Tynan,


Love your blog, but I must respectfully disagree on a number of points (especially since nobody else seems to be doing so).


Foreign Policy: One of the most poorly understood areas of American politics. Given the polarizing nature of this subject, I will say that it is a bit more complicated than “I’ll leave you alone if you leave me alone” and end there.


Privatization: I agree, generally a good thing, as is smaller/less government. Though there are practical limits. Should we privatize the police? The fire dept? The military? While private enterprise has a phenomenal track record of squeezing out inefficiencies, some things are too important to be left up to private business, especially given the corrupting power of profit motives.


Education: Could be better funded, I’ll agree. However, one of the biggest problems with public education is the monopoly that the teachers union has over the public school system. Throw all the money you want at it, but until you borrow a few things from private enterprise, such as competition among schools and performance based compensation for teachers, you will still have many of the same problems. Note: I am not advocating the privatization of schools in general.


Health Care: Though I think you’re coming at this from a slightly different angle, I would say watch Michael Moore’s “Sicko.” Might turn you around a bit on the idea of privatization and open your eyes to the shortcomings of our health care system.


The Environment: Would we screw over the environment without legislation? DEFINITELY! There are plenty of examples in our own country, but to take one outside, look at China right now and the environmental problems they are having with industry running unchecked by environmental regulations. Furthermore, the environment is not a moral issue but an economic one. If the polar ice caps melt and sea levels rise 20 ft or so, that puts much of NYC underwater, as well as Shanghai and some of the world’s most populous cities. Never mind the economic losses of flooding some of the most valuable real estate in the world, think about the economic devastation of 100 million refugees. As bad as Katrina was, this would be many orders of magnitude worse.


Sorry this ran so long, but kudos to anyone who stuck it out and read through my entire rant.


Cheers