Pros of Social Media

Is this era of rising “mega data” and issues about privacy and control of our identity in the online world…we are experiencing rising concerns about our uses of social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and the like. While I think many of these concerns are valid, I also don’t think we should “throw the baby out with the bathwater”.  There are many things we can do to control access to our online identities, photos, posts and dialogues.  Most people simply don’t take the time to manage their “privacy settings” in Google, Facebook, etc. which ends up making them more likely victims of the downside of the internet world.  Most people should do more to limit access to their personal details in the online space…including myself.

The other danger in social media is letting technology and machines take too much control of our lives. I get concerned with the growing obesity in our society much of which can be attributed  (besides over-sizing our meals) to many stationary hours sitting in front of computers or on our cellphones. I also get concerned that I see a lot of vacant playgrounds and neighborhood streets in America anymore.  It seems kids don’t “go out and play”, ride bikes or have neighborhood pickup baseball, football or hockey games like we did in my childhood. It tells me that a majority of kids are spending way too much time on computer games and indoor, solo activities that can stifle their personal, social and physical development. This will affect the balance of souls in our future society.

That being said, I must balance this theme with some positive observations of what social media via the internet has brought to our lives.  When used effectively and with discipline, social media brings significant advantages to our short lives. When we maintain balance and controls, I think there are more pros than cons to participating in social media.  Here are a few advantages I have observed:

Ø  The primary advantage of social media is that it has helped overcome the fact that our society is more mobile and spread out than it was just 50 years ago.  There have been huge changes in what percentages of people leave their hometowns and immediate families in pursuit of adventure, careers, etc.  People change jobs and geographic location more than six times as much as they did 50 years ago. In those days, family members that moved away were often disconnected without communication for weeks, months or even years at a time. I remember my grandparent’s generation where their siblings were spread out all over North America. If they lived far from aging parents, they were lucky to talk to each other a few times per year.  Long distance phone was very expensive and even unavailable for many.  Written letters were the mode of the day, but often the working class was too busy surviving to have the time or energy to write.  Nowadays we simply check and write emails to each other…many or us every day…to those family and friends closest to us, even the ones who live locally near us.

Ø  One of the fastest growing demographics of internet use is the elderly. This is because retirees and the like have more flex time to peruse the internet and communicate with each other or keep in touch with their children and grandchildren.  While my parental units were all very reluctant to adopt and use computers in their lives as working adults…I doubt they would now want to go back to pre-internet isolation or simply depending on TV and radio for their news and information.  The internet along with social media opens up the whole world to anyone equally who wants to pursue it, and while there is often overflow of information and data to consider…we can learn to use our computers intelligently and not get caught up in all the frivolity or falsehood that is available on it.  It’s all how we use it…or not…that makes the difference in social media.

Ø  There are many people who for whatever reasons seem very inhibited expressing themselves in person. So many of us develop inhibitions to social interaction based on self-consciousness, fear of rejection or low self-esteem.   Yet I have noticed some people in my circle of family and friends deemed too bashful or timid to share their lives really “come out of the closet” via written messages and/or photos on social media.  It is obvious they want to know and be known…but somehow it just seems easier for many to let their hair down via their computer and social media. Social media can be very revealing of our humanity….and in most cases I embrace this new openness to our thoughts and feelings in society.  Of course, I draw the line at needing to know what time you went to the bathroom today, and some people’s anger and venom is best saved for a mental health specialist than thrown out there into cyberspace for everyone to shudder and run away from. But all in all, most of the people I am friends with online are balanced and use the media positively.  People that we don’t want to deal with…well, we can just delete them from our list and it is not a crime.

Ø  There are many advantages of social media I could mention such as more easily sharing information on where to buy things or finding out how to do things from the simple to the complicated.  But the most impactful thing to my thinking is that social media helps us in a short time keep up and learn from so many people in our lives in a way that would never have been possible just 20 years ago.  While it can be overwhelming if we let it, it seems mostly good that I am able to observe hundreds of people’s lives via social media at a depth and volume that would be impossible in person.  Life is just too short to have all the conversations with all the people we might like to have…but somehow…depending on our capacity…we can share, observe, empathize, applaud, encourage, and spread positivism and love to a much wider range of people than we could previously with our geographic and time limitations.

Much in our lives has been accelerated because of technology, and while it is still important to “smell the roses” and enjoy a personal embrace or intimacy of a kiss…social media is bringing to many a whole new level of interconnection and mind-share that was previously impossible to accomplish.  Many of our lives are fuller and richer for it, even in the reality of our growing solitude.

Governance of BitCoin and other "Crypto Currencies"

This week the USA arrested two heavy guys involved in the proliferation of the global phenomenon called "BitCoin". The compliance and AML (Anti Money Laundering) industry is all in a tizzy on what we do about regulating and controlling "BitCoins".

We must stop seeing BitCoin as a "currency" and see it more as a global "exchange" for ALL currencies. Think Commodities Exchange of currencies, but no metals or hard assets required. And just like the Internet, no ONE country is going to control or regulate this crypto exchange. It will be more about a global forum that can PARTICIPATE in issuing and regulating TRANSACTIONS, not the BitCoins themselves. It is not a fiat currency to control or manipulate. It is totally about being a FREE MARKET exchange...the only one existing in the world today. Why is everyone so paranoid about freedom of markets or exchange? I think we know why.

As for AML and compliance...this exchange is perfect for leaving a digital trail forever versus cash currencies that do not. Perfect for legally proving payment sources, legal or non. Legalities of such transactions are not based on the money or exchange itself, but the legality of the actual products or services it acquires. Instead of prosecuting money exchange, we must start prosecuting the products or acts the exchange represents...IF they need to be prosecuted.

Small example...prostitution, the worlds oldest profession. Is it illegal to have sex, or is it only illegal to pay for it? In some jurisdictions it is totally legal. In others it is legal to prostitute, but not to be a customer. In others, both provider and customer go to jail. But is the issue the money? Why?

If it is about taxes...well those issues have to be taken up in each jurisdiction separately, but getting the global financial ecosystem to enforce any one country's citizen obligations or local tax codes is totally unrealistic. Won't happen in general.

Finally, as to the BitCoin executive arrests...it is my understanding they were arrested for using BitCoins to pay for illegal activities in the USA. Not for simply using BitCoins. Without knowing if they are guilty or not, this is a prime example of the issue. Even if they had exchanged paper greenbacks for their purposes...the legal issue is the same. Its not about the money.

Future Shocks...

As I often do at the first part of a new year...I have been thinking a lot about what the next year...or two or three...will bring.  Not only for me, but for the whole world.

The old adage "may you live in interesting times" is for sure appropriate to these times. Call it the "technology age", "information age" or what have you, there can be no doubt that this past 50+ years of living has us experiencing the fastest period of development and change mankind has ever experienced in such a relatively short period.  This next 50 years is going to go at warp speed in comparison.  Yet, the question can easily come to mind how that impacts the whole of mankind and whether it will be positive change or not.

These times are for me a complete contradiction in many ways.  On one hand a few people are advancing and changing the world via technology and science like never before. On the other hand, the majority of the "huddled masses" are being left behind...perhaps not in modernization or consumerism...but for sure in advancement of reason, intelligence and economic participation in these advances. There is such a contradiction between the technology age in development and the senseless wars our governments and religions have dragged us into. It would seem most of the people in our world are either religious fundamentalists, terrorists, or criminals based on their use of or participation in drug use or drug running.  In reaction to all these "fundamental" concerns, we have allowed our governments to legislate morality based on archaic, patriarchal religious convictions...and have taken on the mantra of "live and let die" versus live and let live.

Here we have all the money, food, information, cell phones and computers that we could need...enough for every human breathing on the earth today...yet a vast majority of humans live in dire poverty and ignorance. It seems obvious to me that this poverty and ignorance has been programmed into the human psyche to the extent that one almost loses hope at the survival of our species.  A very few of us have developed technologies and weapons of mass destruction enough to wipe the earth off the face of the cosmos. We spend billions on medicine and curing diseases, but we spend relatively nothing on cleaning up our environment or the air we breath and water we drink that continues to bring us death and destruction.

It might be a good thing we are killing ourselves off via our ill advised consumptions because our booming populations, especially among the poor, needy and uneducated majorities...are overwhelming the supply side of our productivity.  Its not that we CAN'T keep up with demands of our global masses...but the few who CAN provide are not willing to do so because that would mean "living for others" versus living for ourselves.

It is another perplexity that we seem to have so many "do gooders" in our religious and government institutions...yet we don't seem to make a dent on sustaining advancement of the masses in things like self sustained economics, true education and productivity.  As I have alluded to, we have enough food and money to go around in the world.  What we have here Dr. Watson is a massive problem of "distribution", and if we don't fix this problem relatively soon, our world will definitely experience some setbacks that will cost millions or billions of lives.  I think there are many forces among us who think this would be a good thing...getting rid of a few million or billion of "them".  It would also seem to me that many governments in the world are purposely perpetuating the disenfranchisement of the majority from competing or thriving with the same benefits as the elite.

I don't know for sure...but I am beginning to see a connection in all of this to "natural selection" via a new technological format.  As I have read many futurists over the decades such as Alvin Toffler (Future Shock), Ray Kurzweil (Singularity) and a few others of modern persuasions...I totally see this huge chasm growing globally between the very few who have the minds, money and freedom to reach infinity...and the majority in our world who do not have a chance in hell to participate in the benefits of technology to any great extent.  Oh sure...we are getting cellphones to EVERYBODY, rich poor, black and white, Jew Arab and Christian. Yet, these devises and all this information is being manipulated and used in such a way as to keep people's minds in the dark ages of repression and guilt manipulation or controlling their every financial move or transaction.  We just don't seem to be able to get our minds out of the emotional stag-mire of mysticism, false hopes and promises of some magic solution that will just magically make everyone whole. Most peoples minds are simply wrapped around fatalistic/futile mind sets that have everyone programmed and controlled...by the "powers that be".  And I'm not talking about god or the devil.

Ok...these have been my dark thoughts on status of the human condition.  Now, based on my belief in "cause and effect", I throw out here some "Future Shock"  predictions that I think will happen in my lifetime...and especially if I live to the age our intelligent futurists of today are telling us we can do via the new bio sciences of our times...

1) The continued escalation of religious and racial intolerance, exercised through governments and their militaries who control hoarding and starving of the undesired poor, will continue to escalate to a point where "weapons of mass destruction" will be used. Unfortunately they may be used by governments against their own citizens as well as against irrational tyrannical governments of a decaying old world order. I'm not saying by whom or when...but so far man has found a way or a reason to use every weapon he has developed. It is not going to stop any time soon...and not before millions or billions of people are wiped out in some parts of the world.  I also believe governments are capable of using plagues and disease to surreptitiously kill off undesired populations in the world.  Technology and distribution of it can be a two edged sword. Ok...that was a BIG one...

2) Out of the ashes of this destruction, globalization will continue to march forward. Technology advancements will allow an elite few to live totally isolated from these horrific events.  Many people will choose to explore and live in "space" versus stay on earth and try and sort out the human condition.  Some advantaged people will live to be hundreds of years old...if not forever at some point...due to science's potential when unfettered by human mysticism or lack of finances to sustain life.

3) Money in nationalized currencies as we know it today will no longer exist.  We will exchange values for our goods, products and services with digital "crypto" currencies that will be moderated and controlled via a new world order of governance and economic controls.  We will still have local, state and even national governments as countries will continue to develop around geographical, ethnic and yes religious/philosophical shared interests.  All of these will have to come under some global governance controls either BEFORE we have world war 3, or after all the dust has settled from that future short and devastating war.  I don't think global currency will wait until that war...but it very much could help spark it as many governments and masses of populations will not like their positions after the "reset" of economic financial valuations based on real future money systems.

4) One of the "saviors" of mankind would be the arrival of "singularity" that Ray Kurzweil is a key evangelist of...that point in the near future when the human mind can be hooked up to or actually BE a computer. When we humans can think and reason like a computer...and if it also connects us to a rational kindness and sense of inclusion that I think is natural within most species of the animal kingdom somewhere in the brain...that intellectual power will help us solve the issues of distribution in our world.  It will help us solve population control, poverty and hunger issues.  It will help us more quickly bring educational equality to all people of all races, creeds and backgrounds.

5) This new singularity will then bring potential for a future world government that will truly be "of, by and for the people".  ALL people. Reduced language and cultural barriers will allow people to truly communicate with wisdom and understanding each other. With technology bringing the potential for all to have access to information in real time and the potential to vote in real time on every issue we deal with as a society or individual, versus leaving things in the hands of the obviously flawed process of "representative" government...we should begin to experience real autonomy and independence of mind and spirit that can continue to develop us into gods instead of cavemen or sniveling idiots. 

When all of this happens, we can truly exchange our swords for plowshares...or better yet...for the latest computers and robots that will run the plows of production. I for one believe we can be happier WITHOUT money, politicos, borders and controllers of behaviors.  When every mind is free to know and understand its potential...and find meaning and productivity in a lifespan of perhaps hundreds of years...this is when life experience, arts and sciences can truly take man to the higher potential some of us now strive for. No one goes hungry. Everyone has meaning based on the unleashed power and potential of. their mind and participation in society...a GLOBAL society. We may not ALL get there...but this is MY dream...and I don't think it unrealistic.

2014...Happy New Year

Here are a few of my personal "resolutions" for 2014...

-I resolve to work SMARTER and more focused this year based on all I learned last year...
-I resolve to take better care of my physical health...by losing another 15 pounds watching my diet on a more consistent basis and exercising more.
-I resolve to write a book this year...biggest challenge being which of three concepts I have should I start with?
-I resolve to get more sun (vitamin E) this year...by spending more time outdoors than just cooped up indoors in front of this computer screen.
-I resolve to finish my band recording project this year including some original tunes...
-I resolve to cherish my life partner and pay more attention to her this year since she is the one who has to put up with me the most and gives the most back to me in smiles and devotion.
-I resolve to spend more time listening to my elders and capturing their stories and wisdom.
-I resolve to use another 10% more of my brain potential this year by focusing on what is important, positive and productive instead of wasting time on past disappointments or people who do not share my values.
-Finally...I resolve to write more pointed blogs while attempting to reduce the amount of words it takes me to express them. :) Basically...improve my craft.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Warrior within Us: Learning to Fight and Choose Our Battles

This holiday I have been reading Steven Pressfield’s “The Warrior Ethos”. It has caused me to reflect on my own experiences with conflict and how we each deal with it differently. A majority of people in the world are quite passive in the way they live out their lives. Most go along with the cultures, religions and traditions they grew up in.  Very few are able to step out of their “roots”, learn to take risks or follow up on their whims for adventure.

As a student of history, it has been obvious to me that the “movers and shakers” of the world have generally been “warriors”.  These are people who are willing to lead or fight for change that they want…both for themselves personally and in order to effectively change a world they find unsatisfactory. From the early Viking explorers to Alexander the Great to American expansionism in the “New World”, it takes a culture or attitude of being a warrior to move peoples and cultures to change. To a large degree, the warrior ethos is what drives evolution and “survival of the fittest”.

While military people and their codes of honor tend to drive the warrior spirit in our cultures…I think most anyone who is successful or a “self-made” person has called upon an innate spirit of warrior mentality to get where they are. Life is a constant battle to impose self over the many powers and influences who strive to minimize individualism.  Change is the enemy of Statism and institutions.  It is individual minds, ambitions and actions that initiate change, therefore the constant pressures of these institutions to compel individuals to compromise and/or conform is understandable.

Warriors tend to band with other warriors…or find themselves in direct conflict with other warriors.  We see the manipulation of masses by “warriors” who want to enlist the power of the weak to reach their own ambitions. There are very few “benevolent” leaders or warriors though it might be a higher calling to be desired. Yet, most of us warriors are quite self-absorbed on how we apply that warrior spirit within us.

Wonder if you are a warrior…or not? I think there are a few basic questions to ask yourself.

· Do you like to lead or prefer to follow?
· Are you independent or a “team” player? (Do you like individual or team sports?)
· Do you blame others… or yourself… for shortcomings or failures?
· Do you have personal pride in your accomplishments or do you tend to give others the credit?
· Do you live with more pride… or guilt?
· Do you have more questions or answers about your future goals and ambitions?

I think there are successful and unsuccessful warriors. Successful warriors tend to have good causes that the masses will embrace and follow.  They always battle for a reason…not just spoiling for a fight.  They choose their battles carefully…aligning their emotions to their reasoning minds.  Bravado itself may win a battle, but hardly ever wins a war.  A successful warrior uses brain more than brawn…and understands his limits when it comes to resources or preparedness for a fight.  He will wait until the odds are in his favor.

Unsuccessful warriors tend to overestimate their own strength or underestimate the opposition. They are controlled by emotions, bravado and a certain amount of narcissism. They live battle to battle instead of having long term strategies or objectives.  They focus on the “trees instead of the forests”. Often times there is no purpose to their conflict beyond the drive to “win at all cost”.  It is ego before reason.  These negative principles are the foundation of all failed empires or poor leadership.

I think it is healthy to develop positive warrior archetypes within our families and cultures.  We often do so through athletic competition and development.  It is important for humans to develop their physical capabilities, coordination and confidence.  It is part of “natural selection”.  Normal people appreciate perfection and accomplishment and tend to despise weakness and fear.  Weakness and fear are not the code of survival or being a warrior.

Being a warrior is not only physical. Mental preparedness and education are equally or more important to developing a successful warrior ethos.  Steven Hawkins is a modern day example of exemplifying a warrior spirit mentally while being a quadriplegic bound in a wheelchair.  He has not shied away from taking contrary views about religion, science and culture while not being able to physically fight for his ideals and beliefs.  There are also too many examples of perfect physical specimens of humanity who seem to have no intelligence or mental prowess. Those who are lucky enough to combine the two often fall into lazy habits of taking their advantage for granted and do not retain their competitive edge in life because “things have come too easy for them”.  Complacency and too much success too soon can become the enemy of a successful warrior.

Ultimately, the successful warrior is able to apply lessons in battle to all areas of their life. It is interesting to observe how some military warriors leave the battlefield in “defeat” or at least not clear cut victory…and then live out that defeat in all other areas of their lives. Some warriors have come back from the battlefield missing limbs and still find ways to fight and win in all future phases of their lives.  Others come back never having been wounded, but mentally retain a defeatist or fatalistic view of their future lives.  I have seen many of these former soldiers living homeless and penniless in American streets.  It is to me the saddest example of warriors who have lost a cause to battle for. They tend to escape to various substances instead of determining to turn their failures into victories.  It is a given that this is a very hard thing to do…take failure in stride and not count on others to lift us to a level of self-acceptance or dominance.

I think most people have some level of “warrior ethos” within them.  Unfortunately, most have not been encouraged to “fight” for who and what they wanted to become.  It is easier to let others or circumstances dictate our lot in life to us.  Some of us believe in mysticism and “luck” when it comes to our conditions in life.  Others of us believe in “cause and effect” ruling the day.

While I have never fought in the military or for a “patriotic” cause…I believe I have fought my whole life for having freedom of information, choice, integrity, and yes…paying the price or taking the credit for my failures and victories.  No one wins ALL the time.  Very few wars have been fought where one side won every battle.  The key is knowing your objectives…and realistic odds of reaching them. If we stay true to the realistic, surviving instincts within us…we can then use our warrior spirit to push ourselves forward to win the war that is our life…and take our losses in stride.

For me, “Semper Fi” begins with self before it can extend to other warriors. 

Wisdom from Ray...

I continue to believe in the power and meaning of words. Reading and writing of course are our closest sources to those powers...but spoken words at the right time and place have a way of changing lives...often without the speaker being conscious of the effect their words had on the listener.

I have been fortunate in my life to be around many well spoken and thinking people.  I haven't always come out agreeing with everything some of my mentors have said or believed...but I have always thought that if someone's actions back up their words...well, that is the basis for personal integrity.

I woke up this morning remembering a "pep talk" from one of my early mentors in life, Ray Clendenan. Ray passed a couple years ago, but his daughter, Connie, continues to be a lifelong friend and their family has spent decades working with troubled teens and orphans through a valuable concept called "Teen Ranch". I have no idea how many thousands of young lives they have positively impacted with a sense of family, direction and guidance where original families or parents were incompetent or unable to provide for their offspring.

Ray was helping promote one of my traveling bands in the late 70s...and he was great for solving complicated problems with simple and solid reasoning...wisdom.  Our young band of minstrels were just starting a year long tour and already discovering the conflicts that arise when 8+ people live together on the road for long periods of time.  He observed some of these conflicts early in our tour and since I was managing this band of people, most of whom were older than me, he quietly gave me and the band some basic advise and philosophy that has periodically guided me all these decades.

Ray said (paraphrased)...

The world we live in is a beautiful place.  It feeds us, inspires us, gives us a constant diet of awe at the power of nature. Yet, as we traverse this world we constantly run into problems.  Most of those problems are caused by other people.  If it weren't for people in our way, bugging us or contradicting us...our lives would be much easier. 

Sometimes its the people closest to us who cause the most trouble or hurt us the most. If we want to succeed in this world...we have to learn how to handle people in our lives.  We have to learn how to confront without being aggressive.  We need to learn to forgive even when people don't ask for forgiveness.  If we don't do those things, people will always be causing us problems and controlling our lives and emotions. We will always be REacting to people instead of controlling our own actions. 

Yep, people are a problem...but over time I have found that a soft answer turns away anger in another person. Over time love overcomes hate. Carrying resentment against people that have hurt us just builds walls and fills our lives with negativity.  The best way to overcome our problems is to love these people that cause us problems every day.  If we love and care about them, they will soon be less problematical. People respond to whatever energy you send their way.  If you are critical and resentful, they will tend to be critical and resentful back. If you accept differences as just being the way things are and that we don't need to agree on everything in order to care or get along...these problem people will become less of a problem. 

We all are different from each other...but one of our core choices everyday in this world is whether we are going to reject each other, or reach out to each other.  The more we reach out, the less we feel alone and the more we realize how much we all have in common.  I have found that it is very few times that you reach out to help or affirm someone that they won't respond in like manner.  When we start looking at problems as opportunities to grow, reach out and understand our differences...that is when we start overcoming our problems. Our problems are based on our own limitations to reach out and affirm versus being critical and combative.  So, make your problems out to be opportunities to embrace and overcome the obstacles. If you do that, people become less of a problem...and more of an asset in your life. 

Obviously I am paraphrasing heavily from my own memory and interpretation of Ray's words so long ago...but I have often smiled at the memory of Ray's pep talk regarding "People are a problem"...and some of my greatest satisfactions in life have been when I have succeeded in making a problem into a friend, customer or confidant. The "problem" has usually started with me.

Government Pyramids

With the current debacle of "Obamacare" and many other BIG government programs that sap our country's economic and cultural progress...is it time to get real about what I call "government pyramids".

It seems in this "Neo-liberal" political era, most of our western "democracies" are going the way of socialism and extreme controls and regulations on just about everything.  The masses world over have for decades been ceding their personal rights and self sustenance in exchange for "security" and protectionism...often under the guise of "God and Country". Most people would now rather be kept within the borders of police states where there are no risks or cost for personal failure and if anything bad happens they can just sue someone else or get free handouts from "the government".

As I have quoted many times in my writings...our founding fathers of the constitution believed that "those who would give up their rights and freedom in exchange for security and protection deserve neither". Thomas Jefferson and others of that revolutionary era knew then the direction democracy can go if unchecked against the individual rights and sovereignty each citizen should have. We are now living at the tail end of that cycle where our empire is crashing and we individuals who value personal sovereignty are forced to live as rejects and recluses within or without our own country. They say it is dangerous to express our opinions on these matters of state...but I am one of many who have come to a point in life where we can no longer accept being victims of "government pyramids" or keep our mouths shut.

As most people know, a pyramid in financial matters is an organized approach to finance a business or sell products where the "first in" get huge commissions and benefits for getting others to buy and also sell the service or product of the day. These types of programs are usually based on highly inflated priced items or services that are "new" and or revolutionary...but often hard to buy directly in the marketplace. Usually one can only buy this product or service through this defined network of "associates" or agents who redistribute to everyone in their circle huge benefits and commissions for doing so. Towards the end of the "pyramid scheme", the last people in get the lowest amount of benefit and are usually left holding the bag of empty promises and bounced checks.

Modern day governments usually have many laws "protecting" their citizens from these pyramid schemes...but unfortunately what most people don't realize is that these governments themselves are some of the biggest pyramid programs in the world. The USA has the biggest government pyramid going...and the latest nationalized healthcare program is just the latest in a line of many. Unfortunately, this one could be the straw that broke the camels back.

Here are a few brief descriptions of government pyramids that are breaking our economy:

Healthcare Pyramid
As we gave already mentioned briefly, a large percentage of Americans are not embracing the new Government healthcare plan. Perhaps one of the first problems is calling the plan "Obamacare" which quite honestly gives way too much credit to our current president for the currently approved plan by Congress for covering ALL Americans.

While the intent to provide care for all Americans is an honorable idea, the problem is this plan has been falsely represented at all levels of government and overruns any chance for market driven innovation or competition on the healthcare marketplace. Many tried and true plans are being obliterated for SOME Americans in order for the government to provide SOME level of coverage for ALL.

To put American's huge medical and pharmaceutical demands on the back of a bloated, wasteful federal government seems an obvious recipe for disaster. This pyramid approach funnels too much money and controls through the sifter of big government budgets and bureaucracy. If anything, our healthcare system needs LESS bureaucracy and regulation. We need a plan that gives individuals more choices and more freedoms to provide or decide on their own healthcare.We need government incentives for living healthy lifestyles...not reward for continuing slothfulness. The coming wave of baby-boomers leaving the workplace and entering their years of more dependency on doctors, hospitals and drugs is going to overwhelm all the coffers of medicaid, medicare and private insurance plans. It is understandable that insurance companies are having to raise their rates in order to meet these demands. The federal government should be focusing on fixing the broken programs they already have and expanding them to the TRULY needy. Yet, the government now comes along claiming they are going to meet the nations healthcare demands with cheaper plans yet increased benefits...for rich and poor alike. This is just unrealistic.The mandatory participation clauses are particularly disturbing when Congress gives themselves exemptions to maintain their own government "Cadillac" healthcare plan which Congresspeople don't pay for...taxpayers do. This hypocrisy and poor leadership example must end along with this pyramid structure of financing.

Social Security Pyramid
If anything instructs us on the future of the government healthcare pyramid, you only have to look as far as the Social Security system. Social Security in the USA started back in 1935, primarily as a way to force American workers to save for their retirement. Being at the tail end of the country's worst depression ever, it seemed an easy sell to promise workers that their retirement would be secure by putting these funds away where they could not access them. Unfortunately, the government sponsors of this pyramid could...so for decades these various "trusts" were raided by our government to cover various deficits and war debts over decades, leaving empty government securities in place of the cash we Americans all put in those "trusts".

Now the fundamental problems are that our currency has no basis of value that it had back in the gold standard days...and inflation and deficit spending have totally obliterated the estimates and numbers run back then on what it would take to ensure this trust for retirement. That very simply means that the buying power of your social security in future decades will probably be 25-50% less than what you thought it would be. For these reasons for 40 years I have not believed I will get what was promised for all my SS contributions. Either the funds will be denied me...or they will not be at a livable value in true currency.  The younger you currently are, the more screwed you are going to be from this pyramid. Yet, you are legally forced to contribute.  Terrible governance.

Military Pyramid
Ever since the end of World War II, the USA military industrial complex as grown exponentially, If you read the historian William Manchester or biographies of wartime Presidents such as the two Roosevelts,  Woodrow Wilson, Truman and Eisenhower, you can easily follow the government's mentality regarding the early decades of militarism in the USA this past century.  From the Potsdam conference at the end of WW2 until today we see the rationalization and justification in the eyes of our politicians for unlimited spending in most decades since. The rationalization has been that we don't want to see a World War 3, especially in this atomic age (which we started). Therefore most of us have gone along with our government's strategy that to contain the expansionist, tyrannic powers of Russia, China and others, we must control the world through continued empirical might backed by our military. Unfortunately, the consequence of our thirst for global controls has cost us a huge percentage of our country's GNP to where there's not enough tax revenues left to take care of our veterans, widows and orphans...let alone the rest of our booming population that don't seem to be able to get off the public dole.

Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of military spending at this link, so I won't repeat much data here. But just in general terms, our military pyramid spends almost 20% of the total federal budget...PLUS receives 50-60% of Congress' "discretionary budget. That ladies and gentlemen means in general terms that 30-35% of your tax dollars are spent by the military and Department of Defense (DOD) just to maintain our military commitments in over 160 different countries around the globe. This at a time when our country is basically bankrupt and we are LOSING or stalemated in every war we have entered since World War II!  This is a big price to pay for feeling "secure" and dominant in the world arena. I also don't think these numbers include all the collateral healthcare problems and loss of domestic production we pay for maintaining the current strategy of global domination. What would it mean to produce greener energy, more technology and biogenetic research for healthcare in place of all the bombs, missiles and soldiers outfits we have to produce each year?  For defense we could do much more with technology strategies and space oriented systems for more modernization versus foot soldiers, bombs and ammunition for hand to hand combat if we changed and limited the DOD budgets.

I don't go along with pure isolationism and total withdrawal from the international military arena...but we must soon come to our senses that we can no longer afford as a country or peoples to be majority funders and providers of troops and armaments all around the world. The Chinese and other contrary political systems are laughing at us all the way to the bank with the bonds they hold against our currency that goes to defend ALL THE WORLD. It is time to cut back, end this pyramid structure of funding, and get realistic about what it truly means to defend the "interests of the USA" versus maintaining power and influence outside our borders. We are NOT succeeding on this mission...and at great cost.

Federal Reserve System
The FED is the financial pyramid that operates separate from the federal government as the "Central banking" system of the USA. It was created back at the end of 1913 to basically control some market driven financial panics early in the century and was the government's way to try and smooth out the natural ebb and flow of free market currencies, inflation and to control to a certain extent consumerism. Most of the leadership of this organization is appointed by the President of the USA, and the Board of Governors is voted in by the primary national banks. All profits after bank interests are paid are sent annually to the US treasury.

The basic function of the FED has been to bail out or take over failing banks and attempt to keep stability in the US banking system. While not an actual part of the government, the FED has the power to control interest rates, print and distribute currency and be the watch dog over banking laws and policies including defending the value of US currency.

While the original ramifications and goals of this agency were understandable in the beginning...it is another example of a government system that was setup to take care of an temporary emergency...and then uses this emergency to establish itself as the defacto controller of all things financial in our huge country. Since the establishment of this agency we have experienced many gyrations and false evaluations of our national economy.  All kinds of new debit has been established...and that debt has been covered temporarily by simply printing more worthless currency (with no commodity value), creating new debt paper programs that mask the true nature of the national debt via "credit swaps" and various inter-government currency agreements. Through this FED pyramid of monetary controls, our government has been spending and borrowing from this banking system without checks, balances or remorse since its founding.

Many leaders who look at this realistically, such as Representative Ron Paul, have been calling for more accounting and basically limiting or abolishing this "pyramid" so that we can return to more natural market driven economies and growth.  To assume that bankers or government politicians know better how to push or control markets than true business leaders is a huge mistake. What we need in place is a TRUE independent Central bank and a return to the fundamentals of market driven versus politician driven economies and money supply.

Welfare Pyramid
All of the aforementioned "government pyramids" are in one way or another responsible for the "Welfare" pyramid.  Welfare economics once again began in the USA during real times of TEMPORARY need in our country, but the more the government gave the needy...the more needy they became. This is now the major arm of government that provides "redistribution" from the producers to the non producers and has totally turned ethics and morals of economic survival upside down in our country.

I have no problem with having government funds used for disasters and taking care of the truly needy, sick, handicapped and veterans of war and their families. Unfortunately, government has always been the most IN-efficient way to cover local needs and disasters.

While the welfare state approach was originally intended to promote economic and social WELL being of its citizens...it has actually simply encouraged citizens to rely on the government to take care of them financially, socially and medically. With all the promises made during elections, our politicians have turned those promises of redistribution and Neo Liberal "rights" into a mega pyramid of redistribution.  Millions of non incentivized  citizens are now conditioned to live off the welfare and backs of other citizens versus work and push for their own individual sufficiency. It is just easier to live off the pyramid than push for personal success.

Unfortunately, this is also bankrupting the country.

In 2002, welfare payments were 35% of total GDP in the USA. "In 2002, total U.S. social welfare expenditure constitutes roughly 35% of GDP, with purely public expenditure constituting 21%, publicly supported but privately provided welfare services constituting 10% of GDP and purely private services constituting 4% of GDP. This compared to France and Sweden whose welfare spending ranges from 30% to 35% of GDP.The Great Recession made a large impact on welfare spending. In a 2011 article, Forbes reported, "The best estimate of the cost of the 185 federal means tested welfare programs for 2010 for the federal government alone is nearly $700 billion, up a third since 2008, according to the Heritage Foundation. Counting state spending, total welfare spending for 2010 reached nearly $900 billion, up nearly one-fourth since 2008 (24.3%)". The previous decade had seen a 60% decrease in the number of people receiving welfare benefits, beginning with the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, but spending did not decrease proportionally during that time period.

As we continue on this road of pyramidal, deficit spending, we are fostering generations of dependent, helpless Americans who are becoming less competitive in the world, and clueless at home on how to survive, get and keep a job, or create their own products and services for future prosperity.

We need a paradigm shift on the role and funding of government programs. Instead of our government taking money into a pyramidal scheme of taxing and budgeting...building in layers and layers of administrative and macro management personnel and costs...we need to reverse that pyramid to where the "providers" and the truly dependent are more directly responsible to each other.

The following are my macro suggestions on obliterating each of these government pyramid schemes:

Healthcare: I believe we simply need to improve the systems and "safety nets" we already have.  Medicaid and Medicare have already shown the good and bad of government fostered and administered healthcare. To now bring in a whole new pyramid scheme of government controls on healthcare providers, users and costs is just to magnify and repeat the same cycle of insanity.  While the problem and answer is not simple, in general I believe it is better for government to support PRIVATE healthcare enterprise and let markets do the job of controlling pricing and choices of healthcare.  Before you start another healthcare system, fix the ones you have...or get rid of whats not working by replacement....not adding on more of the same. We cannot afford all those programs. There is just no money in the system for this. Who will be the first effective politician to lead us that direction?

Social Security: We need to restore integrity and true math to the Social Security system. People should be able to manage their own tax free retirement funds. This would keep the government from raiding those funds to cover their spending addiction...and the FED must stop printing worthless currency that immediately deflates the value of our future cash incomes. Future inflation is the greatest enemy of this outdated pyramid scheme. It is time for the government to repay those debts and be real with the people on the true future projections of THEIR money. This is not an "entitlement" from the government. It is a DEBT to those who paid in.  As people live longer but not producing...these promises to the people must be kept. Unfortunately, a government doesn't seem to have the same pressures as people or businesses in declaring bankruptcy or paying their debts.

Military: We need to pull back from the expensive strategy of "boots on the ground" in over 160 countries militarily. More focus and investment should be on technology development which will allow us to maintain surveillance worldwide but without the expense of expensive human resources spread throughout the globe. The USA needs to cut back on its "police state" attitudes both at home and abroad. We don't need it and we can't afford it. Bring our troops home to help with the domestic rebuilding or our own infrastructure and economies. These troops can be safer and much more productive at home.  Our military should be used for DEFENSE only...not interventionist and usually unwelcome invasions on foreign soils. Highly hypocritical of a "Christian" democracy.

Federal Reserve: We need to return to MARKET driven fundamentals for adjusting economic factors in our country. For politicos to think they are smarter and better than the markets to determine interest rates or who gets financial bailouts is simply stupid and naive. We need business leaders and true economists not politically motivated to work together for improving monetary policies that promote growth, access to financing to all who DESERVE it and not try to micro manage economic indicators for political purposes. There also needs to be more transparency to the electorate on what the true status is of our economy and where and to whom our banking system is catering to. We either have to replace this organization...or significantly reorganize and clip its wings of unmitigated power and control of our money.

Welfare Pyramid: It is time to reduce American's dependency on the "welfare state".  As a larger percentage of our population becomes government dependent financially, this leads to the worst of political corruption in the world where the voters support any politico who will GIVE them the most.  We need more Americans to "ask what they can do for their country" versus "what their country can do for them".  Yes, government should be there to guarantee rights and provide services they were elected to provide...but not one of. our country's founders envisioned the constitution supported the idea of Federal Government as the great agent of redistribution.  People who want to eat and have a roof over their heads need to WORK and be productive. Those who get handouts have to do something in return if at all able. People on welfare in my opinion should not be able to vote, because they will always vote for more "welfare" at no cost to themselves. If the state pays money to people, the people should provide some service to the state. Only the truly handicapped, disabled or aged should get a free pass on being a productive human supporting their own survival.  Socialism and increased welfare will never build a sustainable, strong nation of independent citizens.  The more united we Americans are in demanding justice and equality for all without catering to leeches and ner do wells...the sooner we will once again become the strongest economy and state in the world.

If we simply get rid of all these government pyramids that are totally unsustainable as well as terrible strategy and policy...we will be able to reduce the size of government by up to 50%.  Imagine what could happen in time if half of our taxes were returned to us to do something more productive than the government does with that money?  Imagine if we had enough money to take care of our own dependents in our families and communities directly versus filtering support to them through a money guzzling machine of Federal Government. Believe me, people would be much more responsible and accountable for the support they would get. What ever happened to personal pride and integrity in America where to take a dime of public support was deemed shameful and only as a FINAL option? Imagine the change that will happen when we all have more discretionary money for opening businesses, getting educations, traveling and enjoying the fruits of OUR labors. We truly can break these chains of Federalist dependence. These changes will not happen if we continue contributing to and living off all these government pyramid schemes.