The End of An Era

This is the type of double speak we’ve come to see as the norm in the U.S. by many politicians. V.P. Joe Biden stands up before an audience and pontificates about a new world order and how this or that should happen in some litany of empty words and unfulfilled promise.

Words like, we need to lead, we need to level the playing field, it’s not a zero sum game. All of these words are meaningless the more government action removes the profit incentive and strangles the entrepreneur. Politicians in our country are not satisfied with hurting small business, they have further entrenched themselves into the health care industry. Describing in a broad stroke how they are giving access to a larger group and reducing costs. Most of this isn’t true, however nicely worded. The effects will be seen in a more exaggerated way than in the past. In the past 25 years as government, working closely with insurance providers has set medical procedural orthodoxy and what types of services they will reimburse. Combine this with the escalating costs of malpractice insurance and we see how the costs to the consumer have sky rocketed.

These new attempts at “leveling the playing field and providing wider access”, will drive more doctors out of the business and increasing the size of mega-medical facilities. People will become less able to find a personal care physician and for the average citizen they will become cattle in a long line of fellow bovine.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I want to mention someone of great significance passing today. A politician of a far different character than that we typically see. She spoke her mind with laser clarity and carried forth her business as disciplined as a Marine Corps drill team. Margaret Thatcher passed away at an age when many of her colleagues on the world stage have either left or are in their last days. She took over a government and a people that forgot who they were. The people of the United Kingdom found themselves long past the stage of world leadership. The pound sterling was lost as a world currency, labor strikes were frequent, Ireland was on a never-ending cycle of chaotic rampage among themselves and sometimes spilling over into Britain.

Her detractors said she was rewarding greed and privatization of government-owned services was the start of problems Britain faces today. In reality these were the problems the U.K. had in abundance. Government was asked and most often sought the continuous cycle of providing services on a cradle to grave basis. Private charities were becoming window dressing for public relation campaigns and churches a place for the old to shuffle in and out of in some quaint way while the labor government welcomed their increasing role into everyday life. The tax burdens were enormous of course to provide these increased demands on the treasury and if anyone spoke out against the cost, there would be a ready campaign of hundreds perhaps thousands now on the dole or payroll which decried their limits or curtailment.

When Margaret became Prime Minister, she not only was setting precedent in becoming the first woman to lead a party, she was someone with sufficient verbal and intellectual skill to meet the huge problems head on. This upset the many so enthralled with hands in the treasury till, that she became one of the most controversial leaders in the world. As much as anyone called her derogatory names for her tenacity and ability, these qualities were what was needed to stem the tide of socialism and economic decline. I find it interesting there are those who criticize her for a decline in manufacturing, housing or any other you wish to name. The reality as expressed by others willing to admit the truth, Britain was in decline since WWI. This decline was amplified by the protracted conflict of WWII. When this terrible war ended and the rebuilding started many government leaders took the U.K. on the path of increased government control of the economy including health care. Trades Unions grew with increased power but the decline of manufacturing was exacerbated by strikes and less control in quality of manufactured product.  Margaret Thatcher moved Britain forward to meet the 21st century all while many of the people kicked and screamed their way in.

English: The house where Margaret Thatcher was born (Grantham) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What once was . . no longer is . .

When things change, improvement can be achieved but sometimes change isn’t always improvement.

I find myself having to ascend this slope as well but what I have observed, is the descent of American society. After you read this, let me know what you think.

Consensus is often the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. Consensus is most often something in which no one believes and to which no one objects.

If you just want to be liked, are prepared to compromise on anything, you will achieve nothing of value. (see Compromise of 1850)

Discipline yourself to do what you know is right even if difficult, it’s the high road to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.

Success is a mixture of having skill and achievement in what you are doing; knowing that it requires constant progress, and continuing with a sense of purpose.

A healthy society is composed of individual men and women in families raising children with love, structure and purpose.

In 2006, 54% of the U.S. population living in 50 metro areas were responsible for 67% of armed killing.

The majority of murders in the cities with the worst homicide rates are gang-related.

Since 1981, Los Angeles alone has had 16,000 gang related homicides. That’s more than twice the number of Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and it’s more than the number of Americans who died in the Mexican-American War.

Chicago is an area where gang leaders wield a great deal of influence; 80% of Chicago’s murders are gang-related. Chicago is a city divided in control by gangs and politicians. It has 68,000 gang members, which is four times the number of police officers. Chicago politicians solicit the support of gang members in their campaigns, accepting laundered contributions from them, hiring their members and tipping them off about upcoming police raids. And their biggest favor to the gang bosses is doing nothing about the epidemic of gang violence.

Life is cheap and illegal guns are as available as illegal drugs. America is a group of war zones whose problem is not the supply of guns, but their own social dysfunction.

Reformers in the twenties blamed the plight of the slums on the availability of liquor. They pushed through Prohibition to fix the cities. The liquor went on flowing and the slums went on being slums. Gun control has been just as successful in healing the slums as whiskey control. Just like the dry reformers, gun control advocates insist on trying to apply their solution on a national level, when the problem is not nationwide.

Street gang – NARA – 552753 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Not all of America is broken, but a lot of it is. The part that is broken most often stems from broken families. Loss of the lowest fundamentals of an emotional healthy individual results in a loss of an emotional healthy country.

The legacy of Martin Luther King reminds us of a leader who spoke difficult truth even to his own people. We need leadership like that today.

Related articles

• Is Chicago’s Out-Of-Control Murder Rate Connected to Its Sanctuary City Policies? (pjmedia.com)
• Palmer House Shooting Victim Among The At Least 14 Injured, 2 Fatally, During Weekend Violence (huffingtonpost.com)
• Large Cities All Over America Are Degenerating Into Gang-Infested War Zones (thesurvivalplaceblog.com)
• Gangs are latest excuse for not closing half-empty, failing Chicago schools (educationviews.org)
• 4 Steps to a Healthier Self-Esteem (nourishedexistence.wordpress.com)
• Your potential is beyond your Self Esteem (despicablewonderfulyou.wordpress.com)

Our Challenges in 2013

Each of us probably has plenty of things to accomplish or examine in our own lives, myself included, but the country in which I live routinely reminds me how things change and still remain the same.

The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.

“We have spent the prime of our lives in procuring the precious blessing of liberty. Let them spend theirs in shewing that it is the great parent of science and of virtue; and that a nation will be great in both always in proportion as it is free.” – Thomas Jefferson

Historically we have seen what happens when individual liberties are suppressed. The gradual devolution in our nation from a thriving community of close-knit families to an hegemony of institutional education and government control of our children combined with overt regulation on everyone but themselves have led us on a path of spiraling economic decline and continuing curtailment of our civil liberties.

Knowledge is power, at some point one has to conclude and realize that this Country of ours never was a true Democracy. A democracy can create chaos and the founders of this nation understood the dangers of mob rule as much as a monarchy and dictatorship. Creation of this wonderful country was founded on solid principles which little by little have been gnawed away and derisively condemned. A constitutional republic sets at its base the foundations of what comprise a civilized society and limits the powers of government. The founders all being well read and knowing from eons of history, if you don’t limit these powers, the control of individual lives will be in the hands of government. When power becomes too centralized it has always lead to the eventual control and manipulation of the population so governed.

Conniving lawyers and propagandists will tell you that the Second Amendment was intended only to provide arms for the National Guard and Army Reserve. Neither of those existed at the time of our Constitutional founding and both, unlike the militia, are today federal organizations. Others claim this provision was created for sportsmen who might want to go out and hunt or shoot at targets. That’s total nonsense.

You can have all the Protection & Justice you want in America as long as you are considered important or can afford to pay for it.

We have now heard from those who say, it’s OK for the President of the United States or other officials to protect their children but the rank and file shouldn’t expect the same level of concern and protection for theirs. This is not a sign of healthy Democracy. We are not intended to be a two or three-tier system even if it suits some for convenience.

A company which says it never had a ship sink therefore we don’t carry lifeboats will never get my business. A government that says we don’t need specific types of firearms and doesn’t intend to confiscate mine doesn’t convince me to repeal part or all of the Second Amendment. I don’t want my country to continue to pass laws that criminalize me or other honest citizens while those who do us harm can do so knowing they have nothing to lose.

Meanwhile the dominate leadership in our country hasn’t passed a budget in over 4 years and suggests there should be an unlimited debt ceiling. This is a total failure and demonstrates irresponsible leadership. We are stacking this house of cards higher and unless we as a people demand more from our leaders we will find our country and ourselves in financial ruins based on a worthless currency.

Want to see how much everyone owes?
|US Debt Clock|

Disecting a National Election

Election 2012

Today is a national election day in the U.S. Many people from countries around the world look to our nation and who it elects on the national level at this time. Of course people focus on who wins the Presidential race above all others but of equal significance are the Senate and House of Representative positions when it’s their turn. Clearly for me, this is an important year to carefully consider who you want to win these open elections and I hope everyone that is eligible and registered to vote will do that today. If anyone were to ask me who I thought might win the Presidential election this year, I doubt I can predict the outcome this time.

I’ve voted since the 1970′s however my interest in politics preceded my eligibility. I’ve been independent in my voting patterns over many years and find there are strengths and weakness in almost every candidate. If I were to review my elector patterns, it would be more Republican than Democrat. Sometimes I find the Vice Presidential candidate has a strong influence in my vote. An easy example of this would be to recall when Mondale & Ferraro ran against Reagan & Bush in 1984. I liked the significant positive change Reagan managed during his first four years though I had voted for Carter in ’76. Ferraro was bright and capable but I knew Mondale would perform those duties as President in the same way he did as a Senator from Minnesota.

Contrast Ferraro with Palin who McCain ran with in 2008 and you have a night and day difference.

Sarah Palin isn’t prepared to hold a national office no matter what your political persuasion. Ferraro could have been President without a doubt should something have happened to Mondale. Walter Mondale is still very politically involved as of this writing however we lost Geraldine Ferraro in 2011.

Generally speaking I’m conservative in some areas and liberal or libertarian in others. To explain this further, I never have or ever will support the idea of abortion of human life. The exceptions, such as incest and rape were often used to justify support but in actual vast numbers it has been used as a means of birth control. To my way of thinking there are better and less emotionally damaging options of birth control, ie. condoms, pill, diaphragms, tubal ligation, abstinence, etc. I believe that a society unwilling to protect the defenseless and what will become a fully developed human being is degrading itself to prehistoric levels of human compassion.

This leads me to another peeve while on the topic of human value; wars. We declared a war on poverty, which was hugely unsuccessful and actually had the opposite effect. Our national leaders also declared a war on drugs and we all can see how effective that has been. For over the past 10 years we fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to what end? We lost a lot of valuable lives, damaged many others, disrupted productive families and significantly increased our national debt. I initially thought George Bush and his administration were right about going into Iraq after the attacks by terrorists on September 11, 2001. I was flat-out wrong. Yes, Saddam Hussein was an evil despotic man but he wasn’t alone in that category and I just don’t see it as the job of the United States to go onto the sovereign soil of another country unless and until we have absolute evidence they have or will continue to launch attacks on our nation. I’m sorry but I think we have generally not used the correct standards of judging our use of military force since the 1950′s.

I briefly touched upon ‘the war on drugs’. The battle for the hearts and minds of a people and how they control their habit isn’t won through police action. That is to say we have a drug problem because we are losing the ideals of a society and how it chooses to conduct itself. Therefore I believe in order to wrest control of the traffic of non-prescriptive drugs in the hands of criminals, we need to at least allow the controlled distribution and sale of marijuana. I don’t use it or advocate its use but we seem to have permitted alcohol and to a lesser degree, cigarettes for many years. Perhaps we can take the money used by law enforcement in searching for marijuana agriculture and distribution and use that to feed our homeless, especially the children.

Now there’s one area which I believe both Democrat and Republican have been responsible over the past umpteen years and that’s the level of government spending. Our annual deficits, especially over the last 4 years have skyrocketed. Our combined national debt is astronomical. I’ll provide a few links for reference on the bottom of this page. When a nation’s leadership continues to pass unfundable ‘feel good legislation’ and passes this off as acceptable practice until we reach a point of default, like Greece, Spain and Ireland are now facing, we are in serious jeopardy. Our current predicament won’t be easily remedied because as soon as real cuts in spending are discussed, the organization and the people connected to it will claim we can’t live without it. When you have a personal household in financial difficulty, the family may want to eat out occasionally, subscribe to cable TV, go to a movie, smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol, they eventually have to stop all that when outgo exceeds income. The collectors take over and your home may also be lost. This is analogous to what is happening with our country. I read figures which say approximately 60% of all American households receive some type of federal money / credit. This means the productive are being swamped by those receiving the benefits of their labor and you can guess which way the less productive will vote.

Over the past 4 years we have seen the national debt climb trillions of dollars while each year Congress spends more that $1 trillion over what we take in from taxes and fees. Partisanship has increased under President Obama because of what he says to his Republican contemporaries and not holding open bi-partisan meetings as he promised over the economy and jobs. He hasn’t met with the House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for over a year. Meanwhile, health care legislation was passed despite overwhelming public opinion against while the economy continues to suffer. Democratic leadership stated they needed to pass the bill before knowing what it contained.

Using Republicans as the reason to blame unsuccessful or little effort isn’t going to mend any fences. Any company of national or international stature wouldn’t find it acceptable to hire a President or CEO and then listen to them complain about the prior administration for several years while expanding debt and working on the wrong priorities to help them become successful again. Nor would they find it acceptable for this new administrator to travel the world to apologize for past company failings in order to be found an acceptable member of their business community.

Here’s where I think you can differentiate between campaign and political rhetoric of the two viable Presidential candidates. Mitt Romney has largely been successful as a business person and a politician. He was able to work with both poltical parties while governor of Massachusetts, a traditional liberal state, and he didn’t find it useful to blame a prior governor for his lack of success. There are those that might argue a wealthy business person isn’t a positive resume attribute. Indeed, President Grant (for those who know their history) wasn’t, but in order to appreciate and understand the impact legislation and more government controls has on business, what better method than someone who actually was involved?

If you pay any attention to successful businessmen in this country who are not benefiting in some connected way with government spending, you will find some very concerned and worried people. Bernie Marcus, one of the founders of Home Depot says he seriously doubts he could have successfully launched his company in today’s economy. There have been many others who have stated the same. It now costs twice as much today to start a new business in the US than it does in the United Kingdom. We have to become competitive again and despite the rhetoric, Barack Obama as President hasn’t led us in that direction.

We have descended from our ability to disagree peaceably and find compromise into false accusation, sarcasm or stupid threats.

Michelle Obama said the president needs every vote he can get. “Don’t let anybody push you out of line.”  Where is this possibly going to happen?  I’m sorry to think she finds it necessary to go back to past generational history in order to drum up support on emotion rather than reality.

Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time; “If you’re thinking about voting for Mitt Romney, I would like to make this one plea: black people know who you are and they will come after you.” That’s a very sick joke.

This sort of veiled or in your face racial tone needs to be completely off the table for us to be the nation intended and fought for by any of us who have served in the military.

No matter who is declared the winner they will have their hands full. The nuclear weapons development in Iran, our support of the nation of Israel, continued political battles over health care, the economy, national debt, energy policy and who knows what other events and challenges will have to be met.

I will support whomever is our elected nation’s President.

US National Debt Clock   Bernie Marcus the Obama Economy   Politics at its Worst – Ken Langone