With no direction home

I've been trying to decide on what direction this blog should take. There are many things I know about and many things I care about, but for now I will concentrate on the American Dream. Personally I believe it should be called the Universal Dream.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

What does that mean today? International corporations search the globe for the lowest cost per unit to maximize profit. Low wages, questionable safety and excessive pollution are acceptable as long as the Consumer only cares about the dollar cost.

We talk about the middle class loosing ground, but we subsidize world poverty by pinching pennies. We complain about immigrants but we don't ask our politicians to set policies that will improve conditions in their home countries. Would so many people cross the border if they could make a decent living back home?

We seem to be caught in a trap. How can our best intentions coexist with the bottom line? When there is barely enough to cover expenses how can we consider charity?

We don't need charity, we need unity. We need to realize that unless the Third World joins us, we will join them. At the turn of the last century men gave their lives to stand together against the robber barons. Now we cower in the break room and whisper that if if we don't do as they say they will move to China.

There has been a lot of bad things said about Unions, and it usually comes from people worried about their hedge funds.

United we stand. Divided we juggle our bills.

by any other

I suppose I should post more often than I do. I want to be careful though. I believe that the only thing a person truly owns is their name. You can lose possessions, relationships and your direction in life, but you can't escape your name. No matter how far you run, or where you try to hide your name will find you. The past is alive. It seeks to bring the dark into the light. Everyone has a bit of the past they would like to forget. Somehow it knows when we are close to closing the door. The past bursts into the present and reveals itself in all it's naked glory.

What I'm trying to say here is that I choose not to remove or edit any post that I make. By making this commitment I am trying to carve out a tiny hollow of honesty here. Honesty may be best, but it is never easy. I would rather answer for my mistakes than pretend to be perfect.

For now I am going to post less frequently and more thoughtfully. Once blogging becomes a habit for me I'm sure the posts will appear on a regular basis, but hopefully not at the expense of quality.

Subsidized Destruction

Why does the post office keep raising rates on consumers while still giving discounts to businesses? Junk mail isn't just a waste of trees, it's a waste of fuel also. Paper is heavy and transporting it is costly, both in diesel and emissions. Most junk mail lands in the can unopened. It's life is waste and waste only. Waste of trees. Waste of ink. Waste of fuel. Waste of time. Waste of space. Honestly- how many credit cards and penis pills do you need?

I'm not suggesting that junk mail be outlawed. I only want it to pay full price for it's trip to the trash. If this keeps just one Fingerhut catalog off the streets the world may yet be safe for democracy. For if our mail system is not fair we have no right to preach equality to others.

Uncommon Sense

Right or wrong. Red or Blue. I know the truth and you are a fool.
It is obvious that neither side has all the answers. Reality lies between the absolutes.
Two diametrically opposed views makes for good television and a lousy society.
In the gray area there are other ideas, but just because an idea is different doesn't make it right.
We should never forget, though, that there are absolutes. Only the most sadistic would disagree when I say that it is wrong to put battery acid in baby formula.

So how do we find the truth? Instead of listen and decide we need to listen and analyze.
We need to spice up the ideas feeding our minds. Salt an pepper are good, but lets add some oregano thyme and sage. There's even room for poppy seeds and nutmeg.
We should stop asking what's best for me and start doing what's best for us.

Common sense is what the majority agrees is correct.

Uncommon sense is what is needed when there is either no clear majority or the accepted solution is not producing the intended results. Uncommon sense is sometimes a bitter pill, hard to swallow but necessary to recover. Uncommon sense is not always correct, but it should always be considered.