Where money has no value

We live in a modern society in which a significant amount of our transactions, if not all of them, we find that we use the coin of the realm to buy what we so desire to buy, and are suitably paid with that very same coin of the realm.  In other words, money, translated simply, is the standardized medium that is utilized, in which each side typically values it essentially the same, and therefore are willing to trade their labor or their goods for that money ad nauseum.  The fact that money is fungible, universally accepted, and for the most part, holds is value, makes it a very good way to transact business—thereby successfully circumventing the necessity of trying to determine the worth of someone else’s goods with some other tool that would somehow practically serve as a fair monetary unit.  While it is true that mutual exchanges of goods are made, from time-to-time without any money exchanging hands, this is the exception, and not the rule, because most people and businesses, don’t desire to devote an endless amount of time to bargaining back and forth, when they can simply set a price and be done with it.

Many people believe that if they can only get their assets to a certain specific number, that all will be well for them, because in having those monetary assets, they would thus be safe and secure from the vagaries of what life might present to them.  Regrettably, many a country, with barely any notice, has ended up debasing their currency or essentially have made such worthless, and virtually every country has some degree of inflation that thereby makes the worth of their money, degrade over an extended period of time.  Therefore, it would be fair to state, that the value of money, changes, and can indeed change rather dramatically over very short periods of time.  That said, though, pretty much those that do have a lot of monetary assets are almost always in a very good place to be.

However, as in any rule, there are exceptions, and in consideration that there are at a minimum, 900,000 islands in this world, it has to be stated that if a given person who has assets of millions upon millions of dollars was to find themselves somehow to be on a deserted island, with absolutely nothing, but those millions of dollars in cash, in their backpack, they would indeed be in that place in which having that money would be worthless.  After all, picture being on that island with that money and of which there is no other person on that island, and no businesses upon that island; so that, there simply is then no logical way that the money could be spent or utilized to buy anything.  That person, in one aspect, would still be rich, but rich in a way that would present no good for them, for the money on that deserted island would have no value or utility. So then, when it comes to money, recognize that this is best seen as a convenient medium of exchange, but to be defined by that coin of the realm, is a mistake, because that which has the most value, has no price upon it.

The Department of Defense should be called the Department of War

The United States loves to use semantics when it comes to those types of things that might disturb people in their firm belief that the United States is truly the land of liberty, freedom, and the rule of law – for the United States tortures people under the moniker of “enhanced interrogation,” and when it kills other nation’s civilians, it likes to call those civilians that they kill, “collateral damage,” and pretty much the list goes on and on.  There are legitimate reasons why the United States, changed its War department name from the Department of War, to the Department of Defense, such as the fact that back in the day when our armed forces were first put together, the Department of War was synonymous with the United States Army, in which, only later did the Navy, and then over a century beyond that, did the Air Force, become part and parcel of our armed forces; we find then that the thinking was that these separate armed forces divisions, did not desire to be perceived as being under the exclusive control of the Army.  Subsequently, the National Security Act of 1947, enacted legislation of which each branch of the armed forces was thus its own department, subsequentially subsumed under the new controlling department name of Defense.

The thing about the word, defense, is it is not the same word as offense; in fact, it means the opposite of such, and in consideration that the United States is not only a global power, but is the premier global power, proven by the fact that it has over 750 military bases worldwide – of which, this then would seem to clearly indicate that the United States isn’t really about defense, at all; but, is instead about worldwide domination, and that domination to be done through the implicit threat of war, at the sole discretion of the United States.

When we look at the United States, it shares a very long border with both Canada as well as with Mexico, in which, neither of these countries is a danger or a menace to the United States; but, in fact, these respective nations are pretty much always in harmony or in compliance with United States demands.  Further to the point, there isn’t any sole nation in the world, or even a consortium of nations, that would even consider waging war against the United States, for they recognize the stupidity and futility of such.  So then, there isn’t any defense ever really going on in America, but there is though certainly plenty of offense, as the United States, has been waging war, almost continuously, since the conclusion of World War II, with just some very brief respites from such, of which, not a single one of these wars so waged, has really needed to have United States participation in it.

The United States should be honest with its people, especially since it claims to be of, for, and by people in its governance.  Therefore, the Department of Defense should be renamed to the Department of War, forthwith, and additionally, the United States should make its case to its own people, as to the reasons why it has to be at war, all of the time, without any of these wars, since 1942, actually being authorized through Congress, as mandated per the highest law of the land, its Constitution.

Not telling the whole truth

People are familiar with the saying from our court system of being sworn in to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”  Regrettably, while there are many people that will dutifully affirm that they will indeed tell the whole truth; the fact of the matter is, far fewer ever do so, in a court of law, or in life, in general.  The thing about the whole truth, is that in the telling of such, it does not provide those so speaking to that whole truth, any wiggle room, whatsoever; and if there is one thing that we know about human nature, is that most people prefer to have that wiggle room, to maneuver, to distort, to leave out, to manipulate, and to deceive -- in particular in those types of situations in which the telling of the whole truth would either expose them in a way and manner that they really don’t want to see occur, or perhaps, in the protecting of another person’s sensitive feelings or concerns.

The thing about not telling the whole truth, is that for many a person, they have been not telling the whole truth for so long, and for so often, that it has become for them, second nature.  They thus find themselves in the position, time and time again, in which they cannot really express the whole truth, because the edifice of the life that they have thus built upon, is actually based to a significant extent upon not ever divulging the whole truth to anyone of significance.  After all, it could be reasoned, that a good friend of ours, probably doesn’t want to or couldn’t handle the whole truth about what we really think about them, especially when a negative feeling we have about them has been hidden from them, for such a lengthy period of time.  In other words, if some of us, were to suddenly become true confessors, and thus to unburden everything that we really believed, in comprehensive divulgence, as in a complete “data dump,” those so hearing such, that also had an emotional involvement in that confession, would probably not only be hurt from such, but could, in fact, be devastated.

That said, it is always easy to justify any action, as being done in order to protect our friends, our family, and others, in general – when, in truth, the real reason is seldom that consideration at all, but rather has an awful lot to do with protecting our own self-image, and therefore how we are perceived by people or organizations that we really care about.  The reason why so many are so reluctant to tell the whole truth, is because they believe that by doing so, they will be exposed for who they really are, and hence lose the respect of their peers, and fall down, perhaps heavily, in the pecking order of life.  Those then, that fail to tell the whole truth, are the very same people, that do not desire to “face the music,” at the present time, nor do they desire to face that music, at a later time, either,  They don’t tell the whole truth, because they want to have their cake and eat it too, and do not ever want to have pie thrown upon their face.

Questioning the work that we do

Most of us, at some point or pretty much continuously, have had to take on a given job, consisting of assigned work, that we ourselves, are often just one component within that work, and of which, we may or may not know the highest purpose of the work that we have so performed, therein.  Nowadays, many of us are paid laborers, often working for a company or a boss; yet, there was that day and age, generations ago, in which most of us were hunter-gatherers, or we worked almost exclusively with livestock or agriculture.  It was in those simpler times, that we not only knew what we did for a living, but we knew for a certainty, the purpose of what we so did.  In today’s world, many of us, are not just cogs within a machine, but to a considerable extent, workers who don’t really question as to what the end product actually is that we work upon, or even to really know for a  certainty its true purpose.  Perhaps we don’t question it, because we don’t really care, or the scope of what we are working on is seemingly so small, that it doesn’t appear that it would matter to know, or perhaps we simply don’t really want to know.  That said, for whatever products so being manufactured, for an absolute certainty, there are those that know the expressed purpose of that product and have no excuse for not admitting such, though they may have their reasons for why they would prefer non-disclosure of such.

Not everything so being manufactured, has a really good purpose behind it, though in this world of semantics, there are always going to be descriptions of products that though destructive or damaging in their nature, thus serves to disguise their true purpose; but those in the know, really do know what those products are all about.  So too, there are some highly intelligent and well-schooled people, that are delighted for the opportunity to explore and to invent new products or devices, but lack the seeming capacity, to actually desire to comprehend that not every invention or device so made, is something that could not be subsequently turned into something quite destructive or intrusive, as well.  That is to say, there are many a product so developed for a good purpose, that can also be re-purposed in a way and manner that this new product or new use of the same product can be something that is inimical to a society, as well as to our freedom and liberty.

We should want to question the work that we do, to know what the good or bad of it, actually is – for those that are part and parcel of that which is damaging to the human psyche, or to societies, or to peace and harmony, should at least be cognizant that they are indeed part of the problem and not of the solution.  On the other hand, those that are involved in those products which are uplifting, and good for society can thereby take solace in knowing that their labor is indeed for a good cause.  In short, for all those that labor, we should have a desire to know, as to whether we are contributing to the betterment of society, or are contributing instead to that which is destructive of society, so done, either way, for a paycheck.

The courage to incarnate

Each of us, is an eternal soul, temporarily housed within a physical body, which thus knows birth, life, and eventually physical death.  We live in a world, in which, there are those few that are born within the most favorable of circumstances, and there are also those many that are not.  So too, some of us, have strong familial connections, primarily because our parents and relatives are good people, and then there are those others that are born into the most dysfunctional of families, with all the attendant problems that such families as that, have.

One might expect, then, knowing our selfish nature, that there would be an oversupply of those wishing to incarnate here on earth into the most favorable of circumstances, and not too many that would ever desire to incarnate into those problematic and difficult circumstances.  Yet, it must so be recognized, that each child born into this world, has for a certainty, a soul, that has volunteered to incarnate within that child’s body.  So then, it may then come as a surprise, that high or low, rich or poor, good or bad, each soul thus finds a body to incarnate within, favorable or not.

This thus signifies that to incarnate into those most problematic of circumstances, is indicative that the soul so doing so, has the courage to perform that act.  Those then that take on the most difficult of challenges, have though the fair opportunity to demonstrate that despite their perceived handicap, that they can thus make the best of a very poor lot, and to the degree that they do so, it is to their eternal credit.  On the other hand, those that are provided with the proverbial “silver spoon” in their mouths, but somehow, aren’t able to identify with anyone or anything outside of their own privileged milieu, and thus lord it over others, will be fairly judged for their inability to recognize that all that God has created, is equal in its value.

It is not an easy thing to incarnate into those trying situations, but it has to be remembered, that this planet, as presented to us as human beings, is to be best seen as a proving ground.  That is to say, there are plenty of those that are only too willing to claim that they love others, or that they so desire to serve others, and to proclaim this or to proclaim that – but the mere mouthing of words, is never going to be the same thing as the actual doing of deeds.  So then, we will be tested, again and again, until we not only get it right, but also so that we can appreciate the reality of truly walking in another person’s shoes.  That is to say, empathy is best accomplished, when we actually are those very things, for having experienced them, rather than imagining or picturing such.  So too, none of us is going to get it right to begin with, because not only are we prone to making errors, but we have to somehow overcome our own selfish tendencies and ego that insists that we have to have it our way – when, instead, it would be better to understand that we are all in this, together, and that as one global family, we need to do our good part to help one another to get to where we all need to be.

Jesus wept. God still weeps

We read in Holy Scripture that “Jesus wept” (John 11: 35).  This proves the point that Jesus not only had human emotions, but that Jesus was gifted also at being empathetic with others.   Indeed, our Messiah, could relate to even those human conditions, so representative of humankind’s foibles, troubles, and dramas, and encouraged each one of us, to make it our point to overcome and to ameliorate such through our own efforts or faithful belief.  So too, our God cares about what God so created, and therefore, whenever humankind continues to make the same types of selfish, ego-driven, and mistaken steps, God feels the pain of that collective human error.  In other words, what we do here on planet earth, not only matters to us, individually, as well as to our family, our friends, our cohorts, our society, and to the world, at large, but it matters deeply to our God.

Every good parent, desires the good for their progeny, of which, God as our natural parent, desires that good, for us.  So then, whenever we forsake God, or ignore God, or do things that are clearly wrong, this serves to take us thus further away from the only Light that will bring us eternal salvation.  What we so do here on this earth, is always at our volition, but having done what we have so done, it is therefore our responsibility to own up to it.  Those then, that consistently think and do the right things are going to find themselves, invariably becoming closer to where they need to be; and all those that veer off that straight and narrow path, will find themselves to suffer for the mistakes that they have so made, sooner or later.

Because God is just, and always remains fair and omniscient, there is thereby no shortcut that can ever be taken to reach God, because that which is wrong, needs first to be corrected; because nothing that is not in keeping in harmony with the attributes of God, is capable of sustaining itself within God.  We have been created as companions to God, of which, the greatest gift so bestowed upon us, is the liberty and freedom to be whatsoever that we so desire to become.  This thus means, that God has provided us with the opportunity to walk way from God, and even to oppose God with all of our might.  As might be expected, those that have chosen those things that are at odds to what God so represents, have chosen poorly, and will therefore reap what they have sowed.

God weeps for us, because God knows that the more poor decisions that we so make, is going to create for those that have made those poor decisions, a more difficult battle that must be overcome, in order to thus prove our character as being one of actual merit, once we truly recognized the error of our ways.  The good news is that God gives up on none of God’s lost sheep, and never will – which is why great avatars incarnate upon this earth, in order to lend a helping hand to all those that are lost, so that each one of us can thus return to the only sanctuary that will bring eternal bliss to our soul and thus end the weeping, so of.

Enforced disappearance

Enforced disappearance is the forceful taking of the liberty of an individual, and then the concealment of the fate or even the whereabouts of that disappeared person.  In other words, as bad as it is to be arrested, or even to be convicted of a crime, and thus incarcerated – we find that in at least those cases the person so arrested or so incarcerated, has a known facility where they are located at, and of which, that facility will almost always have some semblance of rules for those of the family, legal representatives, or perhaps the media to make contact with the accused or convicted.  On the other hand, those that are forcefully disappeared, through whatever means, sanctioned or not by governmental authorities, are effectively hidden away from those of the family, legal representatives, or the media.  That is to say, the person that has been disappeared has a fate, that is unsearchable, unknowable, and typically rather dire.

To say that the enforced disappearance of anybody is one of most heinous wrongdoings that can be committed against any other human being, would be no understatement – for first of all, there is, quite obviously, no rule of law that is being followed or adhered to in regards to such a forced disappearance.  Additionally, enforced disappearance, is used against particular targets, to essentially not only silence that person so disappeared, but also to provoke terror and fear within communities and family units, that thus make those people far less likely or willing to speak out, or to speak up, for their obvious concern that the situation could get even worse for them, personally.

Any governance that is part and parcel of enforced disappearances, or appears to basically acquiesce to such, is a government that has betrayed its people and has no real legitimacy.  The reason why there are those governments, or outlaw states, that enact enforced disappearance against certain peoples, has an awful lot to do with those agencies, not wishing to countenance any other viewpoints or behaviors that are not in keeping with what that regime so desires and wants.  That is to say, enforced disappearance is meant to silence those that are perceived as being enemies or annoyances to the state, as determined by those that are at the upper echelons of that state.

So too, for those that are targeted to be disappeared, a significant purpose of why such disappearances occur, is to first isolate that individual, so as to make then that individual to be defenseless, and then to interrogate that individual in the hopes that actionable information will be extracted from them which can then be used to hurt or to disappear other individuals that are seen to be a nuisance or a danger to the state.  An enforced disappearance for a given individual is typically not preferred over the usual arrest and charges, because what is so occurring by that disappearance is not only happening in secret, but because it isn’t public or known, means that it cannot be very effectively opposed; in addition to the fact that a forced disappearance thus serves to keep opposing or dissenting opinions at bay, because few ever would wish to be disappeared, themselves.

The pursuit of mind control

For anyone that has ever been prescribed a powerful pharmaceutical drug, or is currently on strong drugs, whether licit or illicit; for a certainty, then, comprehend that drugs can be extremely effective in making an appreciable difference in modifying or changing the mood of a given person, or in modifying or changing the vital signs in a directed way of the body of that same person.  So too, those that are precluded from getting the necessary sleep that they need, or are denied food or water, or basically denied those necessary things that a healthy body needs to sustain itself, or what is required for the mind of the body to have some semblance of volition, are going to also make for a person, that will not be in full control of their faculties.  Additionally, for those that are mentally damaged, or those that are incarcerated, these people, then, are often at the mercy of the humanity so shown to them or denied.  There is, in short, plenty of opportunity for humankind to exert some degree of control over another human being, especially when that human being does not have the freedom to extricate themselves from that situation.

When it comes to governments, many of those same governments, no matter how much that they profess to love liberty; we do so find, that for many a person that services that government, that somehow they believe that it can be okay to subvert a given person’s liberty, without normal legal processes, for the supposed greater good of the people of that land of liberty.  So then, in reality, secret experiments so being conducted or contemplated upon, are going to, by nature, be adverse to having those be directed against any valued citizens of the state; instead, there is a very strong inclination to put to the test, those that are the most defenseless, which are often represented best by those that are incarcerated, mentally challenged, or minorities.

What makes those that are mentally challenged, such as schizophrenics, such a preferred target for mind control, is that because the schizophrenic’s view of reality is so often distorted by hallucinations and delusions, this signifies that whatever that they might so say is pretty much going to be invalidated or ignored by the nature of their condition, which means that these types of people, would seem to make for a very enticing target for mind control.  After all, the point of governmental mind control, is to have someone do something that they would not do of their own volition, and then do so, without really comprehending what they have so done.  This thus does open the door for something like the “Manchurian Candidate,” of which, the grand purpose of having this type of power over another human being, is not only plausible denial, but denial of the highest order, since whatever so occurs, tragic or not, has not been accomplished by the person so having exerted their mind control over the other; but, in theory, by that schizophrenic person, who by definition, has an altered and distorted view of the world.

Those then, that pursue mind control, never do so for the betterment of humankind, but rather such a pursuit as that, is always meant as a way and means for the government to accomplish something that is morally corrupt and wrong, but has been deemed to be necessary, and of which, that government does not want to be seen as being a party to it.

The finest and most elite private schools are money well spent

Those that are the richest of the rich, or are very well connected, or are exceedingly ambitious for their progeny, are going to desire to do whatever that they have to do that will assure success for their offspring.  One might think, that a good pathway to do so, would simply be to live in a highly desirable neighborhood that had an excellent public school system, and simply be done with it.  But, that won’t do at all, because America’s public schools, even the best of the best, aren’t going to be good enough, aren’t going to be exclusive enough, and aren’t going to be the sure pathway so needed to accomplish the high goals so desired for certain children of a very young age.

For those that have lots of money, they recognize that one of the very best points of having all that money is to utilize such in a way and manner that will serve to benefit them and their desires.  One of those desires, for those that cannot stand anything other than absolute success, is to make sure that the right connections are made with the right people at the right places, and that begins with going to the exclusive private schools that those others of similar ilk, or desires, so have their children attend.  After all, it has to be acknowledged, that it really isn’t good enough to have what appears to be excellent credentials on paper, if the appropriate networking and connections that will cut through all that inconvenient bureaucratic red tape and excuses is not also set in their favor, as well.  Those then, that are the right people, that also know the right people, and have their children congregate with only the right people, in private and exclusive school settings, have done what needs to be so done, to be on the right pathway to get their children into where they need to be to best obtain their higher education credentials.

It is probably quite true, that private primary and secondary schools with high tuition amounts, and with a very favorable ratio of teachers to students, as well as with all the accouterments so needed to help assist and direct a given student with their studies, is probably, hands down, without cheating, going to generate a significant percentage of very well qualified students that will test exceedingly well.  So then, with that covered, the next thing that needs to be accomplished to complete the whole picture, is to have therefore the type of special credentials that will pique the curiosity, or perhaps, better said, encourage those that are the administrators of some of the most respected higher education institutions in America, that these particular potential students are going to ultimately be a win-win for both parties.

So too, those students that attend these exclusive private schools, will invariably meet the future generation of successful leaders, executives, politicians, doctors, lawyers, and bankers, that surely will put them in the catbird seat of knowing who needs to be known in order to have a very successful and fulfilling career path, lined up for their success.  Indeed, those with money, know the value of spending it in the right way, because in this nation, knowing the right people, and the longer that you have known those people, the better then the potential result, so of.

The inconsistency between what we really are and what we represent

For those that live in countries, that profess that they are all about liberty, freedom, opportunity, and the pursuit of happiness, there doesn’t seem then to be any excuse for those that live there, not to have a life which is thereby full of meaning and of fulfillment.  Yet, when we take a look at America, all is not well, for there is a substantial underclass that is not functioning well, whatsoever; along with the fact that America’s great middle class, is ever feeling more and more stress, and is thus finding it difficult to hold onto securely what it so desires to keep and to maintain.

So too, within any society, there are rules and regulations, laws and legislation, and the implementation of all these types of necessary things upon the citizenry of the state, in which, the justice that this nation so preaches upon, as being equally applied, and fair to all, is fundamentally flawed.  We have instead a nation in which those of the favored race or of the upper class are treated differently and with more respect, just by the very nature of their race or class, especially as compared to many of those that are of another race or of a lower class, which find themselves perceived as being inferior.  Additionally, all those that profess their creed which does not line up in harmony with the Judeo-Christian faith, are often looked upon by the general population as well as our governance as being not quite, American.  In short, there isn’t now a true rule of law that is equally applied to all in America, and there never has been.

All of this, basically means, that how a given person is addressed, or how they address others, has a lot to do with their surface characteristics, and not so much to do with their actual character.  This thus signifies that for some people, they cannot be who they really want to be, or should be; but rather have to project a façade, which is not their true character, in order to associate well with valued others, so then displayed thereby in public, and often not performed in private. That is to say, those that perceived themselves as being unfavored, are prone to doing what so needs to be done in order to secure a more favorable outlook upon them, by reinventing themselves in a way and manner that is consistent to what is expected for those so desiring to curry favor with the favored race or upper class.

As might be expected, to live a life as the favored race or of the upper class, is not only to have the best of the best, but it also is to live a far more satisfying and healthy life, because those that do not have to change who they really are, in essence, are the very same people that are going to live a healthier and more satisfying life than those that are forced to be essentially two different people inside one body.  The problem that those that are the unfavored and of lower class have is the seminal fact that all those that feel compelled to behave in a manner that is not consistent with their true values or beliefs in order to get by, will, after some period of time, feel the inconsistency of such, in the health of their body and of their mind.

More savings for the superrich makes for more debt for households and governments

The proximate thing about the access to money is that it is most definitely a zero-sum game of specific winners and losers.  That is to say, those that have the money and are not in debt, or those of which the ratio of their assets to their debts is exceedingly high, are in the catbird seat of true wealth, because what they so have, they actually own.  On the other hand, governments that are heavily in debt, as well as people with no net assets, or of negative net worth, or of having a ratio of assets to their debts being quite unfavorable, are in a very poor position, because they are primarily debtors and not owners of true wealth.

The world is as rich as it has ever been, yet, the distribution of that wealth, is so skewed, that in aggregate, we see that there is only a special elite, that has the lion's share of that wealth, and thus are able to have the absolute best of the best of material life.  For the superrich, life is so good, because never has there been so many wonderful tools, toys, activities, and pleasures that the superrich can avail themselves of.  That said, it is true that there is also a sizeable class of those that also have decent wealth, a good life, and are able to take advantage of the accouterments that this world has on offer, to their advantage.

The seminal problem though of what this world represents in actuality, is that because wealth distribution is so extreme, and because governments, the world over, refuse to or are unable to successfully tax signficantly those parties that have the greatest amount of  that wealth, or preclude them from obtaining even more and more wealth, is that life for those that are without, is not what it really should and ought to be.  In other words, those that have everything, are to a very large extent, savers of the excess wealth that they have, as well as being passive investors of that wealth; whereas, those that are without, including often the governance of nations, are net debtors..

So then, the upshot is that there are millions upon millions of people, that have real desires that they would like to fulfill, which are often reasonable things to want, but have not the monetary means to obtain those material things, or have become excessively indebted in obtaining what they so need and desire, in which that indebtedness thus serves as a ball and chain around their leg, because it necessitates the payment of a seemingly never ending debt service to essentially those elites that have a glut of money, already.

Because then, that so few have so much, and so many have so little, the economies of nations, do not and will not grow at even close to what could be achieved, leaving the disenfranchised in a positon in which they can never achieve the escape velocity to have a decent life, and thus are left with the heavy burden of having a dissatisfactory life, when that need not be the case.

Job security

In life, there are plenty of things that are absolutely secure, and there are also plenty of things which are absolutely insecure.  In order to live life well, then, we need to fulfill our obligations to the structure of that life, by being able to, for instance, pay our bills, stay in good health, be employed at a living wage, and to be safe within our own neighborhood.  In other words, in order to have a good and secure life, we need to be assured that we will have the certainty that all that we need at a minimum, to obtain that good life, is at our volition, through the reasonable assurance of having a steady stream of income via our own reliability and good work ethic.

One might reasonably think then, that in this modern age, in which, it would appear that humankind has resolved just about everything so needed to be able to provide fair access to the necessary accouterments to live that good life, that such would be thus available to be in the hands of every citizen of its state.  Yet, that isn't true, at all, and further to the point, society seems to be regressing from achieving what needs to be achieved, so as to give the assurance to its own hard working citizens, that their lives will be assured of being stable and secure.

The governance of this nation is large enough, wise enough, and powerful enough, that if it so desired it could create the structure so needed, to provide the basis of having a universal basic income for all, or its equivalency, as being part and parcel of life in America.  Yet, it has not done so, perhaps because its capitalistic system, doesn't believe that perceived socialistic institutions have any real legitmacy within America; as if then, it's perfectly okay that in the richest nation that the world has ever known, should just accept, that there will always be a meaningful portion of its population, that are impoverished, food insecure, poorly educated, and living in substandard housing in unsafe neighborhoods.

Perhaps it is a bridge too far to secure that universal basic income, but it certaintly should not and ought not to be a bridge too far to provide to all those that are willing to work, the assurance that in their employment, that their labor, though not necessairly all that satisfying in the actual work tasks, be at a minimum, both secure and absolutely reliable. 

That is to say, to be of a world, in which death, taxes, and bills are definitely certain, but to not have the assurance that one's own income or job status is itself, certain; is to feel the constant pressure that all that a given person has, is in jeopardy, at any given moment, which thus lends itself to uneasiness, and social unrest.  People, the world over, want basically the same fundamental things that serve to represent a good life, and the purpose of good governance, is to help fairly actualize those very things, for all.

Too big to fail and the end of capitalism

Capitalism is built around the risk so needed to be ventured in order to secure a profit – of which, those that are capitalists are private actors, that either are using their own assets to take on such a risk, or doing so in conjunction with investors, or have investors that are taking that monetary risk for them, in return for their opportunity to obtain some sizable portion of the profit, so made.  The best thing about capitalism is the fact that all those that are involved in the game are taking a calculated risk, either explicitly or implicitly, and well understand that any conceived enterprise, could well end up in failure, or alternatively, with success. 

In those sectors in which an enterprise doesn’t have much of a material risk in generating a profit, we then would have a strong tendency to see occur, more and more players within that particular enterprise area, for there aren’t many institutions that would turn down a guaranteed profit.  Indeed, in a free enterprise system, those perceived businesses that appear to offer easy and secure profits would invariably attract those that would be willing to take on additional risks in order to become industry leaders and to therefore take market share away from all those that were more adverse to risk or in the taking of chances.

So then, in a truly capitalistic world, there could not ever be anything ever approaching a “too big to fail” type of business – because the very nature of capitalistic business involves not only risk, but the fact that because a given company can fail, that this thus means that companies cannot ever afford to just rest upon their laurels, but most continually do what is so necessary to improve their products, to invest intelligently in research and development, and to consistently make good decisions.  Any company, then, so designated as “too big to fail” is by definition, something that is anathema to capitalism. 

The fact of the matter is, that this government should never be in the position in which it will deliberately backstop certain industries and corporations, while effectively ignoring all sorts of other businesses and corporations.  To get to the point where any one company is designated as too big to fail, signifies clearly that such a company as that, should either be nationalized, or have the best aspects of such, broken down into several smaller components.

Whenever, a particular company is treated by this governance as something so special as to be too big to fail, then essentially the governance of this nation has determined that it will not only play favorites, but correspondingly, there must be then a multitude of other companies that will not receive such special beneficence, in return.  Further to the point, those that know that they are too big to fail, are now going to also know for a certainty, that since they cannot fail, that they can thus take as much risk as they so desire to take, without having to suffer any consequences for those risks so taken – since those that are its executives know that no matter what goes down, no matter how stupid or inane, their corporation will not ever fail, which serves then as the touchpoint of the end of capitalism.

The forced removal of American Indians and the rise of Southern Plantations

We read at aeon.com, that "Between 1776 and the present, the United States seized some 1.5 billion acres from North America’s native peoples..."  This so signifies that by the forced removal of American Indians – we find that those American Indians that were still alive from this forced eviction, ended up essentially being relegated to those faraway  and uninhabited western lands of little or no worth, which thereby correspondingly meant that those that thus obtained that land so left behind by that forced removal, would thereby possess some of the most valuable fertile land that so existed at that time.

Not too surprisingly, the land distribution of those lands seized from American Indians of the South was always going to go to those that were well positioned to receive those lands, who would subsequently then readily use slave labor as the means to get the best production and wealth from those same lands.   It has to be remembered, in a day and age, in which land was the primary form of wealth, those that own good land that could be utilized for crops, or cotton, or any other item of value, had placed themselves in the enviable position to make not only a considerable amount of money, upon the backs of those so enslaved, but also to utilize that wealth to sustain and to increase the plantation power within those Southern States, so that their desires would thus be continually fulfilled.

Additionally, white people of all social classes, appreciated the seizure of American Indian land, because they too were able to receive either some of that land for their own benefit, or if not, were better able to find good work to enhance their status, position, and security; of which, it should be noted, back in those days before the Civil War, the per capita income of those that were free men in the South, was meaningfully higher than those of the North.

So then, not only was wealth created upon the backs of enslaved African-Americans that were forced to work as laborers upon those plantations, but the very land that Southern plantations were built upon, was quite frequently, lands that had originally been in the hands of American Indians,  that was thus seized from those American Indians, essentially at gunpoint, or through treaties that were not honored in either word or in spirit.  In other words, when we think about the evils of slavery, we need to also take into account, that the American Indian, though not enslaved, was forcefully removed from what had once been theirs, and of which, many an American Indian, did not even survive the "trail of tears" when so forcefully removed from their land.

Perhaps, it could be said that the lands so taken from the American Indian, ended up being a good thing, because those that instigated that action, help to create the basis for what has become the most powerful and richest nation in the world.  Perhaps though, it could be added that America has blood on its hands, for its dishonesty, trickery, and unfairness, so utliized against minorities of all types, which has created a karmic price to pay, that has not yet been paid, and hence is seriously past due.

Everyday police encounters that turn deadly

There are all sorts of tragedies in life, of which, one of those tragedies is when someone who has the responsibility to protect and  to serve, somehow misconstrues that protection and service, into the use of deadly force in those types of interactions, in which, that subsequent event did not and should not have had to end with a tragic outcome.  The thing about the police in America, is that they are completely militarized, and in certain areas of this nation see themselves as therefore essentially going into hostile territory, and whenever civilians are consistently being perceived as being dangerous to the public safety, or perhaps of more relevance, to those of the police force, even that which is ordinary can quickly morph into the extraordinary and thus tragedy.

There are plenty of people that are rightfully afraid of and leery of the police.  That type of mindset, is actually sensible, because police officers seemingly have the impunity to arrest anyone that they so desire, to physically abuse anyone that they so wish, and if necessary, to use lethal force against anyone that gets on their wrong side.  For all those that believe that this is an exaggeration, it can't be, because time and time again, everyday interactions between members of the general public and police happen, in which, that member of the general public, ends up having their life terminated at the hands of the police, despite the fact that they were never even reasonably endangering anybody or anything, and were not a menace to the public order.

Those that are taught, that the world is a dangerous place, and of which, lethal firearms and other weapons are absolutely necessary in order to maintain proper law and order, are therefore going to fundamentally see that world as a place in which force is going to have to be exerted, because without such force being exerted on the supposed behalf of the public safety, then society, will  invariably devolve eventually into utter mayhem and chaos.  So then, for police officers, every encounter with the general public, in which, that officer doesn't feel comfortable, because, for instance, of racial reasons, socioeconomic differences, neighborhood reasons,  or an inherent bias, is going to be fraught with tension, and those that are under pressure, are going to react differently than those that are not.

What makes an everyday encounter with a police officer, that turns deadly, so tragic, is the very fact that it need not have happened.  When a given person gets pulled over for a traffic violation, or is just walking or hanging out in their neighborhood, or is having a problem with their mental clarity, these are, in and of themselves, situations that do not and should not necessitate deadly force – yet it happens, far too often.  The main reason that the ordinary can and does turn into the extraordinary is because the mindset of that police officer isn't right – and it isn't right because that officer sees the society that they are a member of, not as civilized, but as uncivilized, which thus opens the door to taking  that action which will terminate that perceived uncivilized element.

Employers v. Employees

The United States is a capitalistic society, currently structured in which non-union employees, or employees without a contract, are often considered to be employed "at will," or translated correctly, employed at the seemingly arbitrary will of their employer.  That is to say, no matter how much a given employee appreciates their job and benefits, as well as their salary, and works hard, we find that in absence of an actual labor or contractual agreement that they are a party to, they can be terminated at any given moment for no reason, at all, by their employer and thereby become unemployed.

While there are indeed legislative laws which do provide employees with all sorts of rights, so that if an employee believes that they have been discriminated against or have been terminated illegally, which thus appears then to violate those rights, they do have some legal recourse.  Additionally, there is the fact that those that are laid off or have been released from employment are often eligible for unemployment pay, which provides them with monetary benefits at a reduced portion of their salary amount for a finite period of time  That said, though, the bottom line is that there are few people that ever welcome being let go, and many a person, when so losing their job, are not only stressed from such, but are soon put into a precarious financial situation.

The thing about financial responsibilities, is that those financial responsibilities and bills, are ever relentless, and therefore whenever an anticipated income stream is disrupted, the pressure to find a resolution to such is intensified.  This is why, labor unions are so important to the working population, and obviously of immense importance to all those that labor within industries, in which they are seemingly easily replaceable.  The fact that employees, have no security, and can be implicitly threatened with someone else to take their place or perhaps for some machine to perform their duties, or even with the closure of a given location, signifies that these employees are pretty much going to have to accept then whatever the labor conditions are for the job that they have.

This means that employers are in the catbird seat of determining the labor rate of their employees, the corresponding work conditions, and the labor hours and days to be worked by those employees.  While any employee at any time, can state their case as to why they should make a higher wage, or request different hours, or desire more robust benefits; their voice, without a labor union backstopping them, is a lone voice, and often then, not only an ineffective voice, but could be a voice, that endangers their own employment.

The fact of the matter is, that millions of laboring Americans, don't have any logical reason to celebrate Labor Day, because they don't actually have any labor power, aren't going to have any labor power over their employer, ever, and are susceptible at any time of day, then, of being terminated from their employment, with possibly rather tragic consequences.    Those that live in America deserve so much better, and in absence of a re-invigoration of actual labor unions, then the governance of this nation needs to be not only the employee of last resort for its people, but also see that all those that are employed are paid a living wage.

Unequal justice under discriminatory law

No western nation, locks up more of its own people, than the nation that claims the mantle of being the bastion of liberty, freedom, and opportunity.   This would presuppose that there is indeed a serious disconnect between what the United States professes to be and what it so actually is.  It would seem then that America must then be a nation that has some very troubling societal problems that are unsolvable, and also systemic – for why else would they have so many criminals?

Yet, as many as this nation has locked up, the makeup of those so incarcerated, clearly reflects that America has a propensity and a preference to lock up those that are minorities, ill-educated, poor, defenseless, un-championed, as well as often these people originating from environments that are not conductive to the creation of good citizens.  This then is a clear indication that when it comes to criminality, that America has a penchant to lock up in particular, certain peoples, probably because they are easy targets to incarcerate, and based upon that fact, discriminatory.

The thing about America is that because it is the wealthiest nation that the world has ever known, and of which, there seems to be inborn within Americans, an abiding desire to “keep up with the Joneses” that this definitely breeds an attitude for many a person, of doing whatever that it takes to achieve success, licit or illicit.  So then, in America, there is also a fairly sizable amount of what has been designated as “white-collar” crime, in which the crimes so being committed, are non-violent to other people, and thus consist of fraudulent activities so meant to extract money, by unjust means, in a clearly illicit way from the party that has been victimized to the other party so committing that white-collar crime. 

The thing about crimes being committed by impoverished people, is that it doesn’t much matter what the Constitution does or does not stipulate, the bottom line is that people without money and without status are going to be routinely convicted, because they have not the tools or the knowledge to successfully fight against a conviction, and in consideration that well over 90% of criminal cases are resolved through a plea bargain, which is basically a form of coercion, the disenfranchised of America, are going to thus be locked up.  On the other hand, a lot of those people, that commit white-collar crimes, actually have some money, though, of course, they want more; and frequently they have some access to people of influence, or if lacking that, a connection to a competent attorney that knows the ropes.

So then, rob a bank for $500, go to jail for twenty years; but on the other hand, embezzle thousands upon thousands of dollars, or trade in the market via insider knowledge, and in a lot of those cases, a deal will be worked out, in which, no time will be served, of which, a typical result might be a lessening of the charges, leading to a monetary fine, and perhaps some community service, as well.  In this nation, those that know the right people, or have influence, or can lawyer up, are going to find that the law works entirely differently for them, as opposed to those that have nothing; because in America, it’s all about punishing the weak, and treating those with influence, favorably.

The dangerous drivers of the United States of America

America likes to believe that it is #1 in virtually every category of significance, and certainly believes that it leads the world in all sorts of hi-technology innovations. The thing about vehicles, is that, in recent years, we have seen more and more safety features so meant to not only protect drivers from actual fatalities, but also to mitigate injuries, and even of more importance, to prevent an accident from happening in the first place. One would think that with features such as blind spot detection, lane assist, backup cameras, forward collision warning, adaptive headlights, pedestrian detection, traffic-sign recognition, automatic emergency braking, and driver attention monitoring systems, that quite obviously both fatalities and injuries would be appreciably lower for every 100 million vehicle miles so traveled – in addition, to their simply being less collisions even occurring.

Yet, when we look at the statistics as reported at cdan.nhtsa.gov, and we compare the year 2010 to the year 2020, we find that fatalities per 100 million miles traveled is at 1.34 for 2020, as compared to 1.11 in 2010. As for injuries, per 100 million miles traveled this is at 79 in 2020, as compared to 76 in 2010. In short, despite all the advanced technology devices so meant to make driving safer and to assist the vehicle driver in being safer, the actual result demonstrates conclusively that the United States has actually regressed from the years 2010 to 2020. In other words, people driving today, are susceptible to not only slightly more injuries than back in 2010, but also a meaningfully higher fatality rate.

The thing about vehicle collisions of all types, is that there quite obviously is a comprehensive database that determines the proximate cause of such collisions occurring. Perhaps the United States does not pay much attention to that information, or perhaps they do, but have subsequently not made meaningful moves to improve the rules and regulations that would therefore serve to help to reduce such, or maybe they have, but whatever has been implemented, somehow has not worked as planned. The bottom line is that those that care about reducing vehicle collisions have not been effective in actually seeing that reduced, despite all the new safety features, that would presuppose that this would obviously serve to reduce those accidents and incumbent fatalities to historically low rates.

It would be one thing, that despite this regression in regards to vehicle collisions and fatalities, that the United States in comparison to other European nations, still had the best vehicle safety record amongst them; but alas, in reality, the United States compares very poorly to European nations in regards to vehicle collisions and fatalities. This should be real cause for concern, and should be something that the United States needs to make it a point to substantially improve upon – especially in consideration that the overall cost of a vehicle in the United States, is at an all-time high. This would imply, then, when it comes to vehicles in the United States, that the overall safety of the driver, despite the hi-technology so having been added to address such, is still not a high enough priority in the manufacture and sale of those vehicles, or perhaps American drivers are in aggregate, dangerous.

Honesty and dishonesty

There isn’t going to be a lot of people that would ever voluntarily admit to being straight-up dishonest. The reason that this is the case, is because most people do not like those that are known for being incorrigible, cheats, liars, and dishonest – which is to be expected, because people that have very bad reputations that are universally known by everyone, aren’t going to be welcomed as friends very often, because they are just too much trouble to deal with, and are basically seen then as being damaged and unreliable goods.

So then, most people make a point to at least try to come across to others as being basically honest, even when their behavior and actions surely indicate that they are not, because to be perceived as being wholly dishonest is a very bad place to be. What does help very dishonest people, though, is the fact that most people recognize within their own character that they aren’t always honest, so more times than not, having as a friend someone that lies from time-to-time, but not always, is seen as being okay, especially if those lies do not personally impact the other, because they themselves know that in their own heart, that they lie, sometimes too.

It has been said that honesty is the best policy, but what we so see around us, belies that proverb being lived; for many a person, lies a heck of a lot more than they willingly acknowledge or will admit to, and therefore they do not live up to the creed of actually being honest. That is to say, if honesty is one of those things, in which, a given person, can choose when they so want to be honest, as well as when it is convenient for them to be dishonest, and still believe that somehow that they are basically honest – then what we will so see, is people being dishonest, primarily in those cases, when the consequences of being honest will cost them something that they are unwilling to give up. In other words, there are a significant amount of people, that insist that they are fundamentally honest, because to cut to the chase, they only lie when they have to lie. That, in a nutshell, is the problem when people believe that being honest 99% of the time, signifies that they are honest people – conveniently forgetting that they lie 100% of the time, when it really matters.

A truly honest person, will unwillingly or not, face the music, and thus own up to their action or inaction that has been called into question. That person is a person of integrity, and should be credited for at least being honest, even though, they have clearly done something wrong. Those that admit to a mistake, a fault, an error, and of which, to make that admission, will cause them to “lose face,” to be punished, to be ostracized, or perhaps even worse, have shown that though their action was wrong, that they are at least willing to be fairly judged for who they really are. On the other hand, those that hide behind the façade of being honest, when they have in fact, been dishonest, don’t have the integrity to be judged for who they really are, because they lack the courage to show their true colors.

Hi-technology knows just about everything about us

We live in a modern world, which is digitally connected through, for instance, our smart phones and through our activities on the internet, for business as well as for leisure. The thing about the structure of our digital life, is that the government to a very large extent has taken a laissez-faire type of approach, so that, for the most part, whatever information that the hi-technology companies that we deal with directly or indirectly so desire to collect from us, is theirs then for the taking. This is the fundamental mistake that the governance of this nation has made, because essentially it allows private enterprise to vacuum up as much information as they so desire from us, including our “digital breadcrumbs” to thus create for them, a very detailed profile of who and what we really are. Further to the point, the reason why hi-technology is able to know so much about us, is that hi-technology fundamentally keeps track of, collates, organizes, and forever remembers every single thing that we do, which provides then these hi-technology firms with an almost god-like view of who and what we are really all about.

Sure, there are plenty of people, that don’t really care about what is or what is not recorded or known about them, but a lot of those people, don’t seem to comprehend, that the more that is known about anybody, the more potential there is to exploit that person, to redirect that person, and to manipulate that person, so that they will behave in a manner that is beneficial to those hi-technology companies, by the purchases, the decisions, and the overall attitude that is thus displayed by those individuals. There are lots of people that somehow believe that they can’t be influenced or are never influenced, but if that indeed was true, then there wouldn’t be a multi-billion dollar advertising industry, and there wouldn’t be ads upon ads structured upon the searches that we have made, or the relevant demographics exposed of who we are, that thus subsequently “pop up” as advertisements upon our screen. The bottom line is that this capitalistic system is dependent upon having people making decisions that favor their products, and the more that a given company knows about their intended audience, the better they are at focusing on what needs to occur to trigger that buying mechanism.

Additionally, hi-technology companies are absolutely enamored by young people, and the younger that they can so reach them, the better – because those that are young are going to go through all the various stages of life, in which each of those stages, is going to provide for those hi-technology companies and for the for-profit corporations that work intimately with those hi-technology companies, the continuous opportunity, to direct a given person’s attention their way and for their profit. While it is true that most human beings are complicated beings, that is why then it is so important for these hi-technology companies to know everything about us, for in that knowing, they know what our next probable move is going to be, and because of that, they can position themselves to exploit such for their own benefit, so ultimately done at our expense.