The rotten cancer conservative Republicans are infecting our democracy with (#2220)

From diminishing voting rights to diminishing rights for women and folks of color, Republicans are hell bent on establishing the wealthy in our country as the only group that deserves unlimited rights. From the corruptible decisions by conservatives on the supreme court that legalize that corporations are people to money is speech, to the restrictions on our human rights to protest and have representatives that reflect our constituencies, Republicans are destroying what equality and fairness mean within our constitution. There is an illness in our politics that has been allowed to grow and fester and now we are seeing the manifestation of it. Republicans have infiltrated an irrational surreal reality upon us to replace our pragmatic one. Most all of us expect logic and common sense to be the starting point for our leaders yet we are lucky if Republicans can even climb up to that starting point in their advocacy for policies. Nothing about the Republican party is a shining example of seriousness to our current problems. Their utter lack of gravitas is the normal for them. The worm will turn soon enough as we must endure another term before elections again with them. If this is how they are going to govern, which I have been yelling about for decades, then hopefully enough citizens who are still allowed to vote will send them packing. We need honest and real leaders who not only care about our society but also about the majority of the citizens within it. What will happen over this 2 year term will expose the cancer our society is experiencing and with some rational thinking I hope we will cut it out at it's source and move our nation forward without it.

Neoliberalism, look behind what Republicans call it, to what harm it actually does (#2219)

In yesterday's post I showed that Republican "right to work" legislation is really just a name to fool folks into thinking the legislation actually is a good thing. It is not, it is a name designed to disguise the fact that the wealthy want the workers to make less than they are now. The same concept of taking a name that sounds like it is for the betterment of us all has been a trick Republicans having been using for decades. In the 1970's Republicans started a reform movement called Neoliberalism, A term stolen from it's original intent back in the 1930's, because it sounds like it is a more updated take on regular liberalism, but in fact it is something completely different under the Republican middle class destroying intent. Neoliberalism is right along the lines of "right to work", otherwise truthfully known as cheap labor, It is a massive deregulation and market forces purity test that benefits the owners and not the workers nor the general public. So hearing the term, right to work or Neoliberalism one would think that these are good policies for workers but on the contrary, they are policies and concepts that further diminish worker rights and public safety. This is why we always need to look beyond the catch phrase title of a policy or philosophy being offered to see what the policy or the philosophy is actually intended to do. There is no safe harbor in a name or title as a reassurance or belief that can be taken just by it's name as I have shown these last two days. My rule of thumb for the last many decades has been to be skeptical of everything Republicans offer by way of policy since I know their agenda is to help the wealthy few either keep their wealth or to increase their wealth at the expense of the vast majority of us working folks. Democrats have been far more helpful as the party that either protects the workers or increases our opportunities for a better life but regardless, I check them all for more than the name they attach to the legislation they are trying to turn into law.

Republicans named their cheap labor legislation, "right to work", in order to fool people (#2218)

This is something that the media is falling for head over heals. They report about disruptions to "right to work" legislation, which makes those disrupting look like anti work advocates, which is the wrong impression. Those protesters are protesting the legislation for what's in it, not what it is named. The media is helping the legislation by calling it what it isn't. It is legislation that is forcing out unions as representatives of the workers so that owners of large businesses and corporations can pay lower wages. It is legislation securing lower wages for workers. If people were aware that the legislation will make workers struggle even more in our current oppressive income inequality society, they would be getting the right impression of the legislation. A good rule of thumb is to always be skeptical of any legislation Republicans are pushing that affects workers pay and benefits. Republicans are the cheap labor party and everything they ever introduce as legislation will not divert from making us all into cheap labor workers. They believe that if we are all left with little to gain and no governmental social programs to help the vulnerable that we are getting what we deserve. Republicans think that most who are not wealthy are inferior human beings and unworthy of their time and resources. Their mindset is a survival of the fittest one from our long ago past. As long as they can get cheap labor for their benefactors then having us all work for cheap labor increases an already much too wide income inequality dynamic. Greed and power are their goals not raising the living standard of our citizenry. This country belongs to all of us not just the wealthy and their boot licking sycophants. Working folks voting for Republicans and their agenda is like working hard all day and then expecting nothing for your labor. It is mostly accomplished through tricks like naming cheap labor legislation right to work.

To be civilized is to progress not regress (#2217)

You have to decide whether or not you want to be civilized. You cannot do anything else until you decide what you want. Do you want to live like a barbarian or do you want to live like an enlightened person? It is fundamental to every decision you make and every act you generate. it seems that too many want elements of both but that is where contradiction and chaos live. Logic dictates that being of two minds on the same issue is irrational. This is how the ridiculousness of cognitive dissonance flourishes. I prefer to be civilized myself. For one thing it is rational and not given to brute force. If I had wanted to live by barbarianism I would have foregone this blog and instead been out taking what I wanted without any care to my actions or the consequences others were left to deal with. I would not accept the law of the land as my guide for living, rather I would be skirting the law enough to get what I wanted without getting caught. The ancient form of barbarism wont fly today so a more subtle form of it is required to exist in a society that would be ripe for my picking. That is what many are doing now, subtly inculcating barbarisms into their illusory civilized lives. Again, a form of cognitive dissonance rampant in our society. This speaks to the overall dysfunction our society is experiencing and the lack of will to remedy these ills as policy. Progress has been tainted as a weakness and an ailment to be avoided. There are too many with much to much power trying desperately to take us back to the days when life was hard. They care not that they never experience the hard they are thrusting everyone else towards. But it doesn't matter to them because our pain and suffering only benefits them more. Be what you want but at least give yourself the dignity to know what you are before you do what you do.

Too many are only small picture people (#2216)

How we are supposed to live is to take care of our small picture lives while not losing focus on the bigger picture. Our small picture lives are our daily dealings and how we input ourselves into society. Our bigger picture lives involve how we help to improve our society and our futures. The problem we have now is that too many folks are only vested in securing their own lives without caring enough about our society as a whole. A lot of it has to do with not having the education and experience to grasp a wider and more panoramic perspective. In other words, a lot of us don't know what is going on around us because we haven't had enough exposure to many different cultures and ways of doing things outside our own experiences, beliefs and acceptances. We don't have a comprehensive understanding of how our society has evolved over the centuries nor do we care enough to learn. It seems that living in the moment and taking advantage of every opportunity is more important than what the consequences of our actions are permitting. I know the world at large is a daunting thought but we humans have always been the ones who discarded sedentary ways in favor of being bold explorers. The thirst we have for knowledge is currently being quelled by economic factors that have most of us down to scrambling for our next meal instead of our next great discovery. This is why I rail so hard against the current forces that have us locked in a battle against each other for the few resources the many of us have to share. Too few have too much and none of the rest of us have much of a chance to redeem our better selves during our lifetimes. We must recognize that most of us are living in a small box and we need to break out of the box in order to see the greater world around us.

Why won't Republicans vote to extend equal rights to women? (#2215)

From the equal rights act that is still not ratified to the unfairness in pay women experience compared to men for doing the same work, I cannot understand why Republicans refuse to offer solutions to these obviously denigrating problems women face. You would think that since every man has a mother to thank for his very existence that it would be inherent within him to do everything to make a mothers life here in America at least equal to his. Since it is only Democrats who are working to make women equal it begs the question as to why Republican men and women don't offer their ideas toward a solution for women. It appears that in the vacuum provided by Republicans in not offering a solutions it is for me and others to question Republican motives. I have not heard any response from them that would lead me to believe they are working toward equal rights for women. So I must assume that they are not working toward equal rights for women. If not then, why? I can further assume that they think that equal rights for women is not needed given the laws we have on the books now except that those laws do not provide equal rights for women with men. So that is not it. If they still think that women are are legally equal with men then they are illogical. To be illogical in the face of facts denotes a further ulterior motive since rational people must accept facts as truth. So to continue it seems that Republican men and women see another purpose to keep women in a lower legal standing than men. There must be some benefit to the Republicans that keeping women as lesser legal souls gives them. Surely women are more democratic in their politics and women are also pioneers in a just and fair society. Could it be that Republicans are afraid that giving women equal rights will destroy the political power that Republicans crave above being good stewards of our democracy?

Doubt is not the same as fear (#2214)

Having a doubt about something or being hesitant to act on something is not actual fear, it is a caution to act that needs more information in order to have a considered opinion. Fear is the inability to act when knowing full well that an act is required on your part. The "frozen effect" or an unwillingness to stand up for oneself or others, that is fear. I often have doubts about what will come and how things will end up but I don't let my doubts stop me from acting. I may want to hide my head in the sand and let the events of the day just have their way with me but I won't do it out of a respect for my own individual right to choose how I live. If being the master of my own destiny makes me feel uncomfortable or not connected to a safe harbor then so be it. Reality dictates the events that confront my life not me dictating to reality what events will confront my life. The whirligig of circumstance is at it's own pleasure whether driven by coincidence or manipulation. However it ends up at my door I cannot let the factors of it displace me from acting according to my own sense of right and wrong. I cannot allow anything to bully or persuade me against my own judgment, regardless of the consequence. Nothing in life will protect me from unfairness or harm unless I am willing to stand up to it in all areas of my life. Being afraid or scared through fear is how many would like you and I to react to their conniving. But as much as fear is their greatest weapon we allow them to use, I will not do so myself. I will stand firm against their threatening efforts to "herd" us one way or another. Although I may have doubts about what to do that is right in all cases I am sure that me being more informed before I act is the proper thing to do. Never shall I give in to the temptation to run from a fight out of a convenience. Fear is not to be allowed to succeed when the hesitation of doubt can be overcome with a greater understanding.

People are not commodities (#2213)

This whole economic monster we have created is being morphed into a Leviathan that chews up and spits out a majority of humanity to serve the wishes of a too few cabal of individuals and groups. The fact is that capital entrepreneurialism has taken over the leadership of society even displacing democracy as the number one sanctified paradigm. It seems that making money is more important that living in a just and free society. The only way this could be happening is if we citizens lack the will to fight against the forces of greed and have lost our courage to put down those who would take our pursuit of happiness and make it their own. Now some may say that they have enough to be happy but what is left after the wealthy few have taken the most is barely sufficient for some and only table scraps for most. Why would we allow this to happen to ourselves where we are competing against ourselves for leftovers when the few wealthy are feasting on the best of what we have become? The master/servant paradigm is becoming our new/old reality. How is it that we could regress in just a few generations from liberating the world through a hard fought blood and guts determination from fascists, to being such weak souls who are scared of our own shadows? The will to preserve the mighty victories over subjugation won by our forefathers/mothers is now just insignificant in our more important lives. What could be more important in our lives that would allow us to be taken over by the forces of greed? Hopefully it is just not being aware, but even that speaks to the insignificance we are willing to give our history and respect for what those in the past have given us. If it has more to do with us being disinterested then we have a bigger problem. Either way we are about to lose our democracy and in it's place we are allowing ourselves to become commodities in a market where the wealthy few decide what our happiness will be.

Solitary man (#2212)

Yes, this is me and apparently that is the way I like it. Everything has been up to me to do in my life and there are no excuses for me to rationally make as to why I am not in a lasting relationship. I know that when I was very young and saw all the failed relationships around me I made a pact with myself to not enter into any marriage without being absolutely in love and have love returned to me in the same way. It seems that I am still holding myself to that pact as over the years I have been in intimate relationships but none seemed to carry that simple test to fruition for me. It isn't that I had hoped they would fail, contrarily, I had given some of them more benefit when doubt was obvious. But in the end none could measure up to my hope for that pure love desire. Solitary man is now who I am and although whenever there is time left in one's life it is always possible for things to change my own perception is that I have become so set in my ways it would be near impossible for some woman to find her true love in me. Which for me tells me that the younger in life we can find what I like to see as our own soul mate the better chance we have of the lasting relationship of our desires. Although this conclusion is not what I had hoped for as an outcome when I was just that young boy who gave his thoughts to this, I am also content that I had the chance to set my course on a path that didn't fall short of it. I never wanted to be like all those I saw early in my life who married for reasons other than true love. Most all failed and the few that didn't still demand a lot angst instead of a lot of happiness. Some have found what they were looking for after some failure and for that I still find hope for myself regardless of the odds being stacked against me. However my life in the end turns out I have done what is right and if being a solitary man is my reality than so be it.

Quit being cowards and demand what is right and good! (#2211)

Too much fear here in America. It is everywhere in every state and county. The Republican party has spent billions of dollars to persuade folks that they should be afraid instead of being courageous. Well I am here to say be courageous and demand what is right and good for our society. All of us citizens deserve the right to vote, deserve the right to have a job, deserve the right to health care and deserve the right to an objective education. We are all family here whether the Republican party wants to admit it or not. I am sick and tired of Republicans splitting us apart with their policies of segregation and denial of rights. What they are doing to women is especially heinous. They treat women more as property than as our equal mothers and sisters. What gives them the right to tell us that some of us are better than others of us? It is an arrogance of wealth and power that they protect and nothing out of logic or common sense will persuade them to change their way of thinking. So they continue to propagandize us with divisiveness and fear. It is up to us to reject it and to advocate back at them that we are all deserving of opportunity, not just some of us. We all are invested in making our country prosperous and efficient while providing for our basic human needs. We are a country poised to advance creative technology and innovation to all sectors of our society in order to modernize and mobilize our greatest strengths, our compassion and our curiosity. Never before in the history of humankind have we been so ready to throw off the shackles of intolerance, superstition and indifference. But one final human attribute is required before we can move forward into our destiny. We must find the courage within all of us to stand firm for enlightenment and to call out fear for what it is and then triumph over it.

Conservatives don't care, they are waiting for the rapture (#2210)

When we talk about the horrible atrocities and looming climate disaster we are creating conservatives just shrug it off like it is natural for them to take place. You see they are waiting for the end times decried about in the Bible. So the more catastrophes and wars the better as they see it. It means they are one step closer to being transported up to Heaven. Most conservatives are highly religious in a few areas of their lives. They do not follow the Bible strictly but conveniently. So when the idea of doing nothing in order to solve our world problems faces them they choose to do nothing and even exacerbate situations to help them along in there destructive path. So much simpler that way because of some promise in some ancient book they hold dear. Going to Heaven before death is such a grand idea to them since they have no courage to live out their lives as exemplary humans. So don't be surprised when Republicans act contrary to science, logic and common sense and say that the climate is supposed to be the way it is and we shouldn't interfere with nature. Although their argument is badly flawed to being absolutely wrong, it does enough to keep them from having to face reality instead of their fantasy. When poverty, hunger and lack of work are rampant Republicans are more secure in the knowledge that the rapture is close. They are trying too hard to make an illusory prophesy come true, instead of being good sovereign stewards of our planet and solving many of the problems we humans continue to create. The puzzlement as to their thoughts and acts are less a mystery now and given that the rest of us have a duty to shut them out of our reality based progressive lives so that we can go about solving problems despite their intransigence, we need to do just that.

Society crumbles when education is devalued (#2209)

Instead of focusing on our ability to create critical thinkers in our education systems, conservatives have decided that critical thinking is not for everyone. they instead have chosen to teach religion as guide to our children's future and belittled science, math, art and history as irrelevant. What these
Republican conservatives hope to accomplish is a robotic mundane society that is dependent upon an elite class of wealthy to instruct them as to how to live. A  mostly two caste society where there are the demigods and the underlings. I suppose it is in the best interests of the wealthy to stake a claim on how society is run if for only the selfish reason of securely maintaining their grip on wealth and power. As that may work well for them it is not in the best interest of the rest of us who must cater to their desires devoid of our own sacrifice. We currently have a society that gives us democratic options for building our society based upon the majority/minority interest, however, we are not long for that as the very small minority made up of the wealthiest are about to usurp our democracy in order to facilitate a plutocracy. Now you may think I am being conspiratorial here but no, I am only following the evidence. Free speech is now money and corporations are now people. Our voting rights are being whittled away through dissembling the voting rights act to onerous voter identification laws. Gerrymandering has given the Republican party an absolute iron grip on the House of Representatives thus assuring that the wealthy continue to have control over how our government spends it's resources. As more and more of our public resources are privatized there is less and less we the people have control over. Where we miserably fail is in our education paradigm, which is being attacked from the wealthy onto the teachers and the curriculum. I am not long for this world as my days are in sunset but it won't be too much longer before our democracy is a thing of the past just like I will be.

We must have a truth in news national law (#2208)

I am beside myself trying to understand how we let this awful situation occur. Instead of punishing those who propagandize our news with misinformation and lies we allow it to happen. As if the effect of misinformation and lies will be of no consequence. It is absolutely insane to think that with our busy lives we would be able to filter these things correctly when there is no official effective legal filter to begin with. It is anti-modern to deny truth in advertising and truth in news reporting to our huge populace when private enterprise controls our media. A double edged sword in effect is always hanging over us with the agenda of the private sector differing from the concerns of our overall community and no buffer from untruths. We have gone too far in allowing free speech to contain the speech to lie as well as capital being given the definition of speech. What we have is a perfect opportunity for false news to inundate our public airwaves in the hopes of keeping us from any cohesive response to stop it. The wealthy who own the networks that broadcast in all mediums their ulterior motives through dissembling have effectively cornered the market on how we think about the subjects of the day. We are now being led by their ability to manipulate the news to serve their purposefully dishonest intent. Instead of us learning how the news of the day integrates into our own lives we are being told how it integrates into our own lives. Big difference! If we cannot reclaim our rights to truth in news and stop and reverse the effects of money as speech, we will soon find that we have given over our rights to establish our own conclusions based upon the truth and become more and more just servants of those who demand more and more from us.

The truth may be hard but lies are worse (#2207)

Once we each accept the fact that life is hard and no amount of sugar coating that is going to change it the sooner we can accept the truth and adjust our perspectives accordingly. It may seem like it is best sometimes to tell a lie in order to avoid a great harm but in the end the lie ends up being the greater harm. Maybe not in the same way but in that the truth is not exposed for what it is and it changes how we think and act without it. The first part of what I am saying here is that life is hard. It is hard and so are the realities we end up with. But not acknowledging that is the first step away from our real existence. We start out living in the truth if we are ever going to make something of our abilities. We rely on comprehensive facts and truths to be able to begin to understand the how and why we exist in the first place. Surely we can rely on myth, superstition and belief systems if we prefer but none of these is fact that is provable. I need proof beyond faith in something because I am a reasoned human being who like all the rest of us have the curiosity to want to know that which I don't know. I cannot just accept things as facts without verifying them to some degree of authenticity. If I were I would be gullible to any convenient lessening of the hard, life really is. I will not live in a world that provides more illusion than actual substance. I was born into this reality and in this reality I will base my understanding. I don't need someone to lie to me to make me feel better or to save me from some dismal reality. I just need the truth so that I can make conclusions based upon reason and analysis. I wish we were all so convicted in our principles to just accept what is and to make the best of it based upon what we know to be factually true.

The journey to being a good person keeps me going (#2206)

I know I am heading in the right direction but not so sure about where I will end up. Regardless though, for me it is in the how I live my life and not so much what I have achieved. Being a good person is simple enough if we dedicate ourselves to doing so. Most people think they are good people and right they are in a lot of ways but to be a good person in most all ways, one must really focus on what one is doing all the time. You can't just say that most of the time you are a good person while some of the time not being one and still consider yourself to be a good person. It doesn't work out in an equation that just involves quantity, it also involves quality. Like those who are suffering from oppressive political actions by an oppressive political party yet continue to vote for the political oppressors. That is absurd and less than good, even if everything else you do is good and welcoming. For one thing it is contrary to goodness for you to vote for ones who have harm as their intention. Secondly it is for all the others who also must suffer for your decision to put or keep those in political power who fail at being good. This really is simple folks, it doesn't take a highly evolved education to understand. When some folks continue to harm it is not to be allowed. Simple enough. Being good is when you feel good about yourself and good about others in equal amounts. You know you have hit upon a balance that is fair and equitable. This has been the path I have been traveling, not just to be a good person but to be a good person to as many as possible while remaining good to me. it is a journey that will take all of my life to complete but it will be fulfilling and rewarding because in the final analysis, being good is a state of mind and if that isn't the state of mind that everyone wants to attain then it sucks to be them.

I have faith in honor, respect and humility (#2205)

When asked what I believe I respond with I have faith in our better natures. I have the results of the better nature of humanity in my own life. There are bright and clear memories in my life, no matter how long in the past they occurred, that are sacred and molded me into the man I am today. Some of these memories were crafted by persons of little distinction but nonetheless as powerful as any person could be as an example. I truly am a defender of the human species in all our forms against the vile that would demean and subject us because as a species I have seen our magnificence and humility in numerous ways which have touched my very soul to the core. The breach in the wall of my inner defenses is eternal now. I have no more time for the caution and fear of cynicism. I know what we all have inside us, the makings of a superb human being. Yet we are all so chaotic about how we find it within us to be such a person. The problem occurs when we fail to trust what is best about us. We think that being the great person we are inside leaves us vulnerable to those who would take advantage of our majesty. So instead we hide behind familiar walls of protection so as not to leave ourselves vulnerable. I get that and for too long my own pride kept me from being honest and open about my need to live as an honorable man. I now know that such silliness on my part was just fear, and having defeated my fear to be a real human being is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have clarity of purpose now and a stubborn willingness to express my principled conviction in the face of indifference and incorrectness. These are the things I place my faith in, humanity and it's better nature. I am so proud of us as human beings and could be even more proud if we would just set aside what is not best about us and concentrate on what is.

The hard choices in life (#2204)

A friend has reminded me of how I am torn between how we survive. We often must kill those who are trying to kill us and live with it. I hate killing, it is barbaric and mostly fueled by hate, yet the choice whether to let someone or something take our lives at their discretion will not be tolerated by me. I will live with the guilt of deciding to kill if that is the final choice I have. neither will I wait for the intent to kill me to come to me. I will seek it out if left with no hope for another possibility. A very hard choice but we live in a hard world as we are so often reminded. I wish it were not so but it is not up to only me. For any chance of peace to be our normal we must get past those who want to only war. Most warring is horrible and should never be entered into unless it is for the defense our right to exist. There are those out there who only have one mission, to kill us as a society. They are extremists who wish to take personal liberty and freedom and destroy it. I will not let go of the dream of our forefathers/mothers who gave their lives defending their right to self-determination. never! Even if it offends my conscience. Peace will only be gained through strength of not only power but of conviction. At no time shall those soul less ones ever have dominion over me. I will kill to protect against the ravages of the barbarians wherever they show there existence. Whether here in my front yard or halfway around the world, they will feel no safe harbor from my wrath if they choose to kill to subject us. I am of one mind about this and for years have evolved to this point. The sickness in our world is fueled by hatred, prejudice and greedy small minded people. These are ills that need to be wiped out but until they are they continue to foster extremism and the twisted souls who try to carry it out.

At the age where getting to the point is crucial (#2203)

Nothing in my life nowadays is worth wasting time on. When I was younger and dumber than I am now I was of the mindset that time was infinite. As I look in the mirror and reflect on where the hell did time go, I know that nothing is infinite especially time for me. So all that I do nowadays is succinct and to the point. The idea of subtlety is not a priority especially when it involves the truth. I don't consider hurting or not hurting someone's feelings at the expense of the truth to be much of a factor. Surely in moments of crisis and such subtlety is necessary but for the run of the mill daily adventures we humans find ourselves in there is no time like right now. Such it is in my public life and my personal life. The hard truth is the better tonic than a "don't hurt their feelings" lie. Also, in the personal arena it is better to get to the point with relationships than to "beat around the bush" with childish behavior. I am hardening up as I get older and that is a good thing. Now I am not a rock but I have little tolerance for the worst of our natures. We control what we can be and to make excuses or accept outdated paradigms as our guides is intolerable to me. That is my choice. So let reality exist as it is without us being afraid to own it. Life really is too short and not living our lives with a sturdy determined desire to experience it then what is the point? I have not forsaken my care for ourselves and all things but I have no time to waste on disingenuous emotions, thoughts or acts. I want to call everything in my life what it is without the apprehension that I will offend or lose out because I said it like it is. I accept that others will not want to hear what goes against their grain such as it is but I can't be swayed by those who refuse to be logically objective, they only slow me down and cause me to waste time, which is expressed by this posting as NOT to be allowed.

Conform or break the mold (#2202)

There seems to be no short supply of those of us who are willing to conform to whatever process has been laid out in front of us. We feel a duty to conform to what others have decided is best without us knowing the wherewithal of the decision making processes behind it. A sort of blind trust given to those who are more powerful and louder than we are. I get that because life is more complicated than ever and some things need to be left to the system we have in place to help guide our thoughts and actions. But when is it necessary to question the system for it's decisions if ever? I simply apply a protocol to anything that seems irregular to me, does it do no harm? Usually that one little question reveals a massive amount of information for me to base a decision. Second, if the do no harm is not enough to objectively allow me to see my unsettled feeling about whatever is troubling me then I ask does it do the greatest good. Those are my general questions I ask when a policy or a political vision has me scratching my head over it's utility. There is also a specific question I ask when it comes to me or someone personal to me. Must I defy a preferred law in order to save myself or someone close to me knowing that overall the law is better than not having it. Do I nullify what I can see is right generally in order to solve something that is specific? Yes is the answer for me. I will intervene and break the law if it means that a moral dilemma is solved positively. I of course will not deny my wrongdoing, and I will make myself available for any punishment that breaking the law calls for. Yet in my soul I will have done what is right even though I am considered a law breaker. It is the way of our society to maintain a duty to it regardless of any consequence I must face and that is how it should be until we can make better more flexible laws.

Society should never reward bad behavior (#2201)

In a truly remarkable blight on the process of our democracy there are currently 31 states with laws on the books that allow for a rapist to sue for custody or visitation. Think about that for a moment, a woman is violated in her private life and the outcome of that violation gives the violator a say in that woman's life going forward. In what logical thought about fairness or justice does this make sense? When the violator is given rights to intervene in the life of the violated? Apparently in over 60% of our 50 states it is allowed. Now I am having a really hard time here trying to convince myself that we are a civilized society. When we cannot protect the rights of the violated and pass laws that protect the violators. The abomination of this reality has no bounds. This is a perfect example of how far we still need to go to becoming a truly egalitarian society. Our women are subject to laws that are a major disadvantage to them. Nowhere in a democratic society should this be so. Men and women are equal members and any law that puts them at a disadvantage should be abolished. That men who commit crimes of a nefarious and sickening nature are allowed privileges from that outlaw behavior is also an abomination. How is it that these laws that give rapists parental rights continue to exist? Because it is men who have had the reins of power that let it be so. Men who are not worthy of being called honorable protecting men who by their actions are despicable. Our nation needs to wipe clean this slate of laws in the many various states that protect parental rights for rapists, and instead give no rapist ever the claim to being a parent to any child born of their illegal and immoral act.

http://aattp.org/sick-31-states-allow-rapists-to-sue-their-victims-for-custody-or-visitation-rights/

Human life is not property (#2200)

That I even have to say this is unfathomable in this modern time yet it needs to be said because too many sick minded souls are in positions of power within our society. There seems to be a a stale remnant of folks who believe that the survival of the fittest theory is one to be followed, as long as it is in their favor. A greedy sick minded lot that has taken what our society provided for them and turned it against those that would have the same opportunities. Like freedom of one's own body for the purpose of self determination. These unhealthy ones have allowed their egos to rule their lives and as such they see others as products or services just waiting to be used at their discretion. Instead of honoring human life and respecting individual choice within the framework of our civilized society, they want a chaotic wild west society where the rich and powerful control all things, including human life. So instead of advancing principles of modernity within our society, these folks have chosen to abandon core democratic ideals and push for more authoritarian ones. It is as if the ego these folks allow to exist would rather separate the many of us and use us like cattle, to be harvested when profitable and desirous. The sickness they are under is too strong for them to see the error of their thinking so they fight and claw to keep their decaying fever continuing. I used to think that we Americans had a special quality of righteousness and goodness about us that would never allow such a mentality of debasement to exist but I see that an elevated honor to protect the innocent and punish those who create and expand harm is not one of our valued qualities. In fact, it seems that we are less honorable in this area than I would ever have imagined.

Being (#2199)

This is such a difficult paradigm for me to explain about who I am and why I am. I know the who I am for the most part but the why I am is still just a mystery. The who is what is best about me and how I reflect that out to everyone to see. The why is what I have decided to make of myself as a purpose based upon what I know about me. Surely the why is open to different observations with many suggestions available. So instead of wrangling with all the possibilities I am comfortable enough in just examining my traits and applying them as best they are utilized. So the why of me is what I have decided makes the most sense given my biological advantages. Again, I am a biological data processor, with memory and the ability to rationalize, analyze and conclude. My senses give me information for me to turn into knowledge. I, like all of us, am a supreme sensory subject with amazing logical comprehension. Not only that but I am alive and dependent upon my own ability to keep me so. What is even beyond that is my curious nature to explore and discover. So I don't need to be programmed I just think and imagine and then develop an idea. Given what I know and applying it to what could be gives me the ability to find new means of utility. I am not just some plant or animal incapable of survival without direct help. I am a member of the species human being. which is the mightiest species in terms of capabilities ever to have been known to exist. All of that to give us an overview of who we are in relation to any possible reason for why we exist. If we have such capabilities then it suggests very adamantly that we are to use our special natural skills to their greatest efficiency. We also have an emotional component that I call compassion, or more readily, care. With a robotic like ability to discover through the abilities of our curiosity we are also given many levels of love into which we define the soul within of each of us. Being, more than my simple post can describe in one sitting.

When my consciousness is over (#2198)

When my life is over so will my consciousness of it be. I won't be here in my host. My body will be reformed into it's separate particles freed to become attached with any other atoms and molecules out in existence. What I do know is that the time I spent being Carl Clark will be over. Yet I still want to live like it will be a record on the history of humanity. Whether that happens or not is not for me to decide. You see what I want is not the ultimate adjudicator of reality. So how do I reconcile this with my current thoughts and behavior? Easy, I actually believe that my destiny is in how I take what I am and make it into my reality. What I mean here is that I am living who I am. I don't need the idea of a holy book or a list of ideals to live by. I need what is best about what is inside me, in my case the goodness within me, to be exposed as my working premise. I am not naturally a hard and cruel being, on the contrary I am a caring and curious one. That is my essence. So the consciousness I have of this is my purpose. So while I have life here in this existence I am under a duty to myself to utilize what is best about me and to live it. Regardless of whether it all turns into nothingness at the end of my time. I don't need a forced rationalization of some fairy tale about life after death or some hoped for fantasy to allow me to be who I am. I accept that my time is limited and when my time is up I will be no more. Such is the way of this existence and nothing I wish for will change that. What I do instead is celebrate the time I have here by doing everything in my power to be the best of who I am. Yes, I have a complex about being perfect but only in the sense that every moment I live as the best me the better I do to achieve the purpose of my life, no matter how mortally short that time is and no matter that I will not know of it after I am dust. 

I accept who I am with a smile (#2197)

No one is more critical of me than I am on myself. I actually spend too much time critiquing my thoughts and actions against hindsight. A flaw I need to address. Yet it is instinctive of me to see how I measure up against my own sense of right and wrong. But what I have addressed over time is the fact that I am me and no amount of me wanting to be more like someone else is ever going to happen. My life is complex and adjusting and following through on what I think should be done is busy enough work for me. I am not despaired or despondent that my life is what it is, in fact I am reasonably happy that I have such a good mental health approach to my passions and my hopes. When measured against others I am not the greatest nor the worst. I am somewhere in between those two extremes. My life is mine and for that I have a great sense of obligation to it. I do not look to others to see what they have or what they are doing, instead I look inside myself to see what I have and what I am doing. I have all I need to decipher what is going on around me. I have an open mind and an initial respect for all things and beings. I treat others as I would have them treat me. I do no harm to anyone, including myself, as a goal. Sometimes I fail to treat others like I want to be treated and sometimes I harm others but not as an intentional thought or act. I do the best I can with what I have and I keep learning more and more to help me understand our most creative and innovative selves. My life is open for others to see and there is little I won't discuss in hopes of positively impacting the lives of those who are in contact with me. I like myself and who I have become. Really, what more could I ask for? :)

The courage to overcome fear (#2196)

Most all fear is from the idea of death. We know that death will find all of us no matter who we are so being afraid of dying is foolish. Why be afraid of something we will all experience. So any other fears seem rather secondary. Living in this world will cause some minor fears to develop but nothing like the fear of death. So overcoming our fear of death seems to be our greatest obstacle to living. Funny how that works, we spend too much time worrying about dying, which will happen regardless, and not enough time actually living while we have the time. Living in fear is an awful way to live. I prefer to live in possibility. Which means that I allow my curious nature to explore what I don't know even when danger is part of the mix. No amount of living will ever be safe and secure from all harms. So just let nature and our own abilities guide us in whatever progress we pursue, while taking care to use our wisdom and common sense. Fear should have nothing to do with how we rationalize our understandings. Now some may say what are you talking about Carl? What fear is keeping me from living my life? I refer to the fear of the unknown and how we create scenarios to alleviate that fear through institutional beliefs and hoped for faiths. If I believe that a God has my back, I am not dealing with my fear, I am creating an illusion that my fear can continue to exist from because a God is my buffer. A temporary fix for a lack of my own courage to deal with reality because it is so scary. Now I am not saying that having faith in a God is wrong. But what I am saying is that a faith in a God in order to alleviate my fear is wrong. My fear stems from my own inabilities. I must conquer my own fears about life before I subscribe to living it with conviction. We all have our battle with inner fear to fight and the sooner we get on with it the more rational and courageous our lives will be.

Logic is the future (#2195)

Logic is the ability to take what we know and make sense of it. It is the process by which we find common ground based upon known factors. This is what distinguishes us from all other life forms. We can reason, analyze and conclude based upon truths and givens. Is logic perfect? No, but when we find fallacies we are able to correct them and then keep moving forward. Logic is our floor from which to begin. Metaphorically, if we find we have risen above our floor with a theory and cannot defend our position, then we are able to go back to the beginning where we first began our theory and restart with another one. Logic gives us the firm foundation of beginning. It is in the knowing that we have a floor from which we won't fall below is what logic does for us as long as we accept logic as our reality. Now many have chosen not to follow logic and have instead chosen to follow some belief system based upon faith. The problem arises when faith is not the answer to what our current problems require. If I have the faith that not breathing will still keep me alive, I will soon learn that not breathing will end me regardless of the faith I put into it. We need logic to help us understand this. We know that oxygen is required by our lungs to feed our blood and therefore maintain our ability to stay alive. This is a logical understanding. So keeping oxygen coming into our lungs is necessary for us to be alive. As simple and childlike as this example is it does illustrate just how important it is for us to base our understandings on logic and not just on faith. With logic we are able to create and innovate because logic is a process by which all new information is questioned and integrated into our growing knowledge base. We all can partake of it since logic is not a restrictive utility. There is no denying that logic is the paradigm by which every human may agree on a subject given logic's ability to explain itself based upon facts.

When you can't see the forest for the trees. (#2194)

The old saying is true in my observation of so many people that I need to respond to it. The word comprehensive is a very powerful word. By knowing the meaning of it we get to change our perspective about things that we encounter. Comprehensive is a term used to describe an overview, or the whole version of a situation or problem. I paraphrased here in order to make the definition more easily understood. When we see a situation or problem in it's entirety we are better able to assess it's virtue or lack thereof. When we don''t apply comprehensiveness to these scenarios we are only catching a snapshot of the situation or problem and our opinion about a conclusion is less viable since we know less about the entire problem. Then there are those who have an agenda to tear down something good by only pointing out it's inevitable minor discrepancies or they try to build up a fallacious policy by only pointing out it's few virtues and ignoring it's many harmful and unjust effects. Regardless, when a less than full understanding, or an ulterior motive is being used to determine a fact, we are all harmed by the incompleteness or nefariousness of the act. Comprehensiveness teaches us that there is no simple, black or white fix for most problems. Most problems require complex solutions and even then the solutions are not even near perfect. Yet we continue to get those who want something more than an honest debate controlling the narrative of what could be the best paradigm for our futures. They move the narrative away from a full understanding and replace it with what is either convenient for their purpose or a continuance of their tunnel vision like view. Unfortunately, we all suffer by their inability to put a comprehensive understanding to test before they engage in forcing illogical opinions based upon less than all the information.

The anxiety of loss (#2193)

This is an unavoidable subject. Even the expectation of loss is devastating. By loss I mean of a life that matters to us personally. Now I want it to be clear that even loss of life to those lives I have never met leave an indelible mournful imprint on my soul. But for now the loss of someone or some soul that is precious to us has a lingering gut punch feel to it. But even before the loss occurs we go through some form of anxiety as to the dangers out there that could easily deprive us of our desired companionship, A sort of protective mindset becomes our natural conclusion for a solution but in this real world of ours there is no way we can protect from any life the imminent destiny of death. So instead of worrying about loss that has not happened yet, we can judiciously allow for fate to have it's way while celebrating the life that would move on from our existence. Fear is the penultimate guardian of our anxiety yet fear is not the only arbiter available. Joy that we actually have the opportunity to be alive and knowing full well that it is not of our doing that we exist, should be enough to assuage fear from guiding an initial anxiety into a worrisome lifestyle, and instead allow the anxiety to pass with the knowledge that the precious time we have is best left to living with happiness. My life in particular has been an enormous gift to me from something outside my understanding. The mysteries of this existence will not be answered by me in my lifetime but the knowledge that I don't need to worry about it is sufficient. I have had some great souls exist with me for a time and now they are not here anymore. I accept that and accept the loss of it as well. Yet to live in anxiety over the loss of someone now still with me is not honoring them now nor is it healthy for me.

The illusion of commercialism (#2192)

As folks around the world are fighting and dying for freedom from oppression and subservience, we here in America and other commercially driven economies are more concerned with which football team will win the last game of the season. The hype surrounding the result of a game is a higher priority here in America then the life and death struggle being waged in too many countries. Does it seem to you that the commercialism of a game has become our national pride? The survival of other humans is an after thought in light of the game. Here is some of what the illusion is telling us. God has ordained who will win. We need to support the advertisers of this game since they are the ones who were able to afford time slots for commercials leading up to the game and during the game. We are showing our American pride by supporting football as a prioritized value. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that time spent on fantasy football would be regularly broadcast on television. The distance at which we Americans will go to ignore and avoid real life danger and courage is infinite it seems. We would rather not care about the principles of honorable survival. I am beside myself with shame that we here in America give little to no respect for our own rights to participate in our own elections which allows for less than honorable candidates to be elected who then turn around and influence the decline of our democracy. As long as we are captured by an artificial importance, like who will win the game, we will not notice how much our democracy is being eroded in the name of profit. That commercialism has us ensnared is the trap that will eventually choke the life out of our democracy. But no matter, as long as we have the importance of a game to keep us otherwise occupied.

Another milestone (#2191)

This post today completes the 6th year of posting this daily blog. Tomorrow will be the first day of the 7th year. I like to stop for a moment just to recognize why I started this blog in the first place. I wanted to let the world know that our humanity is based upon two main factors, compassion and curiosity. In other words, we care and we wonder. Nothing has changed over the years that would make me reconsider my original premise. If anything my premise has been reinforced to being a conclusion based upon all the experiences and information I have come across. Surely we have a darker side to our nature but I chalk that up to whatever we needed to do to survive as a species. Survival has always been an outlier from care and wonder so I do give it a dispensation that allows it to be a third factor but less than compassion and curiosity. However I digress, getting back to the point of the purpose of this blog, I find that as this 6th year is coming to an end I am still full of purpose and ambition to write about the subjects that most enhance or distance us from our greatest potential. I will continue to write about the majesty of our species as well as the disgraces. Somewhere in there most of us live and if I can change one person's thoughts on why we need to be a more noble species then a hundred years of writing would be worth it. I see great things ahead for our species, not just in a nationalistic sense but in a planetary sense and beyond. I am of the mindset that the Universe is our next great exploration and the sooner we focus our attention efficiently on it the better and more human like we will become. We are biological data processors with memory and reasoned conviction, with the ability to evolve. What greater purpose than exploring our Universe is there?

Blinded by our fears (#2190)

Never will anyone readily admit that they are blinded by their fears yet you look at their actions and then you see the hypocrisy. Being alive is not definable yet too many act as if they are settled into a consciousness that has all the answers. It must be nice to give over our will to believing something as fact without having any proof. As sort of default to help us along against our fears. Now being afraid is common to all humans but what is uncommon is how we address our fears. I prefer to face my fears head on with the knowledge that my right to be a curious individual supersedes anyone else's right to dictate to me what if any curiosity I can employ. I find it fascinating that any of us would give our free will, to be bold and courageous throughout the tenure of our lifetimes, to unproven theories that have little to do with reality. It is also puzzling that we would hold tight to mores and traditions that are meant to scare us into submission rather than scoffing loudly and dismissing them. I suppose it is easier to accept restricted compartmentalization over the whirligig of uncertainty but then we recede from our possibilities without any benefit other than a perceived alleviation of some fear. It is like creating a disease for ourselves and then paying a cost from ourselves to remedy it. A futile waste of time and energy to go backwards. I am not of that type and instead of being afraid of life in general I am one who celebrates my life by learning new things and being open to knowing what is now unknown to us. I expect that we humans are greater than our present state and have yet to tap that potential because we hold ourselves back out of fear. But instead of admitting we are afraid, we design a protocol for holding ourselves back based upon some unproven theory. Childish at best and fearfully ignorant at worst. Either way the effect has limited us to being less than what we can and should be.

Too many of us are beggars and scroungers (#2189)

Unfortunately there is a lack of opportunity among our poorer citizens to climb out of their obvious desperation. I see too many people scrounging in trash cans for recyclables and anything else that is being discarded with some value or nutrition left. I see too many who are on street corners with their cardboard signs asking for help in some form or another. Now I know that some of these street beggars are not as bad off as they try to imply, however, they are still relying on begging as a means for income. Too many of our citizens rely every month on what near expiration date food they can get from food banks and other forms of charity outlets. I know too many of our homeless are being pushed out of the cities and counties because they are seen as a blight on "proper" community standards. I see too many men at the large home improvement stores begging for day jobs of any kind. It is so troubling to me that instead of finding solutions to these inherent problems our political leaders are more inclined to punish these folks than to help them. Think about that for a moment, Punishing the disadvantaged for being disadvantaged. It is as if some dark world mindset has taken over our democracy and replaced it with a repressive non caring ideology. Well that is more truthful than is being reported. We do have those in office of power who think that everyone should be made to fend for themselves regardless of the difficulty most citizens face in a system that favors privilege and advantage. So if the majority of Americans are living below or just above the poverty level, these survival of the fittest ideologists, think that it is not their duty to help but to allow it to continue. They think that what we do for ourselves is enough of a stake in life. So for all of us who are in an income inequality vacuum, it is our responsibility alone to pull ourselves out of the suction that is concentrating us deeper and deeper into debt and closer to unsustainable impoverishment. This is not what our America should stand for and it is high time that we changed that awful way of thinking in order to help all our citizens achieve success through helping and not punishing.

Becoming Intelligent is our only hope to save our democracy. (#2188)

Limiting and controlling education is the number one priority of those who would like to see our democracy become less, and authoritarian and plutocratic rule become more. The travesty is that those who are doing this, a cabal of wealthy egomaniacs, are not being held accountable for it. They have invested in our politics so many like minded acolytes that the presumption of their guilt is being masked by some weird demented form of christian fundamental patriotism. Enough of their followers who find that exclusion is preferable to inclusion are making enough hateful noise that they have effectively scared off otherwise decent human beings from joining in the political process. There is still hope that the message of degrading democracy will catch on with the majority of us but the cost keeps getting higher the longer we wait to flush out these nefarious forces and bring our country's politics back to equality and justice for all. We must continue to preserve our learning institutions that are not established as a primary force for profit but are established for teaching our citizenry theories and facts without the ulterior motive of control and profit. If the learning process is subjective we lose our ability to think outside our imaginations. If our learning process is comprehensive and objective then we get young minds that can distinguish between the light and the shadows of complexity. Our imaginations can then roar into our future with innovation and modernity. Right now is the great struggle between the forces that would curtail our imaginations and those that would enhance them. There is no sitting this great battle out if you at all care about what our country's future holds for not only ourselves at this time but for the future of our next generations.

A reed blowing in the wind (#2187)

If you listen long enough to those who would give their self perceived valued opinion at any excuse eventually you will find that their valued opinion changes with different circumstances. The most obvious example is when it affects someone else it is one thing, if the same thing affects them well it is quite another thing. They let the circumstances and situations in life dictate what their opinion of things are depending upon whom and when the affect comes about. A rather nice ability to tell other people positively what to do while being able to say something entirely different when the situation changes. They express that different times bring out different opinions. Well different times do bring out different opinions but they should not bring out different opinions about the same subject from the same person. If you are going to give your opinion about a subject then at least have the courage to know what you are talking about. Some will say a thing absolutely should be done and then later those same people will say that a thing should absolutely not be done. Our opinions about principles should not change. Either it is an honorable principle or it is a dishonorable one, but not both. Choose which you will support and then don't be hypocritical in backing it. I know that this existence is complicated, especially with all the disinformation purposely and, unfortunately legally, being disseminated. Which is a wholly different problem than the one I am writing about now. Regardless of complications however, our basic principles should be able to sail us through all the twists and turns of confusion. As long as we remain true to them they will be our safe harbor. A reed blowing in the wind is analogous to someone who has no respect for their principles when they have ulterior motives to gain from.

Shifting reality (#2186)

What does it take for one person to be able to shift a broken reality to a better one? First it takes an awareness that the existing reality is broken. Understanding the problem and what causes it is the first step toward crystallizing a comprehensive view of how the reality got broken and what keeps it broken. Once one has a clear idea as to what is causing the problem and what is keeping and continuing the problem, it is then possible to go to the next step. Which is finding a solution to the problem that not only ends the brokenness but increases opportunity and justice. It isn't enough to say that "do no harm" is a solution. Doing no harm is just a place to start from. It must also have a component that adds to our evolutionary future. We humans are an incredible force within the known Universe. Our capabilities are constantly being upgraded to who knows what end. Our physical prowess continues to shatter previous benchmarks established through record keeping. Our mental acuity is even outdistancing our physical capabilities, with advances in logic and science. Knowing this, we must have a mindset that includes our advances in any reality that is to replace the current paradigms that are slowly but surely becoming archaic. It isn't ordained on any one person who will be the one who eventually unlocks the door to our new and better reality so we all must make ourselves available to actually being the one if that moment arrives for us. This isn't about ego or psychopathy, it is about being human and doing what we humans do best, imagine, think and create. Surely we are limited in our overall abilities to master all things but that is now and not what I see in our future. Our species is amazing and anything I can do to make it that much more amazing is my purpose for living. The honor to be a possible foundation piece toward our next evolutionary leap is humbling and in humility I find a perfect peace.

When will we stop Republicans from embarrassing our nation? (#2185)

When will it end? I cannot say how much more of this embarrassing behavior coming from Republican leaders and their followers I can take. I am already walking around with my head down scuffling my shoes so as not to make eye contact with anyone who might have a working brain in their head. For those of us who voted against the Republican vision and lost in the last election, we are being shamed by the lack of intelligence displayed by those who voted for the Republican vision. There is no way to debate the Republicans since they hold logic in low regard. Instead they rely on religion, a faith based belief system, to guide themselves and the rest of us into our futures. Now I am all for each of us having a faith or belief in something if that is what we need but only for ourselves as individuals, not thrust upon our whole society. When we forsake logic and science as lesser than something we hope is true we are demonstrating that it isn't reality we are living in but instead an illusion. I for one am not going to forsake logic and science in order to appease some fear I have about a possible afterlife. Instead I am going to utilize the natural abilities our species has evolved since our beginning and rationalize, analyze and conclude based upon the animate and inanimate. I live here in existence, nowhere else. This is my reality and no amount of wishful or hope filled faith in anything outside our Universe will change that. I am not a God and no one else is either so these folks who are Republicans and their backers need to start living as humans and should quit trying to live like what they think a hoped for God is. I don't profess to believing in anything that is God like, instead I keep an open mind about what reality shows me and right now reality is all mucked up with fearful people afraid to just live like human beings.

The wear down effect (#2184)

When I was young and saw all the work that needed to be done I was ready and willing to change our world into a better place. But instead what happened is that at every opportunity for me to effect change I ran into opposition in one form or another, with the chaotic effect of thwarting change from happening. I am not sure it was some grand conspiracy but instead I now think it was just that the institutions in place resist change so much and with such an endurance that we who try to change our world for the better are simply worn down through our inability to usurp the forces against change. I realize now that to change paradigms it takes a self-sacrificing sustained and uncompromising fortitude to endure for change just as hard if not harder than the forces protecting the status quo. The problem is that change for the better is founded upon the will of people whereas the resistance to change crowd get their strength through money and power. As long as the crowd that protects against change has most of the power and economic resources we the people will find our efforts are often thwarted, leaving us demoralized. The wear down effect is what I feel. Not only worn down from the resistance but left questioning my resolve for even trying. I start to feel like I should just join many others and accept the existing broken paradigms and try to get something out of life regardless of how unfair it is to too many. But then I sense within me a disgust, an unacceptable compromise to join in with those who have given in to not fighting against institutional harm. A resurgence again fills my spirit and I am ready again to face off with the status quo crowd and drive home my renewed boldness to stop injustice and inequality. Apparently my life will never be one of a white picket fence with the love a family at my side. I am destined to fight for honorable principles. I have won that battle of recognition and am now fully vested in staring down the forces that would make all our lives less than instead of more than.

The deafening roar of information (#2183)

How we deal with information we don't want to know. We ignore it like it doesn't exist. I see this question about why voters continue to vote against their own interest and it does occur to me that despite knowing that their interests are not being addressed, they continue to vote for those who won't address them. They find greater comfort in knowing that they are not "the takers", despite the fact that they are mostly the ones who need to be given more. They are convinced otherwise that taking is a bad thing and not a moral imperative. They are shown that those who are the ones who are looking to improve their lives are strange and not "American" by white American standards. They are also schooled that the way things are is good enough and that progress is only a way to make their lives harder. It is an inculcation of illusion and illogical thinking that is being fed to them and they are eating it up with a ravenous appetite. That we have people in our land who are actively destroying common sense and enlightened thinking is bad enough but that those very same people are now trying to set our national agenda based upon lies and misinformation is worse. Hatred for race and government is the new rallying cry and there are still enough white power brokers to stoke the flame of this injustice. I am white as well but for me the color of my skin gives me no privilege or advantage over any other human. Which is why I choose to be politically affiliated with the party that includes anyone who wishes to join without prejudice, restriction nor condescension. Information is what drives my insatiable appetite and not the denying of it but the utility of it. I grow into a more human person every day by taking what I know and applying it to my life as best I can.

I am me (#2182)

I am not you, nor my ego, just me. That simple little boy who first became aware and could see all the possibilities in the world. I am much older now in years and experiences but nonetheless, I am still me. Becoming aware that earlier in my life I had strayed from me into something my ego had created was eye opening. I had all the expectations and ambitions that I had conjured up out of the whirligig of chaos within my life. I had turned myself into a automatic like person saying and doing what was reasonably allowable to get what I wanted or thought I needed. No more! I found my way back to me when I stopped trying to be something else. For awhile there I was nowhere, neither me or the creation in my mind. I was in a sort of pause. But with patience and humility I remembered my young life and how I had such great hope for all around me and that is what I have rekindled within me. It takes a really thick skin to remain that little boy that I was but despite the calls of me being naive and foolish, I push forward. Because the calls from others for me not to be myself seem naive and foolish to me. I don't bend to peer pressure or to trying to keep up an appearance that is illusory, I will for the rest of my life only live up to what that little boy in my memories saw as who I would be. It is invigorating and liberating to know that none of the current race for stuff is at the top of my priority list. Instead I have my curiosity as my greatest priority and my care for all things honorable and good right there with it. I have me back and not my ego or some expectation that others have laid upon me. It is me here and for that I have found such a good vibration within myself that I had to share it here with any who would read this blog post. 

Riches from the heart (#2181)

Like many here in America, riches are monetary and consumer driven. For the most part most of us are chasing the dollar in order to keep up with our own and others' expectations for us. I myself have been on that treadmill, slowly advancing and then slowly falling back until I finally just got off of it. Now when I think of riches I think of kindness and sacrifice. The noble things we do for each other that remind me everyday of just how special a species we are. Now I don't live in a vacuum, I know that there are many examples of people harming others and causing others to suffer, yet not so much in my little world where I have a greater impact on what does happen around me. I do not allow despicable actions and shady characters to be part of what life span I have left. That is the key for me. I cannot do anything to anyone to change their illogical minds except one thing, keep them from my live. Those who remain are the ones who also feel like I do. We see the world as a place we have to find a niche within but not necessarily to continue what is wrong with it. We are smart enough to know that ignorance, intolerance and selfishness are bad things that are not what we have chosen to partake of. Instead we find happiness in the small things in life, The ordinary is fun again. I actually look forward to completing any project, yes, even taking care of the trash. I may not be the wisest man nor the most creative man but I am consistent in my chosen way of life and for that I am very happy. No amount of monetary or consumer accumulation will ever compete with that. Smiles and good vibes are better for me and my psyche. I have only one life and it is in a constant countdown toward it's finish. How I live my life and who I allow in my life reflects what is best in me, not what is expected of me nor demanded. Riches from the heart make me happy.

Everyday is fight for equality and justice day (#2180)

This much we have learned. Notwithstanding a current majority conservative US Supreme Court which somehow sees the battle over racial tensions finished, among other unequal and unjust visions through it's lens', however, we here in reality have a different view. We see American citizens and political representatives openly flaunting racial segregation and intolerance. So for us today to be celebrating the life of a man, yes a human man, who gave his life to murderers who would not heed his call for equality and justice is just an extension of what we, the many less influential do everyday in our lives. We celebrate the ideals Martin Luther King demanded for all of us, even those who tried and succeeded in silencing him. Today is a day for making it perfectly clear that injustice and inequality are not to be allowed. So it will be for tomorrow for me and many others who know that the quality of a humans life is not based upon appearance or geography, but upon character and honor. So again we say to those, who like the conservative members of our US Supreme Court, stop looking to justify inequality and injustice and instead become a champion of defeating it's very existence. I know I will give my effort for the cause since to live and die for a noble cause is greater than to live and die for an ignoble one. I don't know all there is to know about existence or life after death, but I do know that the path of my life is my choice to live and the record of it if any will reflect the best of my humanity. That is my purpose and just the thought of that makes me smile and experience happiness. After all, our great country was in theory, although not so much in practice at the time, envisioned to allow for us all the pursuit of happiness was it not?

Ignorance is not bliss (#2179)

Choosing to be ignorant is cowardly. I know this first hand. I was afraid to find out a lot of things mainly because I didn't want to interrupt my preferred perception of things. A lot of my previously chosen ignorance was because I knew that I would have to pay some kind of price for my knowing. Like If I didn't know what the cause of something was I could let it remain broken or in disrepair so I wouldn't have to spend whatever cost it took to make the thing right. Money caused a lot of my ignorance. But not alone it didn't, I was also afraid. I can't explain that other than to point to my own deficiency as a whole person. I have overcome that and accept whatever truth or fact is in front of me now. If I don't know something I learn about it. It is natural that way, letting my natural instinct of curiosity guide my present. I don't profess to knowing things that I don't know just so that I can impress someone. I have learned that regardless if other people think I am a nincompoop I will not be a liar. Anyway, judgmental souls are usually the last ones to be judging others since they are the ones who have bigger problems in their own lives, but that is a subject for another day. This is an important subject about why it necessary to not give into ignorance as a pathway. The information highway on the Internet is always a click away so that an excuse not to objectively learn what we can is no valid excuse. About my initial comment about ignorance not being bliss, consider this. While not knowing the cause of something is convenient for the moment, the effect doesn't change so that whatever we are avoiding in the first place is still there either remaining worse in a static state or progressively getting worse. So action is needed despite any and all procrastination. It is easier to solve a problem when faced with it and then move on then to have it linger and then still have to face it.

Oxygenating the outer space (#2178)

This isn't some science fiction idea that came from some comic book or low budget movie, it is just an idea that is floating around in my head. Surely many others have had this same thought and I am not claiming to be it's originator. However I will give word to it beyond me. While our society currently is wrestling over the overwhelming fact of climate change and the effect of pollution in our own atmosphere, we are not thinking and creating new advances into turning our outer space into breathing space. Could it not be one possibly in some fashion to start a chain reaction from introducing a catalyst into the void that would spread much like a virus to change the void from emptiness into something? I am sure that the science necessary to do so will not be explained here nor the actual catalyst needed to interact with the void in a way that generates the necessary atmosphere for we animals to breathe. But the idea of it will be expressed here if only for the hope that some day, when we humans are not squabbling over legitimate concerns we should be acting on, wasting time and energy in the process, we will be working on the true puzzles in this existence. Think about it, if space were transformed into breathable air then the idea of space travel becomes less a puzzle. The current laws of physics are barriers of course but what we don't know yet may become the new pieces of the puzzle that could help us overcome and modify existing laws of physics. This blog is entitled Man of Hope, well, here is to hoping that nothing will ever stop the inquisitive nature of humanity in our quest to know and understand the now unknowable and misunderstood. Outer space with breathable air, first we think it could happen then we work to make it happen. While we dream we should also clean our own air and not be fighting about whether to do it.

Greed is a choice (#2177)

Making it so that you can get away with being greedy through law or through deception does not make it right. Just because something is legal does not make it right. It is still dirty if it harms many to the benefit of the few. Much like our capitalistic system today. The more you can game the system to increase wealth the more you are respected by those who are playing by the same corrupted rules. Meanwhile, those who choose to live a right and good life are mostly left without. It seems that not having a sovereign over us is a bad thing because we keep proving that we are incapable of controlling our own greedy instincts. This is just one symptom of a sickness within our society that will be part of our own undoing. Nothing that is rotten inside is viable for long. We should know this but we fail to inculcate the lessons of our past into our present and future. The desire to participate in a society that lies, cheats and steals is not attractive unless one has no ethical foundation. Eventually the populace of such a society will dwindle to the point where the best it has to offer is less than a good person can stand. Our body politic is sick now with a power and wealth hungry agenda while seizing every opportunity to blame the less fortunate for all the current problems facing their unkempt, disjointed vision. Our democracy here in America is at stake and for that we all should be wary of those who see inequality and segregation as the way froward. If we don't stop supporting policies that inflict harm instead of good on our populace we will have been the generation that failed all the previous generations in advancing toward a more perfect union.

Staying resolute! (#2176)

No amount of dissuasion from the rhetoric of the right will ever persuade me that right wing conservative policies are better than progressive liberal policies. For one thing right wing conservatives act out of a need to exclude many to the benefit of the few. While progressive liberal policies act of a need to include all whenever and wherever possible. Nothing is perfect but trying hard to include all will always be far superior to those who work to exclude. For another thing, a survival of the fittest mentality embraced by right wing conservatives is regressive behavior that takes our species backwards from evolution. The conservative right wing philosophy of tearing down modernity at every level is asinine and although wrapped in forms of patriotism and religion is still asinine. The progressive liberal approach of embracing modernity and science as our future is enlightened. Enlightenment has given us the great discoveries and creative innovations we are currently enjoying and will continue to enjoy into our future. Our natures are of two major paradigms, to care and to wonder. We care about our species survival and we care about the species that share our planet with us. We also wonder about all the we know and especially about that which we don't know. It is who we are as human beings, which by the way defined by me as we being biological data processors. We have five senses with which to gather information and a mind and soul with which to decipher the information. We use our memories as data banks to influence what and how we act in the orderly progression of our lives. Being a progressive liberal is a natural evolutionary step into a future that holds care for ourselves and others while giving us an outlet to be bold in our discoveries about that which we still need to find/learn.

Make a choice! (#2175)

Too many American voters not voting. Why? Because they don't think they need to. Somehow they think things will be fine regardless of what they do. Well that is pure crap. Nothing will be fine until we all get involved. There are too many folks out there who are desperate and discouraged. What is fine about that? I am just seething beneath the surface of my skin's veneer because of the callous disregard of those who could make a difference in all of our lives doing nothing but sitting back making themselves more comfortable than anyone should possibly be. How ridiculous it is worrying about how many luxuries one could possibly amass while too many are without the basic necessities. What kind of person is it that thinks that everything is okay while a majority of American parents struggle to feed, clothe, educate and shelter their children? What kind of disconnect does one have to invent in their own minds for their conscience to subdue their guilt? How can any of us take any pride in our society when our society has lost it's compassion? Is living in the cold hardness of rebuke and condescension so overwhelming a value as to replace the kindness and dearness we should exemplify through caring? How is it that we have allowed commercialism and the chase for the almighty dollar to have superseded our values of dignity and respect? All I know for sure is that it is unsustainable. As our economic inequality continues to grow larger between the few wealthy and the many poor, a reckoning will eventually come to pass. Either through an ethical awakening of our conscious' or a hard battle of our physical wills. Either way a reckoning is coming and if you don't choose now which side you are on and be part of it's occurrence, you will be swept away by it's wake in whatever form you didn't try to understand.

A moral compass (#2174)

Guided by morality and virtues. We must all have one. It is imperative that we find within ourselves that which makes us the best of who we are. We all know that we can be scurrilous human beings if we choose to be. But we also know that being a scurrilous human being is contrary to our better natures. We all would rather be heralded for our courage and valor than be humiliated by our cowardice and our fear. So it is with our morality. Having no morals in guiding your life leaves you exposed as a fraudulent human being who has only a sociopathic sense of reality. There is no honor in that. But when virtue is established within yourself as your moral compass, you will find that more often than not you will be held up as an example by those who see your efforts, whether your efforts are successful or not. It is in the how we act out our comprehensions that reflects our inner strengths. Indeed, even more so is the choice that was made to be a morally driven human being that eventually shines through. There is a pathway to wisdom but wisdom will only come once we remove our own shady side from the equation by subjecting it to the mastery of virtuous thinking. I have wondered off the pathway of a life guided by a moral compass and all I got in return was confusion and frustration. Not to mention the harm that always comes from not putting myself in check from my own God like ambitions. I am no God and no one else is either. I am just a member of the species human being and although I am only one I am still relegated the duty to utilize what possible magnificence I can achieve. It is incumbent upon me to maximize my effectiveness within our community that not only brings honored principles from my actions but to also speak out when others have chosen to dishonor those very same honored principles. Do no harm is the first virtue we all must adopt, from there we add more until we are the best who we initially thought we could be.

The importance of being philosophical (#2173)

The reason philosophy is so difficult to comprehend or even understand is that overall there are an infinite possibility of options to choose from. Philosophy has an immense importance in our lives however and although it is difficult to wrap one's head around, it is still a priority to do so. The reasoning behind my opinion, is that philosophy is our foundation from which to build all of our values from. We find the importance in every decision we make grounded in how we view what the world should be like in conjunction with how the world actually is. It is a complex dynamic but then if it wasn't complex, every species on this planet could do it. We are humans and as such are adept at overcoming obstacles through our ability to reason. We all have the capacity within our minds to reason so there is no excuse for any of us not be able to learn how and what we think in our souls is best for our lives and how that effects the lives of others without ever causing harm. That is the tricky part, doing no harm. Although it is tricky it is not difficult to accomplish. A principled saying like do unto others as you would have them do unto you, exemplifies the process required toward living your philosophy in real time. What is even more important than living in real time is living for the future of existence. We are all but limited, biological data processor, time travelers in this existence and it is incumbent upon us to leave this existence in a better way. It honors whatever force of creation that gives us this human time while adding to the comprehensive raw beauty of the overall design. One cannot be more humbled by this experience within existence when one realizes that we are the masters of our time here. I will be the best philosopher king I can be and hopefully the rest of us will be the best philosopher kings and queens as well.

The uglier side of life (#2172)

For those of us who swore to ourselves as children that we would not treat each other the way we had been exposed to I say well done. But swearing to ourselves not to continue harm does not make us immune from doing it anyway. It is okay to be sensitive to harm when we know better. It is a sign of a conscience that is well formed. Somehow many of us have forgotten the lessons we learned at a young age and now try to justify our behavior by either ignoring it or laying it at the feet of doing what needs to be done to keep what we have and or to gain more. It does all boil back down to how principled a life we want to live. There should be no illusion about this. We have to examine our decisions and at what cost we will allow our decisions to violate our principles. Ugliness is still ugliness and for me or anyone to do a cost benefit analysis on just how ugly we are willing to be toward others for our own gain is still a violation of the oath we took so many long years ago. I have fallen short on my principles but I have rebounded to not compromising any longer on the values I want in my life. I know first hand just how cheap I have sold my soul for some shiny object or hoped for relationship. The disgust I felt for my own life was my prize and for that I know that nothing is worth being less than the human I most admiringly want to be. Nothing! So it is the high road for me which means that I will not have great ambition to desire or to be self gratified. I know now that existing with an awe and humility is a wise and peaceful life. I will still gather and consume but not at the expense of those around me who have to struggle mightily just to maintain the barest of existences.

Racism is choosing to be a coward (#2171)

Just hearing the word racism spoken out loud makes me cringe. It is like gutter talk right there with the worst of cuss words spoken in the heat of the moment. Yet too many of our fellow citizens are comfortable with being racist and have learned how to hide the fact most of the time. The problem is is that being a racist is a choice. It is positively affirming that one thinks some are better and some are worse based upon the color of one's skin. Think about that for a moment. The visual shading of one human beings skin is in the eyes of too many is a determining factor as to the value, or lack of value, of another human beings equality. The fact that we are all human beings does not seem to register with these racist folks. Now I know cultural mores have a lot to do with how we inculcate our information over our lifespans but there is no excuse for keeping particular cultural mores that discriminate based upon invalid factors. That is a choice to be illogical. Now how does this illogical thinking get it's argument? The only answer I have for that is fear. Being afraid to confront peer pressure based upon a character flaw is cowardice. It is a character flaw to allow fear to dominate one's choices when we all deep down in our souls know that racism is wrong. We all know it I said, but too many of us choose to embrace it out of fear. Not a mental health positive for our species is it? We are quick to point out flaws in others' character but refuse to recognize the flaws in our own. I still believe that our species is magnificent despite our shortcomings. But my view is that skin color has nothing to do with shortcomings. The only ones with this shortcoming are those who do see skin color as a factor in determining equality.

What I have learned... (#2170)

Not everything I have learned can be written about at any one sitting but I can write about segments of information that have come to me through either experience or logical reasoning. One such subject that comes to mind is the idea that somehow I have made my own way in life and it is a reflection on my character that I have done so. Instead, what I have learned is that for the most part no effort on my part has been the deciding factor. Most all my survival skills rest with paradigms outside my control. I have been fortunate much more than cleverly intuitive or rolled sleeves hard working. So for anyone to give me an accolade for any type of success is just blowing hot air. I say that because there are too many who are not finding any success through no majority fault of their own. It is at best to describe success as a crap shoot. Some will win but may will lose. Despite any and all effort given by each and every individual. So for this notion that we fail because we are not clever or that we don't put enough effort into being successful is a lie. The winners in economic life always seem to think they are winners because of some great gift they have. They seem to think that their efforts are somehow more magical than others'. What they fail to see or understand is that we have a society that favors privilege and advantage over equality of opportunity. Now this isn't spilled milk rhetoric, this is just calling out social and economic processes that have inherent bias and prejudice. So if the winners continue to see themselves as elite we are not progressing toward an enlightened society but instead toward an illusion of what our selfish egos demand. We are all the same trying to make our way in a world where success is rigged to less of us than more of us. It must be recognized by all before we can change it from a survival of the fittest competition to a partnering endeavor where we all can succeed.

The manifest destiny of Transhumanism (#2169)

Defined as: Transhumanism (abbreviated H+ or h+) is an international cultural and intellectual movement with an eventual goal of fundamentally transforming by developing and making widely available technologies to greater enhance human, intellectual, physical and psychological capacities."-Google. In other words, leaving behind myths, superstitions and belief systems that deter our curious nature to explore that which we don't know and apply what we do know to good utility for all of the human species and other species' we have dominion over. The age of enlightenment is still fighting to free itself from the fear of the unknown. Still too many humans do not have the courage to live life with boldness and wonder. Boldness and wonder are within all of us but many have chosen to suppress these human values for a safe harbor rooted in our ancient past. A calculation that does not forward our advancing civilization but actually one that undermines it. However these mistaken souls have gotten to their complacency, their fear will not deter the strength of those of us who see a better future for all of humankind. If we must we will drag them into a better future despite their fear frozen choices. The awe and magnificence of discovery is just waiting for us to experience. When we stop looking so hard into what we can't do and focus more energy into what we can do we will find that that which we couldn't previously do has now become more possible. Each time we move a step closer toward new understandings, the closer we get to solving old problems that seemed impossible to overcome. Our manifest destiny in the 21st century is a mental one. As human beings, we need and have a duty to find our strength and courage so that we can continue to improve the human condition.

I wish I could do more... (#2168)

I keep thinking about how short a human lifespan is and all the things that need to be done for our next generations to build from and it frustrates me. Especially elected politicians who think that doing nothing is their job. As embarrassing and shameful as that is I still wish I could do more to change the injurious paradigms we now suffer through without giving much thought to changing. We all are to blame for being without a sense of urgency when it comes to consistently pushing for a better world to live in. I am not saying that we wouldn't try harder if given the opportunity but until we get the opportunity we seem to be static in our nonchalance objections. I have my blog here which very few read but still some do and that is a chance for me to spur us on to greater activity in all walks of our lives. I no longer condone people who willingly choose to ignore or hide from the fact of poverty and hunger. I no longer associate with people who can't or won't understand my frustration with poor education and health care opportunities. And I won't speak or interact with family and friends who are not aware of or instigate racial animosity. I do what little I can by standing up for equal justice and fairness. In every part of my being and every part of my life. There is no place in my life for any who accept ambivalent association among the worst of who we are. Shunning is all I have as a tool to make anyone know that I disapprove of hateful and harmful behavior. No one elected or anointed me as the conscience or guide of anyone's life, but since too many refuse to look reality in the eye I will bring reality with me everywhere I go so that no one may have an excuse of not knowing where I stand on every issue that we as a community of citizens of the world have within our grasp to change for the better.