The War of 1787
On September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified and we became a unified nation as a Republic (not a Democracy or Federation). There were deep divisions among the citizens at the time pertaining to what type of government the new nation would embrace. There was a sizable faction that argued that only a Federation of States could preserve the freedoms and rights of the individual citizens and were vehemently opposed to a Republic because they felt that a Republic would foster a strong central (federal) government that soon would abridge the rights and privileges of free men and the sovereignty of the states. Those who were opposed to a Republic being formed were collectively known as the “Anti-Federalists”. The Federalist Papers were published as a means to answer the concerns of the Anti-Federalists and were authored by Hamilton, Madison and Jay. The Federalist papers codified in print the reasoning and thought of those who championed a Republic and the papers in fact became the foundation for the subsequent Constitution of the United States. The Anti-Federalists lost and the Federalists won and so the first battle was fought, won and lost, in a war that is continuing to this day. The first battle was a political battle fought by the Anti-Federalists (Federation form of Government) and the Federalists (Republic form of Government) and even though the Federalists won the battle, they have not yet won the war. Indeed, the first political battle sowed the seeds for a much larger battle that resulted in an armed conflict that nearly tore this nation apart. That battle was called The Civil War. Make no mistake about it, the civil war was fought to succeed from the Republic and form a Confederation of the several states. Slavery was only one of many issues that sparked the conflict, not the fundamental reason for it. Other issues could have just as well started the inevitable war that was started by ratifying a Constitution for a Republic instead of a Federation. Things such as taxes, individual freedoms, unfair trade, ad infinitum, would eventually produce a fracturing of the Union just as well as the just abolishment of slavery. The right to enslave another human being or any other thing held dear to those in certain states would be allowed in a Federation that the central Government of a Republic would not permit. Even though Slavery was an abomination that had to be outlawed, the seeds for the Civil War were sowed in the political battle fought during the founding of our nation, not the issue of slavery of itself. The Constitutional Convention that produced the Constitution attempted to address the concerns of individual freedoms and states sovereignty that was championed by the Anti-Federalists by immediately including, by amendment, a bill of rights codified in Amendments I-X (1-10) of the Constitution (The Bill of Rights). Of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights, the tenth is the most important (The Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.) and has been thoroughly trashed by the Supreme Court to become meaningless ink stains upon an ignored treasure. One could say that the concerns of the Anti-Federalists have been realized in our day by the continuous erosion of individual rights as well as anything that resembles the sovereignty of the states (States Rights). The war has continued on with political battles being fought and won by the Federalists in the form of Presidents Wilson, Lincoln and Roosevelt that has enabled the Federal Government to become ever more stronger and stronger by being involved in every aspect of a citizens life and in the operation of every state. And now comes this President, Barack Hussein Obama. Just as the Civil War, WWI, The Depression and WWII provided the means to advance a stronger central federal government, the current economic crisis (see the Obama’s White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel’s quote, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before”) will present President Obama and Company with the golden opportunity to nearly complete the transition to a Socialist government by using the laws of the Republic and a swooning electorate to do so. I really don’t think the war will be ended by the new battle being waged by the overreaching of President Obama but I do believe a new battle is shaping up as the citizens finally become aware what is happening. I can only hope it will be a political battle and not another armed conflict that will distinguish the upcoming battle. Just like the Anti-Federalists feared would happen is happening as our individual rights and freedoms are vanishing right along side the loss of States Rights because of a central federal government that grows ever stronger with each passing day and crisis.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
National Sales Tax
National Sales Tax
Here is a reasonable guess about how BHO and Company is going to get us to approve a National Sales Tax. First, you need to revisit my piece, “Prepare To Be Nudged” because you will recall that part of the science on how to get people to make the decisions you want them to make is to create the proper “Choice Architecture” in order to assure that the decision taken will be the targeted decision. The choice architecture must be constructed to not only limit the choices that will be available to make but it (choice architecture) must also guide the decision maker to the targeted decision because it seems to be the most reasonable and fair choice. You can rely on Professor Cass R. Sunstein to know how to create a choice architecture to enable BHO and Company to get the swooning citizens to support a National Sales Tax. Here is how you construct the choice architecture and how it will be done. Below is a chart on who paid what portion of the personal income tax in collected 2006 (AGI= Adjusted Gross Income):
Percentile by AGI........................ Percentage of Tax Paid
Top 1%................................................ 39.89%
Top 5% ...............................................60.14%
Top 10% ............................................70.79%
Top 25%............................................ 86.27%
Top 50%............................................ 97.01%
Bottom 50%...................................... 2.99%
First you propose to raise taxes on the wealthy (top 25% who already pay almost 90% of personal income taxes). This BHO has already done. When it is pointed out that excessive tax on the Government designated wealthy will not only run the risk of killing the golden goose, it is unfair as hell as well to keep punishing the productive of our society and rewarding those who contribute little. Notwithstanding that the bottom 50% are the very ones who receive the most from the Government after the Government takes it from others. It seems only reasonable that in a Democracy, all should contribute, right? Voila, a National Sales Tax by acclamation. Only the Dems could pull this off because they are the designated Party of the People.
Here is a reasonable guess about how BHO and Company is going to get us to approve a National Sales Tax. First, you need to revisit my piece, “Prepare To Be Nudged” because you will recall that part of the science on how to get people to make the decisions you want them to make is to create the proper “Choice Architecture” in order to assure that the decision taken will be the targeted decision. The choice architecture must be constructed to not only limit the choices that will be available to make but it (choice architecture) must also guide the decision maker to the targeted decision because it seems to be the most reasonable and fair choice. You can rely on Professor Cass R. Sunstein to know how to create a choice architecture to enable BHO and Company to get the swooning citizens to support a National Sales Tax. Here is how you construct the choice architecture and how it will be done. Below is a chart on who paid what portion of the personal income tax in collected 2006 (AGI= Adjusted Gross Income):
Percentile by AGI........................ Percentage of Tax Paid
Top 1%................................................ 39.89%
Top 5% ...............................................60.14%
Top 10% ............................................70.79%
Top 25%............................................ 86.27%
Top 50%............................................ 97.01%
Bottom 50%...................................... 2.99%
First you propose to raise taxes on the wealthy (top 25% who already pay almost 90% of personal income taxes). This BHO has already done. When it is pointed out that excessive tax on the Government designated wealthy will not only run the risk of killing the golden goose, it is unfair as hell as well to keep punishing the productive of our society and rewarding those who contribute little. Notwithstanding that the bottom 50% are the very ones who receive the most from the Government after the Government takes it from others. It seems only reasonable that in a Democracy, all should contribute, right? Voila, a National Sales Tax by acclamation. Only the Dems could pull this off because they are the designated Party of the People.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Womb Government
Womb Government
Rosy Fingered Dawn comes creeping up over the eastern darkness and the birds and other critters acknowledge the new day mistress by beginning to stir from their nocturnal sojourn. Hesitant chirping and animal mutterings signal that a new day is about to begin as the rosy glow gently changes night into day. Be it a day of new challenges or boring sameness, only time will tell. The soft colored light begins to filter through your bedroom window and starts the process of washing out the gray scale images of fitful sleep by bringing color and revealing structure to your bedroom and nuance to your consciousness. If you’re fortunate enough to have a loving mate, you resist the urge to awaken further by pulling closer to the warmth and security that is yours for the taking. Instead of springing out of the warm embrace of your bed, you instead wriggle down into the covers much like the vice grip hold that Linus always has on his security blanket. If the above describes in any way your routine of meeting the day, don’t feel too bad about it. We all do the same thing in one manner or another. I believe it has something to do with a primordial instinct that is plumbed into us all and that is to seek the warmth of security in order to put off the harshness of reality and the uncertainty of life and living. Some have even said that our craving for warmth and security is a universal longing to return to the womb where it was always warm, safe and secure notwithstanding that everything was not only comfortable but all of life’s requirements were being provided for as well. Some have even likened Mother Earth as being a womb that shelters us all while proving for all of our needs during our sojourn here on this beautiful blue planet. That’s a fanciful notion I could believe in. The thing about being safe and warm in the security of a Mother’s womb is that you are not free to do everything you would like to do, in others words Brothers and Sisters, there is never a free lunch. There are some really, really smart people that know all about Mark 1 Mod 0 humans longings for the warmth that security brings to the human condition and that, most generally, we are prepared to give up a great deal of freedom to obtain it (security). These really smart people use this knowledge to their advantage as they create programs and situations that are irresistible to us in our desire for the warmth of security that having all of life’s requirements provided for us brings. Why do these smart people do this? Come on now, you can’t really be that naïve, can you? They do it to obtain and hold onto power. As responsible adults (removed from the real womb, that is), we all know that we really can’t get something for nothing, (like government provided universal health care, social security, welfare for the poor, education for all, housing and shelter for all, food for all, etc.,) but we always buy into the notion that it is the other guy who is going to pay the price. Some have called this kind of Government that is so kind and caring “Nanny Government”, but I really think a much better term would be “Womb Government”. Well the price we all must pay for Womb Government not only comes out our paychecks but it is also paid for with our loss of freedom as well. The country’s founding Fathers were also very smart and they knew about the human condition much better that most of the Flim Flamers of today. They struggled mightily with the rare opportunity to start with a clean slate and create a kind of government that would not only preserve the dignity of man but guarantee freedom for all as well. The Government that was finally decided upon is called a Republic and not a Democracy. That form of Government, Republic, is being systematically destroyed by the notion and desire for Womb Government. The founding fathers were deathly afraid of the “Tyranny of the Majority” because the founding fathers knew that the majority can be easily manipulated by the clever (womb to tomb benevolence) to obtain and keep power and that’s why a Democracy was feared. History proves the founding fathers wisdom in this regard. A Republic uses the rule of law to ensure liberty and justice for all and it’s not at all surprising that the “Justice System (Supreme and federal courts)” is the vehicle used to change the Constitution and establish law to create a Democracy where none existed before. This is being done in order to enable the far left agenda that uses Womb Government to further that agenda. We good people unknowingly further the far left agenda by not insisting on change back to our Republican form of Government but by accepting the silly notion of Womb Government as well. My friend Dick Blaker has dug out an amazing video that is the best I’ve seen to further explain this Government thing. I hope you will take the time to view this very important work. http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment/
Rosy Fingered Dawn comes creeping up over the eastern darkness and the birds and other critters acknowledge the new day mistress by beginning to stir from their nocturnal sojourn. Hesitant chirping and animal mutterings signal that a new day is about to begin as the rosy glow gently changes night into day. Be it a day of new challenges or boring sameness, only time will tell. The soft colored light begins to filter through your bedroom window and starts the process of washing out the gray scale images of fitful sleep by bringing color and revealing structure to your bedroom and nuance to your consciousness. If you’re fortunate enough to have a loving mate, you resist the urge to awaken further by pulling closer to the warmth and security that is yours for the taking. Instead of springing out of the warm embrace of your bed, you instead wriggle down into the covers much like the vice grip hold that Linus always has on his security blanket. If the above describes in any way your routine of meeting the day, don’t feel too bad about it. We all do the same thing in one manner or another. I believe it has something to do with a primordial instinct that is plumbed into us all and that is to seek the warmth of security in order to put off the harshness of reality and the uncertainty of life and living. Some have even said that our craving for warmth and security is a universal longing to return to the womb where it was always warm, safe and secure notwithstanding that everything was not only comfortable but all of life’s requirements were being provided for as well. Some have even likened Mother Earth as being a womb that shelters us all while proving for all of our needs during our sojourn here on this beautiful blue planet. That’s a fanciful notion I could believe in. The thing about being safe and warm in the security of a Mother’s womb is that you are not free to do everything you would like to do, in others words Brothers and Sisters, there is never a free lunch. There are some really, really smart people that know all about Mark 1 Mod 0 humans longings for the warmth that security brings to the human condition and that, most generally, we are prepared to give up a great deal of freedom to obtain it (security). These really smart people use this knowledge to their advantage as they create programs and situations that are irresistible to us in our desire for the warmth of security that having all of life’s requirements provided for us brings. Why do these smart people do this? Come on now, you can’t really be that naïve, can you? They do it to obtain and hold onto power. As responsible adults (removed from the real womb, that is), we all know that we really can’t get something for nothing, (like government provided universal health care, social security, welfare for the poor, education for all, housing and shelter for all, food for all, etc.,) but we always buy into the notion that it is the other guy who is going to pay the price. Some have called this kind of Government that is so kind and caring “Nanny Government”, but I really think a much better term would be “Womb Government”. Well the price we all must pay for Womb Government not only comes out our paychecks but it is also paid for with our loss of freedom as well. The country’s founding Fathers were also very smart and they knew about the human condition much better that most of the Flim Flamers of today. They struggled mightily with the rare opportunity to start with a clean slate and create a kind of government that would not only preserve the dignity of man but guarantee freedom for all as well. The Government that was finally decided upon is called a Republic and not a Democracy. That form of Government, Republic, is being systematically destroyed by the notion and desire for Womb Government. The founding fathers were deathly afraid of the “Tyranny of the Majority” because the founding fathers knew that the majority can be easily manipulated by the clever (womb to tomb benevolence) to obtain and keep power and that’s why a Democracy was feared. History proves the founding fathers wisdom in this regard. A Republic uses the rule of law to ensure liberty and justice for all and it’s not at all surprising that the “Justice System (Supreme and federal courts)” is the vehicle used to change the Constitution and establish law to create a Democracy where none existed before. This is being done in order to enable the far left agenda that uses Womb Government to further that agenda. We good people unknowingly further the far left agenda by not insisting on change back to our Republican form of Government but by accepting the silly notion of Womb Government as well. My friend Dick Blaker has dug out an amazing video that is the best I’ve seen to further explain this Government thing. I hope you will take the time to view this very important work. http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment/
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Beggar Man, Thief
Beggar Man, Thief
I listened very carefully to BHO’s plan to help fix the home mortgage problem. Most all agree that the home mortgage situation is the root problem of the current financial meltdown so until someone comes up with a viable way to fix the root problem, flailing away at the overall problem will continue to be the rule of the day. Unfortunately, I don’t think what is being offered is going to help all that much, but to be truthful, BHO and company should get an attaboy for coming up with a well thought out plan to address as much of the problem as possible. But, the mortgage fix plan is mostly a political façade to address as many of the concerns of the electorate as possible, and cannot possibly fix a problem that only the marketplace can solve. Well duh. I guess people will never understand that politicians will always do political things when the government “solves” citizen’s problems. Most all of you know I have a Real Estate Company with my son and so I have some first hand knowledge of how the problem evolved. Until five or six years ago, the real estate market was responding to traditional forces and then in response to Barney Frank and the Congress to get as many people into housing as possible, interest rates began to rapidly go down unrelated to any normal financial or market forces. For example, I was looking at property in Cape Canaveral Florida as a winter home and most of the Mon and Pop houses were going for about $130-150K. Within three of four years, the same house was selling for $300K instead of $150K. The inflated price was being driven up by low interest rates and easy money and because money was so cheap and banks were lending based on the inflated price with little regard to ability to pay (because of the implied Government backing and guarantee), many people bought at the inflated price. When everything crashed, the price of the Mon and Pop house quickly returned to the traditional market determined price of about $150K. The financial problem is that the banks require real estate prices to go back up to the inflated price in order to fix their balance sheet problem because people are walking away from a house that has a $300K mortgage and has a value of only $150K. In other words, the market will always determine the price of a house and when the artificial loan rates and the inflated prices that the government intervention caused are removed (the financial crash) the price of a home will revert back to its market determined value and not the artificial political social engineered price. So the BHO plan can in no way drive the current price of a home back up to the artificial inflated price to really fix the value problem and the plan will be mostly ineffective. Now stick with me as I put the finishing touches on this perfect storm of irresponsibility. Because of government inspired (make that directed) low interest rates providing cheap money the prices of all homes were going up regardless of whether you were selling or not. So the easy money scumbags began to offer home equity loads based on 100-120% of an artificially inflated price. Voila, free money for the masses. I have set at the real estate closing table and tried to explain to a seller that he has to pay $35K to sell his house because of his home equity loans and the fact being he has already spent his equity in the house and the buyer is not going to bail him out by paying over market price for his house. Remember all of my raving about people thinking they can get something for nothing? Now lots of people who took out home equity loans are upside down as hell and can’t afford their mortgage payments because everything has crashed which is causing jobs to be lost, etc., etc.; the cascade to ruin I’ve been talking about. Oh well, I hope that BHO’s plan can fix the mortgage problem, but I really don’t think it can.
I listened very carefully to BHO’s plan to help fix the home mortgage problem. Most all agree that the home mortgage situation is the root problem of the current financial meltdown so until someone comes up with a viable way to fix the root problem, flailing away at the overall problem will continue to be the rule of the day. Unfortunately, I don’t think what is being offered is going to help all that much, but to be truthful, BHO and company should get an attaboy for coming up with a well thought out plan to address as much of the problem as possible. But, the mortgage fix plan is mostly a political façade to address as many of the concerns of the electorate as possible, and cannot possibly fix a problem that only the marketplace can solve. Well duh. I guess people will never understand that politicians will always do political things when the government “solves” citizen’s problems. Most all of you know I have a Real Estate Company with my son and so I have some first hand knowledge of how the problem evolved. Until five or six years ago, the real estate market was responding to traditional forces and then in response to Barney Frank and the Congress to get as many people into housing as possible, interest rates began to rapidly go down unrelated to any normal financial or market forces. For example, I was looking at property in Cape Canaveral Florida as a winter home and most of the Mon and Pop houses were going for about $130-150K. Within three of four years, the same house was selling for $300K instead of $150K. The inflated price was being driven up by low interest rates and easy money and because money was so cheap and banks were lending based on the inflated price with little regard to ability to pay (because of the implied Government backing and guarantee), many people bought at the inflated price. When everything crashed, the price of the Mon and Pop house quickly returned to the traditional market determined price of about $150K. The financial problem is that the banks require real estate prices to go back up to the inflated price in order to fix their balance sheet problem because people are walking away from a house that has a $300K mortgage and has a value of only $150K. In other words, the market will always determine the price of a house and when the artificial loan rates and the inflated prices that the government intervention caused are removed (the financial crash) the price of a home will revert back to its market determined value and not the artificial political social engineered price. So the BHO plan can in no way drive the current price of a home back up to the artificial inflated price to really fix the value problem and the plan will be mostly ineffective. Now stick with me as I put the finishing touches on this perfect storm of irresponsibility. Because of government inspired (make that directed) low interest rates providing cheap money the prices of all homes were going up regardless of whether you were selling or not. So the easy money scumbags began to offer home equity loads based on 100-120% of an artificially inflated price. Voila, free money for the masses. I have set at the real estate closing table and tried to explain to a seller that he has to pay $35K to sell his house because of his home equity loans and the fact being he has already spent his equity in the house and the buyer is not going to bail him out by paying over market price for his house. Remember all of my raving about people thinking they can get something for nothing? Now lots of people who took out home equity loans are upside down as hell and can’t afford their mortgage payments because everything has crashed which is causing jobs to be lost, etc., etc.; the cascade to ruin I’ve been talking about. Oh well, I hope that BHO’s plan can fix the mortgage problem, but I really don’t think it can.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man
I just finished doing my taxes and tucked the completed forms into the mail for transport to the giant Black Hole located in a Galaxy far, far away called the US treasury. I happened upon something while doing my taxes that you might be interested in. And please don’t take my word for it, breakout the 1040 booklet that Uncle Sam sent you and go through the numbers yourself to verify what I have observed. What I am talking about here is that if you are a married couple filing jointly, and you make $43K, the Government declares that you are Poor and you qualify for an Earned Income Credit and the Government will take some money from someone else and give it to you. If you are married and filing jointly, and you make $70K, you qualify for the Alternative Minimum Tax and the Government will declare that you are Rich and take money from you and give it to someone else. That’s right, it only requires $27K to separate the Rich from the Poor in this Country. I could have played some games with single filers versus other filers and came up with a separation of only $3K between being Rich or being Poor, but that would have put me into the same league as Flim Flam Politicians. If there was ever a more classic definition of Redistribution of Wealth, I don’t know what it would be. Oh, by the way, there is a stench in the air and I smell it. A national sales tax is coming.
I just finished doing my taxes and tucked the completed forms into the mail for transport to the giant Black Hole located in a Galaxy far, far away called the US treasury. I happened upon something while doing my taxes that you might be interested in. And please don’t take my word for it, breakout the 1040 booklet that Uncle Sam sent you and go through the numbers yourself to verify what I have observed. What I am talking about here is that if you are a married couple filing jointly, and you make $43K, the Government declares that you are Poor and you qualify for an Earned Income Credit and the Government will take some money from someone else and give it to you. If you are married and filing jointly, and you make $70K, you qualify for the Alternative Minimum Tax and the Government will declare that you are Rich and take money from you and give it to someone else. That’s right, it only requires $27K to separate the Rich from the Poor in this Country. I could have played some games with single filers versus other filers and came up with a separation of only $3K between being Rich or being Poor, but that would have put me into the same league as Flim Flam Politicians. If there was ever a more classic definition of Redistribution of Wealth, I don’t know what it would be. Oh, by the way, there is a stench in the air and I smell it. A national sales tax is coming.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Milgram Experiment
America circa 2009 and the
Milgram Experiment
I hope all who begin to read this piece has the fortitude to become fully engaged in the subject presented because if one carefully considers what the frightful ramifications are, then perhaps you can have a greater understanding about what is going on today. First, you would be well advised to Goggle “Milgram Experiment” and find the time to read up on what the experiment was about and the fact that the experiment has been repeated many, many times by many, many different professionals and the results have always been the same regardless of where the experiment was performed or under what conditions. Indeed, researchers at California’s Santa Clara University just recently replicated the 1961 experiment in 2006 and the results were not only similar but the experiment was done under much more stringent and ethical conditions than the original Milgram experiment in order to address professional and ethical concerns about the experiment itself. Stanley Milgram began his work on this subject while working on his Phd at Harvard University with the experiment being conducted in 1961 by Milgram when he was Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yale University. The experiment was done during the Israeli court trial of the Nazi holocaust architect, Adolf Eichmann, and (the experiment) was an attempt to answer critical questions concerning following lawful orders even when those orders results in crimes against humanity. The trial once again raised very serious moral and ethical issues concerning the dichotomy of following a country’s lawful orders that result in pain, suffering and death to others, or not following orders because of ethical or moral concerns about inflicting pain and suffering to another human being. Not following a country’s lawful orders usually results in penalties to the one disobeying the orders or laws and that situation greatly complicates the issue. One should very carefully consider this question because it is a very, very complicated question and it is just as relevant today as it has been throughout the history of mankind. The question goes to the very heart of the ideology struggle that the one world government movement is waging today, and that is: Is one a citizen of the world (Humanity) or a citizen of your respective country, or even, are you a citizen of the world (Humanity) first and then of your respective country second? An important question because the World Court in the Hague can and does haul people in and tries them for crimes against humanity and other such crimes and the penalties are real to the one following lawful orders of one’s country. Bear in mind that the greatest moral and ethical country the world has ever seen, the USA, has rained death and destruction upon enemy and innocent alike during wars, and even dropped the atomic bomb upon ordinary people to end WWII. No one brought Harry S. Truman to a court of law because of crimes against humanity. The reason being, of course, we won the war! But if we had lost instead of winning the war, old “Give-em Hell Harry” would have swung from the gallows just like Eichmann did. Of course winning or losing should not determine moral or ethical righteousness, but for now they do and the One World Government folks will correct the winning/losing attribute by subjecting all peoples of the world to the same ethical and moral standards that One World Government will then adjudicate and thereby solve the dichotomy problem of who’s orders to follow. Well I guess this would at least resolve the latent penalties problem. The Milgram experiment was not designed to answer such complicated social questions as these even though the results of the experiment did illuminate the ethical and moral problems in greater detail, it was instead, designed to determine if ordinary people could follow orders even when real pain and suffering resulted to others in the course of following those orders. The experiment has answered that question without a doubt. Regardless of how many times the experiment is conducted, upwards to 80% of ordinary people willing follow orders and inflict pain and suffering even to the point of death upon fellow humans. This experiment goes a long way into understanding how ordinary Germans could inflict such horrendous pain and suffering upon other people. They were just following orders. The experiment proves that it is a deeply held human trait that can allow upwards of 80% of us to inflict pain and suffering upon others and we can do so because following orders somehow relives us of any universal, biological or cognitive moral/ethical imperative not to do so. Good God, many people in the experiment even enjoyed using the power associated with having life and death decisions over others of their kind. Some later experiments have even demonstrated mere peer pressure is almost as effective as lawful orders in mitigating moral or ethical concerns while harm is being done to others. All of this brings us to today. I’m sure you, as well as I, have been bewildered by the likes of Bernard Madoff, Banks, Financial Services Executives and other such scum bags that could knowingly inflict such pain and suffering upon their fellow man. They were either following orders to make profit because greed is now a virtue or excessive peer pressure relived them of concern for their fellow man. In short, they were only following orders, and they really can’t understand why people are so angry with them for doing so. Their problem is, orders aside, they have lost and will now suffer the consequence. Most of us ordinary law abiding (make that order following) citizens keep on following Governmental, Institutional, and Official Orders while acquiescing to Peer (Media) pressure that is at odds with our personal moral and ethical underpinnings even though we know in our hearts that relying on following orders to mitigate the moral/ethical responsibility of a free people will not leave to our progeny the same country that was left to us. This is the same old dichotomy that’s always been with us. When do we rise up as a free people and say we are no longer going to follow lawful orders (laws) but instead remove those who will not follow the same moral/ethical imperatives as the rest of us? As the Milgram experiment has demonstrated many times over, we will more than likely keep on following orders because doing so relieves us of any personal responsible for what happens, in short, we become enablers by following orders. All of this brings to mind the Son of God riding into Jerusalem upon an ass, carrying a palm leaf to signify peace and bringing a message of love to hapless humans who to this day, can’t decide if love should rule or just take the easy way and follow orders.
Milgram Experiment
I hope all who begin to read this piece has the fortitude to become fully engaged in the subject presented because if one carefully considers what the frightful ramifications are, then perhaps you can have a greater understanding about what is going on today. First, you would be well advised to Goggle “Milgram Experiment” and find the time to read up on what the experiment was about and the fact that the experiment has been repeated many, many times by many, many different professionals and the results have always been the same regardless of where the experiment was performed or under what conditions. Indeed, researchers at California’s Santa Clara University just recently replicated the 1961 experiment in 2006 and the results were not only similar but the experiment was done under much more stringent and ethical conditions than the original Milgram experiment in order to address professional and ethical concerns about the experiment itself. Stanley Milgram began his work on this subject while working on his Phd at Harvard University with the experiment being conducted in 1961 by Milgram when he was Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yale University. The experiment was done during the Israeli court trial of the Nazi holocaust architect, Adolf Eichmann, and (the experiment) was an attempt to answer critical questions concerning following lawful orders even when those orders results in crimes against humanity. The trial once again raised very serious moral and ethical issues concerning the dichotomy of following a country’s lawful orders that result in pain, suffering and death to others, or not following orders because of ethical or moral concerns about inflicting pain and suffering to another human being. Not following a country’s lawful orders usually results in penalties to the one disobeying the orders or laws and that situation greatly complicates the issue. One should very carefully consider this question because it is a very, very complicated question and it is just as relevant today as it has been throughout the history of mankind. The question goes to the very heart of the ideology struggle that the one world government movement is waging today, and that is: Is one a citizen of the world (Humanity) or a citizen of your respective country, or even, are you a citizen of the world (Humanity) first and then of your respective country second? An important question because the World Court in the Hague can and does haul people in and tries them for crimes against humanity and other such crimes and the penalties are real to the one following lawful orders of one’s country. Bear in mind that the greatest moral and ethical country the world has ever seen, the USA, has rained death and destruction upon enemy and innocent alike during wars, and even dropped the atomic bomb upon ordinary people to end WWII. No one brought Harry S. Truman to a court of law because of crimes against humanity. The reason being, of course, we won the war! But if we had lost instead of winning the war, old “Give-em Hell Harry” would have swung from the gallows just like Eichmann did. Of course winning or losing should not determine moral or ethical righteousness, but for now they do and the One World Government folks will correct the winning/losing attribute by subjecting all peoples of the world to the same ethical and moral standards that One World Government will then adjudicate and thereby solve the dichotomy problem of who’s orders to follow. Well I guess this would at least resolve the latent penalties problem. The Milgram experiment was not designed to answer such complicated social questions as these even though the results of the experiment did illuminate the ethical and moral problems in greater detail, it was instead, designed to determine if ordinary people could follow orders even when real pain and suffering resulted to others in the course of following those orders. The experiment has answered that question without a doubt. Regardless of how many times the experiment is conducted, upwards to 80% of ordinary people willing follow orders and inflict pain and suffering even to the point of death upon fellow humans. This experiment goes a long way into understanding how ordinary Germans could inflict such horrendous pain and suffering upon other people. They were just following orders. The experiment proves that it is a deeply held human trait that can allow upwards of 80% of us to inflict pain and suffering upon others and we can do so because following orders somehow relives us of any universal, biological or cognitive moral/ethical imperative not to do so. Good God, many people in the experiment even enjoyed using the power associated with having life and death decisions over others of their kind. Some later experiments have even demonstrated mere peer pressure is almost as effective as lawful orders in mitigating moral or ethical concerns while harm is being done to others. All of this brings us to today. I’m sure you, as well as I, have been bewildered by the likes of Bernard Madoff, Banks, Financial Services Executives and other such scum bags that could knowingly inflict such pain and suffering upon their fellow man. They were either following orders to make profit because greed is now a virtue or excessive peer pressure relived them of concern for their fellow man. In short, they were only following orders, and they really can’t understand why people are so angry with them for doing so. Their problem is, orders aside, they have lost and will now suffer the consequence. Most of us ordinary law abiding (make that order following) citizens keep on following Governmental, Institutional, and Official Orders while acquiescing to Peer (Media) pressure that is at odds with our personal moral and ethical underpinnings even though we know in our hearts that relying on following orders to mitigate the moral/ethical responsibility of a free people will not leave to our progeny the same country that was left to us. This is the same old dichotomy that’s always been with us. When do we rise up as a free people and say we are no longer going to follow lawful orders (laws) but instead remove those who will not follow the same moral/ethical imperatives as the rest of us? As the Milgram experiment has demonstrated many times over, we will more than likely keep on following orders because doing so relieves us of any personal responsible for what happens, in short, we become enablers by following orders. All of this brings to mind the Son of God riding into Jerusalem upon an ass, carrying a palm leaf to signify peace and bringing a message of love to hapless humans who to this day, can’t decide if love should rule or just take the easy way and follow orders.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Prepared To Be Nudged
Prepare To Be Nudged
Have you ever had an unexpected foreboding? You know, you are minding your own business and suddenly, from out of the blue, your narrow personal vision of the current world is expanded into an apprehensive wide-eyed search for whatever it is that your instinct is trying to warn you about. Sometimes seemingly small and insignificant things happen that only in retrospect become the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and ushers in the unappreciated flood of apprehension. I’ve been living with such an unsettling foreboding for some time now and something just happened that I think will be proven to be the small and insignificant signal that will shed light upon what is causing instinct to give rise to the foreboding. The “straw that broke the camel’s back” moment occurred when I happened to read a New York Times article entitled, “When Humans Need a Nudge Toward Rationality”, by Jeff Sommer in the February 8th, 2009 edition of that bastion of liberal thought. A humorous example of “Nudging” provides insight into what the two Professor Authors (Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein of the University of Chicago) have documented in their current book on the subject, Nudge. The example goes like this: The image of a housefly was etched into the porcelain near the drain of the urinals which are located in the Men’s room at the Amsterdam Airport. The fly images were added to the urinals to facilitate an experiment in human behavior. After the fly images were added to the urinals, “spillage” on the men’s room floor fell by 80%. The explanation for the reduced “spillage” was that men are competitive creatures and so the fly images peaked their competitive nature by focusing their attention to aim at the flies rather than just haphazardly urinating without too much regard to where their un-aimed stream was going. Isn’t science wonderful? The essence of this experiment and the subject of the book is that when officials, authorities or whomever would like to guide human behavior to a more desired and directed outcome, enlightened nudging of human behavior is a splendid way to do so. How this is done is for the enlightened to create “choice architecture” (their words, not mine) in order to nudge human behavior to a more desirable outcome. The creation of a “choice architecture” is the deliberate imposition of structure in an environment (etching flies in a urinal) to induce people to made better choices. I’ll just pause a moment to let all of this sink in…………(I wonder who gets to make the determination on what constitutes a “better choice?”) Now comes the defining “break the camel’s back” moment. Professor Sunstein has been named by President Obama to be administrator of the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or as Professor Thaler light heartily said, “Sunstein would be the Nudger in Chief.” I’ll just pause again for another moment to let that sink in as well…….. I don’t know about you but I think I’ve already read about these kinds of goings on when I read George Orwell’s seminal work, “1984” a number of years ago. I believe my foreboding is caused by the recognition that “Nudging” can be a more clandestine way to bring about thought and other governmental control over people that George Orwell saw fit to conjecture about in his book. The seemingly insignificant event of naming Professor Sunstein to be Nudger in Chief is enough to make any free man or woman apprehensive and afraid.
Have you ever had an unexpected foreboding? You know, you are minding your own business and suddenly, from out of the blue, your narrow personal vision of the current world is expanded into an apprehensive wide-eyed search for whatever it is that your instinct is trying to warn you about. Sometimes seemingly small and insignificant things happen that only in retrospect become the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and ushers in the unappreciated flood of apprehension. I’ve been living with such an unsettling foreboding for some time now and something just happened that I think will be proven to be the small and insignificant signal that will shed light upon what is causing instinct to give rise to the foreboding. The “straw that broke the camel’s back” moment occurred when I happened to read a New York Times article entitled, “When Humans Need a Nudge Toward Rationality”, by Jeff Sommer in the February 8th, 2009 edition of that bastion of liberal thought. A humorous example of “Nudging” provides insight into what the two Professor Authors (Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein of the University of Chicago) have documented in their current book on the subject, Nudge. The example goes like this: The image of a housefly was etched into the porcelain near the drain of the urinals which are located in the Men’s room at the Amsterdam Airport. The fly images were added to the urinals to facilitate an experiment in human behavior. After the fly images were added to the urinals, “spillage” on the men’s room floor fell by 80%. The explanation for the reduced “spillage” was that men are competitive creatures and so the fly images peaked their competitive nature by focusing their attention to aim at the flies rather than just haphazardly urinating without too much regard to where their un-aimed stream was going. Isn’t science wonderful? The essence of this experiment and the subject of the book is that when officials, authorities or whomever would like to guide human behavior to a more desired and directed outcome, enlightened nudging of human behavior is a splendid way to do so. How this is done is for the enlightened to create “choice architecture” (their words, not mine) in order to nudge human behavior to a more desirable outcome. The creation of a “choice architecture” is the deliberate imposition of structure in an environment (etching flies in a urinal) to induce people to made better choices. I’ll just pause a moment to let all of this sink in…………(I wonder who gets to make the determination on what constitutes a “better choice?”) Now comes the defining “break the camel’s back” moment. Professor Sunstein has been named by President Obama to be administrator of the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or as Professor Thaler light heartily said, “Sunstein would be the Nudger in Chief.” I’ll just pause again for another moment to let that sink in as well…….. I don’t know about you but I think I’ve already read about these kinds of goings on when I read George Orwell’s seminal work, “1984” a number of years ago. I believe my foreboding is caused by the recognition that “Nudging” can be a more clandestine way to bring about thought and other governmental control over people that George Orwell saw fit to conjecture about in his book. The seemingly insignificant event of naming Professor Sunstein to be Nudger in Chief is enough to make any free man or woman apprehensive and afraid.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Mister Cellophane
Mister Cellophane
I finally got rid of my 17year old stereo Receiver/Amp and installed a new 7.1 Super Duper Audio/Video Receive/Amp in its place. This new thing is capable of pumping out 735 watts of window busting, pulsating noise that can rival a fully loaded 747 taking off. A cynical and knowledgeable expert suggested that this new 7.1 hunk of technology has as much computing power that all of NASA had during the 1970s. Oh, by the way, it (the A/V Receiver/Amp) was not developed, designed or manufactured in the USA, but it was promoted, marketed and sold in the USA. But I digress. So after I got everything tested, adjusted and calibrated, we considered what would be an appropriate way to test this new civilian entertainment manifestation of the space age. What we came up with was the gritty and visceral Bob Fosse movie masterpiece, Chicago. The DVD movie was presented in full magnificent widescreen that was never realized on my old 21inch color TV and in spectacular Digital Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround sound that was never realized by my old 17year old stereo amp for that matter. However, with my 7 carefully located and compensated speakers, aided and abetted by 2 massive self-powered subwoofers and a 55inch high definition TV, Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere and Queen Latifah were brought strutting, singing and dancing right into my living room with such clarity and bigger-than–life sound, I nearly forgot what all of this stuff cost. The home theater experience and sound was so overwhelming the effervescence was knocked right out of my cold brewski before I could even dispose of it (the beer) properly. When the movie progressed to the point where the hapless and sappy husband movie character Amos Hart finally sang his song, Mister Cellophane, I could not help but notice the similarity of the character John C. Reilly was singing about and that of the hard working, “play-by-the-rules”, American Citizen. The similarity was made all the more persuasive by the blatant co-opting of Emmett Kelly’s “Weary Willy” Tramp Clown routine of sweeping the spotlight thing by dressing in the Weary Willy costume, right down to the oversized shoes and all. The very last verse of the Mister Cellophane song goes like this:
Mister Cellophane
‘cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I’m there
Never even know I’m there.
During this “Bailout” and “stimulate the economy” frenzy and orgy, if there was ever was a Cellophane Person, it’s surely the tax paying, hard working, play by the rules sap, the American Citizen. Maybe you are more perceptive than me, but it seems to me that those who are formulating this bailout/save-the-economy policy doesn't know that the American Citizen is even standing there, i.e., they look right through him and only see the fat cats that caused the problem in the first place. You know the more this goes on the more angry we all should become because they keep on punishing people who had nothing to do the current mess and keep on rewarding those who did. How much longer can this country endure when they keep on punishing citizens that do the right thing while rewarding those who contribute little and are irresponsible to say the least? Mister Cellophane? Yeah, that’s about right.
I finally got rid of my 17year old stereo Receiver/Amp and installed a new 7.1 Super Duper Audio/Video Receive/Amp in its place. This new thing is capable of pumping out 735 watts of window busting, pulsating noise that can rival a fully loaded 747 taking off. A cynical and knowledgeable expert suggested that this new 7.1 hunk of technology has as much computing power that all of NASA had during the 1970s. Oh, by the way, it (the A/V Receiver/Amp) was not developed, designed or manufactured in the USA, but it was promoted, marketed and sold in the USA. But I digress. So after I got everything tested, adjusted and calibrated, we considered what would be an appropriate way to test this new civilian entertainment manifestation of the space age. What we came up with was the gritty and visceral Bob Fosse movie masterpiece, Chicago. The DVD movie was presented in full magnificent widescreen that was never realized on my old 21inch color TV and in spectacular Digital Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround sound that was never realized by my old 17year old stereo amp for that matter. However, with my 7 carefully located and compensated speakers, aided and abetted by 2 massive self-powered subwoofers and a 55inch high definition TV, Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere and Queen Latifah were brought strutting, singing and dancing right into my living room with such clarity and bigger-than–life sound, I nearly forgot what all of this stuff cost. The home theater experience and sound was so overwhelming the effervescence was knocked right out of my cold brewski before I could even dispose of it (the beer) properly. When the movie progressed to the point where the hapless and sappy husband movie character Amos Hart finally sang his song, Mister Cellophane, I could not help but notice the similarity of the character John C. Reilly was singing about and that of the hard working, “play-by-the-rules”, American Citizen. The similarity was made all the more persuasive by the blatant co-opting of Emmett Kelly’s “Weary Willy” Tramp Clown routine of sweeping the spotlight thing by dressing in the Weary Willy costume, right down to the oversized shoes and all. The very last verse of the Mister Cellophane song goes like this:
Mister Cellophane
‘cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I’m there
Never even know I’m there.
During this “Bailout” and “stimulate the economy” frenzy and orgy, if there was ever was a Cellophane Person, it’s surely the tax paying, hard working, play by the rules sap, the American Citizen. Maybe you are more perceptive than me, but it seems to me that those who are formulating this bailout/save-the-economy policy doesn't know that the American Citizen is even standing there, i.e., they look right through him and only see the fat cats that caused the problem in the first place. You know the more this goes on the more angry we all should become because they keep on punishing people who had nothing to do the current mess and keep on rewarding those who did. How much longer can this country endure when they keep on punishing citizens that do the right thing while rewarding those who contribute little and are irresponsible to say the least? Mister Cellophane? Yeah, that’s about right.
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