Repressive governments want to keep their population dumb and illiterate

Democracies can be quite difficult, as different people have different agendas along with having different objectives and everyone of age has the vote.  So that, compromises are inevitably going to have to be made, of which, some legislation will be passed, some will not, and it all ends up becoming a little bit messy.  On the other hand, dealing with people that are illiterate as well as being dependent upon that government to provide for them, is typically going to be a lot easier and a lot more straightforward for that strong government to handle; for as long as that government is able to keep those people fed, clothed, housed, trained, employable, with decent healthcare, along with some mindless entertainment to occupy them, the people are probably going to be relatively satisfied; and if not, that is the very purpose behind the surveillance state and strong policing tactics.

The more intelligent, wise, and engaged a given population is, the more difficult it is going to be to control those informed people, because they intuitively recognize that the only legitimate government is a government that represents the people and therefore answers to those people, for that is the very nature of good and proper governance.  Whereas, for those countries that are despotic, even those citizens that are highly educated and well placed, will certainly consider holding their tongue, for when that government holds the power of whether one is able to have a decent life or to thereby take away such through the command it so holds, this serves to often keep those people that could or should rise up, quiet.

The fact of the matter is that government, by its very nature, is always vastly outnumbered by those people it so governs, of which, time has proven again and again, that relatively few people can control vast amounts of people, and do so quite effectively, the more ignorant that population is; for those people that are unable to think much beyond having a place to lay their heads down, food, and some amusement so as to occupy their time, can often be guided in a manner in which they are basically satisfied, as long as their fundamentals of life have been successfully addressed.

The one thing that nearly every government does not wish to see from its population, is for its authority, moral or otherwise, to be challenged, and to be challenged on grounds that make (if those governmental representatives honestly reflect upon such) eminent sense to those so governing it.  Those types of challenges can lead to fundamental change within governments, of which, those that are empowered, will often not express interest in voluntary relinquishing such.  Still, even when there are valid opposing voices to a particular government, things can readily remain the same, if the masses are provided by that government with the fundamental means to sustain themselves and thereby don't suffer to think of, or have the desire to yearn to be free.

Many people are only too willing to trade their freedom and their liberty for some sort of decent security, virtually every day of the week; and governments that are repressive in nature, that deliberately keep their population unenlightened, do so because the unthinking are far easier to lead and to control, especially as contrasted to all those that do not and will not bow their heads to that which has not earned that right, in the first place.

True freedom comes from knowing God and none else

Americans believe strongly in free will, free choice, freedom, the pursuit of happiness, and of liberty; of which, these are the very attributes that a government of, by, and for the people, should be aiders and abettors to.  That said, the very nature of government lends itself to corrupting influences of all sorts, so that, the words of our Constitution, and of our Declaration of Independence, as great and as wise as they are, can rather readily be and have been circumvented in a manner in which the people, are to a very great extent, not free, and not at liberty, but are ultimately subservient to that government which is supposed to represent and to serve them wisely.

The fact of matter is that most people's lives consist of a lot of effort and work, to maintain or to achieve one's own freedom, so that what they have worked so hard to achieve becomes their own; yet, even those that have achieved exactly that, are never totally at ease, nor are they ever totally satisfied with what they have, but are forever at least somewhat dissatisfied or discomforted, for there is always one more thing, or one more achievement, or one more activity, that they need to gain, which never seems to end, in which, they still feel the need to secure such in order to maintain their own happiness and comfort. So that, while apparently free, they are still enthralled to the lures and enticements of what this world has to offer them, as well as respectful of the danger that their government could take such from them.

On the other hand, those that properly see what the world provides to them, as nothing more than the temporary use of material things for the betterment of one's own and others; and, in addition know that all that one has or has created, of a material aspect, will never leave this material plane with them, recognize that the only type of gift that thereby still keeps on giving, is one's good advice, one's good mentorship, one's good example, and one's good deeds.  This individual has thus successfully freed themselves from the delusion and the illusion that this world is the be-all and end-all of one's existence.  Instead, they correctly recognize that the only freedom that will ever last could only come from the very hand, of He who created it all to begin with.

The point of our existence in this physical form, is to, to the extent so possible, to see that we are enablers of making this world a place of fairness, justice, and of equality; in which we intuitively recognize the equal validity of each and every member of the human race, in addition to our innate responsibility of being a good steward and developer of the resources that this world so provides for us.  The race is not now, nor has it ever been to the swift or to the clever; but is always and always will be to those that correctly comprehend the meaning of life, which necessitates the acknowledgment that mankind's purpose in life, is fundamentally to know the truth of who and what mankind is and represents, of which through that truth, mankind will thereby set itself free from the self-imposed shackles that have precluded mankind from knowing of its true essence, and thereby once so known, experiencing the liberating freedom that this truth so represents.

The elite wish to see the general public identified and in their place

Back in the day, societies, formal or not, made it a point of principle, that only those of a certain stature, or of a certain position, or of certain familial connections, were allow to wear particular clothing, of which, that clothing would be typically more ostentatious than anyone else, or in absence of that, be of a very high quality and/or a specific color, and limited to those of that privileged position, exclusively.  The reason that this was so was that image and perception, matter; so that, if the general population wore the same general clothing as those that were in authority, they might just get in their druthers that they were on the same level, and therefore equal to them.  Additionally, those of privileged status wanted those that were not of their status, to properly recognize their elite status vis-à-vis to them.

In today's modern world, with imitation this and imitation that, it isn't even clear who is wearing the "real deal", so to speak, as compared to those that are wearing the imitation, and there isn't any longer any laws restricting what people can or cannot wear; so that the upside of this is that those that are the elite are not able to necessarily successfully differentiate themselves from others.  So that means, that those that are privileged must make it their point to have all the accouterments that are not so easily transferrable to the masses, so that they therefore live in exclusive gated communities with private country clubs that are only available to have memberships purchased by those that have not just the right money but also the right connections. So too, they go to the right private schools, and go to the right exclusive restaurants, and the right this and the right that, so that they clearly are separated from all those that do not have what they so have.

After all, despite all the advantages that being rich and fabulous brings to the table to begin with, these elites find it annoying when those of the general public try to look like them, act like them, and do things like drive cars in intimation of them, but clearly aren't them. The problem when this stuff happens, is that all of this seems to suggest that these elite personages aren't as special and aren't as exclusive as they make themselves out to be.  It should be fully recognized, that the elite want to be respected, and especially want to be respected by those that demonstrate that they know their place, by giving those privileged people, their respect, and by doing so without equivocation and without hesitation.

In short, the bottom line is that when one removes all the bells and whistles, of which some of those bells and whistles are actually pretty impressive, is that a house in an exclusive neighborhood isn't all that much greater than one in a nice neighborhood, and the same can be said about clubs, cars, clothes, parks, and so on.  So then, the only real and meaningful difference that plays to the ego of any privileged person when it comes to all those that don't have as much, is that those elites want to be recognized as clearly being better than regular folks as well as being perceived as being above them, all in recognition by those other regular people, that they are far superior to them.

Good governance consists of being fair and benefiting the public at large

Our duly elected government representatives, are supposed to not only fairly reflect the community of those that they are serving, but also they have the incumbent duty to make decisions that are for the express benefit of the public at large, as contrasted to making decisions that clearly favor a specific group, or a specific corporation, or a privileged class.  To the degree that such a government is transparent in all that it says, does, and transacts, in addition to its most important actions being available for public purview and public discussion, then such a government as that typically serves its constituencies far better than a government that hides behind layers of opaqueness, while also being unavailable to answer those questions that need to be answered.

The whole point of good government is for that government to not ever to sell its soul to the highest bidder, or to be co-opted by inducements that private enterprise or important personages present to them; but rather to at all times, to recognize that they are to serve the general public in a fair handed way, and to treat all that they do as being done on behalf of that people, and to be a good steward of the responsibilities and duties so provided to them, on behalf of the public. 

Because we live in a world in which money matters, and a great deal of money matters even more; those serving the public in governmental functions, should as a matter of course, publically disclosed all monetary or its equivalency in contributions that they receive in the course of their duties; as well as disclosing all quid pro quo promises, as well as tax set asides or favoritism so made to those soliciting governmental contracts and business from those representatives.  After all, any undue influence successfully made upon governmental representatives will have negative repercussions for the public; as well as promises so made by those governmental representatives to specific enterprises, clearly denotes that those representatives have utilized their position to enrich or to empower their own selfish interests at the expense of that public.

The government that we have has by the very nature of its monetary budget and its decision making powers, immense influence upon a given community and the decisions and actions so taken; of which, those governments that favor the few, at the expense of the many, are going to be enablers of a society in which one class of elite people, are privileged and thereby subsequently are not subject to the same rules and regulations that the majority must adhere to, and hence this means that the majority will serve those few.

In the scheme of things, most people are primarily busy with their everyday tasks and responsibilities, and therefore do not have the time or excess energy to properly monitor their governmental representatives, even if we assume those vital watchdog tools for the public, were robust. This thus means, that the people's vote for those representatives is a vote which stipulates that they trust their representatives to faithfully carry out their duties on behalf of the people, and that those that do, are therefore good stewards of the people's resources; and those that do not, are not, and are the prevailing reason why poor government, exists and persists.

The legacy of Jim Crow and "…not till every white man has a job"

There was a time when it was acceptable to post job openings with restrictions so that only white people need ever apply, so that statements such as "no jobs for n…gers until every white man has a job," were thereby posted; in which, even if such a restriction such as that wasn't purely legal, it still was an integral part within certain communities as essentially being accepted as not only a fact of life, but as an abiding principle of that community and its attitude. 

The bottom line is that any people can define themselves by whatever that they are inclined to define themselves as, of which, the most inclusive people, define themselves as all equally created by the very same hand of God, or its equivalency from a secular basis; and those that are discriminatory typically utilize their skin color, or country of origin, or religious faith as their primary means to define themselves.  So that, those that see themselves as being white first, and a citizen of this nation, second, are certainly going to have a strong inclination to do those things that are within their power, that will support that very belief.

Further to the point, when assets of a given community, schools within a given community, jobs within a given community, and property so owned in a given community, are primarily held by those people, who prefer to be defined by the color of their skin, then all those that are not part of that group, are going to be treated in a manner in which they are second class citizens or even less to those of the privileged race.  This thus means that when the means of employment, and of schooling, and of policing, and of housing is controlled by, for instance, white people, then those that are non-white are going to be left with the scraps so left by those white people, and subsequently are not going to be able to develop themselves fully because they are lacking in the fair opportunity to do so.

So then, in modern times, over the last several decades, black employment rates, have consistently been significantly lower than white employment rates, and since employment is the primary means for most people to make a legitimate living; then those suffering from higher unemployment are thereby suffering from living lives which are inferior to those that have more privilege, more assets, more opportunity, and more of the good life. 

This would clearly indicate, that systemic prejudices have not been resolved in America, and that therefore, as akin to Affirmative Action for those attending higher educational institutions, the same sort of Affirmative Action on a comprehensive national scale, must be implemented so that those that are currently unfairly precluded from gainful employment in so many instances, are able to thereby achieve that employment.  While, the implementation of a successful employment Affirmative Action program would not alleviate the vast discrepancy between the material assets of blacks v. whites, it is the needed necessary base that will help to effect positive change, so that those that are the non-white citizens of this great nation, would finally be accorded their due respect and fair opportunity which is their inherent birthright.

America's endless wars are bad for its international business

There was a time when the President of the United States stated that "…the chief business of the American people is business."  Yet, those in the Executive office have in recent years, decided time and time again, that the American people somehow wish for its government and thereby its military to get involved in endless conflicts around the globe, of which not a single one of these conflicts has a thing to do with either one of our two contiguous neighboring countries.  So that, America does not have any border wars, whatsoever; nor is it even reasonably considered to be threatened by these other foreign nations that it engages in military battles with, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, or Syria, in which the cost of these foreign entanglements as reported by businessinsider.com, "….has blown past $6 trillion in 'war on terror' spending since 2001."  While America still remains the largest economy in the world, it is in danger of ceding that title to China, of which China, while spending money on its military, concentrates almost exclusively its military excursions on relevant border and territorial disputes with neighboring nations, and does not engage in any extracurricular war-like behavior outside of its own sphere of influence.

This thus signifies that one nation, that is America, wastes an extraordinary amount of its resources and personnel engaging in wars that it need not engage in, that costs its taxpayers billions upon billions of dollars, while, for the most part, solving little or nothing, in addition to fostering bad blood with those nations so engaged; whereas China deals strictly with its aspirations that are relevant to its sovereignty within its geographical sphere, and does not overly waste military monies on engagements that serve no good abiding purpose or that involve no vital strategic goals.  So that, when one nation spends billions upon billions of dollars to kill insurgents and those civilians that just so happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time; whereas, the other nation spends billions upon billions in the pursuit of business with other foreign lands, then that country that concentrates on that business so left available, by that other country's ill advised foreign engagements, is able to thereby gain valuable market share.

The bottom line is that governments can only concentrate on so many things, and can only do a certain amount of things at a competent level.  Further to the point, the nature of international business ideally requires meaningful coordination between the government in conjunction with those domestic multinational companies that are engaging in business with foreign countries, in the understanding that more business will be done, when the government of that country is of integral help to its corporations, thereby aiding in the increase for those businesses.  In other words, when nations spend an inordinate amount of time on military engagements, far too many businesses are left to their own devices to increase their exports overseas; whereas, in a country which is primarily about engaging in trade and securing deals of substance with foreign nations, business prospers.

That is to say, war is war, and trade is trade.  Therefore, those countries that concentrate on war will do more business in war, and those that concentrate on the trading of goods, will get more of the same.

That which we perceive as solid is not

Most of us believe our eyes as well as our senses that all objects, including ourselves, are solid.  After all, they must be because we are able to easily judge and to affirm this by simply tactility touching such or by performing tests, demonstrating time and time again, that solid objects are indeed, solid.  The thing is, that isn't true, and as expressed in the blog The Plant-Based Scientist, "You might think that objects are dense but in reality they’re 99.999…% empty space."   So then, those objects that appear to be and act as if they are solid are in fact, something akin to lightning quick energy waves that thereby provides us with the illusion taken in by our senses that a given object is completely solid.

In the scheme of things, it really isn't all that important to go into the particulars of how and why those objects that appear to be solid, are actually not; but rather it is of immense importance to the minds of mankind to understand that the more that we are able to correctly perceive that which is solid as actually being energy and vibrations, the better we are thereby able to take what we thereby perceive before us and to utilize such for the benefit of mankind.  This thus signifies that by changing our perceptions and our knowledge to the extent that we can "peek behind the curtain," so to speak, the better we are at mastering the intricacies of this world, and thereby evolving mankind to its next integral level; as all that we have before us, is primarily there for us to ultimately becomes masters of, and in order to achieve that, we need to know the truth of that which we are a part of.

In other words, the more that we are able to comprehend that it is energy waves and vibrations that are able to convince us that objects are solid, the more that our corresponding study of those energy waves and vibrations will bring us to a more comprehensive understanding of not only the laws of this world, but also will bring us to a deeper and more intricate understanding of all that we are presently perceiving as being physical and nothing more.  So that many of those things, that we now believe are not possible or even mythical in nature, such as moving a mountain in a blink of an eye, will, inevitably be shown to be a false belief, because that which consists of energy and vibrations must invariably bend to that energy and vibrations that are superior to it, by virtue of the controlled utilization of the power of the creator mind which as the first cause, brought all into being.

We are fortunate to live in this modern age, which allows us to distinguish, like the peeling back of the onion, that which is the truth behind all that we are an integral part of.  The purpose of which, is to fully allow and to fully permit mankind to have the greatest of all gifts, which is to rise up from our collective ignorance so as to become what we were always designed to be, co-creators with that Providence which originated that which we are a vital part of, in the beginning.

The world will never bend to your will because you are not the creator of it

Far too many people, that really ought to know better, get unduly frustrated over all sorts of things, mainly because they do not have the power to change specific things of seeming importance to them to their own willful demands, fair or foul.  The bottom line is that those that demand that things always go their way, or that things should go their way, are often going to lead lives of frustration because that which they have not created, will never bend to their will, and there is nothing that will ever occur for them to change that. 

A far more mature way of looking at the world is the recognition that this world is filled with not only its own natural laws that are applicable to everyone, but that different people from different backgrounds and with different priorities are not all going to be on the same page with just one particular person that they must adhere to, and that too is not going to change.  Rather, it would behoove a given  frustrated individual to recognize that everyone is entitled to their own thoughts, their own freedom, and their own liberty, and that thereby the world will consequently have its ebbs and flows, of which, those of strong constitutions and sound principles, are able to adjust as needed to those circumstances as they are -- in which, of even more importance, all those of superior insight and vision, are able to effect influence upon such, and to the degree that they do, this helps to make the world a better place, not because they are somehow successful in bending the world to their demands, but instead because they are in harmony with justice, goodness and fairness.

Again, the mistake in mankind's nature is often to get overly frustrated about those things and circumstances that are not going their way, believing at that time, at least, that those things and circumstances should and must go their way, and the more that they believe such, the more that they frustrate themselves for their subsequent failure to effect those very things not occurring as desired.   So that, for those that are unable to discern the difference between that which is subject to change, and thereby amendable to change for the better, as opposed to those things that cannot change, or that we do not have the influence to change, then because they are unable to differentiate such correctly, this will lead them to being constantly susceptible to a great deal of childish frustration.

In short, far too many people spend far too much time, demanding or wishing for things to go their way, rightly or wrongly; whereas, in truth, a better construct would be to desire and to thereby contribute to helping to bring to fruition a world in which every action and interaction thereof was fair.  A mindset such as that, would do wonders in reducing people's frustration, because instead of being solely focused on what they personally want or demand or desire, they would be concentrating instead upon doing their part in contributing to the betterment of all people -- of which those people are after all, equally entitled to those unalienable rights so granted to each one of us, by our Creator.

The value of sustainable and local food

Most people are accustomed to purchasing their food to eat at home through their local grocery stores, and to the credit of these grocery stores, they do an absolutely outstanding job of taking care of the transportation and distribution issues, amongst other things, in regards to all the various food stuffs that they provide to the public; so that to the consumer the whole process appears seamless and in an important way, makes those consumers believe that the products that they are purchasing are available to them, with relative ease and always will be abundant to them in quantity as well as quality. 

The truth of the matter to how our grocery stores are able to carry all of the products that we could possibly need, is pretty much hidden behind the scenes, but necessitates a highly sophisticated network of distribution channels, transportation avenues, coordination, and consistent reliability of which the consumers of such are the beneficiaries.  Yet, as good as our grocery stores are, they are susceptible to disruption, because a significant amount of that which is stocked, is not locally sourced; in addition to the salient fact that it is the consumers that are paying with their dollars for the wastage, transportation, damage, storage, refrigeration, and chemicals so needed in order to keep products viable and to extend their shelf life and to thereby reduce product loss.

While there is something to be said about the incredible efficiencies of today's modern farms, whether it be domestic animals, or produce of all sorts; there is also something to be said about the need and prudence of developing and having also local sources of domestic animals and produce, as an alternative.  For one thing, the more hands and companies that are involved in the distribution of a given product, the more that each of those processes requires an appropriate financial markup to it, so that the particular institution or farm that are the ones that grow and develop a given food item, are often underpaid in consideration that they are the originators of the food; whereas the more local a given product is, the channels to thereby distribute that to the public are subsequently significantly reduced and thereby the farmer typically does receive a fairer price commensurate to and reflecting their meaningful  work.  Further to the point, food items that are produced locally, keep that local economy humming better, because the monies so being spent are being spent within that community, as opposed to going into the coffers of some faceless corporate entity.

Additionally, it is good for communities to understand that all the typical transportation and infrastructure involved in order to bring food items to a given grocery store, has a corresponding cost to the environment for such; in addition to the fact, that having a local source to go to for food items allows those communities to not only have that alternative choice but also a valuable local go-to option.    After all, there is something to be said for any community that tries to be more sustainable in its own right, as opposed to always being in a position in which it is dependent upon outside agencies for the necessities of everyday life.  So too, communities that develop their own local food, are communities that are going to be more involved with their fellow community members and thereby are more appreciative of the fact that we are all in this together, and that each of us has an important role to play in the betterment of life.

"But the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property"

The above quotation does not come from some socialist or communist personage, and it even predates the ratification of our Constitution, of which these poignant words comes to us by the very hand of James Madison, via the Federalist Number 10.  For the most part, the wealth of a given nation, as well as of its people, is contained within the form of those possessions so owned by its people as well as by its corporations; in which present day America, despite having an abundance of wealth, which is surpassed by no other nation, has not only a disturbingly high amount of its citizens that are impoverished, but has in recent decades, seen the continual decline of its once vibrant middle class; of which the upshot of all this, is that fewer and fewer people and institutions within America own more and more of its assets.

In the natural order of things, even if all people were to begin at the same starting line, there would in a short order of time, be an unequal distribution of property, primarily because different people are not only actuated by different things, but also because some people work harder, or are clever, or are more fortunate, or are more intelligent, and so forth.  In this, nothing can really be changed; but what can be changed is that through the power of government, its legislators, and its judicial system, that within such a government that is of, by, and for the people that we can make sure that appropriate rules and regulations, covering a multitude of areas can be utilized to effect wholesome change, so that the unequal distribution of property is mitigated in a manner in which each person is afforded the fair opportunity to make something of their selves, and especially in consideration that the starting line in America, from its inception, was not then, and is still not today, fair.

Instead, what we have, as described and prophesized by James Madison, are the divisive factions and cabals that we see today, of which, those that have, are often the very ones that fight the hardest (if not also the dirtiest) to not only just maintain what they have, but to increase their booty, as well as their power; which obviously is counter to the very principles of democratic government, and to this republic.  While there are a multitude of ways for this government to  effectively fight back against these divisive factions on behalf of the people as a whole, this can never be accomplished, when that government is in effect, either enthralled to a specific faction of privileged property people, or compromised by same, or fearful of such.

As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and clearly based on the grossly uneven distribution of property, income, and wealth along with the clear trends thereof, there is something that is seriously rotten in the country of America.  Yet, considering that one person's enfranchised vote is the same as any other person's vote, there is then that hope that those enlightened enfranchised voters will appropriately use the ballot box to select and to thereby elect those that are of the people, to provide material benefit for the people, so that this country will truly be governed by the people, rather than have such governance usurped by today's corrupt royalty of those favored few and privileged personages.

We are all one

Far too many people want to believe that we are separate peoples in the sense of our religious faith, or of our looks, or of our earthly roots, or of our beliefs, or of our family, and so on and so forth; but this is not fundamentally true for each of us was created by the very same Creator source and our Creator is unsurpassed as well as being unrivaled, so that everything so created, has originated from that one true Source and none other.

We all would be better off if we recognized and took to heart that what would appear to be fundamentally differences between one people to another, as being instead, different expressions that have originated from the same brilliant Creator hand.  That is to say, all such that has been created, would be better seen as the expression of a comprehensive kaleidoscope rainbow that has come into being, which because of its different colors, patterns, and hues makes for great awesome beauty, as opposed to believing that everything so being created should be exactly the same cookie-cutter replica of that which has come before.  Additionally, that which has been created, has no real purpose if it is perpetually static, which thereby means it can neither grow nor regress; but instead, it must be provided with the opportunity to evolve and to have the ability to freely express itself, as a tribute to that which has created it all.

So that, we find that the minds that we are gifted with, are truly free to think their own thoughts, and to thereby perform their own willful deeds, of which the consequences of having this power is the present result of that which we live in and are surrounded with.  Of which, so much of the conflict so generated in this world, really comes down to the seemingly endless battle between what one willful person wants as compared to what another willful person so desires, in which, that conflict inevitably creates dissent and division, and thereby makes that which was meant to be one, many.

This thus means that the problems that we see in this world, are a reflection of the cross purposes so enacted by mankind, one to another, of which, these conflicts will never be successfully resolved until, mankind wakes up from its collective delusion, to actually care and to desire to be, that which it was created to be.  In other words, we are each part of the collective whole, and thereby each of us is an equally valid member of such; so that, as true teammates the only clear objective should be, to successfully reach the same destination that is intended for all.

The point of all that we do, should be to find ourselves back at the place we first started, having had the opportunity to experience life and of its beauty and of its travails in this world in a manner in which we ultimately recognized the inherent need that we have one for another; and as equally created members of the whole, that we have subsequently voluntarily formed ourselves back together, so that we may become that which we were in the beginning, which is one.

Necessity, conformance, and social norms

In today's world and especially prevalent in western nations, there seems to be more and more people expressing themselves in ways that would be considered to be outside the social norms on a historical basis; so that certain behaviors and activities that were once considered to be taboo, are now more frequently tolerated, as well as being accepted as perhaps being even the "new norm."   Many people are now more considerate towards being open to those social mores and behaviors that have changed, in which those activities that previously were criminalized or stigmatized, are now accepted as being okay; in recognition, perhaps that this is the natural progression of more liberal attitudes, countenanced by state authorities that seemingly have no issues with it.

However, another way to look upon this liberalization of behavior and social mores, is to understand that countries such as America, have not had a military war upon its mainland, since its own civil war, of over 150 years ago; in addition to the salient fact that few people of America believe that their country is in imminent danger of being attacked by a nation or a consortium of nations that would bring true destruction and devastation on such a scale that this would thereby necessitate a wholesale change in people's lives.  Additionally, while the church still has its influence upon the American public, an ever higher percentage of the people, do not readily attend church, as well as many of those people do not adhere to sacrosanct fundamental tenets of church doctrine, so that the church does not influence their personal decisions so made, day-by-day.

In other words, people in America do not physically fear the danger of any sort of imminent war, nor do they fear the power of the church, to chastise them, to correct them, or to embarrass them.  So then, for many people, there is the distinct impression that their nation requires no material or moral sacrifice from them, so that they subsequently are not under any necessity to make any particular sacrifice of themselves for their nation.  Further, many people, do not overtly fear the church or God; believing then that they are in no imminent danger of being judged, or of being suddenly turned into a pillar of salt, so lacking in that fear of God, they believe that they are apparently entitled to do whatsoever that they desire to do, especially if it feels good or is of interest to them.

So then, without that necessity to make any appropriate sacrifice of their individual freedom to either their state or to their church, people are far more inclined to partake in those activities that formerly were, and often still are considered to be outside social norms, such as deviant behavior of all stripes.  In other words, those fearing no Godly judgment, while also believing that they are not compelled to contribute anything beneficial for their society or for their country, often thereby spend more time indulging their own proclivities.

It has been said that idle hands are the devil's tools; of which, we see in today's society, it isn't so much that people are idle, but rather that when provided with the time and space, that they seem more inclined to do that which seems to be more selfishly based, for this so appears to be the path that bewitches them the most.

Africa lost

One would think that because America is the world's largest economy that by all rights, it would also be Africa's biggest trading partner, but in actuality as reported by census.gov, America exported $26.7 billion worth of goods to Africa in 2019, and imported $30.2 billion worth of goods, in return.  On the other hand, as reported by scmp.com, China imported $95.5 billion worth of goods from Africa in 2019, and exported $113.2 billion, which absolutely crushes the amount of business that America did with Africa in 2019.  This is especially disappointing in consideration that China has never had a President of African descent, and does not have any major corporations in which the executive of such is of African descent; whereas, America has had and does.

It is true that a significant amount of what China imports from Africa is oil, and that also in most trading between countries, that there is some basic sort of quid pro quo, so that the more that is exported one nation to another, the more that is thereby imported in kind; but this is qualified by the general statement, that nations do business where it makes the most economic sense to do so.  Further to the point, America has millions of people of African descent that live upon its shores, whereas China clearly does not; of which one would reasonably think that Africa would be, all things being equal, more inclined to do business with a nation that has people descended from their own land.

Additionally, as reported by the economist.com, it is estimated that by the year 2050, that the African continent will see its population increase to 2.5 billion peoples, or a nearly doubling from its present size, of which from a business perspective, there is always money to be made, and good business opportunities to be had in those areas of high population growth, especially when such is combined with corresponding economic growth.

So too, it must be kept in mind, that the more business that is done by Africa with China, the more that the United States loses export market share today, as well as probable future market share, that will hurt its own domestic GDP and growth.  It would seem that America is not playing its relationship with Africa in a meaningful competent manner today, while also clearly not seeming to be treating the African continent as a real priority for the future.  Rather, than America having itself some sort of "pity party", what it needs to do is to come up with a comprehensive program to increase their exports and overall business with the African continent, recognizing that ceding billions of dollars of business to China, is not a sound strategy, especially in recognition of Africa's population growth to come.

The world was circumnavigated, centuries ago, of which, one of the seminal purposes of that circumnavigation was to open up trading markets, previously unknown.  The world today is a known quantity, and the African continent has a deep desire to modernize and to urbanize itself at a scale that will bring that continent into the modern age; of which, those that are the integral trading parties to such, will surely benefit from.  Thus those then that are asleep at the wheel will permanently cede such markets to those others that have their nose to the grindstone.

The value of private enterprise and private property

It isn't too surprising that those that have been left behind in society, or are lacking in opportunity, and correspondingly are without with what they consider to be their fair share of material goods, that many of these people have a propensity to desire a more socialistic or communistic society.  It is their belief, that when all that is material is owned by nobody, and instead is shared alike, according to each person's needs, that thereby some sort of material utopia occurs.  Of course, there is the belief behind having a socialistic or communistic society, and then there is the material aspects of how it would actually come about; in which, because in the present day, in most nations, a significant portion of property is privately owned as well as there also being a significant amount of business being transacted between private parties, all of this private engagement would have to be eliminated or truncated, which could only be accomplished through the use of force to thereby take from those that have, and to thereby give to those that have not.  Further to the point, that force would in the scheme of things have to be directed and implemented by some powerful entity or institution, of which, the most likely entity would be a military organization with the armament might to compel those lacking in such armaments or necessary organization to withstand such, to comply with their demands.

So then, assuming that the socialistic or communistic overthrow of a particular nation that had private property as well as private enterprise was accomplished, that power would now be solely vested in the hands of that entity with the guns, and thereby that government would be in forceful control of all that transpired within its borders.  So too, it would be that government that would control the means of production, the houses so built, the jobs so provided, and obligations of the people so demanded, of which, the people themselves would have no say so, but would be compelled to obey the dictates of that governmental state, or pay the price for being disloyal.  This would surely mean that because the government would without the existence of private enterprise, be the sole employer that the people would not be able to choose their pathway of employment, but would be instructed as to where they fit in.  Additionally, without private property, all those that were not in good conformance to that government would have no viable sanctuary to turn to.  Further to the point, since it would be that government that controlled who got the best benefits and who did not, the people would have a strong tendency to be corrupt in all aspects, as well as to spy on their fellow citizens on behalf of the state, in order to benefit themselves at the expense of others.

On the other hand, a nation which values private property and private enterprise sees itself as a government that has a purpose to protect and to defend property and enterprise for the wholesale benefit of the people.  The principle of that government would be to see that all people have a fair chance at the opportunity to be something of merit, and thereby would provide those citizens with the necessary base of safe neighborhoods, good healthcare, good schooling, fairness, enfranchisement, justice, equality, meritocracy, and the appropriate taxation to provide the necessary funding for that government; of which that government of, by, and for the people would faithfully utilize its legitimacy and influence to secure the blessings of liberty for all.

Cleverness and exploitation is the capitalistic way

America is a capitalistic society, of which, most Americans are proud to be a part of it, believing that such is the best way for economic prosperity.  To a certain degree, this must be true, because America has the biggest economy in the world, and is in aggregate, also the richest nation in the world.  However, the unfortunate part of this capitalistic picture is that those that are its biggest beneficiaries are the extraordinarily rich few, who often are also quite powerful; of which, the downside of the structure of capitalism in its application as practiced in America, has left an incredibly high amount of people in this a nation of massive wealth, absolutely impoverished, without hope, and destitute.

Those that are the truest believers in capitalism, make it their point to sell their belief to the public that the failure of all those that are lacking in good education, good healthcare, safe neighborhoods, and opportunity, has little or nothing to do with capitalism, but instead has a lot more to do with governmental malfunctions along with governmental misallocations, as well as a corresponding lack of effort and pluck by those that have little or nothing.  In other words, what poor Americans lack, is good character; of which, if these unfortunate people would only just embrace the great opportunity and freedom that American enterprise offers to everyone, than they too, would be members in good standing, of material success.

What capitalism biggest fans don't bother to say or to admit to -- is that in so many business enterprises that capitalism is a part of, that the secret of their success, has a lot more to do with the successful exploitation of their customer base, accomplished by their general cleverness in carrying this task out, as compared to offering a fair product or service at a fair price.  In other words, America seems to accept the premise that products and services should be sold within the context of what the market will bear, and need not thereby overly concern itself with what the costs are internally to a given company, be they large or be they small.  In a truly competitive environment, that might well seem acceptable, since companies with high gross margins, would sooner or later thereby be susceptible to competitors undercutting them on price or through other relevant factors;  however, what has occurred in American free enterprise instead, is that as industries have become more and more consolidated,  that this corresponding lack of competition, has left the way open for those few winners of such, to subsequently exploit that advantage to their material benefit, and to therefore extract more in money and profit from the general public.

In point of fact, capitalism as practiced at the highest levels is often very much about companies doing everything in their power to skew laws, taxes, rules and regulations to favor them and to subsequently damage or to close thereby the door on all other potential rivals; thereby providing these companies with the ready ability to sell their products at a higher price point, and to reap the windfall profits thereof.  The results of this practice of capitalism can be readily seen in the wealth gap that is so great, that as Bernie Sanders stated, "The wealthiest three families now own more wealth than the bottom half of the country."  That in a nutshell is proof positive that capitalism as implemented in the United States is fundamentally flawed and thereby seriously in need of being corrected or amended.

Since corporations are considered to be people then….

For whatever reason or reasons, the Supreme Court in recent years, has decided to treat corporations in more and more situations as if they have the same Constitutional rights as human persons.  Whether this is good law or not, is very debatable; but what isn't debatable is that it is implicit that those that have rights, also correspondingly have obligations and duties to those rights, for the benefit of those rights so being granted.  This thus signifies that corporations when being treated as people should not be given a free ride and in particular, should definitely be held accountable for actions that would normally be seen as criminal for people.

That is to say, corporations have been subject to all sorts of penalties for bad actions, in which in most every case of significance, nobody within that corporation is ever criminally held responsible; even when the actions so taken would definitely be criminal if one person or a group of people were to do the very same thing.  In other words, when a person or a group of people deliberately or through their purposeful negligence pollute the water or air in a manner in which residents in the surrounding community thereby suffer ill health effects, including even death, then in the normal scheme of things, that person or group of people would be held criminally liable for their actions.  Yet, corporations are nothing more than a collective group of people, of which, that group of people, thereby known as a corporation, when they poison the environment in a manner in which residents suffer harm, should because of their personhood, be held criminally accountable for that crime.  So too, this would also hold for cases such as fraud, food and drug debasement, bribery and corruption, as well as worker deaths from unsafe working conditions, and so on and so forth.

Basically, when people or institutions are harmed, and thereby criminal laws have been violated, of which that violation is done by a corporate entity, then that corporate entity, as a legal personhood, should be held criminally responsible for those crimes, and hence should suffer the same fate that a person or group of people would so suffer.  Further to the point, those bad actors of those corporations that should then be held liable for those criminal actions, would be all those that are the activators or instigators of those bad actions, enablers of such, and aiders and abettors to such. 

If this thus became the law of the land, corporate crime, would for a certainty plummet, because when corporations can no longer buy their way out of trouble, but have instead actual human persons, serving time for their criminal wrongs, then they will surely make it a point to clean their acts up, thoroughly.  After all, the only possible conceivable way to keep corporations in line, in consideration that they currently exist in perpetuity, and therefore are not subject to a finite amount of time of existence, is to see that they are at a minimum subject to having to abide by the law of the land, including relevant criminal codes as specifically applied to persons of interest within those corporations; and those corporations that are not good citizens, should be subsequently liquidated or nationalized, with the perpetrators of those crimes, doing time.

Respect for life, or the lack thereof

Far too much of American television, consists of endless fights and killings of one person or group of persons vis-à-vis another.  Whether or not, anything of this excessive violence and lack of respect for life, is absorbed into the persona of Americans is debatable; but what cannot be denied, is that America is a supremely violent country, especially in comparison to other western nations.  The fact of the matter is, the less respect that a given person has to another, the more prone people are to see violence as a legitimate option in dealing with people that they disagree with, or are in their way, or that they don't like.

Basically, the more that any fellow human, is dehumanized, and thereby considered to be something less than fully human; such as an animal, or an object, or someone considered to be a devalued member of society for whatever reason, spurious or not; the easier it is to deal with that individual in a manner in which that person is not respected as a person, and thereby more readily considered to be no longer worthy of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and subsequently is seen as someone that deserves no respect and has no right therefore to successfully secure any of those unalienable rights, that we so claim for ourselves.

When we will not take the time to walk in another person's shoes, or take the time to actually have a civil conversation with another person, so as to get to know one another, and to thereby find some common ground, then society as a whole suffers for this, for that society has devolved into an us v. them sort of mentality.  Anytime that we believe that the best appropriate response to an intractable problem is some degree of violence, then clearly we are not able to see the humanity and worth of another human being, and have denigrated them, as being something less than we are, and hence expendable, to our own selfish desires.

The violence that we see in America, is primarily a reflection of an inability to see other people as having intrinsic worth that supersedes our own anger and frustration; as well as frequently being a reflection that we don't respect our own lives, as being something of real worth, and because we do not value life, theirs or our own, we deal with it in a manner that is often destructive, by striking out against others, or at the mirror of our own self. 

Those things and attributes that we respect most are the very same things and attributes that we honor most; and when we cannot see or believe that every human life has value and is deserving of that honor, then we are less human, ourselves.  Remember well, that we learn by the exemplar set by our family members, respected elders, and the values as displayed by our governmental representatives.  What they do and what we subsequently become, are a fair reflection of the lessons so given.  All those that take the time to reflect on not only who and what they currently are, but further ponder upon what they desire to be, must recognize sooner or later, that all that has been created equally, is equally deserving of our respect, which allows us then to better successfully connect to each other, in conscious recognition that we are truly brothers and sisters, to one another.

Spend, spend, spend

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, consumer spending was 59.5 percent of the economy in 1969 as compared to 68.1 percent of GDP in the third quarter of 2019.  Further to the point, the savings rate in the decades of 1960s through the 1980s was on average, 11.87 percent; whereas in the decade beginning in 2010, it was on average just 7.78 percent, representing a precipitous decline of nearly 35 percent to those previous decades.  This would indicate that Americans are spending their income and/or their savings at a much higher rate on consumer goods than they historically have done, while also saving less and less of their money in aggregate. So that, it can be said that Americans are certainly putting off tomorrow for today, for they rather are trying to maximize what they can consume today, and apparently are not worrying about what tomorrow will bring.

Americans live in a culture in which its commercial advertising does an outstanding job of convincing many of those Americans, of their immediate need to purchase all sorts of consumer goods, and Americans, more often than not, are only too willing to fulfill that need, to a tee. The main problem with the fact that so many Americans give in to that immediate gratification, is that they so often end up spending money, that they haven't even earned yet, on items that they believe that they have a need of; but, in which, in all probability, their need is not nearly as urgent as imagined, and further, seldom have these items been properly vetted.

The days of Benjamin Franklin's aphorisms, such as "a penny saved is a penny earned," being considered something to live by seems to have passed a great deal of Americans by, as something that belongs solely to some sort of bygone era, and hence has little or no relevancy to today.  That is a true shame, because many of those people that fail to save an appropriate percentage of what they have earned, today, are forsaking tomorrow, for today; and will subsequently not have the monetary assets to live a life of good retirement, let alone having anything of material worth really associated with their name.

The fact of the matter is that spending and saving are constantly at a tug of war with one another, and as long as there is tension between those two sides, that probably is good; but when one side, clearly is the victor, the balance that most people need in their lives is thereupon lost.  Those that make the mistake of unwittingly giving in to the siren song of seemingly spending everything that they earn, are allowing that endless lure of material things to enrapture them; and are subsequently left with an empty pocketbook, so that they thereby have nothing of substance to fall back on, when such is needed.

Sure, being frugal and prudent, seems pretty boring; but a mature person, correctly weighs decisions in their mind, before they execute their decisions, because they recognize that the life we build is based upon the decisions so made, and those that are too quick to spend their money before they have really thought upon the why of that spending, ultimately aren't going to find themselves in a good place.

Dependence and freedom

Regrettably, slavery was once legal within the United States.  Additionally, to this point, those that were in bondage to others, were somehow seldom able to utilize their own wherewithal, desire, and strength to successfully overcome those that enslaved them, primarily because those that have critical knowledge as well as weapons, even when few in number, are always in the catbird seat in controlling those that are ignorant, because knowledge is a very potent power.  This is also the salient reason why slave owners made sure to pass legislation making it illegal to teach their slaves reading and writing, because slave owners recognized that those that were illiterate were always going to be easier to control than those that were literate; because independent thinking, and the ability to gather and to implement knowledge is dangerous to those that desire to remain dominant and in command, for it is far easier to control the narrative when there is only that one voice, thereby leaving those that are enslaved, enthralled to those that have enslaved them.

In order to have and to maintain control over other people, slaves or not, this is always more readily accomplished, when there are only just a few that are masters of the necessary powers, knowledge, and influential positions, needed to mold the population to their desires.  After all, those that do not have the ready ability to properly discern what they see and what is occurring and further are not able to correctly process such, are at a massive disadvantage, which thereby leaves them quite susceptible to manipulation.  This signifies that those that are most aware, are also the ones that are most awake; whereas those are least aware, are those that are the least informed. 

Any country that claims it is governed of, for, and by the people, must as a prerequisite to such, make sure that all of the people are fundamentally gifted with the necessary tools for this to be true; of which therefore literacy as well as the ability to actually think for one's self, are critical components to anybody truly desiring to have an independent mind.   All those that are not independent in their thinking, for whatever reasons, are thereby dependent upon others to do their thinking for them, of which, most governments, corporations, and powerful people, want that to be the case, because this thus allows them to not only maintain their power over those people, but makes those people, dependent upon them for their daily sustenance; of which, those that are dependent upon some other entity, such as a country or corporation to provide them with their daily bread, are the very same people, that have traded their freedom, wittingly or not, for that security.

So then, it must be said, those that are independent are typically those that have diligently applied themselves to their tasks, and have garnered knowledge and thereby utilized such to better their own situation as well as to keep abreast of all that is happening around and to them, good or bad.  On the other hand, those that are dependent, typically have forsaken knowledge for whatever handouts that they can readily get, leaving themselves vulnerable to those that often see them as a resource to be exploited for their exploiter's continual benefit, leaving them thereby bereft of all of that which really matters, and definitely without many good options, let alone their freedom.

The upside down criminal justice system

America has a massive amount of its citizens that on any given day are incarcerated, jailed, arrested, jailed without the means to make bail, on probation, on parole, under house arrest, or serving some sort of time through other means, such as community service.  This would presuppose that America has a massive crime problem, and further to the point, based on the fact that in recent times, the amount of those that are being processed through the criminal justice system has increased substantially from all other previous eras, would indicate that the problem is both intractable and systemic.

Then again, in life, people and institutions find what they want to find, depending upon how things are structured, handled, and dealt with.  So that, when victimless crimes, such as illicit drug usage,  vagrancy, prostitution, drunkenness, gambling and the like are treated as an opportunity for the policing arm of the state to go into communities that are impoverished so as to thereby harass and arrest those that are denizens of those communities, that to a large extent are suffering from being impoverished, unemployed, ill educated, and devoid of opportunity as well as lacking in good, wholesome alternatives; it is not then too surprising to find that community members have gravitated to activities that the justice codes have deliberately criminalized, in which, subsequently they are going to suffer a lot more arrests within their community, mainly because the law is structured to specifically address their activities as being criminal.

On the other hand, there are all sorts of crime, or what should be classified as crime, committed at the highest level of governments as well as corporations, which is often treated in a wholly different way, in which, seldom are individuals held accountable and thereby incarcerated, and seldom are those corporations who commit these crimes, held to anything much more than being fined some sort of monetary amount.  For instance, many in America, decry the illicit drug usage that is seen on the streets of America, of which the sellers of these illicit drugs, are subject to onerous incarceration sentences, upon conviction; whereas those pharmaceutical companies, that manufacture legal opiate drugs, seem not to care who and how people are prescribed these opiates, as long as their prescription sales and profits go up; so that they functionally turn a blind eye to those medical facilities and doctors that are essentially prescribing highly addictive opiates, willy-nilly, primarily so as to make good money from other people's legalized addiction.

Then, there are, for instance,  certain petrochemical companies, that manufacture products that are legally sold throughout the land, but in the process of manufacturing those products, they pollute the surrounding land, air, and waters to such an extent that those that live in close proximity to those facilities, are harmed and thereby suffer toxic aftereffects that are detrimental to their good health; of which, because these companies are so large and so powerful, they delay and obfuscate justice to such a large extent, as well as through the usage of the revolving door of those that regulate them, that those that have been harmed, often have no real recourse, to be made whole, even if they could be.

In fact, psychologytoday.com, states, "According to the FBI, the annual cost of street crime is $15 billion compared to nearly $1 trillion for white-collar crime."  Yet, the faces of those that are incarcerated are clearly those that are poor, ill educated, from dysfunctional families, and typically without hope or good opportunity.  In truth, those that are the real criminals are the ones that cheat the system and the people on a massive scale, yet, they are seldom incarcerated because this country insists upon locking up primarily those that are defenseless and without the resources to fight the system, because it wants to misdirect the American people to believe that they should fear the poor and disenfranchised, whereas they really should fear those that are well above the law.