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The Culmination Of A Year's Worth Of Philsophical Study: I realize I am beginning to sound like a broken record here, but the truth never goes out of fashion. In this essay I am going to be covering a breadth of topics beginning with an explanation for Trump that will perhaps offer a counter narrative to mainstream media. I will also discuss race, peaceful parenting, and what to do about government. Let's begin with the explanation for Trump. For those people who may still believe that Trump will be an authoritarian, perhaps I can persuade you otherwise. At first glance, Trump supporters to most people seem like bitter, angry, resentful White supremacists. This is a pejorative statement that has been debunked time and time again. Every movement has is fringe, radical components. However, these people do not speak for the movement as a whole. Often, Trump supporters are told not to paint with a broad brush and lump every Muslim, Mexican, African American, or other minority into the same category as certain movements associated with those groups. So, if this is the case, why then can the same standard not be extended towards White men? Seems awfully hypocritical to have one standard for one group and a completely different standard for another wouldn't you say? I have faith that President Trump will not be an authoritarian because there so many people who threw their entire support behind the man (myself included) who respect the Constitution far too much to continue to see it bastardized. Should Trump ever step out of line, and I speak for myself here, you can be sure that I will be quite vocal about it. The reason I believe Trump will be different than the typical career politician is because Trump has been in the private sector for basically his whole life up to this point. In the private sector, you have to listen to customer feedback if you want to keep earning profits and continue providing value. The body politic are the customers in this instance and Trump the C.E.O or Board of Directors President. I wouldn't count the man out just yet, he might just surprise you. Next up on the list, the one thing everyone wishes we would stop talking about for justifiable reasons: race. In terms of race relations in America. If we are ever going to reach a meritocracy in this country, continuing to split everyone up into arbitrary categories and playing this Identity Politics game based on characteristics nobody can change hardly seems like a progressive position to take. Unless you are Micheal Jackson, most people will not be altering their skin color anytime soon, nor should anyone feel as if they have too. Black people have a right to be proud of their heritage, Latinos have a right to be proud of the heritage, Natives Americans have a right to be proud of the heritage, Asians have a right to be proud of their heritage, and Europeans have a right to be proud of their heritage. And no, for all of the race baiters out there, white people celebrating their heritage DOES NOT= white supremacy or racism. This is such a tiresome narrative to debunk day in and day out so could we just say that everyone has a right to be proud and that #AllLivesMatter? I do not understand how Black people are excluded from this sentiment. Are Blacks not human now? Martin Luther King Jr. put it best: "I have a dream, that one day my children might be judged not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character." Wouldn't it be nice if we could all just take a breath and stop with the endless stoking of racial resentment. I now for sure that I want to move past this. The question is what do you want to do? Now I will transition into peaceful parenting. There no doubt will be some among you who read the previous paragraph and ask: "What about the connection between race/IQ?" I haven't forgotten that perspective and will address it now. The thing about IQ is we know now that environment plays a major role in how much a child's IQ grows. Questions parents often ask themselves when choosing a community are: "Is this a nurturing environment for raising my child?" and "What can I do to make it better so that I can raise a well-adjusted, curious, wonderful bundle of joy?" I am not yet a parent so I am not the authority on parenting. Nor would I ever try to force people to raise their children in a certain way. However, according to the vast preponderance of research done on childhood development, psychology, and Western philosophy, peaceful parenting has come out on top as the absolute best way to raise children and consistently delivers excellent results. One issue that I believe we as a nation, and planet need to address urgently is the prevalence of corporal punishment as a means of disciplining children. If what I said about environment is true, then using violence to raise a "well behaved" should never even enter the minds of parents who want a peaceful child who uses their words and not their fists to resolve disputes. I don't want to come of as contemptuous about this but it is not difficult to figure out. If you choose to raise your child with violence, that child internalizes that lesson. For the rest of of their lives into adulthood, that child will continue to view violence as a legitimate way for solving disputes. It's no wonder that we have such violent youth joining gangs and being involved in turf wars in the Black inner city community! It all stems from the home. It's quite astonishing to hear people complain about how crime ridden a neighborhood is but not have the self-knowledge to examine their own actions choices to discover who is at fault. If we want a peaceful society, parents, particularly in the Black community need to stop blaming "whitey" and take personal responsibility for how they raise their children. I am sure that this is the only way we will ever address these inequalities that we find between the Black community and everyone else. This argument also extends to the impoverished White, Latino, Asian (rare), and Native American communities. It's all in the parenting folks. And now last but not least the issue of government. When it comes to discussing government, often the discourse in this country is split along party lines. In other words, who can get their hands on the "One Ring To Rule Them All" so that they can force their will onto others. Most people here disagree with the idea that government is force. The argument I here almost every time is that government is a necessary evil in order to provision the equitable and just distribution of resources in society. People argue that for this reason, government has a legitimate monopoly on the initiation of the use of force. This argument sounds compelling from a purely pragmatic standpoint, but in terms of moral philosophy, it falls apart repeatedly and consistently. I could spend the rest of my life detailing the evils of government and why a voluntary and peaceful society based on free market Capitalism is clearly superior, but because I have already written and argued at length on this topic, I feel it is inappropriate for me to launch into it again here. This essay is long enough as it is! I will refer anyone interested for more information on Western philosophy and Capitalism to my Minds profile: @IsaacGage860 for more information or my Facebook profile if you can stand the memes. I would like to thank all who continue to take the time to read my essays. Although I may not receive direct feedback, I have the feeling that at this point I have reached most of you at some level. If not, then I quite literally have no idea what more I have to say in order to potentially proselytize you towards the Light side. In any case, thank you for all of the people still remaining who did not give up on me despite my errors in judgment and perhaps sometimes harsh tone. I would certainly not be the person I am today without input from all of you. I would also like to personally thank Stefan, Michael, and all who make Freedomain Radio possible. Had it not been for you guys and significant philosophical intervention, I may very well still be a cultural, and economic Marxist today. I am forever indebted to you. #TheWestIsTheBest ❤️