Visa and Mastercard fees are way too high

The ubiquity of credit cards so utilized in America is quite obvious, and the amount of debt that is held by Americans on their credit cards, is estimated to be at $1 trillion, and heading higher.  Those consumers that use credit cards but do not pay their credit card bill in full, each month, are subject then to the agreed upon interest rate for that credit so being provided to them, along with being on the hook for associated other fees, for being late, or for not making their minimum payment, and so on, when they fail to honor all the terms and conditions of that credit.  Additionally, from a merchant standpoint, each time that a credit card transaction is completed, they then have to pay a specific monetary amount, to the credit card company, such as Visa or Mastercard, which is structured around how much the merchant owes for fees that are designated as the interchange, assessment, and payment processing fees.  Because merchants must pay that fee in order to accept credit cards, that then represents, for them, the cost of doing business, which thus necessitates them charging a slightly higher price for the goods that they are selling in order to accommodate those fees.

When it comes to the business of credit cards, the biggest winners are Visa and Mastercard, of which, cnn.com, tell us that they “…dominate more than 80% of the US credit card market.”  Because, then, of that domination, Visa and Mastercard can pretty much charge whatever that they so desire to charge as fees, that will thus help these particular mega-corporations to make more money, because they effectively have no competition or meaningful legislation that will preclude them from doing exactly that.  Yet, it doesn’t have to really be that way, for other nations, have structured caps on credit card fees, and are far more robust in their regulation of the credit card industry.

In America, the credit card industry is essentially a duopoly, in which, quite frankly Visa and Mastercard don’t really compete with one another; and further to the point, most consumers cannot discern any difference between the two companies, and therefore use each of these cards, interchangeably.  Additionally, most consumers aren’t really familiar with the fees being charged to the merchant for having the flexibility to accept credit cards, and for the most part, don’t seem to readily care about such – not seeming to recognize that the higher the fees so being charged by credit card companies to merchants, then correspondingly the slighter higher prices that these merchants need to charge consumers in order to recover as much as possible the credit card fees so being imposed upon them.

The thing about Visa and Mastercard is that because of their domination of the credit card industry and because of the lack of meaningful governmental regulation of that industry, they have been able to make billions upon billions of extra dollars off of merchants and the consumers to those merchants, for essentially providing a convenience, to the general public.  Those fees, then, will continue to be unnecessarily high unless this government asserts itself by mandating lower fees, or by opening the door to actual competition within the industry.  

The relentless rise of the mandatory tip

Those that go out to eat at restaurants, with the notable exception of most fast food restaurants, recognize that when they go to pay their bill, that they are encouraged to pay a tip for the food service so provided to them.  The amount of the tip, varies upon the service so having been provided, the food, and the overall dining experience; of which, the amount thus determined to be provided as a tip, is at the sole discretion of the person so paying the bill – though often in many a restaurant at the foot of the bill is a helpful calculation provided for those that are not mathematically inclined or need assistance in coming up with a fair amount for their tip.

That said, what we find currently is that over and above the fact that there are certain locales, such as Miami’s South Beach, in which every restaurant seemingly has a mandatory tip already associated with the bill, or else in those cases in which there are parties of eight or possibly even as low as six, in which case the tip has already been added to the bill – that more and more restaurants have decided to go the route of adding a mandatory tip onto the bill, and often do so, without having provided any real notice of this to the patron of that restaurant. 

While some of these restaurants that have mandatory tips, change the verbiage in a way and manner, in which the tip is labeled as a service charge, or as a fixed gratuity -- the fact of the matter is that disappointingly few of these restaurants with a mandatory tipping policy, actually make it a point to tell their customers that this is their firm policy at any time during the meal.  While some of these restaurants may well have a notice up on a wall, somewhere, explaining their tipping policy, or may well have a notice somewhere on their menu – virtually none of them, makes it clear and obvious to the patron that a mandatory tip is going to be charged, until the bill is presented at the end of the meal – of which, to add possible insult to injury, there is frequently an added line item, listed as an additional tip option to the bill.

In consideration, that tipping has historically been considered to be at the discretion of the consumer, it doesn’t seem fair or right, that a restaurant should be permitted to add a mandatory tip to a given bill, without having provided fair notice to the patron.  Further to the point, restaurants that insist upon adding service charges and other fees onto a bill, should probably be strongly discouraged from doing so, and instead should be encouraged or have mandated to them, that all service charges and various other fees, must be included in the price of the restaurant items so being sold to begin with.  In fact, the present era of some restaurants having mandatory tips, and so many others that do not, creates an uneven field, that serves to obfuscate exactly what obligations a patron of the restaurant must attend to – which would seem to suggest that American restaurants should simply follow the European model of having the price of their menu items, fairly reflect what they are truly sold for, much like consumer purchases currently represent, for virtually every other material item so purchased.

When public servants serve corporate interests

The thing about regional governments of all sizes, shapes, locales, and influence, is that these governments typically have a fairly sizeable amount of monies that they are responsible to utilize accordingly with their budget and thus see spent and expended upon those necessary things that are of the most benefit for their constituents.  When it comes to corporations, however, they are forever attempting to do what they believe needs to be so done, that will serve to increase their profit, continue their growth, and to benefit their board of directors, as well as their shareholders.  In other words, when it comes to government agencies that are responsible for how the public funds are expended, they need to be responsible to the people; whereas, corporations are typically only interested in what benefits them, as a corporation.

Not too surprisingly, when it comes to conducting business within the domain of a governmental sphere, corporations are going to be prone to doing those things that will help them to get what they want, fairly or unfairly, when so interacting with governmental officials.  In other words, corporations, understand that they often have leverage in regards to governmental officials in the sense that governments of all types, are interested in securing or enhancing private business investment into their respective communities.  Further to the point, corporations are often not completely tied down to having to do business in one particular community, but frequently have options of not only where their business will be conducted, but also how much investment that they will put into a given community.  This thus opens the door, to the competitive threat, so initiated by corporations, that if they will not get special privileges, tax set asides, infrastructure enhancements, or consideration of this or that, by that respective government, that they may well pack up and leave, or simply not engage or re-invest in business within that particular community location.

So too, certain corporations can be even more direct when dealing with governmental officials, by initiating, for instance, some sort of implicit quid pro quo, in which those that are government officials that should answer to the public and be open to that public about those things of public interest and pertinence, are offered by that corporation, indirectly or directly, the opportunity to be compensated by that corporation, in some future form, which is often implied, but never officially agreed upon.  Indeed, corporations want to have their way, and when about the only thing blocking their way, is some governmental official, who may not fully understand what a good bargain is or is not, and is not privy to the inner communications of that corporation, then through their superior knowledge and gamesmanship that the corporation has, they are often able to accomplish what they so desire, at terms that are primarily beneficial to them; of which, this favoritism, typically, is not readily available for any other persons or companies, that are not so well positioned.

Those then that are public servants need to make it their point and principle to serve the public, which is best accomplished by being as transparent as possible, which, at a minimum, provides the public with the needed insight to see and to understand the deals so being made with influential corporations.

Freedom of the press in the 21st century

Freedom of the press is one of the seminal rights, that Americans have.  When the 1st Amendment was so proposed and ratified, that freedom of the press, was something that was clearly evident to all, because there were a multitude of local papers, pamphlets, and speeches so made and then thus disseminated through the print media.  At that time, there was no national newspaper, nor was there quite obviously radio, television, or the internet.  Further to the point, those that were the publishers of newspapers, were typically fairly ordinary people, and never were they conglomerates or corporations.  When we fast forward to the present time, though, the mainstream press is nearly completely controlled by major corporations, of which, thereby the views so being propagated are almost always going to be in accordance with the views of the ownership of those media companies, along with such typically being in harmony with one of the two major political parties in America.  In other words, those that believe that they are getting the full story, taking into account all sides of a particular issue, as well as its nuances, are seldom getting that at all, from mainstream media, for mainstream media is mainly concerned about making a profit, in addition to being in good adherence to the desires of the most important government officials that they willingly interact with, often on a quid pro quo basis.

Nowadays, then, the only true freedom of the press, is going to primarily come from those that are not associated with the mainstream media, and are often utilizing all the ways and means to disseminate their particular viewpoint through the various avenues so available to them; such as primarily through the internet, as well as through apps so structured that can robustly provide such, also.  This thus would normally mean, that the freedom of the press, has never been as vibrant as it would be today, because the wherewithal as well as the tools so needed, to disseminate a given viewpoint are relatively inexpensive to obtain, and, of which, the potential audience to such, can be rather large.  Yet, the Damocles sword so held over those of independent media, is not only the potential lawsuits that they must respond to, in regards to libel or slander; but significantly the fact that this government has determined that “disinformation,” and “misinformation,”  as determined by that government, should not be permitted.

In 1776, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, stated “That the freedom of the press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.”  Yet, in fit, form, and function, this government and its obedient servants to such, are absolutely determined to control the narrative, of which, they recognize that the instrument that is hurting their desired viewpoint from being the prevailing sole voice of what is so being propagated, is the internet and the apps that go along with such.  The governmental angle to thus get their way, is to emphasize that misinformation and disinformation, are all around us, and that only the government knows what is really true, and by virtue of that knowledge, thus has the right to preclude or to remove the publication of all that which has been classified as misinformation or disinformation.  In short, we live ever more under the tyranny of a despotic government, that will broker no dissent, of any of that which lies outside what is considered to be acceptable to them. In truth, despotic governments, the world over, are interested only in obedience and control, and care not a whit about seeing disclosed any alternates to the “truth” that they want you to believe.

What is your biggest regret in life?

The least that any one of us owes to anyone, is to be honest with our self-evaluation – for if we lie to our own self, then pretty much that signifies that we are prone to lie to anyone on just about anything.  Look, all of us are going to have some regrets in life, or else our life has been absolutely perfect; and in consideration that none of our lives have been perfect, because we are imperfect beings, then it so follows that each one of us must then have some regrets about some things so done are left undone in our respective lives. 

To answer the question about what our biggest regret is in life, we have to take the time to actually examine our own life, and the decisions, mistakes, and the regrets that we so have; of which, many people will find that their biggest regret is usually based around what they either failed to do and thus should have done, or something that they did do, that they deeply regret having done.  While it is true, when it comes to regrets, that we do not have the power to turn back the clock; we always, though, have the power to learn from our mistakes, mishaps, and regrets to thus make it our desire to not repeat the same type of mistakes, now and into the future.  Further to the point, while there are mistakes that cannot ever be corrected in the sense, that perhaps the person that we want to make good with or for, is no longer among the living, or that time has simply passed us by, we still always have the opportunity to do what we can, to demonstrate that we have properly learned our lesson, by thus going forth and helping to do the right thing for our character and for those others that we interact with, day-by-day.

The very first step to self-improvement is actually recognizing what needs to be improved upon, and then taking the time to implement what needs to be implemented in order to effect that improvement.  Those that have dug themselves the biggest hole, for their regret is quite large, need then to understand that to rectify such is going to take time, energy, perseverance and consistency.  Yet, if we really do want to make amends for that regret, we need to be proactive, as opposed to simply moping about and feeling woeful about what has so happened that we regret – for it is one thing to recognize a wrong and subsequently do absolutely nothing to rectify such, and entirely different thing to put forth the effort to amend such, to the best of our ability, in which, those that are successful in doing so, may well still have those regrets, but at least they can honestly say to themselves, that they have done their part to make good on it, in one form or another.

To have regrets, demonstrates that we have a conscience, of which that conscience, comprehends the difference between right and wrong; so that, those that have made bad choices, are encouraged to do what needs to be done so as to demonstrate that they have learned well the lessons so taught, to thus become a better person for having taken a very bad fall, in which they have subsequently dusted themselves off and then fully risen up to be better for such.

The Highest duty

We read in Holy Scripture, “ But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6: 33).  Yet, how many of us that profess to be Christian, or believers in God, by our thoughts and through our actions, apparently pay not a whit of attention to this sage advice.  The proximate dilemma that this material world presents, is how to one degree or another, it has a way of distracting us as well as enticing us to concentrate our minds and actions upon all sorts of things, that have little or nothing to do with being in harmony with the kingdom of God.  This then is the very reason, why we have so much violence, disharmony, hatred, discord, and rebellion in this world, because the vast majority of humankind do not comprehend what their highest duty is and are also confused about such.

In order then to get to where we ought to be, the very first thing that we need to concentrate our efforts upon, is that which is our highest duty, above all.  In short, if we do not comprehend, that life should consist of priorities, goals, and the duties that are incumbent upon each one of us, of which, our primary purpose then should be to reason out what those priorities, goals, and duties should actually be, then we have failed in our very first duty.  We are not meant to be automatons, and further to the point, we are not meant to mindlessly follow what has come before; but rather we are meant to utilize our free thinking minds to discover or to re-discover what we ought to be about.

There are many people that we will meet, friend or foe, that will tell us what our duties should be, of which, if we are fortunate, this advice will be sound; and if not so fortunate, this advice when followed, will serve to take us in the wrong direction.  Nevertheless, it is our duty to recognize that those that question nothing, and therefore accept everything, are not going to fare well in much of anything.  We need, then, to take the responsibility to be discriminating in our life, for in the end, we each are the individuals that must answer for the life that we have so lived, for better or for worse.  That is why, we must focus upon the purpose of our being, so as to recognize that when two duties, seemingly contradict one another, that there then thus has to be a higher duty, that supersedes those that are contradictory to one another.

The problem that we so have is that when we know what we believe to be, our highest duty, but yet this duty clearly contradicts with another duty; is that so many of us, try to reason such things through, by believing that within a given duty, there are occasionally exceptions to that duty – without comprehending that this has to be in error.  There is, in the end, only one Highest duty, and that duty has no contradictions to it, ever.  While the words of that Highest duty, will be somewhat different, depending upon the background and the individuality of a given person – yet, in essence it will always be the same – for that Highest duty is to love God by displaying that love through our fair, just, and charitable actions with one another.

“Your neighbor is your unknown self, made visible.”

The above quotation comes from the book, Jesus: the Son of Man, as written by Kahlil Gibran.  It is important to recognize that in Matthew 22:39, we read in Holy Scripture, “A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Yet, when we look around at our neighborhood, our community, our society, our nation, and our world, we are distressed to find that how we so behave as a people does not actually reflect that we do love our neighbor as our own self.  Perhaps the answer then, is to understand, that our neighbor is the same equal creation so made by God, and of which, is therefore entitled to all of the same unalienable rights that we are entitled to.  Further to the point, it would behoove all of us, to thus see our neighbor as being our previously unknown brother-in-arms, now made visible to us.  So then, in recognition that we are brothers, we should thus love one another, akin to how healthy family members so love one another.

After all, when we are unable to see the equal humanity of the other – no matter the behavior, good or bad, so having been displayed by them, than we have dishonored what it means to actually be a child of God – for we are all children of God, and if some of those children, are difficult, rebellious, misguided, and so on – it is not our place to condemn them for their apparent errors, but rather it is our place to treat them in the same way and manner that we would desire to be treated if we so were suffering from the same types of errors or mistakes.

There is far more power in forgiveness as well as in taking the time to learn and to discover the other, then in taking the easy route of condemning another for their faults.  Those that spend an inordinate amount of time, criticizing those that they do not care for, justifiably or not, are not making any progress in helping to make this world a better place for their participation in it.  Rather, we are obligated to do our fair part to help others where we can so help, and to do things that are of benefit to those that we come across, day-by-day, because to do less than that, reflects that we are not doing our fair part to uphold the significance that we are all part of the very same One.

It is important that we take the time to look at others through a prism, that perhaps we have bypassed or ignored, that permits us then to see those others, as akin to seeing our own self, in a brand new way, as if we were previously blind, but now can see.  We are, in actuality, all of the same substance, which thus means that we should be equal-minded with one another, in the conscious recognition, but for the grace of God, that could be us; but also, more importantly, that each of us represents a fair reflection of how true that we are to God, and until we can see the essence of God in all that we congregate and interact with, then we have failed in fulfilling what it means to be a good and devoted child of God.

The end of the road for taxation

There aren’t a lot of people that have assets, money, or a real good income, that are exactly thrilled about paying taxes; but the thing is, that when those that have lots of money, assets, and wealth, aren’t taxed at some appropriate rate, progressive or not, then that society will tilt ever more dramatically in favor of all those that have established that wealth; of which, typically, these people with that capital still in their hands, will desire to see that wealth ultimately be distributed to family, friends, and causes that they support, above all, upon their demise. 

The problem with this type of mindset, or of having a government, which does not appropriately tax those entities that have the most assets and wealth, is that it thus become inevitable that a nation that purports to be a republic or a democracy, is actually essentially under the controlling hand of those that have that money, wealth, status, position, and power.

As reported by fortune.com, as of 2020, the Fortune 500 companies had “…approximately $14.2 trillion in revenue, $1.2 trillion in profits, and $20.4 trillion in total market value.”  Yet, the corporate tax rate, is set at just 21%, despite the fact that from 1951-1987 the corporate tax rate was never lower than 40% and was as high as 52.8%.  The result is what we so see today, which is an ever growing divide between the corporate few that have so much, and the many non-shareholders that have so little.

So too, when it comes to the estate tax, as recently as 1997, the estate tax exemption was just $600,000 per individual, and as of 2023, it is $12.92 million per individual or $25.84 million per married couple.  It doesn’t take a genius to know that for those that actually have assets above $25.84 million that they are going to almost for a certainty avail themselves of all the legal tax stratagems which will thus reduce their estate tax to a rate thus approaching zero.

Finally, we do so find that the baby boom generation, are according to the Boston Consulting Group estimated to have $53 trillion in assets as of 2020.  In short, America has plenty of money, held in the hands of very powerful corporations as well as in the hands of the baby boom generation, of which, if America, so desired to do so, this wealth, could see a meaningful portion of such redistributed to the general population to help eliminate poverty, for education, for infrastructure and necessary repairs, and for research and development, all accomplished for the overall benefit of the people.

For an absolute certainty, America cannot be considered to be the land of earned individual meritocracy, when a privileged minority of its denizens are permitted to inherit their wealth, simply based upon being born into a family that has that wealth, thereby essentially bifurcating this nation into one in which the few have everything literally handed to them as their birthright, versus all the other people that must make do without such an incumbent advantage.  Those then that desire the United States to be in fit, form, and function an aristocratic society, essentially have it – regrettably, to the lasting disgrace of what our Founding Fathers so valiantly fought against.

War, the threat of war, and diplomacy

In the 21st century, America has been directly or indirectly involved in wars involving Libya, Iraq, Syria, Russia, Niger, Somalia, Uganda, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen. To believe, somehow, that these wars have made the world safer, better, and more secure is a complete lie, borne out by the very fact, that the world has become an ever more dangerous place, especially when the two greatest nuclear arm powers are at loggerheads with one another.  So too, to believe that the answer to trouble, or potential trouble, must always be warfare is the type of mindset that benefits only those of the military-industrial-technology complex, and does a grand disservice to the people, at large, on all sides of a given conflict.

Those then that actually believe that American wars, are initiated, in order to bring about for the country so being warred upon, a better society, of democracy, freedom, liberty, education, and opportunity for all, are absolutely delusional.  Wars, for the most part, are exactly what they appear to be – the forcing by violent means of one nations’ desire against the sovereignty and desires of another nation.  When it comes to America, in particular, none of its wars in the 21st century, have involved any countries in North, Central, or South America, which would seem to indicate that America believes, for whatever reason or reasons, that it should not be seen as just a powerful North American country, but rather should be seen as a global superpower that on its own, is entitled to make war against anyone at anytime for any reason, whatsoever -- treaties, niceties, and diplomacy, be damned!

The rather sad point when it comes to humanity and the governance of nations, is that, incredibly, if humanity were only to look at the animal kingdom, they might actually learn a relevant lesson or two.  For instance, though animals of the same species could often go to war against one another, for territory, for food, for mating reasons, and whatnot; those that could war against one another, often instead, realize that the better part of valor, is rather to display all the signs of war, as in the baring of teeth, or the thumping of the chest, or aggressive movements, but tellingly do not truly wish to engage in warfare with one another, most of the time, because they recognize that any battle, is going to probably involve some real damage, on both sides. 

The terrible thing about warfare is that warfare is a terrible thing -- for the damage it does to the minds and the bodies of those so involved in it, the destruction of infrastructure, the upsetting of the norms within society, the environmental damage, and the regression of civilization.  So then, rather than seeing warfare as a legitimate response to trouble, a far better reading of the situation, is to understand that “saber rattling” along with constructive diplomacy is the superior avenue to walk upon.  After all, when we consider all of the killing and destruction that Americans have done through warfare, supposedly to make the world a safer and more just place – is that, time and time again, nothing of substance has been resolved.  Further to the point, to believe that justice comes through the point of the sword, should be seen as a source of embarrassment for any nation, that considers itself to be civilized, and reflects instead the insane belief that “might makes right” which is wholly untrue.

The Uber kill app

Perhaps Uber and other ride sharing services such as Lyft, are a very good thing – but the real question is whether Uber is a very good thing mainly for those that are the owners of Uber, as compared to it being a very good thing for those that are its riders and drivers.  The main problem with ride sharing services as currently configured is that Uber takes a significant portion of the monies collected, that they have earmarked as fees, from the earnings of the driver, which also means thus charging a higher price to the rider because of those fees, of which, these fees appears to be typically around 25%, but can be even higher depending upon various other levies so being charged, as determined by Uber.  Further to the point, the transparency of the fees so being charged, and the reasons behind such, does leave a lot to be desired, but it is what it is.

The principle behind Uber just isn’t all that difficult, which is pretty much aligning riders that need a ride, with drivers who are willing to make that drive.  In a world, then, of which, never have so many people been connected through their smart phones and the apps that come with such – we do so find that it probably would not be overly difficult to create an app, that charges a set fee of $1 or even less, or possibly just is dependent upon advertisers, that thus allows people that want a ride to connect with people that are willing to drive them on that ride, which pretty much cuts out the middleman, of Uber, and hence means that the riders would pay less for their rides, and the drivers would get more. 

When it comes to the pricing of that model, there are multitude of ways to address such, of which, one of those ways is to use Uber as a proxy to set what the price is for a given ride and then simply use the “Uber kill app” in which the rider then proposes a particular price, which would be under the Uber price, and the first driver that expressed an interest in making that drive, would then accept the offer at the price so offered; and if nobody responds, then the rider could just use Uber.

As for the identity of the driver and of the rider, that could simply be resolved by providing a screenshot to one another with pertinent information, so that each party would have the necessary but not overwhelming knowledge of the other.  The bottom line is that ridesharing doesn’t need to be so complicated or convoluted that a fee of 25% or more, needs to be charged and thus cheats the driver and the rider out of money, so that those that are the principles and stockholders of Uber can make money upon the backs of regular folks.

In short, there are plenty of people that want to make some money by driving people for a price, and there are also plenty of people that need a ride – of which, in this world of smart phones, GPS, and well executed apps, there isn’t any real good reason why those rides could not be accomplished more and more with a service app that cuts out the middleman and thus helps the driver and the rider, so of.

Southern Aristocracy and the need for enslaved or cheap labor

In the year 1860, the United States, had about 4 million enslaved peoples, of which, there were six States of the Union that had a slave population which was at least 40% of the persons living within their States, and of which, two of those States, South Carolina and Mississippi were actually majority enslaved.  Upon the election of Lincoln, and despite the fact that Lincoln did not believe that he, as President, had the Constitutional right to interfere with slavery, in those States which had slavery; the Southern Aristocracy, decided that their reading of the tea leaves, indicated to them, that their way of life, could only still continue to exist into the future, if they seceded from that Union, which they subsequently did so, through the violent means of war in which the first shot of that war, was fired by the South.  The end result for the South, would be their defeat by the North, and the death thereby of hundreds of thousands of people, along with an incredible amount of destruction and the burning of materials along with infrastructure, as well as homes from that war, in order for the South to finally capitulate, which they so did, through an unconditional surrender.

The end of the war, meant that those that were formerly enslaved, were freed, and were, in theory, subject to the same Constitutional rights, including its newest Amendments, as everyone else within this nation.  Regrettably, that which is written on paper is never the same thing, as its application in the real world, of which, while the Southern Aristocracy had been defeated, they had little or no interest in seeing that the valuable land that they so own, which was the integral basis for their wealth, that they had so created through the valued help of enslaved labor, would somehow ever be sacrificed to anyone else or any other institution.  This thus meant that the Southern Aristocracy had to come up with some sort of format and therefore the means that thus would enable them to not only regain the wealth so lost to this Civil War, but also would permit them to make even more wealth, going forward.

The answer for the Southern Aristocracy was to replace those that formerly had been enslaved, with what appeared to be a win-win format, of sharecropping, which thus did not appear to violate the human rights of those that were partners to such.  The main issue that those that were previously enslaved had, was that they essentially owned nothing, and without access to capital, were thus faced with a situation in which their newfound freedom was endangered by their lack of capacity to earn a living.  The answer to this problem, seemed to be sharecropping, in which, in theory, those tenants and harvesters of the crops would do so under the basis of receiving a fair share of the benefits of the crop work so being performed, at the end of the harvest, which thus would pay for their seed, fertilizer, tools, room and board, and provide them with a proceeds of the profit, so of.  Not too surprisingly, this structure worked out very well for the owner/planter and not very well for the tenant/laborer.  So then, in short, the Southern Aristocracy successfully made the transition from working almost exclusively with slave labor, to basically working with “freed” people that they cheated, tricked, or hoodwinked, so that they could thus continue to make their profit and create wealth upon the exploited backs of those that had little or no alternatives, to such.

The not so independent contractor

For many a person, there is something to be said in being their own person, that is therefore not employed by some other person or corporation, but works instead for their own self.  While that does sound pretty darn good on the surface, and perhaps helps assuage a given person’s ego, there are an awful lot of good reasons why it behooves most people to desire to be an employee of a good company or organization, as opposed to working on their own, instead.

The very first thing to recognize about working is that most people have a strong desire to work in a profession that provides them with security, a good wage, career advancement, as well as a good benefit package.  In fact, many a company offers to their employees, that good wage, with a fair amount of security, avenues for advancement, and benefit packages which may well include 401K matching, healthcare benefits, dental benefits, vacation time, sick leave, personal time off, stock options, and various other perks and benefits, based upon one’s length of employment with the company as well as profits and growth so being made by that company. 

In consideration, of the bills and other financial obligations that we are obligated to address, along with family duties to attend to, it certainly makes sense for many a person to desire to secure the type of employment that will best be able to fulfill those obligations on a consistent and reliable basis.  This thus means that for most people, being an employee of a good company is the correct avenue to take.  Yet, even when people know this, we live in a society, in which more and more people aren’t being offered full time employment at jobs that they would normally expect such to be offered at, but are being encouraged instead to be an independent contractor to them, or a gig worker, or a consultant, or things along those lines, by these very same entities that normally would be the place where an individual would go to get hired as a full time employee.  The fact that this is the case, should be the very first sign, that being a so-called “independent contractor” with the conditions appearing to be dictated by that which would normally represent one’s employer, is probably going to be a situation, in which one entity is going to come out way better than the other.

The fact of the matter is that when someone is an independent contractor, that these individuals are thus typically responsible for their own healthcare, their own sick leave and vacation time, their own holiday pay, as well as being responsible for both the employee and employer self-employment tax.  Additionally, it is common for the independent contractor to have no firm guarantees of how long their work duties will continue with whomever that they are working with; which thus signifies that it is up to that independent contractor to secure more work, if necessary, by their own initiative.   In short, while it might feel good to be an independent contractor because it seems to mean that therefore you are your own boss – being one’s own boss isn’t all that, when at the end of the day, the risk to return, leaves something to be desired.

Capitalism and utilitarianism

In a capitalistic society, the objective seems to be to make as much profit as possible, of which, that profit deservedly goes then to those that created or helped to create that profit.  In regards to utilitarianism, this theory seems to stipulate that an action is considered to be correct when it thus produces the greatest amount of satisfaction or happiness to the highest amount of people.  So too, we thus find in a capitalistic society, that those that are the biggest proponents of that capitalism, have an innate desire to determine the overall worth of an individual based upon their perceived economic value to those capitalists of that person.  In other words, capitalists don’t care much for people that have little or no economic worth to them, unless it can be reasonably assumed that at some future point, these people will develop some meaningful amount of economic worth.  That is to say, when it comes to capitalism, it is all about the money, and those that have a zero or even negative economic worth are typically seen by capitalists as parasites to the economic system.

It is indeed a very dangerous mindset when society at its highest level, determines that what is of most importance to that society, is whether or not, a given individual has economic value to that society.  That is to say, those then, that are seriously ill, mentally challenged, troublemakers, the infirm, and the aged, are typically the type of people that aren’t going to have a lot of utilitarian value to society, because they often don’t have a lot that they can personally provide to that society, of anything that could conceivably be measured as contributing to the Gross National Product.  This thus signifies that to measure a given person’s value solely from the state of their perceived economic worth, is not only going to dehumanize how we interact with other people, but also this could readily become a slippery slope, in which those that are not economic contributors to society are seen then as impediments to the continued advancement of that society, and hence are accorded no worth within that society.

A significant amount of people at the present time, do not truly believe that each human being has the same intrinsic value as another human being, thus signifying that for those that think that, there are then particular human beings that are highly valued, and quite obviously, there are then those others that have little or no value.  Once a dividing line is created in which some people are considered to be of more value than others by that society, and of which, that society as it is structured and governed, supports the implementation of the rules that govern it, that serves to support this very theory, then the end result is going to be a society in which some of people will be accorded all the benefits and good accouterments as pretty much being their calling in life; whereas, those that are considered to be of the littlest utilitarian worth will be seen as those that should be fully exploited, fully taken advantage of, fully utilized, and then disposed of, without a second thought.

Nightmares and anxiety

Each of us has dreams every night, of which, none of us, can remember all of our dreams, but virtually all of us, can remember at least some of our dreams, some of the time; of which, not terribly surprising, those dreams that have a lot of emotional impact have a strong tendency to typically be the dreams that we remember the most.  That said, those dreams that make us overly anxious, or fearful, or upset, are usually described as nightmares; and while it is true that a nightmare is not reality, for we are in a dream state, it can often feel so real to us, that the experience of that nightmare can seriously affect our emotional state upon our waking up from such.

While there are a lot of reasons of why a nightmare might so occur, such as from the lack of consistently good sleep, a poor diet, drugs, guilt, stress, and things of that sort – it has to be acknowledged that people that have stressful lives or are in an especially stressful situation are in place in which this thus often creates anxiety -- and anxiety has a way of carrying over into our lives, even when we are trying our best to keep our minds focused upon something else or upon some other activity so as to alleviate that constant nagging feeling of anxiety.

The thing about dreams, or nightmares, for that matter, is that all of this originates in our mind – which signifies that the dreams and nightmares that we have, are ours to own.  This means to the degree that we care not to remember or to dwell upon our own dreams, is a conscious choice which we control.  In short, the fact of the matter is that these are our dreams, which should send a signal to us, that it might well be in our best interests to want to pay attention to our dreams, good or bad, so that we can try to figure out the message of what we have so dreamt.   Those then that desire to learn from their dreams, thus make it their point to have some sort of memory aid by their nightstand, such as a voice recorder, or pen and paper, and further they impress upon their minds before they reach that sleep state that they so desire to remember their dreams.

For those, then, that seem to suffer from an inordinate amount of nightmares, this should be best seen as an opportunity to try to figure out the message of the nightmare and then thus to correct what needs to be corrected in the mindset and the actions, so of, subsequently made.  While a nightmare might present itself for a multitude of reasons, one of those seminal reasons, has got to be seen as a warning to us, that not all is right, which is why we feel that anxiety that nags at us.  Each of us can try to escape facing what we need to face, but in our repose, we so find, that what we will not deal with consciously and proactively in the present, is presented to us as a nightmare so that we will be reminded that our house is not in order, and that we best do what we need to do to achieve that necessary order, or at least try to.

Tyranny and its need for self-serving secrecy

In the interest of national security there is a time and place for secrecy, but what has to be admitted is that to a very large extent, those governments and institutions that have an inordinate amount of secrecy associated with them, are almost for a certainty, using secrecy, more times than not, in a self-serving manner, and not then for the protection or for the benefit of the general public.  In other words, those agencies and enterprises that are up to no good, are going to strongly desire to keep “under wraps” anything that they fear might be interpreted or misinterpreted by the general public as being actions which are detrimental to the people and their rights, at large.

When it comes to the best of the reasons of why secrets are necessary, that reasoning is usually based around the fact that there are elements within and without societies, that necessitate some sort of response or action, which requires confidentiality of some degree in order to best effect the proper defense or response, so needed or desired.  For the most part, the general public, well understands the need for secrecy and will not then insist upon the full disclosure of that, which probably should not prudently be disclosed.  The problem, though, is that a lot of the secrecy that we see in the present time, has a lot more to do with the types of actions that are done in secret, and are deliberately hidden from the public, that for a certainty, are basically built around subterfuge, deception, outright lies, and must be kept secret, because these secret actions are insidious enough, that they often serve to undermine the foundational principles of what the Constitution, so represents.

It is unfortunate that governments are only as good as the people that run them – of which, the more secretive and deceptive that government is about what is really going on, in the name of the people, the more that government devolves into being a power onto itself, and less that it feels then for a need to be a responsible servant to the people.  When the people are precluded in knowing what is really happening, because there are labyrinths upon labyrinths and a multitude of layers of secrecy, secreted from them, then this nation, isn’t really run by a government, of, for, and by the people, at all; but rather, this government is run by those that are the powerful and secretive implementors of it.

The more secretive a nation is and the more secrets that it so has, the more that government has become tyrannical in its structure, because it essentially has bifurcated itself into a government that is publicly known, along with a very powerful secretive government, which is unknown.   So too, a tyrannical government would have difficulty in existing, if not for its secrets, because when the people know all of what their government is about, they will fight back, in ways big and small, when what is so happening to them is clearly unfair, unjust, discriminatory and wrong.  Remember this well, the best government is that which is honest, transparent, and open to debate its proposed policies – whereas, that government that insists that it needs all sorts of secrets to best protect and defend the people, is in all likelihood, inimical to those same people.

“For you grow to heaven, you don't go to heaven”

The sleeping prophet, Edgar Cayce, tells us that: “For you grow to heaven, you don't go to heaven.” In the western world, mainly because of its material success, as well as the fact that it has its footprints all over the globe, there is a tendency to believe that the western world thus has all of the answers that humankind could ever consider to ask.  Further to the point, based upon the commercial advertisements that we so encounter each and every day, in which, these advertisements, make it their point to emphasize that all we could ever want is contained within the particular product so being marketed, that it therefore becomes almost second nature for many of those in western nations to believe that whatever that it is that they so need for satisfaction, is always going to be something that is readily available to them, if only they would buy this or buy that.  Yet, that isn’t true whatsoever, and never will it be true, for lasting happiness and satisfaction, whether in this world or beyond, cannot ever be simply purchased and never will that be so. 

We do so find, that the way that the Christian religion, for instance, has been often disseminated or distorted to the people, at large, is that there seems to be a general belief by the public, that they can do all the sinning that they so want, and perform as many bad actions as desired, if they will only accept finally that Christ is their savior, and hence be not only forgiven of all their sins and errant ways, but thus be eligible to go to Heaven, as well.  For all those that mistakenly believe that there is some sort of shortcut or a way to “game” the system to get into Heaven, without essentially having to change the content of one’s character, this is fundamentally untrue.  No one just goes to Heaven, for Heaven, is a destination that can only be earned by developing or rediscovering the skill-set so needed, that is in harmony with God’s good commands.

To believe that Heaven, pretty much accepts anyone at any level, at any time, is nonsensical.  For the very problems and unresolved issues that we had in this world, we bring with us to the next world, and when those character traits are thus not in accord with love, empathy, compassion, justice, truth, and forgiveness, then it really isn’t possible or conceivable that we can successfully enter through the Holy Gates.  Remember this well, that which we truly value, we work very hard to achieve, and further to the point, we will not relent until we achieve that very goal.  This then, signifies that to reach Heaven, we must grow and develop ourselves in a way and manner that is heavenly in our demeanor and by our actions, forthwith.

The world that we exist in, is structured for us, as a proving ground – so meant to test us and our worth in the cauldron of sacred fire.  The challenges we face are meant for us to overcome, and until we prove our mettle, again and again, we will not make it to Heaven, for Heaven is a destiny so meant for those that are conquerors and not for those that are the conquered.

Nixon and the environment

In today’s Republican party, the concern about climate change, the environment, pollution, sustainability, and regulations so meant to be enforced on behalf of the American people for the benefit of those same people, clearly seems to not be a priority of that party, whatsoever.  Yet, if we turn the clock back to January of 1970, and President Nixon’s State of the Union Address of that same year, we would probably be rather surprised at what Nixon so said, and advocated for, back then.  For instance, Nixon proposed that “… to the extent possible, the price of goods should be made to include the costs of producing and disposing of them without damage to the environment.” 

Yet, what we so see, far too frequently, when it comes to how business is conducted and performed in America, that the businesses of America, pretty much run roughshod over our weakened environmental regulations, in which, those that pollute and damage our environment, are often either not held fully accountable for the damages so inflicted upon such, or are rather adept behind changing their corporate identity so that it so becomes that no going concern corporation is thus ever held responsible for such damage.

In our capitalistic system the rush for profits, the desire for the executive office to get their bonuses, the need for stockholders to see a constant and ever improving return on their investment, as well as the sales people of these corporations doing what so has to be done in order to get their fat commissions, lends itself to constantly conducting business in a  way and manner in which the environment is treated as something that is not an ever present priority or concern.  This is not the way that things should be, because business models can be constructed in which, clean air, clean water, and environmental responsibility could and should be part and parcel of those business enterprise responsibilities, without exception.

The problem that modern day America has, which is reflected by the policies so enacted and subsequently enforced, is that those of the business world, that are primarily driven by profit, have way too much influence and way too much sway upon the governmental policies so implemented within America.  This means, that far too often, this government is counting upon the corporate world, to somehow do the right thing about clean air, clean water, and the environment – when that same government knows for a certainty, that the primary driving force of those businesses is the making of profit, above all.

It is one thing to know what the right thing is to do about the environment and pollution, as Nixon so stated in 1970, and it is entirely different thing to actually do what needs to be done.  Further to the point, when businesses are permitted to pollute this fine land, year after year, the price that the general public must then pay for this to be rectified or corrected, ever increases, of which, the burden to ameliorate such, is apparently not rightfully placed upon the shoulders of those businesses that have created this mess in the first place; but rather, instead, is placed upon the taxpayers of this nation, and, regrettably, then, passed onto future generations to address and to deal with.  In short, Americans supposedly still have a birthright of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but apparently, to this nations’ shame, have no birthright to a safe environment to enjoy such in.

An impartial jury

The 6th Amendment to the Constitution, states that the accused shall be tried by “..an impartial jury.”  Yet, the history of court cases within America, demonstrates historically, that impartial juries, seems to be in many a case, the exception, and not the rule.  After all, when it comes to human nature, we are prone to have a preconceived nature about many things, of which, not too surprisingly, when it comes to criminal trials, a significant amount of people, pretty much are biased in their predisposition, as a matter of course.  For instance, in many racist communities, past or present, those so accused that are of the unfavored race, that thus face a jury of exclusively the favored race, know that the result for them, is going to be almost for a certainty, not one of their liking.  So too, those that come from poor socioeconomic levels, who are thus judged by a jury, who live on the other side of the tracks, are going to often be in a rather problematic situation.

When it comes to criminal justice, the makeup of the jury, that decides upon the guilt or innocence of those so being accused, is quite obviously of immense importance to the outcome of a given case.  The question then that needs to be asked, is does the American court system, do all that it could reasonably do, to make sure that the jury is impartial, as well as being a fair reflection of the community, at large.  In other words, communities of people are in the natural, not typically completely homogenous, but rather are heterogenous.  This thus signifies that an impartial jury, at its foundation, must then be made up of a fair reflection of all of the adult people that are part and parcel of that community, from rich to poor, from black to white, from one religious persuasion to another, and from white collar to blue collar.  A jury then made up of a fair diversity of what that community actually represents, would not necessarily be an impartial jury, but it would, at a minimum, reflect the diversity of that community, which would probably reflect fairer jury decisions.

When it comes to achieving an impartial jury, it is vital to impress upon those that are its jurors, the importance of them, not having preconceived notions of innocence or guilt, without first taking into fair consideration the testimony and the circumstances of the case, so of, to come.  Further to the point, it isn’t often, that regular folks, are placed in a position in which their judgment has a legal and meaningful impact upon another – which is why jurors need to be reminded that they have a duty to render their decision based upon the actual facts of the case, as a form of reasonable service to the community that they are a part of.  Those then, that are good listeners to the facts of the case, and are careful in their deliberations, so of, have done their good part to be impartial, and all those that do not do such, are partial, and have thus failed to be just and true.

Bad means – bad end

There are plenty of people that actually believe that the end can indeed justify the means that are used to get to that desired end.  In other words, for those that believe in this nonsensical idiom, pretty much anything then can be justified, if the end result, so of, appears to be of desired value.  Not too surprisingly, the type of person that truly believes that the end justifies the means, are the very same type of people that are forever wanting to bend, break, or ignore conventional rules so as to have their own way – who thus find when questioned about their own ethics, responding that their actions are actually essentially ethical, because the end result is considered, at least, by them, to be good.

As they say the pathway to hell is paved with good intentions; and it could be added that the pathway to hell is also paved with those that believe that any means are justified, if a supposed good result, will occur.  The problem with this type of mindset, is that ethics thus perpetually takes a back seat to actions so enacted, that, in theory, will ultimately have a good result.  Yet, what isn’t taken into consideration, is all the nuances and the full consequences of the bad actions taken, that have been perceived as being, for example, unethical to others --  and so when these actions seem rewarded as being right, because the end result appears to be right, encourages then those others to go out and behave in the same similar way, ad nauseam.  In other words, a supposed good end result, isn’t necessarily the definitive end of all the ramifications of that result.  Rather, for instance, many people are impressionable, and if they see that in order for a given person of interest to get ahead, that this person has to lie, deceive, and exploit, of which, the return seems to be for that person behaving as such, the appearance of a very good life, then others are going to be prone and susceptible in following suit, come what may.

So then, in truth, those that utilize bad means, are on a distinctive arc, that bends inevitably to a very bad end.  That is the way that it should be and that is the way that it actually is.  To believe, otherwise, means to believe in a universe in which there is no moral or ethical order, whatsoever.  Rather, there is order, and those that do not wish to adhere to that order, are going to reap fairly what they have so sowed.  The choices that we make are ours to own up to – of which, then, should a given person decide to utilize whatever means, good or bad, that appeals to them, to get to where they believe that they really want to be, the consequences of any wrong actions are something that must be paid and paid in full by them.  In fact, those that use bad means not only ultimately hurt their own self, but they are at least indirectly responsible for hurting others so damaged through their bad means.  That is why bad means always leads to a bad end.

Be careful who you follow

If everyone wanted to be a leader, there would be quite a bit of chaos and civil unrest, because there are only so many slots available for leaders to fill.  Fortunately, the amount of people that want to be a leader aren’t all that many – in fact, one could argue, that there is definitely a dearth of good leaders, and that therefore because of the lack of well qualified and good leaders, this presents its own problem; as there are unfortunately, plenty of ambitious people that want to lead, but are doing so pretty much for their own benefit, and often at the expense of their devoted followers, or of society, in general, or both.

The fact that not every leader is a good leader, is the very first clue, that we should be careful as to who we do or do not follow.  After all, each of us is gifted with our own mind, of which, it is our responsibility to utilize our mind so as to develop the skill-set to think for our own self.  Further to the point, we need to advance far beyond just believing everything that we so hear, read, and see, as if we have no capacity or desire to discern the reliability, truthfulness, or validity of what is so happening.  We are not meant to be credulous citizens, that question nothing, and accept everything – for if that was the case, then we would be better suited to just be automatons and not human beings.

That said, there is no shame in being a follower of a leader of real merit– especially when we realize that we do not have the time, energy, or capacity to lead the line, our self.  Often, in life, in order to effect change, there is a necessary need to join together with like-minded individuals, of which, each of these individuals brings something of worth and merit to the table, and from those many hands, joined together, a cause can rise to the forefront, especially when it is led by a dedicated servant to that cause, who is unrelenting upon achieving that which must be done so as to effect meaningful change. 

Nevertheless, a wise and prudent person, must not be hesitant to question the authority of even the cause that they are following, because it is important that those that are agitating for change, stay focused upon the purpose for their cause, originating in the first place – for there has been many a leader that begins with the best of intentions, of which,  subsequently through their and their followers’ actions this eventually devolves into the bastardizing of what was so intended, which thus undercuts the purpose of the agitation so enacted and is thus detrimental to all so involved.  In short, before we decide to follow someone or to join up with a particular group, we should want to know what the driving purpose of the agenda actually is – and periodically we need to thus ask our self this very salient question: is what we are so following and participating in, bringing us closer to that which we first proposed to accomplished or is it taking us further away?