Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Christ is eternal, which means, though Jesus was born into this material world, made His ministry of lasting import, and was later crucified to His physical death, that in actuality Christ never died, for Christ, never was born.  That is to say, there is the body, and there is Christ the eternal, and these are not one and the same in substance, of which, we should at least get a hint of this, by the fact that as Christ promised, He raised His temple in three days, proving that there is a dimension that supersedes physical laws, and therefore is beyond time and space as humans perceive such.  So that, it is fair to say, that Jesus the person was actuated by Christ the soul, and there never was a time when the divine Christ did not exist for God is immutable, unchangeable, and all truth.

This then so means that those that celebrate Christ's birth and Christ's resurrection, as well as His ascension, as if these events are in the past, have it both right and wrong, for history is written in a linear perspective, but this perspective is limiting and does not tell the full and complete story, for each day, each one of us has the opportunity, to allow Christ to be born anew within them, and each day, each one of us has the opportunity to receive Christ's second coming, if they will only open the door of their soul and let Christ come in.

It is important to recognize, whether you acknowledge it or not, that Christ is here, right now, and your ability to see and to comprehend this, comes down to your ability to focus your attention wholly upon this, for a mind divided, is a mind that is not fully in connection with God, and that lack of connection to God creates the interference which precludes you from seeing and knowing what is already here, for if you seek, you will re-discover Christ, for there never was time when Christ was not already here, waiting for you to realize Him.

So that, while it is wonderful to celebrate Christ's birth, as well as to celebrate Christ's resurrection, it is a mistake to see this as something that is simply good enough to acknowledge and appreciate, but never good enough to live to or to aspire for.  If Christ, really means something of real significance to you, then wake up, and recognize that Christ must live within you, now, and if you believe that Christ will come back at a time that is akin to a thief in the night, then prepare yourself well for his return, for if you are not prepared, now, then His message has never taken root within you.

While there are many ways to read the tale of the Christ, at a minimum, it must be read as follows, that those that are non-believers in their heart will be stymied in their growth for their obtuseness and blindness, while those that are true believers in their heart, will not rest until they find the sanctuary that is perfectly represented by Christ; whereas all others that are lukewarm, are considered to be like many present day nominal Christians or believers, that appear so good from the outside, but are empty and devoid of God harmony on the inside, for everyday when Christ knocks on the door of their consciousness, they are too busy to be troubled to meaningfully answer it, for they feel they have done enough by simply donating a few coins or attending this or that, but never actually comprehend the real message, that Christ is already here, waiting, patiently, if they would only truly open up their heart to receive Him in.

Mankind and nature

So often the progress that mankind has made, has been made, by mankind applying themselves in such a manner that when looking at a given situation and rather than accepting such as being unchangeable or untamable, mankind seizes upon it as a challenge and thereby through mankind's intelligence and knowledge a plan is initiated to manipulate it, or change it, so as to utilize it for the intended benefit of mankind.  That is why, the productivity of modern man has risen to be so much higher and thereby the utilization of space and natural resources as being done today is at unprecedented efficiency levels, making America the largest food exporter of any nation in the world, because it utilizes its farmland at exceedingly high yield rates, in addition to harnessing water in a skillful manner for hydroelectric power, irrigation, and the drinking of, so that never is America suffering from any sort of sustained drought, in addition to the fact that America is essentially self-sufficient in its energy needs with its utilization of nuclear power, oil, hydro, coal, wind, solar, and natural gas.

All of these things could not have been accomplished if America had not taken the time and made the effort to look upon nature and natural resources as something to be conquered and controlled for the prosperity of mankind, as opposed to being frustrated by periodic flooding cause by massive rainfall and thereby the overflowing of rivers, or the lack of electricity, or the lack of lighting, or the lack of sensible infrastructure, or the lack of any of the modern conveniences that we now take for granted. 

These things that we now have, take make our communities and companies operate at a high efficiency, thereby creating progress for all to benefit, have come about because mankind refuses to just sit back and just assume that the way things are must be the way they should remain, and instead bends nature to the needs of mankind, representing the implementation of intelligence and creativity in order to make riches where before there was poverty, in order to bring convenience where before there was hardship, and in order to enlighten all where before there was darkness.

This does not mean that those that preach for a need to be in harmony with nature, and to treat nature with respect are wrong in their idealism, for their position does indeed have its merits, but rather it is mistaken to believe that the natural order of things is to allow nature to rule us, as oppose to mankind ruling nature.  While it is true that the wanton and careless destruction to natural phenomena, the misuse of natural resources, as well as the ills of pollution and the blowback of modern contrivances gone horribly wrong, are all true indications that progress does not always get it right, but the answer to such, is not the stoppage of that march of progress, but it is rather the amending and the monitoring of it, instead.

The nature that we have in front of us, is the nature that we are given to utilize in a manner that will aid us, of which, it isn't that mother nature gets it wrong, but rather it is for mankind to take what is here and now, and by his mastery of the elements, to become in effect, co-creators, of a world that is better for our development of it.

Lincoln's Farewell Address

When one thinks of Lincoln's farewell address, it is assumed that such, must have been his final address to congress and the people of these United States, at the conclusion of his second term in office, but Lincoln was assassinated near the beginning of his second inauguration, and thus did not finish his second term, yet, Lincoln did indeed have a farewell address.  That farewell address was given in Springfield, Illinois on February 11, 1861, and is considered a prescient farewell address for it was given by Lincoln before departing from Illinois on the presidential train onto his journey to Washington, DC, as the elected President, at a time when seven States of the Union had already voted to secede from such, and in this address, Lincoln, who was well noted for his humility stated: " I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington."

Of course, as we all know, Lincoln did not return alive to Illinois, and the awesome task put forth before him was to deal with the secession of the southern States that created the confederacy which made the task before Lincoln truly monumental and shook the very foundations of this great nation, which arguably was a greater task than the one that was confronted by Washington, for the revolutionary battle, was a battle of one domestic people uniting to become free from the bounds of English control as opposed to a war between brothers fought on this soil, of which southern States that had voluntarily agreed to the compact of the controlling law of the land, its Constitution, decided that they could, dissolve themselves of it, and further that they could attack with arms or claim as their own federal outposts and facilities, considering these as being rightfully theirs and seen as intrusions upon their sovereign State territory.

Lincoln had many attributes as a President, of which one was, especially in consideration that he was a lawyer, the firm belief that what he could or could not do as the President, was constrained by the Constitution, which was and is the controlling document of this American republic.  This made his task even more arduous for Lincoln had no desire to destroy what was the firm basis of this country, but instead he desired strongly to see that America actually lived up to its Constitution and that it would remain a country of the people, for the people, and by the people; and if this meant, that the people, must take up arms in order to put down an unlawful rebellion and to thereby defend its people and its Constitution, than this is exactly what would happen.

The decisions that Lincoln had to make to deal with this unlawful domestic insurrection were both monumental and unprecedented, in addition to the fact that Lincoln was not a military general, and had just been elected to the highest office of the land, by the people of that same country, in which, the losers of that election, decided that if they could not win at the ballot box, that they would dissolved themselves of their union with their fellow States.

All of these things, together, could have made for a different country, or two countries, or a different rule of law because of the removal  or evisceration of our present Constitution, but instead, somehow, Lincoln, as our leader was not only able to successfully put down the rebellion, to therefore keep our country stitched together, and to circumvent any foreign entanglements into our domestic affairs, but also to renew and strengthen this country in such a manner, in which the scourge of slavery was eliminated from this great land, so that, there was in this nation, under God, a new birth of freedom for all.

Real truth is often not comfortable

We are told to tell the truth and to live our lives in a truthful, upright, and honest way, but how many can actually say that without fail, they tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, in all of their interactions on a given day.  In point of fact, many people lie or are deceptive in what they say and do, big and small, all day, every day.  They do so, not necessarily because they are bad people, though some are, and not necessarily because they don’t want to tell the whole truth, yet somehow they consistently fail to actually do exactly that.

Most people, especially in their personal uncomfortable situations, do not really want to know the truth, because the knowing of such truth would upset the equilibrium that allows them to conduct their everyday life.  Others do not want to know the truth, because knowing this would necessitate fundamental character changes in their life, and they do not want to change.  Still there are others that are afraid to testify to the truth, because they fear the consequences that would happen to them for having done so, personally, and therefore they shrink away.

The fundamental problem for so many in this world, is that the whole truth, may indeed bring forth clarity, but often it does not bring forth comfort.  For the telling of truth is often very uncomfortable, for the person divulging such, as well as for the recipient of this truth, especially when they are unprepared or unwilling to accept it, even when they know in their heart, that what they have been told, is the unvarnished truth. 

None of this should be interpreted as believing that telling the truth in circumstances in which this is consciously done to hurt another person's feelings, or to belittle them, or to harm them, is really testifying to the whole truth, for in virtually all cases it is not, for actions and thoughts that cast aside discretion and the consideration of the other, are not in conformance to the whole truth, because the person speaking this is often speaking to their own agenda, and not of a considerate desire to be of a true help to the other, but rather to put the other down, often in order to appease or to please their own selfish ego.

The reason that so many shy from recognizing the whole truth, is because, acknowledging the whole truth, often means that character flaws and other weaknesses that we have must actually be addressed, forthrightly, in order to be in conformance to what your heart knows to be right in the first place, and that therefore the making of these changes, would necessitate the changing of what you do and how you behave on a given day, which often means, very uncomfortable and inconvenient changes.

The fact that so many thereby don't make those changes, indicates, that they are more comfortable not in the truth, but in their lies that they have constructed as a substitute for that truth.  This then is the reason why so often in a court of law, people lie through their teeth, and why therefore, in the court of life, people lie just the same, for few can handle or are willing to face the whole truth, for doing so, will, for all intents and purposes, expose us for what and who we really are, in which the acknowledgment of that truth really does hurt.

The flaw of the "invisible hand" of capitalism

Adam Smith first came up with the concept of the "invisible hand" in regards to the free marketplace, which would because all parties, buyers, middlemen,  as well as sellers, were following their own self-interest, lead to a general fairness and equilibrium between the supply and demand of goods which would be of benefit to all those parties, rather than any sort of government imposed social structure, that would strictly limit what goods could or could not be produced, where they were so produced, the pricing of such, and the basic control of  the business apparatus and availability of by a governmental or its equivalency entity.

Surely, in modern times, the tale has been told, that governments that control the ingress and egress of goods, that control the resources and production of goods, absolutely can't hold a candle to free enterprise, so that, countries that are capitalistic in principle are in aggregate far more productive, and are thereby far richer than other nations, probably because, appealing to one's self-interest which benefits that party directly, does indeed, increase productivity, work efficiencies, and overall labor efforts.

That said, capitalism, is a system, that though it does in aggregate benefit society as a whole, it is also a system that is quite capable of exploiting and taking advantage of others, for the benefit of the person or company that understands the value and worth of a particular product or process better than the other person or company.  For instance, any time that one good is traded for another, and one person doing such a trade is well aware of the true value of the items being traded, yet, understands that the other person does not know or comprehend that true value, than such a trade as that, is a form of exploitation.  So that, back in the day, when real beaver pelts were traded for trinkets, those that received the beaver pelts could easily grow wealthy from such trading, because they understood well the worth of these pelts, and those receiving the trinkets perhaps were happy with such, for these trinkets were not part of their culture, and there were yet plenty of beaver to catch, but in actuality, their trade was a very poor bargain.

So then, fast forward to today's world, and there are plenty of trades done through the medium of money that are fair, mainly because through experience and history, people are able to evaluate fairly well the worth of those goods being bought and sold.  Yet, there are situations that are exploited every minute of every day of the week, such as people that don't truly comprehend financial interest rates, or penalties, or fees, and those that are well versed in all of these.  So too, a free marketplace does tend towards real equilibrium, but in actually, governments, rules and regulations can and are "gamed" to favor one entity over the other, so that rather than their being a level playing field there is not, and rather than there being free enterprise, there is cronyism and favoritism that benefits those in the know as well as the connected, and siphons real resources and monies from those that have no influence in the matter or are ignorant of it.

This means that capitalism has a lot in common with trying to get over on the other person, in which, the more that you get over on someone, the more money or goods that you get, with the other person receiving in turn, far less, for having been outplayed.  Ultimately, the end result of such capitalism is what you see today, which is a very clear and wide division, between classes of people, of which the justification of those that sit in the catbird seat, is that they earned it.  Perhaps, they did earn it, maybe even fair and square in the sense that they did not compel the other to buy or trade with them, but at its heart, it is often the exploitation of others for their own selfish benefit, and the consequent suffering of others, in which the poor and exploited must carry the rich upon their shoulders, as a form of tribute

to them, and suffer the miseries of being on the wrong side of the capitalistic trade game, so that they endure it all, and those at the top, reap the benefits, believing that they do deserve their material success, when in actuality, they do deserve what will come their way in the afterlife.

The priceless treasure waiting to be discovered

People spend inordinate amounts of time, just trying to keep their head above water, or having achieved such, endeavoring to get more and more, as if more is the answered to every question, though it is not.  Our spirit will always be restless till it finds repose in the only Being that will bring forth that satiation, though people will try to find that peace through all sorts of activities and through the substitution of the ownership of things, but yet in those quiet, still moments, that occur from time to time, we implicitly recognize our yearning to find to find that lasting sanctuary.

The very treasure that actuates the human soul must be a treasure that is not of this earth, for earthly things return to their origin, sooner or later, for nothing of this earth, is eternal.  This then signifies that the very thing that we have this deep desire for, must be beyond this dimension, that it must be beyond both time and space, so that it then follows that this certain thing is therefore immortal, changeless, and is the very essence of who and what we really are.

Those that do not bother to contemplate this in their minds or do not bother to even to try to search for this hidden treasure have failed at the most basic level of finding that certain lasting peace that is freely available to all.  Yet, our Creator, along with His legions of angels, wants us to find our way back to Him, for every parent wants the best for its children, and every parent wants its children to pursue diligently to find truth, justice, happiness, and love.

That is why, great gurus and great prophets periodically come amongst us, for because so many of this world are focused with their eyes cast downward upon the ground, these prophets are thereby sent forth to show us that we are indeed blind, and that only when we collectively remove the scales from our eyes, will we see correctly for the very first time, as if all before, was nothing but dull shadows and dull shapes.  For, mankind, despite all of his many glorious achievements of modern times, still does not live in this world as if in a family of brothers and sisters, but rather prefers to see life as just a more sophisticated game of the animal kingdom, where the strong and ruthless are the winners and thereby get the winner's share, and all others fight for the scraps and are thereby the losers.

Then there are those that are sort of lukewarm, for though they might pray or regularly attend religious service, their prayer is perfunctory and by rote, or though they might think of our God, such thought isn't consistent or concentrated, and thereby only in times of total desperation do they truly turn to God, but such petitions are often the petitions of a petulant child, demanding their way.  God is always available, but to find God, you must seek Him with the commitment of one that is looking for a very valuable buried treasure of which you have been gifted with a map, that at first seems confusing or even convoluted, but the more that you are determined to find God, and the more that you focus on doing so, the closer you will come to finding and to discovering that priceless eternal treasure that is the be all and end all of everything, and the fulfillment of your holy quest.

The 16th Amendment and the progressive income tax

The 16th Amendment was ratified in 1913, which states that: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."  The wording of this amendment was deliberate, so as to supersede previous taxation which limited such taxation to those taxes that were direct taxes apportioned proportionally among the several States, as well as the  eliminating the restriction of just being limited for tax revenue purposes to uniform taxes on duties, imports, and excises throughout the entire United States.  This meant, with congress having carte blanche to setup whatever they so desired to lay and collect taxes, that today's progressive income tax was built upon the foundation of this amendment.

The passage of the 16th amendment, initially only subjected a very small percentage of Americans to income taxation, and the top limit of such taxation was only seven percent, but like most taxes, that are first begun, it morphed over the years to encompass more and more Americans, as well as the inevitable addition of copycat State taxes, which most States impose upon their residents. The effect of such a progressive income tax was to in fit and function, to mandate that certain people of certain incomes, would pay more progressively as their income rose via personal taxes than other people, essentially creating a world in which some paid more, and then such monies were subsequently distributed or utilized by the government for purposes that the government so desired, indicating that such taxation would re-distribute monies in a manner in which there would be new beneficiaries of such largess, intended or not, as well as those that would find their income being squeezed for purposes that they had no real control over.

Not too surprisingly, such taxation, which perhaps was seen as an opportunity to "soak the rich" and therefore would have significant support from those that were not rich, has been corrupted to such an extent that the very rich themselves, the elite of the elite, the one percent of the one percent, have found ways to circumvent such taxation, or at least to reduce it significantly, so that they pay a vastly smaller percentage of the taxation rate of which they are, in theory, subject to,  through the myriad loopholes, specifically available for them, whereas, the great middle class of this country, are stuck paying the full freight of such taxation, because those avenues of gaming the system, are specifically not available for them.

This means, that billions upon billions of dollars are taken through taxation from the middle class each year, and this money is first used to feed, pay, and house government officials of all stripes, before being re-distributed, of which such re-distribution doesn't really go directly to those of the lowest income levels in order to help prop them up and aid them, but instead is disbursed first to all those that are connected to the government, on a quasi quid pro quo basis, and then what remains is passed on to the underclass of America, of which, such money as given to them, has all sorts of terms and conditions attached to it, so that those that are poor but don't fill out their paperwork correctly, or are poor and have violated some law, are left with the crumbs designated for the truly destitute and dregs of society.

While the concept of the progressive income tax, actually has some soundness to it, in the sense, that those that have more than enough, therefore have the monetary resources to share their wealth with those that have little or nothing, the actual execution of the progressive income tax, does not now work, and probably never has worked, for the statistics tell the tale, that the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, as well as being fatefully dependent upon governmental handouts and subsidies for their meager existence, and those caught in the middle as well as those that play by the rules essentially pay for it all.

Washington's warning against "overgrown military establishments"

George Washington was one of the Founders of this great country, considered by most historians to be our greatest general, for without the heroics and masterful leadership of Washington during our revolutionary war, with his brilliant retreats and attacks, utilizing all of his wiles and resolve in order to frustrate the British opposition, while also counterpunching and making daring raids when necessary, before finally trapping the British at Yorktown, which brought forth the reality of the independence of America as a nation, there would not be an America.

So too, George Washington was twice elected President, unanimously, though even then at the infancy of this republican country, there was a strong division between the federalists and the anti-federalists. In addition, the first signature on our law of the land, the Constitution, was from George Washington, the President of that Constitutional convention.  Though, Washington, did not sign our Declaration of Independence, he could not do so because he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, busily defending New York from the British, and to the eternal credit of the character of George Washington, he did not and would not run for a third term, and voluntarily walked away from the temporal power willingly placed by the people into his capable hands.

George Washington's farewell message, printed in September of 1796, addressed many issues, of which one of tremendous pertinence for today's generation, urges that we must: "….avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty", and which despite Washington's prescient warning, is exactly what has transpired and exists in America today.

The fact that such a warning comes from he who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, as well as being our first President of the United States, reflects for a certainty, that Washington knew personally, how when one is both President of the land and a man that has commanded its military forces at the highest possible level, that such a man with such control, can effectively negate the people's liberty for with both the military might in one hand as well as the executive power of our civil government in the other, he is in effect, a king.

That said, those respective powers are not equivalent, for even when the executive is not from the highest echelon of the military, we find that the military establishment, itself, is still so powerful, still so ubiquitous, still so pervasive, and still so entangled in foreign adventures and misadventures, that such an executive, that such legislative power, and that such republican power, is effectively emasculated by the sheer size and strength of such a military establishment, which has, for all intents and purposes, co-opted wide swaths of the power within all branches of the government, so that those that are inimical to such a military establishment, are not afforded the opportunity to be part of those branches, which is why, that this present-day military establishment, has a budget for 2018 as reported by usgovernmentspending.com which taking into account our military spending, veterans affairs, and foreign policy aid is of a staggering total of $886.80 billion dollars, at a time, when America has no congressional declared war with any other nation, and is under no clear and present threat by any other country, or any other organization, foreign or domestic, in any meaningful sense.

This effectively means, that republican liberty no longer exists in this great nation, and hasn't existed for quite a number of years, that, instead, we are led by a shadow government that does not answer to the people, but does what benefits the military establishment, which enriches those that have sold their souls to that establishment, actively aiding and abetting such a military establishment to such an extent, that the good welfare and freedom of this country for all, has been trumped by that unelected military establishment.

The decline of labor's share of income

While the stock market has marched higher and higher, with some of those public companies making unprecedented profits and taking greater market share, there has been no or little trickledown effect for those that labor in our workforce.  In fact, as reported by hbr.org, the labor's share of income has fallen from "… nearly 65% in the mid-1970s to below 57% in 2017," which succinctly reflects exactly what so many are suffering from, which is effectively the decline and stagnation of labor wages for many of those that are not highly placed within corporations, or skilled in the most lucrative fields of labor. 

In addition, a significant part of this downfall, comes from the fact that private sector labor unions have declined precipitously since the 1970s, in which because there is strength in numbers, having no voice at the management table, means in principle, that wage demands will be effectively ignored by that management.  This is why, laborers cannot do much of anything when they are laid off through the cutting of payrolls, or having their hours reduced for whatever reason at the convenience of such management, having their pay frozen and their benefits reduced, or directly suffering from the consequences of outsourcing of labor, the hiring of temporary labor that undercuts directly employed labor, and the subcontracting of jobs to outside agencies or other countries, in which the cost of that labor, is lower than maintaining workers already employed in that capacity.

All of these things add up, so that those that do not have money or assets which allows them to make money from investments such as the stock market, or housing, or by virtue of owning their own viable business, or other similar avenues, one can only make money through wage labor, and in absence of labor unions, or the ability to negotiate a reasonable pay package, will often mean settling for the prevailing wage in that sector, and thereby hope for the best.

One might think, that with unemployment being so low, that such would put pressure on wages in the sense that a shortage of laborers, typically necessitates an increase in compensation, since more companies must battle for the same employee base, but recent history has demonstrated that the correlation between low unemployment and thereby higher wages has disappeared.  While there are many theories why this might be so, the most obvious reason is that a massive swath of Americans have no seat at the table of their employer, hence, they will acquiesce to a lower something, rather than a whole lot of nothing.

Since the mid-1970s, labor's share of income has fallen, which means, that management's share of income has risen, which is great for the profitability and bonuses of those most highly placed and favored within corporations but in aggregate, it is very bad for those that labor paycheck to paycheck, so that, what you see in America, is exactly what one would expect, a greater and greater division, between those that have and are connected to those that have, and those have not, and have no connections and no power. 

Those that do not have a seat at the table of management, are unable to successfully negotiate better hours, better pay, better pay packages, better benefits, better job security, or much of better anything, and are in the unenviable position of simply, keeping their head down, questioning nothing, and staying out of trouble, just for the pleasure of having some gainful work and the very few dollars that come with it.

Religion and irreligion

In America, by Constitutional law, as per our First Amendment, there is no national imposed established religion, however, this did not originally mean, nor should it mean currently, that the individual States are precluded of having an established religion, State-supported as legislated by the State, as all of the original thirteen States had either an official religion or God belief as part of their State charter, at the time of the ratification of the Constitution.  However, as time went on, most of the States voluntarily waived the established religion and religious requirements within their State, and with the passage of the 14th Amendment, and in particular its due process law, this has been interpreted by the Supreme Court in the years since, as meaning that no State of this union, shall be permitted to establish a religion, even though the establishment clause was to protect the States from the national government imposing a religion upon the people, not to preclude the States from having an established religion or a God belief within their State, which was the actuality at the time of the passage of the Constitution by these very same States.

In any event, notable Supreme Court rulings such as the Everson v. the Board of Education, has changed the context of religion in the public square, religion in governmental arenas, and religion in public schools, over the ensuring years, in such a manner, that the governmental court decisions and the implementation of them has in many ways, replaced religion, religious instruction, religious history, with secular and humanistic beliefs, or essentially irreligion, so that the end result, is that the United States has effectively made irreligion the established religion of this national government.  That is to say, the courts and the national government have in many ways; in its fit and function prefer that students of public tax supported schools, as well as governmental facilities of all types, replace religion with irreligion, and to replace religious faith with secularism.

All of the above is supposedly done in a religiously neutral way, which means, in theory, that public schooling does not encourage religious belief or religious unbelief, but wants to keep religion, so to speak, out of the public marketplace.  However, when religion is removed from the public sphere, when it cannot be discussed in a meaningful way or when the prism of history, or philosophy, or of everything that religion, ethics, and morality should have a say upon, has been negated, and thereby replaced by non-belief, and basic non-religion, such indoctrination of students and the public is functionally irreligious, untruthful, and dishonest.

To take God and religion out of the public sphere and out of public schools obviously creates a vacuum, which must of a certainty be replaced by something else.  On the one hand, God and basic religious tenets teaches one the responsibility that we do not live to ourselves, that there is a greater power than us, that this power is our Creator, and from such we learn of appropriate ethics, morals, and of seeing all as our brothers and sisters.  All of this is to the good of the individual, to the good of society, and  to the good of civil government, but when God is forcibly removed from the public sphere, and replaced instead by irreligion and secularism, than it truly must be said, that anything goes, and that everything therefore is permitted, for laws are no longer created in conformance and recognition of natural law as universally provided to all through God, but are simply manmade laws, subject to the whims and tides of the time.  This is the country that we now live in, once seen as a beacon for those seeking religious freedom, but now effectively replaced by irreligion and the destruction of a true moral compass.

Indoctrination v. Thinking

Each of us has been gifted with our own mind, and the highest usage of such a mind, is the search for truth and meaning, especially when such a search is actuated by that particular person's mind, as opposed to simply absorbing information as if everything is true that a given person says, or a teacher states, or that an advertisement suggests to us. 

When we are young and vulnerable, we must believe that those that are bigger than us, such as our parents, or teachers, or other authoritarian figures, are right in what they say, for to question everything, when our minds and bodies are just developing, would endanger us too often, for to experience the full power of electricity could electrocute us, or to trust a stranger could severely harm us, as well as to run blindly across a busy street, could kill us.

However, there comes a point, when a reasonable and a maturing person, desiring to verify things that they have been taught, should if they are prudent, begin to question and to independently verify some things, such as scientists do, when they take the same given conditions, and demonstrate the accuracy of theories and methodologies, for to just accept things without ever questioning them, or investigating such, does a disservice to one's independent mind and curiosity.

Those that refuse to think, that thereby forswear to or don't desire to improve their mind, are basically those people that don't really learn and grow, but instead are indoctrinated into the prevailing mindset of whomever their teacher is, and are thereby inculcated by such.  The danger of such an indoctrination is that these people believe things without having really studied or learned them, so that, they have essentially been molded into certain beliefs, that will inevitably favor those that have placed such beliefs into their minds, and consequently are thereby easily capable of being duped into performing actions that aren't right, and can even be inimical to their own life or livelihood.

Instead, great minds are thinking minds that will view things from a different and more enlightened perspective, or are able to take knowledge and develop further from that foundation so as to benefit mankind more.  Of course, from a selfish governmental state perspective, those that think can endanger the state if those thoughts are outside the orthodox state beliefs of the day, and thereby the state makes it their point, to impress upon its citizenship, that each person has a higher and patriotic duty to do right by the state, as defined by that state and therein lies the rub, for what if the state is wrong, and not slightly wrong, but wrong fundamentally, what then?

This then comes back to the very first postulate, which is to do right, and that viewpoint of what is right and wrong, should come from the understanding and the comprehension of the wisdom of others, moral ethics, and the usage of one's mind to sort things out, correctly.  This means, that a man that cannot get beyond mere indoctrination, is a tool of that indoctrination mindset, whereas he that can think, has the power to stand strong in the face of adversity or demagoguery, so as to not violate their conscience, and to be worthy of emulation for having used well their freedom and strong development of their mind.

Forgetting your true essence

According to gallup.com, "89% of Americans say they believe in God," but this belief in God seems to be a belief that for many people treats God as a Supreme Being to petition to only in times of trouble or for a simple grace at meal time, and rather as an afterthought when all is going well, though, truth be told, there really are a significant amount of people that do take the tenets of brotherly love and loving God as the foundation of their life and live lives that reflect this in their interactions with society. 

The test of any true belief is in whether the actions that people take on an everyday basis, fundamentally are different from those that do not believe, and for many so-called God believing people, the difference from those that believe as compared to those that do not believe are rather cursory, so that if in an angelic court of law, with all those accused of being a God believer being judged, how many, really, would be convicted of such, by a truly neutral court, which while reviewing all the evidence of a given person's life, would find that their belief in God, especially considering their interactions with others, as well as their thought processes, whether they would have demonstrated a true positive impact for having been a God believer.

The very first issue that all those that believe in God must assert to is the recognition that material things and material appetites are temporal, and thereby because these are worldly, cannot now and will never be the foundation that God believing people should consider as their primary purpose or focus in life.  Instead, those that believe in God, in their actions and in their thoughts, will concentrate instead on the attributes that reflect well of eternity which consist of: faith, hope, generosity, love, fortitude, justice, prudence, and temperance.

While it is true that we are humans and that as humans we have a human body, of which, that body in order to function properly, requires food, water, and rest to maintain its physical health, those that put the needs or the perceived needs of the body as if it is the be-all and end-all have made an error in judgment.  For it follows that those that see their body as their true essence, when it is not, are the very same people, that will concentrate wholly on seeing that their creature comforts as well as their material desires are met, believing that by doing so, that they will be happy and find joy, which they very well might, for a period of finite time.

The problem with this mindset though, is that it is never ending, for those desires and those comforts, become the controlling influence upon one's life, never completely satiated, but only just for a while, so that the physical and the ego comes to dominate the spiritual, continually lured in by the physical gifts, pleasures, gratifications, and treasures on this earthly plane.  Yet, those that have the wherewithal and wisdom to rise above the carnal plane, recognize that there is a world well beyond this world, of which, the very false sugary fruits that so many lust so heavily for have been replaced, instead, by the true treasure freely available to all by God, if only we would concentrate fully and still ourselves long enough, to comprehend the immensity and brilliance of our God, and thereby recognize wholly the purity of His water, that quenches fully the thirst that actuates us.

Appreciate your little victories

Many people wrongly assume that in order for their life to have been a success, they need to have accomplished great things on a great scale, but that opportunity is seldom even available in the first place, and often is not realistic for most individuals.  Instead, it behooves a given individual to simply concentrate on doing right, in the things that they do day-by-day, for in their interactions with those who are big and small, will define who and what they really are, and ultimately it is in these interactions that will create the opportunity to produce the good that will make life better for those within your sphere.

This means that the best ministry for anybody is really in how you treat your fellow compatriots in your everyday interactions.  So that those that are considerate, caring, and compassionate in their demeanor with others, are actually achieving little victories, step-by-step, for really it is the love that we have for others, that caring concern for others that helps to bring a smile to another's face, or our comfort to them, that provides a vital helping hand, that demonstrates our devotion to their well being.

We do not need to unnecessarily complicate life, for in modern society, it is complicated enough, instead, we need to remember that we are all in this world, together, and that each of us has made errors of judgment, of commission and omission, so that, first, by being more forgiving to the other, we thereby show a proper appreciation that we aren't above it all, and with this humility, it helps to keep us focused on being more accepting of others, recognizing that in the aiding and helping of another, everyone thereby makes progress, together.

When you reflect on some of your finest moments in life, you will find, that seldom are these moments ones of selfish celebration, of which others fell down to their knees in appreciation of you, but instead we value the little acts that brought that sincere smile and words of appreciation from another, that brought joy and comfort for someone that was suffering through a particularly difficult moment, for that is what actually makes your heart grow bigger, because it feels so good to be a force of good, to be that ever present help in a sea of trouble.

Those that are able to show patience in times when doing so, requires great patience, or restraint in times when restraining oneself requires strong control, or love to another, when loving seems almost impossible to do, are performing the very actions that make for a better character, a stronger will, and a renewed sense of real purpose, for the more often you are able to do good when circumstances are somewhat trying, the more indomitable your will and your persona will be, for good habits, done well, enhances you as a person.

Recognize always, that even the greatest works of art, start with the very first stroke, and even a path of a thousand miles, starts with that very first step, so that, take solace in knowing that every step that you take in the right direction, every deed that you do big or small that is of value, vitally helps to shine light upon darkness, and those that carry and spread such light, are the ones that brighten this world, and help to enlighten many hearts.

Poverty and the lack of progress

A country is made up of its entire people, from rich to poor, from smart to stupid, and from good health to bad infirmity.  While the United States is populated with some of the very best and brightest throughout the entire world, as well as having the highest amount of billionaires, in addition to the impressive abundance of its great athletes; so too, as reported by  huffingtonpost.com, "14.5 percent of all Americans, lived below the poverty line", as well as reported by huffingtonpost.com, a disappointing "32 million adults in the U.S. can’t read,"   and finally healthfitnessrevolution.com reports that: "Because of these alarming obesity rates, this generation of children will be the first to live shorter lives than their parents."

For the most part, the fact that such a wide swath of Americans are in poor health, often in conjunction with having made bad health choices, along with so many being so ill educated that they are functionally illiterate, in addition to so many Americans not being able to sustain themselves without receiving some sort of charitable or governmental aid actually represents a true reflection of a country that despite its great resources and riches, has not been able to lift all boats. In fact, quite clearly, it seems like a significant percentage of Americans have simply been left behind, and are thereby treated as an afterthought or an inconvenient annoyance within our capitalistic system.

A clear headed view of our current state of affairs, leads reasonable people to conclude, that more than anything, it is systemic poverty that is the abettor of our current sad state of affairs.  That is to say, those that are the poorest amongst us, are stuck within a desperate situation in which there really isn't an escape from living in communities of high crime, high dysfunction, high single-family households, which produces  people of low income, low opportunity, and low social status.

It isn’t surprising that those that live in bleak circumstances, have bleak lives, for there typically aren't any good paying jobs within their given community, as well as they are often inundated with convenience stores that cater to cheap calories of questionable food nutritional value, have little good medical care within their sphere, and the public schools that they are assigned to, aren't even worthy of being considered education, in respect to the full meaning of that word. 

This means, in effect, that the 14.5 percent of Americans that live below the poverty line, are essentially hopeless and without hope that there ever will be change, for there aren't any bootstraps to lift themselves up by, for their boots, if they even have them, are of the cheapest quality possible and those particular boots have no straps to lift with.  So that, such poverty and such ill education leads to millions upon millions of Americans, being both ignorant of proper language skills as well as inept at accomplishing even the most simplest of mathematical exercises.  All of this leading to the inevitable general attitude of apathy, for their dreams of being a person of substance, are totally annihilated before they even reach middle school.

So what we have is that all those that are successful people of some means, must carry upon their backs all those that are impoverished, for governmental programs are ultimately funded by taxpaying citizens, for the government gets its money from the people, meaning that, everyone that is not self-sustaining becomes a burden to the nation as a whole.   So these millions of people, poor, disadvantaged, ignorant, of ill health, and apathetic have wasted lives of basic hopelessness, of which, to the disgrace of America, nothing of substance is being done to correct it, for despite our great wealth, the huddled masses of the poor and destitute are a true reflection of the American dream gone horribly awry.

Public companies and the quest for monopolies of power

In January, 2017, the market capitalization of all public companies headquartered in the United States of America, exceeded $25 trillion dollars, in which, market capitalization of these companies, represented the total dollar value of each one of these company's outstanding shares.  While there are myriad reasons why companies file to go public in the first place, fundamentally the primary reason is to more easily and more readily raise money for future growth as well as for present-day operations through the sale of and the purchase by outside monetary investors of their stock, which will be traded publicly on the stock exchange that will allow for liquidity, price appreciation, and dividends for those investing in such.  Another very important reason for becoming a publically traded company is so that insiders, other highly placed executives, and important personnel, can now more easily monetize their compensation packages which typically would include stock options and stock bonuses, making it far easier to both retain valuable personnel as well as to entice new highly valued personnel to work for the company, because stock publically held, is both liquid and easily valued because it is publically traded, as opposed to companies that are privately held, which while also being able to offer stock options and stock shares, ultimately control that value internally which may not reflect the true value of those options or stock shares.

Another very valued reason for companies going public, is that capital is truly the engine that makes a company grow, that is to say, great ideas, even great managers, and great businesses, may not be successful, and often aren't nearly as successful as they could be, if they lack capital or are starved of capital, for without working capital, and plenty of it, the necessary funds for research and development, for the compensation packages needed to entice the best and brightest, as well as retaining executive teams and highly valued members is problematic.  This means, that companies that have a viable business model and have been either able to prove that in actuality, or are able to lure investors in by their potential, often are quite motivated to put themselves into the position of going public, in order to juice that growth, take market share, and to become a true force in the marketplace.

Going public though, is definitely a two-edge sword for any company, for not only are there rules and regulations for publically held companies on a given stock exchange, but the investors in the stock of any public company, are by nature, interested essentially in their investment, making them money over time, which comes through continued profitability, growth, as well as dividends, and those companies that fall short of quarterly goals and objectives are punished for their failures.  So that, public companies, most definitely feel the pressure of trying to achieve what is expected of them, so that quarterly projections, yearly goals, and so on and so forth, are disseminated to the public, so that revenue and profit goals are set and thereby are expected to be met or exceeded by such companies.

This then, follows, if we are to take it to the extreme, that virtually all public companies, fundamentally have the exact same desire, which is to take as much market share as possible, as well as to make a reasonable return on their investment capital, so that, the winners in the stock market world, often get bigger, not necessarily by internal organic growth though that does happen, but instead by buying out or merging with competitors or through vertical integration, all in the effort to become the only true player in their field, because once you are the only one that matters, or a consortium of a few that do, you now have monopoly or oligopoly power which is great for those that work for those publically held companies as well as their investors, but means typically that the public in aggregate has lost out via higher prices, lack of options, and even the stagnation of innovation, because the few and the chosen own that market.

This means, in effect, that publically held stock corporations because of their sheer size and the pressure by their investors to get even larger as well as to make more money, become, in principle, a real danger to the people, for when a few public companies dominate their respective domains, then the consumer will be seen more often as someone to be fleeced as compared to someone to be properly served.

The Oligopoly power of the Top four Commercial banks

The fred.stlouisfed.org states that the total assets of all commercial banks in America as of 6/28/17 was $16,267 trillion dollars, of which, of that amount, as listed by federalreserve.gov the consolidated assets of the top four largest banks, which are JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citibank comes to a total of $6,991 trillion dollars or nearly 43% of those total assets in aggregate, effectively signifying that when it comes to the banking industry in America, these four banks, rather than being seen as competitors to one another, or in effect, an oligopoly, and such a concentration of monetary assets into too few hands allows these banks to virtually dominate all others and to thereby it is these banks that determine the prevailing interest rates that consumers will pay for loans such as for credit cards and mortgages, and to whom these loans will be originated for.

 It takes absolutely no stretch of the imagination to recognize that when banks reach a certain size, and these banks have reached that size, that thereupon they have effectively positioned themselves that they are now, for all intents and purposes "too big to fail" for the consequences of the government putting any of these behemoths into receivership could very well topple the financial edifice as we know it, with potential catastrophic consequences for all those that bank with these institutions.

While it can be said, that size and consolidation has its place in regards to efficiency and scaling of businesses, when that size is so large as to basically dominate all other competitors, so that these chosen four, are privileged to be the favored few when working with governmental agencies and financial regulations in all of its many capacities, than these banks are able to thereby leverage up their consolidated power in which the laws created by lobbyists' influence favor these banks' preferences to such an extent, that this gives them an unfair advantage over all others that could conceivably threaten their position of power.

So too, because of this great concentration of assets in such a small number of banks, in which commercial banks in fit, form, and function, via our fractional reserve system, are able to create money by virtue of the assets that they hold, means that this monetary credit now created, allows these banks to multiple the money so deposited that this expands our money supply, not really for the greater good of the country and its consumers as a whole, but instead to leverage up their monetary assets in a manner that these banks are now able to make even more money for themselves in order to increase their stock price, their bonuses, and to thereby earn money when their leveraged bets work out, and when these leveraged bets do not, to thereby lean on the federal government and their regulators to bail them out or subsidize them in times of trouble.

The fact that these banks are consolidated into too few hands, means, in effect, that these big four banks have the power to set consumer interest rates, mortgage rates, fees, and services offered in a manner that would be considered to be collusion, and the smaller banks that so desire to compete against these large banks aren't able to effectively do so, because the cost of the money as well as logistics for these banks because they are so much smaller, costs them more, thereby as seen over the last twenty-five years, the top four banks continue to take a larger and larger piece of the banking pie, in which the consumers of such, both large and small, are nickel and dimed,  day after day, all in the service of the big four to the detriment of consumers at large.

Standing armies and the rise of the military industrial complex

Brutus, the anti-federalist wrote in 1788 that: " The liberties of a people are in danger from a large standing army… …. that an army will subvert the forms of the government…"   Brutus words are absolutely prescient and yet in today's world his warning in fit, form, and actuality, has been eviscerated and ignored, for this isn't a country, that has mere standing armies, it is a country that hasn't declared a congressional war as per its Constitution since World War II, yet has the largest "peacetime" military-industrial complex the world has ever seen, with its footprints, influence, and armaments literally extending throughout the entire world.

While it certainly made sense that conscription was enacted during our civil war, such conscription was also enforced in World War I, when, at that time, the war was seen by many in America as just another European war, of which, Europe has seemingly had legions of such wars.  Then, conscription was re-instituted for World War II, and such conscription continued unabated until 1973, so that some men were indeed forcefully drafted into the undeclared wars in Korea as well as Vietnam, resulting in the military-industrial complex becoming permanently ingrained within America, so that, today, the Defense Department of the United States of America, as reported by forbes.com: " .. .boasts a workforce of 3.2 million people, making it the largest global employer."  Further, the proposed budget for the Department of Defense for 2018 is an absolutely staggering $ $639.1 billion.  This, for a nation that has not had a congressional declared war since World War II, and for all practical purposes is not under attack by any other nation, or any other entity, whatsoever.

The fact that we have massive standing armies in peacetime in America, has meant that the government in conjunction with specific corporations have had to coordinate and assimilate each within the other to such a massive extent so that industry would be consolidated and coordinated in order to efficiently and effectively be able to produce and provide all of the munitions, infrastructure, and armaments that a modern nation must have in order to build their military might.  This means, of a necessity, that facilities must be secure from enemies, foreign and domestic; that roadways, materials, and foundries, must be under the aegis of the federal government so that the priority of such things is first and foremost in conformance to the military-industrial complex, superseding and thereby not being interfered by individual State priorities or ordinances, nor to be bother by the citizens of America, that might so object to such.

So too, schools, but not just military schools, specifically universities and the greatest minds of each generation, must be found and utilized for the industries that are part and parcel of such military might, so that the Defense Department can not only stay ahead of the curve, but far ahead of it, utilizing the most advanced and the most state-of-the-art equipment, aided by human ingenuity, for their purposes of military might. 

So then, because the military-industrial complex is now so large and so powerful, such a complex must be fed on a continual basis, in order to maintain its status as the preeminent priority of America, so that the American dream of doing what is right and proper for the citizens of this great land, has been subverted to actually mean, doing what is right as defined by the military-industrial complex, for the benefit of such, in which, the point is to ever keep the American populace in a state of heightened anxiety that America is being menaced by some nebulous foreign entity of evil intent that necessitates the permanent state of this military-industrial complex to "defend" us, while all along, it siphons massive amounts of money that would be of a far better usage to Americans for social programs, education, healthcare, generations yet unborn, and the uplift of those that have been downtrodden for so long.

The democratic vote and power

The playing field in America has never been fair, for if you own land, especially lots of land, or land in the right area, you have by virtue of that ownership, a vital source of wealth, of which that land distribution has historically been skewed to favor some other others.  In addition, those that have money and/or access to capital, have the ability to make more money and to invest such in a manner that will create additional wealth.  So, definitely, the ownership of land and having money separates those that have such, from those that do not, and the passing of such lands and wealth from one generation to another, favors parties that historically have benefited from that historical legacy, such as the legacy families of white Protestants.

This then means in effect, that those that come from money and/or have the equivalency of it through the lands that they own, are in the driver's seat of using such for not only their personal benefit but also are able to make the necessary connections on a political, social, and business levels that will thereby extend their power and thereby solidified it. 

However, those that don't have money or ownership of real property, can and do prosper in this country, for myriad reasons, of which the most prevalent of them all, is through their educational achievements, for right and valued knowledge will open up economic opportunities that will allow those that begin with little or nothing, to create something of value, and to thereby earn their way into having a piece of the American prosperity.

That said, sadly, the quality and even the safety of public schooling in America, is highly dependent upon the physical address of a family's residency, and those that are in the wrong school zones, for whatever reason, of which poverty is the most prevalent one, are afforded schools that often are a disgrace to the American promise of equality for all, of which, clearly this is not even close to being the case in actuality, effectively shutting the door on certain classes of students of having a fair opportunity of being successful.

Yet, democracy offers a way for those that have little or nothing, to have a real voice in this country, for our voting laws have fundamentally changed over time, so that in America's new inclusiveness age, all those that are eighteen and above, male or female, of any color or creed, are enfranchised to vote, as long as they have established residency and are a citizen.  This individual vote is very vital, for the power of the vote, of which each person gets exactly one vote, determines who is or is not President, or members of our Congress, as well as State, county, or local legislatures, the Attorney General, the governor, specific ballot measures, mayors, city council members, school board members, judicial placements, and even the sheriff. 

One might think, then, since the superrich are so small in number that the sheer numbers of eligible voters that have so little, would mean that real progressivism and significant social change would be on the rise in America by virtue of those without much, outvoting those that have so much.  Yet, look around, and it would appear that the masses have not translated their numbers into anything of real significance, for the poor seem to be losing ground, and the elite status quo appears to be unassailable.  This would indicate, that either our representatives both national and local have failed in their commitment to the people, or that the people haven't been able to successful transition their numbers into meaningful power, so that, in one way or another, the minority of the rich and powerful, still fully rule over the majority of the people, despite the fact that we have equal enfranchisement of the vote for all.

Seek Knowledge

Each of us is gifted with our mind, a mind that is so powerful that if we just learn to develop it and to focus our mind, we will discover the great wealth of knowledge that is available for all to benefit from.   That knowledge really should start at the first basis of all life, which is the pursuit of who and what we really are, for if we do not readily comprehend that, than all else that we deal with, is going to reflect that lack of clarity, as well as our lack of full wisdom.

Each day, whether we consciously recognize this or not, we have the opportunity to literally put our mind on autopilot and thereby not overly think through many situations, so that almost like an animal, we rely on our instinct to do what we will, but this type of low-level thinking does us no credit, and advances us not at all, for those that do not develop their mind on a continuous basis, deciding instead to prioritize their body and sense feelings over that mind,  have in principle sacrificed knowledge for temporal pleasure or the seeking of such.

Not only does knowledge benefit us individually, it also, in our interactions with others, benefits them, for when we are able to shine light into the darkness, or bring forth incisiveness from confusion, we have better our world.  This country wisely knows that education and literacy are absolutely vital for the engine of economic growth in America, especially as we have superseded the previous age of brawn and replaced it with the age of intelligence, so that knowing things, as well as successfully developing ideas, are of vital importance for the improvement of the lives, all around us. 

So too, the lack of knowledge as well as the lack of intelligence, and indeed the lack of applying oneself to thinking, allows those that know more to, if they so desire, exploit our ignorance of such, by profiting upon us, and thereby siphoning unearned money off of our labor, by virtue that they know more and are able to work the angles to take advantage of this.  For, unlike the animal kingdom, where it is the big and strong that rule over the weak and vulnerable, physical size plays far less importance from a human perspective, so that those that are knowledgeable and clever are able to take advantage over those that are dense and clueless, no matter the size of those individuals.

So that, it can be said, knowledge is the key to not only getting ahead in life, but also the key that brings clarity to life, and this discovery of knowledge, is the mine that keeps on giving, as long as we keep digging for its treasures, for even when we complete our formal schooling, those that have a desire and curiosity to know more, will learn more, especially those that are able to focus their mind in a manner that concentrates on the task, above all else, as well as interacting with others that are wise, so as to gain even more knowledge through life experience and the interplay of respected peers and friends.

Those that truly seek and thereby develop knowledge are indeed the wisest, for it is that knowledge, correctly applied, that does more for the betterment of society, by applying in practice, in word and deed, the right actions that help to enlighten us and to collectively enrich us.

The Supermajority and the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest Federal court of this land, and the decisions that they reach, have national repercussions, yet, the way that this court is currently structured, the justices through as little as a bare majority of one vote, make new law with national implications which may indeed overturn or overrule legislative law, for this court's power reaches far beyond their mere interpretation of legislative laws through its take of our Constitution, they do indeed by their decisions and their opinions: set new nationwide law. The fact that a simple majority of justices can overturn, even long standing law, or essentially nullify the legislative actions of our congressional representatives, gives these justices an enormous amount of power, of which, decisions reached by such a court, can and do come down to factions within the Supreme Court, so that the majority of the court, can be in actual fit and form, merely representing their own personal and political viewpoints, rather than adhering to the Constitution, itself.

There are numerous examples of the Supreme Court making simple majority decisions that have had and still have profound implications for citizens of this country, such as Miranda v. Arizona, which set forth certain procedures for the police in their interaction with suspects and their rights, including specifically having to informed such that they had the right to counsel as well as to silence.  So too, in the District of Columbia v. Heller, the majority of five Supreme Court justices decided that the Second Amendment did indeed apply to individuals, which enables such to keep and bear firearms.    In the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission a simple majority of the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are now permitted to spend unrestricted amounts of money to influence politics. Finally, In Bush v Gore, the Supreme Court declared that the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court was invalid; thereby certifying that Bush would become the next President of the United States.

If, on the other hand, a supermajority had been required on each of these foregoing Supreme Court decisions, than either there would have had to have been another justice that would have had to have been persuaded to vote with the majority, or because of this being a mere simple majority, the lack of such a supermajority would have essentially upheld the ruling of the lower court. 

In point of fact, the legislative branch requires a 2/3 supermajority in order to override a Presidential veto.  In addition, in order for the legislative branch to successfully amend the Constitution this requires a 2/3 supermajority vote, and to ratify an Amendment to the Constitution requires the approval of 3/4 of the State legislatures.  This clearly indicates, that there are specific situations that call for a supermajority, and decisions made by the Supreme Court, should require such a Court, to overcome the same sort of supermajority hurdle, rather than to have a court, vote strictly along partisan lines or similar, which arguably is what they exactly did on Bush v Gore.

The justices that make up the Supreme Court are in theory, the wisest and most esteemed justices in this nation, but the selection of these justices, in which they are first nominated by the President of the United States, then subjected to a Senate hearing, and then confirmed or not by the Senate, indicates, that partisan politics most definitely plays a significant part as to who actually becomes a Supreme Court Justice, so that, it is absolutely no stretch of the imagination to recognize, that judicial decisions are, in fact, rendered by the partisan leanings of such justices, and therefore indicates that decisions reached by a simple majority of justices that are the final interpreter of federal law should not now, or ever, be so certified by a simple majority of such justices.