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The couple of weeks I’ve been feeling bleak about the future. I’m a declinist by nature when it comes to the macro view, but the micro was starting to get to me. How do we get through to people? We don’t have the luxury for the old days of slow, steady relationship building and piecemeal red-pilling. Further, it seems every step we take forward, the culture takes three steps back.
I wrote as much on Saturday, in a post where I gave full-vent to the frustrations I’ve experienced. One of the problems with writing daily (and under self-imposed deadlines) is that it’s easy to let your emotions about recent events take over. I’d been giving way to despair, and it started twisting my analysis.
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If you’ve been keeping up with my blog lately, you know that I’ve been despairing about the state of the world. I suppose I occasionally go through these phases, and it seems incongruous even to me, as I’ve been trying to lighten up the blog a bit.
Regardless, I’ve been reminded lately how big the gap is between the red-pilled conservatives—the folks that see the world for how it truly is—and the blue-pilled normies, still shuffling about in their state of waking sleep.
There’s a lot of disingenuous scuttlebutt flying around about a looming recession, the inverted yield curve, and the costs of the trade war with China. I can’t help but think such doom and gloom reporting is part of an effort to undermine President Trump. Investor and consumer confidence are emotional, fickle things, based as much on feeling as they are on hard economic data.
As such, I suspect that major media outlets are attempting a bank-shot: scare investors and consumers enough, and they panic into a recession. President Trump’s greatest strength at present is the booming economy and low unemployment rate; take that away, and loopy, socialist Democrats have a much better shot in the 2020 elections. With Leftists like Bill Maher actually hoping for a recession to unseat President Trump, that’s not a far-fetched speculation at all.
Yesterday I wrote about homelessness, particularly the sense that many “homeless” panhandlers are simply shakedown artists well-versed in emotional manipulation, guilt-trips, and implied violence or mental instability.
The United States enjoys incredible prosperity, unprecedented in history. That prosperity doesn’t necessarily give our lives meaning—a key critique of traditionalists like my intellectual hero, Richard Weaver—but it’s probably a moral good to not have to worry about your ability to feed and shelter yourself.
But the United States is not the only beneficiary of wealth and abundance. The rest of the world has enjoyed huge increases in quality of life since the end of the Second World War, and especially since the end of the Cold War.
So, contrary to Leftist myth-making, the United States has not kept the rest of the world down (and, by implication, is therefore morally responsible for taking in its impoverished, unassimilablehordes). Instead, capitalism has lifted the world out of poverty.
Regular readers know that I frequently cite pollster Scott Rasmussen’s #Number of the Day series from Ballotpedia. I do so because a.) his numbers often reveal some interesting truths about our world and b.) blogging is, at bottom, the art of making secondary or tertiary commentary on what other, smarter, harder-working people have thought, written, and done.
Yesterday’s #Number of the Day dealt with global poverty; specifically, Americans’ ignorance to the fact that global poverty has declined substantially over the last twenty years. Indeed, global poverty has been reduced by half in that time.
I’ll confess I was ignorant of the extent of this decline, too, although it makes sense that poverty has decreased, especially when you consider the rise of post-Soviet market economies in Eastern Europe and China’s meteoric rise since the 1980s.
I suspect that the perennial culprit of the Mainstream Media is to blame, in part, for this ignorance, coupled as it is with progressive politicians. The rise of “democratic socialist” candidates—as well as the lingering effects of the Great Recession—would have Americans believe that the global economy is in terrible shape, and that “underprivileged” parts of the world labor in ever-worsening poverty (so, let’s just move them all here—that’ll solve poverty!).
It’s refreshing to see that capitalism is working its economic magic, and people all over the globe are lifting themselves out of poverty. If representative republicanism and strong civil societies can take root and flourish in more places, the ingredients will be in place for continued economic and cultural growth.
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As a Christian, I struggle with how to deal with the homeless. On the one hand, Jesus makes it pretty clear in Matthew 25:40 that whatever we do to the least, we likewise do to Him. There’s also that verse—more scripturally-literate readers can assist with the exact verse in a comment—about some poor people being Jesus in disguise.
On the other hand, homeless people are (often) mentally ill (see below), (potentially) dangerous nuisances that extort you for cash. The economy of it is simple: the homeless person will leave you in peace if you just toss a few quarters into his cup. Some have more elaborate cons—the guy who perennially needs $10 to buy gas to get home—but it all amounts to an impromptu shakedown.
It’s been a crazy week, with President Trump successfully maneuvering the ultra-progressive “Squad” of Congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley as the faces of the entire Democratic Party.
Lost in the shuffle—indeed, what seems to be an afterthought for most politicians and Americans now—is excessive government spending. Virtually all of the major Democratic candidates for president in 2020 endorse policies like Medicare for All that would balloon an already-engorged federal deficit (around $22 trillion, I believe). President Trump, for all of his successes with deregulation and trimming bureaucratic fat, has not done much to cut the budget substantially—indeed, he didn’t even campaign on cutting entitlement spending.
The June slump has hit, as people are less interested in news and politics and going outside. It’s been a gorgeous few days here in South Carolina. I left the house Wednesday morning and it was cold.
For non-Southerners, allow me to explain: here in the Deep South, our only true season is summer, which runs from late March through Thanksgiving. I’ve seen people mow their lawns a week before Christmas. If we’re lucky we get a mild summer. After an oppressively muggy May, a morning in the low 60s is a blessed reprieve here in the Palmetto State.
But talking about the weather is probably why my numbers are down, so I’ll move on to another non-politics-related topic: my penchant for hustlin’. Readers know that I have a few gigs running at any time, including private music lessons, adjunct teaching, my History of Conservative Thought summer course, and playing shows. I also paint classrooms and do sweaty manly maintenance work at my little school when I’m not molding minds. And while it doesn’t pay anything yet, I’m hoping to get a few bucks for my writing.
But perhaps my favorite side gig is an annual tradition: my school’s annual Minecraft Camp. A former school administrator started the camp, and I’ve carried it on for some years now.
For the uninitiated, Minecraft is basically LEGOs in video game form. The genius creation of programmer Markus Persson, the game places players in a massive sandbox world, with the objective being… anything! There are no timers (other than a day and night cycle), no goals, and no ending. Players generate a theoretically endless world from scratch, and proceed to build—craft—their way to civilization (or endless PVP battles).
Players can activate Creative Mode, which allows for endless flights of fancy, with access to every block and resource in the game, or they can play in Survival, which is exactly what it sounds like: players hide from (or fight) monsters at night, hunt for or grow food, and have to keep their health up.
Minecraft has enjoyed ubiquity since its release in 2011—it’s the best-selling video game of all time—and when we started Minecraft Camp back in the day (I think it was summer 2013 or 2014, but I’m not sure), it was HUGE. The game has inspired probably tens of thousands of mods, from simple additions like extra monsters or types of blocks, to total conversions that completely rebuild the game’s mechanics.
With the rise of Fortnite a year ago, the game seemed to wane in popularity, but it’s apparently enjoying a resurgence: our camp was up to twelve Crafters from a low of about four or five last year. It gets absolutely chaotic at times—like during our final camp PVP battle, and a hectic boss fight against a gigantic, camper-created Creeper named “Creeperzilla,” that saw kids shouting nearly at the top of their lungs with unabashed glee—but it’s also beautiful to see the creativity of young children. I am constantly amazed to see what they create.
And, let’s face it, there are worse ways to make an extra buck than playing video games with a group of creative eight-to-thirteen-year olds. It definitely beats raking up old pine straw and spraying Roundup on cracks in the parking lot.
As of today, my glorious summer vacation has begun. Time to whip out the Hawaiian shirts. Everyone knows the three best reasons to teach: June, July, and August.
In all seriousness, I thought it would be useful to do a “State of the Blog” update now that TPP 3.0 has been going strong for nearly a year. With summer ahead, it’s an opportunity to work on the blog a bit more, and to get cracking on some long-delayed eBook ideas.
With daily posting, I’ve found that readership has gradually increased. It seems that I get the most views when I have posts ready to go at 6:30 AM, perhaps because they’re in readers’ inboxes when they awake. I’ve also been sharing links to relevant posts in comments on more prominent bloggers’ pieces, which has really driven traffic to the site.
The daily readership on average has gone from around thirteen per day at the beginning of the year to around twenty-two per day. The overwhelming majority of readers are from the United States, but I’ve had visitors from all over the world (even one guy from Nepal!).
As far as changes to the site, most everything will stay the same. I’ll continue to post daily (schedule-permitting), maintaining my average of ~670 words a day (but, of course, focusing on quality, not quantity… hopefully).
One minor change: I’ll be designating Saturdays as “SubscribeStar Saturdays.” I’ll give a short “teaser” of the Saturday post on this website, then link to my SubscribeStar page for the rest of the post. Subscribers will have instant access to these posts.
One of the first posts there will be my 2019 Summer Reading List. I haven’t done one since 2016’s list, which was quite well-received, and I’m overdue for a new one.
Re: SubscribeStar: as I start pushing out some longer-form essays and short eBooks, subscribers at the $5-per-month level and above will gain access to those works as they’re published (likely as PDFs) as part of their subscription.
I’m still kicking around the Portly Podcast idea, which will mainly depend on my schedule this summer.
Speaking of, outside the blog I’m running a course called History of Conservative Thought. I’ve had the idea for this course in the back of my mind for some years now, but decided to offer it this summer at the little private school where I teach. This first run will be an independent study, but I’ll be sharing some updates on the course as we go through the history of conservatism. We’re starting, of course, with the American and French Revolutions, particularly with Edmund Burke, as well as the question “what is a conservative?” I’m quite excited.
On the non-political front, I’m gearing up some more gigging. I’m also working on some new songs; perhaps I can slam out another EP or a full-fledged album one of these days. If you want to learn more about my musical noodling, visit my website, or listen to my tunes on Bandcamp. I wrote an entire song cycle about the rise and fall of civilizations… with unicorns!
That’s it for today. Back to regular programming tomorrow.
Today is tax day. Despite President Trump’s signature tax reform, I ended up owing money to the feds for the first time in my adult life (although I’ll be getting a bit back from the State of South Carolina).
The income tax used to be unconstitutional in our Republic. Indeed, the primary way that federal government gained revenue was from tariffs on imported goods and excise taxes on certain products, like whiskey. Alexander Hamilton advocated for high protective tariffs to protect young domestic industries from British manufacturers, who were “dumping” cheap British goods into the infant nation (a practice China has taken up today). Only during times of war, such as the American Civil War, did Americans have to endure a tax on incomes.
Like most odious, liberty-killing measures, the income tax was a Progressive Era project, ratified in the 16th Amendment (followed shortly thereafter by the 17th Amendment, which made US Senators directed elected, and the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcohol). Progressive reformers assured Americans that only a very small proportion of Americans would ever pay the income tax, which was graduated from the beginning.
That claim was true… for the first year. Immediately, Congress began ratcheting up tax rates and requiring more Americans to pay it. Governments are hard-pressed not to exploit a newfangled method of raising revenue.
The income tax is not all bad: it’s a more stable source of revenue that tariffs, which depend upon foreign imports. No imports, no taxation. Advocates for the graduated income tax, like Tennessee Congressman and future Secretary of State Cordell Hull, argued that, in the event of a major war in Europe (which broke out a year after the 16th Amendment was ratified), international trade would fall, bringing collected duties down with it. That was a prescient observation, and a strong argument in favor of some kind of domestic tax.
That said, the income tax is incredibly invasive. Every year, I lament that the federal government has to collect so much information about me: where I worked during the fiscal year, how I saved my money, etc.
According to Scott Rasmussen, 52% of Americans favor repealing the 16th Amendment. Count me among them. The income tax gives the government far too much influence over our lives, and the federal tax code is so byzantine and full of carve-outs and exemptions, it’s become the purview of the well-connected. It’s become a corporatist monstrosity.
What would replace the income tax? Given that it’s likely never to be repealed—governments don’t typically diminish their power (or access to other people’s money)—the question is largely academic. Still, it’s worth considering.
While I think tariffs can serve a useful purpose (see also: bringing China to heel), and that there’s an argument for some mild protectionism, high protective tariffs like Republicans championed after the Civil War would be ruinous to trade. The deadweight loss (destroyed economic activity) associated with tariffs—especially from the inevitable retaliatory tariffs other nations would pass in response—would do more harm than good, and could result in a Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 situation (i.e., the Great Depression).
The only realistic alternative that I see currently (from my admittedly myopic position) is a national sales tax. There are some serious drawbacks to this approach, to be sure, but it would be the cleanest, most efficient way to generate revenue.
A national sales tax would encourage saving and work, both of which are currently disincentivized under our current tax regime. Instead, purchases would be disincentivized, which would hurt sales, but encourage people to hold onto more of their money. Further, it would not require the government to keep elaborate tabs on every worker; the Internal Revenue Service could be greatly reduced, or even eliminated.
Of course, any tax is a necessary evil, and a national sales tax would make it more difficult for high sales tax States to raise revenue (as it would limit those States’ ability to increase their taxes if necessary). It would also slow purchasing, and necessarily raise prices (by definition, especially if you’re tacking 15-25% on top of a good). There’s also the question of whether a sales tax should just apply to consumer goods, or if it should be an uber-expensive value-added tax, with each economic transaction along the chain of production getting taxed.
Those are sticky questions for wonkier types than I to sort out. But wouldn’t it be nice to build an economy on the production of real value—of stuff—rather than one built on ever-expanding sales, purchasing on credit, and debt financing?
Regardless, the federal income tax is a major imposition, an invasive intruder that enters our lives every April, borrowing from us (without interest!) throughout the year, and intimidating us with the looming threat of disruptive audits. It seems everyone would be happier—even, in a way, the feds!—if it were eliminated.
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