January 10, 2014

Observation of the Day: Independent Voters Aren’t So Independent

I have a dirty little secret, I’m registered Republican. Say what? Yes, it’s true. But no, I’m not trying to perpetrate some kind of sadistic fraud on Left Call readers. I’m most definitely a liberal, but I’ve been registered Republican since I was old enough to be registered to vote. My entire family, with a few exceptions, are Republicans, which I’ve previously talked about. For someone who at the time was not politically active (or even aware), registering as a Republican just seemed like the obvious choice. After all, your family is always correct about these things, right?

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January 8, 2014

VIDEO: The Pale Blue Dot (The Sagan Series)

Carl Sagan — Consider again that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar”, every “supreme leader”, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

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January 8, 2014

The Economics Of Moral Outrage, How Liberals And Conservatives Differ

At some point we as a society need to come to terms with the fact that economic status is not a good barometer for morality, and it certainly tells you nothing of the character of a human being. You are not in higher moral standing because you earn a larger paycheck. And a person should not automatically be assumed morally suspect because they are unemployed, or can’t pay their mortgage, or can’t keep food on the table.

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January 7, 2014

Inexplicable Republican Opposition To Extending Unemployment Benefits

Okay, I did say it’s inexplicable, but let me take a stab at it anyway. Republicans are opposed to extending unemployment insurance because it does not solve the problem of joblessness. Fair enough, I can agree unemployment benefits do not lead directly to job creation, but that itself is not a reason to deny people those benefits. It’s not like jobs aren’t being created because unemployment insurance is a thing.

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January 5, 2014

VIDEO: Union Decline and Income Inequality (1979-2009)

Direct “smoking gun” proof of income inequality fueled by union membership decline is probably impossible. But we sure can find plenty of correlating evidence that indicates a strong likelihood that union decline is at least related to wage stagnation and greater economic inequality, if not the direct catalyst.

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