The disenfranchisement of the enfranchisement of the black man after the 15 Amendment

The 15th Amendment to the Constitution stipulates that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude," of which this 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870, and therefore the upshot of this Amendment, was that black males, previously enslaved or not, now had the legal right to vote in democratic elections, and the immediate aftereffect of this legislation was that in some of the Southern States, blacks were duly elected to legislative and other offices.  However, regrettably, there was never going to be a time when the elite and powerful of the South, were going to countenance being ruled or policed by the black man, fairly elected or not, and in short order, those voting rights as Constitutionally provided to the black man, became, through hook or by crook, violence, and intimidation, effectively null and void.

This thus meant, for the South, in which States such as Mississippi, as reported by the jacksonfreepress.com, had approximately 55 percent of their population previously enslaved, and hence blacks thereupon became the majority race in Mississippi; as well as reported by Bowdoin.edu, in which the census of 1870, showed that 44.2% of the lower South, were blacks, that the black vote, now being effectively negated, meant that because the Constitution stipulated that its elected Congress, be proportionally represented by the aggregation of the total population of the United States, and then in proportion to the enumerated population of each individual State, within a construct in which no longer was the counting of slaves apportioned as three-fifths of a person, but that instead all blacks would therefore be counted each as a whole person; and therefore this signified the increase of the corresponding amount of representatives in the South, of which those representatives so elected to the House of Representatives, would not reflect the diversity of the South, but would solely reflect the white ruling class of the South, and by this, keep those that had formerly been enslaved to suffer the ill effects of not only State and regional power placed against them, but Federal power as well, or if not that, Federal power that had become eviscerated in regards to civil rights.

So then, despite Constitutional Amendments that were meant to give blacks a seat at the table, which they did indeed have for a very brief period of time during the reconstruction era, materially helped by the power and authority of Federal troops so situated in the South; what happened though, within a very short order, was that the power structure reverted to the Southern white elite, and blacks were subsequently in many respects reduced to slavery by another name.  So that in practice, States such as Mississippi which had but four seats in Congress in 1852, had by 1904, eight seats in Congress, in which each of those seats were occupied by white men.  So then, it can be said, though having lost the Civil War, the South, through the bastardization of the 15th Amendment and other Constitutional law, actually got stronger in its national legislative power, as well as more entrenched in its old ways in each of its respective Southern States.

Money, money, and more money

We live in a monetary credit community, in which billions of dollars are created, year by year, so as to help prime the gears of the wheels in order to keep the American economy humming and growing.  Those that run American's central banking consortium, the Federal Reserve, talk a very good game and try to give the impression to the susceptible public that the economic minutiae that they study and process, makes everything that they do, appear to be of sound basis and common sense. 

The bottom line is that when dollars are created, those dollars should most appropriately be utilized in constructive ways that help the American public and the economy, in whole.  At least, that should be the general theory, but the reality of the situation is that when monetary credit increases at a greater rate than what should be occurring or is necessary, then those monetary assets are ultimately going to be mal-invested, of which the primary source of such mal-investment is not to take that money and invest it into the infrastructure of America, which may not show any immediate return of that money in the sense of a traditional return on investment, or at least not directly; but rather to take the easy and greedy road, of simply investing those excess funds into the mania of the stock market casino, recognizing that speculating in that way, is very much a confidence game, of a belief, that the prices of stocks, ever rise, until they do not.

Again, monetary capital is required for businesses and economies to grow, but there is a world of difference between money being utilized to purchase goods, materials, infrastructure, labor, or research and development, that are productive for that business or country, as compared to money being "invested" into a corporation, via stock trading, in which, all that has really occurred is that one stockholder has traded shares for money, only to take that money and trade it once again for stock, in which the object of the exercise, is for the price of those underlying stocks to inexorably go up, even though fundamentally the business of that corporation represents less and less real relevance to the price of the underlying stock.

All of this money that should be utilized constructively to make this nation more vibrant and stronger, as well as to keep the people fully employed at a fair wage, is often misdirected into purely speculative measures, in which, that speculation is basically done on the spurious reasoning, that if the equities so being invested in are traded in a manner in which they always go up, than those speculators are ever getting richer.  To a certain degree this theory works, until such a time arrives, as it invariably does, when the confidence game of the stock market casino, loses its confidence, and those easy speculators, take the easy way out, by selling and no longer reciprocating such sales with buying, leading to the inevitable result from such easy speculation, which is the crash, and the higher those stock prices are and the longer such excess speculation has gone on, the bigger is that crash.

While it is true that in this modern era, countries can just manufacture money -- that money ultimately is worth only what is being materially manufactured, produced, and utilized; so that excess money that is mal-invested is the equivalency of money that is just being burned.

Overcoming the fear of death

Nearly everyone, and especially mothers, rightly celebrate the birth of a newborn as a seminal event of much importance and love.  On the other hand, death while sometimes welcomed and celebrated, is more often seen, especially in western societies, as quite tragic, because of the elimination of that person from this world, and therefore a typical source of much sorrow and regret. The thing is that for those that celebrate birth as a joyous moment, yet, that also believe that death is a tragedy, are representing an obvious inconsistency in their mindset, for because every birth in this world, means the inevitability of the death of that person, then the very birthing of a newborn should more properly be seen as a future tragedy and therefore such happiness for the former should also be tinged with sadness for the latter.

This thus means for those that believe solely in a material world, that each birth thereby necessitates a corresponding death and nothing beyond; have a belief that is both fatalistic as well as being rather bleak, for the construct so created, really represents a worldview that demonstrates in principle that life is wholly unfair and of no or little good purpose.  On the other hand, those that correctly surmise that birth and death are only tied to this material plane, and that in reality, each of us is an immortal being of spirit which actuates upon our physical lives, of which this earth in actuality represents a testing ground, then life on this plane, thereby seems to be both fair and of a good purpose.

Each of us, should want to make it our mission to know the whole truth, for those that have beliefs which are untrue, false, or mistaken are going to have a  much stronger inclination to fear things, such as death, that they need not overly fear, as well as to make decisions that are wrong; as opposed to all those that in knowing the truth of who and what they really are, are able to grasp the big picture and to correspondingly conduct themselves in such a manner so as to be a benefit to themselves as well as to mankind, in general.

The reason that fear is put into our being to begin with, is usually as a protection for us, so as to not unnecessarily harm or endanger ourselves, and from that perspective such is wise.  However, those that fear something that is inevitable, such as dying, need instead to understand what living is all about; and from that basis, they should correctly comprehend firstly that life and death are part of the cycle of life on earth, and further that since such is repeated again and again and again, that behind that cycle there must be a Master Source for all this.

Far too many people fear death, when what they should be far more cognizant of, is what they are doing proactively in their lives to make this world a better and more fulfilling place, for the body is ever mortal, but the spirit is transcendent and immortal; and those that have the attributes of God and have utilized such in this world and beyond become the very pillars of the palace of God, and those that have not attained or achieved such, must return again and again, till they are.

Learn how to boss your bad habits

People are creatures of habits, for a lot of reasons, of which, one of the most pertinent ones is that, habits in general, can make our lives more efficient, by allowing us to follow, for instance, a given pattern that is beneficial as well as being time effective for us.  However, habits can easily be divided into good habits, that is habits that are of benefit for us, and/or help us in our efficiency and effectiveness; as compared to habits that are bad habits, that clearly hinder us, and not only hurt our efficiency and effectiveness, but are harmful to our character.

One might think that anyone with a bad habit, such as substance abuse, a bad temper, eating disorders, and the like, would as a matter of course, simply get fed up with such, and would eliminate it forthrightly.  In point of fact, because of the nature of habits, simply eradicating a habit is something that is going to not only take concentration and willpower, but it often also needs self-examination, as to why it is that one does what they do, and therefore foundationally to understand what caused the undesired and unbeneficial habit to become part of our being.

While there is something to be said about people that use the strength of their willpower to not give into their habit, that is never going to be the best way to eliminate a bad habit, because willpower is something, that can ebb and flow, depending upon outside circumstances, our mindset, and our weaknesses on a given day, so that those that give up drink for a period of time through their sheer strength of mind, and nothing else, are quite susceptible to being caught unawares in the same maelstrom that they previously escaped from, should certain circumstances arise, leading them to get right back in to the temptation that has ensnared them again and again.

On the other hand, those that have the thoroughness of mind to get to the root of the problem, as to the nature of why they do what they do that is of a bad nature and of a bad habit, of which this is clearly harmful to them as well as being undesired; understand comprehensively that by doing so, that they can foundationally eliminate their bad habits and their bad inclinations from their life, by taking away the desire and the want to do that very thing.

Those that suffer from a bad habit, that they do not wish to own anymore, must make it their point to be the boss of that habit by consciously eliminating it as something that they no longer wish to have, and replace such with something else that is of higher merit and is beneficial to the person, instead.  While it is not easy to eradicate a bad habit, especially one of long standing; this can be accomplished, though, when that habit is thoroughly investigated and the roots of the desire for that habit have been pulled out of the ground that previously held it so firmly.  After all, it is our minds that forge the chains of those habits, and therefore it is our minds that can break us free, if only, we would have the wherewithal to draw the line in the sand, and to make our valiant stand.

When the government disobeys its own abiding principles

Any good country is supposed to be a country that lives in principle, by its faithful observance of its laws made from those good principles.  That is to say, this Union of States, recognizing the importance of having a strong and stable national government, took the initiative to have those representatives of those States meet together, so as to debate and to discuss and to come to a consensus so as to therefore create good governance, by the issuance and subsequent ratification of that Constitution.  Clearly, the United States has a well written Constitution, with important Amendments to that Constitution, of principles that are quite favorable for the creation as well as the sustainability of a country that is of the people, by the people, and for the people.  That is to say, governments are created by and for representatives of the people, as a compact between those people of that country, of which the government so instituted derives its just powers exclusively from the consent of those so governed.

So then, if that government would only follow truly the dictates of that Constitution, then that country would represent in actuality the abiding principles of that Constitution.  In point of fact, in many respects, this government and its interpretation of the laws so propagated, have demonstrated again and again, that the laws so made, are not stable or consistent, but are instead often as applied --arbitrary, contradictory, and just plain wrong.  This thus means that laws that should be consistent and equally applied to all equally, are the very opposite of such consistency, and are often biased, unfair, discriminatory, and even inimical to the Constitution, itself.

This signifies that a country that does not conform to its own abiding principles as per its Constitutional law, is a country that has clearly lost its moral compass, and such can therefore only create a construct of confusion, disappointment, hypocrisy, and dissent.  All those that cry for justice, must understand, that when a country does not adhere to its own Constitutional principles, then that country cannot now, nor will it ever be able to actually have justice in its land.

Consequently, a country that does not live up to its founding principles and has no interest in doing so, has devolved into a country in which the citizens of that nation are not going to respect the law as applied, for the law is not worthy of their respect, for when that government at the highest legislative, judicial, and executive levels, essentially treats the law as something that is ever changeable, depending upon the powers to be and the whip that they so use, than the law effectively is not stable or legitimate, and is of little merit.

A legitimate government of the people, must not be a power above and beyond the people, but must represent the people, and further to the point, that government must live within the abiding principles of their founding law, that is, their Constitution.  To the extent that this is done, the government of that country has legitimacy, and to the extent that this is not done, such a government as that, has lost its way, and is therefore a counterfeit government by virtue of its failure to adhere to and to abide to its Constitution and its people.

Equality and inequality

The seminal document that founded this great nation, states forthrightly “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” and this Declaration of Independence, was signed by fifty-six of the most esteemed and influential men, from each of the thirteen colonies, and further that these same men pledged their lives, their fortunes, as well as their sacred honor upon the words so disseminated.

These words quite clearly meant that these men truly believed that each of us has therefore been equally created.  So then, it could be questioned and should be questioned, as to how it is that these honorable men and all those that have followed them, could in any way, form, or function, believe thereafter that a legitimate government by the people, for the people, and of the people could be a government that would ever sanction a construct in which some of those very same men, or subsequent generations of those men, would somehow have devolved into believing that we are created unequally.

This would then signify, that the only possible way that this country can remain true to its own Declaration of Independence is to have a country in which the laws, justice, and fairness is applied in such a manner that reflects that each one of us, has been created equally by God, and therefore all those that treat mankind as being something other than equal, are effectively traitors to that Declaration of Independence, and further have lost their place as moral agents of good.

So then, in every area in which the application of law, justice, and fairness does not truly reflect that equality, such laws are effectively nullified, and where there has been and continues to be systemic injustice and inequality, such needs in order to be made right, be rectified, forthrightly. 

This would so indicate that when any nation turns its back on the very cornerstone of the foundation of that nation, of which that cornerstone is morally correct, then such a nation as that is surely not blessed by God, for it is not in adherence with the moral law of God.  This would indicate that the United States very first obligation that supersedes all else, is to support and to propagate its appropriate mission, above all things.

It cannot be emphasized enough, that when mankind is intelligent enough and perceptive enough to recognize that our Creator has created all of His children equally, that it therefore follows that our sacred obligation is to see that this is upheld within the government so constituted amongst mankind.  While one can applaud words that are moral truths and that are pledged to, it is not enough to know those words, or have listened to those words, but those words in order to have any positive and lasting effect amongst mankind, must be lived up to. 

It is in the living and our application thereof, that we do show who and what we truly are, for those that speak of equality but live by the sword of inequality, are provocateurs of great ill winds, that sustained long enough will surely take down the edifice of all that is good and leave nothing but desolation and ruin, from its horrible destruction.

Violence begets violence

America is a violent society, and as the leading western nation in virtually any metric of merit, the violence in America makes it an outlier in comparison to virtually every other western nation.  One might think that for the country that claims to have been blessed by God, and to be the epitome of both freedom and opportunity that the United States would be embarrassed and disturbed of this inconvenient reality infringing upon the American dream, but based on the fact, that such violence does not appear to be subsiding, it must not be.

In point of fact, in order to successfully resolve such violence, some things must fundamentally change within America.  First, would be the recognition that equality matters in every conceivable way, of which this signifies that equality of opportunity, equality of education, equality of income, and equality of justice, are absolutely germane to the amount of violence in any nation.  That is to say, that the lack of equality, in which those suffering from that lack, intuitively recognize the unfairness of such, breeds frustration, and from that frustration all sorts of ills come forth, of which one of those ills so expressed, is violence in any of its myriad forms.  Secondly, families and communities that are violent in their behavior, and subsequently in their way of dealing with problems, frustrations, and setbacks are going to create more violence, because people in general, replicate in their own manner, the world as they see reflected in front of them.

Solutions to these problems necessitate thorough resolve, as opposed to what is currently occurring, in which well placed privileged people cry the loudest for law and order, and in return, receive more law and order especially upon those communities and people that are engaging in uncivil behavior, of which this does not fundamentally resolve systemic problems, no matter the copious amounts of people so arrested and incarcerated, because sanctioned state actions that are violent, discriminatory, and predatory in its own way, merely teaches the lesson that such is effective for the awesome power so displayed; and so then, the people within that community will respond utilizing their version of the same.

Additionally, those that grow up within conditions of a family, in which there is much strife and discord, along with strong domestic violence, are prone to suffer not only the ill effects of being violently abused by their family, but are going to take that suffering so received and with their additional grievances that life is unfair and unjust, become, rather logically and regrettably, violent themselves.  So that, it can be said, that violence begets violence.

The only successful way out of the continuum of more and more violence, is to mitigate and to ameliorate the conditions that breed such violence, and the sooner that this is addressed in societies as well as in the lives of all people, the sooner such will be markedly improved.  The violence in America is a true reflection that something is fundamentally unhinged in America, and what is unhinged is the fact that oppression, unfairness, and exploitation, are the fuel that stokes the fires of violence, and those caught in that maelstrom, act violently, mainly because this reflects the violence that permeates their own lives, and enthralls them.

Taxation and standing armies

The United States has the world's largest standing army, or military complex, which has its tentacles and its reach felt throughout the entire world.  While there may indeed be benefits for being the world's most powerful military, it must be recognized that not only is the world, filled with just over 7.5 billion people, as well as there being approximately 200 different nations in this world, but that also there are wholesale differences between many of those peoples as well as those nations, of which, most of those differences do not and does not directly impact the United States, proper.

That is to say, the viewpoint of other people as well as other nations does not agree in many respects, with the United States, but in the scheme of things, other nations and other peoples are fundamentally mainly concern about their own domestic issues as well as having a meaningful concern about their neighbors contiguous to their borders, so then, for the most part, this means that the United States, does not have a real necessity to concern themselves militarily with most other nations; yet it does.

It would be one thing, if the military complex of the United States, somehow didn't cost the American taxpayers a dime, but, in fact, that military complex has an immense budget, as reported by usgovernmentspending.com, of which for fiscal year 2019, that amount came to a total of $940 billion, representing the monies so being spent on the Military spending, Veterans, and Foreign Aid.   Further to the point, standing armies in order to justify their existence, must make it their point, to flex their muscles, each and every year, so as to indicate to the American population not only how dangerous that the world at large so appears, but that the threats, real or imagined, so discovered, must be and only can be dealt with effectively by that military complex.  So then, the upshot of such a viewpoint is that the defense spending of America increases year by year, even though America has not had a Congressional declared war since World War II.

So too, because of the America's defense budget as well as other national expenditures of all types, the fiscal responsibility of this country to balance its own national budget, has fallen completely to the wayside.  So that, the present day citizens of this nation, are not being taxed at the rate so necessary to pay for this defense as well as other national commitments, because this government runs instead, massive deficits, of which the financial burden of such are thereupon placed upon the backs of future generations.

Because America refuses to get its fiscal house in order, and because therefore the taxpaying public does not suffer the real-time impact of what their taxation would have to be, in order to balance a budget that promises both guns and butter, the howling that would be expected from an overburdened and overtaxed public is not only not heard, but the real impact as well as the real sacrifice necessitated is not ever felt by that public, so that the end result is a nation that is enthralled to the military complex, and led by a government that hoodwinks the public about the national costs of this fiscal irresponsibility. Such a government has not the courage to place the onerous taxes so necessary on its people to balance its fiscal budget, because the rich won't pay for it, the poor don't have it, and the middle class can't alone carry all that weight.

Wealth and paper money

We live in an age in which our wealth is typically ascertained by the value of our assets in the form of dollars or whatever the coin of the realm is of that particular nation.   Many people, though, do make the fundamental mistake of seeing dollars in and of themselves as a form of wealth, whereas dollars should more properly be seen as a medium of exchange.  That is to say, that for the most part, dollars are ideally utilized and have been created as a way to monetize assets, goods, labor, and just about anything that can be traded so that both sides to a trade can easily make the exchange thereby using a medium which is both universal as well as having what is considered to be, stability of value.

So then, in modern times, we use dollars or their electronic version of as our genre of monetized assets.  So too, in previous civilizations, money has been represented by shells, or whatever else people found to be suitable, or through physical coins of the realm, or through tradable receipts issued by institutions that behaved as banks of their day, and so on and so forth,.  Yet, before any of this occurred, there was a time, when banking institutions or their equivalencies, or coins, didn't really exist, so that in order for one party to trade with another, some sort of bartering was done, perhaps through the exchange of animals or agricultural products or perhaps something else of value, or even of symbolic representation of value.

In any event, even without money, or some coin of the realm, societies were clearly separated between those that had and those that had not, and that separation was essentially along the lines of what a given party actually owned.  That is to say, people's wealth, and societal wealth, was based upon the property so owned by those people, such as their land, their home, their possessions, and so on and so forth.  So that, in essence, wealth back in the days before money, was displayed by the actual ownership of goods and other material possessions that a given person had or did not have. 

This meant, that the way that one generation of wealth passed on that wealth to the next generation, was by the gifting of their land, or their animals, or their possessions to the next generation; because these very things represented and were, in essence, wealth, and not a symbol of wealth, such as in a dollar bill, but the wealth of something real and tangible, and often of relevant use in the current time and age.

It could then be said, that those that have a substantial amount of wealth in the form of paper or electronic money, should always be a bit wary of that considered version of wealth, for if such a time should come in which for whatever reason, that paper money is devalued substantially over a very short order of time, and done so in a manner that is wholly unexpected, one might find that owning paper money is not now, nor ever really has been the same as owning something that is tangible, real, and has intrinsic worth, in and of itself.

Slavery, freedom, and land

The end result of the Civil war was the eradication of the insidious institution of slavery, and thereby the freeing of those previously enslaved, that were also thereupon granted per the highest law of this land, citizenship, equal protection of the laws, as well as the right to vote.  All of this, sounds quite good on paper, but good laws that are not enforced are hardly good laws at all.  Additionally, in 1865, most slaves were not only illiterate, but were rather rural in the substance of their labor, they also owned no property, so that the freeing of 3.5 million peoples, that own no land and had no property was not in and of itself, going to provide a fair opportunity for those previously enslaved to become self-supporting and truly viable as well as liberated members of society.

In an era in which the southern rebellion had been put down, and in which, the vast majority of former slaves were physically located within those rebellious States, all this should have been recognized as being the proper and the best time for the Federal government to take proactive measures to provide to these illiterate and agrarian based former slaves, with the land, seeds, and tools, so as to make these people, self-sufficient and to secure their freedom and prosperity.

While it is true that the Federal government did provide some material aid to those previously enslaved, in conjunction with and alongside of religious organizations, and volunteers, that helped to educate former slaves as well as to enforce and to protect Constitutional law within those States, it was not enough overall to provide meaningful change for the vast majority of those previously enslaved.  That is to say, for the most part, those of the powerful planter class of the south that had rebelled against this Union of States, that produced untold misery and bloodshed upon the peoples of the same country, were able to upon the end of hostilities and the peace so made, go back to their lands, in most cases, with full rights to such, as opposed to their lands being rightly confiscated and being provided to those without land, including poor landless southern whites, as well as previously enslaved and landless blacks.

So that, while blacks were now citizens, with, in theory, equal protection of and access to judicial law, as well as the enfranchisement of the vote, it did not take long for the plantation ruling class of the south to assert themselves in such a manner, that things were about the same as they were during the institution of slavery, with the exception that rather than having and owning slaves, those that work the land for that plantation ruling class, were now designated as sharecroppers instead. 

All of this really meant, that freedom, without the accouterments of what people actually need to be truly free, as represented by adequate education, the fair compensation of the fruits of one's labor, as well as the means for the ownership of land, meant that those that had been enslaved were in effect, free on paper, but still oppressed and subjugated, in actuality.

The reason behind stock market crashes

All stock markets, suffer from the syndrome of booms and busts, of which, for those on the receiving end of the busts, one can find this to be rather devastating to not only their savings, but to their lifestyle or even to life, itself.  As much as governments try to control or to smooth out economic cycles, the reality is that because the stock market is a marketplace in which investors essentially vote with their dollars, this thus means that for every single second of every minute of every day that the market is open for business, such controls are never going to be robust enough, to effectively overcome the sentiment so expressed by those investors.

In America, as charted by trendingeconomics.com, the total market capitalization of listed companies in the United States in 2007, was about $20 trillion, of which during the crash of 2008, this dropped to under $12 trillion in 2008, and as of 2017, stood at an astonishing $32.1 trillion. Not only does this clearly show that the total market capitalization is rather volatile, but it also demonstrates quite clearly that the stock market capitalization of this country does not correlate well with America's actual GDP growth, in which from 2008-2017, in not a single year, did the GDP even reach 3% per annum, and in fact, averaged only about 1.5% per annum during that period, yet the market capitalization of the stock market, increased at a rate far exceeding the actual goods and services so produced.

Quite obviously, this would so indicate, that the stock market has a mind of its own, of which, those investing in that market, by their buying and by their selling, determine the value of these publically traded companies.  This means, by implication that the "worth" of these publically traded companies are determined not so much by their sales or earnings, but in actuality by the bid price and the ask  price of those so trading in those securities.  This also indicates, that in a stock market in which each party to a trade, that is the buyer and the seller, have made a deal to trade for a certain stock price, that each side, believes that the deal is fair, or else the deal would not have been done at that price point.  So then, it would seem that the stock market takes into account, all actionable information and therefore is ever efficient, but this is belied by those booms that go bust, as well as by those busts that become booms.

The reason that the stock market crashes, even in mature markets such as in the United States, which has all sorts of regulations, controls, and even circuit breakers to stop all trading during steep drops, is that the transactions between a given buyer and a given seller are ultimately in the hands of those buyers and sellers.  Further to the point, in order for any market to continue to climb up, this is going to be dependent upon new money coming in, in order to therefore push those prices up, for without that new money, the fuel that propels the stock market, will dissipate, because all those that are already in the market, are already at a certain equilibrium. This, thus means, that markets crash, when they aren't any new investors, in addition to a significant amount of the current investors deciding that they just want out, and those selling are thereby willing to leave some money on the table, to get out, in their flight to safety or sanity, or both.

Violent felonies that don't involve violence

The very first thing about United States jurisprudence is that the law as applied is often subject to all sorts of permutations that don't make a lot of logical sense, and certainly the law as currently utilized is absolutely no deterrent to certain crimes, because the very people perpetrating such crimes, are typically clueless of the consequences and costs of such crimes, and in reality don't become cognizant of the extent of the punishment that they are susceptible to, until the charges are made by the prosecution.

As for the law, and specifically when it comes to violent crimes, most laypeople, would consider that for a person to be convicted of a violent felony that the crime would have to be both violent as well as also being categorized as a felony.  So that, most people would readily agree that murder, aggravated assault and battery of a high nature, and kidnapping, would all be rightly classified as being a violent felony.  However, it must be said, that some criminals are not successful at what they are attempting to do, so that attempted murder, in which the victim is not physically hurt, is still considered to be a violent felony because the perpetrator was attempting to murder the other person. So then, we find that in many cases crimes that are classified as a violent felony, still are in force, even when the perpetrator isn’t successful in carrying out their actions, solely because the perpetrator was trying to commit a crime categorized as a violent felony.

Additionally, the same type of crime can be classified differently in different States, along with the fact that some crimes are categorized as violent felonies, which don't seem to have an element of violence attached to them.  For instance, drug trafficking of methamphetamine is considered to be in some States a violent felony, even if the other party is a willing buyer of that methamphetamine.  So too, arson is considered a violent felony, even when the violence so perpetuated is upon an abandoned home or building.  Additionally, aggravated voyeurism is a violent felony, even though there is no physical contact between the perpetrator and the victim

The problem with violent felonies, as currently adjudicated, is that higher courts have ruled that a violent felony can exist, when someone threatens another, or in which a criminal action contains the element of physical force.  This so signifies, that because most felonies involve the use of some sort of degree of physical force, as in the taking of something from another, such then would signify that a person having their iPhone pick-pocketed from them, could thereby be interpreted as they having suffered from a violent felony.

The reason that it matters whether a crime is considered to be violent or not, is that the punishment for violent felonies is almost always considerably more than the penalty for the same type of crime but without the designation or classification of being violent.  So that, in New York, for instance, a 'C' or a 'D' violent felony, necessitates mandatory incarceration; whereas a 'C' or a 'D' for a non-violent felony, has the option of the perpetrator being sentenced to no jail or just probation.  All of this basically means, that violent felonies that don't involve violence but are prosecuted as violent felonies, are laws that have been molded into punishing people more than what it is really fair, and clearly is done so in a manner that is both arbitrary as well as unjust.

The fear of annihilation

Because we live in a material world, many of us believe wholly in that world, and specifically believe that who and what we really are, must correctly be represented by their physical body as well as by their mind.  This thus means for those of that mindset that we all live in a very fatalistic place, for none that are born here are ever able to escape the law that those that are birthed into this world, must at some point, die; some sooner and some later.

Further to the point, if we only are physical beings, just as animals are physical creatures, then the death of a human being or of an animal must therefore be the annihilation of that person or animal, forever.  This is something that quite obviously is rather foreboding and presupposes the question, that should be investigated, which is whether or not we should believe in the construct that we are nothing but physical beings, for if we are not, physical death is not only unavoidable, but it is also something to be rightly feared, for in a world such as that, death represents the annihilation of our body as well as of our mind.

On the other hand, it must be understood that it is not conceivable that our origin came from nothing, for out of nothing comes forth nothing -- for nothing can never create something, for this is a logical fallacy to think so.  This thus means that our origin never began from nothing; that is to say, before we were formed in our mother's womb, we must have for a certainty, already existed in some other form and therefore our birth into this material world, represents in actuality the opportunity to live and to die in this world, so as to experience the myriad aspects of this world, and to actively engage in our relationship with others that are here alongside of us.

This also signifies that once we are aware that we are not just our physical bodies and not just our mind, but rather we are something beyond such, usually represented by the acknowledgment that we have an immortal soul, of which, that soul is not subject to the slings and arrows of time and finiteness; if becomes much easier to see this world as well as our life as something to be lived in a manner in which we are cognizant that our true reality is limitless, rather than limited.

As sad as physical death may be, whether unexpected, unwelcomed or not, it is alas, the nature of life on this earth; in which, even those that live to a very long age, must at sometime, succumb to the inevitably that each physical body only has a finite amount of years, before such a body will have worn itself out and thereby expires.  This means that it is incumbent upon each one of us to recognize that we are housed within a physical body, subject to time and limitations as well as the laws of this planet, all in reality, to truly test our mettle of who and what we actually represent, and that those that do well and are true to the Highest Law, see physical death not as annihilation, but rather as the liberation from the restricting prison of this dimension.

Recognizing that each of us gets older day by day

For most people, when they are very young, a significant part of their personality wants to be older, for they see older people, though not really old people, as having more freedom and of being in control of their lives.  Later on, as they get closer to adult age, they may yearn deeply to be 18, or in America, in many cases, to be 21, so that they are truly their own person, an adult, and they eagerly embrace such.

At some point, though, many adults begin to see time as being not so much their friend, but rather their enemy; perhaps, because they have not achieved as much as they would have liked, or perhaps because their physical looks or strength have begun to fade or that they perceive that they are fading, or perhaps because they really love their life as it is, right now, and do not want to lose what they already possess, to the unfairness of old age and mortality; yet, they will.

While, it's true that a significant amount of adults spend inordinate amounts of money on cosmetic surgeries of all types, or diets, or makeup, or this or that, all in the somewhat vain hope that this, somehow, will push time back, most of these adults in their more honest moments, recognize that while taking care of one's health, and one's physical body and one's looks has its place, it is not possible for somebody that is middle aged or older, to look as they did when they were just young adults.

All of this basically means, that time is very real, and further that time always and inexorably marches forward, so that, it would probably be more productive as well as being more sensible to recognize that life has its cycles, and that within that cycle, the inevitably of growing old and eventually dying, are part and parcel of what life really represents.  This thus means that rather than pretending or trying to fool ourselves that our bodies are immortal, it is important to consciously recognize, what we intuitively know, that they are mortal, and that our time upon this earth is finite.  Therefore it would logically follow that if more people were in tune with the fact that their life goes through stages of which the final stage is the death of that body, they would probably be more cognizant that their time should be utilized in a manner in which what they say or do, is in accordance to being of benefit for themselves as well as for others.

After all, for most people to establish a good career as well as to establish a good family, such usually necessitates having a plan, worthwhile goals, and the wherewithal to put forth the effort to accomplish these specific things.  This signifies that in knowing that our time here is limited, as well as recognizing that the stages of our lives are bounded within that time, it behooves us to therefore to be productive and positive in all that we do and accomplished; for all the errors, wrongs, and mistakes that we make, aren't necessarily going to be able to be successfully rectified, because time itself cannot be erased, but instead must be dealt with as it is.  So it can be said that in the knowing of the end, from our beginning, our lives will be more meaningful, it we never lose sight of that fact, and thereby live our lives accordingly.

Abject poverty is the precursor to crime

The United States is a highly unequal society, in which as reported by the Institute for Policy Studies, the three richest Americans collectively have more wealth than the bottom 50% of the population, which represents a total of 160 million people.  This sort of disparity of such a huge amount indicates clearly that too few have too much, at the expense of too many, having too little.  Not too surprisingly, in a country that is inundated with advertisements of all types and in all media forms, as well as having ingrained upon its nation's psyche, the importance of keeping up with the Joneses, such inequality breeds great discontent.

So then, it logically follows that all those that live in impoverished conditions, without hope, and without opportunity, are going to have a much stronger inclination towards considering the performing of and the doing of things which are lawless, in order to somehow make ends meet; in the hopes thereof of thereby obtaining some sort of piece of the American dream which has clearly passed them by; for they having been dismissed by mainstream society as irrelevant and of no consequence, have little or nothing to lose of value.

In point of fact, when we are told that idle hands are the devil's tools, it must be added that idle hands in enclaves of society in which those people that congregate there, widely suffer from being ill-educated, impoverished, and without promise, than this is quite obviously going to breed its own trouble, of which some of that trouble is going to birth crime.  On the other hand, when any society takes it upon itself that through progressive governmental programs, as well as through the involvement of motivated organizations of all stripes, to tackle the systemic problems of poverty in a manner so as to make real and lasting change, thereby providing hope and belief to those previously without much of either, this will reduce both trouble as well as crime.

Societies such as the United States, which are grossly and sickly unequal, yet, have in aggregate great amounts of monetary capital as well as the required infrastructure to provide a sound basis for a good life for all of its citizens; essentially have the necessary ingredients to eradicate poverty from its shores, if it would only set its mind and subsequently prioritize itself on doing exactly that.  In truth, for the most part, those that have nothing, are not typically looking for just a handout; but instead are really seeking to be provided a helping hand so as to have the basis of a solid foundation that will thereby permit them to succeed in such a way that they will make their own decent life through their invigorated efforts.

The poverty that exists in America represents failure, of which from that failure, crimes and bad behavior are the end products.  All those that wish to eliminate or to reduce crime considerably, should recognize that a far more effective way to do so, is to be proactive as compared to being reactive, and thereby should support the governmental taking through taxation and the fair application of law from the very, very rich, while, in return the giving of opportunity and of fairness to the very, very poor, which will make for a healthier society, of far less poverty, and of far less crime.

"I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life"

The above quote comes from the incomparable Maya Angelou, and because it represents profound wisdom, it is therefore something that deserves our contemplation upon.  For instance, America is in many respects, a highly competitive capitalistic country, in which, each day we are inundated with all sorts of advertisements, come-ons, and enticements that encourage us to spend our time seeking, as well as ultimately spending our money upon material things, for the message of that medium, is that these material things, will bring us happiness.

Therefore, a significant part of the incentive for those that are making a real living, is the indoctrinated belief of the need to have certain material things in order to therefore be satisfied and happy.  Yet, despite the fact that never have so many had so much, the amount of happiness and satisfaction in America, is actually not that high in which, as reported by time.com, in 2017, "only 33% of Americans surveyed said they were happy."

So then, as important as it may seem to be to make a good living, such will not, in and of itself, necessarily produce satisfaction and happiness. Perhaps this is so, because material things, even material things of the highest and nicest quality, are in the end, not going to be something that ever will successfully substitute for our innate need for good human interaction and companionship.  That is to say, those that actually do make a good life, get their priorities correct, and understand that life isn’t really about keeping up with the Joneses, but rather life is actually about meaningful relationships with other people, that involve real commitments in time, compassion, giving, caring, and sincere concern.

Far too many people get far too involved in the making of money, or in the advancement of their career; or for others, they get far too involved into drugs that dull their minds and their senses; so that when these people finally find the time to reflect upon their life, and to clearly look upon the status of who and what they really are, and especially in reference to who and what they really could and ought to be, they will often come to the realization that they actually have their priorities wrong, no matter, their good intent that they may have had in the first place.

It is important to have a balanced life, so that, it is often a mistake in focusing upon a particular goal, if in so doing, this apparently necessitates the marginalization of those that we are closest to, in order to achieve that goal, for this is then going to be ultimately perceived as a pyrrhic achievement.  Because when we have trivialized and upset the very people that we are closest to and care for the most, and somehow, don't even really know these people at a level which is actually meaningful or insightful, we have sacrificed what is immeasurable for something that is ultimately transitory and not nearly as highly valued as our perception or ambition, so thought.

Those that have made a good life, as compared to those that have exclusively made a good living, are separated by a chasm, which represents on the one hand all those that have found true and lasting fulfillment by being that good neighbor and being that good friend, as opposed to all those others that though surrounded by nice material things that supposedly represent a good life, actually have not made a good life, and aren’t likely to ever have one.

Civil war and the supposed eradication of slavery

At the time that the Declaration of Independence was written, slavery was legal in the colonies.  So too, at the time that the Constitution to these United States was written and thereupon ratified by those States, slavery was a legal institution.  That did not mean at that time, that the intent of the Founders of this great nation, was for slavery to exist forever, but rather slavery was considered to be an institution that would have to be dealt with at a later time, of which the United States Congress so did.  In fact, the "Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves" was passed in 1807, with its implementation being January 1, 1808, of which, by virtue of eliminating the importation of slaves, the thought was that over time, slavery would, perhaps, die a natural death.  It did not.

In fact, slavery continued to exist as an institution in the States, and the division between those that embraced slavery and those that did not, became to be clearly demarked inexorably between the Northern and Southern States.  Upon Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, and despite the fact that Lincoln had made it clear that he did not believe that he had the Constitutional power to eradicate slavery, the South, took it upon itself, to secede from this union of States, and thereupon wrote its own Constitution. 

The Southern Constitution, unlike the United States Constitution, utilized the words Negro as well as slave and slavery, and that Southern Constitution made it clear, that unlike historical revisionists propagating the so-called "lost cause" of the South, that the real reason for the Southern rebellion is contained within the words of that Southern Constitution, in which that Constitution, so states, "No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed."  Additionally, it so states, "In all such territory the institution of negro slavery, as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected be Congress and by the Territorial government."  The Southern Constitution was written and ratified primarily as the official means to defend and to uphold the institution of slavery, and the rebellion of the Southern States was a rebellion to protect and uphold that institution of slavery.

So then, because slavery was the root cause of the rebellion, and that rebellion was subsequently put down by a great cost in the lives of the people of these United States, over four long, bitter, and bloody years, it became mandatory for these United States to see that the aftermath of the union becoming the United States once again, that slavery in any of its many forms and manifestations, would be eradicated completely from this nation, never to raise its ugly head, again.  Unfortunately, despite important Constitution Amendments so passed, it did not.

Regrettably, slavery in the form of another name, did come back to the Southern States, and alas, rather than all people of all faiths and colors, being accorded the same respect and equal protection of the law, and provided with equal opportunity within this nation, as well as the enfranchisement of the vote for all people, this did not occur and was for decades upon decades, in many respects a dead letter, and still is, even today.  Therefore, this nation needs to resolve to take the full measure to eradicate the last vestiges of this slavery, and further needs to make good to all those that have been historically oppressed and are still oppressed, and have been so oppressed, for way, way too long.

The day after the day that will live on in infamy

On December 7, 1941, the empire of Japan launched a surprise attack upon Pearl Harbor, the event that directly led to the FDR's speech and thereby the Congressional declaration of war against that empire, of which, most Americans, are quite aware of this seminal event.  On the other hand, most people are somewhat or nearly completely unaware, that in the early morning hours of December 8, 1941, the empire of Japan led yet another very successful and devastating attack upon the United States, in particular, its commonwealth of the Philippines, and further, the empire of Japan followed up their aerial bombardment with ground troops to thereby conquer and to take over this commonwealth, of which, the empire of Japan was successful in so doing.  One reason why this should matter a heck of a lot more to Americans, then it apparently does historically, is that according to Wikipedia.org, "In 1939, a census of the Philippines was taken and determined that it had a population of 16,000,303;" of which, this compares to a population of the territory of Hawaii as of 1939, of just 470,000 peoples.   In addition, because Filipinos were legally U.S. nationals, this meant that as U.S. nationals that they were permitted to live and work anywhere in the United States without restriction, and additionally were eligible to apply for citizenship.  In other words, when the empire of Japan conquered the Philippines, they conquered the U.S. nationals of America in the Philippines, as well as defeating the United States troops, so stationed in the Philippines.

So that, during World War II, it can and should be stated, that just over 16 million U.S. nationals were under the control and domain of the empire of Japan, and it was not until September 2, 1945, after many such battles and bloody fighting, that the empire of Japan officially surrendered to the United States so that the Philippines once more was ruled as a commonwealth of the United States.  In fact, as reported by ww2db.com, it is estimated that the Philippines' people suffered 57,000 military casualties, and an astonishing 900,000 civilian deaths; numbers which indicate the stunning tragedy of this part of the Pacific war.

In 1946, the Philippines achieved its long desired independence from the United States, so that, Filipinos were no longer U.S. nationals, and hence no longer permitted the rights of U.S. nationals; additionally, those that were born during the time that the Philippines was a commonwealth of the United States, were not legally "grandfathered" into still being classified as a U.S. national.  Nevertheless, at the time of the attack by the empire of Japan, and during the battles between that empire and the United States, all those having been born within the Philippines, were U.S. nationals, and therefore their deaths were deaths of U.S. nationals, indicating that as reported by nationalwarIImuseum.org, that the USA not only suffered a combined total of 418,500 military and civilian deaths in World War II; but in reality, suffered through its commonwealth of the Philippines, nearly one million more that died, making the initial surprise attack upon the Philippines, not only as a day that should live forever on in infamy; but also that its bloody and cruel aftermath should be properly seen as a tragedy and an atrocity, of proportions not readily known or recognized to these United States.

Inequality, unfairness, injustice and crime

For the most part, those that preach the loudest about the need for "law and order" are the ones that have in their possession material goods of value, as well as being the ones that are living lives that they value and therefore are well worth protecting.  So then, these people, that have material things of worth, and are part of good families and have strong familial relationships, do not want to risk what they already have, and subsequently, are quite willing in many cases to sacrifice some of their freedom and liberty to protect what is their own, without really taking into account the impact of their so-called sacrifice, and thereby their ignoring or casting aside of others that are not fairing well.

In the scheme of things, it would be fair to say, that in a land in which all are impoverished, such a land would not have a particular high amount of crime, and certainly would not have much property crime, such as burglary, robbery, or larceny, because when the people own virtually nothing and have no property, there is nothing to take or steal.  It then follows that in a land in which all have about equal amounts, of which none seem to have much more than another, such a land as that, would also not suffer much property crime, because each already has about the same as the other.  On the other hand, in a land of great inequality in wealth and income, in which some of these people, perhaps a significant percentage of these people are living lives of lack and impoverishment, and further are suffering from ill-education, poor healthcare, lack of opportunity as well as lack of employment, and are born within dysfunctional families, as well as being powerless, and are suffering from systemic prejudice, such a land as that would essentially breed criminals, because those that have nothing, especially when they are surrounded by abundance and wealth, that is often within their eyesight or earshot and may, in fact, be just outside their broken down neighborhoods, these people are going to have a very strong tendency to want to do something about such great disparity.

Not too surprisingly, those that live in an enclave of hopeless poverty, but are clearly aware that there exists nearby a sea of absolute prosperity, are going to more often than not, get what they can get, from those that have, irrespective of the consequences or penalties so enforced.  Further to the point, those that have experienced from their beginning, the injustice of a system that protects and benefits those that have at the expense of those that have not; and further that writes and enforces laws that increases inequality between what are supposed to be peoples that are equally created; as well as hearing rulers constantly speaking of fairness but are unfair in action to that principle; are going to create the very conditions that make for criminal activity, for even the dogs of the very prosperous live under much better conditions, than them.

Those that complain the loudest about crime and incivility, should recognize first, that crime is the obvious result of any society that will not effectively address within its institutions and structure its own systemic inequality, unfairness, and injustice.    Therefore, until such a time, as these very things are vigorously addressed and ameliorated, then crime will continue on its present path, for to believe that a society can be whole that is effectively separate and unequal, is pure madness.

Troubled relationships often come from thwarted desires

We live in societies as well as being intimately involved with our families, in which in all of these things, various relationships are developed.  Of those relationships, whether personal, professional, or a combination thereof, each person has an obligation to understand the validity of the other person or group of persons, as opposed to running roughshod over others.  That is to say, for a healthy relationship to be developed, each person must be accorded respect, consideration, and empathy.   To the degree that this is both done and truly believed in, the better the chances that relationship will be satisfactory and beneficial for all parties.

Unfortunately, life has its troubles, its stresses, and its frustrations, so that even the best of people, may not feel that they always have the time to really listen to the other, especially when they need to talk or express their own feelings at that moment; and further when they believe that enough of the weight of the world is already resting upon their shoulders.  Therefore, it is not unusual for one person to be up in arms about something in which, the other person who has their own concerns and troubles on their mind, simply isn't really there; all of which leads to a rather anemic give and take, in which neither party is actively listening to the other.

That is to say, in any troubled relationship, such is usually started through the lack of good communication, and thereby often leads to the inevitable miscommunication between the parties, one to the other.  So then, when one person in particular, feels that they are being effectively ignored or marginalized or misunderstood, then that person often begins to breed resentment towards the other, especially when they believe that the relationship deserves the upmost attention and concern by the other party, which apparently is not being displayed.

So then, when those that deeply desire to have strong and healthy relationships with others, discover that or believe strongly that in their analysis, neither of these is actually occurring, such will often build frustration within that person.  Of which, this frustration will compound upon itself, leading that person to dwell almost exclusively upon their own wants, desires, and what they believe should be occurring, resulting often in the two-way communication window rapidly closing, and consequently being replaced instead with one person's ego, which apparently will broker no dissent.

This thus means that the poor communication, begets the troubled relationship, of which because at least one person's ego is frustrated in its desires, then the relationship has effectively devolved into a contest and a confrontation of egos, which is toxic to that relationship.  Therefore, all those that are frustrated in their relationships, in order to regain a healthy and viable relationship, must thrust their egos and thereby their thwarted desires into the back seat, and instead concentrate on the first order of things, which is a good and open communication channel, which thereby validates the other person and their concerns, in the recognition, that each party has intrinsic worth and value, that each therefore should be entitled to a voice and a corresponding audience, so as to create the needed harmony which is indicative of a healthy relationship.