Aaron’s Weekly Bible+Beer: Life is Short

Beer I’m drinking: Samuel Adams Octoberfest

Life is short. I try to remember that whenever I’m fighting with my better half over something silly or stressing about something that’s out of my control at work. I even got a tattoo of smoke to remind myself that I am “like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears” (James 4:14, Good News Translation).

But I still forget far more frequently than I remember, and I’m guessing you do too. We have to stop forgetting, because when we do, we are falling — no, jumping — into the bottomless pit that is living for terrestrial reasons.

Not remembering that “my days vanish like smoke” (Psalm 102:3) leads me to every sin I commit, especially sins of omission. Life on earth is statistically nonexistent in comparison to eternity, so should I really be wasting my time entertaining myself when I could be out doing the good works I was “created in Christ Jesus to do” (Ephesians 2:10)? And how can I allow myself to sink into self pity or selfishness when the Bible says that all of our earthly experience — apart from our relationship with Jesus and its resulting actions — “is vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

It’s interesting that as I was taking a break from writing this, I started watching a Francis Chan video, and he hit on this topic. So, I figured I’ve said enough; he can communicate this message much better than I can:

 

 

This Week Aaron’s Pissed at…House Republicans

This week I’m pissed at the Republicans in the House. Here we have this omnibus spending bill that includes 80% of what the democrats wanted, according to one congressman with a D next to his name. That percentage includes H-2B visa expansion, funding for CDC gun research (which will inevitably lead to a large percentage of Americans being deemed mentally unfit for gun ownership), and funding for abortion.

In an interview with Ben Shapiro, Paul Ryan scolds the Left for taking so much money from the American market to give the government too much power. He hits all the conservative talking points, like PewDiePie triggering kill shots.

BUT RYAN IS COMPLICIT IN THIS 1.3 TRILLION OMNIBUS THAT GIVES THE GOVERNMENT TOO MUCH POWER AND MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

According to Politico, “Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) declared passage of the omnibus package was vital for ‘rebuilding’ the Pentagon, which Republicans and President Donald Trump claim was neglected during the Obama era.”

Right, I agree we need to get our defense spending right after Obama’s cuts. But why not wait until you can get a better package surrounding the military spending? This is your last chance before the midterms deplete your majority in the House.

I know the Republicans wanted to avoid a government shutdown. But have some stones (and lady stones). Let it shut down. We kinda hate the government anyway, and the worse you get, the closer we get to becoming anarchists. I’m already going completely Libertarian.

Thankfully we still have Ted Cruz and Rand Paul to speak up for our principles, as our own Ryan pointed out in his latest article, but their voices are consistently drowned out by the misguided sycophants who surround them.

 

Why Should We Care About National Debt?

What does “National Debt” mean?

The National Debt is the sum of all US Government bonds that have been issued and purchased.  As of this moment, our national debt is a little over $21 trillion (http://www.usdebtclock.org).  It is ever-increasing as a result of our elected officials voting for huge omnibus spending bills in Congress and the President signing them.  Rand Paul is one of the few politicians that actively protests against exorbitant government spending.  Thank God for the hillbillies (term of endearment by an Ohioan with strong Kentucky roots) who voted this great man back into office.

Why does it matter to the average citizen?

The average debt per taxpayer is about $173K.  Of course, there are a lot of citizens who do not pay taxes, unfortunately.  The average debt per citizen is about $65K.  In your day-to-day life, these numbers may not seem to make a significant impact.  However, we are in a prolonged period of semi-peaceful relations with the rest of the world.  If America were to go to war with China, our credit would quickly dry up, as China is our biggest debtor as of today.  The spending machine would have to replace lost revenue with more federal income taxes.  It is important for a nation-state to leverage debt with income-generating activities and policies.  Right now, our debt is mostly funding our trade for cheap Chinese goods.  This is one of the several reasons that China has refused to temper their purchases of US treasury bonds (Shane, 2018).  Check this page for the latest US national debt info.

How do we fix it?

The solution starts with voting for politicians who will commit to strict fiscal responsibility.  If you’re wondering, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are examples of politicians who campaign on fiscal responsibility and then do nothing to pursue fiscal responsibility once in office.  Paul Ryan was billed as one of the most fiscally responsible conservatives in congress 6 years ago.  Today, that is all but a joke.  Conservatives have seen multiple trillion-plus dollar omnibus spending packages passed in the House and signed by Presidents.  Our first step in overcoming our nation’s teenager-with-a-credit-card spending habits is to vote out fiscally-irresponsible Congressmen and Senators.  The next step may be to advocate for term limits on federal elected-officials.  It seems that the most lame-duck politicians are those who have been in the Senate or House for multiple terms.

What can we do right now?

Today, Trump unfortunately decided to ignore the huge travesty that is a $1.3 trillion spending bill and instead focus on a much-needed military spending bump.  The border wall was not funded.  The DACA problem was not addressed.  This spending bill was a huge win for democrats, whether or not they admit it.  What we can do is contact our representatives and let them know that the American people do not support more irresponsible spending on things that do not further American greatness on an international level.  You can find the Senator or Congressman to contact here: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials.  The only reason these huge spending bills continue to pass is because politicians believe they are more politically expedient than not.  Contact your representative and let them know how you feel and how you plan to vote as a result of their actions.

References

Shane, D. (2018, January 11). China is America’s biggest foreign creditor. Could it turn off the tap? Retrieved from Money.CNN.com: http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/11/investing/china-us-treasury-purchases/index.html

-Ryan

Enter the Bourgeois.

I’ve been thinking of setting out on a grand adventure for a long time.  This is coming from a man who has seen The Lord of Rings Trilogy upwards of 50 times.  So, yeah.  I’m something of an expert on adventure. The desire for adventure has always existed in my mind.  There has always been an ‘entrepreneur gear’ that has only occasionally creaked and groaned and spat out rough ideas.  I knew that at some point, I’d have to take an idea and run with it.  That’s where Aaron comes in.

Wake Up, Brosef Stalin is the result of a late night (for me; early morning for Aaron) conversation across twelve time zones.  The thought of starting a podcast was one I’d toyed with for several years, but never pursued.  Podcasts are no simple undertaking.  To do so on one’s own would be far too difficult and probably not even entertaining for listeners.  So, when Aaron suggested that we should start one together, it finally felt like the time was right.

Our initial inclinations were to talk about what we know and what we like—those two are not mutually exclusive.  There are lots of things I like: sports, the outdoors, travel, technology, gaming, and drinking the occasional beer while enjoying any of the former.  I’ll let Aaron discuss his favorite activities, but I can tell you that we have a decent amount in common.  As for things that I know about: US civics, politics, business, some sports knowledge, and outdoorsy stuff like fishing and hunting.  Aaron and I have always had interesting conversations.  I think we challenge each other intellectually and logically.  I truly think that there is a lot of value to those who decide to lend us their ear.

Once we decided what kind of content we would offer, the next step was to choose a name.  How did we come up with Wake Up, Brosef Stalin?  Remember how we are 12,000 miles apart?  Well, that means that at any one time, Aaron and I are 12 or 13 hours different in time.  One night (or morning) we were brainstorming names for our organization, and Aaron hadn’t responded to a message for several minutes.  So, as is my custom, I said “Wake Up, Brosef Stalin”.  My custom is really just to spout some play-on-words replacing a word or portion of a word that rhymes with ‘bro’.  Like Bro Montana, Teddy Brosevelt, The Brolling Stones, Bro Bro Bro Your Boat, or stuff like that.  This time though, it was “wake up, brosef stalin”.  Aaron thought I was suggesting it as a name, and it stuck.  A total team effort.  Admittedly, it actually fits pretty well with something we both strongly believe in.  That is, that young people today are asleep at the wheel.

The people who are arguing in favor of socialism must have not paid attention in history class, or perhaps they are brain dead.  But it’s the overarching socialist worldview that is really harming the country and world, not just the political socialist movement.  Our endeavor is to highlight the parts of society we most value and discuss the merit of changing the undesirable parts.  Mostly though, we just want to talk about life in America and Taiwan, our lives and the triumphs and struggles we experience.

If that sounds boring, don’t worry.  The few run-throughs we’ve done so far have been pretty funny, if I do say so myself.  Hope to have you as a listener.  Until next time.

-Ryan