Pondering the Role of Corporations

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As the world becomes smaller because of communication technology, transportation technology, international awareness of other nations, cultures, and geography, this smallness has changed corporate behavior. Because a corporation’s sole goal is profit, every act – however slight or invasive or rewarding – is an effort not intended to benefit any element of fairness, kindness, cultural improvement, employee rights, or to balance the economy. Every act is dedicated to that corporation’s wellbeing and ever to increase its own corporate profit. Today, as national boundaries soften in this smaller world, corporations have escaped national and local governance.

The conflict between government authorities and businesses is not new. The struggle for business independence likely goes back to the earliest civilized cultures. It is a natural conflict; a government ostensibly exists for the wellbeing of its citizens while a corporation exists only for its own wellbeing and profit.

To provide a quick history lesson, the following paragraphs are quoted from

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate-accountability-history-corporations-us/ not for its advocacy but for its concise exegesis:

 

“When American colonists declared independence from England in 1776, they also freed themselves from control by English corporations that extracted their wealth and dominated trade. After fighting a revolution to end this exploitation, our country’s founders retained a healthy fear of corporate power and wisely limited corporations exclusively to a business role. Corporations were forbidden from attempting to influence elections, public policy, and other realms of civic society.

Initially, the privilege of incorporation was granted selectively to enable activities that benefited the public, such as construction of roads or canals. Enabling shareholders to profit was seen as a means to that end….

…. For 100 years after the American Revolution, legislators maintained tight control of the corporate chartering process. Because of widespread public opposition, early legislators granted very few corporate charters, and only after debate. Citizens governed corporations by detailing operating conditions not just in charters but also in state constitutions and state laws. Incorporated businesses were prohibited from taking any action that legislators did not specifically allow.

States also limited corporate charters to a set number of years. Unless a legislature renewed an expiring charter, the corporation was dissolved and its assets were divided among shareholders. Citizen authority clauses limited capitalization, debts, land holdings, and sometimes, even profits. They required a company’s accounting books to be turned over to a legislature upon request. The power of large shareholders was limited by scaled voting, so that large and small investors had equal voting rights. Interlocking directorates were outlawed. Shareholders had the right to remove directors at will.” (end quote)

One quickly notices the difference in the relationship between governments and corporations today. In the early days referenced by the quote, the US was still a pure democracy. Society was an all inclusive concept that included freedom of religion, the power of the vote, and any organized activity that may affect the citizens. Today, with the Supreme Court’s blessing of Citizens United, the untold wealth used to buy every aspect of government authority, and the resultant unbridled power of corporations, the only restraint on corporations is money. Control by government has been weakened to the point of uselessness. Capitalism trumps democracy. Capitalism is a religion, not an economic theory. It is more important and culturally acceptable for a corporation to ignore the wellbeing of human beings as it pursues more profit.

The mariner is reminded of when the Holy Roman Church was more powerful than the governments of its time. Unbridled power enabled the HRC to engage in brutal inquisitions, suppress scientific advances, and approve heads of state. First Baron Acton was right about power.

Today, the fossil fuel corporations suppress the growth of renewable fuel industries, attack the Clean Air Act, and, until the public had enough abuse from pipelines destroying property and claiming right of way, ran pipelines across the continent with no constraint or liability.

Today, corporations – not governments – negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) encompassing nine nations; TPP permits corporations to ignore constitutional law, civil rights and avoid taxation.

Today, communications corporations grow wealthy by usurping personal information, personal associations, family links, friend circles, medical history, credit history, and retail history. Did corporations ask permission? Did they even tell you they were collecting information without your knowledge? Did corporations tell the reader they were selling your history and preferences about everything to other corporations who want to know things and do things the reader may not want disclosed? On the other side of the issue, an old battle about the rights and accountability of content providers versus service providers continues. The difference has been smudged by mergers between the two and the evolving Internet broadcasting market. It is impossible to manage what is broadcast on social media and across the Internet. The National Security Agency is not the one to fear; Google knows a lot more about you. Even China cannot block Google. All these abuses are without accountability.

Sounds like the old days when HRC was omnipotent instead of corporatism.

Stick a pin in a communication CEO and they leap into arguments about freedom of speech. Similar to the gun issue, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are showing their age. Some might say the same about the Supreme Court (That’s another post). The founding fathers sought to constrain oppression of speech, not to encourage access to one’s privacy. However, there was a lot of space between one town and the next and reproducing pictures and words was somewhat difficult. In the eighteenth century, privacy was an environmentally protected phenomenon. Consequently, privacy as a concept drew short shrift in legislation as communication advanced through the centuries to the omnipresent state it is today.

Three examples have been examined to demonstrate the issue of corporatism. There are many more examples: banks that can destroy the US economy; lack of citizen-wide participation in the military; conflict of interest between elected officials and private enterprise – whether bought by lobbyists or sitting on legislative committees that govern personal interests.

The mariner chose the enclosed quote because it demonstrates clearly the transition from democracy to corporatism.

REFERENCE SECTION

In case the reader does not follow replies to the mariner’s posts, a reader (Robert) provided us with an inexpensive source for less recent publications: A great source of cheap books is Edward R. Hamilton that sells remaindered books in Connecticut. Check out their huge catalog at:

http://www.hamiltonbook.com/

Ancient Mariner

It’s All Reference Section

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The Mariner began adding references until it became out of hand. This post is all reference section!

REFERENCE SECTION

If you haven’t become a David Baldacci reader, you may be missing an excellent writer of mysteries. Most renown currently is his Wil Robie series, now in its fourth edition. Start with the first in the series, The Innocent, followed by The Hit, The Target and The Guilty. A prolific writer, Baldacci has several published series. Visit his website at:

http://davidbaldacci.com/books/robie/

Barnes and Noble also carries the series at inexpensive prices – or visit your library.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/this-weeks-biggest-books/

Traditional approaches to dieting, e.g., tracking carbohydrates, glycemic index and calories do not, by a significant difference, accurately reflect how each individual’s blood sugar rises after eating. Further, some folks can imbibe chocolate and alcohol with little change in sugar levels. Doctors Eran Elinav and Eran Segal from the Weizmann Institute of Science created a formula based on “postprandial glycemic responses” or PPGR (during or relating to the eating of food). The PPGR algorithm was more accurate in calculating individual responses to spikes in blood sugar. See:

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/11/algorithm-creates-diets-that-work-for-you/416583/

A must see news program is Fareed Zakarias’ weekly show on CNN from Sunday, November 22. It is an analysis of the terrorist issue in the news with no political spin and no pundits full of trite phrases. Worth watching for this if nothing else. After Sunday, November 29, see:

http://www.yidio.com/show/fareed-zakaria-gps-special?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=Search&t_source=64&utm_campaign=466

Study: Fracking industry wells are associated with premature birth and having high-risk pregnancies. New research From Johns Hopkins School of Public Health suggests an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes closer to active unconventional natural gas wells. See:

http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2015/study-fracking-industry-wells-associated-with-premature-birth.html

Liberal Arts activity – Have you written your haiku poem yet? Don’t know what haiku is? From October 12:

Exercise your mind:

A different form of poetry is Haiku, a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world. Some think writing Haiku is similar to solving a three-dimensional crossword puzzle but with nuance. Try writing your own. Sample:

New moon on the lake.

Your voice and the nightingale

serenade springtime.

 

Full moon on the lake.

Your voice and the waterbirds

celebrate summer.

To which the mariner’s wife responded:

Ancient Mariner:

Your voice and the canary

Foretell disaster.

Anyone who is a gardener or just appreciates the plant kingdom, know that cybernetics has arrived in the kingdom. Visit “Cyborg Roses Wired with Self-Growing Circuits” at:

http://www.livescience.com/52872-electronic-plants-created.html

Ancient Mariner

About the Terrorist Situation

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The terrorist attacks in France have dominated news media for eight days. When innocent people are killed for no direct reason, this truly is murderous and beyond the reasoning of normal human beings. The terrorist battle is shaped by the power of the Internet, communication satellites, and sophisticated weaponry, which includes bombs placed in soft drink cans.

It also is shaped by a world economy based solely on profiteering. The world economy today, including current trade agreements and international treaty organizations, is designed to protect participants against nonmember incursions – military, economic and cultural. Nations with low gross national product, especially nations with authoritarian governments coupled with countering terrorist groups, are not allowed. The problem is that these nations are full of millions of people who can’t be called the poorest of poor – they truly are destitute and battle death every day from starvation, disease, civil war, terrorist murder – and an indifferent world economy. Is there reason for their animosity?

For the last half century in particular, the United States has led the way in the design and application of the world economy with its singular focus on profit. In fact, the US has set an exemplary example of a government and culture run for the purpose of profit and the power that accumulated profit brings to key players in the economy. Today, the US has become an oligarchy run by plutocrats. The idea that profit (money) is the same as speech in the First Amendment is a telling belief that the US is a profit-based culture.

That the US population (not just the billionaires) has hundreds of billions of dollars to spend on show business, sports, vacations, opulent homes, and other ancillary but expensive pastimes, suggests an abundance of cash well beyond a culture that would use excess income for education, health and social services, technical advancement, 21st century infrastructure, and government-driven charitable support for those less fortunate in the US and around the world. It is noteworthy that none of the above excesses is considered unethical or even out of the ordinary; they are expected benefits of living in a profit-driven culture.

These broad-based observations about the focused pursuit of wealth in modern times – over the centuries since the beginning of colonialism coupled with the industrial revolution and subsequent profit-based ages – are the background that has fostered inequality and poverty as quickly as it has drawn income to the winners of economic profits. It fosters a class system among nations: 1st tier industrialized nations, 2nd tier developing nations, usually commodity economies, 3rd tier undeveloped nations, in truth meaning these nations are not participating in the profit-based world economy because for one reason or another they cannot accumulate an ante to play the profit game. Like the poor in the US, they aren’t allowed to reap benefits from the profit culture.

Another benefit provided by a profit-based economy is the opportunity to feel secure, to feel good about one’s self, and to invest time in socializing and other rewarding pastimes. Conversely, those not wrapped in that security and opportunity for personal growth do not feel secure nor can they mature in a well-rounded way because they are too busy trying to survive not only in body but in spirit as well. Add to this disadvantage – especially among the ancient cultures of the Middle East – a religion that has not had the benefit of cultural upgrades and has not engaged in the evolvement of modern dependable governments – and further has no benefits from modern technology, infrastructure and lacks an income-based workforce, there exists an opportunity for terrorism. This is a common description for Somalia, Sudan, and Nigeria, just to name countries regularly in the news because of terrorism.

Understandably, these populations are starting from scratch; no dependable government exists to influence their thinking, no money to expand personal wellbeing, no nurturing history to assuage them intellectually. They are required to experience to a significant degree the nation making battles of early Europe to sort out their own winners, their own acculturation, their own form of government not based on Christianity. Like primitive man before them, metaphorically they have only spears, their fervor and their lives. While unacceptable to nations who have evolved on schedule, their only choice at the start is terrorism.

By no means do these background thoughts justify their violent behavior. But there is context. In a similar context, because of the permission ostensibly giving every American the right to bear arms, 30,000 US citizens are killed with guns every year. Because our culture condones this horrific violence and it is in the context of our laws and culture, we discount its immorality.

If we understand the context of Middle East terrorism, we may more easily have success eliminating it. The rest of the world must set an example of civil behavior else, we regress to primitive man.

Ancient Mariner

 

Snow Approaches

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Outdoors, life is disappearing. Trees are dormant; flower gardens vanish, showing no color but drab; walking and biking in this town ceases except for the very few zealots; children are not seen romping; chatting neighbors are absent. A few days from now, the first snow is predicted. It is time for long johns, wool sweaters and hot toddies.

But gardening continues. The mariner has a winter garden in his shed replete with large grow lights, heat and passive watering system. Cuttings have been potted for winter growth; soon, a few vegetable and herb seeds will be planted for winter consumption. Outdoors, fruit trees will be trimmed; the rabbit fence will be completed. The compost box awaits completion and the unexpected company of frogs requires that the ditch be maintained. Circular hardware-wire cages will be built and filled with leaves or straw to protect shrubs from rabbits and from killing temperatures.

Inside, the job jar has many tasks waiting for attention: broken light fixture in the basement; repairing attic insulation; catching up with office work like filing papers that have collected all summer, and upgrading the computer; adjusting heat vents to accommodate the colder temperatures; finish rewiring the garage, and preparing for the holidays.

This is the time of the year that one grows older fastest. One doesn’t feel older just because a birthday comes around; one keeps a spring in the step through the outdoor months; flowers are abundant then, and friends and pets and the neighborhood all are alive and sharing the warmness of nature. But, as warmness wanes, life seems to shrink, to dwindle, to retreat. In the stillness of the cold, lifelessness abounds. We are another year older.

REFERENCE SECTION

If the reader hasn’t discovered “Breakthrough” on the National Geographic channel, mariner suggests watching the series. Each show investigates breakthroughs in the relationship between humans and machines. It is not about futuristic science fiction; rather it investigates cybernetics and tools already produced in current laboratories – some are actually in production. One example: paraplegics are taught to move prosthetic limbs as if the limbs were the original ones. The brain moves the limbs with normal brain instructions and adopts the prosthetic as the original limb! Every show demonstrates amazing breakthroughs in science that benefit and expand the human experience. One scientist said, “We are confident that the entire Internet can be placed in the brain!”

Mariner challenges the reader to reread an old classic – something that was enjoyed for its liberating romanticism, or its invigorating challenge, or its quiet but powerful insight. Rereading an old treasure will remind one of their forgotten sensitive side. Thoughts about one’s self will be reset.

Ancient Mariner

Word-up

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Over the last six months or so, the mariner increasingly hears the word “existential –ism, -ist, -ly” etc. The word has been adopted by the media to mean a number of things. Most often, the journalist really means empirical or experiential – both words related to observation of the physical world or physical events via the five senses. A day or two ago, mariner heard a commentator say, “If we don’t stop them in Syria, we face an existential invasion in the United States.” Could he mean, “…we face the experience of an invasion…” Actually, more correct in existential terms, the word “face” alone is sufficient and more akin to the meaning of existential.

Jean-Paul Sartre, the first philosopher to define the word existential, posits the idea that “what all existentialists have in common is the fundamental doctrine that existence precedes essence.” In simpler words, one’s experience of living is more important than any event in life. Hence, the description of an individual who may do careless things to enhance their sensation of existence is a common, if simplistic, example.

The reader may opine that the mariner is nit-picking. This can’t be denied. In this world of texting abuse, emoticons, and eagerness to affix any human condition to –gate, and further, to obscure pronunciation in speaking “purposefully” as “purpsly” or “purposely” – one of many thousands of abused pronunciations, and by deserting words altogether by touching fingers to pictures, we approach the subtlety of Egyptian hieroglyphics.

The mariner’s passive-aggressive attitude about words stems from that time when a simple word that conjured a moment in life full of happiness and self contentment was stripped away forever with no word to replace it. That word was “gay.”

Mariner has a friend who is an outstanding linguist and philologist. He suggests that language is a living thing changing as usage by humans change. That may be well and good but not all change is beneficial to general communication. The mariner will not bother the reader with his opinions about the ISIS of American English: the word “got” kills a dozen words a day.

That’s enough for today; skoeet.

Ancient Mariner

Today’s Issues are about Paradigm Shifts

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So many deep cultural and behavioral patterns are under duress today. To name only a few of many, In the US and Europe, consider the transition of religious practice: many churches are becoming anachronisms with falling attendance, bound by generation gaps and overburdened spiritually by large, old fashioned denominational hierarchies. On the evangelical side of the spectrum, literal allegiance to old rituals and intense isolationist attitudes prevail. A few churches are blessed by location in supportive communities and have excellent leadership. Yet the path they follow grows narrow. The current role of Christian faith in society is under pressure to change its paradigm, its model of behavior and purpose.

In the US, political process is grinding to a halt as our body politic undergoes a meiosis of culture – moving farther right and farther left – leaving little ground in the middle for common purpose. Eventually, what new political identity will emerge? What will be the new paradigm?

International relationships are confronted with global issues that require a new, stronger bond between nations. Not just climate change, a profound confrontation for which there is scant preparedness, but other global issues as well involving cybernetics, instant awareness of global activity, population management, multinational economic models, distribution of food and medical support, and the international role of corporations.

Every one of these patterns of behavior, or paradigms, is under duress, highly vulnerable to disorganized response, militaristic rebellion, profit taking, denial, and short-sighted solutions. The news of the day focuses on terrorist atrocities in France. In the Middle East, cultural wars have erupted in response to religious differences, economic inequality, cultural conflict and political disparity. Many nations struggle to find solutions to mass emigration, irrational abuse of citizens by governments and armed conflict in a war with no boundaries, no front lines, and no hierarchical organization.

What is the world to do? What are the processes by which solutions can emerge?

First, we must acknowledge that profound changes are occurring. These changes introduce new values that do not exist in the current perception of world order. Intransigent Christian concepts of society, government, and ethics have shaped the history of Western culture since the time of Constantine. Meanwhile, unnoticed histories shaped by Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism have evolved unnoticed until recent times. In many respects, these other historical influences have not experienced the demand for innovation and competition that Western societies require. Hence, many Eastern practices exist according to older behaviors established as long ago as the eighth century. Many Eastern governments exist today in forms that were adequate until economic and social influence from the West interfered. Tribal values persist even today; the East, particularly the nomadic Middle East, had no need in the past to develop new social solutions similar to Western mechanisms that cope with power and competition. The East never had need of a Magna Carta, parliaments, or the right to vote.

Without the cultural tools developed by the West, that is, trust in government to manage important issues, democratic tools to shape government as times changed, and the rule of law, the Middle East is bound to manage a paradigm shift with what is at hand: aggression and lashing out with violence.

The cultural conflict today, particularly the Islamic-Christian conflict, cannot be ignored. Further, it cannot be contained by armed aggression; it cannot be contained by Western political tools like treaties, international agreements like NATO, or buying compliance through economic favoritism. Of particular importance is that Middle Eastern governments are theocracies – whether dictatorships, sheikdoms or subordinate governments; the religious leaders are in charge – or at least dominate national options. Middle Eastern theocracies have not experienced the pragmatic influence of secularism first melded in Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and other publications. Further, separation of church and state mandated by a few Western nations is an unknown precept to Middle Eastern theocracies.

An assumption held by many westerners is that the West must be tolerant but controlling while waiting for the Middle East to “grow up” and become part of the modern (Christian) world. It may not be addressed as simple as that. What if the roles are switched? If the West had the attitude that it must allow the Middle East to develop a new world order inclusive of the Islamic tradition – a tradition that at least would alter Western perceptions of ethic and personal freedom.

Here are some facts about the world and Islam that may be of interest to the reader’s contemplations:

Bill Maher provides a stark comparison between Islamic and Christian ideology that’s simplistic but reveals in short order the different approaches to justice. See:

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Islam+Vs+Christianity&FORM=VRIBRE#view=detail&mid=792282120BE4D111E919792282120BE4D111E919

The number of Christians in the world is 1.99 billion. The number of Muslims in the world is 2.08 billion. Muslim population is growing faster (1.84%) than Christian population (1.13%).

A column from CNN compares religious behavior between Islam and Christianity. See:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/03/conflict-theology-and-history-make-muslims-more-religious-than-others-experts-say/?hpt=hp_c1

Considering population in terms of gross income between Islamic countries and Christian countries, the Islamic paradigm restricts economic flexibility. Advances in technology, science and cultural adaptation often contradict the Quran, especially when these advances influence a change in societal behavior.

A classic example exists in Iran, an Islamic theocracy and population, struggling with its own emerging technical (and imperial) capabilities versus centuries-old religious traditions that are in conflict both with new technical ideas and with old Shiite-Sunni rivalries. Unlike other Middle Eastern nations, Iran has a growing middle class pressing for Western values and economics at the same time that Middle Eastern politics require Iranian support of Shiite wars and objectives, including ISIL and declaring the West as evil even as its middle class uses ipods, eats fast food and wears western attire.

Clearly, the Middle East is in the throes of a paradigm shift between a religion that requires strict allegiance to Islamic values going back as far as the first century and the overwhelming human experience of the twenty-first century. The gap between the old Islamic paradigm and the new paradigm is catastrophic. It will take the rest of the century to adapt to the new paradigm. In the meantime, the West must mitigate violence perhaps with little reward as Muslim nations come to terms with the modern world.

The new international paradigm that eventually emerges will call for a different West and a different Middle East. Twenty percent of the world’s population will become a new, equal and active participant in the global experience.

Ancient mariner

Beyond Guns

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Mariner received feedback on the post, “The Gun Situation.” Some agreed with the premise that the gun issue will be resolved only when guns are removed from easy access. Others stood their ground and took the position of Charlton Heston: “From my cold, dead hands.” A reader or two said we can’t go back to walking policemen; the world has changed, and one said old people always want it the way it was.

Mariner is pleased when his posts provoke dialogue. He hopes to respond adequately to these comments.

The mariner knows many gun rights advocates. Most are hunters. Surprisingly, most hunters do not own hand guns; they own rifles. Many are occasional hunters, have rifles and one or more handguns. Many are paranoid about authority in general – especially government authority. A subset of these is the individual who fears the public in general and carries a weapon at all times. Another subset is the collector who fears weapon recalls – especially military weapons.

Finally, the largest group of gun rights advocates simply wants the right to own a gun or two just for emergencies like attempted rape or robbery and car napping. It is this group that kills inadvertently simply because a gun is handy. The Blade Runner is a member of this group.

Collectively, gun rights advocates are politically conservative. If well-to-do, they have an attitude that they are privileged to own guns and prefer that government keep its nose out of their personal life. If working class, they are infused with a paranoia toward society in general – perhaps appropriately so.

Advocates that are financially comfortable prefer not to incite violence, while anyone who is deprived of financial stability, untrusting of bureaucratic harassment, and disadvantaged in daily life is prone to act out with rage or criminal intent when social pressures become too great. A gun is a quick equalizer for sure.

Older folk are blessed to have lived through a golden age of the United States. From the forties to the mid sixties, the American culture was on a high; the middle class was surging; jobs were available at every level of income; higher education was affordable; democrats and republicans weren’t polarized; it was an age of cultural unification and national pride. It was an age of civility and protective policemen. Sociologist David Riesman observed the importance of peer-group expectations in his influential book, The Lonely Crowd. He called this new society “other-directed,” and maintained that such societies lead to stability as well as conformity.

However, the cold war, the Vietnam War, and inflation added a taste of vinegar to our society. The world was not perfect – not even in the United States. Middle class resistance groups began to emerge, the prominent one being Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) that advocated populism as a solution to military spending and economic reform. When Ronald Reagan became president, he made a list of objectives that would quell anything that smelled of populism – even unions – and moved the government away from the influence of local politics, replacing the void with “free market capitalism.” Eventually, plutocrats managed the government and ideas of caring for citizens vanished – replaced by an oligarchy that controls our culture today. Economic class differences increased making the upper class richer, the middle class paying the bills with less income, and the lower class forgotten.

As the stress of imbalance between classes increased, many poor felt abused as opportunities for them disappeared, as salaries became stagnant, as family life took the burden and too frequently was shattered. Alternatives to stable employment led to a growing drug culture, theft, and, finally lashing out, violence. Still under the influence of conservative policies, governments responded by replacing benevolent policemen with cruisers, superior-force attacks instead of protection, out-arming the armed underclass and blaming entitlement programs for creating lazy people who would rather live off a government dole.

Looking back, one can understand how a gun culture grew. The omniscient news media continuously reminded everyone of every criminal incident, every drug bust, and every gun incident. Our culture became saturated with a need for self protection. Better to have a gun to protect oneself from whatever happens.

To move toward banning guns, other issues must be addressed:

Deal with class issues. Every economic class has norms and expectations that, if provided, restore a sense of security.

Give the government back to the voter. Limit campaign contributions to the district of jurisdiction; overturn Citizens United. Remove redistricting from political influence.

Restructure tax legislation for the upper class. The nation needs their excessive income for the national good. Reign in corporatism at least by imposing appropriate tax reform.

Create a bottom-up educational system tied to employment. Opportunity through education easily mollifies a feeling of entrapment.

Legalize marijuana to undercut the black market. Tighten drug inspections at borders and increase penalties for distributors of illegal drugs.

Once the above list is underway and showing progress, perhaps gun registration and a paid-for-recall gun program may be possible.

Oh, and reinstitute the cop on the beat swinging that shillelagh. We need protection, not street wars.

Ancient Mariner

The Gun Situation

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The United States has a deep rooted issue when it comes to weapons and the citizens’ libertarian attitude toward problem solving (I’ll buy my own gun – I can handle my own safety better than the government can). Further, the American culture has adopted a militaristic attitude as international issues put stress on Americans that suggest the nation shows signs of slipping as the number one nation in everything. Typical of cultural change, we tend to ignore the change itself and go on living our daily lives – taking note only of the growing number of gun events that make the news. Noting these gun events in the news, the most common compromise is to admit that some people, let’s call them ‘mentally disturbed,’ should not have guns. Therefore, there should be universal record checks whenever guns are bought or sold.

Although well intentioned, this tit-for-tat response to the American gun issue is misdirected. Who, at a given moment, should not have access to a gun? Any of us! One example to explain.

Remember Oscar Pistorius? He is an Olympic athlete called Blade Runner because he ran on spring prosthetics; both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. On Valentine’s Day in 2013, Pistorius and his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp were having an argument. Steenkamp locked herself in the bathroom. Pistorius shot through the door and killed her. He was convicted of culpable homicide. There is an effort by prosecutors to retry him for murder. For a video of Blade Runner, see:

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=south+african+olympic+blade+runner&FORM=VIRE5#view=detail&mid=2B5C6FB2D3788EC99C132B5C6FB2D3788EC99C13

Oscar Pistorius cannot be called one of those ‘mentally disturbed’ individuals; no psychological test could identify him as other than a normal human being. Yet, in a rage, he used a handy pistol to demonstrate his ire. How many of us have known rage? With each of us having a gun around, we might say, “There, but for the Grace of God, go I.” What if Oscar had no gun? Would Reeva still be alive? Would Pistorius still be a world renown athlete?

One last example. Too frequently, small children kill parents and siblings for many reasons. Are these children “mentally disturbed?”

People don’t kill people. People with guns kill people. To attack the gun issue at the cultural level, the US must seriously consider Australia’s legislative action to ban the sale of guns in addition to registration and illegal use. As in Australia, violence is an issue in the US. That so many feel the need to own a gun is a bellwether of how our culture has moved from civility to barbaric paranoia. Canada has banned the sale of guns.

When mariner was nine or ten, he had no defensive reflex when he saw a policeman. Policemen walked their beat then, swinging their shillelagh artfully around the thong. Occasionally, one could hear them whistling. The policeman visited each shop owner for a bit of small talk, checked locked doors, covered every block and every alley. It wasn’t long before the policeman knew most people on his beat and even had a good idea where trouble may arise – many times preventing an incident rather than responding too late. In troublesome neighborhoods, two would walk along together. The quickest access to backup was a phone every few blocks that looked like a parking meter. In a word, policemen were civil.

Today policemen travel in elaborately decorated vehicles. The vehicles are called “cruisers,” which is the same image as a bunch of rebellious youth “cruising” – both looking for trouble. Today, policemen don’t protect people; they wait for an event and bring a militia armed with military vehicles and weapons. Too many times, policemen shoot first and think later. Not so civil. The transition of police from protectors to militant enforcers is another bellwether of cultural change.

Utilizing a trite comparison, the Roman Empire ruled the entire known world by military might; Roman citizens cheered blatant torture and death of animals, religious ‘deviants’, criminals, and the big sport was armed warriors fighting to the death – by the turn of an indifferent thumb. Those were not civil times.

The gun issue cannot be solved by reacting to day-to-day incidents. It must be stopped at the beginning: ban gun sales – an improbable event given the level of civility in the US.

Ancient Mariner

 

The Battle of Isms

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Mariner has noticed that conservatives have begun to cast pejorative meaning onto the word populism. It is claimed by conservatives and authoritarians that capitalism and populism cannot coexist. In the same sentence, socialism virtually is a curse word. Sadly, the term communism is used to bludgeon socialism, populism and progressivism; have we not learned from Senator Joe McCarthy that beliefs, especially in the Western nations, are a composite of ideas and not segregated as to become absolute? A nation functions better and has more success when ideas are a mix that draws the best from many beliefs.

Unfortunately for the conservatives, they must abide within their own ranks tea party and libertarian movements, both of which are populist. Populism is not conservative; it is not liberal. Populism means the will of common citizens is the source of judgment and morality. Populism becomes the mood of the citizenry when they become aggravated because of abuse by society’s institutions – public and private.

Some states, notably California, use the referendum (also called an initiative) as a means by which the people can legislate from the voting booth, bypassing the formal branches of government. Populism is unwieldy as a government process because it usually reflects an emotional reaction by the masses, which may not be the best source for reason or fairness. A benchmark example of populism run amok occurred in California in 1978. The reader may remember that inflation was high in the 1970’s. Inflation had been climbing for several years, reaching a peak of 14% annually.

The combination of inflation, growing population and ever increasing property taxes began to force many California homeowners to sell their homes because they could not afford to pay property taxes. Finally, there was enough pain inflicted that an initiative was drawn up; it received enough signatures on the petition that it qualified to be on the ballot. In a word, the initiative said that property taxes could be raised only 1%. From that day to today, California has been paying a price. What was once one of the top public school systems disintegrated due to lack of funds. California is in debt. Public services still are reduced. Walkouts and strikes ensued. In other words, an honest and severe experience in the lives of many citizens led to active populism. Short-sighted relief collapsed the seventh largest economy in the world. The change made to the California Constitution remains today.

The United States has provoked a similar stress point today because of an unfair distribution of profit. Bernie Sanders defines the problem well. In another post, the mariner cited the statistic that since 1940, inflation has risen 2,273% while average income has risen only 455%. Certainly, the stretched rubber band approaches the chaotic point where it will snap. Another statistic says that if one does not receive income of some sort equal to $150,000.00 per year, one is slowly falling behind in purchasing power.

We know some of the causes: plutocrats manage the governments – the common citizen’s vote is virtually useless. The ploys of control are politically managed by gerrymandering voting districts and using restrictive racist policies; elected officials are knee deep in bribes and protected from prosecution for many illicit financial practices; the cash dam broke when the Supreme Court said money was free speech and approved Citizens United; since the 1980’s, corporations were authorized to raid retirement funds for corporate reinvestment; union busting was common using bankruptcy law and restructuring of corporations; Social Security funds have been reallocated to other uses since World War II; lax attitudes about entitlements and workers rights allowed businesses to stifle minimum wage and wages in general; insurance, health and bank profits are uncontrolled, rising far ahead of inflation. And the issue everyone hears is the existence of a brutal oligarchy where 1% possesses 90% of the nation’s wealth.

Chicken Little is saying “There is chaos! The sky is falling!” Amos says The US is paying for its sinfulness. God will strike down the nation!”

Populism, anyone?

The most critical vote in many decades is before us next year. Vote. Vote thoughtfully.

Ancient Mariner

 

Amos Comments on the Candidates

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The primary season will begin in the mariner’s state in February. He sat with Amos to hear his opinions about the candidates. The reader must remember that Amos is the personification of the prophet Amos in the Old Testament – not so much interested in self aggrandizement but more concerned that many do not take time to understand their role and responsibility in God’s world. Amos would say all of us depend too much on comforting habits and yield to distractions too easily.

Greetings, Amos. The mariner wants to know your one-sentence opinions about the candidates running for President. First, let’s look at the republican field:

Ben Carson. If he doesn’t talk faster, he’ll have a lot of pocket vetoes.

Donald Trump. Reminds me of Jackson who rode his horse into the white house and eliminated the Federal Reserve.

Ted Cruz. He’s from Canada. That must count for something.

Chris Christie. He has more experience than Donald Trump.

Marco Rubio. He’s Cuban. That must count for something.

Jeb Bush. He’s a Bush. That must count for something. On the other hand, he’s a Bush.

Carly Fiorina. She watches too many movies.

Jim Gilmore. He’s from Virginia. He probably knows Carly.

Lindsey Graham. A romantic conservative. That’s rare.

Mike Huckabee. He’s on a book tour. It’s a shrewd move to run for president at the same time.

Bobby Jindal. He’s no Earl Long. Say, have you met Blaze Starr? I have.

John Kasich. He’s a perfect Governor for Ohio’s political schizophrenia – learned how to say two different things at the same time.

Rand Paul. I remember when his daddy Ron posited that the US could wipe out its debt by offering tax incentives to corporations for increased business then receive more than the rebate back in taxes over ten years. States still play that game and lose every time.

George Pataki. Don’t know him.

Amos, you’ve shed new light on the campaign. Thank you. Let’s turn to the democratic candidates:

Hillary Clinton. She (and her husband) should have written Donald’s book, “The Art of the Deal.” It’s interesting that the electorate doesn’t trust the Clintons; they can achieve progress where others can’t – for a price, of course.

Bernie Sanders. He’s a fabulous preacher. Not sure about being President.

Martin O’Malley. He’s from Maryland. That is good for something!

Ancient Mariner