President Barack Hussein Obama
(BHO)
A Tiger would be more successful if it looked like a Labrador Retriever.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
In God We Trust, All Others Cash
In God We Trust,
All Others Cash
Most people believe when Jesus cleared the Temple of Money Changers it was because of the despicable business the Moneychangers were doing within the confines of the holy Temple. However, most scholars agree that the primary reason that the Moneychangers were tossed from the Temple was that they were causing such a ruckus doing business that it was impossible to do the church’s work. But, of course, there was more to this episode than simply eliminating noise and commotion because when Jesus cast the Moneychangers out he said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Why would Jesus say that the Moneychangers were turning the Temple into a house of thieves if the Moneychangers were only causing a disturbance? Well, it seems that the Moneychangers had a monopoly on creating a certain coin that was used by worshipers in the Temple and the Moneychangers used this monopoly to charge interest on the coin (money) they created and in so doing had become quite wealthy making money off of money. Wait a minute. Does this sound vaguely familiar? Of course it does because the United States Federal Reserve Banks, the United States Federal Reserve, AIG, Financial Institutions and endless others in today’s modern economies, does exactly the same thing, i.e., they create money and then charge interest on it when other people or entities use it. This begs the question; why did the charging of interest for the use of money motivate Jesus to call the Moneychangers thieves? The answer to this question is much easier than it would seem because throughout the history of civilization the charging of interest for the use of money was considered a grave sin and an abomination. Anyone who engaged in such a despicable business of making money off of money was shunned as being not worthy of any honorable standing in the community. I will leave it to each reader’s conjecture that perhaps this dishonorable practice of making money off of money is where a particular racial discrimination got its start and still exists throughout much of the world today because it was, in general, been only one race of people that thought it was not dishonorable to engage in the business of charging interest on the use of money. The fact that this race of people were nearly the exclusive practitioners of this business of making money off of money can go far in explaining how this age old scourge of discrimination got it’s start. Well that was then, and this is now. I will wager that most people consider the charging of interest for the use of money is only another way of making a profit and therefore this profit making is Capitalism in operation, i.e., if it’s Capitalism, then it cannot be a dishonorable thing to do nowadays as it was in days gone by. Well perhaps. I won’t bore you with a standard definition of Capitalism but basically one invests their real money into a privately or Corporate held business and that business then does business well enough to make a profit that is returned to the investors. The investor now has a capital gain in addition to the original capital invested and the investor can now use the capital gain to invest in new businesses, and viola, a vibrant economy. The profit earned from doing real business was earned by creating something of real value that the business sold, so therefore, the capital gain achieved is real money because was created by the real bussiness creating something of real value. You see, here’s the thing about making money off of money, it’s not a real business. You might turn a profit from making money off of money but in so doing, nothing was added to the economy because no real business was done to earn the profit and create real money. The money made off of money is not real money because nothing of value is the basis for the profit money. And it follows if the economy is awash in “not real” money, money will lose its value to the point where the economy will eventually fail. The only way an economy can continue that is constituted with “not real” money is for continuous inflation to occur and constant inflation is indeed the characteristic of the modern American economy. The political trick is to keep inflation as low as possible in order to continue the economy for as long as possible, but it will eventually fail for some future generation. This, of course, gets us to the subject of credit. Credit is the modern, new and improved, way of making money off of money, but the results are the same; the money made from extending credit is not real money and the economy will eventually fail. You can see first hand what credit can do when multiplied by “leveraging”, credit default swaps, and endless other ingenious ways of making money off of money but, of course, the money made is not real money and this “not real” money is what is causing the current financial crisis. Oh well, In God we trust, all others cash.
All Others Cash
Most people believe when Jesus cleared the Temple of Money Changers it was because of the despicable business the Moneychangers were doing within the confines of the holy Temple. However, most scholars agree that the primary reason that the Moneychangers were tossed from the Temple was that they were causing such a ruckus doing business that it was impossible to do the church’s work. But, of course, there was more to this episode than simply eliminating noise and commotion because when Jesus cast the Moneychangers out he said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Why would Jesus say that the Moneychangers were turning the Temple into a house of thieves if the Moneychangers were only causing a disturbance? Well, it seems that the Moneychangers had a monopoly on creating a certain coin that was used by worshipers in the Temple and the Moneychangers used this monopoly to charge interest on the coin (money) they created and in so doing had become quite wealthy making money off of money. Wait a minute. Does this sound vaguely familiar? Of course it does because the United States Federal Reserve Banks, the United States Federal Reserve, AIG, Financial Institutions and endless others in today’s modern economies, does exactly the same thing, i.e., they create money and then charge interest on it when other people or entities use it. This begs the question; why did the charging of interest for the use of money motivate Jesus to call the Moneychangers thieves? The answer to this question is much easier than it would seem because throughout the history of civilization the charging of interest for the use of money was considered a grave sin and an abomination. Anyone who engaged in such a despicable business of making money off of money was shunned as being not worthy of any honorable standing in the community. I will leave it to each reader’s conjecture that perhaps this dishonorable practice of making money off of money is where a particular racial discrimination got its start and still exists throughout much of the world today because it was, in general, been only one race of people that thought it was not dishonorable to engage in the business of charging interest on the use of money. The fact that this race of people were nearly the exclusive practitioners of this business of making money off of money can go far in explaining how this age old scourge of discrimination got it’s start. Well that was then, and this is now. I will wager that most people consider the charging of interest for the use of money is only another way of making a profit and therefore this profit making is Capitalism in operation, i.e., if it’s Capitalism, then it cannot be a dishonorable thing to do nowadays as it was in days gone by. Well perhaps. I won’t bore you with a standard definition of Capitalism but basically one invests their real money into a privately or Corporate held business and that business then does business well enough to make a profit that is returned to the investors. The investor now has a capital gain in addition to the original capital invested and the investor can now use the capital gain to invest in new businesses, and viola, a vibrant economy. The profit earned from doing real business was earned by creating something of real value that the business sold, so therefore, the capital gain achieved is real money because was created by the real bussiness creating something of real value. You see, here’s the thing about making money off of money, it’s not a real business. You might turn a profit from making money off of money but in so doing, nothing was added to the economy because no real business was done to earn the profit and create real money. The money made off of money is not real money because nothing of value is the basis for the profit money. And it follows if the economy is awash in “not real” money, money will lose its value to the point where the economy will eventually fail. The only way an economy can continue that is constituted with “not real” money is for continuous inflation to occur and constant inflation is indeed the characteristic of the modern American economy. The political trick is to keep inflation as low as possible in order to continue the economy for as long as possible, but it will eventually fail for some future generation. This, of course, gets us to the subject of credit. Credit is the modern, new and improved, way of making money off of money, but the results are the same; the money made from extending credit is not real money and the economy will eventually fail. You can see first hand what credit can do when multiplied by “leveraging”, credit default swaps, and endless other ingenious ways of making money off of money but, of course, the money made is not real money and this “not real” money is what is causing the current financial crisis. Oh well, In God we trust, all others cash.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Rust Never Sleeps & Weeds Don't Rest
Rust Never Sleeps &
Weeds Don't Rest
If you awoke soon enough from your nocturnal regimen this morning you might have been treated to the sight of Rosy-Fingered Dawn pulling herself up over the eastern sky while dragging Old Sol behind to begin lighting up the world. It’s a reassuring sight. So, while all warm and fuzzy in your queen size cocoon, you rub the sleep and crud from your rested eyes and turn to see if the world is still out there. Sure enough, Old Sol is beginning to light up the world so that the struggling masses can pursue labor’s rewards and assure lazy-butts still in bed that the world is also, still there, bathed anew in fresh light and ready to go. Some apprehension about what a new day might bring is very understandable because, after all, just before hitting the sheets, you were treated to your nightly ration of murder, mayhem, avarice, natural and man-made calamity, guesses about tomorrow’s weather, without which, you would find it impossible to function without such prior knowledge of impending climatic conditions, and all brought to you by your favorite and smiling Nightly Television News Team. Small wonder then that a rational person would greet a new day with some apprehension about what might be coming their way after bearing eyewitness to such routine calamitous television events. I guess one of the realizations that increasing age brings is that it’s wise not to get too excited about what’s going on around you because, quite frankly, there is very little you can do about it anyway so what’s the point in getting all riled up and becoming personally concerned? In other words, with gray hair and sagging butts comes the knowledge that rust never sleeps and weeds never rest. This is as it has always been and will always be. The only difference is today’s modern world inundates us with nonstop information that for the most part is about the decay (Rust) of human nobility and the uncivilized (Weeds) louts causing mayhem so that the beautiful and gracious is most often drowned out by the raucous clamor of information flow. This situation contributes to a general feeling of depression and can lead to drink and dour demeanors. How about some good news? I have tried the following two things and they have always worked without fail to brighten ones day and change a dour demeanor into a pleasant and comfortable disposition. Of course, you could always stay in bed all day and avoid all contact, but most of us are not quite ready for that situation yet so I encourage you to try my two remedies because they cost nothing and are quite effective. The first one is quite easy and only requires the use of a single finger to switch channels on the television whenever the news comes on and to never pick up your reading glasses to read a newspaper. I know, it sounds extreme, but turning off television news and never reading a newspaper really works and besides if something really important is going on you will know about it soon enough from friends and neighbors. I am almost embarrassed to disclose the second remedy because it will sound like one of those feel-good, up with people things. I have run this experiment many times and the results are always the same, so try it, you’ll like it. Whenever you are out walking about, always smile at the stranger you pass. Now don’t flash a great big smile, just a small smile acknowledging the person that you are passing and what will happen next will surprise you like it has surprised me every time. The person you smiled at will more than likely smile back at you, and in addition, most likely will say, “good morning” or some other pleasantry in return. Presto! Dour attitude destroyed and outlook much improved and the prospect for an agreeable and profitable day is now at your doorstep. We all know rust never sleeps and weeds don't rest but we really can do without the constant reminder of their nefarious activities that can change our precious life into a frightened drag. To hell with that.
Weeds Don't Rest
If you awoke soon enough from your nocturnal regimen this morning you might have been treated to the sight of Rosy-Fingered Dawn pulling herself up over the eastern sky while dragging Old Sol behind to begin lighting up the world. It’s a reassuring sight. So, while all warm and fuzzy in your queen size cocoon, you rub the sleep and crud from your rested eyes and turn to see if the world is still out there. Sure enough, Old Sol is beginning to light up the world so that the struggling masses can pursue labor’s rewards and assure lazy-butts still in bed that the world is also, still there, bathed anew in fresh light and ready to go. Some apprehension about what a new day might bring is very understandable because, after all, just before hitting the sheets, you were treated to your nightly ration of murder, mayhem, avarice, natural and man-made calamity, guesses about tomorrow’s weather, without which, you would find it impossible to function without such prior knowledge of impending climatic conditions, and all brought to you by your favorite and smiling Nightly Television News Team. Small wonder then that a rational person would greet a new day with some apprehension about what might be coming their way after bearing eyewitness to such routine calamitous television events. I guess one of the realizations that increasing age brings is that it’s wise not to get too excited about what’s going on around you because, quite frankly, there is very little you can do about it anyway so what’s the point in getting all riled up and becoming personally concerned? In other words, with gray hair and sagging butts comes the knowledge that rust never sleeps and weeds never rest. This is as it has always been and will always be. The only difference is today’s modern world inundates us with nonstop information that for the most part is about the decay (Rust) of human nobility and the uncivilized (Weeds) louts causing mayhem so that the beautiful and gracious is most often drowned out by the raucous clamor of information flow. This situation contributes to a general feeling of depression and can lead to drink and dour demeanors. How about some good news? I have tried the following two things and they have always worked without fail to brighten ones day and change a dour demeanor into a pleasant and comfortable disposition. Of course, you could always stay in bed all day and avoid all contact, but most of us are not quite ready for that situation yet so I encourage you to try my two remedies because they cost nothing and are quite effective. The first one is quite easy and only requires the use of a single finger to switch channels on the television whenever the news comes on and to never pick up your reading glasses to read a newspaper. I know, it sounds extreme, but turning off television news and never reading a newspaper really works and besides if something really important is going on you will know about it soon enough from friends and neighbors. I am almost embarrassed to disclose the second remedy because it will sound like one of those feel-good, up with people things. I have run this experiment many times and the results are always the same, so try it, you’ll like it. Whenever you are out walking about, always smile at the stranger you pass. Now don’t flash a great big smile, just a small smile acknowledging the person that you are passing and what will happen next will surprise you like it has surprised me every time. The person you smiled at will more than likely smile back at you, and in addition, most likely will say, “good morning” or some other pleasantry in return. Presto! Dour attitude destroyed and outlook much improved and the prospect for an agreeable and profitable day is now at your doorstep. We all know rust never sleeps and weeds don't rest but we really can do without the constant reminder of their nefarious activities that can change our precious life into a frightened drag. To hell with that.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
E Pluribus Unum
E Pluribus Unum
I would like to advance a thought on a subject that perhaps we haven’t given much purchase to as we look at what going on in our world today and try to make sense of it all. If we step back and try to list all of the things, from our perspective, that has been going wrong and identify all of the current and potential problems that our country has to face, the list would be as varied in number and subject as there are people making up the lists. This would be so because we all bring a different perspective to the table when we advance an opinion about what constitutes a right or wrong, or, what is a problem or not a problem. Having said all of that, it becomes obvious that personal perspective (e.g., a teenager view versus a senior citizen’s view) is the bottom-up method of constructing a society perspective about what is right or wrong, and, what is a problem or not a problem. For example: a Muslim society, Christian society, Secular society and a Spiritual society would each look and behave differently because each society is a composite of all the people that make-up those societies and each society in general would be reflective of the beliefs and values of the people in common. If you again step back, and look at what has just been said, I think we all would agree that what we are discussing here is the culture of a given society. The subject of culture is the subject I alluded to in the beginning of this discussion. For the record, let’s give Webster’s definition of the most pertinent meaning of culture from an Anthropology perspective, to wit: the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of humans beginnings and transmitted from one generation to another. It has always been an opinion of mine that culture is the single most important factor when trying to understand what is happening and why it is happening to us. Bearing in mind, of course, that culture is never static. Culture is dynamic and is always changing because it is made up of continuously changing people. I believe that culture is the only way of understanding what is going on in our society because most of what goes on is simply reflective of what our changing culture now believes and values. For example, rampant greed is understandable if the culture has changed from a spiritual society governed by beliefs in a higher order morality about honesty, fairness, truthfulness, etc., into a secular culture that is now governed by the notion that materialistic things are more important than spiritual things and therefore society has come to believe that “Greed is Good.” So condemning greed as the culprit that is ruining our country offers no way of correcting the offense of greed because greed is only a symptom of what a changing culture has spawned. The only way that greed can be brought to bay is a culture change from a Secular society that believes materialistic things are paramount into some different kind of society that comes to believe that materialistic things are not paramount and therefore, “Greed is Bad.” If we are to correct what we think is wrong and is a problem for our society then we must first understand what caused our culture to change in the first place. I will advance, for your consideration, four events I believe caused the greatest changes in our society that has in turn changed our culture and spawned so many of what many of our citizens think are our troubles and problems of today. Bear in mind that all of the citizens might not think that that our culture has changed for the worst, because after all, this is our new culture and this culture reflects the new values and beliefs of the majority. I believe the pace of change quickened in our culture as a result of the great depression and is the first of four great events that changed our culture the most. The great depression was the event that caused people to vow that they would never again deprive their families of the materialistic necessities of life and so began that transformation into a more materialistic society. The second great event that occurred was World War II. World War II facilitated the actual liberation of women by unshackling females from home and family and thereby into equal and full citizens. The actual equality of women that WWII facilitated began the transformation into a more liberal society. The third great event was the creation of civil rights by inclusion of civil rights into the Constitution. The civil rights codified into law and practice transformed guaranteed society rights into guaranteed individual rights and thus began the transformation of a homogeneous society into an individual and special interest society. The fourth, and I think the event of utmost importance, was society’s acceptance of the notion of diversity rather than the guiding principal of E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one). This event completed the transformation from a homogeneous and “melting pot” society that allowed for a unified culture into a discontinuous society with no unified culture at all. The notion of diversity has promoted the acceptance of subcultures (drug culture, race culture, science culture, this culture and that culture and has resulted in no viable culture at all. The point being that some of the things that facilitated the making of a great country, like basic honesty, truthfulness and fairness were products of a unified culture and these cultural traits made business easy and profitable, human relations civil, and in general, made for a just and fair society without the necessity of endless laws and courts to enforce what was willing enabled by the force of culture. Finally, the current fractured culture we now have will continue to change as events dictate and the troubles and problems attendant to our current situation will remain unresolved because they are a product of our culture. However, there are a large number of people, particularly the young, who believe in the culture we now have and nothing short of a great event will change things in a meaningful way regardless of how some of the citizens think. But never ever forget, it is now and forever, The Culture.
I would like to advance a thought on a subject that perhaps we haven’t given much purchase to as we look at what going on in our world today and try to make sense of it all. If we step back and try to list all of the things, from our perspective, that has been going wrong and identify all of the current and potential problems that our country has to face, the list would be as varied in number and subject as there are people making up the lists. This would be so because we all bring a different perspective to the table when we advance an opinion about what constitutes a right or wrong, or, what is a problem or not a problem. Having said all of that, it becomes obvious that personal perspective (e.g., a teenager view versus a senior citizen’s view) is the bottom-up method of constructing a society perspective about what is right or wrong, and, what is a problem or not a problem. For example: a Muslim society, Christian society, Secular society and a Spiritual society would each look and behave differently because each society is a composite of all the people that make-up those societies and each society in general would be reflective of the beliefs and values of the people in common. If you again step back, and look at what has just been said, I think we all would agree that what we are discussing here is the culture of a given society. The subject of culture is the subject I alluded to in the beginning of this discussion. For the record, let’s give Webster’s definition of the most pertinent meaning of culture from an Anthropology perspective, to wit: the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of humans beginnings and transmitted from one generation to another. It has always been an opinion of mine that culture is the single most important factor when trying to understand what is happening and why it is happening to us. Bearing in mind, of course, that culture is never static. Culture is dynamic and is always changing because it is made up of continuously changing people. I believe that culture is the only way of understanding what is going on in our society because most of what goes on is simply reflective of what our changing culture now believes and values. For example, rampant greed is understandable if the culture has changed from a spiritual society governed by beliefs in a higher order morality about honesty, fairness, truthfulness, etc., into a secular culture that is now governed by the notion that materialistic things are more important than spiritual things and therefore society has come to believe that “Greed is Good.” So condemning greed as the culprit that is ruining our country offers no way of correcting the offense of greed because greed is only a symptom of what a changing culture has spawned. The only way that greed can be brought to bay is a culture change from a Secular society that believes materialistic things are paramount into some different kind of society that comes to believe that materialistic things are not paramount and therefore, “Greed is Bad.” If we are to correct what we think is wrong and is a problem for our society then we must first understand what caused our culture to change in the first place. I will advance, for your consideration, four events I believe caused the greatest changes in our society that has in turn changed our culture and spawned so many of what many of our citizens think are our troubles and problems of today. Bear in mind that all of the citizens might not think that that our culture has changed for the worst, because after all, this is our new culture and this culture reflects the new values and beliefs of the majority. I believe the pace of change quickened in our culture as a result of the great depression and is the first of four great events that changed our culture the most. The great depression was the event that caused people to vow that they would never again deprive their families of the materialistic necessities of life and so began that transformation into a more materialistic society. The second great event that occurred was World War II. World War II facilitated the actual liberation of women by unshackling females from home and family and thereby into equal and full citizens. The actual equality of women that WWII facilitated began the transformation into a more liberal society. The third great event was the creation of civil rights by inclusion of civil rights into the Constitution. The civil rights codified into law and practice transformed guaranteed society rights into guaranteed individual rights and thus began the transformation of a homogeneous society into an individual and special interest society. The fourth, and I think the event of utmost importance, was society’s acceptance of the notion of diversity rather than the guiding principal of E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one). This event completed the transformation from a homogeneous and “melting pot” society that allowed for a unified culture into a discontinuous society with no unified culture at all. The notion of diversity has promoted the acceptance of subcultures (drug culture, race culture, science culture, this culture and that culture and has resulted in no viable culture at all. The point being that some of the things that facilitated the making of a great country, like basic honesty, truthfulness and fairness were products of a unified culture and these cultural traits made business easy and profitable, human relations civil, and in general, made for a just and fair society without the necessity of endless laws and courts to enforce what was willing enabled by the force of culture. Finally, the current fractured culture we now have will continue to change as events dictate and the troubles and problems attendant to our current situation will remain unresolved because they are a product of our culture. However, there are a large number of people, particularly the young, who believe in the culture we now have and nothing short of a great event will change things in a meaningful way regardless of how some of the citizens think. But never ever forget, it is now and forever, The Culture.
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