All Talk, No Change

As we celebrated Independence Day this past Saturday, I began this week's piece. My mind drew a blank. Upon reflection, I began looking at past pieces around our national holiday. I would use it like a time capsule to compare what was talked about and what changes have taken place. The chosen article, posted on 5 July 2023 was titled, "Surprises." It began with the thoughts from two icons. The first was Niccolo Machiavelli from his famous work, The Prince.

- Wars will begin where you will, but they will not end where you please.

The second comes from the lead character (Clint Eastwood) in the movie, A Fist Full of Dollars.

- When a man has money in his pocket, he begins to appreciate peace.

The two thoughts found their way into the world of 2023. We had the turmoil of China/Taiwan and Ukraine/Russia. Three years later, we add the US/Israel conflict with Iran and all the other unsettled problems in the Middle East. All talk, no change.

Back then student debt, environment, combustion/electric, old energy versus alternative power and whatever else was happening in your world. The baggage gets carried to our present day. The media was fragmented with so many choices, but they just repeat the news. Some, especially with the presence of AI will provide misinformation to outright lies. It only gets worse today. The power of the pulpit overshadows any challenging voices. This goes all the way to the founding of our nation.

Federalist Papers

When Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison wrote the "Federalist Paper," they were the pulpit. In seeking to influence the other colonies to ratify the constitution, they exaggerated the truth concerning the judicial system. The job does not separate one from their personal baggage. One court with baggage says separate but equal is fine and another says it violates our rights as citizens. You get the verdicts you seek by appointing like minded people. In our unpublished work, we will provide an answer.  

Anyway, we continue to spend too much on the miitary and use flawed economic theories. The GDP does not consider the cost to our environment, communities and water bodies in its matrix. Our government is controlled by greedy, small minded people whose anti-worker sentiments has outsourced all the strengths of our economy and lowered our standard of living. We are not number one. We are not even in the top ten. Men do not have money in their pocket. We see the results: Lower education, homelessness, mass shootings (mental health) and crime.

The Fed

We have allowed corrupt bankers to establish the Federal Reserve. It is destroying our democracy by creating two classes within our nation: Haves and have-nots. They have consistently destroyed the purchasing power of the dollar and this lowers our standard of living. The Fed, along with the government cater to the wealthy and all their actions result in a top down formation. It should be directed from a bottom up where everyone gets a pursuit of happuness. Today, the next financial crisis is already forming. It centers on our excessive debt and all the new debt that high tech is using to seek the elusive AI dominance. The Fed's answer will be to throw money at the problem. This devalues our currency. Milton Friedman had it right, "Inflation is always a money supply issue." Yet, somehow, we survive. We still can enjoy our day of independence. Hope yours was good and pray for no more negative surprises...Peace