Know thyself!

There are probably all sorts of things that we need to know in life, of which the first is simply to know who and what we really are, which for many a folk, could necessitate not only a lot of thinking, contemplation, and research, but also the assistance of great avatars so as to come to the realization of what we are actually about.  Indeed, those who expend the time trying to figure out who they are and thereby the purpose of their existence are the same who have put aside the unrelenting “noise” of everyday life to pursue that which will provide them with the avenue of enlightenment, and from that enlightenment, to be able to live a more fruitful and beneficial life.

 This pursuit is not only of utmost importance to ourselves, but should be consider to be of a high importance to everybody, and while we should not infringe upon people’s right to free will and to be their own person, it is in the best interests of society to do our fair part to bring encouragement, insight, and vision especially to those that struggle to understand who and what they are, particularly meant to be directed to those who are searching for that very thing, but may not know it consciously.

 Indeed, if it did not matter what happens to our neighbor or to the society that we are a member of, because that is considered to be their business, or to be something that would distract us from our own goals, is not to comprehend that if other people and what they do and think did not matter, then this world would simply be filled with just our own self and none other, which would be a fair enough construct for us to prove our mettle.  The fact that this is not the case signifies that we have an obligation to teach and to help others, thereby bringing our wisdom to the table, especially when our experiences are something that other people can identify with, because they are going through the same sorts of troubles and questions that we first considered and subsequently resolved. 

 That said, to be a great mentor, it is a requirement that we know ourselves -- for how is it that we can aid those in need, if we can’t answer the most important questions of our existence, which is why we need to take the time and put forth the effort to know who and what we are, and not only to know this, but to demonstrate in that knowledge that we will use such for our own betterment as well as the betterment of the society that we are an active member of.

 Those who have the most disappointing lives, unfulfilled, and full of confusion and strife, are often those who have lost their way, and the first step to getting back on the right track is to recognize that within all of us is the capability to know our purpose and to live to that purpose, thus to cast aside the flotsam and bad habits that have previously precluded us from achieving what we were always meant to achieve.

Liberty, freedom, fairness, justice, and responsibility to the community

To be free is a beautiful thing and those that truly understand freedom are the same that value it immensely, of which, some of those that are most liberty loving are the same that believe strongly that because we have individual sovereignty that we should be permitted to do whatever that we so desire to do with our bodies and our minds without limitation or restriction from any authority, as long as we do not infringe upon the other’s same freedoms.  In other words, as much as this might upset some conservative-minded people, we should have the right to ingest whatever substances that interest us, licit or illicit, that taxation is a form of theft because we have earned that money which thereby makes it ours, and to sell our body for sex to another if both parties are of age and agree to the terms is our prerogative, and so on.  Yet, as much as we might desire this freedom to be about our business and thereby not have to answer to governmental authority, what should not be forgotten is that we also have an inherent obligation to the community that we are an integral part of.

 Indeed, there needs to be some reasonable restraints on our liberties, in consideration that none of us is an island, of itself, even though our ego might insist that we have done it all on our own, and always our way. Those who are honest and have reflected on themselves, though they might not want to acknowledge it, have achieved their success in ways that have necessitated some use of what would be considered public funding, such as schools, roads, the defense of the homeland, and basic infrastructure. Though all of us are entitled to the criticism that such may not be efficient, or even at times effective, it is, though, what makes for a construct which will help create better welfare for the whole, as contrasted to a construct in which everyone is simply about their own self, and thereby the devil takes the hindmost.

 So too, some of us are born into significantly better circumstances than others are, which in a fair and caring society, we would want to help out those that should be provided with a fair opportunity to take in the best that this nation represents, which means that we need to have created the infrastructure and then put forth the necessary throughput to see that happens for those in need, as opposed to something akin to benign neglect -- for the best community is that which a significant portion of the population is engaged in positive activities that make for a wholesome and uplifting experience.  Additionally, each of us needs to recognize that it isn’t always about ourselves, for a society in which competition or self-centeredness is of more value than cooperation is invariably going to be an unfair society, filled with injustice, dissent, poverty, and the like, because all those who are intent and focused exclusively on their own success and nothing else, have disowned their obligation to the community that first birth them and their parents who nurtured them by their not giving back appropriately.

Life is school—try to graduate

There are a multitude of ways of looking at life and the meaning of life, of which a serious consideration should be taken under advisement, that life is akin to going to school, and the purpose of that life is to graduate, and for those that have learnt their lessons well to graduate with honors, so demonstrated by not just their personal achievements but also the fact that they have taken their knowledge and utilized such for the betterment of the society that they are an integral member of.

 So too, it’s important to remember that the school that we all attend doesn’t just willy-nilly allow anyone to graduate without having to prove that they have passed their tests, which regrettably we see happening in some public schools of today, which graduate students who are functionally illiterate and really haven’t learned much of anything.  No, the school that we all attend is that school which evaluates us not only fairly, but makes sure that only those that have achieved the necessary credentials are eligible to graduate and those that do not, have to return, even repeatedly, until they have not only learned their lessons well, but have proven such by their good contribution to the society that they are a member of, in addition to having overcome challenges presented to them to demonstrate their mettle along the way.

 Indeed, those who sleepwalk through life aren’t going to graduate, and those who drop out or tune out won’t graduate either.  Each of us is required to put in the effort to get to where we need to go. While there is no shame in initial failure, there is a degree of shame in those that can’t seem to break out of useless cycles that get them nowhere and accomplish little, not seeming to recognize that each of us, has to stand upon our own two feet at some juncture, and thereby to accomplish forthrightly the individual learning that they must take to heart, to thereby achieve the required credentials to graduate.  This thus signifies that all of their complaining and excuses won’t help them get to where they need to go and will simply waste time, for their journey will not ever reach completion until they graduate.

 All those who clearly recognize that life has a purpose and then make it their point to live to that purpose are in pole position to accomplish the deeds and learning that they need to have to graduate.  Still, just because people know what they ought to do doesn’t mean that they are going to do those things, for the race is not to the swiftest but rather it is to those who put their nose down to the grindstone and keep on keeping on, no matter what storms are in the air, because they are focused on achieving their goals, because they know for a certainty that in that graduation they will find everything that they have ever really needed, now and forevermore.

That which keeps coming back

Each of us needs to admit that the things we really hate or strongly dislike seem to come back at us again and again, even though we believe we aren’t doing anything ourselves that would bring this foul wind upon us; yet it continues to come.  The reason why this is happening should be rather clear and obvious, which is that we haven’t resolved that which we hate and dislike by changing our attitude or our outlook, or by making amends where we need to make amends.   In other words, we continue to have to deal with dishonest people who cheat and lie to us, because we are in our way still dishonest, or we haven’t made good on our previous dishonesty, which is why we need to first examine ourselves, before we lash out at others, and their faults, as being the crux of the problem, when in actuality, our house is not actually in order, either.

 The reason why we have challenges that confront us, of which, some of these challenges seem to be a repeat that we have seen time and time again, has an awful lot to do with the fact that we have failed to correctly analyze what needs to be analyzed correctly and hence we have to keep facing the same sorts of troubles again and again, because we haven’t resolved it.  This signifies that whenever we have an aversion to somebody or something, we need to actually think about what it is that upsets us so much, or disturbs our equilibrium, and whether our reaction to such does anything to amend the issue, and whether there is a way to deal constructively with such.

 We find that it is a truism that frequently those who come from abusive relationships, somehow, when they get into their next relationship, find it ultimately to be abusive as well.  The reason why this is a fairly common occurrence is not that we are necessarily bad people or stupid, but rather has everything to do with us not taking the time to look into what the circumstances are that seem to create this undesired scenario, and to the degree that we can read the troubling signs in the future, this will help us to avoid such trouble.  It is also conceivable that there is something in our own behavior which exacerbates certain situations, and thus makes it more likely that the other person will behave badly towards us.

 Indeed, life is a two-way street, so that to complain that “woe is me” is not going to do much of anything to deal with the issues that should be addressed with something much more constructive, which is that before we lash out at the other as being the reason why our life is so miserable, we ought to consider that it may be our own mindset that needs to be adjusted, so that we are less judgmental, and more considerate of the other, because in truth, we have not walked in their shoes, and do not know all of their troubles, which signifies that it is better to find common ground and to build one another up, then to be quick on the draw to see the other as ruining our life, and therefore to be despised, without properly understanding that the more we find to hate and to dislike, the more hateful we will become and that which we find most bothersome, will continue to bother us, until we get things right.

Traffic signal lights should be higher

Traffic signal lights are part and parcel of what is utilized to make the roads safer and also more efficient for drivers.  The thing is, though, the visibility of those traffic lights can be adversely affected by the height of vehicles, such as we see in semitrucks and, to a lesser extent, SUVs, for those who are driving in a sedan or other type of vehicle that is relatively low to the ground.  So too, not all streets are perfectly level, which signifies that those streets that have traffic lights in which the driver is driving on an incline are going to be harder to see whenever they are behind vehicles that have a high footprint, and what needs to be taken into account, is that those that are unable to visually read the traffic light but take their clue that the light must still be green because tall vehicles in front of them are going through the traffic signal, are taking it by faith, that the light is still green, even though it may have turned red by the time that they have reached the intersection but because they have made that fateful decision they continue onward.

 While critics could state that if a driver can’t see the signal then they need to leave more room between them and the vehicle(s) that is obstructing them, they don’t seem to recognize that semitrucks are so high, that the amount of room thus necessary to see the traffic light is going to leave a very large gap and hence will mean less traffic will get through the light than what would be anticipated.  The better solution would be to engineer traffic lights so they are more visible, and the easiest way to do so is to make them higher than is typically the case in situations in which there is a preponderance of high vehicles, such as semitrucks, known to travel those roads.

 No doubt, a higher traffic signal light would cost more money and would make that light conceivably more susceptible to high winds, but these are all engineering problems that would seem to have engineering solutions that are available to take advantage of.  Indeed, any time that there is an accident at a traffic intersection, the reasons behind such an accident should be studied to see if anything could be done to reduce or prevent such accidents in the future.  The bottom line is that traffic lights need to be visible and the more visible they are, by their illumination, by their height, or by their width, the safer it will be for those that travel those streets which should always be a serious consideration of communities that desire to see that traffic not only moves efficiently but is done so in a manner in which safety is taken into serious consideration, which is why especially on those streets in which semitrucks and other tall vehicles effectively block traffic lights from being readily read by sedans and the like, should be adjusted to take this into account.

The wealth of America and global exploitation

People who live in America desperately want to believe that America is the bastion of liberty, justice, and free enterprise, qualities that they believe make it the appropriate global leader, and thus worthy of the moniker that it is the greatest nation in the world, bar none.  Yet, when it comes to the wealth of America, there seems not to be a full reckoning of how that wealth has come about and how it is maintained, and if we were to examine this carefully and fairly we would find that a significant portion of the wealth that America has obtained, has come forth from their exploitation of the resources and labor of foreign nations, who do not have the ready capacity to challenge or preclude America from taking advantage of them, or in a fair amount of cases, those in positions of power within these foreign nations have essentially been “bought” by American corporations or its governance, which thus subverts these foreign nations from doing right by their own people.

 There isn’t any doubt that American business enterprises, along with its premier financial dollar system, in conjunction with its military might, carries a great deal of influence all over the world, which can be quite effectively exerted against nations that are so small in GDP in comparison to America, that their agency is easy to compromise because they don’t have much power or even necessarily the grit to negotiate a good deal, and rightly are fearful that to be reluctant to do a “deal” can leave them subject to regime change, even violent regime change, which pressures those in power positions of these foreign nations to do the best that they can with the relatively bad hand that they have been dealt.  So too, those who mean well by their people may not have the wherewithal to really know the complexities of the financial loans that they are agreeing to or the business alignments that they are making.  In short, those who are in a poor negotiating position, and know that their sovereignty may be compromised through underhanded or even overt means, are going to seriously consider coming to an agreement with America that is less than what it should be, which is exploitation.

 All of the above, is the way that things are, of which those that are considered to be third world nations are in this age of valued information, being so readily available, now see that they have more options and flexibility, in addition to the fact that America’s economic global ascendancy is under assault primarily from China, who though exploitive in its own way, comes across as the lesser of two evils, and because of this, America’s easy road to taking advantage of extremely low wages, lax environmental laws, and the extraction of foreign precious minerals of all sorts for the profit of American businesses, is no longer in their firm control, which is why America will find itself as time goes on, of being less exploitative because it has less power to do so, which signifies it will also be less wealthy.

What bad thing happened, and why

In life, in order to learn and to progress from that which has stymied us in one form or another, we need not only to ask the right questions, but we need to get the right answers, as well, and then do something constructive to fix or correct what has happened so that future results are more in tune with our desires and needs.  Disappointingly, there are a surprising number of people who fail to examine what should be more fully examined, and somehow don’t seem to realize that by not taking proper account of what went down and why, they are going to struggle to break out and thus to progress from suffering the same sorts of issues in the future, from their failure to examine such and thus to make adjustments as needed.

 Indeed, it isn’t good enough to figure out what happened that was bad without taking the next logical step as to why that happened, and because we have not done that, pretty much the same sort of adverse event is going to recur because we have failed to take the time to look into why what happened actually occurred.  This is why we need to recognize that making mistakes is not the crux of the problem, but rather is a function of the fact that there is an unresolved problem, in which the objective should be to concentrate on correcting the problem, and thus to reduce the possibility of mistakes, in the future, and especially regarding that particular issue since we now understand the pitfalls that created this ill event to begin with.

 In fact, we need to look upon our lives as our fair opportunity to demonstrate that we have not only learned our lessons well but subsequently are committing actions which are beneficial not just for ourselves, but also for the society, that we are a valued member of and in order to do this, we must be cognizant of not just all the good things that have happened and been done right, but also those times when things do not go as expected or planned and hurt us, because life is going to provide us with meaningful challenges invariably, and it is in how we react to those challenges, that truly defines who and what we are, in which, those that fail to rise to the occasion, need to figure out why that which happened, did not go according to plan so that proper adjustments can be made to resolve and to overcome such.

 Further to the point, it needs to be recognized that a disappointingly high percentage of people make the same basic mistake again and again, which, while we could contribute this to character faults, it would be more appropriate to see this repeatedly happening really because this given individual has never taken the time to understand what has happened and why it happened, and then have failed to take appropriate steps to prevent or preclude it from happening again.  That is to say, when bad things happen, we need to understand the why and then do something to stop it from happening again, so that we can successfully progress to the next level.

The need for a windfall war tax

For some reason, about the only time we hear about a windfall tax being seen as appropriate is when it is designed to be enforced upon the oil industry, and while it certainly is true that domestic-based oil companies have definitely benefited from those times when there has been a shortage of oil, through embargoes or through the difficulties of transporting safely oil in wartime, or in other similar type circumstances, it has to be admitted that just concentrating on big oil is probably unfair to all those other industries that make extra profit at what could be considered to be inappropriate and unpatriotic times.

 To wit, when it comes to war, there are definitely defense companies that do a heck of a lot more business when there is warfare, of which it needs to be taken under advisement that war involves carnage, bodily harm, death, psychological damage, expenditures of the public purse, and other ills that are quite unfortunate.  This would seem to strongly suggest that extra profit and extra business that correlate with ongoing or unexpected warfare should be seen in the light of profits made in a business that hurts and kills human beings, as well as in damaging the societies that are made up of people should be best categorized as “blood money.”  Therefore, it certainly seems fair that war profits should be seen in many cases to be best characterized as windfall profits, because, quite frankly, those extra profits would not be there for these defense companies if it weren’t for those wars. 

 Indeed, the question should be asked: Should defense industries profit from the death and harm done to human beings?  If the answer is yes, then nothing needs to be changed, because that is the way that it is at present.  On the other hand, if the answer is no, or if we desire to ponder upon such further, then the very first thing that we need to do is to take those windfall profits out of the hands of defense industry companies by legislation enforced to do this, which would in all likelihood probably make, not too surprisingly, for far less warfare.

 Further to the point, if when implementing the windfall war tax we find that defense companies thus engage in some serious pushback regarding the taking away of some of their profits, that have been designated as being windfall profits, and subsequently complaining that they will not continue to do business with the government, because they aren’t being compensated enough or compensated appropriately, we then would have the obvious case, that defense companies really aren’t about protecting the homeland and its people, but really distilled down to its full transparency, they are all about money, instead, which is why we need to implement windfall war taxes, to see when push comes to shove, how those that claim they are patriotic, whether they are in fact true to this nation and thereby good for this nation or rather whether they answer only to their god of blood lucre, instead.

Concentrated Businesses and the foxes minding the henhouse

Even though America has some robust anti-trust legislation and also has the agency to pass additional anti-monopoly-type legislation, it doesn’t seem to have the will to do so.  The most probable reason why we are seeing mega-corporations that compete in the same type of field that are permitted to merge or to buy out the other really comes down to the fact that those that are in charge of enforcing legislation, that is, the regulators of such, too often come from the same type of concentrated industry themselves, essentially meaning that they won’t lift a finger to stop mergers that should not only be fully vetted but in many a case, should not be occurring.

 While proponents of these mergers talk about the efficiency of scale of such a consolidation, what they fail to mention is that the more concentrated economic power is in the hands of the very, very few, or of just one, essentially means that they have pricing authority over the items that they are selling, which is fantastic for their bottom line and longevity.  This thus means that whenever the government does nothing to prevent companies that should be competing against one another but rather permits them to consolidate with one another, it means that the general public will have to come up with even more money to pay for goods and services.

 So too, whenever a given mega-conglomerate knows that it owns the market, it’s going to have a real reluctance to cannibalize any of its business, because it would rather reap in the profits, as compared to initiating its own form of “creative destruction.”  This signifies that as long as some product line can be milked and continually milked, despite the fact that innovations are available to develop and to be encouraged, the less benefit the public will get in return.  Additionally, the bottom line is that competition basically forces the hand to invent and re-invent for a given corporation, as well as the salient fact that competition in and of itself, signifies that companies can’t just rest on their laurels, but rather because they are fearful that they could see their market share cratered or hurt badly, encourages them to spend money on research and development and to do what is necessary to remain relevant and on top of the situation.

 Finally, whenever those that should be regulating companies aren’t doing their job on behalf of the public, but are in essence working hand in glove with the mega-corporations that dominate particular markets, it signifies that those that are already the winners are going to keep winning more, which means there will be less money in hand for those that make up the general public.  This is why it is so important to not just pass legislation which has a good purpose behind it, but to see that the legislation that is meant for the benefit of the people is actually put into effect, and when not, that there are ways to amend such, because whenever the fox is guarding the henhouse such as we see regarding big consolidated business, it is the people that get the continual short end of the stick.

Payback for persecution

There are plenty of people who have developed some rather bad character faults, of which the biggest of those is essentially unjust persecution of the other, for all sorts of imagined crimes or things of this general sort. They add to their wrong by continuing their persecution in an unrelenting manner, under the misimpression that they are justified in doing so, made worse by those who won’t consider that their actions may actually need a serious reevaluation. 

 So then, in a cosmic world in which justice reigns supreme, persecution of the worst sort would seem to be something of real significance that would need to be rectified in one way or another to thus make things right.  The best way to correct such would be to simply change one’s behavior, to do right to others, and to also make good on the wrongs so committed.  Still, that may not be enough, for perhaps the horse has left the barn, signifying that since time cannot go backwards, and that we cannot change what has occurred, that seemingly the best option left to make good on what needs to be made good on is to reincarnate again into this world, taking on the basic characteristics of the one that had been persecuted.

 The one thing that we need to fully comprehend is that there aren’t any shortcuts to Heaven, but rather that getting back to the only destination worth arriving at is going to require not just agency to do so, but concentrated effort along with the corresponding results to earn our way back.  That is to say, words are words, and though some words spoken are more sincere, and some words spoken come to fruition, it is in our acts and deeds that we are best defined, signifying that the best apology is in action, which thus requires us to do what we need to do for the other to make amends.

 Indeed, if more people were cognizant that they may well have to come back here to take on the aura of that which they persecuted, they would in all probability, be more considerate in their behavior, which is why each of us needs to take this type of belief into our heart, because the cause of injustice, wars, discrimination, and hatred correlates with those that believe that they have the right to wreak havoc upon the other, without taking into account that if they are wrong, they have done a very serious wrong, which is why we ought to make it our point to think before we act, and consider well the consequences of our actions, because when we do not consider thoughtfully the walking in another’s shoes, but carelessly wipe this thought from our mind, then we are going to have to actually walk in their shoes, which probably isn’t going to be something that we would have wanted to sign up for, but it is going to occur, because the one thing that we can add for a certainty, is God does not suffer fools, gladly.

The few who have more need to give more

There is a general belief that what a given person or company has is theirs, and while it is true that people that labor hard for the money or are quite clever basically deserve the fruits of their labor, it has to be admitted that in many instances there are plenty of companies and individuals that have so much already, that they can easily afford to give more than what they do currently give, and to do so, without any strings attached.  The best way to effect necessary change regarding the few with the most, thus giving more, is through taxation in one form or another, signifying that taxing those that have the most is going to hurt the least in regards to the general population, as a whole.  Further to the point, we find that those who are the richest and in the most important positions of power in America are far too often the very same who don’t want to pay their fair share, even though their capacity to pay is more than adequate.  Look, when we study the problems that America has, it has got to be recognized that the more unequal the country’s people and institutions are in regards to power, assets, wealth, and voice, the more civil unrest that is going to subsequently occur, because a country that insists that it has no obligation to pay a living wage to its own people, has created the seeds for its own trouble, that cannot be rectified by a more oppressive policing force and policies that essentially criminalize those that are impoverished in opportunity, monetary assets, and in education.

 Indeed, a country that puts selfishness and self-centeredness as its driving force is ultimately going to drive that nation into the abyss, because greed does not become a modern country that not only knows better, but ought to do better to its constituency.  No doubt, there are plenty of people that create their own misery through their bad decisions and inability to constructively make something of themselves, but it needs to be recognized that there are also a whole lot of people that work hard and endeavor to create a satisfying life but are precluded from doing so, because their income as compared to their expenses, both expected and unexpected, are not only out of balance, but aren’t going to be resolved, thus leaving the government to fill in, which depending upon the winds of the day, essentially means that government sometimes does a commendable job for those most in need, and sometimes turns its back upon the most vulnerable, especially when that government has in essence been captured by the few, to benefit primarily those few, in perpetuity.

 In any society that hopes to be stable and progressive with its people, they should keep foremost in their mind that a more even distribution of wealth and opportunity that is never a respecter of persons is going to result in a better and more wholesome society, signifying that those at the very top of wealth and power must have limits and guardrails imposed upon them, voluntarily agreed to or through compulsion as necessary or else,  the people, in whole, won’t have agency, but will merely devolve into being subjects, at the mercy of the powers that be.

The American obsession with communism

Look, it has to be said that sovereign nations are entitled to form whatever type of government that suits their fancy.  The thing is, though, that America seems absolutely content with just about any form of government that a given country has, except for communism, even those that are autocratic and dictatorial in nature, despite the fact that America prides itself upon being a bastion of freedom and liberty.  

 The first thing to say about those governments that claim that they are communistic is that no communistic nation has ever existed, and it is problematic as to whether that will ever be the case, because a stateless society in which all own everything in common, in harmony with the slogan “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,” has never existed.  Rather, the problem that the United States has with communism generally comes down to the fact that a communist nation, in its structure, has as its founding principle that private property ownership is forbidden, and that ownership will thus revert to the people, and especially to those who are the common people who have historically been exploited.  In other words, the issue that America has with communism is that it is anti-capitalist and anti-private property.  Those, therefore, who are the movers and shakers in capitalism, along with all those who have an overabundance of private wealth, are quite obviously going to be against any form of governance that would take what they consider to be theirs and instead spread that wealth to the people.  This, then, is the reason why America has had a constant obsession with communism, because they fear that if it is not stamped out, along with it being seen as the ultimate evil, those with the very most are therefore in danger of losing their position, their wealth, their status, and pretty much everything.

 The thing is that American enterprise would not be so concerned and fearful of communism catching on if the capitalist system, as currently structured and run, were not so exploitative in its nature.  That is to say, despite the United States being the richest nation in the world, in aggregate, it apparently does not believe that its citizens are entitled to a living wage, of which millions of Americans who work do not earn nearly enough to make and to have a living wage, and thus the government must fill in the gap.  Indeed, we find that those who are the richest and can readily afford to pay their fair share in taxes don’t bother to pay what they ought, which is one of the most significant reasons why this country runs massive deficits, which thus serve to ultimately create a crushing burden on those of the middle class.

 So then, the reason that the powers that be are obsessed with communism, is that in essence, they know that they are cheating the common man through exploitation, through not paying their fair share in taxes, and through laws that favor them over the people, and they do not want this to ever end, and because they are the few, they constantly worry that the many will one day rise up against them, which is one of the founding principles of communism, signifying that these elites want the people to be forever somnolent and never to become woke.

Public polling and manipulation

No doubt, it is interesting to see what the public opinion is about all sorts of subjects, which, when done fairly, helps us to get a better feel for where the American populace is at.  That said, while polling at its best provides us with information about who and what we are, we find, though, that a lot of public polling really isn’t about that at all, but rather is crafted in a way in which those who have structured the poll want to steer people’s thinking into a format in which they are being provided with a picture and thereby a prism that the pollsters desire for those being polled to view things through.  In other words, the way that the questions are structured provides those being polled with a limited way to respond, thereby forcing their hand to choose something that really would not represent their free choice, but limits their freedom of choice, instead. 

 Look, the way that polling actually is resembles something akin to a test in which those being tested are instructed to choose the best answer out of the choices so presented to them, with the understanding that perhaps none of those answers are, in fact, what they find fully appropriate for the question that has been asked.  This is also true of how polling is typically structured, because those that are conducting the polls simply don’t have the room or time to take in a long and nuanced answer, but simply want an answer that conforms to the structure of that poll, which perhaps is okay for those that are not deep thinkers or that really don’t care, but it isn’t a fair reflection of all those that make up the population and how they actually think.

 So too, when it comes to manipulation, it’s important to understand that there are those questions that are being asked, that are designed in a way to get the answer that the pollster desires, and then have the poll disseminated to the general public that states that such and such a percentage of the American public as polled, believe that this is their actual opinion, even though a careful analysis of how the poll was structured would shed a different and more illuminating light on that conclusion.

 There are those in this world who conduct fair polls that genuinely do get an unvarnished and truthful answer from the general public, and make sure to also get those responses from a fair representation of all those who make up America. Then there are those polls which are essentially propaganda, that have been deliberately arranged to get the answer that those that are conducting the poll, have to get, and then make it to be their point to propagate that to the general public in the hopes that by saying that a significant portion of their fellow Americans feel a particular way about a certain subject, that therefore the general public ought to feel the same sort of way, which is manipulation done under the guise that all is fair and on the level, when it is not.

The hidden criminals

There isn’t any doubt that illicit drug dealing, prostitution, rape, burglary, assault, murder, and the like are all crimes, of which it seems that the most impoverished communities in America are the location for an abundance of these crimes.  Yet, though tragic that this is, what seems to be unacknowledged is the salient fact that crimes committed have an awful lot to do with those who are ill-educated, impoverished, lack opportunity, suffer from being in dysfunctional families, lack monetary assets, lack good and valued mentors, and aren’t in safe and sound communities.  In other words, those who make up what we consider to be ghettos are typically not going to graduate to becoming good and upstanding citizens because where they live isn’t conducive to that desired outcome.

 Here though is the rub which is that America is in aggregate the richest nation in the world, which one would reasonably translate into being a nation in which poverty of all sorts would be absolutely minimized, but it isn’t.  instead, the ghetto and communities that are similar to ghettos presents an opportunity for those that lack a good moral compass to exploit those that are disadvantaged by cheating the residents, for example, in the selling price of the homes in the neighborhood, and the interest rate so effected, or in the rent so extracted, or in their failure to repair what needs to be repaired; and the government far too often doesn’t help through its benign neglect, by, for instance, not repairing the roads, or the streetlights, or gathering rubbish, or by the usage of police as an enforcing force as opposed to serving and protecting, and so forth.

 So too, open and safe spaces for children to congregate on and around seldom exist in our impoverished communities.  Regrettably, the public schools located in these areas aren’t really functional schools in the sense of educating the students who attend them, but rather serve more as places to get food and then to simply serve as babysitters to the students who are not challenged to learn.  Apparently, nobody cares if they do learn, as they graduate from one class year to the next without ever becoming even functionally literate.

 Those that see exploitation as a way and means to profit, don’t mind ghettos at all, because the benefits that incur to those that are residents of such, are easy enough to exploit because, for instance, those that get food stamps, want something other than just food in order to fulfill some of their needs and wants, which signifies that food stamps are sold at a discount, and thus traded from one party to another, with the buyer of such receiving the better end of the deal.  Additionally, those who purposely structure loans for cars, furniture and other items, with sky-high interest rates, do so with the sure knowledge that the consumer doesn’t really understand interest rates or finance, and hence is an easy target to pluck.

 In sum, the hidden criminals are all those who enrich themselves at the expense of those who live in trying circumstances, understanding well that the law won’t come after them, because they have all the accouterments of what a law-abiding citizen typically has, whereas those who are impoverished and don’t look or act the part do not.

"Betcha can't eat just one"

The thing about junk food is the proprietors of these foods, truly have it down to a science, which is one of the salient reasons why so many are obese in this nation, because quite frankly, salty, fatty snack foods that taste good to our palate, are not only incredibly tasty to most people, but because it also increases dopamine, encourages us to eat more than one chip easily, and for most people, signifies that they not only can’t eat just one, but would not ever desire to limit themselves to eating only one.

 It would be one thing when it came to junk food, if this was just an occasional indulgence that most of us are susceptible to, but because it was just occasional, it signified that overall, it was not going to trouble our health.  Unfortunately, junk food seems not only habitual because of the taste and dopamine increase, but also it is an easy snack to feel very comfortable with, because there isn’t anything that we need to do, such as cooking or refrigeration, or much of anything, other than to open our mouths, which plenty of people do, day in and day out.

 While it has to be admitted that adding warnings onto junk foods, stating that eating such foods may be detrimental to one’s health, this probably wouldn’t change a thing.  However, what this government could do would be to emphasize that junk food should be eaten in moderation and to the degree that it could influence the public, it should put forth substitutes to salty, fatty snacks, which would be a better choice for the general public as a courtesy to the people.

 Look, it has to be admitted that if junk food wasn’t all that bad for people’s health, that pretty much nothing would need to be changed, but the health of Americans is seriously trending in the wrong direction, so that, it is the role of government to step in to do something constructive about the food choices that we make, and to allow people to understand the harm of certain foods that are consistently eaten and what that does to the body.  After all, there was a time when cigarette smoking and the advertising that went with it were part and parcel of how smoking was sold to Americans, but at a certain point, a stand was made that smoking should be seen as something ill-advised, which ended up reducing the smoking rate in America by a considerable amount.

 How serious America should get about fatty, salty junk foods is something that should be taken under advisement, because as it stands, people really can’t eat just one, and because they can’t stop themselves at an appropriate stopping point, there needs to be an accounting and a reckoning as to whether or not, we should continue along the same path, that has contributed to Americans being unhealthy or whether we ought to consider amending such for the betterment of the people.

The jury system gives power to the people

As much as we want to believe that the government that governs us is a representative government, it has to be admitted that in many cases, those who are our representatives don’t seem to be beholden to the people at all.  That is to say, those that are our legislative representatives seem to be on a level that the people are not on and therefore it seems that our voice doesn’t really matter to them, and that in short, we find that politicians and our representatives are very good at saying and promising certain things that would be beneficial for the people, but somehow never get around to actually accomplishing those things, instead they appear to be deceptive and unforthcoming to what the people actually need and want.

 The one thing though that is in the people’s control, is our jury system which is effected for trials of all sorts, and is not only enshrined in our constitution but is also effectively part and parcel of the way that those that have been charged with a crime or offense, are fairly judged, because those that make up the juries, are truly the people, and therefore should be able to better relate to the circumstances of what is being judged, which makes for the opportunity to weigh in on those matters that matter to the community and therefore to have the opportunity to have their fair say.

 Indeed, as much as this government might want to divert from the jury system, which it actually does through the incredible amount of plea bargaining so processed, at the end of the day, jury trials are the right of the accused, and those so accused have got to feel that win, lose, or draw, that a jury decision in the present day, in which juries are not supposed to be all one color, or all one particular segment of the community, but rather to be a fair representation of those that make up that community, would seem to be about as fair as one could expect to find, when hoping that one’s peers would determine guilt or innocence.

 The bottom line is that for most Americans, just having one vote, doesn’t really amount to much, and except for community hearings in which the public is permitted to have a voice, but limited to just a few minutes, represents about the only time when they would feel that their voice actually matters, except for their participation as a member of the jury, which is why those that are called to jury duty ought to really want to participate in a trial, for not only because this will give them real knowledge of how trials are conducted, but also it will for a certainty, provide them with the opportunity to make a judgment in which that judgment makes a material difference to the trial at hand, and ought therefore to be seen as a very strong representation of the people having agency and power, which is demonstrated by the jury decision collectively so rendered.

Professional athletes and the need for financial acumen

When we look at the general public, we find that a significant portion of those who are financially inept, ignorant, or naïve about financial transactions of just about all types is disappointingly high.  One would think that the education that students obtain throughout their schooling years would include a decent amount of time discussing and understanding financial transactions, such as interest rates, student loans, credit cards, mortgages, bills, and so on, but in actuality, this seldom occurs.

 Not too surprisingly, those who lack a good financial understanding of investments, taxes, budgeting, and the management of money are going to be quite susceptible to being taken advantage of by those who delight in finding an easy and vulnerable target that they can exploit for their own personal advantage.  Indeed, when it comes to professional athletes in which there are a significant amount of those athletes that come from trying economic circumstances and by definition, are young, makes for a perfect storm for those that desire to take advantage of them, and consequently there are plenty of athletes that have had gross earnings in the millions upon millions of dollars over their professional sports careers, but end up eventually becoming broke, which is a real shame.

 To the credit of these sports franchises and leagues, there are financial advisors available for players to lean upon, but as much as this may help, it probably doesn’t go far enough, in the sense while players should have agency over their earnings and their financial decisions, it needs to be acknowledged that having an experience financial advisor constantly available who does not judge how a player spends their money, but is there to assist players in making good, prudent and sound decisions must definitely has its place, because in today’s sports world, some of the earnings of these players are so high, that there is a real need to see that players make and are assisted in making good financial decisions so that they can enjoy the fruits of their labor, after they have retired and moved on to other things.

 This signifies that all of the major sports leagues need to actually take a full accounting of all their players to the best of their ability to ascertain as to whether particular financial pitfalls seem to come up rather commonly that players suffer from and then to push forth programs that will help to fix and to alleviate those bad outcomes. All of this necessitates these sports franchises and leagues actually digging deep into their player’s financial activities.  No doubt, players would be concerned about the neutrality of such an investigation and should have the option of opting in or opting out, in addition to the fact that those looking into the financial affairs of professional athletes should not be beholden to the owners, but rather should be held to mandated fiduciary responsibilities that necessitate that they keep confidential what should be confidential, and that their overall objective is to benefit the player and their welfare, above all.

Reincarnation and enough is enough

There are plenty of people who live in Western nations who somehow believe that we get just one life, and from there we are judged, with our destination to be either Heaven or hell.  Of course, there are plenty of others who believe that when we die, it’s simply over, and our existence completely ends.  Neither of these positions is right, and for those who have an active and thinking mind and are intent upon utilizing their mind to contemplate about that which should be of utmost importance, they will recognize that the pattern that we see on earth actually involves endless cycles of birth, death, and rebirth, which signifies that this is applicable in our incarnation here.  To wit, that each of us will be born here, do whatever that it is that we do and accomplish, and then our physical body will die, leaving us with the sure knowledge that we have an eternal soul, and thus the opportunity to incarnate back on earth, to prove our mettle, or for those advanced souls serve as a source to bring enlightenment to those who are in darkness.

 The thing about reincarnation is that whether or not our life is completely blessed or a horror show, there comes a point when enough is enough, perhaps because all we are doing is repetitive, or we no longer are learning or accomplishing great deeds, met some tragedy, or we simply have run out of energy, having run our race.  In any event, whether or not we absolutely love our life as it is, or despise it, all of us will have to depart, thereupon providing us with a fresh start for our new incarnation, which should be seen as a complete blessing for those who have made plenty of mistakes and thus seek a pathway for redemption.  It should also come as a relief for those who have stopped growing, so that they will get an opportunity to advance even further on their journey to that which originated them in the first place.  Even those who are completely self-satisfied will depart, and while they might have regrets, they need to recognize that complacency isn’t good enough for what we are meant to do, which is to be a positive aid to others, by helping to bring light to those in darkness, and comfort to those who are suffering.

 In this world, it needs to be acknowledged that we are, to a great extent, in school, structured to advance from one grade to the next, but not everyone graduates, and some even regress.  So too, the accomplishments that we have achieved will, for some of us, reach their apex, signifying that we need a new classroom, or else we cannot continue with our journey.  So then, wherever we are at the completion of one life, we will be provided with the new opportunity that will best fit the challenges that we need to meet and surpass, which is why we come back here, again and again, and why we need to finish one life so that we can move on to the next.  This journey, therefore, necessitates reincarnation, so that we will have the capacity to take on the aura and persona of that which will resonate positively through the eons of time, without end.

Baby boomers and their senior discounts

The wealthiest generation is the baby boomers, and considering that the latest baby boomer was born in 1964, it signifies that pretty much all baby boomers are considered to be senior citizens, in which it’s common for age 55 to be considered a senior citizen, with other ages of 60, 62, and finally 65 to be the highest end of what is defined as a senior citizen.

 The thing about being a senior citizen is that there are private enterprises that will extend discounts for those who are of that age at department stores, restaurants, movies, theatres, museums, dentists, and pretty much any business that is trying to incentivize those who are senior citizens to spend some of their wealth at their particular establishment.  Additionally, the government has programs such as Medicare and Social Security that phase in those who are 65 or even a bit younger to take advantage of those important programs.  Finally, some States offer a property tax discount for senior citizens if they choose to opt out of paying school taxes, under the impression that senior citizens have no schoolchildren who would be attending primary or secondary education.

 Look, it has to be admitted that just about everyone appreciates a discount, whether or not they are actually in need of one, and therefore, where there are discounts available, those in the know are pretty much going to take advantage of them.  The thing is though that people such as the baby boomers range from the super wealthy to those that are truly struggling, and the way that these discounts are structured, they don’t take into account income or wealth, but simply age, which signifies that while there are those seniors that could certainly use every single discount that comes their way, there are also those seniors that have more than enough already.

 So too, it has to be admitted by governmental as well as private businesses, that senior citizen discounts and things of that ilk are, by definition, discriminatory.  That is to say, only senior citizens can take advantage of these discounts, which would seem to imply that money that is being saved through those discounts by those senior citizens has got to be made up by other people instead, which, when we consider that the baby boomers are incredibly wealthy to begin with, seems rather unfair.  Of course, it is argued, that private enterprise should be permitted to structure their business in whatever manner that increases their revenue and respective profit,  which certainly seems reasonable, but it does come at a cost to those that aren’t senior citizens, whether admitted to or not.

 In sum, it would seem that the general purpose of senior discounts and programs of all types earmarked for seniors was in acknowledgment that those who have retired and are on a fixed income might need a helping hand and also as a way for this country to show appreciation and respect for seniors, but in consideration, that seniors in actuality, in aggregate, have all the money, already, would reflect that there probably needs to be a reevaluation of such.

Satan as adversary

A significant portion of people define Satan as simply being evil, or the agent of evil, and thus to be avoided at all costs. While it’s okay to see Satan as being evil, a better definition really comes from studying the Hebrew word satan, which translates to adversary, or it could also be read as accuser or opponent.   So then, those that see Satan as being their adversary, have a better concept of what Satan really is, which isn’t evil in and of itself, but rather it is more appropriate to see Satan as one’s opponent which makes a lot more sense, because this world is structured in a way in which we will be challenged and we will be tested, of which, some agent needs to instigate those challenges against us, best known as Satan.

 Indeed, there are far too many people who really don’t want to test themselves in any sort of battlefield, perhaps because they are already satisfied with the way that their life already is, or perhaps because they fear they will lose or come up short, or aren’t prepared.  Yet, the only true way to determine as to whether or not we have learned our lessons well is to see them applied in all sorts of conditions, which necessitates that we need to have some sort of adversary, because there are far too many people that profess that they are this or that in regards to how good and generous they are, but when push comes to shove, they crumble, because they don’t have the proper constitution and lack the resolution to make a stand where a stand needs to be made.

 This means that we all ought to welcome the challenges that come to us in life, as our fair opportunity to prove our mettle in battle, and those who are prepared and thus meet what needs to be met are the very same that are going to be victorious in that which will truly define who and what they really are. Further to the point, all of us need to meet our challenges, and should not and cannot expect that the battles that are meant for us to face should be faced by someone else on our behalf.  While it’s fair to lean upon another, there comes that time when each of us must stand upon our own two feet, or else the test cannot conceivably be passed, but will remain incomplete and unfinished.

 All of the above doesn’t mean that we should look for trouble, but rather signifies that we ought to be prepared for trouble that comes in all sizes, shapes, and forms, of which, we owe it to our Creator to prove that we have taken out talents and put them to good use, and the way that we demonstrate that is not just in our good deeds, and selfless actions, but also in the courage to fight those that are our adversaries and to defeat them, thus proving that we have been tested, and thus are worthy of that which beckons us back to our eternal home.