Social Security - Wisdom Of The American People

While we Americans like divided government, let’s be grateful that we have never been divided on one of our most essential safety net programs. The continued unity for that blessing is more imperative today than it has ever been in the past. 

In the course of my long and very blessed life two aspects in the American political scene and current cultural events have never changed. 

The first is that time and time again we have been told - ad nauseum - that the Social Security fund is bankrupt.  My generation was told we would never see a penny of that investment when we retire.  

The second is that every poll ever taken over the course of the last 60 years in which Americans have been asked which government program is most important to them they have ALWAYS said Social Security.  It has ALWAYS been the sacred cow. 

Those two facts are undeniable. 

A third repeated warning was that if Social Security survived there would only be minimal funds available.  We were told that it would only be a supplemental fund to augment other retirement investments – ONLY.   Whatever may exist will never be enough to provide for a major source of financial support. 

Over the course of the last 60 years, we have seen rising inflation on a regular basis.  The 2008 financial meltdown that dwindled and, in many cases, destroyed retirement investments (that are NEVER adjusted for inflation).  Now the Covid-19 crisis has thrown us into yet even higher levels of inflation.  This year, consumer prices have risen at the fastest rate in more than a decade spurred by rapidly rising prices for food, drugs and out of control housing costs.  According to an AARP analysis of Census Bureau data, roughly half of Americans aged 65 and older relied on Social Security for 50% or more of their income in 2019.  About a quarter of seniors 65 and older relied on the benefits for 90% or more of their income.  Social Security is NOW a lifeline for survival NOT a supplemental fund. 

After 39 years (not since 1983 - the year Ronald Regan saved the fund from insolvency) of paltry Social Security COLAs, 2022 will provide a decent increase badly needed by MOST of the 70 million (1 out of every 5) Americans who are now forced to depend upon the fund for financial survival. 

The same doomsday prophets are still among us.  We still hear the same old tired, fear mongering lies and deceit contrived 50 years ago. Let’s make certain we are thankful for the enormous wisdom of our predecessors in demanding Social Security be regarded a sacred cow.  Let’s make certain that as the middle class in American continues its erosion that we take a page from our ancestor’s book and rebuff the doom and gloom; that we continue to demand Social Security remain a sacred cow, recognizing that it will be far more essential to America’s wellbeing tomorrow than what it is today.  

https://www.wsj.com/articles/social-security-cola-increase-2022-11634067648 

https://apnews.com/article/social-security-cola-increase-4f2cd7b763371b91923227be883e367e

“Black Lives Matter” Just Doesn’t Matter

“Black Lives Matter” is sadly sophomoric and deficient of all political acumen thus rendering them inept.  BLM is destined to self-destruct just as “Occupy Wallstreet” disintegrated.  This is heartbreaking for an America in desperate need of an effective Black Movement today.

Any discussion on “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) must first and foremost focus on the infernal comparisons between that organization and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  

 The comparison is drawn to give credibility to BLM who’s accomplishments are minimal at best and provide no indication they will ever rise to the level of Dr. Kings success. Such a comparison does more to dishonor the memory and unprecedented, positive contributions of Dr. King.  BLM’s influence and success are as apropos to Dr. King as Fredo’s influence was in the planning and implementing of the Corleone family objectives.   

We must further realize that BLM cannot and will NOT succeed without a King like presence to lead their organization.  A face consisting of a strong, intelligent, eloquent, charismatic, determined and defiant voice committed to human rights and achieving justice.  The Dr. King image never resembled BLM’s bitter, vindictive veneer, but rather projected an image of love and compassion.  Dr. King also had the advantage of preaching to a nation far less godless in the ‘50s and ‘60s than it is today.  Bryan Stevenson, Founder/Executive Director of the “Equal Justice Initiative”, certainly fits the bill, but he very sadly isn’t coming forward. 

BLM, furthermore, lacks a meaningful agenda.  An agenda that the American people can rally around to lend aid and support. No agenda – no true efforts are being exerted where it matters most.

• Working to eliminate the hopelessness through abject poverty
• Correcting the vast disparity in pay levels among those of color
•  Ending the incredibly cruel inequality in education that prevents blacks from attaining the crucially necessary skills for advancement and success.
•  Eliminate the destructive influence within educational unions responsible in aiding our ongoing woeful educational system
• Eliminate the overt discriminations in granting bank loans
• Creating new models of law enforcement to replace current police departments       

ü Ending the systemic racism in our law enforcement departments

ü Eliminating racial profiling

ü Eliminating the destructive influence of police unions responsible for fueling much of the police brutality and killings

•  Eliminating the systemic racism inherent in our judicial system
•  Eliminating the decline in life expectancy among blacks  

ü Working to provide vastly improve black health care programs

•  End the cultural, moral decay from fatherless children  

This is what BLM is unable to address.  Therefore, they are content to use their precious political capital and whatever leverage they may have in attacking symbolism rather than attacking the crippling cruelties that torture their race. 

The “National Association for The Advancement of Colored People” (NAACP) is the very best hope for addressing these injustices.  They have marshalled forces, as best they can today, for a “2020 Virtual March On Washington” scheduled for August 28^th, the anniversary date of Dr. Kings march in 1963.   It is a virtual or remote viewing event because of the dangers associated with the covid-19 pandemic.  Their stated objective is “… to pursuing a new agenda that prioritizes equity, justice, and equal opportunity for all.  As we approach the November elections, we must mobilize to vote like we’ve never done before.”  This kind of initiative could never be spearheaded by BLM, demonstrating their obvious limitations and inability to effectively deal with the heinous cruelties and injustice that must be halted.

 It's very sad to consider that the exact same cruelties that Dr. king faced in the '50s and '60s are every bit as prevalent and vicious today.  It is so very frustrating that NO movement in America exists to repress the bigots and racists – NO movement that can ease the pain or halt the injustices.  It is also deeply troubling when we know that racism and bigotry will probably plague our nation forever and that these skirmishes will have to be periodically fought to temporarily suppress those repugnant individuals and their evil practices.

 The debate always manages to move toward     legislating morality.  It is a hollow argument   that failed in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s and will be   buried again in today’s discourse.  YES - we do   not and cannot legislate morality in America.  Yet today’s fight and issues are exactly as the   Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King outlined so   many years ago; “It may be true that the law   cannot make a man love me, but it can keep   him from lynching me, and I think that's   pretty  important.” 

Providing remedies for today “lynchings” (Murder by police Officers) cannot inspire love in hateful hearts but it will end the police brutality of beatings and killings. That is a concept that each and every one of us MUST embrace.  Our very survival is dependent upon viewing today’s issues in exactly the same light as yesterday’s issues, which is to clearly understand; “that's pretty important.”

BLM is powerless to end the contemporary lynching.  It is a rudderless ship – No Leader.  They have no credible agenda that is broad based and appealing.  They are, therefore, totally unable to frame an argument or rally widespread support, thus influencing debate that will result in any significant, compassionate changes and remedies.

 Should they ever have any impact quelling racism, rest assured, it will NEVER rise to the saintly contributions of Martin Luther King Jr.

Monuments NO – Confederate Flag YES!!!

Suppressing the hatred of bigotry and racism today is every bit as challenging as it was in 1861 and 1964.  It will take a national resolve to succeed.

Perspective on Civil War monuments has strayed into the Twilight Zone.  Unfortunately, they are viewed as vinegar rather than the sweet honey they actually represent.  It is yet another classic case of demanding our hatreds guide our thinking. 

There is currently a movement to convince us that these monuments somehow support and glorify the ugliness of racism, slavery and the suppression of blacks.  

In reality, what they should represent is America’s unrelenting quest for justice and humanity.  They should remind us that these monuments led to the saving of the union and the Emancipation Proclamation.  They should remind us of our commitment as nation in forbidding selfishness, violence and hatred to dominate the American spirt.  They should remind us of our struggle and success in defeating evil within our own shores.  They should remind us of the greatest we are capable of when we put our will and minds to the task.  These may be, to a degree, very painful reminders of the injustice and horror that once gripped our nation.  That pain should be focused on the forever evil in the waging of war and not on any glorification or injustice in a war lost.  We need to simply recognize they are all part of our historical heritage that needs our constant and forever awareness.  

The same cannot be said of the Confederate flag.

The Confederate flag was, and still is, a symbol of divisiveness, selfishness, greed and unspeakable hatred.  It led the charge of the Civil War and remains symbolic of hatred and the promotion of a reign of terror.   

 

It is impossible to view it without sparking the pain of Fort Sumter that began America’s most savage war.  It can’t be ignored as embodying a violent and vicious demand to tear apart the union of the United States.  It’s impossible to disregard the vicious insistence for the continuation of slavery, unquestionably the greatest inhumanity every inflicted in American – OR - the horrifying cruelty that caused the loss of over 600,000 American lives. 

 

This demonic symbol was also often and proudly displayed long after the Civil War during the “Jim Crow” reign of terror.  When looking at the very heart of that flag one can easily see blacks being whipped and beaten and lynched, along with the burning of black homes and churches.  One sees the faces of Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Henry Schwerner all savagely killed in Mississippi in their efforts to establish voting rights for blacks in 1964 while further reminding us that all those guilty of the atrocity were set free by a Mississippi court.

 

Can we really look at that flag and not realize that it, along with the Nazi flag, is proudly and publicly displayed today by the Ku Klux Klan and every other bigoted organization as they spew their hateful venom?  Some of these deranged groups go as far as displaying both flags side by side.  After all, white supremacy doctrine is no different than Hitler’s Aryan/Master race rantings.  It is assured, through 18 months from living in Germany, that a Nazi flag cannot be found proudly or publicly displayed anywhere on German soil.  Yet Mississippi still, to this day, proudly and publicly displays the Confederate flag as part of their state flag. 

There could be no better way to begin current reparations in America than to do what should have been done over 100 years ago.  Time to burn the Confederate flag and finally relegate it to the ash heap of history where it belongs.  For nothing in America runs more contrary to the Gettysburg Address than the Confederate flag.

American War Machine Ignored

To be sure, World War II was indeed necessary and admirable and – YES - a remarkable and inspiring achievement for which all Americans should be proud.  

After World War II, and with the exception of Desert Storm (Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait), our wars have ALL been senseless slaughters and the waste of trillions of American dollars.

If we could determine the total price tag for all the armaments constructed after 1945 and those now in the planning stage it would hardly be an exaggeration to speculate it totals trillions upon trillions of dollars. 

Over the years we have been told time again that the Defense Department is impossible to audit. The stated reasons are; the building is too large and has too many systems that don’t link up, to give any kind of helpful result that would be worth the cost of an audit.  There has been some effort to get a handle on the money over the last couple of years.  In 2019, 1,400 auditors, visited 600 sites worldwide and requested more than 100,000 samples of equipment as they surveyed the department’s $2.9 trillion in total assets and $2.8 trillion in liabilities.  The last two findings have reported that the department “failed its audit.”

There  are two stark realities here.  One is that we will NEVER know how much we have spent and misused.   The second is that for a country that often cries “We don’t have the money” for a humane health care system, to end homelessness, poverty and hunger, for improvements to a pathetic educational system for our poor and underprivileged, to provide college tuition assistance, along with so many other compassionate and humanitarian needs is detestable.  It is mystifying how comfortable we have become in dismissing the loss and mismanagement for unaccounted trillions of dollars.  Considering this outrage in conjunction with the additional waste and fraud in government; “We don’t have the money” is pure hogwash and a grievous insult to our common sense and intelligence, compassion and human dignity. Obviously, the very last problem we have in this country is money.

 Now for the American lives Lost:

·         Korean War – 36,516

·         Vietnam War- 58,209

·         Iraq                  4,497

·         Afghanistan      2,356

These figures do not include the maimed, lifetime health afflictions (Agent Orange and Others), mental disorders, alcoholism and drug addictions, suicides and whatever else that may have been omitted here.  The costs in suffering and pain are enormous without demonstrating anything even remotely close to what was accomplished in the Second World War.

We are currently involved in seven war theaters worldwide.  They are never reported on and continue to flourish costing us even more trillions in taxpayer dollars.  No number of bullets or bombs are going to solve one problem in any of those war theaters.  MY GOD!!!!! Have we all forgotten that 9-11 was planned in Hamburg Germany????? 

Ike warned us this was coming (military–industrial–congressional complex (MICC)) and we were either to apathetic and callous or too busy chasing the almighty dollar to even notice or care.  This is ALL a clear-cut sign of moral decay.

Yes – World War II is worthy of devotion, but since then the scales are badly out-of-balance in almost exclusively favoring the disgraceful over the admirable.  The wanton destruction, waste of human lives and endless taxpayer dollars are part and parcel as to why a movement now exits to refuse to remove our caps or stand for the playing of the national anthem.

All Americans need to take this movement seriously and engage in this show of defiance until we return to compassionate and humanitarian endeavors in our public polices and behavior.

Why Unrest is Necessary

The purpose of a demonstration or a protest is to create an awakening or a greater awareness within the American people.  It is a demand for an end to injustice, the protection of establish liberties, or the establishment of a liberties which are denied.  Its primary purpose is designed to end the ignorance and/or apathy responsible for creating and sustaining an unhealthy and totally unacceptable climate - to propel those in power to adequately, finally and completely respond to rational grievances.  

The labor movement and humane treatment in the workplace, slavery and civil rights, an end to the Vietnam war and, naturally, our revolutionary war, all needed the spark of serious unrest to succeed. 

Passive or peaceful methods and means always preceded the uprisings.  Americans are not normally stirred to take action until or unless a real sense of urgency occurs.  Therefore, protests and demonstrations, by their very nature, must be messy to instill a real sense of urgency through fear and the threat of loss.  That sense of urgency acts as the catalysis to seriously address the issues and injustices that are commonplace and systemic.

Our history has taught us that just verbally and vocally demanding change isn’t enough.  Those with power wield the biggest clubs.  We must be willing to fight for it.  We must be willing to disrupt daily life, business operations and if necessary to break some windows. These acts awaken the American public to the helplessness and awful sense of frustration that festers.  Initiatives like blocking traffic can create this far greater understanding.  The anger it generates in those being hampered or inconvenienced through becoming powerless to freely move about, correlates exactly to the same sense of anger and frustration the demonstrators are experiencing.  Eventually this anger finds the correct focus and target and thus aids in the changes necessary to establish or restore the liberties being denied.   

If we are unable to appreciation this reality and rise above our own desires to the broader concerns of the suffering and dying, then we are unable to accurately understand the necessity and methods employed in forming a “a more perfect union.” 

The current uprising also reminds us that we can’t remain apathic forever.  Sooner or later, the bill comes due.  

The Civil Rights Act Of 1964 didn’t save George Floyd’s life or the lives of so many others murdered at the hands of law enforcement.  The Brady Bill didn’t prevent the unprecedented horror of the slaughters in Las Vegas or at Sandy Hook.  Wages have failed to keep pace with inflation.  So the awful struggle and battle must continue.

The exact same unrest will have to accompany any meaningful change to end our gun carnage, our forever and putrid waring or to even establish a humane health care system. 

Freedom is a constant struggle for each and every generation of Americans.  In a free and open society hatreds will be forever fostered.  The vast majority of us are indeed sickened by the hatreds and the inevitable violence they spur.  Yet this vast majority ALSO desires change to end unfairness and brutality – to reinforce the principles that have defined the spirit of our nation - to achieve justice. 

So, either we create a new and very firm national resolve to attack hatred and eradicate its viciousness in its infancy or we will have to accept disruptions and yes, even violence, as the price we must pay to establish and protect our liberties.  While we may not be happy about it, we need to clearly understand the necessity of it and accept it - just as we have had to accept the immoral acts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as having been necessary.  

We live in a perilous time.  Let’s not fail to recognize the blessings it offers us.  It is an exciting time. A time of rejuvenation and hope for a brighter tomorrow.  We are witnessing firsthand a rebirth of our history through a fierce determination to strengthen our Republic and a fervor for the common good and general welfare of our nation. 

Historically, voices raised must be loud and noisy. Those who create the ruckus will always be cruelly and publicly demeaned.  Yet it is in large measure their courage and abandonment of self for this greater good that is often seen as the essence of their movement and what makes them and their cause ultimately irresistible.

A Slice of Kiddum

What we never saw on “Ozzie and Harriet” or “Leave It to Beaver”.

A mother was at her wits end.

Her two sons were constantly fighting and misbehaving. While the younger of the two could be described as a first class trouble maker – a true little hellion – his older brother fueled the disruptions through his behavior that only amplified the chaos.

So now, while giving the two their nightly bath, mom lost her composure and proclaimed she had enough and one of the boys would have to leave the house.

The oldest got out of the tub, dried himself and, was his custom, went to his bedroom to put on his pajamas.

After mom had dried off the hellion, she began carrying him to his bedroom to also get him dressed for bed.
On her way, she peeked into the oldest son’s bedroom and saw him packing his suitcase.  When she asked him what he was doing he responded by saying; “You told me I had to leave.”

Before mom could say a word, the hellion she was holding in her arms said: “Yea.  I’m a good boy.  I don’t have to leave.”

One is left wondering how Harriet Nelson and June Cleaver dealt with such challenges.  One thing that is known - FOR CERTAIN - is that no such goings-on ever occurred in the Joe and Elaine Malat household where their two sons were always deemed perfect little angels.

William F. Buckley JR - VIP

On November 24^th William F. Buckley 

would have celebrated his 94^th birthday. 

We lost him in 2008 at the age of 83.

While many of his perspectives were impossible to embrace, his absence has left us with the loss of dignified, civilized discussion and debate.  His point of view was seldom driven by blind loyalty to partisanship or tribalism.  His hatred for hatred was written about extensively.  His criticism of those aligned with his movement could be harsh while his praise for those who disagreed with him could be lavish.

There were, to be sure, those perspectives that were oh so refreshing and so elating that they were easy to acquiesce to, as were his wit, his wisdom on our culture and his joyful expressions as to life’s greatest rewards and blessings.

Education:

Ø Began formal schooling in Paris

Ø Learned to speak English at a day school in London

Ø Calvert School of Baltimore’s Homeschool Curriculum

Ø Jesuit preparatory school at St. John’s Beaumont in England

Ø Millbrook School in Millbrook, New York – Graduated in 1943

Ø Yale University – 1945 - Graduated with honors in 1950

Ø Fluent in three languages; English, French and Spanish

Ø Played the harpsichord and was an accomplished pianist

Ø Possessed a command of the English language and most

  especially its vocabulary that will never be equaled

Led a widespread and accepted political movement that greatly 

influenced political thought within late twentieth century America.

Ø Publisher:        Founded the National Review Magazine in 1955

Ø Columnist:      “On The Right” syndicated column appeared

                   in more than 320 newspapers nationwide.

Ø Author:            Penned Fifty-Seven books from non-fiction on

                politics/public affairs, history, and sailing

               to fictional spy novels.

Ø Television:  v   Hosted “Firing Line” an Hour Long Weekly PBS

                 Public Affairs talk and interview program. Buckley

                 hosted 1,429 episodes from 1966 to 1999 making

                 the show the longest-running public affairs television  

                 program in the history of television broadcasting.

v  Made Guest appearances on all the widely popular talk

 shows and entertainment venues (The Tonight Show,

 Laugh-In and etc.) of the era.   

Ø Public Office:   Ran in the1965 Mayoral Race in New York City

v Ran as a Third Party Candidate 

v Opposed Abraham Beame and John Lindsay. 

v Lindsay Proved Victorious.

Ø Tours:        v Worldwide Public Speaking Appearances

v Guest Lecturer at American Colleges and Universities

v Masterful Debater-Television/Various Open Forums

Buckley was a moderate by today’s Insanity; i.e. he was one of the primary architects in discrediting the John Birch Society which in contemporary times has reinvented itself under the banner of The Tea Party and has gained acceptance within the modern day Republican Party.

As we have evolved over the course of recent years it has become apparent that every American should feel some sense of loss in Buckley’s absence.  The most important ideal he demonstrated for us today is that people can hold to differing political and religious beliefs and still respect and admire one another.  He validated time and again what the good nuns tried so very hard to teach; “Hate the sin not the sinner.”

While eleven years since his passing feels like yesterday, those same years, with respect to our loss in what this remarkable man provided, feels like an eternity.  His writings and teachings should, in some manner, perpetually guide our thinking.