FUNDAMENTALS
SIMPLE MATHEMATICS and THE EARTH
Whether Capitalist, Socialist or Communist, virtually all economies are based on the production and consumption of resources and discharging the waste products into the environment. Our economies are based on creating poisons.
1 The earth only has so much resources
2 Extracting, transporting and shaping those resources into products creates poisons.
3 The earth has a limited capacity to absorb those poisons without undergoing drastic effects
4 Our human bodies have a limited capacity to absorb those poisons without undergoing drastic effects
5 Consider the phrase "undeveloped land". Nature is only valued to the extent that it can be changed into man made structures and uses, killing nature and replacing it with something else; yet without nature we die as a species (no food), and the web of life is far more complex and interconnected than we understand.
Any economic plan not based in physical reality is a fantasy bringing about its' own destruction. At present most of the world is living in fantasy. Rates of many illnesses are rising, ice caps melting, sea levels rising, etc.
------------------------
THE MATH OF JOBS IN AMERICA
1 Jobs and prices are related. How much work one needs to pay living expenses is highly variable.
2 At current wages and prices, especially housing, most people need to work 40-60 hrs/week to survive.
3 There are not enough jobs for the population at 40-60 hrs/wk.
4 Many of the jobs that do exist pay so lowly that many work hard and barely survive with no margin for error, such as illness
5 Illegal immigrants take up a certain amount of low low wage jobs, and/but if every immigrant went home there still would not be enough living wage jobs.
6 Many large companies are understaffed due to high executive compensation being chosen over hiring additional staff. This can be noticed on checkout lines, looking for someone to ask a question on sales floors, etc.
7 Many jobs have already been sent overseas to low wage countries, many more are in the process. Owners and execs seek profits for the business. The old vision of business as service and family is long gone.
So, a game of musical chairs with jobs. What happens to those who lose, many of whom do not have the technical and computer skills
and education to get a job in today's workplace.
If it were possible to survive on 30 hours of work per week, or even 25, there could again be full employment, but rents would have to go way down.
And what if the limits to planetary poisoning are acknowledged and the whole basis of the economies of the world is disrupted. Where then do people work, and what do they work at?
Not so simple, certainly not as simple as red or blue winning an election.
---------------------
ELECTIONS; WANT REAL CHANGE?
1 verifiable voting, incl. exit polls. Honest vote counts.
Electronic Elections are hackable elections, push one button.
Faith Based Voting: they announce the results, we have to take it on faith.
In the old days you had to at least stuff ballot boxes and they could recount real physical ballots.
2 Want real choice?
multiple choice voting so that people feel free to vote 3rd party, without which 2 parties continue their monopoly of power
3 elections, not auctions. Money out of politics
------
Secondarily
1 unGerrymander. Many people's votes hardly count, districts are so heavily biased
2 unStrip voters from rolls. Millions have been cheated.
See the work of Greg Palast
3 election day a national holiday. Elections on a workday inherently discriminates against working people
4 abundant polling places, no more lines. Many are almost denied their right to vote by making it incredibly difficult, often deliberately
5 amendment: affirmative right to vote. It is a democracy, right?
6 abolish electoral college
----
Dishonorable mention-all the millions of (mostly black) people who have lost their right to vote because of War on Drugs convictions.
Step 1: get more people aware of the top 3. Shocking thing to me is how many are in denial of vote hacking and how few realize how important multiple choice voting is.
____________________
and,
IF CORPORATIONS ARE PEOPLE, MICKEY MOUSE IS A PERSON TOO!
POISON THE RIVERS
there's a LAW that says a corporation's #1 responsibility is to make profits for it's shareholders. That means that if it's cheaper to poison drinking water and pay the fines than to not poison the river, they poison the river. Execs face pressure from shareholders to maximize profits no matter who gets hurt.
can anyone tell me
*Where that law came from?
*why it should still be there?
*why no one talks about it?
That law needs to be taken off the books.
Maybe replaced with another law saying that business has a responsibility to the society to not do harm for profit, but at least take the present law off the books.
meanwhile
NO ONE IS PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE
Execs in Corps are immune from prosecution for the consequences of their actions.
This makes sense for honest mistakes, but what about when they knowingly poison a river, or order a coverup of a safety flaw in a product?
And willful and criminal negligence?
Why is there no PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY?
If there was, they wouldn't do those wrongs.
Those laws arguably make more difference than the President
We need a law change:
Execs personally liable to prosecution for harm resulting from criminal activities, willful and gross negligligence, including public right to file civil suits.
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY NOW!
______________________
A VERY SMALL TECHNICAL CHANGE WHICH MIGHT MAKE A VERY BIG DIFFERENCE:
LAST MINUTE CHANGES TO BILLS IN CONGRESS
Very often, at the very last minute, legislators slip in nasty little additions or changes to bills, usually for the purpose of giving some big business a tax break. One or two sentences in a 600 page bill, slipped in at midnight. Usually a giveaway to some business that has bribed them with "campaign finance contributions".
SUGGESTION: a 3 day vetting period for all bills before they are voted on, no changes allowed, meaning the public has 3 days to read the final bill, to catch any attempted hanky panky.
______________________
VISION OF SOCIETY AND DESERVING
One of the biggest differences in the the liberal and conservative views of America is deserving.
The Left believes that all people deserve a decent basic existence, period.
The Right believes that:
*people have to deserve what they get,
*deserving being defined as getting a job, working hard, being excellent at budgeting and controlling spending...
*with a very few exceptions for disability, etc,
and believes that
*if you don't do that, work hard, budget your money carefully, etc,
you deserve whatever suffering you incur,
and believes that
*it is wrong to give to people who are undeserving.
This fundamental difference in belief underlies much if not most of our political debate.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Saturday, March 19, 2016
The 3 MAIN PROBLEMS WITH THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF ELECTIONS
The 3 MAIN PROBLEMS WITH THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF ELECTIONS
1) Money-everybody, even conservatives, knows this
2) Electronic Voting Machines=Hacked Elections.
People are in deep denial over this
3) "choose one" voting instead of ranked preference, instant runoff voting results in lack of real choice. People vote for the "electable" Dem or Rep candidate, rather than the 3rd party candidate they really believe in. This is perhaps the main reason for low voter turnout.
1) Money-everybody, even conservatives, knows this
2) Electronic Voting Machines=Hacked Elections.
People are in deep denial over this
3) "choose one" voting instead of ranked preference, instant runoff voting results in lack of real choice. People vote for the "electable" Dem or Rep candidate, rather than the 3rd party candidate they really believe in. This is perhaps the main reason for low voter turnout.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Personal Growth 101
(just started 11/9/15. will be growing
and changing for quite a while)
PERSONAL GROWTH 101
PERSONAL GROWTH 101
a practical guide to an increased sense
of peace and well being
by SOCRATES THALASSOS
Imagine hearing, in the distance, a
beautiful bird singing in the morning, and then a chainsaw
starts.
The bird is your sense of peace and well being. The chainsaw is your mind. Quieting the mind, both the conscious mind and the deeper subconscious mind, is the greatest life skill one can learn .
----------------
The bird is your sense of peace and well being. The chainsaw is your mind. Quieting the mind, both the conscious mind and the deeper subconscious mind, is the greatest life skill one can learn .
----------------
WHAT IS SUCCESS?
A sense of peace and well being, to have all our needs met, emotional and spiritual as well as physical. To heal our wounds and live a happy, healthy life, including manifesting our gifts in the world, the gifts we are here to share.
Most people are so caught up in the struggles of everyday life, often so habitually run by their subconscious programming that they don't even begin to consider that they might have gifts they are here to share, but they do.
WHO ARE WE, WHAT ARE WE?
As human beings we have a dual nature: our human personalities, with all their wounds and challenges, and our eternal natures as a part of all-that-is, as a cell is a part of your body.
As human beings, we have our conscious mind, our subconscious mind, our bodies, and our emotions. Some would say we also have superconscious minds, which are our connection to all that is.
Our conscious minds are often stuck in blahblahblah, noise, the chainsaw. To experience peace and well being, we need to quiet this.
Our subconscious minds, which we are often unaware of, carry a lot of old programming, much of it negative. Fear, shame, guilt, etc. The analogy of an iceberg has often been used, that the conscious is like the %10 above water, the subconscious the %90 below water. In practical terms, for most people the subconscious is running their lives. Cleansing and releasing negative programs, replacing them with positive ones, is the key to peace and happiness. The analogy of software for a computer is very apt.
WHAT IS PERSONAL GROWTH
Ultimately, personal growth means living in higher states of consciousness, meaning higher states of peace and well being, the highest being realizing, having the experience of being what the yogis call the Self, your oneness with all that is. Notice the word experience, which is so totally more than intellectual understanding. Understanding that food is tasty is one thing, eating it quite another.
In more down to earth terms, personal growth means
1) accepting your power to make positive changes in your life, starting with your mental states. Most people want to go straight to doing, but until you change your mind, you'll get the same results you always have.
2) releasing and healing the wounds that keep you creating your problems, whether through action or inaction. Letting go of victimhood, he did this, they did that, she didn't do that, I can't do this, I'm too (fill in the blanks).
That's not to condone bad behaviour, not saying you shouldn't stand up for yourself, it is saying that as long as you stay in blame and judgement, including self judgement, you stay stuck. In most normal life situations, your state of mind is your responsibility (I am not talking about extreme examples), and your happiness and effectiveness is a direct result of your state of mind.
3) Manifesting positive states of health, happiness, behaviours. Taking care of yourself, manifesting your dreams in the world. Having healthy relationships. All the stuff of a fulfilled human existence. However, people who “have it all” often report that they feel some sense of something missing. That something is connection with, experience of your spirit.
A sense of peace and well being, to have all our needs met, emotional and spiritual as well as physical. To heal our wounds and live a happy, healthy life, including manifesting our gifts in the world, the gifts we are here to share.
Most people are so caught up in the struggles of everyday life, often so habitually run by their subconscious programming that they don't even begin to consider that they might have gifts they are here to share, but they do.
WHO ARE WE, WHAT ARE WE?
As human beings we have a dual nature: our human personalities, with all their wounds and challenges, and our eternal natures as a part of all-that-is, as a cell is a part of your body.
As human beings, we have our conscious mind, our subconscious mind, our bodies, and our emotions. Some would say we also have superconscious minds, which are our connection to all that is.
Our conscious minds are often stuck in blahblahblah, noise, the chainsaw. To experience peace and well being, we need to quiet this.
Our subconscious minds, which we are often unaware of, carry a lot of old programming, much of it negative. Fear, shame, guilt, etc. The analogy of an iceberg has often been used, that the conscious is like the %10 above water, the subconscious the %90 below water. In practical terms, for most people the subconscious is running their lives. Cleansing and releasing negative programs, replacing them with positive ones, is the key to peace and happiness. The analogy of software for a computer is very apt.
WHAT IS PERSONAL GROWTH
Ultimately, personal growth means living in higher states of consciousness, meaning higher states of peace and well being, the highest being realizing, having the experience of being what the yogis call the Self, your oneness with all that is. Notice the word experience, which is so totally more than intellectual understanding. Understanding that food is tasty is one thing, eating it quite another.
In more down to earth terms, personal growth means
1) accepting your power to make positive changes in your life, starting with your mental states. Most people want to go straight to doing, but until you change your mind, you'll get the same results you always have.
2) releasing and healing the wounds that keep you creating your problems, whether through action or inaction. Letting go of victimhood, he did this, they did that, she didn't do that, I can't do this, I'm too (fill in the blanks).
That's not to condone bad behaviour, not saying you shouldn't stand up for yourself, it is saying that as long as you stay in blame and judgement, including self judgement, you stay stuck. In most normal life situations, your state of mind is your responsibility (I am not talking about extreme examples), and your happiness and effectiveness is a direct result of your state of mind.
3) Manifesting positive states of health, happiness, behaviours. Taking care of yourself, manifesting your dreams in the world. Having healthy relationships. All the stuff of a fulfilled human existence. However, people who “have it all” often report that they feel some sense of something missing. That something is connection with, experience of your spirit.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
EXECUTIVE PAY CONSEQUENCES
“Have you ever been in a store that seemed to be run on a skeleton crew, can't find anyone to ask a question, long lines at the cash register? Not to mention the value of experienced, helpful, motivated staff, rather than minimum wage kids. Have you been put on hold, while a recording said "we are experiencing an unusually high level of call volume".
Bullshit.
If it were truthful, that recording would say:
"we are experiencing an unusually high level of executive compensation and consequently are not hiring enough people to run the business properly".
There are thousands of businesses across America that need more sales people, customer service reps, technical people, clerks, etc. but instead of hiring enough people to staff the counters and floors, the execs are choosing to pad their own pockets and raise their own pay, give themselves perks and bonuses, and run the companies on a skeleton crew.
"Downsizing" was the euphemism fat cat execs used to fire people, make the poor slobs left work two jobs for the price of one, and stick the money in their own pockets.
if all the executives were sick for the day, the business would still go on. If the sales floor staff didn't show up, it's all over.
For every $1,000,000 some yacht owning private plane flying CEO chooses to enrich himself with, he could have hired 30 people at $33,000 per,”
“WORK HARD-GET SCREWED
In the 1950s, one of the most prosperous (financially) decades in America, the ratio of CEO pay to that of the average worker was 25-1. By 2001 it was around 300-1. Since then, workers' productivity has exploded, as has the ratio of CEO pay, now around 500-1.
The thanks people got for working hard and doing a great job?
*they got fired, (downsized)
*the people left got to do 2 jobs for 1 salary
*businesses sent as many jobs as they could overseas
*while executives raised their salaries through the roof
and shareholders got rich
What if CEOs were required by law to share the benefits. They can make as much as they want, but only 25 times what the average salary of their company is, including perks and benefits.
It was good enough under Eisenhower.”
Bullshit.
If it were truthful, that recording would say:
"we are experiencing an unusually high level of executive compensation and consequently are not hiring enough people to run the business properly".
There are thousands of businesses across America that need more sales people, customer service reps, technical people, clerks, etc. but instead of hiring enough people to staff the counters and floors, the execs are choosing to pad their own pockets and raise their own pay, give themselves perks and bonuses, and run the companies on a skeleton crew.
"Downsizing" was the euphemism fat cat execs used to fire people, make the poor slobs left work two jobs for the price of one, and stick the money in their own pockets.
if all the executives were sick for the day, the business would still go on. If the sales floor staff didn't show up, it's all over.
For every $1,000,000 some yacht owning private plane flying CEO chooses to enrich himself with, he could have hired 30 people at $33,000 per,”
“WORK HARD-GET SCREWED
In the 1950s, one of the most prosperous (financially) decades in America, the ratio of CEO pay to that of the average worker was 25-1. By 2001 it was around 300-1. Since then, workers' productivity has exploded, as has the ratio of CEO pay, now around 500-1.
The thanks people got for working hard and doing a great job?
*they got fired, (downsized)
*the people left got to do 2 jobs for 1 salary
*businesses sent as many jobs as they could overseas
*while executives raised their salaries through the roof
and shareholders got rich
What if CEOs were required by law to share the benefits. They can make as much as they want, but only 25 times what the average salary of their company is, including perks and benefits.
It was good enough under Eisenhower.”
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Why We're Here
This is going to be incorporated into my personal growth manual at some point
https://jaydancingbear.wordpress.com/writings/personal-growth-manual-gradual-reformat/
As best as i understand right now, we are here to:
a) realize the Self, experience ourselves as a part of all-that-is, as a wave is part of the ocean, and
b) have our human experience, make the best of it, do our best to be healthy and happy, but still, whatever our circumstances, as difficult as they may be, realize that we chose to be here for some reason. Embrace the world, be tantric.
I've read a lot of spiritual books, especially from the Indian traditions, which basically view our time here as an opportunity to do the work to not be here, not get reborn, not get sucked into the world. Often they are very anti-pleasure, anti-sex, anti-engaging with the world, anti- in the sense that they think that worldly pleasures are, at best, wasted time. The ascetic approach has a lot of fulfillment and satisfaction in it, but only for those truly drawn to it. For others it is torture.
So i don't agree with the anti-worldly view, and yet i do recognize that the world often distracts us from the experience of our true nature, which is the greatest bliss there is. We get pulled outward, and lose our inner experience. The experience of meditation can be far more satisfying than the experience of drunkenness, and it's ok to get drunk, just try not to say or do anything harmful to yourself or others. Worldly pleasures and possessions are transitory, they inevitably end, "this too shall pass", but that doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with them, they are a part of life.
Just remember, as the Buddha observed, that sickness, old age and suffering are inevitable parts of life, certainly not all there is, but inevitably come to us at some point. When storms come, trees with deep roots survive. When the storms of life blow, if we have resources based on experience, which we get from time spent doing practices, resources such as intuition and mental focus, then we see opportunity and growth where others see calamity and disaster. Beyond just being tools to deal with adversity, being in these states feels "good". Again, all these happen as the result of hours and hours and hours of practice, not talking about it.
So for this reason i think the tantrics have it most correct, not necessarily the sexual tantrics, but the people who believe in finding their enlightenment through engaging with the world in a sacred way. I am using the word tantric in a general way, specific sects would probably find issues with what i am writing. Personally i have been torn between the monk and the pleasure seeker. It's been hard to reconcile the two. This post may be the peace treaty.
What i am saying is, that it is not either/or, either spiritual practices or a total worldly life, and it both/and, two halves of one whole. To be in the world, have our human lives, and not get so drawn outward that we live only on the surface. To meditate, and to party. To make love, and to pray. To earn a living, and to realize it's all a game. The tibetans seem to understand that best, although i am not a tibetan buddhist.
All a game, Maya, illusion, masks of god. To see spirit in everything is a lot harder in New York City than on a mountain. To go back and forth from the city to the mountain, and back again.
Namaste,
Socrates
https://jaydancingbear.wordpress.com/writings/personal-growth-manual-gradual-reformat/
As best as i understand right now, we are here to:
a) realize the Self, experience ourselves as a part of all-that-is, as a wave is part of the ocean, and
b) have our human experience, make the best of it, do our best to be healthy and happy, but still, whatever our circumstances, as difficult as they may be, realize that we chose to be here for some reason. Embrace the world, be tantric.
I've read a lot of spiritual books, especially from the Indian traditions, which basically view our time here as an opportunity to do the work to not be here, not get reborn, not get sucked into the world. Often they are very anti-pleasure, anti-sex, anti-engaging with the world, anti- in the sense that they think that worldly pleasures are, at best, wasted time. The ascetic approach has a lot of fulfillment and satisfaction in it, but only for those truly drawn to it. For others it is torture.
So i don't agree with the anti-worldly view, and yet i do recognize that the world often distracts us from the experience of our true nature, which is the greatest bliss there is. We get pulled outward, and lose our inner experience. The experience of meditation can be far more satisfying than the experience of drunkenness, and it's ok to get drunk, just try not to say or do anything harmful to yourself or others. Worldly pleasures and possessions are transitory, they inevitably end, "this too shall pass", but that doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with them, they are a part of life.
Just remember, as the Buddha observed, that sickness, old age and suffering are inevitable parts of life, certainly not all there is, but inevitably come to us at some point. When storms come, trees with deep roots survive. When the storms of life blow, if we have resources based on experience, which we get from time spent doing practices, resources such as intuition and mental focus, then we see opportunity and growth where others see calamity and disaster. Beyond just being tools to deal with adversity, being in these states feels "good". Again, all these happen as the result of hours and hours and hours of practice, not talking about it.
So for this reason i think the tantrics have it most correct, not necessarily the sexual tantrics, but the people who believe in finding their enlightenment through engaging with the world in a sacred way. I am using the word tantric in a general way, specific sects would probably find issues with what i am writing. Personally i have been torn between the monk and the pleasure seeker. It's been hard to reconcile the two. This post may be the peace treaty.
What i am saying is, that it is not either/or, either spiritual practices or a total worldly life, and it both/and, two halves of one whole. To be in the world, have our human lives, and not get so drawn outward that we live only on the surface. To meditate, and to party. To make love, and to pray. To earn a living, and to realize it's all a game. The tibetans seem to understand that best, although i am not a tibetan buddhist.
All a game, Maya, illusion, masks of god. To see spirit in everything is a lot harder in New York City than on a mountain. To go back and forth from the city to the mountain, and back again.
Namaste,
Socrates
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Three poems
Three recent poems
---
One Day (july 5)
One day follows the next
and the next
I look down at my shadow on the ground
One day it will not be there
------
Free Bird (july 6)
Free Bird, have your wings been clipped by
ingesting the fears and limiting beliefs
of frightened and limited people
This can't happen, that can't happen, that can't happen unless _____
No belief in or understanding of higher truths
No belief in miracles
despite the miracles all around us, as us
Free Bird, your wings are not clipped, they only seem to be
Free Bird, spread your wings, and
fly
----------
How would i live (july 12)
if i wasn't thinking of the future, afraid of the future
how would i live?
I i wasn't reacting to the past
how would i live?
if my mind wasn't busy, busy, busy
how would i live?
if i was aware of the infinite eternal
in me, as me
how would i live?
if i wasn't afraid of surrendering to the experience of the infinite eternal
in me, as me
how would i live?
if i really experienced THAT
would it matter?
---
One Day (july 5)
One day follows the next
and the next
I look down at my shadow on the ground
One day it will not be there
------
Free Bird (july 6)
Free Bird, have your wings been clipped by
ingesting the fears and limiting beliefs
of frightened and limited people
This can't happen, that can't happen, that can't happen unless _____
No belief in or understanding of higher truths
No belief in miracles
despite the miracles all around us, as us
Free Bird, your wings are not clipped, they only seem to be
Free Bird, spread your wings, and
fly
----------
How would i live (july 12)
if i wasn't thinking of the future, afraid of the future
how would i live?
I i wasn't reacting to the past
how would i live?
if my mind wasn't busy, busy, busy
how would i live?
if i was aware of the infinite eternal
in me, as me
how would i live?
if i wasn't afraid of surrendering to the experience of the infinite eternal
in me, as me
how would i live?
if i really experienced THAT
would it matter?
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Proportional Wage Law
Whether you're the president of a corporation, or a janitor, you still only have 24 hours in a day.
One of the biggest problems in this country is income inequality, which has created a society where people don't even have time to spend with their kids. Income inequality impacts our lives in a thousand small, unpleasant ways, because prices tend to go up to what the market will bear, meaning what the more affluent can afford. Society is slowly falling apart, as the rich get richer, and the poor and middle class sink into quicksand.
I propose a PROPORTIONAL WAGE LAW-You can make as much as you want, as long as you create wealth for everybody. The highest paid person in a company can make up to 25 times what the lowest paid worker makes, including the janitor, including temp workers and subcontracted labor, including the value of all perks and benefits, not more than 25 times the lowest paid salary.
One of the biggest problems in this country is income inequality, which has created a society where people don't even have time to spend with their kids. Income inequality impacts our lives in a thousand small, unpleasant ways, because prices tend to go up to what the market will bear, meaning what the more affluent can afford. Society is slowly falling apart, as the rich get richer, and the poor and middle class sink into quicksand.
I propose a PROPORTIONAL WAGE LAW-You can make as much as you want, as long as you create wealth for everybody. The highest paid person in a company can make up to 25 times what the lowest paid worker makes, including the janitor, including temp workers and subcontracted labor, including the value of all perks and benefits, not more than 25 times the lowest paid salary.
Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics
The next time you hear about how we are the wealthiest country, think of this example of statistics in action:
*if you put a millionaire and a homeless person in a room, their average income is $500,000/yr.
*If the next year the millionaire makes 2 million, and the homeless person, probably a Vietnam vet, is still living under a bridge, the average income has gone up to $1,000,000/yr.
*If the next year the homeless person dies, and the millionaire still makes 2 million, the average income has gone up to $2 million/yr.
The economy is doing great.
That's statistics in action.
*if you put a millionaire and a homeless person in a room, their average income is $500,000/yr.
*If the next year the millionaire makes 2 million, and the homeless person, probably a Vietnam vet, is still living under a bridge, the average income has gone up to $1,000,000/yr.
*If the next year the homeless person dies, and the millionaire still makes 2 million, the average income has gone up to $2 million/yr.
The economy is doing great.
That's statistics in action.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Know thyself
I am going to have a small piece published. Here it is:
Know Thyself
by Socrates Thalassos
1) Are you somatically conscious of, present in, your body?
Where in your body are "you"?
1) Are you somatically conscious of, present in, your body?
Where in your body are "you"?
2) Are you lost in your thoughts, or conscious of your thoughts?
3) Are you aware of your sub/unconscious programs?
How "on automatic" are you, how "here now"?
How "on automatic" are you, how "here now"?
4) Do you identify yourself with "all-that-is"?
5) Have you articulated clearly your spiritual/metaphysical belief paradigm,
your values, intentions and priorities?
6) How much time do you spend working on yourself?
5) Have you articulated clearly your spiritual/metaphysical belief paradigm,
your values, intentions and priorities?
6) How much time do you spend working on yourself?
-----------
Bio
Socrates Thalassos is someone who has spent many hours working on himself, has experienced great benefit, and wants to help you be happier and healthier.
Socrates Thalassos is someone who has spent many hours working on himself, has experienced great benefit, and wants to help you be happier and healthier.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Here we go again-Bernie Sanders, Hilary Clinton and The Facade of Democracy
I love Bernie, but ask yourself, why is he forced to run as a Democrat?
Can you vote for who you REALLY want for President? Or Senator? No.
Remember the 2000 election, when Ralph Nader voters were vilified for "costing" Al Gore the election? The obvious lesson was that what is needed is ranked balloting, where you put 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd Choice, and if your first choice doesn't come in the top 2, your vote goes to next choice, etc. That's getting close to real democracy. So did ranked voting become an issue? No.
Whatever the issue: environment, economic justice, prisons, corporate rule, etc., the decisions are made by politicians who got in as a result of a corrupt and dysfunctional "electoral" system. The real truth is that we have
AUCTIONS, NOT ELECTIONS
The amazing thing is that things aren't worse.
And almost more amazing is that all the various political, environmental and economic organizations don't get it, that the fix is in, the system is rigged, and put some effort into creating an honest system.
Democrats are not more creative thinkers than Republicans. They both have their stock set of beliefs and policies, both on auto response most of the time. They both rarely look under the surface appearances of issues, rarely look deeply, rarely see the full complexity and inter-relationship of issues. They think the problem is bad leaders, rather than recognizing that the bad leaders are a product of a broken system.
There really are not that many died in the wool conservatives, but when you disenfranchise the left, have auctions not elections, and when necessary simply hack the vote, well, you get what we have now, plutocracy, a system in which the environment and the populace are simply something to exploit.
-------
Two obvious issues
*Districts so gerrymandered, that your vote hardly counts.
*Can you trust electronic voting, when so much evidence indicates that it is easily hacked (google it)
_________
Election day not a national holiday, elections on a workday=discriminates against workers
This tells you the truth right away
A) Who gets to vote?
1) Who gets to register
2) Who gets wiped off the rolls (florida 2000).
3) Drug laws as political repression-
if you wanted to find a way to take away the vote of tens of millions of Republicans, you would pass laws making beer and cigarettes illegal, serious crimes.
When, during the late 60s and 70s, the height of the culture and Vietnam wars, Republicans wanted to take away the votes of Democratic voters, especially blacks and hippies, they made pot and drugs illegal. It worked.
Ronald Reagan, Bush, and a host of Senators and Congressmen, would never have won if all those votes hadn't been taken away. We still are very much at the affect of those laws today.
4) Are there enough voting machines (ohio 2004)
B) Who do they get to vote for?
1) Winner take all=Lesser of two evils
In most cases third party candidates have no chance, people are afraid of throwing away their vote
i.e. Ralph Nader
2) Instant Runoff Voting, Proportional Representation=every vote counts
C) How honest is the vote count
1) Electronic voting machines = stolen elections
Paper ballots harder to steal an election
D) How is the process financed?
1) Campaign contributions =legal bribery
2) Corporate money allowed as "free speech"
No money=no chance to win=candidates sell out
E) How do we find out what the candidates have to say
1) Role of media
a) corporate owned
b) covers some candidates more than others, shuts out 3rd party candidates
c) sound bites, slogan advertising
F) Serious, serious gerrymandering of elections, to the point that your vote hardly makes a difference.
--------
There's a great book called Fixing Elections,by Steven Hill, which is as valid today as the day it was written.
https://www.google.com/search?q=fixing+elections+steven+hill+&aq=f&oq=fixing+elections+steven+hill+&sugexp=chrome,mod=0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
http://www.c-span.org/video/?171355-1/book-discussion-fixing-elections
Can you vote for who you REALLY want for President? Or Senator? No.
Remember the 2000 election, when Ralph Nader voters were vilified for "costing" Al Gore the election? The obvious lesson was that what is needed is ranked balloting, where you put 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd Choice, and if your first choice doesn't come in the top 2, your vote goes to next choice, etc. That's getting close to real democracy. So did ranked voting become an issue? No.
Whatever the issue: environment, economic justice, prisons, corporate rule, etc., the decisions are made by politicians who got in as a result of a corrupt and dysfunctional "electoral" system. The real truth is that we have
AUCTIONS, NOT ELECTIONS
The amazing thing is that things aren't worse.
And almost more amazing is that all the various political, environmental and economic organizations don't get it, that the fix is in, the system is rigged, and put some effort into creating an honest system.
Democrats are not more creative thinkers than Republicans. They both have their stock set of beliefs and policies, both on auto response most of the time. They both rarely look under the surface appearances of issues, rarely look deeply, rarely see the full complexity and inter-relationship of issues. They think the problem is bad leaders, rather than recognizing that the bad leaders are a product of a broken system.
There really are not that many died in the wool conservatives, but when you disenfranchise the left, have auctions not elections, and when necessary simply hack the vote, well, you get what we have now, plutocracy, a system in which the environment and the populace are simply something to exploit.
-------
Two obvious issues
*Districts so gerrymandered, that your vote hardly counts.
*Can you trust electronic voting, when so much evidence indicates that it is easily hacked (google it)
_________
Election day not a national holiday, elections on a workday=discriminates against workers
This tells you the truth right away
A) Who gets to vote?
1) Who gets to register
2) Who gets wiped off the rolls (florida 2000).
3) Drug laws as political repression-
if you wanted to find a way to take away the vote of tens of millions of Republicans, you would pass laws making beer and cigarettes illegal, serious crimes.
When, during the late 60s and 70s, the height of the culture and Vietnam wars, Republicans wanted to take away the votes of Democratic voters, especially blacks and hippies, they made pot and drugs illegal. It worked.
Ronald Reagan, Bush, and a host of Senators and Congressmen, would never have won if all those votes hadn't been taken away. We still are very much at the affect of those laws today.
4) Are there enough voting machines (ohio 2004)
B) Who do they get to vote for?
1) Winner take all=Lesser of two evils
In most cases third party candidates have no chance, people are afraid of throwing away their vote
i.e. Ralph Nader
2) Instant Runoff Voting, Proportional Representation=every vote counts
C) How honest is the vote count
1) Electronic voting machines = stolen elections
Paper ballots harder to steal an election
D) How is the process financed?
1) Campaign contributions =legal bribery
2) Corporate money allowed as "free speech"
No money=no chance to win=candidates sell out
E) How do we find out what the candidates have to say
1) Role of media
a) corporate owned
b) covers some candidates more than others, shuts out 3rd party candidates
c) sound bites, slogan advertising
F) Serious, serious gerrymandering of elections, to the point that your vote hardly makes a difference.
--------
There's a great book called Fixing Elections,by Steven Hill, which is as valid today as the day it was written.
https://www.google.com/search?q=fixing+elections+steven+hill+&aq=f&oq=fixing+elections+steven+hill+&sugexp=chrome,mod=0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
http://www.c-span.org/video/?171355-1/book-discussion-fixing-elections
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