Public income tax returns

In the scheme of things, most people are only able to view their own personal income tax returns and do not have the legal right to view another person's income tax return.  Perhaps that is a good thing, but in actuality, the more private and the more secretive, important things such as taxes are, the more such is susceptible to being abused or taken advantage of, in which, some are able to benefit greatly by convoluted tax laws, tax privileges, as well as tax set asides, whereas other people suffer through simply paying what they believe to be what their fair obligation requires of them in order for us to thereby have a civil society.

At an absolute minimum, all public corporations that have gross sales of $100 million or more should be required to, by law, to disclose publically their complete tax return, available online, for anyone, or any organization to look at and to study at their leisure.  This would in itself, be a great step forward in allowing Americans to truly begin to understand and to comprehend exactly how much real tax burden these behemoth corporations are actually taking upon their shoulders so as to thereby fairly bear their share of the tax burden on behalf of the society that actuates them, as compared to how much in taxes that they are able to circumvent through various machinations.

By making corporate income taxes public, this would be the first necessary step to take in order for the tax code to be modified in a manner in which certain loopholes and advantages that far too many corporations have had the audacity to deliberately take advantage of, be shutdown and eliminated.  That is to say, public corporations often talk a really good game, but far too many of these institutions, don't back up their talk with paying their fair share of taxes, but rather, through their sheer size, and with their top of the line legal and accounting teams, do everything within their power, to not pay their appropriate share of taxes.

As for individual tax returns,  those with income above $500,000, should be required by law to have their tax returns disclosed in an online form to the public, with their real name so identified, but with all identifying aspects of account numbers, social security numbers, and other pertinent information that could compromise their fair privacy, redacted.  It must be said, that It is absolutely vital that the actual names of the taxpayers be disclosed, and thereby how much or how little these high earning citizens are paying in taxes, so that fellow Americans could thereby determine as to whether or not, the tax code as implemented, is truly progressive, or merely takes on the guise of being so.

For an absolute certainty, the more that income tax returns become public knowledge, the more that the general public will know as to how fair and how well the current progressive income tax actually works.  So then, in recognition that the whole point of the progressive income tax is to provide for the necessary and good welfare of the nation, it is important for the public to really know as to whether those that profess that they are doing their part -- actually are.

President Samuel Tilden

School children are taught to learn the names of all the Presidents of the United States, of which, honestly, President Samuel Tilden is not one of them.  In fact, he did run for President, and somehow despite receiving the popular vote of nearly 51% of those Americans that voted in 1876, as well as receiving 184 electoral votes, in an election in which 185 electoral votes would be good enough to become President, somehow Tilden lost; as the four States that had disputed election returns, ended up having all of their electoral votes going to the eventual winner, Rutherford B. Hayes.  To believe, somehow that this result was a fair reflection of the votes so made during that Presidential election, would be false, for truly the victory that should been Tilden's was not.

This reflects, rather sadly, that quite frankly, national politics is a very dirty game and has been for a very long time.  The most probable reason why candidate Hayes, became President Hayes, unfairly over Tilden, is so that the Reconstruction would be terminated in the South and therefore the South would be run, essentially by the very same people, or type of people, that ran the south before the Civil War, that cost the lives of over 620,000 soldiers, and destroyed families, and businesses, all under the misguided notion that somehow it was right for certain privileged people to own other unfortunate people, as if they were their own personal property.

So that, who wins and who loses national elections, most definitely makes a real difference and when those that have the temerity and are traitorous enough to rise up against their own country, in order to protect their peculiar institution, at all costs, so as to make their profit off of the blood, sweat, and tears of those who owed them absolutely nothing, not even an honest day's work, is unequivocally wrong.

The upshot of President Hayes victory was essentially the final nail in the coffin of Reconstruction, and thereby the resurrection of the Southern white cause to run the south as if it was the personal domain of the white slave-owning ruling class, which is indeed what subsequently, happened.  This essentially meant that the side that caused the Civil War, and the same side that lost the Civil War, did not really lose the war, but merely lost the battle of a war that continues perhaps even until this very day; for they ended up back in the seat of southern power with all of the money, all of the property, and all of the justice, in their unjustified control.

Far too many good men gave their lives so that this nation would have a new birth of liberty, justice, and equality for all, based not upon the color of a given man's skin, nor based upon whether a person was born into privilege or not, but based solely upon the character of that man.  Whether that country exists in actuality in the here and now, is something that is in evidence by all that surrounds us, day-by day.

"For my friends, anything; for my enemies, the law!"

This above quotation is attributed to Oscar R. Benavides, President of Peru from 1933-1939.  While on the surface, this quote seems rather pithy and very much to the point, it also should be seen, for all those that believe in equality and in particular, equality under the law, as absolute anathema.  Unfortunately, this quote appears to represent the thinking of far too many repressive leaders around this world, in which, those that are well connected with that leader, receive not only favorable treatment from that ruler, but to a large extent, pretty much, anything that they so desire, as long as they do their part in being that good and loyal friend specifically to that leader. 

On the other hand, those that aren't tight with the leader of their nation, and to a large extent, make it their point to be a real constant thorn in their ruler's side, are going to be susceptible to a really rough ride; especially when the legal arm of the country, and the foot soldiers that support such, owe their allegiance not to their fellow citizens or to the people, in whole, but instead are beholden only to that which is the master of their domain.  Therefore, laws are propagated by these repressive nations, in which, these laws cover just about ever contingency, and area of human interaction, under the guise that these laws are for the protection and benefit of the people, but in actuality, these laws are created specifically so that anyone and any organization at any time, is vulnerable to being arrested, harassed, ostracized, or convicted.

So then, it is fair to say, that any country in which those that rule that nation, have the inherent power which seemingly cannot be balanced by any other comparable power through its legislature branch or judicial branch or even social protest, is a country in which the person or persons so leading that nation, has the type of power that is corruptible; so that, those that are friendly and useful to that regime get everything, and those that are not friendly, suffer dearly.  In other words, when there is anyone within a nation, or an organization within a nation, that is effectively above the law, or interprets the law in only the form that supports that most important person or organization, exclusively; so as to subsequently harm the public, at large, those citizens within that nation are not free.

A nation that is truly of, by, and for the people is defined as a nation in which the laws are equally applied to everyone, without exception to anyone.  This signifies that no nation, in which certain individuals or certain organizations are accorded special privileges, that take thereby from the people their unalienable rights cannot possibly be a nation that is of, by, and for the people, but is instead, that sort of nation, in which the very few are accorded the lion's share of benefits, whereas the masses are sold a real bogus bag of goods, while being constantly subjected to arbitrary laws, selectively enforced against them.

All those select few that have the formidable power to make or break people or organizations, in which further they are protected in their actions, by the law, are those that will never voluntarily do the right thing, because it is far too easy and tempting for them to do the wrong thing.

Don't call it a voluntary tax payment system

For some unfathomable reason there are various people that propagate the misinformation to others that our tax system is voluntary.  In fact, as one might imagine, it isn't voluntary, and the Internal Revenue Code, makes it explicitly clear that the paying of taxes is actually compulsory, for all those generating income at a level in which the payment of taxes is required.  Further to the point, if taxes were somehow voluntary, then those that are employed and being paid wages, would not have appropriate taxes withheld from each of their paychecks for various taxing categories, but rather would have a strong inclination to consider opting-out, per their volition.  Additionally, people that are self-employed, in which their compensation is based upon an agreed amount between those parties to the contract, are legally subject to having a 1099 form issued to them, stipulating the amount so paid during that year; of which, the recipient of that 1099, has the full responsibility of paying the appropriate amount of taxes on such, in which the IRS is cognizant of the issuance of that 1099.

In a lot of ways, in a society in which most everyone has a Social Security number or a Tax ID number, any labor that is done, that is considered to be income, is subject to taxation, and it is far easier to track that labor and work, because of that identification having been recorded.  However, in those jobs, in which cash passes from one hand to another, though it might well be labor, subject to taxation, the fact that the transaction was done in cash, truly does then make it "voluntary" as to whether such is properly recorded to the governmental tax authorities as  income or not.

So then, perhaps when people state that  we have a voluntary tax system, they mean that transactions that are accomplished, in the underground economy or similar, in which those transactions are done with cash or cash-like instruments,  ends up being essentially voluntary as to whether or not someone reports that income and hence pays their appropriate taxes on such.  This is most definitely true, and a very strong reason why governments all over the world are trying to reduce or eliminate cash transactions, for not only does the taxman want their fair share of the money, but this is also the means for the government to keep their finger upon the pulse of their population. 

While it is true to state that the government does not dictate to its population how much that a given citizen owes in taxes, it is that same government that thereby determines as to whether or not tax returns so filed are considered to be accurate or not.  So that, citizens voluntarily fill out their tax forms and therefore have control over what is thereby submitted to those authorities, in which, to a certain degree, those taxpayers determine the amount of monies to be paid to their government, but such is subject to the auditing power of that government, of which, that government is in essence, the ultimate authority as to whether such taxes have been fully and properly paid, as mandated by law.

Food stamps should be allocated bi-weekly

Food stamps, which are officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are issued to those that qualify for such once a month on a specific day each month, in which the recipient of such thereby uses the debit card provided to them to purchase groceries at stores that accept food stamps as a form of payment for those groceries that qualify to be purchased under this program.   The food stamp program is of immense importance for all those receiving food stamps, because physical bodies obviously need physical food. 

Not too surprisingly, most of the people that qualify for food stamps in the first place, aren't necessarily known as the most discerning, or the least impulsive, or the best decision makers.  Rather, those that qualify for food stamps are people that typically aren't in a good financial position, and thereby when they find themselves in a position in which they now have plenty of what is the equivalency of money to get food, they oftentimes are going to get busy and utilize those food stamps at a rate in which, those food stamps will be spent so quickly that they will find that soon enough, those food stamps are fully depleted, and subsequently they are now without food in their refrigerator, before their thirty days are up.

So then, it would make eminent sense if the abiding purpose of food stamps was clearly recognized as having been created to be of specific benefit to the recipients of such.  This signifies, that it would probably be more beneficial for food stamp recipients that rather than being provided with all of their food stamp money upfront to them for an entire month, that they would be better off, if such was modified to provide benefits for them in two week increments.   

After all, many people have been told at some point when they have sat down for a big meal, and subsequently have failed to eat all of it, that "their eyes were bigger than their stomach," which is exactly the type of similar situation that occurs, when people that often don't have enough of what they really want in life, suddenly get all of their food stamp allocation for an entire month, all at once. Indeed, it would not be that difficult for the government to amend the current food stamp program, to make the payments bi-weekly, and the recipients of such, would clearly be the beneficiaries of this; because it is a lot easier to wait a week to get some groceries, if it comes to that, then having to wait two or even three weeks.

The amount of governmental funding for the food stamp program was reported by cbpp.org to be $68 billion in 2018, which indicates that the amount of governmental monies devoted to feeding our population is quite significant.  This so indicates that anything that would improve not only the efficiency of the program but would be of material benefit to the recipients of this program should be seriously considered.  This essentially means that something as vital as food, which is a daily necessity, should thereby take into account that those receiving food stamps, not be placed into the unenviable position of first having a veritable feast, followed unfortunately, by a subsequent famine.

"There is no religion higher than truth"

The above quote is the motto of the Theosophical Society, and it is indeed a very profound truth, of which all sensible people should take such, dearly to heart.  After all, think about it, anything that you do or read or learn, that is not the truth or coming forth from the basis of truth, is going to be of suspect benefit at best, and may well be the very substance or the pathway of all sorts of ills, wrongs, and evils. This thus signifies that the greatest search for mankind is ever the search for Truth, for in that search, you will find the ending of all previous sorrows, for that Truth will surely set you free from the delusions that have held you back from previously seeing that which is and has always been the Truth, of which that Truth never has been or ever will be false.

The very first principle in the learning of any good subject, is learning the truth of that subject, above all else.  Further to the point, if there is no objective truth in anything that we learn, study, and apply, in which, instead, everything is some sort of subjective truth, then the world as we know it, is always going to be a world of chaos and confusion for that which is built upon a foundation of ever shifting sands, and goes wherever the prevailing winds shall blow, will never rightly stand the test of time.  So that, it is a cardinal error of epic proportions, when any institution, even those institutions of long standing, and especially those held in the highest respect, are internally aware of their doctrinal error, but, in fact, do nothing to alleviate or to ameliorate such, but rather prefer to compound matters, by consciously and deliberately hiding the truth.

The time to tell the truth does not ever change, for that time is the ever present now.  So that, those that are aware of the truth but insist upon hiding behind a façade created to obfuscate the truth are doing a grand disservice to all that are affected by such.  So too, no religion, and no established practice should ever subsume truth to their own canonical preferences, out of a sense of convenience, or embarrassment, or monetary reasons, or out of fear of repercussions, as if somehow it makes more sense to embrace that which is false, over that which is true.

Now, while each of us has an inherent responsibility to search for truth, in all that we do and all that we propagate, that does not mean that such a search will not have its own twists, turns, and uncertainties, that necessitate not only an open mind, but an acknowledgement that as flawed human beings, we are not always going to get it right in our beliefs or subsequent actions, because we won't.  What this does indicate is that our search for truth, must not only be sincere, consistent, and determined, but that we must take into account, that Truth, itself, never does change, for it is immutable, and unalterable.  So then, that search for Truth, is also the only way that we can find complete liberty, for those that do not know that Truth, and live to that Truth, are by mainly their own volition, in chains of their own making.

Unemployment benefits and non full-time workers

In order to make a living wage, two factors are absolutely paramount; the first being that the wage so being paid per hour is high enough to actually be a living wage, and the second is the amount of hours so being worked has got to be the same as the basis of what is commonly considered to be a full-time work week, which is currently, forty hours.  That is to say, even when employees are making a living wage of, for instance, $15/hour, if they are not also achieving forty hours of work hours, on a consistent weekly basis, week in and week out, then they are essentially not making a living wage, though the wage itself, is high enough, were they to actually work a forty hour work week, they could indeed get by.

This thus signifies, that current unemployment benefits must be corrected to take into account, those individuals that through no fault of their own are unable to secure forty hours of work each week.  So that, for example, all laborers that are working at least twenty hours in a given week, should be eligible to receive a like amount of hours being paid to them through unemployment on a one-to-one basis, but not more than the equivalency of forty hours in a week.  In other words, if someone works thirty-two hours in a week, they should be eligible to receive their missing eight hours in unemployment compensation.  If, someone works twenty-hour hours in a week, they should be eligible to receive their missing sixteen hours in unemployment compensation.  If, someone works sixteen hours in a week, they should be eligible to receive a matching sixteen hours in unemployment compensation, and so on and so forth.

The point of this unemployment labor compensation is for the Federal government, in conjunction with some contribution from the relevant State government, to see that all eligible laborers are accorded, to the degree that such is possible, forty hours of work each week; so that, these gainfully employed citizens are thereby able to actually earn a living wage.  After all, the whole point of wages to begin with, and why the common man actually labors day-by-day, is to earn, at a minimum, the amount of money so necessary to live a decent life.  So then, it is the responsibility of governmental services to promote the general welfare and thereby to see that those that are part of the labor force, are provided with enough compensation; and when not, such will be augmented by governmental programs, when necessary, for this to be accomplished.

To the degree that governmental rules and regulations in regards to those that are being employed can be applied proactively against employers, to see that more employees are provided with a full forty hour work week, such has its place, because employers that knowingly short their employees' needed hours on a weekly basis, are basically asserting that they are not responsible to those employees in providing them with what is necessary for them to make a living wage.  In short, it cannot be emphasized enough, that all those that are diligent and responsible in their job duties, and are willing and able to work full-time, should be provided with those mandatory hours, through governmental assistance, if necessary, so that they are thereby able to fairly earn their keep.

"Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time"

It has been said: "Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time," which on the surface, at best, appears sensible, but underneath the surface is one of those inane quotes and sentiments that demonstrates total hypocrisy, and is in its entirety, of no value to society, and certainly of no real value to those considering committing crimes.  The very first problem with this sentiment is the fact that, unless a given individual has a law degree and thereupon knows all of the law in their particular field, as well as somehow knows all of the law in all the other fields that are not germane to that individual's particular course of study, as well as also having the experience and knowhow to well understand how the law is actually applied in the real world, is the fact that in a significant amount of cases, many people do not know that they are actually committing a crime, even when there are statues on the books, dusty or not, that reflect this.

While it is true, that people intuitively know that it is wrong to steal, to hurt another person, as well as other commonplace crimes, most of those people committing such, really have little idea of what the real consequences of doing this particular crime actually involves, the charges that will be brought, or how the wheels of justice actually work, in addition to the most salient fact that in the heat of the moment, none of that has a lot of relevancy to them, as their lack of self-control or impulsiveness in general, was bound to get them in some sort of trouble, at some point, anyway.

If, anyone believes that the above mentioned quote is sensible in some way, then this government, needs to make it their point to teach specific courses in all of their public schools, that address the criminal and civil codes in as much detail and with as much comprehension as possible in order to provide to those students, the living maxim that those that are properly forewarned are properly forearmed.  In other words, if the reasonable knowledge of our criminal code somehow will reduce crime, because all sensible people that cannot do the time will thereupon commit no criminal acts, then go to it.  To not do so, would signify the truth of the matter, which is that the criminal code in America is selectively and unfairly enforced, and is in almost every aspect, never just, though such is conducted in a court of justice.

Rather, the reason that there is so much crime in America comes down to a lot of very visible reasons, of which inequality, injustice, ill-education, unfairness, discrimination, hypocrisy, and greed are the main contributors to such.  What is a real shame, though, is that the biggest criminals aren't really those that commit street crimes; but rather those that under the sanction and auspices of government approval, poison our environment, grossly cheat the system, and wantonly muscle their way into the affairs of sovereign foreign governments, and will harm, hurt, and kill all those that get in their way, without compunction, and do so, all under the flag of the red, white, and blue.

The cosmetic fragrance non-disclosure exception

One might think, and for a good reason, that when cosmetics are sold to consumers that the list of chemicals used in regards to those beauty products would be fully listed upon the container of that product; but in actuality that isn't the case, for manufacturers are permitted to utilize a loophole that allows them to group a bunch of chemicals under the general category of "fragrance" that are thereby not specifically listed as being used on the product.  It would be one thing, if this was simply done by manufacturers in order to hide proprietary information from competitors, and to a degree, no doubt that is true; but to a very large extent, manufacturers hide behind the benign title of fragrance in order to specifically not inform consumers of the chemicals, for some of these chemicals so used, are dangerous and can be cancerous to consumers.

In order to correct this situation, it would be convenient if the government had a robust federal mandated law that addressed this very issue in a comprehensive and complete manner, but in a society that is all about money and profit, those that utilize that money and profit in effective ways, have precluded such a federal mandated law being presently put into place.  While one avenue for consumers would be to rail against the unfairness and the harm of such to those that purchase these goods with chemicals that are hidden behind the veneer of "fragrance"; another avenue to consider is to address the issue in a proactive manner.  So that, organizations such as the Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) has made it a point to test products that do not willingly disclose their full fragrance ingredients, in order to determine the safety of, or danger to consumers.  Organizations such as BCPP, do matter, because cosmetic companies are in the business of making money and do not willingly desire to become pariahs to the very consumers that they are trying to sell their products to.

This indicates, that an independent chemical testing laboratory, should be developed in a manner in which cosmetic products that are fully and completed disclosed and have been thoroughly tested in a comprehensive way, thereby are provided with a seal of approval from that independent chemical testing laboratory, when they have been certified safe, which by virtue of that good rating, would provide a meaningful amount of assurance to consumers of such.  So that, cosmetic products with such a seal would thereby be seen as a product that has been tested and proven safe, and hence a more prudent buying decision over those other cosmetics that lack such an approval and/or have failed to provide a fully disclosed list of chemicals so utilized on the product.

After all, the very reason why there is any disclosure of the chemicals used on the cosmetics that are routinely used by human beings, is for the benefit and the protection of the consumer; so that, when consumers are hoodwinked into believing that a generic label such as fragrance, is nothing to be concerned about, but in reality is something that in many instances, is something consumers should be very concerned about, the consumer is placed into the position of being possibly harmed by their use of that cosmetic, when their intent would never have been for that to occur.

An activist court and the rule of law

The three branches of government in the United States are the Executive, Legislative, and the Judicial.  The Legislative branch is the branch that makes the laws in accordance with the highest law of this land, which is its Constitution.  The Executive branch is the branch that sees that the laws as propagated are executed faithfully throughout this land.  And the Judicial branch is that which interprets the laws so passed and propagated throughout this country.

While the Constitution itself, is a document that can be easily read within one hour, the laws so passed and enforced within this nation, including local, county, State, and Federal laws are typically so lengthy and so convoluted, that all of these laws so written probably could not be read within a ten year period, or perhaps even within a given person's lifetime.  Yet, in recognition that all laws passed must be in conformance with the Constitution of this land, and that this is the controlling document of this nation, it would seem to imply that judicial decisions should always take into fair consideration as to whether a particular law is actually Constitutional or not, to begin with.

Further to the point, since the Judicial branch is responsible for the interpretation of the laws so propagated within this nation, that Judicial branch must take their responsibility to be the bastion that more than any other branch, should stand up to those that are trying to add to or have accomplished adding on to their power, at the expense of the people.  In other words, power, is something that never seems to satiate certain people as well as certain organizations to the extent that they will not relent until they have all the power that they so desire, and that desire seems to be well-nigh insatiable.  If, then, the Judicial branch of this country will not take a principled stance against overwhelming power, especially when that power is held in the hands of the few and the privileged for the very benefit of the few and the privileged, then this country, despite its many laws, and despite its Constitution, will not stand for the very principles upon which it was founded.

This signifies that an activist court in all judicial affairs has its place, rather than the courts and judicial decisions being solely reactionary in their decisions.  In other words, time and time again, it is the judicial branch, that has risen up to the occasion, to make that principled stand that certain specific laws as enacted and enforced at the present time are wrong, and that there is a fair remedy to correct such.  After all, it is human tendency, even when unintentional, for well placed people to push and to augment their power, without necessarily consciously acknowledging such; especially when they have not taken into proper consideration that power that is concentrated into the hands of the few, is going to be highly susceptible to being abused, if it hasn't already been designed to be exactly that.

So then it must be acknowledged that the highest power in this land that stands against concentrated and arbitrary power is the Constitution, and the very people that understand that Constitution best, are primarily judicial, in which it is that judicial branch, that must thereby do its patriotic duty to preserve, to protect, and to defend that Constitution, against all enemies, foreign and domestic

Keeping the people down by the strategy of "divide and conquer"

In order for any country to be ruled by a special elite group of select people, that are not held accountable to all the relevant laws that are propagated to the people in whole, and to get away with such, necessitates strategic initiatives to protect and to augment the power of those elite people, against the population in whole.  First, quite obviously, those in power, are quick to make sure that the guns and policing force of the state are under their sure hands; for those with the guns at their beck and call, need not be overly worry about certain upsetting legislative acts so passed, or inconvenient judicial decisions so reached, if the implementation of any of these, are effectively stymied by the strength of the policing arm of the state.

So too, before it even gets to the point, where the people rise up in unity, to assert their unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; those repressive governments, make it their point to infiltrate into the people's business by placing agents within their groups, to monitor and then report all actionable information back to those corrupt rulers, as well as to threaten or to compromise such as is possible, or to provide bribes or their equivalency to those that lust for money, or, on the other hand, to assert immense pressure to fire those that are especially annoying from their jobs; while also, again and again, using every psychological strategy proven to be effective, to negate, to raise suspicions of, and to seed dissent within the ranks of those that are trying to unite under one grand purpose for the betterment of the people, as a whole.

That is to say, no group that is uniting for the betterment of the people is a group that has not already been infiltrated by dastardly agents of the state to do everything within their power to see that the group ends up not being effective in its stated mission.  Such an attack upon groups is done on a multi-front basis, of which one of the objectives is to successfully foment controversy and argument between the top leaders of these groups, so that, they effectively undercut one another; while another effective strategy, is to make sure that disparate elements that do not normally unite, become aware of that salient fact, by appealing to known historic racial stereotypes, to each person's country of origin, to their difference in language, or creed, or economic status, or their historical place in the pecking order.

All of this is of vital importance for those that are the rulers of the country, because being outnumbered, they know that they can never maintain their status in a country that is truly open and democratic, unless they fix the system to serve their purposes and divide those that can be divided, while bribing those that can be bribed, and compromising all those that can be compromised, so that each person sees themselves as individuals, and never as a group united under the flag of a noble purpose. 

This thus signifies that the only way that the people can truly have a government of, by, and for the people is for those people to be truthful and transparent one with another, in which, they stay focused upon their overriding objective and further that they have the courage to maintain the course, no matter the cost, because doing what is right, can never be bought, for it is above all, priceless.

Is there anything else that you would like to really say or talk about?

There are all sorts of conversations in this world, of which the most basic point of any good conversation is for each party to connect with the other, and thereby to impart information that is of meaning one to another.  While many conversations are relatively routine, it is important to note that just about any conversation, does have a purpose, and therefore it is important for that person initiating such, if not for both people, to see that the under-riding purpose of that conversation is actually attended to.

Somewhat surprisingly, people can have conversations that last a considerable amount of time, but within that conversation, never actually does it get around to the real issue at hand.  The reason that this is so, depends upon the personalities and circumstances of that conversation, but a lot of times this has a lot to do with the comfort level of one person to another, of which people, even people that know each other very well, are afraid of bringing up the real agenda or what is really on their mind, because they essentially fear the judgment of the other, or feel they might be exposed to looking stupid or even of being embarrassed.

That is why it is important in the art of conversation, to be open-minded and receptive to actually hearing and listening to the other person.  Additionally, there is the need to acknowledge the understanding that most people do not really need to be judged, more than they feel that they are already judged by others to begin with, but rather need and desire to have more support, empathy, and compassion from the other.  That is to say, those having characteristics that are non-judgmental or are not prone to little putdowns and other negative responses, are going to be, more times than not, a better person to communicate with, because most people are more comfortable with those that are more nurturing than those that are unnecessarily critical.

So too, people that have something to confess or wish to get something of importance off of their chest, are going to be more inclined to speak with someone that they trust and that have won their confidence in the fair belief that such a conversation will not be divulged to anyone else.  After all, those things that make us feel especially vulnerable are difficult to discuss with others, unless we are safely assured that such a conversation will remain confidential and discreet.

So then, there are those times, even between very close friends or family members, when a conversation is happening, in which, one party to the other, must ask of the other, as to whether there is anything else that they might like to say or talk about; and when asking that question, they must also give the responder an appropriate amount of time to actually think about such, because a significant amount of people, that have something really on their mind, debate internally, as to whether or not, it is really the time to bring that real subject matter up.  Those that ask that question, though, at the appropriate time, may well find, that the real conversation does thus start, and from there, the opportunity to be of real assistance thereby occurs.

Fiat justitia ruat caelum

The above Latin phrase when translated says:  "Let justice be done though the heavens fall."  While, this maxim is found in various courts of law, as well as upon the frame of paintings of various famous jurists, and the like, seldom are these words actually taken to heart, and even less so, seldom are they practiced in an actual court of law.

In life as in court, the true test of any genuine belief is whether or not the person expressing such or having the power to implement such has the integrity to actually do what should be done, especially when they are aware that in so doing, they may indeed make a real material impact upon a matter of real material importance.  Even more telling, are those times when people are prominently positioned, such as in a court of law, in which decisions so made, will directly or indirectly, make impact upon powerful people of powerful societies that will most certainly displease those powerful people.

Yet, the very reason why it appears that life is circular for mankind is fundamentally because when provided the opportunity again and again, to change what needs to be changed, mankind fails to do what needs to be done, because mankind lacks the courage and follow through to do exactly that.  There are very few people and very few societies that are willing to keep the faith, and to do what should be done, when their own safety, or their family's safety, or their nation's safety, or their reputation is put to the test in which they do not desire to risk that which means everything to them, even at the cost of compromising their own integrity.

To be just, when everyone around is unjust, is a very difficult thing to do.  To do the right thing, when everyone else is doing the wrong thing, is a very difficult thing to do.  Yet, when we are unjust and when we are wrong, we are not progressing mankind, rather we are hindering mankind, for that which is unjust and wrong, is not just and is not right. This signifies that all those that ought to know better but still insist upon doing that which is not right, for expediency purposes, or in the false belief, that just this one injustice, won't a habit make, are false to their own self.

When we find that a given country, or a given society, or a given person, consciously chooses not to be just, the end result will never be justice, but rather it will always be even more injustice.  The very choices that each of us make, day by day, define who and what we really are, and every time we turn our back upon justice, in order, for example, to benefit our own self, or to cheat the system, or because we fear this or that, we have written in stone as to what we truly are.

If it must be so, then let the heavens fall, for we can never possibly hope to break through what needs to be broken through, until we actually face squarely what needs to be faced.  In doing so, we might just find that rather than the heavens so falling, a great and illimitable light will shine upon us, for that which separates us from that Light is ever only our own personal darkness.

Non-lead bullets

Firearms are extremely lethal at what they are designed to do, but what many people are not quite aware of, is that the ammunition of the bullets used in a lot of firearms as well as other armaments, contains within its core, lead.  No doubt, lead is utilized because of its density and hardness which makes it quite effective in its power and why it is the inner core of most bullets; however, lead in the environment is very toxic to humans, and lead when used in armament ranges or the like, will over a period of time, begin to leak out and into the surrounding environment, in which such lead getting into wetlands and waterways is inimical to the health of humans.  So too, game that is killed with lead-based bullets can be detrimental to the health of humans that consume such because of this leakage, as well as lead debris in the wild, is a present danger for scavenger wildlife.

In consideration of all the armaments that currently utilize lead based bullets, and the sheer number of bullets as well as other armaments fired each and every day, the amount of unnecessary lead in the environment is not beneficial to that environment or to humans.  So too, a novel attorney, might be able to bring forth a successful lawsuit, even in a case in which a shooting of another human being was justified, by successfully arguing that the shooter did not have the inherent right to "poison" the victim by shooting into the body of another a substance that is extremely toxic to the body.

In any event, the construction of bullets without lead has been successfully done in other countries, and even States such as California, have banned leaded bullets in regards to the hunting of wildlife.  Further to the point, while there once was a time when the gasoline of choice was lead, this was completed phased out for on-road vehicles by 1996, with no ill effects upon the usage of vehicles, and a quite obvious benefit to the environment and to the health of humans.

While there are many that decry the sheer amount of firearms in America, and additionally, wish to see some sort of robust gun control so passed, what has not been considered so much is the ammunition that is being discharged as being seen as a dangerous pollutant and therefore the necessity of regulating such as a pollutant for being a menace to society at large. So then, this signifies that civil society should desire to see the regulation of ammunition handled proactively by and thereby regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Again, it cannot be emphasized highly enough, that lead is a very toxic and a very dangerous substance to humans as well as to animals and to the environment, whether we are exposed to it directly or indirectly, and the fact that today's bullets as well as other munitions still have at their core, this dangerous element, should not be; and therefore it must be phased out, for the safety and for the good of our society, of which, ready alternatives to lead-based ammunition and armaments are freely available.

Banking as a public utility

In America, citizens are provided the opportunity to bank, or not, with whatever institution that so suits them, of which, they are able to thereby utilize internet banks, credit unions, regional banks or interstate banks for their banking needs.  Whereas, there use to be governmental restrictions, that limited banks to doing business only within one particular State, that restriction was lifted in 1997, and this then is the very reason that, through mergers, acquisitions, consolidation, and growth, that the four biggest banks headquartered in America, as reported by thebalance.com, are "…reportedly holding 45 percent of deposits in the United States."

This concentration of deposits into so few hands is both good news as well as bad news, for those that utilize and that deal with these banks.  The good news is that when so much capital is concentrated into just four behemoth corporations, it becomes a lot easier to justify passing a national governmental comprehensive banking law, which will have the effect to regulate and to nationalize these biggest banks into a public utility, since their influence upon the nation has such massive implications, and to nationalize such would thereby help to stabilize and to protect the economy.  The bad news is that by virtue of their considerable size and the power of these banks, that these banks will do everything within their power to preclude, co-opt and prevent the nationalization of these institutions.

Yet, the Constitution of this country, gives the specific power to Congress that they are "… To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof…" as opposed to some other entity.  Further, to the point, this nation has public utilities of all types in regards to things such as our natural gas and electricity, our water, our sewage, our street lights, and so on and so forth.  The reason that these are public utilities is because they are essential necessities for the public at large that should not be in the hands of unregulated for-profit companies that could thereby squeeze the public for every dollar in their pocket for those utilities which are part and parcel of what is needed to live a decent life. 

This signifies that something as important as the coin of the realm, of which monetary transactions, whether done with physical dollar bills, checks, or through the internet, should be a public utility; especially in consideration that the stability and thereby the value of the dollar, is of upmost importance for the subsequent savings and investment by businesses and the public, at large.  When on the other hand, the coin of the realm, is controlled by for-profit enterprises, that somehow have been designated by governmental forces that they are "too big to fail", then the cardinal error so being made, when a government will not permit dysfunctional businesses to rightly go out of business, is that they must thereby be nationalized and hence become a public benefit to the people as a public utility.

It is hard to argue against something as important as the national currency and the banking of it, not being a public utility, regulated and run by the national government, for the well-being of the people, of which, that government would have a vested interest in seeing that such a public utility would serve the public weal; rather than the current situation in which specific segments of the public are far too often, exploited by these banks for their private benefit.

The legacy of slavery must be rectified

There are very few people that believe in the present age that it is right and ethical to forcefully steal people from another sovereign nation, and thereby to trade and to sell those people into a foreign land, of which the buyers of such are given the inviolable right to deal with these bought human beings as their chattel slaves, and to thereby do whatever that they want with them, as if they were not human, and were instead, nothing but their personal property , own by, and in the complete control of their new masters.

Yet, these are the very circumstances of what happened previously in the United States of America, as well as other western nations and islands, that took what was not theirs to own, and thereby owned these people, as their own personal property to do with them as they so wished.    But, as in many cases, the times will and do change, so that which is built upon a foundation of greed, incivility, cruelty, injustice and inequality will ultimately come crashing down, for that which is wrong, does not ever, and will not ever, stand the true test of time.

The fact that it took a bloody and lengthy civil war to correct what had to be corrected in the United States was the beginning of the freedom so deserved for those formerly oppressed, but the mere governmental issuance of freedom, as well as those additional Constitutional rights later ratified to augment and protect such, does not mean a whole lot when those laws are not enforced to rightly protect those that these laws were expressly passed for.  Further to the point, to not take properly into account that those that have and own nothing, and are in a high percentage of such cases, illiterate or functionally illiterate, and that cannot count on the governmental infrastructure to assert their rights as equal citizens that are entitled to a fair opportunity to make something of their lives, cannot be considered to be truly free.

That is to say, to free people from their former enslavement, that are not natives to the country that they now see as their home, and to provide them with no fair opportunity to subsequently make a living, or to hold onto or to own land, as well as to permit those that formerly enslaved them, to still have control of local politics, local justice, and local application of such, means that those that have been freed, are not really free, but are trapped within a construct in which they have been promised much but delivered very little.

This thus signifies that to say to anyone that has formerly been enslaved, that they are now freed, but to not follow up and see that they have the proper accouterments, support, and groundwork to effectively be free agents; is to have basically provided a good ship to a people without any proper sailing equipment or even a rudder, which thereby means such ship will drift wherever the wind shall take it, which could easily mean the missing of a good harbor of a land that holds promise, and instead into its dangerous shoals.

So that, those that have stolen the freedom from another, need as a people and as a nation, to recognize that the mere unshackling of chains, does not and will not complete the job of providing freedom, but is rather, just the very first necessary step in doing so.

Government and the privatization of governmental services

There is a belief held by many people, that private enterprise, because it is incentivized via the profit agenda, are a far more efficient way to take care of tasks that previously were the domain of governmental agencies.  So then, there are some governmental tasks as in prisons, schools, military support, and utilities that have subsequently been outsourced to private companies, with varying degrees of success and failure.

On the surface, it does indeed seem to make sense, that those that have "skin in the game", by virtue of the fact that their profit and the sustainability of their business depends upon providing their service in a cost-efficient and effective way seems logical and sound. However, this is belied by the very fact, that profits are the siphoning off of what could be the public's money, into the hands of private enterprise.  Further to the point, and of upmost importance, is that when governmental functions are transferred to profit making enterprises, we often find that the very first thing that these private companies take a real good look at, is their expenses, and how therefore they can reduce such so as to aid their bottom line.  If, this thus means, that in prisons, for example, that nutritional food is replaced with cheaper and unhealthy alternatives, that heating and the cooling of the facility is changed so as to reduce energy expenditure at the expense of those so incarcerated, or that prison personnel are reduced in order to cut down on labor costs, or that medical needs and medicines are regulated in a manner that hurts those that have a legitimate need of such, that therefore signifies that the service so being provided by private enterprise is not equivalent to that which it replaced. 

Additionally, when roadwork is done, in which inferior materials are utilized to make, replace, or fix roads, which will not stand the test of time, but in the short term will appear to be just fine, then those that have used inferior grade products have increased their profit at the expense of the safety of the general public.  In fact, again and again, when private companies are allowed to do what formerly was done by governmental services, often their lust for profit, will force their hand in so many ways, that even those companies with the best of intentions, will find that they cannot resist doing things that will boost their profit at the expense of good service.

While there isn't any doubt, that private enterprise can be very, very good at achieving notable success in many areas of business, even in those fields, that the government has historically run; it must be noted that any time a business, is placed into a position in which doing the right thing, is up against making that necessary profit, the greed for money, more times than not, wins out.  That is why, the only possible way to permit private enterprise to operate that which was previously governmental functions, is to regulate those private companies in a manner in which certain standards are maintained and achieved, and penalties so imposed for failure to adhere to such.

So too, it must be recognized that governmental services are created in order to act for the public good and for the social weal; whereas, for-profit private enterprise, operates in order to make money, above all; and hence seldom is fully aligned with the public good or the social weal, but rather private enterprise, is all about primarily satisfying their stockholders and executives, which often time means, private money over the social good.

The wages of labor in the aftermath of World War II

In a war, that demanded sacrifices from the American people in order for our troops and thereby the Allies to become victorious over the Axis forces, certain governmental laws were put into place to help effect such.  It would seem that the intent of those laws was for the greater good of America, but in reality, the result of some of these laws, was in many aspects, the cheating of a fair wage for those that labored, and thereby more profit for those industries employing such.

For instance, the Stabilization Act of 1942 was enacted in October 2, 1942, so as to fix wages and salaries in order to preclude inflation during the World War.  This meant in effect, that unions would no longer be able to negotiate for greater wages for their employees, nor would they be permitted to strike for such wage increases, but rather would have to settle for the pay that they were earning per the conditions of the Stabilization Act of 1942.

Not too surprisingly, in light of the fact that the Allies won the war, and that those that labored worked very hard and for long hours under stressful conditions and stagnant wages, all this good work was done in anticipation, that now that the world was safe for democracy -- that such a world would thereby require plenty of additional labor and work to rebuild what had been destroyed worldwide during that destructive war, and that America was well positioned to be the preeminent exporter of those goods and services, bar none.  So that those that had been denied the benefits of union power, turned back to that power in order to receive what was their just due.

Unfortunately, a significant swath of those corporations, that were plenty busy during the war years, preferred to take the stance, that rather than share the good profits and growth to come, that they would not give in to labor and their wage demands, and hence strikes were initiated by petroleum workers, automobile workers, electrical workers, meatpackers, steel workers, and coal miners, in order to get what they had been denied during those war years, so as to be able to provide for their family and their future.

The labor strikes were effective, so effective in fact that the government threatened to seize the railroads and to utilize the army as strikebreakers in order to get the railroad workers to come to heel, which they subsequently did.  So too, the congressional elections of 1946, changed the makeup of the Congress, so that they were able to thereby pass the Taft-Hartley Act which struck directly at the power of unions, in order for the government to have more power to control and to eviscerate the strength of unions, all essentially for the benefit of corporate power and corporate profits at the expense of the laboring class.

While labor unions, would continue to grow in numbers as well as in the percentage of the workforce so utilized, that was far more of a function of the aftermath of World War II, which was an era of strong economic growth and thereby vast economic benefits, but when that economic growth subsequently slowed down, it was the labor class that suffered the ill effects of such, for corporations recognized that offshore operations would allow them to utilize foreign labor at a much lower expense, thereby providing them with a far greater profit, and domestic unions had not the power to stop them.

Multinational corporations and economic domination

The United States is home to a significant portion of the largest multinational corporations in the world, that thus do considerable business in countries outside its home territory, of which, the most basic definition of a multinational corporation, is provided by Wikipedia.org, "…if it derives 25% or more of its revenue from out-of-home-country operations," as well as it also can be defined as "a firm that owns and controls 51% of a foreign subsidiary."  In the scheme of things, there are not that many multinational corporations headquartered in America, in the sense of quantity, rather, there are a very few multinational corporations based in America that are gargantuan behemoths in the global economy and are typically  the most dominant players in their industry.

The reason that this matters, is that America is essentially a land that is in the business of doing business, and in recognition that there is a lot more business to be made and to have, outside of its own domestic borders, multinational corporations were created to take advantage of those opportunities, which they most definitely have done to a very considerable extent.  That is why we see that the market capitalizations of all the biggest corporations in America consist entirely of multinationals, with market capitalizations of these public stock multinationals reaching upwards to $1 trillion or thereabouts, and even beyond.

Not too surprisingly, money has a way of influencing public policy, so that what is good for those multinationals, is something that politicians throughout America, as well as the laws so passed, are going to, far more times than not, be demonstrated by strong support for those multinationals, even though many of these multinationals are exceedingly gifted in avoiding the payment of their fair share of corporate income taxes, as well as corporate property taxes, and basically are quite successful in avoiding carrying upon their bottom line, their fair amount of societal responsibility, all under the guise that since they employ so many people, that this, in and of itself, proves their worth.

Further to the point, sovereign countries throughout the world, have their own internal difficulties, whether that be their rule of law, civil war, poverty, mineral extraction, and so on and so forth, of which, multinationals, are wont to call on the military might of their own country, to protect and to augment their interests in those other countries, rightly or wrongly, so as to increase their revenues and corresponding profit.  That is to say, wars, or proxies to war, or interference, whether overt or covert, is part and parcel of what the United States does on behalf of its multinationals, for these multinationals are in their own right, powerful economic forces, that are able to exert such force onto principalities through the "big stick" that America so represents, and/or through the corruption of these other countries' political policies, by subverting such through economic deals, that benefit a very, very few, at the expense of the people of those respective nations.

All of the above, signifies, that to a very great extent, that America is primarily run not by its own people, through its democratic institutions, but rather it is actually governed to benefit, in particular, those multinational corporations, under the guise that profit for those multinationals, above all, is good for America, when, in fact, it's actually really only good for specifically those that are the elite of those multinationals.

Stop whining and start doing

It's fairly easy to complain about this or to complain about that, of which some of these complaints, most definitely have justification.  But what of it; for if simply complaining about something would resolve those very issues, than complaining would appear to be a very valid thing to do for just about anything that bothers us.  However, for the most part, complaining doesn't resolve much of anything, though, in fairness, bringing issues to light has its place, and has its time.  That said, unless such complaining is brought to the fore, in order to deal with the root of the issue in some sort of comprehensive and mature method, the mere act of complaining just isn’t going to typically resolve what is bothering or ailing a particular person.

So then, for those that perhaps complain too much, without ever seeming to get a resolution to what bothers them, perhaps it is time to look at another conceivable way to resolve the issue, which doesn't depend upon others, listening to us, and then obeying us, but rather is completely in our own control.  For instance, there is an awful lot to say about setting a good example for others to emulate, so that, the very act of doing the things that you wish were being done for you, by doing them for another, may by your actions, actually, sooner or later, get what you really want, in return.

That is to say, people learn from the actions and deeds from those that they most respect; in which, their hope is that by following suit in their own life, they too might have the type of respect and success of those that they emulate.  This thus means that we lead by example, and by that example, people that respect us or look up to us, are going to, more times than not, want to do something along the same lines, because they too want that same sort of respect. 

It thus follows, that the things that we want most to be done for us, are easier to achieve, if we first do those very things for other people, for if it is good enough for us to do for them, then it surely must be something worth them doing for us, as well.  Of course, no doubt, some people believe strongly that there are always going to be those that prefer to just receive the benefits of our good deeds and good actions, without any reciprocal action on their own part.  While that may well be true, it is also true to say that if we aren't willing to do the very things that we are expecting others to do for us, than perhaps what we desire and wish for is not nearly as reasonable and sound as we first surmised.

The bottom line is that unless whining and complaining is somehow producing the desired results from such an action; that it therefore behooves each one of us, to simply let that go, and prove by our own good actions and by our own good deeds, that behaving and doing things for others in the way that we think that they should be done, without our own complaining or whining about such, is going to ultimately produce a better and more productive result.