Accept the challenge

Far too many people aren't up for the challenges that life inevitably brings, but rather would instead prefer to either outright avoid them, or to simply live a life, which doesn't necessitate having to make the effort to overcome them.  That though, is really the coward's way, for a coward does not wish to risk his own endangerment, and will do everything possible to run from that which is right in front of him, which he has perceived as being one of trouble or of danger, though, it may well not be.

Those that have come into this world, with a real purpose, are those that have well prepared themselves to do battle with the forces of evil, oppression, injustice, falsity, unfairness, and wrong.  This thus means, that confrontations will occur between those two opposing forces of right and wrong of which this must and does occur; of which, the changes that we so often proclaim that we would desire to have, necessitate the slaying of that which precludes such a change, which thereby requires our forthright effort as well as such from those that have the same desires and mindset.

The very point of challenges in life, is to forcefully awaken us from the pathetic escaping of what we should actually be doing -- whenever we waste ourselves inordinately through distractions and mindless activities, so that we can instead thereby be shaken up from our complacency or tendency to such, to thereupon be roused to rise up and become the courageous lion that each of us has been birthed with.  We should welcome the opportunity to prove our mettle, for words are forever cheap, and it is in our actions, that thereby prove whether we are true to what we honor or not, and subsequently the result of such, makes for our having done our part to make this world a better place for our involvement in  it.

After all, nobody would bother reading a novel or going to a movie, if there wasn't some vitally important inherent conflict or trouble that the hero of such a story, has to overcome through great personal effort, much danger, and palpitating risk, in order to rightly earn what they have put their mind upon to achieve.  This signifies, that all those that want easy victories, and easy lives, are those that are cheap in their outlook, and cheap in their viewpoint; for every the most cursory of looks, indicates that this world and the people that live upon it, are ever in need, of a real hero to help aid them in overcoming the troubles so presented to them.

Remember this well, when we contemplate upon what our finest day or finest hour was, it is never that day or hour when we were relaxing in front of the television, or something similar to that; but rather it is that day or hour, when we stood up, even perhaps with trembling knees, and took on that which was wrong that stood menacing in our way, and overcame that trouble; for that which is false, or evil, or unjust, cannot ever long stand before that which is true, righteous, noble, and courageous, for determined good ultimately always vanquishes evil, and always will.

Our criminal justice system has consistently been unfair and unjust

When the United States became an independent nation, with its own Constitution, such arrived in a day and age, in which there was not a formal police system; but rather the governor of each individual State, was often the personage in charge of selecting each individual sheriff that thereupon was the enforcer of the laws throughout a given jurisdiction, and of which, the assistance to that sheriff, typically came from that community of people, itself, rather than their being some sort of formal posse or policing arm, so sanctioned by the state.  This thus signified that since the necessary help provided to the sheriff came from the people, that the people were more directly involved in the justice so served.  At the same time, this also meant, that personal prejudices against those that did not neatly fit into the orthodox beliefs of that time, were therefore more susceptible to prejudiced and unjustified legal actions against them.  Yet, to a very large extent, this is, when honestly examined, essentially true of criminal justice so enacted in the present day and age.

Back then, unlike today's courtrooms, with its formal trial conditions, the justice so rendered in colonial times, was far swifter, and typically consisted not of some sort of formal incarceration, but depended almost exclusively upon public shaming, as well as its corresponding corporal punishment. In addition, for those that were particular difficult malcontents, communities exercised their right to banish such from that community, under penalty of severe corporal punishment, including even death, if that given person was to be obstinate and to thereby return.  So then, unlike today's course of justice which is often slow, meandering, and cumbersome, the colonial times were all about nearly immediate punishment done in a manner in which the hope would be that by public shaming this would thereupon impress upon those bad actors the need thereby for them to subsequently conform to community standards.

Yet, as much as some things have changed; fundamentally a lot of our criminal justice system effectively is as it has always been.  In other words, back then, those that were connected, of high value and importance, as well as being well placed, were always treated differently by that colonial justice than such that were considered to be the rabble of that time.  In other words, those that had power or position in their own right were treated differently than those that lacked those very things.   So too, laws so written and exercised to be equally applied to all, were selectively applied and thereby exercised specifically against those that were considered to be thorns in the side of those "good" members of that society.

Although the United States, is considered to be a "classless" society, in fact, its criminal justice system from its inception, has always dealt with people according to their perceived class and position; of which, those that are in the upper echelons of that society, are almost always able to avail themselves of every loophole, appeal, and the full power of superb attorneys, as compared to all those that lack those very things; of which, the application of that criminal justice system, deliberately is done in a manner in which, those that lack power, class, and position, are subject to the full force of the law, whereas those that represent those very attributes, and are often protected from suffering from such.  So that, in effect, today or years gone by, those accused of a given crime, essentially receive the justice so correlated with the position that they represent in that society.

Plea bargaining is fundamentally an injustice and always will be

As reported in the nytimes.com, "…97 percent of federal cases and 94 percent of state cases end in plea bargains," of which that percentage of criminal justice cases so resolved with a plea, thereby reflects that in virtually all cases the accused is never actually convicted by an impartial jury, and this plea so made is not done through a public trial or through a public forum, but is instead a situation in which the accused makes some sort of plea deal with the prosecuting arm of the State or of Federal auspices; coerced or not, fair or not, which effectively becomes the justice so rendered in those cases.

The Constitution of these United States, guarantees that in "…. criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury," and is further entitled to "….due process of the law."  In point of fact, there is absolutely nothing within the Constitution and the Amendments to such that address directly or indirectly the very concept of plea bargaining.  Plea bargaining exists as a convenience as well as a tool for the State and for the Federal authorities; and it is effectively used as a shortcut to simply transact criminal cases in a manner of which suits those authorities, as well as allowing those authorities to exert an incredible amount of pressure on typically those that are not intimately familiar with criminal laws, the nuances of those laws, their Constitutional rights, as well as the fact that those so being accused of criminal actions, are often lacking both in the resources as well as the money to effectively fight back against those that are prosecuting them.

America has an almost endless list of criminal laws, of which, if the thinking is that each one of these laws are fair and equitable, and the corresponding punishment for such, appropriate; then it would behoove said country to actually go through the trouble of having public trials of all those so accused of those crimes, rather than circumventing such.  Certainly, if this were to be done, the very first functional problem the United States would thereby encounter would be the overwhelming backlog of cases that would need to be brought to trial along with all the accouterments that go with trials and their outcomes, which would necessitate more of the taxpayer's money being devoted to prosecutorial elements, jailing, judges, courtrooms, and the like.  Not to mention, that in order for anyone so accused to actually be convicted, necessitates juries of the people, consistently being willing to convict, again and again and again.

In actuality, though, if plea bargaining was no longer permitted, those currently being charged with various criminal offenses, would instead find, that after a relatively short period of time, that in lieu of the prosecution simply continuing to bully the poor, the oppressed, and the ill-educated till the end of time; that with so many cases being upon their plate, and with the plea bargain cudgel no longer being part of their perverted version of justice, that the criminal justice system would fundamentally changed from the current bastardization of justice that it presently so represents, to returning to that which would be of beneficence to the people, which would be to concentrate only on arresting those that have taken or interfered with one's life, liberty, or property, and nothing else. 

Plea bargains are never going to be a fair part of any good criminal justice system; in fact, they are a reflection of a criminal justice system, gone horribly wrong and terribly amok.

Always at war

The United States of America would not always be at wars all across this globe, if it actually was a living and breathing Constitutional republic; but it is only that on paper, for in principle it is anything but that. Again and again, the United States, trivializes the importance of its Congressional legislature, which is the voice of the people, so represented by those elected by the people in each of those individual States, and thereby bypasses the need for the Constitutional declaration of war by those representatives of Congress, and instead forthrightly goes about making war upon other nations, principalities, and inchoate elements such as the "war on terror", without any sort of legislative authorization or even a need to consult such.  Further, although the United States is both the principle founder as well as being the most important member of those that make up the United Nations, that does not mean that the United States, believes it has the need to or let alone is concerned with being ever held accountable to that august tribunal; for the United States, simply does whatever that it so desires to do, on behalf of the executive office of that United States, and in the obedient fulfilling of the desires of the military-industrial-technology complex, that answers not a peep to the people of this great land.

The United States has no interest in actually having a true, impartial and a fair dialog with other countries, principalities, or even those that they have classified as terrorists -- when they have some sort of dispute with such; nor is it ever of real concern for the United States to make a proper case for war, to its very own people, let alone to those that are their sister members of the United Nations, but rather the United States adheres to the only avenue that they believe is truly representative of what the United States stands for, which is force, first and foremost, and none else. 

This so signifies that the United States is the world's preeminent bully, though it does not prefer to be known by that moniker, but in essence, all of the attributes of a bully, are clearly that which represent those United States; for this country, feels it does not need to ever justify its aggressive military actions against other sovereign lands and innocent peoples, but simply takes war to any principality that gets in its manifest dynastic way, and any such principality that does not pay permanent and abject obeisance to this nation, will for a certainty pay the price for such disobedience, in one form or another.

The United States has no need for formal diplomatic relations with any other nation, friend or foe, because in point of principle, the United States' flag, bows down to no other nation; so then, there is no point in even pretending that an actual dialog between this nation and another, would ever consist of the United States at least listening some of the time to the concerns of the other, and thereby addressing differences between such, via a mature point-by-point basis, because in fact, the United States ultimately listens to no outside voice and nobody -- including not even its own people and their representatives. 

The United States is always at war, because it does not wish to deal with foreign policy in any manner that legitimizes any concerns or interests of those other principalities, especially that which would be considered to be relevant and sensible, but rather prefers instead to exercise aggressively its military muscle and thereby to bully such into submission.

Those that own shelter and those that do not

In America, home ownership is considered to be part and parcel of what helps define someone or some family that has achieved or is in the process of achieving that American dream; for one's home is really one's castle, and thereby a valuable sanctuary in what for a lot of Americans, is a life that presents far too often, a sea of trouble.  Further to the point, those that do not own their own homes, have the fundamental issue that they still have a need to have somewhere to rest their weary heads and thereby to have safe shelter, of which, without the necessary income, credit, or money to purchase their own place, no matter how modest that place might be, they are thereby left to rent what they can, for whatever price that they can rent such for.

As reported by politifact.com, in a report issued by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, "In 2016, households that spend over half of their total income in housing included about 11 million renters."  That amount of money being spent just to have a place to lay one's head down, does not take into account, the further monies needed for healthcare, education, food, utilities, transportation, and anything else of relevancy for a given family to thereby live a sustainable life.  So that, when any family is placed into the unenviable situation of having to give up more than half of their total income, just to have shelter, that means almost for a certainty that they are going to have to sacrifice something else, and maybe many other necessary things in order to have some sort of semblance of sustainability, while still being in perpetual fear and constant danger of losing that which they really must have.

Those that do not own their own shelter, are at the beck and call of all those that do; and when those that own shelter of all different stripes and quality are able to dictate to the helpless and poor the price of admission for that shelter, those that have no bargaining power and with little ability to travel outside their domain of current residency, are going to have to pay the freight for that shelter, without much wiggle room, whatsoever. 

While this country rightly understands the necessity of providing what is known as "food stamps" for those poor that qualify for such; it does not on the other hand, do nearly as robust a job at providing housing vouchers or housing subsidies or housing choices, for those that are in need of a helping hand for the shelter that they so require.  When any country, permits those that work hard for a living, to achieve that, without receiving in return a fair and living wage, then unsurprisingly, those people with that shortfall of income, are vulnerable to all the ills and troubles that not having the right amount of compensation places them into.  When the poor are precluded from being provided with good options to live in safe neighborhoods consisting of rent so being paid that effectively is a net amount reasonable for their given situation; then what happens, is that those poor are forever exploited by those that have or control that ownership, for the expressed benefit of those owners -- while that government of, by, and for the people, effectively looks the other way.

We all have an equal claim to justice

America is in theory, an egalitarian society, and therefore no respecter of people; but rather each of us is judged by our individual merits and what we therefore bring to this fabled land of opportunity.  This is the way that it should be, and this is what this country was founded upon, for able governments are instituted amongst the people, with the consent of those people, for the expressed benefit of the people; so that each of those people are thereby fairly entitled to the beneficence of that government, of, for, and by the people.

This signifies, that each us has equal claims upon what this country so stands for and fair claims upon what those that are its citizens, produce from it.  That is not to say, one for all, and all for one; or of each according to their ability, to each according to their needs, but rather that those that are the most successful amongst us, while being fairly entitled to the fruits of that labor, have also an inherent responsibility in their being a good member within a responsible and just governance, to thereby pay their fair dues through taxation and similar means so that this answerable government can subsequently provide a helping hand to those that are in good need of that helping hand.

This country is not meant to represent forever some sort of dog-eat-dog competition consisting of the strongest, cleverest, and the best connected, thereby having or taking the lion's share of the spoils from other people that are their fellow citizens; but rather in consideration that we each have a responsibility to that which has provided us with the good opportunity to be something of a success, we each thereby must recognize that through our inter-relatedness that we have an obligation to deal squarely with those that are our compatriots, without though being unfairly compelled by that government to do so.

One of the primary searches for mankind, is that search for justice, but not just justice in the formal courts of mankind's laws, but rather true justice in how we deal with one another, day-by-day, of which there must be a conscious recognition that a fair profit should be good enough for those that are inclined to such; in the fair understanding that societies invariably breakdown whenever there are only a very few that are the winners of such, and the masses thereof are subsequently left with just the crumbs, as well as often being left with reduced opportunities to make something of their own lives; therefore signifying  that the only way that such a country as that does not further devolved into outright revolution, is through the wrongful continual suppression of the people, through the force of arms and by a police state.

Each of us has an unalienable right to fair justice, equally applied to all, and that very government of, for, and by the people, is only that government which gets its legitimacy and its moral strength by the very fact that that government makes it their point of principle to enforce equally that law of justice for all.

God's justice and civil war

America went through a bloody civil war, caused by the Southern States deliberately rebelling against the Northern Union; this despite the fact that President Lincoln made it very clear in his first Inaugural address which specifically addressed the most salient concerns of those Southern States, stating that "the government will not assail you," without first those Southern States themselves being the actual instigators and aggressors to such; in addition Lincoln expressed that as President of this Union of States that he had the solemn oath to "preserve, protect, and defend" that Union, in which through a fair election, Lincoln was fairly elected; and of which those that lost that fair election, decided that they would not accept such and therefore they turned instead to outright violence to protect what they considered to be their most precious as well as their most peculiar institution.

And so the war came; and that civil war exceeded both the length of time that informed pundits believed such a war could or would be, with correspondingly incredible sacrifices by both sides throughout this war, with much violence and countless tragic deaths, as well as wholesale destruction and mayhem, of which virtually nobody believed this could or ever would be possible, yet this do so come.  Both sides believed that they were following God's will, of which, what was actually learned by each, was that though both sides were correct in believing in that will of God, they were each incorrect in their respective belief of what that will was; for each side did not recognize that God is forever just and that everything so rendered by God in this world, is forever righteous.

So then, as it has been written, the wages of sin is death. So that, if the slavery and the wresting away of another man's bread and his hard and unrequited labor is considered to be that sin; it can surely be expected that mankind's payment for that sin is going to necessitate a meaningful sacrifice to it.  There are, despite what mankind might wish to think, no free rides within the world of God's justice, and none get off scot-free from that which has been knowingly done as a selfish and self-serving disservice to our fellow brothers and sisters in this world.

Far too often, mankind wishes for that easy road, without taking into account, that those wrong and dangerous roads that meander and collide all over the place, and thereby create all sorts of strife, conflict, hatred, trouble, violence, and disputes, cannot be suddenly changed into that straight and narrow path, without a corresponding amount of collective sacrifice to that which is needed to thereby make what should be right, to be right.   Every violent lash upon the back of one's fellow man, is a lash that not only leaves a lasting scar upon he who is innocent, but it also is a lash that cannot ever be taken back, which is why that which is wrong, must pay the price, for its transformation into that which is right. 

Every country, as well as every individual should fearfully tremble at the knowing that God's justice does not and will not slumber forever, and further that our immutable and omniscient God is always and always will be absolutely just.

Disease and that which is misclassified as a disease

As civilizations advance in their knowledge and skills, there has also been a corresponding increase in that which has been subsequently classified as a disease.  To the degree that this has been accomplished through sound science, such as in the discovery of new diseases or the reclassification of such; of which, these diseases are able to be scientifically identified through the usage of x-ray imaging, blood work, applied medical knowledge, as well as medical testing of all types, then society in whole, has benefited; for that which is known as a disease, thereby allows those in the medical profession the chance and therefore the opportunity to ameliorate and to even cure those suffering from such.

The problem with the multitude of mental issues, in which in recent times, more and more of that which is mental in nature has been classified as a disease, such as in addictions of all types, those suffering mental issues such as being diagnosed as bipolar or schizophrenic, depression of all types, those suffering from general anxiety, and all those other diseases that are mind related, but do not substantiate themselves in the examination of the body of the person, or even through the imaging of the brain, should in all likelihood, not be classified as a disease, until such is actually proven by objective means.  After all, if there are no documents or images that can be scientifically produced exhibiting how one person's disease has the same markings as shown on other people suffering from the same disease, of which we are instead left with only the symptoms of such, which thereby have been declared as a disease,  but which are of the mind, then for a certainty, what has been declared as a disease, would be better classified, as abnormal phenomena being displayed, without any scientific proof that the person suffering from such, has an actual disease.

All those that have what is currently classified as a mental disease, would be better served, far more often, with something other than pharmaceutical substances, by instead, for instance, the understanding that behind most mental issues, there are individual personal issues that are the contributing factor to the manifestation of that unorthodox behavior. So that, to a great extent, those that "act out" or behave in a manner which is outside the norm or the desires of what civilized society expects from us, are doing so, because they are suffering from something that troubles them to such an extent, that they display behavior which is perceived as being maladjusted, wrong, or just plain weird.

The thing about what is currently classified as a mental disease, is that the most basic definition of an actual disease, is that which is abnormal, in conjunction with it being something that occurs outside the given motivation or will of an individual.  On the other hand, addictions of all types, and certain unconventional mental behaviors being displayed, are in a significant amount of cases, actually under the will and ultimate control of the person so displaying such, whether or not that person recognizes the truth or power within their own hands and mind.  So then, while we should always have sympathy for those that are suffering, not everything that is currently called a disease, actually appears labeled correctly.

All the news that's fit to print…. really?

While it never has been easier and more convenient for the population to get its news, in so many different ways and formats as we so see today, that doesn't mean that the news so being disseminated is not to a very wide extent, news that is distorted, partisan, falsified, and often that of propagating particular agendas, usually hidden or disguised, from those so providing that news.  None of this is good for the public; for the public in order to formulate informed opinions and viewpoints typically necessitates news that is impartial and that thereby sticks with providing the facts and a fair perspective on issues of importance, and to the degree that this is not done, the public and that country is harmed by that deliberate distortion.

That which is defined as good news, is all that news of interest that has basically been put together in a format consisting of what has actually occurred with as much relevant, factual, objective, and complete information as possible, without being prejudicial to one side or another; but rather has tried to present the truth of what has happened, and thereupon allows the reader to formulate their own viewpoint, by the use of their judgment, thereof.   Unfortunately, that sort of impartial news is hard to actually find, for many of the articles so written, are written in a manner in which the publisher of such, has taken a specific position and pushes that viewpoint upon the reader.

An informed public as well as a public that knows how to think for itself, should be the goal and the desire of that government which is of, for, and by the people; for, on the other hand, a nation of obeisance sheep is going to be a nation that is susceptible to exploitation and abuse, whether that be domestically or through foreign agents.  That is why it is so important that a multitude of viewpoints be disseminated to the people, along with the facts of that which is being discussed being fully disclosed, of which, the people as they become engaged to that which is of interest, are thereupon able to formulate and subsequently make reasoned decisions, thereof.

Those countries that are autocratic in nature are typically also countries that want to control the news so being provided to their people, so as to mold those people into what the powers-to-be desire them to be.  Further to the point, autocratic countries are all about subterfuge, secrets, lies, opaqueness, misdirection, injustice, unfairness, corruption, and the doing of all that which will help them to maintain their control, or augment such at the expense of the people, and they well know that the news so being propagated is an important arrow in their arsenal of crowd persuasion.

All the news that is fit to print would consist of that news which is uncomfortable for those that are at the highest echelons of power, for that news would constantly hold those powers accountable to the very people, that they ostensibly have taken a solemn duty to serve, protect, and to defend.    That signifies, also, that the news which is best fit to print, is that news which is of the good and fair benefit to the people.

Success necessitates having the right connections

Some people are born with that proverbial silver spoon in their mouth that thereby provides them with not only the material aspects so needed for a good life, but also typically the networking and connections so needed to establish themselves in the right position to make something further out of their life.  In other words, while money most definitely has its place; that often in and of itself, is not going to be enough on just its own, to establish someone successfully as a person of merit and worth, because at some point, the drive and thereby the accomplishments of a given individual pretty much must stand on its own, so that while money opens doors, it does not guarantee an individual, success.

What does help significantly for success for a given individual, irrespective of whether they have come from money or not, is the vital connections and networking so provided to or generated by or for that person.  That is to say, there are a multitude of people that have, on paper, about the same sort of skill-set, of which what is often most lacking for one person vis-à-vis another person, is credibility as well as knowing the right people that thereby have favorable situations set up for that individual. So that, it isn't so much what a given person can do, but rather it comes down far more often, to finding that situation, or having such handed to a person on a platter, so to speak, that enables that person to excel, because they are therefore in the right place at the right time.

So then, those that aspire to be something of worth in this life, need to not only work hard to earn the credentials so required in their chosen field of work, but also need to work as hard or even harder, at establishing vital connections, especially with people that are able to materially influence the direction of their life, for the better.  Obviously, such as that is easier said than done, but nevertheless it should never be discounted as good sound advice; because in life, to a very remarkable extent, it is who a given person knows, that has a huge influence upon how successful a given person's life or career ends up being, of which, many a person of somewhat modest talent, is able to excel via those good connections so made.

In point of fact, there are plenty of people that are quite smart on paper, but lack the necessary skill-set to relate with other people in a manner that allows those people evaluating them, to see fully their inherent skill and talent for a given position.  This signifies that it isn't good enough just to know a lot; but rather it is of immense value to make it a point to know the right people, and thereby to associate in the right circles, that will thereby provide a better wealth of opportunity for success.  After all, those that have a champion for their cause, are going to be in a far better position, to be properly recognized, then those that do not, because meaningful decisions by others are often made, by taking into consideration the credibility of the person or organization so making a particular recommendation or rendering specific advice.

Increased productivity has not lead to meaningful increased wages over the last four decades

We read in epi.org, that from 1948-1979, the productivity growth in America, which means the growth of output of goods and services so provided, was +108.1%, and the compensation so provided to the workers of such grew at the rate of 93.2%, signifying that the wages and benefits so provided to those laborers measured at about 86% of the productivity rate so generated.  Since then, from the years 1979-2018, the productivity rate over this period of time has declined to being only +69.6%, whereas the compensation thereof was merely at an 11.6% growth rate.  This so indicates that not only has the nation's productivity rate slowed down considerably, but even more disturbingly, the very people that are part of that productivity saw their wages increase at such an anemic rate that  it only represents about 17% of the productivity rate so generated.

In point of fact, one would expect that in fairness to those that work, that their wages should be in close approximation to the productivity so generated, of which, as they say, a rising tide lifts all boats.  While in a capitalistic system it is never surprising that the laborers of such, are cheated somewhat, as we see in the years of 1948-1979, in which there was a shortfall in expected wages so paid; which, that said, was still fair-minded enough to be considered to be within a reasonable range.  However, over the period of time of 1979-2018, the disparity of wages to productivity is so dramatically short of what would be fairly expected, that it is clear that the laws so enacted and enforced for such tangibles, for instance, as in healthcare benefits as provided by one's employer, as well as in one's right for fair compensation through, for example, the receipt of a minimum wage thereby corresponding to a living wage, along with those miscellaneous mislabeled labor laws so enacted such as "the right to work" law, and so on and so forth, that clearly what we currently have in place has effectively done next to little or next to nothing, to fairly compensate those at their field of labor in a manner in which they are remunerated at a fair wage which thereby correlates well with the productivity so generated by that labor.

Not too surprisingly, when the lion's share of compensation due to increased productivity does not translate to those that are on the frontlines of such work, but rather goes instead to those at the highest echelons of those companies, as well as their enablers, then what so occurs, is what has happened in America, which is that a relatively small portion of Americans, have seen their wealth grow and expand at exceedingly high rates; which therefore means that the balance of Americans have been left behind to stagnate and to rue the fact that they live in a country that is supposed to epitomize opportunity, fairness, and wealth, of which they see that they have very little of that, and instead are left with the crumbs that have fallen off of their master's table.

Corporate dynasties, dividends, salaries, and perpetuity

No matter how rich a given individual is, their time on this earth is finite; of which, only the smallest of percentages of people ever reach the age of 100, so that, there are virtually no superrich people that are 100 years of age or above, and of which, none of those superrich at such an advanced age, would be primarily motivated about making even more money, but instead would have already prudently taken the time to plan and thereby to allocate their assets to those organizations and people that do so appeal to them, while also being cognizant of applicable taxation laws.  One of those laws that so applies, is the estate tax law, of which, upon the death of a given individual, the state is permitted to tax that individual upon the worth of the assets so held, to thereby recover for that state, a fair portion of those assets, of a person that is no longer living, for the expressed benefit of that government of the people.

On the other hand, corporations are currently treated as if their existence is in perpetuity, so that there are corporations in America that have existed since the 19th century, and therefore are already well pass the normal length of a given individual's natural life, yet these corporations, despite their length in years, aren't getting any weaker or more irrelevant or being subjected to estate taxes, but are in many cases, growing and selling more, and thereby making more in profits, then they ever have previously done, with no imaginable end in sight.  Further to the point, corporations are an amalgamation of capital, infrastructure, and people, blended together, that clearly are significantly more powerful and influential than one individual or even group of individuals.

Because corporations are artificial creations so made by the laws of the subject country, of which the biggest and most influential of those corporations are publically held and publically traded, then therefore those corporations should be held accountable to robust governmental laws, including rules and regulations, so enacted to be of the most fair benefit for that country.  This thus signifies that, for instance, because corporations are never subjected to estate taxes, that therefore in order for this country to be able to maintain some sort of sanctioned influence upon these corporations, specific rules should be applied to them, that requires a reasonable percentage of their given earnings of each fiscal year, to be provided to the stockholders of record through mandatory dividends, as well as also having a specific pool of money distributed to those that are employed at said company, through a reasonably structured form of profit sharing.

In other words, those corporations that are profitable, need to be compelled by law to pay out a mandatory percentage by that law of those profits to their public shareholders as well as to their employees, each year; so that rather than corporations thereby increasing their monetary assets year after year, they are thereby forced to share some of that wealth with the very people that have enabled that corporation to become and to stay successful.  After all, it is an exceedingly dangerous thing for any democracy when capital is concentrated into corporate artificial creations, which never die; in addition to also getting stronger year by year, which thereby effectively replaces the people's voice, with some sort of bastardization which seemingly stipulates more or less, than what is good for said corporation is good for America, when in actuality, more times than not, it's simply good for that corporation, at the expense of America.

America, the plutocracy

Some people believe that America is a Constitutional republic, and some also believe that it is a democracy, of, by, and for the people.  Yet, in reality, it would be more accurate to state that America is a functional plutocracy; that is a government of the wealthy, controlled by the wealthy, and for the benefit of the wealthy.  To wit, when that government looks like a plutocracy, acts like a plutocracy, and takes actions that conform to being a plutocracy, then it probably is a plutocracy.

Senator Elizabeth Warren stated that "The top 0.1 percent, who'd pay my #UltraMillionaireTax, own about the same wealth as 90 percent of America," of which, politifact.com states that "The top 0.1 percent is fewer than 200,000 families. The bottom 90 percent? About 110 million households."   That this is true, should come as a great shock to all Americans, especially in consideration that America was not founded by dynastic wealth, but rather was founded upon the universal principles of opportunity, meritocracy, and egalitarianism.  The fact that so few can own so much, is a clear reflection that our capitalistic system as currently practiced in this land is fundamentally corrupt and that it needs a thorough cleansing as well as constructive reform in order to be fairer to the good people that constitute this country.

While there is a multitude of reasons why so few have so much, a considerable part of why this is so, is because when fortunes are created, they are thereby able to often sustain themselves and to augment themselves through the guidance of high-powered attorneys, tax set asides and tax evasions, offshore shell corporations, opaqueness, corporate favoritism, as well as legislation circumvented;  permitting thereby for the vast majority of these elites, to not fairly pay their fair portion of what they should be taxed upon, through those sophisticated maneuvers, which means that these superrich people as well as their corporations will continue to grow that capital year after year, generation after generation, without ever having to suffer being appropriately taxed upon that wealth.  

So too, when the legislatures of county, city, State, and the National government are effectively controlled by those that have the dollars to buy whatever influence that they so need, whether that be for rules and regulations that effectively boxes out competition, while being structured in a way that also benefits those on the inside; as well as laws that reduce capital gains to levels below what those that labor for a hourly wage so pay; and in addition, favorable legislation that provides all sorts of corporate beneficence, including but not limited to property tax abatement, kickbacks, and the relief of normal taxation for such companies; all of this provides in essence, for those with that connected money, the absolute power to increase their wealth, without hindrance by the only agency that has the power to stop such, which is that government, of, by, and for the people.

When the very, very few, essentially own as much as 90% of what the general population does, something is seriously wrong with the effective and meaningful operation of that government and in its fairness to the people it ostensibly is meant to serve; because that sort of wealth disparity and wealth gap is reflective only of those countries that are controlled by the superrich and for the superrich.  America is therefore a plutocracy, of which, such a plutocracy could only exist under the compliance of those at the highest levels of this government, and only through the outright and sanctioned continual exploitation of its own people.

Nothing false is ever part of that which is the whole truth

While in reality, our justice department as exercised, is far too often rather disappointing, the testimony so expected by those that are part of those court cases asserts in its totality, what justice is supposed to be all about, which is that each of us is sworn to testify to "….the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."  So that, taking into account the whole truth from such testimony so made, the decisions thereby contemplated upon and subsequently rendered do more fairly reflect good justice.

So too, those that live a lie in any aspect, are by definition, failing to be true to that which is the whole truth.  Additionally, those that are mistaken in what they believe or proselytize, so that, what they therefore believe is flawed or wrong, are standing upon the shaky ground of that which is false; yet believing such is true, when in reality, it is not, which is an error that sooner or later, must be corrected; for God is Truth, immutable and without error, so that all which have error within it, unwittingly or not, conscious to it or not, can never in that errant state be fully absorbed or permitted into perfection.

Everything that is false and believed upon, and everything that is stated which is false and relied upon, is in direct opposition to all that which is true.  Those two aspects, truth and falsehood, can never successfully be merged together, for that which is false has no legitimate or lasting place with that which is true.  Therefore, to the degree that we become knowledgeable that we are inherently responsible for all that we do and say, it is thereby our ethical responsibility to be true in all that we do and say with ourselves as well as with others, for that which is false, never has legitimacy in the eternal justice of that which is true and right.

While it may be difficult or well-nigh impossible, at times, to know for a certainty, whether something is true or false, this accounts for why we need to far more often, be far less sure of things that we believe are truly known for a certainty, and consequently far more accommodating of unorthodox or out-of-the-box beliefs; for an open mind is much better prepared to accept, without judgment, that which is not generally accepted and thereby is a mind more capable of grasping those intuitive intangibles which will thereby swing open the liberating portals of that whole truth, which is freely available to all.

It must be said, that to get to where each of us needs to get to, requires not only concentrated good effort, but an absolute drive to know the truth of all that matters.  In the end, what only matters is the truth, but not that truth of trivial things, such as what is the capital city of Nebraska, but rather the truth of what is the meaning and purpose of life; and further who we really are and what we are supposed to be doing.  Those that ignore such, ignore such at their own peril, but also at the peril of those that they influence, for all that which is falsely propagated and lived, leads invariably to the dead end of wrongness and error; whereas that which is lived to truth and right, leads to that enduring truth of all truths, which is that full and bright illumination of total clarity.

Your soul is ever immortal and ever indestructible

Life in this material world, because of its inherent materiality, is thereby indicative that each of us that have been born upon this planet must so die upon it as well.  This is the law for that which is flesh is, by definition, mortal.  So then, all those that identify solely with their physical body and their physical existence on this plane, are often filled with some degree of fear for the toll that will be taken upon their bodies such as through aging; and also that fear which comes in dealing with those that have the power to take away one's life or damage such, including diseases, of which, from that fear all sorts of decisions are made, some for good, and some for bad.

That we will die a physical death is something that everyone knows from the beginning; so that, those with real sensibility are the ones that are thereby curious about what the meaning of life actually is, and thereby do not limit themselves to the erroneous belief, that all we ever will be and all that we are, is caught up within our physical form; so that those with intrepid thinking and grit are able to eventually break through and to discover or to re-discover that each of us, is in actuality, an immortal soul, that no earthly power, can ever take away from us.

So then, the more appropriate way of looking upon our existence here on earth, is that each one of us is being fairly tested on this plane by that who has created us, to determine as to whether or not, we have the wherewithal to at some point break free from the chains of the delusion that precludes us from knowing or re-knowing that we are not our physical form, but rather are in reality, an immortal soul, incarnated and housed temporarily inside a physical form, subject to its physical limitations, but not so subject to limitations in our ability and the knowledge that comes with determination and focus, so as to truly comprehend that we are forever one with our Creator of which no force can ever successfully break such.

This signifies, that because the blind cannot ever lead the blind, that those that see, even those that see with some sort of limitation to their insight, are here for the expressed purpose to not only better their own self, but have an inherent sacred duty to lead out of the darkness of despair, others that are confused and misguided about who and what they really are.  Each of us, is called to be a Light-bearer and to therefore to be an ever present source of help for those that need our aid and help.

Those that work in opposition to God, do their level best, in their own way, to obfuscate who and what we really are, because those individuals that know not that they are forever immortal, but rather are caught up in the day-to-day affairs of this material existence, are those that are susceptible to being compromised again and again, for fear of losing their mortal existence and the "freedom" that they believe comes with it, by those agents that have impressed this very thought upon them.  That is a false construct, used to entrap us, of which, to break free from such, comes down to quieting one's mind, and thereby subsequently connecting with that which is all Wisdom, who thereby lovingly reminds us again and again, that as His own, we are forever eternal, unbreakable, and everlasting.

Treat people the way that they should be treated

We read by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "When we take people, merely as they are, we make them worse; when we treat them as if they were what they should be, we improve them as far as they can be improved."  This signifies that we need to provide more space for people and their character development, and thereby not to prejudge and categorize people, especially as if they are forever stagnant, or that what they say and do at the present time, can only be interpreted in one restrictive and often negative way, without taking into account that life has far more nuance to it and capabilities within it, and thereby suffers often from the lack of fair judgment by those who know not as much as they think that they know.

All of us need to do a much better job of taking into account the whole person, and thereby first of all, recognizing that each of us, has been equally created by the very same God.  So too, each of our individual circumstances are different, sometimes diametrically different, so that, things which appear not to be right to our viewpoint, have not fully and never can fully take into account everything that has transpired for another person; in addition to the salient fact, that we cannot know them at a level that would make us totally aware of everything of consequence that has occurred to date within their respective lives.

This thus means that we are far better off, in seeing the potential of other people, and to take to heart more predominantly the very positives that they are already displaying, so as to therefore be able to more readily picture them as good and valued citizens, by seeing in our mind much more of their upside, and thereby subsequently reducing the influence of the downside, so pictured.  After all, most of us, are dismayed when we are perceived, and usually unfairly, as something other than what we believe that we are at our core; when we invariably make mistakes, or misjudgments, or are caught doing things that are plain wrong.  We do not want to be defined by just one bad act, or by just one bad day, but rather would prefer to be seen as the whole person, who basically does right, more times than not, and desires to be within their persona of good service to their fellow mankind.

Those that tell other people that are already vulnerable, how rotten that they are, don't readily comprehend, that words so spoken have consequences, of which long after a particular event has been forgotten by the critic of such, the person so receiving that criticism, may still be living within it, as if it was still being said and repeated to them, again and again.  That is why we need to do a much better job and thereby to exert a much better effort in seeing the good as well as the budding potential in other people, for those that help in creating the necessary backbone that so many of us need to avail themselves of from time-to-time, are an ever present help for those that need such help, because that which we are capable of, often needs the helping hands of others to allow such to come to its successful fruition, for we all are truly in this, together.

Economic insanity and the piper must be paid

Countries, companies, and people take out debt all of the time, of which, such is typically sensible, if the entity so borrowing the money has the ready capacity to pay that money back through their own future labor and sustained productivity.  On the other hand, loans taken out in which those that are borrowing that money, be it countries, companies, or people, do not appear that they will ever fully pay back such a loan, and further do not appear that they can even make a sizable dent upon the principal of such a loan, let alone the interest rate so being charged; that thereof is the type of pending catastrophe, that economic systems, fiat currency, civilizations, and the like, collapse from.

Basically, that which is considered to be money, as issued and sanctioned by governments, operates as a good form of currency to the degree that such is accepted with confidence by those entities so utilizing it; and once that confidence is broken in regards to such money, then all sorts of cascading negative events are sure to occur.  At the present time, the debt loads of countries, companies, and people have never been higher, and ever higher, these debt loads continue to grow, of which, from a practical standpoint, those that are lending money to those borrowing such, would typically thereby not only would charge a higher interest rate for loans that they are no longer so confident about, but further would reduce their loans so being made to those that they do not see as being reasonably safe to make loans to, in the first place.  What has occurred, actually, is that in recent times for the most part, the interest rate so being charge by financial institutions has consistently been lower than what common sense would dictate would be an appropriate interest rate to be charged, taking into account the careful consideration of the risks so involved.

The real reason why those that borrow money can not only continue to borrow money but are able to, more times than not, to borrow at historical low rates, has everything to do, with basically kicking the can down the road, because if those financial institutions were to actually charge what they needed to charge for monies so being loaned out, they then would soon find themselves inundated with non-performing loans of such magnitude, that they would be subsequently overwhelmed with bad debt that could not readily be sold to somebody else, at anything other than a fire sale price.  In other words, despite all of the debt that currently exists, that interest charge to that debt, cannot successfully be raised, because those that are indebted can't pay what they owe, currently; and thereby the increase of the rate of such, would take what is now unstable, but sort of basically functioning, and collapse it.

Yet, for every loan so made, the objective of that loan being made is for the lender of it, to be paid.  That simply is not going to occur; and though financial institutions, price in a default rate for said loans, they also know for a certainty, the price for such is way, way too low.  Lots and lots of money has been printed by governments because that seems to work as a way to keep their economies growing, and lots and lots of money has also been borrowed by companies and people, but the thing is, the piper has to one day be paid, and if not, the game so ends, very, very badly.

The Big States need to be split up so as to have more Senators

We read at econdevresults.com that "California’s population is greater than the combined total population of the 22 smallest states."  This thus signifies that California's two national Senators literally have to competently represent in aggregate more people than those forty-four Senators have to represent in those other smaller States combined; thereby signifying that a bigger State such as California must bow to those smaller States, for it is essentially powerless to do none else.  Further, we read that the Constitution grants specific State-creation powers to Congress in Article IV, Section 3, of said Constitution, of which, basically if a given State wants to create additional States within its current borders and such is passed by its respective State legislature, and subsequently this meets with the consent of Congress, then such a new State will become into existence.  Further to the point, the hurdle to overcome such is not particularly daunting as in the midst of a bloody Civil War, the western part of Virginia, which was loyal to the Union, was admitted into the Union of those States, in 1863.

While it certainly makes sense that each State should have two Senators as granted within that Constitution, of which, thereby the population of said State is not relevant to thus having those two Senators; it does not on the other hand, make a lot of sense that States such as California, Texas, Florida, and New York, have not voluntarily to date made the necessary effort to create additional States within their current State boundaries, as quite obviously certain peoples within those States as currently constructed, effectively have no Senatorial representation because those States through its current Senatorial structure, cater almost exclusively to the prevailing opinions and desires of those that are the power within those States, and need not thereby address in any sort of comprehensive manner, those that are not part of that power.

While perhaps the prevailing reason why these big States have not made a concerted effort to break themselves into smaller States lies at the feet of those that control the levers of those States, and thereby do not wish to share such with others within that State; this is somewhat contradicted by the fact that more Senators within a given area of what use to be one State, is going to be in aggregate, almost surely beneficial for all those that live within the boundaries of what use to be that one State, because the more voices contained within a given former State area, the more power will aggregate to those voices, so now represented.

So too, it perhaps is unfortunate, that America is a Union of exactly fifty States, which is a nice, round number and has been such for over sixty years; yet, for a country that professes to be of, for, and by the people, when nearly forty million people find that in the legislative hall of its national Senate, that their voice is counted no more than a State which exceeds barely half a million, it would seem to indicate that fair representation of, for, and by the people is clearly out of skew.  Sure, there is a Congress which in its allocation of how many representatives so provided to a State, is population based; but there also has to be something concretely done to address the insanely large population differences such as the big States consist of over the smaller States, in which within the halls of the Senate, each of their voices are seen as somehow being equal, though the people so represented behind those votes, represent a vast and wide chasm between such. That doesn't seem right, because clearly it isn't.

Massive tech profits should increase competition, not kill it

As it has been said, the rich get richer; of which, while this is true of well placed people, it is absolutely also true of some of the biggest and most gargantuan of corporations.  Most people, have an immense difficulty in truly comprehending how large, and how much business is conducted by companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, Alphabet (Google), and Apple which is demonstrated by the revenue so generated by each of them, each year; of which, in 2018, Apple did as reported by visualcapitalist.com, $265.5 billion in revenues, whereas the company of these four, that had the lowest amount of yearly revenue, was the free social media site, Facebook, which still did an outstanding $55.8 billion.  Keep in mind, that these revenues are just for one year, of which, each of this mighty technology companies are still growing and therefore increasing their revenues, year by year, which are already currently, enormous.

To put things in perspective, about profits and profit margin, we read as reported by aei.org, "the average profit margin is 7.9% for all companies," which was surveyed for more than 7,000 US companies.  As reported by, visualcapitalist.com, for 2018, Microsoft's profit margin was 15.0%, while Facebook's profit margin was an astonishingly high 39.6%, and Apple as well as Alphabet's profit margin was each 22.4%.  These profit margins for these mega-technology companies absolutely crushes the average profit margin as reported by US companies, in aggregate.  So then, if we lived in a true free enterprise world, of which, the barriers of entry for upstarts were non-existence, and favoritism for those that are well connected did not occur, and of which, there was an abundance of both capital and an abiding desire of budding entrepreneurs to go after the market share of these, super-big tech companies, than invariably those tech companies would see their profit margins inexorably come under attack from these well financed upstarts and thereby these mega tech companies would invariably see their profit margins become more in line with other US companies.  In fact, what is actually occurring is the exact opposite of this, which is that those that are in charge of the regulation of these hi-tech companies and in particular are in charge of the enforcement of robust anti-trust legislation are apparently asleep at the wheel, or effectively have been compromised by these tech companies.  We know that this is true, by virtue of the fact that each of these tech companies has been permitted, time and time again, to buy out competitors and to thereby to add those merged-in companies to their skill-set, so as to thereby strengthen their formidable businesses in order to maintain and to increase each of their dominant positions.

The capitalistic system is driven by the desire to make profits, and thereby to increase one's market share as well as one's dominance vis-à-vis those that compete against them.  While we can give credit to those that absolutely command their business niche, for being successful at such, it isn't good that there are in essence, a few that essentially monopolize market share, and thereby are able to reap additional unmerited profits, above and beyond, what would be occurring if that market was more evenly divided between and with other competitors of real strength and merit.  The fact that this is not the case for these colossal hi-tech companies is proof positive, that our capitalistic system is broken.

There is only one Truth

The confusion that consists of modern society along with the credulity of some people, have allowed those that have bad intentions in mind, to obfuscate something that should never be tarnished; which is that there ultimately is just one truth, and there never was and there never will be a time in which there is in reality a multitude of equally valid truths, inconsistent one with another.  Because we are flawed human beings, with limitations to our mind and prejudices within our character, it is common that certain egotistical people believe that they, alone, have the truth; or alternatively to that, that each person in their own way has their own personal truth, of which each of these truths, are equally valid, along with that truth being subservient to the whims of a given person's personality or one's perceived knowledge at a given time.

The most important characteristic about truth, is that truth is never subjective, and further to the point, that therefore truth never changes, for that which is true now, was true ever, and ever will be true.  So then, anything that is subject to change, or that is subject to the different proclivities of a given individual, cannot be defined as fully true, because truth never changes for anyone or any being, ever.  It is important to comprehend that the whole truth, consists of nothing but the truth, and every facet within that truth is also completely true, and if those conditions are not met, then what is being so discussed or contemplated upon, may be true for what it is, but it is not the whole truth.

The reason that truth is so important, is that the makeup of our Creator is pure and undefiled Truth, for there can never be any falsehood within our God, for our God is immutable, omniscient, and flawless; signifying that if God is not true at truth's most comprehensive level, then our God is a false God, that knows not that one Truth.  Fortunately, that is not the case, which signifies that our aspiration to that Truth is the straight and narrow path for each one of us to take journey upon.  So too, anytime that in our behavior and in our demeanor that we are not true to our fellow sojourners here on earth, then we have stepped out of the path of enlightenment and into the darkness of delusion.

 It is a dangerous dogma when truth is propagated as something subjective and ever changing upon the winds of the time, when in fact, that sort of shifty truth is more appropriately defined as an opinion or an illusion.  While one's perceptions can be false, because we are ourselves flawed, and therefore one's belief about what appears to be true, can be mistaken, this does not change the primary object of us all -- which is to live up to truth, and none else.  That there is an absolute truth, should never be dismissed as a myth, but rather should be embraced, for it is in our rising up to that truth, that we break free from the chains that preclude us from knowing that which must be known and lived to.