Everybody for themselves makes for an unequal and alienated society

Look, it has to be said, while selfishness has its place, quite obviously, if everybody were primarily selfish, this would make for a very troubling society, because a healthy society is built around the need for trust, cooperation, and also a willingness to lend a helping hand to one another, because in the end, we are all in this together, so we all ought to work together so as to achieve worthwhile things.  Indeed, as much as some people want to believe that everything that they achieved came from their own individual effort, and thus they are deserving of everything that comes their way, they really need to be mindful that along that journey, connections and friends have been made which have contributed to that success and to ignore that fact, belittles those contributions and is inconsiderate to those that were part and parcel to a given person’s success.

 So too, to live in any society in which it essentially comes down to a dog-eats-dog type of mindset, is going to be very bad for that society, because relentless competition and selfishness in everything makes for a society that has no inherent cohesion and, further to the point, makes for a society that is not capable of building real trust one with another.  A better society is a society that recognizes not only the worth of the other, but actively wants to cooperate and to work with the other, especially considering that each of us has capabilities as well as limitations, and thus finding those that are good with that which represents a weakness for us, and vice versa, makes for a more successful and more balanced society.

 In this world, we will be challenged, but there isn’t any reason when a challenge comes our way, that we can’t lean upon those that are quite capable of helping us in vanquishing and thus overcoming that challenge, which is one of the salient reasons why we ought to be less self-centered and more of a mind that others not only bring talent to the table of life, but are oftentimes quite willing to lend us a hand, for the overall satisfaction in seeing that they helped to make us a better person for having seen us accomplished something of merit.

 Indeed, it could be said that in as many instances as reasonably possible, society would be appreciably better off by structuring more of the things that we interact with that necessitate cooperation between people, as opposed to structuring activities in a manner in which we have to compete against one another.  While competition has its place, it has to be acknowledged that societies that are overly fixated upon competition are the same that lend themselves to exploitation, uncaring, greed, selfishness, entitlement, and so on, which are the type of characteristics that a prudent society would desire to see reduced.  So then, we as a people aren’t really a people if we see one another as something to fear or conquer from a competitive standpoint, as opposed to a desire to bond with one another, so as to collectively strengthen ourselves.

A suggested revamping of the Electoral College vote

Presently, there are two States, Nebraska and Maine, that do not have a winner-take-all Electoral College structure when it comes to Presidential elections, but rather have structured their respective States under the congressional district method so that the winner of the popular vote gets two electoral votes, and the winner of each individual congressional district gets one electoral vote. This thus signifies that in these States, typically one’s individual vote matters more than it would in a winner-take-all State.  Further to the point, if all States adopted the congressional district method, we wouldn’t have Presidential candidates exclusively spending all their time and money on so-called battleground States, but rather they would have to devote more of their time to States, previously taken for granted, because States would no longer be structured as winner-take-all.

 The fly though in the ointment is the fact that many States have their congressional districts gerrymandered, so that the people’s vote is not really equal at all, because congressional districts are deliberately structured to favor one particular party over the other.  However, there is a sensible workaround to this, which isn’t so much to eliminate gerrymandering and to provide fair congressional districts, not because that is a bad idea, but mainly because it just isn’t going to be enacted, because the powers that be aren’t going to allow it.  Instead, each of the two major parties would have their fair say, by a meeting in which, for example, if there are six congressional districts, a coin is flipped and whichever party wins that flip thus creates the first congressional district subject to some sensible rules and conditions in that structuring of that district, which is thus followed by the other political party structuring the second and third congressional districts within that State, then the party that went first, would structured the fourth and fifth congressional districts, and finally the other party would simply have the sixth district.  No doubt, these would still be gerrymandered congressional districts, but because each party has had its say, it would signify that the representation of those districts as a whole would more closely approximate the population makeup and desires of the main political parties of that State.

 All of the above would make for a far more interesting election, because, as opposed to winner-take-all, there would be much more at risk, for in this structure, just about every State would basically be in play.  Further to the point, this revamping of the Electoral College would more closely adhere to being in conformance with the popular vote, which makes sense, because it does seem weird and unfair that there are those occasions in which the winner of the popular vote is not elected President because they have lost the Electoral College vote.  Thus, the implementation of this revised Electoral College vote system would make it so that more of the people and their respective votes would effectively have their say, which is good in a democratic voting system and a necessary improvement over what we have today.

More tax audits should be implemented on high-net-worth individuals and high-grossing corporations

Each year, the federal government creates a budget, and as it is presently, we find that governmental expenditures don’t come close to covering what the government receives in taxation, which doesn’t even make sense considering that America is the richest nation in the world.  This would presuppose that those who have money simply aren’t being taxed enough, and further to the point, that the tax laws aren’t robust enough in the collection of those taxes. 

 The best way to amend how our tax system works is to see that high-net-worth individuals are audited at a much higher rate than they are presently, along with corporations that have assets of $500 million or above, should by law, be annually audited, and those that are public corporations should have their tax return made fully public, so that the citizens of this nation can ascertain as to whether or nor huge megacorporation’s such as Microsoft, Exxon, Amazon, Apple, and so on, are paying even close to the current corporate flat tax rate of 21% and if not, what can be done to see that these megacorporation’s who could easily afford to pay what they ought to pay, do their duty in paying their fair share of taxes as opposed to making self-serving comments that they pay “all the taxes that they legally owe,” which basically means that they have sophisticated workarounds that reduces their taxes almost to an irrelevancy.

 If this nation truly believes that one of the purposes of taxation is a redistribution of those monies collected for the greater good of the population, then it ought to make it its point to see that those who can readily afford to pay more in taxes pay their fair share, rather than them hiding behind the most sophisticated tax dodges ever created by humankind, which should be seen as something unbecoming of a patriotic citizen or a patriotic megacorporation.  Indeed, those who don’t pay their fair share of taxes should be outed and shamed because they are failing to contribute their fair share to reducing the federal deficit that this nation urgently needs to turn around, and they are basically enriching themselves at the expense of the most vulnerable among us.

 For a certainty, many of these high-net-worth individuals and high-grossing corporations are not paying their fair share in taxes, and the best way to make this more visible to the public at large is to make these tax returns more accessible to the general public so that they can see for themselves that those that are the richest, and the most elite, are in many a case, paying less in taxes, than those that are of the middle class, which is not how this progressive tax system is supposed to work, and quite obviously not how taxation should work if one of the prime purposes of such is the redistribution of wealth, because as it is, the rich have never been richer, which has just about everything to do with the fact that they don’t truly pay their appropriate share in taxes and readily get away with it, without suffering opprobrium, which they rightly should.

Capitalism thrives on cheap labor, which is why our jobs are outsourced

While it has to be admitted that the players in capitalism are not all the same in the sense of how they treat labor, it has also got to be admitted that some of the largest capitalistic companies and also some of the most profitable corporations are those that use an unseemly amount of cheap overseas labor which they willingly exploit to improve not just their bottom line, corporate bonuses, and stockholder return, but essentially to eviscerate those domestic corporations that do not use cheap foreign labor, thus making it their point, that profits above all, trump just about everything else.

 No doubt, labor is a huge cost component when it comes to most corporations, so it sort of makes sense that corporations would want to see if there was a way to reduce such an expense, or to get more out of that labor, of which, quite obviously once a given company looks outside their own borders, there is that sure recognition that there are plenty of developing countries that have a multitude of cheap labor which is available, and since these developing countries desire to have their people employed, it would seem to be a win-win scenario; but forgotten in the noise is the basic fact that domestic corporations have a responsibility to do right by their domestic population, and the outsourcing of jobs seems to be one of those things that not only hurts domestic employment, as well as serving to undermine labor unions, but it sure doesn’t seem very patriotic to that nation which permitted these artificial creations of the state to be created as corporations to begin with, that they deliberately outsource so much labor.

 While it could be argued that those that would limit corporations to just having a provincial viewpoint is way too limiting, as well as being destructive or detrimental to what capitalism is meant to be, it needs to be recognized that the outsourcing of labor, should in all fairness to those of our domestic labor force, necessitate some basic sort of accommodation, or else, what will happen, is that the middle class will be hollowed out, and thereby what will subsequently occur will be an upper elite of the privileged few, and more and more those that have little or nothing, which lends itself to unease of all sorts and varieties, which isn’t becoming of any nation that purports to have a desire to be great.

 Indeed, to find cheap labor isn’t a daunting task, because almost everyone desires to make a living, and when the choices are limited for whatever reason, laborers will take what comes their way, because those who control the capital and are backed by the government in their relentless pursuit of profit are in the pole position to reduce their labor costs through that cheap labor which is great for that corporation. Still, it does come at a cost, with winners and losers, and the result is the imbalance we see throughout societies, which doesn’t bode well for peace, justice, or well-being.

What makes for the best government

The very first thing we need to do when we think about the type of governance that would be most beneficial for the people as a whole is to recognize that we are entitled to think these things through so as to come up with an ideal government, as opposed to simply believing that whatever our government is at present is the way it is going to be now and in the future.  Indeed, when we look around the world, we find many Constitutions and governmental structures that use the noblest-sounding words and seem to be on the right track, but the follow-through in virtually all instances falls well short of where that governance is supposed to be.

 Logically, it makes sense that the prime purpose of government is to help to create the structure that will be of most benefit to the people, so that those necessary things such as reliable electricity, clean water, sewage, good roads, environmental controls, employment, taxation, safety, and so on are all vital areas that our governance should be concerned with, and to the degree it can make these things to be better and more efficient, it should do its part to make this so.  So too, for this to be readily accomplished,  would seem therefore to require a buy-in from the general public so that they therefore do their good part to contribute to these very things being accomplished and implemented at a competent and meaningful level, because the bottom line is that unproductive citizens, who are not engaged, or prefer to simply live off the government’s dole, are a burden upon the state, and though a caring state should lend a helping hand to those truly in need, we have to consider that in fairness to others, those that can contribute something of substance should be encouraged, or more than encouraged, to do so.

 Indeed, how good the governance of a given country is has a lot to do with not just who the representatives are of the people, but also the people themselves, for we do find that the more educated and engaged the people are, the better the result will be.  Additionally, those who labor hard should be entitled to receive fair pay for that labor, which will permit them thereby to live a decent life, for the more people that have a stake in their community, the healthier that community will be.  This thus signifies that it isn’t so much what our country can do for us, or even what we can do for our country, but rather it has everything to do with government working hand-in-glove with the people, for the expressed purpose that all are fairly entitled to have the accouterments that make for a happy and satisfying life, which consist of, but isn’t limited to, freedom of mind and body, fair opportunity, competent educational facilities, public safety, unalienable human rights, equal justice under the law, and a government that administers itself under the consent of the governed.

Escaping a situation is not the same thing as overcoming it

In life, we will be challenged.  For if not, how would it be determined that we have learnt our lessons well and, in that learning, have properly applied that knowledge?  This is why we will be tested, time and time again, and those who rise up and pass their tests are the very ones who advance to the only destination worth reaching, whereas those who do not will be subject to more trials and tribulations until they overcome them.

 That said, there are plenty of people who are quite adept at escaping a rather troublesome situation and, in that escape, somehow believe that they have overcome it.  instead, what has truly occurred is that they have delayed the day of reckoning, but that reckoning will still need to be faced, and while it could be said that there are those times when escape has its place, in the end, though, we are meant to face up to what we have to attend to, and as much as we might desire that this should not occur, it will occur, until we face what needs to be faced, and have overcome it.

 Each of us will face challenges, like it or not, and those challenges are meant to make us a better and thereby a more complete person, for they are not structured to defeat us or to set us back, because their purpose is to improve our character.  So then, those that will not face their challenges, or at a minimum are preparing themselves for those challenges, are the very same that are not growing, and because they are not bettering themselves, they are closing the door on getting to where they need to get to, which is why it is important to see challenges as not just the opportunity to prove our mettle, but also as the very purpose of living this life, for it is what we become through our actions, that defines who and what we really are.

 All those who just desire to live an easy life will recognize, sooner or later, that laziness does not benefit a person.  So too, those who make it their point to escape their responsibilities are the same who are just delaying that which will have to be faced, and the longer the delay, the harder it will be to overcome, because to believe that avoidance is somehow an attribute that is becoming, is to misconstrue the obvious.

 Those then that we should admire are those who have prepared themselves well to accomplish what needs to be accomplished, and thereby who do not give up when they meet resistance or suffer disappointment, but rather dust themselves off and try and try again, until they achieve through their merit and grit what they were meant to achieve.  Not only should we admire them for doing so, but we should ourselves endeavor to be that type of person, because in the end, that is what is required of all of us, without exception.

Ben and Jerry’s CEO 5 to 1 salary ratio to that of the lowest-paid employee

It seems like eons ago that Ben and Jerry’s structured their company so that the highest-paid employee would make no more than 5 times the salary of the lowest-paid employee.  Regrettably, Ben and Jerry’s was eventually bought out by Unilever, and though that ratio had changed in the ensuing years to something much higher, it is no longer part of the Ben and Jerry’s corporate mindset.  While there isn’t any good reason why other corporations could not follow this same sort of ratio formula, we find that while there are a few that do have a reasonable ratio between CEO pay and the lowest-paid employee, this, though, is the exception and seldom the rule.  Instead, we have a situation in which there are CEOs who, with their stock options in conjunction with other parts of their compensation package, are making more than $100 million annually, which is a true reflection that this nation is separating itself, in which the very few have everything and then some, whereas more and more Americans struggle paycheck to paycheck.

 It is hard to justify that any CEO should get 1000x or even more than what the lowest-paid employee receives, and further that this is somehow the way that capitalism should work, of which that belief seems to be that this is beneficial for the country as a whole, because it is part and parcel of the free enterprise system, but the reality is that it just reflects pure greed.  No doubt, CEOs deserve to make a decent amount of money, especially when it can be proven that it is they, and they alone, which has produced all that extra income and profit for the corporation, but in actuality, it’s hard to believe that just one person, no matter how skilled and astute that they are is truly worth more than 1000 times the lowest-paid employee, but rather there should be some sort of reasonable cap on how much a given CEO should make as their full compensation package which takes into account, that corporations consist of a body of employees, working together, to be of benefit to that corporation and hopefully, as well, to the marketplace that they sell their products or provide a service to.

 A world in which there is a better and a fairer distribution of the profits so made via a corporation is going to make for a healthier society than a society in which so many still do not make a living wage and therefore struggle paycheck to paycheck, making for a rather unsatisfactory life for them, and a more troubling society for most everyone.  Indeed, a responsible corporation is that corporation which believes that part of its mission is to pay a fair wage for a fair day’s work, and further to the point, makes sure that the profits that the corporation makes are fairly distributed to those who make up that corporation.  To follow this sort of structure is to be a responsible corporate citizen, who thus does their fair part to help make society better through their good contribution to it. 

Obedience and protest

A close-minded government is a government which doesn’t really see its citizens as having agency and basically prefers to see them as just being subjects, under their control and command, of which those subjects should simply be obedient to those that are its leaders; whereas an open-minded government recognizes that its legitimacy comes from the consent of those so governed, and that the purpose of good governance is to be of beneficence to the people.

 We find in today’s world that oftentimes the government has significant control of not just the policing arm of the state but also the judicial arm as well, signifying that the government has the sheer ability to intimidate the people, rightly or wrongly, when it feels the need to do so, and hence when it comes to protest of all types, those that are its citizens, have a reason to be concerned and worried, because when the people are not readily permitted to vocalize or to demonstrate that they are unhappy or dissatisfied about certain policies, then the people are not free, and as a people they do not have liberty, because they are effectively subject to the whims and dictates of the day, without having recourse to see that these things are at a minimum, questioned and examined.

 In life, from a very young age, we are instructed by our parents to be obedient to their demands, and when that obedience is structured for our own good, because our parents have a better perspective, more life experience, and typically know better, it certainly makes sense.  Nevertheless, there comes that time when we are no longer children and therefore have not only the right to think for ourselves, but also the right to question what authority figures are instructing us to do, especially when we feel that obedience to what they are insisting upon appears to be wrong or imprudent.

 As citizens in what is supposed to be a responsible and citizen-represented government, we have the right to call that government to account, for that government is supposed to be under our consent, and whenever there is a difference of opinion, we have the right to project and to protest our complaints, of which, the purpose of doing so, is to effect change, or at a minimum, to bring to attention those necessary things that should be subject to a discussion or debate and whenever the people’s voice is silenced, through intimidation or other unfair actions, without having had their fair say, then the people have been dismissed as something akin to what occurs to a hard-headed child by their dominating parents, which is not how this is suppose to play out, for either we have agency and therefore the right to express our viewpoint, through protests of all sorts, or else we aren’t really citizens, at all, but instead are under the thumb of a government, that is behaving in a manner that is destructive of our unalienable rights, and therefore deserves not our unquestioned obedience.

The other genocides

When people are questioned as to their knowledge about genocides, the most common answer to a known genocide is typically going to be the Holocaust genocide perpetrated by the Nazis, primarily against Jews, but also including the killing of the disabled, the feeble-minded, and gypsies.  If this were truly the only genocide in all of history, it would be well worth remembering as an object lesson of mankind’s inhumanity to its own. However, unfortunately, genocides have been a rather common occurrence throughout modern history as the strong and well-positioned have, time and time again, systematically killed those whom they considered to be an annoyance to them.

 That is to say, in the 20th century, we had, for example, the Armenian genocide, the Cambodian genocide, the Rwandan genocide, the Herero and Namaqua genocide, along with many others in which those who were the oppressed and distinctly targeted were purged from various regimes, in which these tragedies, though not forgotten, have clearly left an endless trail of tears that is demonstrative proof that the killing powers of governments, or of paramilitary forces are absolutely cruel and they seemingly have little or no remorse for the taking away of people’s lives, who they don’t value and thereby desire to silence, so as to take over property, assets, and territory, all typically done to augment one’s own and also to assert control over the population for the expressed benefit of those in power.

 The main reason why in this so-called enlightened age we see genocide still occurring again and again, isn’t so much that mankind has become even more evil and greedy, because in all probability mankind hasn’t changed all that much over the ensuing years, but has more to do with the fact that mankind has developed incredibly sophisticated weapons, logistics, and skillsets, previously unknown, that are extremely good in accomplishing the mass killing of those that get in their way, and once the killing starts, it has a tendency to snowball into more and more killing, mainly because the weapons so being used are far less personal, then something like hand-to-hand combat, and thus means those with the right armaments, who also lack a good conscience, can get done what they desire to get done, because the armaments do all of the heavy lifting.

 So then, despite our knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, people’s unalienable rights are still violated all of the time, and when a particular unfavored group of people with similar characteristics, such as of color, or of religion, or of territory occupied, is deliberately targeted and then killed, in one form or another, this is genocide.  The decision that needs to be made for all the nations that make up this world is what is the purpose of the United Nations, or any group of nations similar to this, if it will make not just a principled stand against what is quite obviously genocide, but actually to do something to stop or stymie such, as opposed to acknowledging that it is genocide, or appears to be genocide, but cares not a whit to do anything constructive, other than to label that which labels itself.

Scamming the baby boom generation

As it has been said by Willie Sutton when asked about why he robbed banks, he responded: “Because that's where the money is.”  The bottom line then when it comes to all the multitude of scams that prey on the baby boom generation, is that it really comes down to the fact that the baby boom generation, in aggregate, has a tremendous amount of assets, whereas all those desiring such riches, domestic as well as those outside this country that don’t have much, and thereby desire to have something but lack a moral compass, are going to be highly motivated to get that money and therefore will concentrate their efforts the most upon those that not only have the money but seem highly susceptible to getting that money from.

 For an absolute certainty this country should do a whole heck of a lot more to protect the elderly and to protect all of its citizens from scams that wrongly take from the affluent and well off, in what amounts to a form of robbery, in which, those that are the perpetrators are either not even being caught, or when caught, aren’t paying a high enough price for the crime that they have committed, perhaps because it is classified as a “white collar” crime.

 The important point is that this country runs on money, and those that have money that they have fairly earned over their lifetime, are thereby scammed so badly that their assets have been devastated because they have been fooled, bamboozled, or just plain taken advantage of, thus represents a great disservice to those of the baby boom generation, and there ought to be more done from a governmental and law enforcement perspective to protect these baby boomers from being so easily scammed in any of its myriad forms.

 Perhaps one of the ways to reduce such monetary robbery of the baby boom generation is to make the general public more aware of all the types of common scams that are prevalent through providing timely and informative public announcements of all sorts, done through the television, media, and the like, while also providing these same people with the resources to address their concerns and complaints to an agency that has the resources to do something constructive to help and to protect them.  So too, it needs to be more readily recognized that financial institutions that the baby boomers utilized on a common basis probably need to have more robust guardrails in place so as to better protect baby boomers from being taken advantage of.

 Finally, it has to be said that as people age, they typically become more vulnerable not only from a cognitive standpoint but also from an emotional one, as well, which is why those who prey upon baby boomers should be viewed as a predatory clear and present danger, that should not only be publicly shamed for their ill behavior, but ought to suffer a more appropriate punishment for the harm that they are doing and have done to those that did them no wrong.

The petulant leader

Great countries are led by great leaders, and a great leader is someone who is wise, mature, well-educated, calm, considerate, thoughtful, a collaborator, and also takes into account that the prime purpose of good government is to benefit the people as a whole.  That said, regrettably, a lot of countries aren’t led by great leaders, but rather there is a strong tendency for the leader to be someone who is beholden not to the people but rather to the elites, powerful business leaders, insiders of all types, and their own outsized ego.  Still, as bad as that is, it becomes even worse whenever we have a leader who is so insecure that anything other than total obedience to their dictates is considered to be a form of dissent, which they will not long tolerate.

 The problem with an egotistical leader is because they believe that they have to have their way, and because they are very powerful, they therefore don’t believe that there is a need to make a case to the people even when the Constitution stipulates that the leader is supposed to serve the people, but instead the decisions that are going to be made are going to be made strictly from the perspective of what the leader wants, and all those that do not do the leader’s bidding will be summarily dealt with in a way that is unfair, undemocratic, and unbecoming of a representative government.

 The problem, especially with a petulant leader, is that the leader just wants to have their way, come what may, and cares not a whit what has to be done behind the scenes, or right out in front of their eyes, as long as they get their way, because that is all that matters to them.  Basically, a petulant leader doesn’t see anyone other than their inner circle as having true agency, and because the people don’t have that agency, the leader believes that he has the right to have his way, and those who get in the way of his commands are those who will suffer an undesirable fate.

 When the leader is petulant, this means that the world revolves around the leader, and within that world there isn’t any nuance, nor is there any real reason for a discussion or a debate, for pretty much, the people are looked upon as pawns that the leader has total control of, and with the help of a robust policing arm and a justice department that does the leader’s bidding, this is how things get done and stay done.  The upshot, though, of the people having to deal with an petulant leader, is that there is a constant and sustained undercurrent of dissent that will not go away, and will not relent, until the people get satisfaction, because the unalienable nature of the people’s being is to be free, to make their own choices, and to pursue that which brings happiness to them, all of which signifies that petulant leaders, will in one way or another, when they meet their end, consequently bring a renewed period of hope of meaningful change for the betterment of the people.

Those who see criticism as a form of disloyalty

While it has to be said that many a person doesn’t really care for criticism of their self, whether constructive or not, it has to be admitted that criticism is going to pretty much come our way, at least from time-to-time and those that are most secure in their person, are going to be able to handle criticism a heck of a lot of better than those that are insecure, and somehow are of the belief that anything said about them which is negative is considered to be a form of disloyalty, and even to be a betrayal of their person.

 Each of us does need criticism, at least occasionally, but such criticism is best issued when it comes from someone who really knows us and respects us, so done in a way in which the point of such criticism is to provide us a “wake-up” call, which serves to help us to get back on track to where we ought to be.  There are, though, many forms of criticism, and the very worst are those remarks that are purposely hurtful and deliberately made, which serve no good purpose and do not do anybody any favors.  On the other hand, those who keep their mouths shut, because they don’t want to say that which is critical, when bad actions warrant such criticism being said, aren’t standing up when they should stand up.

 How secure a given person is really comes down to their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their life as it is.  Those who are satisfied are always going to be in a better position and often are more willing to hear criticism, because they are secure in their persona.  On the other hand, those that are dissatisfied with who and what they are at present, aren’t the type that will take criticism well, because they are already down on their selves, which is why those that are making critical remarks, need to keep in mind, as to the point of what they are saying, before they say it, because it isn’t going to be helpful, then it won’t be of help.

 Finally, there is that particular category of people who have the highest opinion of themselves, which typically isn’t warranted, and simply won’t suffer to be criticized by anyone, and when criticized, will strike back with tremendous venom because they see those expressing that criticism as those who are not just disloyal, but have also betrayed them, because they are not true believers.  This unreasonable attitude typically can’t be overcome, and when dealing with someone with a mindset like that, the best thing to do is to simply walk away because this isn’t going to get any better, which is why when we are dealing with those who strike out at us with unrestrained rage whenever we say something that they take offense to, we need to comprehend that behind all their bluster, is probably a very insecure person who has lost their way, and doesn’t care to find it.

The need for monetary stability

In order to conduct our business affairs, it’s important for each side of a business transaction to feel that what they are supposed to get, they are getting.  Yet, when we look at how persistent inflation has been, and in consideration that inflation has a way of getting away from whatever control we believe that we have over it, this thus signifies that a dollar today is not going to be the same as a dollar one year from now.  So then, because there is inflation, which represents a debasement of the currency because it is no longer maintaining its value, there are not only going to be winners and losers when it comes to the effects of that inflation, but it also makes it more difficult to conduct our business as well as our personal affairs, because the value of the currency is in constant flux.

 Quite obviously, whenever the coin of the realm is stable, and thus represents the same value as it did at the beginning of the year as it does at the end of the year, it makes our monetary transactions one to the other, to be straightforward, because there need not be taken into account inflation, because there is no inflation.  So too, while in general those that are debtors prefer some degree of inflation because it means they are paying back their debts essentially at a discount, it needs to be recognized that those that are creditors, are typically the very same who represent the wealthiest and most successful people of society, and these people typically do not desire to see inflation, because it makes it more difficult to maintain or to enhance the true value of their assets, and thus they are going to be more inclined to take on more risk, so that they do not end up falling behind, which is something that they prefer not to do.

 Look, it has to be said, that a prosperous society is the same in which the currency is stable. After all, in the absence of that stability, there is that constant risk that the whole currency edifice could collapse or be unexpectedly devalued, which not only brings troubles to one’s assets and status, but also to society, in whole, because those that have no or little assets are for a certainty going to be up in arms, which thus creates havoc, because a currency reset makes for a tremendous amount of tension upon the members of that society.

 How stable a currency is could be said to be a fair reflection of how prudent and responsible those who are in charge of that currency are behaving in their duties. So then, those societies in which inflation is persistent and never goes away would seem to reflect a society that not only doesn’t have a stable currency but is clearly on the pathway to a debasement which will hurt not only the most vulnerable members of society but also businesses that have made either the wrong bets or simply not taken into full account that debasement has serious consequences. 

It’s high time to raise and to reevaluate excise taxes

There was a time when the federal budget was very dependent upon excise taxes, but those times appear to be in the distant past, apparently never to be repeated.  Nevertheless, there isn’t any real good reason why this government, along with State governments can’t take a long hard look at excise taxes and to make adjustments where they truly need to be made, because as it is right now, the excise tax just isn’t being utilized at close to the level that it could reasonably be used at, especially in consideration that there are certain indulgences that consumers partake of that they really ought to pay an excise tax upon or a higher excise tax for, basically because these things being indulged upon don’t provide any real benefit or good for the person, which is why some excise taxes have been subsequently labeled as sin taxes.

 The very first tax that needs to be readdressed is the liquor tax.  The thing about the liquor excise tax is that while inflation has pushed up the price of just about everything including alcohol, the excise tax for liquor is not attached to inflation but rather is attached to the volume of the liquor so being sold, as in, for example, every liter of alcohol, a fixed amount is collected as an excise tax, which doesn’t change with the times, so that the true percentage represented as the excise tax as compared to the current price of the alcohol being sold, demonstrates that this percentage of this excise tax has progressively gotten lower and lower, almost to becoming an irrelevancy.  Not only does this need to change posthaste, but it needs to be inflation-adjusted so that it keeps in harmony with the value of the dollar and serves well the purpose of its existence as an excise tax.

 Additionally, when it comes to excise taxes, there needs to be a greater concern demonstrated by this government that it should care about what we eat, and therefore, junk foods so defined as having little or no nutritional value, along with sugary sodas and things of that general ilk, need to have excise taxes associated with them, because the bottom line is that the continuous usage of these foods and drinks are harmful to the body and therefore the least this government should do to discourage its consumption is to appropriately apply an excise tax upon it, for one of the purposes of taxation is to modify and to change behavior for the better.

 So too, when it comes to pornography and lascivious adult entertainment, this needs to be subject to an excise tax or a higher excise tax, because quite obviously, there really isn’t any redeeming value in pornography.  In sum, any and all items that have little or no redeemable value should suffer to have an excise tax associated with them, because these things aren’t necessary for a good society and it could be argued that in most of these cases these are not just tending to be harmful to a good society, but are themselves a prevailing reason why society isn’t as good as it could and ought to be.

Respect for our unalienable image

We read in Holy Scripture, “God created man in his own image” Genesis 1:27.  This thus signifies that each one of us, without exception, has the exact same and equal image imprinted upon our being, and thus not only do we owe respect to the other, because of that same image, we also must make it our point of principle that we will not disrespect that image through our subsequent thoughts and actions, yet, almost without exception, we at least, occasionally do.

 Each of us has the exact same obligation, which is to live up to and to do right by our Creator, and those who take on the mantle of the good characteristics that represent our Creator well are those who treat others with respect, justice, equality, goodness, and consideration.  No doubt, in this world we are going to be tried and to be tested, and while nobody gets it right all of the time, the objective should be, to get it right as often as we can get it right, and where we fall short, to take it upon ourselves to make it our point to do better, which is why we are tested, again and again, so that the lessons that we need to learn, we demonstrate that we have learnt, by our subsequent good actions.

 Far too many people, don’t really care to understand that they are made in the image of God with inherent obligations to that image, mainly because they are basically satisfied with their ways, and aren’t in the mood or of the mindset to change much of anything, because this is the way that they prefer to live their life, and perhaps near the end, they will make their confessions, and demonstrate contrition, thus in their minds, having the best of it, without having had to pay any troubling price, which precluded them from having a little fun along the way.

 Look, it’s as simple as this: either those who are Bible believing and consider themselves to be religious live up to their faith, or they can use their faith merely as a token symbol, without much substance.  Each of us is entitled to get what we can out of life, which means that there is a time for frivolity and play, but it needs to be recognized that the point of school and of having good parents and valued mentors is not just to learn what we need to know, but to become the type of person that we ought to become, which should take into fair consideration, that we are made in the image of God.

 Finally, God has provided us with free will, so that the choices that we make are ours to own, of which what we need to accomplish is to balance that which brings us enjoyment and satisfaction with taking into consideration that we also need to be there for others, so as to help them to make better decisions and to lead more fruitful lives, because these are our fellow brothers and sisters, who appreciate having somebody else of value to learn from and to lean upon.

Whatever happened to the rotary engine?

It seems mind-boggling that the piston engine has been around since the 19th century, and while it is true that many improvements have been made since then through the ensuing years to improve its effectiveness, it still seems somewhat unfathomable that the piston engine is still the way that most gasoline vehicles are powered in this modern age.

 Perhaps, this is the way that it should be, but in consideration that never has there been more knowledge to draw and to lean upon, along with more highly skilled and knowledgeable engineers that one would think that at a minimum there would be those that would have a strong interest in thinking outside the box, so as to possibly make a quantum leap in engine design, and to thereby make their mark on the world with something that somehow in some way was better than the piston engine.

 To the credit of the Japanese manufacturer Mazda, they came out with their revolutionary rotary engine in 1978 for their RX-7.  The rotary engine is a much simpler design than the piston engine, because it uses fewer moving parts, which thereby would seem to signify that its reliability and robustness would be superior.  Yet, despite its general success in the marketplace, the rotary engine never really caught on, perhaps hurt by the fact that its fuel efficiency was inferior to that of the piston engine as well as other factors.

 Still, to the credit of Mazda, they never completely abandoned the rotary engine, and thus it still exists in the present day, through specific models of the Mazda MX-30,  not as a propulsion engine but rather as a generator for the vehicle’s battery, thus extending the driving range of this hybrid vehicle and making it more marketable.

 This would seem to suggest that not only does the rotary engine still have merit, but that those who are in the automobile business are not stuck in their ways, which is why today’s electric vehicles have taken such a remarkable amount of market share away from the traditional piston engine by simply using an electric motor instead.  That said, the infrastructure of so many Western nations is clearly built around gasoline-powered cars, which is why those in the automobile manufacturing business should continue to devote an appropriate amount of money to Research and Development, because it must be said there is still a definite need for a gasoline-powered vehicle that has a revolutionary engine design, to not just maintain relevancy but also to stay competitive.

 Indeed, part of the problem with the gasoline automobile business is that there isn’t much room for new players, mainly because of the massive capital expense required to get into the business, and with many an auto company, having been around for over 100 years, it needs to be considered that those in upper management may not being paying enough attention to other ideas that would entail some degree of financial risk, and thereby being too dismissive of concepts such as the rotary engine, when further study might well be warranted.

France has no permanent USA military bases

While it could be said that having a US military base has its pluses, it could also be said that it definitely has its minuses, as well.  The problem with a United States base on one’s homeland is first of all, a given country wants to believe that it is sovereign in its governance, and when a foreign power, even a friendly foreign power, has a military base within one’s own country, this does pose the problem as to how sovereign a nation really is, because the military presence of a foreign nation makes it all seem a little bit more problematic, and probably is not something that reflects that a given nation is really all that independent, strong, or clearly in the driver’s seat.

 The thing about Charles de Gaulle is that this important and brave general, who later became the President of France, knew an awful lot about war, because he was there during some of the darkest times for the nation of France.  So too, because he believed in the French Republic, he did not see it as being wise to permit permanent United States bases on the French homeland, and in 1966, he withdrew France from NATO’s integrated military command structure, which thereby meant that all US forces would have to be withdrawn, and that subsequently became the case.

 Indeed, we find that major European countries such as Germany, United Kingdom, Poland and Italy all have US military bases, which really does demonstrate that France is a true outlier, which is to their credit, because the mistake that many nations that permit US bases upon their land make is to misunderstood who is the master of those US military bases, in which the words on paper do not really matter, for the master is the United States, and therefore when push comes to shove, the United States will pretty much do what it damn well pleases to do with the armaments and personnel that are on the US bases, and thus cares not a whit, what the home country might have to say.

 In truth, there comes a time when a child no longer feeds at her mother’s breast, and therefore it could be said that all those nations that have permitted or allowed the United States to have a military base upon their shores, should probably reflect that having such a military base represents a dual-edge sword, and in consideration, that not all that the United states does is embraced by a given country, it should be taken into fair consideration, that not every deal made with the best of intentions, is a good deal, and having foreign troops positioned in perpetuity on one’s homeland would seem to be problematic, and at a minimum be subject to domestic debate and review, because at the end of the day, what military actions occurs from a given country’s homeland matters, and when that is determined solely by a friendly foreign power, it might not be in that country’s best interests, at all.

America’s $39 trillion deficit and counting will never be paid back

Since President Clinton left office, the United States federal budget has not had a surplus and has risen to a very troubling $39 trillion and counting, in which, since fiscal year 2008, there has only been three years where the federal deficit was less than $1 trillion, and all the other years it’s been above $1 trillion, which signifies that despite the fact that Clinton was able to have four consecutive years of budget surpluses, that the government at present, has no intention of coming close to balancing its budget or in the reducing of that deficit, but pretty much is going to keep continuing on the same fiscal irresponsible direction, because apparently it can.

 The bottom line is that there isn’t anybody in control that actually cares about being responsible to how the people’s money is spent and further to the point, the manner in which that money is spent seems to be fraught with all sorts of wrongheaded priorities or quite frankly bad decisions that benefit the few at the expense of the many, of which, the most disappointing amount of money being spent has got to be all the aspects of the military-industrial-technology complex, which is bad for the country, imprudent, and for the most part, unnecessary.

 When it comes to taxation, and the raising of that tax rate to an appropriate level, which would in the scheme of things be part and parcel of getting the federal budget under control, we find that the people, in whole, would not tolerate an overly burdensome tax rate being placed upon their shoulders in which their attitude would be, that they aren’t benefiting, and haven’t been benefiting which is why they shouldn’t have to shoulder all that taxation.  On the other hand, megacorporation’s and the superrich who aren’t closed to being taxed at a reasonable rate, because for the most part they do their level best to circumvent paying their fair share aren’t going to step up to the plate to pay what they should, because these represent the true power brokers and elites of America, and they therefore won’t change a thing, because nobody can make them do so.

 All of the foregoing would seem to indicate that not only will this federal deficit continue to grow, but the reality is that nothing of substance will be done to correct such until it basically implodes, in which the consequences for the general public will be harsh, and may be similar in a lot of respects to the Great Depression or even worse, depending on how much pain everyday Americans will suffer, but that is the price that will have to be paid, when those that are our representatives have betrayed the people by not being responsible in that which they were entrusted to be responsible, and the horrible reckoning will come, sooner or later, in which those that are the most vulnerable, will be the very same that will suffer the most from this nation that prides itself as being the land of opportunity and equality for all.

Fiat money never lasts

The United States dollar isn’t backed by specie of any type, though it is backed by the “full faith and credit” of the United States government, which in consideration that this government is now consistently running governmental deficits of at least one trillion dollars yearly, would seem to suggest that this full faith and credit probably doesn’t mean all that much, especially should a devastating worldwide financial crisis come.

 The problem with fiat currency really comes down to its credibility. When businesses and people no longer believe the currency has lasting value, they will look for alternatives that offer greater comfort and safety.  Indeed, as long as this government can simply print money, willy-nilly, and the people aren’t any wiser to the game, the more that this will continue, until it can continue no longer.

 So too, the reason why $1 today is not the same value as $1 ten years ago, has everything to do with the debasement of the currency which seems to be deliberate on the part of this government, because if this government really prioritized its fiat currency it would do everything within its power to make fiscally responsible decisions that would stabilize its currency as opposed to being fiscally irresponsible.

The most important thing to recognize about fiat currency is that the value of the currency is only as good as those who utilize it, give value to it, and when that value goes down, for they don’t want to be stuck holding dollar bills, because they have no confidence that it would be financially sound to do so, it weakens the dollar even more.

 While the United States dollar makes transactions of all types pretty much seamless, that doesn’t mean that an alternative source of money representation might not be more suitable, especially considering that for those who have their assets locked up in paper currency need to be cognizant that should that paper currency be severely devalued, it would not be good for them.

 In this day and age, there are alternatives to dollars, such as in basic commodities, specie, crypto, and pretty much anything that has intrinsic value.  The best of these is not going to be crypto, because crypto isn’t all that much different from fiat currency, but rather the best of these alternatives are going to be items that have intrinsic and often historical value, such as gold, silver, oil, and the like.  That is to say, there isn’t any reason why a contract could not be written up in which the payment is based upon specie, oil, or some other commodity as contrasted to the United States dollar. So too, material goods always have value, so that those that are cash short, but property rich, are going to be in a heck of a lot better position than those that simply have cash, because housing, vehicles, and other worthwhile material goods have value, and will always have value.

 Those who are paying close attention to their assets need to understand that fiat currency should properly be something to be avoided when it comes to counting up their assets, because it is only a matter of time before the United States dollar will be significantly devalued, and those holding dollars will have definitely backed the wrong horse.

The truth never lies

The most important characteristic of truth is that there is no lie in truth; therefore, truth never lies, because it is the truth and nothing but the truth.  Of course, the above might sound rather trite, but the thing is that there are plenty of people who really don’t understand what truth actually is, and thus we hear things such as “my truth” as contrasted to “your truth,” as if there could be two really true nut different truths in regards to the same thing, which is especially problematic when there is a fundamental conflict between each of these supposed truths. What seems to be lost in all the noise is the salient fact that those who believe that there can be a multitude of truths that seem to contradict one another but nevertheless are still true just need to comprehend that they have not dug deep enough, for if they had, they would thus recognize that the ultimate truth does not have any conflict or contradiction within it.

 So then, one of the main areas that more of us should concentrate upon, is that search for the ultimate truth, because whenever we perceive that truth is subjective or isn’t clear, then we haven’t done our level best to find the root of the truth, which is something that we should consider investigating, because the closer we come to finding the truth, the more enlightened that we will be, and enlightenment is the same as wisdom, and those that are wise are the very same, that are ever close to the truth, and nothing but the truth.

 So too, in this world it is important for each of us to recognize that because truth never lies, those then that declaim that they always tell the truth, or have proclaimed that they know the truth, but yet there are chinks within their armor, signifies that they are not truthful, and our discernment of this is important, because that which isn’t true is probably that which we should not wish to emulate. After all, truth is the highest good, and knowing that highest good should be the driving force of our lives.  That is to say, those who pursue something that at its core is a lie have clearly pursued the wrong thing if they continue along that same path, because nothing is higher than the truth, and it is this truth that all should diligently seek for.

 After all, life has a purpose and if we do not know what that purpose is, or believe that we do know but seek after that which is lesser than the truth, then we haven’t made the right choice, because the pursuit of truth, above all, is the most appropriate pursuit to engage our efforts upon, and in that pursuit we will be inevitably met by many naysayers and thus who desire to misdirect us for their own reasons, but those then that keep the faith, and do not relent in their pursuit of truth, will ultimately find it and in so doing, will thus have completed their journey to its most appropriate endpoint.