Health, education and economic growth

America spends an inordinate amount of money on education and healthcare, but does not rank in the top ten of countries on an educational test score basis, nor does its rank in the top ten in lifespan longevity, nor in general healthiness.  In point of fact, despite all the millions and billions of dollars spent, America gets a rather poor grade for its overall educational scores as well as its health score, which is especially disappointing, considering that America is the richest nation in the world.

The reason that health and education is especially germane for the future prosperity of America, has a lot to do with not only having more participants carrying their own weight in being self sufficient and viable, but also because the health and prosperity of America, rests upon those that reside here, and if in aggregate, America is not able to keep pace with those healthier and more educated countries, than America will lose more and more of its competitiveness against other countries, which is part and parcel of why so many other countries have growth rates that are far higher than America is able to sustain at the present time.

Basically, citizens that are not in good health are not going to be able to be as productive as citizens that are in good health. So too, in this hi-tech world that demands state-of-the-art skills of its employees, those that are ill educated and irresponsible are going to be a drag against the economic growth of the nation, because those people are not very productive; so that, it would obviously be in the best interests of the United States, to do more to assure that its population is both in good health as well as being well educated.

One of the fundamental problems that America seems to have lost sense of, is that "a stitch in time, saves nine," so that, although America has incredibly innovative and state-of-the-art health facilities; if by the time, someone in poor health gets that care, they have previously developed ingrained poor dietary habits, poor exercise habits, and have seriously damaged their physical body, the health battle being faced is a lot more challenging than it would be, if these things were actually addressed at the beginning of life, by good dietary habits, good exercise habits, and the knowledge that each of us is gifted with just one physical body.  Additionally, while Americans are attending college at record rates, far too many of those attending college, are doing so, grossly unprepared, because of their lack of a good education in their primary and secondary schools.  Further, colleges need to impress more often upon their students that are often paying good money for their education that not all degrees are equal, so that more information needs to be disclosed and addressed about the practicalities of what each subject educational graduate degree actually represents in the real world.

In short, everyone that isn't as productive as they could be if they applied themselves, or isn't as healthy as they could be if they took proper care of themselves, places an additional burden upon all those that are actually productive and in good health.  The upshot, in a world that has gotten markedly smaller in recent years, is that America is in danger of being surpassed in innovation and productivity by other, more motivated nations, of which, America looks more and more as an empire on the fall, rather than one that is on the rise.

The upshot and the downside of low interest rates

The central banks of this world, including our Federal Reserve, really do seem to want to engineer consistent growth and to keep the world economy humming, and in order to do so, they proceeded to take the unprecedented step of reducing interest rates, or the cost of borrowing money, well beyond historic lows, even going negative, over the last decade; but despite all of that tinkering in trying to reignite impressive GDP growth, this hasn't occurred for any of the European nations or for America, but rather the economic growth rate has instead been lukewarm, at best.

The theory behind low interest rates leading to accelerated economic growth is to a certain extent, just flipping the script from the theory behind high interest rates.  That is to say, governments typically raise interest rates, and sometimes raise them very steeply, in order to slow an economy as well as the inflation rate down; because when the cost of money is very, very high, companies will reduce their investment in growth and expansion, and have a much stronger inclination to save up their money rather than to expend it; in addition, personal consumption will also be reduced, because people will save more of their money, for the interest rate return for parking one's money in savings or CDs is appreciably higher than normal. 

This then implies, that super low interest rates, should expand business investment and economic growth, because the cost of doing business by borrowing money is appreciably lower, as well as people will spend more on consumption, because the interest rate for parking their money into savings, is so low.  Although that is the theory, in effect, what really happens, is that, even though companies actually do borrow a lot more money when the cost of money is low, that money being borrowed isn't all being allocated to growth, though, part of it is, but rather a sizable percentage is instead, arbitraged or leveraged or invested into instruments that have a fairly high chance of making money, without a lot of appreciable risk.  This means that  public companies, will often borrow cheap money not so much to invest in their infrastructure, but rather to buy back their own stock, so as to increase their earnings per share, or raise dividends, and/or for mergers and acquisitions, because the borrowing of that cheap debt makes acquiring another company, appreciably cheaper.

This basically means, that the organizations and people that borrow money when interest rates are very, very low, are doing so, more often than not, in order to leverage up and to make relatively easy money, with minimal risk, of which that money so being made, is directed into primarily the hands of all those that already have sizable worth and assets to begin with; and unfortunately, those with the most sizeable assets don't overly expend money and don't make risky investment bets more than they need to, for they actually are both big savers as well as safe investors.  So then, the result is that low interest rates, while being of some benefit for those that are in perpetual debt, like incompetent businesses and poorly compensated wage earners, doesn't do much for accelerating either growth or wages in aggregate, so that those that are paying less for that debt, aren't actually able to maneuver themselves out of that debt load, because they still don't have the income or means to do so. 

So then, low interest rates, hurts retirees because they have no place to safely invest their money that doesn't involve some risk, and hence, get a very low return on their investment; it also doesn't benefit those that are barely scrapping by, for the economy is too quiescent, and hence there isn't any real wage growth; but it certainly does benefit those at the top of pyramid, providing them an easy tool, to make even more money, without a lot of risk, and this is exactly what they do.

The sharing economy deception

All sorts of pundits want to sell the basic illusion that the sharing economy, or the gig economy, somehow makes the world a better place for those taking part in those sorts of things.  While, to a certain extent, it makes sense for somebody that owns a car and wants to make some side money, to then utilize their car to do so, by, for example, driving people around to their destinations, or by picking up and dropping off food deliveries, it sure isn’t as financially rewarding for the drivers that are utilizing their cars, their gas, their insurance, and their time to actually accomplish these things as it might seem.  So too, while Airbnb seems like a really good way to rent out your condo or house to someone else and to make a little side income or even to buy a rental place specifically for that purpose, once again, the hospitality business, isn't always going to be just smooth sailing and without its own troubles.

There are some basic problems with companies such as Airbnb and Uber, of which, the most basic problem with them, is that they essentially represent the middleman, and these middlemen are taking a really nice slice of the business, a slice so big, that logically, for everybody that is a driver for Uber or similar, or renting out their place with Airbnb or similar, should seriously want to think about it.  For instance, those that drive for Uber, are considered to be independent contractors, but don't seem to be able to have the independent authority to do much about the price of a ride, other than to accept a given ride or not.  While, Airbnb does allow the owner to set the price, there are the various Airbnb fees that the host must pay for in regards to the convenience of utilizing Airbnb, which the owner must absorb as the cost of doing that business.

Basically, all of the major players in the sharing economy, are taking a meaningful amount of the contract price, essentially for creating the app and presenting a marketplace, while absorbing none or virtually none of the costs of the independent contractors that do the actual work and provide the actual service to the customers; in addition, Uber and Airbnb aren't really risking anything of their own, for providing that service.  So that, the fees or the percentage cut that these companies charge or take from their independent contractors, most definitely has a significant impact on the income derived by the hosts and drivers, and is the monetary fuel that creates the worth of an Uber or Airbnb.

Additionally, the ride sharing business predates Uber, and is better known as a taxi cab; so too, the hospitality industry predates Airbnb, of which, there already exists a multitude of hotels, motels, and other sleeping facilities throughout the nation.  The salient difference is the disruption that Airbnb and Uber bring to the playing field, which really comes down to their skilful ability in being able to circumvent to a very large extent regulatory and licensing costs so as to successfully undercut the existing players, as well as to piggyback on what is already preexisting.  They then pretend that all this is a quantum leap of creating a new kind of sharing economy, which benefits independent contractors and customers, in which, truth be told, based on the estimated market capitalization of Uber which recode.net puts at $72 billion, puts a real lie to that tale, and demonstrates fairly conclusively that the true beneficiary of the sharing economy is actually the middlemen, the market makers, that take such a huge bite of the action, that the independent contractors that participate in this gig economy, really aren't getting their fair share.

Strong growth or go broke

The United States, has a very high national debt, that has been growing at an extremely high pace in the 21st century; in addition, the aggregate personal debt of America's citizens are at record highs, with all this having occurred, during what is considered to be a nearly ten year economic expansion.  Not only is the current national debt very high, the servicing of that interest rate for that debt, is now, after nearly a decade, inexorably climbing as the Federal Reserve has begun the process of normalizing interest rates.  None of this bodes well for America, especially since it cannot and has not been able to grow its GDP at even a 3% or better rate, since 2005.

While there are many avenues to possibly escape or to alleviate such high debt loads, by far, the best of them all is to increase GDP and our productivity levels so as to literally through the growth of the economy, outrun and thereby begin to pay down the debt load so heavily hanging upon America.  For instance, India and China, the two most populous nations in the world, have been able to grow their GDP at rates of 7% or higher over the last decade, which, admittedly, they have been able to accomplish from a far lower GDP base to begin with, yet, it still indicates that such economic growth is achievable.

The upshot is that without appreciably higher American economic growth, than there are not a lot of ways, that won't involve austerity, discipline, or a meaningful increase in taxes, that will be able to make a dent into our debt, other than a much higher productive growth rate.  The best way to augment such a growth rate is to increase immigration substantially, especially with immigrants that are young and motivated, not only because the present population hasn't been able to do much of anything, but also because younger people are often the engines of economic growth, because they are driven to apply themselves so as to earn good money, and eagerly will spend that money, rightfully enjoying the fruits of their hard labor.

Fortunately, for America, the country has the land, infrastructure, food, energy, and educational facilities, along with the reputation of being the land of the free as well as the land of opportunity; so that, America is indeed a highly desirable place to immigrate to for many millions of people, of which, America in order to kick start its economic growth rate should make it a point to encourage such immigration, or else it will eventually find that it can no longer kick the can down the road, in regards to its monstrous debt load.

The bottom line is that our present day economic growth is too low, along with our national debt getting appreciably worse by the minute, so that, America needs to take a page from yesteryear, when immigrants were welcomed because they were an integral part of our westward expansion and our Manifest Destiny.  The real driving force that encourages higher growth is that desire for liberty, the good life, and the pursuit of happiness, especially from those that hunger greatly and yearn to breathe free upon our shores.

The non-recognition of exploitation

Most people want to be looked upon as being fair or fair minded, and many people do take offense, when they are looked upon as not being fair, and find especially offensive, to be considered to be or known to be exploitative in their actions.   There are, however, some people that are exploitative and know it; but there are even more people that are exploitative and don't know it, and further strongly believe that they aren't exploitative at all; of which, the most difficult people to change, are those that believe that they are in the right, even when they actually are in the wrong.

The fact of the matter is, though, that exploitation occurs every time that somebody or some organization takes advantage of somebody else's lack of knowledge, gullibility, unfairness, inequality, or general stupidity, even when the trade or deal is done, voluntarily, and apparently on the up and up.  For instance, when an older child trades a bigger nickel for a smaller dime, with another child, of which, it appears that the older kid is being nice by trading something bigger for something smaller, he has, in fact, gotten over, on the other little kid, exploiting that child's credulousness and lack of knowledge in regards to the true value of coins.  So too, when trinkets of little worth are traded to Native Americans for pelts of real worth, that is exploitation, for the labor, energy, and worth of those pelts far exceeds the trinkets received or the worth of something like intoxicating liquors. 

In addition, basically, any company that sells products to customers in which the product being sold is deliberately priced so that the gross profit margin exceeds a reasonable amount of profit is for the most part, exploiting its customer base.  Of course, it will be argued, that this is a capitalistic society and further that the price that goods are sold at, are inherently consistent to what the market will bear, though this may well be true, this misses the point, which is that there are a multitude of all sorts of products that are controlled by essentially oligarchies or monopolies, or others that ostensibly are competing with one another but instead actually carefully monitor and mirror each other's prices; so that many more times than the proponents of free markets are willing to admit, the markets aren't free or open, and they aren't fair to society, that has to pay extra for the favoritism, kickbacks, tax set asides, and just about everything and anything that benefits the few that are well placed, while exploiting all those that have not the wherewithal or option to do much of anything but to pay the extra price premium for those goods or services, whether large or small.

Anytime that a given employer does not pay a fair wage for a fair day's labor, that is exploitation.  All those that do not pay their fair share of taxes, through all sorts of shady maneuvers, thereby burden those that do fairly pay their taxes, of which this is therefore a form of exploitation.  All those that utilize the legal system, so as to bend or to make rules that benefit them or their kind exclusively, so too, this is a form of exploitation.  Those that bring war to other principalities, to profit from that war, at the expense of those that shed their blood for that war, are exploiters.  Anyone that isn't fair in every way, in all their interactions, is exploiting that other person or entity; and those that cannot see themselves in the other, have a strong tendency to be the very worse exploiters of them all.

Those that save and those that don't

There are all sorts of news and media outlets, that talk about how America has recovered from its deep recession and now is basically considered to be at full employment, of which, if you believe those headlines, all serves to give the impression that all is well; but, in reality, for a huge subset of Americans, this isn't true at all; of which, a careful look at the personal savings in the United States, as shown by statista.com, indicates that in 2012 the cumulative amount of savings for Americans was 1,174.6 billion dollars, which was a massive increase from just 295.4 billion dollars in 2007; however, 2012 was far and away the peak of personal savings, and as of 2017, the personal savings has since precipitously declined to 384.4 billion dollars, of which, in theory, the economy in America, has been in an expansionary phase. This plummeting savings rate is echoed by fred.stlouisfed.org, which shows that in December of 2012, the personal savings rate was an extremely impressive 11.0%, whereas in April of 2018, it had dropped to just 2.8%.

The upshot of this steep decline in savings, clearly indicates that those that have had money saved up, have had to spend more money than they have accumulated over the last few years, just to stay afloat, indicating that their expenditures have not kept up with their wage growth, if any; as well as suffering from the effects of inflation, of which the real inflation rate is probably understated by governmental agencies.  Additionally, the Federal Reserve Bank is in the process of normalizing interest rates, which means that they are increasing the interest rate charged for those that borrow money, from an extremely low rate, to a meaningful higher rate, so that, all those consumers that borrow money for their mortgages, car loans, student loans, credit cards, and so forth, are susceptible to higher interest rate charges, either now, or in the foreseeable future.

So that, the long and short of it is that those that find it problematic to get by when interest rates were so low, when inflation was quiescent, when gasoline prices were lower, all while being gainfully employed, yet, do not have the ready means to draw upon their savings, because they don't actually have any savings to draw upon, but instead must borrow money through the usage of their credit cards; then the economy of America is heading straight towards some very troubling waters, for the economy, to a great extent, is driven by domestic spending, and when the actual spenders are tapped, then a recession has to be right around the corner.    

All of the above, clearly indicates, that this economic recovery in America, has been a recovery that has skewered to the very people that had all the benefits and money to begin with, and hardly much of anything has come the way of those that are laboring hard just to make an honest living; of which, it is these folk, the salt and earth of what make America great, that are now suffering, and will have to suffer in the main, the ill effects of an economy that is heading towards a standstill, leaving them high and dry, broke, and in crippling debt.

Immigration and the true Americans

There are in many ways and forms, laws and legislatures of all stripes that deal with immigration in which some are progressive, open minded and reasonable, whereas others clearly are not.  In point of fact, the United States would not be the United States if it wasn't for immigration, and of immigration that was at a massive scale for a considerable period of time, which definitely was a very meaningful reason why America ultimately became so great; because it isn't good enough to just have noble ideals, for those ideals need to be put into play by  the very people that both live and actuate them, on both a domestic as well as on an international scale in order to prove the mettle of that people and their country.

While immigration and immigrants has always carried connotations along with controversy, today's America seems far less accommodating to foreigners than they really ought to be.  That is to say, there is a lot of hostility against undocumented workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and illegal workers in America, as if, all those that previously immigrated to America, were pre-approved before their arrival.  In reality, too many people that are themselves immigrants, or are descendents of immigrants, and are now safely ensconced in America, seem to want to yank away the welcome mat from those that desire to immigrate here, as if, it is right and proper that there should be different rules applied at different times for different people.

In short, far too many people, look at America, just as a geographic place, so that those that are born on its soil, are native born, and those that are not, are foreign born; not seeming to recognize, that a true American is someone that by their character and by what they represent, is someone that is the personification of an open and fair-minded individual, freedom loving, respectful that each person has the equal right to be at the table of opportunity, works and applies themselves diligently, and believes that each person is entitled to the same laws, equally applied.

The true Americans of this world don't necessarily live in America, yet their beliefs and desires, are more American than some of those that do live here and are born American.  The heart and soul of America cannot be contained by geographic boundaries, but rather, it is in the hearts and minds of all those that are true supporters of liberty, justice, and their pursuit of happiness. 

What needs to be taken into account of all those that desire to immigrate to America, or attempt to immigrate here, legally or not, is that these people in their minds and by their feet, have taken the most democratic vote that can be taken, which is that they want to be part of the melting pot of America, for whatever reason or reasons that they have; because very often they are the ones that clearly see America as that beacon light of liberty,  as that land of freedom and opportunity, of meritocracy, and of hope.  In a world in which too many people are short changed and cheated in so many different ways, those that embrace the dream of America at its best, are the true Americans, that will not find rest till they rest in that sweet land of liberty.

Crypto-currency and fool's gold

Just about everyone is aware of crypto-currency, it seems on the face of it, to be the next big, big thing, but in actuality it is, in all probability, in virtually all of its forms as currently utilized, just an old trick re-packaged into something new.  It seems like, since modern mankind has existed, that certain people have a strong tendency to want to find that little something that will instantly turn their lives around, of which, all kinds of mania, such as the Tulip mania, or the South Sea bubble, or all sorts of stock market manipulated equities that are first pumped up and then dumped, just sort of keep happening, again and again, and crypto-currency is that same sort of game, writ large.

The most recognizable crypto-currency is Bitcoin, which does have some attributes about it that would seem to give it some intrinsic value, such as block-chain technology, a limitation of how many Bitcoins that can ever be mined,  as well as Bitcoin being an alternative currency that is fairly widely accepted by vendors of all stripes, along with the fact that transactions of Bitcoin are anonymous which is beneficial for those of both sides of transactions that prefer anonymity, and finally Bitcoin has the highest capitalization of all the crypto-currencies along with being the flag bearer of such.  Yet, as good as Bitcoin is, from a crypto-currency perspective, the valuation of Bitcoin or the extreme overvaluation of Bitcoin demonstrates that it is probably foolish to consider it as a stable source of lasting value, for from February of 2011 to December of 2017 the price of Bitcoin went from parity to the dollar, that is 1 Bitcoin = $1, to 1 Bitcoin = $17,900, which is absolutely astonishing and completely unfathomable. 

All of the foregoing would clearly and unequivocally indicate that crypto-currencies should not be looked upon as an alternate source of currency, because clearly crypto-currencies are not a stable currency, which implies strongly that they are neither a true alternate to currency, nor a safe investment, nor really currency in any true meaning of the word, for a true currency does not appreciate at the rate that Bitcoin so appreciated, and not too unexpectedly, does not depreciate at the rate that Bitcoin has been trending since its insane peak of December of 2017.

This means, that in reality, crypto-currencies are a very treacherous place to invest real money into, and really only serve a limited purpose, which is the anonymity of its transactions, in addition to being a digital storehouse of such anonymity, which can be seen as and possibly is a benefit for those that are in countries or avenues of businesses that necessitate the utilization of a digital storehouse and/or anonymity.

On the other hand, for everyone else, that actually willfully invests in crypto-currencies, it most definitely is a game, that players play because they think that they are smarter than the other players playing that same game, in which, the price goes up or down, depending upon the greed and fear of the participants, of which, the eternal lure of making that easy money, or of hitting that rich vein of gold, drives people again and again into a frenzy, but eventually, reality kicks in, and those that are truly betting long on crypto-currencies will be left with nothing more than fool's gold.

Those that never lose

Most everyone in their imagination wants to win, every time that they play a game, or basically in life, itself.  In particular, those that are in the financial game, most definitely want to win, especially since their careers, salaries, bonuses, and advancement depend upon it, but Wall Street is a fickle place, and today's winners are often tomorrow's losers and vice versa, though, there are companies and funds that more times than not, outperform the market, consistently.  Then, there are those, that seem to have taken what appears to be the randomness of Wall Street, and have built business models, that can handle just about any possible or conceivable scenario, and whether the market is up, or whether the market is down, and despite all the associated costs that are necessitated by being a trader or market maker, are able to make money, every single day, without exception, and seemingly without risk.

For instance, as reported by Bloomberg.com, "The consistency with which Virtu earns a profit is almost beyond belief. From 2009 to 2014 it lost money on only one day." In addition, as reported by nytimes.com, "The founder of Tradebot, in Kansas City, Mo., told students in 2008 that his firm typically held stocks for 11 seconds. Tradebot, one of the biggest high-frequency traders around, had not had a losing day in four years, he said."  The only conceivable way that these companies can make money every single day, is to somehow, again and again, in some form or another, take advantage of their superior speed and processing times, being slightly faster than the other market players, so as to lock in, very minute gains in aggregate, again and again, each and every trading day. 

One might just say that if it isn't illegal, than that is just the cost of doing business for all the other traders that do not have same setup which enables them to make that easy money, therefore allowing these high frequency traders to make millions upon millions of dollars, until such a time that things and conditions change.  Perhaps that is a reasonable position to take, perhaps not, though, of course, when a middleman takes a few cents here and there, that obviously means that the cost of doing business for everyone else, rises by that few cents, so that, those that are not able to buy into or join up with those high frequency traders that never lose, are going to in aggregate, have millions of dollars siphoned out of their pockets.

The thing to remember about investing in equities of all types is that they are traded in real time on public stock exchanges, so that the price of those securities is changing all of the time, based upon the trading pattern of that equity, of which that trading theoretically can be done at the speed of light, so that speed most definitely matters, because those that are bit quicker, are able to dominate ever so slightly, those that are a bit slower.  In all probability, the market probably has never been exactly fair to the little guy, mainly because all of the main players in the market game want to make sure to take care of themselves first, before taking proper care of their customers, because these players need to make their money, and in order to do so they need to take a little piece of the action from the average investor, at a cost a little bit higher than what it really should be, signifying that high frequency trading is just another added incremental cost onto the same essential game.

The upshot of historically low interest borrowing rates

The financial crisis began in 2007, which lead to historically low interest rates, which meant that borrowers of all sorts, especially of the highest corporate and the highest personal credit ratings, were able to and have been able to borrow billions upon billions of dollars at interest rates so low, that the nature and the reasons why money was being loaned out fundamentally was transformed.  In other words,  the interest rate of that money, whether that be of corporations or of individuals, became so low that business decisions were based upon this, essentially meaning that all those that wanted to leverage up their assets or add to their debt, were able to do so at historically cheap rates, perhaps never to be repeated, ever again.  In addition, those that weren't so credit worthy, have been able to get loans at interest rates that are far lower than where they would normally be at, along with even having the opportunity and the access to that borrowed money, simply because the gap between what it costs the lender to loan the money in comparison to the recipient that borrows the money is wide enough, that a good profit will be made, even when taken into account, the normal default rates.

The primary reason why interest rates were driven down so low for such an extended period of time, was to help promote and to initiate economic growth by providing to corporations a very cheap supply of money which would allow the borrowers of that money to expand their businesses, their infrastructure, and their hiring of additional personnel; in addition to, aiding and abetting debtors of all sorts, to re-finance, re-service, or to borrow money at very low interest rates, so that they would remain solvent and not thereby default, which if this had not been done, could have turned a recession into a depression.

However, ten years later, the upshot of all this low interest rate borrowing costs, isn't the big expansion of growth that pundits would have expected, but in actuality, in a very large sense, the gaming by corporations and individuals of utilizing cheap debt to augment their positions, while penalizing those that are savers, with interest rates so low, that they are unable to earn any significant interest from their short term investments, such as money market funds, CDs, treasury notes, and their equivalencies.  So that, savers, have suffered at the hands of those that are best able to manipulate and manage debt, in which those debtors, more times than not, on a corporate level, have utilized cheap money, not to invest back into their infrastructure and employment, but rather to provide richer dividends to their stockholders, to buy back common shares so as to increase their earnings per share, to refinance their debt to a lower rate, and to utilize cheap money for mergers and acquisitions or vertical integration.

The fundamental problems though with ultra low interest rates that have existed now for over a decade, is that if the less than pristine debtors cannot or barely can pay their debts, today, what then happens when these interest rates are normalized?  Further, if a significant part of earnings growth for corporations has been because of their ability to leverage up ultra cheap debt in order to juice up, in one form or another, their earnings per share, what happens when that debt is no longer cheap?  The probably answer to these questions, is a stock market crash and a very bad recession

The stock market and what it is supposed to be

We live in an age of high frequency trading with those sophisticated algorithms that are able to profit upon small inefficiencies in the consistency of market prices, as well as to take advantage of "seeing" block trades that are about to occur so as to take a very small fraction of profit off of that upcoming action, that know the inestimable value of being a few milliseconds faster than the other traders when it comes to buying and selling, and are able to trade quickly upon actionable news whether discovered serendipitously or by some other means.  The stock market, today, with its very low trading costs, is a volume game, and high volume is very, very good for brokerages, in addition to the fact, that nearly every trade has an opportunity for someone to get over on somebody else.

All of this that is going on, is really, in effect, by virtually all of the players in the stock market, fundamentally a bastardization of what the stock market is supposed to provide, which is, in a nutshell, the investment of dollars by outside investors into public companies so that these companies can raise needed capital and thereby be able to hire the employees , buy the materials and to create the infrastructure necessary to grow and to run their business; in which a public stock market's main function is to provide an open exchange that will facilitate the buying and selling of those securities so that those that invest in these securities have a means to trade in and out of such, that provides liquidity as well as the confidence that their investment dollars are safe, and that have a secure value based upon the worth and profitability of said corporation.

While that is the way it should be, the days of the buy and hold investor seems to be the bygone days, replaced instead, by all sorts of players, trying to make that quick money, in whatever means that they find attractive for their strategy, or if not exactly that, replaced by those, that don't really care how things work, or know much about the companies that they do buy stock in, but only really care about their investment making them money, by whatever means that may be.  The problem with that type of group mindset, is that when investors aren't really investing for the long term, and don’t even know what they are invested into, than they really aren't in it for the long haul; what they are really in it for is to make money, at least on paper, by trading back and forth, hoping that they get out, just in time, for when the music stops, and there does come a time when the music does stop, the drop might just be catastrophic, because too many investors typically don't have a clue about the intrinsic value of what they are investing in, instead, all they have a clue about is that this price is higher than that price.

Ideally, a stock market is created, so that those that have capital, that is, money, can help society to grow and advance, by investing their money into worthy companies, so that the GDP of that country increases, as well as providing needful employment opportunities, so that the proper circulation as well as the proper investment of monies into companies of merit and worth is definitely beneficial for society; whereas, the mal-investment of those monies is not; and when those that are investing their savings into a stock market, do so without understanding the correct purpose of such, they are actually aiding and abetting the destabilization of markets, which inevitably leads to booms and busts.

Respect, disrespect, and self-respect

People die for all sorts of reasons, of which one of them is the perception that some people have of being disrespected, which can and sometimes does tragically result in violent repercussions.  The thing is, though, those that have the greatest self-respect, typically are not going to be thrown off by someone that is demonstrating some sort of disrespect, especially if the person that is being disrespectful, isn't really knowledgeable about what they are addressing, how they are addressing it, or to whom it is being addressed.  After all, just because someone is purposely being provocative, or annoying, does not necessarily mean that a response to such is necessary or even appropriate, because simply not paying it any mind, is often times a legitimate response.

However, many people, do take offense at being disrespected, especially when that disrespect is done in a public forum, and feel that if they do not respond, that they are acquiescing or even agreeing that they are deserving of such disrespect, and that by not doing so, will further serve to show that they aren't really deserving of respect, and perhaps should rightfully be disrespected.  Whether any of this is true or not, meaningful or not, worth responding to or not, is situation specific, but those that wear their respect on their shoulder, will find that this type of scenario comes up a lot more frequently, than those that do not.

The most important type of respect is the respect that you owe yourself, or not, depending upon your merits and accomplishments, followed by those that are your family members and peers.  When those that are closest to you, disrespect you, or you perceive that you have been disrespected, your response should be consistent to who and what you really are, for someone that has a relatively high regard for their own self, should be far less inclined to overreact to someone disrespecting them, because you should already be secure in who and what you really are, and not worry about pesky people, that perhaps don't really know their place.

On the other hand, when you don't have a lot of self-respect, and someone close to you disrespects you, the common tendency is to react rather vigorously, which can make for a very volatile situation,  over something that often has a lot more to do with your lack of self-esteem as compared to their lack of respect.  So that, for those that don't like to be disrespected, recognize that probably you will receive a lot less disrespect if you work on the attributes that will make you a better person, of more value and worth, along with just becoming more comfortable with who and what you really are, so that, as a balanced and mature human being, you will recognize that, more often than not, the problem of disrespect, lies almost always with the person so initiating it, because they have issues that they want to take out on others, to deflect away from their own defects, so that, even though such disrespect seems personally addressed at you, it is really their poor way of coping with an unsatisfactory life, taken out on you, and it takes two to play.

Exploitation and poverty

There are nearly 7.5 billion people in the world, of which, according to dosomething.org, "Nearly 1/2 of the world’s population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty — less than $1.25 a day."  These figures are absolutely astonishing, especially for those that live in the comfortable conditions in which they not only make considerably more money than $2.50/day but have air conditioning, indoor plumbing, good food and good healthcare, transportation, and all the accouterments of reasonable success or even better. 

While there are a lot of theories and arguments about why we have so many poor people, of which it is reasonable to assume that things such as a lack of education, or a lack of opportunity, or laziness, or drug abuse, or economic systems, or because it is a zero-sum world, that each probably holds some truth to it; but the bottom line, though, is that the most obvious reason why today there are so many poor people, has a lot more to do with governmental systems and corporate structures, that create the  exploitation of the poor, for the benefit of those that exploit them.

That is to say, those that are very rich and/or very powerful, are absolutely determined to remain in that position for themselves, as well as for their family, in addition to their compatriots, and in order to do so, it is, in short, necessary that a structure is in place, that favors them at every turn of the card, and disfavors those that in mass could be a threat to the system as it is.  So that, the masses of people that do not have that beautiful mansion, that do not have judges on call, that do not have connections at the highest level of government as well as at corporate structures, that therefore are on the outside and not on the inside, are going to, in one way or another, in one form or another, need to be kept at bay, for there is way too many of those masses, which are a constant real possible threat to the few.

This then does mean that the mass of mankind must be exploited at every conceivable turn, in every conceivable way,  and kept distracted from seeing the reality of what is really going on, but instead are enticed to somnolence and complacency with intoxications and entertainment of all sorts in order to keep the population relatively pacified, in which, the little money and opportunity that they may have, is never enough to not be in some sort of hock to some sort of entity, forever, for those that have little financial strength, therefore have little maneuverability, and those that can't pay the bills are never going to boss around those that make those bills. 

The fact that three individuals in America, have as reported by cnbc.com, "… collectively more wealth than the 160 million poorest Americans…", can only really sensibly mean this basic thing, that the mass of mankind has little or nothing of substance or sustainability to stand upon, with no one to champion their cause, because in order for that sort of extreme wealth disparity to actually happen, this can only be because millions of people are exploited day in and day out, and that the institutions that are currently in place, are inherently biased against the mass of people, so as to favor the very few, the connected, and all those that ingratiate themselves to them, at the expense of the 160 million poorest Americans, who are seen as a resource to be ruthlessly plundered and exploited, so as to keep them weak and helpless, so that they will not raise their hands, nor their heads, to revolt.

Wishing and doing, right and wrong

While it seems rather obvious that wishing for something, but not taking the constructive steps to accomplish that certain something, cannot possibly be on the same page as actually taking the steps to do that certain something, as well as actually doing that very thing, yet, there are all sorts of people, that live in a world of wishing well for themselves or others, which has its place, but doing little or nothing to actually do something of substance for themselves or others, not seeming to understand the very big divide between wishing well and doing well.

In point of fact, as it is written in scripture, "…The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few…." (Luke 10:2), for there are a multitude of good people, that definitely know the value of a good cause, but somehow never seem to have the energy or the vitality to actually do much about it to help those good causes, though, they are quite content to enjoy the fruits of those that do exert themselves for that cause, of which those that do put themselves in harm's way, recognize implicitly that they personally will hardly benefit, but that it is the right thing to do, because it needs to be done, and society will be better for it having been done.

The fact that you have good ideas has its place, the fact that you wish to do wonderful and great things is obviously far better than wishing to do evil and horrible things, but if you aren't able to actually provide some sweat labor to the good cause, then you haven't done what you really should be doing, and what you really ought to be doing.  The main progress in the advancement of society has come from those people that selflessly devote themselves, bravely to the cause of justice, fairness, and equality, in which, those that are on the front lines of such an effort, typically, personally gain little, while risking and devoting a lot, but they do so, because their efforts are the necessary efforts to make society better, which necessitates confronting injustice, unfairness, and inequality and fighting nobly against it.

The reason that good causes fail, or are so long and drawn out in the coming, has little to do with evil really being the match of good, but rather that, far too many people, provide lip service to good causes, but are not willing to provide the effort and risk necessary for those good causes to triumph over evil, as well as the opposing side, because the current status quo conditions benefit them, are quite adept at keeping the dogs at bay, because they are selfishly motivated to keep what they have, by any means necessary, and are actually truly devoted to their cause, even though their cause is both wrong and nearly always, self-centered.

There are very few good causes that have come to successful fruition, without a lot of labor, effort, devotion, and commitment, in which those exerting themselves, often suffer for the cause, but do not relent in their cause, because they are driven to see the success of their cause, even if they won't necessarily directly benefit from it, because they are the ones that don't just wish for things to be made right, but are doing what they can to actually make things right.

The export and import of genius

When you take a look around at the CEOs of America's biggest multi-national corporations, along with governmental officials at the highest levels, as well as the professors and scientists at our highest institutions of learning, in addition to our research and development departments, one can't help but to notice that many of the very best and the very brightest are not actually native born, that, rather they are, in fact, those that have immigrated here, whether at a young age, or at their collegiate age, or whatever age, they subsequently made this their desired and ultimately their official residence.

The progress that mankind makes at this stage of its development, has a lot more to do with the intelligence of its people, especially those that at the highest levels are able to effectively utilize and develop upon foundations, theories, and structures, in such a manner, that mankind can continue to make important breakthroughs in all sorts of endeavors, that make for the advancement of civilizations, as opposed to those previous eras that relied more upon brawn, luck, or pure happenstance.

This does mean, that countries that are somehow able to import or to obtain the genius minds of other countries, have enriched themselves, and to a large extent, made those countries that lost those geniuses, poorer for that lost.  This would certainly indicate, that countries such as the United States will continue to get even more rich and even more successful, than those countries that do not have the most appropriate infrastructure or lack the sensibility to have a good rule of law, or lack other various accommodations, or lack economies of scale, or just plain lack opportunity, so that they are constantly susceptible to losing the very people that they need to help build their country and their infrastructure up, because in most cases, those that are the very brightest, are going to gravitate to where they will be able to truly test their wings on the most meaningful level.  

This would certainly indicate that those countries that make it a point to accommodate in one form or another, those that are especially gifted in a way that keeps them engaged with their country of birth, are fundamentally doing the wisest thing that they can do, so as to keep their homegrown talent, for every country that loses their homegrown talent to the United States is shooting themselves in the foot, for though, the United States is actually an embarrassment in their aggregate education global ranking in regards to science and math, especially when compared to other countries that have educational budgets that are far smaller, as well as governments that are often far less secure, the United States hasn't really lost too many steps because of it, for it still dominates the world in corporate power, in GDP, in its military power, as well as in Nobel prizes so awarded, demonstrating that it isn't the aggregate educational score that is so important, but rather which country has the most superstars and super teams, and that country is the United States,  for far too many countries allow their best to leave them, and they are far poorer for it.

The deliberate demonization and dehumanization of certain human beings

The history of mankind clearly shows again and again, man's inhumanity to man, of which, wars, selfishness, fear, and greed, bring out the worst in many a person and civilization, time and time again.  The thing about war, in any of its myriad forms, is that most of the participants in warfare, don't really have an axe to grind with their opponent, and in absence of such a grievance, aren't particularly motivated to participate in a war, though, countries and their governments are usually highly skilled at providing such motivation, of which the primary one comes down to the demonization and the dehumanization of the enemy, of which, to acknowledge the enemy as being a fellow human being, of someone who is just as worthy of respect and consideration as one self, is not even an allowable thought.

This means, that in order for something like slavery to actually be permitted or countenanced, or to wantonly and to indiscriminately kill the opponent in war, the very first thing that must be accomplished, is the propaganda or proselytizing that makes it clear that the other is either not a true rational human being in the proper sense of the word, and therefore is something like a subspecies to a human being, or is quite frankly, not human at all, and rather more appropriately seen as vermin, rubbish, scum, diabolical, devilish, or as something that is for a certainty, god-forsaken, and not worthy of any sort of decency or respect, being accorded to it.

This then, makes it rather easy to indiscriminately kill your opponent, because the person doing the killing does not see the other as fully human or even considers that they may actually be human.  It also makes it rather easy to take someone that is regarded as less than human, and then for humanitarian purposes, so to speak, train that captive as if they are an animal, and treat that captive as a beast of burden, of which, believing that the captive is an animal, the person that is in control, feeds, trains, and uses that captive as an animal, and will not consider in their thinking, anything that would have a strong tendency to upset that belief, because to even consider that somehow the captive is  human or has human-like capabilities, would necessitate a re-evaluation as to whether what is occurring is actually right or wrong, for an animal, clearly is a species, that mankind has total dominion of, and thereby can do whatever that they so will to that animal.

Most people, like to consider themselves to be fair, and to believe that their actions, are therefore fair-minded, so too, most people clearly believe that murder and the taking of another human life is wrong, while recognizing that there are some notable exceptions to that rule; as well as most people, believe that to own another human being and therefore to be able to do whatever that it is that they wish to by virtue of that ownership of that human being, doesn't sound morally right.  Yet, we are surrounded by armed conflicts, wars, and the enslavement or oppression of other human beings, virtually, all over this globe, indicating that most people, are just fine with the killing and the owning of others, just as long as they are able to believe, that those others aren't really human, or at least, aren't human enough.

Fundamentalism and feminism

A lot of people are not very versed in their history, so that, when they look around and see that men and women seem to have the same sorts of opportunities, be they educational or employment wise, are allowed to vote, purchase homes or cars, and travel wherever and whenever that they so desire, subject or limited only to the money that they have access to, it does seem like a pretty fair and equal world.  However, that is the way things are on paper, even in the best of civilizations, and certainly was not the norm, one hundred years ago, or even fifty years ago, but it is the norm, for many countries in the western hemisphere as well as it being the norm for various other nations across this world.

Still, sad to say,  there are many other nations in which a patriarchal system of governance is still the norm, whether that is in conjunction with religious authorities, or strictly state sanctioned, but in either event, in many areas of the world, women are restricted in their opportunity to be educated, in their freedom of movement, in their dress, in their employment opportunities, in their rights, and in their marriage, and the more restrictive that these conditions are, the less flexibility that these women have to develop their own minds, or to seek valued economic opportunities, or to become sovereign within their own selves.

In an era in which the world has become fundamentally smaller, it is both problematic as well as futile to believe that with the exception of some very small and isolated enclaves, that people even in the most restricted nations, will not be somewhat cognizant of what others are doing and the freedoms that these people are able to avail themselves of in these other countries; and that thereby to then believe that half of the population that is being denied  fair and equal access to some of humanity's most fundamental rights such as self-determination, education, and achievement, would not somehow be resentful of such a denial, and further, that nation-states that treat half of the population as being entitled legally to nothing more than being treated as the property of the male species, would be a nation-state that would find its progress, be it economic, intellectual, or just about anything of merit, to be handicapped by its lack of diversity as well as its closed-mindedness.

Such fundamentalism, whether created out of good intentions or not, has little or no room, to be justified in the present age, for laws and doctrines, even of the highest order, are susceptible to wrong interpretation and wrong implementation, of which, those that are most fundamentalist in their structure, no matter how diligent and resolute that they may individually be, will find, that the dead weight of so many people upon their shoulders, as well as the constant and unrelenting opposition by the vibrant and lively underground of those that do not support such oppression will undercut them at every conceivable avenue, so that their very narrow-mindedness will  of its own accord, preclude them from seeing what is just out of their sight but is gaining upon them, which is that true justice will have the final say.

Inmate Phone costs

Nobody really wants to be in prison or in jail, but in a country, that incarcerates, over two million individuals, it's a fact of American life.  All of us, in one form or another communicate with each other and through this modern age, it has never been easier or cheaper to communicate with one another, even over great distances and from coast-to-coast, so that, the days of having to pay for long distance service, though, they might still exist for the few Luddites that won't change their ways, aren't really a factor for most everyone else, in which every call initiated over a person's cell phone is under the most prevalent cell phone plans treated the same whether it is local or long distance. However, there are still situations, of which being incarcerated is one of them, that the cost of phone communication, whether initiated from inside the incarceration facility or outside of it, are prohibitive in their cost structure, overtly exploitative, unfair, and punitive in their effects.

While, most everyone expects that there should be rules, regulations, and punishments associated with being incarcerated, so that, utilizing a phone for communication is subject to certain hours and restrictions, that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that calling to a given inmate or receiving such a call is structured in such a manner that the monetary cost for the initiator of those calls is both uncompetitive and unreasonably high, leaving the inmate or in reality, family members of the inmate  in an exceedingly raw deal of having to shell out real money for each precious minute spent on the phone, in which, when the calls are "collect" or are considered to be long distance, the charges get even more expensive, and in any event, without any other viable options, those on the outside must pay these exorbitant costs in order to just have a conversation with their loved one on the inside.

The reason that these costs are so high, is quite obviously, because the way that the present system works, is quite beneficial for the exclusive deal being provided to the phone communication provider, as well as quite frankly, the "kickback", in effect, provided to the incarceration facility for the privilege of granting said company the right to be the exclusive phone communication provider.  None of this should be happening, especially in consideration that the very people that are incarcerated to begin with, more times than not, are impoverished, and their family members on the outside, typically are in difficult financial straits, themselves, in addition to, from a humanitarian perspective, that there is a substantial benefit, in having people that are incarcerated being able to readily communicate with those that they care and love, making for a better social situation, on the outside, as well as on the inside.

In point of fact, as reported by theverge.com, there are "… a small handful of companies that dominate the $1.2 billion US prison phone industry," which indicates exactly how much money is at stake, demonstrating that it is high time to make some fundamental changes as to how communication is conducted within incarceration facilities, that takes into account, that wantonly profiting off of people that are imprisoned, as well as taking unfair advantage of their families that are stressed out emotionally as well as financially, is a grand disservice to  all fair-minded people, and has no place in this country and should therefore be given no quarter.

Who will watch the watchers?

We live in an era in which tracking people in everything that they do has become the new norm. So that our activities are often monitored , recorded, or watched when we are on the internet, through our social media, while traveling on public roads, and while walking in public places, so that more times than not, such activity is recorded or monitored, or subject to either of those things, of which that monitoring is done by governmental agencies of all stripes, quasi-governmental agencies, or through private enterprise, though most of the players and companies in the private enterprise sphere, are publically traded through the stock exchange or are controlled by publically held and traded corporations.

As most people are quite aware of, information is definitely a form of power, and when the watchers know pretty much everything about you, or are able to rather easily put together a composite of you that is erringly accurate, any common sense citizen, should be concern about that very thing, especially when there are characteristics about them, that they would not want to have publically divulged, or that would make them feel uncomfortable that others knew this about them, especially by agencies and people that are not visibly known or answerable to them.

While the government as well as private enterprise, spend an inordinate amount of time, stating that such information is safe with them, or is necessary in order to provide personal safety or to provide benefits to you, such statements are self-serving and are not only not backed up by anything other than the words so spoken or written, but fail to answer the most fundamental question, as to who is watching the watchers?

In point of fact, a country in which, its citizenry is under constant surveillance, may or may not be a safer place to live in from a crime perspective, though, in all probability, street crime as we currently know it, would probably be reduced, though, crime of other sorts, would probably be developed, because criminals are very good about finding a way to exploit situations, and overt monitoring will not stop crime, though it will probably change the perpetrators and the nature of certain crimes.  In any event, while the ostensible purpose of all this monitoring is for the protection or benefit of the citizenry, it is absolutely no stretch of the imagination, to recognize that when the watchers know everything about you, that such information is exploitable, for nefarious or monetary reasons or both.

So then, unless the watchers are being watched by the general public, in a manner such as those citizens that make up a grand jury, or as those citizens that are a part of a civilian police review panel, so that, in all matters large and small, all of the information and video that is being aggregated, sorted, and analyzed, is subject to general public oversight, giving those people not only the right to see this information and video but also the right to ask questions that must be responded to in a comprehensive and satisfactory fashion, in which all of this is provided to the public as a service to that public, then the watchers are not being adequately watched or monitored, signifying that those that are the watchers are a class above all those that are being watched, in all matters, large and small, putting the sword to our individuality as well as burying our flag of freedom, replaced instead by the dipped flag of subjection, by those that are being watched.

Wages, minimum wage, and regulation

There are certain people and organizations that don't see the value of a minimum wage because such a minimum wage sets an artificial floor on wages, so that, even if a given individual does not merit that wage based on their productivity and throughput, that they received such a wage.  In point of fact, this analysis of the minimum wage is correct, however, even though the establishment of such a minimum wage, does bring about or can bring about, above market-wages for certain individuals, it is almost mandatory in today's modern world, in which unionization and collective bargaining has been at such a steep decline, that the minimum wage in its own way, serves as proxy as a type of union for the regulation of wages for all those at the lowest totem pole of wage empowerment.

This does mean, that in the absence of union strength in so many industries, that the greatest help that the government can mandate on its own to be on the side of labor, especially, for the most vulnerable labor, is to raise the minimum wage, for in doing so, this would effectively for millions of workers, essentially place on their employers the obligation of being mandated to pay a living wage, even though those receiving such a wage increase would be or may well be getting an above-market wage; then again these are the very people that need such a wage in order to live, of which, if industry of all sorts was required to pick up this increase in wages, they would find a way , sooner or later, to more effectively utilize and to train these employees so as to get more value from that labor. 

In the absence of collective bargaining, and especially in the absence of having highly marketable and in-demand employment skills, those that are seeking a job, are in an extremely disadvantageous position, for without the aid of an union that has structured something of value for them, or of a living minimum wage, than those that need a job, pretty much are going to have to accept what they can accept, especially when they do not have the ready means to easily travel to other places that perhaps pay better or have better conditions. 

In point of fact, it's unfair for the government, that is, the people, to have to pay or to provide social services to all those that are unable to function or to live without being subsidized, despite being gainfully employed, so when corporations and other institutions do not pay a living wage, that lack of a living wage, necessitates such being augmented instead, through the government, which is the people, so that in principle, it is those corporations and other institutions that reap the benefits, the profits, and the excesses of their success, to the exclusion of the people, in general, which isn't fair and it isn't right.

In reality, except for high demand employees of all sorts, those that are seeking employment, typically do not have much negotiating power, and must pretty much accept the prevailing wage so being offered to them, the work hours so being offered, and the benefits so being offered, whereas, if there was a cost-of-living baseline wage established that set a minimum national standard that all are entitled to for those that are laborers, then, businesses would adjust to this new cost of doing business, which would help the most vulnerable, and make for a better and fairer society.