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An online friend of mine over at one of the forums I frequent stated that he's an avid reader of this blog and that he didn't realize that the country was in such bad shape.
Actually, I never meant to insinuate that. I feel that over all our country is in good shape (not great.) Even as illish as our economy is feeling, as John McCain first said earlier this year, and then parroted by W, Cheney and others, our economy is fundamentally sound. It is ill... it is weak... but I doubt that it is going to keel over and die.
Our biggest problem is US. We as a nation of citizens and voters need to pay more attention to what is going on in the halls of government. Our country is where it is today (politically, financially, militarily, etc.) because our elected government officials, their appointed bureaucrats and campaign contributers (bribers) want it that way. They get away with it because we let them. It is as simple as that.
If we as citizens, mobilize and unite our forces, we can bring the government back under our control. Sadly, I doubt that things are bad enough yet for us to unite.
As a nation, I still love our country and there are still plenty of good things about it to enjoy.
I love the fact that we can publicly express our opinions with little fear of being treated in the manner of political dissidents in some other countries.
I love riding my Goldwing motorcycle, even if it is to and from my workplace.
On the rare occasion where I get to ride out of the Las Vegas valley, I love the variety of scenery available even in this one section of the country.
Most of the people I meet are great. Not all of course, and perhaps not in groups... but as individuals and families, they are generally people I'm glad to have met.
The things I love the most about are country though, are things that our government hasn't decided to "fiddle with" yet.
So the country itself isn't in bad shape... it is us and our chosen government officials that need work.
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When I posted a week or so ago about Obama being the candidate most liked by foreign governments, I asked why we should care what they think. One of my readers on Twitter pointed out that as part of a global community, we should care what other countries think.
I answered her that I respect her right to her opinion, but that I'm not particularly fond of the "Global Community". In my years I've managed to visit a few other countries and fell in love with the people, lifestyle and history of England. In fact, the only foreign place I've visited that I didn't care for was a small Mexican border town. Once deeper into Mexico however, things were a lot better.
That doesn't mean however, that I want the governments of Canada, Mexico or the UK dictating how we live or run our country. By the same token, the United States shouldn't be doing that to others.
About the time I was in junior high school (middle school to you younger folks I guess) I thought that the best thing in the world would be to have one world government. Age and experience have taught me otherwise.
At the beginning of our nation, we were thirteen sovereign though tiny countries. Certain rich and influential men saw that the balkanization of America would lead at least to the friction experienced at the time in Europe, wars sapping away at the strength of each new nation being the worst possible result. United, the new nations stood a much better chance of surviving, dealing with the rest of the world (Europe) and being prosperous.
So a great debate started on how to unite the sovereign (meaning answering to no one) nations.
The end result was a Federal Government. Each nation would become a state of the new nation, but independent and sovereign regarding affairs internal to each state. The Federal Government would be run by representatives from each state, eventually those would consist of Senators appointed by each state's governor to represent the interests of the state, and representatives elected by the citizens of each state to represent their interests.
The duties of the Federal government were clearly spelled out in the Constitution. Basically they were to act as single voice in dealing with other nations, regulate trade between the states (including providing a common currency), arbitrate any disputes between the states and to provide for a common defense.
That was it. Nothing more, nothing less. Nowhere was the Federal Government given power over the people or the state governments other than as it pertained to interstate trade. Each state would remain sovereign within its borders. This allowed for the states to be run according to the cultural and geographic differences of their populations.
However, government has two purposes. The public one is to govern. Seems like an obvious point, but most of us don't realize it. The less public purpose is to grow and gain power. Historically, this is what governments do. They grow through geographic expansion or by expanding their powers over the governed.
Look at the United States as it exists today. There is very little difference between the cultures and economies of say Florida and California. The "sovereign" state governments are no more. Their only powers are those crumbs left to them by the Federal Government. When a state or territory applied to admission to the Union, in a sense they checked their power and pride at the door. Too late, many states found out that like the Mafia or a Roach Motel, once in, you can't get out. This resulted in the Civil War or "War of Northern Aggression" depending on whether it is the winner or loser of that war speaking.
Here's an example of "states rights" or rather the lack thereof.
California legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Marijuana is a natural sedative that reduces nausea for those undergoing chemotherapy and I believe is still proven to reduce ocular pressure for glaucoma patients. Marijuana is a hardy plant, truly a weed that may be easily grown by most anyone. How great that Mother Nature (substitute with the greater power of your preference) provided us with such a great natural remedy, one that doesn't need a big pharmaceutical conglomerate to produce it for us.
Since the Federal Government outlawed marijuana some 70+ years ago, there is no legal source for marijuana in this country. So co-ops formed there in California to grow it for members who had prescriptions from their doctors.
In steps the Federal Government (Drug Enforcement Agency) to raid the co-ops and arrest the members for growing and possessing a controlled substance. "We never said it was legal" was the Fed's claim.
So here we have the citizens of a state deciding that growing a plant and consuming it on doctor's orders is legal, and following the state guidelines to legalize it. Yet the Feds come in and step all over the citizens despite the fact that it wasn't crossing state borders which would make it subject to Federal law and the constitution.
Same sex marriages are another example. Some states were allowing them
so a number of our Federal elected officials started talking about making them illegal at the Federal level.
Now, what does this have to do with the Global Community and One World Government?
Imagine that the states in the United States are the 200+ countries of the world and that the One World Government is the equivalent of our Federal Government. THAT is what would happen to the United States, Canada, etc. We would cease to have much meaning or power as a nation. We as citizens would have even less say into how our government or economies were run.
Even now, with the maze of interlocked treaties, trade agreements, international corporations and agencies and the central banks, we have foreign governments and corporations who exert a surprising amount of power over our government and economy (and therefore, us as individuals.)
Put the brakes on this! We have armed troops in almost every country in the world. Bring them home. Clean up our government. Clean up our country. Address the problems here at home. When we have our act cleaned up, THEN perhaps we Americans would have the right to stand up at the world table and suggest to others how to run their countries. America First!
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Finally, a twenty-something in my building at work expressed the opinion that the stock market doesn't matter. That if you don't sell when the market is in free fall, you don't lose anything.
Ah to be so young and naive... his statement might be true if it was only individual investors buying and selling those stocks. The truth is that the major trading activity is done by large investment brokers.
One of the places that banks get the money to pay you interest on your deposits is via the stock market. Insurance companies invest our premiums in the stock market, loans and real estate. That is how a 20 year old can buy a $40,000 life insurance policy, pay less than $20,000 into it for 40 years and collect $40,000 when he retires. Companies and unions do the same with retirement pensions. Individuals do it with their 401K retirement plans.
When the stock market falls, it becomes much harder for them to make money. When they don't make money from their investments, how much interest or gains are going into our accounts?
When the stock of a corporation falls in value, the corporation isn't seen as having as much worth. This makes credit harder to come by which impacts their cost of doing business which reduces their profits and lowers the value of their stock.
So in truth, what happens with the stock market DOES mean something. It means the future for many of us, especially with the slim chance of Social Security being there for us much less the twenty-something.
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Economy, Financial, Government, Politics
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