Did Racism create Capitalism?

Back in 2022 I invited Ibram X. Kendi, author of "How to be an Antiracist' to join me at Valencia to debate his contention that captialism was born out of racism. He did not make it, but here is a speech you might find useful to answer this imporant question.

The Economics of Trump's NATO remarks

In case you missed it, recently former President Donald Trump stated that if he were in office once again he would "encourage" Russia to invade members of NATO who are, by his estimation, not paying enough for their security. The chart below shows the percentage of GDP each NATO member pays toward NATO defense. While there has been a stated expectation that each nation pays 2% of its GDP towards the protection of this organization, most nations fall a bit short. To Trump, this means they are not paying their bills and thus, should be left unprotected should a future invasion take place.

I would like to offer Donald Trump two thoughts. First, if, for example, Russia took you up on this and invaded Germany while you were President, the other NATO members would be obliged to come to Germany's defense. Think for a moment what this would mean for the global economy. Surely, exports from the U.S. to NATO nations would collapse during this quasi-World War. This means less money for the U.S. and a shrinking U.S. economy. Moreover, this invasion would lead to far fewer goods coming from NATO to the U.S., triggering a drop in our aggregate supply and higher inflation. Meanwhile, this global recession would cause tax revenues to plumment, social welfare spending to rise and by the time the dust settled the U.S. would lose far more money from leaving NATO to fend for itself than we are currently losing by subsidizing the nations that fall short of the 2% goal. In short, Trump's remarks reflect horrible economic policy. The second thought is this. Consider why NATO was formed to begin with. Allowing rogue states like Russia and an increasingly militarized China to view the United States as a potential bystander is an invitation to World War III. Plus, his bluster most likely has many NATO members thinking (rationally so), "O.K., fine. See who comes to help the United States if you get into a war in the future." One can only hope that there are a few adults in the Trump room who can convince him of the idiocy of making his recent comments the official stance of the United States.

Biden's Memory vs. Trump's Narcissism

It has been, for any of you that check this blog from time to time, nearly 2 years since I have given enough of a damn to write anything. You have not missed my Op-Ed pieces for the Orlando Sentinel, or any other paper for that matter, because I no longer choose to waste my time on the rapidly eroding quality of print journalism in this country (the Wall Street Journal being one exception...). That said, I wanted to chime in on the state of politics in America in the winter of 2024 as we slog towards what might be the most embarrassing elections in our nation's history. It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, that we have, from the left, President Joe Biden who seems to care so little about our country that he is willing to run for re-election despite overwhelming visual and audio evidence that he is incapable of filling this office until he is 86 - or for that matter, 82 - years of age. It is somewhat shocking and at minimum, disturbing to watch Mr. Biden struggle to communicate about anything. I am 57 and sometimes (often) struggle to remember what the best lines are to finish a thought, or a lecture. Therefore, I do have sympathy for a man who has a horrible job that requires mental alertness on a scale few can fathom. It is for that reason that my sympathy turns to anger and bewilderment that he is willing to risk huge errors in judgment and a possible Constitutional crisis all to, in his words, "finish the job I started." How the Democrats save us from his nomination, I do not know. Then there is the potentially far more terrifying prospect of the re-election of Donald Trump. In 1991 I changed my voter registration from Republican to Libertarian because I realized that George H.W. Bush had taken Ronald Reagan's party and flushed it down the quasi-liberal toilet. His son gave us more "Compassionate Conservatism" at the expense of the budget and good economic policy and then gave us a War on Terror that gutted our founding principles. No to be outdone, Donald Trump has succeeded in ENDING all signs of what the Republican party used to be. From his disastrous and idiotic trade war with China to profligate spending, cruel and irrational immigration policies and complete refutation of the fact that America needs allies, Donald Trump and his Constitution-ignoring minions are now poised for what will be the 2025-2029 "Revenge Tour". Make no mistake about it, a second Trump term will be dominated by a 78-82 year old narcissist who will be hell-bent on destroying everyone - and every institution - that dared to tell him that he was not re-elected in 2020 or that he was unfit to be president ever again. This revenge tour will also most likely be conducted in an environment where China will once again be targeted, and Russia will be emboldened. I would not be shocked if his outsized view of his own greatness and mission will lead to armed conflict on a scale we have not seen in decades. For the past two years when people have asked me my view on where we are as a nation I have said, "Jimmy Crack Corn". For older readers you will know that in the song bearing that phrase, the next line is...."and I don't care." I really wish I still cared as much about our country as I used to. I still love the idea of what our nation was supposed to become. Ben Franklin was asked by a citizen, "So, Mr. Franklin, what kind of country did you create for us?", shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. His answer? "A Republic, if we can keep it." I think Mr. Franklin - and other Founders - knew that the moment the ink dried on that parchment paper, the clock was ticking on this republic. The ticking has sped up because the American people have become so ignorant, polarized, spoiled and arrogant that we have selected "leaders" who are an embarrassment to the men and women who valued our liberty back in the day.