There are probably some folks who label themselves as conservative but are not clear about what the label conservative means. Then there are degrees of conservative political affiliation such as Alto Rabid Conservative, Rabid Conservative, Alto Conservative, Mezzo Alto Conservative, Mezzo Conservative, Pico Conservative, Nano-Conservative, and Quasi-Liberal.
I have tried to be sensitive to the cognitive and educational level of the average conservative by using mostly one, two, and three syllable words constructed in sentences that are easily understood by a sixth grade elementary school student. The following questions are not constructed to be multiple choice, essay, or trick questions, but rather simple yes or no questions, as it would be unfair and patronizing to take advantage of the conservative’s simplistic view of the world.
I have tried to cover a broad range of subjects that touch primarily on foreign policy, the Military Industrial Complex, minority rights, religious indoctrination, immigration, and our role as human beings toward one another in the world. At the end of the following questions are simple scoring numbers so that anyone taking this test will know where they clearly stand. I have also ordered the questions in random order, rather than grouping them by subject. I hope my random ordering of the questions does not confuse anyone.
So if you have a pen or pencil available just circle the question numbers that you have answered yes to, and count up the total yes answers, then match them up with your commensurate degree of conservatism outlined at the bottom. If you are still confused as to how to proceed, please feel free to access my blog below and post your questions. I will do my best to respond to you in short order.
1. I believe that the increasing amount of gay marriages has caused an increase in the man-women divorce rate.
2. I stand by my Americas leaders and military with unconditional loyalty, no matter how egregious America’s behavior at home or the rest of the world.
3. Most people who receive welfare are totally capable of earning a respectable living and usually cheat the system.
4. Fox News is the only source of unbiased news that I need to make an informed and quality decision.
5. Capitalism is the only delivery system necessary to deliver goods and services required by our society.
6. Reasonable healthcare for everyone is a socialistic fraud and all Americans should be able to provide for themselves.
7. A women’s right to choose what happens to her unwanted or damaged pregnancy should be primarily decided by men who only know what’s ethically correct.
8. God is a Christian white male.
9. The primary purpose of our military is to provide for “Freedom and Liberation”, not for the protection of economic assets of corporations or the plundering of natural resources from third world countries.
10. America is the epitome of goodness and compassion, we would never invade another country, or oppress other people for alleged greed.
11. Hurricane Katrina is the result of God’s wrath due to evil homosexual activity.
12. Labor unions are totally unnecessary to protect the interests and survival of the working classes.
13. Liberals are ruining this wonderful country by promoting homosexuality, human rights, and equal access by all groups.
14. Public education is totally ineffective and should be disbanded in favor of all private schools where we could have prayer.
15. As a middle class conservative I do not understand how I have been manipulated by the upper class to believe that excessive gun rights, curtailment of immigration, elimination of gay rights, prayer in the schools, and increased military spending are used to cause me to vote against my own best interests.
16. Obama is an extreme Marxist Socialist who has not done anything to reinforce capitalism and our American way of life.
17. The earth is the center of the universe and all other heavenly bodies rotate around it.
18. People who criticize America’s behavior in the world and at home are unpatriotic Americans and should be sent to the same prisons as the terrorists.
19. Man made global warming is a hoax that has been totally constructed by bleeding heart liberals to dismantle our oil and coal industry in favor of sustainable alternative energy.
20. Anyone who would burn or desecrate the “Stars and Stripes” should be whipped in a public square.
21. Most people in countries such as Cuba and Venezuela were much better off before Castro and Chavez came to power; even though the people now have universal health care, are happier, and enjoy a higher standard of living.
22. I trust everything that the mass news media and my government tell me; I would never trust liberal independent sources of news who have no inherent conflicts of interest.
23. The Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank should be contained in ghettos and treated like inferior human beings, because out of desperation a few starting in 1994, started to participate in suicide bombings.
24. Even though I have never traveled extensively in Europe or interviewed the average European I am totally convinced that the European life style is totally inferior to America’s.
25. Only a “crackpot” would believe that the leaders of our government would conspire to harm or kill us; after all we are all loyal patriotic Americans.
26. Our past history of Native American abuse and genocide, and oppressive slavery has been way over exaggerated, and “These People” need to get over themselves and move on.
27. America is still the best place to live for all of our society without regard to education, health care, human rights, and worker rights.
28. A “Real American” would never find fault or criticize our country, as that is treasonous behavior.
29. Ronald Reagan is our political deity, and should never be criticized even though he refused to accept the reality of AIDS, decimated mental health care, removed solar panels from the White House roof, massively increased the size of government, the military, and our national deficits.
30. The gay life style is a sin and can be eliminated by religious prayer.
31. I believe in military solutions to conflict, the death penalty, no prenatal or post natal care, no pre-school or subsidies to poor single mothers, but I am adamantly opposed to all abortion or birth control services for the poor.
32. We will be punished in the next life for our sins.
33. Conservative always know what is best for America, there is no compromising, and bleeding heart liberals are totally out of touch with the real world.
34. All liberals want to do is just tear down America; they have no sense of loyalty, patriotism, or honor.
35. What is best for business is always best for America.
36. There is no need for government regulation of the banking industry, the EPA (was signed by a Conservative), or consumer protection.
37. I believe that we should go back to 150 years ago when everyone knew their place and minority rights were not available to take advantage of our white Christian male heritage.
38. We should outlaw all immigration, specifically the immigration of educated Muslims and Mexicans who chose to do our menial jobs and are taking away jobs from our most deserving white men.
39. India, China, Germany, Marxism, illegal immigration, and minorities are the major cause of this countries downfall.
40. Looking at our own faults and weaknesses is un-American.
How to score the above: Alto-Rabid-Conservative= 36-40 yes, Rabid-Conservative=31-35 yes, Alto-Conservative=26-30 yes, Mezzo-Alto-Conservative=21-25 yes, Mezzo-Conservative=16-20 yes, Pico-Conservative=11-15 yes, Nano-Conservative=6-10, and Quasi-Liberal=1-5.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Conspiracies are pragmatic delivery systems
The word conspiracy evokes an emotional reaction in many of us that brings to the fore such words as space aliens, “Truthers”, fear, delusional perceptions, government secrecy, secret cabals, and general deception. In the last century there have been over 30 government created conspiracies that turned out to be true. Unfortunately most past conspiracies proved over time to be real and not imagined. For example the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, Operation Northwoods, Iran Contra, and the JFK Assassination are patent examples of high level leaders putting their sordid creative minds together to produce a certain outcome. The dictionary definition of a conspiracy is as follows: “an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot. A combination of persons for a secret, unlawful, or evil purpose: He joined the conspiracy to overthrow the government. Law. An agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other wrongful act. Any concurrence in action; combination in bringing about a given result. We can see from the above definition that the only ingredient that is missing is ethics and morality. If a plan can be created by two or more people to bring about economic benefit, remove someone who is creating an impediment to economic gain, or to start a war for economic gain then we have an amoral delivery system for bringing about a desired result. So why do we resist the reality that conspiracies have occurred throughout history. As humans we like to perceive the world as being a safe place, where people operate with ethics and a sense of moral accountability. We like to see our appointed government leaders as working in our best interests. A feeling of being in control is very important to our emotional well being. For example I find it ironic that some of us are more fearful of flying on commercial airliner then driving our own automobiles where we have a greater chance of being involved in an accident. Most of us are honest, caring, just human beings who feel more comfortable viewing the world through our own set of glasses, rather than through a world filled with self serving manipulation, greed, and malicious deception. Primarily governments and elite special interest groups for centuries have gathered in secrecy to devise plans and execute programs to start wars, experiment with drugs and chemicals on their populations, or to remove factions that they deem as a threat to their economic existence. Two thousand years ago the Roman Emperor Nero set fire to Rome, blaming the blaze on the Christians via a forged letter. Neros’ objective was to take over these 200 prime acres of real estate for his own aggrandizement to build a great edifice in his image. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated under the primary myth that he supported Reconstruction and the freeing of the South’s Black slaves. In reality Lincoln was advocating replacement of the central bank, precursor to our secretive privately held Federal Reserve System, with a U.S. backed currency system and central government bank. He was murdered for his threat to international banking interests, not freeing of southern slaves. At the inception of WWII the Nazi’s bombed and set fire to the Reichstag government building, blaming it on European Jewry as a pretext to further foment anti-Semitism. President Kennedy was assassinated, not by the hand of Lee Harvey Oswald but by interests that planned in secret with the CIA, Mafia thugs, the Secret Service, and the Military industrial Complex. The Warren Commission report just as the Official 9/11 Report was orchestrated as a massive cover up and fraud on the public. For example there is no way that an entry bullet wound to blow off the back of the skull and make an exit wound the diameter of a bullet at the forehead. Oswald allegedly fired shots from a steeply angled trajectory at the back of the president; the actual bullet trajectory was almost parallel to the ground. When the president was hit by multiple shots, the Secret Service who ride on the president’s limousine at 4 corners conveniently stepped of the car away from the line of fire precisely before the president was shot.
I like to follow the money first, before looking at other motives, when I normally evaluate secret conspiracies. JFK was not in favor of greatly ramping up the Vietnam War. He also wanted to propose an elimination or major restructuring to both the CIA and Federal Reserve. In addition, there was major resentment by Cuban ex-patriots and certain CIA operatives for the bungling of the Bay of Pigs invasion. Bottom line a mythical conspiracy was constructed to pin the murder on Oswald, after decades of investigation this fraud has been proved, by non-governmental sources to be virtually impossible. There was also a Kissinger-Nixon and CIA/Chilean Military backed coup d’état in Chile to blame the democratically elected Allende for communist takeover. In reality ITT CEO Harold Geneen who was a major contributor to Nixon’s presidency was concerned about criticisms and possible takeover of ITT copper mining interests.
In most cases conspiracies are created and executed to produce an improved economic result for a specific group of stakeholders. Wars are ultimately about economic gain, not freedom & liberation. Our sense of morality prefers to choose freedom & liberation over economic gain, but idealistic goals are just the conduit or reason to justify economic control and profit. We like to believe that WWII was the last of the great noble and honest wars, but the reality is that international bankers and industrialists in all the conflicting nations promoted the war. Billions of dollars were made as a result of the killing and suffering of millions. People in high places of power and wealth are never put in harm’s way; they conscript the naïve masses to do their violent servitude.
Major governments and their elite conspirators are in constant fear that the truth will be revealed to their mass populace. If those seeking and revealing the truth cannot be squelched by murder, payoffs, or demonization, then governments put in place massive propaganda and disinformation campaigns through the mass media to try to stop the ground swell of truth being revealed. For example Obama appointed Cass Sunstein to the White head of House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Sunstein is an American legal scholar, particularly in the fields of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and law and behavioral economics. Sunstein’s primary role is to try to debunk and bring into question the public’s growing realization that the “Official Report” story was a fraud. In his writings about how to stop the flow of truth, Sunstein points to the possible deconstruction and abuse of the First and Fourth Amendments to curtail the truth about “9/11”.
The major governments of the world are concerned about WikiLeaks and the public’s ubiquitous access to alternative news sources on the internet. We are already seeing legislation being proposed and in some cases actually being put into place to censor the internet. Both of our major political parties are egregiously corrupt, and will go to great lengths that are many times not in the public’s interest to squelch their past clandestine and sordid activities.
I believe it is incumbent upon the peoples of the world to hold governments accountable for their malicious past behavior and to not be thwarted in investigating the truth. We cannot rely upon any government to give us an unbiased impartial investigation of any sordid conspiracies. If uncovering the truth would be a scar on America’s reputation, cause a drop in the stock market, or possibly a public insurrection, it would be a small price to pay for long term truth and liberty. It is important for us to deeply investigate through independent sources the activities of government and their elite minions. Not for one second would I let the threat of being branded or demonized “Unpatriotic”, “Wacko Truther”, “Un-American”, “Communist”, or “America Hater”, stop me from seeking the truth.
I like to follow the money first, before looking at other motives, when I normally evaluate secret conspiracies. JFK was not in favor of greatly ramping up the Vietnam War. He also wanted to propose an elimination or major restructuring to both the CIA and Federal Reserve. In addition, there was major resentment by Cuban ex-patriots and certain CIA operatives for the bungling of the Bay of Pigs invasion. Bottom line a mythical conspiracy was constructed to pin the murder on Oswald, after decades of investigation this fraud has been proved, by non-governmental sources to be virtually impossible. There was also a Kissinger-Nixon and CIA/Chilean Military backed coup d’état in Chile to blame the democratically elected Allende for communist takeover. In reality ITT CEO Harold Geneen who was a major contributor to Nixon’s presidency was concerned about criticisms and possible takeover of ITT copper mining interests.
In most cases conspiracies are created and executed to produce an improved economic result for a specific group of stakeholders. Wars are ultimately about economic gain, not freedom & liberation. Our sense of morality prefers to choose freedom & liberation over economic gain, but idealistic goals are just the conduit or reason to justify economic control and profit. We like to believe that WWII was the last of the great noble and honest wars, but the reality is that international bankers and industrialists in all the conflicting nations promoted the war. Billions of dollars were made as a result of the killing and suffering of millions. People in high places of power and wealth are never put in harm’s way; they conscript the naïve masses to do their violent servitude.
Major governments and their elite conspirators are in constant fear that the truth will be revealed to their mass populace. If those seeking and revealing the truth cannot be squelched by murder, payoffs, or demonization, then governments put in place massive propaganda and disinformation campaigns through the mass media to try to stop the ground swell of truth being revealed. For example Obama appointed Cass Sunstein to the White head of House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Sunstein is an American legal scholar, particularly in the fields of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and law and behavioral economics. Sunstein’s primary role is to try to debunk and bring into question the public’s growing realization that the “Official Report” story was a fraud. In his writings about how to stop the flow of truth, Sunstein points to the possible deconstruction and abuse of the First and Fourth Amendments to curtail the truth about “9/11”.
The major governments of the world are concerned about WikiLeaks and the public’s ubiquitous access to alternative news sources on the internet. We are already seeing legislation being proposed and in some cases actually being put into place to censor the internet. Both of our major political parties are egregiously corrupt, and will go to great lengths that are many times not in the public’s interest to squelch their past clandestine and sordid activities.
I believe it is incumbent upon the peoples of the world to hold governments accountable for their malicious past behavior and to not be thwarted in investigating the truth. We cannot rely upon any government to give us an unbiased impartial investigation of any sordid conspiracies. If uncovering the truth would be a scar on America’s reputation, cause a drop in the stock market, or possibly a public insurrection, it would be a small price to pay for long term truth and liberty. It is important for us to deeply investigate through independent sources the activities of government and their elite minions. Not for one second would I let the threat of being branded or demonized “Unpatriotic”, “Wacko Truther”, “Un-American”, “Communist”, or “America Hater”, stop me from seeking the truth.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Two Faces of Loyalty
Growing up, sheltered by my naiveté of the real world, I thought loyalty was always an esteemed and valuable virtue. In my youth, I lacked the critical thinking skills to dissect and contrast how people in power positions, including employers, parents, religion, and governments use the concept of loyalty to squelch critical thinking and dissent. I failed to realize that the concept of loyalty can be used as great tool to manipulate minds, and promote foolish allegiances to dangerous, corrupt, and harmful causes. Loyalty used in a pure and uncorrupted way is also a positive tool that engenders trust, safety, and community. Today I am going to focus on the dangers of blind unconditional loyalty.
I pondered the following questions relating to loyalty: Should a parent of a serial murderer try to protect his/her child, or should that parent be open and forthright about the barbaric behavior? Should a patriotic American cover up the misdeeds of government leaders for the eyes of the country and world? Should the Catholic Church hide and deny the pedophilia of some of its priests? Must the electorate pledge unbending allegiance to unscrupulous political candidates even though they are of our partisan persuasion. Should an employee of a corporation keep silent about corporate frauds, executive lies, or environmental irresponsibility? Should someone in the military such as WikiLeaker Pfc. Bradley Manning keep silent about military murder and abuses of innocent civilians? These are important questions if we want to build a society based order, civility, justice, and integrity. Do we want to reinforce acts of virtue and integrity for our children and peers, or do we want to be selectively hypocritical due to fear and short term gain?
I am proud to say that I have no blind loyalty to my government, religion, political party, nationality, or any individuals. Some people may have a knee jerk reaction to my not being loyal to my government or a religion, and I say that is exactly the catalyst that should provoke an intelligent rational discussion between us. In my opinion integrity, morality, and civil behavior trump all other priorities. I would turn on a parent, clergy, teacher, military or government leader, or business person whose behavior I deemed to be in violation of my moral priorities. Loyalty must be earned constantly and proven over time, and not taken as a divine right, because of someone’s title or position. Being unconditionally loyal can cost one their life, limb, or reputation.
Militaries are prime examples of organizations that require unconditional loyalty, and as a result are the most dangerous, barbaric, and corrupt. The US Pentagon cannot find $2.3 trillion in expenditures, why should we blindly continue to fund defense, are we that “sheep like” and fearful as a nation? Our country as well as others have had a sordid barbaric history of mass killings, major ethnic displacement, theft of natural resources, and abstract rationalizations for many other immoral activities. Iran Contra, Kennedy’s assassination, East Timor, Chile, El Salvador, Panama, mass slaughter of Native Americans, “9/11”, Vietnam, bombing of 2 million Cambodians, and the illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are just a few examples of our countries sordid past that have been carried out primarily through our military and CIA. The US has been directly or indirectly responsible for furthering totalitarianism in every nation where our corporations and investment capital might be at risk. It is very difficult for me to be loyal to a barbaric and corrupt government that continues to behave in such an egregiously immoral fashion, while hypocritically criticizing other nations for their unacceptable behavior.
In the 1930’s a majority of the German people, through sophisticated propaganda and economic fear, became unconditionally loyal to the burgeoning Nazi regime. What would have happened if these loyal Germans all became disloyal to their government? Hitler would have not risen to power, the people would be loyal only to peace, and there probably would have not been a major war in European continent.
After “9/11” approximately 80% of our nation felt that it was disloyal to question our governments motives for invading Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, the unconditional loyalty of a majority of our electorate will ultimately cost millions of lives and over 3 trillion dollars that would have been better spent on education, healthcare, infrastructure, research, and alternative energy.
The wealthy and powerful leaders of our nation profess that we should buy and invest in American companies. In contrast wealthy base their investment and purchasing decisions based upon what countries economics make the most prudent sense. The wealthy try to make the argument that taxation and environmental responsibility will shift jobs elsewhere. I do not believe that their loyalty lies with the plight of the American worker, but their financial pragmatism will cause them to easily set up shop or invest in another country. Loyalty seems to be an abstract emotional concept that is mainly embraced by the masses, but not practiced by the elite.
I believe that those people who are more unconditionally loyal are also more evangelically religious. By the very nature of religion being mythical and un-provable, one would have to possess a greater degree of blind faith in order to be loyal to the religion.
Those who are more religiously loyal also believe in “American Exceptionalism”. The 2010 Post-Election American Values survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in cooperation with the Brookings Institute asked respondents to agree or disagree (completely or mostly) with the statement: “God has granted America a special role in human history”. Overall 58 percent agreed. Tea Party members, Republicans, and White Evangelicals were more likely to agree; liberals and the unaffiliated were more likely to disagree. Still, 25 percent of the unaffiliated mostly agreed with the statement. The survey also found that those who agree with the idea of American Exceptionalism are more likely to justify torture and to believe that military strength rather than diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace.
Being unconditionally loyal to professionals such as teachers, doctors, lawyers can also be a dangerous trap that may lead to disinformation, inadequate treatment, and financial and personal loss. I also believe that there is a major correlation between the ignorance, naiveté’, and indolence of those who easily choose unconditional loyalty.
It has been demonstrated that unconditional loyalty to parents and family can also be a dangerous path to emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. In will never forget the statement that my father arrogantly made when I was a child, “I am your father and you never question anything that I tell you or direct you to do”. My father had many faults and short comings. Why would I blindly accept his judgment to be perfect and God like, without him giving me a rational explanation for his directives? I have always taught my children to respectfully question anything I say in order to develop their critical thinking and survival skills.
If we are to strive to become a more civilized, just, and humane society it is in our best interests as individuals and a nation to value truth, ethics, and fairness above blind loyalty.
I pondered the following questions relating to loyalty: Should a parent of a serial murderer try to protect his/her child, or should that parent be open and forthright about the barbaric behavior? Should a patriotic American cover up the misdeeds of government leaders for the eyes of the country and world? Should the Catholic Church hide and deny the pedophilia of some of its priests? Must the electorate pledge unbending allegiance to unscrupulous political candidates even though they are of our partisan persuasion. Should an employee of a corporation keep silent about corporate frauds, executive lies, or environmental irresponsibility? Should someone in the military such as WikiLeaker Pfc. Bradley Manning keep silent about military murder and abuses of innocent civilians? These are important questions if we want to build a society based order, civility, justice, and integrity. Do we want to reinforce acts of virtue and integrity for our children and peers, or do we want to be selectively hypocritical due to fear and short term gain?
I am proud to say that I have no blind loyalty to my government, religion, political party, nationality, or any individuals. Some people may have a knee jerk reaction to my not being loyal to my government or a religion, and I say that is exactly the catalyst that should provoke an intelligent rational discussion between us. In my opinion integrity, morality, and civil behavior trump all other priorities. I would turn on a parent, clergy, teacher, military or government leader, or business person whose behavior I deemed to be in violation of my moral priorities. Loyalty must be earned constantly and proven over time, and not taken as a divine right, because of someone’s title or position. Being unconditionally loyal can cost one their life, limb, or reputation.
Militaries are prime examples of organizations that require unconditional loyalty, and as a result are the most dangerous, barbaric, and corrupt. The US Pentagon cannot find $2.3 trillion in expenditures, why should we blindly continue to fund defense, are we that “sheep like” and fearful as a nation? Our country as well as others have had a sordid barbaric history of mass killings, major ethnic displacement, theft of natural resources, and abstract rationalizations for many other immoral activities. Iran Contra, Kennedy’s assassination, East Timor, Chile, El Salvador, Panama, mass slaughter of Native Americans, “9/11”, Vietnam, bombing of 2 million Cambodians, and the illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are just a few examples of our countries sordid past that have been carried out primarily through our military and CIA. The US has been directly or indirectly responsible for furthering totalitarianism in every nation where our corporations and investment capital might be at risk. It is very difficult for me to be loyal to a barbaric and corrupt government that continues to behave in such an egregiously immoral fashion, while hypocritically criticizing other nations for their unacceptable behavior.
In the 1930’s a majority of the German people, through sophisticated propaganda and economic fear, became unconditionally loyal to the burgeoning Nazi regime. What would have happened if these loyal Germans all became disloyal to their government? Hitler would have not risen to power, the people would be loyal only to peace, and there probably would have not been a major war in European continent.
After “9/11” approximately 80% of our nation felt that it was disloyal to question our governments motives for invading Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, the unconditional loyalty of a majority of our electorate will ultimately cost millions of lives and over 3 trillion dollars that would have been better spent on education, healthcare, infrastructure, research, and alternative energy.
The wealthy and powerful leaders of our nation profess that we should buy and invest in American companies. In contrast wealthy base their investment and purchasing decisions based upon what countries economics make the most prudent sense. The wealthy try to make the argument that taxation and environmental responsibility will shift jobs elsewhere. I do not believe that their loyalty lies with the plight of the American worker, but their financial pragmatism will cause them to easily set up shop or invest in another country. Loyalty seems to be an abstract emotional concept that is mainly embraced by the masses, but not practiced by the elite.
I believe that those people who are more unconditionally loyal are also more evangelically religious. By the very nature of religion being mythical and un-provable, one would have to possess a greater degree of blind faith in order to be loyal to the religion.
Those who are more religiously loyal also believe in “American Exceptionalism”. The 2010 Post-Election American Values survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in cooperation with the Brookings Institute asked respondents to agree or disagree (completely or mostly) with the statement: “God has granted America a special role in human history”. Overall 58 percent agreed. Tea Party members, Republicans, and White Evangelicals were more likely to agree; liberals and the unaffiliated were more likely to disagree. Still, 25 percent of the unaffiliated mostly agreed with the statement. The survey also found that those who agree with the idea of American Exceptionalism are more likely to justify torture and to believe that military strength rather than diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace.
Being unconditionally loyal to professionals such as teachers, doctors, lawyers can also be a dangerous trap that may lead to disinformation, inadequate treatment, and financial and personal loss. I also believe that there is a major correlation between the ignorance, naiveté’, and indolence of those who easily choose unconditional loyalty.
It has been demonstrated that unconditional loyalty to parents and family can also be a dangerous path to emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. In will never forget the statement that my father arrogantly made when I was a child, “I am your father and you never question anything that I tell you or direct you to do”. My father had many faults and short comings. Why would I blindly accept his judgment to be perfect and God like, without him giving me a rational explanation for his directives? I have always taught my children to respectfully question anything I say in order to develop their critical thinking and survival skills.
If we are to strive to become a more civilized, just, and humane society it is in our best interests as individuals and a nation to value truth, ethics, and fairness above blind loyalty.
Humans seek comfort in Myths
One would like to believe that our human behavior would favor our always wanting to seek the facts and truth irrespective of how painful the reality, over comfortable myths and stories. Unfortunately many times our emotional well being takes precedence over our intellectual integrity. I place myths into two categories, the benign white lie, and the insidious type that causes personal and financial harm. We often times choose our own constructed myths or those of others in order to soften the landing of what may turn out to be a painful reality.
Our egos dictate that we want to feel that we are a member of the best religious faith, graduated from the best college, live in the best nation, drive the best car, or wear the most fashionable clothes Constructing myths is just not about feeling safe and comfortable; the essence of the issue is also about being loved and accepted.
Madison Avenue is very skilled in manipulating our emotional needs and has learned to use symbolism, metaphors, and “Buzz Words” to mold our psyches. Car manufacturers equate cars in their advertising campaigns with sexual prowess, masculinity, and economic status. The advertising peddlers use such words as luxury, tough, power, speed, agility, elite, in a class by itself, and other words that evoke an emotional charge. These advertising myths seem to play well on many of our needs for status, sexual attractiveness, and uniqueness.
Through public relations and the mass media our government leaders have been able to capitalize on our fears and doubts in order to manipulate us financially and personally. Nations are skilled in crafting myths about the importance of loyalty, patriotism, and military service. Unfortunately it is usually not the power elite who buy into the hyperbole and propaganda, but the masses who are brain washed into the virtues of losing one’s life or limbs for service to ones country. Sacrificing one’s life for ones country is only a fool hardy myth that perpetuates added violence. Just think if every soldier in every military was convinced to be an army deserter, then we might be closer to a more peaceful world. Of course if soldiers will not fight then the rich and powerful will have to physically risk their own lives and do their own fighting. Young idealistic men go off to war and die so that rich old men will live to obtain more bounty.
Religion and God are probably one of the oldest manufactured myths that mankind has perpetrated in order to control the masses and create an ethereal answer to unanswered scientific questions. This theocratic mythology on its face is probably not harmful, but when corrupted by man’s dark side it has been a draconian tool to oppress, murder, create unnecessary guilt, and deny human rights. Myths which are not basically harmful such as Adam & Eve, Noah’s Ark, and the Virgin Mother are scientifically and logically unacceptable. People who are religious say that they embrace faith, but I not want to confuse the faith concept with positive thinking. Faith is type of myth that is a manufactured story which does not properly answer a scientific question.
Another myth that some of us embrace is that somehow a lavish wedding will lead to a more successful marriage. My experience with wedding parties is that they are vehicle of status, one up manship, and an expensive myth. I like a good a party as well as the next person, but to spend tens of thousands of dollars for a one day event for the average person is major misuse of money. Instead of the $1,500 spent on the one time use of a wedding dress, and $25,000 on the wedding, if this same money was used as down payment on a home that second choice would be more sensible. I have yet to read any statistics that said that an expensive wedding will lead the couple into a more loving and enduring relationship.
Our attitudes and guilt around death and dying in this country are also steeped in myth. Somehow the idea of an expensive funeral and burial headstone may cause the bereaved family to feel that they loved the person more. Once a person is dead they cannot feel or transmit love. My choice and that of my mate is to will our bodies to the local medical school, where our organs maybe transplanted to save another life, or our bodies can be used for future medical students to learn anatomy. The money I saved on a wasteful funeral can be put to better use as a donation to a positive charity.
The myth that we are in a functional family has caused many of us untold anguish and visits to our therapist. If those of you in the minority were fortunate enough to have grown up in a relatively functional family, then you are blessed by the assumed healthy family myth.
The myth of the diamond or precious stone has enriched countless jewelers, manufacturers, and diamond mine owners. The wedding ring with the inserted diamonds is a great myth that has been spun by the owners of the DeBeers Diamond Co. and has created a market for bankers and jewelers to make a great deal of money from the credit diamond sale business. In reality a piece of useless jewelry has none or little value in fostering a successful marriage.
A myth that many of us accept is that if we are a member of one of the two major political that these special interests are operating independently for the benefit of our own welfare. In reality the political party game is fixed, akin to professional wrestling by virtue of high level leaders in the Bilderberg Group, Hudson Institute, Wall Street, Trilateral Commission, International Bankers, and many other high level self interest groups and think tanks. Our votes do count, but unfortunately our minds are molded by partial and disinformation to cause us to use fear instead of logic and data to make our political choices. The turn-around of a majority No, to a majority Yes on Proposition 8 was engineered by religious groups such as the Mormon Church. These hateful religious groups used unverifiable myths about homosexuals to bend the minds of the ambivalent masses. The myth that Obama was a liberal that would always work in the best interests of the working class was in reality overshadowed by the fact that he received three times the campaign contributions from Wall Street than McCain received.
I find that the myths, or lies promulgated by our government leaders today is even more harmful than the fraudulent information that has been traditionally disseminated by religious communities. I find such myths created by our government that Oswald killed JFK, that we lend money to other countries out of altruistic motivation, that the North Vietnamese attacked us in the Gulf of Tonkin, that Osama bin Laden caused 9/11, and that we go to war because we genuinely care about people in third world countries are myths and outright lies constructed to the highest degree. Our government’s fraudulent myths about “9/11” will probably go down as the quintessential lie of our modern history.
Everyone wants to be on a winning team or think that they have the pipeline to all right answers, but if they accept myths in place of demonstrable facts, then they will only set themselves up for harm to themselves and others. Reagan said, “Trust but verify”. Let’s behave as adults and accept uncomfortable truths, as opposed to embracing a placating harmful myth.
Our egos dictate that we want to feel that we are a member of the best religious faith, graduated from the best college, live in the best nation, drive the best car, or wear the most fashionable clothes Constructing myths is just not about feeling safe and comfortable; the essence of the issue is also about being loved and accepted.
Madison Avenue is very skilled in manipulating our emotional needs and has learned to use symbolism, metaphors, and “Buzz Words” to mold our psyches. Car manufacturers equate cars in their advertising campaigns with sexual prowess, masculinity, and economic status. The advertising peddlers use such words as luxury, tough, power, speed, agility, elite, in a class by itself, and other words that evoke an emotional charge. These advertising myths seem to play well on many of our needs for status, sexual attractiveness, and uniqueness.
Through public relations and the mass media our government leaders have been able to capitalize on our fears and doubts in order to manipulate us financially and personally. Nations are skilled in crafting myths about the importance of loyalty, patriotism, and military service. Unfortunately it is usually not the power elite who buy into the hyperbole and propaganda, but the masses who are brain washed into the virtues of losing one’s life or limbs for service to ones country. Sacrificing one’s life for ones country is only a fool hardy myth that perpetuates added violence. Just think if every soldier in every military was convinced to be an army deserter, then we might be closer to a more peaceful world. Of course if soldiers will not fight then the rich and powerful will have to physically risk their own lives and do their own fighting. Young idealistic men go off to war and die so that rich old men will live to obtain more bounty.
Religion and God are probably one of the oldest manufactured myths that mankind has perpetrated in order to control the masses and create an ethereal answer to unanswered scientific questions. This theocratic mythology on its face is probably not harmful, but when corrupted by man’s dark side it has been a draconian tool to oppress, murder, create unnecessary guilt, and deny human rights. Myths which are not basically harmful such as Adam & Eve, Noah’s Ark, and the Virgin Mother are scientifically and logically unacceptable. People who are religious say that they embrace faith, but I not want to confuse the faith concept with positive thinking. Faith is type of myth that is a manufactured story which does not properly answer a scientific question.
Another myth that some of us embrace is that somehow a lavish wedding will lead to a more successful marriage. My experience with wedding parties is that they are vehicle of status, one up manship, and an expensive myth. I like a good a party as well as the next person, but to spend tens of thousands of dollars for a one day event for the average person is major misuse of money. Instead of the $1,500 spent on the one time use of a wedding dress, and $25,000 on the wedding, if this same money was used as down payment on a home that second choice would be more sensible. I have yet to read any statistics that said that an expensive wedding will lead the couple into a more loving and enduring relationship.
Our attitudes and guilt around death and dying in this country are also steeped in myth. Somehow the idea of an expensive funeral and burial headstone may cause the bereaved family to feel that they loved the person more. Once a person is dead they cannot feel or transmit love. My choice and that of my mate is to will our bodies to the local medical school, where our organs maybe transplanted to save another life, or our bodies can be used for future medical students to learn anatomy. The money I saved on a wasteful funeral can be put to better use as a donation to a positive charity.
The myth that we are in a functional family has caused many of us untold anguish and visits to our therapist. If those of you in the minority were fortunate enough to have grown up in a relatively functional family, then you are blessed by the assumed healthy family myth.
The myth of the diamond or precious stone has enriched countless jewelers, manufacturers, and diamond mine owners. The wedding ring with the inserted diamonds is a great myth that has been spun by the owners of the DeBeers Diamond Co. and has created a market for bankers and jewelers to make a great deal of money from the credit diamond sale business. In reality a piece of useless jewelry has none or little value in fostering a successful marriage.
A myth that many of us accept is that if we are a member of one of the two major political that these special interests are operating independently for the benefit of our own welfare. In reality the political party game is fixed, akin to professional wrestling by virtue of high level leaders in the Bilderberg Group, Hudson Institute, Wall Street, Trilateral Commission, International Bankers, and many other high level self interest groups and think tanks. Our votes do count, but unfortunately our minds are molded by partial and disinformation to cause us to use fear instead of logic and data to make our political choices. The turn-around of a majority No, to a majority Yes on Proposition 8 was engineered by religious groups such as the Mormon Church. These hateful religious groups used unverifiable myths about homosexuals to bend the minds of the ambivalent masses. The myth that Obama was a liberal that would always work in the best interests of the working class was in reality overshadowed by the fact that he received three times the campaign contributions from Wall Street than McCain received.
I find that the myths, or lies promulgated by our government leaders today is even more harmful than the fraudulent information that has been traditionally disseminated by religious communities. I find such myths created by our government that Oswald killed JFK, that we lend money to other countries out of altruistic motivation, that the North Vietnamese attacked us in the Gulf of Tonkin, that Osama bin Laden caused 9/11, and that we go to war because we genuinely care about people in third world countries are myths and outright lies constructed to the highest degree. Our government’s fraudulent myths about “9/11” will probably go down as the quintessential lie of our modern history.
Everyone wants to be on a winning team or think that they have the pipeline to all right answers, but if they accept myths in place of demonstrable facts, then they will only set themselves up for harm to themselves and others. Reagan said, “Trust but verify”. Let’s behave as adults and accept uncomfortable truths, as opposed to embracing a placating harmful myth.
The poor seem to a get behind the “Eight Ball”
The poor seem to exacerbate their condition due to their own internal attributes, and more importantly due to their poor choices in their external environment, for which many times they few alternatives. The primary focus of my article today is how the poor are a great profit source for those business providers primarily in the financial sector and rental markets. Few have the benefit of a trust fund or having inherited affluence.
What are some of the typical “poor person” profiles? Usually these folks have limited formal education and are many times high school drop outs. Single parents, who have limited education, weak job skills, and failing health many times, fall into this quick unending sand trap of poverty. Addiction to alcohol and drugs is a sure fire way to poverty. Health and other physical and mental disabilities are many times a ticket to the poor house.
In addition to having limited or little earning capacity, the poor are not always the most prudent budgeters of their money or have the knowledge and physical resources to be prudent purchasers. I believe that learning how to make their acquisition dollars go further is a faster road to moving up the ladder, than sometimes gaining better jobs skills and earning more money.
Minority status is fortunately not the impediment to affluence that it was in the past specifically for those who are intelligent, educated, focused, and hard working. Even though that a great deal of progress has been made in our society relating to minority rights and opportunities, there still remains subtle societal discrimination and feelings of being less than worthy.
The poor do not have any highly paid lobbyists such as the oil industry, agri-business, Wall Street, the health and pharmaceutical sector, and the biggest extorters of all the Military Industrial Complex. With the great decrease in private labor unions who also advocate for human rights and better living conditions, the poor have lost a very helpful advocate in the political spectrum. The poor get some public assistance for two reasons, our collective guilt about the “Brothers Keeper” slogan, and by giving those in need a meager public assistance we probably are insuring ourselves against riots, street beggars, and revolution.
The poor and uneducated are almost three times as likely to be cigarette smokers, than the more educated and affluent. I calculated that one who smoked a $6 pack of cigarettes a day for 50 years, escalating the purchase price by 3% per year, the money spent, if invested at 4% per year and compounded would amount to $513,000; a comfortable retirement sum. Lottery tickets are primarily marketed to the poor in convenience stores, who little hope of getting ahead. The average ticket purchaser who spends $5 a day on a lottery ticket will easily throw away as much money as a cigarette smoker.
Those who smoke are fifteen times as likely to also have alcohol and drug addiction issues as those who do not smoke. If we assume a beer habit of a six pack a day at $3, that equates to $1,100 per year. Escalate the costs of the beer habit to purchasing alcohol in bars, or using drugs, these addictions could easily consume 20% to 99% of a person’s income.
The poor are typically greater impulse buyers and sometimes will pay high costs of unhealthy food and beverages in convenience stores, or feel that they need a pair of high priced jeans or sneakers to uplift their eroding self esteem. Burial plots, burial insurance, and funerals is also a scam that drain the assets of the poor. My partner and I have donated our remains to UC Medical Center, it’s free and may support a doctors education or further medical research.
In addition to poor lifestyle choices the external market of check cashing stores, convenience stores, bank NSF check fees, credit card late fees, high interest, tax refund loans, pawn loans, of furniture rented to purchase, and less access to affordable merchandise extracts a relatively princely sum from their meager incomes. Someone earning $20,000 per year will lose approximately $1,000 per year in spendable income. Those who rent to buy furniture will sometimes pay up to two and half times the value of the item in rental payments.
Entrepreneurs such as H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, and Liberty Tax Service, see the naïve poor purchasers as low hanging fruit to extract RAL loan fees and high income tax preparation fees. This RAL (refund anticipation loan) market is very lucrative for the burgeoning amount of providers who conveniently position themselves in poorer working person neighborhoods usually next to check cashing or convenience stores. A typical person going into Jackson Hewitt for income tax preparation and a RAL loan will spend $431, when they could have their taxes prepared free by the IRS, and receive their tax refund in less than two weeks by electronic deposit.
The Earned Income Tax Credit which is a subsidy for those earning below a certain level is available once a person files their tax return. Service and goods providers to the poor are great proponents of this government subsidy because it funnels windfall profit into the hands of the providers at the expense of all the tax payers. I agree that the poor do receive some value from income tax credits for the goods and services provided them, but those who lobby for these credits are the ultimate receivers; the business providers. As an analogy loans to third world countries by the IMF and World Bank do not usually benefit the poor in those countries, but rather the contractors such as Bechtel and Halliburton who build major infrastructure in those countries.
We have higher priorities for defense spending and corporate subsidies than we have for people in the U.S. Our spending for defense, far out strips all the rest of the other developed nations.
A person of means has access to professional mental health support, which is not easily accessed by the poor. It is very easy to voice a quick fix solution for the poor to elevate themselves from poverty, but depression, addictions, and hopelessness are not easy states of being to arise from. Our society relative to other developed nations has a less inclusive and caring attitude, which is clearly reflected in how we structure, or at this juncture de-structure our safety nets to help those in need.
Sweden and Switzerland spend more than the U.S. on public education as a percentage of GDP. Raising tuition in public universities, increasing class room sizes, and decreasing skill building courses in community colleges directly affect the poor. We have cut back on services for childcare for poor working parents. Many times it is more cost efficient for a poor single parent to collect a minimal welfare check and stay home with their children, than to have that child in costly day care so that the parent may go to community college or hold down a poorly paying job at a fast food restaurant or Walmart.
Due to our short sided uncaring view of poverty in the U.S. we actually continue to perpetuate its existence.
.
What are some of the typical “poor person” profiles? Usually these folks have limited formal education and are many times high school drop outs. Single parents, who have limited education, weak job skills, and failing health many times, fall into this quick unending sand trap of poverty. Addiction to alcohol and drugs is a sure fire way to poverty. Health and other physical and mental disabilities are many times a ticket to the poor house.
In addition to having limited or little earning capacity, the poor are not always the most prudent budgeters of their money or have the knowledge and physical resources to be prudent purchasers. I believe that learning how to make their acquisition dollars go further is a faster road to moving up the ladder, than sometimes gaining better jobs skills and earning more money.
Minority status is fortunately not the impediment to affluence that it was in the past specifically for those who are intelligent, educated, focused, and hard working. Even though that a great deal of progress has been made in our society relating to minority rights and opportunities, there still remains subtle societal discrimination and feelings of being less than worthy.
The poor do not have any highly paid lobbyists such as the oil industry, agri-business, Wall Street, the health and pharmaceutical sector, and the biggest extorters of all the Military Industrial Complex. With the great decrease in private labor unions who also advocate for human rights and better living conditions, the poor have lost a very helpful advocate in the political spectrum. The poor get some public assistance for two reasons, our collective guilt about the “Brothers Keeper” slogan, and by giving those in need a meager public assistance we probably are insuring ourselves against riots, street beggars, and revolution.
The poor and uneducated are almost three times as likely to be cigarette smokers, than the more educated and affluent. I calculated that one who smoked a $6 pack of cigarettes a day for 50 years, escalating the purchase price by 3% per year, the money spent, if invested at 4% per year and compounded would amount to $513,000; a comfortable retirement sum. Lottery tickets are primarily marketed to the poor in convenience stores, who little hope of getting ahead. The average ticket purchaser who spends $5 a day on a lottery ticket will easily throw away as much money as a cigarette smoker.
Those who smoke are fifteen times as likely to also have alcohol and drug addiction issues as those who do not smoke. If we assume a beer habit of a six pack a day at $3, that equates to $1,100 per year. Escalate the costs of the beer habit to purchasing alcohol in bars, or using drugs, these addictions could easily consume 20% to 99% of a person’s income.
The poor are typically greater impulse buyers and sometimes will pay high costs of unhealthy food and beverages in convenience stores, or feel that they need a pair of high priced jeans or sneakers to uplift their eroding self esteem. Burial plots, burial insurance, and funerals is also a scam that drain the assets of the poor. My partner and I have donated our remains to UC Medical Center, it’s free and may support a doctors education or further medical research.
In addition to poor lifestyle choices the external market of check cashing stores, convenience stores, bank NSF check fees, credit card late fees, high interest, tax refund loans, pawn loans, of furniture rented to purchase, and less access to affordable merchandise extracts a relatively princely sum from their meager incomes. Someone earning $20,000 per year will lose approximately $1,000 per year in spendable income. Those who rent to buy furniture will sometimes pay up to two and half times the value of the item in rental payments.
Entrepreneurs such as H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, and Liberty Tax Service, see the naïve poor purchasers as low hanging fruit to extract RAL loan fees and high income tax preparation fees. This RAL (refund anticipation loan) market is very lucrative for the burgeoning amount of providers who conveniently position themselves in poorer working person neighborhoods usually next to check cashing or convenience stores. A typical person going into Jackson Hewitt for income tax preparation and a RAL loan will spend $431, when they could have their taxes prepared free by the IRS, and receive their tax refund in less than two weeks by electronic deposit.
The Earned Income Tax Credit which is a subsidy for those earning below a certain level is available once a person files their tax return. Service and goods providers to the poor are great proponents of this government subsidy because it funnels windfall profit into the hands of the providers at the expense of all the tax payers. I agree that the poor do receive some value from income tax credits for the goods and services provided them, but those who lobby for these credits are the ultimate receivers; the business providers. As an analogy loans to third world countries by the IMF and World Bank do not usually benefit the poor in those countries, but rather the contractors such as Bechtel and Halliburton who build major infrastructure in those countries.
We have higher priorities for defense spending and corporate subsidies than we have for people in the U.S. Our spending for defense, far out strips all the rest of the other developed nations.
A person of means has access to professional mental health support, which is not easily accessed by the poor. It is very easy to voice a quick fix solution for the poor to elevate themselves from poverty, but depression, addictions, and hopelessness are not easy states of being to arise from. Our society relative to other developed nations has a less inclusive and caring attitude, which is clearly reflected in how we structure, or at this juncture de-structure our safety nets to help those in need.
Sweden and Switzerland spend more than the U.S. on public education as a percentage of GDP. Raising tuition in public universities, increasing class room sizes, and decreasing skill building courses in community colleges directly affect the poor. We have cut back on services for childcare for poor working parents. Many times it is more cost efficient for a poor single parent to collect a minimal welfare check and stay home with their children, than to have that child in costly day care so that the parent may go to community college or hold down a poorly paying job at a fast food restaurant or Walmart.
Due to our short sided uncaring view of poverty in the U.S. we actually continue to perpetuate its existence.
.
How happy are we?
I wish I could honestly say based on objective data that I live in the best nation in the world! Unfortunately, based on the data, I cannot say we are at the top. At one time we had the largest GDP, but now the European Union has eclipsed us in financial horsepower. Is it more important to be financially wealthy or to feel peaceful, enjoy a quality standard of living, and feel elated about having a joyous life? I personally choose the later, because peace and joy are my only ultimate goals in life. The ultimate goal of peace and joy I believe derives from being loved, feeling financially secure, enjoying good health, having a clear sense of purpose, and giving to others.
According to Wikipedia, The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an index of human well-being and environmental impact that was introduced by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in July 2006. The index is designed to challenge well-established indices of countries’ development, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI), which are seen as not taking sustainability into account. In particular, GDP is seen as inappropriate, as the usual ultimate aim of most people is not to be rich, but to be happy and healthy. Furthermore, it is believed that the notion of sustainable development requires a measure of the environmental costs of pursuing those goals.
According to a 2009 HPI, the people of the U.S. are 114th down the list, and only enjoy 40% the happiness of countries such as Costa Rica, Cuba, and Jamaica. Hugo Chavez the populist leader of Venezuela has catapulted his country into a position of 36; being 1.7 times as happy as Americans. There are some folks living in the U.S. that for reasons of ego and pride delude themselves into believing that the U.S. is superior. I have no control over those folks who choose to put themselves in an emotional safety zone by deluding themselves into believing in Mother Goose, Heaven and Hell, Noah’s Ark, that America is supreme, and that 19 Muslims and burning jet fuel brought down the World Trade Center Towers. I also do not believe that a total dose of just Conservatism or Liberalism will cure all of our countries ills. Having a top heavy Military Industrial Complex, the highest obesity rates, a dwindling middle class, high inmate incarceration, one percent of the upper echelon possessing over one third of the wealth, and excessive narcissistic materialism is not a road paved to a quality nation and a happy populace.
Americans are less happy today than they were 30 years ago, thanks to longer working hours, and a deterioration in the quality of their relationships with friends and neighbors, according to an Italian study. Researchers presenting their work at a conference on "policies for happiness" at Italy's Siena University honed in on two major forces that boost happiness-- higher income and better social relationships -- and put a dollar value on them. Based on that, they concluded a person with no friends or social relations with neighbors would have to earn $320,000 more each year than someone who did to enjoy the same level of happiness. And while the average American paycheck had risen over the past 30 years, its happiness-boosting benefits were more than offset by a drop in the quality of relationships over the period. "The main cause is a decline in the so-called social capital -- increased loneliness, increased perception of others as untrustworthy and unfair," said Stefano Bartolini, one of the authors of the study. "Social contacts have worsened, people have less and less relationships among neighbors, relatives and friends."
David Swanson in his oped writes: “The past 30 years have seen tremendous growth in the United States in productivity and wealth, and yet we don't all seem very appreciative. In fact, as Yale political scientist Robert Lane has documented, surveys have found Americans' assessment of their level of happiness declining significantly. The same is not the case in other developed countries. The United States contains less than 5 percent of the world's population and spends 42 percent of the world's health care expenses, and yet Americans are less healthy than the residents of nearly every other wealthy nation and a few poor ones as well, as documented by Dr. Stephen Bezruchka of the University of Washington .
What's going on? We spend more on criminal justice and have more crime. How can that be? We're richer and have more poverty. Why is that? Research also shows that a country's murder rate varies with its inequality, not its overall wealth or its criminal justice spending.
Sam Pizzigati, author of a new book called "Greed and Good," thinks he has both an answer and a solution to these and several other riddles. Pizzigati focuses on the extreme increase in inequality that the United States has seen over the past generation. The Federal Reserve Board has documented gains by America 's wealthiest 1 percent of more than $2 trillion more than everyone in America 's bottom 90 percent combined. We are now the most unequal wealthy nation on earth and have reversed the relationship we had to Europe when the founders of this country rejected aristocracy. Today Europeans come to the United States to marvel at the excesses of wealth beside shameful poverty.
Many of us would like to lift up those at the bottom. Few of us want to bring down those at the top. Pizzigati argues that you cannot do one without the other, because the super wealthy will always have the political power to avoid contributing to bringing the bottom up. This will leave it to the middle class to assist those less fortunate even as their own situations are slipping and their concept of success. The middle class won't want to do this, and instead will support policies that benefit the super wealthy.
America has positive attributes such as our constitutional rights, the ability to create wealth, beautiful geography, ethnic diversity, freedom of religion, and a history of optimism, resourcefulness, and creativity. Unfortunately unless these positive qualities of our country can be enjoyed by all of our citizens without regard to economic, ethnic, or gender status we are not truly a great nation. When the majority of Americans believe that their government is not representative of what is in the best interests of the middle class and those in need, but rather represents through the two major political parties the interests of the top one to five percent of the wealthy elite than we are again deluding ourselves.
Through the fear, corruption, and deception by the Military Industrial Complex we are coerced into spending over one half of our federal budget on defense related expenditures. The last time that someone received peace and joy through military spending they owned large interests in Boeing, Raytheon, The Carlyle Group, Halliburton, BlackWater, and other parasitic defense contractors and financiers.
Instead of trying to really enjoy the organic spirituality within ourselves, through nature, art, music, and our innate sensuality, we seek inadequate placebos such as material purchases and worship in corrupt religious institutions. Instead of learning to truly love and accept our inner self value without the judgment by others, we default to our outer superficial world of off center neurotics and those people that are many times less emotionally healthy than ourselves. How many of us continue to nurture destructive co-dependant relationships that do not support our sense of health and wholeness? How many of us prescribe excessive eating, alcohol, and drugs as a means to medicate our unhappiness. Making changes from destructive behavior to positive behavior that is supported by self love and a feeling of inner balance is no easy task for any of us.
What would our America look like if we greatly reduced military spending and used those economic, material, creative, and intellectual resources to support more art, education, environmental aesthetics, better food, healthier roads to spirituality, and improved our mental and physical healthcare? I believe that just making this improved change in this one sector of priority, that we could greatly advance our happiness. So one should take pause and reflect before boasting that we are the greatest nation in the world.
According to Wikipedia, The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an index of human well-being and environmental impact that was introduced by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in July 2006. The index is designed to challenge well-established indices of countries’ development, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI), which are seen as not taking sustainability into account. In particular, GDP is seen as inappropriate, as the usual ultimate aim of most people is not to be rich, but to be happy and healthy. Furthermore, it is believed that the notion of sustainable development requires a measure of the environmental costs of pursuing those goals.
According to a 2009 HPI, the people of the U.S. are 114th down the list, and only enjoy 40% the happiness of countries such as Costa Rica, Cuba, and Jamaica. Hugo Chavez the populist leader of Venezuela has catapulted his country into a position of 36; being 1.7 times as happy as Americans. There are some folks living in the U.S. that for reasons of ego and pride delude themselves into believing that the U.S. is superior. I have no control over those folks who choose to put themselves in an emotional safety zone by deluding themselves into believing in Mother Goose, Heaven and Hell, Noah’s Ark, that America is supreme, and that 19 Muslims and burning jet fuel brought down the World Trade Center Towers. I also do not believe that a total dose of just Conservatism or Liberalism will cure all of our countries ills. Having a top heavy Military Industrial Complex, the highest obesity rates, a dwindling middle class, high inmate incarceration, one percent of the upper echelon possessing over one third of the wealth, and excessive narcissistic materialism is not a road paved to a quality nation and a happy populace.
Americans are less happy today than they were 30 years ago, thanks to longer working hours, and a deterioration in the quality of their relationships with friends and neighbors, according to an Italian study. Researchers presenting their work at a conference on "policies for happiness" at Italy's Siena University honed in on two major forces that boost happiness-- higher income and better social relationships -- and put a dollar value on them. Based on that, they concluded a person with no friends or social relations with neighbors would have to earn $320,000 more each year than someone who did to enjoy the same level of happiness. And while the average American paycheck had risen over the past 30 years, its happiness-boosting benefits were more than offset by a drop in the quality of relationships over the period. "The main cause is a decline in the so-called social capital -- increased loneliness, increased perception of others as untrustworthy and unfair," said Stefano Bartolini, one of the authors of the study. "Social contacts have worsened, people have less and less relationships among neighbors, relatives and friends."
David Swanson in his oped writes: “The past 30 years have seen tremendous growth in the United States in productivity and wealth, and yet we don't all seem very appreciative. In fact, as Yale political scientist Robert Lane has documented, surveys have found Americans' assessment of their level of happiness declining significantly. The same is not the case in other developed countries. The United States contains less than 5 percent of the world's population and spends 42 percent of the world's health care expenses, and yet Americans are less healthy than the residents of nearly every other wealthy nation and a few poor ones as well, as documented by Dr. Stephen Bezruchka of the University of Washington .
What's going on? We spend more on criminal justice and have more crime. How can that be? We're richer and have more poverty. Why is that? Research also shows that a country's murder rate varies with its inequality, not its overall wealth or its criminal justice spending.
Sam Pizzigati, author of a new book called "Greed and Good," thinks he has both an answer and a solution to these and several other riddles. Pizzigati focuses on the extreme increase in inequality that the United States has seen over the past generation. The Federal Reserve Board has documented gains by America 's wealthiest 1 percent of more than $2 trillion more than everyone in America 's bottom 90 percent combined. We are now the most unequal wealthy nation on earth and have reversed the relationship we had to Europe when the founders of this country rejected aristocracy. Today Europeans come to the United States to marvel at the excesses of wealth beside shameful poverty.
Many of us would like to lift up those at the bottom. Few of us want to bring down those at the top. Pizzigati argues that you cannot do one without the other, because the super wealthy will always have the political power to avoid contributing to bringing the bottom up. This will leave it to the middle class to assist those less fortunate even as their own situations are slipping and their concept of success. The middle class won't want to do this, and instead will support policies that benefit the super wealthy.
America has positive attributes such as our constitutional rights, the ability to create wealth, beautiful geography, ethnic diversity, freedom of religion, and a history of optimism, resourcefulness, and creativity. Unfortunately unless these positive qualities of our country can be enjoyed by all of our citizens without regard to economic, ethnic, or gender status we are not truly a great nation. When the majority of Americans believe that their government is not representative of what is in the best interests of the middle class and those in need, but rather represents through the two major political parties the interests of the top one to five percent of the wealthy elite than we are again deluding ourselves.
Through the fear, corruption, and deception by the Military Industrial Complex we are coerced into spending over one half of our federal budget on defense related expenditures. The last time that someone received peace and joy through military spending they owned large interests in Boeing, Raytheon, The Carlyle Group, Halliburton, BlackWater, and other parasitic defense contractors and financiers.
Instead of trying to really enjoy the organic spirituality within ourselves, through nature, art, music, and our innate sensuality, we seek inadequate placebos such as material purchases and worship in corrupt religious institutions. Instead of learning to truly love and accept our inner self value without the judgment by others, we default to our outer superficial world of off center neurotics and those people that are many times less emotionally healthy than ourselves. How many of us continue to nurture destructive co-dependant relationships that do not support our sense of health and wholeness? How many of us prescribe excessive eating, alcohol, and drugs as a means to medicate our unhappiness. Making changes from destructive behavior to positive behavior that is supported by self love and a feeling of inner balance is no easy task for any of us.
What would our America look like if we greatly reduced military spending and used those economic, material, creative, and intellectual resources to support more art, education, environmental aesthetics, better food, healthier roads to spirituality, and improved our mental and physical healthcare? I believe that just making this improved change in this one sector of priority, that we could greatly advance our happiness. So one should take pause and reflect before boasting that we are the greatest nation in the world.
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