The “letter of the law” and the “spirit of the law”

They say that we are a nation of laws, but those laws, though clearly written down and typically written in a manner that purports to be clear and precise, do not always fit securely into the circumstances of an alleged violation of the law.  Further, even those laws that seem to be cut and dry, are far too often able to be manipulated, stretched, pulled and distorted, by adroit attorneys that are exceedingly clever and highly intelligent, recognizing that in order for them to make a good living, they must therefore see themselves as being obligated to thinking outside the limiting box of the “letter of the law”, by circumventing successfully both that letter as well as the “spirt of the law.”

As much as people, want to believe that laws are equally enforced and applied fairly to all alike, the reality is that the law is quite unequally enforced, of which the typically dividing line between those that must so suffer unduly under the letter of the law and those that do not, is having money, connections, and highly competent legal counsel.  On the other hand, if the spirit of the law, was truly treated as paramount in a court of law, then all those working the angles of the letter of the law, would find to their dismay that their tricks of the trade, would not so easily bear the tasty fruit that they had previously been accustomed to. 

It would be sensible for humankind to remember that the fundamental purpose of laws, is never to attempt to cover every single contingency that could ever be so encountered for every interaction that could ever possibly occur; but rather to provide a fair roadmap of what behaviors are considered to be orthodox, encouraged, and thereby authorized by civil society, and which misbehaviors are considered to be unorthodox, discouraged, and thereby subject to appropriate punishment by that civil society.

As it is, there are way too many laws on the books, and it seems that each year, even more laws are legislated and thereby passed into existence; of which, correspondingly, the previous laws that have been written into existence, seldom seem to ever become defunct; so what happens, in effect, is humankind’s book of laws gets ever thicker, and thereby correspondingly they are in aggregate subject to even more avenues for clever attorneys to find ways to circumvent those good laws, written for the good of societies, but unfairly overcome by the very few, at the expense of the many.

In reality, intuitively, most people are pretty sure about what is right and what is wrong, and understand well what fairness exemplifies.  The true purpose of any good law so written, is for that law to be applied universally, to all; of which, the objective of that law is to see to it that society in whole, benefits, from its equal application and the people’s adherence to it. For a certainty, not all written law is just, right, or appropriate; signifying that the highest obedience to law, is always going to be to the spirit of the law, which itself, must be in harmony with that which is known as natural law. 

A new Federal Homestead Act is needed, today

The United States, is a country that primarily grew from the east coast to the west coast.  Not too surprisingly, in an era in which traveling was not very easy, and travel was also fraught with all sorts of dangers and inconveniences, many people had a strong tendency to remain in the general locale of where they were so born and raised.  Yet, having purchased an incredible amount of acreage through the Louisiana Purchase, as well as through the Mexican cession to America of a staggering amount of additional acreage, these lands needed to be developed by Americans, for the benefit of not just intrepid Americans, but to provide cohesion and vibrancy for the entire United States.  Therefore, the progressive Lincoln Administration passed the Homestead Act of 1862, providing acreage for citizens to develop with nothing much more required from them initially but a minimal filing fee, and of which, if those residents were therefore able to improve that land by building upon such and improving upon its previous condition, they were then permitted to purchase such land from the government for a very reasonable amount of money.

The success of the Homestead Act led to the vibrant expansion of the west, while also providing for those that had little or nothing, a foothold into the American dream.  Disappointedly, this legislation was eventually formerly repealed in 1976, and while it makes sense for the Federal government to have some sort of meaningful control over the usage of federal lands, so held in its stewardship, it also makes sense for those that have not been provided with a fair opportunity to have a reasonable opportunity to create something of value, in this the richest nation that the world has ever known.

While it use to be that the mere ownership of lots of land, in and of itself, had immense potential and value; we find that in today’s world, the amount of land so needed for ownership for a specific building, or a home, does not often necessitate a lot of acreage, but rather more than anything, what is needed to augment and to improve upon such, so as to make viable progress for those that have so little, is a helping and willing hand from that government, of, for, and by the people, especially for those previously precluded from having the fair chance to have a fair stake in this the fairest of lands.  In this country remains millions of acres, so held on behalf of those people, and of which, a progressive Homestead Act so created in the present, would be beneficial for those with the pluck, to make something of themselves, with a head start so provided by that forward looking government.

It is a total waste of human talent, when those that could be something are provided with no reasonable outlet to be something of substance, and therefore for lack of that requisite nourishment, fail to grow.  This government needs to provide today’s generation with a fair deal to replace the raw deal that so many duly suffer from.  That is why a new Federal Homestead Act is so sorely needed, to provide a way and a means for those that have been unfairly denied the American dream, to have a fair chance to obtain that which will not only better their lives, but better this the last best hope of humankind.

Formal house and business addresses have not always existed

One of the illusions with living in this modern world, is just assuming that the way things are currently, must be how things were in the past, or if not an exact match, somewhat close to it.   Yet, formal addresses with street numbers and street names did not exist at the inception of the United States.  Back in those days, people readily found other people, because first off, they mainly congregated close to their homes or businesses as well as social places, and further they knew where they lived by the specific hills, trees, streams, ravines and other artifacts that were part and parcel of their community; which they knew intimately, akin to the back of their respective hands.  To a very large extent, this worked out quite well in communities for the people that lived there, because they knew everyone that needed to be known as well as how to get around; which thereby meant that any strangers or visitors into that neighborhood were pretty much obligated to have to ask for directions in order to find a particular person, or to conduct business, which made for a safer but also a more closed community.

The thing about governments, is that they have a real interest in knowing their subjects, which of course can be beneficial, but it also can be harmful and even dangerous.  For instance, when a government knows who you and your family are, by virtue of a census, informal or not, and then connects that with a known address, an identity card, and things of that ilk, this allows that government to readily ascertain whether there are members of that family so eligible to be drafted for military service or other civil duties, a place and a person to tax, along with an address to send officers of the law to, if so needed.  On the other hand, when a government knows where their citizens are located, they can more easily provide beneficial services, such as food, water, work, healthcare, money, and shelter, but to a very large extent when those services are primarily provided by the government as compared to It being provided by the members of that specific community as the main source, then the government has become more powerful at the expense of that community, through the very use of that communities’ money extracted through the various forms of taxation.

So then, while today’s society typical doesn’t think for a second, that there is any downside to having an address, there actually can definitely be some.  Further to the point, those that are so impoverished or are in some sort of desperate flux that they don’t even have a formal address, are stuck in a construct in which the services that they may well need, aren’t readily available without some sort of address being provided to those governmental organizations.

Modern societies have formal addresses, of which most people don’t think twice about why an address even exists, and for the most part they appreciate the sensibility and convenience that addresses that are well structured, so represent.  Still, it’s important to recognize that information is a definite form of knowledge along with its corresponding power so often obtained, and those that have that information, should be held accountable for how it is so utilized.

Capital punishment has no legitimate place in American jurisprudence

America wants to be the industry leader and the exemplar of what a great nation so represents, but when that country continues to insist that certain criminal acts are deserving of state sanctioned “murder”, this clearly proves that it has no wisdom of interest to impart when it comes to justice, fairness, mitigation, and any semblance of state responsibility or correctness.  Those that truly think that the way to end all war is by war, are grossly mistaken.  Those that believe that the correct punishment for those that have committed certain despicable acts is their cold-blooded calculated death, in response by the state, clearly don’t understand life or its meaning.

Remember this well, those that will not learn their lessons well, and apply such thereby in their everyday life, are consigned to repeating what will be so repeated, until the lesson is learnt and applied, correctly, till the end of time, if it so be necessary.  Those crimes so committed that are hateful, hurtful, despicable, cowardly, and wrong, deserve a reasoned and responsible response, from those that are held in high respect for their wisdom, no more and no less.  What they do not deserve is simplistic rules and laws, which stipulate that he who wrongly takes away one person’s life, or purse, or this or that, must suffer in turn, the exact same fate, which puts justice into some sort of simplistic binary decision making, as if this is enlightenment, when it most certainly is not.

Those that believe in the killing of the other, as a just and sure punishment for a duly convicted capital punishment crime, believe such wholeheartedly, primarily because they think that this thus ends the story, but it never does.  Life… and death, for that matter, is not that simple.  The natural order of anything which is physical is that it will meet its demise, sooner or later, which thus signifies that immortality can never exist for that which is mortal by its very inception.  So then, the premeditated killing of that which is physical, ends just that physical life, but it does not end, the troubles, so of, that created the situation to begin with, and it never will.  So then, this then is what needs to be rectified, one way or another, one time or another, one place or another, somewhere at some point, or the lesson has not been learned, and until that lesson is learnt, the lesson continues.

The correct response to someone that disrespects another, is to still give respect to that person, for to follow disrespect with disrespect, impugns upon that own person’s character.  To end the madness, one must remain sane.  To make it to the next level and to evolve, means that what has not worked in the past, cannot possibly be the answer to the question; so therefore, the intent should be to find the correct answer and to subsequently apply such.  To take the life of another, deliberately, and sanctioned by the state, is a crime against humanity, and each time that it is done, humanity takes yet another step backward, to its own collective disgrace.

Chicken farmers are the new sharecropping

Consumers are each year, eating more and more chicken, of which, the price to purchase chicken for those consumers, especially in comparison to other poultry, meat, and pork, is quite reasonable.   One would think then, that there would therefore be plenty of money to be made as a chicken farmer, of which, while there is plenty of money so being made, it is not being made by the chicken farmers, but rather it is being made by the big corporate chicken processors, almost exclusively. 

The first inkling, that not everything is on the up and up is the salient fact that many chicken farmers, in order to have a producer to sell their mature chickens to, are required to buy their baby chickens from that producer, as well as the feed, and medication, while also adhering to whatever requirements, inspections, and upgrades that are so needed to their chicken house enclosures, as determined by that big corporate chicken producer.  This would seem to clearly indicate that the chicken producer has an incredible amount of leverage and power over the chicken farmer, and in fact, they do. They then use such to their full advantage, so that the profits so being made is pretty much all in the producer’s hands, and the chicken farmer, who while working incredibly hard, and trying to make a decent living, often finds themselves, in an untenable situation that doesn’t ever permit them to ever get out of debt, nor to make any real money to live or to build upon.

The other giveaway that all is not fair, is the fact that the chicken producers, essentially control everything in the process from cradle to grave, except the actual monetary expenses for the chicken house and its associated equipment, along with the labor of those that are bringing up those baby chickens into their chicken adulthood -- so that these chickens can subsequently thereby be processed into chicken products of all types for consumers and restaurants.  In other words, there doesn’t seem to be any good reason, why the chicken producers wouldn’t just want to produce their chickens from babyhood to adulthood, except for the explanation, that by not doing so, the chicken producers save valuable capital expense, as well as the inconvenience of labor, without giving up much of anything in value, in return; except the illusion that chicken farmers can actually have a fair chance to make a decent living from what they are so doing on the chicken producers behalf.

In sharecropping, the land owner allows the tenant to use his land, in exchange for some valued portion of the product so produced, of which, the bottom line is that those that do the sharecropping, though working very hard, typically find at the end of the harvest season, that they always get the short end of the stick, in perpetuity, never to get ahead, and never to outright own any of the land that they labor so hard upon.  So then, with today’s chicken farmers, there is a lot of capital needed to purchase the land along with the housing and the infrastructure to successfully raise chickens, of which, these chicken farmers are typically forever in debt, never seeming to be in a position to ever get out of it, despite their hard work, and despite giving their full and best effort to that business.  Rather, the money being made and most of the benefit ends up going to the big corporate chicken producers, which reflects that contract or no contract, legal or not, what is going on, is sure the heck deceptive and most definitely unfair.

Understanding love, better

Love is one of those very special words that is utilized by all types of people in a lot of different ways, of which, quite frankly, there are way too many people that claim that they “love” someone but really haven’t a clue as to what real love actually necessitates and represents.  So then, while love can be defined in a lot of different ways, it is important to comprehend that when it comes to our relationships with others, that those that really love someone, must want for that person, what is the best for them.  That means that those that love another, are not jealous, they are not vindictive, their love is not conditional, their love is not dependent on some sort of quid pro quo, or time, or anything.  True love is timeless, and asks for nothing in return or expects such.  We love another because we see who they are in essence, we know them for who and what they truly are, and because of that, our love will not ever fade or go away.

To appreciate someone is not necessarily love, to be thankful for someone’s affection for us is probably not love, either.  To belittle what love really is by claiming to love this or to love that, without true and complete sincerity, doesn’t do the person so expressing that love any favors, for those that can love today and have such love evaporate tomorrow, aren’t in love.  The very foundation of love is God, and because God is love, we need not worry about upsetting God so as to lose that love, and fearing that God’s actions towards us will ever be capricious -- for God is immutable, eternal, and flawless.  Our God is the ultimate perfect parent, that permits us the freedom to do whatever that we so do, without ever running out of patience or love for us, and the fact that we have the liberty to be whatever that we so desire to be, provides us with that special pathway, of which, no matter how circuitous our steps among the pathway become, no matter how meandering, so of -- all routes will ultimately bring us back to God, as if we were never actually gone, for that which is love, cannot ever be successfully substituted by anything else, satisfactorily.

Those that love, always want what is best for the person that they are interacting with, and will not ever falsely encourage or agree to help implement those things and actions that will not be beneficial or suitable for that person, because to do so would not be love.  This does not indicate that those that love are themselves, perfect, it is a reflection though that to love someone means to be true to being an instrument that will help that person, and when required, to re-direct that person to where they ought to be; yet, it also always respects that person as a free agent, as well as being cognizant that even those in love and that love, are not all wise, and will themselves err and make mistakes. 

Those that love you, love you because they see the real you, the higher you, the you that you are in actuality, and of which you, in return, are meant to reflect as much as possible that love in this incarnation. 

“For you always have the poor with you…”

We read in Holy Scripture, “For you always have the poor with you…” (Matthew 26: 11).   Yet, despite the fact that millions of Americans live in abject poverty, devoid of hope, devoid of opportunity, devoid of good educational facilities, devoid of good healthcare, devoid of fair justice, and devoid of any semblance of what an acceptable life actually should be in America; this is absolutely ignored, by a huge swath of the population, who believe literally in the adage that what is out of sight, is out of mind.

The bottom line in America, is that the poor and disadvantaged to the degree so possible, are consistently segregated into enclaves of poverty and neglect, and subsequently kept as far as possible away from those that have money and power, so that those with all the accouterments of material success, will not have to ever stumble upon these impoverished people, ever; for those that are the superrich and privileged do not desire to have anything happen in their field of vision that would upset their distorted view of what they believe their worldview represents, and do not ever wish to have their family or good friends, to see something that they need not be seen or even commented upon.

Not only are the poor, completely out of sight for all those that have lots and lots of money, but to a very large extent, the poor do not infringe into the domain of the successful middle class, as well.  Basically, those that are desperately poor, are deliberately placed into dilapidated places that nobody in the right mind, ever visits for there isn’t any good or valid reason to go there, and hence these poor people are effectively ignored as if they don’t exist, and to the degree that the government or other private charitable agencies provide aid and help to them – they do so to a very large extent by these organizations, deliberately or not, making it a point to remind those that have nothing that they are effectively, nothing.

There will never come a time when poverty is eradicated in America, not because America doesn’t have the ways and means to do so, for it most definitely does; but rather it has everything to do with the fact that the government is an enabler of those policies that create as well as those policies that separate the poor and disadvantaged from the mainstream population, and until there comes a time when the poor are fairly entitled to actually become part of the established population these disadvantaged people will not progress.  In fact, if communities were actually built that were inclusive as compared to being deliberated designed as exclusive, of which, the impoverished were instead fairly entitled to some fair portion of that community, those good members of that community, would take it upon themselves to provide what was so needed to uplift the community in whole, so that those previously not provided with any fair chance, would actually have the infrastructure to lift themselves up, which they would therefore gladly embrace. 

In America, the poor typically live amongst the poor; hidden away and ignored as if they don’t exist, but they very well do.  The least that we should do is to bring the poor inside the gates of opportunity, hope, and equality, thereby permitting them to become an integral part of the multi-color fabric of American life.

Subscription books and emancipation

Those that were enslaved in America, were part of an institution that was legal, at that time and age, no matter the injustice and inhumanity, so of.  That said, in a land in which the dollar meant everything and profit the overriding goal of many, some of those that were enslaved, did still have legitimate options to free themselves, though typically limited and perhaps wholly unrealistic.  For instance, eventually in the Northern States as well as in Canada, slavery became illegal; so then, those then that were able to physically get to those places, were essentially rewarded with freedom, though the journey to such, was fraught with perils, and the price to pay for individual failure, was exceedingly high.  Another way to manumit a person that was enslaved, was to have a particular skillset which allowed that enslaved person to earn money through the loaning out or the subleasing of their trade, or from the goods so created, and those slaves that were able to save enough money, over some period of time, could, in theory, buy their way to freedom.  The third way, was similar to the second, but was done not though the particular labor of a given slave, but rather through those that were part of an abolitionist group, as well as with the aid of former slaves, who would create a subscription book for a relative or someone else of interest, and then solicit sympathetic souls to their viewpoint, to put up money to manumit those slaves, and when the necessary funds were thereby secured, make payment to the “owner” in order to buy that person’s freedom.

The bottom line is that the slavery business was a business, and further to the point, a given slave’s value was never stagnant; of which, because slaves had a finite amount of physical life, and typically had an initial rise in their value, followed at some point, by an inevitable decline, then it could be said, that even the most recalcitrant of slave owners, had a price that they would sell anyone that they so owned.  Therefore, subscription books, were a legitimate way to free those that were enslaved, and therefore this was a licit vehicle providing freedom for those that were enslaved.  Regrettably, in consideration that literally millions of people were enslaved in America at its peak – escape, or the subletting of one’s specialized labor, or a subscription fully paid, only freed a very small percentage of those so enslaved, which seemingly did not make any real appreciable impact upon this the most despicable of peculiar institutions.

Still, in an era in which the uncompensated labor was the ways and means for the autocratic privileged Southern class to make and to augment their wealth, and of which, the national legislative votes were not there to impugn this status quo, the national options, so of, were limited.  Yet, every person so manumitted led valued credence to the sensible belief that a given person’s skin color could not possibly have anything to do with their capacity to think as well as to accomplish valued tasks; and further that a nation divided would ultimately have to face the truth, that to stay united, whole, and healthy, this would necessitate that what is right and just ultimately triumphing over that which was founded upon injustice, inhumanity, and outright greed.

The vote and the disbursement of the public’s funds

According to the Constitution, all those citizens that have reached the age of 18, with a few exceptions typically having to do with a criminal conviction, have been franchised to vote.  Additionally, whether of voting age or not, those that have income of a certain amount or even just money in their pocket, are subject to taxation; whether that be a sales tax, a property tax, a license tax, a social security tax, an income tax, a local tax, and so on and so forth.  In short, billions upon billions of dollars are collected through taxation agencies throughout this country, and legislators are elected or appointed to allocate and to disburse these tax funds per legislation so enacted and enforced.

The people have an absolute right to know whether or not tax monies so being collected is actually being spent in a responsible and prudent fashion, and of which, their only real reasonable assurance of such is through the full, transparent, and public display of contacts so being put up for bid and subsequently issued for work done, in conjunction with independent reviews of such, quality control, budgets, salaries, property bought and sold, and pretty much everything else that is germane within the expenditures of the public money, so done on behalf of that public.  The bottom line is that if the people’s votes are ever going to count for anything, then there has to be a crosscheck placed upon all those avenues of which that money is being spent, and the representatives to the people, need to be held fully accountable for their actions and approvals, so made.

In point of fact, when the people have the vote, but that which they vote upon per the majority, so of, effectively is vacated by the, for instance, circumventing of, or the underhanded and corrupt opaqueness of what is really going on, then the people have been cheated of their vote.  Further, when monies so collected from the people, that is not spent in a responsible fashion, of which, for example, the bidding has not been truly competitive, open, and competent; but rather that money has been used instead as a tool to favor some at the expense of others, and to thereby to kick back to the well-placed few, what is not theirs to have, then the people have been cheated on their taxes.

So then, voting and taxation are of immense importance to our influence upon the civilization that we so desire to have, but the average person pretty much feels what is disappointingly obvious, that their vote doesn’t seem to count for much; and as for how their monies so taken from them in the form of taxation, this seems to be spent in a way that they seemingly have absolutely no voice upon such, whatsoever.  This thus signifies that voting doesn’t matter much, when the legislators so of, don’t effectively answer to the public, though they do answer to those elite others that put money into their personal pocket; and as for those taxes so being relentlessly collected from the public they are actually commonly being earmarked, utilized and spent in a way and manner that the public sees at best only a distorted view, along with barely getting a glimpse into the deep dark labyrinth of those tax expenditures—though, those that are on the inside, are increasing their wealth and power through their privileged access to such. 

Think about what you are thinking about

Before doing just about anything of substance that we so do, we actually think about it, and then we go ahead and perform it, or try to perform that action.  Basically, our thoughts precede our meaningful actions; and if we are unhappy with our actions, then we therefore need to look carefully at our thoughts that preceded such.  For instance, how we think is ultimately always in our control and is therefore in our domain; so then, not only do we need to think about what we are thinking about, we further need to take such to the next logical step, which is to think through where that particular thought pattern is ultimately going to get us to; and further to that, whether or not that place or accomplishment so anticipated, is where we really want to be or not.

After all, the story of each of our individual lives is written by the thoughts and actions, we subsequently make.  This thus signifies that what we should want is to take the time to think through what it is that we are really trying to accomplish and further to the point, as to whether or not such an accomplishment is a worthwhile objective or not.  The point thereof of the thinking is to think things through thoroughly, again and again, of which, quite obviously the more detail and the more nuances that we can put together within those thoughts, the better our perception of what will occur, will so happen. 

The trouble that so many of us find ourselves in, has a lot to do not so much with bad luck and bad circumstances, but rather has a lot more to do with our failure to think the right reasoned thoughts, that would more times than not, overcome adverse luck and circumstances, or mitigate such, or circumvent such.  Our thoughts can be constructed in a lot of different ways, of which, one of those ways is to first visualize the goal that one desires to achieve, and then from that goal, back things up ever so slowly and with detail to our present situation, so that we can see unfolding in our mind in reverse, what so needs to happen in order to achieve that goal. This thus allows us to stay focused, in the present time, so that whenever our mind beings to waver or to wander, we have the wherewithal and the wisdom to think as to whether or not at the present time what we are thinking and doing is conducive to achieving that goal that we are so determined to have or not.

Life can be filled with all sorts of excuses for our failures and our shortcomings, of which, in many cases there are indeed compelling reasons why this is our present bleak situation; yet, ever pinging upon our conscience is the sure acknowledgement that we are the masters of our fate, and the captain of our soul.  Therefore, it behooves all of us, to take command of our thoughts, and to think things through thoroughly, so that we can focus upon being that which we were born to be, if only we would keep our eyes fixed upon the prize, and not deviate from achieving such, come what may.

Seek wisdom

Each of us so born into this world, has an inherent obligation to search for that which is the ultimate truth, and therefore we should not allow ourselves to become distracted from this all-important mission.  While it is true, that different people have different capabilities, all of us have some capability and virtually everyone has some degree of power to develop their mind in a manner in which valued knowledge is obtained and retained.  Those then that will not make the effort to seek wisdom, and consciously decide not to pursue such a noble effort for whatever reasons, are those then that seem to prefer mindless entertainment or idleness to being the defining master of their lives, instead.

Then there are those others that are proud of the knowledge that they have obtained, and are able to successfully demonstrate such knowledge to their contemporaries and through their work; but knowledge is not the same thing as wisdom.  So that it is fair to say that knowledge in and of itself, is not a prerequisite for wisdom; for wisdom is the true perception of who and what we really are, unbounded from the constraints of seeing this world and its laws as the ultimate reality, when in actuality this world is no more and no less than a proving ground, so created to test us in a field of battle, so as to determine whether we have the discretion within this field of free choice to consistently go out and to do the right thing.

The essence of wisdom is that wisdom as a form of truth, does not ever changed, for wisdom is not subject to the vicissitudes of mankind’s mind and thought patterns.  Rather, it is humankind that changes through the virtue of obtaining wisdom, for humankind far too often lives within a world of distortion, shadows, and detours; of which, quite obviously the more illuminated the pathway becomes for humankind, the clearer and truer are the perceptions that are then understood, through the wisdom so known.

It is only those that seek and achieve wisdom, and through those alone, that humankind is ever able to evolve; for the human form is so intoxicating to so many, that many people often get so caught up within it, that bodily needs and often the greed of desire to have this or to obtain that, addles the mind in such a way that humankind very quickly begins to devolve into selfishness, manipulation, and aggression.  That is to say, that if the perception is that humankind is really no more than a higher order of a beast, then those so believing in that mindset, are hopelessly lost.  In fact, the dissatisfaction that so many feel deep within their psyche, is the dissatisfaction of knowing that life for all of its lures, seems purposeless, when we are unable to perceive that we are not mortal beings, but immortal spirit.

All those that will not seek, will not find; in direct contrast to all those that sincerely seek and are persistent to that search, will surely find; for God wants to test our devotion to our Maker, of which those that are true devotees will seek wisdom and from that wisdom, will find that which was always meant to be found.

It is good for humanity that we aren’t all the same

Those that are dull minded want to live in a world in which everything is in the order that they so desire, and the people that make up that order are always predictable -- and everything that so occurs in this construct, is what they desire to see occur or if not, they are basically okay with it, as long as it is contained within a reasonable boundary.  One could say that there is a significant amount of people that find the appeal of like-minded people to be quite comforting, for they do not wish to venture into areas of conflict and unknowns, and therefore are perfectly content to just have things the way that they currently are.  The reality though is that this world consists of different peoples, different cultures, and differences of all sorts, of which, the fact that we don’t all look alike, or believe the same things, makes for the type of diversity and conflict, that at a minimum, makes life interesting as well as also being challenging.

Whether or not opposites really attract isn’t as important as the salient fact that cookie-cutter people are dull, dull, dull.  The fact of the matter is that if everyone was exactly the same, in thoughts, in looks, and in feelings, then this world and the interactions within it, would lack significantly in creativity, vibrancy, and purpose.  We are not meant to be the same, or even to think the same; but rather we are required to acknowledge that in order to have sensible civilizations that are beneficial for the people in whole, that we need to display in our interactions, a good neighborly attitude, patience, understanding, concern, helpfulness, justice, and harmony, one to another.  That should be the overriding purpose of life, to get along with one another, despite our differences, of which we should recognize that because we are each unique, this ultimately makes for greater drama, greater arts, and a greater overall life experience.

This world was never created just for the exclusive benefit for one race, or one creed, or one sex, but rather it is meant to be a world in which those that are of a different race, or a different creed, or a different sex, have the fair opportunity to become united into a common purpose, of which, in order for that to ultimately occur, there is invariably going to be plenty of battles, conflicts, and disagreements, along with dissension, that are going to be part of that robust and even chaotic experience.  So too, everybody is entitled to a fair say of what it is that they so desire to see happen, for only when each person is accorded a true voice, is it possible to have something so constructed that has thereby been made for everybody, which actually reflects everybody, as opposed instead to one dominate view, voiced by a minority, that rules everybody else by coercion, force, or manipulation.

Each one of us is totally unique, but deep down at our core, we have commonality because we are all created equally, meant to meet one another at that place in which we recognize that we are each a vital piece in the design of that magnificent illuminated mosaic, located beyond time and space.

The “amen corner”

Church and church services can represent a lot of different things to a lot of different people; of which, some of those so attending church may well find themselves in a situation in which the congregation or at least part of such, is supposed to echo back to the preacher, their affirmation of what is so being preached, periodically, through the repeated usage of the word “amen.”  Not too surprisingly, such cries of “amen” are going to be more effective when those so inclined to mouth such, are congregated together, which thereupon makes for both a louder as well as a more unison sound, therefore making such affirmation of the message so being spoken, of more noticeable effect, so helped by the “amen corner.”

As much as people might seem to believe that everything so spoken in a speech or a sermon, should get from those so attending such, a natural and spontaneous reaction as the audience is so inclined to give; the truth of the matter is, just as in television programs which have canned laughter, that those that proclaim “amen” at specific spots, are helping to push across the message so being spoken, as well as engaging the audience so that their attention will not flag, disappear, or fade away. So too, when an “amen” is intoned at just the right time and at the right timber, it provides a nice emphasis to that which is being preached, making such more memorable and meaningful.

In reality, many of the preachers so preaching, aren’t really wanting to preach a soliloquy or a monologue without any verbal audience reaction, for they on the contrary, desperately want to know that their audience is actually listening to them, and therefore when the preacher hears an “amen” response, or other words to that effect, the preacher knows that what they are saying is actually resonating well with those that are their congregants, which helps to provide the impetus to drive home the message in a manner that is both more convincing as well as being more poignant.

In life, far too many people, believe that it is only the big moments that really matter; but rather it is those small and courteous affirmations from esteemed and valued others which serves the purpose of keeping many of us focused on the tasks that we need to get accomplished, that ends up being the necessary fuel that keeps us going whenever we begin to waver or fade from that which so needs to be done.  That is to say, we all have different roles to play in life, and those that play the role of support for the message so being delivered, or the task so being done, should never be discounted in their worth and in their value, for we are all are in this together, and because of that fact, those that are part of the same team and do their part, have invaluable worth.

It could be said, that all of us, need an “amen corner” in our lives, and when that corner is not saying “amen” to what is so going on, we should therefore take the time to find out, why; for that then could well make all of the difference in what we so subsequently do.

The exploited class

When we take a look at who and what makes up our impoverished ghettos, our prisons, and basically those that represent the losers of this capitalistic society, this so indicates that almost exclusively the people that make up that class, are those that are the weakest and the most vulnerable members of that society.  One would think, therefore, that this government of, for, and by the people, would therefore want to put forth the most extraordinary effort to see that not only an appropriate safety net would be in place for the most vulnerable, but that proactive measures would be taken to ameliorate such; along with it being an overriding governmental objective to forthrightly eliminate the conditions that make for such impoverishment and hopelessness, in the first place.

Regrettably, the poor and the most vulnerable of our society, seem to be placed there and to exist so as to therefore serve as an important collective value for all those that desire to exploit them, over and over again.  After all, there are tons of jobs that require mindless repetition, drudgery, as well as those jobs of unsafe and unsound conditions, all consisting of low pay and bad benefits, under the control of what essentially represents, the overseer, so to speak.  The type of people that are not going to do that type of work are everyone that has better options, that come from a better place, along with all those not being truly desperate or up against the wall. On the other hand, those that have few options, or are undocumented, or poorly educated, or historically oppressed, aren’t in a good place, and in fact, are ripe for exploitation on just about every single level that they can be exploited upon, and this is what so subsequently happens, in just about every aspect of their sad forlorn life.

The very point of good governance is not for the winners and the superrich to get even more of what they already have in abundance; but rather to see that those that have little or nothing, are provided with a fair opportunity to have at least some semblance of a good life.  Yet, this the richest nation that the world has ever known; seems to run primarily upon the exploiters exploiting the exploited.  So then, the reason that the exploited class continues to exist and to persist, is because the governance is in the hands of those that are the exploiters or their actuators, and they will not release their very firm grip upon all that easy money that they so get, from cheating those that have no power, because they can’t think of a compelling reason, to do so.

Those that make their good and comfortable living off of the blood, sweat, and tears of those that do not receive even a living wage for such -- of which these unfortunate exploited people do not have the reasonable hope of extricating themselves ever from their poor situation, should be seen for what they really are – as entitled people that steal from the poor, fleece the most vulnerable, and harm the weakest. Yet, somehow, they have the audacity to believe that they are good people, as well as to proudly wear the accouterments of that which so represents their success.  However, the one thing that hasn’t been taken into full consideration by those that have it so good, is that though justice may be delayed, it will, for a certainty, eventually be served.

Arbitration is typically unfair for consumers

People that purchase and utilize products and services, so sold by corporations, are invariably going to have those instances when there is something that seems to be not quite right about such a product or service experience.  In those cases, in which the perceived injustice is slight, most people are just going to let it go, which is in virtually all cases, the most practical thing to do.  On the other hand, there are also those breaches of good faith between consumer and vendor that are worth fighting back about; in which there has been a perceived wrong that the consumer wants to have their day in court, about.  The problem is, that in many cases, nowadays, a given consumer, when they are so inclined to go to court, are compelled by the terms and conditions of the product or service so sold, to have such thereby adjudged instead through arbitration, as compared to a true court of law.

Arbitration is something that on the surface, sounds fair, almost as if it is a better way to cut through all the nonsense of courts, appeals, and delays, so as to get straight to the heart of the matter, through a supposed neutral party that will come to a sure and sound resolution.  That is, what arbitration seems to be, but regrettably that isn’t what arbitration really is.  The very first thing, is that those that do the arbitrating, though nominally neutral, are themselves almost always lawyers, and therefore inclined to be biased towards those of the same profession.  Additionally, arbitrators know that the only entity that can ever give them any repeat or recommended business, such as consulting and the like, are corporations with corporate lawyers, so this thereby gives those arbitrators a self-serving reason to see things through the corporate lenses, as compared to the consumer. Finally, arbitration is not going to be a fair fight, for corporations have well-nigh unlimited resources that they can call upon, and the consumer has very little, of which, therefore the full truth of the matter so being disputed may not come even close to being illuminated through such arbitration.

It is also very important to note that corporations strongly prefer arbitration, because it basically allows them to circumvent formal litigation that could be rather dire for their corporation.  Such as, for instance, class action suits, in which many consumers so experiencing the same problem or a similar one, join together with a legal team to pursue justice which can thereby result in an award to those consumers that can reached into the billions of dollars, which is thereby divided by all those party to that suit.  Additionally, successful lawsuits against corporations, can set precedents which thereby serve to reform corporate malfeasance, as compared to such being swept under the rug and suppressed through private arbitration.   So too, most consumers are limited in the amount of time and financial resources that they have to pursue any type of legal action, which is why the fact that there are lawyers who specialize in taking legal action against corporate wrongs, for no upfront money, but instead opt for a “piece of the action” clearly helps to level the playing field.

So then, though arbitration sounds fair to many consumers, especially since many people have no real love of the labyrinth of courts; it is, when utilized to resolve consumer complaints, typically not fair, and often a very poor substitute for fair legal action so conducted through the public court system.

Cartels and monopolies

It goes almost without exception, that monopolies are to be avoided at all costs, except when it comes to those things such as governmental controlled public utilities, such as in regards to water, sewage, and electricity, which thereby necessitates governmental regulation as compared to having instead multiple sources of public water, sewage, and electricity.  The reason why monopolies have no place in private enterprise, is that any company that is the sole source of a product that is vital and needed, have therefore the power to price it any way that it so desires or even to withhold it, per their volition.  In regards to cartels, such as in OPEC, they basically have seen the virtue of colluding together so as to control the volume and ready availability of a highly valued energy resource, thereupon providing them with important pricing strength, along with protecting themselves from undercutting one another, so as to avoid suffering a race to the proverbial bottom.  That said, cartels in western nations, are illegal and are just as insidious as any monopoly, for basically what is occurring is that those that should be fairly competing against one another, have seen the sensible value of cooperating one with another, instead; in order, therefore, to extract extra profit and money from those that are their customers.

The thing about public corporations is that the stock market is extremely unforgiving of all those corporations that do not show both consistent growth in revenue as well as in profit; so not too surprisingly, in consideration that the upper management of these corporations, typically have a sizeable portion of their actual compensation tied to the performance of the stock along with its corresponding profits, then those that are not of good moral character, or prone to taking shortcuts, are going to find the temptation of colluding with those that they compete with, so as to thereby create a formal or informal cartel will, in fact, be taken under serious consideration.  In actuality, as much as these massive corporate behemoths speak of how much they admire and appreciate the capitalistic market, a significant portion of them, don’t really want to compete, at all; they just want to make consistent money, more than anything, and in order to do that, the variance and the dangers of true competition must be subdued and thereby controlled to their benefit.

So then, cartels and monopolies are the antithesis of what capitalism is supposed to be, and anytime that the government, of, for, and by the people is the enabler of this very thing, wittingly or unwittingly, then it is the general public that is invariably shorn of their wages through these cartels and monopolies, again and again.  The thing is that it doesn’t really take any great detective work by governmental regulators to know when collusion is going on, for the evidence of such is usually pretty darn clear; so, the fact that the government does nothing about it, whatsoever, more times than not, reflects that those that are meant to protect and to do right by the general public, have for all practical purposes, been co-opted by or are in collusion with our present-day cartels and monopolies.

Productive use and property

Most people that own a residential home, only own that one home, and of which, for those of the middle class, this is their primary wealth that they so represent.  However, there are a distinct minority of people as well as conglomerates, that own lots and lots of property, of which the usage of that excess property, above and beyond their main home or their main building, may lie completely unutilized, or underutilized, for years, or even decades; for basically this extra property is owned, primarily as a passive asset, or treated as such, which therefore signifies that it does not necessitate development or the rental of it.

The first thing to understand is that there are millions upon million of people that do not have a safe and sound home to reside in; and further to the point, there are millions upon millions of people that lack good access to nutritional food as well as the other accouterments that would help to make their lives to be, at a minimum, satisfactory.  So then, the fact that there is good real estate so owned but providing no utility for the general public, the tax authorities, or even the owner of such, other than being an asset upon their books, is something that no good governance should encourage, and quite frankly it should be actively discouraged.

When those that are ultra-wealthy have no need and nary an incentive to do anything with some portion of the property that they so own, then it so follows that there isn’t any pressing reason why anything in regards to that property will change, anytime soon, or ever.  On the other hand, when government asserts itself in a manner in which underutilized or unused property is actually taxed at a higher rate than comparable property that is being utilized, then perhaps this will provide the impetus for development to happen, or if not, a pressing reason to divest of such.

There is, after all, only so much one given family can own and actually do something of substance with; of which this same sort of principle applies also to conglomerates and to corporations, whenever they prefer to allow land to remain fallow or undeveloped – typically so done in order to maintain the pricing strength of what they are in the business of.  There are, no doubt, good reasons why even prime real estate land need not be and should not be developed at a particular day and time, but those reasons should periodically be looked at and investigated, for the common good of the people of societies.

The ownership of any property, be it private, corporate, or governmental, necessitates at its core, a responsibility to the society that each are a member of.  In short, each one of us must tread upon land, and live somewhere upon that land, of which, when a small and select minority are able to dictate to the majority, that they solely have the exclusive right to do what they so will or won’t do with their land property, per their volition; then a reasonable response to such a self-serving attitude is that in order for there to be some sort of fair play involved, good governance therefore steps in to appropriately tax or penalize that property of those that are not good and responsible stewards of the land they so own.

We are called to love one another

Life in this world, doesn’t have to be so serious, so complicated, and so dramatic as it so often plays out for so many of us.  Regrettably, there are a significant amount of people that live their lives in such a way, that when the bell so tolls for them, they are dismayed and also frustrated that a meaningful percentage of their life consisted of missteps, mixed emotions, and mistakes; that all served to take them away from seeing that life at its core, is truly about being loving and caring, one to another.

This does not need to be a world of one-upmanship, of competition, of blind ambition; or contrarily a world seen through the eyes of someone that is enthralled to drink, drugs, gratuitous sex, or mindless entertainment.  We are meant to see this world as an opportunity to test ourselves in a construct in which we will not always get what we think that we want, but instead we eventually learn, perhaps through trial and error, or perhaps through the wisdom of a good mentor, that we are meant to see this world as a place to interact with one another in a manner in which we harmonize one with another, for the greater good of one another.

All those that insist that the only success worth celebrating, is that of material success, will almost for a certainly have their day in this world, but will probably not have a good or satisfying existence, outside of this earthly realm.  To see this world as a zero-sum game, does an injustice to that who created us in the first place; for the limits that we may think so exist, are only the limits of those that are wrong thinking, so believing that in order to get to where they claim that they so desire to get to, necessitates a selfish and self-serving approach, often by any means so necessary, above all else.

Many people have a rather poor understanding of what love actually is; of which for some they are far too sentimental, for others they are far too capricious, and for others they are far too manipulative.  Love isn’t really any of those attributes, for true love is that love that first and foremost, desires the good of the other person, for no other reason than this is what we should desire for everyone.  Love is never conflicted, love is never here today and gone tomorrow, and finally love is not ever conditional.  

Love is the very essence of God, of which each one of us should be ever grateful for. Recognize, no matter what we should say, feel, or do, that God keeps on loving us, no matter what. God will not ever forsake us, and God as well as the human spirit will surely celebrate with us, when we come to our senses and become more loving and more understanding with others.  Love is patient, love is kind, love is non-judgmental, and there is nothing ever, or even conceivable, that could ever conquer love, for that which is love is perfection; and to thereby seek that which is perfection is the highest calling that we so have.

The evisceration of the 26th Amendment

In 1971, the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, so permitting those who were at the age of majority, that is, eighteen, to finally be franchised to vote.  The point of this Amendment was to provide to those so being eligible to be drafted into military service, at least the opportunity to democratically vote upon legislation and legislatures – of those issues of pertinence to them, because for a certainty, those that have no vote, but are subject to giving their last dying breath to their country, are certainly not free.

At the time of the passage of the 26th Amendment, the legal drinking age as well as the smoking age within the United States, was 18, but since the passage of this Amendment, this has subsequently been raised to 21.  What the United States has basically done is that while lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, it has on the other hand, raised the age so needed to have a legal drink or to smoke tobacco; as if to say, that those that are 18, though legally adults, aren’t really responsible enough to be adults.  If that was really true, though, why is it that those that are 18, are still considered to be old enough to die for their country, but cannot have a drink or to smoke, legally?

Those that are United States centric, might just think that its updated drinking and smoking age, must be pretty much the norm throughout the world, but it most certainly is not.  There is no other western nation of any size or power, that has instituted the same sort of age restriction rules in regards to drinking and smoking, probably because these other countries are quite cognizant that there comes a time when each of us will leave childhood to enter adulthood; rather than their being some ill-conceived in-between stage of not quite being a child and not quite being an adult.

There are all sorts of laws so passed for our expressed benefit, or for the supposed good of society, but that doesn’t necessarily make those laws either just or right.  This government and the busybodies that work hand-in-glove with them, seem to believe that by pushing the age of majority ever higher for things such as drinking or smoking, that this will make for a better and safer society; but if this was logically true on any level, then how is it that drinking or smoking is ever legal, or considered to be an activity that could be ever be perceived as being responsible or appropriate?

Those that are adults, are entitled to make decisions per their own volition, of which, not every decision so being made is going to be the right or the best decision, but that is the nature of what freedom of choice consists of.  It would be well to remember this vital fact, that America, gets involved in all sorts of wars, battles, and altercations throughout this world, of which, the real consequence of such includes death, injury, harm, mayhem, and post-traumatic stress disorder.  Apparently, all that is absolutely fine to do, once a given individual turns 18, but somehow at that age having a drink or smoke is considered to be detrimental to the health and welfare of that person. 

Fear God, and none else

Just about everybody has a fear of something, or phobias, or both.  The fact that we are prone to being fearful of losing our life, or our job, or our family, or this or that, is fairly common, of which, this type of fear is consistent with the erroneous belief, including, even some of those of faith, that the annihilation of our body, is the annihilation of our existence.  It is imperative to recognize that our physical body, is not now and never will be eternal, but merely is the physical manifestation of who and what we are in this material world; but never is the physical body or the conditions of that body, our true essence.  Remember this well, that which is eternal, cannot ever be destroyed, not by anything of this world, and not by anything beyond such.  We are eternal, currently living in the present day in a limited physical body; of which that body will betray us at some point, either though age, accident, or by damage by those that harm us.

The improper hold that so many people and institutions have upon us, often has an awful lot to do with their utilizing their power and their influence to impact our existence, by, for instance, the denial or the compromising of our fair access to healthcare, employment, freedom, housing, opportunity and the like; of which the nature of this type of exercise is to thereby get us to submit to those authorities or else suffer the consequences of not adhering to such.  This type of pressure so exerted against us, plays upon our natural fears, and is utilized by those in power again and again to manipulate us; but we need not play that game, for we always have the option to simply do the best that we can do within the structure that we are dealing with -- with the implicit understanding that though our physical body has needs, and our ego cries out for this or that, we are not our body and we are not our ego; of which our body and our ego must remain subservient to our true essence as God’s own.

Any human being that does not fear the evil that humans are so disposed to be, is someone representing well who they really are.  There are far too many people of good character, that crumble when they should stand strong, because they fear the consequences of not giving in to that which has the power to hurt them or their loved ones – not seeming to comprehend that every time that we give in to evil, even when it seems like the sensible thing to do, we are in our own way, contributing to the strengthening of that evil.  The physical life that we have should best be seen as a role that we are playing on the big stage of life, of which, that life is no more and no less than an aspect of who we actually are, but it is not at its core, who we really are.  Therefore, to the extent that we have the wisdom to do so, we need to be true to God, and God alone, for ultimately it is only God that we answer to; and all those that play the role meant to scare us, to intimidate us, and to compromise us, cannot ever hold a candle to that which is our Creator, for their perceived power exists only in this realm, and none other.