What Civics Class?

I’m wondering if what we’re seeing in Washington right now isn’t fall out from a failure in our education system to teach civics, government, politics.  There has never been a time that “all or nothing” has worked in a political system unless that system was led by a dictator.

Many years ago, most educational systems gave up on teaching civics.  Why that happened is a mystery to most, but it has led to more than one generation not knowing how government works, and some of those uneducated in the practice are now serving in congress.  It has also led to many people only participating in elections during the presidential cycle.

There is a tremendous lack of knowledge on the three segments of our government, the legislative, that is, congress, judicial, the court system with the supreme court the last stop, and the president.  Less seems to be known of our constitution, the Bill of Rights, even the Declaration of Independence.

All of this can be seen in how many in the Tea Party movement feel about government and its workings.  As much can be seen by the Occupy people.  When our leadership consists of those uneducated in government leadership, we have our current situation:  All or Nothing.  A government that is supposed to represent the citizens of the country must be able to reach decisions by way of compromise, it cannot operate by decree or you have what is described as dictatorship.

Many in the ultra liberal wing of the democrat party believe strongly in socialism, want government to be the all knowing master of all things, but to have that, those representing the government must be educated in how government works.  Many in the ultra conservative wing of the republican party feel most government operations must be curtailed or ended, but again, without a full knowledge of how our government works, and why, simple decrees won’t work.

Leadership carries a heavy burden, which includes education, courtesy, respect for the opposition, and the ability to compromise, otherwise, anarchy and dictatorship becomes the law of the land.  We’re seeing a failure of leadership at most levels of government.  Police out of control because of a lack of leadership; states, cities and counties near bankruptcy from a lack of those in power willing to make the hard decisions; congress unable to see past their own political ambitions; and an electorate unwilling to make the smallest effort to know who they are voting for and why.

Our problems aren’t a failure of the free enterprise system or representative democracy, our problems are a failure of our educational system.  Personal responsibility, personal ethics, and respect for our fellow beings is not practiced in big business or politics.  It isn’t taught in MBA programs or law classes.  Government isn’t taught in grammar, high, or university schools.

If we don’t make changes to those systems, in the words of one Star Wars character, “We’re doomed.”

Thanksgiving and Other Thoughts

A celebration of the harvest, a time set aside to say thanks for what we have, and to give some serious thought to what we want.  Despite the Patriot Act, we are still the one nation that prides itself on personal freedoms and our elections are not fraught with the corruption of so many other countries.  All, of course, is not rosy: an economy that is filled with danger from arrogant bankers and other Wall Street sharks; potential wars and conflicts in the Middle East; leadership, and a lack of, that is more prone to represent those that pay the most rather than those that vote; and a huge denial from too many that our world has been seriously damaged by the industrial revolution and our dependence on carbon based fuels.

Many of these problems have large fangs and are about to bite us in our posteriors soon, and others, with equally large fangs, will do their biting over a long period of time, but all can be corrected with proper leadership, education, and effort.  Congress and the president need to force oversight of banking, investing, and trading, for starters.  Those involved in those trades need to be forced into situations where simple ethics are the controlling factors. 

Remember when you got your first license to drive?  “This license to drive is not a right, it is a privilege, and as such, can be taken away.”  Or words of a similar nature were probably explained to you.  Trading, lending, developing are not rights, they are privileges, and the rules need to be re-written and enforced.  For the money industry to have imploded as it did indicates a complete lack of oversight by those in charge.  Was it accidental?  As is so often said in any investigation, follow the money.  Those responsible for the oversight were put in office by large amounts of money from the trading, lending, and development industries.

The Occupy Movement, while indicating an involvement by citizens is going after the wrong people.  How many of those throwing bricks and rocks at the cops have voted for a representative to serve them?  Those are the scoundrels, those in congress and other high political office.  The economic gurus are doing what they do because they can, because they bought the necessary representation.  To paraphrase: “it’s Congress, Stupid!”  Too few people take the time or make the effort to discover where the campaign money comes from.  Campaign finance laws and rules are written by those campaigning, so to follow the money has been made as difficult as possible.

It isn’t a case of not understanding science when politicians say that a warming of the earth isn’t really happening, it’s a case of who is paying them to say that.  There is no such thing as clean coal.  There is no such thing as a burning petroleum product not giving off tons of carbon dioxide.  As long as our major industries and life styles are based on carbon based fuels, we will continue to warm the atmosphere until there is another mass extinction.  It won’t be dinosaurs that will disappear, but well over seven billion humans, which then will create a new source of oil a few million years down the line.

The mess in the Middle East is so intricate and involved, it has to be a safe bet that we will have a standing military presence for many years to come.  It started following WWI when the British simply carved up nations, gave them names, and left.  That problem was exacerbated following WWII when the state of Israel was created.  And, actually, it all began back in the Crusades eras.  Between political Tomfoolery and religious zealotry, it’s more than doubtful that anyone alive today will see peace in the area.

At the Gunn household, there are many things for us to be thankful, among them good health, no wealth, warm fires, and a full pantry.  Our harvest this year didn’t match that of last year, but we have much canned and frozen, we have enough in the wood pile to reach what should be spring, we have children that we love and cherish, and most important, we have each other.  From us, have a happy Thanksgiving.

Dishing it out

I have been under the opinion that cable providers were required to carry local programming when available, but apparently that isn’t necessarily so for satellite providers.  Dish Network no longer provides Reno’s KTVN, Channel two, and that is simply not right.  Yes, it is free over the air, but that isn’t what I pay for. 

KTVN is the one source in the morning that employs a professional weather person, not a weather reader, and is the first source during a storm to update their information.  Seems to me that I’m being denied because Dish can deny me.

On another note.

The Reno Gazette-Journal’s coverage of Nevada Day activities was the worst of any newspaper in the state.  A political commentary was the extent of their coverage, so once again, I’ve been short changed because I bought the Sunday paper to see some of the grand sights that took place during the activities.  The days of Warren Lerude and Frank Johnson are truly dead.

And yet another quick note.

Good news on the writing front.  My short story, “Three Fingered Jack”, has been published in the e-zine Rope and Wire.  Go to http://ropeandwire.com/MainPages/Stories.html scroll down to traditional short stories and click on that.  Good way to start the month.

Have a great day, read good books, and stay regular …

Frost nipped noses

It’s been a busy few days around the old homestead.  Winter’s frosty fingers have been brushing our necks, so the outside water pipes are all covered in warm fuzzy stuff and lined with heat tape.  No matter how hard I try, the animals will not accept the fact they can’t have fresh water because the pipes are frozen.

Talking to them is like listening to Barack Obama.  Lots of words, no flesh and bone.  Of course, it’s still difficult to accept the 9-9-9 theory.  At least some of those people are talking economics not bible thumping.

If we get the Wall Street sitters to force changes in corporate oversight law and election campaign finance law, and the Tea Partiers to force reductions in the federal spending and federal obesity, we might end up living back when living in this country was more than side-stepping poverty.

Patty and I have cut, split, and stacked slightly more than three cords of wood, which will force the propane dealers to look elsewhere for their tithe.  Heating an ancient (1978 model) when the wind blows and the thermometer holds steady at 20 below, ain’t exactly easy.  It’s become an art around here.  All our large windows, on the office, living room, and master bedroom face south, so on those nice sunny days we get lots of help.

Lots of help is what many of the politicians talk about, but rarely attempt.  Why should federal contracts mean more than existing businesses when what we’re attempting to do is create jobs.  Jobs in the private sector are far more meaningful, from a purely economic standpoint, than those created to rebuild infrastructure, which by their very meaning, end when the job is done.

Back to it now.  Corn stalks need to be cut and stacked, chicken coops need their annual cleansing, and the goats have knocked their water trough over again.  As always, read good books and stay regular.  Ta…

Our Next President? Who?

The question many of us will have to answer next November is whether or not we want a born-again Christian in the White House.  I’m of the opinion, at least at this moment, that I don’t, and there are several reasons for my thoughts.  Primarily, I think, it’s because I’ve never held a discussion with a BAC that the subject hasn’t been brought up.  Whether discussing a business proposition to planning a camping trip, every decision is based on that person being a BAC.

I want a president whose first thought isn’t from the stand point of a BAC, but rather, from the position of the leader of the republic.  I want the president to think first of the consequences of 1776, of the formation of the republic, and of the enactment of the constitution.

We see in the news pages everyday what happens when theology overwhelms rule or law.  We find it in Muslim countries in which their own Koran is deciphered in fifty different views to Christian countries torn apart by the exact same bible the two sides swear by.  Think Ireland.  Rabid Catholics, evangelicals, Shiites, and Jews all have the exact same philosophy; do it my way or you’re wrong.

The United States of America is not a Christian country.  Those that wrote the Declaration of Independence called on God, everyone’s God, for there were as many sects then as now, as many religions then as now, but all calling on the same God, just not the same church.  I believe that an Evangelical in the White House would be making decisions based on being a BAC rather than being an American, and that would bring as much chaos as we’ve seen in the Arab and Persian countries this year.

As the leader of one of the strongest and richest countries in the history of the world, his first responsibility must be to the republic, which is made up of many Christian sects, Muslim sects, Jewish sects, don’t forget Hindu, Buddhist, and on an on.  A polyglot of religions, sects, churches, beliefs, philosophies.  Oh, and there are some that simply don’t believe.

I believe our next president must be prepared to lead the republic as a whole, and not make decisions based on a radically narrow point of view as is often voiced by born-again Christians.  Using examples from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, the president should be able to do what is best for the republic.

And, while we’re at it, all the current crop of candidates and wanna-be’s, let’s start talking about the economy, about oversight of International Corporations, about fairness in the tax code, and about government programs that have become more than obese through lack of oversight, and get religion out of the debates.

Take a chance and read a good book, and always, stay regular.

Coming Together

Some of the polls being released dealing with the upcoming presidential election seem to indicate that, at least on the Republican side of the picture, the crazies are being set aside for those that want to talk about the state of the nation.  One thing that certainly needs to be discussed is the findings of a poll recently released that indicates that the vast majority of our citizenry has negative thoughts about where we are, where we are going, and who is going to get us there.

Sometimes, a large majority can be upset by a single issue, but in the case of this particular poll, there was discontent with congress, with the president, with the courts, and with just about everything dealing with life in America today.  Taking a few seconds to think about it, it is completely understood.  Members of Congress no longer represent the people that elected them, the president, not just this one, mind you, is far more interested in personal recognition than leading those of us that can be led, and the courts seem rather busy making law.

Our schools rarely teach what used to be called civics, so too many people today are not aware of how our system of government works, or why.  Local governments have more control over your money than the federal government.  Taxes collected by county, city, and state far exceed what the feds take.  And, the president doesn’t have much to do with any of that.  Those that only vote in presidential elections have no concept of who takes most of their money.

In a recent city election in Las Vegas, less than fifteen percent of those eligible voted, meaning that just a couple of hundred people were able to decide who would hold the purse strings for a population of more than two million.

There is a tremendous uproar within the Republican hierarchy about the Teaparty and the new representatives in Congress who say they represent that party.  The liberal wing of the Democratic party, led by Pelosi and Reid, is incensed over the Teaparty, and those that voted for those representatives are delighted.  Those representatives elected as members of the Teaparty are among the very few that can call themselves representatives of the people that elected them.  While their political philosophy may be rather narrow in scope, it has resonated with force.

From a different angle, but with the same resounding force, are those that are marching on Wall Street and demanding that government once again represent them, not those that spread joy by way of dollars and power.  The two forces, Teaparty and Anti Wall Street, are political opposites working toward the same end.  One, wanting less government that represents the people, the other wanting less government intervention by big corporations, and more representation by the people.

And the leadership of both major parties isn’t listening.  Take the extreme out of the Teaparty and the Anti Wall Streeters, and you have a political force that could change the face of Washington, for the better.

Read a good book lately?  Please do, and stay regular. Ta.

A National Religion? No!

Old Ben Franklyn fought most of his life to keep organized religion out of what became the constitution of the United States of America.  He and others, such as Thomas Jefferson, fully accepted the concept of God, but were adamant in keeping “churches” out of government.  Now, we have too many people demanding that this country proclaim a national church, which is forbidden by the constitution.  Sarah Palin is out, now we need to get Bachman and Perry out, along with others demanding a state church or religion.

The purpose of specifically denying a national religion is to give every religion an equal opportunity to exist; to give every citizen the right to his or her belief.  Freedom of religion means just that: our government cannot tell you which religion, if any, to belong to.  There are hundreds of religious sects in Christianity, and in Judaism, and in Mohamedism, and on and on.  The purpose of a religion is to draw people together, create a moral atmosphere that is designed to make one a better person, and to worship a god.  Those that believe should not be pitting their beliefs against all the others, and that is exactly what happens when a state religion is created.  If you doubt that statement, have a chat with your local, friendly representative of the Taliban.

Some people don’t believe in gods, others become raving maniacs during a discussion on religion.  In our country, both have every right to believe the way they do, and no government agency can tell them otherwise.  Let’s keep it that way.

As always, read good books and stay regular.