Art of the State

Casey Kettler. The roaring twenties. Philosophy and Politics, Basketball and Music.

[theartofthestate]

Progress Report

Once again, I have left myself a heroic amount of work at the end of a semester. The combination of moving in to a new house and the staff at NFP taking holiday vacations has severely inhibited the amount of volunteer work I have been able to complete.

In the past two days however, I have completed a proposal for a role with the organization suitable to earn college credit for.

Between the creation and maintenance of the newly minted Nebraskans For Peace Tumblr, and writing a piece on how students can stay informed and involved in the human rights issues transpiring in Egypt, Syria, and Turkey, I will have my hands full this week.

[theartofthestate]

HRHA Journal Entry #1

I have stumbled once again into the arena of nonprofit volunteerism, albeit under slightly different circumstances than my previous work with radio, library and politics.

This time I will be receiving college credit for my ongoing assistance to Nebraskans for Peace, the nations oldest statewide peace and justice organization. There are no provisions for the amount of hours required, only that I volunteer enough to keep a journal about the experience and write a concluding paper at the conclusion of the class.

Thus far, I have made contact with Brittany Crawford, the NFP office manager and fundraising coordinator, and began working on promoting a June 24th forum on fair tax policy here in lincoln. Mostly that has just involved walking around downtown and hanging flyers in the windows of local businesses.

We are planning on meeting early next week to discuss a special project with which I can hopefully contribute to the organization on a more substantial level. Until then, I won't dwell too much about the specifics of walking around downtown hanging flyers: I'll only say that NFP could use some help in the field of flyer design.

[theheritagefoundation]

[vegasladyluck-deactivated201403]

say no to the internet sales tax :)

[theheritagefoundation]

Hear hear!

[wander-in-arda]

I like how the Obama administration, the same administration that believes a steep progressive income tax is the best way to make the rich “pay their fair share,” is now endorsing the imposition a regressive tax. I wonder if they get the irony of pair this legislation with their agenda.

[fauxpolitics-blog]

Is there data to suggest that this tax is regressive?  I don’t take the position that it isn’t, I’m just curious as to whether or not there is data to support this conclusion.

[wander-in-arda]

It’s a sales tax, by definition a regressive tax. People of different incomes buying the same product and being taxed the same, but the poorer individuals will be paying a higher percentage of their limited income to pay the tax.

[fauxpolitics-blog]

Of course!  I can’t believe I just asked that.  Oh well this experience of silliness will ensure that I don’t forget.

[theartofthestate]

I don't think you should have conceded so easily. A sales tax is not necessarily a regressive tax. For example, a sales tax on luxuries like boats or diamonds is likely not a regressive tax.

Taxing internet purchases at a higher rate doesn't affect those without internet access or people who don't buy frivolous things on the internet anyway. 

It's also laughable that the idea of having a blend of different taxes somehow inspires cognitive dissonance.

[think-progress]

Most important thing you’ll read today:Global warming is MUCH worse than we thought.

[theartofthestate]

I guess the Mayans were only slightly off.

[squashed]

The Libertarian Awakening

In 2001 the Libertarians were the guys who had the booth at the street festivals sandwiched between the Revolutionary Maoists and the Revolutionary Stalinists. Now you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a Libertarian.1 So where did they all come from?

My unscientific survey concluded that (unsurprisingly) the vast majority of Libertarians are children of Republicans. The politics of parents certainly don’t determine the politics of the children—but one of the awkward truths of political thought is that the apple rarely falls far from the tree. (This isn’t me talking down on Libertarians—it’s just how it is with every political group.)

The relative strength of the Liberty Movement has a lot to do with a crumbling in support for Republicans among young people. Proposals like “let’s all be scared of people who are different and/or gay” simply aren’t resonating like they use to. And maybe the brain needs at least forty-years of buffering to handle the cognitive dissonance necessary to simultaneously maintain that we have to immediately cut spending and that we shouldn’t under any circumstances touch military spending. The Republicans have always struggled with young people. But now they seem to be struggling even with young Republicans.

So what’s next? A huge chunk broke off the Republican glacier. Where is it headed? Will the wayward Republican children rejoin the fold? That seems unlikely, unless the Republicans can bring their platform into the 21st century. Will Libertarianism be a strong, independent force going forward? I don’t think that’s likely either. Opposition to things like Medicare gets harder when people you love start retiring.2 Will the Progressives see an influx? It’s not inconcievable. Advocacy for a more humane foreign policy could plausibly lead to support for a more humane domestic policy.

If you’re proud to live in a jurisdiction where you have the freedom to swing dead cats around without running afoul of some sanitary code or animal cruelty law, thank a Libertarian! ↩

Hey Libertarian friends. I realize how obnoxiously smug it sounds for me to essentially say, “You’ll grow out of your cherished beliefs you naive little duckling.” With that said … I’ve harbored some libertarian sympathies in the past. But then … life takes you outside ivory towers. You see friends with crippling depression and no family to fall back on whose only means of survival is SSDI. You see other friends who worked their whole life anticipating a pension held by a suddenly bankrupt company. ↩

[theartofthestate]

All of this^

[theartofthestate]

Atoms For Peace — Default

[theartofthestate]

So basically, other countries are geographically fragmented, and they do fine for themselves, so just ignore our (growing) settlements.

[theartofthestate]

It is unclear what exactly one ought to do on Presidents Day.

Absent are the imbedded traditions of most other holidays. Is it simply an opportunity to reflect on the military genius of our iconic first president? Is it a testament to the governmental efficacy of a powerful monarchic governor?

...A proper Presidents Day celebration requires some forethought, as one ought to remember to schedule a duel with pistols for high-noon. Andrew Jackson would stir in his grave if he knew how few ceremonial duels were held in his honor.

Because one would do well not duel unclean, a ritual pre-duel bath is in order in honor of our largest president. The massive Taft infamously had the bathtub in the White House expanded to accommodate his rotundity.

Bathers gonna bathe.

[theartofthestate]

It's True — Take This One From Me

For the Valentines.

[think-progress]

Kobe Bryant calls out homophobia.

[theartofthestate]

Kobe has been growing on me lately.

This is a bad omen.

[theartofthestate]

This is why.

[theartofthestate]

It's 50 degrees in Lincoln today.

(h/t brooklynmutt)

[theartofthestate]

It begins with “Ohm,” a song built on a single, building, jangly chord that is at once nostalgic and existentialist: “But nothing ever stays the same/Nothing’s explained/Lose no more time/No time.”

[theartofthestate]

The NRA defends it's dumb ad about Obama's children

Wolf Blitzer: Why bring the daughters Sasha and Malia into this political ad?

NRA President David Keene: Well its not about them specifically

Blitzer: You mention them specifically.

Keene: Well we don't mention them specifically. We mention his kids and other kids ...

Blitzer: He's only got two.

[theartofthestate]

Objectivity.

[theartofthestate]

I felt what we always feel when someone dies, a sad awareness, now futile, of how little it would have cost to have been more loving.

Jorge Luis Borges, The Book of Sand. (1975)

[theartofthestate]

>In which I identify my best work of the semester:

I like to foster the illusion that I am always improving, so I have chosen my most recent post as my 'best of' this semester. This is one in which I compare Shakespeare's trilogy on Rome to the inevitable fall described by Plato in Book VIII of The Republic:

Perhaps none of these great men are heroic. They are all characters in a Shakespearian tragedy: fatally flawed and dystopian. But the problems lie not only with the great characters. Problems are endemic in the groups listed at the top of the page. The mob is too maleable, the aristocracy too prudent. The honor code of warriors barbaric, and the danger in kin preference too great. These are all dangers discussed by Socrates in Book VIII of The Republic. Shakespeare is literarily manifesting the inevitable fall to tyranny that Socrates envisioned.

And not to fall to the vice of vaingloriousness, but I would like to note that this was a particularly good semester for my blogging. This was not my first encounter with the medium, but I think I have taken a step forward in blogging, and writing more broadly. I made the politics tag, was featured on Running Chicken, and was re-blogged by the class account.

I think there is a strong chance I will continue blogging, likely on topics as diverse as human rights, literature, music, and possibly even some on basketball. Feel encouraged to keep checking back if you value a midwestern twentysomething's opinions on such things.