Michael1942's Blog

A recent article by Professor Phillip Freeman  in the WSJ recalled an election in the year 64B.C. (a long time ago). One candidate was gifted speaker and quite brilliant however in his aspiration for a higher office , he was failing. He received a letter from his brother giving this advice:

1. Promise Everything to everyone, the best way to win voters is to tell them what they want to hear, then live up to the ones that benefit you. People will be much angrier with a candidate who refuses to make promises than one who does not.

2. Call in all favors. If you have friends or associates who you have helped in the past, let them know that its payback time.

There are 3 to 4 other points in this letter but the strategy has remained the same through all of the ensuing years. To read the entire column go on line to the WSJ online for Saturday 3/17/2012 or Professor Freeman’s book introduction in the book “how To Win An Election: An Ancient Guide for Modern Politician”. The article relates all of the same events we experience now in each election season. How we are coerced into making a voting choice is ancient but apparently still effective. This may not be a bad thing but we voters need to progress to voting with our brains instead of our misconceptions.?

The opinion page is one of best things any newspaper has done as it allows ordinary people to  voice their opinion on most things. This forum unfortunately also allows One issue voters to rant against issues that most of them have just a small or incomplete amount of knowledge. This is also true of some columnists. The opinion page is just that but any opinions offered should deal with facts not fiction and misunderstood issues. When I read an article written by a known writer who takes sides rather than write as a neutral observer, I realize that their unilateralism creates single issue voters. Their followers tend to lean towards their opinions and therefore forgo the experience of all of the available facts. Getting all of the available facts appears to be a chore for most people much like the folks who buy a newspaper and only read the comics and sports leaving the news for the birdcage.

I have come to the reality that in order for me to trust other people ,I need to trust me first. This is not to say that I do not trust other people, it just means that complete trust requires a connection to other people that is not always available from others. there is a cosmic connection between all of us yet the Ethno-Racial, religious divide still exists and has manifested itself in all parts of the world. With all the advances made in this modern world the conditions of the Crusades era still exist. The atrocities of much of the African and Asian continents are based in religious differences, greed and abject poverty due to Government malfeasance. The general method of ruling in the African and Asian continents appears to be one of murder, rape and jail. The resources in many of these areas are significant enough to sustain the population and bring the standards of living to a higher level. Unfortunately the rebel factions of these areas have promoted leaders who once in power are reluctant to release that power as well as the perks provided (or taken) by the office. We have “third” world countries that have prospered due to the influx of outside business expertise  and money  are poised to become 2nd or 1st world countries yet cannot achieve practical Governance without bloodshed. Trust the people to survive and eventually prevail.

As we approach the big push for the Presidential office, the misdirection and unfounded attacks have begun. It is unfortunate that many of us decide who to vote for by the appearances and words of the candidates and incumbents. Our approach to voting has been one of listening to half-truths and empty promises while electing the same people time after time because we are either too disinterested in having really good Government and merely happy with what we perceive as good Government. Good Government is not about satisfying everyone but doing the dirty job of insuring all of us are taken care of and kept safe. This is not a 9 to 5 proposition. It takes the better part of each day to attend to affairs of State and the 50 states at the same time. There is really no down time in this job yet we all (including the media) compare our daily  activities to the job that the President and Congress does while we sleep and beyond. The current Congress has done less for us as they age into their position while some newcomers (to Congress) present more rational ideas which are not given due consideration because of vanity, ego or plain ignorance. The voters are subjected to advertising which is designed to induce us to buy products, use services and commit to specific agendas while the real reasons for these visual and auditory onslaughts remain hidden. Our Congress have staffers who use these same tactics to get the votes that will keep them in the job to continue their self serving ways. It is of little importance to elect some one as President if the Congress continues to play the “our side is best” game and neglects the important work of the voters who put them in office. The best laws are the ones that benefit the majority of Americans and not the most vocal factions whose shortsightedness gets the most headlines.

All of the latest and near latest company problems plaguing the country has prompted me to think back over my experience with company’s whose leadership had no idea as to how the company worked.Going back a number of years when I was in the flooring industry, there was a company called Color Tile. this company had been in business for many years. A major manufacturer of auto parts and carpet padding purchased the company with the proviso that the profits could not be drained off to support any of his other holdings. With that in place, he decided to increase the selling prices to the detriment of sales. The idea I think was to make enough profit to make available  some cash as profits. In manufacturing one can increase the price to the wholesalers by a few cents (so to speak) and increase profits but in retail that increase has to  grow quite a bit more as the expenses are greater. Currently there are several CEO’s of major companies that are struggling who have no experience in running a corporation but have backgrounds in other industries but not retail. Retail management takes a person with the knowledge of retail stores and their customers. If a CEO takes the position of a customer and actually went into the stores without an entourage, they could actually learn something of value. There is a  TV program called Under Cover Boss that does just that but since it is TV , its considered entertainment instead of fact.  Apparently the Boards of these companies never received the memos that covered the point of  hiring a person from another industry at a high price with a golden parachute in case of failure. Each industry has its specific needs and someone from another one does not necessarily know these needs so cannot address them.  Along with outsourcing and cutbacks many company’s have lost credibility along with customers.  There was a time long ago when the norm was to promote from within and train future leaders of that industry This practice has stopped.This also applies to our Congress.

Looking at the multitude of columnists and pundits who publish invidious information regarding politics , Racial issues and the ever popular Black on Black crime. If for once these assorted columnists would put their personals aside and really write about issues in the manner that pundits should, we would all be better informed on daily issues that affect us all. Theoretically these learned writers chose this profession to educate and inform yet some of them  inject personal issues into a forum that demands a middle of the road approach so that the reader can develop their own conclusions. We have enough trash flowing from our 500 plus Federal employees to keep the trash removal services busy for a long time. These folks never took time to read the so named “Obamacare”  in order to determine what will work and what will not but they took to the air waves and leaked information about  so called “death camps” for Seniors. Most of the population has been misinformed about this healthcare bill and the few that are moderately informed have embraced the portion that has helped them so how bad is it? To put a finer point on this, our Congress has engaged in Racism  to the detriment of us all. If we cannot believe what our elected officials say then what are they doing in our name? Using voter privilege, we need to be prepared to remove these representatives whenever they fail to do the work we hire them to do.