Why The Government Has So Much Power And Who Really Ought To The Welfare Problem and Discipline Providing For Those Less Fortunate Than Us What the Government Ought To Do To Make Our Lives Better Why The Government Ought To Quit Worrying About Smokers A Simple Solution To The Drug Problem Ways To Improve Education The Legal Age Solution The Electoral Solution The True Meaning of Believing In Choice
Probably the biggest question that philosophers, scientists, and anyone else with time on their hand has ever asked, or tried to answer is this-What is the meaning of life?
The answer is quite simple. All you have to do is equate the word "meaning" with the word "purpose." The purpose of this life is simply this: We are here to help as many other people as we can while we live on this earth.
Some of you might be thinking of all kinds of wimpish words to say about me and brand me as a "goody-two-shoes" Christian. However, this answer is not only provided for by instances in the Bible, but is a universal principle in many varied cultures.
There are many Native Americans, some who do not even claim or attempt to understand Christ, who have followed this principle. Many years ago, when they had extra skins, food, moccasins, or whatever, they put them in a storehouse. Anyone who needed to use a particular item went to that storehouse and took the item or items they needed. This was not considered stealing. This was merely tradition.
Many who follow Oriental philosophies have also found this simple principle and found it to be true. Not to trivialize the Orientals, but many of their teachings of the Dao, (meaning The Way), are taught on the popular television series Kung-Fu or its sequel - Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues. Anybody who has followed these series have seen the principle of providing service to others, while expecting nothing in return, put into action.
For those who follow the Bible, they will note that in Genesis, woman was created as a help for Adam. Even if you disregard the Bible as mere sophistry and fantasy, the fact that our lives are based on a series of interdependence upon one another is extremely evident, even when the principle is extended to its macroscopic intents of alliances between countries.
True, there are loners and recluses who have been successful: Greta Garbo and Howard Hughes come to mind. However, both of these people died in situations which would be abhorrent to most: unloved and considered estranged from the world.
Even some people who are considered on the "outer fringes" of society have this innate need to help. For example, bikers, who are sometimes (wrongly, I feel) maligned as violent beer-drinking, cocaine snorting, unworthy members of society, take the time to collect toys from around the country to provide children with enjoyment that these children might not otherwise experience.
This principle applies, even in business. Zig Ziglar, in many of his worthwhile books proclaims: "You really can get everything you want; if you just help enough other people get what they want." Bill Gates, even if you disagree with some of his business philosophies, has become the richest man in the world, because he has served the most people with his product. Even those in the movie and music business have to live by this simple principle. Those who have the most people view their movies, or listen to their music, make the most money.
In business, we need to turn the status quo upside down. If you are a boss, you need to look at yourself as a servant of those who are under you. You should guide them, help them with their work problems, show kindness- instead of merely bellowing "Work, or you're fired."
If you are a salesman, you need to listen to your customers, who are your boss, and provide them with what they truly need. This principle works best when applied with your true "bosses", your customers, in mind. The more "bosses" you help, the more your reward.
Remember, the reward of money is not necessarily the reason to follow this principle. Mahatma Ghandi was so accepted by so many people because he felt that people - not religions, denominations, or culture - made the difference. He is probably one of the most beloved individuals in the course of history. More recently, Mother Theresa, who recently went on to meet her maker, spent years with the sick, infirm, and starving to try and provide comfort. Though, neither one of them were rich in wealth and material property, one could hardly argue that they were not rich in a variety of other ways.
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Why The Government Has So Much Power And Who Really Should Have
The government was set up to take care of the general welfare of the people. This meant that the government was meant to organize ways for the people to be protected. This originally meant taking care of local problems by effective use of the police to defending the country from foreign invaders by deploying military personnel.
That's why the constitution was set up the way that it was: to protect the people. We can say what we want, within a scope of common sense guidelines, without fear of reprisal from higher authorities. We have the right to worship any way we choose. We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The government was set up by the original framers of the constitution to ensure these rights.
Unfortunately, somebody decided that this should include the system of welfare, as we now know it. When that happened, we admitted defeat and, in essence, told the government we are no longer able to fend for ourselves. We told the higher officials, "Please take care of us."
This idea got extended to the point that we, as parents, no longer are able to determine what proper discipline for our children is. Granted, there are some parent who abuse their children in a misunderstood process of what they thought discipline was. These people should be stopped and taught lessons on why you do not try to "kill your child."
But, what the government could not take into account is that each child responds to discipline differently. I, myself, responded best to being talked to. The guilt I threw upon myself from having to be corrected was far more effective than any spankings I ever received. Others, unfortunately, will not respond, unless as Bill Cosby often jokes, they have and "must receive our beatings."
The government interceding on each and every case, believing that the child must be protected for all parents, overloads our court systems. And it does not resolve the problem.
I am not knocking the lofty ideals or intentions that were set up to help those less fortunate than us. However, that should never have been left to the government.
The organizations that were set up to help those less fortunate than us was the churches. But, the churches, some - not all - have abandoned the idea of helping others. Some have the belief that if you are not a member of their church, they owe you nothing.
This was not the intention of Christ and his apostles. When a Gentile woman approached Christ, he helped her. He fed the masses by multiplying the fishes and bread. He healed the sick. He even brought an old friend back from the dead.
Mahatma Ghandi advised a man who had orphaned a young boy by killing the boy's father that to atone for what he had done, he should raise that boy in his father's religion, not his religion.
Merely because someone is of a different religious belief than yours is not a reason to refuse aid, provided you have the energy and resources to help that person. At worst, the old principle of helping others will bring back the natural law of reciprocity when your time of need comes. At best, the person you help may actually believe you have the answer and begin to follow your beliefs, if that is your true intention.
The main point is that we need to help others, not leave this monumental task to the government. Will people take advantage of you for doing this? Probably. Do it anyway. The higher power that you believe in - be it God, Grandfather, Buddha, or whoever - will make it possible for you to recoup far more than you lose.
Which brings me to yet another issue. We often see Christians parading outside abortion clinics. I, myself, find abortion intolerable, with some exceptions. However, I do not believe that the answer lies in picketing these places. Christ did not carry a picket against those who sinned. Instead, he went about teaching, helping, and healing.
By the way, you will reach far more people by teaching and helping than you will by decrying their sin. If they don't belong to your church, you will have a far better chance of "recruiting" them, and then helping them overcome their sins, than you will by telling them they live in sin.
In the same vein, if you truly believe abortion is wrong, the answer is not to educate those against aborting their baby, although there is nothing wrong with education. The point is that education is not enough. If you educate somebody into not aborting their baby, and they raise the child as a single parent, they may have to rely on the government to help them raise that child, thus placing an even larger burden on the people.
Instead, why not offer up your home or offer to pay medical expenses for the birth of the baby. Offer to help the woman gain skills that might help her be gainfully employed when the child is born. Offer to help her adopt the baby to a childless family, or offer to help raise the children until the woman can do so on her own.
Your message of love for Christ will go a lot further this way, then it would screaming epithets against the doctors. This way, you are in no danger of taking your hatred to the extreme that some "Christians" have by taking a life of a doctor or clinic worker in the name of saving life.
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Why The Government Needs To Quit Worrying About Smokers
Lately, the government has spent a lot of its resources on the evils of tobacco. Although I myself smoke, I, as well as probably the bulk of smokers out there, would like to quit. But, the government is wasting its time on this issue.
There are several reasons why I believe that smoking is not the danger that the government would have you believe it is:
Yes, I believe that we need to keep our children from the health dangers of smoking. I also believe, however, that other far more pressing problems in today's society need to be addressed.
I realize most of these suggestions will largely be ignored, but I would like to make my point regardless. It's my web-page, and I'll try (to get my point across) if I want to.
The biggest problem in society is drugs, not tobacco. When you reduce this problem to its main components, these problems seem to be most prevalent:
To solve this dilemma, throwing more money at the problem, i.e. more drug agents, will not necessarily make the problem go away.
The answer lies in legalizing the drug.
Now, before you go ballistic and think I am some liberal knee-jerk hippy who never got over the '60s, read on.
Yes, you legalize the drug, but with the following stipulations:
A. This has many benefits. Foreign substances, such as arsenic, glass, etc. cannot be cut into the drug itself. This plan takes the drugs out of the hands of pushers who have no interest in who they sell the drug to. The government, if it is not a corrupt one, would then be able to oversee the distribution of these illegal substances.
B. Furthermore, the prices would go down, so even up to a 100 percent tax could be placed on the substances, thus boosting the money into the Federal Treasury and bring down that dreaded political topic of all time: the National Debt. Or, even, God forbid, we could actually give the taxpayers a break on their taxes.
2. Enact a law that anyone who is convicted of dealing drugs to a minor is executed. Limit any pursuant appeals to two.
3. Enact a law that anyone who commits a crime while under the influence of these substances, since use and possession of these drugs would now be legal, cannot use the fact that they were under the influence of these substances as a legitimate defense.
A. One exception to this would be if the person was forcibly injected or unaware such substance was administered to them.
By enacting these measures, the drugs would be out of the hands of morally-deficient criminals, kids would be safer, and we could eliminate unnecessary government waste, while boosting the treasury.
Since children should be our main focus, let's suggest some major ways to improve education.
First of all, let's get back to the basics of teaching our children the effective way s to become effective citizens of our wonderful United states, by eliminating making school a catch-all for society's ills.
I know the officers of DARE mean well, but many times, the children use this program as a way to identify drugs that they think might be cool to try. Our police officers have real crimes to go after and I know prevention is important, but that is best left in the hands of responsible parents and churches.
Do we really need to teach our children that there are alternative lifestyles such as (A)* homosexuality that abound. Isn't there enough (B)*multi-cultural lessons in Social Studies. Now, before anybody goes ballistic about what I just said, realize this. If people wish to practice homosexuality, that is their choice, (we will cover the topic of choice in a later essay.)
A*( If you are a practicing homosexual, it is not my intent to offend you. But, please consider this. Why should you limit yourself merely to your sexual preference? You might have other talents and abilities that are not being recognized because you might be pushing your sexual orientation as your main asset. You are probably a far more diverse person and what you do in your private life should stay private, while you push your best attributes to the forefront. Focus on your knowledge, abilities, and talents.)
B* (I'm not suggesting that multi-culturalism is also not a necessity. After a sound academic base, I certainly believe that multi-culturalism ought to be looked at more closely in a university setting. At this point, a student is more ready to accept diversity, as he or she will be surrounded by it.).
But, these topics need not be covered in public school. Just as being touched inappropriately does not need to be covered. Yes, there are child molesters out there. Yes, there are parents who abuse their children. But, neighbors, loved ones, and friends need to report this to proper authorities. Once again, there are many fine churches and organizations who are designed to deal with this also.
We often try to separate children we believe have special difficulties, and this is also well-intentioned. But, I believe there are methods of main-streaming our children that are often overlooked. Children need other children to develop socially, whether they are considered on the lowest end of the "intellectual" scale or the highest..
The teacher has a hard enough time trying to teach literacy, mathematics, composition, and history to our children without having to try and play social worker. Is it any wonder that schools in the Orient are outperforming the American students when so much is dumped on the educational system.
The problem is that we have relegated our students to merely trying their best and that is good enough. Our children are brighter than that. They will figure out what they are best at, if we provide them a solid, well-rounded basis for education. (Remember, half of being good is figuring out what you are good at.)
The government should, therefore, provide our children a benefit to look forward to, a goal to strive towards. Instead of deciding that you are an adult at the age of 21, why not offer them that right when they successfully completed high school. In other words, you have all rights to adulthood, be it signing a contract, drinking, smoking, voting, or living on your own., or whatever.
By enacting this, the children will be far more receptive to learning, knowing that at the end lies that golden apple "adulthood" than you will by using all the psychological ploys that are now offered.
Also, it will keep those evil smokers who are legal away from your children while they are in school. What adult would want to hang with a bunch of school-kids at the school grounds?
While we are at it, let's take a really crazy idea to solve the problem of government. Most senators and representatives, I believe and hope, have the best of intentions when they campaign for their position. The problem is that when they get into office, there is so much back-scratching and politics, that usually, the best-intentioned representative cannot accomplish what he wants to do, unless he votes for another powerful senator's pork package, compensation, etc.
Some lawyers mean well when they go into practice, but the vast majority of senators and representatives are now lawyers. I do not necessarily believe that only lawyers can enact laws. Originally, when the first Continental Congress met, merchants, soldiers, sailors, farm owners, as well as a few lawyers came together with the idea of creating a new country where freedom would be the new ideal.
Now, government of the people, by the people, and for the people has been all but forgotten. So, instead of big political machines churning out millions of dollars to get their representatives in power, how about a totally new system? How about a system more like jury duty?
In jury duty, you are called upon to sit on a jury as your duty as a citizen. Now, I realize that many people find elaborate ways to escape jury duty. But, in this system, we put every eligible man and woman's name into a huge basket, or computer bank, and randomly draw out a name. That person, with minimal exceptions, (although I cannot think of any exceptions that would apply), would have to serve for a specified period of time for a specified salary in whatever office their name is drawn for.
By doing this, you are throwing a group of people together and making them work things out for the better good of the United States, instead of worrying about how to make their political careers better. Besides, they can always make a fortune later, if they did a good job, by selling their story to the reading public at large.
I truly believe this system cannot be any worse than the one we have now.
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When I tell people I am a firm believer in choice, they sometimes make the mistaken assumption that I believe in abortion rights for a woman. If you read the earlier essay that dealt with that, you know that is not true.
When I tell people I believe in choice, I am saying that when we decide to do something, anything, we make choices. You decided to look up The Meaning Of Life, when you found this web-site. You decided to read this far. (Thank God. I was afraid I might have been getting boring.)
However, there are some choices that change you manner of existence forever. If you decide to get in a car after having partaken of alcohol al night, you have made a choice to place your life, as well as other people's life, including property, at risk. If you decide to partake in sex before you are married, you risk possibly creating a child or contracting any myriad numbers of sexual diseases.
For every choice you make, there are natural consequences. This is one of those universal laws, whether you believe in God, or whatever higher power. Choices in your life, even if the choice takes only a second, may irrevocably change your existence forever.
This is especially true, if you are under the age of 20. It is a proven scientific fact that your brain is not fully developed until you are 20 years old. The following especially applies to everyone under this age, but I believe that all people ought to follow these suggestions. I suggest that you avoid these certain choices in your life, or at the very least, take precautions, when you make these choices:
If we followed the principles espoused in these essays, I truly believe that many of society's ills could go away. And isn't that what the goal in life is anyway?
I hope you have enjoyed reading these views. However, being a believer in free speech (and free speech does not include obscenity), here are some other sites you may wish to look over.
The Progress Report For things relating to economics and social justice, etc.
The Constitution Page For all things relating to the Constitution of the United States
Natural Gov't This page offers another excellent suggestion for dealing with inequities relating to societal or any other matters.
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