Labor wages, profits, and rentiers

The money that various people are able to make such as per their labor, or through business profit, or by virtue of being a rentier, is each a very different way of money so being made.  For a very significant amount of people, they earn their keep, by laboring at a given job, and receive the wages so agreed upon, whether or not such is an actual reflection of the true worth of the labor so having been done, or is even fair.  As for the profit that a given organization makes, the controlling entity so making that money has risked their capital in order to make that profit, as well as often additionally providing their own personal labor to do so, of which, for some organizations this works out very well, whereas for others, not so much.  Then there is the rentier, of which, rentier is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person who lives on income from property or securities.”  Some very good examples of a rentier would be those that live off of their investments in equities, through equity appreciation and/or dividends; as well as those that rent out property that they own, be it, commercial or residential, at a rate that provides them with a profit; or those that make loans of their capital to people and organizations for a price, such as in banks or their equivalency.

To a very large extent, those that labor for their wages, are respected for their work ethic, and to the degree that they are able to make a good living from such, this is to their credit.  As for those that make their money through the profit of their particular business, the respect for such is dependent upon a lot of factors, such as fair labor wages, fair opportunity and growth for those that are part of that organization, as well as that company’s overall willingness to pay their fair share of taxes. Then there are those rentiers, of which, in short, they make their money by virtue of having money, of which many a rentier has little interest in having to actually personally labor for it, and so, no matter how they spin it, rentiers predominantly make their money, passively, which seems quasi-respectable, at best.

All those that labor for their wages are working.  Those that are in a business to make a profit, typically also are working and working hard, along with having to successfully deal with the stress of the ups and downs of the competitive business world.  Rentiers on the other hand, usually aren’t interested in working, for all they really want to have happen is to have the money that they currently have, create more money for them; and in order for that to happen, this signifies that somebody or some entity has to trade their money or something of value for what the rentier so has, of which the difference between the true value of what the rentier owns and what it thereby is sold or rented for, is the profit that the rentier so gets, simply for having ownership of it.

Typical laborers find themselves in a trying position in order to negotiate themselves a fair wage; while those that own businesses are constrained by market forces and competitors as to how much money that they can make; whereas, rentiers have something of material value, desired or needed by others, placing them in the catbird seat, to press their advantage, and thereby to get what they really want without actually having to dirty their hands by toiling for it.

The loyalty of a standing army

Revolutions are fought and won, often with armed force, and far less through a noble idea whose time has come.  As much as we might like to believe that the “good guys” always win, or that right always triumphs over wrong, the fact of the matter is that it often is the side with the greater firepower and determination that prevails.  So then, it does make sense for any country of self-worth, to be prudent and forward thinking enough to have the necessary military might to thereby protect itself, from foreign dangers.  The fundamental problem, though, is that once a country determines that it is going to have, not a militia, nor an army reserve, but a fully functional standing army, along with all the other military branches, thereof; then it has made the fateful decision to engage full-time with that institution which has the power to exert itself in a future way that may not be in accordance with its own Constitutional law.  History has shown us repeatedly that many nations have forcefully installed new governments, through violent military coups, of which those that were soldiers of that military essentially made a determination that their preference was to overthrow that which they were supposed to serve; to serve, instead, their military coup leader.

This thus indicates to believe that somehow, standing armies are forever loyal to their Constitution, and to their fellow countrymen, is belied by the historical fact that this clearly has not been the case, in country after country.  So then, standing armies, as our Founding Fathers warned us, are an ever-present danger to the liberty of its own citizens, as well as a potential menace to the stability of that government, of, for, and by the people.  Further to the point, as much as we might want to believe that our own military would never, under any circumstances, ever take up arms against its own population; we need to recognize that the police have consistently been called into domestic action, and without hesitation have willingly obeyed the powers that be.  This thus begs the question, as to whether those that make up that standing army of which they have been trained from their indoctrination into those armed forces, to obey unquestioningly the chain of command, and of which that command has done its good part by providing those soldiers with good healthcare, housing, salary, benefits, education, and provided them with stability and purpose in their personal lives, as to whether when push comes to shove, that those soldiers would then abandon their discipline and put their guns down for Constitutional reasons, when they have been commanded instead by those that they respect, to do the very opposite.

To believe that it cannot happen here, is to ignore history as well as to dismiss the wisdom of our Founding Fathers.  Further, and regrettably, even the citizens of this great nation, may not even be on the same page with each other about their government, of which, the appeal of a coup to some of those citizens, is their desire for an authoritarian government that behaves in a way in which their “yeses” means yes, and their “noes” means no.   That, combined with the fact, that wars are ugly, bloody, protracted and destructive is the reason why the question must be asked, as to where does that loyalty of our standing army actually lie, for in this, lays the tale to be told.

White poverty and black poverty are not the same

There are millions upon millions of people that live in poverty in America, of which, while there are at least twice as many blacks that live in poverty than do whites on a percentage basis; the fact that there are in total, many more whites in the actual population, signifies that in aggregate, there are more whites that suffer poverty in total, as compared to those that are black.  Yet, with the exception of some Appalachian communities, as well as in other small towns that time has passed by, there seems to be a dearth of white ghettos that are part and parcel of large metropolitan cities.  In other words, while just about anyone of a given large metropolitan area, can site the communities where the rich people live, then can also site, almost without any sort of hesitation, the communities where the poor people live, and of which within those poor communities, the residents of such are overwhelmingly people of color; as opposed to at least some of those communities being majority white and poor, which seems puzzling.

The reason why this is so, has a lot to do with the fact that the color of a given person’s skin, identifies that person as being a particular ethnicity, of which, those that are white, are just by virtue of being white, allowed presumptive entrance to just about anywhere that they so desire to go.  True, poor whites, may ultimately be limited in where they end up residing, for they may find themselves “found out” as being of a lower and inferior class, but nevertheless, they have the actual real mobility to move from one place to another, and in conjunction with that, whites are almost always provided with credible benefit of doubt, that gives them, then, the opportunity to be some place, that they, on the surface, are probably not actually suitable for.  In regards to blacks, because of their skin color, many doors and opportunities are simply not there to begin with, as they are presumed to be, by many, undesirable; additionally, blacks are most definitely limited in their mobility because so many doors are closed to them, and further to the point, blacks have historically and deliberately been segregated away from desirable areas of communities and pushed instead into orbits of separateness which have not been the equivalency to even a middling community; as well as those communities have typically lacked good, sound infrastructure, and therefore poor black communities have the worst schools, the worst job opportunities, as well as blacks being surrounded in their residences with very high concentrations of poverty.

All of the above, basically means that whites that are in poverty, still have a decent chance of extricating themselves from at a minimum, simply being surrounded by exclusively other impoverished people as well as by decaying communities.  Blacks, however, are more often than not, frustratingly trapped into ghettos of despair, of which, their opportunity to find something better is severely constrained by the fact that they are typically unwelcomed by many and their options to find something better have been significantly limited.   

To be poor and to be white is one thing, and to be poor and to be black is another thing.  They aren’t the same, though each of them may indeed be equally materially poor; yet one race has far more implicitly going in its favor to be of aid to them, whereas, the other race has far, far less to avail themselves of.

Who really owns big tech?

The largest big technology companies based in the USA, are absolutely gargantuan in terms of their market capitalization, in regards to their yearly sales so made, and in respect to their profits so generated.   In consideration, that there are governmental laws available to be utilized to force these big technology companies to diversify and to divest themselves, and of which, despite all the congressional hearings and the like, along with saber rattling so made, that nothing of substance ever seems to actually occur to force such divestment, this all seems rather curious. The only logical conclusion that one could make from this scenario is that either the government is in fit, form, and function, co-opted by big tech, or the government has deliberately allowed these big tech companies to get ever bigger and ever more powerful, because by so doing, they will in more ways than one, eventually force these companies to come to heel, if this has not already functionally occurred; because the massive amount of money so being generated and earned as well as the stock prices, thereof, necessitates those big tech companies not biting the hand that permits them to do whatsoever that they so desire to do, and thereby allows them seemingly carte blanche to keep on buying out competitors, in addition to pretty much permitting them to set the terms of the business so being done, to big tech’s constant advantage.

While one might make a very strong and convincing argument that it is those important personages in the Executive offices, as well as certain well-placed and influential stock owners, that functionally own and run a given big tech company; that can be countered by the fact that items such as local, State, and Federal taxation, tariffs, legal interpretations, legislation of all sorts, labor rules as well as environmental regulations are all absolutely pertinent to not only the continual profitability of a big tech company, but the growth thereof.  That is to say, when a government makes an absolute commitment that a given big tech company is going to be taxed at a significantly higher rate, and further that offshore profits will be taxed as if those profits were made in America, in addition to higher tariffs being imposed upon all those goods manufactured to at least some degree outside of America, along with insisting that foreign labor and environmental regulations in foreign lands, must meet a specific minimum standard as propagated by America, this can all be chillingly effective, especially when such is all tied together with the most powerful law firms so known, working hand in glove with the government – then the upshot is that those that are the putative actuators of big tech are going to do what they so need to do to preclude such actions from ever being taken.  This signifies, that if that government wants all the pertinent information that it so desires from big tech, for, as an example, “defense of the homeland” then those big tech companies are going to willingly give that information up; so that, in effect, whatever that government so demands, will be met with compliance, because such failure to be compliant and obedient to that government, could easily result in the lost of billions upon billions of dollars of not only revenue but also profit.

Sure, it looks like big tech is bossing the world, and perhaps they are.  Then again, government can at any time, and at any moment, take away the punch bowl and thereby everything changes; because the power to tax is the power to destroy, and the power to regulate is the power to control, and the power to legislate is the power to own a corporation -- lock, stock, and barrel.

Jus soli

Jus soli is Latin and is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a rule that the citizenship of a child is determined by the place of its birth.”  The 14th Amendment to our Constitution states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States…”  This thus signifies that the United States bases its citizenship of its people, upon whether or not they have been born within the United States.  Additionally, America also provides a pathway for those that have been born elsewhere to become a naturalized citizen; and finally, for those born abroad of which, at least one of their parents is a United States citizen, those children are more than likely, United States citizens, depending upon their familial circumstances and applicable legal rulings, thereof. 

The fact that being born in America, creates citizenship, is truly profound, for this is proof positive, that in America, each of its citizens, are indeed equal in class, one to another; and all therefore are entitled to the same equal rights as any other citizen of this country.  This signifies that in America, there are no Kings or Queens, no nobility, and no such special sanctioned class, ranking above all others.  Further, at its core, America is a country in which each person is entitled to exactly one individual vote, and therefore, because so many of its governmental officials, be it local, regional, State, or Federal, are voted into office, this signifies that it is the citizens, in whole, of this great nation, that select those who would be their legislative representatives for its governance.

The fact that all that are born within the United States, are citizens, and further that each has been accorded the same Constitutional rights, is indicative that America believes in the merit of an egalitarian society.  This thus signifies that the very principle, thereof, of this country, is to see that those principles so written and espoused by the highest law of this land, are lived in the everyday lives of the citizens of this country, of which this does indeed make a material difference in the quality of life, so lived.  Further to the point, because of the fact that each of us born here is a citizen, and that therefore each of us has been franchised to vote, presupposes that the people of this land are the collective captains of their own ship.

To be an equal citizen, one with another, is the grand mark of a progressive country that clearly values its people, and of which its governance therefore is held in the hands of the representatives of that nation, as a fair reflection of the people.  This is the way that good governance should be, for those that have been equally created by the very hand of God, are implicitly valued equally by that same God.  We are indeed, our citizen’s keeper, for we are all in this together, and therefore it is to our collective benefit to see and to assure that each one of us is fairly entitled to the opportunities so presented by that governance of, for, and by the people. 

To be a citizen by birth, is the conscious recognition by that government, that we are all equally entitled to the fair opportunity to become all that we can be.    So then, the objective thereof, of that governance is to do its good part of behalf of the people, to ensure justice, tranquility, good welfare, and liberty for all of its citizens.

The real reason conscription was eliminated

The Vietnam war, was probably the last American war that drew an ever increasing vociferous and vocal response by the general public, as well as some serious violent protests, that often consisted of large swaths of people, so protesting, together, that typically would not see eye-to-eye on a lot of other political issues, but on this issue, they were in one accord.  A significant reason why so many were so uneasy about the Vietnam war, really came down to the fact that conscription was not something that a lot of Americans who were now experiencing a good version of the American dream, would wish upon their male children, and thereby they were upset that their sons were eligible to be drafted, and hence the real possibility of them being hurt or dying in some far-off land for some nebulous reason seemed wrong.  Sure, there were all sorts of workarounds to avoid being drafted, but these were at best, an imperfect means to avoid such, and at worse, not something that all people, given their present circumstances, could successfully avail themselves of.

It is true that the military was at first, taken aback, at the lack of patriotism demonstrated by what would typically be considered to be law abiding citizens; especially since the military brass were of the mind, that a draft, was necessary in order to have enough personnel to take care of wars so needing to be fought at the present time, but they also took into consideration, that such would be needed in order to fight wars in the future.  Nevertheless, after a period of some time and reflection, the top military brass, believed that it was indeed possible, for the United States, to no longer require conscription, and yet still be able to successfully protect and defend America, as well as to make war upon foreign nations, when necessary, with an all-volunteer force.

Somewhat surprisingly, since 1973, no matter what has subsequently occurred, throughout the world, the United States has not brought back conscription, and has indeed, relied exclusively upon the recruitment of an all-volunteer force.  The secret for why this has so occurred, has an awful lot to do with the fact that in America, there are millions of people that live in ghettos of hopelessness and despair, and therefore, are ripe for buying into the opportunity that will provide them with the accouterments of good healthcare, shelter, employment, as well as the furthering of their education, all in return for their risking their life, if so necessary, on behalf of that country that so employs them.

In other words, those that are young and without bright or promising prospects, as well as those that are not citizens of this country but desire to become such, see their volunteering into the military as basically being their best choice, giving their dearth of good choices, so available to them.  That is to say, having a lot of disenfranchised people with poor prospects, makes for a very convenient pool of eligible people, for the military branches to recruit people from, and of which, in fairness, being in the military could well be of real benefit for those so recruited.  This signifies, that things are pretty much back to the status quo, which is war, is typically a poor man’s fight, and as long as the United States has plenty of poor people, it will remain exactly that way.

The final review

Each of us will come to that day, welcomed or not, in which we will be fairly judged upon the entirety of our life so lived.  One might have a tendency to believe that such a judgment will more or less just go over the deeds and actions that we have done, therefore played for us as something akin to a movie, of which, this life movie will basically consist of our most consequential moments.  While this is true, that is not the whole of it, for such judgments must be based upon the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; so that extenuating circumstances, perspective, and things of that nature will also all be fairly taken into account.  Still, that isn’t the complete picture, either, for we must all remember that no one person is an island, but what one has done and said, has consequences not only for each one of us, individually, but also for those others that we have interacted with.  This so signifies, that part of our judgment, therefore, is seeing how our words and actions, have affected others, for good or for bad, of which, in a lot of cases, we probably were unaware of the degree of that impact, until provided with that window that sees and knows everything.

So then, our actions, just as in a rock so thrown that makes a skip or two across a lake, which thereby creates ripples, ever outward – signifies that our actions and deeds may extend far further out than we ever were cognizant of to begin with.  That is to say, words so spoken, perhaps in jest, perhaps to hurt, could be words that though we have completely forgotten of them, still have lasting impact, for the person so having been singled out for such, who has not forgotten, and the impact of those words, still resonates with them, perhaps even decades later.   So too, this is the same for deeds so done, of which, toes may have been stepped upon, or unfair shortcuts snatched, or credit undeserved taken, which has had impact upon those others.  Additionally, of course, there are all the inspiring words so spoken, and the deeds so done, of which we perhaps thought our impact was negligible at that time, but actually it was not, of which these then, are counted to our credit for their positive contribution so provided to others.

All of the above indicates that our final review, takes into account the outcome of our interactions, previously known as well as unknown, as it rightly should be; for our sacred duty in this world, is to help make society better for our having been a part of it  This signifies that it so follows that most of us need to be far more cognizant of the impact of all that we say and do with others, which presupposes that we need to be more thoughtful and considerate to one another; for what we actually say and do can have a meaningful influence upon others, and we should want that impact to have been beneficial as opposed to having been harmful.

Nobody is perfect, but within that imperfection, those that take the time to improve their character, to exercise self-control, to impart wisdom, to be forgiving, and to be peacemakers, are going to consequently be far less fearful of that final review that all are destined to face.

We are the new domestic pets

It seems pretty amazing that a whole generation of citizens, are voluntarily, though, perhaps unwittingly, pretty much divulging their entire personal lives, as in their financial position, their friends, their habits, their travels, their employment, and their likes and dislikes, by the virtue of their constant interaction with their social media accounts, internet browsing, as well as the usage of their cell phone, of which that smart phone, pretty much sees all and thereby knows all.  All of this seems pretty incredible, especially when we stop to consider that information is absolutely a form of power, and when that information is held in the hands of corporate players as well as governmental agencies of all stripes, then that probably signifies that our negotiating position as well as our independence is seriously compromised.

We live in a time in which a significant amount of Americans are dependent to some degree or another upon their government, for student loans, for housing vouchers or subsidies, for food, for healthcare, for unemployment, and for this and for that, of which, when that government knows an awful lot about a particular individual, then that government can make it their point, to provide what it so provides only to those that play by the rules that the government so demands and therefore those other troubling and bad people will thereby suffer the indignity of losing things of value, for their disobedience; of which this means that, for instance, hanging out with the wrong people as defined by that government is not therefore permitted, or being arrested for civil disobedience will result in the removal of benefits, and so on and so forth.

Further to the point, corporations are in the business of making profits, and as long as a given individual is willing to provide pertinent data about themselves to those corporations, directly or indirectly, then they will get in turn, some sort of perceived benefit from those corporations, but let there come that day, when those people are perceived to have little or no value to those corporations, then such favoritism will so terminate.

We should remember, that when it comes to our relationships with other people, we always have the option to forgive and to forget; but those that are our governmental masters and our corporate overseers, while having such an option, have no good reason to avail themselves of such, because our personal information, is of invaluable assistance to them, so as to therefore mold us, to manipulate us, as well as to monitor us, along with the recognition that embarrassing and inconvenient facts about our personal life, no matter how distant in time, are always there to be used against us or to compromise us.

It is by no means a stretch to believe, that our social media accounts as well as our cell phones, and internet browsing activity, has provided to the government, and corporate companies, all of the information that they could conceivably ever want, all without those entities apparently having had to actually violate any of our Constitutional rights to obtain such.  We have, in short, sold ourselves to them for a very cheap price, and thereby have forsaken our liberty, becoming then, far too vulnerable to that which has the ready capability and capacity of being a very dangerous master to us. 

“Justice is the end of government”

In Federalist Papers No. 51, James Madison, stated that “justice is the end of government,” of which what is meant by that esteem sentiment is that the very purpose of good governance is to bring forth a civil society in which those that are members of it, have the highest degree of their good potential so being fairly achieved, which makes for the betterment of that society.  Unfortunately, in today’s America, there is a massive chasm between those privileged few that are wealthy beyond belief, in contrast to a suffering underclass which is poorly served, ill-educated, and often devoid of opportunity and hope, which is proof positive, that in America, justice has not been served.

This signifies, that fundamentally, that our Constitution as implemented, and despite its lofty words and great purpose, has ultimately failed the people; for far too many of our citizens are devoid of having justice, tranquility, good welfare, and the blessings of liberty, but are instead exploited, dismissed, abused, discriminated against, and caged into ghettos and prisons of despair. 

The main problem with our government and governance at the present time, is it does not serve the people in whole, but serves instead those powerful and well-placed personages and corporations that have co-opted it for their own greed, influence, and their unending lust for ever more wealth.  This government is therefore not of, by, and for the people, but it is anything but that.  That is a most unfortunate condition, for the only entity that has the power to make fair what is foul, is the government; for without the force of government, exerted against those that have corrupted our good Constitutional principles, the battle for justice is futile and is effectively lost.

Where there is no justice, there will be no peace, and never will there be peace, no matter how many guns, shackles, and chains are so utilized by that oppressive force to maintain and to augment their own power.   The good people of this country deserve better than the counterfeit governance that they presently have to frustratingly deal with on a daily basis.  Rather, America should be the envy of the world, for its overall wealth, for its Constitution, and for all its great advancements so made, but instead it has squandered what it so has to become instead a grand façade, which fools few, and annoys many.

In so many ways and forms, America has given up on being a meritocratic and egalitarian society, but instead has devolved info factions, all fighting for an ever-decreasing slice of the pie, and thereby going at each other, tooth and nail for their entitlements, while those that are the exploiters of humankind, that have fixed the game so that it always favors them, get ever richer, upon the backs of those that they use and then callously discard to the government, for that government to take care of, when their usefulness to the corporate bottom line has been fully and completely drained away from them. 

The point of good governance is for the betterment of the people, in whole, for this is justice; and all that which hurts the people, or favors the few at the expense of the whole, is unjust.

Lead by example

This world is full of much trouble and tribulation, of which, the only hope for this planet, and societies in general, to become a more harmonious place is especially for those that know better, to behave by their words and by their actions in a manner in which more compassion, more understanding, more empathy, and more forgiveness, is generated one person to another, as contrasted to being small-minded and vengeful, for those wrongs so done against us, real or imagined.   Life is not supposed to be about getting even, but rather life should be about showing kindness to those that have been unkind, love to those that have been unloving, and concern to those that lack concern; in which, by doing so, we hope to lead by our example, to thereby show that there is a way that is a better way.

That which is of most value, is that which we will not willingly give up, easily; which rather than consisting of just material things, should be that which makes for good character, such as patience, persistence, justice, and truth.  Therefore, why should any of us, be quick to relinquish that which is the epitome of goodness through our losing our self-control because of the words and actions of someone else that is not having a good day, and therefore has apparently taken out their anger or frustration upon us.  After all, words so meanly spoken against us, we need not accept, or take to heart, for our righteous judge is not of this world, but rules above such; and those actions taken against us, even that which is harmful to our body, should be seen as being part and parcel of the suffering that each of us most so endure, in order to fairly earn the prize above all prizes.

People, throughout societies, without exception, learn things of import from the deeds of those that they respect; and when those actions by those esteemed others are wrong or in error, those that are in the process of learning, typically will end up making the same sorts of mistakes, as they have previously witnessed – until they at some point develop the wisdom to understand the futility and folly of that which does not bring lasting satisfaction or peace.  Each one of us, by our decisions so made each and every day, and by the thinking that is behind those decisions, have the choice to free ourselves from giving in to our worst impulses and snap decisions, by making it our point, instead, to desire to uphold the highest virtues of civilization, such as integrity, temperance, and charity, by demonstrating to others those very attributes, especially when hard pressed by difficult circumstances to do that very thing.

Many people do not know what they are doing, and many more know what they should be doing but lack the character and judgment to consistently do such; it therefore, falls upon those that are enlightened to illuminate the pathway for those that are lost, confused, misguided, mistaken, lazy, and weak, to thereby encourage them to take the steps so needed upon the right pathway – of which, we get their attention and subsequently help to persuade them to actually do such, by maintaining and expressing our love, when lesser beings would strike back at a wrong with retribution, whereas we, on the other hand, forgive and lend a helping hand.

America does not stand for right or wrong, but rather for obedience or disobedience

The primary principle being of America should be to follow the basic tenets of its Declaration of Independence, and its Constitutional laws; but the reality is that those that run America see virtually every law as being in gradients of gray, signifying that good laws are being daily circumvented through circuitous reasoning, which thereby serves to negate those inconvenient and well-intentioned laws that would interfere with those that run America’s empire; as well as America subverting those laws that annoy America through the outright bastardization of them; so that, in effect, America pretty much does whatever that it so desires to do, and the voice of the people, is effectively ignored, or co-opted by those powers that be. 

Therefore, we thus find that concepts about right or wrong, have been completely thrown out the window in the United States, because America doesn’t need to bother about being right, and does not care a whit if it is wrong, as long as those that run America get their way.  This signifies that more than just being the world’s foremost bully, America is an annoying spoiled brat, of which, none outside of America will dare try to correct this, by, for instance, standing up to America, for they correctly fear retribution by America.  In the present day, the truth is that America doesn’t even care whether other countries are democracies, dictatorships, or something in between, as long as those countries understand explicitly or implicitly that all those that are disobedient to what the American military-industrial-technology complex so desires and wants, will have to pay, sooner or later, directly or indirectly, for that fatal miscalculation.

In America, it is all about controlling the narrative, so that, whatsoever happens, good or bad, America is able to consistently spin such so that their desired viewpoint is accepted as being the most appropriate one.  As for what happens with the interactions between America and other countries, those that appropriately follow the leader, are rewarded with giveaways and favors thereby graciously granted, and those stupid enough or just plain slow and thereby lacking in the understanding of their given place, are punished in a manner, in which they regret their short-sightedness.

Still, it needs to be recognized that many of those that are obedient are reluctantly so, purposely keeping quiet about such, for fear of suffering bad consequences -- thereby signifying that such obedience being displayed typically has attached to it a hidden continual resentment to that which oppresses them, unjustly; of which, it so follows that many that have that aura of obedience, actually have an abiding desire to get even at some future point, and thereby plans are formulated to do that.  So then, some of those that appear to be the most obedient, are instead becoming ever more skilled at playing the game that gives the illusion of one thing, while secretly being an entirely different thing.

Those then, that demand obedience and tribute, without having properly or appropriately earned such, are sowing the seeds of their future comeuppance, for that which is unjust must at some point face the consequences of those actions; which is why in the end, it really does make a difference as to whether or not you stand for right or for wrong, for that which is wrong, will ultimately pay tribute to that which is right.

Water into wine

We read in Holy Scripture that: “When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn’t know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom” (John 2: 9), of which, we had previously read that Jesus was solicited by his mother, to provide wine for that wedding feast, because this wedding celebration had sadly through ill preparedness or similar run out of such, and thereupon Jesus miraculously did produce water into wine, and created not just any wine but “good wine.”   While it is true that we can look upon this miracle and thereby simply accept it at its face value, it is of far greater value to understand it at a much deeper and more meaningful level.

That is to say, Holy Scripture has a multitude of passages involving water, and specifically the value of water, of which water is important because in order for humans as well as other animals to survive and to thrive, a good, clean, and reliable source of water is absolutely necessary for one’s continual good health.  So then, anytime we read of good water being utilized, found, or appearing as in a miracle, this represents the truth that we as humans need that good water and that further we are led to understand that on a deeper level, this water represents the worldly wisdom that is required for humankind to successfully evolve and for society to advance.  Additionally, Holy Scripture has many passages, addressing the positive value of the drinking of wine, which signifies that this drinking of good wine, will often provide the necessary means for the transformation of humankind, so as to thereby successfully rise about worldly wisdom into divine wisdom.

The point therefore of water being transformed into wine, through the hands of Jesus, is for us to clearly understand, that Jesus the Christ, is our bridge from that which is worldly into that which is divine; and further that this is the good wine that is necessary for us to imbibe of, and therefore should not be seen as that other wine which serves to intoxicate us and thereby for us to stumble our feet upon.   While good water most definitely has its place, that place is ultimately constrained by the limits so imposed by this worldly dimension; whereas those that break through the self-limiting constraints of believing that they are material objects and nothing more, are able to drink in thoroughly through that liberating wine that they are first and foremost, eternal beings, meant to exist, side by side, with their Creator, and that any existence other than that, is not our natural state.

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Each of us, has necessary steps that we must take in order to become that which we were always meant to be; and Jesus the Christ lifts us up from that which is counterfeit, into that which is truth, itself.  Whether or not we drink that good wine, is a decision left to our free will and thereby our volition; of which, those that do not drink that good wine out of fear, ignorance, ego or similar, are those that are stuck in that endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth; whereas those that imbibe of that liberating wine have become enlightened and awake.

Disrespect should not be a crime

Police have specific job duties, of which, one of the main reasons of having a police force is to successfully address criminal activities, as well as to provide the service of maintaining public safety – signifying that police are supposed to protect and to serve the general public.  To the degree that these above duties are done in a professional and fair manner, all is to the good; however, not too surprisingly, in consideration that police officers are human beings, thereby subject to human frailties, this has led to some of those police officers succumbing far too easily to misjudgment and to the lures of the power that they possess of so being able to wrest freedom from those that they do not like, do not respect, have prejudice against, or simply because they as a police officer are intolerant.

Most citizens do not wish to voluntarily engage in a confrontation with any police officer, because they know that police officers have not only the power to arrest them, to handcuff them, and to mistreat them, but they are also quite capable of killing them.  That said, though, each citizen of the United States, has exactly the same Constitutional rights as any other citizen, which presupposes that citizens should not and should never be compelled to behave in a manner in which they are intimidated or coerced into having to display respect to a police officer, while that police officer, need not show any sort of respect, in turn.  That is to say, respect should always be a two-way street, and those that are disrespected by being treated as something akin to trash, or scum, or less than human, should not suffer the indignity of being arrested for disorderly conduct, especially when the police officer has been the primary instigator of such so occurring.

Police officers, have an absolute duty to show appropriate restraint to all those that they are sworn to protect and to serve, and those police officers that do not do so, are derelict in their duty.  Sure, police officers are subject to stress and all of the common emotions and frustrations that life under trying circumstances so entails, but that does not excuse the fact that police officers are not entitled to be abusive to citizens and should not overstep their domain by taking the law into their own hands; for citizens are entitled to their right to stand for that which is right and to voice their viewpoint, so thereby to arrest those that police officers do not care for, with dubious charges such as disorderly conduct, is an abuse of power.

Anytime that the state sanctions the behavior of its policing arm to silence those that they find to be a nuisance or an inconvenience, or annoying, by arresting them through unjustified charges such as disorderly conduct and the like, so as to effectively put down the opposition, then they are upholding what is, in fact, a violation of Constitutional law.  The truth of matter is that police officers, in general, get way more respect than they have rightfully earned, mainly because people are fearful of police officers; so then, those that have the courage or boldness to actually confront a police officer and to have a civil disagreement with such, should be able to have their fair say, or else, those citizens are not actually free.

The importance of habeas corpus

Those so arrested by the policing arm of the state, seldom wish to be arrested, and therefore the arresting of virtually anyone, is essentially an act of the state of taking away one’s freedom, against that person’s will.  This thus indicates that when one’s very freedom is wrested away from them, that the state has not only the obligation to justify its actions but must be held accountable for such; for the natural state of humankind in the United States, is for people to be of liberty and thereby free to pursue what they so desire to do, per their own volition.

Habeas corpus is a Latin phrase, and is typically defined as “you have the body,” so meaning that the policing arm of the state is required by law to produce the “body” to a judge or appropriate court so as to determine as to whether or not the person so being held, against their will, is thereby considered to be legally appropriate or not.   This signifies that the state must subsequently produce the evidence that the charge against the person so being held against their will must be made to that court of law so that it can be properly investigated, and thereby a determination by that court is made as to the legitimacy of such.  That is to say, when the state is allowed or permitted to imprisoned anybody for any reason that it so desires, and is thereby not required by a court of law or writ to produce that person to be properly examined by an independent arbiter, then the state, for all intents and purposes, is functionally a police state, in which one’s freedom is determined solely by the powers that be.

There are a lot of countries that do not have habeas corpus, though, some of those countries have something that serves the same type of purpose; but there are many other countries, that simply do not have habeas corpus or its equivalency, for those countries know that the power to arrest anybody at anytime and thereby not have to ever produce that person again, or any evidence against that person, provides them with the power to effectively control, intimidate, manipulate, and to thereby essentially silence those that the government considers to be a danger to them, or that they consider to be a menace to their rule. 

The natural state of humankind is to be free, and the unnatural state therefore is to be subject to having that freedom taken away, arbitrarily; signifying that any state entity that takes away one’s freedom, must be held accountable to an independent court of law, that fairly adjudicates the appropriateness of such action so having been taken. That is why habeas corpus is so important, for the policing arm of the state must be held accountable to the Constitution of the state, and when that policing arm of the state has overstepped its bounds, wittingly or not, such needs to be rectified for the good of the people of that state; for this country was created to secure the blessings of liberty for its people as opposed to having such capriciously taken away.

Home of the unfree

America has all sorts of mottos, sentiments, great speeches and the like, but as they say, the proof is in the eating of the pudding.  The United States likes to toot its own horn about how great it is, first in this and first in that, but seems to not be so proud of the inconvenient fact that no country has more of its own citizens, incarcerated than America so does.  To wit, despite China having over four times the amount of people in its population, America has more people incarcerated in total; and despite the fact that India has over four times the amount of people in its population, America actually has over four times as many of its own people in comparison to India, incarcerated.  It would be one thing if all of this incarceration, made America the safest, most free, and most secure nation in the world, but it has not.  It would be another thing if all this incarceration was so done through a speedy and public trial, with the verdict so being decided by an impartial jury of one’s peers, but that isn’t the case either; as the overwhelming amount of people so incarcerated have often been coerced or pressured into their pleas, without ever having their actual say in a court of law.

America isn’t free and has no intention in the near future, of ever changing that.  The main reason why this is so can be attributed to the great disparity of wealth and income that the elite and privilege so have, as compared to a wide swath of the population that have nothing, are often ill-educated, exploited, used, and segregated into zones of utter poverty, despair and hopelessness.  American thereby finds it to its benefit to abuse, intimidate, and incarcerate all those that have the temerity to try to make something out of their own lives by the means so available to them, so as to in perpetuity keep those people in their place, and to serve notice to those just above them, that America will utilize whatever policing actions that are necessary to keep the population down and compliant, so that the superrich can live their lives in the lap of luxury at the expense of the people, in whole.

That which is actually the land of the free and the home of the brave, would make it their policy to show their courage and their foresightedness by demonstrating in action, that this country, knows how to take care of their own, by its forgiveness, its generosity, its care, its concern, its giving, its justice, its fairness, and its persistence in fighting the noble fight against all of that which is wrong and mistaken.  That which is actually the land of the unfree and the home of the cowards, would do all that it could possibly conceive of to do, to silence those that they will not kowtow to the power of that nation, and would demonstrate time and time again, its injustice, its unfairness, its corruption, its bullying, and its wickedness by oppressing in particular, all those that are weak and vulnerable, while also always being mindful to keep its heavy boot upon the prone necks of those that will not pay total obeisance to that state.

While America should be the land of liberty, and a liberating beacon of illuminating light for all other nations to follow; it is instead, no more than a mirage of such, and in reality, for many of those so oppressed, a literal hell on earth.

More corporate profit at the expense of domestic employment

It is one thing to trade goods from one country to another, but it is an entirely different thing, when those that are biggest and most influential corporations, make it their point, as much as possible, to outsource employment that could be conducted domestically, to overseas’ facilities.  It almost goes without saying, that the labor cost, in America, is going to be appreciably higher than such labor cost so represents in virtually all developing nations, of which, because corporations are always interested in making a greater profit, as well as the fact that they compete, we find that such a savings in labor is going to be a pretty straightforward decision by a lot of these corporations, especially when there are no or little governmental or taxation restraints in doing this.

The fact that cheaper labor is used overseas by these corporations, is thereby completely unsurprising; what is surprising, though, is that to a very great extent, those in charge of the governance of this nation, apparently don’t care to do much of anything meaningful to protect and to ameliorate domestic jobs so lost to foreign labor.  There are, after all, many avenues that the government can avail itself of in order to be of assistance to domestic labor, both directly and indirectly; of which, for instance, foreign labor so utilized, should have as a matter of course, some sort of tariff or tax associated to that labor, of which the purpose of that tariff or tax would be to be of assistance to those now domestically unemployed or those so employed but now at a reduction in their wages or hours.  Further, the higher the percentage of foreign labor so utilized by corporations, the corresponding higher percentage their corporate tax rate should be.  The bottom line is that in one form or another, the government needs to appropriately taxed these corporations so as to reclaim a portion of profits so made upon the backs of cheap foreign laborers, at the expense of domestic labor.  If this is not done, then we see what is currently so occurring, which is, the ever more concentration of capital into ever fewer hands, thereby leaving good citizens of this country, with less and less.

While corporations can decry that they need cheap foreign labor in order to compete; these very same corporations have a responsibility to do right by their fellow countrymen.  Additionally, that government of, for, and by the people needs to do far more to subsidize or to reconfigure its tax system so as to support and to aid those companies that make it a point to hire domestically, and correspondingly to tax at a much higher rate those that behave in a manner, that outsources domestic employment, as their go-to preference.

In consideration, that the price of labor in developing nations is often appreciably cheaper than in the United States, corporations are obviously going to gravitate to that lower cost, so as to remain both competitive and more profitable.  Yet, when those corporations are not held accountable to their obligation to take care of their own, first; then they have a done a grand disservice to their fellow citizens.  In order to help level, the playing field, appropriate taxation as well as subsidies, as necessary, need to be implemented by the government, or else, this country will become one of ever greater disparity in its wealth.

Too many crimes and too many misdemeanors

When people think of crime, that is, real crime, things such as rape, murder, kidnapping, and arson come to mind; and when one thinks of misdemeanor crime, things such as shoplifting, trespassing, drug possession, resisting arrest, and public intoxication would all be common representatives of such.  As it is, it makes sense to have different categories of crime, but the problem with the way misdemeanor crimes currently are dealt with comes down to the sheer number of misdemeanors, of which in the book, Punishment Without Crime, we read that on a yearly basis, “13 million misdemeanors make up the vast majority, around 80 percent of the nation's criminal docket;” which is the prevailing reason why so many misdemeanor cases are actually resolved through the reduction of charges, the dismissal of such, or through plea bargaining, as compared to an actual trial, all because our justice system has not the capacity to handle that sort of massive volume.  This would presuppose that in fairness to those so accused of misdemeanor crimes, and of a justice system, which is supposed to provide a speedy and public trial, with an impartial jury, that the very nature of the misdemeanor classification of crimes needs to be seriously re-evaluated.

After all, it is estimated that less than 5% of all misdemeanor crimes ever go to trial; thereby, signifying that the vast majority of these misdemeanor crimes are dealt with in a manner in which the envisioned justice system as propagated by the 6th Amendment to the Constitution, is basically circumvented for the convenience of the state.  A far better solution to the dilemma of dealing with this massive quantity of misdemeanor crimes, is to reduce considerably those crimes currently classified as misdemeanors and replace such with infractions, instead; or in those cases of minor criminal activity or “victimless crimes” to take into fair consideration the actual removing of such as a crime or infraction, therewith.   In point of fact, more behaviors and actions that are currently defined by law as a crime or even an infraction, do not necessarily equate to having a fairer or a safer society, but really should be rightly seen as oppression by the state for the purposes of control, manipulation, and intimidation.

Serious crimes, such as murder and rape, should be dealt with in a serious manner; and that which is far less serious, should be dealt with in a manner of which, a monetary infraction is imposed, or counseling, or some other reasonable means that deal with the issue at hand by taking into consideration that the objective should be to correct or to ameliorate misbehavior, as compared to punishment without fair accounting of the circumstances so involved.  The United States spends an inordinate amount of time, arresting its citizens, and then doesn’t even provide a fair opportunity for most of those so arrested, to actually have their say in a court of law with a jury of their peers, but rather allows the prosecuting arm of the state to, often times, coerce a plea bargain from someone who is typically vulnerable and weak.  

There are all sorts of things that occur on a given day that the state has classified as a misdemeanor crime, of which that state is quick to arrest, but then fails to do its part in allowing those so arrested to be examined in an open forum by their peers, because the state doesn’t care about fair justice, but rather cares only to enforce its power upon those that are typically powerless.

Greed, inequality and the lure of socialism

As reported in inequality.org, in regards to income, the “richest 0.1% take in 196 times as much as bottom 90%,” which is an absolutely astonishing fact, and is reflective that the vast majority of Americans simply don’t have all that much of the income or wealth that America so ably represents.   Not too surprisingly, in any nation in which there is a monstrous amount of inequality, of which a very, very few are able to have the absolute best of everything and in spades; of which, a huge swath of the population have little or nothing, and with little opportunity to ever obtain anything of meaningful significance, there is going to be a desire to see by many citizens of that country that there be a more noteworthy balancing of the wealth of the nation, which is the reason why so many find that the lures of a more socialistic society, seems to make sense, and appears to be fairer to the people, in whole.

Those that decry against socialism, are mainly made up of those that are the “haves” in society, as well as all those that truly believe in the opportunity and egalitarianism that America so represents at its best; whereas those that find socialism to be of merit, are pretty much, the forgotten, the oppressed, the indebted, the vulnerable. and the “have nots”.  The bottom line is that because of America’s gross inequality in wealth and income which is progressively getting ever worse in the United States, so exacerbated by the injustice displayed in so many different aspects in everyday life which especially hurts the most vulnerable, and of which the game so being played is if not fixed, heavily tilted to those of privilege and favored circumstances, people are ultimately going to logically gravitate to that which they perceive to be as fairer, equal, of opportunity, as well as providing some sort of reasonable baseline to live a decent life of some significance.  Whether or not, socialism is the answer, is of less importance, than the fact, that it is that greed and inequality of the elite, which sensibly pushes a significant portion of the people into the direction of desiring something that represents a meaningful and positive impact for their own lives, as well as their progeny.

The majority of good people of America, want a fair deal, and if provided with the accouterments, that will permit them to have that fair deal, those that press for socialism will find that its siren song, resonates less and less with the people, because those that can get a seat at the table of prosperity, hope, and opportunity in this land of such enormous wealth, will have received their appropriate share.  Basically, the appeal of socialism really comes down to the fact, that when the lion’s share of the wealth of a nation, is ever more concentrated, then the people, in whole, will become uneasy at the perceived unfairness of it all.  This signifies, that the point of good governance is to impress upon those that have so much, their reasonable obligation to return some of those monies through appropriate taxation to those that have not been given a fair deal or fair chance, and it so follows that it is thereby the obligation of that government that none should ever labor that are not paid a fair and living wage.  If that be so done, all will be well.

Accept the challenge

There are an awful lot of people that don’t want to face a real challenge, of which, in some situations this is justified, and in many cases, it is not.   Some of the prudent reasons of why not to accept a given challenge, is that we are not ready for it, or prepared for it, or capable of optimistically resolving such in a successful manner.  Some of the rather poor reasons to not accept a given challenge is that we are simply too lazy, too comfortable, too passive, too complacent, or simply don’t care to because we feel that we don’t have to. 

The thing about challenges, is that more times than not, we do need to accept at least of some of them -- for instance, in order to grow, or so as to gain experience, or to advance to the next level in our own development.  Further to the point, the evolution of humankind, could not conceivably have occurred, if those that made up humankind, were the type of people that avoided challenges at all costs because they simply didn’t have an interest, or were too scared, or didn’t care to learn, or preferred not to bother with such.  After all, it is wise to acknowledge, that the vast majority of benefits that we are able to avail ourselves of in modern times, comes forth primarily from people, that would not accept or tolerate the way things are, and thereby went out to secure something better, even at times, at great personal risk or cost.

The real reason why so many people are not up for a given challenge that they really do need to accept, comes down to the salient fact, that they are either scared to do so, or they are overly risk averse, or both.  Now, no doubt, there are times to be rightly scared or to be risk averse, of which, some challenges are going to consist of such; however, there are many a challenge in which people imagine all sorts of negative outcomes, which simply are not realistic, and typically reflect a certain cowardice, or lack of initiative, or both. 

The point of life is really not to only do those things which are “sure things” or to seek to find a comfortable and cozy place to just relax upon; but rather life should represent a place in which we find something of interest to champion so as to bring forth positive change, and therefore for each one of us to do our fair part in making the world better for our having been a part of it.  It should be acknowledged, that none of us are going to have the exact same challenges in life, but all of us, in some aspect or another, are going to be challenged to do something of merit, and those that rise up and at least give it their best, time and time again, even if they so nobly fail more times than not, are leagues ahead of those, that will not even lift a finger to do much of anything.

History is written by the those that do, as compared to those that do not.  All of us are born for a reason, and for a purpose, of which, those that find that reason and find that purpose, and subsequently do something constructive about such, have accepted the challenge; and all those that do not, have not.

What it means to be created equally

The fact that each and every human being has been created equally by the very hand of God, should tell each one of us, the very same thing, which is that none, is superior to another, for we are all equal in our creation.  This does not mean that each one of us has equal skills, or equal intelligence, or equal this or equal that, but that our intrinsic worth, is equal, one to another.  Further, this presupposes that governments, whether national, or regional, should see themselves as being representatives of that equality, rather than far too often aggrandizing onto themselves powers that serves to make themselves and their favored peoples and organizations superior, and thereby all others, inferior.

What seems to occur, more often than it should, is that people forget that they by being created equally, are in essence, no better or no worse than any other person.  This thus signifies, that all those that use their power and influence to denigrate others for being of a certain unfavored race, or creed, or social class, so as to be considered therefore less than another, are serving the interests of those that are not only divisive, but are functionally in their distorted outlook, wrong.  Every person of any sensibility, should recognize that we are all united via the fact that we are all created equally; of which, the diversity that we see, for example, from one person to another, is all part and parcel of the experience of life on this earthly plane, of which that variety helps to make our experiences, more interesting, less dull, as well as being, also, at times, challenging.

So too, because we have been created equally, it so follows that those that are in leadership positions, have a sacred responsibility, to recognize that as a given leader, they need to be responsible and to thereby do right by all those that they govern; as opposed to placing themselves into a position in which they abuse, use, take advantage of, or insist upon being served, by those that are actually their equals, and of which that governance, is supposed to dutifully serve the beneficence of the people.

Each one of us, as declared in our Declaration of Independence, have the exact same unalienable rights, and that which is legitimate, is only that which affirms by its actions and by its laws, that very principle.  So too, it is the responsibility of everyone, to conduct their lives in a way and manner that reflects our inherent created equality, and to thereby stand firmly against all those that would take away or negate our unalienable rights or equality, especially by propagating that which is a bastardization of who and what each one of us, actually is, by birth.

We are, one, because we are all made of the exact same substance; and thereby our collective goal should be to do our fair part in bringing harmony to that which is disharmony, and to therefore do all that is reasonably possible to bring to realization that those that are so equally created are thereby equally entitled to their seat at that eternal table of unification.