the lesson of the moth

 i was talking to a moth

the other evening

he was trying to break into

an electric light bulb

and fry himself on the wires

why do you fellows

pull this stunt i asked him

because it is the conventional

thing for moths or why

if that had been an uncovered

candle instead of an electric

light bulb you would

now be a small unsightly cinder

have you no sense

plenty of it he answered

but at times we get tired

of using it

we get bored with the routine

and crave beauty 

and excitement

fire is beautiful

and we know that if we get

too close it will kill us 

but what does that matter

it is better to be happy

for a moment

and be burned up with beauty

than to live a long time

and be bored all the while 

so we wad all our life up

into one little roll

and then we shoot the roll

that is what life is for

it is better to be a part of beauty

for one instant and then cease to

exist than to exist forever

and never be a part of beauty

our attitude toward life

is come easy go easy

we are like human beings 

used to be before they became

too civilized to enjoy themselves

and before i could argue him

out of his philosophy

he went and immolated himself 

on a patent cigar lighter

i do not agree with him

myself i would rather have

half the happiness and twice

the longevity

but at the same time i wish

there was something i wanted

as badly as he wanted to fry himself

by Don Marquis

The History of Social Security in the USA

 

The Social Security Act was signed by FDR on 8/14/35. Taxes were collected for the first time in January 1937 and the first one-time, lump-sum payments were made that same month. Regular ongoing monthly benefits started in January 1940. Social Security number (SSN) were never intended to be a form of identification. It was initially created to track the earnings history of workers for Social Security purposes. While the SSN has become widely used for other purposes, including identification, it was not designed for that purpose. Social Security benefits were not originally designed to be taxed. Initially, they were considered a form of government assistance and were excluded from federal income taxes. Social Security benefits have been subject to federal income tax since 1984. The social security tax was signed by President Reagan into law on April 20, 1983. Initially, up to 50% of benefits could be taxed for those with incomes exceeding certain thresholds. Later, in 1993, the taxability was expanded to include up to 85% of benefits for higher income earners by President Clinton (the president some claim had the most documented assasination attemps).

The myth of Osso, Mastrosso and Carcagnosso

There were three brother knights, Osso, Mastrosso and Carcagnosso, who had a younger sister. A rich man raped her one evening and they were furious. They decide they had to avenge her honor and that the rich man must pay for his offense with his life. They brutally tortured and killed the rich man for his offense. It turned out the rich man was a very good friend of the king and the king was very upset. He had the three  knights arrested, condemning them to twenty-nine years, eleven months and twenty-nine days imprisonment inside the fortress of Santa Caterina on the island of Favignana in Sicily. They spend those prison years consumed by thoughts of revenge. They used that time to write codes of honor, rules, rites of affiliation, symbols and inviolable commandments with the intent of reconstituting a society that would have the task of not allowing injustices by the powerful anymore. When the three knights of the legend got out of prison after thirty years they made a new order that had at its core an emphasis on honor and a code of silence. Osso stayed in Sicily and founded Cosa Nostra. Mastrosso went to Calabria  and founded ' Ndrangheta. Carcagnosso went to Campania and founded Camorra. It is the myth of the birth of the Mafia.

Vengeance and Justice

 

In modern times things can be very hard to understand clearly. Questionable truths and different opinions have a way of doing that. Freedom is hard and judgement can be difficult. 

Good and bad can seem like fuzzy concepts. Remember vengeance is bad and justice is good. While both vengeance and justice involve responding to wrongdoing, vengeance is driven by a personal desire for retribution. Justice seeks to restore balance and fairness through established systems and principles with the goal of preventing future harm. When you’re not sure who the bad people and the good people are, ask yourself, do they seek vengeance or justice? Contrary to our favorite films and media that exploit our emotions I find it good to remind myself: 

Bad people seek vengeance. 

Good people seek justice. 

Forgiveness is divine.

(Image: 1804-1808 Divine Vengeance and Justice Pursuing Crime painting by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon)

Why our politicians keep failing US

 An analysis of political power and how it actually functions would be wise at this time. Political  power is a relational concept. It is important to understand the distinctions between the different kinds of power. The first distinction is between "coercive" power and "persuasive" power. Coercive power is the kind that is exerted by one physically over another. It assumes one cannot resist such applications of physical force. Coercive power is actually a secondary or derivative form of power, while persuasion is the primary and supreme form. No amount of coercive control can alter the free decisions of other entities; only persuasion can do so. Coercive power is always temporary and likely to double back onto the applicant who is foolish enough to try and use it. It is not exerted in a vacuum, but always by entity A over another entity B. Power requires analysis of both the being exerting power, and the being that power is being exerted upon. To suppose that an entity A, can always successfully control any other entity B is to say, in effect, that B does not exist as a free autonomous individual in any meaningful sense, since there is no possibility of it resisting A if A should decide to press the issue. This is why all dictatorships historically fail given enough time. In political philosophy, the phrase consent of the governed refers to the idea that a government's legitimacy and the moral right to use state power is justified and lawful only when consented to by the people or society over which that political power is exercised. This theory of consent is starkly contrasted with the divine right of kings and has often been invoked against the legitimacy of colonialism.