The correct path

We are told to "know thyself" and this should be the foundation for our outlook on life and what we should or should not be concentrating our energies upon, for if we are very busy, in doing this or doing that, but do not understand the purpose behind it all, then in all likelihood, we are out of focus as to our true purpose in life.

Above all, we should desire to know the truth, of life, both temporal and eternal, and of whom and what we are.  This should be foremost in our minds, in addition, as we mature and pick up wisdom, we may need to make adjustments of our viewpoint to reflect this new knowledge, for those that have closed minds for whatever reason, or minds that do not desire to contemplate ideas and things beyond their self, have closed the most important portal that they could ever imagine that they would ever need.

In all of this, our Creator desires us to find the right path and to avoid the perils of false paths and false promises, yet, so many are so tied to this physical world, that they cannot see beyond it, perhaps because they are struggling just to survive in this world, or have not the time or mind to think outside of their own narrow viewpoints, or have been trained, indoctrinated, or taught things that are false, by those with good intentions or not, that they are mired in a situation that they cannot seem to escape from.

Yet, one's mind is always active, it is always yearning, it is always searching, and only a conscious and deliberate effort to suppress such by drugs, alcohol, things of the world, pressures of the world, or purposeful ignorance, will preclude us from understanding that there really is something beyond our five senses that completes us.  For instance, everything that we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch, we believe for a certainty to be true, yet those senses are not our only senses, for all those senses are physical, yet, one's own mind, though physical in the sense that we have a brain, is beyond physicality in the sense that thinking consists of a conscious mind, the subconscious mind, but also the super-conscious mind, which is universal in nature, and beyond our normal awareness.

The daily perspective that we carry with us, has an immense influence upon our outlook and what we do or don't do in our interactions and our activities on a given day.  So many, out of habit, out of expectation, and out of desire, trod the road that has been already been taken by so many others, basically in conformance to others, when, what they should at a minimum do, as they approach that fork in the road, is to at least carefully consider taking the road not taken, for that will make all the difference, for the lasting peace and fulfillment that one so longs for, will only be found by a conscious decision to find the source of it all and to not rest until that source is found,

Each of us is gifted with a good conscience, of which the greatest use of such a conscience, is to actually utilize such, for done correctly our conscience will act like a beacon of illumination showing us the correct path that we must journey upon.

The false protection of the Miranda warning

Most, everyone through television, or just general talking, or through reading, are basically familiar with the Miranda warning, in which, police have been instructed in conformance with the Supreme Court decision of 1966, that suspects be advised of their rights upon being arrested, which most importantly involves the right to be silent and to thereby not to answer questions that may be incriminating or could be considered to be incriminating in nature, as well as the right to have an attorney.  This means that suspects that have not been informed of their Miranda rights and are thereby subsequently questioned and/or interrogated cannot have such evidence obtained by these statements be admissible in court against that suspect.

As in most situations, the effect of the Miranda warning, was quickly adjusted to by the police and law enforcement agencies, so that in actuality, the reading of such a warning is something akin to the reading of Terms and Conditions of rental contracts, or medicinal prescriptions, and other such things, that basically nobody really pays much attention to.  That is to say, in fit, form, and function, those that are arrested and have been read their Miranda rights, and then agreed that they understand such rights, pretty much behave as if they don't really understand that they have the Constitutional right to shut up.

This essentially means, for all practical purposes, that the Miranda warning, with a small percentage of exceptions of all those that are mature, intelligent, knowledgeable, disciplined, and of a sound reasoning mind, does little or nothing to protect suspects against not only making incriminating statements, that will thereby be taken as confessions in a court of law, but to, over a period of time, perhaps also confess to things or admit to stuff that didn't actually really occur.   While, on the surface, most people strongly believe that there isn't any sort of thing as a false confession, those very same people believing such, have never experienced being interrogated before in which the suspect is in control of virtually nothing, and must on their own, deal with law enforcement psychological game playing, relentless pressure, along with premeditated deception, all of which will be unleashed upon them.  One must recognize, that a police interrogation is always done upon the terms and conditions of the police department, itself, of which, those doing the interrogating are highly experienced, as well as understanding completely the rules and purpose of the game, whereas the suspect knows little or nothing of what is really transpiring, and has not the experience or capacity to trade psychological blows with the police.

This so signifies that when the police interrogate a given suspect, especially considering that the confinement of the suspect puts him in a highly vulnerable position, that in many cases, actionable information will be confessed to in one way or another, even if, suspect is just basically affirming police officer's leading questions, because many of these suspects are unable to figure out a way to voluntarily stop themselves, other than saying what they believe the police want to hear, because they are fatigued, confused, discombobulated, feel threatened, and may have received false promises or assurances for cooperation.

In point of fact, all police interrogations with suspects should be taped from the beginning to the end, of which these interrogations should be limited in their total time, as well as there should be mandated breaks, and there should be options for the suspect to opt out at certain, specific,  given points.  In addition, fairness would imply that a neutral observer should be attendant to such interrogations at all times, along with rules that specifically allow for the suspect to have bathroom breaks, rest, silence, and an opportunity for such a suspect to opt out of such an interrogation by being reminded of their Fifth Amendment rights.

All said, while there was good intentions behind the Miranda warning, in effect, the most important warning and the rules and regulations that are actually needed to protect suspects from self-incrimination, as well as coerced and false confessions, really needs to specifically address police interrogation techniques, which Miranda hasn't touched, whatsoever.

The fear of our Lord

We read in scripture, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…" Proverbs 1: 7, of which the connotation of the word "fear" needs to be understood as not so much as a physical fear, but rather more akin to an ultimate respect and an ultimate reverence for our God, for if we do not have these things within our character for our Creator, wherever will we develop it for anyone or anything else.  This thus means that those that recognize that there is a power above them, that is omnipotent, omniscience, and eternal, will, if they are seekers of true knowledge, conduct themselves in such a manner that reflects this truth.

God does not wish us to cower in fear at his awesome power, for God has actually provided us with free will and a free conscience to go about our business, which indicates, that this great gift of freedom is also the greatest gift that we can bestow upon one another, for just as we are not automatons of our Lord, as his little playthings, so then we should not want to treat others as anything less than free agents of the same God that created us in the first place.

However, the corollary of freedom is responsibility, and the beginning of wisdom is to understand that freedom without responsibility is a form of chaos, along with being demonstrative proof of a lack of purpose, for if we do not truly know who and what we really are, then however are we to know how to properly behave one to another.   This then means that God wishes us to create that foundational rock of which we can build our lives upon and thereby bring forth a civilization which unites in recognizing that each is created by the exact same hand of God, and that therefore all are entitled to liberty, fairness, and justice.

If, on the other hand, mankind devolves into believing, that man is the measure of all things, than any hope of  worldwide lasting peace, fairness, calmness, and justice will vanish into the thin air of a world starved of life-giving oxygen and the fresh water of truth, for those that do not fear the Lord, are the very same that fell away from God in the first place, believing that they could be gods, having the power to discern both good and evil, when in reality, they left Light and fell into darkness.

Those, that above all, pursue God with the diligence of one that will not rest until they find the end of all sorrows, will on their journey, increase their knowledge and wisdom in such a manner, that they will rise above the daily bickering and backbiting of human interactions, to recognize that all is well within their soul, for they will perceive others that are flailing, as what they really are, lost, and pathetically grasping at all sorts of straws as substitutes for God, without ever truly fearing God.  For when one finds their rest in God, one too will find love, and then all will be right for love is the pot of gold that those that righteously fear God discover anew.

Currency Devaluation

America is so use to the dollar that they cannot conceive of a time when the dollar was not its currency, of which, the nationalized dollar, that is to say, the unit of money known as our dollar, was created by the National Banking Act of 1863, which essentially established the federal dollar as the sole legitimate currency of America.  This meant that our currency would no longer be issued and redeemable by individual banks, but instead be issued by banks under a national charter, which allowed the United States to therefore create money so as to fund its war efforts and to keep the country solvent.

Though in the ensuing years there have been many changes and amendments to our currency, such as the fact that the dollars so printed are not redeemable in gold or silver, nor are the dollars as traded on foreign markets redeemable for gold.  So too, because of the size and might of our economy, along with the stability of our republic, the dollar, in fit, form, and function has become the reserve currency of the world, despite the fact that the dollar is not actually backed by anything of value, other than the debt notes that are issued and bought by governments, foreign and domestic, as well as investors throughout the world.

All of the above is fine, to a certain extent, until such a time when it no longer is fine, by, for instance, a government consistently running massive deficits, of which America has been doing so in recent years, of which the national deficit has increased from $5.65 trillion dollars in 2000, with a total debt load as a percentage of GDP at 55.8%, to 2018's national deficit at $20.62 trillion dollars, with a total debt load as a percentage of GDP recognized at 103.81% as of the third quarter of 2017.

The reason that such a deficit does matter is the fact that currencies fluctuate day by day, and year by year, of which, the result of such fluctuation is the inflation and deflation that are the consequences of it, but that is a small inconvenience as compared to outright currency devaluation, which many countries have done, and continue to do, in order to reset and to re-anchor their currency  at a new rate so as to stimulate their economy by boosting exports, while correspondingly reducing imports, as well as reducing significantly the cost of servicing their national debt, as compared to completely becoming insolvent.

Of course, currency devaluation is extremely disruptive for those that have assets in such a currency, because when that currency is devalued or replaced, the old currency loses its value at an exceedingly high rate of 50% or even far more, of which, those that are aware of such a devaluation being imminent are sure to come out far better than those that are unawares. 

This then means that currency devaluations are done on a government to government basis, of which, major foreign trading partners are consulted and negotiated with, along with the fact that those that issue such currency on a national basis, most definitely are the ones that set the structure for the new currency of which the institutions that issue and set the value of the replacement banknotes are the biggest beneficiaries of the new currency for they literally write the rules of it, whereas, the mass of the public, and all those that utilize the currency for their daily transactions and pay, will find that the devaluation hits them right in the pocketbook, effectively eviscerating their lifetime of savings and earnings, overnight.

Social Media, the Police State, and our right to privacy

Though, the words "right to privacy" does not actually show up in our Constitution, such rights are implicit within our law of the land, with often the Fourth Amendment constituting such, as it states that: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…"  Yet, the way that social media is setup and the way that we are identified through our online activities of all sorts, creating digital footprints by the very usage of our cell phones, emails, text messages, and website activity, of which, most of this, is being accomplished within a prism which allows explicitly or implicitly for our information to be monitored, correlated, analyzed and viewed, essentially eviscerates any rights or expectation of privacy that we would in general, like to control.

That is to say, the terms and conditions for all the social media and websites that we interact with, or the hi-technology devices that we utilize, are not really in our control, but are actually in the control of mega-corporations that may well use such data for our betterment, but in many cases, use such data basically for the exploitation of its customer base, primarily, in order to make money or create revenue in one form or another.  Additionally, such mega-corporations have a vested interest in being on the right side of the government that regulates and taxes such entities, so that, whether done deliberately or reluctantly, such data often ends up in the hands of the government, no matter how much this has supposedly being obscured in such a manner, to protect the identity of individuals.

When mega-corporations as well as governmental agencies know everything about you, because they are able to follow your digital footprint from your cell phone to your car, to your laptop, and to your credit and debit cards, they have an incredible amount of actionable information, that allows them to have a complete profile of your proclivities, of which, significant parts of such information, would be of the type that you would not voluntarily admit to in public, yet, it is in the public view, for those all-seeing entities.

This then means, that our privacy is no longer in our hands, for it is essentially out of our hands, so that, whether such entities have our best interests in mind or not, they have enough information on us, to be able to compromise us, and this then is a form of awesome power and control.  It is one thing to live one's life in a fishbowl, such as a celebrity, but celebrities are very well compensated and have consciously made that tradeoff of sacrificing privacy for fame and/or money.  It is an entirely different thing, though, when your average citizen, is basically exposed completely at a fundamental level, of which, that never was their purposeful intention, nor was it their purposeful desire, nor does it appear that they can ever turn the bright intruding lights off.

The social media sites that we visit and the hi-technology tools that we daily use, should be, fundamentally, for our benefit, instead they are used as a powerful clear portal into our very being, for those that have no privacy are prisoners of those privileged few that see everything and hear everything, for they then know everything and that god-like knowing gives them the power to manipulate and to thereby control us, which means they basically own us.

Democracy, taxes, and wealth

In America, all those that are citizens who are eighteen years of age, of either sex and of any race or creed are eligible to vote, though there are exceptions to this rule, such as those that are incarcerated felons, or even ex-felons.  This would seem to suggest, since voters get to vote upon the biggest propositions, State and local elections, the members of congress, and the President, that the representatives of the people would truly be their representatives.  While it is true, that the judicial branch is not typically voted upon by the people, the members selected for that branch, are nominated and selected by representatives of the people.

All of this, would suggest that in a country that as reported by cnn.com, in which: "The Top 1% now holds 38.6% of the nation's wealth," and "The bottom 90% now holds only 22.8% of the nation's total wealth," that such a massive disparity in wealth would be shrinking over time, but, in fact, that wealth has relentlessly been increasing in recent years, so that truly the superrich in America have seen their wealth compound and increase by dramatic amount whilst the vast majority of Americans have seen their aggregate wealth get appreciably lower.

While it is true, that America, as a land of entrepreneurs allows its citizens to pursue their financial goals without undue governmental interference, the fact that so few have so much, and that so many have so little, in the land in which in aggregate no country has more wealth in total, doesn't make any real logical sense, for the law makers elected by the people, are the same law makers that set the rules of the road in regards to taxation, capital accumulation, and re-distribution of a portion of that wealth, but the end results would indicate that the system is fundamentally flawed or corrupt or both.

America has a lot of laws, as well as its principles, in which some of these principles are lofty and seem on paper to be fair, such as our progressive income taxation, as well as estate taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, along with well reasoned governmental rules and regulations, in regards to minimum wages, welfare, and laws to protect the public, of which, all of these together, should be something that while permitting and encouraging innovation and hard work, also is providing a minimum safety net, fairness, and opportunity so that everyone can have some sort of presence or seat at the table of American prosperity.

The bottom line, though, is even though the poor and the middle class of America, do vastly outnumber the rich and the superrich of America, the power structure of this country does not reflect the democratic equality of all peoples within this nation, for the superrich despite being considerably outnumbered democratically for they are limited to just one vote per person, have in fit, form, and function, a system of laws and taxation that favors that class of people while suppressing as almost a permanent underclass the poor, along with foisting upon the backs of the middle class the full freight of such taxation,  yet, not suffering from such, themselves. 

This would so indicate, that the democratic vote in its implementation, gives the public the illusion that this is a government of and by the people, whereas, in reality it certainly is not.

Congressional apportionment in the aftermath of the civil war

Before the civil war, the slave owning States, were able to count their slaves for the Electoral College as well as the apportionment in congress as "three fifths of all other persons", whereas, after the conclusion of said war, since slavery had been eradicated, such a distinction of "three fifths" was eliminated, indicating that this category of people was replaced instead by "whole numbers of free persons."  This would seem to be wholly positive, but the counting of such people that were formerly treated for such purposes as "three fifths" having been replaced by giving them full numerical value, ended up by being twisted in such a manner that by disenfranchising these particular people from the vote, southern States, actually picked up additional Electoral College votes, as well as an increased apportionment in congress, so that, incredibly, despite losing the civil war, the southern interests actually increased their congressional representation, because of the Constitutional reclassification of other persons to free persons.  This meant, in practicality, the ruling structure of the south, with the exception of a few short years in the Reconstruction period, was for all practical purposes, the same as it had been previous to the war.

The above would imply strongly that for the south, their lost cause, was not nearly as lost as it might have appeared to have been on paper, for numerical representations does matter, and with each State getting exactly two Senators, along with the southern interests increasing their congressional apportionment, this meant, that though still outnumbered, their considerable block of votes and influence would have an outsized impact upon law making, budget allocations, and the general order of things, of which, because of this, slavery though made illegal in name, was able to continue in a revised and perverted form as in convict leasing, sharecropping, and peonage, so that, the ruling class of the south, was able to continue in its ways, especially in consideration that the federal power of the government, in the aftermath of the civil war, for the most part, did not interfere or desire to interfere with local and State laws in the south, and would not do so, until well into the 20th century.

This would also strongly suggest that congressional apportionment that simply takes into account a given resident population within a State, without taking into account their enfranchisement to vote, their citizenship status, their incarceration status, and so on and so forth, is flawed, yet it is those numbers of people that makes a material difference as to how many or how few representatives are allocated to each of the respective States, in which, quite obviously, States that have more representatives have more influence upon public policy than States that have less.  So too, when certain classes, creeds, or colors of citizens are effectively disenfranchised from voting, than those that thereby become the elected representatives of such a State, are not actually representing all of the people, but are in effect, representing a portion of such, so that the public policy voted on and discussed by those representatives will favor that class of citizens that voted for them, while precluding all others.

Your Vote

The United States of America has no law compelling any of its citizens to vote, in fact, there aren't any laws that compel a citizen to register to vote, yet there have been historically, very specific laws to preclude people, especially certain people, from being eligible to vote.  The fact that in recent times in regards to Presidential elections that less than 60% of eligible voters bother to vote, doesn't tell the full story of how few people actually do vote, for there are millions of Americans that don't bother to even register to vote, or are precluded from voting via a felony conviction, or are effectively disenfranchised from voting, because they don't have the time, they have been intimidated, functionally illiterate, or their polling booth are not convenient, so to register and then to vote is too much trouble, or they are just ignorant of the whole matter.

At the inception of America, voting was only allowed for property owning males, specifically Protestant and white, which even at that time, was not a true reflection of all the citizens residing in America.  Those whites that were born outside of America, first had to become naturalized, and if property owning, white, and Protestant, were thereby enfranchised to vote.  Then, over a period of extended time, property qualifications were eased, religious restrictions less adhered to, and free black males in some States, were enfranchised.  Despite the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, which essentially allowed all males, even those that had previously been enslaved to vote, those blacks so enfranchised, especially in the south, found that their ability to vote was soon nullified by the white ruling class of their respective State.  In 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, allowing females to vote.  In 1965, the Voting Rights Act passed allowing blacks and other minorities to bypass local laws that had effectively precluded them from being enfranchised and in 1971 the vote was extended to those that were 18 years old, whereas previously the voting age had been set at 21.

During all of this time, as those that were eligible to vote expanded, there was always the law that was on the books, as compared to the law in practice.  So that, for blacks as well as other minorities, that were eligible to vote, found that when trying to register to vote, that they could not, because they were unable to pay poll taxes, or pass literacy tests designed specifically so that they would not be passed, or be physically intimated, or be threatened with loss of employment, or the registration was in the part of the community in which it was not safe to travel to, and so on and so forth. 

Those that controlled the nucleus of the voting registration, made it their point to see that those that they wished to vote, voted, and those that they wished to not vote, did not.  So that, even those registered to vote, could still be stopped at the polling booth, through intimidation tactics, outright violence, identification laws that were prejudicial against those that were poor, and so forth.   In addition, besides the act of voting, there is the actual act and art of vote counting, of which innumerable elections have been accused of all sorts of fraudulent vote counts, of very suspicious natures, in order for the "correct" result to be certified and thereby approved.

The main reason so much has been done to get the "right" people to vote and have their votes counted, and for the "wrong" people to be disenfranchised and to have their votes nullified, is because voting actually matters.  It matters as to who the elected officials are from the executive branch, to the legislative, to the judicial, to the equivalency of all these on a local and state level, to school boards, to propositions large and small, to taxation, and to everything else that is put up to the vote of the people, so that it most definitely matters who is permitted to vote, and how honestly those votes are counted, for the people are never truly represented unless each person is entitled and enfranchised for their own vote.

The value of a good education

The main purpose of any education on any subject is to teach its tenets of which that foundation, in order for it to be sound and right, must be built upon truth, and nothing else.  This therefore means that our educational system has an obligation to first know itself, and then to impart such knowledge through books and teachers to its students so that they can properly assimilate the subject matter.  When it comes to subjects such as the English language and its correct structure, or mathematics and its laws, these subjects are both well known and have little controversy attached to them, for these have specific fixed rules and principles attached to them that are well known, uncontroversial, and must be well learned in order to know the subject matter. 

On the other hand, there are many subjects that are in some sort of flux, such as various religious beliefs and creeds, as well as evolution in all of its many forms and guises, in which different beliefs affect the very processing of such information and different cultures teach us different things.  In any subject, in which the information being imparted cannot be definitive because these are essentially reasoned suppositions, or interpretations through the prism of one's given viewpoint, or general theories; such subject matter, should be discussed in a manner that recognizes, that such a thing as truth on these subject matters, is elusive, because it cannot be known for an absolute certainty, so such teaching must take into account that these subject matters require thinking, discernment, and an open mind.

The overall purpose of education is to see that fundamentally all students are proficient at a level that makes them functionally literate in their society and further, that they are able to think and reason in a manner that allows them to apply their learning successfully to their life, and especially to their present-day concerns and duties.  For if you are unable to take such education that has been taught to you, and successfully apply it in the world at large, than such education has little utility for you and does not benefit in whole, the society that you interact with on a day-to-day basis.

This then sends the very real message, that education at every level and at every turn, must relate what is being taught in class to the actual real world, for it is in the application of this knowledge, that proves whether such education has been successful or not.  After all, if students are unable to relate facts, theories, history, music, and so on and so forth, to their circumstances that they deal with in the outside world, than that education has not properly been assimilated.

This means that all students that are functionally illiterate, have failed by their educational system.  So too, those that are unable to successfully apply their knowledge in a manner that permits them to advance in their personal as well as their work lives has not been successful either.  It is in the application of education that proves or disproves whether such has been successfully comprehended or not.  It is of vital importance that education imparts a firm foundation for as many as possible, because those that are unable to think and reason properly, or are unable to discern well between truth and deception, are vulnerable to the unscrupulous that will exploit them for their selfish benefit, again and again.

The retreat of labor

In 1833, the British government passed the Factory Act, specifically addressing conditions for children employed at factories at the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution.  Incredibly, this Act which was an improvement upon what came before, mandated that children 9-13 years of age could work no more than nine hours a day, and that children of 13-18 years of age, could work no more than twelve hours a day, of which, the passage of these laws, were proof positive of the ruthless exploitation of children,  especially considering that this Act was a material improvement on the previous policies of pretty much letting factories do whatever that they so desired with child labor.

In fact, today's forty hour labor week, only became the norm in the 20th century, whereas previously throughout most of history, workers labored from sunup until sundown, with perhaps, the Sabbath off.  Even then, before forty hours became the norm and thereby the law of the country, it was a long arduous process getting there, something that today's workers, for the most part, are blithely unaware of.  It was not until 1938, when the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed by Congress, that the forty hour labor week became the law, but even then, there had to be many amendments over the years before such a law, was essentially in effect for everyone.

Yet, today, despite there being laws on the books which ostensibly are fair for all, there are exceptions to those laws, which invariably favor the employer as opposed to the employed.  For instance, though there are Federal as well as State mandated minimum wage laws, there are exceptions to those laws, which allows employers, if they so choose, to pay less than the minimum wage such as for tipped employees who earn just $2.13/hour, under the theory that their shortfall in wages will be made up by tips by patrons of such restaurants.  So too, to get around paying overtime for employees that work more than eight hours in a given day, employers can opt to use the weekly overtime standard, and if that employee does not exceed 40 hours in that work week, even though they exceeded eight hours on a given day of work, they will not receive overtime pay.  Then too, some employers don't even have to pay a holiday premium for work done on common holidays, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, or even, gosh, Labor Day, as again there are exemptions to this rule. 

This then means that companies such as Walmart, the largest non-government employer in America, can take their long standing policy of paying an extra $1/hour for Sunday workers and simply eliminate it, because they have the right and option to do so.  All of the above, really comes down to the fact, that individuals do not have a lot of power or influence upon their working conditions, their working hours, their schedule, their working pay, their working overtime, or their working benefits, because the laws on the books are often circumvented or corrupted, and all of this mainly because most employees are not unionized, leaving them to fight the good fight, alone.

The Federal minimum wage has not risen since 2009, and according to  the National Employment Law Project, "42.4 percent of American workers currently make less than $15 an hour," of which, $15/hour is considered to be a reasonable living wage for most areas of the country.  Also, as reported by shmoop.com, "In 1945, union membership peaked at 35% of non-agricultural workers," whereas today, "only 12% of all workers are union members."  This does clearly indicate, that the most powerful forces in legislative law, in government, and in employment, made it their purpose to do whatever it took to reduce their labor expenditures by all means, fair or foul, and have been incredibly successful at it, for America today, for the average laborer, has lost significant ground, despite the rise of the collective wealth of this great nation.

The burning bush

We read in Holy Scripture in Exodus 3:2 "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed."  This signifies that the flame of God's light is a fire that consumes nothing, yet illuminates all.  So that, the greatest wisdom that we can ever achieve is the wisdom that shows us all, without destroying anything that has been created, meaning, that acts of violence cannot and will not create lasting peace or justice, as well as destructive and negative actions and attitudes, do nothing to bring forth good and positive vibrations nor the warmth of compassion and caring.

We cannot physically see God because the dimension that God resides in, is a dimension wholly beyond the one that we typically identify with by our five senses, but instead, is a dimension that is beyond time and space.  So too, the fact that God is perceived by us as an unquenchable fire, yet totally under control, which thereby brings forth to us stunning, bright light, but does not burn anything up by this fire, demonstrates that God's awesome power is and always will be under His complete domain, that indeed despite mankind's wrong-headed belief that he is the master of his own fate, instead, God is the eternal master of it all.

In order to burn off the dross of our ignorance, without destroying the body or the mind, only a fire that is non-destructive can provide the heat and light that will remove the ignorance from the scales of our eyes, as well as to provide us the insight to see clearly the pathway of who and what we really are. Yet, it is still up to us, as free beings with free will, to accept this gift from God, and to thereby make good of it, or to continue in our darkness of doubt and unawareness.

Those that do not embrace the burning bush that is immanent inside of them, instead live inside caves of varying degrees of darkness, of which progress is stymied time and time again, because it is difficult to make good progress, when you cannot clearly see the way and the direction that you should be going, so that, at best, it is an educated guess, and at worse, totally wrong.  Yet, such darkness, even the darkest darkness of them all, will for a certainty be eliminated within a blink of an eye, as if that darkness never existed, when the burning bush suddenly appears with its great magnificent illumination.

Such an appearance of a burning bush would for virtually all people, be the most vivid and the most intense experience by far of their entire life, because when a door to a higher dimension is suddenly opened, bringing forth brightness and such love that you have never experienced before, it will, as a matter of course, completely overwhelm you in a manner that will awestruck you, and make you to believe, for the very first time, that all previously was vanity, that clearly you knew not what you were talking about, that indeed,  to be truly God fearing is the very first step in gaining true and lasting wisdom.

Sales tax and purchases

Consumers have to purchase certain items such as clothes, food, healthcare, and shelter, in order to live and to function well in society, in which, different States and different localities and counties within States have different sales tax rules, in fact, there are still five States that do not charge a sales tax on purchases, with the balance of the other States most definitely doing so.  The sales tax, itself, is of fairly recent vintage and only came into form in the 1930s, and even then the majority of States had no sales tax, but by the time the 1960s came, the sales tax was now the law in forty five States.  So too, when the sales tax was first initiated, like virtually all taxes, it was fairly reasonable, so that in a State such as California, their original sales tax rate was the only 2.5% in 1933, whereas, today, in some counties and localities of that State their sales tax  rate runs as high as 9.75%.

Then, as might be expected, the sales tax is not uniformly applied to the same goods or category of goods in every State, so that some States do indeed charge a sales tax for candy, soda, dietary supplements, prepared food from restaurants, some groceries but not all groceries, in which, usually groceries are taxed at a reduced sales tax rate.  Another issue with a sales tax is the fact, that unlike, for instance, gasoline, or the purchase of an airline ticket, in which any taxes and fees associated with such are integrated within the price, the sales tax is added onto the item so that for those budgeting for goods and calculating their expenses in which literally every penny matters, this is difficult to calculate, because of the inconsistency of items applicable to such and how sales taxes are applied.

Another issue to consider is the fact since a sales tax is uniformly applied at the same rate for all it is, by definition, non-progressive, because the same sales tax percentage applies whether you are rich or poor, and hence the sales tax is regressive in its nature.  This then leads to the point that there probably should be items, most particularly food as well as clothing, that should not have a sales tax associated  with them, because such a tax unfairly burdens those that have the least amount of money as well as options, further pointing to the fact that the reason such taxation is added onto the most inclusive list as possible, has more to do with State and local governments grabbing for the lowest lying fruit of taxation, without taking into consideration the capacity and wherewithal of their citizens to pay for it, let alone the fairness of it all.

All of the above signifies what people in general, suspect, that when it comes to taxation, such taxation, almost always morphs over time to take a higher percentage bite from the people’s pockets as well as to lose its focus as to its true purpose of being, so that what may begin as something that appears to be relatively benign or purposeful, providing, for instance, a direct help to State and local budgets, instead  ends up burdening even more the least amongst us.

Non-mortgage household debt and history rhyming

Non-mortgage household debt consists of student loans, credit card loans, and auto loans, in which in the fourth quarter of 2008, as reported by the newyorkfed.org the aggregate total was $2.71 trillion dollars, and after that peak, it trended down for only about two and a half years, before beginning its trend back up, and thereby surpassing its previous high indebtedness point in the fourth quarter of 2012, and currently resides at $3.76 trillion dollars as of the third quarter of 2017.  This is an increase from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2017, of 38.75%, and would imply, in fact, would more than imply, that the so-called economic recovery is significantly built upon a wall of debt.

That is to say, when people buy things, they can buy such through cash, or through cash-like instruments such as checks or debit cards, in which, those that are buying within their means, and thereby incurring no debt, are self-sustaining, and those that use debt such as credit cards, auto loans, or student loans, while being able to purchase those things are also subjecting themselves to having to pay back not only the full amount of what they have purchased, but also are subject to interest rate fees, in addition to monetary penalties for failing to make their payments on time or to meet minimum payment requirements.

This then means that there are businesses that profit directly from the indebtedness of the American public, most notably, banks or the equivalencies of banking institutions such as credit unions or other financial entities.  These banks or banking institutions are very sophisticated and extremely knowledgeable about how to transact business so that they will be able to make money from the consumers of their products, in good times or bad. 

For instance, student loans as reported by bankrate.com, are typically actually sold outright so that: “Six out of every 10 student loan dollars are now made with federal money instead of with private capital.”  The advantage of the corporate entity selling the loan is rather obvious, which is that they can make their money on the issuance of such a loan and then go back and loan some more, with the burden of the responsibility of that loan being paid back, actually being transferred to the federal government or other governmental agencies.  When it comes to auto loans, the advantage that any lender of such has, is that within the terms of their contract with the consumer, vehicles are collateralized instruments, signifying that the true owner of the asset can penalize the borrower for failure to adhere to the terms of the contract, making such subject to penalties, fees, and repossession of the vehicle, and though the sellers of such, do not actually want the vehicle back, having that option, makes it easier to originate the loan in the first place.  In regards to credit card debt, the consumer of this is often clueless about how favorable the terms are to the actual lender, for the lender can raise interest rates up to the peak rate allowed by law for these loan rates are predominantly variable.  So too, when the prime rate increases, the interest charge for those carrying a balance will also increase, and finally the usage and the credit limit of a given credit card, is solely at the discretion of that credit card issuer and not of the consumer, so that consumer credit card limits can be slashed drastically when banks are concerned about mitigating risk, especially in times of crisis.

All of the above, really seems to be like history rhyming, for before the last financial crisis occurred, the good times were said to be sustainable into the foreseeable future, which is the same song and dance that is currently being sold to the American public, but a closer look, indicates that a lot of the "prosperity "  or economic growth that we have today, has actually been built on a troubling wall of debt, and this debt, is even higher than where it was a decade ago, indicating that when the inevitable

delinquencies and defaults come; it's going to look like we have seen this all before, only this time it figures to be even worse.

Mass karma

A significant amount of people are familiar with the general concept of karma, of which, whether one believes in karma or not, karma exists, nevertheless.  Basically, karma is the spiritual law, that you surely do reap what you do sow, so that those that are so delighted to get over on somebody today, or to lie, or to cheat, or any of the negative attributes that are not harmonious with brotherly love, fairness, and justice, will, in general, create specific karma for that individual, that must be met in a future life, if it is not resolved within the current life.  This does not mean, that the exact harm that a given person does must be overcome in the exact same circumstances, but it does mean, that the imbalances in a given person's life must be fairly met, so that, if you have a history of taking from others, you must, in one way or another, in one form or another, give back.

Of course, human nature, is often looking for workarounds from having to suffer the penalty of balancing out bad karma, thinking perhaps, that prayer, general niceness, and so on and so forth, are good enough to overcome such, and perhaps for some people, this does indeed work, but within a given person's heart, what is necessary to actually be accomplished is intuitively known.  In addition, for those that have gone down the wrong path for long periods of their life, sensing that they are near the end of their physical presence of earth and then wondering what they can sincerely do to make up for the wrong that they have done as their time is now so very short, the basic answer, is that every step that you have taken down the wrong path, must be met with a step taken down the right path, and though you may not make the journey back to the straight and narrow road, at least the progress has been commenced with the steps taken in the right direction.

As in any rule, karma, included, there are exceptions to such a rule, of which, great souls, such as the Christ, other prophets, heralded or not, good people of all stripes, can, if they so desire, take on the karma of other people as a tribute made to God, for the benefit of those have committing such bad karmic acts.  This is no light step taken from these dedicated souls, for the karma they take upon them, including mass karma, can create real physical illness, financial destruction, shunning, ignominy, injustice, and all sorts of havoc that another should have suffered, but these few will take upon themselves, even unto death itself, including crucifixion.

There are no free rides in God's kingdom, and simple basic little cursory prayers are not going to correct wrong acts, though prayers and right thinking may indeed turn things around, but the bad karmic mess previously created must be cleansed in its entirety, without exception.  This signifies that those that are caught up in this world will continue to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, until such a time as they correct themselves in a manner that reflects that they recognize that acts of disharmony to God's law are injurious to the individual, demonstrated by the karma incurred.

We are fortunate, that in every era, master souls incarnate amongst us, to guide us, to teach us, to have us to learn by example, of which no greater illustration, is this, that: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15: 13), which is the epitome of he who has taken on mass karma (sin) for us.

Hedge fund managers and the fairness of taxation

Hedge fund managers can make an absolute obscene amount of money through their trading acumen in which they usually charge their investors a fee for the pleasure of those investors participating in their hedge fund, such as 2% of the value of such an investment, in addition to taking a monstrous share of the overall trading profits of 20%.  Whether this is a good deal or not for those investing with hedge fund managers is not terribly relevant, since that decision is freely made by those making such an investment.

The issue then with hedge fund managers has little to do with their activity and everything to do with their taxation.  For instance, many, though not all hedge fund managers move frenetically in and out of investments, in which, for the average investor, this would result in short term profits subsequently being taxed at ordinary income tax rates, of which these range from a rate as low as 10% to a high of 39.6%, and with some hedge fund managers making millions upon millions in a given year, you might think, they therefore must pay taxes at the highest possible ordinary income tax rate, but they do not.

The thing about the rich, is that they typically believe that they are truly different from the masses, and so it therefore follows, that anyone actually paying nearly 40% on their income in taxes, is something that only the stupid, the suckers, and the tax ignorant ever do, of which, hedge fund managers do not congregate with any of those, except as perhaps, their servants.  Instead, through gimmicks that no regular man in the street is even faintly aware of, they use something called “carried interest” along with reinsurance businesses to dodge taxes, as well as deferred income. 

The upshot of all this financial runarounds is that the hedge fund managers that obviously can easily afford to pay their fair share of taxes, off of their clearly stratospheric incomes, instead, do not.  The main reason is that because these hedge fund managers are so bright, as well as being completely consumed by making money by just about any means possible, they do not want to and apparently refuse to see taxation as something that they owe to society for that success, so certainly they do not buy into the feeling that they have any sort of obligation to the society that has allowed them the opportunity for such richness, especially in consideration that they have retained the best tax attorneys and lobbyists that money can buy, in which, what they are doing in regards to their respective tax returns is apparently legitimate,  with those tax specialists having navigated skillfully the legal labyrinth of America’s tax code.

None of the above, though, makes it right, but when it comes to the net return on investment, the taxes that you do not pay are a vital contributing force to the money that is being made, and with the mindset that is built to see inefficiencies in markets of all sorts, even minute ones, hedge fund managers won’t for even a second, consider that paying taxes as ordinary income is anything other than a massive hole to their game plan or their character. 

This then is the very crux of the problem, those without influence, such as your average citizen that receives their wages through their paychecks each week, is pretty much forced to follow the rules and to pay their respective tax rates, whereas, the guys that make more money that most of those folks will ever earn in their lifetime, clearly don’t.

God is Changeless

As humans, it is not surprising, that the prism that we view things, is based upon a human perspective, so that, when it comes to a Higher Power, the strong tendency is to attribute human emotions and human feelings and human actions to God, which while being rather convenient to do, is fundamentally flawed.  When a person looks at God, or any higher being, for that matter, treating such as an anthropomorphism, then you will attribute to God, for example, when things are going badly, that God is angry, upset, or displeased, whereas when things are going well, that God is pleased, delighted, and loving,  but it is truly a fool's philosophy, to actually believe that your behavior in any possible way, could ever change God, for if this was true, then God would forever be in a state of flux, morphing into this or that, and that is a god that changes with the tides, which is definitely not our God.

This is not to say, that God doesn't care about us and the decisions that we make, or that God is the most stoic of all, none of these are true, what is meant is that the dimension that God resides in, is far beyond our limits in which, as humans, we see the world in a manner of time, space, and material matter, and therefore believe that God must be structured in sort of the same way, which is a false belief.

Just as there are laws that govern this world, in regards to gravity, air, water, and so on, there are laws that most people are blithely unaware of, that are not limited to material things and material perspectives.   This means that our perspective from a material standpoint, is flawed, and in order to begin to understand and to begin to comprehend our God, we need to find oneness with that dimension that allows us to escape from the bonds of time and space, and this is done through focused meditation, which when done properly, allows that individual to find that One touchstone which is timeless, immortal, and perfect.

The change that we perceive in ourselves as well as in others, is the nature of the material world that we live in, for that world does indeed change for the better or for the worse, but through this adventure, and while we are on this earth, we are merely its players, so that, when playtime is over, we return to what we were before our incarnation, which is spirit, which for a time, incarnated into material form, so as to experience the duality of  life and death, hot and cold, good and evil, and so forth, for that represents life on earth.

It is difficult for us to understand or to fathom the totality of God, for our minds are limited in that sort of comprehension, because humans have limits, whereas spirit does not.  What is important to know, though, is that the image that we have been created by God is not and never was the image of a human being, but rather our immortal self that is restless here on earth, for that self, our soul, knows that until it returns to the First Cause, it is lost, and need be found.

Find a purpose that is greater than just you

For many people, those that have and those that have not, this is a selfish age, truly, an age of dog-eat-dog, with a prevailing desire to take care of their own first, and perhaps others, later, or never.  The main problem with selfishness and there are myriad problems with it, is that in order to get anyone else to help you in your self-seeking objectives, you are going to have to either deceive these people in order to utilize them to achieve or get the things that you want, or somehow, appeal to them and their innate selfishness that will thereby benefit them enough for them to ably assist you.  This type of manipulation on the other, does not bring glory to anyone, though, it can bring results, up to a point.

On the other hand, if you are able to find something of meaning or something of purpose, outside of yourself, in which by finding and working with others one is able to accomplish something of merit, this does really involve teamwork, concerted effort, and having a collective goal that will benefit others, so that together, things can and will be accomplished that were not possible by one single person, working alone, for each person, brings their own gifts and talents, their intelligence and experience, in which, one person's weakness is subsumed into another person's strength, opening up doors and avenues that would not be possible without such a unified effort.

So too, the great movements of life, the great movements of our heroes, are those that find a cause that will benefit something beyond themselves, specifically their fellow man, because they recognize that having done so, they have blazed new pathways and forged new trails that others may thereby utilize so as to take man even further than he has henceforth traveled before.   The purpose of life is to recognize that we are all truly in this together, not that we are separate beings, for when we are able to see in other people the same characteristics and same common touch points that each have or desire to have, it is far easier for us to recognize and respect that there is strength in numbers, especially when driven to serve a purpose higher than one's own limited ego, for the best in mankind is when we serve as a light that shines brightly so that all can see, as opposed to a light, hid underneath a blanket so as to benefit just that one person.

Those that take care of their own, are too limiting in their experience, for every time that we step outside and see someone that is troubled or lost or hurting, and pity that person but do nothing of substance to help that person, than we haven't done enough to address the inequities of life.  Where there is injustice we should strive to bring justice, where there is wrong we should strive to bring right, where there is hatred we should strive to bring love, because the things that we do not help to correct, or that we find not the purpose to want to correct, are the very things that will remain stumbling blocks for us and others, for the race isn't finished, until all cross it, and those that will not carry their brother, if need be, or that leave behind their sister, are running the wrong race on the wrong pathway, and thereby need to find the wherewithal and purpose to discover something greater than themselves, for if not, they will find that  their purpose for being has all been in vain.

Where is the progressive Property tax?

Every State of the Union assesses property taxes on homes, condos, apartments, and even vacant land, in which taxes received in aggregate as reported by the usnews.com were, "… the leading category of revenue for state and local governments, yielding 34 percent of tax collections."  This means that property taxes are actually more important to State and local government budgets than their respective progressive personal income tax yet, property taxes are not progressive in their application.

 Not only are property taxes not progressive, but the application of these taxes, provides a lot of power to government officials as to how properties are assessed and valued, which creates the basis for the levied tax amount. So too, in some States, there is also a millage rate imposed per thousand dollars of value of the property, in which, when property values go down via a recession and are thereby adjusted downward by tax assessors, the millage rate invariably goes up, so that often the end result, is that while the value of the home has decreased, the property tax capture by State authorities has not been appreciably reduced.  Then, there are States that cap the limit that property taxes can raise on a home owner in a given year, which, is very beneficial for owners that bought their homes well before home prices increased dramatically, for they will forever pay "below market" rates as compared to later generations that will pay the "going rate" for making their purchase at a later date.

When it comes to an income tax, in general, the more money that you earn, the higher your overall tax rate will be, which is known as a progressive tax.  However, for home owners, the amount of their property taxation will vary year by year, not because of their personal income, but by virtue of the home increasing in value, as assessed by government officials, so that, in effect, the income of a home owner is not relevant to the property taxation that they will pay on a yearly basis.  Not only that, the assessment of the value of a home, which creates its property tax basis, is made by government officials in which, despite "independent" boards of local home owners and such, this assessment is always going to favor those government officials and their perspective of the prevailing "market value" for they depend upon this revenue to meet governmental budget commitments.

In addition, the general property tax rate that States charge their residents isn’t set in stone, for like most taxes this burden has increased over the years, which isn't surprising, considering that property taxes bring in the most revenue for State and local budgets.  Then, too, special categories of citizens will pay lower property taxes than others simply because they are senior citizens, or veterans, so that the overall property tax burden isn't uniform for all.

Finally, when it comes to a significant swath of Americans, especially the middle class, their home is their biggest material asset, in which, whether their income rises or falls, or their personal situation gets better or worse, they will have to pay whatever the going rate is for their property taxes, affordable or not, whereas, if those taxes were assessed in a progressive manner, somewhat akin to how the income tax is structured, their tax burden would be more appropriately structured. That is to say, higher home price purchases, should have a higher progressive property tax rate attached to them, so that the wealthy would pay a materially higher property tax rate than the middle class, rather than our current system, which is regressive in nature, and unfairly burdens those that are simply trying to keep a toehold of the American dream.

Quantitative easing and the printing of money

The government specializes in obfuscating things so that the average citizen really doesn't know what is going on, for the purpose of such, is to take what could be explained in a rather conventional way, and instead make it somewhat confusing and to therefore control the spin in favor of the orthodox government viewpoint.  The financial crisis of 2007-2009, necessitated drastic action, yet, the end result was for the government to  work with the favored banks of America so as to reduce, in theory, the toxicity of their assets as well as to jettison growth in America, therefore, the geniuses behind the government's monetary policy came up with the concept of the central bank purchasing a total of $3.5 trillion dollars of government securities which lowered interest rates for a historically long period while also increasing the money supply, in the belief that by doing so, banks  now being more liquid, would therefore lend more money, thereby increasing business activity, which would "goose" GDP growth, as well as giving banks increased liquidity by papering over zombie and mismanaged debt carried on their books.

The government likes to say that quantitative easing is not the printing of money, but essentially in any real conventional way of analyzing such, it most certainly is, for the buying of government bonds, by the central banks, creates money that did not previously exist, and that is the printing of new money.  This new money thereby suppresses interest rates mainly because there is even more money to loan, though, there aren't really any new viable places that did not exist before, to loan that money for or to.  So that, not surprisingly, since money has been created and put into the hands of the central bank consortium, those at those banks, aren’t really interested so much in loaning money out, which has attendant risks associated with it, but rather would prefer to passively invest it in either low risk securities or equities, made far easier by the fact that the cost of borrowing this money is so low.

Though America has ended its quantitative easing, and has made promises of paying off the government securities so borrowed in a systemic and controlled way, the problem that will be created is that when the money supply is increasing, equity markets and businesses typically do quite well, especially when interest rates, or the cost of money, are correspondingly either low or quiescent.  Therefore, when that money is being paid back, it compels industries, equity investors, and individuals, to reduce their leveraged bets and borrowed money considerably, not only because interest rates or the cost of money is going up, but also because nobody wants to be the last person holding onto the bag, especially when over the previous decade, good money has already been banked and made.

Though the experts like to state that quantitative easing is not actually the printing of money, if and when that $3.5 trillion dollars is actually paid back, this will demonstrate the truth of that proposition, for in actuality, this government when given the choice and mandate to make systemic change to replace or correct our financial institutions that were deemed to be "too big to fail", decided instead to throw good money to paper over bad problems, of which, if these bad problems, such as zombie debts, precarious leverage, and non-performing loans have not been somehow materially improved substantially, will show that when that money is repaid, the financial truth will be re-exposed, in which bad recessionary conditions, a stock market collapse, and the awesome tottering of our financial institutions, whose fiscal house has only been papered over will threaten to collapse.

Why nobody walks on water anymore

According to pewresearch.org, there are about 2.3 billion Christians in the world, but don't let those numbers fool you into believing that these people that self-identify with one of the numerous Christian faiths are really Christian in the true meaning of that word.  Take, for instance, the life of Christ, Himself, the Messiah who miraculously fed 5,000 plus women and children, and on another day fed 4,000 plus women and children, who turned water into wine, cleansed leprosy, raised the dead to life, brought sight to the blind, healed invalids, created a miraculous catch of fish, and walked on water. Yet, this Christ, who on Palm Sunday, was feted with palm branches being waved in the air by the massive crowd of appreciative people, would, in a span of just a few days, be tried, convicted, and crucified, in which between Christ and a notorious malcontent, Barabbas, this Barabbas, was preferred over Christ to be released from his imprisonment by Pilate as desired by the crowd.

All of this would signify that the many miracles of Christ were somehow forgotten by the vast majority of the people, even those who directly benefited by them, and the great parables that He expressed were effectively ignored, for at the foot of the cross, how many of even his closest disciples were there to comfort Him, to voice their support for Him, and to love Him?  Only in the gospel of John, is it alleged that even one of his beloved disciples was there are the foot of the cross, though, His mother, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and a few other women as named in the scriptures, were there, but not a single person that received a miraculous healing was specifically named or mentioned, though it is conceivable that some of those were present.

All of the above signifies that those that get down on their knees each night, or at times of a crisis, and pray to God for a miraculous healing and whatnot, are often, at best, sincere at the moment, but not truly sincere in their hearts, for when those miracles come, those recipients, are typically similar to the ten lepers that were cleansed by Christ, of which only one of ten bothered to come back and praise God for their cleansing. 

This is why, a true man of God, recognizes that it certainly isn't from the miracles that true faith is believed or achieved, but it is in the changing of a person's heart, in which that true change transforms the person into a believer, and thereby a Christian.  Too often, people ask for a sign or a miracle as if this would make them believe, but belief for so many is rather fickle, so that true belief will be borne out in the actions of the recipient for if they simply go out and continue in their sinning, than they haven't changed at all, except for their outward circumstances and that isn't what substantiates a true believer.

Christ did not walk on water to impress his disciples but rather He walked on water, to demonstrate to them that He was the Messiah, and that nothing was impossible for Him, that therefore even the elements were ruled by the Creator of it all.   But, somehow, despite these miracles and despite the parables, the disciples were slow to comprehend the true mission of Christ, and of really who and what He really was.  Still, eventually the disciples got it, and thereby they put their faith into action by beginning the great commission, which continues unto this very day, so that 2.3 billion people claim that they believe and have been transformed by Christ, yet, how many of those, actually are?