True Charity

We are taught to be charitable to others, of which, how few of us are truly charitable in the best meaning of this word as in of being of true service to the other.  That is to say, it is essential that whenever we are being charitable we try to empathize with the other, which will enable us then to see ourselves as being one with them, for each of us is made out of the very same substance as the other, which is indicative that we are thus equal in the eyes of our Creator.  This signifies that as equally created members we have an inherent obligation to the other, to do our fair part to alleviate and ameliorate what so ails them, through our charitable acts which are performed without obligation and without an expectation of receiving something in return.  In other words, to be truly charitable, our act must come from our heart, so done because we know it as being what a good neighbor would do for their fellow neighbor.

In life, there are far too many of us who end up becoming lost, so when we look upon those who are lost, we tend to not see the hidden humanity that lies within them, and because we miss that, we treat them differently than we would if we saw them the same way that we might see a good friend or favorite relative.  It is an error whenever we discount the humanity within the other, for our solemn duty when performing charitable acts is to first meet the person that we so see on the level they appear to be at, so that we can thereby better identify with them, by impressing upon our mind what it would feel like if the shoe was indeed on the other foot.  Those who need charitable acts performed for them aren’t typically looking for pity, but rather they are looking for someone who can still recognize their value and intrinsic worth which is an unalienable quality of theirs that can never depart from their immortal soul.

Indeed, there are many hurting people in this world, and the best service that we can thereby provide for them is to provide them with hope, which on some level, whether that happens in the here and now, or occurs in the future, thus provides them with the rebuilt foundation to thereby construct something of meaning which will thus aid them in their rediscovery of who and what they truly are at their core.  We are meant to be charitable because we are meant to be a shining light to others, which thereby helps those suffering people to erase the darkness that precludes them from seeing that immaculate light, and those who are the most charitable are those who can best bring that meaningful light to others, which helps then to free them from the imprisonment which has precluded them from recognizing what they truly are, and what they were always meant to be

All talk, no listen

There are plenty of people who like to do all of the talking and aren’t all that interested in doing much of the listening, which truly reflects them being concerned much more about themself, or the belief that what they have to say matters more, than what the other person might have to say.  No doubt, there are those situations, in which one person, such as a teacher, a mentor, or a parent, should be doing most of the talking so that they can communicate important information, but in regular conversations or what should be conversations, it is going to be a healthier environment if each person truthfully believes that the other has listened to what they have so had to say.  Indeed, perhaps one of the reasons why so many people are so enamored over their pets is the fact that pets can’t actually have much of a conversation with us, but instead must be the ones that pretty much do all of the listening, all of the time.

The art of communication is certainly an art and those who respect that art, are the same people who make it their point to see that in their communications with others, the other has their fair say.  Of course, there are going to be those times when we are so excited about some particular event, which represents something of high importance, that we are going to just tell our story, with the sole expectation that the other person just needs to listen.  While that is indeed understandable, it has to be said, that far too often, there are those people that simply believe that everything that they have to say, always is of high importance, when in actuality, that is seldom the case.  Still, we must learn to listen to one another, because those who feel that they have been discounted, ignored, or trivialized, are prone to want to have their say in some other way, perhaps by spending less time with us as friends, or perhaps striking back at us through behavioral actions which are meant to draw attention to themselves.

So too, it is important that we meaningfully listen to the other, as opposed to half-listening, as in when we are, for instance, planning out what we are going to say when it becomes again to be our turn.  Indeed, while we may always have a strong tendency to believe that what we have to say is of more importance, it isn’t considerate though to not provide the space and give the time to hear the other person out, for that is our fair obligation to them.  After all, the same consideration that we desire to be given to us, we owe it to the other, because good communication skills necessitate reciprocity.  That is why each of us needs to consciously understand that when we listen well, we can empathize better with the other, because we are doing our part to understand them from the perspective that they are coming from, and when we do that, not only is it appreciated, but we learn more about the other because we are now truly listening to them.

Is it irrational or is it not?

In life, we will come across behavior by others that appear to us to be certainly irrational, but the thing about making a judgment like that is the salient fact, that what appears irrational to us, may not appear irrational to the person so making that decision, and further to the point, that often we do not ourselves have all the information to be able to know for a certainty how irrational a decision may or may not have been.  That is to say, the information that we have as compared to what the subject person has, can be not only dynamically different but may indeed conflict with one another, therefore their act is going to appear irrational to us because the information that they are acting upon is not the same information that we so have.  Additionally, two people can have the same information but come to differing conclusions because their interpretation of that information is not the same.  This is why we have those cases in which we believe that we have instructed our underling with what they so need to accomplish a given task, only to find out, that their interpretation of such, has come from a different place than what we so anticipated, which we did not even consider as being a reasonable possibility to begin with and why consequently we don’t get the result that we expected.

As much as people would like to think that we are at least, occasionally, irrational, the bottom line is that most people intuitively are quite rational, it is rather our perception that makes them seem to be irrational.  After all, it’s difficult to truly know what another person is thinking, or the reasoning behind such, if we aren’t that very person, because each of us has not only had different life experiences, but we also process information differently, as well.  That is why, things that look positively stupid to us, that other people fall into which makes them appear to be utter fools, are probably that which on a certain level, is rational to the person so performing that act.

So then, when it comes to people inexplicably performing irrational acts, we often need to examine what is so occurring in more detail, to understand their reasoning process, or lack, thereof – as opposed to simplistically believing that they are irrational.  To a very large extent, people are trying to make good decisions in their day-to-day activities, because they believe that by doing so, the results will be better for them, so whenever we see people making what appears to be a bad decision, it could well be that the information that they are dealing with, in conjunction with their life experiences or inexperience, is placing themselves into the position of which they appear to be irrational, but aren’t themselves aware of such.  This is why, whenever we see irrational behavior, we need to understand what is going on so that we can then correctly weigh in as to whether or not, it is as irrational as our first impression tells us.

What can a dead man take with them?

In answer to the above question, a dead man cannot take a single physical or material thing with them when they die, though they can, if so desired, have material objects buried with them.  Also, it has to be said, though a man who has departed this world can take nothing with them, they can leave behind material possessions, money, and things of that sort to friends and family, so it could be said that those who are the dearly departed, can leave behind something of tangible worth to others, but for a certainty, they can take nothing with them to that undiscovered country.

Indeed, while a dead man can take nothing physical with them, what they do so carry to the dimension beyond is their soul, and all those that have concentrated upon developing good character have thereby developed those good traits so needed to be of benefit to others, thus demonstrated through their fairness, their generosity, and their wisdom imparted to those with ears to listen and to learn, which means that these good people are the very same that have established those necessary valued spiritual qualities which will put them in good stead for what truly matters in the eternal realm.

In life, each of us is provided with the opportunity to utilize our time in just about any way that we best see fit, subject only to our responsibilities as well as our limitations in this world.  Those then, that spend inordinate amounts of time upon that which is all about keeping up with the Joneses, or things of that ilk, have made their decision that what matters most for them, is the material possessions and accouterments that seem to thus represent success on this material level.  So too, there are those others that have inordinate amounts of time on their hands, because they are not overly busy on much of anything, in which rather than trying to better themselves and thus turning their attention to that which will be of benefit to their spiritual development, find that their preference instead is to spend their time in idleness or the dissipation of their character.

For a certainty, each of us has been gifted with free will, of which it is up to us, what we will or will not do with this great gift.  Those who have taken the time to think as well as to concentrate their mind on the meaning of life, will recognize that it is folly to build our foundation upon anything that will not stand the test of time.  Instead, those of insight, recognize that what we are meant to concentrate our efforts upon is that which will bring us lasting satisfaction which can only come about from that which is eternal in nature and meritorious.  Indeed, our time in this world is limited, but our time in the world beyond is limitless.  Those then that prepare themselves well for that world beyond, are the very same that are fully awake and those that do not, are the walking dead.

Life is worth living when you live for something of meaning

For some of those who live in Western societies, who are themselves shelter and food secure, there may well come that time, when they begin to wonder whether or not life has any meaning.  For those who haven’t pondered this question and then have sincerely wished to find the answer to such, life is an exercise in futility when we don’t have something worth living for because those without meaning in their lives are the very same that typically find themselves living lives that have only a minimal amount of positive impact for themselves as well as for others.

Those then who don’t have a good purpose that brings meaning to their lives are going to be susceptible to sleepwalking in their lives because in lacking that purpose and therefore the incumbent drive that comes from having a purpose, they have a distinct tendency to just go through the motions. After all, whenever people have the basics that make life appear to be somewhat satisfactory, that may well be good enough to keep them somewhat content in where they are at, though, they could be so much more if they concentrated their talents upon something more meaningful.

So too, it isn’t going to be good enough to just sit back and complain about this or that, and to criticize what is happening around us, if at the same time, we aren’t willing to put forth the effort to be part of the solution, by our active participation to help correct that which needs to be corrected or needs to be changed.  Indeed, it’s easy to be the critic and it’s a heck of a lot harder to do something constructive to help make things better for society – for this fairly represents the dividing line between those who have something of purpose that makes their life meaningful as compared to all those who just want to talk or be idle, and thereby never to take part in purposeful action.

When it comes to our goals in life, the very first thing to note is that each of us needs to have goals in place to thus work towards.  Further to the point, we need these goals to be well thought out and consistent with what drives us to thereby study and work hard in order then to obtain these worthy objectives.  Those who have a prime objective in mind are the very same who are working towards something of merit to achieve, which thereby not only keeps them busy and occupied but provides them also with a purpose to go through what they have to go through to achieve that very thing.  On the other hand, those who lack a clearly defined goal are those who are going to just casually go with the flow, and when it comes time for them to swim against the current, they won’t be able to generate the energy to successfully do so, because life is meant to be lived for a purpose, and those that haven’t done much to develop that purpose or to even recognize such, aren’t the type to have the right stuff when called upon.

Practice what you preach

In consideration that there are over two billion Christians in this world, and of which there are hundreds of hundreds of millions more of untold people that believe in a Higher Power that we all must so answer to, one would think that those that are bold enough to take on the moniker of being known as being a member of the general Christian sect would therefore live their lives in such a way that people would credit them as being truly Christian in their attitude, in their behavior and in their corresponding acts, such as would fairly represent faithful people that lived lives consistent with loving their God with all their heart, and their neighbor as thyself.

Yet, how few seem in reality to practice what they so preach, for they seem to suffer from the very same faults and errors that so many of us who don’t wear that Christianity or their faith upon their sleeve duly suffer from, by being, for instance, petty, lying, selfish, as well as just not being a good neighbor.  Look, it has to be said, that those who claim to be faithful to their professed religion but can’t seem to make even a good faith effort to live up to its most important and valued tenets, that they then should be seen for what they are, which is a hypocrite.  

It is hard, after all, to respect someone who can’t seem to live their faith out in their persona so demonstrated by what they truly do or don’t do on a given day.  Those then who believe in that Higher Power but can’t seem to separate themselves from the madding crowd, are those who desire to take on the aura of their faith but are doing little or nothing to prove that to themselves or others.  It is this type of lackadaisical faith that makes societies so dysfunctional and unhealthy, because if those that claim that they are good and faithful servants to their religion, aren’t those very things, themselves, then society suffers from that lack of good character being actualized.

The true test of anyone that professes to be Christian is whether or not someone that intimately knows that person, actually describes that person first and foremost as being Christian -- in addition to then describing what it is about that person, that makes them stand out as being Christian.  Those who practice what they preach through their works though are going to pass that sort of test with flying colors, whereas those who profess to be something that they aren’t true to, won’t have any works that second that belief.

In life, each of us will be tested, and those who learn well the lessons that need to be learned, are going to prove the value of those lessons by living the sort of life that reflects that they represent good students for they have taken that knowledge and thus adeptly applied it to all aspects of their life.  Those then that truly believe in something of real substance, will logically act and thereby behave in a manner that reflects that sincere belief, and those that don’t, won’t.

Micah 6: 8

We read in the Holy Scripture “…O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6: 8)  In life, not all of us will be gifted with good parents, or a valued mentor, or even good friends that wish the best for us.  Rather, to a large extent we are going to have to find our way in this world, and thus make it our point, to be the best person that we can be, by obtaining wisdom through the proper usage of our mind and by the experiences we so encounter, day by day.

The advantage of utilizing the Good Book is that not only is there valued wisdom within the words so written, but that this wisdom, is the type of knowledge which is often universal in its application and is thus of true relevance in this day and age for us.  For instance, when we look at the passage of Micah 6: 8, we are given prudent instruction about what is good, of which the foundation of such is based upon being just and true one to another, in all that we say and do.  In life, there are going to be all sorts of experiences that aren’t fair to us or others, which, oftentimes we can’t control, but what we can control is our interactions with those others, which gives us a fair opportunity to be fair and just to those others, which is definitely in harmony with the attributes of God.

So too, when it comes to justice, we find that society has had a rather troubled history of exacting justice that is done without mercy, and without consideration of “walking a mile in the other person’s shoes,” and because we do not care to empathize with the other, it thus makes it easier to exact the type of justice which is lacking nuance, mercy, or fairness, often because we do not see ourselves in the other person, even though, each of us is made out of the same substance.  Those who practice mercy are those who care about the other because they recognize that each of us, no matter how lost, or even how great, has been created by the very same hand.

Lastly, we find that especially in Western societies, there is an emphasis on getting ahead of those others that we compete against, and thus of our earning the accouterments of success, so that we will be respected by others and thereby treated with what we feel that we deserve by having earned such by our accomplishments.  Perhaps this is fine, but recognize that none of us start our respective lives at the same starting point, and further that the credit that we so often desire to own as ours completely, probably has had some significant contributors along the way of our journey that helped us to become good and valued citizens, and we owe it to them, to be a bit less proud, and hence a lot more humble in the consideration of our success.

Indeed, there is plenty of life advice out there for just about everyone, and those who go to that fount of wisdom are those who thus place themselves in the best position to achieve that which is most lasting and good.

Own up to your mistakes in life

It has to be said that many a person is not too thrilled to own up to any of their mistakes, big or small because often they feel that this reflects poorly upon their abilities or skill levels, along with the salient fact that they don’t want to lose face in front of esteemed others.  Regrettably, so many people believe that they have to be perfect and flawless, which, none of us actually ever are.  Despite knowing this, there is still a distinct reluctance in many of us, to own up to our mistakes, because we don’t want to be considered to be a low performer or incompetent.

It is vital to own up to our mistakes in life, mainly because people of integrity, are the very same people that will admit to their faults and errors.  They admit to their mistakes, not because they desire to be perceived as mistake-prone people, but rather they do so because it is not only the right thing to do, but also it reflects that we aren’t always going to get things done correctly, but by owning up to such, they make it their point, that they will thus take responsibility and further to the point, will ultimately make good on it, rather than wasting their time hiding behind a façade, or trying to pass on that lie upon someone else.  In other words, they own up to what they need to own up to, and then they get moving on doing what they need to do to get back on track.

Anytime that we make an error, there is for some people a default mood, that they have developed, which is first to look around to see if anyone noticed, and if not, to try to discern as to whether or not this mistake could be pinned upon another or ignored.  This type of mindset is just a formula for trouble, for those who will not take responsibility for that which they are responsible for making an error upon, are the very same that will often take credit for something good that has occurred, that they were not a true contributor to.  Indeed, the inability to own up to one’s mistakes is a bad pathway that those who lack integrity are on, and which good people really shouldn’t desire to ever be on, especially if they consider themselves to be people of virtue and honesty.

Indeed, it’s not an easy thing to own up to a mistake, especially when that mistake is rather serious, for this thereby requires courage to do so, because a serious mistake, may well necessitate a serious consequence.  Still, the difference between those who are of good character, and those who claim to be of good character, is the difference between those who are willing to take the criticism and opprobrium so directed at them, as compared to those who will try to ameliorate any negative consequences, by not admitting to that which should be admitted to.  Remember this well, we will be judged, and those who make the prudent decision to face the music in the present, are going to be in the pole position to subsequently mature into adults of good character, and those who postpone such, are going to ultimately pay the penalty that they fairly owe along with its corresponding interest,

The integrity of a good leader

For a certainty, we are influenced by those that are the people that we look up to and admire, and so to the degree that these people are flawed, this thus can present a problem for us to overcome in our personality, for when we know that somebody that we value, does indeed suffer from having feet of clay, we are left with the choice of still maintaining our integrity, or making that fateful decision that what is good for the gander is good for the goose, as well.

It is indeed a dark and discouraging day when we discover that our parents whom we look up to and admire, are themselves, subject to various weaknesses and flaws.  When we thus learn this, it affects us in the sense that we no longer are capable of admiring them as absolute paragons of virtue, but rather we see them as fallible human beings, quite capable of error and mistakes.  While none of us are perfect, it is vital that those in positions of influence such as eminent politicians, teachers, and parents, present themselves to others as people of integrity, of which, they will at a minimum always own up to mistakes so made, and will also endeavor to do their best to correct that which needs to be corrected, in a timely fashion, rather than being people that are two-faced, or suffering from various other faults, such as selfishness, greed, and deceit, which they refuse to ameliorate.

It has to be said, that whenever we are interacting with other people of which we know for a certainty that the other person, suffers from the occasional flaw of, for instance, being vindictive, jealous-hearted, or petty, that we have to take what we so have observed into consideration, when we voluntarily provide our consent to that person to be, on some level, our companion, or our mentor.  This thus signifies that those who are above us in the sense of being our boss, or our political representative, in which they have clearly demonstrated to us a lack of honesty and integrity, then our most appropriate response to that, has got to be the recognition that a person who lacks self-control and the apparent unwillingness to correct such, is probably the type of person that we should not only be wary of but also should be someone that we not give our full support to, for they deserve it not.

Indeed, the mistake that societies tend to make is to not make good on their salient observations of those that are in positions of power and influence, in which, those that have such power, should be held accountable on not only a professional level but also on a personal level.  Indeed, a person who cannot keep their own house in order, seems unlikely to be the right person to keep society’s house in order, for those that cannot govern a little domain well and fairly, probably aren’t going to be the best choice to govern something of larger societal importance, either. 

Government permission

None of us are born into freedom, for we are dependent primarily upon our parents for our good guidance, in order for us then to ultimately develop into mature and healthy adults.  This means that our parents as well as other authority figures are basically in charge of us in the sense of helping us to make good decisions, and when appropriate, our parents make those decisions for us, because they are in the prime position to know what is best for us.  So too, other authority figures, such as teachers and mentors, have the right to help guide us, because as children we need that guidance to thereby keep us focused on the pathway that will best bring us success.

Eventually, though, all of us move from childhood into adulthood and therefore there comes that time when we no longer are dependent or even necessarily interested in what our elders desire or think that we should do, for we are now independent free-thinking individuals, capable of making our own decisions, good or bad, right or wrong, and thus have then the responsibility to fully own up to those very decisions so made.  This doesn’t signify that we have to or need to turn our back upon our parents, our teachers, or the others that we esteem, but rather that we have the independent choice to do so, though in truth, we are often far better off remaining in harmony with those that have our best interests, in mind.

All of the above signifies that in a nation that prides itself on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that we are fairly entitled to those very things -- of which this thus signifies that rather than our governance dictating to us, what we can or cannot do, or questioning us as to what we are or are not doing, or monitoring our movements online or in-person, that such governance as that, is governance that has taken a significantly wrong turn, for to be at liberty, means to be at liberty to think the thoughts that we so desire to think and to do the things that we so desire to do, subject only to reasonable legislative laws written for the benefit of society, at large.

In other words, to live in a society in which, as a school child, we are required to raise our hand, so as to have permission to speak, is not a free society, but rather represents a controlling society, which by definition, then, is not free.  All those who believe that a safe and secure society, necessitates that all our public movements need and should be monitored, and all that we say and do through social media or in our interactions, should be observed for the safety and security of this nation, have surely got it wrong, for those that truly desire to be free and at liberty must themselves be sovereign individuals and to the degree that they are not, then they remain no more than subjects to that governance, of which that governance determines then what is best for that individual to do, and therefore what is or is not permitted, which is anathema to individual freedom.

Human sacrifice to God

There are all sorts of thoughts about what Christ’s crucifixion meant and the purpose of such for not only humankind, but also to God.  So too, when we study the Bible we see that animals, such as doves, goats, and sheep were commonly used as a sacrificial offering to God, which to modern-day ears, appears to be something that only the ignorant and simple-minded would have been a part of, because it makes no sense that our omniscient God would ever desire the sacrifice of any animal such as done in a temple, to God.  This thus begs the question as to whether we should see Christ’s ultimate sacrifice, supposedly for our collective sin, as somehow being a tribute to God, so done for our salvation.

It is probably fair to state, that God does not and never has needed any sacrifice so made via an animal, as some sort of guilt or sin offering to God; or beyond that, to have the ultimate sacrifice made, which would be the martyrdom of a human being, in order then to expiate sin or similar.  None of these sacrifices seem to make much logical sense if specifically done as a tribute to God, especially when we believe that our God is a God of love, forgiveness, justice, and fairness.  On the other hand, if we feel that our God is a vengeful God, that wants those that should be punished to be punished, and of which, we further believe that in order to appease that God, we need to show our humility by sacrificing animals or even our own self to do so, then a sacrifice such as that makes eminent sense.

While there isn’t any doubt that Christ did so suffer through the ignoble death via crucifixion, it is vital to understand that His sacrifice was not a human sacrifice to a God that demanded such as the fair retribution for the sins of humankind, but rather this was the reflection that through the crucifixion of Christ, that the disciples of Christ, would be themselves liberated from the sins and errors of their past mistakes, so that they could through this liberation, freely take on their sacred mission to preach the word, throughout the world with a message that would resonate with those open to receiving such.

Indeed, our God does not desire that human sacrifice from any of us, and never has.  Rather, God desires that we recognize that we have the inherent obligation in our incarnation upon this earth, to do the right thing, one person to the other, and to thus bring light to those that are in darkness.  Because, of humankind’s errors in judgment, and the character flaws of those humans, good people are going to be invariably hurt and even killed by those that do not truly know what they are doing, but such suffering of those that are victims of this unjustness, is only temporary, for our bodies house our eternal spirit, of which this spirit cannot ever be vanquished, so that human death, is never the end, but merely removes our temporal housing, to reveal the unconquerable soul, instead.

The importance of commerce and trade

We live in an age in which military defense alliances are the norm between like-minded nations, as well there still being, despite this, an awful lot of wars, or rumors of wars, between various nations, or even within nations that have serious civil discord.  On the other hand, we know that the very first thing about commerce and trade, is those that are integral parts of such, recognize that war, for the most part, is bad for business, because business depends upon the good, open and fair relations between one nation to the other, along with the safe passage so necessary to successfully conduct that trade.  So then, a world without war, is going to be far better for commerce, then a world with lots of conflict and war – though, of course, those that are in the war business, would vociferously disagree with that assessment.

While it seems to make eminent sense to have alliances, such as we see with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) it has to be recognized that all the monies so allocated to the military, has a strong tendency for those receiving such, to want to demonstrate in action that those monies were not ill-spent, because they believe that this world needs military might in order to not only defend nations but also to impose order on those recalcitrant nations that need order to be imposed upon them.  In other words, defense alliances of any sort, typically can’t just let their powder sit dry, year after year, but rather they are eager to display that those monies expended on armaments were not spent in vain, for these military expenditures are believed to be necessary for the protection and safety of nations.

Yet, it has to be said, that humankind, is inborn with a natural inclination to desire to do what they have to do on an individual and family basis to secure the necessary attributes in order to thereby have a good life, which therefore means that gainful employment, and the bartering of one’s labor for monetary compensation, or the trading of goods to one another is part and parcel of how that good and satisfactory life contributes gainfully to the foundation that such success is built upon.  This thus signifies that being able to freely conduct commerce with any and everyone that fits that bill, makes for alliances between those trading parties, in which each party to that trade, benefits, and of which, neither party desires to see this to be upended.

Indeed, it is commercial trade done on a level playing field, that brings parties that could be warring against one another, or be at enmity with one another, closer together, because at the end of the day, commerce is by far the better path for lasting satisfaction, as opposed to forcefully taking from the other, through might.  This is why, those nations that primarily concentrate on those alliances that are beneficial for commerce are helping to make this world to be more inclusive, and those that concentrate instead on the need to carry a big stick, are those that are stuck within a mindset that won’t be progress, but will instead be that which will be potentially disastrous for us all.

Military conscription

At the present time in America, there is no military conscription, which is a great benefit to all of the people of America, for being conscripted in order to fight in a war, signifies for those so being conscripted, the distinct possibility that they will lose their life, become injured, or end up suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).   Yet, just because there is no conscription for miliary service currently does not mean that such a conscription will not come back into play at some future juncture, which is why it needs to be carefully examined as to its fairness and its ultimate Constitutionality.

For instance, our Constitution in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 and Clause 12, indicates that [“Congress shall have the power… to declare War,”] as well as [“Congress shall have the power… to raise and support armies”]  The question then that comes to mind is that if Congress has not declared war, that would presuppose that it would not then have the Constitutional authority to raise and support armies through conscription. However, wars such as the Korean and Vietnam wars were not Congressional declared wars, yet they still conscripted United States citizens, which would seem to be putting the horse before the cart, and should thereby be subject to comprehensive re-examination by a serious judicial review. 

Then there is the inconvenient fact, as to who is or is not eligible to be conscripted, in which, first of all, females have never been conscripted in the United States, and in addition there have historically been exceptions made for certain others in which they paid, for instance, a monetary amount for someone else to thus be their substitute in regards to their conscription – as well as other exemptions such as being married, or being in college, or not being within the age range of that conscription, and hence because of these exceptions, these people did not therefore have to serve per the rules of that particular conscription.  All of the above, is absolutely discriminatory, and in an era in which physical strength is not necessary in many of the tasks so involved in today’s military service, it would seem that those that should be or could be conscripted might well be looked at more thoroughly.

Indeed, the main thing about military conscription from a historical basis in the United States, is those so subject to that service, have specifically been young adult males, and because it is circumscribed to just this subset of Americans, it thus makes it more difficult for those young male adults, to build up the overall consensus so necessary to protest the unfairness of such.  So then, should conscription ever come back to America, one would expect that it won’t actually be much different than before, because if conscription was something that anybody of any sex, and of any general health, or of education, or of marital status, was subject to between the ages of 18 to 45, there would probably be a lot of pushback from the general public and that wouldn’t be what this government would want, because this government recognizes that many a person doesn’t really mind conscription being the law of the land, as long as that conscription does not directly or indirectly impact their own life.  In other words, conscription is all about somebody else risking their life, their body, and their mind, to defend freedom or whatever, and those that aren’t conscripted, essentially get a free ride upon those that have been conscripted.

Freedom from compulsion

We are born with unalienable rights, which therefore signifies that we are gifted by our Creator with rights that thus supersede that which governments institute and thereby claim to be our rights, as gifted to us by that governance.  The best government is not necessarily that government that governs least, but instead is that governance that makes its very first principle to see that it upholds and defends our natural right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, above all.  So then, whenever that government or institutions created through the auspices of that government thereupon conflicts with our natural right to freedom and volition, it is critical that we take a careful look as to what is actually happening.

The first thing that we need to keep in mind, is that for the betterment of humankind, we live in societies, for societies provides us with a multitude of benefits, such as in the defense and protection of the community, as well as the advantages of being able to draw upon the individual skill-sets of the community and the fact that each of us is gifted with certain characteristics and attributes that work best when combined with those other elements of the society, that others are quite skilled at, which makes for a greater efficiency and effectiveness for the overall good of that society.  That is to say, there isn’t any real point in each of us being our own hunter, or farmer, or in a society in which we are pretty much compelled to take on certain activities in order to sustain our body, when these very things can be better achieved, through the concerted effort of a group of people that concentrate on providing us with the ready means to nourishment, good water, roads, and other infrastructures of importance.  This thus indicates that to the degree that we need to sacrifice some of our liberty in order to work hand in glove with those that make up our community, does in many a case, make eminent sense, though in excess, it does not.

For instance, we find that mandatory military conscription is definitely something that impacts our free volition as well as our very life.  So too, anything that we so desire to do with our body and mind, or any business that we conduct in which each party to that business, has voluntarily chosen to be a part of, in which, our governance insists that we are not permitted to do that which we have chosen to do as per our volition, is anathema to freedom.   In any society that acknowledges that we have unalienable rights, but within that society, we are being compelled to sacrifice those same unalienable rights, for whatever reason, is a society which is failing the very people that it has been structured to be of assistance to.  To be free, is to be able to utilize that freedom in whatever manner that pleases us, and should typically be our unalienable right, subject only to our non-interference with others so exercising those same rights.  This means that any time that we are compelled to do something via government fiat, that the reason behind that compulsion, must be made known to us, as well as to make sense to us, and should be circumscribed by the salient fact that such a sacrifice of that freedom, should be limited and in the highest sense, be met with our approval.

The importance of jury nullification

We live in a nation in which we are supposed to be judged by our peers, which is why we have juries in the first place.  That is to say, if the law was always decided by judges the end result for the people would be a system of justice, in which the people did not truly have their say, and though judges may very well know the law, it can also be said, that the knowing of the law is not necessarily the same thing as justice, especially when such is unequally applied and biased.

It is important to recognize that jury nullification when so actuated, means that those that are members of the jury, aren’t going to therefore render their verdict based upon the law, as it is, but rather they are going to exercise their right to not apply that particular law because they do not believe that the law as so written is a law that should be adhered to.  For instance, back in the day when the colonists were still under the thumb of Great Britain, those that were sympathetic to the protests so going on in regards to the colonists not having sovereignty over their own personhood and of being taxed without any representation, could then exercise that belief by the dutiful exercise of jury nullification, therefore not convicting those that were in violation of the law as the British rulers so saw it.  So too, when the Fugitive Slave Clause was so legislated into effect, those of the North, who were abolitionists at heart, did not believe that their duty was to return a runaway slave back to servitude, especially when that runaway slave was in a “free” state, and thus they would exercise their right of jury nullification.

Look, it has to be recognized that the law is oftentimes behind the eight ball, or is in effect, behind the times as to what is or is not occurring at the present day, so that, laws that criminalized homosexual behavior, or birth control, or interracial marriage, or the possession of cannabis, and so on, were once the ruling law of the land, but these laws, have become since then either overturned or are no longer applied.  Yet, before the law was changed, these were indeed the laws of the land, signifying for those that were members of the jury at that time, an opportunity for them to uphold the law as so written, knowing that they did not agree with it, or through jury nullification to disown it.

Each of us is defined by the decisions that we so make, and of which, it has to be recognized, that not every law is a good or even a fair law, and further to the point that the law is ever slow to change, so that for those that desire to see change, they have a responsibility to either own up to doing the right thing, or to acquiesce to those that they believe that they must so be obedient to.  Indeed, those that take what appears to be the revolutionary step of jury nullification are the very same as those that stood up to the injustice of British rule, and helped therefore to make this a land of freedom and liberty, with justice for all.

The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God

Our Declaration of Independence contains these immortal words “The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God,” signifying that there is a known moral law, or an ethical code, that supersedes what rulers such as Kings and Queens so dictate as to what they believe the law should be, and how they believe the law should be implemented.  Rather, our Founding Fathers believed strongly that Kings and Queens were subject to the very same Laws of Nature as every other human being was subject to, no more and no less.  Therefore, this meant that the era of Kings and Queens proselyting to the people that their power was somehow granted to them by God, was circumscribed by the fact that Kings and Queens were themselves subject to that same law, and therefore whenever there was an inconsistency between one law and the other, Nature’s God took precedence.

We live in a land in which each of us, rich or poor, black or white, is entitled to equality under the law, and to the degree that this does not so happen, fairly reflects that the spirt of the law has been violated.  Indeed, to be a citizen of a land in which the rights of its citizens, are the same, no matter their standing and no matter their religious faith or lack thereof, is to live in a land which represents freedom and liberty.  So too, while it is true that humankind through its legislative acts, can enact all sorts of laws, well-thought out laws or not, the bottom line is that while society’s laws may change through the eons of time, what does not change is the moral code from that which gifted us with life and our thinking mind to begin with.

It is well to remember that governments the world over, may or may not try to be fair to their constituency, but even those governments that are the fairest, have a tendency to devolve into that sort of governance which wants from its subjects, primarily obedience and compliance to the prevailing laws of the time, and consequently are not interested in any meaningful dissent to those laws.  While this may well be what governments prefer, it is not in accordance with the Laws of Nature, and therefore it must be recognized, that obedience to a bad and unjustified law is no virtue; whereas, standing on moral principle, no matter the law or its consequences, is the absolute epitome of ethical courage.

To live in a land which recognizes that all are subject to Nature’s God, and to have governance which thus reflects this sound principle, is to be in a land of liberty, which is well worth fighting for and defending, because it is our natural right to be a free-will people.  Those then that are those people, need to hold their government of, for, and by the people accountable to not only the Constitution which is the highest legislated law of the land, but also to hold that government answerable to the principle that the prime purpose of government is to duly defend and to uphold our unalienable rights.

Sacrificing freedom for security

There are plenty of people that are scared to walk in certain neighborhoods, or visit certain venues, or are concerned that they or their loved ones could be randomly attacked at any given moment.  To a certain degree, those that are concerned about their safety, are being sensible and prudent, for there are for a certainty, bad actors out there.  The problem though comes when our concern about our personal safety exceeds the reality of our situation, in which, we end up being scared or frightened about things that could happen to us which aren’t going to realistically happen.

For instance, there are people that feel that a terrorism attack could occur if they decide to fly, or that they are in some reasonable danger of a terrorist act happening in their community, when the true possibility of those things actually happening to them, aren’t going to be appreciably higher than being struck by lightning.  To a large extent, we can be our own worse enemy, because we spend too much of our time, permitting ourselves to be scared, by listening to or watching those types of reports, that present us with notorious crimes and present-day dangers, that we then “project” as being something that could happen to us.  Sure, bad things happen each and every day, but then again, America is a really large country, which has troubling civil unrest and other worrying issues, due to all sorts of reasons, which aren’t going to be solved anytime soon.  That though doesn’t mean that the trouble need reach us, especially if we are sensible and prudent in our behavior and actions, so taken.

The disappointing thing though is that our own government, has its reasons why it wants us as a people, to be scared and frightened, because the more that we feel that we could be attacked by another country in some sort of sneak attack, or by a terrorist organization, we find that this often goes hand in glove with a willingness by the general public to thereby sacrifice some of their freedoms and liberty, in exchange for more security and safety.  While this might seem to make sense, it has to be recognized, that powerful governments, including our own, aren’t really all that comfortable with the general population having unlimited and unrestrained freedom and liberty, because their preference is often to have a population that marches to the beat of that government, so as to be better able to manipulate the people, or redirect them in the direction that the government feels is beneficial to it.

So then, governments often make it their point, to create for the people, a simplistic binary choice, of which it is sold to the people that either they can have all the liberty that they are entitled to by that governance, or if they are sensible in these troubling times, they can voluntarily relinquish some of that freedom, for their own safety and security.  While this might even seem like a good thing to a whole lot of people, the problem is that governments want their people to believe that only their strong government can protect them, and this can only occur if they know everything about their people, so as to properly protect them, and those that willingly provide all their personal information to the government in regards to who and what they are, have sacrificed their freedom, for possible safety, or possibly the opportunity for that government to better manipulate and to control them.

Praise and blame

Each of us desires to be praised by the other, and few of us wished to be blamed by the other, irrespective of whether or not the praise or blame is accurate.  That is to say, we appreciate being praised, especially when we feel that it is deserved, but even when it is not, we are appreciative of it.  On the other hand, we typically don’t like to be blamed, especially in those cases where that blame is misdirected to us, but even when we are at fault and therefore to be blamed, we seldom embrace such because we dislike the feeling that we get when we are blamed.

So then, to be praised would appear to be something that we should aspire to, and to be blamed appears to be something that is best avoided.  The thing is though that there is many a case in which whether we are praised or blamed by the other, we find that the person so adjudging us does not really have all the information so needed to actually correctly render praise or blame, because they do not know all the circumstances so involved, which is the significant reason why we will be praised in a situation in which it really isn’t warranted, and also why we will be blamed when that isn’t warranted, either.

This would seem to indicate that those that are dependent upon receiving praise by their peers or by others, and are duly fearful of being blamed for much of anything, have made the cardinal error of basing whether they consider themselves to be a good person or not, upon what other people have formulated as to their opinion of them, which leads to the type of mindset, in which, we make it our point to then try to look good in every possible circumstance, and are quick to run away from those situations in which we might well be consider to be at blame for something that didn’t go right. 

Look, it is strongly suggested that each of us needs to stand up on our own two feet, and just be the best person that we can be – regardless of what the naysayers or believers have to say about us, because at the end of the day, the judgment that we rightly need to fear, is not going to come from people, who are clearly fallible, but rather will come from that which is inerrant.  Further to the point, within each of us, good or bad, are characteristics that are praiseworthy as well as those characteristics which are problematic.  Clearly, none of us are error-proof, and because of that, we are not perfect, which therefore signifies that each of us has done those things that we should be blamed for, as well as also having done those things which are praise-worthy.  Indeed, we need then to put things in perspective, with the understanding that what is expected of us is to learn well from our mistakes so as to become a better person and not to worry about how much praise or blame that we thus receive, but rather we need to essentially care about doing what we can to press forward, one solid step at a time.

Last Mile Delivery

In today’s world, more and more people order what they want online, and expect such to either be delivered directly to where they are at, or for those that find it more convenient or are precluded for various reasons for having packages dropped off at the door, their package will thereby be delivered to a locker for them to retrieve.  To a very large extent, people receiving deliveries don’t much care about the logistics of how the package is delivered, and who that package is delivered by, but pretty much just want their stuff to arrive on-time and undamaged.

So then, the thing about deliveries for these companies that need to get their goods to the customer is to well understand the best logistics for achieving this in an efficient and effective manner.  Not too surprisingly, while there are advantages to a company when they utilize their own employees and therefore their own company vehicles, this isn’t necessarily going to be the most efficient way to accomplish such, when it comes down to the “last mile” which is basically that step in which the goods are being delivered to the customer’s house.  That is to say, companies are usually quite efficient at getting goods to arrive at a central warehouse but the cost of getting that particular good to its final destination, is something that can be not only cost prohibitive but also time consuming.  This is why so many companies prefer the usage of contractors, of which these people making those last mile deliveries, aren’t actually employees of the subject corporation, but rather are independent contractors to them.  This signifies that the delivery person picking up the goods to be delivered to homes, are going to use their own vehicle to make those deliveries and get paid per the company formula, which will often take into account, the distance so traveled, the overall price of the goods, as well as the weight of the goods, amongst other assorted factors to arrive at their compensation pay.

For instance, Walmart, has a program in which a message is sent to the customer on deliveries, that states, “This shipment is coming from your local club, will be delivered by a driver in their own vehicle and may arrive unpackaged.”  For those customers that even bother to read that note, they might easily conclude that the management at Walmart at some point during the day, got together with their employees, to thereby find someone that desired to leave Walmart a bit early in order to make some deliveries on behalf of Walmart -- but here’s the thing, we have to recognize that a behemoth corporation such as Walmart is not going to do that at all, instead they will follow the given written procedures for that corporation which isn’t going to involve some employee leaving early for the day in order to make deliveries for Walmart.  Rather, what is gong to happen, instead, is that Walmart will outsource that work to a contractor that is not employed by Walmart to make that delivery, and that person will actually be driving their own vehicle.

Indeed, deliveries that come to our door, may or may not come to us via USPS, UPS, FedEx and the like, but instead will come to us from regular folks, working in what is known as the gig economy, in which, one way or another it is fair to state that the corporation contracting them for this work, knows well how to structure their compensation in a way that is favorable to that company and not so favorable to that delivery driver.

The right response

Even the most cursory of looks at our world and the society that we are a part of, tells us that not all is well.  Indeed, there is way too much discord, injustice, selfishness, and unnecessary bad behavior exhibited day after day after day by all sorts of people, who really ought to know better.  Those then, that are expecting that we are going to live in some sort of paradise anytime soon, have got to realistically recognize that this isn’t going to happen in the foreseeable future, because the trajectory of humankind becoming more civil and considerate one to the other, appears to be a change that is happening, if it is so happening, at a glacial pace. 

Each of us has enough experience in our daily interactions to know what behaviors and actions would appear to be appropriate when confronted with other people that are behaving badly such as through their unrestrained anger, selfishness and lying.  One response which humankind seems to draw upon again and again, is basically to respond like for like, when confronted with someone or something that troubles them.  In other words, when we are threatened with the sword, our go-to response, is often to respond with our own sword, so righteously drawn.  That is to say, because we believe that we are on the side of right, we are thereby entitled to use force to dispel force.  Yet, how long has humankind and their governments done that very thing, and here we are, no more truly civilized, today, as we were decades upon decades ago.

So then, the right response to when we are confronted with a bad actor is seldom going to be like for like, for that isn’t progress, but it is in its effect, stagnation.  This thus signifies that the right response to somebody that has unconstrained anger towards us, is to first of all, to try to listen as to what it is that has occurred and has gotten so deeply under their skin, so that our response becomes one of consideration, empathy, and kindness.  Sure, that isn’t going to always work, but for a certainty, the way to put out a fire, is not going to be to add fuel to that fire, for anger is the type of thing, that takes its inevitable toll upon the person that is angry and they then will eventually run out of steam, of which, if we do our best to try to calm matters down, their anger has a tendency to dissipate more quickly.

The life that is presented to us, and the conscience that we develop, does not need to be overly complicated, for if we keep foremost in our mind that we will fundamentally be the voice of reason, as well as to develop the living discipline to recognize that goodness, kindness, love, truthfulness, and generosity are the type of vital qualities that help make for a better and more inclusive society, then we will be doing our fair part to respond to people in the most appropriate manner, so as to make our relationships to be better and more caring, and by doing so, to live by our actions and behavior, as a responsible person, so done for the betterment of the society that we are an integral part of.