Five answers to questions they didn't really intend for me to answer

A few years back, the archconservative organization known as Focus on the Family was circulating a five-question survey in an effort to become relevant to more people in the 21st century.

Some of you may have seen this at the time, but I thought it might be interesting to print the five questions along with my own answers to them.

1. What are the social and political issues you care about?

I believe that the words of the Declaration of Independence still resonate, that our unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are crucial.

To thrive and prosper, we have to stop eating our seed corn

Farmers have known for a long time that you should never eat your seed corn.

When the food starts to run out, when hunger pangs get stronger, there is a temptation to reach back into the pantry and start eating the corn that was held back to plant in the spring for the next crop.

But if you do that, even in part, you start yourself on a downhill slide that is difficult to reverse.

Eventually, you will starve.

Could rich Americans possibly be more clueless about the future?

I have been accused of hating rich people, and while it's not really true, there are plenty of Americans who could be called mega-rich or part of the plutonomy that I have very little use for.

Our national tragedy is that of all the so-called civilized countries in the world, the United States has the stupidest, greediest rich people.

Seriously, it isn't even close.

Libertarianism would create a very different America for all of us

My closest friend is a big believer in Libertarianism.

He's one of those people who thinks government is in itself a bad thing and should be kept as small as possible to limit its interference in people's lives.

"As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others."

Despite the typo ...

That's the opening sentence of the Libertarian Party platform, a platform for a form of government that has never existed anywhere in the modern world.

That's the catch. Libertarianism is the government equivalent of Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasyland in which everyone treats everyone else with respect and they all act in their own best interests.

You'll have to forgive my theft from Hemingway in responding to someone gushing about how great a Libertarian country would be.

"Isn't it pretty to think so?"

When America got too big, the idea of states' rights no longer worked

We have a problem, and it might just be unsolvable.

It isn't a question of ideology, either. Left, right, Democrat, Republican, Occupy protester, 'bagger -- none of them are going to solve this problem.

Our country is just too damn big.

The United States was founded 240 years ago as a nation of 3 million people and 13 states, only one of which didn't border on the Atlantic Ocean.

There were no such things as corporations, let alone multi-nationals. Most business was local, and most of the rich people in the country were involved deeply in their own communities.

Government did very little, and most interesting of all, did very little in terms of national defense. Indeed, with the exception of the War of 1812 and the Civil War, most of what the military did was clear the frontier and try to defend those Americans who settled in wild areas.

America slip-sliding away as politics becomes more balkanized

How exactly are we supposed to live in America these days?

For generations, we were raised to believe that working hard and playing by the rules was all we needed to do to get ahead because our country was a land of boundless opportunity.

If you had enough talent, you became one of life's winners. If all you did was work hard, you could still be successful enough to be proud of yourself.

You didn't have to hate anyone ... or put anyone else down. All you had to do was make the most of what you had.

Of course, that sort of belief in America requires faith, and it is always more difficult to keep the faith in bad times.

When nearly one out of six people is either unemployed or underemployed, it becomes difficult not to see the guy down the street as your competition or even your enemy.

And it becomes difficult not to see someone you disagree with politically as wrong, misguided or even un-American.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

This is one of those things that used to show up on Facebook more often, 50 questions I answered on this day in 2009. I thought it might be interesting to do it again and compare my responses, although I noticed there are actually only 47 questions.

Here goes:

Paul T. Kindinger, right

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

2009: My middle name was for my maternal grandfather.
2016: No change here.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

2009: Last March when I heard that my dad had died.
2016: More recently when I got sad news about my wife's health.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?

2009: It's OK.
2016: Getting worse all the time.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
2009: Roast beast.
2016: Pastrami

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
2009: Two, one of each.
2016: Same,