Falling into the Symptomatic Treatment pitfall of gun control

America has had a very rough couple of years on many fronts, most publicized and politicized of late is that of “mass shootings” and gun violence. As these tragedies appear to be occurring with increased frequency and repetition the acceleration of the problem of gun violence is quickly becoming an increasing national health, safety, and sanity issue as well as a “hot button” issue on both sides of the ideology. As the American left is enviously looking to our neighbors to the north as a good “first step” and the American fight is delicately tip toeing around looking too callous for supporting the Second Amendment and not turning a presumed “blind eye” to the undeniable increase in frequency of “mass shootings.” As both sides clamor to push their agenda and citizens pick sides to stand behind I am seeing once glaring omission of both arguments… the root cause of the violence, mayhem, and depravity of gun violence in America. As this is a very complex and multidimensional issues, this will be a long post.

As a strong constitutionalist, anti-federalist, and veteran I have done my fair share of research on the Second Amendment, guns in America’s founding, cultural norms and entertainment. I won’t rehash the interpretation of the Second Amendment outside of the comment on those interpreting the Constitution must maintain consistency, case in point; if the First Amendment is flexible enough to include electronic, computer, and modern speech instead of written (limited to letters, pamphlets, newspapers, books) and oral protections then the Second Amendment if flexible enough to equate the musket (most modern and powerful weapon at the time) to its modern day equivalent.

If we are to have a real, honest, and productive discussion on such a polarizing topic we have to establish some ground rules on rhetoric. For those on the left, we DO NOT have mass shootings with automatic, machine gun, M-16, AK-47, etc. firearms! The only automatic firearms available to the general public have to be manufactured prior to 1986, registered with the ATFE, take 8 months to a year background check and paperwork turnaround time and a special tax/stamp for purchase, and these are heavily monitored and followed by the ATFE. The firearms used in the “mass shootings” are NOT WEAPONS OF WAR. The firearms I was issued and the ones I issued to fellow service members were different in that the long guns had the capability to select “full auto” or “semi auto” rates of fire. Civilian firearms are Semi Automatic. There are legitimate reasons for high capacity magazines, case in point, a veteran or handicap shooter who has limited finger/hand dexterity or injury making the frequent loading of ammunition into a 5 to 10 round magazine troublesome at best or impossible at worst. Many shooting enthusiasts go to the range and shoot to keep their skills sharp these magazines allow those with special needs to participate, (the hunting argument is a dishonest straw man argument as anyone who has obtained a hunting license can attest, there are limits on firearm ammunition for game, varmints are different). For those on the right, realize we are in an increasingly urbanizing society and the culture is shifting away from the era of self reliance. Most urban dwellers have never seen a firearm in person and they are intimidated by them and those who posses and celebrate them. No matter how passionate or fervent you are toward the Second Amendment people are dying, daily, in this country and it isn’t going away. With this out of the way here are my observations on what is and isn’t being discussed.

We are not having a honest or frank discussion on gun violence due to both sides getting hung up on the points of the last paragraph. Gun violence in and of itself is NOT the underlying cause of the problem, it is s symptom. If gun control really truly worked than the locations with the strictest restrictions on firearms would be the safest and those with the lest restrictive would be the most hazardous, however we see the inverse. Again, lets not fall into the trap of “yes, but…”. Those opposed to gun control have a legitimate concern with adding MORE restrictions and regulations on firearms due to the issues seen in L.A, Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, etc. That is the fact that the black market will always cater to criminals with cash. Enhanced background checks, waiting periods, bans of this or that do not apply to the black market. On the flip side, people complaining against these solutions do NOT live in or around these areas and aren’t living with the direct impact of nightly shootings. The old adage of “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” may be accurate, honest, and logical but it means little to the grieving family of a murdered child caught in crossfire. The real issue is we have a deep seated societal, cultural, and national identity problem. We have allowed our society to regress from a “melting pot” that took the best of multiple cultures and assimilated them into an overarching homogeneous one and into a patch-work-quilt type muti-cultural fabric with no common stitch work holding the patches together. In my opinion this IS the main underlying root cause for the violence and many of the other ills of this once great nation.

We have allowed ourselves to play directly into identity politics and place others as well as allow ourselves to be placed into neat little boxes where we fall victim to echo-chamber politics and become sidetracked by the never ending division, sub-division, and classification/re-classification of the society into a never ending series of nesting dolls. Who does this serve? How has this practice improved our society or the now hundreds of cultures making up the nation? Can we recover? How can we recover? I believe if we can get the root cause addressed the recovery, which will take generations, will fix and correct the issues we face today. Gun violence isn’t a single issue problem and there isn’t a single golden solution that will fix even one facet of it unless we fix the whole. Gun control will work no better then treating stage 3 cancer with band-aids and ointment cream would. How? We must start with the overall root cause, cut out the metastasized tumor, and build up after it is removed.

We must have a common vision, goal, and understanding if we hope to survive as a nation. What common vision, goal, and view of America are shared today regionally, ethnically, religiously, and ideologically in America? Do we have a common “American Dream” we are striving towards? Do we have a common vision or goal we are pursuing, as a nation? If so I am not seeing it. Guess what; this is something the elected, or their appointments, cannot solve, fix, or legislate for us. We have set ourselves up for failure by having the luxury of time and lack of adversity to focus our national will towards. The pioneers of identity politics birthed in 1919 have graduated from novelty into all out conquest. We started out, as a nation, compromising between the federalists and anti-federalists to create a balance that most, if not all, could amicably live with. The rift left after the War Between the States (no it was not a civil war, look up the meaning of civil war) added the dynamic of regional politics that devolved into industrial/agricultural economic politics. Our two party system made the balancing of increasing interests more challenging, but we were able to find a way. The reason for this historical review is two fold. One, as a nation we have face just as challenging time and seemed to be on the precipice of collapse just as dire before. Two, as a nation we had enough common ground to keep the dialogue open and willingness to compromise without resorting to zero-sum outlooks. This provides hope and a guide to how to overcome our present problem but it is not political.

We must start at home, however we need a guiding principle and truth to all work toward. This is where the pessimism comes back. What rallying point do we have in the post modern era? We have as may interpretations of “truth, justice, and the American way” as we do people. These no longer transcend class, region, race, religion, or sex they way they used to. Without a unifying principle how can we expect to be a unified community, culture, people, or country? When definitions change at political lines of demarcation we are lost, aimlessly searching for meaning and desperately grasping at every snake-oil sales person who comes by promising easy fixes to complex problems. We need leadership that sees this as a driving issue, communicates it and gathers support for resolving it, and finally outlines the path and hardship required to resolve.

To me we need to have a renaissance in our founding principles and tie them into our current culture and society. If we can truly apply the Constitution to our modern experience I think we will be the better for it. Look at the past is full, not just the good but warts and all, so we can learn from the hypocrisy and mistakes of our ancestors to build a stronger present and future. We must resist the urge to divide and subdivide ourselves into pigeonholed boxes of generalized identities. We must have common ground and common interests in order to compromise and a willingness to give a little to get a little and keep working to expand the common ground, not retreat into a crystalized stand off.

From here we must return the sacred view of life, in all its forms and discomfort. This means moving past bumper sticker slogans and ensuring we provide equal and consistent messaging that life is life and it must be protected at ALL times, not when it suits a particular group or philosophy. The funny thing with hypocrisy is that it is equally visible to everyone. We have a profound “value of life” problem in this country. How can we expect everyone to treat their fellow citizen with respect when there is very little in real world examples of this at all levels of society. This next point is just as important. We must maintain consistency and across every level. When we “follow the science” we must do so full bore, whole hog, all in and especially when it isn’t convenient.

Studies demonstrate that children from two parent households have less social, educational, and cultural issues. Our divorce rates are insane. The impact of this on the children is just as traumatic and damaging as any adversity. These kids grow up and take these problems into adulthood and pass them onto their kids. Worse is single parent homes where kids grow up with a void that too often is attempted to be filled with bad actors, entertainment distorted characters of “how things are supposed” to be, drugs, or violence used to mask the pain and internal conflicts of why that parent isn’t there in their life. We have stopped holding ourselves and our neighbors accountable for failings, slight to gigantic. Not only do we allow ourselves to be placed into identity boxes, we box off our time and associations into ever decreasing circles that retard growth and foster complacency. We must all begin to follow Gandhi’s advise and become the change we wish to see.

As a nation we need to stop depending on the nameless, faceless, soulless government to solve our problems. This is why I call for a renaissance of the Constitution, so we all know the responsibilities and accountabilities of ourselves and our government. We must realize the government cannot give something without taking from us all as it makes no product, capital, or material of any kind, it only takes. Government cannot legislate or enforce morality, decency, or thought. We need to re-discover the self-reliance mindset we used to have. Government should only provide tools and protections we cannot provide ourselves. Does anyone want to live in a country where there are thought police that enforce laws on viewpoints? That is where we are headed, and the fulfillment of the 1919 movement.

We know the profile of with a high degree of accuracy of perpetrators of “mass shootings” just as we know the profiles of “gang violence” perpetrators. We need to take this information and build mechanisms to derail them proactively. There is no fundamental difference in the outcomes of a “gang hit” in a playground in a low income neighborhood and the “school shooting” in suburbia. I am not talking about harsher policing but providing solutions to derail the common threads in each of these. The common threads are different by profile but lets not let the threat of racism stop us from addressing the lack of fathers in low income neighborhoods or stigma and shame of mental health services in suburbia. Each of these problems has different solutions needed, one the government needs to get out of the way and the other it needs to engage more and expand its reach.

We need to realize “gun free zones” and other layers upon layers of laws and regulations do nothing to stop a determined person from acting out their fantasies and attempting to ease their pain through excitement. We are unique in that our founding was principled on the restrictions of government and outlining the restrictions of the government on its citizens. We overcame a great struggle of a tyrannical government and were very suspicious that the current government would eventually grow into a new tyrannical beast requiring to be dealt with at any cost. Do not be fooled by the hubris of modern sensibilities that “it can never happen now days” as the current reality shows exactly that it is possible and can happen with no warning with lightning fast. The citizens of this country hold the unique place in history in that our government serves us, not the other way around. And is this government did become tyrannical how could we oppose it with 5 shot hunting weapons? Do you expect your State Guard to stand up against a standing military without fellow citizen support? While a popular refrain is that armed citizens with semi-auto “weapons of war” are no match against tanks, planes, and nuclear bombs is a self defeating argument at best and at worst makes the case we need more robust weapons. Haven’t we seen how well armed civilians can fend off an oppressive professional military in Ukraine?

So what am I willing to compromise on? We currently have background checks but they have been found to be lacking and make big misses. There is real room for improvement here but remember the goal is to have an ultimate check on a tyrannical government forming and oppressing the citizens so I do not trust nor want any centralized database of firearm owners, firearms, or cohabitation with medical records in this system. We can improve on and modernize the current system to close the gaps identified this far. Firearm safety is greatly needed. Not only for children to know what to do and most importantly what NOT to do if they ever encounter a firearm but just as we make kids go through health class and driver’s education before we give them keys to a 3,000 pound rolling liquid fueled bomb, we should use public money to bring back shooting teams into schools, as an elective of course. Transfer of firearms between private citizens (including estates) should be facilitated through a licensed firearms dealer for background checks. We have red-flag laws currently in place. Each state should decide to what extent these laws should be enforced but I would agree anytime a restraining order, protection order, or welfare order is provided that there is an extensive search for and securing of ALL weapons while the due process works itself out. We need better access to mental health and therapy in middle school, high school and college in order to identify at risk individuals and ensure fast actions can be taken if needed. There must be a mechanism to protect against abuse and vendettas however. I would be fine to bring the waiting period back and include all firearms. Is there ever really a need to get a firearm the same day? Ok, if you are on a hunting trip and the airline “loses” your rifle or one of your firearms breaks at the shooting range how often would this happen? Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency for my part. Serious policing reform. By serious I mean better training and requirements to become a peace officer and better tools and tactics. Taking a page from the opposition’s mantra, look at Europe. Many of their police forces require 4 year degrees, much longer training requirements, stricter controls, and better continuing education. As a dangerous, highly skilled profession why are we accepting such a low bar for our police? Minimum 4 year degree, 1 year of de-escalation training, annual continuing education electives.

What would I like to see from the opposition? Mandatory federal and state firearm law enforcement and sentencing. You use a firearm in the commission of a crime, you get a stiff sentence ON TOP of other charges, NOT running concurrently. Never plea deal any weapons charges, ever! Make grants to harden public places of gathering to deter mass causality events. This includes schools, sports/entertainment venues, monuments, museums, etc. Just as we mandate handicap access we should look at the best physical barriers and practices that can offer protection with minimal sacrifice to convenience. Case in point, all schools have auto locking doors that cannot be bypassed/defeated for convenience sake. Allow “good people armed” to be in places that have been historical targets. The problem with Robb Elementary was while there were good guys with guns on campus, the didn’t engage with or try to stop the shooter! I heard too many politicians spew the lie of “well this goes to show that the good guy with a gun narrative doesn’t hold true.” when in fact it did, once they engaged the perpetrator. I would love something that would prevent the “identification and glorification” of individuals that institute these despicable acts, if nothing else to deter copy cats. Reverse 7 decades of nuclear family deterring government programs and policies and instead incentivize the restoration of traditional family structures for communities where this is lacking. In tandem, take all the passion and fervor and work to actively improve areas lacking opportunity. Where do illicit drugs benefit, help out the communities plagued with these with outreach instead of accepting it as a non issue.

We need to have a honest and real debate about this issue, not just the symptom of gun violence but about why those behind the guns feel the need and desire to engage in it. We must be willing to follow the rabbit hole down through the weeds to where it is all coming from. Outlawing the tool will only cause the afflicted to work their way down the ladder to the next “most useful” tool. IEDs, autos, poisons, chemical devices, structural sabotage, who knows as one of the few things each had in common was plenty of time to devise and plan out their actions and rationalize their self justification enough to act. Without addressing this and getting to the heart of the matter today’s gun control will become tomorrow’s car/knife/pressure cooker/pool chemical control.

Odd what you find laying around

With the historic cold and disruption to life and work the Feb 14th snow storms brought to north Texas I did a very little re-organizing to the home office and found my laptop I bought my first week back in the US (the very one I am writing this on) and my old Palm Pilot from college.  I would have been nice if I had found about 2-3 hours in each day to get back to writing because, boy oh boy have I had an opinion or 5,000 on what has happened since 2016.

Alas, life has other plans.  I cannot realistically get into details on jobs, living arrangements, kids activities, societal woes, and the general state of the universe however I can level set by discussing, briefly, the present status.

• Kids are great and fully adapted to US life.  They have retained as much of the Chinese culture as they can and did visit China every summer until COVID erupted on the scene.
• Wife is still adjusting and working, albeit not in the capacity she was, but we are hoping things will look up soon.
• We are all healthy and fortunate to be in a great neighborhood, school district, and general place.
• Photography is still a main hobby, just hard to fit it in now days (some great new gear keeps me going)
• I did renew my FAA registration and took the drone up to capture video of the snow
• I have embraced my long suppressed American rights and… More on that later
• As the primary driver of the family the opportunity arose and was seized and we have a “soon to be classic” in the garage… More on that later

So, how many posts and how often will there be new content?  I don’t know.  I have some ideas on refreshing the blog, updating my obsolete WordPress pages.  Balance blogging with video and my 2 current hobbies/obsessions.  So who knows, I would be lucky to get something written monthly.  I am not even sure if anyone reads blogs anymore, or reads for that matter.  I believe they do.  Books are still a thing, heck my kids have filled up over half the family library space and their rooms with books and the local Barnes & Noble, Half Priced Book stores see us regularly.

It’s Been a While

How has it been almost 2 years?  As you get older time definitely does move at a much different pace.  I am not back in the US, though I did visit for one month.  No, I finally broke down and purchased a VPN connection, so now I can access the actual Internet and not the nanny state’s sanitized version of it.  So nearly 2 years since my last post I am back. 

Part of being back requires a bit of housekeeping.  This blog has been like an abandoned house, the rooms have all gotten dusty, musty, and there are cob webs all over the place here.  I need to update things quite a bit and ensure the links, my store pages, and other aspects of the site are all functioning well.  I also need to evaluate what, if anything, needs to be pruned, re-categorized, updated, etc.  Before I can get back to business I need to get everything refreshed as needed.

Now I have access to the real internet I also need to catch up on things I haven’t done in at least 5 years or since the powers that be decided to start choking off site access like search engines, photo sharing sites, and the general information and infotainment sites we can’t access from over here.  It will be great to get the old cerebral fluids flowing again and sharpening my critiques and observational skills in the season running up to the election cycle and the cultural meltdown experienced in my homeland.

The dogma of hate and division

Humanity is in trouble. More accurately, what we classify as modern society is on the verge of collapse. I wish I were delusional or overstating the issues I am seeing. I wish it were my playlist impacting my mood, holiday doldrums, or anything other then watching societies around this planet eating themselves and turning more to hate and separatism. The pace of events showcasing the fracture lines and fundamental differences is growing too fast to be absorbed by our current social rules. Collapse and rebirth are required.

Just this month alone we bore witness to OPEC engaging in an economic game of chicken with the worlds most basic commodity, bringing multiple economies to the verge of implosion all for the sake to spite one nation that began to challenge their cartel. The dogma of economics over international stability. The sustained rising tide of hate, intolerance, ignorance, and religious inspired superiority of Islam over non believers both Muslim and infidel as seen in Australia and Pakistan. The ongoing schism between Middle Eastern religions and the west is full of useful idiots and silent supporters who offer token criticism of tactics only if speaking out at all. People in my home country turning against their protectors in bloodthirsty crowds chanting “what do we want, dead cops, when do we want them, now!” All this gleefully polished and forced fed down our throats in ratings obsessed media outlets.

There are too many raw nerves, frayed threads, ruptured cracks expanding to be rebound. Russia is gleefully riding their economy down the tubes cheering their morale victory over the U.S. Ignoring the jagged bottom rushing to meet them, all to the delight of their leadership longing for a rebirth and revival of the bad old days of Kremlin centered body politic. Israel rightfully reading the tea leaves of America turning is back on them in favor to placating to a fanatic sect of a dubious religion who will only be satisfied by our utter destruction and convert or die mentality. Even here in Asia the old nationalist and protectionalists are rising to power or consolidating it. The world is pulling apart at its fastest pace in the post world war era as there is no longer a morale or idealistic leader nation for everyone to aspire to.

At this time of year, as winter sets in and we usher in the longest night we are seeing the global society grow darker and darker. People isolate and cocoon themselves out of direct personal involvement. We now accept that forwarding a hash tag cause will impact anything. We are seeing Sony Pictures being pushed around by a hacking collective thinly disguised but motives point to North Korea, yet who is speaking out. If the movie sucks it will fail at the box office, no need to crash a jet into every American theater, well belay that as theaters are pulling the movie as I type. We can’t laugh or make light of anything anymore.

The bastion of information, the press, has become such a shell of itself it can’t even investigate a story anymore falling into the traps of gang rape, celebrating a sick narcissist feminist who also made a false rape claim and admitted to molesting her sister. Demanding dead police without reporting simple facts of cases that change the popular narrative of racist police brutality into that of thug culture placing kids into harms way by being combative and dismissive of police who are trying to maintain order in a society that no longer wants it. The same press ignores the daily plight in the same community they exult by failing to report on the epidemic murder rate, child endangerment, social service failures making matters worse, astronomical infant mortality rates, and a war on poverty that is more failed and catastrophic then the war on drugs ever was.

This is supposed to be the time we look forward to the rebirth of the year, the tidings of hope and gifts from bountiful harvests able to sustains us into the spring, joy from the collective thoughts turned to the birth of a religion that changed the world forever. The time we mark the turning of the calendar into a new year, season, and era. Unfortunately we are instead continuously be pummeled by blow after blow of negativity, fear, repression, and despair. If there were a devil and league of daemons working toward a collective goal, I could not imagine them doing a better job in dividing and conquering mankind. Whispering prideful platitudes and stroking our egos to where we have what we see today. Turning a blind eye and seeking solace in better times does not change the facts this train is already falling over the edge, and we are all riding it down.

The Stone Age

My eldest daughter had an assignment this week in e second grade class to develop a collaborative set of school rules for the class. In her rough draft she had one simple rule, free iPads for all students. When I asked her why she said so all students could get iPads, which they already do as their school uses them for lesson tracking and test prep, and keep the. Over the summer, mainly to install games and IPTV on. When I explained that could not happen the inevitable question came up, why.

I always try to explain such questions to my children in real world terms but in ways to expand beyond their initial question, and to avoid as much as possible the default follow up, why that directly precedes the answer. When I asked who would pay, she said nobody, they would be free. This sparked an explain action of demand based economics and business based investments in technology. Simply stated, if nobody is going to pay for the iPad, there is no money for the workers who put it together, shippers who move them, warehouse staff who inventory them, stores for staff to distribute them to the public and most importantly, no money to the designers and innovator leads who populate the research and development sections of companies and bring new and improved updates to the market place.

Nobody will make an iPad if there was no money to be made. I was lucky in sidestepping the counter argument of the school buying the iPads and giving them to the students, for at least another 2 years I will be able to skate by on this. For the why question that came after that I decided to go back, to the beginning of civilization as it would allow for a better conversation on civilization, economics, and development of trades and later on careers. Farming was the beginning, the ability to procure and reliably gather food continuously giving early peoples time to explore and discover the greater world around them. This was the Stone Age.

As years rolled by farmers became the working elites, people who had the largest amount of technological brain trust in the world. They could germinate seeds, develop hybrids, increase crop yields through knowledge of fertilizers and irritations as well as discovering planting and harvesting seasons. All the excess foods led to trade and compensation to farmers for their works, basic foundation economics. Those who bought food now had leisure time, time to sit and think. Soon other technologies were founded in response to societies needs, storage containers for the food, writing to indicate what was in the containers, and how old it was, inventory systems to show the amounts of surplus on hand, and so on and so forth. Due to the new commodity of time the farmers sold to society new classes were developed to build off the foundation technology. We all know where this leads but for a second grader some further questions arose.

The Stone Age was a transitionary stage where people shifted away from exclusive hunting and gathering and into agriculture. This did not occur overnight or within a lifetime but over generations. As farmers outgrew the technology of stone and wood tools an incredible discovery was made, metal. After the accident of metal discovery was found, replicated, and advanced we moved on to metallurgy, which quickly out stepped its agricultural sector into everything from the infantile military applications to more in demand civil applications, including the newly developed jewelry sector. This led to the further development of trades, skilled laborers, and craftsman. Technology building off of technology, all made possible by social economics. Without fair compensation for time spend in the development of a good or commodity everything will cease to exist.

This is the missing point about socialism, communism, and radical anarchists that is often overlooked in movies that romanticize such insane concepts. People who are not fairly compensated will not produce, or produce so poorly as to be ineffective. Without the gain or compensation that the farmer finds is a greater benefit to their time spend growing and harvesting crops he will only produce what he needs to survive. The development of governments to contain and bring order to society just refocused technology to its own self serving interests, however basic economics still did, and do today run society. Without them we lose all technology gained over the past 10,000 years in just 2 generations. Without an economy there is nothing, no food production, no goods or services, no infrastructure, teaching, or research, it all falls apart as all these people have do devote 100% of their waking time filling their basic needs; food, water, and shelter/security. And this is why we can’t give away iPads to all students for free, it will lead to reversion to the Stone Age within 2 generations.

Social Incivility

People are sheep, or so the saying goes. Another is monkey see, monkey do. Analogies are fine but often get lost in the translation, that being of encoding and decoding a thought through a communication channel. People are heard animals, pack animals, complacent for the most part. We are however highly susceptible to bad thought and the infections of bad behavior.

Many a sociology lecture have been given on mob mentality, group think, and the influence of outliers to overall group dynamics. In the last millennium inciting a riot, leading a group, or infecting people with thoughts required direct contact. At the end of the century we started to witness the contagious infection over a distance by pure exposure, the L. A. riots after the acquittal of the police officers involved in the Rodney King beating. The riots, their massive televised coverage, remember this was pre internet era, exported the riots to Tampa and West Los Vegas as well as Atlanta. The 24 hour news cycle and race to keep viewers seemed to spawn rioters influenced, inspired, and emboldened by the scenes of complete lawlessness and mayhem of the situation.

In our modern instant information society it seems the contagion is not only easily spread but is lighting the fuse for an increasing dry and fractured self image in our hyper sensitive constant censored society. People, normal people, are now blowing up and spewing their displeasure with out lifestyle in the most curious of situations, airliners. There are so many analogies presented by the 3 incidents within 2 weeks where the ultimate herd mentality experience we have, air travel, is now showing outliers venting and spreading. When the wholly volunteer situation of air travel and all that people go through for it it certainly makes the forced landings of planes to deal with seat reclining grievances make you wonder what the under current is feeding this.

Get away from the distraction of the reclining seat, ever growing rows of seats on planes, shrinking seat room and leg space, business solutions of devices like the knee defender, etc. surface issues and look at the layers underneath and we get a detailed vision of our modern society, it’s failures, and the darker side of human decency in today’s society.

Intolerance is the main theme seen in all these situations. From passengers who are so selfish as to disrupt or complain about the comfort of their fellow passengers, to airlines intolerance of customer comfort, to customer satisfaction indifference, to pilots intolerance of cabin disruptions, we have multiple layers. This reminds me mostly of the last decade’s zero tolerance policies that have led to police and legal involvement for those bringing aspirin, plastic knives, t-shirts, home made desserts, or anything resembling or referring to a firearm. Our society is so censured and mediated we have something like a reclining seat lead to physical altercations and demands for flights to be diverted costing airlines money, passengers time, and everyone involved an experIence that adds to the sentiment that flying is the worst mode of travel, ever.

Flying used to be a luxury, an experience unto itself, a way to quickly and safely travel great distances and leave behind the mundane of land based life for a few hours. Today it reminds me more of delivering animals to the slaughterhouse. Herded through ever narrowing chutes into staging areas where inspections, poking, prodding, and frustrations build as time flies by pressing everyone into more of a panic over being too late. Add in the advertised prices which are a whimsical lie as fee after fee and tax after tax are layered upon the ticket making it balloon and giving the impression we were doped from the get go. Add in the lines, baggage debacle, security fiasco, pushing and shoving over decreasing space leads to very unhealthy mental situations.

Doing selfish things for personal benefit at the expense of those next to us runs counter to all the messages we have heard since birth. We know that unless we standup for ourselves others will take advantage of us turning into an ever escalating internal war of comfort over social norms that no longer exist. We are told to act one way yet we never see this occur anymore. When an outlier runs counter to the ideal but resonating to the perceived reality of our society, and no real social consequences communicated we fail over from sheep mode to monkey see mode.

The news and debate is focused on the actions, not the causes nor most importantly, the consequences for such actions. Seldom have I seen it reported these 6 people on 3 separate flights facing real consequences. I am not speaking about arrests, fines, or banning from airlines. I am speaking to the lack of social commentary on how stupid, selfish, infantile, entitled, and petty behaviors. So few discussions on how this impacts their fellow passengers who have been inconvenienced at best and down right financial losses for missing connecting flights, returning home late, missing meetings or obligations impacting their lives far beyond getting home 2 hours late. Where are the airlines injecting the costs for fuel, concourse fees, pay for ground crew, overtime for pilots and stewardesses and stewards, the impact to pilots flight hours which are tightly regulated and controlled, air traffic controllers who have to clear air space, re-prioritize landing schedules, alter other incoming airplanes, and the airport personnel and police who must respond taking them away from their normal duties. Where are these debates and conversations that address the impact of their actions, overall impacts and costs in money and time to all directly and indirectly involved.

Unless we see large scale social berating and condemnation of such selfish acts over a reclined seat Ina situation you personally put yourself into, well we can expect to see occur again and again. Meanwhile the debate will be only focused on the recline pro and con group, marketplace solutions, airline policies, et al. The real conversation needs to be directed into the social component. Seeing how censored our society is today, we are shamed for thing something we don’t like is wrong, something we think is funny, something thought is wrong, evil, and worthy of shame and scorn it is curious this behavior isn’t being dissected the way gay football players are, transgender drivers license seekers, juvenile offenders who rob stores are shot, politicians relax and play golf as the world burns down around them, and so forth and so on. I suppose when this is done to an actual minority or protected class we will see this conversation through the lens of intolerance and self loathing, adding more kindling to the pile awaiting a spark.

Patriotism, Business, and Political Points of View

What is patriotism? What is the first image that pops into your head? For people of my end of the generation, born pre to 1970, the vast majority will have images of the flag, Statue of Liberty, the Norman Rockwell paintings of patriots marching in a colonial day parade, etc. We witnessed the bicentennial in all its glory. In high school it would be of the space shuttle, Olympic teams, or he demolition of the Berlin Wall. Fast forward 10 years and was the military might of operation Desert Shield/Storm or the unstoppable American economy. This is a very personal question that will generate different responses depending on your political leanings.

The above is typical of what you would get from middle of the spectrum to right leaning individuals, but not the left. No to the patriotism conjures images of the press taking down Nixon, rightfully so, the triumph of the Civil Rights movement, the removal of overt religious connotations from official and public institutions, rainbow coalitions, Sarbanes Oxley in the fallout from Enron, an ever increasing powerful EPA, etc. Up until the Clinton presidency patriotism was about freedom, but viewed from different angles. What is the difference between the patriotism of someone celebrating the determination, grit, and never give in attitudes of the miracle on ice Olympic win over the Russian hockey team or the inclusion and political might of the rainbow collation? They are both born of the same system, and 20 years ago there would be no big difference because the merits of each was acknowledged and legitimate by the opposing political side. Those days age gone.

Burger King has sparked off a firestorm of public lashings over its business decision to buy out a Canadian bakery. This would allow them to move the corporate headquarters to Canada and reduce their tax burden from 38% to 26%. 12% is a huge amount when your annual income is in the tens of billions. This is money Burger King can invest in future expansions into emerging markets, hiring more employees, updating its logistic supply chains, efficiency improvements, etc. It’s also not like Burger King would no longer be paying taxes, each store, employee, and supplier located in America would be paying the same as they did last year, but the global income portion of each store would no longer be taxed here. So is this patriotic or not?

If our country is a regulation nightmare choking off business and stagnating growth and innovation, a tax hell with the highest corporate tax rate globally hamstringing businesses that have oversea operations, and laws that unfairly shift the burden of individual life sustenance from the individual to business well, how patriotic is it to support this system? How are business supposed to combat this? Lobbyists were the ways of the past but the effectiveness of this isn’t fixing anything for them anymore, look at the Affordable Care Law, which keeps getting enforcement illegally pushed back. Is it more patriotic to languish and drown in a defective and broken system, or is it more patriotic to apply pressure and power in the most visible and meaningful way possible? I would say sitting by and letting foreign firms with protectionists governments shielding and subsidizing their assent is unpatriotic.

I work for a Fortune 500 that moved its official listing to Ireland, prior to the recession they experienced in the early 2000’s. We were able to weather the financial crisis quite well and had very few layoffs, we were also among the first in the nation to aggressively hire again, in 2009 hiring 1500 in the Chicago area alone. The tax savings allowed this to happen, 800 million dollars is a lot of money and can hire a lot of people, allow the company to replace equipment further employing manufatorers, supply chain companies, and maintain a workforce with minimal loss. Our share holders were able to continue to receive dividends both individual investors and mutual fund investors who used this to fuel their customers quarterly interest returns. So who is more patriotic? How is supporting a system that is hostile to you, everything you stand for, and hampering you at every turn beneficial?

Operating a business in America today is akin to being a leper. The cost of operation skyrockets with no end in sight as government spending grown into insanity levels, American poverty grows, society collapses, and infighting goes from verbal sniping to brutal full frontal violence. Supporting this decomposing dysfunctional schizophrenic system is unethical, insane, and against every corporate code of ethics and mission statement. Business have obligations to their owners, private or publicly traded, to operate honestly, fairly, and profitably. They take on the responsibly of being good corporate citizens with charity, sponsorship, and partnerships with local organizations. Burger King is looking to grow, expand, and compete effectively on the global market. Why are they demonized for this? They are going to be adding stores, suppliers, and dividends to fuel American economics as well as give opportunities to those in many countries the same. They are voting with their feet on the effectiveness and reality of the current business climate in America today. Look at California and Illinois companies moving to Texas, same thing just smaller scale. A strong and growing Burger King is good for everyone, in the least it pushes Americana into new markets and is an unofficial ambassador to our values and standards in many places, like here in China, where we are elevating the local markets with better standards and wages giving local workers better choices.

The sad reality is those decrying Burger King are just useful idiots in an ideological struggle for the heart and soul do America. The descriptions of patriotism are no longer aligned into like for like examples. Today the patriotism of one side is viewed as criminal, obscene, and worthy of extinction by the other and vice versa. We now have a situation where the old guard is struggling to maintain some facet of control within the political system pitted against a new guard. People of old faiths are struggling against converts to a new religion, one they are writing the doctrine to each passing day. These useful idiots are unaware of their own rationale or where their actions will lead them. Burger King is making a stand and should be lauded for their move. They are calling attention to and shedding light upon what is now fundamentally wrong with our governance.

What Evils May Come

This week we were witness to yet another abomination to all religions, except for the anti-religions. The main stream media seems to have very short term selective memories. Just under 10 years ago Muslim extremists of radical Islam, Islamists, were beheading multiple people each week and posting the horrid insults to every god all over the internet. They stopped when it was realized the shock value and political gain from such atrocities was so negative it served no one well. Then it was alQidea, today it is IS.

Why has the media collectively forgotten the numerous reporters, construction workers, business men, and hundreds of Iraqi, Afghan, and other Arabs who were so ceremoniously slaughtered? They say time heals all wounds, it seems to erase seemingly indelible imagery from our collectively sanitized minds as well. The 24/7 beast of always on news cycles have assisted in ruining our independent memories of recently past events. Imagery and events now fade into the recesses of YouTube and achieved web links we forget about once the next reality show or iTunes hit arrives on our phones notification bar. The evil of ISIS and ISIL are just additional alarms we keep hitting snooze on and drifting back to blissfully ignorant slumber, while the house burns down around us.

The late Paul Harvey did an essay many decades ago, “If I Were the Devil”, and he updated it every few years. Read this and a lot of our present events will fall into a different type of focus. Evil does exist. It will prevail not in the absence of good people doing nothing, but of people sheepishly believing it does not exist. Evil is not some existential theory somewhere on the planes inhabited by the gods, angels, demons, and deities seeking worship. Evil is the corruption of ones heart to deliberately seek actions and deeds that run contrary to life itself.

The cold hard truth is we are all guilty of this and the distant thunderheads of all the negativity and ignorance have built up to stratospheric levels. It will rain soon and I fear God can’t even save us from this deluge of ever increasing acceptance of evil. We have invited this harbinger onto our doorstep and sticking our heads under the sofa cushions won’t work anymore. Evil was not satisfied taking baby steps into acceptance any longer. I fear the tipping point has been reached and critical mass is at hand.

What we are witnessing is far worse than the Crusades, Spanish Enquisition, or even World War I was. It is not the cowardly and brutish execution of a hapless reporter. If IS were truly proud, strong, and just they would not feel the need to hide behind terrorist masks, taunt an enemy half a world away, or contradict their religion under a bastardized interruption that only a small minority of Islam accepts. This is the magician using a scantly clad assistant to distract us while he thinly conceals his great reveal. Anyone who truly cares can find out what is in the mind, motivation, and rationalization of your religious fanatic terrorist in a few hours of web research. Again this is far worse.

The problem is “us”, “we”, those who refuse to accept the reality for what it is, take the situation at its face value, and call it for what it is. We would rather play golf, turn the channel, skips to the next song or resume our Temple Run game. This is what evil expects of us as we have never done anything contrary. We live in a world of our making, shaped in our own image and now forced to live intimately within it. We allow the wholesale infacide of a select race yet deride capital punishment of the same race. We reelect charlatans into power to govern in our name yet decry their corruption and impotent leadership. We shun religions and morale codes yet rage against the injustices of society where violence and greed are constantly rewarded by lax law enforcement and lawyer dominated loopholes. We invited evil into our lives when we turned our backs on principles and codes standing in the way of fun, self gratification, entertainment, and unrestricted joy.

Evil is the sum of our in actions, self prompted lies, and willful ignorance to consequences. All compounded by factors of hundreds by our arrogance and blatant self worship in superiority in our standing within the universe. To us, the universe revolves around our projected self image of importance, just as the sun and stars did the earth in the dark ages. We believe we can destroy an entire planetary climate system yet are powerless to destroy a splinter cell of a religion they has killed hundreds of thousands in a decade in the name of a god they worship who instructs them to honor his creations.

We are powerless to believe our laws stating all are equal under the law to mean what they say and require “protected classes” to exist elevating the rights and legal standing of the few over the many, logically creating an imbalance of equality. We accept the idea we must have a unique and exceptional immigration system unlike any other in the world, yet we ourselves are not an exceptional peoples among many. Despite developing nuclear power, visiting our moon multiple times, and building the most prosperous society ever, we are no different than the common IS freedom fighter. No, evil has crept in and eroded all these notions. Evil has broken down the greatness of our accomplishments and seduced us with the very trappings of our own inventions. Evil is not the dragon in the cave breathing fire, it is the whisper in the wind impregnating our imaginations that dragons do exist and are just around the corner. Evil is just the faint voice suggesting if it feels good do it, nobody is watching, the easy way is the best way, it will never happen to us. Evil was the seed of corruption, it has sprouted and is now a towering tree wrapping its roots firmly around us all and siphoning all nutrients and water for miles around ensuring nothing else besides its own offspring can grow.

Andrea Mitchell – You Lie! with the help of MSNBC of course

OMG! How long has it been since I posted a blog here? Years? What happened? Call it a combination of Great FW of China syndrome, work, and of course, parenting. But I digress. What has forced me to break my silence after all these years? The multitude of news, current events past by, social stories, fixations of the media over this or that and what was it that pushed my button? The last straw was a drive-by faux journalist hack job by none other then MSNBC, who is becoming more known for outright lying about “news” than the Washington Post and New York Times were for plagiarism in the past millennium.

I of course am referring to this weeks hit piece by so called journalist Andrea Mitchell where a heavily edited video, a la George Zimmerman 911 tape selectively edit hack job. Again MSNBC got caught doctoring information to sensationalize the news into a specific spin and expected outcome from ignorant viewers who do not question news organizations. While news companies and organizations do have a responsibility to the public to report just facts and provide clear warning of opinion coloring of the news, it is up to us, the consumers of news, to be skeptical of these companies and their agenda and not rely on past awards, reputations, or institutional creditability to seriously ask why they are presenting what they are presenting, identifying loaded terms and vocabulary, see if they answer all 5 questions of who, where, when, what, and why as well as how this is more important than other competing news for our attention.

I was alerted to the Andrea Mitchell political ad faux news via twitter. Thanks to SooperMexican and many others this WaWa-gate has taken up legs and is shedding a much needed and deserved light on inner workings of MSNBC “news” and how they are going to cover this year’s election coverage. Just like the George H.W. Bush grocery scanner “news” piece (false too mind you, just as this was) the truth have been exposed. Unlike the days of old the social media is able to identify and correct such biased and outright lying by groups like MSNBC (ask Dan Rather about the G. W. Bush Air National Guard duty roster debunked by bloggers).

The striking thing really isn’t Andrea Mitchell showcasing her liberal bias or even presenting the splicing hack job on the air, she is in the bag for Obama and everyone knew that years ago. The striking thing about this is the culture of looking the other way and dragging of feet to admit wrong doing and punish so called reporters when their lies are exposed and they continue to deny and perpetrate the lie! THAT is what made me get off my duff and finally write something.

The Wisconsin political atmosphere has been a fore-barer of what to expect this fall in the US as a whole. Those who followed it can see the parallels, from Occupy the State Capital to OWS, from senators fleeing the state to hold up the legislative process to the president issuing executive orders to circumvent the legislature and from the stark contrasts of progressive liberalism to fiscal conservatism the polarization of the nation is pretty much complete. Just as Wisconsin had very few undecided voters by the time the re-call election occurred we are seeing the same on the national level. Mrs Mitchell’s political ad paid for my GE, MSNBC, its sponsors and advertisers, and those in the news rooms at MSNBC are only playing to the political base by pandering to the image control and news massaging of things they can capitalize on to sway the ignorant middle American who can’t decide which side of the road to be on.

So, as MSNBC ignores its lying, cheating, politicking “reporters” and paying them to spew their misinformation the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and the Blogasphere are more than ready to take them on. Don’t get me wrong, I am NOT a strong Romney supporter, not even a tacit one, but I think it is un-American and irresponsible to leverage news outlets for political pandering and biased views while passing them off as proof of this or that.

As a vet and someone who loves my country it is distasteful and downright infuriating when a Constitutionally protected aspect of our society/life is abused and twisted to influence people’s opinions. I did not risk my life so the 1st Amendment could be used as a tool by a political ideology to leverage and influence the citizens of the country. I am currently living in a country without a free press, at least the citizens here know its not free and the stories displayed are what the government only wants shown. For American to allow its news agencies to be the modern day equivalent of Pravda, or the People’s Daily is just wrong and shameful.

This goes for Fox News as well. News is news, it is neutral and has no bias or opinion. Reporters who can’t cover an event or report news without injecting their bias or opinion are not fit to be reporters and should be fired. With the 40 year anniversary of Watergate this fall it really is time for the news groups of the nation to get off this news massaging crusade they are on and get back to giving the public the dry, colorless, cold facts and leave opinions to the OpEd and Letters to the Editor section. Magazines are lost and who cares anymore anyway, the internet is killing them off quickly now. No, its time for news to be news, let the people digest the information and make up their own minds on where a story falls. If you can prove Romney is out of touch and an elitist then show it, no need to manufacture it.

We all have Obama’s record to judge him by, 3+ years without a budget even 1 member of his own party would vote for, more federal spending then ALL presidents before him combined, escalating the wars and intrusions on citizens freedoms in the guise of homeland security, mismanaging the government and allowing the worse recession in 70 years to sputter and backslide. We know his policies and if he could fix anything he would have started by now. Heck even his radical progressive professor calling for his ouster because he has NOT gone far enough to the left! Giving him 4 more years will only result in more of the same. More justice department selectively enforcing the law. More division and class warfare tactics to keep people pissed and mistrustful of each other instead of together to fix problems. More talk of bi-partisanship only to demand the progressive left agenda be followed without compromise or even discussing fiscal conservative alternatives, of which there are many on multiple issues. More speeches of soaring rhetoric of not resting until all Americans have a job right after decreeing the DREAM Act by executive order and then teeing up his 100th round of golf. More hope and change that end up being more of the same old same old.

In my closing I will play off the famous 1980’s League of Women Voters debate quote from, well most likely the last great president of my lifetime: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? Is America as respected throughout the world as it was? Do you feel that our security is as safe, that we’re as strong as we were four years ago? And if you answer all of those questions ‘yes’, why then, I think your choice is very obvious as to whom you will vote for. If you don’t agree, if you don’t think that this course that we’ve been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have.” Well America, are we any better off, if we choose the same administration are we sure we will get anything different or improved off of the past 4 years? We are at a fork in the road, the media playing to fears, inventing misconceptions, and outright lying and pandering to their ideological brethren denies us asking those very simple questions. Anyone who must cheat, take aid from cheaters, or encourage cheating does not deserve to be in office, and you Andrea Mitchell no longer deserve to be in the news reporting business, become an editor at the Huffington Post, Salon.com, Newsweek, Time, or some other rag. What does it say about a party of “fairness and equality” when they stoop to and accept aid from cheaters, lairs, and snake oil salesmen disguised as reporters.

Crime, Consequences, and Social Acceptance

Call me old fashioned, call me a Neanderthal, call me a relic, I particularly don’t care because I know I am right.  If this year’s seasons are to have meaning, revolution spring for example, then this summer is flashpoint summer.  We have seen a series of mod attacks, riots, and outright fights in the US and UK thinly cloaked in the guise of racial socioeconomic inequality.  Horse pucky!  This summer’s rioting is just an excuse to go out and beat up people of another race and steal items you would like to have and use the shield of liberal philosophical inequality to mask your intentions.

Western countries have been hit hard by this, Europe more than others due to the financial crisis and resulting governmental spending restrictions.  Here in China you expect to hear of the occasional riot over social issues, land repossession, inflation, unsafe foods, or unfair socioeconomic access.  In developing nations you also expect to hear of riots over economic divides, access to natural resources, or social injustices.  It is very rare to see it happen in America and Britain and for the conveniently yet thinly veiled excuses of social divide.  I repeat myself because that is the best way to drive a message home.  These activities are not out of frustration, but fun and entertainment.  Many eyewitness and victim accounts speak of laughing, taunting, and casual socializing in the midst of beatings, robbing, and looting.  There is only one real explanation for this sort of behavior.  Lack of fear of authorities or the law and no sense of consequences for ones actions.

David Cameron has it part right.  There is a social decline in English speaking society today and it is not just reserved to the UK.  Washington DC, Chicago, Milwaukee, Philadelphia – all locations where highly publicized US mob violence occurred this summer.  One thing that was not so publically mentioned was the racial component, the rioters were predominately younger black males from the inner city using social networking utilities to gather, initiate, and spread violence against predominately other racial groups of older affluent peoples and in parks, shopping districts, or common areas utilized by all members of society.  We have a problem, but the “old way” of looking at it, through rose tinted liberal philosophy blinders isn’t changing the facts.

Where I am right is that the approach of the liberal mindset, the 1960’s era of utopian social cohesion has produced a more divided, fractured, and hostile breeding ground for violence waiting on an excuse to be released.  From the progressive takeover of the entertainment industry and pushing of the anti-hero and vigilante style of justice message to taking over the primary education system with political correct messages that uniqueness and self determination are evil and conformity and participation are the celebratory norm where all are equal and none are ostracized.   From my parent’s generation refusal to adhere to strict social codes and taboos that provided unwritten acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.  To my generation’s obsession with materialism and over indulgence and selfishness not seen before and fed by new technology.  Continued by today’s spoiled and incredulous self loathers who have never known patience thanks to DVD’s 24/7 cable TV and high speed internet, instant messaging and 3D computer games available at their fingertips and feeding their most freakish desire.  It has all been a long series of bricks into a wall we as a society are now backed against.

Lack of respect for authority and the law.  This is problem #1 and one that requires all 3 approaches to be implemented together and with a fervor and zeal not seen since WWII.  One of the London police was stating the rioters knew their rights and the law enough to how they could be treated but not enough to know what they were doing was punishable by the authorities… horse pucky!  That is the equivalent of selective hearing and is complete nonsense.  Its important to know your rights as a citizen but its a two way street, those you are acting against have rights as well and violating them comes with consequences.  We have to attack the root cause, that is lack of discipline in society today.

Discipline, discipline, discipline!  Today spanking a child is akin to child abuse.  Taking away a child’s belongings is akin to torture.  Parents and teachers try to be their child’s friend instead of parent or authority figure.  While child abuse laws serve a purpose and need to be strict and severe to protect children, parents AND teachers need to have tools at their disposal in dealing with the most severe cases of acting out.  Child abuse laws need to be redefined to specifically spell out what is physical abuse in clear and graphic detail so kids, parents, and teachers know where the line is and there is no room for error.  All schools need to mandate corporal punishment or have it opted to the parents on a case by case occurrence.  Inappropriate behavior needs to be curtailed quickly or the parents held fully accountable if they fail to do their jobs.  This means if a 15 year old robs a store during a riot they AND their parent(s) face the consequences and they need to be severe enough to ensure it won’t happen again.  Without discipline and well defined consequences for acting out being defined you raise children without morale compasses and selfish ideas of society’s role in their lives.

Teach responsibility and self worth!  We teach sex education to 3rd graders now, so lets reserve half of that time to the consequences of sex, parenting.  By the time that 14 year old girl gets pregnant for the first time and has her first child she should have a clue on how to raise a child correctly, as she was 14 when she got knocked up her parents obviously failed so she needs something to fall back on.  She needs to know what discipline is and isn’t and when and how to administer it just as much as she needs to know how to unroll and use a condom correctly.  Schools also need to abandon the “all children and unique and equal” poppycock sentiment and get back to competition and risk/reward in all aspects of education.  Science, Math, Social Studies, and Spelling competitions where clear cut winners and losers are identified and celebrated.  Same with sports, bring back tryouts and culling out inadequate candidates.  Its how the real world works and needs to be taught early so kids understand and know how to deal with disappointment in life.  Celebrate winning, dedication, team work, determination, and overcoming obstacles.  Participation isn’t winning, its just being there, and where is the self worth in that?

We have places for those unwilling to positively participate in society, show examples!  While we want to have lovely schools we must face the facts we need ugly schools too, reform based boarding schools where discipline and restriction is impossible to escape and troubled youths can be reformed before they fall through the cracks, give them an opportunity to wake up and turn themselves around before you turn a blind eye to them and allow them to enter into the perpetual cycle of incarceration.  Good people get bad breaks some times, everyone disserves a second chance.  Reform boarding schools can offer that to kids before its too late.  Get them away from bad influences and give them the tools needed to control impulses, desires, and just bad ideas by living breathing examples of consequences for acting out.  It has to be bleak and terrible to them to be effective.  No distractions and no reprieve, shape up or stay there until graduation and at least have the same education and tools the rest of society has to function and leave the choice up to them.  If they chose to continue bad behavior at least they will be more acclimated to prison life.  Refuse to allow ‘slipping through the cracks’ mentality and uneducated inner city youths growing up into ignorant adults angry at their misfortune of quitting society early.

Bring back the days of the scarlet letter!  Ok, not that far but the gist of it needs a renaissance.  What I am talking about is social enforcement of social taboo and overt peer pressure to conform to social norms.  If parents allow their kids to run around and drink they should be called out by the community on it often and overtly until they get the message.  Likewise if kids hang out and act inappropriately society needs to call them out, chastise and demean them until the quite.  Examples of model citizens need to be identified and celebrated as well, overtly and publically.  Make it a two way street.  Show there are consequences for your actions, good actions have good consequences just as bad actions have bad consequences.  Neighbors need to know and understand neighbors.  Pressure them to succeed and scare them of failure.  Take back neighborhoods from gangs and strangers who kill their families as we tell the press they were just “quiet and distant” people.

Finally, let the letter of the law be just that, the LAW.  Justice is blind, let it be blind.  The police have the discretion to arrest you, the DA has the discretion to charge you with a crime, the judge should be there to ensure the facts of the case are clear and just and the sentence should be blind.  The ends do not justify the means, a crime is a crime.  There are avenues in place in the US judicial system to make sure those who deserve punishment get it, and even those wrongly convicted to get vindication.  There should be truth in sentencing and the punishment should fit the crime.  Prisons should be humane and protect cruel and unusual punishment yet they should be punishment, not resort layovers between crimes.  The food should be nutritious yet punishment.  The clothing should be adequate yet punishment.  The cells and common areas should be humane and safe yet punishment.  There should be no place in prison to hide from the fact you are being deprived of your freedom of choice because of your actions.  People should be looking forward to getting out, vowing to do anything to keep from going back in.  Again with second chances, those who commit non-violent, non-drug related crimes willing to work, work hard, sacrifice, demonstrate reform, and stick to it should be rewarded with reduced charges upon release to allow them access to good employment and redemption, if they fail the should not get a third change and should feel punished appropriately.  Lastly they should repay society for their crime against it.  Not with just time and isolation from society but through labor.  Chain gang public infrastructure projects/works, license plate stamps, maintenance of roadways and interstates from road repairs to trash collection/grass cutting should all be done by prisoners to repay society.  This way tax dollars used to house, clothe, feed, and watch them is used to maintain our national networks saving outside contract labor costs and freeing up those firms to more complex and specialized works.

Western civilization has been declining steadily for decades, faster since the progressive liberal movement spread globally in the 1970’s.  Some societies are declining faster then others, Greece, Italy, Portugal.  The US and UK are quickly catching up to the rest as their societies have quickly turned into visions of Rome just before the collapse of that empire.  Massive credit, debauchery, shifting morale acceptances of behavior, dependence on outside resources to sustain, its all a recipe for failure.  Surviving the current financial situation is easy, just return to fiscally sound practices, surviving the conditions that have culminated into youths running through cities and attacking racial minorities and looting without fear or reprisals from society is much harder to survive.  The current condition is a cancer in our culture and it is metastasizes into at the very core of our continuation, the youth.  Until we stop pointing fingers and begin acting, electing officials willing to act and rewarding their actions, and stop the past 60 years worth of progressive liberal social experimentation will we have a hope of surviving this.  As the progressives famously like to say, repeating the same action but expecting a different outcome is the definition of crazy… lets try something radical and new, dropping progressive social ideals for an era with Western societies were strong, robust, and the envy of the developing world.