richh.com | a personal + political blog by rich halvorson

Comedy Central -- Interview with President Bush's "Speechalist"

Here's a great Comedy Central sketch. It's an interview with President Bush's ostensible head speechwriter who knows that "The American people of today's Americas want a President who can speak their language and speak it badly." ...Enjoy a good laugh with this one.   :-)

http://www.xroadsfilms.com/batescomedycentral/

'Operation Simple Life' Swings Electoral College

Hoping to win not only the popular vote but also the Electoral College, Democratic strategists unleashed an exodus of blue-state liberals into key conservative red-states late last week. Kerry’s sweet debate victories have been soured by his dismal Electoral College outlook, with only 237 votes to Bush’s 301.
At the brink of voter registration deadlines, a motley crew of dot-com geeks, lesbian couples, university professors, preened metrosexuals and urban minorities migrated to the vast unknown of the rural Midwest.

Valuing the Person

This is among my favorite of all the articles I've ever written, because it presents such a hopeful, optimistic view of what's possible with good politics and sound (and limited) economic policies. Human welfare, overall and even for the poor, has increased so rapidly over the past century that we should be in awe of what the human race has accomplished -- and motivated even more to pursue it further.

Predatory Politics

On Holocaust Memorial Day 2003, I penned this reminder that the biggest killer in the world over the last century has not been war, disease or hunger -- but governments slaughtering their own citizens. From Nazi Germany to Stalin's Russia to Mao's China, governments "of the people" turned against their own people in horrific ways. And those are just the big examples -- Cambodia, Mexico, Japan, Yugoslavia, and others share in the guilt and blame.

Get Out and Stretch

This speech was written for the 2003 commencement address at Harvard, and I presented it in the competition among various classmates. Although I made it down to the final selections, this particular speech was not chosen for the graduation ceremony. ... I'll be back, Harvard - mark my words - I'll be back!!

Confessions of a Skeptic

This short article was published in The Harvard Crimson after being censored by the editors for over a month. Despite the strong merits of the article, and other articles representing opposing viewpoints being printed, this barely got the editors' approval -- after quite a bit of insisting and bantering.

Poverty and Property: Global Justice and Property Rights

This monster is my 100+ page senior thesis from completing my 2003 double major in Philosohpy and Government. The topic, basically, is how to solve global poverty, since we live in a world where over 20,000 children die each day from hunger and malnutrition. If something can be done, it must. I argue that there is much to be done, but it is not at all what most writers on global poverty suggest.

Rethinking Development

Why have billions of dollars in development efforts produced such meager results? This essay critiques a number of crumbling development paradigms and considers the role of property rights in promoting welfare and development of poor nations.

The Rights of the Poor

What do poor nations need to overcome their poverty, hunger and disease? This article discusses the rights that development agencies have tried to give them -- and the rights they really need.

Toward a Modest Cosmopolitan Framework

Prepared for a Political Theory panel at the 57th annual conference of the New York State Political Science Association, this paper was a precursor to my thesis, focusing on the natural rights aspect of theory and development.