Patience and your GPS

Nowadays, many of us are reliant upon our GPS to help get us from place to place, and though we always are ultimately in charge as to whether or not we strictly follow such directional advice, it’s nice to know that GPS has our back.  The other very nice thing about GPS is the fact that unlike a human being or a backseat driver, the GPS doesn’t ever yell at us, it doesn’t call us stupid, it doesn’t berate us, but is instead endlessly patient, and willing to “reroute” us to our destination, should we miss our turn or make a mistake.  There is indeed, something to be learned about all this, which is that if we all took it to heart, would be helpful, of which being patient and not belittling one another, most definitely makes for a better situation, than losing our cool with one another.

In life, we all are going to take wrong turns, and many of us will not directly get to the destination that we are supposed to get to, so then when we make mistakes, often it does not prove helpful, to be yelled at, or to be looked down upon, in which those sorts of attitudes take what is already not a good situation, and simply makes it worse.  That is to say, of course, it’s frustrating when we make mistakes, or when it is pointed out to us that we are mistaken, but when a mistake has been made, there isn’t any good reason for the problem to be compounded, by being yelled at or screamed at, when the situation does not truly call for that sort of reaction.

What many people like about GPS, besides its accuracy, is that it performs its job on behalf of us, without ever losing its patience with us, and is forever forgiving of mistakes or detours that we have made.  There is a lot in life to be said, about our need to be patient with one another, but also to recognize that because we all make mistakes as well as misjudgments, that we would be better served then by representing calmness in those situations, which don’t require us to overreact to something that isn’t all that critical, to begin with.  That is to say, if more of us would simply recognize that we are going to have those inevitable missteps, then we would be in a better frame of mind, to not waste our time judging such missteps harshly, but rather we would be much better off, by adjusting to what happened, so as to continue to keep our eye on the mission, above all.

The thing about impatience is how frequently such impatience is not the appropriate response to a given situation that seems to have gone in the wrong direction.  In other words, the impatience that we exhibit typically is a rather poor response to a given situation, in which, we would be far better served by recognizing that not only will we never be perfect, but oftentimes it isn’t even necessary to be perfect to ultimately get to the destination that we desire, successfully.

Every family has a tragedy

Somehow, we like to believe that the grass is truly greener on the other side, of which, that other side, thus experiences life at its very best, without any problems or concerns.  No doubt, some people’s lives are materially better than others, but life is far more than our material gains, for life encompasses the whole gamut of love, betrayal, success, failure, and just about everything that we could possibly imagine that could occur or desire not to occur.  Indeed, no family has not experienced some sort of tragedy within their domain, for those that live today, are the same that will die tomorrow.  So too, those that are closest to us, are the very same that can be our greatest joy or they can also deeply hurt or disappoint us.  So then, life has its inevitable ups and downs, which thus provides us with those obstacles and challenges to overcome or else find ourselves defeated by such.

It is important to realize that all of us have suffered some degree of disappointment in our respective lives, for our desires forever outrun what we actually achieve or have in our possession.  This alas is the nature of life for those who are not able to temper their desires and replace such with simply running the best race that they are capable of, come what may.   In truth, the more that we desire something or have to have the perfect family or the perfect life, the more that we set ourselves up for inevitable disappointment when things do not go according to the plan that we have so structured.  It isn’t so much that we shouldn’t prioritize what we ought to work on, but rather it has a lot more to do with our inability to take into fair consideration all the contingencies known and unknown that are oftentimes either out of our control or we can’t control.

The tragedies that happen within our life, of death, injury, and failure, are ours to deal with, to the best of our ability, of which, it has to be noted, that every family suffers from some personal tragedy, as well.  This thus signifies that as much as we might admire or envy someone else, if we were to indeed spend some time in their shoes, we would know that they too, have also suffered their own tragedies.  The human heart will invariably be hurt, and because each of us has been hurt, we have the opportunity then to find common ground with just about anyone, in the sure knowledge that they too have grieved for that which has been lost.

So too, the reason why we want to acknowledge that every family has experienced tragedy is to recognize that this type of sorrow is universal, and because this happens to all of us, it thereby provides us with the opening to relate to one another in a way and manner that we can grow and heal one another, by the recognition that our common humanity, finds its highest mission, in our gift of love, forgiveness, and the resiliency to carry on, in the sure knowledge, that what we presently accept as a tragedy, will surely be overcome.

Sports and the military have helped reduce racism

The United States has a distinct history of racism, as demonstrated by the fact that slavery was legal within the United States as well as the fact that American Indians were forcefully removed from their historic territories and also had countless treaties violated by the American government.  That said, the past does not necessarily always present us with a prelude to the future, because there is always the opportunity for society to learn from its past, so as to make progress in adhering to these immortal words that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

In 1948, President Truman signed an Executive Order stating that “there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces…”  This Executive Order became the basis for the American military to effectively integrate itself, and though this in its implementation was never going to be a smooth process or even something that instantly occurred, what did happen, is that the pathway for that integration in conjunction with the law, supported the non-discrimination of those so entering into the armed forces of this nation.  The end result is that the military provided the foundation for those who previously had not treated one another with consideration and respect to eventually mold together as a team, because those who were part of a fighting unit, had to merge together as a fighting unit, or else they would endanger not only their selves but also the mission, so impressed upon them.

In regards to sports, it has to be remembered, that many a sports team is motivated by winning, above all else, and will do whatever then that it takes, even to stretching the rules, to win the prize.  So then, those of the more progressive sort, recognized that many fine athletes were non-white that would as part of their sports team, help that team to win, and therefore it was no real stretch for that management of some of these teams, to determine that adding a player of immense skill and talent to their roster, would provide that team with a better chance of winning.  So too, other sports owners and management, would in recognition, that they were falling behind the competition, have to do the same sort of thing to remain competitive.  The result then for sports, was the integration into the sport of more and more non-white players which not only made for a better team but also made for a better sport.  Additionally, players of different backgrounds and races that played and trained together, day after day, were thus provided with the opportunity to get to know one another, and therefore to let down their guard to one another, eventually to understand their similarities as well as common interests, so that, the net effect was those that were members of the same team, identified first as being of that team, and only secondarily to their individual race.

Indeed, when it comes to the fans of these sports, though they may well have been uneasy about seeing non-white players on their favorite team, at the end of the day, though, as fans, they desired their team to win, and therefore to root for a team with black players on the field, but somehow to hate them as a people, was a contradiction that has eroded over time.  As for our military, those who are patriotic, want our armed forces to win their battles, in which, that can only be accomplished by those who make up those forces, working together as a team, thus then superseding the racial classification of a given person, for the collective good of the nation.

The Wilmot Proviso

In 1846, Pennsylvania’s David Wilmot put forth his proposed proviso stating that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted.”  This proposed proviso would then apply therefore to the territory so acquired from Mexico, as the end result of the Mexican-American war, in which, the United States was able to get Mexico to cede what became the States of California, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico, as well as the majority of Arizona and Colorado, and also parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming.  In addition, Mexico relinquished what became the State of Texas to the United States.  In short, the point of the Wilmot Proviso was to make it national policy that the new territory won through what many considered to be an unjust war, would not then be utilized on behalf of the expansion of slavery.  In other words, the point of the Wilmot Proviso was to keep slavery confined within the States where it currently existed, and thereby not to spread this inimical abomination of humans enslaving other humans any further than it already existed within these United States.

The Wilmot Proviso though was not passed and therefore was not ratified, and did not thus become the law of the land.  The result of this legislation not being approved was the inevitable increase of slavery into what became new States, that previously did not have slavery because Mexico had abolished slavery from their nation in 1837.  In other words, some of this previous Mexican territory, such as Texas became a slave State and also slavery was made legal in the New Mexico, Utah, and Indian territories.  That is to say, those of the South made it their point to take territories so bought or won in war by the United States, so as to expand such into those additional States so created, as much as they could, such as in Louisiana and Missouri, which became slave States.

It is quite unfortunate, that the Wilmot Proviso did not become the law of the land, and to demonstrate how forward-thinking this proviso was, we need only look at the words of our 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States…”  These words of the 13th Amendment are essentially the same as that proviso, with the basic caveat being that in order for the 13th Amendment to become the law of the land, there first had to be fought a bloody and extended civil war, which cost the lives of 620,000 Americans.

Indeed, in a land that celebrates freedom, justice, and liberty for all, there was never a point in which slavery could be justified within that national mindset --  yet, slavery was legal within the Constitution so ratified.  Still, the principle of permitting slavery as understood by those legislators working within the construct of the Constitution was that they believed that by abolishing the slave trade as of 1808, that slavery would in time, cease to exist.  Regrettably though, through territorial expansion, this renewed and reinvigorated those who saw the personal benefits of that slavery, and therefore they decided to do whatever that they had to do, to expand such into territories so bought or won through war, which led to the inevitable conflict of which a house divided, would not stand; but from the ashes of that great civil war, came the foundation that had previously been declared through its independence of those immortal words that “all men are created equal.”

The art of persuasion

There are lots of people who desire, at least from time to time, that the other should come to their way of thinking and therefore people use all sorts of stratagems to accomplish this.  One of the ways, that seldom works though to persuade the other to our point of view, is basically to harangue them,  or to harass them, or to just use methods which follow the line of how stupid that they are for not seeing things the way that they ought to be seen.  Not too surprisingly, berating the other, or trying to dictate to the other, is not going to be the most effective way to get someone to change their mind, though coercion can produce the result so desired, but does so at an unethical price.

On the other hand, those who truly desire to persuade the other, recognize that first of all, they need to understand the valid reasoning behind their having that particular point of view, and then further they need to know the best way to disseminate that information, which involves not only knowing their own self but also involves knowing the other.  Then, in order for persuasion to best work, such must be done in a friendly and civil manner, of which, that said, there are many a case in which persuasion on a certain subject is not going to immediately produce results, but because the conversation has been initiated, this will produce the necessary seeds of what will eventually end up being a good result.

When people respect one another, and further to the point, like one another, there is typically going to be an openness that permits ideas to be engaged one to the other, so that, for all those who feel that a particular person is misguided about something of import, there will thus be the opportunity to disengage the other from that point of view,  when properly presented.  It has to be remembered though that those who have opinions or preferences of long-standing, that to expect someone like that to simply drop their previous thinking to somehow embrace a new type of thinking upon that subject, is always going to be the exception, and never the rule, for many a person is not capable of changing their ingrained habits of thought in a blink of an eye.  Rather, to effect change, and therefore to be persuasive, is going to be, an exercise in patience, respect, consistency, and persistence, so as to break down their walls of defensiveness, and replace such with openness to a new perspective which is more worthy of them.

Alas, when neither side to a particular point of view is willing to listen to the other but insists upon talking past the other, nothing of merit will be accomplished, for they aren't even really having a conversation.  Therefore, in order to persuade the other, the format for that success needs to be friendly and unpressured, though, the nature of the conversation requires that it have some intended purpose behind it, and those that would persuade, need to do their good part in conveying what it is that they wish to impart, in a manner that it best reaches its intended destination, and is thus received in good humor by the other.

President Andrew Johnson's Pardon and Amnesty for Confederates

On May 29, 1865, President Johnson issued a very important Proclamation of Pardon and Amnesty, with several provisions to it, in regards to what those who brought rebellion to the United States, needed to do in order to become citizens of good standing with their attendant rights returned to them by this nation.  It has to be remembered that those that make war, and thereupon lose that war, would not thus be in a position to demand much of anything, for as the losers of this civil war as well as being the initiators of that war, they would have to rely on the mercy of the victors; yet this nation to its esteemed credit did not desire to have malice to those that had rebelled against them.

While President Johnson's Proclamation had many provisions, the most salient one, was that those who had taxable property of over $20,000 would have to make a special application to the President in order to secure back their right to vote as well as  to hold office.  In other words, Johnson's Proclamation was seen as being the instrument that would once and for all, put a sword to those of the privileged white class, who had been the biggest slave owners, as well as being the instigators and material contributors to this rebellion of the Southern States, against the United States.

Unfortunately, Johnson decided for whatever reason(s), to pardon pretty much all those who were members of what would considered to be the slaveocracy of the South, so that thereupon in short order, the end result was the return to power of the very privileged people that were the previous office holders within those Southern States, or their equivalency, and therefore returning those that had rebelled against the United States, to their previous condition of superiority and control within those States. 

This then meant that though the Southern States had lost many men, as well as having property destroyed or confiscated by the victorious North, in their futile fight against the Northern States, and despite having been the proximate cause of this war, things were able to return to essentially how they had been before the civil war, though, new laws and Constitutional Amendments had been ratified, to, in theory, preclude such.  Sure, slavery was no longer the law of the land, but those of the South recognized that there were other avenues available to them to still exploit those that had been enslaved, to thereby serve the purposes of the South.  So too, the South was still united in their belief of what they would or would not tolerate from those that were non-white, which continued to be a drag upon liberating national policy, for decade upon decade.

In summary, it can be said, that the Amnesty proclaimed by President Johnson, was well reasoned, and a necessary precondition for the people of those previous rebellious States who were thus required to swear to such so as to come back to the Union in good standing; it was though, implemented in such a manner that it kept those that had previously been enslaved, for the most part, in the same unjust and inferior position that they had not only expected to have seen changed but also undercut the very emancipation that they had been granted in 1863.  The end result was that the slaveocracy which should have been shattered, upon the conclusion of this civil war, was not, and therein lies the human tragedy, of which the remnants of such, live until the present day.

Mileage signage on freeways

Those who travel on freeways are dependent upon exit signs being clearly marked, and though many a person prefers the actual name of the exit that they are taking, it has to be said, that probably a lot more, actually prefer the exit number as of being more important, for names of exits can be fairly similar or sound about the same, whereas exit numbers are absolutely distinct.  Because this is the United States, there aren’t always the exact same formal standards that each State follows when it comes to their exit numbering, of which, logically the best numbering system is to begin at the number 1 for those entering the State as in, for example, from the western direction, and then to tie in the exit numbers to the distance so being traveled eastward, which aligns with the mile markers, that are often posted on one side of the road.  That is to say, exit 3 should represent having traveled 3 miles in an eastern direction, and if the next exit isn’t until another 8 miles, that should be labeled as exit 11.

When it comes to the accuracy of mile markers and even mile markers that are further broken down into tenths, such as .1 mile, .2 mile, and so on, this signage if it has been deliberately created to provide that specific information is going to be very accurate, because it has been engineered to reflect an accurate distance; so then, it can be taken as a given, that any signage, which is specifically meant to show mileage, is accurate.  On the other hand, there is plenty of signage that has been posted onto a freeway overpass, of which, that signage is going to be susceptible to being not so accurate, because overpasses are designed first and foremost, as a way and means to travel from one side of a road to another, and has little to do with being placed, for instance, exactly one mile from a given exit.  This means, that those who note mileage signage on an overpass, that tells the driver that they are 1 mile away from an exit, can be inaccurate, by as much as ¼ mile, in either direction, thereby, indicating that those traveling at a high speed, may not have as much time as they think to get over to the exit lane, and why some people believe that a given exit, just seems to come up too quickly, or for those signs, which are underestimating the distance, why it seems to the driver as if that mile is a very long mile.

The thing about GPS and driving is that GPS is very accurate, and those then that rely upon GPS for their navigation are relying upon an instrument that almost always gets the distance and the exit, correctly.  When it comes to freeway signage, though, it isn’t so much that engineers can and do make mistakes, though they do, but rather it has a lot more to do, with the signage, especially on overpasses, as being an aid to the driver, but not meant oftentimes to be taken literally, for as they say, your mileage may differ.

The law and standing for that which is right

Henry David Thoreau tells us that: “It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. “  Indeed, there are far too many people, that believe that the law, wrong or right, needs and should be obeyed, always, which doesn’t make sense, because not every law is a just law, and those laws which are unjust and immoral, are, by definition, in conflict with that which is just and right.  To somehow believe, that legislators and politicians are not influenced by the times that they are a part of, including the prejudices and favoritism shown to those that have undue influence upon them, is to be badly mistaken, for certain laws have a strong tendency to be in conformance with what those that the most powerful desire, as compared to those laws always being in accordance to that which is right and fair.

Those who take a moral stand, subject to the vagaries of all sorts of punishment and opprobrium by the forces of society that do not desire to see things change, are the very people who are in the vanguard of the necessary change to happen.  In other words, those that demonstrate civil unrest, to thus bring to the attention of authorities, that not all is well, represent people of principle, as compared to people of expediency.  Undeniably, the society that we are a part of has a strong tendency to reflect the preferences of those in power who frequently believe that they are above moral law, and therefore they impose upon society, the demands that best fit what will be most beneficial for them, but not for society.

In life, we will be called to account, in which the question of the hour will be, as to whether or not, when we were called upon, we stood for that which is right, or whether we unquestionably obeyed the law, no matter how wrong, or even worse, simply were indifferent to it all.  Those who control the power levers desire for us to be indifferent or compliant to the laws of the day, thereby providing them with more resources to apply pressure on those who are not so willingly obedient.  Indeed, those who truly believe that obedience to the law, is our inherent obligation to the law, are those who have sacrificed their liberty for whatever it is that they so have that provides them with some degree of comfort but have done so, at the price of their good conscience.

Each of us has been gifted with a mind, to utilize to the best of our abilities, of which, one of those important things for each of us to address, is whether or not we desire to behave in a manner that is just and right, with the clear recognition that because not every law is just or right, there will be conflict, and ultimately a showdown between them.  Those then that are on the side of right, are those that believe in justice, equally and fairly applied, and those that are on the side of law, whether it be right or wrong, have forsaken their liberty and freedom for obedience, as if obedience was the highest calling that should be aspired to.

19th century Carriage ride accidents

Nowadays, most of us take for granted, the general safety and security of our automobiles that we utilize to get to the various places that we go to, day by day.  That said, vehicles have only been around for about 100 years, and as tragic and as dangerous accidents can be for us with modern-day vehicles, it has to be admitted that on a per-mile basis, vehicles are actually pretty darn safe, especially when compared to the utilization of a horse carriage, back in the 1700s and 1800s.  It has got to be remembered, that not only was the construction of a given carriage not necessarily the most robust, or even necessarily well engineered, but also that horses were susceptible to becoming frightened, and thus bolting and thereby becoming the proximate cause of an unfortunate carriage accident.

Those who rode in carriages recognized that there was risk to that travel, but preferred to travel in a way and manner in which they could not only be catered to but was in the scheme of things, far less tiring and more comfortable, as compared to riding a horse themselves.  So too, people rode in carriages, because a carriage ride permitted them the opportunity to have a conversation, to attend to paperwork, or to dress appropriately for the event that they were traveling to, as well as to not have to personally take the responsibility of navigating the roads.

There are a multitude of reasons, why riders in a carriage, could end up being in an accident, having first of all to do with the integrity of the carriage, its wheels, the distribution of the weight of that carriage, as well as the condition of the roads, which could be far more dangerous depending upon weather conditions, steepness, narrowness, branches, or loose stones or gravel.  Additionally, the person so driving the carriage, needed to be careful in their driving as well as the traveling speed of that carriage, because of obstacles, and just the general knowledge that turns so made in a carriage, needed to be done at a speed conducive to safety first.  Additionally, carriage drivers had a responsibility to not only to check the integrity of the carriage periodically but also the condition and overall fatigue of the horse(s) so pulling that carriage.  Also, a horse with less experience, or one more susceptible to being frightened by unexpected noises, could in a moment, take what was a safe ride, and make it far more dangerous.

Finally, there is the knowledge that those on the road with a carriage, would invariably come across other carriages, or other horse riders, or pedestrians, in which, somebody had to yield to the other entity, or else a collusion or having to maneuver off course could easily happen.  The fact of the matter is, as much as we might today, think that riding in a carriage would be both pleasant and safe, it was far less pleasant and far less safe when this was a necessary means to get from one destination to another, because there was not only the possibility of human carriage driver error, but also the unpredictably of a frightened horse, as well as the carriage itself, may not have been all that secure or safe.

The importance of not always saying what is on our mind

We are told that we should “think before we speak,” and the reason why we should consider well this wise adage, is words that are unthoughtfully spoken can easily create friction, conflict, hurt, and trouble, for when we fail to self-censor ourselves, and thereby to filter out those things that we know that we really ought not to say, it can create all sorts of havoc between ourselves and other people.  While it is true, that we can get into trouble, in myriad ways, it is also true that those who get in trouble and uncomfortable situations the most, are those who are unable to tame their own tongue, thereby they are themselves the instrument of their own troubles.

In life, all sorts of thoughts will come to us, of which, it is our responsibility to determine whether or not what we are thinking about, should actually be expressed in words, written or verbal.  For some people, one way to get around personal hurt is to put into writing what has come to their mind, not from the perspective that this is what they are really going to say or send, but rather as a means to let go of some of their aggression, by simply going through that exercise and then reading, and re-reading it, only to eventually recognize that what has been written, isn’t going to serve any good purpose, except perhaps to give them sufficient time to reflect upon such.  Indeed, those who are tempted to respond back to others in a hurtful manner because they feel that they have been marginalized or hurt, need to understand, that not only do two wrongs, never make a right, but also, that not everything said to us, or text to us, necessitates an instant reply, but rather oftentimes we are better served by doing our best to remain calm, in which, as the heat of the moment begins to dissipate, we find that though those words may still sting us a bit, their overall effect to us, has been reduced, considerably.

So too, there are those people, who seem to suffer from their constant inability to self-censor themselves, and because they just can’t seem to resist saying what is on the tip of their tongue, they go right ahead and say what they say, never seeming to realize that not everything that we think of, needs to be expressed in words, because when those words aren’t of any good purpose, even if somewhat true, along with those words, not being of benefit to the other, we would be far better off, if we simply shut up, instead.

It is well to remember, that we as a people are human beings, of which some of us have thicker skin than others, and because we have feelings, we need to understand better, that wrong words can hurt, and words spoken in haste that are hurtful to those that we claim we love and care about, are the type of words that can have long-term implications for the worse, because a word unfitly spoken or angrily written cannot be retracted, and the hurt that we have thus created, may not be easily healed, or ever healed, and therein lies the reason why we should consciously monitor what it is that we say and send, especially when we know ourselves, how much hurt that wrong words directed at us, can create.

“The past is never past”

It has been said that the past is never past, which basically means that those that do not believe that the past has any relevance in the present time or in the future, do not properly grasp the importance of the past. The very purpose of the past is not only to learn from it but to recognize that what has happened in the past, is often cyclical in nature, for the very process of time as measured in this present age, clearly demonstrates to us, that time itself is cyclical, for the seasons of the year tell us that, as well as the fact that each day has the same 24 hours, day after day after day. Therefore, to believe, somehow, that we should always and forevermore conceptualize time as being linear is to misunderstand the full truth of time, which is better represented by the knowledge that what we see as time in this world, is for our learning experience, for in actuality time is an elaborate illusion.

Each of us should be grateful that we know of the past, and the more that we study the past so as to understand not only the errors of past times but also the insights of such, the better we are able then to properly see the past as a necessary stepping stone to get us to where we really need to go. This thus signifies that the past is structured as the past so that we will utilize this knowledge to help bring us ever closer to understanding and comprehending who and what we truly are. Those who are wise, recognize that the smoothest path to enlightenment is to stand upon the shoulders of those esteemed personages of the past, who were visionaries and innovative, as compared to desiring to start over, again and again. For those who do not desire to pay attention to the past, thereby represent the very same who will be susceptible to living the same errors of the past because they are apparently unwilling to learn the valuable lessons that will free them from the mistakes so made in those past times.

In order to break free from the endless cycle, of birth, life, and then death, we have got to acknowledge that this can only be accomplished by those who have taken the time to read the past, and have thus used that knowledge to thereby break free from the confines and limitations of misguided thoughts and beliefs, to accept that there is a better way, and those that pursue that way, diligently and unrelentingly, will surely find that previously undiscovered and hidden country.

The past is never past, because the skeins of time cannot be erased, and as much as we may well wish to ignore or to pretend that certain past events did not happen, they did happen. The point then is not to ignore the past, but rather to see the past as a necessary piece of the puzzle which, when fully put back together, will provide us with true freedom and endless liberty, in the sure knowledge that all that has so occurred, makes eminent sense and always has.

Words, language, and their meaning

Each of us is used to using words to get across what we want to say to the other, without though many of us comprehending that each of us interprets those words as being spoken or written in their own individual way. In other words, what we speak and say is interpreted differently by different people, and usually interpreted in a way that the person listening or reading finds most consistent with what they believe has been said or thought they have heard. So too, the tonality and the emphasis that we place upon words can change the meaning of those words, so it is fair to say that what we as speakers think that we have said, may not always be in close harmony with the interpretation by the person so receiving those spoken words.

It has to be remembered that spoken words are a verbal representation of what we are trying to get across to the other, for without words, our body language and our expressed movements would have to thus be interpreted by the other to best understand what we were trying to convey. The very purpose of the words that we speak is ideally to get across to the other, what we desire to express so that they correctly understand us. However, because each of us speaks and writes in our own unique way, and further to the point, we typically come from different backgrounds, what we so speak and write may well be interpreted by the other in a manner that is not consistent with what we were trying to convey. Indeed, the closer our relationship is to who we are speaking to, such as someone who is our sibling, or our parent, the more that they will correctly understand what we are saying, even when we don’t say it all that well. However, for those that we don’t really know that well, and whose life experiences are different than ours, they may well misinterpret what we have said, and in certain situations, this can create a lot of grief and even trouble.

Additionally, there are those times when we are unable to express in words, what we are really thinking, because we can’t seem to find the words that will accurately reflect that, which for some people, is indicative of their nervousness or else their lack of depth with their vocabulary, and thus their inability to clearly formulate their thoughts into words and expressions that are readily understood. To be able to communicate effectively to the other, and to know for a certainty that the person listening to us, actually understands what we are trying to say, and even further to the point, understands the implication of what we have said, is the very best part of good communication, which is necessary for society to best function well.

Undeniably, a good listener is not just somebody who actually listens well, but is also somebody who can take the words that have been spoken and connect them correctly to the body language of that person, while also taking into account their historical interactions with that person, so that they thus absorb correctly the true meaning of what has been said. That, indeed, is why we need to do our level best to truly understand the other because in doing so, we become more in tune with them and also are better able thus to circumvent the troubles that misinterpreted communication can cause us.

The loss of a child is especially painful

In the natural order of things, those who are parents, expect that each of their children will outlive them and so their expectations when it comes to their children are almost always built around their desire and their objective that their children have a quality, long-lasting, and fruitful life, of which, it is thus the parent’s duty to do then their good part to assist in this happening -- for parents, want the best for their children, and to the degree that they can help assure success and happiness for them, this is their heartfelt desire and their abiding comfort to have.

Yet, as much as we may want our children to always outlive us, and hence to take the mantle from us, so as to carry on proudly the heritage of our family name, it has to be admitted that future events do not always pan out that way.  That is to say, despite modern obstetrics and superior pediatric health care along with all the pediatric medicines and vaccines that are available for children, thereby best providing for these children, the health protection so needed to properly mature and to grow, there is still those children, that will meet death before their parents, because of various events, either foreseen or unforeseen, such as because of the life choices that they have made, or the nature of the work that they do which is inherently dangerous, such as being a frontline soldier, or simply the misfortune of an accident, such as a fatal car crash or similar.

There is probably nothing much more devastating for a parent, than to live to see their own child, which they brought into this world, predecease them, for the parents thereby know because of their child’s untimely death, that their child’s life has not turned out the way that the natural order of things would have so dictated. So too, parents who lose children will tend to second-guess their past decisions, as to whether, perhaps, they were a contributing factor in the loss of their child, or whether they could have done more to prevent or to preclude such.  Finally, with the loss of a child, there is the ending of the dream that parents had for that child, of which because that ending is not the one so envisioned, this is a constant source then of pain and discomfort.

That which we brought into this world, we expect to outlive us – so too, we often expect our children to accomplish more than us, for our grandest hope is that each generation that comes after us is a generation that gets ever better and ever more successful.  When, though, our child leaves this world before us, and especially when this is completely unexpected and tragic, the devastation of that loss, can upset the dynamics of a given family so dramatically, that parents may split up, or simply not be the same people that they once were, for that which they had highest hopes and dreams for, cannot ever now happen or be achieved -- for their child is no longer there to actualize such, and therein lies the deepest of unexpected and undesired tragedies.

Violent oppression resolves nothing

It is said that we live in dangerous times, but the reality of the situation is that societies throughout history seem to have always been having to deal with dangerous and turbulent times.  The fact that civil unrest, injustice, and violence have not been diminishing in our modern era reflects that whatever answers that civil governance has to the troubles that it has to deal with, has significant room for improvement.

Undeniably, in order to create change for the better, there has to fundamentally be something of substance that actually changes for the better, and to believe instead, that somehow the best way to get rid of violence is to enact controlled violence against the alleged perpetrators without ever taking the time to meaningfully examine what it is that is the proximate cause of that violence is surely barking up the wrong tree.  That which is violence pretty much never originates from someone who is simply born to be destructive, but rather that is a developed trait, of which, it is often the environment, the lack of hope, the lack of justice, and the lack of opportunity, along with ill-education, which sows the seeds of what becomes bad behavior.

Those who truly believe that more law and order, strictly enforced, is the way to bring a lasting law and order to society somehow haven’t bothered to look at society as it really is, for they believe that a big strong stick, consistently applied, will bring peace and harmony to that which was previously disorder; but even a young schoolchild knows that when they have been treated unjustly that the first thing that they so desire is vengeance, of which, they fantasize about exacting their own form of retribution, in response to what they feel has been unjust.

The best way for a mature society, built around good principles and good laws, to deal with the difficulties of a culture that is exhibiting civil unrest is to recognize that using force as the preferred weapon to impose order, is going to typically create some serious blowback, mainly because the root of what causes these problems in the first place has not been forthrightly addressed.  All those who are treated as if they matter not, or are not listened to, and are therefore effectively ignored, are going to be susceptible to striking back so as to have their say and will continue to do so, until they perceive that they are now being treated fairly and have also some sort of reasonable toehold in society, at large.

Those who truly think that the way of justice is to simply keep locking up people until there are no more people to lock up have got it all wrong.  So too, those who believe in force, intimidation, and of giving no quarter to those who have little or nothing to begin with, and who don’t recognize that mindset as being a form of violent oppression are willingly blind.  Sure, there is a time when force has its place, but the real requirement to achieve a good society is first to recognize the fundamentals of what is wrong in that society and to thus correct that, by standing instead upon the sound principles of what represents fairness and equality. When this is done correctly, this provides those who have previously been marginalized, with a fair opportunity to have themselves a good life.

401(k) plans and employer matching

There are many employees who are quite pleased that their employer matches their 401(k) contribution, which feels to them, to be a form of free retirement income being thus distributed to them.  While they are not wrong in feeling this way, the crux of the problem though, is that as good as this may seem to the employee, things were much better when employees were receiving defined pensions, instead.  Indeed, Walter W. Kolodrubetz reviewed Employee-Benefit Plans, from 1950-70, and stated, that “By 1970, contributions were nine times greater and benefit outlays fourteen times greater than they were in 1950,” which is a significant reason why the middle class became so strong during this period.  Regrettably, pensions have in modern times been phased out in the private sector and thereby replaced by 401(k) plans, signifying that employees are basically responsible for taking care of their retirement, and in the vast majority of private sector jobs, it is no longer an option for the employee to be able to earn a pension with a given company.

It is quite unfortunate that within this capitalistic society, that this government has seemingly taken a hands-off approach, to seeing that corporations do their fair part to do right by their employees, by, for instance, these corporations providing their employees with a pension for their retirement years, for we have instead seen that employees are essentially responsible for taking care of their own retirement years.  Also, we have to keep in mind that, after all, employees are mandated to sacrifice a significant portion of their income to the Social Security Administration, to theoretically be able to draw upon such in their retirement years, of which, this Social Security stipend is thereby supposed to be supplemented by the amount of monies put away in 401(k) accounts. However, many a person in order to pay bills and survive, has had to draw upon their 401(k) plan in the here and now so as to take care of debts and bills in the present time, thereby defeating the intended purpose of having that 401(k) plan.

Look, it would be one thing if America was a very poor nation, unable to afford to do more for those who have retired, other than to wish them well – but this is, in fact, the richest nation that the world has ever known, and thereby it is quite disappointing that this free enterprise system permits these companies to profit as much as they dare can, but doesn’t desire that they share those profits fairly with their employees, by providing them with the necessary pension needed for their retirement years.  Instead, the responsibility of taking care of those who have retired without enough income is left to charitable organizations, food banks, family members, and the government through its welfare programs.  While the matching of 401(k) plans by employers definitely provides a helping hand for those who have their funds matched, that typically isn’t going to provide enough financial power for those who don’t make enough income in the first place and can barely afford to divert present funds to 401(k) plans, for it is these people of the lower middle class and below, that are most benefited by a robust pension plan, but often do not have that option to avail themselves of, which thus leaves them in a very vulnerable place.

The original 13th Amendment

Most Americans are familiar with the vital 13th Amendment to the Consitution, which formalized that those so emancipated through the Emancipation Proclamation, were through this Amendment to the Consitution, no longer to ever be enslaved.  What made the 13th Amendment so powerful was the fact that such emancipation of those previously enslaved was now formalized as part of Constitutional law, as opposed to it just being a measure enacted during wartime, as well as applying only to those States still in rebellion against the Union.  What, though, most people do not know, and are unaware of, is that in 1861, in consideration that Lincoln had been just elected President, a proposed 13th Amendment was drafted, which stated, in essence, that Congress would not abolish or interfere with any State in regards to their domestic labor laws, which essentially meant that Congress would not have the ability to eradicate slavery in those States still permitting slavery to be part of their domain.  This 13th Amendment did not pass both Houses and therefore was never enacted or ratified.  Yet, one would think, that the Southern States if they had been fully alert to what this Amendment so proposed, of which, their peculiar institution would not thereby be messed with, by Congress or by the President, made a quite tragic error in not seeing that it be so passed; though they indeed made that error, of which, perhaps if they had not been so short-sighted, it is conceivable that the Civil War would not thus have occurred.

Indeed, the United States of America from its inception as a nation, had significant sectional differences between those that were in the North as compared to those that were in the South, and the Constitution so created, along with its original Amendments, reflected that reality. However, the United States went from having just thirteen colonies, that thereby became States, to expanding from just one coast to both coasts, so that there rose within America, a deep division, as to whether or not it was meant, or was appropriate, or was destined that new States should or could include slavery or not.  So too, Supreme Court decisions, such as the seminal Dred Scott v. Sanford decision of 1857, exacerbated the issue of free persons and slavery, by declaring that the black man “… had no rights which the white man was bound to respect."

So then, the proposed 13th Amendment of 1861, was initiated as a viable solution, to leave the institution of slavery alone in those States, which still recognized slavery, so as to keep this union of States, together.  Instead, in part because this Amendment did not pass, and in consideration that the South was incorrigible and intransigence in their belief that they had a perpetual right to enslave human beings because of the color of their skin, and to even expand that into new territories and States, the inevitably of the Civil War was to come to fruition, leading then to this proposed 13th Amendment, never to be enacted, and replaced essentially by the very opposite sentiment.  It can be said that the Southern States gambled it all in order to have slavery be the law of the land as they best saw fit, only in the end, to lose slavery and their slaves entirely as an institution, replaced instead by this new birth of freedom, irrespective of race.

Personal interest expense and business interest expense are not treated the same

Just about nobody, persons or institutions, is eager to pay their fair share in taxes, yet, this nation depends upon tax revenues to take care of needed national matters, in which, it is therefore incumbent upon those individual taxpayers as well as corporate taxpayers that everyone thereby pays their fair share.  The thing is though when the tax code is rewritten and modified so that one entity gets more favorable treatment than another entity, this seems demonstrative of an unfair tax policy.  For instance, individual taxpayers that have taken out personal loans such as done with credit cards, or for a vehicle, are not permitted to utilize that interest expense as a deduction on their taxes.  Yet, a business enterprise is permitted to take out loans and thereby pay interest on their loans, in which, that typically is a deductible expense when it comes to their taxes.  In short, individual taxpayers that have consumer loans are precluded from the interest on those loans being tax deductible; whereas, businesses that take out loans on behalf of that business enterprise have that typically being viewed as tax deductible.

It would just seem logical that interest expense, whether for a consumer or for a business, should essentially be treated the same, because interest expenses, all initiate from the borrowing of money, and although the purpose behind that borrowing of such may be different, that shouldn’t be the relevant point, for interest has been paid and to therefore to determine that certain interest expenses are somehow not deductible; whereas, other interest expenses for businesses or home loans are deductible, is unfair.  It could be fairly argued that interest expense, in whole, should either be fully deductible, or it should not be deductible, at all. Of course, if the tax code were to eliminate interest expense as no longer being deductible for those who own a home and its corresponding mortgage interest expense, there would be some real howling, from homeowners.  So too, businesses that are quite adept in the borrowing of money will do so, because they can utilize that borrowed money, for instance, to buy back their own stock, and are permitted thus to write off that interest expense of what they are paying to borrow that money, so if that was eliminated, they too would howl.

The bottom line is that those who take on consumer debt through a credit card, typically have to pay a very high interest rate to do so, yet, they are precluded from deducting that interest paid on their tax return, which doesn’t make any real good sense, because the fact that they are borrowing that money on unfavorable terms, would strongly imply that their monetary position is not strong.  That is to say, we have a progressive income tax policy in this nation because it is believed that those who earn more, should pay more, but somehow we believe that those who pay a higher percentage of their income through interest on the loans that they have taken, shouldn’t have the right to deduct any of that; whereas, corporations that are worth hundreds upon hundreds of billions of dollars, are permitted to do so, with impunity.  That doesn’t sound fair or right.

Pensions, 401(k) plans, and the decline of the middle class

When it comes to legislative acts, there are the intended consequences of such an act, but there are also those unintended consequences, as well.  The thing about a society that has so many attorneys is the fact that highly intelligent and ambitious people have an inconvenient habit of taking a particular legislative act that is intended for one thing and utilizing it in a way and manner that it was not really intended for, instead.  That is to say, we read at ssa.gov, that “From 1980 through 2008, the proportion of private wage and salary workers participating in Defined Benefit (DB) pension plans fell from 38 percent to 20 percent.”  This thus begs the question as to what replaced those pension plans, and that is answered by 401(k) plans which came into effect through the 1978 Revenue Act.  The difference between a Defined Benefit pension plan and a 401(k) is the difference between the fact that pensions will provide the employee with a guaranteed lifetime annuity, typically based on years of employment as well as salary; whereas, a 401(k) plan may or may not have had any employer matching, and is basically then the employee’s contribution to their retirement, through the sacrificing of a portion of present salary to be thereby allocated into their retirement fund. In other words, pensions are funded by the employee’s company, and 401(k) plans are funded by the diversion of current salary into a retirement plan to draw upon when so retired.

As might be imagined, monies not being expended for pensions by corporations, thereby provides those same corporations with extra money to be distributed or utilized as they best see fit, of which, it can be said for a certainty, that money won’t be divvied up with regular employees but rather will have a strong tendency to go to stockholders in a form of a dividend, be reinvested into the company, or provided to those that are in upper management, instead.  So then, those who previously would have expected to have received a guaranteed pension in their retirement years, are now essentially responsible for their own retirement income stream, and therefore because of that lack of pension money, are easily susceptible to having a more difficult time in maintaining their status as part of the middle class during their retirement years.

So too, whenever corporations don’t feel a responsibility to take care of those employees who have been loyal and good workers for them, but instead leave them to essentially deal with their retirement on their own, we see that corporate fair play has, in essence, been replaced by greed. Additionally, those other corporations that desire to do the right thing by their employees may find themselves pressed to do the same sort of thing, so as to compete successfully against other companies, and are therefore inclined to suspend or delete their pensions, as well, leaving those that have labored hard for decades, to have to ride out their remaining years, wondering whether or not, they have the necessary funds to continue to have a quality life, along with also questioning if at the end of the day, they got a square deal or not, in this the richest nation that the world has ever known.

Solar noon and daylight savings time

For whatever reason, good or bad, the United States now has its time zones structured in such a way, that the majority of a given year is spent in daylight savings time, as compared to standard time.  While it is true, that humankind, can dictate however that they want to keep track of time, it doesn’t make much logical sense when that is done in a manner that takes us ever further away from what is known as solar noon.  That is to say, solar noon, or what we would typically expect to occur around 12:00 PM, is defined in simple terms as when the sun is at its zenith, of which, the closer that our time zone designates itself as noon thus matches, solar noon, the more true that time has been set. 

As we well know, the United States has considerable landmass, in which the continental United States, has four time zones, of which those that are located on the most eastern edge of that particular time zone, will more appropriately be in agreement with solar noon during standard time, and those then that are located on the most western edge will be most out of sync with such.  This is also further exacerbated when daylight savings time is in effect so that in a city such as Atlanta, solar noon would actually be at 1:36 PM, which isn’t really all that close to what solar noon actually is. So too, there are countries, such as China, which have dictated that all peoples within their borders, must be in the same time zone, so solar noon in some places in China is as late as 3:10 PM.

Perhaps none of this really matters, because societies can make up their own arbitrary rules about what time it is or is not, but the reality of the situation is that time should actually be sensible, consistent, and logical – of which, daylight savings time, is not a contributor to that so happening.  So too, the arbitrary changing of time does have an adverse effect on our body clocks, because of the inconsistency of what our body feels the time is, as compared to how that time has been mandated to us, in which, the vast majority of people are compelled to answer to the time so imposed upon them to work, to attend school, and pretty much anything that is based around a fixed time schedule.

Additionally, many Americans simply don’t understand what solar noon is, so they believe, somewhat logically, that noon, whether it is daylight savings or not, always represents the sun as being at its zenith, even though that isn’t true.  Indeed, those ancient civilizations who pre-existed us recognized the importance of time and depended upon the signs of the skies to direct what they needed to address in order to live, to grow crops, and to adjust to the various seasons of the year.  Today, we live in a day and age, in which, we can override that sensibility, and replace such with whatever that we want, as if by doing so, we thus prove that we have harnessed the sun to our time directive, though we have not.

The best automobile feature is having good brakes

When it comes to our automobiles, people are going to find all sorts of things that they really like about their car, probably doing with its overall look, its performance, its engine, its heated seats, its sunroof, its navigation system, its push start, its blind spot monitoring, its parking assistance, and pretty much anything that people perceive as being really cool or nice to have.  While there are definitely those people who appreciate features such as the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system which is used to detect a potential collision, as well as to provide a collision warning, and of which will also automatically apply the brakes so as to avoid that collision, this isn’t the feature that most people would list as being their favorite or best automobile feature, but they probably should.  The reason that brakes are so valuable is that it is the ability to brake that prevents us from getting into collisions, and because of those brakes, we thereby have fewer collisions.  So too, we need brakes in order to slow our vehicle down from the very high speeds that cars are capable of, as well as to turn corners, or to come to a complete stop, of which, brakes are fundamentally needed to properly operate a vehicle.

Not only are brakes of immense value, it has to be said to take a vehicle that weighs some 4000 pounds or more and is traveling at 65 miles per hour or greater, has quite obviously got a lot of momentum behind it and the fact that braking systems are so sophisticated and adept at slowing down or stopping a vehicle so competently is highly impressive. Also, we have to consider the fact that the braking system and the brake rotors and pads so utilized to effect that braking, are often capable of going many thousands of driving miles before needing adjustment, replacement, or modification.

Look, it has to be said, that brakes should not be underappreciated, because without reliable brakes, of which those brakes work reliably in all sorts of inclement weather, we would not be able to safely travel at the speeds that we travel at, because we would not have what we so needed to do that very thing.  It is one thing to be able to accelerate a vehicle and it’s another thing to be able to successfully steer such, but without reliable and effective brakes, our driving would be extremely dangerous, at any speed other than something akin to a walking speed. Undeniably, the brilliant engineering that has been part of the process to develop ever more sophisticated braking systems that help then to keep our roads and the drivers of those roads, safer than what they would be, without a good braking system, is a real benefit to society.

Indeed, we know how valuable brakes are, because all of us have been in those situations in which it is because of those brakes that we did not get into a collision, and collisions are not only very bad for the automobile but also extremely bad for those that are humans within that vehicle.  That is why the best automotive feature is good brakes because those brakes do a stellar job of keeping us out of harm and trouble.