Showing posts with label social. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social. Show all posts
11/2/12
6/18/12
We Didn't Earn it
Why we didn't get here the old fashioned way...
Where I live at least we are becoming a society divided somewhat simply. It's not a complex demarcation nor is it the old "have and have nots" or the classic "rich and poor" although it may seem that way. Those factors do come into play but I think it's far deeper than that. We've come a long way since the sixties and seventies when racial, ethnic and economic lines were departmentalized with absolute clarity. Rather I think we are divided by a significant segment of society that had come to believe that everyone was entitled to anything they wanted without real effort to achieve it.
Now we are almost five years into an economic downturn that doesn't seem to be turning around we are sorted out by resentments. There are indeed people who have fallen through the cracks and that cannot help their situation. Far more so we are in disunion due to so many losing much of which was not truly earned and they resent it not really understanding why. The stratification of society that once was along racial and poverty lines had become leveled out by providing too much money for consumer goods that gave the wrong sense of equality. It was not an equitable distribution of wealth by raising standards of those capable of doing so regardless of racial, ethnic or economic background through true education and hard work. Rather it was a good old American quick fix of throwing money at a problem to instantly make people happy.
There are those who will argue with this point stating that it wasn't the people's fault but the leaders who foisted it upon our society. There is no responsibility in blaming "The Man" for our current condition of contrasting classes that is merely another shifting of and avoidance of facing facts. No advancement in society in history has been achieved without raising the standards and education of those capable of doing so and hard work. It takes effort, time and generational change and cannot be bought, given to someone or bestowed by wishful thinking.
Where I live at least we are becoming a society divided somewhat simply. It's not a complex demarcation nor is it the old "have and have nots" or the classic "rich and poor" although it may seem that way. Those factors do come into play but I think it's far deeper than that. We've come a long way since the sixties and seventies when racial, ethnic and economic lines were departmentalized with absolute clarity. Rather I think we are divided by a significant segment of society that had come to believe that everyone was entitled to anything they wanted without real effort to achieve it.
Now we are almost five years into an economic downturn that doesn't seem to be turning around we are sorted out by resentments. There are indeed people who have fallen through the cracks and that cannot help their situation. Far more so we are in disunion due to so many losing much of which was not truly earned and they resent it not really understanding why. The stratification of society that once was along racial and poverty lines had become leveled out by providing too much money for consumer goods that gave the wrong sense of equality. It was not an equitable distribution of wealth by raising standards of those capable of doing so regardless of racial, ethnic or economic background through true education and hard work. Rather it was a good old American quick fix of throwing money at a problem to instantly make people happy.
There are those who will argue with this point stating that it wasn't the people's fault but the leaders who foisted it upon our society. There is no responsibility in blaming "The Man" for our current condition of contrasting classes that is merely another shifting of and avoidance of facing facts. No advancement in society in history has been achieved without raising the standards and education of those capable of doing so and hard work. It takes effort, time and generational change and cannot be bought, given to someone or bestowed by wishful thinking.
2/9/12
Fear Based Politics
Where are the leaders?...
Demagogues in the US are unwittingly leading us to revolution.
Americans are looking for leaders and finding only people with over-sized egos implementing political strategies to win popularity contests. We've been through five years now of the Great Recession that never really ended and appears to be resurfacing in a Double Dip. Many people are recognizing these terms are euphemisms and if we have not been in another Great Depression similar to the nineteen-thirties then we are headed for one. More than likely we have already begun a "Depression within a Depression" replicating 1936-1937. The terms really do not matter since the conditions are the same and storm clouds are gathering that portend something unheard of a decade ago and that is revolution. The term itself invokes fear but thinking about it, how much worse could that fear be than the fear based autocrats and technocrats that run our country now?
We are not only in an economic crackup of historic proportions but a social and political one as well that occurs in cycles every 60-80 years and every 300-500 years. In the long view of history we will be seen as one of the societies that went through both simultaneously. The times we live in are truly epic and not in the trite sense of the word nor of the garden variety cycles of history that repeat themselves in oft-quoted Santayana admonishment. A polymath who sees underlying problems with resolutions to be implemented in a well thought out way does well to understand that is not possible in epochs of radical change. We are on a road to some sort of revolution and sensibly organizing something such as a Second Constitutional Convention is likely only in aftermath. The deconstruction caused by a technological, economic, political and social disruption must come first.
When that occurs no prognosticator knows, only that surely it is coming and the general period of time but not the day and hour. In 2012 it seems the time is quickly drawing nearer. The average person regardless of their social intelligence senses these things and feels the winds blowing in sea change. What more pragmatically is there to know really? There are two ways to be led in times such as this: with inspiration and hope or with despair and fear.
Our current politicians are operating in the second mode, fear-mongering and blowing dog whistles to rile up all kinds of fears to stir people up and move them to their campaign and raise their donations. Perhaps the Democrats have leaders somewhere hidden in their lot but we don't know since they are not having a primary and not proffering any up since their nominee is a foregone conclusion. Their representative is not a leader and falls short in categories too numerous to mention that reveal themselves daily. Whether he is a likable or decent person to the beholder is irrelevant but the low caliber of the work he is performing is.
We find ourselves in an election season with a population that at a minimum is uneasy and unsure of what is happening in our country, generally burned out from this lengthy so-called Recovery that wasn't, genuinely concerned about the future short and long term. What do we get in return from the political class? A parade of clowns, trapeze artists, show ponies not fit for even a third rate circus all pandering to the lowest element and basest of emotions. Most people are tired of hearing about both the social progressive and social conservative agenda. They want to live their lives with some real hope and belief that things will one day get better. We may be in a bad spot that will take a long time to get out of but they want a leader who says "Yes we can rise above and work together" and not "my opponent is a jerk out to screw you." It's really that simple.
How this election season plays out in each act no one can predict but I'm willing to bet that the forces are already moving the average person to turn all the crazy negativity off. They will stop being complacent, halting the train of the loud mouth social progressives and social conservatives that are shouting down and drowning them out. It is reminiscent to me of Nixon's "Silent Majority" who did go out and vote for him because they wanted the merry-go-round to stop and they were tired and weary. Right, wrong, good, bad or indifferent he represented that to them. Will there be anyone to rise out of the Republican primary ashes to capture that sense? It's hard to see it but we will have to see.
My sense of it at this moment in time is the leaders are not there or are not willing to step forward and in some sense I can see why they wouldn't. There is no palatable way that much of the voting public can accept at this time the difficult and hard sacrifices that must be made to turn our economy around and our politics and society to some semblance of what America is supposed to be about. My prediction is that the current Administration will continue to make alienating bubble headed decisions that turn off even his own base and in return the Republicans nominate someone so far out in right field that the average American won't go for them. If they decide to vote who it will be for is going to be a difficult choice and my suspicion is whoever wins it will be by some default.
Our largest concern really isn't the crazy antics of the candidates themselves but the crazy billionaires crafting plans behind the scenes. They are the ones reigning over the concealed tyranny we are subjected to. To my way of thinking having two candidates that are not palatable to the majority of the country is probably a good thing in a seemingly bad way. It forces the average person to get active with their anger and strong arm the hands of the political and bureaucratic classes by submitting them to the will of the people rather than the other way around. The purpose is the neutering of the lobbying and billionaire money behind them and in the aftermath force that Second Constitutional Congress. Sounds like revolution? Yes it does, it's the real hard work, very doable and not as scary and violent as it sounds.
Demagogues in the US are unwittingly leading us to revolution.
We are not only in an economic crackup of historic proportions but a social and political one as well that occurs in cycles every 60-80 years and every 300-500 years. In the long view of history we will be seen as one of the societies that went through both simultaneously. The times we live in are truly epic and not in the trite sense of the word nor of the garden variety cycles of history that repeat themselves in oft-quoted Santayana admonishment. A polymath who sees underlying problems with resolutions to be implemented in a well thought out way does well to understand that is not possible in epochs of radical change. We are on a road to some sort of revolution and sensibly organizing something such as a Second Constitutional Convention is likely only in aftermath. The deconstruction caused by a technological, economic, political and social disruption must come first.
When that occurs no prognosticator knows, only that surely it is coming and the general period of time but not the day and hour. In 2012 it seems the time is quickly drawing nearer. The average person regardless of their social intelligence senses these things and feels the winds blowing in sea change. What more pragmatically is there to know really? There are two ways to be led in times such as this: with inspiration and hope or with despair and fear.
Our current politicians are operating in the second mode, fear-mongering and blowing dog whistles to rile up all kinds of fears to stir people up and move them to their campaign and raise their donations. Perhaps the Democrats have leaders somewhere hidden in their lot but we don't know since they are not having a primary and not proffering any up since their nominee is a foregone conclusion. Their representative is not a leader and falls short in categories too numerous to mention that reveal themselves daily. Whether he is a likable or decent person to the beholder is irrelevant but the low caliber of the work he is performing is.
How this election season plays out in each act no one can predict but I'm willing to bet that the forces are already moving the average person to turn all the crazy negativity off. They will stop being complacent, halting the train of the loud mouth social progressives and social conservatives that are shouting down and drowning them out. It is reminiscent to me of Nixon's "Silent Majority" who did go out and vote for him because they wanted the merry-go-round to stop and they were tired and weary. Right, wrong, good, bad or indifferent he represented that to them. Will there be anyone to rise out of the Republican primary ashes to capture that sense? It's hard to see it but we will have to see.
My sense of it at this moment in time is the leaders are not there or are not willing to step forward and in some sense I can see why they wouldn't. There is no palatable way that much of the voting public can accept at this time the difficult and hard sacrifices that must be made to turn our economy around and our politics and society to some semblance of what America is supposed to be about. My prediction is that the current Administration will continue to make alienating bubble headed decisions that turn off even his own base and in return the Republicans nominate someone so far out in right field that the average American won't go for them. If they decide to vote who it will be for is going to be a difficult choice and my suspicion is whoever wins it will be by some default.
1/4/12
2012 Social, Economic, Political
Lay a foundation of inner strength for the long haul...
This past year was one that I certainly cannot say "it went by so fast" since for me it didn't. It was a dramatic year of magnificent highs and lows, replete with drama resolved, that I fully lived every day of. Snitching a phrase it was "a time for every season" and a cliche it was a "passage of life" with the conundrum puzzled out. What I learned in the past year, after figuring out I didn't know as much as I thought, provided guide stones for what will certainly be a tumultuous year for our country and world. Going through and beyond personal milestones and stumbling blocks provided a solid foundation to allow me to personally cope with a globe going out of control that I can do little about. I learned that the external social disruption, economic disaster and political turmoil of the past few years cannot derail me and that I have the internal will to survive what may come.
This year the change in society will become evident to everyone and few will be able to live in denial. The economic crackup that seemingly took a brief holiday last year will return full force and cause social, economic and political realms to change. We are in for a tough year when the recognition that the quick fixes didn't work will out of necessity fade into settling in for a long haul of change and restoration. It is the end of the world as we knew it but not the end of the world, rather the aurora of a new period in history. People will stumble and fall as well as survive and thrive. Our goal is through skills of inner strength overcome and creatively rise above the fray relatively unscathed. We are of little use to others if we are not capable of keeping ourselves tethered to the shore.
When the world around us is spinning off its axis it's critical to remind ourselves we have no control over it. While external events may affect us how we respond and cope with them is what matters. A great thing about getting older truly is getting wiser. To gain wisdom we must learn from our past mistakes and victories so we may burrow a strong foothold on the spinning top of earth and keep our feet planted in the ground so as not to fly off.
The easy road to problems and difficulties is avoidance and procrastination except that actually results in multiplying into more bad situations. Painful and demanding is the road that leads to breaking through hard times but the by-product is not only resolutions but also acquiring new coping skills. It is these skills that we build an inherent infrastructure to keep us rooted on terra firma to avoid being blown away by extraneous gales and headwinds. If you haven't already, start laying your foundation of readiness to calmly live through the tempest. If you already have then keep building.
This past year was one that I certainly cannot say "it went by so fast" since for me it didn't. It was a dramatic year of magnificent highs and lows, replete with drama resolved, that I fully lived every day of. Snitching a phrase it was "a time for every season" and a cliche it was a "passage of life" with the conundrum puzzled out. What I learned in the past year, after figuring out I didn't know as much as I thought, provided guide stones for what will certainly be a tumultuous year for our country and world. Going through and beyond personal milestones and stumbling blocks provided a solid foundation to allow me to personally cope with a globe going out of control that I can do little about. I learned that the external social disruption, economic disaster and political turmoil of the past few years cannot derail me and that I have the internal will to survive what may come.
The easy road to problems and difficulties is avoidance and procrastination except that actually results in multiplying into more bad situations. Painful and demanding is the road that leads to breaking through hard times but the by-product is not only resolutions but also acquiring new coping skills. It is these skills that we build an inherent infrastructure to keep us rooted on terra firma to avoid being blown away by extraneous gales and headwinds. If you haven't already, start laying your foundation of readiness to calmly live through the tempest. If you already have then keep building.
10/3/11
The 99% Is 75%
The other twenty-five percent recognize reality of the New Era...
Sheep who want shepherds rather than personal responsibility.
Personally I have little in common with the Occupy Wall Street movement, a consortium of "unions, students, teachers, veterans, first responders, families, the unemployed and underemployed." These are not my people and I doubt they represent all of the groups they list as "...the majority" and "...are the 99 percent" who will "...no longer be silent." I would venture that a large segment of "99ers" whose unemployment is running out is among them. What I think is they belong in the seventy-five percent majority of Americans, that number my purely anecdotal guess, which doesn't yet fully understand the 21st Century has arrived but not in its fullness. They are still looking backwards to institutions, government, public education, banks, politicians and private employers for overhaul and reform when by the nature of this disruptive period these entities are on the verge of collapse.
Your right to protest is honored, your protest may not be honorable.
What I do support is their Constitutional and common law right to assemble and protest by exercising their free speech peacefully. It seems to me that has been breached by the New York Police Department but there is a disconnect that bothers me. The place of umbrage is while I support their rights they totally miss the point of those of us who pursue the cause of liberty and free speech. To them we are out on some right wing limb and they do not see the correlation to their dependence on Statism. What the NYPD has done to break up their protests is the very thing that many of us warned about post 9-11 when the federal government subsidized police departments all across the country in obtaining equipment and training in the name of anti-terrorism. It has created a militarized de facto national police force that was never intended for our country.
Mainstream America is still listening to the Mainstream Media and watching reality TV shows. Their gut instinct tells them something is terribly wrong but they cannot articulate what. It is a result of years of dumbing down the population by the very public schools and institutions they are now beholden to. My calculation is the majority of my rough estimate of this three-quarters of the population will not go quietly into a new era and adjust their expectations about how they obtain consumer goods. They feel entitled to a "middle class lifestyle" and that is their "right." Since the mid-nineties anyone who knows me has had to listen to my saying that our biggest concern should be what happens when the mass population figures out they actually have to work for something when the bubble bursts. Then I was referring to the tech/telecom bubble. The majority like bubbles since they easily provide them consumer goods even though they become fuel for the "one percent," really the institutions they're rallying against now, to ensnare them into debt and a contemporary version of servitude. This escapes those demonstrating on Wall Street.
Being one of 99 percent will be the loneliest thing they ever do.
What they also misunderstand is globally we are in the midst of a 500 year crash of civilizations event that breaks up empires and reshapes the world. They just want their SUV. It is fair to make comparisons to the Great Depression and use the history of it and previous Panics as a guide for what will happen next on the economic markets front. What is happening though is bigger than a Panic or Depression and much larger than the social changes of the sixties and seventies. Loosely about twenty-five percent of us understand that and recognize we are not only in an economic crisis but a disruption of high magnitude that may take more than a decade to play out. It is economic, political and social; permeating all areas of our culture and lives and will create the New Economy but won't be one the "99 percent" envision. You will have the right to be entrepreneurial, creative thinking, a free agent to live and earn a way of life of your choice. You will not have the right to be entitled to a desultory lifestyle based on what was considered "middle class."
"He who is not busy being born is busy dying."
Those of us who understand that we must go on with our lives know that in disruption there are opportunities if you choose to seek them. A chance to reinvent your life depending on how hard you work and what you want to surrender to rise above current conditions. We channel our energy towards that rather than banging a drum asking to be dependent on a reformed government and institutions to make us happy. These are difficult times but not insurmountable if you are willing to take a long term realistic view of what you want to do with your life and are willing to get on with it despite obstacles. This is a forward looking view recognizing that we may have to endure another bubble (the education bubble comes to mind) before we get to the other side. Post WWII institutions and method of governing must fail in order to restore what America was originally and is meant to be. It is a new reconstruction, a tough one just as Reconstruction was after the first Civil War. This war will not be fought geographically but between those with internal motivation versus those who expect external awards. It will be a new structure based on an old one although a more advanced version that is resurrected as the false storefront of the twentieth century collapses.
Sheep who want shepherds rather than personal responsibility.
Personally I have little in common with the Occupy Wall Street movement, a consortium of "unions, students, teachers, veterans, first responders, families, the unemployed and underemployed." These are not my people and I doubt they represent all of the groups they list as "...the majority" and "...are the 99 percent" who will "...no longer be silent." I would venture that a large segment of "99ers" whose unemployment is running out is among them. What I think is they belong in the seventy-five percent majority of Americans, that number my purely anecdotal guess, which doesn't yet fully understand the 21st Century has arrived but not in its fullness. They are still looking backwards to institutions, government, public education, banks, politicians and private employers for overhaul and reform when by the nature of this disruptive period these entities are on the verge of collapse.
Your right to protest is honored, your protest may not be honorable.
Mainstream America is still listening to the Mainstream Media and watching reality TV shows. Their gut instinct tells them something is terribly wrong but they cannot articulate what. It is a result of years of dumbing down the population by the very public schools and institutions they are now beholden to. My calculation is the majority of my rough estimate of this three-quarters of the population will not go quietly into a new era and adjust their expectations about how they obtain consumer goods. They feel entitled to a "middle class lifestyle" and that is their "right." Since the mid-nineties anyone who knows me has had to listen to my saying that our biggest concern should be what happens when the mass population figures out they actually have to work for something when the bubble bursts. Then I was referring to the tech/telecom bubble. The majority like bubbles since they easily provide them consumer goods even though they become fuel for the "one percent," really the institutions they're rallying against now, to ensnare them into debt and a contemporary version of servitude. This escapes those demonstrating on Wall Street.
Being one of 99 percent will be the loneliest thing they ever do.
"He who is not busy being born is busy dying."
8/24/11
Restoring Ourselves
Reconstructing America as a shining city on a hill...
When I was a kid growing up on Bermuda, a British island about 700 miles off the coast of North Carolina, there were symbols that were emblematic of America. It was a different world in the fifties and sixties than it is now. There was another view of the United States then and with the island's unique history of being British but having played some role in the American Revolution generally the British and American population got along. There were certain hallmarks that represented America for reasons that made sense at the time. Pan American Airways, American Express, the Stars and Stripes at the US Consulate and Coca-Cola. Those symbols also represented ideals that America stood for just as much as the Statue of Liberty does.
Sometimes I wonder now what the perception of our country is to the rest of the globe. My gut tells me it's McDonalds, Mickey Mouse and Reality TV shows and rampant consumerism. This is disappointing to me but not a surprise. The global view of "America as a shining city on a hill" is already tarnishing to some but not to others who want to immigrate here because they still see the gleam of American Exceptionalism. Those are people who will help us help ourselves just as immigrants have from the beginning. When I emigrated here in 1968 the country was rife with strife but that is not what I was looking for or saw. It was the chance for reinvention, opportunity to be who I wanted to be, liberate myself from the tiny limited, although paradise-like, island I came from and invigorate my life.
We are a country now of several generations that have never known a really bad time economically, socially and politically. We are not prepared for what is going to happen to us psychologically due to the disruption of our way of life. The death of consumerism, personal financial problems, troops returning from war, structural unemployment, lack of social and medical services, alcohol and drug abuse are a few things that come to mind. We are in desperate need of reconstructing ourselves. In The Sense of Beauty Santayana wrote "The only kind of reform usually possible is the kind from within; a more intimate study and intelligent use of the traditional reforms." He also noted "Nothing enhances a good so much as to make sacrifices for it." Our problems, individually and as a country will not be solved by politicians and bureaucrats in government nor medical doctors and scientists with medicinal cures. They will only be resolved by recalling our ideals and working from within ourselves and reaching outward to help each other.
When I was a kid growing up on Bermuda, a British island about 700 miles off the coast of North Carolina, there were symbols that were emblematic of America. It was a different world in the fifties and sixties than it is now. There was another view of the United States then and with the island's unique history of being British but having played some role in the American Revolution generally the British and American population got along. There were certain hallmarks that represented America for reasons that made sense at the time. Pan American Airways, American Express, the Stars and Stripes at the US Consulate and Coca-Cola. Those symbols also represented ideals that America stood for just as much as the Statue of Liberty does.
Sometimes I wonder now what the perception of our country is to the rest of the globe. My gut tells me it's McDonalds, Mickey Mouse and Reality TV shows and rampant consumerism. This is disappointing to me but not a surprise. The global view of "America as a shining city on a hill" is already tarnishing to some but not to others who want to immigrate here because they still see the gleam of American Exceptionalism. Those are people who will help us help ourselves just as immigrants have from the beginning. When I emigrated here in 1968 the country was rife with strife but that is not what I was looking for or saw. It was the chance for reinvention, opportunity to be who I wanted to be, liberate myself from the tiny limited, although paradise-like, island I came from and invigorate my life.
We are a country now of several generations that have never known a really bad time economically, socially and politically. We are not prepared for what is going to happen to us psychologically due to the disruption of our way of life. The death of consumerism, personal financial problems, troops returning from war, structural unemployment, lack of social and medical services, alcohol and drug abuse are a few things that come to mind. We are in desperate need of reconstructing ourselves. In The Sense of Beauty Santayana wrote "The only kind of reform usually possible is the kind from within; a more intimate study and intelligent use of the traditional reforms." He also noted "Nothing enhances a good so much as to make sacrifices for it." Our problems, individually and as a country will not be solved by politicians and bureaucrats in government nor medical doctors and scientists with medicinal cures. They will only be resolved by recalling our ideals and working from within ourselves and reaching outward to help each other.
8/22/11
A Man and His Hog
He Rides Alone...
Americans like to characterize people and put them in categories of what they think they are and how they will act. If they don't think of bikers as having a bad reputation at the minimum they believe they're on the fringe of society. There are outlaw riders, motorcycle club riders, boomers out for the thrill of it, Harley riders, Kawasaki crotch rocket riders, people who ride them because they like to or it's their only means of transportation. Mostly my experience has been a lot of bikers who look scary to others are pretty much regular people. They choose to live life differently, out of the mainstream culture, just as a lot of people do who do not fit in.
There are many people who do not fit into everyday society nor do they want to. You can make of them what you want but they are integral to what America is really about. You don't have to conform if you don't want to although there are a lot of people who will argue that you do. In the sixties and seventies the common quip about those who had long hair and wore jeans and boots were not noncomformists at all but actually conforming to a different norm. They missed the point. They were refusing to follow the standard rules of society, go to school, wear the usual clothes, get a regular job, get married and have kids.
Zen and the Art of Maintaining Individuality.
Some of us held on to an independent life for awhile and then tried the norm. In the vernacular: "Hated It!" It didn't take many of us long to realize that we would never fit in no matter what we tried. It's in the head, the personality type, the thinking brain and there's no changing it, so why fight it? I decided a long time ago that I was not cut out for a "career" and that I didn't need the stress or hassle not only of trying to meet the compliance a corporation demanded of me but that it also required me to work even harder at fitting ino being somebody I wasn't.
Far, far easier to be comfortable with myself, be who I am naturally with people that accept me for what I am and in turn I accept them for what they are. My friends and acquaintances run the gamut. I have friends in their seventies who are livelier than people who are in their forties. There are retailers in their twenties who are the best conversationalists I know and much more interesting than talking with lawyers I've worked with. I'm familiar with an architect who is the dullest person with a small imagination. On the other side of the coin is the handyman that does work around here and is probably one of the smartest guys I know, not just in craft work, but also in worldly topics.
Make your own noise. If you're happy being an accountant I'm happy for you, all I ask is that you be accepting of the rest of us who don't want to do that. If you want to travel cross-country in an RV go for it. What we all should remember is that America was built on people who were different and that is why they left where they were and came here. Don't characterize anyone who doesn't conform to what are considered societal norms because the most creative ideas and innovative products usually emerge from those that others consider unconventional. What is not in the mainstream culture very often later becomes accepted as the norm. Then the cycle begins again.
Americans like to characterize people and put them in categories of what they think they are and how they will act. If they don't think of bikers as having a bad reputation at the minimum they believe they're on the fringe of society. There are outlaw riders, motorcycle club riders, boomers out for the thrill of it, Harley riders, Kawasaki crotch rocket riders, people who ride them because they like to or it's their only means of transportation. Mostly my experience has been a lot of bikers who look scary to others are pretty much regular people. They choose to live life differently, out of the mainstream culture, just as a lot of people do who do not fit in.
There are many people who do not fit into everyday society nor do they want to. You can make of them what you want but they are integral to what America is really about. You don't have to conform if you don't want to although there are a lot of people who will argue that you do. In the sixties and seventies the common quip about those who had long hair and wore jeans and boots were not noncomformists at all but actually conforming to a different norm. They missed the point. They were refusing to follow the standard rules of society, go to school, wear the usual clothes, get a regular job, get married and have kids.
Zen and the Art of Maintaining Individuality.
Far, far easier to be comfortable with myself, be who I am naturally with people that accept me for what I am and in turn I accept them for what they are. My friends and acquaintances run the gamut. I have friends in their seventies who are livelier than people who are in their forties. There are retailers in their twenties who are the best conversationalists I know and much more interesting than talking with lawyers I've worked with. I'm familiar with an architect who is the dullest person with a small imagination. On the other side of the coin is the handyman that does work around here and is probably one of the smartest guys I know, not just in craft work, but also in worldly topics.
7/31/11
Of Great Social and Political Import
A stopped clock is right twice a day...
American Exceptionalism, Individualism, Mutual Help will restore us.
The progressive peddlers of programs and tea party tinkerers of taxes are locking horns in Washington DC and personally I don't subscribe to either major political party's agenda. My belief is neither side is acting in the best interest of the American people but merely serving their own purposes. I keep hearing a variation on the statement "they are trying to drive us back to the pre-Depression era." 'They' being I suppose that enigmatic collaboration of tea party, Republicans and conservatives and the complaint coming from liberals who have redressed themselves as progressives. My first thought is I wonder if anyone has considered that the programs of the Great Depression may be what got us into the Disruption Depression we are in today? That and consumerism.
There is a ridiculous headline in the Wall Street Journal "Slow Growth Stirs Recession Fears." Recession? What!? A recession implies a bump in the road and what we're experiencing is far larger than a recession. Statistics can be manipulated anyway someone wants but the reality is our credit rating will be downgraded regardless of any machinations of the Administration, US Treasury, Congress or Wall Street. There are two systemic problems that cannot be ignored by printing money. We are overleveraged as individuals and so is our government and additionally unemployment has become structural. Therefore if people are not able to productively earn money then debt cannot be paid off and will be repudiated.
We never pulled out of the recession in 2009 as some economists would have us believe, merely suspended it. Paul Krugman of the New York Times can rename this the "Little Depression," after all the damage he has done promoting the excessive printing of money, but the bottom line is we are heading for a long decade of economic restructuring and rebuilding. We will have both stagnation and hyper-inflation more endemic than the US in the seventies and Japan in the nineties. If you take the political and bureaucratic classes in DC and the financiers in New York seriously and rely on them for a solution then the joke is on you. They don't have a clue or care about anything west of I-95 and are concerned only with protecting their own self-interests.
In the long term I believe American Exceptionalism and Individualism is alive and well, although buried just beneath the surface, it is burgeoning resurrection. That ideal will be the ultimate resolution to the death of consumerism by technological and economic disruption and is a great thing. We will relearn and return to what it means to be innovative and creative and produce unique and valuable goods that are useful for the new era. It will take time and hard work. The sooner people recognize that reality we will be prepared to move forward. What our government is doing now is pure folly and nonsensical and you can't make sense out of a nonsensical situation. They are postponing the inevitable by trying to revive a dead concept, the old economy.
The American people must relearn to work for themselves. If it is for an employer they need to embrace the concept of being a free agent and not love an employer because they won't love you back. Americans should accept we are not entitled to anything except what we create by reinventing our lives and subsequently recreating the country. It is about our individual responsibility to take care of ourselves and mutual help with each other. The government cannot simulate or stimulate real people doing real things only real Americans can do that.
American Exceptionalism, Individualism, Mutual Help will restore us.
The progressive peddlers of programs and tea party tinkerers of taxes are locking horns in Washington DC and personally I don't subscribe to either major political party's agenda. My belief is neither side is acting in the best interest of the American people but merely serving their own purposes. I keep hearing a variation on the statement "they are trying to drive us back to the pre-Depression era." 'They' being I suppose that enigmatic collaboration of tea party, Republicans and conservatives and the complaint coming from liberals who have redressed themselves as progressives. My first thought is I wonder if anyone has considered that the programs of the Great Depression may be what got us into the Disruption Depression we are in today? That and consumerism.
There is a ridiculous headline in the Wall Street Journal "Slow Growth Stirs Recession Fears." Recession? What!? A recession implies a bump in the road and what we're experiencing is far larger than a recession. Statistics can be manipulated anyway someone wants but the reality is our credit rating will be downgraded regardless of any machinations of the Administration, US Treasury, Congress or Wall Street. There are two systemic problems that cannot be ignored by printing money. We are overleveraged as individuals and so is our government and additionally unemployment has become structural. Therefore if people are not able to productively earn money then debt cannot be paid off and will be repudiated.We never pulled out of the recession in 2009 as some economists would have us believe, merely suspended it. Paul Krugman of the New York Times can rename this the "Little Depression," after all the damage he has done promoting the excessive printing of money, but the bottom line is we are heading for a long decade of economic restructuring and rebuilding. We will have both stagnation and hyper-inflation more endemic than the US in the seventies and Japan in the nineties. If you take the political and bureaucratic classes in DC and the financiers in New York seriously and rely on them for a solution then the joke is on you. They don't have a clue or care about anything west of I-95 and are concerned only with protecting their own self-interests.
In the long term I believe American Exceptionalism and Individualism is alive and well, although buried just beneath the surface, it is burgeoning resurrection. That ideal will be the ultimate resolution to the death of consumerism by technological and economic disruption and is a great thing. We will relearn and return to what it means to be innovative and creative and produce unique and valuable goods that are useful for the new era. It will take time and hard work. The sooner people recognize that reality we will be prepared to move forward. What our government is doing now is pure folly and nonsensical and you can't make sense out of a nonsensical situation. They are postponing the inevitable by trying to revive a dead concept, the old economy.The American people must relearn to work for themselves. If it is for an employer they need to embrace the concept of being a free agent and not love an employer because they won't love you back. Americans should accept we are not entitled to anything except what we create by reinventing our lives and subsequently recreating the country. It is about our individual responsibility to take care of ourselves and mutual help with each other. The government cannot simulate or stimulate real people doing real things only real Americans can do that.
7/6/11
There Is No Going Back to 1776 or Prior to The Civil War or 1913
We may be able to return to the Calvin Coolidge era...
Revolutionary change happens in a big leap followed by incremental progress in degrees.
Our government in the US has been acting extra constitutionally at least since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although we must restore it to the basic fundamental principles of the US Constitution designed by the Founding Fathers, I think it is unrealistic to expect it to go back the original form in one sweeping second revolution. What we can strive for first is a return to the last President who held fundamental beliefs of small and laissez-faire government, Calvin Coolidge.
There are several historical changes that have caused me to draw this conclusion. Primarily they are the Civil War, the 16th and 17th Amendments ratified in 1913 and the extraordinary powers unlawfully exercised by FDR that have been institutionalized by every President since. In my way of thinking the chances to roll back the changes those events brought completely in one fell swoop is highly unlikely.
Why do I believe this? The majority of the American people themselves are ignorant of our unique history, how our nation was founded, understand the principles that originally guided us and are incapable of drawing a sound conclusion. The generations after the Second World War and most particularly the generations since the sixties are the products of a society based on consumerism and an educational system where nothing of value regarding our history is taught and no one fails. They have the government they deserve because they allowed it to happen and are blissfully stupid about the consequences since they are beneficiaries of the idea of entitlement. Force feeding them an across-the-board change likely would not succeed since they will resist a revolutionary change and side with the current government, no matter how invasive it is, out of fear.
Another reason I think this is not possible is the changes that have occurred since the Industrial Revolution in communication, science and technology. We are currently in an era of huge disruptive change that also creates a different social, economic and political environment. When the Founding Fathers envisioned and created the US Constitution they were basing it on an agrarian society that is long gone. Additionally, as appalling I think both the 16th and 17th Amendments are repealing them is probably unlikely. The federal income tax is here to stay as is the direct election of Senators for the time being.
Most Americans only have vague notions and mostly incorrect ideas of what their rights are and believe our government is a democracy. Most of the rights they assume are actually only implied rights or rights enforced by court rulings and laws primarily regarding affirmative action quotas and employment law. They are clueless about the Bill of Rights and what it actually states. They are unaware that we are not a true democracy but a representative democracy that is a republic. To suggest or explain to them that the direct election of Senators is contrary to a republic and that it causes of a lot of our Congressional problems today would go nowhere.
We are headed for some sort of economic, political and social crash that is on a par with the Civil War and the changes that it brought. How it will play out is uncertain, in spite of the pronunciations of economic doomsayers, survivalists, preppers, radicals, socialist revolutionaries, et al. No one really knows and can predict the course of future history. More likely the crash will serve as a wake up call and result in a restructuring of our country rather than an all out collapse or another civil war.
There is a fast growing minority that is beginning to understand what the intention of the US Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Founding Fathers meant by a representative republican democratic form of government and that we have gone far astray from those principles. Those of us that understand this, it is our incumbent duty to educate and explain to those that do not understand and willing to listen and learn, what our government was intended to be to gain a majority to restore it. Regardless of what that entails or we will be awash in the flotsam and jetsam of government that will further encroach on our liberty and freedom of the individual.
Therefore I think the focus should be to return to the most recent modern era of the 1920s that small and laissez-faire government existed, accepting that certain elements of the Constitution will remain unchanged for the moment. This era did not cause the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequently the Great Depression, in actuality the period prior to Coolidge started government intervention and regulated monopolies did. Once we've re-established small government, then it will be time to repeal onerous constitutional amendments and extra constitutional laws and court decisions. Change and progress usually succeeds in incremental steps rather than a total revolutionary repeal that an under educated and unprepared people do not have the ability to cope with.
Revolutionary change happens in a big leap followed by incremental progress in degrees.
Our government in the US has been acting extra constitutionally at least since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although we must restore it to the basic fundamental principles of the US Constitution designed by the Founding Fathers, I think it is unrealistic to expect it to go back the original form in one sweeping second revolution. What we can strive for first is a return to the last President who held fundamental beliefs of small and laissez-faire government, Calvin Coolidge.
There are several historical changes that have caused me to draw this conclusion. Primarily they are the Civil War, the 16th and 17th Amendments ratified in 1913 and the extraordinary powers unlawfully exercised by FDR that have been institutionalized by every President since. In my way of thinking the chances to roll back the changes those events brought completely in one fell swoop is highly unlikely.
Another reason I think this is not possible is the changes that have occurred since the Industrial Revolution in communication, science and technology. We are currently in an era of huge disruptive change that also creates a different social, economic and political environment. When the Founding Fathers envisioned and created the US Constitution they were basing it on an agrarian society that is long gone. Additionally, as appalling I think both the 16th and 17th Amendments are repealing them is probably unlikely. The federal income tax is here to stay as is the direct election of Senators for the time being.
We are headed for some sort of economic, political and social crash that is on a par with the Civil War and the changes that it brought. How it will play out is uncertain, in spite of the pronunciations of economic doomsayers, survivalists, preppers, radicals, socialist revolutionaries, et al. No one really knows and can predict the course of future history. More likely the crash will serve as a wake up call and result in a restructuring of our country rather than an all out collapse or another civil war.
Therefore I think the focus should be to return to the most recent modern era of the 1920s that small and laissez-faire government existed, accepting that certain elements of the Constitution will remain unchanged for the moment. This era did not cause the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequently the Great Depression, in actuality the period prior to Coolidge started government intervention and regulated monopolies did. Once we've re-established small government, then it will be time to repeal onerous constitutional amendments and extra constitutional laws and court decisions. Change and progress usually succeeds in incremental steps rather than a total revolutionary repeal that an under educated and unprepared people do not have the ability to cope with.
5/6/11
bin Laden Really is Dead
This is not a topic I intended to write about...
Somehow I feel I must write about this topic although it is really not where I want to go, especially lately, with this blog. I am officially burned out on economics, politics and social problems since they appear to be flat lined at best or getting worse. At this point I think my time, especially creatively, is better spent staying positive and motivating others to rise above and keep going no matter the odds.
However, I cannot ignore the issue of Osama bin Laden's death, the rise of conspiracy theories and the need for people to see pictures, as well as the emotions it is evoking in those directly affected by the events of 9-11-2001. I believe that Osama bin Laden is dead because I have more trust in the US military, their intelligence and capabilities and the CIA (a scary proposition to some I realize) than I do President Obama. I have every good reason to believe our military for reasons, not to be coy, that (even to prove my point) I cannot share. I believe they did carry out the mission, assassinated bin Laden and buried him at sea, in Davey Jone's Locker. The guy who tweeted it inadvertently, Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual), corroborates it to a believable degree and I don't think the US Government or anyone can make people like him up.
What the conspiracy stories and theories are really telling us is about the incompetence of President Obama and his staff, the incapacity to make a sound decision, stick to it, keep a story straight and be honest with the American people. The sheer inability of Obama and his "people" to be consistent indicates their ineptitude but we knew that already. There is no point in reviewing all of the inconsistencies throughout his entire term, he's proven that over and over again, so why should this be any different?
I wouldn't mind seeing blood and guts pictures of Osama bin Laden myself as awful as that sounds. If a reader knew how much 9-11 disrupted my life personally in a very big way then they would understand. Something better in my nature tells me otherwise though.
There is one thing I don't think a lot of the American and European people have thought about. We have been on the verge of a Third World War for almost a year now, if not since 9-11-2001. The killing of bin Laden is probably the equivalent of the shooting of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Worse, this war unlike any previous wars has no real geographic boundaries making it a brand new game of combat. It is a war between Islamic extremist terrorists in a host of countries, who as nation-states may not necessarily be at war with the western world. It is also occurring after the "Arab Spring" of uprisings against oppressive regimes that in many respects refuted his terrorist machinations and making for a difficult summer in the Arab and Persian Muslim world.
Obama probably ought to have released some clear evidence of his death but it would only make things worse now. Doing so would probably inflame some terrorists but by their nature they are already agitated fanatics. We already know from this raid that al Qaeda was planning to attack the US rail network. This event has also already broadened a war on three fronts, Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan and is likely to plunge the world into deeper global conflict. It's already begun; we're being shielded from it by our government and media, which is worse than releasing photos of a dead man. If there is a conspiracy, that is likely the real one.
My hope, as awful as this is to consider, is that we will not be solving our unemployment problem by working in munitions factories. We need to beware of "foreign entanglements" and engage in a policy of non-interventionism; otherwise we will truly find ourselves involved in a Third World War. More importantly, we must counter conspiracy theorists, despite the inept handling of bin Laden's assassination by the Obama administration. Now, more than ever we need to individually remain focused on maintaining ourselves in a healthy frame of mind, through self-reliance, mutual help and optimism, about our abilities to rise above any difficulties we are encountering. Our time is better spent improving our minds and well-being than focusing on spooks and conspiracies to overcome the barriers we are facing economically and socially in this country.
Somehow I feel I must write about this topic although it is really not where I want to go, especially lately, with this blog. I am officially burned out on economics, politics and social problems since they appear to be flat lined at best or getting worse. At this point I think my time, especially creatively, is better spent staying positive and motivating others to rise above and keep going no matter the odds.
However, I cannot ignore the issue of Osama bin Laden's death, the rise of conspiracy theories and the need for people to see pictures, as well as the emotions it is evoking in those directly affected by the events of 9-11-2001. I believe that Osama bin Laden is dead because I have more trust in the US military, their intelligence and capabilities and the CIA (a scary proposition to some I realize) than I do President Obama. I have every good reason to believe our military for reasons, not to be coy, that (even to prove my point) I cannot share. I believe they did carry out the mission, assassinated bin Laden and buried him at sea, in Davey Jone's Locker. The guy who tweeted it inadvertently, Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual), corroborates it to a believable degree and I don't think the US Government or anyone can make people like him up.
What the conspiracy stories and theories are really telling us is about the incompetence of President Obama and his staff, the incapacity to make a sound decision, stick to it, keep a story straight and be honest with the American people. The sheer inability of Obama and his "people" to be consistent indicates their ineptitude but we knew that already. There is no point in reviewing all of the inconsistencies throughout his entire term, he's proven that over and over again, so why should this be any different?
I wouldn't mind seeing blood and guts pictures of Osama bin Laden myself as awful as that sounds. If a reader knew how much 9-11 disrupted my life personally in a very big way then they would understand. Something better in my nature tells me otherwise though.
There is one thing I don't think a lot of the American and European people have thought about. We have been on the verge of a Third World War for almost a year now, if not since 9-11-2001. The killing of bin Laden is probably the equivalent of the shooting of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Worse, this war unlike any previous wars has no real geographic boundaries making it a brand new game of combat. It is a war between Islamic extremist terrorists in a host of countries, who as nation-states may not necessarily be at war with the western world. It is also occurring after the "Arab Spring" of uprisings against oppressive regimes that in many respects refuted his terrorist machinations and making for a difficult summer in the Arab and Persian Muslim world.
Obama probably ought to have released some clear evidence of his death but it would only make things worse now. Doing so would probably inflame some terrorists but by their nature they are already agitated fanatics. We already know from this raid that al Qaeda was planning to attack the US rail network. This event has also already broadened a war on three fronts, Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan and is likely to plunge the world into deeper global conflict. It's already begun; we're being shielded from it by our government and media, which is worse than releasing photos of a dead man. If there is a conspiracy, that is likely the real one.
My hope, as awful as this is to consider, is that we will not be solving our unemployment problem by working in munitions factories. We need to beware of "foreign entanglements" and engage in a policy of non-interventionism; otherwise we will truly find ourselves involved in a Third World War. More importantly, we must counter conspiracy theorists, despite the inept handling of bin Laden's assassination by the Obama administration. Now, more than ever we need to individually remain focused on maintaining ourselves in a healthy frame of mind, through self-reliance, mutual help and optimism, about our abilities to rise above any difficulties we are encountering. Our time is better spent improving our minds and well-being than focusing on spooks and conspiracies to overcome the barriers we are facing economically and socially in this country.
4/19/11
Economic, Social and Geopolitical
Ayn Rand on neoconservatives...
"Conservative Sellout of Capitalism"
Ayn Rand's reasoning on Religious Conservatives (Social Conservatives), Liberals and Statism in this video from the 1950s is as current now as it was then. It explains why her philosophy is popular again today. Those calling themselves conservatives in favor of free markets and capitalism use three interrelated arguments based from faith, tradition and depravity. These are fallacies that contradict the fundamental principles of the United States.
http://youtu.be/vpp5EXZZrgA
http://www.youtube.com/user/LibertyPen
"Conservative Sellout of Capitalism"
Ayn Rand's reasoning on Religious Conservatives (Social Conservatives), Liberals and Statism in this video from the 1950s is as current now as it was then. It explains why her philosophy is popular again today. Those calling themselves conservatives in favor of free markets and capitalism use three interrelated arguments based from faith, tradition and depravity. These are fallacies that contradict the fundamental principles of the United States.
http://youtu.be/vpp5EXZZrgA
http://www.youtube.com/user/LibertyPen
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