Jul 8, 2009 - Socialism Isn't the Answer

Many years ago, a college professor I had said we deserve the kind of government we get. I thought it was a throwaway line and never thought too much of it. But as the years passed, I began to see the wisdom of those words. We elect our politicians based on image and not on substance. He or she looks and sounds good and that's good enough for me.

Do we truly listen to what they are saying and promising? And if we do, do we understand the meaning behind the words? Newton's Third Law of Motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I believe the same is true for politics. The government cannot give something to the people without taking something away.

Many people voted for Obama because they believed he would pay off their mortgages and buy them a new car; sounds good except for Newton's Law. If the government is to give it has to get. And guess where it gets -- from us the taxpayers and our children and grandchildren.

A socialist government is not the answer. It is the problem.

Albert Holl

Nov 4, 2009 - Heavy Reading

The current health care bill in the House is 1990 pages long. The novel War and Peace is about 1400 pages long. War and Peace was confusing trying to keep track of all the characters running through the novel but one could. I don’t think the same can be said about the healthcare bill. How could anyone in the House really know what is in it? I don’t care how intelligent our representatives like to think they are; no one person can fully understand what is contained in the bill. War and Peace is a classic work of literature. The health care bill is a classic piece of congressional legislation. War and Peace had one author. The health care bill was probably put together by several committees. Did any member of the House or Senate read the bill? I doubt it. And to vote on it without understanding what it contains is madness.

I don’t know how many Representatives and Senators are lawyers but whatever the number is it’s too many. Maybe if the bills were written in plain understandable English and not legalese maybe, just maybe this country might be better off. Years ago I came across a saying ‘Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.’ I think Congress is leading the way.

Albert Holl

March 26, 2010 - A Corrupted System

For the most part, I never had a high opinion of politics, believing the system to be inherently corrupt. Many of the men and women who enter for the first time believe they can do some good. And occasionally they can. But the system is so corrupt that like cancer, it gradually consumes even the most sincere and eats into their sense of goodness.

But as governments go, ours is the best system in the world. That is until the health care legislative battle. For the first time, the American public was exposed to the bribery, intimidation and outright dishonesty that was practiced by the administration to secure the votes needed to get the legislation passed.

I am truly worried about what this country will look like in the future for my children and grandchildren. Proposed legislation should be voted on and passed on its merit, and not threats. If the administration feels no compunction about intimidating our representatives in Congress, imagine what it can do to the average citizen.

Albert Holl

Dec 20, 2008 - Lost Lessons

A generation ago our parents, our teachers, our religious leaders taught that something was right or wrong; black or white. Telling the truth was good, telling a lie was wrong. Honesty was not only good but necessary; stealing and cheating should not be tolerated. Respect for the rights of one another and tolerance for different points of view were the necessary building blocks if we were to have a civilized society. But somewhere along the way those standards have been whittled away, the building blocks turned to sand.

Today there seems to be nothing that is either right or wrong. Instead of starting with the premise that something is either black or white we start out thinking in terms of gray. There is no right or wrong. What’s the difference if I lie or cheat? Everybody does it. Where’s the harm?

Today our society is like the Mississippi River; winding and muddied; the bed of the river not discernible. Like that river that overflows from too much rain our society is in danger of overflowing its once deep riverbed of civilized and law abiding behavior because no one seems to care. How much more can it absorbed before succumbing to anarchy?

Albert Holl

May 24, 2008 - A Nation Grown Jaded

The Gestapo under Hitler couldn’t do it. The Soviet KGB under Stalin couldn’t do it. The Chinese communist Red Army under Mao Tse-Tung couldn’t do it. But the Internet, the wide spread rise in pornography and the violent video games have accomplished in less than a decade what the three most despotic regimes in modern times couldn’t do in my entire lifetime. Numb the sensibilities of the people of this nation to the inhumanity of man.

Outside of a momentary pause there is nothing that seems to shock us anymore. Not incest; not torture; not the deprived acts committed against innocent babies and children; nothing fazes people anymore. Nothing that is happening seems to generate a sense that something is out of kilter. We are a nation that is fast losing it once formidable moral certitude and is now standing at the edge of a very slippery slope. Can we pull ourselves back from the edge? Can we find the will, the courage and the strength to do what has to be done? I pray we can for the sake of our children and grandchildren. But it will take everyone to stand up and shout, "Enough!".

Albert Holl

Nov 26, 2005 - The Master Race

At the War Crimes trial held in Nuremberg at the end of WW11, the world was aghast at the incredible acts against humanity that Nazi Germany committed in their ruthless quest for the pure Aryan race.

There was the holocaust where millions of Jews were put to death because they were considered an inferior race. There was Dr. Mengele and his barbaric experiments in pursuit of genetic information for the supposed purpose of enhancing the Aryan race. And what about the pairing of blonde blue eye men and women in the hope that their offspring would be the pure Aryan Hitler was searching for.

What the world once considered barbaric is now commonplace. Is your baby going to have Downs Syndrome? Abort it. Do you want a girl but the test shows a boy? Abort it. Does the fetus show signs of a physical deformity? Abort it. Want a brainy child? Go to the genius sperm bank and select the sperm of a Noble Prize winner. Selective breeding in now the way to go!

We have begun a long dark journey back to the days of the Third Reich and this time the world warmly embraces the journey.

Albert Holl

May 17, 2005 - Coming A Cropper

When I was growing up New Jersey truly was the Garden State. There were plenty of small farms, the highways were excellently maintained, the education system was one of the best in the country, the cities were good places to live.

On a Sunday afternoon you could drive to the country and enjoy the scenic beauty of New Jersey. But then the developers and special interest lobbyists moved in. The countryside became suburbs, the education system was held hostage by the teachers union and the highways and bridges fell into disrepair. But not to worry. There is still plenty of green. The only problem is that today the green is money instead of green hillsides and meadows.

Who would have guessed that our biggest crop has turned out to be corruption? Or the amount of fertilizer (money) that has to be applied to the politicians is relatively small compared to benefit derived by those spreading the fertilizer.

And one of the biggest spreaders and receivers of the fertilizer, Ex-governor James McGreevey seems to have withered on the vine after being fired by the law firm he so heavily fertilized with state contracts. Ironic isn’t it?

Albert Holl

Mar 15, 2005 - Imagine

Imagine if politicians were honest instead of corrupt?

Albert Holl

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