Tag Archives: fiscal responsibility

The Road to Diamond, Day 209: Not One Dimensional

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

June 25, 2025- The day saw me in three states of being. Morning started, foggy-headed and with an appeal for help, from a family that was in a situation similar to the one in which we found ourselves in the late 2000s. I am eternally grateful to family members who helped out, back then. The best way I can still re-pay them is to help this present destitute family, while maintaining the expectation that they make their own case, as we had to after a fashion. So, food was put on the table and a road map was given towards it not becoming a constant appeal.

When I was younger, say, in my twenties, it was easy to look upon people in a one or two dimensional manner. No matter how often Mom said to not judge a book by its cover, the boy saw girls as potential mates and little else. (Thankfully, the decent part of me never pushed the physical aspect of that mindset. “No” was woe, but never was confused with “go”.) The student had a tinge of condescension towards the worker, until a working man turned the tables one day. I took a hard line towards those who did not toe society’s line-even as I had several motes in my own eyes. On the other hand, there was self-loathing.

By mid-day, I had regained equilibrium. The family’s needs were met and I caught up with a few lingering Red Cross tasks from yesterday. I was not feeling fog-headed and was thus able to plan for the rest of the day, and for tomorrow’s work day. I remembered that the fog was mainly from having had an overactive mind, in the middle of the night, mainly dreaming about lightning and rain, neither of which will get here until the middle of next week.

Evening came, with a Baha’i planning session and light supper. A brief afternoon nap had dispelled the fog and my attention was where it need to be-noting important points on the document being studied.

Any given day can bring energy phases, especially in the heat. Any given day can also bring reminder that no person is one or even two dimensional. Each of us is therefore entitled to some grace, when stumbling or when pretending that hubris will solve problems. Each of us is allowed to learn from mistakes and to grow. The only thing that doesn’t get a pass for very long is standing still.

The Summer of the Rising Tides, Day 56: Defiance

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 26, 2020-

Defiance is not just a city in Ohio. There comes a time when an individual must stand up and say, even holler, “No more!” There comes a time when a community, a society, a nation-even a planet full of people, must stand up and say with one voice. “NO MORE!”

After sitting in my home base apartment, most of yesterday,and responding to those with different takes on the murder of Bernell Trammell and the stabbing of Drew Duncomb. Unless and until these acts of violence are given the weight of investigation they warrant, there is, as BLM members say, “No justice, no peace”. Ditto, for the burning of the Headquarters of the Arizona Democratic Party-and I would say the same for any torching of Republican offices.

I have begun reading “Democracy In Chains”, by Nancy McLean, and am learning of a clever and insidious campaign, inspired by the life’s work of the misanthropic John C. Calhoun, initiated by one James Buchanan, late of the University of Virginia and George Mason University, and perfected by Charles Koch. Remember ALEC , the American Legislative Exchange Council? That was, and maybe still is, part of the game plan. Take power away from the common people,the reasoning goes. ‘Power belongs to those with money, with investment capital. The hoi polloi have no idea how life should be. Why trust THEM?’

So we see Senator Mitt Romney, saying that Social Security should be cut, from the oldest senior to the youngest disabled person. I do not intend this as an ad hominem attack-but Mitt Romney has his. So does every other person who has signed on to the chaining of democracy.

I do not wish to take a dime, from those who have earned it-no matter how gargantuan their fortune is. In turn, no one gets to take a dime, from me and mine. I pay my taxes. I pay my rent and utilities. I honour my debts. I give to those in need, as best I can, without becoming one of them.

So, the defiance starts there. It continues:

I honour the health protocols recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with respect to wearing a clean, well-fitting mask, when in proximity to other people; when standing in line and keeping a six-foot distance. On my own, I am not leaving the State of Arizona, barring an emergency, until mid-October-at minimum. I draw the line at taking a vaccine whose contents I do not know. That is a fight for another day, though. Immunity to a disease may be accomplished through rigourous holistic health practices: Organic diet, maintaining vitamins, minerals and essential oils; drinking alkaline water, regular deep breathing. That is my immunization plan, for the foreseeable future.

I will not bow or kneel to an ad hoc authority- no matter how well-armed, no matter how loud the voice, no matter how “popular”. I am an American citizen who follows the rule of law-not of any man, hiding behind interpretation of law. I am a World Citizen, who obeys codified law, wherever I might be.

So, no one gets to order me to stay home. I have eyes, ears and love in my heart for the people. I will know when it’s safe to leave and where it is safe to go. I don’t need to kowtow to anyone’s fear.

No one gets to order me to believe a certain way. I have my undying Faith in God, through the teachings of Baha’u’llah, al-Bab, Mohammad, Jesus the Christ, Moses, Gautama Siddhartha, Zarathustra, Krishna and Whoever founded the pure, initial forms of Wicca, various Native American beliefs and African faiths. I have my undying respect and love for conservative and progressive, alike. Those who savage one another, based on ideology, are being duped and are on a fool’s errand, with no ultimate winners. The only “winner” in this case, will be one whose mindset is founded on lies.

I will not bow to a puppetmaster-ANY puppetmaster.

Namaste and Godspeed.