The Basic Insecurities of Man....and How it can Rule a Country.

As I sit on the sidelines and watch this deficit deal get passed in Washington, I am astounded and disappointed at how the majority of us, which this plan will affect have lost their voices, and for those that it will not affect have kept quiet or used their political clout to keep the status quo.  Let’s start with the cuts they will make, they will be cutting from defense and Medicare mostly, two groups that least need the cuts, instead of raising taxes.  Actually if they would raise taxes they really wouldn't be they would just be reinstating taxes that were there before Bush cut them, which was suppose to be for a temporary period of time.  That being said I am going to try to write this piece as objectively as possible and try to have a mindful discussion about the government.     

Overall from a mindful perspective I must say this country is being run on the most basic insecurities of man, there are no altruistic debates, it comes down to basic human conditions that are driving these lawmakers to make decisions.  The most qualified of adults (some of the most educated and experienced people in the world, I would hope) with the ability to lead act on their most juvenile of emotions, instead of the intelligence and mindfulness that you would expect of these leaders.  The time is now to start pulling away from these juvenile emotions and begin to act as adults and become responsible for our own actions and/or for the people and world around us.  We are interdependent societ, somehow that doesn't come to mind right now or for that matter most times.

1. Let’s start with labels.  Once we put a label on anything, we cannot see it for what it really is, we cannot see it nor can we hear it.  In our mind we put the label sticker on what we see and our perceptions for that thing or person are now filtered through the stereotypical definitions that we believe this lable has.  Or as a person, we try so hard to conform to that label, that we forget who we are as individuals, and the decisions we make are based on the greater good of the group we belong to than doing the right thing, mob mentality.  I want to say, I am not a Republican, I am not a Democrat (which it currently says on my voter registration), but there should be a third option: one for people who are for this country and for people to be able to truly and fairly pursue happiness.  So before we go any further in this country, lets remove these labels and then try to re-engage in a debate, where hopefully a mans’ true heart will prevail, the one that cares about people versus the entity of a party whose, juvenile emotions need to be fed. 
2. One of my favorite quotes is, “to see the true character of a man give him power.” (Abe Lincoln)This need for power, this want for power, this thing “power” has put a hold on so many of us. In government it seems the need to attain more power, at whatever cost, is more important, than ones belief for right or wrong or doing things for the greater good.  Power like a drug is an addiction that needs to be broken.  I always say everybody is addicted to something. Yes there are the obvious, drugs, drinking, cigarettes, sweets, but there are others. Addiction can be always wanting to be right which leaves the other person always wrong, addiction to gain power and to feel in control, which leaves the other person feeling weak, out of control.  Both these scenarios and many others leave the other person with anger, fear and betrayal.  Look, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  There is no doubt here, so your intent is very important to understand.  Are you correcting someone to be right or to gain power, or are you doing it because you truly believe that there is a cause of action that is greater than feeding these petty emotions?
3. This leads me to my next thought.  With the fixation of appeasing selfish and short term needs such as gaining power, being right, we have lost the most important quality of mindfulness.  The big picture, the whole world, the long road.  Look we are all here for a moment, there was so much that came before us and there is so much that will come after us.  In this society we believe in only me, the momentous me, when there is so much more, the world, the environment, the conscience growth of mankind.  You laugh, but does anyone even think that whatever we do will have an effect for lifetimes, not just to make us happy for the moment.  Being happy for a moment is very fleeting, like an addiction, we keep trying to get that next thing to make us happy and the cost doesn't matter. 
4. Aaahhhh, blame.  Blame is wonderful.  You can sit on your chair in your living room watching the news and blame the democrats, blame the republicans, but you will never blame yourself for not getting off that chair and doing something.  Blame is such a hollow word.  In this day and age of Facebook and every other source of communication how is it that we don’t put a movement together to get our voices heard.  They did it in the sixties without this technology, but now I think we have so much apathy for the government, we have countless distractions, and could we really make a difference. Corporations are unified, parties are unified, but yet the ones that this bill affects the most, are where?  We don't know how to have our voice heard and therefore have lost faith in trying.
5. Now lets go to the most fundamental of all that is going on here in this government currently.  GREED!!! Yes, Greed.  I have not seen one action to the contrary of this and when you look at every religion there are countless discussions about the evils of greed, and so many nations that have collapsed on the backs of greed.  Look at some personal examples, Bernie Madoff, Enron, Rupert Murdoch all of them have one thing in common their power gave them an ego that let them believe that their constant need for control and money were justified until everything crashed around them. 

At the end of the day whether it be in your daily life or in the world as a whole, these petty emotions greed, power, blame, etc are a house of cards with no substance underneath it, and just as quickly as it was raised, it will fall. 

These are some thoughts, just thoughts, if I come across as righteous are preaching I apologize, I am trying to take my emotions out of it.

My personal opinion if anyone wants to read:  I do have I a Masters in Finance and I understand a little about deritives and actions perpurtrated by Wall Street, the lack of action the SEC has taken, and a little understanding of what this country really needs in order to grow, put it all together and it can be very dangerous. So it amazes me to see how we as a nation with a majority of common people could have lost our voice, while the richest; Wall Street, Corporations, and Lobby groups have gained so much strength. 

Did you know that there was a movement to tax hedge fund managers salaries as salaries instead of capital gains.  And Wall Street pushed that debate off the senate floor.  See as the rest of us pay for Social security and other taxes adding to 30 - 40% of our salary going to taxes, hedge fund managers only pay  15% of taxes, because their “salary” is considered capital gains. 

Did you know that the majority of derivatives that were created under Bush were just to dodge tax obligations, look up SWAPS.

And did you know that the people who have had the greatest amount of tax cuts were the poorest of us and then the richest of us, (their taxes decreased by about 2%) and then the middle class, which virtually were taxed the same.  That means that people making over $250k during the Bush administration saw the greatest amount of money deducted from their tax bill and the most amount of money added to their pockets.

Over 10 years THIS could add up to trillions.  Just so you know.