Youth Politics

Hello again!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Politics has taken somewhat of a backseat now that the election is over, although there’s still much discussion to be had. I just haven’t found much of it to be interesting at this time. Besides that, I’ve been preparing for my return to college, so there have been a lot of last minute things I needed to take care of.

I’ve taken this time to invest in the stock market. The stock market had hit yet another low, and I’m taking advantage of the bear market that it is right now so that when the market recovers, I’ll be in good shape. Currently I’m invested in Google and Apple, so we’ll see how that turns out. Right now they are well, well below where they were a year ago, and I can only hope that their stocks go back to their previous levels eventually. Wish me luck.

I found a nice site for those interested in starting to invest. I know I’m new to it, and I think you’ll find it to be a useful guide. The site is called Investing First Steps.

http://www.investingfirststeps.com/

Again, have a look, as you might find some new tips you just haven’t seen, and it looks to be a good resource for new investors.

Another thing I wanted to mention is that this blog is once again on the top 10 listings of Google for the keyword “Youth Politics”. This is great news, as it had been in the top 10 before but then disappeared for a little while.

If you have any investment tips for me or know of any good sites, let me know. I could definitely use the help!

It is without a doubt that America’s automobile industry is in big trouble. GM, Ford, and Chrysler have all been hit big time by the economic downturn. Fewer people driving as well as increased demand of fuel efficient Japanese vehicles have accelerate the stumbling car industry. What’s America to do?

So far the answer has been to give these companies huge sums of money. Is that really justifiable? Let me put this into perspective. We saw the rise of people driving Hummers only a few years back. Was that really a good direction to follow? At roughly the same time, the Japanese released the Prius to the United States market. That was a much better call in my opinion. Now everyone wants to save fuel and the Prius is a fantastic way to go. Will the Hummer line of vehicles continue the way it had before? I doubt it. Now US automakers need to scramble to produce more fuel efficient vehicles. It’s sad they did not see this coming.

There are two ways to deal with a failing industry: Hand it over to the public sector or let it die. In a purely capitalistic world we’d simply let that industry fall to bits, however it is much more complicated than that. Hundreds of thousands of people will lose their jobs. The auto industry is responsible for 20% of retail sales here in the United States. That is a HUGE portion of our economy. Is it simply too important to die? If so, how do we keep it alive?

I don’t see how at this point. We failed to be innovative a whole lot sooner, and now we’re injecting money into an industry that we hope will bounce back. It’s a shame those companies let all of their employees down due to shortsightedness. I especially feel sorry for those towns that have a majority of their population working for GM or Ford or Chrysler. They get the worst of it, and my sympathies go out to those families who are/will soon have a hard time with upcoming layoffs.

What should America do? Does injecting capital into these companies seem like the right solution? This industry is a huge thorn at our side. Should we instead retrain these workers and place them in a thriving, more innovative industry? Both solutions cost money. I’m no expert, and I won’t pretend to be one. I have no idea what the best course of action here is. Which is the best solution?

Well, looks like gas prices are hitting their lowest levels in five years. What does that mean for us American consumers? Do we start driving as much as we possibly can? Should we hoard gasoline? Should we pretend the gas price spike was just oil companies’ getting too greedy?

Yes oil companies are associated with greed, but the price of gas really was trying to compensate for the increase in world demand. The United States is the biggest consumer of oil as of now, and we have shown that we can significantly reduce the amount we use and forced oil prices to come tumbling down. But, how long will it last?

We can continue our previous mentality that there is enough oil for everyone, or we can continue our efforts of conservation and finding alternative energy sources. I think this blog post from FixThePig.com about conserving energy says it best.

In other words, we cannot let this sudden drop in gas prices bring us back to our old ways. I’m glad I get the chance to drive at such cheap prices, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t think I would see prices this low ever again. But at the same time, I will try my best to be as fuel efficient as possible. It’s the least I can do to make sure gas prices stay low for those that really do get hit hard by it.

One downside of lower oil prices is that investments may dry up in that industry. This means the companies will struggle to find the money to research new drilling spots. My instincts tell me that’s not good, but I could be dead wrong here. What say you?

So apparently DC hotel rooms are all being booked up for the historic inauguration of president elect Barack Obama. It’s pretty exciting actually, and I can see why people would do that. However, for me, it’s not all fantastic. Let me explain why.

First I’d like to say that this influx of visitors to DC is going to be awesome for local businesses who typically don’t have much of anything going on after the New Year’s festivities. I bet restaurants can’t wait.

Second, wow is traffic in DC going to be awful. Although I may  have liked to go to the inauguration, I will be back in college so attendance by me is unlikely. I wonder if people will start renting out rooms in their houses once all the hotel rooms have booked up…

Third, while I understand everyone’s enthusiasm, it’s something we definitely need to put behind us. The fact that people care this much that someone with some African decent has made it into the White House is both telling of the progress America has made and that we need to be able to move beyond hugely congratulating those of other origins. Electing a black president or a Hispanic president or an Asian president should be no different than electing a white president, and that’s what I would love to see in the years ahead.

Perhaps I’m being a little too insensitive, but the truth is I always had seen this as a possibility. I mean, the hit show 24 had a black president in office and look at the viewership for that! I’m not the least bit surprised that Obama won the presidency, and now that he has, people need to both celebrate and then realize that this will happen again. Accepting it as the norm is the next logical step.

Will America celebrate if a Hispanic president made it into office? You tell me.

On Tuesday, California voters voted on several propositions to go along with the national election. Of these propositions, I’d like to talk about proposition 8.

What is proposition 8? If you haven’t already heard, it’s supposed to restore true family values and outlaw gay marriage in California. This would bring back the supposed traditional meaning of the word marriage, which is the union between a man and a woman in every religion I can think of.

Basically, California took a big step backwards when it comes to equal rights.

The problem for me is the fact that governments can define what is marriage. This should be impossible. I thought marriage was conducted by religions, and thus should be out of bounds for the government. The government should only define civil unions, which is much different from marriage. Religions can still choose who to marry, but everyone should enjoy the same tax benefits etc. as others. It’s only logical.

And let’s not get into any crap about keeping marriage sacred. Heterosexual couples have already screwed that up by divorcing 50% of the time here in the United States. How frikkin’ sacred is that then? People are already marrying up then giving up a few years later just to get back with someone else who they give up years later. Family values my @$$. Think about all of the children broken up by divorced families. It’s a nightmare.

Gay civil union would not impede on anyone else’s marriage rights nor would it impact anyone else’s lives at all. As far as we all are concerned, some gay couples are practically married besides the legal benefits, and they deserve those benefits as much as anyone else.

“Oh no, but they are sinning by wanting to be gay.” No one chooses to be gay, period. I couldn’t choose to be gay. It’s impossible. Others who are straight couldn’t choose to be gay. It doesn’t work. No one chooses to defy nature ok? If you still believe people choose to be gay, you’re brainwashed. I like women. I will never stop liking women. No matter how hard I try I will never be able to change that. That’s simply how my body reacts. With gay people it’s the same deal. They happen to like the same sex, and it’s not by choice. Children don’t choose to be gay, that’s simply not something they are thinking about doing actively. Just like you didn’t actively choose to like whichever gender you happen to like.

I’m not even going to mention that there are many, many species that have homosexual relations. It just… happens. Just like cancer just happens, and I’m not going to incriminate people just because they have cancer.

And don’t give me crap about a slippery slope, either. There is no slippery slope. Two consenting adults want a civil union, there’s no slippage there. People aren’t going to win arguments to marry siblings, animals, or inanimate objects. There’s simply no legal basis for that, and those things are stupid anyway.

Again, if your religion doesn’t support gay marriage, fine. I have no qualms with that. But the legal system should not be defining marriage anyway; it should only allow for civil unions. I’m pretty sure that’s something everyone can live with.

Here’s a story about some rights groups challenging the ban:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27557521/

Got a differing opinion, or do you agree? Let me know in a comment below.