Africa as the new breadbasket of the world

The United States is considered to be the breadbasket of the world, because it grows, harvests, and supplies the necessary grains so needed to feed people, throughout the world. As might be imagined, the necessity of food, is something that is nothing to be dismissed as being trivial; because a population that is not being fed is going to be both hungry and uneasy, of which, countries that cannot reliably feed their people at a reasonable cost to those people, are in danger of something tragic happening to those people or to stability of its governance, or both.

We read that McKinsey & Company report that "sixty percent of the world’s uncultivated, arable land lies in Africa." This is very good news for Africa, for Africa is not only a continent young in age, but it also is a continent that has an awful lot of mouths to feed; and, of which, should Africa properly develop the land that is currently arable into their version of the breadbasket, this thus becomes beneficial for the people of Africa, as well as also being of needful benefit to the people of the world.

There is a general belief that whoever today's leaders are in a given industry, will also, somehow, be the same leaders tomorrow, and that this, thus goes on forever. In reality, that isn't the way that this world actually operates, because industries do rise and industries do fall, and those established insitutions that have not taken into proper consideration that other countries are themselves also quite capable of generating goods and foods that have previously been performed competently for lengthy periods of time by the historical leaders of such, and thus, believe can't be duplicated or challenged by anyone else, have got it terribly wrong.

For instance, America was once a nation that did a whole lot of domestic manufacturing, but in recent decades a significant portion of that domestic manufacturing has been outsourced to other nations, because those nations are clearly more cost efficient for that manufacturing. This thus signifies that a continent, as in Africa, that is just beginning its economic rise, is more than capable of undercutting in price just about everything that the United States so produces as the world's breadbasket of choice -- should they so choose to concentrate upon that. So too, they could, alternatively to that, at a minimum, make for a viable second source choice for the world, at large.

There is something to be said for the value of being self-sufficient, such as in energy, water, shelter, and in food. Those then, that are able to feed their population very efficiently and reliability, have provided their people with the necessary foundation, which will thus allow those people to be better able to concentrate upon all those other industries and endeavors that will best advanced those peoples. The march then for Africa to continue its progress for its people, will be aided and abetted, by the abundance of its future domestic breadbasket production, closely followed by the export of the excess of such, for profit, to surrounding nations.

The people need to have the power to hold their government, accountable

The Declaration of Independence, makes it clear that a legitimate government of, for, and by the people, derives its just powers from the consent of the governed; which is the people of that nation.

Yet, how many people, can honestly say, that they believe that virtually anything that the current government does under their name or for their supposed benefit is actually being done through their consent?

Perhaps this type of governance as presently practiced, would be okay, if the government, essentially acted as a worthy proxy for the people, but far too often it does not – and some of the time, it clearly does not. This thus signifies that the only possible way to have better governance is for the people to have the power to actually hold that government, that acts on their behalf, actually accountable for its actions.

After all, whenever a government, essentially exists as an institution, in which, it is not reasonably held to a fair review or to a full account of its actions, by the people, or through the people's duly elected representatives, then that government, is going to have a strong inclination to act and behave in a manner that benefits those that are its true actuators and hence its true beneficiaries. Whether or not, people in America, are satisfied with their government, can best be answered by whether or not, the people, themselves, are well pleased.

For example, America, is a very wealthy nation, so one might reasonably assume that in consideration that America has so much wealth that such wealth would be distributed or re-distributed in such a manner, that the people, would therefore have securely in their hands, all that they would reasonably need to lead a satisfactory life. Yet, what we so find, is that America, is a country that seems to reflect that this is a nation of the few that have so much, and quite a few, that have so little.

One of the most significant problems that America has, is that despite its Constitution, and thus the division of its governance into the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches, that a significant amount of those representatives of the people, don't seem to have a lot in common with a lot of the people that they ostensibly represent, on either the issues or in their respective lifestyles Further to the point, for a certainty, most of the time in regards to the issues that are of most relevance to the people, this government or its representatives seldom answers to the people, at all, or when it does so, it is often done, reluctantly.

A government that was actually accountable to the people, would behave a whole lot different than our present day government does, because any time that any institution, is subject to being audited and has to answer those inconvenient questions that are asked at inconvenient times, then that government is going to have a strong tendency to behave in a way and manner, more in conformance to the desires of those that are holding it accountable. So then, as it stands, right now, this government is not being held accountable by the people; though, truth be told, it is for a certainty being held accountable to those that are its true masters.

Alienation and crime

There are a lot of reasons why crime is committed in any country, of which, certainly the basis for many a crime, has to do with the fact that the person so committing that crime, feels alienated from society in a way and manner, that they feel like they do not belong to such, or consider themselves not to be a member in good standing of that society. This thus signifies that the more people that buy into society, and desire to be a member in good standing within that society, are the very type of people that will commit less crime – therefore, it behooves society, in general, to desire to reach out to those that are on a pathway of alienation, or appear to be alienated from that society, to help them to improve their outlook,which thus becomes beneficial overall for that society, in whole.

It certainly makes sense, that those that are satisfied with their life, and therefore are happy with their circumstances, aren't the type of people that, for the most part, are committing criminal acts. This would clearly indicate that people that are happy with their lot, or are on the pathway to such satisfaction, aren't going to be tempted or to be susceptible to the contemplation or the execution of a criminal act – whereas those that aren't satisfied, and don't believe that they can find such satisfaction are going to have a strong tendency to want to strike back at that society, because of their frustration and dissatisfaction.

So too, life is consistent to the world that we live in – so that, those that are themselves the downtrodden of society; will typically find themselves, because of their weak position and their low social status, subject to often being treated unjustly, as well as to being exploited, by their lack of social standing. They have, become victimized – and clearly are not being valued by society as something of real worth, but rather they have been devalued by that society, which serves to create a clear divide between those people and that society, and therefore alienation from it.

It has to be recognized that those that are especially violent and criminally minded, are people that feel like they don't fit in with orthodox society, and because of that feeling, along with often the hoplessness of their situation in which they perceive that their voice is unheard and unrecognized, they thus take to committing acts that are ultimately going to be heard and will be recognized. That is to say, those that believe that they do not have the ways and means to have a constructive life within the framework of society, are going to, because of their lack of viable good options as well as their lack of perceived fair opportunity, do what they need to do, in order to obtain, if just for the moment, some self-respect.

So too, modern society, adds pressure to this situation, by all of the wealth and material possessions that are considered to be the markers of real success – thus, those that are covetousness of such a marker, and feeling that there are no legitimate pathways for their own personal success; believe then, that they will best relieve their frustration and alienation, by their forthright engagement in criminal acts.

The moral high ground

It really isn't possible to teach anything of lasting value from a moral perspective, if we, ourselves, represent a contradiction to those higher morals, or when we are inconsistent to such. The thing about morals, is that if we don't live to the heart of their structure, we have, in essence, betrayed them. In other words, it isn't reasonable to believe that we can help to effect positive change upon anyone, when we aren't able to stay in harmony with the righteous moral value that we are thus espousing.

The test of any ethical system, is how it reacts, when it is really put to the test. That is to say, when everything is going well, and we are getting along with everyone, then it's relatively easy to be civil and accommodating; whereas, when we are challenged by something that upsets us, or is insulting to us, or is very annoying to us, then how we so react to this potential provocation says a lot about whether we are actually true to our espoused values, or whether we are in fact, no better than those that appear to be so inconsistent and confused. After all, wrong or right, those that are at least, consistent in their persona, are representing what they really are – as opposed to those that are not, who seem to change with the circumstances so presented to them, or to give in to their moodiness or error.

In order to effect change for the better, we have to demonstrate in action, that in regards to our ethical values that mean so much to us, that we are true to such. For a certainty, those that know which road that they should take, and then fail to consistently walk the pathway of that road; have to themselves and to those that they interact with, committed a wrong. To stay upon the high road, we have to continue to walk upon it; which signifies that whatever obstacles come our way, must be dealt with upon that road, and done so successfully, or else we have fallen down and have slipped away from that good pathway.

If, in the end, there does not appear to be much difference in the ultimate action so taken, between one guiding philosophy as opposed to another -- because those that preach the most considerate words and ethics, can't themselves live up to those words; then many a person, isn't going to bother to see either as being much different than the other. We are what we actually do, which means that it is our responsibility to live up to that which we know to be the right and the better way, and of which, it is therefore our responsibility to rise up to the commitment so bestowed upon us, if we desire to be considered as someone that is actively working to make this world a better place for our involvement in it; by recognizing that in order to do so, we must acknowledge in our actions between one another, that we are ultimately all one big family, and therefore we must embrace the best of family values, which are best represented by consideration, patience, forgiveness, generosity, and love.

Capital Punishment and the theatre of the absurd

Indeed, there are all sorts of things that America, which claims the moniker as being the "leader of the free world," does to its own people and to others, that are absolutely absurd. After all, America's own Declaration of Independence, makes the sensible claim, that "life" is one of the unalienable rights that all are equally entitled to – which signifies that when any agency so takes away a life, there needs to be some sort of inquest, as to the justification or legitimacy of such. Most people, then, do agree, that those that deliberately and under premeditation take away a person's life are best classified as murderers. Those then, that do so under the passion of the moment, or in a state of some inebriation, are also guilty of murder, but have some extenuating circumstances, that may be applicable to take thus into consideration, for each respective case. Then there are all those that accidentally kill someone, who aren't even necessarily classified as murderers, but often are more appropriately classified as having committed the crime of manslaughter. So, no doubt, not every killing, is a murder, though it is clear that a premeditated and deliberate killing of someone has the clear markings of what makes for a murder.

America has an awful lot of criminals, in which, some of these criminals are murderers, and thereby may be subject to themselves paying the ultimate price for that murder, which, in some places, is the death penalty, and therein lies the rub. The one thing that we do know is that somebody that has been killed, cannot come back to life, no matter what – this thus indicates that to punish the murderer by killing then the perpetrator can only be appropriately seen as a form of retribution, which thus leads to the next question -- which is, in consideration that the deliberate and premeditated killing of another, is a form of murder, then how is this state action, not itself, classified as an act of murder?

The typical answer of the state, runs along the lines, that all those that have been found guilty of a crime, which is thereby subject to capital punishment, and of which, the due punishment, so being imposed by that jury, has been determined to be an execution, then the State thus has the obligation to carry out that sentence on behalf of the people. This would seem to state, that there are exceptions to the general rule of murder; and therefore capital punishment, by the state, is one of those exceptions. That though, certainly doesn't make it right, from a moral perspective, because those that carry out state-sanctioned executions, are by their actions, deliberately taking the life of another, in cold blood, which actually appears to be the marking of a sociopath, and not that of a responsible, advanced, and civil society.

That is to say, to believe that to end killing, the state needs to kill, as well – basically, means that every citizen within that country does not really have the unalienable right of life, because the state, has itself, risen above that unalienable right, and is the ultimate determinate of such. In other words, when the state is allowed to kill its own citizens for what seems to be justifiable reasons, then clearly the lesson so being taught, has no sound moral grounding, because the state appears to be saying, that the premeditated and deliberate taking of another human being's life, is legitimate, as long as it is done through the auspises of the state

American Indians, African-Americans and the reservation system

Before the white man took over dominion of what became known as the United States of America, there was said to have been, about sixty million American Indians on this land. Yet, somehow, centuries later, the Census Bureau tells us that, as of 2020, there are about only 6.79 million American Indians, in this a land of 329.5 million peoples. What happened to the American Indian, could be best described, as systematic annihilation, and a litany of broken promises -- in addition to American Indians suffering from virulent and often deadly viruses, typically brought to them through the white man, that they had no natural immunity to -- all thus serving to decimate their population.

The present status of American Indians demonstrates that a significant portion of them, are confined to, or live within American Indian reservations – which to the uninitiated might even sound like a pretty compassionate idea, in the sense that these reservations, are nominally self-governing as well as providing to these American Indians land that they either individually own or our held in the hands of the Federal government, for the expressed or implied benefit of those American Indians. The problem, though, with reservations, for those that have surveyed or visited such, is that the conditions within those reservations, are often that which represents poverty, dilapidation, neglect, and an overall despondency. That is to say, one of the reasons why American Indians are placed onto reservations, is something akin to the attitude of “out of sight, out of mind."

When it comes to African-Americans, there never has been, nor is there anticipated to be, reservations so set aside for those African-Americans. While there were indeed, discussions held at the highest echelons of government, of what to do with African-Americans, before, during and after the Civil War --in which the hope from some of those of influence, was to repatriate them back to Africa or similar, is the inconvenient fact, that most African-Americans that were already in America, saw America as their homeland, and therefore did not desire to leave; but rather what they wished for instead from that government, of, for, and by the people was a fair opportunity to achieve gainful employment, home ownership, as well as to receive a good education for themselves and progeny.

The decision by African-Americans to basically be assimilated into American society, as opposed to some sort of reservation system being set aside for them, has for the most part, been the correct one; of which, in recent decades we so find, that African-Americans have more commonly been judged upon the content of their character, as opposed to the color of their skin. Whereas, we find that American Indians that live upon reservation lands, have been provided with an inferior shadow American experience, which has placed them into a world in which they are treated primarily with “benign neglect,” which thus does not provide them with enough material aid or the wherewithal to ever advance themselves, from a rather precarious situation, in which, though the white man no longer directly harasses them, that same white man doesn’t do much constructively to aid them, either – thus leaving American Indians in a perpetuity of poverty, without any realistic hope of ever advancing from such.

Order before safety

There are plenty of those that profess that we need more public order, so as to best assure that the public will therefore be safe. While on the surface, this does appear to make eminent sense -- the reality of the situation is far more complicated; and so, what we find is that the actual practice of public order being enforced on behalf of the good of the safety of the people, is often unsatisfactorily so done, and in particular, very unsatisfactory to a certain subset of those people. In other words, in a lot of instances, in which, for example, the public has gathered in a form of protest, the policing arm of the state, have been instructed to, above all else, enforce order upon those people – an act oftentimes considered to be necessary in order to protect, defend, and to assure order for that which is perceived to be in jeopardy – which thus by virtue of such an action, often ends up infringing upon the people’s safety, that are so protesting.

Again, it must be stated that those that profess the loudest for more order, under whatever guise such order is seemingly justified upon – are essentially doing so, to protect their vested interests, above all else. In other words, in general, the lack of order and discipline is bad for business and normality – so that, when this disorder is thus permitted to occur again and again, it has a way of destabilizing that which is considered to be the norm for a particular community or business, which essentially interferes with the habits and inclinations of that community.

What most nations want, and therefore what most people desire, is for the “trains to run on time,” because whenever things are disrupted, this makes everything that needs to be accomplished on a given day, more problematic and cumbersome. Further to the point, most governments, do not desire for their people, to overthink anything at all, or to ever consider on their own volition, the contemplation of changing the status quo; but rather the elites want the general public to go about and get done what these elites need to see get done, which is often collectively far more beneficial for those that represent that elite status quo at its highest level, than it so represents for the general public.

The best way to ensure public safety is to first recognize that the actual safety of the people, is more important, than enforcing order. That is to say, those that are typically designated with the responsibility to enforce order, are often going to do so, with the abiding purpose to utilize whatever means that they believe will take care of what is disrupting that order, and to do so, in a way and manner that has a strong inclination to be overzealous, while also typically lacking nuance, concern, or care for those that must be re-ordered. On the other hand, if public safety was more important than simply mandating and thus enforcing order, than the policing arm of the state, would be more cognizant that people that are being disruptive or are being a nuisance, should be best treated in a way and manner, that would nobly attempt to deescalate a given situation, and if something more than that is needed to rectify, to do so with constraint and consideration, above all.

Health care and the screwing of the American public

One could say, that without health, there is no life – so therefore, good health is something of not only personal importance, but also of national importance. The thing about for-profit health care is the salient fact that those that are in any business for profit, are clearly going to, concentrate upon that profit, above all, especially when they are publicly traded companies that have to answer to a responsible corporate board as well as to its stockholders. What many people may not realize, is that health care seems to be the type of business that has serious economic moats that thus keeps the bigger players, quite satisfied, because they are in the type of enterprise in which the returns and profits are enviable, without seemingly having to unduly worry about their business model ever being disrupted by any upstarts.

In fact, as written in Forbes magazine, the five biggest health care corporations in the world, are all American, and are respectively, United Health Group, Johnson & Johnson, CVS Health, Pfizer, and AbbVie. United Health Group was founded in 1977, Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886, CVS Health was founded in 1963, Pfizer was founded in 1849, and Abbott Laboratories which became AbbVie was founded in 1888. This thus means, that the five biggest health care providers are all themselves, institutions that have been around for decades upon decades, if not for over a century. Additionally, each of these corporations had profits in the multi-billions in 2021 and there isn’t any reason not to expect that to continue for each of them, well into the future.

The thing about health care, is quite frankly, people are going to pay directly or indirectly whatever that they need to pay to maintain their health – for the alternative to not doing so, can be rather catastrophic for them. We see ample proof of this by the fact that United States health care spending in 2021 was a staggering $4.3 trillion. Clearly, this amount of money in play, would be incentive enough, for anybody or any institution, desiring to get ahead, to want to try their hand at getting some of what is clearly a gargantuan amount of money. Yet, what we so see, is that the biggest health care companies, do not appear to be ceding much ground, if any, to rivals.

This would evidently imply that the way that health care is currently structured through our capitalistic system, is consistent with the belief that truly competitive capitalism for the biggest companies in the health care industry, appears not to be functioning the way that such was intended to be. This thus signifies, that this government needs to take into serious consideration, that in lieu of all the monies exiting the pockets of the people as well as the government of that people, that thus goes into the hands of these corporate behemoth health care companies, that such needs to be fully examined and then re-examined, instead. One way to investigate this, is to question as to whether a for-profit health care industry is actually beneficial in its structure for the health of the people, in whole – especially in consideration that the overall health of Americans in comparison to other western nations is indicative that not all is actually well within America – though it must be said all is quite well for these gargantuan health care companies.

Partisan politics

In order for any society to make the most progress for that society, there has to be some sort of reasonable consensus that those that are the people of that society, so agree upon, and therefore it is those policies that the people should collectively engage upon, in order, therefore, for that progress to best occur.  That is to say, while each one of us is going to have our own ideas about what we so desire or wish to occur for society – we have to take into fair account that other people are equally entitled to have their say, as well.  This thus means that having a debate or a discussion about public policy, most certainly has its proper place, along with the fact, that governments should indeed have politicians or something similar in form, which fairly serve to represent the people in regards to that governance, in whole.

It seems that what we see far too often in today’s political atmosphere, is not only a lot of anger and incivility expressed from one person to another, or from one position point to another, or from one political party to the other – but that the political atmosphere of America has devolved into factions, with major political parties that seem to be at loggerheads with one another, on a daily basis.  Perhaps this is the way that it has to be, in the sense, that those that feel strongly about something, should be reluctant to cede ground to anyone or anything.  Yet, in consideration that the government of this country, is supposed to have been created for the expressed benefit of the people of this nation, and of which, those that are our political leaders, have a Constitutional duty to be in lockstep with the consent of the people of such actions so taken; then, it could be argued that partisan politics would seem to add unnecessary drama to those thus truly seeking, essentially, a construct that provides them with fair opportunity, justice, and liberty, above all.

A nation that has lost its vision, is quite clearly not going to know where it really is, and often doesn’t even know its true destination.  In other words, there needs to be some abiding document, that represents the guiding light of all that those that governed this nation, can agreed upon – of which, that document is the Constitution of the United States, along with its Declaration of Independence, which was the impetus for the creation of this nation, to begin with. 

The thing about partisan politics, is that far too often, those pushing for one thing over another thing, aren’t really concerning themselves about what is good for Americans, in whole, but rather seem to be fixated upon what is good for them and those that support them, above all.  So then, what we so have, in reality, is a situation in which there is play of power and position, to favor certain interests, that when thus enacted, are beneficial to those specific interests, often at the expense of the public good.  Those then, that by their direct involvement in partisan politics should thus seldom be seen as patriots, but should be seen for what they really are, opportunists that are out for themselves and their clique, and virtually never for the public good.

The law in action is not always in sync with the law as written

In America, there are all sorts of rules and regulations, along with laws upon laws upon laws.  In truth, there are so many laws that have been written, of which the interpretation of some of these laws, varies from one judicial court to another, while also having a strong inclination to vary from one era to another era, in which that law is so adjudicated in.  That is to say, not every law is absolutely fixed and certain for all time – so too, and  further to the point, not every law, is equally applied to all, equally.  Rather, it could be said, that the law as written, does not necessarily accord to how that law is thus applied in action, and therein lies the rub.

While it’s nice to have laws that are clear, sensible, and seemingly fair – that doesn’t necessarily mean that every one of those laws will actually be applied in a way and manner, that such was intended for -- when it was first debated and written upon.  In consideration that there are an awful lot of lawyers, and in the sure knowledge that the thing about lawyers, is that a fair amount of them are rather clever – whereupon, we thus find that therefore when these lawyers are provided with an assignment in which their pay or their prestige, depends upon them stretching the law, or seeing the law as being in shades of gray, they are going to do their absolute darndest to find a given pathway so as to come up with a novel interpretation of such, that thus favors what they are so trying to accomplish for their client.  After all, a lot of clients are themselves quite aware of the law in question, and in short, don’t care to be compliant to it, and therefore are quite desirous of legal acumen that will interpret that law in a way that is favorable to their position, above all.

This thus signifies that the law in action is not necessarily the same thing as the law as written, of which, quite frankly there are plenty of people as well as institutions that are powerful, connected, or wealthy enough, who are willing then to pay just about any price to see that the law as applied to their particular case, is applied in a manner, that is favorable to them.  In short, well-intentioned laws, that are also well written, and so enacted for a specific purpose in order to exact fair justice, are actually subject to being interpreted by a court of law, in innovative ways, or even basically being ignored as a non-entity, which signifies that the law in action is not always in sync with the law as written.

As much as we like to believe that the law applies equally to all, and is therefore no respecter of persons – this simply isn’t the case, in reality.  In fact, when we take a comprehensive look at the law in action, we are able to see, time and time again, that the law in action, treats those that are well connected in a diametrically different way than those that are not – indicating, that the law in action often serves to protect and even to enhance the elites of society; so done at the expense of all those that aren’t themselves in that same catbird seat

Fair comparison

It seems like human nature to want to compare who and what we are, to other people that we meet, including friends, family, and peers.  Those so doing that comparison, often do so, as a way and means to determine whether they believe that they are in the better hierarchy of achievements and success in comparison to those other people.  Not too surprisingly, many people, are dissatisfied with their standing, which in the best of cases, serves as a meaningful prod to get them to thus go out and to do better in order to get to the place that they so desire to be.  Yet, whether satisfied or not, the comparison format that a significant amount of people, so utilize, is fundamentally flawed; for in truth, a fair comparison really shouldn’t be how we do or do not fare against another, but rather how someone else that was in our shoes, would themselves fare in our stead.

That is to say, as much as people want to believe that we all start at the same place, with the same conditions, the same opportunities, and the same this and the same that – this isn’t true, and even the most cursory of investigations, demonstrates this, conclusively.  In fact, some of us are born with all of the advantages and some of us are born with all of the disadvantages; so that, as in a game of golf, some of us have a very low or no handicap -- whereas, others, have a significantly higher or high handicap.  This thus signifies that in fairness, we need to take into full account the true situation of a person’s circumstances, in which, those then that are provided with the most favorable terms and conditions, should achieve far more than those that have not been placed into those same good circumstances.

So then, for all those that perhaps are overly proud of their achievements, or of their education, or of their status, or of their wealth, need to acknowledge that how proud that they should or should not be, is more fairly weighed by how well or how poorly someone else, under the same sorts of conditions, would fare, instead.  This then, is a fair test, because those that are born under the most trying of circumstances, shouldn’t be expected to reach the same sort of level, than those that are born with a silver spoon in their mouths so achieve – for to discount social status, connections, money, and the like as somehow not having any real meaning or merit to the subsequent success or lack thereof of a given individual, is unfair.

Each of us should indeed be judged upon our own merits, but extenuating circumstances and the acknowledgement that some circumstances are clearly far more conducive to success than others, needs also to be taken into full account.  After all, it’s easy to look down upon someone, especially when we have never lived a day in their shoes -- because having failed to take into fair consideration the circumstances of their lives, in regards to their obstacles, challenges, and injustices, so faced, we have been uncharitable to their character.   Sure, comparisons may have their place, but those that are most honest, don’t need to look any further than to take into fair consideration, how someone else would have done in their stead and if they then feel a sort of emptiness or disappointment inside, when reviewing such, they thus need to seriously endeavor to do better

“The ultimate measure of a man….”

The above full quotation is as follows: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy,” and this pithy wisdom comes forth from our American Moses, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..  It must be said that just about everyone is in a very good place when times are good and when they are also feeling comfortable, because pretty much life is going their preferred way, and because of that, most people that meet those individuals that are in that good place, are going to like or at least easily tolerate that person because of the fact that these relaxed people are in their “comfort zone,”  thus reflecting to these others no pressure and no tension within their persona, making then these very comfortable people apt to be rather personable and friendly.  On the other hand, not every day is going to be a good day; and further to the point, not every situation is going to be a good situation, in which, we do so find that the person that had been feeling real good in one environment, may feel an incredible amount of stress in another more taxing environment.

A lot of who and what we really are, is regrettably, situational dependent.  That is to say, when all is good, most people are rather benevolent in their attitude and behavior; but then, we have those situations in which things are not going well, and how a given person reacts, depends not only upon that situation, at hand, but has an awful lot to do with the content of the character, of that individual.  So then, while we might well think we know somebody; a truer test to such, is to see how that person reacts when they are not in control, and are under serious pressure, when adversity so comes –  that in a nutshell, serves to show who and what they are made of.  For the challenges that each of us faces in this world, represent our proving ground, in which those fires that we so face through stress and controversy, serve to burn off the dross of our outer shell, to thereby expose who we really are, at our core.

While it might well be our preference that everything should always go our way --  it must also be said, that many people desire for the world to revolve around their desires and their wants; but that isn’t the way that the world actually works, for invariably there is going to be conflict between one person and another, of which, each desires a thing different from another, and of which, to get what they each so wants, will involve confrontation between them.  So then, how a person of supposed good character, reacts to a situation that is not favorable for them, says a lot about who and what that person really is.  For all those that preach toleration, but are themselves intolerant, in those situations that really matter, are definitely wrong for that.  So too, those that preach, “peace, peace” but are only too willing to draw the sword when they are denied something that they really want, have clearly shown their true colors.

For a certainty, it isn’t necessarily easy to keep calm, when everyone around you is losing their cool; but all those then that are always able to stay focused upon that which represents justice, fairness, and empathy, are going to do a whole lot better job of representing well the character of someone worth emulating and being, for they then have stood tall through both the good and the trying times.

Understanding unalienable rights

Each of us, without exception, throughout the entire world are accorded unalienable rights – which thus signifies that each of us, is gifted by our Creator, or by virtue of our humanity, specific unalienable rights.  An unalienable right is a right that cannot be legitimately taken away from us, by any government, or by any other institution; and of those rights, none of those unalienable rights have been gifted to us by any government or institution – rather, governments and institutions can provide us with additional rights, but these additional rights, are not themselves, unalienable.  In other words, our unalienable rights are innate to us, and each of us then is equally entitled to those unalienable rights.  Some examples of these unalienable rights would be life, liberty, independence, free thought, the pursuit of happiness, as well as the fair means to the ownership of property through gainful employment.

Additionally, it has to be understood that unalienable rights always apply to everyone, at every time – as opposed to such only applying to some of the people, some of the time, and only in some situations – and thus not applying in other situations.  In other words, during wartime, we are still entitled to our same unalienable rights, and in fact, there are no conditions in which we are ever disentitled to those unalienable rights; nor is there any situation in which we are subject to losing or forfeiting those unalienable rights.  This doesn’t mean, though, that we thus are not subject to fair punishment for crimes so committed, but rather what it does mean is that any government that infringes upon our unalienable rights, by denying us due process, or through coercion or through injustice or through unfairness, have violated our unalienable rights.

So too, all those that are rightly proud of their unalienable rights, need to recognize, always, that every unalienable right that is ours – must for a certainty be the very same unalienable rights that are for everyone else, as well.  In other words, there is not some hidden hierarchy of unalienable rights, which applies more to some, over others; or applies more to those that are educated over those that are less educated; or applies more to those of western nations over those of developing third-world nations.  it is important to recognize this truth, that when it comes to unalienable rights, those rights are for everyone, so equally applied, and so equally enforced.  Those then, that demand for their own selves, their specific unalienable rights, but will not accord the very same construct to their greatest foes, are hypocrites and are thus wrong in their mindset.

That which is good for the goose, must also be good for the gander; or else, unalienable rights have no real meaning or purpose.  We are all equally entitled to those unalienable rights, and therefore none are entitled to more than another.  This doesn’t mean that the end result of us all having the same unalienable rights, is that we will all be the same in our material possessions, or in our spiritual aspirations, or in our education or in anything – but rather what this so signifies is that we are all equal in the unalienable substance of who and what we really are.

The stickiness of first impressions

As it has been said, a person only gets one chance to make a good first impression, and therefore it behooves that person that is up for that interview or similar, to try to present themselves in a way and manner in which that first impression will be good – thus placing that person in a much better position, than if that first impression was not so good.  While there are all sorts of ways to make a good first impression upon another, the foundation of doing so, has an awful lot in common, in basically meeting what the perceived expectations are of the person that we are meeting with for the first time.  That is to say, if we look the part or act the part of what that person so wants to see, then the first impression that they are going to have, is often going to be rather favorable; and once a first impression is imprinted upon a person’s mind, they have a strong tendency to stick with that first impression for as long as possible, because as much as we like to think that most people, do not render a decision, until they have taken in all or as much relevant information to the subject at hand that they are able to – in fact, we find that a lot of people have a distinct tendency to take shortcuts so as to make up their mind about the other person, long beforehand.  This thus signifies that first impressions are rather sticky, in the sense, that once a person has made their decision, they are often reluctant to backtrack and thereby to change such, of which part of the reason why this is so, is their hesitation to admit that their initial impression, was fundamentally flawed.

While it could be said, that society might well be better served if we were slower to rush to judgment, whether that be of a first impression, or in the judging of a particular situation, or in regards to a perplexing problem – the thing that has to be taken into fair account, is that indecisiveness is basically considered to be a character flaw, so that all those that seem to be taking an interminable amount of time to come to a decision about something of importance, are often seen to be part of the problem and thus not part of the solution.  After all, many a person believes that it is more important to make a decision, rightly or wrongly, than to endlessly debate it back and forth – for at least when a decision has been made, there is now something of substance to accomplish or to work upon or to work with.  

Therefore, first impressions have a way of being rather sticky, because from the viewpoint of having made our judgment in regards to our perception of a particular person, we now have a strong tendency to suffer from the bias of subsequently seeing things from the perspective that favors our first impression, and thus to discount all those other things that are not consistent with such.  So , in effect, while each of us would like to think that we are at our core, fair-minded people,  the truth of the matter is, that many of us, have a strong tendency to be impressed by those that appear to be in harmony with our mindset, and far less with all those, that are not.

Food Stamps/SNAP monthly allocation

The first thing to realize when it comes to those that are laborers in what are considered to be the traditional fields of employment, is that the pay frequency of those so working, varies from being monthly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or weekly.  Not too surprisingly, the more infrequently people receive their paycheck, we find that, especially for those that do not have a lot in material assets, that the navigation around the knowledge that their next paycheck is perceived to be of a long distance away, can readily lead to some degree of difficulty in their thus managing their day-to-day expenses, bills, as well as other obligations.  In other words, those without a lot of savings or the means to access short-term loans on a reasonable basis, will invariably find themselves in the type of situation in which they will have to tighten their belt, so as to deal with the fact that their access to their next paycheck is uncomfortably far away.

When we take into fair account, that the need for food, is a biological necessity, of which, people that are hungry are often quite uncomfortable when they are lacking some reasonable degree of food security or access to such – it thus doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense that food stamps are allocated only once a month.  As might be expected, those that have to utilize food stamps, are often the very same people that do not have a lot of excess monetary capital lying about their premises, and further to the point, are the very same people that are quite vulnerable to suffering from food insecurity.  While it most definitely is quite helpful as well as being beneficial to those that are the recipients of food stamps, the point of the matter is that most people require three meals in a day, of which, that equates to people needing to eat around 90 meals in a month.  So then, when the voucher so being provided to get that food, must cover the entire month of meals, we thus come upon a construct in which upon receiving that allocation, a significant amount of those people will often feel “food rich” at that point, only to discover later and to their dismay, that halfway through the month, that they thus feel “food poor.”  In fact, we read at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov that in a study, “ SNAP participants, adjusted mean food spending decreased 37% from the first 2 weeks to the last 2 weeks of the SNAP benefit month.”   This clearly indicates that the people so receiving those food stamps are not very good at allocating their food purchases so that such would be equally distributed throughout the month.

It would seem, that a better way to distribute SNAP monthly allocations, would be to disburse such more than once a month.  After all, for those that deplete their monthly allocation too quickly, the wait for the next month’s allocation of such, seems interminable.  Further to the point, for all those that have a tendency to stock up on a bunch of food items, all in one visit, the division of that food stamp allocation to semi-monthly or similar, would cut back on not only those impulse purchases, but also would help to re-direct what is so being purchased to those items which more appropriately fit the budget at hand.  Quite frankly, the governmental skillset so needed to adjust food stamp allocations to something more frequent, doesn’t seem all that daunting, thereby signifying that the government should put into practice, that very thing.

Inequality breeds violence

America is a capitalistic nation with a social welfare structure and taxation which surprisingly is felt most tellingly, not upon the rich, powerful, and the elite – whether they be individuals or corporations, but to a very large extent on those of the middle class, upper middle class, as well as also a subsection of the upper class.  At this point, in America, there is absolutely not even the façade that this nation believes in equality, opportunity, fairness, justice, or even just common decency.  Rather, America, has devolved into protecting and embellishing entrenched entitled institutions, of mega corporations and well-placed people, in which the objective of the game for those that are the masters of such, is to extract and thereby to exploit the lesser people, relentlessly.  One might think that since there are so few that have so much, that the people would have the clear advantage via their massive numbers; but in point of fact, those that run the show, have the policing force of the state, along with its massive surveillance system, completely in their power, and when the arms of the nation are controlled exclusively by the hands of those elites, and the so-called “justice” that is rendered upon the people, is dictated by those that regulate that edifice, then the people are clearly at a significant disadvantage.

So then, what we so find in America, is a modern-day gilded age, in which the best-of-the-best, is available for all those that have exclusive access to it, so that these special people as well as these powerful institutions consequently have literally never had it better, and of which, none of them, wish to give up nary a thing in return to that government or its people, which created the foundation for their success to begin with.  On the other hand, there is a whole swath of people that basically play by the rules, believing in the American dream and its capitalistic system, of which some of these people do indeed have some meaningful degree of success and are appreciative of such – but alas we also have, what America prefers to sweep under the rug, which is the massive amount of people, that are basically born into a nation in which they will never receive fair opportunity, justice, peace, or a quality education.  In other words, they are born into poverty and neglect, in which, their lot has pretty much been fixed upon their first living breath.  These then, are quite obviously, the type of people that are going to be prone to committing violence, for they know that the hand that they have been dealt, is unfair and unjustified; thereby motivating them, since they have nothing to lose, to strike back against that society through any means, so necessary.

When a given person in poor circumstances, looks around, and sees that they have no future, and of which, the knowing of that truth, haunts them – they are going to consider what few options that they so have, in which the intent of the subsequent actions so taken will be to do what they perceive that they have to do, in order to get from society, some degree of respect, and if that has to be done through the barrel of a gun, so be it – for they rather die trying than simply to swallow their pride, because at least in the former, they will have had their say and will have stood up to that which is just as wrong as they are, if not even more so.

The evolution of humanity

Humanity must have an overarching purpose for its being, and that purpose has to be, for the betterment of that humanity, in whole.  What makes for the betterment of humanity is what makes for the betterment of a nation – which is, equality, justice, fairness, consideration for the other, and fair opportunity for all.  To the degree that those that are our elected representatives and our national leaders, represent these attributes in action, then to the betterment they thus serve humanity. Whereas, those that are in power and of influence that are divisive, narrow-minded, bigoted, deceptive, unjust, and self-serving are the very people and institutions that are clearly not good for humanity, while also serving as real impediments and obstacles to the good advancement of that humanity.

Nothing that we purport to desire to achieve for humanity at the present time can conceivably be accomplished in just one generation – but rather, step-by-step and thus through persistence and drive, we can, each of us, help build upon the good values and good principles that have preceded us to thereby get us ever closer to where we need to be.  None of this is possible in a vacuum, and further to the point, each of us, has our own weight to carry as our obligation -- for to take humanity to a better place, takes a collective and focused effort, for there are no shortcuts to earn what has to be earned by our merit.

The dissatisfaction that most of us feel deep within our psyche, is there as a constant thorn in our side, or as a ping upon our conscience, so as to awaken us up from our lethargy, or else to serve as a reminder that a life lived around distractions, and mindless activities, is a life poorly lived.  None of us has the same abilities, and none of us has the same background, but all of us, should have a vested interest in seeing that we as a people, are part of the process of progress, as opposed to being those that seemingly don’t care or that actually work in opposition to such.

What each of us gets out of life, is what we put into it – and while it is true that we do not all start at the same place, the destination for all, is collectively the same.  This thus signifies, that each of us has the fair opportunity to be contributors to the greater good of humanity, and therefore of a life well lived; for that in a nutshell, should be the abiding purpose of our life and of our being.  We are each given opportunities to prove our value, and each of us are tested so as to see whether we are true to what we profess in our heart to be.

As it has been written, no man is an island, and the fact that each of us is here on the same planet, signifies that each of us, has been created by the very same hand with therefore the same unalienable rights.  The fact that we recognize those unalienable rights as being invaluable is one thing – but the other thing is whether we are the ones to defend those rights, come what may, and thereby to help make society better for our participation in it, or whether we won’t do our fair part, instead.

Texas is the 9th biggest economy in the world

A lot of people know that if California was a separate country, that it would represent the fifth biggest economy in the world.  Not that far behind, though, is Texas, which if it was a separate country would represent the ninth biggest economy in the world, making it thus bigger, all on its own, than entire nations such as Russia or Brazil.  The most important industry in Texas is the oil and gas industry, of which,  Texas from an oil perspective, represents 43% of the domestic oil production so produced in the United States, as we read at visualcapitalist.com.  This would seem to indicate that when it comes to oil and gas, the perspective that Texas has, may indeed be at odds to all those that desire to steer away from non-renewal energy sources, as well as to all those that are especially concerned about climate change, pollution, and the like.  Further complicating matters, is the fact that oil and gas, from an export perspective is quite beneficial to Texas, and hence to the United States, because oil and gas, most definitely represents very big business, and therefore is of real benefit for the United States export market, of which oil and gas, thus represents the highest percentage of those goods so being exported by America to the world, at large.

Not too surprisingly, based upon the industries that Texas is dominant in, this thus makes a big difference in regards to the policies that Texas so proposes and professes, and thereby the concentrated political power that it thus wields.  This signifies that a successful politician in Texas is almost for a certainty going to be someone that is a proponent or at least at a minimum, a defender of the oil and gas industry, because to not be, would pretty much be political stupidity.

Additionally, while many an American desires to see lower gas and oil prices, so that their personal energy needs extract less from their respective paychecks – those that actually produce the gas and oil, are on the other hand, going to want to typically get as much as they can get from the marketplace.  This thus creates the puzzling scenario, in which, America has for decades, castigated OPEC as being a market manipulator, as well as a cartel, which is gouging the world in regards to the profit markup and availability of that oil so being sold; but what is seldom mentioned is that America is actually the largest producer in the world of oil, but does not, itself, have a separate domestic market for that oil, in which that oil is thus priced at a rate substantially lower than OPEC, as a courtesy for its own people, so as to reduce the profits so made from that industry, upon its own people, domestically.  

So then, what is good for Texas, may or may not be good for the nation as a whole – but make no mistake about it, Texas is incredibly important to the economy of America, most notably because of its oil and gas reserves; of which, it could be said, that if Texas, was to deliberately manipulate the oil market, so that, for instance, it produced less oil than it could produce, or restricted the domestic access to such, that this would in a sense, appear to then represent in form, a domestic version of OPEC.

The importance of thinking

Most everyone believes that they think, every single day, and while that is basically true, we do so find that a significant amount of people, don’t ever take the time to examine thoroughly their own life, let alone the purpose behind such, and thus the meaning of it all.  Far too many people, just buy into the orthodoxy of whatever that it is that those that are in power are selling to them – of which, perhaps these people are also somewhat discriminatory in what they accept or agree with, as compared to that which they don’t accept or don’t agree with.  The main thing is, though, that what we get out of life, has a lot in common to how much we put into that life.  So that, those that wake up, and ask the question, as to why things aren’t this way or aren’t that way, as opposed to believing that there can only ever be slight variations in the way that things basically are -- represent those people that are actually doing some real thinking, and thinking with a real purpose behind such.

We are meant to think, and what we so think, has a lot to do as to whether we see ourselves as truly independent agents, with not only the wherewithal to think for ourselves, but the obligation to do so – as compared to all those that pretty much think along the lines of simply going along with the flow.  So too, we often live lives of which our supposed obligations and duties, keep us forever occupied – of if not completely so, than our hobbies and habits successfully do their part in filling in any available open gaps in our life, therefore indicating that we need not do a whole lot of thinking, because each day appears to be complete in and of itself.

So then, for those that have discounted the importance of thinking, this thus entraps them into a sort of inertia, which because there is no inner drive from them to generate the escape velocity from such, keeps them forever in a certain set place without a whole lot of corresponding variety in their life, whatsoever.  Perhaps this is okay, in the sense, that those that meekly follow the leader, can have a somewhat satisfactory life, when that leader is actually traveling in a direction of some worth and value.  The problem, though, is when that leader fails to meet an ethical standard of substance, which leaves thus those that will not think, vulnerable to all sorts of bad outcomes, which accordingly comes their way.

Those that truly want to make constructive progress are always the same sort of people – which are those that take the time and trouble to not only to do their research via thinking – but to also make it their point to think their thoughts with others that are also known as independent thinkers, as well; so that, together, they can figure out ways that will help to make a society a better place for their participation in it.  To think, is to challenge authority, as well as to question those that are in power – for not all that glitters is gold, and all those that think, know this.

Deception and exploitation

In this world, there seems to be no end to mankind’s inhumanity to mankind; in which, many a person doesn’t much care about how they make their money as long as they get that money, one way or another.  So then, in a construct in which cheap labor is not only desirable for many an employer, and of which we so find that many of those employers so seeking such cheap labor don’t really care to know about all the details of how these people became available to them –  this thus helps to create a marketplace for unscrupulous people to thereby recruit for that cheap labor and these recruiters typically do so, by being extremely deceptive to those that they target for such recruitment.  After all, if the recruiters were to fully disclose the conditions of what that employment would actually be like, as well as the living conditions that would typically be expected, then this would certainly make their job of successfully recruiting credulous people, far more difficult.  Rather, their preference is to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of those that do not have much in their possession, and of these people’s desire for a better life, by concocting a plausible story for them, in the sure knowledge, that once those that have been recruited are away from their home base, and in particular are placed into a new location, of which, those so recruited have no friends, as well as being unfamiliar with the customs of that location, then all those so recruited will thus find themselves to be in a really bad place.

In other words, a significant amount of people that are exploited, have often been lied to or deceived about the employment that they thus finds themselves in.  Further to the point, while it is easy and rather convenient to blame and therefore to target those that have recruited people that have become exploited – it has to be taken into fair account, that the bottom line is that recruiters are only one part of the equation – of which, the other major part is all those that knowingly desire these workers, because their business model or their greed, is dependent upon a ready supply of workers that they can exploit, in every way so possible, so that they can thus make their money, upon the backs of those that have no say upon the matter.  That is to say, there wouldn’t be a whole heck of a lot of recruiters, if there wasn’t a need to fill for amoral employers that desire such, of which those employers clearly prefer employees that have no real choice other than to comply with the employer’s demands.

When it comes to exploitation, it basically begins with those that have some position of power -- that desire to have in their control, people that have no power, and thus must adhere to their demands.  So, you could say, that these unprincipled employers create the market, of which, outsourced to another agency, are the recruiters that take care of utilizing whatever tools of the trade so works -- which usually involves deception, though sometimes it is also violence, to get those that have little or nothing, to end up being tricked into a life which is in many ways, a living hell for them, but profitable for those that ply this dirty trade.