USA recovery checklist...

Instead of just criticizing and rebuking all the senseless politicos that run the USA and most countries of the world as I usually do...I end this year with a simple (and yes, oversimplified) checklist of what should be done to recover the positive values our country used to have.  

First and foremost...just because you are the Federal Government doesn't mean you can operate without a sane budget.  We must have responsible financial people in government who know how to balance a budget and reverse the deficit spending and take away the blank checkbook these politicos see to think they have. That also means the government cannot make commitments or entitlements it cannot fund.

Part of re-balancing the budget should include reduced global military spending and refocus those military budgets on more cost effective defensive technologies and weapons.  With Satellites and drones in our arsenal now, we don't really need thousands of boots on the ground in scores of different countries...unnecessarily putting soldiers in harms way with costs that are wasteful and ineffectual. If our armed forces support a foreign state, that foreign state should have to pay the tab for those resources, not the American people.

Put more of the federal budget into Research and Development of new businesses, technologies and industrial production. Instead of bailout moneys to failing corporations and banks, a federal government should simply incentivize private enterprise to domestically compete more effectively in the global marketplace and provide more jobs for the massive underemployed populations of our country.  Small, competitive business is the key to this, not slow moving, elephant sized mega corporations. The government should NOT be the fastest growing enterprise in the country. Reduction and streamlining should be the mantra of the day. Free and open markets need to be re-enforced by government...not controls and more regulations. 

Governments cannot mandate or legislate morality. Morality comes from the core of the society...its families and local institutions such as schools...and yes even churches for those who need them to control their darker sides. Quit prohibitions such as the war on drugs...and reapply those funds and efforts to education, trade schools and medical/psychological care for addicts and substance abusers. The substances are only symptoms of the problem...not the problem. It is a false sense of order when order is based on laws and punishments. People have the potential to regulate their own behaviors in a society of true values, mutual responsibility and education. 

Social securities of all forms should be paid and settled at the local level with gaps working  their way up to the national level.  Instead we have created an inverted pyramid where 500+ federal legislators are responsible for all the welfare and problems of the whole country.  You have to break this up to where local communities and each state has more responsibility...and resources...to handle the social needs and economic gaps in their communities.  Washington DC has obviously shown its inability to handle the welfare state we have become.

The USA needs to become the most competitive tax country for doing business.  This means DECREASING versus INCREASING taxes on productive businesses and corporations. This also means EQUALLY taxing all industries and businesses.  The USA tax code is hideous and full of exceptions and reductions for special interests and cronies of politicos in Washington.  We need simplification of taxation and incentives to hire American workers...not more regulation and costs put on the back of business leaders.  You are killing the cow in order to get more milk!

We need reductions of Federal powers and turn their focus to simply protecting our borders and foreign interests of our citizens...the federal budget could probably be reduced in half...and most of these congresspeople can be part time, voluntary positions for SUCCESSFUL Americans who don't need to be paid to serve their country in leadership.  No lifetime entitlements or extraordinary POWERS for legislators.  No "Cadillac"  healthcare plans that their constituents can't also qualify for. This will bring the great leaders of our country forward, and send the cockroaches of cronyism scurrying back to the holes they came out of. 

There you have it:

• Balance the federal budget
• Reduce external military spending in the world
• Spend more on R&D for business and technology leadership in the world
• Stop trying to legislate morality...especially that which is based on religion
• Social programs should run from the local government level, not vice versa
• Become more tax competitive in the world
• Reduce Federal powers by keeping more leaders local and more in touch with their constituents instead of serving big money interests in DC

Sure...these points are simplified macros...but they are doable. The current government leaders of the USA cannot begin to turn things around in our country until they agree on the fundamentals.  With no fundamentals agreed upon, all the complicated detailed solutions they discuss and argue about have no chance of providing a long or permanent solution.

So...there you have it...my 2013 wish list of changes I would like to see if the USA government is to have any chance of recovery. Only by agreeing on the fundamentals for recovery do we have a chance for restoring peace, love and prosperity to a country of people who have lost their way towards liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Prohibition is profitable

I have been writing this in my mind bit by bit for years now. It has become very evident to me that based on the ¨war on drugs¨, increasing excise and VAT taxes on drugs, alcohol and tobacco... and the increasing incidences of money laundering...PROHIBITION IS PROFITABLE!

It is obviously difficult to prove any large system of collusion or clandestine collaboration behind modern day prohibition, yet it is hard NOT to think that so many of our institutions are in cahoots in the continued proliferation of programs designed to make drinking, drug use and smoking illegal or hyper controlled.

It is a given that my Libertarian life philosophy (not political as you might note) runs against the grain of today's commonly accepted practices of religious and state sponsored programming that condemns or vilifies the huge populations in our societies that choose to drink, smoke or use recreational drugs. I am in no way suggesting that it is preferable to use or abuse any substances so readily available in natures world. Yet, I think it prudent for us to admit that for THOUSANDS of years, mankind has enjoyed and been fascinated by the in-gestation of various substances that might bring momentary physiological and/or psychological changes to our existence that sometimes produces pleasant affects for the living. It is also my observation that many millions of the world`s inhabitants use such substances for pleasure or for social enhancement without totally obliterating the rest of their daily pursuits. Those of us who appreciate freedom and individual pursuit of happiness should support every human`s right to make their own choices on consumption of substances as long as they are not impinging on the rights of another human NOT to consume or have their life affected by those that do so.

The COST of the drug war on humanity is greater and more devastating than any of the costly wars being fought in Syria, Afghanistan and various Arab states. Here are a few stats to mull over on the COSTS of the ill advised "drug war". Just a few to highlight are:

Amount spent annually in the U.S. on the war on drugs: More than $51,000,000,000

Number of people arrested in 2011 in the U.S. on nonviolent drug charges: 1.53 million

In 2007, the cost of illicit drug use totaled more than $193 billion. Direct and indirect costs attributable to illicit drug use are estimated in three principal areas: crime, health, and productivity.

Crime includes three components: criminal justice system costs ($56,373,254,000), crime victim costs ($1,455,555,000), and other crime costs ($3,547,885,000). These subtotal $61,376,694,000.

Health includes five components: specialty treatment costs ($3,723,338,000), hospital and emergency department costs for non-homicide cases ($5,684,248,000), hospital and emergency department costs for homicide cases ($12,938,000), insurance administration costs ($544,000), and other health costs ($1,995,164,000). These subtotal $11,416,232,000.

Productivity includes seven components: labor participation costs ($49,237,777,000), specialty treatment costs for services provided at the state level ($2,828,207,000), specialty treatment costs for services provided at the federal level ($44,830,000), hospitalization costs ($287,260,000), incarceration costs ($48,121,949,000), premature mortality costs (nonhomicide: $16,005,008,000), and premature mortality costs (homicide: $3,778,973,000). These subtotal $120,304,004,000.

Taken together, these costs total $193,096,930,000, with the majority share attributable to lost productivity.

These costs above don't begin to touch the cost of destroyed lives who because of criminalization and felony convictions cannot get an education, job or find acceptance in society.  If you run the millions of incarcerated numbers above by the amount of welfare they must rely on upon reentering society...I'm sure those numbers would be staggering. I'm still looking for valid data on that front.

So...WHO profits from all these trillions spent or lost to the "drug war"...and why might they have selfish interests to maintain the devastating status quo? Well, lets see...lawyers and court systems gaining over $61 Billions per year in spoils of the "war".  Healthcare industry gaining over $11 Billion. And how about the $51 Billion that flow through the federal government coffers to "fight the war".  Where is this money going?  Who profits from that?  If you think about it clearly for just a couple minutes...you should understand why the institutions of the USA are so anxious to promote this war and pass more and more laws.

While I will not take space here to count the various cases in the world, please accept the fact that various governments and militaries of the world have been in COLLUSION with the illegal trafficking of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other "illicit" drugs. Do you think these government and military entities want to go without the budgets and profits that this "war" brings in?  Sure, billions are confiscated each year in various global locations in the "fight", but where do those billions go?  Do they burn up the cash, homes, cars, jewelry, bank accounts and other valuables confiscated from the illegal traders?  Of course not!  They go into various government coffers to "continue the good fight".

The "drug war" of today is the biggest "smoke and mirrors" issue in global politics.  There is no justice in the current laws and prohibitions! All we have done is take money OUT of the hands of users and sellers...and put them in institutional coffers world wide...to produce more guns and arms to control the world with...or continue lining the pockets of drug lords and cartels. There is no justice in these statistics produced by former President Jimmy Carter who while being a socially conservative religious leader has spoken out against the fallacy of "drug wars"...

• The Global Commission on Drug Policy reported that between 1998 and 2008, global use of opiates increased 34.5 percent, cocaine 27 percent, and cannabis 8.5 percent.
• Carter said when he left the presidential office in 1980, 500,000 people were incarcerated in America.  At the end of 2009, the number jumped to 2.3 million.  If the number of people on probation and parole are included, the figure totals 7.2 million people, or more than 3 percent of all US adults.
• In 2011, 50.8 percent of Federal inmates are incarcerated for drug offenses.  This compares to just 4.2 percent for robbery, 2.7 percent for homicide/assault/kidnapping, and 4.7 percent for sex offenses.
• Since the mid-1990s, violent crimes (murder, rape and sexual assault, robbery, and assault) and burglary have steadily declined.  What has skyrocketed is arrests for drug offenses.

While I am sure there are many justifications projected behind this institutional "war on drugs" that I am not aware of or even imagined yet...I don't need more proof or statistics than we have already stated to assure me that prohibition and drug wars are hurting the masses to the benefit of the institutions that manipulate them.  As former President Carter himself concluded and I agree with...

1. Decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and add a full program to treat addicts.

2. Remove mandatory minimum sentencing and “three strikes you’re out” laws.

3. Don’t rely on controlling drug imports from foreign countries.  It doesn't work and is responsible for “a terrible escalation in drug-related violence, corruption and gross violations of human rights in a growing number of Latin American countries.”

4.  Experiment with legal regulation of drugs and thus take away the power of organized crime.

The 18 states in the USA who have legalized medical uses of Marijuana are starting in the right direction on this topic. It is time to take this issue out of the control of federal governments and organized crime.  This dance is only benefiting them...at a huge cost to the majority masses who either enjoy recreational drug use or don't really care about the issue.  Lets stop funding this unconstitutional and costly "war" that only organized crime and institutional governments are profiting from. This war can only be won by educating the masses, bringing values back to the home and family, giving people more productive things to do with their time and money than using drugs (such as perhaps a good job on the line making these substances?), and not victimizing or criminalizing users in the privacy of their own homes.  By decriminalizing drug use, we will bring millions of currently disenfranchised citizens back to more productive and inclusive citizenship. By decriminalizing drug use, we will have much more money for productive activities such as education, counseling, treatment centers instead of prisons...and just a basic advanced humanitarian approach to helping and supporting those who are addicts.

These decades of criminalization have not worked.  Let give peace and tolerance a chance to sort out this issue in our society.  Organized crime and Big Brother have had long enough to profit from the "war". Lets now take them out of the game and let markets and regulation of product quality and production determine the price and distribution of these substances.

Iraq thanks us...

In case you missed it, here is an article featuring the latest "thank you"  from our "friends" in Iraq. You know...the people we liberated from that tyrant Saddam Hussein at a cost of  "about $1.9 trillion...or $6,300 per U.S. citizen". Oh...and don't forget the cost of almost 5000 American lives.  Almost twice as many people as died on 9/11 in New York.

Now our Iraqi friends are one of the sole suppliers and supporters of the Syrian butcher President Bashar al-Assad. Are you still feeling good about our USA government's invasion of Iraq to get rid of "terrorists"?  Thanks Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Obama...

As every week and month unfolds more of the demise of American international foreign policy and interventions...my despise and abhorrent reaction grows deeper and more sure against my home country's government. They continue to spend our tax dollars and invest many future generations of our children's economic futures for the sake of these sick wars and interventions.  I truly believe 50-60 years from now history will find these governmental leaders and decisions to be the most ill advised and ludicrous examples of leadership in the history of the USA. 

An even sadder revelation is realizing that Iraq is working WITH Iran to support the oppressive government of Syria. What a sad outcome based on our national arrogance and irrational egos that continue to determine the fate of our country and economy in the face of these real facts and results.  This is the same game these Arab states have been playing against various USA administrations for decades now. When is enough enough?  When will someone in our country stand up against our government's wasted efforts and lack of understanding in the Middle East?

You are welcome Iraq. Enjoy your new found "freedom".  Excuse me while I go to the restroom to vomit in disgust.

Nice Guys Finish Last

The morning after the USA election and it looks like Obama at the helm for another 4 years. What does this tell us?

As mentioned in previous blogs this season, I have been openly critical of Mitt Romney and the Republicans not being able to muster more intellectual positions from which to take down a President I perceive as weak and inexperienced.  Yet, for all the hyperbole, dodging positions and outright falsehoods in this race, I think it primarily comes down to one thing. ¨Nice guys finish last¨.

During the 3 Presidential debates, Romney started out so strong...really throwing Obama and the Dems for a loop with his aggressive but rational style, not letting up on the incumbent president for a minute. In the second debate, Obama used some of the same medicine in defense towards Romney, and finally in the 3rd debate he had Romney agreeing with just about every decision he had made the past four years. To me this was cowardice and bad strategy for the challenger. I had the feeling he was surrounded by advisers who were overly calculating and risk averse. Romney of course had come out with some significant guffaws during the campaign...but finishing up the campaign trying to be the ¨nicest guy¨ in the room truly backfired in my opinion. Most of us were looking for fire and passion behind real answers and truth. Instead we got someone trying to be the next ¨Reagan¨...and that just doesn't work anymore.

You see this play out constantly in every day life. In all arenas of competition, it takes warrior style effort and passion to win.  In football, tennis, golf...most every sport demands total devotion and concentration on WINNING. There is no other acceptable outcome but to WIN.

I never felt that passion from Romney.  I think he is truly a nice guy.  He obviously has a nice big family and a supportive wife. He is RICH, which means he has won at some levels of the competition.  Yet, I don`t think he had the fire or passion sufficient to defeat Obama and the socialist agenda of the Democratic party. He did not galvanize the average American to get behind his leadership.

I also think we have seen the death of the religious right controlling American politics.  Personally I welcome this. I think average Americans have tired of combining appeals in religion and politics. It does not take a political position to decide what faith one believes in...and obviously people of ¨faith¨ do not necessarily make better political leaders.  Just look at Jimmy Carter and George Bush.  Both men of evangelical persuasions...yet in my book two of the weakest presidents of my lifetime.  Nice guys even...well, at least Jimmy Carter is.

Nice guy Romney unfortunately no longer serves as the ¨poster image¨ of what an American, or American president, is. America in just a few short decades has homogenized its racial and cultural heritage to finally include men and women of all colors and religions. WASPish Americans can no longer assume their power or control over the American democratic process. Hispanics and Independents have now registered their displeasure with that status-quo that assumes a white anglo saxon protestant is the defacto elite of America. Even in the back-doors of power...that to me being the bankers and billionaires that pull the politicians strings...multi-ethnicity is in...the white-man in the white hat is out. The system is now more controlled by immigrant bankers and global corporate industrialists such as George Soros and Rupert Murdock. These are not religious or principled men of distinction.  They are ruthless warriors with REAL money.

Today´s America no longer has tolerance of extremists or fundamentalists such as the religious right`s Pat Robertson or even Muslim extremists such as Louis Farrakan.  Today`s generation of independent Americans are looking for real solutions not based on old school slogan-ism or drinking Koolaid at the political trough of either main party. The world at large is tired of waiting for ¨trickle down¨ economics.  There are no more excuses for the richest nation on earth NOT to have some form of healthcare that covers all.  Obamacare may not be perfect...but obviously enough people want it so they reelect its author. If anything, Obama may have been very shrewd to tie his name to such legislation...since a majority of Americans are under or non insured.

And should we be surprised that a supposed darling of Wall Street like Mitt Romney should be rejected in his bid to lead the Federal government? It was Obama who rightly or wrongly bailed out all the big boys of Wall Street in 2008. It was Obama who amazingly has continued many of the Bush era policies of ¨fighting the war on terror¨, extending and even adding provisions to the unconstitutional ¨Patriot Act¨, and allowing the FED a free hand to keep the currency printing press going without limits. It seems to me Obama became an unintended Republican in many of his actions. I even heard a news commentator call him more of a ¨moderate Republican than a Progessive Democrat¨ yesterday. Wow.

And of course, very few mainstream Americans were attracted to the image and honest medicine of my last remaining political hero, Congressman Ron Paul. I truly believe that if Romney had been able to swallow his pride, shun the moneyed brokers behind him of the super conservative set, and had taken on more of the truthful change that Ron Paul stood for...he would have won the election.  But now we will never know.

What will be interesting to observe the next four years is how President Obama handles his power and his party.  Will he create a legacy of real leadership, do away with his tendency to try and please everyone, and really take his power seriously?  Does he truly have the people skills to work through the huge divides of Congress and the American people themselves to turn the economy around while still covering all his socialist agenda positions? I personally think he is going to have to ¨walk on water¨ in order to achieve that. For American´s sake, I hope he does.

Unfortunately, I tend to think we are going to have 4 more years of BIG government, increased regulations, government mandated redistribution via taxation...and less influence of the ¨white guys¨.  Nice guys finish last...and while I don't think the ultra conservatives in business or the Republican party are really nice guys...I think you will now see some real ugliness raise its head in this divided nation. The next civil war will not be between North and South, Black and White.  It is going to be the ¨Elite¨ against the growing masses of lower and middle class Americans...and nobody is going to be ¨nice¨ anymore. Atlas Shrugged...here we come.

Back to Center...

Even more than usual, this election cycle in the USA has been a battle of extremes...mostly extreme right and extreme left...conservative versus progressive.  The good thing is that I think many of us have had to re evaluate our positions and compare our  ideas with the elite extremists of all persuasions that seem to run the USA government and medias.

Part of growth and evolution of the human mind is about being open minded and willing to re evaluate our opinions based on new information or observations. While it is obviously hard to take seriously someone who changes their minds often...I have grown to respect those who over a decade or more have evolved into different modes of thinking.  Unfortunately this is rare in this life.  Most people, especially those over 50, are very unlikely to change their mind or beliefs that they have blindly or knowingly maintained all of their lives for no real reason at all.  To me, for man to evolve in a more positive direction, one must always be willing to reexamine the evidence and nature of his thoughts and beliefs, compare those thoughts with facts and reality...and then act upon what he knows without apology or question.

Election seasons are always a good time to compare our positions against the onslaught of hyper opinions and ¨spin-meisters¨.  I have found this season to be unusually brutish and devoid of real content when it comes to examining the positions each candidate represents.  Just within my limited network of friends and family, I have found it saddening to see many attacks from left and right that have been simply personal, without truth or rationale behind them. The more extreme someone is right or left, it seems the more blatant and hateful the attacks are. Some of these attacks come from otherwise nice, religious oriented folks who seem to oversimplify the myriad of issues we need to know about before making informed choices of who we vote for as leader for the next four years.

Many people in my network this season have found that while I have many fundamental opinions about how I perceive the issues...it has been hard to peg me with a particular label. This makes many uncomfortable. When it comes to politics and religion, I think I have found what I term a middle ground position between all extremes of institutional parties and religions. I have come to think that Rodney King had a point so many years ago...¨can`t we all just get along¨ regardless of our race, creed or political persuasion?

It would appear the answer is NO. This current political race has brought to the surface once again our nation´s ¨Achilles heel¨ of racism and class division.  The elites that HAVE do not want to share with those who don't ..and those who don´t have want to legislate their ¨unfair¨ share with government led redistribution.  Most affiliations and institutional beliefs are dictated by what side of the proverbial tracks somebody came from.  While that is understandable, it still doesn't bode well for the idea of human evolution in a positive direction, and basically relegates everyone to the ¨box¨ they grew up in.

A fundamental principle that I still believe is that ¨to whom much is given, much is required¨.  While that can be interpreted in many ways, for me it fundamentally means that if you grow up in wealth or have the good fortune of making good...you end up being responsible for what you do with that good fortune. If we allow it to be heard, I believe every human has an inner voice that says ¨share in a responsible way with those in your path who need a lift up¨.  It is a version of the ¨Golden Rule¨ that is either innate or learned along the way in life.

In my 50+ years I have changed a lot from the ¨box¨ I grew up in.  One could say, the acorn somehow fell far from the tree.  Who I am, the way I think, how I feel, my passions and pursuits... haven't really changed that much. But, WHAT I think and believe has changed immensely based on lifelong reasoning, experience and basic trial and error. I have come to the position that Shakespeare was right when he said ¨to thine own self be true¨.  This is the core of integrity and truth. This to me is the ultimate meaning of life.  Its more about the journey than it is ¨arriving¨.  While I have not yet arrived, I am much closer to understanding what this life is about than I did in my teens or twenties. I guess that is progress...

All of this to say, I think overall I am arriving to a centrist position on most of today`s battles of thought or reasoning.  I don`t believe socialism works...but I believe to be humane we must have a heart for helping those less fortunate than ourselves.  While I tend to believe in Capitalism as the best way to manage economics, I don´t believe we can have Capitalism without some level of social responsibility for the truly poor, needy or handicapped.  For the richest nation on earth to not have a safety net of basic care and concern for the poor and needy is unconscionable.  But then again, if the poor and needy are not willing to lift a finger for their own plight...that has to be taken into account as well.  Everyone needs to be accountable to the other. If you help me, I am accountable to you for what I did with your help...and vice verse.

I think the world`s institutions have proven that a united approach to the world`s conflicts is very unlikely. It is down to the ¨power of one¨ to change and influence our world for better or for worse. I have always thought that the problem of world poverty and hunger is not about ¨supply¨ but about ¨distribution¨.  At the core of the distribution issue are nation states who roadblock that distribution based on greed and coveting of the leading families and governments of those nation states. There is inherent institutional corruption at the core of the world order of things. There is very little truth and justice in how world agreements are arrived at.

I learned long ago that the world at large really doesn't want to change or ¨be saved¨ by my particular agenda or understanding, and there is increasing mistrust of the worlds institutions. We don´t trust people of other races, religions or political parties.  Most people find it hard to arrive at central, common ground when it comes to politics or beliefs.  That is why we have such a divided government...which reflects the divided country we come from.

I do believe the best American trait that I have believed in from growing up in America is that of independence and sovereignty over our own lives.  Traditionally Americans have believed at the core that they are free to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without interference from governments or religions. Unfortunately, many of us are now abdicating our liberty for going along with the ¨new order¨ of things.  Our media and education systems continue to dilute the independent American spirit. To me, neither party in power in the USA is running on this kind of American ideal, and yet a majority of Americans don´t seem to care about those ideals anymore either, and that is reflected in the voting booths.

I do think the independent centrists will determine the American election next week. Many of us will vote our consciences with smaller third parties.  Others will decide they want to have a 50/50 chance of siding with a likely ¨winner¨.  Personally, I think we lose with either main party candidate and platform right now.  Neither leading candidate has a unifying agenda.  I guess we will have to wait another four years to hopefully see a more centrist, moderate leader for the world`s most powerful and influential nation.

Is Panama an Illusion?

(This is the second blog of a series written about "Living in Panama". Please refer also to "Is Panama Safe?",  "Pros and Cons of Living in Panama",  and "Further Notes on Panama Living")

What is the real story on Panama?  Does anyone really know whats going on here?

I have been in the middle of some interesting discussions today on the local Panama political issues.  Having been woken up at 7:45AM last Saturday morning by screaming protesters on megaphones shouting slogans in Punta Pacifica…I have been forced to read and face some of Panama`s political realities today, like the current political uprisings in Colon.  In 8 years of living here I have always sensed this cultural and political undercurrent that does not support the kind of modern face we have  revolutionizing the skyline of Panama City. Let’s face it, Panama is still a country in its infancy of a little more than 100 years since its breakaway from Colombia.  Even that breakaway was brokered more by foreign powers like the USA than by a local sovereign decision, revolt or ¨Declaration of Independence¨.

Panama is an interesting place no doubt…a small sample country of multiculturalism and racism.  It is a mirror in a small way of the issues confronting our whole world. A large majority are poor, uneducated and backward compared to first world countries.  Except primarily for the singular effect of the Panama Canal…these hundred years have not really brought development of a cohesive, singular culture or country.  Instead, it is a small country made up of small groups of a vast variety…from the indigenous native Indians such as the Cuna, Embera,  Ngäbe-Buglé and others from pre-Colombian times, to the Spanish families spanning back to when Panama was part of the Spanish empire for 300 years (1538–1821). Then, on top of that you have the variety of West Indians, Caribbean and Asian migrants who were encouraged to come build the Panama Canal at the turn of the 20th Century, making this country a very diverse and unique country at the hub of Latin America.  That diversity alone accounts for a lack of cohesion and unity among all those calling themselves ¨Panamanian¨.

One could argue that the REAL Panama is only just beginning, and like any newborn country or person…a sense of identity and solidarity with the rest of the world is difficult to define.  We have in the past decade seen a huge modernization of Panama City from a structural and development standpoint.  We are currently in the middle of the biggest canal expansion in the world since the canal opened in 1914.  Yet, underneath all the changes and Billions of dollars of investment in the country, there lies some fundamental lack of definition of what it means to be ¨Panamanian¨.  To some, Panamanians are defined by the post Bolivarian revolt for independence from Colombia which is celebrated on November 3 each year.  For others, their family roots are in the migration for building the canal.  For still others, they claim their identity to Panama as ¨Zonians¨,  having been born and raised in the Canal Zone which had a completely different set of laws and culture from the rest of Panama…primarily based on North American influence and European origins.  In this short history of an independent nation, one can question whether the vast majority here have ever been truly free and independent…meaning having equal access to markets, the rule of law and freedoms of expression most usually associated with the USA system of constitutional rights.

Recent history reveals three key eras of leadership and control of Panamanian governments.  From 1903 until 1968, Panama was a constitutional democracy dominated by a commercially oriented oligarchy which came to be controlled by mostly Spanish and Jewish families who owned most of the businesses and money flow outside of the USA government and canal resources. During the 1950s, the Panamanian military began to challenge the oligarchy's political hegemony and Panama became more of a military junta run by Omar Torrijos as a revolutionary of ¨the people¨, and later continued by Manuel Noriega after Torrijo`s mysterious death in an airplane crash. The most recent era began with the 1989 USA invasion which was prompted by a number of USA interests to back the restoration of democracy from the hands of the militarist Noriega regime. One would now argue that the oligarchies are back in control of big business and this reflects many back door deals to gain advantage of the investment interests in Panama.  After all, Panama is STILL the largest financial center in Latin America in terms of volumes of dollars and numbers of banks and financial institutions domiciled here...which to me is about the only explanation for current development levels.

So, how is it that with all this modernity…we still have constant social unrest?  We have socialist or communistic labor and student groups demonstrating and blocking the streets at will.  We have Indigenous people blocking the only highway connecting the city with the Interior as the only way they can think of to protect their Comarca private lands and water sources from mining, hydro dams and other commercial interests in the interior.  Now we have the ¨Coloneses¨ up in arms over privatization of public properties in the largest duty free zone in the hemisphere. While some would say you have similar scenarios throughout Latin America, I see Panama as being quite small to be so full of such dissension and political unrest.

While the army was deactivated after the 1989 invasion,  the current militarization of the police force based on justifications of the ¨drug war¨ or even potential guerrilla infiltration from the Darien border with Colombia has one wondering if we are not reaching new levels of a military buildup in this small country.  The dance between the President, the legislature, the courts and the police have one´s head spinning in the press on a daily basis. Some days it is hard to know who is in control of this country whose population is smaller than Greater Chicago.  For me, it doesn't take much to turn a small country like this into a broiling hotbox of contention and violence.

There is no doubt we are seeing increasing instances of crime in Panama.  Along with that come increasing police training and activation.  Every couple years we see massive police and security checks on most main roads in Panama.  Maybe a page they learned from Colombia of the past 20 years or so?  And now this week we see a new level of conflict over the Free Zone property rights in Colon.  With reports of 48 people arrested, several injuries and one dead child of 9 years of age…it reminds one that peace and tranquility is but an illusion, even here in small, beautiful Panama.

The distance between the haves and have nots has definitely increased during my past 8 years here. Cost of living in my personal experience is up 30-40% depending on what lifestyle you maintain here.  That is roughly 8% per year…and much higher than government indicators want you to believe. Believe me, the locals pay levels have not gone up at those percentages.  Yes, unemployment is lower than it used to be, but cost of living is higher.  The poorer populations are being pushed OUT of the city with rising real estate prices and transportation costs…yet most of the jobs are IN the city.  Commuting to Panama right now is every commuters nightmare.  Many of us are now choosing to work from home offices instead of trying to commute to an office.  Transportation is gridlocked most days, and the Panamanian aggression and law breaking behind the wheel is at an all time high.  

Average costs of new condos in Panama are around $2000 per Meter, yet rental prices do not support those prices if you are looking for real income. Who is going to buy all these myriad of developments STILL going up in the middle of the other dark, uninhabited towers?  Does somebody know something I don´t about coming hoards of tourists or businesses to Panama?  Where are they going to find the trained workers to fill all these offices they are building across the street from me? I personally don’t see it…and I like to think I get around. Billions have been spent on infrastructure…but educational spending as percentage of government expenditure is at the bottom of the barrel regionally according to these statistics. This fact will grow to be one of the most limiting factors in Panama´s future development potential.

So, what happens if the people or the industries don’t come as planned to Panama?  What happens if the American dollar is devalued against other currencies ( I have already seen the Colombian peso rise over 35% in value over the dollar the past 4 years)?  What will happen if a more Leftist leader comes to power in Panama and leads a Venezuelan style ¨Bolivian¨ revolt against the oligarchy or the perceived or real imperialism of the USA and other foreign powers over Panama? What happens if to meet its new gorging debt obligations, Panama is forced to levy new taxes and austerity measures on the people who can least afford to pay those debts?  We have already seen huge tax increases in Panama the past 5 years…from VAT to corporate to excise taxes on ¨luxury items¨.  At what point do we start seeing a reverse emigration of moneyed people and industries going to other countries in the region because of these combined causes?  I already know a number of foreigners and businesses who have reversed their decisions to domicile in Panama based on many of these issues.

I have been discussing some of today’s issues at a distance with people who I am convinced would rather see Panama and Panama City pull back from the modern city it is becoming.  There are many new voices of socialism and redistribution in Panama media and politics.  I sense a fire brewing…and I don´t see current leaders doing anything to douse those fires of insurrection and violent revolt.  Killing a 9 year old in Colon doesn't help…and militarism alone is not a medium or long term solution to the problem.  Yet, there seems to be no one capable right now to lead the wide range of interests in Panama in a unified direction.  If you watch the local news each day…and worse yet watch the Government Assembly in action on the local cable network…you will begin to realize how divergent and conflicted the interests are in Panama.  As throughout much of the developing world,  people are in a ¨gimme gimme¨ mode towards their governments.  They vote for whoever offers the most temporary support, or ¨candy¨ as I call it.  No one votes for reality or tough policies of correcting debt or corruption.  No one seems too excited about constitutional rights to due process of law. Only if you have enough money can you get access to due process…and that’s not just in Panama.

¨The People¨…in Panama and elsewhere…are insecure and angry.  If the powers that be do not take heed and salve some of their issues and wounds, there will soon be a ¨Latin spring¨ that could make the Arab one look like milk toast.  When that happens…I want to be somewhere else.

Go For It...

I have gotten to the point where I don´t like to watch a lot of professional sporting events on TV. It has become very obvious to me that today`s overly paid and highly exalted sports stars in many arenas are starting to cop out on their play.  

You see this the most in NFL football...you know...the quarterback runs and slides to the ground before he gets hit...often 1/2 yard short of a first down or touchdown.  But you also see it in other sports such as soccer, basketball, and baseball.  In soccer you see guys miss a key shot or header, then gets tapped by an opposing player who supposedly causes him to fall to the ground, writhing around like a spider in a hot frying pan...looking to draw a penalty and all too often getting the desired results from sympathetic referees.  Today's replay cameras seem to have no effect on what these players do even though they know the next day the evidence of their play acting is so damning.  In basketball and baseball we see more and more guys not jumping into the crowds to rescue errant balls or make a play.  It is as if to say...I am paid too much for too little time to take a chance ending my career by going for that ball.  For me, I miss the old guys like Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr and various other old style quarterbacks who used to do everything they could to reach a first down or touchdown.  Players back then were allowed to play with half as many rules and less padding.  Most of the older players never made more than a couple million dollars their whole careers but always played to win.  Many of today´s players make 10-20 Million per YEAR...and still wont take a risk.

In business...and life in general...I see this phenomenon playing out too often. People are not willing to ¨go for it¨ when it comes to reaching their goals or dreams.  It is much easier to take the safe road...play by all the rules and fit in to all the stereotypes of the society around us. I believe a majority of people I meet now are living lives of ¨quiet desperation¨...working in jobs or professions they hate...living in relationship to people they don't love, like or respect.  Others live in total solitude because they have been hurt in previous relationships and are not willing to risk ¨getting hurt again¨. For most people it seems more important to play politics and be a ¨team player¨ in corporate settings versus standing out or standing ON principles.

While the masses tend to shun individuality...they still elevate the few characters who are willing to live on the edge, take huge risks and live through tremendous highs and lows in this life. The masses are not willing to live or replicate the actions or attitudes of these few, but they sure love to talk about them and revel in their spectator-ship of these people who are truly ¨going for it¨.

I have been reading the newest biography of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers, who died last year. Here is a guy who while obviously intelligent was one of the most erratic, unpredictable and often despised personalities of the Computer age. Steve had all kinds of hangups and psycho baggage from being an orphan and growing up in the tumultuous late 60s and 70s of anti establishmentarianism (see...I´m not afraid to make up a new word).  Yet, for all his weaknesses and lack of social graces, this guy pushed and focused on what HE wanted to do and create.  He allowed his brilliant mind and strengths to overcome his perceived doubts and weaknesses.  In his 57 short years he lived and tried more things...from lifestyles to religions to businesses...than a hundred other people might combined in that time-frame   He was willing to ¨break the rules¨ and live originally...and he despised other people who didn't.  He didn't care whether people liked or hated him...as long as HIS goals were achieved.

While I am not alluding that Steve Jobs as a person should be our role model of human behavior...I do think his devotion and passion for what he set out to accomplish SHOULD be one of the most inspiring models of our generation.  He wasn't always right...but he was right more than he was wrong.  He failed at a number of things, but he succeeded in two or three key goals that made him who he was and brought all the security financially he needed in this life.  Yet...he was never really about the ¨money¨.  He was about the hunt or pursuit of his dreams. He was about pushing boundaries further and further outside of his and others comfort zones.  In these instances, it started with vision, proceeded with total devotion, and usually ended up with  unprecedented success. Even in his last dying months...he continued to try and paint things his way...even for a future that he would not share.

I don´t want to be Steve Jobs, but I do want to emulate his dedication to independent pursuits of ambition and dreams.  I do want to emulate his ability to bring others along behind him in his pursuit of excellence. And yes, I do want to emulate his ability to disregard institutional limitations and mass critique.  I think that was central to his ability to produce as much as he did in the same amount of years I have already lived.

So...I now am GOING FOR IT in my business pursuits like never before.  I am GOING FOR IT in playing new music that I have never played before and it is about what I like more than about what others like.  I am GOING FOR IT in challenging others around me to think and do more than they currently are or think they can do.  Most of us are operating at less than half our potentials.  This should be unacceptable to us the second we recognize we are doing that.

So...no matter what age you are, how much money you have or haven't ..do not make excuses for not living your dreams.  Quit playing it safe.  Dont be afraid to fail or get hurt. As my old coach used to say...¨no pain, no gain¨. It is never too late to start...and I would rather die trying than to never try at all and live out the rest of my life in the quiet misery of mediocrity.