Nixon and the environment

In today’s Republican party, the concern about climate change, the environment, pollution, sustainability, and regulations so meant to be enforced on behalf of the American people for the benefit of those same people, clearly seems to not be a priority of that party, whatsoever.  Yet, if we turn the clock back to January of 1970, and President Nixon’s State of the Union Address of that same year, we would probably be rather surprised at what Nixon so said, and advocated for, back then.  For instance, Nixon proposed that “… to the extent possible, the price of goods should be made to include the costs of producing and disposing of them without damage to the environment.” 

Yet, what we so see, far too frequently, when it comes to how business is conducted and performed in America, that the businesses of America, pretty much run roughshod over our weakened environmental regulations, in which, those that pollute and damage our environment, are often either not held fully accountable for the damages so inflicted upon such, or are rather adept behind changing their corporate identity so that it so becomes that no going concern corporation is thus ever held responsible for such damage.

In our capitalistic system the rush for profits, the desire for the executive office to get their bonuses, the need for stockholders to see a constant and ever improving return on their investment, as well as the sales people of these corporations doing what so has to be done in order to get their fat commissions, lends itself to constantly conducting business in a  way and manner in which the environment is treated as something that is not an ever present priority or concern.  This is not the way that things should be, because business models can be constructed in which, clean air, clean water, and environmental responsibility could and should be part and parcel of those business enterprise responsibilities, without exception.

The problem that modern day America has, which is reflected by the policies so enacted and subsequently enforced, is that those of the business world, that are primarily driven by profit, have way too much influence and way too much sway upon the governmental policies so implemented within America.  This means, that far too often, this government is counting upon the corporate world, to somehow do the right thing about clean air, clean water, and the environment – when that same government knows for a certainty, that the primary driving force of those businesses is the making of profit, above all.

It is one thing to know what the right thing is to do about the environment and pollution, as Nixon so stated in 1970, and it is entirely different thing to actually do what needs to be done.  Further to the point, when businesses are permitted to pollute this fine land, year after year, the price that the general public must then pay for this to be rectified or corrected, ever increases, of which, the burden to ameliorate such, is apparently not rightfully placed upon the shoulders of those businesses that have created this mess in the first place; but rather, instead, is placed upon the taxpayers of this nation, and, regrettably, then, passed onto future generations to address and to deal with.  In short, Americans supposedly still have a birthright of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but apparently, to this nations’ shame, have no birthright to a safe environment to enjoy such in.

An impartial jury

The 6th Amendment to the Constitution, states that the accused shall be tried by “..an impartial jury.”  Yet, the history of court cases within America, demonstrates historically, that impartial juries, seems to be in many a case, the exception, and not the rule.  After all, when it comes to human nature, we are prone to have a preconceived nature about many things, of which, not too surprisingly, when it comes to criminal trials, a significant amount of people, pretty much are biased in their predisposition, as a matter of course.  For instance, in many racist communities, past or present, those so accused that are of the unfavored race, that thus face a jury of exclusively the favored race, know that the result for them, is going to be almost for a certainty, not one of their liking.  So too, those that come from poor socioeconomic levels, who are thus judged by a jury, who live on the other side of the tracks, are going to often be in a rather problematic situation.

When it comes to criminal justice, the makeup of the jury, that decides upon the guilt or innocence of those so being accused, is quite obviously of immense importance to the outcome of a given case.  The question then that needs to be asked, is does the American court system, do all that it could reasonably do, to make sure that the jury is impartial, as well as being a fair reflection of the community, at large.  In other words, communities of people are in the natural, not typically completely homogenous, but rather are heterogenous.  This thus signifies that an impartial jury, at its foundation, must then be made up of a fair reflection of all of the adult people that are part and parcel of that community, from rich to poor, from black to white, from one religious persuasion to another, and from white collar to blue collar.  A jury then made up of a fair diversity of what that community actually represents, would not necessarily be an impartial jury, but it would, at a minimum, reflect the diversity of that community, which would probably reflect fairer jury decisions.

When it comes to achieving an impartial jury, it is vital to impress upon those that are its jurors, the importance of them, not having preconceived notions of innocence or guilt, without first taking into fair consideration the testimony and the circumstances of the case, so of, to come.  Further to the point, it isn’t often, that regular folks, are placed in a position in which their judgment has a legal and meaningful impact upon another – which is why jurors need to be reminded that they have a duty to render their decision based upon the actual facts of the case, as a form of reasonable service to the community that they are a part of.  Those then, that are good listeners to the facts of the case, and are careful in their deliberations, so of, have done their good part to be impartial, and all those that do not do such, are partial, and have thus failed to be just and true.

Bad means – bad end

There are plenty of people that actually believe that the end can indeed justify the means that are used to get to that desired end.  In other words, for those that believe in this nonsensical idiom, pretty much anything then can be justified, if the end result, so of, appears to be of desired value.  Not too surprisingly, the type of person that truly believes that the end justifies the means, are the very same type of people that are forever wanting to bend, break, or ignore conventional rules so as to have their own way – who thus find when questioned about their own ethics, responding that their actions are actually essentially ethical, because the end result is considered, at least, by them, to be good.

As they say the pathway to hell is paved with good intentions; and it could be added that the pathway to hell is also paved with those that believe that any means are justified, if a supposed good result, will occur.  The problem with this type of mindset, is that ethics thus perpetually takes a back seat to actions so enacted, that, in theory, will ultimately have a good result.  Yet, what isn’t taken into consideration, is all the nuances and the full consequences of the bad actions taken, that have been perceived as being, for example, unethical to others --  and so when these actions seem rewarded as being right, because the end result appears to be right, encourages then those others to go out and behave in the same similar way, ad nauseam.  In other words, a supposed good end result, isn’t necessarily the definitive end of all the ramifications of that result.  Rather, for instance, many people are impressionable, and if they see that in order for a given person of interest to get ahead, that this person has to lie, deceive, and exploit, of which, the return seems to be for that person behaving as such, the appearance of a very good life, then others are going to be prone and susceptible in following suit, come what may.

So then, in truth, those that utilize bad means, are on a distinctive arc, that bends inevitably to a very bad end.  That is the way that it should be and that is the way that it actually is.  To believe, otherwise, means to believe in a universe in which there is no moral or ethical order, whatsoever.  Rather, there is order, and those that do not wish to adhere to that order, are going to reap fairly what they have so sowed.  The choices that we make are ours to own up to – of which, then, should a given person decide to utilize whatever means, good or bad, that appeals to them, to get to where they believe that they really want to be, the consequences of any wrong actions are something that must be paid and paid in full by them.  In fact, those that use bad means not only ultimately hurt their own self, but they are at least indirectly responsible for hurting others so damaged through their bad means.  That is why bad means always leads to a bad end.

Be careful who you follow

If everyone wanted to be a leader, there would be quite a bit of chaos and civil unrest, because there are only so many slots available for leaders to fill.  Fortunately, the amount of people that want to be a leader aren’t all that many – in fact, one could argue, that there is definitely a dearth of good leaders, and that therefore because of the lack of well qualified and good leaders, this presents its own problem; as there are unfortunately, plenty of ambitious people that want to lead, but are doing so pretty much for their own benefit, and often at the expense of their devoted followers, or of society, in general, or both.

The fact that not every leader is a good leader, is the very first clue, that we should be careful as to who we do or do not follow.  After all, each of us is gifted with our own mind, of which, it is our responsibility to utilize our mind so as to develop the skill-set to think for our own self.  Further to the point, we need to advance far beyond just believing everything that we so hear, read, and see, as if we have no capacity or desire to discern the reliability, truthfulness, or validity of what is so happening.  We are not meant to be credulous citizens, that question nothing, and accept everything – for if that was the case, then we would be better suited to just be automatons and not human beings.

That said, there is no shame in being a follower of a leader of real merit– especially when we realize that we do not have the time, energy, or capacity to lead the line, our self.  Often, in life, in order to effect change, there is a necessary need to join together with like-minded individuals, of which, each of these individuals brings something of worth and merit to the table, and from those many hands, joined together, a cause can rise to the forefront, especially when it is led by a dedicated servant to that cause, who is unrelenting upon achieving that which must be done so as to effect meaningful change. 

Nevertheless, a wise and prudent person, must not be hesitant to question the authority of even the cause that they are following, because it is important that those that are agitating for change, stay focused upon the purpose for their cause, originating in the first place – for there has been many a leader that begins with the best of intentions, of which,  subsequently through their and their followers’ actions this eventually devolves into the bastardizing of what was so intended, which thus undercuts the purpose of the agitation so enacted and is thus detrimental to all so involved.  In short, before we decide to follow someone or to join up with a particular group, we should want to know what the driving purpose of the agenda actually is – and periodically we need to thus ask our self this very salient question: is what we are so following and participating in, bringing us closer to that which we first proposed to accomplished or is it taking us further away?

The decline and fall of the uneducated white man

The history of the United States, is pretty darn clear, it has involved the rise of the white man, pretty much conquering whatever was in its way so as to satisfy its domestic manifest destiny – which it has so done.  The thing is though, that the United States conquered everything that the continental United States has so represented, decades upon decades ago, leaving then, vast global excursions to thus attend to; of which, when we take a look at the world as it really is, it was soon discovered that the white man, was most definitely not the only show in town.  So then, those at the very top of the pecking order, in recognition that business is business, made the ready adjustment to a world that exists in a multitude of colors as well as religious persuasions.  Further to the point, to a very large extent, from a labor exploitation perspective, foreign lands are far more lucrative of good profit making for US based businesses, than using exclusively domestic labor.

All of the above basically signifies that the most powerful positions globally, just being an exclusive domain of only white men, has effectively ended.  No doubt, the white race, is still the favored race in America, but adjustments have also been made domestically, which thus makes this nation far more inclusive than previously, and takes into salient account, far more often, the actual talents of those so desiring to apply for employment, without regard to the color of their skin or national origin.  That said, to a large extent, those that are of the white race, who are educated, skilled, well-positioned or well-connected, are still in a very good place; but alas those others that are white who lack those same attributes have discovered to their dismay, that they are falling ever further behind of what they believe that they, as simply being a white person in America, are entitled to.

The fact of the matter is, that white people, who may well work hard, or are willing to work hard, but lack the types of skill-sets that are most in demand from a good remuneration standpoint in America in the 21st century, are in a pretty dark place.  These particular white people are very vulnerable, because oftentimes for the employment that they so find, they lack job security, as well as a good living wage, and pretty much can’t count on that lot improving for them, over any extended period of time.  In other words, more and more white people, are living lives that are pretty much dead-ends from the get-go, because they are either poorly educated or live within societal enclaves that are seemingly lost in time and therefore lacking in good opportunity.

Still, to be white, is to remember the dream, to recall that there was a time and an age in America, when those that were white made their own laws, enforced their own rules, and truly had their privileged way.  Those days of dominating privilege, though, are in a state of seriously being eroded, and to believe that this will soon change, is absolutely delusional, for those at the highest echelons of the white race, care not a whit for what so happens to what they consider to be “poor white trash.”

Patriotic hate

We are taught by Holy Scripture to love one another, and significantly, to love our enemies, as well as to forgive one another.  Yet, for whatever reason, when it comes to those times of war, we don’t find that this sort of Biblical sentiment of love and of forgiveness, is held in high favor by governments, whatsoever.  Rather, what we so see when war is in the air, is a relentless drumbeat thus drummed into our minds, that seems to stipulate that our country is specifically blessed by God, and that this other country is for a certainty, God forsaken, and thus populated by peoples that can only be considered to be subhuman and are essentially, then, dehumanized.

While it is true that war can indeed bring out the best in some people – it has to be said that war, to a very large extent, brings out some of the worse behavior, as well.  What is especially disturbing is that governments make it their point, to see that their compliant citizens, are recognized as being especially patriotic the more that they buy into their enemy as being undeserving of respect, civility, or consideration of any kind – for the enemy are meant to be debased so as to thereby be seen as simply subhuman, and those then that are thus fully deserving of their rather dire fate.  So then, that which is typically frown upon, from any conventional society, of unrelenting hatred of the other, is in times of war, seen as the epitome of what it means to be a good citizen of their own country, by thus displaying that hatred through the necessary violent means that destroys and thus kills that which has no right to life.

The reason that dehumanizing the other is so vital for nations that have decided to war against one another, is that in the natural order of things, premediated murder, is not too infrequently considered to be a societal capital crime.  Yet, what would normally be seen as premediated murder is not typically considered to be a crime when so executed as part of warfare; in fact, those that are especially adept at killing the enemy, are eligible to received state sanctioned awards and medals.  Indeed, in times of warfare, the perceived need to defeat the enemy is everything; so that, even those acts of rape, torture, civilian abuse of all kinds and degrees, as well as pillaging, when enacted, are typically, never subject to military reprimand or punishment of any kind.

So, when warring against another nation, of which that nation has been successfully dehumanized, means then that for the most part, the general population doesn’t have any real issues with what has to be done in order to defeat that enemy.  Again, when the belief is that one country is made up of humans and therefore deserving of all the unalienable rights that goes with that humanity – but the other side, somehow, has been debased to being perceived as subhuman, we do so find, that a significant portion of the civilian population that believe in that construct, are going to be just fine with it.  In other words, patriotic hate is deliberately structured for the expressed purpose for the people, to circumvent their highest calling in life, which is to love one another, and this thus allows those same people to override their moral obligation to do right by one another, by believing that in warfare this moral law is somehow not applicable.

Sustained activism and change

There are plenty of people that believe that it is the courts, and the seminal decisions within those courts, that thus bring meaningful change to society.  While on the surface, this does appear to be true; the fact of the matter is, that courts seldom enact fundamental changes to society, without that society having themselves, begun that change through their sustained social activism.  In other words, most courts are extremely reluctant to make judicial decisions that will upset the status quo, without also having first taken a reading of the prevailing winds of the time.  That is to say, the most consequential decisions by the Supreme Court, often had at its foundational base, the fact that certain segments of the population, had agitated for that change, and thus that court is basically ratifying what has been determined must be changed, for the time has come for that change.

This basically signifies that it isn’t so important what the law does or does not say, but rather what is of more importance is whether that which the people have decided should be changed, has the type of grass roots support to agitate for that change, and then for those people not to quit, until that change is so realized through an appropriate legislative act or judicial decision so enacted.  The bottom line is that many a government, many a court, and many a society, are not going to change much of anything, unless, some particular organization, begins to seriously rattle their cage and of which, they will not relent from continuing to do so, come what may.

When it comes to government, most of the time, that government, basically just wants their population to be obedient to its dictates.  Yet, that is not the way that a representative government should actually work, and when those that are our representatives are doing a poor job, in championing what should be championed for the people, then it is up to those people to see that their voice be heard.  Further to the point, it isn’t good enough to have a protest here or protest there, or even a rousing and raucous speech, if all this activity isn’t sustained over the long haul – for governments seldom get nervous or concerned when the people are occasionally up in arms, unless those people are up in arms, about the same thing, for an extended period of time – then, that government will probably take notice, and might even consider the validity of what all the complaining is about.

Any movement, begins with the first step, and of which, the hope is that those that are sympathetic to the principles of what is being agitated for – will themselves thus join or contribute in some meaningful way to such.  It is important then that not only that the activism be sustained of the principle so being fought for, but such activism often necessitates that it strengthens itself by combining with other like-minded people or organizations, so that the sheer numbers involved will make it better heard and thus give it greater impact.  In reality, the change that we want in society, starts with the people of that society, that will not relent from what they believe must so be changed, until this is ratified through a legislative act or judicial court action.

What would you have me to pray about for you?

There are plenty of people that believe in the power of prayer, and even more so, when they are in difficult or problematic situation.  So too, there are many people that want to help those that are in some sort of crisis, of which, one of those things so offered, is to pray for or with them.   Yet, think about it, a basic generic prayer for someone, though it may have some value, is never the same thing, as a more focused prayer that directly addresses what the actual problem is that needs to be resolved.  After all, when our Messiah was walking the earth with us, those praying for His healing power, had specific things that they needed, in order to, for instance, to receive sight, or to walk, and this they so boldly asked for.  So then, when we have a friend in need, that we want to offer a prayer for, it is sensible to ask that person what they specifically would wish to have be addressed by prayer.

We do so find that in life, many of us have goals that we want to achieve, of which, some people have a very basic outline of what they want to achieve, such as, to just have a better life – whereas, others are far more specific in what they are trying to achieve, and not only write down what their goals are, but also write down the steps so needed to realistically achieve that goal.  Not too surprisingly, the more specific a given goal is, and the more intent we are on achieving each of those steps to get to that goal, the more often, that desired result so occurs.  So too, in praying, it is of immense value, to be specific to what is so desired in that prayer, so that the concentration and the focus of that prayer can be directed intensely upon what is so needed.

The results that we achieve in life have an awful lot to do with the planning, the effort, and the throughput so generated by us. Those then of little faith, that pray little generic prayers, will typically get the type of result that one would expect from prayer so done in a rote and mechanical way.  On the other hand, those that understand best that with God, all things are truly possible, are the type of people that are going to get things done that seem impossible to others.  That doesn’t mean, of course, that all we pray about fervently, always comes true, but it does so indicate that those of great faith, that are specific and focused upon praying for that which has value are going to be much more successful in their prayerful act, than those that aren’t so engaged.

There are many a person that needs a helping hand, and of which, we aren’t ourselves always qualified to provide them with that helping hand, because we may lack the skill-set that they are so seeking – but know this for a certainty, we can, at a minimum, find out what ails them, and then do our level best to pray to our omnipotent God that it so be done, in God’s good name.

Civilization necessitates cooperation

When we are little children, we have a tendency to want to have our own way, our own toys, and our own dominion, that we alone, are masters of.  In consideration that children, are children, that is to be pretty much expected.  But there comes that time when we have to put away childish things and enter into the adult world.  This thus indicates that those that aren’t able to graduate into becoming responsible, self-sufficient, and mature adults are going to be problematic when it comes time to develop good and healthy societies, because those that think and do wrong things, aren’t then going to do their fair part to help make for a good society.

No human being is an island, and no society can be made up of exclusively individuals that do not believe that they have an obligation to get along with others – for a nation without a purpose, a nation without principles, and a nation without a good reason for its legitimate existence, will not successfully stand the test of time.    That is why, each one of us, needs to contribute to the making of a good civil society, based upon the principles of fair play, justice, equality of opportunity, and meritocracy.  This thus necessitates that we have to make it our point, to cooperate with one another, so that we can together, build our societal edifice upon a solid foundation, rather than to spend inordinate amounts of times in all sorts of rancor, divisiveness, and spiteful behavior.

None of the above means that we should live our lives in abject obeisance to the state, for each of us is born free, with free will, and our own thinking mind – so gifted to us, so that we can through our own volition recognize the superiority of joining together into one body politic.  Additionally, each one of us, is absolutely fallible, despite what we might wish to believe, contrariwise, that some of us, somehow, become infallible, over some extended period of time and study.  That is why it is so important for each one of us, to recognize that the reasonable opinions and viewpoints of others, should often be listened to and considered – for how else then are we able to adjust our own opinions and viewpoints, if we are forever fixed in such, as if our mind is permanently aligned to a broken clock.

As always, it is easy to be the critic, it is easy to teardown, to destroy, and to belittle someone else or even a government for its faults.  To those that are especially adept at such, no credit should be accorded, for destruction without a corresponding plan of improvement to thus enact instead, is wrong-headed.  Rather, for civilizations to advance, for society to get better, we need to put our heads together, and to make collective success be the focus of what we are so trying to achieve.  That is to say, people and governments lose their direction, when then have essentially lost the purpose for their being in the first place.  The point of civilization, is to gather together, for the purpose of improving the lot of the people that make up that civilization, best accomplished by having a point of discussion, leading to a plan of action, and then the implementation of such a plan for the greater good of that civilization through the willing cooperation of its people.

The relentless rise of the superrich

While the world, at large, has an incredible amount of wealth – that wealth besides not being evenly distributed, is skewed so dramatically to the superrich, that hundreds of millions upon millions of people suffer from extreme poverty; along with the inconvenient fact that what we so see in many western nations, is that not only is there a stubborn amount of people still below the poverty line, but also that those of the middle class are typically themselves feeling more and more pressure on being able to sustain the relatively little of worth and value that they can truly call their own.

The superrich are extremely skilled at making money, as well as in avoiding fair and appropriate taxation to such, and when that government, of, for, and by the people is really just a front, for a government that for all practical purposes is really of, for, and by the superrich, then the end result is going to be what we so see today in nations, such as the United States of America.  One would think, that in the land of opportunity, and of liberty, that the government that so determined that a progressive income tax was necessary in order to redistribute monies from the rich back to that government, that provided these very successful people and corporations with the opportunity to make those riches, in the first place, would thus make sure to see that such taxation would be robust and effective in its application, but that isn’t the case at all. 

As reported by Oxfam.org, “The richest 1 percent grabbed nearly two-thirds of all new wealth worth $42 trillion created since 2020, almost twice as much money as the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population.” This is clearly indicative that wealth creation in this world, has essentially been “gamed” by those that are the richest and most powerful people and organizations in it.  Such success could only come about when governments of nations are themselves either part and parcel of those superrich and powerful people, or have effectively been “captured” themselves by the superrich as well as its powerful corporations. 

A world in which the superrich have everything, and the balance so remaining, must be divvied up by the remainder of the population, at large, is not only going to be an unfair world, but it is going to be, by definition, a world of unease, civil unrest, violence, and revolution.  Most people do not begrudge another for their success – but they do begrudge a construct in which the game is fixed in the favor of a small cadre of superrich individuals as well as super powerful corporations. 

The superrich spend far too much time and energy trying to justify to others, that the wealth that they so have, has been mainly created by their hard work and overall genius.  Whether or not this is true, misses the point, which is that a world in which only a few have so much, and the balance of the population, has so little, reflects a society in terminal decline, and not one of success or satisfaction.   Recognize this well, the biggest crybabies in the world, are the superrich, for they get all up in arms, whenever their wealth is challenged by fair taxation, fair play, and a reconfiguring of the business world, to assure fair and robust competition.  The fact of the matter is that the superrich don’t want to change a thing, because they already have everything – which is why things must change.

The United States indirect support of warfare and insurrections worldwide

When it comes to spending on its military, the United States is such an outlier, that its aggregate amount of monies so allocated to defense spending is more than the next ten highest defense spending countries, combined.  Further to the point, the United States, as reported by the Stockholm International Peace Research, “…accounted for nearly 40 percent of military expenditures by countries around the world in 2022.”  So then, in recognition that those that rob banks, do so, because that is where the money is at; this thus makes the extensive inventory of United States military armaments an especially desirable target.  After all, when it comes to revolutionaries of all types, paramilitary units, international illicit drug dealers, and just about any enterprise that understands the value of having weapons, America has a very wide breadth of what these entities so desire and need.

Let’s face it, when it comes to revolutions, one of the very first tasks, so done, if not the very first, by those contemplating a revolutionary action, is to take control of the most strategically important armories, because those that have the weapons, obviously have an initial huge advantage over those that have lost such.  It is then quite disappointing to read, as reported by apnews.com, that “…at least 1,900 United States military firearms were lost or stolen during the 2010s.”  Undoubtedly, this is a massive undercount of military firearms so lost or stolen – because with the billions upon billions of dollars so being spent upon our military weapons, we can certainly count on the number of weapons having been lost or stolen, being considerably higher than that.   Additionally, America has a really bad habit of leaving behind its weaponry in countries that they have had engagements with, when they decide to hurriedly withdraw their forces, so of.  Also, there are those times when America arms a particular side of an insurgency, only to find at a later period of time, that America and that insurgency are no longer on the same side.

The reality of the matter is that armaments cost a whole lot of money and because of their considerable value and vital worth, are going to be in high demand by those that are needing such, in which, therefore, those organizations or personnel that a have an itch for money or actually believe in a particular cause are going to be agreeable to making an underhanded deal, which will thus benefit both parties to it.  Further to the point, revolutions and insurrections have a fundamental need for weapons of all sorts, and aren’t going to waste their time with those nations that don’t have the capacity or the caliber of the weaponry that they are so seeking.  Additionally, there is only one superpower in the world, of which that superpower, has military bases, all over the world, numbering in the range of 800 or so – and the logistics of getting weaponry and armaments to all of those foreign bases is going to lend itself to all sorts of opportunities for those that are ambitious to make a deal to obtain a subset of those armaments.

In short, when we look at all the video of warfare throughout the world, and are suitably impressed by the massive firepower so displayed by these paramilitary or revolutionary groups – know that, in many a case, what they so have and handle, is proudly made in America.

Wars, fighting, and humankind

For any reasonable person it has to be a great disappointment that nations far too often decide to resolve their differences through warfare.  So too, many human beings, are prone to taking the law into their own hands, or pretty much deciding that they desire to fight someone over all sorts of things, and have been doing so for generations upon generations.  In short, nations still go to war all of the time, and people still fight each other, all of the time, as well.

When we look at the animal kingdom, we recognize that though some of the fighting is ritualistic, most of the fighting so initiated is primarily done so for purposes of getting food, or for mating, or for status, or for territory.  So then, when we look at nations that fight one another, they primarily do so on a fundamental level, to control or to takeover territory as well as obtain valued resources.  Additionally, for those humans that fight, it is commonly done so for respect or status within their domain, or to gain something of value from someone else.  In other words, a lot of the reasons why nations and humans fight have a lot in common with the reasons that animals fight.  That is to say, we so find that pretty much that the purpose of fighting is to gain something of value or worth, at the expressed expense of the other.

If humankind or nations do actually desire to evolve and to thus become civilized in the true meaning of that word, then humankind and nations need to change their thinking, because the progress so needed to resolve our differences through something other than constantly fighting is frustratingly slow. The fact that in today’s world, that humankind has so much knowledge about so many different things, but still insists upon primarily resolving its differences through fight, is absolutely pathetic, which reflects that humans are far more dim-witted than most people recognize.

All of those that believe that we are special creations of God, have got to be incredibly disappointed that human beings spend such an inordinate amount of time, fighting one another, all done, pretty much at the same level, that animals do.  This would presuppose that human beings aren’t actually all that different than animals, and perhaps reflects that human beings did indeed evolve from apes. 

For those, that understand, that each one of us has been gifted with free will and must therefore fairly face the consequences of our actions; in addition to understanding that the mind that we have can thus be utilized either for good or for bad, need then to clearly demonstrate the discipline and the wisdom to do the right thing, consistently.  This means, understanding, that the change that we need to see, in order to cut down significantly upon all of the warfare and fighting so occurring, must come forth from our own actions, so directed by our own thoughts, in unity.  It is needful to understand that the pathway to advancement of our species, is not going to successfully come through warfare and fighting, but remains as it always has been, through fairness, justice, teamwork, forgiveness, and love, actualized.

The pernicious of social media

If social media was structured in a way and manner in which those so posting only ever dealt with the closest of friends and family, and of which, negative and demeaning posts were frown upon or never even commented upon, then perhaps all would be well.  But that isn’t social media at all, because social media as presently structured, seems to represent a format in which, far too often, the “friends” that are part of our social media, aren’t really friends, at all; and the posts so being made aren’t really there to provide a fair window into a given person’s life, but more are there as a form of narcissism or bragging, more than anything else.

The toxicity of social media is proven out by the fact that those that are especially young of age and posting, aren’t typically able to find themselves a safe place on social media in order to decompress and to just be their own real self, for a while; but rather feel far too often pressured to measure up to, or compete against others, in which in this zero-sum game there are most definitely losers as well as winners.  While social media can represent a lot of different things to different people, of which, some of these things are good – it also suffers fundamentally from the cardinal sin of being damaging far too often to the fragility of a person’s ego, their self-assessment, their good humor, and their overall civility.

Life presents all sorts of challenges to young people, in which, many a child after having a rough day ends up being consoled by their family or friends in order to help right their ship, and thus be able to face another day, feeling better about themselves, and thereby putting what has so happened to them that they didn’t like, back into its appropriate perspective.   The thing about social media, though, is that it can be absolutely relentless in its negativity, so that, something bad that has happened, can be successfully regurgitated in one form or another, over and over again, which thus means that the wound so inflicted, doesn’t ever have a chance to properly heal, and because of that, creates a situation in which a given person thus suffers from something chronically damaging and seemingly without end.

This thereby signifies that social media is the type of format that allows those that are bullies, along with their compatriots, to essentially attack the weak and vulnerable; and of which, those that have been attacked, if unable to mount a successful defense or to somehow walk away from such, will end up suffering through that media the public embarrassment of their shame, and some of these people so suffering, will have a tendency to turn their righteous anger that they have inside, inward, and thus hurt their own selves out of frustration and a sense of hopelessness. 

This world can be a dangerous and ugly place, which is why we have laws, legislators, and governments – of which, the primary purpose of a government is to insure the domestic tranquility of the people.  When it comes to social media, the proper refereeing so needed to protect people from the perniciousness of that media is virtually non-existence, and the end result, so of, is the type of tragedies that we see so happen, most every day from it.

Why is America so violent?

One would have a tendency to believe that any nation, espousing the values of liberty, freedom, free will, and the pursuit of happiness -- and, of which, the governance of that said nation, would appear to be theoretically structured in a way and manner to best produce these good attributes, would, by definition, probably also be a nation with a minimal amount of violence, discord, and uncivility.  Yet, in all honesty, America does not actually represent a country in which all is well – demonstrated quite conclusively by the incredible amount of violence perpetuated each and every day within it, both licit and illicit, along with the massive amount of its own citizens that are locked up, and finally by the tremendous disparity between those few that have so much of everything, as contrasted to a significant amount of those that have so little of anything.

One of the problems of being the richest nation that the world has ever known, is the salient fact that the people within that nation, are constantly being bombarded by advertisements, social media posts, and entertainment glorifying the necessity as well as the beauty of certain material assets as being the pinnacle of what it means to be an American – basically demonstrating the point that America is a very wealthy nation –  but, we also find that, what often isn’t really stated or said, is that the greatest wealth of this country is mainly in the hands of a small minority of people, that have the absolute best of it.  This thus creates the construct, in which those that have little or nothing, feel that their self-worth is basically equivalent to their material possessions, and because they lack that material success, find that this quite frequently breeds, in them, discontent, envy, frustration, and jealousy.

So then, within these American enclaves of poverty and neglect, those that are brought up in such a place, and have no good mentor or moral authority to help them navigate the very dangerous waters that they live within, are going to have a strong tendency to want to even the score, as they so mature, especially when all they have known previously is poverty, lack, and abuse by those that are stronger than them.  Further to the point, it would be one thing, if everyone else, suffered from the same sorts of problems that those that have nothing good to call upon so suffer from; but for a certainty, America is, in reality, a very wealthy nation, along with it also being too often, unfair, unjust, corrupt, and discriminatory.

In short, for those that have no hope of honestly earning what they perceive that they want and of which, they picture their life as pretty much being without legitimate hope – then they are going to have a strong inclination to take what they want by any means so necessary, of which, for those that lack a legitimate path to achieve such, they will often turn to various forms of violence or intimidation to accomplish their goals, for this, for them, represents their own storming of the Bastille.

Christ was not born into royalty

Christianity is one of the world’s great religions, and certainly is the predominant religion of those of western nations.  One might have a tendency to think then, that Jesus would have to have been born to some family of real note and meaning, but this doesn’t appear to be really true, at all.  Jesus was not born into a high place, or even of a family representing notable material or social success.  Rather, we are told in Holy Scripture that Jesus was born, while his parents were traveling as per their obligation for a census, and further that there was no room at the inn, for the pregnant Mary, and that Jesus upon His birth in Bethlehem, was placed into a manger. 

None of this seems to suggest that Jesus’ family was of any particular notable significance or of high class, whatsoever; at least, from a material perspective.  That is to say,  the family of Jesus, while not having either wealth or status, were nevertheless very good people, of integrity, high moral standards, and of great spiritual strength.  So then, in consideration that Jesus came from relatively humble circumstances, it would seem to behoove us to make it our point, to see that those that are of impressive wealth, high position, and status should not be accredited as good people based upon that material status or of their position in society, but rather would be better judged upon the content of their character, instead.

It is fair to state, that in Jesus’ ministry, there was never a time when Jesus was so caught, counting his money, and thus attesting to the virtue of having great wealth or even the necessity of such.  Instead, Jesus demonstrated that the most important principle in our life, has to be our relationship one to another, in which, we are here to help uplift one another, as well as to do our fair part to be a source of good to each other.  That is to say, there are plenty of things that we could so concentrate upon each and every day, believing perhaps that these tasks then are the most important things that we need to focus upon; but, in reality, there is nothing more important than seeking harmony and oneness with our God.

So too, we do so find that rich and powerful people, have often deep within their psyche, a proximate concern that perhaps not all is well, with what they have so done in order to be in the place that they are at – of which, then, many a personage thereby attempts to paper over this possible flaw by being generous through donations of all sorts.  Yet, while money has its place, that place is almost exclusively within this material plane and nowhere else.  Rather, each of us is meant to get off of our “high horse” and to meet people where they are really at, for those that feel “big” about giving away this or that, are missing the very salient point, which is that the most important gifts in life are accomplished through our noble service, our sincere love, our caring concern, and our continuous dedication to doing what we best can do to help bring those that are in darkness, into Light.

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance”

The above quotation comes from the father of our Constitution as well as he also being our 4th President, James Madison.  This wisdom holds as true today as it did back then, signifying that any governance that desires to have its population be in the dark, or ignorant, about those matters of fundamental importance, is not only governance gone wrong, but is clearly not a government that has any real interest in serving the people well, at all.  Let’s face it, those that are lacking in proper and fundamental educational achievements, are typically going to be the very same people that are far easier to manipulate, to mold, to exploit, and to take advantage of.  Those then that will not question what needs and should be questioned, of their government, make for pliant citizens, which is not necessarily the same thing, as a good citizen, so of.

Those then that are in the know, as compared to those that are not, are thus able to take the knowledge that they have, and use such, for their own personal advantage – though, that said, they can also use such knowledge for the greater good, as well.  The thing is, when those that are governed, do not have the ready capacity to hold those that govern them, accountable, for their actions so done on their behalf, then the results, thereof, are going to be exclusively dependent upon the wisdom, integrity, and interests of those that have that powerful knowledge.  

There was a time when those in the most powerful of positions, be secular or religious, or both, were the very same entities that utilized their respective dominant positions, to convince credulous others, that their position, was ordained to them, by God, so no earthly power or personage, could ever then question their authority and thus their decision making.  For all those that believed such, for instance, because Holy Scripture as promulgated seemed to support this viewpoint, or because all of the material wealth so controlled by these powerful people, was both massive and intimidating in its scale, of which, they had themselves not the knowledge to question this prism, were therefore at their mercy as to what they could thus fairly avail themselves of.

While an ignorant population is far easier to manipulate and to control, over a free thinking people, that sort of governance in which only the few are knowledgeable and the great majority of the population is not, can only going so far, because societies improve and advance themselves based upon their collective knowledge and the throughput of its citizens, in whole.  In other words, the more knowledgeable that a given nation is, the better life this will present to the people of that nation, in totality.  For we so find, that the injustices, the inequalities, and the unfairness that is so often presented to us in civil society, are best overturned when the people are alert, engaged, and motivated to see that the playing field, that all must play upon, is leveled; and thus, not permanently tilted to favor just one class of people, over everyone else.   Those then, in governance, that best support knowledge for all, represent the best servants to the people; and those that do not, don’t.

“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression”

The full quotation from one of our founding fathers, Thomas Paine, reads as follows, “He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself,” from  A Dissertation on the First Principles of Government (1795). Those then, that believe that human society is ever evolving, and thus ever getting better and wiser, would be hard pressed to acknowledge that over two hundred years later, that we are actually following in our governance, these wise and prescient words so espoused by Thomas Paine.

In fact, just about everything that America’s governance does, demonstrates that they clearly do not believe in making their liberty secure by guarding even their enemy from unjust oppression, but rather,  they plainly believe the very opposite.  This government, with all of its secrets, along with the incredible amount of monies so being devoted to military affairs, in addition to the continuous and invasive surveillance of foreign as well as domestic peoples, seems to care not a whit about liberty for anybody or anything; but mainly seems to care about protecting those that are its most powerful actuators from having to disclose openly what it is so doing under the people’s name, using the guise that such is being done, for the defense and protection of the homeland -- when in actuality, these premeditated actions so being enforced are often contradictory to what this Constitutional republic properly stands for.

The sensible thing to understand is that each and every one of us has an unalienable entitlement to liberty, freedom, free will, and the pursuit of happiness.  So that, any proposed action that precludes these very things or is situated to take away these very attributes, needs to be carefully looked at and debated upon, before it is so implemented, because that which would take away our liberty is not only an assault upon our personal liberty, but it is an assault against that which we were gifted with, at our birth.

There are far too many people, as well as nations, for that matter, that talk a very good line, but their implementation of what they have so promised or have sworn to uphold, leaves much to be desired.  It is easy for many a person to get behind an unfair action, when that action will directly or indirectly benefit them, especially so when they don’t care to consider the consequences to the other, in any real detail.  Yet, this type of favoritism is foreign to what liberty really represents, for either liberty is for every one of us, or it is for no one – it can’t be both.

Those that are sound of mind, and sensible in their personality, desire not only full liberty for themselves, but in all aspects, full liberty for others.  We are meant to be free will individuals, that understand that the greatest government is never going to be that opaque and non-transparent government that has the audacity to claim that it is always protecting us and thus keeping us safe; but rather that government that encourages us to live our best life, by seeing that the other, is accorded the same type of respect, fairness, liberty, and understanding, that we so richly desire for our own self.

Strikes and closures

While America so represents a lot of different things to its citizens, one of those things that we see represented, is that America is a nation of laws and lawyers.  No doubt, laws and lawyers serve their essential purposes in the everyday life of Americans, and of which, if the law was equally applied to everyone, that would be of fair benefit to the nation, in whole.  Regrettably, the law as applied has far less to do with meting out justice and seems instead to often be tilted in the favor of those that have money and influence.  To wit, those of the laboring class, are almost always in a situation in which their power and influence is poorly positioned to effect change, when they so choose to stand up against the management of a given corporation.  That is to say, many of those that labor, are fearful of doing anything that would serve to jeopardize their job, which puts them in a very poor position, to improve their own lot.

Nevertheless, when we look at the laws within America, the right for those that labor, to initiate a strike, is clearly written into law.  So too, the right for companies to lay off employees, or to move their facility or to close their business, with little or even with no notice, is written into law, as well.  These then, are the laws as written, but the salient problem of these laws has a  lot to do with how they are interpreted and enforced.   For instance, for those laborers that are joining together so as to strike, one of their principle weapons is the fact that the disruption of the normal course of business, is typically something that makes a material difference in the profitability and sustainability of that company, which thus makes it a very powerful weapon to wield, in order to effect change.  Yet, many a strike so initiated, will be found in a court of law, or mediation, to be illegal in some aspect of it, which ranges from “misconduct” of the strikers, to an injunction so implemented to end the strike.  On the other hand, we have many a company that will effectively, if they do not get concessions from their employees, or tax abatements from governmental tax authorities, simply abandon their plant, and thus close that plant, only to reopen it at another location, elsewhere, including overseas – in which, the government, in many a case, simply sees such an action by that company as the normal course of events that free enterprise so permits.

So then, we have in effect, laws that deal with strikes and closures, in which those that are of the laboring class that strike, are not afforded all of their rights by law, because the judicial decision makers as well as ruling governance typically favor the corporate class, and because of this favoritism, makes it more problematic for those contemplating a strike, to successfully strike, in the first place.    Yet, if we were to take an honest look at corporate closures, layoffs, and the deliberate moving of jobs to overseas workers, we would discover that if we merely changed the prism of our viewpoint that we would see that corporate closures are, in reality, akin to an actual corporate strike against its own workers, in which the corporation refuses to stay open for business, and therein lies the rub and the hypocrisy, so of.

Ultra-processed food, cheap calories, and bad health

There are certain things that are necessary in order to sustain physical life in this world, of which, each of us needs, for instance, oxygen, water, shelter, and food, in order to live.  So too, whatever our daily habits are, our body has a very strong tendency to dictate to us, when it so desires to have food, and we typically readily comply with such.  In America, there appears to be an ample supply of food so available to us, of which, the dividing line between what we so buy, has an awful lot to do with the disposable income budgeted for food consumption.  That is to say, for those that have a ready supply of money, their food choices are far more broader, than for those that have a budget which constrains them in the purchases that they so make of food.  This thus signifies that the food items that we consume, is going to show meaningful and significant differences between those that have, and between those that basically have not.

It would be one thing, if every calorie was equal, but, in fact, calories are not equal; because the food that we consume, ranges from that which is wholesome to that which is best defined as “junk.”  Not too surprisingly, those that consume more caloric junk food, as compared to those that consume more caloric healthy food, are going to find themselves, on a trajectory in which the consistent eating of food items that have little nutritional value, and are highly processed, are not good for their physical body.  While we can decry the poor food choices so being made, by certain segments of the population, what has to be taken into salient consideration, is that junk food is usually priced considerably lower than healthy alternatives, and therefore for those people that can only afford to buy cheap calories, their diet is thus going to consist of a lot more ultra-processed food.

We read at foodtank.com, “…that ultra-processed foods are 52 percent cheaper than less processed alternatives, on average;” and further to the point that “…more than 60 percent of caloric intake in the U.S. comes from ultra-processed food.”  Indeed, our eyes do not deceive us, as America, year after year, sees that more and more of its population has bigger body mass indexes (BMI), which reflects that those that eat a lot of cheap calories, eat far more than what they would normally eat, because ultra-processed food does a very poor job of satiating the body’s insistent need for good nutritional intake.

The thing about ultra-processed food is not only is that food readily available, and of which the manufacture and transportation of such is easily achieved, but that it tellingly is also a heck of a lot cheaper than wholesome food – so then, those that are on a budget, or prefer eating that which they consider to be “comfort food” are going to avail themselves of such; especially in consideration that unlike the consumption of tobacco, which has a warning label attached to it, along with governmental cautions to avoid such, ultra-processed food is pretty much treated as any other food item.

While, at the end of the day, we could just say that the general public is entitled to make their free choice about what they so desire to eat, it has to be taken into full account, that the consistent eating of ultra-processed food, besides making the body mass of a given individual bigger, is also over the long term detrimental to the health of that individual, which leads to ever more people, suffering from preventable diseases, which likely would be better averted if their food choices were more healthy.

An accident waiting to happen

Accidents happen.  In fact, accidents in regards to vehicles as well as in the workplace, can be rather common occurrences and some of these accidents can also be rather catastrophic; to wit, around 40,000 people die from car crashes, yearly.  So too, certain industries, are known to be dangerous enough, that serious injuries or even death can await those that work at those facilities, in which, despite protective gear and sensible protocol, the inherent danger of that workplace, still produces tragic incidents.

While there has been notable improvements made in workplace safety as well as in automobile safety and crash protection, the bottom line is that there are still an uncomfortable amount of accidents, that have serious consequences associated with them that still occur.  This thus raises the question, as to whether the design of automobiles, the roadways so utilized, and the operators of those vehicles, are conducted in a way and manner, in which, the safety of the person and their occupants is the preeminent concern.  The same basic question can be asked about the workplace, especially for certain jobs that have dangerous elements to them, as to whether or not, the safety of those so working is of preeminent concern.

The reason why the question has to be asked, is that we live within a capitalistic society, so it certainly is fair to surmise, that the lust for profit, as well as the fact that companies have to compete, often seems to necessitate that some sacrifices or compromises in regards to overall safety, and therefore the frequency of accidents and the intensity of such, will have to be made, in order to maintain good profitability and a strong competitive presence.  This signifies that for a certainty, that while there will always be some accidents that will happen, that probably more could be done by manufacturers, designers, and this government to reduce such even more, if this was actually prioritized higher.

The above signifies that there are indeed some accidents that are waiting to happen, because the conditions, so of, are structured in a way and manner, in which it is inevitable that an accident will occur.  So then, within the equation of life, a reasonable person, should have the right to know, as to how that formula is being designed, monitored, and regulated; because it would seem that in all probability we could reduce accidents further, if that was indeed the overarching desire of this government, businesses, and the people, so of.

There are plenty of ways to attack a given problem, of which, one of those ways has to be, to bypass those avenues that offer only a temporary fix or respite, and to resolve instead to go after those solutions, that are more robust, innovative, and revolutionary, instead.  How valuable a human life should be, or the value of the continual health and safety of that person, needs to be answered, forthrightly.   After all, a human life is vulnerable to all sorts of events, of which, at a minimum, when it comes to those events that can be readily controlled or modified, we should want to reduce accidents to something appreciably less than what we so see occurring, today.