Baltimore Riots, Sign of the Time by Robert R. Odle, Ph.D.

Baltimore Riots .. sign of the time Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

...The root cause of all suffering ....

It is one thing to suffer, it is another thing to suffer, and for those around you to blame you for your own suffering.  No one choses suffering, poverty, drugs and misery.  You don’t wake up one day and say gee, I want to be jobless with minimal education and no prospects for anything getting better.  Obviously, your parents were not any help, your friends and family were not any help, and lastly, your society was not any help in guiding you to the promise land, the land of milk and honey that America used to be.

The people that are struggling in this society are not choosing to suffer any more than the people in Nepal chose to be poor and to be hit by an earthquake.  America is failing, failing to take care of the weakest among us.  Unlike most of the Western World, we do not make sure our people do not starve, do not die from treatable ailments, do not lose hope from despair.  We do not see that justice is done for even children arriving at our shores looking for help, or adults willing to risk all to come to America.  Instead, we judge people and condemn them for their shortcomings.  We have become a society of condemnation instead of acceptance and compassion.  We are dominated by fear instead of love.  We have a belief in authority and do not hear the cries of the common man.  We mock countries like Australia and Denmark that take care of everyone as being inefficient and not maximizing their GNP.  We ignore the lack of jobs in America and then blame those that are unemployed.  We assume because we know how to make money in America that we are a good county despite the data to the contrary.

As a country, we can find compassion and start addressing the suffering that is occurring in this country, or we can watch it all go down the tube.  We are no longer the greatest country on this planet.  We are strongest and meanest kid on the block, nothing more.

There is Never, Ever, Going to Be Enough Jobs, by Robert R. Odle, Ph.D.

There is Never, Ever, Going to Be Enough Jobs Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

The Current Modus Operandus is Insane....

More Americans are unemployed or underemployed than ever before, see labor participation rate.  And yet, the Americans that are working are putting in longer hours, working harder and are under more stress.  Company profits are great.  Company coffers are full of cash, $1 billion in Apple alone. Poverty levels in America are at an all time high. Trillions of dollars in college and war debts.  More super-rich every day.  The haves and the have-nots.

There is never-ever going to be enough jobs again….

It is sad but true, there is never-ever going to be enough jobs again.  Good jobs are going to be even more scarce.  And it is never going to get better.  In the U.S. there are two major causes for job destruction:1) automation (computers/robots/artificial intelligence) and 2) outsourcing.  This job destruction is going to go at an geometric rate as computing power increases whereas economic growth is going to be linear and small.  Good jobs, professional jobs, are now beginning to disappear and that will continue at an accelerating rate.  The trends are already obvious.

What are our options

There are two general options: 1) We can become a society of haves and have-nots. This is already happening and it is going to get much worse.  Imagine a jungle of humanity and the Have’s living in a fortified city. 2) we can learn to share starting with jobs and education.  

Option #1 The Haves and the Have Nots

Our cultural biases has already lead us to Option #1 and we will probably continue on this route until some type of cultural breakdown. We believe a man should not eat unless he works.  This option is followed because WE believe people are lazy and don’t want to work.  We ignore the data that there is not enough jobs now and that there will less jobs in the future. So we continue to emphasis the fallibility of the poor and ignore the lack of opportunity.  The Option we have taken does not seem very compassionate.

Option #2 Sharing the Wealth

Option #2 takes a new vision.  In this vision, improved efficiency from technology leads to more leisure time, production is only limited by the corresponding needs of humanity, and work becomes a privilege.   In this option, we share work and enjoy our leisure. We work 25 to 30 hours a week, if we are of the privileged.  As time progresses, in this option those that work pay for the privilege.  The rest of humanity develops their creativity and their ability to enjoy life.  Those without the privilege of work learn to volunteer for their fellow man, help developing countries evolve into this new world of working to contribute instead of working to have more stuff.

Is this possible?

First, most business is not limited by capacity, they are limited by customers.  As the employed decreases the number of customers decrease.  Its a downward spiral, a flaw in capitalism that only maximizes wealth for the shareholder. As an example, I saw a 33 acre wallboard plant under roof in Florida that had 18 workers including bosses, secretaries, and three shifts.  The only workers there monitored the computers and handled maintenance problems when the computer alerted them.  At the back end, truckload after truckload of wall board went off to Home Depo, etc.  Thats the future.  You need not apply for work here.

Extreme Wealth is More Problematic

This new vision of the world, where people share work, wealth and education with all, will probably not work when the super-rich, the top 10% own 80% of the wealth in America. Progressive taxation on all forms of income, including capital gains, will be necessary to usher  in this new world.  Countries like Denmark and Australia, and many of the Scandinavian countries have many of the traits of this new vision of sharing.  

Investment in Infrastructure

Of course, even to share wealth, jobs, and education there needs to be considerable investment in infrastructure (roads, bridges, high speed internet, colleges, job training, etc.) to keep the U.S. competitive internationally.  China has given us a good example of how to do this in lifting 600 million out of poverty.

Cultural Changes Required

What must happen to move into this new world?  One, we must accept the obvious, there are never going to be enough work. There will be relatively good and bad times, but unless someone can slow automation of work, the overall trend seems inevitable. For example, as baby boomers get out of the work force, there will be a temporary shortage of workers, easily filled by relaxing immigration restrictions, but man’s creative genius will continue to automate and reduce the need for human work.

A fraction of all workforce can with the help of technology produce all the good and services needed by all of humanity.  The services and skills of most people will not be required to maintain a good quality of living for all.  This is the new reality.  It is already here but we continue to work under old cultural norms that are not relevant, in fact, they are counter productive.

Do I expect many to buy this story.  Nope.  Very few.  As a process engineer I never cared who agreed with me if I was on the side of mother nature (gods of chemistry and physics).  Likewise here, the evidence is clear that we are in a paradigm shift where are old values and culture have missed major changes in the world and in this country.  And sadly, holding on to the old popular vision is keeping us in the current insanity … the rich are really enjoying our confusion.   

Future Discussions …

Side Benefits/Traits of this New World

• How would a minimum stipend impact America?
• What would be the impact of paying all workers a living wage?
• How can we convert our medicine into one that promotes health instead of treating illness.
• How do we will learn to coach more, to encourage out fellow traveler and judge less.

How do Republican Governors show their Compassion for the Uninsured? by Robert R. Odle, Ph.D.

Republican Governors with Compassion Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

Well, its no surprise there are many more uninsured in Florida and Texas than NY and Ca.  Republican states did not accept the federal money to extend medicaid's upper limit to match with the lower income level for Obamacare. Of course it means more suffering and deaths for those without insurance in those states. I  do not understand why the governors of Texas and Florida did not accept money that would have made the life of their poor people better?  Is there some reason besides lack of compassion?

Texas and Florida Face Higher Uninsured Rate than New York and California.

Florida's Rick Scott is the big loser on this front, with 21 percent of his constituents uninsured. He's already rejected the expansion, even though more than a fifth of his state's population.   Actually, we should say, the poor people in Florida are the big losers, but who in America cares about them?  Why do they need medical insurance?

Political Apathy and Our Downfall by Robert R. Odle, Ph.D.

Political Apathy and Our Downfall Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

The first President that I remember on tv was Eisenhower.  He was a no nonsense military leader, a poor speaker, and scary accurate on the Military Industrial Complex Taking over our country.  Of course, wise men in our past is not big in America, sad.  

The first election I remember was Robert Kennedy and Nixon.  Kennedy was charming, but he was a CATHOLIC.  My god, could a Catholic make a good President.  Very similar to a black man (Obama) or a woman (Clinton?) making a good President.  But, the difference back then is that we debated the issues in debate clubs across America.  We didn’t name call, except for the Catholic stuff (so we were not perfect), and we discussed what would be best for our country.

There seem to be four general categories of people in American politics today 1) those that are apathetic, 2) those that think the Republicans are giving the country to the rich, 3) those that think the Democrats are giving the country to the poor, disadvantaged, the immigrants, and cheaters and 4) those that think the system is broken, a subset of the apathetic mostly.

We believe our story, the story of our party.  But do we ever examine whose facts line up with reality?  Take a look at the Social Progress Index.  America is 16th overall (and falling), but in some areas we are pitiful. "For the United States, the results are sobering. Though the United States ranks sixth among covered countries in terms of GDP per capita, we only achieve 16th place in social progress. In terms of success in meeting the basic human needs of our citizens, equipping them to improve the quality of their lives, and opening up opportunity for every citizen to meet his or her full potential, the United States is well below major G7 nations, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan."

With regard to tolerance and inclusion (compassion), we rank 17th.  In meeting meeting basic human needs, we rank 21st.  Denmark, that I visited and blogged on last week, ranks first in meeting basic human needs.

So we are not taking care of the poor, the disadvantaged, the sick, etc.  We have the money to do it, but we don’t.   

If you are not good with graphs … this means the rich and super rich are getting your money, not the poor people.  Get used the idea, we are fighting from the crumbs falling off the rich man’s table.  This is consistent with the Social Progress Index that says the U.S. does a poor job taking care of basic needs (food, shelter, health care) for its people.  

We are not exceptional, we are not even good in taking care of the basic needs of our people.  But, luckily, we are apathetic … we don’t care, and besides many of us believe despite the data that the poor people, especially the immigrants, stole our money.

 

Republican/NRA Insanity in Tennessee by Robert R. Odle, Ph.D.

NRA Insanity in Tennessee a Good Citizen of Humanity

There is some insanity going on in Tennessee.   NRA is having convention and most of the Republicans candidates for President are invited to speak.  Tennessee which is 75% Republican wanted to show appreciation for the NRA for bringing 70, 000 people to come to Nashville.  So they started working on some new laws and rules:

1. Local laws that prohibit guns in parks are outlawed by State law. However, signs prohibiting guns in park may stay up they just don't count.

2. Democrats attempted to amended the bill to say people can bring guns into the legislature.  This amendment failed. Parks are okay, but not okay for the environment in which those laws are passed.

3. At the NRA exhibition hall all guns must be made non operational.

4. Guns are allowed in the convention when the Republican candidates are speaking. Permits will not be checked. They be operational and concealed.

5. And then there is this guy nick-named Rambo in Nashville that walks around with assault guns outside of schools. He has a permit so its legal.

6. So, because of The Rambo guy, the legislation is debating passing a law that fake guns, like squirt guns, are illegal near schools.  Real guns are okay still.

7.  And who is coming to this insanity party?  All but two of the Republicans candidates for President will be there giving speeches to impress the NRA.

The latest Social Progress Index has just been published and the U.S. is sliding down the list in many areas.  In terms of access to basic education, of a 130 countries, we are 43rd.  But that is okay, we are number one in access to guns.  What a country!   

Our Belief in Authority, a prejudice against the small man. By Robert R. Odle, Ph.D.

Our Belief in Authority a prejudice against the small man a Good Citizen of Humanity

We tend to believe those in authority, or some of us do.  I am a white man and my experiences with authority are reasonable although not perfect.  But if I was a black man, perhaps my experiences would be different and I would not believe people in authority.

Another black man has been shot.  It is very similar to the Hispanic gunned down by four police in California last month.   The cop shooting the black man was charged with murder.  The hispanic was an illegal immigrant, so apparently it was alright to shoot him.  He did throw rocks at cars and was probably mentally ill.  So, no charges against these police.   

And then there is Rodney Jones killed because he sold single cigarettes.  Does this wrench the gut out of you to know that police are arresting/harassing a man for trying to make a living selling single cigarettes. I am not big on cigarette smoking but I know a person with an addiction and no money sees Rodney Jones as a savior.  Police see him as a threat.  A threat to what, collecting more money (taxes) from those that are buying single cigarettes.  Have we sunk so low that we have to bleed blood from a turnip.  And, does it make anybody else sad as hell to know that is what our police force is doing?  Not to mention they killed someone over it.

It hurts me to see these videos.  It makes me cry, my throat clinch and it's hard to breath.  Am I the only one that finds this painful and unacceptable. It is the rare exception that a police officer gets charged with killing a black man, apparently never for killing an Hispanic, especially an illegal. Have we become that hard as a nation?

So, what is it about authority that we assume they are right and the citizen is wrong. Even when there is what appears to be evidence to the contrary, we (meaning grand juries) declare nothing is amiss.  The prosecutor works with the police so he can’t be impartial and try to get a conviction of a team member, a policeman (that is part of the police force that he needs to work with on an ongoing basis).  So I understand why he comes up short with presenting a convincing case with the grand jury , but why do we put up with it and not demand reform of the system. The new system would have a special prosecutor, someone out of state perhaps, when a policeman is the one being charged with a crime.  Why do we not rise up in anger over the injustice and demand a change to the procedure, the system? I'm guessing not everyone feels the pain I do when I see the videos?

It comes back to why we line up behind authority?  We want to believe the authority figure is doing things right.  And when they are not, we tend to turn our heads.  I could give many more examples of this … but they would not answer the question of why we think those in authority are right and the abused are wrong.   It is very similar to why we always think our country is right in any conflict. (See the new Social Progress Index.)  If our country does it, they must be right.  If the police do something they must have a reason.  

Is it our fear that if authority figures are wrong there might be something wrong with the entire system, the entire culture.  Perhaps we are not as great as we think we are. Our police are no better than in other countries where the authorities are abusive to citizens. We might be just like others in the world.  Would our compassion then have to extend to all of mankind? and ourselves?  Would we then be able to be judgmental about the failings of other countries, of the poor, of immigrants, etc. Just who would be the good guys and the bad guys? Perhaps that would be our first lesson in compassion.

Drones and Compassion by Robert R. Odle, Ph.D.

Drones Good Citizen of Humanity

If someone was firing drones into our country killing innocent citizens would they be considered terrorists?

If we fire drones into another country (without permission) are we considered terrorists?

Much of what I am going to say here comes from two sources:

Living under Drones, Stanford and NYU law schools, and

Discontent and Its Civilizations, Mohsin Hamid.

Pakistan is one of the countries we fire drones into.

We fire lots of drones into Pakistan, as of last year there were 367 strikes killing between 2541 and 3586 people.  Yea, about the same amount as in 9/11.

Of course, we only kill the bad guys …

Let’s look at how we define who is bad … quoting from the report above:

From the Stanford report:

IF THERE IS any misconception that the drone strikes are primarily counterterrorist in nature, aimed at key leaders of international terror networks, this can be dispensed with. The report from Stanford and NYU highlights research separately conducted by Reuters and by the New America Foundation that comes to similar conclusions: the elimination of “high-value”targets—al-Qaeda or “militant”leaders—has been exceedingly rare, fewer than fifty people, or about 2 percent of all drone deaths. Rather, “low-level insurgents”have been the main targets of drones. The US drone campaign in Pakistan is thus largely a counterinsurgency operation, targeting men presumed to be intent on fighting US forces across the border in Afghanistan. In the media, the term “militant”is often used in describing drone casualties. The report makes clear that this blurs together two legally very different groups of people. A “militant”who is a member of the Taliban, planning to attack US troops, is not the same as a “militant”who normally herds livestock, carries a rifle, and today is sitting with other members of his clan to discuss a threat to his isolated village from a neighboring clan.

Furthermore, according to the report, the “current administration’s apparent definition”holds that any male of military age who is killed in an area where militants are thought to operate (and where, therefore, drones operate) will be counted as a militant if killed. This has allowed administration officials to make wildly unrealistic claims, disputed by even the most conservative analysts of drone casualties, that civilian deaths are “extremely rare”or have even been in “single digits”since President Obama took office.

If you disregard this novel definition ..you will arrive at an estimate that some 411 to 884 civilians have died in U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan … 168 to 197 children. (From the Investigative Journalism … )

If you have any problem understanding the above let me help you….

If we kill someone with a drone and he is in an area where we think there are bad guys then the person killed is a bad guy by definition.

Bush started the drone attacks and Obama has expanded them.  97% of Pakistanians are opposed to the attacks.  (That’s surprising!)

What effect is this having on the Pakistan Government?  It is undermining the faith of the people in their country’s ability to defend and take care of them.  We are in effect destabilizing the government of a nuclear power, much more powerful than Iraq, Afghanistan or ISIS. (Great plan since we are all powerful.)

Thank or curse your Military Industrial Complex once again …

For those of you that believe we do no wrong and that military power is all that we need, despite the failures of our military over the last 40 years, no action is required.  Sit back and believe we are good, they are bad, and we are doing the right thing.

For those of you that believe our military industrial complex is not so good in so many ways, please do you own research on how our government is using drones and the lack of checks and balances in the system.  I doubt if it will be possible, but we could hope one Presidential candidate will push for accountability for our drones by an independent third party.  And, I would suggest we spread the word about what our MIC is doing and hope enough good people care to slow them down.

The Role of Compassion

Finally, I think we need some compassion for all those families that are losing family members and friends from our drone attacks.  I could have added sad stories about families destroyed by our drones, but you can research that for yourself if you care.  And for ourselves, let us hope that we are not creating thousands of new terrorists from the survivors of drone attacks on their loved ones.

One Week of Exposure to Compassion in Denmark

One Week of Exposure to Compassion in Denmark Good Citizen of Humanity

I am in an airport lounge in Denmark waiting for my plane back to the states.  I have just spent a week working and living in Denmark, a very good experience.

Denmark is a very small country, you can compare to life in the United States, the official version.  But, mine is about impressions, a limited number for sure.  First, I have yet to see my first fat person, or even someone I would consider overweight.  Everywhere I look there is a beautiful body … Portion sizes at restaurants are small, and as you can see in the link they consume about half of the energy (electricity and oil) that an American consumes.  

There are no homeless people.  All people have medical coverage, retirement, a place (a flat) to live in whether they have a job or not.  If you have no job you will be provided with a place and an income quite sufficient to take care of yourself and your family.  They feel all people must be taken care of with the basics, food, shelter, doctors, etc.  You simply have to ask for help.  

The national budget is balanced, education costs for the individuals are modest, and they do have a reasonable size military for a country of 5 million.  They are well educated, most people speak from about 3 to 5 languages.  Houses are smaller, older, but quite substantial.  I’m guessing, but their footprint seems about 60% the size of an average middle class American home. They are built to last forever is my impression. The city I was in furnished hot water to all the homes for heat via radiators.  

Taxes are high, about 50% of your income is taken by taxes, but then again,  you have security throughout your life.  Of course, you don’t have 3 tv’s in your house, probably just one.  Cars are taxed heavily, a value added tax, so they cost 3X the amount in the U.S.  Plenty of computers, iphones, ipads, androids everywhere.  The traffic lights are smart, if you approach a light and no one if coming on the cross roads, it changes to green so you don’t have to stop.  Lots of traffic circles so you don’t have to stop has often.  Plenty of buses and trains.  Everything seems well maintained, I did not see any slums.  All the farmers fields are green, because that is the law … a crop must be planted to cover the field and prevent erosion in the winter.

Politics

Their conservative party is more liberal than our democrats.  The left are socialists and even the dreaded word, communists.  Of course, it is a democracy.  I love they feel the compassionate to take care of all their people, especially those that need help.  Their method is quite simple, the middle class shares with those that need help.  The middle class has less, just a little more than the poor … which aren’t really poor by American standards.

Fears

Of course, there is fear that those on the dole, since they represent a large minority, will vote themselves more and eventually take everything.  But, I am guessing there is still an ambition among those on the dole to move up to the working middle class even if it is a small step up.  So, I’m guessing no one wants to kill the golden goose.  And guess what, people still want to work, to have a career, and go to work everyday even though they don’t need to in order to survive. Who could imagine that in America?

Oh, not much violence here.  Yea, they still have abusive men and robberies and all the petty stuff … despite the fact that everyone is taken care of..  I’m thinking that there are always people that want more and are willing to break the rules to get there.  They have one tenth the incarceration rate as in America, surprise, surprise and instead spend it on people needing help.

Being a country with only 5 million, their medical system seems to take care of normal stuff pretty well, but they travel to other countries if they have something complicated. They are more likely to let someone die and not spend a fortune trying to keep them alive an extra month …

Global Warming  

They are pushing solar and wind power strongly in this country.  So much so they have the highest power costs in the world about $0.40/kwh, or about 4 X the U.S. rate.  But they use half as much power because their homes are designed to be more efficient.  So, on global warming they are doing their part -- the U.S. is unlikely to match them in this area.  We like our money too much, we are unlikely to spend it to help the world.

GNP versus Compassion, Caviar and Gutters

I would definitely like to see our country move more toward the Denmark model, it fits with my belief that I am my brother’s keeper -- and I would like to less greedy and selfish.  But, I think our religious right/Republicans think people are inherently bad and must be controlled and punished, so they would never trust people like they do here.  Our level of compassion for people in need would not even register on the scale here in Denmark.  They think here in Denmark that Obamacare is completely inadequate.  I do not believe I will live long enough to see Americans having enough faith in or compassion for  their fellow humans to become a Denmark.  Seeing a country that acts out the idea that we are our brother’s keeper makes me a little sad that we have chosen to worship the god of the GNP instead.  

I might add, their per capita GNP is about the same as ours.  So despite being a small country, with a system that we believe could not work, they do as good as us on average.  They just don’t have the wealth inequality we have where the top 10% get 80% of the wealth. In short, they don’t believe in a rich man dining on caviar as a poor man starves in the gutter like America does.

Of course, they are not as profitable as Switzerland or Norway, but of course, neither are we.  But again, GNP is not their god here in Denmark, its ours.