Brilliance In Three Parts

I just received an email, printed below, bearing the above title to which I am compelled to respond. It is one I have read before but, until now, have left unanswered. Thoroughly disgusted with receiving frequent propagandized political emails that mislead and misinform the public, I can no longer contain myself. Unfortunately, the thought process from which the writer’s conclusion is derived is pejorative in nature reflecting either lack of knowledge, intellect, intent to deceive and mislead, or all of the above. In either event, the stated or implied conclusion(s) is/are incorrect, i.e. .rubbish based on half-truths. The email reads as follows:

Part I

                        A. Back off and let those men who want to marry men, marry men.

B. Allow those women who want to marry women, marry women.

C. Allow those folks who want to abort their babies, abort their babies.

D. In three generations, there will be no Democrats.

                                    I love it when a plan comes together; don’t you?!

My response: Homosexuality has been around forever and practiced regularly, the institution of marriage notwithstanding; and the practice of abortion has been practiced on a regular basis since the time of the caveman and woman, the law notwithstanding. As they traveled from one place to another (Do you remember? They were nomads.), they could only take what they could carry. What do you think they did with the extra babies they produced along the way? Guess what? We still have Democrats.

Part II: 10 Poorest Cities in America  (How did it happen?)

City, State, % of People Below the Poverty Level

1. Detroit, MI 32.5%

2. Buffalo, NY 29.9%

3. Cincinnati, OH 27.8%

4. Cleveland, OH 27.0%

5. Miami, FL 26.9%

5. St. Louis, MO 26.8%

7. El Paso, TX 26.4%

8. Milwaukee, WI 26.2%

9. Philadelphia, PA 25.1%

10. Newark, NJ 24.2%

What do these top ten cities (over 250,000 pop.) with the highest poverty rate all have in common?

Detroit, MI - (1st on the poverty rate list) hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1961

Buffalo, NY - (2nd) hasn't elected one since 1954

Cincinnati, OH - (3rd) not since 1984

Cleveland, OH - (4th) not since 1989

Miami, FL - (5th) has never had a Republican mayor

St. Louis, MO - (6th) not since 1949

El Paso, TX - (7th) has never had a Republican mayor

Milwaukee, WI - (8th) not since 1908

Philadelphia, PA - (9th) not since 1952

Newark, NJ - (10th) not since 1907

Einstein once said, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'

It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats... yet they are still POOR.

My response: Books are written on the subject of poverty; its causes, effects, and solutions, are readily available to those who really care to access them. Time and space precludes in-depth analysis here; but, in brief, it is said that most Americans will spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point in their lives between the ages of 25 and 75. It is also important to note that poverty rates are persistently higher in rural and inner city parts of the country as compared to suburban areas such as those in the cities listed above. You have the percentage of poverty levels for the cities listed above. In November, 2012 the U.S. Census Bureau reported that more than 16% of the population lived in poverty, including almost 20% of American children, up from 14.3% (approximately 43.6 million people) in 2009 and to its highest level since 1993. In 2008, 13.2% (39.8 million people) lived in poverty.

Starting in the 1980s (the beginning of the Reagan era) relative poverty rates have consistently exceeded those of other wealthy nations. California has a poverty rate of 23.5%, the highest of any state in the country. Poverty is continuing to increase since, consistent with increasing inequality in income and wealth. I’m not going further, but I’m trying to point out that these percentages are average percentages for the nation and, in the case of California, for that state. The percentages for the cities indicated above reflect the higher percentages of poverty within their inner cities. The higher concentrations of poverty within our inner cities exists for a variety of reasons affecting the averages for their respective cities. Poverty hasn’t one iota to do with their people being led by Democratic administrations. Any declaration to the contrary is false and misleading. The only exceptions will occur in cases of corruption which has nothing to do with any political party. There is enough of that to go around on both sides.

Part III:

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.

You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."

~Abraham Lincoln

"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him had better take a closer look at the American Indian."

~Henry Ford

My response: God Bless Abraham Lincoln. I love you Mr. President, but please tell me. Who wants to do these things? What idiot wants to destroy the rich, weaken the strong, discourage thrift, pull down the wage payer, incite class hatred, take away people’s initiative and independence, doing for them what they could and should do for themselves?  No one has a monopoly on idiocy, rich or poor; but, as one of those born of the poor, I certainly don’t. And I believe neither do the members of the poor. Rather than sit around forming erroneous opinions from your delusions of grandeur (You do believe you are better than them, don’t you?) why don’t you be honest with yourselves and ask them or, better yet, see how they live and determine for yourself if you really think they like their way of life.

Mr. Ford: You are absolutely right. For the most part, we murdered, i.e. euthanized the American Indian—a proud and independent people; they refused to be dominated by us, preferring to die rather than submit to slavery. Those remaining, we lied, cheated, and stole from them. Only recently, we sold one of their holy lands in Arizona to a foreign country for mining. Looking to the government to take care of them did not make them happy and prosperous. This, in my opinion, comes under the topic of corruption to which I referred, above, confirming my position on this email.

Let me end with this thought. There is a knowledge, the absence of which when missing from one’s view, leaves only confusion–the knowledge of God. No picture is complete without Him. This nation, this planet, produces enough every day that everyone can live a happy and prosperous life for all if we will only give up our greed. We will continue to have a middle class. We will continue to have our rich. Those who are worth more should have more; but, they don’t have to have it all. In the same vein, we should do everything in our power to alleviate the poor, impoverished, and underprivileged. We can’t afford not to. On our present course, that of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, we are going to self destruct. You can take that to the bank, presuming that it still is there.

 In the mean time, this is Ronald Miller, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com, signing off. Email me at mtss86@comcast.net.

Trade Agreement

          Today is the day “the lord has made” or “the lord” hopes so; and I’m not talking about the Lord who is our God. I’m talking about “the lord” who rules over us politically—our Shadow Government by the multinational corporations and world elite. This is no conspiracy theory. These trade agreements are a real conspiracy, happening before our eyes—reducing our nation more and more to just another state within a world government—the loss of our democracy.

 I don’t ask you to believe me. I ask you to see for yourself. Look it up. There are many books on this subject. Check out www.globalresearch.ca. Open the article, Bilderberg 2011: The Rockefeller World Order and the “High Priests of Globalization”. Read the article in Wikipedia, Bilderberg Group. Read about the development of the European Union and how the nations involved had to subordinate their laws to those of the union effectively reducing them to the status of a state. Read “between the lines”. Now, with the involvement of the Pacific Rim countries of Asia, the Trans Pacific Partnership, the TPP, their goals will be just twelve more steps toward success—a world government. If we the American people allow these trade laws to go through, we are fools. Their name notwithstanding, these laws are part of a large chess game—they are about the domination of our country by the multi-national corporations and world elite.

          This is not about partisanship, i.e. Republican vs. Democrat. This is about the interests of the people of our nation—all the people; and I don’t believe the loss of our democracy is in our interest. Multinational corporations should not have the right to govern us. Beware of all this secret stuff. In my mind, trade is a sub-issue of these treaties. The real issue at stake is our sovereignty. Before we vote for it, let’s see it. Seeing is believing. Secrecy corrupts.

          In the mean time, this is Ronald Miller, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com signing off. Email me at mtss86@comcast.net.

The American Voter

I never cease to be amazed by the thinking of the average American voter. Their intellectual level notwithstanding, their resistance to the process of learning and reasoning, for the most part anyway, is exceeded only by their lack of knowledge and naïveté. Oh well. Perhaps I just answered my own question. Perhaps the latter is the result of the former—do you think?

To my way of thinking, the Presidency of the United States of America is one of the highest executive positions in one of the largest and most important institutions in the world, i.e. our country; and members of our Congress serving in our House of Representatives and the Senate are its board of directors. You don’t get a greater, more responsible, CEO position than that; and neither do you get a greater, more responsible, Board of Directors. Not only is it past time for those holding those positions to start acting like it and responsibly fulfill those responsibilities; but, also, it is past time for the people of our country to come to their senses and elect people to those offices who are honest to the core, loyal, qualified, competent, and willing to serve for the good of the people, the nation, and ultimately, the planet. I hope I'm not expecting too much from them.

When you vote for people in these extremely important high echelon positions, this is no game—you are voting to hire them. You are not voting for the class president at your high school or for the local dog catcher. These people can mean life or death for you and your country. In their handling of issues such as international relations, war and peace, or the ecology, they can mean life and death for the planet. Think of your grandchildren and succeeding generations.

That your grandfather was a Whig, your father was a Whig, and/or you have been a Whig all your life is not a valid reason to vote for the Whig party. In all honesty, it is a reason derived from ignorance. That the candidate has beautiful hair, a wonderful personality, or drinks your brand of whiskey is on no consequence either. The question is how good an executive is he? What kind of manager will he be? Can he manage people? Will he get results for you? Is he honest, or will he lie, cheat, and steal from you? Where is his financing coming from? Does the candidate or those who finance him represent your interests and those of the country? For that matter, will he even show up for work? Some don’t, you know. The point is, as a voter you must study, think, and analyze—get the facts. It should not be necessary to remind you that you won’t find them in the constant battering of political advertising, propaganda, and brainwashing to which you will be constantly exposed on a daily basis, spewed out to influence the ignorant.

Election Day is coming. November of 2016 will be here sooner than we think. It is imperative that we diligently prepare for that day; and, when it arrives, we should go to the polls and vote rationally and intelligently. It is imperative that we vote for those candidates who represent our own interests. Who represents yours? Are you poor? Are you working or unemployed? Are you homeless? Are you in need of healthcare you can afford? Are you on Social Security? Are you disabled? Are you on Food Stamps? Are you middleclass? Are your jobs being outsourced to foreign countries, to slave labor? Or, on the other hand, are you in the top 1% of the people, those taking in the highest income and holding the most wealth among us–those on the top end (the receiving end) of the income inequality picture—those whose interests are represented by our Shadow Government, the Corporatocracy and Power Elite who finance our elections and have taken over our government. Chances are that you are one of the 99% of us. Who represents you? You know who represents them.

In either event, what is any of this discussion worth if you don’t get out and vote, intelligently fulfilling your constitutional responsibility as a citizen and protect your interests? One thing you can count on–you can take it to the bank, the Corporatocracy and Power Elite will be there. They’re paying for it. Think of them like a cancer. You may not see them; but, trust me, they are there. If you don’t stop them, one day it will be over for you. It will be over for our democracy.

In the mean time, this is Ronald Miller, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com signing off. Email me at mtss86@comcast.net.

Our Government of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite

          As you know, I have been talking about this subject for a very long time now. You may even be growing tired of hearing about it—probably are. But I really hope not. This should mean so very much to you, your children, your grandchildren, and all who follow whom you love. As I think about it, even those you don’t. Really! Our very democracy is at stake.

          As we look back over our nation’s history since its founding, we have come a long way, and we have changed mightily. Notwithstanding the many similarities that remain just below the surface, there is little comparison of what we were then to what we are as a people and a nation today. We were born on a farm, an agrarian people, raised in the city during the industrial revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and graduated to the current age of technology in which we live, today. We have seen an agricultural revolution, an industrial revolution, a revolution in technology; and, continuing throughout, not the least of which included a civil war, and a political and social revolution.

One can argue the details; but, essentially, our country was born in an age of mercantilism at the advent of capitalism which has given us the highest standard of living in the history of the world. It has, also, given us some of the deepest and longest depressions along with abject misery. Today we are seeing that what it has given us on the one hand, it has taken away with the other—a rapidly increasing disparity between the very rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots, unemployment, poverty, and misery. As prophesied by Joseph A. Schumpeter in his book, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, we are on the brink of seeing the self destruction of capitalism (just as we saw the self destruction of Socialism through Communism) and its evolution into an oligarchy of fascism—the death of democracy and our democratic republic. Those of you who are old enough surely remember Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini in the 1930’s and 40’s.

          Recently, PBS, The Public Broadcasting Service, an American broadcast television network, presented a program titled “The Roosevelts”, a commentary summarizing their history and that of our country from the beginning of the twentieth century through the end of World War II. It displays for all to see a picture of the rise in the Corporatocracy during the twentieth century and the great depression of the thirties. Before that, “tack on” the rise in the Corporatocracy in the eighteen hundreds and the following great depression of 1873. After that, “tack on” the rise again of the Corporatocracy in the last quarter of the twentieth century and the great recession of the first part of the twenty-first. In conjunction with that, take note of the great prosperity in this country during the fifties and sixties, the age of the middleclass, the greatest prosperity in the history of our nation, an age, relatively speaking, when the Corporatocracy was at a low point.

Now, look to the present. I ask you. With the Corporatocracy in control once again, where is the prosperity of the people now. I’ll tell you. It’s “down the drain”. The middle class is disappearing; the underclass is growing larger and larger, the top one percent has exploded, and we have millions of people (not on the books) unemployed, and many, men, women, and children homeless, sleeping in shelters, cars, under bridges, and on the streets while we walk around and over them every day. And where are the jobs? The answer is, they have been outsourced to slave labor overseas while many, too many, of the jobs that remain are priced at starvation wages. Just look at current welfare costs. Exclude corporate welfare, however, in your observation, as it is so great it obscures the welfare of the people.

          Am I opposed to business? No! Absolutely not! We need business. We need leaders. But we need them to serve the needs of man—to serve us. That is why man created business. That is why God created people with leadership abilities. We need business to serve. We need men (elected by the people) to lead. What we don’t need is for them to rule us. Service must be their priority—not profit. Profit is necessary. It is an expense of doing business (I have said this before) just like the rent or the electric light bill, wages, insurance, etc. The good of the nation, the good of the people—must be the objective of all. Rape and pillage of the people through theft and speculation by the Corporatocracy and Plutocracy (the Power Elite) is not acceptable.

          What do we do about this? How do we do it? We do it by doing our job as citizens in a democracy. Citizens have responsibilities beyond their back yard.

For one, we need, once and for all, to determine the direction in which our country should go and go there. Shifting back and forth, changing direction, every four or eight years is ludicrous and, in the end, unproductive and expensive. 

Next, we need to change our elected representatives, most of them anyway, getting rid of those who are just in their jobs for their own interests. We need representatives with values (we need people with values, too) who will sincerely represent the interests of the people.

Third, we need to amend our Constitution, keeping our Declaration of Independence, Preamble, Bill of Rights, and proceed from there. To this end, our first priority must be to take private money out of politics—every penny, lock, stock, and barrel. History has proven, if one penny is left, the thieves will find a way around the rules. All campaign financing must be paid through the medium of taxation. In conjunction with this, we need an amendment to provide for comprehensive voting law reform, which among other things; will eliminate the Electoral College and political gerrymandering thereby enabling the will of the people. I also believe every citizen should be allowed to vote, including convicted felons who have paid their debt to society, upon presentation of proper legal identification. Let us return to being a democratic republic of the people, by the people, and for the people. Let the people govern our nation—not multinational corporations and world governments. The foregoing are the greatest and most important issues facing our nation today because they are the very essence of our democracy, our democratic republic.

It is an obvious problem in our nation that we are badly in need of tax reform. Everybody, in one way or the other, needs the services of government, but they don’t want to pay for them. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, December 4, 1902 thru January 12, 1932, is quoted as having said, “I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.” The fact is (everybody knows this) our government needs revenues to provide the services our people need from government, and those revenues must come from the people and business. To that end, it is only fair that everyone must contribute to those revenues according to their ability to pay, and that ability must be determined by one’s income and wealth. Your politics notwithstanding, everyone knows that our tax laws are way out of kilter and obsolete; and everyone is not paying their fair share in accordance with their ability to pay. Everyone knows this. This needs and must be changed. We must increase the rates within our progressive system of personal taxation, and the effective rates of taxation upon corporations must be adjusted to reality, including the elimination of loopholes and corporate welfare. Corporate inversions must be controlled, if not eliminated, and our lost corporate revenues must be recovered even if we need to increase tariffs on imports to compensate for their loss.

Presently, our Constitution provides for only the Civil Rights of the people. The emphasis is on individuality. What it has not provided for, to date, is the Social Rights of the people (most do not recognize that). Socially, in conjunction with our emphasis, civilly, on individuality, the rule is survival of the fittest (let the devil take the hindmost). We need, in amending our Constitution, to provide for Social Security and Disability Protection, Public Access to Single Payer National Healthcare modeled after Medicare, National Unemployment Insurance, and Public Education, among others.  I have suggested taxpayer paid education pre K through the first four years of college or vocational school, which ever the student chooses, the goal being gainful employment for all. The details can be worked out but attendance would be mandatory with severe penalties for non-participation. Also, there must be no discrimination, money or otherwise. There must be equal opportunity for all. The results will more than pay for the expense in reduced welfare, prison population, and increased standard of living for the country as a whole. Did we not see comparable results from the GI Bill? That’s how I acquired my education. There was no silver spoon in my mouth when I was born at the bottom of the great depression. I was almost homeless.

We need to restore equal opportunity to our people—all the people. This does not mean guaranteed success. It means equal opportunity for success for all. As we are now, equal opportunity is a myth.

In the mean time, this is Ronald Miller, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com signing off. Email me at mtss86@comcast.net.

P.S. Did I mention or say anything above about us needing war? I don’t think so. Although we might come to such, it should be only under our lifesaving need. War is negative productivity, gaining nothing in the long run except for the Corporatocracy and Power Elite. Really. What did we gain in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.?

A Selfie

I hope you will forgive my candor; but, over the years, I have observed that people in general (in our part of the world, anyway) seem to be narcissistic, lazy (mentally and physically), and more oriented toward comfort, ease, and entertainment, living a life of relative luxury and caring less for those less fortunate—if it ain’t in our back yard, to hell with it. They just need to get a job.

Except for the twenty-plus million who lost their lively hoods before and during the financial crisis of  2007 and 08 (and still haven’t found work) and those who have come to their senses since, most are still living beyond their means in a false economy, in debt up to their ears, personal and government, fat, ignorant, and deluded. For the most part, they haven’t experienced the poverty and misery of the 30’s (a side of the moon they have never seen) nor that of the present from which they have been temporarily saved, partially by financial safety nets carried forward from the past, e.g. Social Security, healthcare, unemployment insurance, etc., along with vast infusions of cash (borrowed money) by our government. Neither are they aware that, “as they sleep”, their livelihoods and their country are being stolen right out from under them by a Corporatocracy and Plutocracy (Power Elite).  This is sad; but, what is worse, we seem to not to want to know. We don’t want to deal with it. Let someone else. Our future generations—our children, grandchildren, don’t matter.

In the mean time, this is Ronald Miller, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com, signing off. Email me at mtss86@comcast.net.

You Know ²

          Despite our growing tolerance and de facto practice of sexual and social immorality, for the most part, in our country, fornication, adultery, and sexual sin remain socially unacceptable and legally de jure. We remain true to the Biblical standard until, you know, that special person comes along for whom we have that special attraction; and, you know, they, for whatever unknown reason, has that special attraction for us, you know; and then, all our needs come flowing out—you know (I must get all those “you knows” in there so as to keep up with the modern ignorance English which I hear all the time on television, C-span’s Washington Journal, for example), we just cannot help ourselves—the de facto cuts in. Insofar as our spouse is concerned, well, that’s another matter, now isn’t it? It’s hard to feel another’s hunger when our own stomach is being filled (or full), isn’t it—you know what I'm saying?

Time and events will pass until, down the road, we will revisit this question (That is if we haven’t been maimed, murdered, or consumed by the fire of nuclear warfare or other means of terrorism—our spouse for example). In the mean time, we will “mosey on”, doing our thing, creating children out of wedlock, single parent families, divorce, broken homes, running up the abortion meter and all those things—you know. Of course, Republicans will hate this because, you know, it runs up their taxes and all those things, you know, corporate welfare, outrageous executive wages, and tax favoritism notwithstanding—only Democrats do these things; and, well, everybody knows they are the bad guys, but we will leave a certain president for discussion later—you know what I’m saying?

In the mean time, this is Ronald Miller, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com, signing off. Email me at mtss86@comcast.net.

Culture Needs To Change

          The pundits say, “Throwing money at the education problem won’t help. We have spent billions to no avail” or something to that effect. “We have done this, and we have done that.” We give them welfare, housing, food stamps, and they just live on the dole, none of which has worked”. Perhaps so, but these responses, in my mind, do not fit the reality of the situation. Our problems are much more complex and consist of many variables, the greatest of which are cultural differences in the makeup of our people, differences which we have purposely nurtured over the past hundreds of years since our forefathers came to this land.

Until recently, we have purposely kept our black people segregated. We even enacted laws to insure such. As a result, they have been demeaned, degraded, under-educated, and left to live in poverty, deprivation, unemployment, crime, drugs, homelessness, and the list goes on. In that venue they have gone from a culture of slavery to one we see today. Now we throw a few trillion dollars at them and expect them to think as we think, act as we act, and compete with the rest of us economically on an equal footing as if the past never happened. I must also add that all this certainly hasn't occurred in a vacuum. Many white people have, for a variety of reasons, fallen or been sucked into this vacuum with them.  

I’m going to try and explain what I am trying to say using an analogy. Speaking in general, these people, our underclass (black and white) are like a sports team on a football field with their baseball suits on. We are expecting them to play football, and they are playing baseball. Our economy is capitalism (football)—supposedly highly competitive (another subject for another time). Throughout history we have held these folks in servitude, kept them in the dugout, effectively barred them from the game, and now we expect them to qualify? Are you kidding me? They’re not competitive. They’re not equipped. They don’t fit. They don’t meet the requirements. Of course there are exceptions here and there; there are those who have risen above all this; we all know that; but, by and large, they live in a different world than we do. We must still do all the other things previously discussed, i.e. jobs, education, housing, etc., but we must change the culture too. If we don’t, we are whistling Dixie—pouring money down the drain.

I hear one argument from the black community already. “You’re trying to make a ‘Whitey’ out of us.” No! I’m not!  I want you to become part of the middle class. I want you to have a higher standard of living. I want you and your family to live a better and safer life. I believe you want that too. I think you are sick and tired of sucking hind tit (I am too, by the way). The absolute fact of the matter is that our country can prosper only if our people can prosper, and you are part of our people. Rather than you and us, it must be “We”, we the people. I don’t mean this to be offensive, but let’s pull up our pants, roll up our sleeves, get ourselves educated, gain a vocation or trade, and go to work. And yes, we the people—all of us, are going to have to spend money and do that which is necessary in the process. May God Bless us all.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

A Great Nation

Do you know what it takes to have a prosperous, energetic, and thriving country? The answer is, it takes a prosperous, energetic, and thriving people. No nation, no institution is any greater than the sum total of its citizens or its members, their character, their values, their ambition and drive, their self-respect, their education, their quality of leadership—the degree to which they are civilized. If the people of a nation think only of themselves with little or no regard for their fellow man or their generations to come, they will eventually become a failed state. Have you ever asked yourself why people on our planet have existed for millions of years, and yet recorded history only goes back four thousand or so? Also, have you noticed, within this relatively short span of time (4,000 yrs.), how fast our degree of knowledge has grown and our civilization has expanded? Just think. Grandma and grandpa got away with not having to graduate from high school, but mom and dad had to Today, already, we almost need a college education just to get our “foot in the door”. Knowledge is literally exploding.

I remember back in 1964 while I was with a company in Illinois. There was a film published from BNA Films (I hope I remember the name correctly) on the subject of change. Using a chemical engineer as an example, the film stated that, if on December 31^st of a given year, the engineer was up to date and knew everything there was to know about chemical engineering and, for the next twelve months, all he had to do was study and keep updated on all changes in the science, at the end of the year he would be five years behind. The film went on to make the point that one who couldn’t adapt to change would be as out of place as a nudist trying to sneak through a barbed wire fence. That was fifty-one years ago. How far do you think that guy would be behind now? What will be the demands of our future if the economy of our nation will not be able to provide jobs and a decent standard of living for our people? Is there any doubt in anybody’s mind that education must be a major priority of our people?

Studies have shown us. The human mind learns the most in the early years of life. Positive attitudes and habits, values, knowledge, self-discipline, character, people and leadership skills, are begun during these years. To this end, education must begin in a child’s formative years, at home, in school, and in church or synagogue or wherever one worships, and continue on throughout life. This is a requisite for a strong, prosperous, and happy nation. Education must be mandatory, and it must be comprehensive. When we think of education, most of us think of jobs—math, science, and/or vocational skills; but a real education demands, also, learning in the arts, music, history, geography, social studies, business, finance, political science, and language, i.e. English, Latin, etc. A democracy demands the participation of all the people, and participation in a democracy demands the knowledge to responsibly fulfill the duty. Education and values are the direction we must follow for us to rise above ignorance, poverty, and degradation, i.e. unemployment, homelessness, crime, drugs, broken homes, gangs, and starvation.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

The Riots In Baltimore

We have a racial problem in Baltimore. We have a racial problem in Ferguson. We have a racial problem all over this country. In fact, we have had a racial problem since before the beginning of our nation. There is no question about this, so why haven’t we done something about it? We know the problem. We know the problem well. Its history is well documented; and we know its causes and solutions—all of them. We are sleeping in the bed we made. So, are we going to solve the problem, or are we going to let it destroy us?

I’m going to discuss this problem; but, before I do, I want to share a few personal observations and opinions with you:

First, we have come a long way in this country since our beginning. Whereas, in the beginning, the color of a man’s skin made a difference, I believe that is no longer totally true—not for all of us, at least. On the one hand, over the years, I have come to know, like, and respect many colored people very much. On the other, there are many whom I don’t like at all and avoid as much as possible. Then again, there are many white people whom I don’t like either for many of the same reasons, and I do my best to avoid them, too. As I think about it, it’s not the color of their skin I dislike. It’s their behaviour. I submit to you that our racial problem today isn’t race. The problem isn’t color. Our people today are more tolerant than ever. The root of the problem today is the behaviour of people—human behaviour. The solution to our racial problems will never be found until we address human behaviour. Then, we will immediately recognize that the problem affects both colored and white—vastly exacerbated by poverty, spawned by joblessness, broken homes, single parent families, lack of education, gangs, drugs, crime, and on and on. Books have been written about this, but the point here is that xenophobia is not the real issue. I believe most of us have risen above that.

Second, there are, at the very least, two extremely important professions serving our nation and our people everyday who in my opinion are underrated, underpaid, and from whom, sometimes, we expect and demand just too much—not infrequently, their very life. I am talking about our police men and women and our teachers. Yes, there are bad ones and there are good ones, but that’s what we pay managers for—to weed out the incompetent whom we shouldn’t have hired in the first place. We can do that.

Third, our Constitution was written from a purely civil perspective. In the very beginning, our Articles of Confederation didn’t even enable us to pay our bills—we couldn’t pay our army to fight the war. There was no provision for taxes; blacks were property; women couldn’t vote; we were effectively a dysfunctional nation, thirteen sovereign countries under one umbrella, the United States of America. When we finally adopted our Constitution, ratified in 1788, blacks were still considered property and women still couldn’t vote. In fact, our bill of civil rights wasn’t included either. It came later. Social rights, on the other hand, were not included in the Constitution at all. Socially, it was survival of the fittest and let the devil take the hindmost as it remains, for the most part, today. One would be deaf, dumb, and blind today, if he didn’t know who is advocating that. My point is that we need to add our social rights to our Constitution as we have our civil rights, an issue almost never mentioned.

Fourth, let me offer one more opinion before I go any further. An ideology of “survival of the fittest and let the devil take the hindmost” is immoral, reprehensible, sickening, and uncivilized. Such is certainly not advocated by Christian Doctrine which implores us to “love our neighbor as ourselves”. It’s inhuman. Animals deserve better treatment. To even approach a position of validity, such a position must be predicated upon the belief that we are all born equal, which is definitely untrue. We are all born equal in the eyes of God; we are all, supposedly, born equal in the eyes of the law; but we are not born equal when we are born. We are born different physically, mentally, sexually, and develop differently from a multiple variety of environmental differences, i.e. geographical, family, religious, political, and economic, etc. Under our law, the constitution, we (everyone) deserves equal opportunity to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, personally, socially, and economically, race, creed, and color notwithstanding. For this to happen, our Constitution must provide for our social needs as well as our civil needs. We are human beings—not property to be bought, sold, and used at the whims of the rich and powerful for their personal comfort and pleasure.

Now, let’s get to our problems and their solution, which, if we don’t solve to the satisfaction of all, I predict will erupt in a ball of fire, misery, and death—sooner, if not later, your choice.

I know I must sound like a broken record; but, first we must take back our democracy for the people, stolen from us by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite. We must eliminate all private money from politics, imposing strong penalties upon any and all abusers. I mean prison sentences for offenders. Our Congress must return to representing the people rather than the multi-national corporations and the very wealth, aka Plutocrats. Our corporations were created by man to serve man—not to rule over him.

Second, we must establish comprehensive voting and election reforms, including provision for a system of multiple parties. This only took one sentence to write; but it is of major importance to all of us.

Third, if we are to eliminate poverty, increase the standard of living and well being of our people, and return our nation to prosperity, we must enable job creation. We must educate our people (All OF THEM), and we must make it mandatory for all to the fullest extent of their abilities, beginning at Pre K through four years of college. Those who prefer not to attend college should be provided with vocational training as an alternate, the goal being to insure that everyone has a job skill and is qualified to hold a job. Everyone who is able must work. Everyone possible, regardless of color, must have equal opportunity, cradle to the grave, to support themselves. School dropouts must be illegal. This education must be taxpayer paid.

Fourth, every citizen should have public access to single payer healthcare, i.e. Medicare for all. This must be a standalone fund financed on a “pay as you go” basis, as is Social Security, by a special progressive income tax earmarked for that purpose and should not be part of the national budget. It must not run a deficit (I firmly believe this, properly managed, will have an extremely favorable impact on total healthcare costs as well as the achievement of a balanced budget “down the road”.

Fifth, Social Security must be brought up to date and continued with livable benefits. As at present, it must continue to be a standalone fund financed on a “pay as you go” basis financed by a special income tax. I believe we should remove the cap from the present tax; and, if necessary, amend it to a progressive tax. In any event, it should not be part of the national budget or run a deficit.

Sixth, and certainly not least, everyone, corporations as well as people, should and must pay their fair share of taxes in accordance with their ability to pay. Patriotism must be requisite to all. We desperately need and must have national tax reform.

In summary, we must enable the restoration of our middle class and the advancement of our underclass to the fullest extent possible. If we can’t restore the standard of living of our people and our democracy, we will never be able to help the rest of the world.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Our Democratic Republic

          Every opinion I expound and every goal I propose for our country is based on certain facts in which I believe firmly, with all my heart. The first and most important of all these facts is, God created the heavens and the earth. If you don’t believe that, pray tell me from where our world did come. Who else or what did create it? Second, on this earth, God created man whom he instructed to dress, till, and keep the earth, having dominance over all with requisite responsibility (You can find that in the Holy Bible in the book of Genesis. Yes, I may not have worded in the same exact way.).  The earth is the responsibility of man. Therefore, based on these facts, it goes without saying that a third fact is that the earth exists for man—all men. Obviously this refers to man the species which includes everyone, men, women, and children of all races, colors, and creeds. Nowhere do I accept that the earth belongs to 0.1%, 1%, or 10%, etc.—the rich, the powerful, or the smartest. This earth belongs to all 100% of us!

Just as I believe in that, I believe in the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for our people—all of us, every last one of us, as declared in our Declaration of Independence. This means, at a minimum, people have a right to food, clothing, and shelter, i.e. the right to a job with livable wages and housing. For those who are disabled or can’t find work, these rights should be provided to them and maintained until their condition improves. Our instructions, “Feed the poor”, and “Love they neighbors as ourselves” demand no less. Also, in a great and rich nation such as ours which consumes 25% of the world’s production while consisting of only 5% of the world’s population, our nation’s total productivity, our GDP, i.e. our total income, is sufficient that we can afford to provide Public Education, Pre K through the first four years of college (or vocational school for those who prefer a trade school to college), Social Security for all, and public access to single payer Health Care for all.  This can and should be paid in full on a “pay as you go” basis, incurring no deficit or debt through designated income taxes, based on one’s ability to pay.

As you know, there are always those who abuse the system—those who want something for nothing, those who just lay around leaching off the productivity of others when they are able to work, those who lie, cheat, and steal. You know nothing is ever free. That everyone must produce to the best of their ability is imperative. These kinds of people must be dealt with, whether they be couch potatoes or large corporations on welfare, corporate inversions, or sandbaggers moving their income off shore. Patriotism must be returned to Capitalism.

I have said to you many times that the largest threat to America today, larger than anything else, is the threat to our Democracy, our Democratic Republic, the power of our vote. Not only should you be scared out of your skin about this, scared of becoming a fascist nation dominated by a dictator like Hitler or Mussolini, or scared of becoming enslaved proletarians ruled and dominated by a plutocracy, you should also be downright angry; but let me explain. When God put man on this planet many years ago, man soon found he had to work and work hard. You remember. God kicked him out of the Garden of Eden. The Bible says man had to henceforth earn his living by the sweat of his brow. As man progressed toward civilization, his productivity slowly became more and more complex. It took more than one person to produce a product and/or to perform a service. Eventually, man produced businesses, and soon, many businesses’s evolved. These eventually became institutions, later to be named Corporations. These institutions were created by man to serve man by providing a quality product or service in competition with others. Obviously, if they couldn’t compete, they would go out of business.

 Along that same path, as people grew in population, they tended to gather into tiny communities, then villages, then towns, and, ultimately, cities for which they needed to establish order, security, and self reinforcement. To this end, they established another institution to serve their needs—Government. Get this straight. These institutions, Corporations and Government were both created by Man to Serve Man for the good of Man. They are Institutions of the People, by the People, and for the People to serve man. They are Not people. What is more; you have (had?) a vote in both of these institutions. In your government, you can vote for your representatives. In the corporations, your vote is your dollar. Now what does all this have to do with anything?

I know you won’t like me saying this, but I’m going to say it anyway because it is true. As citizens of a Democratic Republic, we—each and every one of us, have, a personal responsibility to rationally and intelligently vote at every election, screening every candidate for whom we are proposing to vote, based on his/her qualifications, i.e. intelligence, knowledge, education, experience, leadership ability, and competence, in light of the issues and needs of the position which he desires to fill and your government at the time. When we vote, we are hiring a top executive for a very important job that might have a lasting influence on our lives and that of our children, grandchildren, and on and on. But what do we do? Most of us base our vote on the candidates looks, personality, party (My great grandfather was a Whig; my grandfather was a Whig; so was my father. By gosh and by golly, I’m going to vote for a Whig). We neither know nor think about the candidate’s position on issues and such. In fact, most of us don’t even know the issues. All we know is the propaganda spued daily by emails, gossip, and the media. This is documented fact. Check out the book, The Myth of the Rational Voter. In the election of November, 2012, only 1/3 of all the registered voters showed up at the polls to vote. I submit to you that issues weren’t, for the most part, even discussed during the campaign prior to the election. It seemed like everything but the issues were discussed.

As a result of our past failures we now have a government completely controlled by the large corporations (I call them The Corporatocracy) and the Power Elite (These are the very rich[the top 0.1%] and the powerful Think Tanks [The Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and American Enterprise Institute, to name just three]). Your/our vote is almost worthless. Our elected representatives are bought and paid for, almost wholly, by these peoples. They no longer represent us. They really represent the “Haves”, to whom 90% of our nation’s income is going. It is documented fact that our middle class is disappearing and our “Underclass” is growing fast.

Take note. This isn’t just happening here. The Corporations are taking over all over the free world. You know what has happened with NAFTA. You also know about the Atlantic Trade Agreement. Now keep your eyes on the trade agreement currently being negotiated in the Pacific, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The whole thing is being done in absolute secrecy. Think about what that is going to do with jobs.

You are going to do what you are going to do. I can’t change that. But, if you care about your country, currently a Democratic Republic wherein you have the right to vote, you had better start forgetting the party line and, instead, take back your right to vote and your right to have your vote representative of you rather than the Corporatocracy and Power Elite as is now. Am I against business? Absolutely not! I want business to serve the people as they are supposed to do. I want business to change their first priority from that of serving profit to that of serving the customer—you and me, like it is supposed to do. Your priority in voting should be for populist candidates such as Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Robert Reich, etc., people who care about people, who represent the best interests of the people. There are others, but we must search them out. There are lots of fakes.

I am sorry. If you cannot look around you, read, study, and see the relationship of what I am telling you with what is happening before your very eyes, and do something about it, I don’t know what else I can do to help. On the other hand, if enough of you don’t care, we are in big trouble. What can you do for a start? Raise holy hell with your Congressional Representatives in the Congress, your Representative in the House and your Senator. Tell him/her you want money out of politics—no more campaign contributions in politics, public, private, or personal. Pay for campaigns out of the government budget with taxes. You don’t want to add another tax? Do you really think all the campaign contributions as they now are, are not being passed on to you? Trust me. You’re already paying the bill. You’re just getting it in the back. Secondly, let’s rewrite the voting laws and put them under Federal Law. Let’s get the discrimination and gerrymandering out of them and allow for more than two parties. Let’s have fair voting.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Financing Our Roads and Bridges

          A few days past there was a discussion on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal regarding the deplorable condition of our national infrastructure of roads and bridges, its state of repair, its safety,  and our need to bring it up to date, especially in light of our nation’s high unemployment in this economy and the requisite need to create jobs. As always, the question is how to pay for it.

          Traditionally, these types of expenditures have been paid by fuel taxes; which, essentially, are sales taxes based on usage of the product, differing from a normal sales tax only in that it is calculated on product volume rather than sales dollars. Until now, the fuel tax has been the fairest method of financing the building of our roads and bridges because those who use them pay for them. Those who use them the most, trucking companies for example, pay the most. Technology, however, is changing all this. Vehicles are getting better mileage enabling them to drive more miles while paying less tax so that the taxes are no longer sufficient to cover the expenses and the funds are running out of money.

Of course, this could easily be resolved by raising the tax; but, while this is being argued, the scope of the problem expands. More and more vehicles are coming into use that do not run on fossil fuels. Rather, they are fueled by electric or, currently less popular, hydrogen leading to the suggestion that meters be installed on vehicles and the mileage be taxed. This too has its opponents in that the applicable meters pose a threat to our privacy, enabling us to be tracked.

While all this is being considered, it also comes to mind that technology is being developed (and is just “around the corner”) for driver-less cars; which will obviously increase the cost of the infrastructure and, also,  negate the privacy argument in that our privacy will be affected anyway. As we consider increasing the fuel tax for now, we should consider the future as well so that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel down the road; but increase the tax we must, because nothing is free. I submit we should do it soon before the speculators run up the price again.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Open Letter To The President of the United States of America

Re:

Resettlement of Syrian Refugees To The United States of America

Dear Mr. President:

It is reported that “an estimated 7 million Syrians are seeking refugee status” in the United States, and that “500 have reportedly already been allowed in”. With all due respect, sir, this is a serious mistake political and otherwise. I urge you to please put an immediate end to this before it is too late.

Not only is this a serious threat to our national security at this particular point in time (I am sure you know this better than I—you, reportedly, are briefed daily), but also, it is a serious threat to the political stability of our democracy. As rough and tumble as the life of our great country has been over the past many years since its birth, never in my lifetime (and that’s a very long time) have we, as a people, been in such a polarized and politically threatened condition. The Ferguson incident in and of itself should be evidence enough of what I am saying.

In addition, given the loss of thousands of American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, a national debt of $18 Trillion dollars, including $3 Trillion dollars in expense of those wars (Ref: The Three Trillion Dollar War by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes), our experience with Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, and now ISIS (or ISIL, if you will), I, in all honesty, believe the American people are downright sick and tire of Muslims. To this, I am compelled to ask the question or make the statement—whichever; where have the Muslims in this country been while all this has been going on; or, if they’re the “good guys” while these others are the “bad guys” as you have been saying, why have these “good guys” not joined with us in protests against these “bad guys”?

Mr. President, with all due respect, I believe we should secure racial and political stability within our own country before we take on an even bigger load. On channel 4, on my television yesterday morning, I was told that one in six in our nation today don’t know where their next meal is coming from. We hear every day about the growing inequality in income and wealth among us. Also, we hear about the decrease in equal opportunity. This is not the time to “pinch the pimple” and increase our pain within even more. Trust me; I am not an isolationist; I am not a Republican; and, that I supported you in the last two presidential elections notwithstanding, I am not a Democrat. I am an American. Our nation is in dire straits, economically, politically, and spiritually. I ask that you do everything in your power to lead us out from under the yoke and oppression of the oligarchy of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite that now rules over us indirectly through their lobbyists, campaign contributions, revolving door policies, corruption, and graft—ever increasing our poverty and stealing our democracy from us. In the final analysis, we need (as was said by Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg) a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”.

Thank you,

Respectfully,

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Forwarded to:

          President Barack Obama

          Senator William Nelson of Florida

          Representative Ted Yoho of Florida

          Facebook   

          www.sageobserver.blogspot.com (My Blog)

Our Racial and Class Discrimination

          It has been said that in the beginning of our great nation, the American Union, there were three great civilizations. To quote Alexis De Tocqueville from his great classic, Democracy in America, published in 1835, there were “three naturally distinct, I might almost say hostile, races. Their education, their law, their origins, even their external features had raised an almost insurmountable barrier between them…. Among these very different men, the first to attract attention, the best educated, the most powerful, the happiest, is the white man, the European, the epitome of man; in a position inferior to him appear the Negro and the Indian.” The Negro, the white man, i.e. the Anglo American, enslaved; the latter, the Indian, he destroyed. I do not discuss the Spanish or Mexicans here because they did not join our Union until after the Mexican War; but, from their treatment, even now, can one not see similarities?

Alexis De Tocqueville goes on to say, “Would you not accept, after seeing what happens in the world, that the European is to other races what man himself is to the animals? He uses them for his own convenience and destroys them when he fails to bend them to his will. In one fell swoop, oppression has deprived the descendants of the Africans of almost all the privileges due to human beings! The American Negro has lost even the recollection of his homeland; he no longer hears the language of his fathers; he has renounced their religion and forgotten their ways. Ceasing, in this way, to belong to Africa, he still has not acquired any rights to the good things of Europe; but he is left suspended between the two societies; he has remained cut off from the two nations, sold by the one and rejected by the other; in the whole universe, his master’s hearth affords him the only semblance of a home. The Negro has no family; in a woman he can see only a passing companion of his pleasures and, from their birth, his sons are his equals” —not infrequently sold from their mothers’ wombs before they are even born.

The Negro, enslaved, raped, pillaged, and often beaten and even murdered, was frequently no more, and treated no better, than the animals to which De Tocqueville referred above. It was against the law to teach them to read and write, to educate them. Even when they were finally freed, after the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, what were they but, except for their souls, more or less, uncivilized animals unleashed into an enlightened society of survival of the fittest, let the devil take the hindmost—forced to fend for themselves, compete on an unlevel playing field literally scrounging for a living the best they could, and not infrequently ostracized by society and pursued by terrorists such as the KKK. It wasn’t until 1965 and the Civil Rights Act, one hundred years later, that they gained any semblance of real freedom; and, even now, fifty more years later, they continue to be oppressed by substandard education, unequal employment opportunity, questioned voting rights, and acceptance into society. Whether we like hearing this or not, these are, in short and speaking in general, the facts and the breeding ground for the state of the Negro in the United States today. Even more to the point, we created, cultivated, and nurtured the racial problem we have today.

One can argue with me if they wish; but, in my view, our racial problem(s) today, especially in light of current economic conditions and growth of globalization and power of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite within and without our nation, are becoming more intense and stressful with each passing day. Just one reference alone is the current racial unrest in and around Ferguson, Missouri. If we are to live as a nation, in peace among ourselves, we must solve our problems of racial and (I’ll add) class discrimination. Our nation cannot grow, thrive, be happy, and survive if we are constantly at war with each other within, the rest of the world notwithstanding.

Our problems are what they are; to seek their resolution, we can only begin from where we are; we sowed the seeds which created them; and now they must be solved. We must learn to live together and love one another, the very essence of Christianity. To this end, to the very best of our abilities, we must eliminate our underclass, be they black or white. We absolutely must. For the reasons I discussed above, the majority of our underclass is black, but so, also, for a variety of reasons, are there very many white people in this bracket. In a manner of speaking, the same solutions can help to resolve similar problems. This can be done, but it is not a one-way street. Let there be no misunderstanding. All sides of the street must do their part to help. Only a fool would fail to see that we all have flesh in the game. All must work to the utmost of their abilities.

One of the most important solutions to resolving our racial and economic problems is education. Let there be no argument about it. Every last one of us should have an education, pre-K through high school—bar none. Beyond that, every last one of us should, at a minimum, either have a four year college degree in pursuit of a career or graduate from a certified trade school of their choice. There should, by law, be no drop-outs with appropriate enforcement thereof, as well as reasonable allowance for those who are mentally and/or physically unqualified. Obviously, the intent here is to enable all to be employable, productive, and carry one’s own weight in society. All education should include the teaching of values, manners, behavior, people skills, and leadership. Financed by a special Federal Tax earmarked as such, the proposed educational program should also insure that the very poor should have equal opportunity from the bottom to the top of the spectrum to receive an equal opportunity to an education to the best of their ability. 

In regard to education, I want to make two more points. First, all people learn the most in the first years of their life, beginning with what they see, and feel, as well as what they read and hear from others. Examples they see all around them every day teach as much, if not more than, what they are told. A good and positive home environment is absolutely imperative. Secondly, I want to talk briefly about intelligence—individual intelligence. Lest one get “too big for their boots”, or, conversely, feel inferior in regard to others, none of us are equally intelligent. We are all born with intelligence at different points along the curve from the most stupid of us to the most brilliant. Most of us, the average person, race notwithstanding, fall in the middle of the curve. We call it “the average”. Many years ago, I had a college professor tell our class, “Genius is 95% perspiration and 5% genius”. I submit to you that hard work, reading, studying, and exercising your mind will enable almost everybody reading this to keep up with even those supposedly “smarter than you” on most any day.

To our political leaders I ask the following question. Are you more interested in enriching our nation making it more prosperous, secure, raising the standard of living of all our people and saving our democratic republic from fascism; or, rather, are you more interested in continuing on your present course of enriching yourselves and the top one percent, the Corporatocracy and Power Elite among us at the expense of undermining our democracy, our government of the people, by the people, and for the people?

To the people of our great nation I ask the following question. How long are you going to continue to allow our elected representatives to sell your vote through campaign contributions and bribes from the Corporatocracy and Power Elite? If you like your freedom, then give recognition to the fact that our freedom does not and has never been free. Our people over the years of our history have spilled enough blood to attest to that fact. Theodore Roosevelt saved our hind ends at the turn of the century from these bloodsucking Robber Barons. Once again, during the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and subsequently, Harry Truman, saved us again. You have only to look at the historic prosperity we enjoyed in the forties, fifties, and sixties as compared to the present to see what I’m talking about now.

The two greatest problems our nation is facing today, right now, is the loss of our democratic republic to the Corporatocracy and Power Elite and Racial and Class Discrimination within. If we don’t solve these two problems and solve them now, all else is a moot point. Everything begins with you and me. Let us get to work.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Same-Sex Marriage

On C-Span’s Washington Journal, Saturday, February 14^th, the subject of Same Sex Marriage was a topic of discussion. I just cannot help but comment on this highly contentious issue. The problem, however, in discussing the matter objectively, lies in its complexity—the definition of marriage, the law, religion, bias, prejudice, emotion.

To maintain objectivity, therefore, let us recognize what, to the best of my knowledge, are certain basic facts: (1) There is no mention of marriage in our Constitution. (2) Marriage is a legal and social institution, a traditional relationship between a man and a woman evolved over centuries of which love was not necessarily a criterion (For the most part, love has been a common factor only since the nineteenth century. Previously marriages were arranged by parents—the common motivation being expansion of wealth and power. To refer to an old song, “What’s Love Got to Do with it?”). (3) Neither does procreation necessarily have to do with marriage. A significant percentage of our population lives together and raises children outside of marriage today. (4) Separation of church and state is a matter of law in our nation; and, therefore, we live in a secular state. (5) A couple can be married either in or out of the church as one might choose as long as a legal license is obtained; and, therefore, given that a license is required, marriage is already defined by law.

Let the arguments begin. Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry? Same-sex couples can and already do legally cohabit. Given the aforementioned facts, an answer of yes has to demand a redefinition of marriage in licensing and a change in the law. It should be legislated and not decided by a judge. Judges should judge. They should not legislate. The ultimate decision for the nation as a whole should be secular in nature as we have a separation of church and state and freedom of religion. Your answer to the question, therefore, whatever it may be, should be secular—whatever you believe is good for the nation as a whole. Consistent with this, no religion should be forced to marry a couple within their religion with whom they do not concur. As a Christian, I am also compelled to remind you of one more thought. God gave us all freedom of choice. He gave us the law, but he gave us the freedom of choice to decide for ourselves as to whether we would follow. We, at the very least, should allow others to do the same, decide for themselves.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

         

Government by Oligarchy

In my posting to this blog on December 27^th, I told you that the two greatest problems confronting our nation today are one, that we lack a concerted direction in government causing us to effectively lose our democracy and, two, xenophobia, i.e. racial discrimination. If we are to move forward maintaining our democratic republic, our democracy, these must be overcome.

 Whether we want to “belly up” and face the facts or not, we are being ruled by an oligarchy of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, signed, sealed, and approved by our Supreme Court in a variety of decisions the most well known of which, recently, was Citizens United v FEC, in effect equating campaign contributions with free speech—your vote vs. the dollars of the very rich and powerful. In conjunction with this, many, if not most, in our Congress as well as others in power have willingly acquiesced their responsibility in office for dollars, effectively selling their votes to the special interests and betraying yours. To my way of thinking this practice is tantamount to accepting bribes. It’s nothing new in politics. For that matter, it’s a practice “as old as the hills”, as they say. I think it’s dishonest, should be stopped, and future practice should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This government, “Our Government”, is supposed to represent us—not the corporatism of the Corporatocracy and the very rich. Again, there is no way we the people with our one vote per person can vie on an equal footing with the abundant dollars of the corporations. Also, let me tell you this. There is no provision or recognition anywhere in our constitution for corporations, another subject for another day.

Following the timeline of history, you can readily see the rise of the Corporate Oligarchy in the last half of the nineteenth century, subsequently quenched by Theodore Roosevelt, and again in the 1920’s during the Republican administration of Herbert Hoover, ending in the Great Depression of the 1930’s to be again quenched by the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Through the 1940’s, ‘50s, and ‘60s, we, our nation’s people, enjoyed the highest standard of living in our history after which, from the 1970’s until the present, this oligarchy of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite has, once again,  raised its ugly head. All around us we can see the destruction and degradation this element of our society has wreaked upon our people and our standard of living. This is not a little matter for us to ignore. If our people don’t turn this around and do it now, all of our other problems will be a moot point. If we want to save our democracy and our republic for the people (that’s us, that’s you), we must turn this around and begin now lest what little freedoms we have remaining will be lost. If we the people continue to allow this to happen, we must ask ourselves if we do not deserve what we get, a life of serfdom.

Understand, folks, we are in a crisis. We no longer live in a country like the one it begun. Not only our future, but the futures of our children and descendants down the line depend upon us doing something—vote, protest, write letters, contribute money, if you can. Let your voice be heard. Outlaw private money from politics; reform the voting laws; reform the tax laws—insist that the corporations and the rich pay their fair share of taxes according to their ability to pay. Don’t let them kid you. There is enough money to pay for the needs of our nation if everyone will only pay their fair share according to their ability to pay and we take the graft, corruption, and wasteful spending out of our government. Take back our country for our people.

This is a blog. It’s necessarily brief. You don’t have to take my word for what I say. In fact, you really shouldn't. Read for yourself. Gain knowledge. Decide for yourself. You may not think so, but your life and those of your family depends on it. Keep in mind, though. Your opinion isn’t worth a “hill of beans” if you don’t have facts, the real truth, to support them. Everybody has an opinion. The lying propaganda and misinformation being thrust upon us today by the media, emails, and word of mouth cannot be trusted. Read When Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten. You will be amazed at what has gone on around you to your disadvantage of which you weren’t even aware. It was published in 1995, twenty years ago. You can buy it used on Amazon.com for $4.00 ($.01 plus $3.99 shipping) plus tax. Also, another good book is Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty, a best seller last year, an in-depth analysis and discussion of the extreme inequality in wealth and income. It is written for the lay person as well as economists. You can buy it from Amazon, also, for around $30.00, shipping, tax, and title. There are many other books, but these two will provide you all the information you need—just the first one will suffice.

In my next posting to this blog, I want to discuss our xenophobia, i.e. racial discrimination. I procrastinate on this because the subject is so argumentative and contentious. In fact, the subject can’t really be discussed objectively unless the participants are willing to view the elements with an open mind toward resolving the problems involved—and there are many. As I have said before, however, we are where we are. That has to be our starting point.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net