Post 4

Overall, there wasn't anything bad about this book. Goldwater kept it somewhat interesting and it seemed like everything he said had a reason and that he was not rambling. On a bad note, the book was definitely written for an audience that is very familiar with politics. There was very little explaining of many terms in the book. I'm so ignorant to much of government and politics. I don't understand a lot of it and it takes me a while to understand unless I'm personally invested in something. If I were to have this assignment after taking the government course, I feel like I would understand everything better, and that I could actually form an opinion on a lot of things. However, since I haven't taken the course, a lot the things I may say in the previous blog posts may seem quite interesting and may make you turn your head a bit. But hey, I'm trying at least.

My father in an avid reader and he's very active in politics. He's read a bunch of these Bill O'Reilly books and a book written by a really conservative woman who is very recognizable on Fox News. I told he should read the book because he's such a die-hard conservative and I think even him would learn something new about it. The only thing I think he would change about the book is more degrading of liberals. (For future reference, if you were to ever meet my father, don't tell him you're a liberal if you are. He will probably judge you and probably start an argument. Not trying to talk bad about him but that's just how he was born and raised. It's funny as his son to stir him up whenever Obama is on the news to cheer for him. How red he turns is hilarious.) 

Seeing as my knowledge of politics is small, this book helped increase it. It probably would have helped so much more if I had taken the government course before hand. I might have to go back and read after this semester and see if I comprehend it any better. However, knowing me I'll probably never see this book again, unless my dad starts reading it. 

All I want to say is that the last time I went to the doctor the pocket fee was $50 more than the time before even when I went for the same reason. 

THANKS OBAMA. 

Post 3

Some of important topics Mr. Goldwater discussed are freedom for labor and taxes and spending

He says, "We have seen that unions perform their natural function when three conditions are observed: association with the union is voluntary; the union confines its activities to collective bargaining; the bargaining is conducted with the employer of the workers concerned" (Goldwater 31). With that being said, one could conclude that Goldwater is pro-union. He believes that we should restore unions to their proper role in society. Due to ignorance of politics and specifically unions, I cannot form an educated opinion about them. However, the idea of a union is mixed for me. I think it's great that people feel they should get a better pay or more rights in their labor group but even so, I feel like a lot of them don't even understand what it means to run a company or business. I certainly don't but I can infer and say that well organized business has money being spent left and right on necessities and that there is a budget that unfortunately for the workers, probably doesn't have much going toward their salaries. But even then, once a business has invested itself into something, the cost to keep it stabilized is increased. Increasing the pay rate for the workers would only cause financial problems in the long run. 

Goldwater believes that "government has a right to claim an equal percentage of each man's wealth, and no more" (Goldwater 41). I agree with that statement. I believe in a fair rate across the board for every man. I believe that's justice and anything else would cause many conflicts in the country (as if there aren't any). He also believes that "the only way to curtail spending substantially, is to eliminate the programs on which excess spending is consume" (Goldwater 44). I agree with his statement here but to completely eliminate every program they excess spend on seems extremely unrealistic. A lot of times the government doesn't acknowledge responsibility when spending that money. For example, he says, "as long as federal government acknowledges responsibility for education, for examples, the amount of federal aid is bound to increase, at the very least, in direct proportion to the cost of supporting the nation's schools" (Goldwater 44)

How can our economy continue functioning under uneven taxation without a lower class fading out?

Post 2

So, the beginning of book talked about the conscience of a conservative, the perils of power, state's rights, and civil rights. 

To start off Goldwater discusses the difference between conservatism and liberalism. He says liberals are interested in the people's well beings while conservatives try and preserve their economic status. He says "It is Conservatism that puts material things in their proper place - that has a structured view of the human being and of human society, in which economics plays only a subsidiary role" (Goldwater 5). He also says "Conservatism looks upon the enhancement of man's spiritual nature as the primary concern in politics. Liberals on the other hand regard their satisfaction of economic wants as the dominant mission of society" (Goldwater 6). So what I gathered is that Conservatism is all about achieving as much individual freedom while keeping social order.

Goldwater then later discusses the problems with power. For example, he claims that government is the primary instrument in preventing man's liberty. But I thought we were a democracy? Doesn't that mean that everything is the people's decisions? In that case, the government shouldn't be the blame. Unless of course we call ourselves a democracy when were actually a republic. 

Goldwater believes that the Constitution should be obeyed word for word. That everything written in it was written for a purpose and we should abide by it. If we were to substitute our intentions with the framers of the Constitution, we would be endorsing a rule of men, not laws (Goldwater 23). Now I agree with Goldwater that we should follow the intentions embedded in the Constitution. Our Founding Fathers are the people who created and shaped our government and to not abide their intentions is like disobeying your parents, which eventually creates conflict and consequences. 

After knowing all this, can Americans keep the country going based on its core principles?

Post 1

The book I chose is called The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater. Mr. Goldwater was born in 1909 in Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated Staunton Military Academy then attended the University of Arizona for a year. He is a former US Senator in Arizona, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.  He also has high rankings in the military. In the 1964 election, he was the Republican nominee but lost to Lyndon Johnson. 

I chose this book because I really have no knowledge of government and politics. My father on the other hand is a die-hard republican. He says politics is his passion in life and will be involved in it for the rest of his life. This book is the only thing me and my dad thought looked interesting. My father was familiar with Goldwater since he grew up in the 60s. 

I expect to learn something about conservatism and how the Republican Party works. The couple elections, everything about them just flew past my head. I don't understand politics, I never have and honestly, I never liked it anyway. But regardless, I'm hoping this book helps me understand a little more.  

Now, I'm expecting this book to be extremely biased toward Republicans and maybe Libertarians seeing as Goldwater was a big factor in starting the libertarian movement and based on the books title.