Inequality in America

The early 17th century began the inception of slavery in America, with Massachusetts being the first colony to legalize slavery in 1641, of which, slavery was not banned throughout the entire United States until the actual ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865.  Unlike, Europeans that were essentially the conquerors of America, for primarily the benefit of Protestant white people, most blacks, initially came to America in servitude and slavery, of which, though these blacks have since then been wholly assimilated within America, so that their native language is English, alongside their habits and customs being in adherence to the prevailing mores of the day, including religious belief, it is frustrating to recognize that on many levels, many blacks are, even now, kept segregated from truly being at liberty, with freedom and equality within America.

For instance, in many communities, a sizable portion of blacks are segregated in such a manner that there are enclaves within those communities that are primarily black in their color, which, to a certain extent, might be okay, or even preferred, if such segregation had an infrastructure of good job opportunities, good educational facilities, fair application of the judicial law within that community, and basically all the accouterments that a good community has.  In point of fact, that isn't true whatsoever, as these communities suffer most sorely from the lack of mostly anything materially good and worthy, with the exception of the very people that live within this communities, which in their character and in their being, are good people.

Still, further to the point, it would be one thing, if black communities, were actually run by black people for the benefit of those people within those communities, in which, the legislative and judicial branches were black in color, and the businesses, schools, banks, parks, and community infrastructure were owned, sanctioned, and operated by black people.  At least in those sorts of circumstances, the dollars earned and spent would be spent by black people for the benefit of other black people, and such circulation of that money would help the community as a whole. 

In actuality, though, many businesses, banking institutions, and job ownership within those black communities, aren't actually owned by black people, but rather galling to many, they are run by those that live outside the community, or at the fringes of it, in which, these people, good or not, are not black.  That might be okay if what they brought to the community was beneficial, which, to a certain extent it is, but rather, far too often, what they bring are the twin evils of outright exploitation and the siphoning of the dollars from black hands into the hands of those that are not black and are often not sympathetic to the black cause, whatsoever.

It doesn't seem right, in fact, it appears to be outright wrong, that those that know not English as their native tongue, or are first generation "Americans", are somehow able to have or find the funds to open up businesses in black communities, but somehow, black people are not given those same opportunities of entrepreneurship or ownership within their own communities that they have been segregated into.   It's wrong, it's unequal, and it reflects clearly that real transformative change still has not yet occurred, but it most definitely needs to.

Civilians and indiscriminate bombing

America favors bombing countries in order to achieve military objectives, for a lot of reasons, of which foremost amongst them is that such bombing risks few American lives at the expense of the designated enemy.  Americans are the kings at using drones in which no American life will be sacrificed if such a drone is shot down, compromised, or to suffer failure; so too, countries without an effective defensive air force are virtually incapable of taking down our aircraft, for their anti-aircraft armory seldom is able to touch our aircraft which effectively rules the sky. In fact, the only time that those conducting such bombing are in any real danger is when bombers are called into emergency action in which they are needed to dislodge an enemy from their positions, so as to free up or aid our soldiers in their conduct of ground missions, or as in the aid of the successful retreat or evacuation from American positions which cannot be successfully maintained.

It is important to recognize that each American bombing mission is approved with corresponding objectives and goals by the respective commanding officer before such a mission is commenced.  This means that what particular air bombers are or aren't going to be used,  or whether drones are preferred, what type of bombs, the target for those bombs, and the overarching goal of such bombing has been confirmed before such a sortie is sent out for its given target.  This means that the bombing mission is known before commencement, though, there are contingencies made in order to deal with foul weather, or unanticipated anti-aircraft activity or enemy aircraft, that could indeed change the direction of a given mission, but none of the air missions are random in the sense that drones and bombing is done indiscriminately and without a particular object and target in mind, whether that be primary, secondary, or tertiary. 

All of the foregoing would indicate that in order to know whether such bombing is successful or not, that those that order such bombing must know whether such targets have been successfully engaged, and how successful or not those missions have been.  Additionally, it is of vital importance, that such bombing does not violate the governing laws of war, which specifically forbids "… the deliberate or indiscriminate attack of civilians and civilian objects," of which, it should be the objective of any country that is dropping bombs upon another, to do so in a manner that such bombing is actually necessary in the first place, while also taking into account that civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure must be minimized.

This signifies that when one country bombs another country, that each bombing sortie must be evaluated as comprehensively as possible, with independent oversight, so as to ascertain who and what has been killed, injured, and damaged by such bombing raids, so that, taking this documented information into account, a wholly complete picture of what has really occurred will be evaluated by independent sources, in which not only will such information, provide invaluable feedback for the countries doing such bombing so that they can learn from such, but that, If necessary, sanctions and war crime charges can be actuated, for egregious offenses against humanity. 

Those that drop bombs on other countries, have a responsibility for their actions, in which, if their purported goal was to specifically attack the enemy and the enemy's infrastructure, than they should not only welcome but actually desire real feedback as to the actual damages so done, in order to learn from and to amend their procedures going forward, which is, at a minimum, the responsibility and the duty that they owe their fellow man.

Understanding Anger

Some people lose their temper almost every day, whereas others are far more controlled in their response to things that may well set other people totally off.  The thing about anger, and losing one's temper, is that one's preference, all things being equal, should be to not allow that temper to get the better of one's personality and thereby to become individually destructive and/or to create problems for others nearby; for an uncontrolled temper, actuated by anger, can wreak havoc and can literally change a persons' life for the worst in a blink of an eye, as well as negatively impact all others that are caught in that maelstrom of that moment.

In order to better understand anger, it is important to break anger down to its most basic form, which is, that most expressions of anger, come from the feeling that "what is happening right now, is not what I want," and one's response to that event, and the intensity of that response, reflects one's disappointment and possible rage that one's desire, has been denied by something, some circumstances, or someone.  This would seem to reflect that anger has a lot to do with things not happening in the way that a given individual would want them to happen, unexpected or not, in which those suffering from such anger, have a viewpoint in which things, events, and happenings, should ideally revolve around their needs and desires, while not taking into account other people's legitimate needs and desires, by minimizing or ignoring them, which realistically is never going to be the way that this world will ever be.

So too, anger can arise, from the pure happenstance of life, of random events, of unexpected or unanticipated events, of things that just happen at a given time or moment, which are clearly undesired, but have happened nevertheless, in which, once again, one individual, cannot control the world, they cannot control nature, they cannot control randomness, and basically can't control all that much of all the myriad and multitude of things happening all around them, with the exception of having the option of controlling their response to events that are not desired and maybe are not warranted.

In point of fact, people are going to get angry for a whole lot of reasons, of which some of these are reasons that are actually quite legitimate whereas others have reasons that clearly are not.  The thing though about anger, is that one doesn't need to allow it to run riot, and should in most circumstances, endeavor to control it, for when a given person's actions, are no longer being constrained by general moral and ethical concerns, but instead are exploding into something that has a monstrous life of its own, nothing good will come out of it, and possibly much harm will be the result.

Rather, a much better way to understanding and with dealing constructively with anger, is to, while recognizing that what is happening right now is not what you desire or want, that a reasonable and responsible response to such a situation is to deal with it, as best that one can, as a mature and accountable adult, recognizing that sometimes bad things happen to good people, that sometimes things don't go one's way, that there is injustice, evil, and wrong in this world, and that uncontrolled anger is virtually never the right way to deal productively with such.

It is of vital importance to take control of one's anger, and not let anger take control of you, for those that have mastered anger, have gone a long way to mastering themselves in such a manner, that when faced with the stormy winds of misfortune and tribulation they will bend, but they will not break.

Regulations and favoritism for the largest corporations

Most people favor governmental regulations, especially when they are explained in a manner that strongly suggests that just such a regulation will provide a safer environment, or better quality control, or better consumer protection, and so on and so forth.  However, like many things involving governmental oversight and interference, there are ways, that the biggest and largest corporations can work hand-in-glove with such regulations, so that ostensibly it would appear to be of a real benefit to the consumer, but in actuality, such regulations are often structured in such a manner, that the largest corporations bear proportionally the smallest cost, whereas small and medium size corporations correspondingly are burdened with much higher cost and cumbersome bureaucracies to work themselves through.

None of the above should be especially surprising since, the biggest corporations in America, are not in the business of gambling with their futures, so in order to make things far more secure, a revolving door has been constructed between big business and governmental regulators, in which a quid pro quo has been initiated, so that those doing the governmental regulatory work, are able to easily find well compensated employment working for companies that they previously enacted regulations against, signifying that in the implementation of such regulations, they will be structured in such a manner that the biggest and connected corporations are well capable of absorbing this new cost of business, whereas smaller corporations are stuck with taxing, confusing, convoluted, and onerous regulations which appreciably increases their cost of doing business vis-à-vis their largest competitors, making it far easier for the biggest corporations to add and to extend their dominance over those that are attempting to take market share away from them.

All of the above, simply states a truism, which is, when specific corporations have regulations written in such a manner that the cost of such compliance with these regulations has less to do with the size of the corporation, but are essentially fixed costs in nature, than by virtue of the size of the larger corporations, those costs are more easily disbursed throughout the balance sheets of larger corporations, whereas smaller ones, have the onerous burden of having to absorb these costs while maintaining a significantly smaller staff to handle such as well as a more precarious balance sheet to take on these additional and unwelcomed costs, so that, in short, the costs of regulation are not only unequal, but clearly favor the biggest corporations, making them far more viable and profitable as compared to their lesser competitors.

Again, regulations in America, today, are not written in a vacuum, though it may be true that the principle behind a particular regulation is both noble and needed, the actual structure, the amount of pages, length, and clarity of such, and the effect of such regulations, more often than not, favor those that have the ear of the regulators, and favors not those that do not.  Not only does this mean, in actuality, that competition will be weakened, it also means because of the regulation itself, that the consumer of those products will end up paying more money for products than if the regulation had never been passed, which is great for the manufacturers of goods, and is a contributing reason why, the best connected corporations in recent years have been able to consistently increase their profit margins year after year

The temptations of the Christ

Too often, we place Christ up on a pedestal, forgetting for the moment, that though Christ was divine, He was also fully human by His incarnation on this earth, and being fully human, was subject to all the enticements and lures that all of us have felt at one time or another.  This does indeed mean, than when Jesus the Christ, had fasted for forty days and forty nights, that, no doubt, his body was extremely hungry, for the physical has a need for nourishment in order to sustain itself.  So then, when tempted to turn stones into bread by Satan, Christ was already at a physical low, and such a temptation was meaningful in the sense that His body did indeed need food, yet, Christ, would not relent and misuse His great powers, which were fully developed through His connection to the unlimited capacities of God.  So too, when tempted to throw Himself off of the highest point of the temple, in which Satan promised Christ that the angels would save Him, Christ indicated that such a testing was not sanctioned by God.  Then, finally, when given the opportunity to be the King of all the kingdoms of this world, that is, to rule it all, Christ, indicated that He came to serve and to serve only God.

While it is true, that in order to sustain our bodies that we need food and drink in order to do so, it is important to note that those that place the physical and make it preeminent and thereby above the spiritual have their priorities wrong, for in becoming overly devoted to the physical, we allow the physical to dictate to us our needs and desires, rather than using our mind and our great spiritual resources to tame the physical and to become therefore rulers of it, for though we have physical bodies, our eternal essence is not physical, and never will be, it is instead, spiritual, and therefore it is the spiritual that should lead and the physical will follow.

So too, an untamed ego can place us in all sorts of harm and troubles, for when we allow our ego to run riot, it will find all sorts of ways to take our focus away from being a good neighbor and treating each other with respect, and instead replace it with a belief, that we are better than others, and believing such, it so does follow, that we deserve more than others, because of our superiority, in which this feedback loop feeds upon itself, and thereby makes it fairly easy to come to a stage in which we accord to ourselves special privileges and immunities, whereas, in actuality, we are no more nor no less, than anyone else, though we no longer believe that.

Then, there is the lure of power, especially of the power over other people, in which, such power, brings forth the advantages of having it, such as the subservience and unmerited respect given to us as a matter of course, as well, as being able to demand and to get whatever we so desire, so that, the efforts and labors of others, are ultimately siphoned unto ourselves, because we have the authority to take what is not rightfully ours, by virtue of our position which allows us to assert ourselves against those that cannot prevent it.  All of this drives us well away from the spirit which should be our source of good power and growth, and instead feeds our willful mind, that luxuriates in worldly goods and privileges.

When challenged by Satan, Christ faced his challenges, one by one, and conquered each one, to signify and to solidify that He was fully aligned and in perfect harmony with His Creator.  Yet, these challenges are in one form or another, the same challenges that each of us must face, and thereby conquer, for if we do not, how we can say, that we are truly good children of the Most High God.

National well-being

We live in a capitalistic society, which has its merits and demerits, for in any society in which, in order to win, one must have a corresponding loser, than in such an environment, some people will develop into being quite exploitative of those that do have not the capacity or have not developed the maturity and wisdom, to comprehend when they are indeed getting the worse of an agreement, coerced or not.  In addition, when the rules of the road, and therefore the law of the land, favors one group that has the political ear of those that are in power, through its legislative and executive branches, as well as the judicial branch reasoning from a basis that supports the status quo, those privileged groups of people, most definitely will increase their power and worth at the expense of those that are outside those advantageous power positions.

The above basically describes America, which has structured itself so as to clearly favor and to enable these incredibly powerful elite of privileged peoples and organizations to effectively rule the road for the primary benefit of themselves and to the overall detriment of the people.  While, it is true that America in aggregate is a very rich nation, those massive riches are quite unequally shared, though, it must be said, the country has been able to hold itself together, primarily because of its vast diversity of the middle class, which has been able to achieve the American dream of owning their own property, having jobs of some satisfaction, and to appreciate vacations and the accouterments of success, though, many of those have recently been losing ground.

Regrettably, though, America disappointingly and unnecessarily also has a vast and persistent underclass, in which as reported by ucdavis.edu, "an estimated 43.1 million Americans lived in poverty."   This underclass is not getting smaller in number, and there doesn't appear to be any tangible plans that will correct or ameliorate the current situation to make it better or to provide a pathway of sustainability for those that are poor and disadvantaged to find their way to a reasonable degree of prosperity. 

The reason that the situation appears as hopeless as it really is, is that many businesses, advertisers, and certain individuals, understand that it is desirable to exploit other's ignorance and ineptitude so as to make money off of their given situations, rather than to see such developed into literate and mature individuals, preferring instead to see them subjected to the allure of drugs or alcohol, and/or their attendant suffering from illiteracy, sloth, dependency, gambling, and despair.  The bottom line is it always far easier to make money off of someone that doesn't understand or can't comprehend the value of money, or the true value of the item so being sold.

A nation cannot grow together into a great nation worthy of universal respect, when it is subdivided into so many camps, that are so fundamentally different from one another, that they do not congregate one with another, in which the schools, justice, and opportunities are constructed in a way to favor the few and well placed, while reducing considerably the fair consideration and fair opportunity for others, and sadly but purposely so keeping a wide swath of Americans, ensconced within a permanent underclass that is deliberately oppressed and monitored, as opposed to actually providing them with liberty and their promised fair pursuit of happiness.

There is a goal in life

Everyone should have a major goal in their life, though this goal may change from time-to-time, nevertheless, as we gather wisdom and maturity, the goal itself should be something tangible, real and actively focused upon. The reason that we need a goal is to have something to work towards, and to drive our interests and our endeavors so as to get closer and closer to that goal, for if we merely take life as it is, than we will find that not being centered upon a specific purpose, we are thereby tossed to and fro in the waves of life, never bothering to be master of our own domain.  

As in anything of worth, our effort, our intentions, and our diligence, makes a significant difference as to whether we make progress or not, so that, we must, as much as possible, not let the distractions of sense pleasures and sense enjoyments be our rulers, in which case, we are living for those temporal enjoyments and treating these as if they are of real importance, as opposed to being the master of our physical senses, recognizing that though the body has real physical needs, it should not crowd out the voice and spirit that actually actuates our very being.

That is to say, it is of vital importance to recognize that the spirit and the body are not one and the same thing, and therefore those that put the body first, have sacrificed their spirit, as well as their intelligence, to bodily needs and wants, as if this is the most important thing, when it most definitely is not.  So too, ego gratification, in which, we must be treated in a certain way, or recognized as a superior personage, or treated with obeisance respect, sacrifices our universal spirit and mind, to the service of a lesser god, that places us first amongst equals, as though we are all that, when in actuality, we are not.

There are many pitfalls and wrong turns in life, which is why we live in a society in which each member of such has a responsibility to treat each other as a true brother and a true sister, for all are part of the very same family, as we have been created by the very same divine hand.  This so does mean that we should want to have reflected back to us, the truth of all matter, and that we should be able to conduct ourselves in a manner in which we embrace having a dialog, that allows each to sharpen our skills and our mind with the other, so that we are able to maintain our focus and to apply ourselves successfully to the tasks at hand.

Life can be summed up as the pursuit of finding the source of it all, though there is nothing wrong with stopping alongside our journey to appreciate and to understand the beauty of all that is right in this world, yet, the objective of such a journey, ultimately, is to find ourselves face-to-face with the Benefactor of all that is good.  We should never be satisfied with something less than the ultimate best, for that is what we are made of, and therefore we must rise above all limitations that sidetrack us from achieving this, of which, sense pleasures, ego gratifications, and self-absorption, are the false paths that enchant so many.  Instead, we must recognize that our lives are never complete until we see and know in a manner which harbors no doubt, that what we have found has no beginning and has no end.

Police firearm cash program returns, seizures, and resells

Many major police departments periodically have programs that encourage citizens to trade in their guns and other firearms for money or gift cards, without any questions being asked, which has been successful in the sense that citizens do actually perform this act, voluntarily.  The problem though with this sort of program is that, as might be expected, the guns being returned by these citizens, aren't typically the type of firearms that these citizens want to own or to utilize in the first place, as they often are guns that either don't function, or don't function well, or are considered to be a rather poor imitation of a true stopping weapon.  In addition, depending upon the price being offered by a given police department, such a gun return, offers an opportunity for arbitrage, that is to say, if particular adept gun dealers or people that are familiar with firearms, are able to procure or trade on the cheap, guns that will be purchased by the police department in which these guns will be sold for a higher price than it costs them to so purchase, than a rather easy path of profit, has been created and taken advantage of.

The one type of firearm that most definitely will not be turned in on these voluntary community programs to get guns off of the streets is the type of notorious assault weapons that in the hands of criminals are creating the havoc and killing that the police departments are ostensibly trying to prevent.  This means, though the thought process might be commendable, basically, such gun buyback programs will not really make the community safer, it will simply provide funds to those turning in guns that really don't want those weapons in the first place, and would rather have cash or gift cards in return.  Additionally, the quantity of firearms voluntarily turned in, though it might sound high, such as 1,000 guns, is actually a pathetic little trickle of weapons being taken off the streets, for as bustle.com states: "The Washington Post estimated the number of firearms nationwide at 357 million."

At least, the foregoing is a step in the right direction, and in principle, sounds like a valid idea to enact, in addition, to making the public part of the solution to the sheer quantity of guns in their community.  On the other hand, though, most people, would be horrified to know, that guns that are seized in eleven States of the union, are subject to the police department, being able after the adjudication of a given case, or by simply by having possession of those firearms taken from a scene of a crime, are required by the law of their given State to actually sell these seized guns back to the general public.  The argument for this being legal is the opportunity for those in the law enforcement departments to actually augment their budgets by the money so collected by the selling of such firearms to the law abiding public through the sales of such.  Whether such an amount of money, actually makes a difference to any budget is missing the forest for the trees, for when any police department in a nation that has more than enough firearms in the first place, sells firearms back to the public, they aren't helping the situation, they are making it worse, and if such is actually considered to be a real "service and protection" for the general public, than why not make police departments a conduit for the public sale of firearms within the general course of their service.

When a firearm is seized, and then resold for money by the police department that seized the gun, in which, for whatever reason or whatever circumstances, that gun ends up in the hands of someone that thereby commits another crime, what more need be said.

The truth shall make you free

We read in Holy Scripture "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," (John 8: 32), so too, Pilate asked, "What is truth…?" (John 18: 38)  We should want to not only know the truth, but our highest good is to live to that truth, for anything that is less than truth, means that we are following a path that is either false wholly, or partially false, and anything that is false or any part of false, cannot ultimately be true.

We are told by the greatest philosophers to "know thyself," which basically means to know truth.  The very basis of everything that we deal with in our lives is built upon foundations that either are true at their core, or are untrue.  This means that all that is false, will not test true through the sands of time, and all that is true, will be true, forever, for if truth is not eternal, than all that purports to be that truth, must therefore, ultimately be false.

This signifies that the search for truth, should, in fact, be the primary search of mankind, for nothing can possibly be higher than knowing the truth.  How much time, and how much energy, mankind currently devotes to such a vital search, by research, by studying, by learning, and by contemplation, is actually rather pathetic, for far too many people accept that the way things are is the way things will always be, with progress coming here and there, and far too few expend the energy to actually pursue to its rightful conclusion, the truth of it all.

The fact that we do not pursue truth with the diligence that it so requires, is the very reason, that we look around and see so much of this planet, in abject conditions of economic poverty, hatred, strife, greed, injustice, war, troubles, and discord.  All of this is not so much the result of mankind asserting its will and its desire for freedom, but rather the misuse of man's intelligence in order to serve lesser gods, which provide temporal pleasures or powers, without taking into full consideration the ramifications of such a mindset.

This does so mean that false paths bring forth the spoiled rotten fruits of such a venture, whereas, true paths, bring forth the fruits of harmony, peace, love, joy, and kindness.   So that, the things that you are doing, the things that you are thinking about, the things that you are dwelling upon, and things that you create and interact with, will when all combined, tell the story, and ultimately those that bring forth more evil in any of its myriad forms onto this planet, clearly indicate that the path they are on, is by definition, false.  For false paths produce results that are in disharmony with truth.

On the other hand, those that seek true freedom, will not rest until they know the truth, and those that know the truth, will live up to that truth, for it is in the living, that bears out who and what we really are.  So that, truth discovered, but not lived by, is the calling card of those that know, but have fallen from such knowledge in order to aggrandize unto themselves, powers and principalities, of which, such knowledge, wrongly used, creates burdens and entrapments that cannot be escaped from, until such time, such wrong actions, have been corrected by the corresponding right ones.

While there is just One Truth, there are many tributaries and rivers that will lead to that One Mighty Ocean of truth, find it and follow it, through tides high and low, and all will be well.

Ignorance is slavery

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ignorance as: "lack of knowledge, education, or awareness," of which we know that ignorance is most definitely a form of slavery, as during the antebellum days, a North Carolina statue was passed which stated in part, "Whereas the teaching of slaves to read and write, has a tendency to excite dis-satisfaction in their minds, and to produce insurrection and rebellion…" so that, it was actually a crime in that State, as well as implicitly or explicitly a crime in all slave-owning States, to teach a slave to read and write.  So too, in all the ages preceding modern times, it was most common for literacy to be limited to the domain of the Church, the rulers of the state, such as the aristocratic class, and certain members of the common people, such as doctors, lawyers, as well as other well placed businessmen and traders of goods.  

The most significant reason that ignorance existed and was so prevalent in the history of mankind, is that those that were its temporal as well as its spiritual leaders, found it beneficial for themselves not to have to compete against alien ideas or free minds, for those that are ignorant are in rather poor shape when it comes to rebellion, governance, and civilization, for they lack the skill-set to successfully pull their people together into one cohesive and competent unit.

This meant, that the masses of people were primarily treated as beasts of burden, of which, their productivity and output provided not much more than a bare means of subsistence, with first rights of their productivity actually being taken by the state or the owner of the lands.  In addition, when it came to war and battles, the masses were first in line to serve their country, and thereby it was their blood, and their bodies, that were in the forefront of battles, of which, rape and pillage were the rewards that these troops received for their combat.

A society in which the rulers, along with a privileged few, were able to rule the masses by virtue of not only owning pretty much everything in sight, but also being essentially the owners of the written word, mathematics, and all the advantages that literacy provides to those people that wield it, made for a world in which, those that were ignorant, were, if not slaves in name, slaves in fit, form and function.

If we then fast forward to modern times, it is easy to recognize, that if one is functionally illiterate, that is to say, that person can't readily read, write, or do the most basic of mathematics, not only is that person's employment skills reduced essentially to the strength and brawn of their body, but in all of the many and myriad interactions in which one needs some sort of grasp of literacy to make competent and well thought out transactions, they are at the mercy of those that are literate, and such consideration that they wish to grant for those that are illiterate.

To be ignorant, in a world in which the multitude are not, is to live at a severe disadvantage, and at the dictate of others, of which, those that are  unable to fend for themselves because of such ignorance, are enthralled to those that do.

The government that wants it all

Our government is actually supposed to be a government of the people and for the benefit of the people, as opposed to being an entity that demands obeisance of its policies by the people in order to receive benefits from it.  More than anything, government wants unquestioning loyalty from its subjects, for loyal subjects that are compliant are far easier to lead and to control, thereby making those that are its leaders, quite powerful , safe, and rich, through taxation, conditions, and laws that favor those in power.

This means, that our present-day government looks somewhat askance at areas of influence that they do not control, such as the nuclear family as well as religious faith, for those that have divided loyalties, or even worse, are loyal to beliefs that are not foremost governmental preferred in nature, reflect people that are far less easier to fool and may hesitate in following the prevailing governmental line in their activities. 

The greatest threat to any government is one's religious faith, for reasons both good and bad.  Certainly, there are religious faiths that are inimical to government, for they preach the word that the faithful must adhere to their religion first and foremost, and must thereby live their lives in conformance to that faith, and when put to the test by secular authorities, they must choose first their faith, above all.  On the other hand, there are plenty of mainstream religions which if not exactly in complete lockstep with governmental desires and policies, are close enough to it, and are thereby able to preach the word in such a manner that good religious people will see the government and their religion as quite compatible.  This type of religious belief is the preferred form of all governments, for if you are able to indoctrinate your subjects through governmental schools and policies, as well as being helped in such indoctrination by religious faith and beliefs than the two will join themselves together for the supposed benefit of the nation.

When it comes to the nuclear family, the government has over a long period of time, aggrandized unto itself, more and more of the patriarchal role, so that food, shelter, pensions, housing, education, and so on and so forth, are either directly or indirectly provided by or subsidized by the government and its agencies or are heavily influenced by them.   This means that the family unit is disrupted in the sense that the responsibilities that a parent has to their children, as well as the obligation that children have to their aged parents, has become something that the government has impacted through its ubiquitous welfare state, so that parents and children rather than being dependent upon each other, as a family unit, instead are too often dependent upon the governmental welfare state, which gets its power, influence, and money from the labor of the people.

The government wants to be it all to as many people as possible, so that they are perceived to be the great provider; not God, and not our biological connections through bloodlines.  This means that our independence, freedom, faith, and family ties, are being subsumed by our government, so that we can serve that government for the benefit of that government, and in return, receive rather paltry returns and for far too many live lives of quiet desperation.

Affordable cars for the great multitude do not currently exist

Automobiles have been around in America for well over one hundred years, and the assembly of such, has never been more efficient than the cars that are produced today, but whereas back in 1923, Ford's most popular Model T with the self starter and demountable rims sold for $393, or the equivalency of $5626 in 2017 dollars, of which there was nearly 800,000 of them manufactured in 1923, there aren't any brand new cars at that price point in America, today. 

Of course, one could easily argue, that today's cars are far superior to what was produced back in Henry Ford's era, in addition to the fact that they are safer, faster, more durable, and are subject to various governmental rules and regulations which all contribute to their greater price.  While that may indeed be true, it does miss the most important point of all, which is back at the inception of cars being specifically manufactured for the masses; they were also specifically structured in pricing and performance in such a manner that good working people of modest means could actually afford them.

In today's world, as reported by cnn.com,  "a record 107 million Americans have auto loan debt,"  in addition, "there are 6 million people who are 90 days or more behind on their car payments," whereas back in the heyday of Ford motor, it was a specific policy of Henry Ford, to mass produce cars that were affordable.  While quite obviously this necessitated those cars all being of the same color, same components, and same design, the obvious advantage of this sort of production simplicity, was the cost savings that were therefore passed onto the consumers of such.

Somehow, over the years, perhaps because America has become wealthier, perhaps because nobody really wants to buy a "bare bones" car, or perhaps because of advertising or keeping up with the Joneses, the perceived desire for cheap and affordable cars does not seem to exist, yet there seems to be a need for those affordable cars to exist.  Overall, this is a great shame, for never have so many been so indebted for so much money in order to buy vehicular transportation.

It would seem that all things being equal, that the capacity and the ability to actually manufacture and to produce brand new affordable cars, is still within the capability of the United States, or certainly within the capability of foreign nations, that could thereby export them to the United States, especially if that was an actual desire or goal as defined by public policy, and, if necessary, tax credits or tax set asides could be created in order to encourage this activity.

That said, it doesn't seem that an affordable car is an objective that the United States as a nation so desires to pursue, but it should be, for there are a great deal of people, that do not have the funds in hand to actually purchase the cars that they buy, in which, lacking that ready capital, they instead purchase their vehicles through financing, of which, such financing adds to the overall cost of the vehicle, and because personal budgets are already stretched to the limit, any unforeseen little event,  means the failure to keep current on payments, leading to the possible repossession of the vehicle.

The purchase of an automobile is a big monetary purchase, of which, for some people, it is their biggest purchase that they will ever make, so it would seem that, it would be in the best interests of this great nation to take into consideration the value of having affordable vehicles for those that are already financially struggling day by day.

Knowledge and unveiling

Ideally, we go to school to learn, so too, we have parents and peers to learn from, in this, there is the hope that having learnt well, that thereby our increase of knowledge becomes beneficial to us as well as to others.   Additionally, we also receive knowledge by applying ourselves diligently to the world at large by reading, contemplating, thinking, discussing, and pursuing ideas, and thereby by doing so we are able to discover truths that previously had been hidden from us, and it thereby becomes our responsibility to take this knowledge and to express such in order to help enlighten others.

Though it may seem like splitting hairs, when things are discovered, such as, for instance, oxygen, this oxygen already existed, so that the discovery of and the importance of oxygen, is not so much discovered, but acknowledged and therefore eventually understood in its importance to the sustainability of life on earth.  This signifies that for the most part, what we call knowledge, is in actuality the unveiling of truths that had previously been obscured, or hidden from our minds, and that therefore the greatest pursuit that mankind can have, is to utilize our intelligence in a manner that will increase our knowledge for the betterment of all, by applying our minds to the unveiling of universal truths, especially when such an unveiling aids in removing and eradicating wrong theories and corrupted knowledge that is damaging to the good of civilization.

This so signifies that the mind and our perceived bodily needs do not necessarily conform to one another.  That is to say, that those that live for pleasure, especially as the greatest pursuit of them all, have wrongly placed their emphasis on the sensations of the physical form, while deemphasizing the thinking portion of their mind.  Those that believe this, are the very ones, that live lives that may indeed have their pleasures, but so too find, that they are unable to escape from the cycle of such a pleasure pursuit, day by day, and wonder why they feel that such satisfaction that comes never seems to be satisfying enough.

On the other hand, our mind is able to pursue knowledge, of which the greatest of minds, pursues knowledge that is universal in nature, of which these minds are well trained and well focused, so that they will not give ground until they have discovered what has previously been undiscovered or wrongly discarded.  That is the nature of progress, for those that want to progress, are not satisfied at the way that things are, for they see around them, all sorts of misery, poverty, ignorance, and injustice, and intuitively know that this cannot be the way that things should actually be, so they do not rest until they make a positive impact upon this world by bringing forth knowledge and thereby the positive working of that knowledge in fit, form, and function that such becomes a working aid for the world.

The knowledge that we seek, is unveiled to us, by our diligent pursuit of it, of which, we literally do stand upon the shoulders of previous giants, in order for mankind to progress from age to age, for when mankind insists upon resting on its own laurels and not beyond them, or has not the industry to improve itself, or degrades itself in senseless pursuits that minimizes the mind and knowledge, or the evil use of such knowledge, than the knowledge that we rightly need, becomes veiled.

The correct path

We are told to "know thyself" and this should be the foundation for our outlook on life and what we should or should not be concentrating our energies upon, for if we are very busy, in doing this or doing that, but do not understand the purpose behind it all, then in all likelihood, we are out of focus as to our true purpose in life.

Above all, we should desire to know the truth, of life, both temporal and eternal, and of whom and what we are.  This should be foremost in our minds, in addition, as we mature and pick up wisdom, we may need to make adjustments of our viewpoint to reflect this new knowledge, for those that have closed minds for whatever reason, or minds that do not desire to contemplate ideas and things beyond their self, have closed the most important portal that they could ever imagine that they would ever need.

In all of this, our Creator desires us to find the right path and to avoid the perils of false paths and false promises, yet, so many are so tied to this physical world, that they cannot see beyond it, perhaps because they are struggling just to survive in this world, or have not the time or mind to think outside of their own narrow viewpoints, or have been trained, indoctrinated, or taught things that are false, by those with good intentions or not, that they are mired in a situation that they cannot seem to escape from.

Yet, one's mind is always active, it is always yearning, it is always searching, and only a conscious and deliberate effort to suppress such by drugs, alcohol, things of the world, pressures of the world, or purposeful ignorance, will preclude us from understanding that there really is something beyond our five senses that completes us.  For instance, everything that we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch, we believe for a certainty to be true, yet those senses are not our only senses, for all those senses are physical, yet, one's own mind, though physical in the sense that we have a brain, is beyond physicality in the sense that thinking consists of a conscious mind, the subconscious mind, but also the super-conscious mind, which is universal in nature, and beyond our normal awareness.

The daily perspective that we carry with us, has an immense influence upon our outlook and what we do or don't do in our interactions and our activities on a given day.  So many, out of habit, out of expectation, and out of desire, trod the road that has been already been taken by so many others, basically in conformance to others, when, what they should at a minimum do, as they approach that fork in the road, is to at least carefully consider taking the road not taken, for that will make all the difference, for the lasting peace and fulfillment that one so longs for, will only be found by a conscious decision to find the source of it all and to not rest until that source is found,

Each of us is gifted with a good conscience, of which the greatest use of such a conscience, is to actually utilize such, for done correctly our conscience will act like a beacon of illumination showing us the correct path that we must journey upon.

The false protection of the Miranda warning

Most, everyone through television, or just general talking, or through reading, are basically familiar with the Miranda warning, in which, police have been instructed in conformance with the Supreme Court decision of 1966, that suspects be advised of their rights upon being arrested, which most importantly involves the right to be silent and to thereby not to answer questions that may be incriminating or could be considered to be incriminating in nature, as well as the right to have an attorney.  This means that suspects that have not been informed of their Miranda rights and are thereby subsequently questioned and/or interrogated cannot have such evidence obtained by these statements be admissible in court against that suspect.

As in most situations, the effect of the Miranda warning, was quickly adjusted to by the police and law enforcement agencies, so that in actuality, the reading of such a warning is something akin to the reading of Terms and Conditions of rental contracts, or medicinal prescriptions, and other such things, that basically nobody really pays much attention to.  That is to say, in fit, form, and function, those that are arrested and have been read their Miranda rights, and then agreed that they understand such rights, pretty much behave as if they don't really understand that they have the Constitutional right to shut up.

This essentially means, for all practical purposes, that the Miranda warning, with a small percentage of exceptions of all those that are mature, intelligent, knowledgeable, disciplined, and of a sound reasoning mind, does little or nothing to protect suspects against not only making incriminating statements, that will thereby be taken as confessions in a court of law, but to, over a period of time, perhaps also confess to things or admit to stuff that didn't actually really occur.   While, on the surface, most people strongly believe that there isn't any sort of thing as a false confession, those very same people believing such, have never experienced being interrogated before in which the suspect is in control of virtually nothing, and must on their own, deal with law enforcement psychological game playing, relentless pressure, along with premeditated deception, all of which will be unleashed upon them.  One must recognize, that a police interrogation is always done upon the terms and conditions of the police department, itself, of which, those doing the interrogating are highly experienced, as well as understanding completely the rules and purpose of the game, whereas the suspect knows little or nothing of what is really transpiring, and has not the experience or capacity to trade psychological blows with the police.

This so signifies that when the police interrogate a given suspect, especially considering that the confinement of the suspect puts him in a highly vulnerable position, that in many cases, actionable information will be confessed to in one way or another, even if, suspect is just basically affirming police officer's leading questions, because many of these suspects are unable to figure out a way to voluntarily stop themselves, other than saying what they believe the police want to hear, because they are fatigued, confused, discombobulated, feel threatened, and may have received false promises or assurances for cooperation.

In point of fact, all police interrogations with suspects should be taped from the beginning to the end, of which these interrogations should be limited in their total time, as well as there should be mandated breaks, and there should be options for the suspect to opt out at certain, specific,  given points.  In addition, fairness would imply that a neutral observer should be attendant to such interrogations at all times, along with rules that specifically allow for the suspect to have bathroom breaks, rest, silence, and an opportunity for such a suspect to opt out of such an interrogation by being reminded of their Fifth Amendment rights.

All said, while there was good intentions behind the Miranda warning, in effect, the most important warning and the rules and regulations that are actually needed to protect suspects from self-incrimination, as well as coerced and false confessions, really needs to specifically address police interrogation techniques, which Miranda hasn't touched, whatsoever.

The fear of our Lord

We read in scripture, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…" Proverbs 1: 7, of which the connotation of the word "fear" needs to be understood as not so much as a physical fear, but rather more akin to an ultimate respect and an ultimate reverence for our God, for if we do not have these things within our character for our Creator, wherever will we develop it for anyone or anything else.  This thus means that those that recognize that there is a power above them, that is omnipotent, omniscience, and eternal, will, if they are seekers of true knowledge, conduct themselves in such a manner that reflects this truth.

God does not wish us to cower in fear at his awesome power, for God has actually provided us with free will and a free conscience to go about our business, which indicates, that this great gift of freedom is also the greatest gift that we can bestow upon one another, for just as we are not automatons of our Lord, as his little playthings, so then we should not want to treat others as anything less than free agents of the same God that created us in the first place.

However, the corollary of freedom is responsibility, and the beginning of wisdom is to understand that freedom without responsibility is a form of chaos, along with being demonstrative proof of a lack of purpose, for if we do not truly know who and what we really are, then however are we to know how to properly behave one to another.   This then means that God wishes us to create that foundational rock of which we can build our lives upon and thereby bring forth a civilization which unites in recognizing that each is created by the exact same hand of God, and that therefore all are entitled to liberty, fairness, and justice.

If, on the other hand, mankind devolves into believing, that man is the measure of all things, than any hope of  worldwide lasting peace, fairness, calmness, and justice will vanish into the thin air of a world starved of life-giving oxygen and the fresh water of truth, for those that do not fear the Lord, are the very same that fell away from God in the first place, believing that they could be gods, having the power to discern both good and evil, when in reality, they left Light and fell into darkness.

Those, that above all, pursue God with the diligence of one that will not rest until they find the end of all sorrows, will on their journey, increase their knowledge and wisdom in such a manner, that they will rise above the daily bickering and backbiting of human interactions, to recognize that all is well within their soul, for they will perceive others that are flailing, as what they really are, lost, and pathetically grasping at all sorts of straws as substitutes for God, without ever truly fearing God.  For when one finds their rest in God, one too will find love, and then all will be right for love is the pot of gold that those that righteously fear God discover anew.

Currency Devaluation

America is so use to the dollar that they cannot conceive of a time when the dollar was not its currency, of which, the nationalized dollar, that is to say, the unit of money known as our dollar, was created by the National Banking Act of 1863, which essentially established the federal dollar as the sole legitimate currency of America.  This meant that our currency would no longer be issued and redeemable by individual banks, but instead be issued by banks under a national charter, which allowed the United States to therefore create money so as to fund its war efforts and to keep the country solvent.

Though in the ensuing years there have been many changes and amendments to our currency, such as the fact that the dollars so printed are not redeemable in gold or silver, nor are the dollars as traded on foreign markets redeemable for gold.  So too, because of the size and might of our economy, along with the stability of our republic, the dollar, in fit, form, and function has become the reserve currency of the world, despite the fact that the dollar is not actually backed by anything of value, other than the debt notes that are issued and bought by governments, foreign and domestic, as well as investors throughout the world.

All of the above is fine, to a certain extent, until such a time when it no longer is fine, by, for instance, a government consistently running massive deficits, of which America has been doing so in recent years, of which the national deficit has increased from $5.65 trillion dollars in 2000, with a total debt load as a percentage of GDP at 55.8%, to 2018's national deficit at $20.62 trillion dollars, with a total debt load as a percentage of GDP recognized at 103.81% as of the third quarter of 2017.

The reason that such a deficit does matter is the fact that currencies fluctuate day by day, and year by year, of which, the result of such fluctuation is the inflation and deflation that are the consequences of it, but that is a small inconvenience as compared to outright currency devaluation, which many countries have done, and continue to do, in order to reset and to re-anchor their currency  at a new rate so as to stimulate their economy by boosting exports, while correspondingly reducing imports, as well as reducing significantly the cost of servicing their national debt, as compared to completely becoming insolvent.

Of course, currency devaluation is extremely disruptive for those that have assets in such a currency, because when that currency is devalued or replaced, the old currency loses its value at an exceedingly high rate of 50% or even far more, of which, those that are aware of such a devaluation being imminent are sure to come out far better than those that are unawares. 

This then means that currency devaluations are done on a government to government basis, of which, major foreign trading partners are consulted and negotiated with, along with the fact that those that issue such currency on a national basis, most definitely are the ones that set the structure for the new currency of which the institutions that issue and set the value of the replacement banknotes are the biggest beneficiaries of the new currency for they literally write the rules of it, whereas, the mass of the public, and all those that utilize the currency for their daily transactions and pay, will find that the devaluation hits them right in the pocketbook, effectively eviscerating their lifetime of savings and earnings, overnight.

Social Media, the Police State, and our right to privacy

Though, the words "right to privacy" does not actually show up in our Constitution, such rights are implicit within our law of the land, with often the Fourth Amendment constituting such, as it states that: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…"  Yet, the way that social media is setup and the way that we are identified through our online activities of all sorts, creating digital footprints by the very usage of our cell phones, emails, text messages, and website activity, of which, most of this, is being accomplished within a prism which allows explicitly or implicitly for our information to be monitored, correlated, analyzed and viewed, essentially eviscerates any rights or expectation of privacy that we would in general, like to control.

That is to say, the terms and conditions for all the social media and websites that we interact with, or the hi-technology devices that we utilize, are not really in our control, but are actually in the control of mega-corporations that may well use such data for our betterment, but in many cases, use such data basically for the exploitation of its customer base, primarily, in order to make money or create revenue in one form or another.  Additionally, such mega-corporations have a vested interest in being on the right side of the government that regulates and taxes such entities, so that, whether done deliberately or reluctantly, such data often ends up in the hands of the government, no matter how much this has supposedly being obscured in such a manner, to protect the identity of individuals.

When mega-corporations as well as governmental agencies know everything about you, because they are able to follow your digital footprint from your cell phone to your car, to your laptop, and to your credit and debit cards, they have an incredible amount of actionable information, that allows them to have a complete profile of your proclivities, of which, significant parts of such information, would be of the type that you would not voluntarily admit to in public, yet, it is in the public view, for those all-seeing entities.

This then means, that our privacy is no longer in our hands, for it is essentially out of our hands, so that, whether such entities have our best interests in mind or not, they have enough information on us, to be able to compromise us, and this then is a form of awesome power and control.  It is one thing to live one's life in a fishbowl, such as a celebrity, but celebrities are very well compensated and have consciously made that tradeoff of sacrificing privacy for fame and/or money.  It is an entirely different thing, though, when your average citizen, is basically exposed completely at a fundamental level, of which, that never was their purposeful intention, nor was it their purposeful desire, nor does it appear that they can ever turn the bright intruding lights off.

The social media sites that we visit and the hi-technology tools that we daily use, should be, fundamentally, for our benefit, instead they are used as a powerful clear portal into our very being, for those that have no privacy are prisoners of those privileged few that see everything and hear everything, for they then know everything and that god-like knowing gives them the power to manipulate and to thereby control us, which means they basically own us.

Democracy, taxes, and wealth

In America, all those that are citizens who are eighteen years of age, of either sex and of any race or creed are eligible to vote, though there are exceptions to this rule, such as those that are incarcerated felons, or even ex-felons.  This would seem to suggest, since voters get to vote upon the biggest propositions, State and local elections, the members of congress, and the President, that the representatives of the people would truly be their representatives.  While it is true, that the judicial branch is not typically voted upon by the people, the members selected for that branch, are nominated and selected by representatives of the people.

All of this, would suggest that in a country that as reported by cnn.com, in which: "The Top 1% now holds 38.6% of the nation's wealth," and "The bottom 90% now holds only 22.8% of the nation's total wealth," that such a massive disparity in wealth would be shrinking over time, but, in fact, that wealth has relentlessly been increasing in recent years, so that truly the superrich in America have seen their wealth compound and increase by dramatic amount whilst the vast majority of Americans have seen their aggregate wealth get appreciably lower.

While it is true, that America, as a land of entrepreneurs allows its citizens to pursue their financial goals without undue governmental interference, the fact that so few have so much, and that so many have so little, in the land in which in aggregate no country has more wealth in total, doesn't make any real logical sense, for the law makers elected by the people, are the same law makers that set the rules of the road in regards to taxation, capital accumulation, and re-distribution of a portion of that wealth, but the end results would indicate that the system is fundamentally flawed or corrupt or both.

America has a lot of laws, as well as its principles, in which some of these principles are lofty and seem on paper to be fair, such as our progressive income taxation, as well as estate taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, along with well reasoned governmental rules and regulations, in regards to minimum wages, welfare, and laws to protect the public, of which, all of these together, should be something that while permitting and encouraging innovation and hard work, also is providing a minimum safety net, fairness, and opportunity so that everyone can have some sort of presence or seat at the table of American prosperity.

The bottom line, though, is even though the poor and the middle class of America, do vastly outnumber the rich and the superrich of America, the power structure of this country does not reflect the democratic equality of all peoples within this nation, for the superrich despite being considerably outnumbered democratically for they are limited to just one vote per person, have in fit, form, and function, a system of laws and taxation that favors that class of people while suppressing as almost a permanent underclass the poor, along with foisting upon the backs of the middle class the full freight of such taxation,  yet, not suffering from such, themselves. 

This would so indicate, that the democratic vote in its implementation, gives the public the illusion that this is a government of and by the people, whereas, in reality it certainly is not.

Congressional apportionment in the aftermath of the civil war

Before the civil war, the slave owning States, were able to count their slaves for the Electoral College as well as the apportionment in congress as "three fifths of all other persons", whereas, after the conclusion of said war, since slavery had been eradicated, such a distinction of "three fifths" was eliminated, indicating that this category of people was replaced instead by "whole numbers of free persons."  This would seem to be wholly positive, but the counting of such people that were formerly treated for such purposes as "three fifths" having been replaced by giving them full numerical value, ended up by being twisted in such a manner that by disenfranchising these particular people from the vote, southern States, actually picked up additional Electoral College votes, as well as an increased apportionment in congress, so that, incredibly, despite losing the civil war, the southern interests actually increased their congressional representation, because of the Constitutional reclassification of other persons to free persons.  This meant, in practicality, the ruling structure of the south, with the exception of a few short years in the Reconstruction period, was for all practical purposes, the same as it had been previous to the war.

The above would imply strongly that for the south, their lost cause, was not nearly as lost as it might have appeared to have been on paper, for numerical representations does matter, and with each State getting exactly two Senators, along with the southern interests increasing their congressional apportionment, this meant, that though still outnumbered, their considerable block of votes and influence would have an outsized impact upon law making, budget allocations, and the general order of things, of which, because of this, slavery though made illegal in name, was able to continue in a revised and perverted form as in convict leasing, sharecropping, and peonage, so that, the ruling class of the south, was able to continue in its ways, especially in consideration that the federal power of the government, in the aftermath of the civil war, for the most part, did not interfere or desire to interfere with local and State laws in the south, and would not do so, until well into the 20th century.

This would also strongly suggest that congressional apportionment that simply takes into account a given resident population within a State, without taking into account their enfranchisement to vote, their citizenship status, their incarceration status, and so on and so forth, is flawed, yet it is those numbers of people that makes a material difference as to how many or how few representatives are allocated to each of the respective States, in which, quite obviously, States that have more representatives have more influence upon public policy than States that have less.  So too, when certain classes, creeds, or colors of citizens are effectively disenfranchised from voting, than those that thereby become the elected representatives of such a State, are not actually representing all of the people, but are in effect, representing a portion of such, so that the public policy voted on and discussed by those representatives will favor that class of citizens that voted for them, while precluding all others.