The pursuit of mind control

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

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

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

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

The finest and most elite private schools are money well spent

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

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

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

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

The inconsistency between what we really are and what we represent

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Job security

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

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

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

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

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

Too big to fail and the end of capitalism

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Everyday police encounters that turn deadly

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

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

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

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

Employers v. Employees

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

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

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

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

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

Unequal justice under discriminatory law

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

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

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

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

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

The dangerous drivers of the United States of America

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

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

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

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

Honesty and dishonesty

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

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

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

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

Hi-technology knows just about everything about us

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

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

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

Drug addiction, welfare, and money

There are plenty of people that have substance abuse problems, including licit drugs that are either abused by being overprescribed to them or by which that person has gained access to through deception; as well as the fact that there are all those myriad illicit drugs that are also abused. The bottom line is that there are a whole lot of people that have drug addiction problems in America, and of which, the governance of this nation, is quite readily aware of this situation, which appears to have become endemic.

We should give credit to any nation that recognizes a problem and desires then to put forth an effort to ameliorate such – such as we see in the provision of rehab centers, welfare assistance, and social assistance of all types; of which, this, in and of itself, does provide some real relief and aid to those, for instance, that are drug addicted, and appears to be successful for some of those people so addicted. Still, in consideration, that drug addiction is so prevalent, and does not in any respect, appear to be actually diminishing or becoming something of irrelevancy, there needs to be acknowledged that perhaps the more seminal question to ask, is what are the factors that drive people to drug abuse in the first place. That is to say, a far better way to resolve a problem, is to address the very basis for why such a problem like that, ever develops.

In point of fact, though it can be said, that just about anyone could become susceptible to substance abuse problems, it though has to be recognized, that those that typically turn to drugs, are often the same sorts of people that have proximate problems as well as a sense of hopelessness about those problems, and that they cannot themselves figure out a way to successfully resolve such, so then they thus turn to that which will, at least for a little while, relieve them of being burdened with that particular concern. In other words, stated differently, healthy and vibrant societies, are the types of societies, in which, drug abuse and anti-social behavior are far less prevalent, because people, in general, that are happy with their lot in life, don’t have a compelling need to desire to distort their reality by drugs that will addle their mind.

So too, the problem with spending lots of governmental money in the hopes of resolving drug abuse issues, without careful accountability to how that money is being spent, or how effective that money is in actually resolving drug addiction is a major mistake; especially in consideration, that damaged people that are abusing drugs, are going to be very susceptible to taking whatever form of help being issued for them, and thereby habitually finding a way to turn the assistance so being provided to them, as a way and means to get more access to those drugs. That is to say, there isn’t any greater shame in the expenditure of billions of dollars upon resolving drug addiction, in which the users of those drugs, trade then their welfare help to those that are the providers of those drugs, so that, in effect, monies earmarked to help the addicted, actually end up in the hands of those that are the exploiters of such addiction, in the first place.

Riots don’t occur by people that have a vested interest in their neighborhood

Imagine a neighborhood in which virtually everybody that lived within that neighborhood, owned their own homes. Those types of neighborhoods that have a very high percentage of their residents that live in owner-occupied homes, are almost never going to see those same people do anything that would purposely severely damage their homes, because of the fact that they actually live there, as well as the fact that their property is of immense value to them; in addition, to the salient fact that most rational people do not ever destroy that which has sizeable value, whether either personal or tangible..

So then, it’s fair to say, that riots never occur in very nice neighborhoods, not so much because the people that live there are very nice, though, they may well be; but basically, because each of the people living there have a vested interest in their neighborhood remaining very nice. On the other hand, there are those neighborhoods that are known more for being or in having pockets of despair, pockets of poverty, pockets of neglect, and pockets of frustration, in which, many of those that are owners of these properties or have businesses within or around the surrounding neighborhood, are primarily people that actually don’t live in the neighborhood, and don’t necessarily care a lot about it, or of the people that actually live there. Further to the point, whenever people in a neighborhood, believe that their landlord, or that the neighborhood store, does not seem to care for them, and treat them in a way and manner, in which they feel dehumanized, disrespected, or exploited, this breeds discontent.

As for riots, there comes a point when those that feel that they have no voice, and further that their situation is well-nigh hopeless, in which, oftentimes, we find that some significant event that has recently occurred is perceived as being so unjust to the people that live or congregate within that neighborhood, that this serves to set off the powder keg that was always susceptible to going completely off, and hence the riot begins. The riot that so ensues, is primarily going to be in the neighborhood in which the people that live there, have little or no vested interest in that neighborhood, because they own so little of it, and care not for it, or their situation within it, which is why they are just fine with the destruction, burning, and damage that is so caused by that ensuing riot.

Those that have nothing, are not going to behave in the same manner as those that have something, for those without, see themselves as being outside the system, and not an integral part of it. The objective, then, of any sensible neighborhood or society, is to at least attempt to reach out to those that have the greatest need, so as to have them to believe that they are actually desirable, needed, valuable, and of worth, by creating the conditions that give credence to such a belief. So then, give a person a reason to live and they will live. On the other hand, take away their dreams and hopes, and the most likely result will be rebellion, revolution, and rioting.

The elites and political capture

One might think that governmental laws, as well as the rules and regulations so set, do matter, when it comes to those important things, for example, such as the environment, taxation, corporate collusion, and labor issues.  What needs to be recognized, though, is whenever the fox is guarding the henhouse, then whatever that fox so wants and needs for itself, or for those that it answers to, then the result will always almost be in conformance with the desires of that fox.

It would be a mistake to ever believe that in the richest nation that the world has ever known -- that lots of concentrated money somehow would not have an incredible influencing power upon those actions so taken and subsequently judged upon in regards to business enterprises, by those that have the authority as public servants, to appropriately do that very thing.  In other words, while there are myriad ways for anybody or any institution to stand up and to make their case to the general public or to legislatures – the thing about the influence that money can buy, is that the easiest route to make sure that what needs to occur or not to occur, is to either have an undue influence upon critical public servants or basically to be that actual public servant, itself. 

Those then, that are public servants that have either been captured by the elites that have plenty of influence and power to exert upon them, or have been appointed to their position specifically by the elites to serve them, are going to do, way more times than not, exactly what those elites want, because they know then that taking care of the elites will be rather lucrative for them, on some level or another.  Because those elites have so much money and power, in addition, to the vital connections that they have developed, then pretty much whatever that they want they are going to get, whenever those that they deal with, are themselves corrupt, weak, malleable, or without principle. 

Whenever that government, of, for, and by the people, is not, in essence, actually any of those things, because those governmental representatives have been captured or have sold themselves to the elites of this nation, then the people effectively have had their democratic voice, nullified. So then, when the very people that are in charge of enforcing the law, implementing the law, and judging the law, on behalf of the people, aren’t actually doing their job in a responsible and diligent manner because they have been compromised or are corrupt, than the end result is not going to be beneficial for the people, in whole, but rather is going to be beneficial for those that are the actuators of such.

The important thing to keep in the foremost of one’s mind, is that the elites of this world, aren’t the same type of people, that desire to hold onto their power and influence for only a short finite period of time, but often want to hold onto their power for their own or for their progeny or for their corporations’ benefit, for as long as possible.  That is why the elites need political capture, because only in the accomplishment of that, can they be assured that what they so have and desire to have more of, will not be successfully challenged.

Corporate Executive Office pay, stock options, and share pricing

On the surface, it seems to make sense that tying corporate officer extra compensation pay with the increase in the share price of a given corporation, has got to be a win-win situation; in the sense that the corporate officers that are successful in accomplishing such, thus get more compensation, while the shareholders get the benefit of an increasing share price, as well; and possibly also, a higher dividend payment.  As good as this might be, there are several factors not taken into prudent consideration, of which, the most important one, is that the compensation package so being provided to all the other non-executive employees, along with their other benefits, has over the last few decades, seen that the gap between their pay against executive pay, which was already pretty outrageous, even back in the 1980s, that the ratio of the pay of those in the executive office compared to regular employees, has gotten ever increasingly greater over recent decades.  Additionally, whenever a substantial amount of the profits so made at a company are thus utilized to buy back its own shares, this means that the monies so earned, have not thus been earmarked for expansion, or for research and development, or for an increase in pay for regular employees, or basically for anything else that would be of benefit for those that are employed there, but rather the main purpose in buying back one’s own stock, is to help “jack” the price of that respective stock, higher.  Also, to believe that the overriding reason why corporations are able to make good profits, somehow comes down to almost exclusively those in the executive offices, is virtually never true, especially for those corporations that employ thousands of people and have offices all over the world.

There is though, another valid reason, for why the executive office, should not have their additional compensation tied so lucratively to the stock price, which has an awful lot to do with the fact that highly intelligent and clever people, that are motivated by money, above all, are going to be susceptible to doing the types of things that will get them that money, whether or not, this is good for the corporation, at large, for the long term, or not.  In other words, any incentive which is structured in a way in which the lure of that incentive is so high, is going to lend itself to being “gamed,” by those that don’t care for much of anything other than how that they can get their hands on that money, and if that thus means bending the rules, or breaking the rules, than such will probably be done.

To believe that all those in the executive office who already have the prestige, the power, the money, and the best of benefits, have to have even more money as an incentive to do an even better job, are short-sighted in that sort of thinking; and are inconsiderate, of that fact, that the very best well-run corporations, first make sure to fairly take care of all of those that are its employees as not only the right thing to do, but the most sensible thing to do, as well.

A legitimate government needs to be accountable to the people

When it comes to the governance, of, for, and by the people, it is imperative that our governmental representatives from top to bottom, are faithfully responsible to the people as well as to the Constitution that they are sworn to obey and to uphold.  Regrettably, that type of governance does not currently exist in the United States, because the people, to a very meaningful extent, have no real opportunity to know what their government is really up to of that which is of most importance, and thus then hold that government accountable for its subsequent actions and inactions – for our current governance consistently displays a clear lack of integrity, openness, and transparency.  Indeed, too much of present day governance involves all sorts of secrets upon secrets, hidden from not only the people, themselves; but often even hidden from those that should have the legislative oversight to see and to know what is really going on.  In short, this government, cannot be trusted, because it presents itself in a way and manner, in which that government is opaque, not forthcoming, and far too often, purposely deceitful to the people.

The very best of governments, are those that have as their very purpose, to do what is right and what is necessary for the people.  Further to the point, legitimate governments, are the type of governments, that do not obfuscate, lie, cheat, deceive, and misuse their power to the detriment of the people.  Whenever what the government is doing on behalf of the people, is not fully disclosed, debated upon, and discussed openly, then it is not thus possible for the people to have a true voice so as to approve or disapprove of such.  To believe then that the government always has the best interests of the people in mind, is belied by the fact that some of the most meaningful things so being performed by that government are forever secret, unexplained, and never open for discussion or debate with the general public.

All those that exercise the most important democratic power so provided to them in secret, are not true to what that government is supposed to so represent.  While there are certainly going to be those times when secrecy and discretion is necessary, the bottom line is that this should be the exception to the rule, and never the rule, itself.  Additionally, it hardly seems fair or right, that this government has never known so much about its own individual people about who and what they really are then what we so see at the present time – yet, in contrast, never has this government had so much that it so does and performs, be hidden behind closed doors, as pretty much being the normal course of its business.

When any government will not permit itself or has structured itself in a form in which it cannot and will not be accountable to the people, then that government is not itself, legitimate, and has become a bastardization of what good governance is all about.  It has been said, “trust, but verify,” but there can’t even be trust, when there is nothing of substance to be verified, because what needs to be verified, is not even known, or even available to be investigated, properly.  All those then, in positions of power and governance, that want trust and obedience, deserve neither, if they themselves are not open and honest.

Civilization necessitates self-restraint and self-control

For a certainty, there are plenty of people that are overly proud that America, represents for them: freedom and liberty; and not just any freedom and liberty, but pretty much this means that they can do whatever that they want, whenever that they want, forever, if they want.  Of course, even those that profess those thoughts, recognize that freedom and liberty does have to involve some degree of reasonable restraints that are necessitated, because without such, there would not really be any semblance of civilization as we know it, but rather it would basically be chaos.

The main reason why we have so many laws, rules, and regulations, is to temper humankind’s desire for absolute liberty, with reasonable restraints that thus serve to not only help to secure and benefit the public, at large, but also as a way and means to keep people from basically infringing upon the rights of others, that would be violated, if these laws, rules, and regulations were not so imposed.  That is to say, our liberty can never be a one-way street, in which everything that we so desire to do, is ours for the taking, because in a society like that, doing that is going to inevitably create conflict with all those that have different ideas and different desires that they so wish to invoke and indulge in.  So then, without reasonable self-restraint and self-control being exercised within society, we do so find that not too surprisingly, there won’t be enough paper in the world, to thus conceive of all the laws, rules, and regulations so needed, that would fairly take into account every conceivable contingency that would invariably come up.  Rather, what we find is that for a wholesome civilization to exist and to thrive, this thus necessitates that each individual demonstrate their capacity to utilize suitable self-restraint and self-control for the greater good of that society.

That is to say, laws, rules, and regulations, no matter how well written or how sound in structure, have a tendency to be bent, ignored, or not enforced consistently, so that effectively, they aren’t going to be as robust as envisioned or intentioned.  On the other hand, people that have developed appropriate self-control and self-restraint, and further know what they really should or should not be doing, and thus exercise proper discretion in their interactions with one another, are going to help make for a better civilization, as opposed to those that aren’t able to control or to restrain their selves.  

Those then that believe that all we really need in order to have a good civilization is more law and order, don’t seem to recognize that all the law and order in the world, will never be enough to control or restrain any population, if they are unwilling to amend their ways, because they don’t desire to do so, don’t think it’s right, or perhaps don’t know any better.  That is why it is so important, that we properly educate people to know that the freedom and liberty that we so desire to have, has incumbent responsibilities placed upon each individual, and when we appropriately exercise self-restraint and self-control we are thus doing our fair part to make for a better civilization, for all.

High Frequency Trading (HFT) should be banned

A significant portion of Americans have investments in the stock market, via their IRA account, or through their 401K account, or through their own brokerage account.  The current market capitalization of the S&P 500, as of June, 2023, is $36.609 trillion, of which those 500 leading companies, represent approximately 80% of the entire market capitalization of the United States stock market.  So then, as it has been said, the best place to make money at or to take money from, is where the money actually is, and that amount of money as so represented by the S&P 500, is absolutely staggering.

High Frequency Trading (HFT) is something that is of very recent vintage, in which, the buying and selling of stock equities are conducted utilizing sophisticated algorithmic trading, so done at speeds that are measured in the milliseconds, in which these HFT companies, execute trades of buying and then selling the same equities so bought, in a matter of those milliseconds, in which their profit, is extremely small, but the volume of what they are so trading is quite large.  The way then that HFT makes their money, without risk, is basically HFT firms getting out in front, by milliseconds, of legitimate stock orders so being made by institutional or retail traders, and then they make their profit, by getting that equity at a slightly cheaper price, whereupon they then sell such to that institutional or retail trader.  This then, done often enough, can make for those HFT firms, profits in the millions upon millions of dollars, for basically “front running” stock after stock after stock.

We read at businessinsider.com, that “In its IPO prospectus, High Frequency Trading firm Virtu reveals it had one losing trading day in 1,238 days of trading.”  That, in and of itself, is proof positive, that HFT is clearly an unfair advantage so executed by HFT firms at the expense of institutional and retail investors.  Further to the point, those profits so going to HFT firms, essentially represent monies being extracted from institutional and retail investors, that provides no appreciable benefit, to society, at large, but rather an exclusive and unfair benefit to these HFT firms.

While HFT firms should be properly banned from trading, the best way to deal with such, is probably the simplest, which is to impose an extremely small financial transaction fee tax on each and every trade of stock so made on the stock exchange.  This tax, would be tiny enough, that to the institutional and retail sellers, it would not make much of a difference, and such a tax as that, could also be rebated to institutional and retail buyers, if they held onto a given security for at least a period of six months.  On the other hand, a financial transaction fee attached to every share so sold and bought, would severely damage the HFT trading model.  Additionally, if this wasn’t enough to put HFT firms out of business, a new tax bracket should be created, in which equities held for a period of less than one week, would be taxed at a rate of at least 50%, and preferably more.

The thing about HFT trading is that it produces absolutely no benefit to society, but rather serves essentially as a trading model which imposes upon institutions and regular investors, an unfair disadvantage that they cannot overcome because of HFT front running, which thus serves to beat them to the punch, by milliseconds, ad nauseum.