To be thy brother’s keeper requires real effort, commitment, and perseverance

There are all sorts of people that profess that they are Christian as well as there also being many others that are at least nominally faithful to their particular religion, of which, as part of being of that faith, such normally requires some degree of commitment from those that are faithful -- so demonstrating in action that they are committed to helping others in their needs.  After all, to profess a belief in God, or to simply attend religious services, and perhaps make a monetary donation or two, but never to actually go out into the world and to actively help those that are the most vulnerable, that are hurting, and that are destitute, is a religious faith of little value and of correspondingly little eternal return.

The whole point of being a believer in God, within one’s particular faith, is for that belief, to not only be of benefit for one’s own self, but also, and far more importantly, to be a benefit for others that we interact with, day-by-day.  We are meant to make a positive difference in this world, and wherever we see injustice, unfairness, strife, and similar, it is our solemn duty to perform what we can so do that will help to ameliorate such; for the very change that this world so needs, can only be actuated by enough people diligently pursuing what needs to be accomplished, in order for this to be a more just and a fairer place for all.

The story of the good Samaritan, so told in Holy Scripture, applies to each one of us; and every time that we come across a given scenario in which we see something that is obviously wrong, or a person that clearly is in some sort of distress, and thereby cross the street so as to pretend such doesn’t exist, or perhaps even to mouthed the words in parting, “bless you, poor soul,” but do nothing of substance to help, we have clearly shown our true colors.  Again and again, we are tested in this world, of which the very point of those tests so given, is to make it unequivocally clear as to who and what we really are.  So then, those that think right, but have no actions to support those thoughts are thereby found guilty for their lack of meaningful impact; whereas, those, on the other hand, that have done their fair share of sinning as well as shameful deeds, but have had the gumption and follow through to help out another troubled soul, have done that which is pleasing to their Creator.

There are no easy roads or ever a shortcut to get to where we most need to go.  We can more readily get there, though, by proving to ourselves as well as to valued others, that the world does not revolve around our own self, but instead, that all are equally entitled to the fruits of this world; and thereby it is our obligation to do our part to work well with others, so that each in time can help the other, so that together we can safely arrive at our final destination, of that in which there is no beginning and there is no end.

What is sin?

All sorts of religions define sin in a lot of different ways; of which, essentially that which is sin is best defined as all that which is not in accordance with the attributes and harmony of God.  Further to the point, because human beings are prone to error, as well as lacking in the wisdom to necessarily know what is right or wrong, always and forever; while also being subject to confusion, and additionally being susceptible to allowing one’s emotions to get the better of them, this thus is indicative that there are consequently all sorts of errors and sins so made, knowingly or not, but nevertheless actuated, by people, that are wrong.  That said, though there may in fact be a good excuse or reason for why a given sin was committed; it is well to remember that there are plenty of things that individuals do have good control over, in regards to their thinking, their desires, and their subsequent actual actions; of which, wrong desires and wrong thoughts, are the foundation of why sin exists and persists.

In truth, there are plenty of people that deliberately do wrong, and seemingly don’t seem to care that they have, perhaps blithely assuming that there will be no consequences, but every wrong so committed, has some sort of meaningful consequence attached to it.  Then there are others that make errors in judgment, seemingly not desiring to do so, but somehow not having the strength of character to prevent themselves from doing so; but error is error, no matter the pathway.  Further, there are people that know for a certainty that they are doing something that is wrong, as well as understanding that there are eventual negative consequences to such a wrong, but they go ahead and do it anyway, for they see the supposed benefit or pleasure of such an action as being their current preference, and simply won’t give it up, willingly.  So too, there are those others, that do not wish to listen to their good conscience, so they drown such out through drugs, drinks, or emotions run amok, so that they can get back to their sinning. Finally, there are those that don’t seem to take appropriate cognizance, that the basis for just about everyone that sins is allowing wrongful thinking and inappropriate desires to get a foothold into one’s mind, and subsequently they then simply go ahead and do what is so done, and let the chips fall where they may.

Our God is a God of justice, truth, love, and wisdom.  God never gets it wrong, but then again, that is the eternal nature of God.  Human beings, so created by God, are here in this world, as a fair testing ground of their character -- so tested by the wiles, tricks, and temptations, that cross our everyday paths.  We are here primarily to prove our worth in a field of battle, so that having successfully accomplished and having overcome obstacles so put in our way, we can therefore be the light that will aid and help those that have lost their way, so that they too can find the promised land, so needed for eternal happiness.  We are to be that light of unconditional love, and those that are in the light, have risen above sin; and those that are in darkness, despair, and ignorance, have not.

Wishing is never the same as doing

There are plenty of people that will wish for good results, or hope for such, but wishing or hoping is never the same thing as doing; for those that wish for something, whether for themselves or for others, but are not willing to put forth the genuine effort to get there, or even to thoughtfully map out a plan which demonstrates some aforethought, and then therefore devote some resources to accomplishing such, are subsequently not going to be getting anywhere of merit, anytime soon.  The bottom line, is that wishing is the lazy person's plan to achieve things, and not too surprisingly, those that simply wish, and go no further through their own individual effort, will progress not a whit.

It is easy to complain, and all sorts of people are prone to doing exactly that; of which some things so complained upon, are not susceptible to being easily corrected or even ever corrected, whereas some things, especially through extraordinary effort and persistence most certainly can be.  This thus signifies that what we so do definitely matters and that all those that have the intrepid spirit to get beyond the wishing stage, so as to actually pursue what so needs to be pursued, are putting themselves on the pathway of making a difference, by doing their part to not only help the cause, but, even more importantly, typically risking something of value or worth to get there.

Those that so desire to live in a world of wishful entitlement, are living in the smallest of worlds, of which, they are limiting themselves to basically climbing the littlest of hills, and fording the shallowness of streams. If they think, therefore, that they are actually making a meaningful contribution to making this a better world, they are sadly mistaken; for those that want to effect change, and those that want to do their part for the noblest of causes, as well as for the good of societies, are only those that are willing to participate in the positive actions of purpose, that necessitate a consequential commitment of blood, sweat, and tears.

If we could simply wish for things and then they so occurred, then that would make us godlike, but we are not gods.  Instead, we are gifted with the power to discern those causes of good repute, that are worthy of our time and effort, therefore often leading others of like mindedness to commit to such, and with the purposeful devotion of those people, as well as those others that join the cause along the way, meaningful progress is so made.

It must be said, that simply wishing or hoping or desiring for good things to occur, without corresponding actions, is the error of believing that right thinking brings right results.  In truth, right thinking is only the beginning of what could bring right results; and of which in order for such to be actualized, is going to necessitate the extensive effort of good people – determined to settle for nothing less than the goal so set forth, of which to obtain that certain something of real merit and worth, will require commitment, foresight, focus, and the unrelenting purpose to keep on going till the destination is reached. 

Just-in-time labor

Companies feel an obligation to be cost efficient, of which, typically one of the highest cost components of corporations is the labor component; so that, companies are forever trying to come up with concepts that will reduce their labor costs, which therefore provides them with not only a leaner organization, but typically also an improved bottom line, including their profitability.  The fact is that nowadays a significant amount of the largest multinational corporations in the world outsources a meaningful amount of their work to third world countries, so as to take advantage of significantly lower labor costs, along with typically seeing lower costs for the infrastructure so utilized, and often far more lax environmental regulations enforced.  The upshot is that a lot of that work so outsourced, utilizes at an absolute minimum any direct employees of that corporation, and relies almost exclusively instead on that work being truly outsourced and therefore subcontracted to an authorized company, under the criteria so set by the controlling corporation; in which, in truth, those that are the labor product for that outsourcing, are pretty much treated as just-in-time labor, because these subcontracted companies are often so necessarily lean, that they hire, dictate the hours so worked, insist on overtime, as needed, and lay off or fire their workers at will.

That said, there is also essentially just-in-time labor in America; which, of course, could not and would not even exist if labor unions were materially relevant, to wit, at Amazon, or Walmart, and so many other companies, that seem to be a perfect fit and vulnerable to a strong labor union force, which would thereby provide benefits and protection for those that labor at these companies that sale billions upon billions of dollars of goods each and every year.  Instead, we have something akin to just-in-time labor, so demonstrated by the fact that a significant amount of the workers at these powerful corporations do not receive a fixed working schedule on a weekly basis, but are instead subject to having their hours changed week to week, not only just on the days of the week so being worked, but also the actual time schedule of the hours so worked on a given day in a given week.  Not only does this mean, that an employee so working under those conditions, does not really know how much or how little that they will receive paycheck to paycheck, but they don’t even know for a certainty what their schedule actually is for the coming week, until they are notified by management, which clearly is indicative of what just-in-time labor functionally means.

Clearly, when corporations are permitted to staff up when workers are needed, and to staff down when workers are not needed, so done even on a daily basis, perhaps even hourly, then their efficiency of the use of that labor, materially improves.  Perhaps this even seems fair to some people, but recognize this salient point, that these powerful corporations are essentially treating human beings as if they aren’t really human; but rather as someone not really worth the fair and proper consideration that they are real people, worthy of having a voice, of a steady job with steady hours, benefits, job security, and a living wage.

When corporate profits get ever more concentrated the people lose

This nation has at times, shown some governmental spine and foresight by the understanding that just about all private enterprise monopolies are a bane upon the American people, and in absence of some compelling reason why these monopolies should exist, have subsequently enacted necessary legislation to counteract such; however, in recent years that government has been consistently asleep at the wheel.  The fact of the matter is that monopolies and duopolies and all those businesses in which competition essentially seems to have ceased to exist, places those corporations in the catbird seat of being able to extract extra profit from those that are their clientele, which thereby unfairly increases corporate profit, corporate power, and corporate sales.

The thing is that it is the natural order for companies, to look for ways to dominate their market share, through all possible means, and as much as they might applaud the capitalistic system they actually don't desire to really personally compete, but rather prefer instead to find a way, fair or foul, to take market share away from those that would or do compete against them.  It doesn't help that in recent times, the national government has seemed blithely unconcerned about this obvious increased concentration of power into ever fewer hands, demonstrated thereby by permitting those that would be or could be competing against each other, being instead permitted to merge with one another, which therefore makes the parent company stronger and ever more dominant in their particular domain, which hardly seems prudent or fair for the general public.

The one thing that you can count on when it comes to the biggest and most powerful multinational corporations in America, is their relentless desire to increase sales, to increase profits, and to increase their market share.  This thus means that there isn't a single company out there that will ever make a statement that they are satisfied with their current status and have no further desire to improve upon it.  Therefore, all those that somehow believe that corporations won't try to get ever bigger, even when they are already huge, aren't paying attention to what is really going on; and when those corporations essentially control their market space, then this thus gives them the power to dictate the terms and prices of that they are selling, thus assuring them therefore of a steady stream of healthy revenue growth and profit.

Further to the point, when corporations essentially are permitted to be monopolistic in nature, or when they ostensibly compete among one another, but are actually in cahoots with rival firms, then the general public is poorly served; and in absence of some other entity somehow wreaking havoc upon them, these privileged corporations are simply counting up the profits that come their way.  The bottom line is that corporations have a continuous lust for more, of which, they intuitively recognize that in absence of competition, and in absence of meaningful regulation, as well as in the absence of  any governmental fiat that thereby forces them to divest and to split apart, that it is very  much smooth sailing for their business enterprise, because absolutely nothing stands in their way; for when any corporation dominates their space of  products and services, that fulfills a need, then the price that they so demand, is the price which must be paid.

The protected class are prone to violence against those that are unprotected

When in a nation, there is a given class of people or of a given race or both, that thereof are seen to be privileged, so determined by and enforced by the power brokers of that nation, and, of which, this is confirmed through the policing arm and justice halls of that country; then this leads to those that are in that favored and protected class to having their way, against all others, and in particular, against those that are considered to be the most un-favored class of people or of race.

As bad as that so appears, it gets ever worse, for when one protected class is functionally permitted to do whatever it so desires against the most vilified and targeted unprotected class, then the unfairness and persecution against those that have the temerity to not know their appropriate place is thereby enforced in ways and means which can be extraordinarily unjust and violent.  After all, all those that are powerless, and of which, those in power are quite cognizant of this, are going to essentially be at the mercy of those wielding that power, and when those in power show no mercy, or are in fact, reveling in being abusive, then the powerless will become their targeted victims of that cruelty.

It would be well to remember that there are scores of people that won't engage in violence or bad acts when they are properly fearful that there will be a fair price for them to pay in so doing; yet, when they are aware that there appears to be some sort of immunity for their actions so being taken, against those in particular that are un-championed, then little will dissuade them from doing what they so desire, in recognition that they need not fear any sort of retaliation.

All of the above basically means, that when there are laws on the books, which preach of equality under the law, fairness, even-handedness, impartiality, and of which the ugly reality is that this application of the law, in realty, is, at best, unevenly applied, or simply ignored, all in subservience to the desires of the protected class; then the end result is going to be the continual abuse and the suppression of these universal rights at the expense of that unprotected class.

There are words of law so written onto paper, and then there are the actual actions of people, so taken under consideration of how that law is applied in actuality.  The very point of good law, is in particular, for the expressed protection of those that are the most vulnerable to lawless acts being initiated against them, as opposed to such law providing the illusion of fairness and justice, and instead serving the interests of the protected class, to functionally oppress the fair rights of others.   All those that are for all practical purposes above the law, have nothing to stop them from abusing others that are not protected by those laws so written for their good protection; and those that know that the law will not help them in their time of need, have little recourse to that violence and other unfair acts enacted against them, except to insist upon its exposure, in the hopes that this might just eventually bring forth the better nature of our collective character.

The forgotten Civil Rights Act of 1875

The Civil Rights Act of 1875, was initiated by Senator Charles Sumner, however, this Act was not passed and ratified until after his death.  The Act essentially said that “...it is the duty of government in its dealings with the people to mete out equal and exact justice to all.”  This Act made it abundantly clear that all persons shall be treated equally, and had therefore equal rights under the law.  Had this Act, been actually enforced and taken to heart, the Civil Rights Act so passed under LBJ in 1964, would not have been necessary; but unfortunately, the Civil Rights Act of 1875, was pretty much a dead letter, and officially became an Act of no effect, when the Supreme Court ruled that discrimination was not applicable to private individuals or organizations, and further to the point, the federal government's justice department, simply never enforced this Act, at all.

The very failure of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, and the subsequent removal of Federal  military control after the Civil War upon those Southern States, meant the betrayal not only of that Civil Rights Act, but the vacating of the 13th-15th Amendments to the Constitution, as well as the subsequent  ultimate return of the Southern aristocracy to the forefront and power of those same Southern States -- supported by a court and justice system, which did not and would not enforce laws that were specifically ratified to provide equal treatment for all, which was especially of concern for those that were previously enslaved.

Once the Southern States re-obtained their power, they were then able to hold at bay for decades, any meaningful civil rights being enforced within this country, and essentially made this a nation that effectively was separate and unequal, and thus successfully held back the progress of those of color, for decades, despite the fact that legislated law was supportive of the unequivocal position that this was not a nation, of different laws for different races or creeds within it, but of one people, united, instead.  Further to the point, the time to right the ship of America, was surely after that bloody Civil War, and to the credit of those that legislated these new important laws, they did the right thing; but those that interpreted such and enforced such most certainly did not.

In life, there are two main steps to effect positive change, of which the first is having the wisdom to acknowledge past wrongs and to thereby correct such; and the second is to see that such correction is actually functionally applied, consistently.  In truth, America, has much wisdom, but it has historically not been true to its lofty and noble sentiments, but instead has often lacked the courage and follow through to do what is morally right.

It is absolutely disheartening that great legislatures have done their part to effect justice for those that previously have been discriminated against and yet these people still continue to suffer for nothing more than the complexion of their skin or from their religious faith; and of which, again and again, America has failed to take to heart, that the correct time to do the right thing, is always in the present, and always will be.

The betrayal of the “last best hope”

We read at historynet.com “By the end of the Civil War, the federal government controlled 850,000 acres that had been confiscated from Rebel Southerners under wartime provisions.”  It must be acknowledged that at the conclusion of the Civil War, that despite the impressive industrialization in the north -- that the southern States, were on the other hand, still primarily a land-based society, depending upon that land producing for them, money and wealth, such as by their agricultural crops, cotton, tobacco, rice, and the like.  Further to the point, the literary rate in the south, which while pretty good for the most part, was still far below today's literacy rate, and in regards, for those that were enslaved, abysmally low.  So too, those formerly enslaved, but now so freed, had in most cases, no material assets at all, except the clothes on their backs, perhaps some tools, in addition to, some pots and pans.  So then, in a situation of an era in which wealth was produced by the labor upon the land, and of which, former slaves, were experts in that field, then the most valuable material asset that this government, of, for, and by the people, could provide for those that had been treated as no more than chattel, would be the fair usage of or the ownership of the land so confiscated from those that had had the audacity to rebel against their own national government, and had lost that bloody war.

That's the way things should have been but history tells us that it is not the way that things worked out, because ultimately those in charge of the redistribution of those lands, and of protecting and aiding the freedman, just didn't have the heart, the mindset, or the willingness to do what was so necessitated to succeed; but rather abandoned those that had nothing, to thereby leave them with nothing, and to essentially give back to those that rebelled, everything.

Now, here we stand today, over one hundred and fifty years later, and unquestionably land is still a very valuable asset in which the average middle class American, has a substantial amount of their wealth tied up in that land, as in the house that they so live in, and of which the black race home ownership rate is leagues behind the white race, which is a significant reason why the wealth of the average middle class white American dominates the same of those that are black.

It is of extreme disappointment, that those that gave their all in the name of freedom and of unity, have seen that dream betrayed, by essentially the ill-advised return of those acres of land to the very same type and class of people who brought this great civil war upon this nation.  That was a grave mistake, of which, those that have suffered enough, have suffered even further.  The past cannot be changed, but the present allows us to make changes to that which must be changed.  That is why, this present-day government needs to do right, by providing the progeny of those that were ill served and betrayed by its national government, at a time when their forefathers surely needed that government's vision, aid and succor, with some sort of modern equivalency of that land so lost, or have that nation meanly lose what it was always meant to nobly save.

The United States is the land of plenty

America is indeed the land of plenty; of which, America so leads the world with its overall wealth, in its equity markets, in its billionaires, by its largest corporations, in its top universities as well as its educational achievements, its top medical facilities, its impressive food production, its technological innovations, in entertainment, and in so many other fields of interest and merit. Yet, America also has plenty of poverty, plenty of incarceration, plenty of excessive military spending, plenty of foreign military bases, plenty of crime along with its accompanying violence, plenty of gun ownership, and plenty of injustice, unfairness, and inequality.

So then, there are two Americas and within those two Americas, there is that plenty which is good and of merit; and then again there is that other America which has plenty of that bad stuff and is of little merit. A truly great country has to be measured not only through its impressive accomplishments and achievements, but also through a careful and comprehensive study of the weakest, and most vulnerable people of that nation; and any nation worth its salt, that is therefore truly worthy of respect and of being emulated, is that nation that takes care of not just the elite and middle class, but does its level best to see that all of its citizens, have the fair opportunity to obtain the accouterments that make for a life that is decent and of self-respect.

Additionally, those countries that have not only the necessary wealth but also the appropriate infrastructure that thereby permits them thus to have the ready capability to take care of the whole of its population in a manner in which none are truly left behind, of which then, that nation subsequently fails to do that, must therefore be held accountable for that failure. Such is the case in America, in which billions upon billions is spent and misspent, for instance, on its military-industrial-technology complex, which benefits some, while harming directly and indirectly quite a few here and abroad, for this ill-advised misallocation of resources.

So too, this nation is the breadbasket of the world, but one wouldn’t know it, by the number of Americans that do not have reliable access to nutritious and affordable food. In addition, despite the amount of money so being spent on healthcare, the end result for those that are denied fair access to that good healthcare, is demonstrated by the high number of Americans whose health is unnecessarily poor. Also, despite its great universities, America, fails far too often with its fellow citizens that live in enclaves of poverty and neglect, so demonstrated by the condition of their pathetic public schools, of which, those that are specifically punished are those that have committed no offense, except to be born in communities without the appropriate resources to provide them with a good and sound education.

For some, America’s plenty represents the best of times, and for others it represents the worst. It need not be that way, the fact that it is, reflects that America at its core, talks a big game, but to date, absolutely fails to deliver.

Money, power and charm only seem to work in this world

People have all sorts of goals, some noble, some not so, but goals they are; of which, some of these people are able to achieve those goals of, for instance, wealth and/or power, which often seems to subsequently provide them with some degree of satisfaction. The thing about wealth and power, is that they aren’t necessarily bad or even evil things, but rather what they so represent in a given case has a lot to do with how such was achieved, of which for all those who adhere to corrupt philosophies such as “the end justifies the means” and similar, are going to find just how hollow worldly material wealth and power, actually is. So too, there is many a person, that relies on their wiles to get ahead in this world, not seeming to recognize that such tricks of the trade, can end up biting that person in their own behind, at the most inconvenient of times.

The judgments so made in this world aren’t always correct -- while also having a strong tendency to be surface judgments, that often reflect that if a given person has the accouterments of success, then they must be a success; and if they do not, then they are not. While indeed, this seems to be the nature of the beast in this world, this isn’t necessarily right; in fact, it is often quite wrong. The respect that so many receive in the here and now, has way too much to do, with the respect so shown to those that have, and the lack of respect so shown to those that have not. These judgments, so made, have not taken into account the full character of a given person, but instead prefers to equate material success with the equivalency which strongly suggests that this therefore represents a good and successful person.

In reality, how we get to where we are in life, absolutely matters. Further to the point, this world makes it abundantly clear that from a material standpoint, the game as it is played by so many, is a zero-sum game of a few winners and a whole lot of losers. So then, all those that get to where they are in life through exploitation, working angles, unfairness, cheating, lying, and the like, have got to realize that doing so, is ultimately going to put them in a place in which they will eventually be fully exposed for who and what they really are; if not in this world, then in the undiscovered country that lies beyond.

Those that are driven by blind ambition to have power and wealth, may so achieve such; but that which we are graded upon is how we have behaved and interacted alongside those that we are fellow sojourners with. After all, to gain a great deal, but to do so at the expense of one’s soul, is indeed a very heavy price to pay; of which, more people therefore need to put into their mindset, that God is absolutely no respecter of persons, and cannot be charmed, fooled, tricked or deceived. Those such games, when they work, only work in this world, and not in the eternal world, beyond. Therefore, it would behoove everyone to take into consideration, that this world, is in actuality the ultimate proving ground, determining our true character, which will ultimately be fairly evaluated, and fairly weighed.

Consumer debt and the carrying load that never ends

Americans are in a great deal of debt, of which, as reported by bankrate.com, “the average American debt among consumers at $92,727.” That debt consists of credit card debt, auto loan debt, mortgage debt, home equity loan debt, student loan debt, and personal loan debt, of which it must be stated that those that think that they own a given car, or a home, or things of that sort, don’t truly own such, until that debt is paid off in full. Additionally, it should be noted that consumers are not required by any sort of governmental or societal fiat to actually get into debt, in the first place, but often have a strong tendency to do so, because they have needs to fulfill, and typically lack the ready capital to pay for that which they so desire and want.

Additionally, it doesn’t help matters at all that the United States government, apparently has no interest in getting its own house in order, of which, the current national debt of this nation, is nearly $29 trillion, and of which, if the United States was to be forthright and honest, this amount of money so owed, will never be paid off in full, and will instead at some point, be subject to default, and then the resetting of its currency. In short, whether it be consumers or whether it be the national government, the total amount of debt so being carried, by both, is truly a house of cards.

One might have a tendency to think, based upon all of this debt, that in the natural order of things, debt is part and parcel of what modern societies are constructed of. Perhaps this is true, to a certain extent, but in reality, the consumer debt as well as the national debt, is more of a reflection of people and this nation’s governance, living beyond its means. In other words, people and governments want what they want right now, and because their credit is considered to be good enough to borrow, they do just that; but with personal incomes having become flat or even declining in comparison to the real inflation rate -- along with wages often being insecure and almost never guaranteed, and in conjunction with consumers reaching for more of what they cannot currently afford, debt continues to increase relentlessly by the day.

This sort of debt game can only continue as long as those so loaning the money, believe that their expectation that they will receive their money back with interest, appears to be sound. Additionally, a significant part of this indebtedness has a lot to do with the fact that the superrich have such a high percentage of the nation’s wealth, and therefore the amount of wealth left to the balance of the people, is not enough to sustain for them a reasonable lifestyle. After all, anyone that doesn’t truly make enough money to afford the things that they need in order to have a toehold upon the American dream, are basically forced to borrow what they so need, and then hope that their situation will improve in the future in order to pay that loan back with interest. The problem is, when things don’t improve, that debt continues to increase, until there comes that time when it can no longer be sustained, and then it all falls apart, suddenly.

Global labor exploitation

Goods need to be produced in order for us to have items such as cell phones, medical devices, electronics of all sorts, clothes, furniture, and so on and so forth.  Those that are entrepreneurs typically have a mindset in which they conscientiously look at all sorts of alternatives on how things are presently being created, in a manner in which they are often able through proper aforethought and planning to increase efficiency, as well as to lower costs; of which, one of those costs that they are particularly concern about is the full cost of labor, which takes into account, the benefits and accouterments normally associated with such.

All of this thinking and planning, certainly makes sense from a competitive as well as a profitability standpoint, and those that thereupon look upon this world as getting ever smaller, in which they see that certain goods are typically able to be manufactured overseas at a subset of what those very same goods would so cost domestically, have to take that into consideration, even at the direct consequence of the subsequent reduction of domestic labor and its corresponding logistics, so of.

The problem, becomes though, that when such work is directly engaged in overseas, or more typically, subcontracted out to an institution that specializes in such, is whether or not, the people so engaged in this work, as well as the environment, are exploited by those so contracting for that labor.  Of course, the easy answer to that is that this is a two-way street in which, because each party seemingly voluntarily agrees to the terms so of, that there isn’t any particular thing, which therefore would be considered to be, untoward.  But that, however, is simplifying it way too much, because environmental damage, whether so done domestically or overseas, is damage to the environment, of the same planet, that all live upon.  So too, the outright exploitation of those that have literally no power to demand much of anything in regards to wages, the terms thereof, and the conditions so of, is fundamentally and ethically wrong.

Those that subcontract out work overseas, whether they are some of the biggest and most powerful multinational corporations, or even very modest organizations, have an innate responsibility to own up to the fact that they need to be good stewards of what has so been contracted or subcontracted, which includes the labor conditions, the wages so paid, as well as the environment and how it is treated; and while in fairness, lower cost countries should not make the same real wages as those working in western nations, they should at a minimum, receive a “living wage”; along with appropriate overtime pay, and other typical benefits that any worker in any state, so deserves and has a right to.

To a very large extent, there never has been so much exploitation on a global scale then is so seen today, of which, this is the prevailing reason, why income and wealth has become ever more extreme and ever more concentrated into fewer and fewer hands; because those that have the power to demand this or that, or else such will be contracted or subcontracted somewhere else, are essentially forcing these weaker nations and those that live within them, to undercut one another, of which the biggest loser, is whoever is holding the shortest end of the stick, which pretty much is the voiceless overseas laborer.

What we have in actuality is global labor exploitation, writ large, which should not be celebrated, but rather needs to be seriously amended or just plain stopped.

Money and money lending

We read in Holy Scripture, the following, “The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22: 7).  As true as this was, back when this was first written, it is just as relevant today.  In America, the amount of money so being borrowed by the general public, has never been greater, as well as having become completely normalized, and those so lending that money, essentially make their money, in one fundamental way, which is the charging of interest upon that loan, as well as by any fees and penalties so charged, for those so borrowing, all of which the borrower must faithfully adhere to, or duly suffer the consequences for such a failure. 

Whether money lenders should be respected or not, is a very debatable question, of which, fundamentally the loaning of money, isn’t a skill and it isn’t providing a good; in fact, it could be said it’s questionable as to whether or not it is a service, though in some way, it is providing a service, but that service comes, for a significant amount of folks, with a very hefty price.  It should also be taken into serious consideration, that the higher the interest rate that is so being charged for such a loan, the more money that is being extracted from the person or organization that has borrowed that money, of which, this form of extraction, is in many instances, a form of exploitation.  After all, those that lack monetary assets, but need such, are left to pay what the piper so insists upon, especially when they don’t see any other good viable options.  Of course, the money lender, then argues, that what they so charge is what the market will bear, of which the proof so of, is in the activity so engaged. 

Yet, the only thing of value that the money lender brings to the table is the money, and that pretty much is it.  Those that believe that without money, that our society would simply just come to a halt, have got it all wrong, for money really represents a medium of exchange, and to therefore put money above the actual labor that is producing goods, or that which is providing a needed service, have truly put the cart before the horse.  Additionally, the celebration of those that work all these various money hustles, be it huge national banking institutions, or their equivalencies, so that they can therefore make money by the virtue of just having money or the privileged access to it, must recognize the absolute absurdity of applauding that which extracts their undue profit from those that lack capital, or the fair access to it.

The place for money in this world, should be the place in which that money is used in order to be of a benefit for humankind, and not primarily as a profit-making institution.  If it is so needed that money lenders be permitted as for-profit enterprises, the least that any good governance should do for the good of its own people is to regulate that business in a manner in which the general welfare of the country so prospers, as opposed to the money lenders continually taking their pound of flesh, in addition to shedding the blood of all those just trying to get what they feel they need to get in order to make their way in society.

All of the thirteen States had Constitutions before the United States Constitution

There are plenty of revolutionaries that declare this and that and have lofty principles, but when they are unsuccessful in overthrowing their oppressor or opponent, then what was so declared and desired by these revolutionaries, doesn’t really matter all that much, except for perhaps the history books.  In America, the colonists rebelled against their oppressor, and ultimately, they were successful in that revolution; but having been successful they then had to face the problem or the issue of the fact that thirteen sovereign States so joined together under a loose Confederation of those States is not the same thing as a strong and united national government.  That is to say, these States were all in the battle, together, so that, it would seem to therefore make eminent sense, that joined together into one body politic would be the best policy going forward; of which, after much thought, debate and interaction, the Constitution was not only drafted and amended, but ratified by all of those same thirteen States.  It is also important to recognize, that what America did not want to devolve into, was a country divided by the conflicting interests of different regions of that country, for a civil war would be disastrous for that nation; of which, as we know, this subsequently occurred.

It is important to note that each of those thirteen States had their own State Constitution, before the United States Constitution was ratified; so then, what was really at issue for those thirteen States was putting together a limited national Constitutional government, with delegated specific powers for that national government; so as, for instance, to coin and regulate money and debt on a national basis, to negotiate treaties and other areas of business for that government, as well as many other pertinent areas of national interest; but also, quite importantly to thereby set aside all the other undelegated powers to the States or to the people, at large. 

What has occurred over the decades since the ratification of that Constitution is what is pretty much obvious, which is that State Constitutions while being still of relevancy to those individual States on some matters, are for the most part, superseded by the power of the Federal Government and its interpretation of legislated laws on a national scale, which therefore has become the law of the entire land, on just about any major issue of interest.  So then, the individual States have over a long period of time, seen their sovereignty compromised and seemingly will not ever get it back.  What is of relevancy in the present day, is whether or not there are any meaningful constraints which still uphold and contend that this is a national government of specific delegated powers?  The general answer to that question, is that there really doesn’t appear to be any.  That is to say, the people, in whole, do not appear to be in charge of their national government; though of course they do have representatives to it; but those so representing that government, seem not to answer to the people’s beat or to their interests, but answer instead to an unelected minority faction of this country, above all else.

Sadly, we are at that place, in which the words so written in our Constitution which appear to be clear and precise, are not interpreted that way; so that what we functionally have is a national government, which never cedes ground, but takes ever more, every single day from the people, and from the States, with no recourse for those people of those States to be found.

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

The above quotation comes from the incomparable, Maya Angelou.  It is important for all of us to recognize this important fact, that we cannot change the past, for the past is the past, but we can change what we are doing in the present, and by doing so, we can change the future for our good contribution to it.  This thus means, that each of us invariably receives lessons, of which, probably the most expensive lessons to have received are those past events, that have hurt us or upset us, as well as those other actions so taken that we personally regret doing.  All of us, that will not learn from the past, are prone to walk into and make the very same mistakes, going forward; whereas, those that rightly see the past as offering an object lesson to take to heart, can make adjustments, to therefore make for a better life.

As it has been said, life in this world is not necessarily fair, and the events that we subsequently have to deal with, may seem unwarranted and unjust; yet there they are, all the same.  So then, it is our duty, to be therefore the change that we so desire to see in others, first in our own self; and by doing just that, we are bound to be able to face what needs be faced in the future, with greater courage; so that, when provided with more than one pathway on our personal road of life, we need to take into full account, that knowing where we want to go, is going to make our decision, so of, a lot clearer.

The toughest lessons to learn are, for example, those lessons which involve an action or interaction that is so dramatic, that it not only can’t be undone, but it can’t really be rectified in a manner in which fair justice will ever occur in the present.  Those lessons indeed are a painful burden to bear, but decisions so made, even those lasting no more than a split second, can have profound consequences.  So too, those lessons, in which we seemingly are stuck making the same sorts of mistakes again and again, need to be addressed in a manner in which we successfully pass that test, or else we will have to keep taking that test, again and again, until we are able to come up with the correct response.  In this world, there are no shortcuts, and those so sold to us as shortcuts, are illusions, at best; so, it is up to us, to have the integrity of character, to recognize that we have to earn our way to where we need to go, as well as to have the wisdom to see that there are often notable others of good repute that will help us along our journey, so of, if we only request such of them.

Life, as it is, is going to be different for each one of us; and further to the point, the only person that can walk the line for a given individual, is specifically that person, and none other.  Recognize this well, the prize that we so greatly desire, is the exact same prize for everyone; yet, the pathway to earn that prize is a unique experience for each person.  Therefore, it is imperative that each one of us, finds the strength of being, to carry on and to successfully get pass whatever obstacles that are there, so as to therefore get to where they need to be, so they need not begin again as if they had never lived before.

In reality, what sort of government do we really have?

In the scheme of things, this government, is a government of, by, and for the people, by the consent of the governed, and we, in whole, are those people.  Regrettably, with the exception of elites as well as well-placed governmental officials, this government, is, in effect, not in the hands of the people, and does not honestly answer to those people, nor is this government, truly transparent to the people.  We have, in effect, a government that rules us, to its own purposes, and through the power of its extensive and documented knowledge of each one of us, is able to, by the day, grow ever more powerful at our expense.  So then, to a very large extent, our government is, for all practical purposes, behaving more and more as our master, and we as its servants.

How many people can honestly answer this question in the affirmative, which is, does this government responsibly answer all of their questions and concerns in a satisfactory manner?  On the other hand, how many can honestly say that they find their government to be obtuse, confusing, unorganized, unresponsive, and unhelpful, especially in those situations in which help is need at its most urgent level?

Anytime that the government behaves in a manner, in which we fear to tread upon its public offices and engage in its public affairs, for we tremble inside -- then that isn’t good governance.  A government that is in tune and in harmony with its constituents, is that government that is responsible, considerate, patient, and helpful in dealing with the day-to-day affairs of its constituency.  Unfortunately, our government while getting ever larger and ever more powerful, has taken upon itself, to place itself in the position, in which it seemingly holds all of the cards, in regards to, for instance, dealing with those that are impoverished, such as in healthcare, housing allowances, food stamps, educational choices, and general welfare.  So that, in effect, those that are impoverished but are sufficiently obedient to that government, will get just enough, to survive; but never enough to thrive, as well as not being provided with the means to ever extricate themselves meaningfully from their rather dire straits. 

So too, for the middle class, this government will continue on the course it has set, which is basically to allow the largest and most powerful corporations that the world has ever known, to outsource as much work and employment that they so desire, with absolutely no consequences for their doing so; which thereby permits these corporations to make even more money and become even more powerful, at the expense of the middle class, who despite their great work ethic, are finding it ever more problematic to secure good and stable jobs, with adequate benefits and a wage large enough to afford the American dream, but rather are seeing such inexorably slipping away.

This is quite frankly, a government of the privileged for the privileged; and those that are privileged, have never had it any better than what they so have, today.  The vast majority of Americans have been sold an absolute lie, which is that this is a government so created for the general welfare of the people; when, in fact, this is a government that cares only for the welfare of the privileged people, and none else.

“The purpose of the slum is to confine…”

The above quotation comes from the inestimable Martin Luther King, Jr., of which, that quote continues with: “The slum is little more than a domestic colony which leaves its inhabitants dominated politically, exploited economically, and segregated and humiliated at every turn.”  Regrettably, the slums that existed back when King first made this speech in 1966, still exist today, and arguably are even more segregated, more oppressive, and the people that live within them, are in an even more hopeless state.

While on the one hand, humankind has advanced tremendously since King’s time, in the sense of its technological, material, and other impressive achievements; what has disappointingly not occurred in this country subsequently, is its governance making it a true priority and therefore putting forth the effort to do something of real substance to ameliorate and to correct the pitiful conditions that so many Americans are born into and live within.  Clearly, this is a reflection, that the highest levels of governance cares not a whit about the poor and disadvantaged in this nation; and that the commercial enterprises that make billions upon billions of dollars in profit, each and every year, invest none of it, in uplifting those that need to be uplifted, the most.

How is that this country can devote billions upon billions of dollars to the killing of foreigners, in these endless wars, and not want to actually put some teeth into its own “war on poverty?”  In reality, America, desperately needs to get its own house in order.  The hypocrisy that “God blessed America,” is exposed by the fact that Christianity, by definition, is that religion which is founded upon the principle that we are to love our neighbor as ourself, which in America is belied by the fact of all of those neighbors that are confined to the slums; of which, they are apparently both out of sight and effectively out of mind, with the sole exception of those so exploiting them for their personal benefit at the expense of those that are ill-educated, disadvantaged, and un-championed.

The energy, the perseverance, and the drive to take our slums and to thereby actually make something out of them, is something that this country, with all of its wealth, and all of its hard-working well-educated people, should be able to achieve, in a reasonable period of time; if only this country and its people, devoted and concentrated the necessary resources to fundamentally correct and to ameliorate the situation as it is, right now. 

The poor and the disadvantaged are deliberately segregated from the population at large, in the futile attempt to pretend that they don’t actually exist, when they most certainty do.  America needs to fully recognize this must important and salient point, which is that every healthy newborn child has the innate disposition to explore, to learn, and to become something of merit; and what kills these childhood dreams in the slums, more than anything,  is the surroundings and the infrastructure that they are trapped within and inundated by -- which consists of unsafe neighborhoods, police harassment, injustice, dilapidated and poorly functioning schools, as well as broken families – all this, while also typically being devoid of any meaningful employment of any real worth within their neighborhood.

This country already incarcerates hundreds and hundreds of thousands of its own citizens; of which, if we fairly designated slums as another form of incarceration, this then becomes millions upon millions of our citizens, effectively treated as something which is less than human, and therefore of no real concern to the state.

Why we seek perfection

A perfect score is a perfect score, as you can’t do any better than perfect, because if you could, that wouldn’t be perfection.  So then, to achieve perfection in anything, is the absolute highest level that a given individual can be at, and if it is so possible, a truly worthwhile and noble goal.  The correct motivation that makes us seek for perfection, is never going to be our ego, or for some sort of peer recognition, but rather it is us being true to an inner feeling that propels us to be the best that we can be.  So too, we seek perfection for the very salient reason, that God is perfection, and the greatest tribute that we can provide to God, is to be the finest person that we can be in all that we think, say, and do.

Additionally, perfection by definition, means that there is no room for error, for doubt, or for improvement.  So then, this is what each one of us should strive for; though, no doubt, in the scheme of things this may appear in certain situations to logically be impossible or seem to be impossible, yet, we have an obligation to do all that we can do to be our best, and this is the reason why we shouldn’t easily settle for that which we know is not all that we can do, and refuse to settle for less than what we know that we can and should accomplish.

Our drive for perfection, is also meant as a loving tribute to God, and the best way to demonstrate our sincerity to that purpose is by our actions.   As for those that don’t buy into this mindset, they are functionally people that presently aren’t willing to strive towards that excellence, of which, they are actually quite capable of doing so on some level, but have apparently given up and petulantly don’t feel like doing better.  In life, we are defined by the choices that we make and while we can essentially “opt-out” at any time for any reason, that isn’t going to be a pathway that is going to get us to where we ultimately need to go.

There are all sorts of things that drive people, such as money, honor, power, envy, and so on and so forth; in which, those that strive to be the best that they can be, ultimately will find that the most satisfying motivation in doing what they end up doing is because it is the correct thing to do.  The highest calling that any of us has, is listening to that still small voice within; which in and of itself is not so easily accomplished, nor is it the easiest of things to be obedient to; however, those that are true to that voice thereby follow it absolutely faithfully. 

We want to be perfect, because we want to prove to God, that we truly love God, for God is perfection.  This is why then, we find ourselves being challenged by all sorts of tests in this world, for this allows us to successfully develop the wisdom to become that which we were created to be, co-creators with God in Heaven.      

The real criminals

There are a significant amount of people that completely and unequivocally buy into the “law and order” mindset, but don’t seem to realize that the biggest criminals in the world, are not people like Al Capone, Ted Bundy, or Charles Manson, but are almost exclusively powerful head of states as exemplified by Stalin, Mao ZeDong, and Hitler; as this represents the difference between someone that alone or with a few others commits a few dastardly and notorious crimes as compared to that who through the power of their position and with the compliance and aid of thousands upon thousands that are their faithful followers, kill hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people. 

The above serves to help make the point, that those that put on the uniform, as in an officer of the law, or of the military, have an innate responsibility that always and will forever supersede the human or governmental authority that they answer to; which is that they are above all, responsible to a higher natural law, which states that it is always wrong to commit crimes against humanity, no matter what the orders and directives so of, stipulate.  That is to say, all those that claim that they hate Hitler or Stalin, or people of that ilk, must obviously understand that Hitler and Stalin could not have wreak the terrible inhumane havoc that they so did, without the complicity of thousands upon thousands of soldiers and underlings that performed for them, the dirty work, so successfully done. 

This then clearly indicates that the real criminals, the ones that we should always fear the most, are not the “lone wolf” type; but rather those that put on that uniform and comply with orders so given, without bothering to think through the consequences of their subsequent actions, so taken.  After all, our law officers, are supposed to protect and defend us, not persecute and batter us.  So too, our military is meant to defend our nation, not so meant to make violence upon others, civilian or otherwise, without some sort of reasonable and humane “rule of engagement” so enacted and adhered to.

This country, as in many other countries, is almost always very reluctant to prosecute officers of the law, or military soldiers, no matter how bad acting that they have been; probably under the belief that such prosecution will serve to undercut and to undermine the loyalty and the obedience of these uniformed officers and soldiers.  The problem with that mindset, however, becomes the problem of all those that know that whatever that they do, good or bad, right or wrong, will not ever be subject to prosecution; so that the consequence to this is that they will therefore not be held accountable for any of their actions, so performed; inevitably devolves into a situation in which thereby, everything is permitted under the color of law.  No wonder then, that so much state sanctioned violence is therefore initiated and faithfully implemented, for those so performing those deeds, typically fear no personal ill consequences, except, perhaps, for a guilty conscience, which often is drowned out through drugs or drink.

When our officers of the law, and military soldiers are basically provided with blanket immunity, no matter what they so do, not too surprisingly, they will do some really terrible things; and the more that they do which is morally and legally wrong, without the personal suffering of fair consequences, so of, the less will be the legitimacy of that state of governance.

The right way to defend freedom

America likes to claim the mantle of being for freedom, liberty, hope, and opportunity.  It could well be those things, but its military-industrial-technology complex appears to run this nation and it behaves clearly in a manner that belies that well-meaning sentiment in its totality.  The greatest hypocrisy so propagated again and again by these United States, is its innate belief that might is always right, and therefore whenever there is trouble brewing, or conflicts that somehow the United States feels it must engage in, it skips diplomacy, it skips being reasonable, it skips having an actual dialog, and it skips an true international consortium of nations putting their heads together; to basically instead, have the United States do whatever it prefers to do, wherever that it wants to do it, which is almost exclusively against non-western nations, and thereby through its great awesome display of the use of its killing armaments, “shock and awes” whoever is unfortunate enough to get on its “bad guy” list, and cares not a whit, about the consequences, immediate or otherwise, of what so thereupon subsequently occurs.

Those that believe that freedom is defended best by killing other people, civilians or otherwise, and by bombing infrastructure as well as the people that just happen to be around that infrastructure, have no conception of what freedom actually is.  To wit, freedom is never defended by the use of arms; it might be necessary to use arms from time-to-time but that usage of armaments is never a means to defend freedom, but rather, at best, it is a necessary act in order to defend the nation from enemies, whether domestic or foreign, of which, the hope is by defending one’s nation, that the end result, will be that the freedoms so ingrained within that nation, will not be sacrificed to that defending; for if freedom is lost to that government in the name of necessary safety and security so enacted, then it is submitted, freedom has not been defended, but rather has been taken away unjustly from the people.

The only conceivable way to actually defend freedom, is to in all actions so taken, make those actions consistent with the nature of freedom.  Each of us has been gifted with free-will, which is our unalienable right; therefore, signifying that any agency that seizes our freedom, or limits our freedom, in order for that act to therefore be legitimate, must have something that is occurring, that necessitates the temporary sacrifice of freedom, or the constraint thereof, for a purpose higher than such freedom so represents.  There are those times, when freedom and our liberties must so take a back seat, such as through a natural disaster, war, famine, and the like; of which, those exigent circumstances necessitates that we bond together and make contributions for the greater good.  All that is fine, for freedom, by its very nature, requires constant vigilance from those that so desire to hold on to it, of which, we need to therefore hold properly accountable those that would take our freedom away.

The right way to defend freedom, is to honor it, in our interactions day-by-day, in the recognition that the freedoms that we so desire, are equally applicable for all others, whether or not we like or dislike them.   Therefore, we each need to judge less, be slower to retaliate, and know that we are all in this together, of which, each one of us, is meant to be free.