The government needs to do more on behalf of labor

The unionization of employees, especially in the private enterprise sector, seems to be in terminal decline -- and for a certainty the fight for union representation, for the laborers that make up the industries, that would certainly seem to benefit from such, suffers from the apparent futility in trying to accomplish such a long, arduous, and interminable process.  The blame for why there is so much difficulty in establishing present-day unions, is mainly because corporations are provided with all of the tools that they so need to successfully counteract union activity, fair or foul, and are subsequently very effective in the implementation of such; while our government, of, for, and by the people seems to idly just sit by, and to do little or nothing, in return, to help, the common laborer.

The importance of unions being able to provide its members with better pay, better benefits, better job security, and better overall working conditions should not be discounted, for that is the very thing that will help those that struggle the most from unsteady income to firstly stabilize their lives, and secondly this will provide them with the good opportunity to thus improve their lot in their respective lives.  One would think, then, that this government, would actually be on the side of the common laborer, or in lacking such forthrightness, would be, at least, at a minimum, desiring to see that the rights that each one of us is fairly entitled to, would be well represented, in the workplace -- but that does not seem to be the case, at all.

If unions are not to be of any real relevancy in the United States, then the replacement for the lack of having those unions, has got to be the Federal government.  The first step that this government needs to therefore make is to establish a living wage as the new definition of what a minimum wage so represents, and further to that point, to tie that wage, so of, with the annual cost of living index.  The second step is to see that employee hours are actually consistent week to week, and therefore not subject to being at the beck and call of management.  That is to say, full-time employees should be entitled to a minimum of thirty-five hours of work each week, of which, the hours so being worked should have an established schedule, and of which, hours worked outside that established scheduled, should be paid at a wage of time and a half of one’s stated pay.  The third step is for this government, to actually enforce the laws that are on the books in regards to work and safety standards, overtime, and discrimination.

The fact of the matter is that those that do not have union representation and work within industries in which, their voices are effectively silenced as well as having no say in regards to the overall working conditions that they are a part of, must be aided and abetted by their government so as to reduce substantially the exploitation that they so suffer from, so that they thus can have a fair hope of achieving some reasonable semblance of the American dream.

The free exercise of religion

Our First Amendment to our Constitution, reads in part: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”  Another way to translate this seminal Amendment, is that each individual is entitled to the freedom of their conscience to believe or not to believe in whatever religion or faith they so choose, without governmental interference, or even to be required to ask permission from that government, to hold their respective beliefs.  That is to say, our conscience is wholly our own, and therefore any subsequent laws or enactments that infringe upon that conscience are in all candor, probably unconstitutional, as well as being not in keeping with the principles of what this nation was so founded upon.

A free conscience is our unalienable right, and for a certainty, governments are instituted amongst the people, in order to secure our unalienable rights, and not to thus trespass upon them.  Regrettably, though, there are many a person, that believes that their religion or their faith, should be the prevailing view that all should hold, and those then that do not also hold such beliefs are considered, by them, at least, to be something lesser than those that do conform to their particular doctrine. In truth, more people need to take to heart, that the motto of the United States, is E Pluribus Unum, which means “out of many, one.”  That is to say, that those that are true to what the principles of this nation represent, are the true patriots to that nation, for they recognize that each of us are fairly entitled to our own conscience, as well as understanding the importance that in order to have harmony amongst our peoples, there has to be a strong core foundations that we all agree upon.

While most of us, when we consider property, think of material things, it has to be understood, that our mind and therefore our conscience is also our property, and this thus should be considered to be the most valuable type of property that needs to be well protected by that government, of, for, and by the people.  Indeed, we are not meant to be a nation of sheep, for a nation of sheep, is one in which a demagogue can lead such into all sorts of trouble.  Rather, we are meant to be free thinking individuals, entitled to our own opinions, our own thoughts, and our own objectives. 

How each of us wants to relate to our faith, is our individual business, of which, we are freely entitled in this country to exercise our conscience in regards to the religion of our choice, along with being permitted to freely change our religion, if we are so inclined to.  For those that believe, that there is indeed life beyond this material world, then the importance of having the freedom to express our religious belief is of even more value -- for each of us, when the time so comes, has to answer in that undiscovered country, for our actions and deeds so done here, to our Creator, and no one else or any government can do that for us.

Human understanding and confirmation bias

Confirmation bias occurs when we have a given viewpoint or opinion, and the only information that we subsequently take into our evaluation, is that which confirms what we already believe –  thus effectively ignoring all that of the opposing side which could be of relevance, as being viewed as immaterial, suspect, or of no import.  The problem that so many of us have, is that we don’t like being wrong, ever.  This means, that when we take a position, especially a position in which it is publicized and/or strongly held by us, that we will, for the most part, always remain steadfast to our position, come what may, and therein lies the rub.

While it is true that there are those things that we need to make up our mind about, and hence not be wishy-washy about – or else, we could well become someone that changes our mind, depending upon how the prevailing wind is blowing on that given day;  it has to be taken into full account, though, that not everything that we so dearly believe, should forever be a closed book, never to be examined or investigated, ever again.  After all, there was a time when we all believed that Santa Claus, existed, but at some point, we recognized the fallacy of that belief, and subsequently got over it, and went about our given lives.

So too, there are grave dangers for those that suffer from too much confirmation bias, in which, because they have a set opinion about something, they thus discard any viewpoints that oppose such, indicative that they are not open to a fair evaluation or re-evaluation of all that is going on.  For example, we find that especially with those that are in high positions of judgment or are major decision makers, that if their minds are already made up on a given resolution or decision, that this error will thus compound upon another error, for that is the danger of not taken into full account, all of the actionable information, so required, to render or to make a fair and wisely calculated decision.

What a lot of people may not consciously recognize is that so many of us, suffer from confirmation bias, and in absence of us trying to rectify this, by first of all, acknowledging at least the possibly of that bias, and then secondly, by making needed adjustments to overcome such bias, then we aren’t going to make any real progress or improvement upon those necessary things.  Recognize this well, those that are being judged for their character, for their job position, and for this and for that, should, if they are well qualified, desire to see that their merits, so of, are fairly evaluated.  On the other hand, those that know that they aren’t well qualified, are the type of people, that desire to specifically deal with a biased person, and as long as they know what that particular bias so represents, they will thus try to therefore conform to what that biased person is so seeking in another.

The minimum, that we owe one human to another, is to at least listen openly to what the other person has to say, and therefore give them a fair chance to state their position, before we thus render any sort of decision, or make a response to them.  Perhaps by doing so, we will end up making better decisions, so of, or at least, less biased ones.

The 21st century rise of economic rent seeking

For the average layman, when they hear the term “rent” they might well typically associate it with the amount of money that people pay for their monthly rent.  When it comes to economic rent seeking, though, the best way to define such, is the extra or excess profit obtained, for example, by the manipulation of the commercial market through governmental favoritism, or the consequence of having substantial market share or the effective control of such, and basically the “gaming” of the system for the exclusive benefit of the entity that incurs the gains from that rent seeking.

As much as people sing the praises of capitalism as well as of competition, it has to be taken into fair account, that a significant portion of those corporations that are most profitable, are corporations that in one form or another, are able to exercise some degree of rent seeking into their business model.  That is to say, when multi-billion dollar corporations are somehow able to convince municipalities that by moving to their city, that this will create all sorts of jobs and revenue for that locale – but they also insist, in conjunction, upon receiving in return, massive tax abatement from property taxes and the like, this is a form of rent seeking. So too, corporations that are permitted to buy out their competitors so as to consolidate that business into fewer and fewer players, are typically doing so, not to benefit those that are its customers by thus having better products and better service, but for the most part, so as to reduce competition, or potential competition, so that they can therefore make more money by that rent seeking.

The salient fact that has to be taken into full account, is that many people as well as corporations, prefer to minimize the financial risk that they have to deal with, as much as possible.  In other words, people that are trying to make some extra cash on the side, or corporations that have a Board of Directors and stockholders to answer to, desire to do everything that they can do, to reduce the amount of risk to their bottom line, that they have to deal with, while correspondingly trying to find ever more lucrative ways to make the money that their salaries and bonuses are dependent upon, quarter after quarter.  This signifies, that no matter how good a given corporation is run, or how solid their product line may so be, that these corporations are always looking for any avenue that will be ever more secure for their revenues, ever more profitable, and they thus will do all that they can do to eliminate or mitigate those things that thus stand in their way of getting as much as they can in the way of that easier money.

So then, the way that we know that rent seeking is on the rise in the 21st century, such as in America, is as clear as day, for we are able to see that the distribution of the wealth within America, is being relentlessly skewed and specifically directed towards the upper 1%, which is why we not only continue to have so many people that stubbornly remain part of our underclass, but also why those of the middle class, find that they are struggling so hard, just to get by, far more frequently. 

The reality of reality shows

There are a considerable amount of shows that purport to be “reality” shows, of which, those that are participants in such, are in theory, being shown to us, as they really are, within the construct of that show.  The main appeal, then, to those that watch and are engaged in those types of shows, is the impression that the viewer has, which because they perceive these people that they are viewing, as being real and therefore relatable to them, thus allows the viewers of such to believe that they are getting an inside view of those participants, and hence often a vicarious pleasure from it.  For a certainty, the show producers, want the audience to feel either a kinship with those that they are viewing, or in absence of that, then for the audience to feel a superiority to them, because the viewers would feel that they are, despite their own personal flaws, of superior character to these “reality players.”

What the audience typically doesn’t know or perhaps doesn’t really care about, is how much manipulation is being done behind the scenes which they are not privy to, when it comes to them viewing the thirty or sixty minute show, which has literally seen produced hours upon hours of video for each episode  --that has subsequently been heavily edited and manipulated by those that are the producers of that reality show.  The very first thing that producers of reality shows know, is that they aren’t interested in a show in which there isn’t any conflict or drama, because that isn’t going to get an audience engaged or absorbed, whatsoever.  This thus means, that when it comes to the actual participants, so of, producers are looking for characteristics that are more akin to narcissism, selfishness, two-facedness, impulsiveness, and the like, for that makes for good conflict and a captivating drama.

So then, in reality shows, positive characteristics, such as kindness, empathy, niceness, and generosity are always meant to take a back seat to greed, personal gratification, aggrandizement, and deceitfulness.  Additionally, because reality show producers aren’t interested in showing the mundane, especially in consideration that so many of the audience viewers live themselves lives of mundaneness, commonality, and sameness, they make it a point to thus accentuate that which is more out of the norm, than what most of us experience, in our everyday lives – so that, for those members of the audience that perhaps fantasize about this or that, they can thus take some vicarious pleasure in seeing such, actually enacted by someone else, in their stead.

So too, the producer of these shows have an additional duty of often selling to the participants that they themselves are always a disinterested and neutral mediator, looking out for everyone’s best interests, when often, the point of their private conversations with participants, is to successfully exploit people’s vulnerabilities and weaknesses so that the “reality” of what so subsequently happens makes for a better viewing show and for a better drama -- for without necessary conflict, trickery, duplicity, and spitefulness, from those that are the reality show participants, the reality show is in danger of its viewership tuning out, from boredom.

The misguided assault upon free speech

Those that are unable to freely think whatever thoughts that they are so inclined to think, and therefore to freely speak what is on their mind, are by definition, not free.  The history of humankind, is regrettably often a history that suppresses the right of the people to freely think, to freely criticize, and to freely be about their business.  Those then, that are up in arms, about “hate speech,” disinformation, fake news this and fake news that, have basically got it fundamentally wrong – for what is left unsaid, is that those that are incapable of successfully countering what appears to be false or hateful, with an argument that is sound, sensible, and fair to thereby support their given point, are perhaps less right than they so presume that they are.

Those that want to live within an echo chamber, don’t need to go far, for a given room within a person’s house, can serve that very purpose for people like that.  To believe, somehow, that we learn best, by simply having other people always being in agreement with us, or we in agreement with them, is regrettably the pathway that leads to ever diminishing returns.  We are meant to challenge, at least some of the time, what is so often taken for granted as being conventional, or right; so that at a minimum, we devote some of our resources to examining such – for those that will not bother to look beyond the orthodox, are doing an injustice to the free thinking capacity of their mind.

It's important that each one of us has an opportunity to speak our mind, and while we might wish that such will always be done in a civil manner, that isn’t always going to be the case.  That is to say, so many of the systemic problems that society suffers badly from, essentially comes forth from people that do not believe that they have been given a fair shake, a fair vote, or that anyone or anything is paying fair attention to them – they thus then often strike back through actions which are hurtful, all because nobody has bothered to validate them, by listening to them, as if they actually mattered.

All of us, deserve a free voice, whether or not anyone else so desires to listen to us, is best left though to that other person’s personal volition. So too, those that overly worry about the people being fooled about this, or tricked about that, need to understand that the best way to assure that the people are knowledgeable about what is truly important and vital for them, is for that governance to support wholeheartedly the freedom of the press, free speech, and the value of people reasoning and thinking through things by their own selves, rather than always credulously believing whatever is being sold to them.

Those then, that wish to suppress free speech, because they do not believe that the people have the right to sprout nonsense, misinformation, lies, or hateful expressions -- in addition to those same people also desiring to suppress minority viewpoints, unorthodoxy, inconvenient truths, and unconventional wisdom, need to understand that meaningful change typically comes forth from those that challenge orthodoxy rather than blithely accepting such, and further that every one of us has the unalienable right to say what we wish to say, subject to the most minimal of sensible restrictions.

Less weapons, less war

The inverse of less weapons leading to less war, is more weapons leading to more war.  So then, it doesn’t take a genius to understand that when a nation such as America, insists upon having a military budget that is well-nigh approaching an astonishing $1 trillion, that those that are the actuators of such a budget, are going to do just about everything in their power to see that such a budget as that, is not only justified, but that it is also utilized in a way and manner that seems to prove its enduring value.  That is to say, the manufacturing of weapons is one thing and one expense, but to just have all those weapons sitting idly in inventory, and hence going unused, is not only going to make it problematic to thus receive future funding at the same high level, but it also is a clear reflection that the money so having been spent upon those weapons, was not actually necessary or prudent.  This thus signifies that the more monies spent on “Defense” the more “defending” that a nation is going to have to do to justify it all.

So then, as simple as it might so sound, the less money so spent on Defense, the less foreign excursions and warfare a nation is going to get itself involved in.  For instance, we do so find that the whole purpose of arms negotiation talks done with Russia and similar, is so that each side would not only devote far less monetary resources as well as research and development upon the manufacture of weapons, but also because of having less weapons, this  would make for having less warfare.  To believe then, that there will be more peace, by virtue of spending more money of weaponry is senseless and has no place in a world in which the destructive power of nuclear weapons can already end the world as we know it, virtually instantly.

In truth, it would then behoove the nation that leads all other nations by a country mile, in the amount of money so being spent and devoted upon its military, to take the first step in seeing that its expenditures are reduced, forthwith, by not only negotiating this with other nations such as Russia, or China, but with virtually any other nation, in which such negotiation would lend itself to less monies being mutually spent upon the instruments of war, as compared to that money being spent upon that which is beneficial to the people’s need, in whole. 

We live in a known world, in which sovereign nations are entitled to their own rule of law, in which, should we so desire to get involved in another nation’s business for humanitarian reasons or similar, we should responsibly pursue first a diplomatic course as well as other civilized means,  before even considering the utilization of our force of arms.  So then, if we are going to become truly civilized, the very first step that we need to take as a collective people, is to first put down our arms, and thereby treat one another with the courtesy and respect that each person or nation is fairly entitled to.

The advent of semi-monthly credit cards

The Credit Card Act of 2009, stipulates that credit card companies need to allow at least 21 days from the time that a credit card bill is mailed for the recipient to make a payment upon it – in addition to the fact that the due date for each credit card issued must be on the same day every month.  This would seem to indicate that the current practice of monthly credit card bills is something that isn’t subject to change; but the thing about laws is that those that lobby hard enough to change a given law or to make an exception to such, especially when that exception is under the guise that this will be beneficial to the credit card consumer, signify that those very same laws are thus subject to change.

In consideration that the vast majority of employees are paid on a semi-monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly pay period, this would seem to indicate that not everybody would be adverse to paying a credit card bill semi-monthly, rather than monthly – though, of course, the benefits of such would have to be clear and obvious to the consumer.  The main selling point for consumers would have to be a lower interest rate, as compared to a credit card that stipulated a monthly payment, and of which, that lower interest rate would certainly seem to be a win for consumers.  Of course, the question, might well be asked, what is in it for the credit card issuer?  That answer has a lot to do with their perception of the good intentions of a given consumer as compared to their actual behavior.  That is to say, semi-monthly payments, would provide for credit card issuers, twice the amount of opportunity to charge a late payment fee, an over the limit fee, a return check fee, and any other pertinent fees so attached to that credit card.  In addition, the more frequent the payment period, the lesser risk that a credit card issuer has, in regards to perceiving better those that are going to be problematic in the collecting of anything from them, anytime soon.  Finally, all credit card issuers have an ungainly amount of terms and conditions, of which, buried deep within such, could be terms that would permit that credit card issuer to raise the interest rate for all those that are delinquent upon their account.  The bottom line is that credit card issuers are not stupid, and before they would roll out a nationwide semi-monthly credit card offer, they would first test such within a given community over a long enough period of time to determine whether a semi-monthly structure would be more beneficial for them or not.

In truth, a semi-monthly credit card structure could also be beneficial for certain consumers, because if properly structured, it would allow them to keep their credit card balance lower and because of a lower overall interest rate, this would definitely save them money.  In addition, with the credit card bill showing up more frequently, consumers might well adjust their spending habits to be more responsible about their expenditures.  It is well to remember, though, that current credit card debt is nearly $1 trillion, so for a certainty, because the major banks are essentially in the business of making money, any legitimate way that they can, that it is only a matter of time, before the waters are tested for this very thing.

21st century slavery

Western nations have a right to be proud of eradicating chattel slavery.  Yet, having done so, many of these same western nations, have within their borders at the present time, what appears to be an updated and insidious form of slavery.  We have to keep in mind that we live within a very big world in which the wealth, so of, is not even close to being equally distributed.  Further to the point, the governments that many people live under, are in a lot of cases, repressive, non-democratic in actual form, as well as lacking foundational good educational facilities and/or decent employment opportunities.

All of this basically means that in war-torn countries, be it civil war, or wars between nations, or in those lands of internecine narcotic wars,  and similar, those that are simply trying to live a decent and wholesome life, are placed in the unenviable position of having to consider outlets that may well be outside their township, or even their country, such as a foreign land.  After all, in a situation in which a family doesn’t see any good possibilities for themselves, while also desiring that their offspring have better opportunities then they have so had, they are going to be susceptible to being enticed by sketchy outside recruiters, as well as through their own volitional thinking, that the grass truly is greener on the other side.  The fact that they believe in that, isn’t even wrong, for western nations, typically have a stable rule of law, as well as better educational and employment opportunities, but alas in a lot of cases, that picture, in reality for those so immigrating, through illegal means, is often just a very tempting mirage.

The problem with a capitalistic system, or any monetary system, in which the lure or need of money is the overriding desire of a given entrepreneurial person or corporation, is that the unrelenting lust for that profit, above virtually everything else, addles the sensibility of what is good and fair.  So then, the fact that there are so many people that have illegally crossed the border, one way or another, and typically owe those that have helped them to cross that border a considerable amount of money, in which the clock is ever ticking upon them – in conjunction with the material fact that there are actually millions of immigrants without proper paperwork, within those western nations, already, leads to those illegal immigrants being exploited, time and time again.

So then, wage laws in regards to a minimum wage, overtime, age of the person so working, and so on and so forth, is something that is going to be subverted time and time again, by those that deliberately employ people that they know have questionable “legal” rights and debatable “legal” status.  So too, when it comes to the actual work and working conditions, those that hire almost exclusively illegal immigrant labor for certain job positions, are going to often circumvent those rules, in order to see that the work so being done is being accomplished in a way and manner that favors the man so paying for that labor.  In short, chattel slavery has been effectively replaced with those that have come to western nations looking for liberty and opportunity, but have found instead, a bastardization of such.

The relentless evisceration of the middle class

America desires to take pride in all sorts of achievements, some true, some mythical, and some absolutely false.  That is to say, to actually believe that America is the land of opportunity is at best, a half-truth, for that opportunity in this modern era, is certainly not equal for all of the people, whatsoever; and seems instead to be distinctly skewed towards favoritism to certain types of persons, certain types of corporations, and certain types of circumstances supporting those that are connected or well positioned.

A case in point, is the labor share of income, in which we read at mckinsey.com, that when it comes to the status of the labor share in America, we thus find that, “…three-fourths of the entire post-1947 decline occurred between 2000 and 2016.”  Further we are told, that all things being equal, if the labor share of income had remained at the level it was in 1998, that “…average worker pay might be higher in real terms by roughly $3,000 per year,”  which is a sizable amount of money to not have -- for those of the laboring class, who would most definitely want to have those funds available for them in order to aid them in taking care of those necessary things.

The bottom line is that the monies which historically would have gone to the laboring class, has not actually disappeared, but has been re-allocated to mainly those that are in the executive positions of certain corporations, as well as in the hands of those that are the investors, in such.  In other words, while the laboring class, continues more and more to struggle within a construct in which they are clearly regressing, those that are the masters of that labor or are investors in corporations, of such, have never had it better. 

All of this is reflected in the material fact, that America, though immensely wealthy in aggregate, is becoming, day-by-day, more unequal in how that wealth is so distributed, and we do find, that never have so few in number, had so much.  Not too surprisingly, in a nation, in which the rich have the lion’s share of the resources, and a massive underclass has pretty much nothing of worth held in their name – that leaves essentially only the middle class to truly represent what America actually is, in substance; and of that middle class, they are struggling, cause quite frankly, being shorted $3,000 annually, is a big deal.

If this nation, actually cared about its laboring class -- rather than its national representatives consistently doing the bidding of the superrich as well as kowtowing to the well connected, then this nation would take it upon itself to do two fundamental things.  The first would be to establish a national living wage, with an annual cost-of-living adjustment attached to it, and the second would be to actually enforce a progressive tax system, which would through its robustness eliminate all the tax dodges and workarounds, so used to great effect, by superrich individuals, as well as behemoth corporations.  Until then, things will continue to get worse for the laboring class, before they have any hope of them getting any better.

Towards a national vehicle registration fee

Each State has its own rules of the road, as to how they thus figure out the amount to charge for vehicle registration each year, which varies from some rather complex programs, such as in California, to many a State which simply has a simple flat fee.  The thing is, though, most vehicles are capable of crossing State lines, and many a driver does so.  Further to the point the Federal-Aid Highway Program supports the State highway systems and it would seem that in order to contribute monies to more Federal funding that a national vehicle registration fee should be imposed by the Federal government. forthwith.

Additionally, it has to be kept in mind, that there are many types of vehicles on our roads, of different vehicle weights, of different fuel sources, of different engine sizes, of different ages of the vehicle, as well as a different amounts of miles so being driven by each  one of these vehicles, annually.  It would seem then, in consideration that this government has an obligation to help do its good part to encourage the usage of fuels and vehicles that are more energy efficient, or less polluting, or both, that they would want to put into place, a national vehicle registration fee program, which would impose upon those vehicles that are most abusive of our limited resources, or are more prone to polluting, a higher fee so being charged, than those vehicles that are more in conformance with the national goals of energy efficiency and other pertinent transportation desires.

In addition, the current way of assessing fees, does not take into account, how many miles a given driver, drives each year.  In other words, just like a buffet, it’s one price, for as many miles as a person so desires or needs to drive.  Yet, the thing is, the more that vehicles are driven in aggregate, the more energy that is being utilized, the more potential pollution is being emitted, and the greater the overall wear and tear is going to be effected on our roads, so of.  This would then reasonably be something in which, there should be tiers of what a national vehicle registration fee should be, not only depending upon the actual vehicle characteristics of that vehicle, but also the amount of miles so driven in a calendar year.

After all, the more that a person utilizes a resource, in fairness, the more that they then should be charged, depending though upon other material factors in regards to the nature of the actual vehicle, itself.  Further to the point, a national vehicle registration fee, could have some of its funds so being collected, earmarked to benefit and sustain public or alternative transportation of all types, because quite frankly, the United States does an overall poor job in encouraging its people to avail themselves of public transportation, perhaps because that choice is often not a particularly desirable alternative.

Sure, Americans love their vehicles, and they also love their freedom, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have to pay a fair and sustainable price for having that freedom in the first place.

Death, taxes, and the superrich

It has been said that the only things certain in life, are death and taxes.  Yet, for those that stand to inherit bucketloads of money we do so find that the current exemption, as of 2023, is $12.92 million for an estate of a single individual, and thus the current exemption for a married couple is an astonishing $25.84 million.  This signifies, that for those that are married and have assets of nearly $26 million that they are able to thus legally pass that wealth onto their progeny, with no estate tax being assessed against those inheritors, whatsoever.  Further to the point, those that have estates far exceeding $26 million, have no doubt, created tax strategies that will enable that money to be designated to individuals and organizations with an absolute minimum of estate taxation being assessed against it.  That is to say, we read at cnbc.com, that “Just 0.2% of U.S. adults who die have owed estate tax in recent years… …That’s lower than the historical 1% to 2% share.”  In fact, cnbc.com, tells us, that there were only “… 2,570 taxable estate-tax returns filed in 2019.”

When a country is too frightened or too stupid to tax the very entities that have all of the money in the first place, it is only fair to assume that those that are our legislative representatives in this nation, have themselves been “captured” by the superrich.  After all, think about it, the amount of people that have assets greater than $26 million are all people that are in the upper decimal of the top 1% of such familial wealth accumulated in the United States.  The bottom line, is about half of the people in the United States, have no net worth, which would seem to indicate that they would appreciate the superrich, coughing up a heck of a lot more of their wealth, upon their demise, so as to redistribute such to those that really need it, in the present.

It would be one thing if in this modern age, America was becoming a nation in which its labor class was capturing a fair share of what they so produced for those that they work for – but in actuality, the labor class, has been steadily losing ground in the 21st century and that ground has been almost exclusively lost to those that are the superrich or well off, instead.  This means that the superrich as things are so currently structured, have never had more money in their hands, then they so have today; and somehow, for whatever spurious reasoning, they are being taxed at historic low rates on not only an annual basis, but also upon their death.

A nation that won’t tax the superrich appropriately when they are amongst the living, and insists upon not taxing them upon their death, is a nation that has no interest, whatsoever, in seeing that there is a process in place to accord a fairer distribution of the wealth, of this country.  Those then, that truly believe that wealth concentration is good for a nation and its people, have surely got it all wrong – for that is the very thing that Europe was known for, before America rose up to assert its independence, back in 1776.  Yet, regrettably, America has itself become a nation of dynastic wealth, so having been accomplished upon the backs of its own working class.

Turning back the clock and abortion

In many a nation, this is still a man’s world.  When it comes to western nations, though, the primacy of males has basically been replaced with a more collaborative understanding between the two sexes, which makes then for a better society.  Yet, the United States, seems to have taken a major step back, in regards to the equality of the sexes, through its overturning of Roe v. Wade. While the actual Supreme Court decision, was itself, a stretch in its reasoning at the time, it had been, though, the established law for the entirety of the nation for nearly fifty years, and to thereby replace such with decisions now to be made by the State legislative branch or of subsequent laws enacted within an individual State, makes then for a whole lot of inconsistency, confusion, and stress, for those thus desiring to be in reasonable control of their reproductive rights of their own sovereign body.

We are taught to have respect for the law, but when an important law is substantially different, depending upon whether a given individual lives in one State or another, then respect for that law, as enacted, thereby, is going to be reduced, significantly.  Of course, it has to be taken into account, that for those, that truly believe that life starts at conception, then the safe access to abortion, or the legitimacy of such, becomes, for them, a moral crusade.  Still, the counter-argument to that, is that each one of us, should be sovereign in regards to our minds and of our bodies, and so it logically follows that females should be accorded the respect that they deserve, to make whatever appropriate decisions that they feel is best, for a fetus that they carry 100% inside of them, subject to reasonable restrictions, such as the viability of the fetus, on its own.

Further to the point, there is the law on the books, and then there is the actuality of the law in practice – in which, many a law is blatantly violated again and again – such as we see in people that indulge in marijuana, which still remains a Schedule I Federal crime.  This thus indicates that even when abortion is stamped illegal, or is unavailable within a given State or county, that this does not, in and of itself, prevent abortions from happening, one way or another.  In short, what so happens in those places in which access to a safe abortion is precluded, is that most of those people that have determined that they want an abortion, are going to find a way to accomplish that task – with the significant difference for them, being the risk of the procedure being unsafe, the expense, as well as the possibility of criminal penalties that they or others so involved, may be susceptible to.

Sure, the United States, can turn back the clock on abortion – for indeed, in certain States of this Union, it has already done so; but that is not going to take a medical procedure which happens hundreds of thousands of times each year, alongside medical pills that can induce an abortion on its own, being actually reduced significantly or ever trending towards zero.  To believe that this is going to happen, is insensible – what will happen, though, is that the most vulnerable and marginalized amongst us, will unduly suffer for their lack of fair access to be in control of their own bodies, which is discriminatory and fundamentally wrong in every conceivable way.

When the public sector is not public

We’re supposed to be governed by public servants – which signifies that those that are our representatives in government, have an inherent obligation to be open and transparent to the constituents that they so publicly serve.  In actuality, though, few people are credulous enough to believe that our public servants are being as transparent, public, or open that they could be, and in a construct such as that, this thus means that those that are the citizens of this nation, do not truly have the resources that they thus need to be able to judge fairly as to whether or not, what is so happening under their collective names, is firstly consistent with the principles of this nation, and secondly whether this reflects the desires of those that populate this country, of, for, and by the people.

All those that are our public servants, whether elected or appointed, have a responsibility to be accountable to the citizens that they so serve.  The fact, then, that so much of what so happens of importance on behalf of the people, is secretive, or deceptive, or unaccounted for, is unacceptable.  Additionally, it is problematic for the general public to actively desire to participate with their governance, when that public doesn’t have full disclosure of what is or is not actually going on, on their behalf.  That is to say, civic service duty, voluntarily done by the people, is always going to suffer, when the people don’t feel that their voice is heard, and further to the point, don’t have the knowledge to ascertain whether those that represent them are actually being forthright and true.

So then, in fairness, whether the news is good or bad, those that are our public servants, need to keep foremost in their minds that when they are dishonest or purposely deceptive with the people, that the people have truly been cheated of what they are deserving of and have a right to know.  Those that are up to no good, are always those that prefer secrets that are not disclosed to those that are not in the know, as well as favoring labyrinths of all types and sizes, in addition to utilizing constant misdirection – thereby providing them with the cover that they need to perform those dirty deeds, so done by American public servants, but not willingly disclosed to the people of America.

A government that is not open and honest with its people, is, by definition, not going to be a good government, nor is it going to be a government that is actually in harmony with its governing documents.  The primary reason why there is so much disharmony, conflict, tension, and unhappiness within America, has an awful lot to do with the fact that the people don’t have a fair say, and they also don’t know what is really going on, behind the scenes.  In truth, the people of America are currently being disrespected by their government, and it is those very same people, that have to thus pay the price, figuratively and literally, for that governmental deception and malfeasance.  The answer, then, to this current mess, is for this government, to become far more forthcoming and open in its public activities, or simply admit to the people that this isn’t a democracy, in any fit, form, or function, and never will be.

“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government”

The above quotation comes from the esteemed Founding Father and third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, so written in 1809, after having completed two full terms as President.  If this nation, would take those above words to heart, we would thus find America to be a far more civil society, not only for the citizens that make up that nation, but also for the world, at large.  Regrettably, as the premier world military power, America has seen fit that it must also be the world’s perpetual policing force, thereby getting itself involved in all sorts of foreign affairs, in afar off lands, as if America, alone, should so determine what sort of governance should or should not be practiced in sovereign nations around the world.

The problem with America, is that it not only carries a big stick, but it insists upon utilizing, almost exclusively, that big stick, and virtually then ignoring the value of speaking softly, and thus the good utilization of diplomacy and negotiations in the affairs of foreign governments.  None of these unnecessary military misadventures bodes well in providing more care and happiness to human life, either here or abroad -- for America by its bellicose foreign policies, far too often believes that to resolve such to its satisfaction, necessitates the destruction of whatever that they perceive as being the enemy, as if this sort of action somehow is always justified, and will thereby ultimately bring lasting peace.

At the present time, America is in desperate need of a reset; and further to the point, America needs to determine what should be the legitimate object of good governance.  It would seem, that Jefferson, had it right, of which, the care of human life and happiness, should be the calling card of this the richest nation that the world has ever known.  If America, was to focus intently upon the good and thus the contentment of those that it so governs, as being its primary goal, then for a certainty, the people that live within this land, would enjoy a more prosperous and thereby satisfying life.

There are all sorts of things that any nation can get itself involved in, but the most pressing concern for any good governance, is first to recognize that such governance should be done for the greater good and benefit of the people that make up that nation, to begin with.  There are always going to be troubles within a given nation, and also without, but not all troubles need to be dealt with forcefully or even personally addressed by American governance, especially when they do not realistically involve real or present dangers to those that populate this good land.  Those that insist upon getting their noses into the type of business, that does not directly involve them, are susceptible to not only their nose getting bloodied, but in thus getting intertwined and intermixed into that which is not going to have a good outcome for anybody or anything.  Rather, a better pathway, is to concentrate foremost upon pursuing happiness, which rests upon the sound tenets of liberty, justice, and fair play.

“Blessed are the merciful, for mercy shall be in their portion”

The above quotation comes from the insightful mind of the incomparable Kahlil Gibran, and is inspired by Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  For a certainty, this world would be in a whole lot better shape, if in our interactions, we demonstrated more often mercy, compassion, understanding, patience, and forgiveness with one another, as opposed to being judgmental, vengeful, impatient, hateful, and violent, instead.  In the scheme of things, a significant portion of humankind is confused about who they really are, in essence, and because they do not know who and what they really are, or even where they should be going, their decision making and therefore their communications with one another, is going to suffer from that confusion, that thus reigns within their being.

To be merciful, is a quality that typically comes forth from those that have obtained wisdom; for those that are wise, do not strike out wantonly against others that simply do not know what they are really doing -- because those others having not properly comprehended that each one of us has been equally created by the very same hand of God, thus naturally lack proper discernment.  Certainly, each one of us is capable of getting far off of the course that we should be on, and many of us are quite capable of erroneous decisions, bad actions, and meanness – but that doesn’t signify that the best way to resolve such bad behavior is forceful retribution; for rather, a more sensible approach to such consists of a mixture of empathy, fairness, justice properly applied, and mercy.

So too, we have an obligation to those of our brothers and sisters that are errant in their ways, of doing our part to help them to thus correct their mindset.  Further to the point, those then that come from bad circumstances, of which they have been effectively treated rather poorly and of which their life experiences are often one of a struggle to find some degree of self-respect and worth, dearly need the helping hand that will thus serve to redirect their minds to that which is beneficial and useful, instead.  Of course, change does not often happen overnight, but we have an inherent duty to do our good part to help where we can so help, by exhibiting ourselves the mercy as our response to those in need, as opposed to the harshness so often effected by society, in its stead.

Also, it is fair to recognize that who and what we really are by our deeds, good or bad, is reflected in the portion of the goodness that we so receive as our compensation, so of.  Therefore, those that exhibit to others the narrowest of minds, and the harshest of their being as their persona, as a reflection of what they believe justice should be, are going to receive in return, a portion of that same justice, for themselves.  On the other hand, those that are merciful, will find that though they undoubtedly have faults and have also made their fair share of mistakes, that they will receive in return, a portion of that mercy, which they so richly deserve as their fair compensation.

The good works of Jesus the Christ

Most people consider the healing of so many, the feeding of the thousands, the turning of water into wine, and the resurrection of dead, to be perceived as “miracles.”  While, indeed, these were miraculous, they would more appropriately be described as being a fair representation of the good works of the Messiah, of which we so read in Holy Scripture In John 14:12, that “…he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also…”   Which thus indicates that each one of us, is capable of performing the same miraculous acts that Jesus so performed, if only we would become fully actualized by being in conformance with the attributes of our God and of our Messiah.

That is to say, as equally created children of our immaculate God, we are all accorded with the capability to perform wondrous deeds, but in order to do so, we must first develop the discipline to keep our mind and therefore our acts, rightly focused upon only that which is good and beneficial – along with also having the wisdom to take the gifts that we have developed over an extended period of time and thus use them responsibly for the greater good of humankind.   

In life, as much as we might wish that we could take shortcuts in order to get to the destination that we so desire to be, we do so find, that before we can get to where we so need to go, that we need to first be a good pupil, learning well from our esteemed and wise elders; and further to the point, we need to then demonstrate in action, that what we have so been taught – is validated by us through successfully having passed the tests so needed to demonstrate that we have not only learned our lessons well, but that we also have absorbed those lessons successfully in our persona, so that what we so need to represent and to be in our actions, are always consistent with, and therefore in tune with our God, who first formed us, in God’s good image.

While it is good to appreciate the greatness of Jesus the Christ, is isn’t good enough just to sit back and admire such -- for each of us has a responsibility to answer to that sacred call, to thus become what we were always created to be.  Those then that put their nose to the grindstone so as to manufacture good works for the betterment of the society that we are an integral part of are thus doing their necessary part to help make this world a better place for their involvement in it.  That is why, our Messiah, never stated to His disciples, that what He so did, could not be repeated by anyone else.  Rather, what our Messiah taught, is that we as equal creations of our God, are meant to well develop our skill set and then to thus utilize our skills on behalf of being a material aid for those that are our brothers and sisters. In short, the good change that we so desire to see enacted in this world, comes forth from the good works that we so help to manifest.

Hardware and software and the vehicle industry

We read at azom.com, that “The current global market for Automotive Manufacturing was valued at $2.9 trillion in 2022,” which is an absolutely astonishing figure, signifying that there is plenty of business as well as money to be made in the automotive industry, for those that are well positioned to do so.  The thing is, though, that the way that vehicles are manufactured today, differs distinctly by which they were manufactured a couple of generations ago – in which vehicles were at that point of time, basically sophisticated mechanical devices, consisting of a drive transmission, steering, brake, electrical and engine parts, as well as a suspension system, along with a body and a chassis.  That is to say, vehicles back in the day, were pretty much strictly hardware, and minimal software.

In today’s world, software performs more and more of the functions so needed, upon a given vehicle, and that trend is set to continue along that same pathway for the foreseeable feature.  This is why, then, hi-technology companies, known more for their software expertise, as opposed to their actual sustained manufacturing of goods, have gotten themselves so involved in the automotive industry.  Further to the point, there is a huge dividing line between what hardware so represents in vehicles as compared to software.  That is to say, for those that are strictly in the hardware business of automotive manufacturing, they must deal with the threat of, or the reality of union representation, along therewith having a fairly high vulnerability to that human labor; in addition, to the fact that they have all the expenses so being incurred in order to procure materials and to subsequently manufacture such, along with the space so needed to do the actual construction of that vehicle work.  In other words, those that are strictly on the hardware side of vehicle manufacturing, have to carry a lot of fixed costs as well as being exposed to large capital expenses, in order to try to make a relatively small gross margin on the work that they so do.  On the other hand, those that are on the software side, while being seriously exposed to a significant amount of research & development costs, know that once they have proven software that functions reliably and well, that their pathway to good profits and therefore a good gross margin are excellent.  That is to say, car manufacturers of today, that are not consolidated with the major software component so needed to produce those modern vehicles, are in severe danger, of being reduced to supplying the hardware component, and thereby the far less profitable part of a vehicle, to those that control the software, and hence the lion’s share of potential profits, instead.

So then, in essence, the reason why so many hi-technology companies have taken such a sustained interest in vehicle manufacturing, has very little to do with a desire to actually manufacture the hardware component of those vehicles, and everything to do with being the master controller of how those vehicles so operate and are sustained in good working order, from a system and software perspective.  This so indicates, that today’s biggest and best known manufacturing brands of vehicles, know for a certainty, that they must either control the software so needed for their vehicles being manufactured, or own such, or else they will be stuck in the purgatory of the diminishing returns of hardware manufacturing, in which their hard work of doing such, is subservient to those that control through their software the most meaningful part of the actual vehicle.

What are you seeking for?

It’s good to ask questions, especially when those questions are being asked to somebody or something that can provide a practical and comprehensive answer to such.  After all, we need to ask questions, or else take the time to do the research ourselves in order to learn vital things, and when we fail to do so, we thus lose ground in our knowledge, for knowledge is never finite or ever complete.  In other words, even when we are done with our formal schooling, it is sensible to continue our learning, rather than to become intellectually lazy, or to rest on our laurels, for life is ever changing, and we should desire to do our best to keep up with what is so happening in and around us.

As it has been said, an unexamined life is a life which has been lived poorly, for when we fail to desire to question the why of our very existence, it would seem that we have somehow misplaced what our priorities should really be focused upon.  For a certainty, it is problematic for us to find our best destiny, if we have not done our good part to figure out what we should be concentrating our mind upon, and thereby diligently working at, in order then to get to the best place for our life, and therefore have lived then our life well.

So too, it is important that the goals that we are fixated upon, are worthy of our spending our time and resources upon – for even when we put forth a heroic effort in order to achieve something, that effort may all be for naught, if what we have gone after, doesn’t in the scheme of things, represent something of real merit or worth.  This is why we need to understand, that simply going with the flow, is almost never going to be a life lived well, for that which is dead, by its very nature, must go with the flow – and therefore only those that are alive, can per their discernment, go against the flow, when such seems to be the most appropriate course of action to take.

Additionally, as much as we might want to believe that we are intelligent and knowledgeable, none of us knows everything, and all of us can therefore learn from someone or something else, who has clearly demonstrated the type of sound wisdom, that we can thus draw upon, if only we would seek for such.  That is why it is so vital for each of us, to ask the questions that are pinging upon our conscience, along with making sure that the questions so being asked, are being directed to the right entity.  For then, it has to be said, that not everyone or everything is going to be beneficial in our search, which is why we must always keep foremost in our mind, that eternal vigilance is our responsibility, for we are the very ones that care most that what we so seek upon is true. 

Remember this well, it is never too late or too early, for that matter, to figure out what we are so seeking, and when after careful contemplation we know what it is, our obligation then is to be faithful to that quest, come what may.

Getting beyond mere survival

In America, it is fair to say, that though there is a disappointing amount of people that suffer from poverty, that it can be said, that even the poorest of the poor, essentially have what they so need to survive, by availing themselves of, through various charities or various government departments, the essential things that they so need to have in order to secure that survival.  Perhaps that is the mark of a great nation, in which, even the most vulnerable, have enough to survive.  Perhaps though, in consideration that America is the wealthiest nation that the world has ever known, mere survival, would appear to be something less than what America could really do to be of real assistance to those that are its most endangered citizens.

After all, let’s face it, the objective of most people that walk upon this earth, is to have some semblance of a life that is well worth living, and quite frankly, just bare survival, doesn’t seem to fairly fit within that construct, especially when taking into consideration how many have far more than enough that they or their family members could ever really utilize, in their time upon this earth.  Sure, perhaps those that are wealthy, including nations, deserve to have that wealth, and further to the point, because that wealth is theirs, should thus be able to spend that wealth or to save it, for whatever purposes or inclinations that they so have.  Then again, it could be said, that the measure of how great a nation really is, should never be measured by its mere wealth, but rather should be measured by how such a nation and its people, interact with and deal with those that are its most vulnerable.

In truth, the more unequal a nation and its people are in their wealth, in their status, and in their power, the less stable or justified such governance is – for to keep masses of people, forever subservient to those that are, in essence, their masters, necessitates a sophisticated and powerful surveillance state, in conjunction with the coordination of the policing arm of that state to forcefully enforce such on behalf of those elites.  Those then, that live in nations, in which, there is great inequality, along with great injustice, of which the people thus suffer from the law being used as a cudgel to keep them in their place, are stuck within a survival mode, which reflects that they are not equal citizens of that country, but merely people that exist, in order to basically be exploited for the benefit of those that are the actuators of that nation.

Those nations that have become fortunate enough to become wealthy, have an inherent obligation to their people, first of all, to see that each one of those that make up the body politic, has a fair opportunity to have a life that represents well the success of that nation, by the accouterments that best represent, such success and a good life.  That is to say, as civilized human beings, the objective for our people, should always be in accordance to seeing that those that are good members of such, are fairly entitled to a good life, and not just mere survival.