When reason and common sense are subservient to special interests along with over intellectualizing problems and issues, chaos takes root. The deeper a culture goes into denial, lacking the courage needed to address serious problems and allowing these problems to become more deeply rooted all the while fogging the way toward a sensible approach obviously inhibits growth toward evolved development. Reason, logic and accountability give way to the devolution of a society which is eventually lost in chaos. Morality and virtue are hard to restore when lost.
Our country was established through a logical thought process, guided by the insights of John Locke, de Montesquoiu and early Greek wisdom. Our founders were all students of this wisdom and their attempt was to apply it. Somehow they came across the concept of Natural Law. This became the basis and foundation for our Declaration of Independence and Constitution that promoted the ideals of the pursuit of liberty and happiness. Its thoughtful and classicly liberal beginnings also left open opportunities for critique and reflection. The founders held deep regard for liberty and individuality and a contempt for tyranny. America has been a process. Tyranny can show up with many disguises and before it is recognized for the evil it is, it can find an acceptable foothold in a culture. One of the many disguises is socialism. Those proposing to "share the wealth" will keep the power and booty for themselves while deceiving generations of the people until finally, the weak structure collapses into revolution, war, or just keeps the misery going for more generations. Cuba and Russia are recent examples. The tyranny of communism found a place in China and totalitarianism is alive and well in North Korea.
So we luckily came upon the best and most natural form of an evolved and progressive society, a republic which honors the natural state of human striving; liberty and prosperity. We may still be heading in the direction of the promise of liberty and prosperity for all with a serious backward trend now expressing itself. Democracy is a process, and must be participated in thoughtfully and respectfully by a majority of the population for the purpose of preserving the democratic principles beyond individual self interest in order for the democratic republic to properly function.
In a family, friendship, or any relationship a part of the self is given up in order to uphold the higher "relationship" therefore benefiting firstly the relationship and then the interests of the self as the relationship evolves to understand the value of the higher ideal.
Our higher ideal though has increasingly become the slave to our the twisting and churning of words and battles of words. Leaders and followers have taken sides on idealism losing sight of the ideal. Common sense, not particularly common or ubiquitous has all but drowned in intellectual jargon and false or distorted ideals. We are divided and many have shut down holding on to "their side" wanting to win for the sake of winning, for the sake of ego. Listening to another view has given way to battle of the wills and in the process all the weeds and demons are strangling the wisdom that is the only saving grace toward a remedy.
Relationships collapse through ego and self interest. Some relationships are not meant to last, but the people's relationship to a governing body that is serving the people that create it, must be preserved, must sustain itself only because this is the end of the line. There is no better form of government than that which preserves and honors the limits and separation of its own power, liberty, prosperity and individual rights for all its citizens. So we have no choice but to find a way to honor the "relationship" putting aside the more self serving interests that are plaguing society today.
As Socialist/Marxist values take hold with the usual disguise, "helping those less fortunate", a free and truly prosperous nation will diminish with a return only possible from a populace that truly "dreams" again for the blessings of liberty. As government becomes the central planner with many dug in for years in self service and often no longer holding a pretense of serving the people, citizens have become worshipers and are fearful of the behemoth that has grown despite the foundation of a beauty document, the Constitution of the United States of America conceived to prevent such tyranny.
Government has promised that their policies will create a robust economy, yet how can they do this when government creates nothing and is made up more increasingly of crafty campaigners supported by huge donations for special interests. Many government "leaders" have been drenched in politics their whole lives and have never produced or worked very long in the private sector and are increasingly out of touch with real working people who pay taxes to support them, their marvelously cushy benefits and those loyal supporters they bring on board with them. Government workers aren't likely to leave as the benefits have become quite abundant and addicting and as of late attitudes paired with a heavy dose of arrogance and secrecy to secure their positions and benefits are prevalent. Stonewalling and cover-ups are increasingly the norm.
Our founders knew the importance of a free press and that too is sinking into oblivion with so many so called journalists who are steeped in ideology and propagandized support for the government they are supposed to be challenging. Instead of light and true information ignorance and darkness are the result. Many in the press seem to be equipped only with journalism degrees and don't seem to be able to analyze or dig for information or remain on their toes when being stonewalled by those programmed to "handle" inquiry. This is a profession of the curious, but curiosity seems to be a desert in our current media. The all too complicit relationship between press and politician has advanced to a frightening degree with the way President Obama is coddled and left to his own devices without scrutiny. He tell the media what to think and they report it without question. Many, if not a too large percentage of citizens are contented with what a lazy press delivers never questioning or making the connection between promises broken and lack of personal and national progression. It was not too long ago when the American press and US citizens were eager to call out the tyranny of Soviet Union and their state sponsored media and their expected propaganda. Oh we were so superior then and what a difference a few generations make!
Some of our politicians are attempting to create a society of ease and entitlement based on a vague notion of "equality". The concept is named but not properly defined, this new "equality". When the founders spoke of equality, they defined it as equaity ofl opportunity but no guarantee of equal outcome as we are not born of equal talent, but must be free to express and advance our particular talents to our own choosing. This is true Liberty, and the goal of the founders. The new politicians are less interested in honoring success than making excuses for those who fumble into problems and pain making them believe that it is not their fault and they are being taken advantage of by the successful. For the lazy mind, this is a perfect out and more and more are taking it. Politicians again take advantage by creating programs paid for by the workers to "help" those disadvantaged persons to advance. Lyndon Johnson created the "war on poverty" over fifty years ago and poverty obviously won. In his book "Intellectuals and Society" Thomas Sowell makes the point that these central planners continue to create more and more costly programs without reviewing the results, then repeat the process with the same sorry result.
One of the great mistakes is to judge programs by their intentions and not by their results.
~Milton Friedman
Natural Law teaches that human beings are successful by their own initiative. Giving a helping hand is quite different than the destructive coddling and excuse pandering that is destroying so many lives. But there is a purpose to the madness that may have begun as a sincere experiment. It provided support and votes to perpetrate the myth and keep the central planners in power and riches. Those paying attention and paying the bill are waking up to the edidentual destruction of a free and prosperous society.
As government grows and becomes a limitless, it needs constant cash support. It spends without limits. Its not their money earned and the debt will be passed on to subsequent generations who cannot punish those with protections or have gone to the grave. As government grows the un-elected bureaucracy grows with it and they need something to do; the result more laws and regulations strangling the innovators and new business creators. So as these forces overtake the way business is done in the formerly free enterprise experiment, we have factions arguing for more Marxist solutions and others arguing for the former laissez-faire policies that were the foundation of growth as well as those who support large corporations to the detriment of fairness creating too cozy relationships with policy makers and special interests. Marxist solutions were a European response to the problems created over centuries of evolution of governing. Kings, emperors, tyrants, wars, peasant culture were never a big part of the American experiment. We were a new opportunity, making our own mistakes and determined to correct them. Though with some errors in growth such as slavery, some will never be satisfied with any progression.
So over the relatively few generations of the birth of this new nation, we have reverted, lost much of what some knew and understood to be a well thought out blueprint for a civil, prosperous and free society. A society conceived by minds more brilliant and thoughtfully guided by enlightenment philosophy is dismissed by those who have not been educated enough or as Benjamin Franklin with John Adams and the founders described it, a constitutional republic conceived for a moral and virtuous people. Could it be that by not honoring the qualities of virtue and morality we have given up our natural freedom and are slowly but surely becoming the new slaves. Those who are wage slaves support those increasing numbers who are contented with less than mediocrity and innovators burdened by regulation are slaves to that monster. Corporate fat cats will stay that way as long as they support and don't disrupt their cozy government relationships. All the while the central planners are secure in their power as they have illegally diminished ours. A task many supported and still support out of ignorance of the fact that our government was conceived by the people and for the people.
Monday, November 24, 2014
WHAT I REMEMBER
As time goes by, more quickly each year, I find myself looking back and comparing the new years to the old.
I remember safety and security, a mile walk to a birthday party when I was 7 years old, wearing my one party dress for such occasions and carrying a small wrapped gift worth only a few dollars. The walk back was the same plus a sugar rush from ice cream, cake and soda; less a gift under my arm.
I remember simplicity: just party games, expected sweets, a paper table cloth, paper cups and children that at 7 years old were expected to behave. No pizza or jumping houses.. or parents aside from those of the birthday girl. We had fun.
I remember my parents who talked about the depression from time to time, never the war. My father who fought in the war, returned, married my mother had five kids and moved on. I remember my mother telling of her mother who came through Ellis Island expecting some glorious city with streets clean and golden who ended up in tears on the strange, new, filthy streets of New York. She moved on too and found a position in elegant Beverly Farms as a maid and later found my grandfather, a butler for the same family. They moved on; he became a carpenter and created a nice life for their three children, my mother being the youngest.
My father had a different story. He was one of eight whose mother died when he was twelve. His father, a fisherman was "always out to sea" as he put it and married a woman to look after his children. She had children of her own and resented those of her new absent husband. He told the story, but that was it. My father insisted on good shoes for his children as he didn't have the luxury of his own shoes, just hand me downs with holes.
I remember the shopping trip to Hanlon's, a store known for only well made shoes with my father and two of my sisters. They were ugly shoes to me, like something Buster Brown would wear. I faked to my father that they were too heavy and had trouble walking with my skinny legs. My sisters were OK with them and tried them on again when we got home. The shoes had smooth leather souls and my sisters slid across the living room rug enjoying their temporary new game that I could only watch with a brief, mild envy. I remember some time later on my birthday, my father brought home a pair of pretty red buckle shoes that I thought were too young looking for me being in the last year of grammar school. I faked again that I loved them and hid the buckle underneath my foot to make them look like what the "big girls" wore when I went to school.
I remember walking to friends houses and calling out for them..Hi O Betty! Never rang a bell, almost always played outdoors, winter, spring, summer, fall. There were neighborhood baseball games led by the fathers when the warm weather started. I walked often to the store with my father so I could have him all to myself. He used to buy me rainbow ice cream cones and told me "not to tell the other kids", my siblings. He knew the lady who owned the store and they knew him and greeted him by his first name.
When I got older, my mother used to send me to the small grocery nearby. It was a treat to go by myself and hope for some left over change for a treat. She would call the store and find out the exact amount, I think, because there was never any change. My parents had a thing about sweets and our teeth.
On Friday nights in front of the TV, we all got to choose a candy bar from a variety pack. My older sister always got the "Payday". I always wanted "Jr Mints" or "Milk Duds" so they would last longer. Everybody was pleased with their choice. There was never any more candy in the house except for Halloween and that was rationed well into the new year. No soda, except for birthday parties, though the cabinet was always filled with boxes of cookies for our lunches at school. We all had cavities and no dental insurance included with my father's Fireman's benefits. Teeth were another big issue with my parents; it was the cookies that did us in as my parents did not think them as harmful as candy and soda.
We walked to elementary school with lunch boxes like all the other kids. Nobody would ever have expected the schools to provide lunch, never mind breakfast. When we arrived home after school, we played outside...jump-rope, bike-riding without a helmet, hide and seek, dolls and carriages. We even played school teaching the smaller kids and sometimes my older cousins with their friends would teach us.
I remember tradition. For Easter, we all had new clothes from socks to underwear, dresses, shoes and hats! We arrived at Mass dressed up like most everyone else, piling out of the car and walking to church together. Fourth of July was always about the fireworks at night. Off to the pond, easy parking though with big crowds. Earlier in the day the local parks gave out free hoodsy ice cream cups and big lolly pops. The girls decorated their doll carriages and the boys decorated their bikes. The best one got a prize. Summers were beach memories. Driving with my parents, the radio on and the windows open, nobody talked much, traffic was always light and the beach was an easy park. Picnic baskets full, we usually stayed past sunset and the smaller kids slept on the way home. Drive-in nights piled us all in the car once again with sacks of potato chips and juice. We never went to the refreshment stand...too expensive...but we always begged anyway.
Back to school was about a shopping trip down town. New clothes for all and big fatigue for all by the time we were back home by public transportation. We sometimes had lunch "in town" but not always. A definite treat.
Halloween came around and we wore home made costumes. The neighborhood was filled with kids dressed as well in crude or creative costumes and we all advised each other which houses were giving out whole candy bars. All doors were open with lights on, storm doors already put in for cool fall nights and winter on the way. We would be out without chaperon from about 5:30-8:30 traveling to adjacent neighborhoods and moving quickly. Thanksgiving was traditional with turkey always and we all dressed for dinner. My mother always cooked with no help. She did this well into her 70's. She was a true traditionalist as was my father. Christmas started soon after Thanksgiving, never before. School plays and parties with music, shopping, pageants at the church with free candy canes. Picking out a tree was my father's assignment and I was more than happy to go along. Each family member made a tradition of critiquing it. Christmas Eve was always pure magic; the tree lights on and stockings obit the fireplace filled with small treats, mostly fruit. Chocolates were handed out later in the day. My older sister made it a habit of waking me up on Christmas Eve to get a spy in on my parents working on transferring the presents hidden in closets and attics to underneath the Christmas tree. I liked surprises, but could not resist. When my parents got too quiet, we knew they were on to our caper and we sneaked back into bed.
These memories warm me and overwhelm me with gratitude for parents who created for us a safe, fun, structured environment surrounded with love. The love required the expectation that we would all do the right things which mostly we did. Whatever this changing world holds for the future, these special and abundant memories cannot be taken away.
I remember safety and security, a mile walk to a birthday party when I was 7 years old, wearing my one party dress for such occasions and carrying a small wrapped gift worth only a few dollars. The walk back was the same plus a sugar rush from ice cream, cake and soda; less a gift under my arm.
I remember simplicity: just party games, expected sweets, a paper table cloth, paper cups and children that at 7 years old were expected to behave. No pizza or jumping houses.. or parents aside from those of the birthday girl. We had fun.
I remember my parents who talked about the depression from time to time, never the war. My father who fought in the war, returned, married my mother had five kids and moved on. I remember my mother telling of her mother who came through Ellis Island expecting some glorious city with streets clean and golden who ended up in tears on the strange, new, filthy streets of New York. She moved on too and found a position in elegant Beverly Farms as a maid and later found my grandfather, a butler for the same family. They moved on; he became a carpenter and created a nice life for their three children, my mother being the youngest.
My father had a different story. He was one of eight whose mother died when he was twelve. His father, a fisherman was "always out to sea" as he put it and married a woman to look after his children. She had children of her own and resented those of her new absent husband. He told the story, but that was it. My father insisted on good shoes for his children as he didn't have the luxury of his own shoes, just hand me downs with holes.
I remember walking to friends houses and calling out for them..Hi O Betty! Never rang a bell, almost always played outdoors, winter, spring, summer, fall. There were neighborhood baseball games led by the fathers when the warm weather started. I walked often to the store with my father so I could have him all to myself. He used to buy me rainbow ice cream cones and told me "not to tell the other kids", my siblings. He knew the lady who owned the store and they knew him and greeted him by his first name.
When I got older, my mother used to send me to the small grocery nearby. It was a treat to go by myself and hope for some left over change for a treat. She would call the store and find out the exact amount, I think, because there was never any change. My parents had a thing about sweets and our teeth.
On Friday nights in front of the TV, we all got to choose a candy bar from a variety pack. My older sister always got the "Payday". I always wanted "Jr Mints" or "Milk Duds" so they would last longer. Everybody was pleased with their choice. There was never any more candy in the house except for Halloween and that was rationed well into the new year. No soda, except for birthday parties, though the cabinet was always filled with boxes of cookies for our lunches at school. We all had cavities and no dental insurance included with my father's Fireman's benefits. Teeth were another big issue with my parents; it was the cookies that did us in as my parents did not think them as harmful as candy and soda.
We walked to elementary school with lunch boxes like all the other kids. Nobody would ever have expected the schools to provide lunch, never mind breakfast. When we arrived home after school, we played outside...jump-rope, bike-riding without a helmet, hide and seek, dolls and carriages. We even played school teaching the smaller kids and sometimes my older cousins with their friends would teach us.
I remember tradition. For Easter, we all had new clothes from socks to underwear, dresses, shoes and hats! We arrived at Mass dressed up like most everyone else, piling out of the car and walking to church together. Fourth of July was always about the fireworks at night. Off to the pond, easy parking though with big crowds. Earlier in the day the local parks gave out free hoodsy ice cream cups and big lolly pops. The girls decorated their doll carriages and the boys decorated their bikes. The best one got a prize. Summers were beach memories. Driving with my parents, the radio on and the windows open, nobody talked much, traffic was always light and the beach was an easy park. Picnic baskets full, we usually stayed past sunset and the smaller kids slept on the way home. Drive-in nights piled us all in the car once again with sacks of potato chips and juice. We never went to the refreshment stand...too expensive...but we always begged anyway.
Back to school was about a shopping trip down town. New clothes for all and big fatigue for all by the time we were back home by public transportation. We sometimes had lunch "in town" but not always. A definite treat.
Halloween came around and we wore home made costumes. The neighborhood was filled with kids dressed as well in crude or creative costumes and we all advised each other which houses were giving out whole candy bars. All doors were open with lights on, storm doors already put in for cool fall nights and winter on the way. We would be out without chaperon from about 5:30-8:30 traveling to adjacent neighborhoods and moving quickly. Thanksgiving was traditional with turkey always and we all dressed for dinner. My mother always cooked with no help. She did this well into her 70's. She was a true traditionalist as was my father. Christmas started soon after Thanksgiving, never before. School plays and parties with music, shopping, pageants at the church with free candy canes. Picking out a tree was my father's assignment and I was more than happy to go along. Each family member made a tradition of critiquing it. Christmas Eve was always pure magic; the tree lights on and stockings obit the fireplace filled with small treats, mostly fruit. Chocolates were handed out later in the day. My older sister made it a habit of waking me up on Christmas Eve to get a spy in on my parents working on transferring the presents hidden in closets and attics to underneath the Christmas tree. I liked surprises, but could not resist. When my parents got too quiet, we knew they were on to our caper and we sneaked back into bed.
These memories warm me and overwhelm me with gratitude for parents who created for us a safe, fun, structured environment surrounded with love. The love required the expectation that we would all do the right things which mostly we did. Whatever this changing world holds for the future, these special and abundant memories cannot be taken away.
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