The Commodity of our Lives

Truth is a commodity in that everyone has a vested interest in having their wants, their desires, their needs not only filled, but exceedingly so. Not our wants, not our desires and not our needs. Truth after all, is a personal thing, relegated to align its very existence with no less than God. God and truth are twined and bound, inseparable in their existence. For many, they are the one and the same thing. One can defend any argument, any belief system simply by stating their position is God given or based in truth. Once that statement is made, there is no argument left, there is no room left for compromise.

Of course, we all know most truth is a lie. And excuse me, the sun doesn't really rise in the morning sky, it just appears to, but I know what your thinking, and I’ll give you that. There are indeed some ‘God given’ truths that endure. We live, we die is one. There is a moon in our sky and we understand the physics which keep it there. These truths are remarkable because we live them, we experience them every single day of our lives and most don't question their existence. The larger truth is that scientific fact and God given truths exist together. The fact that we understand Gods math in keeping our moon its distance from our planet is a beautiful thing. The fact that we are beginning to understand the dynamics of the Universe isn't a contradiction to God, it's a contribution to our love for God, no matter how you define God.

That beauty and that contribution diverge at the human level of individual perception where truth and god become non capitalized words to be used in personal agendas. Personal agendas to divide and conquer, to gain false esteem, and we all are guilty. Every religion, every individual is guilty of using their belief in god to further their belief system.

God did not make the world in seven days. God made the world in billions of years because God has given us evidence of his handiwork in ice cores, in tree rings and rock strata.
Now, you know I’m not even close to being a thumper and spouter of the good word. I do, however, have a great respect, not only for Christianity, but for all Religion. What does bother me is the fact  that there are people who twist, bend and crank out whatever truth they deem necessary to get their point across, and sometimes, it’s people of a religious nature. I mean, they lie to people to get people to believe them and it seems to work. This is where truth has become a commodity, born to serve the interests of specific desires, wants and needs.

Two things before I end this, Politicians are just as guilty of using truth as a commodity as anyone else, perhaps more so. The second thing is, I have read that human footprints dating back to the time of the dinosaurs have been found, and dated, and all I can do is go hmmmm...

The Long Hard Truth of the Matter

You and I are our own worse enemies as we have forsaken Lincoln’s proclamation that a house divided cannot endure. The fractures run through cultural and social communities, are spread as a living virus throughout the entire religious and economic strata of America and visibly exists in the political factions. Compromise is no longer a word of honor and now means abject surrender, and is to be avoided and feared, for if one gives ground, power is lost.

There are those who believe that power is a physical commodity in finite terms. That when a opponent loses power, there is gain to be made in their own commodity. As in all material pursuits, human behavior is often guided by greed, and power as a commodity lives and breaths as a living reminder of that fact.

The failure to reach out and compromise, to understand the needs of others, to give comfort and compassion, all long held American values, no longer exist. In their place, lies, distrust, and disrespect have taken not only deep root, but are flourishing.

As a People, we are deeply divided. As People, we are not  bad nor cruel of heart with deceiving intentions. In our daily lives, most desire nothing more than to live their lives, to work hard, to be secure and to be free. Yet, as a people we hold responsibility and accountability for the divisions among us for we have left the moral ground that our forefathers established. Each of us, in our refusal to put our Nation before our personal desires have turned our back on our fathers and mothers who struggled daily amid constant and continuing hardship and agony, to make this Nation great.

We have come to a time and a place, that in a way, is unrecognizable to our founding fathers. Unrecognizable in the sense that their Nation, a Government of, by and for the People, no longer exists. In it’s place exists a Nation not of People, but a nation of Government! A Government that holds contempt for the welfare of it’s People and praise for those who hold power and undistributed wealth. A Government that has traveled far in it’s ability to spread division.

A Government that propagates unresolvable moral and ethical issues. A Government that actively participates and insures separation of economic classes. A Government that bases it’s decisions not on what is best for it’s People, but what is best for it’s own sustained lust for wealth and power. A Government  that believes the wealthy, the strong and the powerful will take care of the needs of those who are less fortunate when in fact, they have stole our rights and our freedoms. A Government that distorts facts and offers opinion as fact in total disregard for the intellect of the People. A government that will not speak of issues, of problems and possible solutions, yet will speak often and loudly to thrust upon the People, a dismal and foreboding sense of fear and distrust. That sense of fear and distrust is meant not only for those who live outside our borders, but those within who seek change, who seek answers. Truth has become a tangled nightmare to never end, forever to haunt our lives.

A truth that no one speaks, that you and I are accountable. It is the best kept secret in America that we all know and never mention. From local Government to County Government to State Government to Federal Government, all are influenced not by what is right for the people they represent, but they are influenced by a belief that what is good for the City, for the County, for the State, for the Federal Government, is good for the people they represent.

At heart, it is an easy belief system to grasp a hold of, to invest ones dreams in. Yet it is a system that can only work when all levels of Government listen to it’s constituents on an equal footing as they listen to the voices of the local contractors. All levels of Government must balance the needs of the Community as a whole with the needs of the People.

Our economic troubles began at the local level, this too is a unspeakable truth that we do not hear. Our troubles began with City Governments allowing vast tracts of land to be developed without asking who will buy these houses and instead looked at Tax revenue and plunged those numbers in their annual budgets. When local citizens asked, ‘Who will buy these houses?’, they were ignored. When no one came to buy, local banks found a way out by offering up dreams to those who were in no financial position to dream. Just as it is true in the housing market, so is it true of other issues. Much of the cost of Health Care can be attributed to what is known as the Medical Arms Race at the local level. Look around your community and count the number of medical facilities and services. In many Communities, we have isolated the poor into apartment complexes clustered in a specific part of town, turning that section into a virtual prison for the poor, with no hope of redemption, no hope of escape and many of us have the despicable gall to blame the poor and yet, the poor too, are accountable for their lives.

We are a people who have turned the corner in that we desire to be entertained as opposed to being informed, who accept opinion and speculation as fact as long as those opinions and speculations agree with individual beliefs. We have become a people that allow a black American running for President to be called a traitor, a terrorist, an Arab, along with calls for his lynching and murder. And if such a terrible thing were to happen, who would be accountable? Those who purposefully spread such hate for political gain, those who repeat such hate or those who remain silent in it’s presence.

We are a good and honest people. We are hard working, inventive, innovative and I believe we actually care about our neighbors. The truth is simple in that we all have much more in common than we have differences. The commonalities of desired equality and security, of earned respect, and the right to prove that I can work as hard as the next person, to have house and home within means, to have access to my medical needs as my neighbor, to have a financial future, to see my children admitted to college, are not bad things and remain a common thread among all People. Yet our refusal to understand the way to these obtainable goals is through compromise, through the sacrifice of individual desires and even long held morals for the benefit of all People, divides us on all levels and in all aspects of our lives.

There is blame enough to go around but it is, essentially, you and I who hold the solutions to the trials and tribulations this Great Nation is enduring. It is time for each American to ask what is more important, my beliefs, my desires, my wants, my needs, ...or my Nation? Not that we need to give these dear and precious things up on an individual basis. Never!

But it is time to ask what you can sacrifice to unite our Nation. And that needs to start with people speaking out and participating at the local level all the way to the state and federal Level.

What The Fu*K

Sometimes, that’s all you can say about life. Sometimes, there's just no other explanation other than an exclamation. Consider, Gary Hegna, 45, who forces a little girl of seven to wear costumes and perform sex acts for five years and walks away without a prison sentence. Remember that affluent defense a while back. Let’s not forget, Ricky Vitte, Jr, an esteemed Ohio State Trooper who taught a pre teen how to jerk off to porn. When investigated, his excuse was that he didn't want the teen to feel pressured into having sex before he was ready. Apparently, even with his history, the investigators thought the act, justified and good ol’ boy Ricky Vitte remains an officer in good standing.
I mean, really! What the fuck is wrong with our judicial system?

I’ll tell you a secret, this is nothing new.

Some thirty years back in my wild and woolly days I was waiting for my turn in front of a local judge for a D-dub. Now it was bad enough that this particular judge really had no business setting on the bench because he was popping nitro pills and slobbering all over the bench (true!) and when he spoke, you didn’t have a clue what he was saying. The only saving grace was that the bailiff pretty much repeated everything he said.

Turns out, the guy just before me was Chester the Molester. Judge banged his gavel, mumbled and dribbled spittle and the bailiff decreed 6 months probation. I thought, ‘Hmmm, strange. Easy going judge’.

I meandered respectfully up and stood before the judge and I no sooner said ‘guilty’ than he slammed his hammer down and pronounced a six month sentence. Yep! Go figure? I can't. Chester walks and I set 6 months.

You know as well as I do, our judicial system isn't fair, isn't about what is right. You know as well as I do, it treats those of color differently, it treats people of class differently. Our courts are not about justice! They are about the rule of law, the word of law and how that law has been and is, interpreted.

You will see Mr. Pervert in court again, but it will be too late. Another victim will have suffered, and I ask you, who is the guilty party?

Like I said, some days, all you can say is , what the fuuuck!