poverty | Aging Capriciously

Something Rotten in America Is Coming This Way

08 Jan 2026 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: capitalism, charity, empathy, greed, happiness, kindness, liberty, life, mercy, poverty

“Something Wicked This Way Comes” is a 1962 dark fantasy novel by Ray Bradbury. It tells the story of two 13-year-old boys, Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway, in Green Town, Illinois, who confront the sinister Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show. The show is part of a malevolent carnival that preys on people’s secret desires and fears. Jim and Will are forced to battle evil and examine the nature of good and evil, youth and aging. The title comes from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, and the story explores themes of good vs. evil, the fear of growing old, and the cost of wishes.

Macbeth is the story of a man driven by ambition and a lust for power to murder his king and seize his throne. Like Bradbury’s novel, it is also a tale of good and evil. The famous quote is “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” It is spoken by the Second Witch in Act 4, Scene 1, as she senses Macbeth’s evil approach, indicating his profound moral corruption even to supernatural beings. Someone once noted that most great stories involve a battle between good and evil. Fiction mimics reality.

The famous Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln also described a battle between good and evil and the sacrifice made to restore good.

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

The cause was the elimination of the evil of slavery and racial discrimination, and the continuation of a nation built on the values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Values that were not allowed to be held by a significant portion of Americans specifically Black people, Indigenous people but also including women, gay people, Asian people, and many immigrant groups

Today, the thought rings in my mind that “Something rotten comes this way.” Yes, a paraphrase of the Bradbury quote but it has a somewhat different meaning to me. Something rotten smells and stinks in our country. Carved into a White House mantel is a quote by John Adams, “May none but honest and wise men rule under this roof.” Today something is rotten in the White House. The foul and putrid odor has spread to the Supreme Court and both houses of Congress. Wise men search for the odor but cannot agree on its source. When something is smelly we generally assume that it is rotten. Hence my reflection that “Something rotten comes this way.” It has been coming for a long time, but the stench and fetid smell have now become unbearable. From the White Mountains of New Hampshire to the top of Mt. Whitney in California, the rank fumes are causing people to gag and vomit and leave our country.

What is the source of this rottenness? The smell comes from an ever-enlarging foundation of greed and narcissism that has replaced integrity and morality. From the pulpits of many so-called Christian churches to the podiums of our once great universities, Americans are now baptized or given diplomas in greed, avarice and opportunism. Increasingly, cowards roam the halls of Congress where statesmen once tread. Too many of our leaders lack morals or integrity.

Sycophants earn positions as heads of government with no qualifications except an unscrupulous ability to kiss ass. The media daily screams headlines that defy logic and comprehension while profits for news conglomerates soar to ever higher peaks. Meanwhile, the information contained in media broadcasts bears scant resemblance to the reality that most of us face. Lying is the norm and has become one more strategy in a congressperson’s arsenal. A stew of lies daily spread by the internet and its media minions. None of us can escape complicity in this economy as we all breath its rotten air.

Something rotten comes this way:

How can we expunge this rottenness? Will singing Kumbaya work? Will hands across the aisles work? Will prayers and thoughts work? Will more empathy work? What about better communication? What about more people going to college to get educated? What about doing away with Social Security and replacing it with Stock Portfolios? What about more guns? What about? Sorry, I am out of simple solutions. None of these so-called solutions work because they do not confront the real problem. The golden idol that makes money the measure of all good things in life. It may be possible to stop the spread of this rot, but it will take a change of heart as well as a change of mind. Many of my friends ask me if it is not too late.

I only know one thing. Unless we change the path that we are heading down, we can kiss democracy in America goodbye. The rottenness will eventually infect the entire nation until we are left with nothing but a country of cowards, sycophants, greedy merchants and greedy consumers. People who will continually lie to get ahead. People with no goals except to consume the latest do-dads in hopes of becoming happier and more satisfied with their lives.

Ironic that so many Americans want to go down this path, since not one great prophet in history has preached that owning more stuff will either make you happy or get you into heaven. Nevertheless, today we have Christian churches preaching the “Prosperity Gospel.” A narrative that has millions of followers subscribing to a bastardization of every great scripture that has ever been written.

The prosperity gospel teaches that faith, positive confession, and financial giving to religious leaders will bring the giver personal wealth, health, and success. It portrays material prosperity as due to God’s favor and poverty or illness as evidence of weak faith or spiritual failure. The Prosperity Gospel is a Super Con because it monetizes hope, blames failure on the believer, and shields itself from disproof. People buy into it because it promises certainty and reward in an unfair economy. It exploits vulnerability, fear, and selective success stories to convince “true believers” that it is a Christian teaching.

Robert Tilton: “I believe that it is the will of God for all to prosper because I see it in the Word… I do not put my eyes on men, but on God who gives me the power to get wealth”.

Creflo Dollar: “When we pray, believing that we have already received what we are praying, God has no choice but to make our prayers come to pass”.

John Avanzini: “Jesus had a nice big house”, “Jesus wore designer clothes”, “Jesus was handling big money”.

Joel Osteen: “If you want to reap financial blessings, you have to sow financially”. He also states, “I believe God wants you to prosper in your health, in your family, in your relationships, in your business, and in your career”.

Oral Roberts: “Sow a seed on your MasterCard, your Visa or your American Express, and then when you do, expect God to open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing.”

Friends, the only solution that will save our country along with our immortal souls is to defeat the basic tenets of corporate capitalism and to cast out the evangelists of hypocrisy who spread such false gospels as the “Prosperity Gospel.” The corruption that we see in the White House, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the Universities, the Media and many so-called Christian Churches is a symptom of the rot that is associated with our predatory avaricious Corporate Capitalistic system.

Corporate Capitalism itself must be understood as a mindless media driven machine that puts profits over virtue. A system in which the greater needs of society are no longer the recognized or given any priority. All that is rotten today in America today can be traced to greed and avarice. The same motivations that caused the Israelites to build the Golden Calf. The Golden Calf still stands—no longer forged of gold but of brands, markets, and corporate power. We bow to consumption, give obedience to profit, and keep silent to wrongdoing in exchange for comfort and toys. We mistake greed for progress and idolatry for economic necessity. We do not need a rejection of markets but a rejection of markets without moral and ethical anchors.

The late Pope Francis is quoted as saying that:

“From an economic point of view, it is irrelevant to produce tanks, or candy provided the profit is the same. Similarly, it might be the same to sell drugs or sell books if the profit figures match. If the measure of value is money, everything goes provided that the profit does not vary. The measure of every human being is God, not money.”

Money becomes the measure of good and evil. Money becomes the measure of a person’s value and even life. Today, the religion of America has become “How can I get more money.” The true prophets throughout history have always preached the potential dangers of focusing on accruing either wealth or fame.

Christianity (Jesus): “No one can serve two masters. … You cannot serve both God and money.”

Islam (Prophet Muhammad, Hadith): “Riches are not the abundance of worldly goods; rather, true riches are the richness of the soul.”

Judaism (Talmudic/Midrashic Thought): “The truly rich are those who are satisfied with what they have.”

Baha’i Faith (Baháʼu’lláh): “Material comforts are only a branch, but the root of the exaltation of man is the good attributes and virtues which are the adornments of his reality.”

Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota): “I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches, but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.”

If we want to rid our nation of the rottenness and stench that is rapidly covering it, we must rid ourselves of the obsession that capitalism seeks to instill in us with every media at their disposal and every commercial that they can provide. It is an obsession to own more, to possess more, to have more, to buy more, to shop until we drop. You can have a heart attack so long as you have spent your last dollar. Christmas has become $Mas. Our world has become one big shopping mall. We are speeding on a spending train to oblivion. Next stop HELL.

What Can We Do?

If the disease is moral, the response must be moral as well. We must all:

Refuse to lie or accept lies
- Reject those who tell lies to get ahead for any reason
Refuse to worship money and wealth
- Reject anything to do with the “Prosperity Gospel”
Refuse to relate success with goodness
- Teach that success is not always associated with morality or doing the right thing
Teach our children to be responsible
- Responsibilities are as important as rights. Develop children who accept responsibility for their lives
Choose sufficiency over excess
- Corporate Capitalism thrives on “wretched” excess. Ask yourself what you really need to be happy not what some commercial tells you that you need.

The single most important thing we can all do is to get off the spending train. Substitute empathy for others for greed. Substitute kindness for strangers and immigrants instead of suspicion and hatred. Substitute charity for all for a desire for more stuff and more toys for oneself. Substitute compassion for the poor and the needy instead of worrying about what you are going to get. Substitute mercy and forgiveness for hatred and retribution.

Above all remember that we are all one people. There are about 180 or more countries in the world. Karen and I have only been to 45 now, but we have found that everyone in every country that we have been to want the same things: Meaning for their lives. Peace for their nation. Safety for their families. A decent place to live. A good meal each day.

We must embrace the idea that everyone is entitled to these elements of a satisfactory life and not just people in our circle or community or nation. People in every country of every color of every religion and of every political and economic philosophy deserve the same thing. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Who gives a damn about the poor, the sick, the hungry and the needy?

09 Mar 2025 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: bible, christianity, compassion, faith, God, greed, helpless, Jesus, kindness, mercy, needy, poor, poverty, sick

Who gives a damn about the poor, the sick, the hungry and the needy? According to Pastor John Pavlovitz, it is not the Republicans who voted unanimously on a budget to cut 2 Trillion dollars from aid programs for the needy. It is not the Evangelicals who Pastor John says put altar calls and prayer ahead of any direct aid to the “marginalized.” It is also not the many Conservative Christians who say that the Government should not be responsible for the poor and needy but who have yet to devote any money to help those in need, unless of course they be friends or family members.

Pastor John writes, “We’re not witnessing an overwhelming outpouring of compassion from Conservative church folk who have declared that they’re going to repair the homes and make the lunches and pay for the surgeries and watch the children for the tens of millions about to be kicked to the curb by this Conservative leadership—and we shouldn’t be holding our breath.” — “The Christians Mocking Jesus and Defunding the Least of These” — John Pavlovitz, 2-25-25

Tribalism reigns supreme among Conservatives. My first responsibility according to VP Vance is to take care of my family, then my friends and then my immediate social network. To hell with the needy who I do not know or who do not live in my social circle. It is out of sight, than out of mind.

You might argue that we cannot afford all of these social causes. That is a lie. It is a matter of priority. Consider that our military budget is greater than the next highest nine military budgets in the world. Consider that we have given billions in foreign aid to the Ukraine and Israel to arm themselves with guns and bombs. Consider that our tax breaks for the rich have resulted in a situation where the rich are worth hundreds and sometimes thousands of times what even the average middle-class American is worth.

Average Wealth: The mean household wealth for the top 0.1% is more than $158.6 million.

The Average American Family: The mean income for all American families is $136.000

Top 1% Wealth: The top 1% (including the top 0.1%) holds a staggering $49.2 trillion of wealth. That is 31% of the total wealth of America.

The Bottom 50% of American Families, own just 1% of the wealth in the U.S., with 13.4 million of these families having a negative net worth.

But who gives a damn about income inequality. These people are losers. They are lazy or stupid. Too many of them sit home all day expecting a handout. All they need is motivation. A good kick in the ass would get them going. No one gave me anything! All I ever needed was a hand-up not a hand-out! Why should I have to take care of them. Some of these people make a fortune on government handouts. Let them win the lottery. I have a hard enough time paying my own bills.

I walk down a typical American street. Today I pass by an old woman dressed in the latest “unfashion.” She is not carrying a Gucci handbag. In fact, she does not even have a handbag. She is pushing a shopping cart. Everything she owns is in a shopping cart. It is not a Mercedes shopping cart either. She is moving from one side of town to another so that she can find a new place to set up for the coming evening. She has learned not to stay in one place too long or the police will move her out.

Yesterday, I passed a homeless Veteran on the streetcorner carrying a sign that reads, “Veteran needs money for food.” I volunteer a few days each month at our local Veterans center. I am there to help Vets that come in with problems. Recently, I spent three days trying to help an 80 percent disabled Vietnam veteran get some state assistance under a mobility grant so that he could afford a walk-in shower. We never got to complete the online form required by the grant. Every other page had some type of document required to complete the form.

Joe (the Vet) has been asked to provide Proof of Service, Proof of Home Ownership, Proof of Homeowners Insurance and several other proofs. He has had to come back three times to the center. Each time he wonders why they just did not state all the forms needed before we started. A question that I have no answer to. I have to scan all these forms in as Joe does not have a computer at home. As I write this, we still have not completed all the paperwork. He has not returned yet with the remainder of the forms needed.

We can send Israel 3.5 billion dollars a year, but we can’t make it simple for a disabled war veteran to obtain a walk-in shower. For the amount of money we send to Israel each year we could build 350,000 walk in showers. But who gives a damn about the poor and needy. And now some idiot with a chainsaw is going to cut thousands of jobs in Social Security, The VA and other government organizations to improve efficiency. I worked for fifteen years with Dr. W. E. Deming, and other quality greats. Dr. Deming always said you improve a process with a scalpel not with a meat cleaver. When you use a cleaver you cut the muscle and bone along with the fat. This is no way to improve the efficiency of any process or organization.

By the way, I am not against aid programs to other countries in need. However, the aid we send to Israel does not help the sick and needy. Mostly it is used to build guns and bombs or buy guns and bombs. But our President stops aid to countries where people are starving so he will have more money to give to his rich supporters.

Losers and more losers. How come so many people need a handout?

A few years ago, I happened to catch a glimpse of a popular TV show called Bridezillas. The prospective bride was shopping for a $20,000 bridal gown and screaming, “It’s all about me! It’s all about me!” I suppose many people watched this program and enjoyed seeing the little spoiled brat ranting and ranting. This is a “reality” show. The real reality is that fifty percent of Americans today are this little spoiled brat. How many people ranting about Immigration have ever been molested by an immigrant? How many people wanting to build a border wall have ever lost their jobs to an immigrant? How many people complaining about illegal immigrants want to do the hard menial work that I see so many immigrants doing all over the USA. From Arizona to Michigan to Rhode Island to Wisconsin, I have seen dozens of migrant workers doing work that Americans feel is beneath them or does not pay enough.

We complain about poverty and people taking handouts, but our kids are not willing to work anymore because they are too busy playing video games. We complain about taxes, but we can buy designer clothes, designer shoes, designer weddings and designer handbags. We complain about inflation, but it does not stop us from eating out at expensive restaurants. We complain about the price of eggs and gasoline, but we drive $85,000 gas guzzling pickup trucks so that we can be cool.

I inquired of a few people I met recently “How could you vote for a man who is vindictive, unethical, lies like crazy and loves to humiliate other people.” I was told the same thing by each person I asked, “I don’t care about his personality as long as he gets rid of the immigrants and lowers my taxes.” Who are the selfish greedy spoiled brats in America? As Pogo said, “ We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

The Conservative Evangelicals have bumper stickers and wear t-shirts that read, “What Would Jesus Do.” I don’t claim to be a Christian and I don’t claim to be a very religious person, but I don’t think Jesus would kick the immigrants out, kick people out of their jobs and stop aid for the people in America and the world who are most in need of help. The pastor at our church always says, “Give me Jesus, they can have all the rest.” I don’t think he would want a Jesus who said, “It’s all about me! I want my taxes lowered and these lazy poor people put to work right after we get rid of the immigrants”

I repeat my question: “Who gives a damn about the poor, the sick, the hungry and the needy?” Are you proud to say that you are not your brothers keeper?

“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of the evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and goodwill, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper, and the finder of lost children.” — Ezekiel 25:17

Why Are Americans so Misinformed About Economics? — Part 1

26 Nov 2024 1 Comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: economics, economy, equality, justice, macroeconomics, mba's, microeconomics, news, Politics, poverty, war

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.

The Rich Young Man and the Novice Nun

23 Nov 2024 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: books, fiction, homeless, humility, hunger, joy, love, poor, poverty, rich, romance, short-story, success, weatlh, writing

The following story was related to me in a much briefer format at my Jesuit Retreat in July of 2024. The Retreat Master told this tale to show the virtue of generosity. In the story that he narrated, it involved a beggar and a nun. I have embellished the story by changing the nature of the characters and the activities somewhat. I do not know where the original tale came from but if anyone has an inkling, I would love to receive the name so that I can give credit to the author. —- John P.

Once upon a time there was a young man named Ethan who was born into a very affluent family. Ethan was brought up with all the goodies and toys that a rich family could afford. Ethan was an only child to an elderly couple who could not believe their good fortune in having a son and heir in their later days. To say he was spoiled would be an understatement. He was the epitome of the privileged child who thought he deserved everything he got. He treated the family servants like dirt. Servants in his mind were not deserving of any respect.

Perhaps because of his privilege, life was very easy for Ethan. He did not bother to try to get good grades or worry about going to college. Ethan expected to live with his elderly parents until they passed away and then the family fortune would be his. However, life often has other plans for us. Both of Ethan’s parents died in a private plane disaster. Ethan was only twenty years old but their deaths did not really trouble him very much. He assumed that he would now be rich and inherit their fortune. Which is exactly what happened.

Now on his own, Ethan took to wine, women and gambling. His father’s financial advisors tried to warn him that he was burning through the family fortune at a prodigious rate. Ethan would heed no warnings. The more warnings he received the more women he bought. The more whiskey he drank and the more he gambled. He thought nothing of buying a diamond ring or a new car for a girlfriend. The new girlfriend would be tossed out of his mansion in a few weeks only to be replaced by a new gold digger.

Finally, the inevitable happened. Ethan’s advisors told him that he was broke. Everything he thought he owned, cars, mansion, and boats would have to be sold to pay off his debts. Ethan was astounded. It took a few weeks, and an eviction notice before Ethan realized that he had no skills, no trade, no education and no money. Indeed, he had no real friends either as he soon found out. Attempts to borrow money from the bank and friends went nowhere. He was on his own.

Ethan went to a casino one night to see if he could win some of his fortune back. He ended up stone cold drunk and tossed out of the casino when they found out that he could not pay his poker bets. Homeless and penniless, Ethan hit the streets. In the next few months, he learned to live in a cardboard shack and find leftover food by dumpster diving. He learned to beg to get extra money for the gin that he was still addicted to. The other beggars and street people hated his guts. Ethan treated other homeless people as though they were inferior to him.

In the area where Ethan now lived, there was a monastery. Each day, the nuns would serve a hot meal, soup, or sandwiches to the street people. These meals were served between the hours of 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM. Whenever Ethan would go there, he would try to arrive as late as he could so that he did not have to associate with any of the other homeless people. He regarded them as bums and still saw himself as superior to them.

One day, Ethan arrived at the monastery too late for lunch. He had fallen asleep under a tree in a local park and did not wake up until about 3 PM. Nevertheless, he showed up at the monastery to try to get some food. He banged on the door until a young novice nun opened the door. “What can I help you with,” she inquired. “Took your own sweet time to get here,” he belligerently replied. “I want some food.” “I am sorry,” Sister Regina said, “but the kitchen is closed, and we have no food prepared.” “Don’t give me that bullshit, you have food, you are just too lazy to help another human being. I thought your Jesus said to feed the hungry. Well, I am hungry now and I want some food now.”

Sister Regina thought about it for a minute but just then another Sister came to the door. “Go away,” said the other Sister and “come back tomorrow at the proper lunch time.” “No, that’s all right,” said Sister Regina, “I will try to find something for him to eat.” She asked Ethan to “please wait here while I fix something for you to eat.” Ethan agreed but warned her to hurry up as he was really hungry.

Sister Regina went to the kitchen refrigerator and found some different lunch meats. She located some bread and mayonnaise and made a nice cold cuts sandwich. She grabbed a small lunch bag and put the sandwich in the bag. Just as she was headed out of the kitchen, she noticed a candy bar on a shelf. She thought this would make a nice desert and proceeded to pack the bar in with the sandwich.

When she arrived back at the door, she opened the door and Ethan was waiting there. She told Ethan that she had found some cold cuts and made him a sandwich. Ethan grabbed the bag and replied that she had taken her damn sweet time about it. He went away without saying another word.

Ethan walked to his private place in the park under his favorite tree. He sat down and plucked the sandwich from the bag. He took his time to eat the sandwich which he thought was very good. He was about to throw the bag away, when he noticed that there was something else in the bag. He reached inside the bar and found the candy bar. At that point, something very mysterious happened. Ethan thought “Well, I wonder why she gave me a candy bar? Perhaps she was being nice to me. I wonder why she would do that?” That is when it struck him.

She was nice to him when he was a jerk towards her. She did not have to include the candy bar. Maybe I have been a jerk my whole life, he thought. The more he thought about it, the more ashamed he was of the way he treated her and other people. Somehow, sitting under that tree, Ethan resolved to change his life. From now on, he was going to be kind to other people and to help them out when he could. He would start today by going back to the monastery and apologizing to the young novitiate.

It was getting late and around about supper time when he arrived back at the monastery. He knocked gently on the door and waited. The door opened and it was the other Sister who had told him to go away before. “What do you want,” she asked? “I would like to speak to the young Sister that made the sandwich for me,” he said. “Wait right here.” he was told, “I will see if she is available.”

Sister Regina came to the door and greeted Ethan. “What can I do for you,” she inquired? “Nothing,” replied Ethan. He than got down upon both knees and said “I am so sorry for the way that I treated you before. I did not even deserve a sandwich and yet you took the time to make it for me and even add a candy bar. I want you to know how grateful I am to you for that. You have helped me to see the world completely differently. From now on, every day I will come here early to help make lunch for the other homeless people and to help out any way I can.” Sister Regina recognized that Ethan was sincere, and she told him how happy they would be for his help.

Ethan did just as he said he would. He showed up every day early to help prepare food and left late after the dishes and the kitchen had been cleaned. Within a year, the Sisters voted to hire Ethan as a cook and custodian. He lived in the monastery another fifty or so years until he passed away. Before he died, he asked to see Mother Regina who had now become the head of the monastery. Taking her hand, he told her how blessed he was to have had her come into his life. He had lived a life that he wanted to and had no regrets. No amount of fame or fortune could ever equal the happiness that he had found by helping others.

“I want a president with a record of public service, someone whose life’s work shows our children that we don’t chase fame and fortune for ourselves: we fight to give everyone a chance to succeed.” — Michelle Obama

The 1st of Gandhi’s Seven Social Sins: Wealth without Work.

12 Aug 2022 29 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: deming, gambling, Gandhi, greed, happiness, lawsuits, lawyers, poverty, rich, success, wealth, welfare

The Seven Social Sins is a list created by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in 1925. He published this list in his weekly newspaper “Young India” on October 22, 1925. Later he gave this same list to his grandson, Arun Gandhi on their final day together shortly before his assassination. The Seven Sins are:

Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Religion without sacrifice.
Politics without principle.

I wrote a blog for each of Gandhi’s “sins” about ten years ago. The blogs seemed to be quite popular with my readers. I am going to update and repost each of the Seven Sins for the next few weeks. Karen and I are making some major changes in our living arrangements and I probably will not find the time to write much new material. I am reposting these because they still seem to be quite relevant in these challenging and chaotic times.

Wealth Without Work: The First of Gandhi’s Seven Social Sins

Once upon a time in this great country, a model for attaining wealth and a set of rules to accomplish this objective stemmed from 3 basic beliefs. These were:

You worked hard, long and industriously.
You attained as much education as you could absorb and afford.
You treated all of your engagements with absolute honesty and scrupulousness.

Somewhere during the later 20^th Century these 3 Cardinal beliefs (Above) about attaining great wealth were replaced by the following beliefs:

Wealth can be attained at a gambling casino or by winning a lottery if you are lucky enough.
Wealth can be attained by suing someone and with the help of a lawyer who will thereby gain a percentage of your lawsuit.
Wealth can be attained by finding some means of acquiring a government handout for the remainder of your life.

Admittedly, not all Americans subscribe to the second set of beliefs and fortunately there are many who still subscribe to the first. Nevertheless, I think you would be hard pressed to argue that gambling, casinos, government handouts and lawsuits have not multiplied exponentially over the past fifty years. The following are some charts which I think illustrate my points rather graphically.

global-online-gambling-market-by-region

BG-welfare-spending-2018-ALL-CHARTS-page4-825_1

The nature of human beings is to want things fast and with a minimum of effort. This is normal and not to be thought of as deviant or unusual. However, as we age and develop more self-control and wisdom over our daily affairs, we learn to temper our desire for instant gratification with a more mature perspective. Noted quality guru, Dr. W. E. Deming maintained that people wanted “Instant Pudding.” For Deming this meant, change without effort, quality without work and cost improvements overnight. Added together, “Instant Pudding” was Dr. Deming’s metaphor for the desire to obtain results with a minimum investment of time and energy. Dr. Deming continually warned his clients that there was no “Instant Pudding” and change would take years of hard work and could not be accomplished without continued dedication and focus.

Unfortunately, our media and even schools today seem to emphasize the possibility of achieving success and wealth overnight. Sports stars are depicted as suddenly being offered incredible contracts. Movie stars are shown as going from unknown to overnight fame and fortune. Singers and musicians seem to suddenly achieve fame despite being barely out of their teens and in many cases barely into their teens. It would appear that everywhere we look fame, fortune and success happen overnight. All it takes is to be discovered. This might happen if you can get on American Idol or be found by the right booking agent or obtain a guest appearance on a celebrity TV show. In some cases, all it takes is the right YouTube video to accomplish overnight success. One day PSI was an unknown Korean musician and in a few short weeks, he was celebrating success by a dinner in the White House and appearing at the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration. How can anyone dispute that all that is needed for fame and fortune is to be in the right place at the right time?

You may be asking “yes, but what exactly did Gandhi mean by this “sin?” The M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence gives the following explanation:

“Wealth Without Work: This includes playing the stock market; gambling; sweat-shop slavery; over-estimating one’s worth, like some heads of corporations drawing exorbitant salaries which are not always commensurate with the work they do. Gandhi’s idea originates from the ancient Indian practice of Tenant Farmers. The poor were made to slog on the farms while the rich raked in the profits. With capitalism and materialism spreading so rampantly around the world the grey area between an honest day’s hard work and sitting back and profiting from other people’s labor is growing wider. To conserve the resources of the world and share these resources equitably with all so that everyone can aspire to a good standard of living, Gandhi believed people should take only as much as they honestly need. The United States provides a typical example. The country spends an estimated $200 billion a year on manufacturing cigarettes, alcohol and allied products which harm people’s health. What the country spends in terms of providing medical and research facilities to provide and find cures for health hazards caused by over-indulgence in tobacco and alcohol is mind-blowing.” ‘There is enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed’, Gandhi said.

There is a visual problem here that perhaps underlies much of the current thinking about success. The media loves to trumpet short success stories that will grab anyone’s attention. We are constantly bombarded with headlines such as:

Each of these sites (click on to hyperlink to the actual site) promises you overnight success or at least success in a much shorter time span than is realistic. These ads are in the news, checkout stands, on TV and just about anywhere you turn around. The constant daily bombardment of such ads creates a zeitgeist in which overnight success not only seems to be possible; but it actually seems to be the norm. If you are not an overnight success, if you cannot become rich in days rather than years, if you contemplate a life of hard work to attain your fame and fortune, than something is wrong with you. Anyone subscribing to the first 3 sets of beliefs I mentioned in the opening is a peculiar species today. The most common belief about success in the new millennium can be summed up as:

I don’t have time to wait. I don’t have the patience to wait. I don’t want to spend my life waiting. I am entitled to success now. Why should I have to wait? I am as good as any of these rich successful people. If only everyone could see how good I really am, I would get the fame and fortune I deserve now. If you expect me to shut up and work hard, I will leave and go elsewhere. You need me more than I need you.

I believe that Gandhi and many of my generation would find such ideas very peculiar not to mention that they contradict certain universal principles. Every time I hear of a new terrorist attack in this country or a new massacre at some workplace, I wonder how much the instigator was influenced by his or her desire for overnight fame and fortune. In some bizarre out-of-this-world thinking, these maniacs equate their picture on page one of the news with a sort of glory that is accomplished by their bizarre and cruel rampage. The more they kill or maim, the greater they think their glory will be. We can look for all the “reasons” why but we will never find any “good” reasons for anyone to take such anti-social actions against others. The paradox is that often the very people they hate are the ones they wanted attention or recognition from.

Ok, time for questions:

Have you raised your children to believe in hard work? Are you one of the parents who want to make sure their kids have it easy? How do you know how much hard work is enough? Do you think you are entitled to success because you work hard? What other factors play a role in success? Is it fair that some people do not seem to have to work hard and yet still reap big rewards? Do people today have it too easy compared to the immigrants that founded this country?

Life is just beginning.

How to Find Meaning and Purpose in Life

01 May 2022 11 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: dreams, enrichment, fulfillment, happiness, life, meaning, poverty, purpose, success

maxresdefault

Two most important elements in any life are meaning and purpose. Your soul, your spirit and your sense of well-being may depend more on these two elements than anything else you will ever find. Money, fame, and success will mean nothing if you do not believe that you are living a life consistent with your purpose. Nothing you buy or acquire will have any importance to you if you do not feel that your life has any meaning.

Many books have been written about the elements of meaning and purpose. Two of the most famous are “The Purpose Driven Life” and “Man’s Search for Meaning.”

“Being successful and fulfilling your life’s purpose are not at all the same thing; You can reach all your personal goals, become a raving success by the worlds standard and still miss your purpose in this life.” — “The Purpose Driven Life” — Rick Warren

“These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus, it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way. Questions about the meaning of life can never be answered by sweeping statements. ‘Life’ does not mean something vague, but something very real and concrete, just as life’s tasks are also very real and concrete. They form man’s destiny, which is different and unique for each individual. No man and no destiny can be compared with any other man or any other destiny” — “Man’s Search for Meaning” — Viktor Frankl

Perhaps, you still do not know what the difference is between purpose and meaning. Do not despair. There are as many ideas about the meaning of these two elements as there are about life after death. Everyone seems to have their own ideas about these qualities, but everyone agrees on one thing; they are essential for a life that is worthwhile. I am going to give you my take on them. What they mean and how to find them for yourself.

maxresdefault (1)

What Is the Difference between Meaning and Purpose?

We live in a world of contrasts and dualities. Up and down, back and forth, good and bad, happiness and sadness. Perhaps these are only our own perspective that we cast onto the world but for better or worse we are stuck with them. The Yin and Yang concept is very useful in thinking about the world. For every Yin there is a Yang.

“The principal belief of the Yin Yang is reflected in the categorization of musical tones. The two main forms of Taoist music are the Yin Tone and the Yang Tone. Yin stands for all things that are female and soft and Yang stands for all things male and hard. Through the proper balance of Yin (female) and Yang (male) a Taoist can find harmony and simplicity in all things.” (Bowker, 2000) — Wikipedia

Esoteric_Taijitu-5c85cc7b46e0fb00014319cd Meaning and purpose are Yin and Yang to each other. Purpose is outside you and is what you do in the world. For me purpose involves doing. Meaning is inside you and what you do for yourself. Meaning involves being rather than doing. Let’s use a running race as an example.

I am a runner. I have been running since I was twenty-five years old. I have run dozens of races. Some of them were long and some were very short. Let’s say I run a race and do so half-heartedly. By fate or circumstance, I come in first place. My purpose was to run and win the race or at least my age division now that I am 75. How I ran it is somewhat irrelevant to my purpose. In this case, I won, and I get the medal or trophy. I may not have done my best, but the world does not care. It rewards winners and not losers. What we do for the world is our purpose. We may not do our best, but we may still win the award.

My purpose in life is to help bring different perspectives and insights to the world through my writings. I want to challenge conventional ways of doing things and thinking about things. That is my purpose in life. Purpose for me is about doing and not about being.

Back to the race. I can run the race and give it my best. I may go all out and still come in tenth or even dead last. If I know I did my best, I will feel good about myself, even though my results will not receive any accolades or awards. To me, this is meaning.

Meaning in my dictionary is about living up to my potential, my values and my beliefs by doing the best I can each day to be consistent with them. No one may ever know if I am being kind, compassionate or patient today. You cannot see the inner virtues that I want to live by. I am the only person at the end of each day who can judge whether or not my life had any meaning today. If I can be the best person that I want to be each day, I will die feeling that my life had meaning. To the rest of the world, I may just be another old teacher, old veteran or old guy who lived an average life and died at an average age. Meaning to me is about being and not doing.

Martin Luther King in his famous Eulogy Speech summed up the meaning of his life very well when he told the world how we wanted to be remembered:

“Yes, if you want to, say that I was a drum major. Say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.

I won’t have any money to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that is all I want to say. If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a well song, if I can show somebody he’s traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain.”

We should all write a eulogy for ourselves before we die. This is to let the world know what we tried to be and tried to do. The world will see what we did do. You won’t have to tell the world what you did. Purpose is written in accomplishments, but meaning is written in how people feel about you. Purpose is pride and success while meaning is love and integrity. In some respects, it is impossible to separate being from doing and meaning from purpose. They flow together like melody and rhythm in a song. They can be separated but together they make life more beautiful.

See my blog: “How about writing your eulogy today?”

How do I find my purpose in life?

Your purpose in life will depend on both your skills and your interests. If you match the two you may find what your purpose in life is. If you have skills in mathematics or science and you are interested in the medical field, you may devote your life to working as a doctor or medical researcher. If you love music and have a skill for playing instruments, perhaps you will be a composer or music teacher or musician. These skills will be the vehicles that you use to share your purpose with the world.

Ikigai-BrightSpaceCoaching

The above diagram was developed to help people find what their purpose in life is. It has four elements which overlap.

What do you love?
What are you good at?
What can you be paid for?
What does the world need?

Ask yourself these four questions. If you can find a way to make the answers mesh, you will have found your purpose in life. Over time, your interest and the world’s needs may change. Finding purpose is not always a once and for all effort. Some lucky people find a purpose which takes them all through life. Many of us will have several purposes before we finish our journey through life.

How do I find my meaning in life?

There are hundreds of formulas and suggestions for how to find meaning in life. The one thing I am certain of is that each of us must define our own meaning. We define our meaning by deciding what we want to be in life. Notice, I did not say what we want to do in life. What makes this a difficult question to answer is that what we want to be is defined by how we go about being. We must realize that being and doing are inseparable. There is a Yin and Yang here.

Ask yourself, what do I want to be?

new1_10 If I answer, I want to be rich, my meaning in life will be defined by how I go about becoming rich and what I do with my money. If I want to be a writer, my meaning will be defined by what I write and how I go about the writing process. If I want to be happy, my meaning in life will be defined by how I go about achieving happiness. No one except me can judge how I define myself. People may say that I am not very rich or that I am not a very good writer, but it is what I believe about myself which will define my meaning in life. Vincent Van Gogh is now widely regarded as one of the greatest painters of all time. His paintings sell for millions of dollars. However, in his lifetime, he sold only one painting. It was to his sister-in-law who felt sorry for him.

“What am I in the eyes of most people — a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person — somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then — even if that were absolutely true, then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart. That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum.” — Quotes from The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, ©Excellence Reporter 2020 Vincent Van Gogh,

The+Meaning+of+Life

I realize as I write this that some people will never care about the meaning or purpose of their lives. Just as some people are goal oriented and others are not, meaning and purpose may be subjects that not all people desire or can even pursue. Perhaps they are luxuries of a more educated or affluent existence. Perhaps people born into abject poverty and hunger have more to worry about then the meaning and purpose of their lives. Aldonza in the “Man of La Mancha” sang:

ALDONZA

Take the clouds from your eyes

and see me as I really am!

You have shown me the sky,

But what good is the sky

To a creature who’ll never

Do better than crawl?

I conclude with the consideration that Meaning and Purpose may not be everyone’s cup of tea. I confess that it was much later in my life and many hurdles had been taken and many obstacles overcome before I started caring about the meaning and purpose of life. Now I look back and shake my head with some sorrow that I did not grasp their import on life when I was in my teens. A have learned that a life without meaning and purpose is not a life, it is just living.

When We Get Back to Normal!

25 Jun 2021 8 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: climate change, disease, famine, global warming, new normal, normal, Politics, post-normal, poverty, racism, trickle down theory, virus, war, water shortage

ProgramPageLogo300x300-CraigSchwalb

When we get back to normal. When everything is like it used to be. When things are like they were in the good old days. The good old days when things were normal. Happy days when father knew best, and bad kids were expelled from school for chewing gum.

But we are not normal now. We are in a quandary for normal. We pray for normal. We look around each corner for normal. But we cannot find normal. We talk about the new normal but even that is a myth. We are now post-normal. We have never been normal, and we probably will never be normal.

1320_effects-image

First smog in the sixties. Then water pollution in the seventies. Globalization in the eighties. A new century with mega storms, wildfires, water shortages, power outages and unprecedented heat spells. If normal was not elusive enough, in 2020 we get a virus that to date has killed almost 4 million people worldwide. A little bug that is about 50 nm in size. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. You could put 20 million corona virus side to side and still have room left over on a yardstick. Has anybody ever asked a coronavirus when things will return to normal?

Just on the outside chance that we do get back to normal, what will it look like? A vision please, for without a vision, it is said that people will perish.

women-taking-em-back-to-the-kitchen-vi-cine-center-51302934 When we get back to normal, two parent families will again reign supreme. Mom will stay home to cook, while dad goes to work. There will be no trans-people. Girls will stick to cheerleading and let the boys play the sports. Contraceptives will be banned, and no one will dream of getting an abortion. Priests and ministers will be male, and gay people will disappear. Everyone in America will go back to being good Christians.

When we get back to normal, people will die of natural causes like alcoholism and tobacco smoking. Viruses will become a thing of the past as huge walls setup around our borders will prevent any bugs from infecting Americans. Health care will be readily available to rich people and make certain that the wealthier you are the longer you will live. Poor people will do the shitty jobs in America and die earlier since they will not be able to afford quality health care.

When we get back to normal, Black people, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian/Pacific Island people will be put into their place so that White people can rule again without challenge. Only White people will be able to hold office. Police forces will be given more power to dispense arbitrary justice in minority communities thereby ensuring that minorities do not get too uppity. White people will be allowed to immigrate to the USA but people from other countries will be given strict orders to stay home.

91wbsZa2btL._SL1500_

When we get back to normal, we will double the size of the defense budget and start a war someplace so that we can test our new arsenals out. We will try to select enemies who are too weak to really put up much fight. Our military will be the pride of America, and no one will have the audacity to stand up to it. Drones will eliminate American casualties and reporters will be prohibited from counting enemy dead.

When we get back to normal, schools will be places where children are taught patriotism and how to fit into the workplace. Colleges will establish quotas limiting the number of minorities who can enter. Businesses will be given more tax breaks so that the rich can become richer. We will spread a great deal of propaganda emphasizing the theory of trickle down. Poor people will be persuaded to be patient until unfathomable wealth eventually comes down to them.

top five risks

When we get back to normal, scientists, Intellectuals, democrats, anti-gun people, liberals, writers, reporters, and teachers espousing critical thinking will be shunned. Anyone promoting facts and logic over emotions and intuition will be silenced by fines or stiff jail sentences.

WhatIsNormal

I forgot to add that the Ten Commandments, Confederate Flag, and statues of Confederate heroes will be taken out of storage and placed on the lawn of every state capital in the USA. Laws will be passed to make sure that people stand for the Flag and kneel for the Cross. Of course, that is if things get back to normal again.

Do you still want things to get back to normal again?

Notes from a Trump Hater and That Includes Trump Supporters.

15 Apr 2018 7 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: bigotry, challenge, free speech, injustice, intolerance, poverty, racism, sexism, silence., Taxes, trump, walls

free-speech-churchill Once upon a time I had more friends on Facebook. I had both Democratic friends, Republican Friends and friends who cared not one whit about politics. Many of all political persuasions were friends who simply wanted to ignore politics. During the run-up to Trump’s election, I discussed, debated, argued, reasoned and fought with many friends who wanted to support Trump. The results were not pretty. Zero changed their minds. I was angry and frustrated.

I unfriended many Republican friends. Many unfriended me. There seemed to be no middle ground. It was like the Civil War. You had to choose a side and the outcome was hatred and disdain for people I formerly called friends. The loss of many former friends (Or were they simply just acquaintances?) has caused a great deal of soul searching on my part. I realize that I am not alone in this.

I doubt if anyone wants to be labeled as narrow minded and unwilling to listen to the other side of things. For years, I accepted Republican politics as a counterbalance to some of the extremism of the Democratic party, particularly when it came to social spending.

Of course, the same extravagant spending by the Republicans was always accepted by my Republican friends since it generally went to building a “strong” military. A military that it was taken for granted would protect us from the evil doers out there that hate democracy. It was a party that would create a huge monster that was a glutton for military spending and ever more wars to be fought in the name of democracy and free enterprise.

Dietrich

I believe that choosing sides is not just a matter of politics but a matter of integrity. It is easier when someone is only a “friend”, but it becomes much more difficult when it is your mother, sister or brother. I realize that many people think I speak out too much. I am too opinioned. I voice my ideas and ideology too much, etc., etc.

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” – Elie Wiesel

Furthermore, there is a certain hypocrisy coming from those who condemn people like me. It goes like this.

Republican Friend to Me:

“Why do you have to revile, criticize and make such pejorative remarks about Trump? About Republican politics etc. Why do you have to have such a negative attitude? Do you realize that I am a life long Republican and you ‘hurt’ my feelings?”

Republican Hidden Message:

Keep your mouth shut and do not speak out. However, it is okay for people in my party to be racists, bigots, xenophobes, greedy and against policies to help the poor and needy. We are very polite about this, while you are very obnoxious and impolite. Hatred is ok if it is polite.

Republican Friend to Me:

“I don’t see why you are so negative. All you do is complain about the way things are in this country.”

Republican Hidden Message:

I don’t see any problems. All I see are needs. We need more prisons. We need more police. We need a stronger military. We need more guns. We need more walls. We need more free enterprise. We need less government. We need less taxes.

Republican Friend to Me:

“Why can’t you be ‘for’ something rather than against everything. No one likes anyone who is continually criticizing and complaining about things.”

Republican Hidden Message:

It is okay to screw people, to take things away from people, to make life harder for people, to create a bigger gap between the rich and the poor if you do it without “complaining.”

The way many people speak out against anyone who is willing to stand up for their beliefs reminds me of the song in the play 1776. In the play, John Adams is continually haranguing his colleagues to get them to agree to rebel against the British. His efforts are often met with disdain by his erstwhile colleagues.

ADAMS – Vote yes!

CONGRESS – Oh, for God’s sake, John, sit down!

ADAMS – Good God! Consider yourself fortunate that you have John Adams to abuse, for no sane man would tolerate it!

CONGRESS – John, you’re a bore; we’ve heard this before, now for God’s sake, John, sit down!

ADAMS – I say vote yes!

political language

If one is polite about it and not too obnoxious, then racism, sexism and bigotry are tolerable. Those who protest, those who march and those who speak up are labeled by our polite quiet society as trouble makers, hippies and know nothings.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” – Martin Luther King

There is a challenge implicit here in being a human. It is a challenge I offer to all my “Friends” to speak out. Do not ask why I insult and use derogatory remarks against racists and bigots. We condone evil with our silence and inaction. Ask why you are not speaking out against the racists and bigot groups that sow hate and discord in our nation. When have you spoke out against the KKK? When have you spoken out against the Neo-Nazi groups? When have you spoken out against those so greedy that they begrudge a dime spent to help the poor and sick? Do not come to me and tell me to be quiet and to tone down my rhetoric.

the free press

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

Jesus had this to say about his beliefs:

“Then his mother and his brothers came but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they wish to see you.’ He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” — Luke 8:19-21.

Maybe, Jesus was trying to tell us that right actions and right thoughts are more important than relationships.

Time for Questions:

Who would be the man/woman with enough courage to give up a friend who was a racist, sexist or bigot?

Life is just beginning.

“The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.”
“Every human must decide whether they will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
“If a person has not discovered something that they will die for, they are not fit to live.”
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'”
“The ultimate measure of a human is not where he/she stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he/she stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
“An individual has not started living until they can rise above the narrow confines of his/her individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
“Anyone who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as those who help to perpetrate it. Those who accept evil without protesting against it is are really cooperating with it.”
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

Above quotes are all from the speeches or writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Secret Plan the Republicans Have to Help the Poor!

03 Dec 2017 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: democracy, elitism, Jesus, poor, poverty, republicans, rich, Social Darwinism, Taxes, trump, wealth

The Republicans have a secret plan for eliminating poverty. The basis of this plan is that if you eliminate the unfit you will not have any more poverty. This strategy derives from theories first formulated in the middle of the nineteenth century. These theories were subsequently labeled as “Social Darwinism.” The online encyclopedia Britannica gives the following definition of Social Darwinism:

“Social Darwinism, the theory that human groups and races are subject to the same laws of natural selection as Charles Darwin had perceived in plants and animals in nature. According to the theory, which was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the weak were diminished and their cultures delimited while the strong grew in power and in cultural influence over the weak. Social Darwinists held that the life of humans in society was a struggle for existence ruled by “survival of the fittest,” a phrase proposed by the British philosopher and scientist Herbert Spencer.”

There have been many theories proposed for the policies held by Trump and his Republican supporters. They include “Greed Theory.” The Republicans are held to be greedier than most people and only want to accumulate as much money as they can. Another is “Hate Theory.” This theory holds that since most Republicans are White European in ancestry, they loath and detest any people who are different then they are. This includes Asians, Blacks, Indians, Latinos and any immigrants not from Europe.

The final theory proposed is what I call “Fear Theory.” This theory holds that the motivation behind Republican policies stem from their innate fear that everything they have will be taken away by those who are less privileged. Thus, we find Republicans building big houses behind big walls and in gated communities protected by private security police. In addition, with the help of their friends in the NRA, they stockpile vast array of weapons in case of home invasion or an all-out assault by the underclass of America.

The above theories assume a very pejorative and negative rationale for the actions of Trump and his allies in Congress. I have come to a different conclusion. Why is my conclusion and theory important? Most of all because it does not ascribe any negative motivations to the Republicans. My theory assumes that current Republican theory is derived from a set of basic assumptions first formulated in the late 1800’s. Thus, Republicans are not greedy or hateful or fearful as much as they are misguided and misinformed. I came to realize this fact through the intersection of two quite different events. Here is how it happened.

Four or five times per week, I go for a run. Down here in Arizona, I have been running in the Casa Grande mountains. I usually get up in the mountains about the time of sunrise. My runs are over hilly, twisty, rocky, mountainous and desert terrain. My only companions this early are the cacti and numerous birds that populate the desert. Occasionally, I see a coyote, javelina or long eared jack rabbit but mostly it is peaceful and quiet. As the sun rises over the mountains, the blue sky is colored with red and yellow hues that create a pastiche of colors which are simply breathtaking. It is hard not to think that I am in heaven when I am running in the mountains in the morning.

I was on such a run about two weeks ago when I was struck with an inspiration. I suddenly realized that everything the Republicans have been doing is based on one simple idea. They want to create a system whereby the “elite” have the benefits of their status as superior beings. Thus, healthcare should be for the elite and the poor can go to the emergency ward because they will not be able to afford insurance. More of the poor will die but that is consistent with Social Darwinism.

“Their disappearance from the human family would be no great loss to the world.”
― Henry Clay

Education will become an elite system. The poor will go to inner city public schools deprived of money and resources where they will be treated more like prisoners than learners and security guards will make sure they behave. The rich will go to well-funded private academies where they will learn to take high paying jobs as captains of industry.

Social Security will be replaced by an elite system of stocks and bonds whereby the rich can use financial advisers to double and triple their contributions. The poor with little knowledge or skills in the stock market will lose what they have contributed and soon find they have no retirement money. More prisons will be built (and ironically will be government funded) to protect the rich and lock up any dissidents who dare to complain or who become public nuisances.

“The forces which are working out the great scheme of perfect happiness, taking no account of incidental suffering, exterminate such sections of mankind as stand in their way, with the same sternness that they exterminate beasts of prey and herds of useless ruminants.” ― Herbert Spencer,

As much as I liked the above scenario, since it seemed to provide a good fit for the current Trump and Republican policies, there was still something missing. I could not quite put my hand on it, but it still cast the Republicans as “bad guys” with evil motives. Why should the Republicans be any more evil than the Democrats? My theory did not explain this.

About a week later, I was substitute teaching in a Casa Grande High School. I drew an eleventh-grade social studies class. The teacher had left an assignment wherein the students had to find certain terms and concepts associated with the second industrial revolution and write definitions for each of them. Included among such terms as: robber barons, corporations, patents and trusts was the term “Social Darwinism.” One of the students asked me to explain it beyond the simple definition she found on line. I tried to recall my ideas relating to this concept from many years ago. I gave her my explanation and then later I looked up the definition at Wikipedia. I was struck at how well my memory had served me. It was at that point that the proverbial light bulb or blinding light of inspiration hit me. I suddenly realized that the Republican Party was not just trying to create elite systems but they were also trying to build on the theories of Herbert Spencer. The following excerpt explains this theory very well as it applies to many current concepts such as: trickle down theory, privatization, corporate welfare and tax reform.

“Social Darwinists took up the language of evolution to frame an understanding of the growing gulf between the rich and the poor as well as the many differences between cultures all over the world. The explanation they arrived at was that businessmen and others who were economically and socially successful were so because they were biologically and socially “naturally” the fittest. Conversely, they reasoned that the poor were “naturally” weak and unfit and it would be an error to allow the weak of the species to continue to breed. They believed that the dictum “survival of the fittest” (a term coined not by Charles Darwin but by sociologist Herbert Spencer) meant that only the fittest should survive.” – Social Darwinism in the Gilded Age

So, there you have it. Trump and the Republican Party are not greedy, hateful or fearful of others, they simply do not believe that you have a right to anything unless you are also rich and successful and White like they are. Based on the concepts of Social Darwinism, they have the right to whatever you have if they can find a way to take it away from you. If you cannot keep it, that means you are inferior. If you are inferior, you have no right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. According to Social Darwinism, the elite will eventually Trump the poor because they are stronger, smarter and more fit. This will eventually result in a society wherein everyone is fit, and everyone is trying to screw everyone else.

“Truly, this earth is a trophy cup for the industrious man. And this rightly so, in the service of natural selection. He who does not possess the force to secure his Lebensraum in this world, and, if necessary, to enlarge it, does not deserve to possess the necessities of life. He must step aside and allow stronger peoples to pass him by.”
― Adolf Hitler

Today we have a Fake President, Fake News, Fake Christians and a divide in this country that rivals the divide that we had prior to the civil war. We have a nation that has forgotten its roots and that has succumbed to the vilest theory to ever afflict humanity.

Time for Questions:

Do you think it would be better if the poor would just die and save us all the trouble of taking care of them? What do you think we should do with the disabled and mentally challenged? Should we start a eugenics program to get rid of them? Who should help the poor, refugees, immigrants, hungry, sick? What would Jesus do?

Life is just beginning.

“They said ‘specialist children’s wards,’
But they meant children-killing centers.
They said ‘final medical assistance’
But they meant murder.” ― Ann Clare LeZotte, T4

I Never Thought

12 Nov 2016 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: bernie, bigotry, fear, fight, hate, hillary, hitler, hope, poverty, sexism, trump

A German who voted for Hitler in 1932 said this after the war:

“I never thought things would turn out this way. He said he would make our country GREAT again. I never thought over 60,000,000 people would die in a war. I never thought that he would torture and murder six million Jews. I never thought that he would kill over 3 million Slavs and murder 15,000 homosexuals. I never thought he would euthanize 270,000 disabled people and more than 220,000 Gypsies. He said he would make our country GREAT again.”

“We were coming out of a great economic crisis. Jobs were scarce and money was very tight. He said he would get rid of all the people who were taking our jobs. He would eliminate the ruling class and get the crooks out of politics. Jobs for Germans is what he said. I thought he would make our country GREAT again so I voted for him.”

If I only knew.

i_use_emotion_for_the-1564-52650

trump

quote-the-best-political-weapon-is-the-weapon-of-terror-cruelty-commands-respect-men-may-hate-heinrich-himmler-59-65-85

rudy

goebbels-big-lie

gingrich

hermann-goering-quote

Time For Questions:

Are you going to support Fascism in America? Will you fight to protect the rights of minorities, gays, women and immigrants? If not, why do you think you are an American?

Life is Just Beginning.

Hard to imagine life beginning under a Trump presidency. But the race is not always to the swiftest.

“I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the strong, and neither is bread to the wise nor riches to those of intelligence and understanding nor favor to men of ability; but time and chance overtake them all.” — ECCLESIASTES 9:11

Aging Capriciously

Something Rotten in America Is Coming This Way

Who gives a damn about the poor, the sick, the hungry and the needy?

Why Are Americans so Misinformed About Economics? — Part 1

The Rich Young Man and the Novice Nun

The 1st of Gandhi’s Seven Social Sins: Wealth without Work.

How to Find Meaning and Purpose in Life

When We Get Back to Normal!

Notes from a Trump Hater and That Includes Trump Supporters.

I Never Thought

Photo

Dr. John Persico Jr.

Recent Posts

Follow Blog via Email

Questions about Blogging and this Website.

Archives

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Photo

Dr. John Persico Jr.

Recent Posts

Follow Blog via Email

Questions about Blogging and this Website.

Archives