I'll second the" God you are good" comment. Sowell, you have cured me of whatever leftover racism I may have had. I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder because when I was in Jr. High School, I was terrorized by inner-city black kids in my integrated school on the one hand, while receiving messages from parents and others that I shouldn't be racist on the other. That was frustrating, and may have actually caused some racism where there wasn't any to start with. But your columns are so decent and wise and intelligent that you have wiped it out.

Is America to continue in the direction of welfare state materialism? Or will this be a free nation under God? That is the root question before us. Let us choose be a free nation under God. It is good that he pointed out that the welfare state is basically about materialism. The socialist believes that all problems are caused by an unequal distribution of material goods. Nonsense! All problems are caused by sin. "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel." - James 4:1-2

The same root problem has caused these flash mobs, the riots in the U.K, and the debt crisis: entitlement mentality. And it's not only lower income people receiving benefit checks or food stamps - it goes all the way up the chain. Corporations expect incentives to locate in certain places. Unions expect guaranteed pay raises even in a recession. Middle class people expect that Social Security will take over if their 401K fails, and expect government to somehow insulate the stock market from any real disasters. That's what "too big to fail" is really saying, isn't it? We've replaced gratitude for opportunity with expectation of success and deep resentment if it doesn't work out. We worship ourselves instead of God.

In this article Sowell has once again shown his genius for analyzing the fundamental situation. Think about it this way - the Republicans have spent the last several weeks & months straining and fighting against the debt ceiling. The left is accusing them of being beholden to the tea party. But another strategy might be to just let go of the rope and let them have their way! They may find that the rope they are given is enough to hang themselves. The key would be not to tie this tactical retreat to anything else - spending cuts or tax increases. The message would be that we just don't want to argue about the debt ceiling anymore, we will repeal the whole debt ceiling idea. Then go about the business of proposing spending cuts.

Let's line up behind Pawlenty. He may not be the most exciting candidate in history, but he radiates stability and sanity at a time when those qualities are sorely needed. He has pretty good conservative credentials too, and an ability to make conservative ideas seem sensible and practical, rather than ideological. The other MN candidate is Michelle Bachmann. I agree with a lot of things she says, and I've even contributed to her house campaign in the past. However she would be an extremely polarizing candidate and unfortunately even when she is saying the right things, she just tends to come off a little bit wild-eyed.

Thank you for saying this Mr. Goldberg! If conservatives believe in courage, in fighting for what they believe in, in truth, in patriotism, all the rest: then now is the time! Stick by that plan! It may be our last chance to save this country, which ought to be a light of liberty for the entire world. It's not just for ourselves that we fight.

I will admit that I have been convinced that we the US is destined for hyperinflation within the next 3-4 years, and Shedlock's article has caused me to rethink that. He makes a lot of sensible points. The mathematical point about the trade deficit vs. debt is good, as is the ratio between currency and credit. I agree that most people are not going to purposely destroy their own wealth, even those who like to appear to be Socialists or champions of the poor. However I think that Shedlock should at least consider the possibility that there are those at high levels of government that would destroy their own wealth because of an ideological belief that the system is corrupt and we need to "start over" with global Socialism. I think...

The gist of this article is basically that marriage works for many people, and that it helps stabilize society. Those reasons are not enough to make a case for the continuation of marriage as a legal and moral institution. If the desire for marriage and it's very moral foundation is based on an evolutionary survival advantage, then Diaz is logically correct - we can evolve out of it just as easily as we evolved into it. The only justification for establishing marriage in our culture and law is if marriage is an institution that is founded by God and is His only plan for putting a safe boundary around sexual relationships and for raising families. And if marriage comes from and is defined by God (in his word the bible), then we...

Sowell, for crying out loud, take a class in public speaking, and then run for president yourself, will you?

Thanks for this clear financial statement - it really puts things into focus. This should be made very public so that everyone can see it. I wonder if it's possible to simplify it a little more and combine some more of the smaller items, plus highlight the big ones in red, then publish it in the NY Times or something. I guess we can't leave out defense as a major item, but we are involved in 3 wars right now, so short of just pulling all the troops out immediately, that isn't really an option I guess.