A PUBLIC LYNCHING

 I just posted the following article on Facebook today, January 13, 2021. It's one week after the U.S. Capitol was stormed by a bunch of organized, trained thugs, extremists and domestic terrorists supposedly incited by the outgoing President Donald Trump. NOT! These people acted on their own volition and need to be held accountable for their actions. Trump did not lead them. He did not tell them to storm the Capitol. He did not instruct or command them to break in, cause damage, steal anything or intimidate or attack any people. He simply indicated they should march down to the Capitol where the vice-president was counting and confirming the electoral college ballots with the House of Representatives and the Senate for the next president of the United States.

I was working on something else and the TV was on in the other room and I was listening to the proceedings going on in the House of Representatives to impeach President Trump for the second time when he only has seven days left in office. I got very sick listening to these people as you'll read below. I couldn't hold back. I had to shut the puke coming out of these people's mouths out of my mind. So, I turned off the TV and sat down and wrote this article for Facebook. Perhaps you've already read it there. I have no plans to follow up on it, but I'm expecting to be brutally attacked by a large number of people. And, I fully expect that these cretins in Washington, DC are going to succeed in destroying many lifelong friendships. I don't plan to end any friendships. However, if others decide to end our friendships, that will be by their choice, not mine. And, obviously, I guess politics is more important than friendship in those cases. So, here's what I said on Facebook.

                                                                                     ***********

This is a one-time post from me on this subject! I'll probably be banned from Facebook - and so be it! And, it will be just one more knife in the back of freedom of speech in this country!

I NEVER thought I'd be witness to a public lynching. I just had to turn off the live news feed of the biggest lynch mob I've ever heard of. It's called the United States Congress. I now know that in order to become a "so-called" elected representative of the people of this country you have to have an IQ that exceeds 12 but does not surpass 50. I had to turn it off because I was literally about to vomit my guts out listening to these imbeciles.

People are suffering and dying of Covid-19. Our military men and women are spread all over the world, millions have died over the years (and I'm a veteran myself) - supposedly defending our freedom and Constitution - and meanwhile - the people in the (supposedly) People's House are defiling that Constitution and tearing it apart. And, there are dozens, if not hundreds of real-world, important issues for the US citizens that should be the real business of the Congress. They have ignored most of them for the past four years because they were too busy trying to lynch the president - and have continuously failed.

Business as Usual - Elections 2014

Flickr Photo - Creative Commons License 2011 - Kevan

Well, thank goodness (actually, there is no goodness) the 2014 mid-term elections are over. It reached a point where I'd find myself retching every time another political ad came on or I'd see it in print. I hung up on robo calls - (thankfully, I got few). For everyone reading this who still believes government is or can be good, well just keep your Shirley Temple, Good Ship Lollipop mentality.

Government is not good - in any form! It never has been and never will be. It is, unfortunately, necessary. It's necessary because most humans (notice I didn't make that all inclusive) have the basic drives and abilities to survive individually. But, put a group of them together and they act like a pack, herd, gaggle, flock (choose your word) and ultimately an alpha human will emerge and control the rights of the rest of the group. Oh, and by the way, I'm already sick of the 2016 election campaign and it hasn't even officially begun, yet. . . READ MORE

In Review...So Much To Cover

Wow! The past several weeks have been a blur. There is so much that has transpired. I'm going to make this a potpourri of topics. Most of what I'll relate here will be of a positive nature. However, there may be a few things that come across as negative. These are my feelings and experiences and accordingly, you may accept them any way you choose.

The Living Free Blog

This blog has now been in existence for five years and seven and a half months. To date I have posted 431 articles including this one and 128 of the posts have been Photos-of-the-Week. It has grown from a very few views per month (my thought was, is there really anyone out there in cyberspace?) to a peak of more than 8,400 views in a month and a current average of more than 4,000 views per month. It has been viewed in 100 countries. Of course, the U.S. is where the predominant number of views come from. The U.S. is followed by France, Germany, Russia, China and the UK in that order.

So, why do I mention this? I mention it because I am in awe of these numbers. Now, let me be honest. I know there are many blogs that have numbers that are astronomical compared to my numbers. I follow many of them myself. However, I find that there is a growing interest in the concept of living free and the fact that people like you are reading what I have to say indicates that you are part of this growing trend and find some ideas and value in my personal thoughts and philosophies. That humbles me. I have a "Living Free" business card I hand out to people when I meet them in person (as I did on Wednesday and Thursday of this week). I have yet to have a negative response from anyone. The vast majority want to learn more and more about the concept seeking a way to implement at least part of it in their own lives. My attitude is that if I only impact one life in a positive way through my writing and/or exposing people to my philosophies I am successful.

The Daily Simple - Blog

While a main premise of my living free philosophy is living simply, I continue to find far more things of value to write about than I can ever get to. Just this morning I was reading one of the blogs I follow, "The Daily Simple," and the writer, Aubrey, made some interesting observations and tips on blogging. She says that writing for numbers, to build email lists, to fulfill a category or fill a niche and blogging on a very tightly maintained schedule are not important to her. Expressing her thoughts, feelings and experiences are what is important. I can easily relate to what she wrote after my eight years of blogging experience and five and a half years with the Living Free blog. If you're a blogger and you're interested in her comments you can read her post IT TOOK ME 8 BLOGS.

Rethinking The Dream - Blog

In another blog, interestingly named "Rethinking TheDream" (that's The American Dream) the blogger, who goes by the name Freedom, provided a link to a recent article in The Futurist Magazine, the magazine of the World Future Society. It's actually an article that appears annually and predicts the "Top 10 Forecasts for 20XX and Beyond." This article is about predictions for 2014. Prediction #5 seems to be one that resonated with Freedom and with me, "Buying and owning things will go out of style."

Here's the gist of this prediction:

"The forecast: “The markets for housing, automobiles, music, books, and many other products show a common trend: Younger consumers opting to rent or subscribe to pay-per-use arrangements instead of buying and owning the physical products. Shared facilities will overtake established offices, renting units will become more common than owning a home, and sales of books and music might never become popular again.” From “Consumption 2.0,” by Hugo Garcia, January–February, 2013."

I don't want to say that I can see into the future, but I've been talking about this for several years now. Consumerism has run amuck and probably done more to deprive people, especially, Americans, from the freedom that people came to this New World to realize. Of course, there is a very significant downside to this forecast. If this is a trend and continues to be adopted by more and more people, it's going to put a huge crimp in our economy. Remember, our entire economy is based on all of us running out to our local Walmarts, Targets, Kmarts, Sam's, BJ's and Costco Warehouse Clubs, Toys R Us, boat dealers, car dealers, motorcycle dealers, etc. and buying, buying, buying so that we can then keep the credit card and banks and  insurance businesses afloat with all the various kinds of insurance we need. And, of course, let's not forget all the housing developers who are building houses for everyone to own to become enslaved to the monthly costs of interest, taxes, insurance, utilities, upgrades, additions and all the stuff we have to fill the houses with.

There will have to be some serious rethinking by all these huge industries and by our governments who are totally dependent on tax revenue derived from the Gross National Product - the Economy. If the GNP declines, so will the taxes they can extract from our pockets. OMG, what will these spendthrifts do - will they be able to borrow MORE money to spend on things we could probably do without and still live very comfortably? Or, do you think they might just figure it out when our economy declines and the countries that have been keeping us afloat (make that keeping the U.S. government as well as state and local governments afloat) won't risk any more money on us and we'll actually have to CUT THE COST OF OPERATING GOVERNMENT? How would that work?

Well, change is inevitable. I personally get rather sick and tired of hearing our politicians urging us to go spend more money so the economy can grow. I love their rhetoric about how they are going to "create jobs." Doing what? If everyone is in a leaner, meaner, cutting back mode and that appears to be the trend for the foreseeable future, if not forever, then businesses are going to cut back and require less and less employees. Government won't have the tax revenue to keep hiring millions of redundant, less efficient, non-essential workers to do less work. It looks like a conundrum for those who are leveraged up to their ears in mortgages, car, boat, huge RV loans and credit card debt. Won't this be an interesting scenario to watch playing out? Those of us who had this figured out a long time ago and took the action to downsize and simplify will be relaxing and breathing easy as we live free and happy. Time will tell.

They're Baaaack . . .

Yes indeed! The nearly 800,000 non-essential federal government employees are back on the job again doing their non-essential work. Wait a minute! If they are non-essential employees that means that their work really is non-essential. So, if it's non-essential - why the hell are we tax payers paying for this work and these people? Seems to me that this is just another form of extremely expensive WELFARE with very expensive lifetime BENEFITS. And not only that, the government can't even call a spade a spade. If they were private sector employees they would have been laid off. But, golly gee Uncle Ned, they weren't laid off, they were furloughed. Now, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the definition of furlough in the case of a non-military individual is: a period of time when an employee is told not to come to work and is not paid.

But, wait...the reason we had to "furlough" these non-essential government employees and relieve them from doing their non-essential work was because there was no money to pay them.

But, never fear, the modern day Uncle Sam is a very benevolent kind of guy. When private sector workers get laid off and whine about how they can't afford to pay their bills, how their mortgages will go into default and their vehicles will be repossessed, etc., I never see anyone in the government shed a tear or lose a good night's sleep over it. But, oh my, if a non-essential government worker is going to have to bite the bullet and struggle, suffer, maybe even endure some economic pain, well, our representatives can't allow that to happen now, can they. So, they furlough them, no non-essential work gets done, some of them even apply for unemployment insurance and get paid for not working. And good ole Uncle Sugar comes through and grants them all FULL BACK PAY for the time they were at home sitting on their asses, whining, sobbing and double dipping in some cases.

Wait! We didn't have money to pay them, which is why they were furloughed in the first place. But, hey! That's okay; our representatives passed a bill allowing the government to borrow more money on top of the 17+ TRILLION dollars (actually an estimated $123 TRILLION dollars in unfunded liabilities) visible national debt. So, the Chinese and Japanese and any other "sucker" country will pay all that back pay and continue to pay the non-essential workers doing non-essential work. Additionally, they'll pay my (our, for those of us receiving our BENEFITS - they are NOT entitlements, thank you very much) Social Security and Medicare since those same shameless, incompetent elected supposed representatives of "We the people" blew all the money they were entrusted with to make grow to pay to us one day. Social Security and Medicare are NOT entitlements. They were funded by involuntary contributions everyone has to make. If one is self-employed it costs about 15.6% of your annual salary or if you are employed the 15.6% involuntary tax is split 50/50 with your employer up to a cap of $113,700 of your salary.

Unfortunately, those funds were swept into the general fund and the Social Security and Medicare trusts were left with IOU's which are, for all practical intents and purposes, worthless because they are backed by the good credit and faith of a government that has unfunded liabilities of about $123 Trillion dollars and no way to fund them. In real world terms, that's called BANKRUPT!

So, did anyone REALLY think that the "so-called" government shutdown (which it never really was since we only furloughed, WITH FULL PAY, 800,000 non-essential workers who were doing non-essential work) would stay "shutdown" for long and that at least a temporary increase in the borrowing ceiling wouldn't be passed at the 11th hour? Of course you didn't and neither did I. It was all just posturing. It's like a bunch of bullies on the playground when we were in elementary school. There was only one loser from all of this bullshit and that was the average American citizen. I just keep wondering how long it's going to take for the majority of this country to wake up to reality. But, here's the real clincher. Some of those people who were furloughed actually did have important, or shall we call them essential, jobs and lots of other truly non-essential government employees were kept working because they served the pleasure of the "ruling class." I'm sure the president's chef and butler's and all the secret service, etc. weren't furloughed. After all, our employee, the president of the United States couldn't be expected to have his wife cook him a meal or worse, yet, the president open a can of soup and warm it up in the microwave. And many of the people furloughed, maybe even a large percentage of them, were furloughed to make the American people feel pain for political purposes. Bottom line, the entire shutdown, in my opinion was a political sham, blackmail.

The Informed vs. The Uninformed

I took an online quiz this morning sent to me by an old high-school friend. The quiz, The News IQ Quiz, was from the Pew Research Center and asked only 13 questions. It compared my results against those of 1,052 randomly selected participants in a controlled survey. I scored higher than 95% of the rest of the population regardless of gender, education and age. Now, let me make this clear, I'm not boasting. It's really sad that someone like me, just an average American, can score higher than 95% of the rest of the surveyed individuals. The survey is, of course, supposed to represent a sampling of the population as a whole, as all surveys normally are designed to do. Actually, I find it scary that I found these current event questions so easy as to score in the 5% of the population who are informed on what is supposedly happening in our current course of events. My concern is that the other 95% of the people in the U.S. also vote and support the incompetence that is displayed by our government.

Black and White and Shades of Gray . . .

So, I was talking with a friend (a retired federal employee, who probably would or could have been considered part of the 800,000 non-essential employees) on my way back from my short trip to Pennsylvania yesterday for the Ribbon Cutting and Dedication of the Charlie "Tremendous" Jones Conference Center. I've written before about my late friend, Charlie Jones. You can look up earlier posts if you're interested in who he was. But, the friend I was speaking to on the drive back (by cellular phone with speakerphone) is a very liberal Democrat. He has told me on several occasions that it doesn't matter who the candidate is, whether he can spell his own name and tie his own shoelaces or if he's brilliant and informed or if he's a convicted rapist, murderer, money launderer or mobster, if he's a Democrat, my friend will vote for him. To him there is only black and white.

Now, to be fair, I have conservative Republican friends who have that same black and white mentality. It doesn't matter who the candidate is or his qualifications, if he's a Republican, he automatically gets the vote.

So the conversation slid into the current events of the 800,000 non-essential employees being back at work doing the non-essential work they are assigned. My friend, who lives right outside Washington, DC said he was glad they were back to work because the traffic and congestion was back down to normal weekday levels again instead of being as bad as the weekend traffic in that region.

Now, let me offer a side note, if all these government workers who were furloughed were whining and whimpering about being in such peril of losing their homes and defaulting on their credit card debt, what the hell were they all doing out on the roads burning $3.50/gallon gas in their gas guzzling SUV's and buying, buying, buying stuff in all the stores? Me thinks something stinks in the Nation's Capital area.

But, back to my friend, he immediately expressed that all the Democrats were right and the Republicans were stupid, wrong and trying to bring the nation down. My comment was that I thought that both sides were nothing more than juvenile kindergarteners fighting over a toy and neither wanted to give an inch and should all be thrown out of their offices - fired, if you will. He immediately started to object to me classifying his beloved incompetent, liberal, Democratic Party as juvenile kindergarteners. I cut him off and said, you had your say and believe your way - and I have my right to my beliefs and to express them. So, let's stop the conversation and agree to disagree because since there is nothing that he or any extreme right wing Republican could say to change my beliefs.

The Crux of the Matter

And that is exactly why we have the problems in the U.S. that we do. People let other people think for them and tell them what they should believe - and they do. I find no difference between the two parties as far as their mentality, behavior, ethics and, in some cases, morality. And, further, I don't think I can count the number of people in elected positions on one hand who are not there for their own self-serving reasons. Frankly, if I still had a young child, I wouldn't trust any one of them to baby sit my kid. I believe there are some positive things that are supported by each side of the two party system. Unfortunately, I find it virtually impossible to accept and agree fully or even halfway with either side. If you want to be free you have to think for yourself. Others may not agree with your way of thinking or your philosophies, however, to be free everyone has to have the right to their own beliefs and to live by those beliefs as long as they don't infringe on the rights and freedom of anyone else.

Passing judgment as to the choices others make is way above my pay grade. But, I don't want some elected, appointed or hired individual who is in their position - at my pleasure - and that of all the other citizens they represent, telling me how to live or run my life. They are there to serve us, not the other way around. That's right! They are our hired hands and should be kissing our rings if there is any ring kissing to be done. We pay their paychecks, they don't pay ours. I'm not interested in having anyone telling me I have to do anything, including buying health insurance or penalizing me if I don't. That's my choice.

Life is not black and white. And life is not only all shades of gray. Life is a pallet of 256 million colors and we should each have the right to paint our lives any way we choose.

Anyone choosing to work for any government agency at any level is fine with me. Obviously  I have my feelings about how many government employees are needed especially at the federal level. If you happen to be one of the 800,000 federal employees deemed non-essential and you don't like what I have to say, it's not personal. My issue is with the system. But, you'll have to Deal With It! Since I, the private sector and the GNP are paying your salary, we're ultimately the boss. I, like you,  have the right to think and express what I think. It's probably damaging to your ego to find out that you're non-essential, as it would be in the private sector. But, that's okay. That's a choice you made and I don't judge you one way or the other. I've had many friends who were government employees or are retired from government service. I lived my life the way I chose and you lived yours the way you chose. If/when the government finally gets to a point where it can't afford to sustain 800,000 non-essential workers any longer you may find yourselves among the millions of your private sector brothers and sisters who can't find good jobs. They may already have or you and they may lose your homes and will have to adjust to a more minimalist and simplified lifestyle, probably for the rest of your lives. This will be difficult for you and you'll probably be depressed. You'll have contempt for the private sector and probably for people like me who realized where things were going and voluntarily modified our lifestyles making us freer and happier than we've ever been. Life is nothing but choices and when you let someone else make them for you, you'll most likely never be happy with them.

I leave those of you who choose to live in a black and white world to your choice while I live in a brilliant, full-color world full of adventures and experiences. 

Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

I'm sure most everyone in the United States over the age of, perhaps, 10 or 12, has heard one or more rendition of this Grammy Hall of Fame, multiple award winning song penned by the great folk writer/singer, Pete Seeger in 1955. It has been recorded by so many people from the folk, rock, R&B, jazz, country and even classical genres that the artists read like a Who's Who of musicians from the past 50+ years. If you don't remember all the lyrics, you can look them up on the Web. You'll also find YouTube videos of some of the many people who performed the song including Pete Seeger, himself, and iconic folk groups of the late 50's and 60's like Peter, Paul, and Mary, Joan Baez, The Kingston Trio and others. Ultimately, it was a folk song about politics and war. The war back in those times was the very unpopular Vietnam War.

The words of the song came to mind this morning as I was reading through some of the various blogs, news feeds and other online information sites I peruse fairly frequently. Of course, one of the main topics of discussion in so many of the feeds was about the U.S. taking military action in Syria. This has been very disturbing to me of late. It's not just about the most obvious, overt aspects of this action. It's also about the layers and layers of underlying aspects of it all.

Proud To Be An American

First, let me say that I'm proud to be an American. Not only am I proud of my American heritage, I also feel blessed and very lucky to have had the great fortune to have been born in this country. I do not disparage any other country or anyone else's national heritage. I hope you are and you should be as proud of your country and citizenship as I feel about mine. Pride in our country, our homeland is a reflection of all those who came before us and paved the path. Unfortunately, most of the paths, whether in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world have some very dark, even ugly, things that happened in history. A lot of people want to simply sweep these things under the carpet and make believe they never existed. In many cases, the history books are written to reflect only the "good and righteous," making out anyone who was against the "good and righteous" as the bad guy, the enemy. However, since we are not privy to the entire history, all the fact, the real motivations behind many unspoken things, we buy into it.

The U.S. and all of those Americans who have been paving this path since the Europeans came to the New World and settled it have not realistically left behind such a pristine "good and righteous" record. We have not always been the "Good Guys" in the white hats. To listen to many of our elected representatives talk, one could be led to believe we have a right to pontificate over the rest of the world, that our way is the "right way" and the "only way." Remember, I just started this by saying I'm proud to be an American and I am. However, I am definitely not proud of all of our history or our record, both domestically and internationally. We have no base for a "holier than thou" attitude.

War and Peace

I am a veteran of the U.S. military. I proudly served my country. I served my country during one of the numerous unpopular wars, the Vietnam War. I served during a period of time when serving our country wasn't necessarily voluntary. All of the young men of our country, by law, had to register with the Selective Service Commission, better known to those of us of the time as the "Draft Board." The Selective Service System actually dates back to 1917 and has been changed, revised, reformed rescinded, reinstated and continues today, however, there is no active conscription or draft, currently. The Draft Board selection of those to be drafted changed to a "lottery" system in November of 1969 and by 1973, as the Vietnam War was winding down, the draft was abandoned and an all volunteer military replaced it. But, while the "draft" was in force, a single letter from a young man's Draft Board could and, usually did, change his life forever. I was one of those who, in the spring of 1969 was the recipient of one of those letters. I, however, chose to voluntarily enlist in the U.S. Air Force for a term of four years and having some control over my destiny versus being conscripted for two years with little, if any, choice of how my life and person would be used by our government and military.

Much has changed since my days in the Air Force. Being a member of the U.S. Military back before the all volunteer military took full force was little more than "indentured servitude." My entry-level pay as an Airmen Basic (no stripes) was $115.20 per month or $1,382.40 per year. I had already completed a master's degree by the time I had to go into the military, but there were no officer openings for someone like me. They only wanted pilots and navigators, which I didn't qualify for. If I could have gone in as an O1 (2nd Lt.), my pay would have been a whopping $386.40 per month or $4,636.80 per year. When I left the Air Force in March of 1973 as a Staff Sergeant, I was earning $328.80 per month plus they gave me $47.88 for subsistence and $70.20 for housing each month (my one room apartment in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC cost me $134.00 per month). If you tally that up I had a total of $446.88 (before taxes) per month or $5,362.56 per year.

Since I was already trained and experienced, the Air Force didn't have to expend anytime or money to train me. To put these figures in better perspective, when I left Syracuse to enter the military I was earning $5,317.00 per year on a 20 hour per week 9-month contract as a "technical consultant" (I was teaching junior college students television and radio production). That would have been the equivalent to about $14,560.00 per year on a full-time 40-hour week, 52-week year, a very handsome annual income for that time for a 24 year old. So, you can see why I called military service "indentured servitude."

Compare that to the current military earnings (actually, 2011 was the latest year I could find) for the same enlisted grades and time in service that I was in 1969-73. A current Airmen Basic receives an initial pay of $1,357.20 per month (and all housing and subsistence is provided as it was for me). That equates to an annual starting salary of $18,446.40 including basic uniforms, health, housing and subsistence. On a 40 hour equivalent that's about $8.87 per hour, well over minimum wage and the Airman doesn't have any of the expenses to feed, house, clothe or pay for healthcare. At the other end of the spectrum, today's Staff Sergeant with over three years in service would be earning $2,337.90 per month, plus $325.04 per month for subsistence and $599.40 for a housing allowance. That is a total of $3,262.34 per month or $39,148.08 per year. And those figures are only for an unmarried individual. The allocation is higher if the enlisted member has one or more dependents. There are, of course, other perks including 30 days paid leave, medical care, the use of the Base (Post) Exchange and Commissary for buying civilian items, groceries, liquor, gasoline, on-base restaurants, etc. at deeply discounted rates compared to the civilian economy off base. There are also very attractive educational benefits available to active military members.

My point is not to disparage today's modern military member. I'm simply pointing out that today's military members are not subject to "indentured servitude." Yes! They are warriors, just as we were during the Vietnam era, the Korean War, World War II, World War I and before. But, today, being a member of the military allows for respect in the community as opposed to very frequently being treated as second or third class citizens during my time in the military.

Here's the thing. War is war! I don't care if it was during Vietnam, like my service or during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. War is still and always will be war. It is ugly! It changes people in many ways, often unspeakable. It causes people (in today's military, men and women alike) to do things they never would have dreamed of doing before being subjected to the horrors of war and never knowing what will happen to you or your buddies next. Today's military are fortunate to have much better and advanced training and techniques. They have superior weapons and equipment for the most part. But, that still doesn't keep them out of harm's way. Vietnam didn't have all of these advances and we ended up with about 60,000 deaths and a lot of physically and mentally wounded warriors. In 21st Century warfare we only realized about 6,717 deaths combined from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars over more than a decade. Although the numbers in the chart I referred to only indicated about 50,900 wounded, in reality the total number of wounded warriors, especially those suffering from traumatic brain injuries, numerous mental disorders and other hidden, long term injuries could number well into the hundreds of thousands. War is hell and it impacts many more people than those who actually carry the weapons and fight in combat zones. It tears families apart and changes every dream and hope for the future these families ever had.

Where Have All The Young Men (and Women) Gone, Gone to Soldiers Every One

So, why am I on this rant today? Hey! I'm proud to be an American. I'm proud that I shouldered the responsibility and served my country, despite the fact that I had other plans for my life. I'm proud of my comrades and their families who endured the various horrors, indignities, injustices, disrespect (during the Vietnam era) and I'm proud to stand among them. We are all part of what makes America great. No! Not the killing, the blanket bombing, the napalming, the hand-to-hand combat or any of that. It's knowing that we stand together, strong, to defend our homeland, our families and our American way of life.

Here's what really, really gets to me. It's some guy in Washington, DC who has never actually proven himself and yet, he can make decisions to put our lives and lifestyle and the American way of life on the line. He's a guy who did not particularly excel in college, few people even remember him, smoked dope and admits it, never did anything notable or was really even heard of before a run for the state government of, possibly the most corrupt state in the country, where he did nothing of note. Then made it to the Congress, where he again did nothing of note and never completed a full term in the Senate. He never served in the military. He didn't live in the U.S. for a number of his formative years. His campaigns (which are ever on going) are media blitzes. I called him a "Rock Star" back then and I don't see any change. His cronies are much like him, some of them having questionable histories. His ego precedes him. He doesn't have a clue what real Americans are all about or what's happening in their homes and hometowns. I could go on and on, but this same guy who was going to end the wars started by his predecessor didn't really wind them down until it was time for reelection. He takes credit for the few great things that have happened, even if he didn't initiate them and blames someone else or sets up a fall guy to take the hit if whatever he is doing backfires. And he is deciding to enter America, my, our country, in yet another war action we can't win.

America versus the American Government

Let me make this important distinction. The government of the United States is NOT America or the United States. WE, the people are America. We live, work, sweat and pay for this United States. The government is only some paid hands. In my book, they are overpaid, under worked, over privileged hands and have no authority other than that allowed them by US. We pay their salaries and finance their staffs and their free air travel and overseas trips (called fact finding missions - right). This guy occupying The People's House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and his sidekick from Delaware who also gets free housing in an elite home at the people's expense DO NOT represent me. And apparently, from a variety of surveys and polls, they don't represent us either. We don't want, need and can't afford another war (supposedly limited action - right - more "Awe and Shock"). We're going to be paying for these last two wars for decades, especially for those wounded warriors who paid the price - FOR WHAT? We accomplished virtually nothing (as was true of Vietnam) for the decade of fighting two wars. We actually don't get that much of our oil from the Middle East any longer - and we already have resources on this continent to replace that Middle Eastern oil. Interestingly, we claim that we are doing this for Israel, yet, why is Israel one of the countries who is spying on us and who doesn't trust us nor we them? Why do we continue to give hard earned American dollars to these Middle Eastern regimes when nothing changes? They are big boys and girls. They should solve their own problems. We have too many problems that need solving in our own country the taxpayer money could be better spent on.

As I read this morning and the old Pete Seeger song passed through my mind, I thought, I don't want to fire hundreds of millions of dollars of missiles into Syria. It's not our problem. We've offered all kinds of help and they don't want anything except to kill one another. They've been doing this for over a millennium. Why do we think we'll change that? Let someone else handle the problem this time. The Russians got their pants beat in Afghanistan, but we smugly thought we were better than them. So, we got our pants beat in Afghanistan, too. Hey! But we finally got Osama bin Laden - IN PAKISTAN. We went to Afghanistan to get bin Laden, and blew over a decade, and a trillion plus dollars - and here was bin Laden, living comfortably in another country - probably laughing the entire time. Well, he got his, but totally at our huge expense.

The government is not us and it is not America. Our liberties and personal freedoms are being eroded from us little by little, day by day. It's an insidious disease, like a slow growing cancer. It happens so slowly that most people don't even realize what's happening . . . until it reaches Stage IV and it's too late to do anything about it. WE are America. The guy in the White House works for US, we don't work for him. The same holds true for the over cocky, over ego-driven, self-serving mental midgets on Capitol Hill and in the Supreme Court. But, believe me, the Rock Star is going to plunk those missiles in Syria and when the shit hits the fan, he's going to blame the mental midgets on Capitol Hill and come back on TV with another of his shit eating grins and pompous speeches.

Where Have All The Flowers Gone, Long Time Coming?

Sorry for my rant today. You know I don't like getting political and do my best to avoid it. But, It's time to start leading the world in positive ways like rebuilding our economy, strengthening our NATIONAL DEFENSE - which means making sure our borders are secure and we can fight off an enemy attacking us at home. We need to restore our freedoms and liberties and our American way of life. We need to get the police state back in check. We need to fix our schools and educate our future generations. We need to work at finding a REAL solution to escalating healthcare costs and not create a system that is already unfair and it's not even already fully implemented. There is so much to be done right here and we have to do it, but we can't if our own government is working against us and depleting our economy and resources. Then they are spewing out all kinds of divisive bullshit that pits us against one another rather than creates an environment of camaraderie, fellowship, neighborhood/community and cooperation so we can all enjoy our homeland and be proud to be Americans.

That's it! My rant! I'm going to crawl back in my hole and start working on more ideas about personal freedom and living free. 

Photo-of-the-Week #107 - The Symbol of Freedom and Controversy, Washington, DC, May, 2006

It was seven years ago. It was dusk. I was in Washington, DC attending the Book Expo America trade show; the largest trade show for the book publishing industry in the U.S. The show was actually at the DC Convention Center. I shot this photo from the area surrounding the Capitol Building near Union Station and the U.S. Post Office building on Capitol Hill.

Photos of this building fill me with bittersweet thoughts and mixed emotions. On the one hand it is the symbol of "freedom," as defined by what most people describe as the greatest experiment in a functional republic and democracy the world have ever known throughout the thousands of years of civilization. On the other hand, it is also the seat of scandal, controversy and exploitation - all three in many forms. As an idealistic youth studying world history and American history and due to my lack of experience, limited knowledge of the world and naiveté, I believed in mother, apple pie, baseball and the American flag completely and without questioning. This building, the White House and the other great government buildings of Washington, DC represented what I understood as good, as true freedom and The American Way.

My views began to change a bit when I HAD to register with the Selective Service (Draft Board) at 18. My college and graduate school years opened my mind even more as I began to understand "critical thinking" and my view of our government began changing dramatically when I HAD to serve in the military at age 24. I chose to "voluntarily" enlist in the U.S. Air Force because I could serve my county in my chosen career in the recording industry in Washington, DC. I was right in the thick of it all. My view of Washington, DC and our great American experiment changed forever during and after this experience. Now, 40 years after that Air Force experience I have grown wiser, more realistic and pragmatic.

I'm still glad and thankful I was fortunate enough to be born in this country and I'm glad and proud I served my country. But, the flaws in our government and our system are so pronounced to me at this time that the future concerns me. No, not my future. I know what my future is and I don't have a lifetime ahead of me, only the natural culmination of a life lived. My concerns are for the future generations. Perhaps, sometimes it's just better to go along with the false notion that "what you don't know can't hurt you," and just go through life fat, dumb and happy. No! That's not right! I'm glad I didn't go down that road.  

Are You Fragile or Antifragile?

It's Sunday, a time when I contemplate my miniscule place in the universe. It's also a time when I surf the various news feeds. I seek tidbits of enlightening wisdom. Okay, so that's a paradox when it comes to scanning the news media. But, in fact, if I'm fortunate and don't sit on any one channel too long, I almost always uncover some hidden treasure. Normally, I have total disdain for channel surfers, but I must admit that the remote control is the only way I make my discoveries. I typically move between the Fox News Channel, CNN, CNN's Headline News, MSNBC and CNBC. When the broadcast network programs are on (usually weekend mornings before the overload of sports that I totally opt out of) I include those in the mix.

I'm bored to death by all the typical political banter over Benghazi, Ambassador Rice's possible nomination as Secretary of State and the fiscal cliff. Then add the ongoing wailings of those unfortunate souls of natural disasters, currently, super storm Sandy and probably, upcoming, those flooded out and without power on the west coast by their barrage of storms. Somehow all of them believe it is everyone else's responsibility to restore their lifestyles. Add to these the way over extended war in Afghanistan, the Middle East crises (never just one) and the European economic crisis. And don't get me started on the celebrity stories. Well, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. It's pure information overload and always bad news and gloom and doom.

Please, don't make the assumption that I don't care. The reality is that I CAN'T care. It's too much burden to bear, especially since I can't change it, fix it or make it all go away. What I can do is to do my very best to not become a burden on anyone else, on society or on the world. I have no interest in becoming a martyr or a ward of society. I've paid my dues and continue to do my best to remain a productive member of the universe taking up the smallest footprint possible and providing a positive impact on anyone I come in contact with.

The Little Treasures

So, those little treasures I find are bits of information I can hopefully put to work in a positive way for myself and anyone I'm in contact with. The story that has gone viral about the young NYC police officer who bought a pair of boots with his own money for a homeless man who was barefoot. That's a treasure and makes me think about things I can do to help others. The story told by the young Marine sergeant about how the Toys for Tots program began 65 years ago and to date has provided over 500,000,000 toys to needy children at Christmas (yes, I proudly say Christmas - not Holiday Celebration). But, today's most intellectually inspiring treasure was an interview with Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of a new book titled Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder.

So, why did this interview impact and inspire me? It inspired me because, in essence, he affirmed many of my belief systems about the world, society and my own country, the United States. In part, he indicates how the U.S. as a country and society has transitioned from being antifragile when it was in it's formative and fledgling years to being a fragile society with only a few pockets of antifragility left. He uses this antifragile concept to illustrate why the U.S. and other countries, societies, corporations and individuals are destined to lose or fail and not recover.

Gloom and Doom!

Okay, so here's my personal gloom and doom prediction. I know this is an unpopular position and I'm likely to be flamed by many who take the time to read this, but it's what I believe and unless you can prove my supposition to be wrong, unequivocally, I'm sticking with my story. You can believe what you want. Like the people who were told to evacuate from the path of the recent storms, who said nothing like this has ever happened before, so I'm staying here. Some of them may have changed their belief systems after the storms. It's too bad they had to learn the hard way that sometimes your belief systems can not only be challenged, but proven wrong.

I believe that we're going to have an ongoing employment crisis, not only in the U.S. but in the world. I believe that we are the authors of this problem. I believe those who listen to the government talking heads are being sold snake oil. Those who tell everyone that they can stimulate and create new jobs, know in their heart of hearts they are effusing a huge line of baloney. However, the truth and the facts are that the efforts of those in government are in maintaining a complacent populace and retaining their seats of power. In other words, they maintain their positions of power and control by telling the populace exactly what they want hear, not the real facts and what they need to hear.

Okay, I know I'm in for it now. I guess I'm anti-American for making such a statement. But, I'm also antifragile. Antifragile according to Taleb means I'm prepared for a volatile set of circumstances. I'm willing to take risks and deal with failures, get up, brush myself off and try again. This is the attitude and the position that people had when this country was founded. There were no government bail-outs for those companies "too big to fail." There was no government stimulus. There were no safety nets like Medicaid, Welfare, SSI or even military disability. And guess what? As a society, we not only survived, but in, probably the shortest time in all recorded history, we became the wealthiest, most successful and powerful nation in the world. It was because, as a people, we did what we had to. Life was volatile. There were no guarantees. People failed. People died. People learned from the failures and deaths and became stronger.

The Big Transition

Again, at risk of being flamed, we have transitioned. We were a nation of pioneers, innovators, inventors, risk takers, hard workers and doers. Today, we've become a nation of whiners, security seekers, entitlement welfare recipients, complainers, blamers, finger pointers and so on.

What happened? It's really very simple. The easier we made it for everyone the less incentive there was. The more expectation of a guaranteed and secure life everyone should have, the greedier and more materialistic everyone became. And, of course, now it's popular to point the finger at the "rich" people and the big corporations as the cause of it all. And, to be perfectly honest, some of the rich people and their greed and the huge mega corporations do hold some responsibility for this mess we're in, but far from all the responsibility.

Unions - A Dying Breed

Another news story today was about a union attempting to unionize the McDonald's fast food chain. They want the employees to make a living wage of nearly double what they are currently paid. Here's the problem with that. First, the work that most McDonald's employees do isn't worth more then the amount they are currently paid. Second, McDonalds jobs are not designed as long term careers, so the majority of the employees will never gain any of the benefits of what the union will promise, but, as seems to be the case, never actually deliver. Third, the prices of McDonalds products will have to increase substantially to pay the employees, thus putting the price of McDonald's food out of the range of more of the buying public sending customers to competitors. That will ultimately make McDonalds less profitable and requiring them to increase the cost of their franchises and franchise fees making them less desirable as a business opportunity resulting in less McDonalds stores. Then the union will attempt to unionize the competitors who will fight back with a vengeance so as not to suffer the same fate.

And, here's the kicker. The union will have a healthy slice deducted from every McDonalds employee's paycheck for which, in the long run, the employees will gain little or no benefit since these jobs are basically transitional. Who wins? The union. Who loses? The employees, McDonald's and the consumers. The unions, while once a very necessary entity to bring some realistic balance to the workplace have also transitioned to a top down, fragile entity that makes their members more dependent on the union and the government. I know! I've been there.

Remember the auto industry? The unions ran the union wages and benefits up for jobs that weren't worth the pay and benefits and the employees became complacent, so the price of cars rose and the quality suffered. The foreign manufacturers took a huge bite out of the market, built their own plants in the U.S. with non-union labor and today there are only about 390,000 union auto workers compared to 1.5 million workers in 1979. So, the population of the U.S. increased from slightly more than 225 million to about 312 million today or an increase of just under 40% while the union membership declined by nearly 75% during the same period. This is one indicator of why my original supposition will hold true. Private sector unions now represent only about 7% of the workforce down from an all time high of 35% of the workforce. That's an 80% decrease from the 1950s peak.

Some Real Facts!

Here are some facts. Population is increasing exponentially. In 1928 the world population was two billion people. Eighty-four years later the world population is around seven billion. That's an increase of 350%. In 1928 the U.S. population was 120.5 million. Today it's approximately 312 million. That's an increase of 260%. There are simply too many people. Read my most popular post, Too Many People, if you haven't already.

Add this to the list of facts. Radio was in its infancy. Television did not exist. The Internet hadn't been conceived of. Telephone communication was primitive and expensive. Computers didn't exist. Automated robots didn't exist, let alone replace humans in manufacturing. The list of technologies that have literally replaced human labor is almost endless since 1928. The many social and entitlement programs that have weakened individual resolve didn't exist. Most work was done by hand.

Entire industries have ceased to exist and many, including agriculture, formerly a large employer, have become so efficient they can function with only a very small percentage of the human resources formerly required. Women have entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers adding even more people where less are required to do the job. Even our military can function at a more awesome degree of destructive power with far fewer personnel. Our mortally wounded casualty count is unbelievably reduced, bringing back even more people to a workforce that no longer has a demand for all the human workers. The U.S. has nearly doubled the number of bachelor degree graduates in about 30 years, yet, somewhere between 63% and 74% of the current graduating classes can't find jobs.  And just as a comparison, India, with a population of approximately 1.1 billion people has more four year college graduates then the entire population of the U.S. and they are all looking for career opportunities.

So, we have more people and the population of both the U.S. and the world continue to increase exponentially. We have more technology then anyone could have ever imagined even 50 or 60 years ago. The technology is increasing at even a faster pace then the population and does work that once required humans and even more dramatically, it's doing work that never existed before. Currently, in any typical month there are less new jobs available than there are new additions to the workforce. And the jobs that are becoming available are not high paying jobs. So, just where are all these jobs going to come from that the government talking heads keep indicating they are going to create?

Gloom and Doom! Gloom and Doom! This is what Mr. Taleb conveys in his book, Antifragile. He points out the difference between a bottom up structure and a top down structure. The U.S. has transitioned from a bottom up structure where the individuals were the risk takers and, in essence "owned" and controlled the government as compared to the current status where the individual is risk averse, seeks security, expects the government to provide that security and, thus, it's now the government in control and the individual is, more or less "owned" (a more emphatic word then simply controlled) by the government.

Fragile or Antifragile?

Who are the antifragile people? They are the entrepreneurs, the innovators, the inventors, free spirits and risk-takers who create new ideas, technology, businesses and some personal wealth for themselves. They are much like those who were the foundation of this country. The only difference is that as a percentage of the total population, today they are only a tiny percentage. Additionally, the government and the top down structure in this country has made it more difficult by several magnitudes for these individuals to function. Yet, the occasional Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Meg Whitman, Steven Spielberg and others in a few other industries and the Silicon Valley types still emerge. The giants like IBM, HP, the Big Three auto manufacturers and such have had to automate and cut back employment in order to continue to exist. IBM is no longer in the personal computer business because it couldn't remain competitive. Industries like typewriters, vinyl record pressing and others have joined the buggy whip industry. If they exist any longer, they have become nothing more then cottage industries.

So, are you Fragile or Antifragile? The fragile are those who still believe they are going to find that dream, high salary job (and a few - as in a small percentage of the total number seeking the same thing) will find that job. But, they are becoming fewer and farther between. The antifragile are those who can muster up the risk taking, take control of their own lives, buckle down, stop chasing unrealistic dreams, create their own opportunities and become the innovators, creators, inventors, free thinkers and entrepreneurs of the 21st Century. It is these antifragile people who will realize and achieve their realistic dreams, live a comfortable lifestyle, however they define it, and survive.

But, be assured, the government created jobs will be just that, government jobs, either by direct employment or by contract. Where will the money come from to support these government created jobs? Why, from the pockets of those fortunate enough to work in the private sector or from the antifragile entrepreneurs. Oh yeah! And let's not forget by the government continuing to borrow from other countries until their money runs out or the U.S. is too big a credit risk, just as has happened to other nations over the past several decades. A debt that will never be repaid.

I've stated my beliefs. If you comment, that means you care about this reality. If you don't, you obviously have your head in the sand or just don't care. If you flame me, that's fine. I'm sure you have some good points and I'd just ask that you include some facts to back up your position. But, I wouldn't trust anything that politicians or bureaucrats, at any level, say because we're in the situation we're in right now because of them and they are promising more of the same. 

Democratic National Convention – Day 1

It’s just as I expected. More power speakers. It seems like this year at this convention there are a couple themes. First, everyone rose up from the depths of poverty and despair, worked hard, nose to the grind stone, knowing that because my grandfather, grandmother, single mother, laborer father, whoever knew that one day I could be a Congressman, Congresswoman, mayor of the 7^th largest city in the country, First Lady and Barack who dumpster dove for his first furniture and drove a rusted out old car that you could see outside through the rust holes – could be the President of the United States. Can we one up the Republicans? We’re certainly going to try.

I have to wonder about all those poor people watching out there who grew up the same way and were told similar things by their parents (if any of them ever actually were). How come they didn’t make it to Congress or the Senate or the White House or even the state legislatures or the governor’s office or the mayor’s office? And, geez, what about those people who are just working away at average jobs and occupations that were fortunate enough to grow up on the other side of the tracks? How come they didn’t make it to the big time? What happened to equality? What happened to opportunity that was constantly bantered about? How do Hispanic twins from the poor part of San Antonio, whose grandmother was a maid, housekeeper and babysitter and whose single mother was a schoolteacher BOTH get to attend Stanford University and then Harvard Law School? There are kids all of this country who qualify to go to those fine institutions who come from families of modest, but significantly better means then the Castro kids, but not even one of those kids can take advantage of that educational opportunity and equally or otherwise – let alone a pair of handsome, Latino twins.

But, I’m being picky now. I just find all the rags to riches stories a little hard to stomach after a certain point. And, I’m not just picking on he Democrats. There was a lot of that at the Republican convention, too. So, what’s the point? We got the breaks, but you didn’t, but we wish you had?

Now, I have to wonder how many of the populace and even the delegates sitting in the arena realize that those heartfelt speeches have been written, rewritten, tested for effectiveness and delivered in such a way as to make them seem like they are extemporaneous and heartfelt? I wonder how many of the electorate actually understand that the Castro boys and Michelle Obama have gone through intense training by very expensive professional speaking trainers and coaches. Every pause, question mark, gesture, chuckle or laugh, scowl and so on is virtually orchestrated for impact. Indeed, the intention is to come off like you’ve speaking mano a mano, one on one as if the speaker is addressing you individually. Yep! Republicans, too.

So, here are my impressions of last night. The two main speakers I caught were Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, introduced by his twin brother, Joaquin Castro. Both look beautiful. Both are excellent speakers. How come the mayor was chosen to keynote the convention instead of the brother who is serving in the state legislature and running for Congress? What happened to equality? Oops! I digress. Julian’s speech was very good and he was very well prepared. And, as I suspected, he was essentially attacking the man (Romney) and not so much his political record.

There is a very significant ideological difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. The Republicans also talked about the American Dream, opportunity, equality and becoming successful, but their approach was that each person is responsible for themselves and needs to excel, overcome the challenges and do whatever it takes to make it to the top of the heap and claim his or her dreams. The Democrats seem to believe that people need the government to succeed. The government provides opportunities and pathways to success and if you follow the Pied Piper – in Castro’s case, Barack Obama, you’ll have the chance to better your life.

Sorry, I’m not ready to buy that, yet or ever for that matter. The very idea that every kid should have an opportunity for a great education that their parents want for them does not work for me. Heck! If Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Michael Dell had spent all their time in classrooms learning how to do things “the right way,” we would never have had a Microsoft, an Apple or a Dell Computers. None of them completed a college education. They saw opportunity and pounced on it. They made mistakes. They experienced failures. They had to learn by doing because no one had actually ever done what they were doing. Throw in a Mark Zuckerberg, another college drop out and the list goes on and on. There used to be an old saying that college graduates end up working for non-college graduates. I’m not sure how accurate that is currently, but at least in the four, very obvious, cases I just noted it’s certainly true.

So, let’s see, give all these kids college educations. Encumber the kids and their parents with tens of thousands or even more then a hundred thousand dollars of debt before they’ve even learned how to make their own breakfast, send them out in a world with an education in fields that have limited or no realistic career opportunities and what do we have. We have a generation of dependent people who will continue to live with and off their parents for who knows how long. And now, with the new healthcare law, they don’t even have to be responsible for their own health insurance as adults until after they turn 27 years old. Heck, by the time I was 27 years old I had completed a bachelors degree, a masters degree, most of four years of a military enlistment during a war time and was the president of an emerging media production company.

Again, I guess I digress. But, these are my reactions to what I was hearing last night. So, I was generally impressed with how pretty, educated, well spoken and coached the keynote speaker was. Unfortunately, he didn’t do anything to convince me that his (the Democratic ideology) road was the one I could buy into.

So, let’s move on to the First Lady’s speech. First, let me say this, the POTUS made a comment in the afternoon during a campaign appearance in Norfolk, Virginia about watching his wife’s speech at home (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) with his daughters. He said he didn’t want them to see him cry during her speech. And he should feel that way. Michelle Obama, in my opinion is a better speaker then the POTUS, hands down. Whoever her speech trainer and coaches are did an excellent job with her.

She delivered it well. She used the teleprompters excellently – I doubt that anyone saw her using the prompter. She delivered it in a heartfelt, personal way, which, of course, was precisely her mission, as it was with Ann Romney.

Her introducer wasn’t some other slick politician, but a mom of five kids, four in the military and a fifth in high school, yet. That, of course, was part of the mission, relate to women, working women and especially moms. The introduction was short and sweet. I doubt that Michelle or any Democratic (or Republican, for that matter) politician or politician’s wife is all that “personal” with the vast majority of the constituency. For one thing, it’s hard for people to even get close to them since the POTUS and First Family are veiled in so much security. These folks are singled out for their political advantages.

I believe she met her objectives admirably, even getting in a few shots at the Romney-Ryan ticket. She wisely did not attack or even subtly dis Ann Romney or the Romney family. That would have been political suicide. For, those women and even those men who are supporters of Barack Obama, I believe she kept them in the fold. Certainly, everyone in the Arena last night were with her. As far as how much of the doubting and questioning, disillusioned women and men, especially those in the continually pounded number of 23 million unemployed and underemployed people in the country. I’m not sure she made a lot of in roads with them. There was, of course, no mention of the national debt, of the obvious areas of under performance, broken promises or failures.

Overall, the first night of the convention was pretty much what I expected. They talk around the issues. When commentators asked direct questions of any of the Democratic pundits they could corral, they were well versed in indirect answers, redirecting the topic or just plain didn’t answer the questions. While I don’t think I saw as much of this at the Republican convention, they are certainly adept at it as well. Hey, they’re all politicians; it’s what they do. I thought it was interesting that when Brian Ross of ABC News, one of the supposedly liberal media outlets, attempted to interview or ask any questions of the recognized deep pocket campaign funds contributors, they ran from him and even used police and uniformed security details to stop Ross, even threatening him with arrest. What is it that these powerful money sources don’t want the public to know about their support of the incumbent POTUS?

I’ll watch more of the circus tonight. So far, the Democratic Convention and their power speakers haven’t convinced me that the current POTUS has earned or deserves my one measly vote.   

The Apolitical Strategist – Part 1

This is not a political blog. It never has been and it never will be. I consider myself apolitical and it is my intention to keep this blog apolitical. When I speak of living free and freedom it’s not in reference to any government tyranny or dictatorship. When I do mention the government I speak about it collectively not by individual names, titles or positions, though for an example or to make a point I may select any or all of the above. Our (the U.S.) government has three branches as established in the U.S. Constitution; the Executive branch, the Congress made up of elected representatives of the people from each state including one non-voting representative from the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court that consists of nine appointed justices. I don’t care about religious, gender, age, race, sexual orientation or anything else about them. They simply are “The Government.”

Now, a lot of what I’m going to say and suggest in my periodic “Apolitical” musings may step on some people’s toes or sensitivities. Tough! As a matter of fact, DO NOT expect me to be politically correct. That is more balderdash as far as I’m concerned. I will never purposely or maliciously say anything to demean or hurt anyone if I’m saying what I believe to be the truth . . . as I perceive it. You can make any comments you’d care to in the comment section of my blog. But, remember, we can agree to disagree, but we don’t have to be disagreeable. Got it? I hope so. If you want to name call or attempt to demean me, remember, I control the delete button for this blog and I will delete you. Start your own blog and disagree with me if you want to be vehement. However, in all fairness, I am interested in your opinions and perspectives. Believe me when I tell you that I fully understand how complex our society and world is. I’ve been part of it for nearly 67 years at this writing.

So, those are the ground rules. Oh yeah, one more thing, I will do my best to not be a hypocrite. Some of the things I may discuss and point out as problems, causes of the problems and downright stupidity are things I am guilty of being a party to and/or participant of. I will say so when I realize that “I have seen the enemy and he is ME.”

With this in mind, let me say, and I’ve said this over and over, everyone is born with the natural right of personal freedom. Civilization, society, government, politics, political parties, special interests and so on are all inventions of humans. In the name of governance, since whenever our early ancestors conceived of it, every kind of inconceivable crime against humanity has occurred. I am not an anarchist. Because we are basically social animals, we need to live together in some form of harmony. Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, that is that we all have light sides (gentle, loving, caring, concerned, collaborative and so on) and dark sides (corruptible, greedy, violent, power mongering, controlling, murderous and so on) there has to be some form of governance to help maintain order and resolve conflicts, disorder, crimes against one another and so on. So, like it or not, we need some form of governance. We simply have to deal with it. Thus, some of our natural freedom has to be sacrificed for what we hope is a civil and orderly society.

For all you right wing, ultra conservatives and extremist left wing liberals out there – Bite Me! I don’t buy into all your claptrap political posturing. Whether most people believe it or not, those people who count as the ultra or extremist on either side of that pendulum number a very small percentage of any population. Only two percent of the Soviet Union’s population was Communist Party, card-carrying members. The leaders of the Party were a small percentage of the total Party membership and they controlled hundreds of millions of people. Boy, did that shock me when I discovered that fact. Most of the Russian and Iron Curtain countries’ population was just simple, ordinary people who wanted to live peacefully, enjoy and take care of their families and have the basic needs of life and a few special extras and luxuries when that opportunity was available. The same is true of China. And, it’s just as true of the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries that espouse some form of democracy or other forms of government.

What exactly does this mean? Well, to be blunt, here it is in a nutshell. The vast majority of the people of all societies are pawns, our own society not withstanding. We are used by a very small percentage of the population to instill them with the power they need to control the vast majority of the population. And, of course, within this structure are all manner and shades of special interests that play the game to gain precisely what they want to secure their own power and position. In the past it was much more challenging to play this game. But, throughout much of the 20^th Century and most definitely during the 21^st Century, the power mongers have tools at their disposal that didn’t exist even 50, 60 or 70 years ago.

History speaks of the despicable personage of Adolph Hitler. He certainly is no hero or role model of mine. What was his most powerful tool in climbing to the ultimate power he ascended to? Communication! Hitler could stand in front of a crown of thousands and bring them to an emotional fever that would cause them to believe anything he said and do anything he willed the people to do. His second most powerful tool was FEAR. Once he had a large enough following he would use the fear of bodily harm, destruction of one’s family, torture and death. And exactly how did he spread this fear? He simply turned all those who got sucked into his inhuman madness into informants even against their own family members. He had the power of public address systems and the radio waves, which he ultimately controlled, to reach the masses.

So, how does his madness and corruption apply to our current world? For one thing, with the most modern technology it’s even easier today. One simply needs to be a charismatic leader and give him access to the radio and TV airwaves, the cable TV providers and the Internet. What do we call these leaders today? They have a variety of labels. Some that immediately come to mind are the Pope, evangelists, presidents, prime ministers, monarchs, dictators, CEO’s and so on. Think about the current president of the United States and the last election. Through the use of the Internet and social networking he raised more money from more people for his campaign fund then any other “free” election in history. With those campaign funds he bought more TV and radio time, more PR and the ability to travel at will to more locations to rally supporters through his speaking ability. It still amazes me that he drew a crowd of some 100,000 people in Berlin, Germany at a rally for people he would not have any governing power over. But, we are a global society and this man who essentially came from nowhere, that no one knows from his past, who, by some people’s accounts, has never proven any qualification for the position he has been elected to and, yet, there he sits as the leader of the free world and the wealthiest and most powerful nation the Earth has ever known.

He used the same techniques that Adolph Hitler used to ascend to power only with more advanced technology. I’m NOT comparing or putting him on an ideological parallel with Hitler. But, he’s there because enough people, like you and me, voted to put him in that position. In my book, he never proved himself to me. I never bought into him and still don’t. However, back in 2000 didn’t a somewhat similar thing occur when a candidate at that time used his influence (and that of his party) to put him into that presidency? Please note, I have not called either of these men names nor am I passing judgment on their records. History will determine their place in the course of events. Go back to 1992 and one of the two candidates that year had a fantastic amount of charisma and was an excellent communicator and won the election. Twelve years before that there was another great communicator. And don’t forget the people who said things like, “Don’t ask what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” and “I have a dream . . .”

I have, on any number of occasions, used the term, “lemming mentality.” If you don’t know what a lemming is, quite simply it’s a group of people who reportedly will blindly follow a leader to a cliff and then jump off in mass suicide. Point of fact, that’s actually a myth. A real lemming is a small rodent. The lemming (the small rodent) does not commit mass suicide. But, there are some examples of this kind of mentality in humans. They are mostly motivated by charismatic leaders who mesmerize or hypnotize people through effective mass communication techniques and by telling them what they want to hear or persuading them to believe what the leader wants them to believe.

There are many examples, some mythical and others, unfortunately, real. There is, of course, the Pied Piper of Hamlin who, fictitiously, led the rats infesting the town away to their death. When the town refused to pay him, he mesmerized the children of the town and led them to their deaths. Again, this is fiction. However, there is the Jonestown, Guyana massacre where Reverend James Jones had 912 followers of his People’s Temple drink a poisoned Kool Aid type drink while he led them to their death by shooting himself in the head. There is the Branch Davidian massacre in Waco Texas. And, certainly, what was the mentality of the kamikaze pilots from the Japanese Air Force during World War II who were instructed to fly their aircraft into U.S. Navy vessels for the cause of the motherland and the emperor. Many of those pilots were never taught how to land their aircraft because they would never need that skill. And, perhaps, a more current example would be the suicide bombers who killed almost 3,000 people on 9/11 and continue blowing themselves up in the Middle East and other parts of the world. This behavior was also not uncommon during the Vietnam War and other conflicts over history.

So, my point in this first part of my musings as The Apolitical Strategist is to point out that, while humans are supposedly the most intelligent creatures on Earth with the ability to use logic and reasoning, huge numbers of them can easily be influenced and led down a primrose path to mass destruction of their own making. In so many ways, humans are pack animals looking for an Alpha animal to lead them and show them the way. This is why I refuse to label myself or be labeled as a Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Liberal, Libertarian, Socialist, Communist or anything else . . . other then an Independent thinker. Living free, to me, means doing everything I have to in order to preserve as much of my natural right of personal freedom as possible. I firmly believe that many people, perhaps the majority, blindly follow a “party line” because it’s what they’ve always done or their parents followed the party or it’s the union way or the preacher showed them the “light” and so on.

It’s sad that so many will give up so much because it’s easier and eliminates some really hard work. That work is called thinking critically and independently. Why think for yourself when someone else can do it for you? All you have to do is shake your head up and down like a bobble head on the dashboard of your car. We are prone to do things the easy way. There may not be any commonsense in the easy way, but it eliminates the hard work of actually thinking for yourself, even if you don’t fully agree with the “leader.”

I’ll expound more on living free and critical independent thinking in another post in the future. Comments? Anyone? Bueller?

545 People – Part III Another Great Truth – Are People Really Fools?

I’m picking up from where I left off on Part I. Part II was a tangent based on an e-mail response I received from a long-time and valued friend. So, here are more of MY thoughts on the 545 people in Washington, DC who ultimately control, in one way or another, just about every aspect of our lives.

Business and life are gambles. If you go to a casino, play the lottery, bet on horses or dogs or football teams or whatever - if you bet on red and red comes in, you win - if it doesn't you lose - the same with horses, the lottery, etc. Wall Street, investments, real estate, insurance and all other businesses - are the exact same thing. There are no guarantees. IF you're smart - you learn as much about whatever it is you're going to gamble on, what the risks are and you take calculated risks. That's how professional gamblers make a living - and they know when to fold, too. And that's why people who lose everything they have gambling, lose. They don't know when to fold and shouldn't have been in the game in the first place. If you're going to skydive, you want to know everything about skydiving you can, learn the equipment from experts, pack your own parachute and don't take anyone else's word that the parachute is packed correctly. Then when you jump from that plane, the risk is calculated (still not guaranteed, though) and your chances of an exciting and exhilarating, safe, successful experience are on your side. But, if you don't, you've changed the odds, the risk isn't as calculated and there may be greater potential for this to be your last jump - NOT BY CHOICE.

The same goes for Auto Manufacturers, Unions, Wall Street Bankers, huge investment banks, credit card banks, huge insurance companies, mortgage brokers, mortgage investors, real estate agents, home and commercial property builders and home and real estate investors. NO ONE IS TOO BIG TO FAIL- PERIOD!!!! The bigger the risks you take, the bigger the potential losses or rewards - but again, There are no guarantees. NO! There is no reason anyone else - including and especially - the taxpaying public should bail you out. NO! There is no one so - "talented?????" that they deserve to get multimillion dollar salaries, stock options and bonuses if it’s not their own money and assets they’re playing with and risking. That’s especially true when their talent nearly (and may still, who knows) lead to the total collapse of the entire global economy. They don’t have the right to destroy the lives and life savings of untold millions of people and then be rewarded for it. Causing responsible, hard working, minimal risk taking individuals to lose their jobs, homes, retirements, everything that is - WAS - the American Dream - for Americans is not only unethical, it’s immoral. You asked people to put their trust and faith in you. When you screw up, they lose and you gain? That’s just WRONG! And, yes, the American Dream for billions of people around the world who looked up to us and aspired to our Dream in their own countries has been bashed to pieces.

If these "So-called - Talented (and extremely GREEDY, Unethical and Amoral)" people want that much money that bad - then go gamble for it like the Warren Buffett's, The Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Besos, Sam Waltons, Hewletts and Packards, Bill Lears, etc. who either invested in the stock market or invested in themselves and their own companies - many living meagerly, even long after they had more money then they could spend in their entire lifetime. Others have or are living more lavishly then King Solomon. NO ONE AND NO BUSINESS OR CORPORATION OR GOVERNMENT IS TOO BIG TO FAIL!

I have to wonder, when I listen to news sound bites, what rocks some of these people crawl out from under. They had a meeting in LA the other day at which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced that they were going to have to cut about another 1000 public employees, with the possibility of more cuts looming - because the city has such a deep deficit and can't meet their commitments. This is simply another way of saying that THE CITY IS GOING BANKRUPT unless they find ways to stop the profuse financial bleeding. Immediately upon which some public employee union representative got up and began loudly and profusely protesting these cutbacks indicating how this was going to curtail the lives of these public employees. Now, I'm not sure what great liberal bastion of stupidity or academic institution this person attended. I question if he/she even had the intellectual ability to get the lowest SAT scores possible to be admitted to Parsons College (which, when I graduated high school, was the college anyone could get into as long as you could sign X on the application and your parents sent a check for the tuition that would be honored by a bank).

First, who the hell owes any of these people a living? Certainly not me! Second, where do these mental midgets get the impression that there is such a thing as "job security.” I guess they believe in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, too. Third, what part of “THE CITY IS BANKRUPT AND WE CAN’T PAY OUR COMMITMENTS” does this moron and his/her minions not understand. I've got an idea - let them keep their jobs and pay them in IOU's that will never be honored - or just give them rubber checks for a while. The result is ALL the same - there is no money to pay their salaries. Haven't these imbeciles watched what happened to industry after industry in this country after the unions raped them? Yes! Once upon a time the industries exploited and raped the workers. But, doing the same thing in return by the unions doesn't fix the problem - it only exacerbates it. Can you believe this? Los Angeles has - not one - not two – but, FIVE staff calligraphers on the taxpayers payroll. They are going to be laid off. (sob, sob) Excuse me while I get a tissue to wipe the tears from my eyes.

HEY CALIFORNIA - IT'S AGAINST THE LAW TO WRITE BAD CHECKS! IT'S ALSO AGAINST THE LAW TO PRINT YOUR OWN MONEY! ONLY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CAN CONTINUE SPENDING WANTONLY WITH NOTHING TO BACK IT UP! BUT, THE FEDS CAN VOTE TO INCREASE THE NATIONAL DEBT TO KEEP PAYING TOO MANY PEOPLE FOR DOING TOO LITTLE! AND, THEY, ALSO, HAVE THE PRINTING PRESSES TO MAKE MORE USELESS PIECES OF GREEN PAPER.

I've been trying to figure out the difference between the U.S. Government and the U.S. Treasury printing plant and a counterfeiter. They both do the same thing. It's all "funny money" and worthless in the end. Listen, I only picked on Los Angeles and a little bit on the Washington bandits. I didn't even pick on the entire state of California or the other states or even little Winchester, VA where I am as I write this. Winchester is where they are spending millions of dollars putting in brick sidewalks and crosswalks, putting in beautiful antique looking, street lights, matching traffic signals (taking out existing traffic signals and replacing them with stop signs when the signals were really much more effective) and lighted street name signs. Yet, they also are having trouble paying their bills and raising the money to make up the deficit. Where do they find these people? Gosh, it's so easy to spend someone elses money when you have no accountability for it. I wish I could say I have experienced the feeling. But, alas, I've just always been an entrepreneur who has made some money and lost some money - and, like a lot of entrepreneurs (maybe most, I don't know), I've lost more then I've gained. But, at least I'm accountable for it - and I know exactly who to blame for my failures - I look at the scoundrel every morning when I shave.

That's enough for this post. Next time, lets talk about intelligence and education. Another Oxymoron?

Enthusiastically,
Ed