The wrong war tax

The United States Defense budget for 2020 is $738 billion, which is an astonishing amount of money, for the "defense" of the United States and its interests.  Further to the point, as in all budgets that are opaque, obscure, and functionally non-transparent, the amount of monies allocated to the defense budget for this country, in all probability will well exceed that budget of $738 billion.  It would be one thing, if all these billions upon billions of dollars spent, actually accomplished somehow in bringing forth a world of peace, justice, and safety, but apparently this is not ever the case, because year after year, huge defense budgets are approved by our congressional legislature, indicating that whatever monies that have been spent, doesn't ever resolve the issues at hand, successfully.

As might be expected, since this is a government of the people, that this so signifies that it is the people of this great nation, that must thereby foot the bill for all of our national governmental spending, including, in particular, the defense budget.  So then, excessively large defense budgets are a particular nefarious tax upon the people, of which, they are the ones  collectively responsible for the paying of the bill, in which, the return from that spending seems well nigh suspect; especially in consideration, that America has no enemies contiguous to its borders, nor does it appear to be in any imminent danger of any attack by any nation in the foreseeable future;  yet,  the military budget of the United States, is so gargantuan, that there is not a single country, with the exception of China, that spends even $100 billion on their defense, and China spends just $237 billion.

So then, what has happened is that billions upon billions of dollars have left the laboring taxpayers pockets to be spent on the national defense of this country, in which in the scheme of things, what has actually occurred is that, the defense budget has extracted a very large tax upon the people, of which, the benefits of that tax to the people, is at best, questionable; and the winners of this tax, is quite obviously the technology-military-industrial complex, that takes in therefore revenues of billions upon billions of dollars from the national government, in which those governmental contracts are exceedingly profitable and secure for those large corporations and hence the wealth of those that work tirelessly, has been transferred to these defense contractors for their profit, at the expense of the average American.

In America, there is always talk of the rightful need for the redistribution of wealth, in which, one of the ways that theoretically this occurs is through our progressive tax system, of which, those that make more income pay a higher percentage of their income via taxation.  In reality, defense companies make inordinate amounts of profits from the contracts so received via the national government, and then these massive corporations, are thereby very skilled at lobbying for, and subsequently having reduced or deferred their national tax liabilities in a manner in which their effective tax rate is often far less than what it should be, and typically is effectively far below what a middle class taxpayer so pays.  This thus means that large defense budgets suck money from the pockets of the laboring class, effectively redistributing that money and wealth into the hands of the technology-military-industrial complex.

Because we are all created equally we need to demonstrate that adage in action

It is one thing to espouse noble sentiments, it is entirely different thing to live up to them.  Mankind, for example, speaks nobly of our unalienable rights as well as each one of us being created equally by our Creator.  Now, if this really is true, than the least that mankind is obligated to do, is to see that it does all that is possible to live up to those ideals within its civilizations, that have been created, after all, for the expressed benefit of every member of mankind.

Instead, far too often, what actually happens, is that civilizations subdivide into the most basic of divisions, in which on the most fundamental level, the few and privileged become the power players within society and aggrandize onto themselves powers that the masses do not have privy to.  So then, though, we are meant to be equal in the eyes of the law, justice, and rights, the reality and practicality is that this is not the case.  

This means that all of mankind typically lives not under those conditions, which augment and protects their unalienable rights as well as demonstrating in actuality their equality under the law,but rather instead live lives under those oppressive conditions actuated by certain mankind’s actions, that undermine those very unalienable rights.  This then means that mankind suffers from having their rightful sovereignty and self-determination wrested away from them by the very civilization and laws that is supposed to be upholding them.

So then, civil institutions that are meant to be of benefit to the people, often devolve into being unjust and unequal in their application of the laws so enforced, of which those that suffer from this unfairness the most are those people that typically have the least say and the least voice in the scheme of things.  This means that far too often  the elite of mankind imposes its will upon the balance of those that make up civilizations, in order to benefit their own positions as well as to benefit select others, all at the expense of the people in whole, and thereby effectively crown their own selves  as being superior to all others.

It so appears that all these constitutions, declarations, and laws that purport to be our  bulwark as well as to serve for the common defense of mankind, and to thereby support and to secure those rights so provided to each one of us as our birthright; have been too often effectively bypassed by those that have taken control of such, as if they -- those that are our rulers, administrators, and lawgivers are somehow a special breed apart from everyone else, and they act as if this is really true.

In reality, the whole purpose of civilizations is for the people, to join together into one body politic, for the benefit and the improvement of all the people, as opposed to what currently occurs in so many civilizations, in which, a small subsection of mankind takes it upon themselves to act as if they are a god, or a demigod, and thereupon steal mankind’s unalienable rights to be thereby replaced with at best, bread and circuses, and at worse, various degrees of oppression, or both.

We must learn to make our enemies our friends

Conflict is inevitably going to occur in any civilization and within any country or series of countries.  While there are myriad ways to deal with conflict, the most positive way to deal with such, is the desire to resolve such conflict through the meeting of minds as well as a reasonable accommodation of one party to another. That is to say, conflicts are never successfully resolved, though they may appear to the unenlightened to be so, by the destruction of those that we are in conflict with, for that simply takes cares of the here and now, but does not take care of the roots of the cause of that conflict.  This signifies to the nth degree, that lasting peace will never occur through the annihilation of our enemies, nor will enemies harmed or unduly restrained, somehow become our friends.  

In reality, the whole point of civilizations has not changed since the beginnings of mankind, which is that people voluntarily come together for the specific purpose to form a civil government, for the overall benefit and common good of those people; in which the advantages of a people, united to a common cause, are both the unity as well as the strength presented by those numbers.  The trick to the successful working of this very principle, however, comes from the understanding, that we must eventually see all other peoples, especially those of different racial backgrounds, or social economic levels, or countries of origin, and so on and so forth, as equally entitled to break bread with us at the communal table of community, in recognition that all of us have the exact same unalienable rights, granted to us by our Creator, whether consciously acknowledged to or not.

As might be expected, in a world in which we appear to be so different, one from another, and in which, some of those people have demonstrated time and time again, the most uncivilized of manners, this well nigh appears impossible.  Yet, in the scheme of things, it is the most civilized among us, that have the most responsibility to lead by example; for when these people, and especially these people of those highly advanced civilizations, are unable to demonstrate in reality, that they are functionally about peace, harmony, and good neighborly behavior, then how could it ever be possible for all those that are most boorish and difficult among us, to somehow magically become better behaved?

The only possible way to successfully advanced any civilization, is to first recognize that those that live by the sword, most always and forever, pay homage to that sword, so that world will always be a world that will cycle endlessly through its periods of  violence and destruction.  Whereas all those that live by the principle, that they will rise above retribution, and will always see or try to see the other as of equal worth and value as to their self,  have begun the process of taking that which is negative and transforming that trait into a positive.  That path that must be taken, will never be smooth nor even straight, but it will step by step, bend towards that which is true and just;  for only those that walk and encourage others to walk towards good, will ever reach the only destination that really matters.

Nothing really worthwhile comes without great labor and the overcoming of obstacles

To live in a world in which everything is simply handed to a given individual, without that individual having put forth both an honest effort as well as having made the incumbent preparation behind such, is not ever going to be the perfect world.  While just about everyone appreciates a nice gift here and there, and a helping hand when such is needed, the bottom line is that most people don’t really want things simply handed to them, even when they claim that they do, for they know intuitively that the receiving of such without any corresponding contribution, often feels hollow and perhaps even undeserved.

The above signifies that in order for a life to really be lived well, that the person so living that life is going to have to prove themselves in some meaningful encounters and endeavors, in which, both their effort put forth as well as the end result from those encounters, is ultimately going to define that person as well as their life.  That is to say, the things that we work hardest at achieving, almost always are those things that are most important to us, and when those achievements come at the personal cost of considerable time, sweat, blood, and tears, such is far more highly appreciated than anything else that simply is ours for the taking, or even ours for the asking.

Too many people wrongly believe that they want to live lives of leisure as if this will, by definition, provide them with the feelings of satisfaction, happiness,and fulfillment.  Perhaps this is true for a few of those people, but in actuality,a life without conflict, and a life lacking tribulations as well as challenges, is not going to be a life that brings forth full satisfaction, for we are surely meant to be something more than mere purveyors of leisure; for rather instead we are meant to be achievers of something of real merit and importance to ourselves, as well as for our fellow sojourners.

Invariably, the things that really matter most to us, are those accomplishments in which we risked something of merit in order to achieve something of even greater merit; of which, for some of us, this means repeated battles and obstacles that have to be faced and eventually conquered.  After all, the whole point of, for example, the school experience, is to not only to learn our subjects well, but to thereupon take that knowledge and thereby apply such into the real world, for the express benefit for our self, as well as for others.

This means that all the frustrations and disappointments that we face are not meant to defeat us, but rather are there to prod us to, again and again, get back up, reload, rethink,  and to try again; for that which requires great sacrifice and dedicated persistence to achieve, is all the sweeter to the taste when we eventually rise up and accomplish such.  That which we prize most, is that which we have struggled hardest to fairly gain.  Our victory, though it need not be swift, most though come forth from our own efforts, for each of us has their own victorious race to run.

To best understand mankind, understand your community, first

Never have so many people, been so formerly educated with advanced degrees, than what we presently see in society.  If by that education, and by those people, alone, we were to live thereby in societies of peace, love, compassion, justice, and fairness, then all would truly be well; but, rather in far too many circumstances and in far too many cases, people living in the same general community, are too often vastly different from one another, so that in many aspects, it is as if they are living completely separate lives from one another, though they are within a neighborly distance of one another.

This signifies, that when a given country believes it is worthwhile to take a somewhat detailed census of its people every ten years, then it has the absolute obligation to actually do something constructively with the information so gathered from that census to thereby address those things that have made for societies that are grossly unequal and further have placed certain peoples into the seemingly hopeless position of  not being able to functionally benefit from living within a great nation, or to have the ready means or tools to actually be self-determining sovereign individuals.

So then, any country that will not take the time to first learn and thereby apply that learning about their own people, is not going to be a country that can possibly be structured in a manner in which it will be fair and equal.  Further to the point, the more unequal any society is, the more clearly that country has ignored or bypassed or exploited certain segments of society, in order to benefit the few at the expense of the many.

After all, the whole point of learning, such as in science or just about any subject manner, is to understand things in a manner in which the knowledge so gained is truthful and enlightening, for anything else is less than learning in a thorough and comprehensive manner.  This indicates that in order to be of service to our community, that we have an obligation to know the people of our community in a thorough enough fashion, that we are able to fairly understand them, and from that understanding are better able to be of valuable service to them.

So then, it can and should be said that a lot of the issues that communities have is the failure of those that lead those communities, to actually know them, as well as to actually validate the people that make up their community.  It is of far more relevance to know one’s peoples, then most of those that create and enforce social programs are seemingly aware of.  That lack of good knowledge has real repercussions, in which even those that are uninformed but have good intentions can wreak havoc upon its own citizens, and thereby keep those communities from both advancing and of being in harmony with the nation’s fine principles.  This means that a wise community knows its own, and from that wisdom, communities positively progress.

Real governmental empathy requires real governmental understanding and knowledge

In order for those that governance us, to govern well, they need to know their people, especially  the perspective of those people that come from quite different walks of life -- something that is not necessarily easy to achieve or to know.  Unfortunately, the easy road for governance, defaults far too often, into taking into salient account primarily one’s own social milieu, in which the expectations there and the laws so written within such, are thereby consistent to those that are the masters of that domain, consistent with the belief that all others, thereby, should adhere to it as a matter of course, of which, though this might seem fair for those that make and interpret those laws; it is, for all those in particular that are outside such orthodoxy, typically not so.

In any government, its legislators, and those that implement such, it is functionally important that these people come from a variety of backgrounds, a variety of education achievements, and a variety of perspectives, not because such will make the implementation of good governance easier for those that are part of it, but expressly because it is necessary in order for all those that have had their voices so often been ignored or marginalized, to be able to have a voice within that governance. After all, those that do not have an effective voice, are often the very ones that suffer from the most discrimination and injustice, for the laws have not been implemented and enforced in order to properly and fairly include them.

In actuality, within any nation, its people are going to come from all walks of life, of which, some of those walks, are not going to be ones that certain, privileged people have ever experienced, or even are familiar with, or even really care about.  It is that very lack of knowledge and personal experience that makes it difficult for those that claim that they desire to be fair, just, and equal to be able to do this successfully and thereby fairly govern people, that come from all walks of life, as well as from different experiences, effectively and fairly.

This is why it is important for those that wish to govern well, that they actually take not only the time to learn of and to know all of their people, but that as much as it is possible, they experience such themselves or at least are visibly cognizant of all of their peoples, that form their nation, rather than to deliberately ignore such; for those that come from different milieus and different social conditions, are going to behave, differently, and differently does not necessarily mean that such is wrong.

This means that great nations are those nations that do not pretend that injustice, unfairness, poverty, ill-education, and discrimination do not exist, but rather make it their point to do all that is reasonably possible to ameliorate such, and this is more readily accomplished by those that are empathetic to that cause.  A great nation cares about its people, and those that really care, take both the time and put forth the effort to forthrightly do right by those people; by valuing them as being of merit, by listening to them, and by getting to know them at the level that they are at;  for a nation that respects its citizens is far superior to that which treats certain of those citizens with that overbearing condensation which often borders on just plain disrespect

The Federal Reserve Bank is not a national bank of the United States

Despite the very title of the Federal Reserve Bank, it is not the national bank of the United States, but rather is a consortium of private banking members that thereby make up what is collectively known as the Federal Reserve Bank. So though, the United States once did have a national bank it does not any longer have a national bank and has not had a national bank for a considerable amount of years.  This means that rather than the United States government, being in charge of its banking interests and needs, it works rather in conjunction with non-governmental banks, for better or for worse, to provide or to be of assistance for the funding that this national government needs to draw upon in order to properly function.

While there may be room for debate as to whether or not the United States should have a national bank or a consortium of banks acting as the de facto national bank, the fact of the matter is, that is already the case; so the only real question is whether or not the United States should effectively have its own national bank that handles the financial considerations of the national government, and therewith would mean the elimination of the Federal Reserve Bank.

This question should probably have been answered during the 2007-2009 national banking crisis, which would have been an opportune time to have effectively addressed this very issue, and thereby an appropriate time for the nationalization of those banks that had become systemically destabilizing to this country, and subsequently had to be rescued by the national government, performing the role as their lender of last resort, in order to bail out these irresponsible banks.

In the scheme of things, those that handle the financial affairs of national governments are powerful entities, for whoever is effectively in charge of the coin of the realm, has immense power, that can be used for the express advantage of those entities that have control of the money that is utilized in order to transact business of all sorts.  Further to the point, countries have a real need for their currency to be stable, for the destabilization of currency or the inability of currency to be a source of confidence for  transactions so needed, has repercussions, which are typically bad.

In an era in which this national government, pays little or no attention to the massive federal fiscal deficits that it runs on a yearly basis, a fair question to therefore ask, is whether or not this is the time for a fundamental change in regards to the coin of the realm. After all, this country has essentially been running deficits at such a massive scale, that a realistic hope for the rectification of such a deficit, has effectively been kicked down the road, forever; which has, in a perverse way, provided a real opportunity for America to reinvent itself, by taking upon itself a new and true national currency, structured in a manner in which it is created to be stable and of benefit to the people of these United States, as opposed to permitting those non-governmental banking entities that handle such currency, currently, to extract billions of dollars from the pockets of its own sovereign citizens.

Find your purpose

One might think that when we discover that we are our own person that we would therefore follow up with that fruitful discovery with the will to examine what should be our purpose in this life.  In fact, some people do that very thing, but a significant percentage of people never really get around to consciously thinking about what their purpose should or could be in life.  No doubt, people have plenty of excuses for not doing so, of which, just being busy, or preoccupied, or perhaps not being concerned about it, are reasonable excuses, but in the scheme of things, the person that ends up suffering the most for not wanting to find their purpose in life, is going to be the person, that hasn't properly explored such.

It isn't so much, that any one of us actually needs to find their purpose in life, in order to live or to have a meaningful life; it is just that knowing what one's purpose is, is going to, more often than not, make for a life that is more focused, more mission oriented, and more worthwhile, then one that does not.  Further to the point, when it comes to a good purpose, it is important to be detailed oriented about it, as opposed to just having basic generic thoughts and goals, such as desiring to be happy or to be of service to others; because ultimately we are about accomplishing specific things and specific tasks in life, so it bodes well to have a specific vision in mind, though with the flexibility to adapt to the conditions that we are a part of.

So too, it isn't good enough to just know one's purpose, if we are unable to keep our eye upon the prize.  This signifies that it is important to take account of where we are not only periodically, but sometimes, on even a daily basis, so that we can more readily adjust what we are currently doing and thinking so as to come back, as needed, to the directness of staying on task and on point in regards to our purpose; for some of the greatest frustrations in life, aren't necessarily from those that never defined their purpose, but rather from those that know for a certainty their purpose, but subsequently lost their way, and thereafter never found the wherewithal to get back on the path that was meant for them.

The emptiness and hollowness that so many people feel, often comes down to being rudderless and thereby without direction in their sea of life.  After all, if we don't know where we are going, then our direction is going to be haphazard.  Those that know their purpose and thereby resolve to live up to that purpose are those that are going to be more diligent about getting things done and will more often have the resolve to overcome obstacles that lay in their path; for no path is ever going to be nothing but smooth sailing, so that those that have a map to a given destination, and have a purpose and a deep desire to get there, are going to make far more meaningful progress, then all those that do not.

Corporate power and the decline of trade unions

There is power in numbers, whether that power be for good and the benefit of societies, or whether that power is primarily for the selfish benefit of a few within society.  Further to the point, corporations are created specifically to be successful for those that make up that corporation, by the use of capital and personnel in a manner that allows those corporations to become an economic force to be reckoned with.  So that, corporations can be quite beneficial for society, in the sense that they are able to utilize economies of scale so as to ultimately produce products that typically sell for less than what was being sold before, as well as often being of higher quality and performance; in addition to also having the wherewithal and foresight to invest appropriate monies into research and development for future progress.  This signifies that the grouping of people and capital into one corporation, allows that corporation to be far more powerful, then if such a grouping did not exist, for sole entrepreneurs are limited to just their own skill-set, and those that are not able to readily draw upon additional needed capital -- limits their ability to both grow and to take risk, by virtue of the lack of monies so needed to accomplish that.

So too, this means for many Americans, that when it comes to their own employment, that they are often restricted to finding employment with some entity that is offering such employment, as opposed to being able to somehow be gainfully self-employed, which thereby means that when it comes to their employment and thereby their wages, hours, and benefits, therewith, such is primarily determined with little of their input or say by the corporation so considering their hiring, unless they are part of a trade union, relevant to that employment.

In any company, the labor cost within that corporation, is a very important component in regards to that company's overall profit, gross margins, and even sustainability; of which, most corporations, would prefer to be in the catbird's seat when it comes to the setting of the prevailing wages and benefits therewith, not necessarily because they are greedy and evil, but often for practical reasons, such as budgetary concerns and future projections.  This thus signifies that corporations prefer to be in the position in which those seeking employment with them, have to individually "negotiate" with the corporation, or to basically accept whatever the prevailing wage is, based on experience and economic conditions, that said corporation is offering.  While there is something to be said, about a given individual having the flexibility to seek employment elsewhere, or to do research as to what is a fair wage within their locale and in consideration of their skills, the bottom line, is that one individual against one corporation is never going to be a fair match.

In short, this meant that individuals seeking employment were cognizant decades upon decades ago, that individuals and capital joining together so as to make one powerful corporation, meant that they too, in order to have any hope of any wage power as well as employment protection, needed to also join together into creating trade unions, so that they would therefore be formed into one body politic, and be able to receive a fair wage and fair employment conditions.  Yet, today, trade unions in the private sector have been and continue to be in a very steep numerical decline, which clearly signifies, that present day government has vacated its role to be of assistance and of aid to the common man, but rather has thrown their lot completely in with corporate power, and thereby enriching the few at the expense of the many.

The collapse of societies and the failure of good governance

A good society is only as good as the people that make up that society, as well as those that are the governing force of that society.  In general, the people in a given society have a real need for a government that represents well their valid interests and desires, in which that government in its activity is competent, transparent, fair, and above board in all that it does and performs.  This thus means that any government that in its substance favors the few at the expense of the many, and does so in a manner in which the many are essentially exploited  or used or taken advantage of, unfairly, is a government that is functionally unstable; for essentially for the few to be privileged and continue to be privileged, against the majority of the people, clearly signifies that such a government as that will invariably be structured in a manner in which the policing and justice arm of the state, are utilized as a matter of course as a cudgel to keep the people in their place.

So too, this signifies that any national government, that makes it their principle, to conduct itself in a manner in which "law and order" is the calling card of that state, does so, not because the people as a whole are demanding it, but as a means to keep those people ever on the defense, and susceptible to state action that represents in force a clear and present danger to their freedom, free choice, and liberty.  This thus means that it is forever a delicate balancing act for those governments that are functioning as police states, to not be too repressive upon their citizens, for when a significant swath of the people are oppressed, exploited, unemployed, underpaid, underfed, and without realistic hope that any of this will ever improve; this will invariably lead to the type of civil unrest that could take down or restructure a current government, and thereby endanger all those that are within that current power structure.

In any modern society, the collective failures of that society, necessitates that blame be associated with the collective governance of that society, so that those governments that are unable to keep their population satisfied with their lot in life, are the types of governments that will feel the frustration and wrath of the people, directly or indirectly, and therewith unless that government deals constructively with what ails that population, such societies are in imminent danger of collapse, from systemic civil unrest.

So then, it is fair to say, that all good governance is governance that is fair and equally applied to all of the people, of which when the people truly do believe that they all are in this together, they will do their good part to protect, to preserve, and to aid their nation, in those times of trouble and fear.  On the other hand, those that practice bad governance almost always do so with the strong arm of the state, of which, fear and oppression, only work for a finite amount of time, before the natives will get restless, and those that have little to look forward to or to believe in, will make sure to create havoc, anyway and anyplace that they can.

Prove that you are awake!

So many people in so many ways both large and small simply go through the motions in life, of pretty much following the herd or the convention of the times and their milieu.  Yet, even those that are outside such don't necessarily behave in that particular manner because they have had some sort of epiphany, but do so often as an expression of individuality or to step away from what is orthodox to embrace, for a time, or for a while, something which is unorthodox.

We live within a time in which never has it been easier to discover knowledge, and to thereby take that knowledge so as to improve one's own life, as well as to benefit mankind, in general.  However, as has been proven time and time again, most people are not cognizant enough of all that they have and is available to them, until such is taken away, or about to be forfeited, of which at that time, when the light is nearly extinguished, they finally recognized all the knowledge and freedom that was theirs for the taking, but hitherto been virtually never drawn upon.

Each person that has taken on the mantle of adulthood, has an innate duty to their own self, as well as to society at large, to take account of themselves, and to make it their point to understand and to comprehend, who and what they are, along with the very meaning of life, itself.  For far too many people, don't wish to examine their own self, or anyone else or any institutions for that matter, and simply accept whatever that it is, without ever proper questioning it or thinking deeply upon such.

While there are many that preach of the merits of freedom, free will, liberty, and choice, how few ever seem to embrace these concepts and ideals as being of the highest merit and thereby worthy of our highest respect, by actually leading lives that recognize that very principle.  That is to say, a vibrant and engaged public, that makes it their point to challenge conventional thinking, is the type of public that will improve societies, because it does not accept, without good reason, all that has come before, but rather desires to drill down much deeper, in order to bring forth knowledge from a greater depth, and thereby the corresponding good benefits for the society that they are good members of.

In other words, the fundamental problem that societies still have today has a lot more to do, with mankind failing to creatively and successively work upon the very fundamentals as to what is required to bring forth civil societies that are cohesive and beneficial for that society, as opposed to believing that our collective failure to date, simply comes down to material aspects that have not been fully realized.  This thus means, that each one of us, has an innate responsibility to not only become knowledgeable of those things that are of importance and of real meaning in order to improve and to stabilize good societies, but also that we must, each one of us, make that conscious choice, daily, to do our part to utilize our knowledge to thereby make our habitat, better.

Life is meant to be lived

So many of us, live lives of quiet desperation, of dissatisfaction, of hurt, as well as of emptiness, in which the things that we most deeply desire, don't seem to occur or to happen in the way that we have envisioned them occurring -- and even when those events do happen, they often don't seem to bring the lasting happiness so desired, but instead appear to be fleeting and hence become just a temporary way-stop, so that, in short,  we are often dissatisfied in many aspects and respects in our lives so lived. 

It must be recognized therefore that the very first thing that is needed in order to lead a quality life is to take control of one's own life, to the degree that such can be done.  This means, that those that are not of age, are going to live within a construct in which they often are order takers, as opposed to being self-determinative; yet, even at this stage, the motivated person is already contemplating what they will or will not accomplish, when they do eventually obtain their own sovereignty within their own person, rather than simply allowing themselves to always go with the flow.  So too, those that are of age, need to at some point, remove themselves from all others, except perhaps those that are of the highest wisdom, or are their mentors, so as to look carefully at their life, and where that life is and where that life is heading, so as to examine such, as thoroughly as can be done; because if one does not know who they are, and what their objectives are, and why they have these objectives in the first place, then their life is far too much on auto-pilot, rather than be demonstrative of true strength of character and self-determination, by having carefully considered who and what they are currently, and who and what they wish to be in the future, and thereby how they are going to get there.

In western nations, far too many people, get caught up in the rat race of life, and are competitive in all sorts of things, in which that winner-take-all mentality, consumes them to the degree that they become someone that buys into the material aspects of living; and  then benignly, at best, abandon their spiritual aspects to the wayside.  This decision is the type of decision, that needs to be carefully considered, for while that is a way of living, it may not be the best way to live, and further to the point, often leads to the compromise and the endurance of those things, in which the character of the person, so suffers, in order to achieve that which is temporal, at the ultimate sacrifice of that which is right.

Rather, see life as a proving ground, and of a place in which the test of such, is the test of one's character to stand up for that which is right, and to turn away from that which is wrong; as opposed to seeing life as a game of obtaining as many toys as possible, or even as the escaping of such through drugs and drink.  See life as an opportunity, and whatever may be your given circumstances, do what can be done, to focus and to concentrate your mind, your actions and your deeds upon that which is good and true, and forsake that which is evil and false, and your life will have been thereby lived well.

We are all in this together

No man is an island, but rather each of us is called to be a member in good standing in civil society, of which each one of us has the fair obligation to be of service to their fellow members. In today's modern world, of welfare and relief, we find that one of the those things that will bother or upset certain members of society, are those able body people of age, that are able to benefit from governmental largesse without putting forth any corresponding effort to be of service to their fellow members.  In those cases, there may well be extenuating circumstances, that precludes such, but in a situation in which that is not the case, it is beneficial for all parties involved, that some sort of labor or effort be activated by those that are in receipt of benefits, to the degree that such is possible or reasonably achievable.

So too, lost in the noise, especially of many of those that complain that others are not pulling their weight, is the unfortunate fact that certain institutions and people, are privy to a construct that permits them to take advantage of, to exploit, or to use such things to their unfair advantage, in which they effectively take more from society at large, than they put forth into it, even though they may indeed be making some sort of worthwhile contribution.  That is to say, while it is relatively easy to take shots at those that labor not, but could and should; far less time is spent taking shots at those that utilize the system in a manner in which they benefit far more than they really should because of favoritism shown their way from governmental largesse, which is often masked under euphemistic terms that effectively act the same as welfare giveaways, but are not readily noted as such.

The bottom line, is free loading, is something not done exclusively by those that have little of material assets; but rather is also done by those that are able to manipulate as well as to construct selfish benefits within the system, in a manner in which they are treated far more favorably, than the common citizen; so that the weight so carried by the bulk of the members of society, is thereupon heavier than what it should be, from not only those that do not carry their own weight, though they could, but also by those that through gaming the system, have passed some of their weight onto others, knowing that they need not do so.

In any civil society, there are going to be cheats within that society, of which, the responsibility of those members of such, is to see that justice is served for all members of that society, so that all are treated equally and fairly.  In any good society, there are always going to be things that need to be done, of which, it is our responsibility to recognize that we need to do those very things; and those that are capable of doing work but skirt such, are in the very same boat, as those that work but do so in a manner in which they slough off what should be their work onto others, of which neither of these parties is doing their fair share for that society of which they are members of.

None inherit good deeds, yet some inherit great wealth

While it certainly makes sense that those that achieve material substance in this life, would want to make it their point, to thereby provide to their progeny as well as to causes of merit, some of that material substance for their benefit; it would also be sensible to state, that wealth provided to those that are not responsible in the usage of such, or even worthy of such, is imprudent.  After all, those having labored hard and having been both prudent and diligent in their life, while also having been fortunate enough to have been compensated fairly for having done so, have an innate responsibility to see that the wealth so created by the sweat of their brow, is ultimately provided as an aid to others of merit, as opposed to being simply handed forth to those that are unprepared, or wastrels or spendthrifts.

Another way to look upon such is to recognize that all the good that we do, and all the good deeds that we perform, come forth from our conscious effort and desire to do so.  This thus means that  good deeds primarily emanate from those that have made it their principle to perform good deeds, and that therefore there is no such thing as being able to inherit good deeds, for good deeds are done by the living, and cannot be performed by the dead or by those that are not yet born.  So too, the honors that good people, rightly earn, are earned by their diligence and throughput, typically performed over an extended period of time, of which this honor is characteristically recognized by one's peers as their due that is deserved by that person for having gone above and beyond, for the benefit of others, and in recognition that what has been accomplished is of significant merit.

So that, while it is fair to stipulate that providing some wealth to others has its place, it is also fair to state, that providing an abundance of wealth to those that have proved nothing, accomplished nothing, and from the granting of such wealth, will in all likelihood, erode their desire to make or do something positive with their life, is probably misguided, more often than not.  This signifies, that those that have gained great wealth, should by all means, utilize such wealth, per their inclination when they are amongst the living; and that excess wealth, not utilized, should be primarily passed onto worthy institutions and worthy people, for the benefit of the people as a whole, as compared to providing such abundantly or nearly exclusively to those that have done little or nothing to merit having such.

Again, one cannot inherit good deeds, yet, great wealth is inherited, all of the time.  The problem with this construct is that good deeds are of real value to society, at large; whereas great wealth while being something that is quite capable of being of help to or in the providing of aid in the creation of good things, can also regrettably be selfishly used or squandered by the recipient of such; indicating that wealth inherited by those that are irresponsible or unprepared, is wealth often misallocated, which weakens societies, as well as weakening the impact of those good deeds so done.

Concentrated power and the decline of the American people

America is supposed to be a republic; in which that republic thereby utilizes democratic principles in order for the people to have proper representation in all spheres of the public domain.  This means, that it is the people that are supposed to be represented in the legislative offices, the judicial branch, as well as in the executive office, for those that are empowered in America, are in theory, those that have been granted those powers, by the consent of the governed, for the express benefit of those so governed.

In point of fact, America's governance, whether local or national, is in so many ways, seemingly removed from the people having a real voice and say in the matters of most importance; so that, laws and institutions are created and enforced, far too often in a manner, that favors the few and well placed, while disadvantaging the general public as a whole.  Further to the point, never have such a small concentration of behemoth multinational corporations had such enormous power as they do so, today. 

This power of those corporations, allows such, in many respects, to control the pricing, the availability, and the quality of the products that are sold or utilized in which the people in whole, are placed into the position of having lost to a very large extent, their bargaining power in regards to purchases so made.

This thus means, in so many ways and facets, that the government has ceded their role as being of, by, and for the people, in order to combine in an unholy alliance with the biggest corporate entities that the world has ever known.  This combination signifies that there isn't anything or anybody that is willing to stop or to meaningfully regulate or to breakup these giant corporations; so that, in the scheme of things, these mighty corporations, are operating their businesses in a manner in which labor unions are increasingly a non-factor, and tax favoritism as well as tax reduction for these corporations is a fait accompli, and therefore the unfair burden of taxation for governmental programs, as well as safety nets, falls unfairly and thereby is a heavy weight upon those that are its citizens, and to its future generations yet, unborn.

So too, when money and power are welded into one, than the voice of the people is effectively silenced, for when that government of the people, has been co-opted by corporate interests and laws circumvented, corrupted, or marginalized, than it is the people, in whole, that suffer for that.  This is why, never have so few in number have now so much in real assets and power in America; and never have so many been so indebted and so emasculated in power as now then in today's America. 

To the degree that this present government will not exercise its right, on behalf of the people, to effectively promote the public interest and to thereby fully be cognitive of and to consequently rise up and to deal forcefully with the real menace of concentrated and non-competitive corporate power, then the people will suffer more and more from their lack of opportunity, their lack of justice, and their lack of sovereignty, for their fate will become more and more one of servitude to those corporate interests, that are fully protected, favored, and coddled by today's current government.

Behind the door of hate

Behind the door of hate, we often find, a soul that is hurting, and rather than dealing directly with their pain, by addressing that pain and hurt in a meaningful way, they seemingly prefer to strike out at others with hateful words, hateful actions, and a hateful spirit.  While those that hate seem to believe that they have justification for that hate, in the sense that the other is deserving of their disdain and loathing, the reality of the situation is that their hateful actions is actually masking the real pain that they are unwilling to address within their psyche.

That is to say, far too many people, do not desire to constructively deal with their own sins and wrongs, by therefore resolving to make the concentrated effort to be a better person, and thereby working diligently on getting to where they need to be.  Their preference, seems to be, to ignore their imperfections and errors, and instead to concentrate on attacking others as the reason that their life is unsatisfactory, under the mistaken notion that these others are somehow precluding them from having a happy and satisfying life. Yet, all this hate, that hurts others, and brings harm to others, does not, at the end of the day, bring either lasting happiness or satisfaction to the person inflicting that hate, though such may for a moment or two, receive a boost to their self-respect, but such is fleeting and temporary, for the roots of the cause of this hate has not been successfully addressed.

People hate, not necessarily because they are hateful, but they hate because hating is that easy road to take, of which, by lashing out at others, and especially those others, that make for an easy target, appears to be something that is both accomplishable as well as being something that appears to satiate that perceived need for hate.  However, the deep well of hate, once drawn upon, is found to be a well that is endless and further it is a well that demands obeisance -- so that many that start with just the seeds of hate find that they ultimately reap that unrestrained whirlwind of hate that thereupon consumes them, but does not ever quench their thirst.

Those that hate, seldom have just one solitary target in mind for their hate, but rather are able to morph that hate into all sorts of targets and subjects, because they do not wish to ever relent from that hate, for they do not desire to deal constructively with the root cause of their hate.  This signifies, that those that hate, hold onto that hate, in order to preclude themselves from facing who and what they really are, for without that hate, they will be forced to look within, and to recognize that the primary fuel of that hate, has always been the pain, hurt, and frustration of their own life.  So that, without that hate, they will have to face the music, and the song so played, will be the song of the hurts and responsibilities abandoned within their life, that they have failed to addressed in a constructive and meaningful manner, leaving them bereft and alone, and thereby suffering with that pain that will not seemingly ever go away.

The denial of God's law, never negates it

We live in an age in which those that do not desire to believe in, or to worship their Creator, have that choice, for better or for worse.  However, it must be stated, that those that deny an immutable truth in a manner in which thereby their behavior and mindset are adversely impacted, have done so to their own destruction; for God needs no acknowledgement that God exists from anyone or any source, because God's existence, preeminence, omnipresence, omnipotence, and immortality, is that undeniable truth, whether certain members of mankind wish to recognize or corrupt such or not.

Further to the point, while there are plenty of people that claim that they do not believe in or purposefully fail to recognize the sovereignty of God, this does not in any way, form, or manner negate their being subject to God's law.  So that, for instance, mankind need not acknowledge that gravity exists, yet gravity does so exist, signifying that the laws of gravity apply, whether consciously admitted to or not.

As mankind increases its knowledge, its technological knowhow, and its capacity to create breakthroughs in so many subject areas of interest, previously unaccomplished in the eons of time; this would seem to imply that mankind would be more cognizant that this world has a Master Designer behind it, and therefore to know that Master Designer, would better allow mankind to know its own self as well as this world.  But, in actuality, far too many intelligent representatives of mankind aggrandize onto their own minds and thoughts, that they are, in their own way, gods, and need not thereby concern themselves with the recognition or the acknowledgement that they are instruments of the One God.

To not recognize God, is an error, but it need not be a fatal error, if the behavior and actions by those that profess no belief, are consistent with them being good people, one to another, and thereby the accomplishments of those people being of benefit and of improvement for society, in whole.  That is to say, those that conduct their affairs with their fellow sojourners on earth with the conscious and abiding recognition that all are equal, and thereby all are equally entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are behaving in a manner which is consistent with universal truth.  In addition, all those that demonstrate in their interaction with others that we should treat one another in the manner that we so desire to be treated by another, are in harmony with that universal truth.

On the other hand, all those who deny God's law, whether because they do or do not believe that God exists, are still subject to God's law, regardless of their belief or lack of belief, therewith.   Each one of us is gifted with a free will and thereby has the free choice to do whatever that it is that we so desire, subject to the constraints that operate upon this planet.  But just as every action has a reaction, so too, everything that that we do, think, and accomplish, has consequences so attached to it, of which, denial that this law exists, does not negate that which must be own up to, sooner or later.  Therefore, ignorance or denial of that which is -- will not ever liberate us from that universal law which is equally applicable to all.

Unrestrained power, injustice and social inequality

The whole point of any civilization is for that civilization in whole, to be of benefit to the people, in whole.  That is to say, each of us willingly sacrifices some personal and economic freedoms in order to live within a construct in which people from diverse backgrounds as well as diverse objectives, are able to thereupon come together into one vibrant body politic, for the greater good of the people.  After all, the greatest accomplishments in any society come forth, from people working together that have different skill sets and capabilities in which those people work hard and are diligent, so as to create things of benefit and of improvement for society.  This is why we have, for instance, public roads, public utilities, public parks, and public schools, because each of these is a real need for a given family or individual, in which, by our joint efforts, these infrastructure elements are accomplished.

Because each of us is different in our skills, in our background, in our outlook, and in our throughput, the results from our efforts are going to be materially different.  This thus means that in a capitalistic society some will have more than others, which is fine to a certain extent, because each of us have different motivations in our lives.  However, when any country over a long period of time, devolves into the very opposite of what it is supposed to be in principle; and further to the point, there are those that are in highly favorable positions, that bend the rules to favor a specific subset of those people, at the expense of the people, in whole; then this country has ceded control of what should be for the common good, to those privileged few that take far more than their rightful share.

In America, there is a massive chasm separating the richest of the rich, combined with the most powerful players in this country, from the unfortunate underclass, which is so often systemically oppressed, ill-educated, as well as lacking in hope and opportunity; all indicative that an elite minority rules with their power, exploitation and injustice over those that simply have never had a fair chance to make something of themselves.  Further, America's middle class so suffers from being placed in the unenviable position of being unable to feel, more often than not, completely secure in their own employment, or their assets, or in their future retirement, because the American middle class edifice has developed structural cracks in its foundation., that should and does worry America's middle class.

In actuality, as much as America prides itself on being a country that is egalitarian in principle; in actuality, it isn't, for virtually every statistic of merit demonstrates that the very few have the lion's share of not only the real material wealth of America, but also are seemingly immune to police or justice harassment, and essentially are invulnerable of ever being in jeopardy of life, limb, or the curtailment of their freedom.  On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of America's citizens are now living in a world, in which it would appear that literally everything that they do, say, or travel to, is being monitored as well as being stored into a vast database, so that the few and powerful, are able to, at their command, compromise or control those that would think of taking from them, the power that they have, so that they can continue to lord it over the people, and to enjoy the really good life, at their  collective expense.

Black, white and the failure of LBJ's Great Society

FDR is known for bringing to the American public, the "New Deal."  So too, LBJ is known as bringing to the American people in 1964-1965 his vision of the "Great Society," in which the objective was both to eliminate poverty and to eradicate racial injustice in America.  While each of these programs were successful in some meaningful as well as lasting ways; they also, were disappointing as well.  In particular, the Great Society as envisioned by President Johnson is not now and never has become that Great Society that America should really represent, especially for all those that have historically been disenfranchised, and are still disenfranchised, today.

For instance, incarceration rates per 100,000 adult citizens, began to skyrocket in the 1980s, so that never has such a high percentage of Americans been either incarcerated, or suffer from some form of constraint upon their freedom as today's citizens so suffer.  It would be one thing, if such incarceration was fairly balanced between all races, but, in fact, as reported by journeys.dartmouth.edu, "In 1920, 35.2% of male prisoners were black, although they only made up 9.2% of the male population. In 2010, 53.6% of male prisoners were black, although they only made up 10.4% of the male population."  This so signifies that despite whatever laws that have been passed to reduce or to ameliorate or to eliminate racial discrimination, that America still persists upon viewing and targeting blacks in a deliberate discriminating manner and thereupon criminalizing a large subsection of the black male population; so that the American incarceration rate for black males, hasn't actually gone down over recent decades, but rather is even higher today, then it was back when America was deliberately segregated in so many ways and forms.

Additionally, money matters in America, so that, in an age in which discrimination against those that are non-white is supposed to be have been completely eradicated, and in which educational systems are supposed to be integrated and fully equal, what we find is that as reported by qz.com, "… in 1953, four-fifths of white families made more than the typical black household. Now, closer to nine-tenths do."  This signifies that the income of black households has not improved since the Great Society was passed into federal law, but rather has actually regressed.  Further to the point, brookings.edu, tells us that "The median average white family in the U.S. has approximately $171,000 in net wealth, while the median African American family has approximately $17,000," which is proof positive, that whites clearly are still in the boss seat of money and wealth, especially over their counterparts that are black, even though and despite all the laws so passed since 1964, that in theory were meant to narrow the income and wealth gap between black and white, but in actuality have not made any headway, in actually doing so.

What the above signifies, is that within America, there is a controlling faction that is extremely skilled at holding onto their power and even aggrandizing unto itself even more power, so that, good laws and rights that are passed for the overall benefit of mankind and in particular to help the most vulnerable amongst us, are successfully circumvented by those powers, time and time again.  This means, that good laws and good intentions are not good enough to effect and to actuate change.  Rather, the only conceivable way to help even an historical score that has been unfair since its inception, is to tax those entities that have the money in a manner in which they cannot escape such taxation.  So too, the only way to resolve systemic incarceration practices that unfairly target minorities and the impoverished is to eradicate such, by far less incarceration and with far more social programs that provide meaningful help, aid, remediation, and direction to those that most need such.

If America, truly wants a better world for all Americans, it needs to do a far more efficient job of taking from the ultra rich and giving to the poor; while also providing fair liberty, justice, and opportunity for all.

Of, by, and for the people

We are told in our very own Declaration of Independence, that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights," and further, "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…"  These very words are the words that those that signed such, pledged their lives, and their sacred honor upon.  So too, these were the words that led to the resolve of those people to make revolution against the empire of Great Britain, so as to tear apart those cords that bound those men to that monarchy that did not afford those men, the right to their own self determination and their right to a fair return of the labor so made.

Yet, the government as currently exercised and practiced within the United States, appears to be a government that answers not to the people, but rather is in fit, form, and function, a government that favors the elite and well placed, at the expense of the people.  For instance, in what is supposed to be an egalitarian society, one would suspect that the disparity in income and wealth so accumulated, would be on a path in which the wealthiest and the most powerful of Americans would be ceding ground to the population as a whole.  In other words, through the form of progressive taxation, estate taxation, and antitrust legislation, those that have created wealth, would in the course of events, ultimately pay a fair share of that wealth back to the people of this country in order to provide those people of that government of the people, with the fair foundation for their own wealth creation.  Yet, never in the history of America, have so very few had so much.  In fact, as reported by politifact.com, just three individuals, have more wealth than the bottom 50%, or 160 million Americans, combined.  That, is proof positive, that the government is not now, nor has it been, a government of, by, and for the people, but rather that this is a government that clearly aids and abets those that are the richest of the rich at the expense of the people.

Additionally, this country, use to have an incarceration rate, that was less than 100 persons per 100,000 adult residents, which was basically consistent with other western European nations; yet in the twentieth century that rate went first above 100 persons per 100,000 in the 1930s, and then really took off in the 1980s, of which the United States reached an incarceration rate of an astonishing 716 per 100,000 adult residents in 2013.  This startling and unprecedented growth rate in incarceration for an advanced nation was built around the concept of criminalizing those that were impoverished as well as those that were involved in some capacity in illicit drug usage or possession.  In other words, the United States found it more beneficial to lock up its own people, rather than to constructively deal with systemic problems within its domain.

So then, America as demonstrated by those that hold the highest governmental offices, as well as by those that are the most powerful corporations, is a country that is built for, of, and by those that are both powerful as well as rich, and in no way, form or manner is it a country, of, by, and for the people.  This, in substance, is the very reason, why this country which was birthed as a bastion of freedom, has morphed itself instead into a country that double-speaks all of the time, for the rich get richer, the powerful get more powerful, and the people lose, each and every day, more of their liberty and their freedom.