Anti-war Prayer

One of the things I like about Ron Paul, the Republican presidential candidate is his anti-war stance.  I have been anti-war since I marched against Nixon secretly bombing Cambodia.  Well, I just discovered something interesting about Mark Twain.  He wasn’t generally shy about upsetting people in his day.  He pretty much spoke his mind, however, he did write a short article which, at the time was deemed “not fit for publication,” however, he instructed his publisher to publish it after his death, which his publisher did.  The article was entitled “War Prayer” and was published in 1916.  I have reproduced it here as a page on my blog.

Federal Taxes (Grrrrrr)

This weekend I will complete one of the most distasteful things that I have to do each year.  I will complete my research and & paperwork so that my accountant can file my 2010 Federal Tax return before October 15.  You say “What?  I thought everyone’s tax return is due on April 15."  Well, what is actually true is that our TAXES are due on April 15.  The TAX RETURN can be filed four months later.  All those silly people lining up at the post office in order to get an April 15 postmark could just fill out a simple form for an "Automatic Extension" and include a check (for the most money you could possibly owe them – accounting for the money that you already have paid).  Of course, if you were due for a refund then you have an incentive to file earlier ( I usually just assign any refund due me to pay for next years taxes.)  Come August 15, my accountant files a second form  for an "Extension for Cause”.  This second extension always uses the following excuse: ”Client needs more time to collect the materials for the return”.  This extension for two more months is always approved.  This is how I get to my end of September crisis.  I need to get the material to my accountant so he can have it entered into his computer, produce a return, and get it back to me in time for me to sign it and get a October 15 postmark.  Given that he is thousands of miles away, we have to use the EXPRESS mail services twice.

This bad behavior of mine has gone on for three decades.  I ask myself why I put this task off until the last minute every year.  The best answer that I can come up with is that: I HATE PAYING FEDERAL INCOME TAXES.  I not only hate paying Federal Taxes (even though I have kept my taxable rate low) I hate that they make me fill out all these complicated forms and waste all this time keeping track of all my expenses.  I think of it as if I were being crucified AND they even make me carry my own cross up the hill before nailing me too it!  All the time it takes me to prepare for filing the return is “salt in the wound” of having to pay the taxes in the first place.  AND if that were not bad enough, some additional “salt in the wound” for me is the BAD things the government does with my money.  IF the Federal government stuck to its constitutional limits and the tax system was SIMPLE and FAIR, I would not mind paying for my share of  “Government Services”.  I am a Libertarian NOT an Anarchist.

Let us dream for a moment about an ideal Federal Tax system (other than no Federal Tax).  How about a tax return on which you first use a simple formula to calculate the tax amout that you owe. (Some have called taxes the price we pay for civilization.)  THEN (this is the GOOD part) you get to allocate your dollars for the “tasks” that you want the government to perform.  Most of us would fund the military, the interstate freeway system, and give some money to support the old and the disabled.  How many of us would support 2+ foreign wars?  How many of us would support the “Drug War?”  How many of us would support keeping a military presence in 100 other countries?  IF we could allocate our taxes to the functions our government performs AND congress could only spend our money within the categories that we allocated, how different would our country be today?

On the Value of Philosophy

A quote from Ayn Rand:

In order to live, man must act; in order to act, he must make choices; in order to make choices, he must define a code of values; in order to define a code of values, he must know what he is and where he is—i.e., he must know his own nature (including his means of knowledge) and the nature of the universe in which he acts—i.e., he needs metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, which means: philosophy. He cannot escape from this need; his only alternative is whether the philosophy guiding him is to be chosen by his mind or by chance.– Ayn Rand, “Philosophy and Sense of Life,” The Romantic Manfesto, 30

The Platinum Rule

The supervising minister for my Buddhist Temple, Rinban Don Castro of the Seattle Betsuin, wrote an article in the Wheel of Dharma, September 2011, where he suggested that Buddhists follow what he called the Platinum Rule rather then the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule in this context is meant to be "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" [and is not to be confused with the Golden Rule of Business which is "He who has the gold makes the rules."]  Rev. Castro defines the Platinum Rule as "Do unto others the way they want (or need) to be done unto."  The difference is quite profound. Rev. Castro points out that the Golden Rule is self-centered (I would say egocentric) where as the Platinum Rule requires one to see the world as others see it. The Platinum Rule requires wisdom. "True believers" (you know who you are) use the Golden Rule as a justification to perform suicide bombings or to wage "Holy Wars" (e.g. "Wars for Freedom.") Any intelligent application of the Platinum Rule would effectively rule out those "kind" actions. One imagines that indigenous people often wish to be "saved"  from the western missionaries sent to “save“ them. [A point brilliantly satirized in a popular Broadway play "The Book of Mormon" by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.] So the next time you want to perform an act of charity, consider whether it can meet the higher standard of the Platinum Rule.

Re-Boot

Being the computer nerd, my analogy for what I am going through now is it is like the power outage which causes your computer to re-boot. When life knocks you on your ass, the experts would suggest that part of your recovery, should involve reviewing your core assumptions.  Perhaps re-architecting your life going forward.  I am sure there are some Pollyannas out there that would say "This can be a GOOD thing".  "When life gives you lemons make lemonade!"  Unfortunately, I am still too dazed and confused to imagine any grand new visions for myself. Rather I am just struggling to get out of bed each day and face a world not of my own choosing.

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Time Killer

I've just wasted a couple of hours setting this thing up.  I can't get the subscriber widget to use my blog fonts. :-|