Social Status and One-upmanship

Those that have the money and the power almost always find a necessity to prove their superiority over those that do not have these things, of which, since human beings all essentially look the same without their clothes on, this means that one way to signify such a difference is that you must wear clothes that clearly help to establish your status.  Of course, that's one part, for you also require all the appropriate accompanying accouterments of your social station in life, such as your home size and location, car make and model, schooling and tutors, servants or robots to cater to your needs, and so on and so forth.

History tells us that back in simpler times, one of the most prized possessions of those that were above it all, was a horse.  Not only was a horse the status symbol, but a horse, because of its power, speed, and strength, was absolutely invaluable in battles of all sorts, clearly providing a far superior advantage over those that had no transport, in addition to the fact that the mobility of such a horse, made it far easier to adjudge and to adjust to the conditions of any particular armed combat, skirmish, or civil unrest.

Additionally, those that rode a horse, did not tire the way that their laborers would tire that were compelled to use their own brawn as well as available hand tools so as to till the land or to service crops, which instilled among the common laborers the rather obvious observation of the superiority of he who has mastered the horse. 

So too, as man advanced, the automobile replaced the horse in fit and function, becoming the new status symbol, of which, because cars were not physical animals, they did not require either rest or food, though they did require fuel of some sort as well as maintenance, but with the advent of the car, those that had, were able to more easily travel and get about in ways and in a comfort that did not formerly exist.

The bottom line is that social status has been since time immemorial something that those that have the money and the power clearly wish to display as to their superiority, but also usually doubles as being  quite functional as well.  In short, the rich has the best of both worlds, and even when the other classes are able to somewhat imitate the rich, they are not only always trying to catch up, but their imitation is often clearly a cut below.

Additionally, every time that there is a seismic change in the development of something really revolutionary and new, it is the rich and the connected that get their hands on it first.  So that, whether it is self-autonomous vehicles, drones, rocket ships to Mars, or whatever, it is those that are part of the elite that these products first gravitate to, for it isn't good enough for them to just have all of the money and just to have all of the power, because in reality they want to make sure that you really do know that they are all that, and you are not.

Paycheck to paycheck and credit cards

As part of its mission the Federal Reserve Board asks questions of American consumers, in which, as reported by theatlantic.com, in answer to the "… how they would pay for a $400 emergency…47 percent of respondents said that either they would cover the expense by borrowing or selling something."  That response, indicates quite clearly that nearly half of all Americans, are living paycheck to paycheck, in which, they do not even have an extra $400 saved up in order to tide them through any of the inevitable emergencies that people do have.

Not too surprisingly, over the last few decades, the percentage of Americans that use credit cards in order to make ends meet has never been higher, with credit cards essentially serving as short-term loans to many consumers, though the fundamental problem for many of those that are living paycheck to paycheck, isn't that their credit card usage is just for an emergency or just for a temporary short term loan but in actuality is necessary in order for them to keep on top of their bills that they are responsible for and are accumulating on a monthly basis, so that, while initially a credit card may well provide a monetary boost for those that are struggling paycheck to paycheck, such a credit card, soon changes to something more like a noose and therefore becomes a burden.

The problem that consumers have that rely on their credit cards is that, by virtue of not being able to either pay off their credit card bills in full, or by virtue of not adhering to all of the terms and conditions of said credit card, such as its on-time payment requirement, meeting the minimum payment, not going over their credit card limit, or being socked with upfront fees, setup fees, annual fees, or a monthly servicing fee, along with deceptive interest rates that may initially be low or reasonable, in which these interest rates are subsequently either phased out after a finite amount of time, or changed to a higher rate by being in violation of one of the many terms and conditions of these credit cards, is that consumers pay and pay for the credit so issued to them.

What is somewhat surprising to many people is that credit card issuers are permitted to charge whatever interest rate that they so desire as long as it is clearly disclosed in their terms and conditions and abides by the Truth in Lending Act.  This means that when a credit card was issued with an annual percentage rate of 79.9% that this was legal, which is why so many credit cards are issued with double-digit interest rates, even though the cost of money to the banks that are issuing these credit cards has never been historically cheaper than what it has been over the last decade.

Obviously, when you are struggling paycheck to paycheck, this pretty much indicates that you cannot pay off your credit card balance in full, so then all of the interest rate charges, and other fees, systematically begin to be added to the balance for that credit card, each and every month, changing a credit card from being something that possibility was seen as a life saver to in actuality being a millstone around a debtor's neck.  So that many Americans, perhaps half of Americans, are in reality not bringing home enough money through their paychecks to sustain themselves, signifying that they are probably not really making a living wage.

The end of free money and the upcoming stock market collapse

The government likes to come up with all sorts of terms that the average citizen really doesn't understand such as Quantitative easing (QE) which it commenced in 2008, and ended in 2014, of which QE essentially is a monetary policy in which the central bank of the United States, also known as the Federal Reserve, purchased assets, that is primarily bonds, thereby creating new money out of thin air, to the tune of approximately $4 trillion during those years, of which, the purpose of this QE was to lower the yield on those bonds and thereby lowering the cost for institutions to borrow money, while at the same time increasing the money supply by those newly created bonds.  So, in simple terms, the Federal Reserve basically printed $4 trillion which has now become part of the economy, of which, the main impact of this appears to have been lower interest rates and a stronger stock market.

In point of fact, QE essentially acted as the prop for stock prices, because corporations were able to borrow billions upon billions of dollars at unprecedented lower interest rates, not so much to expand their businesses, which they did to a certain extent, but to utilize that money to buy back public shares of their stocks at unheard of levels which served as a very successful prop to boost those public share prices, because the reduction of the quantity of public stock shares even with the exact same dollar earnings by the corporation, equates to a higher earnings per share ratio which is a fundamental basis that investors look at in procuring a certain stock to begin with. 

So too, historic low interest rates, increases leverage by financial institutions, corporations, and investors, for when the cost of money is very, very low, then in order to make money on any investment, the hurdle to do so is much lower.  That is to say, when the cost of borrowing money is only 1.5% or even lower, than assets that are invested in need to only return something greater than 1.5% per annum in order to turn a profit.

All of the foregoing, should be taken into account, for when QE becomes Quantitative Tightening (QT), of which QT is defined as the Federal Reserve essentially allowing the bonds, previously created by QE  to mature and then simply to receive that cash and thereby to use that cash to pay down the $4 trillion previously issued during the QE phase, one should expect that interest rates will rise or normalize, which they are doing at the present time, as well as that assets, especially like stocks which are dependent upon both cheap money and free money to accelerate in value to new heights, to subsequently drop, and possibly to drop quite precipitously.

Another way of putting it is that it is not conceivable that if QE is foundationally the very reason why stocks rose and rose considerably, than QT must by nature, be the very reason, why stocks will fall, and fall considerably.  How the stock market plays out over the ensuring few years will tell the tale, but no doubt, cheap and free money always inflates assets, while more expensive money most definitely deflates assets, as well as punishing those that need to be in debt in order to grow their business or to pay their bills.

The oil percentage depletion allowance

Unless you are an actual tax authority, figuring out and knowing all the tax set asides, tax advantages, and tax subsidies that particular industries and companies get is virtually impossible to know, but those running those companies, for an absolute certainly know how exactly the tax codes can be manipulated and utilized for their advantage, for most companies make it their practical purpose to pay as little as they need to legally pay in taxes, per their tax statements each and every year.

In point of fact, the tax code is so convoluted, manipulated, and unfair, that some companies are entitled to special tax breaks that other companies do not have, and vice versa, whereas, individual tax payers, typically are stuck paying the full freight, so that most individual tax payers, do not really need any outside help in order to prepare their taxes, because their taxes owed are for the most part, fairly clearly delineated, and therefore straightforward.  On the other hand, no company of any real worth, and especially companies that are very large and of a lot of worth, hire people specifically to lobby for tax breaks, to interpret the tax code in a manner that will delay or reduce taxes, and do everything that they can to "legally" reduce their taxes.

One of the many unfair tax subsidies that really should be looked upon as corporate welfare is the oil percentage depletion allowance.  That is to say, oil companies must put forth capital investment in order to produce oil from a given property, of which, they are permitted, with certain restrictions, to deduct 15% from their gross income earned, not subject to the limitation of the capital investment so made.  That is to say, if an oil company puts forth $50 million in capital investment into a given oil property, they are entitled to deduct not 15%, from that capital investment made of $50 million but actually are entitled to deduct 15% per year in perpetuity of the gross income earned from that capital investment and the oil so produced, indicating that the oil percentage depletion allowance can far exceed the amount of capital investment put into that property to extract oil in the first place.

Whether the oil depletion percentage allowance was ever necessary in order to encourage domestic production, is debatable to begin with, but it isn't important to try to figure out why such a tax law was passed, what is important, is that the oil depletion percentage allowance should be phased out and eliminated posthaste, because it is grossly unfair to allow any corporation, for any reason, to deduct more than their actually capital investment from their net income liability so as to pay far less than what they should pay in their taxes to their country for perpetuity.

While the tax code stipulates that this oil percentage depletion allowance is only allowed for those that produce or refine less than 50,000 barrels of oil a day, 50,000 barrels of oil a day, is a serious amount of production, equating to millions upon millions of dollars, of which, any company, that is permitted to deduct from their net income more than their capital investment in the first place is selfishly benefiting themselves at the expense of the average American.

The coming demonetization of the United States dollar

In 1971, President Nixon, officially took the United States dollar off of the Bretton Wood agreement, which had fixed the United States dollar at $35 per gold ounce, in which, since that time, from 1971 to 2017, the inflation rate in America as calculated by in2013dollars.com, indicates that "Prices in 2017 are 504.4% higher than prices in 1971,"  whereas if you take the same length of time of 46 years, that is from 1924-1970, in2013dollars.com, tells us that "Prices in 1970 are 126.9% higher than prices in 1924," which is a substantial difference in the value of the dollar and shows the odious effects of inflation upon the dollar, especially when that dollar is backed by nothing more than the full faith of the US government. Further, the national deficit in 1971 was just $398 billion, which almost sounds small, whereas today, as estimated by the usdebtclock.org it is $21.147 trillion and counting, which is an incredible 2145.5% higher than the debt was back in 1971.

 The US dollar isn't tied to anything, it is a floating currency, and further to the point, the dollar is the coin of the realm of the United States government, thereby making it the medium of exchange, that is universally accepted throughout the world and it is the legal and de facto currency of this government.  This means, that virtually all business and personal transactions are conducted within America by using the US dollar, so that, even if you do not have confidence in the dollar, your options in being able to utilize and to transact business without it are limited, though there are alternatives, notably crytocurrency that some people have gravitated to.

In point of fact, the United States is never going to pay off its deficit, and will for a certainty, created a new form of currency, replacing the present day dollar, and thereby essentially repudiating the debt it has accumulated by converting it into something that favors this government at the expense of those holding onto its debt, of which this change will have seismic consequences and could even lead to war with other nations, though, in all probability, the United States will have secretly negotiated with their major creditor nations in a manner that will assuage them in such a way, that they will accept half a loaf, as compared to no loaf at all.

However, there is a big difference between personal debt and personal assets that you as an individual are responsible for and have as your lifetime of earnings and savings, as compared to what and how sovereign nations treat one another, so for those individuals, stuck with dollars that have been demonetized, you will receive, almost for a certainty, a very raw deal, in which your wealth as expressed in US dollars, before being demonetized will on the one hand be decimated, but your debt after being demonetized, will be recalculated in such a manner, that you earn no advantage from the monetization of new money within America.

This means, that the government of this country will become even more powerful than it is today, in addition to the privileged banking consortium which will have worked out the finest details of this demonetization and then re-monetization of a new currency, benefiting them at the expense of the average America.  So too, the richest and most connected Americans will as a matter of course, be cognizant of this impending change which will allow them to circumvent it with a minimum of damage, leaving the heartland of America holding the bag, with no option or recourse, as the militarized police of this country, in connection with our national forces, will put down, any incipient riots or civil disobedience with a fusillade of bullets.

If corporations are people, they should be taxed the same as people

In recent years, the Supreme Court has granted to corporations more and more rights, as if these corporations are people which seem absurd, though the counter-argument to that is corporations are made up of groups of people.  Still, sometimes, one needs to be careful about what they ask for, because if legally we are to treat corporations as people, than logically, those same corporations should be taxed the same as people, that is, at the same individual tax rates, with the same set of rules.

For instance, as a person, when you have expenses such as meals, travel, gifts, insurance, maintenance, airfare, repair, entertainment, publications, internet, phone, postage, amongst many other things, none of these are typically deductible from your personal taxes, even though they are expenses to you.  On the other hand, for corporations, most of those things are deductible from their income as an expense, in addition to corporations being able to depreciate capital equipment, as well as having a whole bunch of other stuff that is also classified to be legitimate business expenses, which is subtracted from the gross income of said corporation.

In other words, corporations, despite all their whining about tax codes and paying too much in taxes, are actually coddled by the American government, and are tax privileged, especially in comparison, to the general public, for where else, can someone wake up in the morning, receive a ride in a limousine, get on a private corporate jet, receive all sorts of perks and courtesies while traveling on that jet, take in a  very expensive sporting event at a stadium while sitting in a private box and being catered to, eat at whatever exclusive restaurant that they so desire with as many guests as they prefer, and then bed at night at a high end hotel, and not have to pay a dime, directly or personally, and the corporation that this individual is part of, is able to basically expense or deduct these expenditures as being legitimate business expenses, from its corporate income

.

All of the tax advantages that corporations have over individuals, did not first exist, as part of the corporate tax code, but have evolved over the ensuring years as a way of benefiting these very powerful entities at the expense of individuals, that are subjected to onerous taxes, in which, the common taxpayer is the one that pays nearly half of all the US Federal taxes, in which as reported by topforeignstocks.com, in fiscal year 2014, individual income taxes paid 48.4% of Federal taxes, whereas corporate Federal taxes contributed just 9.9%.  In fact, the last time that corporate Federal taxes were larger than individual Federal taxes, was 1943, and since that time the gap between the two has gotten larger and larger, for corporations are very adept at tax dodging as well as receiving tax subsidies, so that, corporations such as General Motors, E*Trade, and American Airlines, for fiscal year 2015, all had an income tax expense that was actually negative, despite their pre-tax profits of millions upon millions.

Corporations in today's America have never had it better, especially with the passage of recent tax legislation that lowered the federal corporate income tax rate from 35%, of which virtually no corporation ever paid, to 21%, which few corporations will actually pay at, which effectively means that the percentage of taxes that will be paid by corporations in comparison to individuals will drop even further, even though, corporations are legally, for some purposes, considered to be people.

The real unemployment rate

There are lies, damn lies, and the publication and dissemination of statistics that support the prevailing viewpoint that this government so wishes to propagate.  For instance, there are actually six different categories of state measures of unemployment, labeled progressively as U-1 through U-6, of which this government as well as their media mouthpieces consistently uses just one of these measures, which is U-3. The U-3 unemployment definition considers only those that are unemployed which have also looked for employment as of the last four weeks, divided into the civilian labor force as whole, of which, the official U-3 unemployment rate as of March, 2018, was listed at 4.1%, which is the lowest this indicator has been since 2000.  That unemployment number sounds quite impressive, however, the U-6 definition of unemployment includes "plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons," which as of March, 2018, was listed at nearly doubled the U-3 amount at 8.0%.  There is a world of difference between these two numbers.

The main question to ask is whether or not the U-6 unemployment rate is a more accurate depiction of the real employment situation.  The answer is fairly straightforward, for the marginally attached are defined as those that have looked for work in the last twelve months, but not within the last four weeks, whereas, part time workers for economic reasons are defined as those that are working, but would prefer full time employment, but are unable to find or attain full time employment.

Obviously, if you are working but are not working enough hours to meet the standard forty hour work week, than your income as well as your ability to pay bills and meet expenses is adversely affected, so while these people are employed, they most definitely are also under employed.  Additionally, those that have looked for full time employment over the last year, but not within the last four weeks, aren't considered unemployed by the U-3 standard, but, in fact, they are in actuality unemployed, and clearly were desirous of being employed but were unable to find employment during their recent search, in which they have not renewed such a search within the last four weeks. This number of four weeks seems like a relatively arbitrary number of too short of length of time, to displace these people from being part of the de facto official unemployment rate.

So that, the real unemployment rate as of March, 2018, is actually 8.0%, but even that doesn't fully reflect the gravity of the situation, for if you are well qualified worker, or have a graduate degree, or are very experienced, or an older worker, but work within an industry that does not basically credit you for any of those things, you will, more times than not, receive a wage that is far below your skill levels.  So that, as reported by pewresearch.org, we find that: "About 20.6 million people are “near-minimum-wage” workers," of which near-minimum wage is defined as: "those who make more than the minimum wage in their state but less than $10.10 an hour."

This would indicate that not only is the real unemployment rate, a not so impressive 8.0%, but that millions upon millions of Americans make no better than near-minimum wages in the work that they so do, signifying that your eyes as well as your friends do not deceive you, for unemployment and wages are not nearly as robust as this government would have you to believe.

The downfall of ignoring the All Important One

We are told that we live in a secular world, which seems to be becoming more secular by the minute, demonstrated in more and more public spheres, as well as often being propagated within our family life and values, and definitely is part and parcel of our public educational systems, of which our Creator, of whom, we receive our unalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has now become nearly fully cast aside, as being irrelevant, and mythical, rather than being real and very pertinent.

For those that do not believe in our Creator, or behave in a manner that bespeaks of their non-belief, perhaps all is good, or even very, very good, but nothing in this temporal world lasts forever, and so the hard work that is done in your endeavors in the workplace, will eventually come to an end.  So too, the social events and parties, and just living the good life, will reach their inevitable conclusions, whether having run their course, or by lack of interest, or by just getting really old, the curtain will come down.

So through it all, whether you have had the best of the best, or a really good time, pretty good, or whether things have been fairly rocky or worse, all of these things will reach their endpoints.  Additionally, trouble has a way of rearing its ugly head at all sorts of inconvenient times, adversely impacting virtually everyone at some eventual time, so that those that have been ignoring the Creator but enjoying the creation, will find themselves invariably facing some sort of trouble.

While some people in their rough and troubled times will curse the gods for their troubles; many others that are suffering greatly will often find themselves reaching out and desiring not just to contact God, but to have that God respond to them in a meaningful and poignant way so as to ease them through the troubles that they are experiencing, desiring greatly that God responds to their sorrowful calls, thereby making things better.

The thing is, if you have basically been ignoring God in all manners, large and small, it doesn't seem right or even realistic that somehow God would now instantly respond to your pleading cries, because having allowed the sands of time to ignore this great Personage to such an extent, than your pathway to God has no doubt, become overgrown with weeds and significant underbrush, effectively blocking the Way.

When you treat this life as if those living here are living gods, answering to no outside power, and then when troubles come, you expect help from the very power that you have previously thumbed your nose at, that help probably isn't going to arrive instantly, not because God does not care, for God never stops caring, no matter your offense or ignorance, but rather, because of your previous unbelief.  Those that have lost or ignored the faith do not all of a sudden rediscover it, for that takes both real dedication and dedicated time, further, God is never your little errand boy, for God is omniscient and omnipotent, but God will for a certainty respond to you, for you need only listen to that still small voice inside.

Criminal Records and Licensing

The National Employment Law Project (NELP) estimates that in regards to the population of America, that all those of age to work, some 65 million of them as of 2010 had criminal records, which is an absolutely staggering amount, and a direct reflection of this country's draconian drug laws as well as victimless crimes that incarcerates and criminalizes activities that really do not harm anyone, other than the person so being arrested.  Additionally, as reported by brookings.edu, "Nearly 30 Percent of Workers in the U.S. Need a License to Perform Their Job."

The long and short of this situation, is that convictions for criminal offenses, unfairly impugn upon those so convicted, a lifetime penalty that precludes job opportunities, housing opportunities, governmental benefits, and fairness to those so convicted.  The bottom line, is that besides having to often serve time within an incarceration facility, that upon being released from such an incarceration, these convicts are often subjected to being monitored, subject to drug tests at the will of the state, as well as suffering many restrictions, such as not being permitted to leave their county of residency, restricted from seeing certain people, restricted from driving a vehicle without expressed permission, and being subject to a curfew.

Whether any of these restrictions serve a good purpose is debatable, but clearly the policy of this country is that those convicted of criminal offenses, often have to pay an unending penalty for such a conviction, which, rather than ending upon their release from incarceration, stays with them, until the day that they die, no matter how old that they are.  The fact that such a high percentage of jobs require a license in order to be employed in that job, is something that restricts certain people from getting that license for they don't have the money, time, or education to pursue such a license, but it also often precludes those that have a criminal record from even being eligible to apply for that license in the first place.

While there may well be good reasons as to why certain criminal convictions should preclude being licensed in certain specific fields, for the most part, this deliberate preclusion is unwarranted, unfair, and clearly makes it incredibly difficult for those that already suffered incarceration to find meaningful employment that will permit them to work hard, make fair money, and to become truly self sufficient.  In addition, the vast majority of those incarcerated in the first place, are people that are typically ill educated, minorities, the poor, and the disadvantaged, so that the upshot of all this incarceration is to deliberately punish those that are least able to defend themselves and have for the most part, been dealt a very bad hand to begin with, in which this government and its policies abandons these people from their inception, and then adding salt to the wound, makes it their policy to criminalize as many of them as possible, and finally to close their door of opportunity by restricting them from applying for and receiving a license necessary for work.

Those that have a criminal record, except for the most egregious crimes and some other special situations, have already paid their dues behind bars, or by having gone through the wringer of our judicial system, so that, upon their release, they should be afforded their basic human rights, with the absolute minimum of restrictions, rather than being treated like wretched refuse upon our shores. 

What a marvelous work is mankind

Too many of us, just take our bodies and minds for granted, never seeming to recognize the enormous complexity of what makes up our bodies and minds, that is not only incredible, but is marvelous in its design.  In point of fact there are many simple substances on this earth, so that if we were to take a glass of water and thereupon to pour half into another glass, we have not changed the substance of water, at all, it is the same, but now contained in two different glasses.  If we took a very large rock and smashed it in two, again, we have not changed the essence of the rock, for it has become two rocks, identical in their substance, though slightly differing in its shape.  In general, things that are simple can be divided and re-divided without their essence changing, whereas things that are complicated cannot be divided at all, of which the human body is one of those things, as are, all living beings upon this planet.

As reported by the Smithsonian.com, it is estimated that each human body has 37.2 trillion cells, which is a number that is so massively high, it cannot really be properly conceived of within the human mind.   Yet, each cell, as reported by nationalgeographic.com has 20,000 genes, so the immensity of just the human body, is staggering, and when we take into account the brain, Dr. Michio Kaku estimates that the brain has "…100 billion neurons."

All of the above indicates that mankind is incredibly complex, beyond the level of our ready understanding, and a gargantuan task for any one scientist, or even a team of esteemed scientists to fully and comprehensively understand.  The amount of intricacy that mankind consists of is nearly incomprehensible, yet, we do not ourselves need to fully comprehend it, for we are able to live and accomplish things, utilizing our fantastically created bodies and minds, without having to know the inner workings of how it all really happens.

Although, mankind is the epitome of complexity, beauty, and intelligence, this world is made up of so many other animals, plants, and other objects that it is breathtaking to try to take it all in, of which, the more that we study ourselves and the world around us, the more marvelous that it is to behold.  We are not simple organisms, we are instead, immensely complex, meticulous in our creation, and elaborate, of which, we are now just beginning to unravel the astonishing brilliance of our design.

Whether or not you as a person believe in God or not, does not change the fact as to whether God exists.  However, the more scientific work and study that is done in regards to the complexity of life here on earth, and specifically of mankind, the more that these scientists will be overwhelmed by the immensity of the task and comprehension of what is right in front of them.  This research so being done need not directly address anything outside the empirical world of science, but these scientists do have a responsibility to explicitly state the complexity and intricacy of what they do see, of which, their conclusion will invariably be, that all this is marvelous to behold, and beyond words.

Do right by your body and by your spirit

When we eat the wrong foods, that are too sugary or too processed, which are basically known as "junk food", to the exclusion of more healthy choices, our body suffers the consequences of such a decision, by manifesting additional weight, and possible health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, as well as general physical lethargy.  The food that we eat feeds the body that we have, so that, more times than not, when we eat the right foods, our body appreciates it and does better, than when we do not take care of our body and mindlessly eat the wrong foods, too often and too much of them.

So too, our spirit must be fed, of which, by simply ignoring our spirit, and exclusively dwelling on this material world, this will invariably lead to a life that often doesn't impress us as being all that satisfactory, because we have taken our very essence of who and what we really are and cast it aside.  Then, there are others that feed their spirit, with the junk food of worldly life, replacing the time needed for quiet contemplation and praise for our Creator, with riotous living and an uncaring disregard for anything spiritual.  There are also those that while recognizing the value of their spirit,  aren't consistent in taking care of it, though they do, make it a point to feed it well from time-to-time, perhaps at Christmas or Easter, but for the balance of such, place their spirit, too often on a fasting diet.  Finally, there are those that recognize that our body houses our spirit, and therefore, knowing that their real essence is their spirit which is part and parcel of our omnipotent God, make sure to feed their spirit with the right stuff of generosity, kindness, patience, and love.

While we rightly applaud those that have the intelligence and discipline to feed their bodies the right foods and to exercise their bodies properly, as well as making sure to get enough rest, in addition to periodic appointments with their doctor to verify that all is functioning well, not to do the same sort of thing, for their spirit is an oversight of epic proportions.  Your spirit matters far more than your body, for your body will eventually be discarded, leaving you as you always were, and if the spirit has been treated as an afterthought, or fed exclusively on just worldly things, than such a spirit as that, will not be healthy, but rather diseased.

The same care and consideration that we are told to take in regards to our physical form, should be accorded to our spiritual one as well, so that we should take the time to pray, to congregate with others of like-mindedness, and to demonstrate our intimacy with the fruits of the spirit, by performing good deeds and good actions for our fellow sojourners here on earth.  Our spirit needs the good nourishment of right thinking and right actions, and having received such, all will be well within our spirit.

American War Profits and War Tribute

Many Americans are not aware that per our Constitution, war can only be declared by an Act of Congress, and no other.  So that, the last time that Congress declared war was on December 8, 1941, yet since that time America has been at war with several nations and principalities and is currently at war, though, none of today's wars are a Congressional declared war.  Instead, the President as Commander-in-Chief has aggrandized unto himself, the power to take war upon any such country that the President so desires.

The reason that the President utilizes his Commander-in-Chief status so frequently thereby involving America in foreign conflicts all over the world, so as to engage in military battles wherever America so desires, is clearly because the military needs to constantly justify its gargantuan budget, which is well over 50% of the nation's fiscal Discretionary Budget spending, therefore having that military used under the purported purpose of defending and protecting this nation from foreign insurgents of nation-states, or terrorists, must be constantly called upon.  It should be noted, that though the military is made up of personnel, in order for that personnel to be highly effective as a killing force, they must have the most modern weapons and infrastructure to help accomplish their missions, which means, that the military works hand-in-hand with corporations and institutions all throughout America to do exactly that.  Incredibly, the proposed fiscal year 2019 budget for the Department of Defense, including emergency allocations as well as the Department of Homeland Security, is an absolutely unfathomable amount of nearly $750 billion for just that one year!,  This signifies that all of these companies and contractors involved in the Defense business, whether on the periphery or directly, have a strong vested interest in securing that business, because that business provides them with both growth as well as profits.

This so indicates that the real reason why America is constantly at war, that is, undeclared war,  such as America has had with Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and Libya, is because the amount of monies and profit to be made is so great, that those involved institutions cannot risk the possible delay of warfare, which may lead to potential treaties, negotiations, and resolutions, but also cannot risk Congress denying the actual declaration of war, because there is way too much money on the line, so rather than treating the Constitution, as an instrument to  preserve, protect, and defend, our Constitution is treated instead as something to circumvent so that America is run not as a republican form of government, nor even as a democracy, but as an empire, controlled by a President, who for all practical purposes is an Emperor, in which, that President in order to even be enthroned to begin with, has implicitly, if not explicitly, agreed to the terms of the military-industrial complex which is the power actuating the Commander-in-Chief's policies for war.

America is constantly at war because of the profit and the power that these wars so richly provide certain institutions and their leaders, in which, unelected elites of some of the most powerful corporations the world has ever known make money hand over fist, as well as generals that constantly flex their muscles against opponents that cannot hope to successfully defend themselves and find that their country and their sovereignty are ravished by these American invaders, that they must thereby pay homage and tribute to.

The perpetual power of corporations

They say that the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes, but that only applies to individuals, and does not apply to corporations.  Not only are corporations perpetual, but they are also taxed quite differently than individuals.  For instance, Colgate was founded in 1806, DuPont in 1802, and Jim Beam in 1795, of which none of these corporations have been subjected to an estate tax, because these corporations are still in existence as of today, so that monies that have been earned and invested, as well as property that they hold and have acquired, all these have stayed within their corporate hands, subject only to present day taxes, of which corporations can avail themselves of all sorts of strategies to reduce their tax footprint considerably.

For instance, corporations are allowed to deduct items such as medical insurance, travel expenses, vehicles and their associated expenses, meals, entertainment, office supplies, and numerous other assorted business expenses.  Additionally, if that company has a year in which they lose money, those losses can be utilized later against future gains, by being permitted to deduct those previous losses against their tax liability. So too, inventory can be written off, buildings and equipment can be depreciated, the cost of borrowing money is expensed, the perks that high executives receive are expensed, income from controlled foreign subsidiaries can be deferred, special tax laws for production done within the United States is utilized, and accelerated depreciation of certain assets is available.

Basically, though corporations rail against the tax code as being unduly high within America, these same corporations are afforded all types of tax set asides, privileges, and a wide swath of exemptions, that suppresses their legitimate tax amount owed to government entities by such a great deal, that as reported by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) these publically held corporations "paid no federal income tax from 2008-2015," which includes International Paper, Priceline.com, General Electric, and Duke Energy.

Not only do corporations often find a way to minimize their fair taxation, but the sheer size of these corporations dwarfs individuals, so that even though Bill Gates is the richest man in all of America, with an approximate worth of $89 billion, he is far surpassed by the market capitalization of Apple, which is approximately $877 billion.  These giant corporations that are perpetual are only matched in their power by the Federal government, for even the largest State government in America, which is California, has a budget of "only" $171 billion.

This so indicates that this country is effectively run by the Federal government, which is also perpetual, in conjunction with the biggest corporations in America, of which, because the Federal government is the taxing authority, and the corporations are enabled to avoid and to avert fair taxation, that we essentially live in a country that is run not by the people and for the people, but are run instead by governmental and corporate entities that are made up of privileged people that assert their power and influence in a manner that they control everything of real meaning and purpose.

So that, though each individual is entitled to a democratic vote, those votes in actuality do not change public or corporate policy, and therefore the peoples of this great nation, bit by bit, but relentlessly, are losing their sovereignty, with such, begin replaced by a new form of servitude to the government/corporate powers.

Hell and You

The bottom line is that whether or not you believe in hell or not, will not and does not change the fact as to whether hell exists or not, because you are not the arbiter of such an existence.  So too, many people have many different opinions of what hell is or what it represents, of which some of these have validity, but still fall short of the complete truth. 

In point of fact, hell exists, and whether you go to hell or not, is controlled by your actual essence.  There are many that feel that whether they go to hell or not, is controlled by their faith, so that their faith in God, and their rebuking of their former self or of their sins, will thereby wholly absolve them of their former sins and therefore they will not suffer the punishment of hell.  Perhaps this belief will be effective for certain people, but it certainly won't be effective for all people, for words are words, and deeds are deeds, and true beliefs are not necessarily the same as professed beliefs.

In truth, hell exists for all those that insist that they and they alone, are the master of the universe.  That is to say, those that truly believe that their mind, that their thinking, and that their deeds, which is all built around themselves, is the be all and end all of life.  So that, their desire and their mindset is that they live to themselves, think only of their own, and owe no obligation or debt to any other being, but to themselves. This type of thinking which is centered on the philosophy that all that matters is that person, and all else is thereby not relevant, of which, then, their highest good is their own selfishness is hell.

Of course, many people aren't quite so dogmatic in this way of thinking, but nevertheless, their thinking centers around their ego and their personal desires to the virtually exclusion of all else, so that, they must have their own way, because that fulfills their needs, and in order to get their own way, if they need to do a few morally questionable things, they worry not about it.   Further, they believe that the highest good is taking care of themselves, of which, their belief is that all others should have the same sort of self-centered belief, never seeming to recognize, that if everyone is out just for themselves, the ultimate result can only be tragedy for all of the very worst order.

There is but one truth, a truth that is consistent, just, fair, universal, and bends not to man's will, so that the greatest quest that all mankind has is to find this truth, live to this truth, and testify to this truth, of which, the non-recognition that there is one Supreme immutable God, is the fundamental lie that leads to the wrong belief that therefore there is no universal moral law, that therefore truth is subjective depending upon the circumstances, and that therefore nobody needs to answer to anyone other than themselves, subject to man's arbitrary law. 

It is your mind, so do what you will, but recognize that all that believe that they are sovereign unto themselves and thereby owe no tribute to the Creator of it all, live now in hell, and will continue to do so, until they live in truth.

The Honor we owe fallen Police Officers and Soldiers

The United States goes to extraordinary lengths to honor their dead that have served their fellow countrymen by their service in our armed forces in wars, as well as police officers that have died in the line of duty within the States.  These occasions, may involved and often involve, a lengthy funeral procession, governmental escorts, burial in hallowed ground, and speeches of great import, along with the attendance by important personages.  These funerals are treated as a big deal, and the amount of honor that is accorded to those police officers and soldiers that have departed from this world, is exceptional.

The pomp and ceremony, along with the tradition, that are part and parcel of military service is there for specific reasons, of which, one of the most significant reasons, is that soldering has historically been in civilization after civilization, a way for those in the lesser classes, or those not even considered to be citizens of their state, to take up arms on behalf of the country that they reside in, not so much for the sense of  a honor or a sense of duty, but in the sense of opportunity and in earlier times in the sense of booty so available for victorious soldiers.

So too, these soldiers, that were successful in the field, could indeed pick up the spoils of moving up the ranks within their service as well as earning additional perks and privileges, of which, one of them could be to become an official citizen with rights within their country.  Additionally, because such a high percentage of the men historically serving in the armed forces were poor as well as being illiterate, with little or no opportunity of economic advancement, being a soldier was one of the few paths readily available for them.  Then too, because being a warring soldier was such a dangerous profession for those with their boots really on the ground and doing the actually fighting, most countries made it a firm policy to honor those soldiers so fallen, so at least, the families of the soldiers that had died in their service to their country, could take solace in knowing that their kin were held in high esteem by the state as honorable men.

Today's police officers, from the perspective of honor, are best seen, as domestic soldiers, and though police officers are fairly well compensated with good benefits, they do put their lives on the line, when they go out onto the public streets of America, of which, some of those streets are not ever traveled by good and decent citizens, so that police officers see things and perform work, that above all, simply put, keeps the barbarians far from the gate, and for that, they are honored for having done so.

The honor that is shown to today's police officers and soldiers, is done deliberately by the state, so as to encourage those participating in such, to continue to do so, for these dedicated public servants, are ideally serving and protecting all the citizens of the state, from enemies, foreign and domestic, of which, for having done so, the state has made it abundantly clear, that for those that have fallen, though their lives may be gone, that their honor for having done so is not, and is thereby given as a public tribute for them and their dedicated service.

Real Climate Change

As reported by livescience.com, the "Average surface temperatures rose a total of 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit (0.95 degrees Celsius) between 1880 and 2016."  Such an increased has been blamed primarily on the usage of fossil fuels, of which to preclude such continuance of this greenhouse effect, would necessitate as reported by the International Energy Agency, "… will cost $44 trillion between now and 2050," in order to switch from today's fossils fuels to alternative low carbon sources of energy.

This estimate that $44 trillion will be needed in order to avert continued global warming, should not be seen as the clarion warning that we need to dig deep within our pockets and to thereby voluntarily lower our standard of living and our quality of life, but rather should be seen for what it really is, a battle royal between the forces of fossil fuels which have basically ruled the roost since the late 19th century, against all other alternatives that wish to become the new energy kings.

In point of fact, while global warming has its issues and troubles that will effect to some degree: mankind, our land mass, oceans, foods, and just about everything that we relate to, gradual change, is however, something that clearly mankind can and does well adapt to.  That is to say, gradual change is not something that will result in the end of the world, but rather will result in mankind using its ingenuity to adjust to meaningful changes that are wrought from such a continual global change.

If mankind wants to really worry about climate change, they should worry instead about natural disasters that could dramatically change climate or create upheaval and havoc, and should be specifically concerned about earthquakes, hurricanes, meteorites, and most especially, catastrophic volcanic eruptions.  The fact of the matter is a catastrophic volcanic eruption of epic proportions, would, besides killing and destroying all that would be in its way, would also change the climate, virtually overnight, for a considerable and meaningful part of the world, in addition to wiping out huge swaths of land mass.

For instance, as reported by howstuffworks.com, they state that: "Around 200 million years ago, a super volcano erupted with such insistent energy that 75 percent of the species on the planet were eradicated. It was so gigantic that it pulled apart North America and Africa and created the Atlantic Ocean in between."  That is the difference between something to really worry about, and to at least consider spending $44 trillion on to prevent, as opposed to simply just adapting to global warming and any other gradual changes, that mankind is especially adept at.

This earth can be a dangerous place, because catastrophic and unexpected change can happen so suddenly and of such natural violence, that mankind is not able to adapt or to withstand such a change.  It is these natural disasters, more than anything, other than mankind's insistence upon constant warfare, that is the challenge that mankind needs to address, if it is even possible to address.

Those that are up in arms about global warming, are surely missing the forest for the trees, for though global warming has its challenges, these challenges are being met and will continue to be met in a competent manner, and further if there are things that can or need to be done that are both cost effective and highly efficient, to help reduce these gradual temperature changes, than that has its place.  However, to devote trillions of dollars of mankind's money, simply to have a changing of the guard, of who and what provides our energy, is stupidity of the highest order. 

Those that like to worry shouldn't worry about global warming, that's a sideshow, at best, and instead they should worry about catastrophic natural disasters or apocalyptic nuclear war.

Not all bank interest is equal

Americans are in aggregate debt as of the fourth quarter of 2017, at the highest limits ever recorded, with non-household debt alone as reported by newyorkfed.org at $3.82 trillion, whereas in the fourth quarter of 2008, it was just $2.71 trillion.  All of this debt, which is loaned money, must be paid back, of which the lending institutions of this debt, are banks or bank equivalents such as credit unions, that charge their consumers of such debt, an interest rate, based on negotiated terms, credit worthiness, and other assorted factors.

When it comes to Americans paying their taxes, the interest that Americans pay on those taxes, is not equal in the sense that some interest payments are deductible on those taxes and some interest payments are not.  It use to be, before the Tax Reform Act of 1986 was passed, that all interest payments were deductible, and while there are some interest payments that based on the passage of recent tax legislation, that limits the amount that is deductible, for mortgages, as well as student loans, those limits, for the most part, are limiting only to very high mortgage amounts, and/or to the third personal home, and to the fourth personal home, etc… in addition to student loans that max out at the $2,500 interest deduction along with phasing out such a deduction for high earners.

However, for most people, mortgage interest as well as student loan interest is deductible, subject to those limitations and cap rules.  On the other hand, personal loans for your car, and personal credit card loans or installment interest are not deductible, unless such is for a non-personal use, that is, for a business enterprise.  The fact that business loans for cars and business credit card loans and business installment interest is deductible for businesses, is clearly prejudicial for those that have the means to actually have a business and grossly unfair to those that do not.

In point of fact, almost by definition, the people that own houses and pay a mortgage, along with those that have a business and have a business car loan, are, for the most part, people that earn more money and have more assets than those that just have personal loans for cars as well as for credit cards.  This so indicates that those that are allowed interest rate deductions on their tax payments are beneficiaries of governmental largess, whereas the poorer people, are not.

It doesn't make a lot of good sense, that this government makes it a point through its tax policies to provide tax deductions for interest payments, that deliberately segregates out some interest as not being worthy of any tax deduction, whereas the preferred interest type is permitted.  This quite obviously reflects that the power structure of governmental officials in conjunction with those that have their ear, favors a certain class of citizens, that already have more income and more assets, over other citizens that have far less income and far less assets.

The thing is from a banking loan perspective, interest is interest, whether business or personal, consumer loans or car loans, it is all interest, of which the prevailing rate of that interest being charged, reflects the credit worthiness and type of loan so proffered, yet, from a taxing perspective, not all interest is equal, and those that struggle the most, aren't even permitted the opportunity to use the tax interest deduction, despite typically paying the highest prevailing rates on such interest.

American income generational growth has fallen precipitously

A working paper as issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research, performed a detail study on "absolute income mobility", that is, "the fraction of children who earn more than their parents", of which the study combined historical data from the census with de-identified tax records, showing that as reported by the nytimes.com, that children making more money than their parents of those born in 1940 was 92%, of those born in 1950 it dropped to 79%, for those born in 1960 it further dropped to 62%, for those born in 1970 it slightly dropped to 61%, and for those born in 1980 it further dropped to just 50%.   This indicates that in the last two generations, somehow, in this, the richest nation in the world, that the children of previous generations which had been increasing their income at an exceedingly high rate vis-a-vis their parents, have seen that for those born in 1980, that this has now become essentially a coin flip.

Though the United States in the ensuing years, has continued to grow its GDP, that rate of annual GDP growth, has gotten slower, which means that though the pie has gotten bigger in aggregate, the rate being slower, correlates also to an overall slower income growth rate.  Additionally, as reflected by the massive drop in percentage of those of the present generation earning more than their parents, is the fact, that today's income distribution is far different than it was in earlier generations, so that the rich are far richer than they were in previous years, meaning that much of the wealth of America has become more concentrated into fewer and fewer hands, which is why succeeding generations from more equitable times are not able to so readily out earn their parents as was previously the case.   

This indicates, that the American income generational growth, in a nation that still grows its GDP, albeit at slower rates than previous generations, has over the ensuing decades, created an America that has never had so few that have so much, while keeping the poor in their place, and eviscerating the great middle class of America, so that, the American dream of each succeeding generation of Americans, having the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of their parent's generation and to therefore, out earn those that birthed them, has been devastated.

Further, to the point, the recent precipitous drop in those making more money than their parents, is so steep, that should GDP growth slow even further, and if taxation of the rich, along with their gross overcompensation is not appropriately rectified, than we can count on future generations routinely earning less than their forefathers.  So that, this country will devolve into having basically a nobility of the rich and privileged, with a continued massive underclass, serviced by that government, of which that government, itself, because it cannot get its own house in order, routinely runs massive deficits, and taxes not the rich appropriately in order to pay for services so needed, but instead through regressive taxes of all sorts, essentially taxes the middle class and the upper middle class to pay for it, with the end result, that the children of these newest generations are not only stuck with massive unpaid national deficits, but are often not going to progress any further than their parents before them, in fact, they will fall behind.

The freefall of Defined Benefit (DB) Pension Plans

Some retired workers are covered by a Defined Benefit (DB) pension plan which behaves as a lifetime annuity for that workers' service, in which the payment of those benefits is based upon the length of service in years as an employee for that company, as well as taking into its calculations the average salary over the last few years of employment.   Over the last two generations, though, DB pension plans have been frequently replaced by many corporations and institutions with the Defined Contribution (DC) plan, which is an investment plan owned by the employee, of which the employee invests in authorized mutual funds as permitted by the company during the employee's term of employment, in which, the DC account, may have employee contributions matched, up to a certain percentage, by the employer.

As reported by mybudget360.com, in 1980, DB plans covered "38% of the workforce" but by 2008, only covered "13% of the workforce", whereas DC plans covered "14% of the workforce" in 1980, and by 2008, covered "46% of the workforce".  The primary difference between these two plans is that in DB pension plans, the employee will after finishing their service, of, for instance, thirty years, receive from their DB pension plan, a fixed annual annuity payment, which typically, but not always is adjusted for Cost-of-living adjustments (COLA).  That is to say, DB pension plans, have a specific amount of money that will be paid out yearly to the recipient of such, and frequently, this annuity will adjust to a higher amount, based on COLA.  On the other hand, DC plans, are ultimately controlled by the individual, of which, that individual, upon having finishing their service, for instance, of thirty years, will have accumulated within that plan, their lifetime retirement savings, typically designated as a 401K, which has been matched according to the specific corporate policy during their tenure at the company, of which, whatever total amount that 401K now entails, is the complete retirement monies that the employee will have accumulated, so that this is the retirement money that must now generate the income needed for the balance of that employee's life, in lieu of an actual annuity plan.

While, it is true that some people upon retirement with 401K plans can and do have over $1,000,000 in their account, so it also true, that far more have not even $100,000 in their 401K plan, and often times have considerably less.  According to brookings.edu the average DB pension plan amount for the college educated worker is as:  "computed from the Current Population Survey, is $33,281 a year."  In order, for those that have a DC plan, to have a retirement income of $33,281 a year without drawing down upon their principle, they would need $550,000 of money saved up within their 401K, assuming that their investments would actually make a steady 6% a year, in which, if for some reason, that performance was considerably worse in a particularly bad year or a series of years, this would then devastate their lifetime retirement savings and the amount of money that they could subsequently prudently withdraw from their retirement account.

The bottom line is that corporations and institutions have in recent decades placed the burden of taking care of employees after their retirement onto the shoulders of the employees themselves, in which, even when these corporations match such at a high percentage for these DC plans, this costs them considerably less than a corresponding DB pension plan, leaving the corporation with not only more financial flexibility and less commitment, but also with considerable savings in money, allowing such the opportunity to compensate at a higher level those at the very highest positions within the company.

The value of silence

There is so much talk and noise going on in the modern world, that people, seem to have lost their knowledge over the necessity and value of silence.  This is not to say that silence in and of itself, is necessarily always good, rather, that sometimes we should actually gaze at one another in silence, we should contemplate while silent, we should consider more carefully our words before not remaining silent, and we should understand that sometimes words cannot adequately convey what we are feeling or thinking, so sometimes silence is indeed, best.

The thing about talking is that it brings attention to the person that is doing the talking, and attention is something that a lot of people want to have, most of the time.  This then means that in our conversations, too often, people aren't actually have a dialog, but more of a monologue of one person speaking their part, and then another person speaking theirs, in which neither is really interested or paying much attention to what the other person is saying.

So too, the more talk that there is, in which each person says something, the longer the talking continues and continues, so then, when your response instead is silence, it has a tendency to slow the talking down considerably or even to lead it to its conclusion, especially when certain people won't stop talking until they get the last word in, but what of it, if you have already moved on, anyway.

Additionally, not everything that comes to mind is worth speaking of, as some things that are thought of, are most definitely inappropriate and even mean to say, so they really should not be said.  Also, when someone is very passionate about something, of which your basic feeling about it is fairly neutral or mildly against it, there isn't any good reason to have an argument or to get involved by speaking your mind, for your opinion is reasonably quiescent, so why not leave it that way, and let the other person's passion, eventually burn out.

While there are definitely times to talk and to speak out, that would imply also the corollary that there are definitely times to be quiet and not to speak out, of which, since words have power, both good and bad, it would behoove us to more often keep silent about saying things that are hurtful and spiteful, for it doesn't do us any real good for saying them, and the person receiving them, most definitely would agree.

Once a word is spoken, you cannot take it back, for it has left your mouth, whereas what you think in silence, most definitely can be taken back, for no one is the wiser of it.  That is why we should value the discretion that silence provides for us, in addition to the fact, that if we talk less, people might indeed listen to our words more, because we will not have the possible reputation of being one that prattles on about things that do not really matter, but rather may well be known instead, for being pithy, incisive, and wise.