Cause & Effect: All Inclusive Governments
Relationship: Disenchantment

• In light of the national elections, I am wondering if it really mattered who became president?
• In the grand scheme of things, how will the next four years effect…?
• What does all of this politicizing mean?
• How do most people come to their political prospective?

To shed some light on what I am really thinking about here, I should talk about my eclectic political beliefs.  But before I do that, I first need to tell you about my, well… cause-effect relationship with the governing powers; that being: Federal, State, County, and City governments all-inclusive.  These affiliations are how and why I derived my viewpoints and what supports my values.

To begin, my relationships with governments have not been the best.  In fact, what has been going on for some time is these liaisons have garnered a negative outlook on my part.  Meaning, I have had this sinking feeling of disappointment, disenchantment, disillusionment or whatever one would want to call it.

It was about 7 or 8 years ago when I started to write my thoughts into a journal.  I finally got around to correlating everything and I began to understand the reasons for my pessimism.  It was and still is government.  By the emotions surrounding the results of this last election, I'd say the scope of government is what seems to anger many others as well.  Hmm.

Getting serious; this essay is about the extent, effect and affect of governments, i.e., how can things like healthcare, taxation, commerce, investments, and transportation, concern and affect...me? 

Without harping on, proselytizing, propagandizing or imposing a political agenda, I would like to talk about the facts only…if that is at all possible.  I wanted to see if the present day political policies do have an affect on me, both positively as well as negatively. 

This was a fairly simple exercise.  All I had to do was to look at the facts and figures in my life; things like work, salary, costs, taxes, etc.  Then I asked myself, "How much freedom do I have?  What is my environment like?  Am I getting what I need to…not only survive, but to flourish, to realize my potential, to be actualized...well, the pursuit of happiness." 

Sufferin' Catfish

It's not of this earth.  I know, being brought up Roman Catholic: we suffer and toil here on earth so that we can be happy in heaven with God.  Well, I wonder.

Nowhere in any of the original biblical writings does it say we are required to suffer. 

Contrary to Catholicism, it is a proven psychological phenomenon that people who do suffer and are not free to live a peaceful and rewarding life are much more likely to be offenders than be charitable and forthright.  Prisons and gulags are full of such inhabitants.  Note: Iraq and the Iraqis.

I seriously doubt that God intended for us to suffer while here on earth.  It was Christ who came here to earth to teach us to learn.  In the end, it was human kind in the form of government that caused Christ to suffer and die. 

With that said, I don’t think the US governments were setup to cause us to suffer.  I think our current state of governing is a situation that may be a result of differing factors including citizenry apathy, ignorance, neglect, greed, unprosecuted corruption, and feudalistic ideologies.

Side note. I recently realized that a lot of the words I used everyday, many ideologies and much philosophy I believed, have, over the years, been derived from and based on some false pretences.  Hopefully I have corrected my past thinking.  However, the following words may be misconstrued by others as being false.

Anyway, on with my life and the government.

Life in a Nutshell

I don’t think this list is out of the ordinary…for the most part.  I think people can agree with it…except there is one or two things that may be slightly out of the norm.  But, I am writing this, and these are the things I have to deal with. 

So...OK, let’s just talk about this thing…

First:
My, or rather, Our Home

The place I chose to live was and still is within the corporate city limits of the City of Cincinnati Ohio. 

Many years before I was married, I decided I wanted to live in a house of antiquity, hopefully a nice space with character and some history.  I also wanted to live in a large city with diversity, culture, and public transportation.

So, I purchased this rare 1911 bungalow in 1991 for about $80,000, hoping that through my hard work, the house would appreciate in value.  I have since invested over $25,000 and at least 2,300 man-hours of my own labor.  If I had to calculate the total dollars spent, the house would .er. did cost me…  Well, I calculated the would-have-been labor cost¹ to be an average of $25 per hour, which totals to be about $57,500.    The total of everything is…well, more than what the other houses around this one are currently appraised at.

Applied here are the three basic words a real-estate agent knows all to well: location, location, location.  

Some History

I was born here in Cincinnati in a hospital several blocks from where I now live.  I was raised in the Bond Hill neighborhood, and along with my 7 other brothers and sisters, I went to a Catholic grade school.  In the mid 60s I attended Woodward High School and graduated in the class of 1969.  I then went to UC's Ohio College of Applied Science for about a year an a half.  Then I worked for another year and decided to really make something of my self.  So in 1972, I went to Wright State University near Dayton Ohio.  After college, I happened to get a job for a testing laboratory in Dayton as a computer programmer.  I then lived in Dayton for about12 years.  In October 1987 at age 37 I moved back to my beloved Cincinnati Ohio. 

Cincinnati

At that time, Cincinnati was going through a kind of resurgence or rebirth.  In 1988, it was to celebrate its 200^th anniversary, its Bicentennial.

This period was an exciting time and everyone here was proud of the Cincinnati’s culture, charm, history and its accomplishments.  Cincinnati Chili was on most people's lips.  Tall Stacks river boat heritage festivities were born.  Many things were done to revitalize its infrastructure such as the rehabilitation of many fine homes, streetscapes, and the city’s unique parks such as Alt Park and the construction of a new park called Bicentennial Commons.  It seemed to be a renaissance time here.  And, I was a part of the festivities.

Inside of me was a renewed hope for a new beginning.  I had left the predominantly blue color city of Dayton, which at the time was loosing jobs and population at a hurried rate.  I had tremendous anticipation of a new and better life here.  I started a new position in IT as a systems software engineer at Cincom Systems in an optimistically bright future developing software for the newly burgeoning PC that we now take for granted.

Being single, I was also hoping that my dating life would be much brighter.  I believed there would be more of a chance of meeting an intellectual ‘she’ in a city bursting with artsy women.

But…

Since then, Cincinnati has surpassed Dayton in the loss of its distinctive citizenry, businesses, and quality of life.

The more recent downfall for Cincinnati came when people of African ancestry rioted, chasing away many who could afford to leave.   Regardless of their reasons, the Black² revolutionaries quite literally did more harm than good for this city.

Today, my neighborhood is divided by rezoned boundaries setup by the planning commission to make it easier to stimulate commercial development.  My beautiful historic street is in decay and the once grand houses are or have been chopped into apartments, as the city government does nothing to stem the tide of Carrolton Sheets wan-a-be rental landlords.  Finally, to put salt in the gaping wound, the University of Cincinnati has plans for expansion on the upper part of the street.

So, how does government concern or affect me in this?  Well, like most other US cities, this city is in serious decline.

I guess I should ask: why do people not want to live here?  Why are all of the poor segregated here?  Why not the suburban community of Blue Ash? ³

From city government policies & politics to media propaganda, as a whole, the city of Cincinnati has become a bad place to live in most people’s minds.   So, those who have the necessary means, seek other places to call home such as Blue Ash?…away from the blight.

Again I sadly ask
What’s Wrong? 

Answer: well...I sincerely believe it is the social policies of federal, state and local governments who collectively seem to promote poorness.  They appear to reward being poor while taxing & condemning being well off.  To examine this issue, one must be willing to look at these facets of this and all other US cities.

• Relative to the value of the US dollar and in the light of the declining US population, governments combine are spending more per capita on social inner city programs than they have ever done before.
• It is a well known fact that the laws are such that people living on public assistance have a nearly impossible time getting off if it.
• It is widely known that many more tax dollars are spent on crumbling inner city school systems with declining enrollment that on any other out lying suburban school systems with higher enrollments including ones in upscale neighborhoods.
• Per capita, there are more “low income” people in the US than there has ever been before.
• The bureaucracies, policies and laws of cities at-large have made them rather difficult do business in.
• Strangely enough, it seems that all inner cities suffer from the same fate or blight.
• Finally, a number of economists are saying, “Cities have outlived their usefulness.”

So, what is the conclusion to draw from this?

Weeeell.   I guess I made the wrong decision to stay in the inner city and make my home here.  If in 1991, when I decided to buy my present house, I had spent the necessary dollars to purchased a suburban ranch, I would be financially better off and I and my wife could now afford to live where most others of our ilk live.  Now, we don't have the equity to move away from here because this neighborhood has declined.

An irony: if I had stayed in the Dayton historic district I was living in before I moved back to Cincinnati, I would have seen the value of the house I was living in appreciate in value.

Cincinnati:
That Bad?

My indictment is not towards the people of Cincinnati, rather against its leader's policies.   The city it self is still an international quality city.  Cincinnati has many world class organizations including Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra & Pops, Cincinnati Art Museum, Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Observatory Center (one of the worlds oldest working observatories) and...much more.  all one has to do is go to the Cincinnati's Visitor's Guide at cincinnati.com and one can see what this city has to offer and why I was so attracted to living here. 

Cincinnati is full of hidden treasures including the Blue Wisp and the The Greenwich Tavern where I heard Mose Allison play not more than three feet in front of me.

So, please don't think I hate the people of Cincinnati.  I don't.  I'd be hating myself if I did.

Next:
Quite Literally Surrounds My Wonderful Wife

This lady is a wonderfully warmhearted woman that I was very fortunate to be introduced to.  She is a Chinese National from Mainland China and is here in the US on a K-1 Fiancé Visa.

Bringing her here was…well; in hindsight I should have spent the big bucks and hired an immigration attorney. 

To quote a well know immigration lawyer, “The laws have become so difficult… …and the civil servants administering the system can revoke your wife’s visa at any time based on a small technicality.”  According to this lawyer, these "technicalities" can range from an incorrect entry on a form to having “proper” health care coverage.

This immigration process has been and will continue to be difficult…and frightening.  Bringing her here and getting temporary resident status for her are two separate unrelated steps that has and will take over three years to…not complete, rather to get started.  It took nearly two years to get her a 90-day visa to come here to marry me.  And it seems it will take another year to get her a temporary green card.  THEN…it will take another two years to get her permanent residency status.  All of this will require nearly 300 pages of documents we had and still have to fill out, write and file.  Oh, I almost forgot.  It takes another set of paperwork to get her a work permit.  Oh, one more thing, it took over $1400 in fees paid to various branches of the government for processing these many applications.

An example of what can go wrong is, when I filed the papers for the work permit, I used the wrong code indicating the type of application.  Instead of asking me if this was what I really meant, they just coldly denied her application.  Now we have to re-file, pay again the $180 application fee, and go for another set of fingerprints & pictures…again.  In the end, my wife has to go for a total of three interviews before she can get her green card.

Conclusion: my wife and I have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the validity of our relationship, while other less unscrupulous types…

Next:
The Car

Unlike many automobiles, my car gets an average of 38 miles per gallon.  In it is packed a myriad of technological innovations all designed to keep the air clean, gasoline consumption low and me and my wife safe.  The costs associated with the car include the cost of the car itself ($15,000.00), maintenance, fuel, and insurance.  For most people, this is about 1/5th to 1/4th of their net annual income.

I envision my car as the free enterprise system’s response to the federal government’s Clean Air Act, a mandate to keep our air breathable.  Unlike the times when I was a young person, and presently unlike most cities of my wife’s birthplace (China) our air here in Cincinnati is remarkable clean.   As for my car, it is a testament to human kind’s innovativeness.  It is safe, efficient and, compared to all of the other cars I owned in the past, is unusually reliable transportation.

So, my conclusion about this aspect of government is to say that, having been in other countries, the clean air mandates and safety requirements are necessary.

Next:
Driving Said Car 

Driving is an exercise i do not enjoy, no longer enjoy, or ever did enjoy.  If I could never have to drive, my blood pressure would go down to very healthy levels.

First see: In The Road - Various stories surrounding... The Road 

Next, 42,000 people have died last year in car accidents.  How many people died in the Vietnam War?  50 some thousand.  Nam tore this country apart.  Yet...   All one has to do is do the math.  How many Americans died in car crashes during the Vietnam conflict? 

How many times have you heard this?  "Yes, lets make the roads safer.  Get them old fogies off the road!"   What bigotry. 

Well, the main point here is, government in its infinite wisdom can at any time, increase driving requirements in response to aging Baby Boomers (of which I am a part of) while continuing to vehemently refuse to grant prosecutors the power to remove the alcohol or drug abuser from the roads. 

It sadly seems that MADD has failed in its very expensive billion dollar mission to lobby state and federal legislators to rid our highways of the intoxicated driver.  Hence 22,000 Americans die ⁴ each year as a result of driving while drunk or being stoned.

If only the gun lobby (NRA) could be as richly endowed as Mothers Against Drunk Driving. (LOL)  No, I'm not a gun advocate.  It's just that the relatively small gun lobby has been able to do things that the anti drunk driving organizations such as MADD with its much larger budgets has failed to do. 

Side note: As of this date, US troops would have to fight for 44 years in Iraq to loose 22,000 American servicemen in the Iraqi Freedom initiative.

Hay!
Don't Be Drunk Driving and Threaten My Family!

My disdain for the chemically inhibited driver started at the beginning of my professional career.  It involved one of the executive vice presidents of the first company I was working for who was in an office next to mine.  One evening, as I was leaving to go home, I walked by his office and happened to catch a glimpse of him tilting a bottle of vodka upwards.   He then saw me and quickly set the bottle on the floor and started to stand up.  I backed up and saw that he could barely stay standing. 

I then went to find my boss and told him what I saw, saying, "I don't think he can drive home."  My boss then angrily threaded to fire me if I said anything.  In fact, he came very close to letting me go.  He ended up giving me a lecture on proper office etiquette.  He said, "Because you are new in your professional working career..."

The next morning as I came into the the front entrance, I met one of the lab technicians.  The first thing he said to me was, "Did you hear about Jack..." 

The evening before as he was driving home, Jack drove his car into the abutment of a bridge killed himself.  As I walked past my boss's office, I saw through the corner of my eye through the large window in his office door that he had a handkerchief to his eyes and it looked like he was sobbing. 

The next incident was when I went to a traffic court hearing involving a fellow worker who was charged with a DUI.  I stood there in the crowded courtroom and heard the judge say he couldn't revoke this fellow's driver's licenses because of the hardships it would pose to this defendant.   The judge would only restrict this guy's privileges to daytime driving only.  As it turned out, it was this defendant's third DUI...

Point here being: if an elderly person looses this “privilege” to drive a car, he or she WILL have an impossible time living, regardless of what the nay-sayers say who never went a day without their cars. 

Still being healthy but unable to drive a car, many seasoned people find themselves imprisoned in nursing facilities where they sit stripped of their dignity, broken, and often times, shortly afterwards they die.  

It is hoped that the booming aging "voting" populous will keep governments from taking unreasonable action to further restrict driving privileges.   

Driving Drunk?

These two fellows: I never spoke to again.  The first one, a really nice guy who taught me a lot, obviously died.  The second one (another alcoholic) went on to wreck a dozen parked cars the following evening.  The cop stupidly decided not to sight him.  The following day he came into work rather banged up.

Conclusion:  In the 80s I drove only once under the influence and this was only three blocks.  I then let my female companion take over and I swore I'd never do that again. 

If our government is so willing to take driving rights (?) from the elderly and not from the drunk driver, then...there is something seriously wrong.  If the media says little or noting about the seriousness of Driving Under The Influence and talks constantly about the un afe elderly driver, then...this is out & out propaganda; not to make the roads safer, rather to further the cause of increasing the dependant class... 

Note.  Driving is statutorily defined as a privilege granted by the state.  It is not a right.

Next:
Health Maintenance 

Refusal Letter

After receiving this letter, I called my doctor and he reiterated that I am very health especially for a person of 54.  Now because an insurance company has turned me down, it is said that I am no longer eligible for health insurance with other companies without paying exorbitant monthly rates.  If I apply for and get health insurance without disclosing this fact, and I happen to get sick or get injured, the insurance provider can investigate⁵ and if they find that I was denied coverage by another company, they can legally deny my claim leaving me with financially debilitating bills that will, if not bankrupt me, follow me…and my wife around for the rest of our lives.

It is said that government does plays a role here.

• Whether it be good or bad, health care is only available at very expensive (non-discounted) government-approved establishments.
• Government encourages insurance companies to share information between themselves on a centralized database.
• Government by its policies, directly, indirectly and deliberately limits the available medical care hence driving up costs: i.e. government permits the AMA to limit student enrollment in medical schools.
• Government ignores test data from other countries where medications have already been in use.
• Government courts allow numerous expensive medical liability law suites and liberally grants exorbitant judgments.
• At the same time, government forbids⁶ any kind of public or private comparative scrutiny of doctors or other health care professionals: a kind of Consumer Reports publication for the medical sector.
• Government has eliminated the free market place in taking part in the medical insurance sector i.e. it is illegal to form a group or buying syndicate to purchase health insurance at competitive rates.
• Government politicians running for office are absolutely unwilling to address the true reasons for the exorbitantly high costs of medical care.  Honor; don’t harm the “Golden Cow"⁷.
• Finally, it is government who is eager to provide the solution through significantly higher taxes.  Socialized medicine.

Many forces, which include new regulations and high liabilities, are at work keeping doctors from making accurate diagnoses.  They must follow their opinions up by extensive and expensive lab work.  Even then, it is their "best guess." 

Health insurance for my wife and myself now costs us $5,300 a year for a catastrophic policy with a $2,500 deductible for each person.

Best or Worse?

Again...   I don't want to give you the impression that medicine or medical care is no good in the US.  Contrarily, our system of health care is the best in the world.  Many of my fine friends are doctors, nurses and other types of care givers.  And they are world class. 

Once again, my indictment is against the few that profit tremendously from the fear of many by excessive regulation, mismanagement, and profiteering.

Next:
Taxation

First, I have to say that, in a good year…for me…employment wise (many IT people can attest to this), I pay an average of 39% to 42% of my salary to to various branches of government in the form of taxes.

Next, the total taxes for the average single person earning $45,000 a year is typically over $17,000.

IRS Schedule X (single) 2004

Then there is the house payment, utilities, car payment, insurance, clothing, health care, etc, etc, etc. 

Oh well, single people don't need that much to live on.  Right?

The estimates given here are for someone who lives in a small house or condo.   These numbers are probably a little on the low side.

As of this writing, the average house payment here in Greater Cincinnati is about $850 per month or $10,200 per year.  The average cost of a modest car is $15,000 with a payment of $450 per month or $5,400 a year.  The average cost of car insurance is $650 per year.   The average cost of utilities for a small well insulated house or condo is about $95.00 a month or $1,140 a year.

I guess I could go on, but everyone knows what he or she really has to pay in the way of taxes and expenses.  Everyone also knows how difficult it is to get ahead.

Note. I am now married to a non-working wife, which does entitle me to a tax break of an additional $3000 deduction from taxable income.  But, she will cost a lot more than $3000 a year.

Sidebar:
Taxing The Rich?

The embedded issue in so far as taxes for the rich are concerned is expensing said taxes.

Like me, most people are bottom feeders or root consumers.  I am describing the vast majority of employed people.  We are the bottom of the consumer goods chain.

I am sorry if this sounds so offensive, but in so far as the principles of accounting and economics are concerned, we are the bottom or end consumer.  The buck stops or rather starts here.

Anyone who has studied accounting knows of the two principles I am about to discuss.

1. A rich man expenses.  I use the word ‘expense’ as a verb…an accounting term.
2. The tax law does not selectively discriminate.  It is applied equally to all...rich.

Conclusion, taxes are expensed because they can be.

No matter how much we wish it not be so, the “rich,” as they are called, will expense their taxes.  These taxes eventually show up in a roundabout way on the expense side of the balance sheet in the column under the heading Cost of Goods Sold.  This is fundamental accounting.  This is the American way.  Stakeholders⁸ know this.  Government knows this.  It’s perfectly legal.  It is the cost of doing business.  It all balances out. 

It is not sound economic policy to stop companies form wanting to be profitable.  If we did, we'd be the USSD (United States Socialist Democracy).

So, what does it mean for us…the bottom layer consumer?  What it means is that we are ultimately responsible for taxes levied on the producers of goods and services.

These taxes are built into the cost of producing said products!

Everything…  Everything we purchase.  Whether it be a car, a house or insurance, the item’s price is calculated to cover the seller’s expenses…including taxes!

Now, don’t be moronic and say this isn’t true.   It’s basic accounting.  Anyone who owns a business will include the taxes they pay in the cost of their services or the products they sell.  That is what is so insidious about taxation.  They have certain profit projections and if they don’t meet them, the business become unprofitable and therefore the business is done away with.

By law, taxes are equally applied to all businesses.  When taxes are levied, all producers will eventually  increase their prices on their products they sell to cover the tax increase.  Without state control of corporations (communism), these entities will and do pass on these taxes to us.  In the end, we pay higher prices for these products.

So, if we are going to “tax the rich,” we’d better reform the tax law so that it is, so-to-say, more equitable…if that is at all possible.  Yes, let’s play fair.  Right?   Maybe something like a flat tax or a national sales tax.

Well, this is not really possible.  In our free enterprise system, the end consumer ultimately pays the end price...as people do in all other societies including communist countries.

There has recently been talk about tax reform.  But with a straight sales tax as the sole revenue source for our federal government, a car would cost $5,000 with $10,000 in sales tax.  But I doubt that this would ever happen because the constituency would be constantly complaining that the taxes cost more than the thing does.

The best cure for the tax situation is to reduce the scope of government, hence, taxes.

Commentary:
Tragic Misfortunes?

I wish you didn't think I sounded so…devastatingly ill-fated.  Life here in the United States is good, very good.  My life is good.  I live in a house that is better than the average including most in the burbs, I can own a car, I have a wonderful wife, I am healthy, have many good friends, and I am currently working.  What more could anybody want?  Right? 

Well if we burry our heads in our complacency, and stay soaking in our hot tub of life, then…

The point of this essay is to describe the difficulties I, and others go through when we have to do things that involve government(s).  

I guess I was not born with the disposition of just let it be and accept my government mandated lot in life.  I, like you, want to work and be a useful member of society.  Like you, I want the “good life”.  No, not to be rich, just have what I already have.

Next:
The Ubiquitous Occupation

So, how do I do this thing called work when I hear everyday that America is falling towards a Third World economy as other courtiers like India and China elevate their societies?

Here are words of several socialists and neo-communist I know:

• “It’s about time the rest of the world share in what America has had for so long.”
• “We are going to have to learn to live with far lass.  Scale back our life style.”
• “America has 1/6^th the world’s population, yet we use over half the worlds resources.”
• “The 70s & 80s were the heydays of America.  This wastefulness will have to end.”

So, what does this mean for me?  Weather it be by choice or design, I have not had to work exceedingly hard at any job until January of 2001 when the DOT COM bust occurred.  After that, when I had work, I had to work very hard.

When I had work…  Since January 2001 (in 3 ½ years or 42 months), I have had 25 months where I did not work in my profession.  I had to work at other professions such as a construction tradesman which was nearly physically debilitating. 

Having been a desk jockey, climbing around on a job site was very tiresome and bad for my knees.

Now the economy has rebounded and I have been able to find professional work…at a lower than normal rate.

As for being a “full time” salaried employee with benefits, this remains elusive…for many professionals.

So, can I blame government?  Who can we blame?

Why when the economy goes south, the country as a whole is debilitated?  Parable: Why does every inner city have the same problems?

The answer is so simple.  If it quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and even looks like a duck, it must be a …

• Why can’t there be at least one US city that is prosperous, beautiful, crime free, safe and inexpensive to live in?
• Why can’t there be one part of the US that missed the .COM Bust?

What about outsourcing? 

• Why do companies want to purchase labor at 10 to 12 cents on the dollar?
• Why is Wal-Mart, filled with Chinese made goods, so popular?
• How come American suddenly cannot compete in the world market place?
• Why is so much of America not being able to work to their full potential?

My indictment of Government is really a criticism of all of us.  It is clearly stated in our constitution that we the people are the government.  My God, if this is so, then…

As I get older, what about my ability to work until I'm 72…as the government would like for me to do.  The word Ability merely describes the availability of work.  Today with the improved economy, older people still can’t get work.

What about longevity of employment?  It is said that people change jobs every three to five years.  Now with the deep fluctuations in the US economy becoming commonplace, it is said, most people are going to have periods of unemployment.  It is also said that employers now use this new ideology to weed out “less desirables” or to thin staffs.  They just lay people off.

It basically and simply gets down to money, people’s ability to earn a living.

What about the new trendy professional milieu?

Along with the increased politics in the working environments, the unsurpassed striving for profitability, and the few who push to have a life of tremendous wealth, the average worker is being pushed to an unhealthy threshold.

Oh yes, less we not forget the legal ramifications and overreactions to subjective workplace correctness.  Law suites.

How do I come to these conclusions about the workplace?

When I was much younger, I was nowhere near any kind of refinement in decorum, as I have to be today.  Reading through some of the notes I wrote when I was 27, looking at what I did in the workplace when I first started to work, remembering what I said out of ignorance early in my career in meetings, realizing what and how I conducted myself at work when I was on my second job, if I did even one one-hundredth of this in today’s work environments, I would immediately be fired.

I feel people had to be far more tolerant then, more accepting of differences.  Of course, there were people who sheltered my drunken VP friend Jack.

But now there is a kind of sterility about office environments.  There is this unspoken surface politeness and correctness that, if people don’t follow… 

Well, by this point, I anticipate people would say vestiges of my past may still be showing through.  Go ahead, poke fun and make caustic remarks.  The point I am trying to make is that when times get uncertain, people get really stressed.  It is this added stress of today's' unnecessary work etiquette that may very well be contributing to America's inability to efficiently compete in the world marketplace.  I am sure if many of you office types went to these seemingly backwards third world countries and saw how their offices were, you'd wonder how they can even compete with us.  I did and...now I know.

Next:
Retirement?

It is said by our government that there will be much financial difficulty for “Baby Boomers” in the years 2010 to 2040. There will be a large deficit⁹ because of the large longer-living non-working aging population relative to the younger people who will have to support…us.  Yes, I’m going to be one of these people.  It is said that I will have to work until I am 70.  But, with increased discrimination and outsourcing, how can I?

What will the future hold for me in so far as medical care is concerned?  To reduce costs, will government and medical professionals tend towards euthanasia?  If no one is willing to address the issues surrounding the costs of medicine, how will I and others who are of a similar age get quality medical care?

Today, my 83 year old father and others like him are covered by the current system of Medicare.  It is said that hospitals are milking this system, sometimes spending millions of government Medicare dollars keeping one elderly patent barely alive.  Will this legal mandate change?  I think it has to.  If the patent were uninsured and not elderly or disabled and eligible for Medicare, they would have been allowed to die.

Millions of dollars for one patent…  How long could 100 healthy people get basic health care for 1 million dollars?

These are hard questions that…I think everyone of us needs to ask each other.

• What about Social Security?
• What about our 401Ks?
• At the current rate of inflation, how much money will we need to live on?
• At the current return on investments, is our rate of return going to be matched with what our parents earned as a return?
• Couple this with outsourcing and…

Well…is it government’s fault?

Yes, but…I think it is my fault also. 

One of the biblical parables tells the story of the women and filling their lamps.  Those who did not, got left out.  I need to figure out the best course of action.  I need to be the squirrel that socks away plenty of food for the coming winter.

As for government, it is said that we need to become more competitive in the world market place.  We also need to be more involved in our government.

The Basic Needs:
Water, Air, Food and Clothing

I have been to China, several times.  I have friends who are from India.   The things we take for granted here, just doesn’t exist in these countries.  Yes, even though much of what we purchase here is made in China, it is not available to the average Chinese citizen.

This available of quality and quantity is a factor for most of the world.  Be it clothing, food, clean air and potable water from the faucet, our standards are much higher than the countries we are competing with for labor (outsourcing).  Even supposedly civilized countries like France, England and Germany still don’t have the quality of life we have here.

America is still the best overall place to live and make a life in.  I just hope we don’t feel compelled to give this up for another county's ideology.  I feel that if people who live here want this…anti-American dogma, they should go to the places that support their principles.  America is America and I strongly believe that it should be that way.  There is no reason we have to be like the rest...socialist.

Possessions:
Are We Really Entitled to Them?

I have heard many people say that they don’t want to be tied down by possessions or “things.”  I have taken note of an assortment of statements…that quite frankly, disturb me.

• “A thief can easily steal what you have.”
• “No matter how much he stole, people are far more important than… things are.”
• “Why make a house your permanent place.  It can easily be lost…in so many ways.”
• “Are your possessions your god?”
• “Think of those who don’t have anything.”

This list could go on.

Yes a thief can take everything.  Only about 3% of burglaries in the US are ever solved.  That means a thief has a 97% change of getting away with it.

Isn’t that quite a return on investment of his or her time?  No, the criminal is lucky to get an average of a 5% return on their ill-gotten booty.  It is the middleman that gets the majority of profit.  If the average person knew what went south of the Mexican border…

Are people more important?  Ask this of a fellow who had his life’s work go up in smoke because of an arsonist.

According to modern law, the human’s life does take precedence over deadly force when the perpetrator is not threatening another life.  In the Wild West, the rancher could shoot cattle rustlers.  Today, no matter how we wish, the law does protect the thief.  In many other countries, this is not the case.  China has put to death embezzlers.

Within the last thirty years, the lenient courts have lessened penalties for taking a person’s hard earned items.  When a society devalues it citizenry’s possessions, it is on a course of totalitarian legislation.  Germany 1939.  The Rise & Fall of the Third Reich.

The right to possessions is what sets America apart from all other societies in the world.

No, I'm not advocating shooting the thief.  I am merely saying not to devalue a person's hard earned possessions. 

Land in The USA

When it comes to property (land), the right of government takes precedence over the owner.  This is a law called eminent domain.  Many people have lost their homes and businesses because of the right of way of municipalities.

In America, true private land ownership was abolished around the early 1900s with the formation of municipalities.  It is said that there are people who still do hold title to their land.  The rest of us ‘Land Owners’ have a property deed that gives us the right to use the land.  Note: this law of eliminating true ownership of land was imposed by the judicial branch of the federal government, rather than enactment by the legislative branch.

Another law which has caused people to loose their homes is property tax.  Elderly on fixed incomes could not afford to stay in their homes because of increases in property tax.  Some refer to this tax as rent.  They point out that a person can be thrown out of their home if they fail to pay said taxes.  In the end, the owner has no control over tax increases and tax assessments.

Note.  It was until 2003 that people in China could not own land.  The communist government owned it all.  Now people can purchase deeded land in the same way we do here in America.  In England, all land is owned by the queen.

Last:
Freedom?

Well, how free am I now.  How free was the US in say…1960?  Many who I talk to of that era say, "Back then, there were nowhere near the regulations and level of taxation there is today!"

I don’t know if we are less free.  I don’t know if we are in more danger.

Well I do know why we appear to have less and and are more.  Watching the evening news, I get the impression that we live in exceedingly dangerous times.  From violence to road rage to random shootings, according to TV executives, we are in peril.

But, if I turn off the TV and the radio, don’t look at the newspapers, and Internet news sources, and I just talk to the people around me including neighbors, coworkers, people in the stores, on the street, friends, family, etc, I can deduce that the people I come in contact with are, for the most part, very moral people…especially when I compare them to the media’s depiction of people.  I seriously doubt that any of the people I know or see, intentionally or unintentionally sleep around, lie, cheat, steal, maim or murder.  But when I return to the watchful eye of the media, the impression I should have about these same people is, one of deep concern.  (paranoia)

It is this same profit driven media that tells me, because we have less scruples, we need more laws to govern our behavior.  But, it is older people who say to me that we are just as moral and civil as we were when they were young.

So for me, what we see and hear from the media is…fictional entertainment and must be thought of as just that.  See: esrv.net/is_television.htm.

That brings me to my last point about TV.

So, Question:
Is There a God?

If I had to judge American society by the number of people who, per capita, voluntary attend church, I would have to say that our society is more moral.

In the past, religious beliefs were mandated.  I understand a lot of Roman Catholics went to church out of fear.  Being a former catholic, I can understand this.  Now, church is voluntary…and more people than ever are voluntarily going to it.

But still, TV by its program content would have us believe that we are an atheistic society.  From PBS to CBS, we are told to believe we are matter in motion brought about pure chance.  Then after the slick soft-spoken program is over, we intellectuals are to deduce most of the lesser of us are to be blindly loyal to the social order, while the few aspire towards absolute wealth and ultimate power.

Yes, from its roots in Christianity, the adopted mandated religion of the US government is now atheism.  It has proven this by its anti-biblical laws¹⁰, which in recent times were directives of the judicial branch of government.

But, does this have little affect on me? 

I can still choose to turn off the TV, believe in God, generate income, and have a reasonably good life.  These atheistic ideologies are still not negatively affecting me and by the results of the last election things may be moving back away from this euthanized permissive decedent dictatorial coldness, towards a purposeful warm merciful God. (LOL)  Seriously, without the regard for individual human life and liberty, are we no better off than any and all other totalitarian regimes that has spilt the blood of human kind for their own sick greed filled gains?

So, in the past, I said that it did not matter who became president.  This time however, I can see where the opponent faked an answer to every question, easily condemning, and promising enhancement, only to get elected.  If there was a scorecard of lies, this person easily trumped the incumbent.

Will Life Be Better?  

Well, I an sure that there are people who will label me a heartless white racist.   But, I sincerely feel if we move away from socialism and back towards freedom, we can once again become the greatest nation on earth, currently a place many people from all other countries still struggle to immigrate to and live in.  Regardless of what the supposedly well-intentioned social architects say, we were and are great because of our freedom.  Our prosperity is not because we have the most, rather because we made or manufacture the most. Though we have had evil deeds occur in this country including bigotry, slavery, and spousal abuse; our bad deeds in no way compare individually and collectively to the evils and atrocities of any and all other countries including Canada.

America is a very good moral country and with nationalistic pride set aside, I would not want to give up my freedom here and live in another country unless I lost a significant part of that freedom such that I would be freer in that other country.

We can learn from our mistakes such as pollution, loss of wilderness, and discrimination.  But we have faulted even more with the failure of education, taxation, medicine, terrorism, embezzlement, fiscal polities, and greed.   I say that WE must fix the problems, not leave it up to the government corporation seeking profitability and power.  Because they are we.  Out of control and in the hands of the media, government is a million times worse than P&G or Phillip Morris.  They currently have no one bigger than they to over see themselves.  After all, it was they who did away with God.  

We are the over seers who are in our complacent Jacuzzis who scream loudly when someone like me tosses in a bucket of ice water. (this essay)

I know, it is said to be so complicated.  Yet, it is as simple as reading the Bible.  Forget about Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson.  They are commercialized corporate Christianity who uses the truth to further their own schema…that being their own self gain.

Literally look at the four gospels without trying to derive hidden meanings.  Here are simple words of great wisdom.  Words, I don’t want to face, and cannot fully accept.

God, Why?

It means change in my heart.  It means giving up what I believed before.  It means accepting what I could not accept before.  It means forgiveness and letting go of what was of importance.  It also means taking changed of what I would not before.  It means making decisions based not on fear or excuses, rather on morality.  To quote a well known prayer:

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.

I cannot see after death.  I cannot predict what will happen.  But these words and the gospels alone are all I need to hear.  Not a preacher with a southern drawl; just my eyes, ears and my voice.  No, not the idiocy of the number at the bottom of your screen; just my heart and the words in the most common book of all.  No, not to “witness before others," I don’t have to tell anyone I am doing this. That’s all.

As for who is president?  It is the congress who really holds the power.

SteveS November 2004