Economy and the Ballot

We’re a week and a half out from the beginning of early voting. It’s time I went through the ballot.

The short version is: vote Republican all the way down the ballot.

In this post, I’ll talk about why that’s the wise choice, particularly this year. And then I’ll go through a handful of races here in Texas and Harris County.

WHY VOTE REPUBLICAN

In the Spherical Model, Democrats are—and have almost always been—down in the statist tyranny quadrant of the political sphere. (Read more about the Spherical Model here.) I would say they hovered just below the equator most of my life, but the last couple of decades have slipped further and further southward (south is toward tyranny; not related to our geographical earth).

Republicans are a mixed bag. Our platform, particularly here in Texas, is up in the freedom zone. That is what the people want: a government limited to its duties of protecting life, liberty, and property, and defending (not granting) our God-given rights. Republicans who understand that and act accordingly give us the kind of government we want. Those who try to “give” people what they think they want in order to win votes and maintain power, but just less blatantly than the Democrats do, are also below the equator into tyranny.

Sometimes it comes down to two candidates, both below the equator, but one further than the other, and also aligned with a party that will pull the country southward. In such a case, we vote for the one more likely to do our will, and get someone better later.

There aren’t actually many examples of that on this year’s ballot, particularly in statewide races. So that’s good news. The bad news is that, according to polls (most of which cannot be trusted, but they’re the only information we have) Dems are neck-and-neck in some crucial races. Texas is a target, with big money flowing in from out of state.

The Democrat Socialists of America (DSA) are giddy about the possibility of taking over Texas. We absolutely must not allow that apocalyptic outcome to happen.

Here’s a pretty good summary of the differences in the parties, in general:

found on Facebook, here

To read the full article, FOLLOW LINK TO SUBSTACK.

Civil Discourse—The Federalist Papers: Celebrating the Semiquincentennial Part 10

This is our tenth month celebrating the Semiquincentennial of the United States.

Here’s the series up to this point, if you missed any or want to review:

·        January: The Declaration

·        February: Preamble to the Constitution

·        March: Article I: Lawmaking

·        April: Article II: Executive Branch

·        May: Article III: Judicial Branch

·        June: Bill of Rights

·        July: Happy Birthday, America!

·        August: Bill of Rights Continued

·        September: Compromises in the Constitution

In our celebration of the semiquincentennial this year, one thing worth celebrating in our experiment in self-government is our ability to debate civilly, to exchange ideas and see which ideas are most persuasive.

This is in the ideal America, not necessarily the one we are currently experiencing. But if you don’t know the ideal, or something close to it, you don’t know what to strive for and what not to accept.

There were examples of this well ahead of the Declaration, well ahead of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Revolutions rarely work. They never do without the ideas being grasped and agreed with by the people. Conversations, among neighbors, after church, or at the pub, were taking place well ahead of any kinetic war.

There are stories about Sam Adams, brother of John Adams, speaking out for liberty in the colonies building up to the Revolutionary War. He had a big dog, I think it was a black Newfoundland. He did not discipline it for taking a mouthful of red fabric from a British soldier’s uniform. Apparently the dog agreed with its master’s ideas during those conversations on the streets.

Some of the best civil discourse we have on record are contained in the two collections of essays, The Federalist Papers and The Anti-Federalist Papers. These were arguments for and against ratification of the Constitution of the United States.

I wrote about them in June 2025, which wasn’t that long ago, but I’m writing about them again today, because—semiquincentennial.

To read the full article, FOLLOW LINK TO SUBSTACK.