The Importance of "k"

Imagine playing in a league where wins and losses are not determined by performance but by the size of bribes for referees and players.

Imagine going to a school where grades are given not by competence with the material or completion of assignments, rather on the teacher’s feelings toward the student.

Imagine running a business in a market where agreements are not respected and success is determined, limited or usurped.

Imagine being in a relationship with a daily fear of being abandoned.

Imagine living in a country where the rule of law fluctuates on the whims of the powers that be.

This is the reality for many in the world today which is caused by the lack of a quality constant.

The constant is basic principles from which values are made, that determine right from wrong, fair from unfair and most importantly, no matter what happens and regardless of what powers have influence, does not change. And on this, development and progress can be based.

Without the constant, there is no order, there are no standards, and values, performance, rewards and success are arbitrary. People without a constant are reduced to hedonism, which leads to anarchy, which leads to chaos.

The constant determines the identity of a person, organization, culture, or nation, and therefore is the basis for decision-making.

The Constant varies in different situations. The following are constants for healthy societies:

· For a school, the constant would be the catalogue registered under.

· For a business it is a contract.

· For competition, a rulebook

· For a nation, it’s constitution

· For Christianity, the Bible

· For Catholicism, the Pope

· For Capitalism, the local market regulations under the principle of profit over loss

· For a couple, a commitment to the bond

· For a person, that constant rests in faith, family or community

Because of the importance of the constant, it is usually held as sacred and therefore protected and nurtured and explains why there is such outrage and reactions when people’s constants are threatened.

This is why appointments for the US Supreme court are taken so seriously and why conservatives are questioning whether Jud. Sotomayor will treat the constitution with respect or be an activist judging on racial issues. This is also why the US is wrong to not support the Hondurans in removing their democratically elected President who tried to unlawfully change their constitution.

It explains why there is uproar with U.S. Government playing and involving itself in the markets beyond regulation.

It explains why referees typically get most of the negativity in sports.

Since the constant controls decision-making, values and opinions, real change happens on two levels. The strength of an entity is a direct result of the quality of its constant. So the first level regards the constant itself. Documents like the Bible and the US constitution are held as solid and therefore sacred, so changes to either are met with incredible resistance. Sports rules and school catalogues change all the time, but require consistency of those rules at minimum through the end of the term. Faith and Commitments are on a personal level and subject to education, maturity, and accountability.

The constant is a set of principles, not issues, on which one chooses to exist. Therefore change on this level is the hardest thing to do, and should be done carefully and rarely. It is not something to be done on a whim or urge, in a 5 minute conversation with a stranger on the street, based on a political agenda, or done just because it feels right.

The second level of change then builds off the principles included in that constant and regards the entity’s ability to live according to that constant.

This is why a nation the role of a supreme court and law enforcement, why there are managers, why people follow religion, why we hire coaches and trainers and why, for many, a wedding is much more than a piece of paper.

This is also how we can measure and keep in check those who are in charge of our development, (educators, pastors, politicians, leaders) to make sure they are leading us according to our established principles and prevent manipulation, indoctrination, or being misguided.

Therefore, a stable entity, be that anything from a person to a nation, needs to ask itself a few questions:

Do we know what our constants are?

Are they solid and based on firm principles?

Do we believe in them?

Are we actively protecting and nurturing them, or even prepared to defend?

And finally, are we living or attempting to live according to them?

Above the Law?

More facts about the Honduran ouster of former President Zelaya have emerged today, and tell us a lot about our current administration.

According to the Wall Stree Journal:

After the supreme court denied Zelaya the allowance to seek a constitutional referendum (Honduras has a history of dictators) he went ahead anyway with the vote getting ballots from ….Venezuela.

When ordering the military to carry out the voting logistics, the commander felt obligated to follow the supreme court’s ruling and not comply.

Mr. Zelaya fired him.

The Supreme Court ordered him reinstated, Mr. Zelaya refused.

He broke into the military installation with a mob stealing the ballots and having them distributed regardless of the attorney general making it clear that anyone carrying out the referendum would be prosecuted.

Under court order, the military arrested Mr. Zelaya and exiled him to Costa Rica, which means this was not a military coup as the international media is promoting.

The response from the President of the United States, the world’s leader and protector of democracy, liberty, and freedom. ”We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there.”Later, he added ”It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections.”

I’m still at a loss here, Honduras defended their own constitution. A country whose history is riddled with tyranny and dictators, now threaten by a coalition with Chavez and his boys. They react according to the law of the land against their elected leader who blatantly tried to defy the law.

What exactly is illegal about it? What other options did they have?

Why stand against those who followed the law and with those to openly defied it?

Yes he was the democratically elected president and in democracies, the people's chosen their leaders are not changed by militaries. But this isn’t freshmen level politics. Although democratically elected, it doesn’t give carte blanche to do anything or does our President believe that? What amazes me is that he was a constitutional lawyer.

The 80/20 on the matter, is that possibly Obama is using politics to deal with Latin America on a larger scale. However, I don't see how going against EVERYTHING we as America stands for to soothe the problem children of the South benefits us.

In short, the President’s response to this matter is telling, scary, and quite revealing. It shows the possibility that he believes, he has four years to do whatever, and there's little anyone can do about it.

American’s better start paying better attention.

Looking for a Party

No I didn’t teabag, but like many other Americans, I share frustration with the current state of affairs and concern for the future of a great nation. So I’m looking for a party that shares, not defines, my principles. I don’t care about the name, I don’t care about who is endorsing, I don’t care if it’s COOL, or if it’s new. I care about results. The following 15 points describes the type of leadership I will support in order of priority:

1. National Defense –The number one privilege is to live life in safety and liberty. Any governments’ #1 priority is to keep its member safe both at home and abroad. Being the Nice guy has NEVER stopped or prevented aggression on the contrary, it encourages it (ever deal with a bully problem at school?). Fear of not being liked in my opinion is not a good policy for defense or leadership. Preventive is always best, but we need to be in a position to do so. Was it a coincidence that renegade leaders in Libya and mad nuclear sceintiests fell in line shortly after the attack on Iraq?

2. Freedom – we are who we are because of our rights. The constitution is timeless and the Rights differentiate us from the rest of the world. If you’ve spent any time in Russia, especially outside the tourist areas, you’ll notice the reality between real freedom and suppression.

3. Law Enforcement – Freedom without Rules is chaos. Try playing a game without rules, without parameters, without disciplined skill. Not very fun and not very safe. There may be the freedom to play, but what you can actually do is limited to your abilities and knowledge of the game. Although we have freedoms, there are limits, and there are consequence when we test and go beyond those limits, regardless of intentions. There is a way society works, and law enforcement is there to make sure of that. Again, prevention is best, but when not, enforcement should be swift and with resolve in a way that supports prevention.

4. Opportunity – I’m a second generation immigrant. My parents with little but their education, and my father learning a new culture and language, they were able to build a very successful life and impart those values in their children. America should return to a performance based culture, which gives EVERYONE opportunity, not handouts, regardless of status, culture, religion and any of the other ways people segregate. Like any good game, the value is offered, the qualifications set, and rules enforced. The results belong to those who choose to participate. The only real failure goes to those who choose not to. Government should only participate if it plays by the same rules. Inefficiency should never lead.

5. Government – the constitution is clear, the government is divided into 3 branches with 3 separate powers for balance. The legislative legislates, the executive – executes, and the judicial JUDGES. Problems arise when they extend or ignore their roles. Judges should NOT legislate or execute. Legislature or Executive should not be judging. And none of them should be running companies, unless they play by the same rules as everyone else.

6. Society - the US is by the people for the people not by the government/power/corp for the government/power/corp. We project and protect the liberty of the people. We’ve lost that. A high percentage of the social programs that are supported by the government, and not equally so by the people are…wait for it…corrupt! Why are the people paying for in taxes these organizations that don’t represent the values of the American people? Let the markets decide who succeeds in the market and likewise the people decide what affects our society. Why does this work? The American people are #1 in the world for giving and charities both home and abroad.

7. Responsibility – how can the government of the largest and one of the best economies in the world be SO inefficient and irresponsible with performance? It makes no sense. The only one remotely close that was serious about it was Ross Perot, that would’ve been interesting. Is it really so hard?

8. Education – there’s no reason for a country with the best universities in the world producing such poor education k-12. No reason. And there’s no reason that getting there demands more tax payer money to do so. In the world’s most competitive society of bigger, faster, stronger, our education is top-heavy, limping, and weak.

9. Legal – the US is the joke of the world in terms of legal compensation. Of course there needs to be law, and civil law creates societal balance but it’s out of control and ruining our economy. It adversely affects the costs of Healthcare, Education, and Production. The Legal system in the US currently runs as extortion, and it needs to be reined in.

10. Healthcare – only after frivolous civil lawsuits are under control can we begin to tackle healthcare. But tackle it we must. However the solutions must be fiscally responsible. There are many great proposals. Throwing money we don’t have into a system we can’t afford is NOT a solution. Simply copying another country is sophomoric, since we have some of the best and most creative minds in the world.

11. Taxes – another huge waste. Let’s have a policy that makes sense, that encourages growth, and competition both home and internationally. The best minds in the world are NOT in government, they are competing in the markets. We should be using living organizational principles to take advantage of that, not tax it. This is part of Efficiency (#7) Step 1: reduce government, Step 2: institute a responsible fiscal policy: a flat tax or fair tax. Step 3: reduce spending.

12. Corruption – corruption exists when there is a lack of regulation enforcement, a lack of transparency, and an arbitrary distribution of value/wealth. We need leaders who are not afraid to step up.

13. Accountability – in light of #12, strong leadership regulates itself firmly, not waiting for it to hit the press, or wait for a crisis event, but knows what it is doing and takes care of it. I would expect nothing less from the companies I invest in, why would I expect less from my government?

14. Moral Issues - I’m not a fan of government dictating moral stances, rather give it up to popular votes and state management.

15. Candidates - I don't think it's too much to ask to have the best most qualified candidates to choose from, not just the ones that have legacy, fill quotas, or are simply the "next-in-line."

Any suggestions?

Enemy of the State?

A lot of outrage is now focused on the bonuses paid out to AIG executives, a company which has received over 170 billion in bailout tax-payer money. People are angry and rightfully so.

But less known is that the bonuses were previously approved by government officials whose names include Treasury secretary Geithner, Senator Dodd, and the Obama Administration, who are now making McCarthy-style inquires for the names of the executives receiving those legally contracted and government authorized bonuses .

In a move to deal with the outrage, the house has just passed a resolution bill to tax those bonuses to a tune of 90% to get that money back. Some say that is a creative use of government, some call it thuggery, but actually, according to Article 1, section 9, clause 3 of the US Constitution it is illegal.

What congress is passing now is called a bill of attainder which is an act or legislation that singles out a person or group of persons for punishment without the benefit of a trial. Bills of attainder are forbidden. The clause was intended by our forefathers to enforce the separation of powers, a way to protect the people from basically trial by legislature.

The bill of attainder AIG executives that the house is pushing and the BO administration has verbally yet unofficially approved is an exaggerated form of Obama administration politics, to single people or groups out who are political enemies, isolate them, then attack, i.e. Milt Rosenberg, Stanley Kurtz, WGN Radio, Rush Limbaugh, Rick Santelli, and Jim Cramer. What has been whispered as unprecedented and unpresidential, has now been elevated to unconstitutional, which begs the question, who really is the enemy of the state.

Time and again the founding fathers have proven themselves to be beyond their time. The clause for the bill of attainder was written in a timeless way because they realized it would be necessary...some day. It only makes sense to look further into the thinking of the founding fathers. Here are some more interesting and still relevant quotes from Thomas Jefferson:

1. The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.

2. The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

3. It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.

4. I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretence of taking care of them.

5. My reading of history convinces me that most bad governments result from too much government.

6. To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which He disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.

7. To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.

8. I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.

9. When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

10. The majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest breaks up the foundations of society.

11. To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.

And last but not least

12. The man who reads nothing at all is better than educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.

It’s amazing how timeless and relevant the wisdom of those men continue to be. They’ve so far showed us what America is and what it stands for, and more importantly the enemies it stands against. And based on the founder’s test...we’re not looking so good.

Let’s hope that isn’t the change that was promised!
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