Return to Competition

After 5 years of manipulation by governments and the global banking system of our money flows, interest rates and whole industries such as automotive, banking and energy...it is time to return to free markets and fundamentals of capitalism.  The longer we stay connected to the "life support" of manipulated economies ("they" call it "quantitative easing")...the more difficult it will be for market economies to survive on their own "steam" based on real math.

As this article on the BIS banking group suggests, our combined world governments have been surviving on creative math, false interest rates, and false currency valuations for too long.  As we saw this past week, the minute the "markets" start hearing that the "patient" (global economies) is about to come off the respirator of oxygen (cash infusion) and blood transfusions (free credit or credit swaps)...the fundamental investors start betting AGAINST survival of the patient.

A large part of the problem is the insane regulatory systems of governments, tied to unrealistic taxation levels, the combination of which are snuffing out any chance for capitalism to work.  The globe has traded in competition where there are "winners and losers" for a model of "too big to fail" or "gain without pain".  We global patriots are waiting for the restart we believe is coming soon...where institutional controls and protectionism are traded in for real change in currency valuations (some form of global currency) and consistent, fair global trading agreements for ALL countries...not just a few superpowers. Meanwhile, it is obvious that large governments and banking institutions are putting off that day of reckoning for as long as they can with their voodoo numbers (1+1 doesn't equal 11), false economic bravado and the belief that THEY can sustain global equilibrium by tax and spend redistribution of world productivity. You just cannot have tax rates of 40-80% in some countries and expect there to be an equal playing field in international trade and profit sharing. It is time to get back to the fundamentals of business and rational finance.

I continue to believe that for the trillions that have been given or lent to big businesses world wide this past 5 years of global recession by governments and central banks (from the tax incomes of "the people")...global economies could have rebounded much faster and efficiently if those trillions had been put in the hands of entrepreneurs, small business people and farming coops around the globe.  If those funds had been released to more micro enterprises via local MFIs, Cooperatives and localized savings and loans, we would have seen faster recovery in real jobs, innovative businesses and quality consumerism from a stand point of cash savings versus "credit" that continues to fuel consumer's appetites.  Economies prosper and grow from the grass roots of small business and savings of average individuals for their futures...not by filling the tax coffers and supporting all the special interests of government institutions and mega corporations whose CEOs make millions per year while minimum wages are a pittance and the masses are kept in the box of irreversible debt and dependency on this state-corporate complex of which the "developed nations" have become.

The power pyramid is upside down. The world is under the control of too few who are determining everything for the masses. Meanwhile, the masses are starting to take to the streets worldwide to demand freedom from these machinations. From Brazil to the Arab world to Indonesia and China, the PEOPLE are starting to wake up to their puppet state of existence. They are starting to rebel against controls of their economies, high taxes for redistribution...and their not getting much in return for those taxes. There is a resurgence of understanding that private enterprise is always a better model for motivation and efficiency than big government "give away" programs or "programming",  Private education has almost always been more effective than public education. Private charities tend to release higher percentages of contributions to the needy than government programs. Consumption or transaction tax will always be a better, fairer model of taxation than INCOME taxes which sucks the air right out of creative, forward moving "sails".

It is time to return to a model of private enterprise and yes, survival of the fittest.  The sacrifice of the fittest to support the weakest is not working.  This is a sure recipe for the downfall of the human race.  When we allow failure to be rewarded while success is punished....we will never see true, sustainable recovery of our weak human condition.  We need to let some institutions die a just and timely death...while letting new, fresh, rational ideas and businesses grow and flourish.  Otherwise...we will all continue down the drain of global mediocrity, endless failure of altruism and total destruction of the human spirit.

Morality of Taxation

While I have touched on this subject in previous blogs, I feel inspired by recent tax increases worldwide to focus on the morality of taxes. With huge increases this past century on overall taxation of the masses compared to other historic times, we need to consider and re evaluate this model in finding solutions for the economic disparities we have as individuals and nations. We must start realizing that this never ending cycle of taxation and oppression is what fuels so much of our disparity and conflicts in the world.

With my recent blog on "Nationalism", I start this writ from a presupposition that taxation and nationalism run hand in hand.

 "According to Black's Law Dictionary, a tax is a "pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or property owners to support the government ... a payment exacted by legislative authority." It "is not a voluntary payment or donation, but an enforced contribution, exacted pursuant to legislative authority" and is "any contribution imposed by government ... whether under the name of toll, tribute, tallage, gabel, impost, duty, custom, excise, subsidy, aid, supply, or other name."  

Key word here is the "imposition" of a tax. It is not voluntary. It is this imposition that has killed all the great empires of the world...the Roman, British, and now the American empires...all crumbled under over reaching, nationalistic usurping of authority over masses of societies and cultures they could not control or fund.  When the balance between the haves and the have nots got too far out...upheavals, revolutions and world wars took place.

Governments have historically used power and circumstances of the times to tax away success of their economies. There has been the continual cycle of taxing and fleecing the masses for the sake of a few in power and holding the money...until the masses have had enough and bring on revolution. I would be much more comfortable with today's "revolutions" IF they were based on demands of economic equality instead of religious fervor or fundamentalism. If people started counting on reasonable and responsible economics or work ethics instead of "god" to magically fill their empty pockets and purses...we might start seeing real progress on a global scale.

Higher taxes are fundamentally counter productive. Taxes are monies given to entities that didn't earn them, to provide back to the people who did. This begins the obvious cycle of putting decisions and power in the hands of people,.. most of whom have never grown or managed a business in their lives... to spend and waste as they wish. The more we give them, the more they spend. The more they spend, the more power they have in society and the world at large...yet morally...it was never their money to spend in the first place. It was especially never intended for things like re elections, limousines, television ads, unlimited international travel expenses, Cadillac insurance plans and unlimited lifelong benefits...just for having the honor to manage the national public purse or determine our laws.

The pyramid is upside down in our world. Financial and economic management should begin "at home".  Individuals need to have more control and responsibility over their personal profits and wages. Families need to be morally responsible in their economic decisions and consumption levels. Towns need to be more responsible for local public works and "saving for disasters and rainy days". "Charity" should begin at home! People need to stop building their homes in flood basins or with designs that cannot withstand natures fury. When we demand that our governments protect us from every failure or natural disaster without our own participation in savings or insuring our risks...we are basically giving over our freedom and sovereignty to those unseen powers we want to "protect us".  Most all of the USA founding fathers knew and wrote of the dangers of this dependence on government, yet the current cycle of dependency and personal irresponsibility is greater during this modern century than at any other time in history.

Morality in my mind requires us all to take a role in changing how our governments are funded and monitored. If we do not participate in the democratic process or exercise our rights of speech and meeting on these important issues...we will deserve whatever our government keepers give us...which won't be much.  Especially after they get done taking care of themselves first. There are now many people like me writing and discussing these issues openly and yes...with lots of conflict and differing views. Yet...it is this long process of rationalization and reasoning that is needed to come up with a better taxation model and yes,..save our world as we know it.

Alternatives to taxation deserves a separate chapter or blog, but at a high level lets underline one alternative that should be given immediate consideration.

I believe in the concept of "transaction taxes". This is the most fair approach to taxation worldwide, and if it reduced or eliminated income taxes...our world would see the greatest period of economic growth and security in world history. With $3 Quadrillion (15 zeros) of total transactions in the USA alone in 2011, the US government could abolish all the existing taxes and replace the whole lot with a universal financial transaction tax of only about 0.1% (yes, that is less than 1%). Just image how this would effect the basic worker or senior citizen trying to make ends meet on their heavily taxed incomes or investments? This means that economic PROSPERITY would feed the government's requirements of funding for services. The more disposable income individuals and corporations would have, the more transactions and investments they would make...in essence increasing tax revenues to the government based on success of the economy without bilking or creating hardship for ANYONE. I would much rather reward the government for "successful" economic governance than to continually reward them for their dismal failures at controlling or wasting our resources. At the same time, it is easily arguable that with growing prosperity for ALL, governments would require LESS funding to cover the poor and truly needy. We must STOP this insane approach of "redistribution" that will never work for long...and instead tax everyone evenly and fairly for their consumption and success...without wiping out the fruits of their labors.

Taxation in its current forms does not help or turn around economies. It stifles and reduces growth and productivity. Demand for taxation to me represents failure and moral decline of a civilization.  When the masses are more dependent on government than the government on the people...core morality of money and freedom have gone down the tubes.  When people or companies cannot hold on to their profits or rewards for work and innovation...humans lose their motivation to work and innovate.  Simple as that.  Socialism and redistribution historically have NOT worked as economic models. It takes individual sovereignty and motivation to become fully productive in ones life, at whatever level, rich or poor.  Working for "the state" or "the boss" is hardly ever a persons supreme ambition or measure of success. It is about individual freedom and accomplishment...which can only be attained with a democratic system of governance built on economic freedom versus institutional slavery...that will motivate the masses to work and progress. Without this, our world is doomed to continued conflicts and miserable controls of the masses. This is not moral per my definition of the word.

Nationalism...Divide and Conquer

As I continue to evolve as a human, learning what life is about and how it is affected by institutions...I find myself becoming more and more anarchistic.  I know, that word raises alarm in  most people's understanding of the word, but I actually think that anarchism is a necessary reaction to certain  times in history...and is now a driving force in the growing conflict between governments and the masses. More of us are anarchists than we care to recognize.  In addition, we are seeing forced concessions within the world's religions to new discoveries and truths that question most fundamental religious dogma and theology. Yet, such as in today's "Arab Spring" of revolutions in the Middle East, we are seeing one set of sectarian or religious rule replaced by another...and sometimes the replacement is worse than the predecessor. Why do we humans continually allow religion to be the driving force of what we fight for?  Why can't it be pure reason and principles that unite and sustain our species?

The more we read history beyond the basics of schoolbooks we were programmed to read as children...the more we see the true reasons and conspiracies behind most  major events of the past century.  A recent review of Zionist history is one big example of how an underlying global movement to restore the State of Israel has been a major cause of the World Wars in the 20th Century. It's one thing to consider the right of a race or religion to have rights and a place/land to call their own.  Its another thing to displace another race or religion to accommodate the other.  Here in a nutshell are the "Middle East" conflicts that continually threaten world peace. It tears me up to consider how manipulated we all have been by "powers that be" to support such political and religious causes that should not be our obligation.

In trying to dictate terms of "democracy" and "rule of law" throughout the globe, the USA empire is quickly becoming a police state and the constitution has  been unraveling for decades now. While a true "republic" protects the rights of the most extreme minority among them, our USA republic is quickly becoming a house divided by itself between the haves and have nots. The political battle lines are no longer built on traditional platforms or constitutional principles, but rather on extreme positions between capitalism and socialism...or something worse. There is no balance anymore. Extremists continue to rule over the masses of "centrists".  Independents are growing in number, but I would argue are becoming isolated from power.  The power and money is in the hands of the extremists...both right and left.  You see that every election cycle in the drive to raise money behind the puppet leadership of the day.

This is not only happening in the USA.  Much of the world is now in the hands of leaders manipulating through media, armed forces and rewrites of history to appease and/or control the masses. We the masses continue supporting, voting and paying duty to our governments...who then use our own resources to contain and restrain us from exercising our freedoms. They get the guns...we don't.  They redistribute the food and goods WE produce for their own gains. These leaders isolate themselves from "the people" and build real or virtual fences around themselves from the realities of those they supposedly serve. The longer these people are in power, the more extreme and controlling they become. CORRUPT!

Unfortunately one can now argue that there is a huge global conspiracy among many of these leaders to maintain "status quo" or fulfill the desires of an elite few.  It is trying to know who these elite few really are that is the disturbing mission of the discerning citizen. Most of us realize at some level we are being manipulated...but we cannot discover the true source of this. It is much like religion.  We have been brought up paying duty to "God"...and we have never truly seen him...or her.  Yet we believe and go to war to support these hidden powers and influences in our lives. What would  happen if the world's masses got together and just said "ENOUGH!  We are not fighting your wars anymore."?

Unfortunately, most of us continue to accept the "divide and conquer" mentality our institutions have raised us in. Humans need traditions and connectivity.  Most of us have accepted the limits and boundaries our nations and religions have forced upon us for this "connectivity".  We understand very little of difference or complexity of the human condition. Therefore, we readily take up the banner of racism and nationalism. It is in our multi generational DNA.

Yes, I know many readers will be lost, confused or disbelieving of what I am saying.  Many truths are very difficult to face.  But, if you have read and experienced some of the things I have the past 40+ years...you would think more "globally" about these realities also. If individuals of reason and education do not stand up for individual truth and rights soon...we will find ourselves reversing back to a modern day "dark ages" where our wills and core values were programmed out of existence.  If we drink the "Koolaid" of nationalism and religion as the core of human values...we will soon find ourselves as pure pawns of nations to support THEIR agendas. The world truly could become like the fantasy story "Lord of the Rings" where the dark forces battle to snuff out the spirit of men. The only problem is there is no "Gandalf" or "Elves" to come to our rescue.

Let this be a call to "global citizenship". The world is more and more about common trade and mutual acceptance...not borders and barriers or "informational blackouts" on the internet based on what country you are in. Start thinking objectively for yourself and your family...before it is too late. The people must UNITE and conquer, or be conquered.

The Work of Love

(This is somewhat a continuation of thought from a recent blog on "How full is your Cup"...)

A common thread of human nature is that we want to love and be loved.  The ideal love is a mutual two way street of emotion, support, admiration, friendship and companionship.  Love is a wonderful thing when everyone is healthy, wealthy, happy and wise...but it becomes very hard work when one or the other or both fall on "hard times".  That is when the "work of love" begins.

I have seen the challenge of this more in the last few years than I did in my youth.  When we are young we tend to be very full of "ourselves".  We are running at full speed pursuing ambitions, chasing dreams and or acting on our primordial drives of mating and reproducing.  Lets start with the fact that it doesn't take "love" to mate and reproduce.  The work of love starts when we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of responsibility to support wives and/or raise children, sacrificing our personal freedom in deference to a new program of give and take that marriage or child rearing demands.

Some recent observations of love's work bear mentioning.  The last number of months at a monthly men's lunch I attend, there is only one woman in attendance. She has been accepted into this "club" if you will because her husband was an honored member until a number of years ago when he had a stroke which robbed him of his ability to talk or hardly walk.  I did not know them back then, but it is my understanding for 8 years this woman has been attending to her husbands every need, including bringing him to events like ours where he knew everyone and they knew him.  He obviously still enjoys being with us and observing what is going on, but she has to do most of the talking for him, drive everywhere for him...and she never seems bitter or unhappy about her plight.  While our friend is unlucky from a health standpoint, he obviously made a good choice in a mate, and she is honoring his love and their previous commitment with devotion and charity.

I have also seen this in my "mothers". I swear to God women are the stronger sex.  In the past decade I have lost both my "fathers", father and stepfather. In the case of my stepfather, while typically a healthy athletic type who lived good and clean, he had to take early retirement at 55 because of a heart condition.  Fortunately he had lived responsibly and frugally to where he could afford that option...and together he and my mom had some wonderful years in retirement together, traveling and being involved in various causes from church to nature conservancy to mentoring elementary students who were struggling academically or with tough circumstances in growing up on the "wrong side of the tracks".  While he valiantly struggled against various health issues for most of his retirement years, we lost him way too early at 68 years of age to an aggressive form of cancer.  During those last months of his life, mom had to do most things for or with him.  Here was a proud, independent man who suddenly was totally dependent on his wife.  I am quite sure it was tougher for him to accept support in some ways than it was for my mom to give. Yet, many things that are said and done in these final stages of life represent the core of the meaning and work of love...and many of those moments are the most memorable and illustrative of true love.

Most recently was the loss of my father to a very rare brain infection.  This condition happened abruptly and quickly, calling for total support and sacrifice on the part of my step-mom who spent much of the last two months of dad's life at his bedside, often sleeping all night at the hospital, changing his bedpan between nurse visits, plus handling hordes of paperwork and financial obligations that these situations demand.  Sure, others of us tried to help as we could...but it seems to always fall on the spouse to take charge and have the most weight to bear.  This is the "work" of love in action.  It's not fun, romantic or happy.  It is tedious, stressful and emotionally devastating.  Yet, it is my observation that these are some of the most meaningful experiences in our "love life".

I have seen so many other examples of this in my life. Parents who sacrifice everything for their kids to get a better education than they had.  Grandparents who have to be surrogate parents for their grand-kids just when they thought their child rearing days were behind them.  Friends of mine who have had children with huge drug problems or imprisoned literally and/or in their own minds.  It is probably impossible to know the love and devotion it takes to handle that, never having had children of my own.

There are many types of love that demand work. To take this to another level, it takes a whole lot of "love" to care about large groups of poor, ill or troubled people and sacrifice your own interests, time and energy to help those less fortunate.  Its easier to care about close family or friends than it is to care about the poor or people of different cultures or races. Yet this melting pot of a world daily challenges us with opportunities and decisions of how we are going to handle the growing needs of this troubled world. Its going to take a lot of love and caring to overcome the hate and selfishness of the majority, especially when those with full cups are dwindling in number compared to those demanding their cups be filled. If we don't find a way to overcome these inequalities with some form of love and charity, the hate and selfishness will overcome and potentially destroy humanity.

I have friends who have devoted their lives to working with troubled teenagers.  I have other friends who work as nurses or in old people's homes dealing with elderly or sick people all the time.  It baffles me sometimes what drives a person to accept such underpaid, under appreciated jobs...but I know in most cases it is about heart and soul with which these esteemed friends or acquaintances are trying to make a difference in peoples lives...even though they are strangers and from all walks of life.  I have tried to do some of these things from time to time in my life...but never on the scale of some of these life heroes I am honored to know. It is sometimes a mystery where this strength and impetus comes from to CHOOSE care-taking as a profession, but its a good thing this goodness and love of humanity exists in this chaotic world.

These obvious works of love are the masterpieces in life. These situations are like a candle in a dark room. Just when you think humanity is totally lost in its depravity and darkness...these miracles of love come along to give us hope.  In the end, I think there is tremendous reward for those who love like this. The reward is that they can look in the mirror and know that the value of their life has not been just about them...but about every life they have touched with hope, and yes in many cases, unconditional love and acceptance. That is something worth living for and aspiring to.

Power has no religion...

I was enamored this evening with a program on Aljazeera...arguably the best objective news media source in the world today...with a program about the power of the Catholic church, the Vatican, and religion in general.  The program is called "Empire" (here is a link to the program which I hope remains long term) and much of the conversation was about the changes and "de-centralization" Pope Francis is extending via his new role as Pope of the Catholic church.

In this interview, we have a Jesuit priest, a media specialist and an secular author on Catholic issues discussing the possible changes to come in the world's largest religion and Christian denomination.  I believe this was one of the most objective interviews and discussions I have seen about religion, especially Catholicism, and the issue of power and empire building based on that religion.

Without reviewing the broadcast linked above, I want to comment on the basic issues that it represents. Anyone who has studied history from an objective and secular viewpoint must give credence to the role of religion in cultures and historic events of the past 2000+ years. We only have to go back a few decades in modern history to see and understand events such as "Vatican 2", the new Evangelical movements within Protestantism, and other religious movements to see its affect on modern day governments and civilization as a whole.

The first Vatican council was in 1868. The second ran for three years and closed in 1965.  My what a difference those 100 years made in positions and standards of the world's largest religion, Catholicism. Anyone who claims that religion has no affect or role in global events is simply misinformed or ignorant at best. Historically governments have used religious fervor as a preface for actions it wanted to take.  Why is that?  Because religion is the most fundamental emotion at the core of human behavior and action. Most people in the world have a fundamental faith of some kind...and this "fundamentalism" drives every decision and position taken by this majority of humans. While secularism is growing in the world...we must still take religion very seriously in world affairs.  After all, most politics, wars and economic divides are based on religious/cultural divisions that are used and manipulated by powers that be to deliver the subterfuge that those powers exist by.

Without boring you with a long historical rendition of examples, we only have to look back the last century to see how politics and religion have conspired together to affirm each other. Going back to WW2 and Nazi Germany, we see the struggle between Catholic and Protestant churches to survive during this political plague of extreme egotism of the secular Nazi state. It is obvious that many "accommodations" were made between political and religious leaders of the day in order to sustain power and influence on both sides of this equation. Neither side of this divide were honest or out front on their positions regarding the other, because both sides wanted to survive and found ways to manipulate each other to secure their powers and influence. Meanwhile, you had Jews and fundamentalists like German preacher Bonhoeffer who could not or did not change their "spots" to accommodate the powers of that day...and they paid the ultimate sacrifice for their identity or beliefs.

While I could go through many other examples in this current century, lets jump to today's reality of "church and state".  At the highest levels, today's international conflicts are being waged based on cultural and religious heritages midst the expanding melting pot of human migration because of globalism. The "western world", dominated by "Christian" traditions and values, is in direct competition and conflict with Eastern religions and/or Asian secularism. Today's conflicts are many...between Catholics and Protestants in many parts of the world, especially Ireland, and between Shia and Sunni Muslims in so many Middle East and Eastern countries. The religious "masses" are all laying claim to their dominance, or "future" dominance, based on the apocalyptic fundamental beliefs they have maintained for thousands of years.  Yet, as a growing secularist, one has to ask...where does this all end...and to whom goes the "spoils" of these conflicts?

I have come to the point in life and belief where I think this is all a game of smoke and mirrors played out by modern day "Wizards of Ozs" who make the masses think they have democratic control,  or should be "thankful" to be taken care of by the great ruler or government over them, which pays homage to a "God" of their persuasion. All the same, these "leaders" or rulers are playing a game of "Charades", using the media and financial backing to create an image of competency, belief or leadership that does not truly exist.  Yet, because of the ease of mass manipulation, these people get away with their roles of power and influence purely based on mass appeal versus true character or identity.  There is a caste system of "king makers" within most religions and governments.  They are about sustaining the status quo more than what is in the best interests of the masses.

In recent eras of American politics, especially at the the Presidential level, we have seen tremendous distortions and contradictions in statements of our aspiring leaders. Because most people have no true understanding of what real Christianity or Islam is all about...we really aren't clear on whether our current President is Christian, Muslim or totally Secular.  I get almost daily emails from various factions making claims on all sides of that equation for President Obama. In the end, I don't know and don't care. I just want him to be a man of his word and a true leader of the best interests of ALL Americans.

I continue to believe that power corrupts, and "absolute power corrupts absolutely".  I have seen it personally in religious and political organizations...and I also often see it in corporate or business environments. When humans reach a certain point of "success" or "following", they tend to meta-morph into authorities and ideologues whose positions and statements go largely unquestioned by the masses who follow them. Somehow, we humans just need someone in flesh and blood to follow and believe in to feel safe and whole in our vast universe. We love to suck on the hind tit of popular thought and reason to settle any mystery we have about life.

I believe that the influence of "power" supersedes all religions and governments. It is very difficult to find a truly objective or centrist leader in religion or government.  Contradictions exist everywhere.  Case in point the previously mentioned new Argentinian Pope Francis.  On one hand he purports an agenda of humility and identification with the poor masses of his following. At the same time, he continues to uphold centuries old and outdated dogmas such as prohibition of contraceptives and sexual abstinence of clergy in the Catholic church which continues the cycle of mass poverty and unrealistic expectations of human behavior.  When will a church leader ever step up and give human sexuality its due in the course of real human life, desire and connectivity?  When will we rid ourselves of the guilt complexes most of us continue to grow up with in this supposedly enlightened age?

At the end of the day, I believe people who want power go in either of three directions...religion, politics or executive management.  In the pure sense, I have no problem with the human drive to lead and succeed and "making a difference" in humanity and progress.  At the same time, it is hard to find a leader in any of those three "practices" who is completely transparent about who they are and what they REALLY believe. It seems that to grow in power almost demands that we often must cover up our real thoughts or beliefs. We must be "acceptable" to the majority...which is not always the most moral.

I have met many Republicans who are closet Democrats, and vice versa.  I have met many Christian clergymen who quietly question the fundamentals of Christianity.  I have met many Corporate leaders who are all about their own egos, power and influence in the corporate environment. They will do "whatever it takes" to succeed or be  liked and supported.  In the end I believe they do this because they want to have power and influence more than even money.  They want this more than to be true to themselves.  They want this more than "truth" itself.  And many discover the truth about their beliefs or positions far too late in life to admit change or failure of those positions.

Power has no religion...and religion is extremely about power and control over humanity. Truth and "power" are quite separate bedfellows. Just study objectively your history...and you will see it too.

How Full is Your Cup?

While I make no apologies for no longer being religious...I continue to take instruction from many truths that are contained in the Bible and other writs of many different religions. It appears that in our pursuit of making  a "supreme being", we have stumbled upon some significant human truths that bear repeating.  As the old saying goes..."don't throw the baby out with the bathwater".

The Bible in various places uses the symbol of a "cup" to illustrate many points the authors were trying to make. Usually a cup represents the portion of life a person is given. Other passages talk about giving a cup of water to those in need while in other places it refers to the soul as in filling our cup of joy, grief, love, etc..  I have always liked the allegory of a cup to illustrate if our lives are full or not...or to measure happiness.

When we carry that symbol to our love lives...I think it takes on a whole other dimension. In this cause and effect world I believe in, I think the measure of our "cups" are directly proportionate to how we have been loved, nurtured or cared for. The nature of love itself calls on us to be sensitive to our own needs and the needs of others for positive reinforcement, encouragement and support of ones ego or identity. Unless you have enough self love to give from, you cannot love someone else effectively. Also, if your cup is so full of yourself that you have no room for others, you will not be able to receive from another person.

This also serves as the basis for "community" in my estimation. All normal humans in my experience respond positively to those who are affirming and uplifting of others while no one tends to be very comfortable around people that are negative, unhappy or bring us down. We tend to like genuinely cheerful people over morose or depressed ones, because they "fill our cup".  They make us feel good to be around them and even better about ourselves.

There is a Proverb that says "he will have friends who shows himself friendly".  Cause and effect. Another thing my grandfather used to say to me is "you will be known by the company you keep".  I extend that to the reality that we "become" like the people around us.  Therefore, we will tend to be happier and content if we are around people with positive outlooks and energy.  Likewise, if we are always around negative, critical and even evil people...we will tend to become like them or at least brought down by them in our life experience.

In general, I believe that people with "full cups" tend to be those who have come from nurturing families and traditions.  Some people are just lucky enough to be brought up in homes and families that filled them with hope and positive energy...while others have had to suffer or find a way to fill their cups from other external sources or by removing themselves from their original communities or families.  I don't know about you, but I can always sense when I walk into someone's house whether this space is basically happy or sad, positive or negative.  This to me is "spirit" that is hard to quantify, but is nonetheless a result of attitudes and personalities that fill that living space.  I don't believe in ghosts...but I do believe in "essence" or "aura".  This essence is determined by the character and personality of the people in that house or room. It is a powerful entity. You also sense it when strong, self assured people enter a room or you observe them in the street. There is power in having a full cup and a healthy ego.

I do believe that love and happiness is a choice.  I don't think anyone can MAKE anyone else be happy.  It has to be a choice of an individual to receive or experience love and happiness. It is about being content and happy with the basic things and not always aspiring to that which we don't have.  Is our cup half full or half empty? Do we contribute to other people's cups positively by filling them, or do we take from them without giving anything back in return?

The most balanced relationships I have observed in my lifetime are between couples of similar personalities, backgrounds and outlooks. There seem to be less and less of these couples anymore.  In many cases there is a strong person with a weaker one.  There is a giving partner and a taking partner. It's called "co-dependency". Sometimes these relationships work for a long time or forever...but you never quite feel comfortable being around these types of "couples".  You would rather be with one or the other...because no one wants to see someone else s cup, or your own for that matter, being drained for no good reason.

I think human relationships at whatever type of love we are discussing are a balancing act. There is a time to give and a time to take.  There is a time to confront, and there is a time to forgive.  Everyone seems to have  a different capacity level to give without getting in return...but eventually even the strongest among us needs some positive reinforcement or moral support.  I have seen "givers" who after a while lose their essence.  They burn out.  They may still be givers...but the joy of giving is gone when people just take advantage of their generosity without reciprocating.

There are many people who don't know how to "receive" gracefully.  I think many people way down deep feel unworthy of being loved or supported...whether it be emotionally, physically, financially or otherwise. The inability to receive often comes from PRIDE...too proud to need anything or anyone. Or...it can be indicative of FEAR...fearing to receive because they don't want to "owe" anything in return or risk being hurt if the sharing shuts off at some point.  Some of us fear getting too close to others because we think we have to always be self sufficient...and we have learned unfortunately not to trust or believe in anyone.  These person's cups are continually low or empty...and they have nothing to give even if they may have a cup of abundance they don't even realize they have.

Sometimes it is as simple as a hug or a firm handshake between friends. I come from a culture that was never  very warm and affectionate physically. Much of our western civilization as a whole has become frigid and distant physically.  We don't think twice about sportsmen hugging each other as strangers on the field of sport, yet many of us feel funny hugging or being hugged by friends or family. I don't believe this is natural...but is learned behavior from those we have "shared cups" with. You can almost always tell when someone is uncomfortable with physical affection or proximity.  They stiffen or pull back. BUT...I believe over time, with consistent "cup filling",  these false barriers or limits can be breached in positive ways.

My father was internally a very caring man, but physically he was always a bit distant and detached.  Most of that side of the family and generation were. In my early 20s I spent a lot more time with him than I had in my childhood through my parents divorce at a young age. He was actually a bit down and out at that time and was living with me while going through another divorce. I decided that I was going to start hugging my Dad instead of our occasional handshake...if only a feeble attempt to make him feel not so alone or detached in the world.   At first he always went stiff and could not embrace back...but after months of doing this...slowly but surely...my Dad started hugging back. He hardly ever initiated this his whole life...but he got to where he would reciprocate. This helped fill my cup back...knowing that he was responding to what I was trying to demonstrate or express to him. A couple years later when my grandmother died...I was late getting to the visitation because I lived far away.  I hadn't seen much of him lately due to moving away and I wondered how he was handling or responding to loosing Grandma who he was particularly close to.  When I arrived, I went directly to my father and he immediately hugged me and broke down crying.  One of the only times I saw him do that in his life. My stepmother told me he had not cried until that moment...and I felt honored that he chose to do that with me.  I think it was because we had learned to fill each others cups.  And that is what this is all about.

Modern day Slaves...

I hate to be the one to inform you, but most of you reading my blog are living your lives in virtual SLAVERY.  You are not truly free or independent to live where or how you might like without permission from many of your "slave-owners".  Let me explain briefly how this has happened...and what you can do about it.

For most of us, this started from our first days after birth. We were brought into this world innocent and free to become whatever our individual potentials might have been. Unfortunately, most of our parents were unknowing slaves to institutions and governments who have for generations perpetuated an agenda for limiting individual freedoms in the name of God and country.

While we were yet infants we were taught, or it was demanded of us, to form our identities around a flag of nationhood and/or around symbols of a blind faith in God or his "representatives".  Day after day we were prodded and educated to replicate the behaviors and attitudes of our forefathers , pay tribute to our governments and to "put God first in our lives"...unless of course we prefer going to jail...or hell.

Our history books were written and edited with patriotic fervor...extolling only the positive actions and virtues of our national histories. At least in the USA textbooks, all our wars, invasions and conflicts were justified and moral. Plus...God was usually on our side and called upon by all our rulers to bless our wars and prefer our nation and race over all others. Freedom and honor was always the patriotic rallying cry from all institutions in one unified voice...military, political and religious. Amazingly, most other civilized nations had the same prayer towards the same God, but apparently some of them were not heard.

The unintended consequences of nationalist victory was more and more controls and demands from burgeoning governments and new global organizations such as the League of Nations, United Nations, World Bank, etc.. With the end of every major war in the past century, government leaders realigned borders and barriers to divide the world into separate "fiefdoms" of governmental controls.  Masses of the world were forced to align under despotic leader after power hungry leader who were often put in position by the big three global powers of the day to control the masses and force styles of government and trade mandated by those few empirical powers.

Taxation without representation became the mode of the day throughout the world...democratic and non democratic systems alike. Distribution of goods and services, money and commodities, were all controlled by a few hundred "leaders" around the world...most of them politicos, lawyers or bankers.  Without the general knowledge or consensus of common individuals, we now find our rights and freedoms to live and move about at will to be totally controlled by these mysterious and unnamed forces. "They" are the ones who issue us passports...or not...for leaving our countries of origin or residence or entering those we have interest in. "They" are the ones who control and manipulate our currencies and costs of food, gas, clothing and travel.  We have unwittingly become the "slaves" of large unknown powers...who we THINK we can vote in and out of power...but realistically we have no objective knowledge or power to determine our leaders/slaveholders anymore.

For the foreseeable future, gone are the concepts of laissez faire economics, free trade or free association.  Technology has become a double edged sword of giving us freedom of information and perspective, yet also that same technology has obliterated your privacy and freedom to come and go as you please or worse yet, move YOUR money from one place or currency to another.

The worst slavery is that form where the slave does not know he is kept. Its like raising rats in a large cage featuring a maze where their whole short lives are spent trying to figure out how to find their way out...but they are never allowed to succeed.  That is how many of us are living our lives...trying to convince ourselves that the institutional "mazes" we live in are truly for our own good and the masses around us.  Heaven forbid should we ever find ourselves truly free from the masses to operate on our own levels of freedom and self determination.  We might never survive without all these controls over our lives. We are forced to live like Sméagol in "Lord of the Rings" who had been deformed and twisted in both body and mind by the corruption of the Ring. His chief desire was to possess the Ring that had enslaved him, and he pursued it for many years. To me he is simply an allegory for how so much of the human race lives on a daily basis...our lives of "quiet desperation".

The saddest fact of how most of us live our lives is that we do not realize we are enslaved.  We do not know what it is like to take 100% responsibility and control for our existences. A majority of the world lives totally dependent on one system or another of mass domination and manipulation. We are not allowed to see or know information about the conflicts and economic policies of our governmental rulers.  We are not encouraged to know or understand the history of the religious books so many of us base our lives on. We simply accept the social handouts and "guarantees" of basic survival and are so proud of how we play our various systems to get more of a handout than our neighbor next door.  We compete in the feeding troughs of the masses while never discovering the riches to be had outside of the system/maze we are in.

So, what are our alternatives?  If we suddenly wake up to these realizations, what can we do?  In my mind, we basically have two choices.

One, we simply escape the systems, recede to some distant, more basic style/standard of living where money is not an issue or an object.  Like the heroes in "Atlas Shrugged", we need to discover the secret and lost community where we can live and express ourselves freely and not depend on the machinations of the mainstream systems. OR...

Two...we must strive and grapple to get more than our share of money and power in the current system.  If we become part of the bankers or politicos who control the system...this is the only way we are above the rules and regulations of that system.  We need to become part of the "crony" network to succeed with this option.

Sorry...I wish I had more options, ideas and hope for getting out of slavery...but until more of the masses realize just how captured they are...there will be no strong movement towards a truly free and independent way to live. Until we get out of the control of mainstream media, educational systems and religious programming...we will never know our true selves, potentials...or the TRUTH.