The era of good intentions is over

Now this era has lasted for decades.

Fiscal accountability in promoting our American future will grow in influence.

After all, our size in number of people alone has grown, so why should not other things, like our elected public governments, at all levels, by the way.

The catch seems to be ideas like a tipping point in political terms, or a paradigm shift in academic terms, or just an old fashioned term like the straw that broke the camel’s back.

When all the good intentions start dragging down old granny, or me, or my kids, or my grandkids, then I am now motivated to vote and work for my cause.

The key point, to me, is I also count, and have worked for it. The obvious question is: should I keep working for it?

There are other alternatives that I prefer. I just wish I heard more about basics, like police and fire protection, or on demand electricity to keep things going where I live. Now all these things cost money, and I just wish to hear about more than pie in the sky talk by ill educated people.

Most of us have been through high school, and know about cliques and other such high school foibles.

My question to all is this the way we want to go as a country?

Now I can talk to I am blue in the face, so in the end none of this matters, kinda. What bothers me is that normal humans that loan us money will not loan us money in the next decade’s future, and then we will have to change to live within our means, which are very considerable, by the way.

Now there are also old time ideas that influence my thoughts. Back in WWII we actually had to have war bond drives to get enough fellow Americans to provide enough money to fight for their benefit. Now my thoughts today are they had their own problems, and to make “loans” (buying war bonds) took some sacrifice. Now it probably did not involve sacrificing “granny”, but there was a balance to it all.

In the end, there were no foreigners then loaning us money to prosecute a war in our behalf. Things were different then, and I think things are different now. Even the threat of inflation is scary to those who know about it, or have lived through it.

Like the title said, the era of good intentions is over. Nobody in their right mind would try buy a house with an 18% loan for example. This comes from Louisville, Ky, for example in the 1970’s. I preferred to rent at the time of decision. That was a better deal for me. And I was married with kids, so I was so influenced.

There is good news, a lot. We Americans are hard workers and do OK.

I suspect after much hard times now perhaps started by our present elected politicians that many fellow Americans and others in the world may die before their time. What a shame. What worries me more, yes I can have emotions and worry too, is that there were other courses of action that might have worked better, like much better.

Like the title said, the era of good intentions is over.

The sad part is that it is not all America’s choice anymore . The next couple of decades are going to be tough on future Americans. I suspect there will be much political bitterness. The good news is that I suspect our progeny will sort it out to their advantage. I just hope it doesn’t take a revolution, which I think our present political leaders may be setting up.

Good intentions are one thing, thinking about our present and future families is another.

The era of good intentions is over, I hope.

I always wondered what my ancestors thought during the times of the American Revolution

Now I was taught and accepted ideas like a distant imperial kind of English King and English parliament prompted what happened as an American revolution. The underlying idea then, as I was taught, was to mine our vast American people energy and land resources to promote business at home in England. Right or wrong, this is what I think today. There were many grievances, and also some good stuff. And I was also taught that most of our revolutionaries were in the minority, as in most American colonists were loyal to the King.

So fast forward to today. And I don’t believe any movie, as much as I also enjoy them, like the movie “The Patriot”.

So can one apply human experience and circumstances in their time to our circumstances and experiences in our time? Is there a common human kind of denominator that might help us today? I think so, since we humans are pretty much the same now as then.

So this voter thinks our present elected Legislature and Executive have imposed themselves on their ruled population. I accept all this, but what I fear is that the obvious reaction is not the vote, but something more akin to a revolt or a revolution. That is a bad course of action compared to the alternatives we have.

In the meantime, much of this is a moot point. When we as a country cannot borrow enough money to pay the bills, then federal politicians will have to do old fashioned kind of things, like set priorities and fight over spending. And all our taxes are considerable, both local, state, and federal. For example, what fellow human being would loan the USA $10 billion dollars for 10 years at an interest rate of 10%, or $100 million dollars; and then expect to get back $5 billion dollars in their principal in the end. Now the number will say $10 billion, but the spending power after inflation would be $5 billion. Now that is a bad deal. Since nobody knows what the future will really be, what would you do today?

And locally, are we to go without clean water supply or police protection to support the retirement benefits of teachers? Now these are the kind of reasons to vote.

Much friction is coming. Let us hope we go another route than our ancestors in the time period of 1776, But in the end, we will go our own route. And we also love our families and kids, and their opportunity for our American future.

Do you believe in the diamond in the rough idea?

Now there are variations which seem to still carry weight these days. Statistics like African American 70% out of wedlock births are too much ignored. And these are also fellow Americans, and their kids have opportunities also, I hope.

Now I think there is something cultural going on, as in the rest of America should both accept and embrace this latest African slave imported culture. Now all of us probably admit there are OK kind of things going on, but when one messes with our kids, then things will change. So be it.

This is simply America and our own American culture.

And will citizens accept poor performance and ignorance in the name of governing?

We in America are OK. And we will compromise to do our taxpayer bit at all levels, county, state, and federal. And I think we will do our version of charity with tough love delivered, to do our bit, also. What we won’t do is make our kids future less than anything we thought we could do. In this is the face of change.

I used to teach at Morris Brown College in Atlanta for three years. And you know what, some fellow humans were not diamonds, they were simply others.

It is the human factor that would impress this voter

Said another way, do people still count…as in all of us.

Now I presently live on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, and for a lot of good reasons we have had more than a fair share of now historical utopian settlements, to include recent one hippie type settlement that is in a second wave of effort…the first effort from California failed.

What seems to be the common thread of past failures, as in people move off, is that the humans who work hard eventually get frustrated and later more emotional about their other human neighbors who are their local version of deadbeats. These kinds of people choose to denigrate themselves as a way of existence. That is just the way we humans are, it seems.

My imagination suggests to me that this idealist communal principle is part of our human nature. But my now old age wisdom and experience also suggests the need to temper my humanity with some practicality. After all, I am a human too, and I have children and their children to think about, too. As hard as it is to admit, some humans are deadbeats, and I cannot change this as much as I wish it so.

And here locally, I understand the idea of why some people are poor. Some are truly poor, as in circumstances, like their mom and dad didn’t even teach them how to brush their teeth with the local water. But they still made their babies like normal.

But there are so many other local people who are poor because they are deadbeats. Often these days drugs are involved, but this is both another story and another way to be a dead beat. Of course the question of where does the money to buy drugs come from and the local answer is both: stealing, and well intended government welfare. For example, a local gal gets a $25,000 disability check from Social Security, and within a month $15,000 has gone to drugs. And later her brother has to collect her nightgown body passed out in a winter yard, and his ancestor who tolerates this is not strong enough to collect her up. As sad it is to report, this happens all too much.

Now any fellow human can think anything they want, and will I am sure. But I also can think anything I want, and I think that that any kids that don’t have a mom and a dad at their home have a strike against them. Now, like most, I am more than familiar with modern day arguments that kids do better with a single happier mom, than a contentious marriage. I just don’t buy this argument. Kids do better for our American future with a mom and dad at a home that they live in. And moms and dads have many reasons to be married, to include having kids that they promote in their own ways.

All the preceding logic suggests many human factor things. Any reader can make up their own mind about their values, and what is important to them.

I’ve got my values and ideas, and you have your values and ideas. This is so American as long as we can vote.

Why do puppies play

Because they can.

Why do they when they can…I don’t know.

Spring is starting to spring on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. Maybe that helps? But also it is going to snow Sunday night or Monday morning, so much cold weather is still around. After all the humming birds left early during last September 2009 so I took that as a hint we humans and puppies may experience a long winter. So it seems to be happening around here.

Watching puppies play on this puppy warm spring afternoon is like watching an off-Broadway show, or a local play which is pretty much as entertaining, and thriftier. When I was younger I used to call my father cheap…now I call him thrifty. And he died in 2002, and I do still call him thrifty.

Today I and several others from all age groups spent more time opening a pit that may or may not work out as a cave. We used all legal means, just to cover my tail. Anyway, we hoped, in my words, to make it to China, but at the end we are still stuck in Putnum County, Tennessee. Teaching young men was the fun part of it today.

So it goes on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee on the time of the spring equinox. Perhaps we are more pagan than I imagined?

And the puppies are still playing. And it is still fun to watch.

I am a child of the 60’s, too

We had many courses of action then, and we still do, as long as we can demonstrate, and then vote.

What worries me is that some might try to take away my ability to demonstrate, and then vote. This worry is real to me, be it right or wrong. Any other means to take away my vote is also wrong. After all, I am an American, and I have rights.

My vote also counts in so many ways, to include city, county, state, and federal. Even school boards that spend so much of our property taxes in so many places allows the tax payers to vote about their kids and our future. Votes like for the County Commissioner come to mind.

Any attempt to take away my child of the 60’s ideals is simply misplaced, though I think it is going on. I am an American, too.

As a child of the 60’s I wondered then, and I wonder now, what went in during our ancestors thinking during the times of the American Revolution. I suspect much of these thoughts are going on today in our present day terms.

I am incredulous that I can even use my imagination this way. But things have suggested that I also anticipate all this.

The year 2010 is gonna be a bad year for all of us

And we, elected and we the governed, did it to ourselves. What a bummer and waste of good intentions. After all, we have our own families to support and promote. If our families will suffer then things will change, I think. If we adults suffer, then things will be more ameliorated. Lest I use a big word, then things are going downhill, and we people are doing it. The old expression comes to mind: screw with me once…shame on you, screw with me twice…shame on me.

Now because we are Americans, we will help out our fellow citizens, including those drug and alcohol addicted people. Here locally, this includes a 5 months pregnant woman. Now don’t forgot how our votes count. Most are local, like county and school boards, and in some places city. Some are also state, and then federal. As long as our votes count, then that is pretty good.

Now change is normal, and most humans don’t like it. But in the same vein, don’t mess with our kid’s futures.

Now I also hear to ignore the Constitution, or even improve it without offering amendments as written and I think understood.

What is so silly is the seeming naivety of our present federal leaders in the executive, and those that are also in the federal legislative. They seem to have their goals, and if it diverges with those of us who elected them, so be it. Their naivety is that we Americans have our own opinions, too. This smells of the old times of colonial times, to include King George, his Parliament, and his hired solders, like the Hessians. Standby for heavy rolls. In another way, perhaps we are living some momentous times.

All this could be, though I doubt it. Let us tamp things down in our time.

There are other courses of action, also.

Inflation 101

The title is a freshman college type course description. That is the approach this post uses.

The question is usual about what does inflation even mean since the subject is in the news so much. It is a good question. The experience level in America with inflation depends on one’s age, and so many younger citizens have simply never had the experience. And the question I hear often enough is “what does it mean to me?”

Of course what it means depends on you are, and your particular circumstances. But in the same vein, the common denominators apply to all of us.

The cost of living index is a good way to read the present calculated inflation rate. While the two numbers are different, to most the two impact our lives about the same. Anyone drawing monthly social security dollars knows all this, by the way.

Back to inflation and what it means to us, the common citizen. If inflation any given year is 5%, and our take home pay goes up 5%, then all is well. But if inflation goes up 5% and our pay is capped, as in no increase, then our quality of life decreases by 5%. To normal humans raising a family this means what their $100 dollars of pay for groceries now only buys $95 dollars worth of food that year. Bummer. And apply this idea any way you want to your quality of life and how you live.

Now one can talk about inflation another way. Let us say you have saved money for any reason, to include a “rainy day”. For example if you had $10,000 saved in a bank, and annual inflation was 10%, then in 4 and ½ years you could only buy $5,000 worth of stuff. Bummer. So many try to increase that $10,000 savings to $20,000 dollars just so in 4 and ½ years they are even. Bummer again.

Now there are also pros to this. For example, if you are paying a fixed mortgage you got when rates were lower, then inflation may help you in the short run. And ivory tower types apply this also to many other levels. But in the end, what do the voters in America think? Mostly, how does it affect them?

What seems shameful is for those in elected leadership seeming to apply their ideas of a commune to the whole USA country, using the federal legislature and federal executive to get it going again. Let me add in their hired staffers. Now many in our past have tried this with the best intentions, and all have failed in the end. Bummer again.

If what is going on today should bring back USA like inflation in our recent decades old past, then things will sort out in the end, and as always. It is the human suffering in the meantime that is so disturbing. It did not have to happen as will probably unfold.

The ends do not justify the means

There are variations to this human foible.

One goes along the line of the “tyranny of the minority”. In this variation one can think the 1776 revolutionists were the minority, and obviously had their way in making our USA we have today.

In other more modern variations in the USA there are examples of those who think they know best and usurp our votes in practicing political control. The era during the President Wilson times comes to mind, as does the present times. Now I don’t know what exactly went on during the Wilson times, though I do read about it. Now I do think I know about what is going on these days, because I am living it.

Alas, I decided months ago to try learn about what the English Parliament was thinking and doing during the time of our American Revolution, as well as what the executive, aka King George, was thinking. My ideal was to see how other humans in their times made their decisions given all their derisive times.

So far, I think that we Americans are still in charge of our destiny, good, bad, or indifferent. And we should be able to vote this way, as good or bad as the process is. Mostly, this means, the majority of citizens who vote should rule thru our elected politicians. Is that simple enough?

I think this is what America is pretty much about. Letting the people vote and rule, as good, bad, or indifferent as others may think about what they think is the way to go.

Simply said, the ends do not justify the means.

Now what is a shame is what seems to be what we are doing to our descendents, like our children and their children. In this is the potential for revolt. Just what would you do if expected to work for 6 months a year just to pay for your ancestors federal bills, long done and dead in their time. After all, our children have their problems to work through in their lifetime, too.

Alas, things may be descending these days. If our votes count, then most can live with the results. If votes don’t count, as if voters are ignored, then I expect things will change. If the executive ignores the legislative or judicial branches, or both ignore the voters, for example, then things will change.

Golly, I hope it doesn’t get to this point. After all, we are all Americans in the end, I hope.

Can some people impose themselves on others?

The idea of the consent of the governed always bubbles to the top. This is so American.

Now the consent may not always be perhaps a good course of action, but by golly, it is the consent. Perhaps over time that consent idea will change? That is what politics and votes are about here in America. People, humans, Americans, have their own ways to look out for themselves, and promote their future.

And most also believe and pay taxes to the many levels of governments that rule us. There has always been faith and trust in our new world future, I think.

Now I also think in our Nation’s continuing evolution, there are those who want to impose their ideas on the rest of us. Good luck!

As long as we can vote for all levels of our rulers, school board, city, county, state, and federal, then things will sort out as always.

If other Americans want to change this in their way without the consent of the governed, then the poo poo will hit the fan.

I, for one, don’t think this will happen. I sure hope not, anyway.

Emotionalism vs. rationality

The common uniter is our humanity. Just who do we trust with our American future, if anyone.

Now I also appreciate what a good deal we have here in America. Having lived overseas; there are worse deals. Try day on day off non potable water when you can get it, for example. Most don’t like the smell of overfilled toilets full of poop, for example.

And now we have a lot of people who think American rights and benefits, like 24/7 electricity, are normal. This these days is called the status quo I think. Of course this is normal to those who vote and make decisions these days, it seems. That is all they know. And they are so confident in their human illiteracy.

So let things go, as in people will die. In large numbers. Just let it go. Mostly this idea has to do with just being cold and hungry. My emotional response, and maybe rational response, to what is going on these days, is just to give up and let people die. Even when I see media TV things about battery powered “widgets”, to include cars, that suggest they are energy “free” just makes me angry because of the simple stupidity. Some of us know this has to come from electricity, like power plants. The current idea is called a longer exhaust pipe.

Now in my emotional rant, there are so many other ideas that are just presently promoted and just still plain suck. My idea is to promote my country, mostly local and state, so it can benefit our progeny. My rationality suggests my fellow Americans will do it in their own way. I hope so.

Now I have a friend who suggested about 10 years ago just to let things go. Nobody could screw up America, and all of us, in the end.

Now I wonder.

If only they had listened to me

Can we still vote?

Our USA Constitution reflects, I think, our ancestor’s recognition of our humanity, which is not all good.

And there are other alternatives. Many reflect paying attention to the “people” as they are today. For example, I admire the Chinese Communist leadership trying to change the representation to say the obvious in their country…over ¾ of their present population is very rural, and they will be ruled, one way or the other. In this is much friction which we should worry about. The leaders there do, also. To use a Gandhi line modified, if the ¾ rural don’t want to be ruled by the ¼ urban, then they won’t.

And the beauty of the “American” way of culture is that we made it, all of us, together. And like it or not, there are many influencers, European and British mostly, but also African from the slave trade, Asian from that slave trade, and now more than ever, Latino from that source. We even had an Italian slave trade into the South in the last century I think…and now I get some good recipes. Plus we exploited our resources for our own benefits.

My key thought is my ability to vote, which is so “American”. If other humans try to take that vote and idea away, then things will change in a bad sort of way.

In other words, the present friction is OK, as long as I can still vote.

The big collapse is coming

I would have predicted it would happen around 2016 not too long ago. Now it may be even sooner.

Here’s the good news. Our productive new world in America will be the way things end up for the whole world. Unfortunately, along the way, things will get very painful. Ideas like the status quo, and simple things like our collective governments providing police, fire, clean water, and waste water treatment will bubble to the top. Along the way, electricity to make light at night, and keep our refrigerators and freezers going 24/7 will also bubble up to the top. All this is so simple, but also so full of friction, and fog in political terms. The big collapse is coming, I still think. Just how we humans do as a response is up for grabs.

Just what happens is also up for grabs. My guess is that the ability to get loans, on a national scale for the USA will come to an end, or at least be difficult. We can get into all the various kinds of ivory tower theories, but if politicians can’t provide things like electricity, then things will change. Like I suggested in the title, the big collapse is coming. And we did it to ourselves. If all our present taxes, local, state, and federal, are not enough, then maybe our elected persons will revert to the old time ways, as in argue and debate over how to spend and prioritize our existing contributed tax monies. Of course this idea assumes we cannot borrow our way out of the present situation. And of course, we American humans and our politicians have made this situation.

We can shoot the messengers all we want, and probably will.

Much friction is coming.

The big collapse is coming. It will start when our federal government cannot get enough people to loan us enough money. It will end when inflation gets down to acceptable numbers (to the voter).

I still think in the end, all we strive for is to promote our families and opportunities for our kid’s futures.

This idea is not political in America. It is simply human in the world.

Another way to rule…American style

The recent discussion of who knows what is in the recent bills our federal legislative branch is voting on prompts this post. The obvious examples are the various health care reform bills that amount to thousands of pages. Who can read them in the time allotted, and then take the time to follow the arcane language of referrals and such that is in such a bill, which ever version and title. Does anyone even know what is in the latest proposal? I don’t, anyway.

Now some do. They are mostly “staffers”.

And these staffers are also fellow Americans, and do the most basic work any government employee should do, kinda like a Senator or Congressman should be doing. And I suppose that many of our elected legislators depend on what their hired staff says to do? Maybe I am wrong, but my “inside the beltway” experience says otherwise. Much federal money and other such things work this way these days.

Now all this “staffer stuff” is new in the last few decades. And so is who pays their salaries and benefits, which are good? Mostly we taxpayers pay their salaries and benefits, but it will take an investigative reporter to delve further. After about 30 google searches, I have given up for now.

For example, the present Speaker of the House I think runs several committees, each with its own staff. These staffs include, I think, the congressional staff, the speaker staff, and I think a Democratic Party staff. Now I just don’t know right now, and I really don’t know for sure who pays right now.

What I do know for sure is the quality of life of those staffers I observed during my time “inside the beltway”. One example galled me. The Congressional staffers had our elected congressmen build a $54 million dollar gym in a federal building just for them. Even Senate staffers were persona non grata. They had their own gym, too.

So who’s in charge in D.C. I really don’t know for sure. But for sure, we Americans are really in charge, in the end.

Cooking can be fun

Most of it is ego, I think.

Now preparing healthy meals is also an objective to so many. Also preparing tasty meals is an easy way to go. The “customers” after all are our children, relatives, and friends.

And tasty meals seem to sell here in America. And we seem to have a good deal here. Nobody is hungry, for example, at least right now

So making our friends and relatives and such to cook for is a good deal, I think. Mostly they are also willing to eat and live, and enjoy the human process.

Back to cooking. One idea, I suggest, is that one must be willing to experiment or try any kind of recipe or just a principle to feed whoever they feed. And they might even fail. So what. My test is how I listen to what the eaters say. One can apply their own experience to this idea, if they so choose.

Anyway, cooking can be fun…sorta.

Our future counts more than our past

What happens to our children and their kids is probably of more concern than what happened to us in our past. At least I think this.

Now many also think that the most recent past is a reliable way to predict the near future. Those who subscribe to this idea also may have a point.

And also many may know others who “carry the waters” of those who have gone before them. I suspect that emotion may play into this way of thinking, but I really don’t know. Anyway, in this scheme, the logic of our ancestors and their own problems in their times gets applied to us, today.

The last factor I think of is the “status quo”. The logic is that because it (whatever that is) has always happened, then it will always happen in the future. Now as a retired Marine, this idea is a hole I could drive a train thru, when given the opportunity, of course.

So what is our relatively near future to be? Who really knows?

And then there is one definition of happiness: good health and self-respect.

And so let me predict. This is always fun to do because there is no way to prove anything in any way.

But I predict we will promote our children and their happiness in any way we can. And any way we can may surprise us!

And I predict the future will be “American”, as in different from whatever other humans in our world do. I think we will be not too shabby.

In a perverse sort of way, maybe we will have made things better for our children, and their children.

There are so many reasons to think this. For example, many people think things are cold because the local weather is cold to them, and it is cold. But then speak with fellow Americans who bust ice in heated horse troughs in Nebraska, or simply put on more layers of clothes in New England, and the idea of American happiness becomes something maybe to brag about.

Or go without electricity during rolling black outs, and find out there are other ways to cook when the refrigerators and freezers fail to work long enough.

Anyway, while our “status quo” may be up for grabs, consider that our future may be much better. In other words, maybe our kids may be happy.

Another reason why I am nervous

Our present President and his hired minions are lightweights.

Is that simple enough?

Now my alert level went up during the campaign for many reasons. Here are some:
His famous statement that there are 57 states.
His bragging that he would create a new national defense service equally funded, manned, and equipped as the Department of Defense.
His alleged poor performance as the President of the Harvard Law Review. That this position was elected by his peers also says much.
That his visit to Hawaii after his election to the Presidency included visiting his dying grandmother, and he left his wife and his kids at their nearby vacation home.
That he said he would ruin a lot of families by his energy policies in Pennsylvania.

Since his election, his credibility, as in telling the truth, keeps coming up again and again. Now most of us want to believe anything our President and his minions say, but any crack in his credibility contributes to our nervousness. Is our nervousness fair or unfair?

And if it is fair, does it reflect some kind of personality defect?

Last, are his ideals and policies and practices going to get some of us killed before our time? Or is it already even happening?

The psycho-babble method

When many of us in our own ways try to interpret all we read and hear, many will also try to rise above the innate human tendency to attribute motives and intents to all people, both those we agree with and those we disagree with. Now most of we humans, are after all, humans, and we will necessarily use our own personal experience and knowledge to put ourselves into the shoes of others, and then proceed to say what we think the others are “thinking”. This is too often a waste of well-intended time, though we all do it, I think.

Now to support this idea of well-intended time, one should be aware of “studies” such as one in Scientific American Magazine decades ago that suggested normal human jurors were just as savvy as court expert psychiatrists and psychologists in trying to guess motives. I for one, invoked this idea and reference in trying to get “challenged” off of a court martial, and I failed. Though later I led the effort to condemn the guilty party to life imprisonment. He stomped a little girl to death.

So one can think and do as they like, and I suspect most will. Anyway, I will, too.

Now I can also report that there are other names and phrases for the psycho-babble method. I have heard pop-psychiatry, psycho-wacho, intents, and idealogy, to describe how other humans think. I am sure others have many more phrases like these.

Recently I heard another slightly different approach to this method’s problems that appealed to me. This approach was so human and so simple it caught my attention.

Suppose we think other humans are well intended, and wrong. Now that places both sides on dangerous ground, as in psycho-babble stuff. But, what was new to hear, was the consequences of being wrong. The idea of being wrong is what got my attention. Hence, I even entered the world of psycho-babble.

Here is where I crossed “capabilities” with my judgment of “intents”, and what I had listened to. Suppose other humans are well intended, but wrong?

I for one can live with that chance, until I think it will adversely affect my children and their children. Then I will rise up, which where I live on the Cumberland Plateau, means I will vote in all elections, school board, local, state, and federal. The alternatives like revolution and civil war, are so much worse, and silly to think about, but also worth mentioning as an example of my seriousness about the future of my children and their children.

So has this voter succumbed to the psycho-babble method. I don’t think I have. But maybe others have succumbed; that I just don’t have an opinion about right now. Sounds a little bit like “Forest Gump”, doesn’t it?

Spring has sprung

Hope springs eternal. Today on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee things were below freezing this morning, and now it may hit like 41F this PM. I might even wash off the salt from my made in Japan car (an Isuzu Trooper and a good car). Our local governments do a good job at keeping the roads open, but I also have to clean off the salt stuff so to keep the corrosion down. This is a known factor. All in all, a good report.

Now one, as I am, can “listen” to what the local animals do, as in listen to the local humming birds. They left in early September 2009, and I took this as a hint that here locally we may have a long winter, maybe even a cold winter. So far this seems to be happening.

Now, again, spring starts on the spring equinox date, which I think is March 21st. Basically it has much to do with our solar radiation and our earth’s time, but also is the date when daylight balances with darkness. It is predictable and usual.

Now, here, locally, I would not plant tomato plants until after the local normal freeze stuff happens, which is May 15th by the way. And, also, by the way, a long time gal already knew this, or at least suggested this.

Like I said, spring has sprung, or at least is springing.

Charity versus governments in helping our poor

My perspective is from where I live, on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.

First my old time report. I no longer prefer to contribute to the United Way or any of its subsidiaries, like the Combined Federal Campaign.

I prefer to do charity and contributions the old fashioned way, like contribute locally. Mostly it is just needy people I hear about. And, unfortunately, I have had to differentiate between deadbeats and needy kids. Such is life up here. And of course it is always who I hear about. Christmas a year ago I gave presents to five young kids whose local teachers suggested them. That is what I am talking about.

Now recently I also hear about an older gal (like 35) that got a $30,000 disability check from social security. Now four weeks later after her payment I also hear she has already spent $15,000 of it on drugs. Who knows what to believe, but for sure I think I might want to help her more “locally”, as in even doing some tough love.

So how do we try help our poor who are poor through no fault of their own? Just for the record, I don’t buy that argument. Kids are pretty smart, and do the best with what they have. Now in the same vein, one also has to buy the idea of being taught, as in brushing one’s teeth, or cooking a safe meal, or cutting safely with a chain saw. I don’t think any of us are born knowing how to do these so basic things, and so many others, too. For me, my mother’s mother had to teach me how to cook, for example.

So back to helping our poor. There is a difference between truly poor and truly deadbeats, even when addicted. And locally the best way to sort it out goes to charity, vice our governments. For example, how do we handle a druggy gal 5 months pregnant?

I suggest local charity has a better way. At least that is my experience on the Cumberland Plateau.

Will the American way of human life go on?

Of course we have always had a way of life.

Now do you, the reader, think we Americans are different, or just old world humans doing our bit in our new world? And of course the new world we think about from our experience is North America, but there are other Americans also doing their bit. Now they may have different histories, like Spanish, French, African, or even Asian, but by golly, they are Americans, too.

Somehow, I think we lucked out with our mostly British traditions that we have multiplied to our USA country. Now that is just an opinion, of course.

Now I also think we humans have more in common than not. Mostly, to me, it means promoting a better future for our children, and even grandchildren. Now some don’t think this, it seems I am learning.

So I am guessing our American way of human life will predominate in the end. Mostly, it is about our kids and their kids. The obvious extension is that we from an older generation will bite the bullet if we think it promotes our families in the long run. That is so simple and also so human.

The obvious distress these days is the amount of fellow Amerians out of work. For those living through all this, it is not fun.

Maybe also this terrible situation has precipitated many thoughts about what might be downrange given what our governments are doing. Can things get worse, maybe?

When do we bite the bullet, so to speak?

The evolution of a new third party in America

Now I hear, read, and watch what our present political leaders and their minions explain to us, the common citizens. I listen, like normal.

Then I also hear that the new kind of “tea party” will inevitably split the Republican Party and therefore give the Democratic Party the election victory that will bring all the things most object too. By reinforcing the democratic candidate’s elections, this may all happen.

But there is a Plan B, also occurring, and most sense it. Basically it says we will vote, and let the consequences fall. In the short term the present executive and legislative types may survive, but in the long term, things will change. The transfer point is the 2010 election cycle, these days. Another more realistic guess is the 2012 election cycle.

And you know, maybe this kind of thought may happen, in the entire USA end.

The idea I think of is one idea that maybe the new third party, which I choose to call the American Party, may really happen.

Now I suspect, and would expect, that many from both the present two national political parties will predominate. They suggest normal friction.

And Plan B suggests many former Republicans and Democratic type people will also join this new idea and change their stripes. Only time will tell, of course.

What does default mean?

This question is often bandied about for both federal and state governments. This always bothers me as to how casual the meaning and impacts might be. Now in fairness, this is uncharted territory, and no one really knows what will happen. Neither do I.

In the end, I think, we voters at all levels, federal, state, and local, like county and school boards, will decide what it means. Mostly I think it will mean who we pay, who we don’t pay, and how we will try to muddle through the process. Now much friction will occur during this most painful process. Everything will be up for grabs, to include those making the decisions. Mostly we will try to honor our ancestors and their politician’s obligations because that also helps us.

The big rub will come when people get cold and hungry, and families move into common dwellings, and start to live another way. And all our fellow Americans, to include our entrepreneur class, will also try to survive this suffering. Now that is a wild card, to me.

I suspect much human bitterness will arise that will influence this action. The idea is that we did this to ourselves, and never again may be the motto. I think of this idea in the most basic American idea.

It is fun being an amateur historian because I believe that we can use the examples of our ancestors to guess what we will do now. Now of course these times and we humans and our circumstances are different, but perhaps our human reactions and thoughts and decisions have some commonality. After all, we all love our families and our children, and will always promote their futures.

The last wild card that may affect things, to me, is foreign affairs. Will we be dragged into another regional war, like the Persian Gulf, for their historical reasons. Many may die, especially if it becomes more global, and that idea makes me unhappy. Now appeasement works long enough to kick it downhill, but in the end humans will fight to preserve their way of life and their families way of life.

What a sad state of affairs that there are men and women who can do this to their country, and to us.

Anyway, what does default mean?

A question of faith

Do you believe anything our federal government President says? Many do, or want to believe what he says.

Many also do not believe what he says. They have their points, too.

Being cold and hungry and maybe poor has something to do with all this for so many. It is a cold and long winter, so far. But there is something else going on, too. It is a question of faith.

In human politics it is also called trust and confidence when we can vote.

And it is bigger than just our President and our other governments. Most voters want change in all that has gone on in the last many decades.

Now the votes begin, again.

Another idea comes to this voter’s mind. The idea is called “taxation without representation”. What we are presently doing to our future generations seems to fit this category. They are people and future voters, too. And so many parents recognize this in their own ways.

Now it is going to happen, as also many more things, again. Call it a question of faith.

The coming frictions

Only we humans could make these situations happen.

Any government of the consented citizens usually elects people that will influence their futures. I for one, can’t believe I am even thinking this most fundemental way. I never thought it would get to this point in my life (I am 62 and a child of the 60’s, too).

We may be screwing up. And what a wonderful country in the USA we presently have to screw up.

Not too long ago, people voted for representatives in the USA that seemed to promote laws and policies that benefited us, the citizens. The idea is pretty simple. Set up things in America that benefits us all, both now and in the future. And this idea has been both federal, state, and local, like counties and school boards.

And even we have figured out how to try balance things like: too many people in India and China, rainforest destruction in Borneo, and other human environmental type stuff.

What makes sense to me, a voter by the way, is that we can still vote in the USA.

Now I wonder what some of my grandchildren may do when they get to voting age. My imagination is that the idea, when the light bulb goes on, that they have to work a good part of their year just to pay our bills (from today because we could not), will think that a bad deal that they will reject. I would. This idea invites generation warfare, I think. And we USA humans set it up during our times. That’s what our politicians are doing today, I think.

There are other frictions, too. Do we as Americans and our elected governments want to promote capitalism or some other way? Now that is a friction we can vote on.

Much future friction is coming. This idea includes unsustainable debt payments, both interest and the basis debt (hoping fellow humans even will keep loaning us the money). But also we Americans in the USA are also humans that do a pretty good job, as compared to India or China. We are not too shabby. Alas, much friction is still coming.

We are setting it up, it seems. And we have been electing those that are doing it.

Planning ahead

Most of us do it. Some don’t. Either way, things we may not like are going to happen in the near future.

If others do not loan us money as a USA to finance all these wonderful things we enjoy, then things will change because we have to pay our bills, I think.

Now I think there are gimmicks and ways to extend all this, but in the end, we have to pay our bills. Why else would humans (USA or foreigners) invest in the USA. Nobody will throw away their money, I think. And only one match may set off the whole house of cards collapse.

Now at the level I live at, the idea of “inflation” is one that is coming back, I think. To me it means that going to Walmart, for example, will cost me more for the same things. That makes me unhappy!

Also, I think our future depends on ourselves, as in, in the end, paying off our debts that our two political parties have brought upon us. Again, after all, we are not too shabby, and love our families enough to promote their future.

So last on planning ahead, any citizen has two choices, to me. One is to go the survivalist route. The other is to go another American route, which means to me we survive for our children’s and our families sake. Either way it will be painful for all of us. Nobody wants to be cold and hungry.

For me, I am ready for tough love. And I will vote for it.

I too love my country

It’s kind of embarrassing to think that some fellow Americans may be bringing us fellow Americans down to their image of what they want us to be. What a shame that they, maybe, are messing up, for all the usual reasons. We in America are normally better than their vision.

We have other ways, like alternatives, that also make America a pretty good place for humans. After all, in the end, it is about us and our families. And “their” expectations may be different that than ours. And we voted them in, at least, for now.

Having to wait for new elections is frustrating, but also the American way. The alternatives are far worse, I think.

Now the other observation is that too many think that we are one Nation, as opposed to being like a “united states”. That is different, and only time will tell.

Capabilities versus intents

Another way to look at things is one the military teaches. Basically it says that judging other’s intents is both difficult, and often a waste of time. The alternative of just looking at other’s capabilities is more doable and reliable. A prudent person probably should stick to the latter idea, as that will guide their future actions in a better way. Obviously no one can predict the future, but there are ways to plan for the future and all it will bring. In other words, there are ways to plan ahead, and think ahead. And some ways are better than other ways.

These ideas can apply to human conflict as in war, but also politics at all levels, families at all levels, and even ideas like climate change. Just what do people intend is difficult to guess, and often wrong. Just what they can influence and change is more manageable. Either course of action is often painful. One can lose or win, including people, militaries, nations, and institutions.

Now winning, and therefore there is losing, is no longer a popular idea in the USA. This idea has been superseded by “feeling good”. But that idea often falls by the wayside in places and families where being cold and hungry becomes a factor. In other words, good intents like feeling good wane by real world things like being cold and hungry in the winter in the northern hemisphere. I mean this is a squishy way of applying the idea of intents versus capabilities to regular human life when trying to make things better, as in win for our families, and even our nation.

Now so many fellow citizens are becoming concerned that their American way of life may come to an end in the near future. Both the comfort we have brought about for ourselves, and the trust in the status quo, is now up for grabs. Who can we trust, with the best word being “trust”.

I suggest we use the ideas of capabilities versus intents to go forward. Other’s use religion, and that works for them, too. And the normal human response is to go local vice national. We humans have more in common locally (and tribal) than nationally. In all cases, “what’s gonna happen to me” seems to bubble to the top. And the suggested way to think about all this is “capabilities versus intentions”.

Everyone, in the end, will figure it out in their own way. And their family’s future, especially their children’s future, will usually trump all. This idea is universal by the way. Americans are unique in many ways, but we are also humans in the end.

So I look at capabilities first. I see those political leaders trying to impose their vision of our American future on us. Their intent, as to why, I have my ideas, but in the end I really don’t know. But their capability to mess up my way of life now gets my attention. They can really mess up things, as in hurt me and my family and my children. Now that is an attention gainer.

There are alternatives to the present capabilities of our elected leaders. It is called the vote.

And unless we are human stupid, we have to change things in politics to enhance our families, our children, and our nation.

And I suggest we use the ideas of capabilities versus intents to influence how we think.

And then vote.

I have children, too

The thought that some of my children and relatives will die for some other American’s ideals just drives me crazy.

As a now retired Marine, I understand more than a little bit about war. And in the same vein, I would not want to be a cop in the USA. At least in the Marines, I used to be able to shoot the bad guys, not arrest them (in the old days).

Now I think there are people in charge of our federal government, both executive and legislative, who think otherwise. Now my children engaged away from our country are being asked to be more like cops than soldiers. That puts them in harm’s way that makes me unhappy. These ideas are just silly and stupid. They have a mission to accomplish, and seem to be going a fine job.

The normal emotional response is just to think about these same politicians doing all this to their kids and relatives, or maybe even themselves. The more American response is to vote. Either way, one imagines, things will change.

And the other normal emotional response is why should my kid die for some good idea in some god forsaken place that does not protect me, an American. These days it is called “nation building” and “counter insurgency”, but I don’t think that is a big deal to most Americans. And I think most Americans understand the dilemma of following thru or bailing out of what earlier politicians have started.

We have more concerns at home, I think. We also have a nation to continue to build and maintain, and also have our own “hearts and minds”.

I am not giving up on America

Recently, like for decades, the trend has been to try do better with less resources that are exhausted by too many benefits we can’t pay for. And the treasury has been full and mined to exhaustion, until recently. Now it is exhausted.

And it sure seems like the voters are making the corrections that need to happen, in order to preserve our families, our family’s futures, and maybe even our USA futures. We Americans are not too shabby!

Now many humans buy into the conspiracy ideas, as in some people are plotting to do their bit. For me, I usually assume incompetence as a better alternative to explain what has happened, and what I might agree with or disagree with.

Now I have become worried more than normal. The recent federal elections reported so much have given some new direction to the way we as America should go as a USA. Alas, the present executive, the President and his minions, and too many in our legislatures, seem to have gone their own way. It is the pattern of behavior that has gotten my attention. So I am worried they (whoever they are) may try to take away our vote by any present legal means they can use. How about declaring another emergency, and going with marshal law, as an example. Like I said I am worried. And I have lived in the third world where this happens, all too often.

Back to Americans. We are hard working people who love our families, and work to improve things. And we live in a wonderful country. That is a good reason to be happy, as tough as self respect and happiness can be.

It’s just not right

It is a privilege in life to live where handshakes and words still matter.

And human intelligence is different from human education, for example. And ethics, like “it’s just not right” is also different. Most humans are not born with all this; most of us need to be educated on all this. Families are a big deal on all this also, I think.

Why discuss this. Mostly because ethics education seem to be suffering in the USA these days. Values and standards, American all, still count a lot. And most of us know it in our own experience and communities, including how our moms and dads raised us.

Now for whatever reason, more children than ever are being born out of wedlock. This is a sad state of affairs, I think. Here in America, I think kids will benefit by having both moms and dads at home.

It will probably take old fashioned ideas like “shame” to help make all this change to benefiting our children.

We Americans are OK. And we have a future, too. On this rests the National Hope.

A path to our future

I think most of us want to make things better for our families, and maybe at the same time, our nation. Now just how we do all this is for our vote, and most want to vote after going through their busy lives at all levels. Most trust their governments to do their bit, but if ever there is a loss of trust and faith in their governments, then things may change, I think. And governments are all levels, collectively, federal, state, county, city, and school board.

And the voters can change their elected American politicians, if they want to.

Less if even Americans denigrate things like local school boards, consider that the Gwinnett County School Board (in the Atlanta area) had a $1.4 billion dollar budget this year. This is big time I think, and hopefully some of the populace can influence the action. Who else should influence the action, by the way. After all it is our kids, and our future.

Now we seem to have light weight types who want to use their federal elections to rule us Americans in their vision. Is that what we want? I don’t think so. We have better ways to improve our families and ways of life.

In the meantime, the status quo is not too bad. After all, our ancestors (and their elected representatives) also worked for the same goals.

Let’s vote.

I’m proud of my local county government

The local main roads are as well kept up in the winter snows as one would hope. And all this took tax money and the efforts of so many county employees, and the equipment we paid for and they maintained. Good on ‘em.

I mention my pleasure and pride because all this good stuff from a county government costs money, as well as the hard work of so many fellow Americans. And now that times are hard, I expect less; the winter is only half way through. Welcome back 100 years, in the worse case point of view.

And right now I have rural electricity, and my lights are on, my satellite TV stuff works, my electric refrigerator and freezer work, and I can make frozen pizza in my electric oven later today for my family and even friends, and the public schools are open.

Now I do have a wood stove insert and also run off a now rare in America hydraulic ram using local spring water. One could just say I was Y2K ready then, and am now in 2010. And the water spring sources are also from local areas, I think, and hope. I have done the science, and think I am correct. I sure hope so.

Less I sound like some kind of survivalist nut, I just want to brag about my fellow Americans in my local county government who are doing OK for us, I think.

Good on ‘em in Putnum County, Tennessee.

A recalcitrant American report

Now in my mind a recalcitrant American is someone who thinks independently without peer pressure. In other minds a recalcitrant American is some old person who just doesn’t care for his own reasons. He has other motivations and has lowered his standards enough to do OK. The term “old fart” may be appropriate.

Now it looks like I could have my 14 year old daughter come up here from Atlanta to live with me at the Hemlocks near Monterey, TN, and even attend the local Burks Middle School this remaining school year. I am becoming to believe she really wants to do it. And she has been up here enough to know the good and bad, I think. It is the hormone thing we have all been through, and she is going through, that keeps all this gooey.

Now I don't attend religious worship places very often, since I think of myself more as a pantheist, which makes me a weirdo at Monterey. So like I do go to Roaring Falls for my Easter Service, as an example. A local friend's hikes and picture shows also are such things, I think again.

Also as a Marine, I know, or at least think, that most of us need some structure and routine, and religions and churches do a good job at that, I think. Here on the Cumberland Plateau, I think I should go with the local choices if I want to introduce my daughter to such local structure and routine provided by churches. Again, maybe I am a weirdo, and being overseas a lot has made me think more about values and Family and less about formal religions, which exist for good reasons all around the world.

Now here is one good response I have heard:

Clay, We have wonderful news, Sue's Sister Frances,(Senior Director) goes to the First Baptist Church, and she was just telling Sue what a great Youth Pastor they have and what a great job he's doing bringing the Monterey Youth to their Youth Group, she said there must be sixty or seventy of them, they have a music group with guitar, drums and three or four instruments, and they sing and play in Church and your Daughter will fit right in.
And who knows, some of this may rub off on ole Clay. Bill and Sue

End of report

Another Cumberland Plateau update

Today another young woman with a child died up here. The first report is that it was a drug overdose and she was sitting on the toilet at the time. Now gossip is just that, but the mother and the girl she was are dead, that is for sure.

Now life is full of low lifes, and that is nothing new. There is a self correcting aspect to all this. What a shame for the kids when their momma dies. But life goes on.

And somehow all we humans survive being kids and grow up. It is a tough transition, most think. Some don’t make it, by the way. And peer, like school pressure, is pretty tough. And the girls are just as mean as the boys. I think. So much for this report.

The times they are a changing

Change is constant. And most humans don’t enjoy change. For example, most humans have a need to plan ahead. And unfortunately, not all change is for the better for humans, even though we would wish it so here in America.

And here we are today watching change happen in front of our eyes. The change I think we see is normal in one way, but the pace has accelerated in another way. It is the pace that makes this old Marine a lot nervous. The burgeoning national debt is one example of change, and even in 2008, Moodys, the credit rating firm, forecasted US Treasury bonds which reach junk bond status by 2016. Now that date has even moved up.

It is the wildcard idea that is most disturbing. Imagining such scenarios of change as the collapse of the US economy because we can’t borrow enough money, and then we don’t buy enough from China that causes them their problems, and there becomes a witches brew. Add in a good natural disaster, like a good volcano in Indonesia, or Yellowstone doing its bit with a geologically periodic major eruption, or the Three Gorges Dam in China being cracked by a man-made earthquake from the weight of the impounded water, with the resulting surge of fresh water into the east china sea through Shanghai that changes weather patterns, and well, it’s a wildcard. Like I said, it is the obvious human fragility to seek some predictability which is so normal.

Now here is the good news. We Americans are different here in the New World. Ideas also count along with human tendencies. We can change as well as anyone, and also know we can vote to help the process along. We are different, and most non-Americans know it. Hence the immigration numbers and flow arrows. In fairness, other peoples are not too bad, either. One normally should live outside of America to recognize this. The basic idea is pretty obvious, most humans will promote their family’s future. And their solutions are not too shabby, either.

I have thought long and hard how to simply explain where we are today here in American politics. All the normal and expected attacks I think I know and recognize. And perhaps it is not too simple. But then perhaps it is more simple than most would like to think about.

Perhaps we have simply compounded too many laws over our two hundred years of existence to make sense with what we have ended up with today. And less I apply this idea to the federal government, the state and county and city governments may also have a part in this idea. We Americans may have to take charge from all the politicians we have elected, and begin to change things another way.

After all, the idea is to enhance our family’s future and opportunities. And then the Nation comes next.

Adrift in the wilderness

We in the USA appear to have a light weight President and some heavy weight types in the House, and maybe the Senate, that are trying to decide our future.

Perhaps we may not go along with all this. Perhaps we will vote new leaders in?

Hopefully they will represent we in the USA differently. And the voting schedule takes time. This is the American way.

And we all do love our families, and will do what it takes to promote their futures.

If the present national parties can’t represent so many citizens of the USA, then the normal routine is to replace them, and their parties. It has happened before. It sure looks like it is happening again.

I was shocked and bothered

As a father, I had a visiting 14 year old daughter casually say that Kim Kardasian was getting a divorce. It was the casual manner that got my attention. And I really don’t even know who Kim is. I am sure she, Kim, is a hard working person, and all the other stuff. But I want my daughter to be happy, with self respect.

Perhaps something is wrong. Perhaps I have become the cyclops of the old days. But perhaps not, also. All people want respect, at whatever level. None of us want insults, which we will never forget.

So I suggest we parents do our bit. It may be ignored, which is normal. But by golly, somebody has to be the parent, and somebody has to be the kid. Screw the hormone bit which we all go through, and since we are alive today, have been through.

And few are born with knowledge. Most have to be taught things like values and standards and even shame. Even schools teach things, also. The idea is that we need to be taught. Is that simple enough?

At least we can vote

At least I think we still can vote, and have it count.

Can one believe that this is even thought about? But it is to too many Americans in our USA. This Marine wonders?

Between vote manipulations at all levels, federal, state, county, city, and school boards, one can wonder. Things have evolved, it seems. Manipulators have gained an advantage. This is so human, as in it has happened before. And now the pendulum has swung the other way. One can hope it just ends up with each person gets one vote, that counts. That sounds pretty simple, to most.

And when I went to school, part of the education was about our Constitution. One can either think we in the new world, America, are different in all ways, or one can think we just bring the old world over here, and do it again. Now that is a political choice.

And I know how I will vote, again, assuming, it counts.

Benign neglect

If ever an idea and policy practice needs to be reminded to all citizens, then this is a good time.
Benign neglect means many things to so many people. Today I would just call it a way to balance good intentions with a means to do so. And I would add the tie breaker is getting good results, like the quality of life and happiness of the intended, even if some tough love and patience is involved.
If you use this phrase and idea, be careful. Depending on the time and circumstances and location, the meaning and intent has changed, I think. What the Brits’ meaning was during their Empire times is probably different from we Americans in our post WWII times meant, especially in the Pacific area. And even in the 1960’s this idea was popularized in the USA when dealing with making amends for past segregation policies and laws. Our American politicians back then didn’t buy the idea, by the way. They went another way, again I think.
Now the term has come up again, I see. Mostly it is Brit talk about our American economy. It is all a good read.
So I suggest to the readers of this post to think about my definition of benign neglect: balancing good intentions with the means to do so. If you buy this definition, apply it as it affects your life and circumstances and area.
In conclusion, we Americans in our USA are still so diverse that one federal policy probably doesn’t work very well. Our USA is still big enough to have a need for many policies that try make things better, and they are naturally more county and state oriented. And the idea of benign neglect may work in one’s local areas. Of course, there are alternatives, too. But that is what politicians are elected to do, and what we voters elect them to do. And we still vote locally, state, and federal.

These are amazing times we can tell our descendents about

Much history of the US revolution includes the idea of “taxation without representation”. Also implied was an imperial kind of king (the executive) and an imperial kind of parliament (the legislative). The Boston Tea Party was such a promoted example of frustration. It sure seems like such things are going on today, here in America. After all, our own personal interests predominate all. What’s in it for me, and how do I benefit is so typically human, and family oriented. And does my vote still count?

The whole premise of any government is trust and faith. When we common citizens lose trust and faith, then the seeds of revolt, revolution, or civil war arise. It is so sad that this one citizen can even consider this, but I feel like I have been forced into thinking about all this.

Now this citizen just doesn’t believe in conspiracy to do one’s political beliefs. I personally think incompetency is too often a more plausible explanation. This idea is scary, also.

Last, I trust the citizens vote, good, bad, or indifferent. And I also trust we can vote federally, state, county, city, and school board. While I may be frustrated that I have to wait for the next vote, that is part of being a citizen in the USA, and also a part of our tradition. Just let me vote.

Now money talks. And all politicians at all levels in the last decades have been able to spend the fruits of our labors. This seems like a good idea, as long as these elected people intend to benefit those that vote for them. This is such a simple idea.

Like the title says, these are amazing times. And I will predict our human instinct will predominate, as long as we can vote.

Americans want change
The elections of 2008 in reflection suggest we Americans want a change in our governments. This applies to the federal level, the state levels, and the more local county, city, and school board levels. This idea suggests many voters are simply not happy with those they previously voted in. As the Bob Dylan song sang in the 1960’s, “The Times They are a Changing”. It sure looks like we Americans are changing, too.
Now we Americans mostly vote to benefit ourselves. What’s new? And there is also an intrinsic streak to also help our fellow Americans in need. Mostly, this means warmth and food, and opportunity for those who want to work. Of course, underlying all this is those who want to help and pay and are also warm and fed. We all love our families, after all, and they need to be warm and fed, also. And most can do it, and also vote. So perhaps there are limits to help, depending on where one lives. Yes, perhaps America is not one country, but still a united states of different states, still called the USA.
Culturally, we in the USA in the past 100 years have done a good job promoting all citizens to a more comfortable way of life. As an example, we have flush toilets with splinter free toilet paper, and electricity to keep our refrigerators and freezers going. Yep, we common citizens are living like kings and queens in our older times. We should be proud, and happy. And most are.
Now a common political argument is what powers all this energy and money that pays for all this good American stuff. In the old days, most politicians promoted businesses in their way. The idea then was to help the generators of wealth, as bad as they might be. We voted in our own politicians that did what they thought was best. Now the idea is that we fellow Americans and generators of wealth are “evil” and wrong. The assumption is that the go-getters of business will work around all this, and they probably will.
Is this the change we want? Only we voters can decide. And again, our votes are as just as local as federal.

Pointing out the obvious

Our present elected representatives are too often immoral, and too often, lightweights. This applies to the federal types, both elected and hired. Our country is suffering as a result.

Now most think these present elected leaders have good intentions, although it is their real intentions that count. The alternative is the people’s intentions, as if we elected our politicians to represent we voters. And there are still so many politicians at the state, county, city, and school boards that also are players.

Never assume conspiracy when sheer incompetency will do.

Between the past decades of Ivy League education and the resulting hiring of these people into the federal bureaucracy , perhaps both national parties have failed us. Both Republican and Democratic parties have favored these people, but without ethics and a sense of country, too many have taken advantage. None of us are born with a sense of ethics, we have to be taught it.

Too may have ignored our USA Constitution as an anachronism. Yet in the same vein, our ancestors had the unique opportunity to create a constitution that considered all the human factors. It seems like we are better off for it. Mostly, in to today’s terms, it is to protect us from the do gooders who have gained political control. Perhaps there is another point of view, and we should vote on these views in the scheduled elections. Now that just seems fair.

These are momentous times in America
Most Americans cannot believe such friction can happen in their life time. But, alas, it seems to be going on.
“It” can be in the eye of the beholder. And so it probably is.
What is our USA country going to be in our future? The American way is that we vote. No one or group can decide what our country is going to be unless we vote that way.
Now many fear there is a minority of American citizens trying to rule by their ideas.
Let us vote on the ideas, their and others.
And if those now in charge of the federal government agencies, and the President himself, want to ignore the Constitution and rule by their good intentions, well we may have the makings of a revolution. Now the title suggests, these are momentous times.
If someway a method to usurp the federal vote happens, then things will hit the fan, so to speak.
So I hope the vote still counts, at all levels, city, county, school board, state, and federal.
But if the vote doesn’t count, then these are momentous times.

Most know this
Some don’t.
In the winter, things get cold. What’s new?
In my old days, all we USA people did was put on more clothes, sleep closer together under heavier blankets, and just keep warm. A lot of people just do this now, but too many more do not do it now. They just turn up their thermostat, and live the way they want to live. Of course in this situation, somebody has to pay for the energy to heat the home with a thermostat, and so many more Americans have to work to deliver this energy. And they do a bang up job, I think. Consider how demand for energy goes up and down based on the winter weather, and it seems we can always be warm. All we have to do is turn up the thermostat, and the energy is there.
Now we Americans are not stupid. For example, when one built homes for their families in the 1880’s and later, the ceiling height was often 10 to 14 feet. This was to allow the summer heat to be above where we lived, as in below. Considering there was no electricity for most back then, this was a pretty good idea, I think. Anyway, just use a step ladder today in a room with a ceiling like 12 feet, and you will know what I mean. There is a “thermal” line that one crosses, and it is very hot above it.
Last, just overseas I know that the rest of our humanity also has to deal with their winter. In my old case in Korea near the DMZ, I lived in a canvas tent with a dirt floor where it never got above freezing for 30 days. And here I am posting decades after the experience about being cold, and alive. And they do OK, too.

What level do you want to think at?
All times are momentous. These times are, too.
Here in our Western world, we are suffering from a recession that affects so many of our fellow citizens. No amount of smooth talking will keep families warm and fed. And the winter is coming on. And most government’s abilities to pay those that need help is also going down through reduced revenues.
And then there is a dead beat factor. Some Western people are poor and cold and hungry because they are lazy, and have become dependent on their governments help, i.e., tax payer money. And those that are poor and cold and hungry because of circumstances do deserve our help, and there are many ways this is happening, mostly at the local level, and with some tough love thrown in. In other words, things are already happening to help our truly poor. Good on these folks!
Having lived in the third world, there are many really poor people, too. And they are truly poor, not American poor. And they too get cold and hungry, and suffer from their rulers, all too often. And they too have their own way to react, and also have their own pride and family motivations and circumstances. And their rulers also react in their own way, often tribal, and even up to a national royalty type of way, like a King of Afghanistan. The old joke about herding cats comes to mind. Kings have to try herding tribal leaders, as an example.
Now many believe the stats that our Western birth rates are coming into a kind of replacement rate, kinda like slowing down. Many also predict and believe that the birth rates in the third world are about the same, which is high, and these future humans will want all the advantages, mostly energy consumption, that others also have. They love their families, too.
So back home to our USA. Are we a “new world” of humans in America, or a future pattern of some leader’s ideas of a commune that will benefit all? And of course how they can finance their ideas? The commune idea is as old as the hills. What a waste.
In the end it is the human factor. You go figure. Most of us love our families and will do anything to help them.
This post is disjointed on purpose. What level do you think at?

These are momentous times in America
Much change is going on. Did we vote for it?
Now all say their times are momentous, but this time period may be really different. You decide. Seldom in one’s lifetime can one report to their heirs how they perceived what was going on at the time, as in their lifetime and experience. And the recession is only part of it, I think.
The basic functions of any government, mostly to protect and enhance our wellbeing seems to be assumed, or going federal or to do more local things we can influence. Meanwhile all I want from the government is the most basic things like local home defense (like police protection), water and septic service, and maybe even national defense. A little electricity to keep my refrigerator and freezer would help, too. For all this I expect to pay taxes, and get results. After that, we are on our own.
Now does my vote count, at the local, county, state, and federal levels? I hope so!
Those who may try usurp our votes by their means may condemn themselves to waste bins that may embarrass them in the long run.

Another report from the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee

There are so many people who depend on the government dole, ala periodic checks through the mail, that I am embarrassed. After all these are otherwise normal humans.
The whole setup here is such that many who need checks for their reasons stay by the mailbox on the check day, so to defeat those who raid mailboxes for their own reasons.
And the best intents have failed when I see and observe those who get, like a check for $30,000 from the government, then spend it on drugs vice their families, or savings. Just for me, the children should get some benefit, but that just is not happening up here. And when pills are $80 a pop, then drug addicted parents are sacrificing their kid’s future. And they don’t care.
What a waste of humanity.
And as a child of the 60’s who was indoctrinated that marijuana was a victimless crime, well things have not worked out as most expected. It seems funny that back when the Beatles impacted us, most on the Cumberland Plateau bad mouthed long hair and drug use. Now most do it. Even in the 80’s when I drove an Isuzu Trooper up here, people looked at me funny, like I was some communist sympathizer, even when I served in the USMC.
Like I said, this is just a report.

These are times we can tell our children about

Seldom in life can one be on the inside observing vast changes going on. Such ideas suggest the forming of a new third national party, and perhaps the fading of one or both of two present national parties.

One has to go back to the American civil war, or the American revolution, as local examples of such times. Our ancestors were just as fervent and smart as we are, I think. And our American tradition and culture suggests voting to solve the frictions in our future, but there are other options as has happened before. Now voting and organizing takes time and energy, but these are times we can tell our children about as we see it going on.

What seems galling these days is that so many of our federal executive and its hired members and the federal legislature and its hired members are simply disconnected from their constituents these days. This smacks of royalty, at least for the time they have legal authority. And even now nepotism is kicking in our USA too many times, which is also galling to most Americans. The themes of the Weimer Republic in the 1930’s or King Louis the 16th in France are coming back to too many minds. Yes the times were different then, but we humans are pretty much the same over time, I think.

What happens when our federal government announces some kind of emergency, and usurps some kind of new rule that replaces our Constitution, and all its checks and balances limitations on power?

Good intentions, and throwing money at obvious problems, goes nowhere, too often. But that is what we in the USA have been doing for decades.

Also we have been electing so many of our representatives over such a long time. So it seems logical we Americans are also part of the current situation and problems. Now maybe we will change, assuming our votes still count.

What happens when all the federal government payments don’t come in our future? That is coming too, I think. Any government has to pay its bills, and this depends on income to dispense the wonderful benefits we in America have today. Right now it takes borrowing on our national reputation to get the extra money over tax income, and that may end sometime too soon. What a shame as to who messed it up the most. And our federal government and taxes make up some pretty good stuff, today.

The federal government has a choice. All it probably will do is “inflate” the value of our work and the dollars we earn. For a simple example, 10% inflation over 4 ½ years will make a million dollors worth half that. Even in simpler terms, going through the drive through bank machine will make us pay more for the same thing. And there are long term losses, too.

Yep, these are times we can tell our children about.

We’re different here in the USA
Most don’t know it, just because they live here. But many others do know it. Americans living around the world know it. And so many immigrating here know it, too. It is the same as why our ancestors came here, to better their and their family’s lives. That is so simple, most may not recognize it these days. And it is still alive and well thanks to a Constitution that is unique in human history. Yep, we are different, and lucky, too. There are worse places to be born. And yet so many Americans do not recognize it. It is simply beyond their American experience, and what is normal to them. And if we Americans are thought of as mongrels, so be it. Mongrels are considered to be genetically superior, and we probably are.
You know that change is constant. Ideas like American racial laws and the double standard have faded as the older generation humans who had these ideas imbued have died off. So what is coming, since we are all humans in the end. Now the future is always scary, but that is what our vote is about, assuming our votes still count, as in no voter fraud or other such fixing ideas happen. If our vote doesn’t count, then things resort to ideas like revolt or civil war, in the end.
There have always been ideals and good intentions to improve societies, often called communes. The older ideas are based on English family stuff, and more recently hippie communes. I personally live in Tennessee where efforts in these directions have been tried, and failed, mostly do to human traits. But God Bless these efforts…they continue. Hope always springs eternal.
Now can we just be humans in America, the new world. And are we humans in America these days one federally united country, or an united states with all the diversity that is promoted in so many ways. I suspect the latter, but that is just my politics.
Now it is fun, to me, to be older, before I die, which we all do, eventually. The idea of what I thought was the way to go at a much younger age depended on having the older generations die off. Now it has happened (they died off) , but my trust in 2009 in my fellow humans leading us today also are also failing, as is wasting our best intentions and monies.
Last, another American trait is our productivity. Most wake up in the morning and want to do well for our families. And we are still pretty productive. In the past, our state and federal laws and practices have supported all this human stuff. If the idea of those in power is to change to something else, we Americans should vote on it, don’t you think?

Ideas for going forward

Here we as a USA country are in a recession, the winter is coming, and too many fellow citizens have income problems that make them and their families colder and hungrier and life style changing than they want to be.
For most of we USA citizens, the last half century has been comfortable and confident, as the status quo worked out. Something good must have been going on.
Now cycles of boom and bust seem to be a part of life, all over the world. Perhaps it is just a part of our human nature. Perhaps we have done some things that have intensified the boom and the bust? Here in our USA we have had two national parties for at least 8 generations (I count a generation as 20 years, genealogy wise), and we USA citizens have supported all this past stuff and elected all these people for a now long time. And the cycles have continued, boom and bust, for a long time.
And here we are again, questioning ourselves and how we got into the present mess we are in, and how can we get out. Part of this questioning is more underlying thoughts about our future, and ways to improve from the past. And this kind of discussion and debate even went on before our times and by our ancestors. They were smart, too. But now it is our turn.
I am from the school of thought that says identifying a problem is only part of what is needed. One should also offer solutions, ideally three, that decision makers can act on, if their judgment says so.
Here’s three American ideas, or at least I think they are American.

1) The government solution.
a. Term limit our legislators at all levels, federal, state, county, city, and school boards. Start with the federal legislators, maybe even one house like the House of Representatives. Now the amendment process required is long and often arduous, but we have already term limited the federal presidency, and we can do the same to the federal legislators. And I suspect the Congress will never limit themselves, so it will take the states to get this done. Since the process requires both proposing Amendments, and then ratifying these Amendments, it will take a long time, but one has to start sometime.
b. Require we in the federal government and its budget to live within our means (by amendment). This is commonly called a balance budget idea, like most families do. The results will be gut wrenching, but that is going to happen anyway and too often and to too many when we USA people can no longer get federal loans to pay for all these good things we have right now.
2) The American people solution.
a. I think most USA citizens believe in the idea of governments to rule us and provide the benefits we most appreciate, like police and fire safety, clean water, waste water treatment, electricity on demand (like keeping our refrigerators and freezers working all the time), and public national defense, since most think we still have enemies. If this is the case, which I think so, then our elected rulers at all levels should promote laws and policies that enhance all these things. Assigning priorities is key as to whom we decide to elect.
b. I also think we Americans have become used to the idea of Social Security and Medicare to take care of so many of us, to include our old ancestors who begat us (like our parents). This has much to do with the decline in the birth rate, I think. In the old days, one reason so many couples had many children was to take care of them when they got old.
c. Standards that seem to make sense are a wave of the future. The idea of ethics seems to be gaining force. The idea of PC and moral equivalency seems to be fading, as it should. We are a melting pot whether we like it or not. The value of education without brains or morals seems to be more doubted than it has in a long time. What is right or wrong is not inherited or innate; it is taught, mostly at home. And this idea is beginning to assert itself. And I only suggest we teach our kids our values, more so in our future. Anyway, we have to start somewhere.
d. The rule of those from the North East, to include schools and business institutions will come to an accommodation with the rest of the USA people, I think. After all, these NE people are Americans, too, as well as the rest of us, whom I think make up the majority. Things will sort out in the end, but the tidal motions will be difficult as people go through change.
e. Out of wedlock births are shameful. Kids with both a mother and a father at home are better off for the long run. The idea of shame as an American standard needs refurbishing. There is no moral equivalency for this idea.
3) The human solution.
a. Having a problem is less important than what you do about it.
b. Who knows what we Americans will do about the future? We, as humans in America, have three options. Voting (our traditional course), revolting, or a having a civil war, are the options.
c. Perhaps the government cure can be worse than the disease?
d. The human factor is always alive.
i. People just want to hear things straight. Parsing of words and phrases too often confuses. Just having a human explain things in a way we can understand is always most important.
ii. People will always accept criticism, like peer or spousal criticism. People will also resent insults of all kinds.
iii. People just want to have faith, and believe in their leaders, no matter what their leaders political beliefs. Trust, and again, faith, is key. Violate trust and faith, and all is lost to humans. Faith that our votes count is so key to continuing to support all our governments and Constitution.
e. This is the new world. All bets are off. We can do what ever we think will help our families and our future.
i. Consider a third national political party in our future... kind of like the Whig Party. Even Lincoln was a Whig before he became a Republican. The present day Tea Party stuff seems to be in that direction.
ii. In the last 5 generations, most third party efforts have been based on a personality, and funding. This time, the effort is based on an idea. The times they are a changing.


Yes we, as USA Americans, have a way forward. And it appears it will take time to happen. But by golly, it will happen. Things will change, as always.

Would do you think?

What do we want, as in what do we want to vote for?

Most people, to include Americans, are disgusted with the ideas of nepotism, and cronyism. I suspect at all levels, to include school board, city, county, state, and federal. Most of us just want to live, and have an opportunity to go through life, and along the way, make things better for our kids. That is so simple, it is almost hard to believe. And add in the factor that so many are so busy in their lives that they don’t pay too much attention to present day politics at all levels, well, that is pretty much what is happening.

Voters should be ruthless about their values, and votes.

But what happens when too many of we USA citizens good cold and hungry, and can still vote. There are many professional organizers of the vote for the poor, but the majority of Americans who might be cold and hungry will show up in the end, and the winter is coming.

Another effort is on the way, I can suspect. The cold and hungry need to be addressed, and their families will help the most, I think.

This is the old idea of social security, by the way. That’s why we had more kids than we do these days. In the old days, our kids would suffer and take care of us old people.

In the meantime, who do you believe? And then vote.

One plan for our human future

It is pleasing to see political discussion about our human future on this earth. After all, other species reigned supreme before mammals and humans do so these days. Change is constant, one may say.

And the green house effect has been underway for a long time, and is still working its magic. For example, about 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, New York city was about ½ mile under the ice. Is that what we want to try restore?.

Where I live is south of the ice line as I read it, but things would have been pretty cold here anyway, like in our ideas about northern Siberia.

And the main friction is whether it is humans who are doing this warming enhancement, or is it mother nature future stuff which is beyond our influence.

My vote is towards mother nature, which is dismal in it’s prospects hundreds of years in the future. So we have time to adapt, but I suspect not reverse. If it sounds hopeless, it may be. And we humans are part of the problem, though a small part compared to mother nature.

There are many ways to adapt,and I suspect we will, over time. My guess is humans will survive what happens,anyway. Along the way, most will die, and some will survive by some kind of less than our modern experience.

In other words, things look bleak. And we cannot do much about it.

Bummer.

How come the girls in cheating don’t get the same standards as the boys?

Just wondering given the latest Tiger Woods stuff.

I mean more men cheat on their wives than wives cheat on their husbands, I think. Most of us have known some of both, unfortunately.

And what is new? And most marriages are pretty normal, I also think.

What is new, and disappointing to me, is that the women who knowingly have sexual affairs with married men are also sluts. They both are.

But it is never reported in most of our American media this way. Hence there seems to be a double standard being reinforced by our American media.

What a shame.