Democracy should always come first (#2342)

Democratic ideals of equality, justice and opportunity should never take a back seat to any other paradigm. It is incumbent upon us to protect our precious democratic ideals with all our purpose and might. Our great Republic here in America is as unique on the face of the Earth as any previous form of government ever established. yet we are separated from those other previous governments by our decision to allow for our citizens to decide our collective direction and fate. Not only do we have a federal form of government that judiciously binds equality to our individual states, but our individual states are forms of laboratories, where new and innovative ideas for governance are allowed to percolate in any of our 50 states. The grassroots nature of our society is the key for our overall sustenance and the current disease of allowing for corporations and big money interests to dominate our political landscape is infecting the pure nature of our democracy so much so that our democracy is in jeopardy of losing it's overall ability to function. Two hugely erroneous Supreme Court decisions, among a few others, were that corporations are people and money is speech. The grassroots nature our democracy was and is continuing to be hampered in it's effectiveness by these decisions that allow for the wealthy to control the process of our elections. The gutting of a particularly effective voting rights regulation has cost us as well whereas voter discrimination and voter disenfranchisement are now much more easily strategized and implemented through unjust legislative policy. The era of this current conservative Supreme Court is a blight on our democracy in too many ways and the sooner the court finds itself rid of the conservative souls who do not practice democracy with a fervor the better we will all be.

Rage, a prequel to cou "rage"? (#2341)

We are best at standing up and defending or fighting when we have been filled with rage. Our courage is a manifestation of our rage in action. I try not to wait until I am raging in order to stand up and be accountable. I know that my honored principles, once disrespected, is enough to trigger me into action, courageous action. I have less care for consequences when the fact or truth of a thing is being disrespected. One thing none of us can abide is to give an allowance to those who would undermine our democracy or our tolerant natures. We must punish those who would dare to take from us or deny us the full freedom and liberty our constitution allows under the law. When the law is not fully adjudicated toward universal freedom, liberty and opportunity for all then we must change that law and move from obstruction any who would resist the proper and right changing. It doesn't matter who or what it is that is stopping the growth and correct direction our constitution is devised to fulfill. Our constitution is a living document that grows more robust to reflect the changing dynamics of our insights and intuitions. Our humanness is an evolutionary process that is in constant flux and if our constitutional document is not accord with our maturing human natures then we will never move from the curious, caring being we are now into a more magnificent species. I have hopes that although I will never see it in my lifetime, our species will attain a greater biological understanding of our potential and a greater manifestation of our possibilities. The future is ours for the taking but to be able to take it we must find our courage. All of this goes back to our rage. If we have been offended enough then rage against it with all your might and display your courage to defend and fight for what is right and good.

Protecting the weak and innocent (#2340)

You want to be a macho? Try being a hero to those who don't have your capabilities. If you feel the need to prove how tough you are then show it by being a defender of some honorable thing that would make your mother or father proud. Being a bully or an ass is not anything worthy of proof as to showing how tough one can be. Making sacrifices to stand up for others is however. A quiet steeliness to go about the living of one's life in making all of life something just a little bit more bearable is enough. There are enough of us out there to make a huge difference in our society and in our world through example. We don't need to flex our muscles in a vain attempt to elevate ourselves. What we need is to flex the muscles between our ears and wisely and efficiently effect change for the better. Is there a better calling out there for us than to protect the weakened and the innocent? There are many uncaring sociopathic types out there who are bent on taking advantage of the weak and innocent. These greedy ones need to be stopped when they practice their twisted strategies and we who are strong and willed enough are the ones to do it. We can only do this though if we are willing to get out of ourselves enough to care about what is going on around us. I have my desires and obligations I need to see to but I also have time to care about what is going on around me. This is the time I can and do spend confronting the wrongs too many cynically pass along as the way that things are done. Enough of the rot that has been allowed to come forward with us into enlightened and modern democratic thinking. Instead of us just gambling our lives on endless overseas battlefields, let's gamble our lives on our home ground and defend the honorable ideals of democracy we stand for while protecting the weak and the innocent.

The winds of fate (#2339)

Who knows how destiny or fate or providence actually work? No one does but the whirligig of life does bring about it's curiosities. I don't know why I have met some and not others, other than chance. I don't know why my internal attraction to some is not the same for others. It is a mystery to me but what I can say is that it does happen and for that I am humbled. I can feel what life is doing to me with my experiences and although I am not a real sensitive guy, I am sensitive enough to know that I care and I am cared for. How all this relates to the totality of my life is yet to be revealed but the path that I am on has been consistent and full of promise. Destiny or fate may surely play a role in how I go forward in life but for sure there is one undying principle I know I will follow, to be an honorable man. Resignation and heartache are all part of how life works as well as unexpected surprise and a full heart. To some degree we all have our amounts. Because despite how the circumstances and situations of my real life turn out, a higher plane of existence is my reward in that the memories of days gone by tell me that had my road been different, I could have found a fate far more precious than the one I chose. So it isn't about me not having what it takes or not being worthy of some great life, it is just about me not being the man then that I am now. Funny how life does that to us. We have the life we learn with and then we have the life we live after that. A two part life as it were. The winds of fate are not consistent nor are they always fair, yet they boil down to the choices we make and no amount of wishing or hoping will ever change that.

Enlightenment and courage, the hallmark of a sound democracy (#2338)

There is no easy way to say this. We have to fight for our democracy like we have to fight for our very existence. It is at that level of intensity. There are too many who would take us all back to the past of prejudice and subjugation so that they can have an advantage. Yes, masked behind a lot of confusion and misdirection are those who have little conscience for equality, justice and opportunity, the heartbeat of democracy. All they care for is their ability to maximize their prosperity despite the cost to others. Many of these people are in the Republican party and if you are supporting them then you are not only being used as lackey's but you are cannon fodder for their wars for resources. Again, I will say it here, we are all biological data processors, evolved for the purpose of gathering data, analyzing, reasoning and concluding that data in order to understand our existence a little bit better as time continues to move forward. Progress is the end result of our information gathering and concluding. We have not evolved in order to go backwards. It is forwards for us because of the inquisitive nature of our curiosity. We must also reconcile to ourselves that courage is needed in order to defend and defeat those who would take from us the very foundation by which our civilized society functions. Each of us has a duty to stand up with steely resolve to protect the best form of government ever designed. We have a duty as Americans to not only protect ourselves from without but from within as well. Not all Americans are patriots of democracy as we have all too often seen. So in conclusion, as we continue to expand our knowledge we must also be vigilant and a fearless defender of our way of life.

Your behavior determines who you are, not your words (#2337)

You would think that people would know the difference. yet too many do not. It apparently is what is most convenient to hear that prioritizes what a person does or is doing. In our world of instant fact checking it is easy to see who are the hypocrites and who are genuine, yet that also seems to escape too many. The intelligence of logic is not being rationalized by all. If we can live in a world of cognitive dissonance then our beliefs, whatever they may be, can conflict with reality, common sense and logic and still be correct in our minds. It is as if we are forcing our own imaginary reality onto others regardless if it makes any sense. A sort of demigod approach to our own self importance over the importance of anyone else. None of us is any more unique than another. So for any of us to have an ego the size of a "God" is quite ludicrous. Most all of us can barely survive without the constant interaction from others quite contrarily from how a "God" would exist. So how we act in the same existence we all share is how we express our individual character we must all present to each other. Are we noble in our principles? Do we honor right over wrong? Do we have the courage to protect those who are in need? What kind of human are we? None of these questions has any validity through just words. All of them require us to have evidence through past and present behavior that can be verified from sources outside ourselves. The braggart is first to tell you how good he or she is, the humble are the last to say a word praising themselves. The braggart is more likely to be a person who relies on words to define him/herself whereas the humble rely on actionable behavior. Which one are you?

Courage defeats fear (#2336)

I cannot say how many times when I have stood up against my own fear and found that the fear was mostly just an allusion. It seems that being afraid of things is mostly just in our heads. Sure, there are real times when our fear is justified and we need to take an account of the facts of that but even then it is better to stand up and move past fear with courage. I am not telling anyone to sacrifice their life in order to make a point but I have on occasion put myself in jeopardy and then found that the threat I had feared didn't have the conviction to follow through. Life is a gamble for sure and most of us would rather it be peaceful and serene. Yet if we don't protect and defend what we know is right we are the ones destroying our peace. Courage is the answer and all that courage is is to do whatever needs being done despite the paralyzing fear it may manifest. Most of us are scared when we are being courageous. So courage exists in many forms and just because we are afraid doesn't mean that we can't also be courageous at the same time. I don't have to be full of steely resolve to display courage. I often have been squeaky voiced and wobbly kneed while standing up to fear. But fear, like most bullies, will shrink from those who will not be bullied. Once you get a taste for standing up to fear you will find that the alternative becomes unacceptable. It takes courage to fight for democracy and only the courageous can truly live a life of equality, justice and liberty. For those who choose to live in fear because courage is too much for them to experience, well they are trapped in a society where they abdicate their authority over themselves to the cowardly who instill fear as a tactic for control.

Religion has a higher duty to itself than it does to our democracy (#2335)

Let's face this one simple fact. Religion has it's need to proselytize as a moral imperative of it's dogma. This need is in conflict with the first amendment of our constitution which gives those of us who chose the right to be free from religion. Here is the dilemma, I will defend your right to worship as you choose as long as you defend my right to not worship as I choose. Yet my defense of your right to worship a religion is one sided since many of you have chosen to go with the religious doctrine that cannot abide a non-believer. So as I defend your right to worship, you do not defend my right to not worship. A brutish approach that stinks to high heaven of treason. Our national constitution has given every religion in this great country of ours a place of sanctuary that is rare in the cultures of our world. Yet the very design of our democracy is being challenged by some of those very same religious zealots who would subdue our democracy and turn it into a theocracy. Much like a knife in the back from a benefactor. Our democracy is in place to allow for equality, justice and opportunity for all, not for the proving grounds of one's faith. My spirituality is completely separate from how we all must be governed under the law. I find solace and serenity in my understanding of the great question, why? Although I have no answer, I have a purpose in life worthy of my time and efforts. To protect our democracy as the enlightened intellectual I am from all who would dismantle her. From our democracy a floor has been established from which we all may aspire from. Although our democracy is still in need of fine tuning it is still the greatest human achievement to have evolved as a form of government. Nothing shall abridge it's purpose to allow for all to have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as declared in our courageous Declaration of Independence from oppressive monarchical and theocratic rule.

Those who encourage our baser traits are inhuman (#2334)

You all should know by now that I am a progressive liberal who believes in Democracy. I want all of us to have an opportunity to succeed in our lives with family, friends and experiences. But there is a faction of folks who are most all aligned with the Republican party who are not impressed with democracy, instead they are bent toward racism and sexism through selective religious dogma and survival of the fittest bastardizations. These folks are less than human in my estimation since the rest of us humans have evolved into civilized and enlightened beings. The Republican party is chock full of these inhuman beings who would no less like to see an all white country under certain christian religious doctrine. The government as church headed by Republican Jesus. Republican Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible rather he is a convenient straw man that Republicans have manufactured to align with their racist, misogynist, ego driven ideal of how the rest of us should be governed. These Republicans have taken what is good about democracy and created their own idea of how some who are well off or necessary to wealth are treated one way and the rest of us are treated another. In their minds a class system that appears to be democratic is good enough for them as long as they can convince the less informed of it's necessity. This is why you here the terms Oligarchy and Corporatocracy being bandied about because when you boil it down to it's base form, Republicans are gutting democracy and transforming it into a class system where the wealthy have a greater say in how our country govern's itself. For me, no amount of inequality and injustice is acceptable if any of us are denied what all of us should have as equal and just opportunity. Too many in the Republican party are inhuman and for that they should be denounced, shunned and made to pay a price for attacking our democracy.

The cognitive dissonance of religion (#2333)

Religion for centuries has been used to try to control human behavior. The dogmas and traditions of how religion operated brought about a mindset that there was a punishment for behavior that was not within parameters of civilized society. And although there are those who see religion as more than a behavioral control the general principle is still applicable. Instead of teaching our society to look for the best in ourselves as human beings we continue to put restrictions and burdens upon ourselves that are as ancient and mythical as any devised control. What is even worse are those "true believers" who take insignificant circumstances and apply them to an almighty being watching over us. Like the football player thanking God for a touchdown or some lucky state of affairs. While millions of young children keep dying over the years from starvation and poverty. Not seeing that a God who keeps us flush with cash or making touchdowns isn't also able to keep children from dying indiscriminately. Or one religious sect claiming a God as their divine inspiration warring with another religious sect who also claims a God who is divinely guiding them. The contradictions and non-sequiturs are abundant yet the steadfast believer refuses to acknowledge said logic. It is easier for them to dismiss contradictions as a greater insight then they are able to understand and hold fast to the comfort of their religion, despite's it's hypocrisies. I would be ashamed and embarrassed for taking a belief over any logical and scientific fact yet too many of us here in America are doing just that and not acknowledging the shame and embarrassment. I am not devoid of some spiritual understandings but not to the point of denying reality to make my spiritual experience dominant over truth and facts. The cognitive dissonance it takes to keep one's faith in light of enlightenment is astounding yet here we are with too many actually doing it.

The ignorance belief systems cultivate (#2332)

Many of us have a belief system that supports our personal journey through time and space here in existence but what many of us do with our belief system is to keep it to ourselves as a guide to our behavior and attitude. However, too many within our society find that their belief system is not a guide for them to live a free life, they find that their belief system is a shield for them to hide behind instead of experience an objective life. They are more cowardly than bold in their fears and as such they often pretend to be great followers of their faith while ignoring reality and the rights of others. It is a tragic symbol of our times that they now have political representation in the republican party and although they are on the surface appearing to be a moral force, they are much less than that. They are bigots and haters of anyone and anything that doesn't follow the waffling dogma they so vigorously cower to. I have seen enough examples in my own little world where the need to belittle anyone not them is overwhelming for them. They take pride in casting aspirations at those who are not just as cowardly as they are. They fear boldness and courage as if it where the plague and as cowards their need for shaming others anyway they can is how they pump each other up. I often think of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", wherein the many stew in fear while accepting the shadows as their reality. They care not what other possibilities exist, they have mastered their fear and play it for all they can get. It is hard for me to see how they cannot grasp a comprehensive view with a panoramic vision. So I live among them and avoid their constant babble about how others don't measure up. I am not them and and such they get nothing of me to help them justify their fear based illusions.

Objectivity, the key to understanding (#2331)

Keeping an open mind about all things that are not facts is the best way to assimilate correct information. The old saying of "I don't know what I don't know", is a valid response to situations and circumstances that are outside our full understanding. Being able to honestly tell ourselves and others the truth that we don't know is just as important as knowing. It is when we lie to ourselves or others about the things we actually don't know about is when we cut ourselves and our civilization down to less than it should be. If used properly, realizing that we don't know something that we probably should know let's us know that our society is not functioning properly when information that should be readily available is not being properly disseminated. The only way we can be honest with ourselves is by forcing ourselves to be objective. Objectivity is not it's distant cousin, subjectivity, which is a less logical form of deciding based upon personal belief systems and emotional motivations. Whereas objectivity is founded in facts and truths outside our own personal biases. Reality is best served, as is the human and other animal species, when we all face reality with honesty and truth. Remember, we are all basically organic data processors and although we can input whatever data into our minds and memories, it is important for us to base our information gathering on facts and truths if we are to face the challenges of our reality with any hope of surviving, exploring and understanding it. Many of us choose to ignore reality based upon a fear well established in our cultures. A fear that wishes to guide our lives based upon unprovable and often conflicting theories. The only way to move beyond fear is to face reality with an open mind and then let your conscience guide you. It is the least we could ask being free people on a tumultuous planet.

Climate change is linked to income inequality (#2330)

That there are some corporations out there who are denying the effects of man made climate change is a fact. They have chosen to take a position that harms our society on whole rather than tackling the problem of climate change by altering their polluting, but profitable, ways. This is significant in that it is the same types of corporations who pay their workers as little as possible in order to profit at a greater rate. Both climate change denying and keeping wages low are strategic decisions made in order to profit themselves and their shareholders. To place profits above the survival of our planet and the well being of our workforce is indicative of a diseased mindset that will not see the brutish nasty ramifications of the long term with any conscious formulation. It is all about the short term profit they can make while leaving the mess for others to clean up. We allow these corporations to do this to us when we vote for their proxy leaders in the Republican party. Our government is supposed to be elected by the will of the people but since we have unclear laws as to what honest debate is allowed we get too much confusion for our average citizenry to configure correctly. Corporations know this and use it to their advantage. Our current US Supreme Court has a majority conservative view which is being manipulated by corporations to reflect their greedy agenda. When the court pronounces that corporations are people and that money is speech, they have effectively given the greedy wealthy an advantage over those of us who cannot afford to speak through money. When the law does not punish speech that is disingenuous corporations find that they can spread enough propaganda to keep the many of us with wrong opinions. As our world slowly is poisoning itself through greedy corporate practices and our workers continue to suffer through low wage policies, corporations continue to grow in wealth and power. How can this possibly be good for us?

Intellectualism should not be a competition (#2329)

The way we have set up our educational system is actually discouraging intellectualism. We only reward those who are the smartest among us and do little to nothing for those who fail to be first among the test takers. It is an all or nothing competition that misses the mark as to the intent and purpose of education. Many of us have remarkable learning gifts and talents but unless we stand alone atop the hill we are rarely recognized for our otherwise tremendous achievements. The idea that competing against each other for placements surely does provide for the winner but the bulk of all the rest are left with little to move forward toward. It seems to me that the goal of intellectualism is to bring all into it's field of understanding regardless of the competition we place ourselves under. Some are early bloomers and some are late bloomers and some are just a bit faster and slower than others but the stifling finality of being told we don't have what it takes, surely depresses and nullifies many from further intellectual advancement. Our psyche's are fragile enough without being told we don't measure up coming from arbitrary reasoning. We need to have an educational system that recognizes all of our potential while giving us a pathway for much needed reasonable achievement. I appreciate and admire the special among us who do have extraordinary mental acuity and they should be heralded toward a special future but the rest of us are equally ambitious to succeed and our only recourse is a discouraging future with little opportunity for success to be realized. I can see why many have just given up on modernization and intellectualism, it has been a brutal experience where we more often than not are avoided and forgotten.

The imperfect judging others when they are not perfect. (#2328)

We have a problem in our Democratic party. Somehow some of our younger members think that our leaders must be perfect or otherwise they are not worth defending at all. As if these younger members are wiser in their opinions on subjects they have less information on and no insight into the complexity the leaders are dealing with. It is an arrogance of youthful vigor. It is important that we point it out since so many of them have decided that voting is not worth it if they have to compromise on their principles in ANY way. It pains me to see such vibrant youth who are full of conviction fail to see that progress does not happen over night. I wish it did, but my lessons in life have shown that steady progress is the best we can hope for. So why would we throw away what steady progress we have made so that we can say that our purist point of view is greater than reality? It makes no sense in a world where perfection is rare and imperfection is more than common? I would hope that logic would win the day but it is beyond me that I keep fighting for those same ones who reject my efforts and ignore either regression or improvement in the name of purity. Here is the real conclusion, whether we fight together to improve our society in any way that we can or we fall to those who are willing to destroy our society and make it less than democratic. So, either help win on many fronts or allow ourselves to lose on all fronts. That is the choice in the end, not which candidate can be pure to our way of thinking. The illusion that the perfect is expected when we ourselves are more imperfect than not is ridiculous. So either we are pragmatic in our approach to governance or we are foolish and lost. We will see soon enough when the vote comes around again here in America in 2016. Hopefully the purists in our Democratic party will engage their minds and weigh the cost of helping us win with a less than perfect candidate or allowing a really bad one from the Republican party to emerge victorious because we defaulted our vote.

Contrasting myself with greedy capitalists (#2327)

Every year except one for about 12 years I have had a little project 2 days a year that I accomplish for a very modest sum. It is a laborious day of cleaning that requires me to "hire" people to help me. Now what I do instead is ask my friends and acquaintances for help on the two days a year. I need four people, plus myself, to efficiently complete the task in a roughly six hour time frame. I offer each of them, about one fifth of the contracted amount I receive as their incentive. So what I essentially do is pool the money into a pile, spend to buy equipment as needed and always coffee and donuts for everyone just before we start and lunch at lunch time and then give each their set amount when we are done. Now what generally happens is some extra expense sometimes occurs and what I do is take it out of my share, which more often then not leaves me with less than the others make. I am fine with that since all I did was facilitate the opportunity and then oversee the process making sure no obstruction deviates us from our completion. That is how I operate a capitalistic venture, not with profit as my only goal. I enjoy the shared experience my friends and acquaintances have during the day and the camaraderie of individuals acting as equals among themselves. We all do our jobs well and when we are done there is real satisfaction in the time and effort put forth. Greedy capitalists are not as personable as I am with my help. Instead they are all about manipulating their work force to get the most production out of them while spending the least amount possible. Their goal is the profit, not the shared time and experience. I like my system better because although I don't get much money from my endeavor I do get a life that is well lived and I am respected for it. I can walk around anywhere with my head held high because I am not trying to profit off of others, I am instead sharing profit with others.

Where does your acquiescence end and the defending of your principles begin? (#2326)

I know my limitations, because I know myself. I, like the cartoon character Popeye, can stands so much and then can't stands no more, paraphrased. That is generally how I operate out in my world. However there are some things that I will not tolerate from the get go. Racism and sexism are not given an inch of humor or dignified allowance in my presence. I also find that those who blame the poor for their plight get a quick smack down from me as well. To define my position almost to a tee is to take the Republican party vision for America and reverse it. I often get this statement from those who don't know me to try to dialogue or compromise with Republican positions. I respond with the wisdom I have accumulated over the course of several decades that dialoguing or compromising with crazy and wrong is not to be borne. I am either on the right side of an issue or I am wrong. There is no dialoguing or compromising with not doing something right, there is only dialoguing and compromising with doing something right, period! I have also learned that acquiescing in the face of force, intimidation or duress is a situational fear I have overcome. First, I just don't care what others think about me so there is no peer pressure for me to be guided or persuaded by that isn't my own noble intent. Second, I have taken the lesson of Nathan Hale, our great American Revolutionary hero, and made a stand to defend what is right, regardless of whether my death is a price I must pay. Did you get that? I am willing to die for what is right well before I grovel in front of what is wrong. It is that simple. Stand for what we all know is right and good and then let the chips fall where they may. Change is a fact of life and if we are going to effect the kind of change we know and deserve, we have to put all our money on the table and ride it out. Each of us is the change we were hoping for. 

A purposeful life (#2325)

What is it in life that we are supposed to be doing? Is there a destiny we each are "made" for? Generally, I would answer yes, but I couldn't say what each of us is purposed for specifically. We are an interesting species. We are animals for sure but we are also enlightened animals who are able to distinguish between our natural instinct to live and our natural instinct to know. We are at an evolutionary stage for our species where we are not so much encompassed with our own individual survival as we are with our communal survival. Together we are a greater than we are apart. Knowing this and given our thirst for knowledge we are destined to reach out beyond our own planet and become the Universal explorers we most fittingly exemplify. We are intelligent and curious, a rather daunting combination although some among us are less than bold in this fact. Yet we will move forward into our manifest destiny just like we have in the past. It is who we are to increase our knowledge while increasing the space we occupy. I have said this so many times before but it always bears repeating. We are biological data processors. We have five senses that we use to probe outside ourselves for information. We have a mind that not only reasons, analyzes and concludes, but we have an immense memory base from which we comprehensively reevalute from as new information comes in. We are the greatest physical specimen of a probe that has ever existed in our limited history. We are "built" to process information while also we are of a physical nature that we can mobilize in any terrain given our ability to solve any obstacle that comes our way. We are greater than artificial intelligence since we are the ultimate biological prototype. Our nature to care sets us apart from any other species as we can mold ourselves to fit into a community of laws that we willingly submit our behaviors to. Each of us is a unique and masterful display of evolution from this existence. Now we only need to maximize our efficiency in the span of time we currently have to enjoy our purpose.

Democracy is about creating equality, not denying it (#2324)

Sometimes I wonder if Republicans actually get that we live under a democratic government or if they do get it and want to destroy it for another form of government. The signs are there for the most part that Republicans are not defenders of democracy. At almost every turn Republicans want to deny rights to any class of American citizen that runs afoul of their hypocritical puritanical and greed driven views. For the first thing we are a nation that was created to be free from religious persecution while at the same time free to worship any religion we choose without penalty. Secondly, Republicans are some of the worst offenders of the taboo behaviors they often rail against. The depth of the Republican hypocrisy is unfathomable. However, for some reason we, the ordinary citizens who are the majority of voters in our country, seem to keep voting for them. Now I understand that politics can be tricky if you don't pay much attention to it. It is incredulous that a major political party could be intentionally sabotaging our national integrity under democracy, yet that is exactly what is happening. When the democratic ideals of community, tolerance and diversity are attacked by Republicans it can leave no doubt that the premise that Republicans want to replace our hard fought for democracy with another form of government that gives greater voice to the wealthy and faux religious is real. People are human beings and as we know we are all uniquely different. People are not corporations nor is money speech, yet the Republican party is giving greater deference to both corporations and money as a higher priority than human life. Whatever it is that Republicans are trying to replace our democracy with it cannot and shall not be allowed. Republicans have staked their ground out and are fighting to make the rest of us stand on it with them. Shall we stop voting for them and vanquish them like all the other enemies of democracy? That is the question isn't it?

The nobility of honor (#2323)

You may ask yourself why should I care about what I do or say since I live my life and then it is over. You my think that there is no comprehensive record of your acts and thoughts that will be recorded for eternity so why shouldn't I just care about my own self based wants and needs? You may think that denying yourself whatever it is you desire is a fools errand for no logical purpose in the eternal scope of things. Now you may be afraid of some afterlife you have been told you will pay a price for not being a good person, but that is just conjecture based upon faith or hope. So outside of some possible retribution from a belief system, you are free to be whoever or whatever kind of person you desire. Surely we have laws from our society to help guide us in our behaviors but all too often, too many have found numerous ways to circumvent those laws and they do as they please anyway. My experience has taught me that being a good man is a reward I want for myself. Let me explain. First and most important by being a good man I get to experience life in a noble way. I am refreshed at each awakening to a new day with a confident and serene feeling. Wherever I go I can smile and feel satisfaction in my wake. Other people treat me with respect and with welcoming greetings. A calmness has enveloped me because my acts and purposeful thoughts center around doing good things. I like the concept of honor, it is admirable and worthy of being part of. I tend to think that our Universe is recording our lives in some eternal way. Why do I think that? Because I want my life to be recorded, the bad and the good of it. I wasn't very good starting off but I am finishing my life off with much more good in it. I now understand that what I desire to feel inside me is best experienced when I am being the best at being good. So although I don't specifically know my true destiny in this existence, I do know that the nobility of honor is my quest regardless of where it takes me.

Compare and contrast (#2322)

Romancing hardship, pain and suffering is ludicrous yet that is what the Republican party is doing with it's survival of the fittest agenda. They would like us to believe that our pioneering spirit rose from an elitism and we would all be better off with a world that gave us nothing and made us earn everything. What Republicans won't tell us is that they know our pioneering spirit has nothing to do with an illusory romantic vision of manifest destiny or some other idealistic motivation. They know it came out of despair and abuse. We pioneered as a nation because it was the only way for us to find freedom from despicable rule by the wealthy who used us as tools and objects and then discarded us with little nothing for our forced service. We sought to build a shared life on our terms, greater and more honorable than greed, even if it meant facing other dangers. Struggling to be free and to having a life built by our own hands and the hands of our communities was our reason for pioneering. We couldn't break through the tight gripped control of the capitalists where we were so we moved where they weren't. A hope or dream for a better world was our last resort. That is how we should be living as the most incredible species ever evolved. It is an embarrassment to any free thinker that we would seek to control ourselves out of some devised greed instead of some communal obligation to happiness. The pursuit of happiness is genetic to our American experience as it was highlighted on our American Declaration of Independence from Britain. Life is not about capitalizing on each other where there is only one or two eventual winners and everyone else is left holding an empty bag. Life is about working together to build a better nation where all citizens have a right to a respectable existence and a say in how we govern ourselves.

Enlightenment or ignorance (#2321)

Who knew that after the awakening of the renaissance centuries ago that today we would be fighting over whether to advanced and modernize our American society or whether to go back to a faith system where a belief in something is greater than the scientific fact of everything else. I am not saying that we must choose between the two, but to give a belief system greater societal rule over logic and reality is a step backwards toward an unenlightened era. I know we can each have a faith system for ourselves that calms or gives comfort in times of trouble but not a s ystem of rule that everyone must be legally bound to obey. I keep my own personal faith system to myself since it is mine and I need comfort and calming from time to time. But I am an enlightened soul who must build upon the great renaissance achievements previously established. I am a modern man who can only see possibilities for greater care and wonder in my future. It is the wondering part that has gripped me to my bones. I am a soul who needs to know and if there are those who would stifle me based upon some arbitrary dogma of a religious bent, then we will have trouble. I do not push or advocate my own personal belief on anyone as each of us must find our own compass for moving forward, nor will I have anyone else attempt to force my compass away from any direction it may take me. Living a simple life that makes us comfortable is appealing but not at the expense of the liberty of others who choose a more difficult and rewarding life. Enlightenment is a challenge to simplicity as a rule and for me enlightenment is my path. I am a biological data processor in all regards and for me to not utilize my abilities is for me to deny I am human.

Harm is harm, it is that simple (#2320)

Politics is not that difficult to understand. If it helps most people then it is likely very good. If it harms most people it is likely very bad. Simple! Like our social safety net programs are which are designed to help those who are less advantaged than others. We need them in order to protect the many from the nasty brutish nature of how our capitalistic economic system has evolved. As you may have noticed, only a few ever get to become wealthy. It is a mirage that we all will be millionaires in our lifetimes. A mirage that has been peddled for the last few generations to keep us from recognizing the unequal way our society distributes privilege and advantage. When the spokespeople for the wealthy tell us that it is our own fault that we are not wealthy like them, they are lying to us. Many who are wealthy got there through inheritance or advantages most of us never get. They are not exceptional human beings able to overcome obstacles that litter the road. Most of them have had a smooth road to traverse while the rest of us have been dodging mines over every step. We who are not wealthy are not wealthy because we are defective, we are not wealthy because the wealthy make it difficult for us to succeed. The truth of it is that the wealthy need a large class of non-wealthy to exist so that they can remain wealthy themselves. By keeping competition down from the rest of us not only are the wealthy able to control the economy in a much more collusive way, they have a large bank of workers to draw from. We the non-wealthy must wake up to the fact that we are not ever going to be wealthy, but we can still have a quality of life that doesn't discard us after our utility to the wealthy has expired.

On the subject of sex, which obviously came before marriage (#2319)

We human beings are of the animal kingdom here on Earth. Our connection with the other animals has been well established. We all share the same natural ability to procreate through a sexual encounter between the male and female genders of our own species'. This has been going on since before our recorded history. To put this into perspective, sexual relations between members of our human species predates our conscious remembering, long before any concept of marriage was devised. The concept of marriage is more akin to property rights in it's origin than to the ideal of two becoming one. The civilization of our human members into society has helped afforded us the ability to devise a marriage concept to help bring about an order to our societies. A way to calm the chaotic and lawlessness of arbitrary emotional desire. Marriage as an institution can be a good paradigm when it is entered into with the high aspiration of shared love and devotion. But marriage is not the genesis of sexual relations. Sexual relations predated the concept of marriage by millenniums. So although we are a more modern civilized being we must not lose sight of the fact that we are and were animals who had sexual relations long before we put a restriction on it's utility. Marriage is a subset of sex and that order is right and good if we are to respect the actual history and natural rights of our species. Of course we by law do not allow the taking of sex as a right when it is entered into under force or duress, etc... or restricted by age requirements. It is proper to define restrictive roles of sex in order to protect any who would be violated by the act. Yet, we should never stop any who are rightfully allowed to have sex because they are not married or offend our personal religious choices. Otherwise we would be denying the natural order of sexual intercourse as a right when utilized between two consenting adults. Or are we now to be considered to have evolved from our previous animal state?

How will you handle death? (#2318)

Death will come to all of us as the one certainty we have. I wish it were not so, since I first learned of death it broke my heart. The unfairness of random death is even more heartbreaking when it comes so unexpectedly. But nothing I have said so far is any different than anything else everyone has or will experience so I am not unique in any way on this subject. I have been fortunate in that I have lived almost 60 years and a mostly full life to boot. Not so much a conventional average life but one of my own where I got to do things my way, even if for a short period of time. So I can at least plan for my eventual demise by instituting my wishes for my remains. I have come to grips with death and it's eventuality. I no longer run around in chaos denying the inevitable. Although I accept that I will die, I want my death to be of some progressive act. Not just a dying on the vine but with a greater good purpose. Standing up for rights, or against cruelty and harm. I have lived mostly as an honorable man, who protected the weak and downtrodden. I have done so because I have seen first hand what happens when good men do nothing and bad men get away with it. When I was younger and less strident in my principles I couldn't or wouldn't protect those who were being unjustly and wrongly abused. But as I have gotten older, stronger and wiser, I let nothing of the sort happen in my presence without me pushing back with steely determination. A conviction worthy of putting my life on the line to stop the brutish and abhorrent from occurring. This may be how I die, and if so that would be noble and typical of my values. Whether or not, I will die at some point and the idea that fear will play a part in it is not part of my calculation, however being stalwart and courageous is part of my plan for how I will pass from this plane of existence.

Universal voter registration (#2317)

Democracy in its essential form is the governance of all by all. now we can't let some vote, like those in prison for violent crimes or those who are not American citizens, but we have laws now that protect us from those events occurring. So the rest of us are rightfully allowed to cast a ballot in any and all public elections. There needs to be no restrictions on a one person one vote doctrine regardless of any inconvenience to any political party. Rights of citizens overrule rights of political parties. That we have a candidate running for president in 2016, Hillary Clinton, who is advocating for universal voter registration for all eligible American citizens would seem like a policy that every American would have no argument against. Yet we would be mistaken to think so. The Republican party has been trying for at least a decade to restrict voting for the less affluent, women and persons of color. This is a fact no an opinion. Too many Republican controlled states have devised laws that make voting harder for these aforementioned groups. The intent of these laws is masked by the Republican claims that voter fraud is rampant. But to claim it without any verifiable proof only makes it a lie. The intent rather of these Republican voter restriction laws is to lessen the base of the opposing party. Think about that for just a moment, the Republican party is working to deny votes to those who are not affiliated with them. Do you see the problem here? Republicans cannot win on their agenda of hating people not like them and instead are denying them a voice in our democracy. Now this may seem obtuse or rather insignificant to you because your otherwise busy life is too demanding to care for this but if you don't care, your otherwise busy life will become even more busy just to stay where you are now instead of easing your busyness for you to have more time for the quality things in it.

Evolution demands that we defeat the unknown (#2316)

It may take close to eternity but it is a mandate for an enlightened human being. Nothing in life is a greater purpose for our species than to capture the flag of the unknown. how do we do that? We never quit on our drive to learn. If we are not leading the charge into the unknown then we are not the best of our species. I hear Republicans talk about their survival of the fittest philosophy in ways that are illogical. Republicans don't seem to get that education as a priority is how we survive as a species. They must only attribute survival to brute or conniving force. I wonder what their end game is since it doesn't involve bold and courageous exploration of knowledge and intelligence. Since the inception of our lives we have been struggling to learn and know what is about us, yet Republicans want us to be satisfied with policies that destroy our planet and neglect our duty to each other. Now Republicans may be happy to sit back in life and wait for some type of future after death, but I am not deluded enough to share their fear based illusion. I want to live my life in this existence with all the power and energy I have. I can only do that by being informed and able to imagine ways to create and innovate new ways to learn and understand. Satisfying every human beings essential need is our foundation and from there we all can be part of the great discoveries yet to come. Our species will not survive a survival of the fittest mentality if it isn't more than just an excuse to dominate economics. A true survival of the fittest pits humans against the unknown, not humans against each other. It is time for real leaders to step up and define the role of our humanity and our ambitions, not just to survive but to dominate all that we do and don't know.

The problem of the closed mind (#2315)

On this subject there is much to be objective about. The closed mind is a fear based solution that won't accept anything other than the comfort the closed mind allows. Even to the point of cognitive dissonance, the closed mind will prevail despite the erroneousness of the defended concept. The veritable brick wall is far more than just metaphorical in this instance. For too many the closed mind around a belief or an illogical ideal is to be protected at all costs. I do understand how attractive the closed mind can be and the sanctuary it offers to those who are overwhelmed with confusion and chaos. Yet the closed mind is an attempt to escape, not an attempt to overcome. Retreating from life is rarely a strategy that brings honor and respect to one's destiny. An open mind however is one that not only provides additional insights into all of life, it allows us to move freely and confidently in any circle of existence. An open mind is a value worth more than treasure or adulation. An open mind gives us the ability to reorganize our information and knowledge in order to stay in harmony with the past, present and future. An open mind keeps us honest in our evaluations and perspectives. In all reality, an open mind is a healthy paradigm. The closed mind gives us a presumed safe harbor but it ignores the whirligig of life and defaults back to intolerance and a lack of diversity. Who are we to judge another based upon some formula we declare is the only correct one? It is absurd to think that in the infancy of our society of humans and other like animals, compared to the Universe, that we would know the only way to be in a world of constant change! I follow principles for living that establish my behavior but I would never dare to condescend upon others my control or rule over them as a solution. The closed mind would however and for me that is intolerable.

Can't change my heart (#2314)

A different type post today. I did some early morning shopping for building materials and on my way home I saw a little scraggly black doggie meandering around a busy intersection. At first I thought maybe the dog was with someone but as I was driving I could see no one near him. I kept going away from the intersection and the more I got away the worse I felt for not stopping and investigating the doggie. I finally turned around and headed back to find him and see if he had any identification. I searched where I originally saw him but I couldn't see him anywhere. So I stopped and asked some fellows hanging out around a parking lot and they said he was across the street heading away. So I drove across the street but couldn't see him. I almost just kept going but instead I pulled off on a frontage road adjacent to the main drag and I saw in the bushes a dark spot. I drove a little closer and there was the doggie laying just off the main road. I stopped about 20 feet short of him but the doggie immediately became frightened and started away from me and out into the main road. After a some motorists braked to keep from hitting the dog, the dog made it across the busy street and into some a retail shopping center. I followed across with my truck and the dog went to an isolated area and when I cautiously approached the dog took off in a full run away from me. I decided right there that I was probably more a danger to his life than him being lost or homeless. I had already cringed at the prospect that I had caused him to scurry in front on traffic and I wasn't about to do it again. All this to say that the best of intentions I had, to bring the doggie to my house, where I could later this morning get him to the vet for whatever needs he has, if the dog didn't have identification, was left unfulfilled. I like that I acted out of concern for the dog's welfare but the fear the little doggie had was too much for the dog to trust me. I tried and luckily didn't make things worse anyway.

Get busy living or get busy dying (#2313)

Life is about change. Know this one thing and everything else will fall into place for you. If you are looking to stay still don't worry, death will take care of that. Now not that we can't pause and reflect but not for long as change is continual despite our best wishes. I have struggled with how to live my life since I was too young to remember. I learned early on that death is inevitable for all of us so how I live needed to be understood by me from the get go. What I didn't know then was that although I am unique, I am not special in that being. We are all unique and we all deserve the right to choose a life for ourselves that is free from unjust control. By not staying busy in life we are abdicating time from ourselves to nothing. We are giving away the most precious gift in this existence, time. Now I know we all get tired and have a need to rest and contemplate but being weary should only require minimal rest to recover from then it should be full steam ahead into whatever ambition or acceptable desire we can imagine. I have always been about improving life in any way I know how to do. There are many like me who also see building a better world for us to live in and explore outer space from as an utmost priority. However, there are still those, especially the wealthy and their political acolytes who want no greater world to live in on the contrary, they would have us go back from modernity to some more easily managed serfdom paradigm. Apparently they can control us better the less enlightened and poorer we are. I say nonsense to them and forge ahead with my goal of lifting every soul up from despair and impoverishment. A noble ideal, which by the way, represents my soul. So busy it is for me and if I have any luck whatsoever, I will see some progress before my time here in this existence expires.