Religion and age

When it comes to the people that actually attend church regularly, our eyes do not deceive us, as time and time again, the representation of many a given church, skews markedly older than the given population demographic of that community.  In other words, older people are more diligent and spend more time and also make a greater effort to attend church services then younger folks.  While, no doubt, there are a multitude of reasons of why this is so, of which, one reason is as straightforward as the fact that senior citizens typically have more time on their hands, and perhaps less other social obligations that they are obligated to; however, the most salient reason though, would have to be that senior citizens are expressing by their attendance the fact that religious services means something of significance to them.

In truth, those that are young, have a lot of things on their minds, of which the meaning of life and the consideration of mortality typically isn’t front and center of what is upon their minds, though it may indeed come up, from time-to-time.  Rather, many younger people are trying to live life and to work diligently upon achieving their goals and aspirations, while also spending time socializing, and basically trying to obtain those good things of what life so offers to them; thereby, leaving them far less time to spend in activities such as quiet reflection and church attendance.  On the other hand, many older people have often achieved whatever that it is that they were going to achieved, and along the way they have picked up all sorts of experience and knowledge in all sorts of areas, and now at this later stage in life, actually do want to get answered some of the most fundamental questions in life; such as the purpose thereof, and whether, for instance, that they have done enough for others with their given talents or not.

So too, in church, unlike in the material world, there isn't any debate about whether God exists or not, for it is a given, that worshiping in any church, necessitates an eternal omniscient God.  Further to the point, those that feel that their mind is fatigued or wavering, or that their body is beginning to betray them, or both, are going to have a tendency to spend some time thereupon contemplating the inevitable, which is that there will come that point when their physical form will no longer be part of this living world.  This thus signifies, that what is left to ponder, is the eternal destiny of one's soul and those that are old, are going to in many cases, want to place their immortal soul into the most favorable position that they can, because the stakes that are being played for, are exceedingly high.

So then, older people are most cognizant that the bell will toll, soon enough, and therefore they are hoping that within their attendance at church, something of merit will occur that will enlighten them, benefit them, inspire them, direct them, comfort them, or help them.  After all, people are prone to worry about all sorts of things, of which a lot of that worry is over that which is relatively trivial, but that which worries those that are nearing their end, is probably that worry which is eminently worth worrying about, for when one light goes out, surely most people would prefer that a brighter one instead takes its place.

Love requires sacrifice

Far too many people believe that life owes them something, or that they are by their birth or by their circumstance, entitled to something, without having to put forth any attendant effort to legitimately own it.  That really isn't the way that life works and it isn't the way that life operates.  What is important to recognize is that each one of us has to, sooner or later, stand up and to be recognized for something, and that something needs to demonstrate love outside of that particular person's self; for each of us is called forth to the very same thing, which is to find something beyond ourselves, which necessitates sacrifice and that therefore is worth living for, and if it comes down to it, worth dying for.

In today's world, love has been discounted in a manner in which when it is now being expressed represents, oftentimes, something that is rather trite and blasé -- for words said, without understanding what true love really represents is a very cheap version of love; whereas that which is true to love, necessitates always a real commitment and then the necessary follow through to do what needs to be done, in order to do what is right on behalf of that love.

Unfortunately, many people are only too willing to express love one to another, when everything is going well, and especially when things are going their particular way; yet, they are far less reluctant to express that love or to ever consider that their love should somehow be unconditional, when things are most certainly not going their way, or as planned.  That is to say, conditional love, basically means what it so implies, which is as long as that other person is doing what the lover of that person so desires, then they are loved; whereas, when they do not, that type of love may find itself morphing into something more in tune with negative emotions, such as rage, anger, betrayal, hatred, or revenge.

That said, there are plenty of people, that have examples in their life, of sacrificial love, without necessarily being conscious of it, such as parents that go to extraordinary lengths to do right and to thereby sacrifice their sleep, hobbies, interests and many other things In order to be there for their children; or a spouse that accepts the faults of their significant other, or looks pass such, because they care intimately about being together with that other person, for that connection that they have, is seen as a sacred vow, and therefore for better or for worse, they are there for them, come what may. 

So then, when it comes to sacrifice and love, it doesn't necessarily have to be on the big stage, where a given person, for example, takes a bullet meant for someone else, though, of course, that qualifies; but rather it has more to do with those decisions made day-by-day where a given person's ego takes a backseat to what really needs to be done in order to help make things better for a friend, or for an acquaintance, or for a family member, or for a neighborhood, or for a community, or for a country, or for the world, in which that person doesn't have to do the right thing, but chooses  though to voluntarily to do the right thing, as a willing sacrifice to the greater good.  That then, is love.

Hatred

Hatred is not something that anyone should ever want to voluntarily cultivate, and it certainly is not an emotion to embrace; for hatred pretty much always brings out the worse in us, and through that hatred, though we may for a moment, seem to have successfully vanquished our opponent; this does not end the story, for we will invariably find that hatred so engaged, will bring us personal suffering at some point, for having expressed it.  The very first thing to understand about hatred, is that a lot of the time, when people express hatred, they are essentially expressing in essence the fact that they are not getting their way, and because they are frustrated by being denied that which they so desire, they thereupon take that disappointment and frustration out upon others, unconcerned as to whether the other party is fairly guilty of some real infringement or not.

Life should ideally be about letting go of hate, and trying to find common ground, one person to another, one society to another, one country to another, so that through that common ground we therefore have those different individuals, different societies, and different countries working to that good purpose to become united in that which is beneficial for the people as a whole.  This doesn't mean that we need to see eye-to-eye on everything, for unity isn't about everyone having the exact same mindset, but instead has everything to do with seeing that there is a grand purpose in life, of which that purpose is superior to our own individual ego, and that therefore, by living to that purpose, people, societies, and nations, unite together, one with another.

Those that believe that we can silence others, by literally killing them, are mistaken; for the very problems that created that divisiveness and anger, have not been eliminated, but ultimately still need to be addressed in a more sustainable and in a more considerate manner, for that which necessitates the destruction of the other, will not ever bring about lasting peace or fair justice.  This signifies that the issues that we have one with another, need to be dealt with in a manner, in which, we still respect that each individual is sovereign within their own self, and thereupon have the same self-determination that we are also entitled to, and that each individual has the exact same unalienable rights that we do, of which, our objective should therefore be, to see that we are fair and just, one to another, as opposed to ignoring civil discourse, and simply following the corrupt mantra, that "might makes right".

To hate another, is both the facile and the childish way to go about one's business, for those that hate don't actually care about validating the other, but rather just want their way, no matter the cost; and the result thereof we find in the reality of the world as it presently is.  For, humankind has warred upon one another for eons upon eons, and still has not found peace, justice, and fairness; because hatred and destruction that is part and parcel of war, is the pathway which has no good ending conceivable to it.  Rather, for all those that profess that they desire peace and justice, they must first throw down their weapons of war and hate, and thereupon have the courage to understand that e pluribus Unum, only makes sense when we correctly understand that from many there can be a union of one, if and only if, we are each focused upon becoming an integral part of that one.

"Every thing secret degenerates"

The above quote comes from the inestimable, Lord Acton, in which the full quote reads as follows: "Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show it can bear discussion and publicity." As true as this was back when it was first written, we find that in this hi-tech era of our intrusive government and its agencies being able to watch and to document with what seems to be virtual impunity, all that is occurring within its own domestic borders and therefore such being directed against its own citizens, and subsequently of which that government is reluctant to divulge such to the full extent of, and thereby hides behind what has been classified as being secret, so as to therefore conceal its intrusive actions behind the door of national security, we are thereby left to suffer the inherent dangers, thereof, of secrets so hidden.

As Lord Acton, so wrote, nothing truly is safe, if that which is being done, even ostensibly for the benefit of the people, is not subject to public discussion and thereby publicized for what it really is.  Sure, no doubt, there are those things and areas that the government is involved in, which legitimately necessitates some degree of secrecy and discretion, but this has over time, relentlessly become bastardized into becoming a government in which the salient point of all these secrets, as well as their outright deceptions and misdirection, is to preclude the public from really knowing what is actually going on, and to quite obviously suppress the full disclosure of actions so taken that are of questionable merit, of questionable legality, and of questionable purpose, so as to protect those government officials and their actions from being held accountable to such.

When any government, is permitted to hide what it is really doing, so as to essentially do what it is not permitted to do by any reasonable interpretation of its own Constitution, than that government is quite clearly no longer a government of, for, and by the people; but rather it is a government that marches instead to its own desires, rules, and interpretations that protects what it is doing, under the cover of a secrecy, which is unpublicized, un-divulged, and un-debated.

So too, the more that is gathered and then secreted away from the public purview, the more such is going to involve that which is clearly wrong and at odds with what this country should really represent; for those that are devilish in their desires are the very ones that know that in order to keep doing what they so do, they need to keep it secret.   This thus signifies, that almost by definition, the more secretive a government is, the more it is up to no good; and further to the point the more that a government insists that it needs to keep things secret so as to uphold national security, means almost for a certainty, that it is up to no good.

The bottom line is that while discretion and secrecy have their necessary place; there never has been a time when there should be less secrecy than today, because in this hi-tech world of massive amounts of data information so being accumulated, sorted and analyzed, the citizens of this country have a right to know what is being done to them and supposedly for them on their behalf, and thereby to see that those that spend so much time and energy watching and monitoring them, are in turn, answerable in full to those citizens, who are the ones who instituted that government in the first place.

The false freedom that so many believe in

Many of those that profess the loudest of the importance and the value of freedom, really don't know what freedom at its core, actually encompasses, means and signifies.  For those, that believe that ultimate freedom, is the freedom to do whatever that a given person so desires to do, limited only by not infringing upon that same concept of freedom of another, they will find themselves to understand, sooner or later, that this is foundationally wrong.  That is to say, true freedom is not doing whatever a given person so desires to do, as if this is the highest possible calling of humankind, but rather true freedom first involves the comprehension that by being gifted by our Creator with free will and thereby the freedom of thought and movement, that therefore our abiding desire of being granted thus with this gift, is not to thereby to abuse it in self-aggrandizement, or ego fulfillment, but rather to control it for our own good, and for the good of all those that we interact with.

Of course, as in many a thing, when we are children, we are going to have a strong tendency to indulge upon great gifts in childish ways, and thereby to push our freedom in ways and manners that test the waters of the value of doing whatever that is what we so are please to do, and occasionally suffering the full consequences so of.   The point, though, of such an exercise, is to develop our mind and our being in such a manner that when we do become an adult, that we understand the corresponding responsibility so thrust upon us, and those that have learned their lessons well, are going to understand the nuances and obligations that we have to that which provides us with a power that could be used for that which is right, or for what which is wrong.

So then, our freedom signifies that we are not automatons, that we are indeed, freely able to be that which we so desire to be, subject to those others that are also freely able to act upon their desires, limited only by the skill-set each has developed, of which the upshot of all this, is invariably that we will find others that through their own unrestrained freedom will actively oppose us or work against us, for freedom without appropriate restraint, necessitates the collision, sooner or later, of two or more parties, exerting that freedom one against the other.  This then unfailingly means that freedom without its attendant responsibility creates unending conflict, of which the only successful way to end such a conflict, is not to wage endless war against one another, but rather to find that common ground, that enables each of us to do what we ought to do, by volunteering subsuming that freedom into that which is beneficial and right for the greater good.

Because we are free, we are never compelled to give up that freedom, or even to restrain such, but those that do not do what they should ethically do, will find themselves trapped within an unending cycle, of misery, occasional happiness, and a drama that begins to wear on one's weary soul, until such truthfully surrenders to that which is Wisdom, and thereby frees itself from the delusion and the chains of having bought into that false freedom to begin with. 

The unintended consequences of price controls

In mature and stable nations, such as the United States, price controls are typically anathema to that government and thereby its desired rules and regulations.  After all, the United States, likes to pride itself on being an open market, and thereby that through those market forces, competition, and the like, that there isn't any real reason for the government to impose price controls over much of anything unless under the most extreme of conditions, such as might occur during a war or a pandemic.  Of course, this assumes, that the marketplace in regards to its current structure is open, honest, fair, and truly competitive, at all times, of which, the truth of the matter is, that there are significant areas of the economy in which there is either no meaningful competition, or that the market is effectively controlled by just a few dominant players who basically whether implicit or not, collude one with another, in order to boost up the price of their goods and services, so as to undeservedly obtain more profit.

So then, there are cases in which the government does have its place in the implementation of price controls, because of the absence of a truly free market, or of competition, or the active collusion, thereof; so as to step in for the good of the people.  That said, price controls, should be truly seen as a last resort, for anytime, the give and take of the market in regards to what should be produced, what is being produced, and therefore what is being bought and consumed, and the price thereof, is disrupted by governmental fiat in regards to what the price has to be, then the market will suffer, sooner or later, from the ill effects of that government interference, no matter the good intent, thereof.

That is to say, when businesses are not able to obtain the price so needed or so expected from the products that they are producing to sell, then they quite obviously are going to have to make some adjustments to that product, of which, one of the simplest adjustments to make is to simply produce less of that product, thereby leading possibly to layoffs, and/or the reduction of the quality of those products, so of.  Another, workaround, is that those that are driven by profit and the lust for money, so of, will have a tendency when facing perceived to be unreasonable price controls, to risk taking actions, of debatable legality, in order to circumvent such price controls, and thereby they will take their chances, therewith, utilizing their legal staff and the like to ameliorate any adverse reaction from the government, if it so comes to that.

In other words, when companies do not get the monetary rewards of what they expect to get from their sales, due to the government imposing unexpected rules and regulations, they often are not going to accept such, lying down, but rather will typically do everything within their power, to find exceptions to such, workarounds to such, circumvention to  such, ignoring of such, and will make adjustments as needed to their business model so as to obtain the monies that they feel that they are unjustly losing from those unsolicited imposed price controls.   So that, while government officials can often point to simple charts with simple mathematics, of how much the public will save and how fair that all the above is for the general public, what is happening behind the scenes will typically erode a lot of that good, so expected.

Organized crime can only flourish in a corrupt environment

Organized crime exists in one form or another, all over the world; in which the disappearance of such does not seem to be in cards because there are too many people, companies, police and justice officials, as well as players within the state apparatus that personally benefit from the existence of organized crime or have been intimidated into the countenance of organized crime, and therefore do not do their necessary courageous part to eradicate such.  So too, some of the decisions that ostensibly have been made by governmental decree to reduce criminal activity or to improve the character of one's citizens, have instead, paradoxically been the impetus for the strengthening of organized crime; such as what occurred during prohibition, in which, by making liquor illegal, this did little or nothing to stop those that still wished to imbibe in alcohol, but rather forced the sales and distribution of such, underground and thereby controlled to a large extent, by organized crime.  So too, America's "war on drugs" so initiated in 1971, did little or nothing to stop the usage and distribution of illicit drugs, but rather emboldened those already in the business, to be more sophisticated as well as to become more connected with those others in strategic positions, in order to thereby stay successful and to ultimately boost the sales of their illegal business.

The fact of the matter is that when laws are so written in which the proclivities of a given population, have now been rendered illegal or forbidden, this does little or nothing to change what the people already have a strong inclination for, but rather simply creates an alternative world, in which, that which the people want, is readily available, but the price to get such, has risen in order to cover things such as the enforcement of "street law" throughout the sphere of influence of organized crime, as well as to cover the price to "grease" the palms of all those that are only too willing to look the other way, or to acquiesce to that business being so conducted.  This thus signifies, that organized crime, needs two conditions in order for it to flourish, of which, the first one is that there must be a desire from the people for that which has been so designated as being "forbidden," and the second is that some of those that are responsible to enforce the law, thereby march instead to the corrupt beat of that "easy money" so provided to them.

While the media wastes an inordinate amount of time, reporting on the news events of drug busts and other illicit businesses being taken down and thus justice so being served; it does a very poor job of actually following up as to why at the end of the day, all the illicit activities so supported by organized crime, never actually goes away, but ever keeps on standing and even strengthening its hand.    That is because, regrettably, organized crime is entwined with those important others that make and enforce the laws, so that because those that make those laws are corrupt or, at best, possibly indifferent, organized crime exists and will continue to exist until such a time as those that are responsible for the equal application of law, enforce such, while also recognizing that "victimless crimes," are not a legitimate interest of the state.

Income, bills, bills, bills, and misery

The bottom line is that it takes income in order to pay or to try to stay current on bills -- as well as all those other responsibilities that adults have to successfully address, of which, whether that money is there to do so or not, those bills and incumbent responsibilities never seem to ever disappear or go away.  One of the biggest bills, if not the biggest bill for most people, is the rent, or the mortgage (for those that own a home), which has to be attended to on a monthly basis.  In recent years, home prices, have steadily been rising, typically making the home affordability index, less and less affordable and consequently problematic for many, but with historically low interest rates for those with good credit, this is somewhat mitigated.  On the other hand, for those that choose to rent, or pretty much have to rent, as reported by cbpp.org, from 2001-2018, the median rent (including utilizes) when taken into account inflation rose 13%, whereas the median household income when taken into account inflation, has essentially been flat, with just a minute increase of .5% during that same time period.  This so indicates that in a construct in which educational costs have skyrocketed within this same trim frame, as well as the same steady increase so occurring in healthcare, that the upshot is that a significant swath of the population are currently faced with trying to find some way to make ends meet, and must attempt to do this with income that has not materially improved.

Thus, what is happening for millions of households in America is that they are struggling mightily to make ends meet, because the wages that they are currently making, aren't in actuality, living wages; but in reality are just enough to give them the illusion that it is enough to perhaps make ends meet, when it really is not.  Further to the point, when a multitude of households are teetering on the edge of insolvency, it only takes one unexpected negative event, to turn things from bad to much, much worse.  This then creates the misery that should not be occurring all that often, for all those good people that are doing their part by laboring hard to have a piece of the American dream, but just aren’t able to achieve any sureness or stability to securely obtain such.

This is the richest nation that the world has ever known, but far too much of that wealth is tightly held in far too few hands, thereby leaving millions of Americans, without; and subsequently vulnerable to the misery of broken dreams, unpaid bills, evictions, bad health, and the like.  While countries can be evaluated and measured by a multitude of scales, one of those measurements, should be how the average family is actually doing in the present day, and how much security that family has in regards to their income and especially in consideration of their debt obligations and bills that they are responsible to pay.  In truth, all is not well in America, which is reflected in the divisiveness, fear, and incivility so often reflected in this modern age,  which is indicative that too many good people are struggling to make ends meet, and are feeling the palpable hopelessness that it won't get better for them, anytime soon.

The logical reason why minorities have a desire to live in white neighborhoods

As much as there is talk about the need for integration in communities, of which this talk has been going on for decades; the reality of the situation towards achieving that integration, is disappointingly bleak, as in many aspects, America communities remain as segregated today as they were back in the day in which minorities were functionally precluded from living in desirable white neighborhoods.  And the prevailing reason why minorities have a desire to live in white neighborhoods, has absolutely little or nothing to do with minorities necessarily liking or even preferring the company of white people, but almost everything to do with the massively improved access to the superior infrastructure so contained predominantly in white neighborhoods; which notably consists of better public schools, less crime, better parks, better social amenities, libraries, less pollution, restaurants, employment, healthcare, universities, and the like.

The truth of the matter is that back in the day when segregated facilities existed and were truly separate, they were never equal to white areas; and as true as that was back then, it is just as true today.  This thus signifies that it is hopeless to believe that the current set of circumstances in which America talks about equality of opportunity and integration, has actually substantially been improved over what it once was, though, sure enough, there has been some notable improvement.  That said, to take it to the next level, America needs to actually do a far better job of providing fair amenities and opportunities within those zones of poverty and decline, that are receiving little of notable substance, often than basically crumbs, from that bountiful table of American munificence.

So then, tax dollars so utilized to benefit the public in whole, need to be better allocated to actually improve those areas of communities that are most lacking in good amenities, of which, by providing better resources for those communities now lacking such, opportunity and hope will correspondingly increase there.  Instead, because this is not now occurring, we are left with the continuing desire from minorities that are trying to do the best for their family and for their life, to therefore "piggyback" their way into having some of those necessary amenities that white communities often see as their inherent privilege; thereby minorities end up preferring to move into white neighborhoods in which that infrastructure already exists, just to get a fair chance at the good opportunity to make something of merit in their lives.

The fact that America talks a good game, but fails to live up to that good game, is indicative that the system as currently exercised, is fundamentally unfair.  Because this government does not do what it has the power to do per its own Constitution, in order to ameliorate and to correct what has been historical discrimination against minorities; as well as continuing to keep the favored race of America in control and privileged, we are left with a country that is not united in purpose or in principle.  After all, people aren't perpetually credulous, and when they see for a certainty that the grass is truly greener on the other side, they are going to keep on aspiring for their fair share, rather than simply being ignored and thereby always being left behind.

Full disclosure by all public companies should be mandated by governmental law

The United States has over 4,000 corporations that are designated as public companies, and therefore are permitted to list their common shares through a stock exchange, thereby permitting the investment of money from outside sources, including, of course, individuals.  While public companies divulge an awful lot of pertinent information to the public, as required by law, one of the most important disclosures which is not being done at the present time, but so needs to be done, is the full disclosure of all criminal convictions, fines so issued, and sealed deals so done with prosecuting authorities; all of which subsequently should become part and parcel of what is fairly divulged to the public in regards to these public companies, along with any current litigation that is still in process.

Further to the point, all advertising, all annual reports, and all publications issued from public companies, should as a matter of course, list every single conviction so enforced against said company, such as for pollution, financial chicanery, price fixing, and so on and so forth.  Additionally, agreements so done which have resulted in a fine should be fully disclosed, as well as all those deals so finalized in which subject corporation has paid a fine in exchange for criminal charges being subsequently dropped as part of that negotiated deal.  In other words, just as pharmaceutical companies are required to warn the general public as to the bad side effects of a given drug, so too, these corporations should be required to divulge fully all of their bad actions so having occurred.

After all, it is quite common for individuals to be asked as to whether they have a criminal record or even if they have been arrested as a condition for their consideration of employment with many a company.  Therefore, those so considering purchasing the common stock of a given company, or seeking employment at said company, should have divulged to them, all of the convictions and all of the fines so having been imposed against a given company, along with pending litigation addressing similar concerns.

Additionally, it must be recognized that judicial law has determined that companies are considered to be defined as "corporate personhood", and therefore this is even more justification that public companies must appropriately have their feet held to the fire, and further to the point, should be held to the highest possible ethical standard, since unlike real human beings, those that work within corporations, are typically never personally held accountable for any egregiously bad behavior.

Those that invest their hard earned money, and those seeking fair employment, should have fully disclosed to them, before such investments and before such employment is finalized, who and what a given company really is, as compared to the public relations smokescreen, so often provided to the general public by badly behaving corporations, that all is well and good, when all is definitely not.  Those that are criminals complain again and again, that they have to keep on paying for that which they did, previously, over and over again, through the discrimination that they must deal with day-by-day by virtue of that conviction.  Why then, would we as a country, permit corporations, to not have to walk the very same line?

Matthew 7:18

We read in Holy Scripture, "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." (Matthew 7:18).  This scriptural passage makes eminent sense, for that which is good is going to procreate good fruits, thereof; and that which is corrupt, will not have the capacity to propagate fruits that are good.   That said, the more that we contemplate upon this passage, the more that we can begin to understand it at a far deeper level, of which, the very first thought that comes to mind, is that this scriptural passage is not really literally about the fruit of a given tree, but rather it is all about the quality of the figurative fruit so produced by each one of us.  That is to say, each one of us is called upon as members of society, to be good for something, and thereby to be of good value to our fellow community members, by the good deeds that we so produced on behalf and for the benefit of those others; and of which, those that are too selfish, or lack direction, or drive, are those that create little or nothing of benefit for their community, and often are the ones that harm such by their bad actions or lack of attentiveness.

What we are, and what we thereby subsequently produce, has an awful lot to do with our perception of life and its incumbent duties, so of; as well as the discipline and drive to do what is consistently right to do.  In other words, it isn't so much that we are what we think, but rather what we are has a lot to do with the desires and goals that we are driven by and the subsequent deeds so accomplished, day-by-day, and to the degree that those desires and goals, are for the greater good, then the ensuing fruits so being produced are going to be, in one form or another, of benefit to the greater whole.  As for those, that think wrong thoughts, such as wishing that the world would bend to their selfish desires, we find that within that construct -- fairness, peace, justice, and harmony will be sorely lacking, personally and for the community; for that which is so produced from that sort of self-absorbed mindset benefits, at best, the person so willing it, whereas, it does little or nothing of merit for others.

Each us needs to look at our own desires and goals, and seriously contemplate as to whether such makes eminent sense or not; for that which is not sound to begin with, will surely reap to its ultimate regret what it has duly sown; whereas those that are focused upon that which encompasses something outside of just their own egotistical domain, and takes into consideration, not only what they are trying to achieve, but also how such will effect others, are on the pathway of sowing that which will give forth a bountiful harvest, that feeds well not only that individual, but others.

It's up to each one of us, to find a worthwhile cause that is worth achieving for the betterment of society, for we are meant to help make our community a better place for our having been part of it, for that is the very reason why those that are fruitful desire to do that which is what they so forthrightly do.

In defense of drug dealers

The United States, has waged a futile "war on drugs" since the Nixon administration, of which, the upshot of all this, is in essence, a whole lot of incarceration for those at the lowest echelons of society, in which, somehow, despite this, the eradication or really even the slowing down of illegal drugs so being sold and consumed thereof still has yet to occur.  The bottom line is that a significant portion of Americans, desire illicit drugs, and those that deal in those drugs, from the streets to the nightclubs are to a very large extent, providing a service for those that so wish to indulge.

Additionally, and of immense relevancy, society in America, has in virtually any city of some size, areas of impoverishment, neglect, ill-educated people, bad housing, poverty, discrimination, and harassment -- all of this with no real job opportunity, and no real future for those that are stuck there.  Those that live within those communities do live and breathe, just like everyone else, and with 24 hours in every day, with seven days in every week, and not a lot of money in their pocket, people are going to have to consider all sorts of things in order to bring in some sort of income, or to have some semblance of hope in a situation that gives every appearance of being hopeless.  So then, drug dealers, are the entrepreneurs of the street, doing what they can to make the best of a situation that entraps them into very limited choices, and the seemingly best of that bad lot, entails real risk.

Of course, there are plenty of people that don't buy into any of this, but most of those people, have not taken the trouble to actually look at the reality of the unfair construct in which billion dollar corporations are permitted to ply their licit drugs over the airwaves and through commercial advertising of all types, so as to push their pharmaceutical drugs onto people that often don't really have the knowledge to understand the inherent dangers that typically go with prescribed drugs, including unintentional addiction, dependency,  and the alteration of a given person's mind and body.  Yet, these legal drug dealers, make billions upon billions of dollars in profits, and seldom are ever held accountable for the bad consequences and abuse that so incurs.

Instead, the overwhelming amount of pressure and incarceration falls upon those that have little resources, and a whole lot of vulnerability to being hurt on the streets where they do their deals, or locked up, or both.  Drug dealers are vilified by most people, when the truth of the matter is that they are providing a service to all those that so wish to indulge in these mind altering drugs.  The dangers, thereof, are absolutely real, because unlike licit drug dealers that earn that easy money and typically make a respectful career and are well remunerated for it; the street drug dealers take all of the risks, to gain the smallest of footholds, of what they hope is at least a portion of the American dream so desired; but instead get nothing much more than the hypocrisy of the police, justice, and those law and order types, that use these drug dealers as the scapegoat for all that is wrong, even though they that make the rules and therefore should know better, in truth, do not faithfully represent what is right.

Not in my neighborhood and the affordable housing problem

Everyone within this nation, needs to have a physical place to live in, and in consideration, of the massive income disparity of the population within America, it would behoove State as well as the Federal government to make it their point and principle to be more forthright in dealing with this all important issue.  For instance, the Federal government has all sorts of rules and regulations that are applicable to all sorts of businesses throughout this nation, that thereby supersede local and community desires for control; so that it therefore seems surprising, how much local and county control that there is in regards to housing within communities.  While, one can understand the mindset for rules and regulations so being contemplated and subsequently passed by local or county legislatures that address the need for having a certain percentage of undeveloped land, or to limit a particular percentage of land to a particular use, or to preclude land ever being used for certain industries, of which, on paper at least, all of this seems reasonable and sensible.   The problem though, is that when each locality is able to impose what they will or will not accept in regards to the housing in their particular domain, that this without a doubt, drives up the price of future housing within those communities, while also helping to subsidy or to augment those that are already home owners within those neighborhoods, by virtue of the fact that when supply is limited, and/or additional rules and regulations are effected which impacts adversely the costs so associated with building future housing; than those that already own, are effectively protected from any sort of oversupply or anticipated adverse actions negatively impacting their home investment.

The additional problem to this, is the issue of "not in my neighborhood," of which when localities make a determination that they will not accept housing less than a certain amount of square footage, or that they will not accept high density housing, or that they will not accept apartment dwellings within their community, than they have categorically and deliberately eliminated a significant percentage of Americans from being able to live within their communities.  This thus signifies, that what is actually so occurring, is that these communities are consciously precluding people that they consider to be "suspect" or undesirable, from becoming members of their community, under the belief that by blocking these people from their neighborhood, that their own quality of life, will be better and more secure.

The upshot of these limitations upon housing, so imposed by local and county communities, is that developers are thereby limited to developing high density housing and apartments only in those areas of communities that are prone to accept such; typically because those communities are amendable to any sort of investment that they can so garner within them.  Additionally, this also serves to segregate the poor from those that have money, and thereby consistently creates ghettos of poverty, which thereby typically results in the negative issues and the downward spirals so created by that concentrated poverty.  Still unresolved, though, is that none of this substantially addresses the real need for more affordable housing, because the effective pricing of that housing so being constructed, and the short supply of such, still ends up by consuming too much of the income of those that need housing, and of which the good options for those that are impoverished, are sorely lacking.

The new mercenaries that serve the United States military

The United States went to an "all-volunteer" military in 1973, and despite the fact that since that time, the United States has been involved in a multitude of adventures and misadventures, abroad; the conscription that once existed, for previous wars, does not currently exist, and seems to be something that does not appear to be returning anytime soon, which actually is pretty amazing.  Whether this is good or bad, is up to a given individual's viewpoint, but to a large extent it is a heck of a lot easier to have an all-voluntary military, when that military subcontracts out to non-United States citizens, all sorts of activities that traditionally would be performed by United States soldiers.  In fact, those that perform those duties for the United States military, aren't just those that are performing kitchen duty, military support, janitorial work, and the like, but are actually also directly or indirectly involved in the killing so done in wars.

So then, those that are part of our military but are also not considered to be a direct member of that military, are those that have essentially been subcontracted to that military, and therefore are not entitled to the normal benefits that are so provided for United States soldiers, such as health care, vacations, housing allowance, and the like.  So too, reported deaths of United States soldiers are only those soldiers that are classified as such by the United States; whereas those brave men and women that die in the service of the United States but are considered to be temporary labor so hired, are not accorded that same sort of respect.

Somewhat surprisingly, when it comes to the subcontracting of labor to the United States military, the biggest beneficiary of such is not actually the United States military, though they do benefit; but rather are instead the management team so profiting as the representative subcontractor, thereby signifying that the people that labor for those subcontractors and are paid directly by them, are actually the ones that benefit the least, because their labor has been marked up by the subcontractor in order for that subcontractor to make a profit, upon their toil.

There are a multitude of people, all over the world, that are in need of employment, and some of those have the skill-set so desired by subcontractors to the military, such as the need for translators, construction laborers, logistical knowhow personnel, and the like, who offer services to the military infrastructure of real worth.  Further to the point, there are plenty of people that are un-favored within their own nation, because they are not the right nationality, nor the right religious sect, nor financially secure, nor this nor that, which makes them susceptible to the siren call to work for the most powerful nation that the world has ever known, though only as temporary labor.

What we so have, then, is essentially a group of unseen men and women that support our military, but are not actual United States soldiers or personnel to such; but rather are guns for hire, as well as the intricate support apparatus that is so needed for the sophisticated and the often protracted wars of today.  These are the new mercenaries, some of whom are risking their lives for the United States, though they are not in the direct employment of such; but rather are subcontracted to the United States, to do what they are instructed to do, come what may.

More and more laws so made is oppressive

The fact of the matter is, that Holy Scripture lists just Ten Commandments so being applicable to the people; and our Savior, subsequently reduced this to just two great commandments.  Yet, we live in a civil society of which there are so many laws, and codes to those laws, thereby applicable to the citizenry of this nation; of which, unfairly, certain segments of that citizenry are far more prone to being adversely affected by those laws and codes, obscure or not, thereby being enforced by the policing arm of the state that even those that are most circumspect in their behavior, at all times, are, should the powers-to-be so desire, subject to being arrested and persecuted by some application of those laws, at any time.

In reality, the more laws that are passed by legislatures, the more people that will be subject to failing to adhere to some aspect of those laws; yet, there is not one single entity within this country that can expound the logic thereof, the reasoning thereof, and the coherence thereof, of all the laws so having been passed and thereby why each one of those laws is correct, necessary, and does not in any way, form, or manner contradict some other law.  In fact, the laws as exercised in this country are done in a manner in which, anyone at any time, for just about any reason, can be arrested for something, and thereby lose their freedom; of which those that are most especially vulnerable, are all those without a voice, un-favored, un-championed, and typically without the necessary monetary means or connections to effectively fight back.

Additionally, the prevailing purpose of all these laws being in the arsenal of the policing armada of this country, is to sell the illusion that this government always adheres to the "rule of law", and thereby those being arrested are being arrested via some violation of some specific law, so written upon the arresting papers, subject to that individuals' opportunity of having their day in court, with the implied recognition that in America, all are innocent, until proven guilty.  The reality though, contradicts this narrative, as millions of Americans each year, never get their fair day in court, and never even get bailed out from their involuntary incarceration, but rather are essentially placed into the unenviable position of having to make a plea to a lesser charge in order to either secure their freedom, or if not free, in order to ameliorate the full force of the state incarcerating them for some extended period of time.

It is to America's lasting shame, that it purports to be a country of laws, equally applied to all, of which justice is seen as being impartial, and that therefore there is liberty and justice for all, when this is not true.  Rather, there can never be justice in any country in which the laws so enacted and enforced are done so in a manner in which some are subjected to the full force of laws upon laws, so written and exercised so as to control specific segments of the population; whereas others, can do whatsoever that they so please, with no interference by the policing state, because these others are functionally immune from such. 

That which successfully resolves pressing issues in nations is never the passage of more laws, but rather, the construction of that which provides for its population, better opportunities as well as a playing field, leveled out.

United States corporations are significantly under-taxed

As reported by statista.com, "In 2019, corporations in the U.S. made profits of around 2.25 trillion."  Further, as reported by taxpolicycenter.org, "… the federal government collected about $230 billion in corporate taxes in 2019."  This signifies, that corporations paid an effective tax rate of just 10.22%, and of which, it must be remembered that individual taxpayers, are subject to Federal tax rates of up to 37%.  The bottom line is that corporations are way under-taxed, and need to be taxed at significantly higher rates for the betterment of the country.

The first thing to note, is that corporations are artificial creations, so created by state sanction for the benefit of that state, and of which nowadays these corporations are basically permitted to exist in perpetuity; so that there are corporations that so exist in America today, that have been in existence for over 250 years.  Unlike, a human being, that has a finite amount of time on this earth, and if wealthy enough, will be subject to estate taxes, there is no opportunity for the government to ever implement an estate tax upon a corporation because corporations are functionally perpetual.  This thus signifies that it behooves this government, of, by, and for the people to thereby subject corporations to the highest tax rates of any entity so taxed in America, because those taxes that are not collected, today, thereby accumulate, effectively forever, in the coffers of those said corporations.

Additionally, the taxation of individuals most definitely hits those individuals directly in their pocketbook; as opposed to the taxation of corporations, which is done upon the profits so made, which directly impacts that artificial entity, known as a corporation, as opposed to a given individual, or group of individuals.  So too, the United States government has in recent decades, consistently been running sizeable budget deficits, of which, thereby to cover such deficits, that government has to borrow money for today's needs, and thereby charge such borrowing and that responsibility so of to future generations.  Rather, it would make much more eminent sense to tax corporations of America in a manner in which instead of collecting such at a mere 10.22% of corporate profits, that a more reasonable percentage so being collected should be closer to 33%, which would make far more sense, and thereby would increase tax collections, such as in the year, 2019, from $230 billion to $742.50 billion at that 33% rate, or an increase of $512.50 billion which would, in many a year, make a significant dent in the yearly federal deficit, so of.

Quite obviously, there are few that so desire to be taxed, yet, the massive discrepancy in wealth and assets so held by the elite of this country in comparison to those that are at the bottom, or even the middle thereof,  needs to be addressed in a manner in which instead of sticking the great middle class of this country, with the bill, or placing such into the hands of those yet, unborn; this needs to be placed directly upon the shoulders of those artificial creations of perpetuity, so as to collect fair monies from these companies.  The bottom line is that those that have far more than enough, need to do far more, to pay their fair share, so as to make this a country that actually is of, by, and for the people, as opposed to being in the prevailing control and hands of powerful corporations.

America's minimum wage compared against other countries

America's federal minimum wage is a paltry $7.25/hr, made even worse, by the fact that there are notable exceptions to employers even having to pay that small amount, such as for employees who are under twenty years of age, or are classified as tipped employees, and so on.  While it is true that some States have enacted minimum wage standards which are better or even substantially better than the federal minimum wage, as well as the fact that employers can on their own -- pay their employees more than the minimum wage, the nub of the matter is that a substantial amount of Americans, are compensated at a rate which is less than what is generally considered to be a living wage, of which as reported by nelp.org,  we find that "Forty-two (42) percent of U.S. workers make less than $15 per hour."

In regards to other countries, and the minimum wage so paid, we read that as reported by worldpopulationreview.com, that when converted into United States dollars ,that Luxembourg's minimum wage is $13.78/hr, Australia is $12.14/hr, France is $11.66/hr, Germany is $10.87/hr, United Kingdom is $10.34/hr and our neighbors to the north, Canada is at $9.52/hr.  Additionally, and of much relevancy, each one of these nations also has a far more robust and accommodative governmental social welfare program in place to be of assistance to their citizens, especially for those in need, as compared to the United States.

The bottom line is that a minimum wage as currently constructed in the United States, makes no logical sense to be as low as it is, for a number of reasons; of which the very first reason is that very few people can possibly make a wage as low as $7.25/hr, to somehow be enough money for them to actually live a reasonably decent life; in addition to the fact, that America does not have a federal mandate, that those so employed that are desirous of being full-time employees, are mandated to actually have forty hours, or more assigned to them by their employer of record each week--thereby indicative that those that make just the minimum wage have no guarantee that they will even get forty hours of work each and every week and thereby are often compelled to take on a second or even a third job in a futile hope to make ends meet. 

While one wonders why there is so much discrepancy between those that have and those have not in America; the answer to such is written in the laws that permits employers to not pay their employees a living wage; in addition to social programs which are not accommodative enough for those that have little to nothing, as well as the fact that the richest of the rich, are not taxed appropriately in consideration of the wages, income, and assets that they so have. 

The United States is cheap in its legal pay to a significant swath of its citizens, by virtue of the fact that it so refuses to see that its own people, that labor hard, are paid enough in compensation to have some semblance of the American dream; whereas, other first-world countries have done a far better job in doing exactly that, and thereby those countries typically have less of the poverty, frustration, and privations which are endemic within the bottom echelons of American society. 

While there are more than one way to measure a given nation, in fairness though, one could make a very strong argument that how that nation treats its most vulnerable, by virtue of their living conditions, the opportunities thereof, and how much they thereby earn for a fair day's labor, is as fair of a measure as any, and by that yardstick, America falls far short of the minimum standards that a good nation should so represent.

The wrong type of patriotism

Some people, perhaps even a lot of people, believe that the best Americans are those that are its strongest patriots.  The problem with that belief, though, is that not everyone that takes on the aura of being a patriot is actually a good American or a true patriot.  It has to be said, that some of those that wave their flag the longest, the highest, and seem proudest of that flag aren't necessarily good people, but surprisingly and disappointingly many are actually flawed human beings, that hide behind those symbols of patriotism, in order to compensate for their insecurities, their weaknesses, their prejudices, and their personal lack of material success, by taking upon themselves the symbol of unconquerable power as if it is personally their own, and do such often in an oppressive way against others.

On the contrary, to be a true patriot, first necessitates the comprehension and the understanding of what actually makes for a great country; and those then that are the most patriotic, are those that have either willingly sacrificed themselves for that ideal, or thereby have done their part to uphold the values of that nation, in the belief and sure knowledge that those who are like minded along with being united in purpose and principle, help to make that people and thereby that nation the living embodiment of that which is good.

Unfortunately, in so many respects, often those that profess to be the biggest patriots are sadly also those that are using such patriotism in a manner in which this is utilized as their excuse to intimidate, threaten, or browbeat those others that apparently do not fit so nicely into the box of what they believe fellow patriots should look like, behave as, and believe in.  This quite obviously gives a black eye to all the unsuspecting who are actually good patriots; while also making those that are non-conformists, guilty of not giving in to that which is inimical to their own personal beliefs, as well as to their right to have those beliefs.

Those that are truly patriotic, are primarily those that do not believe in the necessity of group-think, but actually embrace their fellow citizens that are courageous enough to express their views, of which these views are absolutely vital in order to have a viable forum which encourages thereby an open discussion; for when doors are needlessly closed, because of what may or may be on the other side, then meaningful discoveries that should be made, often cannot be made. The greatest countries are filled not with copycat upon endless copycat of simple-minded conformists, but rather consists of people from all different kinds of milieus, backgrounds, and agendas, that somehow, through grit and determination, are able to rise up to join together into one body politic, because they truly believe that each one of us is equally entitled to the fruits of our labor, with fair justice, and opportunity for all.

The well known symbols of patriotism should never be permitted to be co-opted by those bigoted souls that are using such as a way and as a means to intimidate others, so as to through a symbolic force of arms, do harm to others, as well as to destroy from within their very own country.

Declaration of Conscience -- Margaret Chase Smith

In June of 1950, in response to the gauntlet so thrown down by Senator McCarthy which stipulated that the United States was in a battle between those that were communist atheists, so having infiltrated into the highest echelons of American power, against the Christian values so founded by this nation; McCarthy made it his point of principle, that the most patriotic act so needed by Americans was to flush out those communists, by any means so possible, in whatever places that they may so be, so as to thereby to return this country to what it so was supposed to represent, as envisioned by McCarthy.

The fundamental problem and error that McCarthy so represented was that he believed that true American patriots, should all be of the same mind, with the same religion, with the same orthodoxy, and should  thereby desire to eliminate all those that were not of this milieu.  Never once did McCarthy recognize that the truest American patriot, as so correctly acknowledged by the forthright Margaret Chase Smith, is one that holds their fellow countrymen to the Constitutional principles of this great nation, of which some of those very attributes are, for instance, the people's right to criticize their government, of their right to independent thinking, and thereby unpopular thoughts, along with the right of the people to peacefully assembly and to protest against that government of, by, and for the people; and in the exercise of any or all of those rights, this should never mean the loss of a job or a position or of freedom, but rather should be seen as the fair right to call that country so blessed by God, accountable to those tenets that it was so founded upon.

Margaret Chase Smith's "Declaration of Conscience" was the seminal call to all Americans to listen to and to pay proper obeisance to the better angels of our nature, rather than to let a wannabe demagogue to essentially sever this country from its "melting pot" background, to thereby become a hostile and repressive nation against all those that would not adhere to that which was so promulgated by McCarthy.  Rather, through the great amalgamation of different voices, different viewpoints, and different opinions, so deeply expressed and felt, a nation such as the United States could still so rise to become the great beacon of light of the world, when those people are, ultimately, in adherence to the same vision, that each one of us is gifted with the exact, same unalienable rights, and that this country so formed, was thereby created so as to ensure its domestic tranquility, as well as to secure those blessings of liberty and to promote the general welfare of.

Each of us has a conscience, and it behooves each one of us, to listen closely to that conscience, so that we do not get unduly caught up in the emotions of a given moment in time, nor give in to needless fear, so as to sacrifice all that we hold so dear, for the false promise of a security or safety, when the doing of such, would serve to change us into that which would fundamentally undermine that Declaration of Independence, and our Constitution, to our own detriment by trading in our precious independence and liberty for that which would be a false flag and thereby the counterfeiting of that which binds and unites us together.

1890, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act

Think about this; ponder the significance that the United States, back in 1890, considered it necessary that an Anti-Trust Act be so enacted.  So then, how much more in this era of gargantuan international corporations, of which these corporations have incredible revenues in the billions upon billions of dollars, and thereby typically are also making profits in the billions, yearly; that this would thereby seem to be the very time therefore when serious anti-trust action so needs to be taken by the governance of this United States.  Incredibly, five out of the six biggest market capitalizations in the world, which are Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), and Facebook are arguably companies in which a significant amount of the business so generated, appears to be monopolistic in structure or in function, thereby providing these corporations with outsized profits, incredible power, as well as a compliant government that continues to permit these companies to buy out potential competitors and/or to conduct their business, in whatever manner that these corporations, so desire to do.

The more concentrated that capital is, in which such is ever being funneled into fewer and fewer hands, the worse off the people are going to be, because people have a need and desire for all sorts of things, and when all roads lead to or through these gargantuan technology companies, then consumers are going to be wont to pay what they have to pay in order to benefit from that technology, irrespective of what those costs should actually be in a fair and open market.  That is the very reason why anti-trust legislation was passed to begin with, and the fact that this anti-trust legislation appears to have no teeth to it, and has seemingly been gathering dust for over a century would indicate that the battle has been fought, and the people have lost.

If this government will not make it their mission to break up those technology companies that have too great of market share as things so stand, today; then clearly this country is not run by the people's representatives, but rather we are seeing instead those representatives being co-opted by those companies to do their bidding.  The bottom line is that the only force that can stand up and do the right thing for the people, is that government, of, for, and by the people; for money, power, position, dominance, and greed cannot be overcome by any other avenue, other than that government effectively utilizing those powers so vested in it to do what is right for the people it so governs.

For a lot of people, none of this really matters, because they are happy with the things as they are, but the problem with that sort of mindset is that monopolies ultimately aren't healthy for the freedom, independence, and good viability of people; just as, back in the day, when there were company towns, that owned those that worked for them, lock, stock and barrel; of which those conditions were definitely not good for those that were trapped within those dead-end towns, so suffering from that lack of choice as well as opportunity.  

This continual concentration of capital into fewer and fewer hands brings to those that have that capital, everything: and for those that have less and less, a terrible pass into oblivion.