Ignorance is not a value (#2770)

     Ignorance is a choice. If you don't want to know something you are choosing to not know it. The buck stops with you. No one else is at fault but you. Have I made myself perfectly clear? I know this because I have chosen to be ignorant in the past because it conflicted with my preconceived notion of what I thought was right and wrong. It didn't take me long to realize that me holding onto a set of beliefs about what life was all about and those beliefs being in conflict with actual reality was an untenable position to hold. I had to reassess what I wanted reality to be with what reality actually is. So I became an objective observer of reality without any preconceived notions. I allowed reality to dictate to me what right and wrong were and is.
     I found that now I wasn't letting being ignorant to possibilities and probabilities exist in my life. I live with an open mind concerning the panoramic and comprehensive complexities that used to dissuade me from knowing all that which is around and about me. I have mentioned this many times before in this blog, it is like the chapter in Plato's Republic, "The Allegory of the Cave" http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-allegory-of-the-cave-by-plato-summary-analysis-explanation.html, Where enlightenment shows us our ignorance despite our inability to recognize it without a perspective.
     The purpose of living an objective life is so that we are open to all that which is logical or at least possible. It was not my intent to bring this discussion around to myths, mores and superstitions but it seems that outside of outright fear, these are the common factors that keep us from having a more open approach to our curiosity. The metaphorical Ostrich with it's head buried in the sand to avoid danger is not so dissimilar from what we humans do when we ignore knowledge and intelligence in favor of the mystical or supernatural. We must all start from a base of understanding so that we can communicate and grow with each other based on the factors known in this existence and ignorance does not possess any value in the concept.

Is life existence or purpose? (#2769)

     It seems that our political parties have broken along these lines. One, republicans, want to just exist without having a real purpose or vision. They would prefer that nature takes it course, helped along of course by those who can afford to affect natures path. a survival of the fittest model that has a slippery slope of dwindling us down to the last person standing. I would think that this type of philosophy would be plain to see as illogical but it would appear that too many have not seen it as so. So the reason republicans seem to be anti-democratic is because, well, because they actually are without them saying it in so many words. It is hard to get elected to public office in a democracy if your goal is to destroy that democracy.
     Democrats on the other hand want to establish a general purpose for our existence. We want to answer questions, help those who need help and solve problems that are too curious for us not to address. Just existing is not enough for us. We have a thirst within us that needs to be quenched. Our curiosity is one of our greatest natures and for us to not explore it is for us to become less than who we are. Our caring, which is the other great nature we have, is also one that needs to be fulfilled. We have a need to be cared about and loved. It is a prize we human beings possess that allows for our survival and growth as a species. We democrats recognize this and wish only to nurture it.
     So in the final analysis it does boil down to philosophy. Are we here just to battle among ourselves to see who can outmaneuver whom in order to be king of the hill? Or are we here to explore and discover while making life more bearable. We democrats have our curiosity and our care in order so that we can build on them and take all of our society forward, whereas republicans have stifled our curiosity and care so that they can keep us in a society that is divisive and fights itself at every turn.

As time slips away so do our chances (#2768)

     While we were busy living our lives the things we always wanted are slipping further away from us just like our past. Soon enough we will be out of time and the promise of our lives will be left unfulfilled. I have always fought against the dying of the light, https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night, and I suppose I always will. My will to survive is only equaled by my angst at not doing enough in my life. I don't see myself as someone different than anyone else so we all must feel about the same concerning our inability to forge a reality befitting our possibilities. I don't know the deepest meaning of how I became to be here in this existence but I am here regardless and despite my ignorance to my beginning I am purposeful about my present and what the future may mean for those who come after me.
     I have that will within me and so do all of us. We can and should be able to shape our existence to a more appropriate one given our species' amazing uniqueness. I am older now and as such do feel a sense of failure in that my feeble efforts were not near enough to be life changing. I have not given up but I know that I am perishable. My time is shorter now than it has ever been since my first breath. There is no more time for wasting and there is no more time for procrastinating. I must make all my present and future choices judiciously so that whatever progress is made can be the best for what is possible under all the parameters in play.
     If only I could be idealistic and always choose to make happen the obvious best for democracy. I can't because it isn't only me trying to change or keep reality the same. Some have no compromise within them and lead by choosing that which cannot change reality today. There are those who wish to keep everything chaotic because they have found that greed does pay and they are unconscionable when it comes to pain and suffering not affecting them. The battle continues and I feel my time slipping away as well as my chances to be a part of a mighty change that represents what is best about our species and not what crushes our spirit.

A message from the Universe (#2767)

     Come out and play you humans. I am out here all alone and you seem to want to stay home instead of coming out and hanging with me. I know you humans are much newer compared to me and can barely fly with help but you are getting older and wiser so you should be able to hang out more than you do. Don't be afraid of me, I am only the Universe and I have been with you since you became humans. Trust me that I will stay pretty much the same for a long time so discover my tendencies and let's have some fun together. I know you humans are mighty curious but you are also shy and apprehensive. Let your curious side overrule your extreme caution and be more who you were meant to be.
     You humans are biological data processors, with long and short term memory with the ability to reason, analyze and conclude on your own and with help when needed. Your physical capabilities are perfected toward the requirements of your planet Earth but you also have the ability to create artificial attributes that help you move off Earth out into space. Who knows, maybe sometime soon you will discover a way to exist much easier given your necessary functioning needs and then what will hold you back from exploring the vastness of my space? Nothing is impossible when you allow yourself to learn new things and I have many new things out here you can learn about.
     So stop hesitating in your desire to do more than just exist, generation after generation and come out into the unknown frontier. Manifest destiny is a term used to describe the westward migration of settlers across the wide width of America. So should manifest destiny be used to describe your inevitable step off your planet out into that which is waiting for you. I want you to come visit and colonize wherever you can and make me more personal to you. I need you to help me along in my lonely existence and hopefully it will be sooner than later.

It takes courage to vote (#2766)

     I know so many people who are not going to vote because of one reason or another. Apparently if they don't vote they don't have to have a position on our politics which somehow makes them feel safe from offending anyone. What a load of crap! Voting is about how we each feel concerning how our nation moves forward. No one should have to cower to others because of their right to be involved in our elections. We all need to find the courage to vote for those visions of our future that uphold democracy and the principles democracy are founded upon. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy. Remember, capitalism is not a democratic principle, it is an economic one, just like economic socialism.
     Know the difference. Democracy is the sharing of equal opportunities with all of our citizenry. Democracy is justice for all with a blind eye. Now that justice I just described is not what we have today. We have several different justice systems and the lower you are on the economic scale the worse it gets. Even on a race scale, if you are non-white your chances of being judged equally with whites is much less. We have some problems in our society and the only way we can address them and make our nation a more democratic one is to vote for those candidates who want to end privilege and advantage for some over the many.
     It is the same in our economic sphere. The many are treated as lesser human beings through low and difficult to live with wages. We cannot seriously fix our nations biases until we vote out the candidates that are maintaining the biases. There are a few in the democratic party and they need to be treated as harshly as the most all in the republican party. But the only way we can begin a new era of greater democracy in our politics is to vote. It takes courage to vote for a better future just like it took courage for our forefathers/mothers to fight for our nations independence at our founding. Register and vote and be proud of your part in making our nation more democratic.

Being ignorant is no excuse (#2765)

     I know this one real well. I thought I was the king of reasoning until I found out that my perspective was exclusive, not inclusive. Then, like a bolt of lightening, I became aware of what others were facing outside my own preconceived notions about them. I realized that most of them were actually better people than I was. It was just that they were fighting so hard all the time to have a decent life, that I came to realize that they weren't trying to have more than others, they were just trying to survive with the less that they could only get. Our society is not perfect and if anything it favors the few wealthy over the many poor. What I didn't understand was that I thought everyone had the same opportunity to fulfill the American dream.
     So now instead of labeling others or carrying my own personal biases and prejudices around I have shucked them and allow for objective reasoning to guide me. I make no judgment until I see the merit of thought and action. I myself am learning that I am no different than anyone when it comes to having dreams and hopes. So I rail against our unequal society in hopes of bringing about awareness and change for the better. We have the best political system on Earth with our foundation formed in a democratic philosophy where all of us are part of the solution. Surely there is betterment ahead for our political system but we are building on it from strength, not weakness.
     I have said this many times on this blog site. We are biological data processors, all of us. We are the greatest human machine ever devised in the known history of our Universe. It is our nature to learn and know. So being ignorant is a choice that some make because I don't know. Whatever their reasoning about not knowing on purpose doesn't dissuade those of us who do want to know and then do something about what we know. It is another part of our nature to care and with curiosity and care we are more than just existing. We are in constant motion to strive against all boundaries that would prohibit our challenge to expand and being ignorant is not a value that supports our striving.

Democracy overrules all other politics, economics, religion and social structures (#2764)

     We keep hearing republicans and their attempts to destroy our democracy by making us subject to authoritarian political concepts, selective religious concepts and survival of the fittest concepts in our economics and social lives. We hear democrats talk about inclusion and improving education, retirement, health, and job opportunities as well as pushing the boundaries of our existence in this Universe. The republicans offer a diminution of democracy so that we are subject to their elitist vision. They would prefer that only landowners or other entitled individuals be given the right to determine our future through the act of voting.
     We democrats on the other hand want all of us to be in the mix for deciding who and what we as a nation will strive to become. We democrats want all citizens to have the experience of pursuing happiness without causing harm with equal opportunity, without barriers republicans subscribe to place on us. We democrats know that all of human life is special and no privilege or advantage outweighs our individual right to express the merit of our convictions from a similar foundation like all others. You see it is democracy that is our flag, not division, not exclusion, not lesser human traits of brutish behavior. The sacrifice that has been given in the name of democracy is immense and most honorable.
     We distinguish ourselves from the past fearful myths, mores and superstitions through our innate drive to learn and mature as human beings. We know we are just scratching the surface of our abilities and although we are an amazing species already, the more amazing aspects of who we can become is ahead of us. We need to settle our past into the present with an agenda for the future. But as long as we continue to allow republicans to represent us in our politics, economics, religious adherence and our social structures we will not put our past to rest and not set our present up to springboard into our objective future.

Never stop doing what's right (#2763)

     The trick is to figure out what is right. Many are stuck with the idea that most of us are incapable of determining the course of our futures without their guidance. They are the ones who think that they are superior somehow by their reckoning and are not to be persuaded otherwise. Most of them are in the republican party and feel it is their duty to be our leaders at all costs. Now I know a few people who think they know what is best for me and none of them is even close to the truth. Yet that doesn't stop them regardless of how much I tell them they are wrong. It is a closed mindset that they protect at all costs, even at self destruction and destruction of others to try to prove a falsehood as true.
     They think that their idea of enlightenment is what we lack and they are the only ones who can provide it. I have heard many in my circle of acquaintances say that they cannot understand why many conservatives cannot get what they are trying to logically explain to them. Well, it has to do with them not wanting to hear anything other than their own thoughts. they don't care about truth or logic. They would rather accept rumor and opinion as truth than actual truth. There is always some conspiracy by others that keep their illogical truth from being honored. It is a mental illness that has it's roots in ideology first and then make anything and everything fit to make the ideology seem legitimate.
     I am a man who likes to learn and then pass on that learning as knowledge or wisdom given whatever the ever fluctuating circumstance that is before me. I can admit when I am wrong because I am able to distinguish logic and fact through argument and debate. I have no ideology I am trying to make anyone accept other than the democratic principles we all hold as our nation's legacy. But the republicans keep falling back on the idea of our republic being only for elites who have the right to vote and not those who are not "enlightened". That is why they think they are the leaders of the rest of us dirty masses and we should be thankful that they care enough to order us around instead of a much worse fate.

We need to quit hiding our secrets (#2762)

     Now some secrets are embarrassing on a personal level and they should be exposed only upon careful consideration but every other secret should be exposed. The impetus for my title today is that when I was younger and able to start my life out I didn't know some things as far how to start a business and navigate capitalistic processes. No one would share their success with me. It is as if they din't care whether I knew how to be a businessman. As long as I was there for them to use as labor or in some other way. I came from a family that had little knowledge in how business operated and although some in my extended family tried they more often than not failed themselves. Not from lack of effort but from not knowing how to be a business person.
    Why business classes in junior high and high school are not required is dumbfounding. It is as is there is a conspiracy to keep us from knowing how to start out our lives in a promising way. The problem with capitalism is that it makes it less profitable for all if we are all successful. So through logic, I can see why many are not shown how to be successful in business because of the many that are needed as labor. Labor, a lesser activity in the eyes of successful business types. Well it seems to me that without good labor successful business types would most likely fail so for them to treat labor as a lesser activity is more about their psychological failings than actual reality.
     Competition for the most success has this major failing. It puts the rest who are not successful in a detrimental way. Again, the survival of the fittest mentality permeated throughout our business culture. Not conducive to a healthy society but there it is in ours. Until we can understand that work here on this planet is a marking of time for greater adventures and opportunities for equality in outer space, we will continue to under value our citizenry and make a mockery of democratic principles.

Overpowering the lies with the truth (#2761)

     This coming election is between two very different ideologies. One, the democrats want to sustain our social and democratic progress while the other, republicans want to end them. Now the devil is in the details and so far the republicans have been adept at sidestepping their responsibility for explaining why they want to crush our social compacts. They have not been held accountable by the media, which is not nearly nor wholly objective, to explain their positions without lying about them. So the republican base hears another narrative that is not the truth about what the republican leadership is trying to do.
     What can we do about this? Well the best we can do is keep telling the truth as we have researched it and allow no confusion to entertain our conversations. The bluntness of truth is the remedy and the ill is ignorance to that very same truth. We democrats have an obligation to inform those around us to the facts of things, not self serving opinions or lies. Eventually we will convert many to reality since reality is where most of us live. I have no time for irrelevance or inaccuracies. This is too important an election coming our way and not allowing the republican party to lie to us is our battle.
     Science and logic are our allies and no amount of obfuscation will detract us from our duties. We must be informed as to the main policies of our party and hammer them at republicans until they concede that we are telling the truth. If they disagree with our truth then we can then debate on even terms but until they actually agree that we are protecting the social compact and republicans are trying to destroy them then nothing they say will be of any value. We must tune them out and keep speaking the truth as it is proven from facts and logic.

We know we are not what other people think we are (#2760)

     Peer pressure and our own frailties have a way of making us sensitive to what other people think of us. Just remember that you are a person too so your perspective on what you think about other people is no different than what other people think about you. Given that, you should also realize that your perspective on other people is woefully uninformed as to their true nature just as others are woefully uninformed as to your true nature. So what must eventually become evident is that we are the only ones who are the true judges of who we are and our eventual value to and in life.
     So the next logical step for all of us individually and collectively when possible is to better ourselves based upon what honorable principles we hold dear. Honorable principles are the process by which we judge ourselves. I have gone full circle on this in the many years of my life. I have been despicable in my eyes and I have been magnificent. Surely I am a harsh judge and a biased one all at the same time so I usually fall somewhere between not bad and kind of good. Which is where most all of us live as well. I am not judging just basing my assumption on the inherent goodness we humans aspire toward.
     So all the outside noise about us from others, whether good or bad, is just noise. We are the ones who have the capability to judge ourselves objectively without prejudice if we truly want to be what we know we can be. None of us is a lost cause. I have come from the dregs of my existence and found peace and fulfillment. Life is many cycles and what matters most is to get through those cycles quickly so that we can focus on being the best human being we know we can be.

Protecting Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid (#2759)

     The republican party has this idea that social security and medicare/medicaid are anti American. They think like all the other survival of the fittest brutes that anything that we do together for the benefit of all is wrong. They are the fringe psuedo sociopaths in our society and they are working their asses off to make it all of our reality. They, through the republican party, are using dirty tactics to not only keep power within our democratic political process but are actually working to undermine the democratic principles that our nation was founded upon. They despise talk of equality and fairness. They feel that only those who are strong enough to take what they want deserve anything at all.
     The concept of privilege and advantage is what they desire, not through merit or innovation but through devious cunning and deception. This is why no republican should ever be voted into public office again. Those that are already in public office need to be voted out. I choose to talk about social security and medicare/medicaid today because they both hit real close to home for me. I turn 61 today and as an older man who is worn down from extensive hard labor at different intervals in my life I know the value of having an insurance system like social security. We pay into it during our healthy work years and receive the benefit of those payments later in life when we most need them. Same with medicare/medicaid.
     We pay into them during our work years to have them available in the future when the need arises. As we age we lose our robust physical vigor to the effects of time and exertion. Having health care is crucial for those of us who cannot afford private health insurance, thus the necessity of the social compact of medicare/medicaid. We are not automatons, we are human beings who as we grow older need medical care for the devastation that work and accidents have thrust upon us in our system that requires us to sacrifice of ourselves in order to exist. The only way to protect social security and medicare/medicaid is to never again vote for the republican party and their brutish hateful survival of the fittest agenda.

Live life like a hero (#2758)

     We all know what it is like to be heroic. Many have even displayed heroism through our thoughts and actions. We can all be heroic if we would just stop and look around us. There are so many things we could be doing of a heroic nature. First let's define heroism for those who are not quite sure of the meaning. Heroism: "bravery, courage, valor, intrepidity, boldness, daring, audacity, fearlessness, dauntlessness, pluck, stout-heartedness, lionheartedness; backbone, spine, grit, spirit, mettle; gallantry, chivalry;..."-Google. You can see from this list of synonyms that heroism can take many forms but it must start from a good or great heart. We have to find that comprehensive view, the larger picture where everything is taken into account so that we know where to apply our heroic efforts.
     We know that our societies have been unable to perfect an equality that is deserved by every living soul. So there are no shortages of problems that need solutions. Why we need to be heroic to integrate solutions into our society is that there are many who hold that we are not all equal human beings at the very foundational level. They believe that some races are lesser and that the male gender is greater than the female gender. They believe that we shouldn't be looking out for our infirmed or elderly or vulnerable children as a rule. So the necessity of our courage cannot be overstated. The struggle to change our society isn't just about finding solutions, it is also about fighting to implement those solutions against souls who live life in a psychosis instead of with a healthy and happy mind.
      So it is down to each of us to establish the legacy of our own destinies. We are the authors of the story of our lives and how we live our lives will determine the true character of our persuasions. I choose to be heroic as with all endeavors I embrace. I cannot let the weaker minded ravagers win in a world where democracy has been given to us as a gift. If we don't find the courage to defend our society and improve it we will soon find that we have lost it to the jackals of our world who don't have the principles to live life like a magnificent hero.

Our society should be creating opportunities for all (#2757)

     The republican vision of punishing those who cannot be like the privileged and advantaged is not only harsh and brutish but it is anti-democratic. Yet we still have too many people who think the republican vision of hurting folks is our future. Folks who cannot or will not subscribe to the idea of treating strangers as their brothers yet still call themselves Christians or religious are liars and hypocrites! These folks can be found exclusively in the republican party and why they think any democratic minded person would ever vote for them is insane. Not only that but these folks are often biased against non-white persons and women.
     How they again can think that any democratic minded person would vote for them with their prejudice and misogyny as part of their vision is as well still insane. So what many of them have done where they control the levers of state government is restrict and deny opportunities for their citizens to vote where they can concentrate these denials in areas where there are democrats and many independents. If they cannot win through attractive public policy then they hope to win by denying opportunities to vote for those who are attracted to other candidates that are not in their republican party.
     How a once somewhat middle class compassionate republican party turned into a working/middle/poor class hating party is again insane but the evidence is not my opinion nor my logic, it is theirs when they show us their party platform and don't legislate when it is not in their vision. You don't have to take my word for it just look at what they have done when they have had the power to change our society. So those of you who are still clinging to your idea of loyalty to the republican party that you have always voted for, stop! Just look what they stand for and then ask yourself if your loyalty to them is worth disrespecting democratic and ethical principles.

Racism is not acceptable (#2756)

     I still hear the racist reveling stories when I find myself a captive audience. Instead of confronting these who cannot seem to move out of the past I ignore them and not long after they stop. Their own conscience must be telling them something due to my silence. It is irrational to keep living the past as if it were the present. I am not a one-man fix all for these troubled souls but neither am I an accomplice. So once I am able to remove myself from their presence I make sure I am not captured again by their subtle but obvious conversations. These are the folks who cannot see anything wrong in Donald Trump's racism. In fact, they feel that it is time that someone like him stood up and told what they think is the truth. Except that this truth they refer to is not the truth but their subjective version of it that is out of the past century.
     This is why I am not only angered by their inability to live in the real present but I am frustrated that I cannot in all circumstances show them that what they perceived in their youth is not reality now in their older age. It is as if they have been living in a time warp that has stood still for them. I don't get it since some of them have the luxury of education and technology. However, it is not my choice to judge their actions and thoughts. But it is my choice to not be exposed to their beliefs and therefore reinforce them for them by remaining in their presence. I treat them like I treat anyone who has harmed me, I remove myself from their presence.
     I can't in all cases do that due to where I choose to live but I can be less than neighborly with my time with them and only be present with them in circumstances that are of a legitimate necessity. I feel like the only one thing I can do to express to others my dislike and disdain for their views is to remove myself from their presence. I will not be associated with non big picture folks who are more interested in harming people than they are in helping people. It is against my nature.

Keep doing the right thing (#2755)

     It is easy to do nothing when their is some risk involved in doing something. I know that feeling right now as a neighbor has an abandoned dog over at his house ready to take him to the animal shelter tomorrow. He is a young medium sized fellow who is about a half year old. I could use another dog as a companion to my present dog Billy. I took Billy over to the side yard of my neighbor to see how they would react to each other. Nothing happened and that was good. Just some sniffing and tail wagging. I have pretty much convinced myself to take this abandoned dog home. I have been trying to put a collar and leash on him but he is so skittish that I haven't been able to by myself. My neighbor left his enclosed side yard unlocked for me.
     So today I will keep after trying to get a collar and leash on him so that I can bring him over to get used to my place. I know he will enjoy it here because not only will I take care of him but I have a very large back yard that borders the wildlife protected Arcade Creek. My current dog Billy is a small house dog who prefers inside to outside, whereas this new little fellow seems to enjoy the outside but will also be allowed to be inside if he prefers. the doggy doors are great. Anyway, that is doing the right thing for me. Making this abandoned little fellow a part of my little family is going to happen and I feel a sense of good about it.
     What I had originally planned to do was find a dog that I chose, but it appears like most things in my life, I will end up with what serendipity furnishes. I also find that serendipity usually ends up being a real gift to me. Hard telling not knowing kind of thing. So I await another chance to get a collar and leash on the little abandoned boy and bring him home to his new house. I still have my newly acquired cat, through serendipity as well, that is hiding out still but we will all figure it out over time.

Our future is in outer space (#2754)

     It should be obvious to everyone, whether they wish to admit it or not out loud, that the future of the human being will be to go out into space. We are a curious species and that curiosity is close to being satisfied with what our planet Earth has left to offer. So the next logical step for us is to go out beyond our planet to other spheres we are capable of exploring. Surely the Moon will need more exploring but it also is mostly a curiosity satisfied entity. So Mars it is and out beyond that. We are going it is just when that is the question that needs to be answered.
     Our generation has seen us go out into space for the first time to actually landing on the moon with people. We have rovers and probes on Mars now and the fact that we shall soon set a human foot on Mars is surely sooner than later. The thrust to explore our solar system is being calculated through concepts and probabilities. Our minds are being routed to think in terms of engineering and math as a way to make space travel more realistic. It follows that our educational system is being forwarded to include critical thinking in order to enhance and bolster any and all logically defined new concepts and probabilities into reality. Every human being should be settled upon the idea that learning to be a part of progress in an outer space reality is upon us.
     Not all of us can be part of the next generation of space exploration but our talents and hopes should be contiguous with those efforts. The phrase "manifest destiny" is applicable here. We humans are biological probes ourselves so out nature is to explore and compile data. Of course we are more than probes since we have the minds of computers and can reason, analyze and conclude as well as discover. So it is not a stretch of any imagination to conclude that we are headed for outer space so preparing all of ourselves to be the most efficient and successful at our common purpose would be wise and just.

Pain, real and imagined (#2753)

     I know this one. Where I get my feelings hurt as opposed to having an actual physical pain. The one is more self inflicted from a sensitive nature whereas the other is a result of some physical harm I have encountered. I accidentally walked into the overhang from my uncle's camper that I am storing for him and it about knocked me off my feet. I can't remember the last time I felt a smack against the side of my face like that. I almost went down. That's what I get for looking at something else while I am walking backwards. It seems I turned my head at the most inopportune time. Now that hurt and was real pain.
     I have been hurt in my heart by loss and sleight and that is what I am talking about here. The pain of loss is real pain that has no physical injury attached. It comes from my emotions and centers in my chest. The sleight kind of pain where I get my feelings hurt is different. That stems from me making myself vulnerable from opening up to someone else's whim. I have learned over time that that kind of pain is more imagined because of my own insecurities. It isn't real, it is just me having my expectations dashed, which happens all the time to everyone of us so it isn't unnatural. I don't let that kind of hopes dashed stop me. Life is too short and eventually someone will not dash my hopes.
     So understanding what is a real pain and what is a false one is important if we, I, am to have a fulfilling life without any regrets. Nothing ventured nothing gained is an axiom that holds true to time. So next time I am out there trying to connect somehow, and get smacked down for my efforts I will not be deterred and instead move onto the next opportunity for me to open myself up. I am not such a bad guy so eventually someone will find that out.

The hard never stops while living with our ghosts (#2752)

     It destroys a certain amount of us when we lose someone we love and cherish. The sense that a piece of our soul has been taken along with the shaking of our own will to live. Life can be and is magical at times but this is the worst side of life. Having to live on after a most important part of our life has been taken. These taken ones are the ghosts we carry with us for the rest of our lives. They are not actual ghosts per se but they are the memories and reminders we have blazoned into our minds and hearts. There is nothing to be done about that sense of loss except for us to keep living through with it. Time is not a healer, it is a salve that lessens the wounds of loss. So as we continue to move forward with our ghosts we must find a way to reconcile their physical loss.
     If for only our own ability to exist. But even more is our natural right to live a full life that has all the experiences of our personal journey. We have to find a way to live on and allow for new things to enter our lives. It is a form of hardening ourselves to reality. It takes away our naivete and innocence but it is the natural progression of things as we currently know existence. Do you ever wonder why so many of us are full throttle on moving forward with science, logic and modernity? It is so we can maybe find answers to questions that may eventually slow down or stop the concept of death.
     I know it seems impossible today but maybe not sometime in the future where knowledge and wisdom have moved beyond our small sample today. In the meantime we are left with a paradigm of the worst of living. None of us escapes loss and none of us lives without our ghosts. It never gets easy to forget love and how special it is to share with someone else. Living life alone is not natural for we human beings so we must continue to live out beyond as we were naturally meant to and living with our ghosts is part of that current naturalness.

Living our own lives (#2751)

     I have a set of principles, democracy ideals, that I live by but how I live is all me. Not to say that others haven't lived like me before or now, but I don't know them. I am just me being me. I am not some cookie cut replica of someone else's vision. I have paid a price for my non conformity but that price is insignificant when compared to the freedom and respect I have because of it. Living in a capitalistic economy is not easy for a man who would rather share gifts and rewards than charge for them. But it is who I am and that is that. I do have to be a capitalist is some respects like as a job to make money to pay bills but there is a line I won't cross when it comes to indulgence and greed.
     I have been fortunate to have been born with a robust curiosity that has helped me to become knowledgeable in many ways as well as having been born with a physical nature able to carry my own weight and some of the weight for others. Maybe that is why I don't conform so easily. I see myself as not bound and fettered to a system that is forced upon us. Many must play the economic game in order to survive and that is not freedom. Being given no other option other than non conformity is wrong and that is what I fight against while living my non conformist life. You see I would rather be in the mix with everyone else but in a system that works for everyone, not just a few.
     So here I am moving through life being the best person I can be while also struggling to improve what could be best for all of us. There are many who have conformed to our society who are changing it from within and that is another way to force change on a restrictive immovable system. That is for others to shoulder and my shouldering is on the outside working to make the inside more democratic. Remember I said my principles were democracy ideals? Well I wasn't blowing hot air there. I believe in our nation and the founders who gave it to us. We need to keep improving our America and wresting the privilege and advantage of our economic system away from the greedy is a life long struggle I am in.

Free speech, free listen (#2750)

     I had someone accuse me of denying someone their right to speak on my Facebook page. I thought about it for about one millisecond and then realized that I wasn't denying them their right to speak, I was denying them my right to listen. I have heard many speak pretty weird stuff and other things that are so illogical that even trying to understand them would take me away from reality. So my right not to listen is one I care a lot about. So when I let someone go off my page for speaking that which I find irrational and unproven is just me protecting my right to exist without nonsense as much as I can. The other person I let go off my page may still speak all they want about what they want to express, it is just that I don't have to hear it.
     I am all good for debate and argument about any legitimate subject of concern. I would never shut someone down simply because I couldn't handle their proofs. I would take their proofs and apply them to what I know so that my knowledge and wisdom base improves. I want to learn even if that learning goes against what I think I already know. But I will not debate or argue irrationality in the form of personal attacks or destructive intent. Some folks feel that all speech, whether rational or not should be allowed, I feel the same way but I don't have to listen to it when it does nothing to improve our world or make any kind of logical sense.
     So I will continue to let people off my page who come out with statements that inflict harm or make no sense to the process of learning. I will exercise my right to not listen where listening is a detriment and not a positive. They can still speak their speech but I won't be around to listen. It is a good trade off. Having the right to speak while also having the right to listen, or not.

The intention to be better never changes (#2749)

     I have my own personal battles that often leave me frustrated or discouraged but one thing that never changes is my intent to make mine and others' lives better. I cannot tell you how many times I have been beaten down by those who do not wish to make life better. There are enough examples of those to fill a lifetime. Yet I do not suffer defeat because I don't stop trying. They may beat me in the battles most of the time but they have not beaten me in the overall war. Eventually I do win out on some ideals I try to uphold. That is my journey, to make life better than when I got here.
     No one told me that this would be my purpose. I got here with that logic all by myself. I cannot think that anything in life would be more important than to see just a smidgen if not more, less pain and suffering inflicted upon those who are less able to stave it off. There are those of us within our species who are intent upon making life brutish and cruel for most of us instead of being true leaders and forging a brighter future in all respects. This is the current era of humanity though, still stuck in the past ways of using people as property and chattel and not having respect for all of life. More and more of us are not like that but too many still are.
     So no matter how many times I get slammed down by those who are getting advantages and privileges from the status quo, I will not relent in my quest to ease pain and suffering in any way I can. The concept of good intent eventually triumphing over ill intent is at the core of my being. It is the charge in my internal battery that will never go out until after I have drawn my final breath. I have a purpose for my life and it is well and good because it is right and true.

Life is more than just a series of moments (#2748)

     Life is just a series of moments is a simple way of saying life is just all about me. Those series of moments are just what happens within life to each of us and not what we could be doing with them to advance our species and the best interests of our species. It is what we do with that series of moments that distinguishes us from each other. Many of us are just content to live life within this particular existence without rocking the proverbial boat so that we get out of it was is best for ourselves. If we happen to get any collateral good for others or society as a whole then that is just a bonus. Well I am not one of those. I am one who wants to leave what is best for others and especially what is good for society as a whole as my priority, not myself.
     I take a more comprehensive view of life. This isn't just about the reality I am able to understand. Life is amazing therefore the idea that we are just here to satisfy our own needs is a bit presumptuous to me. What we don't know is what I am aiming at. By being a more nobler and honorable man I am giving to reality what we humans are capable of regardless if I can define why I am doing it to any satisfaction for others. I just know that we are not here in existence just to be a series of moments without any greater meaning. I have said this too many times already, but we are the most gifted amazing species ever to exist. Our capabilities are so complex and unique that any idea that we are not born for something much more than just existing is contemptibly beneath us.
     So those who live life like there is no tomorrow are missing the point of being alive in the first place. There is a tomorrow and it holds magnificent possibilities. I am so envious of those who will come after me and you. They will truly be on the threshold of knowledge and understandings that will dwarf what we currently think is brilliant. Life is the wherewithal to push beyond established limits and accumulate those features in life that push us even further beyond for generations to come.

Our nature to survive (#2747)

     As you should know by now about me I state that we have two main natures, curiosity and care. However there is a wild card that I can't quite fit into how I see who we are. it is our will to survive. Or our survival instinct. We are not the only species to have this trait. All other still living creatures and life forms are in a constant battle to remain alive. From the three forms of life that have evolved into complex creatures, invertebrates, exoskeletons and mollusks. All of us have been existing for at least a few billion years https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17453-timeline-the-evolution-of-life/. For some reason unknown as of yet we Earth species have this distinct nature to want to live.
     I get it. For me it is to experience the wonder of all around me regardless of limitation. I understand through cognitive logic that I have but a short time to live but I want to live every second that I am able. There are principles in life worth sacrificing for but for the most part living is what I want to do. However any of us looks at the big picture of life and not life, we for the most part choose to live. So it is with most all other forms of life on Earth. We can only interpret will to live from life on earth as of yet but there are indications that more complex life does exist out beyond our grasp.
     What if any will to live they have can only be extrapolated from our own experience. We want to live and most likely they are striving to live as well. All of life seems to want to exist. Which brings me back to why I am posting on this subject. I was thinking about how survival is ingrained within curiosity and care. Both have a need which can only be supplied by being alive, as far as we know. So although the will to survive is a part of the other two natures it is apart as well. Wanting to live is not necessarily linked to curiosity nor care. It can be just as simple as wanting to be without any other motive. To me that is unlikely but it isn't impossible. Many have shown that they don't care and have no wonder about why we are alive. For this reason I have to give survival it's own trait and not mesh it in with curiosity and care. Although curiosity and care are much richer in their natures, survival is still distinct enough to qualify it as naturally instinctual.

The big picture (#2746)

     At  no time in the near recent past has a republican ideology consisted of helping the working middle class get better. The purpose of the republican party is to dismantle programs aimed at helping the working middle class. The reasoning is quite simple, they prefer just two classes of society, the haves and the have nots. They see it as the true measure of what capitalism offers. What they don't get is that capitalism is just a tool to be used to better our society, not make capitalism the priority over democratic ideals. If republicans had their way our democracy would be scrapped to favor some version of an authoritarian psuedo religious corporation.
     Republicans get to think like this because they already live in a democracy, the very thing they wish to dismantle, which is oxymoronic of them. Well between republicans wanting to dismantle democracy and evaporate the working middle class system, the rest of us have a clear choice to either let them destroy our civilized society or fight back against them. It seems that we are starting to fight back because of the obvious nature of the republican vision being fronted out for everyone to see. I would hope that our more intelligent society will recognize the choice and be clear about rejecting republican fear based desires.
     We won't know for sure until our election this coming November 8th but we will get a least an idea of it after that date. It just seems to me that being selfish and greedy are not American traits that we would vote to uphold by electing republicans. Yet the past has taught me that we Americans are a troubled lot at times in figuring out what is best about us and what is immediately satisfying to us. Hopefully we will remember the democratic ideals of equality, justice and opportunity and what price has been paid in blood and treasure to preserve them. Republicans don't care about that and if you vote for republicans you are acknowledging that you don't care about democratic ideals either.

We are the stewards of this planet (#2745)

     I have a question. How can we be the masters of our own destiny if we don't take care of our planet? Earth is our home and if we cannot control what we are doing here how can we ever think to control out beyond us? There are many who think that we should not go out beyond and they also think that nature or a god will keep our planet safe regardless of what we do. Well we cannot listen or heed those who think like that. They are the cowards among us and they are the thieves of our future. We must push them out of the way and make them to be still while the rest of us plan and execute policies that not only take us out beyond but that preserve and protect our planet from anti-intellectualism.
     There will always be those among us who fear fear more than they take pride in their curiosity. There will always be those who have a greater agenda of living their lives to the fullest with no regard to any life that comes after them. We can tell who these are by the way they think and act. They are the ones who would deny the rest of us of our manifest destiny to explore and learn new and exciting thoughts. They are the ones who put up roadblocks to progress in the name of what is worst about our natures. They are the ones who would rather see all of us bound to ideologies of the past. They are the ones who would cause harm to both our population and our planet through denial and ignorance.
     Yet the rest of us out number those wayward souls that would restrict us and it is our duty to life and existence to uphold what is best about our species. We are biological data processors that have the capability to reason, analyze and conclude all that which is around us. We were born to utilize our immense powers of comprehensive knowledge to expand outward not withdraw inward. We are the probes in life that will discover the mystical and amazing features that inhabit the boundaries we exist within. We are the measure by which all answers will come and knowledge will continue to expand from. We are the single greatest achievement in the Universe and it is our privilege and duty to express our abilities wherever and however we may.

Corporatism hates democracy (#2744)

     There is nothing about democracy that can be held in esteem within the corporate model. Equality, fairness, opportunity for all are not creeds that the corporate world holds dear. Corporatism is a profit oriented formula. Not a democratic oriented defender. We must be clear about how we view business. We have business so that our society can flourish and maintain a semblance of structure. Corporations were devised to protect business interests from within the company. Maintaining profit for the shareholders and more recently the managers is a higher priority than any other concern. We have seen this play out profusely over a short time so the debate over societal good and corporate profit has been exposed and found wanting.
     Corporations were not devised to improve society, on the contrary, they were devised to protect and increase their profit within society. Now some fair minded corporations have chosen to base their charters on the good of society by paying livable wages, promoting clean energy usage, improving their products to safe and modern standards and providing opportunity to all who would either enjoy their product or service or be employed by them. But the few corporations that are doing this does not overshadow the many more who have chosen the more base approach. they do not consider the good of society if it affects their bottom line.
     The bottom line or profit margin is their holy grail. The problem with that is that their product or service may actually be a detriment to the good of society but that isn't part of their calculus. Or the product or service may be good for society but they manage it so that it is not effectively offered to help those that need it most with a reasonable cost. Corporations for the most part are not looking to improve democracy, they are looking to increase their perceived share of wealth. They believe in the free market system of supply and demand with an iron fist. They do not see themselves as servants of society, on the contrary, they see themselves as masters of society.

Live with an open mind and an open heart (#2743)

     This is what democracy is, an open mind and an open heart. If you find that you can do this then you are a world class citizen. Problems get solved and questions get answered when we allow ourselves the freedom to learn and to care. If all you do in life is learn and care then you will have lived a very successful life. There are those who do not wish to learn and or care and it shows. they are not good people to be around or examples of how to live. They have their agenda in life and it does not concern others as much as it concerns themselves.
     We can know who is who just by examining their behavior. What is reflected out about folks is what they hold dear inside. If a learned and caring person is learning and caring, the evidence of it manifests itself in their thoughts and actions while those who don't, reflect back out their inadequacies. Many are afraid and that fear shines quite clearly through their disdain and hatred. They have chosen to be afraid for whatever reason, but no reason of value. The courage it takes to examine one's own life and to care about what happens to others is something we must grasp for ourselves. It does not just come to us. We must want to have the strength to rise up to our better and best potentials.
     It starts by choosing to live with an open mind and an open heart. None of us is the master of another. In our society we are the masters of only ourselves. Yet we must be aggressive in claiming our right to define ourselves as other less savory characters are always looking to master us if we don't stop them. It is unfortunate that there are among us those who would deny us our right to be an individual with our own freedom and liberty to make our own choices within our society. They want to control more than themselves so they prey upon the naive, weaker and vulnerable among us. Do not let them control you and you stop them by claiming your own right to think and act for yourself.

It is like I am in a bad dream (#2742)

     Donald Trump, the republican nominee for president of the United States has got to be the most unhinged American to run for high office in the history of our nation. Now I don't know much about candidates before my lifetime other than to study them through history courses but no one comes to mind that is as selfish, cruel and ill informed than Donald Trump. That republicans had no one else to nominate is also baffling. There were at least a dozen candidates initially running on the republican side when the process started but none of them could overcome Donald Trump's illogic. The sad state of that is embarrassing not only to republicans but to we Americans who are being judged by the world at large.
     I keep expecting to wake up from a bad dream and find myself in a world where candidates from the republican side have a bit of leadership qualities that are admired and desired. Yet no one from that dark far right side of politics has come forth. Instead we get irrational, delusional and self promoting individuals who are more concerned with dividing our country than improving it. They are first of all deniers of science and logic. Facts to them are still just wrong opinions because of the way they are unable to interpret logic, but they also have some nonsensical biblical test that seems to contradict actual biblical tests. That they are even using biblical tests is another sign that they do not understand our representative democracy.
     I know this much, after November 8th, I will no longer be in what seems like a bad dream but I will be in reality. If my bad dream is reality then we are all in for a scary existence that may not last long. If however this bad dream of mine is left in the dust of history, we should all learn the lesson of it. No matter what do not treat our democracy with little to no thought. Be involved in the policies and programs that make us stronger as a nation. Remember to protect our values like equality, justice and opportunity with all that we have and use our minds to the best of their abilities. We cannot let the mentally unhinged to ever get this close to a leadership role again.

Protecting the social fabric of our nation (#2741)

     There are many allegations about both major candidates personal behavior. I really don't listen too much to that stuff since I have time to evaluate them myself. Although their personal behavior is not the biggest concern for me. The biggest concern for me is what their policies are. Are they going to treat democracy with respect? Will they protect our nation and our allies from misguided souls intent on destroying us? Will they preserve our social programs designed to nurture our society from cradle to grave? Will they work to help us work and improve our lives? Those are the pressing details I want to know in order to decide who to vote for.
     While we are on voting, who will protect our right to vote? This is what is important to me. My candidate must be a servant of our democracy, not a master of it. My candidate must be willing to sacrifice their own personal desires to preserve the principles of our democracy. My candidate must have the soundness of mind to realize that representing us is not only a duty, but a joy. Now I know that I cannot have every decision my candidate makes align perfectly with my own choices, but I can expect my candidate to explain to me why there is a deviation with logic and common sense. I can still learn and although I know a little bit I don't know a lot more.
     I want our nation to move forward into modernity with a vigor to lead so my candidate must also share that vision. I cannot nor will not abide a candidate that tears down what we Americans stand up for like compassion and curiosity, which are natural to we human beings. My candidate for president, senate, and representative must be willing to work hard to make the lives of all Americans more open to opportunity so that we can each express our skills and talents. Moving forward into our futures is not going backwards, it is thrusting ahead with courage and boldness. Taking what is unknown and struggling to know it. The Universe is our's to inhabit so ordering ourselves to be ready to grasp it takes leaders who will preserve and improve what is best about us so that we all may join in accomplishing it.

When personal principles harm (#2740)

     I have my own standard for things I do and think and they are much stronger and harder for me than any I would force upon others. So it is with politics. Today we have a real debate about who we should or should not vote for based upon our own principles. For me I have decided not to abstain from voting. None of the candidates that are left or that have been defeated have been perfect candidates for me. Every candidate is a compromise as I see it. So I go with the candidate that most closely aligns with my hopes for the future. I am at that point now with my chosen candidate against all others. Even some others who I find intriguing but I know can't win. That is the other calculation, can they actually carry a win out of the general election.
     So it is with my choice, My candidate can win and is as closely aligned to my vision of the future so I am with her. Do I have concerns about her policies, yes of course but those concerns are not even on a level with the disgust I have with the remaining candidate that has a chance to win. He is a despicable human being who has no empathy for those who are not like him. The chance that he may win the election is real and so it is with me that I am voting to not only make sure my candidate wins but that the other candidate does not. Because I have decided to put my own principles aside and do what is best for the country given the choices we have, I have made a statement that I am not more important than what happens to all of us.
     The bigger picture here dictates that I must vote for the candidate that is as close to my own vision as possible while also voting against the candidate that would cause the most harm to all of us. I can sacrifice my own personal principles when it makes the lives of others better. In the end that is my goal. If I never get to realize my principles come to fruition, at least I won't make them worse by being stubborn and not engaging in the reality of the moment and it's consequences. I get that I am less of who I want to be when I compromise my principles, but I get to help those who would be harmed if I didn't compromise my principles.