Firearms restrictions
It is basic economics that the market in any product is driven by demand and the ability to provide a supply.
There is a demand for a cancer cure and people willing to supply that demand so there is a market in cancer cures. Do they work? I'm no medical professional, but, I would say most of the cures for cancer being sold are less than effective. This is simply an example of demand creating a supply.
There is a demand for recreational drugs and there is a supply. We call this the "war on drugs". Prescription drugs are widely available in this black market despite attempts at rigid market controls. Precursors for meth are controlled and meth is still available because there is a demand and there are people willing to supply that demand.
The United Nations has been battling illegal firearms manufacturing for years. When the British were occupying Israel the Israelis built hidden, illegal, factories that produced firearms and ammunition. Google "illegal firearms manufacturers" and read about busts of people illegally making guns here in the states.
As market controls increase, black market activity increases. As long as there is a demand there will be a supply. Period. Increasing regulations will only increase black market activity and create a "war" that makes the "war on drugs" look like a playground fight.
Friday, June 17, 2016
U.S. Genocide
U.S. Genocide
The United States has participated in at least two genocides, Africans and Native Americans. Both of these were politically supported primarily by the Democrats. Andrew Jackson used a donkey to represent that he was too stubborn to be swayed by abolitionists or those advocating for Native Americans. The Democrats still use that symbol.
It is very much like having the NAZI party around. During WW2 the Democrats controlled the government and rounded up ethnic people, Japanese, German, Italian, and put them in camps. I don't know exactly how many died during that round up, but, genocide is defined by targeting and killing people based on ethnicity. I don't think there is a specific number attached.
Although, calling the rounding up of people and causing the death of, hundreds, thousands, A genocide does seem to detract from the genocides of Africans, Native Americans and Jews....
The United States has participated in at least two genocides, Africans and Native Americans. Both of these were politically supported primarily by the Democrats. Andrew Jackson used a donkey to represent that he was too stubborn to be swayed by abolitionists or those advocating for Native Americans. The Democrats still use that symbol.
It is very much like having the NAZI party around. During WW2 the Democrats controlled the government and rounded up ethnic people, Japanese, German, Italian, and put them in camps. I don't know exactly how many died during that round up, but, genocide is defined by targeting and killing people based on ethnicity. I don't think there is a specific number attached.
Although, calling the rounding up of people and causing the death of, hundreds, thousands, A genocide does seem to detract from the genocides of Africans, Native Americans and Jews....
Judging...again
I have news for anyone who claims to be Christian and is talking about how people get what they deserve.
People are judged the way they judge. All have fallen short of God's glory. If you believe people get what they deserve, I guarantee you will get what you deserve.
Do yourself and everyone you witness to a favor. Start witnessing the Good News of the Forgiveness of Sin by Faith. Forgive and you will be forgiven, and incidentally, you won't get what you deserve, you'll be forgiven.
Remember Job and how God reacted towards Job's 3 friends who told Job that God was righteous and Job was getting what Job deserved.
Something I want to point out, a lot of people teach the commandments of men as doctrine. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a fruit to be desired to make one wise, and people will say God wants us to pray for wisdom. Solomon did exactly that and ended up worshipping other Gods.
An Apostle is one sent by Christ with the message, there were at least 70 and their genders are not specified, yet people teach there were only 12 and they were all men.
If we read the Southern Baptist Conventions resolutions on abortion over the years, first in favor of legalized abortion in some cases, later against all abortion, none of those resolutions address Exodus 21:22, the only scripture which addresses abortion.
I could list a hundred things people teach as doctrine that are not scriptural, yet, people twist scripture to support.
If you Google "even if a brother has done us wrong" you might find some essays about scripture, including the ideas that one should not discuss the issue because it would damage the credibility of the brother. This is common Catholic and Protestant theology, based on John 13:34, "love others" scripture.
Now, suppose people behave badly towards an individual. Teaching Biblical falsehoods, lying, treating a person badly and they pretend righteousness. Suppose the individual points out these sins, maybe once out of a hundred, and the vilified person is even more vilified.
Based on that scenario, how does God judge the people involved?
The truth is, God doesn't. Grace and the forgiveness of sin through Christ covers those who believe.
But, do people who teach false doctrines actually believe in Christ or do they believe what people say about Christ?
I say, stick with prayer and scripture. Believe in receiving direction and instruction and what we ask for and believe we shall receive. This way, we learn to depend on God and we are not cursed by trust in people.
Here is another of those things people can only understand through Christ's perspective of Grace.
People will be judged as they judge.
If one judges as Christ, which is to say not at all since Christ is about the Good News of forgiveness of Sin by Faith, one is forgiven as they forgive.
But, if one judges by Law, one is held accountable by Law.
People will be separated into sheep and goats. People whose faith is in Christ, who forgave, who listened to Christ and know Christ's voice, follow Christ and end up with the sheep.
Those who depend on their understanding of scripture, who judge by the law, who do not know Christ's voice, they end up with the goats.
The issue is, to refuse to judge people and allow people to judge for themselves is a judgment. People will be judged as they judge.
This is a statement like, the first shall be last, which happens when everyone is equal. The first become last and the last become first.
But, to place faith in my explanation would be to place trust in people, which Jeremiah tells us is wrong, cursed be the man who trusts in man. Even if people believe what I say about Christ, their belief is misplaced since they are believing in what I say rather than in Christ.
Scripture is pretty simple, we just need "God glasses" to read it, easily found, completely free and delivered on demand by the Holy Ghost.
People are judged the way they judge. All have fallen short of God's glory. If you believe people get what they deserve, I guarantee you will get what you deserve.
Do yourself and everyone you witness to a favor. Start witnessing the Good News of the Forgiveness of Sin by Faith. Forgive and you will be forgiven, and incidentally, you won't get what you deserve, you'll be forgiven.
Remember Job and how God reacted towards Job's 3 friends who told Job that God was righteous and Job was getting what Job deserved.
Something I want to point out, a lot of people teach the commandments of men as doctrine. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a fruit to be desired to make one wise, and people will say God wants us to pray for wisdom. Solomon did exactly that and ended up worshipping other Gods.
An Apostle is one sent by Christ with the message, there were at least 70 and their genders are not specified, yet people teach there were only 12 and they were all men.
If we read the Southern Baptist Conventions resolutions on abortion over the years, first in favor of legalized abortion in some cases, later against all abortion, none of those resolutions address Exodus 21:22, the only scripture which addresses abortion.
I could list a hundred things people teach as doctrine that are not scriptural, yet, people twist scripture to support.
If you Google "even if a brother has done us wrong" you might find some essays about scripture, including the ideas that one should not discuss the issue because it would damage the credibility of the brother. This is common Catholic and Protestant theology, based on John 13:34, "love others" scripture.
Now, suppose people behave badly towards an individual. Teaching Biblical falsehoods, lying, treating a person badly and they pretend righteousness. Suppose the individual points out these sins, maybe once out of a hundred, and the vilified person is even more vilified.
Based on that scenario, how does God judge the people involved?
The truth is, God doesn't. Grace and the forgiveness of sin through Christ covers those who believe.
But, do people who teach false doctrines actually believe in Christ or do they believe what people say about Christ?
I say, stick with prayer and scripture. Believe in receiving direction and instruction and what we ask for and believe we shall receive. This way, we learn to depend on God and we are not cursed by trust in people.
Here is another of those things people can only understand through Christ's perspective of Grace.
People will be judged as they judge.
If one judges as Christ, which is to say not at all since Christ is about the Good News of forgiveness of Sin by Faith, one is forgiven as they forgive.
But, if one judges by Law, one is held accountable by Law.
People will be separated into sheep and goats. People whose faith is in Christ, who forgave, who listened to Christ and know Christ's voice, follow Christ and end up with the sheep.
Those who depend on their understanding of scripture, who judge by the law, who do not know Christ's voice, they end up with the goats.
The issue is, to refuse to judge people and allow people to judge for themselves is a judgment. People will be judged as they judge.
This is a statement like, the first shall be last, which happens when everyone is equal. The first become last and the last become first.
But, to place faith in my explanation would be to place trust in people, which Jeremiah tells us is wrong, cursed be the man who trusts in man. Even if people believe what I say about Christ, their belief is misplaced since they are believing in what I say rather than in Christ.
Scripture is pretty simple, we just need "God glasses" to read it, easily found, completely free and delivered on demand by the Holy Ghost.
pi is pie?
Obama endorsed a pie maker on pi day.
And this is why the United States is failing at Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
We have a president who believes pi is pie.
A president extolling on how wonderful flour mixed with lard, filled with sugar mixed with fruit is during an obesity epidemic.
And people actually believe the guy doing this an intelligent person. No wonder people are voting for trump, we live in an Idiocracy.
And this is why the United States is failing at Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
We have a president who believes pi is pie.
A president extolling on how wonderful flour mixed with lard, filled with sugar mixed with fruit is during an obesity epidemic.
And people actually believe the guy doing this an intelligent person. No wonder people are voting for trump, we live in an Idiocracy.
Steps to reduce violence
Steps to reduce violence.
This goes back to communication, socialization and a really, really poor educational system. At the core, social violence is an income/power/communication issue.
How successful people are generally depends on how well they communicate with others. Poverty level people tend to be predominantly Kinesthetic in their learning and communication styles. Typical "talk and chalk" education doesn't address kinesthetic learners, so, students in poverty level communities tend to feel that being "schooled" is to suffer a humiliating defeat. (Listen to M.C. Hammer's "can't touch this" for an example of the popular use of the word "schooled").
We actually train each other to ridicule and dismiss learners who are predominantly kinesthetic.
Properly educating and socializing people improves their employment possibilities, which helps stabilize society more than almost anything else.
In addition, Pavlovian behavior modification, "punishment/reward", works only when it is rigidly consistent. Typically values change from teacher to teacher, and teacher to parent. Normally students learn to adapt to the current authority figures values. This doesn't work well if the parents and teachers have different value systems. The adaptive authority process often teaches disrespect for parents, typically becoming "critical" around teen age years. Students often learn their parents are not the predominant authority figures in their lives and feel no obligation to listen to them.
To address the problem we need to address kinesthetic learning styles and be more adaptive to individual students learning styles.
Standardized tests are helpful in this regard because they identify students that are not responding to standard educational processes. Rather than use them for identification of non-standard students, teachers and school administrators often use them to humiliate students and then complain about being forced to humiliate students rather than implement expensive alternative or individual education.
Once we address learning styles, we need to stop using "punishment/reward", Pavlovian behavior modification. We need to replace it with positive reinforcement and pretty much eliminate punishment, except for violent situations that result in bodily harm. Pavlovian punishment/reward creates a dependence on authority structure.
Third, we need socialized medicine with comprehensive mental health care so that people with issues can receive help when they need it.
Fourth, as income inequality increases society destabilizes. IRS SOI Tax Stats for 2013 publish the Adjusted Gross Income for 2013 collected from 1040s. The range, 99.7%, is $1M to $0. That makes the middle $500,000.00. 85% of returns report an income of less than $100K. There is no middle class in the United States.
Compensation should be limited to 100 times the compensation of the lowest paid worker, including temps and contractors. Minimum wage should be increased to a living wage. Henry Ford overpaid auto workers and the results of that action are historic and non-intuitive.
Disposable income is critical to social stability and economic growth. Personally, I'd make a flat tax of 50% of all income over the previous years 75% range. In 2013 about 75% of people made less than $75K. I'd tax the upper 25% at 50%. Someone making $100K would pay $12.5K in taxes and someone making $1M would pay $462,500.00 in taxes.
This places the tax burden on those who are less likely to spend all their discretionary income.
These are sweeping changes, and the resistance will be extreme, but, it's pretty much change or die. There might be alternative solutions capable of achieving the same results, but, I have not heard them.
At the core, social violence is an income/power/communication issue.
If we keep doing the same things, we'll get the same results. If we oppress people more, they will rebel more. To battle social violence we need to improve our community socialization institutions, schools, provide free mental health care and reduce income inequality.
This goes back to communication, socialization and a really, really poor educational system. At the core, social violence is an income/power/communication issue.
How successful people are generally depends on how well they communicate with others. Poverty level people tend to be predominantly Kinesthetic in their learning and communication styles. Typical "talk and chalk" education doesn't address kinesthetic learners, so, students in poverty level communities tend to feel that being "schooled" is to suffer a humiliating defeat. (Listen to M.C. Hammer's "can't touch this" for an example of the popular use of the word "schooled").
We actually train each other to ridicule and dismiss learners who are predominantly kinesthetic.
Properly educating and socializing people improves their employment possibilities, which helps stabilize society more than almost anything else.
In addition, Pavlovian behavior modification, "punishment/reward", works only when it is rigidly consistent. Typically values change from teacher to teacher, and teacher to parent. Normally students learn to adapt to the current authority figures values. This doesn't work well if the parents and teachers have different value systems. The adaptive authority process often teaches disrespect for parents, typically becoming "critical" around teen age years. Students often learn their parents are not the predominant authority figures in their lives and feel no obligation to listen to them.
To address the problem we need to address kinesthetic learning styles and be more adaptive to individual students learning styles.
Standardized tests are helpful in this regard because they identify students that are not responding to standard educational processes. Rather than use them for identification of non-standard students, teachers and school administrators often use them to humiliate students and then complain about being forced to humiliate students rather than implement expensive alternative or individual education.
Once we address learning styles, we need to stop using "punishment/reward", Pavlovian behavior modification. We need to replace it with positive reinforcement and pretty much eliminate punishment, except for violent situations that result in bodily harm. Pavlovian punishment/reward creates a dependence on authority structure.
Third, we need socialized medicine with comprehensive mental health care so that people with issues can receive help when they need it.
Fourth, as income inequality increases society destabilizes. IRS SOI Tax Stats for 2013 publish the Adjusted Gross Income for 2013 collected from 1040s. The range, 99.7%, is $1M to $0. That makes the middle $500,000.00. 85% of returns report an income of less than $100K. There is no middle class in the United States.
Compensation should be limited to 100 times the compensation of the lowest paid worker, including temps and contractors. Minimum wage should be increased to a living wage. Henry Ford overpaid auto workers and the results of that action are historic and non-intuitive.
Disposable income is critical to social stability and economic growth. Personally, I'd make a flat tax of 50% of all income over the previous years 75% range. In 2013 about 75% of people made less than $75K. I'd tax the upper 25% at 50%. Someone making $100K would pay $12.5K in taxes and someone making $1M would pay $462,500.00 in taxes.
This places the tax burden on those who are less likely to spend all their discretionary income.
These are sweeping changes, and the resistance will be extreme, but, it's pretty much change or die. There might be alternative solutions capable of achieving the same results, but, I have not heard them.
At the core, social violence is an income/power/communication issue.
If we keep doing the same things, we'll get the same results. If we oppress people more, they will rebel more. To battle social violence we need to improve our community socialization institutions, schools, provide free mental health care and reduce income inequality.
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