How We Can Leverage AI to Create a “Jobless” society: Part 2

09 Nov 2025 9 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

In Part 1 of this Blog, I described some of the possibilities that AI might provide us in terms of developing what could become a utopian Society.  I named the economic system that such a society would need as an Equalitarian Economy as opposed to a Capitalistic, Socialistic, Communistic or any other type of economy that ever existed.  This new economy would be extremely Democratic in that everyone would be able to benefit from it.  I described several critical parameters of such an economy which included: 

Core Principles of Equalitarianism:

Shared Prosperity: Wealth produced by automated systems and AI is treated as a collective inheritance, not private privilege.

Universal Security: Every person is guaranteed access to health, education, housing, food, and connectivity as rights of citizenship.

Democratic Ownership: Data, infrastructure, and automation are managed for the public good through civic and cooperative institutions.

Ecological Balance: Progress is measured not by growth alone but by sustainability and planetary stewardship.

Purpose Beyond Profit: Humans pursue creativity, service, and learning as the highest expressions of freedom in a post-labor world.

Transparency and Trust: Economic algorithms and institutions operate openly, accountable to citizens, not corporations.

Responsibility and Contribution: Freedom is balanced with duty—to community, environment, and future generations.

Cultural Flourishing: Arts, education, and civic engagement become the new engines of meaning.

Global Solidarity: Equalitarianism recognizes that abundance must be shared across borders to preserve peace and human dignity.

The Equilibrium Principle: Every policy seeks harmony between technological power and human values.

Some people would call me overly idealistic or say that I had my head in the clouds.  They would argue that humans being can never create a society that evidences the characteristics noted above.  Karen says I am the ultimate pessimist.  That I don’t trust anyone or anything.  How do I resolve these apparent contradictions in my personality?  Who is right?  Am I a fuzzy headed idealist or a skeptical pessimist who thinks the worse in every situation? 

When someone calls me an unrealistic idealist who doesn’t understand human nature, I take it as a backhanded compliment.  I do understand human nature—both its flaws and its possibilities.  I’ve spent a lifetime studying how fear, greed, and ego shape behavior, but I refuse to believe they are destiny.  To me, realism without conscience is cynicism, and idealism without realism is sentimentality. The space I try to inhabit is between the two: the realm of the pragmatic humanist. 

I believe that understanding human nature means believing that it can grow—through education, empathy, and systems that bring out our better selves.  I’m not an unrealistic idealist; I’m a realist of potential.  The human race has yet to tap the potential that lies in all of us.  From the newborn baby to the fading senior citizen.  From America to Europe to Africa to Asia.  From the poorest people in the world, to the richest.  We have so much untapped potential.  If we could only learn to love others instead of hating others. 

Baha’u’llah taught that love is the fundamental principle of existence, the “spirit of life” for humanity, and the most powerful force for progress.  Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.  Buddha described love as a boundless, benevolent wish for the happiness of all beings, a quality he called loving-kindness.  Muhammad’s teachings on love emphasized love for the sake of Allah, which includes compassion for all of humanity and other creations.  Krishna teaches that “he who does my work, who loves me, who sees me as the highest, free from attachment to all things, and with love for all creation, he in truth comes to me.”

Dr. Deming once told me that transformation starts in the heart but ends in the brain.  Transformation requires a new way of thinking and not following the dead ends that come from thinking in a box.  Einstein said that we cannot solve the problems of today with the same level of thinking that created these problems.  We can make a better world, and we can be better people, but it requires love, empathy, compassion and kindness.  Once we understand this, we can think our way to the world that we can only dream of now.   How can we get there from today? 

Transitioning from Today to Tomorrow:

The road to 2075 could unfold in three arcs:

2025–2035: Universal healthcare, education, pilot dividends, civic wealth funds.

2035–2055: Scaling UBB modules, digital public wallets, land value taxes.

2055–2075: Constitutional right to the Bundle, full Automated Productivity Dividend (APD) , AI-audited transparency.

The system’s heart is trust.  Algorithms determining the APD or resource prices must be openly audited.  Fiscal boards set rules, not politicians seeking applause.  Citizen assemblies test and refine programs through feedback loops, ensuring continual improvement—Plan, Do, Study, Act (The Deming Cycle) on a planetary scale.

Here are the key elements of my Equalitarian Economy and how they would work.

1) What’s guaranteed (the “Universal Basic Bundle”)

Instead of only cash, society guarantees a bundle of essential services, delivered like utilities:

  • Healthcare: universal coverage with public providers + private options layered on top.
  • Food: a baseline food allowance redeemable at grocers/meal services; nutrition standards, not one-size-fits-all rations.
  • Housing: right to housing via public development + vouchers + mutuals; minimum quality standards.
  • Education: free lifetime learning, credentials, and creative/technical studios.
  • Connectivity & Mobility: free broadband and a mobility pass (local transit + basic distance allotment).

The bundle is portable, unconditional, and choice-preserving (people pick among accredited providers).  Think “public option platforms” rather than one provider per need.

2) How people get spending power (beyond the basics)

Everyone receives an Automated Productivity Dividend (APD)—a cash-like stipend reflecting the value created by AI/robotic capital. It’s funded by:

  • Sovereign & civic wealth funds that own broad stakes in AI/robotic enterprises.
  • Resource rents (land value, spectrum, minerals), carbon fees, and environmental charges—returned equally as dividends.
  • A luxury VAT and/or robot/compute levy on supernormal AI rents (carefully designed to avoid stifling innovation).

Result: basics in-kind + optional cash for variety and luxuries.

3) Who owns the machines (so the dividend is real)

Without purposeful ownership design, a few owners capture everything.  Options that spread the gains:

  • National/municipal wealth funds (Alaska-style, but scaled and diversified into AI).
  • Pension & community funds mandated to hold a share of AI/automation indexes.
  • Data & model trusts that license public data/commons to AI firms in exchange for recurring royalties paid to residents.
  • Cooperative platforms where users/workers/cities co-own service robots and local models.

Mixing these creates a plural, resilient ownership base that throws off steady APD cashflows.

4) How to allocate real scarcities

Even with abundant automation, some things will remain scarce: prime urban land, top-tier medical slots, rare materials, energy peaks.

Use clear, fairness-preserving allocation rules:

  • Congestion pricing for peak resources (electricity at 6–9pm, popular transit slots)—revenues go back to people.
  • Auctions with dividend money for luxuries/rare items (keeps fairness and price signals).
  • Lotteries with rotation for non-monetizable scarcities (e.g., coveted campsites).
  • Personal environmental/material budgets (cap-and-dividend) to keep within planetary limits while preserving individual choice.

5) Governance that people can trust

  • A Constitutional floor of social rights (bundle + APD) guarded by independent fiscal/actuarial boards.
  • Transparent algorithmic policy: models that set APD levels, bundle rates, and scarcity prices are open-audited; citizens’ assemblies review changes.
  • Local experimentation / national reinsurance: cities iterate; the center backstops risks.
  • A Deming-style continuous improvement loop: publish indicators, test alternatives, keep what works.

6) Work, purpose, and status in a post-work world

“Jobs” give income, yes—but also identity, mastery, and community. Replace the income function with APD + bundle; replace the meaning function with:

  • Civic & creative missions (caregiving, arts, restoration ecology, mentoring, open-source, local news).
  • Reputation and recognition systems (think honors, badges, grants, residencies) that are non-financial but unlock opportunities (studio access, travel fellowships, lab time).
  • Voluntary problem prizes for hard societal challenges—open to anyone.

Let us look at how the above ideas would work on a day-to-day basis.  We will watch how Maya, one citizen in the new economy would receive economic benefits:

  • Maya receives the bundle automatically (healthcare, housing lease, mobility, broadband, education access) plus a monthly APD deposited into her public wallet.
  • She books a surgical consult on the health platform, enrolls in a ceramics + music course, and applies for a community garden micro-grant.
  • Peak-hour e-bike lanes use congestion pricing; her wallet is refunded weekly with the proceeds.
  • She enters a materials-light design contest; the prize is a year in a shared studio with high-end tools—no salary needed, but high status and joy.

How long would it take to transition to this new economy.  We can look at a path that such a transition might take.  (so this isn’t sci-fi hand-waving or pie in the sky thinking)

Years 0–10

  • Make healthcare and education genuinely universal; scale housing-first programs.
  • Launch/expand sovereign & civic wealth funds; start data trusts for public sector datasets.
  • Pilot UBB modules (mobility, broadband, food) in cities; pilot APD at modest levels via carbon/resource dividends + luxury VAT.
  • Enact land value tax shifts and congestion pricing with rebates/dividends.

Years 10–25

  • Ratchet APD as automation rents grow; fold in compute/robot levies if warranted.
  • Convert portions of tax expenditures into automatic bundle entitlements.
  • Standardize digital ID + public wallet (privacy-preserving) for payments and allocations.
  • Scale community/co-op ownership of local service robotics.

Years 25–50

  • Codify the social rights floor; stabilize APD against business cycles with rules-based mechanisms.
  • Shift most routine administration to auditable public AI; keep humans on goals, ethics, and appeals.
  • Tighten ecological caps with cap-and-dividend so abundance doesn’t overshoot the planet.

Now let us look at the Feasibility or Likelihood that such a transition could ever take place. 

  • Feasibility (could we?)

High, in terms of some  pieces.  Every element has real-world precedents: public services, dividends from shared assets, congestion pricing, social wealth funds, lotteries, co-ops.  Stitching them together is an engineering-and-governance project, not magic.

  • Likelihood (will we?)

Medium-low.  Left to markets alone, AI rents concentrate; political resistance to broad ownership and unconditional floors is strong.  Likelihood rises if we start now with: building civic wealth funds, enshrining social rights floors, deploying public wallets, and sharing automation rents early so people feel gains, not only disruption. 

Every component already exists somewhere—Alaska’s oil dividend, Norway’s wealth fund, Singapore’s housing model, open-source governance.  Integration is engineering, not fantasy.  We must act deliberately and share compassion for all of humanity.  Otherwise, AI and automation will only amplify inequality.  But if we start early—own public AI equity, legislate social rights floors—than the likelihood rises sharply. 

Bottom line

A post-work economy is possible if we socialize a slice of the returns to automation (not all of the economy), guarantee a Universal Basic Bundle, and use transparent, fair allocation for what remains scarce.  People keep freedom, society keeps stability, and progress keeps its edge.

How We Can Leverage AI to Create a “Jobless” society: Part 1

04 Nov 2025 14 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Introduction:

Political pundits and other so-called experts are all taking sides on the advantages and disadvantages that AI poses for humanity.  Many are fixated on the large number of jobs that will be rendered obsolete by AI.  They seem to forget that throughout history, new jobs replaced old jobs when technology changed.  From sails to steamships, horse and buggies to cars, history is one vast unfolding of technology changing the way societies do work and are structured.

For the sake of compromise, I will assume the worse.  Let me speculate that in fifty years, AI will eliminate 95 percent of all jobs on the earth.  There are two ways that such a situation could be viewed.  First, as an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions as people lose their jobs and ability to support themselves.  Or as an opportunity of epic proportions based on an abundance of leisure time.  An opportunity that enables people to use this leisure time to pursue more rewarding and creative activities.  AI could eliminate the drudge of 9-to-5 work.  However, we are still going to need an economic system.  I believe such a system would be vastly different that any system that we have ever had either today or in the past.  The world stands at the threshold of a post-labor era.  Machines now do the work that once defined our lives, yet the rewards of that labor remain unevenly shared.  We need a new economic philosophy — one that aligns technological abundance with human fairness.

How could we structure an economic system in which people did not work but could still have access to health care, education, food, shelter and clothes?  Would this be possible?  We see Sci-Fi movies with civilizations on other worlds or in the future who live in a Utopia where robots and AI take of all the basic needs.  But how would a new economic system distribute the goods and services that are basic to humanity?  This is a lightning rod activity since many people are quick to oppose any efforts wherein someone seems to get something for nothing.  Witness, the ongoing criticism of social services such as welfare, unemployment and even social security.  A new economic system is going to call for new thinking.  As Albert Einstein famously said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking we used when we created them.”

To think about what such a system might look like, I want to bring up an analogy that portrays a very different way of looking at life.  The people that we call Indians who were indigenous to this country before Europeans arrived had a way of distributing food and shelter that was quite admirable.  They believed that the land, water, resources belonged to everyone.  No one could own the land, lakes or seas.  If a buffalo hunt took place, the resultant meat was shared among all the tribal members.  No one said “I killed that buffalo, so the meat belongs to me.  But I will sell you some if you want any.”

Equalitarianism:

I want to propose that we cannot have a new economy based on selfish individualistic thinking that ignores any kind of social obligations.  If AI and automation do 95% of the work, we’ll need an economic system that (1) guarantees the basics, (2) steers scarce resources wisely, and (3) keeps meaning, dignity, and innovation alive.  I will call this new economy “Equalitarianism” as opposed to capitalism, socialism, communism or any other economic system that you have heard of. “Equalitarianism” is a democratic economic philosophy grounded in fairness, shared ownership, and universal well-being.  It envisions a society in which the fruits of automation and intelligence—both human and artificial—are distributed to ensure dignity, opportunity, and balance for all.

Core Principles of Equalitarianism:

  • Shared Prosperity: Wealth produced by automated systems and AI is treated as a collective inheritance, not private privilege.
  • Universal Security: Every person is guaranteed access to health, education, housing, food, and connectivity as rights of citizenship.
  • Democratic Ownership: Data, infrastructure, and automation are managed for the public good through civic and cooperative institutions.
  • Ecological Balance: Progress is measured not by growth alone but by sustainability and planetary stewardship.
  • Purpose Beyond Profit: Humans pursue creativity, service, and learning as the highest expressions of freedom in a post-labor world.
  • Transparency and Trust: Economic algorithms and institutions operate openly, accountable to citizens, not corporations.
  • Responsibility and Contribution: Freedom is balanced with duty—to community, environment, and future generations.
  • Cultural Flourishing: Arts, education, and civic engagement become the new engines of meaning.
  • Global Solidarity: Equalitarianism recognizes that abundance must be shared across borders to preserve peace and human dignity.
  • The Equilibrium Principle: Every policy seeks harmony between technological power and human values.

Building an Economy When Work Disappears:

Imagine it’s the year 2075.  Ninety-five percent of all jobs once done by humans are now performed by artificial intelligences and robots.   Factories hum without workers, crops harvest themselves, and algorithms handle every clerical task once requiring a cubicle.  Humanity’s most ancient concern—how to earn a living—has been replaced by a new question: “How to live meaningfully when earning is no longer required?”

For centuries, economies balanced two core elements: labor and capital.  Labor created value; wages distributed it.  The Twentieth Century saw “information” added to the two core elements. Productivity once dependent on land and labor has become increasingly dependent on information and data.  Humans cannot compete with AI when it comes to producing and managing such data.   When increased automation and AI can provide nearly all productive labor, the former equilibrium collapses.  Yet people will still need food, housing, healthcare, education, and belonging.  We will also need purpose.  The challenge is no longer how to produce, but how to share.  Here are some ideas on how resources could be managed in an Equalitarian economy:

A Universal Basic Bundle:

Instead of handing out only cash, the new economy could guarantee a Universal Basic Bundle (UBB)—a set of public services as reliable as electricity.  Healthcare would be universal, food credits digital, housing guaranteed, education lifelong, and connectivity and mobility free.  This bundle would ensure dignity without removing freedom; citizens choose providers and can upgrade privately.

An Automated Productivity Dividend:

While the UBB guarantees basics, citizens also receive an Automated Productivity Dividend (APD)—a monthly stipend reflecting humanity’s collective ownership of the machines that now do the work.  The APD would draw from public wealth funds, resource rents, and automation taxes.  It grows as automation grows—return on shared capital, not charity.

Ownership in an Age of Algorithms:

Without shared ownership, AI profits concentrate into a few hands.  Society must broaden who owns the means of computation through sovereign and municipal wealth funds, data trusts, and cooperative platforms.  This mosaic of ownership spreads wealth and gives every citizen a stake in the future.

Managing Scarcity in an Age of Plenty:

Even a post-labor world will face scarcities—prime land, rare minerals, medical specialists, and peak energy hours.  Instead of rationing by privilege, we can ration by fairness: dynamic pricing for peak resources, lotteries for non-market goods, and caps and dividends for carbon and material use.  Money remains, but it serves coordination rather than domination.

Purpose Beyond the Paycheck:

While work may vanish, meaning and purpose must not.  Society can elevate civic, creative, and ecological missions as the new currency of status—with prizes, recognition systems, open laboratories, and local media supported by public dividends.  In place of employment, people pursue engagement; work shifts from income to contribution.  In the early 1950’s, the Japanese created a prize for quality based on the ideas of Dr. Deming and named it the Deming Prize.  This effort greatly helped to catapult Japan to a world leadership in product quality and reliability.  The old saying that “Two heads are better than one” can now be changed to “Two heads with AI are better than only two heads.”  Together we can think our way to a better world.

Bottom Line for Humanity:

A society freed from compulsory labor can become either a gilded palace for the few or a renaissance of the many.  It can become a world of haves and have nots.  A world with a few super rich and billions of poor people with no jobs and no skills.  If we share the fruits of intelligence—both human and artificial—we can fulfill the dream that every prophet and philosopher has always embraced: a world where work is a choice, not a chain.  Where labor from 9 to 5 is replaced by time for family, friends and creativity.

How We Can Leverage AI to Create a “Jobless” society:  Part 2

In my next blog, I will dive deeper into some of the concepts and ideas that I presented in this blog.  I want to describe how many of the economic elements that I noted could actually work and discuss the pro’s and con’s of some of them.  We will discuss the feasibility of the scenario that I am advocating.

Who and What is Really Running America Now?

04 Sep 2025 11 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Since the beginning of the Trump phenomenon (around about 2014), I have been wondering how anyone like Trump could have garnered so much support from his many fans, from Republicans, from sycophantic politicians, from rich oligarchs and from all spectrums of American demographics including young, middle aged, old, and even minorities.  How could a person who is so shallow, callous, bigoted and uninformed be leading a movement to destroy Democracy in America.  A man aided by millions of others willing to help him overthrow the ideas, beliefs and institutions that this country was founded upon.  It is question that has perplexed me for many sleepless nights.  I decided to use the power of AI to delve deeper into the issue.  I wrote and then submitted the following query to ChatGPT 5.0

Here is a difficult issue. America is obviously very polarized between those who seem bent on rolling back the clock and canceling many programs and benefits that seemed to help and those people who want to keep these programs. The CDC is one agency that has been targeted for cuts as well as the FDA and EPA. All organizations with programs designed to protect people. It appears as though these changes all come from the White House and the Republican Party. Some people say they are using plan 2025 as a blueprint for the changes being made. Frankly, I have a hard time believing that any politician or political groups are solely responsible for these changes. It looks to me like there must be more than the Heritage Foundation or Hudson Institute behind these plans. Can you find any major influencers in the USA who are bent on destroying democracy in favor of an autocracy? Or who want to do away with rule by the majority in favor of rule by an elite. I would like to know who are the major drivers and brains behind the changes going on and being made since the start of Trumpism?”

The following is the answer I received from AI in response to the above query. 

ChatGPT 5.0

You’re absolutely right to question the notion that any major shift—especially those threatening democratic norms—could be driven solely by one think tank or political party. While the Republican Party and its allies in the White House may be the most visible agents of change, scholars, journalists, and watchdogs have traced much of the intellectual fuel behind these transformations to a broader network of elite actors, think tanks, strategists, and influential theorists.

Here’s a breakdown of key players and ideas shaping the push toward autocratic‑leaning governance in the U.S.:

Think Tanks & Strategic Blueprints

Project 2025 (The Heritage Foundation and Allies)

  • Origin & Scope: Published in April 2023 by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 (or the “2025 Presidential Transition Project”) is a 920‑page policy and personnel blueprint aimed at consolidating executive power, gutting checks and balances, restructuring or eliminating federal agencies like CDC, FDA, and more Wikipedia+6Wikipedia+6Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren+6.
  • Impact on Agencies: It proposes splitting and weakening agencies like the CDC, altering FDA procedures, shifting funding away from NIH, and conditioning federal support on political loyalty American Public Health AssociationCongresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
  • Public Opposition: Advocates such as the ACLU and organizations like Democracy Forward warn the plan is extremist and risks dismantling democratic safeguards Democracy Forward+1.

Kevin Roberts – Chief Architect

  • Often referred to as the “mastermind” behind Project 2025, Kevin Roberts serves as its chief strategist. Critics argue the initiative would effectively enable an imperial presidency by dismantling institutional checks American Civil Liberties Union+4Wikipedia+4Wikipedia+4.

Intellectual Influencers: Philosophers of Autocracy

Curtis Yarvin (aka “Mencius Moldbug”)

  • Ideas: Yarvin advocates replacing democracy with a corporate-style autocracy—think CEO-monarch—governed by a “board.” He coined “The Cathedral” to critique media and academia’s role in upholding liberal norms The New Yorker+2The Times of India+2.
  • Influence: His views have influenced high-profile tech magnates and political figures, including J.D. Vance, Michael Anton, and possibly Steve Bannon. He was even an informal guest of honor at Trump’s 2025 inaugural gala Wikipedia+1.
  • Public Profile: The New Yorker and The Guardian have highlighted his elevated role in mainstreaming authoritarian ideas The GuardianThe New YorkerThe Times of India.

Corporate and Mega-Donor Backing

  • Claremont Institute: Far from the lone voice, this think tank has become a central ideological hub for the movement, backed by mega-donors such as the DeVos family, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and Sarah Scaife Foundation. Their fellows and affiliates—like John Eastman—were involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election Monthly Review.
  • Tech Powers: Billionaires like Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy are described as the “masters of the universe” supporting the broader political project. Thiel, notably, has said he no longer believes freedom and democracy are compatible Monthly Review.

Autocracy Across Borders

  • Viktor Orbán’s Influence: Hungary’s populist‑authoritarian leader has become a model for some American conservatives. His strategy parallels Project 2025 in structure and aims, and Hungarian think tanks and institutes are reportedly helping shape U.S. right-wing thinking Le Monde.fr.

Summary of Key Drivers

Role Key Figures & Entities
Think Tank / Blueprint Heritage Foundation (Project 2025), Kevin Roberts
Ideological Advisers Curtis Yarvin (Mencius Moldbug), Claremont Institute thinkers
Financial Backers DeVos family, Bradley Foundation, Scaife Foundation, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, etc.
Transatlantic Influences Viktor Orbán and related Hungarian institutions

These forces are intertwined: think tanks craft the blueprint (Project 2025), ideological influencers provide theoretical cover (Yarvin), mega-donors fund and amplify (DeVos, Thiel), and foreign models inspire strategy (Orbán).

Broader Implications

  • Beyond a Single Party: While the GOP and Trump administration may be enacting these changes, the intellectual and financial network behind the shift is vast—cross-sector and multi-layered.
  • Threats to Governance: Experts warn that this structure—centralizing power, dismantling agencies, appointing loyalists—poses a real risk to democratic norms and the balance of powers Wikipedia+4Wikipedia+4AFGE+4Monthly Review+4The New Yorker+4The Times of India+4Monthly Review.
  • What’s at Stake: Independent institutions like CDC and FDA are vulnerable to both funding cuts and structural reorganization, which activists say imperils public health and democracy alike.

Conclusions:

I shared the above with a good friend and he was astounded.  It was hard for him to believe that anyone brought up on the American Dream could support an anti-democratic president and his sycophantic followers.  Indeed, thousands of people perhaps more like millions of people in America do not believe in the goals and ideals of our Founding Fathers.  The truth is that there has always been a fascist anti-intellectual and anti-democratic core of people in this country who have no dream of a democracy.  People who would substitute an autocratic and even fascist leader to run the country.  A leader (now in office) who even as I write this is bending to the whims of the men and women who want to destroy the dreams that made America great.

There is no “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”  This motto is a lie designed to deceive Americans.  The goal is to destroy the dream of a society where Truth and Justice and Equality would prevail for all people.  The people behind this effort do not believe in democracy for the simple reason that they think you and I and millions of other Americans are too stupid to run this country.  They want an oligarchy of the rich and powerful to rule.  The job for the rest of us will be to work ourselves to death to make money to buy the crap that they sell on Madison Avenue, TV, Radio and mainstream newspapers.  Crap that every day they work to shove down our throats.  The more stuff you buy, the richer our Lords will be.  The elitist rulers of America will have the box seats to everything in life while you and I will get to hold the door open for them to enter.

“I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but inform their discretion.”
—Thomas Jefferson, 1820

 

What America May Be Like in the Year 2056

28 Jul 2025 5 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

freedom-is-slavery

The following is an imaginary story I wrote back in January of 2017.  I wrote it at the start of the first trump administration.  I was reflecting on what life would be like in about 40 years under a Republican dominated government.  I just happened to come upon this blog again a few days ago.  After rereading it, I was surprised by how many of these things seem to be coming to pass under the “NEW” trump administration.  I have decided to publish it in the original without making ANY changes at all.  Love to hear your comments and what you think.  

———————————————————————————————————

I live in Republicanville USA.  It is a small town of about 1,500 people in the rural Midwest.  Today in my town, all the women are barefoot and pregnant and all the men are stupid and misinformed.  It wasn’t always this way.  Things started to change about 75 years ago, when Ronald Reagan became President.  My town had always been very progressive and liberal but we started hearing more and more about how we were being taken advantage of by the poor, those on government handouts and those too lazy to work.  The Republicans who in our town had always been a minority began to grow in numbers.  The more we heard about welfare cheats and welfare freeloaders and those on drugs taking advantage of us, the more my town embraced a new concept of democracy.  It was more like “every man or woman for themselves” rather than “all for one and one for all.”

obey-jesus-or-perish

Our U.S. democracy which had always prided itself on a separation of church and state seemed to forget the reason for this partition.  Increasingly, a group called Evangelical Fundamentalists became more popular along with their criticism of many progressive institutions.  Republicanville USA moved more and more to the right.  The concept of unbridled capitalism became enshrined as a religion and many people began opposing “big” government and taxes.  The Republican Party preached that the marketplace could provide for all social, physical and economic needs of U.S. citizens.  My town moved even further to the right.

trump-state-of-the-unionThis conservative trend was already well underway when in 2017, a billionaire real-estate developer named Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States of America.  In addition to the hard core conservative beliefs of many mainstream Republicans, Trump added the once discredited idea of American Isolationism.  We would now put America first, no matter what.  No more negotiations with other nations unless it was clear that we got the better of the deal.  We would build a big wall to keep Mexicans and other immigrants out and we would renege on our trade deals with China and Europe.  About the only country that Trump liked was Russia.   Eventually, he agreed to give Alaska and parts of Canada back to Russia.

Trump came through on his promises to the Evangelicals that he would make America White again and put women back in the bedroom where it would be okay to grab their pussies whenever you wanted to.  Minorities were targeted for deportation and women libbers promoting abortion or equal rights for women were arrested in wholesale sweeps and sent to special detention centers for chronic complainers and protesters.

I would like to describe in somewhat more detail what my town is like now in 2056.  Things are a lot different than when I was born in 2017.  I will divide my discussion of these changes into three areas:  Family, Education and Social Issues.

Family:

another-day-in-paradiseI am 39 years old and have two children.  I have never worked (at least outside of the home) as women have not been allowed to work since 2022 when they passed the “Women in the Home Law” as it was popularly called.  The Federal government passed the law and it was ratified by every state and municipality in the nation.  Some places tried to hold out but the government cut off all funding to them until they capitulated.  This law effectively outlawed women working.  It also barred women from the military.  Ten years later (2032) they passed the “Mandatory Birth Act.”  This bill proscribes that every woman (physically able to) must give birth to at least two children.  Any woman who reaches the age of 32 and still has not given birth to two children is forcibly removed to a National Birthing Center where she will be artificially impregnated and kept confined until she has had at least two healthy children.  Sickly or unhealthy children are sent to Disposal Camps where they are “recycled” per official government propaganda.  No one is quite sure what happens during recycling but the children are never seen again.

Many gay women resisted the Mandatory Birth Act and the National Suicide Rate went up dramatically.  The “Fathers” (as our political leaders are now called) made it very clear that the country would be better off without such deviates.  Since women were no longer allowed in politics, the leaders of the nation decreed that they would all be called “Fathers” instead of being referred to as politicians or legislators as they once were called.

My husband works at a local mill where they make t-shirts for Japan, China, Brazil and some of the more developed t-shirt-workersnations.  Since banning imports of such items, we have created millions of jobs making goods that were once made in low wage countries.  The demand for such goods has skyrocketed but now we are providing them.  Unfortunately, the wages and education needed for such work is still low.  My husband did not finish high school but most men in our town do not.  The Fathers have repeatedly stated that real men don’t need higher education.  (I will talk more about education later.)

When my husband is not working, he spends most of his time watching football, baseball, basketball, golf or hockey.  I ammen-watching-game not allowed in the living room when his sports are on except to bring in some beer or chips.  This does not really bother me much as I have plenty to do with the kids, housecleaning, cooking and all.  I have my own TV in my sewing room where I can watch any of the approved programs for women.  We have 30 different “Women Only” channels where I can learn more about cooking and cleaning and how to be a good wife. There are some good romances and family drama stories that are occasionally on.  I look forward to watching these when the kids are in bed.

Our two children, Mary and John are 12 and 15 respectively.  Mary is in a finishing school for girls where they are preparing her for being a mom and wife.  She takes subjects such as homemaking, cooking, cleaning and parenting.  She has one more year to go before finishing school.

When Mary turns 14, she will be eligible for marriage.  Her name will be put in a marriage registry.  If she is lucky enough and pretty enough, some up and coming town Father will select her for a wife.  Men who qualify due to income levels are allowed to have up to five wives.

woman-vacuum-cleaning

My son John is not in school any longer and he works part-time.  The Fathers decried that girls did not need schooling after the age of 13.  John hopes to get a job in the t-shirt plant where his dad works when he turns 16.  He quit school because we could not afford a private school for him.  Only the rich kids in town go on to education beyond the 10th grade.  Private schools are very expensive and the Fathers do not believe in funding education any more.  It has been emphasized that education is an elitist program that creates class divisions and makes some people feel more entitled than other people.   Most young men in our town will work in one of the mills or plants.

Education:

anti_public_education_propaganda_by_8manderz8-d5xz1cj

I have already talked about some aspects of our education system today.  Basically, most people do not believe in higher education anymore.  It is only for the rich.  All funds for public education were cut in 2035 when they passed the “Private Education Act”.  Most folks now send their kids to private schools through the 8th grade and then find work for their children after that.  Girls will be shortly married so school is not thought to be that important for them anyway.  They can learn whatever they need to be a good wife on the “At Home Wives Channels.”

students-1920-1950-9_jpeg

Boys from families with lower incomes can opt to go to privately funded vocational schools to learn such trades as t-shirt making, sneaker making, jewelry making, gun repair, taxidermy, and many other skills that might be in demand.  There is still some funding for such programs that is available for lower income families.  All public colleges have been closed now.  As I noted earlier, such schools were decried to be elitist and the Fathers were unanimous in un-funding them.

Boys from wealthier families go to the more prestigious private schools where they will learn such skills as: Leadership, Accounting, Business Development, Entrepreneurship and Medicine.  Law was abolished as a field of study in 2030 with the passage of the “No More Lawyers Act.”  This act basically made lawsuits illegal thus dramatically decreasing the need for lawyers in the U.S.

Courtrooms abolished “adversarial” trial procedures with the “No More Lawyers Act” and replaced the old-fashioned method of two people arguing trials with modern Computerized Forensic Tomography.  Using CFT, a cross section of the case and evidence pro and con is presented to the jurors.  All the available facts and data are reviewed and jurors vote on the verdict.  Trials are much more efficient and there is no need for lawyers.

Anti EducationLibraries are now mostly museums.  With the passage of the “Books Only Lie Bill” in 2038, all funds to public libraries were cut.  The Fathers decried that books did nothing but cause trouble and stir up discontent.  Anything citizens really needed to know could be found on the “Citizens Channels” offered by the government Department of Public Wisdom.  There are over 100 of these channels which are available on public TV.  They are on 24/7 and offer many programs for good citizenship.  Some of the programs are:

  • Disciplining your children
  • How to take proper care of your guns
  • Disciplining your wife
  • Obeying your supervisor
  • Getting along with co-workers
  • Obeying authority
  • Keeping a clean house

Social Issues:

Social issues or problems (as some people thought of them) have been mostly eliminated in our town.  Our Fathers banned minorities in 2040 with the “America for Whites Act.”  Under this act, no immigrants or people of color can live in the same community as White people.  In 2041, they passed the “Christian Only Act” making Christianity the official Religion of the USA.  All other religions were banned along with atheism and agnosticism.  The “Mandatory Religion Act” in 2042 made it a felony crime not to attend a Christian church every Sunday.

In our town, there is only one church now.  It the Fundamental Evangelical Christian Church for Christ.  We have two pastors who are both well versed in Old Testament theology.  They are fond of saying that “Heaven is for the obedient, the disobedient will all go to hell.”  We are taught that Jesus will come again before the end of the century to judge the living and the dead.  The good folks will go to heaven and the bad will burn forever in the flames of hell.

We still have crime in our community but not very much.  It is severely punished with public floggings, beatings and hangings.  Criminals are banished to work rehabilitation camps for hard labor.  Drugs are still a major problem but the new “One Strike Act” passed in 2050 decried that anyone caught with an illegal substance would face a mandatory life sentence at a penal colony somewhere in the South China Sea.

immigration-reform

Gay men still can be found but homosexuality can be punished under the “2045 Purity of Purpose Bill” with mandatory castration.  Boys are encouraged to be manly and any evidence of femininity in our boys is severely dealt with.  Our town brought back “town stocks” a few years ago, to punish any boys or men caught in homosexual activities.  These punishments plus the threat of castration have decreased the rate of homosexuality considerably in our community.

Well, I could tell you a great deal more about life in our town in 2056, but I have cleaning and cooking to do.  Furthermore, if anyone knew I was writing this I would be in big trouble.  Under the “Against Propaganda Law” passed in 2041, no one may criticize the government, any Fathers or any laws without official authorization from the local town council.  I could be publicly flogged or worse for saying these things.  Thus, for now I will just hide this away.  I don’t mean to be either a coward or a complainer.  Our Fathers say this is the Golden Age of America and that we are living in the greatest Christian country in the world.  Who am I to argue?

Time for Questions:

Are you living the good life?  Do you live the life you dreamed of?  Do you think you have a right to your dreams?  Do you think other people also have a right to their dreams?  How much authority do you think a government should have over your dreams?  What kind of dreams do you have for your children?  What do you call progress?

Life is just beginning.

“No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal.  He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves.  But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”  ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

Why Are Americans so Misinformed About Economics?  — Part 1

26 Nov 2024 1 Comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Most people in the USA are woefully inept when it comes to understanding the basics of economic theory.  The resulting problem is that the public believes everything they hear from politicians and the media.  If the public is uninformed about economics, the media and politicians are even worse.  The difference is that politicians use their lack of knowledge to further their own political ambitions.  The media use the same lack of knowledge to drive advertising and to make money for their outlets.

By far, the greatest malignancy comes from the fact that the public lack of economic understanding leads to support for war efforts throughout the world.  American foreign economic policy is often based on greed and fear.  We use our military might to support regimes, despots and wars that will keep our economic system dominant.  We assume that the global marketplace is one of win-lose or zero-sum economics.  We do not believe that a win-win is possible with all nations.  Instead, we play zero-sum games with any countries that we think might threaten our economic dominance.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel argued President-elect Trump does not believe in “any win-win situation,” and it makes international collaboration difficult. — The Hill, 11/26/24

Economics can be divided into two branches.  One is called macroeconomics.  Macroeconomics is concerned with large-scale or general economic factors, such as interest rates and national productivity.  Placing tariffs or trade restrictions on other countries could be considered a macroeconomic decision.  The other branch is called microeconomics.  Microeconomics considers the behavior of decision takers within the economy, such as individuals, households and firms.  How much a given industry or company pays its workers versus how much it pays its senior executives could be considered a microeconomic policy.

I want to first talk about microeconomics and one of its major fallacies or myths.  In Part 2, I will discuss the problems of a macroeconomics policy myth based on a greedy Military Industrial Complex.  This microeconomics fallacy is the so-called Trickle-Down Theory.  This is the myth fostered by those with money or power that if you trust them to make as much money as possible, some of it will “trickle” down to you.  You might as well wait for the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.

A more accurate and predictable economic theory is that the “rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.”  Philanthropic efforts in the USA have done little or nothing to alleviate poverty.  Rich people would rather donate to the Metropolitan Opera than they would to a neighborhood poverty reduction program.  The prestige is greater by donating to the opera and the tax deductions are just as good.

“While philanthropy has contributed to alleviating poverty by providing direct assistance like food, shelter, and healthcare, its impact is often considered to be limited when compared to broader systemic changes like government policies, as philanthropy primarily acts as a supplementary tool in tackling the root causes of poverty; therefore, it can provide relief but may not achieve large-scale poverty eradication on its own.”  — Google AI

We can easily prove that Trickle Down theory does not work.  A little logic if you will.  Let us suppose that money trickled down in a company from wealthy entrepreneurs like Elon Musk to the worker bees.  If this were true, than over time, the wages between workers and senior executives should (while still being large) not be huge.  However, consider the following:

“According to recent data, the average CEO earns significantly more than a typical worker, with the pay ratio often exceeding 300 to 1, meaning a CEO makes roughly 300 times more than the average employee; for example, in 2023, the average CEO pay was estimated to be around 290 times that of a typical worker, compared to a ratio of 21 to 1 in 1965.”  — Google Generative AI

Some economists have claimed to find evidence to support assertions that the Trickle-Down theory actually does work.  But my friend, ask yourself these questions:

  • Would you trust that all economists are unbiased and willing to tell the truth about their employers?
  • If Trickle Down economics worked, than how come the gap in pay between the higher and lower workers has continued to grow over the past 50 years rather than shrink?
  • Finally, economists be damned. Do you really think rich people give one rat’s ass about your pay and whether or not there is “income inequality?”  How many millionaires do you know who donated their estates to poor people?

I do not believe in communism, but neither am I so callused as to believe that “poor people don’t deserve the money because they will just waste it.”  What I have observed in my 78 years on this earth is that some people get a head start in life and end up much higher on the ladder than those who start off without a ladder.  It has never been and never will be an equal playing field.  Talent and brains are not equally distributed.  Neither is health and longevity.  Money will never be equally distributed.  But these premises aside do not mean that a society should be structured simply to help the rich get richer at the expense of the poor people who provide the labor for them.

Today, we have a Roman Circus of means to help keep poor people poor and make the rich even richer.  One of the most notorious of these means is the availability of legalized gambling.  Gambling is one of the most egregious means of insuring that people who are poor will stay poor.  The odds on winning at some popular gambling activities are as follows:

  • Top prize on a poker machine (playing maximum lines): up to 1 in 7,000,000
  • The trifecta in a 13-horse race: 1 in 1,716
  • 1st division in Gold Lotto (one game): 1 in 8,145,060
  • 1st division in Powerball (one game): 1 in 134,490,400
  • The top prize on a $5 Crossword Instant Scratch-Its game: 1 in 1,700,000.

And now we have added sports betting to the number of ways that people can lose their hard owned cash.  The people making money want to keep you betting more and more.  The payoffs are random, which encourages people to think that they will win.  In psychology, it is called the “Gambler’s Fallacy.”  This is an incorrect belief that a random event is more or less likely to occur based on previous outcomes.  For instance, if heads comes up three times in a row on a coin toss, most people will bet that tails will come up on a fourth throw.  The odds are still fifty-fifty on any throw if it is a fair coin.  Consider the following facts:

“About 13.5% of gamblers go home from a casino having made any money.  This statistic comes from a study of 4,222 gamblers, and only 7 of them won more than $150.  Conversely, 217 of them lost over $5000 at casino games.  Also, note that those who play more often have lower chances of winning.” 

My wife and I occasionally go to a casino.  We may invest twenty dollars between us and then have a buffet dinner.  It is fun but we never bet more than twenty dollars total.  We know that we will walk out losers 98 percent of the time.  However, I have seen high school kids in some of my classes huddled together placing sports bets.  Would society not be better off showing them how to start a business and providing incentives for doing so rather than slick advertising designed to make them think that they can get rich betting on sports teams?

“The world’s 50 highest-paid athletes hauled in an estimated $3.88 billion over the last 12 months before taxes and agents’ fees, up 13% from last year’s record mark of $3.44 billion.  Roughly 76%, or $2.94 billion, came from on-field earnings (salaries, bonuses and prize money) partly because of the Middle Eastern money continuing to flow into sports.”  — Forbes ,MAY 16, 2024

Marx once said that religion was the opiate of the masses.  By this he meant that people were drugged into thinking that religion would bring them to a paradise where all their dreams could come true.  It would take death and being a true believer to get them to this paradise, but it was a sure thing.  Today, gambling and sports have become the opiate of the masses.  People dream of winning the lottery and getting rich.  Others dream of making it big in sports and becoming the next Michael Jordan.  People think their kids have a high probability of going on to a lucrative career in sports if they can only get a paid tuition to a major NCAA college.

The facts my friends do not support that your kids will be anywhere near getting into a major league sports team.

  • 59% of high school football and basketball players believe they will get a college scholarship    
  • 98 out of 100 high school athletes never play collegiate sports of any kind at any level.
  • Less than one out of every 100 high school athletes receive a scholarship of any kind to a Division I school.
  • Only 1 in 16,000 high school athletes attains a professional career in sports.

But why bust anyone’s bubble?  Aren’t we all entitled to our dreams?  What would life be without goals and hopes that exceed our grasp?  Who wants to tell their children that they cannot go for it?

I have been a parent like many of you.  I wanted the best for my daughter.  But I was under no illusions about the reality of the workplace world.  Too many poor people are unrealistic when it comes to understanding the economics of the workplace.  This leads to poor decision making and the ability of huckster politicians and greedy organizations to take advantage  of them.  The rich in America see the poor as a resource of suckers born every day.  “Caveat Emptor” means let the buyer beware.  Many of my MBA students subscribed to this belief when I was teaching at Metro State University.  I could argue against it all day, but the majority of what MBA students learn in college is that money is good, greed is good and that we deserve all we can beg, borrow or steal.

“No less a business expert than Dr. W. E. Deming was critical of traditional MBA programs, arguing that they often focused too heavily on short-term profit goals and not enough on long-term quality improvement, neglecting essential statistical tools and systemic understanding needed for true organizational change; he believed they often taught practices that were detrimental to continuous improvement within companies.” — Google AI

Rana Foroohar writing in Evonomics states that “MBAs are everywhere, yet the industries where you find fewer of them tend to be the most successful.  America’s shining technology and innovation hub—Silicon Valley—is relatively light on MBAs and heavy on engineers.  MBAs had almost nothing to do with the two major developments in the American business landscape over the last forty years: the Japanese-style quality revolution in manufacturing and the digital revolution.” —   Want to Kill Your Economy?  Have MBA Programs Churn out Takers Not Makers

Keep your dreams for tomorrow but base them on reality.  Do not trust what people asking you for your money or your vote try to sell you.  The only way to keep your money in your pocket is to keep informed and to pay little attention to the lies, disinformation and misinformation spread by politicians and the media.

In Part 2, I want to address the truth regarding our contempt towards Russia and China and the real reasons underlying our mistrust and hostility towards them.  These reasons are based on simple economic realities that our leaders do not want you to understand.  They want you to subscribe to doctrines of fear and hatred that will support the many unjust policies that we propose for our economic “enemies.”

War has been called a continuation of politics by other means.  Economic dominance is one side of the coin.  Political dominance is the other side.  War becomes the means to insure that we are both politically and economically dominant on the world stage.  These truths will explain why we continually assail both Russia and China as threats to America.  Some of these truths will also explain why we are supporting Israel’s genocide in the Mideast.

Why Are We Really Supporting Ukraine?

21 Sep 2022 21 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

russia

As the proxy war between the the USA and Russia continues in the Ukraine, I am still left wondering “What is the real motive for this war.”  It is all too easy to believe the propaganda put out by the US State Department such as the interview that follows with the US Ambassador to the Ukraine.  According to this narrative, it is all about freedom, peace, justice, and equality for the world.

Perhaps, I am simply a cynic at heart or perhaps it is due to my 76 years of experience with similar protestations when it came to wars and military efforts elsewhere such as in Vietnam, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Kuwait, Syria, and Afghanistan.  Efforts that beg many questions. 

Are we really fighting for peace, freedom, and democracy in the world?  Should we be fighting for these values?  Are we consistent in our values or are we simply USA Hypocrites?  Is America the Good Guy and Russia the Bad Guy?  Am I being “Unpatriotic?” 

Read the following interview and let me know what you think.

VOA Interview: US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink – June 18, 2022

Bridget_A._Brink,_U.S._AmbassadorBrink: I might put it a little different way. I think those of us who are such strong supporters within the U.S. government, within the American population, for Ukraine, support Ukraine because we see, or we think we see, and understand the future that Ukrainians want. And that is a future where Ukraine is free, independent, prosperous, sovereign and gets to decide its own future. To us, as Americans, it really appeals to also who we are. So, what I would hope, what I plan to do and what we are doing is supporting Ukraine in this immediate task of prevailing in its effort to defend itself that is crucially important. I think everybody would agree. And I think the government here and the people here would agree that another important task is and will be and will remain the reform effort, which will secure Ukraine for a future for Ukrainian children and their children.

UKRAINE-THE-UNITED-STATES-ARE-NOW-FIGHTING-A-PROXY-WAR-WITH-RUSSIA-1

VOA: And this war is not only about Ukraine. Ukraine is fighting for a bigger goal, for democracy. Is Ukraine fighting for European values as well? If Ukraine fell, what could be the consequences?

Brink: Well, Ukraine won’t fail, and we will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. And as I mentioned, this is obviously very important to Ukraine, and it’s also really important to European security. It’s really important to America, because, as President Biden has said, it’s both morally outrageous what has happened, this unprovoked, unjustified attack on a sovereign nation. But it also is in America’s vital interest to have peace and security in Europe. So, this is something that has repercussions that go well beyond Ukraine. And for this reason, we all understand very much what’s at stake. And that’s why we’re here to help Ukraine prevail.

For the full interview click on the link below:

https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-interview-us-ambassador-to-ukraine-brink/6623182.html

I appreciate any comments that you have time to post.  Thank you for considering these questions. 

What Needs to Be Done Starting in 2021 – IMHO

04 Oct 2020 12 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

download

Getting Trump and his Senate sycophants out of office is only the first step in making America the country it needs to be.  The following is an agenda that I think would help to exceed the dreams of our founders and would meet the needs of citizens who want to live in a country characterized by true equality, true freedom, and true justice.  These items should be our “Second” priority after getting Trump out of office.

  • Universal day care for all working parents
  • Develop a National Agency Against Racism and Sexism
  • Low cost Internet for all citizens
  • Term Limits for all National political offices – 2 six-year terms maximum. No holding any public office for ten years after
  • Expand Affordable Care Act to insure healthcare for all citizens
  • Major Education Changes – develop a 21st century education system (see my blog on this subject)
  • Infrastructure Plan (Biden Plan a Start)
  • Start Closing Military Bases overseas
  • Major Campaign Funding Reform
    • Repeal Citizens United
    • Abolish Lobbying
  • Limit Executive Privilege and Executive Orders
  • Limit for Supreme Court Tenure to 15 years
  • Restore fair representation by eliminating gerrymandering
  • Abolish the electoral college
  • Reform corporate law to restore the balance of power between workers and management.
  • Adopt a plan for immigration based on care and compassion for all human beings
  • Reform the criminal justice and legal system
  • Ensure that LGBTQ citizens have the same rights as all other citizens in the USA
  • Reform tax law so that it is equitable and fair
  • Work international to establish a global mandate for a stable climate that will include efforts on climate restoration, climate mitigation and environmental sustainability

f228fe4403ce11b951226c0049a137f5

A Conversation between Satan and God

11 Dec 2016 8 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

god-and-satan

Satan and God were sitting on a rock one day having a discussion about the human race.

Satan said to “God, I need some more souls in hell.  I think we have played this game with humanity for long enough.  Let’s end it and start a new game.”

God said:  “Well, I could be talked into that.  How would you suggest we end it?

Satan:  “We can divide up the human race.  You take the good ones and I will take the bad ones.”

God:  “Who would you include among the ‘bad’ ones?”

Satan:  “I will take all the people who never promoted peace and who sowed the seeds of hate and bigotry among humanity.”

God:  “They are all you want?”

Satan:  “Well, I would also like all the greedy ones who never did anything to help anyone else but who collected as much wealth as they could and would not share it with anyone else.”

God:  “Does this include all the greedy people who were against taxes to help the poor and needy?”

Satan:  “Of course.”

God:  “That’s not fair.  There would hardly be anyone left for me.”

Satan:  “Do you remember a long time ago when you gave Lot the deal with finding ten good people and you would save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah from your wrath.  Your angels could not find even ten people for you to spare.  That was a good day for me.”

God:  “You have had many good days since we started this game.  Do you think perhaps it’s all your fault?  You are constantly sowing greed and hate.”

Satan:  “Guilty as charged but do you remember the Parable of the Seeds?  Some fell on good soil and grew and some fell on bad soil and did not grow.  My efforts would be fruitless were not humans so ripe for plucking and beguiling.”

God:  “Still, sometimes, I think you have been overzealous.  I gave humans free will when I created them and this has come back to bias our game.”

Satan:  “Please, now is not the time for hindsight.  I warned you about this when you created them but you were ever the optimist.”

hell_lavapitSatan:  “Do you want to concede and I will just take them all down to Hell?”

God:  “Do you have no mercy and compassion in you someplace?

Satan:  “You created me and now you extol me to be compassionate and merciful.  Those are traits best left for you and your saints.  I have no heart or soul so how can I care about anything much less human beings.”

God:  “Would you like to start over.  I can always recreate you.”

Satan:  “Thanks, but I am fine.  I like myself just the way I am.  I see no need for pity, love, kindness, or any of the other traits that you gave to humans.  Much good it has done them.”

godGod:  “The interesting thing about humans is not their stupidity and evilness.  It’s the surprising amount of love that they can sometimes show for others.  I am ever the optimist.  That is my role, to be the Eternal Optimist.  I have had hopes since the first cave men and since Moses and Socrates and Jesus and Mohammed and Gandhi and King and Mandela that humans have a spark in them.  A spark that when ignited can change themselves and the world into something beautiful.  Something that is so beautiful, it is even beyond anything I might have created.”

Satan:  “Yes, and then they turn right around and burn it down again.”  Hardly a day goes by on earth, when there is not some riot or war or holocaust or massacre or murder.”

God:  “It seesaws back and forth.  For over 100,000 years now, we have played this game and just when I think, I might win, someone or something evil seems to possess humans that I would never have thought of.”

Satan:  “Right, and you would like to blame me for it, but you gave them free will.”

God:  “The game would have been too predictable without free will.”

Satan:  “You keep hoping they will believe in you someday.  How many times have we had this discussion and yet we keep playing this game.”

God:  “Would you deny me the chance to win.”

chess-for-humanity-1Satan:  “You know I don’t care one way or the other.  I have no feelings to be hurt.  I cannot gloat or feel any satisfaction.  Whenever, a new soul comes down to Hell, it is no sense of pride or satisfaction to me.  These humans seem to mistake my logic and justice for evil.  I am the parent who dispenses the discipline and they see me as the mean and cruel one.”

Satan:  “From a purely logical viewpoint, I do not know why you subject yourself to this.  I see your pain and heartache whenever you lose one to me.  Why go on like this?  It will never be any different.  I get them for a thousand or so years and then I send their cleansed souls back to earth and in a short time they are back down again to Hell.”

God:  “I have no limits to my forgiveness.  They pray to me regularly for forgiveness and I forgive them.”

Satan:  “Yes, but even before they ask for forgiveness, they ask for their daily bread.  It is the only thing they can think about, eating and drinking and sex.”

God:  “You forget the good ones.  The mothers that devote their lives to their children.  The soldiers that forfeit their lives on the battlefields.  The fathers that work two jobs to support their families.  The martyrs who give their lives for their faith.  The blessed who are humble.  The peacemakers who face scorn and ridicule to end war.  The charitable who give the shirt off their backs to help those in need.”

Satan:  “Yes, and for every good one, there are ten evil ones.  That is why I want to end this farce.  How many souls must I take down to Hell, before you concede that humans are hopeless?”

God:  “Perhaps if I send another prophet or messiah to spread my message, we could turn the game around?”

Satan:  “You have sent dozens of prophets and many messiahs and it has made no difference.  They end up scorning or murdering your prophets and messiahs.  They would not follow your message if they could find the tablets that you etched in stone and gave to Moses.”

God:  “I don’t want to win for my sake.  I fight for love and peace and justice and beauty.  These are the things that bring color to the universe.  Without these, you have a bland shade of grey.  You have a sterile meaningless bunch of rocks.  You have never understood this because you see everything through pure logic and no emotions.”

Satan:  “When you created me, you thought that such a being as I am would be superior to one that could be swayed by emotions and feelings.  Now you criticize me for doing my job?”

God:  “I did not realize how monotonous and tedious the universe would be without feelings.”

Satan:  “It does not seem like you can have it both ways.  You want to create a world without evil and based on compassion and love and yet you give humans the ingredients that foment hatred and bigotry.”

God:  “Do you not think we have made any progress since the first humans were created?  I have infinite patience.  We can play the game for eons but I will win someday.”

Satan:  “And is it worth it?  How much pain and misery and suffering must you endure dealing with these humans?”

God:  “True, they have tried my patience at times.  But just when I might be willing to concede to you, I see justice and love blossoming some place and it makes the battle worth winning.  As their creator, I cannot turn my back on these humans.  There is no limit to my forgiveness.  I am not driven by logic as you are.  I am the mother who cannot give up on her children regardless of how many times they make mistakes.”

satan-imageSatan:  “But they never learn. They are shortsighted, petty, vindictive and greedy.  Do you really think they care about your teachings or precious commitment to love and peace?  They would rather fight wars and dominate others.  They even fight wars in your name.  Their religions scream for violence over other religions.  Their leaders preach victory over other nations.  Their minion’s rape and pillage in the name of some esoteric ideology.  They all believe they are superior to each other.  They send their own children to die in wars of so called freedom and liberation.  They abuse and murder their own spouses at alarming rates.  They teach their offspring at an early age to be intolerant of other races.  And they pray in your name for the power to be successful in all of these efforts.  They invoke prayers to you before murdering millions.  How can you listen to these prayers and want to help these hypocrites.”

God:  “Being in charge of Hell does not help you to see any positives in the universe.  You have a very difficult job.”

Satan:  “We make a good team.  You, the everlasting optimist, full of hope and love.  Me, the ultimate logician, ever ready to exact justice for evil done.”

Satan:  “They will destroy themselves anyway and then what.  Did you know that the earth was warming up at an alarming rate?”

God:  “Of course.”

Satan:  “It is not your doing, right?”

God:  “No, I have nothing to do with it.”

Satan:  “And yet they blame you for it.  The last thing in the world they want to admit is that it might be their fault.  That all of their pollution, oil burning, fossil fuel burning and carbon emissions is changing their climate.  They deny any responsibility for it.  I thought they would destroy the world with nuclear weapons, but they somehow avoided doing that.  Now, they are working to destroy it by overheating it.  I don’t think it will be long before the game is over.”

gods-voice-vs-satans-voiceGod:  “You count them out too fast.  The clock was close to 12 with nuclear weapons but as you noted, they carefully avoided destroying themselves.  They are often very shortsighted and many of them will never be long-term thinkers.  However, there are enough who care and who are passionate enough about others to help save humanity.  I can’t help being filled with astonishment at the love that humans frequently have for each other.”

Satan:  “Yes, but it always seems to entail some crisis to bring it out.”

God:  “That is true.  But it shows that there is hope.  And even if there is only 1 human being still alive who cares about others, that is enough for me.  The game will go on.”

Satan:  “Well, how about a cap of another 10,000 years. I am tired of being the gatekeeper of Hell and punishing evil and wrongdoers.  I do not have your patience.”

God:  “Done, we will give humanity another 10,000 years and see how they are doing then.”

Satan:  “I have a feeling we will be having this same conversation in another 10,000 years.”

Time for Questions:

What would you like to tell God if you could?  Do you believe in God?  Why or why not?  Does the concept of God make a difference in the world?  Why? For better or worse?

Life is just beginning.

“Satan, on the contrary, is thin, ascetic and a fanatical devotee of logic.  He reads Machiavelli, Ignatius of Loyola, Marx and Hegel; he is cold and unmerciful to mankind, out of a kind of mathematical mercifulness.  He is damned always to do that which is most repugnant to him: to become a slaughterer, in order to abolish slaughtering, to sacrifice lambs so that no more lambs may be slaughtered, to whip people with knouts so that they may learn not to let themselves be whipped, to strip himself of every scruple in the name of a higher scrupulousness, and to challenge the hatred of mankind because of his love for it–an abstract and geometric love.”
― Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hillary versus Bernie:  Why I Don’t Feel the Bern!

20 Mar 2016 7 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Vote HillaryOver the past few months, the vitriol between Hillary supporters and Bernie supporters has increased in both intensity and animosity.  I have had numerous arguments with Bernie supporters.  I suspect many of them were once my friends and are now no longer so.  This is interesting since you would think that we would have more in common than not.  It would not surprise me if you were a Republican or Trump supporter and banished me from your Facebook, Twitter or any other list of friends that you maintained.  However, it seems sad that so much rancor has been generated by the Hillary/Bernie battle as to result in lost friendships when we have so much in common.   I must take some of the responsibility though since I am not and never will be one to shy away from a fight.  If a fight is what you want, I will give it to you and no holds barred.  I support my candidate and I will explain my reasons but when you get personal or insulting that is the end of the line.  It would seem to be a line that is easily crossed and that reasons and emotions are two very different things.

This past week, a good friend of mine sent me the following attached letter.  It was written eight years ago.  He was supporting Hillary (The establishment figure) and I was supporting Barack (the outsider).  I hope some of my Bernie supporter ex-friends will read this blog but I sort of doubt it.  I would like for them to see that I have supported outsiders as well as insiders and my support of Hillary has nothing to do with supporting the establishment or not supporting the establishment.  Indeed, I would argue that my logic for supporting Hillary today is very similar to my logic for supporting Barack eight years ago.  How can this be?  How does one justify supporting an “establishment” figure when most of my work and writings have been anti-establishment?  Well, a quote that comes to mind is as follows:

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.  With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.  He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall.  Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said to-day. — ‘Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.’ — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood?  Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh.  To be great is to be misunderstood.”  —- Ralph Waldo Emerson,

I rather think I might be misunderstood by my allegiance to Hillary, but if I can stand for even a brief moment of time in the shadow of such as Socrates and Pythagoras, I will die a sublimely happy man.  In the letter below, you will see that my friend has laid out his very practical and logical reasons for supporting Hillary.  He acknowledges my candidate (Obama) but does not try to disparage or denigrate him.  This is an apt lesson that many Bernie supporters might pay attention to.  I don’t remember any of my friends calling Obama a liar or evil.  Many felt that he was unrealistic but they did not disparage his character to the extent that Republicans and some Bernie supporters have been disparaging Hillarie’s character.  If you think you are going to win me over with such attacks, you do not know me very well.  Anyway, here is the letter my friend, the Hillary supporter, wrote me eight years ago while I was then in the Obama camp.  BTY, I also voted for President Obama four years later and still have no regrets.  History will remember him as a great man, a great leader and a great president.

Hi John,

How are you doing? You know I miss speaking with you as well. There’s night time talk show here in Philadelphia. They address diverse topics. The host, Dr. Maz, reminds me a lot of yourself regarding his tone, and speed of speech. Of course, I believe that you could do a much better job because of your wit and broad range of interests. This might be something that you could look into.

Well, this certainly has been an interesting political campaign these past 2 years. I must admit that I voted for Hillary at the NJ Democratic Primary. I’ve listened closely to both people, and I believe that Hillary is the person who is most likely to bring change needed to this nation. I don’t see trying to recapture the 90’s as moving backward, but rather as retreat to a solid foundation on which one can move forward.  No change happens by itself, and one person can change little. Anyone who has tried to run an organization knows how consensus is essential to getting anything done.

One can look with pride at what our ex-presidents have accomplished after leaving office. Jimmy Carter, George Bush, and Bill Clinton have accomplished near miracles. Their experience, their contacts, and their savoir faire have changed ideas into reality. I don’t believe that those same men could have been as successful if they tried to accomplish the same tasks in their 40’s. Not because of the age but because skill takes time.

When I listen to Obama, I too am enthralled. I remember the speech Ted Kennedy gave at Robert Kennedy’s funeral. He said “Some men speak of the way things are and wonder why. My brother spoke of things that never were and asked “why not? “ I do believe in inspiration, and do believe that leadership can do wonders. But also know that this nation has done nothing of consequence to restrain the violence that is being done to Arab people around the world by the United States.  Do you expect these same people who acquiesce not only to an insidious apathy but the mindless shelling of their own tax money to promulgate a hell on earth? You think Obama’s pipe dreams will be realized? We can’t even shut down Gitmo!

My friend, Dave P, who passed away 2 years ago used to explain his reluctance to embrace radical change like this. He would say that the USA is like a large ship of state. When you want to change its direction it must be done in very small increments over a long period of time with a great deal of planning.  To do otherwise could harm the vessel and sabotage the voyage.  Radical change can not be applied to a large ship.

If I were to vote with my heart, I would have voted for Dennis Kucinich. I am in complete agreement with him, even with regard to UFO’s.  I did as much in 2000 when I voted for Ralph Nader.  These past 7 years have made me take my vote much more seriously.  If change is to come, it has to come from the ground up. My pipe dream is that as I get nearer to retirement that I will become more politically active and begin to advocate a progressive agenda at a local level.

A United States where the grass roots of the people embraced this agenda would bring far more success to an Obama presidency.  Perhaps our best shot would be the ideas of Dennis Kucinich advocated by Obama to a populous prepared to accept such changes.

Well, John, sorry it took so long to get back to you but I knew that some time should be set aside to explain myself.  There’s really so much to talk about. I don’t have a cell anymore. I do still have my home phone, 856.xxx.xxxx. I became a grand-father last year. My son, R, had his son, R. Wonderful, wonderful.

Take care of yourself, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Your friend,

Greg

————————————-

Well, it is now eight years later and today I am supporting Hillary.  The reasons I did not support her eight years ago had nothing to do with her being evil or mean or a liar.  In fact, if you believe this propaganda about her then go ahead and vote for Trump, because you deserve him.  Here is what I recently wrote to one friend who seemed sincere in understanding why I am supporting Hillary:

My reasons are as follows:  1. I cannot support most of the prevalent Republican policies ergo I need to support someone on the other side.  Either Bernie or Hillary would do here.  2. I think Bernie has been given a pass by the Republicans since they see Hillary as the biggest threat, thus I think that Bernie would soon be slaughtered when they labelled him a Commie and/or Socialist which the majority of Americans either do not support or could not tell the difference between.  Thus, he would be defeated in the general election and we could get Trump.  3. I think Hillary is a highly intelligent well qualified candidate for the POTUS.  I think she has been subjected to a double standard in which opportunistic aggressive competitive male behavior is called leadership but the same in a woman makes her a bitch or mean spirited.  Finally, I think her being labeled as a liar is part of the Republican smear campaign that has been targeted towards her for the past 4 years.  I think all politicians lie and prevaricate and she is no worse and perhaps a lot better than most.  I am voting for her not just on her character but on her policies which I think will move this country in a progressive direction.  I hope that explains my position.

My friend made several good points in his letter above about change.  Heraclitus said that you can never step in the same river twice.  Is it irony now or has the water changed?  I think times have changed.  I have obviously changed my mind.  While, I regret losing friends over this difference, I am more troubled by the Bernie people who say they will not vote or will vote for Trump before they will ever vote for Hillary.  Sometimes half a loaf is better than no loaf.  William James said:

“I am done with great things and big things, great institutions and big success, and I am for those tiny, invisible molecular moral forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water, yet which if you give them time, will rend the hardest monuments of man’s pride.” 

We need visions like both Bernie and Barack brought to their campaigns.  However, we also need a large dose of pragmatism to make these visions a reality.  Rome was not built in a day.  If the people energized by this present campaign (even those who support Trump or those who support Bernie) truly want to make this country GREATER than it ever was, if they truly want to create a fair and just society, if they truly want to create a land where all its citizens are happy and prosperous, then the only way they will ever be able to do this is by staying engaged in the political process.  Coming out every four years, regardless of how much passion and how much zeal you bring to the process, will not change the systems in our country that so badly need to be changed.

I have written about many of these needed changes in my blogs.  I have put forward many progressive ideas which I hope someday will be propagated in the Congress, legislatures and courts of this land.  Reading my blogs, some might say I am too idealistic.  I would probably agree but I am not running for office.  I am trying to be a herald whose ideas might someday resonate throughout this nation and speak loudly to the American people of the changes we need.  Read some of my following blogs and see what you think.

https://agingcapriciously.com/2014/12/01/social-legacy-systems-how-they-block-change-and-prevent-progress-part-1-education/

https://agingcapriciously.com/2014/12/08/social-legacy-systems-how-they-block-change-and-prevent-progress-part-2-the-legal-correctional-system/

https://agingcapriciously.com/2015/09/27/we-need-a-fair-immigration-policy-not-an-anti-immigration-policytru/

https://agingcapriciously.com/2015/11/09/towards-a-policy-of-diplomacy/

https://agingcapriciously.com/2015/01/12/when-the-truth-will-not-set-you-free-part-1-of-2-parts/

Time for Questions:

How much time do you spend on politics?  Do you speak your peace or do you avoid confrontations?  How do you tell when you should speak up or shut up?  Can we be too political?  Can we be political and still be civil and respectful to others?

Life is just beginning.

“Revolution is about the need to re-evolve political, economic and social justice and power back into the hands of the people, preferably through legislation and policies that make human sense.  That’s what revolution is about.  Revolution is not about shootouts.”  — Bobby Seale