Root Of Evil

Christian Religion says,

“The love of money is the root of all evil”

I have to give credit where credit is due – they got this one right!

Trace all crimes or ills of society to the root cause and you will arrive at money. The person who steals something, why does he steal? Because he does not have the money to purchase it, or he can sellnsten goods at a higher price.

If someone is homeless, why is he homeless? Because he doesn’t have the money to pay for a roof over his head.

Money, at its very basic level, creates the perception of scarcity where it doesn’t exist. By setting a value of an item at a certain monetary amount, those that do not have that monetary amount can’t get that item. So, by setting the value high enough, those setting the value can control those who do not have that amount. The perception is that the value is set high because of the sacred cow “Supply And Demand”.

Supply and demand is a pile of shit. Values are set based solely on the ability to control a certain section of the community/society.

Scarcity is contrived and manufactured.

Scarcity is created so that society can be controlled. However, the concept is far from perfect. When something of necessity is placed just out of reach of those that need it, far too often they resort to criminal activity to acquire that item.

Furthermore, money, itself, is a contrived and manufactured concept set to control society. In history, money was issued and values set by a single person, the King, of a certain area. Again, totally according to the need to control his subjects. As the concept developed, it has morphed into a clearly accepted foregone conclusion of life.

In modern times, there are institutions in most countries that control and issue monies and set their values. The Fiat Monetary System has become accepted fact. Frankly speaking, money today is worth no more than the value of the materials used to manufacture the physical money. However, the Fiat system allows for institutionalized manipulation of worthless monies to inflate or devalue at whim, in order to, once again, control society at large.

To those of you that think the Governments of Nations around the world are in control of anything – THINK AGAIN! The real power resides, not in governments, but in the heads of those institutions that control the Fiat Monetary Systems of the planet. These institutions issue the money to the governments, as a loan, in order to fund the operations these governments undertake. However, at any given moment, these institutions can call due those loans, and thus, immediately bankrupt the governments. This is unlikely to happen, simply because the governments very well understand the situation they are in and will do nothing to go against the wishes of these institutions.

Now, before you start thinking I’m just trying to scare you, let me assure you that this monetary control of society IS collapsing in on itself. Governments are putting out stories of recovery and such, but don’t be fooled – they don’t have any better idea of what they are doing now than they did before. The cycle of growth then collapse can only sustain itself for so long, and the swings on either side are getting more pronounced.

Once the system collapses, then society will be free to pick itself by its bootstraps and create a new system that actually works and benefits everyone. A new Resource Based Economy will have the opportunity to bloom and flourish and humanity will blossom like has never before been seen in human history.

Now, those in charge of these institutions will fight their collapse at every turn. And, yes, there will be struggle as the collapse happens and as we pick up the pieces after it does happen. However, what emerges will be far better and truly a fairer system than has ever existed before.

Be well,

Rick

PS – I TOTALLY understand that until the new system is allowed to develop and flourish, we all must survive in the current system and operate by its rules. Unfortunately this is true, but I get it. I also realize this is a rather simplistic and short post for such a large subject. There is enough information on this subject to produce a plethora (I really like that word) of posts.

(reference http://www.Zeitgeistmovie.com

Zeitgeist: The Movie Part 2 “All The World’s A Stage”

Zeitgeist: Addendum)

3 Things You CAN Do To Go Green

Switch your laundry detergent to “High Efficiency” (labeled with “HE” on product labeling) – this concentrated form of laundry detergent cuts down on the amount of detergent needed per load. It also saves on the amount of plastics that end up in a landfill with smaller packaging (but you’re already recycling your plastics, right? )

Use cloth towels and napkins – paper towels and paper napkins get thrown in the trash and end up in the landfill. Cloth towels and napkins are not only “greener” but also look nicer than a folded piece of paper. Also when it comes to cloth napkins, there’s so many ways to fold them to make a table setting look better.

Find a recycling drop off point – There are many places around these days that have the free drop off bins where you can just toss your recycling and go. The point I use here in Columbus doesn’t even require you to sort the various recyclables. There are enough of these places that there has to be one near you that’s convenient.  In our household, making use of the recycling drop off point has cut down trash thrown out by 75%! We used to have an overflowing dumpster each week on pick up day, but now we put our wheeled dumpster out at the curb only once a month, and even then, its usually not full.

Be Well,

Rick

The Most Sacred Cow

Religion

Religion means different things to different people depending on where you grew up and when you grew up.

In general, and for the purposes of this post, religion is defined as the set of beliefs taught to a person to explain existence.

From the beginning of human sentience, mankind has sought to explain his existence and explain why things around him happen. The explanations he came up with were verbally passed down generation to generation. After a few tellings, explanations became legends. After time, legends became accepted beliefs. Accepted beliefs became religion.

At some point, someone, or someones, got the idea that they could be the person, or group, to decide, and control, what these explanations were and how they were passed down. Thus began “organized” religion.

As humanity has progressed, more and more of what religion attempts to explain, through myth, story and fairytale, has been chipped away by provable science.  By and large, today, there is little that is not explained, as fact, by science. Yet religion persists.

At some point, there will be nothing left to explain, and at that point, those in control of religion will either be faced with their own obsolescence, or they will be forced to create new myths and fairy tales to continue to justify their control over the minds and lives of their followers.

By this time, hopefully, humanity will have come to its senses and see through the thinly veiled mirages perpetrated by the religions of the planet.  Once this happens, true progress can take place.

Religion is THE largest cause of war and death in all of human history. Religious bigotry and idiocy has caused more strife, stress and death than any other single cause in all of history.

Imagine the progress that humanity can make once we view the rest of the world as it is and not through the Stained-Glass-Colored glasses worn by all too many.

Sadly, there’s no 12-step program that can relieve anyone of religion. It’s just something that everyone must realize on their own.

Be well,

Rick

(content edited to correct grammatical error found after publishing)

Happy Christmas

Hopefully everyone is having a wonderful day with family and friends, or having a day of solitude, if that’s what you want.

Remember to take time to take stock of what you are grateful for.

In just a few days, the next topical post on UTIOS will be here.

Until then, have a wonderful holiday.

Be well,

Rick

A Day To Be Grateful

Today we celebrate the US Holiday of Thanksgiving. This is a day to celebrate all we have and show our gratefulness and appreciation.
Today take a few moments out of the rush of getting to and from where ever it is you’ll be today, and make a list of all you have in your life. Don’t include any wishes or desires but simply what you have. Whether big or small take stock of the abundance in your life.
Then, when your list is complete, keep it in your pocket or a place where it won’t be far from you. Start you day by reading this list. End your day by reading this list. Add to it as needed.
Remain in a constant state of gratefulness. Not just on the 4th Thursday in November, but every day. Focus on what you have. Your life WILL change for the better.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Boogey-Man

(I hadn’t planned on two posts in two days, but a conversation with a friend this morning prompted me to write today’s post. Thanks SB!)

As a child were you scared of the Boogey-man? Did he hide under the bed? or in your closet? In the attic?

As an adult, the Boogey-man hides in your television set. A popular song recently states, “when you own the information, you can bend it all you want.” (Waiting On The World To Change – John Mayer) Coverage of news around the world these days has been transformed from simple reporting of the facts to almost a complete commentary mind-set. Even the purest of news shows are anchored by people who readily and unapologetically offer their opinion on the news. Agree or disagree with your choice of news coverage to watch, no one can disagree with the level to which opinion has risen.

This has fostered a new era of the “ratings race” amongst the various networks and their shows. How best to win the ratings race. The current approach has been to bring the Boogey-Man out from under the bed and out of the closet and place him smack-square in the middle of your television.

What gets your attention the quickest during the news nowadays? They scare you shitless!

EVERY news story proclaims the end of life and civilization as we know it. The best example of this is the recent coverage of Tiger Woods’ personal life.  His personal life, while dramatic and interesting enough in just the facts (besides the fact it’s really none of our business, but that’s another post), his indiscretions hearkened the end of the Golf Industry. In order to maintain their ratings while covering news that wasn’t really news, the media world scared us all into believing that this single human being was going to be the downfall of an entire sporting industry.

Another extreme aspect of this ratings grabber on your television is US politics. No matter which “side” you are on politically, there is a “news” network that will convince you that someone is evil. He or she is going to come into your house, eat your cookies and step on your kitten.

And, here’s the really scary part of all this - WE FALL FOR IT! We believe them! (yes, even I have fallen for it in the past and reacted accordingly)

(let me tell you a little secret – The Earth will NOT be destroyed tomorrow (or even next week). One person, or another, being elected over another is not the end of civilization as we have known it.

Let’s all take a deep breath, let it out slowly and then turn the channel to any particular news program or channel and FLIP THEM THE BIRD!  And then, following the advice of the previous UTIOS post, walk over to your TV and push the OFF button!

Let me recommend that you take it upon yourself to find a true, fact based, news source to get your information from. Such sites are out there. They are blogs, they are local publications and websites. The facts are out there! Go find them!

I look forward to your thoughts on the Boogey-Man.

Rick

Planetary Stewardship

So, what have you done to take care of your 54 acres of the planet today?

When one accepts the concept of Global Citizenship, one comes to realize that we all have to think about more than just our small place on this planet. Just like the analogy of a butterfly flapping its wings in Africa starts a hurricane in the Caribbean, our actions have an effect elsewhere.  We can just let life go along and make no real thought about our actions, and just let the results happen

OR

We can make purposeful efforts to make the world around us a better place. We can undertake grand projects that will directly affect hundreds or thousands, or billions, or we, each, can take small steps in our daily lives that, when taken all together, add up to have an even larger effect that no single person could have by themselves.

Again, we are all in this together.

Whether talking about environmentalism and green living, or even the smallest acts of simple kindness, the actions we take have effect elsewhere.  We need to stop looking at the differences between us and begin to refocus on the inherent fact that we’re all headed in the same direction in this life and we are on this trip together.   Think about what you can do in your life to help your neighbor next door. Think about what you can do to help your neighbor on the other side of the world. And, they, in turn, must think about what they can do to help you.

I had originally thought of starting this post off with all the dire and ominous states of affairs we are currently in on this planet. After thinking about it though, we’d have to be living under a pretty remote rock to have not already heard all the horrible events taking place that are going to imminently destroy us unless we return to living in grass huts and walking everywhere to get around.  Again, we’ve all already heard that story.

I want this post (or series of posts if that happens) to be a bit more constructive than boogey-man-scary. I hope to get you to think about how a very simple, non-intrusive, step in your own life can make a difference for us all.

For example – Did you know that by turning off your television set with your remote, you are actually wasting energy? By using the remote control to turn off almost all electronic devices, rather than turning it off, actually places the device in “stand by” mode. The device is still turned on. Yes, it is using less energy, but it is still using energy. Next time you leave the living room, actually walk up to the tv and push the off button. You’ll not only save some of that energy to be used elsewhere at another time, but you’ll also save yourself money! (see, you can be ‘green’ and selfish at the same time!)

Next time you brush your teeth in the morning before work, look down into the sink. Is the water running? If it is, why? you don’t need the water running while the brush is in your mouth. That is just water wasted and down the drain. Wet your brush’s bristles and then turn the faucet off. Once you’re done scrubbing those pearly whites, turn the water back on to rinse everything out and down the drain.  Again, not only will you preserve a precious resource, but your monthly water bill will be much less!

Did you know that with the way the vast majority of meat is produced these days, eating a single pound of meat has already produced many more pounds of greenhouse gasses? (Cows are the number on producer of the extreme greenhouse gas methane.)  Taking one day a week as “meat free” decreases the demand for meat in the market, thus decreasing greenhouse gasses. (and, I have yet to see a salad that costs even half as much as a Fillet Mignon!)

These are only three simple and truly unobtrusive ways to do something small to improve the world around you. Imagine if the 6.5 BILLION people of the world all did these three simple things. (Ok, so not everyone has a tv, but I’m pretty sure that many of us have more than enough to make up for that)

One small step, undertaken by many, will make a HUGE difference.

I thank you for your continued reading of my thoughts. I encourage your feedback and participation in discussion. I, myself, am not going to fix the world all on my own. All of us are needed to accomplish this.  Please join in and be part of the solution.

Rick

Paradigm Shift

As a child, who grew up in the United States of America in the 1970s and 80s, I was very clearly told that “TheRussians” were my enemy. I had never met a “TheRussians”, but I believed what I was taught. I believed it because “TheRussians” were these very scary boogey men. As I grew older, I learned that they weren’t really boogey men, but it was very clear to me that every single one of “TheRussians” wanted to kill every single American and a very large portion of the rest of the world as well. I, appropriately, was terrified of “TheRussians” and I didn’t like them all too much. I had never met any, but I just knew that I didn’t really want to, either.

Ironically, when I enlisted in the US Army, I had these early childhood lessons further taught to me. Even though it was the 90s now, “TheRussians” were still “the enemy”. I had the wonderful opportunity to be stationed at an Army airfield in Germany not far from what had been the border between the East and West Germanies just a few years earlier.  Even though the border was no longer there, “TheRussians” were still the enemy and we practiced diligently every day about what to do when “TheRussians” attacked.

Then, I had an opportunity to take a day trip into eastern Germany and those of us in that group actually met a few ”TheRussians”.

GUESS WHAT!

We didn’t disintegrate into a pile of dust the moment their eyes locked onto ours. They didn’t run us through simply for existing. Their eyes didn’t glow red. They didn’t breath fire.

Actually, they were normal everyday people. And, they found out that we Americans were normal every day people as well.

Why had they not turned out to be the evil beings  I had been raised to believe they were? Did I just happen to meet “weird” members of “TheRussians”?  OR…

Had I simply been told something completely and utterly false in order to create an atmosphere and mind set that allowed a government’s political agenda to go through virtually unchallenged?

Guess what! “TheRussians” were normal humans that lived their lives every day just like we did.  Of course, now, 20 years later, we see this very well. The reason “TheRussians” are no longer the boogey men that they were in my childhood is because governments have found new and fresh ways to keep humanity separated and divided and, above all else, SCARED of each other.

We are ALL here on this rock, third from our star, daily making our way through life. We all deal with struggles in life, joys, sadness, hardship and triumph. However, we all also, daily, are bombarded with reasons fed to us in order to keep us divided. Just as we were, our children are being raised to be scared of certain groups.

The groups may be different today than when we were younger, but the objective is the same. Keep us scared and divided. The governments of the world need us to be scared and divided in order for us to remain subservient and ‘in control’. Their power is derived from our fear and fabricated divisions.

There needs to be a paradigm shift.

We need to get over ourselves and stop being scared of everyone else. We are all human. We all live our lives daily.

We need to start realizing that the divisions among us are completely fabricated and forced upon us. We need to start thinking a new way.

We need to stop thinking of our divisions and start realizing all that is the same. We need to foster that mindset. We need to start accepting everyone, Worldwide, as our neighbor and that OUR actions affect them and their actions affect us.

Do this – Take a moment to seriously consider the Earth. Now, imagine the Earth where people are not scared of each other and instead of realizing created divisions, they’ve realized the similarities and the need to live on this planet together and not keep each other into forced, fabricated divisions.

Tomorrow, when you wake up, purposefully ask yourself, “What will I do today to create a better place for my neighbor and friend on the other side of Earth?  How will I thank him or her for making the world a better place for me?”

Don’t dismiss this as pollyanish. Consider this paradigm shift and how it can make a difference in your life, and as a result, a difference in your world.

Introduction To UTIOS

Good Day to you all!

I would like to welcome you to UTIOS. Thank you for spending part of your valuable day here with me.

First, let me explain the name.  UTIOS stands for Under The Influence Of Sanity

There are certain givens in life that just make sense and lend itself to sane living. However, too few people engage in sane living in current society.  I understand I am simply one individual on this rock in the vast expanse of the known (and unknown) Universe, but maybe, just maybe, putting my thoughts out there in this manner will help others gain just a bit of sanity as well.

Please understand, I don’t claim to have a corner on the “sanity market.”  In fact, talk to any of my friends or family and you’ll get a description of me more resembling INsanity. LOL  Again, some ideas just make basic sense.

Once more, thank you for being interested enough to read even this far.  I invite you to participate by lending your thoughts as well. Please note, however, I am interested in discussion, not attacks or spam. Personal attacks of myself or other posters in discussions will be removed.  No discussion. (this is my sandbox, if you want an attack sandbox, take your toys and make your own.)

Topics posted here may include any and all topics that exist in the realm of life these days, but the most likely topics will include Green Living, National/Planetary Identity, Government, Current Political debates. This isn’t an inclusive or exclusive. I could, one day, post on the days activities as seen through the eyes of my ShihTzu Jack. I might post via text posts like this, video posts, links to other articles I find, etc. etc.

Be well!

Rick

Terran Citizenship (a nod to ST fandom!)

I, briefly, stressed out a bit about the topic for my first post here.

Then, after just a few very cursory searches online, it became GLARING what my post should be. So, here I go…

UTIOS is born!

By today’s standards, I am “American”, “Ohioan” (though “Michigander” by birth). I am co-owner of a “standard city lot” in a metropolitan “corporation” in The State of Ohio in The United States of America. Governmentally, I am pretty standard.

Granted, I, under the way we measure it today, am better off than many, yet not as well off as some. Pretty Standard.

Simply looking at the CIA World Factbook one can easily find that the total land square km on Earth is 148,940,000. As of today, they list the population of the plant at 6,768,181,146 humans.  Doing the simple math of dividing148,940,000 sq km by the amount of humans on the planet, you realize that there is .22 sq km of land per person. Converting that to a number we understand for “real estate”, that is 54.36 acres available PER PERSON on the entire planet.

54 ACRES!

I, as a citizen of Ohio and USA have scratched and stressed my way to co-own less than 1/4 of an acre. Yes, as a citizen of the planet, by myself I have 54 acres! (Y’all do too!)

This also means I have responsibility to 54 acres of the planet, as do we all.

However . . .

However . . .

A set of governments of some 266 different countries have decided that THEY own the land on this planet. These Governments have decided that THEY deem the proper process of determining who they allow to  “own” the land on the planet (if anyone but themselves at all.)

WE ALL are citizens of THE ENTIRE PLANET!

WE have not only the RESPONSIBILITY to this, but the RIGHT to it!

Changing my view of “citizenship” has truly altered my view on current political topics in the USA such as “Immigration”.

I am a Citizen of Earth.

(and since I’m a die hard Trekkie)

I am Terran!

Be well, Rick

(signature line added after I realized I forgot it)