I'm Not a Racist ?

I never considered myself a racist, How could I be a racist when I never though about race. I’m sure you don’t need to be told that I am white. There was only 1 black in my high school but I cheered the struggles of the black community and others to end the racism in the law 20 years ago. When a black community leader came to our church and stated that racism was still a problem in our community I was somewhat surprised. I decided to find out more and joined a study circle discussion group sponsored by Sustainable Racine like the ones that will soon be offered on a broader basis.

Thinking back I had not had a conversation with a black person since collage. We started off the workgroup by writing down our earliest encounter with race. We heard a story about a woman who as a young girl who was traveling in the south for the first time. She remembered being very disappointed when the “colored” water fountain just had plain ordinary clear water. Her parents explained the situation and she was even more disappointed. We heard a story of a mother seeing her son unable to break into the plumbing trade. Most of all people in the group talked to each other and saw the “Others” as people like themselves. It was disturbing when a person I had come to respect stated that race problems in Racine were not improving and in fact had worsened in recent years.

I thought about racial justice issues for the first time in 20 years. On reflection I think that it is human nature to prefer the familiar. Separation will inevitably lead to clannish and then racist feelings. If we make an assumption about which are the “Bad” neighborhoods by the color of the kids playing on the streets. Or find ourselves thinking about welfare mothers as other than ourselves. The natural passive racism of all humans may be at fault. We are all recovering racists and it takes a conscious effort to find opportunities to meet our neighbors.

We had a meeting to investigate bringing study groups to more people in the Racine/Kenosha area. I think that this is a very good idea. Some question the study group as “just talk’ this is true but it is structured in such a way that I think it is the best first step to making a big improvement in our communities. Study group participants comit to meet with the same small diverse group for 6 weeks. With only about a dozen in each group everyone gets a chance to express himself or herself, and get to know others from different background. The study groups are hard work as they are focused on the difficult questions that separate us. Plan talk and active listening are work.

If you think about it, ending racism and the perception of racism depends on changing peoples hearts. This was the effect of the small study group on me. I am still meeting with my group and we are working (we hope) to make things better. I recommend the study groups method.

Passing an increase in the debt ceiling is required by the oath of office.

Congress Voted for the spending they have to vote to pay the bills.  Playing chicken with the good name of the United States not to mention our economy is dishonorable.   The bargaining position  of  "I will to wreck the economy it I don't get my way" ,  should not be allowed.   It's akin to the criminal that points the gun at his wife to keep the police at bay. You can't negotiate with terrorists.  The Presidents positioned should be; " Budget negotiations belong in the budget bill, pass the extension  without conditions".

If we want a more civil government we must not tolerate these tactics ot the people that employ them.

Is the Declaration of Independence a Socialist document?

My thoughts on this are somewhat long winded so I will start with the answer. No the US Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are not Socialist but they are social.

The Declaration starts with assertion “We hold these truths to be self evident.” What follows turns the social and moral theory of the day upside down. The organizing purpose of society is not “the pleasure of the King” but the welfare of the people. Rights are not given by God to the King, who then distributes them downward as he sees fit, but are “Endowed by our creator” equally to all.

The Declaration of independence states that we have a God given right to pursue happiness and that the government is created to foster this goal. The Constitution gives each an equal say how the government functions.

Normal market theory would then predict a government whose goal was the most happiness for the most people.

Viewed from this perspective the Marxist organizing principal “From each according to his abilities: to each according to their needs” could be view as just a statement describing a state of maximum efficiency for reaching societies goal. Ie the most happiness for the most people.

Does this mean that our founding fathers were socialists. No. While the foundling fathers would probably agree with socialist as to the goals of government they would not agree with the means most likely to get us there.

While the Constitution and Declaration are mute as to public ownership of the means of production they are in my view clear as to the basic purpose for government. In my view the Tea Party has forgotten this purpose and has gone back to the older theory that the wealthy are wealthy threw Gods Grace and the general public has no rights to expect more from them.. This difference comes into sharpest focus when talking about tax policy.

Given that all taxes do harm to those from whom they are collected. Is the goal when collecting taxes “Do the least harm to the fewest” ? If so tax policy must take into account the marginal utility of money. IE an extra 10% tax means a lot more to a poor elderly person who is already having to decide between food and medicine in their weekly budget than it does to a billionaire.

Is unearned money deserving of a special consideration. Should inherited money be tax free as Republicans suggest or should collecting taxes encourage industry and favor earning income as was the law in the Eisenhower administration.

When President Obama suggests that sharing the wealth is desirable it is not socialism. It is rather; a true expression of the founding principals of our country.

“Fiscal responsibility” is Republican for “I don't want to”.

I have never heard a Republican talk about the budget when they are advocating a program they want. No Republican seems to worry about the 3 trillion that the our current wars cost will end up costing us. No Republican politian worries about a new tax preference that benefits only the wealthy. Regan's budget was cut by the Democratically controlled congress every year but to hear him tell it it was the Democrats that caused the tripling of the National debt under his administration.

Wisconsin's Gov Walker never mentioned the Budget when he cut corporate taxes by 100 million. Cutting local teachers take home pay by 5% ,when Wisconsin already pays it's teachers less than the nation average, while sighting a “Budget Crisis”, has much less to do with helping local school budgets that it does in a political calculation of who is his political power base.

How long are we going to let the Republican position that only Democratic concerns cost money go unchallenged.

The Capital Gains Tax Preference Harms Free Enterprise

Normal income tax rate max out at 35% while capital gains tax rates are only 15%. This never seemed equitable to me. Why should income derived from owning be favored over income derived form doing.

I don't get to deduct the cost of collage from my income tax. The principal should be that a citizen should contribute a portion of his living to maintain the collective functions of society; even, and maybe especially, if he didn't earn it.

The biggest problem I have with this tax inequity is the harm it does to our free enterprise system. Gone are the days when a stockholder invested in a company and revived a share of the profits in return. Very few companies pay dividends anymore since dividends are taxed as regular income. Investors want capital gains income instead of regular income. Companies can not distribute earnings to shareholders; the goal is to increase shareholders value so that when the owners sell they will make a profit and the income will be taxed at the lower rate. Companies are forced to grow to the level of their incompetence. Corporations today either grow or die as the saying goes; fueling this endless cycle of mergers and acquisitions. The founders of a company likewise are motivated to sell the company when they want to realize the benefit of what they have built.

Corporate CEO s don't want a larger salary they want stock options and are motivated to manipulate the stock price for short term gain.

By shifting the tax burden from those that a baling out of a company to those that are creating a company we harm our ability to create the new goods and services needed to grow our economy. Ask yourself when did Bill Gates need a tax break?

Stockholm Syndrome In American Politics

"The syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg robbery of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg in Stockholm, in which the bank robbers held bank employees hostage from August 23 to August 28, 1973. In this case, the victims became emotionally attached to their captors, and even defended them after they were freed from their six-day ordeal." from Wikipedia


I believe that this tendency is a part of all of us.  When we feel stressed we look for powerful people to attach ourselves to.  Deferring to power gives us a feeling of safety and relieves anxiety.  I believe that this explains a lot of the uncritical support for the right.  Parroting the catch phrase of the day makes one feel part of a strong group that we imagine will protect us.  Knowing your place in an orderly hierarchy is the essence of conservatism.  


For years I have been  trying to understand the reasoning of some of my conservative friends.  If it is like trying to talk a young child out of a security blanket, as this theory would suggest then I may have a clue. 


This may also be why many people seem to prefer a rigid and vengeful God that is subject to flattery.?

Choose Happy

In is an error to think of happiness Just as something that you feel, as in a passive sensory experience.  The truth is that happiness is something that you do, not something done to you.

We are born dissatisfied, questing, unfinished. For the most part feeling this way is a survival trail it spurs us to build and innovate. Accepting our searching nature is a good step. letting our dissatisfaction make us unhappy is our choice.  We are also born with the ability to appreciate beauty, empathize, and love. Being happy is a choice..


Happiness is a feeling that you do. We do not control all that happens to us; but we are in complete control of our response. I am not advocating denial or trying to  will ourselves to be happy under all circumstances. It is our attitude toward our dissatisfaction that allows one person to be happy when another with similar problems is not.

The distinction in this way of thinking about happiness is the approach to overcoming our adversity. Making a change requires the belief that change is possible. Thinking of happiness as an action means I approach the problem as I would other problems such as; If there is something that weighs 150lbs and, I want to lift it, but I can't; I understand the process for changing myself or the thing to make the lift possible.  This is because I think of it as something that I want to do, not as something I want to happen to me.


My point is NOT that we are born unhappy. We are born to quest but we can learn to make our selfs unhappy when life is not perfect. The best way to lift big happiness is to start small and appreciate the small things and take joy in them.

I always said that kids can learn computers easier than adults because they do not make themselves miserable when they make a mistake.
Somewhere along the line we can loose the ability to fall and get right back up ,with a smile.

It is easier to be happy when you are around happy people.  In this way happiness is reflected back to you.  

Union Busting in Wisconsin

Labor Protests continue in Madison
 Changing labor law for all public employees does not belong in a State "Emergency Budget Repare Bill."  This bill was first introduced a week ago and if the Democratic Senators had not denied the Senate a quorum it would be law today. The sate constitution specifically stipulates that bills are to have one subject.  Playing these kinds of games with our democracy is grave threat to our freedoms.  Republican's that play power politics blindly following the leader are ignoring their oath of office our form of government does not function well when there is this rampant block voting.


Are State Employee overpaid?
State employees like the armed services take a lot of their pay in the form of retirement benefits.  My friend Dan worked for the UW system for 30 years and is "retired".  He is now a consultant doing the same work for double the pay.  The state is getting billed Double his salary by his employer so they are paying four times as much for the same work.   State employees are a good value for the state but with the squeeze on salaries getting talent often means going to consultants.  Yea Dan is double dipping but if he was not waiting for state retirement he would have quit state work ten years earlier and gone for the higher paycheck. The issue is complex


I find it sad and instructive that the Wisconsin State workers who have not kept up with inflation fro the past 20 years are suddenly overpaid. Debbie works for the City of Racine. She like all workers participating the the State pension system contributes 11% of her salary to be invested. If the markets are kind that adds up to a good retirement after 30 years.
 Now you can play semantics and say that it is really the city that is paying that 11% on her behalf. But economists will tell you from an economics point of view it makes no difference. If the walker bill passes Debbie's take home pay drops by 5.5%.
 If you believe in local control shouldn't this be a local decision. The majority of the workers who's pay is effected by the "Emergency" bill are not state employees and do not effect the state budget.

Military Tax

When considering the budget deficit the “entitlements” which mainly consist of Social Security and Medicare do make up the largest chunk of the budget. But these programs are funded by a dedicated tax which has actually accumulated a huge surplus. Likewise the gas tax pays for road construction and this also has a huge surplus. No one seems to have a problem with raising the retirement age or increasing the SS tax when this program might run a deficit in 30 years.

The connection between the tax and the spending in these programs seems to be well understood.

So I propose a Defense and Security Tax which will be levied in the exact amount of the Defense and Justice budgets.

“On what basis should this defense tax be levied?” you ask. An income tax or Possibly a wealth tax since what the armed forces is defending is largely our stuff and our right to use it as we see fit.

I would also like to see a interest on the deficit tax which would be levied only on Republicans ( OK ; Now I'm being silly).

Even if we could not enact my Republican tax the general Income tax could be reduced to about 30% of the current rate., with lots of money for Education and programs to strengthen out society. Another big advantage would be that politicians that want to fight a war could do so as long as they could get the public to accept the tax increase.

Healthcare a right?

This proposition is not as controversial as it would seem at first.
Rigths do not exist unless they are
1) Claimed by the recipiant of the rigth and
2) The Claim is honored under law or standard.

If we take the case of a person comming in for emergency care, it is a matter of law (Passed in a republican Congress) that they can not be turned away.

No Republican is advocating that we dischage premature infants from lifesaving care for any reason.  Or that victims of a traffic accident be transported to the hospital only if the are carrying their insurance card.  So clearly society regards healthcare at some level as a right. The differances are over rationing and who pays for it.

All rights granted impact the rights of others.
For instance the doctor or hospital that provides the care does not have a right to ensure that they will be paid for their service when they treat indigent patients.  For the most part this cost is passed on to patients that can pay.

Do I as an individual have the right to roll the dice with your money by not having health insurance even though I could afford it? People that do this depend on the knowledge that society will honor their right to healthcare if they really need it. All Rights granted rub up against the rights of others.

Selfishness as a Conservative value.

Of all of the harm that Conservative Ideology has done to our country in the last 30 years is the idea that selfishness is respectable is in my opinion the most damaging.

Self interest is unavoidable and a successful society works to align enlightened self interest with the public good. Utopian notions of everyone will voluntarily following a notion like, “ From each according this his abilities, to each according to his needs”, are doomed to failure. Recognizing this truth is not an excuse to celebrate and venerate self interest ,much less laud the virtue of excessive concern with self interest, which is selfishness.

When I speak of selfishness I am speaking of the common materialistic understanding; grabbing more than I have rightfully earned at others expense. Of course a truly enlighten person knows that enabling the happiness of others is the best route to advancing your own happiness. Christ did not advocate selfishness.

The advancement of selfishness as a virtue has made it ok to support a war,but not contribute to the cost; leaving our grandchildren to pay the price of our selfishness and Conservatives political self interest.

The Economy Explained

For those of you wondering about the economy I thought I would take a minute and explain it.

Generally a recession is triggered when something everyone knows to be true turns out not to be true (usually the belief that prices will always go up).   The shock triggers fear so that people who have money don’t spend it.  This causes the normal market adjustment mechanisms of supply and demand to break down.  People who would have purchased at a given price before they were scared hold on to their money.  The liquidity of assets is lessened and the market based wealth calculations suffer.  Making people feel poorer increasing fear and the cycle is repeated.

Ask any responsible person with a job what they did the last couple of years and they will say they limited discretionary spending.  Give these people a tax cut and they will put the money in the bank.  Saving rates have increased but bank lending has decreased.

What is needed to break this cycle is someone to act “irresponsible”; to buy when every one is selling to invest, even if you are not sure that the market has reached the bottom.  Government (We the people : all of us collectively)   is the only entity capable of doing this.  Government can also help on another front with a safety net, which decreases fear; which is the root cause of the recession and, Conservatives.

Found this on another blog http://treasuresintheirpockets.blogspot.com

MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 2011

Ten

quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. 

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." 

"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."

"Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles; Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances. Courage breeds creativity; Cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it. Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency ask the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right."

"Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal."

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'"

"Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude." 

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

"Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals."

“From every mountainside, let freedom ring. When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

"I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man." (from a speech the day before he was assassinated)

May this great and courageous man rest in peace.

Eric Hoffer

One of my favorite philosophers is Eric Hoffer.  He was popular when I was in collage as the longshoreman philosopher.  When he retired from the docks he wrote several thin books composed of very short paragraphs.  The two books I remember where “The True Believer” and “The Passionate State of Mind”.  In the True Believer he outlined his belief that the dynamics of believing in a cause; being part of a movement, provided emotional support. For many adherents to a cause the logic or values of the cause had very little to do with their fanaticism.

“Weak” people tend to immerse themselves in a cause as a source of identity.   They claim the supposed worth of the cause as their own worth.

I remember several of his pithy one liners.

 *
“Rudeness is the Weak Man’s imitation of strength.”

 *
“It is sad, but most of us know ourselves chiefly by hearsay.”

In Hoffer’s thinking the strong character knows who he is and what he believes without relying on external sources. He knows himself as an individual not as a member of a class or group or as a "Believer".

Thinking about Eric Hoffer’s writings was also my introduction to the idea that there are many factors involved in why a person holds one political opinion over another.  Factors separate from logical self-interest religion or personal philosophy.  I have been pondering questions such as who are conservatives for 30 years.

Letter To Hannah

Hi Hannah

You enjoy philosophy so I thought I would share some of my thoughts.

As humans we have doubts, insecurities, fears, rages.  We are born unsatisfied, questioning, striving; looking for more. I believe that we are born this way because it is a survival trait. It is this feeling of being unfinished that pushes us to build, create, strive.  It also causes us to suffer, even when we are warm and feed.

Traditional physiology suggests that if we are troubled that we look for the "causes" in our past.  When these causes are understood and accepted then we are given a reason to believe that we can be at piece with ourselves.

It has always seemed to me that the explanation of “causes” whether they are a type of demon possession as Scientology suggests, a traditional Freudian explanation or prenatal trauma etc... , are less important to inner piece than the belief that there is an explanation.

I believe that these approaches are incorrect and many times counterproductive.  First of all they start from the premises that I am wounded and there is some specific trauma to blame.  Both of these assumptions are wrong.  I am not wounded; I am, for the most part, as I was created, and blame has never been a very good tool for planning future actions.

The key in my opinion is to accept the human condition. We are born unsatisfied; but we can decide what to do about it. What is needed is a philosophy (personal set of rules) for living in the present.

This is where the teachings of Jesus (the man) are important to me.

• We are connected one to another.  I can most effectively maximize my own happiness by working to enhance the happiness of those around me.
•  Jesus also taught that you are Loved, you are valued, and you are forgiven.
•  ( “Your OK I’am OK” I liked the book)

Treat yourself as you would hope to treat your child.

· Be supportive, nurturing, forgiving, loving, … to yourself.  You are the only tool you have to make the world a better place.

· Take care of your tools and they will take care of you", as the saying goes.

Don't forsake caution but strive to banish fear.

• Be open to people and to what life has to offer. ( I liked your statement “I choose happiness”)

Love Dad

Heading for the top.  I love to climb trees and I have never fallen.  My dad recently passed away This is one of his 50,000 slides.

Why Not Blog

In school I was voted the student most likely to volunteer the answer. ( not really but I could have).

While I always have an opinion I do not believe that I am opinionated as I am always happy to be proven wrong.

As I believe that it is my duty to mankind to give you the benefit of my wisdom you will find some of it here,
and as the Worlds Leading Expert on my own opinions I am eminently qualified.

Love to all
Chuck Y