Our Constitution

          I refer you to The Constitution of the United States of America, the basic law of our land upon which all of our laws are based. Our renowned forefathers, as bright, intelligent, and farseeing as they were, could not, in their wildest imaginations, have foreseen the world in which we presently live, a world of travel into space, computers, the internet, advances in medicine, and on and on. When you read our Constitution, you read only what it says. What it means is another matter. Its meaning must be interpreted in terms of “today”. Our forefathers knew that. That’s why they provided us with a Supreme Court to interpret its many applications.

          There are those who will argue that our Constitution is inflexible. Others will argue the opposite, that it is flexible, with changes in customs, the times, etc.—an argument still unresolved; but, it seems to me—I believe—certain provisions of our Constitution are unquestionable, our illustrious and infallible Supreme Court notwithstanding. I read that ours is a government of the people. We are a Democracy, a Democratic Republic, with a representative government to represent we the people—All The People, All 100% of us. Do I hear any arguments to that? I read about equality—we are all equal under the law, we all have equal opportunity to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Do you think?

          Am I just whistling in the wind? Do you believe in the same Constitution in which I believe? Now we all know that, in the beginning, the blacks were left out of the picture—after all, they were slaves, and everybody knows slaves weren’t people. Slaves, then, were, sadly, property to be bought, sold, raped, pillaged, whatever. Even our Civil War with the loss of over half a million lives didn’t solve the problem. Even President Lincoln’s executive order, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t really complete the job. It wasn’t until the Great Society of President Johnson and his Civil Rights Act that any real semblance of equality for the blacks occurred. Even then, have we really received them as equal? Under our law they are. Do we really have equality in voting? Think about such things as gerrymandering, voting restrictions, voter ID, job discrimination, inequality in education, etc. It took over one hundred years to fix the black problem; but, is it really fixed? I don’t think so. Just look around. It’s not fixed and that has to change.

          Let us look at inequality of opportunity from another aspect. You graduated from community college (because of costs, a rapidly growing trend today). John Doe graduated from a prominent Ivy League school. Who is more apt to be appointed to a high office in government; or, if you are a child of a commoner, how apt are you to be accepted into a prestigious school in competition with the child of a prominent leader even if you have the qualifications and the money. Where is the equality of opportunity there? We don’t have equal opportunity in America, and it becomes more fleeting every day with the rapidly increasing gap in income and wealth between the haves and have nots. What happens to the guy who worked his way up the ladder only to be shoved aside by another who begun in the middle or, worse yet, at the top.

          Speaking of the immense increase in inequality of income and wealth between the haves and the have nots, God created this earth for all of us—not just the 10% or 0.1% (If you don’t believe in God, have your way; the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, our Shadow Government, seemingly don’t either). So why should some earn hundreds percent more income than those below them who work just as hard, if not more so? They are more talented, you might say. Talent is a gift of God. It’s a blessing. Talent isn’t earned. I do believe one more talented should earn more. In some instances, maybe much more, but should they be paid hundreds of percent more as so many of our CEO’s are today? Also, should they pay far less taxes than we do, as they now do? Should they not pay according to their ability to pay (Fairness demands that comparisons be made in terms of percentages of income)? Some, including many corporations, pay no taxes.

          Let us come back to the subject of voting. I see absolutely nothing in our Constitution about Corporations. Nowhere do I see any mention of Corporations as people. For many years, Corporations have been deemed as legal entities for the purposes of determination of liabilities, taxation, ownership issues, etc. I believe that to be in the interests of the people. That’s acceptable. I read the mention of God and man in our Constitution, but nothing about Corporations. When our Supreme Court, in effect, declared a Corporation’s money as equivalent to free speech in direct competition for the votes of the American people, they were wrong. At this point, I’m not sure they weren’t corrupt. Our Congress has sold out. That’s a matter of record, i.e. campaign contributions, lobbyists, so what’s next? I don’t know, but I do know that Corporations should not be allowed to vote. They are not people. People were created by God. Corporations were created by man to serve—not to rule. Our present condition  must and has to change.

          To understand, all you have to do is look at the overall (the big) picture. These people are already in control. Contrary to our Constitution, they are running our government today. We didn’t vote for them. We the voters, in our lack of due diligence, have let it happen. We must now take it back. We still have the power of the vote. If we didn’t, they wouldn’t spend so much money each and every election to win. Vote only for those candidates who represent the direct interests of the people. Vote issues rather than party. Vote for a Constitutional Amendment to get money completely out of politics (If you leave even a little bit in, they will find a way to cheat). Vote for a Constitutional Amendment for voting reform—the right to vote for all citizens. Vote for Constitutional Amendments for universal access to single payer national healthcare, and Social Security. Vote for comprehensive tax reform—a progressive tax system for all based upon one’s ability to pay, including Corporations and control over Corporate Inversion (Tax avoidance by moving abroad). Vote for those who promote Fair and open trade—no more secrecy. Vote for those who advocate mandatory government sponsored education, pre K through college or trade school (Everybody has a trade, a job, i.e. is able to support themselves). Our nation needs a free and educated people—leaders. We don’t need a people encumbered with hardship, poverty, and student debt.

The very survival of our great nation depends upon our taking back our country from government by the Corporations and Power Elite less we become their slaves—the route in which, I believe, we are now going. Our government is us. The character of our government, any government, is a direct reflection of the character of our people. It’s past time for them to do the will of the people rather than the will of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite who have no sense of caring about anything except the price of their stock—quality product and efficient service to customers, loyalty to employees, dedication to their country notwithstanding.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Our Unresolved Problem(s)

          Problems unresolved are not unlike cancers that fester and fester until they burst with pain and devastation. The longer they fester, the greater the pain, the greater the devastation. Such it is with our great nation, a nation of many problems—currently, it seems, tired, broke, hungry, polarized, and twisting in the winds.

          To solve a problem, any problem, one must first identify it, get to the absolute root of the matter, decide what to do about it, and do it—too often a problem in and of itself. For far too long, we the people of the United States of America haven’t done this, preferring to shift our problems to a “back burner”, dealing with them with temporary “fixes”, passivism, and procrastination, which has cost us dearly.

          I submit to you that in these, the greatest times in the history of civilization, the two greatest problems confronting our nation today are a lack of concerted direction and xenophobia, i.e. racial discrimination. We have many serious problems before us—very serious; but, before they can be effectively resolved, we must above all, first resolve these two.

          I have discussed this in prior postings to this blog, from various aspects. We are heading in a direction, if we are not already there, wherein we are being ruled by an oligarchy of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite which, contrary to our presently being a democratic republic “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, the extent of our freedoms will be determined by them. This is just not The United States of America. This is a global thing. Even now many of the rules under which you and I live are under the control of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Agenda 21 of the United Nations, etc. which transcends national boundaries. Even now, our government is negotiating so called Free Trade Agreements in secret (I’m thinking specifically of the Trans-Pacific Partnership [TPP], which will affect jobs and living standards for millions of us). We the people will have no say in it. Some will tell you we freely elected those who facilitate this, our Congress. We did? Keep in mind all the money which flows into the coffers of our representatives through the lobbyists of these Corporatists. Some even write the rules which go into these agreements. Does your representative answer your phone calls? You can bet on it. He, or she, answers theirs.

In 2013, Keynesian economist Joseph Stiglitz, himself a renown economist, warned that the TPP presented “grave risks” and it “serves the interests of the wealthiest”. Organized labor in the U.S. argues that the trade deal would largely benefit big business at the expense of the workers in manufacturing and service industries. The Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Economic and Policy Research have argued that the TPP could result in further job losses and declining wages. In December 2013, 151 House Democrats signed a letter written by Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and George Miller (D-Calif.) opposing the “Fast Track”

Let me briefly explain what is meant by the “Fast Track”. From Wikipedia, “the fast track negotiating authority for trade agreements is the authority of the President of the United States to negotiate international agreement that Congress can approve or disapprove but cannot amend or filibuster. Also called trade promotion authority (TPA) since 2002, fast track negotiating authority is a temporary and controversial power granted to the President by Congress.” Wikipedia also states that “The authority was in effect from 1975 to 1994, pursuant to the Trade Act of 1974, and from 2002 to 2007 by the Trade Act of 2002. Although it expired for new agreements on July 1, 2007, it continued to apply to agreements already under negotiation until they were eventually passed into law in 2011. In 2012, the Obama administration began seeking renewal of the authority.”

You can read for yourself in Wikipedia a history and summary of the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is just one event going on with the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, our Shadow Government. There are many more; and, in my mind, they are not in favor of the people—only the 1%, the very very rich and elite. Whether you believe in God or not, God made people. People made business. Business is supposed to serve the people. People should be in charge—not business. We must turn this around before we become their serfs.

I submit to you this is the greatest problem for our nation today. This is not the direction in which we should continue, and we must change that direction now. We the people must take back our country; but, to do that, we must all participate by voicing our demands. We cannot do that with only 40%, or whatever, going to the polls.

As I said above, the second greatest problem for our nation today is xenophobia, i.e. racial discrimination. I will post a candid discussion of this subject in my next blog. I’m sure what I say will be controversial, but it must be said. The successful resolution of almost all our future problems will depend upon the resolution of these two, our domination by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite and our resolution of Racial Discrimination.

Please, think about these things. Do you really want our country/your country to be run by these people—the huge corporations, banks, and the extremely rich and wealthy; or, do you want us to be a democratic republic as per our Constitution, a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people? I tell you. It is going, going, gone—unless you do something about it. You may think this is all a big joke but it isn’t. It really is in your hands. What are you going to do and when? When?

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

It’s Christmas

It’s Christmas, a day during which we celebrate the birth of the Lord–a day in which we rejoice. It is He who gave us love, love for everybody, that we may live in peace and harmony with one another. It’s He who gave us marriage within which we can establish a family, nourish and raise our children, and perpetuate our kind. It is He who gave us salvation that we, through His grace, may spend eternity with him. It is He who gave us everything we need, along with the ability to work it all out–if we only will. It is He who is the reason for the season. To those who believe, I urge you. Take a moment. Worship Him. Tell others about him. To those who do not, that’s your right–you have freedom of choice; but, should you change your mind, He’ll be there for you, waiting–His arms open wide. I wish a Merry Christmas to all of you. May God Bless you all.

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net

Government Funding Bill for 2015

          Once again, the American people are about to be screwed by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, the Shadow Government which really makes the decisions and runs this country, our pseudo democracy notwithstanding. A new law would make taxpayers potentially liable for Trillions of dollars in derivative losses in the event of another implosion of the market.

To make a very long and complex story short, derivatives, aka credit default swaps are the mortgage backed securities that led to the creation of the massive bubble in residential and commercial real estate and triggered its market collapse along with the near collapse of our banking system and economy in 2008 resulting in our “Great Recession”. I have heard numbers all over the place ranging from $400 Trillion to $900 Trillion, centering around $700 Trillion of derivatives in circulation throughout the world at that time. Called Toxic Assets, many, if not most, continue to remain on the books of the banks throughout our nation and the world today. Despite our government’s bailout of the financial markets, i.e. Wall Street, and the establishment of stronger market controls by the Dodd Frank Act, derivatives remain relatively uncontrolled to this day.

Now, let me tell you this. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States as of Q3, 2014 was estimated to be $17.555 Trillion. You don’t have to get all wrapped up in details to see the comparison of hundreds of trillions of dollars in potential liabilities with less than $20 Trillion in productivity.

In this new funding bill, Wall Street bank lobbyists have lobbied our representatives to insert a provision that would allow big banks to trade derivatives through subsidiaries that are federally insured by the FDIC. To quote Michael Snyder in his article in www.economiccollapse.com, “This would mean that the big banks would be able to continue their incredibly reckless derivatives trading without having to worry about the downside. If they win on their bets, the big banks would keep all the profits. If they lose on their bets, the federal government would come in and bail them out using taxpayer money. In other words, it would essentially be a ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ proposition”. Presently, under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, these banks are required to move many of the transactions to other subsidiaries that are not insured by taxpayers. This new amendment would change that.

It goes downhill from here. In addition to this effort to weaken the financial swaps rule, there is a separate provision that would Triple the amount of money donors can contribute to political parties. Is our Shadow Government telling us they need even more money after Citizens United v. FEC in 2010 and McCutcheon v. FEC in 2013 court decisions?

Must we sell our souls to prevent shutting down the government? Those of you who lived before and during World War II surely remember the rise and fall of Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Fascism. What has happened to our great nation and the trend in which it is going is unacceptable. We must turn around before it is too late. We the people must take back our country.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Our Second Class

“America still has no capital city but already contains very large cities. In the year 1830, Philadelphia reckoned 161,000 inhabitants and New York 202,000. The ordinary people who dwell in these huge towns form a populace even more dangerous than that of European towns. In the first instance they are made up of freed Blacks condemned by the law and public opinion to an hereditary state of misery and degradation. In its midst you also meet a crowd of Europeans forced by misfortune or misconduct to sail for the shores of the New World; these men bring to the United States our most serious vices and they possess none of those interests which might counteract that influence. Since they inhabit the country without being citizens of it, they are ready to turn all the passions which agitate the community to their own advantage. Thus, for some time we have seen serious riots breaking out in Philadelphia and in New York. Such disturbances are unknown in the rest of the country which is not alarmed by them because population in the cities has not exercised up until now any power or any influence over the inhabitants of the countryside.

Nevertheless, I look upon the size of certain American cities and above all the nature of their inhabitants as a genuine danger threatening the future of the democratic republics of the New World and I do not hesitate to predict that that will be the source of their downfall unless their government succeeds in creating an armed force which will remain under the control of the majority of the nation, but which will be independent of the town population and thus able to repress its excesses”.

                                                                                             Alexis De Tocqueville, author,

                                                                                  Democracy in America,

                                                                                                    Published 1830, 184 years ago

         

The history of black slavery in America goes way back. Where we got them, how we brought them here, bought and sold them, broke up their families, treated and abused them, barred them from education, and treated them like animals—all this is documented in the annals of American History. Abraham Lincoln freed them by Executive Order, The Emancipation Proclamation in 1865, and they were given the right to vote by the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, February 3, 1870. And yet, still, through such measures as new state constitutions, poll taxes, literacy tests, etc., blacks were effectively disenfranchised throughout the land until the beginning of the twentieth century when the courts begun to interpret the Fifteenth Amendment more broadly. Then with the Twenty-fourth Amendment, which forbade poll taxes and later in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act, black participation in the American political system finally begun to increase. But, even now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, still, there are powers at work scheming to degrade these people, take away their voting rights, and subjugate them to a life of misery, treating them worse than we treat our household pets.

Sit and close your eyes for a moment. Imagine living your life, everyday with people all around you hating and loathing your very existence. I submit to you that the biggest insult that anyone can levy on someone else is to ignore them. Of all the wants and desires of every one of us, the greatest is to be accepted, to be wanted, to be loved by others—even more than sex, food, clothing, and shelter. How do you feel when it is you being rejected and ignored? I’m sure there are none of you who are unaware of the vital importance of instilling a positive self image in our children from birth and on. Our first view of ourselves in life comes from seeing how others view us. Jesus tells us we are how we think. Doesn’t that say it all?

In an article written by Josh Voorhees, www.slate.com, he wrote of  a video clip of events in Ferguson, Missouri wherein a police officer is recorded as shouting, “Bring it, all you fucking animals! Bring it!” I’ll be the last to agree with the actions of these people at Ferguson. In fact, I never will. I despise the way they have acted. Vandalism and looting are not protests. Vandalism and looting are an abomination to society, lawless and unacceptable. But, how did these people get this way? Who molded them this way over these past more than 184 years? Who made them the animals of which this ignorant and obnoxious police officer is accusing them? Let’s ask an even more urgent and important question. What are we going to do to solve this social problem in our society? Our prisons are overflowing (more than any country in the world) and euthanasia is certainly out of the question (aren’t we the ones who have been preaching human rights all over the world?). And last, but not least, when? When are we going to do it? It should be obvious that this can’t wait. We have been waiting since the existence of this country. It must be done.

Let me tell you this. When it is done, we will be downright fools if our solution doesn’t include equal opportunity mandated non-discriminatory education for everybody, pre-school through college or vocation school (depending upon the student’s proclivities and personal desires). By saying mandated and non-discriminatory, I mean taxpayer paid education with equal opportunity and resources for all, black, white, green, rich, and poor—whatever color. We must do this for the good of our country and our people. We already see where “drop-outs” get us.

Can we afford this? You darn right we can, if all of us pay our fair share based upon our ability to pay. We can’t afford not to. Also, if we want to be successful in our effort, we must increase standards and emphasize the teaching of values, the arts, history, economics, and government, right along with reading writing, and arithmetic. We should begin ASAP (As soon as possible), beginning with a special emphasis on pre-school and kindergarten and proceed from there with a target completion date in fifteen years. Surely, I don’t have to discuss the relevance of, and need for, jobs in this matter.

This is another one for our do-nothing political parties. There can be no doubt. This is much more important than politics. Republican? Democrat? It doesn’t matter. This is about the ultimate survival of our nation. This is a cancer, eating and drinking the life blood of our country. Let’s gitter done and gitter done now. Let us really become United—a United People.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Our Nation, Economically, Where Are We?

Let call a spade a spade. Let’s tell it like it is, beginning with where we are now.

            Currently, our nation is coming out of one of the deepest recessions in which we have ever been since the Great Depression in the 1930’s. In fact, it would have been a depression deeper than the depression then if it were not for our having certain safety nets in place this time, i.e. unemployment insurance, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and public welfare, all programs inaugurated by the administrations of Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression, and Lyndon Baines Johnson with his Great Society program(s) in the 1960’s—all fought vigorously against by those on the “right”, the Republicans. I don’t want to even think about what our nation would be like right now if these programs hadn't been in place. Also, not unlike the Great Depression, we aren’t coming out of this quickly. It will take time.

Even these safety nets may not have been enough if it were not for the trillion dollar plus bailouts of the financial markets and certain selected corporations in order to offset the effects of the collapse sustained by the financial markets, a direct result of their gambling in certain financial securities, i.e. derivatives in the form of credit default swaps, which motivated an immense build-up (“bubble”) and consequential collapse of real estate prices in the housing and commercial real estate markets. Also, all of this financial relief was further aided by actions of the Federal Reserve with their Quantitative Easing programs (QE_1, QE₂, etc.) by which they further charged the economy with cash money, trillions of dollars, through their purchase of government bonds, i.e. they printed money “Fed Style”. Even now, it remains questionable if we've done enough—all the arguments notwithstanding.

          Our government tells us that we have come out of this recession and are on the road to recovery. Perhaps we have, officially at least. In the United States, the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines an economic recession as a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. So our economy, according to the above definition(s), has been increasing for “over three months in a row”. Therefore, the recession is officially over. We are on our way. But, are we really?

Let me call your attention to a few other factors buried in the detail—worms unseen in the woodwork that don’t quite fit into the pretty picture our politicians would like us to see—the picture which they see, ostensibly out of touch with us and reality. Business was laying off people for years before the financial crisis in 2008—layoffs due to union busting, globalization, increasing technology, increases in efficiency, productivity, and another factor, increasing CEO salaries partially financed by reductions in the workforce as well as on the backs of stockholders.

In conjunction with and in addition to the layoffs, our middle and lower classes (that’s you and me), on average, haven’t had, after adjusting for inflation, an increase in income for over a quarter century, the immense inflation during that time notwithstanding. The rich among us are becoming vastly richer, the poor are becoming poorer, and our middleclass is disappearing. In addition, our politicians, i.e. pseudo leaders, have completely immersed themselves into arguing and bickering, playing games over politics, with real issues, the business of the nation, completely neglected and at a standstill. As you might expect, worry, unrest, crime (its decreasing rate notwithstanding), and discontent among our people is rampant. The sale of firearms and ammunition in our country has increased significantly, and the establishment of internment facilities and massive purchases of ammunition by our government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security has also been reported (Ref: infowars.com).

When the “crash” occurred in 2008, layoffs reached levels approaching 1,000,000 workers a week, forcing real total unemployment to the critical level, at which we find it today. The current published rate of unemployment notwithstanding, which reflects only those receiving benefits and still seeking employment, it does not reflect those who have become discouraged from looking and just given up or the underemployed. Also, it does not reflect those in the original lay-offs who, to this day, many still haven’t found jobs, their old jobs (if filled at all) having been filled by younger workers coming new into the market. We have over twenty million people presently out of work or underemployed; and, in spite of the fact that the economy has begun to turn around, many of these people are in danger of melding into the woodwork, to be forgotten and never again to find a real job as long as they live. Why? And the answer is, and I think I am right when I say this, as a whole, most of those within this group were among the first to be laid off. Being first, they were the most vulnerable, i.e., least desirable, lower skilled, least productive, older, perhaps overweight, i.e. too fat, lacking people skills, unattractive, i.e. not pretty, whatever. Making matters worse, as technology replaces jobs, the new jobs created in the process require higher skill levels, personal as well as technical, most of this group cannot fill. There are so many more currently unemployed than there are available jobs, that the slightest discrepancy in an applicant’s credentials can be cause for rejection. In addition, there is a continuing influx of new job applicants (mentioned above) into the market with whom they must compete. The story goes on, but you get the picture; and, the longer they are unemployed, the more unemployable they become. I digress, but people who fall into this category constitute a major reason why we should not raise age requirements on Social Security, Healthcare, or retirement. To do so at this time is unconscionable and immoral with defacto hiring ages and policies at present levels. I submit that no matter why these people are unemployed, they are God’s creation and they live in our country. They have a right to live. They have a right to food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, and so on, and we have an obligation to help them. They don’t deserve to be forgotten. It’s just not right.

With over twenty million of our people out of work or underemployed, jobs (and money) flowing profusely from our country to nations around the globe, and our Corporatocracy taking advantage of what, in many instances is tantamount to slave labor, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of our people are going to bed at night hungry, unable to make ends meet, their homes in foreclosure, and many others sleeping in cars and, homeless. Even more are on some form of welfare or another–our welfare rolls (state of dependency) have literally exploded. Accordingly, the standard of living of our people and our economy as a whole is in decline, a trend I anticipate will continue for the foreseeable future.

Economically, as the rich among us become increasingly rich, our middle-class is disappearing and our under-class is expanding. Wages and income (in real terms) is decreasing, and the preponderance of our people is in debt up to their ears (personal as well as national debt), the effect of which is exacerbated by the false economy generated in the course of our massive excess spending over the years which created that debt in the first place. We were living “over our heads”, disillusioned, and the adjustment, our comedown, is painful and continuing.

Wait! There’s something else. There are more heavy storm clouds hanging over our heads—all that printed money out there. Our dollar is the reserve currency of the world and it is under attack from many sides. In addition to trillions of inflated dollars, it is reported that there are over $700 Trillion Dollars, nominal value, of Derivatives in circulation worldwide. You remember. Those are the financial securities, i.e. the credit default swaps that our lottery players on Wall Street used to cause our 2008 financial crisis. Think of this in terms of worldwide GWP (Gross World Product) and US GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2012. In 2012, the GWP totaled (in terms of U.S. dollars) approximately $84.97 Trillion. That’s for the whole planet, mind you. Compare that with $700 Trillion, nominal value, of derivatives outstanding. Compare our present $18 Trillion U.S. National Debt with our GDP of $71.83 Trillion for 2012. Just think about it. That just about makes us broke or close to it, doesn’t it?

Can you not see where our shadow government by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite has led us? Not only have they stolen our democracy, but also, they have led us to the very edge of bankruptcy. Capitalism has provided us a high standard of living over many years. We certainly need it and don’t want to lose it. It is also, however, out of control and running amuck. In its stark greed, it is consuming itself and leading us to catastrophe, just as Socialism has led others before. In and of themselves, both economic systems are flawed; but, as in most everything, there is good and bad in both. I submit to you, we the people should avail ourselves of the best and most favorable aspects of both. There is a middle ground that is best for all of us, and that’s NOT Socialism. It’s just plain common sense.  Some markets should be free and some should be collective, depending upon the market. Which approach we use should be that which is best for the people and our nation as a whole. Strictly regulated programs such as Social Security, Public Access to Universal Single Payer Healthcare, reasonable Public Welfare, and Public Utilities (including communications) are best suited collective (Do you really believe the average citizen can make objective and intelligent purchasing decisions in these areas?) When we use these programs, it’s not exactly like going to the supermarket. Always, with either choice, the final decision should be in the hands of and decided by the people through their elected representatives—not the Corporatocracy.  Our Corporatocracy should not be allowed to have an influence, in spite of what His Excellency, SCOTUS, says. It should be returned to the status where it belongs, a servant of their customers, i.e. the people. Their focus should be on service and production. Profit must be where it should be, too. Its focus should be that of the investors, the renters, i.e. the landlords. It’s a subtle difference but, nevertheless, critical if our Democratic Republic, our democracy, is to survive.

          I will close this for today, but I want to say one last thing. It may seem, or even be, out of context with this posting at this time, but I think it is very important to our thought processing, economically. That is, unless you have a way to contain it, money is like water. It always seeks its own level. Think about it when you think about globalization and outsourcing of labor. Think deeply.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Real Affordable Health Care

I am tired of hearing people complain about being forced to pay for health insurance.

Let us understand something—an absolute fact of life. Every last one of us, without exception, will have health problems of one kind or another and at one time or another during our life—some of us more than others. For most of us, the majority of these problems will occur more frequently toward the latter days of our lives. We are healthier in our younger years, and, therefore, can afford to gamble and forego the cost of health insurance then—the odds being, we/you won’t need it. But, let there be no doubt in your mind. In the long run, in the end, your time will come—maybe even, sooner than later; and (forgive me), your crap will hit the fan and it will be too late for you when it does come. You will be caught with your pants down without the requisite toilet paper to wipe, i.e. insurance.

Most people don’t like to hear this; but, whether we like it or not, it is an absolute fact of life—just like the law of gravity: If people wait until they need insurance to buy it, they will not be able to afford it. Insurance is affordable only if everyone who needs or will need in the future is in the game. That’s the whole theory and purpose of insurance—to spread the risk. If all of us have the right to opt out and buy only when we need it, the whole system falls apart. I could go on and on. I have said many times before and say again, public access to single payer, cradle to the grave, Universal Healthcare modeled after our present system of Medicare (all any citizen would have to do is go to the doctor and give his [or her] Social Security number)—no muss, no fuss, no bother, financed through an income surtax using a “stand-alone” “pay as you go” fund (just like Social Security), a lot less complicated than all the mass confusion we have endured over the past four or five years and, also, a lot less expensive and more affordable with everybody in the game.

For those of you who call this Socialism, it is not so. What it really is, is a collective effort of all the people to jointly help themselves solve one very large national problem, for the good of all. Pardon me if it takes from the rich (especially the vastly overpaid CEO’s) and helps the remainder of us, the common working man to survive. This will work; and it will work a lot quicker, more efficient, cost effective, and affordable than all this junk our politicians are currently trying to stuff down our throats.

My way, everybody gets what they need, when they need it, without all the confusion; and, what they get is paid for—no deficit, no debt. You know we will do this in the end—it’s the only way, so why don’t we do it now so we can get it behind us and get on to other important things, like getting people back to work. Just look back over the past five years and see what we would have missed and the money we would have saved had we gone this way in the beginning. 

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

The Sheep and the Goats

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then, the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 25:31-40 (NIV)

As we go into the season and holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas and, especially in light of the difficult times of so many among us, I think these words from the Gospel of Matthew are very important to have before us.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Life

I woke up early this morning, and I’ve been thinking. ‘You know? Life is a funny thing (I don’t mean funny, Ha Ha either). We are born; we live an indefinite, but relatively brief period of time in that great prep school called life; and then we die and go to our designated spot in eternity— either Heaven or Hell, depending on how we performed in life, to live forever. As complicated as everything else is, in short, it’s that simple.

Hmmmm! Life, itself, is like that too, isn’t it. Perhaps that’s why it’s a prep school. Except, in life we have no choice as to our classrooms or our teachers. We have no choice as to when, what, or where we’re born, to whom we are born, or the content of our genes. Now that is a bummer, isn’t it? And, yet, when we get to the end, it’s too late to “pass go”, too late to “collect $200”.

So, how do we spend this thing or period called life during this indefinite but limited amount of time we are here? For one, we must do our best to stay alive for which we need food, clothing, and shelter. It’s not absolutely necessary; but, for another, it helps to have a little pleasure. Pleasure kind of provides lubricant for the senses and helps us, sometimes, to live a little longer—I think so, anyway. We, also, need God who created us. We don’t always think so because he doesn’t always think the way we do or want Him to think—we have a problem communicating, but we do need Him. Believe it.

In the beginning, after we were kicked out of the Garden of Eden for our disobedience, in order to live, we had to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow and bear our children in pain (our pain, their discomfort). Our food was provided from hunting and cultivation; our shelter was built by our own hands; we entertained ourselves; and we provided our own security. Now, everything has changed. Today, in our multifaceted society, our food, clothing, shelter, and everything else comes to us in different ways. Population growth, technical innovation, and our need has evolved to where we are now a society of specialization wherein we all need to depend on someone else to fulfill or supply, in part at least, our needs. Today, unlike the past, rather than spend our days as hunter gatherer nomads, hunting, planting, building, fighting, and moving from one place to another, we must utilize the hands, the productivity, of others in order to survive. We must trade and transact with one another. Generally, for the most part, the only way we have been able to successfully do that is through the use of a common tender, i.e. money.

Therefore, in effect, our lives today revolve around money. Our very survival and standard of living depends on our ability and success in acquiring and managing money, a web which is woven throughout our lives; and, our only way to acquire it is either to earn it, have it given to us, steal it, or all of the above. How we do this contributes significantly to whether or not we “pass go” and “collect $200”—spend eternity in Heaven or Hell. I recall Pope Francis saying money is “The Dung Of The Devil”. “Money Corrupts Us! There’s No Way Out”. I believe that. The .01% of us who really govern our country from behind the scenes, our shadow government by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite should keep this in mind. Perhaps we should, also.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

The 2014 Midterm Election

The 2014 midterm election is over and the people have expressed their wishes—at least some of them, those who took the time to vote. I must tell you. I am deeply disappointed. Not only will this cost our nation dearly, but we will have to live with its results for a very long time. The ignorance (meaning lack of knowledge or uninformed) of the American people is exceeded only by its apathy (meaning complete lack of emotion or motivation, i.e. disinterest—let someone else do it). You won’t like me saying that. You may even be offended; but it’s true. Study on it for a while. How many people didn’t even vote, their patriotic duty notwithstanding?

It is a fact and not just an opinion. Our nation is under continual threat. Not only is our democracy at risk as we speak, so also are we as a nation. We live in a world today in which, internationally, it is survival of the fittest. Every nation must be constantly alert to protect their national interests. That we are bounded on both sides by a great ocean is no longer a protector. This is no longer 1776. There are those who are a constant challenge to our sovereignty, economically and politically. Isolationism is no longer an option. The very consideration of it is silly. Look at Russia, China, North Korea, the Middle East and on and on.

For all intents and purposes, we the people have already lost our democracy. Our vote is only good on Election Day, supported by our Constitution; and that is being threatened even now. Read the papers. They’ll tell you I’m right. Our voting laws are being challenged by those on the Right as we speak. Then, once those for whom we voted are installed into office, they turn their backs on us and serve the interests of those who paid into their campaign funds. It’s a published fact that, on average, four hours out of every day is spent by our representatives’ soliciting political contributions for their campaigns. We can argue this until Hell freezes over, but not a few of these are nothing less than downright bribes. These people aren’t serving us. They have literally reduced themselves to that of puppets. They have sold themselves to the big money that pulls their strings and really runs our country. That’s who they really represent—a Shadow Government by the Corporatocracy and Very Rich and Powerful Elite, the .01% of us. To make matters worse, I firmly believe this Oligarchy crosses international borders, facilitated by Globalization and unpatriotic Corporations fleeing our country, evading our taxes, betraying the hand that has fed them—their customers (including our government who has provided them with all those “fat” contracts over these many years), their employees, and their stockholders (they have been stealing from them too through excessive executive salaries, and bonuses). It hasn't been enough that they have outsourced to slave labor abroad; they feel they must now evade paying their fair share of support towards our nation’s government. It’s utterly disgraceful.

But we are talking about yesterday’s midterm elections aren’t we. Did you notice? Billions of dollars were spent in political advertising during this campaign. Almost all were negative mudslinging. There was almost no discussion about issues, and their truthfulness was seriously lacking. What does this imply about the comprehension of the recipients who are influenced by this trash upon which they based their vote? What were the issues? In their speeches subsequent to the campaigns, all I heard, for the most part, was “We are headed into a new direction”. What direction? Trust me. You won’t like that direction when it really comes to light. If you listened closely, McConnell told us. In short, we will be spending less on the people and more on defense. To me that means continuing poverty, war, and rule by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite—the most currently important issue for our country today. Absolutely no one in authority discussed that as an issue for our nation—except for a very few callers into C-span’s Washington Journal. On the one hand, one complains of the threat to our freedoms; and, on the other hand they proceed to vote for the very people who are selling them out from under. Ridiculous.

No, I am not a Democrat. Neither am I a Republican. Although registered as such, I gave up on them (the Republicans) a long time ago. Their mismanagement of our government over the past thirty-plus years has been tantamount to a national felony. They are responsible for our debt. They are responsible for our wars. And, they are responsible for the crash in our housing and financial markets which was so utterly deep we would have gone into a depression even deeper than 1932, if not for the social programs in place at the time, i.e. Social Security, Healthcare, Unemployment Compensation, and Welfare. They are also responsible for the vast disparity of income and wealth over these past thirty plus years. And, we the people vote for them? For those of you who attribute some of the debt to the administration of President Obama, you have to be kidding me. The debt incurred under President Obama was the direct result of the financial crisis and the carried forward deficit from Bush which decreased under President Obama’s reign. Had President Obama increased that deficit, you might have had an argument, but he didn’t and you lose that one.

As to the Democrats, they are all we have left—our only hope. They are supposed to be the party of the people. The Republican Party has represented only the top 1% of us. The really sad part of what I have just said is that most of all those who voted yesterday have lived through and, therefore, know firsthand the truth of what I am telling you—and it is true, recorded in history,  on the books, as they say. Just take the time to study the facts. And yet, they voted for these people—Shame, shame, shame. As a Christian and an American, I want a government, to quote Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg in 1865, “Of the people, by the people, and for the people”. I want a government that represents all 100 per cent of, us, the people—not just the one percent. I want corporations that are responsible, patriotic, and honest, taxpaying citizens. I don’t want to be governed behind the scenes by a Corporatocracy and Power Elite, paying off my elected representatives secretly “under the table”, stealing my productivity, my fair share of what I produce, in the mean time.

This oligarchy is acting like a house full of kids running here and there, to and fro, every six ways from Sunday with no one to stop them—with no one in charge, bloodsucking everyone of us as they go. Are the kids going to run the house or the parents? So far, the parents are losing.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Ebola—Book Learning vs. Experience, aka The School of Hard Knocks

          It has been a while since I have written a posting to this blog, quite a while, but perhaps the subject of the Ebola virus will be a good comeback inasmuch as it is currently so much in the news.

I’m sure you have all heard it said that this person or that has book learning but no real- life experience. Usually, the reference is used in a pejorative sense as criticism; but, really, no matter what or how much we learn from our studies, it remains in the end for us to learn from experience. In my view, there is no way anyone in a hospital in Texas or anywhere else in a country where it had never occurred before or, for most, even heard of for that matter, protocol (book learning) notwithstanding, be expected to react efficiently and effectively when, “out of the blue”, the very first victim walks or is carried through the door. Also, I submit to you that anytime or every time a new and unexpected event occurs—always, we might be expected to fail in our communications with one another. This happened in Pearl Harbor; it happened on 9/11; with this Ebola crisis, it has happened again; and this time won’t be the last. Such is just in the scheme of things.

For my part, I am outraged that so much has been made of this. I am outraged at the politicization—the political grandstanding; I am outraged at the excessive media coverage; and I am outraged at the mass hysteria being generated by it all. Now, today, the White House has announced the appointment of an Ebola Czar—absolutely ridiculous, just another expensive level added to the bureaucracy which will serve only to further impair and complicate solutions to our management and resolve of the many problems involved with this Ebola crises. CDC Director Tom Frieden was the only Czar needed.

It is, also, remarkable that our representatives have the time to come back to Washington and interrupt the work of those already working around the clock as they search for solutions to the crisis when they don’t have the time to come back into session and address the other many problems of our nation, i.e. immigration policy for just one example.

Let there be no doubt. This is a very serious problem. It needs to be solved at the earliest possible moment, and I’m confident it will if we can keep the politicians out of it. Haven’t they screwed us up enough? They haven’t been able to solve relatively simple problems like taking the money out of politics, immigration reform, unemployment, i.e. jobs, minimum wage reform, or public access to really affordable single payer universal health care, let alone solve the problem of an Ebola epidemic.

If you don’t do anything else on Election Day, Vote! Vote in your interests—Your Interests, not those of the Corporatocracy and Elite, the 1% dominating the governance of this nation, i.e. those who bought our democracy. Vote for those who will get the job done for you—who will give you back your country.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Ray Rice

          Over the course of time, man has done some pretty nasty things—even the most atrocious, rape, murder, and mayhem. In fact, I’ll bet that, If the truth were to be told, there are very few of us who have not committed some act or acts during our lifetime of which we are very ashamed and would like to forget—to bury them in the past, never to be brought again to see the light of day. I think most of us fall into this category. Don’t you? I’ll bet most offenses are never even reported, and the offenders go free with another chance in life to repent—to try again. On the other hand, many are found out and penalized in one way or another. They may suffer from legal prosecution, imprisonment, or a multitude of other circumstance not the least of which may be the loss of their marriage, jobs, or some other. In any event, short of the death sentence, everyone (even those imprisoned) deserve the right to atone for their offense(s) and be restored to a life of freedom and opportunity—everyone. So let it be with Ray Rice.

          I submit to you that enough is enough. Ray Rice’s abuse of his wife was a serious offense by anyone’s standard for a number of reasons, and he should be punished and disciplined accordingly, commensurate with the offense he committed. At the same time, however, he should, also, be treated fairly, as should anyone, with a chance to atone and repent for what he has done. What is happening to him and his family now, is anything but fair and, also, nothing short of a media circus for the explicit purpose of exciting the public, increasing ratings, and making money—a travesty, to say the least. To take away Ray Rice’s very career, is tantamount to taking away his life. Ray Rice, the offender, is now Ray Rice the victim at the hands of the NFL, incompetent and trying to save face.

          Domestic abuse is a terrible and unacceptable offense. It is conducted all over this country every day, but it doesn’t come near to be being tantamount to murder, or fraud and corruption. It certainly doesn’t deserve a life sentence. Ray Rice, after being appropriately penalized and disciplined should be allowed to return to his career and become a productive citizen of our country. I would think he and his fellow players, by this time have learned their lesson.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

What?

          On the one hand, this is a deep mystery; and, on the other hand, it’s a “no brainer” because we never take the time to think about it in this way—most of us, anyway. Through no fault of our own (we certainly had no say in the matter), and for no reason whatsoever other than that two people, at one point in time without consulting us, became attracted to one another, and got together.  Seemingly, in no time at all, there we were—bare, cold, helpless, hungry, and all bent out of shape. As a matter of fact, from our perspective, we didn’t even know we had arrived, let alone who we or they, these two strange people (our parents), were. We just knew we were very uncomfortable and “pissed-off”. Our personal self-awareness was to come later, ever so slowly over a period of time so long that we didn’t actually realize when it did arrive. To make matters worse, we didn’t have the wherewithal to care for ourselves and provide for our basic needs, food, clothing, shelter and personal security; but, here we were, nevertheless.

          If you think this is bad, it goes downhill from here. From this point in time, the rule of law (God’s law) is, throughout your life, you must earn your bread (your living) by the sweat of your brow. God has given you the resources from which to live (they are there for you), but it is your responsibility to provide for yourself and your family. Yes. In the beginning, you are helpless and your parents will help you, if they will. Also, they will advise you. It is called nurturing; but, as rapidly as you are able, it is your responsibility in this world to provide for yourself. You will also receive help from others if and when it is needed; but, again, the ultimate responsibility is yours. It is you who is responsible to attain the necessary education, employment, and wherewithal to provide yourself and your family throughout life. And, with all that, it is your responsibility to help those less fortunate than you in the same theme of things. This is not the responsibility of our parents. It is not the responsibility of government as that is yours, too.

          Is this bad? Is it good? Now that depends on you, me, and us. It depends on, cumulatively, how good a job we do; and, individually, how good a job we do. In the end, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. Pointing our fingers at others never helps as we can only control ourselves. In the end, we are the sum total of the results of our decisions in life.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

The Basics–Why We Are Different

It has been said that we are three kinds of people. We are who we think we are; who others think we are, i.e. our reputation; and who God thinks we are, i.e. our character–who we really are.   

   

We are told by scientists that 98.6% of the DNA of a human being is the same as that of a chimpanzee. If that is true, and I believe them, then the difference between a human being and a chimpanzee is the remaining 1.4%. Therefore, it would seem to me that, within our DNA, lay the determining factors of our race, color, levels of intelligence, creativity, talents, motivation, aka drive, and all those many other inherited factors that make us and the chimpanzee within us born different from one another.

Then there are the different lands or countries into which we are born, our environment (both physical and social), and our homes. Last, but certainly not least, there are our parents along with all the internal factors that made both of them who and what they are. Up to the point after our birth, when we begun our transition from the parental nest, none of us had any choice or control over any of this–absolutely none; the preponderance of our character for the rest of our life was established, to be subsequently honed, sharpened, and hopefully enhanced by what we see, experience, and learn from then on until our death. Needless to say, the effects of parenting notwithstanding, we are in control of and responsible for that part of our life–the enhancement of our knowledge, the building of our character, the achievement of our goals, and our destiny–all within the limits of our abilities and circumstances in life. All of the aforementioned attributes combine to format our world view, determining our opinions and actions from birth to death. Jesus has said (paraphrased), “As you think, so you are”.

Our Holy Bible tells us we are all born equal in the eyes of God. Our Constitution tells us we are all born equal in the eyes of the law. It is immediately obvious, however, that in reality, we are not all born equal. Mentally and physically, we come in all shapes and sizes with vastly differing talents, abilities, and levels of intelligence. I believe, the world belongs to all of us–not just a privileged few. Within reason, to the best of our abilities, the strong should help the weak, the rich should help the poor, and we should all help each other. I admire drive, ambition, and success. I despise sloth, greed, avarice, dishonesty, and slavery in any form. I firmly believe in the Words of the Lord when He said (again, paraphrased), “To whom much is given, much is expected”. He also said (again, paraphrased), “Feed the poor. As you do to the least of these, you do to Me”. You may not believe in God, and you certainly have that choice; but these rules, those of God, lead to a happier and more prosperous country, a happier and more prosperous world in which to live, and a happier and more prosperous life for everyone,. Isn’t this what we really want, rather than a course of self annihilation?

It is these basics that are behind the many subjects I have thus far discussed as well as those to be forthcoming in the future.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net. Whether you agree or disagree, let me hear from you.

A Wet Noodle

          How do you push a wet noodle up a hill, aka an inclined plane? Experience has taught us that there is always a super intelligent nerd somewhere out there in the woodwork who will eventually come out in the open and, perhaps, tell us how; but, for now, I don’t have an answer–not fully anyway. The wet noodle to which I am referring is not one you eat, in a bowl of soup for instance. I am talking about the kind of wet noodle who is fat, lazy, ignorant, unmotivated, or all of the above.

          As you know by now, our nation is rapidly becoming a class society, so let me begin at the top with the very rich who no longer work for their income and wealth, being fed from the productivity and income of the middle class, i.e. excessive salaries funded at the expense of those lower down the chain of command, those who are laid off–replaced by slave labor abroad (aka outsourcing), and those subsidized by lower tax rates offset by higher rates paid by others and/or offset by compensating charges to our national deficit and, consequently, debt. In times gone by, we worked hard, did the right thing, and, hopefully, progressed accordingly. But times have changed.

In recent years, wealth is increasingly inherited. In their book, Capital, Thomas Pikety and Arthur Goldhammer tells us that “capital tends to produce real returns of 4 to 5 per cent, and economic growth is much slower”. In an interview with Bill Moyer of Moyers & Company on April 18, 2014, the Nobel Laureate, Paul Krugman tells us, “When you have a situation where the returns on capital are pretty high and the growth rate of the economy is not that high (or even low), you have a situation in which not only can people live well off inherited wealth, but they can actually pass on to the next generation even more, an even higher share”; and, when you have such an economy, “which is what we now have, you’re talking about a situation in which dynasties come increasingly to dominate the top of the economic spectrum and a tiny fraction of the population ends up very dominant” (and they no longer work for what they get, which is kind of like a wet noodle).

          Moving to the bottom of the classes, we have the lowest of all, the underclass. I have discussed them before, but I want to begin by making one major observation so as to negate any confusion. The majority of the underclass may be black; but, increasingly, they are being joined by the white population as they are being forced out of the middleclass due to globalization, unemployment, a failed economy, and by immigrants–especially Latino. Accordingly, our inner city ghettos and older suburbs are increasingly being populated with the poor, unemployed, and the homeless, saturated with crime, gangs, drugs, single family homes, hunger, and hopelessness. Their schools are underfunded, understaffed, in disrepair, and the dropout rates have “risen through the ceiling”. Understandably, most do not even care anymore. They have just given up. How do you push a wet noodle uphill?

          In my mind, there are specific reasons for the plight of the blacks which can be summed up in one word, Racism. Beginning from the day they came here on the slave ships and were bought and sold in the public markets to the highest bidder, these people have been abused, neglected, and otherwise maltreated–shunned, ignored and set apart from the rest of us, the greatest insult one can inflict on any man, woman, or child. In addition, the denial of equal opportunity in education and employment has been a constant source of exacerbation to their condition ranging from, before the Civil War, being denied the right to learn to read to the present, being denied equal access to education. Before the Civil War, the rich became richer at the expense of the blacks, living off the backs of their slavery; and, now that they are no longer available, they continue to enrich themselves from slavery through globalization.

In his book, The Triumphs of Joseph: How Today’s Community Healers are Reviving Our Streets and Neighborhoods, published in 1998, sixteen years ago, Robert L. Woodson, Sr., a black conservative, points to an ever increasing gap between black haves and have-nots. If the causes stated above are holding back blacks on the lower end of the scale, he asks, why are they not holding back those on the higher end of the scale? In his book, he contends that the Pharaoh’s are the main problems in that they (These are my words, and I believe they apply to the white underclass as well as the black) enable sloth and poverty among the poor as well as protect the jobs and turf of the enablers. Since, as I have just indicated, his book was written sixteen years ago, the latter has surely been resolved by now—Not. We usually don’t solve problems do we? We just talk about them waiting for the other guy to do it.

I have watched and listened to Mr. Woodson on C-span; and I respect him very much. In my view, he is very intelligent and well informed. He strongly believes in self reliance and self help, and I don’t disagree with that at all, but his is only part of the answer. In my August 9, 2013 posting to this blog, “Who Am I”, I discussed in some detail what makes a person who they are and invite you to revisit it. In short, however, I believe that a person’s heritage includes not only their genes, DNA, etc., but, also, the sum total of their life experiences and education from conception to the present, their character–all affected and influenced by that of their parents, and the environment in which they, socially, politically, and economically were raised (Of course this includes the same factors in your parents, grandparents, etc back down the line). This is true of all of us. So, back to the question, which in effect, asks how we bring the best out in all of us–how do we motivate the underclass to rise above the rest? My answer is faith, hope, charity, and equal opportunity for all, all of which has been taken from us, stolen, by greed and avarice.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Reference: My blog of March 4, 2014 Titled, Our Underclass, itemizes in detail and recommends specific                    solutions to resolve, at least in part, some of these problems.

California Passes ‘Yes Means Yes’ Law

          In my day, everybody just knew that a girl, when approached for sex, always said “No”; even though they might not really mean it. “No” might mean “Yes”; it might mean “maybe”; or, it might mean “No”. After all, to say “Yes” might make one think she was too “easy” and would go with just anyone, cheapening the relationship in process and jeopardizing her future. The male was supposed to seduce her; and, when she succumbed to his loving charms, he would feel complemented by his sweet success. Everything would be so good.

Over the years, however, it would seem that things have changed. Things have become more formal. “No” means “No”, and it must be said as such, which, if said, immediately terminates the process. In fact if the answer is “Yes”, the process can still be terminated anywhere down the line should anyone of the participant(s) change their mind and say “No”. The rule is “No means No”.

Now, it seems that the rules are, once again, about to change. The legislature for the State of California has passed a new law, now awaiting Governor Brown’s signature which defines sexual consent between people as “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity”. “Yes” means “Yes” and can be changed anytime within the process by just saying “No”.

Presumably with only the two partners in the room at any one time during the consummation of the sexual act, if one of them claims to have been raped or to have changed their mind and said “No” to terminate the act, it would seem to me that lack of a witness would render the law ineffective—bummer. But surprise—I have a solution to the problem. The State of California should amend the law to require a form to be prepared on which the various stages of the sexual act are identified with a “box” at the beginning of each stage to be initialed by each participant as the act is consummated. When they have “finished”, each partner should sign the form, swearing that they have dutifully obeyed the law and mutually consented to the act which they have just culminated. Then they should have the form officially notarized by an authorized Notary Public and, upon completion, submit the completed form to the Clerk of Courts for the record—problem solved.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net