Any foundation built upon lies will not stand the test of time

The most basic reason why this world is not a world of peace, harmony, and mutual respect, really comes down to the fact that far too many people, lie far too often.  That is to say, though lying often serves the purpose of deception, the truth of the matter is, that most people avail themselves of lies, not so much for deception purposes, though they do, but typically as a ways and means to take inappropriate shortcuts in life, so that by doing so, they subsequently will not have to face the music of that which they should face for those actions and deeds accomplished through the art of lying.  This thus means that by lying they are attempting to divert having appropriate justice be served upon them.

While some will say, that people that lie, will eventually get caught up in their lies, in the scheme of things, life actually teaches us that in this world, lying, for an inordinate amount of people, can actually work out quite well for them.  The fact that some of those that lie, seemingly, get away with it, is a contributing factor towards other people, justifying their own lies, so as to hopefully get the same sort of positive result.  In other words, as much as we might wish that our justice system both socially as well as in a court of law, would be absolutely perfect and thorough, the reality of the situation is that ultimately in many cases, those that lie, are going to have to be the ones to correct their own behavior, for the proverbial watchtower can only catch so much of mankind's sins, lies, and follies.

To understand better why it is so important within society, that we are honest with one another, it must be recognized that virtually every crime as well as virtually every stupidity that people do, is based upon the action of lying in some way, form, or manner.  This signifies that honest people, do not commit crimes, except those crimes of conscience, or of ignorance, and in all cases, have the integrity to own up to what and who they really are.  As for those that lie, far too often, the truth from their own lips, never emerges, for liars, typically veer so far off the straight and narrow, that they have absolutely no intention of ever getting back onto the right path, for they are completely unwilling to own up to who and what they are, because they do not desire to ever face the fair consequences of their bad acts.

All of the above means that those that are parents should definitely be concerned about the lies that their children tell them, and should not dismiss even little lies, that have little consequence, of being of no real concern, for those that first get away with a little lie, are often those that are emboldened to pursue yet a bigger and then a bigger lie, until they become a person, that lacks true integrity though they might be quite skilled as acting as if they have such.  A person of real principle, does not tell lies, because they do not desire to become something that is un-pure, dirty and hypocritical, but rather will make their stand in the here and now, and thereby suffer what must be suffered, rather than postpone and let fester and grow that which destroys them from within.

"No State shall… make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts"

The above clause comes from Article 1, Section 10 of our Constitution, in which, quite obviously it makes it clear that the representatives of the various States, believed strongly that it was necessary and proper to restrict all of the individual States to a sound monetary policy.  The main reason that this was so, was because during the revolutionary period, continental currency was notorious for not being worth its value as printed on that currency, and a country without stability or control of its currency is often going to be a country that will find it hard to conduct business locally, as well as across State lines, net alone internationally.

Today, however, the currency of the realm in the United States, known as Federal Reserve notes, are not back by specie, such as gold or silver, nor are those dollars backed by anything of real value or substance, except for such inchoate concepts as being backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.  Not too surprisingly, since the United States completely left the gold standard in 1971 the inflation or the worth of our currency has plummeted drastically, in which it takes in the present day, as calculated by in2013dollars.com, around $6.37 to equal what $1.00 was in 1971, or the worth of $1 today, is the equivalency of 15 cents, back in 1971.

The whole point of attaching specie to paper money is to help to not only stabilize paper currency, but also to prevent the national government from forgoing their duty to keep their fiscal house in order.  The bottom line is that paper currencies that are backed by essentially nothing, eventually reach the point where the confidence in the value of that paper currency, disintegrates to such a degree, that governments, have to thereby replace or revalue that currency to reflect its true worth on a national, as well as on an international scale.

Those that wrote the U.S. Constitution and ratified such, were no fools, and understood well that sound money and fiscal responsibility were part and parcel of what nations' needed in order to establish and to maintain a firm monetary foundation.  This so signifies that America, clearly is on the pathway to some sort of monetary upheaval of truly epic proportions, for when any currency is stripped of its stabilizing value given through specie or something of that equivalency, and replaced  instead with essentially nothing of lasting substance, than all sorts of trouble will thereby ensue. 

This does not mean that all is lost, but what it does mean is that there will most definitely be losers when the current monetary system is replaced with something that will be based upon restraining prudently the monetary printing press, which currently seems to operate in America, 24/7.  No country can simply print fiat money as its way to keep its fiscal house in order, without at some future point, having to face the true consequences of their actions.   That reckoning will surely come, and those monetary houses built upon foundations of sand, will not well stand the towering terrible storms that will inevitably come their way.

True freedom necessitates full emancipation and full equality

In January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, thereby freeing all those that were slaves in those States that were in active rebellion against the Union of the States.  Upon the successful conclusion of our civil war, the 13th through 15th Amendments were passed, which signified that on a national level, slavery was eradicated, and further that all those that were born or naturalized within this country were thereby citizens of it, and additionally that those previously disenfranchised from voting by virtue of their race, or previous condition of servitude, were thereby enfranchised to vote.  Each of these measures, demonstrated the true greatness and vision of America, but as in everything, there is the law, and then there is the application of the law in reality, and these are often two entirely different things, of which the aftereffects of this, still are quite relevant, today.

In point of fact, though slavery is no longer legal in America, and therefore all people in America, are by definition, free; in actuality, the face of America, though it is changing, is a face that favors in particular, the white race, as well as favoring those that are connected to the right people, and in many cases, favors those that have money and know how to use such to influence things, all at the expense of those that do not.

This country has an ethical and sacred duty to live up to the very words of its own Declaration of Independence, that tells us that "all men are created equal", so that the proof of whether this country lives up to those most noble words, comes down to taking a very careful  and comprehensive look at the reality of those that live within this country, as to whether therefore the mankind in this country, are thereby judged by the content of their character, or whether they are prejudged by something other than their character, such as their creed, their race, or their gender.

The reason that Lady Justice is so often portrayed with a blindfold across her eyes is because justice is supposed to be impartial and to the degree that it is, the laws therefore are being equally applied and equally enforced.  However, clearly, our modern day age, tells the story of what America really is; in which, those that were previously enslaved, and have been Americans for generations upon generations, are far too often, the poorest and the most illiterate amongst us, which could only be the case through the misapplication of justice, substandard education facilities, and lack of opportunity.

It is one thing to not know the right thing to do, and it is entirely a different thing to know the right thing to do, and then not follow through on seeing it so be done, thoroughly.   So then, the sin of America is not its lack of knowledge, nor its lack of vision, but rather its inability to follow through on that which separates those that mean well but fail to do well, as compared to those that make it their point, to mean well, and will not ever quit until they have done well.

A world with profits, above all, is a world with its values misaligned

In this capitalistic society, there are many true believers, that believe strongly that whatever the market will bear, should be the true price of just about any product being sold; and that further those that are the employers, should seldom be mandated by a government agency to be compelled thereby to pay some sort of living or even a minimum wage; but rather, the marketplace as whole, through some sort of self regulation as well as by competition, will come to an equilibrium of what the prevailing wages shall be.

It all sounds kind of nice in theory, but the reality of the situation is that not everything that is priced is actually priced fairly.  That is to say, in a truly competitive marketplace in which literally everything conceivable that is for sale or rent, contains a multitude of competitors, and further no single competitor is dominant within a given industry, nor is there in existence some sort of consortium of similar vendors all working together as if one, directly or indirectly, then in all probability, the pricing of such goods will be fairly close to truly being what the market will bear.  However, the nature of the capitalistic system, is for the big fish to eat the small fish, so as to sooner or later, thereby reduce the choices that consumers have to a few really gargantuan players, that thereby are able to control the pricing of their products for sale, by virtue of having economics of scale that cannot easily be matched by anyone else still left standing, and/or by receiving favoritism by government entities, including tax authorities, so that,  these companies effectively are able to not only extract additional profits from consumers, but are essentially subsidized by governmental entities in doing so. 

In regards to labor, only a fool believes that someone that is not part of a labor union, can ever really be in the position of having a true and equal seat at the table of negotiation in regards to their given salary, and therefore vast amounts of people, are placed into the unenviable position of having to accept the pay so being offered to them, because they actually don't have as much choice, as certain people believe. While it is true that they do have choices and that they do have options, these are, almost without exception, still leaving those individuals in a very vulnerable negotiating position.

So then, when it comes to products being sold, or the prevailing wages of those that make up the labor force -- to a very large extent, those that are in control of their marketplace, are able to charge a price that permits them to make a greater profit, because any company or group of companies that effectively are unassailable and monopolistic in structure, are in position to do just that.  Further, without the power of unions, corporations are able to quite easily set labor conditions which are beneficial primarily for those corporations and at the expense of those that are in need of work.

It is one thing for a business to make a profit, it is an entirely different thing, when that profit, is the be-all and end-all of their existence.  In the scheme of things, money and thereby profits should not be of more value, then the very humans that make up societies.  This thus means that those that are clever enough, through whatever means, to make excessive profits and proceed to do so; have their values misaligned, for successful and sustainable societies are built upon human cooperation as opposed to human exploitation.

On being deliberately ignorant of the effect of one's actions

Each of us engages in activities, throughout a given day, of which many of those activities, directly or indirectly, have some sort of effect upon other people.  Those that are enlightened, strongly desire to know the effect that they have upon others, so as to better understand the consequences of such; for good or for bad, and subsequently with that newfound knowledge, can consciously amend their actions so as to better accommodate their effect upon others.  That is to say, if one has a habit of being dismissive to others, it is possible to correct such an action, by simply being less dismissive, and therefore more open to the value of others, and to thereby accommodate those others more readily.

This signifies, that those that really do pay conscious attention to what they say and do, and how this impacts other people, thereby make a  more concerted effort to conduct themselves in a manner which is of a more accommodating nature and thereby a more positive influence upon others, which subsequently improves their own character, day by day.  On the other hand, those deliberately not paying much attention to the effect of their actions, and therefore are essentially ignorant or unconcern about the consequences of their actions, have taken upon themselves the mantle that other people and how they are affected, is something that is of no or little concern to them.

The problem with being purposefully ignorant about caring about how one affects other people is that this is clearly selfish, and a society consisting of nothing but selfish people is always going to be a society that is going to be untenable.  Rather, it is in human nature, for people to be both sociable as well as to congregate into voluntary societies, for the betterment of those people, in whole.  This means that those that are entirely selfish, and do not pay attention to their actions and thereby the consequences of their actions, are in implicit violation of their duty that they owe to that society of which they are a member of.

So then, in order to properly learn to become good members of society, as well as to become mature individuals, it is imperative that we learn how to interact with other people in a manner in which we see other people as having the same basic worth that we have.  So that, as much as we might not appreciate meaningful constructive criticism or the pointing out of errors that we have made with other people, purposeful or not, these are the very things that we need to be aware of, because ignorance of such, is surely not bliss.

Those that closed their ears to that which they should and ought to be heard, are doing nobody a favor, for to deliberately be ignorant of that which we should be knowledgeable of, is a severe character flaw, that needs to be correctly, forthrightly.  Each of us is gifted with the art of communication, in which one of the purposes of that communication is to pass on relevant information, for the benefit of ourselves as well as to others.  Those then, that will not listen to that which is for their own good as well as for the benefit of society, at large, have discarded and disregarded that which needs to be properly addressed.

Reconstruction and the abandonment of the freedman

While the winner of our Civil War, was unequivocal, this victory for the North and of the Union, came at the cost of millions upon millions of dollars spent, as well as the wholesale destruction of vast amounts of valuable property, and the unfortunate lost of the lives of thousands upon thousands of soldiers on either side of the conflict, of which the end result was that the Union thereupon did become united; and that further, time has proven that the United States of America has essentially become in fit, form, and function, truly united, though the southern States, still are laggards in asserting and enforcing progressive rights for those that were formerly enslaved.  So too, the 13th-15th Amendments, made it federal law, that the abomination of slavery was eradicated, once and forever, and further that the freedman were granted citizenship, while also winning their enfranchisement of the vote.

Unfortunately, the great tragedy of the reconstruction period is that the federal government did not do what it should and ought to have done in order to materially aid in the uplifting of the black race, for to merely grant freedom to a people that for the most part, own nothing, were illiterate, and had marketable skills that primarily could only be successfully utilized for somebody else that had both the capital and property, meant that blacks, though free, were stuck in an endless cycle of still being subservient and thereby vulnerable to those that held those very things, which just so happened to be, their former slave masters.  Further to the point, one of the most crucial ways to rise up from poverty for those that have little or no material assets, is through the value of a good education, which thereupon opens up additional doors and opportunities; for those that are educated do not necessarily have to have capital in order to achieve something of substance, because their knowledge, is an asset in and of itself which can be through their labor, converted essentially into money, and thereby a ready means for their livelihood.

So then, essentially, the promise of reconstruction for the black race, was a promissory note that has never fully been paid; and while the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s, the Great Society programs and other programs of this sort in general, as well as Affirmative Action, were most definitely important and vital steps in righting this wrong, the economic conditions for the black race, as well as the justice or lack thereof that they receive, in addition to the fair opportunities that should be provided to them, has not been ever fully rectified.  This signifies, that this country still has a moral and ethical duty to right those wrongs that slavery did wrought, and through the power and breadth of this present day federal government, needs thereby to make a concerted effort to do that very thing, for those that have no or little property, inferior educational facilities, and are targeted far more often for judicial punishments, are not fully free, and thereby are not truly freedmen.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…"

Those above words come from the most seminal document in America's history -- which is its Declaration of Independence, of which that Declaration was the inspirational rallying point for the colonists to rise up against their oppressive English governance, and to thereby ultimately create a government, of the people, by the people, and for the people.  This thus means that the only real reason why America represents itself as being the last best hope of mankind is the fact that its Declaration made it clear that America truly believes that all of humankind has been created equally and further that our birthright into this world, consists of unalienable rights, which no legitimate nation can ever take away from its people.

Of course, many nations and most civilizations have been ostensibly built upon noble words and noble thoughts, of which, quite unfortunately, the actual practice of these underlying principles, have often been found wanting.  Regrettably, America is one of those nations, that both claims as well as professes lovely sentiments, but the reality of the situation which is demonstrated through its executive actions, legislative acts, and judicial decisions, proves that America does not come even close to being what it was founded to actually become.

For instance, one's status in America most definitely matters in regards to how much equality and fairness a given person gets; so that how one is thereby treated in this country, is often dependent upon one's racial characteristics,  religious faith, income, wealth, education, gender, and family background or origin.  That is to say, rather than all American citizens being subjected equally to the same legislative acts, the same judicial decisions, as well as the same executive actions, in a manner which is consistent to the fact that all are created equally, and that all have the same unalienable rights, we find that this is violated constantly and consistently in a manner in which the few reap special benefits, whereas the masses, as well as specific un-favored people, suffer thereby the ill  or unfair consequences.

As it has been said, a house divided cannot stand, and further a house divided will ultimately be either all of one thing, or all of the other.  Clearly, an impartial and honest look into the character of America, indicates that America is most definitely not a country of egalitarian principles, though it preaches such; nor is it a country of equal opportunity, though it claims such; nor is it a country in which justice is impartial, consistent, and fair though it pretends such; but rather it is a country, that has permitted itself to devolve into something in which one's life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are often under assault by the very government that is supposed to uphold those very principles.

When any country becomes destructive to those truths that are self-evident, then that country has lost not only its moral compass, but has foregone its right to be considered the true representatives of the people, for by its actions it has effectively lost the people's voluntary consent.  This does not mean that all is lost, but rather, it does mean that a nation that has lost its rightful purpose and its rightful direction must need to go back to its founding principles and thereby to live up to them, or else its foundation will surely give way, for it will not stand.

A God who is alive has relevancy, a dead God does not

Whether or not someone believes or professes to believe in God, is superseded by whether or not God is actually alive, immortal, just, immutable, as well as being beyond time and space; for a God that is not in existence has no real value to humankind, and a God that is finite, has limited value if any; whereas a God that is dead, pretty much is useless.  This thus means that in our sincere search for God, that our search can only be considered to be successful, if we find that God who is eternal, who therefore has no beginning and has no end.  Such a God as that is thereby a God that has relevancy to all of us, believers or non-believers alike, because a God that is immortal is most certainly a God that can be of real value to each one of us, and in a world in which all of us, will suffer some degree of trials, tears, and tribulations, knowing that there is a Supreme Creator and Administrator of it all, should be of real comfort to us.

In any life, in order for such to be lived well, as well as to be fully developed, it is incumbent upon each individual to use well all of their good skills, insights, and efforts, so that they are able to thereby successfully become a positive force to benefit themselves as well as others.  This means, that each one of us should want to take the time to actually search for God, and thereby the meaning of that one Supreme God in their respective lives, for those that do not make such a search, are surely losing something of real import; whereas those that do make that search, and further are successful in that search, have been diligent in that which is of most importance, for those that have successfully found God, are those that are true heirs to that kingdom of God.

Remember well that any good student, in order to know their subject matter thoroughly, must rise to the highest level of that subject matter, by taking the time to first build a solid foundation of the rules of the road, and then to follow that road to its ultimate destination, of which, the walking upon that path to a specific and correct endpoint, will increase dramatically their knowledge upon that subject matter, day by day, and step by step.  So too, within each of us and available to every one of us, is an arsenal of vital tools, that we have the right as well as the obligation to avail ourselves of.  One of those tools is our innate desire to examine our own lives so as to find the meaning of our life, for it is this search that creates the impetus to find or to re-connect ourselves with God.  That God, therefore, is going to be of more value and of more worth to those that honestly and sincerely seek for God, because those that seek such earnestly enough, and will not stop in their goal to achieve such, will eventually find that eternal treasure that will enlighten them, and thereby free them from those self-imposed limits which had previously blinded them.

Those that will not stand up when they really need to

People like to divide other people into various groups, with fairly simplistic titles, such as those that are good and those that are evil.  Not too surprisingly, not too many people admit to being evil or even really sinful for that matter; so that, for the most part, people categorize themselves as being basically good.  To a certain degree, this is fine, because most of the time, most people are actually fairly good, or at least if not that, aren't being directly evil.  However, there are those times, more frequently than people typically recognize, in which those that are ostensibly good, need to step up and to actually be good in action, as well as being good for something, and  thereby to stand up for that good, when being called to do that very thing.

Unfortunately, far too many people when put to the test in real life, to demonstrate how they are actually good, often slink away from that responsibility, especially when they believe that to make a stand at that point, and at that place, would cost them something that they do not wish to put at risk.  For instance, there are many people that are busy bodies in which they like to involve themselves in all sorts of trivialities, but when something of significance comes up, in which it is thereby appropriate for them to actually say something or to be active in doing something, they often zip their lips, when they believe that by speaking up this might mean risking real retribution from one of those parties.  So too, in social situations, many people in order to get along or to maintain their status within their clique, or for various other reasons, will allow something or condone something that fundamentally violates their sense of goodness, just to conform to their social peers, and thereby to not stir trouble, or to bring inconvenient notice to their own true beliefs.

In so many ways, evil things are able to be accomplished and done, because too many good people, are afraid to confront that evil, and often justify themselves from having to do so, by various dubious reasons.  This thus means that when good people do nothing, or do far less then what they should and ought to do, then evil and criminal deeds are going to be far more prevalent, because those good people, have turned their back from actively applying the good that they know that they ought to do, because they are weak, or indecisive, or excuse makers, and just won't make the stand that they really need to make.

The real reason that there is so much evil and wrong in this world is not because we are overwhelmed by very bad people, but rather because those that profess that they are good, too often won't do their part in confronting that evil where it exists, or by helping to ameliorate those conditions that are conducive to the making of evil.  This world that we live in, and the community that we are a part of, fairly reflects, the people as they really are; so that, those that won't stand up and do the right thing, even though their heart is basically right, are wrong for not having done so.

The wrong war tax

The United States Defense budget for 2020 is $738 billion, which is an astonishing amount of money, for the "defense" of the United States and its interests.  Further to the point, as in all budgets that are opaque, obscure, and functionally non-transparent, the amount of monies allocated to the defense budget for this country, in all probability will well exceed that budget of $738 billion.  It would be one thing, if all these billions upon billions of dollars spent, actually accomplished somehow in bringing forth a world of peace, justice, and safety, but apparently this is not ever the case, because year after year, huge defense budgets are approved by our congressional legislature, indicating that whatever monies that have been spent, doesn't ever resolve the issues at hand, successfully.

As might be expected, since this is a government of the people, that this so signifies that it is the people of this great nation, that must thereby foot the bill for all of our national governmental spending, including, in particular, the defense budget.  So then, excessively large defense budgets are a particular nefarious tax upon the people, of which, they are the ones  collectively responsible for the paying of the bill, in which, the return from that spending seems well nigh suspect; especially in consideration, that America has no enemies contiguous to its borders, nor does it appear to be in any imminent danger of any attack by any nation in the foreseeable future;  yet,  the military budget of the United States, is so gargantuan, that there is not a single country, with the exception of China, that spends even $100 billion on their defense, and China spends just $237 billion.

So then, what has happened is that billions upon billions of dollars have left the laboring taxpayers pockets to be spent on the national defense of this country, in which in the scheme of things, what has actually occurred is that, the defense budget has extracted a very large tax upon the people, of which, the benefits of that tax to the people, is at best, questionable; and the winners of this tax, is quite obviously the technology-military-industrial complex, that takes in therefore revenues of billions upon billions of dollars from the national government, in which those governmental contracts are exceedingly profitable and secure for those large corporations and hence the wealth of those that work tirelessly, has been transferred to these defense contractors for their profit, at the expense of the average American.

In America, there is always talk of the rightful need for the redistribution of wealth, in which, one of the ways that theoretically this occurs is through our progressive tax system, of which, those that make more income pay a higher percentage of their income via taxation.  In reality, defense companies make inordinate amounts of profits from the contracts so received via the national government, and then these massive corporations, are thereby very skilled at lobbying for, and subsequently having reduced or deferred their national tax liabilities in a manner in which their effective tax rate is often far less than what it should be, and typically is effectively far below what a middle class taxpayer so pays.  This thus means that large defense budgets suck money from the pockets of the laboring class, effectively redistributing that money and wealth into the hands of the technology-military-industrial complex.

Because we are all created equally we need to demonstrate that adage in action

It is one thing to espouse noble sentiments, it is entirely different thing to live up to them.  Mankind, for example, speaks nobly of our unalienable rights as well as each one of us being created equally by our Creator.  Now, if this really is true, than the least that mankind is obligated to do, is to see that it does all that is possible to live up to those ideals within its civilizations, that have been created, after all, for the expressed benefit of every member of mankind.

Instead, far too often, what actually happens, is that civilizations subdivide into the most basic of divisions, in which on the most fundamental level, the few and privileged become the power players within society and aggrandize onto themselves powers that the masses do not have privy to.  So then, though, we are meant to be equal in the eyes of the law, justice, and rights, the reality and practicality is that this is not the case.  

This means that all of mankind typically lives not under those conditions, which augment and protects their unalienable rights as well as demonstrating in actuality their equality under the law,but rather instead live lives under those oppressive conditions actuated by certain mankind’s actions, that undermine those very unalienable rights.  This then means that mankind suffers from having their rightful sovereignty and self-determination wrested away from them by the very civilization and laws that is supposed to be upholding them.

So then, civil institutions that are meant to be of benefit to the people, often devolve into being unjust and unequal in their application of the laws so enforced, of which those that suffer from this unfairness the most are those people that typically have the least say and the least voice in the scheme of things.  This means that far too often  the elite of mankind imposes its will upon the balance of those that make up civilizations, in order to benefit their own positions as well as to benefit select others, all at the expense of the people in whole, and thereby effectively crown their own selves  as being superior to all others.

It so appears that all these constitutions, declarations, and laws that purport to be our  bulwark as well as to serve for the common defense of mankind, and to thereby support and to secure those rights so provided to each one of us as our birthright; have been too often effectively bypassed by those that have taken control of such, as if they -- those that are our rulers, administrators, and lawgivers are somehow a special breed apart from everyone else, and they act as if this is really true.

In reality, the whole purpose of civilizations is for the people, to join together into one body politic, for the benefit and the improvement of all the people, as opposed to what currently occurs in so many civilizations, in which, a small subsection of mankind takes it upon themselves to act as if they are a god, or a demigod, and thereupon steal mankind’s unalienable rights to be thereby replaced with at best, bread and circuses, and at worse, various degrees of oppression, or both.

We must learn to make our enemies our friends

Conflict is inevitably going to occur in any civilization and within any country or series of countries.  While there are myriad ways to deal with conflict, the most positive way to deal with such, is the desire to resolve such conflict through the meeting of minds as well as a reasonable accommodation of one party to another. That is to say, conflicts are never successfully resolved, though they may appear to the unenlightened to be so, by the destruction of those that we are in conflict with, for that simply takes cares of the here and now, but does not take care of the roots of the cause of that conflict.  This signifies to the nth degree, that lasting peace will never occur through the annihilation of our enemies, nor will enemies harmed or unduly restrained, somehow become our friends.  

In reality, the whole point of civilizations has not changed since the beginnings of mankind, which is that people voluntarily come together for the specific purpose to form a civil government, for the overall benefit and common good of those people; in which the advantages of a people, united to a common cause, are both the unity as well as the strength presented by those numbers.  The trick to the successful working of this very principle, however, comes from the understanding, that we must eventually see all other peoples, especially those of different racial backgrounds, or social economic levels, or countries of origin, and so on and so forth, as equally entitled to break bread with us at the communal table of community, in recognition that all of us have the exact same unalienable rights, granted to us by our Creator, whether consciously acknowledged to or not.

As might be expected, in a world in which we appear to be so different, one from another, and in which, some of those people have demonstrated time and time again, the most uncivilized of manners, this well nigh appears impossible.  Yet, in the scheme of things, it is the most civilized among us, that have the most responsibility to lead by example; for when these people, and especially these people of those highly advanced civilizations, are unable to demonstrate in reality, that they are functionally about peace, harmony, and good neighborly behavior, then how could it ever be possible for all those that are most boorish and difficult among us, to somehow magically become better behaved?

The only possible way to successfully advanced any civilization, is to first recognize that those that live by the sword, most always and forever, pay homage to that sword, so that world will always be a world that will cycle endlessly through its periods of  violence and destruction.  Whereas all those that live by the principle, that they will rise above retribution, and will always see or try to see the other as of equal worth and value as to their self,  have begun the process of taking that which is negative and transforming that trait into a positive.  That path that must be taken, will never be smooth nor even straight, but it will step by step, bend towards that which is true and just;  for only those that walk and encourage others to walk towards good, will ever reach the only destination that really matters.

Nothing really worthwhile comes without great labor and the overcoming of obstacles

To live in a world in which everything is simply handed to a given individual, without that individual having put forth both an honest effort as well as having made the incumbent preparation behind such, is not ever going to be the perfect world.  While just about everyone appreciates a nice gift here and there, and a helping hand when such is needed, the bottom line is that most people don’t really want things simply handed to them, even when they claim that they do, for they know intuitively that the receiving of such without any corresponding contribution, often feels hollow and perhaps even undeserved.

The above signifies that in order for a life to really be lived well, that the person so living that life is going to have to prove themselves in some meaningful encounters and endeavors, in which, both their effort put forth as well as the end result from those encounters, is ultimately going to define that person as well as their life.  That is to say, the things that we work hardest at achieving, almost always are those things that are most important to us, and when those achievements come at the personal cost of considerable time, sweat, blood, and tears, such is far more highly appreciated than anything else that simply is ours for the taking, or even ours for the asking.

Too many people wrongly believe that they want to live lives of leisure as if this will, by definition, provide them with the feelings of satisfaction, happiness,and fulfillment.  Perhaps this is true for a few of those people, but in actuality,a life without conflict, and a life lacking tribulations as well as challenges, is not going to be a life that brings forth full satisfaction, for we are surely meant to be something more than mere purveyors of leisure; for rather instead we are meant to be achievers of something of real merit and importance to ourselves, as well as for our fellow sojourners.

Invariably, the things that really matter most to us, are those accomplishments in which we risked something of merit in order to achieve something of even greater merit; of which, for some of us, this means repeated battles and obstacles that have to be faced and eventually conquered.  After all, the whole point of, for example, the school experience, is to not only to learn our subjects well, but to thereupon take that knowledge and thereby apply such into the real world, for the express benefit for our self, as well as for others.

This means that all the frustrations and disappointments that we face are not meant to defeat us, but rather are there to prod us to, again and again, get back up, reload, rethink,  and to try again; for that which requires great sacrifice and dedicated persistence to achieve, is all the sweeter to the taste when we eventually rise up and accomplish such.  That which we prize most, is that which we have struggled hardest to fairly gain.  Our victory, though it need not be swift, most though come forth from our own efforts, for each of us has their own victorious race to run.

To best understand mankind, understand your community, first

Never have so many people, been so formerly educated with advanced degrees, than what we presently see in society.  If by that education, and by those people, alone, we were to live thereby in societies of peace, love, compassion, justice, and fairness, then all would truly be well; but, rather in far too many circumstances and in far too many cases, people living in the same general community, are too often vastly different from one another, so that in many aspects, it is as if they are living completely separate lives from one another, though they are within a neighborly distance of one another.

This signifies, that when a given country believes it is worthwhile to take a somewhat detailed census of its people every ten years, then it has the absolute obligation to actually do something constructively with the information so gathered from that census to thereby address those things that have made for societies that are grossly unequal and further have placed certain peoples into the seemingly hopeless position of  not being able to functionally benefit from living within a great nation, or to have the ready means or tools to actually be self-determining sovereign individuals.

So then, any country that will not take the time to first learn and thereby apply that learning about their own people, is not going to be a country that can possibly be structured in a manner in which it will be fair and equal.  Further to the point, the more unequal any society is, the more clearly that country has ignored or bypassed or exploited certain segments of society, in order to benefit the few at the expense of the many.

After all, the whole point of learning, such as in science or just about any subject manner, is to understand things in a manner in which the knowledge so gained is truthful and enlightening, for anything else is less than learning in a thorough and comprehensive manner.  This indicates that in order to be of service to our community, that we have an obligation to know the people of our community in a thorough enough fashion, that we are able to fairly understand them, and from that understanding are better able to be of valuable service to them.

So then, it can and should be said that a lot of the issues that communities have is the failure of those that lead those communities, to actually know them, as well as to actually validate the people that make up their community.  It is of far more relevance to know one’s peoples, then most of those that create and enforce social programs are seemingly aware of.  That lack of good knowledge has real repercussions, in which even those that are uninformed but have good intentions can wreak havoc upon its own citizens, and thereby keep those communities from both advancing and of being in harmony with the nation’s fine principles.  This means that a wise community knows its own, and from that wisdom, communities positively progress.

Real governmental empathy requires real governmental understanding and knowledge

In order for those that governance us, to govern well, they need to know their people, especially  the perspective of those people that come from quite different walks of life -- something that is not necessarily easy to achieve or to know.  Unfortunately, the easy road for governance, defaults far too often, into taking into salient account primarily one’s own social milieu, in which the expectations there and the laws so written within such, are thereby consistent to those that are the masters of that domain, consistent with the belief that all others, thereby, should adhere to it as a matter of course, of which, though this might seem fair for those that make and interpret those laws; it is, for all those in particular that are outside such orthodoxy, typically not so.

In any government, its legislators, and those that implement such, it is functionally important that these people come from a variety of backgrounds, a variety of education achievements, and a variety of perspectives, not because such will make the implementation of good governance easier for those that are part of it, but expressly because it is necessary in order for all those that have had their voices so often been ignored or marginalized, to be able to have a voice within that governance. After all, those that do not have an effective voice, are often the very ones that suffer from the most discrimination and injustice, for the laws have not been implemented and enforced in order to properly and fairly include them.

In actuality, within any nation, its people are going to come from all walks of life, of which, some of those walks, are not going to be ones that certain, privileged people have ever experienced, or even are familiar with, or even really care about.  It is that very lack of knowledge and personal experience that makes it difficult for those that claim that they desire to be fair, just, and equal to be able to do this successfully and thereby fairly govern people, that come from all walks of life, as well as from different experiences, effectively and fairly.

This is why it is important for those that wish to govern well, that they actually take not only the time to learn of and to know all of their people, but that as much as it is possible, they experience such themselves or at least are visibly cognizant of all of their peoples, that form their nation, rather than to deliberately ignore such; for those that come from different milieus and different social conditions, are going to behave, differently, and differently does not necessarily mean that such is wrong.

This means that great nations are those nations that do not pretend that injustice, unfairness, poverty, ill-education, and discrimination do not exist, but rather make it their point to do all that is reasonably possible to ameliorate such, and this is more readily accomplished by those that are empathetic to that cause.  A great nation cares about its people, and those that really care, take both the time and put forth the effort to forthrightly do right by those people; by valuing them as being of merit, by listening to them, and by getting to know them at the level that they are at;  for a nation that respects its citizens is far superior to that which treats certain of those citizens with that overbearing condensation which often borders on just plain disrespect

The Federal Reserve Bank is not a national bank of the United States

Despite the very title of the Federal Reserve Bank, it is not the national bank of the United States, but rather is a consortium of private banking members that thereby make up what is collectively known as the Federal Reserve Bank. So though, the United States once did have a national bank it does not any longer have a national bank and has not had a national bank for a considerable amount of years.  This means that rather than the United States government, being in charge of its banking interests and needs, it works rather in conjunction with non-governmental banks, for better or for worse, to provide or to be of assistance for the funding that this national government needs to draw upon in order to properly function.

While there may be room for debate as to whether or not the United States should have a national bank or a consortium of banks acting as the de facto national bank, the fact of the matter is, that is already the case; so the only real question is whether or not the United States should effectively have its own national bank that handles the financial considerations of the national government, and therewith would mean the elimination of the Federal Reserve Bank.

This question should probably have been answered during the 2007-2009 national banking crisis, which would have been an opportune time to have effectively addressed this very issue, and thereby an appropriate time for the nationalization of those banks that had become systemically destabilizing to this country, and subsequently had to be rescued by the national government, performing the role as their lender of last resort, in order to bail out these irresponsible banks.

In the scheme of things, those that handle the financial affairs of national governments are powerful entities, for whoever is effectively in charge of the coin of the realm, has immense power, that can be used for the express advantage of those entities that have control of the money that is utilized in order to transact business of all sorts.  Further to the point, countries have a real need for their currency to be stable, for the destabilization of currency or the inability of currency to be a source of confidence for  transactions so needed, has repercussions, which are typically bad.

In an era in which this national government, pays little or no attention to the massive federal fiscal deficits that it runs on a yearly basis, a fair question to therefore ask, is whether or not this is the time for a fundamental change in regards to the coin of the realm. After all, this country has essentially been running deficits at such a massive scale, that a realistic hope for the rectification of such a deficit, has effectively been kicked down the road, forever; which has, in a perverse way, provided a real opportunity for America to reinvent itself, by taking upon itself a new and true national currency, structured in a manner in which it is created to be stable and of benefit to the people of these United States, as opposed to permitting those non-governmental banking entities that handle such currency, currently, to extract billions of dollars from the pockets of its own sovereign citizens.

Find your purpose

One might think that when we discover that we are our own person that we would therefore follow up with that fruitful discovery with the will to examine what should be our purpose in this life.  In fact, some people do that very thing, but a significant percentage of people never really get around to consciously thinking about what their purpose should or could be in life.  No doubt, people have plenty of excuses for not doing so, of which, just being busy, or preoccupied, or perhaps not being concerned about it, are reasonable excuses, but in the scheme of things, the person that ends up suffering the most for not wanting to find their purpose in life, is going to be the person, that hasn't properly explored such.

It isn't so much, that any one of us actually needs to find their purpose in life, in order to live or to have a meaningful life; it is just that knowing what one's purpose is, is going to, more often than not, make for a life that is more focused, more mission oriented, and more worthwhile, then one that does not.  Further to the point, when it comes to a good purpose, it is important to be detailed oriented about it, as opposed to just having basic generic thoughts and goals, such as desiring to be happy or to be of service to others; because ultimately we are about accomplishing specific things and specific tasks in life, so it bodes well to have a specific vision in mind, though with the flexibility to adapt to the conditions that we are a part of.

So too, it isn't good enough to just know one's purpose, if we are unable to keep our eye upon the prize.  This signifies that it is important to take account of where we are not only periodically, but sometimes, on even a daily basis, so that we can more readily adjust what we are currently doing and thinking so as to come back, as needed, to the directness of staying on task and on point in regards to our purpose; for some of the greatest frustrations in life, aren't necessarily from those that never defined their purpose, but rather from those that know for a certainty their purpose, but subsequently lost their way, and thereafter never found the wherewithal to get back on the path that was meant for them.

The emptiness and hollowness that so many people feel, often comes down to being rudderless and thereby without direction in their sea of life.  After all, if we don't know where we are going, then our direction is going to be haphazard.  Those that know their purpose and thereby resolve to live up to that purpose are those that are going to be more diligent about getting things done and will more often have the resolve to overcome obstacles that lay in their path; for no path is ever going to be nothing but smooth sailing, so that those that have a map to a given destination, and have a purpose and a deep desire to get there, are going to make far more meaningful progress, then all those that do not.

Corporate power and the decline of trade unions

There is power in numbers, whether that power be for good and the benefit of societies, or whether that power is primarily for the selfish benefit of a few within society.  Further to the point, corporations are created specifically to be successful for those that make up that corporation, by the use of capital and personnel in a manner that allows those corporations to become an economic force to be reckoned with.  So that, corporations can be quite beneficial for society, in the sense that they are able to utilize economies of scale so as to ultimately produce products that typically sell for less than what was being sold before, as well as often being of higher quality and performance; in addition to also having the wherewithal and foresight to invest appropriate monies into research and development for future progress.  This signifies that the grouping of people and capital into one corporation, allows that corporation to be far more powerful, then if such a grouping did not exist, for sole entrepreneurs are limited to just their own skill-set, and those that are not able to readily draw upon additional needed capital -- limits their ability to both grow and to take risk, by virtue of the lack of monies so needed to accomplish that.

So too, this means for many Americans, that when it comes to their own employment, that they are often restricted to finding employment with some entity that is offering such employment, as opposed to being able to somehow be gainfully self-employed, which thereby means that when it comes to their employment and thereby their wages, hours, and benefits, therewith, such is primarily determined with little of their input or say by the corporation so considering their hiring, unless they are part of a trade union, relevant to that employment.

In any company, the labor cost within that corporation, is a very important component in regards to that company's overall profit, gross margins, and even sustainability; of which, most corporations, would prefer to be in the catbird's seat when it comes to the setting of the prevailing wages and benefits therewith, not necessarily because they are greedy and evil, but often for practical reasons, such as budgetary concerns and future projections.  This thus signifies that corporations prefer to be in the position in which those seeking employment with them, have to individually "negotiate" with the corporation, or to basically accept whatever the prevailing wage is, based on experience and economic conditions, that said corporation is offering.  While there is something to be said, about a given individual having the flexibility to seek employment elsewhere, or to do research as to what is a fair wage within their locale and in consideration of their skills, the bottom line, is that one individual against one corporation is never going to be a fair match.

In short, this meant that individuals seeking employment were cognizant decades upon decades ago, that individuals and capital joining together so as to make one powerful corporation, meant that they too, in order to have any hope of any wage power as well as employment protection, needed to also join together into creating trade unions, so that they would therefore be formed into one body politic, and be able to receive a fair wage and fair employment conditions.  Yet, today, trade unions in the private sector have been and continue to be in a very steep numerical decline, which clearly signifies, that present day government has vacated its role to be of assistance and of aid to the common man, but rather has thrown their lot completely in with corporate power, and thereby enriching the few at the expense of the many.

The collapse of societies and the failure of good governance

A good society is only as good as the people that make up that society, as well as those that are the governing force of that society.  In general, the people in a given society have a real need for a government that represents well their valid interests and desires, in which that government in its activity is competent, transparent, fair, and above board in all that it does and performs.  This thus means that any government that in its substance favors the few at the expense of the many, and does so in a manner in which the many are essentially exploited  or used or taken advantage of, unfairly, is a government that is functionally unstable; for essentially for the few to be privileged and continue to be privileged, against the majority of the people, clearly signifies that such a government as that will invariably be structured in a manner in which the policing and justice arm of the state, are utilized as a matter of course as a cudgel to keep the people in their place.

So too, this signifies that any national government, that makes it their principle, to conduct itself in a manner in which "law and order" is the calling card of that state, does so, not because the people as a whole are demanding it, but as a means to keep those people ever on the defense, and susceptible to state action that represents in force a clear and present danger to their freedom, free choice, and liberty.  This thus means that it is forever a delicate balancing act for those governments that are functioning as police states, to not be too repressive upon their citizens, for when a significant swath of the people are oppressed, exploited, unemployed, underpaid, underfed, and without realistic hope that any of this will ever improve; this will invariably lead to the type of civil unrest that could take down or restructure a current government, and thereby endanger all those that are within that current power structure.

In any modern society, the collective failures of that society, necessitates that blame be associated with the collective governance of that society, so that those governments that are unable to keep their population satisfied with their lot in life, are the types of governments that will feel the frustration and wrath of the people, directly or indirectly, and therewith unless that government deals constructively with what ails that population, such societies are in imminent danger of collapse, from systemic civil unrest.

So then, it is fair to say, that all good governance is governance that is fair and equally applied to all of the people, of which when the people truly do believe that they all are in this together, they will do their good part to protect, to preserve, and to aid their nation, in those times of trouble and fear.  On the other hand, those that practice bad governance almost always do so with the strong arm of the state, of which, fear and oppression, only work for a finite amount of time, before the natives will get restless, and those that have little to look forward to or to believe in, will make sure to create havoc, anyway and anyplace that they can.

Prove that you are awake!

So many people in so many ways both large and small simply go through the motions in life, of pretty much following the herd or the convention of the times and their milieu.  Yet, even those that are outside such don't necessarily behave in that particular manner because they have had some sort of epiphany, but do so often as an expression of individuality or to step away from what is orthodox to embrace, for a time, or for a while, something which is unorthodox.

We live within a time in which never has it been easier to discover knowledge, and to thereby take that knowledge so as to improve one's own life, as well as to benefit mankind, in general.  However, as has been proven time and time again, most people are not cognizant enough of all that they have and is available to them, until such is taken away, or about to be forfeited, of which at that time, when the light is nearly extinguished, they finally recognized all the knowledge and freedom that was theirs for the taking, but hitherto been virtually never drawn upon.

Each person that has taken on the mantle of adulthood, has an innate duty to their own self, as well as to society at large, to take account of themselves, and to make it their point to understand and to comprehend, who and what they are, along with the very meaning of life, itself.  For far too many people, don't wish to examine their own self, or anyone else or any institutions for that matter, and simply accept whatever that it is, without ever proper questioning it or thinking deeply upon such.

While there are many that preach of the merits of freedom, free will, liberty, and choice, how few ever seem to embrace these concepts and ideals as being of the highest merit and thereby worthy of our highest respect, by actually leading lives that recognize that very principle.  That is to say, a vibrant and engaged public, that makes it their point to challenge conventional thinking, is the type of public that will improve societies, because it does not accept, without good reason, all that has come before, but rather desires to drill down much deeper, in order to bring forth knowledge from a greater depth, and thereby the corresponding good benefits for the society that they are good members of.

In other words, the fundamental problem that societies still have today has a lot more to do, with mankind failing to creatively and successively work upon the very fundamentals as to what is required to bring forth civil societies that are cohesive and beneficial for that society, as opposed to believing that our collective failure to date, simply comes down to material aspects that have not been fully realized.  This thus means, that each one of us, has an innate responsibility to not only become knowledgeable of those things that are of importance and of real meaning in order to improve and to stabilize good societies, but also that we must, each one of us, make that conscious choice, daily, to do our part to utilize our knowledge to thereby make our habitat, better.