What makes for a great religion?

People, depending upon their background and their faith, are going to have all sorts of different beliefs about what makes a good religion, with some stating that one should have unquestioned faith in the 100% validity of such a religion and thereby all of its tenets so promulgated, whereas another may believe that obeying all health, dietary, and prayer instructions are the most necessary parts, whereas there are those that believe that part of their faith is spreading that faith far and wide beyond their neighborhood and communities.  In summary, for every religion, there are all sorts of beliefs of what constitutes loyal and orthodox believers.

While people are entitled to believe and to follow whatever faith so interests them, for the most part, religion shouldn't be about dietary rules, and religion shouldn't be about having to pray in certain directions and at certain, specific times, or at certain specific events, and further religion shouldn't be restricted to only certain bloodlines or communities that have been designated as being the favored people of such a religion, and the practice of any religion should not devolve into anything that becomes in its purpose, rote, routine, or unnecessarily restrictive, intolerant, or reactionary.

In point of fact, religion should seldom be about the physical body, but really it should be about a social gathering of like-minded people that are brought together not only for their own mutual beneficence, but also brought together so as to take their faith and its practices and to put forth those beliefs into the real world in practical and vital ways that will benefit all peoples, whether they are true believers or not, by displaying in action the fruits of that religious faith.

That is to say, the best religions, recognize that a religion that stays only within an individual family, or that stays only within a specific congregation, or that stays only within a particular community, should as a faith, be actively doing all that it can to see that social reform and its incumbent benefits is brought forth not only for their congregants, but for society, in general; that is, that faith should be democratic in its purpose and in its effect, rather than  elitist, so that the monies, dedication, and efforts put together by congregants are done in a manner that benefits widely, society as a whole.

So too, great religions, do not discriminate against the gender of those so propagating that faith, but make it part and parcel of their mission, to see that their congregants are well educated and learned, and makes it their point to help in that education, in addition to allowing the equal opportunity for religious progress for either gender within that respective religious faith. 

Additionally, all good religions make it their principle that each person has a personal responsibility for everything that they do and everything that they say, so that, by having such a responsibility, they are held accountable for the things that they do, or don't do, within their community as the true testimony of their faith.   In addition, a good religion recognizes that each individual, is sovereign unto themselves, of which, though they do have inherent obligations to the group, their faith, as well as to society, that the choices that are made, are, in fact, their choices, and the consequences of those choices, are their responsibility, alone.

A religion that makes people look good from the outside, in the sense of politeness, dress, diet, prayer, comportment and such, does little good though it might look nice, rather, it's about developing the inner core of that individual in a manner that the congregant is not only good for something, but good for society, and helps to make that society better, for having that belief.

Justice, the just, and the law

There are plenty of people that believe that we should "obey the law," in fact, we are told by the highest authorities all of the time to obey the law, but in a world in which laws are so often not clearly defined, in addition to laws being arbitrary as well as discriminatory, and laws that change with the times as the prevailing wind so blows it, so that a law that use to apply no longer does, or a law that never was, now applies, and especially in the unequal application of law, itself, this would seem to clearly show that the law in so many ways and forms is a travesty of true justice as it is so often applied against those that are the "law breakers."

So too, despite all these laws, and the justice system, that in theory, provides a lawyer, even for the most indigent, for each defendant brought before a court of law, the actual reality of how law is applied and exercised in America, is uneven and unjust, so that quite often defendants of those accused of breaking the law, aren't even given their day in court, for their charges are "plea bargained" to some lesser charge, of which, those that have the smallest amount of resources, whether that be their own knowledge, or whether that be their overworked public defender, or both, are less able to mount a defense, and are essentially browbeaten into accepting a "deal" because of the full weight of the state and governmental prosecutors being pressed against them.

All those that love law and order, as well as all those that somehow believe that justice is truly served in America, as well as other countries that appear to have clearly defined laws and legal codes, are forgetting fundamentally, that the law almost always is written and applied, by the ruling class of such a country, in which, that ruling class, above all, will protect their own, while applying their boot to the neck of all those that are insignificant, or a threat to the system, or people that simply will not keep their mouths shut.

The biggest contradiction, though, of those that scream loudest for more law and order, comes down, to something which has real meaning and significance, for those that believe that Christ, is indeed the Savior of this world, should therefore pay close attention to the words that so follows, for that Christ was mocked, brutally beaten, then nailed to the cross, and thereby crucified until his death upon that cross.  Was this justice?  Was this right?  Was this the law?

In point of fact, the statements made by Jesus that he was the Messiah, as we read in Luke 4: 20 "… Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” was considered by the Jewish authorities of that time to be blasphemous as the High Priest Caiaphas, so ruled.  Additionally, we read in Matthew 21: 5 "… behold, your King comes to you," of which Roman law would not allow anyone to speak of being a King or the head of the state, of which the interpretation of such would be that the words of Jesus were an insult to the Roman Emperor and thereby treasonous to the state of that empire.

This meant that Jesus, by law, had committed both the crime of blasphemy, as well as the crime of treason, of which, proper and legal punishment of that time, was death by crucifixion, and such was his fate.  Those that believe that the law is always correct, as well as believing that the purpose of laws is to maintain order, should then see and must see the crucifixion of Jesus as being just, and of justice of having been properly served. 

Land ownership and power

American colonists, in order to vote, besides being required to be a white male and at least twenty one years of age, were also required to own land of a certain worth, which they were responsible to pay taxes upon.  This meant, all other people, were not eligible to vote, and were subject to the will of those that were land owners and of the predominant race of the country. 

While today, land ownership is no longer a requirement to vote, those that own land, have fundamentally more rights than those that do not own land, even in an era which has left agrarian society behind.  That is to say, those without land, before modern times, were definitely at the mercy of those that own such land, so that tenant farmers, serfs, bondsmen, and so on, paid for the privileged to work farm land, but the contracts, such as were written and enforced, were almost always constructed in a way that the lion's share of any profits or abundance went to the land owner, and typically just a bare subsistence went to those doing the actually laboring, in addition to the fact, that those so laboring, didn't own anything, and were therefore subject to the whims and dictates at the owner's discretion.

Another reason that home owners have more rights, can be seen in our 3rd and 4th Amendments, in which the 3rd Amendment states in part that:  "No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner…" and the 4th Amendment states in part 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…", of which if you do not own your own house, it is not your own property, thereby subjecting those that rent to the power and decrees of the owner of such, subject to Constitutional law.

So too, if we envision a world, in which, very little land is owned by the general population, and in which all public land, is subject to the rules and regulations of the ruling governmental class, than in such a country as that, those without land, would not, have a place of sanctuary for their physical bodies, they would, in effect, never have a physical place to rest themselves, and thereby no house to call their own, and hence, no place of true and safe refuge, having no home of their own.

So while in today's modern world, of which so much wealth and prosperity is created by using one's brain and knowledge, as compared to the previous way of yesteryear with the physical grind of working land for one's prosperity, if, at the end of the day, you as a person, do not own any land, or have a place that is a true public sanctuary, to repair to, then you are at the mercy of those governmental powers or private powers that own such land.  Further to the point, there must be a place to safely lay your head down to sleep, so that, those that own no land of their own, are ultimately at the mercy of those that do own that land, and if these owners collectively raise that rent, or change the conditions of such rentals to favor themselves, then intelligent or not, educated or not, productive or not, you are essentially no better off than those that were serfs or tenant farmers back in their day.

Prosperity and generosity

Logic would seem to tell us, that prosperity and generosity should be a loggerheads with each other, for each dollar and each hour of our time that we give away to another, is money and time that is taken away from our finite allocation, which quite obviously would not be directly beneficial to us, but would, in the scheme of things, appear to be detrimental, for our having been generous to others with our money and time.

The thing is though, the logic of thinking such as that, isn’t actually correct, that is to say, we live in a social world, in which in order to become successful, we are only able to do so, by working within the construct of such a society, which necessitates conforming to appropriate social mores and obligations, which indicates, that those that live strictly to themselves, are not team players, and are not beneficial to society, and hence, these selfish individuals will have  a strong tendency to not be as prosperous as they could be for they will often be held back by others, in matters large and small, for their turning away from their inherent obligations to society because of their lack of generosity to those others.

The fact of the matter is that those that are strictly about themselves, and therefore are totally selfish, represent something that is anathema to society, for if each person, did the same thing, and had that same philosophy, than societies would split apart, for the lack of concern and empathy no longer demonstrated within their activities and behavior, one to another.  Additionally, society would quickly break down into one that made essentially everything into a perpetual competition, and therefore a playing field filled with all sorts of deceit, traps, and double dealings, for within this game, in which only the winners received the lion's share of prosperity, it would definitely become a cutthroat zero-sum game.

On the other hand, when those who are successful, take their prosperity, whether that is one of wealth, or of knowledge, or of social skills, and make it their point to share such with their family and with their society, than the growth and strength of such a society will strengthen considerably.  Additionally, a strong society is quite obviously a more viable society, and a society that is generous and caring to all, is also a society that is more inclusive and therefore a healthier type of society.

So then, living to yourself, is a lonely existence, for those that take from society, but offer nothing back, are not the type of people, that will earn the respect and admiration of the other members of that society, and for that lack, they are less fulfilled and less satisfied then they could be.  Instead, it is those that make it their point to spread the wealth of their success with others, that progress further, for they well understand that for each succeeding generation to prosper more than the former, requires that the current generation imparts their wisdom in such a manner, that the upcoming generation will have not only a solid foundation to work upon, but the shoulders of previous generations to stand upon.

Verbal expression and the importance of good elocution

A significant amount of the information that we receive each and every day, comes to us, via the spoken word, of which, some people are quite good in their usage of their voice, as well as their emphasis on certain syllables in their speaking, whereas others are somewhat monotonous and lazy in their pronunciation as well as in their speaking.   The bottom line is while it always makes a difference what we say, it also makes a significant difference in how we say what we say, and especially in how those spoken words are emphasized and stressed.

The above signifies the importance of not only learning how to read and write, but also being able to properly express our language in a manner in which the words being spoken are being pronounced correctly, as well as learning how to speak in such a manner that the words so spoken, engage a given audience, as opposed to boring them, or annoying them, through the monotony of the delivery, or the lack of the proper emphasis or emotion in the words so being expressed.

This does mean, that proper elocution should be part of the educational experience, but not done in the manner so that each region of the country, should speak without an accent or lose their distinctive regional voice, but rather that they should speak in a manner that clearly understands the words so being spoken, how to enunciate them, as well as how to clearly and properly project oneself to their compatriots and peers.

In point of fact, when people read straight from a paper, with minimal eye contact with their audience, and a lack of body language, then about the only possible thing, that will keep the audience involved, is the actual elocution, modulation, and emphasis of the words so being spoken, and those that do that very well, will succeed in getting their message across in a competent and pleasing manner, whereas those that drone on in a monotonous tone, with no special emphasis on any word so being spoken, will almost surely lose their audience, even when the subject so being discussed, is one that interests them, greatly.

The ability to communicate well with other people, in our personal, educational, and business lives, is a valuable attribute, which is often important in order to not only work well and mesh with our peers, but as an integral part of being able to advance within organizations, as well as to receive respect from our associates.  Those that are quite competent but are unable to express themselves in a way, that doesn't run their words together as if each word represents the same value, and can't get their voice, above a constant annoying drone, will not be effective in getting across the very ideas and concepts that they are verbalizing to others, because their intonation belies that they actually care to do exactly that.

There are many people that are book smart, or street smart, but these people will almost always be surpassed by those of even average skills, that are able to verbally communicate in a manner that engages their audience, usually because of their elocution and inflections that capture their attention, which thereby means getting their message and their point of view effectively across in a very pleasing way.

Hedge Fund Managers and the outrageous money that they make

The CEOs of the top corporations headquartered in America are rightly vilified for the staggering amounts of money that they earn in comparison to the average employee at their firms, in which, as reported by cnbc.com, " a report from the Economic Policy Institute, the average CEO pay is 271 times the nearly $58,000 annual average pay of the typical American worker."  However, at least CEOs actually employ millions upon millions of workers and are an integral and valued part of the American economy.  On the other hand as reported by forbes.com, "In 2010 the top 25 hedge fund managers combined earned roughly 4 times as much ALL 500 of the CEOs at the top of the 500 giant corporations that make up the S&P 500 index."  Additionally, as reported by the nypost.com for 2017, "the top 25 highest-earning hedgies collectively made $15.4 billion last year, averaging more than $600 million each."

All of the above, serves to demonstrate that the top Hedge Fund Managers make a staggering amount of money, of which, not only is the amount of money that they earn, nearly incomprehensible in scope, but the income that they make is not taxed the way that the average American makes their money, which is by being taxed on their wages and salary income, at tiered levels which max out at 39.6%, but instead are able to avail themselves of the "carried interest loophole", which signifies that all or most of these outsized earnings that Hedge Fund Managers make are taxed at the much lower rate of 20% for long term capital gains, plus a 3.8% investment tax, which saves these Managers, many millions of dollars each year, and cheats the government and taxpayers out of seeing these super rich Managers pay their fair share.

In addition, Hedge Fund Managers, employ very few people, that is to say, as reported by pionline.com, the amount of people working at a given hedge fund was "… an average of 20 in the U.S.", whereas the mega-corporation WalMart employs 1.4 million people, in the United States, alone.  The structure of compensation for Hedge Fund Managers is that most hedge funds get paid 2% for the assets that they manage, as well as 20% of the profits so generated from those assets, signifying that, the fees and profits for such management, for very large hedge funds can be truly astonishing.  However, the fact of the matter is, that hedge funds do not produce anything of value or of worth, instead, they use sophisticated algorithms, game the system in every conceivable way, take advantage of knowledge that is not available to the general public, and do all sorts of inconceivable things to gain an edge in their "investments."  This signifies, whether, you view this as fair or not, that basically many hedge funds, make their money by siphoning from all other investors, little bits and pieces, here and there, which are done countless times, over and over again, of which, these small edges, make for outsized returns, that essentially offer absolutely nothing of value to the equity and bond markets, but rather are best seen as a hidden tax foisted upon the unsuspecting public as well as on mutual funds, so that the returns of the average investor are negatively impacted, ever so slightly, by virtue of Hedge Fund Managers, manipulating the system so as to make themselves money.

While not every Hedge Fund is run the same way, the nature of the beast of most of these funds, is to take advantage of market inefficiencies, that benefits these Managers, at the expense of all those that play fair, so that, a very small elite of people, make incredible amounts of money, while producing nothing of value, in which, at a minimum, they shouldn't be able to escape not paying their fair share of taxes, but again, these Managers are able to manipulate the tax system so as to benefit themselves, at the expense of the average taxpayer

Eat more meat

Human beings are omnivores, for they eat both plant as well as animal matter. Big cats such as lions, tigers, and jaguars, along with wolves, cheetahs, polar bears, and wolverines are carnivores, because they survive strictly on eating animal matter. When we look closely at the animal world of carnivores, those animals in the wild are almost never overweight, and basically the only times when carnivores carry any excess fat, is when, for instance, they need to store fat in the frigid winter times, when food is scarce and the temperature is cold, as well as the occasional times, when the food is so plentiful at one sitting, that they eat so much as to fully gorge themselves, but over the ensuing days they will eat less. This means, that in the wild, there are no fat carnivores, of which, the most logical reason why carnivores are not fat, is that their diet, is not fat producing.

Humans on the other hand, have continued to get fatter and fatter, especially within the last three generations, of which, the main culprit, for such a fundamental change within such a short period of time, can only come down to the diet that humans eat, of which, as mankind eats more and more food that has not nutritional value, such as snacks, sugar-based products, processed foods of all types, sodas, and basically all those foods considered to be "junk food", the obesity rate for mankind has reached epidemic proportions.

In recent times, all sorts of diets have been put forth to help mankind to maintain a more appropriate weight, along with exercise programs, proper eating strategies, pills and other chemicals to suppress the appetite, and so on and so forth, of which, these things in aggregate have typically not been able to stem the tide, but, some of these dietary strategies have been most definitely effective. One idea, though, quite unusual and uncommon, is the recognition that human beings can live and appear to be able to get all their nutritional needs from eating a strictly meat based diet, that is, becoming exclusively a carnivore. For instance, Eskimos or the Inuit in isolated areas of the world have historically, until the most recent of times, had no choice but to survive on eating just meat for generations upon generations, and have been studied quite thoroughly, in which, their health was found to be just fine, that is, they were healthy, despite a diet that did not contain any plants, vegetables, fruits, or modern processed foods.

This would seem to suggest, or more than suggest, that eating a high protein diet, with lots of animal fat, is not only not bad for your health, but probably will result in a lower weight or a more ideal weight for your body, in which your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels will all be markedly improved. After all, there are no fat carnivores, in which many of these carnivorous animals are considered to be the strongest, fastest, and fiercest of all the animals in the animal kingdom, in fact, the carnivorous lion is considered to be the king of the jungle. On the other hand, pigs and chickens are omnivores, which aren't exactly strong, fast, or fierce, though they do make for some good eating.

The Hidden

Those that have things of immeasurable value, make absolutely certain to hide or to put up those items into something such as a security box, or a special hiding place, for when they need to secure such, because their value is so high, they must therefore be well hidden to protect against adverse events as well as to be prudent. So too, these material items are typically insured, for the lost of them, would be catastrophic, not just financially, but also emotionally as well as the tragedy of losing something, so treasured.

When it comes to our personal bodies, we too have something to hide, deep within us, which truly defines us, which is of incalculable value, and that is our soul. Our soul is hidden within our body, sometimes so deeply, that we are not even cognizant of its presence ourselves, making such an esteemed treasure, not just hidden, but forgotten.

Our souls are not on full display to others of this earthly plane, because our soul, is the real you, the undisguised you, that reflects totally who and what you really are, whereas, we live in a treacherous world that speaks of truth, but denies it, that speaks of justice, but is almost always unjust, and of equality, yet we are surrounded by inequality. This signifies that if our soul was voluntarily visible to all those that are evil in their principle and evil in their designs, they then would desire to attack and try to hurt any soul that threatened to diminish their wrong doings in this world.

Our soul is the most valuable possession that we have, which is why such is hidden from all those that we do not know or trust, for to expose our soul to others, that have not our best interests in mind, exposes ourselves to the possible relentless abuse and corruption that those that are evil are bent upon doing, for great souls bring forth great good, and great good diminishes evil.

Our soul is hidden for our own protection, made even more protected, by those that do not recognize that souls even exist, for if these people believe that only that which is visible, or scientifically proven is real, than all that is invisible or not scientifically proven is well hidden and since our soul is hidden and of immense value, this means that the preeminent part of our being, is unsearched for.

A wise man does not waste his time in speaking with fools, for his words are wasted, because there is nowhere to plant his visionary seeds, so it is that our soul, rests within our body, only waiting to be actuated by he who controls that body, so that when that man is ready, the soul will speak through and to him.

Your body is the temporal housing for your soul, therefore, your body is not you, for it is perishable, and anything that is perishable, is not of your eternal essence. Your soul is both protected and well hidden because it is truly you, of which, its only home is with its Creator, so that, all those other beings, that are actively in rebellion against the Creator through their bad actions and their bad thoughts, cannot and are not good for you soul. Your soul survives in this world because it is hidden within the body, so that precious as it is, it will not be tarnished, corrupted, or stolen.

Divided loyalties

Nowhere in the Constitution, the highest Law of this land, does the term: "separation of Church and State," exist. Though these words do not exist, the Supreme Court of the 20th Century, but not the Supreme Court of the 18th Century, and not the Supreme Court of the 19th Century, has ruled fairly consistently for recent generations of America, that religious instruction, nondenominational prayer, and Bible reading are a violation of the First Amendment establishment clause and therefore cannot be part of public schooling.

The First Amendment actual states that: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" yet, nondenominational prayer, and Bible reading within a school, could not possibly be construed as being an actual establishment of religion, and most definitely is precluding the free exercise of it.

The significance and the hypocrisy of these Supreme Court decisions is to actually, in effect, establish a new religion in this country, propagated within our public schools, which is the religion of secularism, or the religion of non-faith in our Creator. When religion is constantly on the defensive in the public square and virtually banished in public schooling, that religious vacuum has been subsequently replaced by the government, in which, they have become, in effect, the opiate of the masses, since it is this government, that provides all the accouterments of the welfare state to the poorest and most needy, as well as providing to the general public on a local, city, State, and Federal basis, massive government facilities and institutions, that in aggregate are the biggest employer of people in this country.

The government has a vested interest in their citizens not being religious because that government does not want its citizenry to have divided loyalties as to whom and what they will serve. That is to say, that there are times in most people's lives in which two opposing sides are pulling upon each of their arms, so that, a decision must be made by that individual as to which choice is the better one to make or else they will be torn apart, of which, this government does not want its people to have that choice, for rather it would prefer that the government is the only choice, and therefore being that only choice, will not have to worry or to fear competition from religious authorities that inconveniently remind its flock that they must ultimately answer to a Higher Power, that may not be in conformance with temporal power.

This government is trying to supersede our God given conscience, and to replace such, with a conscience that only obeys what that state says is legal and proper, and that therefore stipulates that morality and ethics are not written in the hearts of man, and are not thereby found in the holy books of Scripture, but rather are determined by the Highest court of the land, in conjunction with governmental policies. So that, whatever the government says is right is right, and whatever this government says is wrong is wrong, in which, these are the laws of the land.

The government does not want divided loyalties from its people, rather it wants faithful obedience to the state, in return for money, shelter, healthcare, entertainment, protection, food, and the implicit recognition that this is the only world that matters, for all else must be discarded as antiquated distractions and myths.

No daytime Highway speed limit

America has speed limits for those that drive the highways in every single State in which, these speed limits are supposed to help save lives and therefore make those roads safer to drive upon, which sounds like a theory that makes sense, but speed limits may not always do the task that theoretically they are there to do. For instance, when a speed limit is posted that is lower than what the highway can safely sustain, it is not surprising that you will have a combination of those that do not wish to drive faster than the posted speed limit, against many others that most definitely will driver faster than that limit, because the limit so imposed feels unnatural, so they naturally speed up, creating a clear dynamic between those that insist, in whatever lane that they so desire to drive in, that they need not and will not exceed the speed limit, as compared to those that are driving above the speed limit but having to avoid the danger of other drivers deliberately driving slower than they could or should be.

The highest posted speed limit in America is 85 MPH, but there was a time from December of 1995 through May 1999, in which Montana did not have any posted daytime speed limit on its highways, instead the only caveat being that drivers were instructed to drive at a "reasonable and proper" speed, in which because America likes to collect data, there is plenty of data that was collected, of before and after the time span of "reasonable and proper" being the legal speed as opposed to a finite speed limit. Clearly, those that advocate speed limits would, hands down, just know, even without reviewing the data that not having a posted speed limit would mean more fatalities.

As reported by motorists.org, the last full year in which there was posted speed limits was 1994, in which as reported by the Department of Transportation for Montana there were 111 fatalities in 1994, then in 1995 in which the speed limits were removed in May, the fatality rate for the year actually dropped to 105, and the only year in which there was a meaningful increase in fatalities was 1997 in which there were 140. Examining the data even more closely, motorists.org reported that for the last twelve months of no speed limits for Montana there was a total of 101 fatalities, but the ensuing next twelve months in which the speed limit was re-imposed there were a total of 143 fatalities, greater than any year of which there was no daytime speed limit.

The above statistics are proof positive that the implementation of speed limits which ostensibly are put in place for driver safety, do not always work, signifying that the German autobahn, in which away from urban areas as well as in the absence of inclement weather, there are no posted speed limits, is not stupid nor imprudent. The bottom line is that way too often speed limits are imposed on roads and highways around America in which that limit, does not take into proper account, the conditions of such a road, its true dangers or true safety, the greater visibility of daytime hours, the amount of vehicles that travel such a road at different times of the day, and so on and so forth, because, our governmental officials and agencies don't really care to, which signifies that reducing vehicle accidents and deaths on the roads of America by actually digging down into data and studying such to effect better safety, is not a real priority.

Good thoughts, good words, good deeds

The above reflects the Zoroastrian ethic that each individual should as their ideal, promulgate: good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, for we are what we think, our thinking begets the words that we speak and write, and our right actions, are guided by those thoughts and words. Religions as well as governments, and even civilization, itself, are instituted by mankind for the benefit of that mankind, of which, doing good is the most appropriate way to interact with our fellow human beings.

Life doesn't need to be all that complicated, it doesn't need endless reams of manmade laws, or even restrictive religious laws and tenets, for on the most basic level, if each of us makes it a point, to think good thoughts, then to follow through with those good thoughts by speaking and testifying to truthful things, and lastly being consistent by trying not to demonstrate any form of hypocrisy or deception, to the best of their ability, they will as a matter of fact find themselves performing needful and good deeds.

In every part of your life, in which you know for a certainty that you are doing wrong, than to continue to do so, is creating even more wrong, and unless one has the courage and perspicuity to correct such behavior, the deeper the hole of error will be sunk. The first step to becoming a better and more consistent person is to begin with one's own mind and one's own thoughts, for your thoughts surely are your own, they can be no one else's, and if you think and contemplate on the wrong things, than, more than likely, nothing good will come from it, so the disciplining of our own minds should be a very top priority, for thoughts are the masters of actions.

It then so follows, that the things that we think and dwell upon, will in more cases than not be truly reflected in the words that we write and speak, for if you think it, you speak it, for words do not come out of the thin air, they come from our own minds, that actuate our words. So too, while it may be hard to discipline our mind and thereby our thoughts, when it comes to words that we write and speak, such discipline is much easier, for these words can always be stopped, simply by silence, and further they can be controlled to a great extent, by thinking first before we speak, for a word once spoken, is gone and no longer is our own.

The actions and deeds that we create are our most important activity of them all, for this is our thoughts and words in action, which will truly put an exclamation mark on who and what we really are, of which, if our thoughts and words are corrupt, or wrong, our actions in a matter of course, will follow suit, for good deeds are brought forth from the seeds that we have already planted, so that, if we create a solid foundation, built upon honesty, righteousness, caring, concern, and the deep desire to do right, than our actions will reflect such.

So that, good thoughts do indeed lead to good words, which further becomes good deeds, so what we think and say most definitely matters, and our actions wholly define who and what we are, so that, those that do good, think good, and those that think wrong, do less right than they could, for lack of their interest or mindful concern in disciplining their own minds that is wholly within their control.

Self-Control

When you are a child, your self-control is under development, of which, a lot of times you end up being obedient not so much because you have learned to constrain yourself, but mainly because the person insisting upon your obedience has the power to hurt, damage, or harm you. However, at a certain point you are no longer a child, and if you have not developed good self-control, the lack of having such, can create troublesome problems that can cost you just about everything that you cherish.

In this world, there are people, that look to exploit others, and to thereby probe for other people's weaknesses, in which, those that lack self-control, have such a weakness, providing those that are aware of such, to have therefore the option and to correspondingly take the prerogative in pushing the buttons that enables them to take advantage of that person's lack of self-control, by inducing a reaction to a situation that will embarrasses or compromise the other, all to the advantage of the one that is pulling the strings.

So then, the lack of self-control is a character flaw that one should want to correct so as to control themselves appropriately, especially in stressful and meaningful situations, rather than to respond impulsively and without thinking through the consequences of one's actions before making that response. This would imply strongly that those that curse at us, violate our space, challenge our integrity, and so on and so forth, are testing us to such a degree that we are given the opportunity to demonstrate that we are in command of our own self as compared to allowing our lack of restraint to produce foolish and regrettable actions.

The thing about the lack of self-control, is almost always, we later have a chance to reflect upon our behavior and our response in regards to those situations in which we have either maintained our discipline and our measured response, or we have not, in which, many more times than not, losing our temper, and losing our control, demonstrates in retrospect that we really didn't need to react in that manner, that there indeed were other more suitable options, and we chose the wrong one.

None of the foregoing indicates that our self-control needs to be of the manner of a doormat, or unresponsive, it instead means that we should look upon those situations when we are being tested, as if we are being tested, for we are, and therefore, these tests are ones that we should want to pass in order to demonstrate that we are actually mature human beings, that do not add unnecessarily fuel to the fire, but respond in a manner that shows that we have the wisdom to recognize that other people in their actions and reactions aren't always mature, responsible, or wise, so therefore we appropriately restrain ourselves and exercise good discernment.

So too, when we are pushed wrongly by someone in some way, we are able to show our growth, or lack of it, specifically by our response to such a situation, in which, we should let our better judgment lead us, rather than utilize our unrestrained ego instead. Those that exhibit good self-restraint, go further in life, and are more positive people, because they have mastered themselves, which is the very first step in being able to help aid others, for if your house is in a shambles, or has doors and windows ajar, how are you readily able to really help others in their quest to repair and to secure their own homes?

The blame game

Most people have areas in their life that disappoint them, or have weaknesses within their personality that annoy them, and basically find themselves not really being the type of person that they wish that they were. In some cases, they recognize that the blame lies within them, for they are ultimately responsible for the things that they think, say, and do, but many people, find a way to place the blame elsewhere, and specifically, outside of themselves, and this type of thinking, where the blame is placed elsewhere other than on one's shoulders is at its core, dishonest, and unproductive.

Though there are circumstances and situations that occur in people's lives, in which truth be told, there is plenty of blame to be passed around, taking the time to actually assess who, what, and why of that given situation, and to thereby assign such blame appropriately is not going to actually alleviate what has already occurred, for what is done is done, and now the actual real responsible action to take is to go about and see what one can do in order to make things better, and to mitigate what has already occurred.

The thing about life is that things actually happen, in which, some of those things are not desirable, whatsoever, yet, they do occur. This does so mean, that the secret of success and equanimity in life, is to deal with circumstances that are undesired or are unfavorable in a manner in which your subsequent actions and your mindset engages things in a constructive way and manner, as opposed to whining and blaming others for your misfortune, even when, there is some blame to be passed around, for it is in one's reactions and responses to things that go against us, that definitely do test our character, and we either will grow from it, or we will regress.

It must be said that people should look upon life as a test, in which, each of us is tested in our own way, and those that meet the tests in life, so as to make the best out of their circumstances, are the ones that are able to progress forwardly and not only that, they have become better people for having been so tested, for a person that has no hurdles, and no ill winds blowing against them, usually has not the tools to successfully deal with adversities when they do so come.

So too, how is it possible to know what a given person is made of, if not tested by the stinging blows of misfortune? This does so mean that those that rue their bad luck, or their bad misfortune, and rail to the gods of the unfairness of it all, may have a point to a certain extent, but more importantly is this the appropriate response, to such circumstances? Isn't it really the truth that great leaders, and great people of all stripes, are forged through the fires of adversity and that is the very thing that proves that they are beyond the ordinary and therefore great in their purpose and in their success?

Forget about blame, for blaming others really won't get you anywhere, but rather, make it your purpose, to recognize, that when difficulty strikes, deal with such in a manner which demonstrates that you are gifted with the free will to respond in a determined and focused manner that is beneficial for the life that represents you at your very best.

Horses, Sports, and Kings

It does seem rather strange that horse racing is also known as the "sport of Kings", but as in everything, there is a fairly good explanation, of which, long before cars and other modern means of transportation were invented, the dividing line between those that had money and those that were peasants with little rights or money, was the ownership of a horse, and in particular, a riding horse, that enabled those that owned such, to travel from one place to another, in order to conduct business, or to visit other estates, or for the visitation of churches, and other such things, in which, the riding of a horse was not only the easiest and most efficient way to get from one place to another, but often  necessitated a large retinue of additional horses and personnel to assure that such a journey was successful and safe.

So too, a man on a horse, is an entirely different creature than a man without a horse, for a horse allows both mobility as well as leveraged status by virtue of height as well as by the control that a man has over an animal that can easily weight over 1,000 pounds and be five feet or higher while just standing on its own four legs, not to mention the sheer strength and power of a horse that is able to carry a man at a good gallop for several miles.  In all of this, those that mastered their own horse, demonstrated to all others without a horse, their strength and status.

Not too surprisingly, sporting activities, for entertainment, fun, and wagering, has been a part of civilizations for centuries, so that, those that owned horses, created a dividing line, between sports that utilized horses, such as in polo, or horse racing, amongst other things, as compared to other sports, that because the participants could not afford a horse, had to be played on foot, such as football or soccer, and basically all of the most popular sports of today.

This means, that those sports that necessitate a horse, are in many ways, a reflection of class status, of which, for instance, in horse racing, in order to own a horse, train that horse, harbor that horse, and be competitive utilizing that horse, necessitates the expenditure of a lot of money, which means that only those with such money participate, with the actual rider of the horse,  basically representing a well compensated employee of the owner, but is never considered part of the same social status or milieu.

Indeed, in sports, social status is shown, of which, those sports that necessitate a horse will only attract those that have money, and usually a historical interest in such, as well as those sports that necessitate a fast car, will only attract those that can afford the upkeep and the expense of racing cars, of which, the more expensive the sport is, the more exclusive that sport is to the true participants of it.  So that, your basic sports that just require a physical body, and a relatively small expenditure of money for shoes, uniforms, and other assorted items are for one class of people, and all those other sports that necessitate a rather large capital outlay are for those that may not be kings in name, but act and are treated in many ways, as if they are royalty.

The importance of real sacrifice

Nothing of real importance comes without great concentration, great effort, and great determination.  This does mean that you must sacrifice your little self in order to help create and to become that bigger self, for the little must be subsumed by the larger.  So that, all those that live to themselves, think just about themselves, and do things that are of benefit only to themselves, will at best, create a nice little niche for themselves, but will not be able to grow beyond that, for they do not have the capacity or desire to do so, and lacking that they will not be able to develop themselves, fully.

Unfortunately, there are people that believe that the whole point of living is to just sit back and to idly enjoy themselves, never seeming to ever self-reflect that they are really meant to put forth a greater effort than that, which is especially disappointing when they are born into situations in which much of what they have, has been handed to them, rather than they honestly having to labor for it.  Further to the point, the more that you are privileged with, the greater the expectation that you should have in accomplishing meaningful things for others, rather than not developing further those innate gifts so provided to you.

When you look around the world and thoroughly study all that is around you, take special note of those great institutions and civilizations that you admire and respect, recognize that, these things could only exist through the dedication of purpose and sacrifice of other people, that went far beyond, their own little world, but were instead, relentless and dedicated in their focus and purpose to bring to their fellow sojourners a better world, built not just for themselves, but inclusive of all others in their domain.

For instance, take, for example, our Declaration of Independence, the seminal document in American history, that Declaration, without the actions and the revolution that followed for our independence, would have meant in the skein of time, relatively little, if, those that had written such and attested to that Declaration, had lost their resolve to overcome the occupying force that oppressed them as a people.  While the Declaration was signed on July 4, 1776, the war for American independence did not conclude until September 3, 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was signed by both parties.

So it is in anything in life, that in order to create all of the great scientific advances, wonderful infrastructure, and good governance, necessitates a multitude of people working diligently, often, under trying conditions, to get those things done, of which, some of the beneficiaries of this, have done little or nothing to accomplish these changes.  In all of this, the people at the forefront have sacrificed themselves, to the greater good, and sometimes to their own destruction in order to make a better society, because their vision encompassed far more than just themselves, for they were people that strongly desired to see that by their sacrifice, that not only would the present generation benefit, but upon the shoulders of that generation, even greater things would be initiated and accomplished, all because of those so dedicated to achieving those lasting significant works.

Most foreign civilian deaths have a value of zero in America

Any civilian death via an act of war or of terrorism is most unfortunate, of which, America is intimately familiar with this, for instance, by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as by our Civil war which resulted in the death of an undetermined amount of civilians, of which, those civilians having died are rightly remembered as being innocent victims and that their lost of life is seen as being tragic.

This would seem to indicate that since we see civilian death as caused by an act of war or of terrorism as being tragic, that, in order to be consistent, that Americans should see all civilian deaths caused by an act of war or terrorism as also being tragic, but in fact, the divide, seems to be, if those civilians dying are allies or are friendly to America, such as in Paris, Madrid, and London, then these deaths are recognized as being tragic, but if these civilians being killed are part of airstrikes perpetrated by the United States military or other Allied military actions such as in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, of which thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians have died horrible and tragic deaths, these don't even seem to merit much more than a comment or two from today's mainstream media organizations.

The fact of the matter is a civilian is a civilian, so either it is wrong and tragic for any civilian to die as a part of a war, or of a targeted attack, or an act of terrorism or it isn't.  So that, if we are inconsistent in how we view civilian deaths, based upon the prism that we are looking through, then we are wrong for valuing certain civilian deaths as being tragic, whereas other civilian deaths are being viewed of no worth or of no value to us.

In addition, when that prism, dictates to us, that specific foreign civilian deaths, and in particular, those civilian deaths occurring because of United States military action or its equivalency, of which, these are pretty much dismissed with something that is semantically termed as: "collateral damage," then to accept that viewpoint as being ethically okay, is fundamentally wrong.

The upshot is that the only possible way to reduce the current unacceptable amount of civilian deaths that are occurring by military actions taken by the United States, is to make it a point, and a principle that such deaths need to be minimized and that in order to achieve this minimization of civilian deaths, this would logically necessitate new and revised procedures in how our military operations are conducted, for the way that they are being so conducted today is the very reason why so many civilian deaths occur.

Finally, it is well to remember that a civilian is a civilian, no matter where they are, no matter where they were born,  no matter what their faith or non-faith is, no matter what their particular circumstances are, and therefore, every civilian that is needlessly killed by military aggression and military operations is a death that should be mourned, for each one of these civilian deaths, is proof positive that the road that we need to travel in order to overcome man's inhumanity to man, is colossal, and the very first step to correcting this, is to recognize in our actions and in our engagements, that everybody on this earth is equally created, of which, all of us are created by the very same Creator, with the very same unalienable rights.

"The evil that men do lives after them"

The above quotation comes from Shakespeare's great tragedy: "Julius Caesar", of which, most scholars interpret this as meaning that the evil that men have done are more often remembered, than their good deeds, which, often seems to be true.  The reason that this is true, though, has a lot to do with mankind, in general, of which, mankind often has difficulty in controlling their own weak passions of jealously and envy, so that, they take a certain perverse pleasure in seeing people that are held in high esteem, knocked down a few notches, so that therefore this makes them feel a little bit better about themselves, in comparison to them, and this is exactly why gossip is so prevalent in society, for the same basic reasons.

There is, however, another perspective that is important to take account of, in regards to the departed having left this world and their evil living on, and that is the fact that there are certain deeds and actions done, which can have consequences that go far beyond the present, so as to thereby reach into the future.  That is to say, if you cheat, lie, and steal from people, yet, you seemingly have not suffered any punishment for having done so, the perception by others, may be to overlook these flaws as even being flaws, because of the other good qualities that you have. So that, having seen that you have cheated and stolen from others, they will have a tendency to copy those things, for self-serving reasons, in their belief, that since it apparently worked for you, then it will apparently work for them.

Every time that a public or a private figure that is of importance to you, does something that clearly is wrong, the perception of how you look upon that wrong, will make a material difference, as to whether or not it will be potentially perpetuated by yourself.  In other words, all of us make mistakes, but those that are in influential positions, have an incumbent responsibility to own up to their mistakes and when they are dismissive of them, or excuse them, or ignore them, it is not any wonder, that other people will emulate those same sorts of mistakes, because they figure that if it's okay for them to do this, therefore it must follow, it's okay for us, to do the same sort of thing.

In point of fact, the lives we lead are complicated, and if we are unable to fully see the whole of another, though our prism of who and what they really are, and of what they aspire to be, than our interpretation of them may easily be flawed.  This type of distorted vision, when combined with the lack of proper discernment, allows far too many people, to dismiss the good and righteousness qualities that a given person has, and instead, to pick up or to emphasize their evil habits and bad dispositions, under the guise, that all of this must be okay, because it apparently worked for them, so that the evil lives on in us, for our failure to comprehend that evil can only live on, if we allow it to live and to fester inside of us.

Countries get rich by exporting, not importing

The world has gotten appreciably smaller over the last few generations, and not only that, the trade barriers that separate countries from doing business with one another, has been relaxed or replaced with more or less the free interchange of goods from one country to another.  This does help explain why inflation has been so low over the last decade in advanced economies such as the United States, Japan, and Germany, so that despite the fact that many consumers have had stagnated wages, their purchasing power for the goods so purchased has remained strong.

As you might expect, however, whether you are a net exporter or a net importer of goods does make a material difference to that country, along with the salient fact as to what actual goods are being imported or exported.  For instance, the exportation of vital raw materials in pretty much their natural state is not going to be nearly as lucrative, as taking those raw materials and actually developing products from the usage of those materials; so that raw materials such as rubber or sugar, which while producing income from the exporting of these products, are in total, going to be far less valuable, than producing things that use rubber such as tires, or food items that use sugar such as processed foods of all sorts.

Further to the point, real money is not generated out of thin air, despite the financial shenanigans of national banks or national sponsored banks the world over, for the more goods that any given country imports, signifies the outflow of monies or its equivalency from that country to the exporter, whereas the exporter of those goods will be receiving the inflow of monies or its equivalency from that country to their people.  Those countries that are net exporters, especially of manufactured goods which take those initial raw materials that make up such a good, and by combining these with other necessary materials, processing, intellectual ingenuity, as well as their manufacturing efficiencies are able to add value to their products which thereby profits those companies so that, real wealth and value is created for those exporters, in comparison to those that import these things, of which these importers are paying the price for their lack of efficiencies as well as their inability to manufacture such at the same cost point.

This so indicates that those that are able to export manufactured products that are difficult or impossible to replicate by other countries on their own shores, are not only far more profitable and rich for having done so, but have a huge leg up on those countries that have developed a market for those products but do not have the capacity to manufacture them. 

Quite logically, countries get rich by exporting products, because the exportation of products, allows those countries to deliberately produce the products that are most profitable and unique for them, and to thereby sell them to countries throughout the world that need to utilize them, whereas those that import these products, have to spend money to receive such, and if they run a deficit in so doing, are compelled to borrow money to do so, in addition to paying the cost of such borrowing, which leaves them poorer, and far more exploitable.

The rich and their taxes

The rich like to portray themselves as paying far too much in federal taxes, of which they demonstrate this by surveys, based on IRS data, such as presented by the taxfoundation.org, in which the Top 5% of taxpayers in 2015, based on their Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) as reported by the IRS, had a 36.07% share of the Total Adjusted Gross Income, but actually paid 59.58% share of that Total Adjusted Gross Income, clearly indicating that they pay their taxes at a far higher percentage rate than those with a lower AGI.  However, keep in mind, that the federal personal tax system is a progressive tax system, in which, the more that you make, the higher the percentage that you will owe in taxes per the various income tiers, so in actuality, the above statistics are only proving what they are meant to prove, that the rich pay a higher percentage of federal taxes because of the progressive income tax.

What we don't hear nearly often enough, at least by certain media outlets, is more about all those taxes or tax codes that favor the rich at the expense of the poor, along with how the tax code is setup to favor certain asset classes at the expense of other asset classes.  For instance, the most egregious example of the favoritism that the rich get over those that make a decent wage salary and above, is the Social Security tax, of which this tax, as of 2018, necessitates that each employee making a wage, has 6.2% of their earnings taken from their paycheck and diverted to their Social Security account, with the exception of all those that have income exceeding $128,700, at which time when passing that wage threshold, that percentage of 6.2% actually drops to zero.  This so indicates, that those earning more than $128,700 do not have any additional Social Security tax taken out, of which regaining 6.2% of one's paycheck, is a very large number.

Further, there are lots of flat taxes, or regressive taxes, that are equally applied to rich and poor, such as taxes for groceries in some States, fuel taxes for oil, property taxes, cigarette and alcohol taxes, cable and cell phone taxes, water and sewer taxes, toll taxes, and so on, of which each of these taxes are set at certain percentage that are fixed for each individual, of which, the poor pay the same percentage as the rich, effectively making those taxes of far more impact upon those people that earn less money.

Additionally, and of massive importance, not all income or asset appreciation is captured by a given taxpayer's AGI, of which, the most glaring example of something that is not captured, unless sold, is capital gains, of which the prime examples of a capital gain, would be the appreciation in value in one's home or in one's stock and bond portfolio.  In both of these cases, the individual taxpayer does not need to pay capital gains on assets that appreciate in value, if they do not sell those assets.  In other words, if you bought shares of Apple, and it appreciated 1000% since your original purchase, but you have not sold any of those shares, you do not owe anything in taxes, though your assets have appreciated considerably by owning that stock.  Also, for those that do sell and have long term capital gains, unless your AGI is above $425,801, your long term capital gain federal tax rate is just 15%, whereas for those that earn their money through their paychecks, anything above $38,700 in that fiscal year for individuals is taxed at the 22% rate.

In summary, while the rich will complain about paying their fair taxes or more than fair taxes to the IRS, the truth of the matter is, growth of assets that are not classified as being part of a given individual's AGI, are not taxed at all, and the very, very rich are very, very good at doing just that.

Parents, children, punishment, danger, and social media activity

Parents deal with insubordination and wrong behavior with their children in a lot of different ways, of which, the one that clearly has fallen out of favor in modern times is to send the child to their room as a form of isolation and therefore punishment.  The problem with that strategy and why that hasn't worked in quite a while is that is exactly where way too many children spend all of their time, anyway.  The thing is when children are in their room, they aren't actually isolated, because of the internet, social media, and their cell phone, of which, many of them actually prefer to be in their room, to begin with.

This means that today's method of punishing a child, is taking away the privileges of having internet access, cell phone usage, and social media posting, of which, so many children when they do not have these things readily available to them, feel that they are Luddites, in some way, form, or manner.  Whether that resolves the problem behavior as a form of punishment, is debatable, but it just seems really strange that children, when being punished, aren't sent to their rooms anymore, but are compelled, instead, to come out of them and to maybe go outside and play.

It would seem that parents as a matter of course, should not only have set aside time to have a family meal at dinnertime, in which each person talks a little bit about their day, but they also need to have some time set aside, in which everybody puts up their phones and other distracting devices so that a conversation can ensue between everybody, because if a family really isn't interacting between one another, then that family isn't growing closer together, in fact, they are separating from one another, and not behaving as a cohesive whole.

In addition, though the outside world is still a potentially very dangerous place, that danger is typically no longer initiated outside the home, but rather that danger is often started first within the house because of the internet which enables youngsters to be in touch with just about any character throughout the entire world as well as within their own community, of which, those that want to exploit or to take advantage of children have never had it so good, because they can easily impersonate or be whomever that they want to be in order to lure a child out into the public for their bad intent.

It never has been easy being a parent or a child, and today's hi-technology world has made it even more challenging, of which, part of that challenge is for everyone to spend less time with their devices of all sorts and to spend more time with each other, actually engaged in real conversations about real and meaningful things, because, it is way too easy for children to step into their own world, of which they are no longer forthcoming with their parents about what is really going on, but instead, having tuned out their parents and replaced such with their internet friends, of which, some of these are very bad people with very bad intent, indeed.