Craig Dawkins .....Liberty Thoughts

In the Sunday Oklahoman, SNU president Loren Gresham has some interesting things to say about higher ed. I am struck by a couple of thoughts about those who have vast criticism of higher education today. First, faculty aren't there to confirm preconceived ideas. Yes there are always stories that show some professor, somewhere, who says or does something outrageous to the sensibilities of those who often complain about political correctness. But intellectual exploration is not bible school where indoctrination, not education occurs. Intellectual exploration is important for the advancement is mankind. Without it, people would still believe the world is flat. (Sadly some still do believe that.) Second, if education changes your perspective on issues and understanding of the world, some in our society will treat such evolution as negative. Yes, ignorance is often militant and in opposition to change or new information that runs contrary to some preconception. Truth is often offens...

ECON 101 of the Day: When Trump (or any politician) claims that the official unemployment rate reported by the Department of Labor is “such a phony number,” “one of the biggest hoaxes in American modern politics” “totally fiction.” and “the biggest joke there is,” he is contextually wrong but is expressing a tiny kernel of accuracy. First, let us come to terms that in a nation of millions of people, there will be people in various states of employment. Some will have just turned 16 and thus eligible for employment. Some will be 70 and up and also eligible for employment. There may be millions and millions of people in just those two age categories. So if they aren't working, aren't they unemployed? The answer is NO. Why? Because in order to be unemployed there is a requirement that someone has to be looking for work. Certainly not all 16 year olds or 70-somethings wish to work. So in economics we call these people "out of the labor force." So there's a hint as t...

FUNDAMENTAL REFORMS IN HEALTHCARE MARKETS IS NECESSARY You can tweak insurance laws to reward one constituency versus another however you wish, but none of this will have a significant impact on the overall costs of healthcare. The approach of price control will only cause a lessening of supply. What needs to happen broadly in order to reduce costs is to increase the supply of medical providers. And in healthcare there are many specialties in which to consider. But with regard to basic family practices of medicine, there needs to be VAST reforms in the market. First, the monopoly power of the AMA needs to be revoked and colleges should be free to create doctor programs and graduate students who can sit for the AMA license (or just eliminate the license - I know, I know, too extreme, sigh.) Second, nurse practitioners, PA's, and pharmacists should all be allowed to set up shop without regard to doctors. That doesn't preclude that you couldn't go to the doctor if you...

History shows this will be a difficult question. In the "Cornerstone Speech" given by Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America delivered in Savannah, Georgia on March 21, 1861, he laid the "cornerstone" of the Civil War, or what some in the south call "The Great War of Northern Aggression." To this very day there is debate among some who wish to white wash the motives of those who led, fought, and planned the defense of the Confederacy. Let there be no debate about the foundation and purpose of the war. From Stephens' speech: "The constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly urged against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy founda...

Somewhere in the inner mind, beyond all the denial and self-deception, the id lays mortal, uncertain and afraid. It knows nothing for sure but it knows that it must pretend to be fearless, cocksure, and brazen. Yet betraying all the bluster with chants of USA! USA! USA! and cries about fears of brown and black who are Muslim, immigrant, and American. Long ago these terrified souls exchanged level reality with conspiracy theories, fabricated news, and misplaced hope in a thrice married New York City billionaire who carries a bible like some carry a condom. The enthusiasm was never about making America “Great Again.” It’s always been about fearing the future and embracing the past. The bitter clinging may have begun with a bible and a gun, but it will end when religious tribalism succumbs to the embrace of our common humanity. http://kgou.org/post/trump-supporters-rally-oklahoma-state-capitol

Trump's Ego is the Biggest Threat to American National Security  Here is how we know that Trump doesn't really believe there's a security concern from those 7 nations. First, we know that the plaintiff in this case proved that people who had already been vetted, had received green cards, visas, were being harmed by the executive order. Literally people who were on a plane headed to a US airport were turned around and flown home after they landed. It was a mess, even Oklahoma Senator James Lankford-R and Pete King-R from New York, surprisingly said the Trump Administration screwed this entire deal up. Second, Trump's lawyers could not name a single person or single incident from any of those countries that were on the ban list. So guess what? If the plaintiff CAN show harm to people and the government CAN'T show harm, then the government loses. That's a good thing. Third, IF Trump truly thought there was a threat from those seven nations, he would rewrite ...

Home of the Brave? Nah, home of terrified nervous nellies.  We are safer today than just about any other time in history. I'm tired of this epidemic of irrational fear that has been induced by media propaganda from all kinds of people that profit from fear. We are strangling our society as a result. Irrational fear has been around for a long time and I think is a significant reason for white flight in communities old and new. My home town of Midwest City, Oklahoma had a triple homicide today and you'd think from the reaction that the entire city is under siege, watching the news coverage. So those who are already terrified are going through a number of reactions that are irrational. Look, there are some facts about life that are inescapable. First, we will all die. Sorry to break that to you if you didn't know. You will die somehow. You can sit around and worry about how that will be or you can accept your mortality and just live freely until that day comes. Second,...