[Azred]

Originally posted by wellard: I hope Azred does not read this [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

*gasp* Do I have some sort of reputation around here? [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img] Is that a good thing or a bad thing? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

**********

Statistically, most university professors are quite liberal. Note that many professors today were liberal students 20 - 30 years ago, though. One's ideology is normally formed long before one's career path is chosen.

It is possible to work one's way to wealth and financial security. $311 saved per month for 40 years = $1M; other combinations include $467 for 35 years, $710 for 30 years, etc. It all depends upon how dedicated you are to reaching the "magic number" of $1M. A wiser course is to total your monthly expenses and save to a goal such that the investment income = monthly expenses. Example: if it takes $1500 to pay your bills, then aim for $300,000--invested at 6% interest this earns $1500/month. This represents financial security because you could lose your job and still live at your current standard of living. (by the way, $300k = $311 per month for 26 years). ...but I digress....

Although one's vote is the only way to try and have one's vision of the future become the vision that is manifested, if you let your political ideology cloud your judgement too much then your vote is not cast wisely. Like the author of the article quoted at the beginning of the thread, I agree that those who vote for candidate A because that person opposes candidate B is wasting a vote in the sense that they are voting a person and not the issues. Candidates are meaningless politically; only issues matter.

Also, never forget that emotion must be removed from political thought or discussion--pointing out the foibles in someone's opinion of how Social Security should be handled is not the same as a personal attack. For an example of how emotion can mislead politicians, look to Florida and the debacle Jeb Bush et al caused over Terri Schaivo.

*sigh* My professional speechwriter has the day off. I cannot find an adequate way to conclude such a cacophony of topics. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ 10-22-2004, 11:58 AM: Message edited by: Azred ]