Abraham Lincoln is like a friend who always gives you good advice. It’s not just the humanity and wisdom of what he says; I feel that every word comes from the heart. It’s a rare gift in any time or place.
I took these ten Benjamin Franklin quotes and used them to illustrate both the universality of human behavior and their usefulness as a touchstone in understanding politics.
Politics is all about people – Numbers in politics are always an afterthought; used to convince a public brought up on the pseudoscience of pie charts and percentages. [That the same basic data can be used to support widely differing conclusions is common knowledge, and usage, among corporate report writers.]
Like the Mark Twain quotes; once again, there is an insight into human nature that overrides the “issues” that are used to distract us.
Since human nature is universal and unchanging: why does our bureaucracy continue to get more complicated? Why indeed.
These Mark Twain quotes are very much to the point and worth thinking about; and coloring and doodling are good ways to let the mind wander into some productive thinking territory.
I’ve decided to add pieces and maybe a section the book to results of research into the use of visual imagery to promote creative and innovative thought. This “qualitative thinking” is based on my belief that art and ideas occupy the same area of the mind; and that the most productive thinking can be done “in situ.”
Work on the Idea Enhancement Project has been pushed to the back while I’ve been writing these books, and this will give me a chance to share the results so far and keep moving forward.
Prisons punish criminals . . . No, prisons rehabilitate criminals . . . no, wait . . . we don’t really know what the intentions of our criminal justice system is. It seems, however, to be much more comfortable with acts of criminals than their victims.
Victims are “in the wrong place at the wrong time” or “put themselves” into that situation.
Our justice system is a long term caregiver for felons; but it “shines on” the victims and their families with a “plea bargain – closure” two-step.
Criminals can turn themselves around and start with a clean slate; but the pain is never erased for the families, friends, relatives, and children of their victims.
Our criminal justice system is not the custodian of our society; it’s just a bureaucratic machine covered in human skins.
I hope to fill out the book more; maybe in a book review or “newsletter.” A travel section listing venues like the “Dead Zone Aquapark –The safe family play destination.” “No prey. No predators. No problems.” Sea Rising Maps for land investments in the new seashore. Articles on Climate-proofing Your Home, and The Climate Change Diet – What Food Items Will Survive or science tidbits like Canada: The New Tornado Alley and GMO on the Grow.
This version of the classic riddle is intended to involve children with thinking about government [a much older and more difficult riddle.]
People can solve riddles and people learn new things; but it’s easier not to — people can control government; but it’s easier to let government do the driving and go along for the ride.
That’s one reason I’m so fond of fables as a learning tool; they can give the knowledge without having to experience the situation.
What about people who don’t even learn from experience? Why do people in a horror movie always split up? [Even when you tell them not to.]
These bureaucrat icons will bring a rueful smile to those who have bumped up against the monolithic government while trying to bring about change.
Dealing with people as much as they do; the seasoned bureaucrat or politician can call on a wide range of body language to spice up their flat statements of refusal and dismissal.
These gestures could be combined into a Japanese Folk Dance or a Bon Odori dance for some Bureaucratic or Doctrinal Festival.
In the 60s, when the fines for industrial pollution were so small that the polluters never even paused; our government vowed to change all that. They did — they removed the laws.
Nowadays, with Industrial Agriculture polluting the all groundwater that they haven’t sucked dry; what advice does our government give to the rural poor? Mix bottled water with your well water to bring it below the maximum health limit levels. Thanks!
The bottom line is [if they still use “bottom line”] that if you don’t take responsibility for your family’s health, no one will. In their “wrong place at the wrong time” – “fall through the cracks” way; Authorities have more important things to worry about than the people.
It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist. If this was a conspiracy movie; I would have had an accident and bad things would be happening to everyone who saw this document. But it doesn’t exist.
It’s not that far from being given the cold shoulder to being kept on ice. The Elite are always worried about keeping their mound of worldly goods and their position on the dais; and their Doctrine of privilege and hate goes a long way towards addressing those fears.
Using the lowest motives has always had the highest success rate in authoritarian societies; so a self-policing Doctrine that targets a particular group as being the cause of all suffering and misfortune is the ideal tool for distraction and control.
With the “Brain and Circuses” [Indoctrination and Recreation] curriculum established in schools; adults are persuaded they’re too “busy” with life’s struggle to stop and think — that’s a job for the Experts.
The beauty of the competitive “dog-in-a-pit” approach is that the dogs never wonder about who built the pit and Why?
Form Based Code Living is where Satire meets Science Fiction meets “That’s why we never heard from him!” whispers — it’s an intersection that’s just up ahead in Cornithaca County.
Weren’t you just wondering what the Experts say?
