Preserving American Values

Our nation stands under attack … not from without but from within. American values, our politics, and our culture have been corrupted.

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Websites: www.westillholdthesetruths.weebly.com; www.preservingamericanvalues.com; www.thepracticalbuddhist.com. A graduate of Brown U. and U. of Chicago Law School, I’ve had a varied career as a legal aid lawyer, survey researcher, nonprofit executive, management consultant, composer, teacher, and author. I have authored 7 books on topics as varied as Buddhism, child rearing, and politics, the latter of which received a pre-publication endorsement from James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic. My Buddhist blog was selected as one of the top 50 Buddhist blogs on the web.

Category: The Economy

  • Why Should the Public Pay for Industry’s Costs of Production?

    A for-profit business has to figure its costs of production in establishing a price and maintaining a sufficient profit margin to warrant being in business.  This includes all inputs into the production process.  However, for many if not most American businesses, this does not include the costs of rendering all byproduct outputs from the production process harmless…

  • Energy Policy Ignores the Elephant in the Room: Saving Us from Global Warming and Peak Oil

    In current thinking, the issues presented by global warming concern using less fossil fuel and replacing that energy source with alternative”clean” energy.  We are all familiar with the options that are on the table: solar power, wind power, ethanol, and nuclear power. Oh and I suppose for accuracy one should add clean coal. There is…

  • The Lords of Finance Are Today’s Money-Changers in the Temple

    At least since the time of Christ, there has been some degree of moral opprobrium in Western culture against making money solely from the use of money. First he drove the money-changers from the temple (as well as other businesses, but the image remains a classic) and later he spoke against lending money at interest.…

  • Strengthening America by Changing from a Consumer Economy to a Nation-Building Economy

    While our culture of consumerism has been a boon to corporate America, it has been bad for our citizens, bad for our economy, and bad for our nation. Psychologically, mass marketing images have resulted in a nation of individuals who are constantly dissatisfied with their lives … whether it’s how they look, the job they…

  • Is It Class Warfare or Is It a Cry for Justice?

    Over the past three decades this country has experienced rapid growth in income inequality.  While the incomes of those in the top 5% have increased exponentially, especially during the past decade, the inflation-adjusted income of production and non-supervisory workers has actually decreased.  The 2010 census found the number of Americans living in poverty to be…

  • Why Do Workers, Children, and the Poor Get Stuck With the Bill?

    Today’s New York Times carried an article indicating that many states were trying to partially solve their budget crises by cutting back on direct aid to major cities and local government.  This of course will result in one of several things … decreased local services to people who need services, increased layoffs/unemployment, or, less likely,…

  • Make Proposed Budget Cuts Transparent for the American People

    Believe it or not, but the American people have not been told the impact of the proposed $61 billion budget cuts recently passed by the House of Representatives.  Yes, they’ve been told that health, education, and safety will be impacted, and that some jobs will be lost, but they’ve been given very few specifics to…

  • Obama’s Budget – Where Is the Leader We Elected?

    Everyone … well almost everyone … agrees that the United States’ budget deficit is something that must be addressed now if we want to maintain the financial stability of this country.  And everyone also agrees that given the size of the projected deficits, the net reduction on a yearly basis needs to be huge. Three…

  • Robin Hoods in Reverse – Republicans Take From the Poor and Give to the Rich

     I don’t know how the Republicans get away with it.  In the budget cutting debates, they keep saying that people must sacrifice because the situation is so serious.   That statement is fine in the abstract. But why is it that all the sacrifice that they are proposing is going to come from workers and the…

  • Opposition to Climate Change: Reasoned or Self-Interest?

    The Republicans are moving forward in their opposition to climate change.  As the New York Times reported recently, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives will push legislation stating that the EPA does not have authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act.   They have already done away with the House subcommittee…