Philanthopy towards future generations

While we are here for a short time, and can certainly have a lot of fun with our assets, doesn’t it make better sense to be philanthropic to future generations then to put it up our nose and spend it at Las Vegas or on war?

We are human beings and life is very short. Our legislators seem to be only interested in getting reelected. This is wrong. They should be thinking of their legacy and of future generations.

Note – if it’s bad for the grandchildren, it’s bad for us. Corollary – if it’s good for the grandchildren, it’s good for us.

Flooding the USA with naturalized undocumented immigrants may help certain political parties with their aspirations, but it’s not good for our or their grandchildren.

Having  the existing or slightly modified immigration process work to provide new Americans to American business and industry as we have done in the past makes most sense and is fair.

Legislation might be better thought out and implemented if our legislators thought about it with the grandchildren in mind.

For instance, no one wants their grandchildren killed in unrest because they are unable to defend themselves. The 2nd amendment protects our God given right to keep and carry arms. Don’t our legislators believe in God and his gifts ? I do.

If you think about this and the future, you may realize that it’s in your and our interest to have the legislators legislate with the grandchildren in mind. We are all Grandchildren.  If you agree  in whole or part, please tell your legislators.

One way to implement this would be to require to have all bills to have an attached analysis e.g. Likely impact, worst case impact, best case impact and also a list of possible alternatives  to investigate or that have been investigated. Then perhaps a statement as to why the bill was chosen as the solution.

War isn’t in our grandchildren’s interest. Spending more on diplomacy might be a better investment for the future. Of course, if you have a vested conflict of interest, you might feel differently.

What is the most dangerous animal on the planet? If you do some thinking, you realize we both have an interest and an conflict. I’m thinking of the common good.

Sincerely yours,

Bernardo de la Paz

Philanthopy towards future generations by Bernado de la Paz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Golden Rule

Letter to the Editor and all Americans

Our Public Servants and legislators seem to be mostly interested in enriching themselves and being reelected. They make poor laws that cause people to be charged with crimes even when the people had no intent to break a law.

I suggest we should remind them of the Golden Rule, and remind them that the laws they make may apply to their grandchildren. Everyone who has been and will be are grandchildren. We should make law and enforce law as we would want it applied to our grandchildren.

The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is a maxim, ethical code or morality that essentially states: One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.

If they consider their grandchildren when making and enforcing law, we may be hopeful that they make and enforce better law.

I am hopeful that all citizens will remind their public servants of this.

Peter Grace  November 2014

Back

Top

Golden Rule by Peter Grace is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Thinking of Our Grandkids

To All Humans, Americans, Politicians.

While we make law, shouldn’t we think of our grandkids ?

Our grandkids are our legacy. You can take that as far as you wish, but you should consider them. Most of us are concerned with the day to day of life. Politicians can serve as best as public servants when appropriate by considering the impact of laws that they make on our/their grandchildren.

As a Scouter, our motto seems to be ‘It’s all about the kids’. As politicians, while you serve your constituents, at least theoretically, perhaps you should be thinking, ‘It’s all about the grandkids’.

Walt Kelly said “I have met the enemy, and he is us”.

While making law that could affect our grandchildren, politicians may actually make ‘good’ law and remove ‘bad’ law. Then we could be happier with our politicians.  I hope to provide for the definitions of good and bad law in a future post or perhaps  a modification of this posts.  Perhaps after returning from taking my youngest son home from ‘The Mikado’.

As our founding fathers said in the Declaration of Independence ‘Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’.

Adam Selene   October 2014

Thinking of our Grandkids by Adam Selene is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Legislators and the future

While making law,  I believe it would be prudent for legislators to consider the possible impact on their grandkids.

The golden rule says to do unto others…   If a legislator makes law cognizant of the possible impact on their grandkids, and knowing that people are not perfect and do make mistakes, we will be much better off while making and enforcing law. Those much better off would include their and your grandchildren who might be the same individual. As a legislator, you and your constituents should be happier too.

It is important to also consider the motivation of the criminal. Is it a starving person stealing to eat or feed a family eg Jean Valjean 24601? Is it a young person making a mistake, or is it a first offense? Violent criminal activity is another matter,  but still compassion should be given to the victim and the miscreant. Can the miscreant be reformed, or must some kind of therapy combined with incarceration be applied?  Can the miscreant be made to make some kind of repayment to the victim and society.

I have been the victim of violent crime. The miscreants being new immigrants to our country were deported after serving their sentence.

Adam Selene October 2014

Legislators and the future by Adam Selene is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Human expansion

If you know your old testament, you know that God gave us three commands. 1) Name everything 2) Be fruitful and multiple, 3) Don’t eat of the tree.

We are doing very well on 1&2 but failed 3. Two out of three, not bad 😉  Thank you JPL, NASA and all scientists everywhere and everywhen.  What we should be doing now is furthering our expansion into the universe. Our world here, Terra, may be at risk.

Besides global warming, there are additional risks we may not have any control over. These risks include:

Yellowstone Caldera. If this caldera explodes it is likely to produce a new ice age which will kill off a significant portion of life on this planet.

Major strike from the oort cloud and beyond. A large object traveling at +/- 20km m/s is something that killed off the dinosaurs. Such an event could do the same to us.

Gamma ray burst. An astronomical event which if occurred in our galactic neighborhood could kill most if not all life on our planet.

The risks run from remote to near certainty. We just don’t know when.

We need to start now to spread out into the universe to both learn and disseminate knowledge and to reduce the risk of a major catastrophe for our species.

Remind your politicians to focus on things that are important. Honor their oath of office and get down to business fixing the damage they have done and building for the future.

Let freedom ring.  God Bless America.

Adam Selene October 2014

Human Expansion by Adam Selene is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Crime and Punishment

The current state of the rehabilitation system as an industry that makes money by incarcerating people of all ages in this country is a serious problem and expense for our society. More people in our country are imprisoned than ever before.

First, people are given prison time for victimless crimes. Prison doesn’t rehabilitate these people. A better solution would be perhaps quick corporal punishment followed by counselling and probation without a felony conviction on the record that would prevent them from getting a good job or education.

Second, many incarcerated persons suffer from treatable mental illness that could be more inexpensively and expeditiously treated outside of the prison system.

For the violent criminal, corporal punishment followed by forced education and job placement should be considered. With strong supervision by a caring and diligent staff might be a better option.

For the truly violent, incarnation in the appropriate setting where they can get treatment and perhaps parole down the road.

For corporal punishment, punishment is rarely effective unless it is unusual. Robert Heinlein pointed out some examples eg. A drunk driver that causes an accident injuring people might be staked out on a road and then driven over. A person who kills a person for no lawful cause should be made by society to make amends, Eg to work to replace the probable future earnings of the individual. (Thank you Hammarabi and Robert A Heinlein)

A form of quick corporal punishment for major infractions is flogging. Please review Judicial Corporal punishment

True psychopaths should be appropriately diagnosed and hospitalized in a facility until they can be cured.

Our existing incarceration system is a waste of human and monetary capital. This is most true when dealing with criminal youth. It is well known that human brains aren’t fully developed until the mid 20’s. Education is the best way to deal with juvenile crime.

Our politicians either lack character or our ignorant of these facts.  The truth is that corporate interests with deep pockets are contributing to our political infrastructure. This influences our politicians to use the services of these corporations.  Just follow the money.

Our legislators have been creating more and more laws such that an person can innocently break a law with no criminal intent. Many laws have been created that don’t require criminal intent to be convicted of the crime.   It’s now recommended by many attorneys to never speak to the police without an attorney present as you may dig your own grave.

To the folks that say a poor upbringing leads to criminal activity by their children. I have two images from my experience to share with you.

1) Jerry G: The grandson of a Federal Judge who attended, parochial high school, worked in a ski area, then worked in a chop shop before joining the US Navy and serving in Gulf War 1, becoming later a pharmacist and husband.

2) Eddie O: The grandson of an Eastern City Police chief.  Violently and repeatedly stabs his best friends mother to death in her home.

Jerry G: exhibited some criminal behavior as a youth.  He grew up to become a great citizen and contributor to society.

Eddie O: became an incarcerated psychopath.

An informal survey of of 10 men at a recent YMCA Indian Guide campout showed to me that 9/10 men did things in their youth they are ashamed of and would be considered misdemeanors or even felonies.

I can say with authority that even a future US Senator can make a mistake.

Time to reform our laws and treatment of lawbreakers and the politicians who make these laws. While there are no quick answers, we could certainly do a better job.

Oct 22, 2014 —
National Academy on Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform (free pdf download)

3/5/2015 – The USA DOJ report on the Ferguson Police Department

4/8/2014 National Academy report on The Growth of Incarceration in the United states

Adam Selene October 2014

Crime and Punishment by Adam Selene is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Mental illness and shame

A serious issue in our nation is the stigma of mental illness.

Statistically,  mental illness will affect many of us sometime in our lives. There are now effective therapies for many of these illnesses. However, many who suffer from possible mental illness forgo getting treatment as they know that they will subsequently be discriminated against in work, or life by insurers or by political functionaries.

Our politicians make laws that take away the rights of anyone who has ever been treated for mental illness when most people suffering from mental illness are not a threat to anyone and are in fact more likely to be victimized by violent crime.

It is time to educate our lawmakers and fix the law and society. Our lawmakers should think of their grandchildren who may be subject to the laws they make and the society they create.

Adam Selene October 2014

Mental Illness and Shame by Adam Selene is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.