BlogThe De-facto, Incipient, and Creeping Dictatorship of the Self-proclaimed Elites
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- Written by Joseph J. McMahon Joseph J. McMahon
Einstein said that if he had an hour to solve a problem, he would take him fifty minutes to define it and five minutes to solve it. Given the nature of the ideological, social, cultural, and political problems related to the presenting issues of the 2020 November election and the thuggish, imbecilic, and harmful breech of the scantily fortified line of defense of the Capitol building, it might take more than five minutes to solve them. The opening fifty-five minutes will be plenty of time to sketch a promising outline to define the underlying elements of the two presenting problems.
Let us begin by defining the meaning of the word, problem. All humans sense the gap between the ideal way they could be and the actual way they are. I see the gap between the ideal healthy me and the out-of-shape me. Subsequently, I am also aware of the contradictory and inconsistent ways that I go about half-heartedly trying to close the gap. Everything about us strives for effective unity, wholeness and completeness. The gap and whatever prevents us from experiencing the unity of thought and action constitutes a problem.
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The social dimension - The Right Track and The Wrong Track
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- Written by Joseph J. McMahon Joseph J. McMahon
Pollsters tell us that sixty to seventy percent of Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track. This finding is not very helpful without a clear understanding of "wrong track".
The following is a map of the human mind in terms of its tendencies to deterine what "wrong track" means. Observation and critical common sense tell us that humans behave, think and emote irrationally, rationally and more-than-rationally. We all experience being confused, being logical and being deeply moved by ideals such as, beauty, truth and love. The three major tendencies of the mind from which we can derive the other tendencies are confusion, order and vision. The irrational tendency of confusion leads to destruction. The rational tendency of order leads to productivity. The suprarational tendency of vision leads to making a world according to our ideals.
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The Upside-Down Distribution of Wealth
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- Written by Joseph J. McMahon Joseph J. McMahon
What practical ideas will translate the ideal of justice into the just distribution of wealth? Right now the United States government, state governments and city municipalities distribute trillions of dollars to senior citizens, welfare recipients, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and government employees’ pension funds. Most of the money goes to older and needy people. Government treasuries are going broke. The distribution system is backwards.
Let’s assume the following: 1.We have a right that no person prevents us from living our lives in peace according to our personal values. 2. We have a responsibility to contribute to the reservoir of wealth that we also draw on to live flourishing lives. 3. We have a personal responsibility to flourish. The foregoing principles are based on the common sense reality of simultaneously being an individual and being social.