“The marketplace of ideas” is a guiding concept for my role as a Mississippi journalist.
That’s why you’ll see a diversity of opinions on the editorial pages of the Northside Sun. One columnist may be writing from a right wing perspective. The next columnist from a left wing perspective. I believe all types of viewpoints should be expressed and exposed to the public. Let the best ideas win.
Personally, I am a moderate conservative, which is to the right of a conservative moderate. I firmly believe that free market capitalism is the key to prosperity.
But I am not a libertarian. Free market capitalism, like all human confections, is imperfect and must be tweaked. So I am in favor of prudent government regulation.
A perfect example of this would be antitrust laws. If you allow a company to monopolize a segment of the economy and then use that monopoly to charge exorbitant prices, that’s the reverse of a free market. Government has a role to ensure that markets are indeed free and competitive.
Speed limits are a similar analogy. Citizens should be free to use our roads as they please, but when the safety of our roads are threatened by irresponsible drivers, government intervention is necessary and reasonable.
Another example is the criminal justice system. Individual freedom is threatened by lawless thugs. Government must maintain law and order. That’s one reason I am in favor of properly funding Mississippi’s criminal justice system, even if it means taxing citizens to do so.
I’m also pragmatic. Fanatically clinging to this or that ideology is a form of extremism. I dislike extremism. That’s why I support Medicaid expansion even though I would have preferred a more free market solution on a national level. But Mississippi is a poor state and we didn’t get to decide this issue. Now the issue is do we take the billion dollars in federal aid a year or not. This, to me, is a no brainer.
I believe religion is critical to a properly functioning civil state. Men and women must feel accountable to God for the salvation of their immortal soul. There’s nothing more effective than the fear of burning in hell for eternity to enforce moral behavior. (True spiritual sanctification is so much better but you have to start somewhere.)
Next to fear and love of God, liberty and political freedom are at the top of my ideological precepts. This is not relative. Liberty and political freedom are real and definable. In the United States, people are free to speak their minds. “Let’s go Brandon!” Do you think that humorous political chant could have existed in Turkey, Venezuela, China or Russia?
If I had been a journalist in China, Russia, Mexico or half the world, I would be dead by now, writing the things I have reported on for 40 years. Forty-five journalists were killed worldwide last year. In Russia, dozens of citizens have been sent to prison, as much as 15 years, for calling the Ukraine “special military operation” a war. This is not freedom. In Turkey, 160,169 investigations have been launched over “insulting the president,” 35,507 cases were filed and there were 12,881 convictions. Not freedom.
In China, tens of thousands of people have been jailed for blogs and posts that were considered critical of the China Communist Party. People disappear regularly, never to be heard from again. Cuba is the same way. In many Muslim countries, you can be put to death for converting to Christianity. This is not freedom or liberty.
This is one of the reasons we have millions of people risking their lives and livelihoods to emigrate to America. They are coming for freedom and liberty and the material prosperity that springs from these blessings.
I save my scorn for people who fail to properly understand how great our country is and just how blessed each and every American is to be living in this oasis of freedom, liberty and prosperity.
As far as the day-to-day current events of our city, state, country and world, I am much more laid back than most people. As King Solomon noted in the Bible’s Ecclesiastes, “there is nothing new under the sun.”
The basic issues of right and left have been debated since the dawn of civilized society. Equality versus efficiency. There are pros and cons to both. It’s a balancing act. We’re still trying to figure out the best way to run a society. It’s a work in progress.
Equality is a great ideal, but it kills prosperity. People want to be rewarded for their hard work. Take away their reward, you kill their drive. Everyone suffers.
We all stand on the shoulders of geniuses. We need a society that encourages and nurtures genius. It would be foolish to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
Opinions are like belly buttons (or any other part of the human anatomy).
Everybody has one. Over the years as a publisher, I have heard every side to every possible opinion dozens of times over. It’s not that I don’t care. It’s just I’ve been there, done that.
People often assume that as a publisher, I want to talk about politics and current events. It reminds me of my buddy who volunteered for the Sanderson Golf Classic. He was shocked that the players talked to each other about everything but golf. That’s because they live it and breathe it every day. Kinda the same with me and politics.
I don’t think the world’s going down the drain. In fact, precisely the opposite. World poverty is undergoing its fastest decline in human history. Almost every aspect of human life is improving. The population explosion, which was supposed to cause world collapse, turned out to be a paper tiger. In fact, in 50 years, depopulation is going to be the problem. Even India, as of this year, has a birth rate below replacement level. Soon, countries are going to be bribing immigrants to come.
Remember the hole in the ozone layer? We were going to all die from radiation. But it miraculously closed. Nuclear annihilation? Didn’t happen.
Today’s boogeyman is global warming. Last year, over 30 percent of the world’s energy came from renewable sources and that number is skyrocketing each year. Human ingenuity has dozens of ways to produce energy without creating greenhouse gases, if and when that becomes necessary.
I am not a global warming denier. It bears watching. God commanded humans to be good stewards of his creation. But I don’t think for a second human activity will determine the end of God’s world. This world will end when God decrees it so. No sooner.
If I didn’t believe in God, I too would be scared to death of the future. Man’s sinful nature can screw up every noble concept. A hundred million dead from communism is Exhibit A. If you live in fear, which is prayer to the devil, I suggest you pray for faith.
We have a lot of work to do managing the amazing technology we now have at our disposal. Human tools can cause great misery as well as great good. The challenge is not simple. But with God’s guidance and human humility and perseverance, these challenges will be met.
