trump | Aging Capriciously

What America May Be Like in the Year 2056

28 Jul 2025 5 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: America, christian, democrats, equality, family, freedom, happiness, immigration, justice, liberty, marriage, minorities, Politics, republicans, trump, values

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.

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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-union This conservative trend was already well underway when in 2017, a billionaire real-estate developer named Donald Trump became the 45^th 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-paradise I 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-workers nations. 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 am men-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 10^th 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:

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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 8^th 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.”

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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 Education Libraries 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

What Would Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine Say if They Were Alive Today? Opinions Expressed by ChatGPT!

12 Jul 2025 12 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: America, american-revolution, democracy, founding fathers, freedom, history, independence-day, Politics, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, trump

I often wake up at night pondering the imponderable. A few nights ago, I woke up wondering what my favorite Founding Father would think about things today if he were alive. I refer to Thomas Jefferson who despite much of his hypocrisy, I still admire very much for his intellectual foundations of democracy. Thus, I got out of bed and decided to see what ChatGPT would think about this question. While I was at it, I included queries for Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine whom I also admire very much. I put the following query to ChatGPT.

In 500 words or less, what would Thomas Jefferson have to say about the present state of politics in America today?

If Thomas Jefferson were to assess the present state of American politics, he would likely express both deep concern and guarded hope. As a champion of liberty, limited government, and the diffusion of power, Jefferson might be alarmed by the hyper-partisanship, concentration of wealth and influence, and erosion of civic virtue that marks much of today’s political climate.

Jefferson valued the free press and an informed citizenry as bulwarks against tyranny, but he would likely be troubled by the rise of misinformation and the deep polarization stoked by media echo chambers. He warned that a republic could only survive if its people were educated and vigilant. Seeing voter apathy, low civic trust, and widespread political cynicism, he might fear that the American experiment was straying from its foundational ideals.

He would likely criticize the influence of large corporations and special interests on lawmakers, calling it a form of “elective despotism” — where private power manipulates public policy. Jefferson was wary of centralized banking and would probably see today’s economic inequality as a threat to republican balance and self-rule.

On the other hand, Jefferson would also recognize the enduring strength of constitutional institutions, the resilience of democratic dissent, and the diversity of political participation as hopeful signs. He believed in the capacity for peaceful revolution and renewal. The activism of young people, the vibrancy of civil society, and ongoing debates about rights and justice might stir his belief that the republic can still be revitalized.

Ultimately, Jefferson would urge Americans to remember that liberty requires effort — that every generation must “refresh the tree of liberty” not with violence, but with active engagement, moral courage, and public service. He would remind citizens that they are not subjects but sovereigns, and that the preservation of democracy depends not on leaders alone, but on the people themselves.

In 500 words or less, what would Thomas Paine have to say about the present state of politics in America today?

If Thomas Paine were alive to witness the present state of American politics, his response would likely be fiery, uncompromising, and full of both indignation and inspiration. As the passionate voice behind Common Sense and The Rights of Man, Paine championed radical democracy, social justice, and the power of ordinary people to overthrow corrupt systems. He would likely view today’s political climate as a betrayal of the revolutionary ideals he once fought for.

Paine would be outraged by the degree of economic inequality and political influence held by the wealthy elite. He warned in his time about the dangers of monarchy and aristocracy—today, he might argue that America faces a modern version: oligarchy. The dominance of corporate money in elections and policymaking would, in his eyes, amount to tyranny in a new form.

He would be sharply critical of political parties that prioritize power over principle and create divisions that distract from the common good. Paine believed that government should serve the people, not entrench the power of a few. He would condemn the partisan gridlock, deliberate misinformation, and what he might see as cowardice among leaders unwilling to stand up for justice and truth.

Yet, Paine would not despair. He believed deeply in the ability of people to rise, to demand reform, and to create a more just society. He would likely praise movements for racial justice, labor rights, climate action, and economic fairness as modern heirs to the revolutionary spirit. He would call on Americans to shake off apathy, to recognize their power, and to demand a government that works for all, not just the privileged few.

In Paine’s words: “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” He would challenge today’s citizens to do exactly that.

In 500 words or less, what would Samuel Adams have to say about the present state of politics in America today?

Samuel Adams, the fiery patriot and master organizer behind the American Revolution, would likely view the present state of American politics with a mix of alarm and rallying fervor. As someone who believed that liberty must be constantly defended against corruption, tyranny, and apathy, Adams would be deeply concerned by the erosion of civic trust, the rise of special interest power, and the complacency of citizens in the face of growing dysfunction.

Adams saw government as a sacred trust, meant to reflect the will and virtue of the people. Today, he would likely condemn the influence of money in politics as a betrayal of republican principles, calling out lobbyists, corporate donors, and elected officials who prioritize personal or partisan gain over the common good. He would regard political leaders who manipulate public opinion with lies or fear as dangerous enemies of liberty.

He’d also take issue with the widespread civic disengagement and low voter turnout. Adams believed that public virtue—active, informed participation in the republic—was the cornerstone of freedom. He would likely warn Americans that rights not actively defended are rights easily lost, and that freedom requires both vigilance and sacrifice.

Yet, ever the agitator for liberty, Adams would not retreat into pessimism. He would find hope in grassroots activism, community organizing, and movements that hold the powerful accountable. He would see in these efforts the spirit of the Sons of Liberty reborn.

Adams might close his remarks with a challenge: “If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” That time, he would say, is now. And he would call on Americans to rise—peacefully but boldly—to restore the republic.

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I was very impressed by the above observations. They mirror what I thought each of these great men would have said. However, as I lean towards pessimism and given the present state of America, I tend to be very pessimistic, I would have totally overlooked some of the positive attitudes that each of these men expressed as well as some of the optimism they spoke of. I am very grateful to ChatGPT and Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and Samuel Adams for their ideas. I only wish I could share these thoughts with all Americans today.

Is there any possibility, these ideas would make any difference to at least some of the followers of our erstwhile King and Dictator?

All Hail Trump the King!

24 May 2025 7 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: Congress, cowards, dictator, king, Senate, supreme court, trump, USA

After hearing the latest news today about the Supreme Court’s ruling that Trump could fire just about any government employee he wanted to without cause, my spouse Karen suggested “Why don’t we just crown him king.” “That’s a GOOD idea I replied.” The courts have already said that he is immune from prosecution for any wrongdoing while in office. In New York, he was told ten times during his trial that he was in danger of being charged with “Contempt of Court”, but it never happened. The chicken shit judge was afraid to do anything.

Our Congress bends over backwards to support anything Trump wants including a “Great Big Beautiful Bill” that will kick many people off Medicare benefits. Punish people too disabled to find work and give tax breaks to the top ten percent of Americans. Only two-House Republicans voted against the bill and that was probably because they were afraid it would increase the deficit. Either that or they feared violence by Trump and his supporters. Trump has Senators afraid to disagree with him. Senator Lisa Murkowski admitted that she is terrified of retaliation from President Trump and his supporters. No doubt that feeling is shared among many in the House and Senate.

Almost every major economist in the USA said this new tax bill would increase the deficit but that did not deter Congress from giving money to their benefactors. They pushed more money into the military-industrial-complex and the Border Patrol and took it away from the lower income earners. I heard a Republican on NPR this morning say that the big waste is in entitlement programs including Education, Social Security and Healthcare. No one calls our bloated military budget an “entitlement” program for major corporations, nor do they call our growing Border Patrol an entitlement program.

I would sooner fund welfare recipients than drones or smart bombs that are programmed to stalk and kill other human beings. Please don’t call me a pacifist or disloyal. Unlike Trump, I volunteered for military service in September of 1964 and served until October of 1968. I volunteered three times for Vietnam. If any true crisis emerged, I would not hesitate to defend our country. However, a military budget that ranks as the number one in the world and is equal to the next ten budgets combined is absurd. I also have little or no use for creating a border wall and border security to deny privileges written in the US Constitution. Once upon a time, there was no wall, no border patrol, no security checks, no internment camps and things worked out fine.

We are now creating a Space Force and high-powered lasers so that we can place them on the moon and Mars. Do you know why? I bet you can guess. Here is a hint. It has to do with some billionaires who are making fortunes with their space programs.

I asked ChatGPT the following question: Did either Musk, Bezos or Zuckerberg serve in the military? Here is the answer that I received to my inquiry:

Elon Musk

Elon Musk did not serve in the military. He left South Africa at the age of 17, partly to avoid mandatory conscription under the apartheid regime.

Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos has never served in the military. His background is rooted in academics and business.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg has no military service record. There have been no credible reports or evidence suggesting any military involvement. His focus has been on technology and business since his early years .

I hope you are not surprised by these results. Uber-Rich people including most politicians seem to find the idea of joining the military very repugnant. Fighting and dying is for poor people or people so unconnected that they are eventually sucked into the Army or Marines where they can be sent to the front lines and when dead or disabled awarded with an array of medals.

I again asked ChatGPT a question. “Is there any data related to the socio-economic status of soldiers who died or were wounded in combat during the Vietnam War and the Gulf Wars versus soldiers who were not?” Here is a summary of the reply that I received:

Comparative Summary

Conflict	Recruitment System	SES Profile of Troops	Casualties & SES
Vietnam War	Draft + volunteers	Lower to working class	Disproportionately lower SES, especially early in war
Gulf Wars	All-volunteer	Lower to middle class	Middle/lower-middle class more represented in casualties

SES stands for Socio Economic Status. Most of the studies on my question found that the poor, the less educated, and people from geographically disadvantaged rural areas had more deaths and injuries.

“A study published in the American Journal of Public Health includes a figure illustrating the relationship between state per capita income and Vietnam War combat casualties. The analysis indicates that states with lower per capita incomes experienced higher casualty rates, highlighting a socio-economic disparity in war fatalities.” — PubMed

I point out the above data to illustrate the growing gap between the rulers in this country and the ruled. The golden rule could never be more firmly implanted than it is today. “He or she who has the gold makes the rules.” The rulers eat, drink and live in palatial mansions that most of us cannot even imagine. The rulers live on boats bigger than our schools. They eat at restaurants that would not allow someone of my income level to be near the food except maybe to pick up the trash. Most people I know would be happy to have take home bags from these places.

Just for the record, our (Spouse and I) combined income puts us in the 45th percentile, meaning our income is slightly below the national median, but higher than about 45% of U.S. households. Thus, we are not poor, but we are pretty far from being rich considering that 55 percent of American families have higher incomes than we do. Just for fun, I calculated how much Jeff Bezos makes per year and obtained the following result which includes his salaries, profits and earnings growth.

Based on his net worth growth, Jeff Bezos earns $9.6 billion a year—or $798,333,333 a month. To break this down even further, that’s $26,611,111 a day, $1,108,796 an hour, $18,480 a minute—and $308 a second. In comparison, both Karen and I make $7.62 per hour or “$183 dollars per day. Bezos makes almost twice as much in one second as I make in a day.

But getting back to the rich a-holes who are destroying our American Democracy, why continue the charade? Stephen Miller or J.D. Vance can nominate Trump for King, and I will second the motion. Think of the happiness this would bring to the billionaires who support Trump. Think of the joy amongst his followers who never believed in democracy in the first place. Think of the sycophants who can now stop kissing his ass and can simply run rampant over the rest of us. At least two of them have floated a bill to include Trump at Mount Rushmore.

The Supreme Court can crown Trump “The Most Beautiful King” who ever lived by a six to three majority. The Senate leadership has already given up the idea that checks and balances should limit the power of the President. Why say we have a president? If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. Anyone who can say Fuck You to the Supreme Court, Kiss My ASS to the Congress and put FEAR into the hearts of academics, lawyers and government officials with his threats of Vengeance and Retribution is not a president. By any measure I can think of they are a violent, narcissistic Dictator.

King George move over for King Trump.

Defying tyranny: Maria Ressa on journalism under authoritarian rule

04 May 2025 9 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: democracy, dictator, dictatorship, duterte, fight, Maria Ressa, news, philippines, Politics, protest, Rappler, Resist, trump

I heard this interview with Maria Ressa on Arizona Public Radio the other morning. Her experiences in the Philippines with another would be dictator point the way the USA under Trump and his fascist thugs and sycophantic Republican cohorts has us headed. This is one of the most interesting and insightful interviews I have heard in the past ten years.

Journalist Maria Ressa, the co-founder of the Filipino investigative news site Rappler, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the author of “How to Stand Up to a Dictator,” speaks with The World’s Carolyn Beeler. They discuss how the slide toward authoritarianism Ressa experienced firsthand in the Philippines is eerily similar to what she’s seeing today in the US. — “The World,” May 1, 2025, By Joy Hackel

When journalist Maria Ressa, the co-founder of the Filipino investigative news site Rappler, looks around America, she sees something all too familiar.

Ressa, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the author of “How to Stand Up to a Dictator,” spent much of her career working as a journalist in the Philippines — and she was arrested several times during the reign of the authoritarian leader Rodrigo Duterte for the outlet’s reporting, often calling out corruption under his regime.

“I’ve learned through the six years of Rodrigo Duterte that you have to hold the line,” Ressa said. “You have to fight for your rights, because every day you do not, you lose more.”

Ressa said that Duterte tried shutting down Rappler in 2018 and 2019. And then, something shifted for the author.

“I had 10 arrest warrants in a little over a year,” she said. “Those cases have continued until today.”

Ressa has won eight of the 10 cases against her, with two more trials to go. And she’s not the only one awaiting trial.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa of the Philippines gestures as she speaks during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at Oslo City Hall, Norway on Dec. 10, 2021. A Philippine tax court on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023 cleared Ressa and her online news company of tax evasion charges she said were part of a slew of legal cases used by former President Rodrigo Duterte to muzzle critical reporting.

“So, Rodrigo Duterte is gone,” she said. “This president was the first social media president elected with Facebook’s help. But he was just arrested in March on an ICC arrest warrant for crimes against humanity, and he is in prison in The Hague. My president — who tried to jail me — is in jail, waiting trial.”

Ressa joined The World’s Host Carolyn Beeler to discuss what aspects of her experience she found most relevant to understanding how a free press can come under attack.

Carolyn Beeler: How does it feel to know that he is in jail and you are still free? And do you reflect on the role that you may or may not have played in that?

Maria Ressa: We kept doing our jobs, which is our investigative reports, chronicling, putting faces to the countless people who have died in a brutal drug war. This is now being used as evidence. Our reporter, who worked on the drug war, wrote a book that became a New York Times bestseller. It’s called “Some People Need Killing.” That’s a phrase that one of the vigilantes told her. The president, like this US president, makes the attack very personal, but I think what I learned is — and I’m an old-style journalist in this sense — I treated the office with respect. And I just had to have faith that doing the right thing is the right thing; that you hold on to the line, that you do not compromise. There are many, many instances, and business will lead the way. We were not the first news organization attacked. We were the third. The first was the top newspaper, the second [was] a top television station. The top newspaper, within two weeks, said it would sell to a friend of President Duterte. It ultimately did not. But the top broadcasters, a news group I managed for six years, tried to negotiate with President Duterte, and they lost their license to operate. And even though Duterte is out of power, they cannot broadcast anymore.

So, there’s still damage done to the free press, even though he is sitting in jail?

It’s not even that there’s still damage. It’s that the damage that is done will not go away without tremendous effort. So, the largest broadcaster doesn’t have a license, a franchise to operate today. And those licenses, those franchises were given to the friends of Duterte. It is creating an oligarchy. Really, it’s leading to kleptocracy. I think the two things — and this is actually very similar here — you need to look at the level of corruption. You need to look at who benefits from this. You know, you look today at what’s happening in America, not many news groups covered the pausing of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which is essentially the US government saying in order to be competitive, go be corrupt.”

You’ve been drawing these comparisons about what happened in the Philippines and what is happening now, it sounds like, in the US. But I’m wondering, to what extent is it really fair to compare those two very different countries?

Two very different countries, but we have a constitution that is patterned after the United States. Three co-equal branches of government, a bill of rights that’s almost exactly like the United States. And what happened in the Philippines — tell me if this sounds familiar — is a very strong executive that pushed it and co-opted the Legislature, so he gained tremendous power, and the judiciary that ultimately, in the end, crumbled. Well, I can’t say things like that publicly, let’s just say that’s someone else’s analysis. But look, if the checks and balances don’t work, and what you realize is that checks and balances of institutions depend on the men and women who will carry those out. And when a president — and I can again say from the Philippines, President Duterte appointed 6,000-plus people to top positions — when they are both ignorant and arrogant and use their power to kill the checks and balances, use their power [to get] more power, then you have nothing stopping this. And we watched our history change in front of our eyes. It’s déjà vu.

Duterte was a very popular leader. What was it like battling such a popular leader when you were so often up against him?

Look, in Cambridge Analytica, the country that had the most-compromised accounts was America. The country with the second-most number of compromised accounts was the Philippines. The Cambridge Analytica whistleblower said that they tested tactics of mass manipulation in our country, and when it worked, they used it in [the US]. So, popularity is manipulated. When you have a design of a platform, when it’s designed for maximum profit to keep you scrolling, what they found out is — and they have this data — when lies spread six times faster — that’s an MIT study from 2018, this is on social media — when lies spread six times faster at least, and then in our data, we saw that if you lace it with fear, anger and hate … it spreads virally. That’s part of the reason our values are upside down. We are rewarding the worst behavior of people. So, popularity, I guess, what I’m saying here is I think a lot of this is manipulated.

But was Duterte able to do what he was able to do because of his popularity? How did that play into his ability to control and take so much power?

He wouldn’t be able to do all that if we didn’t have a behavior modification system at his disposal [social media]. Data is gold. Data is how we’re manipulated. And data privacy with the new technology — and I’m not just talking about social media AI, but also generative AI — with this new technology, is a myth. This is how control happens. And this is part of the reason, look … The technology companies have figured out how to hack our biology, to hack the way we feel, which changes the way we think, which then changes the way we act in the real world and ultimately, changes the way we vote. So, back to your question … he’s really popular. Really, really popular? Why? How? Were our fears manipulated to make it that way? Were we given false promises? Was democracy crushed in that popularity?

Based on your experience, what do you see as the most-effective ways to tackle the attack on data privacy, this onslaught of misinformation that may or may not be manipulating our feelings about our government or our leaders?

I’ll step back to say what we did. We survived six years of Duterte. Our lawyers told me, you know, “You’re crazy,” in some of the things that we did. But, I think you just, you hold the line, right? Because by coming at you through taxes, through business ends … the businesses themselves and news organizations are under attack anyway. So, I think the first is that when you hold the line, you get out of the virtual world. In 2012, when Rappler was first formed, my elevator pitch getting there was [that] we build communities of action and the food we feed our communities is journalism. So, we moved into the physical world. And what we found was that our communities are there. Fear is real. And in the Philippines, there were an average of eight dead bodies dumped every night in Metro Manila. One team going out every night, and we would just have this. It’s meant to instill fear. And we saw that when people are afraid, that fear spreads, but so does courage. And so, every time I got arrested, and another arrest warrant, every time, we’d get a spike of crowdfunding, and I was just telling my sales team who was celebrating, I was like, “This is not a sustainable business model, right?” But what I learned is this: form these communities, number one. Number two: it’s got to be laws. This is not a speech issue or a freedom of the press issue. This is a safety issue. It’s like you’ve put poison in the water system, and you have to make sure people on these platforms have agency. And frankly, the biggest question in the world today is whether rule of law still exists, right? Whether it’s in the physical world, where you have attacks against sovereign nations, invasions. Uh, yeah, Putin? Hello. And then you have the virtual world, where you have impunity happening as well.

You’ve said that you’re feeling déjà vu here in the US. You’re teaching at Columbia right now. How would you characterize the civil society response to the changes the Trump administration has made in its first 100 days?

Like deer in headlights. Not enough, although I would say the court system is kicking back now, and then what did we see last Friday? A judge was arrested in Milwaukee. Again, these are intimidation tactics. In “How to Stand Up to a Dictator,” the question I asked is a really simple one, because the tech has allowed individual targeting. So, the question there is, “Individually, what are you willing to sacrifice for the truth?” Without facts, you can’t have truth. Without truth, you cannot have trust. The only government that exists without trust is a dictatorship, right? But if you don’t have these three, we have no shared reality. So, everything hinges on us living in the same shared reality, and I think this chilling effect is here. And in the past, I used to say, in the Philippines, it was Siberia.

Hello, Americans. Where are you?

End of Interview

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I could add my two cents to this interview, but I could not do justice to the comments that Nobel Laureate Ressa makes. Perhaps, the most striking thoughts I gleaned from this interview are as follows:

“The only government that exists without trust is a dictatorship.”
“You have to fight for your rights, because every day you do not, you lose more.”
“What you realize is that checks and balances of institutions depend on the men and women who will carry those out.”

Here is a bonus for my blog readers today. I heard this sickening suck up speech to trump on the anniversary of his first 100 days in office. This will either have you laughing your butt off or running to the toilet to barf. Imagine the difference between Bondi and Ressa?

Facts, Data, Evidence and the Search for Truth. How do we know what to believe anymore? – Part 1

13 Mar 2025 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: America, data, delusions, denial, evidence, greed, hillary, hypocrites, idiots, journalists, lies, lying, President, stupid people, supporters, trump, truth

I wrote the following blog in 2016 just before the Presidential elections that year. I am often guilty of too many political rants. I wrote the following blog and four others on the search for Truth and the relevance of facts, data, and evidence in this search. Some of the issues I describe here happened 9 years ago but as you will see, they are just as relevant and pertinent today as they were then. In fact, they are even more so. Regardless of your political persuasion, it is important to understand how Truth can be found and whether or not we are being lied to and conned. The US government has for many years developed a variety of means to obfuscate, ignore and/or stretch the Truth. If we as citizens can see when this is happening than we shall surely be forfeit to any mistreatment that comes down from the Government. I worked for almost 20 years to teach some of these ideas to private business, non-profits, military installations and many levels of government from city to state to federal. This blog is part one of the education I think we all need to deal with what I would call “the Search for Truth.” You will need to read all five parts to get an honorary degree in Truth Seeking and Truth Finding. Following is the start of my blog written in 2016

I watched several shows the other day in which Trump supporters were interviewed. People are as curious about his supporters as they are about Trump. Given the unquestionable fact that Trump is a greedy sexist racist hate monger, why would anyone support him? The assumed knowledge is that his supporters are a bunch of ignorant losers: people who are uneducated or at best semi-literate. However, the data and demographics do not entirely support this conclusion. Many Trump supporters are intelligent educated and literate people. These are also people who believe in the United States of America and care about their country. What then persuades or convinces them that Trump is the right person for the job of POTUS? His qualifications pose a questionable proposition that would seem to fly in the face of all known facts in the entire universe. This dilemma strikes at the heart of the matter. We do not know what to believe any more. What is a fact? What is evidence? What is objective data? Where can we find facts that are truthful (not really a redundancy)?

I think about my graduate students at the college where I have taught for many years. These are students who are working on an MBA and are highly literate, highly educated and highly intelligent individuals. Many of them already hold very well paying jobs and responsible positions in successful companies. Nevertheless, the challenge that I continually face is to teach them the difference between facts, data, evidence and truth. Despite their literacy, few of these students understand the difference. This is a scary situation. If these highly educated students do not understand the difference between these concepts, how can we expect the many uneducated members of the general public to understand and comprehend the essential elements of truth finding? I say essential because facts, data and evidence are the three pillars of truth. If you do not have these, you cannot find the truth.

Several problems make the issue even more complex. In academia, we are dealing with a subset of life in which there is much less confusion over the truth since no one is deliberately trying to distort, lie or sell us anything. There may be stupidity, lack of knowledge and even ignorance by many scientists and professors but the greed motive is much less tangible. I am not saying it does not exist, but for most of my teaching career, I cannot think of anything I have ever tried to sell to my students and make a profit on. I can say with some confidence that this is also true of all the instructors whom I have ever known or worked with. The same situation does not exist outside of academia. The marketplace is a vicious jungle when it comes to searching for the truth while academia is a tame zoo in comparison.

When we enter the marketplace and even more so in the political arena, the motive to convince us of something relies much less on elucidating the truth than it does on obfuscating the truth in order to sell us something. Wells Fargo Bank wants you to open a credit account. They don’t care whether you need it or not. Volkswagen wants to sell you a car even if they have to hide the truth about pollution levels. Every politician in America wants you to vote them into office. They don’t want you to know the real truth about their competition or that they do not have all the answers to the problems facing our country.

Companies and politicians have a vested interest in hiding the truth from you. Stories like Miracle on 31^st Street where Macy’s sent people to Gimbels are few and far between and exist mostly in fantasy. Similarly, stories about politicians with ethics such as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” have become legendary because they depict a reality that seldom exists. Most politicians will promise you the moon to get your vote and most companies will not tell you the truth about cigarettes, drugs, food or anything else unless forced to do so by some form of government regulation or mandate. It does not matter whether it will kill you or not as long as you buy it or elect them.

Finally, we come to perhaps the biggest ruse of all. If anyone is searching for the truth, they will eventually enter into the Fourth Estate. This hallowed ground is defined as: “A societal or political force or institution whose influence is not consistently or officially recognized. Fourth Estate most commonly refers to the news media, especially print journalism or The Press.” (Wiki). Thomas Jefferson believed that the two pillars of a democratic society were an educated citizenry and a free press. Mark Twain was somewhat more skeptical about the power of the press and information to inform people when he noted that: “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.” The truth seeker has been taught since early childhood that in the domain of the Fourth Estate is to be found the truth. Little do they know the quagmire they have entered into or that the role of truth finding in the Fourth Estate no longer exists.

Today, the major purpose of the news (whether print or digital or video or audio) is to sell. Sell, sell, sell, sell and sell some more. Sell junk, sell drugs, sell expensive credit cards, sell stuff and more stuff. Stuff you don’t need, won’t need and will probably never need. The job of the media is to convince you that you do need stuff, that you desire stuff and that you can not possibly live without stuff.

I once thought that journalists were a group to be respected. This was based on the knowledge that they had often risked their lives and their reputations to bring us the truth. Today, journalists are little more than pimps for advertisers. They have sold their souls to the devil, descended into hell and may never come out again. The measure of a journalist is not how much information they provide to the public but how many advertisements they can sell. The changing role of journalists has made it even more difficult for people to find the truth. Nothing in the news is remotely objective or unbiased any more. Every paper, every station has their spin on things. The spin is determined by who owns and controls the media.
Take polls for example. As we go into the final days of the 2016 US presidential election, you can find polls that favor one candidate or the other candidate. If there are seventy polls, half may favor one candidate and half may favor the other candidate. There is no truth even in these so called unbiased statistical polls. Many of my friends have suggested that the news media want the race to be close because this keeps people tuned in. Much like a sports match, we would rather watch an event that had a pair of evenly matched contestants. My friends have suggested that the news seems to do its best to insure that first one candidate gets major media attention thus elevating them in the polls and then it switches to the other candidate providing them attention that elevates their poll numbers. I am not a big conspiracy theorist but this theory does seem to have some merit to it.

78-trump-debate-lies-758x426 Regardless of whether the media intentionally want to keep the race close or not, there is no denying that the candidate who is the most obnoxious, the most outrageous and the most sensational will garner the most press. Trump has been well aware of this and has continually manipulated the media into providing him billions of dollars in free advertising. The fickle public seems to swing from one candidate to the other depending on who they see in the news. Trump has undoubtedly benefitted from his ability to keep the press absorbed with his every utterance regardless of how inane they are. He can tweet at 2AM in the morning and be assured that Fox News will carry his tweet on the 7 AM morning news.

How then can we blame the general public, educated or not, of being uninformed or misinformed when most of our society is conspiring against them finding the truth? It is a trap that I have fallen into when I have railed against the stupid, illiterate and uninformed Trump supporters. Sadly, they are not to blame for their reliance on Trump to give them the truth. The have certainly not found it in academia or the Fourth Estate. I have some solutions to this issue but I do not have the entire answer to it. I do have part of the answer. It is quite clear to me that one must understand the difference between facts, data, evidence and the role of these three elements in helping to shape the truth. In Part 2 of this blog, I will go into the subject of Facts in more depth. In the following parts, I will cover Data, Evidence and Truth.

Time for Questions:

How do you know what to believe? Who do you trust to give you unbiased information? How much do you trust the news? Are you satisfied with the quality of the information you get from journalists and the news? What do you think we need to do to improve the quality of information the American public receives?

Life is just beginning.

“There’s a danger in the internet and social media. The notion that information is enough, that more and more information is enough, that you don’t have to think, you just have to get more information – gets very dangerous.” — Edward de Bono

No Supplication to the Democratic Party

06 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: afraid to fight, cowards, democrats, do nothing, donald trump, Politics, republicans, spineless, trump, wimps

A supplicant is a person who asks for something from someone in a humble or respectful way. For example, a supplicant might pray to God for help or ask a powerful person for a favor. A supplicant goes to the Godfather on bent knee, kissing his ring and tearfully requesting some action or effort to address a problem.

There are many of us over the years who have gone on bent knees to the Democratic Party and pleaded with them to help us out. They have been oblivious to our supplications. Our requests have been ignored. They have turned a deaf ear to our entreaties. Now they are complaining that they are getting too many requests from voters to have a spine.

“Meanwhile, Democratic congressional leaders held an internal “gripe-fest” last week. Not griping about Trump’s authoritarian assault – but about their own grassroots constituents inundating them with calls and emails demanding that they grow spines and start fighting the rising oligarchy.” — Jim Hightower, “The Lowdown”

I confess. Mea Culpa. I have voted for Obama, Hillary, Biden and Harris. I too have thought the Democrats were the answer to the right-wing madness taking over the country. I might as well have exhorted a lamb to go fight it out with a wolf or cougar. The stalwarts of the Democratic Party have grown up placating so many people, they no more have the ability to tackle trump, than I have of wresting with a grizzly bear.

I listened to NPR today when they were interviewing some big shot from the Democratic Party about the trump speech. They asked him what he thought of the speech. He replied, “I think there were a lot of “Mischaracterizations” in his talk.” WTF is a “mischaracterization?” Did he mean that every other fucking sentence trump speaks is a lie? The lamb thinks it is standing up to the wolf when it runs in the other direction. Steven Colbert held up a sign on his nightly broadcast urging Democrats to “Do Something.” The Democrats really showed trump during his excretory diatribe that they would thwart him by doing nothing and saying nothing. Funny how this would work? Very few people in history have accomplished anything by doing and saying nothing except holding up a few unreadable signs.

Let me get to the point. Forget pleading with the Democratic Party to get a spine. You are wasting your breath. There are only three positions to take with the Democratic Party. They are as follows:

Some of the Democratic Party members might be helpful but most are too much a part of the system to ever risk a major change.
The more time you spend supplicating the Democratic Party leadership to stand up and be counted, the more effort you waste that is fruitless. Forget helping the Democratic Party to find a “new direction.” They could not find a new direction if they had a Genie in a lamp to guide them.
We need to build a mass movement with our own leadership first and foremost. Any assistance from the Democratic Party would be “icing on the cake.” The change is going to come from the people like you and me who owe nothing to the Democratic Party.

We need to start communications between all the anti-trump movements in the entire country. We need boots on the ground and willing hearts and minds. We need to take a different path than the fundraising path that so many organizations take. Time is money and if we can get people who are not rich but who will devote time and effort, we won’t need billions of advertising dollars to defeat trump.

If you think I am being too harsh in my criticism of the Democratic Party and you need more proof of what I am saying, then regard the following Democratic responses to the rather bold move by Rep Al Green to speak out against trump. The Democrats are subsequently considering joining an effort by the Republican Party to censure Rep Al Green. You might expect this kind of behavior from the Republicans, but it is from the Democrats themselves who are willing to censure Rep Green for his behavior. They should be giving him a medal.

“What [Green] did was inappropriate — and he became the story, not the price of eggs,” a centrist House Democrat said.

Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Don Davis (D-N.C.) said they are undecided about censuring Green.

Rep. George Latimer (D-N.Y.) said he felt the disruptions were “inappropriate.” He said, “When a president — my president, your president — is speaking, we don’t interrupt, we don’t pull those stunts.”

How many Republicans have ever been willing to censure Bobick or Green for their antics during Biden’s presidency? How many people spoke out against Adolf Hitler when he was speaking?

A give you a part of Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech which rings in my ears. I am taking the liberty to paraphrase it here:

“Trump is destroying our democracy and plans to set up a dictatorship. And what have we to oppose to him? Shall we try argument? We have been trying that for the last ten years with his followers. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted?”

“Let us not, I beseech you, deceive ourselves. We have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have sued, we have brought felony charges, we have demonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before friends and relatives and have implored their good intentions to arrest the tyrannical hands of trump and his sycophants. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt by trump and his followers.”

“In vain, after these things, there are still those who believe trump is bluffing and does not really mean to do what he says in plan 2025. There are those who indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation between opposing political positions. I say that there is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free– if we mean to preserve inviolate our democracy and its tolerance for the poor, the needy, the minorities and the weak — for which we have been so long contending–if we mean not basely to abandon the noble virtues in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon — we must fight! I repeat it, we must fight! Mass resistance is our only avenue, our only means and our only path to destroy this plague which has descended upon our country.” (My apologies to Patrick Henry)

Only by joining together with all people who believe in morals, ethics, democracy and integrity can we triumph over this scourge which threatens all of humanity. As Benjamin Franklin so wisely said “Either we all hang together, or we all hang separately.”

For more information on organizing to prevent an autocratic takeover, see the following document:

“Pro-democracy Organizing against Autocracy in the United States: A Strategic Assessment & Recommendations” — Harvard Kennedy School, Faculty Research Working Paper Series by Erica Chenoweth and Zoe Marks

You also might want to call any of the following if they are leaders in your state.

The Road to Trumps Success Began 4,500 Years Ago

21 Jan 2025 8 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: corporations, kings, leaders, popes, Power, presidents, rulers, sovereignty, trump, war, wealth

egypt-cairo-pyramids-of-giza-and-camels-2

I wrote this blog 8 years ago. It is even more relevant now than it was then to explain the larger forces behind Trump’s success. You have only to see the phalanx of billionaires standing behind Trump to know what I am talking about. I hope that some day people will see the “bigger picture” and stop looking at the minor forces than are playing a role in politics today. The bigger picture is more chilling and portrays a world in which we are all nothing more than pawns for the corporations who really run the world.

First Posted: 2017, Shortly after Trump was elected President in 2016:

The journey of Donald Trump from businessman to the head of the largest corporate state in the world did not as many assume start just 12 months ago. In fact, the roots of Trumps ascendancy can be traced back to at least 2,500 BCE. Never before in history, has anyone with a business background and so little experience in either politics or military become the leader of a major state. However, we did not see the buildup to this happening because most of the time we are focused on short-view trends and we miss entirely the long term trends that entail even more potent forces at play.

In numerous attempts to explain the election of Trump, most pundits have looked to the micro forces, such as international trade, disillusion among blue collar White males, the Affordable Care Act, distrust of Hillary Clinton, Russian interference in the election, White backlash and rising income inequality. While these forces might explain Trump’s election they do not explain why America has now seen fit to elect a businessperson with no political experience as its 45^th President.

In fact, the election of a person with a business background to run the country represents a major shift in power that has been taking place for nearly fifty years and can be linked to other power shifts since the beginning of recorded history. In this blog, I will explain how and why we now find America being run by the elite of corporate America. To do this, we must go back to the ancient Egyptians.

In approximately 2,500 BCE, the Pharaoh Khufu built the largest of the Pyramids known as the Great Pyramid of Giza as a burial chamber. The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for more than 3,800 years. It was one of three large pyramids built in the Giza complex. Then as now, humans marked their sovereignty by creating tall structures to show their power and prestige. This phenomenon has been so consistent that it provides an insight into the sovereign powers that rule that planet and the various power shifts that have occurred throughout history.

sovereign-buildings

I mean to use the term sovereign to express the possessing of supreme or ultimate power. For nearly 3,000 years, Kings, Pharaohs, Dictators, Emperors and those born of royal blood who were “related to Gods” were the ultimate sovereigns over most of humankind. The early Romans and Greeks made some attempts to commute the power of their rulers by selecting some representatives of the population but these were generally of royal blood themselves and seldom of plebeian birth. Julius Caesar who tried to be a “man of the people” was himself born into a patrician family.

Around the fall of the Roman Empire in 400 CE, sovereign power shifted from the nobility to the Catholic Church (at least in Europe). Bear in mind that the shifts I refer to did not take place overnight. These transitions in power took place gradually over decades and with many tug of wars between the transitioning sovereigns. It was Pope Leo (440 CE) who first asserted Papal primacy and he was supported by the Romans because of the political chaos in the West. Pope Gelasius I (492 CE) declared that priestly power was ab power-of-the-popes ove kingly power. The Pope was supreme and no appeals could be made for his decision. Sovereign power had now shifted to the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.
Throughout most of Europe, the clergy and other minions of the Catholic Church assumed roles of leadership and sovereignty. As the power of the church grew, so did the churches, cathedrals and basilicas which they built. Each one was larger than the last one and all were designed to be larger than any buildings of the nobility or royalty. The Church catheldral manifested its power in the grandeur and elegance of its buildings.

The Catholic Church remained the dominant sovereign power in Europe until the reign of Pope Boniface VIII. The clash of the Church to remain dominant over the newly emerging nation/state rulers took place in an epic battle between Pope Boniface VIII (1294 734-conflict-church-monarchs-12-638 CE) and King Phillip IV of France. Several other skirmishes had already taken place between Popes and rulers in the decades preceding with the battles seesawing back and forth. However, the decisive battle for sovereignty was between Pope Boniface VIII and King Phillip IV. It was vicious and at times bloody. It saw the end of Church sovereignty and the beginning of the
sovereignty of nation/state rulers. Boniface was captured by forces loyal to Philip and was beaten and nearly executed. He was released from captivity after three days and died a short time later. His defeat marked the end of the power of the Church to rule and the rise of the power of rulers of nation/states.

There are four characteristics of a nation/state. These are:

Defined territory
Self-Rule (Sovereignty)
Some form of organized government
A population of people sharing a national identity

versailles-and-giverny-day-trip-in-paris-115463 During the period of nation/state rulers, they built some magnificent buildings such as Versailles in France, Castello Del Valentino in Italy, the Palace of Placentia in London and the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. If not the largest buildings in each country, they dwarfed in overall grandeur and size the churches that had been built by the clergy. The period of nation/state rulers lasted from about 1400 CE to the middle of the 19^th century.

The power of most of these nation/state rulers (usually with some pedigree of nobility) began to wane as the people in each country demanded more and more input into economic and political decisions. Eventually, the nobility in most European countries were forced to make concessions to the idea of democratic or at least some form of republican rule. The transition from rulers to republics was insured by the rise of a new class which we today call politicians or bureaucrats. In time, these professional politicians became sovereign and replaced the old style rulers by virtue of a concept called elections or voting. No one voted for Henry the VIII of England or Czar Nicholas II of Germany or King Ferdinand of Spain, but with the emergence of State governments, politicians and bureaucrats would become the new sovereigns.

how-bureaucrats-captured-government

The rise of most modern states started about the mid seventieth century. Increasingly, although rulers in many nations could still be very powerful and even dictators, there was now some agency in every country that attempted to provide a balance to the ruler’s power. In England, they established a parliament in 1706 that was later characterized by a House of Lords and a House of Commons. In France, they created a National Assembly in 1791. In Germany, they established a parliament in the 1870’s. By the beginning of the 20^th Century, although many nations had still kept their nobility as a form of tradition, most of the reins of government were in the hands of bureaucrats or elected officials. Prime Ministers and Presidents had replaced Kings and Queens in the political decision making process.

national-capitol The new sovereigns started building. No more castles or palaces were built to house the new rulers. Instead, capitals, state houses and mansions would be the new domiciles for politicians and bureaucrats. Government leaders were no different though than Kings and Clergy when it came to siting their residences. They also sought the high ground to place their buildings on. The tallest buildings in the land now belonged to the Government. This situation would not last very long. Even more changes were taking place. In a few short years, nations would no longer have an exclusive on sovereignty. A new challenger was rapidly emerging.

capitalists

The new challenger started to emerge with the first corporations which began over a thousand years ago. However, until the power of mercantilism started to become critical to state and military power in the late 16^th century, the early corporations were rather toothless. An excellent book titled Power Inc. covers the rise of the modern corporation in much more detail than I shall go into here. The book by David Rothkopf is fittingly subtitled: “The Epic Rivalry between Big Business and Government–and the Reckoning That Lies Ahead.”

“In his new book, Power, Inc., David Rothkopf sounds an alarm. He argues that thousands of private actors who he calls “super citizens” now hold greater power than most countries in the world. He notes, for instance, that corporations have grown to the point where roughly the richest two thousand are more influential than 70-80 percent of the world’s nations. Walmart, for example, has revenues higher than the GDP of all but 25 nations.” — Roy Ulrich, the Huffington Post

The capitalistic industries wasted no time in starting to construct new buildings that would soon dwarf all of the previous tombs, castles, cathedrals and capitals throughout the world. These buildings are so tall that they have been labeled as “skyscrapers.” The world’s first skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, erected in 1884-1885. Its 138 foot peak would be dwarfed by skyscrapers today. The Flatiron Building in NYC was built in 1902 and is twenty floors high and 307 feet to its peak. The Empire State Building was built in 1931 in NYC and for many years it was the tallest building in the world standing over 100 stories and 1400 feet in height.

With the rapid economic development of many former third world countries there has been a proliferation of corporate skyscrapers with many countries vying for the honor of having the tallest building in the world. Searching on Google for the “tallest buildings in the world” one finds the following information for buildings over 300 meters tall:

“As of 2016, this list includes all 135 buildings (completed and architecturally topped out) which reach a height of 300 meters (984 ft.) or more as assessed by their highest architectural feature.” — Wikipedia

The list includes skyscrapers built in China, United Arab Emirates, Dubai, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Russia and several other nations. Perhaps presaging the emergence of China and Asia as the dominant world economies, Asia is already assuming the role of having many of the largest buildings in the world. What we are witnessing is a contest of global economies vying for supremacy in terms of world economic sovereignty. An interesting aside is that the world currency is considered a reflection of the nation that is the most powerful in this arena. To date, the United States still holds that distinction but many are predicting the demise of the US dollar as the standard for world currency.

tpp-free-trade

But what does this have to do with Trump you may be starting to ask? What does commercial sovereignty have to do with political sovereignty? The answer to the second question is everything. The major reason for the success of the Allied powers in both WWI and WWII was the economic might of the United States. Economic power translates into military power and military power translates into political power. This fact has been recognized for over 500 years now. Spain’s ascendancy to a world power was built on its confiscation of wealth in the New World. Hitler recognized that Germany could not be a dominant world power without confiscating the wealth of Jewish citizens and also of its neighboring countries.

“Great Britain was once a dominant military force in the World while it had a dominant economy. At the start of the First World War, it devalued its exchange rate. By the end of the War, owing to its military expenditure, it had large trade deficits and falling gold reserves.” — Buoyant Economies

The question of Trump brings a larger issue to the fore. Generally, we have seen that as the dominant world power shifts, the leadership shifts along with it. The features of buildings as a representation of power has followed these shifts. However, in terms of the new power of corporations, it would seem that the buildings have been created before the shift in leadership. That is until Trump became President of the United States of America.

a-corporate-world Is Trump’s election an anomaly or does it truly represent the emergence of corporate power into the political arena? My view on this is that Trump’s election is merely the tip of the iceberg. For over 20 years now the United States has been electing more and more political leaders who are not politicians. I am considering someone as not a politician if they are people who have not made a career of politics.

Many business people are jumping right into the political arena without experience in either local, state or federal government. The founder of Electronic Data Systems, Ross Perot may be remembered by many voters as the ultimate tycoon-turned-politician. Perot ran for president in 1992 and 1996 as a third-party candidate.

An article written in 2010 before Trump had become a candidate stated the following concerning the election of corporate people to public office:

“Whoever believes politics is big business must have seen this coming. The high levels of accountability from running a corporation and high expectations of seeking a seat in government have many parallels. Amid this confluence of business and political streams, Chief Executive magazine dubbed 2010 “a high-water mark for the CEO as candidate.”

More than 40 business magnates – the presidents and founders of banks, restaurants and tech giants – are running for seats on Capitol Hill or for governor’s offices in 25 states. And looking ahead Donald Trump says he is “absolutely thinking about” a 2012 presidential bid.” — Ten Business Leaders with Politics in their Blood, by Bill Briggs

During the Republican runoff to the nomination of Trump, we saw Carly Fiorina who was a former CEO also emerge as a potential candidate. We now have ten governors with no former elected government service. Seven former US presidents with business experience have all been elected in the 20^th or 21^st century. The following chart shows the net worth of the wealthiest senators in the US. Congress as of 2012. senator-net-worth

The next chart shows the average net worth of 90 incoming freshman representatives to the 113^th US Congress

January 3, 2013 to January 3, 2015

Year	Number of Freshmen Reports	Average Net Worth	Change from previous year
2011	90	$7,835,242	—-

More data can be found at Ballotpedia at https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page

the-50-richest-people-on-earth My point here is that most millionaires make their money in business. On the 2016 Forbes lists of richest 400 people in the world, richest billionaires in the world and richest people in the world, the majority (about 2/3) have made their money in business. Furthermore, they are self-made in that they did not inherit their fortunes. Perusing Forbes, it is clear that the dominant path to becoming rich is to sell something that people want at a price they can afford.

It is clear that wealth accumulated to a business background has increasingly become a stepping stone to politics and political leadership. Trumps presidency is the crown on the new sovereignty. Business leaders are now rapidly replacing politicians and bureaucrats in the area of political leadership. Already Trump’s nominees include the chief executive of Exxon Corporation; the chief executive of CKE Restaurants; the former chief executive of the World Wrestling Entertainment; a former Goldman Sachs executive; a billionaire investor; a right wing media executive and a former chief executive of Nucor Corporation. These are only a few of the still to come appointments that Trump will make.

corporate-power It is my prediction that business leaders will continue to make the transition to political leadership. The business model is now the sovereign model for world power. The power of the state has been usurped by the power of big business. Global power is corporate power. The public is sick of career politicians. The common people bring a (perhaps unfounded) belief in the power of business to save the world. Considering that we have tried the power of academia, the power of science and the power of big government to save the world, perhaps the power of business can do better. One might argue that they can at least do no worst.

Conclusion:

From Khufu to Trump, we have now briefly (my apologies for many simplifications and no doubt omissions in history) covered 4,500 years of political and economic history in a short seven or so pages. I can see the great historians and economists of the world having fits at my narrative. Nevertheless, my thesis remains. Simply put Trump is now the successor to Khufu, Caesar, Pope Boniface, Henry the VIII, Bismarck, Churchill and Roosevelt. Big business is now the dominant sovereign power in the world. How long will it last? How long will it take all politicians to be replaced by business people? I have no answers to these questions; but one must assume that somewhere down the road, another sovereign power will emerge or may already be emerging. Until then, be prepared for most decisions to have a “let’s make a deal” flavor to them.

Time for Questions:

How long will the reign of big business last? How long will it take politicians to all be replaced by business people? Will business succeed in making the world a better place? Why or why not?

Life is just beginning.

“I spent 33 years and 4 months in active military service . . . And during that period I spent most of my time as a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

Thus, I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street.

I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927, I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.

Our boys were sent off to die with beautiful ideals painted in front of them. No one told them that dollars and cents were the real reason they were marching off to kill and die.”
― General Smedley Butler

“Our aim is not to do away with corporations; on the contrary, these big aggregations are an inevitable development of modern industrialism, and the effort to destroy them would be futile unless accomplished in ways that would work the utmost mischief to the entire body politic. We can do nothing of good in the way of regulating and supervising these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds that we are not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to serve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

What Next after Trump’s Victory?

14 Nov 2024 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: biden, christian nationalists, conservative white women, Democrats off message, desire for an anti-establishment figure, desire for change.", despair, donald trump, gaza, greed, immigration, incel men, inflation, joe-biden, news, Politics, racism, religion, right wing billionaires, rural angst, sexism, trump, young males

First, we all want to know why and how Trump won. Herein is a brief summary of some of the major reasons given by numerous analysts for Trump’s victory.

“Sexism, racism, young males, rural angst, religion, Gaza, immigration, incel men, despair, Democrats off message, Biden, education level, conservative white women, inflation, right wing billionaires, Christian nationalists, desire for an anti-establishment figure, desire for change.”

I have probably missed a few.

The main reason I see is that Trump reflected 21st Century American values. Greed and narcissism among a large percentage of our populace who don’t want anything or anyone to get in the way of their shopping. They looked at Trump and saw themselves and their own values.

The following quote was from a Salon newsletter.

“This 2024 election is a referendum on the character of the Trump-voting public, and let’s not make it nice. They place minimal value on respect for truth and democratic institutions. They are more interested in punishing other people than in advancing the common good. They have a remarkable tolerance for crass and bullying behavior, care little for empathy and ethics, and are incapable of weighing basic facts.”

After reviewing many of the analyses of why Trump won, most of us are wondering what “next steps” could, should and will be. My response to the election of Trump will be along the lines of the following:

Many of the comments I have read concerning the election reflect the dilemma between being and doing. I am going to try a middle ground. I want to avoid any savior complex as well as a “hopeless” complex. Not sure how I will manage it yet. In TQM we used the Pareto principle to attack problems. We called it the 80/20 rule. Twenty percent of your problems give you 80 percent of your headaches. Thus, we always used some criteria to prioritize problems before starting to fix anything.

My priorities stem from my reflections on comments as well as some of the demographics on voting during the election. For instance, 110 million eligible people did not vote, 53 percent of White women voted for Trump, men (includes Black, White and Latino) preferred Trump 55 to 42 percent and 10 million fewer people voted Democrat than in 2020. (Numbers behind the vote) After contemplating the meaning of these statistics and more, my top priorities would be:

1. Pure self interest/greed
2. Sexism
3. Anti-Establishment feeling

Not sure how to deal with any of these. Greed and sexism have been around since Moses. Best path may be grass roots action to educate people on economics. One thing for sure. Mainstream media is useless. It is strictly bent on making money.

Peace, Wisdom and a Long and Healthy Life,

John,

The Politics of Cultural Despair

07 Nov 2024 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: democracy, donald trump, news, Politics, trump

It is despair that is killing us. It fosters what Roger Lancaster calls “poisoned solidarity,” the intoxication forged from the negative energies of fear, envy, hatred and a lust for violence.

Chris Hedges

Nov 06, 2024

The Mourning After – by Mr. Fish

In the end, the election was about despair. Despair over futures that evaporated with deindustrialization. Despair over the loss of 30 million jobs in mass layoffs. Despair over austerity programs and the funneling of wealth upwards into the hands of rapacious oligarchs. Despair over a liberal class that refuses to acknowledge the suffering it orchestrated under neoliberalism or embrace New Deal type programs that will ameliorate this suffering. Despair over the futile, endless wars, as well as the genocide in Gaza, where generals and politicians are never held accountable. Despair over a democratic system that has been seized by corporate and oligarchic power.

This despair has been played out on the bodies of the disenfranchised through opioid and alcoholism addictions, gambling, mass shootings, suicides — especially among middle-aged white males — morbid obesity and the investment of our emotional and intellectual life in tawdry spectacles and the allure of magical thinking, from the absurd promises of the Christian right to the Oprah-like belief that reality is never an impediment to our desires. These are the pathologies of a deeply diseased culture, what Friedrich Nietzsche calls an aggressive despiritualized nihilism.

Donald Trump is a symptom of our diseased society. He is not its cause. He is what is vomited up out of decay. He expresses a childish yearning to be an omnipotent god. This yearning resonates with Americans who feel they have been treated like human refuse. But the impossibility of being a god, as Ernest Becker writes, leads to its dark alternative — destroying like a god. This self-immolation is what comes next.

Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party, along with the establishment wing of the Republican Party, which allied itself with Harris, live in their own non-reality-based belief system. Harris, who was anointed by party elites and never received a single primary vote, proudly trumpeted her endorsement by Dick Cheney, a politician who left office with a 13 percent approval rating. The smug, self-righteous “moral” crusade against Trump stokes the national reality television show that has replaced journalism and politics. It reduces a social, economic and political crisis to the personality of Trump. It refuses to confront and name the corporate forces responsible for our failed democracy. It allows Democratic politicians to blithely ignore their base – 77 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents support an arms embargo against Israel. The open collusion with corporate oppression and refusal to heed the desires and needs of the electorate neuters the press and Trump critics. These corporate puppets stand for nothing, other than their own advancement. The lies they tell to working men and women, especially with programs such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), do far more damage than any of the lies uttered by Trump.

Oswald Spengler in “The Decline of the West” predicted that, as Western democracies calcified and died, a class of “monied thugs,” people such as Trump, would replace the traditional political elites. Democracy would become a sham. Hatred would be fostered and fed to the masses to encourage them to tear themselves apart.

The American dream has become an American nightmare.

The social bonds, including jobs that gave working Americans a sense of purpose and stability, that gave them meaning and hope, have been sundered. The stagnation of tens of millions of lives, the realization that it will not be better for their children, the predatory nature of our institutions, including education, health care and prisons, have engendered, along with despair, feelings of powerlessness and humiliation. It has bred loneliness, frustration, anger and a sense of worthlessness.

“When life is not worth living, everything becomes a pretext for ridding ourselves of it … ,” Émile Durkheim writes. “There is a collective mood, as there is an individual mood, that inclines nations to sadness. … For individuals are too closely involved in the life of society for it to be sick without their being affected. Its suffering inevitably becomes theirs.”

Decayed societies, where a population is stripped of political, social and economic power, instinctively reach out for cult leaders. I watched this during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The cult leader promises a return to a mythical golden age and vows, as Trump does, to crush the forces embodied in demonized groups and individuals that are blamed for their misery. The more outrageous cult leaders become, the more cult leaders flout law and social conventions, the more they gain in popularity. Cult leaders are immune to the norms of established society. This is their appeal. Cult leaders seek total power. Those who follow them grant them this power in the desperate hope that the cult leaders will save them.

All cults are personality cults. Cult leaders are narcissists. They demand obsequious fawning and total obedience. They prize loyalty above competence. They wield absolute control. They do not tolerate criticism. They are deeply insecure, a trait they attempt to cover up with bombastic grandiosity. They are amoral and emotionally and physically abusive. They see those around them as objects to be manipulated for their own empowerment, enjoyment and often sadistic entertainment. All those outside the cult are branded as forces of evil, prompting an epic battle whose natural expression is violence.

We will not convince those who have surrendered their agency to a cult leader and embraced magical thinking through rational argument. We will not coerce them into submission. We will not find salvation for them or ourselves by supporting the Democratic Party. Whole segments of American society are now bent on self-immolation. They despise this world and what it has done to them. Their personal and political behavior is willfully suicidal. They seek to destroy, even if destruction leads to violence and death. They are no longer sustained by the comforting illusion of human progress, losing the only antidote to nihilism.

Pope John Paul II in 1981 issued an encyclical titled “Laborem exercens,” or “Through Work.” He attacked the idea, fundamental to capitalism, that work was merely an exchange of money for labor. Work, he wrote, should not be reduced to the commodification of human beings through wages. Workers were not impersonal instruments to be manipulated like inanimate objects to increase profit. Work was essential to human dignity and self-fulfillment. It gave us a sense of empowerment and identity. It allowed us to build a relationship with society in which we could feel we contributed to social harmony and social cohesion, a relationship in which we had purpose.

The pope castigated unemployment, underemployment, inadequate wages, automation and a lack of job security as violations of human dignity. These conditions, he wrote, were forces that negated self-esteem, personal satisfaction, responsibility and creativity. The exaltation of the machine, he warned, reduced human beings to the status of slaves. He called for full employment, a minimum wage large enough to support a family, the right of a parent to stay home with children, and jobs and a living wage for the disabled. He advocated, in order to sustain strong families, universal health insurance, pensions, accident insurance and work schedules that permitted free time and vacations. He wrote that all workers should have the right to form unions with the ability to strike.

We must invest our energy into organizing mass movements to overthrow the corporate state through sustained acts of mass civil disobedience. This includes the most powerful weapon we possess – the strike. By turning our ire on the corporate state, we name the true sources of power and abuse. We expose the absurdity of blaming our demise on demonized groups such as undocumented workers, Muslims or Blacks. We give people an alternative to a corporate-indentured Democratic Party that cannot be rehabilitated. We make possible the restoration of an open society, one that serves the common good rather than corporate profit. We must demand nothing less than full employment, guaranteed minimum incomes, universal health insurance, free education at all levels, robust protection of the natural world and an end to militarism and imperialism. We must create the possibility for a life of dignity, purpose and self-esteem. If we do not, it will ensure a Christianized fascism and ultimately, with the accelerating ecocide, our obliteration.

All Aboard for a Ride on the Trump Mobile

30 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: bigots, christian nationalists, christianity, donald trump, Politics, racists, religion, republicans, sexists, trump, trump mobile, white supremacists, xenophobia

The Trump mobile is the limousine that Trump drives. I will describe it in this blog. If you board his vehicle, he will take you on a ride to autocracy and xenophobia. To a land bereft of Democracy or anything pertaining to the values and virtues of the Founding Fathers. Lets look at the construction of this vehicle from the ground up.

There are four tires that the Trump mobile rolls on. One tire is Christian Nationalism. This is the belief that the Christian religion should become the religion of the USA. It is the belief that Christianity is superior to all other religions and that the Christian God is the only true God. Christianity needs to infiltrate our government and our schools. Christian Nationalists want to do away with the separation of church and state and put the 10 Commandments and Bibles in every institute of education in America. America will become a Theocracy like Iran and Israel.

A second tire that the Trump mobile rides on is White Supremacy. This tire is constructed of layers of belief that White people need to remain the supreme governing group in the USA. It supports the idea that White people are superior in morals, intellect and aspirations to all other ethnic groups. By virtue of being White, you are entitled to rule over inferior races which includes everyone on earth who is non-White.

The third tire constructed for the Trump mobile is Sexism. This tire promotes the inferiority of women to men. Women were brought into being by a creator not to lead men but to follow men. A women’s main role is to bear children that will continue the dynasties started by men. Women should always remain subservient to men from the bedroom to the kitchen.

The fourth tire for the Trump mobile is Racism and Xenophobia. This tire is built up from layers of fear and loathing for other races and cultures. This tire rolls on the belief that White people must prevent race mixing. Allowing relationships with other races will dilute the pure heritage of the White genotype. Anyone different such as Gays, minorities, disabled people or indigenous people must be eliminated from the White gene pool.

Moving on to the major power for the Trump mobile we come to the engine and the fuel supply. The engine is composed of 8 cylinders of greed, avarice, acquisitiveness, covetousness, graspingness, cupidity, materialism, and possessiveness. The fuel that feeds the engine delivers power from the promise of Tax Breaks and Trickle-Down Economics. A fuel that will help the rich and many others find ways to buy more stuff.

Then we come to the transmission for the Trump mobile. No limousine can move until the power is transferred to the wheels from the engine. In the case of the Trump mobile, the two main cogs in the transmission are fear and hate. Fear and hate convey the power to the wheels. Fear of others who may try to take away the values promoted by Trump and his followers. Hate for those who are different and who may try to block the desires of Trump and his supporters.

The vehicle is of course driven by the charismatic Donald Trump who is the only one on the whole planet capable of steering the limousine in the RIGHT direction. Trump was sent by the Christian Nationalist God to drive the Trump mobile to a paradise on earth ruled by White Christian people. People who believe in the superiority of Whiteness and a White God with blond hair and blue eyes who will smite the enemies of Trump and his supporters.

The fronts seats of the Trump mobile are filled with sycophants who bless Trump and regard him as a savior. Leaders of the Republican party, rich billionaires, media propagandists and young sexy women all get to ride in the front seats. The back seats are full of Trump supporters who hope someday to ride in the front seats. These are men and women who feel cheated by their government and society of their rightful place in life. They believe that someday Trump will anoint them as faithful followers and allow them to join Trump in his paradise on earth. They believe that the Trump mobile will take them there.

All aboard please. The Trump mobile is leaving soon.

Aging Capriciously

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All Hail Trump the King!

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Facts, Data, Evidence and the Search for Truth. How do we know what to believe anymore? – Part 1

No Supplication to the Democratic Party

The Road to Trumps Success Began 4,500 Years Ago

What Next after Trump’s Victory?

The Politics of Cultural Despair

It is despair that is killing us. It fosters what Roger Lancaster calls “poisoned solidarity,” the intoxication forged from the negative energies of fear, envy, hatred and a lust for violence.

All Aboard for a Ride on the Trump Mobile

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It is despair that is killing us. It fosters what Roger Lancaster calls “poisoned solidarity,” the intoxication forged from the negative energies of fear, envy, hatred and a lust for violence.

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Dr. John Persico Jr.

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