My Mike Lee Endorsement

First of all, I would like to state that this letter in no way represents the opinions of Icaucus, and is simply a reflection of my own research and thoughts that I’ve developed while interviewing and speaking with the candidates. Both Tim Bridgewater and Mike Lee have exhibited strong character and willingness to restore the country away from the Progressivism that is like a cancer to its progress and viability. No matter who wins, I am glad that we have such great people who are willing to step up and serve our community, and I will be supporting the winner.

For a long time I have been sitting on the fence, simply supporting the process that has gone on in the effort to select a worthy candidate and I believe that we have done a wonderful job in this process, which included the denial of reelection of an incumbent that did not reflect the values of Utah.

So where did that lead me? I could always look to the people that support the candidate, but that is a poor decision maker as well. I know many people on each side of support that I know on a personal level that have reacted and said things in their support that have surprised me, and have been out of character for them, and completely uncalled for, even in a tightly argued election. So that is no way to make a judgment.

I could make my decision by the political endorsements of each candidate. However that would not make a huge difference either. There are endorsements from every side, some that I agree with, and some that have pushed me away from the candidate. Some of them are more caustic than others and there are some that have offered more insight than the others. But that still has not pulled me off the fence completely.

I have had the chance to have some direct personal expose to each candidate. In the process of interviewing, we found that we have two candidates that have almost identical goals. In fact, during the Icaucus personal interview process they were asked to identify their top priorities and each candidate listed 5, the first three being identical and 4 and 5 were just reversed. (Please visit the Independence Caucus website here http://icaucus.ning.com/group/utah/forum/topics/tim-bridgewater-interview and here http://icaucus.ning.com/group/utah/forum/topics/mike-lee-icaucus-interview.)

Both candidates have acknowledged that they are not experts in the areas of the other. Tim Bridgewater has run businesses for years, started from humble beginnings and scratch and loves the US and the constitution, but has admitted that Mike Lee is the one that is the expert in the Constitution. Mike Lee started from an early age studying the law and the conservative values of our founding fathers, while he runs a business; he has admitted that Bridgewater has more experience with business dealings. This leads to one thing: which position do I believe will be able to make the more consistent choice to fulfill the 5 priorities that both candidates have stated they will be working on. Do we take the Constitutional view, that returning to original intent will restore businesses, or do we take the business approach, that doing what is good for business will be what the Constitution guarantees and therefore what we do for business is what the Constitution intended anyway?

In order to answer this question, I have to go back to the writers of the founding documents, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Both of them were lawyers, but both owned landed and identified themselves more as land owners and business men. But their words both relied upon the intent that they have stated that the documents should always be relied upon in their original intent. In fact, it was Madison during his presidency that stated that the countries laws should rely upon the “original intent” of the Constitution to dictate what laws Congress should pass. In respect to the representation of the country and any news laws that were passed, they never spoke of business and the government together, except to say that government should be the most limited as possible to avoid infringing upon the rights of man to work without that interference, and that it was obedience to the laws of God that would guarantee those rights, and that the Constitution was written to guarantee those rights.

Therefore when looking at the candidates, I can only come to one conclusion as to who of the two will approach our current problems in the same way, and that candidate is Mike Lee. His constant view is that the original intent through the Constitution is the only filter available. There are things that business can do, but it is through the rights of God that we have been born with that have been listed in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, that will guarantee our success. Mike Lee has that view; he sees that same picture and will fight so that others will gain that same vision as well. We need to restore not only our country, but how we talk about our rights as well. Mike will help restore both and will continue to educate all around him. This is the only way that we can restore business, our country and our freedoms. We must focus on the Constitution everything else will take care of itself once we do that.

Sincerely,

John D. Morris
Former Independence Caucus Regional Director – Region 12

The Age of Entitlement

The other day I was listening to a radio program that allowed for people to call in and receive advice regarding their lives and some of the difficulties related to intrapersonal relationships. One calling talked about her life and some things that her boyfriend was doing that, while they weren’t done in an attitude of hurt, were actually causing some pain to the young lady caller. The discussion then centered around what she could to do to approach her boyfriend and discuss the issue and solve her discomfort while still making sure that he understand what it was doing to her. As the caller hung up, one of the ladies that was co-hosting the program stated something to the effect that it was such a shame that in an era where are entitled to so much that people do not feel entitled to being without pain.

That last comment really struck with me. I kept thinking about the statement, why with so much entitlement, with so many claims of women’s rights and the freedom of morals and the body that exist in the world that there would be a lack of basic entitlement to being free from pain and suffering, suffering that this woman could have removed herself from at any moment. As I began to think on this I thought what would cause this condition to exist and what perpetuates it. There are programs to help unwed mothers, programs for those that don’t have jobs, for those that have disabilities, programs that help those that are behind on their luck, that need food, that need shelter, that have had a hard time, that leveraged too much, that overextended their credit, that didn’t make wise choices. So why did she feel that she didn’t deserve to live without pain and discomfort?

The real problem exists that she was never told through a program that it was ok for her to live without pain and discomfort. You say to me, we don’t need to be told that, that’s something that she should already know. But here is the problem, she didn’t know that. She didn’t know that it was ok to step up and support herself without relying on this boyfriend, without relying on someone else to tell her that it was ok to be herself and that she was worth something by herself, that she had a right to do something for herself. With all this entitlement how is this possible? I answer because it is exactly because of these entitlements that she was pushed into this condition.

As the push for entitlements and large government continues to smother us and all around us I look to those guiding principles of this nation that allowed this country to excel in such a quick time as no other country on Earth has ever been able to do. When this country first declared its independence, our Founding Fathers were told, you can’t do that. When this country stated the Founding Fathers stated that all men are created equal, equal under the law and equal to take upon their own responsibilities to better themselves, not equal to be given what others say we deserve, and they were told that the masses couldn’t think for themselves, that they wouldn’t have enough workers if they weren’t told exactly what to do.

We are facing the same problems once again. We are told, ‘Here are the things that you are entitled to and here is how you will get it, but do not hope to succeed more than this.’ I name this what it is, slavery. To be told how and what I may get and that I cannot do more than this I reach out in voice to my Maker and say, I was created in your image, I was given the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness by you, not by these people that wish to be slaver over me, and I push ahead and do what I have been told I cannot. I do this because I am not entitled to anything other than the basic laws of Nature. The laws which were created and established not by men here, but by which the very universe was created and by which we are able to know our place before God, are those which our founding documents lay out those laws for the understand of all nations to strive to protect.

It is time that we reach out once again and take that which ours, Freedom. That we reach out again and see that Liberty is our birthright. We need to start again toward the pursuit of Happiness, in whatever form that may be. Those are the real entitlements that we have been born into and are the real American Dream, to which we are all entitled and to which we must all wake up to again.

Freedom to Fail

I often read the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution and wonder at the level of inspiration that overcame these men that created this Union of Country and Men. I am marvelled at the unparalleled freedoms and rights given to each one that arrives here through birth or of travel. No where else in the world do the level of freedoms given and protected by the people limit the government in such a way as to command freedoms and liberties for the weakest of men. Now, we seem to be giving away too many of our rights, most specifically, the right of pursuit of happiness, or as I like to call it, Our Freedom to Fail.

Recently there has been a wave of kids receiving the example that everyone needs to be treated and receive equal rewards. The most outrageous example that came up in the news recently was regarding a baseball team that had a star pitcher. This kid was amazing for his age, he could throw screaming fast balls and it was almost impossible to hit him. So what did the city do? Well the rest of the teams forfeited their games and refused to play against him, and the city demanded that he leave the team and move onto teams that are in a higher age group so he would be competing against those that were closer to his level of skill. What a giant waste of opportunity to everyone in his league and all those kids that could have received a lesson in what it is like to be humble, good sportsmen and lose. Also, they then lose the opportunity to be exposed to something that you have to practice and strive towards in order to improve yourself, and be willing to let someone else have his due.

I was faced with something similar when I was in college. Lab classes have always been easy for me, as I can visualize and understand the end process of experiments easier than most. One class had set aside about 4 hours for each lab experiment, and while most people took about 3 hours, I usually was finished and cleaned up in about 2. My lab instructor did not like this for some reason and tried to give me further projects to accomplish. I scoffed at it and asked, in front of everyone, why I was begin given more work than anyone else. She said that it was because I could finish everything and get an 'A' without as much work as those that had to struggle to get that grade and it wasn't "fair" to them that I could work that quickly. THE IDEA! This is not service to me nor anyone else. Perhaps I have gotten so good at Chemistry because I need more time to study English and sentence structure, or spelling and I use the time to catch up on another class that I need help with. Or maybe I'm tutoring someone else in Chemistry and being that much faster gives me more time to help them.

Then you hear about schools that are getting rid of grading systems but are instead working to grade upon intent and skill. So if someone writes a small, poorly written paper, but it's better than the last, they get an A. But if someone else writes a paper that is perfect, but always writes a perfect paper, they get a B, or maybe an A-. Or they simply give grades based upon intent, or the appearance of some level of effort they getting fuzzy stars, and cute puppy faces.

Forcing a standard that is not equal for everyone does more damage than help. To require that all be placed under a burden that is unequal discourages other from figuring out how to better themselves. If the punishment of effort is to be looked down upon is discourages that higher effort will be taken. When the person that makes himself to be different because he is so extraordinary is seen to be a burden on society because it makes others feel less about themselves, it teaches to all be the same.

One of my favorite quotes from the movie "The Incredibles" is, "when everyone is special, then no one will be." There are plenty of people that will just go on doing that which is the least effort, but we used to look up to those that pushed above the norm and took everything they could and changed the world. Now there is an effort to look at them and say, "Yeah, well they weren't that great of people, they lied, or drank or (insert fault here)." We don't look at the great things anymore and I saw, I need to do that, I need to lift myself up. Society has changed and said that they shouldn't have raised up and changed things, they weren't as great as we first thought, so you shouldn't either, you'll just show the rest of us that we aren't so great, or that we need to work harder.

I like to point out that some of the greatest people ever had great failings. One of my favorites is Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb and the direct current system. He had over 2000 failings of the light bulb, and he continued onwards because he believed that he could capture fire in a glass. And yet he figured it out, and we all use his inventions everyday.

One of the most poignant examples of failure, in the physical world, is the story of Job. I always have loved how it shows that failures have a purpose to greater things. He failed to protect all his investments, his lands, sheep and protect his family and eventually his health. None of these failings were due directly to his own actions, and it's impossible when dealing against eternal power, but he lost all. And in face of constant persecution from those around him, he continued on, even after he begged God to let him just die to end his torment. I always imagine him sitting in his bed, sores everywhere, knowing that he was OK before God, thinking of the next thing that he needed to do to build his household again, and regain the wealth that he needed to feed the poor and feed the workers that he had, and how to employ others again. And it must have done great good, because after the afflictions wore off, he doubled everything. Imagine the new business that he must have developed. No one came along and gave him those things because they thought that he deserved it, they were all saying that he should just give up, curse God and die.

We should remember that it is often good to let others fail. The prophets of old are recorded as conversing with God and asking that the people of the land fail in some way or another so they can change their ways and prosper again. We should not be so quick to take away the consequence of failure, often times it the very thing that that give the inspiration and desire to change. With that change comes the realization that honor, values and responsibility are the desired path, and that if we stride from that path, we might lose all. But if we have honest, charity and virtue, we can fail, without really failing at all.

Why all our problems are so small.

In the midst of an energy crisis, an economic implosion, an increasingly interconnected global economy, terrorist war and the return of the Russian military powers would I say that our problems are all so small. It's because when looking to fix all these problems, we are looking for smaller and smaller ways to fix them, as we really only can go so small.

In the world of microelectronics small is a real problem. As soon as you start placing things next to each other, the particles start reacting and heat develops, which slows down the reactions of all the other processes because they start bouncing around with one another. So, even though the level of processes could in some time be on the particle level, there are trillions of interferences that need to be overcome, most of them are dealing with each other.

And even solutions to channeling these processes so that the heat of each one adds to the productivity of the other, there is the problem of building it. Right now, we have solar panels that can produce energy and thereby qualify as "green". (Although with the level of chemicals it takes to produce them, they really aren't green anymore, but they do a pretty good job or recycling the chemicals to use again.) But even more of a problem is that the can't make the cells fit any closer together. There have been some break-thoroughs with nano-technology, but a lot it has to do with building the builders, and even that is several years off.

But we deal with energy every day, and another large problem is how to fit it into things. Where do we store energy in a way that is useful, convenient and quickly accessed. If it were inexpensive, every home could have a basement full of batteries, with a wind turbine and solar panel charger, but the cost of those kinds of projects, as well as the space required run into more trouble than before. No, to really be able to make solar technology viable, it would require a way to have very small batteries that save as much energy to work for a whole 24 hour period. At present, the size of batteries in addition to the size of the solar panels, well let's just say that 12 acre home lots just aren't available for the common consumer.

As of now, for cars, power plants, metal refiners and all those instruments of the modern industrial and technological age, the smallest, most compact, easiest containment of energy is still the poly-carbon bond molecule, i.e. fossil fuel. It's has huge energy release upon detonation or burning, the energy to mass ratio is reasonable and it's relatively safe in every day uses. But that's just the problem, the areas that are available in the past, have dried up, and ones that are known are even harder to get to, whether it is through hard granite ground rock, or through insurmountable "red tape" which is much harder to combat than the ground.

No, it's small that this world has decided it needs go. Smaller cell phones, smaller engines, smaller footprints. But if we wish to continue with our way of life, we need to decide on which way we would like to go, use the larger, less efficient energy producers that seem so great, but take up lots of room. Or we go back to our small, compact organic carbon, that is oh so small, and which everyone has made such a great big deal.

First Posting

I have long been thinking about writing a blog although I have not been sure why. I suppose that it is in some ways a desire to have myself heard, and to give a place of residence for my eternal inner monologue. You know that voice, the one that is saying the things that you wish that you had room to say, or someone that would get into a discussion with you so you could spew out all those things that you wished someone would give you credit for and understand that you know what you are talking about. Maybe it's just me.

I'm also writing this because of my brother Scott, who has a fabulous blog that I admire. He's funny, he's witty and he has cool pictures that I am jealous of. I'm a big fan of his and I hope that he gets big and famous, because of the people I know that are doing things that will make them famous one day, he desires it least, and is therefore the most deserving.

I'm also writing this blog because I have a terrible time writing in my journal. I should write more and give openness and understand to myself, so that others who follow me will learn of my successes and will learn and avoid my failures.

I'm also writing this for all the people that I have lost contact with, or am not in enough contact with because of the unavoidable happens of growing older. And that is, we aren't in contact enough because my time and your time do not overlap. This is not to say that it isn't tried, or it's not something that I'm constantly working against, but it is simply part of life that there are those that you don't always get a chance to say hi to them everyday, or even once a month and sometimes all of those days and months turn into years and you wonder, "Where did everyone go?"

So this is for every one that I want to say something to, everyone that needs to hear and all of those people that I would love to hug and greet again.

Hi