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Many people are confused and worried about the federal spending .The nation is in debt, why does the government use money when the nation is bankrupt?
I will use a very simple example to makes sense of the philosophy behind the concept of spending and saving money at the same time.
I will use a family as an example:
If the nation is a family with two parents and three children and the parents do not have any job, they will not have any money to spend, and they use as little as possible, they only buy what is necessary. However to continue and save from nothing will not improve the family’s life, it will make it worse and when the unemployment funds stop, they have nothing to support themselves. They have to rethink their options, maybe they will have to move to another state to find a job and maybe invest in a new education since there aren’t any jobs in their field. When this is the case, they will need to borrow money to spend for the education and they need money to move to another state. The family is cutting down on spending, but they are using money for education and moving. Their situation requires using as little money as possible but at the same time they are making huge investment and are spending money they don’t have, maybe it’s the most expensive investment they have ever taken on. This is their only option at this point.
When the nation is in the same situation, the same hold true, except that they have to be more active to create jobs and invest. A main difference between a family and a nation is the huge influence the government and its politics have on the individual.
Why didn’t the federal investment work in USA?
In the past, western countries have tried to infuse money into poor countries in Africa and South- America as an attempt to improve the life of people living in poverty. When this hasn’t worked, the cause of the problem has been linked to corruption. When money is not going where it’s supposed to go, the reason is always linked to corruption (impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle). Corrupt people and corrupt organizations write the laws making it legal for them to steal other people’s properties, money and values.
It’s unusual to have corruption at this level in western society. The tactics and problems are mostly connected to poor countries and countries without elementary education. It just doesn’t make sense to have corruption in an open, developed, educated and wealthy nation. Maybe that’s why the problem hasn’t been addressed or recognized? How can anyone expect to find this type of behavior in a seemingly normal society?
It’s time for greatness — not for greed. It’s a time for idealism — not ideology. It is a time not just for compassionate words, but compassionate action
.Marian Wright Edelman
A healthy society is a balanced society that work on all levels of life. A society is the sum of all individuals and organization operating within the nation, when a society doesn’t work it’s because the individuals and the groups are out of balance within themselves.
A balanced society:
There are two very important factors in a human’s life and by looking at those factors we can identify what create a balanced society.
Family and friends:
This part has to do with relationships, care taking and friendships. We do not treat family as work or businesses since other values are involved.
Work:
This has to do with income and doing something productive; when we work we are focused on different tasks then when we are home with family.
A society:
The same goes for the society or the nation. If the nation is considered only to be a business, we will have a cold and materialistic society. The human do not have other values then to produce and create profit. The human value is to be considered as an asset and not as a living human being.
If the nation look at the society only as a family, and don’t pay attention toward the business side, the country will have difficulties being organized and pay attention to employment and budgets.
I don’t believe people are happy when there isn’t a balance between work and family. Who wants to spend their life being poor because the nation can’t create jobs and organize a plan for financial prosperity? And who wants to spend their life as a work force for a corporation with no time to live and no time with their families? People do not want to be slaves and they don’t want to be poor without any hope or a plan for the future.
How can we do this?
1. Nation as a family.
A family is someone who is there when you need support, it’s also someone you are supporting depending on your age and role and where you are in life. They help you when you are sick, support you through education, celebrate milestones and help you through difficult times. When someone in your family is going through a difficult time, you are there for them and do what you can to be helpful.
When the nation is a family the same is true, the difference is that you help people you don’t know personally and someone helps you without knowing you. It’s a security net build for everyone and its build because you know that life has difficult times and good times. Besides people who feel safe are more happy, balanced and productive- ultimately it’s good for the nation’s business side as well.
2. Nation as a company.
A company is focused on production, sales and budgets and a nation needs to do the same since it has a budget to balance. It needs to look after production and the financial situation. When a nation does this well ,create jobs and build wealth- it’s good for the family side as well, since it creates more money to take care of children’s education, physical health and to care for elderly. A wealthy society can give the population more time for parent to be with their children, time for sport activities and hobbies since humans need physical activities to stay healthy,time for reflection and creative activities to keep growing.
To care for anyone else enough to make their problems one’s own, is ever the beginning of one’s real ethical development.
.Felix Adler:
Since it seems to be difficult to ban propaganda, the people have to educate themselves to avoid being indoctrinated. There are very few options and approaches.
- Don’t listen to any media. This is impossible for most people since you belong to a family and a society- and you can’t dictate other people. However it’s important to find some quite space as often as possible to listen to your own truth. Stillness makes it easier for you to see the truth.
- Read the news from other countries.
- Train yourself. Use the opportunity by listening to commercial and political propaganda to learn the tactics they are using and intellectually learn when something is propaganda and when it’s the truth.
- Is the statement based on a study? Is the study made by a neutral source?
- Use Google to check the facts.
- Learn to read the body language. The propaganda is often delivered by actors and actresses – or someone who is trained for the job and act like a robot. However this is not always the case and when someone is lying ; they look plain funny or display extreme emotions. Note that if someone is twisting the truth, it’s normal for the neutral source to be upset about it.When someone is delivering a message and they know it’s the truth, generally they display energy and a happy tone. They seem more genuine alive and in touch with the message compare to the paid robot /actor.
- Look at the messenger. Is this a person who has a track record of being honest? Whose agenda does he or she represent? Don’t waste your time listen to someone who already have distorted the truth.
Commercials: If everyone in the nation decides that they never will buy a product from TV-ads, the ads will disappear. It is as simple as that. The commercials are there because you respond to them. Since I don’t like commercial, I respond negative to the products in TV ads.
Some advice to recognize propaganda from http://www.sourcewatch.org/
Some of the most effective propaganda techniques work by misdirecting or distracting the public’s finite attention away from important issues. It’s important to read between the lines of the news and see what isn’t being reported, or what is reported once, quietly, and not followed up. In an age of information overload, distraction techniques can as effective as active propaganda. One way to test for distraction is to look for items that appear repeatedly in foreign press (from neutral and hostile countries) and that don’t appear in your own. But beware of deliberately placed lies that are repeated with the hope that people will believe it if it is repeated often enough.
Doesn’t the government have any responsibility for the propaganda?
Propaganda is delivered by the media and the media is owned by particular interests, making it difficult to interfere with what is delivered to the people. In reality its wealthy people who own the media and wealthy people have their own interest to protect. It would be nice to have a neutral TV- channel that’s not connected to any ownership. Most nations have this option and during elections they invite candidates to ask them serious questions; doing this makes it clear to people who the candidates are without any form for propaganda.
I do not look at a President or a Governor as a sales product for particular interests in a nation, I look at them as a person supposed to represent the majority of the population and they should be presented as such. Every wealthy person in this country can hire someone to write a few speeches packed with propaganda to feed the population .When they arrive at congress they might do nothing for the people or they harm the population with their ignorance, passive aggression and self-interest. I believe the people deserve to actually learn to know the candidates on a more thoroughly level. A neutral channel not paid by incorporations- and with a panel of people who have deep knowledge about the different political issues.
When I have applied for leadership positions, not only have I had at least two different interviews with a set of different panels of professionals, but also I had to take a personality test and a test describing me as a leader. Shouldn’t the people have the same right when they hire someone to take care of their interest in Congress?
The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism—ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.[42][43][44]
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Propaganda is often connected to corporations, it’s their tool for marketing and it’s what they are good at. Politically it’s linked to Fascism;
Fascist states pursued policies of social indoctrination, through propaganda in education and the media, and through regulation of the production of education and media material.[94] [95] Education was designed to glorify the fascist movement and inform students of its historical and political importance to the nation. It attempted to purge ideas that were not consistent with the beliefs of the fascist movement, and taught students to be obedient to the state. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism)
A healthy functional democracy doesn’t need to use propaganda to manipulate the population – basically because the purpose and intent of a democracy is to create a society the majority of the population wants. Can you call a nation that is manipulating the populations with distorted truths and lies for a democracy? They do have the right to vote and they do have freedom of speech, however they do not have the freedom to think for themselves. The purpose of use of propaganda is self- interest, power, control and greed.
The serious effect of propaganda should be obvious when a candidate for a vice president didn’t know why USA is in war with Iraq, but responded with the propaganda that was circulating around the issue.
How do you know you are listening to propaganda?
Propaganda has similarities with marketing, their view is not democratic but to make people believe their product is better than the other producers. By looking at the commercials and their attempt to fool you, you should be able to pick up some of the components in propaganda:
- They create emotional scenery. In political propaganda it’s often tied to nationalism, enemies, freedom and that something dangrerous is out there to get you. And of course the source of the propaganda is who will save you. In other words they are trying to create a victim- rescue scenario and with components of helpless victims and hero’s.
- Based on manipulative fictions instead of facts. A fact is based on a serious study by a serious institution with the purpose to improve the health of a society, a fiction is a statement made up to create drama and fear.
- I also noticed that when propaganda is written for a radio show, the rest of the radio shows have the same manuscript. Obviously someone with a very unhealthy mind is sitting writing propaganda material to feed the population. Political propaganda is like marketing, it repeats itself over and over again.
Should propaganda be legal?
The people behind the propaganda hide their ugly agenda behind the human rights of free speech. It’s difficult to ban propaganda because it’s difficult to create a law or find a place to draw the line. Many democracies draw the line when it’s clearly a hateful speech, however I have witnessed hateful slurs and propaganda being conducted in neighborhoods in USA and the Nazi group behind this, couldn’t be stopped based on free speech? There are differences from society to society where to draw the line.
See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.
George W. Bush
What is free speech?
If you live in a western democratic society, free speech is part of the structure of a democracy and its one of the components defining a democracy, in other words a society that do not have freedom of speech is not a democracy
You will find lack of free speech in societies defined as fascism, dictatorship and communist state societies.
Definition from Wikipedia:
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship and/or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, such as on “hate speech“.
The right to freedom of speech is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR recognizes the right to freedom of speech as “the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression”.[1][2] Furthermore freedom of speech is recognized in European, inter-American and African regional human rights law.
What is Propaganda?
What about propaganda, should it fall under the freedom of Speech? Does manipulation and indoctrination considered to be a Human Right? Most people associate propaganda with Nazism and its one of the components defining a Fascist society.
Definition from Wikipedia:
Propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.
Why is the subject of freedom of speech a constant issue in USA and not in other western countries- why is it always mentioned in the media? Isn’t freedom of speech part of being a democracy?
What I have recognized as a main difference between USA and other democratic societies is the heavy use of propaganda; it’s ongoing machinery always work to control the population.
And the irony in this is, for the propaganda machinery to be allowed to continue, it hides behind the freedom of speech. In other words a fascist technique hides under the human rights and a democracy.
I look at propaganda as a form of mental violence toward a population with the purpose to control people for self -interest.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act,
George Orwell:
When a population spends a lifetime working in a society and pay to insure its health, aging and death, you will expect this to occur without any sort of complications. It should be a simple and obvious matter. However it doesn’t always work like that. In USA illness and death is made into something to make profit from, and by letting insurance corporations using their own rules for paying the medical bills, the nation is denying the population what is a human right; the right to medical care.
Since capitalism is about making profit and in its worst form it’s about greed where people actually kill for profit, this is a scary place to have corporations operate. Being witness to the financial corruption among banks and insurance companies doesn’t make this concept better. People who live from this type of profit will have to choose between killing people (by denying people medical care) or to discontinue their lifestyle. Another problem with the system is when the numbers of unemployment increases, people will lose their health insurance, making this a very unhealthy system to live under for everyone during uncertain times.
It doesn’t have to be like this, healthcare can be for everyone and not a matter of negotiating with insurance companies about the bills. When people are sick, they need care and rest not to deal with a difficult system that is trying to minimize the expenses. Besides when you take away the profits given to owners and CEOs of the insurance companies, this amount will be saved for later use, when you are old or for your neighbor’s baby. The money you are not using by being healthy is not going toward a big party or someone’s castle but to save someone’s life.
To be able to provide healthcare for everyone, it needs to be administrated by a non-profit unit (state, federal, non-profit private company) and instead of paying to an insurance company; it will be deducted from your paycheck in form of a tax. In many nations the amount deducted is in proportion to your income and not the number of people in the household.
The retirement funds paid to the government needs to be secured from governmental spending and should not be allowed to be used by any President, it’s an saving account for future retirement and for taking care of our elders today.
Abortion is a complicated issue and needs to be understood on different levels. I will look at the following categories:
- Abortion and Politics: When a nation has been looking at being “for or against” abortion as a governmental issue, it has been connected to dictatorships. Examples are the forced abortions in China and the denial of abortions in Romania. The purpose has been to regulate the population rates. In Fascism like in Hitler’s regime; people was asked to sacrifice by producing many children, they wanted to increase the number of white people. The Chinese regime wanted to decrease the population and abortion became a tool. Basically the government is dictating how many children you should have. And by doing so, are dictating women’s life and dictating what quality you should find in life. In a society opposing abortion, children will be born unwanted with all the consequences that comes with it; poverty and unhappiness. Why does a government want people to give birth to children that they can’t afford? Maybe they want to control the work force by controlling their life by owning their time, or maybe they don’t think- or is it religion?
- Abortion and Religion: A standpoint with regards to abortion is often related to religion or culture, and therefore will be considered to be a personal matter for most people rather than a social matter. Particular for people and countries that don’t believe in mixing religion with politics and want to keep those issues separated.
- Abortion and Spirituality: In the matter of spirituality instead of religion, we are looking at the matter as an experience instead of a belief system. Questions will be asked by a spiritual person, questions as; At what point does a soul enter the fetus? Does the soul have the knowledge that the fetus will be aborted beforehand? Answers toward those questions matters for spiritual people and humanitarians. Spirituality is about awareness and when the awareness of a matter grows into the population, so does it in the politics and into the society.
- Politics and Religion: To ask whether the issue about abortion belongs in politics is also to ask if religion and politics belong together. The problem with religion is that religions create dogmas of laws where spirituality and humanitarians is something that expands and grows into people’s awareness. To mix the dogmas of religious laws with the laws created by a society, might create many problems, particular for a country having several religions or a rigid belief system.
Education has several aspects and meanings: The individual graduation paper, a nations resource of knowledge and it might be used as a tool for control.
- The papers that shows that you have finished a degree and have the knowledge needed to fill a position.
- A service given to a nation’s population to increase their knowledge and to raise a country to a higher level and improve everyone’s life; like an investment and a resource.
- It might be used as a tool for control.
The Papers: This is a valuable ticket to get a job, however it doesn’t mean you are good at it, even if you are the best in your class, your knowledge might be limited because the education system is limited. And there might be many people who have more knowledge than those with the papers, but they couldn’t afford or didn’t have time for the education. Among wealthy families in USA, education institutions are paid to educate their children who otherwise might not be accepted into a program.
In a mature and healthy society, people who have an interest for a particular education will get it. Some people might need more time to learn than others, however if a person need more time it doesn’t mean that he will not be good at his job, actually it might turn out to be the opposite, it just takes more time.
To improve a nation: An educated and informed population with the ability of critical thinking is probably the best investment a nation can have. How healthy minded, mature and free a population is, can therefore be measured in their level of education and how informed they are about the world at large. However this is not in the interest for a nation wanting to control the people for their own corrupt interest; they might lose their power and privileges since an educated and intelligent population will not tolerate abusive and corrupt behavior.
What good does the notion of” freedom of speech” has for the people in a nation who doesn’t have anything to say and haven’t learned to express their thoughts?
As a power issue: Education can also be manipulative and selective toward a population, by teaching only about one side of the coin the people will be brainwashed and easy to manipulate. A common belief people have, is that their nation is the best country in the world, some nations are so indoctrinated in this belief that they go to war against other countries. This form for nationalism can be harmless if the leaders are otherwise honest and have integrity. However it’s dangerous when it’s used for the purpose to take the power from the people, control them and go to war.
A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.
George Bernard Shaw
I’m not sure if it’s possible to create jobs for everyone at all time. Even with a dedicated, mature and intelligent administration, it still will be times when major changes in a society will occur. Products and services will be outdated because of new technology and during those transit periods, people will be in a limbo.
An administration that strictly creates jobs to keep people working without visions for the future or without any thoughts about the market creates a stagnant society. Societies who don’t care about people, only about profit are abusing and disrespect the people and their work. Something is definitely sick when money is more important than people. A balance is needed and the balance is created by having a free marked with regulations. Change gives opportunities for new ways and possibilities in the labor marked; therefore unemployment can give room for new and exiting creations, like out with the old and in with the new. But there will be a meantime and during transitions people need to be protected and to pay their bills. There are several options to be considered during this transition:
- Pay unemployment benefits.
- Work for the government. Since the government pay unemployment benefits anyway, why not use those payments toward something meaningful, maybe it’s not necessary work, but it will improve the standard and the health of a nation and the unemployed will feel valued and have work experience. Examples: Improve roads and buildings; work on youth and crimes, sociological research to improve the social condition in societies, care taking of seniors.
- Opportunity to start own company. For small businesses to be able to start and to survive they will need resources and today the banks and insurance companies are taking the profit. I will suggest to start a peoples bank; a bank with low interest rate funded by the government to make this possible.
We all need transportation and I have learned that whether you depend on your own car or have options for using buses and other public services, the transportation you use, is not always what you want because sometimes there aren’t any options. When I lived in Europe I didn’t have a car, I didn’t need a car and I couldn’t/wouldn’t afford a car, besides I didn’t want to be part of the polluters of our planet.
Moving to USA I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without a car and even if I tried, it would be dangerous since the roads lack sidewalks and are made primary for cars. You never see anyone walking on the streets. In the cities in Europe a car is a luxury item because you can live without it. In the suburban of US without a car you will not be able to go to work or take your child to school. In USA they want people to use cars; it’s good for the car industry and it keep people employed; besides it gives profit to the oil companies. Car industry is not a major industry in Europe and the areas where people are living are smaller, most people live in the city. To bring cars into the city will clog the streets and pollute the air, besides there aren’t enough parking places for everyone.
In some places you might have options and be able to move around in whatever transportation you want, however for many people that’s not the case. As with housing this is connected to where you live and it has to do with politics or the lack of it. Remember that politics is about the people in a nation; what is best for them and the planet and not for wealthy corporations.
If USA did the opposite with the mortgage rates from what they have been doing for the last 8 years, everyone might have a home, and the economic situation the country is in, would probably be different.
Instead of giving an interest rate on 15 % for single parents, divorced and minorities, set those 15% mortgage rate on people who has a high income to pay for it, then set a mortgage rate on 3- 4 % for people with low income. Its logic, the more money someone earn, the more they can pay of interest and the opposite is true for low income or single parents?
This is how it’s done in some other countries: you have a market interest rate, most of the time it ranges between 4-6 %. It’s an interest rate that’s manageable in a two parent household and with a regular median income.
However the reality of life is that people dies, lose their jobs or get divorced. Its part of life and a situation everyone will experience. Because something tragic occurs in your family should you then also lose your home? A population should be insured by the government in situations like this, and one way to do it, is to lower the mortgage rate to a level that will work for widows, single parents or someone who is unemployed.
You could assume nutrition isn’t a problem in the western world, however it is in USA. The problem is that junk food is cheap, and you get a lot of calories for almost nothing, this is the way to survive for poor people in wealthy countries. Poor people in poor countries starve to death and poor people in wealthy countries are slowly killed by lack of nutrition’s leading to serious illnesses.
However, in other wealthy countries this problem do not exist, for many reasons, and one reason is that the government subsidies healthy products. Products that every human need to stay healthy, milk, wholegrain fresh bread, fruit and vegetables is priced at a level every human can afford.
What is subsidized food?
When the government subsidies a product, they pay for part of the price to the producers, and the healthy food will be sold at the store at a lower price than it’s actually value. If the government pays for half of the price on healthy food it will be sold in the store for half of its market value.
From where can we take the money to subsidize healthy food?
For the government to be able to recover the losses on the subsidized food, it can put taxes on unhealthy and unnecessary items like soda, chocolate, tobacco and alcohol. This will limit people’s addiction and intake of what is not healthy. And when you buy an unhealthy product, you know that the high price will pay for a child getting the nutrition it needs and you know that you often will choose an apple over a chocolate bar.
Some people argues that they don’t want the government to interfere with their life, they want the free marked; in other words they want incorporated America to decide for them and want to be controlled by financial institutions and their rules.
Remember that the government is the people, you are the government and if it isn’t; you are not living in a democracy.
An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
To identify basic human needs or the minimum required for human existence in a society is not simple. It depends on many factors, like the resources in a society and its infrastructure. Example: In a country with a well developed public transportation, a car will not be considered as a need for existence.
- Housing: Every human being should have the right to a home. The size will depend on where you live. In a big city an apartment will most likely be your home. I believe it’s a human right, to own a home instead of paying money to an owner, particular in countries like USA where the equity in the house is part of your retirement funds. Besides, why should you pay rent instead of owning your home when the mortgage and the rent amount probably are the same? During part of your life you will choose to rent because you do not plan to stay at the same place for long, and you need the freedom to be able to move. You might even choose this lifestyle for your entire life.
- Transportation: You will need to have to get to work and pick up kids from school and day care center. If you live in a city you might not need a car. If you live in areas where there isn’t any public transportation you need a car.
- Healthy food: You are part of a group called consumers and corporations want your money on something they can produce cheap. They don’t care about nutrition or your health; they care about your money. Healthy food has become expensive; however you need it for survival.
- Income from a job: It’s a human right to have a job, and to work in a healthy environment. Every society needs a security net for unemployed during times of change on the labor market. Everyone needs an income for survival.
- Healthcare and medication: Its crucial to keep the population healthy.
- Education
- Retirement funds- collected by the government: To secure the living condition for the elderly.
What happens if there aren’t any guidelines for human rights on the basic needs in a society?
- A government and a society that don’t take responsibility for making sure the population in a nation is protected from greed and disasters do not care about people; First of all the society has already created the rules by not have any set of guidelines; saying that the most ruthless and greedy have the option do to whatever they want, and in times of disaster there are no help, you are on your own. It’s the same as letting out disturbed and violent people from the prison and not protecting the people from being killed. A country without morals, values and empathy has been created.
- Fight for survivals: The main concern and energy in a society like this, is directed toward security and survival. This means that there isn’t room for people being creative, guide and help others, engage in what’s valuable for humans to thrive and being alive. Fear is the main source and when it’s feeding into the society; people are scared and feel unprotected.
- Stagnation: When the energy of creating has ended, there will not be created new jobs, art or solutions to problems, the economy will suffer more and so will the people.
- Unhappiness: The lack of happiness and hope gives room for all types of negative emotions and negative experiences, like stress in the family, divorce and children acting out. More crimes and use of drugs among adults and teenagers. Unhealthy environments at work and people fighting to keep their jobs and unethical people find ways to be the winner in this game. Unhappiness might give health problems, creating more stress without health insurance.
- Lack of funds for education and lack of time to be informed, creates a dumb and dull population.
Humanism will affirm life rather than deny it, seek to elicit the possibilities of life, not flee from it, and endeavor to establish the conditions of satisfactory life for all, not merely for the few.
Humanist Manifesto, 1933
Isn’t it strange that when a hungry person steal something from the local store – it’s a crime - but when CEOs empty the company accounts ; basically taking your profit from a investment you made, crushing the life out of a company – and taking away the source of income from the employee, nobody reacts? And there aren’t any police car pulling up to handcuff the thief?
Why people allow this - it’s something I will never understand. The CEOs of USA reminds me of the greedy kingdoms of Europe during the Middle Ages when they took everything they could from poor people to continue their selfish lifestyle while watching people being homeless and starve because of their greed. At least those kingdoms offered the people an army and protection from other greedy kingdoms. Those CEOs doesn’t even give you protection from other greedy companies, instead they might trade your information.
Who are they?
Most of them have a business and/or economic degree and some experience with the companies product or service. They need to have some knowledge about the company’s product to be able to sell its reputation.
Don’t many people have the same background?
Yes, many people have similar education and skills, and everyone will have experience at some point in their life, since it comes with aging. What gives this group the power to empty the account?
1. They belong to a club/group that knows other CEOs, this makes them very valuable for a company (that’s what they believe) because this connection will lead to major contracts.
2. By being part of this group, they know the CEOs of the major banks and maybe senators in the congress. Some companies believe they will be in trouble without this tie.
3. By researching the background of the CEOs in the banking system, I learned that many of them only had a bachelor degree in business or finances. They do not have enough in dept education to understand the effect their action has at a country and the world.
4. Many seem to be immature beings showing traits like greed and selfishness, they don’t seem to have the capacity or the will to look at the broader picture in a society.
5. Some are very good at manipulating; claiming they got a better job offer in another company, offering a better salary.
6. A personality of being very social with other and are always invited to the major events. This creates the illusion that the world considers them as valuable and therefore the company should do as well. (In reality they might be invited to major events because they are a CEO)
7. Some of them are sociopaths; scaring and manipulate everyone around them by playing games.
Shouldn’t the Board know better?
Yes, but as we have seen, they don’t and therefore it’s the population of a nation that have to take action and its simple; don’t invest your money in a company that has greedy CEOs and a board that are clueless or play the same games. Only invest in companies where the leaders have the integrity to care about the employees and want the investors to share the profit. It takes two to tango and you don’t have to be in this dance- and your awareness will end this madness.
“Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough”
Janwillem van de Wetering
I was stunned when I listen to the news and a republican in congress claimed the health care system in USA is one of the best in the world.
I have gathered some facts regarding the American health system from neutral sources. ; Sources that will not have a financial gain from creating false information. I’m using the WHO statistics for facts since World Health Organization is an outside organization without any interest or investments in USA.
Here are some basic facts about the American health care system:
1. It ranks as number 37 of the world best health care system by the world health organization.
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei
41 New Zealand
42 Bahrain
43 Croatia
(Source: WHO World Health Report)
Considering US belongs to the western society a ranking of 37 among the world countries do not qualify as one of the best health care systems in the world. A poor country as Cuba is ranked as number 39 on the list and has a health care system almost as functional as USA.
2. It’s one of the most expensive health care systems in the world with little result to show for:
“American medical care may be the most expensive in the world, but that does not mean it is worth every penny.
A study to be released Thursday highlights the stark contrast between what the United States spends on its
Health system and the quality of care it delivers, especially when compared with many other industrialized nations.”
(Source: REED ABELSON, The New York Times July 18, 2008)
3. Many people do not have any health coverage and can’t afford health care:
One out of three Americans under 65 were without health insurance at some point during 2007 and 2008.
(Source: Jennifer Pifer-Bixler ,CNN Senior Medical Producer)
Based on the mention facts and trends about the American health care system, I was puzzled when a senator in congress claimed this system is one of the best in the world. Does he have a problem or an agenda? Does he try to mislead the people or is he confused and misled himself?
The motive for the congressman statement? Here are some suggestions:
- Not informed: He might care so little about the health of the American population that he don’t bother to look into the facts.
- Propaganda: He might think he decides the facts; besides he has good coverage for himself and his family. Maybe he is paid well by the health insurance company to sell propaganda to the population. He does not understand that he is in congress working for the people; he probably thinks he is there to be served by the people.
- Delusional: People who are extremely selfish might also suffer from delusions and paint the reality as it fits their own agenda. He might also not consider USA as a western country and want to compare the health care system with countries in Africa or Asia?
- Misunderstanding: He might have been talking about parts of the health system. USA might be considered as one of the foremost countries doing research on health issues.
If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
Abraham Lincoln
For most societies health, birth and death is something that falls into the society’s responsibility and people prefer to pay taxes to have this administrated. USA is the only civilized country that doesn’t have public health care.
The ideas and thought behind Public Care:
For most people to have a system dealing with life and death in the hands of incorporated businesses, seems grotesque and scary. The grotesque part is that people are getting profit from matters of life and death. The scary part is that a greedy organization might kill people for profit, by not paying for treatments. Another scary part is that when you might need health care the most, as when you can’t work because of ill health, that’s when you don’t have a health insurance.
Besides it’s not only about yourself and your family it’s about the health of the society. There are more to life then yourself, and when other people suffer, so will you. Shouldn’t citizen’s health be more important than the concept that some people should earn money by squeezing sick people out of treatment options?
Somehow the Americans have lived with this system and according to the polls, at least 40% of the population do not find it disturbing at all, but want to continue having a privatized health system. I’m not sure why, however when listening to the politicians their argument is that without a privatized system you can’t choose your own plan or your preferred hospital and doctor; meaning the quality of the treatment is better.
Are the treatments and the quality in a privatized health care better?
I believe this is difficult to answer because it depends on the people creating the health care system and what they find important. The first measurement should be if there is a health care system for everybody, and it seems that the privatized system fails at its foundations. I have lived under both systems and I have noticed that under public care that nurses and doctors might become lazy and maybe arrogant toward the patients. However I don’t think this is an issue connected to a particular health care system, but the regulation of accepted behavior and the right to complain. Another issue is the lines for certain treatments. However, I don’t believe is connected to a particular health care system either, it’s more an issue connected to small countries with few surgeons and experience in certain health issues. For small countries this is something that might and are solved – by sending patients abroad to neighbor countries.
In countries that have based their healthcare on the public option, there are options for a private clinic for those who want to pay for themselves and don’t want to wait in line or for the appointment. It’s not either public care or private healthcare, it’s both.
Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work
Vince Lombardi
Sometimes we don’t understand what happened to us – or why it happened; it just doesn’t seem to make any sense. There is an inner world of standards that you live by and an outer world of standards that you get tangled into. The outer world might happen to be without any morals and might act as criminals.
1. Unemployment: You lost your job and suddenly you do not have the income to pay for your mortgage and the kid’s college. You might have had everything together and had a contract on a good mortgage, signed long before the mortgage companies started on their scams. You might even have retirement savings and belonged to the last group that got affected by this. However because all the money are squeezed out of everyone and there aren’t anymore in circulation, the companies are going under and suddenly you are effected as well.
What did you do wrong: It’s not your fault that companies are closing because of bad economy or mismanagement by the CEOs. Even if you paid more attention toward where it was heading, you couldn’t have done much about the situation. However if every Americans had looked at this situation and demand an end to corporate greed, many jobs might have been saved.
What you can do: It’s time for everyone to realize that all humans are connected and what effect one person will affect us all. If one group in a society are abused or robbed by corporations, it will affect us all at one point. To close your eyes to abuse of others is like inviting abuse into your own life. Realize that the society is getting reorganized and so will you be. Look at your inner assets to see if you can find a job where you don’t have to depend on untrustworthy and greedy corporations.
2. Subjected to corporate greed and robbed: You didn’t have any financial problems before the mortgage companies started to increase the mortgage rate and when you fell behind on the payment on your credit card, the amount you own is three times as a high as the original; an amount you can’t afford.
What did you do wrong: Nothing, except for not knowing that the society is corrupt? Now you know.
What you can do: Protect yourself and stand up toward financial abuse.
3. Overspending on loans and credit cards: If you belong to a group of people who shops for clothes and stuff they don’t need, you are a part of the problem, and have to take some responsibility. Many people who shops for meaningless items have inner emotional problems and you need to address those issue.
What you did wrong: Being an easy prey instead of dealing with your addictions.
What you can do? Seek help.
Law and justice are not always the same. When they aren’t, destroying the law may be the first step toward changing it.
Gloria Steinem
This is a complicated issue and I will simplify the case by looking at the psychology in the dynamics between Israel and Palestine -to identify the problems. There are other issues that might be addressed; religious dogma, financial aspects like the gas fields outside Gaza and old history.
I will simplify this dysfunctional relationship by creating a setting of the situation in a family dynamic, it makes it easier since we all can relate to this:
Let’s say we have an abused child that has been tortured (Holocaust: Israel). The child is frighten and do not trust other, he wants to feel safe and he knows that the world can be horrible. He does everything to protect himself and he is helped by being adopted into a healthy family.
The family has another child (Palestine). The abused child (Israel) is given a nice room, the best and largest in the household, the room used to belong to the biological son (Palestine) The adopted son ( Israel) fear that someone will take the room away from him and he do everything to protect his room and the security the family gives him. The other son (Palestine) worries him, he is different than him and he knows that he dislike him because he has taken a lot from him; He had to move out of the room when the other son moved in.
What makes it particular difficult for the biological son is that adoptive child has a wealthy uncle ( USA) that gives him advanced toys that he use to scare him with- and on top of that he is invading his room as well, using it for all his stuff. He dislikes this behavior so much that he starts to throw toys at him, the adoptive son feel the need to protect himself and are using advanced toy weapons to harm him; gifts from his uncle that has his own agendas for this boy and to keep him in the household.
The parents (the world) is looking at this situation and do not dare to do anything because of the wealthy uncle and what he might do to them. Other family members are taking sides, some don’t like the way the biological son is being abused by the adoptive son – and other are looking at the adoptive child’s scars and believes the biological son is difficult- because he don’t understand his fear.
Who is responsible in this situation?
The Uncle is part of the problem (USA) and the parents (UN) are part of the solution.
What would you do?
This situation has gone so far that there are two abused children. In a family situation you would probably talk to the uncle and say that you don’t tolerate that the children are treated different. The uncle would probably point out that if that’s the case – the child will be to afraid to stay in the household and this is the only place for him to stay- and the parents (world) own him because of the pain he had suffered in the past. He might even suggest it’s better to move the biological son. However he does not have any place to go either and he is born here, so it doesn’t make any sense, the parent would not like that to happen. The situation continues because they do not know what to do, they are helpless.
At this point as a parent you would most likely tell the uncle to be part of the solution and not the problem and that his attitude and his own interest in the adoptive son is ruining the family, then you would seek professional help to heal the wounds between the sons and set strict rules for behavior issues.
There are people and organizations in this world that has the tools and skills to deal with conflicts. With help, Israel can heal its fear from attack from others. Palestine can with help and support from the world rebuild its society. With use of International organizations and international laws they can be protected from each other. Palestine can learn to deal with its frustration in a different manner, instead of acting out toward Israel, they can be heard through international organizations. Palestine needs to feel safe for Israel and know that they are supported by the world – and so do Israel.
There is no solution in taking sides between Israel and Palestine, the solution is in healing, being recognized and knowing that there are rules and fairness in the world. If people take sides, they are part of the problem and not the solution. And most important of all; it’s actually Palestine and Israel who has to agree to live peacefully together.
“Peace is the most basic starting point for the advancement of humankind”.
A dysfunctional society has many of the same components as a dysfunctional family member; the society doesn’t work because groups or individuals in the nation do not look at what’s the best for everyone and have a dysfunctional behavior patterns. A dysfunctional society is connected to the politics and dysfunctional administration .I has simplified some situations to give examples on this behavior:
1. Wall street- Compare it to the egoistic family members gambling away the families security like the family home, grandparents pensions and the children’s lunch money.
What would you do?
Well, in a family situation you will protect your family from this person by distance and get legal help. Having those people in the society require something similar: They need to be removed from their position (to enable them from further plunder) and if they are still (banks and insurance companies) squeezing you for money with extreme interest rates and fees you should seek legal help to stop them.
2. War in Iraq- Compare it to the violent husband and father using violence to scare and manipulate the family members to get control and get what he wants.
What would you do?
Well, in a family situation you would call the police and have a restraining order against this person; however this will not work if the policeman is the violent husband or if it’s your sister being violated. When this is the case, you seek advice outside the community.
The place to seek advice when you have dysfunctional violent groups in a society that are attacking other countries is the International Court and UN.
Some interesting facts about the International Crime Court:
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt)[1] (not to be confused with the International Court of Justice) is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression (although it cannot currently exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression).[2][3]
The Court came into being on 1 July 2002 — the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, entered into force[4] — and it can only prosecute crimes committed on or after that date.[5] The official seat of the Court is in The Hague, Netherlands, but its proceedings may take place anywhere.[6]
As of January 2009, 108 states are members of the Court;[7][8][9] A further 40 countries have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute.[7] However, a number of states, including China, Russia, India and the United States, are critical of the Court and have not joined.[citation needed]
The Court can generally exercise jurisdiction only in cases where the accused is a national of a state party, the alleged crime took place on the territory of a state party, or a situation is referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council.[10]
( Wikipedia)
3. Conceals the reality of a situation, deceives and lies- Compare it to the sneaky spouse having an affair.
What would you do?
If your spouse behaves in this matter you will find out what’s going on and take action, if the spouse is cheating or doing something unethical you might consider divorce. When a president and its administration behave like this it’s time to fire them, they are dysfunctional and can’t be trusted in their position.
The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions: kings and princes, priestly castes, military juntas, party dictatorships, or modern corporations
Noam Chomsky
All society have something in common, and based on this knowledge it should be possible to create a foundation for a set of core values in global politics:
Humanitarianism is an active belief in humanism (the idea of the value of human life) whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans, in order to better humanity for both moral and logical reasons. It is the philosophical belief in movement toward the improvement of the human race in a variety of areas, used to describe a wide number of activities relating specifically to human welfare. (Wikipedia on-line)
Humans have a lot in common, and they all have the same basic needs. This set of basic needs is why we have politics and laws. The core of a government is to govern a country for the best of everyone. And during history the Human Rights has been written based on humanism.
There are many governments in the world who do not value the human rights. Mature societies believe in humanitarianism and its core politics is the human welfare. Immature societies believe in ego fulfillment, greed, power and do not have its population’s best interest on mind.
What are the basic rights and needs for Humans? (Some examples)
The right to work and have an income for shelter and food.
The economies in countries are changeable. It move up and downs for many reasons, during the downs you do have a right to eat and live and you can’t help it if it’s an 8 % unemployment rate. It might even be your President who created it and it’s out of your control.
Right to healthcare.
This is a basic need in all societies whether you have an income or not. In bad times if you get sick you might lose your job. Well, if you live in a mature society you are protected by law to be fired during those circumstances.
Right to education.
Another basic need that mature societies look at as an investment, is a good education. An immature society might look at an uneducated workforce as resource, since they will work for less and create wealth among the leaders and company owners.
Freedom to believe in Religion and to have its own political view.
Immature societies are often restricted in what you are supposed to believe in, and prosecute people who are different thinkers, creating fear and paranoia with their dogmas.
Protected by law and treated with respect.
Societies who do not have those values are known through history as dictatorship either in the form of Hitler or by priests during their witch hunts. This lack of human empathy among the leaders can wear many suits and have many names.
The basics are very simple, what’s good for you, are also good for others, and what’s good for the people create a healthy mature society.
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