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Whom do you trust?

Believes, Buys, Consumes, Hears, Thinks No Responses »

Sep 092011

Unless you are able to provide all that you need yourself, you have to trust someone or several someones to help you to get the necessary resources to meet your needs. Initially in your life, you are probably dependent upon your parents to provide you with what you need, so you basically trust them. But then you begin to learn that there are other individuals, like grandparents, who can supply you with what you need or want. And as you grow physically and socially you begin to expand and to revise your list of individuals whom you are willing to trust enough to expect them to care enough about you to provide you with some resources to meet your needs. These individuals may be “friends”, “siblings”, your “spouse”, a “neighbor”, your “employer”, or some “professional” person who provides you with an important service like health care or financial advice.

Our society is changing very drastically and very quickly, so it is no longer easy to discern whom to trust. Advisors or other “professionals” or “employers” may have let you down or in someway seriously harmed the level of trust that you had in them, so you are somewhat nervous in regard to your ability to get the necessary resources that they provided for you. You may be out of a job after years of faithful service and even some special costly education and training, so your personal financial resources are in serious danger of being depleted. And too many government officials and representatives don’t seem to have any effective or even reasonable solutions to the problems that you face in your efforts to meet some of your basic needs in life.

Millions of people will be voting in the next general election with specific choices that they hope will provide some beneficial changes in the personal struggles that they face in their daily lives to meet some of their basic needs. They will be making specific choices regarding whom they trust in government to help them to meet these needs. But government officials may not have the authority or the resources to make the necessary changes that will provide the resources for millions of needy nervous Americans.

This issue of trust is a very practical and serious daily matter for many Americans today. It can affect decisions that will have severe immediate and long-term consequences for the individual decider as well as his or her dependents or others in his or her social circle. Millions of Americans, as well as individuals in other nations of the world, are looking for people whom they can trust to help them to secure some of the basic resources that they need for their daily lives. And many of the potential benefactors are not able to provide sufficient details or evidence of their worth to be trustworthy.

Whom do you trust? In your opinion, what makes a person trustworthy? What are you looking for in your governmental representatives or other potential benefactors that will make them worthy of your trusting vote or confidence? Let’s talk about this.

Tags: a personal matter, american economy, beneficial changes, congress, economic problems, financial crisis, general election, personal financial resources, political leaders

Disaster in Japan

Buys, Consumes, Does No Responses »

Mar 162011

People everywhere are very sympathetic to the millions of people in Japan who have been personally affected by the tremendous earth quake and tsunami that caused so much widespread death and destruction in this country. Numerous videos continue to show the world the unbelievable power of the shaking earth and the high surge of the tsunami wave that swept villages away and piled houses, buildings, cars, trucks, boats, and debris in the streets and fields and harbors of many Japanese cities and towns. Reports continue to be made regarding aftershocks and the ongoing dangers of nuclear contamination from the three nuclear power plants that were damaged by the tsunami wave that slammed into them. Crews are seeking to find missing relatives or at least the bodies of the thousands of people who are believed to have been killed by this disaster. And just getting basic supplies of food and water and shelter to thousands of people who have lost everything is a huge task.

It is understood that the Japanese people will recover from this disaster, but it will probably take years. In the meantime many of their basic services, including that of their currency, have been seriously hampered. Money and basic resources and relief workers are being brought into the cities, but the extent of the disaster is unbelievable. The whole earth has been affected!

Apparently Japanese engineers and experts in dealing with earthquakes had done an excellent job of designing the buildings for their cities and even the nuclear reactors to withstand severe earthquakes, but this one along with the tsunami wave overpowered many of their safe guards.

So there is a lot of talk taking place now among the “experts” and the national and international leaders of highly developed countries, like Japan, that face the potential of similar natural disasters. The questions that they are all discussing have to do with how they can provide for the safety of their citizens, as well as how they can help, in the face of such powerful natural forces.

I would hope that this disaster has also caused many people in Japan and around the world to reconsider what they really see as being “stable” and of lasting value in their lives. So many of us in the well developed countries of the world are surrounded by attractive homes and offices. In our daily lives we are made very comfortable by many things. We can get around in nice comfortable cars and easily communicate with our friends and relatives with various hand-held devices, so it is natural to begin to take such resources for granted as a part of one’s rights to daily life.

But such daily comforts and resources are not guaranteed as “stable” always present commodities for one’s daily life. In this blog I’m trying to get people to talk with me and others about “What is good?” in their lives. See these posts for related issues of concern: balancing budgets or lessons from the oil spill or this statement on my website at economic security . What good can come from this disaster in Japan? What is there in your life that is really stable and dependable? What has ultimate value in your life? What is there in your life that can’t be piled up in a mound of broken “stuff” or swept away by a huge wave or destroyed in a flood or a fire? Let’s talk about this.

Tags: bad news, earth quake, financial crisis, God's providential care, natural disasters, related news topic

Balancing budgets

Buys, Consumes, Does, Featured, Sees, Wants 2 Responses »

Feb 222011

Here is a good analogy for the scene that many people in the world today are seeing as they look around them. You are in a very high class restaurant on the top floor of a tall public building in the center of a big city. It is evening, and you and your lover are enjoying the beautiful view of the dazzling city stretched out below. You have ordered a full course meal of delicious entrees from the highly rated menu. You have already enjoyed your appetizers and are now waiting for the waitress to bring you the specially prepared entrees that you have been hungering for since you left home.

Just as you see your waitress emerge from the kitchen area with the tray of your food balanced on one hand above her right shoulder and the folding stand for the tray in her left hand, you feel the floor quiver beneath your feet. The water in your glasses begins to stir. The table begins to bounce and slide around. The beautiful chandeliers of dimly lit lights throughout the restaurant begin to sway, and you realize that the city is undergoing an earthquake. You catch a glimpse of your waitress as she tries to maintain her balance as everything is shaking beneath her feet. For a moment you wonder if she is going to be able to serve you the delicious entrees for which you have been waiting. Your ears are filled with the sounds of falling dishes, shattering windows, the screams of other guests, and the cries of frightened rioting children who are wondering what is going to happen to them and whether or not they are ever going to get the great desserts for which they have been waiting. You look to your lover as together you wonder when is the shaking going to stop and where you should go to be safe.

This analogy is not that different from the reality of the scene that now confronts many people in the world. The foundations of much that they assumed were solid are shaking. Many of the pleasures and the comforts that they anticipated receiving are now in jeopardy of being destroyed. They don’t know where to turn for help or where to go for safety. They don’t know how to calm the screaming crying rioting people around them. They don’t know when the shaking is going to stop. Those individuals who are in charge and on hand don’t seem to know exactly what to do or they can’t agree on a reasonable course of action. And you and those you love and many of the other “guests” may be really wondering about their ability to personally survive the chaos and the crisis that you all see unfolding before your eyes.

The economic structures of some of the major nations of the world are shaky, including that of the United States, and even the economy of China is reported to be quivering. The budgets for many states within the United States are in serious danger of collapsing. The budgets for some major cities and areas in the United States have been damaged almost to the point of being unworkable, and many residents have left for safer more stable “ground”. Riots are breaking out in unexpected places around the world. “Experts” and responsible civic administrators and even some dictators are scurrying around in their bunkers, various school districts, town hall meetings, and union halls to try to negotiate some reasonable acceptable solutions with those “in charge” and the “guests” in the “restaurant” to the economic crisis that fills their fields of vision. And the value of currencies and the supply of its “notes” in the various economic systems of the world that must be used to pay for all of the damages and to rebuild the “restaurants” have been drastically changed by all of the “shaking” that has taken place and the various financial adjustments that have been quickly made to try to prevent a disaster.

I don’t think that there are any quick ways to stop the shaking or glib speeches that can silent the screams and cries of those who are frightened or stop their riots. There aren’t any familiar stable fixtures that staggering “waitresses” can use to regain their balance as they try to finish their immediate tasks or running guests can use to keep their feet beneath them as they try to find a safe refuge, and there are no ways to recover many of the joys and comforts that have been lost when our luxurious surroundings have been shaken apart. There isn’t enough money to pay for the damage and the losses that have been experienced.

For an additional commentary on this matter see my statement on economic security .

What do you think of the “scene” that lies before you? What are you experiencing in your personal situation? How are you going to maintain some balance in the midst of the current chaos? What can we do to restore some order to the “restaurant” in which we all live? Let’s talk about this.

Tags: american economy, economic stress, financial crisis, political situation, related news topic, violence

A good king

Believes, Consumes, Does, Wants 3 Responses »

Dec 232010

Let’s pretend that you have become king of a vast domain with millions of people under your rule and lots of natural resources available to you and your subjects. You have absolute authority to make the laws and a judicial system to enforce them. Your term of rule is for as long as you are able to function or are forced out of your position by a more powerful individual or you choose to retire from the “throne”.

What laws would you make sure are on the books? Whom would they be designed to benefit and protect? Who would pay for the costs of their provisions? What priorities would you have for their enforcement? What benefits would you hope to see from their enforcement during the next decade or so?

Perhaps you can recognize that this is not simply a “pretend” situation. Because of your power and authority as a voter, you do have the ability to influence the legislative processes of a “vast domain”. And the consequences of the rules that are set by those to whom you have given legislative power will be felt by the citizens of your realm for decades to come. As a nation of diverse people we are going through some difficult times and changing circumstances for our lives as individuals and groups of working consumers. And we are expecting our “rulers” to rule wisely, but there may be some real differences between us in regard to what we understand to be good rules of behavior for our common lives and commerce.

Let’s talk about this. How would you answer the above questions? We are entering a time of crisis and change, and how you answer these questions may have some serious consequences for all of us during the next few years. OK “king” what is your will?

Tags: american economy, angry citizens, congress, consequences, difficult times, financial crisis, government program, legislative action, legislative processes, political matter, wise leadership

A good home

About where one, Buys, Lives, Receives No Responses »

Dec 122010

Home is a special place, and of course everyone wants one that is good. But no one has the privilege of choosing the home into which he or she is born. And during the first decade or so of one’s life, there isn’t much that anyone can do to change one’s home.

It is nice if one’s home is comfortable, cozy and warm when it needs to be and fresh and cool when it needs to be. It is generally expected that one’s home is a safe place in which to be. And that safety would probably be provided by the adult residents of the home who love each other and you and your siblings. So a home is expected to be a comfortable and safe place in which a family can live in loving relationships. It is these qualities that make a home different than a house, which is only a physical structure.

But everyone may not have a good home, a special place where they can be comfortable and safe. Some people today are “homeless”, which means that they don’t have a personal permanent comfortable and safe place in which to live. Some infants and young boys and girls have been denied the blessings of living in the home of the parents to whom they were born, so they are orphans. Maybe some of them have been adopted by other adults who will provide them with a home, which should be a comfortable and safe and loving place in which they live.

In this holiday season of the year, and during this time of extensive economic stress and uncertainty, it is well to give some thought to what makes for a good home. What makes your home good? How much “stuff” does it take to make a home good? What could make it better? Let’s talk about this.

Tags: dependent relationship, economic stress, family members, financial crisis, good feelings, homeless, orphans, relationships

Good education

Buys, Wants 6 Responses »

Apr 032010

There is a lot of attention and talk these days about education and the financial crisis that many governmental and private educational agencies are facing as they seek to provide students with a good education. The task of educating children, youth, and adults with the intellectual understandings and personal skills that will enable each of them to find a place in the large social and commercial organizations of people in our world takes a lot of time and money. And there doesn’t seem to be a basic core of agreements in regard to what these individuals need to learn at various stages of their lives, who is responsible to provide the necessary lessons at those stages, and who is going to pay the costs of the process.

Although there is some basic agreement that everyone needs to learn to read and to write and to be able to do basic mathematical calculations, disagreements begin to appear in the process when various people and agencies begin to consider what languages students must learn to read and to write and what standards of learning performance are to be applied to even some of these basic lessons. And these disagreements don’t even begin to touch or resolve those matters that have to do with the educational procedures for learning about science, history, culture (including art and music), athletics, and sex.

Some efforts have been made among educators and politicians and parents to address this challenge of reaching agreement on the basic goal of education, which are seen in slogans like “no child left behind”. But such slogans don’t often really define what is meant by “behind”, who is going to make sure that no students are “left” there, and who is going to pay the cost of the necessary process. And the president and congress are making changes in how students can get grants and loans for college expenses and how these will have to be met.

So we have local school districts, state legislatures, national representatives, public and private boards of various schools intensely discussing these matters and scrambling around trying to find enough money to carry on with the appropriate educational processes for students. In many cases, some of these districts and boards and agencies are laying off teachers and cutting back on classes in order to balance their educational budgets. And some of these cuts are being made without much thought being given to some of the basic needs of the students that they seek to teach. And some parents decide to teach their children some of the basic lessons in “home” schools or private schools while they continue to pay taxes for the funding of public schools.

I’ll just briefly mention a few of these “needs” that I’m not sure should be met by any public or private school teacher or be secured by non-personal funds. I don’t think that school personnel and school operations should be paid from public funds to feed students and transport them to school facilities. These services and their expenses should be completely provided by the parents of dependent students or the students themselves. And education in a person’s basic sexual nature and activity should certainly not be provided by any public or private teachers outside of one’s home. This process of education and training should be done by parents, but some of them are probably going to need a lot of help in getting the “lessons” right.

So I think that there is a lot more careful thought that needs to be given to this matter of providing students with “a good education”. What do you think? Who is responsible to teach children the basic personal understandings and skills that they need to have in order to find a place in society? And where can students get the appropriate educational training that will qualify them for jobs in the world-wide commercial marketplace? Let’s talk about this.

Tags: financial crisis, financial operations, good education, legislative action, local school, related news topic, state legislatures

Good health care

Believes, Buys, Featured, Receives 12 Responses »

Mar 032010

Good health care is not a personal right. It is a parent’s responsibility. Parents everywhere have the initial and basic responsibility to care for the infant(s) to which they give birth. If they have insurance to help with the costs of this initial care, that is fine, but it is not the responsibility of any government or other relative or neighbor or religious group or friend to provide the funds for this ongoing responsibility or service any more than it is the responsibility of any of these entities to provide the funds to anyone for the purchase and operation of a phone.

Any insurance benefits that are available to help with the costs of health care must come from companies or agencies that collect premiums from their customers who want this financial service. And they are only able to pay individual customers and their health care providers for the specific costs of health care procedures if they can maintain an excessive level of premiums over expenses, if they can make a profit from their business. They have to be able to attract a “pool” of healthy customers who will have a minimum amount of costs for health care during a reasonable time frame so that they can afford to pay the costs for their customers when they become sick or otherwise injured. These principles of business are true for any company or agency that is engaged in providing financial services for health care irregardless of the name of the company or the government program that provides the financial plan, which is the insurance policy. They are true whether the policies are secured voluntarily or through compulsory taxes or fees.

Once an infant is born, his or her body is no longer “new”. It is like a “new” car that immediately becomes “used” once it is driven off of the dealer’s lot or taken out of the display room. Then it is the responsibility of the owner or parents to maintain the car or the health of their child. The dealer may provide a warranty to cover some possible costly repairs to the “new” car, but these would only be effective for a limited period of time and they would basically only cover parts of the car that were not subject to a lot of poor maintenance or abusive driving habits, and the price of such warranties is included in the price of the car. Warranties for used cars are usually very expensive and very limited if they can be purchased at all. Health care is a legitimate cost of living for adults and their dependents even for those who are unemployed.

So insurance companies or agencies that agree to cover the costs of health care on the “used” bodies of their customers must be wise managers of their financial assets if they are going to maintain a necessary level of profits in their business. That means that they must recognize and take into account the personal factors, such as age and gender and health habits, of their customers. It is foolish to expect good business managers to ignore these factors by trying to force them to issue insurance plans without regard to the “pre-existing” health conditions of their customers. That is like forcing a car dealer to issue a service warranty on a used car irregardless of whether or not it was caught in a flood, involved in a crash, or just poorly maintained for years. Such an effort by congress to force insurance companies to ignore “pre-existing” risks, such as high blood pressure and smoking and health histories, is nonsense or poor business.

Our congressional representatives and the president should not be engaged in this current effort to reform health care, particularly the business practices of insurance companies who are seeking to provide individuals with some funds for the costs of this service. And they should not be seeking to put caps on the level of fees that private professionals can charge their customers and patients for the health care services that they provide. Such fees and premiums are matters of the business market place. This reform is not a responsibility of our government.

The health care reform that needs to take place in our society should not be focused on the insurance business or the services of health care professionals, but it should be focused on getting adults to recognize their responsibilities to provide health care for the children that they produce and to practice habits of good health. Such reforms could go a long way toward enabling them to maintained their bodies for many decades of comfortable living, although “old age” is basically not a preventable disease.

A lot of good health care could be established by going back to a previous plan by many insurance companies who would issue health insurance policies that would only cover “major” medical expenses, such as those that might come from unexpected medical emergencies or accidents. All other costs for health care would be recognized as being outside of these policies and within the personal responsibilities of adults. These costs would be for such services as for eye glasses and regular dental cleaning or braces and flu shots and blood tests and physical therapy. The service of emergency health care for the unemployed and the persistently poor should be provided by more non-profit medical clinics in our communities, with these being operated by caring charitable foundations, churches or synagogues, or other such agencies. Doctors and other health care professionals could be encouraged to spend a few years of service at a less than normal wage in such clinics in the course of their careers. This would take some of the financial pressure off of the hospitals that are profit-seeking businesses.

Good health care is a basic need for every person, and some reforms in this service are necessary. Let’s talk about what makes for good health care.

Tags: controversy, financial crisis, good health, government program, health care providers, insurance benefits, legislative action, related news topic

Good jobs

Believes, Does, Featured 10 Responses »

Jan 272010

There is a lot of talk these days from our political representatives, including the President, about creating more jobs and preserving jobs for Americans. They seem to understand that getting Americans back to work will stimulate the American economy. They seem to feel that it will help to give the owners of small businesses some tax credits and other financial benefits so that they will be able to hire more workers and getting more American workers engaged in the businesses of keeping America “green”. But I don’t think that it is the owners of small businesses who have laid off the vast numbers of workers who are unemployed, and I think that the workers that might be used in keeping America “green” will not be enough to put millions of Americans back to work.

I think that the big layoffs have been in the manufacturing and construction segments of American business. Americans are not making as much as they use to make, and many of the making aspects of what American companies produce and market have been outsourced to foreign companies or foreign divisions of American manufacturers.

I don’t think that the big problem of unemployed Americans will be solved until we bring these jobs back to American factories. It is time for Americans to return to making clothes, shoes, toys, appliances, and other commodities and working in the vegetable fields and fruit orchards of our country. It doesn’t make much sense to me for some major business executives to expect Americans to be able to buy their products when they are unwilling to pay them American wages to make them. “Cheap” clothing and other commodities and tax incentives and credit and bailouts cannot be a good foundation for American businesses and good jobs for Americans.

Americans used to have a lot of pride in the label that said “Made in America”. I think that this should be the basis for good jobs for Americans. What Americans make is what Americans can sell, and what Americans sell is what gives Americans enough profits to engage in the world’s markets, but a good day’s work in a good dependable job is the personal foundation for participation in this process. What do you think? Let’s talk about what is a good job for Americans and where are they going to find one.

Tags: American businesses, congress, controversy, financial crisis, related news topic, unemployed Americans

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