Investments and Volatility

If one was to look at the return of stocks vs. bonds over the period of 1980-2013, as reported by barbarafriedbergpersonalfinance.com we would see that stocks have clearly outperformed bonds by a simple average annual return of 11.17% for S&P 500 stocks vs. 8.42% for the Barclay’s U.S. Aggregate Bonds, a very significant and meaningful difference between the two investments classes.  On the surface, this would imply quite obviously, that those that recommend any allocation other than 100% stocks to be foolish, as stock returns have clearly demonstrated their superiority over bond returns, and this holds true in virtually any extended time period.

The problem that is often missed between investment classes or investments in general, is that most investments unless they have a fixed return, have a volatility part to the equation, which must be taken into account.  Additionally, past performance, as they say, is definitely no guarantee of future performance, as the go-go stocks of the 1960s are definitely not the go-go stocks of today's market.  This means, taken together, that stock investments, especially in comparison to standard bond investments, are significantly more volatile, and this volatility, affects negatively the average return that many investors actually receive from stocks.

For instance, over the 1980-2013 periods, there were no instances of bonds declining more than 2.92% in a single year, and in fact, in only three years, did bonds even decline in their investment return.  On the other hand, stocks declined in twice as many years as bonds, with also a period of time in which stocks declined for three consecutive years, as well as having declines in their worst years of -11.89%,

 -22.10% and -37.00%.  Again, to put it in perspective, stocks clearly outperformed bonds, despite having some gut-wrenching negative years; yet, it is those years, which actually determine for the average investor as to whether his investments did worst or better than the averages so indicate.

The thing about the stock market is that the cost of buying and selling an individual stock or index fund and so forth is relatively trivial, very liquid, and as easy to do, as the click of a button on your computer, or a phone call to your broker.  Additionally, stock brokerages, while they make money in a lot of different ways, definitely make part of their income on your approvals or decisions, depending upon how they are structured and executed.  For instance, buying or selling a security at the "market price" probably means that your order has been executed at a price that costs you a minute amount of real dollars, but that inefficiency adds up over time; brokers advise clients, of which this advice ostensibly is for the customer's benefit, but in actuality has a strong component of benefiting the brokerage and their bonus/commission incentives over yourself.  Also, brokers like customers that trade, and the more that you trade the more that they appreciate you, because each trade is a commission, and hence a benefit to the brokerage bottom line.

If the stock market never did much of anything, or barely went up, or barely went down on a given day, there would be less trading, but in fact, TV financial programs are all about, urgency, panic, and "opportunity", all presented to you as a reason to trade.  This means, also, that psychologically for many investors, when there is euphoria in the air, when times are good, you have a tendency to be a buyer, typically near the peak of a given security, and when times are bad, you are seller, often just before a bottom is made on a security. 

The fact of the matter is the volatility of the stock market affects investors, in a manner that they will thereby make decisions based on the fear, unfounded or not, of potential financial ruin.  This means, that despite the stellar returns of the stock market in the past, most people have not seen that same stellar return, and because past performance is no guarantee of the future, there isn't any guarantee that they ever will.  This is why, diversification in investments is impressed upon investors, because diversity, such as bonds, and in particular investments that do well or as a countermove for "bear" stock markets helps to balance out returns, reducing panic, and the potential of devastating financial ruin of a lifetime of savings.

Your Excellency and Your Honor

When the United States was successful in fulfilling its Declaration of Independence, by winning its war against Great Britain, it later decided to upon its formation of its Constitution, to elect its first President, which was George Washington.  At the time of Washington's election, most other established countries were led by royalty, which given that the United States was a republic, presented a problem as to how to properly address the new President.  There were many suggestions given, such as "Your Highness", "His Exalted Highness," and "His Majesty, the President," but it was pointed out that the Constitution itself clearly stated that "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States," and further that “No State shall…grant any Title of Nobility.”  This meant, that it was imperative that the President of the United States, not be addressed in such a manner that would reflect even a tinge of nobility, of which, nobility, itself, is a class of persons, that are considered to be higher and thereby exalted in status and power simply because they were born or gifted into the right family, and not therefore by the merits of that given individual.  The United States, on the other hand, was established so that all would be treated equally in accordance to that all men are created equal by their beneficent Creator, and thereby this is a country of meritocracy and not heredity.

Therefore, today, the President of the United States, is addressed as Mr. President, or President <surname>, and not thereby addressed as "Your Highness", "King", or any other salutation that would imply or signify nobility.  This then leads to the question as to why the legal profession, through the use of such terms as Esquire as added to the end of a given lawyer's name, need to do so, when the industry standard for those achieving higher education degrees, is to add so to their last name, for instance, Ph.D, or D.D.S, or J.D, rather than the rather lofty term of Esquire.  That is to say, if medical doctors and those achieving doctoral degrees of all sorts, don't add on additional titles such as Esquire, why should lawyers do so?  However, Esquire, often simply abbreviated on a business card, as Esq., is relatively innocuous, in the sense, that few lawyers, if any, are ever addressed by their full name, followed by the word:  "Esquire".  On the other hand, in the courtrooms all over America, for whatever reason, a judge typically and almost without exception, is addressed in the manner of "your honor", and while "your honor", in and of it, is not in actuality a title of nobility, it sure has the very strong tinge of nobility attached to it.

While America can state that the addressing of judges, as "my lord," or "your Excellency" or "your honor" is rather common the world over, that doesn't mean that this particular tradition is right, and in particular, doesn't mean that it shouldn't be changed.  If the elected leader of this country is known as President <surname>, you would think that Judge <surname> would be good enough for judges, who aren't even always elected to their post in the first place.  While it certainly makes sense that people deal with each other in a civil manner, especially in a court of law, it doesn't necessarily equate that some privileged people, should have salutations that imply that they are more honorable than the common man, of which, it was this common man, that has shed his blood, his life, his sweat, and provided his toil, in order to make this nation free, which, a reasonable person might reflect as being the highest or truest honor that one can provide for his country.

The People and the Government

Countries are made up of people, and "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed," at least that is what is stated in our Declaration of Independence.  However, nowadays it is indeed a very hard thing to even swallow these very words: "Declaration of Independence", for back when those words were written, the representatives of the United States of America, declared that they had the right to be free and independent from allegiance to the British crown, whereas over two hundred years later, clearly the people are neither free nor independent from a country that has devolved into a government that behaves and acts effectively as an imperial law unto itself, that dictates to the people, what they can or cannot do with deliberate obfuscated reams of laws, and demands tribute through taxation from the masses, while protecting the elite from the same.

Every day in almost every way, we are reminded, if it isn't already clear to us to begin with, that there is a massive divide, between the people, and those that, in theory, represent the people, be it the executive branch, the legislative branch, or the judicial branch.  There are many, many problems with today's government, of which, the foremost is the sheer size and power of the government forces aligned against the people.  For instance, the budget of the federal government is $3.8 trillion dollars, but the federal government, is not even limited to spending up to that budget, as it actually spends way beyond that budget, and places the responsibility of making good on these massive deficits onto the people.  So too there are many other governments on the local, municipal, and State levels, that the people must contribute their hard earned monies too.  The money taken by the government from the people, is utilized to employ certain people, that make public policy and enforce public policy, of which, the upshot of all these people and all these monies spent is building upon building, institution upon institution, in which the people must request permission or must follow stringent rules, to even set foot upon such property or to utilize such institutions. 

For instance, you want to drive the nation's roads, you must have a license. For instance, you want to open up your own business, you must have a permit and frequently have to have passed certain specific tests or have an approved higher educational degree.  For instance, you want to sell goods to a neighbor, you must collect taxes on behalf of the state.   For instance, you want to buy and maintain your own real property, which is your own home, you must pay property taxes on it or you will ultimately forfeit that home.  For instance, you walk outside your home; you are potentially subject to essentially unlimited searches and seizures, by the policing agencies of the state. For instance, you are inside your own home, but the government routinely issues a no-knock warrant that enables them to take or control whatever property that you have, as well as to control you and your movements.

Does the government answer to you, on any level?  Does the government represent you, on any level? Does the government have the capacity to spy and monitor you at all times without limits? Does the government have the power to seize and impound all of your assets and to imprison you, without warrant or warning?  This is today's government, a law unto itself, and while for the most part, the government primarily targets the low lying fruit, such as petty criminals, specific dissidents, and drug abusers, it will ultimately demand complete subservience to its arbitrary dictates from the middle class, the unconnected and the non-elite, to either abjectly bow down to its imperial might, or suffer the boot placed firmly against the people's neck.

The Stunning Decline in America's Crime Rates

Crime rates in America have come down considerably in America since 1991, to which nationalreview.com in 2015 reported that: "Today, the national crime rate is about half of what it was at its height in 1991. Violent crime has fallen by 51 percent since 1991, and property crime by 43 percent."  Most people then correlate that the credit for this significant and meaningful reduction in crime must be given to the increase in the numbers of our police forces along with their corresponding more sophisticated monitoring tools, that serve to stop crime before it is committed, and the well known fact that America incarcerates more people on a per capita basis than any other well developed country in the world, keeping the "bad" guys off of the streets. 

Upon further reflection, this conclusion about why crime rates have fallen in America is not backed up by real evidence that actually supports such a finding.  For instance, you can't find a country as similar to America and as close to America as Canada, our contiguous neighbor to the north, which both has a substantially lower overall crime rate than America's which is 43% higher than Canada's, while America's police officer manpower is 27% higher than Canada's as reported by nationmaster.com, but Canada incarcerates people at a rate of 114 per 100,000 persons in comparison to the United States which incarcerates people at a staggering 693 per 100,000 persons as reported by Wikipedia.com. 

One of the most important reasons why crime rates in America have fallen so dramatically, is simply the demographics which demonstrates that America is an aging country that today has a median age of 36.8 years as compared to 1990 when it was just 32.9 years, very pertinent, as a significant portion of criminal activities are committed by young people, so that an older population will consequently have less crime.  Additionally, many crimes are committed by people that grow up in impoverished environments, in which positive role models are sorely lacking, free time is spend unproductively, good educational opportunities are limited, delinquency is rampant, and parental supervision is anemic.  The birthrate in America has declined markedly since 1990, especially telling is the significant decline in the birthrate of those in the lower socioeconomic level, indicating that less children overall are being born into families that have difficulty supporting them in a proper manner conducive towards their successful upbringing.

The fact of the matter is that crime is committed most often by those that believe that their opportunities are limited, are immature in their thought processes, and that have lost hope that they will ever succeed given their current condition.  So too, successful social programs that provide the disenfranchised with enough food, shelter, and healthcare, has been successful in taking away some of that fuel to the fire of the angst that the underclass suffers from.

Although experts and social services have all sorts of reasons why crime has declined so markedly in America over the last twenty-five years, nobody seems to know for a certainty, exactly why.  The thing about crime is that it is often a reflection of real frustration and anger, and so too it is done often in imitation of others, therefore when you are able to replace these things with hope, with good examples or viable alternatives, and with an inclusive society that lives the principle that it will not leave a child behind, there is that belief, that one's destiny may truly rest in one's own actions.

Humility and Common Sense

In scripture we read: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!"  (Luke 18:11-13). Indeed, it is a very hard thing to truly be a humble man, especially if you are as proud and audacious as to not only self-proclaim your humbleness and goodness, but so too to list the reasons why you are so wonderful especially in comparison to others.  Whereas, the tax collector, understood deeply the distance between whom he was, and where he needed to be, and this recognition, humbled him, greatly.

America, is a country where humility isn't really savored as a virtue, instead, we are subject to all sorts of braggadocio, loud talk, the pounding of one's chest, the shouting down of others, and all the other assorted nefarious tools of people that believe that they are all that, and thereby we should listen and obey them, and thereby shut our mouths in abject humility to them.  While it is true that when accomplishing work at our job that we do need to have certainty and confidence that what we are all doing is the right thing to do, that the very skills and knowledge that we bring to the table, should be utilized correctly and firmly, this does not mean, should not mean, that this translates into believing that we are therefore infallible in all things, at all times.

This misplaced confidence that so many have, resides in the ego asserting itself, to the exclusion of recognizing that if we truly comprehended the wisdom of the ages, the wisdom of our Creator, we would be far more respectful in our worldly demeanor and in our actions, in recognition that we do not possess by ourselves true compassion, true vision, and true justice, without error of any sort.  The humble man is a doer, who sets upon a task and does it to the best of their ability, in tribute to our Creator; whereas the egotistical man is one that may too be a doer, but does all for the glory of his own talents, however it may be bundled and dressed up, and never really is done as a testimony to the acknowledgment that he is a child of the Most High God.

The humble man does not desire to puff up his chest, because his purpose is to stay fixated on the prize which requires both dedication and concentration on the task itself, and when he falls short or makes an error, he corrects himself, in recognition that all errors must be erased or learnt from.  The proud man is quite fond of receiving as much glory as he can for himself, failing to recognize, that all such selfish glory is not becoming and at odds with the very mission of this existence, which is to surrender one's ego at the feet of God, without which he will never ultimately become One with God.

Humility is common sense, that is to say, no mortal man should ever believe that he knows all, does all, and is all, or anything even close to such a proclamation, for many reasons, foremost amongst them is that most men do not even recognize who they are to begin with.  We are all not so much the chosen, but the fallen; those that have stepped away from God's grace, in the very mistaken belief, that we are gods unto ourselves, and when enlightened upon the real truth, the only proper and correct response, is absolute humility to He who is all, who offers us the stairway to Heaven, if we would only just walk the walk and follow its golden-hue path.

Karmic Consequences

In the western world, orthodox thinking on spiritual matters, typically limits people to believing that there is just this one material life and then there is judgment from it.  This type of thinking flies in the face of the natural order of things, of which, we see on a daily basis, that the sun rises, the sun sets, and then the next day that the sun rises again.  So too, do we see this in the four seasons of spring birth, summer flowering, autumn's turning of the leaves, and winter's white death, followed by the next season's re-birth. Yet, many people don't associate these things with spiritual reincarnation, because of their incorrect fixation on the body, believing that what is mortal, can never be reborn again.  The correct viewpoint, is to recognize that while our body is indeed mortal but our soul is immortal and if we hope and if we desire to get right with God, there will come a recognition or an acknowledgment, sooner or later, that in order to have a proper seat with God at his table, we must be without the darkness of sin, which precludes us from being restored to the bright clarity of God's love and justice.

Many people, see karma as being the give and take of right and wrong, that is to say, if you lie to someone about something of fundamental importance, that they or someone else will lie to you under similar circumstances so that you will "meet" your karma, and in recognition of such, you will change, by not lying under similar circumstances in the future, signifying that you have overcome that sin of dishonesty.  While that is one way of looking at karma, there are others that upon reflection, allows us to understand karma better.

For instance, karma should not be described as literally an eye for an eye, as it should be seen more for what it really is, which is that everything that happens has a cause, and that cause has an effect on you, on others, and on society.  These things that we do or even fail to do, have ramifications, which may not be apparent to us at the time, or may be somewhat apparent, but the consequences of those failures, of those mistakes, are typically not recognized in their entirety.  It is these consequences that we must meet again and again and again, in order to correct our wrong behavior and to replace that error with the corrected behavior.

A wonderful way of looking at karma, is to understand empathy, that is, to feel what the other feels, and knowing this feeling, allows you to understand more comprehensively how your actions really do have tangible consequences, for good or for bad.  The mistake that so many people make, is to feed their own ego or selfishness to the exclusion of others, rather than recognizing that looking upon the world as a "zero-sum" society, makes the world a worse place, rather than seeing that by helping others, by working together, by teamwork, sacrifice, and collaboration, in which each party gives a little, there ultimately is more to gain.

The way out of our karmic trials is in recognition and enactment of what the Christ stated: "Do to others as you would have them do to you" (Luke 6:31).  This means that we should be more thoughtful before we act, more considerate before we do the things that we do, and more humble in all that we do, in acknowledgment that that there is a wisdom that far exceeds our finite mind.  For every action, there is a reaction; for every deed, there are consequences; through it all we are always children of God, who continually lights brightly the straight path that lies before us, we need only to mindfully find the wherewithal to walk it.

For To everyone that Has, More will be given

In scripture we read in reference to the talents given to servants the following resolution in regards to those that took their talents and made more with it as compared to those that buried their talents in: "For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away." (Matthew 25:29).  While there are a multitude of ways of looking at this parable, perhaps one of them is seldom thought about, which is that each of us is given the talent of our particular physical body which no matter what we do or accomplish with our corporeal body, this body of ours, will eventually perish; whereas, each of us is also gifted with the talent of a boundless immortal soul, in which the ravishes of time will never tarnish or harm it, in any of its many aspects.  Yet, how many of us, spend inordinate amounts of time in service to and serving of our physical body, but ignore almost completely to our own eternal peril our indestructible, incorruptible soul?

God gives us free choice and free will, so that the decisions that we make on what to do, what to feed, what to concentrate our efforts upon, are up to us, as we are the responsible agents for our actions. Each person is truly free to choose, free to think, free to contemplate, and free to enact, because this has been gifted by our Creator to us.  Too few, however, recognize the great power that has been placed in their hands, and even those that do recognize such power, even fewer, know what to do constructively with it.

We have a body, but even the most ignorant man can see that the body remains not the same from day-to-day, that the body demands to be fed, requires rest, goes through stages, ages, and has other peculiarities from time-to-time that seem to override or run roughshod over the sensible mind.  This body of ours is really ours to control, it is ours to command, it is ours to utilize well, and therefore we are indeed its captain. The body has limitations, it is real, it has its purpose and its place, but these all are interrelated to the physical aspects of this material earthly plane, which is in actuality just a fragment, of the much, bigger whole.

Recognize first, that our body is material, that it is perishable, which signifies that the body cannot now nor could it ever be the alpha and the omega, for the body most definitely has a known beginning and it does have a known end.  This means, that those that devote their most vital resources in service to the body, or for their ego, for that matter, have wasted their talents for something that has no eternal value, believing incorrectly that what they see is what they are.  If you cannot harness your own body, your self-identification has become trapped in materiality and mired in the mud of finite existence.  This then signifies that your talents as gifted by God, are covered with the scales of delusion, and if you sincerely desire to multiple those talents you must first concentrate your mind and your soul upon that treasure that neither moth nor rust ever corrupts, or it will surely be taken away, as if forsaken.

The Selling Out of Hi-Technology

In America, the best and the brightest typically work for private enterprise, because private enterprise can provide that virtually unlimited upside in regards to money, perks, stock options, hours of work, challenges, fellow associates, flexibility, and advancement; whereas, governmental jobs are too often mired in crushing bureaucracy and cannot hope to compete in monetary compensation. 

However, government, and not just the American government, doesn't need the best and the brightest to work for them, as unlike public corporations for profit that have stockholders and a Board of Directors to respond to, quarterly earnings to meet or exceed, the government, on the other hand, essentially has access to unlimited budgets and resources, as long as the government has a compelling need for something.  In addition, the government has all the legal resources on their side, the laws, the rules and regulations, the taxation, and so forth, so that it isn't in the best interests of any corporation to get on the wrong side of what the government of American believes is best for the government of America.

This means, by hook or by crook, voluntarily or with the whip, hi-tech corporations, no matter how they present it to the compliant press, have to, if they are sensible, work with the government.  The government, is not foolish, they care not how corporations come to the table, just as long as they do come to the table, nor does it matter much to the government, how long or how difficult that road is, just as long as they get what they want, and the government's offer, no matter how it is structured, is always lucrative for those at the upper echelons of corporations, very, very lucrative.

The government needs the state-of-the-art tools that hi-technology has and creates, and cares not how they get access to them: as a partner, as a buyer, or as an user, it doesn't much matter, just as long as they get a hold of these tools, and are always given that unmerited privilege.   In addition, the government wants information, all data, and whether receiving access to this information is spun as a service to the nation, or for the security of the nation, or as an adjunct to stop terrorism in all of its many forms, it doesn't much matter, as long as the government gets what it wants.

While there are some hi-tech companies that treat government pressure in all of its many forms, as something that impedes upon their freedom and their rights, and thereby actively opposes such intrusion, these companies, are almost with exception, privately held corporations, not public.  Public corporations are well aware of the quid pro quo that is necessary for their company to unfairly benefit at the expense of other companies, all in exchange for something that can be negotiated in a manner that each side gives a little, in order for each side to gain.

The problem with the cozying up of hi-tech corporations with government, is the problem that you have, when the government is able to without proper oversight or even acknowledgment, monitor its private citizens activities and actions, with a comprehensive surveillance system of all public space, and by virtue of the standard hi-tech equipment that most citizens utilize on an everyday basis, also have the comprehensive surveillance system of all private space.   Unfortunately, for private citizens, hi-technology has sold them out, lock, stock, and smoking barrel.

Parenting Classes in High School

High School purports to teach teenagers all sorts of things, fundamental to their development into vital and effective citizens of their country.  However, given the many subjects that are mandatory or taught throughout high schools, one might think, that one of the most vital of these subjects would be about parenting, a role that the vast majority of people in this country, will take on, by design or by accident, in some form of another.  Unfortunately, most schools, do not have parenting classes, do not see the value in them, which would be perfectly fine, if society could honestly say that parenting in the whole has never been better, a statement that is false in all of its many aspects.

High school should be about practicalities, that is to say there has to be core knowledge that all teenagers should be knowledgeable of and competent at.  Our teenagers need to know how to properly read, write, and do arithmetic, along with a strong moral code, and an understanding of what America is and what it represents; but so too do teenagers need to understand that generations come and generations go, so that one day future generations will be the new children, and today's children will be the old generation.

When one buys medicine, or a high-tech device, or many other things, there are instructions that are included for the proper function and usage of such an item, but when it comes to making children, having children, with the possible exception of sex education, which only essentially deals with the sexual and diseases, there isn't room or time to discuss the vital parenting aspect.  The thing is that newborn babies are not self sufficient, and thereby they need  caring parents and a skilled parental team to aid in their proper development as well as to protect them,  supervise them, and to show demonstrative love to.

Each teenager in high school has a parent or parents in one form of another, of which, many of them probably take what these parents do, what their parents tolerate, how their parents interact with them, for granted, for better or for worst.  The opportunity to learn about parenting,  enables one to have empathy for parents, to understand the importance of good parenting, of right and wrong; all critical for the development of the right mindset, and of good decision making in general.

It is, and always has been, in the best interest of the State, to have good citizens, and as many good citizens as possible, of which the attributes of a good citizen are very similar to the attributes of a good parent which includes: compassion, responsibility, forgiveness, fortitude, selflessness, dedication, and love.  Perhaps your parents are great parents, courses in parenting will help you to understand why; perhaps your parents are poor parents, courses in parenting will help you to avoid their mistakes and encourage you to do better as a parent when that time arrives.

There are many things in school that students do not relate to, or have no interest in, and quite frankly won't make a material difference in their life, and then there are things which are of a lifetime of importance, of which parenting is one of those things, which should be taught and learnt well.

Your Labor, Your Choice

America has evolved more and more into socialistic institutions, especially in the sense, of universal health care, Medicare, Medicaid, social security, public schooling, public infrastructure, standing armies (military), law enforcement, and various social services of community as well as on State and Federal levels, along with public utilities.  None of these things are necessarily bad, in fact, some of them, make quite logical sense and are a real benefit for the people, for their efficiencies of scale, for sharing the load, and are necessary for the proper functioning of governmental needs and desires.

There are, however, an incredibly big divide between things that necessitate drawing upon the resources of the public at large, that benefit pretty much equally the public at large, as in roads, sewage, clean water, electricity, and so forth, and things that are specifically addressed to people on an individual level, such as their individual health care, their individual education, and so on.  For instance, the fact that we have schools specifically set up as a public service that all are equally entitled to for K-12 education is on the surface, a very good thing, but what is missing from the equation, is that the cost of providing such education is deceptively seen as a public service or even seen as "free" when in fact, it isn't really those things at all.  The fact that most parents do not have skin in the public education game, has effectively meant that public education as presented to its constituents, is a law unto itself, answering mainly to those that operate and run it, and only has as a secondary purpose the actual good education of the children attending it.  If, the parents through school vouchers, or some other equivalent form, could choose where their children attended school, based on the perceived merits and other pertinent educational information, schools would have no choice but to raise their standards so as to win their fair share in the marketplace, or to suffer the consequences for that failure.

The problem that America deeply has today, and seems unable to recognize on its most primary level, is that when sovereign citizens cede more and more control of their personal choices, to a faceless bureaucratic edifice, than they will find that rather than the government being the servant to the people, that they are instead subservient to the government, which means that they will forever need to fill out forms correctly, deal with governmental red tape in all of its aspects, and at any time could be denied services because of various reasons, legitimate or not.  On the other hand, those that maintain control of their dollars, and subsequently of their buying power, are solicited by those that need those dollars in order for their business or for the service to function.  This means that taxation in all of its many forms, as in hidden, or income or sales or usage, or transparent, is a great power that will strengthen the tax authorities and their respective infrastructure at the expense of the people, all under the guise, of this being for the greater good.

The one thing missing from all of this discussion, is that the very things that you labor for, the very things that you trained yourself to do well at, or that you have learned how to do properly, and then applied yourself diligently to, should be fundamentally seen as yours and not by rights, the government.   Hard work, hard labor, great dedication, should be rewarded to those have done so, so as to receive a fair share of that given labor, not something that must by law, by taxation, by fiat, be sacrificed to entities that have not earned their keep.  The man that labors for his bread is deserving of that self same bread, and most definitely will take the fruits of such labor and utilize it in such a manner that makes prudent sense to that man, recognizing that he has responsibility to his own.  That labor deserves its own choice, whereas today, labor, for a significant amount of Americans, has little choice, because the taxes in all of its many guises wrests from a man the true sweat of their noble labor, leaving them wards of a State that will keep them bound to it.

Government Employees and Private Citizen Taxpayers

There are two basic sectors of the economy that one can work for: public service, that is governmental employment in all of its many facets, or private enterprise, which typically means working at "for profit" corporations.  There was a time when working for the government actually was a form of public service in which the overall compensation for doing so was appreciably less than working for private enterprise, to which, those that worked for government, often felt a higher calling to work industriously for the betterment of the social fabric.  Perhaps, that type of sentiment still exists somewhere today; in any event, the compensation package for most government employees has improved immensely.

There are significant different between the public and private sector employment fields, in which, sensible people may very well ask why anyone would want to labor for private employment, because employees of such, are often: "employed at will" with or without some exceptions, which basically means that they can be terminated at the company's discretion at any time, they are often non-union, which basically means that negotiations for employment packages are accomplished by one individual vs. the company, are typically not granted pensions, but instead have self-directed 401K packages, and are seldom granted tenure, signifying that despite years of experience and good performance, they could be pushed out of their job at any point, in addition to things such as company mergers, in which their job could simply merge into thin air.  While, obviously, there are advantages to private employment, in the sense that the upside, advancement, challenges, equipment, and so forth, are often influenced by the merits of the person working and by the dynamics of the company itself that may or may not work out for a given individual.

On the other hand, governmental employment, if you don't mind the rules and regulations of such, and the somewhat narrow band of the box that you are placed in, has significant merits that often aren't really based on the merit of the work that you as an individual accomplish, but rather it's far more critical to follow the rules of the road, because once you are in, you are in, come good times or bad, come high economic times or poor, because governmental employment is nothing but secure, mostly all of the time.  While there are studies that show that not only do governmental employees make more than private sector employees, even accounting for relative education achieved, that isn't nearly as troubling, as the fact that the biggest benefit of government employment, is often their rather lucrative pension fund boondoggles that city or State or Federal governments will grant, without apparently seriously taken into account the long-term fiduciary commitments that are being made.  This is a prime incident of putting off till tomorrow what in actuality should be seriously discussed and dealt with today. 

The biggest problem with governmental employment is that the money funding all of that infrastructure and labor, essentially comes from the private sector, although it must be stated that since government employees also pay taxes, they do contribute, or rather you could say their contribution is the tribute that government employees must make in order to be a government employee.  In any event, the main problem with the current situation is far too often those that have a fiduciary duty to its constituency and its incumbent future generations, don't seem to care about much of anything but the very short term, and when the associated long term costs of government services are either blithely ignored, or deceptively presented, the public is cheated out of knowing exactly how deep that they are committed, and subsequently squeezed paying the man his due, over and over and over again.

Slot Machines and Deception

All of the infrastructure, all of the personnel, all of the security, all of the hotels, and all of the entertainment, that you see at your typical gaming destination, is dependent upon the customers that patronize these establishments, and almost without exception, the most important revenue generator on the gaming side, is the slot machines, and definitely not the table games.  Depending upon the casino location, slotmachines might represent nearly all of the gaming business generated, whereas for destinations such as Las Vegas, slot machines typically represent around 50% ofgaming business generated or thereabouts.

There are many advantages for casinos in having slot machines, such as the fact that slot machines do not necessitate a lot of personnel per slot machine on the casino floor, as the interaction of the slot machine with its patron, is basically one-on-one, man v. machine.  In addition, since a slot machine is a machine, it can easily operate 24/7 with scheduled periodic downtimes for system upgrades or maintenance, and thereby too means that these robust machines are available for its patrons to play at all hours and at all times.  So too, because slot machines do not necessitate a social interaction, players can played the game by themselves without fear of being considered to be out of the norm, infact, that is pretty much the norm.

The thing about slot machines is that they have fundamentally changed over the years, taking away, for instance, the need for coin play, and thereby reducing to a bare minimum the labor needed for personnel to provide change, and instead patrons utilize dollar bills or scrip in order to engage the machine, with payout not in coins, but in scrip.  Not only is that far more efficient for the casino, scrip can be misplaced, or not cashed in when the value of such scrip is insultingly low, also adding to the casino's bottom line.

However, the biggest fundamental change in slot machines is the fact that these machines use to be mechanical devices, that is to say, using gears and levers to spin the reels, in which each reel then would eventually stop, one at a time, and when the final reel came to a full stop, the patron would win or lose whatever that final reel position represented.  The modern day slot machine, looks basically the same, but is not controlled by mechanical gears, instead it is controlled by a Central Processing Unit (CPU), which generates a random number and then a random result, all under the control of the computer which has been preprogrammed with a predetermined payback amount, such as 92% of so, indicating that on aggregate for every $100 gambled, the casino will pay out $92 and keep $8, obviously a formula that assures the profit and success of the casino.

The deception of these modern computerized slot machines lies in the fact that the machine "knows" the result via its processing power before it is actually visually displayed to the patron, signifying that the display can be "gamed" and is "gamed" in such a manner so as to make it look to the customer as if they were close to winning the big jackpot, even though in actuality, that isn't the case whatsoever, but is all there as a show so as to encourage the guest to continue to gamble, in the mistaken belief, that their luck may soon turn, and only when the defeated patron gets up from the slot machine, and looks around at these magnificent grand casinos and hotels, will they perhaps in a short glimpse of incisive insight, recognize that these great edifices are built upon suckers, that never do get an even break.

Dogs and Racism

Racism, is a learned activity, that is to say, people aren't born hating one race, they are taught, sometimes subtlety, sometimes deliberately, typically by either parents or peers, to hate or to despise another person solely based on their complexion.   This means that racism is most definitely a learned activity, it isn't natural, nor is it logical, as a given skin color, carries no connotation of a person's character or a person's intelligence, because character is part and parcel of the actual psychological makeup of a given person, and intelligence is of the mind, and neither are of the skin.

In general, dogs are quite accommodating, that is to say, that if you treat your dog well, by providing it with focused attention, walks and exercise, food and water, your dog will definitely appreciate your value and will show you the loyalty and affection that good dogs are noted for.  However, not everybody wants their dog to be socially well adjusted, for instance, those that train dogs to fight, do not treat their dogs in a manner that would make them a good pet, instead, they are deprived of the very things that would make them well adjusted, and instead are trained to be hyper aggressive, in a true dog-eat-dog manner.

A normal dog's instinct is to be a good companion to his family, however, dogs that are either ignored, mistreated, caged, or on a perpetual short leash in a very confined area, are not typically going to socialize well with other people or other dogs, because of these conditions.  So that, for instance, when being walked outside for some much needed exercise, these dogs will typically show strong aggressive tendencies.

While it is true, that you can teach a given dog to behave in a manner that appears to be racist, one must also recognize that dogs are trainable to all sorts of things, sensible or not, meaning that dogs are intrinsically not racist or bigoted, so properly a dog that exhibits negative behavior towards certain physical characteristics of people, has been either deliberately trained to be that way or has been provided with consistent behavioral clues by their owner, that people with certain physical characteristics, make their owner uncomfortable, so in defense of that owner, the dog exhibits and mirrors that negative behavior.

In point of fact, all things being equal, dogs do not care a thing about what their owner looks like, how tall or short they are, hot fat or skinny they are, the job that they have or don't have, the car that they drive, the neighborhood that they live in, or any other social status marker, that humans typically care greatly about.  The only real thing that dogs care about is that they are a valid member of what they consider to be the "dog pack" and you as the owner are its loyal leader of such.

Dogs learn what is acceptable or unacceptable by observation, consistent correction, and training, and since they obviously aren't human, that means that they aren't and never will have the capacity to be racist which is a very good thing, to which dogs instinctively know that the color of one's coat has no innate social status.

Ballooning Student Loan Debt and Bankruptcy

Credit card debt is a serious problem in America, to which nerdwallet.com states that:

"Americans have $703 billion in credit card debt alone, according to June 2015 data from the Federal Reserve."  As bad as that is, it actually gets much worse for the staggering amount of American student loan debt to which nerdwallet.com states: "student loan debt has skyrocketed to nearly $1.2 trillion."  This means, that with the exception of mortgages for homes, student loan debt is the highest category of debt in America and is still growing at unprecedented rates, whereas salaries, on the other hand, have nearly stagnated, as reported by thinkprogress.org, "Compensation for the median worker… grew just 8.7 percent between 1973 and 2014, or a 0.2 percent annual rate. Yet net productivity grew at a 1.33 percent annual pace in the same time."  This implies strongly that students that have been getting educated at higher education institutions are suffering from the double whammy, of educational costs far exceeding inflation in an era in which compensation has basically flat-lined; hardly the formula for success or for the capacity to pay back student debt.

Not too surprisingly, with all the bills that people have to pay to begin with, just to live and to function in America, student loans are exactly the type of burden that many former students do not have the income or capacity to pay.  This inability to pay these loans is not something that is just temporary, but often is something endemic, as in, the funds will never be there to pay back loan amounts that can even exceed $100,000, for people that at best, can sort of make ends meet.  In America, there were over 800,000 bankruptcies filed in 2015, of which, when debt is being discharged, the most significant debt that a substantial amount of people will not be able to discharge in bankruptcy, is student loan debt, which is hardly the basis for a real fresh start.

While there are exceptions for discharging student loan debt, to actually qualify for any of the exceptions is exceedingly difficult, as you must pass the "undue hardship" test, which is something that the courts have consistently frowned upon.  It is true, though, that there are other ways to discharge student loan debt, sometimes through disability, or also through employment with a particular government agency which will after a period of time, forgive a debt, in return for the service that you have provided as an employee to them, but basically student loan debt, for the vast majority of people, is debt that you will carry with you, to your grave, and only upon your death, is it discharged.

While there are a lot of reasons why student loan debt has risen at such a staggering rate in such a short period of time, the two must fundamental reasons, are that education for a significant amount of people is significantly overpriced, in addition, a significant amount of student loans are backed by the full faith and power of governmental agencies, which in effect, means, that those giving out such loans, sell them to other lenders and/or organizations, and thereby get their monies up front. 

This means, in effect, that student loans are actually, when you get right down to it, basically the selling of an overpricededucational product to young credulous people that often don't have the knowledge or capacity to really comprehend what they are committing themselves to, but think they are committing to getting themselves a good higher education which will then allow them to attain the American dream, whereas in reality it's often just a high stakes flimflam job, where the students are the suckers, whereas the sellers of the dream are getting very rich and very fat fleecing the student body, again and again, leaving those students overburdened with debt that they cannot ever escape from.

The Police Answer to…..

In today's society, people are use to the police, and accept them as an essential and necessary component within our criminal justice system.  The importance of the police is manifold, of which, the most pertinent component, is that police, in particular, are the face and the boots of our criminal justice system.  This, for most people, is the only part of our criminal justice system that they will actually visibly see or interact with on a near daily basis.

You might think that because of the general mission statement of the police, which is "to protect and to serve" that the people that the police would be protecting would be all of us, and the people that the police are serving, would logically also be all of us.  That would be a reasonable assumption to make, as this country is supposed to be by the people, and for the people, with equal justice for all.  However, pretty words are not the same as real actions, and the actions of a significant amount of the police forces around this country would indicate that all of the protecting and all of that serving is very, very selective.

For instance, in point of fact, in almost any case where there is civil unrest, or civil disturbance, this would imply strongly that there is some tangible reason for such a dispute or a basic reason for such unrest or disturbance.  In almost every instance, but not always, the police are clearly and unequivocally on the side of the status quo, which means that their interest is not in fair play or free exercise but to return the present situation back to the "normal "order of things, signifying that the people that need to be contained, and policed, are the protestors and they are the ones that are subject to arrest, to monitoring and infiltration, to violence from the State, and to incarceration, with nary a real concern as to the validity and reasoning of their particular protest.

This signifies that the police are in actuality the physical enforcement arm of the criminal justice system, that they take their marching orders from higher-ups, whom ultimately are the arbiters of how policing is performed, prosecuted, and enacted within that community.  Further, all these legal codes and laws, which are often endless, loopy, and convoluted, are specifically written in the manner that they are written, so as to make, just about any undesirable activity or action, illegal in some way or manner, depending uponthe interpretation of those that write these sorts of laws in the first place.  The reason that the law is treated this way is to make harassing and arresting people easier by making law, arbitrary and capricious, as opposed to sensible and reasonable, thereby making it simpler and easier to control the masses of people who could through their collective physical force create havoc and mayhem.

The protection of the status quo is always, first and foremost the duty of the police in any given city.  These people that make up the elite are by definition, a small minority of the community, that do not on their own, have the numbers or the means to protect themselves from outside elements, unless the police and the criminal justice system are on their side, and then they have everything that they could possibly need.  The police are there to protect against the barbarians at the gate, to their death, if necessary, and those barbarians are represented by the people that own no real property, that have no real economic opportunity, that struggle paycheck to paycheck, to which, their lot in life, is not to ever mess with those that have the real money and power, but rather to know their place, and to thereby humble and submit themselves to their master.

The Lessons of Sin

Each of our lives is full of decisions, thoughts, and actions, to which, all of these combined makes us into the person that we are, for better or for worse.  When we make errors, when we make mistakes, it isn't really so important that we regret such things although we often do, or even apologize for such things although we mouth the words; it is on the other hand, of far more importance to recognize that we have done wrong, and to thereby see it as a lesson to be corrected now and into the future, as opposed to regrets and apologies which while having their place, do not in themselves, change fundamentally the mind or our mindset.

For far too many people, life is full of selfish justifications, such as in the areas of disputes or arguments or confrontations, and within our own belief, twisting and turning such in a manner, to which we will somehow convince ourselves that we haven't done anything wrong at all, or if so, it is mitigated completely by the higher wrong done to us by the other side.  Unfortunately, no matter how much we may believe that this is true, seldom are things, so easily divided into a situation in which one side is 100% right and the other side is 100% wrong, in fact, quite often, there is error and fault on both sides, to which each party, has a strong tendency to deny such a reality or possibility.

This means, that those that are in denial of their sins, of their errors, and of their wrongs, will not soon correct their actions because such a denial indicates that there is no correction needed and hence none is made.  This is indeed the error made by the Pharisee at the temple, who exalted himself, in the belief that his fasting and tithing, worthy symbols of a righteous life, were when scrutinized in the light of God's justice, seen to actually be fool's gold, and thereby a life justified wrongly.

The things that makes us stumble, should be looked at, rectified and learned from, so that we can successfully transition from our childish ways into the ways of becoming an adult, and in order to be an adult, we must take responsibility for our actions, for our behavior, and for our thoughts, so that we may eventually be able to aid those of our brothers and children in their decision making, for surely the blind cannot successfully lead the blind.

We go to school to learn, and to learn specifically our lessons, and when we do well, we score on or about 100%, and when we do poorly we score considerably lower.  Our life on this good earth is our biggest lesson of all, and we as its students, should be taught and to learn from those that are far wiser than ourselves, experienced, and dedicated to seeing that we are given the opportunity to better ourselves.   

The sins of commission and omission that we make are ours and ours alone, and it is our duty to rectify these things so as to better not only ourselves, but to better this world and the people that populate it.  This then is our foremost duty, to which our real success in life is built around the success of others that we have properly influenced for the better. On the other hand, those that hurt others, ignore and repeat their errors, and demonstrate weakness of character in all of its many guises, will find that in the endthat the weight of sin is a burden that is far heavier than any brother that they have failed to carry.

Test the Righteous

In life, people that we like or dislike, companies that we work for, friends that are part of our life, neighbors that we know, strangers that we meet, and the State which exerts its power for good or evil upon us in so many different ways, consist in how we deal with life in all of its many facets on an everyday basis.  It is our interactions and it is our decisions, on what to do or not do, what to say or not say that define our true character to the world and mankind.

We are gifted by our Creator with free will, so that we are never puppets to a master puppeteer, but indeed we are free to choose, free to act; recognizing, of course, that that freedom has consequences because we are surrounded by other people, all of whom have the exact same freedom, in which our lives intersect and interact with civil authority, to which conflict in any of its many forms, is inevitable.

This tension in our everyday life can be exacerbated or eased by the laws, rules and regulations, and overall demeanor of the people and institutions that we interact with.  This means, that the respect that we so desire, is the same respect that we must give to others, so too, the love and forgiveness that we wish to have extended to ourselves, must too be extended to others, but none of this should be limited to a simple formula of like-for-like, instead it is in our hands, to be good onto others, without a need or expectation of the same in return, although, we may strongly desire to get such a return. 

This means, when we are confronted with choices, that in order to do right, we must make the choice that is in conformity with the highest law, which is known as natural law, so defined as unchanging moral principles.  The fruits of these principles are: "…love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…." (Galatians 5:22-23).  While we cannot control the actions of others, we have within our domain, the ability and obligation to control ourselves, and further that it is upon us, to always, to do the right thing.

This means when we are struck, we turn the other cheek, not because we are cowards and unable to physically confront those that are our rivals, but because a physical response, is seldom the correct response.  We have a sacred obligation to live by the Truth, above all things, above all principalities, signifying that to be able to stand strong, requires right actions as well as courage, sacrifice, discipline, dedication, and love.

The highest and most meaningful test in life is when our core, moral beliefs are challenged, and this challenge clearly has within it the dangerous elements of our own physical sufferings or lost, if then at these times, we mitigate, qualify, or change who we are, in order to save our self, we have failed ourselves and exposed our self for the cowardly and the living hypocrisy that we actually represent.

What you really are is what you are when it all matters, when indeed it is very personal, when the choices are that easy road, or that other road that tries men's souls.  Endeavor to try not to take that easy road, for the pathway to Heaven is that straight and narrow road, in which, in order to pass through, you must face withering trials, and overcome them, without hatred, without pride, without fear, always keeping your eyes focused on the prize and not resting till you rest within the only sanctuary that has no beginning, no end, and represents the epitome of truth, love, and justice.

Privacy, Property, and Persons

The highest court of the Federal government and therefore of the United States of America, is the Supreme Court of this great land.  The Supreme Court has since its inception made judicial decisions that have reverberated throughout this country, for better or for worse.  Even though our Constitution, is a written document, and subject to change only through Amendments passed by the necessary margin in our Legislature, Supreme Court justices, have demonstrated time and time again, that they may interpret this Constitution in a manner that they believe it means to them, or should mean, or might mean, or that the Constitution somehow is a living document, that changes with the prevailing winds of the time.  This means, in effect, that different Supreme Court justices or different times in the era of this Constitutional republic will result in different results and different decisions from the Supreme Court. 

In point of fact, take the troubling and notorious case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, a case decided in the favor of Sandford by a vote of 7-2, in 1857, as believed by the majority opinion, that the Constitution recognizes slavery, and that a slave does not become entitled to his freedom, when his owner takes him to a State where slavery is prohibited, and afterwards returns to his slave-holding State.  According to Chief Justice Taney, slaves were not people, but property, and further that to provide freedom to what has been declared property, simply because you have crossed certain State boundaries, was a violation of the 5th Amendment of the Constitution, which does not permit the depriving of property without due process of the law, to which according to this Supreme Court decision, meant that property, in this case the property of a slave, had no rights because it was legally seen by this court as property, and hence had no quarter.  Two justices dissented in this decision, pointing out that at the time of the ratification of our Constitution five out of the thirteen States had granted the vote to black men, and further that rather than the Constitution recognizing that slavery was equal to property, stated, "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned … by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons."  Additionally, Justice Curtis stated: "When a strict interpretation of the Constitution, according to the fixed rules which govern the interpretation of laws, is abandoned, and the theoretical opinions of individuals are allowed to control its meaning, we have no longer a Constitution…"  It was not until the 13th Amendment was ratified, after our Civil War, that the Dred Scott decision was overturned.

In the case of Roe v. Wade in 1973, the Supreme Court granted the right for females to abort fetuses essentially under the right of privacy, by a vote of 7-2. The most significant issue for the Supreme Court to get their head around was the definition of a "person", in which the majority ruled that persons as described in the Constitution only dealt with those that were postnatal and not prenatal.  Rehnquist stated in his dissent, that the very nature of an abortion which involves a medical doctor is: "hardly 'private' ", and Justice White was even more vigorous in his dissent stating that the court: "values the convenience of the pregnant mother more than the continued existence and development of the life or potential life that she carries."   The thing about the Roe v. Wade decision, which today is looked upon as a "woman's right to choose", basically signified that the fetus that the mother carries, is her property, to dispose and/or to treat pretty much as she so desires or sees fit, and that doing so, is no business of the State, as the mother has an implicit right of privacy.

Roe v. Wade basically is about whether fetuses are persons and thereby entitled to full Constitutional rights or instead are properly seen as the private property of the mother.  So too, Dred Scott was about the conflict between one man's private property as sanctioned by governmental decree, as compared to the fact that under certain circumstances and certain States, that same private property was legally seen as a person.  To put it succinctly, is it ever possible for something to be correctly classified as private property but later to be correctly re-classified as a person?

The New American Protective League (APL)

Wars are seldom good for civil rights, free expression in all of its myriad forms, or liberty and World War I demonstrated this very point, through the creation of private groups of like-minded people, who became the American Protective League (APL) in 1917.  At its peak the APL had approximately 300,000 members who essentially worked as an adjunct to policing and governmental authorities on behalf of the military and Executive branch to assure that every American was in lockstep with the Ally cause, and thereby in opposition to the Central powers, which notably included Germany.  These private citizens, grouped together under the aegis of the APL, specifically targeted Americans of German extraction as enemies of the State, as well as any and everybody that expressed either neutrality towards the war, or viewpoints that weren't favorable to the war, or were or advocated conscientious objection to the war.  Not too surprisingly, the APL often took justice into its own hands, dealing their form of "justice" to those that they considered to be disloyal to the State, or not properly sympathetic enough, and the State, being involved in a war, aided and abetted the APL efforts, or effectively turned their collective head the other way.

When the rule of law is thrown out the window, when civil disobedience is met with gun fire, vigilante justice and/or incarceration, the government has in many cases, but not all, effectively enforced a form of martial law.  The dangerous combination of private citizens, police, military, and the justice arms of the State actively working against any or all people that are presumed guilty simply based on their country of origin, or guilty simply because they wish to question the State and its actions, or guilty because they simply believe in the Constitution and the government's oath to uphold that Constitution, is inimical to what this Republic actually stands for.

At any time, a country gravitates to the belief, that only one thought is the only correct thought, and thereby eradicating dissent of voice, or of peaceful assembly, and so forth, it is in danger, extreme danger, of becoming not a government of the people and by the people, but a government that supports only certain people, a certain specific mindset, and thereby suppresses all others.  While war, has its own distinctive reasons for often times having to set aside certain rules, regulations, and laws, quite frequently it is guilty of extreme overreach, overreaction, and an inability ultimately to fully retract its claws, when the danger has passed.

We now live in an era in which America is constantly at war, constitutionally undeclared war, but war nevertheless, both internationally, as well as domestically in which the government has turned its spy masters and spy apparatus inward and onto its own sovereign citizens.  As invasive as all the various domestic government agencies and policing forces are, the government still expresses a need for citizen foot soldiers on literally a block by block basis, to help target those citizens who have viewpoints, or religious beliefs, or are asymmetricalin their actions, to be tracked, targeted, and analyzed.  These citizens follow the Homeland Security footprint of "if you see something, say something," to which, it is only a matter of time, if it has not already occurred, before these "loyal" citizens of the State, are expressly formed into a new American Protective League.

Prescription Drugs and Advertising

According to pbs.org, "The United States spends almost $1,000 per person per year on pharmaceuticals. That’s around 40 percent more than the next highest spender, Canada."  Perhaps all this pharmaceutical usage is necessary for Americans because Americans are unhealthier than other countries, or the cost of prescription drugs is substantially higher than other countries, or a combination of the two.  However, there is another reason, a significant reason, why Americans consume so many prescription drugs and that comes down to national advertising on print, on mobile, and on television.

The advertising for prescription drugs is not something that has always been part of the American experience, but instead, was something that developed over time, with a few trial balloons here and there, and then in 1997, the FDA revised its rules on such advertising, by essentially relaxing their rules considerably, and providing guidelines for pharmaceutical companies in regards to providing consumers with appropriate: "brief summary," "prescribing information," "major statement," and "adequate provision" information, all of this depending upon what advertising medium was utilized.  This laissez-faire approach changed the entire dynamic of pharmaceutical companies from rather than exclusively advertising directly to medical doctors for particular prescription pharmaceuticals, to instead now also advertising directly to the consumer.

The amount of money spent in 2015 for such pharmaceutical advertising was estimated to "…be hitting $5.2 billion" as stated by statnews.com .This staggering amount of money spent on advertising pharmaceutical drugs that can only legally be issued to patients by a licensed physician, is proof positive, that pharmaceutical drug manufacturers understand well the power of these advertisements to mold consumers behavior in a manner that these consumers will believe that they need certain prescriptions prescribed for perceived conditions that they feel are occurring to them, such as anxiety, cholesterol concerns, antacid, antipsychotic, and so forth, almost without end.

In general, medical doctors are busy people, with busy schedules, and while desiring to spend time with patients, often find that their time schedule precludes being able to spend as much time as they might ideally desire with their patients.  In addition, Americans seemed programmed to believe that for every problem, no matter how complex or obscure, there is a readymade solution, perhaps in the form of a little pill, which will instantly alleviate the problem.  The fact of the matter is that isn't true, but when doctors are faced with patients that have diagnosed themselves and come up with the ideal solution of a prescription drug that will fix the problem, to which, there often is some validity to their claims, many doctors are accommodating to such concerns.  Basically, the game has changed from one in which the patient explains their symptoms, tests are run, and a doctor makes an informed decision that appears best for that particular patient, to one in which the patient often has a preconceived idea of what they need and just want to cut to the chase already.  Additionally, the patient has an often unrealistic belief, via advertising, that a certain prescribed drug, will work specific magic for them, which is usually both unrealistic and untrue, but all of these things combined, put pressure upon a time-sensitive physician to take the easy road.

The bottom line, is that when drugs that can only be prescribed by a qualified physician are legally advertised on television or other assorted media to consumers, much more of that drug will be prescribed because the credulous consumer allows fear or anxiety or the sweet song of such advertising to convince them of that need.  The sick thing is that it is the legalized and sanctioned drug dealing to the public as a whole that now makes your broke-down corner illicit drug dealer look like a pathetic hack and a piker.