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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The good works of Jesus the Christ

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

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

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

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

Hardware and software and the vehicle industry

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

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

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

What are you seeking for?

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

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

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

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

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

Getting beyond mere survival

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

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

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

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

Sports, live action, and replays

The major sports in America, such as baseball, basketball, and football, suffer from a lot of inaction, in which, periodically we so find, that nothing much is happening of import on the field in real time; so then, in order to keep the interest of those so watching such on television, fans are typically kept engaged through the watching of replays, both in slow motion as well as in normal speed.  This, quite obviously, is beneficial for sports fans, but therein does lie the rub, when somehow, the replay is still going on, but the live action on the field has returned and is not being instantly displayed.  That is to say, occasionally there are those times, when replays are still being shown, when something else of interest is happening live on the field -- which obviously seems then to be a case in which the live action, has somehow taken a back seat to a given replay, though typically for only a very brief amount of time.

As much value as a given replay so represents, it seems sensible that the live action on the field, should be something that at least is being displayed, as much as possible, if not all of the time, by, for instance, having a live picture-in-picture shown during a replay, displayed then in the corner of the television screen, thereby providing for the fan watching the game, the opportunity to keep an eye upon the live action, should they be so inclined; because quite frankly, sports action can ensue, in which sports purists, are always disappointed when they are unable to see exactly how a given play developed in real time. The bottom line is that the director of the sporting event, can’t possibly keep their eyes on every camera so being utilized in the game, and additionally, even if desired, they are not always able to instantly switch over to live action, because the play of the live game, can be faster than the eye.

So too, in recognition that most sporting events dedicate one corner of the screen to showing the real time score, along with other pertinent information, and often another corner of the screen, seems to serve as advertising space for the broadcaster, or even for ads themselves, then to dedicate some portion of one of the corners of that screen to always having a camera on the live action, would not seem to be all that daunting of a task, at all. 

Again, it is well to point out, that replays have not always existed on televised sports, and though, most fans, appreciate replays and know of their inherent value; it has to be said that those that are most engaged in watching sports, do not desire to miss the live action of the sport, and when they do, they are disappointed, especially when something significant has happened, because they are unable then to fully appreciate what has so occurred in real time.  Therefore, sports television broadcasters should seriously consider, dedicating one portion of the screen, when replays are thus being shown, to the field of live action, instead.

The transformative power of a supportive environment

The structure of our life, positive or negative, supportive or non-supportive, most definitely matters – in which, those that are fortunate enough to live within a supportive environment, such as through their community, through their schooling, through their familial relationships, and through their social interactions, are well set then to have a life that is more fulfilling and healthier than those that lack these important accouterments, or suffer from a far poorer quality of such.  As much as America celebrates the achievements and the accomplishments of the individual, it is vital to note that none of us, creates our own success, solely, and without the aid of anything or anyone else.  This then is why it is so important that we create, encourage, and thus help to sustain environments that in their structure, are beneficial to the people, as a whole.

Regrettably, far too many Americans are not being nurtured in a way and manner that is beneficial to them, and because of that, they are, in essence, living and having to deal with life, at a significant disadvantage.  Further to the point, the fact that so many are unable to avail themselves of being able to lean on successful others to help them to navigate through, not only, the ebbs and flows of everyday life, but to also be of aid to them in overcoming inherent disadvantages that their community imposes upon them, is most unfortunate.  We know this for a fact, that society will always benefit, from having more and more people, that are able to call upon a supportive environment, to help backstop them in their endeavors, as well as providing to them, the safety net so needed for those that are continually challenged.

The structure of American life is inherently unequal, because of its belief in the overriding value of its free enterprise system and of free choice, which wouldn’t necessarily be such an inconvenient problem, if within the structure of American governance there was a distinct drive to see that everybody within this nation, was provided with the fair opportunity to get a good education, to avail themselves of necessary healthcare, to be properly fed and housed, to live in a safe neighborhood, as well as to have a fair opportunity to take their particular skill set and to, at a minimum, receive a living wage, in return, for an honest day’s work. 

When we take a careful look at ourselves, it is fair to state, that every one of us, needs and desires a supportive environment, in order to best achieve sustainable success in our respective lives.  We find that, especially so for those that are society’s most vulnerable, that having a supportive and caring environment is the difference maker as to whether their lives will be something well worth living and thus habitually enjoyable, or whether instead this will be, for them, a life that is at best, something to grudgingly endure, because though America is the richest of all nations, that the world has ever known, it seems too often to behave as if it is perfectly fine to leave behind those that it doesn’t care to support or to provide the necessary environment to truly help or to sustain them.

Step-by-step and major goals

For those that desire to be high achievers in life, or to maintain such a status, there has to be some sort of setting of the standards so expected to be established, or of the goals that must be achieved and fully realized in order for this to actually become a truly successful accomplishment. So that, while it is certainly possible that people can accomplish important goals and thus realize the achievements of those goals, by basically just getting done what needs to get so done; we often do find, that it makes a whole lot more practical sense, to have a very specific goal in mind, and to thereby work specifically towards achieving that goal, above all.

The thing about goals, especially the ones of the most immense importance to us, is that often these goals are not even close to being in our grasp to begin with, but will require, instead, our diligent and relentless pursuit over an extended period of time, so as to achieve such.  This thus indicates that for those that first start the race towards that achievement, somewhat akin to a fast jackrabbit, are probably going to find themselves, burning out at some stage, along that path to get to their goal; and further to the point, those that burn themselves out are somewhat prone to thus giving up on the pursuit of their goal, or amending such.  A far better way to successfully go after a goal, instead, is to understand realistically the time table so needed for that accomplishment, as well as the accouterments so required to get to that goal, with the expressed understanding, that because the achievement of that major goal will take an extended period of time, it thus lends itself into being broken down into meaningful steps.

Once a goal has been broken down sensibly into key steps, the consistency of purpose of achieving that major goal becomes something that is more obtainable, because there has been set up a clear pathway that is structured in which each step, is suitably celebrated, as a necessary part that makes up the whole.  That is to say, there isn’t any real good reason to believe that the steps so needed to get to that major goal, shouldn’t be appreciated, in and of themselves, for the structured value that they so represent in helping to get to the ultimate finish line of that goal. 

So then, when setting a major goal, that goal should be broken down into its logical components, and each one of those components should be thus broken down into its chief parts – and periodically we should review those steps, so as to take into account that we are, in fact, progressing ever so surely to the major goal that we are desiring to achieve.  So too, who hasn’t picked up a very thick book, of 1,000 pages or perhaps even more, and seen the task of reading and thereby absorbing that book, as being daunting; but when we subsequently take a look at the Table of Contents, we find that the book is broken down into chapters, and those chapters are thus broken down into sections, of which, each day that we read that book, we make progress, step-by-step, till we have eventually completed it – much like we do when we methodically pursue and subsequently achieve our major goal.

When cheating is the norm

When cheating is the norm, we are essentially living in a world and are thus part of a society that is upside down; for when that which is clearly wrong is functionally the norm of society, than the end result is going to  be for those that make up that society, a construct in which honesty, uprightness, and morals, takes a backseat to all those that march to the beat of an entirely different drummer that entices them with those siren sounds, that makes them to believe that they are thus fairly entitled to take shortcuts, to be deceptive, and to cheat. 

The thing about cheating, especially when such is done by those that we look up to, such as respected political figures, or parents, or the executives of the company that we work at, or our friends, is that it seems to reflect quite succinctly that what is good for the goose must so be good for the gander.  That is to say, when the obvious effect of cheating seems to be that those that cheat, aren’t often punished, and further to the point, appear to be successful, then it is going to be mighty tempting for others, to want to follow along the same corrupt footpath.

Then there are also the words that we speak, of which, many a person has some pretty darn good advice, but if the people that are espousing such wisdom, are themselves untrue to what they are so professing, not only are they hypocritical but they also serve to undercut the very words that they have so spoken, by their own personal bad actions.  Additionally, the wrong message is being sent, any time that we state something banal to another, such as “cheating is wrong,” and then proceed to follow up that message by listing the exceptions and the exemptions to that rule, which somehow always seem to be exceptions and exemptions that serve to personally benefit the entity so inclined to cheat.

So too, what really hurts about cheating is the fact that those that do not cheat, though having a clear conscience about such matters, which most definitely has its worth, are clearly also not therefore playing on a level playing field, and when that field has been tilted in the favor of those that cheat, then those that are true and honest, are functionally having to deal with a real handicap, in regards to achieving their own life goals. This thus indicates, that in a situation in which there are two people that are close in their abilities, and of which one of those people is quite accomplished at the type of cheating that serves to make their abilities seem even better to others, whereas the other one does not cheat, at all; then the one so cheating is often going to be able to pull ahead of the other.  This seems to indicate that the proverb that “cheaters never prosper,” doesn’t ring true, whatsoever – at least, not often enough in this world.

Perhaps there would be a lot less cheating if the environment that we lived in reflected far less of a “dog-eat-dog” world, and reflected far more of the value of cooperation and neighborliness, instead.  After all, in a zero-sum society, this is going to implicitly encourage for many a person, some degree of cheating, because they don’t want to lose in a finite game, which clearly is perceived as having just winners and losers.  The end result, though, for society, is rather poor, for when those cheaters prosper, those that are good and honest, get an undeserved raw deal.

Those that have -- typically demand peace and order

It would be a mistake to believe that those that have, are somehow pretty much the same as those that do not have.  The problem with those that do not have, is that, when those that do not have, believe that their situation is well-nigh hopeless, then their viewpoint in life is often fundamentally going to differ distinctly from those that have; whereas, for those that have, typically, their main concern is the maintenance and thus the stability of the status quo, which they normally are an integral part of, for they are mainly satisfied, as things so stand.  As for those that currently do not have, but believe that they have a reasonable shot of being amongst the haves, there viewpoint is often in flux, depending upon where they are in life, or expect to be.  That said, the types of people that are inclined to rebel or complain, may indeed occasionally have some degree of overlap, with the have and have nots; but what the have nots are seeking is often quite different than what the haves are seeking – for the former wants their fair share; whereas, the later, wants a government that will help them to maintain their current share or status and not to improperly take it away or endanger it.

So then, when it comes to the haves, what they so know is that only an upset of the status quo could typically ever imperil them and since they do not wish for this to occur, they make it their point to see that the peace and order so required to have a civilized and thus an organized society are in their control, either directly or indirectly.  After all, once a given institution or family has achieved success, the over abiding future goal of that entity is to see that it continues for as long as period of time as so possible, with as much stability as possible, as well.  This thus signifies that it is always the status quo, and will always remain the status quo, that are the least likely to desire to change much of anything, and when they so actually comply with any such change, they often do so in a very slow, methodical, and reluctant way.  Those that have, want peace and order, mainly because their lives are essentially quite satisfactory, and they then seldom want to take any undue risk that might therefore upset their comfortable status, because they realize that the potential  upside for them is fairly limited, whereas, the downside could be for them, catastrophic.

This thus signifies, that for those that are keeping score, we thus find, that the people and institutions crying the loudest for peace and order, are always those that have a vested interest, and therefore a real good reason to want things to stay the way that they currently are.  On the other hand, those that want justice, fairness, equality of opportunity, and change, are going to primarily be represented by those that represent the have nots, as well as those that are fair-minded institutions and people, and of which, some of those people will be the haves, that apparently have a conscience, which they are obedient to, for the greater good of society, at large.

The apparent decline of civic virtue

There are plenty of people, that are proud to be American, and have a strong tendency to wear such pride on their sleeve.  In fact, based upon all the continuous immigration to America, both licit and illicit, along with the salient fact, that there are very few people, each year, that voluntarily give up their American citizenship, it is thereby fair to say, that being an American citizen gives every appearance of being something, that those that are its citizens of, or those that want to be citizens of, highly value.  All of that is to the good; the problem though comes from the inconvenient fact, that many a person wants their liberty, their freedom, and their free choice, in which they can often cite some part of the Constitution, or the Declaration of Independence, in regards to their “rights;” but when it comes down to each one of these people, willingly doing their part in regards to their civic duty in order to uphold the very values that they believe are so dear to them, we often get some sort of disappointing disconnect, from a significant subsection of our citizens.

In sum, as some have said, “freedom is not free,” which is absolutely true.  Further to the point, the institutions and values that we most highly cherish, need our active participation in them, in order for this to well continue for our joint societal benefit.  In other words, those that are unwilling to carry their fair load in regards to their responsibility to that government, of, for, and by the people, aren’t doing their good part to continue to make this a country worth fighting or dying for.  In effect, citizens of America, have what appears to be the lightest of burdens when it comes to being compelled to demonstrate their civic virtues, for there is not at the present time, compulsory conscription for military service or even for community service.  That is to say, if you are born in the USA, your country might well request your service, but it cannot compel that service from you -- though this nation does extract monies from its citizens, through its various taxation policies.

So too, a major problem within America, is the disappointing lack of cohesion exhibited far too often by one citizen to another, in which, neither side wishes to give ground or to even necessarily listen to the other; thereby discounting and suppressing commonality, in order to uphold the supposed superiority of the  individual, above all.  What those people are lacking, is the understanding that each of us has also a corresponding obligation to help make this society a better place for our active participation in it.  In other words, those that are unable or unwilling to put the public good as well as civic virtue, above their selfish desires, at least, some of the time, aren’t then doing a darn thing to help further the cause of this nation, because they have failed to comprehend that they have a responsibility to do something of worth for this nation, or they thus have, in effect, betrayed its core values.

More freight trains and less semi-trucks

For anybody that has spent even a little bit of time on the freeways of America, night or day, we inevitably come across when so driving upon those freeways, the absolute multitude of semi-truck after semi-truck after semi-truck also driving upon those same freeways, with us.  The go-to choice to move freight around in America, seems to be mainly by semi-truck, and of which, our interstate system appears to be quite capable of handling all of those semi-trucks throughout America, adeptly.  The thing is, though, that at the inception of the 20th century, a significant percentage of the biggest share of market capitalism of publicly held stocks, were actually represented by railroad stocks, mainly because that was the primary means to move necessary goods all around America, and thereby was of immense benefit for the people and for businesses, by moving those essential goods from one place to another, for the greater efficiency and profit of the American people.

We find that, though, by the middle of the 20th century, important governmental decisions were made to invest billions upon billions into our interstate highway system, which thus made it practical to move more goods through trucking transportation, and by virtue of the fact, that rails were thus either ignored, dismissed, marginalized, underinvested, or to suffer from benign neglect, meant a greater and greater share of those goods so moving from coast-to-coast, and elsewhere, would be done through the trucking industry, instead.  Yet, when it comes to energy efficiencies as well as to CO2 emissions, the freight industry is by far, the better choice.  In most cases, freight trains run by electricity or via diesel power, making their usage of energy to not only be more resourceful than semi-trucks, but also signifies that the overall pollution by freight trains is far less.  So too, freight trains are absolutely safer per mile than semi-trucks because freight trains run on their own rails, as compared to having to share the road with other vehicles and thus the inherent dangers, therewith.

The emphasis that the American governance asserts in regards to the ground transportation of goods of all types, does have long term consequences; and of which, when forms of viable and reliable transportation, are neglected or their priority is marginalized, then the result is going to reflect that what has so been prioritized will get the incumbent benefits, instead.  The decision that America should take under serious advisement, is whether or not, freight trains, should become a higher priority for the moving of freight, throughout this nation, or whether such should continue to cede more and more market share to semi-trucks.  After all, in order for rail service to become a renewed and re-invigorated force in the 21st century, this needs to be something that the government must be an active participant in, because it is governmental land, governmental right-of-way, and government eminent domain, that is going to determine whether rail is or is not properly prioritized.  In fairness, it isn’t so much that freight trains don’t move any goods, but rather it is whether or not, going forward, this nation will emphasize that because freight trains are more energy efficient, less polluting, and safer, that this form of the transportation of goods will or will not be prioritized.

The achievement of harmony with our Creator is our true purpose

There are plenty of people that are at a loss, as to what our true purpose is in life, if they even consider that question, in the first place.  The meaning of life is not actually all that difficult to figure out, for basically all around is, we so find, that when we are not in tune with the higher order of things, that our life experience is going to contain some degree of discontent, or perhaps a lot of dissatisfaction, which is exactly the way that it should be – for when we are not in harmony with that which is the very definition of harmony, then we aren’t going to be able to successfully feel at peace, until we get to that point.

We are provided with unalienable freedom, not so much so that we can go about and do stupid and destructive things, but rather as an opportunity to take the responsibility of having that freedom, and thereby doing something useful with it.  That is to say, to have freedom is to have a free choice of what we will or will not do – with the expressed understanding that our thoughts and actions, most definitely have consequences to them.  In this material experience, none of us are perfect, and none of us are expected to be perfect; however, what is reasonably expected of us, is to learn from not only our experiences, but to also pick up wisdom amongst our personal journey so garnered through our own intuition, our concentrated studying and learning, and by our mentor(s); so that though we may indeed flail and fail, our overriding objective is clearly set to learn what is correct and good, and thereby to make it our point to do those very good things in our social interactions, by our faithfulness to that knowledge, so obtained.

While there are plenty of things that serve to distract us from our primary purpose, it is always wise to focus on the only prize worth winning, which is to achieve that harmony with our Creator; which, doesn’t mean, though, that we need to be monkish in our person, but means rather, that we need to represent those noble virtues of God in our thinking and in our doing, or else we have been untrue to that which is Truth, itself.  Remember this well, the change that we so desire to see in others, must first be represented well in our own persona, or else we are hypocritical.

This world is best seen as a “proving ground,” of which, those that are so sure before their incarnation that they will not fail, for they will always be good and just, are fairly put to the test to see whether they will match those vowed words, or else come up short.  How it so ends up, comes down to our free volition, and many a person that takes their eye off of the ball, detours quite far from the straight and narrow pathway that they need to remain upon in order to arrive at the agreed upon destination.  Those then, that lose their focus but eventually end up finding such, or always diligently keep such, represent those that have listened to that still, small harmony that calls them constantly to the bosom of that which is our Creator. 

What deregulation actually means

Not too surprisingly, large corporations, in particular, often favor the deregulation of their specific industry, mainly because they don’t want to have to answer to or to respond to some governmental regulatory authority, which in absence of such, thus makes it easier for those corporations to conduct their business with less constraints and restraints.  The whole point of regulatory agencies, though, is to act on behalf of the general public for the protection and the good of that public and when those regulatory agencies are not in place, or have effectively been defanged, then businesses are prone to doing whatever that they so desire to do so as to increase their profit, market share, and the like.  So, in effect, deregulation means that the government will take a “hands off” policy to how businesses conduct themselves, and thus essentially transfer to those businesses, a form of self-regulation, instead.

In the absence of prudent regulation, it is only a simple-minded person, that would believe that businesses, would somehow, be able to properly balance what they owe to the general public, against their typical overriding goal to maximize profits as well as to increase market share, above all else.  That is to say, when businesses are not effectively regulated, then they are going to overly concentrate upon those things that matter most to their investors, executives, and to their corporate board, which is primarily to make money.

So then, given the fact, that regulation encompasses for those companies subject to such, devoting some of their finite resources and monies to adhere to such regulation, then this often means that the cost of that regulation for those companies, are ultimately going to be borne both by that corporation but also by all those that utilize those products, directly or indirectly.  A sensible person, might just say, that this thus represents the reasonable cost of doing business, which takes fairly into account, that companies need to be regulated for the overall good of the public, for fairness, and for safety.  That is to say, regulation could be said to be a form of refereeing, and the point of having a referee, is to see that the game is on the up and up, and therefore all is fair and square.

Unfortunately, the lust for money and profit, is so ingrained within so many of these companies, that they aren’t inclined to want to be regulated, or watched, or controlled, in any, way, form, or manner, unless these companies, themselves, control the rules and regulations that they are thus subject to.  So then, deregulation is really just another means to achieve, for those companies previously subject to  such regulation, to essentially regulate themselves, instead; in which, they try to justify such as being reasonable, because it will supposedly permit them to be more competitive, leaner, and the monies so saved, will be happily passed on to the consumer.  In reality, though, deregulation, signifies that the people and their government, should take the restraints off, and thereby trust that these deregulated corporations which are driven by profit and market share, will somehow weigh correctly what they owe the people, the environment, and their government, which seems seriously ill-advised. 

Being true to being nonviolent

America is a violent nation, proven through its high violent crime rate, and its proclivity to utilize firearms, seemingly at the slightest of provocations.  The sure answer to violence is never going to be more violence, in return, whether labeled as justifiable or not; but has to be something that rises above that “eye for an eye” construct, which typically, means deliberately and consciously walking away from embracing violence as a legitimate response, and replacing such with something of substance, such as compassion, empathy, understanding, caring, and brotherly love..

It is not necessarily an easy thing to “turn the other cheek” and probably for a significant amount of people, it will never be an easy thing; but “tit for tat,” is the type of mindset, that places humankind in a perpetual no-win situation, which is why despite all of the human progress accomplished through industrialization and science in recent centuries, we still suffer from an endemic amount of violence.  In order then to graduate to the next step, we have to, therefore, be willing to adapt new methods, of which, those that are able to best resist evil, are quite obviously all those that do not take up the attributes of evil.

To have a tendency to violence, is for a significant amount of people, rather easy – for, it often feels almost natural for those people, when dealing with a situation that thus triggers their lashing out response at others, to thus then respond through their hateful words, fists, or guns.  This thus signifies that to become non-violent for many, is not only a learned response, but something that requires patience as well as training, along with a dogged determination and perseverance, in order to accomplish such, successfully.  That is why, we find that even those with the best of intentions to be nonviolent, can’t just be “thrown to the wolves;” because without having been properly examined and proven thereby to have passed such examination through suitable smaller tests, one does not really know whether someone is going to be able to stick to the master plan, or will under fire or pressure, give way.  After all, it could be said, that nothing is more satisfying for someone that is aggressively violent, then to face someone else that seems impassive and calm, but ultimately breakdowns and strikes forcefully back at them, thus providing the excuse for that who instigated such, to justify their consequent violent actions so taken.

Many of us, are our own worse enemy, in the sense of first of all, not bothering to think through our actions thoroughly beforehand, as to the rightness or wrongness of our cause; along with not taking into proper account that other people have the right to express themselves, in a way and manner, that we may not be in accord with.  So too, for those that desire to be non-violent, there has to be the self-discipline to always keep in tune with the program, and not then to get somehow caught up in the chaos and mess, being instigated to and around them.   Indeed, it takes a bigger person, to walk away from trouble, to not respond to that which is provoking, and to not retaliate whereas a smaller person would; for it must be said, that that which is most worthwhile is worth standing shoulder to shoulder for, come what may.

Police are inclined to use lethal weapons which thus leads to lethal results

When it comes to police officers in America, the firepower that each officer so has, is plenty lethal; in which, the firearms that they utilize are quite capable of firing not just one round in a second, but three rounds or even more – and the more rounds so fired, the greater the chance that somebody will feel the effect of that bullet or bullets, of which, many a person so getting shot by a police officer’s handgun do not fare well, at all.  The thing about lethality of the handguns so being utilized by police officers, is not ever situation, necessitates or calls for, the use of that lethal firearm, whatsoever.  So too, the salient fact that firearms of today, unlike the revolvers of yesteryear, are quite capable of discharging multiple rounds of bullets at an extremely rapid rate, is indicative that those on the receiving end of those bullets will find that they need not overly worry about being arrested or having their day in court, because they are often, dead or mortally wounded.

Not every situation, that a police officer confronts, necessitates the use or the threat of use of a lethal firearm.  While a police officer is fairly entitled to protect themselves as well as to protect innocent others, this doesn’t mean that they don’t also have other viable choices, to avail themselves of, especially since their duty is really one of service to the community, as opposed to being the enforcer of that community.  This thus signifies, that as things currently stand, that there is a strong correlation, between the more lethal the weapon that a police officer has, and the more people that end up getting killed or badly hurt.

Perhaps, in the real world, having deadly firepower readily available is always a necessity; so as to have order, or such is a requirement for the officer to best do their job, or as a tool to serve and protect the public, and so on and so forth.  Yet, taking another person’s life, is a very serious thing, of which, those with a conscience, might well find themselves second guessing what has so occurred and wonder if perhaps there were alternatives that could have been pursued, instead.  It is submitted, that in many a case, there are legitimate alternatives, and if we so prioritize these more, it would probably be a better construct for society.  This is why, devices such as a Taser, or the use of pepper spray, or of rubber bullets, most definitely have their place, and the training and usage of such, should definitely be encouraged.

We need to keep in mind, that there are a fair amount of people that are mentally disturbed, but aren’t themselves, typically, a real and present danger to anyone; so too, there are plenty of people that find themselves somehow to be just in a really bad place, but given enough time, their situation can often be successfully de-escalated.  The thing about firearm usage from the police, is that it all happens so very quickly and probably way too easily; and once a bullet or bullets has been discharged from a gun, there isn’t any way to ever take them back.

Capitalism and the great inequality

The United States is in aggregate the richest nation in the world, and in all candor, it really isn’t even that close –  despite the fact that China has more than four times the population of the United States, they are still significantly behind America in aggregate wealth, and have quite a ways to go, in order to catch up, if they ever do catch up.  Yet, though America is wealthy, that wealth is so top heavy, that as Bernie Sanders so stated, "The wealthiest three families now own more wealth than the bottom half of the country."  Additionally, as reported at businessinsider.com, we read that “the average American family has a $748,000 net worth, …but the median net worth is $121,700.”  Again, when it comes to median vs. average, a median point is where half of the population is above such a number and half of the population is below such a number – whereas, an average is simply the aggregate number divided by the number of families in the United States.  This so indicates, that the distribution of wealth in America, is skewed heavily towards a small elite of Americans, and that there is a significant amount of Americans that really don’t have that much wealth, at all.

So then, what is a fair conclusion about this wealth disparity in America?  A fair conclusion, so states, that since America is considered to be the foremost capitalistic nation in the world, as well as also being the biggest proponent and proselytizer of that capitalism throughout the world, that the gross wealth inequality so being experienced in America, clearly reflects that capitalism as so currently practiced in the United States, is fundamentally flawed -- unless the United States desires to state, unequivocally, that such inequality in wealth, is a fair expression of what free enterprise is all about.

In point of fact, the thing that American governance gets so wrong, is the fact that they can’t seem to comprehend that mega corporations, along with the executives that run such, have an abiding desire to ever increase their profits, along with their market share and their stock price – and therefore they consider this to be their foremost calling, above everything else.  This means, that mega corporations have a strong tendency to desire to do everything in their power to control markets by, for instance, the consolidation of and the buying up of competitors, as well as to create moats to protect those markets, so that their pathway to more and more profits, is ever secured.  This then, is really the prevailing reason as to why there is such a high degree of wealth concentration in America.

In short, as much as America preaches the virtues of capitalism and competition, what we so have, writ large, is capitalism without competition, which therefore provides to those few that are its winners, a lot of wealth – whereas, for those that are on the outside, they suffer from exploitation and a lesser quality of life, in this the richest nation that the world has ever known.  The bottom line is this, which is that if the people and this government believes that mega corporations will somehow change their behavior going forward, or self-regulate themselves in a way and manner that is beneficial to the whole of the people, that this then, is an absolute chimera.  Only the government, can possibly change the direction of where that wealth is so being distributed, and when that government is ever asleep at the wheel, or is essentially co-opted by those mega corporations, then things will continue along the very course that we are presently on.

Electric cars and their superfast acceleration can be dangerous

The newest cars on the block, are electric cars, that are so advanced in their technology, that hi-end electric cars, routinely are faster in their acceleration from 0-60MPH than virtually any street legal gasoline powered car.  In fact, for Tesla, it has been reported by notateslaapp.com, that its Model S Plaid can go 0-60MPH in 2.3 seconds, in which we so read at Tesla’s own website that they claim that it can actually go 0-60MPH in 1.99 seconds. Not only is that type of acceleration absolutely astonishing, but it has to be remembered that because electric cars lack an internal combustion engine, that the initial noise so produced from an electric car, is going to be quite quiet until it reaches a speed above 20MPH.  All of this implies, that an electric car, from a standing still point, can go from zero to 60MPH, so quickly, that it can easily catch many a person or other vehicle, by surprise, and therein lies the rub.

Whether or not, any car so built for the commercial marketplace, should have superfast acceleration in the first place, is something that should be discussed and debated upon.  After all, there probably aren’t any real good reasons, why a car from a standstill should be able to reach a high speed, extremely rapidly.  Additionally, it has to be taken into fair account, that the faster that any vehicle so travels, the more potential danger there lies, in collisions, in the amount of time so needed to brake, for avoidance, for reactions, and so on and so forth.

The biggest issue though with electric cars that have superfast acceleration is the salient fact, that electric cars with that type of acceleration, is a very recent invention, and the one thing that a person can say about Americans, is that they have a love affair with their vehicles; of which, for those that have a fair amount of testosterone, flooding through their veins, there is going to be strong tendency for them to want to try out and see exactly how fast their electric vehicle really is.   So then, for all those that want to test out that speed, of which, the testing of that speed on an electric vehicle is a brand-new experience for them, this serves to undoubtedly increase the odds of something tragic so happening, because of the inherent danger of that accelerated speed.

After all, for all those that know that pushing down the accelerator of the electric vehicle that they are driving, makes it thus capable of that car going very, very fast from a standstill; they then are going to be sorely tempted to really feel that speed, themselves.  So too, reaction times for anybody, is speed dependent, and those that are not use to the superfast acceleration of a Tesla, or similar, are surely going to open the door to adverse events so happening to them, or to innocent others, of which, it has to be said, that just because an innovative company can manufacture a vehicle that is superfast, doesn’t necessarily mean that they really should.

Incarceration v. home confinement is not necessarily a cut and dry choice

One might think that anybody that is currently incarcerated, or are subject to being sentenced to incarceration, would, hands down, always take the option of home confinement, if so offered.  The thing is, that how inmates or potential inmates, think about that type of choice, is going to often be a fundamentally different thought process than all those that have never been incarcerated or have been themselves never been intimately involved within the incarceration field.  That is to say, a significant portion of people so incarcerated, are the type of people that have led troubled lives, and so their mindset is basically going to be a whole lot different than all those that have never experienced such, or been subject to such.

As much as anybody, prefers not to be locked up, it has to be said that for some people, in those types of penal situations, there becomes for them a certain routine and therefore a known knowledge of what that incarceration so consists of – and of which, some of those people thus find that overall the structure of that incarceration is going to represent something that they are basically content with and therefore they are then somewhat adverse to being placed into a new situation in which the rules are possibly more restrictive, harder to understand, and subject to arbitrariness by those that are the operators of that home confinement.  Further complicating the matter is the fact that home confinement, often comes with the person so confined, having to pay some portion of their income or else are subject to paying a straight fee for that confinement.  In other words, there is typically some monetary cost so being placed upon the shoulders of the person so being confined, which that person may or may not consider to be intolerable or overly burdensome.

So too, making the comparison of home confinement to incarceration can be even more difficult to determine as to which is best, because the fact is that in some situations, home confinement is longer in the amount of days, than what that inmate would serve if they just remained incarcerated.  In other words, for some people, the simple formula of less days in jail, as compared to more days under home confinement, is something that has be seriously considered, amongst everything else. 

The fact that so many inmates are subject to all sorts of rules, regulations, and restrictions, most definitely has its place and purpose – but what seems wholly unfair is that some of the cost of that incarceration or of that home confinement is being placed upon those that have little or nothing of material wealth to begin with, along with the salient fact that whatever wages that they will end up earning, is probably going to be rather paltry.  This would seem to suggest that when it comes to incarceration as well as to home confinement, that those that are at the mercy of their governmental justice system, don’t often find mercy.  Perhaps that is the way that it should or must be, but it certainly seems as if that justice system leans heavily upon those that are its most vulnerable, as if a boot upon a citizen’s neck is justice, when it surely is not.