Your Vote

The United States of America has no law compelling any of its citizens to vote, in fact, there aren't any laws that compel a citizen to register to vote, yet there have been historically, very specific laws to preclude people, especially certain people, from being eligible to vote.  The fact that in recent times in regards to Presidential elections that less than 60% of eligible voters bother to vote, doesn't tell the full story of how few people actually do vote, for there are millions of Americans that don't bother to even register to vote, or are precluded from voting via a felony conviction, or are effectively disenfranchised from voting, because they don't have the time, they have been intimidated, functionally illiterate, or their polling booth are not convenient, so to register and then to vote is too much trouble, or they are just ignorant of the whole matter.

At the inception of America, voting was only allowed for property owning males, specifically Protestant and white, which even at that time, was not a true reflection of all the citizens residing in America.  Those whites that were born outside of America, first had to become naturalized, and if property owning, white, and Protestant, were thereby enfranchised to vote.  Then, over a period of extended time, property qualifications were eased, religious restrictions less adhered to, and free black males in some States, were enfranchised.  Despite the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, which essentially allowed all males, even those that had previously been enslaved to vote, those blacks so enfranchised, especially in the south, found that their ability to vote was soon nullified by the white ruling class of their respective State.  In 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, allowing females to vote.  In 1965, the Voting Rights Act passed allowing blacks and other minorities to bypass local laws that had effectively precluded them from being enfranchised and in 1971 the vote was extended to those that were 18 years old, whereas previously the voting age had been set at 21.

During all of this time, as those that were eligible to vote expanded, there was always the law that was on the books, as compared to the law in practice.  So that, for blacks as well as other minorities, that were eligible to vote, found that when trying to register to vote, that they could not, because they were unable to pay poll taxes, or pass literacy tests designed specifically so that they would not be passed, or be physically intimated, or be threatened with loss of employment, or the registration was in the part of the community in which it was not safe to travel to, and so on and so forth. 

Those that controlled the nucleus of the voting registration, made it their point to see that those that they wished to vote, voted, and those that they wished to not vote, did not.  So that, even those registered to vote, could still be stopped at the polling booth, through intimidation tactics, outright violence, identification laws that were prejudicial against those that were poor, and so forth.   In addition, besides the act of voting, there is the actual act and art of vote counting, of which innumerable elections have been accused of all sorts of fraudulent vote counts, of very suspicious natures, in order for the "correct" result to be certified and thereby approved.

The main reason so much has been done to get the "right" people to vote and have their votes counted, and for the "wrong" people to be disenfranchised and to have their votes nullified, is because voting actually matters.  It matters as to who the elected officials are from the executive branch, to the legislative, to the judicial, to the equivalency of all these on a local and state level, to school boards, to propositions large and small, to taxation, and to everything else that is put up to the vote of the people, so that it most definitely matters who is permitted to vote, and how honestly those votes are counted, for the people are never truly represented unless each person is entitled and enfranchised for their own vote.

The value of a good education

The main purpose of any education on any subject is to teach its tenets of which that foundation, in order for it to be sound and right, must be built upon truth, and nothing else.  This therefore means that our educational system has an obligation to first know itself, and then to impart such knowledge through books and teachers to its students so that they can properly assimilate the subject matter.  When it comes to subjects such as the English language and its correct structure, or mathematics and its laws, these subjects are both well known and have little controversy attached to them, for these have specific fixed rules and principles attached to them that are well known, uncontroversial, and must be well learned in order to know the subject matter. 

On the other hand, there are many subjects that are in some sort of flux, such as various religious beliefs and creeds, as well as evolution in all of its many forms and guises, in which different beliefs affect the very processing of such information and different cultures teach us different things.  In any subject, in which the information being imparted cannot be definitive because these are essentially reasoned suppositions, or interpretations through the prism of one's given viewpoint, or general theories; such subject matter, should be discussed in a manner that recognizes, that such a thing as truth on these subject matters, is elusive, because it cannot be known for an absolute certainty, so such teaching must take into account that these subject matters require thinking, discernment, and an open mind.

The overall purpose of education is to see that fundamentally all students are proficient at a level that makes them functionally literate in their society and further, that they are able to think and reason in a manner that allows them to apply their learning successfully to their life, and especially to their present-day concerns and duties.  For if you are unable to take such education that has been taught to you, and successfully apply it in the world at large, than such education has little utility for you and does not benefit in whole, the society that you interact with on a day-to-day basis.

This then sends the very real message, that education at every level and at every turn, must relate what is being taught in class to the actual real world, for it is in the application of this knowledge, that proves whether such education has been successful or not.  After all, if students are unable to relate facts, theories, history, music, and so on and so forth, to their circumstances that they deal with in the outside world, than that education has not properly been assimilated.

This means that all students that are functionally illiterate, have failed by their educational system.  So too, those that are unable to successfully apply their knowledge in a manner that permits them to advance in their personal as well as their work lives has not been successful either.  It is in the application of education that proves or disproves whether such has been successfully comprehended or not.  It is of vital importance that education imparts a firm foundation for as many as possible, because those that are unable to think and reason properly, or are unable to discern well between truth and deception, are vulnerable to the unscrupulous that will exploit them for their selfish benefit, again and again.

The retreat of labor

In 1833, the British government passed the Factory Act, specifically addressing conditions for children employed at factories at the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution.  Incredibly, this Act which was an improvement upon what came before, mandated that children 9-13 years of age could work no more than nine hours a day, and that children of 13-18 years of age, could work no more than twelve hours a day, of which, the passage of these laws, were proof positive of the ruthless exploitation of children,  especially considering that this Act was a material improvement on the previous policies of pretty much letting factories do whatever that they so desired with child labor.

In fact, today's forty hour labor week, only became the norm in the 20th century, whereas previously throughout most of history, workers labored from sunup until sundown, with perhaps, the Sabbath off.  Even then, before forty hours became the norm and thereby the law of the country, it was a long arduous process getting there, something that today's workers, for the most part, are blithely unaware of.  It was not until 1938, when the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed by Congress, that the forty hour labor week became the law, but even then, there had to be many amendments over the years before such a law, was essentially in effect for everyone.

Yet, today, despite there being laws on the books which ostensibly are fair for all, there are exceptions to those laws, which invariably favor the employer as opposed to the employed.  For instance, though there are Federal as well as State mandated minimum wage laws, there are exceptions to those laws, which allows employers, if they so choose, to pay less than the minimum wage such as for tipped employees who earn just $2.13/hour, under the theory that their shortfall in wages will be made up by tips by patrons of such restaurants.  So too, to get around paying overtime for employees that work more than eight hours in a given day, employers can opt to use the weekly overtime standard, and if that employee does not exceed 40 hours in that work week, even though they exceeded eight hours on a given day of work, they will not receive overtime pay.  Then too, some employers don't even have to pay a holiday premium for work done on common holidays, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, or even, gosh, Labor Day, as again there are exemptions to this rule. 

This then means that companies such as Walmart, the largest non-government employer in America, can take their long standing policy of paying an extra $1/hour for Sunday workers and simply eliminate it, because they have the right and option to do so.  All of the above, really comes down to the fact, that individuals do not have a lot of power or influence upon their working conditions, their working hours, their schedule, their working pay, their working overtime, or their working benefits, because the laws on the books are often circumvented or corrupted, and all of this mainly because most employees are not unionized, leaving them to fight the good fight, alone.

The Federal minimum wage has not risen since 2009, and according to  the National Employment Law Project, "42.4 percent of American workers currently make less than $15 an hour," of which, $15/hour is considered to be a reasonable living wage for most areas of the country.  Also, as reported by shmoop.com, "In 1945, union membership peaked at 35% of non-agricultural workers," whereas today, "only 12% of all workers are union members."  This does clearly indicate, that the most powerful forces in legislative law, in government, and in employment, made it their purpose to do whatever it took to reduce their labor expenditures by all means, fair or foul, and have been incredibly successful at it, for America today, for the average laborer, has lost significant ground, despite the rise of the collective wealth of this great nation.

The burning bush

We read in Holy Scripture in Exodus 3:2 "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed."  This signifies that the flame of God's light is a fire that consumes nothing, yet illuminates all.  So that, the greatest wisdom that we can ever achieve is the wisdom that shows us all, without destroying anything that has been created, meaning, that acts of violence cannot and will not create lasting peace or justice, as well as destructive and negative actions and attitudes, do nothing to bring forth good and positive vibrations nor the warmth of compassion and caring.

We cannot physically see God because the dimension that God resides in, is a dimension wholly beyond the one that we typically identify with by our five senses, but instead, is a dimension that is beyond time and space.  So too, the fact that God is perceived by us as an unquenchable fire, yet totally under control, which thereby brings forth to us stunning, bright light, but does not burn anything up by this fire, demonstrates that God's awesome power is and always will be under His complete domain, that indeed despite mankind's wrong-headed belief that he is the master of his own fate, instead, God is the eternal master of it all.

In order to burn off the dross of our ignorance, without destroying the body or the mind, only a fire that is non-destructive can provide the heat and light that will remove the ignorance from the scales of our eyes, as well as to provide us the insight to see clearly the pathway of who and what we really are. Yet, it is still up to us, as free beings with free will, to accept this gift from God, and to thereby make good of it, or to continue in our darkness of doubt and unawareness.

Those that do not embrace the burning bush that is immanent inside of them, instead live inside caves of varying degrees of darkness, of which progress is stymied time and time again, because it is difficult to make good progress, when you cannot clearly see the way and the direction that you should be going, so that, at best, it is an educated guess, and at worse, totally wrong.  Yet, such darkness, even the darkest darkness of them all, will for a certainty be eliminated within a blink of an eye, as if that darkness never existed, when the burning bush suddenly appears with its great magnificent illumination.

Such an appearance of a burning bush would for virtually all people, be the most vivid and the most intense experience by far of their entire life, because when a door to a higher dimension is suddenly opened, bringing forth brightness and such love that you have never experienced before, it will, as a matter of course, completely overwhelm you in a manner that will awestruck you, and make you to believe, for the very first time, that all previously was vanity, that clearly you knew not what you were talking about, that indeed,  to be truly God fearing is the very first step in gaining true and lasting wisdom.

Sales tax and purchases

Consumers have to purchase certain items such as clothes, food, healthcare, and shelter, in order to live and to function well in society, in which, different States and different localities and counties within States have different sales tax rules, in fact, there are still five States that do not charge a sales tax on purchases, with the balance of the other States most definitely doing so.  The sales tax, itself, is of fairly recent vintage and only came into form in the 1930s, and even then the majority of States had no sales tax, but by the time the 1960s came, the sales tax was now the law in forty five States.  So too, when the sales tax was first initiated, like virtually all taxes, it was fairly reasonable, so that in a State such as California, their original sales tax rate was the only 2.5% in 1933, whereas, today, in some counties and localities of that State their sales tax  rate runs as high as 9.75%.

Then, as might be expected, the sales tax is not uniformly applied to the same goods or category of goods in every State, so that some States do indeed charge a sales tax for candy, soda, dietary supplements, prepared food from restaurants, some groceries but not all groceries, in which, usually groceries are taxed at a reduced sales tax rate.  Another issue with a sales tax is the fact, that unlike, for instance, gasoline, or the purchase of an airline ticket, in which any taxes and fees associated with such are integrated within the price, the sales tax is added onto the item so that for those budgeting for goods and calculating their expenses in which literally every penny matters, this is difficult to calculate, because of the inconsistency of items applicable to such and how sales taxes are applied.

Another issue to consider is the fact since a sales tax is uniformly applied at the same rate for all it is, by definition, non-progressive, because the same sales tax percentage applies whether you are rich or poor, and hence the sales tax is regressive in its nature.  This then leads to the point that there probably should be items, most particularly food as well as clothing, that should not have a sales tax associated  with them, because such a tax unfairly burdens those that have the least amount of money as well as options, further pointing to the fact that the reason such taxation is added onto the most inclusive list as possible, has more to do with State and local governments grabbing for the lowest lying fruit of taxation, without taking into consideration the capacity and wherewithal of their citizens to pay for it, let alone the fairness of it all.

All of the above signifies what people in general, suspect, that when it comes to taxation, such taxation, almost always morphs over time to take a higher percentage bite from the people’s pockets as well as to lose its focus as to its true purpose of being, so that what may begin as something that appears to be relatively benign or purposeful, providing, for instance, a direct help to State and local budgets, instead  ends up burdening even more the least amongst us.

Non-mortgage household debt and history rhyming

Non-mortgage household debt consists of student loans, credit card loans, and auto loans, in which in the fourth quarter of 2008, as reported by the newyorkfed.org the aggregate total was $2.71 trillion dollars, and after that peak, it trended down for only about two and a half years, before beginning its trend back up, and thereby surpassing its previous high indebtedness point in the fourth quarter of 2012, and currently resides at $3.76 trillion dollars as of the third quarter of 2017.  This is an increase from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2017, of 38.75%, and would imply, in fact, would more than imply, that the so-called economic recovery is significantly built upon a wall of debt.

That is to say, when people buy things, they can buy such through cash, or through cash-like instruments such as checks or debit cards, in which, those that are buying within their means, and thereby incurring no debt, are self-sustaining, and those that use debt such as credit cards, auto loans, or student loans, while being able to purchase those things are also subjecting themselves to having to pay back not only the full amount of what they have purchased, but also are subject to interest rate fees, in addition to monetary penalties for failing to make their payments on time or to meet minimum payment requirements.

This then means that there are businesses that profit directly from the indebtedness of the American public, most notably, banks or the equivalencies of banking institutions such as credit unions or other financial entities.  These banks or banking institutions are very sophisticated and extremely knowledgeable about how to transact business so that they will be able to make money from the consumers of their products, in good times or bad. 

For instance, student loans as reported by bankrate.com, are typically actually sold outright so that: “Six out of every 10 student loan dollars are now made with federal money instead of with private capital.”  The advantage of the corporate entity selling the loan is rather obvious, which is that they can make their money on the issuance of such a loan and then go back and loan some more, with the burden of the responsibility of that loan being paid back, actually being transferred to the federal government or other governmental agencies.  When it comes to auto loans, the advantage that any lender of such has, is that within the terms of their contract with the consumer, vehicles are collateralized instruments, signifying that the true owner of the asset can penalize the borrower for failure to adhere to the terms of the contract, making such subject to penalties, fees, and repossession of the vehicle, and though the sellers of such, do not actually want the vehicle back, having that option, makes it easier to originate the loan in the first place.  In regards to credit card debt, the consumer of this is often clueless about how favorable the terms are to the actual lender, for the lender can raise interest rates up to the peak rate allowed by law for these loan rates are predominantly variable.  So too, when the prime rate increases, the interest charge for those carrying a balance will also increase, and finally the usage and the credit limit of a given credit card, is solely at the discretion of that credit card issuer and not of the consumer, so that consumer credit card limits can be slashed drastically when banks are concerned about mitigating risk, especially in times of crisis.

All of the above, really seems to be like history rhyming, for before the last financial crisis occurred, the good times were said to be sustainable into the foreseeable future, which is the same song and dance that is currently being sold to the American public, but a closer look, indicates that a lot of the "prosperity "  or economic growth that we have today, has actually been built on a troubling wall of debt, and this debt, is even higher than where it was a decade ago, indicating that when the inevitable

delinquencies and defaults come; it's going to look like we have seen this all before, only this time it figures to be even worse.

Mass karma

A significant amount of people are familiar with the general concept of karma, of which, whether one believes in karma or not, karma exists, nevertheless.  Basically, karma is the spiritual law, that you surely do reap what you do sow, so that those that are so delighted to get over on somebody today, or to lie, or to cheat, or any of the negative attributes that are not harmonious with brotherly love, fairness, and justice, will, in general, create specific karma for that individual, that must be met in a future life, if it is not resolved within the current life.  This does not mean, that the exact harm that a given person does must be overcome in the exact same circumstances, but it does mean, that the imbalances in a given person's life must be fairly met, so that, if you have a history of taking from others, you must, in one way or another, in one form or another, give back.

Of course, human nature, is often looking for workarounds from having to suffer the penalty of balancing out bad karma, thinking perhaps, that prayer, general niceness, and so on and so forth, are good enough to overcome such, and perhaps for some people, this does indeed work, but within a given person's heart, what is necessary to actually be accomplished is intuitively known.  In addition, for those that have gone down the wrong path for long periods of their life, sensing that they are near the end of their physical presence of earth and then wondering what they can sincerely do to make up for the wrong that they have done as their time is now so very short, the basic answer, is that every step that you have taken down the wrong path, must be met with a step taken down the right path, and though you may not make the journey back to the straight and narrow road, at least the progress has been commenced with the steps taken in the right direction.

As in any rule, karma, included, there are exceptions to such a rule, of which, great souls, such as the Christ, other prophets, heralded or not, good people of all stripes, can, if they so desire, take on the karma of other people as a tribute made to God, for the benefit of those have committing such bad karmic acts.  This is no light step taken from these dedicated souls, for the karma they take upon them, including mass karma, can create real physical illness, financial destruction, shunning, ignominy, injustice, and all sorts of havoc that another should have suffered, but these few will take upon themselves, even unto death itself, including crucifixion.

There are no free rides in God's kingdom, and simple basic little cursory prayers are not going to correct wrong acts, though prayers and right thinking may indeed turn things around, but the bad karmic mess previously created must be cleansed in its entirety, without exception.  This signifies that those that are caught up in this world will continue to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, until such a time as they correct themselves in a manner that reflects that they recognize that acts of disharmony to God's law are injurious to the individual, demonstrated by the karma incurred.

We are fortunate, that in every era, master souls incarnate amongst us, to guide us, to teach us, to have us to learn by example, of which no greater illustration, is this, that: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15: 13), which is the epitome of he who has taken on mass karma (sin) for us.

Hedge fund managers and the fairness of taxation

Hedge fund managers can make an absolute obscene amount of money through their trading acumen in which they usually charge their investors a fee for the pleasure of those investors participating in their hedge fund, such as 2% of the value of such an investment, in addition to taking a monstrous share of the overall trading profits of 20%.  Whether this is a good deal or not for those investing with hedge fund managers is not terribly relevant, since that decision is freely made by those making such an investment.

The issue then with hedge fund managers has little to do with their activity and everything to do with their taxation.  For instance, many, though not all hedge fund managers move frenetically in and out of investments, in which, for the average investor, this would result in short term profits subsequently being taxed at ordinary income tax rates, of which these range from a rate as low as 10% to a high of 39.6%, and with some hedge fund managers making millions upon millions in a given year, you might think, they therefore must pay taxes at the highest possible ordinary income tax rate, but they do not.

The thing about the rich, is that they typically believe that they are truly different from the masses, and so it therefore follows, that anyone actually paying nearly 40% on their income in taxes, is something that only the stupid, the suckers, and the tax ignorant ever do, of which, hedge fund managers do not congregate with any of those, except as perhaps, their servants.  Instead, through gimmicks that no regular man in the street is even faintly aware of, they use something called “carried interest” along with reinsurance businesses to dodge taxes, as well as deferred income. 

The upshot of all this financial runarounds is that the hedge fund managers that obviously can easily afford to pay their fair share of taxes, off of their clearly stratospheric incomes, instead, do not.  The main reason is that because these hedge fund managers are so bright, as well as being completely consumed by making money by just about any means possible, they do not want to and apparently refuse to see taxation as something that they owe to society for that success, so certainly they do not buy into the feeling that they have any sort of obligation to the society that has allowed them the opportunity for such richness, especially in consideration that they have retained the best tax attorneys and lobbyists that money can buy, in which, what they are doing in regards to their respective tax returns is apparently legitimate,  with those tax specialists having navigated skillfully the legal labyrinth of America’s tax code.

None of the above, though, makes it right, but when it comes to the net return on investment, the taxes that you do not pay are a vital contributing force to the money that is being made, and with the mindset that is built to see inefficiencies in markets of all sorts, even minute ones, hedge fund managers won’t for even a second, consider that paying taxes as ordinary income is anything other than a massive hole to their game plan or their character. 

This then is the very crux of the problem, those without influence, such as your average citizen that receives their wages through their paychecks each week, is pretty much forced to follow the rules and to pay their respective tax rates, whereas, the guys that make more money that most of those folks will ever earn in their lifetime, clearly don’t.

God is Changeless

As humans, it is not surprising, that the prism that we view things, is based upon a human perspective, so that, when it comes to a Higher Power, the strong tendency is to attribute human emotions and human feelings and human actions to God, which while being rather convenient to do, is fundamentally flawed.  When a person looks at God, or any higher being, for that matter, treating such as an anthropomorphism, then you will attribute to God, for example, when things are going badly, that God is angry, upset, or displeased, whereas when things are going well, that God is pleased, delighted, and loving,  but it is truly a fool's philosophy, to actually believe that your behavior in any possible way, could ever change God, for if this was true, then God would forever be in a state of flux, morphing into this or that, and that is a god that changes with the tides, which is definitely not our God.

This is not to say, that God doesn't care about us and the decisions that we make, or that God is the most stoic of all, none of these are true, what is meant is that the dimension that God resides in, is far beyond our limits in which, as humans, we see the world in a manner of time, space, and material matter, and therefore believe that God must be structured in sort of the same way, which is a false belief.

Just as there are laws that govern this world, in regards to gravity, air, water, and so on, there are laws that most people are blithely unaware of, that are not limited to material things and material perspectives.   This means that our perspective from a material standpoint, is flawed, and in order to begin to understand and to begin to comprehend our God, we need to find oneness with that dimension that allows us to escape from the bonds of time and space, and this is done through focused meditation, which when done properly, allows that individual to find that One touchstone which is timeless, immortal, and perfect.

The change that we perceive in ourselves as well as in others, is the nature of the material world that we live in, for that world does indeed change for the better or for the worse, but through this adventure, and while we are on this earth, we are merely its players, so that, when playtime is over, we return to what we were before our incarnation, which is spirit, which for a time, incarnated into material form, so as to experience the duality of  life and death, hot and cold, good and evil, and so forth, for that represents life on earth.

It is difficult for us to understand or to fathom the totality of God, for our minds are limited in that sort of comprehension, because humans have limits, whereas spirit does not.  What is important to know, though, is that the image that we have been created by God is not and never was the image of a human being, but rather our immortal self that is restless here on earth, for that self, our soul, knows that until it returns to the First Cause, it is lost, and need be found.

Find a purpose that is greater than just you

For many people, those that have and those that have not, this is a selfish age, truly, an age of dog-eat-dog, with a prevailing desire to take care of their own first, and perhaps others, later, or never.  The main problem with selfishness and there are myriad problems with it, is that in order to get anyone else to help you in your self-seeking objectives, you are going to have to either deceive these people in order to utilize them to achieve or get the things that you want, or somehow, appeal to them and their innate selfishness that will thereby benefit them enough for them to ably assist you.  This type of manipulation on the other, does not bring glory to anyone, though, it can bring results, up to a point.

On the other hand, if you are able to find something of meaning or something of purpose, outside of yourself, in which by finding and working with others one is able to accomplish something of merit, this does really involve teamwork, concerted effort, and having a collective goal that will benefit others, so that together, things can and will be accomplished that were not possible by one single person, working alone, for each person, brings their own gifts and talents, their intelligence and experience, in which, one person's weakness is subsumed into another person's strength, opening up doors and avenues that would not be possible without such a unified effort.

So too, the great movements of life, the great movements of our heroes, are those that find a cause that will benefit something beyond themselves, specifically their fellow man, because they recognize that having done so, they have blazed new pathways and forged new trails that others may thereby utilize so as to take man even further than he has henceforth traveled before.   The purpose of life is to recognize that we are all truly in this together, not that we are separate beings, for when we are able to see in other people the same characteristics and same common touch points that each have or desire to have, it is far easier for us to recognize and respect that there is strength in numbers, especially when driven to serve a purpose higher than one's own limited ego, for the best in mankind is when we serve as a light that shines brightly so that all can see, as opposed to a light, hid underneath a blanket so as to benefit just that one person.

Those that take care of their own, are too limiting in their experience, for every time that we step outside and see someone that is troubled or lost or hurting, and pity that person but do nothing of substance to help that person, than we haven't done enough to address the inequities of life.  Where there is injustice we should strive to bring justice, where there is wrong we should strive to bring right, where there is hatred we should strive to bring love, because the things that we do not help to correct, or that we find not the purpose to want to correct, are the very things that will remain stumbling blocks for us and others, for the race isn't finished, until all cross it, and those that will not carry their brother, if need be, or that leave behind their sister, are running the wrong race on the wrong pathway, and thereby need to find the wherewithal and purpose to discover something greater than themselves, for if not, they will find that  their purpose for being has all been in vain.

Where is the progressive Property tax?

Every State of the Union assesses property taxes on homes, condos, apartments, and even vacant land, in which taxes received in aggregate as reported by the usnews.com were, "… the leading category of revenue for state and local governments, yielding 34 percent of tax collections."  This means that property taxes are actually more important to State and local government budgets than their respective progressive personal income tax yet, property taxes are not progressive in their application.

 Not only are property taxes not progressive, but the application of these taxes, provides a lot of power to government officials as to how properties are assessed and valued, which creates the basis for the levied tax amount. So too, in some States, there is also a millage rate imposed per thousand dollars of value of the property, in which, when property values go down via a recession and are thereby adjusted downward by tax assessors, the millage rate invariably goes up, so that often the end result, is that while the value of the home has decreased, the property tax capture by State authorities has not been appreciably reduced.  Then, there are States that cap the limit that property taxes can raise on a home owner in a given year, which, is very beneficial for owners that bought their homes well before home prices increased dramatically, for they will forever pay "below market" rates as compared to later generations that will pay the "going rate" for making their purchase at a later date.

When it comes to an income tax, in general, the more money that you earn, the higher your overall tax rate will be, which is known as a progressive tax.  However, for home owners, the amount of their property taxation will vary year by year, not because of their personal income, but by virtue of the home increasing in value, as assessed by government officials, so that, in effect, the income of a home owner is not relevant to the property taxation that they will pay on a yearly basis.  Not only that, the assessment of the value of a home, which creates its property tax basis, is made by government officials in which, despite "independent" boards of local home owners and such, this assessment is always going to favor those government officials and their perspective of the prevailing "market value" for they depend upon this revenue to meet governmental budget commitments.

In addition, the general property tax rate that States charge their residents isn’t set in stone, for like most taxes this burden has increased over the years, which isn't surprising, considering that property taxes bring in the most revenue for State and local budgets.  Then, too, special categories of citizens will pay lower property taxes than others simply because they are senior citizens, or veterans, so that the overall property tax burden isn't uniform for all.

Finally, when it comes to a significant swath of Americans, especially the middle class, their home is their biggest material asset, in which, whether their income rises or falls, or their personal situation gets better or worse, they will have to pay whatever the going rate is for their property taxes, affordable or not, whereas, if those taxes were assessed in a progressive manner, somewhat akin to how the income tax is structured, their tax burden would be more appropriately structured. That is to say, higher home price purchases, should have a higher progressive property tax rate attached to them, so that the wealthy would pay a materially higher property tax rate than the middle class, rather than our current system, which is regressive in nature, and unfairly burdens those that are simply trying to keep a toehold of the American dream.

Quantitative easing and the printing of money

The government specializes in obfuscating things so that the average citizen really doesn't know what is going on, for the purpose of such, is to take what could be explained in a rather conventional way, and instead make it somewhat confusing and to therefore control the spin in favor of the orthodox government viewpoint.  The financial crisis of 2007-2009, necessitated drastic action, yet, the end result was for the government to  work with the favored banks of America so as to reduce, in theory, the toxicity of their assets as well as to jettison growth in America, therefore, the geniuses behind the government's monetary policy came up with the concept of the central bank purchasing a total of $3.5 trillion dollars of government securities which lowered interest rates for a historically long period while also increasing the money supply, in the belief that by doing so, banks  now being more liquid, would therefore lend more money, thereby increasing business activity, which would "goose" GDP growth, as well as giving banks increased liquidity by papering over zombie and mismanaged debt carried on their books.

The government likes to say that quantitative easing is not the printing of money, but essentially in any real conventional way of analyzing such, it most certainly is, for the buying of government bonds, by the central banks, creates money that did not previously exist, and that is the printing of new money.  This new money thereby suppresses interest rates mainly because there is even more money to loan, though, there aren't really any new viable places that did not exist before, to loan that money for or to.  So that, not surprisingly, since money has been created and put into the hands of the central bank consortium, those at those banks, aren’t really interested so much in loaning money out, which has attendant risks associated with it, but rather would prefer to passively invest it in either low risk securities or equities, made far easier by the fact that the cost of borrowing this money is so low.

Though America has ended its quantitative easing, and has made promises of paying off the government securities so borrowed in a systemic and controlled way, the problem that will be created is that when the money supply is increasing, equity markets and businesses typically do quite well, especially when interest rates, or the cost of money, are correspondingly either low or quiescent.  Therefore, when that money is being paid back, it compels industries, equity investors, and individuals, to reduce their leveraged bets and borrowed money considerably, not only because interest rates or the cost of money is going up, but also because nobody wants to be the last person holding onto the bag, especially when over the previous decade, good money has already been banked and made.

Though the experts like to state that quantitative easing is not actually the printing of money, if and when that $3.5 trillion dollars is actually paid back, this will demonstrate the truth of that proposition, for in actuality, this government when given the choice and mandate to make systemic change to replace or correct our financial institutions that were deemed to be "too big to fail", decided instead to throw good money to paper over bad problems, of which, if these bad problems, such as zombie debts, precarious leverage, and non-performing loans have not been somehow materially improved substantially, will show that when that money is repaid, the financial truth will be re-exposed, in which bad recessionary conditions, a stock market collapse, and the awesome tottering of our financial institutions, whose fiscal house has only been papered over will threaten to collapse.

Why nobody walks on water anymore

According to pewresearch.org, there are about 2.3 billion Christians in the world, but don't let those numbers fool you into believing that these people that self-identify with one of the numerous Christian faiths are really Christian in the true meaning of that word.  Take, for instance, the life of Christ, Himself, the Messiah who miraculously fed 5,000 plus women and children, and on another day fed 4,000 plus women and children, who turned water into wine, cleansed leprosy, raised the dead to life, brought sight to the blind, healed invalids, created a miraculous catch of fish, and walked on water. Yet, this Christ, who on Palm Sunday, was feted with palm branches being waved in the air by the massive crowd of appreciative people, would, in a span of just a few days, be tried, convicted, and crucified, in which between Christ and a notorious malcontent, Barabbas, this Barabbas, was preferred over Christ to be released from his imprisonment by Pilate as desired by the crowd.

All of this would signify that the many miracles of Christ were somehow forgotten by the vast majority of the people, even those who directly benefited by them, and the great parables that He expressed were effectively ignored, for at the foot of the cross, how many of even his closest disciples were there to comfort Him, to voice their support for Him, and to love Him?  Only in the gospel of John, is it alleged that even one of his beloved disciples was there are the foot of the cross, though, His mother, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and a few other women as named in the scriptures, were there, but not a single person that received a miraculous healing was specifically named or mentioned, though it is conceivable that some of those were present.

All of the above signifies that those that get down on their knees each night, or at times of a crisis, and pray to God for a miraculous healing and whatnot, are often, at best, sincere at the moment, but not truly sincere in their hearts, for when those miracles come, those recipients, are typically similar to the ten lepers that were cleansed by Christ, of which only one of ten bothered to come back and praise God for their cleansing. 

This is why, a true man of God, recognizes that it certainly isn't from the miracles that true faith is believed or achieved, but it is in the changing of a person's heart, in which that true change transforms the person into a believer, and thereby a Christian.  Too often, people ask for a sign or a miracle as if this would make them believe, but belief for so many is rather fickle, so that true belief will be borne out in the actions of the recipient for if they simply go out and continue in their sinning, than they haven't changed at all, except for their outward circumstances and that isn't what substantiates a true believer.

Christ did not walk on water to impress his disciples but rather He walked on water, to demonstrate to them that He was the Messiah, and that nothing was impossible for Him, that therefore even the elements were ruled by the Creator of it all.   But, somehow, despite these miracles and despite the parables, the disciples were slow to comprehend the true mission of Christ, and of really who and what He really was.  Still, eventually the disciples got it, and thereby they put their faith into action by beginning the great commission, which continues unto this very day, so that 2.3 billion people claim that they believe and have been transformed by Christ, yet, how many of those, actually are?

The Bible is not meant to be taken literally

There is a segment of the people that believe that the Bible should be seen as the inerrant word of God, and that the reading of that Bible should be taken in a literal sense, but this belief is fundamentally flawed and quite obviously does a grand disservice to those that believe and have those beliefs, for once you make the proclamation that what is written in the Bible is literally true, you will find, that the contradictions within the Bible, the anthropomorphic attributes given to God in the Bible, and examples that scientifically could not be true such as the sun standing still, will make the belief that the Bible is literal, look stupid and incredibly foolish.

The most fundamental problem that the Bible has in today's world, is that those of a scientific bent, and/or intellectual outlook, are the common voices that we listen to and read in our books that we learn from as students, so that, these voices are typically written and spoken in a format of facts, and true observances, that impart the information that they are trying to get across straightforwardly.  In other words, scientific treatises are not written in allegory, and they are not written as a myth, but rather as factual observances, or theories built upon logic, that have been verified by others.  So too, mathematics and languages, have specific rules attached to them, that necessitate the students' adherence to such, in order to master these, in which, again these are not taught in allegory or myth.

This then so means, that having been taught to learn in a manner in which true statements are made and core principles must be adhered to, thereby most see the world as a world of certain laws and principles that should be taken as literally being true in their outlook, especially in order to function and to grow within that society.  On the other hand, that is not the way that the words have been written into the Bible.  While the Bible does indeed have factual statements contained within it, it is not exclusively a book of factual statements, but rather it is often a book that is written in allegory and has many passages that have a surface meaning, but also contained with them, a deeper meaning, that is at first hidden from the reader of such, until that reader has garnered the knowledge to reach that level of additional insight, which they may never actually achieve.

This then does signify that the world was not literally created in six days, nor does it mean that our God is a "jealous" God.  In fact, the English language, or other languages for that matter, are at a loss to adequately and succinctly express who and what God really is, for just as people are at a loss of words in regards to what exactly they are trying to get across to another, so then, humans are often unable, to comprehend in its totality exactly what God is actually saying, meaning, or signifying.  This is the very reason why the most important lessons and information contained within the Bible are told in allegory, as well as the reason that Christ spoke in parables, for the human mind is often not capable of handling the truth built into just words, for it is beyond its grasp, yet, given enough time and dedicated effort, perceptions and knowledge can be obtained that allows humans to decipher and to better understand their relationship to their God in this world.

The Bible is our multi-dimensional roadmap, of which, the mastery of such wisdom, can never be obtained via a cursory reading, nor even many readings, unless the mind seeks diligently for the treasure of all treasures, finding its satisfaction only when  the otherworldly doors of perception envelope us entirely. 

True freedom is not of this world

We are born with unalienable rights, for these rights come from our Creator, and not from any government, or manmade institution, yet, so many forget this fundamental point, which frustrates them no end, for day after day, example after example, and incident after incident, it is demonstrated time and time again, that our freedom is limited in this world; by other people, by our government, and by the limits of our mortal flesh, signifying that as long as we self-identify with our mortal body than we will be continually frustrated in our lack of freedom along with the fact that mortality, by definition, can only lead ultimately to physical death.

This doesn't mean that we shouldn't aspire to live free lives, for we should, because that is the nature of our spirit, which is free, and making the world better for ourselves and others is a noble goal and worthy of emulation by all, but the peace that we truly seek, can only come about when we wake up from the delusion that we are simply a mortal body, for we need to recognize instead, that we are all immortal souls, that no government can chain, and that no person can kill.

This then means that we must aspire, if we are truly seeking for truth and knowledge, to recognize who and what we really are, immortal beings that have no beginning and have no end, for that is the nature of who and what we really are, for this physical form and body that we have, is but for a moment of time, and the circumstances that we deal with daily, are but a little ripple in the vast ocean of time, in which, if we truly desire to be wise, we should desire to drink from that living water which is everlasting, rather than returning like a dog to the same water that replenishes us just for a minute, but not for all time.

This signifies that instead of concentrating so much upon our physical form, we should begin to realize that what really actuates us is actually our mind, and the thoughts that come to us, if we are able to concentrate them, correctly, and to focus them well, will allow us to perceive a dimension that is available to all, but is invisible to our sight and tactile touch.  In this dimension, the limits of time and space have been removed, almost the equivalency of the dream stage that each of us goes into every night, where, dreams aren't perceived in a linear fashion, and the stories that enfold before us, defy physical laws such as gravity and time, because in this dream stage we are free of the self-imposed limitations of this world, and free of being solely identified with our physical body.

From this, you might ask or contemplate why you are even here, in this physical vessel to begin with.  That question is the very first question that will lead you to wisdom, for by searching for that answer, you will begin your search for your Creator and by doing so, you will break free from the binding cords of physical limitations and aspire to recognize who and what you really are, immortal spirit, for the frustrations that you feel in the here and now, are the raison d'être for your search for true freedom and for immortality, of which, these never left you, but rather are limited within this earthly plane, only waiting to be re-discovered by your mind correctly attuned to its Creator.

Virtue, Ethics, and Education

The education of students should teach those students how to think, in addition to providing information and substance that will allow them to learn, and finally to complete the total process, these students, our future generations, must learn the value of living ethical and virtuous lives, for if all education really does is to help in the creation of very smart and adept students, but does not competently  address their moral structure on this path, than it  has sown the seeds of its own destruction, for super-smart minds without a good moral compass, can and do create all sorts of havoc that will destroy civilized society from within.

This country has an obligation to bring up its citizenry in the right way, so that each citizen has a formal understanding of the values and history of this country in regards to its Declaration of Independence, its Constitution, what these documents stand for, and especially how they are applicable to the living of their own lives within that nation, for the very freedom that so many profess to love, necessitates an incumbent responsibility to that freedom, so that a meaningful structure of how citizens interrelate with their nation and their people is understood and acted upon.

We live in an age in which the firepower of the weapons that our national defense has, have never been more powerful and have never been more destructive.  Further, adding to the potential horror of these weapons, is that we are well removed from the age of hand-to-hand combat and are now incredibly adept at being able to kill people and destroy infrastructure through the usage of machines, that are programmed to do as we so desire, at the push of a button, or the implementation of an action that once initiated will not stop until that mission is completed.  Those that have responsibility for this awesome power must have an ethical standard that they clearly adhere to, or the very same tools that are currently used to protect and defend our country, can easily be misused so as to take away our freedoms and to thereby enchain us.

The purpose of America is to live up to the principle of America, which is that we are all in this together, with unalienable rights, in which, implicit within those rights, is an understanding that the people must be virtuous and true, thereby living the fundamental creed of doing onto others what we thereby would wish to be done unto ourselves.   In the absence of such a belief, and in the absence of not believing that all have been created equally, nations and its people lose their focus and their raison d'être, and hence ultimately lose their freedom, to the iron hand of a government that will master and control them for the benefit of those with that power.

It is for us, a living free-will people, that the First Amendment was written for, for these people have no federally established religion, therefore they are permitted to worship or not in their own desired way, nor does it abridge the freedom of their speech or of their press to express their ideas, criticisms, and information, and finally it does not prevent the people from addressing this government for a petition of its grievances.  In order for this country to remain vibrant and relevant it needs a virtuous people, so therefore its educational system must promulgate this, for that is the very essence of this incipient nation that declared its independence from the oppression of another, back at our brave inception.

Our civil war and European non-intervention

At the time of America's civil war, America as a nation was already clearly on the rise, its GDP was in comparison to all the other European nations, second only to the United Kingdom, and because of America's railroads, shipping, industrial revolution, natural resources, ingenuity, and industrious peoples, there was little doubt that America would soon surpass the relatively small island-state of the United Kingdom.  

This would seem to imply that when the confederate States declared war against the Federal Union, that Europe probably was, no doubt, piqued about the possibility of exploiting such a revolution for its own benefit.  However, the confederacy made a fatal error within their constitution and their raison d'être by setting their foundation for independence as a proposed separate nation entitled to their own destiny by making their cornerstone of such a revolution, the eternal institution of slavery.  This sort of fundamental error, could have probably been avoided, if the confederacy rather than jumping the gun and seceding from the Union, had first made informal inquiries of their desires to European powers in a manner in which an accommodation or acquiescence of some sort of modified form of slavery could have possibly been made, that would have kept that peculiar institution viable, without upsetting European powers or southern plantation owners, especially in consideration that the United Kingdom, was the nation that led the crusade to abolish slavery in not only England but in all of its British empire.

The above did not preclude, that other countries, such as France, could not back the confederacy cause, or even the United Kingdom, for wars and politics do often make rather strange bedfellows, but this was mitigated by the fact at the time of America's civil war, that the modern world was still young, and there were therefore other countries and territories for the European powers yet to exploit, conquer, or control, without getting involved with a nation, that was an ocean away, and capable of exacting a rather high price of revenge at some future juncture.  Rather, the better part of valor, was to let both sides in the America civil war to go at it, and perhaps at the conclusion of such a war, America in its weakened state, might have to turn to European banks and European ingenuity for loans, aid, and such, thereby creating a rather easy path for profit and foreign ownership of the means of a renewed American production, thus siphoning wealth off of the productivity of the American people.

Still, the south did mightily try to get the European powers on their side, and meanwhile the Union did make some diplomatic blunders, in addition to their failure to win many battles at the onset of the war, so that European nations were tempted to intervene, in one way or another, but Lincoln's cabinet was incredibly strong, silky smooth, and brilliant, especially in its acumen in handling European sensitivities and their arrogance in just the right way, so that Europe ultimately did not intervene.

In the end, the southern rebellion was put down, and this country was re-united, free of any foreign entanglements and in control of its own destiny, in addition, to becoming a stronger nation more in tune and in harmony with its declaratory creed that "all men are created equal", signifying a new birth of freedom for all.

To truly give back

America and its people have done a wonderful and generous job in so many ways and means, of providing food, shelter, education, advice, employment, and support to so many other people within their own country and without.  Those that gift their time, money, and talents to the better good of humankind surely understand that this is the greatest service that one can provide for another, that indeed this is living proof of being that good neighbor.

While some of us have more talent than others in regards to mental fortitude and imagination, or brawn, or ability to be positively persuasive and to thereby work well with others, each of us, has some useful talent, awaiting only the actuation of it by our dedicated and consistent motivation to do so. 

These talents that we have, can be used for all sorts of purposes, of which some of those purposes are positive and beneficial for the greater good of society, whereas others are clearly selfish in their implementation and exploitative of taking advantage of one's own cleverness against another, so as to directly benefit themselves.

The decision about what to do with our talents is our own, as each of us has been gifted with free will and therefore we are not automatons but people that hold the ultimate responsibility of what we do or don't do with our lives.  While, truth be told, our individual circumstances are different, sometimes diametrically so, there does come a time when we have to stand upon our own two legs and take full responsibility for our actions, and if these actions are not in conformance of being beneficial or positive, than those initiating those actions must take to heart, the blame for having failed to have done better, for those choices made came from them and not from another.

This then does mean that each day, we have the opportunity to demonstrate in word and in action what we are really about, for this is the very definition of our life.  Further, those that claim a religious moniker, or classify themselves as a good person, must live up to those tenets or they have deceived themselves as to whom and what they really are.

This means that those that are gifted with certain talents, and specific skill sets, have an absolute responsibility to develop those talents and those skills further, with the purpose of having done so, if they are true to their faith or true to desiring to be a force of good, to take such and to thereby benefit their fellow humankind for either this Is a nation united, of peoples from many different backgrounds,  working together in order to bring forth a better nation, united, or this is a nation of individuals, all after getting their own.

When we do our best, it can only really be our best, if we took the time and made the effort to develop these gifts fully, in order to improve ourselves as well as to help others.  We must therefore live in accordance and in harmony with justice, love, truth, kindness, and the diligence in seeing that our actions have come to successful fruition, for if we truly want to show our appreciation to our parents, and to our neighbors, and to our country, than we will wisely use our talents well, for this is our living testimony to others.

Cryptocurrency and day trading

The match between cryptocurrency and day trading seems to be that perfect storm, for cryptocurrency offers both insane volatility as well as being virtually unregulated, so this makes it a particular wild "investment" for those that believe that they can read correctly the dynamic charts and the tea leaves, thereby making themselves money by trading cryptocurrency. 

While, on the one hand, day trading is the complete opposite of the buy and hold strategy of a prudent investment philosophy, day trading does represent for adrenaline junkies a great vehicle to try their luck at the casino of cryptocurrency, and unlike penny stocks, or thinly traded stocks, or most stocks in general, cryptocurrency is volatile, liquid, and trades 24/7, which is exactly what a trader needs if he is hoping to have any sort of success in day trading.

The fact that cryptocurrencies can and do trade in double-digit moves on a given day, represents a fabulous opportunity to trade in and out of a particular currency and provides all the action that any day trader could possibly dream of, creating the opportunity to make real money from the timing of moves done just right.  So, truth be told, cryptocurrencies and day trading do go together, whether that is a good thing or not for those that indulge in such is, though, an entirely different matter.

There is that old saying that: "Those who know don’t talk. Those who talk don’t know," which updated to the crypto world, means that those that really don't know create and write all sorts of blog posts and cut and paste all sorts of charts, indicating when and where you should trade and highlighting where the buy points are, as if, they really know what they are talking about, when, logically, if they knew so much, wouldn't they actually just be trading hand over fist, and minting their own cryptocurrency fortunes?

Of course, there is a more cynical and sinister viewpoint of blog posts, charts, crypto insider advisers, and so forth, which is that, because cryptocurrency is unregulated, this allows particularly unscrupulous people to post things that will aid them in the pumping up or dumping of a cryptocurrency price so that these advisers can secretly trade to take advantage of price movements that they setup to exploit by essentially front running such advice to their own selfish advantage.

Still, anytime an investment is both liquid and makes significant price moves of a few percent or more on a given day, there is that dream opportunity for day traders to make money, subject to their skill set, in which the dividing line between the winners and losers of such trading will be demonstrated by the proof of their profits or lack thereof.

Cryptocurrency and day trading is not for the faint of heart, and quite frankly typically appeals to anybody that is hoping to get rich quick, whereas, in all actuality, the success of such, necessitates the gifted hand of a supreme artist, of which, many have little or no talent, while precious few are actually truly gifted virtuosos.  Still, billions have been made by quantitative analysts exploiting small inefficiencies in the global financial marketplaces, which would seem to suggest in the wild west of cryptocurrencies, that there is real money to be made.

Healthcare and restricted enrollment dates

When it comes to insurance, healthcare does no credit to those seeking such care, by limiting the enrollment period to a specific date, and thereby all those that do not make their healthcare choice by that date are effectively frozen out of healthcare.  As in anything, there are notable exceptions to the rule, and States can also make their own exceptions, however, Nevada represents the only State in the Union that actually permits their consumers to purchase insurance at any time, though their policy is that, those signing up outside the normal enrollment period, may have to go through a ninety-day waiting period, before such enrollment takes effect, obviously so as to mitigate those seeking healthcare, only because they are now sick.

When you look at auto insurance or home insurance, or most every other type of insurance, that insurance is not limited to enrollment restrictions of a calendar year, nor is it limited to a specific date that a consumer must sign up for that service, so then, the healthcare restrictions on signups are the exception to the general rule and should not be the rule.  First, having a fixed enrollment period unnecessarily discriminates against those that don't pay careful attention to dates, of which there are legions of those, in addition, it discriminates against people that are procrastinators, of which these procrastinators actually want to follow the rules, but simply don't get around to it, until it's too late.

The argument for having fixed enrollment dates, seems to be based around people either not bothering to sign up for healthcare until they get sick, which could be mitigated by enrollment probation periods, as well as apparently preferring the convenience of registering everyone in the same pool for the beginning of the calendar year, but the counter argument to that is simply, by creating rules, especially rules that aren't really necessary, there are many consumers of healthcare that simply won't ever get around to signing up, because they are no longer permitted to do so. 

It would be far better, then, to simply have an open enrollment period with specific rules addressing when healthcare comes into effect for people, that don't enroll in the government recommended time periods, and such enrollment could be set up with deductibles and so forth, being on a rolling 365-day period, representing a year, and not therefore being fixed to a given calendar year.

If the expressed purpose of universal healthcare is that this government wants as many people as possible to sign up for it, then it would behoove that government to have rules that accommodates those that are unable to, for whatever reason, to follow the present day guidelines which are unnecessarily too limiting in regards to an enrollment period, that closes for many people on December 15 of the previous year, for coverage that will be for the entire calendar year of the subsequent year.  That type of sign up restriction isn't necessary, and there should be workarounds to accommodate those that are less diligent in following directions or conforming to rules, because the purpose of such healthcare should be to provide the most benefit for the most people, in all ways and manners, rather than to effectively lock them out.