Harmony

Today's modern world in a lot of respects has endeavored to throw off the shackles of superstition, which most definitely has its place, for superstition is the blind belief in something, without any valid substance to that belief.  However, it is one thing to rail against the stupidity of irrationality and certain forms of mythology, and another to discount or to discredit things that are unseen or are not able to be measured by current scientific instruments as not being in existence.

For instance, whether one believes in God or not, is each person's personal prerogative; but even the most scientific amongst us, implicitly recognizes that there an infinite amount of things that they don't fully comprehend, or haven't even a fathoming of.   Yet, so too, all of the scientific fields of this world are dependent upon the recognition that all is order, meaning that there are universal laws that consistently are the same, and therefore it is one of the prime purposes of mankind to discover those laws, visible or invisible, for the benefit of mankind.

This means that the universe in order to be known, must in fact, be organized, which indeed it is, for if the universe was chaos, random, and without order, then the study of it wouldn't be possible, for the basis of all scientific knowledge is built upon supportable foundations and verifiable theories, of which, if these are subject to change, like the winds on a given day, then all would be pointless, and unknowable.

This would indicate that the highest purpose of mankind is to be in tune, to be in order, and to be in harmony with the forces of this universe, for those laws are the laws that govern all, of which, these laws to have any lasting import, must be immutable, eternal, self-sufficient, omnipresent, and discoverable.  That is to say, any universal law which does not have the characteristics as so described, cannot, by definition, be the correct universal law, for the correct universal law, is one and the same, as having those very characteristics.

Further to the point, ultimately the very purpose behind everything that we do and that we contemplate upon, is to find the source and the meaning of it all; so that, those that are most knowledgeable, understand that the search that we are making is really the search for that truth, and anything less than that full truth, signifies that our most valued journey has not yet been accomplished.

So then, all those that do and seek for that which is harmonious with the highest order of being, are exactly doing what they are supposed to be doing; and all that is being accomplished and propagated which is opposed to such, is foundationally flawed.  It is well to acknowledge, that all that there ultimately is, is unchangeable in its essence, therefore our ability to interrelate with that, is the harmony which should represent our greatest calling.  All else is vanity and error, for there is only one truth, and that truth is the very reason for our being.

The job interview that isn't really an interview

The era of finding one company and making one's home there, for the duration of a career, is pretty much non-existent in the private sector at the present time, though, it does occur, but not very frequently.  So too, salary reviews, and annual bonuses, are something that most employees discover, seem to be less about a real review and merit, but are instead, more about a predetermined salary increase, that is usually within a very narrow incremental range.  This means, more times than not, that those wishing to make a substantial or meaningful increase in salary, no matter how competent, are probably going to have to seriously consider looking for another job, and negotiating from a higher level from the get-go.

Not too surprisingly, to a very large extent, the absolute best company to try to find new employment at, would be a competitor of your current company, because of the knowledge, pertinence and experience that you bring to the table.  This signifies, that when you are contacted by a competitor, most people, unless they are completely satisfied with the current employment, are going to have a tendency to want to look them up, especially if they are dissatisfied with their current setup, for here is a chance to not only to make more money, but also an opportunity to advance.

The thing about an interview, is that most people want to put their best foot forward, of which, not only should they want to, they actually should.  So too, in order to help prove your worth and value, the interviewee, is almost for a certainty, going to have to talk in specifics about what they currently do and specifically address it in a manner that demonstrates that they actually know what they are talking about.

 Additionally, people that are nervous, or are put on the stage, so to speak, have a tendency to talk more, than perhaps they desire to do so, especially if the recipient of the information, is either quite good at looking unimpressed, or asks just the right follow-up questions, which brings out even more information.

The unfortunate thing about life, is not everything that appears to be what it is, is what it is; of which, some competitors, deliberately want to bring in some of the best and brightest from the competition for an interview, not necessarily to hire them, but rather to learn about what those competitors are actually doing, thereby essentially utilizing the interviewee as a mole, to extract actionable information from.  While, of course, this is quite unethical in every conceivable way; it isn't illegal, and the information being so provided, can be of immense value to the company of the interviewer.

So yes, not every interview is an interview, of which, some of the fault lies with the present company, that isn't doing all that they could to keep their good employees engaged and properly rewarded; while most of the fault comes from the competitor, that rather than concentrating of getting their own house in order, take the shortcut of finding out, rather underhandedly, what the other guy is doing, by using the interviewee as their pawn to be debriefed.

The superrich and their enormous influence

There are two types of billionaires in America, which are, those that are personally worth over one billion dollars, as well as corporations that consistently have yearly profits of one billion dollars or more.  These two entities, more times than not, are often one and the same, and/or work together, to influence the government, politics, and laws, in a manner that they will allow them to continue to  benefit to the exclusion of all those that do not have that same sort of cash-rich influence.

The most important thing to remember about the superrich is that the one thing that they are not, are gamblers.  The superrich only want to deal with sure things and one way to assure themselves of having that security of a sure thing is to make sure that those that apply the law, as well as those that implement or influence tax policies, along with all else of meaningful material substance, must be in harmony with their desires, and if so, those that work those policies, will have job security.

To get even a small fathoming of how much money is involved when it comes to the superrich it is of vital importance to recognize, for example, that in 2015, Apple made 53.39 billion dollars in net profit; in 2016 Apple made 45.69 billion dollars in net profit; and in 2017 Apple made 48.35 in net profit.  All of these billions of dollars of profits, is not something that Apple wants to risk in any way, form, or manner; of which, such a yearly consistency shown by these gargantuan profits, indicates that Apple indeed is not at risk.

In regards to individuals, time.com, estimates that Jeff Bezos of Amazon, is worth 109.9 billion dollars, of which, that amount of money, in conjunction with the corporate power of Amazon, is an incredible combination that is quite capable of influencing just about anything of pertinence in a manner that will be beneficial or non-harmful to Bezos/Amazon, in which, Amazon appears to be an unstoppable juggernaut.

Even though Americans have legislators that in theory, represent the people as a whole; in which each individual person has one equal vote in our democratic system; the way that most people think and behave, is influenced not just by the people that they congregate with, but to a very large extent, by media of all sorts, of which that media voice, is influenced strongly and almost exclusively by the money that is provided to them, of which, there most definitely are strings attached, for news is quite clearly colored by the point of origin of the money so being received.

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding, of which, as reported by time.com, "…the three richest people in the U.S. own the same amount as the bottom half of America’s population," which is something that could only happen in a country that is either fundamentally and systematically corrupt or has a system that has been completely gamed by the superrich, or both.   Additionally, when it comes to the corporate side, as reported by qz.com, just a mere thirty publically traded companies accounted for 50% of all corporate earnings for all publically traded companies combined in 2015. 

The above, in a nutshell, means that a massive amount of this country's collective wealth, is essentially divided between the superrich individuals and the superrich corporations, whereas the mass of citizens and the majority of corporations are stuck fighting over a relatively small piece of the remaining pie; all done under the watch of our executive, legislative, and judicial branches which are well rewarded so as to make sure that the superrich basically get it all.

The southern aristocracy and the revolutionary war

Beginning in 1776, the thirteen colonies banded together to fight for the independence of America, yet, it has always seemed somewhat contradictory that the southern aristocracy would participate on the rebel side in such a war, as that aristocracy appeared to have a lot more in common with the British nobility, in the sense that the southern aristocracy, for the most part, generated their wealth from the land that they owned, by virtue of their tenant farmers, as well as upon the sweat labor of slaves, as opposed to actually personally being industrious, themselves.  So too, British nobility, maintained their status through the ownership and the productivity of their lands, done through the rental of such lands, the produce created, and through their exploitation of tenant farmers.

However, there were two distinct factors that encouraged the southern aristocracy to recognize that their future was probably more secure with the rebels; of which, the first was that the southern aristocracy had no voice or representation in regards to taxation specifically addressed against them, so that, this was always a clear and present danger as to their being able to maintain their position, wealth, prosperity, and property.  Additionally, the rebels made it quite clear to those that were loyalists that in the event, that the rebellion succeeded, which it did, than all lands own by loyalists, were subject to being confiscated by the new American nation, of which, the price of being on the wrong side of history, would be very heavy, indeed.

This then meant that for the most part, that the southern aristocracy supported the revolutionary war, and provided the rebels with men, materials, and knowhow to help conduct such a war, subject to having to also maintain enough domestic manpower presence in order to sustain control and dominion over their slaves, which was an asset that such aristocracy could not and would not desire to jeopardize.

So too, the southern aristocracy, recognized that the victory in this war, would create a vacuum in regards to governance, politics, and power, of which, because they were the richest and most influential people within their community, in an era in which democracy as we know it did not exist in colonial America, then such aristocracy would revel in the opportunity to replace those that were in governance with either themselves, their associates, or sympathetic parties to their position, which essentially is what occurred.

As it has been said, war makes strange bedfellows, so then while the southern aristocracy appeared to have a lot in common with the British nobility, they weren't actually British nobility, thereby making their decision to take their chances with their fellow colonists, a much more straightforward decision.  Yet, this southern aristocracy came to be at loggerheads with the northern industrialists, to an extent large enough, that despite a Constitution; the southern plantation system felt seriously threatened, especially considering that to a large extent, they appeared outmaneuvered and outplayed by the industrial north, creating a momentous rife between north and south, and in particular, between the southern aristocracy and the well heeled and well bankrolled industrialists, leading to our inevitable civil war.

Stand by Me

In this fast paced world of social media, never have so many had so many friends, of which, in reality, never have so many had so few friends.  After all, the real test of whether a friend truly is a friend is how they act and behave, when something absolutely tragic or heinous occurs, for that is the test that demonstrates without equivocation, which side of the fence your friend really stands on.

In actuality, when everything is going well, the friendships are there, but in this real and complicated world, there are going to come times, when something unforeseen and unexpected happens which has real consequences, of which, friendships truly are made or unmade.  For instance, as reported by huffingtonpost.com, we find that: "one in 25 Americans was arrested," in 2011, a percentage and a number which is truly staggering.  Not only is the sheer number of arrests, almost unfathomable, recognize that being arrested, essentially means in almost all cases, being handcuffed, and hence your freedom of movement being revoked, being transported to an incarceration facility, being subjected to probable custodial interrogation, and eventually, after all that, arraignment. 

Not only does this mean that those that have been arrested are in an extremely vulnerable situation, but also besides needing good legal representation, they additionally need somebody that is dependable and empathetic to their situation to handle what needs to be handled, due to their incapacitation.  In addition to that, the charges that are made against that individual are public knowledge, which is necessary in order for somebody on the outside to deal with the bail, as well as to help in contacting a good attorney, and being clearly appraised as to the serious of the charges against that person.

Unfortunately, in this country, there are way too many people, that seem to have forgotten that in America, unlike some other nations with suspect justice systems, that everyone in a criminal court of law, is innocent, until proven guilty; therefore, making the proof of guilt the burden of the state, rather than making the proof of innocence, the burden of the person on trial.   In addition, way too many credulous people believe that if a given person is arrested, that the person being arrested must have been arrested for a valid reason, believing that they don't just randomly arrest people in America.  The fact is, that not only are mistakes made all of the time, but people are arrested for all sorts of reasons, of which, some of those reasons have a lot more to do with arresting people that are an inconvenience or a thorn to the system, as it is.

So then, those that are arrested are not only in an extremely vulnerable position but they are also exposed, for the public and their friends to take their shots at them, even though they have been convicted of nothing.  Unfortunately, many friends, will readily cut their ties, if the charges are especially notorious or reprehensible, because the charges, in and of themselves, have branded that arrestee so distinctly, that being afraid for themselves of being associated with such a tint, they will therefore disengage themselves as a friend, in order to maintain their status and their own non-involvement. 

This absolutely means that getting arrested has consequences that extend far beyond the actual person being arrested, and those that stand by that person are true friends in every sense of the word, and those that don't, never were.

Uniformity of opinion

One of the most disappointing things about growing up, is the slow but sure recognition that the world does not revolve around us, and for some people, they never seem to get over this important fact.  The thing is, while on the one hand, we are all similar, in the sense that we are all created by the same Great Hand; we also are all different individuals, for our circumstances are different, sometimes, diametrically different, and in many a situation, we are so very different, that in all probability, that difference will not be rectified in any due season.

The fact that we are not all cookie-cutter people and do not have Stepford-like spouses, makes for a diversity of opinion, and helps bring forth the necessary spiciness of life; for if all were exactly the same, there would then be, by definition, an extreme amount of redundancy.  It is therefore, very important, in a country that prides instead as this being the land of freedom, that each of us, is equally entitled to our own thoughts, our own opinions, and our own viewpoints; which is one of the very valid reasons why the First Amendment to our Constitution, stipulates that this government will: "… make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…" and these words in order to actually have real meaning, necessitate that in practice, each of us is entitled to have opinions that are different, and that it is not the governments' place to determine that certain opinions and viewpoints are orthodox and therefore correct, whereas other opinions are non-orthodox and therefore incorrect.

What is especially pernicious is when any government or entity, takes it upon themselves that their viewpoint is the only acceptable dogma, and having the guns, judges, and possibly the majority on their side, make it their purpose that any dissent should be and must be silenced.  In point of fact, freedom of speech, and freedom to have one's own opinion, isn't worth much, if you are unable to freely express it and instead are compelled by law to kowtow to the powers in force.  Rather, for these soaring words of freedom of speech, to have any real meaning in the real world, it comes only upon those times, when such opinions being expressed, are frown upon, vilified, and are upsetting to certain people, for this then is the true test of whether these words are paper tigers, or tigers, themselves.

There are many things that people need to keep in mind, of which, one of them is that people's opinions are not only capable of change, but often do change upon even matters of great importance, for when the facts change or the information presented is quite clearly germane and perceptive, then only a stubborn dunce of a person, doesn't at least consider that their viewpoint may indeed necessitate a change, to accommodate this actionable information.  So too, when those in power mandate that all opinions have to be this certain specific way, or else, then all those that are still in dissent, will be eliminated; so that only those with uniformity of opinion will exist, but the cost of such uniformity will be the death of freedom, the death of free thinking, and the death of a free voice.

Justice and judges

There are plenty of people, that insist that everyone should just "obey the law," of which, even if this was an idea worth emulating, this couldn't be done at any level or at any time, for virtue of the fact that this country has so many laws, that meander and contradict one another, that it's impossible for any one individual to even know of all these laws, let alone to correctly comprehend them, over and above the important point, that even lawyers, along with judges, don't clearly know what they law is, themselves.  That is to say, if the law was clear cut in every single case, all judges' decisions would not only be unanimous, but also would never be reversed by any court of appeals, which itself, would be redundant.  In addition, the lawyers that are arguing on the opposing side of the equation wouldn't have a viable job, for knowing for a fact what that law is, would indicate to them the ultimate futility of arguing against the predictable judgment of that law.

In truth, that isn't how the law, lawyers, justice, and judges actually work in the real world.  Additionally, and quite germane to the situation, is that judges have in cases large and small, reversed the decisions of lower courts; and even the Supreme Court, the highest court of this land, has reversed its own decisions, so that, yes, the Supreme Court has ruled one way in a particular day and age, only to rule an entirely different way, in a different day and age, superseding its own previous law.  All this would seem to indicate that rather than Lady Justice being impartially blind, with all pertinent information equally weighed; that it would be far more accurate to state that justice is mercurial, specifically, because the judges so ruling have ideologies that cloud and influence their judgment.

This does mean, that for those that solicit the court, that only a very foolish and ignorant lawyer, would not take into their calculations, the ideological makeup of that court, and its respective judges, for clearly there are judges that are diametrically different from one another, so much though, that the outcome of a given case, can in many cases, readily be determined by the judge or judges so deciding that case.  This is also the prevailing reason why, so many people get up in arms, about Supreme Court nominees, for because of modern day partisan divisions, judges are deliberately selected, not so much on their jurisprudence, experience, and fairness; but rather as to where they stand in regards to the conservative/liberal spectrum, and quite obviously, judges that are one extreme or the other, can be counted upon to render their decisions by that ideology, and basically throw out the window, whatever applicable precedents, doctrines, and case law, that are pertinent, replaced instead by their personal preference.

When the law is no longer the law, but something that is left to judges to bend and to shade per their inclination, than the decisions so rendered, are done in a manner that dovetails with those so deciding those cases; and when those prevailing winds do change, as they invariably do, then similar cases will be re-decided and will overturn what has come before.  The end result is that the application of the law will be inconsistent, prejudicial, unequal, unfair, and flawed.

Hard work should be rewarded

America, sells itself as a nation of meritocracy, and to a certain degree in many different ways, it is.  However, income growth and income distribution, clearly shows that over the last few decades, that the rich have been getting richer, and that the concentration of wealth in America, the world's richest nation, has been getting concentrated into fewer and fewer hands, which is something that our progressive tax system as well as our equal opportunity playing field should actually be mitigating, but, in fact, this has not been occurring.

The most important thing, isn't necessarily that there should be a more even distribution of income in America, though, that would be nice; but rather, within America, that there should be a firm mindset, which stipulates that if you work hard, that you should receive whether directly or indirectly a wage, benefits and services package, that clearly reflects that hard work is fairly rewarded; rather than that those that work hard, but apparently are in the wrong profession, don't get much of anything, and must thereby struggle mightily day by day.

To demonstrate, how upside down this world is, companies such as Apple, are given special consideration for parking their profits overseas, so that, when a deal is struck, it is to their advantage; so as reported by cnn.com, Apple will just pay "…a repatriation tax rate of 15.5% for returning money to the U.S. from their overseas cash pile," saving them billions for not having to have paid the corporate tax rate which had been 35%.  So too, many of the richest and biggest corporations, such as WalMart and Amazon, amongst so many others, get special property tax rates, as well as special tax set asides from States, governments, localities, and counties, so as to essentially not pay their fair share of taxes.  In actuality, everyday, in every possibly conceivable way, the largest and most profitable corporations headquartered in America are able to through the usage of the best accountants, the best lawyers, and the best lobbyists, essentially receive special privileges and basically welfare from all sorts of governmental agencies and institutions, whereas, the standard laborer, can't even get a break.

In point of fact, whether a living wage as currently envisioned is instituted or not, isn't so important; what is important, though, is that the overall package for those that work hard and are putting forth an honest day's work, should be that they are all entitled to in one way or another: decent healthcare, decent housing, decent transportation, decent education, and a decent life; demonstrated by a pay and benefits package, subsidized by the government, if necessary, and created for that express purpose.

If, on the other hand, the United States, is not prepared to see that each of their citizens that are playing by the rules, and are doing their part to be productive, are rewarded for that hard work; at a time, in which America has wealth that is unprecedented in the annals of history, than there isn't any real hope that this will ever happen.   This should be a country that lives up to its credo, of justice, liberty, and equality for all, but obviously does not, for these words ring hollow; so that, America in fit, form, and function, is really a country run by the elite and the privileged, selling the illusion, that all is fair, whereas, the truth is, this fair is all so foul.

The cost of borrowing money

The cost of borrowing money for those of even the shakiest credit ratings, corporate or personal, has been at historic lows, but beginning in December, 2015, the Federal Reserve, began its process of raising interest rates, or the cost of borrowing money, in a Fed policy that is determined to normalize interest rates to something closer to historical norms within America, of which, tradingeconomics.com states that the Federal Reserve rate: "…averaged 5.72 percent from 1971 until 2018."  As might be expected, should the Fed come even close to reaching the 5.72 percent rate, there will be a seismic shift in not only what institutions and other investors will invest their money into, but also, in the cost of borrowing money.  In short, the last decade, has been an outlier for borrowers, in which their cost of money has been very low, as well as an outlier for savers, which have not been able to get much of a positive interest rate return in regards to short term instruments, such as money market funds, and short duration CDs.

America, itself, has a national debt that is already at historic levels and is headed even higher, so that the service of that debt, will take up an even larger portion of the budget of the United States, each year, as interest rates, increase.  In addition, corporations of all sizes and sorts, borrow money in order to augment their growth and to purchase goods as well as to expand their business, so when their costs go up, not too surprisingly, they are going to feel the squeeze of having to devote more capital to the service of their debt.  Finally, consumers of all stripes, but especially those that are just getting by or trying to get by will suffer even more from even higher interest rates than what they are already paying, so that their borrowing costs in aggregate, will take even more money that they don’t really have in the first place, from their pockets.

It doesn't take an economic genius to understand, that when the cost of borrowing money goes up, that businesses and individuals that are already struggling, are going to find that their struggle gets appreciably worse; in addition, those that invest in the lowest investment grade corporate bonds, will discover, that the return on their investment no longer matches up well with their risk, so they will need a substantially better interest rate in return for such risk, or they will reduce their risk by investing in a higher grade investment corporate bond that now provides a higher return than what it previously did.  As for those financial institutions that bankroll individuals, such as through credit cards, car loans, and student loans, they will find that as their default rate goes up, that they will tighten down the hatches, reduce such loans, and increase their fees, penalties and interest rates in an attempt to maintain their profits.

In short, for all those corporations, businesses, and individuals, that are just barely treading water when interest rates were at historic lows, now they will have to face the music, and therefore pay back what they have had loaned to them at a substantially higher rate, in which, that won't end well; it won't end well at all.

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.