Rent burdened

As reported by pewtrusts.org, 17 percent of renter households, are severely rent burdened; which is so defined as “…spending 50 percent or more of monthly income on rent.”  In an era, in which home prices have increased substantially in recent years, and of which there is a general shortage of rental units to begin with, this so indicates that those landlords that rent out properties are able to do so, at rental price targets that are rising much higher than the general increase of most people’s income.  So too, the more money so devoted by households to the paying of rent, means less money so remaining to be utilized for other bills, as well as vital items such as food, clothing, insurance, and the like.

The thing about a residence is that living in a home or an apartment is pretty much a requirement in order to have some semblance of a normal life.  Those without the funds to purchase their own home, are left with having to pay the piper; of which, because of the lack of cheap and affordable housing, good and practical choices are few and far between.  When securing a place to rent, this only serves to solve the problem of actually having a place to stay; for it must be kept in mind that when the monetary budget for that rental has been exceeded, and possibly exceeded by a significant amount, then the renter is placed in the unenviable position of being vulnerable to all sorts of troubles that could realistically occur, if unexpected expenses come up, or employment is lost or employment hours reduced, or if one’s physical health goes south.

In all truth, rent control is probably not going to be the catch-all solution for those that are rent burdened, for a lot of reasons, including the fact that the home rental business, is very fragmented, and further to the point, that one size does not fit all.  This signifies that in absence of better income distribution so being purposefully redirected to those of the lower and middle class, that government agencies need to step in, so as to provide material assistance for those so trying to maintain a reasonable status in society with governmental direct or indirect renter aid. After all, those that are gainfully employed, or have worked for a significant number of years and are now in retirement, should be accorded some consideration from this government, of, for, and by the people.

Those that believe that those that are rent burdened, are somehow going to be able to realistically get themselves out from under, are incorrect, for without the necessary income or wealth, it is not mathematically or reasonably possible.  Further to the point, unfortunate and unexpected events happen at some degree of regularity to people; so, all those that are in precarious situations are not safe, and will not ever become safe, until their income or their expenses change in a favorable direction; or they are provided with a helping hand so that they can have a fair chance to live a decent life in this the richest nation that the world has ever known.

Listening and obedience

We read in Holy Scripture: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say?” (Luke 6: 46). In life, it must be stated, that all those that know what they should do, and fail to do so, have done so to their own destruction.  To know wisdom, but then to ignore that wisdom, for whatever reason or because of weakness, is foolish.  It might be, though, that part of the problem, for many people, is that despite their knowing what they should do, they aren’t able to actually demonstrate the strength of character so as to do it; but they don’t seem to realize that until they do what they should do, they will continue to have to face this same test, over and over again, until they do what they have to do.

It is always disappointing for any good teacher, when one’s students, hear the message, and seemingly understand the message, but aren’t able to fulfill the message in action.  This so signifies that when the students fail the teacher, and there comes that time when the teacher subsequently dies, then what has so been taught, though known, has sadly not been applied; which thereby means it has not provided the benefit it was designed to bring.  So too, those that claim that they fully respect someone, of which, that is belied by their poor actions so made; have then, in reality, not been respectful.

Not everything that we should and ought to do, is going to be easy.  In fact, the road ahead may be very, very tough, but that road must be traveled, in order to successfully accomplish those tasks which should and ought to be done.  In such, we find, that there are those, of little or no character, who thereupon simply just give up, despite knowing what they are supposed to do.  Others though, may give it a go, so to speak, but at the first sign of trouble, also give it up, relatively easily.  So too, there are those others, that put forth a real effort, but after suffering defeat or troubles, time and time again, eventually call it a day.  Finally, there are those few, who are true to their calling, and no matter how long and arduous the road may be, they keep their eyes focused upon the prize, and will not relent upon their mission, until they successfully reach their destination.  

The whole purpose of learning anything of merit, is to apply that knowledge for the expressed benefit of humankind.  Those that don’t do that, or misapply such, have clearly taken the wrong path.  So too, those so selected to listen to “special or secret teaching” or wisdom of that sort, and then fail to live up to what is expected of them, reflect poorly on their teacher, for this signifies that the teacher apparently was not prescient in the selection of those so selected for their teaching.  This is why any good teacher, must hold their students accountable; for the object of the exercise is to make this world a better place, and knowledge unapplied is not all that dissimilar from ignorance, for neither provides the benefit, so necessary for humankind’s good evolvement.

God, government, and good governance

Far too many governments aren’t really interested in liberty, freedom, dissension, or debate; but rather they are far more interested in their citizenry obeying, without issue, what that government believes that those citizens should be doing on behalf or in assistance to that government.  While that is indeed many a government’s desire, this doesn’t necessarily mean that this actually occurs in the real world.  Still, governments are prone to keep on trying to get that obedience from their citizens, of which, in order for this to more successfully occur, those governments often see the value in co-opting God for their own purposes, above all else. 

The most meaningful thing about God, is that most people have respect for God, admitted to or not, and conveniently most of those people, don’t actually have a real good understanding of the true attributes of God.  This thus signifies that clever governments can basically use God in such a way, that God can kind of do their dirty work for them; so that, in effect, God can be utilized as the way and means to help prop up governmental laws by backing such with God’s moral law as interpreted and propagated by that government.

This signifies that the government, essentially sees the value of working in conjunction with God, as the logical process to put the fear of God or the fear of government, or both, as thereby the effective force that will keep the people in line.  Governments aren’t really interested in all the expense and trouble of having and maintaining a police state, but would strongly prefer that God plays the “heavy,” and that with the laws of God, as interpreted by that government, and subsequently judged by that government, this thereby serves to encourage that population to become more obedient to that government, by obeying God’s moral laws, which thereby makes for a compliant citizen.

To illuminate this in a different way, recognize that young children can be rather difficult for parents to control, of which, many a parent thereby has learned to lean upon a righteous God, as their tool to keep recalcitrant children in their place, by emphasizing that bad behavior, as seen by an all-knowing and an all-seeing God, will result in a just punishment, every single time, unless such behavior is changed to a different tune, and done so, right away.

The combination of government and God, as typically and corruptly so done, is the worst of all worlds, for citizens are caught between a rock and a hard place, of which they get no fair rest in this world, and apparently no fair rest in the world beyond, unless they properly behave and are obedient.  This is why, God is so often invoked in governmental places that one wouldn’t think such would be necessary; such as when a person is solemnly sworn into a court of law, as if the mere threat of governmental punishment, is not a firm enough hand, to make a given person, speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

Regrettably, the governmental co-opting of God, can create a type of unintended blowback, of turning thereby some good people against both God and government; of which, one of those parties may well deserve withering criticism, and the other, properly understood, never does

Food, profit, and safety

The physical body requires food in order to sustain itself; of which, it would so appear, that never has so much food, and so many food choices, been so readily available for so many people.  The fact that food is abundant as well as typically being reasonably priced is a great benefit to humankind; however, as might be expected in any business that has to deal with the logistics of obtaining that food and then the distribution so of, there are going to be tendencies to take shortcuts or to “game” the system, so as to favor those that are trying to make a consistent profit at the unfortunate expense of the public, in whole.

For instance, fresh food, even if properly cared for, has a finite life and therefore does not last forever, for it begins to decay and eventually that food will reach the point where it is subsequently not fit for human consumption.  To this point, is the salient fact that the producers of food goods, have a clear vested interest in producing food goods that have a strong shelf life, and that can therefore withstand reasonable periods of time, without that food becoming stale, rancid, or unsafe.  There are many means for food producers to avail themselves of so as to extend food shelf life or to add to the profit of a given item, of which not all of these are legal or sound, such as the deliberate adulteration of a product, in which, some cheaper substance replaces a more expensive substance, but still sold to the public as if this has not occurred.  Additionally, processed foods are frequently subject to an incredible array of chemicals so added for necessary things such as the coloring of, or for the extension of shelf life, or for palatable taste, as well as for appearance.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for regulating the food industry.  However, when that department is susceptible to being co-opted by the very industry that it so regulates, by virtue of the “revolving door” between private enterprise and government regulation, then it is the general public that therefore ends up with the short end of the stick.   So too, the sheer amount of chemicals being added to food items, in conjunction with the fair and comprehensive testing of such, is one of those areas in which no shortcuts to thorough testing should ever be permitted.  The issue with chemicals so being utilized in the food industry, is that chemicals, such as those that are meant to extend and to preserve shelf life, may or may not be something that the human body is able to always successfully assimilate and to therefore break down appropriately in the digestive tract; so then, good discretion is the better part of valor and should therefore never take the back seat to that which is harmful.

All those people that do not have the means to afford anything other than primarily eating processed foods should not be placed into a situation in which those foods have been prepared in a way in which the continual and consistent usage of eating those foods are harmful to them; of which, therefore it is up to the FDA to make sure that the producers are always held accountable to the safety of their foods, as contrasted to those producers being permitted to prioritize profits and outright greed over appropriate food safety.

Segregation, the favored race, and vested interest

While there are myriad reasons why segregation exists and continues to persist, for generation after generation, the main reason why segregation exists, and continues to exist, despite there being laws mandating integration in all aspects of American life, is that the favored race finds it much easier to exploit, to manipulate, to control, and to discriminate when those that are unfavored are segregated away from the mainstream favored population; for then what so happens in those segregated areas, is effectively known only by those of the favored race that have entered into the segregated areas, and as long as the narrative is thereby successfully controlled by that favored race, what happens there, stays there.

On the other hand, wherever segregation does not exist in communities, or ceases to exist; while this doesn’t necessarily equate to complete harmony and friendship amongst all the people there, progress of meaningful inclusion often typically will be made, though alas this progress will be mixed with still significant issues that must be attended to – of which, what we do so often find though is that when people of different backgrounds, different cultures, and different colors, actually end up congregating together, that in a lot of instances, prejudices and tensions are reduced, fundamentally because of the eventual enlightenment of the recognition that we each have a lot in common with one another, after all.  That is very important, for not until the favored race buys into the reality that racism and other discriminatory acts are pernicious and wrong, will the monolithic favored race majority become divided into those that have risen above prejudicial attitudes and those that have not.

Once significant numbers of the favored race have woken up so as to clearly recognize injustice, unfairness, and inequality, and therefore to understand that it is fundamentally wrong whenever any people are judged by something other than the content of their character, then their vested interest in seeing that this is rectified in a responsible fashion becomes engaged.  This means that those that believe that each of us is truly born with unalienable rights will actually feel a responsibility to do their part to see that this is lived for everybody, as compared to just a select few.  Further to the point, when those members of the favored race, intuitively recognize that prejudices based on surface judgments such as creed, or color, or background, are unfair and mistaken, they will do their part to see that this is overcome by sensibility as well as good law, properly applied.

It is always much more difficult to maintain one’s illogical prejudices, whenever a fair and equal chance has been provided for those that historically have been oppressed; in which, as a matter of course, integration between those different cultures, different races, and different backgrounds also becomes part and parcel of that given community.   After all, hate and prejudice have an awful lot in common with demonizing other people, so as to dehumanize them as something less than human; and when those that have been unfairly subjugated are subsequently given a fair opportunity to prove their mettle, things change for the better.  The best part of integration, is it gives the favored race a true opportunity to make amends for what they have historically done wrong, which thereby uplifts them from the poverty of their spirit, and in turn, helps to uplift those so held down, by the removal of their chains.

Those that fail the test of a promise made

Each and every day, people make promises one to another, some are personal, some are professional, and some are coerced.  Those that make promises, have different intents, depending upon the circumstances so of; in which, some promises made by the person so promising, they have absolutely no intent on keeping, but they make the promise anyway, typically, simply to buy the peace, for at least some period of time.  Then there are those promises that some people are pressured into making, though having no real intention or any real commitment to make good on the promise, but simply agreeing to such, as simply being the cost of doing business on that day.  Finally, there are real promises so made of which the person making that promise has done so voluntarily with aforethought and with the real intent of keeping that promise.  Those then, are the types of promises that are the truly the ones that count in regards to a given person’s true character.

The thing about promises so being made, is that most of time, even almost all of the time, many promises are pretty easy to keep, mainly because nothing of conflict or of true testing ever comes into play, so until the time that actually occurs, pretty much everything is just fine.  Alas, life is full of tests, of which, some of those tests are going to be tough, and it is in those tough tests, that determines the integrity or lack thereof of the person so involved.  So then, an intentional promise made is supposed to be a promise kept, and those that are unable to keep their promises, have failed the test; though, of course, there may well be mitigating circumstances, excuses, and all sorts of reasons why; some legit, some not, but still, when it is all said and done, that promise has been broken.

While there are myriad reasons why promises are broken, the two biggest reasons why promises are typically broken are first of all, because some people are just too weak to keep their promises, and then when push comes to shove, they will not even admit to breaking their promises, for they know that they can’t handle the shame, the embarrassment, or the lost of face, if they do so admit, so they end up lying and don’t own up to it, hoping to never to be found out, though, most times they do get found out. The other main type of promise that is broken, is when it is to the promise-breaker’s immense advantage to break the promise, because something that they value more, or think they value more, is right there in front of them, and they will not let go of that opportunity, come what may, so the breaking of the promise so made apparently represents no meaningful value to them.

When it comes to promises, one must give credit to where credit is due, and for all those good people that keep their promises through thick and thin, they are of sound and good character, especially those so taken to the absolute testing limit of a given promise, perhaps even more than once, and yet they did not give in to that temptation, no matter how alluring, for they would not break that promise; so then, these fine individuals have run their race well -- it is therefore these few that deserve our credit and our accolades, for they truly have kept their promise, which means that they have successfully kept their word.

Gentrification and the recovering of….

That which is known as gentrification is pretty much the taking over and the purchasing of by people and organizations with power, money, vision, and connections of specific neighborhoods or certain portions of those neighborhoods, of which these neighborhoods typically have an abundance of low-income or limited-income residents, and the homes are often somewhat dilapidated, and somewhat neglected; in which, as part of this process is the deliberate and purposeful displacing of those that are currently residents of that area, through whatever means that are most effective for the accomplishment of that task.

This thus means that the upshot of gentrification is the removal of those that were once part of that neighborhood, with the replacement by those that are now the new owners and new residents to it.

To the extent that gentrification rehabilitates neighborhoods, makes material improvements within those neighborhoods, improves the infrastructure in and around that neighborhood, and basically injects “new blood” into a given neighborhood, one could readily see this as being beneficial.  Of course, as might be expected, those benefits have a tendency to incur to those that are the new residents of such, and less so to those that have been displaced, depending upon whether those so displaced, received anything of real benefit from such displacement.

Nobody should be real surprised by the existence of gentrification, for the thing about real estate is that it is always about location, location, and location; so that those that see a desirable area of which the prices of the real estate contained within that area, is significantly undervalued as compared to what comparable areas would be priced at, is the type of dynamic that is going to appeal to those that have the gumption to take a foresighted and calculated risk that will enable them a fair chance to make a good investment.

What often is not considered in regards to those properties, so taken over by gentrification, is how it came to be, that those of today’s limited income, or the lower middle class, were able to secure those desirable properties in the first place.  The answer to that question has an awful lot to do with historic prejudices within societies, of which, white flight, such as back in the 1950s, from very nice residential areas, having been purchased at a “princely” sum by those of color in order to buy into those neighborhoods, and of which, by their purchasing of such, this often resulted in the consequence that the value of that neighborhood soon thereof, went down in value, though the mortgage obligation did not.  Yet, fundamentally the location of the neighborhood, the infrastructure, and the homes themselves, were all quite good at the time of the purchase; but therein lies the rub, for once the infrastructure begins to decay or to leave, along with the personal income being somewhat problematic in regards to the good upkeep of the home and property, some of these once nice neighborhoods were invariably going to go into a spiral of decline.

So then, what has occurred, is that those that once flew the coop, so to speak, are now back.  They are back, because they recognize the intrinsic quality of that location, and the second time around, white flight, has been replaced instead by white greed, so that the favored race is once again back in the saddle, taking back and recovering what they believe to be rightfully theirs, though in truth, it is not.

Zoning laws and control of the population

One might have a tendency to believe that the person so owning the land underneath their feet, has therefore a reasonable right to do what they so desire to do with that land, subject to fair rules and regulations as specified by governmental legislation.  Some rules and regulations that certainly would be considered reasonable, would be the regulation of those businesses that are chemical pollutants and the like, as well as housing structures being limited in height, so as to not obscure views of other property owners in the immediate area, and the sensibility to segregate business zone districts from residential areas, along with other practical things of that sort.

So, the fact that there are zoning laws certainty makes sense, but the application of those zoning laws as currently practiced in way too many jurisdictions, puts a lie to any real sensibility or consistency of what is actually going on. For instance, zoning laws seem to take into account, way more than necessary and way more than appropriate, what the residents within certain jurisdictions want to occur in “their” neighborhood. Not too surprisingly, nice neighborhoods are loath to welcome liquor stores, dense apartment structures, low-income housing, housing which permits short term rentals, and pretty much anything that would be accommodative of people that are not the “right” type of people, as defined by that neighborhood.  In other words, far too many neighborhoods, want and desire to be exclusive, for they feel that is the best way to protect as well as to augment the value of their property, which means that they need to force those that are not of their ilk, to live and essentially to congregate somewhere else.  Those other neighborhoods, though, that have no effective representation, and no political power or connections, are the very neighborhoods thereby targeted and susceptible to having to accommodate the riffraff and the fallen of society, for the un-championed have to be housed somewhere, of which, it seems to be the norm within America, that those without a voice, are destined to be compacted together into ghettos of neglect, abandonment, and hopelessness.

Further to the point, signifying how corrupt, zoning laws are in actuality, is the fact that just because land is designated and zoned for industrial businesses, or residential, or apartments, or even as non-development open space; those with money, connections, and influence, are often able to get land that was zoned for one use, to be zoned for an entirely different use, which, none too surprisingly, means a significant difference in the value of that land, and of which, those privy to such favorable zoning changes, are the beneficiaries of such. 

This government has made its point as in its rule of law, that separate is not equal; but America is nothing but separateness and segregation, of which, those with the money and power, live in beautiful enclaves of privilege; and those without, suffer the ill effects of living a lot of times not only in places of real neglect, danger, and misery, but also in places of which they unduly suffer the harm from pernicious pollutants.  This thus signifies that effectively zoning as applied is really a means to curtail the masses from bothering or even being seen by the rich and powerful, and hence zoning is practiced as a means to round up and to control the population, so that each knows their proper place.

There is unseen order

Some people for whatever reason want to believe that life itself, this world, and everything within it, is just random.   That belief may be a convenience for some, but it is an absolute falsity, as well as being a delusion.  In fact, there is an unseen order to everything that we are involved with, and our highest obligation is to find and to know that unseen order, and to thereby be in harmony with it.  Those that do this, will find the ultimate answer to all of their questions, and those that do not, might just do okay; then again, in whole, they will not.  In truth, all of the problems in this world, are a true reflection that the ignorance of that unseen order, is the basic substance of all that troubles and ails us.

There cannot conceivably be any higher calling than to find the truth of who and what we are, and thereby the why of our existence.  Those therefore that will not trouble their mind to actually contemplate upon this, are at best, simple-minded, and at worse, fools.  In just about every civilization, even those that have legally eliminated God, there is a deep and abiding desire of the people to find truth and meaning in their lives, so done through the reasonable belief that there is a God or something so representing such, and that this God is immutable, omnipotent, perfect, and prescient.  That is the reason why there is religion and religious organizations in just about every society, of which, the best of these religions remains those that are truly interested in the good welfare of their congregation, as well as society in general.

All that humankind discovers is to keep them engaged so as to continue their good search for that which first created it all.  So too, the advancements so made by humankind for the betterment of such, should be seen as a meaningful tribute not only to the human family, in general; but also, as a tribute to God.  On the other hand, those that purposefully ignore the truth, of this unseen order, or actively work against such, are making the error of putting that which was created as if it supersedes that which created such.  So too, those that place humankind upon the pedestal as if the measure of humankind is by humankind, are attempting to create their peculiar order, by ignoring that unseen order.

Here is the thing, this world should be seen as what it so represents, a proving ground.  Those that make the effort to become in harmony with that unseen order, are on the pathway to that which will bring the good ending to all of their sorrows, and enlightenment to their soul.  Those that do not, or care not to, are consigned to live within a construct in which whatever that they believe is their desire is perpetually to be like trying to secure liquid mercury, and therefore again and again, the satisfaction that they so need, will not ever be successfully held, for that which is really needed, is that unseen order, and none else. 

Why things always go down faster than they go up

Whether it’s specifically about the stock market, or about businesses, or life in general, when the times are good, it seems like those good days are going to never end, but they do so eventually end; and when those times begin to turn bad and then subsequently turn very, very bad, most of those that were on board to begin with, make it their point to change their mindset from being money hungry or greedy to just plain survival.  That is the essence of why things always go down a whole lot faster than up, because while just about everybody enjoys being part of the winning team, nobody ever wants to be the last person holding the bag on what has now become the losing team.

For instance, when a given company loses the confidence of its customer base, that relationship has fundamentally changed from one in which deals are made, honored and respected, to the very opposite of such.  Those that seemingly smell “blood in the water” now look at contracts with a jaundiced eye and will do everything possible to sabotage agreements that are cut and dry, by basically taking actions to preclude the agreement from being honored by the terms, that were previously agreed to in good conscience.  

Once one party no longer has an interest in continuing a relationship, even a relationship so done “for better or for worse,” then everything that was once considered to be the norm is subject to arbitrary change by that one party that no longer has a vested interest in continuing with it.  In truth, no matter how ironclad a given contract is, or the guarantees behind such, or promises so made; in actuality, a lot of what really goes on in relationships and businesses, is built upon mutual trust and the belief that being connected one to the other, is done so on a continuous basis, and once that belief is gone, or it has been irreplaceably damaged, it all begins to fall part; first slowly, and then very, very fast.

Most people aren’t stupid, rather, they are practical.  This thus signifies that when the dynamic changes, people are often perceptive enough, to make those adjustments so needed to keep their head at a minimum, above water, or even better, to excel whereas others might just hesitate or do nothing of substance.  Those that simply believe that a particular object in motion, will always continue that same motion, seem to have dismissed the reality that once that object meets another unanticipated object or something unstable that affects their object, then things will and must change.

Once confidence is irreparably breached, that relationship has changed.  Additionally, once one party determines that they are not in it for the long term and further that there isn’t any perceived downside to their taking particular actions which are detrimental to the other party, then such is probably going to happen.  As they say, nothing goes up forever, and the bigger that they are, truly, the harder that they do fall.

Defining sin

Lots of people like to define sin, so done, via different definitions, such as, for instance, in the disobeying of societies’ laws, or the disobeying of what humankind has defined as God’s law, or the disobedience to Natural law, and even of not doing what should be done in a particular situation; of which, all these are readily defined as sin, along with many other things of this sort.  Most people have a pretty good understanding of what sin is and pretty much know when they have sinned or not, though there are always going to be those people that are just plain ignorant or pretend to be such, even when they have done something wrong that is pretty unequivocal, when viewed fairly by outside parties.

Yet, there is another way to define sin, which while having similarities to the orthodox way of looking at sin, is different and profound in its own way. In point of fact, sin, is best defined as anything that breaks us from or has the effect of breaking our connection to, and thereby losing our friendship with God.  So basically, anything that separates us from God and therefore the good attributes of God, which thereby places us outside of our proper harmony with God, is that which is sin, big or small.

God should be our best friend, for God always gets it right, and God will never let us down; so then, to the degree so possible in our relationships with others, we find that those relationships are true, to the extent that each party represents in action -- love, forgiveness, justice, and faithfulness.  Anything less than that, doesn’t mean that our relationships have no value, but rather represents that there are improvements that need to be made to our character so that we can be of better temperate and by the virtue of being better, this means that we are therefore sinning less and less.

The first fundamental step in reducing our sinfulness, is to keep front and center in our mind’s eye, that in each and every interaction that we have with anybody, that we always will the good of that other person or entity.  That is to say, to not will the good of the other, is, by definition, sin; because when we do not wish for the best for somebody else, or actively make sure that the other person will be “cheated” through our actions or our inaction in some respect, then we have willfully made a decision that is meant to harm, hurt, or to damage another, which is wrong.

So too, any and everything that takes us away from God, because we know that act is wrong, which thereby infringes upon our good relationship with God, is sin.  It should be noted that it isn’t that our relationships with others in this world is somehow always going to be in enmity with our relationship with God, but rather, those personal relationships should serve to strengthen our friendship with God, so demonstrated by our good and righteous behavior one with another.  We are, always, in every minute of every day, representatives of God, so meant to prove to ourselves as well as to others, as to whether or not we are good stewards of the responsibilities so vested in us, or whether we are irresponsible, confused, and purposefully ignorant of who and what we really are, as children of God.

We are meant to stand up for those that are hurting

Life can be easy, life can be hard; of which, the reality of life for a significant swath of people, is that life too often is difficult, bleak, and harsh.  So then, each day we are provided with a fresh choice as to whether we will ignore those that are suffering and hurting, or whether we will do our fair part to help relieve some of that suffering and hurt by being a good and giving neighbor to our fellow brethren.

It isn’t so much that we shouldn’t be permitted to enjoy a good life ourselves, or that we should feel guilty for having a good time, but rather it is important to recognize that we should be driven, at least some of the time, to do our good part to make society a better place for our involvement within it.  This thus signifies, that those that are perhaps enjoying a little bit too much of the “good life” themselves, need to step down from their pedestal, from time-to-time, so as to willingly, not begrudgingly, engage with the greater world, which subsists of a fair number of people that need a helping hand, a willing ear, and some good company.

Each one of us should want to know how life really is for those that are struggling, so as to better appreciate not only where they are coming from, but also to have some insight into these particular troubles within society, which thereby provides us with a better perspective on our own favorable circumstances. So too, life isn’t necessarily always going to be a smooth ride for anybody, of which, those that have been blessed with good experiences, can after an unfortunate event, see their own lives decline into mediocrity and subsequently into far, far worse.   So then, it behooves everyone to recognize that we should really appreciate the good times and good circumstances as they come to us, for the future is uncertain, and thereby subject to the vicissitudes of life.

One would think that the most generous people in the terms of caring, empathy, and sympathy would have to be the most successful people, for they knowing how good life can really be, thereby show their appreciation for this by standing up for those that are hurting and thereby proactively do what they can to help alleviate sorrow and injustice for those that are forlorn.  In reality, this isn’t typically true, for a significant amount of the most generous and giving people, are actually those that themselves have personally suffered tragedy, setbacks, and hurt; who because they have been there, want to do their part to lend a helping hand to those that really need such.

To identify with only those that are the winners of society, and to stand by them, is the easiest of tasks to accomplish, for anyone can simply go with the winning flow.  However, those then, that are true to that higher calling, which is to bring healing to those that are hurt, to see justice for those that have been unjustly dealt with, and to bring joy to those that are in sorrow, may indeed have the more difficult path, one of perhaps some unappreciation and frustration, but for all those that see such out by giving their best, they have done such to the glory of that which first created them.

The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938

While most people consider flying via an airline to be a pretty routine experience, such was not the case, when passengers first began to travel from city to city back at the inception of commercial airline passenger travel.  Not too surprisingly, the government made it a point to regulate this nascent business and therefore passed a considerable number of rules and regulations to address this form of travel.  One of those legislative acts so passed, was the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, of which, it is important to consider, that traveling in America, meant flying over various States, and into the various cities of those States, in which, some of those cities and States were located in the segregationist South.  In a time, in which “separate but equal” was the implicit law of the land, and of which, those of color, were doomed to take the back seats of the bus, or to stand, when such a bus was fully occupied; this thus signified that the airline industry, could ill afford to take a wrong step, as their business model, depended upon being accommodative to all those that had the money to afford such travel and to therefore not to be discriminatory or to get caught up in Southern practices and traditions which meant little to nothing to these airlines and clearly represented no material advantage to their business.  So too, in consideration of the fact that the Southern States were outnumbered by all the other States, this made such an Act eminently sensible, along with the salient fact that the administration so led by FDR was progressive and not regressive.

As much credit as we give to those that wrote, debated upon, and passed the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, it is important to take to heart, that the people so traveling through commercial airlines at that point of time, were almost exclusively people from the business world, or of some real material success, education, and means; because airline travel back then was not for those on some sort of strict budget.  This therefore meant that to a very large extent, the people so traveling on domestic airlines weren’t people of color, and quite obviously those of color on the airlines in that day and age, were for the most part, primarily going to be representatives of the so-called “better” type.

So then, those airports in the South, were pretty much out of luck in regards to segregating those of color from the privileged race on the actual flights, though they did what they could do to make the Southern airport terminals, segregated and uncomfortable for those that were not white; but were at the same time somewhat cognizant that the “times were a-changing,” along with the somewhat ominous fear that the Federal government seemed on the pathway to trumped more and more of so-called State’s rights.  Indeed, the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 proved the point that with a fresh start on a new form of transportation that America was forward enough looking to discard that which was not in keeping with equality and opportunity, so as to embrace that which was in harmony with that of a meritocratic country, representing fairness, liberty, and hope, for all.

Pharmaceutical products and sales are to a high degree, parasitic upon the population

We read at statista.com, that “pharma revenues worldwide totaled 1.27 trillion U.S. dollars in 2020.”  Additionally, an article at nih.gov, tells us that “approximately 80% of antimicrobial, cardiovascular, immunosuppressive, and anticancer drugs are of plant origin.”  The bottom line is that way before the modern pharmaceutical industry came to age, medicines that were provided for the general welfare of the people, primarily were those that involved the utilization of plant species and other natural remedies so provided to us by Mother Nature for the healing of various ills.

While, no doubt, modern pharmaceuticals have done an outstanding job of providing critical and valuable medicine so needed for the health and repair of human bodies, this has come though at a very great monetary cost to that general public, for not all those pharmaceuticals are even that innovative, for they often rely instead in the taking of that which is free from Mother Nature, and then essentially manipulating such in a manner in which a patent is created for that medicine, thereby providing to that pharmaceutical entity, healthy profits, so made upon the ill health of those patients so needing that medicine.

In America, the pharmaceutical industry is primarily profit-based, thereby leading to the dichotomy of those that while providing medicine for the benefit of those so needing such, are doing so in a manner in which they extract profit from those ill patients, and deliberately are retaining and therefore privatizing such medical knowledge so as to obtain more profit, at the expense of the general public, so done deliberately and primarily for the benefit of that corporation and its shareholders.

The argument could be made and should be made as to whether or not, for-profit pharmaceutical companies are beneficial for the general public in whole, or whether they are in fact, parasitic in their structure; thereby making their money upon those patients that are placed in the unenviable position of needing medicine for their good health, and so therefore paying whatever so needs to be paid to the piper of that medicine so provided.

After all, any company of which its highest mission is to make money and profits for its shareholders is almost by definition, not going to be the appropriate company to provide safe, reliable, and fair priced pharmaceuticals to those that need such, for one mission battles against the other, of which, the winner, thereof, is the billions upon billions of profits so made by those pharmaceutical companies, extracted essentially from the pockets of those that are sickly.

In truth, the more worthy objective for those that are in the healthcare business, should be to actually provide that healthcare in a manner in which the people are most benefited by the knowhow and breakthroughs of that industry, as opposed to some players within that industry seeing those that are ill, as an opportunity to extract whatever profit that they can from them, knowing that those that are sick, don’t typically have a lot of good or viable alternatives. 

Finally, the fact that so many products provided by the pharmaceutical industry are actually derivatives of what is so found in Mother Nature, should bring great shame to many of those that are the purveyors of such, for their purposeful greed and their misuse of expertise for their own personal benefit, at the expense of those in no good position to effectively fight back.

Jacob’s Ladder

We read in Holy Scripture, in regards to Jacob, that “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:12). The symbolism of this dream is very important, for it tells us that rather than believing that we simply “go to Heaven” or that, on the other hand, we somehow become unconnected to God, because of our bad behavior; that, in fact, what exists for each one of us, is a ladder, so created for our benefit and for our good use.  Those then that step up that ladder and therefore ascend, are those that are performing good deeds in this world, as well as keeping God foremost in their mind.  These same steps that lead down should not though be interpreted as a reversal of our good work, but rather to indicate that God’s angels are ever here to descend down to us, so as to assist us in finding our proper place and therefore our proper destination for our being.

So too, it should be recognized, that those that contemplate the greatness of our God, are those that look up to that which created us, and in order for us to get to where we need to go, it cannot be accomplished by those that simply drop to their knees and do nothing; but rather it necessitates our taking appropriate actions for the good of societies, so that therefore step by step by our good deeds, we get ever closer to where we need and ought to be.  Additionally, life can be seen as a battleground, of which that ladder in which angels descend to us, are our fellow companions to keep us focused upon that of which really matters, indicating to us, at all times, that God to His creation is never a one-way pathway, but necessitates an open-door policy, which provides us forthwith with free will, of which by that freedom comes inherent responsibility and further to that, our sacred obligation to that which breathed us into existence, at the beginning.

So then, first off, we need to find that ladder, and second to that, we need to get our mind right so that we can successfully perform those necessary things to begin our ascent up that ladder.  Those then, that unfortunately are too earthly bound are caught within the construct of that which is an endless repetition of what this earth so represents for them, a continuous merry-go-round that neither progresses nor regresses, but simply goes around in the same ceaseless circle, forever. 

Each of us has been blessed with a thinking mind, and those then that take the time to contemplate the why of our existence will surely find the answer to that question should they persistently search for such hard enough.  We are meant to find our destiny, and that destiny lies above not below.  Jacob’s ladder is God’s perpetual gift to us, providing us with the stairway that will not only bring us enlightenment, but also eternal sanctuary, along with the renewed knowledge that out of many we are meant always to be just One.

“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground”

The above quotation comes from the brilliant mind of Thomas Jefferson, way back in 1788.  As true as these words were back then, so written at the inception of these United States; for a certainty we live and feel its truth even more so today, for that government which is ostensibly of, for, and by the people has wrested away from the people significant swaths of its liberty and replaced such with such dubious things in return such as safety and security, if even that.

This government knows everything about us, but in return has provided us with a minimal number of benefits for us having ceded such knowledge and therefore power to that government.  The liberty that this country once so nobly represented, has been replaced by, at best, a benign police state, and at worse, for those that are particularly unfavored and unprivileged, an oppressive police state, that steals liberty from its citizens, and puts them effectively in chains; for the United States has no place for the poor and un-championed, other than to keep them intimidated, at bay, and under its forceful control.

So too, the liberty to be about one’s business and simply to travel along the streets of this powerful nation, is problematic for all those that are not immune to the perils of being out in the public, susceptible to being pulled over, questioned, searched, and harassed, for often no real good or valid reason, other than to put the fear of this authoritarian government into the hearts and minds of all those that have the audacity to believe that they are free agents, when in reality, they are not.

The reason that liberty so often yields to government, is that governments and the actuators of those governments, not only enjoy having the awesome privilege and power so placed into their hands to effect this or that, but they allow that power to subsequently seduce and to addle their minds in a way in which they forget that the power that they have is so provided and is authorized to them, by the people, for the good of those people; but somehow this government and its representatives thereby twist and turn that into a belief that a citizenry with liberty, choice, and freedom, is an ever present danger to the stability of that government, and because of that belief, therefore these governmental representatives consistently make those decisions that will yield the people’s liberty to that government.

The problem with this government, is that it doesn’t actually care for any sort of meaningful dissent, and to circumvent such, the political parties of this day and age, that ostensibly represent the people’s interests, are in reality, more akin to two sides of the same coin, of which, that very coinage is always in the full control of that government.  Anytime that a government is not properly restrained by its Constitution and/or the elected representatives of such, then that government will keep on taking what it so can take, knowing that there is no other source or power that has the ability to pushback upon them, and so therefore, the people yield.

Governmental secrets

This is supposed to be a government of, for, and by the people, but that is not conceivable when that government has literally millions of documents created each and every year that are classified and therefore are not available to the general public for any sort of proper and appropriate scrutiny.  It would be one thing if that government was a well-oiled machine, of which, everything that it did was right, just, and aboveboard, but that isn’t the case at all, and this government knows that for a certainty.

While governments the world over, will proclaim over and over again how they need to keep this or that secret, for the general protection of the people, as well as to keep such secrets from getting into enemy hands; this simply represents no more than the excuse of why so many documents are kept secret and confidential, but this is not the truth of why they are primarily kept secret and confidential.  Logic, itself tells us, that those that insist, again and again, that they need to keep something secret, are doing so, not for our protection, though, occasionally that might just be true; but primarily to keep what they are doing private, because they do not desire for it to be exposed, for they fear the consequences of such exposure so coming to light in a timely and a meaningful manner.

The main problem when any government insists that it needs to keep millions upon millions of documents, secret, is that those that have been elected into office, have a responsibility to be transparent to the people, so that those people can therefore determine as to whether those elected officials are actually being good stewards of the people’s resources, so held in the hands of those representatives to that government.  After all, those that are up to no good, see the absolute value in that which they do, being kept secret, and even if such is later revealed, often by the time that revelation comes to light, it is far too late for anything of meaning to be done about what so has already transpired.

Human nature has a strong tendency to want to keep under wraps, all those things that do not hold up well to public scrutiny, for they do not want to feel the heat of those that are disappointed or feel betrayed by all those that should have the public interests foremost in their mind.  Further to the point, it is far easier to sell as well as to control a narrative, when documents that would hurt the cause, are secret, thereby coloring the story in such a way, that decisions so being made may appear to be right, even though, if the full truth was so known, they would be seen as being wrong.

It could be said, that the more documents that a government keeps secret, the more that government should not only be rightly feared, but also the more that government is being deceptive to its people.  Those governments, then, that are run upon an inordinate number of secrets, answer not to the people, but are instead clearly marching to the drumbeat of those that are the true actuators of that government.

Foreign countries, labor unions, and Walmart

No non-governmental company has more employees in America, than Walmart.  Yet, somehow, despite the fact that many of its employees aren’t compensated very well, and of which a significant amount of those employees could certainly use more income, better benefits, and improved overall working conditions, Walmart has successfully fended off all union activity, in America.  The reality is that Walmart has thoroughly conquered America, so the amount of growth so left in this the richest nation in the world is both known and is minimal; whereas the amount of growth worldwide looks quite good and is therefore definitely the sensible pathway required to keep Walmart relevant so that it can continue growing its business at a desirable rate. In consideration, then, Walmart has expanded its stores outside of America, though, not always with success, along with sometimes doing so through the merging of or the buying out of a competitor in order to have the economies of scale to successfully conduct their business, on foreign land.

Of course, labor laws vary from country to country, of which, one might think that Walmart would only consider locating their stores in those countries that don’t permit unions or have minimize such to an irrelevancy, but that isn’t the case at all.  After all, Walmart knows for a certainty, that its business model will actually work with strong union representation, as well as without.  This signifies that it is mainly greed, as well as their continuous lust to improve their bottom line, that makes Walmart so anti-union in their mindset; but Walmart knows, that union or not, they are going to make money, all of the same; though, perhaps not as much when dealing with a strong and vibrant labor component. 

For instance, in Brazil, China, Mexico, and South Africa, a portion of those Walmart employees are unionized and the chance of Walmart somehow being able to “break” those unions are minimal.  Rather, Walmart recognizes that the labor laws in different countries and the costs so of, are part and parcel of doing business in those nations, and subsequently makes adjustments to their business model in order to accommodate this.  The great shame, though, is that there is no country that Walmart has more employees in than America, and yet, Walmart refuses to countenance union representation, by doing everything within their very extensive arsenal to preclude such.  This is indicative of a deliberate corporate policy which does not play fair with the people of the very nation, which provided Walmart with the avenue to become the most successful retail store conglomerate, ever.

So, what we have is a situation in which Walmart employs over 2 million people, worldwide, and, of which a significant amount of them, are doing no better than treading water; whereas, on the other hand, the progeny of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, have a worth on paper, that is in the neighborhood of a staggering $250 billion.  Clearly, when it comes to Walmart, there is no true lack of money or of capital, it just prefers to funnel it primarily to its prime stockholders at the expense of its employees; though, that said, as proven by its foreign locations, Walmart, will pay the union piper, when it so has to.

Governmental interference into parental authority

Life consists of lots of different people, some well-meaning and some not; as well as governments and their agencies which can provide true benefits for those people, or not.  Some of those people, are by nature, busybodies, of which, even when a particular busybody is right about something, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they should therefore have the authority to do something about a particular troublesome thing which is not really their business in the first place.  So too, certain government agencies can behave as a busybody so does, of which, the problem when this so occurs, is that the government often has the power and authority to act upon their busybody inclinations, which does not necessarily mean that they should or ought to.

Not all parents are good parents, though most are good, most of the time; however, there are also those parents which often because their own life is a mess, aren’t particularly good at parenting, and some are downright mean and ugly.  Obviously, nobody wants to see a child abused, neglected, or in a place which is of danger to them, but the correct response to such a troubling situation is not always to remove the children from their parents, as a protective service; but rather it should be for those agencies involving themselves in such, to better understand the peculiarities and reasons why this is happening in the first place, and then materially help to rectify it.

In virtually every case, the biological parents of a child, have a vested interest in seeing that their child has a good life and a good upbringing, and will got to extraordinary efforts to do the right thing for their child.  That said, some situations for children, are precarious from day one, because their parents don’t have the appropriate skillset to manage children well, or the maturity, or the income, or the stability, and so on and so forth.  This so signifies that the most reasoned response by a government agency to a situation in which a child is considered to be in a problematic place is to do their part to address the main reasons for such a questionable construct, as opposed to forcefully taking the child from their parents.

Lots of people, as well as government agencies think that they know best, when it comes to child rearing, but knowing is never the same thing as doing right; and further to the point, in most instances, a child’s biological parents are going to be the best place for a child to be.  So then, all those that complain about how incompetent a given parent is, or how impoverished that they are, or how disorganized they well may be, should rather than decrying the obvious, do something of merit to ameliorate such, for the good of that child and its parents. 

Governments and busybodies have a very clear choice, they can simply take charge of a situation in which it is perceived that by doing so they will be of benefit to that child, or they can take the time to understand that families consist of parents as well as their children, and to thereby remove the children from such, undercuts and destroys the family, while doing nothing to rectify the conditions that brought about these sad situations to begin with.   It would behoove those government agencies then, to see the bigger picture, and desire therefore to be of material aid in support of families, rather than tearing them apart, for the supposed good of the child.

Racism within one’s own race

Most people have a tendency to believe that racism, can only occur when one race, mistreats or despises another race which does not match their own.  While that is the most common form of racism, it does not take into proper account that people of the same race, can behave in a deliberate manner which is racist against their own race.  For instance, while it use to be that police officers were almost exclusively white, throughout America, of which those white officers, invariably patrolled certain areas of the city, that were predominately black, and were often racist in how they dealt with those people of color -- the fact that today’s police force has a significant amount of black officers out in the field as well as in prominent authority positions, has not brought about a paramount change in how those of the black race, are dealt with by black police officers.  The issue for why some, though certainly not all black police officers, are racist against those of the same color, has a lot to do with the fact that these officers, see themselves, at least while wearing the uniform, as primarily a cohesive law enforcement unit, and they therefore seek out and arrest what they perceive to be those that are the biggest menace to society, of which the face of street crime as exercised and policed in America, is predominately the underclass, represented in many instances, by those that are black.

Additionally, what most people do not take into account when it comes to racism, is that they don’t look deep enough at the core issue of what appears to be racism; for beneath the color of a given person’s skin, is something that is not discussed and debated upon often enough, which is that a lot of what appears to be racism, is in reality, a form of class discrimination.  In other words, those that are white, can easily despise and even hate, those that are considered to be “trailer trash”, or skinheads, or all those that are uncultured and uncouth, as being beneath them, and therefore dismissing them of any import; as well, of course, we find that poor white simple folk, are themselves often despising those over-educated bleeding-heart white people that think that they know so much.  So too, a similar dividing line exists for other individual races, for instance, of those that are successful, who come from favorable backgrounds and believe wholeheartedly that they represent their minority race well, who thereupon look down upon those of their same race, that are ill-educated, lazy, violent, deviant, and are considered to be a social embarrassment or worse. 

The truth of the matter is that people of the very same color can and do hate one another; which thereby signifies that what they see in their respective mirrors has less to do with the color of their skin and has a lot more to do, with their perceived view of who and what they believe that they so represent in the world that they live in.  it would seem to be, that those that are successful, no matter the color of their skin, have a strong tendency to want to associate with others that are of the same sort of success, of which, though they might still have a strong preference for those others to be of the same color, they seemingly draw a very distinct line, that deliberately separates them from all others of that race, that do not measure up to the standards that they so expect from them.