Subscription books and emancipation

Those that were enslaved in America, were part of an institution that was legal, at that time and age, no matter the injustice and inhumanity, so of.  That said, in a land in which the dollar meant everything and profit the overriding goal of many, some of those that were enslaved, did still have legitimate options to free themselves, though typically limited and perhaps wholly unrealistic.  For instance, eventually in the Northern States as well as in Canada, slavery became illegal; so then, those then that were able to physically get to those places, were essentially rewarded with freedom, though the journey to such, was fraught with perils, and the price to pay for individual failure, was exceedingly high.  Another way to manumit a person that was enslaved, was to have a particular skillset which allowed that enslaved person to earn money through the loaning out or the subleasing of their trade, or from the goods so created, and those slaves that were able to save enough money, over some period of time, could, in theory, buy their way to freedom.  The third way, was similar to the second, but was done not though the particular labor of a given slave, but rather through those that were part of an abolitionist group, as well as with the aid of former slaves, who would create a subscription book for a relative or someone else of interest, and then solicit sympathetic souls to their viewpoint, to put up money to manumit those slaves, and when the necessary funds were thereby secured, make payment to the “owner” in order to buy that person’s freedom.

The bottom line is that the slavery business was a business, and further to the point, a given slave’s value was never stagnant; of which, because slaves had a finite amount of physical life, and typically had an initial rise in their value, followed at some point, by an inevitable decline, then it could be said, that even the most recalcitrant of slave owners, had a price that they would sell anyone that they so owned.  Therefore, subscription books, were a legitimate way to free those that were enslaved, and therefore this was a licit vehicle providing freedom for those that were enslaved.  Regrettably, in consideration that literally millions of people were enslaved in America at its peak – escape, or the subletting of one’s specialized labor, or a subscription fully paid, only freed a very small percentage of those so enslaved, which seemingly did not make any real appreciable impact upon this the most despicable of peculiar institutions.

Still, in an era in which the uncompensated labor was the ways and means for the autocratic privileged Southern class to make and to augment their wealth, and of which, the national legislative votes were not there to impugn this status quo, the national options, so of, were limited.  Yet, every person so manumitted led valued credence to the sensible belief that a given person’s skin color could not possibly have anything to do with their capacity to think as well as to accomplish valued tasks; and further that a nation divided would ultimately have to face the truth, that to stay united, whole, and healthy, this would necessitate that what is right and just ultimately triumphing over that which was founded upon injustice, inhumanity, and outright greed.

The vote and the disbursement of the public’s funds

According to the Constitution, all those citizens that have reached the age of 18, with a few exceptions typically having to do with a criminal conviction, have been franchised to vote.  Additionally, whether of voting age or not, those that have income of a certain amount or even just money in their pocket, are subject to taxation; whether that be a sales tax, a property tax, a license tax, a social security tax, an income tax, a local tax, and so on and so forth.  In short, billions upon billions of dollars are collected through taxation agencies throughout this country, and legislators are elected or appointed to allocate and to disburse these tax funds per legislation so enacted and enforced.

The people have an absolute right to know whether or not tax monies so being collected is actually being spent in a responsible and prudent fashion, and of which, their only real reasonable assurance of such is through the full, transparent, and public display of contacts so being put up for bid and subsequently issued for work done, in conjunction with independent reviews of such, quality control, budgets, salaries, property bought and sold, and pretty much everything else that is germane within the expenditures of the public money, so done on behalf of that public.  The bottom line is that if the people’s votes are ever going to count for anything, then there has to be a crosscheck placed upon all those avenues of which that money is being spent, and the representatives to the people, need to be held fully accountable for their actions and approvals, so made.

In point of fact, when the people have the vote, but that which they vote upon per the majority, so of, effectively is vacated by the, for instance, circumventing of, or the underhanded and corrupt opaqueness of what is really going on, then the people have been cheated of their vote.  Further, when monies so collected from the people, that is not spent in a responsible fashion, of which, for example, the bidding has not been truly competitive, open, and competent; but rather that money has been used instead as a tool to favor some at the expense of others, and to thereby to kick back to the well-placed few, what is not theirs to have, then the people have been cheated on their taxes.

So then, voting and taxation are of immense importance to our influence upon the civilization that we so desire to have, but the average person pretty much feels what is disappointingly obvious, that their vote doesn’t seem to count for much; and as for how their monies so taken from them in the form of taxation, this seems to be spent in a way that they seemingly have absolutely no voice upon such, whatsoever.  This thus signifies that voting doesn’t matter much, when the legislators so of, don’t effectively answer to the public, though they do answer to those elite others that put money into their personal pocket; and as for those taxes so being relentlessly collected from the public they are actually commonly being earmarked, utilized and spent in a way and manner that the public sees at best only a distorted view, along with barely getting a glimpse into the deep dark labyrinth of those tax expenditures—though, those that are on the inside, are increasing their wealth and power through their privileged access to such. 

Think about what you are thinking about

Before doing just about anything of substance that we so do, we actually think about it, and then we go ahead and perform it, or try to perform that action.  Basically, our thoughts precede our meaningful actions; and if we are unhappy with our actions, then we therefore need to look carefully at our thoughts that preceded such.  For instance, how we think is ultimately always in our control and is therefore in our domain; so then, not only do we need to think about what we are thinking about, we further need to take such to the next logical step, which is to think through where that particular thought pattern is ultimately going to get us to; and further to that, whether or not that place or accomplishment so anticipated, is where we really want to be or not.

After all, the story of each of our individual lives is written by the thoughts and actions, we subsequently make.  This thus signifies that what we should want is to take the time to think through what it is that we are really trying to accomplish and further to the point, as to whether or not such an accomplishment is a worthwhile objective or not.  The point thereof of the thinking is to think things through thoroughly, again and again, of which, quite obviously the more detail and the more nuances that we can put together within those thoughts, the better our perception of what will occur, will so happen. 

The trouble that so many of us find ourselves in, has a lot to do not so much with bad luck and bad circumstances, but rather has a lot more to do with our failure to think the right reasoned thoughts, that would more times than not, overcome adverse luck and circumstances, or mitigate such, or circumvent such.  Our thoughts can be constructed in a lot of different ways, of which, one of those ways is to first visualize the goal that one desires to achieve, and then from that goal, back things up ever so slowly and with detail to our present situation, so that we can see unfolding in our mind in reverse, what so needs to happen in order to achieve that goal. This thus allows us to stay focused, in the present time, so that whenever our mind beings to waver or to wander, we have the wherewithal and the wisdom to think as to whether or not at the present time what we are thinking and doing is conducive to achieving that goal that we are so determined to have or not.

Life can be filled with all sorts of excuses for our failures and our shortcomings, of which, in many cases there are indeed compelling reasons why this is our present bleak situation; yet, ever pinging upon our conscience is the sure acknowledgement that we are the masters of our fate, and the captain of our soul.  Therefore, it behooves all of us, to take command of our thoughts, and to think things through thoroughly, so that we can focus upon being that which we were born to be, if only we would keep our eyes fixed upon the prize, and not deviate from achieving such, come what may.

Seek wisdom

Each of us so born into this world, has an inherent obligation to search for that which is the ultimate truth, and therefore we should not allow ourselves to become distracted from this all-important mission.  While it is true, that different people have different capabilities, all of us have some capability and virtually everyone has some degree of power to develop their mind in a manner in which valued knowledge is obtained and retained.  Those then that will not make the effort to seek wisdom, and consciously decide not to pursue such a noble effort for whatever reasons, are those then that seem to prefer mindless entertainment or idleness to being the defining master of their lives, instead.

Then there are those others that are proud of the knowledge that they have obtained, and are able to successfully demonstrate such knowledge to their contemporaries and through their work; but knowledge is not the same thing as wisdom.  So that it is fair to say that knowledge in and of itself, is not a prerequisite for wisdom; for wisdom is the true perception of who and what we really are, unbounded from the constraints of seeing this world and its laws as the ultimate reality, when in actuality this world is no more and no less than a proving ground, so created to test us in a field of battle, so as to determine whether we have the discretion within this field of free choice to consistently go out and to do the right thing.

The essence of wisdom is that wisdom as a form of truth, does not ever changed, for wisdom is not subject to the vicissitudes of mankind’s mind and thought patterns.  Rather, it is humankind that changes through the virtue of obtaining wisdom, for humankind far too often lives within a world of distortion, shadows, and detours; of which, quite obviously the more illuminated the pathway becomes for humankind, the clearer and truer are the perceptions that are then understood, through the wisdom so known.

It is only those that seek and achieve wisdom, and through those alone, that humankind is ever able to evolve; for the human form is so intoxicating to so many, that many people often get so caught up within it, that bodily needs and often the greed of desire to have this or to obtain that, addles the mind in such a way that humankind very quickly begins to devolve into selfishness, manipulation, and aggression.  That is to say, that if the perception is that humankind is really no more than a higher order of a beast, then those so believing in that mindset, are hopelessly lost.  In fact, the dissatisfaction that so many feel deep within their psyche, is the dissatisfaction of knowing that life for all of its lures, seems purposeless, when we are unable to perceive that we are not mortal beings, but immortal spirit.

All those that will not seek, will not find; in direct contrast to all those that sincerely seek and are persistent to that search, will surely find; for God wants to test our devotion to our Maker, of which those that are true devotees will seek wisdom and from that wisdom, will find that which was always meant to be found.

It is good for humanity that we aren’t all the same

Those that are dull minded want to live in a world in which everything is in the order that they so desire, and the people that make up that order are always predictable -- and everything that so occurs in this construct, is what they desire to see occur or if not, they are basically okay with it, as long as it is contained within a reasonable boundary.  One could say that there is a significant amount of people that find the appeal of like-minded people to be quite comforting, for they do not wish to venture into areas of conflict and unknowns, and therefore are perfectly content to just have things the way that they currently are.  The reality though is that this world consists of different peoples, different cultures, and differences of all sorts, of which, the fact that we don’t all look alike, or believe the same things, makes for the type of diversity and conflict, that at a minimum, makes life interesting as well as also being challenging.

Whether or not opposites really attract isn’t as important as the salient fact that cookie-cutter people are dull, dull, dull.  The fact of the matter is that if everyone was exactly the same, in thoughts, in looks, and in feelings, then this world and the interactions within it, would lack significantly in creativity, vibrancy, and purpose.  We are not meant to be the same, or even to think the same; but rather we are required to acknowledge that in order to have sensible civilizations that are beneficial for the people in whole, that we need to display in our interactions, a good neighborly attitude, patience, understanding, concern, helpfulness, justice, and harmony, one to another.  That should be the overriding purpose of life, to get along with one another, despite our differences, of which we should recognize that because we are each unique, this ultimately makes for greater drama, greater arts, and a greater overall life experience.

This world was never created just for the exclusive benefit for one race, or one creed, or one sex, but rather it is meant to be a world in which those that are of a different race, or a different creed, or a different sex, have the fair opportunity to become united into a common purpose, of which, in order for that to ultimately occur, there is invariably going to be plenty of battles, conflicts, and disagreements, along with dissension, that are going to be part of that robust and even chaotic experience.  So too, everybody is entitled to a fair say of what it is that they so desire to see happen, for only when each person is accorded a true voice, is it possible to have something so constructed that has thereby been made for everybody, which actually reflects everybody, as opposed instead to one dominate view, voiced by a minority, that rules everybody else by coercion, force, or manipulation.

Each one of us is totally unique, but deep down at our core, we have commonality because we are all created equally, meant to meet one another at that place in which we recognize that we are each a vital piece in the design of that magnificent illuminated mosaic, located beyond time and space.

The “amen corner”

Church and church services can represent a lot of different things to a lot of different people; of which, some of those so attending church may well find themselves in a situation in which the congregation or at least part of such, is supposed to echo back to the preacher, their affirmation of what is so being preached, periodically, through the repeated usage of the word “amen.”  Not too surprisingly, such cries of “amen” are going to be more effective when those so inclined to mouth such, are congregated together, which thereupon makes for both a louder as well as a more unison sound, therefore making such affirmation of the message so being spoken, of more noticeable effect, so helped by the “amen corner.”

As much as people might seem to believe that everything so spoken in a speech or a sermon, should get from those so attending such, a natural and spontaneous reaction as the audience is so inclined to give; the truth of the matter is, just as in television programs which have canned laughter, that those that proclaim “amen” at specific spots, are helping to push across the message so being spoken, as well as engaging the audience so that their attention will not flag, disappear, or fade away. So too, when an “amen” is intoned at just the right time and at the right timber, it provides a nice emphasis to that which is being preached, making such more memorable and meaningful.

In reality, many of the preachers so preaching, aren’t really wanting to preach a soliloquy or a monologue without any verbal audience reaction, for they on the contrary, desperately want to know that their audience is actually listening to them, and therefore when the preacher hears an “amen” response, or other words to that effect, the preacher knows that what they are saying is actually resonating well with those that are their congregants, which helps to provide the impetus to drive home the message in a manner that is both more convincing as well as being more poignant.

In life, far too many people, believe that it is only the big moments that really matter; but rather it is those small and courteous affirmations from esteemed and valued others which serves the purpose of keeping many of us focused on the tasks that we need to get accomplished, that ends up being the necessary fuel that keeps us going whenever we begin to waver or fade from that which so needs to be done.  That is to say, we all have different roles to play in life, and those that play the role of support for the message so being delivered, or the task so being done, should never be discounted in their worth and in their value, for we are all are in this together, and because of that fact, those that are part of the same team and do their part, have invaluable worth.

It could be said, that all of us, need an “amen corner” in our lives, and when that corner is not saying “amen” to what is so going on, we should therefore take the time to find out, why; for that then could well make all of the difference in what we so subsequently do.

The exploited class

When we take a look at who and what makes up our impoverished ghettos, our prisons, and basically those that represent the losers of this capitalistic society, this so indicates that almost exclusively the people that make up that class, are those that are the weakest and the most vulnerable members of that society.  One would think, therefore, that this government of, for, and by the people, would therefore want to put forth the most extraordinary effort to see that not only an appropriate safety net would be in place for the most vulnerable, but that proactive measures would be taken to ameliorate such; along with it being an overriding governmental objective to forthrightly eliminate the conditions that make for such impoverishment and hopelessness, in the first place.

Regrettably, the poor and the most vulnerable of our society, seem to be placed there and to exist so as to therefore serve as an important collective value for all those that desire to exploit them, over and over again.  After all, there are tons of jobs that require mindless repetition, drudgery, as well as those jobs of unsafe and unsound conditions, all consisting of low pay and bad benefits, under the control of what essentially represents, the overseer, so to speak.  The type of people that are not going to do that type of work are everyone that has better options, that come from a better place, along with all those not being truly desperate or up against the wall. On the other hand, those that have few options, or are undocumented, or poorly educated, or historically oppressed, aren’t in a good place, and in fact, are ripe for exploitation on just about every single level that they can be exploited upon, and this is what so subsequently happens, in just about every aspect of their sad forlorn life.

The very point of good governance is not for the winners and the superrich to get even more of what they already have in abundance; but rather to see that those that have little or nothing, are provided with a fair opportunity to have at least some semblance of a good life.  Yet, this the richest nation that the world has ever known; seems to run primarily upon the exploiters exploiting the exploited.  So then, the reason that the exploited class continues to exist and to persist, is because the governance is in the hands of those that are the exploiters or their actuators, and they will not release their very firm grip upon all that easy money that they so get, from cheating those that have no power, because they can’t think of a compelling reason, to do so.

Those that make their good and comfortable living off of the blood, sweat, and tears of those that do not receive even a living wage for such -- of which these unfortunate exploited people do not have the reasonable hope of extricating themselves ever from their poor situation, should be seen for what they really are – as entitled people that steal from the poor, fleece the most vulnerable, and harm the weakest. Yet, somehow, they have the audacity to believe that they are good people, as well as to proudly wear the accouterments of that which so represents their success.  However, the one thing that hasn’t been taken into full consideration by those that have it so good, is that though justice may be delayed, it will, for a certainty, eventually be served.

Arbitration is typically unfair for consumers

People that purchase and utilize products and services, so sold by corporations, are invariably going to have those instances when there is something that seems to be not quite right about such a product or service experience.  In those cases, in which the perceived injustice is slight, most people are just going to let it go, which is in virtually all cases, the most practical thing to do.  On the other hand, there are also those breaches of good faith between consumer and vendor that are worth fighting back about; in which there has been a perceived wrong that the consumer wants to have their day in court, about.  The problem is, that in many cases, nowadays, a given consumer, when they are so inclined to go to court, are compelled by the terms and conditions of the product or service so sold, to have such thereby adjudged instead through arbitration, as compared to a true court of law.

Arbitration is something that on the surface, sounds fair, almost as if it is a better way to cut through all the nonsense of courts, appeals, and delays, so as to get straight to the heart of the matter, through a supposed neutral party that will come to a sure and sound resolution.  That is, what arbitration seems to be, but regrettably that isn’t what arbitration really is.  The very first thing, is that those that do the arbitrating, though nominally neutral, are themselves almost always lawyers, and therefore inclined to be biased towards those of the same profession.  Additionally, arbitrators know that the only entity that can ever give them any repeat or recommended business, such as consulting and the like, are corporations with corporate lawyers, so this thereby gives those arbitrators a self-serving reason to see things through the corporate lenses, as compared to the consumer. Finally, arbitration is not going to be a fair fight, for corporations have well-nigh unlimited resources that they can call upon, and the consumer has very little, of which, therefore the full truth of the matter so being disputed may not come even close to being illuminated through such arbitration.

It is also very important to note that corporations strongly prefer arbitration, because it basically allows them to circumvent formal litigation that could be rather dire for their corporation.  Such as, for instance, class action suits, in which many consumers so experiencing the same problem or a similar one, join together with a legal team to pursue justice which can thereby result in an award to those consumers that can reached into the billions of dollars, which is thereby divided by all those party to that suit.  Additionally, successful lawsuits against corporations, can set precedents which thereby serve to reform corporate malfeasance, as compared to such being swept under the rug and suppressed through private arbitration.   So too, most consumers are limited in the amount of time and financial resources that they have to pursue any type of legal action, which is why the fact that there are lawyers who specialize in taking legal action against corporate wrongs, for no upfront money, but instead opt for a “piece of the action” clearly helps to level the playing field.

So then, though arbitration sounds fair to many consumers, especially since many people have no real love of the labyrinth of courts; it is, when utilized to resolve consumer complaints, typically not fair, and often a very poor substitute for fair legal action so conducted through the public court system.

Cartels and monopolies

It goes almost without exception, that monopolies are to be avoided at all costs, except when it comes to those things such as governmental controlled public utilities, such as in regards to water, sewage, and electricity, which thereby necessitates governmental regulation as compared to having instead multiple sources of public water, sewage, and electricity.  The reason why monopolies have no place in private enterprise, is that any company that is the sole source of a product that is vital and needed, have therefore the power to price it any way that it so desires or even to withhold it, per their volition.  In regards to cartels, such as in OPEC, they basically have seen the virtue of colluding together so as to control the volume and ready availability of a highly valued energy resource, thereupon providing them with important pricing strength, along with protecting themselves from undercutting one another, so as to avoid suffering a race to the proverbial bottom.  That said, cartels in western nations, are illegal and are just as insidious as any monopoly, for basically what is occurring is that those that should be fairly competing against one another, have seen the sensible value of cooperating one with another, instead; in order, therefore, to extract extra profit and money from those that are their customers.

The thing about public corporations is that the stock market is extremely unforgiving of all those corporations that do not show both consistent growth in revenue as well as in profit; so not too surprisingly, in consideration that the upper management of these corporations, typically have a sizeable portion of their actual compensation tied to the performance of the stock along with its corresponding profits, then those that are not of good moral character, or prone to taking shortcuts, are going to find the temptation of colluding with those that they compete with, so as to thereby create a formal or informal cartel will, in fact, be taken under serious consideration.  In actuality, as much as these massive corporate behemoths speak of how much they admire and appreciate the capitalistic market, a significant portion of them, don’t really want to compete, at all; they just want to make consistent money, more than anything, and in order to do that, the variance and the dangers of true competition must be subdued and thereby controlled to their benefit.

So then, cartels and monopolies are the antithesis of what capitalism is supposed to be, and anytime that the government, of, for, and by the people is the enabler of this very thing, wittingly or unwittingly, then it is the general public that is invariably shorn of their wages through these cartels and monopolies, again and again.  The thing is that it doesn’t really take any great detective work by governmental regulators to know when collusion is going on, for the evidence of such is usually pretty darn clear; so, the fact that the government does nothing about it, whatsoever, more times than not, reflects that those that are meant to protect and to do right by the general public, have for all practical purposes, been co-opted by or are in collusion with our present-day cartels and monopolies.

Productive use and property

Most people that own a residential home, only own that one home, and of which, for those of the middle class, this is their primary wealth that they so represent.  However, there are a distinct minority of people as well as conglomerates, that own lots and lots of property, of which the usage of that excess property, above and beyond their main home or their main building, may lie completely unutilized, or underutilized, for years, or even decades; for basically this extra property is owned, primarily as a passive asset, or treated as such, which therefore signifies that it does not necessitate development or the rental of it.

The first thing to understand is that there are millions upon million of people that do not have a safe and sound home to reside in; and further to the point, there are millions upon millions of people that lack good access to nutritional food as well as the other accouterments that would help to make their lives to be, at a minimum, satisfactory.  So then, the fact that there is good real estate so owned but providing no utility for the general public, the tax authorities, or even the owner of such, other than being an asset upon their books, is something that no good governance should encourage, and quite frankly it should be actively discouraged.

When those that are ultra-wealthy have no need and nary an incentive to do anything with some portion of the property that they so own, then it so follows that there isn’t any pressing reason why anything in regards to that property will change, anytime soon, or ever.  On the other hand, when government asserts itself in a manner in which underutilized or unused property is actually taxed at a higher rate than comparable property that is being utilized, then perhaps this will provide the impetus for development to happen, or if not, a pressing reason to divest of such.

There is, after all, only so much one given family can own and actually do something of substance with; of which this same sort of principle applies also to conglomerates and to corporations, whenever they prefer to allow land to remain fallow or undeveloped – typically so done in order to maintain the pricing strength of what they are in the business of.  There are, no doubt, good reasons why even prime real estate land need not be and should not be developed at a particular day and time, but those reasons should periodically be looked at and investigated, for the common good of the people of societies.

The ownership of any property, be it private, corporate, or governmental, necessitates at its core, a responsibility to the society that each are a member of.  In short, each one of us must tread upon land, and live somewhere upon that land, of which, when a small and select minority are able to dictate to the majority, that they solely have the exclusive right to do what they so will or won’t do with their land property, per their volition; then a reasonable response to such a self-serving attitude is that in order for there to be some sort of fair play involved, good governance therefore steps in to appropriately tax or penalize that property of those that are not good and responsible stewards of the land they so own.

We are called to love one another

Life in this world, doesn’t have to be so serious, so complicated, and so dramatic as it so often plays out for so many of us.  Regrettably, there are a significant amount of people that live their lives in such a way, that when the bell so tolls for them, they are dismayed and also frustrated that a meaningful percentage of their life consisted of missteps, mixed emotions, and mistakes; that all served to take them away from seeing that life at its core, is truly about being loving and caring, one to another.

This does not need to be a world of one-upmanship, of competition, of blind ambition; or contrarily a world seen through the eyes of someone that is enthralled to drink, drugs, gratuitous sex, or mindless entertainment.  We are meant to see this world as an opportunity to test ourselves in a construct in which we will not always get what we think that we want, but instead we eventually learn, perhaps through trial and error, or perhaps through the wisdom of a good mentor, that we are meant to see this world as a place to interact with one another in a manner in which we harmonize one with another, for the greater good of one another.

All those that insist that the only success worth celebrating, is that of material success, will almost for a certainly have their day in this world, but will probably not have a good or satisfying existence, outside of this earthly realm.  To see this world as a zero-sum game, does an injustice to that who created us in the first place; for the limits that we may think so exist, are only the limits of those that are wrong thinking, so believing that in order to get to where they claim that they so desire to get to, necessitates a selfish and self-serving approach, often by any means so necessary, above all else.

Many people have a rather poor understanding of what love actually is; of which for some they are far too sentimental, for others they are far too capricious, and for others they are far too manipulative.  Love isn’t really any of those attributes, for true love is that love that first and foremost, desires the good of the other person, for no other reason than this is what we should desire for everyone.  Love is never conflicted, love is never here today and gone tomorrow, and finally love is not ever conditional.  

Love is the very essence of God, of which each one of us should be ever grateful for. Recognize, no matter what we should say, feel, or do, that God keeps on loving us, no matter what. God will not ever forsake us, and God as well as the human spirit will surely celebrate with us, when we come to our senses and become more loving and more understanding with others.  Love is patient, love is kind, love is non-judgmental, and there is nothing ever, or even conceivable, that could ever conquer love, for that which is love is perfection; and to thereby seek that which is perfection is the highest calling that we so have.

The evisceration of the 26th Amendment

In 1971, the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, so permitting those who were at the age of majority, that is, eighteen, to finally be franchised to vote.  The point of this Amendment was to provide to those so being eligible to be drafted into military service, at least the opportunity to democratically vote upon legislation and legislatures – of those issues of pertinence to them, because for a certainty, those that have no vote, but are subject to giving their last dying breath to their country, are certainly not free.

At the time of the passage of the 26th Amendment, the legal drinking age as well as the smoking age within the United States, was 18, but since the passage of this Amendment, this has subsequently been raised to 21.  What the United States has basically done is that while lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, it has on the other hand, raised the age so needed to have a legal drink or to smoke tobacco; as if to say, that those that are 18, though legally adults, aren’t really responsible enough to be adults.  If that was really true, though, why is it that those that are 18, are still considered to be old enough to die for their country, but cannot have a drink or to smoke, legally?

Those that are United States centric, might just think that its updated drinking and smoking age, must be pretty much the norm throughout the world, but it most certainly is not.  There is no other western nation of any size or power, that has instituted the same sort of age restriction rules in regards to drinking and smoking, probably because these other countries are quite cognizant that there comes a time when each of us will leave childhood to enter adulthood; rather than their being some ill-conceived in-between stage of not quite being a child and not quite being an adult.

There are all sorts of laws so passed for our expressed benefit, or for the supposed good of society, but that doesn’t necessarily make those laws either just or right.  This government and the busybodies that work hand-in-glove with them, seem to believe that by pushing the age of majority ever higher for things such as drinking or smoking, that this will make for a better and safer society; but if this was logically true on any level, then how is it that drinking or smoking is ever legal, or considered to be an activity that could be ever be perceived as being responsible or appropriate?

Those that are adults, are entitled to make decisions per their own volition, of which, not every decision so being made is going to be the right or the best decision, but that is the nature of what freedom of choice consists of.  It would be well to remember this vital fact, that America, gets involved in all sorts of wars, battles, and altercations throughout this world, of which, the real consequence of such includes death, injury, harm, mayhem, and post-traumatic stress disorder.  Apparently, all that is absolutely fine to do, once a given individual turns 18, but somehow at that age having a drink or smoke is considered to be detrimental to the health and welfare of that person. 

Fear God, and none else

Just about everybody has a fear of something, or phobias, or both.  The fact that we are prone to being fearful of losing our life, or our job, or our family, or this or that, is fairly common, of which, this type of fear is consistent with the erroneous belief, including, even some of those of faith, that the annihilation of our body, is the annihilation of our existence.  It is imperative to recognize that our physical body, is not now and never will be eternal, but merely is the physical manifestation of who and what we are in this material world; but never is the physical body or the conditions of that body, our true essence.  Remember this well, that which is eternal, cannot ever be destroyed, not by anything of this world, and not by anything beyond such.  We are eternal, currently living in the present day in a limited physical body; of which that body will betray us at some point, either though age, accident, or by damage by those that harm us.

The improper hold that so many people and institutions have upon us, often has an awful lot to do with their utilizing their power and their influence to impact our existence, by, for instance, the denial or the compromising of our fair access to healthcare, employment, freedom, housing, opportunity and the like; of which the nature of this type of exercise is to thereby get us to submit to those authorities or else suffer the consequences of not adhering to such.  This type of pressure so exerted against us, plays upon our natural fears, and is utilized by those in power again and again to manipulate us; but we need not play that game, for we always have the option to simply do the best that we can do within the structure that we are dealing with -- with the implicit understanding that though our physical body has needs, and our ego cries out for this or that, we are not our body and we are not our ego; of which our body and our ego must remain subservient to our true essence as God’s own.

Any human being that does not fear the evil that humans are so disposed to be, is someone representing well who they really are.  There are far too many people of good character, that crumble when they should stand strong, because they fear the consequences of not giving in to that which has the power to hurt them or their loved ones – not seeming to comprehend that every time that we give in to evil, even when it seems like the sensible thing to do, we are in our own way, contributing to the strengthening of that evil.  The physical life that we have should best be seen as a role that we are playing on the big stage of life, of which, that life is no more and no less than an aspect of who we actually are, but it is not at its core, who we really are.  Therefore, to the extent that we have the wisdom to do so, we need to be true to God, and God alone, for ultimately it is only God that we answer to; and all those that play the role meant to scare us, to intimidate us, and to compromise us, cannot ever hold a candle to that which is our Creator, for their perceived power exists only in this realm, and none other.

To be thy brother’s keeper requires real effort, commitment, and perseverance

There are all sorts of people that profess that they are Christian as well as there also being many others that are at least nominally faithful to their particular religion, of which, as part of being of that faith, such normally requires some degree of commitment from those that are faithful -- so demonstrating in action that they are committed to helping others in their needs.  After all, to profess a belief in God, or to simply attend religious services, and perhaps make a monetary donation or two, but never to actually go out into the world and to actively help those that are the most vulnerable, that are hurting, and that are destitute, is a religious faith of little value and of correspondingly little eternal return.

The whole point of being a believer in God, within one’s particular faith, is for that belief, to not only be of benefit for one’s own self, but also, and far more importantly, to be a benefit for others that we interact with, day-by-day.  We are meant to make a positive difference in this world, and wherever we see injustice, unfairness, strife, and similar, it is our solemn duty to perform what we can so do that will help to ameliorate such; for the very change that this world so needs, can only be actuated by enough people diligently pursuing what needs to be accomplished, in order for this to be a more just and a fairer place for all.

The story of the good Samaritan, so told in Holy Scripture, applies to each one of us; and every time that we come across a given scenario in which we see something that is obviously wrong, or a person that clearly is in some sort of distress, and thereby cross the street so as to pretend such doesn’t exist, or perhaps even to mouthed the words in parting, “bless you, poor soul,” but do nothing of substance to help, we have clearly shown our true colors.  Again and again, we are tested in this world, of which the very point of those tests so given, is to make it unequivocally clear as to who and what we really are.  So then, those that think right, but have no actions to support those thoughts are thereby found guilty for their lack of meaningful impact; whereas, those, on the other hand, that have done their fair share of sinning as well as shameful deeds, but have had the gumption and follow through to help out another troubled soul, have done that which is pleasing to their Creator.

There are no easy roads or ever a shortcut to get to where we most need to go.  We can more readily get there, though, by proving to ourselves as well as to valued others, that the world does not revolve around our own self, but instead, that all are equally entitled to the fruits of this world; and thereby it is our obligation to do our part to work well with others, so that each in time can help the other, so that together we can safely arrive at our final destination, of that in which there is no beginning and there is no end.

What is sin?

All sorts of religions define sin in a lot of different ways; of which, essentially that which is sin is best defined as all that which is not in accordance with the attributes and harmony of God.  Further to the point, because human beings are prone to error, as well as lacking in the wisdom to necessarily know what is right or wrong, always and forever; while also being subject to confusion, and additionally being susceptible to allowing one’s emotions to get the better of them, this thus is indicative that there are consequently all sorts of errors and sins so made, knowingly or not, but nevertheless actuated, by people, that are wrong.  That said, though there may in fact be a good excuse or reason for why a given sin was committed; it is well to remember that there are plenty of things that individuals do have good control over, in regards to their thinking, their desires, and their subsequent actual actions; of which, wrong desires and wrong thoughts, are the foundation of why sin exists and persists.

In truth, there are plenty of people that deliberately do wrong, and seemingly don’t seem to care that they have, perhaps blithely assuming that there will be no consequences, but every wrong so committed, has some sort of meaningful consequence attached to it.  Then there are others that make errors in judgment, seemingly not desiring to do so, but somehow not having the strength of character to prevent themselves from doing so; but error is error, no matter the pathway.  Further, there are people that know for a certainty that they are doing something that is wrong, as well as understanding that there are eventual negative consequences to such a wrong, but they go ahead and do it anyway, for they see the supposed benefit or pleasure of such an action as being their current preference, and simply won’t give it up, willingly.  So too, there are those others, that do not wish to listen to their good conscience, so they drown such out through drugs, drinks, or emotions run amok, so that they can get back to their sinning. Finally, there are those that don’t seem to take appropriate cognizance, that the basis for just about everyone that sins is allowing wrongful thinking and inappropriate desires to get a foothold into one’s mind, and subsequently they then simply go ahead and do what is so done, and let the chips fall where they may.

Our God is a God of justice, truth, love, and wisdom.  God never gets it wrong, but then again, that is the eternal nature of God.  Human beings, so created by God, are here in this world, as a fair testing ground of their character -- so tested by the wiles, tricks, and temptations, that cross our everyday paths.  We are here primarily to prove our worth in a field of battle, so that having successfully accomplished and having overcome obstacles so put in our way, we can therefore be the light that will aid and help those that have lost their way, so that they too can find the promised land, so needed for eternal happiness.  We are to be that light of unconditional love, and those that are in the light, have risen above sin; and those that are in darkness, despair, and ignorance, have not.

Wishing is never the same as doing

There are plenty of people that will wish for good results, or hope for such, but wishing or hoping is never the same thing as doing; for those that wish for something, whether for themselves or for others, but are not willing to put forth the genuine effort to get there, or even to thoughtfully map out a plan which demonstrates some aforethought, and then therefore devote some resources to accomplishing such, are subsequently not going to be getting anywhere of merit, anytime soon.  The bottom line, is that wishing is the lazy person's plan to achieve things, and not too surprisingly, those that simply wish, and go no further through their own individual effort, will progress not a whit.

It is easy to complain, and all sorts of people are prone to doing exactly that; of which some things so complained upon, are not susceptible to being easily corrected or even ever corrected, whereas some things, especially through extraordinary effort and persistence most certainly can be.  This thus signifies that what we so do definitely matters and that all those that have the intrepid spirit to get beyond the wishing stage, so as to actually pursue what so needs to be pursued, are putting themselves on the pathway of making a difference, by doing their part to not only help the cause, but, even more importantly, typically risking something of value or worth to get there.

Those that so desire to live in a world of wishful entitlement, are living in the smallest of worlds, of which, they are limiting themselves to basically climbing the littlest of hills, and fording the shallowness of streams. If they think, therefore, that they are actually making a meaningful contribution to making this a better world, they are sadly mistaken; for those that want to effect change, and those that want to do their part for the noblest of causes, as well as for the good of societies, are only those that are willing to participate in the positive actions of purpose, that necessitate a consequential commitment of blood, sweat, and tears.

If we could simply wish for things and then they so occurred, then that would make us godlike, but we are not gods.  Instead, we are gifted with the power to discern those causes of good repute, that are worthy of our time and effort, therefore often leading others of like mindedness to commit to such, and with the purposeful devotion of those people, as well as those others that join the cause along the way, meaningful progress is so made.

It must be said, that simply wishing or hoping or desiring for good things to occur, without corresponding actions, is the error of believing that right thinking brings right results.  In truth, right thinking is only the beginning of what could bring right results; and of which in order for such to be actualized, is going to necessitate the extensive effort of good people – determined to settle for nothing less than the goal so set forth, of which to obtain that certain something of real merit and worth, will require commitment, foresight, focus, and the unrelenting purpose to keep on going till the destination is reached. 

Just-in-time labor

Companies feel an obligation to be cost efficient, of which, typically one of the highest cost components of corporations is the labor component; so that, companies are forever trying to come up with concepts that will reduce their labor costs, which therefore provides them with not only a leaner organization, but typically also an improved bottom line, including their profitability.  The fact is that nowadays a significant amount of the largest multinational corporations in the world outsources a meaningful amount of their work to third world countries, so as to take advantage of significantly lower labor costs, along with typically seeing lower costs for the infrastructure so utilized, and often far more lax environmental regulations enforced.  The upshot is that a lot of that work so outsourced, utilizes at an absolute minimum any direct employees of that corporation, and relies almost exclusively instead on that work being truly outsourced and therefore subcontracted to an authorized company, under the criteria so set by the controlling corporation; in which, in truth, those that are the labor product for that outsourcing, are pretty much treated as just-in-time labor, because these subcontracted companies are often so necessarily lean, that they hire, dictate the hours so worked, insist on overtime, as needed, and lay off or fire their workers at will.

That said, there is also essentially just-in-time labor in America; which, of course, could not and would not even exist if labor unions were materially relevant, to wit, at Amazon, or Walmart, and so many other companies, that seem to be a perfect fit and vulnerable to a strong labor union force, which would thereby provide benefits and protection for those that labor at these companies that sale billions upon billions of dollars of goods each and every year.  Instead, we have something akin to just-in-time labor, so demonstrated by the fact that a significant amount of the workers at these powerful corporations do not receive a fixed working schedule on a weekly basis, but are instead subject to having their hours changed week to week, not only just on the days of the week so being worked, but also the actual time schedule of the hours so worked on a given day in a given week.  Not only does this mean, that an employee so working under those conditions, does not really know how much or how little that they will receive paycheck to paycheck, but they don’t even know for a certainty what their schedule actually is for the coming week, until they are notified by management, which clearly is indicative of what just-in-time labor functionally means.

Clearly, when corporations are permitted to staff up when workers are needed, and to staff down when workers are not needed, so done even on a daily basis, perhaps even hourly, then their efficiency of the use of that labor, materially improves.  Perhaps this even seems fair to some people, but recognize this salient point, that these powerful corporations are essentially treating human beings as if they aren’t really human; but rather as someone not really worth the fair and proper consideration that they are real people, worthy of having a voice, of a steady job with steady hours, benefits, job security, and a living wage.

When corporate profits get ever more concentrated the people lose

This nation has at times, shown some governmental spine and foresight by the understanding that just about all private enterprise monopolies are a bane upon the American people, and in absence of some compelling reason why these monopolies should exist, have subsequently enacted necessary legislation to counteract such; however, in recent years that government has been consistently asleep at the wheel.  The fact of the matter is that monopolies and duopolies and all those businesses in which competition essentially seems to have ceased to exist, places those corporations in the catbird seat of being able to extract extra profit from those that are their clientele, which thereby unfairly increases corporate profit, corporate power, and corporate sales.

The thing is that it is the natural order for companies, to look for ways to dominate their market share, through all possible means, and as much as they might applaud the capitalistic system they actually don't desire to really personally compete, but rather prefer instead to find a way, fair or foul, to take market share away from those that would or do compete against them.  It doesn't help that in recent times, the national government has seemed blithely unconcerned about this obvious increased concentration of power into ever fewer hands, demonstrated thereby by permitting those that would be or could be competing against each other, being instead permitted to merge with one another, which therefore makes the parent company stronger and ever more dominant in their particular domain, which hardly seems prudent or fair for the general public.

The one thing that you can count on when it comes to the biggest and most powerful multinational corporations in America, is their relentless desire to increase sales, to increase profits, and to increase their market share.  This thus means that there isn't a single company out there that will ever make a statement that they are satisfied with their current status and have no further desire to improve upon it.  Therefore, all those that somehow believe that corporations won't try to get ever bigger, even when they are already huge, aren't paying attention to what is really going on; and when those corporations essentially control their market space, then this thus gives them the power to dictate the terms and prices of that they are selling, thus assuring them therefore of a steady stream of healthy revenue growth and profit.

Further to the point, when corporations essentially are permitted to be monopolistic in nature, or when they ostensibly compete among one another, but are actually in cahoots with rival firms, then the general public is poorly served; and in absence of some other entity somehow wreaking havoc upon them, these privileged corporations are simply counting up the profits that come their way.  The bottom line is that corporations have a continuous lust for more, of which, they intuitively recognize that in absence of competition, and in absence of meaningful regulation, as well as in the absence of  any governmental fiat that thereby forces them to divest and to split apart, that it is very  much smooth sailing for their business enterprise, because absolutely nothing stands in their way; for when any corporation dominates their space of  products and services, that fulfills a need, then the price that they so demand, is the price which must be paid.

The protected class are prone to violence against those that are unprotected

When in a nation, there is a given class of people or of a given race or both, that thereof are seen to be privileged, so determined by and enforced by the power brokers of that nation, and, of which, this is confirmed through the policing arm and justice halls of that country; then this leads to those that are in that favored and protected class to having their way, against all others, and in particular, against those that are considered to be the most un-favored class of people or of race.

As bad as that so appears, it gets ever worse, for when one protected class is functionally permitted to do whatever it so desires against the most vilified and targeted unprotected class, then the unfairness and persecution against those that have the temerity to not know their appropriate place is thereby enforced in ways and means which can be extraordinarily unjust and violent.  After all, all those that are powerless, and of which, those in power are quite cognizant of this, are going to essentially be at the mercy of those wielding that power, and when those in power show no mercy, or are in fact, reveling in being abusive, then the powerless will become their targeted victims of that cruelty.

It would be well to remember that there are scores of people that won't engage in violence or bad acts when they are properly fearful that there will be a fair price for them to pay in so doing; yet, when they are aware that there appears to be some sort of immunity for their actions so being taken, against those in particular that are un-championed, then little will dissuade them from doing what they so desire, in recognition that they need not fear any sort of retaliation.

All of the above basically means, that when there are laws on the books, which preach of equality under the law, fairness, even-handedness, impartiality, and of which the ugly reality is that this application of the law, in realty, is, at best, unevenly applied, or simply ignored, all in subservience to the desires of the protected class; then the end result is going to be the continual abuse and the suppression of these universal rights at the expense of that unprotected class.

There are words of law so written onto paper, and then there are the actual actions of people, so taken under consideration of how that law is applied in actuality.  The very point of good law, is in particular, for the expressed protection of those that are the most vulnerable to lawless acts being initiated against them, as opposed to such law providing the illusion of fairness and justice, and instead serving the interests of the protected class, to functionally oppress the fair rights of others.   All those that are for all practical purposes above the law, have nothing to stop them from abusing others that are not protected by those laws so written for their good protection; and those that know that the law will not help them in their time of need, have little recourse to that violence and other unfair acts enacted against them, except to insist upon its exposure, in the hopes that this might just eventually bring forth the better nature of our collective character.

The forgotten Civil Rights Act of 1875

The Civil Rights Act of 1875, was initiated by Senator Charles Sumner, however, this Act was not passed and ratified until after his death.  The Act essentially said that “...it is the duty of government in its dealings with the people to mete out equal and exact justice to all.”  This Act made it abundantly clear that all persons shall be treated equally, and had therefore equal rights under the law.  Had this Act, been actually enforced and taken to heart, the Civil Rights Act so passed under LBJ in 1964, would not have been necessary; but unfortunately, the Civil Rights Act of 1875, was pretty much a dead letter, and officially became an Act of no effect, when the Supreme Court ruled that discrimination was not applicable to private individuals or organizations, and further to the point, the federal government's justice department, simply never enforced this Act, at all.

The very failure of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, and the subsequent removal of Federal  military control after the Civil War upon those Southern States, meant the betrayal not only of that Civil Rights Act, but the vacating of the 13th-15th Amendments to the Constitution, as well as the subsequent  ultimate return of the Southern aristocracy to the forefront and power of those same Southern States -- supported by a court and justice system, which did not and would not enforce laws that were specifically ratified to provide equal treatment for all, which was especially of concern for those that were previously enslaved.

Once the Southern States re-obtained their power, they were then able to hold at bay for decades, any meaningful civil rights being enforced within this country, and essentially made this a nation that effectively was separate and unequal, and thus successfully held back the progress of those of color, for decades, despite the fact that legislated law was supportive of the unequivocal position that this was not a nation, of different laws for different races or creeds within it, but of one people, united, instead.  Further to the point, the time to right the ship of America, was surely after that bloody Civil War, and to the credit of those that legislated these new important laws, they did the right thing; but those that interpreted such and enforced such most certainly did not.

In life, there are two main steps to effect positive change, of which the first is having the wisdom to acknowledge past wrongs and to thereby correct such; and the second is to see that such correction is actually functionally applied, consistently.  In truth, America, has much wisdom, but it has historically not been true to its lofty and noble sentiments, but instead has often lacked the courage and follow through to do what is morally right.

It is absolutely disheartening that great legislatures have done their part to effect justice for those that previously have been discriminated against and yet these people still continue to suffer for nothing more than the complexion of their skin or from their religious faith; and of which, again and again, America has failed to take to heart, that the correct time to do the right thing, is always in the present, and always will be.