Wednesday, March 1, 2017

March 1, 2017



Phil Beaver works to establish opinion when the-objective-truth has not been discovered. He seeks to refine his opinion by learning other people’s experiences and observations. The comment box below invites sharing facts, opinion, or concern.
Note:  I often connect words in a phrase with the dash in order to represent an idea. For example, frank-objectivity represents the idea of candidly expressing the-objective-truth without addressing possible error or attempting to balance the expression.

The Advocate:

Our Views. The writer expresses strange concerns, yet obfuscates the directive:
“. . . our smallest desires might be attained by legislation or decree.” (By the Church?)
“. . . the narcissism of our politics, the narrowness of our generosity, the nastiness of reality TV.” (By liberal democrats?)
 
Who holds the above desires and egocentricity? To whom are these concerns directed? It does not seem the normal human condition to me.
 
I think most people, perhaps 2/3 of inhabitants want broadly-defined-civic-safety-and-security, hereafter Security, so that they can pursue the happiness they perceive rather than the dictates of someone else’s ideology.
 
The illusory “common good” the classical liberal writers pondered is a “public good” (James Madison, Federalist 10), only to the extent of Security. Beyond Security, each human being is too psychologically powerful to suffer the constraint of someone else’s dream, except by coercion and force, and then only with great resentment. The few who manage to break away from coercion and force have the chance to discover that they may perfect their person (Emerson and his source; see emersoncentral.com/divaddr.htm).
 
Baton Rouge may enjoy the pursuit of the-objective-truth anytime it seems desirable to the people. That’s a boastful statement, but iterative collaboration for “public-integrity” emerged from meetings at EBRP libraries among about fifty people, and its supporting theory exists in no other city.

Today’s thought. Ecclesiastes 7:8. My opinion is that Solomon expressed the importance of perseverance and the humility to do the work rather than expect to be taken care of because of self-assumed importance: maintain the motivation and inspiration to reach your goals.
 
Barge safety (Deloach). Thank you for allowing us to celebrate your accomplishments, and thank you for the increased Security.
 
Your goals are impressive and may be mimicked: “do a good job, be a good citizen, and focus on protecting the public, our crews, the environment, and our vessels with . . . zero-harm.”

“Every citizen in the country should be concerned when someone wants to . . . allow operations with foreign control and crews.”
  
Ilegals (Usner). Don’t forget, the liberal democrats falsely labeled illegals “undocumented workers.” 
 
Liberal democrats may reform anytime they perceive incentives. From what I heard in President Trump’s first State of the Union Address, incentives to join his initiatives are expected and will strengthen as they become realities. Most people want broadly-defined-civic-safety-and-security, hereafter Security.
 
 Froma Harrop column. Ms. Harrop, you have discovered your calling: Movie critic. Please take that career path.

Michael Gerson column. IMO, you are suggesting that we subscribe to propaganda films. 
 
You would not suggest a film that informs gay obsession with sex. At this point in time, Hollywood is not likely to produce a movie wherein gay partners contract to have a child through surrogacy and eventually the partners get a divorce because one partner fell in love with the child and they propose marriage. Maybe a movie about a monogamous gay couple covering their entire life exists, but I doubt it. Such movies can be written by creative thinkers.
 
 Perhaps Gerson is too busy writing to think past existing movies.
 
Lanny Keller column. Will you please write about reducing Louisiana spending instead of “push tax reform to voters”? Edwards is threatening $30 billion when it should be $18 billion without special interest politics.

Charles Krauthammer column.  Please. It seems immoral to mention Hillary Clinton let alone speculate she would reach beyond political cronies to create a cabinet. 
 
But I appreciate learning that “Germany announces a 20.000-man expansion of its military” and others will follow suit. And China won’t import coal from N. Korea in remaining 2017. Just as people don’t lie to each other so they can communicate (Einstein), President Trump does not lie to nations so that they may not lie to him.

 
State of the Union Address(Page 1A). I like the message, “join forces” for new greatness. President Trump expresses that message for the people. I hope Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and Independents reform so as to serve the people. I hope special interest caucuses recognize they are obsolete and also join to help establish public-integrity. No nation or people in history has tried to establish public-integrity. The opportunity has been left to us.

Sessions (Page 2A). Good message. Our civic examples should encourage people to collaborate for Security.

Washington leaks (Page 3A). With the people’s best interests at heart, I cannot imagine a more serious challenge than to rely on the chief officer of an organization much less an underling or competitive agent. Yet the media take it for granted. It is part of how they have eroded their credibility. 

Google shows the frequency of occurrence of the term “anonymous source” from 1972 (Watergate) to 2008 increased 450%. See books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=anonymous+source&year_start=1960&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Canonymous%20source%3B%2Cc0 .

Writers seem to be concerned with relationships with the law, the anonymous source, the source’s authority, and the intensity and motives for interest. There is little or no attention to fidelity to the-objective-truth. See http://www.spj.org/ethics-papers-anonymity.asp . Notice “Improving and protecting journalism since 1909.” Also, “The ‘anonymous source tracker’ at the website inkstainedwretch.com schaver.com/post/anonymous-source-tracker/ dispels any notion that anonymous sources are used rarely today.
  
Clean water (Page 3A). Grabbing rainwater runoff streams and such is federal overreach.

Black colleges (Page 3A). Everyone should be at the table of public-integrity. Special-interest agenda not so much. 

Black power and black theology institutions are of questionable fidelity to the-objective-truth. People have both red blood and the psychological power to perfect their unique person, and institutions that cling to the past may bemuse the person’s path and lessen possibilities for perfection.

I feel I had to turn to the future in order to free myself from the past.

Gaffe (Page 6A). Often, a mistake serves to re-establish priorities and strengthen future performance.

Bathroom bill (Page 7A). Fidelity to the-objective-truth promises success. Infidelity begs woe. When woe is begged, eventually it comes. I would not let the NBA or any other enterprise influence my commitment to physics and progeny, biology. Physics herein mean energy, mass and space-time from which everything on earth emerges. That includes lies, heartfelt beliefs, and politics.

Philippine apology (Page 10A). Good grief! This is a predominantly Catholic people of 100 million. A beheading there shames me, even though I claim no religion at all.
 
Other dialogues:

President Trump’s first State-of-the-Union-Address The DNC just can’t grasp that President Trump is merely approached by the GOP for favor. Whenever the DNC wants to serve the people, they can influence President Trump. Eventually, they will catch on or drop out by realizing they were replaced.

 
I do not like the word “society.” It connotes classism, subjugation of the lower classes, and veneration of the upper class by the subjects. I prefer civic connections or a civic culture.
 
Engineers serve a civic culture with public-integrity. Thus, if an engineer has the responsibility to design a chemical reactor, he or she works for broadly-defined-civic-safety-and-security.
 
First, the reactor, if it could blow up, will not blow up. If there is a more efficient chemical reaction that produces the same product, that reaction is chosen, unless an explosion with that reaction could not be prevented. If there are laws that impact the intended operation, they are observed. If the investors would be threatened by the intended reaction, a new one is sought. If the intended product is itself immoral, the engineer will not contribute to the production except under force. For example, my company would not produce a war-chemical. I hope you get the point: In all considerations, the engineer intends to serve a civic culture.
 
In civil engineering, the object is to design buildings, bridges, and other facilities that serve the purpose efficiently and will not fail the civic purpose.
 
Without a civic people to serve, the engineer has no purpose. I hope this answers your question, and if not, please let me know.
 
1 View · Answer requested by Geethma Pamunugama
 
 
If I may preach a little, your question does not express understanding, because it employs the word “society” and the phrase “our economic practices.” What society? Who constitutes the “our” respecting economic practices?
 
I prefer to think of civic connections, referring to willing collaboration so that persons here and now may conduct transactions with private-liberty-and-civic-morality. In other words, social morality, religious morality, and civil morality are insufficient for public-integrity. Public-integrity is possible in a civic culture rather than a society.
 
If that is understandable, we may address an alternate question: what economic practices would serve unalienable civic rights? Without analyzing alternatives, let me assume that the only viable economic scheme is collaborative free enterprise.
 
By collaborative I mean entrepreneurs observe the civic culture, perceive a need, and undertake to supply the needed product or service. The undertaking is a horrendous in that involves raw materials, processing the materials, situation of the process, labor, capital including profits, logistics, government approvals, other tasks and materials, and last of all risk. Quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson, “history delights to honor” the most serving entrepreneurs.
 
The collaborator in the free-enterprise is the customer and perhaps laborer in the process. Karl Marx was most concerned about the economics of the laborer. Unlike the entrepreneur, the laborer is not willing to assume the responsibility of perceiving a civic culture’s needs and willingly supplying that need. The labor wants to live a less risky, less demanding life. Erroneously, Marx thought the expansion of a civic culture’s needs would end, meaning the end of free-enterprise, and thus economic chaos, with no way for laborers to earn a living. Marx’s expectation has not happened.
 
In American free-enterprise, the laborer may be both consumer and partial owner in the enterprise, by saving and buying stock in the enterprise or another one perhaps with a more promising future. It is critical for the laborer to save & invest in order to accumulate wealth against unforeseen events and for retirement. Thus, for life, the laborer should live a reasonable life and save & invest enough of income to build the needed wealth. Because this life involves less risk it receives less reward.
 
It seems to me everyone has the inalienable right to choose a life of either labor or of entrepreneurship. In other words, your life is in your hands, if you receive the right coaching from you caretakers or parents. In question is whether or not our economic practices need reform. IMO, three reforms are needed.
 
First, the most menial laborer a civic culture needs or wants must be paid enough share of gross domestic product (GDP) to fund a livable lifetime. Key elements include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The percentage of income dedicated to save & invest is highest for this lowest job and it decreases as value of the job increases. To account for the fact that the human being often beholds current uncertainty more that future possibilities, the save & invest portion of income is probably invested for the laborer until severe need or retirement. People must work, the jobs must exist, and people who cannot work must be helped until they can serve in some capacity.
 
Second, public education must be on par with elite education, each newborn must be coached to know that he or she is a person of importance to the USA and be inspired to take personal responsibility to learn. There must be an incentives program to effect the recognition and motivation. If he or she emerges at age 30.5 as a civic young adult with understanding and intent to live a full life, an accumulation of incentives provided at each successful step in the person’s learning path will be awarded in full. Google “Phil Beaver + Child incentives brief” to learn more.
 
Third, the objective of education must be reformed from “training the workers we need” to transitioning the person from newborn infant to civic young adult. The key to civic adulthood is appreciation for and fidelity to the-objective-truth. For example, people do not lie so they can trust the other party’s response. The civic adult views career as a path of service and a vehicle for self-discovery.
 
Thus, a civic culture has economic practices that, after all infrastructural and civic provisions, assures a livable lifetime for the most menial worker. Each newborn is offered equal education and the education that is offered coaches the child unto adulthood. With these provisions, the consequences of each person’s lifetime may be in his or her hands.
 
I continually write these words and phrases. If they raise questions, please comment or question. I will respond.
 
1 View · Answer requested by Benjamin McGraw
 
Response to response:
 
I very much appreciate your response and think we are closer than you think in our concerns about the collaborative free-enterprise system: supplier and consumer willingly connect and transact. It’s an overall practice of which borrower vs lender is a detail. Social education rather than civic education has brought us to the present state of economic disaster.
 
Recall I spoke of entrepreneurial risks, naming “capital including profits,” and consumers “saving and buying stock in the enterprise or another one.” In a detail, management of capital-supply-and-profits is a responsibility that is shared by entrepreneur and laborer.
 
You address an aspect I would call money supply. It is as old a money. Jesus was a table-turning-brute about money exchangers 2000 years ago. Adam Smith tacitly said a person must have propriety in order to bear witness to civic morality, such as usury by the money supplier when an entrepreneur undertakes the risks to supply a perceived market. I take “propriety” in Smith’s context to mean education in the money-supply-business and its proper role in connecting willing entrepreneur with willing stake holders such as consumers and labors, which may be the same.
James Madison failed to address the issue of those with propriety vs the masses in Federalist 10. His idea was that people of high civic morality would be distinguished in the states, rise to national service for a term, and then return to sovereign citizenship. He noted that power might corrupt their civic morality, but did not know what to do about it. Term limits would help.

Madison’s thought processes were adversely affected by two considerations: religious morality and social morality. I’d be willing to meld the two and assert that they are insufficient: What humans need to support willing connections and transactions is civic morality; in other words, public-integrity.
 
I don’t know how you expected me to address “borrowers and lenders,” with the question you asked. One thing people don’t realize is that if they are not candid, they cannot expect accurate responses. In Albert Einstein’s expression and to expand from your particular obfuscation to the general, people don’t lie so they can communicate. Fortuitously, Einstein’s essay is posted online at My Friend Einstein? . I want to be clear that my suggestion to solve your dilemma is to educate the masses on par with the elites.
 
To solve the dilemma great thinkers could not solve yet is fundamental to confusion in 2017, caretakers for every newborn may motivate and inspire the child to trust that 1) he or she is a person of high value to a civic people and in the USA is free to pursue private-liberty-with-civic-morality; 2) he or she must take egocentric charge of his or her approximately 25 year transition from feral newborn to civic adult with the understanding and intent necessary to live a full life, and 3) just as he or she may serve (as laborer, professional, or entrepreneur) in order to connect and transact with a civic culture, he or she may iteratively collaborate for public-integrity.
  
Failure to participate in civic-morality begs woe in personal life.
 
I think your ideas are timely and I hope we work together on the education part of this moral debate. I am looking for someone with the economic expertise to speculate the thirty-year impact of the proposal found by googling [Phil Beaver + Child incentives brief]. I think it could push GDP to previously unimaginable levels.

Phil Beaver does not “know”. Phil trusts and is committed to the-objective-truth of which most is undiscovered and some is understood. Phil Beaver is agent for A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana, an education non-profit. See online at promotethepreamble.blogspot.com.

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