A few days back, I was walking from a lunch haunt into the capitol. The southern end of the Capitol grounds is a bit torn up these days. PA’s House and Senate complex does reside on a hill and the retaining walls are currently under recon­struc­tion. One rela­tively minor act of vandalism applied to on a newly laid granite wall caught my atten­tion and it’s been rolling around in the mind ever since. Someone had taken a red spray can and added some flair to the stone with the phrase, “Capi­talism is Slavery.” It all left me wondering what inputs the vandal had received that caused him (or her) to believe that they were being oppressed by the best economic system yet devised. Was it the ‘educa­tional’ drum­beat of a public high school teacher or college professor, intent on destroying youthful initia­tive through the confer­ring of victim­hood? Or perhaps it was some outlet of the leftist media that made an impres­sion­able mind believe that idea of personal advance­ment through honest labor were beneath his dignity. Sadly, the spray-can artist will prob­ably live out a life of discarded economic oppor­tu­nity, even as he gives another the chance to succeed — through being paid to clean graf­fiti off of stone walls!

A wise person once said that there are three levels of conver­sa­tion. At the most basic level, folks talk about places. The second level involves discus­sions about people, and the most involved and rewarding level of conver­sa­tion is held on the plane of ideas. I want to welcome you to this concrete step toward a long sought-after goal, the sharing of ideas in written form. And I want to thank you in advance for consid­ering thoughts that may be chal­lenging or different in perspec­tive. It is my goal to share a bit of myself through this medium, and to share thoughts on the actions and views of histor­i­cally and currently famous (or infa­mous) people, soci­etal direc­tions, and a few thoughts on my dog. Ya see, she’s nearly four­teen and her right front leg is a bit arthritic and well … you get the point. I’m off and typing away … so Bruce, you can stop hounding me on this, and to all the rest, thanks for your time!