BIAS IN AMERICA

Dear George...I selected 'Bias' In America Mr. Washington instead of Racism In America because bias offers me a broad brush for rambling thoughts a-n-d I'm all about leeway when it comes to scope in order to make a point...However, America's [focus on] racism shall be a component.

Just as a reminder in case you're a new reader, I'm a registered Independent who has voted for political candidates from both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party as it's clear that ethical-quality varies a great deal. 

So, I have no 'bias' with either liberal or conservative views unless they're extreme. And the extremes that have hatched of late [more openly in the last five years] are not healthy for any cause. I am therefore [for the record] a liberal-conservative or conservative-liberal - a Republocrat - perhaps. I am also a dual citizen - born in the U.S. to an American mother who married a Canadian. Then at the age of five my American mother and Canadian dad decided we should move from Washington State to the Province of Alberta - where I proceeded to be educated [somewhat].

My entire background then from birth has been to consider and embrace more than one team or consider more than one side of a viewpoint. And it's from having lived through specific experiences that 'all' of us are aided to develop a broader frame of reference from which to make evaluations - age/maturity helps a great deal too. 

Okay - so wake up - cause now we're getting to some of the good stuff. 

BIAS through the centuries of human history has taken on varied significance depending on the evolution of each culture. Was there bias in the Declaration of Independence and framing the U.S. Constitution? Yes..."All men are created equal." Did the Founding Fathers mean 'mankind' or 'men' literally? Clearly understanding the times - they meant 'men' in the literal sense. If they had been more enlightened or progressive, they would have written "All people are created equal." But they did not because - even though females have always been and are 50% of the global population - in 1776 as much as the Founding Fathers loved their aunts, nieces, sisters, mothers, wives and daughters--females were not even a consideration.

When I moved back to the United States in 1990, I was struck by the phrase "women and minorities" because growing up in Canada I had never heard women separated out by gender or anyone else described as a minority. In Canada people were either Canadians or applying for citizenship or just visiting before winter hit. And amazingly those two designations have not altered much since 1990...NB to readers...Having lived in three countries and traveled a fair amount for work--America truly needs to catch up to the rest of the world. [The stubborn attitude toward little change in the design of their currency translates to other areas too.]

Moving on...Canada's First Nations and America's Native Americans far from being 'savages' were highly evolved. They lived in harmony with nature neither taking more than they needed nor wasting what they did take. The same can be said for the Aboriginal Australians - but that's about where any remarkable human evolution ends. Why do I say that, well looking at the indigenous social structure - everyone pitched in men and women - everyone was respected regardless of age [children and elderly] and there was cooperation, functional standards and fair rules applied to everyone. There were leaders/chiefs, but that leader was part of a council. There were wise women and men - medicine women and men. 

Having been all warm and fuzzy about indigenous people - I can hear you screaming! What about the Indian tribes that attacked other Indian tribes? I have touched on aggression, arrogance and greed in other blogs and that too existed among some of the various tribes. But the consequences of those hostile tribes were never translated to a global scale as it was with the Roman Empire [morphed to the Roman Catholic Church] or the disruptive consequences of the British Empire or leadership extremes like that of Napoleon or Hitler...

Historically beings from another galaxy might think that the creatures on Earth with the most testosterone have been the cause of this planet's greatest upsets. However, there's plenty of historical and current evidence to prove that creatures with the most estrogen are also capable of ruthless cruelty...Males have just been leading more charges more often for more years...

RACISM is in the news everyday - seemingly all day. Because of that our untried - untested younger generations can be forgiven for only looking at race through a narrow prism of citizens whose ancestors originated somewhere on the vast continent of Africa. Sadly, they are viewed that way because it is presented through a narrow prism by print and network news. [Shame on the Press...Jan 15 blog: JOURNALISM IN AMERICA]

But Africa is huge. Of the world's seven continents Africa is the second largest with a land mass of 11.73 million square miles. The ancestors of Americans with an African heritage would have come from one of 54 separate countries. 

African heritage like the continent is varied, every bit as varied as Americans with a Hispanic heritage or a European heritage. There are 21 Hispanic countries scattered over three continents with some overlap of Spanish speaking countries included in with the 44 European countries. The Asian Continent is made up of 48 countries including India and Pakistan. And - where is this geography sprint heading? It's heading - fellow travelers - to racism in all its present confusion and historical mess.

The latest snappy phrase media now uses to spice up headlines is White Privilege, but white-privilege does not exist. Privilege is complicated. Is someone privileged because they hold a public office? Is someone privileged because they weren't abused as a child and grew up in a home with both parents instead of foster care or with a single parent? Is someone privileged because they own their own business or because they have a college degree? Privilege has many, many, many layers and compressing Americans of European ancestry into a corner labelled 'advantaged' does a huge disservice to the thousands of indentured servants [like my Irish great grandfather] and disadvantaged poor [like my Norwegian great grandfather] of frightened men and women who arrived with only the clothes they wore, little or no education and often no English.

All of us are from everywhere - literally. We're all immigrants of some kind and in some form. No matter who our great grandparents were - every race has taken turns struggling on the receiving end of prejudicial treatment. [eg: Irish Need Not Apply] Does that make what has happened and is happening to Blacks in America justified - 'NO' - but be patient I'm getting to that.

BULLYING doesn't necessarily show itself in the form of a threat on a playground or as a workplace manager. Bullying can be as subtle as requiring people to; 'go to confession' every week or to 'see something say something' or scare your citizens to stay indoors following the lock-down lead of a communist country... My theory is that a shadow form of bullying is at the root of how the momentum that Martin Luther King began, has deteriorated from so much promise in the 1960s [Guess Who's Coming To Dinner - Julia - Mary Tyler Moore - I Spy] and 1970s [Sanford & Son - Moving On Up - All In The Family - Shaft] and 1980s [Running Scared -The Cosby Show - Golden Girls]. For three decades movies and weekly television entertainment actually mirrored the strides Main Street was attempting by teaching with some humor and thoughtful plots.

But harmony does not sell as many newspapers, fear does. And contented-productive voters aren't as easy to control. Worried-anxious voters - become convinced via daily media that government [run by people no better than you or I] must step in to--correct: a terrorist attack by going to war -or- correct a financial crisis by bailing out the banks -or- correct a pandemic by a shutdown of all social and democratic function...

By the 1990s the social growing pains of the 60s, 70s and 80s had begun to send much of America well on its way to correction territory. Fair housing and lending laws forced companies and banking to hire, to rent and to loan to women and minorities. Leveling the social playing field had to be legislated - but bias and racism and bullying persisted in the places where there were 'holes' in the legislation.

Take heart - because in one tiny corner of America - where one small logical thread may begin to unravel bias and racism and bullying--we find the city of Evanston, Illinois. In Evanston, the town council developed a well thought out proposal for implementing a plan of Reparations. The Reparations has 'not' been tied to slavery, but to the unfair lending and business practices of the early 20th Century. From there who knows, maybe equal pay for women, maybe an end to workplace and sexual harassment. Maybe males and females stop competing and work in partnership. Maybe people finally discover that when we 'share' we actually have more. Maybe... 

https://medium.com/@BraveNewFilms.org/heres-how-to-contact-all-535-members-of-united-states-congress-call-email-tweet-20b8a1c54195

*Sherrie Todd-Beshore is now a mystery-suspense novelist and former journalist...

Patchwork Publishing, LLC

Suspense-Thriller: "Come Sit In My Kitchen"

Suspense-Thriller: "Woodrow And Wren" The Rule Of Three

 

 

 

   

BALANCE IN AMERICA

 Dear George...As you know from experience balance and leadership can be tricky. But it's even trickier when ethics is tossed aside as if it was an option...

As unsettling as Donald Trump's entry into DC politics was - spiced even more by a global pandemic that peppered the lives of everyone like a shotgun during the election year of Trump's Presidency - both Trump and Covid19 were actually steps toward restoring balance. 

Never mind making that face...I know what you're thinking. The old gal was in quarantine too long! Right?  I wasn't really. As a writer for many decades, self isolation is part of the deal and most book authors didn't even notice. So the limitations that covid pressed on the entire world was not such a hardship for the vast majority of professional writers. [That means the faculties with which I functioned pre-covid weren't affected - though, that said, perhaps I'm not the best judge of my original pre-covid faculties...

Regardless, after making that 'face' and thinking: How the hell did Donald Trump and Covid19 bring balance? I shall attempt to share my theory...

Main Street Delusion: Before Donald Trump there was a popular misconception that 'anyone' could be President of the United States.We now know that isn't entirely so... Presidents are expected to come from the ranks of a political-herd so you learn the secret hand-shake, so you learn when to look the other way, so you learn how things are typically done. But - DJT though a recognizable personality - came from the ranks of WeThePeople. 

Trump was not a career politician, he hadn't held any public office to seek fame and fortune, he already had both. Though - after years of meeting with and eating with and negotiating with career politicians here and all over the globe - Trump knew all too well 'how-things' were typically done. That meant he knew all too well 'how-things' should be done. When horror of horror's happened and the celebrity businessman, New Yorker was actually elected - all keys-to-the-kingdom 'with' all it's secrets - had to be handed over to someone DC considered to be a loud-mouth-loose-canon. 

In a blink, the politically entrenched on both sides of the House and Senate rushed into damage control, Big Time! And Trump [for all the good intentions he had and for all the overdue changes needed and for all the programs he started] soon - foolishly began to hand his sizeable opposition many many rounds of ammunition they could use against him. The massive, daily, relentless character smear campaign was designed so that if Trump 'talked' - if he 'told' any long hidden political secrets - his credibility could easily be questioned. But that smear-machine would not have ultimately led to Trump's 2020 defeat 'if' Trump himself had maintain rational thinking and not sabotaged all three national debates as he did. [What was it that Shakespear wrote: "The fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves..." Substitute Trump for Brutus and 'that' is what happened in November 2020.] 

*The years of Trump exposed; how biased, how ambiguous and how ethically weak U.S.journalism truly is - and - how tribal, insincere and ruthless too many U.S. career politicians truly are. 2016 to 2020 also exposed just how far voters allowed elected representatives to 'drift' from our Constitution. In his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln spoke to the original intention of the new Republic as: "...a government of the people, for the people, 'by' the people..." Which - has evolved to become a government of the Congress, for the Congress, 'by' the Congress.

Main Street Fractured: Before Covid19 the vast majority of parents/families, couples and career focused singles were in a constant-rush. Families, rushed from school to music lessons, to swimming lessons, to sports practices, to fast food, to golf, to yoga, to - you name it, from dawn to dusk every - single - day...Many couples had to pencil in a 'date-night' if they children or not because their waking hours were so packed.

Career focused singles were so career focused they had no social life so had to look for a possible romantic partner via an artificial [online] match-maker.

When I started in 1973 [with keypunch cards] computer technology was a tool designed and intended for humans to control. And believe me from a writer's perspective the ability to move entire paragraphs from one page to another - 'without' needing to retype entire pages is wonderful!  However, five decades later that technology tool has grown and expanded to a position that is controlling humans.

In a blink covid changed much of that. While technology allowed millions to keep their jobs because they could work from home and most kids to keep learning [somewhat] because they could take classes online - parents and couples and singles were instantly isolated. However, except for sad abusive environments, the majority of parents rediscovered their kids. Most parents got to reacquaint themselves with their kids and renew bonds. Thousands of husbands and wives got the opportunity to reconnect with their spouse. Thousands of singles rediscovered 'family' and friends they had not communicated with regularly for months - for some it had been years.

*The year of Covid19 lock-down exposed; how fractured we had become as a society with fractured communities and families and individuals who were distracted, paying more attention to the next big-thing than relationships. 

Covid19 forced us to look inward and to the massive support structure that keeps our culture working. It created an new appreciation for so much we took for granted like; teachers, grocery workers, truckers and utility workers, bank tellers, everyone in the medical field, police and firefighters, our trash collectors, gardeners, hair stylists, retail clerks---our post office and our military...  

Where is Balance In America? Balance is in all those 'places' in our memories and in our hearts and with all those people we would miss if both those places and people were gone. When we believe we don't have time to call someone or don't have time to take a break for a walk or an ice cream cone - we're out of balance...

For 2021, ironically not only America, but our globe has an opportunity for a reset because Trump and Covid19 influenced all politics and all cultures. Viewed then from that perspective - as we 'recover' from the experience of both, what do we want to keep and what are we going to make an effort to change?

https://medium.com/@BraveNewFilms.org/heres-how-to-contact-all-535-members-of-united-states-congress-call-email-tweet-20b8a1c54195

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

Via amazon.com or patchworkpublishing.com 

Suspense-Thriller: "The Count Of Baldpate"

Sequel: "Year Of The Dog"

BANKING IN AMERICA

Dear George...On the surface - one might consider banking as a noble enterprise... However, for those 'still' in recovery mode from the 2008 Financial Crisis--the word 'noble' doesn't first spring to mind. And if you believe the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act was truly, Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection--then you must also believe in the Tooth Fairy...

Once upon a time on a distant planet in a galaxy far, far away [and it matters not if you subscribe to Evolution, Reincarnation or Darwin] bankers landed here. And, the Universe has yet to unfold as it should - let alone recover.

Fact is, early bankers and financiers were little more than well dressed pirates who made the first boatload of  prison-colonists dumped on the shores of Australia resemble British gentry. But nothing our bankers have done since is more impressive than the image they have managed to stamp on our minds of their own unsullied history. A history supposedly steeped in tradition, integrity and stability. 

Tradition: a popular, but all too prevailing misconception is that banks strive to serve. Fiddlesticks! Banks were always and are in the retail business. Banks buy and sell money and they do it for a profit. [Buyer beware absolutely applies.] Banks buy/hold Aunt Helen's CD for five years at 0.8% then sell her cash-equity [with others] as a car loan to her neighbor Sid for 8% depending on his credit rating. 

Another legend is that banks keep your funds safe. Ugh!  Remember Dodd-Frank?  It's a complicated law, but a simplified part of that slippery piece of legislature affects you and me; "...a U.S. bank may take its depositors funds [our checking, savings, CD's, IRA & 401k accounts]and use those funds when necessary to keep itself afloat..." Banks can't go under, but depositors 'shall' be sacrificed at the bank teller's window. For a recent example--got any friends or relatives in Cyprus? In 2013 in a process known as a 'bail-in' a percentage of all deposits exceeding 100,000 euros became seized funds. The process converted cash exchanged for equity shares. [Shares/paper redeemable in the future as/when the bank allowed.] Essentially a Greek Cypriot who went to bed Friday night with 200,000 or more in their account woke up Monday morning to half.

Integrity: t'is also rumored that banks know what they're doing. This too is duck-dodo. Only the tellers know what they are doing. All of the other goop created by high priced banking brass is a lot of lucky guesses and sometimes not so lucky--if you were a recipient of policies for which Wells Fargo has been penalized by regulators. Wells Fargo is a repeat offender with a frightening proportion of questionable inspiration that seems to have come from the stars, hunches or the comics.

Stability: is a builtin feature to mostly protect the banks. Why? Because [besides an efficient lobby] bankers golf etc...with high level government bureaucrats and elected officials, but we, living on Main Street do not. 

Like anything else stability is only possible with ethics and historically banking/money/control/prestige/etc  has been shaky...We don't need to go back to the Roman Empire, only to Sir Thomas Gresham, a merchant in the mid 16th century to find banking double talk; "Bad money drives out good..." Translation: currency issued by shaky governments can outnumber currency based on a standard. And if you don't believe that's true then how many new regulation 'patches' has our economy needed since Nixon took the U. S. dollar off the gold standard in 1971?

Inflation was blamed for that gold move just as inflation was used to explain why Canadian and U.S. mints stopped issuing silver coins in 1965. But two major advantages came into play with the silver and gold decisions: 1. steadily both precious metals slipped from the hands of Main Street [majority middle class] and back under the control of those who wished to keep more control; 2. off the gold standard essentially allowed the U.S. Federal Reserve to move-the-goal-post of interest rates when they determined rates should be up or rates should be down. Regardless of the price we might pay for a loaf of bread...

Britain and Europe made the same moves right after WWII for 'economic recovery' reasons, but after attaining economic recovery, never went back. Once governing/banking entities take-from they do not return-to...But those in charge of money-manipulation strive to make the financial capture, gradual so Main Street doesn't notice immediately. However, in their/banker's enthusiasm for more money/control/prestige-- high on the drug called greed they have gone too far too fast. Stock values at year end 1928 were much like they are now with a real value in excess of production, by the mid new year 1929 the consumer marketplace had already absorbed as much in the way of affordable goods as limited incomes could.

It took 25 years for America to recover, but the difference from then to now is banks offered bonds and treasuries and savings accounts that paid fair interest. Today none of that exists--the only place for Main Street to put money is in stocks regardless of hype, but haven't we seen this repeat before...            

After the death of Louis XIV, France was on the verge of bankruptcy and an enterprising Scotsman named John Law convinced the new king that an expansion of credit would promote and restore prosperity...

In 1716 John Law was granted a bank charter and allowed to issue notes as currency--mostly in the form of loans to the French government. [Remember; Bad money drives out good?] Anyway, the French government used the notes/paper to pay off creditors and in return accepted those same notes as legal tender for the payment of taxes. [Something like the brilliant folks at our U.S. Federal Reserve buying our U.S. Treasuries.] Just a little hocus-pocus because John Law's 'currency' had nothing behind it except some fairly intense prayer. As the transactions kept cycling it was a few years before anyone recognized the structure was an illusion. 

[Pyramid in French is spelled pyramide, but with or without the 'e' still means the same.] Worthless paper, backed by expensive/real debt soon exposes an illusion which is what a 1.9Trillion stimulus package marketed by our current Congress truly means for today's dollar value.

It's not just banking artifice from our history--current regulations mean zilch-zip-nada when the business of banking has an effective lobby. Here and traveling the globe, anywhere there is a banking system, there is motivation for individuals and governments to--well let's be kind and call it juggle...

In 1979 the Federal Reserve [that can alter interest rates in a single bound/move the goal post] raised the discount rate they charged banks from 9.5% to 12%--to tackle inflation [caused] by domestic stimulus spending for President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" programs, followed by military spending for the Vietnam War.  However, banks with a Savings & Loan charter had issued long-term loans at fixed rates lower than the new higher rates they suddenly had to pay. Also the S&Ls were obligated to pay interest for savings accounts and long term Certificates of Deposit [CDs] at higher rates than they could now offer in order to attract new depositors. Solution? Enter a brilliant offering aptly named Junk Bonds that got by the Securities Exchanged Commission [SEC] and Federal Trade Commission [FTC]. Junk Bonds are high risk, but also offer high return - if you have steady nerves.

The FTC Act was signed into law in 1914 by Woodrow Wilson: "Outlaws methods of competition and unfair acts or practices that affect commerce..." [Didn't work so well prior to 1929 did it.] Then  in 1934 President Franklin Roosevelt created the Securities Exchange Commission to: "Protect investors and national banking system against market manipulation." The problem faced by Main Street America is that national banks are in on a great deal of market-manipulation.

The 1980 Deregulation and Monetary Control Act signed by President Jimmy Carter allowed adjustable-rate mortgages and authorized lenient accounting-oversight [like the FAA oversight of Boeing]. That timing merged with a gutsy Junk Bond fraud by folks like Michael Milken and Carl Icahn, created a perfect petri dish in which to grow financial fungi. Voila! The Savings and Loan Crisis and second most significant bank collapse since 1929. The S&L crisis took down some of those responsible like Neil Bush [yup same family] and Charlie Keating [defended by five senators, two of whom were John McCain and John Glenn]. But mostly middle America - lost huge-huge-huge. Between 1986 and 1995 the total cost was 160 billion with taxpayers paying 132 billion [sound familiar] while the surviving S&L industry paid 28 billion.

Ahhh, but anyone born before 1995 knows the American banking saga gets even more rousing...At this point in our banking-soap-opera any rational person would expect there were enough banking history lessons already learned. However since little of the previous impact fell on a majority of perpetrators [only unsuspecting investors and taxpayers] learning from lessons doesn't appear in the business of banking. 

Case in point explain; Derivative or Credit-Default-Swap...

As the 20thCentury became the 21stCentury in real estate/banking terms no one who sold either of these financial-instruments understood what they were selling - they only understood there were lucrative fees and commissions for selling them. Oh swell!  A Derivative is a contract/instrument with a value that can be 'derived' from commodities, precious metals, currency, stock indices [like: Forwards, Futures, Options, Swaps] and mortgages. Okay--you may need more oxygen by now, but hang in there. A Credit-Default-Swap is basically an insurance policy or an 'out' that allows an investor to 'swap' a worrisome investment risk for another investment as an 'offset'. 

Toooo many of those worrisome-mortgages, were granted to toooo many people with marginal credit and/or work histories for toooo many over valued houses. What that created only 13 years after S&L recovery, was a wee financial imbalance that came to a head in 2008. This time the cost to the generously kind American taxpayer [10 million of whom lost their homes] was 12.8 trillion including 498 billion in direct bailout payments added to 8 years of GDP loss recovery. [Should elected leadership have paid the 498 billion directly 'to' taxpayers instead of banks and industry? The population in 2008 was 304Million so the payout to Main Street could have been $1,638,157 million per man, woman and child. Interesting concept...]

Now it's 2021 and what in the name of all that makes sense is a Bitcoin or any of the other eight techno-currencies?  P-l-e-a-s-e!  With today's technology no one needs to print pyramid-style backed paper so Main Street can lose their pension money - promoters can simply create investment from 'air' in the form of cryptocurrency. Using the SEC's own definition of a Pyramid Scheme: an investment fraud in which the business model returns are typically through recruiting new members. There's no product or 'value' added only hype to entice more patron/investor money. 

Barely fifteen years ago most government projects, cost in the millions then soon after the 2008 [global] Financial Crisis the cost of most projects became billions--now the cost of nearly everything that needs attention is in the trillions! Wow, is that inflation? But most bank rates for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is 2.467%. Mr. or Ms. Main Street might qualify for a home loan however, the cost of that loaf of bread is a worry.

And Covid19 has raised the financial stakes for every single country [including China and Russia] that may very well set us all up for a heart-stopping high wire act like we experienced in 2008. But Congress continuing to raise their debt-ceiling is like each of us with the ability to raise our own credit limit every time we max-out our credit card. With that bank bail-in [a bail-out renamed] on the Mediterranean Island of Cyprus, a precedent has been made. And 'who' would be expected to 'pay' again? Hopefully if you have read to this point you know exactly 'who' is expected to 'pay'...But next time perhaps those [golf buddies] responsible should go to prison and all payments should go to the Main Street taxpayer? [Interesting concept...] 

https://medium.com/@BraveNewFilms.org/heres-how-to-contact-all-535-members-of-united-states-congress-call-email-tweet-20b8a1c54195

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

Via amazon.com or patchworkpublishing.com 

*Romantic Suspense-Thriller: "Dream Gate...Grabbing Air"

*Sequel: "Dream Gate II...Grabbing Time"

 

PRISON REFORM IN AMERICA

Dear George...Modern humans are now twenty years into the 21st Century - so what have we learned about crime and punishment? 

More importantly what have we learned about the cause of crime? Two hundred years ago stealing bread was punishable by prison or losing a hand or both - but the criminal was hungry not violent or selfish. And, over our last 100 years of human history the vast majority of criminals have also been mostly hungry [metaphorically] not scheming or corrupt...Modern day hunger has it's source in sorrow and desperation.

Nearly every night television networks [local and national] lead with some form of crime. The crime is usually tied to a type of firearm - a gun. This daily 'news' is so common that any life-form visiting from another galaxy would quickly refuel and leave, likely heading for the refuge of a nice black-hole somewhere else in the Universe. 

Around my kitchen table one evening from crime and criminals going to prison, the discussion naturally cycled around to America's 2nd Amendment - then ran amuck from there.

But we can't  r-e-a-l-l-y  discuss the 2nd Amendment without first understanding 'why' it was included in the Constitution of our newly formed Republic. Just as important the original intention and meaning behind the wording of the 2nd Amendment in 1787 is quite removed from the tweaked interpretation the NRA would have everyone believe 233 years later - today.

Very simply, from the perspective of the leaders who organized 13 rebel colonies - the founding fathers had just thrown off the burden of a tax happy parliament and an oppressive king. The founding-fathers also intended that not only should ordinary citizens have the right to share in governing themselves, the individual citizen had a right to defend themselves against [a rogue] authoritarian government...So, in the future, if members of our Congress arbitrarily suspended the U.S. Constitution then began to block freedoms - We The People - not only had the right to protest--we had the responsibility to protest...

*"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

During the Revolutionary War era, "militia" referred to groups of men who banded together to protect their communities, towns and later States, when the newly formed United States declared its independence from Great Britain [1776]. Colonists at that time witnessed rulers and governments use soldiers to oppress people and believed the [new] federal government should 'only' be allowed to raise arms [with full-time paid soldiers] when facing  foreign  adversaries. For all other purposes citizens believed the government should turn to part-time militias or ordinary citizens using their own weapons.

Problem was, local county militias had proved insufficient against the well trained and well organized British military. [So would not have prevailed without a great deal of help from France and native Huron tribes.] Addressing that weakness, framers of the new constitutional then gave the new federal government authority to establish a trained, standing army even in peacetime. However, opponents of a strong central government [anti-federalists] argued that a federal army might deprive individual states of their ability to defend themselves against possible oppression. In short anti-federalists feared Congress could someday abuse its constitutional power.

To address that issue, shortly after the U.S. Constitution was officially ratified, James Madison proposed the 2nd Amendment as a way to alleviate concerns for state militias. But - nothing Madison or any of our founding fathers set down in any constitution could anticipate irrational logic of an individual. In 1789, citizens with weapons owned single shot muskets...Two centuries later rapid fire semi-automatic and automatic weapons are owned by many ordinary citizens. 

The first mass shooting that began with 21 deaths at the San Diego McDonald's in 1984 - was not the work of a citizen protesting a rogue Congress. And the weapon used by the delusional shooter was not what James Madison intended by the 2nd Amendment, regardless of NRA propaganda. Decades of copycat mass shootings meant, essentially, with the development and sale of military style weapons that any single individual has gained the ability to function as a one-person militia.

Which brings this l-o-n-g account to Prison Reform In America--Which also brings us to the individual who uses a gun to threaten human life - the source of citizen gun violence. But easy availability [of so many types of guns] is only one means of wounding or ending a human life. People shooting people is the result of a mental and emotional void with their own violent roots established long before we meet them on the 6 o'clock news.

*"Children are influenced by the society in which they are born and raised. They in turn influence society." David Liederman   So, if this society, this Republic is to 'shine' as it should we can't address crime unless we address punishment. The way to address punishment is to address DESPAIR...And desperation begins in childhood, years before anyone is arrested and/or sees a courtroom.

America, indeed no society can afford to have even one child lose heart by the tender age of five! 

Each and every one of the people in prison today was once a cute toddler with promise until something derailed their life - like some form of abuse...[America's level of criminal incarceration is the highest in the developed world at 716 per 100,000.]

Amazingly, it's preschool and elementary school where our Prison Reform should begin. On any given day in America there are 440,000+ children in Foster Care and the average child lives in Foster Care from two to five years, removed from dysfunctional homes. Too many kids are in Foster Care much longer than five years with no family or permanent home of their own. But worse yet when a foster child turns 18 - ready or not - they're out on their own.

There is hours of national television coverage and advertising for homeless pets needing rescue - but that same effort is glaringly absent for homeless and foster children who need rescue and adoption. Why is that? 

Social Workers are asked to do much with dwindling resources for long hours and marginal pay. Their caseloads are typically 19 families with an individual file load of 24 to 31 children.

State and federally elected representatives cut budgets in the very [social] areas that should never see resources diluted. Socially we need more not less coordinated programs in our schools where teachers can identify families and kids at risk - better coordinated with social services - working with community police. And 'service' oriented not punitive, so parents who need help actually seek help for themselves and their kids. [Typically kids in crisis are born to parents who grew up in crisis.]

With a childhood of abuse and/or shame from neglected neighborhoods that don't receive the same education/tax resources as middle class areas - kids can grow up feeling despair and resentment. By the time they meet-up with police they've already been 'punished' in many forms, so prison isn't such a deterrent. 

*A trend toward privately run prisons is less incentive for important rehabilitation programs because private prisons are a for-profit business - it's all about the headcount. Since 2000, the number of private prisons in the United States increased 39%. 

Society watches the news appalled at reported crime[s] and crime statistics, when much of that could be prevented at a lesser loss in people and financial cost. Our society expects a great deal from police, teachers and social workers who need expanded annual budgets and greater community support - not less. [And certainly 'not' de-funding!] If America's professionals in law enforcement, education and social services have what they need - America benefits. Should prison reform also be part of updating our [social] infrastructure?

We can't rescue everyone, because we can't identify all the people needing rescue, but presently we're not even doing our best - so we throw away thousands of perfectly good people who don't need to end up in a prison... 

https://medium.com/@BraveNewFilms.org/heres-how-to-contact-all-535-members-of-united-states-congress-call-email-tweet-20b8a1c54195

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

Via amazon.com or patchworkpublishing.com

*Romantic Mystery-Suspense: "Fine Points Malice And Payback"

*Romantic Mystery-Suspense: "Shadows And Light" 

 

  

POLITICS IN AMERICA

Dear George...Isn't a Democracy--a Vote--supposed to be a Choice? However, upon reflection what the voter gets to choose works more like the gradual narrowing of a funnel...

When my daughter aged closer to turning three, exerting some independence now and then I developed a somewhat devious 'choice-method' to deal with her budding liberty. For breakfast and lunch meals, she could pick one of two choices. And each morning I set out two complete [weather appropriate] outfits for her to select. Technically, she got to choose - but her selection was narrow and limited and chosen for her.  Like democracy - technically voters get to choose, but our selection is limited and chosen for us...

From a vast field of qualified people only a few people desire the level of public influence that comes with public office. And of those few people what is the motivation behind their desire? Politics essentially is supposed to be the governing of accepted policy - however, in our quest for a choice via democracy - in the course of centuries of human distortion our politics evolved from beliefs and principles to strategy and maneuvers. 

It's not that those pesky principles got in the way as much as surrendering a few ethics here and a few values there offered an even  faster shortcut to a higher level of influence - much sooner.

Like a prickly skin rash - contrived schemes passed from one tainted person to another following the human species right out of the gate: "In the beginning..." right from The Book if Genesis to present day.  [And no it wasn't Eve! The female character was maligned by a male chain of command in charge of the Old Testament - which has been yet another political exploit...]

Stay with me now - because the direction of my rambling IS linked to Politics In America. More to the point it's linked to the evolution of politics in America. Our present day political roots [actually classless rule on Planet Earth in many places] took hold after the French Revolution.

The British parliamentary system that leaders of America's original 13 colonies rejected in favor of a republic like France - was the House of Commons [elected] and the House of Lords [appointed]. It was also a two-party system with the liberal Whigs and the conservative Tories flinging the usual insults - that has since evolved to 10 federal parties for the UK and 5 for Canada.

In America's beginning there were no parties - our Founding Fathers intended partisanship--cohesion--unity of purpose. [Which is logical when starting a new nation from scratch.] George Washington was not a member of a political party when elected [by the new Congress] nor during his 8 years as president. But after George - though Hamilton and Madison both wrote about the dangers of domestic political factions - the Constitution only cited "We the people..." so that door was wide open. 

*IF we used 'history' more effectively it could be like having  future-hindsight... So, why don't we?

The Democratic Party founded in 1828 was dominant among white southerners with it's origins most associated in defense of slavery and so focused on domestic issues. The Republican Party was founded much later in 1854 by northern anti-slavery activists that became business-oriented, but it floundered as a secondary party until the election of Abraham Lincoln. 

We have besides the Libertarian Party, four others as well, but due to Constitutional Amendments and the Electoral College reaching the 270 required Electoral votes needed to become president is a high bar. Which brings us right back to voter choices. We have basically two choices, but those choices are made for voters via party Primary Elections to which you must be registered as a member in one of the two major parties. If you are a registered Republican you can not [for some reason] vote in a Democratic Primary. If you are a registered Democrat you can not vote in a Republican Primary. If you're a registered Independent [as I am] you can not vote in either primary election.  

There was a skillfully progressive book published in 1969 titled "The Peter Principle". The basic premise of the work by author Laurence J. Peter was--"In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his [her] level of incompetence." In our quest for achievement, status, rank, etc. -- too many people work their way up the ladder-of-success until eventually too many people get promoted to a position for which they are not qualified.

And the weakness in modern day politics - afforded to people who seek public office - is that far too many candidates begin 'at' their level of incompetence from the starting block. 

America has far too many politicians who never learned as they rose through the ranks of a business or a department because for them there was no bottom, only a top. They start out as The Mayor or The Governor or State Legislator or Senator or Congressman/woman. Adversely they don't care that the office they seek to occupy requires 'big-shoes'...Too many only care that their shoes are in that office and they don't mind walking over nearly anyone to get there - then 'stay' there.

In nature evolution typically means an adaptation over time intended as an improvement. Like the changes over hundreds of years for example with the Arctic Fox. The fur coat of the fox is less dense and a grey-brown color in summer changing to white as a camouflage against the snow in winter - that sort of thing.

But with the human species - rarely satisfied with having enough - over hundreds of years having more than one individual needed - evolved. This form of evolution has nothing to do with adaptation toward improvement, only a quest toward personal advancement - pure and simple. Well maybe not pure - and personal advancement is usually anything, but simple...Especially if your ambitions for personal advancement take the form of assembling an army to invade an adjoining country or assembling investors for the hostile takeover of a company. The aftermath of forced-hostile events can complicate nearly everything that follows for years or decades or centuries.

History has an energy that 'wants' to be our teacher - but we're ignoring our coach. 

We're ignoring history that has-not worked in the past in favor of falling back onto old habits - hoping to be lucky. Really, we're that stupid?  Yes, actually ego blinds reason. History proves that too. Over and over and over similar decisions from the same motivation brings us around full circle then we're caught in a hole of our own making. 

Once upon a time there were kings and queens, emperors and empresses, princes and princesses. There were lords and ladies, counts and countesses and all sorts of other grand sounding titles. From 1765 on metaphorically and literally the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker along with the farmer and thousands of other oppressed and exploited peasants - rebelled.

Systematically throughout Europe, royal families became an endangered species - some actually went extinct. But even that attempt at leveling life's playing field became undone. And once again the authenticity of The-Peter-Principle came into play with people who led various rebellions losing focus then becoming dazzled by their own image - like, Bonaparte, Lenin and Castro. [America's rare exception was George Washington.]

However, amazingly regardless of  weak, corrupt and/or inept rebel leaders - the butcher, the baker. the candlestick maker, doctor, book keeper, teacher, inventor and farmer - thrived. 

In America governing by royal decree was replaced by; government of the people, by the people, for the people...In the new republic of America there was no 'class-system' per say - on paper that is; "...all men are created equal..." However, not all men are treated equal. Women [who have always been 50% of the world's population] had no rights with other exclusions like the Irish and the Chinese - and - people from the continent of Africa.

With the enslavement of one human by another the progress of our collective souls was sent backwards - fast. Though slavery had been part of human history for thousands of years throughout Africa from Egypt to Mozambique, the country of Portugal led a parade of European counties that took the forced labor of captured cultures to a more atrocious level. 

And when the land owners of our developing American colonies seized on the idea of using people like livestock, a divine line was crossed--except--by 2021 that ignorant mentality should have progressed well beyond our three previous centuries.  However, it hasn't because that same ignorant mentality persists in the actions and minds of too many people who seek and hold public office...

People in politics for personal advancement, glorification and enrichment are easy to spot. They're not accountable, they blame someone or something else, they have accomplished little for others, there is no action in partnership with their speeches, they evade direct questions and they feel entitled. They come to believe typical rules and laws don't apply to them.

The 1980s singers Hall & Oats recorded a song with the lyrics; "...it's easy to hurt others when you can't feel pain..."  Who - has been voted into office fitting that description! Well my fellow voters 'we' gotta stop doing that. 

It's not a okay when we throw up our hands in philosophical tolerance of; "that's politics". Why have we given away such an important standard of our own principles?  Ethics and morality in politics should be a given just as it is in every other aspect of our lives from relationships to business. Why isn't there severe consequences for bureaucrats and politicians who transgress by breaking public trust? Consequences like complete shunning--not the offer of a million dollar book deal followed by thousands of dollars more for national speaking tours. 

When the vast majority of peasants in most countries couldn't read or write, were kept poor and dependent on a king or landlord or church then political and social control of the masses was easier. Culturally in America in the 21st Century peasants don't exist. After WWII America moved beyond the peasant class into an exploding Middle Class [lower-middle-upper] that shot up like a bullet.

Returning soldiers, went back to work as a civilian-army and they bought houses, cars, large appliances, went to college, invented and started new businesses. Over three decades in the 1950s, 60s and 70s there was a giant mass with millions of well educated, well informed and financially secure humans - who voted. Women weren't content with just the vote they wanted their vote to matter and the great grandchildren of former slaves weren't satisfied with paper promises either - they demanded  a seat at the table - every table. Martin Luther King demanded desegregation and true voting rights and equal opportunity. Women's Liberation demanded equal rights and equal pay. And this vocal group of protestors were a block. Which brings us to the election year 1993 and a systematic dismantling of that influential-majority-Middle Class.

This massive Middle Class was a threat to an increasing number of calculating political Social-Climbers, from the ranks of regular folk. [Insecure people are dangerous people.] Ambitious politicians seeking personal advancement, glorification and enrichment knew exactly how to regain control.  First, to conquer - divide - hence the media concentration of women and minority news designed to reduce one large block into fractured smaller blocks. Second, if an advanced and well functioning public education system had created the problem of a powerful Middle Class then diluting key parts of public school education could slowly reverse it. [The initial push toward removing cursive was part of that.] 

Besides two straight decades in which Middle Class wages stagnated - vital components like diluted history in public school education, worked to produce three entire [school] generations of voters in their 20s, 30s and 40s - technologically advanced, but weak in critical thinking. [See: Education In America]  Because of that, inept mayors and governors from specific states decided defunding their police budgets made sense. It's also how federal politicians [riding a personal enrichment-train for decades] were able to convince voters they could fix our social crisis - when it was they who created much of our social crisis...Gotta luv irony...

Regardless, voters aren't helpless and no political situation is hopeless. [See: Term Limits In America] 

If the candidate you voted for didn't win - no matter - the person who did win still works for you. Email, write and/or call [over and over and over] to the public servant who represents your district - federal, civic, state or county and let them know - with facts and logic what you expect from them. 

https://medium.com/@BraveNewFilms.org/heres-how-to-contact-all-535-members-of-united-states-congress-call-email-tweet-20b8a1c54195

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

Via amazon.com or patchworkpublishing.com 

Suspense Thriller: "24 Sussex Drive"

Suspense Thriller: "Woodrow & Wren" The Rule Of Three

 

  

IMMIGRATION IN AMERICA

Dear George Washington...is any person on Planet Earth, here illegally?

Our 2021 Immigration numbers are ballooning -and- our Border Patrol Officers are under greater [daily] siege than our overseas military - why is that? 

Everyone should be welcome anywhere they wish to go on this planet - but there is a backstory to America's immigration issue not shared with all legal citizens by politicians who don't have their farms and ranches and local communities invaded by tens of thousands of immigrants e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y. Are there refugee tents on the front lawn of the White House or the grounds of the Naval Observatory or on the estate of the House Speaker?

AND unaccompanied minors in July of 2020 [that CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS highlighted as a disgrace] numbered just over 2,000. However, are those same networks screaming about the 2021 numbers that are well over 18,000 unaccompanied minors? No. Are all the orphanages in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala - being emptied out for America to feed, clothe, educate and raise? Will this flood of unaccompanied minors get citizenship before the "Dreamers"? Is that [another] one of the back-stories kept from WeThePeople?  

Around my kitchen table one night [a while ago] those present, drinking strong coffee and eating pie with too much whipping cream, got to talking about America's immigration issue. [Other countries might have immigration issues too, but CNN made better [2020] theater from ours.]

After about an hour, far from solving anything our congress might consider noteworthy, the discussion came to an abrupt halt when someone [it could have been me] asked a question that stopped the other five people in mid swallow and bite. "In our beginning--who laid out the borders? For that matter, who was responsible for dividing up land within those borders that became farms or city lots then suburbs and shopping centers? Who?" 

What really happened in our beginning--was it Adam?  Or--was Eve our planet's very first land developer?  Or, was it Mosses as he crossed the desert? Was Mosses a squatter pitching his tents anywhere there was space--anywhere he liked across Egypt's fast miles of sand?

In the beginning Adam and Eve [with their two boys] had Eden/Earth all to themselves. Then sometime later the emergence of more humans [aka: Mesopotamian, Sumerian, Minoan etc...] and territory in which to settle became important. Further, not only was settled territory important - also important was the clan and the lineage of those ancient clans.

As more clans formed [like beehives] each clan was protective of their territory and their clan connection. Strangers were rarely or cautiously included. Early on within an established clan were generalists with everyone able to grow their own crops, root vegetables, manage stock and hunt their own fowl, rabbit or fish. 

Eventually though specialists emerged like the farmer who made better chairs, tables and beds then he stopped farming to make furniture for everyone else. There was the farmer who baked better tasting bread who eventually made bread for everyone else. Okay - but what happened to the land that was their farm? Well, the farmer who grew better crops - grew even more crops on the carpenter's land and the baker's land so the carpenter and the baker could still have some harvest.

Ahhh, but disputes arose [naturally] over the value of furniture versus the value of bread versus the value of crops and one farmer's access to a larger piece of land to grow more crops than the other farmers...Enter a wise Elder in the clan to settle disputes and create value.

Years slipped by and the Elder's time was taken more and more with resolving so many other disputes that it cut into his ability to farm - so he became the official appointed clan leader. Besides a leader, the clan had other specialists who wove yarn into fabric that became robes, there evolved tanners who made leather sandals for everyone's feet. This is simplistic, but you get the idea.

However, humans being humans there were some clan members who didn't always agree with the Elder's decisions so some clan members left and started a new clan in another valley or on another hilltop. Still others challenged the Elder by convincing other clan members 'they' were wiser with better ideas.  Ta da!  The birth of politics!  And with that awkward birth came making sure that everyone with land had an equal 'value' amount to cultivate and an equal 'value' for baked bread and equal 'value' for leather, woven fabric, wood and so on.

It's at this point in our sketchy human, social evolution that we can see more and more evidence of a complicated system steadily developing. Someone [another specialist] had to assign a value to land, bread, crops, chairs, sandals, fabric, pots - and if that person did that task full time how were they compensated?

Don't leave me yet - we're getting close to unmasking that illusive WHO.  

Suffice to say that over time Elders evolved into monarchs like kings, queens, emperors, and leaders like mayors, governors, premiers, prime ministers and presidents etc...Those who assigned value became money changers, tax collectors, bankers and brokers.  That's WHO!   There isn't 'one' single person who we can point to and blame for dividing up perfectly good scenery into taxable real estate. There was a  s-l-o-w, but steady blossoming among certain upright humans into a growing number of people/who were born with an enterprising ingenuity. [[Ethics, sometimes optional.]

Okay! What - you ask - does any of this frail skip through history have to do with America's immigration tangle?  Everything - because - all the clans now living in the 21st Century are just as territorial as their ancient ancestors. Problem; in the 21st Century we have thousands of Elders with thousands of 'different' ideas and they have created an even more complicated system with arbitrary borders and even more arbitrary regulations to protect territory...

When pioneer/immigrant/settlers first arrive on the shores of North America the Native Indians were confused then later appalled that the new pioneers were paying for and then taxed for land that Mother Nature already offered freely. Our spiritually advanced and wise First Nations People possessed a highly evolved understanding that the Universe had provided water, soil, animals and plants for everyone to 'share'.  Well, we soon set them straight...

Which brings us right back to WHO again and America's immigration tangle. From my kitchen table on that fateful night, we all agreed that no one is on Planet Earth illegally. Therefore, perhaps we need to redefine illegal immigrant, when what we really see in the vast majority of people are; frightened, desperate humans seeking to join our Clan in order to live and prosper without fear. 

The U.S. Mexican border is 1,954 miles long and one suggestion was we open more ports of entry with smaller offices along America's [arbitrary] southern border, perhaps every 100 or 150 miles. More entry ports [14 to 20] would allow more frightened, desperate people, whose backgrounds we could check, to join our Clan. [Another suggestion to 'slow' illegal crossings was introducing Alligators into the Rio Grande River...Hmmm.]

And the Dreamers! Oh for goodness sake - let them register - take a test and grant them U. S. Citizenship. They have and already are finishing their education as teachers, engineers, business majors, entering medicine...They already contribute with energy and enthusiasm. And - while we're at it let's get the parents of Dreamers into the system so they may apply and become legal too - then pay taxes too! Since the parents of Dreamers obviously raised some great kids they'd be a future asset as well--or is that logic flawed?

Anyway, the vast majority of the people coming to America contribute to America by making furniture or sandals or bread - or - perhaps a  medical breakthrough. [I have bone marrow cancer and my doctor was born in Mexico City, do you think I'm thrilled he's here?] New Americans might invent effective cyber security or compose song lyrics or create a unique form of art or find a scientific means to breakdown and reuse plastic or write a new literary classic OR live a quiet productive life...

Since my grandparents [and likely yours] came to America in a century past how do we want immigration managed in this century going forward?  More ports of entry along our southern border [where our border patrol can work safer behind a finished wall] could allow for better checks of the people seeking future citizenship. We do NOT want a continuous cycle of criminals from other countries [bringing children taken from those streets or orphanages] posing as families, then abandoning these children here to grow up in American foster care.

America should be a welcoming nation, but 'only' to those with ethical intentions, we have enough of the other kind born here already. Sadly some have run for public office...Ohhh, sorry I digress. Okay, where can voters go from here? We can email, call, write then email, call, write - over and over and over - to those we elect to serve us --not the other way around...

AS well, we're all Americans--not African-American, not Asian-American, not Hispanic-American, not Norwegian-American or Muslim-American or Jewish-American...just American...If not then why live in America?

 https://medium.com/@BraveNewFilms.org/heres-how-to-contact-all-535-members-of-united-states-congress-call-email-tweet-20b8a1c54195

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

Via amazon.com or patchworkpublishing.com

Romantic Suspense-Thriller: "Dream Gate...Grabbing Air"

Sequel: "Dream Gate II...Grabbing Time"

INFRASTRUCTURE IN AMERICA

Is America the greatest country in the world? Absolutely not - it needs serious rehab!

For this discussion I hope you're sitting down though pacing might help you shed pent up frustration while you read. With what I discovered...I know pacing helped me! 

America does have the greatest PR machine. And, MainStreet voters continue to buy into a vast mass-marketing program from every state and federal politician - working diligently to keep the following realities as quiet as possible.

Ahhh, but on the heels of Election 2020 [and a midterm election around the corner] armed with even a tiny slice of information, voters can ask serious targeted questions and insist on serious targeted answers - not double-talk excuses or vague; "I'll look into that."

It is the People living on MainStreet America who make America great - America's political leadership not so much...MainStreet functions with a practical, logical straightforward approach - while [most] politicians do-not. 

When candidate Trump labelled DC a "swamp" - he was mistaken. The Hill in the District of Columbia is actually one  l-o-n-g  and  w-i-d-e  BUFFET  from which far too many ranking employees and federally elected, fellow citizens, who hold a public position of trust - FEED...

Members of Congress and the Senate are busy shuffling budgets-supported by our taxes. From one ledger column to another pet projects that only make a difference to a campaign contributor or lobbyist; like banks, military contractors, insurance, medical research, etc...[and hundreds of others] get far more attention than the general voter...Unless - voters become more aware between elections.

AIRPORTS...The last time America's national airports received a major overall update was in the late 50s and early 60s. Since then many systems have been patched together not even on a regular schedule - but too often only after a malfunction that narrowly averted an incident. And, it wasn't due just to aging radar or technology, but a stressed electrical grid. [Nationally an investment of  130 Billion or 26B a year for five years, would bring our airports up to 2015 technological standards.]

ELECTRICAL GRID...If you don't want to lay awake nights terrified then don't read Gretchen Bakke's book; "The Grid".  Between the mid 1950s and 1980s major power outages averaged less than 5 in a year. In 2007 there were 76 reported. By 2011 the increase was more than 300 a year. Though taxpayers have invested millions in subsides for the development of renewable energy, America isn't able to take advantage of green-energy like more solar and wind power because most of it can't be integrated into the aging grid. Our electrical grid is not capable of 'storing' the additional power. Worse yet, our national electrical grid is a national security risk - weak and unstable - a fact not secret to factions with the capacity of crashing it.  [The estimated cost to update America's electrical grid is a cheery 5T. That's Trillion, my fellow travelers!] 

MASS TRANSIT...One hundred years ago the public transportation system in America was the envy of the world. One hundred years later - much of America's mass transit is still 100 years old. Most rural communities once relied on train service that moved people and goods between towns and cities. Much larger urban areas also enjoyed an above ground trolley system that ran off clean electricity later converted to buses that ran on electricity as well as the underground subways. However by the 1920s a gasoline powered motor car for every family had become almost a quest, more so than even a house. This new form of mass-transportation was spurred on by a growing lobby structure. Vehicle and petroleum industry executives - who golfed with or had lunches with, or vacations with or contributed to elections were influential. The lobby-pitch held influence with politicians with the lure of higher employment - for voters. Naturally, with higher employment came an increase in tax revenue [enacted in 1913] - from voters. Ohhh, but wait, where did all our tax money go? Was it or has it been spent wisely? Hmmm...In each state, depending on population, updating and restructuring public mass transit varies greatly from city to city. [Regardless, the minimum $ price tag starts with a 'B'] Though more change centers around turning it over to private enterprise so that public-transit becomes true user-pay. But, would it be affordable?

U.S. SEA PORTS...Our ports have become another open border option for disturbingly illegal conduct. From sea to shinning sea our east coast, west coast, along the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes - America's ability to keep pace with the rest of the shipping world peaked in the mid 1980s. We have an archaic technology security structure with tracking procedures that hold water like a coffee filter. If the U.S. could export farm crops, manufactured goods, natural gas, oil and raw materials more efficiently, at a higher volume it could also mean a better balance of trade. [The cost here, relatively speaking, is only in the millions of dollars for updated general technology that could interface with what factories and shipping companies already have in place for their own inventory. Structurally at ports, companies also keep their own warehousing and storage facilities sound.]

WATER...Through the 1920s, but slower in the 1930s and 1940s - then resuming through the post war boom of the 1950s and 60s - a vast sewer system of  POTWs [Public Owned Treatment Works] and clean drinking water, was the pride of every community from small towns to large cities. However, less than 12% of the sewage POTWs or pipes carrying drinking water have been replaced in original areas since. Unless there was a main break that required localized repair the issue never rose to the surface [excuse the pun] which is what happened in Flint, Michigan [2018]. Even the 'newer' water systems engineered in our ever expanding suburbs during the 1970s, 80s and 90s have remained out of sight, out of mind for most municipalities. And since we're already 20 years into the 21st Century every pipe laid prior to 1980 is now an exhibit for the Antique Road Show. [I don't like this number either, but the estimate for a national-overdue-plumbing update is - 384 Billion.]

Beyond the water needed for all neighborhoods to homes and businesses, is a threat to our water source itself that is vulnerable. The average age of America's 91,000 Dams is 52 years. 

**With slashed budgets causing inadequate maintenance factored with environmental issues, we can expect that any dams built between 1930 and 1970 are already - or on the verge of being structurally compromised. 

The dams that failed [May, 2020] in Midland County, Michigan caused 10,000 Edenville residents to evacuate. All had poor federal inspection reports for twenty years straight! WHY? Who was the federal inspector and why after five years or eight years wasn't structural weaknesses corrected by the Army Corp of Engineers or FEMA then the cost subtracted from some of Michigan's federal funding? Was someone paid off or pressured to look the other way? If the population of Edenville had been 100,000 instead of 10,000 would that have made a difference? Perhaps Midland's federal representative John Moolenar could answer that...[In the meantime the cost to correct dams that if they failed would threaten significant loss of human life, is estimated at 45 Billion. To properly correct all structurally compromised dams, the cost estimate is at 64 Billion.]

BRIDGES...The vast majority of America's 'newer' bridges are already 60 years old. Just addressing the backlog of tackling those maintenance and improvement projects would take five consecutive years. [The cost to correct all presently unsafe bridges is 189 Billion.]

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY...If you have been impressed with the stats so far then you're gonna luv how our government departments are running. The latest I.T. was first installed and in use when Nixon ran for President! I kid you not! This - besides being connected to an aging grid - is also a National Security/cyber security issue. Which is why so much outsourcing is done to private contractors - but is that a cost savings, they need to update technology too and who are these private contractors? How do we monitor them with antique technology?

Federal I.T.-A..Our Defense Department has a 53 year old [backup] system to send and receive nuclear emergency action messages running on a 1970s computer that uses 8-inch floppy disks incapable of anywhere near the storage of modern flash drives. Replacement parts are difficult to find so thank goodness for 3D printers. It was set for a complete replacement in 2020 however, the Chief Information Officer reasoned that the system was secure - because - it was a closed system. [An outhouse is a closed system too, but let's see a show of hands for those who want one.]

Besides an aging federal information technology gap, local civic overspending followed by severe budget cuts in nearly every state in the Union [since 2008] has been exposed publicly due Covid19. 

When millions of people applied for Unemployment Insurance Benefits - it wasn't the number of people applying that caused nearly every state system to freeze - it was aging technology unable to handle increased traffic. [5G may be possible, but not at any government department near you...] Once again who gets inconvenienced? Who gets inconvenienced are the very people whose taxes pay for state and federal infrastructure. Mismanaged public funds has been chronic for decades because there is no voter oversight and mismanagement continues because there is no consequences for careless fiscal performance. 

Federal I.T.-B...The master file at the Internal Revenue Service where the public's taxes are assessed and refunds are generated runs on a 1950s 'assembly-language-code'. This early code can only run on a single computer that is difficult to maintain and is a main reason the IRS makes mistakes and has difficulty addressing refund fraud.

Federal I.T.-C...Our Social Security Administration has a slightly 'newer' system that is only 31 years old. However, it has been patched together with no less than 162 subsystems - some of which run on an early 1960s programing language called COBOL...[See also IBM museum archives!] And if you have a weak heart then don't read about Medicare.

Federal I.T.-D...A 26 year old computer system used by the State Department to track and validate annual visa information for about 55,000+ foreign nationals is no longer supported by the original vendor. And - its system like all the other government departments eats up a large chunk of the annual budget in maintenance that would be significantly reduced and more efficiently used if replaced completely then kept updated. Gosh - do you suppose we might need to track who shouldn't be here like, oh I don't know - someone who's a possible criminal or national threat.? 

Federal I.T.-E...Then again the cost of maintaining the Transportation Department records to monitor thousands of companies that make, and ship, and store hazardous materials has steadily increased annually - with a database record system that pretty much parallel's that of the Sate Department. It too is patched, outdated and vulnerable.

**February 2018 [then] President Trump presented an Infrastructure Plan to the 115th Republican [majority] Congress. The proposal was a cost savings for voters with joint spending of $200 Billion in federal funding and 1.5 Trillion from the private sector. Democrats opposed that Plan due to its structure of state and local funding with private investment. 

So - was that desperately needed Infrastructure Plan so flawed that the Republican majority couldn't work with most Democrats? Though at the time - there was a persistent undermining Republican faction led by John McCain [R-AZ] supported by Jeff Flake [R-AZ] and Mitt Romney [R-UT]  and  a government shut-down and  the Muller Investigation of President Trump...This meant, that once again, what was 'best' for America as a whole was sacrificed and by both sides.

Far too many politicians don't look ahead beyond 'their' next election campaign. For the record I'm a registered Independent who voted for Bush George H. [1st term], Clinton B. [1st term], Bush George W. [both terms], Obama B. [both terms] then yup - Trump D. [1st term]  because  he wasn't a career politician.

Moving on...The important point here is that year after year - decade after decade - generation after generation voters were born then died while infrastructure that needed regular budgeted attention, was neglected.

The 10 best states for maintaining basic infrastructure: Oregon, Washington, Utah, Nevada, North Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Georgia. The 10 worst states for infrastructure: Mississippi, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Naturally each of the other 30 states [not including our 5 U.S. Protectorates] fall somewhere in the middle. Look up your state - know what is weak then start making phone calls and writing emails to your elected representatives...Even if you didn't vote for them you still pay their salary so they work for you.

Think of your voter responsibility like any task in your life that requires upkeep. It would be nicer if we only needed to mow our lawns once in the spring or toss clothing and linens out when they need laundering. However, the grass needs cutting each week and our clothing and lines need cleaning each week. It would be nice too if our carpets never needed vacuuming or our cars never needed to be washed...you get the idea.

America is vast and complicated, but WeThePeople have either been too trusting or too complacent for too long. We can no longer leave unlimited, valuable assets in the hands of too many people in positions of authority who have truly let MainStreet down either through incompetence or compromised ethics. Each voter needs to become a rational, but persistent vocal energy. With steady involved effort voters can't be ignored.

In relative infrastructure areas: *U.S. Trade - Katherine Tai  *Secretary of Defense - Lloyd Austin  *Secretary of Energy - Jennifer Granholm  *Commerce Secretary - Gina Raimondo  *Homeland security - Alejandro Mayorkas  *Secretary of Transportation - Pete Buttigeg  *Treasury Secretary - Janet Yellen 

 https://medium.com/@BraveNewFilms.org/heres-how-to-contact-all-535-members-of-united-states-congress-call-email-tweet-20b8a1c54195

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

Via amazon.com or patchworkpublishing.com

Mystery-Suspense: "Come Sit In My Kitchen"

Suspense-Thriller: "24 Sussex Drive"