McCain v. Obama; Regulated Economy; Email Lies; Religious Beliefs

McCain Is the Last Chance for the

Greatest Generation to Effect "Change"

If John McCain is not elected President come November, his generation will go out like old, toothless lions with their heads down and their tails dragging the ground. It may or may not be his fault. The Maverick is not known for a cool head, is not the long-awaited elequent public speaker that his rival is, and had admitted some of his own drawbacks. But he does have the experience in foreign polic that Barak Obama does not; he has shown the ability to work both sides of the isle, which Obama has attempted but has no real track record on, and he won't effect the kinds of wide-sweeping social and military changes that Obama has promised.

It may or not be McCain's fault if he loses, for the reasons listed, but it may be that Obama has enlisted and engaged too many liberal and socialistic followers, as well as people too unaware that Obama is socialistic, for McCain to win.

There will never be another candidate from McCain's generation who will get to try to correct their world before they are gone forever. McCain was born in 1936, too early to be a "Baby Boomer," but too young to enter World War II. But no one from his generation will likely get to run for President again; the youngest would be 68 years old in 2012, and by then I think it certain that the younger generations, who will themselves be 67 years or younger, will have wondered what the world would have been like had they elected Barak Obama. Or they will know it and possibly approve.

I don't like the far liberalism and the socialism of Obama. But there are things about McCain I dislike equally as much. Both have their strengths; both have their weaknesses. Obama might actually be the better President if what America is worried about is its "world image." [See "The Libertarian Case for ObamaSeven potential upsides to a hope-monger presidency" http://freeassemblage.blogspot.com/2008/09/unusual-headlines-saturday-musings.html MORE

The Risk-Free Society Comes intoView

"Peter Bernstein draws a conclusion from the current problems in the financial markets: The subprime mortgage mess, [ ] etc, could not have happened in a planned economy.

"Oh really? Another story from today’s New York Times reports:
[ ]"JPMorgan Chase, for instance, has 70 regulators from the Federal Reserve and the comptroller’s agency in its offices every day [with] open access to its books, trading floors and back-office operations."

"Goldman-Sachs, which was largely unregulated, mostly avoided losses related to the mortgage market through prudent hedging. Citigroup, which was highly regulated, suffered such losses. Expect state control without the promised payoff in a planned economy." http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/09/28/the-risk-free-society-comes-into-view/

New study: People lie 50 percent more

in e-mail than hand written notes

"The study -- done by researchers from Lehigh, Rutgers and DePaul -- had an odd set-up: 48 full-time MBA students were given $89 and told to divide it with a fictional second party in a remote location. The students believed that the other party didn't know the total pot, however, so they were free to make up a figure and send along half of what they made up.

"Those who wrote on paper to the fictional second party said, on average, that the total pot was $67. Those who e-mailed the other party claimed the total pot was $56.

"Like many studies of human behavior, this one creates a pretty odd scenario.

"Personally, I have no idea whether the researchers have discovered a universal truth about human behavior or just an odd quirk. The researchers, however, think they have robust results." more http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/09/new-study-people-lie-50-percen.html

Justified True-Belief in Religion?

"[H]ow are people so convinced that their chosen religion is right over all the others. It seems impossible that a person can believe in a religion simply because he or she wants to - there must be some logic behind their reasoning - but I cannot understand it."

Response from Peter S. Fosl on September 25, 2008
"This is a remarkable phenomenon, one that was noticed even in ancient times--the consensus gentium. Strictly speaking,I think, there is no good reason or defensible logic for belief in the standard religions. [more at link below]

Response from Andrew N. Carpenter on September 29, 2008
"In his magnificent recent book, A Secular Age, the Canadian social philosopher Charles Taylor addresses exactly why it is that many North American and Western Europeans find themselves able to view religious belief as a choice that one can make on rational or other grounds." more

AskPhilosopher.Org http://www.askphilosophers.org/question/2347