United States multinational corporations and employment

The United States has the biggest economy in the world, and the top five multinational corporations in the world, are all United States based, in fact, in looking at the market capitalization of all the biggest corporate players in the world, the United States dominates that list, and it isn't even really close.  There is, as might be expected, a downside to what appears to be so very good for America, which is, that essentially what is good for American-based corporations, its executive offices and its stockholders, does not trickle down as much as it should to the taxpayers of this country.  That is to say, as disclosed in the book, "The Betrayal of the American Dream", "between 1999 and 2008 … foreign affiliates of U.S. parent corporations increased their employment abroad by 2.4million jobs, or 30 percent. During the same period, they slashed their employment in the United States by 1.9 million."

What this essentially means is that multinational corporations have deliberately outsourced millions of jobs to foreign affiliates of these multinational corporations, at the expense of domestic employment.  Obviously, the main reason why this has been done, is that the cost of labor overseas, along with other associated costs, are less expensive than they are domestically, which is wonderful for a given company's gross margin as well as its profitability, but it is not of any benefit for those that are capable of doing the same job, domestically, that have thereby had their jobs reduced considerably or even eliminated.  In addition, the fact that wages overseas are lower exerts price pressure amongst domestic workers, for there are ready alternatives for these multinational corporations to turn to, which they readily do.

In point of fact, if the rules of the road, seem to stipulate, that multinational corporations are not compelled by law, to favor domestic labor and domestic manufacturing, then it doesn't take a genius to understand, that this trend of outsourcing jobs to foreign affiliates is just going to get greater and greater, which is why the percentage of the underclass in America stays stubbornly high, and why the middle class in America is becoming hollowed out; whereas the rich have never been richer, and the overall income inequality in America, is now reaching all-time highs, all this in an era, that has the progressive income tax, and all sorts of laws that in theory, are leveling the playing field.

Rather, it appears that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, of which, the multinationals essentially have structured their businesses in such a manner, that their greed for profit and their intense desire for reduced taxation, trumps over fairness and their inherent obligations that they owe their mother country, and in particular the people that populate it.  While we should be cognizant that it is a competitive world and that the production of products and the export of them is a critical component in regards to our balance of trade; it is a massive misstep to not acknowledge that how governmental policies are enacted and enforced in actuality, appear to be quite good for the biggest multinationals, as if the multinationals are America, but the multinationals are definitely not America, because the true direct beneficiary of the multinational's success, is always going to be those multinationals, and for the most part, it is not going to be the domestic workers that are out of the opportunity of a domestic job, or have seen their wages and careers stagnate.

Those that want and those that have

The world is not even close to be evenly divided between those that want, as opposed to those that have.  In fact, those that have, in regards to material assets, respect, power, and prestige, are seriously outnumbered by those that for the most part want most or some of those very same things, but don't actually have it, and in all likelihood, will never have it.  This then begs the question, as to how do those few that have, maintain what they do have, at the expense of all those that want?

The basic answer to that question is that the structure of many countries is erringly similar one to another in the actual functionality of that government in relationship to the people.  That is to say, the selected few in number in almost every country dominates the majority of their country, by utilizing their wealth, power, propaganda, taxation, property, justice, and force in a manner that protects that ruling class over all others that might contend against them, despite whatever Constitution or system that may be the prevailing document of that country.

In point of fact, in just about any country, at its core, the police and military work for the ruling class. So too, the justice and legal system is structured in a way to keep in power the ruling class and to keep down the population as a whole.  When it comes to the political system, the choices that are provided, often aren't real choices at all, and in any event, are carefully vetted so as to assure the ruling class that these politicians are in lockstep as much as possible with that class. Additionally, banks and companies, primarily try to sell the illusion to the general public that all is fair and square in regards to credit loans and wage income, but those institutions are structured in a manner to exploit consumers in regards to usurious interest rates and penalties, as well as to cheat as many laborers as possible from a fair income, with the cream of the profits directed almost exclusively to the executive room.

Sure, some countries have developed a middle class, but for the most part, those people as a middle class, are a necessary function in order to basically support the ruling class and the accouterments that they so richly desire and subsequently have in abundance.  In point of fact, there is a glass ceiling, between all those that want, and all those that already have, and breaking through that ceiling for a huge swath of the population is not only inconceivable, it is well-nigh impossible. So that, year after year, nothing much seems to change, for the rich plunder more and get richer, and everyone else must share what is left, effectively and unfairly cheated out of what they should really have.

The more unequal a society is as demonstrated by the assets and income of its population, the less those that want actually have, and more those that have actually have.  For instance, as reported by forbes.com, the collective wealth of the 400 individuals on the Forbes 400 list is actually equivalent to the wealth of 64% of all the households in America, combined!    Thus, this means in the eternal battle between the haves and the have-nots, that despite the fact that the haves are significantly outnumbered by a very considerable amount, they actually sleep quite soundly at night, for they not only have everything conceivable in their pockets, but they also have a stranglehold upon everything else that could possibly mount an effective assault upon them.

True success and true failure

There are a lot of people that measure their success by the amount of the wealth that they have; then there are others that measure their success by the respect that they are accorded, but by whatever measure that you do so use, unless it actually takes into account others, and thereby your positive influence upon those others, than your viewpoint of success is fundamentally flawed; especially for trapping yourself into not taking into consideration that it is your inclusiveness and fairness with others, that pretty much trumps everything else.

That is to say, living in a capitalistic society, of incredibly uneven familial situations, of uneven public educational facilities, of uneven housing and uneven healthcare, and all the other attendant prejudices based more upon where you are born, or the status of your family, or the color of your skin, or of your creed, doesn't do a good job of actually separating the wheat from the chaff.  Which basically means the true test of any person's character, is what they do with what has been given to them, and those that are gifted with much more than others, have an incumbent responsibility to do all so much more for others, than those that are gifted with very ,very little.

So too, it is a rather sad state of affairs, when so many get so much pleasure, from exploiting their fellow man, believing incorrectly that because a given transaction gives off the aura of fairness and is non-compulsory that it is just fine and dandy to take advantage of situations that primarily are very beneficial for the one that finds a weakness or vulnerability in another, and is thereby able to mine such for their own profit.

In point of fact, no matter how it is painted in the minds of individuals, all those that justify their actions under the false pretense that they are fair, believing that because all is apparently above board and declared legal by a system that too often favors the few over the many, doesn't invalidate the fact that those that live in a construct in which everything is really about their own self, are creating by their very actions the seeds of their very own negative trauma.  The bottom line is that in actuality you cannot outrun justice, and those actions that are selfish in their benefits and accouterments are not now and never will be right in their execution.

Those that dedicate their lives to making the world and society a better place, by being just and fair in their time, demeanor, and actions are doing exactly what a fellow compatriot should be doing.  On the other hand, those that do their personal business in order to benefit themselves and a few select others, may look set to finish the race as champions, only to find out, to their dismay, that they never really understood what the rulebook said, and ultimately will suffer the fate that they have written by their self-centered actions, which is the realization that those that are selfish have failed at the most important test of their life, of which, truth be told, this was the only true test to begin with.

The more secrets, the more lies

Although this is supposed to be, and should be, a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, on a macro level, for an absolute certainty, it isn’t that at all.  In fact, as this country has modernized and become bigger and bigger, it has created layers upon layers of governmental departments and security clearances that more than anything, serves to separate the people from their governmental overseers.  This means, that there are square miles upon square miles of governmental land that private citizens of this country are not permitted to visit or enter upon.  In addition, there are governmental buildings, agencies, and departments, which are pretty much completely hidden, and therefore out of sight from the general public.  So too, there are seemingly endless documents that are classified, or are labeled as secret, or top secret, which private citizens are not permitted access to.

All of the above makes it fairly clear that in absence of the public knowing what its government is or isn't actually doing on behalf of its citizenry, than any trust that is given to that government by its citizenry, is not based upon anything much more, than a hope that their government is doing the right thing.  The fact, though, is that the more transparent a person or an organization is, almost always means the more open that person or organization is; and whereas, there most definitely is a place for discretion and privacy, the default of governmental actions and documentation, should be transparency, rather than opaqueness or outright deceit.

Further to the point, individuals have a fundamental right to privacy, but the servants to the people, that is, their government, should not hide their actions behind an impenetrable wall of privacy, which essentially is what this government does today, of which, they have set themselves apart, and uplifted themselves, so that only those that have been preapproved by the government have access to what the government is actually doing, and all others are left in perpetual darkness. 

One of the most troubling aspects of today's government is how often they hide their actions, behind a wall of national security, under the guise that secrecy helps in protecting the country, whereas, for the most part, it allows the government to perform actions that are not subject to a real public debate or to fair scrutiny.  All of this just serves to emphasize, that a government that is not subject to full disclosure, will have an inherent tendency to hide all those things that are of questionable worth, or are outright failures, or are inimical to the principles of America, under the cloak of secrecy.

In point of fact, when those in the know will not disclose openly what is really going on, they are, in matters large and small, naturally going to lie and deceive the public in a way, that they give the appearance that all that they are doing are for the benefit of the people; whereas the real winners are those on the inside and the real losers are all those that are sold this fraudulent bag of goods,  of which, the public is all the poorer, for getting fleeced by its own government that too often says one thing, and does in fit, form, and function, something other.

The dark side of globalization

There are obvious advantages to globalization in the sense that the products that so many of us buy and utilize each and every day are significantly less expensive because they have been produced overseas.  While that savings does, in general, make a material difference to the pocketbook of American consumers; in point of fact, not too surprisingly, the real main beneficiary of globalization is never going to be the consumer of those products, but actually the manufacturer and owner of those products.  The reason that this is so, is that multi-national corporations are quite cognizant of the importance of reducing their costs for materials, their costs for labor, and their costs for infrastructure so as to stay competitive and to say relevant; of which, globalization allows those corporations to be very efficient, and therefore not only to maintain their gross margins, but actually to increase them, which benefits directly the executive management of those corporations, as well as the stockholders of the company.

It then follows that domestic labor and domestic infrastructure will often not be able to compete against globalization, because their cost structure is fundamentally appreciably higher; so then, these former jobs are essentially exported overseas to foreign workers, as well as there being less of a need for specific infrastructure to build these products domestically, since it has been outsourced from America.  All of this essentially is deflationary for wage appreciation in America, especially as unions in private industry are in exceedingly steep decline, so that, the prime beneficiaries of such globalization is often going to be, only those that are the owners of the products so being produced.

In addition, it should be clarified that in America, there are labor laws that must be adhered to in regards to the working conditions, such as for the safety and comfort of the workers, along with rules in regards to overtime, break time, unemployment, social security, and Medicare that employers are obligated to provide to their employees; whereas in other countries, such laws may be quite lax, non-existent, or are overcome relatively easily, by, for instance, simply subcontracting out jobs, so that these foreign employees are not directly employed by the true beneficiary of that labor.  This also means that all the laws that have been passed in regards to the environment, such as clean air, and clean water, zoning laws, and community commitments are circumvented by simply having a given company's factories located outside of the United States.

The bottom line is that companies that are strictly domestic, cannot hope to compete against globalization, because the cost structure of those foreign countries are structured in a much more favorable way.  In other words, the playing field isn't level and it also isn't fair.  Again, while consumers in America might indeed benefit somewhat from globalization, the actual only real meaningful beneficiary is the multi-national corporations that take advantage of labor, environment, legal and infrastructure systems overseas in a manner which allows them to make a lot more money while passing a bit of those savings onto consumers.   This simply means that the rich are getting a lot richer; while more and more valued domestic jobs are vanishing, and unions are left high, dry, and irrelevant.

Transitory and eternal

A significant amount of people are so caught up in their lives, that they believe that all that they are is contained within their physical sphere and resides nowhere else.  A belief such as that would essentially mean that life has no meaning, since nothing that is physical, no matter what games are played, can be sustainable in perpetuity.  Not only that, but we read in Holy Scripture from our Messiah: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" (Matthew 24; 35).  Clearly, that passage, indicates that there is a dimension that is not only beyond time and space, but is eternal, of which, the most appropriate understanding of this, is that the greatest good that any of us can do at any particular time, is to devote ourselves exclusively to those things that are eternal, as contrasted, to those things which are temporary, though some of these things may appear to be exceeding long in time to us, and/or seem of real value.

This should not be taken to mean that the advancement of mankind has little or no purpose or value, so that each of us, should therefore in lieu of doing the actual laboring of work, simply sit in quiet contemplation, each and every day; but rather to give us the appropriate perspective as to what really matters.  For what matters is our relationship one to another, that is to say, how we treat each other, what we do for one another, and the wisdom and good advice that we impart to one another.  This does mean that a dog-eat-dog world is fundamentally flawed, so too is a world that demands an eye-for-an-eye, for these worlds are not progressive but regressive.  Indeed, if we are unable to get along and work together productively here on earth, than there isn't any good reason, why any other dimension should therefore become for us a dimension of peace and harmony, as if in the dying of our physical body, somehow brings us into an eternal Paradise.

In point of fact, those that aren't ready for Heaven, so to speak, while they are here on earth, are going to be precluded from reaching the dimension of utter peace and harmony, because they are not those very attributes, themselves.  On the other hand, those that live their life in a way in which they see their neighbor as their own self, and their characteristics contain such as joy, peace, goodness, integrity, and steadfastness, have by their very deeds open up the portal of fulfillment in the eternal dimension which they have manifested in their lives here on earth.

The things that pass away are not us, and never will be us.  On the other hand, all that we do to better ourselves as well as to better our fellow sojourners are the very things that pass on from person to person and from generation to generation, for they do not ever come to an end, for our consciousness has no ending to it, though its form and shape may change as the dimension that we exist in, changes.  Therefore, what we do, what we say, and what we become, is who we really are, of which, to be truly eternal, we must be totally One with the Eternal, and this life on earth is for the very purpose of being tested in the crucible of Truth, and thereby burning off all the dross, that distorts the very thing that matters, which is our eternal bond to God.

Breach of Promise

People make promises all of the time, of which, some promises are of such a serious nature, that because a verbal agreement can be legally binding that the party that believes that the promised has been breached, has the right to sue the offending party.  In the case of a breach of promise, the substance of this is actually the promise of marriage, in which the fiancé that gets cold feet or decides that they do not wish to get marry after all, or was deceptive in their desire of marriage, of which, all of these, are subject to and are known as the breach of contract to marry.  It is important to realize, that historically women did not have the income opportunities as well as educational opportunities that they are so provided with today, so that, an actual promise of marriage, was a serious commitment meant to indicate that the man making the promise would be taking care of his wife-to-be for life.  So too, this meant as a matter of course, that the bride-to-be would quite obviously no longer be considered  as single and thereby available, but rather would be  clearly seen as committed and therefore unavailable.  In addition, since both parties would have made a binding commitment to one another, the woman would be somewhat vulnerable to relaxing her sexual mores with her husband-to-be.

Nowadays, a breach of promise, in regards to marriage, is no longer considered a legal offense, at least in most States, or with States, which still have this statute on its books that this is seldom enforced or taken seriously.  This does mean, in effect, that those asking for a woman's hand in marriage, can simply walk away from that commitment, at any time, even on the day of the nuptials, itself, with little or no legal liability.  However, there are some States that are still enforcing the statute, of which a woman can actually still sue for breach of promise to marry.

The fact that this statute has fallen out of favor, reflects that the law no longer sees a promise of marriage as a legally binding contract, probably because the law does not have a compelling interest to intervene into personal relationship commitments between two adults; in addition to the fact, that many States have no fault divorces, which basically allows either party to walk away from matrimony, for no reason, at all, other than that being their prerogative to do so. 

All of the above basically means that a man's word when it comes to marriage proposals is something that in today's world, is apparently retractable, and at the man's volition.   All of this signifies that the institution and the formalities of marriage, is far less secure today than it was back in the day.   To a certain extent that is quite unfortunate, of which, there appears to be a high correlation that with the appreciably higher degree of freedom, suffrage, and opportunity that women now have, that the less secure and protected marriage proposals and marriages have become; of which the male rascals that mouth promises but don't commit to them, don't seem to mind this much at all.

Wonder, Amazement and Perception

There are plenty of people that see the wonders of nature and are deeply appreciative of its beauty, as they well should be.  Unfortunately, for some of these same people, their wonder of such, supersedes the true recognition that the greatest wonder of them all, isn't really the landscapes and natural phenomena that enchants us, which rightly has its place, but rather is, the fact that our mind is able to see this as being the wonder that it is.

That is to say, without our ability to process and to perceive the things that we see or things that we touch or the things that we hear, this would essentially mean that all these beautiful scenes that surround us, would not be able to be appreciated or even really rightly recognized.  So then, those that are so enraptured about mother earth, while well meaning, should recognize that the greater miracle is actually the fact that they are able to perceive such as magnificent as it is.

This means that the most important frontier is not in all probability something that is tangible to our five senses, but rather what is intangible, of which, the portal for that door of perception is the mind that we are all gifted with.  So then, it follows that we should want to look behind the curtain to actually discover how our mind really works and thereby to perhaps truly to see as if for the very first time.

They say that none are so blind as those that will not see, who then wrongly believe that the images, beautiful or not, that are in front of them, are the be all and end all of everything, as opposed to the perception of that beauty, that truly comes not from the eyes, but from the mind, itself.    So then, while it is intriguing to see the wonders of the world as they are and what they might become, of far more worth, is to delve into the mind within, and to unravel the layers upon layers of our awareness; that for many people is unfortunately, too often left to run on autopilot or just ignored.

That is not to say, that the world, especially of its beauty, is not something worthy of our respect, admiration and appreciation, but rather that those very things that appear to be all so real to us, may not in the skeins of time, be as real or nearly as permanent as their appearance may suggest.  So that, we might just find, that it is our mind that is in actuality the essential part of our being, and it is with this mind that we able to cross into dimensions, far beyond our natural senses and their inherent limitations.

So then, when we see the beauty of natural phenomena, as great as it can be, those wonder of wonders, as incredible as they are, they must be recognized for what they really are, which is just a wonderful enticement and tease for us to thereby find the Ultimate Source of this beauty, recognizing that the search to end all searches, comes through the portal of our mind.

Giving and growth

Many of us live in big urban cities, which because of their sheer size, means that a lot of our day-by-day interactions are with people that we really don't know or hardly know at all; and because of that, there is a strong tendency to develop a more selfish nature, mainly because in our minds, we believe that since they don't really know us and we don't really know them, that these people are thereby more often seen as a means to benefit ourselves at perhaps their expense.  That is unfortunate, for in small communities, and in nuclear families, as a matter of course, there is more sharing, because each person has a strong tendency to acknowledge their responsibility to the other, for there is a more intuitive recognition, that none lives to their own self, and that we therefore are all in this together, so that those that do all of the receiving, and none of the giving, will in one form or another, receive their upbraiding and reprimand.

In point of fact, each day, we are provided choices, as to whether to be a giver or to be a receiver, of which, if we don't put any thought into it at all, we all might well conclude that we would strongly prefer to be just receivers, because receiving seems to make more logical sense.  The thing is while most of us do have a strong desire for nice material things and for good experiences, the receiving of all of these items doesn't feel satisfying when it is done in a vacuum, or unfairly, for we are all in the scheme of things, part of the same human family and the same human experience, of which, there is much more joy in being able to share our lives in all of its aspects with others.

This would seem to strongly indicate that part of a successful life must involve some actual interchange with others, which obviously would necessitate giving of ourselves to those others.  In fact, it is in the giving, especially to those that are not in the position to reciprocate, such as a newborn baby, or a hapless individual, or someone down on their selves, that demonstrates that we are able to look beyond the mirror in front of us and see instead the vision of our unity with one another.

So too, the most surprising thing about giving to others, whether that be our time, or material goods, or advice, or material aid, is that in most cases, rather than feeling that we have sacrificed ourselves to another, that we instead feel an inner joy in having helped someone in a manner in which their sincerity of appreciation for that help is felt to be priceless.  While not all giving involves thankfulness, just knowing that we are doing our part to make society or a given situation a little better, helps us to feel more involved as well as the validation, that our actions and our deeds, really does matter, for we are touching and influencing others in a positive manner.

Truly, it is in the giving that we grow, for we are all in this together, for the race is not finished, until all do finish that race, and that does require teamwork, and faithful giving to all those others, that are sojourning or should be sojourning along side of us.

Getting God all so very wrong

In so many ways and in so many circumstances, God gets an incredibly bad name from essentially ignorant human beings that really ought to know better.  For instance, one of the greatest lies and misconceptions about God is that God allows bad things to happen to us as well as to others, as if God somehow gets a perverse delight in our misery.  So too, there are many people that believe that their cause or their righteousness is so strong that when something tragic happens to them or a loved one, that this more or less proves the point that God either doesn't really care, or doesn't exist, or is powerless.  That credulous belief is fundamentally wrong, for this world, is exactly the world that we have made, based upon our own sovereignty and free will.  So then, when bad things happen, or when bad things occur that we do not like or that we do not desire, this is all part and parcel of living in a world of bad actors and bad actions.  This then means that the trouble that we face, is the trouble that we have brought about us, whether directly or indirectly through our actions, happenstance, or through poor fortune and seemingly bad luck.

This then means that it is a complete waste of time and breath to rail at God, for our tragic or troubling circumstances, rather than finding the real source of our troubles, which often times rests at the feet of mankind, and no other place.  It therefore is wrong on every conceivable level to blame God for a life filled with injustice, hatred, cruelty, unfairness, misery, and tragedy, for that blame is squarely on the shoulders of mankind, itself.  This signifies that the change that so many yearn for, must come from mankind in changing its heart and its ways so as to help manifest a better world, for all of us.

God has made it very clear to all those that will study His Word, and contemplate upon His Magnificence, that "… with God all things are possible," (Matthew 19: 26).  These are not empty words but are the Truth, itself, of which, in every conceivable way, and in all times, there is always that avenue available for mankind to avail itself of, if only mankind would clearly recognize that the only way to get to where they innately desire to go, is to forego wrong, and thereby to take it upon themselves to dedicate their lives to doing only what is right.

It is a privilege for each of us to have been gifted with free will and freedom, of which, the wisest amongst us, recognize implicitly that free will, is a godlike power that demands to be understood and must be controlled extremely well, for it is this free will, that can create absolute wonders, as well as when used incorrectly, creating horrible horrors.  Unfortunately, far too often, mankind misuses its free will in such a way, that life becomes death, liberty becomes imprisonment, and the pursuit of happiness, becomes the pursuit of misery.  So then, in abject anguish, mankind conveniently blames God for their ills, whereas all those ills really come from a lack of an appropriate mature perception and habitual godlessness. 

Those that are saved but aren't really

Religion and faith in one way or another, plays an important role in most people's lives, even of those that do not claim that they consciously believe in a Higher Power.  The reason that this is so is because each of us is intuitively drawn to something that is far larger and greater than ourselves, even if we are unaware of exactly what that Force is.  While it is true, that many people distract themselves from God consciousness through wine, ambition, money, or all sorts of material things and desires that steals our attention, such distractions does not preclude the channel to God knowledge from being forever open and available to each one of us.

Then there are those of us that profess to believe, and further that feel that by reciting a few religious words from rote are able somehow to be in harmony with the all seeing God, and thereby to have space set aside for them in some sort of eternal and blissful Heaven.  So too, there are others, of good repute and good deeds, that work hard on doing right for their neighbors and their fellow sojourners, that feel that by doing so, they too will find their eternal rewards in Heaven.  Additionally, there are those real laggards and procrastinators that feel if they can ask for some sort of absolution upon their death bed, that this will be good enough for eternal Glory.

While all of these things have their place, to be really saved, is actually something that necessitates effort, consistency, knowledge, concentration, correctness, and humility.  All of this requires much labor and not only that but labor that is generated over an extended period of time, for the very thing that so many deeply desire of, while freely available to all, is only attainable by those that put their plow to the ground, and run their lines on the straight and narrow, while never once looking back to check on what could have been.

There are no shortcuts to Heaven, for Heaven is something that is rightly earned.  So too, a soul that is truly saved, is a soul that not only knows right from wrong, but creates deeds that demonstrates that knowledge in action.  It is not now, nor has it ever been, that a Sunday Christian is going to get very far at all, for to have one personality while inside a church or a place of sanctuary, but a different personality for everyday activities is not consistent with faithfulness and is quite obviously hypocritical.

For those that truly want to find God, than that wanting must be translated into actual action, so that, the individual choices that are made day by day, will be in accordance to the realization that God is the God of all, and never will this be compromised or trivialized.  God cannot be bought; so too, God realization cannot simply be handed over to an individual, for God knowledge is something that requires the studious attention and the effective diligence of an apt pupil that is not satisfied until they come face-to-face with the God that is love, and will settle for nothing else but that.

Theft and justice

In virtually every nation and society, theft is considered to be a crime, and the punishment for thieves and robbers can range to something very mild, such as a reprimand or to actual prison time, depending upon the severity, the justice system, and the incorrigibility of the thief.  It does seem strange though, if thievery is so frown upon, that characters such as Robin Hood, known for his stealing from the rich in order to give to the poor; or Jean Valjean from Les Miserables, who stole a loaf of bread to feed his starving nephew, was then arrested and thereupon sentenced to nineteen years of hard labor, only to in the end, to demonstrate the nobility of his character to such a high extent, that Inspector Javert, his nemesis, fatally recognizes that Jean Valjean is a more noble man than he, mainly because Javert had become an obedient pawn to the letter of the law, thereby unable to overcome such;  of which these two archetypes , though thieves, are well respected as men of high character.

We presently live in a world, very neatly divided between the haves, and the have-nots, and whereas there are certain countries that have developed a middle class, as well as upward mobility, the dividing line between the privileged and propertied class, and the disparity between the very rich, and the impoverished, is to a very large extent, no different than what it was at the time of Robin Hood or of Jean Valjean.   In no uncertain terms, the rich, powerful, and connected run the show, which is the very prevailing reason why there are so many with so little, and so few with so much.

This signifies that laws that make robbery and thievery a crime, in all circumstances, and in all conditions, fundamentally must be wrong, for the poor are entitled to a fair return for their labor and for their effort, and to not have such, in this modern day and age, when there never has been so much material richness, is unacceptable.  So too, thievery or general unrest is going to be the result of having pockets or even huge swaths of the population that are ill educated, ill housed, treated unjustly, and given little or no opportunity  to fairly develop their inherent talents.

The poor of this world have rights, of which, they are entitled to a fair opportunity for decent housing, decent education and decent healthcare, and if these things are lacking, the end result, more often than not,  will be crime or civil unrest, of which America, a land with endless reams of laws upon laws, criminalizes just about everything.   The whole reason why the rich in the past as well as in the present, set themselves apart from the masses, is because they know that they have done the masses wrong, and because the rich live so well, they don't want to risk their good health and their good treasure, being raided, justly or not, from those that have little or nothing.

In point of fact, if the government will not fairly and appropriately tax the rich, in order to help and to assist the poor, and many governments do not; then the poor have the inherent right to tax the rich in their own way, for surely they have little to lose, except for the heavy chains that have been unfairly foisted upon them.

Why Dictators and Monarchs die with their boots on

In certain industries there are mandatory retirement ages, but for those that are in the highest echelons in politics, whether as a dictator or a monarch, they are almost never subject to mandatory retirement ages, and a surprising amount of those in office, will not voluntarily relinquish their office, even at very advanced ages, or when in obvious ill health.  The closest semblance of an American President taking on the mantle for life was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was elected four times to the highest office of the land, before dying in office.  Since the passage of 22nd Amendment which limits the term of a President to two terms, Americans will no longer be subject to possibly having a President that will essentially be a President for life, though it has had members of Congress, serve terms of 57 years.

In today's world, Queen Elizabeth II of England has been the Queen for 65 years, and became 92 years old in 2018.  So too, the Sultan of Kedah, and supreme head of state of Malaysia, died in office at age 90, after serving 59 years; as well as  King Bhumibol Adulyadej  of Thailand, died in office at age 88, after serving 70 years.  Dictators such as Fidel Castro, who ruled 52 years, left the office before his death, only because he could pass the office onto his own brother. Kim Il-sung ran North Korea until his death for 48 years, and Chiang Kai-shek, ran the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan, for 48 years, until his death. The list of monarchs and dictators that served in office for incredible long terms is quite extensive, demonstrating that those that are placed into power, and cannot be democratically overturn from that power, often do not give it up, until their physical death.

The most plausible reason why those that are very old, and are often suffering from physical bodies and minds that are in noticeable decline, yet still are clinging onto their power and position, is certainly not because they are needed by the fellow countrymen, and definitely not because they are irreplaceable, although both of these reasons are touted as being correct; but rather that the power behind the throne, the power that is often unseen, unknown, and disguised, has a vested interest in the dictator or monarch continuing in power, as long as they shall live, because their power depends upon the status quo, and they do not wish to risk their position with a changing of the guard.

The fact of the matter is, to run any country, especially a nation that consists of millions upon millions of people, with different religions, different factions, a mixture of private and public enterprises, domestic insurrection, wars, famine, infrastructure, modernity, the internet, and so on and so forth, is a task that necessitates a strong team of individuals for advisement, logistics, and throughput, of which, no dictator and no monarch, even at their peak of their health and mental powers, could possibly keep their hand upon the wheel for everything that is happening.  This does mean that dictators and monarchs are absolutely dependent upon the people and personnel that ostensibly report to them, and they are at the mercy of those seemingly endless reports, of which, the manipulation of a dictator or monarch that is on the wane, is child's play for those that wield the power behind the power.

All banks should be nonprofit

America is supposed to be a free enterprise capitalistic society, but it really isn't, for the government, time and time again, favors some at the expense of others.  A prime example of how the government doesn't play fair with its citizens is the massive billions upon billions of dollars distributed as a bailout for certain banks and insurance companies, with the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), of which, some banks, brokerage companies, and insurance companies, were dissolved, whereas other, favored banks, brokerage companies, and insurance companies were saved.  What the dividing line was between those that were subsidized and provided material aid as opposed to those that were allowed to be dissolved and have their assets sold off at fire sale prices, is not something that lends itself to a clear answer, but suffice to say, that government and certain industry leaders work hand in glove, all of the time.

In point of fact, some of the biggest banks of America, such as Citigroup, Bank of America, as well as a slew of others, were provided billion dollar guarantees, in addition to the purchase of preferred stock by the federal government in order to prop up these banks that had made bad decisions, and had become essentially insolvent.  This decision of providing the bailout for these favored banks was a grand disservice to the American public, for their insolvency should have been used as the opportunity for the federal government to either nationalize these banks or to simply dissolve them.

This then leads to another issue, which is the inherent unfairness of having a banking system that profits upon the sweat labor of those that are working, by having a banking system that is for profit, as compared to having a banking system, which should be similar to credit unions, and thereby be non-profit.  Basically, the loaning of money should not be a profit-based enterprise, but rather should be conducted as a service to those that are credit worthy and in need of loans.  If banking was nonprofit, then the fees so generated, as well as the interest charges for loans, and the interest rate for deposits, would all be fairer to the general public as well as the governance of a nonprofit incentivizes that structure in working with the customer on behalf of that customer, as opposed to exploiting such.

The fact that at the present time there are banks that are classified as "too big to fail" signifies that it is the American taxpayer that is unjustly stuck bailing out banks that make egregiously poor decisions; in addition to the fact, that banking profits are at its core, do so represent the taking and extraction of additional money from the taxpayers in order to benefit the ownership and executive offices of these banking institutions.  None of this is really even necessary, for to simply loan money to those that have a need of it, should not in itself, be structured as anything other than non-profitable, for the whole purpose of loaning money in the first place is to help create wealth, jobs, and prosperity by the investment of that money into worthy enterprises, as well as to provide material aid in the credit capacity of customers.

Apple and fair taxation

As reported by the irishmirror.ie, European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager stated that: "…Apple was paying €50 in tax on every one million euro of profit it made in 2014."  That equates to a tax rate percentage of 0.005% which is essentially zero.  As might be expected, Apple likes to project the image that they pay all their taxes, as CEO Tim Cook defiantly stated to Congress, "We pay all the taxes we owe, every single dollar."  A statement such as that is disingenuous as best, and in reality is actually fundamentally and foundationally a total lie.  In point of fact, the people that work at Apple and work with Apple, are extremely clever and gifted, in which, as anybody with any sensibility knows, part of the money that you keep, is reducing taxes that are paid; such as the tax set asides so granted for property tax relief, as well as all the other governmental services that lobbyists can get subsidized on behalf of Apple, such as research and development tax credits; in addition to all the favors generated for Apple by counties, localities, States, and nations.  After all, Apple has the largest market capitalization of any corporation in the entire world as well as being highly respected, so that, what Apple wants, Apple typically gets.

There are multiple problems with Apple not paying their fair share of taxes, of which, the first problem is the non-recognition that fair taxation as contrasted to the legal amount of taxation that is due and payable are not now, and have never been the same thing.  The next problem is that competing against Apple is not going to be fair to begin with, because of the gargantuan size advantage as well as the influence of Apple, so that when Apple pays their taxes at an appreciably lower tax rate, than what their competitors pay at, then Apple's advantage is even greater.   So too, companies such as Apple are essentially able to get legislation, taxation or otherwise, that favors Apple, written for Apple, not only because of the size of the corporation, but also because of the prestige of being associated with Apple, since the products that they sell are so highly sought and praised.  The most egregious problem with Apple not paying their fair share of taxes, though, is simply that Apple, perhaps more than any other corporation in American history, has the ability and capability to easily pay their fair share of taxes, of which, those taxes fairly paid, would be redistributed throughout society, localities, and communities in such a manner that the least amongst us, would be able to have a better opportunity to have good shelter, good healthcare, good education, and food enough.

When the richest amongst us, corporate or individual, does not pay their fair share in taxes, but instead has those taxes passed onto those that are already heavily burdened and struggling, so that this lack of taxes being collected, does its part in contributing to massive governmental fiscal deficits, thereby being callously passed onto future generations yet unborn; this signifies, that the tax code as written and implemented is seriously broken, and the fact that massive corporations such as Apple seem to take perverse pride in not paying their fair share, indicates that the division between the have and the have-nots is only going to get wider and wider.

The not so permanent orthodontics

Americans have some wonderful smiles, of which, some of them, come quite naturally to a given individual, whereas others are created by the aid and the usage of orthodontics.  Quite obviously, for very young children that get orthodontics, such as preteens, of which, their permanent teeth have not yet all come in, they are in all likelihood, going to need additional orthodontic treatment after those adult teeth do come in;  of which, orthodontics at such a young age is typically recommended to take care of an overbite or to basically help preclude current problems from getting worse by addressing them at a young age.

Then there are all those others that get their braces after their permanent adult teeth have come in, of which, such are typically teens, but many are adults, as well as even older adults, in which, their orthodontist comes up with a plan to create that winning smile, that Americans so hanker for.  After the orthodontics phase of straightening out the teeth with braces is accomplished, a retainer is then created for those teeth, which is meant to be worn at night, or as necessary, in order to keep the teeth straight and in their appropriate position.

The main problem with retainers for some people, is that they don't follow the instructions as given by their orthodontist for the usage of their retainer; in addition to the fact that most users of braces, after completing their treatment, do not ever see their orthodontist again.  As might be expected, not following instructions has consequences, of which, the very first one is the basic non-recognition by patients of how teeth are moved via braces to begin with.  That is to say, the whole reason why teeth will move through orthodontics is because of the pressure applied, not to the tooth itself, although it may seem that way, but actually to the ligaments that hold that tooth in place.  Therefore, not too surprisingly, in absence of that pressure still being applied, through the regular and the correct usage of that retainer, and especially the amount of time that the retainer is actually on in a given day, then the teeth having no longer any pressure being so applied that will preclude them from moving, will ever so slowly, but inexorably, go back to where the ligaments feel comfortable having them be placed.

This means that over a period of time, someone that has had braces, even for a lengthy period of time, may look in the mirror, some years down the road, and clearly notice that their teeth and therefore their smile is no longer straight but that their teeth are actually back to being crooked, necessitating getting orthodontics to correct such, once again.

The prevailing reason that some people need orthodontic treatment more than once, is very similar to someone that has corrected a former bad habit with a good habit, but inexorably, have gone back to their bad habit; often because of a lack of concentration, diligence, and preventive maintenance; believing incorrectly, that they no longer need to be on watch, when in actuality there are certain things in life that require eternal vigilence.

Doing and Hearing is not the same thing

We read in Holy Scripture in James 1: 22 "But be doers of the word, and not only hearers…" of which clearly this means that to hear and to thereby know what to do, but then not to do it, is a serious fault within the character of anyone that has the audacity to believe that they are a good Christian.  This indeed means that a lot of the world's troubles can be laid at the feet of mankind, that clearly knows what the difference is between right and wrong, but insists upon doing wrong; as well as knowing what they should be doing, but insists upon waiting another day to get around to doing it, and then they wait another day, and then another day, until the end of their material time.

The main problem that so many people have, which is exacerbated by today's instant gratification society, is that they don't want to put forth the effort to do the things that they should be doing; but rather they want to either get things done in a halfhearted way or they seek for shortcuts to accomplish things, not seeming to recognize or to acknowledge that there are certain things in life which necessitate effort, drive, persistence, and throughput and are not susceptible to shortcuts.

In point of fact, the very things that are most meaningful for you, are the very things that necessitate hard work and dedicated labor, for what you really want in life is those things that you earn; because having earned it you appreciate all that went into getting it done, as opposed to having something just handed to you, which though it may well be appreciated, it will not be held in such high esteem, for that lack of personal sweat labor.

Additionally, part of life is to absorb the lessons of life, and then to pass on that wisdom to other people, of which, if you haven't done the very things that you are urging people to take care of and get done, than those lessons that you are proselytizing about aren't going to be readily taken to heart;  as compared to the person that has actually been out in the battlefield and competition of real life, and of real struggles, who have risked a lot in order to gain a lot, having no doubt also suffered losses and made sacrifices along the way.

When you look around the world, and appreciate the greatness and beauty that this world does offer to people, as well as the modern day conveniences that we all enjoy utilizing and taking advantage of, recognize that these very things have all come forth from those that do, and not just those that hear the words; and thereby we owe a huge debt of gratitude for all those that have accomplished so much, as well as the fact that continuous progress for mankind is made from having learned at the feet of previous giants that have accomplished so much.

So too, the whole reason why we watch movies and television as well as reading books, is to listen and to hear their stories, but if all we do, is to admire them, but to do nothing of merit ourselves, then we have failed those storytellers because it is in the doing that we truly write our own tales.

Idolatry

We read in Holy Scripture in Exodus 20: 3-4 "You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourselves an idol…" and further we read in Romans 1: 25 "who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…"  Of which, these scriptural passages nicely sum up the religious truth that there is no other legitimate god but God, as well as that it is a mistake to worship and idolize what our Creator has created, over the Creator.

This so indicates that while it is one thing to appreciate the beauty that this world offers us, which certainly would include our rightful respect of mother earth, it is though a wrong belief, to take earthly things and to thereby treat those objects or creations as superior to the Creator of it all.    While this world has many things that are worthy of our admiration, it is an error in judgment to see those things, outside of their context, that somehow makes those objects as something that is noble in and of themselves, for they are, in the scheme of things, only material objects, though they may be quite beautiful, they ultimately, in one form or another, are still subject to the law of entropy, decay, and disappearance, for each of these created things have a beginning and so too there will be their end.

When it comes to our human relationships, while it is right to honor our mother and father, and to do right by our spouse and children; all that we have in a material sense, will ultimately depart, leaving only the lessons that we have taught and the love that we have given out.  To believe otherwise, indicates a false belief that the reality of this visible world, trumps the reality of the invisible world, but it is that which is invisible that actuates the visible.

Any good scientist wants to keep on searching until they find the ultimate truth, for to do nothing less, means that they have not done all that they could do to comprehensively understand what it is that is being studied, so that the very purpose of great creations is not so much to study that creation, though that has merit, but to find the Creator behind the creations, for to settle for something less than the full truth, cannot be the full truth, and there is only that One truth.

The biggest deception that humanity suffers from is having the belief that what they see is what they should believe; but without the unseen nothing would be seen.   The very cycles that human life deals with, generation after generation, as well as the cycles of life and death in the world of fauna and flora should indicate to all of us that the merry-go-round of material life is circular and repeatable, but unable to ever generate enough velocity to escape into the world beyond this world.  So that, to the degree that idolatry distracts people from the reality that our highest mission is to find our way back to our Creator, this then means that that distraction is at best, a very small reflection of what the reality of the Creator actually is.

Open borders and the decline of the American wage premium

The middle class of America has lost serious ground vis-à-vis the overall economic strength in America.  So that, as reported by fivethirtyeight.com: "In 1970, 55 percent of U.S. income was earned by households in the middle 60 percent of the income distribution," but by 2013, this number had fallen to about 45 percent.  Yet, America's overall economic strength is still preeminent and remains the strongest in the world, signifying that though good money is being made, it mainly is being made at the very top, while the middle class earnings have precipitously declined and the impoverished in America remain impoverished.

There are plenty of theories about the economic decline of the middle class in America, but such a decline has nothing to do with the economic pie of this country shrinking, for the top 1% as reported by cbpp.org demonstrated that their "… share of wealth held by the top 1 percent rose from just under 30 percent in 1989 to nearly 49 percent in 2016," so that, in all likelihood the most significant reason why middle class wages have declined is that open borders and low or non-existent tariffs are not beneficial for the middle class, but are extremely beneficial for certain businesses, while, on the other hand, being quite destructive for other domestic businesses.   Further to the point, American workers have over the last century, received a wage premium over other workers, even those from European nations, but this wage premium is currently in the process of eroding by virtue of the fact that because the world has appreciably grown smaller, with goods being able to be easily transported from one port to another, indeed, at a very reasonable cost; that any country that has the same sort of technology skills, imported or not, as well as operator skills, in addition to the requisite management skills, are readily able to undercut most domestic manufacturers that do not outsource anything.

So that, corporations that are headquartered in America in order to remain competitive on a worldwide stage, have deliberately moved certain segments of their production as well as their technical knowhow overseas because of the incredible labor and production savings, and consequently many qualified workers in America, are either now out of work, or have mainly found alternative work but at a lesser hourly rate, or have trained/educated themselves into some other work.  While it is fairly easy to replace many blue collar jobs with robotics or relatively unskilled labor, it is another thing to replace those that are highly educated, but it's now being done, especially by countries of large populations with educated work forces, such as China and India. This indicates that a higher percentage of white collar workers are now susceptible to the very same things that blue collar workers having been suffering through over the last few decades, which is wage stagnation or even worse.

The bottom line is that if the most important thing for a corporation is to make money, and in particular, making as much as they can make, than they, quite obviously are going to continue to outsource jobs overseas because those that labor overseas are substantially cheaper in their wage needs than domestic American workers.  So then, as great as the economy has been in America, those that reside in the executive office, are the ones that make the lion's share, and those that are not, get nothing but the scraps, if even that.

Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) knows everything about you

In order to access the internet, a given user, must use for the most part, their Internet Service Provider (ISP), which in the scheme of things, should just be the conduit connecting people to the internet, and should not be in the business of actually monitoring, recording, and tracking the sites actually visited, but, in fact, the ISP seems to know everything about you, by virtue of seemingly tracking all that is being done by you over the internet.

For instance, if you download content, the ISP, tracks such information being so downloaded, and will, if provided appropriate notice from the content provider that content so downloaded from a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address has violated their copyright rules, will probably subject that user of the ISP, to a notice indicating that they have been identified as allegedly infringing upon a copyrighted work.  This clearly indicates that your ISP really does tracks and records not only the sites that are visited but indeed the content being so downloaded.

In fact, the ISP, appears to keep track of every site visited and every keystroke so made upon that site, so that, anonymity of the user does not exist, and in fact, is tracked per their unique Internet Protocol (IP) address.  In the scheme of things, there isn't a necessity for any ISP in a free country to actually track and record the sites so visited as well as the keystrokes made per site, except as a necessity in the ordinary course of business for the user to access the sites, so that, an ISP should just provide the infrastructure so that users can access the internet, and not be data collectors of such sites visited by IP addresses.

As it has been stated, information is power, and knowing a given IP address and what sites are visited, and thereby seeing everything that these users do on those sites, gives an incredible amount of inside information in regards to the individual as to who and what they really are.  This, most unfortunately, is very much something that governments and businesses are only too eager to collect and have access to, for monitoring and tracking purposes, as well as for exploitation and marketing, or even more nefarious purposes.

The fundamental problem with the current structure of the ISP, and thereby having identifiable and unique IP addresses, is not that there aren't some pretty decent workarounds from such monitoring, but rather, that such workarounds should even be necessitated; over and beyond the point, that many people won't ever bother to getting around to actually doing any workarounds, whatsoever. 

The greatness of America is its freedom of speech as well as its freedom of the press, of which, the monitoring and tracking of all that people do through their ISP, most definitely limits that speech and will constrain that press, all because those that do the watching and the collecting, essentially are in the catbird seat in regards to what is said and seen.  Further to the point, because information collected can selectively be used against certain people or certain organizations, this thus favors those that collect, at the expense of those that are collected from.