The unexamined life is not worth living. These wise words were attributed to Socrates in a text written by Plato chronicling a case in which Socrates presented the defense at his trial for impiety and corruption in 399 BC. So little about human nature has changed over the millennia, here today in Alabama we are asked to bury our heads in the sand and blindly accept the status quo of political and economic stagnation by the plutocratic establishment who wield unbridled influence in the spheres of government, business and a local media that sees and hears no evil.
Hopelessness, despair and defeatism overwhelm patriotic members of the citizenry who seek to make life better for their families, friends and neighbors. Finding no comfort in their corrupt elected officials, so called business leaders or the pseudo-journalists who sing for their supper by pushing the party line it becomes nearly impossible for the true believers in limited government and free markets to find meaningful engagement with a political and economic system that is rigged by design. Nothing is what it seems, as self-proclaimed conservatives in positions of power expand the scope of state and local government by siphoning off taxpayer money at the county level to be whisked away to the coffers in Montgomery, only to then dole it back out to a handpicked league of craven cronies across the state who play the game.
So in order to live a life worth living, we will examine it. We will examine this still great state of Alabama and the ills that afflict it, the self-inflicted wounds and the missed opportunities for greatness in the face of shallow self-interest and short term thinking. Welcome, fellow traveler, to the Examiner.
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