LEAP YEAR - IN AMERICA

 

2024 is a Leap Year -and- it's another election year as was, 2020 and 2016 etc...

Checking back, I discovered I was born in a Leap Year, not on a Leap-Day on February 29th - but a few months later...What does that mean for me, or you or anyone born in a year with 366 days? 

Because a Leap Year has 366 days is there a significance? Since, historically the United States has held federal elections every four calendar years in a Leap Year, I found that a rather curious fact. 

From 1792 to the present day, the United States has held a Presidential Election every four years, even when at war with itself. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President was elected to a second term in 1864.

Oddly enough, though an election occurs every four years, not every election year falls on a Leap Year. The reason is simple enough and is once again based on the Gregorian Calendar, which dictates that years marking the end of a century (ie: multiples of 100) are only leap years if also divisible by 400. As a result, 1600, 2000, & 2400 are leap years, but 1800, 1900, & 2100 are not.

This triviality is a minor blemish to the value otherwise provided by the simple generalization that U.S. Election Years are Leap Years. [Wikipedia, March 2024]

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Okay 'fellow-travelers' besides America's quirky [election] history and present, what does some/any of this mean for 2024-Main-Street-Voters? Well, you decide...Astrologically, leap years are known for bringing luck to our lives. Hmmm, does our inflation and/or national debt need luck...

Leap-Years often represent some of the best or most poignant times. In 2024, astrology aligns with the luckiness of leap years, presenting major opportunities for refocusing on life and new beginnings. During the week of February 29th, both Mercury and Saturn move into the heart of the Sun in Pisces, forming a cazimi. A cazimi represents a new beginning, where the planets merge their energies, helping us feel recharged and ready to take on the world. [Web Bing search] 

Jupiter’s positive influence adds to this auspicious time, encouraging us to become who we are meant to be and embrace love, success, and destiny. 

Oh my gosh -  liberal or conservative - WeThePeople, MainStreetAmericans know all too well that America's destiny is at a tipping point -and- tipping at a place where Germany was a hundred years ago and Venezuela was only 12 years-ago...

A great Hope fell
You heard no noise
The Ruin was [from] within
          — Emily Dickinson

And in the last five years the greatest leap of all has been in our currency as well as globally because our currency is traded globally. 

But shockingly a million of our dollars just doesn't buy what it once did less than one short decade ago. Suddenly every single project, every single investment, every single cost leaped to cost a Billion. Why was that? What happened? Then suddenly in a blink our national debt went from Billions to Trillions! What! That leap took less time than from millions to Billions.

So, I went looking. Scouring several places across the World-Wide-Web gave me no comfort. The transition from millions to billions in terms of cost is a fascinating shift. Supposedly that 'shift' reflects the immense scale of economic growth and financial transformation that snuck up on us over a very short time. 

What follows is what I found, and good luck sleeping tonight - sorry...

      Millions to Billions:

• Historically, the concept of millions was associated with substantial sums of money. For instance, a million dollars was considered a significant fortune.
• However, as economies expanded, technological advancements accelerated, and global markets evolved, the need for larger units of measurement arose.
• The shift from millions to billions occurred as financial transactions, corporate profits, and government expenditures reached unprecedented levels.

     Factors Contributing to the Shift:

• Economic Growth: Rapid economic growth, especially in the post-World War II era, led to increased production, trade, and investment. As economies boomed, the scale of financial transactions grew exponentially.
• Technological Advances: Innovations in computing, telecommunications, and transportation facilitated global trade and financial flows. Businesses and governments dealt with larger numbers due to increased connectivity.
• Inflation: Over time, inflation eroded the purchasing power of money. What cost a million dollars decades ago may now require billions due to rising prices.
• Corporate Giants: Multinational corporations, tech giants, and financial institutions operate on a global scale, generating revenues and profits in the billions.
• Government Spending: Public infrastructure projects, defense budgets, and social programs involve massive expenditures. These are often measured in billions.
• Financial Markets: Stock markets, real estate, and investment portfolios now deal with values in the billions.  [The abrupt shift from millions to billions [tipping to trillions] reflects the sheer magnitude of financial transactions globally and the ever-expanding centralized wealth via commerce.] 

• Real Estate: The median home price in the United States increased significantly, reaching $394,600. [factcheck.org].
• Billionaires’ Wealth: During the pandemic, U.S. billionaires gained almost $1 trillion in wealth, reaching a total of $3.88 trillion by October 2023. [CBS News]
• Inflation/Government Spending... U.S. National Debt is 34 trillion and growing $34,+++,+++,+++,+++ and so on.  There are more comas separating our ever-increasing number than were in my first short story. [America is bankrupt!] 
  
  
  Who is responsible? Each and every elected official who holds a public office Republican and Democrat - every last one...And us-voters who kept electing morally and ethically compromised fools, but we were too lazy to pick someone else, because we kept voting our party-line.

By shifting away from any one party to Independent I felt 'free' to look at and consider any person running for public office conservative and liberal. And that's exactly what I've done for the last 20 years.

 For any given election I've voted for people from both parties. 

Moving on...The abrupt shift from millions to billions [tipping to trillions] reflects the sheer magnitude of financial transactions globally and the ever-expanding centralized wealth via commerce. But where does this money-virus stop? Do we race beyond 9 zeros to 12 then 15? From Quadrillion do we go to Quintillion, followed by Sextillion then Septillion, Octillion, Nonillion, Decillion? ..."Home again, home again jiggety jig"... Really? Then what becomes the price of bread using Latin numbers with 100 sets of 000 after too many comas to count? 

Does where - our government spending/value of the U.S. dollar - headed seem beyond the ridiculous to you?  Just asking for a friend...

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is an award-winning mystery-suspense novelist and former journalist.

Author website: Patchwork Publishing, LLC

Where Is Eden? & Another Blended Not Shaken: Sherrie Todd-Beshore | Substack

MYSTERY SHE WROTE (intrigueinprint.blogspot.com)

 

GUNS...IN AMERICA

 

I resisted - until now - to tackle the controversy over "guns" in America/aka - "The Right To Bear Arms"...However, for some reason the latest mass shooting in Kansas City [after their Super Bowl Parade] was 'my' typing point.

What makes 'me-qualified' to weigh in-on this highly charged issue? We're all qualified fellow-travelers, because all of us at any time can become a mass-shooting statistic...

Sandy Hook [2012] should have been my tipping point, but it was so horrific I expected the mangers/politicians we/voters hire to serve in a public office, would step up. I expected them to address all the 'holes' surrounding the sale of automatic weapons or the sale of weapons to people in therapy or on mental medications or with criminal records or at gun shows or online sales or weak background checks...  But no that didn't seem to shake-their-world [enough] nor shake voters who proceeded one year later to reelect many of the same people during 2013 midterms. Years later, were mass shootings included as an election/social weakness issue in 2016? Nope, Trump proudly courted the misguided NRA, while Clinton remained mute.

Skip to the 2020 election and did we see gun-safety or automatic weapon reform featured as a campaign item - again - nope. AND, did the Earth shake during the 2022 mid-term election? NO, yet again, and not even after the amazing, cowardly incompetence of a dozen, supposedly active-shooter-trained police at Robb Elementary!

*The employees/politicians we/voters hire to manage the affairs of 'our' government are 'not' going to do anything about this country's MASS-SHOOTING EPIDEMIC unless 'we' vote them out/fire them from office [term-limits] and hire/vote for better quality people. People who will serve and listen to 'us' their employers... 

Okay. So really, what is all the fuss about that the NRA keeps pushing gun ownership so passionately and intently? Do they have partial ownership or stock in Colt or Smith & Wesson or Sig Sauer, Remington or Mossberg & Sons, or Glock Inc....

One more time: taken in the context of the year 1791 and why the Founders were acutely tuned into the reason for The Second Amendment was 7 years of war with England for Independence [1775-1783]. So, in context the 2nd Amendment had more to do with preventing government [even the new one they were forming] from slipping into tyranny - than arming every farmer, tailor, baker, and candle stick maker, present or future. 

The Second Amendment was based partially on the right to keep and bear arms in English common law and was influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689. Sir William Blackstone described this right as an auxiliary right, supporting the natural rights of self-defense and resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state.^[12] While both James Monroe and John Adams supported the Constitution being ratified, its most influential framer was James Madison. In Federalist No. 46, Madison wrote how a federal army could be kept in check by the militia, "a standing army ... would be opposed [by] militia." He argued that State governments "would be able to repel the danger" of a federal army.  He contrasted the federal government of the United States to the European kingdoms, "afraid to trust the people with arms", and assured that "the existence of subordinate governments ... forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition.  [Wikipedia, 2024]  

In the end, the ratification convention was so evenly divided between those for and against the Constitution that the federalists agreed to the Bill of Rights to assure ratification. In United States v. Cruikshank (1876), the Supreme Court ruled that, "The right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution; neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The Second Amendments means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress and has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the National Government."  [Wikipedia, 2024]  

In the 21st century, [2008] District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held the amendment protects an individual's right to keep a gun for self-defense. This was the first time the Court had ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to own a gun.  [Wikipedia, 2024]  

That would have been plenty of clarification for that section to the Bill of Rights except for the ruling of another case 8 years later to which the Supreme Court not only opened the floodgates for any and all firearm sales and ownership, it created a firearms 'stampede' I found even more surprising since the ruling was only 4 years after Sandy Hook...

In Caetano v. Massachusetts (2016), the Supreme Court reiterated its earlier rulings that "the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding" and that its protection is not limited to "only those weapons useful in warfare".  [Wikipedia, 2024]   

The 2016 case was about a woman who had used a stun-gun for self-defense, but the additional wording "not limited to only weapons useful in warfare" became a literal open-season for the sale of any and all firearms even military styles and types...The unintended consequences of 21st Century Supreme Court rulings forced all policing agencies to create military-style swat teams across the country and placed all community police officers at greater risk.

What Now? I'm weary of people holding public office who are in the butt-covering-business instead of the business of serving in the position for which they were hired. Reality check: the last 20 years both liberal and conservative politicians have been quite 'constipated' by an endless pattern of clogged decision making but Congress IS still our constituted law-making body. Regardless, our hired [Congressional] managers seem to be continually floundering. Therefore, perhaps, we might offer them ideas for direction they seem unable or unwilling to take: 

1.] All, of our 65 federal law enforcement agencies need to be networked. Never mind points for

arrests or convictions or who gets credit for what, just share data base information - period; Working Without A Net: MANDATES-LAW-&-POLICING IN AMERICA (workingwithnonet.blogspot.com)

2.] Background checks for the purchase of any weapon that shoots bullets should absolutely take time [45 to 60 days] to approve including on the form a detailed explanation of why anyone needs any automatic/military style weapon. I can understand a handgun or stun-gun for personal protection [though mace & pepper stray work just fine] or rifles for hunting - but we need to understand how any 'normal' person can justify an AR-15 that can fire 45 rounds per minute.

3.] All doctors and therapists must report anyone and everyone taking any medication for any emotional illness [including anger management] or medical condition [including seizure disorders]. They need to be denied the ability to buy a gun on a background check. Following privacy and HIPA law just the patient's Name with a simple Medical-Disability designation is all that would be needed. [How many times have we heard family members of mass shooters who relate their relative suffered from depression? But somehow, they were actually able to buy a gun legally including the woman who also had a criminal record - who went into the Lakewood [TX] church with her young son.]

4.] Standardize National Gun Safety Regulations. Presently, we have a patched system with each state on their own.

5.] All gun shows need to be licensed and all sellers licensed dealers and the sale of all firearms at all gun shows require the same background checks by retail stores. And - why isn't there monitoring of all transactions by ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives]? 

6.] No online firearm purchases or kits, none, zip, zilch, nada... 

7.] No gun patterns or gun parts for 3D printing.

8.] A comprehensive national mental health program. With call centers that friends or family can contact to get support for someone needing companionate help - but help if they could be a danger to themselves or others. 

9.] Any adult [parent or legal guardian] who owns a firearm must keep that firearm in a locked, safe location away from any and all minor children [18 and under]. If not - then the parent[s] and/or guardian[s] shall be held accountable for any injury or death caused by an unsecured firearm. 

10. Mandatory gun safety and gun proficiency classes. We must take driving classes then a written exam before we're issued a driver's license - why is buying a gun not regulated even half as much?

Because America's 'birth' began with a protracted, volatile struggle, that acute mentality continues to this day. I was born here, but with the advantage of growing up in Canada - I see the intensity difference and it's a stark one. But Main Street's nature brought and settled by the millions of [legal] immigrants who came with energy and innovation and creativity for a life of choices - seeks simplicity and joy and contentment and peace... 

We the voter were too trusting and stopped minding the store [state & federal legislatures] so it's up to 'us' to ensure that the country Main Street honors each July 4th, the country our military, border agents and police strive to protect - is truly a nation to celebrate...

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is a former journalist and award-winning mystery-suspense novelist.

Sherrie Todd-Beshore | Substack 

Patchwork Publishing, LLC

A CONSTITUTION...IN AMERICA

 

"The CONSTITUTION represented not a grant of power from rulers to the people ruled--as with King John's grant of the Magna Charta at Runnymeade in 1215--but a grant of power by the people to a government which they had created." [Chief Justice Warren Burger, U.S. Supreme Court, 1969-1986]

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This is an election year in the United States of America. What 'may' happen? Well, absolutely anything if previous years are an indication - why? Because the human-factor is oh-so unpredictable. 

Since I don't know astrology or how to read palms, tealeaves or Taro cards, I went the easy route. This year, 2024, the numbers 2+2+4= 8. In numerology the number "8" apparently follows Achievers. America, [actually the entire globe] could certainly benefit from the energy of Achievers, but not just any group of Achievers - only those with Ethics...  

"Of all the numbers in Numerology, the number 8 is the achiever and measures life by the goals it reaches. It has good business sense, a powerful presence, and a strong drive for success. The 8 is also a symbol of balance -- you can see it in its symmetrical shape."

America's Founders were the very definition of principled achievers. They were not only resolute, they also approached their monumental task [creating a new nation] with the best of intentions...

"Throughout the steamy Philidelphia summer of 1787, the fifty-five delegates to the Constitutional Convention often feared that all was lost. Disgusted, some returned home, but others remained to compromise...and compromise...and compromise... The questions seemed endless. Would big states dominate the small? Who had the power to tax? What were property rights? Then there were issues of trade, treaties, banks, westward expansion and the festering institution of slavery. In the end, the "Framers" agreed on a document whose objectives were set forth in the name of "We the People"... [David Osterlund, June 13, 1995]

......................

Osterlund's portrayal: compromise...and compromise...and compromise - is a remarkable description of just how determined the original Framers of our constitution were - not just to get it finished, but to get it right. Today, 237 years later how much compromise do we see in our Congress or Senate? How much cooperation? 

*We-the-People have come to expect none. Why is that? 

Liberal views and conservative views have become so polarizing that a Republican is seen as the rival of a Democrat and vice versa. Instead, all liberals and all conservatives should be governing partners. Partnerships bring a balance quality of another approach, of another perspective - in order to develop the best policies for the most people, most of the time. 

 With the evolution of a two-party system MainStreet typically hears from only half the elected voices, half the time. Then during an election cycle each party member is challenged to 'win' and not because they can necessarily better serve those who voted them into public office, but for control. 

Our Constitutional Framers never intended for this Republic to have a party-system, only delegates elected from each state. B-e-c-a-u-s-e, after the experiences of constant clashes in the British Parliament between the Whigs and Tories, creating any defined political party was specifically avoid by the Philidelphia delegates. The delegates who met in 1787 were in favor of individual representatives chosen by the People on merit and personal integrity to fill a Senate and Congressional seat and an Executive seat. That all changed with the divisive views on slavery. The southern states viewed slavery from a business perspective while northern states viewed slavery as a moral issue.  

Lost to time and some administrative tweaking/ignoring the original Framer's intent--was a newly formed nation that went from being ahead of its time, to 100 years later, firmly stuck in a stubborn patriarchal quicksand. 

*America was one of the last established nations to abolish slavery: Norway in 1274 and France in 1315 then between 1792 and 1847 Denmark, Haiti, Spain, England, Cuba, Mexico and Sweden had all outlawed the practice of owning another human being...

*Women in New Zealand, Finland, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Russia, Lithuania, Canada, England, Hungry, Estonia, Austria, Latvia, Georgia, Germany and Poland were all voting several years before those in [1920] America. 

*Except for medicine, America is still using the Imperial Measurment system, while the rest of the world uses Metric. 

*Since 1929, America's paper currency was the most counterfeited in the world, yet it remained little changed until 1990 when new designs with better deterrents were finally developed. But implementation still wasn't complete until 2000, well behind the rest of the globe that had changed their currency a full decade before. 

*Though all Senators, Congressional Representatives, their staff and all federal government employees have enjoyed a comprehensive healthcare plan - since 1959 - none of the rest of America's citizens have been offered anything near the same. Instead, MainStreet/voters/taxpayers have been left to cope with inflated healthcare costs [w/malpractice lawsuits] that have put millions of citizens at serious financial risk for the last seven + decades, but without receiving better care. A report by Gibbons Advisors stated that healthcare related bankruptcies spiked to the highest level in 2023. A Harvard study sighted that 62.1% of all bankruptcies were caused by medical related issues.  Working Without A Net: HEALTH-CARE IN AMERICA (workingwithnonet.blogspot.com) 

*Fifty years ago--while employers and governments all over the developed world began to offer either onsite childcare or subsidies for childcare as well as longer paid leave at home for new mothers--U.S. business and governments [those seeking reelection contributions from business] resisted such family support. 

*The cost of pharmaceutical drugs is significantly lower in other countries because they are also researched and developed via universities and hospital facilities. They are also 'not' marked up as if they were a luxury option. In America the free-enterprise system [contributing to many, many reelection campaigns] once again inflates the cost to develop medicines. Certainly, it may take years [so claimed] but all of that time and expense is also a tax deduction and working 'with' the FDA could also streamline research and development. 

*Public school education has deteriorated steadily since 1993 from 6th in the world to 29th. Working Without A Net: EDUCATION IN AMERICA (workingwithnonet.blogspot.com)

*America has more prison incarcerations per capita than any other developed nation. And with a trend to more 'private' prisons there's even less motivation for the kind of rehabilitation programs like those of Germany and the Scandinavian countries. We also have the highest mass shooting rate of any developed country, with less mental illness or family support programs... Working Without A Net: PRISON REFORM IN AMERICA (workingwithnonet.blogspot.com) 

For this current election year - sadly - our present choices appear to be the same two 'people.' we were stuck with in 2020...

IF this is our reality come November 2024 - let me assure each and every one of my fellow-travelers we 'DO' have a 3rd choice. We can write in the name of NIKKI HALEY [if you lean conservative] or DEAN PHILIPS [if you lean more liberal]... 

Those who seek to control cars we drive or stoves we use or how we heat or cool the homes we buy, or any other consumer product to regulate, are not the Government. They are managers, hired to serve - and that should always be remembered. "We may be tossed upon an ocean where we can see no land--nor, perhaps, the sun and stars. But there is a chart and a compass for us to study, to consult, and to obey. The chart is the Constitution." Daniel Webster   

*Our Constitution is: "Government of the People...by the People...for the People." Abraham Lincoln...  

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is an award-winning mystery suspense novelist and former journalist.

Patchwork Publishing, LLC     Sherrie Todd-Beshore | Substack 

24 Sussex Drive: Todd-Beshore, Sherrie: 9781493732395: Amazon.com: Books

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INDEPENDENCE...IN AMERICA

 

The very founding of the United States as a democratic-republic has its roots solidly set in the soil of independence and its literal definition there of...  

The December 1773, Boston Tea Party was not a party nor about tea per say - it was about taxation without representation. So, dumping bails of tea owned by the British East India Company [their lower tax undercut other imports] into Boston Harbor was a 'message' to King George III...

Three years later the 13 colonies were so fed up they put their frustration in writing...With, a Declaration of Independence... 

Just penning such a document was unprecedented and radical, as all monarchs of all colonizing countries expected their colonies to comply - always... Independent thinking was not only 'not' encouraged it was considered unimaginable. 

"Believe me, dear Sir: there is not in the British Empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose; and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America."  Thomas Jefferson, November 29, 1775 

Introduction...Asserts as a matter of Natural Law the ability of a people to assume political independence; acknowledges that the grounds for such independence must be reasonable, and therefore explicable, and ought to be explained. 

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776 

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shewn, that mankind is more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." 

*..."deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"...'Consent' here means our VOTE and the 'governed' means We-the-People.  The People, [legal citizens] are the government and those in elected positions effectively 'borrow' any and all of their authority from all Voters/the People - but - that authority is designed to be temporary. [George Washington set that precedent, conveniently ignored by politicians and forgotten at our peril, by voters.]

**..."it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it"...Here the word Right is capitalized as is the word People [again]. So, this means that those in elected positions are ACCOUNTABLE and if not, We have the Right to seek even demand, change.

***..."it is there right, it is their duty to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards"...When I read this, I'm reminded of January 6, 2021, and as disappointing as Donald Trump's lack of action the day before and that day was - there was also a massive Dereliction of Duty on behalf of Congressional Speaker, Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Chuck Shumer. FBI, CIA, NSA, [all domestic] intelligence reports indicated the potential for a vast gathering of election protestors by January 6th. So, question: in DC a city with more policing agencies than even perhaps London, England, where were 'any' of these agencies on the morning of January 6th to support the meager two dozen Capitol Police? Was that lack deliberate? Were the leaders of the House and Senate hoping for a riot to have something else to reproach the outgoing president? Therefore, I blame Donald Trump for his inaction, and Nancy Pelosi for her inaction, and Chuck Shumer for his inaction. Accountability for the protest that was allowed to escalate into a riot, January 6th rests with all three of these self-serving people.

In CONGRESS, January 2024 

****..."mankind is more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed"... This describes just how tolerant 'We' the masses typically are - and how corrupt those in authority can get because they count on that tolerance as well as MainStreet's inability to organize for rebalance. But mass ignorance is what allows unethical [governing] people to prevail and continue, which is why an ethical, probing Press is so important. Infact it is why, and only why, our Press is protected in our Constitution. The Press is protected to expose corruption in government, but who exposes corruption in the Press? We must then rely on 'other' Press that may also have a bias... [See also: Working Without A Net: JOURNALISM IN AMERICA (workingwithnonet.blogspot.com)

Today, 248 years later the original 13 colonies are now 50 states and 5 protectorates.  However, besides the obvious [since all men are created equal, slavery should have been abolished at the time our Constitution was ratified] the major 'shift' from dependency on those who govern by those governed has been systematically, but deliberately eroded. Why? Because we went from a major number of citizens prior to WWI who signed their name with an "X" to citizens who went to at least grade 9 then even more who graduated with a public high school diploma.

After WWII the productivity boom of the 1950s, with a social awakening in the 1960s and 1970s combined with a cosmic boost in further education from basic high school - to colleges, universities and trades - created a balooning Middle Class. Personally, if I was leading a diverse country, I'd want as many well informed, self-sufficent people as possible because they don't need to be led. However, for some odd reason those in public office see too many people who can look after themselves as a threat their career-path. [Go figure] Suddenly by 1980 there were millions and millions of voters who could not only read and write they were and could read anything and they were traveling because they had gained financial freedom to do so. Just as suddenly, the majority of people weren't so easily 'sold' on typical hollow promises and speech rhetoric.

What did those in positions of authority do...They detoured the very commerce momentum that provided strong weekly wages, by stalling wage increases for several decades and creating more departments issuing more regulations and allowing unions to once again disrupt commerce. Next, systematically dilute primary public-school education. [I've written about this before.] When Bill Clinton became President in 1993 America's public-school education standing in the world was 6th. By the time Joe Biden became President in 2021 America had dropped to 28th. And no finger pointing because America's education standards weakened under both Republican and Democratic Executive Administrations, Republican and Democratic held Houses and Senates. [See also: Working Without A Net: EDUCATION IN AMERICA (workingwithnonet.blogspot.com) 

And last, gather in as many [millions] more illegal immigrants as possible who are needy, grateful and will listen to hollow election promises. What We-The-People are witnessing are decades of self-serving, self-dealing privilege that has reached critical-mass. [See also: Working Without A Net: ACCOUNTABILITY - IN AMERICA (workingwithnonet.blogspot.com) 

What can We - those of us living on MainStreet do? We can do our job. Don't vote for some because they're "a good speaker" or they're personable or they have a cute family...We are employers. We are interviewing people for the 'job' of managing the affairs of 'our' government. 

Check each job candidate's background and work experience. [Plese no more law school graduates!] Track what is promised in each of their job interviews [speeches] from state to state. Whoever is elected/hired and does not follow through with those promises - we call, we email and then we call again, and we email again. If someone we have 'hired' to manage our city, schoolboard, county, state or federal office - who becomes a disappointment then we call one last time to let them know - they lost our vote.

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is an award-winning mystery-suspense novelist and former journalist.

Sherrie Todd-Beshore | Substack

Patchwork Publishing, LLC