American expat

Wow - I did not realize that I could create my own blog on TheNextRight. I was thinking of experimenting with my own.

I am interested in open-minded, informed intellectual discourse about right-leaning ideas. I'm not interested in knee-jerk, close-minded rhetoric. Personally, I am completely against any justification based on someone's idea of "faith," (it always begs the question of "whose faith"), but I would be open to listening to people who can make a case for bringing faith into the discussion. Just don't assume that your faith is my faith. Some of the things I would like to explore:

* How to address the economic crisis. Is there a case for regulation? If so, what kind of regulation? I think it's also important to understand the factors that created the financial mess. They are waaaaay more complicated than "loans to people who were poor credit risks," although that certainly played a part. I'm looking for more nuanced discussion. 

* What do "individualism" and "individual rights" mean in an increasingly interconnected world? People under the age of 30 are very connected to one another through technology. The idea of getting a group together for a purpose using the Web or cell phones is second nature. I think the traditional concepts of "individualism" may need to be tempered for a 21st Century audience.

* What role does culture play in a conservative movement, given that there are multiple cultures within the United States? How do we deal with immigration and the extent to which the US relies on illegal immigrant labor, even though it is illegal? (I'm talking about facts here, not making a value judgment.) 

I am currently living in London for work. It has been an eye-opening experience. The US has a much more homogeneous culture than the UK - or at least London. (Really, the Brits are reaping what they sowed with the empire they built - but that's another story.) They say that the most popular British dish is - Chicken Tikka Masala. It's delicious, by the way, nothing wrong with it. London has done an OK  job of integrating its former colonists into its culture, but to a great extent white London and South African London and Jamaican London and Bengali London all lead separate lives. It's worse in Paris, where the children of former colonies are not only separate from the "real" French but blocked out of the economic system. The issues raised by  multiculturalism and immigration are worldwide, and not easy to resolve.