Hypocrisy and the handout

I hear a lot of folks out there raising hell about this student loan debt issue. I’m all for folks paying their own way, even if it involves a little suffering. The lessons learnt in those situations are priceless, and yes I paid for my education. 

I believe just as strongly that I got no business worrying about what other folks get that I don’t. I hear folks talking about taxes and hard working folks paying others way and understand that’s propaganda. Those loans were never money to begin with, it was debt government bureaucrats have leveraged for their own personal gain, or the gain of constituents. If you think this is about “free rides”, rather than the liquidation of leverage and attempts to protect the value of service you may want to put the “Kool aide” down. Education is a heavily subsidized business that sells access in the name of success. 

The whole issue reminds me of the young Christian who can’t understand why they lived their life according to a strict religious standard, and the sinner who prayed before death ends up in heaven also. Why did I restrain myself; was the question of the day.

This whole issue is so convoluted that good folks on one side vehemently oppose other folks getting a break, while on the other side some good folks are willing to let some questionable characters seek political clout through their financial windfall. Is it squeezing the last drop of blood out of the turnip, or sucking the last breath of decency from our soul. It all depends!

We all agree tuition is to expensive. It’s obvious our educational institutions have been usurped. The onset of “Corporate Universities and colleges” under the guise of “distance Learning” had changed our educational culture dramatically. I could go own about scandals, politicization, even the history of education as a conduit to foreign influence. These muddled states has caused us to be paying Target prices for Dollar store items. 

This issue would exhaust the normal persons patience in a heartbeat. You have states like mine who have “Hope scholarships” and students still end up with 30 to 50 thousand dollars in debt on a four year degree. The commerce associated with a student getting a four year degree is an industry within itself. Student lending is an industry. Getting those student out into the economy is just as important to the economy as them paying their tuition, maybe more important. After all, we have free tuition so all of that students debt went straight into the economy surrounding the institution they attended. 

I’m fact, if you’re in the real estate market, transportation, or grocery industry you surely better sit this one out. That tuition money didn’t go to a college or university, it went for rent, food, and transportation. In your pocket. These loans are investments and really aren’t directly for education. You can play the fool and pretend like someone’s taking advantage of some benevolent institution out of greed. However, you may spend your time and money and get another student loan and shop around for a university program that will teach you to think a little more critically. This is another government hustle that divides good people for political gain. 

Saving America

Saving America
Somethings funny about this flu stuff. I don’t really care one way or the other about school closing, 2 more sets of hands around to help with “Spring Cleaning”. It makes no sense to me and seems like a drill, like the siren that goes off every Saturday at noon.
The overtones of “teacher hand out” daily recommended schedules. As if parents have no clue of what to do with the teachers students. I know they don’t want me calling them about how their student is acting during their 4th period of lawn work!
The medical folks are just whacked out. No like we need help with not catching the flu or a cold, we did it for a very long time before their preventative medicine. Their are millions of folks out their not looking for sympathy or a prescription who don’t go to the Dr. regularly and do just fine. By the way, a unified message about what this is and how dangerous it is would boost your credibility.
I don’t even have to mention politicians, but I will. We really can handle this without you. I mean you can pass a bazillion dollar bill loaded with some side cash for birth control issues and restructuring the work week, I guess? Just understand we see through your campaign motives with us in the best interest, but we’ll see right through your summer ads about how you saved America from a pandemic by sending everyone out into the economy to rub elbows while clearing scarcely stocked shelves.
I guess I’m just thinking this is a reminder for me of how important some of these folks in our life think they are. The latent message for me is that some of them don’t think to highly of us. We’ll take our time off and visit loved ones, spend some time helping out “Paw Paw” around the yard, and a few extra trips to the nursing home if it opens up. The good thing is the kids are going to learn about hard work, compassion, and common sense. From that perspective these folks just might have saved America!

Addiction: industry vs institution

The so called “Drug Epidemic” is really getting on my nerves. Not because of the drugs, not because of the addicts, but because of the myths that perpetuate the problem. In fact, 12 steps may have inadvertently perpetuated this problem into the the future ad nauseam.

I’m not negating the benefits of shared experiences in resolving issues. It’s definitely a phase. However, in no other treatment do we use the anecdotal records of experience as the basis of treatment. We don’t do this because it’s often unreliable, and in some realms of dysfunction it becomes a contest resulting in the winner getting a badge of experience.

Folks that truly understand addiction as a result of behavioral, medical, and scientific study are largely out of the loop. At best their knowledge is invited through entrepreneurial endeavors if they support the current pseudoscientific premises of the “rehab industry”. Any attempt to institutionalize treatment is a threat to the industry and met with extreme prejudice.

The latest tactic in the industry is to attack the substances. Popular pain medications are attacked in a manner that they are guilty. Yes, a pill is guilty! The law suits against pharmaceutical companies hinges on popular beliefs accepting that because they make billions and addicts get addicted that the companies are guilty of “addicting” people. This convolution is critical for the “industry” to promote.

In order for you to believe this you have to set aside that these medications save millions of folks who take them as prescribed from pain and discomfort. You have to completely ignore the “street drugs” that the majority of addicts will eventually take due to the difficulty of maintaining s prescription and the cost involved.

You also have to ignore the Doctor who is running a “pill mill”, the insurance companies who process an inordinate amount of prescriptions, and the pharmacist who blindly fills prescriptions for profit. This is where regulations fail in the name of profit. Now you have this battle between the “industry” and the “institution” over the profits of addiction.

The profit for the “industry” relies on attacking the pharmaceutical companies. It’s more profitable and consolidates the enemy. While this is a tried and true legal maneuver, it has absolutely nothing to do with the addict or addiction. The problem is everyone suddenly has a “bogey man” who’s pockets are lined with dollars and addicts become victims, rather than folks with mental health problems.

The profit for the “institution” relies on “pain management” to perpetuate the profits. These clinic are often “for profit”. An entrepreneur can open a “pain management” clinic and just hire Doctors to run it. This is a way to keep the profits rolling along and justifying long term pain management. A Doctor can take s knee injury and extend the care through MRI’s, CAT scans, and arthroscopic surgeries. These “steps” can take years, all the while scheduling the medicine through “pain management” over those years.

Now you have the “industry” vs the “institution” and this noise has dominated the problem of addiction and spread it to the education industry where you can get a certificate or degree in addiction therapy without a degree in psychology. All you need is the “addiction credential” and you’re a celebrated genius who will drown out the real professionals.

This problem is way too old to be still around. The average hustle on the street lasts about a week. This hustle is decades old and it morphs every time its threatened on either side. All along the addict in the middle suffers from malpractice and predatory practices.

The way to a sensible addiction treatment is behavioral management. We need the psychological community to step up and sound off about the reality of addiction. Everyone needs to stop being enamored by the gal who “survived” addiction, and start being enamored by the folks that survived a dysfunction treatment community.

April Full

“April Fools Day”, dreaded or anticipated, is an “off guard” experience. I awaken alert to the possibility that before breakfast I’ll be duped. I resolutely descend the staircase to laughter and the smell of bacon and coffee. My consolation.

“Good Morning” echoes through the wall of wooden cabinets lining the kitchen just above the mornings clutter of dishes, empty containers, and eggshells. The work never ends!

“Morning” I reply. Leaving the “good” for posterity. I have a character to maintain. Resolved that “it’s” coming I sit down to a cup of motivation anticipating the beginning of the “Day of Lies”.

“What’s on the list this morning?” I ask with feigned interest. “I’ve got to clean out the stalls before taking “Smoke” to the veterinarian at noon.” I weakly State.

“What’s wrongs with smoke?” Emelia asks. “I thought we were taking the truck to the mechanics shop for the transmission this morning.”

“That’s Friday”, I reply as the coffee fuels my brain to decipher the two questions thrown like darts. “Smoke has a busted up leg from getting caught up in the wire yesterday. He’ll be fine in a couple days.”

“So that’s where those cuts on your arm came from.” Emelia accused. “I can help for an hour or so with the barn, smells like fun! She joked. And off we went to clean the barn.

“Surprise!!!” I was lost for a moment. Shouting people and sudden light filtered through my brain. Around me stood my sons with their families, my daughter and her fiancé, who’s way to soft to be found in a barn, and my best friends John and Linda. All staring at me with smug smiles. Then it came with a thunder. “April Fools!!!” I sunk my head and removed my hat to run my fingers through my hair before staring everyone down.

Then I noticed that something was out of place. The barn was spotless. The truck was parked at the other end just outside the door and Smoke wasn’t in his stall. “Where’s Smoke” I asked firmly. I don’t play around about my horse, especially since he was all banged up.
“Doc Grunner agreed to pick him up last night while you were soaking your bruises. He called this morning and said the ornery bastard was fine and eating all his feed. He’ll have him back on Saturday.” My son JR stated rather informatively.

“And the truck?” I asked with my time honored resolute tone. “How’d it get up here at the barn?”

John piped up with laughter in his voice. “Not sure why you’re even asking. That damned truck been sitting in the field since we were farming dirt for mud bricks. Turns out it wasn’t the transmission, it was the clutch. Melia, (that’s was his name for Emelia) asked me to check it out last week. I got the parts over at Joe’s salvage and fixed it on Wednesday while you was at the auction.”

“Unbelievable, ya’all been busy behind my back, but this don’t feel like “April Fools”, feels like Christmas, or my birthday! I said

Emelia laughed, “we’re all well aware of how you feel about this day, and we knew you’d be on the lookout for some trickery. So we decided to fool you in a good way!”

“Yeah, cause if it was your birthday you’d be on guard at every moment for your surprise party. That makes this a double fools day! John said jokingly.

There were tables with the breakfast things I hadn’t noticed were missing strewn out. Chairs all around and laughter in the air mixed with hay and manure. Turned out to be a good morning after all. That day was free of chores now and everyone celebrated like it was a holiday.

That evening as I sat out front on the porch rockin, smokin, and drinkin it occurred to me that I’d been a fool all my life. I spent too much time workin, thinkin, and worryin.

I had glimpses of my blessins on holidays or special occasions, but they were always a sort a interruption. Sittin here now I realize all those years they couldn’t fool me, because I was the fool, and fools don’t pay attention to nothin in front of them. They spend their time dreaming of tomorrow or frettin about yesterday.

I think I’ll just leave that fool behind and enjoy now forever. I can’t go wrong with that. I have a full life, I’ll leave the fools life to someone else. From now on every day is gonna April full!!!

Me-llenials

The 70’s dude! A decade of confusion. A transition to dysfunction on a societal level that speaks to so much confusion today. The origin of the “me-llenial”! We just can’t seem to slow the train down long enough to see clearly, life is a blur.

I ain’t blaming women, You can’t really ever blame one group for a societies developmental dysfunctions, it takes a village. Woman however, changed the American family to a degree that no other facet of American life could. They went to work and had careers.

Woman in the 70’s responded to divorce rates, family structure, and economic autonomy by leaving the home and going to work. Prior to this time women as a whole stayed at home and maintained o home (which is not the same as a house) and raised children. Kindergarten was not yet a norm so children were at home until 6 years old learning in their homes and communities.

“Play dates” were an everyday thing. Cars with fathers pulled out of the driveway at 7am and the streets were filled with kids playing and Mothers talking. Naps were a necessity and at 4 or 5pm cars with fathers returned for dinner. This was the norm for most families.

I want to be clear that I’m not blaming woman. The economy was such that it became a necessity. Fathers either couldn’t make enough to maintain the middle class stature or just opted out and left for a loaf of bread never to return. Either way women had to step up and step out of the house for additional income.

There was no such thing as daycare, preschool, or head start. Most women relied on friends who used the babysitting money to supplement their own families income. A few daycares sprang up, but all you needed to be certified were a toy box, fire extinguisher, and a emergency services sticker next to your phone. This was not a great time for many children. In America.

These kids grew up to birth the “90 Babies” just around the technology boom. This generation of parents never were handed down the traditional parenting skills their parents experienced. Preschool, head start, and kindergarten became a norm and the main source of information for parenting.

These early childhood educators blurred the lines between children and students, even in some cases the authority over the child. Then the school starts to share the role of educator with raising children. So then we had parents educating their children while schools focused on their well being. Hell, everyone was confused.

So now we have the “me-llenials” and these babies are all confused. They can’t decipher whose role is what. The television and computer fill in the gaps with vulgarity and innuendo to the point sarcasm is viewed as a positive trait. Entertaining yourself through other folks pain is humorous, and drama within families is expected.

These babies are having babies and seem to be responding by wanting to do better than their parents or grandparents did. They track pregnancy from conception. They communicate at a level that’s painful for many older folks. They seem to see through the bullshit in a “this has been going on long enough” manner. On the front side of family life though, they are way out there.

These folks create genders, races, and cultures like apps on a smart phone. They experiment with all facets of life to an uncomfortable degree for many. This is what makes social media so entertaining and dangerous. Socially, politically, and culturally there are no safeguards to protect us from the degradation we see. Truth becomes subjective, reality is what you make it, and authority is viewed as a negative facet of life.

We can’t fix this overnight. This is gonna take a minute. There are many uncomfortable moments ahead. Now is the time for candor, not to be confused with being blunt. It’s a time for a leader, but they’re rare. It’s a time for honesty. Most importantly it’s a time for families to retreat to the dinner table and say “hold up”, we need to take a step back and evaluate what we’re doing. We need to reaffirm our roles as parents, children, and siblings. Before we go out that door again and step out into this dysfunction. We need to tighten up and reestablish and reaffirm what we stand for. No more co dependent relationships built on cultural fantasies.

It’s not over, but that rolls both ways. Americans are families. We are independent and proud. We are philanthropic at the lowest socio economic strata. We believe life is bigger than us. We need to start acting like that or the America that our grandparents rocked will be rolled right into a ditch.

Semantically Sane

I’m writing this more for myself than anyone else. I’m not refuting or supporting any point of view. I will say that in order for me to sift through the garbage or pearls of contemporary “pop philosophy” I have to spend way too much time and effort. The “truth” is I may enjoy both a little too much.

The “truth wars” were fascinating to me at first. Reading about the battles between realities often times reminded me of a trip to a psyche ward. Listening to presumably intelligent folks dissect philosophy to the point it lay lifeless in pieces on coffee stained copy paper was amusing. The nagging sense that someone would develop any theory or treatise just to be the one to prove truth was or wasn’t true just became nauseous.

Semantics may be the three card molly of amateur philosophers, and I don’t consider myself a philosopher, but I do look for truth. I read and listen as these crafty thinkers shuffle the deck of semantics between formal, lexical, and conceptual semantics to prove they know the truth about truth being objective or subjective; and that’s as far as I’ll go down that rabbit hole.

My point is that truths are found on many levels. It is a truth that catholicism is evil when using lexical semantics. One look at the history of any institution will quickly reveal a violence often touted for the good. It is easy to fall into this trap.

For example: It made sense to the Catholic Church to work in cohesion with the Red Cross to assist Nazi war criminals along the “rat line” to Rome where they could receive their new identities using Red Cross refugee documents. During this time communism was a real threat. Hitler wouldn’t have destroyed the church as communism would, so the Catholic Church chose the lesser of two very real evils.

Using a formal semantic approach those conditions create a frame of mind where the church was only looking out for humanity. Communism’s disdain for the church was a threat to the world and doing anything to prevent communism from spreading further West was a noble pursuit.

Using conceptual semantics I could argue about the innate fact that the world was under real threat during this time. Folks were destroyed by the millions. This was the one real Armageddon times of our history where evil and good faced each other and it created a frame of mind we can no longer grasp, except through stories or movies. Understanding the threat to the world gave every institution a sense of survival, and we think and act different in this state of mind.

It seems the truth is that the Catholic Church compromised its values by helping Nazi war criminals based on their fear of communism. Wether that’s evil or not hinges on individual semantics. I personally don’t believe the Catholic Church is evil, but understand how folks could craft this opinion.

So I could justify or malign religion using these approaches to support the statement that Catholicism is evil as a truth. This rubric seems to be popular among many of the folks out there debating truth. It is not always an intentional deceit by the person espousing their opinion, but it seems plausible that it is intentional on another level by folks trying to popularize their ideas as philosophical. Either way we should acknowledge and highlight how dangerous it is to follow or perpetrate ideas that give us pause.

The truth is never simple. It will always find an exception in the minds of someone trying to justify a position. Language is more complicated than the average person gives credit. Linguistics have been a constant companion of philosophy and can be used as a weapon, crutch, or light depending on intention. All of these variables combined with the complexity of the human condition and it’s response to society and culture make for an elusive target.

It may always be akin to that movement we see out of the corner of our eye that never manifests itself more than an illusion, but haunts our thoughts with something to grasp; it’s there non the less.

Fear of the Huddled Masses

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”. “We the people….”.
I could fill a book with patriotic phases, but that’s not my purpose. I am an American. I am a Veteran. I am a Christian. I am a Georgian. I am these things by choice, I’m other things also, but those choices weren’t the best ideas.

I read where some folks want me to be white. Some for unity others for divisive purposes. I didn’t chose this and don’t consider it a defining characteristic. Some would say I can’t chose to not be “white”, it’s a “privilege” I was born with. I don’t play that game and make no excuses or advantage for who I am. I wasn’t raised like that, and I was raised in the segregated north. The one where a few charismatic “civil rights” narcissists created a plastic legacy on the backs of a few good men of different colors. Yeah, I said it.

Some would say I’m a convict. That was the bad choice. I’ll live with the scars of that choice, but that label is yours. I’m an honest man who made a dishonest choice and the consequences are a life sentence for me and others, but don’t get it twisted dude, it’s safer for everyone involved if folks heal, understand, and move on, together or separately. You don’t want a society of folks living in the past, trust me.

Some folks would call me a misogynist. I don’t have no androcentric view of the world. Most of the folks around me would call me courteous. That’s because I’ll carry the heavier grocery sack. I’ll open the door for another person. I’ll compliment an attractive woman. I don’t focus on my strength or a woman’s femininity to bolster a masculine view for myself. I like woman who like men and men that like woman. If you don’t that’s cool, I’ll still open the door for you and greet you.

Some folks would call me poor. I don’t have a lot of possessions or any aspirations to be what some folks consider rich. I do have folks that love me. I do love the folks in my circle. My idea of wealthy would be a good days work with my “old lady”, a long lunch laughing and kissing, followed by a dinner with an unexpected guest who overstays their welcome. No bills would be good, but we’ll make do.

I am an intelligent man. I can think, research, and teach myself like a good mechanic can keep an old car hummin. I ain’t fooled by titles or degrees, I’m a grown man. Those things have a purpose that’s largely designed to stratify society; they’re not an indication of leadership, morality, or intellect. For those of you smart enough to be uncomfortable in that strata, you can go it alone, in the end being a happy person helps more folks than any position or degree.

There are many “things” people could, and do, call me or classify me as. You may feel this way also. Just think for a minute as to why you’re being put into a particular box. Your life is divided up into a dichotomy of madness by folks you don’t know for purposes you don’t care for or benefit from.

Ask yourself why folks are so interested in your failures and successes, then look at who’s really trying to gain an advantage by segregating you from yourself and others. Once it’s obvious you can close the door on ignorance and get back to the table with folks who just want to share a meal and a laugh until the next visit.

You may be wondering about the huddled masses and we the people and how that fits in this rant. Well those statements and many others established in America are not androcentric. These statements were made by men who saw people through the prism of a cracked European heritage. They overcame that legacy intellectually even when they were unable to do so in their own lives in some cases. But they passed on in writing what was right.

They gathered at tables and on benches around the country and came to the same conclusion. Folks need to be free to live their lives as they chose as long as it doesn’t oppress someone else. They would be appalled at the dysfunctional dichotomy that folks have created to divide us. They would scratch their heads at the notion that “multiculturalism” would be considered a path to unite Americans.

They would be disappointed that Christians groveled to outside influence and question God rather than continuing to pray an act in the spirit of James. They would be angered that atheist have a voice in our morality with the history they have buried underneath false philosophical premises.

None of these folks want to sit around and talk. Technology has enabled us to communicate at a level we’re still not mature enough to understand. It’s a whole different game when you sit across the table from the person you’re talking to, and the folks who are dividing you understand that. They don’t like tables and porches, they hide in closets with a desk.

Tattered

Faded glory melds colors and beliefs into a tapestry of tattered flags and parched documents. There was a reason to stand for something that’s lost, there was a prayer for hope that sank, and there was faith that we were different.

There’s an old saying that ain’t safe to whisper anymore; “We can’t let the inmates run the prison.”. It’s true wether you’re talking about prisons, asylums, or governments. When the inmates, patients, and politicians run the country, rather than the people, we’re in trouble.

What this old saying is really saying is folks need a leader when they gather in groups, voluntary or not. Now we can look around in America and say the lack of leadership has led us to a point where the national narrative reads, “I’m gonna go out and hire me a boss!”. We let the idiots loose and it’s like opening a cage full of quail in a corn field.

This ain’t no easy fix. We are surrounded by idiots on all sides with no one to get things in order. The media is at the center and should be reigned in. Words are powerful, the whole “pen and sword” thing. The extremes on our left and right have to be purged with them. Maybe a giant bonfire of words where not even the smoke could whisper to the ears of the ignorant.

This progressive movement was allowed to get outta hand and poses the biggest threat. From the “feelings movement” in the 60’s to the “everything’s subjective” movement of the 21st century the progressive movement that came outta Europe, (France) has steadily gathered a foothold in America.

We can remember the Beatles, which are highly over rated compared to other music of that time, but they were “pop” music and someone was paying their way onto American radio. Today we see public television and radio is riddled with European influence.

Politics have been shaped by this movement. The extreme right is here as a response to the progressive movement. progressives gained further hand holds through NGO’s and health issues. They’ve convinced a large sector of America that healthcare is a right.

In education they’ve shaped curriculum and policy through collaborative endeavors. Our schools and universities are an extension of our government and overtly infringing on parents rights. This is a European model of being on the border of democratic socialism. And if you don’t think there are folks out there in America who will give up some of their parental rights for free healthcare you don’t know your enemy.

It’s so convoluted now there is a national “opioid crisis” being driven by pharmaceuticals and backed by the insurance industry. This crisis puts the addict as the victim of these two industries and their respected influence in politics.

The addict is the epitome of the hustle. They will stop at no length to supply and justify their actions associated with an addiction. They’ve got America fooled, thinking their the victim, when they’re the addict. Yeah insurance and pharmaceuticals are dirty. Doctors and pharmacists are middle men profiting from the hustle. In the end though, you dropped, smoked, or shot some shit that got a hold of your ass and your co dependent circle just spun around with your ass like a “merry go round” that was too cool to jump off.

This is at the heart of the progressive movement. Because someone’s bigger or more influential than you, you can justify your own actions. You have a right to have what others have regardless of effort because that’s only fair. These idiots been raised on the lie that their feelings matter. Their feelings don’t matter, their efforts matter, and sometimes that don’t even work.

These beliefs are new to America on this scale. They have support through all levels of government and throughout society. As Americans many folks think that means they’re entitled to success without effort or work, good intentions paved…….

It’s almost like the right will justify profits and influence at any cost in exchange for a few middle class breaks that keep those citizens secure. On the other hand you have the left that thinks that profit is not necessary as long as everyone’s comfortable and no one loses out on the American Nightmare.

Make no mistake that the progressive movement is a foreign threat. Europe is good at this. They left us the legacy of slavery, then turnt around and freed their slaves blaming us for the institution. Here we are 200 years later still confused. A socialist America is a United Nations goal, especiallyEurope.

The largest effort in history on our two most critical rights are free speech and right to bear arms. Folks are continuing to try to establish court cases within both spectrums to further dilute these rights. It’s no accident or coincidence it’s these two rights always being challenged by the progressive movement.

Throughout American society we see a collective effort by the progressive movement to deconstruct what has been built by strong willed Americans. This is a critical time. We’ve seen the worst examples of the extreme right and extreme left in the past two presidents. It’s time the folks in the middle stood up and said enough.

It won’t be enough though. Even if we reigned this shit in today the damage is done. We have the largest incarceration rate in the world and entertain ourselves with influential criminals walking free on television daily. We have a technological Mecca and Americans won’t even take the time to google facts they regurgitate. We have the most advanced healthcare in the world and it’s produced addicts and hypochondriacs. Our education system is funded like a war chest and parents are having meeting with college professors about 20year olds grades. I can go on and on about how the progressive left has convoluted the American consciousness, but why? The extreme right is standing in the wood line drooling, waiting to baptize me with a dollar and send me back to the grind with a smile and kick me sticker on my back.

We’re screwed and there’s no help on the horizon. I wish I could see that glow in the distance, or hear the faint sounds of intelligent chatter just through the jungle. It ain’t there. Th real problem is if this exploded it doesn’t have a direction; or maybe that’s what’s holding it all together. All I know is I’m gonna sit back and enjoy the ride and brace for the landing.

What could be funnier than the age of “You couldn’t make this shit up!”.

Death of the American Laborer

The platitudes that our national identity rest upon are really not what’s going on “on the ground”. America was founded and fostered by woman and men who worked tirelessly towards a dream. They didn’t have labor laws, degree positions, or a “screw up move up” mentality. “Talkin the talk” was not something that would get you ahead, in most cases you had to “walk the walk”!

Fast forward a bit and you’ll see a time where the only thing that got you promoted was hard work from the ground up. This was before the invasion of the “sheepskin” and our nations education system hijacked labor to the point we’re at today with “corporate colleges” offering degrees for any number of promotions. Sort of like having a principles college, but we call it education leadership to give it some semblance of credibility.

Education isn’t the only “corporate college” they just had to reward theirselves first. The “teachers aid has had to teach the teacher for years. The medical field has hundreds of colleges that catapult incompetence to the point that the worker who sticks it out for 35 years has to endure years of obstacles wading through a minefield of incompetent initials just to change a bed.

They’re still are mechanics out there that can listen to your car and tell you about what’s wrong with it. You ain’t gonna have him work on your car though, cause he ain’t never wore those blue gloves and his hands are stained with grease. He ain’t got no shop cause ASE to him is ace or ass spelt wrong.

Most of these idiots idea of working hard is going to college and having to study and party for 4 years then go to what they actually think is work telling others what to do. Like the first day nurse coming into work telling the 20 year LPN how to manage a patient. Or the construction site supervisor listening to the newly certified project manager with amusement as he tells him how to manage people, materials, and equipment.

The degree both these folks, and others, received is a ticket to climb the ranks on the backs of experience. In some cases the experienced subordinate worker is held accountable for the mistakes of the “certified” worker cause , “they should know better, they been doing this a while”.

There it is in a nutshell. Experience makes you responsible for incompetence no matter where it fails. If you have that ticket you can leave your mistakes in the hands of the more experienced, less educated worker and move into the next failure hoping that one day you’ll “take stock” in your career and finally learn something before you retire.

So now the education system hijacked the workforce and the degrees they hand out are no more than insurance that you’ll be supplied a myriad of more experienced less educated workers to hold your failures while you move onto the next corporate program and get promoted. Sounds about right!!!

I understand the “wheels gotta be greased”. I know that there are wonderful people out there doing great things for our collective good. However, when they’re no states in the country a minimum wage worker can afford a one bedroom apartment it becomes a “greased palm” system that rewards dollars rather than sense.

The Police Are Coming: the Paul Revere Version!!!

Man!!!! These shootings really got me going for a minute, and I’m still pissed. This last story about the Soldier in Texas has fueled the fire. That Sergeant held himself accountable and turned himself into an El Paso jail for a two day stay and came out in a casket. I’m pissed.

This rubric that law enforcement and other agency use to excuse their incompetence is transparent and pathetic, but we as citizens do nothing. We cower to the “authority” that we give them. We have to address the issues professionally, leaving out myths and emotions.

Every once in a while over my adult life there have been “shake ups” in government entities. Usually politically motivated, but a light was shined on antiquated procedures and policies that in modern times seemed ignorant and counter productive to the particular agencies goals, possibly where the term. “Oxymoron” originated. It’s that time for law enforcement.

I am not attacking officers, their only as good as their policies and procedure, and the folks who develop and supervise them. Yeah their are good and bad officers, good and bad precincts, and probably good and bad regions. I’m certain most officers patrolling or guarding are good folks.

Take a look at the region of the United States where the shootings occur and maybe that will reveal something. I’m not sure because law enforcement seems to have a problem with reporting their actions for research purposes. Which could be problem number one, reporting!

There are an abundance of “corporate universities” on line and on site that have capitalized on advanced degrees for middle income American professions. Nursing, education, and Law enforcement leading the economic drive. Problem seems, education and nursing also have a representative presence in research universities as well, law enforcement doesn’t. This may explain the lack of accountability and rigor with respect to data. If they kept accurate date like the other career fields many myths and accusations about “bad policing” could be rejected; like the latest drama played out in Baltimore.

Second, and equally important is politics and policing. Stop electing law enforcement leaders. Take the School Board in some jurisdictions for instance. The Superintendent is nominated by elected officials. Then the short list is developed. Then a vote of the committee determines which candidate out of the few left best fits based on their “qualifications”. Right now a popular person with no qualifications is serving as Sheriff in some county out there!!! Take politics out of policing!!!!

3rd , supervisory positions should be earned by merit. In the military they make a good effort to do this. An honest assessment of ones ability is done monthly or quarterly depending on the service and positions. At the higher levels a board determines your eligibility based “on your record”, not your personality, they don’t meet you. It’s not 100%, but nobodies son “gets the position” this way!!!

Standardization is important. Had we been taking policing seriously for years we would appreciate the value of documenting and debriefing. This leads to more effective approaches in all endeavors and highlights ineffective actions that deter from the mission. Too many gaudy mission statements hang on dusty plaques In police offices and jails around our nation.

Officers need to be out of their cars and guards need to use strategies that allow them to interact with their populations. The antiquated authoritarian approaches to the criminal element will not work, it creates confrontation. This approach hinges on respect and that went out the window around the time ADHD became an excuse or condition, I’m not sure which one ! This ain’t the seventies!!!

Physical standards!!! I don’t even have to mention this, it’s obvious, but I have to make this a paragraph. You cannot be morbidly obese and be an effective officer of the law. You will not be taken seriously, it reflects bad on the profession, and you put yourself and the perpetrator in harm due to your reduced capacity. Establish realistic physical standards and say goodbye to those that can’t meet and maintain those standards.

We’ve shook up the FBI, CIA, Secret Service and a host of other agencies due to the old saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. We need to overhaul and provide oversight for law enforcement in the United States. From the top down clean house.

Then we may be able to start fresh with sound approaches that are accountable based on data. Its would be much better for the officers and the citizens. Right now the incompetence of the leadership has the officers going out into an environment where the citizens believe they target certain populations. That’s inexcusable.

If we had data for 15 years on who had been killed, wounded, and beaten; which ethnicity they were and what region they were from, we could probably clear up these headlines. For all we know cops are beating Chinese folks in Alaska at an alarming rate!!!

We, citizens, are the only group that can protect our citizens and officers that serve and protect them. We need to professionalize the procedures and policies of the leadership in law enforcement. Accountability is a basic duty of any leader. Transparency dissolves doubt. Militarization creates enemies and goon squads bum rushing cells are just thugs with equipment. This is the 21st century, surely we can do better than this!