Remember how they lived, not how they died

There are plenty of people who don’t concentrate much on the living or the dying and pretty much take each day as it comes without further thought.  Still, for most of these people, sooner or later, they will subsequently reflect that everybody who is born into this world will, at some point, also die.  This means that, for all of us, we need to consider how we should react when someone we know or admire is no longer amongst the living.

 Indeed, while death can come suddenly upon any of us, through some form of accident or tragic event, it also can be drawn out over an exceedingly long period of time, such as through an extended illness.  The thing about seeing someone dying or that has recently died, is many of us become fixated only upon the death event, which leaves us suitably sad and in remorse, thus consequently having some difficulty in remembering the best of that person, as they were, which is really what we should concentrate our thoughts upon, because it is in the doing that we are defined, thus fairly remembered not just by the people who knew that person, but also by all those that were beneficiaries of their actions, which is why we need to recall all the good that those that have departed this world, accomplished, so that we can provide a better tribute to them, in our mind’s eye and expression, so of.

 In life, there are those times which call for reflection, and when someone that we knew has died, this is one of those times in which we need to reflect upon how that person positively affected us and then to express that to others, so that they will have the opportunity to hear our stories, and thus, by our doing this, to demonstrate our homage and our consideration to the dearly departed.

 In this world, we will be challenged, and how we address those challenges reflects who and what we really are. When someone who has meant something of significance to us has left this world, we have an inherent obligation not just to remember who they were, but to impart that information to others, so that they will know not just how much that person meant to us, but also learn more of the goodness that our friend represented so that their tale can be heard and remembered.

 For each of us, how we live is reflected in our influence on others and the deeds that we have done, which are our fair contribution to the society that we are members of, and since the dead cannot speak for themselves, it is up to each of us to remember them as they were, and to express that to others, so that they will know what they meant to us, and to tell some stories of the good that they have done, thus providing our fair input and honor to those that have fallen in this world, but have risen in the world beyond.

The Mexican-American War

Our present-day States of California, Utah, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona were once part of Mexico but are now part of the United States of America, largely because President Polk believed manifest destiny meant these former Mexican territories were destined to be part of America.  Future President Ulysses S. Grant stated when he was an officer of the American armed forces that the Mexican-American War was “…one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation.”

 One of the questions that typically is not asked is why didn’t the United States simply annex the whole of Mexico since, during this war, the United States effectively captured Mexico’s capital, Mexico City, and thus was in prime position not just to dictate the terms of surrender between these two nations, but also placed itself in position to control and to take over the whole of Mexico.  The answer to that question really comes down to the fact that Mexicans are not white Protestant Anglo-Saxons, and because of this, the United States government believed that the better part of valor was to take from Mexico its far less populated northern territory, and mesh that into the United States of America, by making sure to soon populate what would become future created States of America, with a makeup consisting of the appropriate complexion of white Anglo-Saxons, which it subsequently did.

 Indeed, whenever we look at the territorial expansion of America, first and foremost in their thinking, it has always been to maintain the power structure and power look of America, which is the whiteness of America, and in those situations in which there is a lack of whiteness, such as in Hawaii or the Philippines, not only is there a significant reluctance to consider these as being part and parcel of the United States, it is also a belief that power should not be shared with those that lack whiteness, and while this philosophy has been modified over the ensuing years, it certainly was not the case when it came to the Mexican-American war, which was a war in which the purpose was to annex those portions of Mexico which had few Mexicans, thus making it a relatively easy case of populating these future States with whiteness and enforcing the rules of the road on those that remained who were Mexican, that they would now understand their new reduced place and status in this racial hierarchy.

 While the United States is known for its soaring Declaration of Independence words, such as the equality of all men as well as our unalienable rights, it needs to be remembered that this has historically really meant that only those of the favored race were entitled to those true unalienable rights, and that equality came down to how the judicial branch of governance so defined it, which typically meant that the white man had no equal, and everybody else would only get what the white man was willing to sacrifice or bestow upon them, which was at their discretion, and today has only been modified, to mean that those that are rich, well-positioned and privileged are entitled, and everyone else, is subject to law and order, as defined by those elites.

Wars and serious civil unrest have created the refugee crisis

Many people in various countries, including the United States of America and Western European nations, currently face some serious pushback from their citizens over illicit immigration and refugees entering their countries.  These refugees are a contributing factor to these nations having a strong tendency to reduce much of their previous liberal beliefs and governance by replacing them with more right-wing politicians as their legislative representatives, primarily because too many of their citizens aren’t succeeding all that well themselves, thus making refugees and illicit immigration easy targets to attack as the reason why the native-born or naturalized citizens are suffering from their own lack of opportunity and social benefits, which seem to have been wrongly structured to be siphoned off by these refugees.

 There are a couple of notable things to recognize about refugees, which is that most people do not have a strong desire to leave their country, because for better or for worse, it is the country of their birth. They are used to it, but whenever there are wars or rumors of war, and civilians are being harmed or are subject to a high likelihood of being harmed, they are going to look for alternatives because they are no longer safe and secure within their nation.  In other words, there are refugees because war causes the normal course of events to substantially change for the worse, and thus people are going to be susceptible to leaving where they currently are to seek refuge in another country, not just for its safety but also in the hopes that it will provide opportunity.

 So too, those who are illicit immigrants are typically people who are suffering from a significant degree of civil unrest, or are living within a construct in which it appears unlikely or pretty much hopeless that they will ever get beyond mere subsistence, so they are going to have a strong inclination to look at other opportunities because when there appears to be no hope within their homeland, thinking and motivated people are going to not just look elsewhere, but are going to pursue such, especially when they are listening to a “siren song” for a set monetary price to be paid to those that promise them that across the border is the land of milk and honey.

 All told, refugees and illicit immigration are part and parcel of a world that has the type of unrest that leads to people desiring to improve their situation, or at a minimum to get out of being in a place that is unsafe and has little opportunity, with no real hope that this will change for the better.  That is to say, refugees do not just come out of nowhere; they come out of wars and regime change that upset the normal course of events, with the sure recognition that people the world over just basically want to live their lives in a manner in which they have employment and security of their person and household goods, and in consideration that this is what the best of America and Western Europe represents, they thus come this way.

The insanity of such a huge governmental debt

Those individuals, or companies for that matter, that aren’t able to conduct their affairs without sustaining a loss, each and every year, are in constant danger of becoming bankrupt, especially when the entity lending the money no longer believes that the risk is commensurate with the perceived reward.  Somehow in America, it has gone terribly wrong, for American governance has not been able to put forth a fiscally responsible budget in twenty-five years and doesn’t seem on track to ever do so again.

 There is a price to be paid for borrowing money, whether by an individual, a company, or a government, and that price is not just the nation's creditworthiness, but also the cost of borrowing to sustain itself.  In America, we find that, as reported at pgpf.org, for FY26 the American government is on track to have a deficit of $931 billion for its interest expense, which signifies that this nation spends nearly the same amount on Medicare as it does on its interest obligations.

 Somehow, it seems like those who determine this nation’s budget as well as its tax policies seem to have devolved into believing that we can always have our cake and eat it too, which is why we have the fiscal problems that we currently have, because this nation will not correct its budget to reflect more fiscal responsibility, and simultaneously will not tax the people to meet the demands that it has to meet to thereby be responsible not just to the present generation, but also to those generations, yet unborn.

 To believe, somehow, that this nation can continue to run such high fiscal deficits, ad nauseam, is to believe in absolute foolishness, for surely there will be a reckoning, and to not recognize that such a reckoning could bring everything about America and what it stands for to its knees, or even worse, is not to understand that fiscal irresponsibility writ large will create fundamental changes to this nation, and will be extremely unfortunate for all those that must bear that burden.

 Here we are at present, running massive deficits, for two main reasons: one being that there is a tremendous amount of money earmarked for national defense, which isn’t even necessary, and when we look at every other nation in the world, it reflects that the United States sees gremlins and hobgoblins in seemingly every other foreign nation, and thus keeps spending ever more on its defense against these phantoms.  Additionally, in a nation in which there is a multitude of super-rich people and super-rich corporations, this nation doesn’t have the resolve to tax those entities appropriately, even though these super-rich entities could easily pay what they fairly owe as their duty to that government that thus provided them with the opportunity to become super-rich.

 In sum, we should remember this well: monies spent for the national interest on our debt benefits no one, because it does not provide any good or service, but truly reflects that this nation must continually pay the piper at a price that is ever increasing, without seeming to realize that there will come a time when the piper no longer desires to play his instrument at any price for this nation anymore

Population matters

There seems to be a strong contingent of our citizens who would like to see the population reduced for various reasons, some of which are legitimate, such as a concern for the environment, for sustainability, for resources, and so on, under the general belief that there is a limit on everything, and that more people create intense pressure to sustain what we already have.  Then there are those who want population, if not reduced, to concentrate on sustaining certain peoples and evicting others so that the country can remain in conformance with various preferred orthodoxies such as religion, race, and the origin of one’s nationality. 

 What seems to have been pushed aside when it comes to those that desire to reduce population or to cherry-pick who should or should not be permitted into this country, is the general fact that countries that provide fair opportunity for all, and concentrate on seeing that their citizens are well educated and treated with equal respect, are developing the type of citizens which will be not just a credit to the nation, but will help that nation to remain strong and vibrant for the long haul.

 Further to the point, how dynamic and how persuasive a given country is has a significant amount to do with its overall global footprint, and those nations that have relatively small populations, though they may be well educated and diligent, aren’t going to have enough numbers to effect positive global change that they would achieve if they had a larger amount of people.  Indeed, population matters because there is inherent strength in numbers, and those numbers can be exceedingly influential when those that make up that population are driven to do the right thing and are determined to get it done.

 So too, what needs to be remembered is that the color of one’s skin, or the size of one’s billfold, should not be the determining factor of how valued or valuable a given person is considered to be in society, but rather it should be about the content of one’s character, and the grit and determination of these people making their mark on society, by focusing on doing their fair share to help this nation to become better, through their valued participation in augmenting the good values of this country which helps to present our nation at its best.

 Those who believe that we need only the “right” people immigrating here, and to forsake all those that do not fit into that “cookie-cutter” belief, have got it all wrong.  Rather, what is needed is a governmental objective, fairly structured and open to all, that makes the point of this governance to see that not only is nobody left behind, but that all of our people need fair access to the resources that make for a well-educated and a good citizen, by a collective belief in pursuing what this country stands for, which is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

 When this occurs, the foundation of why population matters will become clear because those who come from different backgrounds but who have bought into the American way at its best are the same ones who collectively make for a powerful force that other nations and peoples can emulate. Indeed, this produces the best citizens and is a powerful and influential global force when it also represents a large population.

LBJ at his best

President Johnson's greatest mistake was the Vietnam War, and if he had made different decisions and listened to different advisors, his legacy might have been much better than what it became.  In March 1965, while introducing the Voting Rights Act, LBJ was at his absolute best because the words and sentiments he put forth were a masterclass in espousing what this nation is and what this nation could become.  In that speech, LBJ disavowed empire-building and made the point that he desired to feed the hungry, to educate the children, to help the poor, to end hatred among our citizens, while simultaneously promoting love among our diverse population, and finally to end war. 

 While it could be said that LBJ and the American government fell well short of these noble goals, it needs to be recognized that those who know what the right thing to do is are surely on the right path, and in order to get to where we need to go, there needs to be the determination, fight, and drive to get it done through being true to that righteous path.  LBJ and the American public did not get done what should have been done, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t pick up the baton in the present and take it to the finish line, if only the people, in conjunction with their government, would make it their point to do exactly that.

 Unfortunately, we live in a troubling time, which, by governmental actions, seems to have turned its back on peace, on dealing constructively with impoverishment, on improving education, on ending hatred, and instead is intent on focusing on being an empire, in which its motto is that “might makes right.”  This surely indicates that America has lost its way, and because of this, we suffer from all the ills that a country that is divided and on the wrong track could conceivably suffer from.

 It must be acknowledged that within America, we still have good people who desire to do the right thing, but too many of those who are at the highest levels of power are not on the same page with the sentiments so wisely expressed by LBJ, and thus we are in the throes of a country that is divided, and because of that division it does not stand strong, because its aggregate moral compass has been corrupted by greed, injustice, hatred, and oppression in far too many ways.

 Where we go from here should be up to the American people, and what we should fight for is to see that all Americans are entitled to all of their Constitutional rights, and that the business of American governance should be to promote the general welfare of the people, above all, and thus cast aside empire building in pursuit of doing right by the people, in honor of those that sacrificed so much to bring about American independence, by remembering that we need to have malice towards none, and charity towards all, so as to bring forth a new dawn of liberty, justice, and opportunity for all of our people.

It’s either labor or capital

In the United States, many people are dismayed that those who already have it all are acquiring even more assets and wealth, largely at the opportunity expense of those who own hardly anything.  It would be one thing if the number of superrich relative to the impoverished were at some reasonable percentage, so there weren’t so many superrich compared with those many who are nearly completely indigent; but that's not the case at all.  Indeed, we read at federalreserve.org that in the 1st quarter of 2026, those in the top 0.1% of wealth had an incredible $25.07 trillion, and the bottom 50% of Americans in total were worth a mere $4.27 trillion.  This type of financial domination, in which such a small percentage of Americans lord it over 50% of Americans, doesn’t seem right, but that is the way that it is.

 Indeed, for a large percentage of Americans, the income that they receive comes solely from their labor, which is typically augmented via governmental or other charitable handouts.  This signifies that the poorest amongst us pretty much have little or no capital.  On the other hand, those at the very top of wealth, though they may well labor, have essentially a significant portion of the money that they have via inheritances, dividends, monetary interest, real estate, equities, and pretty much anything that represents capital that they own and thereby invest with.  This would seem to strongly indicate that those with capital have far more wealth and far more power than those who simply labor.  Further to the point, what has got to be seen as distressing is the fact that capital is clearly lording it over labor, which is demonstrated by the fact that labor unions in America are in a steep decline, and without strong unions, the percentage of national income going to capital will continue on the same present trajectory, which is ever more to capital.

 In a country that truly cared about its people, it would be governmental policy to try to even the tables between capital and labor by taxing labor far less in every aspect, especially for those that make modest wages, and to tax more those that have a lot of capital.  Additionally, it would behoove that nation to see that, by definition, every American who labors would earn a living wage.  That should be national policy, but instead of that, we have a government that seems to be nearly completely captured by capital, which is why this, the richest nation that the world has ever known, has such a high percentage of its population that not only struggles paycheck to paycheck, but has no true security for its present or its future.

 This then seems to say that there is a perpetual battle between labor and capital, and this government has thrown in its hat with capital, which is why the wealth and income distribution in this nation is getting ever more extreme, which isn’t good for democracy, it isn’t good for the bulk of Americans, and it clearly doesn’t represent a government of, for, and by the people, nor is that government promoting the general welfare of those people.

The American Revolution and the confiscation of Loyalists' property

When it comes to war, there will always be winners, and there will surely always be losers.  We see this in the Revolutionary War, won by the colonial revolutionaries, which produced courageous winners who put it all on the line to achieve freedom from the United Kingdom's dominion.  This meant that those who pretty much went with the status quo, as loyal therefore to that crown, or took an active interest in supporting that crown, were vanquished, and in consideration that a fair amount of those people had property and assets in this nation, it meant that there needed to be some resolution as to what to do with their property and those people.

 Indeed, one possibility was to reintegrate those who were formerly loyalists into being productive citizens of the United States of America, because quite obviously nations should have an abiding interest in keeping those who have plenty of assets, initiative, and the drive to be successful.  After all, that is beneficial to any nation, as opposed to imprisoning or banishing them.  The other main choice pretty much came down to vengeance and greed, where the objective of the exercise was to remove loyalists from this country, voluntarily or not, and to confiscate their property, which could then be redistributed to those in the know, as the profits of war.

 That said, it needs to be acknowledged, that there aren’t many people or governments for that matter, that would not consider the taking of others’ property that had backed the wrong horse in a revolution, and the American revolution was no exception to this rule, and those that did not understand that wars, typically have people defined as being on one side or the other whether they were intimately involved or not, meant that those on the losing side, might well be subject to losing their assets, which dutifully occurred here in America.

 The thing about confiscation of what use to be other people’s property, is that this seizure can definitely be beneficial not just to the people, in whole, and its government, but for those that are well placed in such, personally quite beneficial, which is why we see that these things tend to occur, under the color of governance as thereby being appropriate, whereas it could be argued, that this is unjust greed or war profiteering, disguised as justice, because perhaps those that fairly own property and other assets, should be entitled to keep such, as long as they promise to keep their noses clean under their new governance.

 In sum, while patriotic Americans may well see the confiscation of loyalists' property as being right, this needs to be tempered with the knowledge that should some other revolution occur within these United States, the tables may well be turned, and those that are rich in this present construct, may be dismayed should they be on the losing side, whether they were contributors to that cause or not, because confiscation, especially of those that have plenty to be confiscated, is something that many a person and nation, finds to be irresistible, and when it can be seemingly justified, it will be done.

For real change, “give peace a chance”

In 1969, John Lennon of Beatles fame wrote the song “Give Peace a Chance”, which expressed the clear sentiment that we needed to find a way to turn away from all the violence and discord, and to instead be more considerate, caring, and peaceful towards one another.  This seemed to say that the way to make progress in human, as well as governmental sponsored actions, was to replace violence, armaments, greed, and the attitude that might makes right, by embracing all the good qualities of those that desire for peace, which include justice, charity, disarmament, civility and concentrating on the better angels of our nature to bring about peace, which truly would be a real change.

 Regrettably, more than fifty years later, and this world, and the societies along with the governments that make up this world, don’t seem to have made much progress and while it’s true that there are various achievements which humankind could rightly be proud of as representing progress in human civility and justice, the bottom line is that country after country, and society after society, have for the most part seemingly got even more violent than they were before, or if they have improved, that improvement has not been nearly enough to say that we are in a truly more peaceful sustainable construct than we were back then.

 Look, it has to be acknowledged that it doesn’t seem that the powers that be, who have an incredible influence on what societal programs are financed, and how they are implemented, have actually made a conscious choice to do the right thing by the people, and though there are times when we have seen progressive change, this seems to be countered again and again, with those at the top that insist that we need more law and order, and thereby more of the boot upon the people’s neck. 

 Instead of what we have now, we need to recognize that those that believe that somehow we can achieve peace through unnecessary violence, unfair restrictions, and constant surveillance of what we are doing, will not work to bring lasting peace and there isn’t any reason that it will ever work, for it seems the object of the exercise for those that are at top of power in governments all over the world, is to first take care of their own, and if by doing so, the people as a whole are dealt with unjustly, so be it.

 In sum, the road to peace requires buy-in not just from the general public, but from our legislative representatives and the executive office as well, because working together toward a common goal requires everyone to lend a helping hand.  To achieve lasting peace is one of the most worthy goals, and it is no easy task, which thereby requires blood, sweat, and tears to get us to a more peaceful and just society. Still, as it has been said, the arc of time bends towards justice, and those who desire real change need to do their fair part to actuate this sooner, as compared to all the heartbreak if it is later.

The military-industrial-technology complex owns America

There are all sorts of things to worry about in life, but considering that the two countries that are contiguous to America are not bellicose towards it, and are often quite accommodating to America’s needs and concerns, it is very surprising that so much money, indeed, such a high percentage of our GDP, needs to be allocated to “defense” spending.  The fact is that America spends so much more than any other individual country on its defense needs, that this must clearly reflect that our governance is not of, for, and by the people, at all, but rather the most important thing for those that control the levers of governance and its influencers, is for more and more money to be allocated yearly to our defense expenditures, which is thus taking away from the people and society their needful things.

 At this point, when America points its finger at the big, bad wolf, there is a general acknowledgment that Russia simply doesn’t have the money, the personnel, or the ability to conquer America, and quite frankly, has no desire to do so.  So, when it comes to potential enemies that could challenge America’s global dominance, only one nation is big enough in population and spends enough on defense to conceivably pose as being a true rival: China.  The thing about China is that even though its population is one billion more people than the United States of America, its defense spending as a percentage of GDP is about half of the USA, and at a sheer dollar level is far below the United States.  Indeed, Copilot Search tells us that in the years 2016-2026, America spent a bit over ten trillion dollars on defense, and China spent just under three trillion dollars, leaving a considerable difference of seven trillion dollars between these two nations.  Not only does this seem to strongly suggest that America is wildly overspending on defense, but it also has to be acknowledged that those monies that have been allocated to defense could have been allocated elsewhere, such as in the infrastructure of this nation and the social benefits to the people of this country, instead.

 Indeed, it would appear that to promote the general welfare of the people, which is an important Constitutional clause has given serious ground to defense spending, which is why this the richest nation that the world has ever known, has a considerable amount of its people, struggling not just paycheck to paycheck, but struggling just to have a decent life, because this nation through its governance has decided that a significant swath of the people of this land don’t really matter, and thus they have been left behind and essentially treated as refuse to be ignored and considered to be an irrelevance to the greater glory of military power and might.

 In truth, the decisions that our governance makes absolutely matters and when those decisions are for ever more armaments at the expense of the people, than the die has been cast, and the decision is that the business of America is only that which is in conformance to the desires and dictates of the military-industrial-technology complex, and those that are its most vulnerable and needful can have no better than the scrapes off the masters’ table.

Outward appearances can be deceptive

We are instructed not to judge a book by its cover because outward appearances do not necessarily reflect or typically reflect a person's true character.  We need to remember that the look and accouterments people present in public may or may not be a deception, so we should reserve our opinion of someone until we actually get to know them.  Additionally, it is important not to place too much trust in someone that we don’t even know, by virtue of the fact that they look nice or appear to be nice, for when we are quick to believe that all is well when we don’t really have enough information to actually know, we can get ourselves into a potentially troubling situation, by being way too trusting in a situation that doesn’t warrant such.

 While it is appropriate to be civil to one another, it is not appropriate to provide what we would consider to be rather personal information about ourselves to someone that we do not really know to fill their supposed need to know  Additionally, we should always be careful in dealing with those that we do not know, because the bottom line is that those that are up to no good, recognize intuitively that they are going to be more successful in their shameful acts when they have taken on the aura of being respectable by looking the part by being well dressed and well mannered, which encourages us to bring ourselves closer to them, and thus endangers our person, when they are something entirely unexpected and out to damage us.

 So too, there are plenty of people that we are quick to judge without having spoken a word to them, because, for instance, they don’t look the way that we think is appropriate, or they don’t smell the way that reflects cleanliness, or they act in a manner that we find to be weird, and so on. While it is absolutely fine to be wary of that which we don’t feel comfortable with, this doesn’t mean that we ought to judge them, mainly because we don’t know them, and while it makes sense to be circumspect and careful around those that discomfort us, it doesn’t mean that they are bad people, mainly because we don’t know them or their circumstances.

 Additionally, because so many of us live in communities which are so large we find that we typically are not in a position to truly know one another, we thus therefore need to comprehend that those that have bad intentions, appreciate the anonymity that exists all around them in big cities because in a very small town, people’s reputations, fairly or unfairly, precede them, while in a big city they do not, which is why it is imperative that we consider our own safety first, before we place ourselves in a position in which someone that we do not know can take advantage of us.

 So then, don’t put too much credence into outward appearances, or be quick to give credit where credit is not due, because those with bad intentions are savvy about hiding who they really are, and adept at deceiving us, which is why we need to be eternally vigilant for our own safety.

The devil can cite Scripture for his own purpose

Regrettably, there are plenty of people who will take our words and even our actions out of perspective to try thus to show us as being something that we really are not.  While this is frustrating to deal with, it demonstrates that those who are intent upon impugning our character will do what they do so that they can, by bringing ourselves down, justify themselves better.  That is to say, one of the reasons why we may have to deal with unjust criticism from others that distorts who we are is because these people who are up to no good are attempting to move the spotlight from their own faults and make it to be about our own, thus somewhat absolving them of their character faults.

 So then, we find that the devil and others can cite Scripture for their own purpose, because they desire to take what would appear to be an authoritarian, sacred, and well-respected book and twist it in a way in which whatever position that they favor appears to be in accordance with God, when in actuality, it isn’t, because the Scripture so being utilized, has been misinterpreted, taken out of context, or truncated in a way that its original purpose has been compromised.  In other words, those who are intent upon hurting us can find ways to do so by editing our true viewpoint, or overemphasizing some of our words at the expense of other words that we have spoken, to make it look like we are something different than what we truly are.

 We find that there are those people who have no hesitation in doing whatever it takes to hurt us, especially when, by doing so, it makes them look better so as to take the pressure off of them, which is why they are doing what they have done.  Those who purposely distort our words to make us appear to be something that we are not may well have success in their dastardly acts, but will at some point suffer the fair consequences for their immoral and wrongful actions.  Indeed, we need to recognize that there will be justice and a fair accounting of who and what we are, so that those who make it appear that Scripture says the very opposite of what it is intended for will have to answer for their deception, in one way or another, sooner or later.

 When it comes to those who are out to get us through foul and unfair means, all we can basically do is ask people to take into account who they know us to be, as well as for them to consider the source of those who attack us, and pretty much leave it at that, because there isn’t any good point in endlessly fighting against those that have an agenda against us, because not every critic or potential argument or accusation, necessitates our continual attention to it, for in the end, in the skeins of time, truth will always win out.

The fault is in ourselves

There are plenty of people who have lives of quiet desperation and disappointment, in which they are often quick to point out how unfair life has been to them, which may actually be valid.  That said, no matter how a given person’s life becomes, at some point, those responsible and in the know need to take agency over who and what they are becoming, because in the end, what has been done or not done is assigned to the person who is involved in those moments in time.  This signifies that the very first thing that all of us need to do is to fully comprehend that we are responsible for how we think and, consequently, how we act, and the wrong thinking has a whole lot to do with the wrong acts subsequently done.

 One thing we need to understand better is that during a storm with very heavy rainfall, water will find a way into our homes, even if the way in is small and seems inconsequential, because where there is a leak or a weakness, relentless water will find it.  This means that we should consider our full character and that which we are weak at so that we can shore it up, or else that weakness could easily bring us down, or be exploited by others that read us well, and thus they will take advantage of us in those moments when our vulnerability is most evident.

 So then, we find, while there a whole bunch of character faults that most of the people suffer from in some way at some time, such as anger, lust, greed, and envy, we almost always know where our greatest weaknesses are, because these are the same types of mistakes and errors, that we repeat, time and time again, which signifies that these are the most telling mistakes that need to be dealt with constructively because quite obviously they aren’t being corrected on their own.

 Of course, we are human and obviously subject to the lures that society seems to entice us with.  Still, the bottom line is that we have the capability to improve our character if we make this a focus of our lives, for when we are quick to get angry and frustrated, we should try to ascertain what it is that triggers such anger and then do something about it, so that we don’t keep making the same sort of mistake, because quite obviously we aren’t progressing.  Further to the point, when we reflect upon our error and are suitably embarrassed by it, we ought to see this as something which is reminding us that we should and can do better, because the very first step in correcting bad behavior is the sure recognition that we have erred.

 Indeed, while life will present us with plenty of challenges, we need to see these not as something that we hate having to deal with, but rather as our opportunity to rise to the occasion and to deal constructively and correctly with it, so that we can progress into becoming a wiser and more mature person, who has successfully develop not just the self-awareness of who we really are, but demonstrates again and again, that our responses, so of, are consistent with those that have not just learnt their lessons well but are applying such for their own betterment and also as their contribution to the society that they are a good member of.

Capitalism and Christianity should be at loggerheads

It’s amazing that for some reason a significant swath of Americans believe that capitalism and Christianity are somehow compatible.  This would seem to strongly suggest that people don’t seem to understand well what Christianity means, and probably don’t understand well what capitalism represents, because for certain they should be at loggerheads, and to believe differently, is incorrect.

 The first thing to recognize about Christianity is that it is not a self-centered materialistic religion.  In other words, the Bible clearly makes the point that we are to share things in common, though we are under no compulsion to do so, and that wealth, rather than being seen as something that signifies how blessed that we are, would be more appropriately seen as something that makes many a person stumble for none of us can serve two masters, and those that are serving mammon are the same that are not serving Christ.

 So too, when we look at Christ, we need to remember that Christ owned nothing material and did not desire to have riches, but rather made it His point to care for the downtrodden, the vulnerable, sinners, common laborers, and those that were, because of their position, such as tax collectors, out of favor with the people.  While Christ did not begrudge those that were rich, He made it clear, that the rich while having the best of it here on earth, would find it problematic to obtain the kingdom of Heaven, because quite frankly, we are, in essence, what we spend our time doing and obtaining, and those that are after lucre, are the same that aren’t at their heart, faithful to the tenets of God and have failed to paid their dues to what Christianity truly represents.

 While capitalism preaches the value that those that put their nose to the grindstone are fairly entitled to the profits so generated, the fact of the matter is, that those that are exclusively fixated on making money are the same that are going to frequently try or be tempted to tilt the playing field to their favor, because capitalism as it is played, encourages those at the highest level, to seek ever more profit, not just for their own benefit, but also as what they supposedly rightly owe to their investors and executive officers, which puts money at the forefront, leaving charity to be something basically akin to paying off society in a way and manner that it appears that capitalists are doing their fair part in giving back to their community.

 Each of us has a calling in life, and those that find their calling to be the accouterments of material success will find that capitalism at its best, can fulfill that well on a personal level, but as in anything, because of the free choices that we have made, there is a consequence for those choices, so those that have it all in their monetary favor in this world, by prioritizing financial success over religious faithfulness, may believe that their subsequent donations and charitable acts will do them right in the skeins of time, but they must surely understand that when judgment comes, they will be seen as receiving credit for having heard the Word but paltry in their bearing of fruit.

Capitalism at its worst has no guardrails

Here, in America, we live in a capitalistic age in which the most powerful mega corporations that the world has ever known are somehow permitted to do pretty much whatever that it is, that they so desire, and while it is true that from time-to-time some of these corporations have been sanctioned with monetary fines in the billions of dollars, it needs to be understood that when corporations are making multi-billion dollars in profits yearly, that paying back a fraction of that to the government, is simply looked upon as the cost of doing business, and in absence of antitrust or other effective guardrails being put into place, it’s pretty much full speed ahead for these behemoth corporations.

 We like to believe that capitalism and competition go together, and by virtue of a market in which there is healthy competition, this is beneficial not only for the state but also for the people.  The problem, though, is that many businesses don’t actually care for competition, because it impacts not only their bottom line but also makes them vulnerable to losing their position; whereas their preference is to always increase revenues and profit, signifying that competitors are often seen as something that needs to be dealt with in a constructive way, and one of those ways is to buy them out.

 When it comes to buying out one’s competitor, it needs to be understood that a significant number of competitors aren’t interested in being bought out, because they are quite satisfied with the business that they are doing, and appreciate being in the driver’s seat of making decisions.  That said, businesses have to answer to capital, and especially need to answer to their venture capital and stockholder investors, and when those investors are of the mind that they want the lucre from being bought out, then many companies will somewhat reluctantly permit themselves to be bought out, which quite obviously means less competition for the buyer of such.

 Then there are those companies, that because perhaps there are so few players to begin with such as we see in the airline industry, as well as certain sectors of the defense industry, and so on, understand well that the optics of being bought out just aren’t going to work, and where there is plenty of business pretty much for everyone, there is structured a deal, understood between the parties, but not formally agreed to that essentially aligns the interests of these businesses that makes for a smoother revenue and profit line without impacting business concerns, because they are, in essence, colluding with one another to get what they want by deliberating not undercutting one another and so forth.

 Finally, when there is a competitor that simply will not be bought out, and will not align with the mega-corporations’ desires, then the nuclear option is to deliberately undercut that competitor through the pricing of the products so being sold, in which a mega-corporate conglomerate can readily run a particular sector of their business at a purposeful loss, whenever the gameplan is to do so, to drive the competitor out of business or severely damage such, with the understanding that in the future, prices will rise to recover this scorched earth tactic.

 In all of these things, we find that the governance of this nation, seems to take a laissez-faire position, not really because it has no vested interest in the outcome, but often because those in governance that could do something actionable about such, are themselves either captured by industry or are from that industry and hence performing their duties not from the people’s perspective but instead in homage to that industry for their own personal aggrandizement.

The secrecy that undercuts American values

A great country that is a source of freedom, liberty, and justice for the people is that of which its governance makes it to be their principle to be transparent and accountable to the people.  For that to happen, it must conduct its most important policies in the open, so they can be debated and discussed, so the people know what is happening on their behalf and can leave their imprint on it.

 This signifies that any nation that makes it their point, that to govern and to protect the people, it needs an inordinate amount of secret institutions, that are not accountable to the people, that are not open to the people, and are hence not transparent to the people, quite obviously makes it susceptible of doing things in secret, that the people would not countenance if they were to know the extent of it.  While it is true, that there are those situations such as in warfare, that necessitate secrecy, in addition to secrecy having its place when it comes to protecting vital interests of the nation, there needs to be at a minimum, measured discretion, which does not mean nor does it signify, that secrecy should be the go to option of those in government, but rather it should be used selectively as well as still being accountable to those that are the representatives of the people, and thus should never be an operation that is essentially running on its own, and answerable only to those that are the ones that actuated it in the first place.

 Indeed, the more secrets that a given governance has and keeps, the less free the people are.  Additionally, secrecy is quite obviously the place for governance to do all sorts of things that they would not dare attempt if it were ever to become public knowledge, typically not because it would hurt true national security, but rather because the powers that be of those secrets desire to be able to do nefarious or underhanded things that they would reasonably expect would not meet with universal public approval.

 The government that leads us should itself be a paragon of virtue and right action, best proved by being open with the people, and thus subject to review and approval.  On the other hand, secrecy, depending upon how many layers of secrecy there are, becomes a dynamic in which the left hand might not know what the right hand is doing, and the principles behind such secrecy in the first place are often forgotten, changed, or ignored.  Further to the point, in absence of effective oversight or strong shields to prevent bad acts being done under the color of secrecy, which thereby undercuts the very essence of what American values are, there needs to be robust rules in place to reduce considerably that which is permitted to be secret, and all those institutions that are currently structured as secret, should be thoroughly audited as to the reason why, and ultimately accountable to representatives of the people in a way and manner that when something secret needs to be curtailed, that those representatives can curtail it, or else this nation has, in essence, permitted secrecy to trump democratic values.

Why democratic representation matters

The main reason why democratic representation matters and why the voice of the people has a right to be heard is because we find that, in nation after nation there historically has been a governance in which those elites at the very top, essentially through the practicality and power invested in them of that governance, determines what the law will or will not be and thus how that form of social justice is enacted and enforced within that nation, which typically favors the few at the expense of the many.  That is to say, whenever it is that the powers that be, control not just the levers of power, but are themselves the same that are its legislature and are the masters of how justice is determined and ultimately exacted within the nation, than the people are not free, they aren’t really citizens, but rather they are unfree, without self-determination, and are no more and no less than subjects, subjected to the whims of those that are its rulers.

 All of the above represents the prevailing reason as to why not only should the Constitution, fairly debated and thus agreed to by the people, should be the supreme law of the land, but also why it is mandatory that those that are the representatives of the people, as well as the judicial officers so appointed or elected, must be a fair representation of those same people from all walks of life, because when that is not the case, in which, instead, we have a small subset of citizens that went to the “right” schools, know the “right” people, and have the “right” accouterments of power, influence, and connections will thus represent exclusively those that are in control of how things are legislated and enacted, thus signifies for a certainty, that the people not only won’t have a true voice, but they are in the uncomfortable construct in which the authority of the state is essentially held in the hands of those that do not represent them, because they are from a different milieu which quite obviously will first take care of their own and if not they will be evicted from the same.

 In fact, a true democratic nation is that nation in which the rights of all of the people, that favors none, is the very principle of the structure of that governance, in which, that governance is not only fully transparent with the people, by not having, for example, a hidden powerful governance behind the scenes, but also will not have a multitude of secret agencies, secret institutions, and secret agendas, which are forever unexamined by the people, and for the most part, unanswerable to the people.

 Indeed, whenever the people effectively have no voice because they have no representation, or whenever their representation has no effective legislative, judicial, or executive power, then the rights of the people have been vacated to that which answers not to them, and subsequently the result is that the people are oppressed, and seen essentially as a tool for those that are empowered to be exploited, manipulated, and used, until their usefulness has been completely extracted from them, and then they are discarded.

“What we need in the United States is not division…”

On April 4, 1968, in Indianapolis, Senator Robert Kennedy, upon hearing that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr had been assassinated, said in his extemporaneous speech, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country…”

 Yet here we are decades later, and we aren’t really any closer to loving our neighbor, being more peaceful or law-abiding, and, in many cases, we've forsaken compassion, dismissed justice, and foregone our obligations to those most vulnerable and still suffering greatly in this nation.  While it has to be acknowledged that there are plenty of people and organizations who have made it their point to do right by the people by providing those most in need with aid and comfort, there are plenty of those other citizens, however, who don’t seem to care about the poor and downtrodden, or simply dismiss such people out of their minds.

 The United States is truly at a crossroads, and desperately needs not just the right leadership to deal with its systemic troubles, but also to have the wherewithal to do the right thing through that leadership, as compared to favoring the superrich individuals and corporations that pretty much have it to be their way, and thereby primarily share as little as possible with the American public, and care not to be fair to them, or to contribute their fair share in taxation and in giving back to the country that provided them with the opportunity to achieve such great wealth.

 So too, the animosity and uncivility that we see from those that are our politicians towards one another while also being imposed upon the people, again and again, is thus serving to divide us ever further -- whereas the objective of the lesson here in America, should be to become a true melting pot, of people that have originated from different nationalities, different religions, and different circumstances, to ultimately come together into one body politic, to help make this nation a great nation, of truth, justice, and liberty, for all.

 Indeed, the United States of America seems to have lost its values, and replaced selflessness and service, with the wrong belief that each of us should be about getting as much as we personally can and thereby the devil take the hindmost, which quite obviously reflects not only the worse of capitalism but also demonstrates that this government supposedly of, for, and by the people has deviated from its good purposes to not support the most vulnerable, but instead to almost exclusively favor those that are the power brokers of this nation to the exclusion of the people that it should and ought to serve.

 Where this nation goes from here really comes down to the people of this land, for the change that we so desire is going to have to come from those that will not deviate from standing upon the principles that love, civility, justice and unity are the true mark of a great nation and that it is our incumbent duty to take care of our people first by turning our swords into plowshares, and utilizing some of our collective wealth to build a solid foundation for those that are fairly entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by providing all that live within our borders with the fair opportunity to live in decent housing, to be educated, and to have the opportunity to become something of merit by a system that does not unfairly close the door upon them.

 The decision of where we go comes forth from what we truly are at heart, for united we stand and divided we fall.

Setting a good example and civic trust

For any civic society to survive and thrive, all parties must believe in the virtue of trusting one another and, in turn, deal fairly with one another.  This is something that those in the most powerful positions, whether that be political, corporate, or governance, need to make sure that they adhere to, because whenever the perception by the people is that their society is really structured between those that have all the advantages and thereby utilize those advantages for their personal aggrandizement at the expense of the people, then we find that trust is eroded, because society devolves into a construct in which each party is trying to “get over” on the other, which is quite obviously not beneficial for trust and cooperation.

 So too, when it comes to our family structure, as much as our parents might seem to believe that their children aren’t smart enough or savvy enough to see the contradictions between what they tell us to do and what they themselves do, whenever their actions are not in conformance with honest and good manners, this creates the problem of children losing trust in their parents, and basically having a strong tendency of losing trust in authority figures, in general, because they hear the talk, but see that the talk does not always match the corresponding actions.

 All of us has a responsibility to one another, for we live not upon individual islands, and if more people took to heart, that we should treat others with the same respect and decency that we would want them to treat us, this would make for more civic trust and for a better society, because the fact of the matter is that whenever we don’t trust the other, we therefore have to put into place all sorts of additional constraints, surveillances, and doublechecking to make sure that whatever that it is that is supposed to happen as per promises made, actually does happen.  On the other hand, where there is trust, there is the presumption that a person’s word is their bond, and that, once agreed upon, will thus be enacted, without us having to verify everything.

 When we think about the whole security apparatus, we need to comprehend better that as much as we might be able to secure ourselves and our possessions in a lot of cases, we can’t secure it all, even when we have taken the most careful consideration and planning to do so, because in the end, those that are motivated to get what we have and are intensely focused upon it, will probably find a way, which is why those that decry that we need more law and order, need to comprehend that we wouldn’t need even more, if we had firstly more civic trust, and that the beginning of making a society better and more wholesome, necessitates trust and fair dealings with one another, and whenever this occurs, there begets a more civil society.

 So then, each of us needs to do our fair part to be considerate of the other, by making the conscious choice that cooperation, consideration, and concern for one another make for a better and more desirable society.

The military and the supreme law of the land

The United States of America proclaims that it is a nation of laws, of which the substance of those laws must be in conformance with the Constitution, for without such a rule of law, then pretty much whatever the powers that be so desire and subsequently implement would, in effect, act as the law, and thereby hollow out the Constitution and make it irrelevant.  This thus signifies that those who are our legislative representatives, as well as our judicial courts, and our executive office, must adhere to the Constitution, and thereby no one person or institution is “above” that Constitution, for this is a land in which the Constitution, not any other personage or organization, is the supreme law of the land.

 All of the above should be a real source of comfort to everyday Americans, because this signifies that America cannot become something other than what it was created to be by the Constitution, unless those that are in power are somehow placed in the position to do so or take it upon themselves to do so, and no effective opposition stops them.  So then, when it comes to the military, and to the orders of that military, it is of upmost importance to recognize that the military must adhere to the Constitution, from the highest to the lowest, and that the duty of those that serve this nation, is first and foremost to serve that Constitution, and those that do not, are the same that are, in essence, enemies of the true state.

 When it comes to the military, people need to understand that great power in the sense of armaments, personnel, and the infrastructure to support such, permit those exercising that power, whether directly through the highest military commanders or in conjunction with the executive office, should they be inclined to make an end around the Constitution, will thereby commit a great disservice to this republic, for by doing so, they would have abandoned their obedience to the supreme law of the land, and should thereby be seen as what they are, rebels to that Constitution, and therefore in rebellion to the people of this country.

 Indeed, we find in nation after nation all around the world that military juntas are a fairly common way for the prevailing political party, fairly elected, to be overthrown because military might is not something that the people can effectively counteract whenever they are seriously outgunned, and do not wish to become carnage in such an uprising.  So, it is clear that the greatest military power in the world must make it its point that those committed to serving this nation actually serve what they are supposed to serve: the supreme law of the land, our Constitution.

 In short, those who want to be patriotic need to fully understand that only those who abide by Constitutional law are patriots, and anyone outside that constraint, or who tries to subvert it, is a traitor to this republic and deserves neither our loyalty nor our support.