It’s Been a Crazy Month…
In the month of May, I’ve…
- Directed the Davies Pep Band at the USCA Midwest High School Regional Croquet Tournament
- Played the national anthem on guitar at the same event (Jimi style!)
- Played at the Cass County Youth Commission “Rock For Wishes” Battle of the Bands fundraiser for Make a Wish
- Performed with my jazz combo at a Mother’s Day brunch
- Played with my new band, Mix Theory at the Fargo Marathon
- Played my last high school jazz concert ever (with guest artist Allen Carter!)
- Received the Louis Armstrong Award for jazz
In the midst of all of this, I haven’t written a single blog post here in the month of May until now. I have two more days of high school left. Next Sunday, I graduate. Three months from yesterday I move in at the residence halls at MSUM. Now that the craziness of this month has died down temporarily, I look back and I’m humbled by the amazing talented people I’ve had the privilege to play with over the past couple years in jazz band. I’m incredibly honored to receive the Louis Armstrong award, but also humbled by the talent of those around me who remind me I still have so much to learn. I’m sad it’s all basically over, but looking forward to an exciting new chapter and the incredible new things I’ll learn as I’ll be studying music education in the fall at MSUM.
Thank you so much to Stephen Anderson, Jenny Sun, Dan Schuster, Garrett Hoy, Karan Saravana, Kathleen Marsh, Payson Wallach, Mr. Leeman, Allen Carter, Nick Fryer, Mr. Syverson, Mr. Tafelmeyer, and the countless others who have inspired me over the past couple years and have taught me so much about jazz music.
Keynesian Economics: Foolish and Irresponsible (Free Markets Work!)
The Broke Friend
Let’s say that you have a friend who has amassed a very large sum of debt through college loans, irresponsible spending practices, and lack of savings. What advice do you give him or her? Surely you don’t suggest he or she spend more money or sign up for another credit card or two, as that obviously can only lead to deeper and deeper debt for your friend. So why is this same concept so widely accepted as an economic theory? It doesn’t make much sense. (This is an example I borrowed from congressman Ron Paul (Rep, TX). I highly suggest reading any of his books, as they offer much more insight into the field of free markets than I can in this article.)
Background
John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) was a British economist who developed some of the most influential ideas in modern economics (what we know as Keynesian Read the rest of this entry
Why Santorum Dropping Out Doesn’t Change Anything
Rick Santorum today announced this afternoon that he would be suspending his presidential campaign effective immediately. Though he won 11 states and 281 delegates, his dropping out really means very little at this stage in the primary season.
Let’s do the math…
Santorum accumulated 281 delegates, 197 of whom were bound to vote proportionately with their precincts for Santorum. Unless Santorum were to specifically request to have those delegates released to other candidates, they’re still obligated to vote for Santorum at the national convention in Tampa Bay this August. He really has no reason to release his delegates anyway, so let’s take a look at the remaining 84 delegates from states (Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington state and North Dakota) that don’t require they vote proportionately with their precincts. These delegates can vote for whichever candidate they choose at the convention, even if the next runner-up after Santorum, Newt Gingrich (also, Gingrich’s campaign is flat broke!) were to acquire all 84 unbound delegates, he would total just 210, which is still less than one third of Romney’s total. Give Gingrich all of Santorum’s delegates, and he totals just 417, still about 2/3rds of Romney’s delegate count. Now add in Ron Paul’s 51 delegates and John Huntsman’s lone delegate, and the total still doesn’t even come close to matching Romney.
Romney’s basically got it locked up at this point. Santorum was too far gone to make a difference at the point he dropped out this afternoon. I’m still in strong support personally of the Ron Paul campaign, and will still vote for him in November no matter what. Santorum’s decision to suspend his campaign won’t have a major impact on the republican race for the presidential nomination.
“The time has come to act on these words. May future generations look back on our work and say that these were men and women who, in a moment of great crisis, stood up to the politicians, the opinion-molders, and the establishment, and saved their country.” —Ron Paul
Yes, I’m a Geek and I’m Proud
I’m sick of getting crap about owning this website. Yes, I’m 17 years old and I have my own domain, and I’m proud of it. Why else would I pay money for it? The fact is, I’ve had a website in one form or another since I was 11 years old, and I’m sick of separating my “online” self from my “real life” self. This website is me, Nick Samuelson. It’s my music, political opinions, and ideas. I’m proud of the fact that I create music, and have my own opinions. I share them hoping that someone somewhere will enjoy them, not to be ridiculed when I try and share an article I published with someone. I guess it’s geeky to own and operate a website. But yes, I’m a geek and I’m proud of it.
“Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection. It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something. It’s basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult. Being a geek is extremely liberating.” — Simon Pegg
Why is Race Still An Issue?
Earlier today in my economics class, I heard two gentlemen talking about how white people purchase guitars. Being a guitarist myself, and having many favorite artists who are of other ethnicities than caucasian, including Chuck Berry, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, and Carlos Santana, I quickly interjected. I’ve also dropped some of my libertarian agenda into that class lately pointing out that no particular race should receive welfare. This led to comments about me being a racist, even though, I very rationally explained that welfare should be need-based. Ignore the fact that I think it could be privatized and left to charity organizations to provide aid for those in need (freedom works!), I was simply appalled that I’m considered a racist for pointing out that a person shouldn’t receive government aid just because of the color of their skin. If anything, their preconceived notions of white Americans make them racist.
It is my personal belief that one should be judged by his or her character, not by his or her country of origin or skin color. I don’t care if you’re black or white, Jewish or Muslim, Israeli or Iranian, you’re still a person and should be valued as one. Society needs to forget the concept of race and focus on the individual.
Why Paul Ryan’s Budget Plan Isn’t Enough
Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposed budget for the fiscal year of 2013 passed in the House of Representatives yesterday with a 228-191 vote. All of the votes for the proposed plan came from House Republicans. Not one House Democrat voted for the plan, and only ten Republicans voted against it. It’s quite clear that this draft of the budget is very polarizing, and has almost no chance of making it through the Democrat-controlled Senate. Democrats think it cuts too much, but I’m writing this to explain why it isn’t even close to enough.
It increases military spending…
Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan
(via paulryan.house.gov)
The proposed budget repeals a $55 billion spending cut for the Pentagon that was part of last year’s budget proposal. Pentagon spending would go up in the tens of millions per year through 2022 when it would total almost $710 billion.
Voting to lower, or even voting against raising “defense” spending is a political sin. It’s called “un-patriotic” and “anti-American.” I’m all for a strong national defense, and I don’t know of anyone who truthfully doesn’t. However, the conflicts we’re involved in overseas, for the most part, have not originated as a means of national defense, but the opposite—offensive, interventionist military tactics that not only eat up tons of money, but also make us less safe! So “defensive” spending might not be the place to cut, but if we re-categorize some of this spending as offensive spending, as it probably should be titled, cuts could make us safer at home and abroad as well as saving money.
It doesn’t balance the budget… Read the rest of this entry
The Black Panthers’ Ten Point Platform from A Libertarian Perspective
In reading up on the Trayvon Martin case, I came across a story that said that the “Black Panther Party” a pro-black, radical-left group, offered up a $10,000 bounty on the capture of George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed 17 year old Trayvon Martin. I was curious and did a little research on this party and was totally appalled at their platform which is listed as ten points, which you can find either on their website, or below. Anyway, I decided to write a little commentary on their views on how government should be run, but my rebuttals come from a sensible, libertarian perspective.
1. “We want freedom. We want the power to determine the destiny of our black and oppressed communities.”
I can agree with this one, to an extent. This shouldn’t be a matter of liberty as it pertains to a group, but rather this should apply to the individual. Everyone should be guaranteed by the government, the freedom to determine their own destiny. Do note that there are risks involved in achieving prosperity for one’s self, and it should not be the federal government’s responsibility to reimburse the costs of said risks if they don’t pan out in one’s favor.
2. “We want full employment for our people.”
That sounds great on the surface. I’d love if everyone could get job, because a low unemployment rate is a characteristic of a strong and stable economy. However, what the Panthers are asking here is completely outrageous. They say, “We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every person employment or a guaranteed income.” That is not how a free market works, and they are clearly against a free market. Just about every citizen of the United States is capable of finding and maintaining a job on their own, and it should most definitely not be the responsibility of the federal government to assign jobs to those who cannot find them, nor to hand out money to those who choose not to work. In their explanation, they continue, “We believe that if the American businessmen will not give full employment, then the technology and means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.” Let me skip the history lesson, and just say that socialism isn’t as effective as capitalism in creating a high standard of living. Read the rest of this entry
Denying Ron Paul the Nomination
This is absolutely absurd. This is just further evidence of the GOP trying to “black out” Ron Paul. I’m completely and utterly disgusted with the Republican party. To simply do it is one thing, but St. Charles Caucus Subcommittee Chairman, Bryan Spencer’s reasoning behind the actions of the committee are ludicrous.
Bryan Spencer said,
If Ron Paul had taken over the meeting… If you were anyone but a Ron Paul supporter, you would have no voice.
Excuse me, Mr. Spencer, but I’d like to inform you how democracy works. In an election, or in this case a caucus, if a large enough group of people—enough to form a majority votes one way, then they win. Denying Ron Paul’s supporters their right to have a voice in this caucus on the grounds of allowing supporters of the other candidates to have one is downright unfair.
He continued,
We’ve set the committee… designed it so that everyone will have a voice.
No you didn’t! They managed to rig the system in a way to completely deny a very large portion of voters to have a voice. This is unfair and un-American. The delegates awarded from a caucus should not be chosen by a chairman, but by those who vote in it. If hundreds of Ron Paul supporters show up to vote, and far fewer Santorum, Gingrich, or Romney supporters came out to vote, then Ron Paul, naturally should win the county.
Luckily, due to chaos at the original caucus held on March 17th, it has been rescheduled to April 10th.
Nick Samuelson
