Soldier Privations

America would not have won its independence if it was not for the soldiers that fought the battles in order to achieve such hard-fought independence.  The Continental Army was made up of those that volunteered, local militias, and those drafted from state militias to fight in our war of Independence.  The soldiers that fought for our nation's Independence risked all, for a cause in which they as individuals suffered great privations, such as the lack of good shelter, of clothes, of munitions, of food, of water, of their life, and of safety from pestilence and epidemics, in addition to the fact that the pay received, was typically delivered in funds that held little or no value.  It can be said that to be a soldier in the revolutionary war was to risk one's life in the most trying of circumstances.

 Fast forward to our civil war, and each side, once they recognized that this war would not be over anytime soon, had little choice but to compel additional men to fight via conscription, so as to fill mandatory quotas by state, and to thereby get as many able-body men to take up arms for their respective sides.  These men were to suffer many of the same privations as their revolutionary forbearers, in which it was actually diseases such as dysentery, typhoid fever, and malaria that felled more soldiers than the many that died via the bullet, in which, the conditions inside those that were captured in battle, especially those captured by the southern side, were inhumane and the cause of a significant amount of pain, suffering, and deaths.  Additionally, with the increased firepower of civil war weapons, many soldiers were wounded and with the lack of field doctors available to assist quickly enough, many amputations had to be performed, because significantly injured limbs left unintended often became infected, and only amputation could then prevent the unnecessary death of the soldier.

 In the 20th century, soldier's food rations markedly improve, from once tainted canned beef, to being fed warm freshly cooked food in the mess halls at our established military bases, which often resembled miniature cities in their ability to accommodate the soldiers with temperature-controlled shelter, entertainment, medical facilities, and other typical daily needs.  So too, the communications of soldiers which once took months for mail to reach them or to reach their love ones, now was instantaneous through email, texting, or tools such as Skype or similar which provides face-to-face interactions with family members.

The one thing that has not changed for soldiers over the years is the fact that they still risk their lives, their limbs, and their sanity in the foreign battles that America so often takes part in, and while it is comforting to have an incredible support group that keeps our soldiers fit and at their best, it is still these soldiers that are on the front lines with the attendant dangers that they must deal with.  Those that are not soldiers or are not part of the military world, have a tendency not to consciously recognize enough the dedication, the sacrifice, the privations, and the devotion that these soldiers have made on behalf of their country; it is then our responsibility as non-combatants, to do our best, to see that these soldiers who act courageously in the field of fire, will have never fought heroically in vain, for the very worst of all privations, is to lose the very thing that this country stands for and what we fight for, which is that all are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Russia: the Big, Bad Wolf, Really?

In World War I, Russia was allied with the British Empire and French Republic and therefore fought on the same side as America.  In World War II, Russia, now known as the Soviet Union, signed a non-aggression pact with Germany in 1939, in which this pact, was broken by Germany in 1941, so by the time America joined this World War, the Soviet Union, was now aligned with the Allies, and consequently as in World War I, the Soviet Union and the United States of America fought on the same side.  At the conclusion of World War II, there was only one country in the world that had master the usage of the incredibly destructive atomic power, which was America, but that was to change in 1949, when the Soviet Union, joined that exclusive club.  Additionally, it was not till the conflict in Korea, that the Soviet Union, first opposed the United States in battle, though the Soviet Union essentially did so in logistical and war material support of the Chinese on behalf of the North Koreans.

In 1991, the Soviet Union, relinquished its control of its sister empires, and once again, became Russia, to which there were many reasons why this occurred, of which, the most important would be that even when countries such as the Ukraine and Uzbekistan were part of the USSR, they had never been fully absorbed into the Soviet Union, proper, that is to say they were typically treated as satellites to the power of Moscow, with typically different ethnic identities, different historical religious identification, and repeated failures of economic and growth planning, In addition, to all of that, Russia itself, is nearly twice the physical size of the next biggest country in the world, so that controlling or aligning itself with other nations under the soviet empire, was done more for the protection and as a buffer for Russian territory, which previously had been attacked by Napoleon as well as Germany.

How united the Soviet Union was at its peak, is very debatable, so that, at best, the countries of the Soviet Union basically equaled the population of the United States, during the era of 1950-1990, however, if one was to add onto the population of America, all of the nations aligned with America in NATO, during the same era of 1950-1990, the size of the population of NATO along with its military muscle and firepower, even at the Soviet Union's peak, would clearly have significantly favored NATO.  This would signify that all of the military buildup, all of the military posturing that was done repeatedly and is, to a lesser extent, still done today in regards to Russia and how menacing Russia is, or how dangerous communism is, and so on and so forth, was in essence, an overreaction to the fact that Russia had atomic weapons, and the United States was deeply troubled by that, because atomic weapons have the clear ability to end life as we know it on this planet.

To put things in present-day perspective though, Russia's population in 2010 was about 143 million peoples, whereas America's population was about 309 million peoples, and as reported by the International Monetary Fund the GDP of the United States of America for 2016 was the highest in the world at $18.569 billion dollars, whereas Russia was not even in the top ten, with only $1.28 billion dollars, which is less GDP than Canada or even South Korea.  This then, is the basic proof that Russia, or the former Soviet Union, was never the menace or danger that it was made out to be, and that with the exception of satisfying the military-industrial complex and certain political elements that have a fixation on seeing a "boogeyman" there isn't any reason to fear Russia whatsoever, today.  In fact, Russia, wants to be our friend, which historically, more often than not, it has been, in which Russia was either sympathetic to our side as it was to the North in our civil war, or as a neutral which it was in our revolutionary war, or fought by our side as it did valiantly in the two World Wars.

Non-communicable Disease, communicable disease, and wealth

A non-communicable disease as defined by Wikipedia.com is: "… a medical condition or disease that is not caused by infectious agents…" nor is a non-communicable disease transmissible to others, so a disease such as a stroke, cardiac arrest, kidney disease, cancer, or diabetes would all be categorized as a non-communicable disease and all can result in disability and/or death.  Communicable disease, as defined by Merriam-webster.com is:  "… an infectious disease transmissible (as from person to person) by direct contact with an affected individual or the individual's discharges or by indirect means," of which examples of this would be: Ebola, flu, hepatitis, measles, tuberculosis, pneumonia, infectious diarrhea, and malaria.  As reported by Wikipedia.com, non-communicable diseases: "In 2012, they caused 68% of all deaths," whereas a century ago, the majority of deaths would have been via communicable diseases, for the lack of material wealth, and the ignorance of good medical science, meant that factors that today can be readily controlled such as hygiene and water, left unaided, created the conditions of contagion and pandemics that ran through communities, periodically.

The fact that the majority of deaths in the Western world are now via non-communicable diseases indicates that significant progress has been made in the controlling of communicable diseases, so thatnever have so many people, lived so long, yet, in America, life expectancy rather than continuing to improve, has recently stagnated.  This would reflect a couple of very important things, which is first and foremost that non-communicable diseases are typically more susceptible to people that consistently over long periods of time make bad life style decisions in regards to what they eat, the drugs that they take, smoking, drinking alcohol, exercise, and their body weight, which abused long enough wears the body out, consequently they suffer for it by developing non-communicating disease which is both debilitating as well as life threatening.  Additionally, whereas non-communicable disease used to be looked upon as a rich man's burden, for the rich often had relatively little fear of dying from communicable diseases related to poor hygiene or the lack of access to clean water, non-communicable disease nowadays adversely affects more poor people than the rich, signifying that poor people are more susceptible to both communicable as well as non-communicable disease than rich people.

Our knowledge of communicable diseases has permitted the Western world, to quite successfully, overcome communicable disease to such an extent that this, above all, is the reason that life spans have been extended so much for westerners over the last one hundred years, yet, the very fact, that in aggregate that this extension is now stymied, indicates clearly that the next hurdle to overcome in order to not only increase life span but also to increase the quality of life, is to make it public policy to improve significantly upon our knowledge of how to prevent, mitigate, and counteract the leading causes of death by non-communicable diseases.  Yet, it would appear, for the rich, that this knowledge is known and thereby applied, whereas for the poor it is apparently not known and/or misapplied for as reported by mit.edu, "Over roughly the last 15 years, life expectancy increased by 2.34 years for men and 2.91 years for women who are among the top 5 percent of income earners in America, but by just 0.32 and 0.04 years for men and women in the bottom 5 percent of the income tables," which demonstrates an absolutely staggering difference in healthy living between rich and poor.

This means, that not only do the rich have all the material advantages in the first place, but they clearly have all the advantages of living longer and more healthful lives, so for the rich, they really do get to have their cake and eat it, whereas the huddled masses are left with just the crumbs and aborted dreams.

The Future is Uncertain

We live in the ever-present, and we draw upon our past experiences, with the overarching objective to do well in the future, but the future is something unknowable by us, yet we deeply desire to know it, so that we can subsequently prepare ourselves for it, for it is always these unknowable future events that places that fear and doubt within us, which we wish to ameliorate to the best of our abilities.  Yet, despite these desires to know the future or to at least get a hint as to whether we are on the right path, whether our future is bright or not, it seems to be eternally hidden from us.

All of the above stems from a deep desire within our psyche, to receive guidance in our life choices, as well as to receive acknowledgment or approval from our peers or mentors that we are performing well, or if not, constructive criticism that we can act upon so as to make better choices, rather than to continue down a path that is disastrous or mistaken or fraught with bad choices. 

For many people, whether they consciously act upon it or not, they want to do the right thing, or at least understand that what they are doing is basically good, for they know intuitively that bad decisions, bad actions, and bad thoughts, will ultimately produce very bad consequences.  The most straightforward response to this, is simply to do good things, but life throws us all sorts of complications, all sorts of choices, and it is within those choices, that people will suffer, for each choice has its own merit, yet you cannot choose all of them, and thereby you fear making a choice that is less than desirable, and that consequently may have woeful consequences.

This then indicates, that you wish for a hint, perhaps more than a hint or more than a suggestion, even, as to what you should do, or what you should consider, and ultimately are in somewhat of a dire need for relevant feedback for your situation, for you trust not your inner being or intuition to make the right choice, though you probably should.  This means, for some people, that rather than meditate upon it, rather than to consult with people that love and respect them, they desire instead to seek out an "independent" party such as a psychic, or a spiritual advisor, or a witch, or a guru, or the occult, or a prophet, or an astrologist, or an oracle, to help them to see what the future holds and to thereby have that advance knowledge to utilize for their favor.

The problem, though, with the meeting of the mind with this independent person, is that you know not who or what they are made of, in which, perhaps you will get meaningful and prophetic enlightenment, or instead just get scammed into hearing something that you want to hear, which often plays upon your human vulnerabilities.   So too, this can be looked upon as the inevitable shortcut that so many people are enticed to take, that rather than taking the time and showing the concern to honestly evaluate who and what they are, and then to thereby make amends or modifications as necessary, instead wish to know the end while ignoring their all-telling signs, of which it is the signs, that foreshadow what will be.

While the future may indeed be uncertain, our inherent destiny is held within our control through the choices that we make day-by-day and our reactions to events as they unfold, as earth is the crucible for the testing of our true character.

Not One Soul left behind

American soldiers fight under the impression that not one soldier, to the best of their ability, to the best of the circumstances, will ever be left behind by their brothers in arms.  This is a powerful statement, made more powerful, when enacted by soldiers under the most trying of circumstances, so that this type of dedicated commitment materially helps to keep soldiers focused and strong, because they know that even when the fire gets especially hot, their compatriots will not leave them behind, and thereby they need not fear being left alone and abandoned.

In the western world, mainstream religion, basically teaches the people, that upon our death, there is a distinct division between those that have been saved and thereby go to Heaven, and those that have been abandoned and thereby go to Hell, and this result is eternal.  Perhaps there was a time when this type of indoctrination made sense, perhaps it even makes sense today, but fundamentally this perception is flawed, distorted, and false.

God would never condemn any soul to an eternity in hell, for to do so, would imply that God quits on certain souls and thereby abandons them.  In truth, the confusion about hell is not that God judges you and finds you wanting, but rather that a life poorly lived suffers consequences for its ill actions, of which, the most basic and fundamental of those consequences, is because that soul has not displayed in action the attributes that God consists of, now is unable to rightly re-unite with God, and thereby this separation from God, should be classified for what it is, which is hell.

The great thing about eternity, is that eternity, by definition, is beyond time and beyond space, so that as humans we may have a difficulty in processing this, but if we were to contemplate this properly, we would begin to understand that there could never be any circumstance, whatsoever, that God, in His infinite compassion, in His omnipotence and omniscience, would ever step away from His own creation, as that just isn't possible, and just doesn't happen.

All of us are truly the children of God, there are none that are greater, and there are none that are lesser, as all are equal in the mind of God, while it is true, that it appears that some have progressed more than others, and some have regressed, it is also true that we are all ultimately One, as there is no other possibility, as God never abandons any soul, in fact, much like our brothers in arms, great souls prove their greatness by saving those that have veered off of the straight and narrow path, fearing not physical death, or any negative consequences, for no greater love can there be than to surrender yourself in service to our Creator and His offspring.

Never, never, never will God leave even one soul behind.  It cannot happen, it does not happen, it will never happen.  We are all in this together, we will all leave together, we are our brother's keeper, and we will all thereby learn the necessity of carrying our brother onto our strong back, as God so carries us.

Treasure and our Heart

We get paid to work, and for most people, we work because we get paid.  The money that we make is our own, and the decisions that we make on where, what, and how we spend that money is, rather recognized or not, also our own.  This means that you can learn a lot about yourself or about others, by simply observing what they spend their money on, and also on how much they do or don't save in money in a given month.

People treat money in all sorts of different ways, some are extremely disciplined, in which though they need food or clothing or desire entertainment, they are diligent in shopping for such things and take full advantage of sales and timing, and by virtue of doing this, they are able to make their money go farther and to utilize, at least from their perspective, their money more prudently.  Then there are others that as soon as they get their money, spend it in a hurry, grabbing the things that they desire, without taking into account, better deals or consequences, and finally, there are those that are a combination of both, and really just about everything in-between.

So too, there are many, many people, that talk a big game, about how generous they desire to be, or how generous they would be, if only they had more access to ready money to do so, yet, two people, under similar circumstances and salary, will utilize their money in vastly different ways in which often times, if really desired, there is that available money to make a meaningful impact in another person's life, to make a donation, to give back to society, yet one person does and the other person does not.

It is true that the money earned is actually ours, so that, money earned and how we utilize it can be looked upon as our personal treasure,  in which our treasure is in our control as to where we place it, what we do with it, and how we grow it, or not.  Some prefer to hoard it, some to invest it, some to spend it, and some to find ways to use it in order to make this world a better place.  The bottom line, though, is that whatever is done with the money that you earn is ultimately your responsibility to yourself, and those decisions are truly a reflection of the type of person that you are in actuality, which may be quite different than what you believe that you are.

This means, that the way that your money is spent or utilized, ultimately represents yourself in action.  So that, there should be a conscious thought as to where your monies are being spent, where your monies are being saved, and how your money is being utilized, as it isn't good enough to just be blithely clueless about how your money just simply comes and goes as you must instead take personal responsibility for all that, for your money is your responsibility.   In fact, just the very act of paying close attention to how your money is utilized will help to redirect you to what is or isn't a priority in your life, for how and where you spend or store your treasure is the measure of what does or does not really matter to you and the life that you lead.

Apartments and Dog Poop DNA

Perhaps half of dog owners are responsible, and the other half are irresponsible, which is to be expected since there are not any tests of responsibility done on the owners of such.  Because so many of today's inhabitants have moved into the city, more and more dogs now habitually reside also in city environments in which many of those people live in apartments, so that not only do a significant amount of dogs not have back yards, they also don't have space to run around in, and are often not even afforded even one good daily, comprehensive walk.

While all that is bad enough, dogs are animals, and animals have to defecate and urinate, in which, if the only space that your dog is basically permitted to be in most of the time is the apartment or condo complex, or a relatively small area of common grounds that you live upon, dogs are going to take care of their business where they have to take care of it, and while, no doubt, dogs can be trained for all sorts of things, mainly dogs are going to defecate when they feel the urge to do so.  A responsible dog owner will then do their duty and clean up the dog excrement, since not doing so, especially in confined spaces that are heavily trafficked, could potentially create environmental problems that adversely affect human beings.

While there are myriad ways to attend to incidents in which dog poop has not been cleaned up, it is not too surprising that in a hi-tech world, DNA is one of those ways, of which, dogs are registered to each owner, a DNA swab is done of that dog, and when poop is discovered, a sample of that dog poop is sent to a DNA lab in which upon a match from that database, a monetary fine is issued to that dog owner.  While that "solution" might sound wonderful to some people, it also sounds quite creepy and invasive, in addition to the fact that like anything involving tests, there are workarounds, of which, the simplest is to bring in a dog that looks similar to your actual dog for the DNA test to begin with.   Another problem with this program, is the fact that not everyone is 100% competent in collecting dog excrement, and/or not everyone, especially when the weather is bad, or it is very dark outside, is capable of finding all of the excrement, or even recognizing from time-to-time that their dog has actually pooped, of which some basic consideration should be given for the fact that even people with the best of intentions, fall short.

So too, another problem with this stance of DNA testing, is that possible solutions for neighborhood dog excrement issues, don't need to be limited to just DNA testing, as a situation in which security cameras are utilized, good neighborly relations, training, and so forth, might be a better way to address a problem before it gets to become pervasive.  Additionally, sometimes the easier solution of them all, is to make it part of maintenance's job to take care of dog poop as soon as it is spotted, and while this may seem like granting a green light for bad behavior by pet owners, isn't the real object of the exercise to clean up the common grounds for the safety of others, as opposed to confrontation and accusations.

Finally, there is one other consideration when it comes to DNA and the taking down of malefactors, which is today your pet, tomorrow, could such be utilized against humans in which the government is permitted to collect DNA from everyone in order to get a driver's license, employment, school admission, and so on.

The Boston Tea Party and Patriotic Civil Disobedience

For the law and order types of all stripes, civil disobedience is often seen as unpatriotic, unacceptable, and intolerable, basically taking the same stance that our British oppressors took in regards to the rebellious colonists, in which a new tax law was passed by Parliament which was placed upon the importation of British-shipped tea, a consumer item consumed by most colonists as well as being an item that the British had monopoly control over.  Colonists felt strongly that being taxed on a common good in which they as colonists had no voice in Parliament, who decided on such taxation, was an outrageous imposition upon them.   Therefore, town hall meetings were held, to discuss such taxation and deliberate actions were taken to turn back ships carrying tea  in all ports of America, however, the tea on the ships sent to Boston, did indeed make port, in which the Americans prevented this tea from being delivered from the port to the streets of Boston, and further made the fateful decision that on December 16, 1773, that such tea needed to be dumped into the harbor so as to make the tea water soaked or sunk, which was done, in a preplanned action that was executed to its full effect on that day.

This Boston Tea Party, was considered by the British Parliament to be an overt act of rebellion, which must thereby be stamped out, so the Coercive Acts were passed by Parliament, in an attempt to punish Boston for its rebellion and in the hope that the other colonies would separate themselves from Boston, and by their inaction and unconcern, allow Boston to come to heel.  Instead, the other colonies and colonists stood by Boston's side, and the incipient rebellion of colonists against their British masters grew in force, which ultimately led to the rebellion between the States and Great Britain, and the inception of our great Republic, which still stands today.

All of the above, came from deliberate civil disobedience against authority, carefully considered in town hall meetings, debated and discussed, in which this civil disobedience was most definitely against the "law", it was most definitely unlawful, and it most definitely had consequences, as well as putting into motion what was not necessarily inevitable, which was the birth of this new nation. 

Those that speak of civil disobedience as if it is wrong, miss the forest for the trees, for it is civil disobedience that brought forth this great nation that lives today.  This means, as our Constitution so states, that when the people believe strongly that the laws that have been passed and enacted are unequal, unfair, arbitrary, capricious, and so forth, that they have the right to peacefully assembly, they have the right to petition their government, and they have the right to withdraw their consent of any government that no longer lives to the basic principles that all have the inalienable right to which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, in which governments are instituted amongst men to secure those very rights, and that governments that preclude such rights, have no real legitimacy, as their authority is corrupt, and should not be obeyed.

This country was formed to be a country of the people, by the people, and for the people, in which it is the solemn and hallowed duty of these people, to hold our government officials, and our government in general, accountable, so that this government is representing the people, rather than running roughshod over them, manipulating them, imprisoning them, and denying them, the very things that are theirs to begin with.

Machines v. Hand Labor

As robotics and machines get more and more sophisticated and more and more prevalent, those that labor with their hands and less with their sentient mind, find that their means of employment is in serious danger of being replaced or reduced significantly.  The race for ever more progress is in general a good thing, but as they say, too much of a good thing may have unforeseen consequences which are not good.

Human beings are social beings, that congregate into communities by default or by design, in which, a significant part of that commonality is the interaction of that group with one another.  A vibrant community consists of a give and take with other community members, so that there is something of intangible benefit from, for example, purchasing arts and crafts that are locally made, or food items that have been provided by a local farmer's market, which has little to do with "monetary savings" if there are any, but in recognition that we have an obligation to serve our neighbors by demonstrating such in an exchange of goods or experiences, which through this exchange, helps to be strengthen our ties with one another.

So too, there is always a value to accomplishing things that necessitate "sweat labor" in which your mind and body work together to produce something of merit, irrespective of whether that good could be or is mass-produced somewhere else.  The reason that the hand labor and the mindfulness aspect is so important is because first and foremost, we are fellow human beings, that have an implicit need to connect with one another, which can be willfully done by creating something of merit or worth that is of value to others, which is often unique in its own aspect, and not an exact duplicate repeated again and again, ad nauseum.

Further to the point, mankind has an implicit need to work, and not simply exist in a world of endless idleness or indulgence, for those that have nothing to do and have nothing of material worth, will inevitably find wrong things to do to themselves or others, whereas those that are slothful, will lose their capacity to rise up to the occasion, when driven to circumstances that demand such.

A sweater that is hand-stitched, over a considerable amount of time, is almost always regarded by the recipient of such, superior to a machine made sweater, not because the hand-made sweater is perfectly sewn, but because it is not, as well as the fact that it was made with thoughtfulness as a specific gift or with the intention to be sold to someone that would be genuinely appreciative of a hand-made item. 

It is often considered that the very best gifts in life are not the most expensive but the ones that have the most thoughtfulness and personal consideration within them, which is why a Hallmark card, as good as they can be, seldom is able to match up to a handmade card, because one has sentiment whereas the other is sentiment personified.

A man's life needs purpose and part of that purpose is performing thoughtful acts that make for a better neighborhood, best expressed through our hands, our heart, and our mind.

Hi-Technology Companies and their constant buying and consolidation

In general, hi-technology companies are relatively young, so for the unenlightened there would be a strong tendency to believe that because of their rather short overall tenure, and in addition to the fact that the hi-tech field appears to be very vibrant and innovative, that they wouldn't need to buy or acquire other companies in order to remain relevant, but, in point of fact, hi-tech companies are constantly buying out other hi-tech companies, from big to small, from developed to just developing, all in an endless cycle of get big, or become irrelevant.

There are a lot of reasons why hi-tech companies like to buy other companies, as well as paying what appears to be insane pricing or princely sums for them, in which one of the most significant reasons is that hi-tech companies are absolutely frightened that if they do not keep up their current trajectory of growth, or do not buy up potential threats to their business model, or do not keep up with other acquisitions that other companies that they are related to are doing, that they may easily end up being the hunted, and not the hunter, as happened with companies that were once as powerful as Yahoo, bought by Verizon, or Sun Microsystems having been bought by Oracle, amongst many, many others.

While most people, don't seem to particularly care about all the hi-tech mergers and acquisitions, there is a potentially insidious problem with such, in which, far too many worthy hi-tech companies, allow themselves to be bought for a very nice premium of their present-day value, which takes what formerly was a competitor and/or an independent company and places it into the fold and arsenal of a major hi-tech conglomerate, which not only consolidates power, but concentrates it, even more appreciably than before.  Another thing, that large hi-tech companies are prone to do, is to keep the names of their acquired hi-tech companies the same that they were before being bought, so the uninitiated won't really be aware that YouTube is owned by Alphabet (Google), Skype is owned by Microsoft, jet.com is owned by Wal-Mart, stub hub is owned by eBay, instagram and whatsapp are owned by Facebook, and so on and so forth.

Because the companies doing the acquiring have deep pockets and the right financial connections to both acquire more companies and to finance recent purchases, these type of buy-outs in a hi-tech world, allows those doing the acquiring to demonstratively know more about the very people that utilize their various tools and apps, in ways that permit them to know intimacies and correlations of individuals that are both enlightening and exploitable by such companies in many ways, both good and bad.

In point of fact, the world isn't better off by having just a handful of truly gargantuan hi-technology companies that know everything about everyone, for concentrated knowledge is also exploitable by governmental institutions that have the ability to play rough with hi-tech companies that may not initially cooperate with them.  This means, that the government absolutely implicitly does not mind mergers whatsoever between hi-tech companies as it is a lot easier to deal with a very small subset of corporations and executives, than information that is much more evenly disbursed. 

It is one thing entirely for hi-tech companies to grow organically and it is an entirely a different thing for hi-tech companies to snatch up revolutionary and disruptive technology by other companies so as to control and mold the overall comprehensive package to their benefit, with the consumers of such, typically none the wiser for it.

Prison guard Body Cameras

America imprisons an incredibly high amount of people in its jails and prisons, in which, the sheer amount of resources devoted to this institution, would presupposed that society should be receiving something of real merit in return.  Additionally, there is a very basic obligation that incarcerated people be accorded basic human rights and one way to assure that this is actually being accomplished is for prison guard body cameras to be the de rigueur way of verifying this along with the appropriate objective peer review of all meaningful interactions.

Of course, prison guards deserve to be protected and supported in their job duties in which prisoners can harm or even kill them, so too, their job can be a thankless task of being literally the last line of defense against people that have lost their sensibility and rationality, so the usage of certain stringent measures most certainly can be merited in circumstances necessitating such.

Then there are the unfortunate situations in which people with significant mental or drug issues are incarcerated, to which the prison environment exacerbates their problems, creating an unnecessary burden best dealt with by institutions set aside to handle these type of things, as opposed to incarceration which accomplishes little of real merit.

Another important factor favoring the usage of body cameras is for an objective review of procedures being conducted by prison personnel so as to ascertain that things being accomplished are in keeping with the rules and regulations in regards to the treatment of incarcerated individuals and hence such video can be utilized as necessary, for appropriate re-training, or disciplinary actions.  In actuality, in most incarceration institutions, it is usually a very small minority of prisoners or the guards that create the troubles that can lead to unnecessary harm and material damages to begin with.

One of the most germane reasons why body cameras are so necessary in incarceration facilities is the tendency for the general public to assume that prisoners are treated appropriately, and their belief that since everything is pretty much out of sight and out of mind, that this is a fair attitude to take in regards to such things.  The problem with this stance is that the vast majority of those currently incarcerated will at one time or another be released to the general public, so that those that are treated in inhumane ways, with their rights disrespected and truncated, probably will not readily adjust to public life, whereas those that have been treated in a more respectful way, with consideration and fairness, will no doubt, perform better.

Whether the general public cares or cares not for those that are incarcerated can best be responded to with the fact, that this particular industry that incarcerates people, whether through governmental institutions or subbed out to private correctional facilities, is a major drain against the budgets and monies of communities, and anything that will help to utilize these monies spent more effectively while also performing a service to the community would be considered to be a real boon. 

Those that run correctional facilities have an obligation to be responsible to those that are incarcerated within the facilities while also having a fiduciary duty to do right by the general population, in which, the bright light of openness and transparency drives out the darkness of wrong and mistreatment.

Recording Governmental Employees

We live in an age in which technology in many of its most common forms has become priced so that it can be purchased by the masses, if they are inclined to do so.  Specifically, smart phones are ubiquitous and while recordings can be done with audio/visual equipment that costs thousands upon thousands of dollars more, so too it can be done with even the most basic of smart phones. 

We live in an era in which the private sector, that is, your everyday citizen, seems to have ceded more and more of their rights and more and more of their control of their life to governmental oversight, whether deliberately or not.  That is to say, citizens, quite frequently have to interact with governmental employees to receive all types of governmental benefits, or governmental licensing or governmental approvals on so many activities that an average citizen cannot properly conduct their day-to-day activities without having had some sort of interaction with some governmental agency at some point.

While these interactions with governmental employees can be as basic as through internet communications such as chat and email, it is also quite common to interact with governmental employees through the telephone or in-person.  All of these interactions involve private citizens, or citizens acting in such a capacity interacting with governmental employees, in which, governmental employees as a matter of function and public policy, are implicitly performing their duties as a service to their constituents.

There are many, many people that have been frustrated at one time or another with their service with governmental employees, especially frustrating is situations in which such a citizen feels powerless to effect change, as if in those situations, it is the citizen that is playing the role of begging for satisfaction or service and the governmental employee playing the role of denying such, especially in a manner that indicates insensitivity, blithe unconcern, or arrogance.

You would think, that a citizen should always have the explicit right to record one’s activities with a governmental employee, while subject to some reasonable limitations, which would help overall to improve the customer to governmental employee interaction, for a recording of such, would be not only actionable evidence, but would probably have a strong tendency to keep both parties more civil and more responsive to one another.

Indeed, there are a couple of very basic things that would support such a recording as being a citizen’s right to do, in which, the first is the fact that as citizens we have Constitutional rights that preclude the government from silencing our freedom of speech or freedom of the press, in addition to the fact that these recordings are of public employees while operating in their capacity as public employees, and not recordings of private employees or private citizens that are within their own private, not public, space.

Additionally, the main purpose of such a recording is for the protection and entitlement of citizens, so that their word and their rights are not silenced by governmental employees that overstep their bounds, in addition, it protects governmental employees from harassment and such from private citizens, who have overstep their bounds.  In short, citizens should have the right to record and a right to present such a recording to a peer group that has the authority to effect change, when such evidence supports it.  This would most definitely be a benefit to citizens, who simply desire that the governmental employees of which their tax dollars foundationally support, would actually provide a fair service to them and other citizens.

The dark legacy of slavery and status

While American has taken many wonderful strides towards a more plural society, a more accepting society, and a true melting pot society, in which we must credit those people and those institutions that have promoted such, there is still, significantly too often a great divide between those that have simply because of the color of their skin as compared to others for are held back for the same.  While it may be said, that all non-Caucasian and non-Christian peoples of America have suffered at some point and for some time from prejudice and unfairness, the vast majority of those suffering from such, entered this country implicitly, if not explicitly voluntarily, whereas for those that are African-American and have history that dates back to antebellum times, came here mostly as slaves, in which, in this land of America, the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court, as stated by the hand of Chief Justice Taney that the black man was, "….so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect…"

It took a bloody civil war, a great President, dedicated sacrifice, as well as an Emancipation Proclamation, which, in turn was followed by the important and critical passage of the 13th-15h Amendments that finally abolished the abominable institution of slavery, provided equal protection under the law for all races, and the enfranchisement of voting for all races.  Unfortunately, there are words, there are laws, and there are the results of such in real application, in which, especially in the defeated southern states, things went back to the norm, which meant that blacks although not legally enslaved, were in many cases, for all practicalities, still in servitude with little rights that any white man of the street need respect, and an uneven and often aborted experience in expressing their suffrage at the ballot box.

As time moved on, progress was made for true civil rights here and there, helped by our activity in fighting wars abroad with soldiers of all colors, helped by the courts, helped by progressives of all races and creeds, helped by the initiatives of activist people that suffered indignities and injustices for their assertion of basic Constitutional rights, in which, slowly and inexorably, progress was accomplished. Yet, despite pockets of real merit, pockets of fairness, pockets of courtesy, pockets of consideration, the legacy of slavery still lives on and is obvious in its effects which is clear to anyone of reasonable perception.

For instance, on virtually every possible meaningful metric, those that come from a legacy of slavery, still suffer for it, from education, from housing, from well being, from healthcare, from opportunity, from policing, from justice, from wealth, from perception, from segregation, from separation, and from freedom.  Too often in America, there are still two distinct worlds, separate and unequal, in which the crime that has been committed by those that lack, is simply the color of their skin, nothing more, and nothing less. 

America compels African-Americans to pay their fair share, to obey the law, to pay their taxes as if they are equal, but treats them in application as if they are not; America, too often, demonstrates its hypocrisy in large things and small, in which African-Americans again and again, are discriminated against, explicitly and implicitly by a government of the people that is supposed to treat all with equality, justice, and fairness.  Too often the poetic words that America speaks so elegantly for are meaningless, as the results prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, that African-Americans consistently have their dreams, their hopes, and their desires, crushed by the oppressive hands of a government that preaches one thing and lives out something more true to its corrupt and damnable character.

The Supreme Court Trumps all

Our government is broken into three separate branches, the Legislative which makes laws, the Executive that executes such laws, and the Judicial that evaluates and interprets laws.  This separation of powers as created by our Constitution was deliberate in which the thought process was that no single branch of the government would ever be so powerful as to create a nation-state that would be tyrannical against the people, for this nation was created to be for the people, by the people, and of the people.

Today, in way too many ways, the Supreme Court isn't really ruling as to whether a law is or is not Constitutional, but has aggrandized unto itself, the ability and the power to simply create new law, where there was no law before, which because the Supreme Court is the highest court of the land, when they enact such a decision, essentially making new law, this therefore impacts the entire United States.  For instance, and really irrelevant to whether you are politically left or right, the Supreme Court adjudicated recently that same-sex marriages are a national right, as well as previously that one's right to privacy entails ultimately the right to terminate one's own pregnancy.

While those that applaud such decisions are delighted with them, the fact of the matter is, that when a tribunal of nine justices are permitted to decide on vital questions that affect the whole people, and such decisions are irrevocable, than the necessity or relevancy of the legislative and executive branches have become not only nullified, but almost irrelevant.  In addition, the very people that are supposed to be masters of their own country are instead to live in a country, in which nine unelected and life-tenured Supreme Court justices don't just argue over a particular and specific case, but  too often render decisions in a manner that overturns long standing legislative and Constitution law, in which no longer do you have a nation that adheres to a written Constitution, but instead it has devolved into a land that is effectively run by a majority of a tribunal of nine, since they, and seemingly they alone, can decide what is or isn't the law of the land, and dictate to the people by their decisions, their activist beliefs.

Our Constitution is not a perfect document, the people that wrote it and the States that ratified it, knew that at that time, which is why there was so much debate, compromise, opinion, discussion points, and give and take at its inception.  Nevertheless, this written Constitution is the law of the land, and within that Constitution there are specific ways to amend laws, such as through the ratification of Amendments to the Constitution, of which, there have been a total of twenty-seven amendments made to our present day Constitution, of which ten of them, known as our Bill of Rights, were immediately part of our Constitution to begin with.

It is one thing to made an appropriate Amendment to the Constitution, which necessitates, debate, compromise, and an appropriate majority ascending to such, and an entirely different thing, when five Supreme Court justices tell the other four Supreme Court justices what the law is, and then imprint such a law unto the American people, without this law having been voted upon, legislated, or its appropriateness debated. 

The mistake that is made today, is forgetting that the Supreme Law of the land is the Constitution, itself, not the Supreme Court, as some sort of living justified embodiment of the Constitution.   This would so indicate, that decisions made by the Supreme Court which are in violation to the Constitution, or activist personal interpretations of such, have no real or legitimate validity, especially because the executive and legislative branches as representatives of the people are entitled to overrule wrongful interpretations of the Constitution, or, if they do not, they have vacated their sacred duty to their constituents, our honored dead, and the founders of this great republic.

What Government Control of the Economy Really Means

People, in general, desire consistency and implicit guarantees, so that if they do their part in getting educated and preparing themselves for gainful employment, that they should thereby always be employed on a consistent and reliable basis.  While that type of world certainly seems desirable, undoubtedly preferred, it isn't something that can be guaranteed by any government, unless such a government exercises the power to control everything in regards to the people and their choices, effectively eliminating free choice and negating free decisions. 

On the surface, this reminds one of repressive nations that put forth five-year plans, ten-year plans, and the like, only to see these plans constantly revised again and again, for their objectives never are reached, and hence always therefore revised or faked.  The main reason that planned economies fail, is not that the government doesn't have control of the people, for they basically do, but rather that these coerced actions by the government disengages the people from being as productive as they would normally be, with the additional issue that the governmental elite privileges itself so that the rules most definitely do not apply to them.

This means that the more power that the people cede to government, as well as the more freedoms that are sacrificed for their alleged security, along with the more arbitrary rules and regulations that employers are compelled to obey, the inevitable result will be less overall freedom that is permitted to occur for the people, in which this type of bargain, often results in the people gaining little, if anything, and losing the very essence of what it means to be gifted with free will, free choice, and a free mind.

The greatness of any nation is in direct relationship to the freedom and fair opportunities that it provides for each citizen, in which, those citizens, jointly or individually, can as they so choose, provide aid or mentoring to others, so that those on the lower echelons are helped to advance to a superior level.  The government of such a people, because it both represents the people as well as in actuality being the ultimate arbiter of fairness, has an obligation to behave as much as possible, in an impartial, objective, and in cases in which much previous wrong has been done, set standards to ameliorate and to thereby help restore wholeness to those so oppressed.

The economy is ultimately made up of the people with their intelligence, their knowhow, their vision, their capital, their negotiations, and their productivity in which the true purpose of the government isn't so much to be laissez–faire, but rather, as necessary, the government has an inherent obligation and purpose to breakup concentrated power, to eliminate crony capitalism, assure fair taxation, to forgo foreign wars done at the behest of the military-industrial complex, and to eliminate unfair profiteering in times of trouble.  If these things are done right, our economy will take care of itself, for it is, after all, these free American people that created this greatest nation on earth.

The People, Our Declaration, and our Constitution

Before there was our present day  Constitution there was the Articles of Confederation, which basically represented our first constitution, but the articles lacked the ability to take the now thirteen states and truly unite them under one body politic, essentially necessary in order to appropriately deal with the world at large, for trade, for debt, for just about everything, and hence there was a felt the need, as well as an urgency, that a central government, with limited and delegated powers, be created, which was done, with the final state ratifying our governing Constitution accomplished n 1790. 

The Constitution, itself, was controversial, full of vigorous debates, with some adamantly opposed to a strong central government, and others recognizing the need for such, in which, the slippery slope that all wished to avoid, was any sort of return to the tyranny that a bloody independence war had been fought for.  One of the most important measures created for the people, was the creation of the Bill of Rights to our Constitution, in which the rights of the people, were clearly written into that Constitution.  These rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, protection of the rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as the fact that the rights and powers not specifically enumerated or delegated would be retained by the people or the states, all represented to the people the essential message as distilled by President Lincoln, that this is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

It is fundamental to remember that our Declaration of Independence, our raison d'être, recognized that each of us is gifted inalienably with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and it is those very gifts, that created the common sense to declare and to fight for our independence from Great Britain.  This means that any government, so created, by these United States, in order for it to still be considered both legitimate and in keeping with the harmony of our Declaration of Independence, must as a matter of course, do nothing to steal these very inalienable rights from the people.  Further to the point, the Constitution is not really set forth as a document for the people to bow down and pay obeisance to, but rather clearly represents a document that asserts the people's inalienable rights, their basic freedoms and protections, and that the only legitimate national government is the one that truly represents all of the people, with equality, fairness, and justice for all.

Unfortunately, not too surprisingly, the national government, has gotten more powerful, more intrusive, more controlling, more taxing, and more tyrannical, over the ages, so that at the present day, many people rightly fear this government's power for rather than the people being the masters of their own fate, this inalienable power has been wrested from the people's hands, their God-given choices nullified, and too often, the government asserts its powers against the people in a concerted and concentrated force to exact whatever they so desire from them.

We now live in a bifurcated country, in which, our masters and their cohorts do as they please, with the vast majority of citizens, monitored, categorized and watched, in which this government tells the people that this is necessary for their protection, but in reality, done so as to benefit the avarice of the elite, so that our inalienable rights and our Constitution guarantees, are trampled upon by the very government, established for our benefit.

Laws, Legality, and Morals

We are told to "obey the law", which on the most simplest of terms, seems to make sense, but life isn't as simple as just obeying man's law.  For example, laws change, all of the time, so that things that are presently illegal such as slavery, were once accepted and legal; whereas things that are currently legal such as abortion, were once illegal, and so on and so forth.  So too, we have many different courts of law, that adjudicate whether a particular thing is legal or illegal, in addition to the fact that man has created so many laws, as well as having so many rules and regulations, that inevitably some of these laws or rules contradict or override another law, so that even if an individual had an innate desire to always obey man's law, they wouldn't be able to, because of inherent contradictions between laws, misinterpretation of laws, and lack of knowledge of certain laws.

The laws that are presented to us today, are for the most part, man's law, of which some of these laws have come from our legislatures, some from executive decree, and some from activist judges, in which, man's laws and their application are then adjudicated by the judicial branch of the courts, in which, one branch, can overrule another, and where precedent of laws may or may not be overturned, making for a rather motley stew of laws that man is supposed to obey.

But what of all this obedience, when each of us is gifted with an innate sense of right and wrong, in which, quite clearly there are laws that simply are fundamentally flawed or wrong, whether recognized on that particular day or not.  That is to say, man is consistently fallible, man is mutable, as well as mankind changes with the times, thereby blowing both with the wind and against it, and in short, because of its governance creates some laws through an often corrupt system that aids and abets one particular segment of the population that has the ear of power, while ignoring or dismissing those that do not.

All of this necessitates that rather than blinding following any law, there should be an overriding principle that guides all laws, that is both consistent and just.  That law exists, in which it is known as natural law, the law that states that a legitimate law must be in accordance with the Highest Law, of which that law, is always just, equally applied, and immutable.  This means that rather than blinding following any law, no matter the penalties or consequences of failing to adhere to such, that we have an inborn duty to disobey an unjust law, and thereby to act in accordance with the highest form of law, that cannot be rightly trumped by anything, because this Highest Law is eternal, just, and moral.

So that, because man's law does conflict with the Highest Law, there are worldly consequences suffered for those that disobey the dark arm of the law as applied by man, yet this rebellion must be made, for our highest duty is not to corruptible man, but to our Creator, who expects nothing less from his progeny.  This means that slogans or propaganda such as "What is legal is moral", or "What is legal is right" are a grand disservice to mankind, for legality as applied and exercised by man, is far too often for the benefit and service of a privileged few to the detriment of the many.

The American Empire

America celebrates its Independence Day on July 4, each and every year, but in actuality, the real celebration in America for its independence won from Great Britain, should be held on September 3, as this was the date in 1783, that Great Britain formally acknowledged the independence of America, with the Treaty of Paris, for the war fought over the preceding years.  Since that time, the original independent thirteen colonies of America have become the fifty States of the United States of America, in which America through its belief in "Manifest Destiny" conquered, claimed, and won lands from Native American Indians as well as the country of Mexico, along with buying lands from foreign powers, all to create our present day America.

So too, while America has fought or been an active force in numerous wars since its founding, it has, claimed, or ending up controlling virtually only strategic islands around the oceans of the world, in order to established naval bases for the protection and maintenance of the United States, as well as being strategically placed to assist its allies.  The overall restraint that America has shown in regards to foreign countries and the resources of other sovereign nations has been quite impressive, up to a point, but digging beneath the surface, vividly demonstrates that the American fingerprint is worldwide, invasive, pervasive, and relentless.

For instance, as reported by thenation.com, "there are now around 800 US bases in foreign countries," whereas they are exactly zero foreign bases in America.  In addition, the "unofficial" reserve currency of the world, is the United States dollar, as well as the financial capital of the world is generally considered to be New York City, in which the two biggest stock exchanges in the world, are the New York Stock Exchange, and the NASDAQ, both located in the United States.  Also, the seminal United Nations is headquartered in New York City, in which, the United States as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, has veto power, indicating that resolutions that it does not approve of, cannot be formally adapted by the United Nations.

Additionally, virtually the entire world has been subject to  some degree to exploitation by the United States, in particular, in third world or developing nations, for their valuable natural resources that the United States  or its allies so desires, in which, deals are constructed that are primarily beneficial for America as a whole to the exclusion of the sovereignty of the countries that "own" the mineral resources, as America's expertise and infrastructure, are often seen as necessary for the competent development of these natural resources.  History has also demonstrated to us, that America meddles in foreign nations by supporting or propping up leaders that are beneficial for America, while killing or marginalizing those that are not. 

When it comes to trade, America trades with virtually every nation across the globe, which while providing benefits on both sides of the table, also often necessitates an actual presence of American knowhow and infrastructure onto those same foreign lands, in which, America has demonstrated again and again, that once they establish a foothold upon foreign soil, they do not often cede ground.   For instance, although the Cuban embargo has been in effect since 1960, and despite repeated attempted assassinations of Fidel Castro, America, never has relinquished their control of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base which is actually part of Cuba, our historical foe.

The American Empire is truly worldwide and while America does not ostensibly insist upon tribute, tribute is paid to it, each and every day, directly or indirectly, and those that are obtuse enough to actually spit in America's face, will surely know the wrath that this Empire will bring upon them.

Stock Market Leverage and Panic

As of June, 2017, the stock market indexes are essentially at all-time highs which have increased the net worth of individuals considerably from the stock market lows of 2008, but like anything, nothing rises forever, and fundamentally stock prices have to have some sort of tangible relationship to the underlying intrinsic worth of the stock to begin with.  When times are good, a lot of this is somewhat ignored, for markets in America, are quite liquid, consistently and reliably open, and with both buyers and sellers in abundance, the market is said to be efficient.

Another prospective, though, would indicate that markets are not quite as quiescent, reliable, and consistent as one might imagine them to be, in fact, to ignore this, may entail rather dire financial consequences.  For instance, present day trading in stocks, are typically not conducted by individuals bargaining back and forth, as was the case, back when stocks exchanges were first conceived of, as the vast majority of trades are now automated, using advanced algorithms to take advantage of inconsistencies in pricing, trading patterns, and optimization, for such automation obviously carries the seeds of its own potential destruction, for "black swan" events do occur, and the robustness of automated trading strategies when panic is in the air is the true acid test of how failsafe that they really are.

Additionally, as in all investments, the leveraged of the money being utilized, especially the higher the amount of leverage drawn upon, creates a higher degree of volatility for the greater amounts of money so borrowed, which has to, at some point, be paid back, and those loaning such, have conditions that must be met, in which, within these terms and conditions, leverage, which institutions and individuals often take for granted, and even build their castles upon, cannot be guaranteed  continual access to, as well as the cost of that leverage can rise substantially, especially in the moments of time when most needed.  

Further to the point, the more leverage there is, the more potential panic there will be, as investors, automated or not, unwind voluntarily or involuntarily their stock portfolios, causing a cascade of selling pressure upon investors, so that investments that looked absolutely secured the evening before, have lost value in double-digits in one day, or even have collapsed completely as does happens occasionally to individual stocks, especially those that have questionable intrinsic value to begin with.

The difference between leveraged money and money that is actually yours, lock, stock, and barrel, is the difference between night and day, in which, leveraged money because it is leveraged, loves the market when times are good, and when times are bad, has as its overriding objective, a flight to safety, in which, the first one out of a sinking ship, has first access to the safety boats so attached.   This means when there are nothing but sellers, prices fall, and they will fall precipitously, and while pundits admonish us all of the time that the best time to buy is when there is "blood in the streets", panics have a way of feeding upon themselves, because most people have an abiding interest in at least retaining a portion of what they once had, rather than the ignominy of losing it all.

The bottom line is that borrowed money and leveraged used in investments, will ultimately create more volatility and far less stability, especially since so many believe in their infallibility as well as their impeccable timing, till a monstrous panic ensues, whereupon greed takes a back seat to pure unmitigated fear.

Bad Times for Labor

According to governmental statistics, unemployment is around 4.3%, which as reported by NYtimes.com, on 6/2/17, is "its lowest level in 16 years", in which historically low unemployment rates would necessitate better wages for those that are employed, but statistics also demonstrate to us, as reported by pewresearch.org that "today’s average hourly wage has just about the same purchasing power as it did in 1979," indicating that despite all of the productivity growth America has accomplished since 1979, that this has not translated into wage growth for the average laborer, which means somewhat obviously that the main beneficiary of this productive increase has gone to the owners of businesses and/or those that control the capital in the first place.

Further to the point, the world has shrunk considerably since 1979, in which there are less and less onerous tariffs associated to the trade and selling of goods worldwide, along with the fact that governments such as the USA consistently aids and abets exporting jobs that previously were performed here in America, being outsourced overseas, so that while American consumers benefit in lower cost products domestically, they also lose out on employment opportunities because those jobs no longer exist locally as American labor costs cannot compete in many professions, against foreign labor.

Additionally, companies make it a point to automate the things that can be efficiently automated for the dual reasons of the benefit of capital expenses as well as capital depreciation, which helps the company from a tax liability standpoint as well as the fact that automation and robotics are often labor saving devices, if not initially, then projected to be so.

All of the above puts extensive pressure upon labor, so that a significant amount of the jobs that people are presently employed in, don't pay well now, won't pay well in the future, and have limited upside for laddering up for those so employed.  In addition, to that fundamental issue, labor, unlike machinery, has associated costs that are mandated by various, somewhat intrusive, government agencies, such as OSHA standards, healthcare, vacation, sick leave, holidays, overtime, and so on and so forth, whereas machinery, does not have the equivalency of these things attached to it.

In this type of environment, especially in an age in which labor unions have become, especially in the private sector, almost irrelevant, the sole laborer, unattached to anything, that is, a free agent, often working under the semantic of "right to work" gobbledygook, has virtually no power, no matter how much value that person brings to the table, to demand, much of anything from management, especially when working in an industry, in which they are just another cog in the machine.

In short, just because you are employed, doesn't mean that you're making money, or progress, or a living wage, for as reported by fortune.com, "42% of all workers in the United States fit this bill," of making less than $15/hour, and as long as companies can outsource jobs overseas without penalty, can depreciate and expense capital equipment but never do the same with human labor, and labor unions remain essentially non-existent, it will continue to be for a significant amount of good Americans:  bad times for labor.