The legality of the Executive Office's enactment of the United States' foreign wars

Whether we desire to call what is currently transpiring in regards to aggression made by America against foreign nations and principalities to be war, or to be a form of terrorism upon them, isn’t so important as the fact that we live within a construct in which the Executive Office, without expressed authorization from the legislative branch of America, is continually waging war against all sorts of foreign countries and is thus utilizing the armed forces of America to bring that war upon them.

 The question that needs and ought to be asked is whether or not these essentially undeclared wars are legal under not just our Constitution, but rather are legal in all or any of their aspects as practiced -- so that the United States Justice department should have the right and therefore the prerogative to weigh in as to the legality of what the United States is doing through its Executive actions that are the equivalency of war, but somehow aren’t held to account by the jurisprudence of this nation, and further aren’t held account to the people of this nation, either.

 Indeed, those that are our duly elected representatives have an obligation to represent not only the people well, but to do so in conformance to the highest law of the land which is its Constitution; and it doesn’t do the people of this country any favors, when only after the fact we discover that actions taken by the Executive office are perceived to be or are held to be illegal or illicit. Rather, in things as important as war, this needs to be resolved at the get-go, and to the degree that the judicial branch countenances that such is in accordance with the Constitution or is not, so be it -- but the people of this nation should understand the reasoning so of, regarding whatever the decision is, so that this not only sets precedence but also permits the people to respond through their representatives per their inclination with the urging, if so warranted, that an appropriate Amendment to the Constitution be enacted if so is deemed to be necessary as a surety to the people that this country will not devolve into being a nation in which the Executive branch is permitted to conduct foreign policy and thereby wars with the armed forces of this nation, which ignores or pushes to the side the Constitution, the legislature, and the judicial branch.

 The bottom line is that wars have consequences, not only for the people of this nation, but also for those that are warred upon, and the least that this nation owes to its people, is to conform to the highest law of the land, which should be adjudicated when so necessary and appropriate, for to not do so lends itself to all sorts of trouble, in which, essentially the democratic voice of the people doesn’t much matter, because when that voice is silenced for that which involves foreign policy and warfare, then that seems to strongly suggest, that the people’s voice doesn’t matter for much of anything, at all.

America without a vibrant middle class would not be America

When it comes to the middle class, the general definition is that the middle class is defined by a household’s income that ranges between two-thirds to double the national median income.  This, though, doesn’t really say enough about the wealth of the middle class, or their status, or their overall comfort zone, or consider their debts.  Being middle class should consist of having enough wealth so derived from their income and savings, which permits those who would be of the middle class to either own their home outright, or to have the assets in hand that would permit them to own their home outright.  This should also be the same case for their best household vehicle.  Also, to remain in the middle class, the occupants need to have all the appropriate insurance, such as home, auto, and medical, that would serve to backstop them in case of an unexpected adverse event. It should also be noted that debts from credit cards and other loans should be at a percentage of the overall wealth that servicing such would be manageable. Additionally, to that, the money being earned by the household should be no less than two-thirds of the median national income, with that job position essentially being secured or as close to secure as possible, and these combined would make that household to fairly represent being a successful member of the middle class.

 For those that are making good money but have not yet obtained enough wealth to own a house and/or their vehicle, rather than seeing them as being middle class, it would be more appropriate to see them as being on the pathway to middle class status, but because so many jobs are not secure in America, and debts accumulated through credit cards, student loans and the like are so prevalent, it is not a certainty that they would actually ever achieve such, which is why we see that the present generation is perceived as being in worse shape than previous generations that have come before them, because the cost of living in America has risen, without a corresponding increase in salary for so many of those that would traditionally make up the middle class, in addition to the fact that job security in this nation, is problematic, at best, for a whole lot of working people.

 Indeed, what makes America great is not the rich, and it certainly isn’t the fact that we have so many poor people amongst us, but rather it has everything to do with its strong middle class, which represents all the good qualities of what it means to be part and parcel of America, which is why the governance of this nation should make its top priority to do everything possible to see that this nation has a robust middle class for as long as possible, and that the middle class should be expanding within our borders and not therefore contracting -- for the middle class to be found to be contracting would typically represent that not all is well within America, signaling perhaps the end of America as we know and love it.

Miscegenation

There was a time not so long ago in which it was a crime to marry somebody outside what was considered to be your given race.  That is to say, this law was especially in effect and specifically meant to deal with a white man who desired to marry a black woman.  It also quite frankly applied to a black man desiring to marry a white woman; however, in that particular case, the law was pretty much superfluous because mob justice would take care of the perceived problem in its own way, through banishment, intimidation, or much, much worse.

 We now know in this present day that the concept of race is a social construct, because biology tells us that there is no “pure” race in all of the world, indicating through these genetic studies that we are all part of a greater whole.  So then, when it comes to miscegenation the main reason why this law was the law of the land in so many States for so long has an awful lot to do with the fact that those that were considered to be black, were legally classified as property, so that those that enslaved such could therefore do pretty much whatever that they desired to do with their property, because it was their property, with basically the sole exception being not that the white man couldn’t rape and ravish the black woman -- but rather that it was considered not just bad form, and not just a slap in the face to societal norms when a white man deign to marry a black woman, but also by doing so, this would in its effect, serve to legitimize that which could not be legitimized, because it would serve to interfere with that peculiar institution and could not and would not be countenanced by society, whatsoever -- not under any circumstances, ever.  This meant, therefore, that laws had to be put on the books that would stipulate that this was forbidden and therefore not permitted by law.

 Indeed, in America, somehow it was perfectly fine and accepted to have all sorts of offspring that came forth from illicit liaisons between black and white, but it was not accepted that black and white could ever live together legitimately as husband and wife.  After all, to permit this would be pretty much anathema to the institution of slavery, because it would basically mean that blacks would be, by implication, on the same level as whites, and in this nation in which blacks had no rights which the white man was bound to respect, was therefore never to be tolerated.

 Fortunately, the better angels of our nature eventually recognized, but not until 1967, with the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case, that miscegenation laws were in violation of the 14th Amendment, which thus meant that miscegenation was now null and void in all fifty States.  However, we need to recognize this: the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, but prejudices die very hard, and in truth, still live today.

World War III and the end of America as we know it

There isn’t much doubt that the military-industrial-technology complex has a great desire to see that the American empire initiates World War III under whatever pretext, which sort of makes sense from their perspective, so that America can essentially profit from and exploit those that have been either conquered or have no choice but to acquiesce to American corporate and governmental demands.  Regrettably, this seems to be one of those things in which it is believed that the damage so done to America and of its infrastructure will be minimal, or if not exactly that, will be tolerable, and with billions of people now under American dominance with lands rich in oil and rare earths, along with abundant cheap labor, this would thereby make for profits that would endear those in the corporate world while also making those at the highest echelons of our military exceedingly proud to be the unquestioned number one and thus the only superpower existing in the world.

 The problem with this whole scenario is the fact that, first of all, America and its people really don’t have a conception of what the hell of war consists of, because America has essentially not had its land invaded by a foreign nation since the War of 1812, which is an exceedingly long period of time.  Further to the point, wars of today are far more ugly and far more vicious than they were back in previous generations, because air power, drones, bombs, and the armaments that can be utilized today are extremely effective in wreaking destruction, and whatever rules of engagement that there ought to be have been wholly discarded.  Apparently, nobody at the wheel actually cares or is concerned whether the American people are fully protected, driven by the mistaken belief that America can’t be successfully attacked.

 Indeed, the American military-industrial-technology complex absolutely loves war, not only because it provides power and prestige to those intimately involved in it, but mainly because it pays so well in wartime profits, as well as the fact that it increases corporate influence upon the government in all sorts of ways, which thereby benefits private enterprise.  Those then who profit greatly from war are the very same who want more and more of war, because money and power are far more important to them than being civil, just, and humane to one another.

 Yet, what the military-industrial-technology complex has not taken fully into account is that because American civilians have not directly or even indirectly suffered from all the warmongering and bellicosity displayed by America, that they have to a large extent grown fat and lazy, so that to believe that these same civilians can handle being hit hard by the opposition, if it so comes, and it will come, is to read the tea leaves wrong, because far too many Americans are fair-weather Americans that aren’t going to be able to handle the type of hell that will come their way, because as much as the military-industrial-technology complex believes that “they got this” – in actuality, they don’t, because those that are driven by profit and power aren’t necessarily well positioned to have or to display the courage when courage is called upon, because America loves to fight, mainly because those that they have picked upon, haven’t had the capacity or the resources to effectively fight back, but should America pick a fight with the wrong nation-states that are prepared to do what they need to do, it’s going to be the type of hell that no civilian in America asked for or would desire, and therefore the end result will be an America that once was great, but now clearly the sun has surely set upon and thus disappeared forever.

Is the President the most powerful person in America?

The United States has three branches of government: the legislative, the judicial, and the executive branch.  The President of the United States is the head of the executive branch, of which he does indeed have many underlings under his power, as well as the fact that the President is the Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces  That said, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the President is the most powerful person in America despite his great power, because in actuality, the President is under the restraint of not only the legislative branch, as well as the judicial branch, but also the political party that the President is aligned with.

 Indeed, when it comes to politics it needs to be recognized that some of those elected in the Congressional branch have been in their position for over thirty years, which makes a material difference in their effectiveness and their influence, because of the fact that they have been there for so many years, which means they have developed numerous contacts and connections, which make them to have a lot more influence and usefulness over anybody else that has just been elected.  So too, the judicial branch of the government has judges that have been appointed for life, so that they can serve for well over thirty years and beyond, which signifies that both of these branches have senior members who are well-positioned, to therefore to have their say when it comes to those things that are part of their domain.

 Further to the point, Presidents come from different walks of life, so that a President, who was formerly a well-seasoned member of Congress, is going to already have the contacts within government as well as private enterprise that they can call upon, which is wholly different than a President, such as someone known as a successful businessperson or celebrity would have at their disposal. In other words, those who have not served their country faithfully in the political arena, no matter their image or competency outside such, just aren’t going to have the type of influence and power that someone on the inside who has developed governmental and corporate relations has achieved, which they have obtained and developed over the years.

 So too, it has to be recognized that the President is only one person, so that, the numbers of all those that are in great positions of power and influence in aggregate considerably outweigh what the President brings to the table, signifying that the President in order to wield real power is going to have developed agendas that have broad public as well as inside political support or else the President will find it difficult to pass into law or through Executive Order the items that means the most to him and his desires.

 No doubt, the President is powerful, but to a large extent that power must be combined with others that in aggregate are far more powerful, or else the President will not be able to put into effect the changes that the President richly desires to see changed, which is why, those that talk the talk, aren’t when they become President, necessarily able to walk the walk, unless they are in harmony with those that are in agreement with what that talk so signifies.

To be conquered

In any war, in any battle, there will ultimately be a victor, and to the victor go the spoils. So too, we find that even when a people do not wish for war, have not asked for war, have not been warmongering, and tellingly do not have the armaments to defend themselves appropriately, that though leaves their people vulnerable to being tampered with by a domineering type foreign country that through some pretext will see them thus conquer the other because the spoils are still there to be taken and taken they will be.

 To be conquered means that the civilization that previously was in charge of its people, whether such was good, bad, or indifferent to its people, no longer is sovereign but rather marches to the beat of the conqueror’s drums, regardless of whether the conquered people actually desire to march to those foreign drums or not.  So too, through this conquest, the land will also be occupied by that conqueror so that they can properly extract whatever materials or wealth that they can get their hands upon, for there is little point in defeating the other if the spoils are not fully extracted and taken from them.  Tellingly, no matter whether the color of the skin of those that are now occupied matches or doesn’t matched who now runs the show, there will be some form of racism impressed upon those that have been vanquished, because to somehow equate the vanquished people as being of equal worth to the conqueror just can’t ever be permitted, therefore whether it is religion, or the habits of the people, or their historic background, or this or that, those that have lost, will be thoroughly dehumanized, so that the pathway for the exploitation of the conquered people becomes far more smother to justify for the conqueror.

 To be conquered is never going to be a good position to be in and for all those that believe that those who have lost the fight, will have their day, have got to recognize, though this may be true from time-to-time, that in many a case, it isn’t true, so that what a people once had that was theirs, will no longer be there for them, for they will be seen as less than the conqueror, and this isn’t going to be easy to overturn, despite the greatest of efforts, though it can happen, and sometimes is accomplished through the aid of a would be competing conqueror for whatever reason, known or unknown.

 Indeed, as much as people proselytize that it’s different today than it was back then, they seem to protest too much, and thus would appear to suffer from selective memory that doesn’t pay attention to the events of today, let alone, the events of yesterday, for many a present-day nation still suffers from being exploited for their oil, or their rare earths, or their strategic location, and so on, of which, whenever a powerful country finds it problematic to diplomatically put themselves in the prime position to have what they want from a weaker nation, they thus make it their point to do so through a coup or outright war to take what they desire and clearly care not a whit about the sovereignty of the people that they have taken advantage of.

 In sum, to be conquered is part and parcel of the history of the world as well as the world today, and those who stand with the conquerors probably do so not so much out of ignorance but rather because of the spoils that come their way, directly or indirectly.

It is not good to be alone

While the truth of the matter is that each of us does need some time alone in order to contemplate quietly and to be about our personal business, it has to also be admitted that humankind has an innate need to connect with one another, or else in this world, it would consist of just one person and no more, because if we really didn’t need or desire anyone else, there wouldn’t be anyone else here, for that which we are tested upon could simply be done with just one and no more.

 We read in Holy Scripture, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18).  Indeed, the concept of this world is to understand that through our connections with one another, that we are therefore best able to assist each other to get thereby to the only place worth reaching, of which, through out friendship and through the challenges that we face, alone as well as together, each of us can draw upon our own experiences and wisdom to aid the other, thereby permitting us to accomplish what needs to be accomplished all that much better and with the lasting satisfaction that we did it together.

 To be abandoned is to be alone, and whenever we are abandoned, the tasks that we have to face become all that much more daunting.  So too, we are provided with a voice, and when we have nobody to talk to, then there doesn’t seem to be any purpose in having such.  Additionally, we have a drive within us to find those who will help make us more complete as people, because they not only backstop what we are weak at but also encourage us to develop ourselves to the fullest extent possible.  It is that friendly teamwork that permits us to better appreciate this world and to thereby overcome the difficulties and challenges that we face.

 How far we get in this world is dependent upon myriad factors, but one of those factors consists of those that we meet upon the journey that we tread upon, in which those that align best with us are the very same that will help us along that journey by being our loyal companions, so that together in the end we will reach that place which is our eternal sanctuary.

 In all that we say and do, we are monitored and watched by that which first created us, and because we have free will, which permits us to do right or to do wrong, we need to be held in check by those who are our friends and have our best interests in mind, because they see it as their divine purpose to not only wish the best for us, but to do their fair part to see that we accomplish all that we need to do by joining together with us in true friendship and thereby helping us to face the challenges that will define who and what we are. 

 Finally, our Creator, who breathed life into us, has a vested interest in seeing that we willingly desire to be His friend by our actions, thereby strengthening the bond between us now and forevermore, for it is not good to be alone.

Dreams are a portal to immortality

As human beings, we need a proper amount of sleep; otherwise, we will not be able to function or live well.  When we do sleep, besides the fact that it renews us and is part and parcel of dealing with the general fatigue of the physical body, it has to be recognized that all of us spend some of our time while sleeping, having dreams.  Those then that recognize the value of those dreams as bringing insight to their own life are the very same who are cognizant that from these dreams we may derive wisdom and comfort, though for some of us, who have nightmares and things of that sort, this may bring a reckoning to our mind of that which ought to be dealt with, more forthrightly.

 The dreams that we have may consist of literal as well as symbolic qualities, and may or may not be something that we are able to correctly interpret but as in anything of importance, the more that we make up our mind that we will pay attention to our dreams and desire to know the meaning of such, the better that we will become at doing that same thing.  While it is possible that our good friends can help us interpret what we dream, it has to be acknowledged that nobody has a greater personal insight into our own mindset other than ourselves, so that to the degree that it is possible, we should do our level best to try to figure out the message of what we dream.

 No doubt, some dreams do seem to serve nothing much more than entertainment.  Then there are those dreams that seem to be concentrated on the difficulties or issues that we are facing, which may permit us to see these problems in a different light.  So too, there are those dreams in which people that we know but have left this physical dimension, are back alive in the sense that we are doing things together with one another, which not only typically brings us a lot of joy, but also lets us to know that when we are in our dream state that the concept of what is real and unreal changes, permitting us to recognize that what we believe has a known beginning and a known ending may well be something that is immortal, instead.

 Indeed, whenever we focus too much on this material world and the everyday activities that keeps us busy and our mind occupied, we have a strong tendency to forget that this world should best be seen as a proving ground, and is not and never will be, the beginning and ending of our existence, which is one of the salient reasons why dreams are so important to us, because when we quiet our mind that is overly concentrated on the things of the day, we better recognize that there is a dimension beyond this dimension, which erases time and space, so that we are able to see that which will let us to know, of the who and what we really are, is definitely beyond the physical for it is ever immortal and always will be.

Clarification on Heaven and Hell

America can basically be seen as the land of perceived shortcuts, of which there doesn’t seem to be any attempted shortcut or wishful pathway of more prevalence and therefore of eternal importance than the destination of our souls.  So then, we find in America, but also especially in other Western nations a tendency to believe that to get to Heaven is as easy as simply accepting Christ as our redeemer, without therefore our previous sins, mistakes, and wrong thinking apparently being held against us – signifying for those that are astute that according to this interpretation they can still get right into Heaven, no matter their previous faults, by having confessed their sins and subsequently receiving a baptism that makes them born again, which signifies that all is good which will thereby send them on their way to Heaven. 

 In truth, while it is good for the soul to confess sins to the right person and while it is also good for the soul to evaluate and to examine one’s behavior, it has to be admitted that to make things right, we can’t just take on the aura of sincerity but we need also to be sincere in what we profess to believe. Finally we need to top this off by thinking and performing actions that are in conformance to the essence of what we believe, which signifies that where there is wrong, we need to do our part to make it right, and thereby to live a life of integrity and of purpose, so that through our good exemplar we will encourage others to do the same sort of thing, which will be beneficial for society at large, and help therefore to make this world a better place for our good participation in it.

 So too, our mind is the builder of the edifice that we so create, and those that are aligned with God and the attributes of God are the very same that are on the sacred pathway to reunification with God.  On the other hand, those that make poor decisions and clearly aren’t doing right, are on a pathway that takes them ever further from God, and even worse, makes what they have to do to make good on their previous mistakes a much more difficult task than it need be, because of their stubborn willfulness in doing that which is anathema to what God is and what God stands for, thereby creating separation from that which represents eternal sanctuary.

 To believe somehow that Heaven is meant only for those who profess the right words is to get the concept of Heaven entirely wrong, because words without corresponding actions that bring life to those words are just empty words that a parrot could say.  We are required by our being to be that which we ought and should be, and those who do what needs to be done are the same that will return to the bosom of God, which is Heaven.  As for those who insist that their way is the right way or, even worse, don’t really care, their separation from God will be a living Hell, of which, gratefully, the portal to God is forever open, if and when these lost souls forsake their wicked ways for the only pathway worth treading upon.

Resist what needs to be resisted

Life can indeed be a struggle for a significant number of people, so that when pushed to the edge of tolerance, a choice needs to be made as to whether to resist or give in to what is happening, no matter how bleak.  Indeed, sometimes there isn’t any real good choice that will permit us a fair chance to overcome what oppresses us, but nevertheless, there is a choice, and those who are wise and with self-respect will not go quietly into the night when they recognize that to do so is to surrender to that which deserves no surrender, whatsoever.

 Not every battle is going to be our battle, and not everything that we see that is unfair and unjust necessitates our response to it, for those things that are relatively trivial and of no real concern should simply be left alone because to spend all of our time battling little things is pretty much a waste of our time.  Rather, we need to understand that life consists of occasional real battles that will define who and what we really are, and those that recognize that this is indeed their time to stand up and to make a stand are the same that have done right to their conscience, as opposed to those that are simply too cowardly to do what they need to do, when call upon to do so.

 Regrettably, no matter how right we may be in our cause, does not guarantee us success when we fight back against injustice, but just because we are not successful does not mean that we were wrong or stupid for resisting what needs to have been resisted, because part of life is to stand for something of merit, and by our actions we demonstrate that we will not surrender to that which deserves no surrender from us, no matter the personal cost, because at least when we resist, we do so knowing that we have demonstrated the courage to make that principled stand.

 In this life, we will be tested, and those that make easy statements about how they will never surrender, or never disavow that which is of most importance to them, need to be tested, or how else will anyone know their sincerity behind such statements if not put to the test -- which is part of the reason why we will be tested, because words are not the same thing as actions which are in conformance to those words, because when push comes to shove, there are plenty of people who are only too willing to eat their words, and submit to the other, often for an incredibly cheap price.

 Those of integrity are the very same that will when put to the test, be true to who and what they really are, willing to accept what comes their way, just or unjust, because they know when challenged to do the right thing, no matter the cost, no matter the choices so presented to them, that they resisted, which thus are the very same as those that have paid the price for the ultimate freedom granted to those that resist what needs to be resisted.

The lure of easy credit

Look, it has to be acknowledged that most people have a desire for material things that they believe will help to make their lives better by purchasing, for instance, a cellphone and its corresponding plan, or furniture, or a vehicle. No doubt, things of that sort have a true value, especially when it comes to a vehicle which, because so many communities have public transportation which is barely adequate, permits the vehicle owner to get to their place of employment, as well as to perform necessary tasks, and to just in general to have freedom of movement.

 The problem when it comes to purchasing items in which the person so desiring to make that purchase has poor or bad credit is that their avenues to make that purchase are limited, thereby meaning that they will often have to take up offers that express that “everybody qualifies”, or “nobody is turned away,” and others of that same general ilk.  The lure given to these consumers is the lure of credit provided to them, which will permit them to purchase something that they desire, though not everything so desired through this easy credit is necessarily a needful thing.

When it comes to so-called “easy credit” it has to be recognized that such credit comes with a cost to the consumer of such, of which that cost is typically that the consumer will pay a sky-high interest rate with significant penalties for a late or short payment, along with the fact for more expensive items such as an automobile, that delinquency means that the loaner of that particular good may well have the legal right to recover that automobile, which will mean for the consumer even more fees and penalties in order to recover the car, if that is even possible.

 So too, when it comes to easy credit, the loaner wants the consumer of such to focus upon the monthly or bi-weekly or even weekly payment amount and to not be concerned about penalties, recovery fees, repossession, or the length of time of the credit contract, and because so many consumers of easy credit don’t readily understand what they are signing up for, or possibly don’t even consider it because all they care about is purchasing the product that they want, this means that they are going to far too often make a “deal” which is quite favorable to the loaner and not favorable to them.

 No doubt, it’s human nature to want and to have desires, and because we live in a material world in which it’s pretty much a requirement to have certain things in our possession or to have access to them, or else we won’t feel good about ourselves and our place in life, that the upshot is that for far too many people, they go into a store with the basic idea that no matter how much that a given item costs they just have to have it, making it all the easier for those that offer easy credit to take wholesale advantage of their ignorance and lack of preparedness, with the penalty being wholly paid by the consumer to their probable lasting regret.

The three-fifths compromise conundrum

Certainly, politics make for strange bedfellows, of which those that were formerly the thirteen colonies, who had bravely fought for their freedom, thus decided that they needed to have a new Constitution to replace their Articles of Confederation. One of the main difficulties in getting these thirteen colonies to agree, though, and to ratify the Constitution, was the issue of slavery.  Indeed, these colonies recognized that if an acceptable accommodation could not be reached which permitted those of the Southern States to agree to that Constitution, than America before it was even truly formed, would subsequently have been divided between North and South, which in and of itself, could have led to European nations, such as France, Spain, and England to exploit such differences and troubles for their own European benefit.  So then, while there were lots of ideas debated and expressed during that convention, somehow it was decided that they who were legally considered to be personal property were when it came to congressional representation, to be designated as three-fifths of a person, which definitely made a difference upon that representation, which thus permitted the Southern States to have fourteen additional seats in the Second Congress. Those Southern seats would continue to be augmented over the subsequent census years of 1820 and 1830 and beyond.  This thus meant that those who most supported slavery had a bigger voice than their population of free people actually represented.

 While in this modern age we clearly recognize the injustice that slavery so represented, it has to be acknowledged that back in that time and age, slavery was something that not only existed, but when it came to the Southern States there was a strong belief that only with slavery would they be able to turn a tidy profit on the production of cotton, tobacco, and agricultural goods.  Further to the point, the South recognized that those immigrating from Europe had a strong affinity to immigrate to the Northern States, because it was these States which were far more industrialized and thereby provided a much better pathway for good employment and overall opportunity, so that the demographics of the South necessitated, especially in the Southern mind the need to have their population representative numbers as high as possible or else they could find themselves to be outnumbered in the question of not only slavery but also in other areas of interest and thereby without an effective voice in governance.

 History tells us that while the three-fifths compromise did permit the thirteen colonies to become the United States, it did not, though, bring forth a nation that truly supported justice, equality, and opportunity for all.  This meant that there would come a time when those of the South who were scared that their peculiar institution would be under assault from the national government decided that their best move was to rebel against that government under the wrong belief that not only were they right for doing so, but that they could enact their supposed Constitutional right to disband what had been joined together. 

 Indeed, the State representatives who got together for that initial Constitutional convention were some of the best and brightest, of which there probably wasn’t any way to come to a successful agreement without compromises, but in that Southern compromise, the die would be fatefully cast, which would ultimately result in a great reckoning, and thankfully, a new birth of freedom.

This world is a world of opportunity to prove your mettle

Indeed, life has its purpose, and that purpose can be best defined as an opportunity for each of us to prove our mettle in the challenges and temptations that life presents to us.  So then, wherever we may currently be at, as well as the circumstances of our life, recognize that what is presented to you, is there to provide you with the opportunity to prove yourself and those that do so successfully, are the very same that advance; whereas those that do not, are the same that will have to find a way to make good on what they need to make good on, or else they will not ever find themselves in that timeless sanctuary of serenity, peace, and truth.

 This thus signifies that what we say and do most definitely makes a difference, not just in our personal development or perhaps regression, but also through our interactions with those that we deal with, which will influence others for the better or for the worse, and while it could be said, that what people do or don’t do is their responsibility, what we have done to contribute or to harm such, reverts back to our own self, so that we are not only our brother’s keeper but we also are part of the overall milieu that society is made up of, which signifies that we need to do our fair part to help make society better for our good participation in it.

 Each of us is unique as an individual, for our circumstances are unique within who we are, which means that whatever that is our burden to bear, we must do our level best to deal with such with aplomb and with determination so that we will at the end of the day prove that when given the chance to do right, that we have done right or else to suffer the fair circumstances for our failure in judgment and our subsequent bad actions.

 For certain, there will be justice, for that is how the moral universe works, and therefore it needs to be recognized that more than anything, we earn our way to Heaven by the good deeds so done, as well as our contribution to the betterment of those with whom we congregate with in our interactions with one another. 

 So too, everything that we do actually does matter, for in skeins of time all is recorded and all is known – but this information held in the mind of that which is Infallible is not done with the attitude that this will oppress us or convict us, but rather as an object lesson for us to learn from and to therefore better ourselves so that we can develop into what we were always meant to be, for this world is the proving ground, provided for us to test our mettle with a fair challenge, and those that do not pass those tests will find that they are stuck in an endless cycle that they cannot escape from until they figure it out, by the subsequent thoughts and actions which do right by that which first created them.

The middle-class revolution

When it comes to revolutions and uprisings, there is a belief that those that are the most oppressed are going to lead some sort of proletariat or lower-income revolution, but history tells us that revolutions are most often led by either a fight of the elites, a military coup, or by those who have historically had a voice but have become essentially disenfranchised and thus have a very good reason to lead an uprising so as to obtain what they believe that they have already fairly earned but have unfairly lost.

 When it comes to America, we read at Investopedia.com that “The share of income captured by the middle class fell from 62% in 1970 to 43% in 2022,” which is a staggering drop, in which, quite frankly the middle-class of America has basically ceded their income, their wealth, and their monies to the elites of America, so that those that are at the very top have never been richer, and that those that are the heart and soul of America are ever feeling more pressure to maintain their status as the weight of oppressive taxation, personal debt, inflation, and employment insecurity have placed more and more weight upon their sore and aching shoulders.

 So too, the middle-class in absence of their voice being substantially heard and thus with their backs against the wall, are going to find that because their vote essentially doesn’t matter because nothing changes for the good of that middle-class that they are going to find that to get a fair slice of the American pie that they are going to be compelled to take back from the elites and the superrich what is rightfully theirs, and to do so, they will have to revolt against the current order so as to get back for them no more and no less than what they rightfully deserve for their labor.

 After all, when we reflect on where power is, it has to be acknowledged that without a vibrant middle-class, that this country would ultimately devolve into not only a complete police state but would lose any real semblance of its competitiveness and fairness because the superrich are disinclined to do anything that will necessitate that they personally sacrifice their own blood, sweat, and tears.  Furthermore, the elites of this nation don’t represent enough people to get done what needs to get done, because in actuality they need the middle-class to do that for them, and hence for their own continuation those elites are going to have to start paying their own fair progressive share of taxation, which also includes those corporations that have skirted around what they really should and ought to pay, or else there will surely come a changing of the guard, because the middle-class will not go quietly into the night, since they are the very ones that have done the work which has made America to be the success that it has become.

 An America without a vibrant and healthy middle-class simply isn’t America, and to get back to where it ought to be, necessitates that the elites, for their own survival, if nothing else, will recognize that without a happy and satisfied middle-class, that truth be told, the times surely will be changing.

The West are also perpetrators of terrorism

Those that are Western nations would like to presuppose that the world is basically differentiated between a clear black and white division, of which those that support all that Western nations do and justify are thereby right, and all those that are outside that realm, such as what has been painted by the Western nations as being a terrorist or supporter of such, are thereby wrong.  From this perspective, the West justifies all their actions taken against a supposed enemy terrorist state, in which, that enemy is hunted down and no matter how much purposeful or accidental collateral damage that subsequently occurs due to that hunt, or how many civilians are ultimately killed or harmed, it is all okay as long as there are also those labeled as terrorists or bad guys that have been eradicated, as well -- of which, by these actions, Western nations are essentially behaving in a manner in which they are above the law, thus acting as judge, jury, and executioner.

It is important for the general public to have a basic definition of what terrorism really is, of which, one definition would be to recognize that a terrorist takes the law into their own hands with a preconceived goal in mind to wreak havoc and spread fear, which thereby typically through the usage of deliberate targeted violence achieves its objective of harming or killing the other, without judicial overview, and without having proved their case in an independent court of law, so that whoever is targeted for death or dismemberment is thereby subsequently accomplished at the discretion of the terrorist, and of which, torture and extraordinary rendition are all considered to be acts that are justified in that commitment to eliminate or to compromise the other.

The bottom line is that Western nations always consider themselves to be the white hat agents of justice, though we find that what is considered to be right and justified from a Western perspective seems to be a construct of which whatever deeds are done through the hands of Western nations no matter how extreme or how much they clearly undercut the unalienable rights of individuals as well as their constitutional rights, is somehow legitimized.  So then, when we find, for example, that America extraordinary renditions of suspected bad actors, ends up killing those that they have been labeled as terrorists, that in the scheme of things, this has not been vetted by any real independent non-biased organization and seems to clearly be extrajudicial in its behavior, justified only because it is done by Western nations, which thereby means it must be okay.

In actuality, terrorism is terrorism, which means that those that behave just like those that they claim are terrorists, by using the same sorts of reasoning and similar actions but come from the other side of the equation, are no better than what they are trying to eliminate, and one could argue that they are worse, because they pretty much hold all the cards, but won’t work under the applicable rule of law, but rather work outside that law, as if they are saying, the ends justify the means.

All of the above would be indicative that those who commit wrongs in order to make things right are ethically suspect, and all those who take actions that are, in their way, consistent with terrorism, but declaim that they are not terrorists, but that they are the good guys, are, in actuality, also terrorists themselves.

America’s insistence that it is always threatened by a big, bad wolf

The amount of monies allocated to the Department of Defense in America is an incredible amount of money, and since there is a limited amount of resources that America can budget and thereby spend its money upon, it has to be said, that more money spent on the defense of the nation, when seemingly excessive and imprudent, is money thereby taken away from the people that could be used for their good welfare, which basically means that despite the fact that America is the richest nation in the whole world, it still has a troubling amount of people that essentially suffer, because of their lack of proper food, shelter, and opportunity.

The primary reason why America expends so much money on its defense, besides its insistence on being the world’s policeman is the fact that it insists that America and therefore the entire western world and its allies are constantly under threat, of which the country that has played the bogeyman for decades is Russia, which at its peak as the Soviet Union was a nation that had both size and a GDP which was in and around 1970, considered to be the second largest GDP in the world, but of which, this GDP was approximately one-third of the United States.  Still, it has to be said that the Soviet Union was one of the two premier nuclear powers, with therefore the capability to wreak destruction, though it never had close to the collective power of the United States and its allies, despite the insistence from these United States that it was a viable threat.

Indeed, the main reason why the Soviet Union, which subsequently became Russia, again, and thereby no longer had a union of sister states in and around Russia was considered to be such a threat to America, was to provide the military-industrial-technology complex the raison d'être of why billions upon billions needed to be spent on the defense of this nation, even though, those at the highest echelons of power knew that the Soviet Union was not really a threat to the United States or its way of conducting business, but rather served their purpose to justify all the expenditures directed its way that enriched certain aspects of this nation at the overall expense of the people.

Presently, with Russia’s GDP being about equal to Italy’s GDP, this is proof positive that to continue to believe that Russia is that big, bad wolf is ill-considered, but fortunately or unfortunately, depending upon one’s viewpoint, Russia is being replaced as the big, bad wolf with China, which certainly makes more sense, because not only is China the world’s second largest economy, but its population is well over 1 billion people, in addition to the fact that China is a nation that is becoming more of a global economic force, year by year.

Yet, what isn’t mentioned nearly enough when it comes to China, is that China does not behave like a bellicose nation, and further to the point, seems content to concentrate its energies on improving the lives of its people as compared to desiring to engage America in a world war, thereby signifying that America need not continue to expend so much money on its defense, when it actually has no fair reason to believe that it is under threat by any other nation, whatsoever.

Related Presidents

When it comes to a monarchy, because of intermarriage we find that monarchies between European nations typically have had common ancestors, and the monarch itself, is almost always directly related to the current monarch, as either a daughter or a son, though when that is not the case, the monarchy typically has passed on to the progeny of the monarch’s brother or sister.  In short, monarchies are hereditary and are deliberately structured as such, so that these elites are able to maintain their power and position for many, many decades and even centuries.

One might think that in a nation as populous as the United States of America, that there wouldn’t be any relationship from one President to another, but that would be wrong, for despite the fact that America has only had forty-five different Presidents in its history, we find that there are two of which the father, followed by the son were Presidents, as in John Adams and John Quincy Adams, as well as George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.  Additionally, there was one grandfather-to-grandson combination, of William Henry Harrison to Benjamin Harrison.  As for more distant relationships, Theodore Roosevelt was a fifth cousin to Franklin D. Roosevelt, and James Madison was a second cousin to Zachary Taylor.

All of the above would indicate that just as we have seen in sports, with a father followed by his son, those who have relatives in high places have a strong tendency to also achieve that type of status, as well.  Perhaps this is a good thing, but mainly it’s a bad thing, because it seems to say that even in America, people aren’t necessarily graded on their merits and talents, but rather those that are in well-positioned places are going to be treated differently than those that don’t have those same types of advantages and hence this is why we have seen that Presidents can and have been related to one another of which this trend probably isn’t going to end anytime soon, and in fact, there is a decent chance that we may well have a husband and wife each end up becoming a President at some time, primarily because of their name recognition as well as the fact that the powers that be prefer to work within a domain in which the players are well known to them and are by definition the same that they would like to see continue in power.

Indeed, the bottom line is that to become President is something that is not even a remote possibility for virtually all Americans but rather this is only available for those that follow a certain well-trodden path that involves connections with the right people, often accomplished by congregating with them by going to the right schools and/or working at the same high places, which is why those that become President can be and have been related to one another because they typically are part of a milieu that is exclusive to them, and not available for others. 

So then, the fact that Presidents have been related to one another should be seen as a signal that those that are at the highest echelons of power are pretty much there because they are part and parcel of that very power structure, which probably isn’t good for all those citizens that desire this to be a nation of, for, and by the people, above all.

Taxation and the sword

The power of the government to tax the general public is the type of power that definitely affects the general public -- for part of what they have labored diligently for has been taken away from them by the government.  Indeed, when it comes to taxation, it has to be recognized that the more money that gets into the hands of the government, the more responsibility that the government has to do right by those who are its constituents.  So then, as much as the people are busy taking care of necessary things and the urgencies of the day, they do most definitely have a vested interest in where and how their tax dollars are allocated and thereby spent, for those governments that are irresponsible or corrupt will thereby take those tax monies and use such for purposes which are not for the general welfare of the people, at all.

 In life, it has to be recognized that the material things that we accumulate ultimately come from spending the money that we have in hand, or through the good credit that we have established, and when we lack that money or our credit is bad, we have far fewer options that permit us to take care of our business.  So then, a government that is starved of money for whatever reason(s) is a government that is already circumscribed because there is only so much that a government of limited monies is capable of doing.  This signifies that the more tax dollars that a government has, while not necessarily being bad, could be dangerous to the general public, whenever that government does not act responsibly by the people that it has an obligation to do right by.

 In truth, how and where our tax monies are spent makes a material difference in our personal lives, which means that it can easily make a difference in our freedom and liberty, or lack thereof, for whenever a government takes those tax dollars and spends an inordinate amount of such on the military of which those in the military do not readily answer to the people, but rather answer to those that are its generals or the politicians and elites of the day, then the people should rightly be troubled, for it is their labor taxed through governmental authority that thereby has permitted that government to militarized itself, which under the wrong type of leadership could use that sword against its own people, in order to feather its own nest, at the direct expense of the people.

 So then, the power to tax is also the power to have more control of the people, and thereby to limit their liberty, which when the representatives of this nation have been effectively captured by the elites, and the courts are not truly independent, we are left only with the executive branch, which when that branch cares more about control and exploitation of the people, then it must be said that those that believe that taxation without fair representation represents tyranny, are correct in their assessment that this is not in their best interests and hence not tolerable for them.

The reason for laws and rules of the road

All of us pretty much live in societies in which there are laws structured for us to obey, as well as written rules that we must follow, of which, the punishment for the breaking of such can be quite severe.  Yet, for those that think, they might well want to know why it is that we have so many laws and regulations, as well as the prevailing purpose behind them, because each of us is born free, but are somehow placed within a construct in which that freedom is constrained, which begs the question as to why.

The very first thing that we need to consider is to picture a world without rules or laws, and when we contemplate upon this, it readily becomes apparent that a society without well-reasoned laws would quickly become a society of chaos, confusion, as well as a constant injustice to just about everyone, because when there are no just consequences to our bad acts then the resulting trend is going to be unbecoming of a healthy and wholesome society, mainly because there will be a certain segment of the population which because it will not behave in a responsible way, contributes to the ails of society, and because there is no fair resolution to such, contributes to uncivility and further wrongdoing.

So too, the purpose of laws is to understand that everything that we do has a consequence, and when those actions create an injustice to the other, there needs to be some sort of recompense or else those bad actions will serve to corrupt others, because the others  may well feel justified that since there is no punishment for what has occurred they may as well let their guard down too, as they don’t rightly see the upside of restraining themselves when there doesn’t seem to be a consequence that they would serve to compel or urge them not to.

Indeed, one of the reasons why religion is so important in so many cultures, is that religion at its core, teaches people that there are fair consequences for their actions, good or bad, signifying that those that are good, receive the beneficence of that behavior, sooner or later; whereas, those that are bad, will received their due punishment for their wrongdoing, sooner or later, in this world, or beyond.

So then, laws and regulations most certainly have their place within society, and should they disappear or be poorly structured, the people are the very ones that will suffer, for when actions and subsequent consequences are not aligned up correctly, it makes for a dysfunctional society that will suffer duly for not adhering to what we are supposed to be at our core, which thereby necessitates proper guidance from not necessarily those in authority, who may themselves be seriously flawed and unfair, but rather from those that are good moral agents that truly have our best interests in mind, because these exemplars of virtue desire to see us to make good decisions, which  makes then for us to have the fair opportunity to have a much better and more fulfilling life.

The need to understand the true purpose of legitimate government

When people are asked the question as to what the purpose of government actually is, there are going to be various answers -- such as, for example, the general defense of the nation, the general welfare of the people, or the law and order necessary to have equal justice for all, and so on.  One answer, which is not heard nearly enough, is that the true purpose of legitimate government ought to be to protect our individual liberty, above all.  In other words, the purpose of government ought to first and foremost be about securing our liberty to be about our business and therefore thus providing us with the best opportunity to have a good life, with liberty, and to freely pursue that which brings satisfaction to us.

 Regrettably when we look at governments the world over and in particular our own government, it has to be admitted that the governance of this nation does not appear to be about protecting our rights, but rather seems to be about taking our natural rights as well as our Constitutional rights, and circumscribing them to something less than what they are supposed to be.  While there are myriad excuses why governments have a strong tendency to do this sort of thing, the bottom line is that power in the hands of the wrong or misguided people in addition to fallible institutions leads often to the result that the people that should be sovereign, are reduced to being something more akin to subjects, which are supposed to therefore obey their government, for their own supposed protection and safety.

 The fact that we don’t hear often enough from our politicians or from those that are in the catbird seats of power, that their objective is to defend and to assure the people, that our individual liberty comes first, is proof positive that this isn’t on their agenda, and clearly isn’t part of their thinking.  Instead, we are sold a bogus bill of goods from our government, that insists that the people need to forget about all this liberty stuff, and concentrate more on understanding that this world is dangerous and that rights so granted, even of an unalienable nature are subject to being modified as the government best sees fit to do per its inclination and that as a people we ought to just go along with this.

 So then, to live under a government in which the reality is that our liberty and our unalienable rights are subject to the dictates of that government, is to live under conditions in which we are not truly free.  In the best of those cases, though, we sacrifice some of our liberties, for the protection that the state provides us, though even that protection involves the citizens  themselves having to defend the nation from enemies within as well as enemies without, as defined by that government.

 All of the above reflects that when we examine our own government, that to believe that its top priority is to backstop our liberty and our freedom of expression and thought, is clearly something that not only isn’t a priority but seems to be something that this government does not desire to have in effect, because it wants to be in control, which conflicts with our natural rights to liberty.