, well-established philosophy.

I plan to re-post this periodically, so that you can be reminded of what correct, just principles are, and identify the person who best embodies these principles. Good luck with that. And long live America!

And if you have any questions, shoot me a message at thevillageidvestor@gmail.com.

You can also follow me and my other musings on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter--click on the links at the top left of this page.

Live long and invest,

Jeremiah