I am in the process of moving this blog to: http://berational.ning.com/

The new tool allows for more flexibility as well as forums, which I tend to like.  It also allows registered participants to post a photo of themselves in their profile.  It is very humanizing to see what we look like (even if I will not win any beauty contests).

Over the next few days, I will re-post the most read items from this blog over to the new location.  I hope you will follow along.

This is the last item I plan to post here.  Thank you.

Troy L Robinson

Tweet This Post 

I think it is a healthy exercise, especially in times like the present, to stop and think about how much we trust each other.

It is quite easy to be aware of who you don’t trust.  After all, they no doubt earned your mistrust through some act of word of deed which left a sensitive spot on our psyche.  For instance, it is very easy to mistrust our government, given the lies we have been told, the treasure they have plundered, and the freedoms they have curtailed.

Likewise, some businesses earn our mistrust by failing to deliver the goods and services you were led to expect — or by failing to stand behind them when something goes wrong.  Or, worst of all, luring us into outright scams.

We mistrust specific individuals with whom we have personal contact, for any number of reasons, real or imagined.

If we dwell on examples like those above, we could think of ourselves as not very trusting at all.

Until, that is, we stop to think about the number of people, many of them total strangers, we trust with our money, with our health, with our very lives.  And, we extend this trust constantly, hardly, if ever, even thinking about it.  In fact, it is hard to imagine life in a crowded world without it.  How few of us has the time, energy, or resources to perform “due diligence” on everyone we conduct business with.

We take it for granted that other drivers will stay on their side of the road and stop at stop signs and lights.  We take it for granted that the food we buy – at the grocery or in restaurants, is safe to eat.  We assume the professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc.) are qualified in their respective professions.

I submit that trust, like friendliness and respect, are the lubricants that make our most of our transactions with others go smoothly and pleasantly for all involved.  Indeed, we are by nature a trusting people.  And, most of us prefer that it stay that way.  Yet, trust is another character virtue that, like decency, honor, dignity, honesty, and self restraint, will soon be on the endangered list if things continue on their current course.

I grew up in a different America — one I’m afraid my descendants may never know.

In the America I grew up in, a “contract” was two people looking each other in the eye and shaking hands on whatever they were agreeing to.  Nothing else was needed, because to default on that unwritten contract mean a blow to one’s dignity and honor, and that, to most people, was far more important than whatever monetary or other value inherent in the contract.  As an aside, let me remind you that the signers of our Declaration of Independence pledged “their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor”.  Only honor being sacred, ergo of higher importance to them than even life and fortune.

As a child, my friends and I wandered about, pretty much anywhere we liked, at most any time of day, without the slightest notion that any person, of any ethnic or religious group, might want to intentionally harm us.

I remember when those neighbors who were “wealthy” enough to afford a home telephone would go off on vacation, leaving their homes unlocked in case a neighbor might need to use the their telephone while they were away.

As a teenager, we carried guns in our cars – the same cars we parked on the school grounds.  The guns were for hunting and nobody gave a thought to the notion that one of us might see fit to bring one into the school building and start blazing away.  Such things were just not done.

I can’t even imagine what might have happened had one or more of us decided to beat up a teacher or bus driver.  I can only assure you that we would have ended up far worse off than the person we set out to beat up.  Such things were simply not tolerated.

Yes my friends, we have come a long way from the levels of trust we once had in each other.  And, what is left continues to slip into oblivion.  What do we do then?  Do we simply cease to conduct business with each other?  Does not seem practical to me.  Do we somehow vet every person we presume to deal with, via some gigantic database that sees all, knows all, and, for a price, tells all?  Does this sound like a world we want to live in?  Not to me.

Then why are we letting this happen to us?  Have we become so dumbed down that we don’t realize that a free society cannot exist without trust?  I really do not think so.  Instead, I think we all know better.  And I think we all really do want to be able to trust each other.

Well, my friends, I have good news.  Unlike many of the things that are going wrong with America, this is one that we can fix all by ourselves.  Us.  You and me and millions of others just like us.  And it is the simplest thing one could ever hope for.

And, it is this:  If you want to help restore trust to America, all you have to do is be totally trustworthy yourself.

Well, that and shun those who prove themselves untrustworthy.

Just think of it – the power for change, right there in your own hands.

Tweet This Post 

Why not just use our voting franchise to vote the republic back to constitutional rule?  Let’s look at it…

PRO:

1. It is, presumably, still possible – at least in most regions of the country (a few regions being so corrupt that an honest result of the voting process is very much in doubt).
2. It is the constitutionally approved, traditional way to change the direction of government in the USA.
3. Historically, congressional elections better represent differences in the “will of the people” because the voting districts are smaller making many of them free from the overwhelming “inner city” votes in the major metropolitan areas.

CON:

1. We were voted into this mess.
2. Those who, in one way or another, are dependent on government for their sustenance, constitute a voting majority in many voting precincts.
3. It is two years until the next congressional elections and four years until the next presidential election.  A lot of harm can be done in two to four years.
4. The court system is a very real part of the problem in that it has totally failed to keep its collective oath to protect and defend the Constitution.  When the courts went -from- ensuring the acts of the other 2 branches of government were consistent with constitutional rule -to- constantly “interpreting” and “reinterpreting” the intent of a “living” constitution and legislating from the bench, it became an enemy of constitutional rule, rather than its enforcer.  I raise this point because replacing a meaningful portion of the federal court system, via the voting process, will take many years.  A wholesale impeachment of errant judges is too much to expect.

ISSUES:

1. Who do we vote for?  That is, where will we get viable candidates who support a constitutional republic?  It is quite obvious that most Democrats do not fit this description, and, the experience of the GW Bush administration shows many Republicans to be no better.
2. Even if we get the kind of candidates we need, how do we know they will stay that way?  There are several very powerful factors working against an office holder remaining true to his/her commitments.  These include the seduction of power plus the more practical fact that, when plunder is the rule rather than the exception, a legislator may honestly feel she/he is cheating his constituents by not going along to secure their fair share.
3. How can we push secondary issues to the background so that they do not polarize, ergo split, the votes of people who actually agree on the primary issues?  Stated another way, with the very survival of free markets in a constitutional republic at stake, issues like abortion, gay marriage, prayer in schools, etc., are really not that important, even though many voters have strong opinions about them.  If we lose the freedom to choose, our preferences on these secondary issues will be beside the point!

ASSESSMENT:

While highly desirable, changing the current direction of government through the voting process is problematic.  So long as the franchise is extended to slackers and political morons, voting is less than a totally reliable approach.  I suggest that this approach should be seriously pursued, but with realistic expectations -and- with other approaches being pursued in parallel.

Tweet This Post 

We have become a nation of “blamers”.  It seems that no person is ever to blame for anything undesirable that happens to them.  We can all think of many instances of this: whites are to blame for many blacks who remain outside the mainstream;  the rich are to blame for poverty; employees are to blame for incompetent/ineffective employees; the school systems are to blame for functional illiteracy;  lending institutions and credit card companies are to blame for consumer debt;  drug peddlers are to blame for addiction;  tobacco companies are to lame for the many ill results of tobacco use;  the fast food industry is to blame for obesity;  auto companies are to blame for traffic deaths and injuries;  servers and bartenders are to blame from drunk driving;  gun makers/sellers are to blame for most murders and robberies;  atheists and agnostics are to blame for the decrease in moral and ethical behavior;  and on and on until it should be enough to embarrass us all.  Indeed, no matter what undesirable thing happens to us, you can be certain someone else was to blame.

For sure, there are varying degrees of truth in all of these.  There can be no doubt that white racism made life harder for American blacks.  And, there are some truisms here:  were there no guns, the death rate from shooting would be zero.  Were there no automobiles, the traffic death rate would plummet (there would still be the occasional horse and buggy hit-and-run, people falling from horseback, etc.).

So what, you might ask, who really cares?  Well, at a minimum, always blaming others reinforces irresponsible behavior.  But, that is not the worst of it.  No, there is a much more subtle thing that goes with the attitude of “victimization”.  Think about this…

If I am black, and the conditions of my life are not what I want, and I blame these conditions on some nameless, faceless “white people”,  then, by definition, my circumstances cannot possibly improve until those “white people” either stop whatever they are doing and/or start whatever they are not doing, to improve my  life.  Meanwhile, until that happens, I am pretty much helpless, unable to do anything to advance my own situation.

If my health is not what I wish it were and I blame tobacco companies, fast food vendors, etc. for my condition, then I am bound to stay unhealthy until either I die, or all those evil merchants cease to make and sell their poisons.  And, I am helpless until then because, by definition, so long as tobacco is available, I must use it.  So long as junk food can be obtained, I must eat it.

If I am wallowing in debt, possibly facing bankruptcy or the loss of everything I have accumulated, and I blame the lenders, the credit card companies, and the “evil rich” for my condition, then, by definition, I am doomed to debt slavery.  So long as lenders will lend me money, credit card companies will  issue me cards, so long as the rich keep just getting richer, then I am, indeed, doomed.  There is nothing whatever I can do to change my own situation.

I hope you all ave noticed by now that the recurring theme in the snippets above is this:  to the extent that you blame others for your situation – any situation, then you have given those others a level of control over you and your life.  All you can do is wait for those others to mend their evil ways, or, worse yet, turn to government to be your savior.  Either way, you forfeit freedom and you forfeit control of your own life.

Now, if your life ambition is to be the human equivalent of a farmyard animal, dependent on some other human(s) for the necessities of life, and subject to their every whim, then I suggest that accepting your victim status and waiting for a miracle to occur, is your right.  If that is the case, rejoice in your victim status and shut up about it because the rest of us have more important things to worry about.

If, on the other hand, you prefer freedom and control over your own life, then I suggest you try a new point of view.  Take a long, clear look at your life, determine those areas where you would genuinely like change (presumably improvement), then ask yourself, with total honesty, what keeps you from making that change.  Look even deeper and consider how much of what needs to be done, can actually be done by you.  For sure, there might be things that others could do to make it easier for you – but, relying on that would just put you back into victim mode.  Focus instead on the part you can do — then do it.  Not only will this get you closer to what you really want, it will give you feelings of freedom, dignity and self control that in themselves are worth the effort.

I realize there is yet another group who are dependent simply because they do not have a clue how things work.  They want to be paid more because they are totally ignorant of the relationship between productivity/employee value and the pay one receives.  They have no problem with government handouts because they haven’t a clue how government gets the money it hands them, have no clue that they are demanding that their fellow citizens be mugged by government in order to meet their demands.  They envy the rich because they haven’t a clue how one becomes rich, that riches most often come from doing what others want, rather than doing them wrong.  The people in this group can only be pitied because only education can save them and I see no indication that those currently in power want to educate the ignorant out of government dependence.  Instead, they are willing to sacrifice these people for their own power.  Those of us who know better will have to rescue these people, if, indeed, they are ever to be rescued.

One last thought about envying the rich… am I the only one to notice that this is almost always directed toward rich business people?  For some reason, those among the super-rich who make their millions because of their ability to play with a ball or other child’s toy — or those who are paid outrageous amounts for their ability to look “sexy” while reciting words written by someone else, these folks are never among the “evil” rich.  OK, I know these people are paid what the marketplace deems they are worth.  But, so are most business executives.  Obviously, excessive pay and evil riches are in the eye of the beholder.  Get a clue.

And, take responsibility for your own outcomes.  Do not be a volunteer slave to anyone or anything – especially a government.

Tweet This Post 

With all the corruption we see around us, in government and business in particular, it is easy to conclude that ethics are, and have been, on a pretty steep decline. Many causes / reasons / excuses are offered for this sad state. From lack of prayer in school to lack of adequate laws and enforcement.

I beg to disagree. I think the overwhelming reason is that we no longer hold people accountable in this society. Kill someone while driving drunk? Clearly the fault of the person who sold you the booze. Make your living mugging old ladies? Obviously a mean society denied you (whatever), causing your outlaw behavior. Got cancer from years of smoking? Damn that Big Tobacco, whoever that is. Life a mess? Not your fault. And on and on it goes.

To me, it naturally follows that, if people are not held accountable, by their peers and fellow citizens, then the illegal acts we see everywhere slowly become commonplace, ergo sort of acceptable. So much so that it causes a major disruption, like a melt-down of our economy, to get people to pay even a little attention. Then, when the brown stuff hits the fan, we all squeal like baby pigs being taken away from their mother whining “why didn’t somebody do something?”.

But, with the possible exception of G W Bush, nobody is ever to blame. (This said tongue in cheek and with a lot of sarcasm.)

Lately, our rage seems particularly focused on executive compensation at large companies. While I do not wish the law to intervene in corporate pay and incentive schemes, I will admit that there are an increasing number of executives who treat their company’s treasury like a personal piggy bank.

Why, you ask, am I rehashing all this crap? Simple. If one follows the main-stream media, our current distress is all about the money. Money we poor folk would surely have were it not for the nasty fat cats who unfairly took it.

I can see why this angers people, especially those who are losing their incomes because of the melt down. However, there is something far more important than money at stake here and I fear few among us really understand what it is. In a word, it is freedom. Allow me to explain:

First, it is not hard to understand that, when governmental power grows, through additional laws, regulations, and confiscation of wealth, we the people are left with less freedom. After all, freedom is ultimately about who gets to make the choices that determine the course of our lives.

The more any individual is allowed to make their own decisions, for their own reasons, the more free they are. Conversly, the more decisions made for an individual by the state, the less free they are. Fair enough so far, is it not?

Now consider this. Whenever people consistently show themselves incapable of voluntary restraint (self discipline if you prefer), eventually those who see themselves as victims of this unrestrained behavior will demand government intervention. Obviously, this leads to more laws and regulations, more government spending, funded by ever more confiscation of wealth, ending with more governmental power. As we showed above, this translates to less freedom for the individual.

Bottom line, these folks are not just picking your pocket, they are helping squander the freedom that is your birthright. And too many of us cheer the government on as it happens.

The essential truth is that freedom can only exist in a society that practices voluntary restraint. One that voluntarily adheres to an agreed upon code of ethics and morals. It simply cannot be any other way. For those of you who might prefer a world in which everything is decided by the existence and strict enforcement of a comprehensive set of laws, let me remind you that such a society is known as a “police state”. Do you really want this?

So, you ask, what can be done without leveraging the power of government? Plenty. Once upon a time, societal acceptance was a stronger force than any law has ever been. How hard would it be to simply let your fellow citizens know that certain behavior is not acceptable? Then, if they persist in thier unacceptable behavior, to simply deny them the comfort and priviliges that go with good standing in society. For instance, tell your children that it is not acceptable to go about dressed in rags with profanity printed all over them. Tell your peers that cheating, stealing, and failure to contribute their fair share on the job and in the community is simply not acceptable. Then act accordingly.

You don’t have to shoot them, you don’t have to beat them up. You simply withhold your approval and acceptance.

Yes, that would require that we start acting like a community again, rather that a huge number of individuals that have no involvement with each other. But, would that be so bad?

Oh yes, one final thought. Start by gaining the approval of the person you see in the mirror. Remember that, it is your behavior as a citizen that determines what our society will be like, what it values will be. Over the years, I have known a lot of folk who would devoutly attend Sunday services, then threaten to run you over in their haste to get home. Which of these acts speaks the loudest?

Just a thought.

Tweet This Post