In a global world, capital is King

There is no doubt and absolutely no debate, that the “elites” of society, as well as the biggest multinational corporations throughout the world, have never had it better than what is so occurring at the present time.  This is somewhat surprising, because unlike in previous generations, the amount of information available to the general public as well as the literacy rate throughout the world is fairly high.  Additionally, the most significant countries in the world, ostensibly have free elections, so determined by a democratic vote.  Yet, despite all of this, and despite the fact that the world in aggregate has never been wealthier, it is the elites, and the multinational corporations that have the lion’s share of that wealth, along with its incumbent power, and the trend is for those that already have it all, to have even more.

The biggest issue in regards to capital is that in a world in which protectionism and thereby tariffs has been seriously reduced and “free trade” in all of its many facets, has been embraced -- is that those with meaningful capital assets are no longer precluded or limited to utilizing that capital only within the borders of their home base, but rather they are permitted to cross borders and go into nations with their capital for business or investment enterprise choices and have subsequently done so in spades.  Within a construct, in which governmental agencies and tax authorities seemingly often don’t care to get meaningfully involved in where that capital so goes, and of which, they also don’t seem to give a hoot about prioritizing domestic employment in any of its many forms; it then is no surprise that those that seek profit, above all else, are going to take their capital to those countries in which the labor compensation rates are low, labor protection laws are non-existent or eviscerated, and often too, the environment laws are lax, because within that construct, the road to good profits, is abundant.

The main reason why domestic labor unions in America have seen their power with private enterprise, regressed back to where it was at the beginning of the 20th century, and of which labor is catered to by neither of the major political parties, is that the elite and the multinational corporations effectively own the show; through their mighty influence, money, and control of the narrative that favors their viewpoint, as always being legitimate and valid.  Another way of looking at this, is to understand that corporate stock prices, are influenced by the continual growth of a given corporation along with its corresponding profits; and those corporations that do not avail themselves of deliberately seeking the lowest labor point, as well as the lowest overall price point locality to conduct their business, have done an injustice to the authority vested in them by their corporate board, as well as imprudently enervating the implicit power that monetary capital, in and itself, represents.

Those that somehow believe that the superrich as well as the superrich corporations are somehow constrained by some sort of moral or ethical code which thereby stipulates that they have an inherent responsibility to first to do right by the whole of their domestic constituents are sadly delusional.   Those of the superrich, absolutely love this “brave new world” in which they can ignore the common people of their own domestic land, while effortlessly exploiting, directly or indirectly, developing nations for their own insatiable greed, all apparently, without end.

There was a time when matrimonial pledges were taken very seriously

Nowadays, marriages are done by some people at the drop of a dime, or without any real meaningful thought process, or for no particular valid reason, and the subsequent divorce for these frivolous type marriages, is not something wholly unexpected; basically, putting the lie to till “death do us part.”  Then, there are those other marriages that are a very big deal, well planned out and suitable; and of which, marriage thereby still remains for a significant number of couples, one of the most important days of their lives; though virtually none of this is at the level that a matrimonial pledge itself was, back in the 19th century and before.

In earlier times, a given male who made a pledge to a female to get married, had, in fact, made a solemn commitment, of which, if subsequently he was unable to fulfill that sacred obligation, there were serious consequences that would be appropriately dealt with in due time.  It has to be remembered, that females got married at a much younger age, back then, so time most definitely was of the essence; in addition, to the fact that courtship, itself, was a ritual with written and unwritten rules, so that when a couple pledged to get married to one another, this essentially meant that they were not to be interfered with by any other party; for that commitment, was in so many words, sacrosanct, and thereby one very short step from the actual marriage celebration, itself.

So then, given those conditions, and the fact that some people, invariably, got “cold feet” or had second thoughts, or were scoundrels; it would be well to remember that this then was not one of those situations, in which, some sort of simple apology would do; for a female betrothed to her man, of which, she was essentially “off the market” for any extended period of time, was hurt, first and foremost by the fact that she didn’t actually get married. So too, there was the material fact that having lost a significant portion of her limited time as good marriage material, her perceived value by other potential suitors was damaged, and left her susceptible to being labeled as an “old maid;” along with the salient fact that she might now be seen, rightly or wrongly, as damaged goods; as if she was no longer considered to be pure, unblemished, or virginal.

Young women, so betrothed, in which, that marriage subsequently did not occur, were typically not going to be subsequently perceived as being of more value by others; though, there were exceptions to that; but rather, typically were wont to being perceived by worthy suitors as being “suspect,” at least at a minimum, on a subconscious level.  After all, many people, are not thrilled to being thought of as the second or the alternative choice when it comes to a marriage.  So too, all the preplanning and arrangements so made by the families of the parties to that marriage, would all be for naught, which further served to muddy the waters.  This was indeed a time when a man’s word was his sacred bond, as was the woman’s acceptance of such, in return.  Today, that isn’t really the case; though, it’s hard to see that as actually being progress.

The Declaration of Independence and slavery

The word “slavery” does not appear in the Declaration of Independence, in which that seminal document expresses the egalitarian belief that “…that all men are created equal;” of which, this then is contradicted by the fact that the slavery of human beings was most definitely of existence and of persistence, to some degree, large or small, directly or indirectly, in all of those thirteen colonies, and thereby subsequently left unaddressed by that Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson, of which it was then reviewed by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, before being submitted to the Continental Congress in June of 1776.  What most people don’t know is that Jefferson actually did address slavery in that document, so written in a way that the blame for such was laid upon the feet of King George III of Great Britain.  So then, when the complaints in regards to the injuries, usurpations, and tyranny committed by the King against the colonists, was written by Jefferson, part of the long clause he wrote addressing slavery, said the following: “He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.”

This thus signifies that in actuality the biggest flaw and contradiction of that Declaration of Independence, was actually directly addressed by its author; yet, as we know today, this clause did not make it into the final rendition of that Declaration of Independence.  It is important to acknowledge, that representatives of all thirteen colonies, totaling fifty-six men, eventually signed that Declaration, but not until that time in which particular clauses to that Declaration, were amended, removed, or modified.  This thus meant that those that were the biggest proponents of slavery, either because they benefited directly from slave labor, or benefited through the profit and trafficking so of, would not countenance a clause that vilified that peculiar institution, but rather desired to see it, effectively ignored.

So indeed, the slave masters and slave sympathizers were triumphant in winning their way on what became the Declaration of Independence.  It must be stated that by the Continental Congress not forthrightly addressing the enslavement of their fellow human beings, who had been forcefully taken and stolen from their distant homeland, so that a very few could profit from their uncompensated labor; and of which these enslaved peoples had no rights to which the white man was bound to respect; this thereby meant that legally, slaves were considered to be by American jurisprudence chattel property, which was a horrible and tragic wrong.

The thing about committees is that often times, compromises have to be made; but there are those special times in regards to certain subjects, of which, some of these specific subjects, fundamentally, cannot be compromised, because to do so, undercuts the very meaning as well as the justification of the very principles of that document, so being debated upon.   This was one of those times, and those so gathered together into one body politic, failed in their highest duty, to answer correctly to their Creator, as well as to recognize that, quite obviously, unalienable rights, were rights that applied to all men as well as to all women.  That failure, and the subsequent bloody Civil War, that inevitably came, has, even to this day, not yet, cleansed clean what that Declaration of Independence, was really supposed to represent and to be.

Compliance and resistance

Each of us, initially, is born to be compliant; which certainly makes sense for a child’s safety and for its proper guidance, for most parents are determined to do right by their offspring, who are dependent upon their parents and other good folks, for their general welfare and upbringing; in which, these parents typically have the best interests of their children, in mind.  At some point, though, each of us is no longer a dependent child, and further to the point, not everything ask of us, should unquestionably be complied with.  There is indeed, a higher code, even higher than respect for one’s parents, and it is to that code, that all sensible people must answer to.

There are plenty of people, governments, and organizations, that do not care for those that resist their commands, but what of it?  Those that so desire easy compliance, and preferably unquestioned obedience at all times, are the very entities that seem to be seeking and desiring to deal with human beings as something akin to an automaton.  Rather, each of us is an independent agent, eligible to join together in common cause with others of like mind, or not.  Additionally, those that want us to do this or to do that, should at least be able to list sensible reasons for why this should be done, as well as to demonstrate their integrity, by themselves being willing to perform their part in the actions so desired or requested.

There are far too many organizations, that have their priorities, fundamentally wrong.   That is to say, some of them, believe that they exist pretty much solely to make profits and to augment their turf, above all else -- no matter the cost to humanity, the environment, societies, or anything else of import.   People and entities that have this particular mindset, are going to desire compliance, and will see those that work with them, or work for them, as nothing much more than cogs in their machine; of which, typically that machine is subservient to those very few at the top.

Within any society, when there are just an essential few that seemingly own or control it all, they quite clearly do not care for any dissent; for having it all, they really don’t want to change a thing.  On the other hand, all those that have nothing much more than the crumbs off of the table, from those that behave as if they are their betters, or their masters; don’t have any real good reason to be compliant, and should, despite the risks and troubles, thereof, resist the injustice of their present situation.

Each person needs to wake up, and to recognize that in the absence of an actual paradise, that abject compliance to what has not worked previously, is not going to work at the present time, either. It is only those that resist, of that which is worth resisting, that human progress continues to be made. Our societies, so created ostensibly for the betterment and the general welfare of the people, need to be held accountable to their given purpose; which is why resistance to that which is wrong, followed by worthy actions so made for the improvement of society in whole, should be the noble call of all those that are fully awake.

King George III and the Declaration of Independence

Most everyone is quite familiar with the Declaration of Independence, and especially the clause “…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  Yet, somehow, forgotten within the skeins of time, is the fact that the majority of the words of that Declaration of Independence actually comes after that noble Declaration, which thereby consists of a list of some detailed twenty-seven complaints that the colonists had against King George III.

One might ask, why did the colonists even bother with the complaints; of which, the correct answer to that is that at the time of the Declaration of Independence, the colonists were British subjects, and therefore under the aegis of King George III, signifying that if they really so wished to declared their independence, that they truly did need to make a valid case to the world as to the reasons, so of.  After all, if those colonists were hoping to get material aid, including military assistance from historic enemies of Great Britain, it would behoove them to be able to have a compelling story to sell to the outside world.

Additionally, it was important to convince fellow colonists, that the proposed rebellion against Great Britain, was indeed a worthy and necessary objective; of which, the reasons for such, made not only eminent sense for the well-being of those colonists, but that tellingly that these reasons were not going to be successfully resolved, except through independence by those colonists, now formed into a United States, as opposed to agreeing to some sort of middling middle ground, compromise, or something else of less than satisfactory ilk with Great Britain.

In truth, the colonists wished to draw the line in the sand, and pretty much wanted to make it quite clear to their fellow colonists, that they were either for independence, or for their continual dependency upon a distant country; of which, that country, as signified through the list of twenty-seven complaints, didn’t have their best interests in mind.  Further to the point, this was a day and age, in which self-governance, by, for, and of the people, didn’t exist on any meaningful level in any country of significance, of which, the colonists needed to come across as organized, perceptive, adept, and coordinated.  This was a time when Kings were the type of entity, that needed to be properly vilified on a level that neutral parties would recognize as being reasonable within the context of those complaints, so that a cry for independence, would be met with a vociferous positive response, both internally as well as externally.

We should remember well, that all those that are in rebellion against a King, have for a certainty, thrown down the gauntlet; and most Kings do not take kindly to any sort of rebellion, or revolt against their authority, in which those that so pledge their honor, their lives, and their fortunes to do so, aren’t just writing words; they are, in fact, pledging those very things.  While posterity may have forgotten about the importance of those twenty-seven complaints so made by those colonists specifically against their king; it was those complaints that built the justification for their Declaration of Independence, and the end result is what so still exists today, the United States of America.

Vagrancy laws

Basically, to be a vagrant, is to be without visible means of support, or homeless, or idle.  Because of the noble Constitutional fightback against these vagrancy laws, of which it was argued that these laws were primarily being utilized by the police as a “catch-all” offense, which in its effect, was purposely vague and discriminatory against those of the underclass and un-championed, it has subsequently been replaced for the most part by charges such as disorderly conduct, or other charges within this same general domain as the modern-day equivalency. 

The reason why vagrancy laws are so unfair, is that it criminalizes those that are homeless, or jobless, or without apparent means of support, and presupposes that these people are a menace to society; as opposed to being seen as people that society has at least some sort of obligation to try to be of assistance to.  Further to the point, vagrancy laws were abused, especially in the Southern States as a way to take those that were formerly enslaved and to work them as unpaid labor for either private enterprise or governmental jobs, so done, as a means to unfairly profit from that free labor and as a way to keep those of color, subservient to the favored class.

In general, it should never be a crime to be poor; yet, the laws often seemed to be structured in a manner in which those that are ill-educated, unfavored, discriminated against, the poor, and the disadvantaged, are deliberately targeted in a way in which they are treated as the refuse of their country; for no good purpose, other than to permit the policing state of the nation, to sing their own praises about how they are cleaning up and making safer the streets of America, thereby, making America great again; though, the streets that these policing authorities primarily concentrate upon, are not tread by anyone other than those that are downtrodden to begin with.

Somehow, this country is ashamed of its poor and wishes to the best of its ability, to shutter such away; as opposed to being proactive and actually doing something about the structural inequalities that this country represents the epitome of.  Each child so born into this nation, has an inborn desire to be something of merit, of which, it is the structure of this nation, that steals the dreams of these innocent children, and thereby criminalizes them for being born poor into impoverished neighborhoods, with dilapidated infrastructure, no job opportunities, few mentors of worth, and schools that are a national disgrace.

This country doesn’t need vagrancy laws, rather it needs to have the courage to actually live up to its creed to be a land of meritocracy, of equality, and of justice for all.   It is the construct of America as it currently is, that inexorably destroys bit by bit, the very people that need most the aid and succor of this the richest nation that the world has ever known.  Most everyone at some stage in life has needed a helping hand; of which, regrettably in America too often when the poor and disadvantaged reach out for such, the response in return by state apparatus is to put the cuffs on them.

Independency and dependency

Most people in America, at some minimum level, at least, believe that they live in the “home of the free.”  Yet, it is difficult to define anybody as being free when they are dependent upon their government, their employer, or some other entity for their subsistence at some meaningful level.  To a very large extent, governments desire that a significant amount of the population, and especially those of the underclass, be dependent upon that government, in which that government, seems to stipulate that a fair trade is for those that receive meaningful benefits from that government is for them to be in turn, obedient, compliant, and obeisance to that government.  So too, many an employer, believes that for their blue-collar workers, or for those that do routine office work, that in return for their paychecks, that those employees should be loyal to that company and therefore that they should accept their pay and their work conditions, as that employer so dictates to them.  Basically, in all of the above cases, those that control the means of employment, or the benefits of governmental largess, demand obedience to their terms, of which therefore, those receiving such, cannot be seen as independent agents, but rather they are dependent, so of.

On the other hand, those that are truly independent, are basically going to consist of people, that whether through inheritance, savings, hard work, or some combination, thereof, have enough capital assets and reliable income, that they aren’t dependent upon either the government, or of being a cog in the machine for some employer, in order to make their own way in the world.  In addition, only those that can dictate the terms of their employment, or are important components of said employment, or are successfully self-employed, are truly able to state that they are “independent.”  All others, are dependent, to some degree or another, and those that are dependent upon others, are to a significant extent, not free. 

It isn’t so much that dependency, is always a bad thing, for there is something to be said about, for example, family situations, in which each party is dependent upon another for certain tasks to be accomplished.  Rather, dependency becomes a real negative, when the person that is dependent, has no meaningful say in what is so occurring, and further to the point, doesn’t have a lot of good or viable options to create a place in which they thereby subsequently become independent.  Additionally, those that are dependent, find themselves from time-to-time in the unenviable position in which in order to receive the benefits that they are receiving, that they have to continually compromise who they really are in order to continue to get what they currently are receiving, even though, what they are receiving, is never enough to extricate themselves out of their dependency.

Most governments and most employers, typically don’t want a multitude of independent agents within their respective domains, because independency is something that does not easily lend itself to being controlled and that which can’t be controlled lends itself to scenarios in which all sorts of things can occur, both good and bad.  It is, though, those bad scenarios that worry governments and employers, because when enough people get together to declare their independence, and do not relent from that justified belief, true change and revolutions happen.

The effective use of leisure time in modern times

Back before the industrial revolution, the workday for the vast majority of people, centered around the daylight hours in order to perform agricultural work, hunting, fishing, and the like.  When the industrial revolution came to fore, the hours for the common working person were to a large extent out of their hands, for they own little or nothing, and therefore had to work the hours so required, and did so under the conditions so demanded, in order to receive the compensation, so dictated by their circumstances.   So then, to a certain extent, the industrial revolution for the common worker, effectively meant less leisure time than the agrarian civilization, that came before.

However, when we fast forward to the modern age, labor laws have now been put into place, along with various rules and regulations in regards to acceptable working conditions, overtime, benefits, and wages, so that, though there are many a person that has to still labor for more than forty hours a week in order to make ends meet; we find that for most people forty hours of labor or even less than that constitutes their obligation to the labor market.  Of course, what’s left is not all free time, for people have the time of their commute, childcare obligations, school, and assorted other mandatory things that they must attend to on a regular basis.  Still, at the end of the day, most people have a fair amount of free time, that is available for them, to do whatsoever that they so desire to do within the limitations of their time, budget, and circumstances.

We shouldn’t forget, that a given week has 168 hours, and though we must eat, sleep, work, and do other assorted things, this would seem to provide a fair number of hours being left for a significant amount of people, in which they don’t have any mandatory obligations, and for some of those people, the free time so available is actually quite considerable.  The paradox of those free time hours that people can use in a manner that suits them, is that some of those people, that have the most leisure time, can’t seem to ever come up with an effective usage of such, but instead, fill their days in mindless activities, of alcohol or recreational drug usage, TV watching, internet browsing, or social media activities, and so on and so forth.  On the other hand, some people with fairly busy schedules, have a plan of action in place, of those things that really matter to them, and go about attending to that with their free time.

The thing is, whether time is well spent or pretty much wasted, we do find that time moves relentlessly ever forward, so it would seem to behoove most everyone to want to spend their leisure time in a manner in which they will get the most satisfaction on some level, from it; yet, many people don’t really do that, probably because they undervalue how valuable leisure time really is.  In truth, far more of us, need to actually understand that time stands still for nobody, no matter one’s status or lack thereof, and therefore each day when we do have some free time, we should probably want to consider doing those things that feel significant to us, that is thereby true to our ideals and image, and far less with that, which is mindless and of no real good purpose.

Hepatitis-C and prisoners in America

Hepatitis-C is endemic in American prisons, and of which if not treated or cured, can result in liver malfunction, thereby leading to debilitation, permanent injury, and to death.  Further to the point, hepatitis-C can be readily prevented by stopping its most common transmission point which is primarily done in prisons through the usage of needle sharing so done for intravenous drug usage and/or tattooing.  The fact that intravenous drug usage even occurs in American prisons, along with illicit tattooing is a reflection that those that monitor the inmates, are often part and parcel of the problem, for it is the prison authorities’ corruption, collusion, and complicity that allows most of this illicit activity to occur in the first place.  So too, this is a fair reflection that those that run the prisons are not proactively dealing with the issue of needle sharing, by, for instance, having an adequate supply of clean needles so available for the prisoners.  After all, if the mindset of those that are in charge of the inmates, is pretty much, laissez-faire, when it comes to intravenous drug usage and tattooing, the least that these prison authorities should do is to make sure that there is fair access to clean needles available to the prisoners so that they do not subsequently suffer from hepatitis-C or HIV, or things of that same general bad ilk.

We read in pewtrusts.org, that it is estimated that the hepatitis-C infection rate is in “…state correctional facilities to be about 17 percent, compared to a rate of 1 percent to 2 percent in the general population.”  To the degree that common sense can reduce that hepatitis-C infection rate in the prison population, the powers-to-be should want to exercise such, as the punishment for any crime so committed, should not also include the destruction of a person’s liver, by the deliberate negligence or unconcern of those that have the responsibility to provide humane conditions within the prison environment.  Additionally, the principle point of prisons should be the rehabilitation of those so incarcerated, of which, those that suffer from hepatitis-C are at a significant disadvantage in being able to perform work when they are so released, by virtue of their damaged health so related to that hepatitis-C.

Of course, many people, could care less about prisoners and hepatitis-C; for they think that those that commit crimes or are found guilty of such, should suffer for what they have so done and if as prisoners, they are inclined to use dirty needles, that is therefore their lot to bear the consequences, so of.  The thing is that societies should be fairly judged upon how they deal and interact with the poorest and most vulnerable amongst them.  By definition, those that are incarcerated are not free, and often are quite limited as to what they can or cannot do within the domain that they live in.   So then, when prisoners are treated essentially as disposable, or with contempt, or with anything that devalues their humanity, that which claims to be the beacon of liberty of the world, has besmirched and dim its own light, to its own lasting shame.

Harmony and disharmony

The greatest music ever written and heard, is that music which is harmonious in its effect upon the human psyche.  Each of us is meant to be harmonious, in all that we say and do, and that which is disharmonious is that which is out of tune with that which brings on quietness of the mind, and the subsequent satisfaction to the soul.  For each of us, has an instrument to play or a song to sing, of which, we are meant to play that instrument or sing that song in a manner that is keeping in harmony with the great actuator of this universe; and of which, we are thereby provided with the opportunity to practice our instrument, again and again, through the life experiences that we so have, until we become at some point, proficient at that instrument, and therefore in harmony with the mystic chords of our Creator.

Life does not necessarily need to be as complicated or as dramatic as so many people make it out to be, for so many are so caught up in their day-to-day activities, that they seemingly don’t ever have the time, to calm their mind so as to ask and to subsequently search for the greatest and most important questions that they truly need to see answered, satisfactorily.  Then they wonder why their lives aren’t as peaceful or as harmonious as they so desire, never seeming to comprehend that those that do not understand the why of their existence, are not in the pole position to best figure out where they ought to be and how best to get there.

We are meant to make wonderful music, together.  To the degree, that we can be in harmony with one another, that is what we should aspire to do.  Those then, that are disharmonious, should not be seen though as people necessarily to be avoided, at all costs; but rather to the extent that we are able to, we should do our good part to help these out-of-tune others, in the meaningful areas that will serve to help improve their circumstances, so that they can therefore do their good part to be that which they were always created to be.

There are many people that mean to do well, but are somewhat befuddled as to how to accomplish such, or sometimes even where to start.  One should always start at the beginning, of which, at that beginning, we should learn the structure of what does make for good harmony, and therefore having properly learned that harmony, we should then mirror back to that which is mentoring us, our form so correctly learned, and continue to do such, until we have mastered the basics, just right.  Once that is accomplished, of which, there may well be setbacks and obstacles to be faced, we therefore now have the experience and knowhow to properly accomplish our part so as to add to the good harmony of this world.

Those then, that are harmonic in their thoughts, in their subsequent actions, and in the music that they so play in their interactions with others, have through their efforts and concentration, conquered sin; whereas, all those that lack consistency, or strength of character, or simply don’t care, are disharmonious, and this then, is what is also known as sin.

Those that cannot govern well their own private life are not worthy leaders

There are plenty of people interested in public service, of which, a true public servant, is someone that has the best interests of that society foremost in their mind.  Many people believe that those that serve the general public are entitled to the privacy of their family life as well as their personal interests, which certainly feels fair, but only to a certain point.  After all, those that aren’t able to govern their own family and personal interests well, or their own self, for that matter; probably are not going to be the best selection for governance in the whole, of which the general public is probably entitled to some degree of fair accounting of that private life in order to help formulate a more informed decision, so of.

While there are people that believe strongly that what someone does behind closed doors, is their own personal business, that is not always going to be the case in every single instance, for those that are provided with some sort of public faith, have an obligation to be willingly transparent with those that they are working on behalf of.   That is to say, if people are one way in public, and a completely contradictory way in private, that would presuppose that there is a disconnect between who that person really is, and what they are so representing, which can easily be troubling and problematic for those that have been trusted with the public purse in the accomplishing of the most appropriate thing for that public.

Further to the point, when any society appreciatively lacks enough numbers of those of good character interested in public service, and thereby hopes somehow to successfully self-govern itself, that is going to be improbable; for those that can’t properly control or monitor themselves well in their private sphere, are probably not well suited to step up in the public sphere so as to do the right thing, either.  This thus signifies that what does happen in private, does matter, and any country that lacks enough members of good character willing to serve that country is a society that is going to be led not by the good people, themselves; but instead by an entity or an organization or a strong man that knows how to manipulate, use, control and to rule the people, in a manner in which, above all, that governmental leadership receives obedience and compliance from the people.

The bottom line is that governments and societies are made up of people, and those democratic societies that do not have enough qualified men and women of upstanding integrity to properly lead them in self-government, will effectively become a government of opportunists and of those that are the richest and most powerful amongst them.  Those of the people, that sensibly look around, and wonder how it is that very little of substance and value is actually ever accomplished by those in governance, must recognize sooner or later, that what has so happened is that those that are incapable of well governing their own private affairs, will be outplayed and outgunned by those clever enough to take control of those that are conflicted, divided, and incapacitated, so as to have things benefit their implicit interests, at the expense of the people, in whole.

We will always be restless until we re-connect totally with God

Each of us has been gifted by our Creator, with free will, and therefore we are allowed to freely make decisions, whether good or bad, and of which, the outcome so of, is dependent for us upon what we have so done as well as its effect upon others.  The fact that we are provided with free will makes for an interesting dynamic, for the fact of the matter is, that nobody has a real interest in any domain, in which those that we interact with, are always without the free will to determine what they so desire to do, because they are automatons without any desires, and that which has no free will, is something that will not be able to maintain our interest, nor will it ever create a dynamic, in which, there is good and evil, but rather instead it will be just a perpetual neutral.

The greatest gift so provided by God, is our creation so done in a way in which, we are free agents, with the opportunity to do whatsoever that we so desire to try to do, and the consequences, so of, are ours to own.  Yet, when provided with that freedom, the initial rush that we individually felt is susceptible to wearing itself out, not so much because there are not enough positives from having that freedom, but rather the consequences of those freedoms, when they are abused, misused, and mismanaged; of which, we suffer therefore from that hurt that reverberates upon us, because we intuitively know that all that we have done wrong, must somehow, be made right.

Then there are those others, that claim that they are not only free agents, but are pretty much sovereign unto themselves, at their volition.  The problem with this type of mindset, is that those that truly believe that they can forever stand tall, in their own domain, or believing that they are perfectly happy on their own, or with just those that they prefer to be with, will recognize, sooner or much, much later, that nothing is ever stagnant, so that those that are on top or in control aren’t always going to have things go their way, forever; and therefore those that separate themselves from others deliberately, as if they don’t need or want them, are going to eventually realize, how lonely it is when it all begins to fall apart, which it inevitably will, because the foundation it so rests upon, cannot successfully stand the test and vicissitudes of time.

It is imperative to recognize that God is whole and absolutely complete, and all that which has been created by God, ultimately will not be able to find the satisfaction that it needs until it rests in the only domain that will bring such to completion.  It is not conceivable, that those that separate themselves from God, will ever be satisfied with their lot, though satisfaction for a time may well be there; but it must be acknowledged that all those that feel loneliness, lack of love, darkness, hopelessness, and abandonment, are those that have left God for some substitute which cannot last through the skeins of time. 

It is important to remember, that God does not own us, that is, we are actually free; and there is no greater tribute that anyone can provide for that which provided them with such freedom, then at the end of the day, to return to their Creator, having taken the great gifts so provided to them, and bountifully increased them for the glory of His kingdom.

Do nice guys really finish last?

It has been said that nice guys finish last, and while there can indeed be some truth in that statement, such must also come with some important caveats.  For instance, in general, being civil one to another, is beneficial for societies, as well as in personal relations, for life has enough troubles of its own, that we need not add to it, unless there be some good justification, so of.  Further to the point, when we are considerate one to another, this signifies that our word really is our bond, which thereby makes for interactions that are more conducive to being on-going, because of the implicit trust so created.  Finally, when we are nice to one another, it’s easier to live with ourselves, knowing that we are not the one to have created unnecessary drama and dissension.

It does hurt when someone takes advantage of us, isn’t nice to us, betrays us, cheats us, and all similar things of that ilk; and while it might so appear, at least initially, as if those not so nice people have gotten away with something to our dismay and disadvantage, it is important to note that the full story is not over until it has been completely written.  Those that aren’t nice and are deceptive, may indeed find profit from that mindset, but alas, a cheat has to continually find other credulous people to cheat in order to continue to benefit, and when the well for them runs dry, they are therefore forced to deal with people of which their reputation precedes them, and because these people, though nice, are properly wary, they are then far less likely to fall for that which has worked successfully, previously.  So too, when a cheating person, is left trying to “get over” on those that are cheaters as well, the game becomes a lot more problematic to win at. 

Those that are nice, and give the benefit of the doubt to all people, at least initially, are treating people in the manner that they so desire to be treated.  On the other hand, those that are underhanded and devious, mask who they really are, in order to have success through their deceit, but often find it well-nigh impossible to not be unmasked, themselves, at some point, and once so exposed, life gets a lot harsher for them, for when people have to be constantly on-guard it is exhausting; in addition to the  uncomfortable truth that most people resist being with someone of bad or questionable character, so then, for these not so nice people, good friends are few and far between.

To be nice is not to be a pushover, it is rather a characteristic of those that prefer to live in an environment of mutual respect and mutual aid.  Many people have little or no issue with helping someone down on their luck, that they respect, and many more are quite willing to help and to aid those that are taking their first important steps into the real world, for often those that are perceived as being nice, are also likeable, and those that people like, produce a strong inclination for other people to want to encourage and to do their part to help them, so that these nice people therefore finish the race where they are meant to finish it.

Be very, very afraid of the police

It just doesn’t make much sense, for people, even some of those of the favored race and class, not to at least some of time, fear the police. For instance, in this country, a given person is not even safe in their own home, if the police have an interest in entering it, knock or no-knock, warrant or no warrant; nor are we necessarily safe in our own car, nor any public space, nor are we safe in pretty much just about any private space, for that too often is fair game, as well.  In short, the police in this country, with few exceptions, can do whatever that they want, whenever that they want, to whomever that they want, at anytime that they want, and the powers-to-be aren’t just okay with that, they seemingly actively encourage it.

Those that run this nation, want the population, and certainly the unfavored part of that population to live in fear, because those that live in fear, are far more susceptible to obeying the dictates so demanded of them, for they personally know that disobedience, may inflict upon them, catastrophic consequences.  Of course, the policing arm of the state, doesn’t just assert its power and authority, willy-nilly against all of the citizenry, with no discrimination; for that would be the type of cardinal sin that would necessitate a re-configuration of such.  Rather, they are instructed to protect and to serve those that are their actuators, which primarily are represented by the favored race, “poor white trash” excluded though; as well as to protect and to serve assorted others that have been designated as overcoming their minority or color handicap by virtue of their class status, which though not always obvious, is typically fairly straightforward to ascertain, though mistakes do happen.

Still, even those of the protected class, have to take into vital consideration, that unless they are especially well-connected personages, that their immunity from adverse police action is seldom absolutely secure.  This signifies that those that involuntarily come into contact with the police, are, if they have their wits about them, going to be wary, respectful, and compliant; because they know that if they don’t put their best foot forward, all sorts of very bad things can, could, and possibly will happen to them. After all, those that do not fear those that have the power to take their freedom away, to embarrass them, to incarcerate them, to abuse them, to harm them, and to kill them, don’t have their thinking, right.

The problem with a powerful police force that demonstrates time and time again, that it will use its authorized force against the general public that is most vulnerable to being abused by such, and of which the justice system time and time again, judges that this is appropriate, except in the most egregious violations; signifies clearly that the people that suffer the most from this or are the most vulnerable to it, are definitely not free.  They don’t have liberty, they don’t have security of their property or of their body, they don’t have safety, and their life and the control thereof of it, is sadly not actually in their own hands.

Wars and the actual present-day reality of them

Humankind has been waging war upon one another, seemingly forever.   In most cases, wars so made upon one another, are seldom justified, but rather has a lot more to do with rape, pillage, greed, and conquest.  In other words, those waging war are primarily doing so in order to increase their wealth and assets, at the expense of those that are defeated.  One supposes, that for those that see this world as a zero-sum game, war thereof for those that are its victors, makes sense. 

When it comes to the United States and the wars it wages, there isn’t any doubt that America is quite capable of vanquishing just about any nation or group of nations, and thereupon taking over the reins of such; but the critical thing that America somehow fails to take into proper account, is that the governments that it subsequently tends to prop up after such wars are seldom embraced by its native population, in whole.  This thus means, that America is infrequently seen as a liberator but is more often seen for what they really are, opportunists, as well as illegitimate occupiers of sovereign nations.  This thus is reflected by that population, not willingly working hand-in-glove with America, along with the salient fact that domestic military elements that have been defeated, have not been fully disarmed, signifying that they are often able to be a real annoyance against the occupying force, by being a constant nuisance to that force, knowing that they don’t need to defeat America, but simply need to be a continual thorn in its side. 

When America wages war, it needs to know what it is really trying to achieve, before it ever goes to war.  Those nations that have different religions, different traditions, different cultures, and different this and different that, probably aren’t going to be the type of nation that desires to be re-envisioned or re-configured by America, for essentially the grand purpose and benefit of America.  Further to the point, America’s go-to solution to such, of putting into power, those that appear to be legitimate representatives of that country, but are in reality, puppets of America, aren’t going to be a good short-term, let alone long-term solution, because as dumb and credulous as America likes to think other nation’s people are, they aren’t really that dumb or that credulous.

Therefore, the problem that America has in its wars, is really not in the basic defeating of the other nation’s armed forces, but really comes down to knowing the appropriate and meaningful steps to accomplish next; which will therefore ultimately result in a country that will firstly, be a good trade partner for America as well as exploitable, and secondly with its new governance as approved by America, will improve the lot of the people that live within it or if not that, at least keep the people there, basically quiescent. 

What America seems slow to learn, is that defeating a nation’s armed forces, does not necessarily equate to winning those people over, and when those people aren’t won over, and further aren’t going to be won over, then that is something of real importance that hasn’t been resolved by that war, which should have definitely been taken into consideration before the first shot was fired or even first contemplated.

Locked in and also locked out

America as a nation, is an absolute mess, full of contradictions, hypocrisy, and basically living up to absolutely none of its noble tenets, despite its proclamation that it is the last great hope of humankind.  A case in point, is the fact, that so many are unnecessarily incarcerated and are therefore part of the carceral system and remain such for often extended periods of time.  Somehow, America feels not the need to actually investigate why it has so much crime and criminals as compared to other western nations, or the reason why it insists that the best solution to such, is a punitive imprisonment system, which resolves not a thing.  Basically, America seems to follow the tenet that out of sight is out of mind, which though true to a certain extent, reflects poorly on a nation that claims it is the fair bastion of liberty, freedom, and justice.

America locks up criminal after criminal, in which, the vast majority of these criminals, have not even been convicted by a jury of their peers, nor have had their fair say in a court of law, but instead have been coerced, pressured, tricked, intimidated, or compelled into a plea bargain to avoid an even more dire fate.  It would be one thing, if the resources of those that are the prosecuting arm of the state, were somehow equivalent to those that are its defendants, but the contest is not ever fair, for those making up the prisons of America, are predominately the ill-educated, the poor, the downtrodden, minorities, and pretty much those that have nobody of power to champion their cause.  

Yet, those that are locked into prisons and the carceral state, are only a portion of what ails America.  For the other portion, so of, is all those that are effectively locked out of a good homelife, a good environment, good infrastructure, good schools, good neighbors, and good justice.  These then, who have committed no crime, find themselves victimized from systemic racism, segregation, discrimination, manipulation, and the blatant unfairness of a society that does not play square by the rules, it so created in the first place.

In America, there are all sorts of laws, rules, and legislation that express great sentiments of fairness, opportunity, and hope for all; but in reality, these words on paper, are hardly ever lived to either the letter of the law or the spirit so of, but are merely seen as something to be taken into consideration at some future time, or some future place, but never ever effectively in the present.

There are two basic ways to keep specific people down, one of which is to lock them up, and the other is to lock them out.  Either of these is effective, and when both are put in play, it is devastatingly effective; for those that are its victims, have no real good opportunity to find themselves ever to enjoy their fair share of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness.  Instead, they have been provided with a counterfeit nation, full of counterfeit sentiments, in which the end for them is known from the beginning, for they never had a chance, because those that are the actuators of this nation, want it just like that.

Eight men and half the world

We read at Oxfam.org, that “Eight men own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity,” which is an absolutely astonishing fact and to the discredit of those that somehow believe or propagandize that we live in a world, of fairness, equality, and meritocracy.  The fact of the matter is, as most people are quite aware of, is that money matters, and further to the point, that money is a source of power, as well as the salient fact that the concentration of too much money into too few hands is disastrous for humankind, for governments, for democracies, and for the people actually having a true say of what so happens within their community, in general.

Additionally, these eight mega-rich men, owe the bulk of their riches to their corporate wealth, which signifies that corporations, which are artificial creations authorized by the state, are themselves getting ever more concentrated in which the governments the world over, seem to acquiesce left and right to whatever these corporate behemoths so want, thereby giving these mega-corporations undue influence upon property zoning, pollution, taxation, labor laws and unions, corporate mergers and buy-outs; in addition, to really pretty much permitting or acquiescing to everything that these corporations so desire that is germane within their corporate domain.

The more power and money so concentrated in corporate and the private hands of those that run these mega-corporations, the more the world bends to their dictates and to their demands; of which, the general masses of people therefore are mainly seen by them as a resource to exploit, as well as people to extract extra profit and revenue from, so as to continually feed the corporate machine so that it gets ever more powerful and ever richer, until the end of time.

Back in the day, of all-powerful kings and queens, those that were the royalty, owned pretty much it all, though they shared what they needed to share with religious authorities, military muscle, and assorted extras so needed to keep that royalty in continual power.  That which became the United States, was created out of an entirely different cloth, as a new vision, along with it being the birth of a new freedom; but none would know this at the present time, for the very concentrated wealth so of, has made this a nation of the very, very few which have everything, thereby overpowering its middle class which is under constant stress, not to mention the forgotten and suffering underclass who are deprived of any semblance of a good life in this the richest nation that the world has ever known.

Who are these eight men, that they can stand off 3.6 billion people, forever?  How is this right?  Why is this permitted?  The answer to these above questions is pretty much the same, these eight men, have effectively through their corporate power and connections, co-opted pretty much the entire world, so that everything is thereby tilted to their favor and as long as they take good care of the “muscle”, so to speak, along with the governance of those nations that matter, they will continue to get their way, until such a time, as the people recognize the truth that only in the deliberate destruction of that which impairs them along with the corresponding creation of that which fairly improves their lot, will there be any real and meaningful change for the better.

Coerced confessions are absolutely wrong

Any confession that is not free and voluntary is a confession of no real value, which does a grave injustice to the person so confessing as well as a massive disservice to the general public, because they have been cheated of having justice equally and fairly applied to all.  To obtain a false confession from someone, is not all that difficult, especially when that person so confessing has been placed into the unenviable position of fatigue, handcuffs, freedom revoked, pressure, coercion, pain, intimidation, trickery, lying, and the lack of finality without that confession so coming forth.

Anytime, anyone is separated from that which is normality for them, and placed into a situation in which they lack freedom of movement, and are restricted to what they can or cannot do or say, of which, the authority so in charge of this, is pressuring the person so arrested to agree to this or to that, and then everything will go back to normality; then some sort of confession is much easier to achieve, for those in authority have absolute control of that domain, and the arrested person knows this.

There are plenty of people that claim that under no circumstances, whatsoever, would they ever confess to a crime or to some activity that happened, that they did not do.  That is quite easy to say, and far harder to live to; when in fact, that person is placed into a situation in which they have no say upon anything that is happening to them, and the power to stop such is held in the hands of the authority that simply wants in return a signature to some words so being written that will, for a time at least, end the current misery that this arrested person is so undergoing.

All of the above signifies that these coerced confessions, or even confessions in general, should be questionable evidence in any legitimate court of law.  In truth, those that confess on paper, should be the exact same people that should voluntarily in a court of law, confess the very same thing, that they so-called confessed without being coerced to begin with, or if they are unable to do so, then these “confessions” should be dismissed as an irrelevancy to the trial in question, and the trial should be conducted instead upon the evidence and witnesses, so of.

For those that are lazy or intent that convictions above all, is the objective always of any legal criminal investigation, then American justice should stay on the same corrupt course that it currently rides upon.  If, though, on the other hand, America wants to be fair and to pursue justice as to what it fairly owes to those that are the citizens of this great nation, than confessions, however so colored, are something that should be seen as something that only exists in those nations that wish to circumvent what the representation of true justice is at its best. 

In reality, confessions have no place in a court of law, and they should not be objective of police interrogations; they should instead take a back seat always to the pursuit of the truth of any criminal investigation; of which, these investigations should be built upon the foundation of facts and evidence, not conjectures, and never words so scripted by those in authority.

To be human is to be a special creation

As human beings have become more knowledgeable and made more advances within societies, some of the more intelligent of these human beings, have decided that God, spirit, and the like, are really nothing more than myths and that instead humankind has evolved from its previous ape-like existence over the millenniums to become the human beings that we so know today.  That simply isn’t true, for humankind is a special creation with special unalienable powers so vested in them by God, and there is therefore no other animal in this world, of that same creation and to believe somehow that present-day apes or some other animal, will over time, become akin to a human being is a delusion of the highest order.

So too, as human beings have become more and more adept at harnessing the earth’s powers and mysteries so as to thereby create machinery to alleviate humankind from beastlike drudgery; we find that they have also designed machines so taken to the next level and subsequently have made that machinery to be not only a critical aid to humankind, but in some respects to surpass the mind of human beings in specific computational and repetitional tasks as designed and envisioned by those human beings. This thus leads to some people somehow believing that perhaps one day machines will be dominant over human beings, or that it is our destiny to be merged with a machine, thereby taking the advantages of each in order to create a superhuman cyborg or similar.  This too is misguided, though, in truth, machines, robotics, and humans working together is sensible for some tasks and duties; of which, in some cases having human beings enhanced by machinery, because of some catastrophic body or mind failure, does indeed have its proper place.

There are many things about human beings in regards to their thinking, their emotions, and their spirit, that makes them absolutely unique to any other creation or machine.  To begin with, the human mind is able to ponder upon the past, the present, as well as the future.  So too, human beings encompass the whole gamut of emotions of hate, love, jealousy, compassion, meanness, caring, and so on and so forth.  Further, human beings are capable of, calming their mind so as to contemplate as to the greater purpose of what life and its meaning so represents, by connecting to that which is the absolute wisdom of this or any other dimension.

The point of this world, seems beyond so many, but should best be seen as a “proving ground” so provided to each and every human being to demonstrate in action, as to whether or not, they will answer to that which makes for a just and good society; or whether, entrapped within their physical shell, they will forget the eternal and pay homage primarily to their temporal physical, or perhaps to the cleverness of their mind, seemingly forgetting that to forsake that which is unalienable for that which is alienable is the very reason why this earth is so troubling for so many.

This world has been created for human beings, so that they can be dutifully refined by its fire, becoming truly worthy therefore, in essence, to become one of the golden pillars in God’s magnificent mansion. 

The combination of money with political power corrupts democracies

Those that have political power are basically in charge of creating the laws of the land through legislation, judging the constitutionality of those laws, and executing those laws as legislated and judged.  In order for politicians to be able to accomplish that which they have legislated upon, judged upon, and are in the constant process of executing upon, they are able to call upon the necessary power of the policing force and all its adjutants that answers to that government, on behalf of the people.  Make no mistake about it, government is force, and those that are part of the “muscle”, so to speak, of that government, are almost always loyal to that government, above all.

There is, though, another source of power in societies, and that is the power of the purse.  Those that have wealth, and especially those that have combined that wealth with the production of necessary or desired goods or services, along with the employment of citizens that comes with such, are part of the economic engine that drives societies and enriches people and organizations.   Not too surprisingly, those that have obtained or earned economic power, are always in danger of having this power restricted, controlled, regulated, compromised, or negated in whole or in part by the government that makes and enforces the rules of the road.  This signifies, that economic power recognizes that whenever it can successfully co-opt or control political power, it therefore places itself in the catbird seat of having its way, by firstly having that government change the rules in a way that not only favors and protects them, unduly; and secondly often so done in a way that also hurts those that would compete against them.

The thing about political power and all those that believe that somehow politicians are above the fray, of money and its influence; is the salient fact that politicians almost always need donations from well placed individuals and corporations in order to run their race, successfully, and without good access to that money, that race is often lost.  This thus indicates that for all intents and purposes, politicians don’t really answer to the people so much, or to Constitution that is the highest law of the land, but rather are often obeisance to the money that provides them with their political position, thus handicapping them from doing the right or the appropriate thing for the general public, for they do not wish to bite the hand that not only feeds them but also essentially empowers them.

Look closely at America, and recognize that the biggest mega-corporations in this country, continue to grow impressively and to therefore do more business year after year, because this government, of, for, and by the people, really isn’t  about the people at all; for those that are its politicians permit these mega-corporations, way more than not, to have carte blanche, so that they can destroy or buy our their competitors, while also having these politicians move mountains for them again and again, so as to provide them with whatever material aid that they need for infrastructure, taxation, zoning, and the like.  So then, those that have the vote, seem little to know, that their vote is typically counterfeited by this unseemly combination of money and political power, which serves to enrich the few, at the terrible expense of the many.