government

Love and marriage. Oh, and pandering.

/ rickeydobbs / 9 Comments

Marriage, at its civil root, is a property arrangement.

It always has been.  It’s a state-sanctioned means by which families can grow and preserve wealth.

Marriage concentrates society’s buying power and increases stability.  It decreases our use of resources for protection of our youngest, sickest, and oldest citizens.

When the happy couple wants to call it quits, family law gives predictability to the division of property.  Sure, there are options as to what could happen post-bliss, but the majority of property divisions in divorce are quite similar. Continue reading →

Si vis pacem, para bellum (but watch out for non-stop bellum).

/ rickeydobbs / 4 Comments

Trigger warning: I’m going to write some things in this post that might upset some people. You will not like this post if you equate “serving in the military” with “being a hero beyond earthly reproach.”

Now, before I launch, I want to make something clear: there have been (and still are) thousands of actual heroes in the military. I am thankful beyond words that others have sacrificed so much to defend the ideals of our nation. I am grateful that my father, my uncles, my grandfathers and my great grandfathers (and probably more “greats” back than that) have answered the call when the nation needed them.

Continue reading →

I expect

/ rickeydobbs / 1 Comment

I expect him to be a conservative, but I also expect him to be competent.

I expect him to be a rookie, but I also expect him to be respectful of the office.

I expect him to have a grand ego, but I also expect him to place his grand responsibility above that.

I expect him to be strong-willed, but I also expect him to seek good guidance.

I expect him to be different, but I also expect him to be diligent.

I expect him to upend the government, but I also expect him to uphold the Constitution.

I expect him to do what he thinks is best, but I expect that “best” to be for us, not him.

I expect him to be a Republican, as long as he’s an American first.

I expect him to hate the press he’s getting, as long as he knows the vital necessity of a free press.

I expect him to disagree with people like me, as long as he vehemently protects our right to do so.

I expect him to be a conservative, as long as he conserves the democracy above all else.

If pigs had wings, they’d probably be delicious

/ rickeydobbs / 1 Comment

There are some “conservative”* folks out there who would have you believe that the only thing keeping them from being wildly successful entrepreneurs is regulations and the tax code. It follows, of course, that these folks think the path toward American greatness starts with (a) the assumption that entrepreneurship is the zenith of American usefulness, (b) entrepreneurs do better when there’s zero regulation, and (c) entrepreneurs are unfairly targeted by the tax code.

Of course, as is the case with most things conservatives would have you believe, this idea is not only poorly thought out and negated by facts, but also represents a major blind spot in their own place as voters and citizens of this country.

I’ll explain. Continue reading →

No one ever is to blame.

/ rickeydobbs / 2 Comments

As a leader, I learned a long time ago that when things go wrong, the blame must always start with me.

Team didn’t get the store open on time? I could have scheduled a different crew. I could have set my expectations more clearly. I could have trained better. I could have brought them in earlier.

Sales don’t match projections? I could have set my projections lower. I could have done more external marketing. I could have improved our service or our quality. Continue reading →