Students Spend their Student Loans

College is insanely expensive in the United States, of which, how much a given person has to pay for their college tuition and its associated expenses, depends a lot upon how fortunate or unfortunate that person is in selecting their college to begin with, its direct cost, its affiliated costs, and so forth.  In addition, like many things, how much one student is paying for tuition at the exact same college varies considerably, from basically free, for those fortunate enough to get a scholarship that covers everything, to those that pay the absolute full freight, with no discounts for anything, whatsoever. 

In any event, good or bad, this government has consciously made a determination that college for just about everyone is a good thing, so that the loaning of massive sums of money to young adults so that they can attend school, get an education, and receive their degree is considered to be basically a good and desirable thing.  Then, in theory, these students will obtain employment, in which over a period of years, they will subsequently pay off their student loans, while making more income than they would have, if they had not attended college in the first place.  That is the theory, works for some, and most definitely doesn't work for others.

When it comes to student loans, before one is initiated in the intricacies of them, a given student might properly reason that student loans are for college tuition, college books, a college dormitory room, and other expenses pretty much directly associated with the attending of a given college.  If that was true, that would be one thing, but in point of fact, many student loans appear to be given to students, like candy to a little kid, so that rather than a check barely covering all the reasonable expenses a given student would have for attending their college, there can be a massive differential between the amount of money really required for their tuition, and the amount of monies received by the student, and therein lies the rub.

Most students attending college are, for the first time, without direct parental supervision, and are now considered for the first time to be adults, in which, many are lacking in ready capital and forethought.  Their youth and their disposition, has a tendency to make them desire to get as much money loaned to them, for good purpose or not, simply because in their youthful naiveté, they equate money being placed into their hands, without having to labor for it, as free money, never consciously recognizing that it is not a gift, but a loan, with attendant strings and responsibilities attached to it.

The one thing that you can count on when it comes to collegiate students is that when you hand them excess funds, they are not taking that cash, and saving it for a rainy day, but instead, they are going to spend, spend, and spend.  The positive to society for students that like to spend money is that because the economy grows not on its savers of capital, but on those that actually spend their money, borrowed or not, on tangible things, that the sheer amount of money that has been borrowed by these young adults, helps to grow consumption of our GDP, the caveat being, though, that those attributing to that growth, are for the most part, not contributing from their income, but from loans and their future, as yet to be determined, income.

This means that when and if student loans are paid off or paid down, that there is correspondingly less consumption now being made by those that have borrowed the money in the first place, which  becomes a drag onto the economy.  So that, it can be argued, that the reason student loans have grown so much and so fast over the last generation, is a reflection that the short-term interests of those that provide and benefit from such loans, supersedes the long term consequences of providing such easy credit to those, that aren't typically disciplined enough to be prudent with it.

One Man, One Vote

The Congress of the United States of America is divided into two houses, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.  Although, the Senators of each State as well as the Representatives are voted upon by the people, Senators are considered to be representatives of the State, and congressmen are considered to be representatives of the people from each given State.  So too this is the reason why we have a bicameral legislature, so that the biggest States would not dominate the smaller States, however, the size differential in the States of today far exceeds what it was back at the founding of our nation, so that today, the State with the largest population in our country, which is California, has a population that exceeds in aggregate the twenty-two smallest States of the Union.  This means that in the Senate, California has but two members, the same as every other State, whereas those twenty-two smaller States have in aggregate, forty-four members, signifying, that the smaller States have far more influence upon governmental policies than their small size would seem to represent.

In the House of Representatives, with the exception of the fact that each State is guaranteed at least one seat in that House, the seats are apportioned every decade by the population of each State, so that Wyoming, has but one representative, which therefore means that its district is the entire State of Wyoming, whereas California has fifty-three representatives, because of its large population, meaning that California is proportionally represented in the House of Representatives, unlike the Senate.  In any State in which there are more than one representative, there then comes forth the issue as to how congressional districts are divided and gerrymander, which has a tremendous influence on which party does or does not win that district, but beyond that, whether that district reflects or doesn't reflect certain races to the exclusion of others as well as various factors of this ilk.  For instance, if you were to break down each State, by the racial classification of its citizens, whites would represent the highest portion of that population within each State, with the exception of Hawaii, New Mexico, and California.  This means, in effect, that congressional districts could be, and have been structured in such a way that one race is significantly over-represented, to wit, in the 115th Congress, there are a total of 102 minorities, which is 23.45% of the members of the House, whereas on a population basis, minorities are about 37% of the population.  Incredibly, this percentage of minorities in today's Congress is the highest percentage, ever, yet it still doesn't represent fairly their proportion of this country.

All of the above, would signify, that even though each citizen is entitled to one vote, that not every vote is equal, by virtue of the fact, that if a given congressional district is structured in a way, and many are, that your vote as a minority or creed or race or class or circumstance, is basically a vote that will not influence the result of a preordained election, than your vote has no utility.  While, impressive changes have been made over recent years, which has served to make congressional representation a far fairer and equal process, it still isn't in many cases, fair or equal, whatsoever.  The bottom line is that if your representative is not a true reflection of the people, than that representative is not truly legitimate.

"The Constitution was designed to keep government off the backs of the people"

The above quotation comes from the dissenting opinion of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas in the Laird v. Tatum case of 1972.  What was at issue in this case was whether the US Army intelligence was legally permitted to gather information on civilians and their activities, in this case, conscientious objectors, protesting military policies of America.  The court ruled in favor of Army intelligence, however, within their opinion, they stated that there was "… no evidence of illegal or unlawful surveillance activities," in the gathering of such information, further, that it wasn't clandestine, and that "…the information gathered is nothing more than a good newspaper reporter would be able to gather…"  If, in fact, this was true, their majority decision was, perhaps reasonable.

Fast forward to today's world, today's technology, today's massive intelligence complex, and, honestly, for a certainty, not even the FBI director, not even the CIA director, not even any director of any type, and certainly not even the President, can tell the American people what is or what isn't being specifically gathered on their citizens, what is or isn't being acted upon, how much and how intrusive such surveillance is, because they don’t really know, except that they appear to gather everything from everywhere.  Never has this government rested so heavily on the backs of the people, while simply stating in their defense of their activity such trite things such as all this is for the protection and safety of the people, rather than what it's real purpose is, which is to stifle civil dissent, to intimidate the population, to criminalize public protests, to harm innocent civilians, and to control and to mold the masses in their actions and in their thoughts.

Government at its highest level, scoffs at the words of Lincoln, that this is a: "... government of the people, by the people, for the people," signifying by their governmental actions and by their laws that the people of this great land are not free and are not independent, but rather in many cases dependent upon the government to sustain them, and if they will not follow the dictates of the government, than they will be punished and humbled for it.  It is unfortunate, that through executive orders, through poor legislation, through poor legislatures, through poor justice, but rather on behalf of those elite people and institutions that effectively rule this country, that this government has more and more aggrandized unto itself powers that were not intended to be part of this federal government in the first place, and thereby vast masses of the people are left susceptible to being assaulted, arrested, and effectively destroyed by government operators at any given moment.

If, civilians have no private sphere, and if the government, has no outside, independent authority on behalf of the people, monitoring what this government is performing domestically in regards to intelligence and information, than the people, have no future and no hope, because information truly is power, especially when the government knows everything about you, such as: where you are, how much you earn, who you owe debts to, your bank accounts, your email and text messages, your cell phone conversations, your travel, your family, your social connections, your health, and mirrors every click of your computer mouse; one man against the power and reach of this government has no choice but to submit, or suffer dire consequences for his dissent.

Growing up my parents were totally impossible, but now I understand they weren't so much

There is all sorts of authority that a given child must deal with in the process of growing up, to which, if that child is rather clever, he can manage just fine in dealing with school authority, and other outside authority, simply because at the end of the day, those authority figures because they have to deal with so many other children and so many other things, cannot devote the time necessary to really know and process everything that a particular child is doing, so that therefore the child typically holds the upper hand, because that child knows himself and can successfully exploit weaknesses in those other authority figures by playing whatever card might work, such as the "misunderstood what you were saying," card, "won't happen again," card, and so forth, with the overall objective being to skirt free of any real punishment or real reprimand, and it often works, because those other authority figures, wantto believe in the good of that child, and with the right moves, the child can help them in that belief.

On the other hand, parents are far trickier to solve, as they know their children on levels of far more depth, than anyone else, and further to the point, since the same game has been played on them, time and time again, they are far wiser to the game, itself.  This puts the child in the problematic situation, of believing, that either he is the smart and clever one, unjustly treated by his parents, unfairly, or that his parents are all-knowing and all-wise, something that many children forego, believing.  When children are not permitted to do this or that at their will and they are stopped by doing so by their parents, their perception is that their parents are ignorant, old-fashion, out-of-touch, arbitrary dictators, bullies, and fundamentally wrong, never once recognizing that children often can't or won't recognize their own faults.

Children like to scream and shout, that "everyone else is doing that, wearing that, having that," or "you are so unfair," so as to hopefully create persuasion or pressure on their parents, and if that doesn't work, than they might try to do a few chores around the house, or work one parent against the other, so that, it's either  a guilt trip ploy to get their way, or a quid pro quo game, or similar, to which, it doesn't matter much, how it's accomplished, as long as it is accomplished.  Then again, desperate situations call for desperate solutions, so children will lie, in order to do what they want to do.

Yet, through it all, time marches inevitably on and eventually these children become young adults, than adults, and then, for most, become parents.  It is at that time, when you become your own parent that you begin to understand, to empathize, as to where your parents were to begin with, that often times, they actually meant well, because they cared and loved you, and wished to protect you, desiring that you prioritized your life well, made good decisions, and stayed safe, because they knew that there are very bad things out there, and very vulnerable situations that one should not want to be placed into.

Sure, parents don't always get it right, nobody does, but most parents offer wisdom, experience, and perspective, of which, all of these things are beneficial for children.  The day that you are finally able to realize that your parents meant well for you, is the day that you finally recognize, that they gave and sacrificed for you, so as to give you a better opportunity in life, which, done often enough and done right, makes for better children, for better parents, for better communities, for better countries, and for a better world.

Big Banks, Big Unfairness

As reported by the Economic Studies at Brookings, the big four banks in America, which are JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, in aggregate have banking assets held by these entities exceeding 50% of total share, effectively making these banks the most important banks in America, by far.  Although, ostensibly these banks compete against one another, in effect, these banks recognize the value of working together in principle as well as in goals, so as to increase their overall influence and importance to governmental agencies and corporations throughout America.

These banks are the leaders in banking, so whatever that they do, it is copied and replicated by most other banking institutions in America.  So too, because of their sheer size and depth of services offered, these are the banks that governments and multinational corporations are going to engage with on an everyday basis, effectively freezing out small, regional banks, as well as banks that simply don't have the experience, depth of resources, or apparent expertise.

This makes, in effect, a relationship to at least one of these big four banks, if not all of them, almost mandatory for governments and conglomerates because the need for ready access to capital, is foundational for the growth and the expansion of governments and their funding, as well as conglomerates and their current and future planning.  Not too surprisingly, when the only game is town is one of the big four, one's ability to negotiate the best deal on behalf of one's own interests, is somewhat compromised.  Still, on an overall basis, each side needs the other, so a somewhat happy middle and accommodating ground is reached.

On the other hand, there then is everyone else, in which that playing field heavily favors the rich, the connected, and those that have stellar credit, in opposition to those that lack these very same things.  The fair access to credit is one of the most important dividing lines, between those that have and will have more, in stark contrast to those that don't have, and don't have much choice.  That is to say, in virtually any business enterprise, capital is needed, which unless already inherited or already saved, one is required to have as well as it being prudent to have good access to capital in order to profitably engage in a given business enterprise.  Those that have wonderful business ideas but lack fair access to capital must then make alliances with those that do have great credit and/or are powerfully connected to such, in order to have any hope of success and growth.  This means that because of the lack of capital, or the lack of access to capital, this will ultimately end with one's given ownership percentage being shared simply with those that have money, even if, that is pretty much all that they bring to the table.

While certainly it is better to share wealth created, then not to have any portion of that wealth at all, it is unfair that the money brokers receive a nice, healthy chunk of profits without actively engaging in the day-to-day activities and attendant responsibilities of a given business.  Even worse, is the outcome for those that lack fair access to capital because of their perceived un-creditworthiness, or lack of appropriate connections, or lack of appropriate schooling, or lack of appropriate bloodline, to which, these people often can find access to capital, but that access to money comes at a far higher percentage rate, with far less forgiveness, with  far less benefits, and far more pressure, thereby squeezing the little man -- into the grip of a relentless and unrelenting vise.

Blacks, Drugs, and Incarceration

In 1971, President Nixon, declared a war on drugs, incredibly, forty-five years later, this war is still going on today, with this war changing dramatically life for those that are its most vulnerable, and effectively criminalizing certain choices that people make in regards to substances that they utilize in small quantities or sell in small quantities, both highly illegal as well as highly punitive in nature.  This war, as in all wars, is selective in its enforcement, and thereby concentrates the bulk of its energies on particular segments of the population, which are mostly black, minority, and "trailer trash" whites, which have been virtually segregated from the general population so as to be treated with utter disdain, contempt, and ruined.

It goes without saying, that mankind, for whatever reason or reasons, has almost an innate desire in some of its members, to want to alter its consciousness.  This desire can be fulfilled via religious ecstasy, particular plants that are ingested, smoked, or grinded, as well as man's ability to synthesize chemicals from the elements.  Certain people have a proclivity to engage in the alteration of their consciousness, more than others, stemming from such things as abusive situations that they try to suppress and forget, hopelessness, boredom, peer pressure, stupidity, enlightenment, and the like.  Not too surprisingly, there is an art to this game, in which, legal prescriptions for mood altering chemicals are considered to be fine and acceptable, whereas choices made not under the direct supervision or approval of a government-licensed physician are a violation, and are often punished severely, depending upon who you are.

It should be acknowledged that when you live in neighborhoods in which the educational system is highly inadequate, the legal independent income is nearly non-existence or pays pathetically, the infrastructure anemic or in disrepair, the positive role models and positive family structures are completely lacking, the people that live there, which are typically blacks, other minorities, and whites on the wrong side of the tracks, are going to have to find something to do within the long 24 hours of every given day.  While the liquor stores, fast food joints, and overpriced convenience stores are abundant in such areas, not every individual finds enough satisfaction from the effects of alcohol, in which, opportunists recognize intuitively that man's misery and dysfunction, creates an ideal breeding ground for the distribution ofalternative mind altering substances.

Everyone that lives in these neighborhoods already knows what is happening within their neighborhood, so too, do policing as well as governmental authorities know the deal, which allows these forces to, at will, arrest and convict, pretty much whomever they so desire, whenever they so desire, in the interests of the state authorities.  The people arrested, and re-arrested, than convicted, and re-convicted, have no money, and have no justice, effectively becoming perpetual wards of the state.  This makes for a permanent underclass that is stamped as non-employable, indigent, and dependent upon handouts or hustling for the remainder of their days, when they aren't already incarcerated.

The question that is hardly ever asked, is where do all these drugs that are in these neighborhoods in the first place, come from; as well as, why sell or distribute drugs to poor people, when surely there is far more money to be made selling to those that actually have money, and live in far, safer neighborhoods.  The answer to that question is that the real dealers and distributors of the drugs are part and parcel of the very system that oppresses the most vulnerable.  After all, the poor are always amongst us, there are scores of them, so that they therefore need to be controlled so as to stop incipient uprisings from occurring, and forever keep them weak, in their place, and disenfranchised.

The Rise and fall of Black Home Ownership

Part of the American dream, is the ability to demonstrate in one's material assets, that a given individual or family, has been successful, and whether or not you own your own residence, is widely seen to be that dividing line.  There is something about being king or queen of your own castle, that separates you from those that do not, for a lot of good and practical reasons, of which, the Bill of Rights to our Constitution, makes it clear that one's property is secured from unreasonable searches and seizures by the state, and when you live under the aegis of a landlord or similar, you can easily find that such protections are mitigated, substantially.

While people work for many reasons, one of the foremost reasons why people strive to work hard and to achieve, is to be able to at the end of day, return home to the sanctuary that they are owners of.  That is why home ownership is so imperative to so many Americans, but the racial divide, between whites and all minorities in regards to home ownership is quite pronounced, which, given that whites in aggregate have more income, have more assets, and so forth, should be expected, what shouldn't be expected is that the gap between whites and blacks in regards to home ownership, has widen not contracted since 1980.

According to census.gov, the home ownership rate for blacks before the landmark Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and the fair housing bill which was passed in 1968, was only 34.5% in 1950, but by 1970 it had risen to 41.6%, and then in 1980 it had increased to 44.4%, whereas for whites as reported by bu.edu their ownership rate in 1980 was 67.7%.  The black home ownership rate then began to decline so that in 1990 it was just 43.4%, though in the year 2000, as reported by infoplease.com black ownership had risen to 47.2%, while peaking at 49.1% in 2004, whereas today as reported by census.gov the black home ownership rate for the 3rd quarter of 2016 was just 41.3% as compared to the white ownership in the same period of time being at 71.9%.  In taking a look at the rate of home ownership between whites and blacks in 1980, the percentage gap between these two, wasin percentage points, 23.3, whereas in the 3rd quarter of 2016, that percentage point gap was 30.6.

This signifies that since 1980, blacks have materially regressed in their black ownership rate, and since that period of time, the gap between black and white home ownership has significantly widened.  This would indicate that despite all the governmental regulations for non-discrimination and fairness for this, that, and the other, something fundamentally is wrong in America and this is reflected in the fact that rather than blacks making progress in narrowing what has always been a massive gap in home ownership between blacks and whites in this country, things have gotten progressively worse. 

Additionally and importantly, there isn't any real reason to expect that this will somehow correct itself in the near future of generations to come, the bottom line is the system is broken and that is reflected in the huge disparity of home ownership between blacks and whites.

America prides itself as being seen as that land of opportunity, but the proof is in the pudding, and that clearly demonstrates that America and its institutions in virtually all aspects, favors those it has always favored, and leaves blacks with that promissory note, still in default.

The Art of Living in your Vehicle

As reported by aljazeera.com there are estimated to be "…214,000 "unsheltered" homeless people in America," of which some of these people sleep in their car at night.  Of course, coming up with this sort of estimate is problematic, what is true, though, is that in a time in which incomes for so many people are inadequate and inconsistent, as well as the cost of living being so high for so many, that man's ingenuity will at least consider seeing possibilities in taking things like one's automobile and contemplating the advantage of having a car that doubles as a form of shelter, taking into consideration the benefit that a car gets you to places on demand, so as to fulfill work and other personal obligations, while also in theory, serving as a place of sanctuary as well as sleep,  meaning that the extra expense of an apartment, could, when pressed, be bypassed.

Seeing that this is America, one major concern about living in one's vehicle is the legality of it, of which, as always, there are laws passed by certain city councils and governments banning such a thing, which seems to be highly discriminatory against the indigent that obviously do not have the monetary resources or wherewithal to fight back against being charged with such violations, of which, the government's position seems to be that your vehicle is actually not really your property outright, as if there is a limit as to how much time you can spend inside of it, and must therefore vacate your own property or be subject to penalties by the state.

There are advantages to living in a world which is 24/7, which therefore makes it easier to figure out the logistics of living in your car, for instance, there are many gyms that are open at all hours of the day, so that one can not only exercise but shave, shower, and take care of other personal hygiene.  So too, restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, coffee shops, and gas stations are open all hours of the day and night, making it convenient to find a place to transact business or to socialize.  Then also, America offers a lot of public spaces such as parks, libraries, town squares, and other places, that have reasonable hours of operation, so as to have a place to hang out at.

For people that do not have a lot of financial resources and do not have a place that they can share with another, because the affordability isn't there, or they feel that they do not want to be known as an imposition to others, there is actually a sensibility in living in one's vehicle, because when you look at expenses on a monthly basis, just about everybody's highest expense, is their living space, and if you can mitigate that substantially or reduce it to a minimum, while still having your car, in which it is that car that takes to your places of employment or other areas of need and interest, it all makes a certain reasonable sense.

The bottom line is that it costs a lot of money to live and there is a huge swath of the underclass in America that struggles week-to-week, so that, for some, out of necessity more than anything, living in their car, may actually be a practical alternative that allows that person to survive, so as to live to do battle day-by-day.

Your Computer IP Address is like your Personal Phone Number with an Operator listening in

There was a time, way back when, that in order to complete a telephone call to someone else, that the call went through an actual switchboard with human operators, that would connect the call, and while there were rules and regulations in place, specifically forbidding these human operators from listening in on conversations, if they so desired, or if the opportunity was there to do so, they could listen in, and from time-to-time did listen in on those conversations.  Fast forward to today's world, and your computer has an Internet Protocol (IP) address, used to identify your device on the network that it is communicating with via the internet.  While it makes logical sense that each device has its own IP address, just as each phone has its own phone number, there isn't a good and valid reason why the IP address isn't encrypted specifically so that government agencies of all sorts, domestic or not, cannot track back to a specific IP address all of its activity.

If governments or corporations are allowed, explicitly or implicitly to monitor and keep track of the complete internet browsing of a given IP address and have the knowledge that connects that IP address to a business or to an individual or to a family, than your activity, all of your activity on the internet, can be traced back to the source.  IP addresses that are not thoroughly encrypted permits policing agencies or corporations to eavesdrop and to record all activities of all interconnected citizens, whereas the Fourth Amendment to our Constitution clearly states that the people have the right to be secure from unreasonable searches, unless upon probable cause, supported by an affirmation, and particularly describing the place and things to be searched and seized.  When that protection is ripped apart from the hands of the people, than the people, essentially when engaging with the internet, have no privacy, and have no rights, because all of their activity is captured, without regard to probable cause, all under the aegis of the day, which at this point, is national security.

It is vital that a national law be passed and executed, that encrypts IP addresses, but does allow a backdoor, under probable cause and with specific rules and regulations, to un-encrypt a specific IP address, under special circumstances, limited in that search to specific, tangible things and for a fixed amount of time, before it is reviewed after such time by an independent court of law to determine whether it should be renewed.  In point of fact, technology has changed things, changed things in such a way, that information and conversations that are private and confidential from their inception, are considered instead to be fair game for governmental or corporations to capture for their own reasons.  To do so, and to continue to do, is a disservice to the people of this country, that should be permitted to go about their business, in their own way, without meddling or monitoring by agencies which are not part and should not be party to their individual proclivities.

The government and corporations for that matter will always push the false flag, that these things are necessary in order to get to the bad guys, or for analysis, or to protect you, but in actuality, the real reason is to stifle civil protests, to find a criterion that compromises you, and thereby to control you to the dictates of the state and its adjutants.

Rich Banks, Poor Masses

Life isn't fair, as the average person can look all around and see that there are a select few with very much, some with an acceptable amount, and a whole lot of people with next to nothing.  This country runs on money and that money in almost all instances are controlled by banking establishments and their ilk.  The first question one should ask about banks, is how is that what should be a low margin business that banks are able to somehow make literally billions and billions of dollars, witnessed by JPMorgan Chase as reported by cnnmoney.com reporting a profit of $5.6 billion dollars in its 4th quarter of 2016.  The sheer amount of money made is indicative of exactly how mammoth in size and girth, JPMorgan Chase is, and that in of itself is troubling.

The most fundamental question to ponder is what actually banks do as opposed to what banks should do.  In today's world, most banks are primarily in the business to make as much money as they can for their stockholders in any way possible, which means that their primary purpose when you get right down to it is to exploit those that need money, and just about every corporation, every business, as well as every individual, has a need for money, and just about all of those will have a need to borrow money at some point.  For instance, unless you literally pay cash for everything, such as your home, your car, your repairs and so on, you will as an individual probably have or have had a car note, or a mortgage, and so on, to which this loan to you originates from banks.  The same criterion fits into big corporations, which typically have to borrow money in order to purchase capital equipment, and in order to stay competitive and to grow.  So too, governments of all sorts, including in particular this Federal government, must borrow money, especially when running huge deficits in order to pay bills, meet obligations, and create infrastructure, amongst many other things.

The banking entity that has the money has the control of who gets the money and thereby what they will charge borrowers for that money, taking into consideration that the depositor of monies must be compensated a certain percentage amount or a fee.  However, unlike normal folk, banks have all sorts of laws and regulations that favor their particular institution, to wit, banks can leverage their deposits, in many instances, at ratios of 20:1, signifying that for every $1 deposited, they can loan out $20.  It is this leverage which allows banks to make not only tons of money on their loans of all sorts, but places a high risk on their ability to manage such leverage, however, this risk is mitigated because certain favored banks are protected by the Federal government, an d thereby given the designation that they are "too big to fail". 

All of the above signifies quite clearly that the institution that controls the money, controls the people, as banks essentially make money by charging usurious interest rate, fees, penalties and so forth onto the people, to which,  in aggregate the people have no realistic way of ever successfully paying back their obligations, in which, if those people don't make good, they thereby go bankrupt and lose their assets and possessions to their creditors, whereas the banks are protected from such failure and bailed out.  The money that banks make comes from the labor of the people, wrongfully extracted from the people as a predatory form of tribute, for whom the bankers, in reality, create nothing, but make sure to take their "pound of flesh" from the people and this present government aids and abets them in doing so.

Federal Liquor Taxes are Way, Way too Low

Government agencies of all stripes and types, like to tax things, and the amount of things that are taxed has grown over the years, which means that some items are probably overtaxed and some items are probably under taxed.  A case in point is the taxation of distilled spirits, or the hard stuff at the traditional 80 proof, that far too many people consume far too often.  While the pricing of your standard 750ml bottle of eighty- proof liquor will vary sharply depending upon the brand, the alcohol type, and the State that you reside in, overall though the price of liquor is very affordable, as a bottle of 750ml liquor can be bought in many States at a price point as low as the $10 range, and a 750ml bottle, provides its recipient and friends, with 25.3605 one ounce shots per bottle, which is plenty of alcohol for a trivial amount of money.

America tried prohibition back in 1920, and that didn't work out too well, in fact, America practices prohibition today in the form of draconian laws in respect to drug usage, which results in an incredible amount of people incarcerated, fined, punished, and so forth, for the crime of possibly abusing their own body.  Adults should be given the choice as to what they do or don't want to do with their body, and with their consciousness, and subsequently every day adults in this country decide whether they like to have a drink, or two, or many more than two.  That said, alcohol consumption has traditionally been seen as something to tax as a "sin" and there isn't any real good reason not to continue that practice which is why, when looking upon the price of alcohol, in comparison to how destructive alcohol is to individuals as well as families and society in general, that the taxation on a federal level needs to increase.

Currently, the taxation of alcohol from a federal level is only $2.14 for a 750ml bottle, which is way too low for this product and needs to be raised immediately, as unlike many other taxes on many other products, there simply isn't any good reason why alcohol shouldn't be taxed at a rate that doesn’t pain or inconvenience the consumer of such, especially for a product that essentially provides no social good, whatsoever.  It's difficult to come up with an argument as to why federal excise taxes on alcohol are so low, in fact, its' difficult to understand why there would even be an argument about it.

Of course, there are two parts to the alcohol situation, which is, you have the consumers of the product, who ultimately suffer from consuming it, and then there are the profiteers of the sale of the product, in which the lion's share of said profits are part and parcel of these massive multinational corporations that have powerful lobbying arms and are highly motivated to keep things just the way that they are in order to make good sustainable profits on other people's vices and weakness.  Be that as it may, there isn't any good reason why something like tobacco, which has been vilified by governmental and health agencies of all types for the last couple decades,  in which, tobacco has been treated like the devil, itself, whereas, on the other hand, alcohol has somehow been able to get basically a free ride.

It really comes down to this, governments need money, and certain people claim they need alcohol, so keep it real simple, raise the federal excise tax 400% from today's insanely low level to collect more in revenue from this insidious harmful vice.

To One, We Owe All

America prides itself on knowing so much, but it has forgotten the most basic and most important thing of all which is: ex nihilo, nihil fit, "out of nothing, nothing comes".    To those that do not believe in a Higher Power, than your highest duty must be to your mother, who created you, for without her, you would not be here.  As for all others, whether they have an inchoate belief that there is something like a Creator, or definitely is a Creator, or something in-between, must recognize than that all we are, all we can ever be, and all we will ever be comes from the very hand of God, and of no other.

This makes for a certainty that our highest goal in life, our highest achievement possible, is to find our way back to God, in recognition that all that we are, all that we have, is taken or borrowed from God, himself.  Humans, way too often, want to credit themselves for their achievements, of which this sort of sentiment most definitely has its place, as our efforts, our decisions, and our actions, are something that we have the right to be proud of, especially when we have indeed accomplished good things for ourselves, as well as others.  However, in full truthfulness, in full humility, there must be the conscious recognition that we did not create ourselves, in fact, we really don't seem to know how we even came about, but intuitively we know that there is a higher power, which knows all, is all, and has always and always will exist.

It is therefore our duty to find our way to the very first things, to return to He who breathed life into us, as there cannot be a higher purpose in life, than to become one, with our Creator, who awaits our return, no matter how long, or how circuitous that path may be.  We read in Holy Scripture that as Saint John stated: "He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light" (John 1:8).  It is to that Light, that we must recognize that without it, we wouldn't even live in darkness, we would simply not exist.

Those that keep their Creator foremost in their minds and foremost in their thoughts, recognize that their gifts are to be used for the betterment of their fellow man here on earth, that we indeed are our brother's keeper, and that the greater man is he who serves another, rather than taking of what is not his by right, so as to dominate or to dictate to another.  Those that see nothing but the physical, or nothing but their own selfish desires, or live to fulfill their ego and its demands, have entrapped themselves into an existence that cannot rise above the earthly gravity that forces them down.

No matter how many mind games a given person plays, no matter what justifications are made during the conduct of a life, no matter what propaganda is propounded or believed, if all is not in accordance with the Truth, it is like a house being built on sand, and the crash of that home is inevitable from its beginning.  If you are your own god, when the light of human existence extinguishes, you will recognize for a certainty that you are not; there is only One, our Creator, and our obligation therefore is to acknowledge and to embrace Him in all ways, in recognition that through Him lies both our salvation as well as the opening of the portal that brings us to the blessed combination of Truth, Justice, and Love.

Judge a given Society by how it treats its most disadvantaged

The United States is the richest nation in the world, but that wealth is not even close to being equally divided, to which it would be one thing if all that inequality was on the true basis of hard work, dedication, effort, and drive, but in many, many cases, it comes down to the critical aid of crony capitalism, governmental favor, protectionism, monopolies, collusion, wrongful tax avoidance, powerful lobbyists, and the like.  America has never had a level playing field, and certainly in today's America, the field is so tilted, that the game is fixed, the result is a foregone conclusion, and thereby there is a large segment of the population, which has been effectively denied the promissory note that our Declaration of Independence declared so eloquently for them.

This grossly lopsided wealth divide in America would be alright, if as part of the American fabric, there actually was a social contract between its citizens, the government, and the rich and powerful that ruleover it all, so that in this country, we would, as an example to the world at large, in form and function and in representation to what a great republic should be, make the commitment and then follow through on it to actually take care of all the citizens of this great nation, so that none would suffer the deprivations of the lack of good, healthy food, the lack of good, healthy shelter, the lack of access to good, healthy medical care, the lack of opportunity, the lack of justice, and the lack of gainful employment.

The foregoing does not indicate that America doesn't take care of its own, as in a lot of respects, it does through private charities, through governmental programs, through handouts and hand ups of all types; it actually does expend a great deal of money as well as resources, along with human love and compassion to those that are the least amongst us.  The problem though is that this social contract is deeply flawed, so that poverty and deprivation is ingrained within the American fabric, that thereby families, way too many families, are struggling day to day, and that our children, our most impoverished children, effectively never have a chance to be successful, because they do not have equal access to good health care, to good schools, to good neighborhoods, to the good life, and so forth.

There is that old adage that it's better to teach a man how to fish, than to provide that man fish, which certainly has its place, the problem is though that the most disadvantaged amongst us, the most vulnerable amongst us, aren't in a position to fish, and probably won't ever be.  At a minimum, those that are unable to help themselves deserve to be treated with respect, consideration, and dignity, because in a society that believes that all are created equally by their Creator, than one must see the light of divinity in each of His creations.

A society that treats its poorest and most vulnerable with disdain, represents a hubris that is not appropriate, especially for a country that declaims that is has been blessed by God.   It's easy to take potshots at the ignorant and indigent, telling them that they should try harder, drink less, study more, or whatever, but it is pure hypocrisy to take those shots but never once live, not even for a moment, in their shoes, walk their paths, see their life as it really is. America should be the nation, that takes care of its own, that lives by the principle that none will be left behind, not one, not now, not ever.

Right thoughts, right actions, right life

There are times when we have to act on instinct, without much aforethought whatsoever, but in many events of our life, there is plenty of time or a sufficient amount of time to think before we act, and that thinking is of critical importance to our overall success and happiness in this life.  For instance, if in our mind, we do not have the correct thoughts, the correct mindset, or any good purposeful thought, it doesn't seem conceivable that our actions will come out very well.  In so many instances, the things that we do, are a reflection of the thoughts that we have, so that, those that can get or do get their thoughts in order to begin with, will have lives that are of more value for themselves as well as others on virtually every satisfaction level.

What are you thinking about right now?  The thoughts that you have, are your own, you are in control of them, you can discipline yourself to think the thoughts that you really feel are the most appropriate for your given situation.  As you think, so you will be, that is why it is so important to take control of your mind, so as to become the best person that you can be.  It is up to us to make the effort to be the masters of our own fate which is why we are gifted with free will and free thought, so that we can freely seek for ourselves the narrow path that will ultimately bring us the inner peace that we are intuitively seeking.

If you consistently do not have right thoughts, it isn't conceivable that your life will come out very right at all.  You cannot think one thing and ultimately be something completely different from what you do think.  However, don't get this confused with wish fulfillment, and things of that sort, because as you think, so too you must take the actions and make the effort to become what you have pictured in your mind.  First there is the thought, and then there is the actions and effort that must prove that the thought legitimately means something important to you.

It is to anybody's credit to those that have bad and incorrect thoughts that they do not act upon them, and as important, that they push those bad thoughts out of their mind by replacing them with good thoughts, instead.  There is an art to the act of thinking, and that art, like any good art worth pursuing, is a learned behavior, that we must apply ourselves to.

The responsibility for yourself and what you do and accomplish, rests at your feet.  The man that then desires to make good in his life, does so, by dedicating himself to doing the right thing and the foundation of those activities, is the thoughts that are in his mind.  There are far too many people that say one thing, but really mean another, or do another thing, but really want to do another, this sort of inconsistency will not end well, as when a man takes his own self, and divides it into two characters, or multiple characters, ultimately only confusion will reign.

If your thoughts are not consistent with who or what you want to be, you must endeavor to change your thoughts, today.  Ultimately, you are what you feed, and you are the master of the thoughts that you grow, prune, or weed out.  To become everything that you sincerely desire to be, think the right thoughts, from this you will enact right actions and it then follows that you will thereby live a right and righteous life.

The Noise of Yard Work

Depending upon where you live and the time of year, the landscaping, and the density of your neighborhood, you will in all likelihood hear yard noise year round, or through most of the year, from landscapers mowing lawns, leaf blowers, power saws, lawn edgers, snow blowers, and various other instruments.  The amount of noise that these devices can generate, depends upon how they are powered, the manufacturer, their physical size, their engine size, their overall power efficiency, and so on, but basically those devices that are fueled by some sort of gasoline combination, emit the most noise, in which, that noise can easily reach 100 decibels, and possibly more.  Not too surprisingly, the operators of this equipment are almost always prudent enough to wear ear plugs or ear protection devices in order to protect their ears.   However, for those that live in that neighborhood or in the area where the work is being conducted, the noise level heard for them is often both loud as well as annoying, even with windows closed, and with windows open, under many circumstances, intolerable.

That said, out of all the equipment, being used, the most intolerable of them all, is leaf blowers.  The thing about lawn mowers is that lawns do not move, so a lawn being mowed is just going to be that physical location of that lawn, as well as the same condition applies to tree removal and its work.  The thing about leafs, is that they go everywhere all over a given person's property  and then some, in addition to the fact that the operators of the leaf blowers make it a point to try to conduct and direct leafs into one or a couple of piles in order to collect them or to push them off to a given side, therefore a leaf blower is not only loud, annoying, and irksome, but also continues for a long, long time, and seemingly over every square inch of the subject property.

While one understands the necessity of a power saw in order to take down a powerful tree or thick branches, and one understands the need for a power mower to mow lawn, because that gas powered mower is just going to be a world of magnitude faster and more efficient that one powered by hand, or typically one powered by electricity.  On the other hand, leafs really don't weigh much of anything at all, and while there may be leafs all over the place, leaf blowers seem like overkill or just plain laziness in the collecting of such.  Undoubtedly, leaf blowers are effective because of the power generated from such, but this power is so high, that it also lifts up top soil, animal waste, herbicides, pesticides, and just basically anything in its path, which is all included with the blowing and the collectingof the actual leafs.

The thing about the current design of gasoline powered leaf blowers is that they are way too powerful for the job at hand and either need to be redesigned as a tool that is both less noisy as well as less invasive and destructive or, if not, be reduced to a minimum in usage.   The fact of the matter is that rakes do a commendable job of aiding in the moving and collecting of leafs, to which, leaf blowers should be seen more as an adjunct to raking, not as its replacement.

To Bomb or not to Bomb

Many countries like to bomb other countries in periods of war and strife, of which, the great advantage for those dropping such bombs is that since they are dropped at a distance high up in the air that the aggressors of this sort of warfare are often in the clear of not having to suffer a debilitating retaliatory response from the defenders of countries or organizations or peoples being targeted and bombed.  In addition, there are cases, especially when the United States is involved, in which, America's bombers, and the sophistication of its logistics are far superior to those that would try to mitigate or respond to such, so that America can pretty much bomb its targets without much fear of any reasonable retaliation to its air force, not to mention the fact that America has the most sophisticated drone strike force in the world, which means that for countries with unlimited military budgets and unlimited bombing munitions, that said countries can literally bomb their intended targets to their heart's content.

So too, bombing accuracy, at least in theory and often in practicality, has gotten far more accurate since the days of World War II, with today's sophisticated targeting mechanisms that allow specific targeting of areas that are incredibly accurate and reliable.  This means that those that love to bomb can make the argument, that, not to worry, these bombs only hit their intended targets with minimal collateral damage, even though in actuality, whether because of the sheer amount of bombing conducted, human error, or mission overreach, the collateral damage created by bombing is far more destructive, than agents of the state would ever want to admit to.

In point of fact, the sick thing about bombing targets, above all, is the plausible deniability of it all, that is to say, the easy excuse that is made time and time again, that civilians that were essentially murdered under state sanction, were not killed deliberately but just happened to be in the vicinity of the bombing, or the bombing coordinates were off, or the "bad guys" were trying to hide around civilians, or the civilians were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and so on, ad nauseaum.  The big question that is never answered is why any country feels that is has the right and the license to bomb another, especially when doing so will undoubtedly kill civilians, will undoubtedly take out infrastructure, and in general, wreak havoc throughout communities. 

Then there is the god complex, that so many countries that enact bombing campaigns, seem to suffer from, which is that by the very act of bombing and bombing and bombing, that all those that are suffering the deprivations from such bombing, will submit to its aggressor.  Really?  If this theory was really legitimate, than all those that did not have the wherewithal to fight back, would simply submit to their oppressor and thereby ask for the terms of their surrender, but in almost all cases, they do not.  Instead, unlimited and non-constructive bombing campaigns rather than defeating the enemy, often embolden those that have lost or are losing everything, to stand together, and to become, in today's world, insurgents, which in the greater meaning of that word, means to stand with their country, to stand with their people, to stand with their family, and to fight back by any means available, and to never give in, never, never, never, never in nothing great or small, and to never yield to your implacable enemy.

Nefarious and Systematic Labor Exploitation

In any country, in any situation, one needs to labor in order to secure the necessary things that a given individual requires, such as food, health, and shelter, with the only exceptions to this rule being those that are either too young to labor, too enfeeble to do so, or are mentally or physically handicapped.   A look back at societies indicates that mankind historically existed either as a hunter/gatherer and/or utilized the land for agricultural and sustenance purposes.  So too, mankind traded with partners strength-to-strength, worked together in small units with specific tasks assigned to able-body people, and so forth so as to maintain and enhance their family and community units. 

Fast forward to the modern age, and things are vastly different in many substantial ways. For instance, land ownership and/or the rights to hunt or fish on communal property, along with the sovereignty of the individual should be foundational points for all individuals on this good earth, and not meant to be subverted or controlled by a select few so as to command and oppress the masses.  That is to say, if one does not own the land that one resides and treads upon, and cannot hunt or fish without express permission from those that control the enforcing powers of a given state, as well as being restricted by that same state as to what they can or can't do with their body and with their mind, than those subjected people are for a certainty, exploited.

Further to the point, those that control the means of production, no matter what that production is, have within their DNA almost always, the strongest innate desire to see that all that would stand in their way, be crushed, so as to not become a competitor in any way, form, or manner.  This means, that small-time and independent farmers, or small-time and individual livestock herders, or small-time agricultural and independent producers must be marginalized and undercut in order to be trivialized in the great marketplace of a given country.  The massive players in all of these industries have consolidated for two basic reasons, of which one is to become more efficient and hence place themselves into a position that will make them good and sustainable profits, while the other is to drive out those that are independent by beating these small timers by price, by logistics, and by any other means that can be asserted.

The foregoing isn't meant as an object lesson for those that were small and independent to learn from, it is far more serious and diabolical than that, because the overarching aim is to not teach lessons, but to take these former independent operators, and make them subservient to the big operators, creating in form and function their new exploited labor force, that will work for the "man" as opposed to working for themselves.  Even more callous for the common man, is that as machines and robots replace the laboring hands of man, this effectively means that the worth of that man in the labor force becomes appreciably less because his worth is now compared against the value and output of the machines and robots that have replaced him, in which those said machines and robots care not.

This labor force now becomes underutilized and consequently has little or no choice but to work wherever that they can, doing whatever that they can, at whatever price that they can sell their labor for, in which, in all things, the man that controls the capital and its resources, dictates to that labor the rules of the game.

The Super-wealthy and Hereditary Nobility

The founding of America was done by European immigrants and refugees, looking for religious freedom, as well as economic opportunity, without having to deal with the restraints of an intrusive governmental interference or the restriction of having to be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth in order to achieve things of notable purpose.  The greatness of America is the greatness that allowed hard working, dedicated, driven, and purposeful individuals and organizations of people with common goals and visions to take and develop their ideas and this land into the force and the massive wealth that it has ultimately become.  Not too surprisingly, there are many people, who upon becoming powerful and/or wealthy, wish to see that their largess is passed on to not only their blood-related present generation but onto their blood-related generations to come, which is fine up to a certain point, but taken to the extreme, can easily create the equivalency of European hereditary nobility, ad nauseum.

The most basic problem with lots and lots of wealth as well as lots and lots of power, is those that have it, are seldom inclined to want to relinquish it, whatsoever.  It is one thing for those that have these things to enjoy and benefit from it, while they are living, and an entirely different thing for generations or institutions or charitable foundations to hold on to these vast resources in perpetuity.  If this country, will not tax appropriately those that have died, and/or will allow those that have departed this world, to escape their full taxation through the wherewithal of all the games that the best lawyers and laws apparently allow, than you have segregated in effect this country, into the very rich and powerful who are essentially eternal, while the rest of us are mortal and not given the same privileges or consideration.

You would think that the estate tax would be very straightforward, so that when an individual dies, they are taxed, and are taxed rather heavily after a given amount is allowed to be passed onto heirs and other desirable people and entities; tax free, to which at the present time the IRS allows $5.45 million dollars to be exempt from such taxation.  The balance of said estate, is in theory, taxed at the statutory rate of 40%, but in effect, isn't taxed close to that amount, because appropriate taxes are avoided through all the traditional tricks and loopholes of the trade.  This would signify that when they say that "you can't take it with you," it is only literally true in the sense, that you, the person that is now deceased cannot, but your family, your heirs, your charitable foundations, most certainly can, and often with only taking a relatively small hit to its luxury liner.

The fact of the matter is, if America will not appropriately and fairly tax the very rich when they are alive and will not appropriately and fairly tax them when they are dead, then the tax game is effectively rigged or gamed in their perpetual favor, which allows these super-elite privileged people to have their say as to what this country will or won't do, so that it is their voice that determines what America represents and does, and the people, are effectively silenced, now and forevermore.

Real ID is your National ID

The government just can't seem to resist getting all possible identification tangents from its citizens, for the obvious reason that a National ID card which is in essence, what the Real ID law sets up, has huge benefits for the Federal government, in being able to monitor all, and to treat all as subjects that should be subject to the constant eye of the federal government in all that they do.  The Real ID act was passed in 2005, and while the law is rather lengthy, it can be summed up into the basic premise that instead of each individual State having the right to create their own driver license's in the manner that best fits their desire and budget, they must instead, adhere to the format of such as dictated by the National Government.

At the present time, States that do not desire to adhere to the Real ID law, can subvert it or avoid it or request an extension to it, but in all things involving the federal government, this isn't a game that States are well positioned to play successfully with the very entity that can both bestow federal funding and largess for necessary things that States' desire and need, or to withhold such and thereby penalize the State.  When it comes to money, and really all States want their fair share, the federal government holds the purse, and He who holds the purse, wields incredible power.

The main features of the Real ID act is that the database and security features of State issued identification cards would be compatible State to State, meaning that all fifty States would have the ability to read State IDs from any of the fifty States as well as the federal government maintaining and managing the entire database.  Additionally, these State IDs would be machine readable, signifying that these machines would be able to read all "actionable" information on a State-issued ID, of which the owner of such, would be blithely unaware of exactly how personal and how detailed that information would be.  All of this combined, would create a database that ultimately wouldn't be controlled on a State-to-State basis, but on the National level, in which, the Federal government, would know for a certainty where each individual lived, worked, traveled to, and when and where documents were provided to identification depots.

Of course, as always, this government, insists these things are necessary for the safety and security of the nation, which, has its place, especially if this National government considers itself to be the shepherds, and we the people, to be its dim-witted sheep.  As invasive as the Real ID act is, this National government will invariably want even more and that final piece of the puzzle, would be to add onto our future driver license's a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, which, as these tools get even more sophisticated and powerful, would allow the government to know in real time, which streets we walk upon, which streets we travel upon, and who exactly we are, where we are going, what we are doing, so as to monitor us in totality 24/7, every day in every way, till we depart this cruel world.

Get your Fiscal House in Order

The federal government of the United States does not even try to balance its budget, of which, this continual overhang of excessive debt is placed upon the shoulders of the youngest generation, and if this country can somehow sustain this financial game, its deficit will be passed onto future generations to come.  That said, we know that the federal government has given up, by just looking at the massive deficits it manifested in the 21st century, in which, in the years 2009-2012, this irresponsible government ran deficits exceeding $1 trillion dollars in each of these respective years, and for 2016 ran a deficit of $587 billion dollars.

Today, in this world, there is only one superpower, in which you would think that superpower would be able to reap the benefits of being in that enviable position.  Instead, America which is not at a Congressional declared war with anyone or anything, although it manufactures war with terrorism, and meddles again and again, especially in the Middle East, somehow is always at war.  The amount of monies dedicated in this country to the military-industrial complex is essentially monies wasted and wrested away from the babes of this country, which is truly a crime against humanity.

This government again and again, has not the intellectual honesty, nor the candor, nor the character, to get its fiscal house in order, in which, it doesn't get any more basic than the recognition that in order to balance a budget, it must both spend less, and tax more.  It would be one thing if America was in the most severe of circumstances that challenged its ability to even exist as a united nation, but all the wars and engagements by America since World War II, have been by design or in obeisance to the military-industrial complex, and not for the security or for the betterment of this great nation.  So too, pundits will state that the government must always step in to help those banking institutions that are "too big to fail", or for fiscal stimulus, or for various other reasons, in which, there is never acknowledged that monetary problems are created by poor governance, poor decisions, and corrupt institutions that game the system to benefit themselves, and when the die turns, placesthe burden of their inevitable failure onto governmental shoulders, who then pass it directly on to future generations.

Every time that the government kicks the can down the road, recognize, that the longer it goes on, the longer that it continues, the worse it will be for those that must deal directly with a collapsed fiscal house.  Every time that the government does not balance its budget in any given year, that deficit, along with the monetary interest that must be paid to our monetary masters, increases, in which, some day at some point, it must be paid or our fiscal house will collapse.  Every time that this country runs a deficit, those that aren't paying their fair share or are benefiting by receiving goods from the government, or being subsidized by the government, that those beneficiaries are stealing from future generations.

This government believes that it is right to wrest the bread, the opportunity, and the future, from those of the youngest generation to serve their ever present, insatiable lust for the things that they desire without making the sacrifice or putting forth the effort to get these things, legitimately.