As I watch those who are opposed to changing health care express their views, it has become obvious to me that many of them are scared. Fear of change is normal. People fear the unknown. What they do not understand is that the current pattern is not workable in the long run. We MUST change.

The real truth is that no one really knows. We have some glimpses into the future. But no one can really predict the future accurately. Think back ten years. Have all the predictions that everyone made worked how they said. Despite all the expertise, no one even remotely predicted the financial crisis. No one predicted how the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would go. Why would anyone believe now that any of the so called experts have any idea how things will work out?

In my mind, everyone who is saying that health care will be this or that are all wrong. All of them. From both sides. Changes to health care most likely will not result in a huge disaster that will destroy the country. Neither will changes to health care be the silver bullet that fixes everything. There will still be inequalities. There will still be things that do not work. There will still be those who have to die because some health insurance person decided that some procedure is not covered.

If you are scared, don’t be. Think about why you are scared. Did you believe some one who convinced you that health care changes will result in the end of life as you know it? Think about that.

Beheading and killing, that’s your religion?

So you can insult others, but intend to kill those who insult you.  Nice.

If Europe is the cancer, then go somewhere else.

If this is true, then that’s unfortunate.  Because all you seem to bring is death, destruction and misery.

Seems like you are exercising your freedom right now.

What’s the lesson to learn from 9/11?  That some people have no regard for innocent human life?  We already knew that.

Threatening to destroy life and property?  Nice to know.

Great! So you plan to kill us all.

Death and killing.  The new religion.

This is horrific.  Muslims are making a big mistake with this.  There are many non-muslims who want to support them.  But these sorts of activities make it much harder.  They are turning people off.  Taken to its ultimate end, this approach will lead to death, war, destruction, misery and pain.

]]> http://thinkdeep.org/blog/archives/67/feed http://thinkdeep.org/blog/archives/56 http://thinkdeep.org/blog/archives/56#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:31:56 +0000 ryan http://thinkdeep.org/blog/?p=56

This is one of the main things that make Republicans mad about Democrats.  The question I have is this really true?

Granted there are some people who game the system so that they get the maximum benefit to themselves with minimal effort.  But does that make them lazy?  I have no doubt that there are many individuals who get some form of government aid without doing squat.  However, I seriously doubt that they are in the majority.  Americans work.  That’s what they do.  Should we really be making decisions and setting policy based on a small percentage of the population.

I talk to many Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives and everything in the middle.  And I have yet to find one who sits on their behind all day long and collect checks.  Granted, I’m not doing an official survey.  But I still think the perception is wrong.  Democrats I know want fairness, not a handout.  A reasonable job with reasonable pay.

Some Republicans seem to hold the view that a person should get to keep whatever they can get from someone else.  It’s all for me and none for you.  Democrats I know want to even out a little of that.  There is the idea that being part of the system itself brings some benefits.  Is the person who pays more property tax entitled to better Fire Dept protection than those who contribute less?

Are there losers out there who don’t want to work?  Sure.  But we should not be spending any time worrying about them.  No. They will always exist.  And they will find a way to game the system no matter what we do.

The thing that most strikes me about this is the intent of dividing.  Division is not good for anyone and this piece is about creating division.  Some may say, this is just a joke, lighten up. I don’t think it is a joke at all.  It is one person’s view or one group’s view of the world from a certain narrow perspective.  And it very much deserves to be challenged even if in my own limited way.  Perhaps the entire thing is entirely accurate but there are actually very few conservatives or liberals according to the definition offered.

The implication is that people fall into these two categories.  People are more complex than this.

Conservatives and Liberals
Random Thoughts On The Difference

Between “Us” And “Them”

Sad but true… (Not! but we will get to that later)

If a conservative doesn’t like guns, they don’t buy one. If a liberal doesn’t like guns, then no one should have one.

In logic this is known as a gross generalization.  Take something that applies to a few and extend it to imply that it applies to a much larger group.  it goes like this.  My neighbor is likes rice.  He is Indian.  Therefore all Indians like rice.  There is nothing inherently wrong with guns.  However, I think it is clear that there are places where we would not want guns.  We might disagree on where those places are, but that is all.  Are there some who think that no one should ever have guns?  I bet I can find some.  But to lump everyone into one huge category like this is not accurate at all.  I would bet that the actual number of people who are in this category is statistically small.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, they don’t eat meat. If a liberal is, they want to ban all meat products for everyone.

I would love to know where this great banning of meat products comes from.  I have never heard anyone say this to me.  I have met several vegetarians in my lifetime.  Go figure.

If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy. A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

There is so much in this one sentence.  First, the “seeing” of the threat.  There is a difference between perceiving a threat and there actually being one.  I would hope that we give as much thought as we can afford before running off to kill someone.  Sure, go kill the enemy if you have to.  There are times when this is necessary.  But consider alternatives before doing that.

If a conservative is homosexual, they quietly enjoy their life. If a liberal is homosexual, they loudly demand legislated respect.

I’m not sure what to do with this. If any person or group feels that they want or need a law for some reason, they have a right to do that.  We have many many laws.  Why pick on homosexuals?  Would they be asking for these laws if they did not find it necessary?

If a black man or Hispanic is conservative, they see themselves as independently successful. Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection.

Really? Seems rather presumptuous to put oneself into another’s mind to state how they see themselves.  Despite what some feel to be the case, not everyone who is successful is a conservative. And conservatives do not OWN work ethic.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

There are certainly are some people who are very dependent on the government.  That exists everywhere. However, many so called liberals have worked hard and made their situation better. I bet there are some conservatives who have needed government help at some point.

If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down.

This is a pure invention.

I realize that conservatives have been claiming that some people want to shut them down.  I have not seen any evidence of this.  I challenge anyone to produce a pamphlet, petition, letter, court filing, plea, or any other evidence of this.  They never will.  Because it is pure fabrication.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church. A liberal wants any mention of God or religion silenced.

There are many liberals who believe in God.  So perhaps the statement is right “A” liberal wants God or religion silenced.  One person.  Again, this is a gross generalization.  An attribute of a few is extended to apply to a much broader group.

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that his neighbors pay for his.

Do we really want all health care to be about what someone can afford? Is it really all about all for me none for you?  Not having enough money means a person should just go away and die?  By this standard, all conservatives should be rejecting medicare.  All of them.  Go ahead. Do it.  Make your actions speak.

Do you really want health care to be connected to your job?  The problem is that people who get really sick might not have a job any more.  What do they do? Die? Live on the street?  Do we really want to live in such a mercenary society?

I am surprised that companies still even want to provide health insurance.  What they spend administering those plans no longer makes any sense.  I would think that separating health insurance from a place of work would free companies to have to deal with these things.  This would reduce their overhead and they could focus on what their companies really do well.

I care because Trinidad and Tobago can be a better place. The potential is there. Yet it seems like most are willing for the stupidity to continue.

I was going to talk about party loyalty today. And I will to an extent. To those of you who cling to the PNM know this. You are no different than anyone in any other country who associates themselves with a strong party loyalty. That is admirable to a degree. However, undying loyalty to any political party can be a poison that can destroy the very thing you are trying to protect. I’m not saying you should abandon the party. However, if they are not doing the job you think they should be doing, why sit on the side line and let it happen?

If you hired someone for a job and you really liked that person, but they were doing a bad job, wouldn’t you fire them? If you hired a guy to build a fence and a week later it fell over because it was poorly built, would you hire that guy again? I sure wouldn’t.  Why then would you accept a dysfunctional government who does close to zero to solve or alleviate some of the countries problems?

Perhaps Trinidad is too small of a country.  Let’s see.  Iceland has a population of 350,000.  And they don’t have the significant crime problems that are ruining the paradise of that sweet Caribbean isle.  Trinidad and Tobago is becoming a lawless wasteland.  And the longer you wait to fix it, the worse it will be and harder to fix.  You know they say a stitch in time saves nine.  Well, there you go.

Call on the people that you elected to do something about crime.  You hired them to do a job.  Now you should expect them to do that job.  There are only two reasons that they are not doing the job the were hired for.  Either they don’t know how to do the job or are unwilling to do the job.  If you are unwilling, you should be fired.  If you don’t know how, then find someone who does know.

Personally I think Patrick Manning is not the sharpest tool in the shed.   I might be wrong.  That shouldn’t be a disaster.  But it appears that he does not care.  And you hired him to care.  You hired him to do a reasonable job at a minimum.

For all practical purposes, Trinidad has a government that can sit on their ass while everything goes to shit.  Why should they care?  No one else does.  People get all the government they deserve.

So what is in the future?  Complete lawlessness?  Everyone carries around an uzi, Glock or M16?  Is that what it will come to?  Who would want to live in that?

I trust that you really care but don’t know that you can make a difference.  You should know that you do not have to accept such utter incompetence.

I’m urging a letter writing campaign taught to me by one John N. Morgan.  This is devilishly simple to do.  Have you ever sent a post card?  That’s how easy this is.  A postcard is a predefined size accepted internationally.  Only the size matters.  You can use virtually any card.  Get yourself some thick plain white card stock and cut several to the right size if you must.  I said it was simple, but I did not say it was easy.  This is actually easy to do on a computer printer.  Print out in big letters “I Care about my country. Do Something About Crime”.  Hand write it with a marker.  It does not matter.  Next you will need some stamps adequate for mailing a postcard.  You will need two addresses.  Get the address for YOUR representative and the mailing address for the PM.  Here is where you can get creative.  Pass some out to friends and ask them to mail them.  The post cards will be pre addressed so all they have to do is get a stamp.  Send in one yourself every day.  I recommend mailing these over time.  You want these politicians to get a handful every day.  Try to run the program for weeks at a time.  They can toss aside one or two of these.  But it will get their attention after they get 100 or 1000.  Teach others to do the same.  What you have is a lazy employee who should care much more than he is showing.  Do something to show that you care and therefore he should also.

Good luck and God bless.

In Tienennen Square in China when the students stood up for democracy, they were holding signs with the Jefferson’s words on them.

The very idea of a bill of rights, which is the idea that people should have a list of rights to protect them from abuses of their own government come from Jefferson.

Why do I tell you about Jefferson?  Thomas Jefferson realized that a government had to continually renew itself.  He didn’t specify how this should happen.  He stated that there should be a revolution every hundred years.  There is no telling if he meant a physical revolution or not.  By all accounts he does not seem to have been a person who espoused violence.  Elections as we know them today are sometimes like little mini revolutions.  They allow for a new place for the emerging ideas and philosophies.  It isn’t the taking of power that is so important.  What is more important is the change in thinking.  A society must think differently.  This change can occur over a long time or a short one.  But it does change.

The French Revolution took place in 1789. However, if you look back at some of the writings leading up to it, there was a change in thinking that was happening.  At that time, information and thoughts flowed much slower than today.  One thing is certain, all political revolutions are preceded by a revolution in thought first.

I want to be clear that I am NOT talking about any sort of armed revolution or violence.  A society built from violence will only bring sadness, pain and death to itself in the long run.  I am talking about a revolution of IDEAS and THOUGHT.

Be open to changing your thinking.  Don’t be concerned about whether you can change everything in your society or not.  Look at the man in the mirror first.  That is the person who needs to change their thinking.  How to do that?  Ask questions of yourself.  Is this the society that I want to live in?  Is it acceptable that my government act that way?  Is that how I would act?

This is one reason I despise an over developed sense of loyalty to a political party.  Write a letter to your representative.  Tell them what you think.  In a country like Trinidad, it should be easy to hand deliver the letters if you wanted to.

I realize this takes work.  This takes effort.  This takes time.  This takes resources.  You must pay attention to what is happening.  Yes, even thinking takes effort.  It can be frustrating.  Are you willing to accept what is?  Are you appalled that your politician often behaves in a childish manner?  It is one thing to accept something that is not ideal.  It is quite another to accept something that is a complete mess of incompetence,  hardheartedness and arrogance.

In spirit, all democracies should be government of the people,  by the people and for the people. How close does your government get to this ideal?  Think about this one.  Usually, it is the “for the people” part that they forget most readily.

I was pleased to find out a few days ago that there is a TV station from Trinidad that broadcasts over the Internet. IBN TV8 has a barely viewable video stream.  But it is there nonetheless.  Two days ago, I was watching it because my brother sent word that he and his wife would be on it.  I watched as they talked about the sheer absurdity that the island nation has become.  Children are being killed and disappearing.  Many times no one knows where they disappear to.  This might be news to some.  However, if you live in Trinidad, this isn’t news to you.   I’m not here to talk directly about any of those things.  I am here to try to touch a part of your mind.

A society that lets crime run roughshod over it without fighting back is not headed to a pleasant end.  As crime and violence are tolerated, it only encourages more crime and violence.  The country is headed to a precipice and seems prepared to jump right off. Being a small country, this has much larger systemic ramifications than bigger countries.

In larger countries, crime waves can usually be contained in certain geographical areas.  They usually do not pose a risk to the entire system of government.  In small countries, such break downs in the rule of law, if left unchecked, can result in a challenge to the government and the way of life itself.  Look back at Colombia and the government war with the drug lords.

What can I do?  I don’t live there?  If you live in Trinidad, what can you do?  Anything?  Do you feel powerless?  Do you think someone else will take care of the problem?  Do you even care?  Is your only concern when the next party is or how much rum you can drink?

I’m here to tell you that you can make a difference. Yes you.  You the little old lady who can barely walk.  Yes the able bodied man or the petite librarian.  Each of you can make a difference.  All you have to do is care and know that you can.  Is it too hard for you?  Is the country worth it?  Would you like me to tell you want to do?

I don’t have a detailed plan for you. I can tell you that paying attention to what your government is doing is very important because what those guys do will affect your life and the lives of your children.

I don’t live in Trinidad and my influence will be minimal.  But I will do what I can.  And the first thing will be to start to engage anyone who will listen and read.

If you are reading this, pass on the link to someone else.  Let’s engage in a dialogue.

Very funny.  I really like it.

This is dedicated to my friend Sonny who I have known for so many years.

You rock!

I got the picture above in an email from a friend.  I noticed in the email trail  someone commented that they were scared.  Were they really scared or just trying to evoke fear in others? There are numerous reasons not to be scared.  Our current president is:

• thoughtful
• intelligent
• wise beyond his years
• has excellent leadership skills
• is not afraid to engage in open discussions
• Wants to be very open
• Is not afraid to make mistakes
• Is willing to admit when he makes a mistake
• will never always be right and knows it
• wants to engage his political rivals but has not done a good job of that yet

As we move through time, there are paradigm shifts.  Some are small and others are big.  It is a time when some or many of the rules as we know them no longer apply.  We know about several of these throughout American and world history. The American revolution, the American Civil War, the industrial revolution, the Great Depression, WW1 & 2, the end of the Soviet Union, the printing press, computers, Internet to name a few.  That is what we are seeing here. The financial meltdown has caused many rules to change.

In each of these rule changing scenarios, embracing their new rules has been key.  Those who adapt are doomed to failure.  We cannot be luddites and expect to smash factories thinking that we can put things back the way they were.  When Germany invaded Poland, the Polish army were trying to fight the tanks on horseback.  Poland did not understand the new rules.  In any given population, a fraction are early adopters.  They see and understand the new rules.  One key element of success in this area are leaders that understand these new rules of engagement and can communicate this to others.  I believe we have such a leader now.  And he is asking us to embrace a new way of thinking.  We are being challenged to throw out the old R vs D thought process.  That is not an easy thing to do.  Most people can only understand things within their own frame of reference.  And so, it is easy for them to see elected officials as D or R, Conservative, Liberal or Libertarian.  When a person uses a label like this, in their minds they are attaching a set of attributes to such a person.  In reality, no person can really be so described.  These labels no longer work because all the attributes connected to them are blurring.  It was the Bush administration that came to ask for the original bailout money.  Now the Obama administration is continuing that approach it is being attacked as some form of socialism.  In terms of actions, the lines have blurred because both administrations have acted the same.

To be scared of a government is bizarre.  People should never be scared of their government.  A government should be scared of their people.  Perhaps it is the uncertainty that they are scared about.  It is true that our future is uncertain.  I contend that no one knows what will happen a year or two years from now.  We do not yet fully understand the new rules.  We know that corporate jets are a no-no.  That’s a new rule.  Same for bonuses.  A very taboo subject in these times.  Don’t invest money with a guy named Bernie.  Everything is unfolding before our eyes and every day something new comes along.  It has never happened like this before.  The pace of change is staggering and we are able to see these changes almost minutes after they occur.

If there is one characteristic I would attribute to President Obama is “PRACTICAL”. He is not an ideologue.  It is the first time in my lifetime where I felt my government was attempting to be honest and realistic about what they can achieve.  Maybe this will not be ultimately successful.  I cannot say.  But I do appreciate the concept and that he is willing to try.

The presidential campaign released some nasty elements within certain segments of the population .  Some people really believed that Obama is “a good actor” or “just a person who can speak well”.  In other words, he has no character of his own.  And so some believe that he is hell bent to deliberately destroy the country.  Hence the “secret muslim” and such nonsense.  While I believe GWB is an idiot and highly incompetent, it was never personal with me.  I never wished him harm, even in my mind.  I never wished him failure although I felt certain that he could never succeed because of his own shortcomings.  And I disagreed with him on many things, but mostly in areas where he crapped on the constitution.

And so we have those who believe that under no circumstances can President Obama ever do anything right.  They talk about being scared that he will do X?  Whatever X is.  I don’t know where this is coming from.  Some are definitely racist.  I suspect that this is a fraction.  Others just fear the unknown because of the times we are in.  And yet still, he is not a Republican or self ascribed conservative.  He does not belong to the tribe and therefore cannot be good.  Where these things come from does not matter.  Each person must search their own conscience.

I ask a few things of those Obama skeptics.  Continue to be skeptical but do so with calm intelligence and facts.  Do not let rumors, heresay and conspiracy theories get the better of you.  Understand that in a democracy, no one gets everything they want.  Have conversations with people of opposite view points(this goes for everyone).  Try to find out what that person sees that you don’t see. And lastly, give him some benefit of the doubt.

Up until recently,  the Saddleback church had a written doctrine of not accepting gays to join.  The way it was stated was that any gay person could not join the church unless the were repentent of the sin of their gayness.  This has been recently removed from the church web site.  So it isn’t too surprising that when Warren was chosen to give this invocation, the LBGT community was not happy.

First let me address the political side of this.  In asking Warren to give the inaugural invocation, Obama is symbolically reaching out across a chasm he has to breach.  Remember that little thing about him being a secret muslim?  Also, Obama did promise to bring people together.  And the way you do that is by including others who do not necessarily agree with you on all things.  By including Warren in the inauguration, Obama is sending a message to evangelicals that they are part of the broader community also.  The other thing to realize is the Warren got some heat from his followers for accepting the invitation.  So, it isn’t all in one direction.  By Warren accepting, he is extending an olive branch in the other direction.

Now let’s get on to the good parts.  I think Saddleback church is dead wrong on this issue.  If it is still their policy or not, I have no idea.  But I see this as a flaw in their ideology.  They don’t get it.  Jesus never preached that we should be evaluating anyone before trying to minister to them.  In fact he preached the opposite.  How many times in the new testament does it say how Jesus was hanging around with tax collectors.  And the community thought it was scandalous.  I suspect that if Jesus were here today, he might very well be hanging out in the midst of homosexuals.  Sure.  why not?  Now my point here is not to equate tax collectors in Jesus’ day with homosexuals today.  No.  My point is that if one is to truly follow Christ, one must put aside all notion of who is socially acceptable.  Be humble.  Realize that we are not better than them.  Whoever “them” is to you.  Even if you have the insight that someone else isinful, realize that you are sinful as well.  And you cannot measure your sin against another’s and say that yours is less.

Luke 6:42

How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out that splinter in your eye,” when you cannot see the great log in your own? Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter in yours.

And…

Matthew 9:13

Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. And indeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners.’

If Rick Warren and Saddleback church really believe that homosexuality is a sin, then they should be trying to get as many gays  into their church as possible.

Stop saying that I am righteous and you are not.  Stop saying that I am good and you are bad.  Stop saying that I pray and go to church and you don’t.  These are not things that lead to God.

And this is why I think that no one gets it.  They have all entirely missed the point.

Feds take Gov of Illinois into custody

December 9, 2008 at  8:10 AM
A source said today that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning. The U.S. attorney’s office would not confirm the information.

A Blagojevich spokesman said he was unaware of the development. “Haven’t heard anything — you are first to call,” Lucio Guerrero said in an e-mail.

He is innocent until proven guilty.  However, they have him on tape trying to get money or other favors.  I hope he is convicted and gets 20 years.  Anyone who corrupts the political process like this should be guilty of treason.