new year--new age

It's the last day of 2014.  It has been a year full of changes, disappointments at a global level, festering distrust between groups, blaming, shaming, corruption, exposure, and of course, births of new people and deaths.
My own life has changed little this year--more time with grandkids, workplace alterations, ongoing aging---a positive as my grandmother assured me, as the alternative was not so good. 

But the global stuff; wars, religious animosity, gender issues, women's rights, political corruption, racial tensions--those things loom over my head, over everyone's head, like a dark shadow that moves over the land on a sunny day.
We frogs may all be nearly boiling now!
But, if I'm not an optimist, I'm also not a pessimist.  I keep going with the hope that I will live long enough to see the world turn this around.  That this is not the end of possibility, but rather that final turn of pain, retching, fever, before the sickness passes and the healing starts.
For 2015, I would like to see some signs of humanity opening up to those virtues that all religions spoke of--"love one another", "protect those that are weaker and in need", "don't kill", "don't steal", "respect others", "be true/keep your word", "respect yourself", "live modestly".

 I have heard it said, that all of those are actually--"don't steal"  don't take what is not yours to take, not another's life, not another's money, not another's self respect, not another's opportunities, not another's rights, not another's future  descendants. 

I have also heard that those are all covered by "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

But there are other things that get in the wa:.  Beliefs that justify stealing happiness from others, things that have permiated our global society,  Things like  "its just business" used to explain everything from genocide to human trafficking to the subjugating of the least capable as low-priced labor,.  Beliefs that "women were made to serve man" and therefore they have no rights.  Beliefs that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few"--great for Spock, but reality is, when the many is just a greedy corporation or a nasty dictator stealing the rights of a few people is wrong.  "Survival of the fittest" used to justify bullying, genocide, not protecting the weak, sick, young--and as they say--"don't mistake kindness for weakness" but don't bully's always do just that.

Am I wishing for a return to "ole time religion"?  OMG--not at all.  I'm wishing for the advent of something new and improved, something that has no factions, no branches, no divisiveness at all.  I don't want a "New World Order" or a "global religion" either.  My wish is for true freedom for all.   A world where every person has the same rights and all those rights are respected by everyone else---equally. 
A lot of things would become moot if this happened.  And such a thing is definitely not going to happen like the sing-along at the end of the "grinch that stole christmas" because such change does not start with a law or by a government.  Such change occurs in individuals.  It starts at the one and travels to the whole as it spreads.  It begins with self-awareness--not "i know who I am" self-awareness, but "the kind of questioning that never ends.  "I feel threatened, why?"  " I think I'm jealous of so-and-so, what do they have that I think I want or think I don't have".  The kind of self-awareness that a good 12-step program encourages.  The kind of self-awareness that a retreat into the wilderness, a vision quest, a few weeks in a monastery would help.  Socrates got it.   Now we need to.

Who are you?  Who are you really?  What do you want from life?  Is what you want measured by comparing it to what someone else has?  Is it material things?  Is it a lifestyle?  Is it a passion?  Is it loving, respectful of yourself and others.  Will getting what you want take anything away from anyone else? 

Are you kind?

Who are you?  Would you be all right in a world where everyone was equal?

OPPORTUNITY!

1. a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

   "we may see increased opportunities for export"

   synonyms:

   chance, lucky chance, favorable time/occasion/moment, time, right set of circumstances, occasion, moment, opening, option, window (of opportunity), turn, go, possibility; More informalshot, break, new lease on life "this is your opportunity to move on"

   • a chance for employment or promotion.

     "career opportunities in our New York headquarters"

      I have been promised opportunities by fortune cookies, by advertisements, by telemarketers; friends have invited me into the great multilevel marketing opportunities that they received--my lottery ticket provides me a 1:175,000,000 chance to become rich beyond my dreams. 

      

     America really is the land of opportunity.

     
     

     But if you look for poor people that became rich, you get things like

     "15 billionaires that started out dirt poor"

     • Kenny Trout, whose father was a bartender and sold life insurance to pay his own tuition through college."  He had Excel phone company (multi-level marketing company, the kind where the top gets rich and the bottom lose their investment) and made 3.5 billion in the merger with another company. From Texas, white, republican.
     • Howard Schultz of Starbucks fame--grew up in a housing complex for the poor (that says project to me, but his father was a truckdriver which is working class), won a football scholarship and went to work for  xerox.  Then became a CEO of a 16 branch coffee place and grew it to huge. Jewish family in Brooklyn.
     • Ken Langone, parents were a plumber and a cafeteria worker in New York (that was middle-class in my world, blue collar not white), parents mortgaged their house (they had a house to mortgage) and he worked to go to college, he worked with Ross Perot then partnered to create Home Depot. 
     • Oprah Winfrey, born in a poor family in Mississippi, scholarship to college, then a job in TV with a well known rise to fame and money. 
     • Shahid Khan, from Pakistan, worked as a dishwasher while attending the U of C, now worth 3.8 billion.(working your way through college doesn't say poor to me, but most of this story is missing--in Pakistan, his parents were middle-class, father in construction, mother a professor of mathematics) 
     • Kirk Kerkorkian, To financially help his Armenian-immigrant family, Kerkorian dropped out of school in the eighth grade and later would become a boxer called "Rifle Right Kerkorian." During World War II, Kerkorian worked for Britain's Royal Air Force. He eventually turned his interest to constructing many of Las Vegas' biggest resorts and hotels. 
     • John Paul DeJoria, the man behind a hair-care empire and Patron Tequila, once lived in a foster home and his car. Net worth: $4 billion (as of Sept. 2013) Do Won Chang worked as a janitor, gas station attendant, and in a coffee shop when he first moved to America. He and his wife made Forever 21--Paul Mitchell Hair Products.
       
     • Ralph Lauren was once a clerk at Brooks Brothers dreaming of men's ties. Born in the Bronx to Jewish Immigrant, blue collar family.  Net worth: $7.7 billion.

     • Simmons grew up in a "shack" without plumbing or electricity--his parents were both school teachers. He managed to get accepted to the University of Texas where he earned a bachelor's and masters in economics.  Simmons got his first big break buying a chain of drugstores, which would later sell for $50 million. He went on to become an expert in corporate buyouts.  Big anti-environmentalist, white republican.
     • Larry Ellison, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to a single jewish mother, Ellison was adopted by his middle-class aunt and uncle in Chicago . After his aunt died, Ellison dropped out of college and moved to California to work odd jobs for the next eight years. He founded software development company Oracle in 1977, which is now one of the largest technology companies in the world.

     So, the list is shorter than 15 due to the others were not in the good ole US of A.  And "dirt poor" seems to have been an exaggeration--only three of them would qualify by my reckoning though none were well-off. 

      First-generation immigrants seem to have a good chance, and being white and male is helpful.  But Oprah is on there.   And out of 1300+ billionaires, well, less than 1% started out with  little and made it big.. That is less than 1% of billionaires, not 1% of people and definitely not 1% of poor and working class people in the USA.  The poor comprise 20-25% of the population, about 46.5 million people.  The working class comprises about twice that number. 

     
     

     The lottery is not that much more of a long-shot than me taking myself from poor or working-class to rich.  And, yes, I realize that there are a lot of people that have made it somewhere between that 55th percentile and the 90th (where the millionaires live).  I also realize that it is harder now than it was.  How many of those self-starters used college as a springboard.  Now the minimum wage jobs are as full of college graduates as drop-outs and high school students.  Companies do not reward loyalty, do not try to offer opportunities to those people already under their employee, do not make sure that creativity and hardwork (now just products of work, with bonuses to those higher up for bringing in more cash or better ideas). How many of us have researched or created something only to have our immediate supervisors or their immediate supervisors present and take all the credit.  They may rise through the company on the thing I did.  It usually just means that the next time something tough comes up, it gets added to my already full plate.  My opportunity is to work harder.  Harder work with no real payoff.

     
     

     We need our opportunities back, we need to feel the hope of improving our lot in life and our children's lives.

     
     

TWO WRONGS!---are just two wrongs.

I heard the horrible news about the two officers gunned down in their car in NYC.  I was heartbroken for them and their families.  And knew, just knew that it was somebody thinking they were making a statement.
They failed.  All they did was give the world one more view of a violent and dangerous black man.

We know the shooter wasn't smart.  We know the shooter was angry.  We know that all the peaceful activism aimed at raising the consciousness of the rest of the world about the unequal treatment frequently received by people of color and specifically post-pubescent black men, was endangered.

To all those people out there participating in peaceful protests for the good of all--thank you--very sincerely--thank you.  You have put yourselves out there.  You have taken a stand.  You are making a difference.

For all of you out their looting and committing crimes and otherwise doing things that negate the actions of the people trying to achieve a positive change.  What is wrong with you. Are you so stupid and self-serving and unthinking that you don't see you are not part of the solution.  You are the problem. 

In every riot over injustice I have ever heard of, it is not the cause of the riot that is remembered, it is the fact that the looters and vandals and otherwise violent people go out and destroy their own neighborhoods. People that weren't there act as if that means the people in those neighborhoods deserve destroyed neighborhoods and probably deserved whatever offense started the riot in the first place. ( For some reason, when frat boys and sports and music fans get out of hand--its just expected from the excitement and their age.)  

And the stereotype, the profiling that is responsible for the excessive force and murderous response by police officers towards nonwhite men women and children, how does making it seem to be correct, stop the problem.  I would never ask people to put up with disrespectful, overly rough treatment by people that use their authority to act on their own personal prejudices.  Shooting people because they are wearing a uniform is no different than shooting people because of their race or their religion.

But too late, the damage has been done--and done--and done.

The mayor, who was openly supporting the examination of the shootings of unarmed black men, is now anti-police because he doesn't like the shooting of unarmed black men.

I'm having a hard time seeing  the 2 sides.  I'm having a hard time with the polarization that is being expected.  Did all police shoot unarmed black men?  Should police be allowed to shoot unarmed black men without any repercussions?  And how does anyone get to "I'm going to fix this problem by shooting someone."

So now, I'm being blasted with "support your police".  I don't not support the police.  I do wish that there weren't so many men and women going into police work that think the answer to all problems is a gun.  I also wish I had never seen a policeman abuse someone under their care.  But I am not prone to stereotyping.  I have seen acts of greatness and acts of horror--by people, some in uniforms, some not.  They are all individuals.

We need to not feed the machinery of hate.  If we know there is a problem--and I do think that there are places where the police need to be policed--the idea that an officer from a place that lost control of its force due to racism and excessive force is not the person that I would hire--institutionalized hate is not less hateful--it's more.

So no more wrongs should be committed, no more lives should be lost.  The answer is transparency and not secrecy.  Its time to expose the problems and fix them rather than hiding them and pretending that everything is fine.  There is such a thing as righteous anger, but hate and violence are never righteous.  

Hate is not the answer.  If you are angry, and anger is justified, then help.  Participate in the nonviolent demonstrations.  If you have a personal story--put it on the internet, tell someone that doesn't believe such things happen. Be part of the solution.  Its time to do something right.

bought and paid for----again

The now republican congress is busy--no more stalling---they have bills to pass and rich folks to appease.  We are back to business as usual.  We are not only NOT going to stop the flow of money into elections, we are going to raise the amount identified individuals can give.  We are going to let the banks and wall street get rid of some of those ugly regulations that keep them from risking the whole economy with their gambling.  We are busy.
And we, the voters sold ourselves down the proverbial river.  Apparently we really do think that if a person has money they are better/smarter/faster and therefore if a person has a whole stinking lot of money, they might be gods---not bible gods, but more in line with Olympia or Marvel Comics.
We are currently in a strange place in this country.  We have a "President of color".  He is biracial and apparently that is not white enough.  So, while most of his ideas would have appealed to poor, white people, his ancestry implied that there is no real hierarchy of the races.  So, we are back to handing the power to those white men that are so rich and powerful they can make unproven statements, site ridiculous opinions as facts and say racist things without being called out on it.
Our favorite Teapartyer (I thought the name was due to the whole, surreal similarity between their platform and famous scene from Alice in Wonderland heard it is an acronym that had the word taxes and something, so I looked on their site and it's about the Boston Tea Party.  Because a bunch of  colonists that didn't want to pay the tax on the tea from England, so they dressed up native style and threw it in the river. I haven't seen anything like that from the current tea party.  They seem to be either rich white folks that don't want to pay as high of taxes as the poor people do--and yes, percents are comparable, if you only make enough to buy food and have to give 30% in taxes--you starve, if you make millions and have to give 30%, you don't get to buy an extra vacation home.  The party also appeals to a lot of people that think being white makes them better than people of color and a bunch of people who always do what their church says even if it doesn't make sense.
Below is the TeaParty's list of non-negotiable beliefs? (I don't know what to call these)
1. Illegal aliens are here illegally.(hmmm, using the word in the definition, interesting)
2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable.(unless you have a big company that can make it cheaper globally)
3. A strong military is essential.(war is always good for Daddy Warbucks)
4. Special interests must be eliminated. (What, so oil, defense contractors, wall street, banks, insurance, that isn't special interests)
5. Gun ownership is sacred. (Maybe I should have added the NRA in the line above)
6. Government must be downsized. (This from people that can only agree on their own government raises, interpret this as--no social programs, privatize it all so the rich people can profit from every aspect of life)
7. The national budget must be balanced.(a little digging shows who really gets it out of balance, but if you shout about it loud enough to poor people that want someone to blame because they can't get ahead, they'll buy it.)
8. Deficit spending must end.(See #7)
9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal.  I didn't hear any complaining about the bank bailout, but apparently keeping working people with jobs is a problem, and when you write the laws, calling something illegal is kind of funny. 
10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must. ( I have never seen a meaningful personal income tax break for people in the middle.  Taxing people at the poverty level is counterproductive if you are going to then give them supplements for food and shelter.  But this always translates to "why should rich people pay more than the poorest people-they should pay zero also"  Percent-wise, with their shelters they pay less than the average income already.)
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.  (this is based on the idea that if a business pays fewer taxes, they hire more people---find a business that hires anyone they don't need and pays them a dime more than they have to for the work they need done)
12. Political offices must be available to average citizens.(wow, just wow---richest congress ever, where are all those average citizens)
13. Intrusive government must be stopped.  (meaning?  no more laws telling me I can't do things that take advantage of  other people financially, there has been no effort to stop the dozens of government organizations that intrude upon people of color trying to make a living or on immigrants trying to find a way to improve the life of their loved ones,so is this about that intrusive government stopping multimillionaires and billionaires from using tax havens or some other intrusion?)
14. English as our core language is required.  (this is just plain hater-crap,  I bet they wouldn't have been spouting that when their own immigrant ancestors were having a hard time with English)
15. Traditional family values are encouraged. (more hate--whose traditions?  every family has their own,  this translates to Married in a church, One man and one woman of the same race, living in a house with their children.  It explains the legal attacks on women's rights but doesn't address the fact that few men make enough money to support a traditional family without a working wife.

This country is full of hate.  We are not all happy campers.  We have a massive case of sibling rivalry and are being egged on by some seriously devilish haters and salesmen in high places.  Can't rise in the company--blame it on affirmative action,  haven't had a raise in 10 years, it isn't because the executives got million+bonuses, its because we had to pay the people making those widgets we sell minimum wage, house you invested in going down not up?  nothing to do with poor banking practices or a world-wide recession--those brown people that moved into the next block did it--and I think they have an accent--probably here illegally.  Hate.  Hate in response to frustration because we were all raised on the American Dream and have found that we didn't understand the second word very well and someone must be to blame.  It can't be our leaders.  We voted them in.  But we voted them in because they told us the lies we wanted to hear.

Its not our fault--its those other people that did it to us.  If they weren't here, we would be the favored sons.

Hate is selling us down the river.

15 Non-negotiable Core Beliefs

1. Illegal aliens are here illegally.
2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable.
3. A strong military is essential.
4. Special interests must be eliminated.
5. Gun ownership is sacred.
6. Government must be downsized.
7. The national budget must be balanced.
8. Deficit spending must end.
9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal.
10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must.
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.
12. Political offices must be available to average citizens.
13. Intrusive government must be stopped.
14. English as our core language is required.
15. Traditional family values are encouraged.

- See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/about-us/#sthash.NstNEARf.dpuf

15 Non-negotiable Core Beliefs

1. Illegal aliens are here illegally.
2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable.
3. A strong military is essential.
4. Special interests must be eliminated.
5. Gun ownership is sacred.
6. Government must be downsized.
7. The national budget must be balanced.
8. Deficit spending must end.
9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal.
10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must.
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.
12. Political offices must be available to average citizens.
13. Intrusive government must be stopped.
14. English as our core language is required.
15. Traditional family values are encouraged.

- See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/about-us/#sthash.NstNEARf.dpuf

Illegal aliens are here illegally.
2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable.
3. A strong military is essential.
4. Special interests must be eliminated.
5. Gun ownership is sacred.
6. Government must be downsized.
7. The national budget must be balanced.
8. Deficit spending must end.
9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal.
10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must.
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.
12. Political offices must be available to average citizens.
13. Intrusive government must be stopped.
14. English as our core language is required.
15. Traditional family values are encouraged. - See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/about-us/#sthash.U8Z7iOzN.dpuf

Illegal aliens are here illegally.
2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable.
3. A strong military is essential.
4. Special interests must be eliminated.
5. Gun ownership is sacred.
6. Government must be downsized.
7. The national budget must be balanced.
8. Deficit spending must end.
9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal.
10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must.
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.
12. Political offices must be available to average citizens.
13. Intrusive government must be stopped.
14. English as our core language is required.
15. Traditional family values are encouraged. - See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/about-us/#sthash.U8Z7iOzN.dpuf

Illegal aliens are here illegally.
2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable.
3. A strong military is essential.
4. Special interests must be eliminated.
5. Gun ownership is sacred.
6. Government must be downsized.
7. The national budget must be balanced.
8. Deficit spending must end.
9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal.
10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must.
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.
12. Political offices must be available to average citizens.
13. Intrusive government must be stopped.
14. English as our core language is required.
15. Traditional family values are encouraged. - See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/about-us/#sthash.U8Z7iOzN.dpuf

Illegal aliens are here illegally.
2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable.
3. A strong military is essential.
4. Special interests must be eliminated.
5. Gun ownership is sacred.
6. Government must be downsized.
7. The national budget must be balanced.
8. Deficit spending must end.
9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal.
10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must.
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.
12. Political offices must be available to average citizens.
13. Intrusive government must be stopped.
14. English as our core language is required.
15. Traditional family values are encouraged. - See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/about-us/#sthash.U8Z7iOzN.dpuf