Why aren’t there any rich people in prison?

America absolutely loves to lock up its citizens, and thereby leads all other western nations by a considerable margin in doing so.  In consideration, then, that America is also the richest nation in the world, one might expect then that the prisons, thereof, would also have a fair representation of very rich people that are actually incarcerated, as well, but this isn’t true at all.  In fact, we read at prisonpolicy.org, that “…in 2014 dollars, incarcerated people had a median annual income of $19,185 prior to their incarceration, which is 41% less than non-incarcerated people of similar ages.”  In other words, the people that are incarcerated, are mainly those that are poor, disadvantaged, less educated, and pretty much un-championed. 

None of the above should seem all that surprising, because even the most cursory of looks at those that are incarcerated, makes it pretty darn clear that those so incarcerated, appear visibly to have the distinct look of the underclass, which is, in the scheme of things, true.  Yet, to believe somehow, that all the crime and bad deeds that are done in America, are always done by that same underclass, is belied by all of the white collar criminality, which seems to be not only systemic in America, but absolutely relentlessly persistent.  That would seem to suggest that all those that decry that we need more law and order, should probably want to do more investigation about what actually constitutes a criminal act that thus mandates a corresponding prison term.

While there are myriad differences between the rich and the poor, when it comes to those bad deeds, which are inimical to a good society, the way that the poor conduct their criminal enterprises, is often constrained by the tools of the trade that they readily have to avail themselves of, taking in fair consideration their social position, knowledge, and networking connections. In other words, the underclass, typically commits those crimes that are classified as “blue collar” crime, not really because that would be their preference, bur rather because that is pretty much the only real option that they have, based upon who and what they are in reality.  On the other hand, greedy rich people, or amoral clever people, are a whole different breed of enterprising criminal, and hence what they want to take isn’t going to typically come about from strong-arming anyone, but rather is more a game of subterfuge, misdirection, lying, cheating, and double-dealing.  This essentially means that those that are rich are a different class of criminal, and being of a different class, are subject thereby to different rules.

Those that make the rules that, in theory, apply to everyone, equally, are typically the well-educated, the elite, and the politically astute.  While these type of people may indeed be upstanding citizens, it has to be said, that a meaningful portion of them, actually are not.  In fact, the most shrewd rule makers, know who they really are at their core, and hence they make sure that the criminal codes as enforced, or even what is considered to be a crime, necessitating incarceration, is circumscribed by the knowledge that those of their class, do not ever go to prison, because prisons are for “commoners;” whereas, the rich and clever folks are only considered to be in bad form for having been caught or overly greedy, and thus are properly subject only to a brief “time-out”, or a monetary fine, or perhaps a social scolding, and nothing much more.

Senior citizens and compulsory Social Security taxes

The traditional retirement age, that most people recognize as being the norm, is the age of 65.  While this government has decided to increase the age ever so slightly for those that desire to receive their full benefits from the Social Security Administration that are owed to them to age 67; the bottom line, is that age 65, is still basically seen by most people as being the normal or target age to retire.

The problem, though, for many a senior citizen, is that whether or not they so desire to retire, is dependent upon their financial situation, and more and more senior citizens, are finding that despite whatever aid their government is providing to them in their twilight years, that such is not actually beneficial enough for them to prudently stop working.  In fact, we read at ngpr.org/blog that as of the 2020 census, a surprisingly high total of 26.6% of those aged 65-74 are still employed, at least on a part time basis.  Yet, despite their advanced age, these elder employees are still required to pay their normal share of their Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) which is a payroll tax of 7.65% so paid by the employee as well as being matched by the employer, so of.

In consideration, then, that Social Security was created to provide a safety net for our senior citizens, it then doesn’t seem right or fair, that those that actually are in their senior years, should still be compelled by law, to pay into FICA, when they have already reached the traditional retirement age of 65.  Rather, it makes for common sense, that all those that are age 65 and above, who are still laboring for a living, should not have to pay any additional monies into FICA, and therefore the employers of these senior citizens, should also not have to make their corresponding contribution to such, either.

In fairness to all those that have reached their retirement age, this government, should by all means, get off of the back of those that have already devoted their best years to working, and should make it then, public policy, that as not only a courtesy to these elder citizens, but also in consideration that our governance owes these elders the responsibility to do the right thing for them, would thus no longer mandate that senior citizens pay into FICA.  One would think, then, that most people, young as well as old, would not have an issue with this appropriate change; but assuming that there was some general debate about such, the FICA act could be amended to reflect that those that are age 65 and older, and also making less than $50,000 a year, would not pay into FICA, whatsoever; but those others that at their advanced age who were still excellent wage earners, would thus be subject to FICA taxation per the normal rules of such, once their income reached $50,000, and would  subsequently end their FICA contributions, only when their income thereby reached the current legislated wage cap amount.

In short, the current compulsory payment into FICA, for those that have reached the normal retirement age, and yet are still working, should be eliminated or significantly amended.

The perils of cheap labor

Most Americans are employed by companies that are part and parcel of our capitalistic system.  This thus signifies, that making a profit for those corporations is of upmost importance to them, along also  with this being of real meaning and significance to their shareholders, executives, and their Board of Directors.  So then, there is many a company that believes, that profit really is the be-all and the end-all of their existence, and because of this mindset, many a company looks upon the labor aspect of their corporation, as being almost exclusively an expense -- which thus creates a fundamental problem or conundrum.

All companies have expenses, of which, those expenses include but are not limited to the outside materials so needed to help manufacture the goods so being sold, the capital equipment required to produce business products, the physical real estate so needed to conduct a given business, in addition to the research and development so necessary in order to stay on top of things so as to advance one’s company vis-à-vis competition of all types.  Then there is what is often the biggest expense of them all, which is the labor component of a companies’ workforce, which consists of human beings, that are employed as part of that company.

It certainly makes sense that companies should look at each one of their expenses, and thereby try to derive the best overall utilitarian value from each – such as in the lowering of the expenditures on materials, or by the increase in quality, so of; or in the timeliness of what is so needed, and so on and so forth.  It is fair then to say, that lowering expenses, or increasing the efficiency of the materials so required in a given business should always be an important consideration for all companies.  The salient problem, though, lies in the fact that when companies picture labor as being just another expense, then there is always going to be a tendency to look at labor as the type of expense that needs to be minimized, by thus, for example, providing less in salary then what could be paid, or less employee benefits overall, or by making it company policy that layoffs and terminations should always be considered as something appropriate to do, in order to thus boost the bottom line as well as also to get rid of  accumulated “deadwood.”

In short, the drive for cheap labor, is the reason why so many companies are absolutely fine with not paying a “living wage” and have no desire to ever do so.  Their justification for having this type of attitude is often not personal, but rather comes down to the dollars and cents of a business decision that fixates that lower expenses, be it labor or other areas, always contributes to a better bottom line and that bottom line is apparently the only thing that really matters.  As long as this is the case, America will continue to have millions of full-time employed people that do not make enough income to have any semblance of the American dream, but rather are suffering from the American nightmare of hopelessness.  The only way forward, then, is for the governance of this nation, to make it a point, that a living wage for all should be its national policy; and until this is actuated, we can expect that many companies will continue to extract sizeable profits through their exploitation of labor, because they can.

“Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation”

The above quotation comes from the renowned theologian, D. Elton Trueblood, and this represents his profound insight into how faith really should be looked upon for each one of us.  After all, those that have faith, but lack a good reason of why they have such faith, are susceptible to being in danger of losing that faith, because of their possible inability to properly defend how they came to such a faith, other than by blindly doing so.  In other words, some of that of which we most believe in, is going to be challenged from time-to-time, not just from well-meaning people, but also from those that are not so well-meaning, at all.  So then, when we don’t seem to have an answer to the question that they are asking, it lends itself to damaging our belief in our own faith.

On the other hand, those that understand that faith is more appropriately defined as “trust without reservation,” have themselves successfully established a more solid foundation to stand upon – for this presupposes that we trust that God has all of the answers to all of our questions, and because we know this, we can take comfort in understanding that by having faith in God’s omniscience, we know that we are ever in the most surest of hands.  That is to say, there is a moral order to this universe, and of which, each one of our lives has a purpose to it; to wit, it is our place to find that purpose, so as to live up and fulfill such, by the trust that we have in the purpose behind our creation by the very hand of God.

All those that doubt their reason for being, or can’t seem to ever figure it out, are not doing themselves any favors, for all that time spent in doubt, or self-doubt, could have been more profitably spent upon endeavors that will take each of us further along the pathway that we need to be on, so as to be not only a helping hand to others, but also to progress ourselves to where we need to arrive at.  We need, then, to have established the self-confidence to know who we really are, in our essence, so as to become successful in accomplishing that which is of most importance.

While an unexamined life certainly has its issues that must be suitably addressed meaningfully; so too, those that have the type of faith that cannot stand firm against the harsh winds of conflict and doubt, will thus make it far more problematic for these doubters to accomplish those things that each of us are meant to do.  For a certainty, there is order in this universe, and because of that order, there is a purpose to our existence in it.  So then, we need to trust that we are who we are, because there is a purpose for each of us having our own personal identity, and therefore we need to have the faith and the belief, that the actions and deeds so subsequently undertaken, are done for the betterment of not only of our own personal life, but to, in our own way, help to make this world a better place, for our participation in it.

Owning a politician is not the same thing as owning a judicial decision

For all those that wonder why it takes so darn long for any meaningful change to happen, it has to be remembered that those that are in power, will not often, relinquish even a little bit of that power, voluntarily, or without a real good reason to do so.  One might reasonably believe, though, that since no person lives forever, that therefore, during the changing of the guard, so to speak, change would thereby come; but alas, most of the time, that doesn’t occur, either.

When it comes to the rich and powerful, they recognize that the only possible way that they can leave a continuous generational legacy and therefore maintain that power, generation after generation, is that they have to get beyond the politicians and concentrate instead upon the actual Constitutional and judicial decisions that a given country must attend to, so as to define the law as it is written, to their preference, in implementation.  After all, think about it, the same Constitution, along with its Amendments and the precedents so set from previous judicial decisions, represent, the rule of law, and that Constitution, is the Supreme law of the nation, of which, our Constitution was written way back in the late 18th century.

Further to the point, though some judges are elected; typically, we find, that they are elected in a way and manner, that is dissimilar to a political party candidate.  So too, it must also be taken into full account, that the highest court of this land, the Supreme Court, has each of its members to it being appointed by the sitting President, and thus when each of these judges becomes confirmed, they are set to serve for life.  Indeed then, it is evident, that owning a judge is far superior to owning a politician, and additionally, owning a judicial decision, is even better yet.

So then, when we hear that the times they are a changing, the problem that those that wish to make those changes are up against, is the very fact that the laws that they need to see be overturned or recodified, are already firmly established, and therefore are a very difficult thing to change, often to those upstarts disappointment and dismay.  This then, signifies that those that are part of the status quo, don’t get to remain in the position that they are in, without having a very solid foundation to stand upon, and even when those that are the elite are severely outnumbered, they are, because of their status, position, and placement, almost impervious to being effectively negated or changed.

There are a lot of pathways to power and to the sustainability of that power, but it has to be said, that those that have power so contained within the interpretation of the governing document of that nation, through established judicial opinions and judicial decisions, are certainly in the catbird seat to be able to pass on to their progeny or to their inside associates, their form of power, rather readily, for what they have wrought is indeed a mighty fortress, which also consists of a vital watchtower, that sees everything.      

“It is child’s right to be educated”

The above quotation, in full, so advocated by the Common School Advocate of 1847, states, “It is child’s right to be educated; and it is not only his right but it is our indispensable duty to provide for the education of every child in the state.”  This presupposes that back in the mid 19-century that Americans of sound mind, recognized that the children of all of its citizens, were fairly entitled to a good education, so as to help bring up inhabitants that would well represent for their country, conduct such as: civic virtue, good character, as well as developing the necessary accouterments so needed to competently attend to their day-to-day business.

Incredibly, as it stands in the 21st century, that right to be educated for each of our children, and especially for those children that live within the sphere of a lower socioeconomic level with all the disadvantages and handicaps that they have to attend with, has been essentially vacated, and demonstrates almost no hope of being successfully turned around, anytime soon.  That is to say, whether we talk about “separate but equal,” or “integrated,” when it comes to our public schools, what we really have is the situation in which those that live in the right neighborhood, are almost always going to be able to avail themselves of a quality public school; whereas, those that are in the wrong neighborhood, more often are going to have to attend a school that provides its students with an unacceptable low standard of education, and basically outputs far too many children that are functionally illiterate.

We do so find that in America, that it has the audacity to believe that it is the greatest nation that the world has ever known; but despite all of its impressive achievements, America on a fundamental level, is a nation in which though it does indeed have some of the brightest minds so assembled, ever; this must though be tempered by the fact that it also has a rather large underclass of those that are so poorly educated, that is hard to believe that they both of such reside within the same nation.

Those then, that believe that children should be punished for their parents’ lack of success, or lack of income, or lack of discernment, or lack of employment, don’t seem to comprehend that the very best way to counteract previous generations of failure of all sorts, is to prepare the present generation to fundamentally know what they need to know, so as to successfully navigate the travails of this big and somewhat intimidating nation.

Indeed, there are all sorts of rights that citizens of America, have – at least on paper, but those rights have no real value if they are not actuated in the real world.  In this modern age, we need to more fully recognized that those that only have brawn, are in most cases, going to be subservient to those that have brains.  Further to the point, those that do not have a reasonable grasp of the educational basics so needed to conduct themselves successfully in this country, without having to rely upon the input of well-intentioned others, are not only handicapped, but are constantly vulnerable to exploitation of all sorts.  Finally, all those that feel that they have been “left behind” are going to have a strong tendency to ultimately express themselves in a way and manner that does not mesh up well, with those that represent good and sound character.

The Fed’s misguided Zero Interest Rate Policy

Though at the present time, the Federal Reserve System has reversed its Zero Interest Rate Policy, the fact of the matter is, that the Fed, over an extended period of time, made the cost of money, that is its zero interest rate policy, the norm for the borrowing of that money for the biggest banking institutions in America, of which, because the cost of borrowing that money was near zero, meant that those that were the most credit worthy, discovered that, for them, borrowing capital from those big banking institutions would be at historic low rates.  In theory, the reason why the cost of money, as in the interest so charged to borrow such, was so low for so long, was to stimulate the economy, but based upon the economic growth so seen during that period of near zero interest rates, the truth of the matter is, that intended stimulation did not come to fruition.

So then, one thing that happened when interest rates were held so low for so long, is that a conscious decision was made to punish those that were savers, who represented those entities that typically kept their money in cash instruments such as short-term bonds, certificates of deposit, and money market funds, in which, because the interest rates were unnaturally low, meant that those entities so investing in these types of cash instruments, would find that their investment vehicle of choice, offered no real return, at all.  This then made those that were invested in these cash instruments, to either accept what was so happening as the “new normal” or else to invest in other investments such as equities or real estate, in order to generate the hope of some positive return on their capital.

Further to the point, near zero interest rates, are exactly the format that favors those that understand that leveraging is a form of increasing one’s wealth, when invested well into risk assets, that have a good chance of appreciating, and by virtue of borrowing that money at such a low cost, and then having those assets, such as stocks or real estate, outperform the cost of that money so borrowed, would see then that their overall assets would increase at a far greater rate than if they had not leveraged up.  Of course, leverage, at any time, comes with a certain degree of risk, and when bets are made that are wrong, it doesn’t matter so much that the cost of money was cheap, when the underlying asset is falling precipitously in value, for then such leverage as that, compounds the losses, so of.

So too, when interest rates were dropped to near zero, it was hoped by this government, that corporations would avail themselves of this money, at such a small cost, in order to stimulate the economy  by hiring more employees, increasing funds so devoted to research and development, and pretty much borrowing funds now, at this near zero rate, in order to boost throughput and product development.  Regrettably, this isn’t really what happened, for despite the fact that businesses seem to be in business to sell product and to develop new products; we do so find that many a company sees cheap money as primarily an easy way to boost profits and thus shareholder value by simply buying back the company’s stock, so done by the issuing of bonds to collect investors’ money at a near zero cost, to do exactly that.

In short, while during the era of near zero interest rates, asset prices  of equities and real estate rose considerably, we have yet to have seen fully played out, the inconvenient fact that when economic growth still remains anemic, that eventually those asset prices will have to normalize to reflect that.

Cars are never an investment and here is why

The biggest material purchase that a typical person makes is their home, of which, homes have historically risen in value over just about any extended period of time.  That is to say, for most people, homes are not only necessary as a place to reside in, but also serves the practical purpose of being an important asset, as well as typically being a good investment.  The second biggest purchase that most everyone makes, is their vehicle.  The thing about vehicles, is that as time goes on, virtually every single vehicle on the road, will depreciate in value – that is to say, the older that the car gets, the more miles that are put on the car, the less that it is valued, and there are virtually no exceptions to this rule.  Additionally, the very first hint that vehicles should not be considered to be an investment, comes at the very beginning, when a given person is making their new car purchase, in which, when they go to insure such, they are often offered “Gap Insurance,” which is the type of insurance that will take care of making good on any “gap” in regards to funds so owed, should that vehicle be totaled in an accident or stolen, in which what that insurance policy is thus covering is the difference between what is still owed to the lender of record, for that vehicle, while taking into fair account, the vehicle’s actual depreciated cash value.  In other words, most cars, when bought new with a relatively low down payment, are actually considered to be worth less by insurance companies than the monies still owed for that vehicle.

The other thing that needs to be seared into our brains, is that an investment, by definition, is something that over a reasonable period of time, gains value; of which, vehicles, are the exact opposite of this, because time and mileage is not the friend of vehicles, whatsoever; which is why used vehicles always cost less than new vehicles of the same type and hence why cars should never be seen as an investment.  The best way to look upon vehicles is to see them for what they are really are; which is a form of personal transportation, and of which, most owners of vehicles understand that despite however good they are in maintaining their vehicle and whatnot, that eventually the vehicle will reach that stage in which it no longer has good utilitarian value.

So then, when it comes to vehicles, its best to see them as an ongoing expense, that will not ever go away, unless the driver of such, simply stops driving.  This thus signifies, that when people research and buy cars, that they probably should keep foremost in their mind, that whatever excitement that they may feel in owning their own vehicle, should be tempered by the fact that, the cars’ value will depreciate from day one, and will continue to depreciate until it is disposed of.  This would seem to indicate that those that are most savvy, are the type that fundamentally know that cars are never an investment, and thus will make their purchasing decision of such consistent with that important knowledge.

Standing armies and military coups

The one thing that America, likes to profess over and over again, is that America has stood the test of time, and is proudly still governed under its original Constitution, so ratified in the late 18th century.  As much as people desire to believe, that the governance in America will always remain stable, secure, and vibrant – because its people would stand for nothing less, is that when we take even a cursory look at the world, at large, we have to recognize that many a government that is currently in place, came forth from a military coup, directly or indirectly.  This signifies that no matter how long a given country’s governance has been in existence, that every country, including the United States, has no guarantee that its Constitutional rule will continue, unchallenged or never to be overturned, forever.

America has the greatest military might that the world has ever known, and further to the point, its domestic police force, is itself highly militarized, and of which, a significant portion of those that serve in domestic law enforcement, also have a military background.  The thing about guns, and especially for any who would be staring down at the barrel of a given gun, is that a substantial amount of those people so staring are going to be amendable to making some sort of peace, reasonable to them or not, with the entity that holds their life or their continual safety in their hands.  In other words, those that have military might, or those that have the guns and ammunition and have demonstrated not only their proficiency with such, but also their willingness to utilize such, are going to garner respect from the general public, grudgingly or not.

So then, in consideration, that we live in a construct in which “might makes right,” there isn’t anything then to actually preclude those that have firm control of the military from simply coming up with some pretext, that necessitates first martial law being imposed upon American citizens, and second, follows up such with what would be in essence, a military coup, by replacing those that are our current legislators with either more compliant legislators or doing away with such, temporarily. No doubt, since semantics are so important, this would never be described by the initiators of such an action as a coup, but rather as being the necessary action needed to be taken, for a temporary period of time, so as to properly protect and to defend the homeland.  Additionally, no doubt, military rule, would do a very good job to see that “the trains would run on time.”  In other words, there would be plenty of people, that wouldn’t mind living under such conditions, signifying that there  would probably be overall far less public dissent than expected, and hence an appreciation by many of this reconstituted law and order.

Indeed, it could happen here in America, for the military power of our awesome standing army, cannot conceivably be ever stopped by the well-armed general public, who would be significantly outgunned in fire power, logistics, surveillance, and professionalism of our well trained military force.  Those then, that believe that our President, as Commander in Chief will always have complete control of our standing army, fail to recognize that the military-industrial-technology complex is already far more powerful than we might like to recognize or to acknowledge.

Two Senators per State and perpetual minority rule

There are a fair amount of people that hold the Constitution of the United States to their heart, because they truly do believe that this Constitution, was the greatest gift of responsible and representative governance, ever provided to humankind.  While there are a lot of positive things to say about the Constitution, one of the things, that is fundamentally flawed, is the structure of the Senate as ratified in that Constitution.  As it stands, per the Constitution, each State of the Union, no matter how small in population, and each State of the Union, no matter how large, are entitled to exactly two, and no less than two Senators per State.  This does signify that States such as California, Texas and New York have the exact same representation within the Senate as States such as Wyoming, Vermont, and North Dakota, despite the fact that California, for instance, has more people within its State, then the  twenty-two least populated States, combined.

What this basically signifies is that in America, we do not truly have fair representation of the people at the Federal level, whatsoever, because those that are the denizens of the smaller States, are able to dictate to the larger States, what will or will not be approved as legislation, and in those cases in which the smaller States are unable to dictate their terms and conditions, thereof, they have, at a minimum, the power to preclude whatever legislation that these smaller States care not a whit for.  This means that on a Federal level, over and over again, the smaller States, are able to almost always have an overinfluential say in regards to legislative acts, which clearly belies their actual population size.

While it is true, that the smaller States are not necessarily in lockstep with one another; it is also true, historically, that, for instance, the Southern States, stood together, to hold back progressive changes so needed in regards to civil rights and discrimination for a very lengthy period of time.  None of this could continue to occur or re-occur, if the Senate was to reflect a more basic representation of their proportion of the population, of which, a reasonable compromise would be to see that each State had at a minimum, one Senator, and no State could have any more than four.  Of course, the chances of this Constitutional Amendment ever passing is pretty much close to zero, because the Senators within those small States, would not have a vested interest in voting against their power and influence to amend such to what would be to their personal and State detriment.

So then, in absence of the actual elimination of the Senate from the Constitution through an Amendment, and hence the elimination of the bicameral legislature, which will seemingly never occur – the only other avenue to even up the score between large States and small States would be to create more States from out of the larger States.  So too, this presents a problem, because Congress, would have to approve this action, and no doubt, the Senators from the smaller States would not be in favor of such, because it would dilute its power; in addition to other medium size States, would not see this as being beneficial to them, either.  In other words, the United States seems to be stuck with what is essentially perpetual minority rule.

“As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them”

The above scripture is from Luke 6: 31, of which, if more people actually comprehended these words and subsequently took them to heart, we would find then that their interactions with others, would fairly reflect these words in action.  That is to say, for all those that would like this world to be a better place, and desire to have more harmonious relationships with others, then the very first place that the change needs to begin at, for this to be thus actualized, starts with our own self, and none other.

Indeed, it is a very difficult thing, to actually try to look at life through the eyes of the other; yet, how are we to understand the other, if we won’t trouble our self to do what we need to do to try to appreciate their point of view?  While each of us do have validity in and of our self, it is when we insist that only our opinion, or our beliefs, or our desires are what really matter, that this thus creates friction; of which, the end result invariably lends itself to sowing disharmony with one another, and further to the point, we will have a tendency to become argumentative and confrontational with others, rather than being open to having a civil discussion and a reasonable conversation, so as to understand one another, better.

Most of us, when we have made a major mistake, before we even consider owning up to it, desire that the other person, be the type that will not harshly judge us and will be forgiving to us.  We long for this, mainly because there are few of us, that willingly want to suffer a fair punishment for our mistakes, because we prefer that those that judge us take into consideration our overall character, or past performance, or even our potential to be a better person, instead.   So then, the type of forgiveness that we desire to receive from others, should be our reciprocal obligation thus practiced by ourselves to those others, as well.

If we would like to create a good impression for others, we need to be mindful of how we behave and act with those others.  That is to say, while there is something to be said about knowing the difference between appropriate and misappropriate behavior – that knowing is never the same thing as the actual doing.  We have to, then, do our level best to conduct ourselves in a way and manner, that is consistent with our most cherished beliefs and to act upon such in a way that brings out the best in us, which thus will help to bring out the potential best in others, as well.

Those then, that want to have healthy friendships, must conduct themselves with a demeanor that reflects good friendship – for the more that we take on the attributes of kindness, compassion, caring, empathy, consideration, generosity, forgiveness, and patience with one another, the more that we see such reflected back to us, because like begets like, and good deeds begets good deeds.

Due process of law and the right to a safe environment

The hard part for the United States, was creating a nation in which the people would have fair access to all those things of real importance, such as shelter, education, employment, non-discrimination, safety, and opportunity – of which, America has pretty much accomplished this for the most part and in those areas in which it has fallen short, seems to have, at a minimum, surely created the foundation for such to subsequently improve and to thus become eventually firmly established for the good of all its citizens.  The thing is that because America is so intent upon capitalism and therefore the drive for profit being the be-all and end-all of its existence, we do so find, that money and the lust for that money, supersedes just about every aspect of the due process of law as well as fairness under that law, to the detriment of the people, in whole.

A case in point is the salient fact that many an enterprise works with dangerous chemicals, of which, the discharge of those chemicals through the air and water, or the actual processing of such, clearly causes harm to those in proximate location to that enterprise; along also with many a time, we find that the potential pollution of dangerous chemicals of all sorts, as well as other noxious things, is not properly handled correctly or dealt with responsibly at all, by that enterprise, and thus ends up becoming part and parcel of the air that we breathe, the land that we walk upon, along with the waters that we utilize for drinking.  In other words, each of us, should be entitled to a safe environment in which the water that we drink, the shelter that we reside in, and the air that we breathe, are free of harmful contaminants. 

What we so find, in our free enterprise world, is that those that are fixated upon making money, above all, will often do just everything in their power to see that what is clear and obvious to an independent and objective observer in regards to pollutants, is negated by all the countervailing avenues so available for those businesses that have money, position, and power – in which, those then that suffer the most from these noxious chemicals and the nasty pollution of all stripes, are almost always those that lack money, position, and power.  This presupposes that in America, there is a dividing line which seems to stipulate, that it is okay, to discharge harmful pollutants, wherever so desired and to obfuscate such, as long as it is not in any neighborhood or vicinity that matters to those that have influence, money, and power.

Regrettably, when it comes to the conscious discharge of dangerous chemicals and other pollutants into the atmosphere, which are thus permitted to adversely affect our streams, rivers, land and air; we do find that oftentimes this pollution will end up extending far beyond the intended destination of where such was expected to go, and further to the point, these pollutants are often far more long lasting, and typically far more dangerous and debilitating to the human body than so advertised.  So then, if due process of law, is to mean anything of substance at all, then it has to mean that each one of us, disadvantaged or not, is entitled to, first and foremost, a safe and healthy environment, of which, this government of, for, and by the people, needs to do its fair part to assure that this very thing happens.

Oil, assembly, Rich Country and Poor Country

Because of the continual value of oil,  and in consideration of the fact that oil as a commodity has been so important for so long, in addition to taking into fair deliberation that oil as a commodity has been, overall, increasing in its selling price, we therefore find that oil should be considered to be, especially for those nations, that have plenty of it, the supreme opportunity to jumpstart their economies and thus their corresponding GDP.  The bottom line is virtually nobody would ever give a thought to nations such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, or Saudi Arabia, if it wasn’t for the massive amount of oil, and thus wealth, that has been generated for them, by that oil.

Sometimes, life can be really simple for certain countries, of which, that simplicity comes down to whether or not they have an abundance of a valuable commodity, such as oil, of which, the extraction of it, for them, is relatively inexpensive, and the price that they receive for the selling of it, is relatively lucrative.  In other words, those that are able to manufacture or produce an item that is absolutely essential to modern day living, and are able then to get a princely sum for such, are going to be in the pole position for their nation to become wealthy, depending upon, of course, other salient factors, such as domestic population, governmental competence, business structure, and the like.

On the other hand, there are plenty of nations, of which, their people work extremely hard, such as in the assembly of cellular phones, clothing, apparel and textiles, toys, furniture, consumer electronics, and various other relatively low-priced goods, in which the main part that these nations play is to provide the cheap labor to put these things together by basically contributing that labor through the assembly of those goods.  That is to say, those that do an inordinate amount of assembly of just about anything, but especially those items that are relatively cheap in price, and often do so upon an excessive amount of quantity of each, will definitely keep their people very busy and occupied, but they as a people and as a nation, will fundamentally not get rich, though they may well inch their way up, in regards to the GDP so generated by the virtue of that labor.

So then, for a certainty, some countries, because of their in-demand natural resources that they so have, are provided with a golden opportunity to become wealthy, by the simple virtue that those natural resources can be, figuratively, turned into gold, without thus having to expend an immoderate amount of effort in order to accomplish such.  Then there are those other nations, that work very, very hard, through the relentless efficiencies of their factories and by the busy hands that contribute to the manufacture of those goods, but they are not on any easy path to wealth, because the compensation for doing so, is limited, and thereby often controlled by outside entities that make the real profit off of the sweat and blood of those doing that grunt work of labor.  In other words, having the right natural resources can, in and of itself, make a nation rich – whereas, the assembly of low-priced goods, probably never will.

Plenty of monies devoted to war, but not enough for domestic infrastructure

The problem for America in insisting that it has to be the world’s policeman, and thus get itself involved in wars, insurrections, rebellions, and disputes throughout the world, is that, quite frankly, there is always going to be trouble somewhere, and oftentimes there is going to some degree of trouble, everywhere.  This thus signifies that if America simply spent more time, energy, and materials upon exclusively defending its own nation, and that alone, that we would soon discover that billions upon billions of dollars could thus be reallocated and redirected towards that which would be far less destructive, into that which would be far more constructive.

We live in a modern era, in which the efficiency of how we get about from one place to another, is important from so many levels – such as, in consideration of, the pollution so created in our travels, to the overreliance upon non-renewal fuels, to the integrity, maintenance, and reliability of our various transportation needs, as well as the overall efficiencies of the transportation so being utilized, every day.  As it has been said, a stitch in time saves nine, of which, the roads and bridges that we utilize day by day, along with the energy so consumed to transport ourselves and our goods, in addition to our electrical power grid, sewage systems, water tables, and so on and so forth, need to be properly maintained, and improved upon, so as to have such be consistently reliable.  When then, we act as if we don’t need to expend necessary monies to maintain what we already have, as well as to improve such to make it even better, by devoting appropriate monies so needed for sustainability, in addition to research and development, we have done ourselves and our country, a grand disservice.

In order for America to get done what it needs to get done in regards to its infrastructure advancement, it first needs to make that a real national budget priority and arguably should make it a much higher priority than expending hundreds of billions of dollars upon its military, whose budget is already gargantuan.  The bottom line is that there is only so much monies that can be allocated for social services, the  military, healthcare, education, infrastructure, and the like.  While, no doubt, there are plenty of inefficiencies in how the government currently spends and allocates its money, and therefore plenty of areas of which the government could easily spend less – it just seems sensible to concentrate first upon and thereby to trim back monies so being assigned to the military, because its current budget is so sizeable.

The truth of the matter is, that billions of our dollars are being spent essentially on that which is in so many words, a military killing machine.  It would thus behoove this country to spend less on proficiently killing people as well as on annihilating foreign buildings and other material things, and more on creating that which will be beneficial for the people as well as for business enterprises, instead; which is why we need to be more forthright in asserting that domestic infrastructure, needs to be properly prioritized, so that it can be appropriately maintained and upgraded, for our continual benefit.

Don’t buy where you can’t work

In America, employers with more than 100 employees are legally obligated to report to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission their employee count which takes into consideration sex/gender and racial classification by job categories, of which, the Equal Employment Opportunity, EEO-1 must then be submitted annually to that agency.  To the degree that this information, can be made more publicized, then that general public, can thus utilize that information in a way and manner, that they best see fit, and in particular, they can vote with their dollars; so as to the extent, so able, not then purchase products or do business with those corporations that are not suitably fair and inclusive, thereof.

For a certainty, what will get any company’s attention is any action, whether a formal boycott or protest or not, that adversely impacts that particular company’s business image and/or the bottom line of their profitability and sales.  Those companies, then, that appear to be tone-deaf need to be woken up by those that have a vested interest in seeing that this nation lives out its basic motto, of equality, fair opportunity, fair play, fair pay, and justice.  So then, there really isn’t any better way of doing such, in order to effect positive change, then to disrupt the normal course of business for those companies that are unfair in their hiring practices, so that, these companies, will progress from the mere mouthing of platitudes to the actual needful action to correct such.

Indeed, the voice of one person can only reach so far, but the voice of those that are joined together in a common cause, can be loud and can also be quite effective, especially when directed to the source of that trouble.  While we can give credit to the United States government for passing strong laws, so meant to eliminate or to reduce substantially prejudices of all sorts, the proof is in the eating of the pudding, and when statistics tell us that certain peoples are being precluded from employment, or are being employed by these companies primarily in only low-compensation jobs, then those things do need to change, especially so, to reflect that the era of favoritism to the favored race and similar, is not right and is not in harmony to what this country professes to represent and to believe in.

As they say, every dog has its day, and in America, that era of those of only a certain race, and/or of only a certain religion, thus being forever the sole alpha dog, is not consistent with the melting pot that America, actually is.  We are many people, from many backgrounds, of which, what truly unites each of us, is the belief that what America so represents, at its best, is liberty, freedom, opportunity, justice, prosperity, and fairness; of which, then, those institutions and businesses which are still behaving in a way and manner which negates such, deserve to be punished for their waywardness, as the patriotic duty of those that are Americans, and especially so from those that have been denied a fair chance to live the American dream.

Live life as if it matters, because it does

There are plenty of people, for whatever reason, that just go about their business, day after day, without a real plan, without any real goals, and without purpose.  Though it is true, that for people like that, life can conceivably work out very well; the truth of the matter is, it probably isn’t going to work out nearly as well as it could be for them, because those that don’t live life as if their decisions and choices really matter and have consequences to them, aren’t going to get all of what they could get out of life.

Additionally, no matter what a given persons’ personal background so represents, there comes a time when a person transitions from being a dependent person who relies heavily upon others for their welfare and decisions so made, such as one’s parents, to becoming their own independent person, with their own responsibilities that they must now answer to.  So then, when we become an adult, for a certainty, we have an obligation to live our life in a manner and way, that is going to represent meaning and purpose, for us; so that, when we inevitably hit those obstacles and setbacks, we are thus able to reflect upon the bigger picture of our objectives, in which, we can thereby find a way to achieve or to adjust such, as necessary.

After all, it’s problematic to maintain our focus, upon anything, if we don’t actually know what we are supposed to focus upon, and why we have selected that particular achievement to be our goal.  That is why, it’s a foundational truth that we need to have some sort of game plan to work upon, or else we will find ourselves losing not only our direction, but also we will not have the stamina or wherewithal to keep doing what we need to do in order to achieve positive progress.  Those then, that lack reasonable objectives to go after, are in constant danger, then, of simply spinning their wheels, and hence not going anywhere of real interest, anytime soon.

So too, the sooner that we are cognizant that we are truly sovereign in our own person, the sooner that we have the opportunity to become something of merit in our life.  That is to say, the choice to make our life actually to mean something of substance, is always at our volition; whether or not we recognize such, early in our life or late.  The advantage of knowing what we want to be earlier in our life, is the inherent flexibility we will thus have to make those unanticipated adjustments that will keep us on track to accomplish something meaningful as we continue upon our life path.  Those though that find their way, much later in life, are inevitably going to find that some doors are now closed; but there are always other doors, so available to them, of which, those that are dedicated to what they are focused upon, are often able to make good progress at a rapid pace, in order then to achieve what they have put their minds upon, late start or not.

In short, those that can’t seem to find meaning in their own life, are, oftentimes, pretty much in a mindset of simply going through the motions – whereas, those that have found their meaning in life, and have a purpose that drives them to keep on keeping on, will continue to exert themselves despite disappointments, because they are driven to get to their planned destination, because arriving at that chosen destination really does matter to them.

Standing armies and the inevitably of unjust war

The United States has the world’s greatest military force, and it devotes an astonishing amount of hundreds of billions of dollars, to have, expand, sustain, and to maintain that military force.  The ironic thing is that back before America had its independence, one of the facts so enumerated by that Declaration of Independence, was decrying that Great Britain had a standing army in America, without thus having the consent of the legislature of America.   While it is true, that the current standing army in America, does at the present time, have the consent of the legislature; the danger, thereof, of having a standing army is just as valid today as it was back when the seeds for our drive to become independent of Great Britain, so existed.

The reason so many people were fearful of a standing army, back in colonial times, and why we have a significant portion of the people that are fearful of the same today, is that it doesn’t much matter what a given Constitution says, or what the rule of law is supposed to represent, if that standing army has the power to get itself involved in all sorts of foreign or even domestic incursions, with dubious justifications for doing so, again and again.  So too, standing armies, represent for the people within those nations, of the constant danger of having those that are its actuators, insisting that these standing armies must so be utilized for this or for that, and that this need appears always to be never ending, for there is always something going on somewhere, that attracts their meddling interest.

While it could be said, that standing armies are necessary in the sense of the defense of the nation, as well as to have the requisite capability to utilize such in a just and truly required war – the thing is, that the more monies and resources so devoted to standing armies, the corresponding less of that money will so be allocated to the people as a benefit; such as for necessary infrastructure, education, healthcare, social programs, and the like, of which, it is the people through their payment of taxes that are thus on the hook for paying for those standing armies, in lieu of receiving those other valued benefits, instead.  Further to the point, we do so find, that this allocation of money for the military, will impress upon the military to do their level best to  justify that the monies and war materials so being provided to them, are seen as being necessary for the defense and safety of the homeland, thus leading these standing armies to view the world as a very dangerous place, indeed, of which, national security thereby demands that they exert their force continuously, wherever they claim such is warranted.

The danger of a standing army is not that it will be used, justifiably; but rather that it will constantly be used in an unjust and unneeded manner for whatever so-called justification which thus serves the purposes of that which directs it; and of which, because that standing army is so often the aggressor against other nations and peoples, this will invariably create tensions, resentment, hatred, and blowback -- that someday must have its own reckoning.

SMS Text Messages and the illusion of privacy

In this modern age, people communicate routinely utilizing their cell phones via text.  The types of messages that go back and forth, range from the mundane to that which is meant to be private, and everything in between.  Some messages can deal with trade secrets, confidentiality of all stripes, as well as issues that are extremely personal.  In other words, most people, for various reasons, do not desire to have their texts read by just anybody, and to a large extent, most people have zero interest in all of their texts being read by anybody other than their own self.

For most people, when we text message using SMS text, we believe that what we have so sent is only going to be read by the intended recipient, and nobody else; but unfortunately, in this modern hi-tech surveillance state, that isn’t the case at all.  The first thing to understand is that whatever cellular carrier that we have contracted with, for whatever dubious reasoning or legal structure that they must adhere to, can see the full contents of any message so sent while we are part of their network.  That in and of itself, seems to be fundamentally wrong, for a reasonable person would expect that their cellular carrier should just represent the transmission means for a text message to reach its destination, and nothing more than that, and thus shouldn’t be able to read or see the contents, thereof.  Additionally, in this world of “bad guys” those that are skilled at the dark arts have the capability to exploit weaknesses in SMS texting so as to be capable of intercepting text messages and therefore use the information so extracted for their own personal advantage.  In the same vein, governmental authorities or quasi-governmental authorities can also use those same dark arts to extract whatever that they so desire from messages so sent, without the foreknowledge of the person so sending or receiving those text messages. 

In short, text messaging while taking on the aura of being safe, secure, and private to the users of such, isn’t that at all.  This would presuppose that the current structure of SMS text messaging is surely in need of an appropriate upgrade or replacement – but the thing is, that governments as well as other entities, so of, would probably prefer for things to remain just the way that they currently are, for governments have a rather nasty habit of wanting to know everything about their citizenry, without correspondingly letting the general public know everything about them.

Regrettably, then, even when people know that their text messages aren’t as private or secure that they so wish that they would be – we find that people, for the most part, are pretty much going to keep sending out sensitive, compromising, and private messages to one another, because text messaging is a preferred and easy way to communicate with our contacts.  This thus signifies that until the general public raises a real ruckus to this invasion of their privacy, pretty much, we can expect that the government won’t fundamentally desire to change a thing.

H-1B visa, their equivalency, and control

For a lot of people, highly skilled or not, the siren call of the United States, and its claim to be the land of opportunity is the type of call that cannot and should not be denied.  How great the United States really is, can be best answered, by the sheer numbers of people that wish to immigrate to the United States, which reflects that the United States is considered to be, by many that wish to immigrant, a very desirable place, indeed.

In America, there are legal protocols to follow for all those that wish to immigrant, of which, there are more than one avenue to get to this land of opportunity, in which, one of them is the H-1B visa, which permits those that have certain specialized work skills that are in short supply domestically to thereby work within America for a specific period of time, such as three years.  This would seem to represent the ideal “win-win” situation, in which both the foreign worker as well as the company that has hired such, benefit from this transaction.  However, as might be expected, in the corporate world, many a person so employed, domestic or foreign, is considered to be an “at-will” employee, which signifies that when that employer “wills” that someone leave their company through a layoff or being fired, that the foreign worker has little or nothing that they can do to actually preclude such.  So then, when a foreign worker who has a H-1B visa is terminated, for whatever reason, or for no reason, they are thus considered to have fallen “out of status,” which means that they are now typically mandated to leave America, within 60 days of having lost their job, unless they are able to secure employment, in a similar field, and get approval from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for this change of employment venue.

In short, while a H-1B visa will certainly get a foreign worker through the American door, the status of being kept in good standing is for the most part, controlled by that employer, not by the foreign worker.   Regrettably, when it comes to those that have that sort of power over a given person or entity, there are always going to be those that will abuse such power to their own advantage.  In other words, when a persons’ right to work within America is in the hands of someone else, then the independence of that foreign worker and the inherent sovereignty that they so have is compromised.  This means that wages, bonuses, vacations, sick leave, personal time, overtime, stock options, and the like, are all subject to being manipulated in the favor of the employer, without the foreign worker having a lot of say in the matter, at all.   That is to say, employers that know that a given foreign worker needs to have continual employment in order to guarantee that they are still a member in good standing with the USCIS, lends itself to possible abuses by that employer, for many an employer, prefers foreign workers as well as any others that do not have the full status of American citizenship, because it makes exploitation so much easier.

Economic freedom and liberty

At the present day, we are no longer an agrarian society, nor are we a society that is made up of a massive amount of small self-sufficient independent contractors.  For the most part, many people that are part of the working force, are employees to a particular business enterprise, and of which, typically, their voice, independent of a union, though with the exception of those with an exceptional or in-demand skillset, do not usually have much say as to their employment security or their overall working conditions, thereof.  In other words, many a person, especially those that are not high wage earners, are subject to what could be best described as the arbitrary will of those that employ them, especially so in those States, which have enacted poorly named legislative acts, such as, the “Right-to-Work.”

The reason that being employed “at-will,” or not having some sort of reasonable job security for those that are  classified as an employee, is so undesirable, is the salient fact that those that do not have some sort of security from their employment, thus makes them susceptible to all of the incumbent negatives of not having a consistent income stream, so required, in order to pay all of their ordinary as well as extraordinary bills that come their way.  This signifies that a person that cannot be comfortably secure in their economic freedom is, by any reasonable measure of such, not economically free, and therefore not truly free, as a person.  After all, those that are dependent upon their subsistence via a particular business enterprise, which does not then give them any or much say in their livelihood are thus in constant danger of their own personal “house of cards” collapsing, to their personal damage.

In this world, the best possible way for those that are employed by others, that they can have some semblance of secured employment, is for that government, of, for, and by the people to actually stand up and to represent those people.  The other alternative to a government, that does not care to support or to care for the common people, is for the people, themselves, to join together in unions, so that in concert, they can thus have the power to have a seat at the economic table and thereby receive in return, from their employment, a fair share of the spoils of such, rather than the lion’s share of profits going almost exclusively to upper management, and their investors.

The purpose of good governance, is for that governance to do its fair part on behalf of the people to assist in bringing forth a society that is most beneficial for the whole of the people, rather than favoring some specific subset of such.  In absence of direct action by that government, we find, then, that the government has an absolute obligation to still do its good part to see that those that are employees are fairly represented through, for instance, the aegis of unions or its equivalency – for those that have no voice and no economic security are not free, and will never become free, until they have those very things.