Poverty in America

As reported by census.gov, “In 2019, the poverty rate for the United States was 10.5%,” and further we are told that the black poverty rate reached a historic low of 18.8% in 2019.  The fact that 10.5% of the peoples that live in the United States as measured by the poverty definition so defined by the government, are classified as being impoverished, in this the richest nation, the world has ever known, should be seen as the great shame that it really is.  The additional fact that the black poverty rate, reached a historic low of 18.8% indicates that our eyes do not deceive us, to wit, that blacks clearly are impoverished at unacceptably high numbers and that this is the way it has been in America, seemingly forever. 

Perhaps, this war on poverty so initiated by that government in 1964, could be seen as a whole lot better than simply doing nothing; then again, perhaps it should be seen for what it is, an abysmal failure, that has not eradicated poverty, that has not defeated poverty, and that sure the heck hasn’t done what so needs to be done to create and to sustain the infrastructure so needed to effectively eliminate poverty.  Clearly, with as many words and promises so made in regards to addressing the systemic issues in regards to that poverty it would seem that nobody at the top echelons of government actually knows how to fight a war to win; because poverty is still alive and very much relevant to those millions upon millions of Americans that suffer the ill effects of lives that are often hopeless, and frequently lacking in fair opportunity.

While there isn’t anything inherently wrong with a capitalistic society, of money making and the lusting for profits; there is something seriously wrong when that government behaves in a manner in which it will not take responsibility in recognizing that the more unequal a society is in regards to its wealth, to its opportunity, to its infrastructure, and to its justice, that this will only result in a nation in which poverty cannot and will not be eliminated, because inequality of all stripes, begets poverty.

The money needed to eliminate poverty clearly exists in America, and the structure to thereby eliminate that poverty, could be created in America, but has not been.  Those that declaim that progress has been made are typically also those that are not suffering from the ill effects of that poverty; so that those that promise that poverty will be eliminated, given enough time, and given enough resources, don’t seem to understand that commitments not truly fulfilled, are commitments that are hollow   The bottom line is that the United States should be the industry leader in the lack of poverty, so of; and the truth of the matter is that America has failed its people, and most importantly, has failed their most vulnerable of its people. 

The time for talk has long passed and the time for action is right now, so that we are currently at that point of which America is at the crossroads, of which, it has the easiest of decisions to make -- as to whether to provide for those that have everything, even more; or to provide something of material substance to those that have nothing but empty hopes.

The competitive advantage of outsourcing

Not every company is good at everything, and the smartest and savviest of those companies, recognize the inherent advantages of doing only those tasks in-house of which they have a competitive edge or perform at a high expertise, and thereby as much as possible or conceivable, they subsequently outsource that which another company is more skilled, competent, or knowledgeable at.  All of this makes eminent sense, especially if such outsourcing has no or little community or domestic downside such as a monetary penalty, tariff, or other adverse actions so associated with it.

So too, plenty of pundits spend an inordinate amount of time trying to convince people, that it is right and well-nigh dutiful to outsource that which can be outsourced for a better price, because that reflects a more efficient usage of capital, while also freeing up domestic labor for tasks and jobs more becoming for a country in the ascendancy.  Clearly, if profitability and competitiveness is above all, the only real measure of the worth of a company, then outsourcing is the competitive advantage, that companies need to adhere to, without fail. The problem with this thinking, though, lies in the fact that when those profits for those companies that have outsourced a significant number of jobs that could have been performed domestically, is not subsequently proportionally re-distributed in some form such as through taxation, or inherent community obligations, then the concentration of capital becomes far more acute, because it now primarily rests in the hands of those that run those companies and their actuators.

Well-run companies have a very strong tendency to investigate ways of increasing both market share as well as profitability; so then, as a matter of good diligence, those corporations are going to look at virtually every aspect of what that company so does, from the simplest tasks to the most complicated and try to break those processes and duties down in a manner in which decisions can be reached as to whether or not, such should be performed in-house or outsourced so as to both save money as well as to increase efficiency.  Quite logically, not only does that make eminent sense, but in consideration of the stockholders and board of directors of said company, it probably is their duty to do exactly that.

That said, from a countrywide perspective, the question should be asked, as to whether those corporations that are exceedingly successful in such outsourcing have an inherent obligation to their country of residency, to plow back some of those profits, into their home country so that it does not devolve into becoming a country with a few that have everything, and a significant swath of the population which has next to nothing. 

We live in a world that has become ever smaller, in which many a developing country and its people have a very strong need for their constituents to work, often at a very favorable price for those engaging them in such.  This outsourcing while clearly having benefits for those companies that contract such, also has its domestic downside, which needs to take into better consideration that domestic people of working age, need both good opportunity as well as fair employment at a fair wage.

Private ownership and taxpayer funded public stadiums

The fact that sports are a big business does not necessarily translate into any real benefit for individual communities, and often can be seen as a construct in which the general public, is more or less, subsidizing billionaire sports owners for the stadium or arena facilities so being constructed.  The very first hint that things are out of skew is the fact that the billionaires or the mega rich that own these sports franchises aren’t really interested in owning their own stadium or arena, but distinctly prefer to have these stadiums and arenas built by taxpayer monies, all under the guise that somehow these stadiums and arenas are a net good to the community, which makes no sense, since if they were actually a net good, financially, then these very savvy owners would own them privately.

It was not all that long ago, that as reported in the book, Field of Schemes, we find that it was common that “…until the late 1940s and '50s, most professional sports teams played in privately owned facilities built by the teams' owners with their own revenue;” but those days are long over for it is now pretty much typical for stadiums and arenas to be built by taxpayer money nowadays on behalf of the mega rich owners.  While sports owners can cite all sorts of surveys about how beneficial such a stadium will be for the community at large, and the employment thereof; the reality is that this isn’t true, because common sense indicates that, for example, a professional football stadium so used for football games ten times in a calendar year, is almost for a certainty going to be a money loser, because of the expense so necessitated to create that stadium, in the first place, and the fact that the stadium is so underutilized as compared to alternate uses of that area for business enterprises, or educational facilities, or anything of actual purpose.

Further to the point, when public monies are misallocated to essentially help feather the bed of those that are mega rich, then those that are members of that community, are going to suffer the ill effects of the lost of infrastructure and real businesses that could have actually helped the community in improving itself, by the collection of fair payroll, property and sales taxes and the like.  While, it is true, that communities often do take pride in their sports teams, that doesn’t mean that they should be stuck footing the bill for the stadium, in which they never benefit from the profit and the increased worth of the sports franchise.  In other words, at the present time this is the worse of all worlds, in which, the mega rich, are permitted to reduce their financial exposure by laying off onto the public the significant expense of the stadium, while aggrandizing into their own hands, the profits and the ever-increasing value of said franchise.  So that, in essence, the public subsidizes and ends up holding the bag for those that are already exceedingly wealthy and powerful, with no real upside, while suffering from the considerable risk of financial downside.

When it comes to sports, it should never be about privatized profits, with socialized losses, but this is in fact, the situation as it really is.  Those, then, that are the stewards of the public purse, need to better understand that if the mega rich won’t personally fairly pay for that which they claim that they need, then it must not be a good financial deal for the general public.

This world of deceit, and the world to come of no deceit

As much as we might want to believe that those closest to us are trustworthy, honest, upfront, empathetic, open, and always having our best interests in mind, this sadly is seldom the case, and we pretty much know it.  It isn’t so much that the people that we know and love, don’t really care about us, or are deliberately deceptive to us; for rather their shortcomings has a lot more to do with the fact that each one of us has their own peculiarities as well as priorities, along with the fact that we are limited by own imperfections, thereby, not too surprisingly, we fall short of being that perfect companion; yet, despite all this, those that we are closest to are most definitely of immense value and therefore overall are beneficial for us. 

Then there is the world that we interact with, of which, we believe that in order to best deal with that world, we are going to as a habit, have to take on various masks of civility and concern, typically, not so much because we are trying to be deceptive, but more as a process to effectively get along with others in a manner in which we are not offensive or troublesome, especially when it doesn’t serve any good purpose to be so.  However, there are those words so spoken and mannerisms so displayed, that while adhering to good social standards, are not in reality, the actual way that we are presently feeling or believing, but rather are in disagreement with such.  The fact that we do have those conflicts, are part and parcel of why we are grateful that nobody can read our mind, or know our innermost thoughts; though in truth, because that which we really are is hidden, we end up essentially being untrue to our real self.

So then, because we know for a certainty that we can get away with lying or deceiving people through misdirection and the like, we often find ourselves in that quandary of knowing that who and what we so represent to others, is in fact, not who we really are, and because of that character trait, we have only served to place ourselves in the unenviable position of postponing that which must be faced -- because for a certainty those tricks so used in this world, are definitely those tricks that are untenable in the world to come.

The essence of the matter is that truth and justice can be rather easily circumvented in this world, but those tricks of the trade cannot be utilized when we face that which knows us, and that which cannot be deceived even a whit, so of.  This so signifies that it is in our best interests to the degree so possible, to drop the pretense and the masks that we are so prone to wear, and to deal with others in a manner in which we respect them as people that are deserving to know us as we really are; so that together, those characteristics that need to be worked upon and improved upon can so be done.  It is not, though, that we need to search necessarily for some party to confess our faults to, but rather it is that we need to own who we are, foibles and all, and make it our point to do what we can to be a better person to others, as well as to our own true self.

Amazon and Walmart are non-union

It probably isn’t any real news that Amazon and Walmart are non-unionized, for most people are pretty much aware of that, especially those that work there; but what many people might not know, though, is that these two powerful and gargantuan corporations, are also the largest non-governmental employees in the United States.   So then, it seems well-nigh unfathomable that those that do the grunt work for Amazon and Walmart, somehow would not be very interested in the value of collective bargaining, best done by establishing a union for the vested interests of those employees.  After all, employees, are permitted by governmental law, to circulate petitions, to organize, to distribute and to discuss the value of such a union, so that through the collective power of those many employees, united for a common cause they then are best able to get their fair due from those corporations that have sales in the billions upon billions of dollars, annually.

Somehow, though, unions have not been able to achieve much traction at all within Amazon and Walmart.  That would imply that the government, of, by, and for the people, is probably not doing its part to see that those that are employed at these corporations are provided with the fair opportunity to be organized, without having to suffer the undue fear of retaliation or unemployment.  That is to say, employees understand the value and the need to work, and thereby often are fearful to do much of anything that would be interpreted as “rocking the boat,” and union activity is most definitely one of those things, that Amazon and Walmart take very, very seriously as being inimical to their respective business.  Further to the point, seeing that information is indeed a form of power, then it probably is a certainty that both Amazon and Walmart are well aware in detail of what is really going on in regards to incipient employee union activities, and deal with it forthrightly in a manner in which they are at a minimum able to control the narrative.

If all the employees of Amazon and Walmart were well paid, with consistent hours, great benefits, and were also eligible to avail themselves of some sort of profit sharing, then, quite frankly, union activity would not serve any great purpose.  That though, is certainly not the truth, and in consideration, that those that work at these companies, are almost wholly powerless on an individual basis, this thus means that the only real hope to make substantive progress in the labor payrate and conditions so of, is through the strength of many people, so united, into one union, so as to have some semblance of a real voice and thereby for that union to negotiate for those employees, something of real substance from the executive offices of Amazon and Walmart who are well able to pay a fair salary, but clearly prefer not to.

The fact that Amazon and Walmart are non-union, should undeniably tell every American one thing, which is that the game of capitalism as practiced in America in the present day, is corrupt, unfair, and clearly skewed to make the elite ever richer, and to do so upon the backs of those that they exploit, mercilessly, and that this government quietly sits idly by, because it apparently does not care to help the common people.

More profits through the reduction of direct employees

If one wants to give credit to the most profitable and biggest American corporations, then probably their most notable calling card is frankly that they are immensely skilled at the making of money, above all.  For instance, a given company, might initially believe that a directly employed workforce, with a fair benefit package and a living wage, would logically thereby create workforce stability along with labor satisfaction, and hence would be the best way to assure profitably and consistency; in addition to demonstrating that this corporation has make it a point of being of material usefulness and of benefit to that community that it is an integral part of.  That, though, is not what most large corporations actually do in the present day, as instead they prefer to see every aspect of their business as something that needs to be carefully investigated and analyzed, for the sole benefit for that corporation, in order to primarily increase profitability. 

This so indicates that corporations are first and foremost, cognizant that a direct employee, so subject to benefits such as vacation time, sick leave, personal time, maternity leave, healthcare, holidays, bonuses, and the employment payment matching of social security and Medicare taxes means that the wage so being paid to a given employee, is far higher than their payrate.  So then, corporations have a very strong tendency to look upon who is so employed, and therefore make a conscious determination as to whether or not, certain current direct employees, could conceivably be replaced by temporary employees, or their work subcontracted out to agencies, or simply outsourced to somewhere else, such as a foreign country, of that work so being presently performed in-house.  In other words, a conscientious company that cares about little more than their bottom line, is going to have a very strong inclination to look at every aspect of their company and thereby determine as to whether or not, that company needs to directly employ those so currently working in their employment, or whether that work could be successfully done by a temp, an agency, or outsourced, at a lower cost point, with subsequently less financial exposure and liability to the company.

In other words, when corporations, care primarily about profitability above people, and clearly care about the making of that money, over and above responsible obligations that they should have to their community as well as to their country, then they are going to have a strong tendency to make decisions that benefit their bottom line, above all else.  In an era, in which unions have become marginalized in virtually every aspect of the private sector, and of which the government has apparently ceded its influence and power to those corporations to do what they so may, then this so signifies that the private sector knows for a certainty that when it comes to negotiating with employees, temps, agencies, or the outsourcing of work, that those corporations have not only a lot of viable options, but that such negotiations are going to overwhelmingly favor the employer over any other entity.   

So then, it really comes down to the salient fact, that many corporations, take absolutely zero pride, in the sheer number of direct employees that they so have engaged, but actually prefer to be measured by the total number of sales or profits that they have per employee, and therefore make it their principle point to increase such at the expense of being fair to their society and especially to the good people that make up that society.

The only law that matters

Humankind creates all sorts of things, including laws, of which, civilizations have a strong tendency, no matter the governance, to provide the illusion that such laws are fair, equable, and impartial to all, when they certainly are not.  In many countries, what a given Constitution does or does not say, what a given law does or does not say, doesn’t matter all that much, but rather what matters is how those that enforce and interpret those laws, do so, and therefore how such is applied to the people, in whole.  Unfortunately, human laws, no matter how high sounding, noble, or dignified, often fail in the largest sense to be fair, equable and impartial; signifying that human law and how such is enforced against individuals should not be much of a basis, whatsoever, in judging whether a given person and their actions has been on the right side or not.  In truth, what matters, and well-nigh the only thing that matters are for us to get right with the only law that is immutable, and that is God’s eternal law.

No doubt, to the degree that humankind’s laws as applied are consistent with God’s law, then so much the better. Of course, it can be said, that it is not easy to know God’s law, and further to the point, different people and different cultures, can easily have different interpretations of what God’s law is, in addition to the salient point, that a whole lot of harm can occur by those that believe that they are defenders of God’s law, but are wrong in their interpretation and their application of such, and sometimes they are horribly wrong.  Be that as it may, it certainly is never God’s fault, when God’s name is used in a manner that does not reflect God’s attributes; nor does this retract from the necessary point, that God’s unchangeable law is in fact, from alpha to omega, the only law that is going to matter. This thus signifies that all those that make an honest search to take in and to understand as well as to comprehend God’s law are on the right track, because this will help to bring clarity to those searching for that which answers all questions, and is fairly discoverable by all.

Life isn’t ever really about “obeying the law,” as so propagated by humankind, but rather it is about finding that only law that matters, the only law that is always right, fair and just, and thereby it is our highest duty to adhere to that unchanging law.  All of the injustice, all of the wrongs, all of the problems that humankind has placed itself into, comes from disobedience to God’s true law, sometimes done deliberately, sometimes through ignorance, sometimes through ego, but always as a free will decision so made by humankind, whether they subsequently own up to it in a timely manner or not.  Those that honestly search for that which is worth searching for, will so find it; and those that do not, will continue to suffer from the darkness of deceit and lies.  In truth, there is only that one law, created for our benefit so that we need not suffer soulful ill consequences if we are true to that law. All those then that deviate from that law, especially by their pollution of such, of which, they bend, stretch, buy, and manipulate true law or simply ignore such, have lost their way, and will not find their way again until they meet that which has to be met.

Why we need adversity

When we look though the skeins of time, we are provided with the fair opportunity to get perspective, and through that perspective to truly understand that as much as we might want to rail against the system, for unfairness, discrimination, meanness and injustice, which surely has its place; we need to also on the other hand, acknowledge that through such adversity successfully dealt with we can personally rise up and grow.  That is to say, adversity can be rightly seen as providing an opportunity for people to develop within their repertoire, positive attributes such as resiliency, patience, and perseverance, as well as a better understanding that part of life does indeed consist of those battles that give each one of us the opportunity to rise up to that occasion and to embody that which we were always meant to be.

While it might seem to make sense that the best days of our lives, are those days when seemingly everything goes our way, and thereby it is as if we are living in the lap of luxury – that isn’t really so; for that fantasy is belied by the fact, that actually our best days are those days when so faced with something seemingly impossible to deal with, that we were eventually successful in overcoming and vanquishing such; for those indeed are the very best and the most satisfying of days.

When we look around and see the world as it really is, or our community for that matter, or our own personal life, then we must be honest enough to reflect correctly that we need to do our part to help make things better, because that is our highest and most noble calling.   So then, all those that have faced adversity and have overcome, have the necessary strength of character to help others to do the very same thing.  Additionally, overcomers are the type of people that do not easily give up, but rather often see obstacles as something to be faced with the courage of those who know that what needs to be accomplished, should be accomplished.

After all, those that live lives that face no adversity, are probably not going to be prepared to deal with what needs to be dealt with, when all hell brings loose.  Those, though that have done their part, will be prepared to do battle not only because they are battle prepared, but also because they know that given enough time, good preparation, the righteousness of their actions, as well as unity, that those that are firmly on the right side, will so overcome.

Sure, it doesn’t seem right when we get knocked down, or suffer one indignity after another, but all of this will not last forever, though it might seem that it will; yet, for a certainty it will surely pass.  To believe otherwise, is to believe that there isn’t any justice, but in fact, justice never sleeps, and never will rest, until each one of us awakens to the reality that through adversity, we do grow, and mature, along with developing wisdom, and thereby becoming what we were always meant to be.

Low-income countries are exploited by high-income countries

According to the World Bank, from the period of 1965-1999, “the average annual growth rate was 4.1 percent in low-income countries, …and 3.2 percent in high-income countries.”  This would seem to imply that low-income countries, given enough time, will year by year close the gap with those that are high-income countries.  Unfortunately, this isn’t true, as the World Bank, reports that “In the last 40 years of the 20th century, the gap between the average income of the richest 20 countries and that of the poorest 20 countries doubled in size.”   The reason that this has occurred can be accounted by the fact that high-income countries, have a very low birthrate in comparison to low-income countries; so then, although the GNP growth rate of low-income countries is greater in aggregate, it is for the reality of the people, so being born there and living there, a reflection that therefore the continuing population increase within those low-income countries means that more and more people have to share the wealth; so despite the higher GNP growth rate, this is not enough to actually make those low-income countries do anything much except to fall ever further behind those high-income countries.  Additionally, high-income countries are the very same countries that control the financial system, that therefore divvies out and makes loans to those countries needing such, of which, the interest rate and thereby the financing of those loans are an ever-present burden upon those low-income countries.  Also, low-income countries are the very countries that high-income countries use mercilessly in order to outsource manufacturing and other low paying jobs that necessitate a lot of young human labor, but does not typically necessitate any high degree of education or experience, and of which those young laborers are typically not unionized, and often work in conditions that are prone to being unhealthy and unsafe.

The situation for low-income countries in a world that has gotten ever so smaller, is that the high-income countries to a very large extent must answer to the rule of law, and to the people that they govern within their borders, and because of this, along with those companies continual hunt for easy profits, businesses within those high-income countries have clearly recognized that the cheaper labor so being provided by low-income countries will not only provide them with an easier path to those good profits, but also provides them with the necessary cover within their own borders, of being considered an upstanding company for being in adherence with their domestic rule of law.  In other words, low-income countries, are the preferred way for high-income countries to exploit and therefore to make the lion’s share of their profits off of the backs of the laborers within those low-income countries.

For those that wonder why the governance of any low-income country, would allow their people to be ruthlessly exploited by outsiders, recognize that most low-income countries are not democracies, but rather are autocratic in nature, and when those that are the leaders of such, are feted by those that have the easy wherewithal to do so, then the pathway to that exploitation, becomes not only viable, but almost preferred, for at a minimum those low-income countries have achieved gainful employment for their young people, along with being able to sell the story that all this is just the start of that which will develop into something all so much better, though, in reality, it won’t.

“…with all deliberate speed”

The Brown v. Board of Education decision, so reached by the Supreme Court in 1954, was what appeared to be one of those seminal judgments that would recognize first of all that separate but equal schools, were an absolute disgrace and a lie -- as those schools so separated and set aside for minorities were not even close to being equal to the favored race.  Further, the Supreme Court indicated that in order for minorities to have a fair chance at a good public education and not therefore to be treated as second-class citizens or even worse, that those previously so denied equal opportunity to achieve a good education, would via “all deliberate speed” have that opportunity.  The reality is that this did not occur, of which, while the blame could be laid at the feet of all sorts of places, people, and institutions, none of that helps to resolve this very pressing problem that is grossly unfair to millions of children that are thereby denied the opportunity of receiving a good quality education.

The most appropriate way to rectify this current mess, is for the Federal government to assert itself in regards to the public school system akin to what it has done in previous times with recalcitrant States, municipalities, and the like, by withholding federal funding, as necessary, from infrastructure projects for each State and municipality until such becomes in full compliance with the intent of the law. The first necessary step would be to determine the racial percentages of each public school within the counties of  each State, and all those schools in which the minority percentage of the students so attending is found to be less than 50% of what the minority percentage of school-age children are within that county or district, would be compelled by law to have their school budgets reduced so as to match the median school budget of that county or district, and of which the funds from those overfunded schools would thereby be provided instead to those public schools that were currently under the median school budget of the county or district, of which this would continue, until the minority percentage of that overfunded public school reached the minimum standard so set for minority enrollment.

By doing the above, this would first reduce the advantages of those public schools which have higher budgets and clearly have more desirable features in their schools, by providing, instead, a portion of  those funds to those schools so lacking such; as well as basically facing the reality that as damaging as segregation can be, that in America, in regards to public schools, this seems to be an intractable problem, thereby necessitating that the least this Federal government owes to those that are most at risk, is better quality schools for those areas of communities, that fundamentally lack such.  In truth, impoverished areas of any community, are capable of having and should have quality educational facilities for the schooling of children within those communities, in which more money so provided for such, will alleviate some of the harm, though not all of it, that is the current status within those neglected communities and their public schools.

The federal law to integrate at all deliberate speed in public schools, was in theory, resolved in 1954; but in reality, this has not been addressed at a significantly meaningful level.  This thus signifies that the only way to rectify this, is by the Federal government stepping in and allocating as well as re-allocating monies as needed so as to obtain fairness for all pupils that attend public schools, and if necessary, to hold accountable, all those that do not and will not conform to Constitutional law.

Will you forgive someone as if it never happened?

Some people can’t seem to ever forgive, and some people say that they do forgive but their subsequent actions belie those very words; for in truth there are very few people that can genuinely forgive another person for a terrible wrong, and of which of those few, there is virtually nobody that is able to forgive someone as if it never even happened.  For whatever reason or reasons, people that have been wronged, often can’t seem to fully let go of that wrong, probably because they are unable or seemingly incapable of forgiving someone of something as if it never happened; mainly because it did happen, and therefore still on some level, it bothers them.

Each one of us can take great solace in recognizing and knowing that our God, forgives us wholly and completely as if all of the wrongs that we have committed actually never happened; and in consideration that God is the ultimate wisdom, it would behoove us, to try to emulate that very same characteristic in the here and now.  This indicates that after some degree of appropriate reflection, we need to as much as possible, learn to forgive others as if what so occurred, never happened; and until we do, we ourselves will be incomplete, because that lack of forgiveness, as well as that lack of unconditional love, makes us less than what we were created to be.

Those that look upon forgiveness of another, as something akin to a sacrifice, have got it all wrong; rather a much better and more appropriate perspective is to see that when we have been wronged, we need to awaken and to recognize that we too, have undoubtedly erred in our own way, as well; and as much as we so desire to be forgiven, we then need to forgive, for what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.  So then, our forgiveness so being provided to another, is while being beneficial for that person that did that wrong, is equally beneficial if not more so, for the person so forgiving, for in our forgiveness for others, we too are forgiven.

While there are plenty of valid reasons why even in forgiveness we should not forget, as well as there being good reasons why we would want to remember exactly what so happened; the truth of the matter is that those that keep score, have made a common but tragic error, for scorekeeping has nothing to do with expanding our heart to accommodate the reality that human beings are prone to imperfection, and therefore to expect perfection by others or of our own self in our character and in our behavior, is to expect the impossible.  Rather, it is the responsibility of all to do the best within our abilities, as well as to continually learn from our mistakes and our failed efforts, so as to thereby be of material benefit and of help to our fellow sojourners; so that when we come to the bridge of having been wronged by another, we do not burn that bridge, or walk away from that bridge, but we utilize that bridge for the very purpose that it was built for -- so as to cross successfully to the other side.

Public land sold to private developers

There is a fair amount of land in America, held for the public good, by governmental agencies, such as the State, county, or the Federal government.  When it comes to developmental projects, private developers have a strong inclination to desire public land over private land; for the main reason that private land can seldom be simply taken via eminent domain for private development, but must instead be negotiated, and not everyone that owns private land has an interest in selling, not even at a very good price; in addition to the salient fact, that some land that is desirable for development, is owned by a multitude of different owners, making the purchase of such, at a fair price, even more problematic.  On the other hand, when it comes to public land, the ownership of such is typically quite clear, and of which, with the right connections, and the right lobbying, deals can be made; and even done so in a manner that is not all that transparent to the general public -- which has a right to know that those that manage that public land for them have demonstrated responsibility by the decisions so made which should be done in accordance to the public good.

While there is a lot that could be said for private development, and the fact that the right development in the right area, can be for the greater good; it must also be recognized that selling private land to developers is entirely different than the selling of public land.  When it comes to the former, that land having been in private hands is essentially being transferred in a manner in which new money may find viable things to develop upon that land, which has some degree of benefit not only for the new owner and that development, but commonly to the public as well.  In regards to public land, if that land, for instance, represents parkland, then all those that used to use that parkland for the beauty of nature, relaxation, conversation, walking and the like, are thereby precluded from doing so any further, and what has replaced it, may or may not bring any real benefit to the general public, as well as it clearly will no longer represent the same thing as that parkland.

Further to the point, those that are responsible for the governance of public land, need to first and foremost, hold the line, against the selling of such to private development, and especially need to be as transparent as possible with those that they are answerable to.  Additionally, public land should not be something, that with enough pressure and the right connections, initiated by those private developers, thereby somehow morphs, as if by magic, into becoming something that is available to be sold.    If, a given community, really needs to seriously consider selling some of its public land, then it must also make sure that the selling of such, comes with necessary terms and conditions, that thereby provides something of tangible worth to those that are the public; for the transfer of that which once was public into private hands, through “sweetheart” deals which benefit the few at the expense of the many, is almost always a public wrong.

It’s high time for a real baseball World Series

There are plenty of other countries, that played baseball, besides the United States, of which, out of all those other countries, probably the most competitive of them would have to be Japan.  Sure, the regular season for professional baseball players is already quite lengthy – not to mention the current postseason structure that adds to the length of that season in the United States; but in consideration, that baseball is a sport that is popular in other nations, it would be a boon for the sport and its fans to actually see a meaningful World Series, played between the best in the United States v. the best in Japan.

That real Word Series, would not necessarily have to be in October or early November, but could actually be conducted in March, during Spring training.  No doubt, this would mean that some of the players that were part of the “world” champions would no longer be part of the team, and some new players would, in their stead, be there, somewhat affecting the integrity of the competition; but Spring training, would allow enough time for such a series to actually be held, and also would mean that the champions of their respective competitions, would not be suffering from late season burn out.

While it is true, that the Olympics, and the World Baseball Classic, are competitions that involve international play to it, it isn’t really the same thing.  After all, in today’s small world, the best in any sport, wants to face the best, and in the fair belief, that the competition would be meaningful, it would be beneficial to the integrity and the continual relevancy of the sport, especially for the winner of such to rightfully own the crown by becoming the world champion.  Additionally, a World Series with Japan, would also be something that could eventually morph into involving other champions of other countries in other leagues, depending upon the competitiveness of those players and the teams within those leagues.

None of this should come as any great surprise, since for instance, many sports, routinely are international in their format, such as in boxing, mixed martial arts, golf, tennis, and the like.  There isn’t any good reason to believe that somehow only those born in America, or those that have somehow gotten a visa into America, are by definition, the best that the sport could conceivably have.  Rather, there aren’t any borders when it comes to talent and athleticism, so therefore such should not be limited to just the borders of America, and one Canadian city.

Further to the point, Major League Baseball could do more to entice a Mexican based team into the league, as well as engaging other cities within Canada to become part and parcel of the sport, in order to gain viewership as well as to maintain relevancy.  The most pressing challenge, though, placed at the feet of MLB, is to either step up to the plate and truly have a World Series, beginning with Japan, or to simply remove the word, “World” from their championship series and replace it with something that reflects the reality that it isn’t a World Series at all, but rather it is solely a National or American one.

The raw deal of being a temp employee or gig work

In the United States one can always count on the pundits that are trying to sell a certain mindset to come up with all sorts of reasons of why being a gig worker is so wonderful, such as trying to sell the story, that somehow young people, feel empowered by not actually having a traditional employer-employee relationship, as well as appreciating the flexibility of working their own hours; so then in essence they are doing their own thing on apparently their own terms.  Then there are those other workers, known as temporary workers, or “temps”, that work at established companies but they are not directly employed by those companies, but instead have come into their job through a placement agency or similar; in which oftentimes they end up doing the same sort of work that full-time employees do, but they don’t get the benefits, the pay, the recognition or the security of being a direct employee of that company.  Now, at least when it comes to temps, they know for a certainty that they are getting the short end of the stick, for if they were placed into an employment situation by a temp agency, then that agency is making their money off of the difference between the pay rate so charged to the employer, as compared to the amount of money so being earned by that temp.

What seems to be lost in translation, in our modern age, though, is the fact that temp work or gig work, is something that really didn’t exist back in the day.  Rather, it used to be, that employees were directly employed by their employer, because employers typically desired to have a stable workforce, and in order to have that, this necessitated that the employer make a fair commitment to those that they so employed.  Nowadays, though, employers have gotten far more committed to the bottom line and therefore far more focused upon making money and exclusively money above just about anything; so that many employers have deliberately looked at their employee workforce and figured out that there are those that need to be directly employed, and then there are those that can be outsourced, subcontracted, or hired on strictly as temps.  The main advantage for employers in reducing their permanent and direct employment base, besides the money being saved or earned, is the flexibility of essentially having a “just-in-time” workforce, in which because these others are not directly employed, they can essentially be treated differently than “real” employees, and so used strictly at the discretion and convenience of the company.

Maybe all of the above is okay, maybe this is just a legitimate part of capitalism, but it is important to recognize that those companies that do not hire directly as employees those that they previously would have, are going to have a different cost structure, then those companies that feel that they have an obligation to treat their employees in a manner which respects them as valued people, and have built that mindset into their business model.  The bottom line is that companies that outsource their business to foreign countries which have significantly reduced labor costs, or utilize temp agencies, which thereby relieves those companies of having to be responsible for healthcare and other benefits, are going to have a cost structure that typically would make them more profitable than similar companies that do not treat their employees in that manner.  That signifies that the losers in the job market are going to be those that are not making a living wage or have security in what they do, which includes a lot of temp and gig workers, of which therefore they aren’t likely to be able to live a quality life in this the richest country in the history of the world.

The true nature of life is cyclical

Humankind is led to believe that humans are ever evolving and therefore invariably improving, of which, an honest and comprehensive view of the evidence that surrounds us would indicate that this isn’t true and never has been.  Modern society has a strong tendency to take the past, and all such that doesn’t fit into their nice and neat theory of evolution and to therefore mold or re-construct this in a way that the story still sells, though that story clearly does not represent the whole truth for it deliberately ignores or mythologizes great civilizations that have existed previously.  The reality is that humankind is cyclical in nature, of which we see the evidence of this throughout this entire planet in regards to its flora and fauna, along with what so occurs in humanity, itself.

The reality is that humankind, again and again, invariably goes through the same basic cycle, which is the cycle of birth, and then a life so lived, through the various seasons and stages of that life, followed by physical death.  This therefore signifies that the only thing that keeps humankind alive as a species, therefore, is that it continues to cycle its way through life, over and over again, as compared to somehow evolving into something in substance that it is not, and never will become.

This implies strongly that all the time, effort, and devotion so made in trying to extend the life of humanity substantially beyond its finite capabilities, is an exercise in futility, for eternal life on this earth, or some sort of semblance to it, is not ever going to happen, and furthermore has no good purpose behind it.  After all, the cyclical nature of life, should be our clue, that what we need to learn on this plane, is something that is within our grasp to know, each and every time that we are part of the cycle that life so presents within this world.

So then, the first lesson to know is that the natural cycle of life of which we are participants in day-by-day is what we should concentrate our energy upon; for everything that we really need to know, is contained within that endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth; thereby representing the truth that will thereupon allow us to become enlightened in a manner that we can be of material aid to those that surround us, in our communities, and in our world.  This signifies that the only eternity that is applicable to this world, is that eternity of the cyclical nature of this planet, of which, our objective should be to be in harmony with that nature.

So too, all that appears to be mindless repetition to our untrained eyes, is in fact, anything but; for we are challenged to first understand who and what we really are, and then from there to figure out what we are supposed to be doing with our newfound knowledge.  That is to say, the point of the exercise on this planet is to fully comprehend that which we currently see as the ultimate reality as really a cyclical construct that is meant to make us desire greatly to shatter the illusion that seemingly entraps us, so as to reveal that which will be our epiphany.

Evil is the absence of light

It perhaps makes for good drama, to believe that there is an eternal battle between good and evil, of which both sides are engaged to the death against the other, with the ultimate winner, not known, until the war to end all wars is finally over.  The thing is that this viewpoint is a fantasy, and not the reality, for good is Light, and that Light cannot ever be extinguished though it may be covered for a time; and that which is considered to be evil, is that which has walked away from the Light into darkness, of which, that darkness, no matter how long or how deep, will invariably meet its end, when it surfaces or is exposed at some point, to face the truth, which is Light.

This signifies that the evil that we see around us, reflects those that are lost, confused, demented, or in some sort of active rebellion, of which, the ultimate result is the only result that could conceivably occur, which is their eventual return, hat in hand, but willingly, to that which releases them from the prison of their own making.   It should be kept in mind, that there isn’t anything inherently wrong in walking into darkness, for curiosity has its place; it rather becomes a serious mistake, when the darkness is perceived to be better than Light or as a substitutionary means to escape that which must be faced and thereby overcome; for that which sits in darkness, is ultimately that which has nowhere to go, for it cannot see properly without the light, and must thereby so acknowledge, sooner or later, the truth that those that are in darkness can only be truly liberated by that which is Light.

God has provided many gifts to us, of which one of them is to provide us with free will, of which that will, permits us to go about our business, for our betterment or not; of which no matter how bad our predicament might so be, there is always that escape route, that will instantly remove the scales from our eyes, and the darkness from our soul, if only we would re-open the window of our soul to that illuminating Light.  The most salient characteristic about light is the fact that all that which is in darkness, will have that darkness removed instantaneously, once the light is turned back on again.  This signifies that evil, as dark as it might be, and as bad as it can be, is only just one good step away from returning to the sanctuary of light, by voluntarily making that commitment and then doing just that.

The reason why there is so much evil around us, and why evil seems so intractable, has almost everything to do with the stubbornness of humankind’s heart, and the lack of accountability that so many people suffer from.  Additionally, far too many people keeping doing bad things, and feel that they are trapped in such, because they wish to postpone as long as possible, the righteous punishment that seemingly awaits them.  The thing is, that fear is misplaced, for God while being a God of justice, is also a God of unconditional love.  It must be remembered, then, that the personal condemnation that so many of us fear to face as a consequence of our bad actions, never comes directly from God, but rather it comes from our own judgment that we have done wrong, and the resolution of such is to do our part to bring light to those that desperately need such.

Unconditional love

The greatest truth is that God loves each and every one of His creations, exactly the same, as well as that love for each one of us, is absolutely unconditional.  This signifies that there is nothing that we can do to become God’s favorite, for God has no favorite; nor is there anything that we can do that is so terrible or wrong that we will ever lose God’s love for us.  This indicates, amongst many things, that in God, we have no greater friend, for God never abandons us or rejects us, no matter what.

For any one of us, to actually have unconditional love for a fellow human being is something that seems to be virtually impossible, but it is in the sincere trying that we are thereby able to make progress, day-by-day.  Further to the point, the very concept of unconditional love, should encourage us to take a look at those that we interact with, and especially at those that we find to be difficult, and thereby to understand the necessity that fundamentally each one of us has the exact same value, so that it doesn’t behoove us to separate our self from that which we are actually a part of.

None of the above, signifies that what we do, does not matter; for it absolutely does matter whether we are actually good or bad.  What must be taken to heart, though, is that the judgmental bias that so many of us suffer from, we are better off dropping from our personal repertoire, in the recognition that God absolutely never gets it wrong, and since God is unconditional love, then we need to spend less time criticizing, fighting, and hurting one another, and thereby more time being supportive, forgiving, and loving.

After all, if all we love is only our own, as in our family, our life, our job, and so on and so forth; then we really have not progressed or evolved all that much.  Rather, we need to look outside ourselves, and endeavor to see that commonality that each one of us has in kind; for every one of us is created out of the exact same substance, and all are truly equal in the eyes of God, so then our fair obligation to God, is therefore to do our part to take that which appears to have become separated and to thereby gather up those pieces and start to stitch them back together in order to help create that necessary picture of unity, harmony, and one.

Humankind, unnecessarily spends far too much time and wrongly buys into the construct that certain people and certain societies, are inherently superior to other people and other societies, and thereby essentially believes that because they are superior, that they have the right to rule the roost, and through that mindset all sorts of havoc ensue, which does little or nothing to help make this world a better place for all.  Instead, there should be the conscious recognition that out of many different cultures, many different families, and many different backgrounds, that the objective of the exercise is to, through blood, sweat, and tears, become united under the principle that we each are adherents to unconditional love by being that love one to another.

The battle between those that have and those that have not

While it is true that the United States has a Constitution, and that Constitution is the highest law of the land, of which that Constitution properly utilized was so created to promote the general welfare of the people, and to secure for them the blessings of that liberty; that regrettably isn’t the case for a significant amount of Americans who are often denied their most basic civil rights, and thereby suffer from discrimination, harassment, persecution, as well as suffering from the lack of good opportunity, of which they often have little or nothing of material worth to possess, and realistically typically  have no viable path to extricate themselves from their rather bleak situation.

In point of fact, none of the above is happenstance, for all of this is the deliberate policy of those that are the power brokers of America, of which, the whole point of the exercise, is for those at the very top, to get ever more through the outright manipulation of rules, regulations, and laws, so that more and more of that which is produced in aggregate is ultimately held in the hands of fewer and fewer people, so that they can thereby create dynasties, and live their lives upon the backs of those that they exploit, and take wholesale advantage of, each and every day.  Further to the point, the policing and justice arm of the state, are beholden never to the people, but in fact, are enthralled only to those that are their true actuators, in recognition that those elites at the top, pay a whole lot better and can do a whole lot more for those that execute their desires, than the oppressed minions could ever hope to cobble together.

For all those millions of Americans that are ever indebted, and wonder what it will take to conceivably escape from such crushing debt, it is important to recognize that the whole point of that construct is that those that have nothing, are fundamentally never permitted to have that burden lifted from off of their tired backs, because they are required to remain vulnerable and thereby exploitable, so as to serve their masters, forever; or until they have nothing further left to give.  That is to say, the reason why so many Americans work so hard and have literally nothing of material worth to show for it, is that this is necessary so as to keep the masses in their place of servitude and additionally to feather the beds of the superrich, so that the hundreds of millions upon millions of dollars that the people are entitled to as their fair compensation that they have honestly labored for, doesn’t ever reach their hands, but goes instead to those that have taken ruthless advantage of them.

Those that have not, are in a perpetual battle against those that have, but that battle is not fair, for with the exception of the fact that those have not have massive numbers on their side, they lack power, monetary worth, and the overall means to successfully take down or to successfully reform the edifice that keeps them down and exploits them.  That is why, so many in America are incarcerated, so many are ill-educated, and so many are left without hope or opportunity, because those that have are never about fairness and equal opportunity, but rather are all about their insatiable lust for even more, because in their corrupt minds, they never have enough.

Listen to that still small voice

All sorts of people are after our attention, some with good intentions, some not; some with good advice, some not; and some with wisdom, and some not.  When we are children, we are often compelled to listen to those that are our authority figures, whether they be our parents, or older siblings, or teachers, or whatnot, of which we listen and thereby typically obey, perhaps willingly, perhaps not.  There does comes a time, though, when what we listen to, and what thereof we are obedient to, is oftentimes at our discretion, for to listen to everyone all of the time and then to follow what they so say, would make us susceptible to simply allowing ourselves to be blown by the various winds and moods of the times, thereby vacating and surrendering our own volition to those others.  This thus signifies that who we listen to is going to be a significant part as to what we are thereby able to accomplish in our given life, so therefore we need to be selective in those voices that we listen to and thereby take to heart.

The one big advantage that human beings, as well as books, or other types of media have in their influence over us, is the fact that those things are tangible; in the sense that we can hear them, listen to them, and read them; of which, oftentimes we are thereupon allowed to interact one with another, human to human, and because this appears to be so seamless to us, this seems to be the best way to listen and to be listened to.  As true as that might be, the one problem with exclusively human interactions, as well as our listening to good lectures or the reading of good books, is that there are invariably going to be flaws, misinterpretations, and agendas within those engagements, of which, these mistakes and these errors, could well be harmful to us.  That is to say, even those of immense wisdom, don’t always get it right; and so, it behooves us to be discerning in what we thereby listen to and adhere to; in addition to the salient fact, that each one of us, should always be desiring to find that fountain of wisdom, that always gets it right.

This signifies that it is to our benefit, to try to calm our minds in such a way, that we are able to let go of the distractions that take us away from that which is always with us, if we would only have the patience and desire to listen to and to hear that small still voice within that speaks to us, each and every day.   After all, we are only potentially as good as the information that we take in and process, correctly; and if that information is incorrect, then the results forthwith are going to be less than desired.  So then, while it is true that listening to God, is never going to be in the same format as listening to a fellow human being; we need to recognize that we are spiritual souls encased within a finite material body, and when we are thereby able to successfully rise above our material limitations to take in that which encompasses us completely, we will place ourselves into the position, of removing the veil, and thereby being on our way to becoming truly enlightened.

For-profit pornography is a form of prostitution

With the exception of a couple counties in the Nevada, prostitution is illegal in the United States.  On the other hand, for-profit pornography, that is pornography so created in order to sell or to be viewed by the general public, is for some unfathomable reason or reasons, considered to legally be an artistic expression so protected under the First Amendment. That sort of reasoning is appallingly poor, since pornography, almost without exception is simply the recording of sex acts, of which some of these sex acts are extreme, unusual, unnecessarily graphic, even dangerous, degrading and the like; all so created, in order to bring some sort of pleasure or gratification to those that are viewers of such for a price.

The reality of the pornography business is that those that are the producers and creators of it, are functionally serving the same purpose as what a pimp represents, of which, the objective of the game, for those that are pornography makers is to run that business to make what money that they can make, at the expense of the objectification and continual exploitation of the females that are hired to perform for them, without these females often knowing the full ramifications of what it is that they have signed up for -- along with the performers suffering from a typical lack of knowledge or understanding of who ultimately legally owns the rights to the porn so created, and what those rights allows the producer to do with that porn, seemingly for as long as period of time as there remains a demand for it.

At least, with prostitution, the prostitute, has a reasonably strong control of what is or is not permitted to happen with their paying customer, along with the salient fact, that what occurs behind closed doors, almost always remains behind those doors, which thereby protects the privacy of all those so involved.  The fact that prostitutes are considered to be committing a crime, subject to all the penalties and inconveniences thereof; whereas those that are being paid to perform pornographic sex acts, aren’t subject to being arrested, is pure hypocrisy. 

So then, in consideration that the courts have made their ruling, and have essentially green-lighted pornography, forever; this would indicate that in fairness the laws in regards to solicitation and prostitution, should be immediately decriminalized and thereby fairly regulated for the protection of those so involved in these transactions.  At least, by doing this, there would be some semblance of consistency between the two; and the argument to reform our current laws in regards to prostitution, would really come down to the admission that what consenting adults do in private is their private business and therefore the state should have no interest in weighing in upon those transactions.

Those that are against prostitution being legalized or decriminalized should also be against pornography being legal, of which both would seem to be subject to the same sort of basic reasoning; and those that believe that pornography is somehow some sort of artistic expression protected by the First Amendment, should be able to be creative enough to find a workaround for prostitution that thereby legalizes it or decriminalizes it on a national level.  The fact that this is not the case, in the present day, is demonstrative proof that those that legalized pornography and have kept prostitution illegal, do not recognize the inherent inconsistency of their dubious reasoning, which would be overcome by admitting into law that private transactions between consenting adults in which each party has exhibited the good capacity to enter into that agreement, and have agreed to the terms thereof, should as a matter of course, be legal.