Delivering the Care

As Americans we care. About a lot of people, a lot of things, a lot of ideas. We see someone suffering and we respond. In many ways. Older citizens in small towns who can no longer paint their own home because of mobility and physical ailments, or cannot afford to hire someone to do it for them, get the house painted by volunteers. These folks come out of their churches on weekends and paint the house.

Others spruce up a yard the resident no longer can care for.

These two instances demonstrate the need for elder housing alternatives. Not all people can properly care for themselves or their homes due to age and finances. It is a simple fact of life. Even more so in this era of upside down markets for housing.

My mother told me once that she and dad never earned more than $20,000 a year. I’m not sure I believe her, but she is now 100 years old, and 40 years ago $20,000 a year was a decent income. Usually from one worker in the household. Today $40,000 a year doesn't properly support a family of four, let alone two.

Only the fortunate live to ripe old age without suffering severe economic problems. Care is needed for the survivors.

Caring is important in several ways. First, of course, it takes care of the person in need, easing the way for them day by day. But second, delivering the care does something for the care giver – usually the volunteer, you and I. The act of caring and delivering on that care pulls us outside of our own narrow internal existence. For a moment or two we forget our own problems. We enter a sphere of peace and calm that is focused on others.

A third way caring is important: economic benefit. The person in need receives the goods and services they can’t afford to pay for, but those who have the means pay it forward. The providers or vendors get paid for their supplies and that ratchets up economic activity. But more…the business partners gain from market knowledge working in these programs. To them it is a tax write-off maybe, or perhaps an economic disposal of surplus goods, a charitable endeavor that benefits their public image; but it allows them to gain understanding of the market place. Markets do not work for everyone’s benefit. This is a reality we all need to know.

Caring is also a concrete means of putting to work those fine and lofty principles we often speak of but rarely act on. We all are guilty of this lapse, aren’t we?  We say we are a Christian or Jewish or Muslim faith which means we ought to…but we rarely do.

Oft times it is imperative that we do practice what we preach. It’s good for us. Plain and simple.

I share with you this message from the internet the other day, it is an message printed on a tee shirt worn by a teenager:

“If religion were the key to morality, then mega-churches would look more like charities and less like million dollar businesses.” ~Author Unknown

Point well taken!

Delivering of care, however, has other dimensions. There are huge institutions created for and devoted to caring for special populations.  Harold Itzkowitz has it right when he said:

“You know what’s an even bigger scandal than the one at VA hospitals? The Iraq war that overloaded them.”

Imagine that! A government that claims to care, then messes up with an enormous war of mistakes, damages and kills our own troops, and millions of innocents in Iraq along with the ‘enemy’, then doesn't care for our own veterans and families when they return home suffering, dying or deceased. It is a shame our nation must shoulder. If we make war we must make lifelong reparations to those affected by it, especially those here at home.

You know, there is accountability for caring. There is also accountability for missions undertaken in our name by our political machinery. The latter does not discern among the Judiciary, Executive or Legislative branches of our government. State, federal or local, our governments work on our behalf for our behalf. They are accountable, sure; but so are we. We put these folks in those positions to do our work for us. And then we walk away? We let bad things happen in our name without correcting them?

The final quote today is this one:

“Back when I studied the Holocaust in school, I remember thinking, ‘how did Hitler get over 6 million people to follow along blindly and not fight back?’ then I realized, I’m watching my fellow Americans take the same path.” ~

Anonymous

The holocaust in our age is the damage done to youth who feel aimless and hopeless sucked into a life of underage booze and drugs, or elders dying homeless on the streets and under our bridges and overpasses. Or maybe it’s the under educated young people who fail to be motivated to learn and take charge of their lives in productive ways.

The modern holocaust is anti-gay prejudice, continuing racism in America, anti-immigration hate groups, private militias well armed and filled with rage and hate that spills over to produce mass killings and bombings.

When global militants misled by religious zeal – the religions kidnapped do not support militants or extremism so exhibited – capture innocent tourists, kill them and torture them as symbols of anti-Americanism, or anti global economics, or any other ism, then we have a new holocaust to contend with. ISIS in the Middle East is a good example of this holocaust. They are not elected. They are not educated. They are not religious (they say they are but they have their religion completely backward!), yet they march into the dessert, capture towns and entire countries, destroying homes, lives, economies and histories. Their form of nihilism is catching. It reverberates in anger among many other innocents who take up arms and join forces.

How sad. How horrid it is for the UN to combat, or NATO, or any other peace keeping force on earth. America is not the peacemaker. The job is too large. We Americans can make a different through our government and foreign policy, but we are not the sentinel of security for the globe. That job belongs to each and every person on the globe.

It begins with each of us, though. And we must step up to the plate and do our job.

Don’t be a victim of the new holocaust. It is very real. And it threatens us all.

August 26, 2014

           

Distracted

I surprise myself. I realize I have not written about distracted drivers. First, I encounter them every day on every road at every speed. Second, in Illinois it is illegal to drive while texting or talking on a hand-held phone. Third, research is beginning to catch up with accident data with respect to distraction as cause. The data is hard to capture but electronics are making it easier. Phone records prove a phone was in use for voice or texting purposes at times near the crash.

In our family the phone is left unanswered if the driver is alone. If another person is in the car the phone will be answered by that person. If the conversation is important, the speaker phone feature is employed and a joint conversation is engaged without the driver touching the phone.

Of course hands free calling is still legal in Illinois if blue tooth or built in phone connections are available in your car. Still, paying attention to the conversation, the connection (answering or sending a call) is a distraction.

Our rule in our house is simple: no calls, no texts. If you are expecting an important call or need to make one, pull off the road and attend to that business. Don’t do it while driving.

Other distractions abound as well: kids in the car, youthful driver with car full of youthful friends, laptop computer open on passenger seat so driver can scan his emails, important documents or other business reading materials in preparation for an approaching meeting. Let’s hope what’s approaching isn’t a collision!

I’ve seen women fixing their hair and makeup while driving. I've also witnessed nasty crashes while they were doing this, luckily not involving me.

My favorite is the car that lurches from side to side of its lane of traffic. You just know the driver is reading a text, dialing a call, or deeply embedded in a conversation. The driver thinks he or she is doing quite well at the task of piloting the car, but if they saw themselves through the eyes of observers they would blush. They are not in control of their car. Period. 

Dropping, swivel or quick moves of the head usually tell the story. It may take some time to realize what’s happening, but eventually the tell tale signs are there.  The driver is reading his phone, reading a report, or talking on the phone. Speeds slow down, lane changes without warning, you get the picture; the driver is so distracted he will be lucky to reach his destination unscathed.

I’ve begun honking my horn and flashing headlights to alert the driver that I’m on to him. I get angry reactions, but usually the car stops wandering all over the lane, and speeds pick up to natural traffic flow.

Remember, if you witness a truck driver (semi tractor trailers especially) driving while texting or conversing on a hand held phone, call 911 or other emergency number accessible by your cell phone. Report the trucking company firm, get the license plate of either the tractor or the trailer, and especially the time of the incident. Location, as well, please! That will give the state or local police something to go on to report and warn the trucking firm of the infraction. Most likely no ticket will be issued. What’s important is letting the trucking firm know its drivers are taking on huge risks. The motoring public is at huge danger when truck drivers engage in this illegal activity.

You all have your stories. Commuter traffic fouled up on the expressway and when you finally get past the slow vehicle you know the driver is on the phone or texting. We owe it to ourselves, our families, and to the general public to let these people know that what they are doing is dangerous to themselves and everyone else.

Join the ‘public posse’ and help educate these dunderheads.

Thank you for listening/reading this lament!

August 25, 2014

Thought for the Day

Envision the world. The globe. The starry nights. Then think on this quote:

“Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshiping.” ~Hubert Reeves

Powerful food for thought this weekend!

August 23, 2014

Dissonance 2

More of the political warp messages shared with you this day. This is Friday so I will be on another topic next week! Just had to vent my spleen on these issues. Thanks for allowing me this forum.

First quote:

“Never in the history of the United States has a political party devoted all of its efforts to the destruction of the Presidency at any cost to the American people.  We cannot in good conscience reward them with our votes this November.”

                        ~Len Miller, Occupy Democrats

I don’t know if it is the only time in US history this has occurred, but the pattern is clear. I seem to recall an all out vendetta against Bill Clinton, too. Remember the lawsuits that were personally levied against him?  $16 million in personal legal fees and court costs. This was some strange kind of blackmail. It makes you wonder why anyone allows themselves to be a target every time they run for public office? The payoffs are generally not worth the aggravation and personal costs. Congress people I can understand. They are well paid, work part time, get terrific benefits and have a worry free retirement.

Second quote:

“Next time someone blames Obama for our struggling economy, kindly remind them that every time he tries to do something to fix it, it’s blocked by Republicans in the House or filibustered in the Senate.  Want to see some real progress? Vote Democrat in 2014 and send the obstructers packing.”  ~The Blue Street Journal

The Constitution allows some minute safeguards to block votes on technical bases. How come the republicans seem to engineer use of these little known tricks and the Democrats don’t? I've never figure that one out. But a 60% super majority is not needed on every vote in the Senate. The ill-used technical rule has become THE rule and it needs to be repealed.  In the House clearly the republicans do not believe they are the board of directors elected by the people to serve the needs of the nation. They must believe they are in office only to serve their own narrow interests. They need to be removed.

Quote three:

I’m disillusioned by the people who are disillusioned by Obama, quite honestly, I am. Democrats eat their own. Democrats find singular issues and go, ‘Well, I didn't get everything I wanted.’

I’m a firm believer in sticking by and sticking up for the people who you've elected. If Obama was a Republican running, because Republicans are better at this, they’d be selling him as the guy who stopped 400,000 jobs a month from leaving the country. They’d be selling him as the guy who saved the auto-industry. If they had the beliefs, they’d be selling him as the guy who got rid of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, who got Osama Bin Laden. You could be selling this as a very successful three years.”  ~George Clooney

The recession alone killed government jobs and private sector jobs by the millions. This was the work of George W. Bush.  With nearly 8 million jobs eliminated, Obama entered the White House and reversed that toll. He has helped create 6 million private sector jobs by policy determination alone. The obstructionism of the House republicans have killed another 6 million jobs that could have been created.  And don’t forget, with a recessed economy and budget stinginess by the Congress, the federal government shed employees by the hundreds of thousands. The same occurred for state, county and municipal governments. Without the economy humming along creating employment and tax revenues, they had to cut their employment to fit their budgets.  Smaller government. Get it? There are millions of jobs nationwide that used to be in governments of all shapes and sizes. Those folks have not been asked to return to work yet.

Quote, four:

“The Bush tax cuts have cost Americans as much as $6.6 trillion in personal income, an amount that could easily pay off every car loan, student loan, and all credit card debt in the United States.” ~ Source: David Cay Johnston

The tax cuts were supposed to stimulate the economy. You remember, the ‘trickle down theory’? Well it didn't work. Instead it starved every government entity in the nation of revenues that had been used to support the economy. And the rich did not invest their expanded wealth. That’s why interest rates are so low. There’s now about $6 trillion of idle cash bouncing around the nation and global economy looking for investment opportunities. There are few. So large corporations use their cash pots to buy out other companies, giving those out of business a new cash pot to idle away time with. How utterly unproductive. And not inventive.

Quote number five: (this came off the internet; the quote is G.W. Bush’s. The comment cited is anonymous)

            “I promise a stronger and better economy.” ~ George W. Bush

“Then he completely destroyed the economy. He took 879 vacation days during his presidency. That is 2 years and 5 months of pure vacation time. Now it all makes sense. You would have to be totally stupid to trust the again.”

            ~Anonymous (assume a Democrat!)

What Bush said he wanted for the country he could not deliver because he didn't understand economics. He starved the federal government of needed funds and the ripple effect stunted all lower levels of government throughout the states as well. Then he went to war in Afghanistan (understandable) but with the wrong partner (Pakistan) and then adventured into Iraq with a war under totally false representations.  Those wars have cost the US Treasury about $5 trillion and still counting, not to mention the cost of taking care of our veterans and their families.

Bush’s stewardship of the American economy was a travesty of the largest proportions. And somehow the republicans blame this all on Obama while they continue to obstruct every move he makes to fix the long term problems.

One day Americans will better understand economics or we will go the way of the Roman Empire.  One must understand the basics to govern. Clearly many do not. And we all pay dearly for that.

August 22, 2014

           

Dissonance

The topic today is about reality and ideology. I have a few select quotes to present then I will make comments.

The first is from Warren Buffet, an Omaha, Nebraska hero of mine. Very wealthy in terms of money and asset value but even more wealthy in outlook, perspective, values. Here’s a taste:

“The rich are always going to say that, you know, just give us the money and we’ll go out and spend more and then it will all trickle down to the rest of you. But that has not worked in the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on.”  ~Warren Buffet

The second  is from www.StoryofAmerica.org which shared this quote the other day:

“Let us be clear about our choice. When we raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, no one dies. When we cut Social Security and Medicare, people die.”         ~Annabel Park

The third is from Occupy Democracy:

“When is the last time in our country we created millions of jobs? It was under Ronald Reagan.”  ~Sen.Rand Paul, 4/12/2014

“President Bill Clinton created 23 million jobs. Reagan created only 16 million.”

The fourth quote is from President Obama:

“Republican obstruction is not just some abstract political stunt. It has real and direct consequences for middle-class families all across the country.”

The fifth is from an unknown internet source:

            “Why America is severely broken:

Alice Walton is worth $21 billion dollars, while almost half of the employees at her family’s Walmart Stores are eligible for Food Stamps. American tax payers are expected to make up what she would have paid in taxes because she’s a ‘job creator’. American taxpayers are also expected to pay for her employees Food Stamps because the jobs she creates won’t pay enough to get by. Is it really so much to ask the ‘job creators’ in the USA to try and get by on a few billion dollars less so that American tax payers don’t have to foot the bill for their employees’ Food Stamps?”

I have more of this material. It pours in every day. You see it too. Perhaps you are tired of reading about it? Maybe you don’t even agree with it? Perhaps you don’t believe it?

I believe it because I am living it. I paid taxes all my life. I engaged in business, church and charities all my life. I supported my family, my kids’ education, and my ex wife’s retirement. But I’m barely making it. While republicans think I should be able to earn more income, they forget that few are hiring 71 year old people. They also forget I paid for the benefits I’m receiving. They also overlook the volunteer efforts I invest in my community and the future of our country. I don’t feel like a burden to anyone. But I’m labeled as such.

I’ll have more to say about this topic, but until we Americans understand that we are all one and the same, we cannot afford to let politicians play us against each other so they have power, money and influence. It is all directed toward them, not you and me.

The nation has problems, big ones. The politicians were elected to manage those problems and fix them. Yet here we are many years later still letting them talk a good game without the accomplishments we need as a people.

I’m sick of it. I hope you are as well. Next time ask them what they did for you and the nation before you give them your vote. Maybe after the elections of 2014 and 2016 we can finally get back to doing what needs to be done. I won’t tell you how to vote. You can decide for yourself. But for heavens sake be an informed voter.

August 21, 2014

Coping and Hoping - A Poem

One day the sky fell. Dropped like a stone.

Don’t know now, or then, why I felt like that.

But I did – abandoned, alone, struggling to understand.

Of course the sky didn't actually fall; it just felt like it had.

No clear cover overhead as expected. Just nothing.

What I knew had evaporated. A new normal was unthought.

What had happened to cause this feeling?

It was not a health issue of life or death.

No; it was different. Up was now down; in was now out.

The house was lost. Foreclosed. The clock was ticking.

“Immediate bankruptcy” advised the attorney.

You know, just to keep a roof over our head.

At least until we found a new place. Not like we hadn't

Explored all the options. We had been doing that for two years

And every possibility had evaporated. Like the house.

No lottery winnings to rely on. No support from the IRS.

No consulting gig plopping in my lap. Just nothing.

The money going, going, gone!

The house’s value dropped over $100,000 in six months.

Surely, I thought, it would recover. It didn't.

Instead homes in the neighborhood emptied, for sale.

Not just our neighborhood. Prized enclaves all over town

And nearby towns priced much higher than ours.

A collapse had happened. Then and now. It is still…

Heard the other day our housing complex had sold the last listing.

I doubt that’s true; others just waiting in the wings for a better time.

And now they think it is.

But it isn't. A quick drive through a tony town and in half a mile

I found maybe 15 homes for sale; a desired section of town.

With a big inventory of unsold homes.

The real estate depression in America still has life or what is opposite!

Homes are selling a little better; but not hugely.

Prices are not jumping; some continue to decline.

Upscale markets I’m told are hot. Wait until they have to sell

To take a transfer, or retire for health reasons, or…

Then what will pricing be? Not as good as they had hoped.

Still waiting for normal to return? Still hoping for recovery?

I doubt it is coming. Oh, a new normal will form.

But it is still being invented.

How do I know this? Because workers still look for jobs that don’t exist.

In fact, they look for jobs that are no longer needed.

New jobs titles are springing up. No takers are prepared for them.

New housing prices being worked out. New housing trends being adopted.

New Tiny Homes appearing on the trend scales. New downsizing targets adopted.

Selling the old place only adds to the woes.

But the jobs? The workers need to retool for the new jobs coming on the market.

These are data related. They are technology related.

They are opposite the obsolete now abandoned.

What is needed in business is now still available, just not valued.

Entrepreneur activity is needed. But dwindling.

Risk taking is a must, but not engaged.

If the government, any government – federal, state, county

Isn’t in the game to guarantee my risks, I won’t take it on!

This is not entrepreneurial thinking. This is blasphemy!

New job titles. New career preparations. New industries.

New ways of doing business. New customers and expectations.

Old companies in new apparel in disguise.

These companies must build relationships with customers.

They must not abandon that old reliable skill set.

If they do the new normal will be delayed.

I see mistakes. I see false hopes. I watch others dream.

But they do not invest in the dream. They have no skin in it.

A dream without substance is a wisp of nothing going nowhere.

Education is an investment. Invention is an investment. A dream

Is an investment of sorts. Making it come true takes discipline,

Hope, investment, and hard work. Commitment.

The new normal. It is trying to be born. We are not ready for it yet.

New industries. New services. New products. New ways of buying and selling.

New ways of working and earning a living.

When these are recognized and adopted a new normal will appear.

This will drive housing decisions and markets.

This will steer automobile decisions and markets.

Finally the interest rate markets will respond.

Finally the investment markets will grow.

Finally the normal will take shape.

Housing does not make an economy. It can destroy it.

Financing housing does not make an economy. It can destroy it.

Greed does not make an economy. It can destroy it.

What makes an economy is simple:

Hope, curiosity, education, value of life;

And investment, commitment and hard work.

These all come from individuals and families.

These do not come from government of any kind.

It is helped by institutions of education and caring.

But government does have a role. Just not one of control.

Politics is not an ingredient of hope but of greed and power.

Nope. The role belongs to the people, one by one.

This is our life.

This is our economy.

Let it become what it ought.

Then do your part. Diligently.

August 20, 2014

Kinder, Gentler Nation

I was talking with some young people the other day, late teens and up to mid twenties. They are aware of current events and issues but only because they flash by them on their hand held electronic devices. They have a lot of info and data screaming past them all day long. What they lack is the context of the happenings so they can understand the overall impact of them. That comes with time and experience and curiosity.

Someday they too will be as upset and anxious as I am with today’s America.

On the internet I found this ‘quote’. I suspect it was from another blogger who was trying to put into words what a lot of young people are wondering about today. Here it is:

“I am just learning and getting involved in politics. Do I have this correct? Republicans are against: children eating, healthcare for all, marrying who you love, education, science, global warming, a woman’s right to choose, veteran’s care, equal pay for women, Headstart, GMO free food, voter’s rights, the separation of church and state, and teaching evolution in schools? And people still vote for them?” ~Author Unknown

Yes, whoever you are! I think you summed it up pretty well. And the young folk I was speaking with the other day pretty much mirrored your statement.

The republicans have a problem with many voter blocs: women, youth, Hispanics, African Americans, gay/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgender Americans, the poor, the elderly and the elder poor. That just about covers 65% of the population. And they think they can win elections with such demeaning strategies.

The painful fact is they do win elections. Not just in special districts of like-minded people, but with people who just don’t get it and don’t pay attention. They like the republican label of 40 years ago and stick with the ‘brand’.

If the beleaguered among us forget to vote or simply aren't interested in voting, they toss the elections to the republicans. That’s the reality of a democracy. Not all people care enough to vote.

Meanwhile I imagine a world that cares about all of its people – the young poor kids who deserve a hand up with Headstart programs at local schools, the teens who need community experiences which lead to self discovery and career interests – and preparations for those careers – and a world where we care enough to feed hungry kids because they were born, and try to keep unwanted births to a manageable level. Pro-life activists need to feed the kids that were unplanned and unwanted. They need to figure out how to educate those same kids so they grow up in a world that wants them and values them.

As Eleanor Roosevelt said a long time ago:

“When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?”

I think the ‘when’ will come when average Americans vote their consciences and realize that dreaming together of better days leads to programs that work well. But first we have to dream.

Envision!

August 19, 2014