Time to Reboot

I just had what I believe to be a decent, if not good, idea. Instead of propelling our country ever more briskly toward sameness, uniformity and an ever-more-powerful centralized government let's try an experiment where citizens have protected rights that are unassailable and inalienable. It seems there was such an experiment somewhere in history but the time has come to give it another shot. Our country has strayed many miles from its home and we are experiencing separation anxiety from our freedoms. Our pursuit of happiness has but a few, ever-decreasing options and within the next 30 years I would say that the path to "happiness" will be as narrowly defined as the term "happiness" itself. Fascism is the theme I see in our future and it causes me great distress. Additionally, it is being perpetrated by people who think they are measurably more compassionate than anyone else and by people who, if you ask them, believe that people are inherently good. If people are inherently good, why do they need so much intervention and oversight from a demonstrably evil, power-hungry government? If the love of money is the root of all evil then the government should be the most carefully watched suspect. Instead we hand over more and more power every day and it is used to co-opt more and more of our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. I leave you with a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville, who, in the early to mid 1800's had identified a possible pothole in our form of government called a soft tyranny. He described it this way, "It covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered but softened, bent and guided. Men are seldom forced by it to act but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy but it prevents existence, it does not tyrannize but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes and stupefies a people until every nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals of which the government is the shepherd".

(and the people said, "Bah,bah, baaahhh.)

Intelligence

So why are people who are intelligent enough to "discover" there is no God so stupid as to jump in bed with an attractive coed that had the unfortunate experience of signing up for his or her class? Why are we so intelligent as to make the medical "discovery" that a human embryo is an unviable tissue mass until such time as its mother, (father?, what father?) decides she wants it, leaving us with the utterly comical discussion about when "life" actually begins. Wouldn't real intelligence take us to a very different place? A place where proven facts don't have to be treated like obstructions and philosophical dialogue can have at least a thread tying it to known fact. Why does not believing in God compel action against those who do? Does my not accepting Mormon doctrine compel me to attack every influence I can find that Mormonism has been part of? If I were to engage in such an attack I would be weakening the society I am part of while also wasting a lot of time. I think I've picked a bad example but to follow through with it, while I do not accept the teachings of Mormonism I also do not try to destroy everything that is traceable to that religion. Granted, if the Congress passed a law requiring adherence to Mormon doctrine I would object. But to live in a country where many Mormon teachings are graven into our laws, such as not murdering, not stealing etc. is an advantage to me regardless of their origin. (Which, while not uniquely Mormon, are certainly part of their doctrine). Atheists and Agnostics alike benefit from a system based on an understanding of a Creator, but rather than living peaceably with their neighbors and enjoying this great land some are driven to destroy those who follow Christ as God's son. A life, by the way, whose teachings are often in contrast to accepted social and cultural behavior.

Integrity

This whole idea of men governing themselves is a complex and unsettling study indeed. How do you set up a government that is effective at governing and also effective at offsetting man's inclination of being drawn to power? Not sure I would want to tackle that one on my own. Personally I think the Constitution of the United States of America is where I would start; ratified in 1787, it has guided a nation for 227 years and could easily move us, with our civil society intact, through the next 227 years if we could figure out a way to re-establish it as our guiding document.

    While my endeavors as an amateur singer-songwriter have not provided any significant monetary gains, they have provided a bit of education. While talking with a respected lawyer here in Wichita once about a contract that would define my position as related to any royalties that may be generated by a multi-artist project I was considering taking part in, I inquired as to what I should look for in the said contract's wording. After offering a few suggestions he basically said the whole thing hinged on the integrity of the one writing the contract. Paramount to any other consideration was whether this person is trustworthy because regardless of the care taken in the wording of the contract, an unscrupulous person could find a way around it. This lesson has stuck with me over the years and I have seen evidence of its presence in other places as well. For instance, our Constitution is said to be useless if used to govern an immoral people. I believe we are witnessing a government being facilitated by men and women who have demonstrated their lack of integrity by swearing to uphold the Constitution then circumventing it when it is the least bit inconvenient for them. My hope for this great country is that "we the people" will wake up and start electing men and women of integrity as our representatives and that it is not too late to find our way back to a government guided by the greatest Constitution ever conceived. Disciplining oneself when so much power is available to you by way of  language manipulation and the skewed presentation of facts by a largely willing media machine, is a difficult thing to reject. Much too difficult for most of those currently residing in Washington these days. While I believe John Adams when he said "Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." It would also seem it is  inadequate to reign in an immoral and irreligious Washington elite. What do you say we start to fix it this November.

Up Up and Away

Has anyone else noticed their electric bill has increased recently? Just wondering. I've noticed. Our bill is considerably more than it was just a few years ago and seems to be increasing by the day. Staying true to their inconsistent and illogical ways our bloated and inefficient government has forced us to buy more expensive light bulbs, which pose a more real health threat than the old ones by the way, to ostensibly reduce our energy consumption. While this mandate might have actually saved us a little money on our electric bills, all things being equal, they end up just costing more to buy while we continually pay more every month for our electricity due to their policies. All I seem to hear about anymore is how the poor are suffering and how we have more and more people living below the poverty level. Well, maybe if the government found something to do other than obstruct market forces and causing everyone's cost of living to go up, (yes, this includes the poor), we might make some meaningful headway in overcoming the epidemic of poverty we are having. As the air in the US continues to be cleaner by the year, an incredible feat considering the amount of energy we use, we are attacked on all sides by environmentalist and others who are somehow bothered by our success as a nation, as being greedy and poor stewards of the world's resources. Therefore, we must pay more for electricity and for light bulbs and for vehicles and for toilets and for showers and for new construction and for tires and for (fill in the blank; quick, before the government does). Just go to the World Health Organization website and check out how the cleanliness of the air over our major cities compares to other countries. Rather than tearing down a country that has demonstrated such an incredible resilience through the last 237 years and which has offered so many people so much opportunity, why not reinforce those principles which have brought us here and see what incredible things might come of the next 237 years. Who knows, maybe we can actually come up with a "war on poverty" that actually works. If fact, there's no doubt in my mind that we can. Whaddaya say we give it try rather than burning down the whole house for the sake of a ruling class who couldn't survive in the real world if they had to.

Predatory Gambling

    Just wanted to get some thoughts down whilst I was in the midst of them. I've never quite understood the whole concept of "predatory" lending. Someone who has poor credit and cannot qualify for a loan from a bank for instance should expect to pay a higher interest rate for whatever loan they may find as the lender will be taking a much higher risk lending to them than to someone with a good credit record. Additionally, these loans tend to be fairly short-term loans and for lesser amounts of money. If I'm going to loan a high-risk individual 1000.00 for 2 months at 5%, my profit will be approximately 50.00 if things go well for me. If not I go to the back of the line of institutions who are owed money by this person and wait for who knows how long to collect some portion of my principal or interest. Not a good business decision. To make the decision look a little more doable from the loaner's standpoint he asks for a much higher interest rate to offset the risk he is taking. It all seems pretty understandable to me and if the word predatory is to be applied I would say it should be shared between the loaner and the person who has earned such a bad credit rating by preying upon unsuspecting loaning institutions. Or how about this. Don't borrow money at all. This would preclude any lending, predatory or otherwise. 
    How about applying the word predatory to the casino industry. You have to pay back a loan, but hitting the jackpot at the casino doesn't involve paying off any loans and therefore no interest either. Think about it. The less I have, the more attractive a jackpot looks. At least a loan has some built-in unattractive parts to it. You have to pay back more than you are borrowing, for instance. Hitting the jackpot has no such unsightly side effects and it's fun to gamble, besides. I'm sure the argument is that people are free to choose whether to gamble or not but the same is true with borrowing money. If we are going to suggest the loan industry "preys" on the vulnerable then we must apply this to the lottery and the casinos as well. The poor are far more vulnerable to the draw of easy money than are those who already have a sufficient income.
    I understand that there are those in society who will take advantage of people who are vulnerable in various situations. These situations are as numerous as the sands of the sea and as varied as the human face. So I am not arguing that someone might try to lend someone some money who doesn't need it or try to charge them an unduly high rate of interest. My problem is with the terminology and with the fact that so many other, more egregious and common infractions are absolutely ignored in this discussion. Besides, maybe the loaning institutions are just trying to even the score after the government forced them to make so many bad loans under the guise of fairness. Talk about someone taking advantage of the vulnerable. Make a study of the U.S. government's entitlement programs sometime. You may conclude we have a predatory government.

Remember When

    Do you remember back to times in your life when someone said something to you that reflected poorly on you and it hurt your feelings to hear it. You know, when someone pointed out a behavior or action you had taken that was inappropriate or rude. Maybe you just didn't recognize the hurtful nature of your words because you had grown used to hearing them sent your way as you were growing up and you had drained them of any real meaning long ago. So here you are, embarrassed by a friend who has confronted you about your hurtful actions and you are feeling very defensive all of a sudden and blurt out a long wordy sentence that when boiled down means simply, "Oh ya, well uh-uh" For some reason this seems to move you past the uncomfortable confrontation for the moment and your day continues on. Over the next few days, as the emotion evaporated from the situation and you are left with just the facts of what was said you realize your friend was not only right, but also courageous when he approached you about this. You see that you were in fact in the wrong and that there is an apology waiting to be delivered. You are faced with the fact that you have acted poorly and it hurts but the hurt leaves in its wake a better, more compassionate person who is more ably equipped to deal with people in a more appropriate manner. What has just been described is a normal part of the maturing process. If you've never experienced this, you are either a product of an incredible upbringing or you don't have any real friends. 
    Now, let's say that when you cross that line that your parents or a friend should challenge you on, instead of being met with a challenge you are given an excuse. Instead of that knot in your stomach that will only go away when you have apologized you are told that your behavior is completely understandable and is, in fact, appropriate because of some past situation and some real or perceived injustice that you have endured; although the person you have truly offended and hurt was not directly involved or even aware of this past wrong that has occurred. Instead of maturing into a thoughtful, compassionate and loving individual who is an asset to your family, community and society at large, you become a special case. You are part of a family of "special cases" who are immune from the scrutiny that others are subject to because of your special status. Any attempt to hold you accountable as an equal is quickly attacked by the media due to years of indoctrination by most of society. Think of the incredible athletes who are identified at a young age and who grow up in a very different world than the majority of us due to people's reaction to their abilities. While not precisely the same it is a similar situation. In the interest of brevity I will not explore to what extent the whole of our current society may in fact be less than fully matured, but will leave my comments focused on our precious group of victims who will never have the opportunity to mature because of their value to the ruling class in our country.

Thanks, and have a great day. I mean, if you want to. I'm not trying to tell you what to do because I hate women or anything. No really. Oh well, think what you must.

Default Discrimination

    It would seem victim-hood is as hard to leave behind as entitlements. If you happen to be one of the "elite" minorities in our society, that is to say a woman, a black, a hispanic, or a child, then you are expected to assume a default position of "discrimination" whenever you encounter rude or unthoughtful people. In my opinion our friend, Oprah, has given us a glimpse into this phenomenon with her recent encounter overseas. While this event has become quite the news story, our country is full of similar situations. Unfortunately, there are no sane leaders among our alleged intelligentsia who are willing to try and move us away from this built-in response to any negative event in the life of an "elite" minority. (I use the term "elite" minority to accent the fact that only a handful of the actual minorities in our country benefit from this mindset.) One of the difficulties in working through this ambiguous maze of pseudo-reasoning is the immediate and very negative reaction one gets when trying to engage others in dialogue on the subject. No one wants to have the reputation of being a woman-hater, a racist, or being against the well-being of our children, so one feels a strong intimidation when approaching this subject. For the sake of brevity I would like to try and illustrate my point with a recent experience of my own. As a singer-songwriter I occasionally attend a local singer-songwriter circle. It had been years since I was able to go but decided to check it out again. As I entered the small sandwich-type bar and grill I saw the circle and headed towards it. I stood behind one of the guys in the circle waiting for the current offering of a song to end before entering the circle and taking my chair. I was having difficulty staying out of the waitress's way and eventually the guy I was standing behind scooted his chair over to allow me a chance to be seated. I took a seat adjacent to the young man who was singing one of his songs. The song had a nice rhythm and chords I was familiar with. I began playing my mandolin along with him being careful not to get in the way of his song. After the song, instead of introductions and a welcome from the leader of the circle, all that was offered was a statement of the rule about only playing when invited and an apology from the leader to the singer for my taking a seat during his song. That was it. Nothing else. Then we were on to the next guy in the circle. Looking back at that situation, I believe if I were a black, or a woman for instance that I would have immediately interpreted this cold reception as being sexism or racism. Since I am not a member of either of these "elite" minority groups, I was left with the conclusion that I was the victim of unthoughtful musicians who were too interested in what they were going to play next to concern themselves with this new guy. I honestly believe that true sexism and racism and several other -isms are present at a much lower level than what public perception would indicate. In fact, there are those who fuel the elevated perception of these ostensibly discriminating acts to further enrich and empower themselves. There IS a comfort level that comes with likeness, this is not in question. But a hispanic, or a black or a woman who loves music, for instance, has entered a comfortable place for me.