Doing and Doing for Others

America is known as a great charitable country, to wit, we provide humanitarian aid to nations big and small all over the world.  So too does America provide aid and a safety net to the impoverished here at home.  All of this is to the basic good, as anytime that you see in the face of your fellow man, a reflection of yourself, your treatment of that man, will be better for having seen the common humanity that all men are inherently endowed with.

There are however, situations that a man must do for himself rather than having others do this for them.  For instance, there comes a time, when your child has to go to pre-school or kindergarten or whatever, and not too surprisingly or too infrequently, the small child suffers from separation anxiety, but anxiety or not, the child needs to be amongst other children of its age, and the child needs the opportunity to engage in activities that will expand its field of knowledge and thereby to learn with its peers.  Additionally, when your child is in school at whatever stage of life, that child must take the tests that will demonstrate whether they have learned and comprehended certain knowledge or not, and thereby it would be self-defeating if said child cheated or if the tests were actually taken by somebody else.

In the workplace, no matter your job, how responsible it is or is not, there are some responsibilities that will be put onto your shoulders, so that, you as an employee, must do your part to perform those responsibilities in a competent and professional manner.  While there is something to be said about teamwork, working together, and collaboration, it is imperative that each member of that respective team contributes to it, as opposed to only a select few, pretty much doing all.

No doubt, there have been times in your life in which you have done something for another, wondering perhaps, or possibly knowing that, the other person probably could have done what you just did for them, without the actual need of your aid.  It is these times that truly separate, good actions, from actions while good, which would ideally be more appropriately filled by somebody else.  That is to say, it is difficult to criticize someone who out of the goodness of their heart helps another, however it must also be recognized that there are times, when that help probably should not have been offered, asserted itself, or have been accomplished. 

In actuality, the real purpose of a mentor to a student, a parent to a child, is to teach and engage the other, thereby providing the basis so that these individuals can one day think properly and to become self-reliant.  Any society in which a significant portion of the population becomes dependent upon the government or its substitutes for its daily subsistence, and does not make their own effort to wean themselves off of such a dependency, are creating at a minimum a two-tiered society, of those that do, and those that don't.

The fundamental problem with not doing for yourself, when you do have the innate capability of doing something for yourself, is that, because you are not self-sufficient nor self-reliant, you are almost for a certainty, not self-governmental, because you have failed to demonstrate that capacity, and therefore because you have ceded your sovereignty to another, your destiny is in another's hand, for better or for worse.

Religion and the Constitution

All oaths that office holders take in America, all follow the same basic format, which is to: "… solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."  There wouldn't be any point of taking such an oath, if the intention for those that did so, was to ignore the very thing that they have sworn to protect.  When it comes to religion in America, one would have a tendency to believe that following the Constitution would not only be paramount but would also be consistent from office holder to office holder, from year to year, but instead, the governmental religious rulings have changed significantly over the years, so much so, that a fairly strong argument could be made, that America, which initially was created as a vibrant and strong Christian nation, has morphed itself instead into what appears to be a secular State.

The thing is the Constitution is quite clear and specific about its intent in regards to religion, so that the very point of the 1st Amendment, which states in part: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" has been re-interpreted from its original intent and its original meaning that the Federal government through its Congress does not have the right to impose a National religion upon its population, to now become that that there should be a wall of separation between Church and State.

While some contemporary people, for whatever spurious reasons, are intent that America should be seen as a secular State, that is not consistent with the founding of America, nor is consistent with the Founding fathers and their beliefs, nor is it consistent with the Declaration of Independence, nor is it consistent with the Constitution, and it certainly is not consistent with the people that nobly advanced this country at that time.  There is not necessarily anything wrong with wanting or desiring or trying to make America a secular nation, as the people have implicitly the right to alter or abolish the nature of their government, however, doing so, properly, must be done not only through the people, by the people, and for the people, but also accomplished through the auspices of a new Declaration and thereby a new Constitution, as opposed to taking known and established Constitutional law and deliberately subverting it.

If America, insists that God cannot be in our classrooms, cannot be in our justice system, cannot be in the public square, and cannot be in the way that we conduct our everyday life, then we will certainly understand the futility of: "Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel," rather than " but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." (Matthew 5:15).  America was founded as a Christian nation by Christians, however, this never did mean, nor does it mean presently, that the only religion permitted in America must be Christian or offshoots of Christianity, as the Constitution clearly states and our history of plurality has clearly shown that all Americans are entitled to the free exercise of their religious or irreligious beliefs.  In fact, in America, the Constitution makes it clear in Article VI that: "…no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust…"

Today, modern man has reasoned itself into the cardinal error, of believing that through their mind and through their intelligence they now know all, see all, and are all, and thereby their government has no need for the interference and the inconvenience of belief in any sort of God.  The belief or disbelief in God or voluntary service to any particular religion is a free thinking man's prerogative, however, to preclude others from their own beliefs, or to actively close the door on the free exercise of worship by governmental decree, is an abomination to this Constitution and thereby to this country and to which it stands.

America is a Military State

The United States Military Defense budget for 2015 was in the neighborhood of $600 billion, this for a nation that has no peers, nor any other Nation-States that could possibly threaten it on any level, be it economic political or via the military.  The personnel in our War Department consist of nearly 1,400,000 peoples on active duty, with another 850,000 on active reserve.  Additionally, America operates or controls as reported by nationalpriorities.org, "between 700 and 800 military bases worldwide."  Strange thing though, when it comes to actual war, those powers are as declared by our Constitution, held in the hands of Congress, yet, unfathomably, since WW II, America through its Congress has declared war on zero nations, yet, in the 21st century alone, America has been at war with Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen.

All of the above clearly indicates that the military is not only a law unto itself, but pretty much does whatever the upper echelons of the military-industrial complex desires it to do.  The fact is that any elected government, or unelected for that matter, in any form of State, must always, recognize that there is an implicit agreement, or explicit for that matter, between the civil in conjunction with its military arm, that they must be basically on the same page, or the military will if not given its proper tribute often exercise its power to overthrow oppressive domestic civil restraints.  The thing is once any country has crossed the Rubicon, of having standing armies as a matter of course, than they have indeed set the stage at having no other choice but to stand down against such armies, or suffer the devastating consequences of military conquest within their own native country.

The crux of the matter is that it isn't good enough for the War Department to simply have all these sophisticated weapons, to have all these well trained personnel, to have all these ambitious generals, and then react to a world in which there is often strife and confusion by sitting back and doing nothing.  The military can only do so many exercises, so many training missions, so many rescue missions, before there is an itching from high above, to actually do something constructive or destructive with their might.  A military as big and as powerful as the United States, is akin to a superbly conditioned Heavyweight champion, who because he is the champion, is not interested in months upon months of a regimen of just training and flexing muscles, because he knows that he is far more capable than putting on a mere shadow-boxing show, instead he is there to prove himself and thereby he must fight.

The fact that our military is so big, sophisticated, talented, strong, state-of-the-art, and powerful, means for an absolute certainty, that those that push the buttons, and make the decisions, have a deeply ingrained desire to fight, and thereby that is why America is always at war, because a champion in order to be viewed as the champion, must fight and not only that he must vanquish his opponent.

Not All Evidence is Viewed the Same

For true justice in a court of law, those deciding upon the evidence, must weigh that evidence objectively, without unduly favoring one side or the other, and certainly not giving more credence to one party over another, simply because you like one better or dislike one more.   Since we are all subjective human beings, it is somewhat of a real challenge, to not let our own prejudices and emotions overcome us when deciding another person's fate.  We owe it to the person on trial, though, or the case being litigated, to give proper consideration to all the evidence and most certainly to not jump to a particular conclusion before each side has had its complete say in court.  The significant issue with determining in your mind that one side's story is the story before all the evidence is either complete or fully weighed, is that having done so, you will subtly or deliberately begin to take subsequent evidence and weigh it not against truth or fairness, but weigh it instead against whether that evidence confirms your story and thereby validates it, or whether it doesn't and often times thereby ignore or dismiss it.

It certainly is not easy for a judge to properly be fair in a trial, but at least a judge is skilled in the law and has been trained in the ways of it, whereas, the general public, for the most part is not.  While judges will instruct the jurors on how to weigh evidence so as to be impartial and also instruct the jurors not to discuss the case with other jurors until such time as all the evidence has been presented, the truth of the matter is that jurors aren't going to follow that instruction all that often or all that well, mainly because jurors want to talk and communicate with each other, and humans being humans, rather than starting with the weather, sports, or entertainment will move right on to the case itself, as a valid substitute, since that is the relevant item of the day.

The thing is that not only will jurors want to talk about the case, but also the jurors talking to each other, will already have taken a look at one another, and in one way or another, in one form or another, decided that the jurors that they feel that they have more in common with, whether that be by sex, age, race, perceived religion, or perceived status,  will almost invariably lead to little cliques forming that will then test each other out, so as to determine as to whether they are seeing things the same way, thereby receiving validation on their theory, or not, and so on.  All of this, unfortunately, trumps over the evidence, because ultimately most people placed into public areas and the testing of character, want to, for whatever reason, valid or not, to conform to the prevailing view of their respective group. 

One way, perhaps, to overcome this bias upon juror deliberations, is to request from each juror before any discussion of guilt or innocence, to separately write down a paragraph or two of their summary as to why each respective side should have won or lost the case, and then the readings of these paragraphs by the selected juror foreman or similar, will provide valued information as to the fairness of these jurors, so those that turn in papers that cannot come up with even one valid reason why a particular side was right or wrong, are those that have probably come to that conclusion very early in the process and thereby have shut the door on all contradictory evidence to that theory, while remembering or noting only the evidence which supports their favored side.  On the other hand, a juror that can make a valid and fair case for either side is the epitome of someone that weighs evidence properly, listens well, and thereby represents the type of juror that will render the most defensible decision based on the evidence presented properly weighed and objectively evaluated.

The Collusion between Big Government and Big Business

The thing about the government in America, is that one way or another, from a business perspective, you know that the government, will be good for the money.  Not only that, the budgets of governments from your little townships, to counties, to cities, to States, and to the Federal government, ranges from thousands of dollars, to hundreds of thousands of dollars, to millions, to billions, and then to trillions of dollars.  All of that money makes for a deep desire from these businesses that contract with governmental entities to get as much as they can so that they can profit and grow by it.  That money is so important to these businesses that they prefer to leave nothing to chance, so as to secure most favored status, sole business set aside, preferential treatment, non-competitive bidding, and so forth, meaning that no stone will be left unturned in order to secure lucrative and important contracts that will often bring millions upon millions of dollars or revenue and/or profit to the business.

The first real trick of a good and viable business is understanding your future customer base from top to bottom, and once that is determined, who holds the purse strings of that money, and the final trick is one of figuring out how to get your fair share of, or, since this is America, more than your fair share from those people.    The most effective way to get your fair share and then some from governmental contracts is to know the people that issue the contracts in the first place, since all business at its core, is a people business, so much so, that it can be stated as a truism, that people like to do business with people that they like.  Further to that point, people will find all sorts of ways and justifications to steer business your way if they like you, whereas, if they despise you, they can discover all sorts of demerits or reasons why you are not qualified.

Although there are a multitude of ways to get people to like one another, from gifts, to mutual interests, to good listening skills, and so forth, one finds that if you just cut through all the confusion and static, money and/or power seems to incentivize all sorts of people.  For instance, many people that are employed by governmental agencies feel that they are underappreciated, underpaid, and under recognized by the peers, however, if these same governmental employees are in a position to which they can reward contracts or influence the issuing of such they often find that their utility to outsiders ishighly appreciated, so much so, that there is a quid pro quo between these two parties, something to the effect, that the businesses offer all sorts of enticements, such as employment of family currently, or future employment, bonuses, and so forth.  Of course, you can't actually stipulate these things in writing, but instead these things are implicitly understood between both parties so that those that regulate, or issue contracts, aren't really trying to on behalf of the government to initiate or negotiate the best fiscal deal for that governmental institution, but rather they are actively trying to work hand-in-glove with the actual contractor, recognizing that the better that they do on that given task, the better it will be for them.  So too, do experienced people in private enterprise, gravitate to governmental jobs that require someone of their unique experience and qualifications, to which, their overarching objective, a significant amount of the time is not to serve their government in an ethical and above board manner, but instead, to serve their former private enterprise master.

The pie is plenty big enough, so that the government doesn't want to stop this racket because it isn't like it's their personal money, nor do private enterprise companies want to rat each other out, as there is plenty to share for all, and just as long as the public is kept ignorant, misinformed, or out of sync, nobody is the wiser.  The only disinfectant that can properly halt this collusion that cheats the taxpaying public is the bright sunshine of full disclosure and transparency of all governmental contracts, without exception.

The Best Gift

There virtually isn't a person alive, who doesn't want or appreciate getting or receiving a gift from someone, especially when that gift is something desired strongly or needed.  The gifts that we give and the gifts that we receive vary depending upon all sorts of circumstances in regards to such things as who we are, our age, and the gift givers themselves.  In this world, based upon our upbringing, tradition, and all the commercial advertising of all sorts that we come across day-by-day, the giving of gifts follows a pretty standard set of rules, of which, foremost amongst them is that gift giving is considered to be an obligation, sort of, as a way of expressing your love or affection from one person to another which is demonstrated in practicality by the gift itself.

There are, however, many, many people that often simply do not have the means to provide the desired gifts to others, and then because of this lack, are unfairly brushed with the aura of unconcern or uncaring.  This is most unfortunate, because usually the desire to please another with an appropriate gift is there, but the monetary means to do so, are sorely lacking.

Yet, through it all, there is something fundamentally out of sorts in many aspects of gift giving and that is the fact that material gifts are actually seldom the best gift of them all.  The thing about gifts of the material kind, is that even if wholly appreciated, that initial rush of feeling, that initial rush of appreciation, will invariably fade over time, so that even if the gift is something as expensive and impressive as a brand new car, one day that car will not be so new, it will be surpassed by many another car, and over time, it will fade, get tarnished, and become just another car, and while definitely appreciated, the car itself and typically your feelings for it, will have definitely depreciated.  That, in a nutshell, is the issue with all tangible gifts which is that all of them will invariably lose their luster and their utility, no matter how much they were initially appreciated.

Then there is another type of gift, a gift more meaningful than others, a gift that allows a man of any material worth, to match a man with ten thousand times that worth, and that gift is the gift of your sincere concern for another expressed through human contact. Sometimes, the nice present beautifully wrapped for a good friend or loved one is the expedient way to provide something tangible to someone, and thereby does not demand much of anything from the giver other than money and a little forethought, whereas in actuality, what has been circumvented is the truly important thing, which is a meaningful conversation, a dialogue, a meeting of the minds, and simply time spent together.

None of us can take any of our material gifts with us to the next world, meaning that at best, we appreciated these gifts while here on earth, whereas there are indeed gifts that transcend space and time, and those gifts are love, respect, empathy, concern, patience, and sincere communication.  When we take the time to listen to others, to help to guide others, to mentor others, to be a good neighbor to others, to be there for others in times of their trouble and stress, to sacrifice our free time to be of service to others, and to will the good of another, this is when we have stepped out of our small little finite world and have stepped into something of far greater expanse, into a world without end, and have provided the best gift of all: love, expressed in all of its many splendors.

The Rulers and the Ruled

Lincoln's Gettysburg address in 1863, declared that we: "… shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."  Today, more than 150 years later, how many Americans truly believe that this is a government, of, for, and by the people?  While it is true that our government most certainly has not perished, in fact, unfortunately, quite the opposite is true, that our government in all of its many forms and colors, has actually become far more intrusive, far more demanding, and far more commanding of its citizenry, so that today the people have little concept of what a properly formed government should really be like.

Presently, we live in a country to which the most vital and important activities that our government is often participating in, are things that we as citizens, are not privileged to really even know about; things such as our endless involvement in the foreign affairs of other nations, as well as our many governmental covert activities that are often deliberately hidden or obscured from the public's view.  Additionally, the government makes it policy to spy domestically and extract all sorts of data on all of its citizens, under the false flag, of protecting the homeland.

The thing is it is impossible for the citizenry to hold the government accountable if the citizenry is essentially held clueless about what the government is actually up to, and with layers upon layers of secrets and misdirection that no one could possibly work their way through, in addition to the endless lies and deceptions at the highest echelons of our government, to which none are ever held accountable, makes the entire show of accountability a hopeless exercise in futility.

The present government is in reality and intent not of the people, but rather it is a separate government, sovereign only to those that are part of that same social milieu, to which the good of the people, is not even conceived of, in fact, it isn't even considered.  Instead, this government and the parties to it, go about their business for the sake of their own aggrandizement, and if there is hell to be paid for stupid or miscalculated decisions, it will be paid by the blood, sweat, and toil of the people, in their faithful devotion to their country, which asks for their patriotic dedication to a government that sees them at best, as subjects, born to serve those that are their betters.

None of this should be happening nor should it have ever come to this, in a country that once truly was the beacon of hope for the tired and the poor, but now its own people are too often exploited, manipulated, used, and then tossed away as damaged goods.  Unfortunately, we live in a land to which the leaders of such in conjunction with the almighty military-industrial complex work hand-in-hand to do what they believe should be done so as to gratify their selfish objectives, preferably behind closed doors, with access restricted to only those with a need-to-know, creating position papers that twist and turn clear rules into whatever the government wills instead to perform, because this government cares not at all for the welfare of its people, for it's the new American Caesar, a law unto itself.

Money and Power on their Collective High Horse

In this country there are some people with plenty of money, so too there are some people with the right connections with the right people, as well as there being some people that are powerful in their ability to forge law and public policy, and then there are the other people.  It would be one thing entirely if these well-placed privileged people, simply kept to their selves and didn't interfere in the day to day operations of everyone else, but too often people who believed that there were either born with a silver spoon in their mouth or somehow have obtained one, are very interested in seeing that their viewpoint of what people should or shouldn't do should be the de facto viewpoint for everyone else.

This means, in effect, that there are a select few that want to lord it over everyone else, so that if the current belief, is that obesity in all cases is wrong, than obesity must be legislated out of existence, so too this goes for smoking, or drinking, or just about anything that these busybodies can come up with.  While it may be true, conveniently so, to be able to demonstrate that certain things are bad for you physically, or that certain behaviors or bad for you psychologically, the problem with this interference in other people's behavior is that those that are creating this intrusion are not doing it because they truly believe that it is the right thing to do, but because they want to be able to tell and thereby mandate what you do, period. 

These know-it-alls, that pound the tables that smoking is an unmitigated bad, that intemperate drinking is the inherent downfall of many a man, and that eating too much is catastrophic, will do everything within their power, of which they have a lot of, to see that you don't do any of those things, at least not easily, and in order to accomplish this mission, they propagandize, pass laws, create penalties, and enact regressive taxes to effect their vision about what is best for you.  While it is one thing to have a parent, express parental concern for their children, it is an entirely different thing when the government or certain special people dictate to you what you are or are not permitted to do especially when you are effectively "off the clock" so to speak.

For those that believe that smoking or drinking or eating certain foods are wrong, for reasons good or bad, but reasons just the same, than those people should do not do those very things.  It is entirely different thing, however, to take your belief and insist that a free man must submit to it, as if your belief, because it comes from you, is thereby always valid, whereas my belief, because it comes from me, is invalid. 

While to take a brotherly concern about someone else most definitely has its merits, it is pig-headed to insist that your brotherly way is the only way, the right way, and the only sensible way.  The thing is those that claim that they are looking out for our best interests are too often, doing nothing of the sort, they are simply and straightforwardly trying to dictate to everyone else that things should always be their way, because their way makes for a perfect little convenient life and fit for them, and consequently they just really want us to shut up, acknowledge their greatness, and subsequently dismiss our freedom of thought and actions as the disobedience that is never permitted in their twisted small world that brokers no dissent.

The Illusion of So Much to Do

In America, we are served the same illusion again and again, that we just have to get all sorts of things done, such as cleaning, cooking, working, bills, bringing our children up right, helping with the community, and so forth, to which each of these things most definitely have their merits, but life actually is in effect, much more straightforward than we might think.  The first clue that perhaps we shouldn't be so intimately involved in the rat race, is to understand, that Jesus the Christ, time and time again, took time to contemplate by himself so as to recharge his batteries and to stay focused on the meaningful things such as in keeping His oneness with our Lord, to which we read in Luke5:16: "And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed."  After all, you would think that the Messiah would have all sorts of things that He just had to do, that would literally keep Him busy night and day, but intuitively He understood that the greatest power and wisdom attainable necessitated both quiet meditation as well as concentrated attention to our Creator, or else He would not be the Christ for His people.

So too, there is the story told of Martha and Mary, to which, when Jesus entered their house, Martha took it upon herself to do all the necessary work, that she just had to do, in order to properly receive and serve a guest as great as our Messiah, whereas Mary, on the other hand, merely sat at Jesus' feet.  Yet, when Martha complained that it was unfair that she was not getting any serving help from Mary, and thereby Martha was unable to benefit or appreciate the words being spoken by Jesus, "And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her," (Luke 10:41-42).

To a certain degree, hearing this gentle rebuke, seems a bit unfair, after all, it would appear that Martha is doing all the things that a host should do for an important guest, whereas Mary is doing nothing, and logically you would think that Mary has an implicit obligation to do her part, because two heads working together can accomplished much, and having done so, thereby both will be able to equally receive the words of Jesus.  However, that isn't what Jesus said, He makes it very clear that life is far simpler than being an accomplished busybody, or being anxious, and that in fact, life can be summed up into this understanding that rather than us having so many things to do, of which many of those things are not so much for the good of ourselves but more for selling the illusion of our vitality to others or to feed our self-righteous vanity, we should instead focus less on this world that does not last, and more on the eternal things that will never end.

While it is true that God does desire that we be good for something, so too God desires that we stay focused on the true prize, which is our re-uniting with His Kingdom, and while there are fundamental things that we need to attend to in our everyday activities, the correct priority should be to always keep in mind, that we must first serve Him for it is the choices that we make day by day that take us either closer or further from His eternal love and grace.

Great Britain's Royal Africa Company

America, until its independence, was a colony of the British Empire, to which, initially there were not any slaves in America, but typically instead there were indentured servants brought here to provide necessary and desired labor help.  Great Britain, however, created the Royal Africa company that worked under the aegis of the Majesty of Great Britain, to which one of the functions of the Royal Africa Company, besides the perpetual search for and lust of gold, was the trade in human flesh, to which, part of that process, was to forcefully take Africans from Africa and then export them to either the Caribbean or North America, not as indentured servants, but as human chattel.

Of course, like most government enterprises, there were rules, regulations, taxes, and money involved in this particular trade, so that the government of Great Britain, had a vested interest in the success and the regulation of the slave trade specifically in regards to the Royal Africa Company, to which its British investors of such, demanded a fair return on their money at risk.  This meant that each slave brought into America was subject to a tax payable to the Crown for this importation, over and above the actual trading, bargaining and commerce for the slaves themselves.  In short, the trading of slaves was not some sort of willy-nilly adventure of arbitrary taking of peoples from Africa, without any rhyme or reason, but something instead that was deliberate, pre-planned, and executed essentially with the stamp of approval of Great Britain as deliberate policy.

While there were plenty of valid reasons why slavery was popular with the planter class, even within that class, at the highest echelon there was an increasing unease with slavery, to such an extent that States such as South Carolina and Virginia, desired to significantly reduce or eliminate the importation of slaves into their respective States, not so much because slavery didn't make economic sense to them, and certainly not because they collectively saw slavery as a blight upon mankind, but primarily because of their anxiety in having so many slaves within their State, that they felt that they were unwittingly sowing the seeds of potential economic destruction, rebellion, uprising, ruin, or revolt, as the sheer amount of oppressed black slave faces in their presence was considered to be quite troubling.  In lieu of the continuous importation of slaves, these States, concerned about the unprecedented growth of slavery, hoped to utilize more indentured white servants which would not only more easily assimilate into society but would pose far less of a physical threat than blacks.

In any event, the Royal Africa Company, did not give in to American desires or demands, mainly because the monies that they were making from this trade was quite lucrative for the coffers of the royal treasury, it created steady and dependable profits for its investors, as well as the fact that there were powerful vested interests in America that profited greatly from this trade in human flesh.  Had it not been for the Royal Africa Company, there probably would have been far less slavery thrust upon American soil, as the powerful combination of explicit British governmental support, mercantile interests, and the lust for undeserved profits, inevitably led to the wanton trafficking of human subjects from their country of origin in order to be exploited in a country ironically founded upon freedom.

Driving a Vehicle should be Regulated, but not Considered to be a Privilege

Nowadays, we live in a land to which our fundamental rights, such as the right to travel from one place to another, especially when utilizing a motor vehicle, are skewed in such a perverse way, that driving a car is considered to be a privilege, and not thereby a right.  To understand this better, a privilege is as defined by Merriam-Webster.com: "a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others," which succinctly summarizes the issue.  

The problem with driving being considered as a privilege is that privileges are fairly easy to revoke because a privilege is considered for the most part to be a special dispensation provided to the citizen upon accomplishing a certain thing, or exercising a certain action, but are also subject to specific rules, laws, ordinances and regulations, and to a lesser extent arbitrary law.  On the other hand, a right is something that belongs to you, to which for the government or its authorities to take away any of your rights, typically means a surrender of that right voluntarily or the confiscation of that right through a court of law judgment or its equivalent.

Currently, the driving of a vehicle on a public road is enforced as a privilege, and not a right, to which this is why each driver of a vehicle applies for a basic driver's license which will enable them to travel the roads subject to specific restrictions.  However, should that driver be found later to be in violation of the laws of the respective State in regards to their driving, that driver's license and thereby their ability to drive on the public roads in America, can be confiscated, restricted, or revoked.

Depending upon the city or town that you reside in, driving a vehicle may or may not be critical for your overall everyday activities, however, for most adults that have commitments to a job or school or whatever, there is a fundamental need to be able to drive a vehicle as the alternatives to doing so, are often rather inconvenient, too expensive, or unreliable.  This means, that the fact that the government treats driving as a privilege, to which this privilege can be revoked by the same government and/or never be issued in the first place, creates an undue burden against certain members of society.

Rather than seeing driving a vehicle as a privilege, the government, should regulate the business of driving, and while some people may see this as essentially being the same thing, it isn't.  In point of fact, a regulation properly written, is something created by the Legislative branch of government, to which there would be little merit for using State coercion in order to get citizens to comply to a given driving regulation, as long as the regulations were written broadly enough so that the statue would allow car insurance companies as well as the lien holders of vehicles themselves to tack on their own additional rules or regulations upon the driver of the vehicle, to which the driver would then weigh the tradeoffs of this or that so as to get the best fit for their budget and corresponding rate. 

The driving on the public roads of America, should not be treated as a privilege, but rather should be subject to reasonable regulations, so as not to interfere with the reasonable right for citizens to travel freely along the public roads of America which they as taxpaying citizens have already paid for.

The Law of Karma

If there was no eternal justice, than life would be an endless series of careening from one event to another, all without purpose, and all without end.  Fortunately, that isn't the way that life is constructed, there is eternal justice, there is eternal morality, there is eternal love, and there is eternal forgiveness, to which we are constantly reminded of this, through that still small voice that helps to guide us in our conscience.  Yet, we are endowed with free will which is a truly wonderful gift provided to us by our Creator, and free will, means exactly that, that we are free to choose, and it is through those choices and our actions that our life writes itself into the annals of time. 

In this world, the unceasing opportunity to fool ourselves, consciously or not, to 'game' the system, to seek all sorts of shortcuts and illusions that we create and ultimately live in, makes us falsely believe that when it comes to that time when we stand before our Lord, that we will still be able to stand tall and thereby withstand the withering bright light of the absolute clarity of love, truth, and justice.  This viewpoint will not hold true to the tests of time, and it is then, if we have not first admitted to it, that we will recognize for a certainty that the crown of glory that we wish to partake of is something that our tarnished hands cannot grasp, and we know it.

The reason for karma, is the innate understanding, that illness cannot create health, that wrong actions can never be right, that evil is not good, and thereby the false roads that we have taken cannot be effectively erased, that instead, we must first straighten up our spine, so as to thereby straighten our path to find the only true road to eternal glory.  If, on the other hand, within our soul, we believed, that evil is good, that wrong is right, and tried to force this belief into the folds of our eternal destiny, we would discover that it simply cannot be done, that the bright light of eternal bliss is tainted by sin and our wrongs, so that try as we might we cannot possibly pry open the golden door.

We need karma, for the exact same reason why a helpless toddler needs both supervision and direction, which is for its own good, upbringing and protection.  If, in our endeavors we are never corrected, if in our endeavors, we are unable to acknowledge the hurt that we are creating for ourselves and others, than we will inevitably continue to do it again and again.  Karma is there for each of us, so that we will through thoughtfulness come to the reasoned conclusion, that the bad that we see so often in our lives is actually correlated to the bad that we have either already done or contributed to in other's lives.

The law of karma allows us to understand and to comprehend that we are all in this for the long haul, and that therefore brick by brick, stone by stone, deed by deed, we build our pathway back to God's eternal love.  The race most definitely is not to the swift, to which it is to be better understood, that wrong actions necessitate correspondingly right actions. God reminds us of this, day by day, by the suffering we so often feel by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, to which our proper response should be to serenely arm ourselves with truth, justice, and brotherly love.

The Stairway to Heaven

Here, in the Western world, mainstream religion does not often believe in reincarnation, instead, they believe in essentially that there is only one life, and therefore when this physical life is over, long or short, good or bad, fair or not, that this is all that there is, on this physical plane.  There are many reasons to believe that this belief is flawed, even tellingly from passages in Scripture, such as "But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished…" (Matthew 17:12).  So too, even a cursory glance at the world at large, demonstrates the reality of the circle of life which is all around us; an endless cycle of birth, death, and re-birth, again and again and again.

For those that do not believe in reincarnation, one would be hard pressed to see the world as anything other than extremely unfair, to which some people are born into not just significantly better material circumstances, but also better educational, justice, fairness, looks, and health situations.  While our Creator asks nothing more from us but to do the best with what we have, circumstances can make this extremely problematic for certain people and hence it would appear to be inherently unjust.

So too there are people, that have remarkable skills or inclinations even at a young age for medicine, mechanics, music, mathematics and so forth, so much so that we consider them to be child prodigies or similar.  In a significant amount of cases, the parents of such children, wonder where these talents originated from, because they know in their heart, it was not in truth from their parenting or upkeep, instead it seems to have come from within the child, itself. 

The best explanation for the reason why there are certain powers and predispositions inherent within each one of us has everything to do with recognizing that while the physical shell of our body changes from life to life, our soul remains consistent to what it was in previous lives.  That is to say, if you have previously demonstrated a high degree of skill as a practitioner of medicine, than all things being equal, this same talent will be there in your present life like a rich oil well, available for you to tap back into it. 

Not too unexpectedly, our lives are a mixture of good as well as bad habits, good as well as bad decisions, so that when re-entering this life after having exiting a previous one, those bad traits that we have previously demonstrated of perhaps lacking in patience, having a hot temper, and so forth, are carried with us, the same as if they never left us.  This, more than anything, is the reason why reincarnation exists, because we know whether we want to recognize it or not in this world, that in order to get right with our Lord, we have to have demonstrated right actions and behavior in this dimension.

For those that dismiss reincarnation, recognize this important point, if you were excessively jealous, covetousness, prideful, lustful, and so forth on this material plane, do not think even for a second, that somehow in Heaven, that these traits of yours will miraculously disappeared, as they won't at all, but rather will be seen to be dark clouds that perpetually follow you. Therefore it is these faults that will preclude you from truly entering into holy fellowship with our Creator, not because He will not accept you, but because you recognize that you still have work to do in order to climb that stairway into God's heart and Heaven.

Is God In Heaven?

The viewpoint of where God is, depends upon so many factors, so that the answers that one is wont to receive will vary all over the place, to which, though, mainstream thought is often along the line that God is somewhat removed from planet earth, so that He is often pictured on a celestial throne, to which He may well send down to us, great souls and great prophets, but for the most part God is not pictured as walking amongst us. That's fine for what it is, but probably isn't the best way to view God and certainly isn't a very personal way to see God, to which humans have an innate need to picture God as something far more personal.

While there are certainly many passages in the Bible that speak of Heaven, of God, of ascending and descending, so too there is one very special passage: "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21).  It is this scriptural passage which is so crucial for developing a different mindset, something that is of value to children and adults alike, which makes God much more personal, makes God much more tangible, and makes God much more real to us.  The fact of the matter is when you believe that God is part and parcel of you, meaning that He is as close to you as a best friend could possibly be, never to leave you, you thereby make God much more meaningful for you and your subsequent behavior in this life.

There are few advantages of having a detached viewpoint of God, a sort of a disinterested God, who may or may not respond to our prayers in times of crisis or whenever, and is overall seen more like a gentle, slumbering giant, who takes a bit of pleading or plodding to get revved into action.  That isn't God!  In point of fact, God is always with us, each one of us, from the time of our conception, to the time of our physical death.  God will never leave us, never forsake us, never to not love us, God is all that we could ever ask or desire for, and He is right here with us, right now.  This is the truth of the matter, that each of us has God available to pick us up when we are down, to guide us through troubled times, to comfort us in times of sorrow, and to celebrate with us when we have done right.

The better understanding that God is always with us, allows us to have a more, meaningful relationship with God, so that rather than placing God on a pedestal to which we must continually bow down to Him in servitude and abject surrender, instead we see God as our greatest Friend, someone to trust and to open our hearts to, who will never forsake us and will always be there for us, no matter how events may transpire on a given day. 

God should be our best friend, and this isn't meant to say that we should ignore nor not desire human company, as God is not here with us in human form, but rather we would all be better served to believe that God is imminent within us and that thereby "… If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23)

British Convicts Imported to Colonial America

Most everybody are quite aware that slavery was part and parcel of American life, till the end of the civil war; of course, somewhat forgotten, is that slavery in America, was originally initiated when America, wasn't the United States of America, but was instead an English colony.  Also forgotten in the sands of history, is that Britain decided that colonial America was a valid destination to send their convicts to, and subsequently in the 17th and 18th centuries England transported over 50,000 convicts to their American colony.

A significant amount of the convicts shipped to America, landed in Virginia and Maryland, to which their labor was put to work specifically to help the tobacco trade, to which at that time, tobacco was the most important exported product produced in America, as well as being used occasionally as a cash substitute to transact financial matters at home.  In an era in which machinery played a very minor role in crop production, much labor therefore was necessitated to cultivate tobacco, and for those planters that lack deep financial resources, the indentured servitude and thereby employment of British convicts, was actually significantly cheaper than the purchase of slaves, so that in return for a modest fee upfront to the transporter and/or trader of convicted labor, the planter received an indentured servant whose term with him would be from five to seven or even fourteen years, to which at the end of such service, the planter would owe the indentured convict, no money, and the convict would now be free to make a living on his own or to somehow return back to England.

Not too surprisingly, since these were convicts, they weren't treated well during their passage on the Atlantic Ocean, to which, they were often chained, subject to infectious and debilitating diseases due to the poor sanitary conditions, and/or subsequently died from privation.  Upon their arrival in America they were not accorded any respect as they were seen for what they were, convicts.  They were, as indentured servants, exploited heavily, to whom most were paid nothing for their labor, except to receive in return room and board, and often hired as field hands and thereby worked the hard labor of cultivating tobacco.  For the few convicts that had notable skills, their options were more accommodating, in which they might receive a modest compensation for their craft, but would legally still be an indentured servant.

While there was some controversy and complaint by respected and notable Americans, that this colony should not be a dumping ground for convicts, this was mainly overshadowed by the fact that the tobacco plantations recognized the utility of cheap convict labor and were only too happy to be an active participant and party to this trade.  In addition, the sheer number of convicts exported to America as well as the color of these convict's skin, helped to effectively reduce the pricing of African slaves, because both these forcefully imported labor forces competed within the same general market.

The importation of convict labor to America that were transported here by England could not have occurred without the active complicity of American plantation owners, who saw these convicts as a lucrative source to increase their wealth upon the bent backs of those in a country not of their origin and without the resources or wherewithal to effectively stand up

Fair Weather Believers

A significant amount of Americans have a professed belief in a particular faith, be it Christian, Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, and so forth.  This belief in God, and a respect or love for God and his prophets often brings comfort for many people as well as a source of solace in times of pain and difficulty.  The thing is that every religion, somewhat akin to a learned trade, demands something in return from those that are practitioners of that particular faith or work.  That is to say, to really be a good Christian, you must not only have a basic understanding of what the religion represents, but you must also live up to that representation in your life and your actions, as well as for those that have a degree in Engineering, for instance, must know their craft and exercise their skills and knowledge in a competent way so as to make their living by it.

Although it is fair to say that many of us do not feel qualify to proselytize or to teach someone the art of our particular trade, there is an incumbent responsibility for every believer to stay consistent with, as well as to uphold their beliefs in the public sphere.     That means that those that are Sunday believers, or perhaps only for the actual time spent within that church on Sunday,  andthen on all the other days of the week, they are their "real" self, are at best, nominal believers, and for all practical purposes, hypocrites to their faith.  The type of belief that is painted so faintly upon a person's demeanor is lukewarm at best, "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth," Revelation 3:16.

Most believers, however, actually do believe that they are of the flock, and will justify their belief by demonstrating actions that they have done on behalf of their faith, such as monetary donations, donations of time and labor to their church, the bringing up of children in the faith, bible study, prayer, and the observance of faith-based limitations on their behaviors, as all being representative examples of their good deeds and good works.  While one must respect this type of devotion as having substance, the true test of any substantive faith is when it is tested in the cauldron of life's vicissitudes.

There will be times, perhaps even every day, but more often not, to which your faith will most definitely be the real issue of your test, whether recognized by yourself or not.  It is in these times, that your real implicit belief will be shown to be incorruptible and thereby strong like a shining shield or on the other hand your belief will cower down and fade as if it never existed.  If, when given to the test, you know explicitly that something that you are being challenged to do, challenged to conform to, challenged to be or not to be, and you conform to what it is because you fear for your bodily safety, suffering, privation, or similar, you have effectively written in stone exactly the type of man that you really are.

Do not fool yourself, and claim that you are what you are not, because those that will not stand with their faith in times of a significant test which harbors a significant cost will surely reap exactly what they have sowed.  True faithfulness, means true commitment, and if you are not a good and faithful servant to your Lord, than you never truly were part of the faith or part of the flock, rather instead, you represent in truth: fool's gold.  So too you cannot ever be a secret believer, believing that your faith is your own little private secret between you and your Lord, thinking that God will understand your discretion and applaud you for it, whereas in truth, it's a house made out of straw, unable to withstand either wind or fire.

Meet your New Family, the State

Today's State is often at odds with families, for a lot of reasons, some valid, most not, to which the most important reason why the State wants to be the de facto kingpin of your family is that by so doing, the State puts themselves into a far better position in order to indoctrinate children, for after all, it is written, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).  While it is true that both the State and parents want obedience from their children, only one of these parties truly has their children's best interests in mind.

Although your children do live with you, their waking hours, especially during the school year, are not spent exclusively at home, but rather are spent Monday to Friday predominantly at school, to which, you, the parent, are the outsider, as to what actually transpires within the school grounds.  This, in itself, isn't necessarily bad; it may well be desirable, since parents have work and other obligations to attend to during school hours, as well as the fact that there is a necessity for some sort of educational responsibility to be shouldered by some entity, in order to properly educate children.  

The problem with most public education today, is that the educational system itself, answers for the most part, to their master, and that master is not the taxpaying parents of the children in aggregate, but the State, to which these schools ultimately get their funding, their infrastructure, and their rules. The upshot of all this, is that in many cases, the State and the family are not really on the same page, with the children being caught within the crossfire.  The State has relentlessly, over time, aggrandized onto itself, more and more responsibilities that typically were once the exclusive domain of the family, which to a significant extent, have very little to do with the actual true education of children.  This means that the State wants to provide meals for children, immunization for children, study halls for children, State-sanctioned educational agenda for children, teacher's aides or tutors for children, after school care for children, outside activities for children, intrusive supervision of the family life of these children, and through all this an abiding interest and obligation to track and collate everything about these students and their family.

While on the surface, these things provided for students by the State seems beneficial, maybe even appropriate, it isn't a fair game, or right, to wrest parental authority and structure from the parents.  For instance, the thing that the State has ready access to is a monetary credit system which provides the State with essentially unlimited resources and money, whereas most parents' means are somewhat limited or very limited.   This access to money is very important for the State, so as to make it clear to the children as well as the parents that without the State's help, that the parents and children would suffer.  Unfortunately, this means that the more that the State provides in services and aid to your children, through the borrowing of governmental funds and misappropriation of the taxpayer's monies, the greater their influence on your children, who perceive the State as the great benefactor.

The State has a master plan to inexorably replace family units with the State so that the State can indoctrinate what use to be your children into the proper mindset to serve the State.  In order to accomplish this, the State first ingratiates itself with your children, and then it incentivizes poor people to give up their parental rights for the good of their children, so that the State can clothe, feed, and house these children under mandated conditions authorized and enforced by the State.  Once, the State has effectively assumed those rights, parents will be parents in name only, and each family unit will be effectively subsumed by the State, having merged into this brave new world.

The Ultimate Success

Life in America, seems to be a constant race to achieve this or to achieve that, to overcome this or to overcome that, to become this or to become that, or perhaps to mentor for this or be mentored by that, and so forth, until we breathe our last.  There isn't necessarily anything wrong with having this basic viewpoint, at least at a minimum, for those that are motivated and goal driven, it certainly seems sensible, but life at a fundamental level is beyond the somewhat bleak belief that we are in a constant race against our own mortality.  It is fair to state, then, that if we don’t know what life is about, than it will be problematic, at best, to live a life that is most productive for ourselves as well as the people that we interact with and care most about on an everyday basis.

The issue that so many have, living in a country that is as rich as America, with so many material things as America, that often give us pleasure or satisfaction in our daily activities, is that we get drawn into believing that what our five senses relates to, must be the very meaning of life, but alas, that isn't even in the ballpark.  For those that identify strictly with the material aspect of their body, their mind, their toys, their house, their job, their family, and so forth, life at best, is wonderful as long as the mind, prosperity, and health are good, while often it is despairing or tragic when not.  In any event, good or bad, time has a way of marching on, so that even for the best of us, effective life comes to an end sooner than what we would wish, and for those struggling or meandering, the end seems interminable or endless but comes nevertheless.

The biggest trap that mankind puts itself into far too often, is that they self-identify with the person staring back from them in the mirror; and while that is certainly understandable, they fail to recognize often enough that the real you is actually your invisible soul encased within your physical body, which is quite unfortunate, because it is the soul that is immortal and the body that most definitely is not, so that those that spend an inordinate amount of time feeding the mortal and ignoring the immortal have veered significantly off the narrow path.  We read in Genesis 1:27 that "…God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him…" to which a reasoned contemplation of this wisdom necessitates the conclusion that the image we are made in, cannot be our body, which is mortal and ever changing, and not even our mind, which is constantly cogitating all sorts of different information, instead it can only be that still, small voice within. It is that still and constant voice that is ever there, never to leave us, always with us, that is our real self, and this voice is the touchstone that allows us to recognize that the image of God is within each of us.

The cares and concerns of this world, troubles us, baffles us, engages us, to which, so many trap themselves into believing that this world is all that there ever is, and thereby it is a never ending task to make the world conform to what we believe it should be.  Perhaps that goal is noble, perhaps misguided, or a bit of both, but clearly it is missing the big picture, which is the fundamental purpose, the fundamental success, is to first recognize whom that we are and upon that recognition to fulfill that ideal.   When we truly understand that our neighbor is our self, because our neighbor is made in the same image of God, no better, no worse, it is then that we become enlightened, and is then that we recognize as if for the first time, that our real self, is part and parcel of God, and knowing this, we have unlocked the door that will through mindful devotion bring us to the ultimate success, which is the re-uniting of our soul to our Creator, which is how it was, in the beginning.

The True Cost of Free Trade

In any country, to which contained within its basic motto, is the phrase "land of the free", something like free trade sounds just like what epitomizes what it is to be a great American.  The problem is that free trade and freedom aren't the same and there are lots of reasons for that belief.  First off, free trade, in its most naked form, means trade between nations that does not charge for imposts, duties, excises, tariffs, or initiate quotas on imports and in theory both nations operate within those same rules and regulations.  This means, that each country is pretty much operating with open borders, allowing the unlimited import and export of goods and without a doubt, by so doing, the end result will most definitely be, more cost-effective goods and thereby a net savings for these goods which can be quite considerable.   That does sound great, but it's one thing for the United States not to charge imposts and such for trade between one State to another State, which makes sense so that goods can transfer and be sold seamlessly by State to another State without governmental interference, but it is an entirely different thing to open up our borders to anyone and anything that is not an integral member of and subject to the laws and regulations of the United States.

For instance, there was a time when slavery was legal in America, to which those that utilized slaves, were able to extract labor from those slaves, for free, subject to the procurement and basic upkeep of said slave.  Not too surprisingly, when Europeans began to migrate in numbers to America during antebellum times, most of those immigrants chose to migrate to the Northern, non-slaveholding States, because those immigrants often came here with nothing more than the clothes on their back as well as a deep desire to earn their fair keep by their labor in this country of opportunity.  This meant that all things being equal, immigrants did not wish to or felt they could not compete against slave labor, and wisely chose not to do so.

Today, in America, there are all sorts of laws, rules, regulations, taxes, and so forth that cover a whole host of circumstances which for the most part are fair, sensible, and knowable, within America.  The thing is once the free trade door is open, this means that many businesses and labor within America have to compete against other sovereign nations, to which, the playing field is most definitely not fair, because their rules, circumstances, and conditions are often materially different than America.  To make matters far worse for many citizens of America, as the equipment and knowhow that we create here through our ingenuity, is exported to other nations, than there is virtually no hope that our labor will be cost effective against those same developing nations.

For major corporations, free trade is often a godsend, because they benefit from being able to produce and create products at a lower cost point, while increasing their gross margins, which serves to boost their stock price and market capitalization value.  This means that free trade definitely benefits certain parties which would be: the upper echelon of multi-national corporations and their stockholders, the idle rich, the non-working retirees, and wards of the State, because goods overall are cheaper.  The people that lose because of free trade are all those working in jobs to which they are threatened by or subject to wage compression, job loss, insecurity, non-advancement, trade union erosion, and so forth.

Those that have-- love free trade, because free trade most definitely gives them even more; whereas those that have not, are caught in a perpetual catch-22, as they do get more bang for their buck, but they have far fewer bucks to try to get that bang.

TSA Precheck and other Gimmicks to separate those with money and connections from everyone else

There are several modes of transportation that a given individual can utilize on any given day such as an automobile, bus, train, subway, or airplane; but it is only those that travel via airplanes that have to suffer through endless bureaucratic security lines that often seem disorganized, inconsiderate, and completely pointless.  The reason for being for these security lines is in theory to help keep us safe, but it seems simply to serve no other purpose than to waste countless hours of time from everyday citizen's lives without any real effectiveness. 

Not too surprisingly, just like about everything else that happens in America, security lines, and how you have to deal with them, depends a lot of whom you are.  That is to say, if you work for the government, the military, an important corporation, have money to spend on privileged treatment, or a person with real connections, and so forth, you aren't going to be treated like a "commoner" when arriving at the airport, instead, you will be permitted to walk though expedited lines, because you are special, or have paid extra money, or gone through some sort of vetting process, which allows you to circumvent the airport security lines set aside specifically for the rest of us.

This means, in effect, that there are two basic classes of people at the airport, those that are treated differently as special and privileged people, whether through connections or a monetary payment, and those that have to suffer through circuitous lines, harassment, body scans, pat downs, and the general annoyance of being treated as "presumed guilty" when going through security.  Because of the fact that people are treated differently depending upon their security classification or status, the situation for most of the citizens of the United States at airports, is rather intolerable, while for those that don't have to go through the time wasting and indignity of being treated like sheep, are blithely unconcerned, and feel that this sort of special tribute given to them, is the least that their country should do for them.

In theory, this is supposed to be a country that treats all of its citizens equally, with laws equally applied, but airports are a prime example of how this is completely untrue.  While the government can give or site all sorts of reasons for allowing TSA Precheck, and other assorted programs, that allow certain people to have privileges, and thereby are given a green light of "presumed innocence" while all others, by virtue of the fact that they are none of these things, are all grouped as "suspects", that sure doesn't seem right.

When laws are unequally applied and those that write those very laws and their most important constituents to them are the primary beneficiaries of such laws, than those laws will not be changed, because the power brokers of America are unaffected by them; whereas, if it was the other way around, that the elites of this country in order to fly commercially, had now to be subjected to immeasurable lines, basic disrespect by security personnel that their taxes pay for, as well as groping and strip searches by these very same poorly trained and weakly reasoning personnel, then it all would change the very next day.