Seal of Abraham

Learning To Take What You Want Lawfully: Better Than Begging and Sit-Ins

2011-10-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

Altering the status quo: A new paradigm and way of operating (for Americans in the 21^st Century Global Economy and World):

Subject: A Lesson Yet To Be Learned By Dependent Americans

Americans, must learn how to get what they want, desire and need for themselves as opposed to asking permission, begging or depending on a 3rd party or institution, government or private, to give or to get it for them. I will begin with this, if the late infamous sociologist E. Franklin Frazier were alive today, he might be surprised at what transpired a half-century following the 'Southern Migration'.

It was at a time in America, during the 20th Century, when many Americans who lived in Southern cities migrated from the bucolic South into the northern industrial centers, ostensibly to find work and to establish a better, creative and more satisfactory standard as well as a way of living.

Initially, not only did they find that there were in fact good jobs and plenty of them in the north, many members of the transplanted farming workforce were eventually able to purchase automobiles, homes, their own businesses (not enough of them), send their kids to school and to travel back and forth at will, between the north and south. For many of them the north was Xanadu, and they returned to visit family members and friends that were left behind, and to bring them to the north to live with them, or to eventually get a start of their own. And at the same time, some of the new transplants, migrated to other regions in the northern United States, many as far away as California and Oregon.

And who wouldn't applaud the spirit of frontier individuals who got up, out and did something for themselves, by relocating, in hopes of improving their lives and the lives of the individuals that were closest to them, that they loved. However, as it turned out, 50 years turned out to be a short period of time than was expected and everything did not go according to plan. Why?

Many of the migrators unwittingly gave up their independence, and instead became dependents on a system that would one day soon fail them. Eventually, modernization, specialization, globalization, extirpation and greed altered the landscape in the new frontier, just as industrialization once did . AND BOTH HAVE come back to bite them, the ones who are still around. So now what happens to the migrators and the ones that they left behind?

At our organization, HOP, we recognize that substituting long-term independence for short-term gain, only resulted and results in, another form of dependency. We also learned and are teaching anyone who will listen that dependency of any sort is never a good, unless you are an infant, invalid or are past the prime of life and require assistance from some other person or institution.

Many of the former migrationists, who have not or are unable to return to the modernized South, and have been 'left behind', along with their offspring likely rue the day that they left what they had before, something that belonged to them and gave life to both them and their loved ones. I wonder how many of the prodigals who returned home, have run into “I told you so brothers and sisters”, who are no longer willing to share the family plot?

In San Jose California, the black population in a city of 1 million has shrunk to 2 percent of the total population. Why? Because the cost of living is extremely high, and unemployment is of the highest in the nation, especially for minorities, some say. Depending on who you believe, the unemployment rate for youngsters in California, hovers at somewhere around 30 to 40%.

What is the lesson that needs to be learned? I believe that it is this: never, ever put yourself in the position that many of us did before, by outsourcing the responsibility for our outcomes and placing them into the hands of 3^rd parties. The latter made us slaves to a system and individuals that eventually abandoned us. Was that their fault?

Did family or other sociological conditioning play a role? I am certain that it did, but on the other hand, we had choices to make and many of us made the wrong choices, and that was to become dependents as opposed to independent.

My dad always said this: “you have to learn to make it for yourself in this world, and to save money, don't spend it”. I can't say that I always listened, instead, I, like many other Americans did, placed too much trust in an illusory economic or better yet macroeconomic system, that eventually changed and left many of us out in the cold.

To be blunt, too many of the descendants of former social Darwinian migrators to the north as well others like them have gone back to the future in this sense: they are simply pursuing and waiting for the next wave of geniuses, new technologies, the government, a philanthropist or another individual to rescue and provide them what they should have learned to provide for themselves.

I remind you that prior to the time of the Southern Diaspora, many of the Americans who followed the migratory path to the north, had up and until that point in time, relied on their own ingenuity in most instances, to cut out an existence for themselves and their families to survive. Sadly, many of these families even considered themselves to be backwards, and some behind at the times, according to northern standards. However the truth is that they were as out front and on the cutting edge as any other modern entrepreneur happened to be.

By contrast, what today's Wall Street marchers are doing, in my opinion, is to continue to ask someone or some other institution to give to them or take care of them when really all that they they have to do is to go and get what they want, and to do so without asking anyone for permission. This same misguided and misinformed behavior, in my opinion, is being repeated all across the nation it would seem. Are the banks corrupt, is greed rampant, is the government likely complicit? I could answer yes to every one of these questions. However, is the solution to go and demand or beg the government, purported crooks, thieves and scalawags to do the right thing, or to risk being arrested?

To me the right thing to do is for these and other Americans, who are waiting for Superman, or to be rescued by some government agency, is to instead go and use your knowledge and brainpower to change the direction of the economic stream, and to get what you want, as opposed to begging for what someone else has, and does not intend to give or share it with you.

The American economic prosperity stream, has been mostly headed in the direction of the watershed that benefits a few Americans, particularly in the the last 2 decades. So what do you do when that happens? I believe that you go downstream, head off the waterway, and get some buckets of water, in this case currency, for yourselves. Why? The truth of the matter is that in the final analysis, the majority of Americans will have to make it for themselves, and the sooner that they come to grips with the fact, the better.

The former dependency paradigm', which has been relied upon in this nation for over the past half-century is outdated. And today, living under that kind of conditioning, operant or classical, take your pick - has been the bane of the American citizen-worker now going on 5 or 6 years, if not more. It has been time for Americans to take responsibility for their own destinies and to become independent entrepreneurs.

Interestingly enough, and a half-century after following the northern migration - for a myriad of reasons, many of the former road warriors and their descendants are headed home in order to reclaim what was there's in the first place. And what must they think, the ones who have returned home to cities where a couple of decades ago manufacturers from the north uprooted too, relocated, followed the path to the south and built factories in southern states where labor costs were cheaper, the places that the northern migrators abandoned in the first place?

The shelf life for the Hi-tech worker, on average, appears to have been less than that of workers in the former industrial and manufacturing trades. Specialization in the Hi-tech industry has in fact eliminated banking, newspapers, journalism jobs too. So what is the answer, and what does one do when the jobs are going away, or fell to pay a living wage.

At HOP, we believe that it is time for all of us to go back to the future, and what we are doing is to teach individuals who have fallen out of the system, and some through the once vaunted social safety net, to reframe their thinking, and that it is time to go back to the future. In other words, those Americans that have been conditioned to believe that someone has the responsibility for taking care of them, will have to alter their ways of thinking and doing things.

Another part of the conditioned response and expectation of most Americans is that without capital, they cannot create a start for themselves. And that we believe is categorically untrue. In fact we believe that all of us are social capital, which is the kind of capital that is needed to get going again. The facts belie the notion that without “capital”, nothing can be formulated or started. You cannot do anything within reason, it all depends upon what you believe and if you really intend to do it.

Many successful entrepreneurs began operating, without capital, what have become some of the most successful enterprises and multinational enterprises that have become the envy of the world, and some of them have become some of the most successful business people rightly or wrongly in the world.

And there lies the rub, too many of the other respondent and brainwashed Americans are simply waiting for the government, private industry … to do for them what they have not understood yet that they need to do for themselves, that is to take control of their own destines, and to learn to do for themselves again, or for the first time, regardless of what the government, private industry, an investor or anyone else does or does not do for them.

Remember that famous line from the movie Jurassic Park, when Ellie Satler's character, expressed to Jurassic Park's creator, John Hammond, this sobering line: “that's the illusion, you never had control of this place”. Most Americans, labor under the illusion that they are in control of this place, America, and they simply are not - at least not at this time. And the reason that they are not in charge, is because they have never taken charge or understood that they could be in charge!

On the other hand, American can be in charge, if they ever decide that they need to be in charge and did something about it. Right now, Americans are content to simply complain to someone who will listen like a Representative in Government, a President, a radio talkshow host ... and afterward they hope to experience a different outcome. But how long would it last, if a modicum of change were to occur at all. We believe that it is time to 'get in the real world', and to stop begging, marching, sitting-in and instead to go and get what you want or need.

What we are doing within our organization is to reteach our people about a paradigm that works, in other words to step back and away from the conditioning that they received before, the dependency dynamic is what I called it, and instead to move to the front and to take charge of your lives.

Also we ask our people to do this, instead of focusing on finding a job, step away from that kind of conditioned response too, and instead create an income producing opportunity for themselves. Once enough people engage in self-creation as opposed to dependency-waiting, marching, sitting-in or begging the government, an individual or any one else, the landscape of the current American economy will be transmogrified. Also, the average American citizen will have new trading partners inside and outside of the United States of America, including his peers and new associates and partners, speaking of social networking.

And if adhered to, eventually the new American entrepreneur will reclaim what had been unwittingly handed over, and the people again will have reclaimed the housing industry, manufacturing, technology, agriculture, education, hospitalization, indemnification, and this nation will finally be what it was purported to be from the onset.

The American GDP, hovers at right around 14 to 15Trillion. All that one really needs to do is to 'change the change', that no longer works, beginning with the space that is in between their ears. Next, Americans must refuse to give change to individuals who refuse to change or give into change themselves.

In other words, it is a new day so let's create a new economy, one that will eventually outstrip the incumbent one and allow some individuals and corporations to either go out of business or survive, but no longer with our hard-earned money.

A thousand mile journey begins with one step, so step by step, as opposed to outsourcing the responsibility for your and your family and friend's future to someone else, we can climb out of this hole that we temporarily find ourselves. Finally, learn that whenever you operate under the existing paradigm, you empower the person, government or other organization that you are begging or expecting to give you something in return that altogether are the sources of your current pain., and you let them.

And what have we learned again, in summary:

Never outsource the responsibility for you or your families future into someone else's hands.
That the motivation behind most capitalists, was and is to ultimately create income producing opportunities and wealth for themselves as well as income for their shareholders and their families.

Lord, what might E. Franklin Frazier have advised the former road warriors, if he had a crystal ball and could have peered into the the future before they struck out on the clay. He too might have warned them to “go or stay and whatever you do create opportunities for yourself and others because otherwise, I see you returning by the way that you left, with very little to show for all of your trouble. Wake up Americans, even the ones who have jobs, incomes, savings and investments, for as you can see you are not secure either!

Peace and Grace

P.S. If there is a mistake that came out of the Civil Rights Movement, other Americans have learned to march too, instead of learning to create positive social change themselves!

The American Black Janjaweed and The Re-Elect Obama Presidential Election Campaign

2011-10-06T12:25:00.001-07:00

Picture on the Right: Current and former members of HOP: The Outdoor Citizens Coalition and Think Tank Of Santa Clara County California.

The American Black Janjaweed: That is how I ended up referring to black Americans, to their chagrin, who attacked me during the run up to the election in 2008, given my refusal to support or vote for the young neophyte, Senator Barack Hussein Obama, to become President of the United States of America. In fact, another African nationalist, who was living homeless in the country at the time, I might add,, referred to me as a gradualist, (in other words a person who was saying that it was not time for a black to be President of the United States yet).

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He also completely ignored my rational for taking the position that I did at the time about the young neophyte candidate, U.S. Senator Barack Obama Hussein. For me, it didn't matter who it would have been at the time, I would have said the same thing to or about them, if they were where he happened to be at that stage of the learning curve. Why? Because after engaging in extensive research about the young 'inchoate wanna be candidate', his policies, his capitulations and his mostly lack of experience and knowledge at that time, I was confident that he had not done enough to prepare himself for the job of being President of the United States of America, even though his heart was apparently in the right place. I suspect that any one of us has overreached at one time or another in our lives.

Approximately 4 years later, I still find myself fighting with remnants of the black Janjaweed in America, in this context, 'blacks who attack and kill other blacks', for economic and political reasons However, my prediction of 4 years ago, that it would take the neophyte, President Obama, roughly 4 years to come up to speed, in order to be a capable and effective President has been confirmed.

Nearly 3 years later, and having gained the experience and understanding that he needed before taking on the task of an Executive, he is starting to come into his own. At this morning's White House Press Conference, there appeared to be 'A Raisin In The Son'. Apparently, he has learned how, no more Mr. Nice Guy and Gal, Washington DC works. And as a result, he has begun to speak truth to venal American power brokers on the Right, and appears to be ready to steer the ship into a different and a better heading.

If he will do the following:

Correct the juvenile mistakes that made before, with respect to enforcing the unfair and unsavory aspects of American domestic and foreign policy, that invariably end up unfairly favoring one group or nation over another, (specifically when either of the two are simply seeking what most Americans are seeking after, freedom, self-determination and equal access ...
Continue to push back against the sophisticated but venal counter-forces around the nation in our nation's Capitol (in the manner that he spoke out to Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and the Republicrats this morning) and other individuals on the Right (and Joe Lieberman) who love to foment war, domestically and abroad, or could care less about freedoms and equal access by disparate people in America and around the world.
Rebuild relations with individuals and groups that the other side may not care for, including the Wright Reverend and others, that he should not have discarded before, who shaped and stood by him, simply because members of the dominant culture were coming over to his house, get it?.
Stop striking out at blacks and other suffering people, because he is frustrated with his white nemesis' on the Right, who are the actual 'complainants' in this nation, even after he has compromised with them for nearly 3 years now, and to no avail. They will never be satisfied!.
If , when, and wherever he goes to town, take a detour from hobnobbing with the rich and famous, get out of the limousine and speak with 'outdoor citizens', homeless people ... about their concerns. And, please stop having, 'citizens of the USA, who are entitled to all of the rights and protections of the Constitution of the United States swept away from the streets, 'their homes', because their Presidential leader is in town.
Stop the ignoble murder of freedom-fighters in this and other nations of the world in the name of venal American hegemony, Southern white supremacy and economic exploitation. Remember, these are individuals who are simply doing what most black Americans, including him, have had to do in terms of the fight for full justice and equal access to the opportunity structures of this nation...
Stop being a puppet in the hands of the venal right and stand up for truth and justice like MLK did, even if it costs you.

I can sum up everything that I have written in a few words, “simply fight for justice for all people, even white people', in and around the world. For as a black American, it is not enough for me to say these words, that the President of the United States is black, and therefore, I will vote for him. I don't care what color the President happens to be, however, the President, whomever it turns out to be, ought to stand up and fight for freedom and justice, and manage the country with all of its citizens in mind.

Then, and as far as I would be concerned, I would be pleased to not only vote for the current President, I would also register and encourage others individuals to do the same. It has been years since I have been a Deputy Registrar. The President should remember that he had a mandate, and that most Americans and the world were with him.

In fact, he can still get the majority of them back and trounce the venal Republican agenda once and for all,if he would remember and take charge of what was 4 years ago, an American styled world-wide People's Revolution. The latter could result in yes, a New World order, that would mean new friends for the United States, the cessation of hostilities around the world, renewed peace, trade, aid and cooperation around the world (even between nations that were once considered hostile or were hostile to each other). .

The young neophyte President Obama stumbled before, however, he does not have to remain there, stuck in primordial mud. He stumbled before, however, he can get light the fires of a peaceful worldwide revolution again, if he were to stop doing business as usual. And this time around, he will have on board individuals who before, like me, that were skeptical of the leader of the of currently diffused Revolution.

We will see if the nearly 3-year old President, understands where he stands in terms of history, a person who has the ability and with a bit of courage, to change not only America's, but the worldwide landscape, to include support and participation from the emerging nations of the world. Imagine, America, China, Russia, Cuba, Bolivia, nations in the Middle-East, Israel, Syria … all friends and trading partners, and the end of control by Southern Strategist''s, that will become a part of America and the world's historical past.

When they are divested of their racist and less than connubial power, the whole world can come together, I believe, and there will be peace in the world. Southern strategists, to include many Republicans don't want that, they want to dominate the world, its resources, its islets and its terrain and its people.

The question is does the emerging President Obama, understand where he is or could be, in terms of his place in time as President of the United States? And if the American people will wake up, those who are in slumber, the will understand that with the right motives, we can have peace, and we will no longer have to sacrifice our sons and daughters in the name of American greed and non-cooperation by the greedy American.

Peace & Grace

All of us together, can make a difference: America is the seed that can harvest justice in America and around the world!

Picture above are a few independent outdoor-citizens in the region, who are working, instead of waiting on Washington DC, in order to improve their lives, and those of other people in and around the world!

Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied: Obama v. The Palestinian People

2011-09-24T09:44:00.001-07:00

Even when justice is being denied by a Scotch-Irish black President (note the Mayor of Dublin pictured in the booth):

I haven't had time to blog lately, even to go back and correct the posts that I started before, however, I simply have to say something about the ongoing debacle that is currently taking place at the United Nations, Obama v the Palestinian People. The leader of the opposition, for entry into the United Nations by the Palestinians, is a descendant of people who were also often told, 'that it is not yet time for you to have freedom, the right to the franchise, education, access to public accommodations … and we will veto your every attempt to obtain those freedoms', until we say that it is okay for you to have those freedom.

Will this man that the majority of voters selected and voted into office in 2008, whose ancestors experienced what the Palestinian people have been experiencing today, ever stand up for anything?

It is so ironic that a nation, that is currently being presided over by a descendant of former slaves who had to fight for centuries to obtain freedom and freedoms 'in the Land of the Free and the home of the slave', is the current leader of the opposition against the Palestinian people.

Most Americans know that America's foreign policy in the Middle-East is corrupt and favors Israel, God's chosen people, er herm! Ironically, the Apostle Paul, wrote in his letter to the Romans: My earnest desire and prayer for Israel is that Israel might be saved, for I bear them record that they have a zeal, but not according to knowledge. And having left the righteousness of God, they have gone about to establish their own righteousness. It would appear that not much has changed, 2000 years later, except today they have have access to weapons of destruction..

This former satrap of the Soviet Union, Israel, is currently a satrap of the United States government. And just as they have done before, they are seeking to establish their own righteousness with the full support and backing of the United States government, which is being Presided over by a descendent of former slaves in America, as well as on the continent of Africa, double-jeopardy. If anyone knew better, you would believe that he would know better.

And what is his message to the Palestinian people? It is the same one that slaves and black Americans received over and over again while pursuing justice and freedom, that is, 'not now, just wait, it is not the right time yet' . The Palestinian people are not falling for this ruse, and neither am I and a few other Americans. Shame on Obama. I expect this kind of double-speak and non-sense from the Dick Cheney's, George Bush's and the current crop of candidates that are running for office in America, however, I would have hoped that the collective memory of what occurred with his own own ethnic people who were subjected to the same kind of experiences, would have had an effect. However, he has betrayed their memories and their struggles for liberation and freedom.

The man has no courage. He is not a leader and shame on him again! He is the gift that keeps on giving to the wrong side, at the same time that the nation is sinking economically and morally. This is not what the people who voted for him, 'a great communicator', expected. And Israel, especially its leaders will have to learn a lesson that its big brother supporter's never learned, the meaning of freedom and justice for all people.

And finally, Obama, for moral and ethical reasons ought to go and have himself fired, because he is a disgrace to freedom fighters and the collective memory of his ancestors - they died before they ever realized their freedoms, just as many of the Palestinian people will do!

And seeing how Obama want listen to the majority of the American people, perhaps he will go sit down and speak with the Mayor of Dublin, perhaps he can help President Obama to understand what justice is all about.

Peace & grace,

Religious-Fundatmentalist Politics and Hegemony, America's and the World's Problem

2011-08-22T11:17:00.001-07:00

Subject: Taking Charge of American Power The American Religious and Evangelical Right:

Stridency, an unwillingness by individuals on the religious and political Right to compromise within government, their communities, at church or anywhere else in the world, has led to America's current social and political divide as well as the political stalemate that persists in all 3 branches of America's federal government. Their behind-the-scenes control of politicians in Washington ... has also impacted how America is perceived in the rest of the world. I predict that the majority of America's current problems will disappear, foreign and domestic, when the Religious Right and its sympathizers, are put back into 'the right place'. Together with the devil, they are responsible for the gridlock in Washington, America and other parts of the world.

How do I know? These folks aren't praying, instead these folks have turned to politics, wealth, control of the media, a strong military to accomplish their agenda. At the same time they are hiding behind the bible, Christianity and their churches and pulpits in order to accomplish their political aims. The south, and southern politics, by using the church to do do, have risen again. And that I believe is the spirit of error that has been parading around in the name of the Lord!

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For having left the righteousness of God, they have gone about to establish their own righteousness, and that is essentially what Pat Robertson and his crowd are doing, ushering in their own version of A New American Led World Order!

This deceptive group, that poses as being righteous are responsible for causing and sanctioning America's blue and red state divide; America's burgeoning and seemingly permanent underclass; American hegemony; America's high rate of unemployment; a world-wide economic crisis,, gender discrimination, the housing problem, Americans who lack healthcare, vituperation in America's airways...

All of these problems will be dealt with or disappear, when the rest of America wakes up and forces 'the right people', pun intended, who are wrong, individuals who tired of what was taking place in America and the world, have seized control of America's political, military and economic power.

A long time ago, wrong or right, they had simply had enough with the way that America and the world was operating, and as a result they decided to do something about it. The decision made was to take control of America, by wresting power away from the majority of the American people, and to place people into positions of power, who would obey their talking points. And every since, they have been controlling the American narrative, similar to the way that America was controlled in its beginning, prior to multiculturalism, immigration, liberal politics ... and for now, their strategy is obviously working.

For while Americans were sleeping, not me, they wee busily sowing tares among the American wheat. But they forgot, that God has strategically placed watchmen among us, who have kept an eye on principalities, rules of the darkness of this world. Don Park, these people are not servants of God, they are servants of a right-winged conservancy.

Given the kind of power that they control, given the power of the pulpit, their control of the media, the billions of dollars they receive from an unsuspecting public ... right, now, they are controlling the American narrative and are winning nation after nation. They have that kind of power!

As shocking as it may sound, if this group of self-righteous and self-directed Right-Wing Evangelicals ... wanted to, all of the suffering among America's suffering and struggling majority would have abated long ago. But instead, they stood by and watched America, Americans and many other people of the world suffer. In fact, these so-called religious individuals have not only stood by and watched, they have supported policies that have had a deleterious impact on a growing majority in America, when all they had to do was to snap their fingers and their sycophants and puppets in pulpits and all 3-branches of the American government would have backed off. They are not the people who followed the example of Jesus, that is to sell all that they have and give it to the poor. In fact, they, biblical literalist, rail against such a suggestion. Many of their churches leaders are multi=millionaires, and many of the subordinates are not far behind. Have they given some, the answer is yes? Have they followed the example that Jesus left when he instructed a wealthy ruler to sell all that he had and give it to the poor, and by the wife his coffers would have begun to be restored the day after he did? No, they do not understand that language of the bible. You shall know them by their fruits, is also recorded in the bible. And their fruits tell me that something is wrong in that force.

How did Washington, and much of the rest of the nation get that way, strident, uncompromising, irreverent and implacable? You might be surprised by my answer, however, you will soon understand that the real problem that is impacting the whole world, is not political, instead the problem is one-hundred percent religious in nature. Karl Marx, from the grave is shouting, Amen brother Solomon. Because one is religious neither makes him pious, loving, a keeper of his brother and sister or a servant of God by definition.

We're are talking about American religious hegemony, or if you prefer, theocracy. The stridency that all of us have either experienced, personally, by one of their sycophants, or witnessed, coming from our government officials, is a direct result of the nature of the uncompromising policies, practices and teachings of, refuse to consider another point of view, hegemonic religious leaders, churches and other organizations that have exported their strident behaviors, rhetoric, threats and vituperative tones to members of our Federal Government who they control or oppose. Their objectives were and are to elect, appoint and coronate individuals who will practice the art of non-compromise and totalitarianism in all 3 branches of the Federal Government. Already, they have the majority of America's governor's, mostly Republican, in their pockets. An American theocracy or fatwah?

Where do political sycophants and far right puppets get their talking points from, sadly, they come directly from the Religious Right, who are in my opinion a fascist group of religious sycophants, who are often more wrong than they are Right. Why? Consider the spirit that is driving them.

I can assure you that the Spirit and the motivation behind what they are doing has nothing to do with God. In fact, if they were motivated by the spirit of God, there would be full-employment, homeless (only by choice), equal access to the opportunity structures of this country and liberty.

You'd better think about it. Does anyone recall when George Bush Jr. and other politicians, before and after him, suddenly began to wear their purported religious convictions on their sleeves? And if you believe that some of these folks were truly religious, the Republic of China, can fit inside of the state of Texas.

In the old days, it would never happen, politicians were expected to pretty much separate their religious and political convictions in the public domain. However, in today's economy, it is common place, in fact you had better talk about your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or admit to submitting to your husband.

Isn't it a shame when any politician or official uses religion to inveigle an unsuspecting public in order to get elected. The politicians on the Right, are pandering to religious fanatics and fascists on the Right, who will make their lives hell, if they fail to do so. In other words, the pass card that a politician will need in order to get elected is to pretend to be a Christian, to know Jesus Christ and to believe in the Lord and Savior. Yet, their actions say different.

For if what is written in the Canon is correct, there were and will be many individuals who will name the name of the Lord, only to be informed that the Lord, never knew you.
How is it, can anyone tell me, that Americans are so stupefied to fall for this kind of religious chicanery and double-speak.

Hey Reverend Solomon, aren't you supposed to be a preacher too? Answer: Well, I suppose that depends on who you ask. I consider myself to be a non-fascist Christian in deference to many of my counterparts on the religious or political right. I prefer the revolutionary aspects of Jesus Christ in this regard, he spoke truth to power, on both the religious and political right of his day.

And the religious right of his day, some of them referred to him as Baalzebub, as I am certain that some believers would say about me. The question being, "what Spirit are they really of? I say that their spirit, or true motivation comes from a need to be in control, and to restore the country, this nation and its power, back into the right hands!

Now, no one has actually called me the devil yet, well not to my face anyway, however, I know that some of my old friends in the Pentecostal church that I hailed from, believe that I have lost my way. A lot of religious people believed that Jesus had lost his way too, and referred to him as Baal-ze-bub!

Jesus called Herod a fox, and he also had a lot of unpleasant things to say about the Right-Wing Pharisees of his day. Religion, as Karl Marx pointed out, is often an opiate that is used to dull the senses in order to control the masses. Just consider the number of Christians that supported Hitler's crusade, or the Christians that participated in the crusades. George Bush Jr., made a critical faux pas, when he referred to his blitzkrieg in Iraq as a crusade. Ah ha, you can't take it back.

In other words, similar to the manner in which their religious organizations and leaders behave,a group of individuals have been sent to Washington to take charge and to practice the, 'it is our way or the highway behaviors' found in most uncompromising religious fundamentalist and filibustering organizations. The question is, would God employ the means that they have incorporated in order to accomplish their venal aims? I don't think so, and that is why I hope to expose them! What do they want? I will attempt to answer that question to, if you haven't figured it out already. Does theocracy come to mind? Heaven help us if they succeed.

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The problem that exists in all 3 branches of America's Federal government today, is a direct result of of the skillful interposition of exuberant non-compromising and intolerant religious fundamentalist religious practices, values and behaviors, that are often found in America's fundamentalist churches, especially evangelicals and of late, Pentecostals.

Much like the intolerant and non-compromising religious organizations that these politicians (including politicians in the judiciary, this class of politicians were not sent to Washington D.C. to represent the people's will, they were sent to Washington or placed into certain offices with a prescribed and non-compromising mandate. And as a result America's government has reached nadir.

The 3rd year of filibustering by Republicans, is a result of a calculated plan, and has been skillfully implemented by a prescription that was hatched in the fundamentalist right in America's purportedly non-political churches. The, we are right and if you are not with us you are wrong and will be relegated to the proverbial scrap heat of political life, is the same intonation that is found is found in all fundamentalist and intolerant religious camps and congregations.

To be sure, the leaders, policy-makers and occasionally rank and file members, have given up on the typical methods that were used in the church to resolve the problems of humanity, like prayer. Instead, they have replaced the weapons used in Godly warfare, a shield of faith, salvation, loins girded with truth, the word as a sword ... and have instead adopted and replaced the former with direct involvement and control of the executive, legislative and Judicial branches of America's government.

Their attitude seems to be that God has failed, and if you can't lick them, individuals who see things differently than they do, then adapt, infiltrate and redact.

What fundamentalists believe, about practically any other denomination or religious organization for that matter, and any form of governance that does not comport to their ways of thinking, be it in politics, with individuals, other religious organizations, morality, ethics, sports ... is, either you are with us, or take it to the highways. Or to be more succinct, religious Jihad and American styled political fatwahs.

Yes, it is the same spirit that you often witness coming from middle-eastern religious organizations. This kind of fundamentalist, fanaticism wholly derives from religion. Remember the crusades? All fundamentalist, are convinced that God is with them, they are the sole harbingers of truth and that it is their mission to infiltrate, convert or destroy the great unwashed, be they religious, political or neutral.

To wit, they believe, that the rest of the great unwashed are categorically wrong about everything, and will never be right, until they join the crusade and submit to their theology whereby being taught 'the truth' as they see it. If you were to examine any of these organizations, across the board the behavior and practices are the same, even though there are often doctrinal differences.

And oddly enough, if you were to separate the different camps, the religious ones I am referring to, when it comes right down to it, they don't agree with each other and view each other with a jaundiced eye. However, and having said that, when it comes to politics, these intolerant separatist factions are willing to coalesce in order to form a strong common bond, one that enforces certain planks that are to their liking.

The political stridency, anger, rancor and stubborness that has been been exhibited in Washington DC of late, not only during 'the Raising The Debt Ceiling debates by Republicans', two weeks ago, is the same behavior that they have exhibited since coming into office, long before the Tea-Party had become a phenomenon.

And in spite of all of the political stridency, obfuscation, vituperation and non-brotherly like behavior, all of the guilty still proudly proclaim that they are Christians, who are pursuing a godly mission and mandate. And this behavior has been drafted and endorsed by the religious organizations, like the religious right, who dispatched or influenced the decision-makers and the public, in order to have them placed into office.

However, what comes to mind for me is the scripture that reads: Your ways are not my ways. Any non-believer knows enough about religion to know that the individuals in question, are not practicing what they preach. This won't be the first time that God, Jesus, the canon have been known to condemn the behaviors of people, 'who are called by his name'. I will jump ahead and say that based on what I have observed from these religious-fundamentalist politicians and the organizations that they hail from is essentially, they have lost their faith in God, and have gone about to establish their own forms of righteousness by force and diplomatic, political and economic strangulation, filibustering and shut-downs.

Oftentimes, when I observe the behaviors of these religious/political sycophants, I wonder within myself just how they can claim to be people of God, given the manner in which their stridency and vituperation differs far and wide from what Jesus taught.

I have witnessed much love for one's neighbor coming from that camp, if anything, I have observed just the opposite, a spirit of non-compromise and I am not my brother's keeper. There is a lack of love being demonstrated for their neighbors, which begs the question, who is their neighbor? The answer appears to be, my neighbors are individuals who are members of my political party and my reckless, we are right and everyone else who does not see things as we do are wrong, fundamentalist church.

I listened to a minister on the way to the office, who referred to his teachings as being 'the truth'. He and I have met before, and within 10 seconds of meeting me, and without asking or knowing a thing about me, 'He wanted to know where I was being fed at". Frankly, he had a mission, and his mission was and is to build a trendy, uncompromising, intolerant mega church, where what he believes or interprets is 'God's truth!

Some of the more infamous of the lot, and names of organizations that come to mind are Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostal denominations, Evangelicals, Mormons ... And shall I go on? This phenomenon is not unique to Christianity, may I add.

There are many other examples, not mentioned here, however, they all have this in common, they believe that they have been uniquely endowed with divine truth; they are intolerant, uncompromising, unbending and at times vicious. Given the success strides of their efforts over time, members of these organizations have found their way in politics, and they are controlling the narrative in Washington DC, and filibustering when they cannot get their own way.

Why do they do it? They are convinced that God is uniquely with each of the separate groups, and no one else. In other words, not only is God with our group, God talks to our group. Now anyone who is in his or right mind ought to be self-deprecating enough to take a step back in order to admit that just maybe, I could be wrong about that.

However, when you have been fed a steady God is uniquely with us diet, over time you come to believe it, and the next stage is, crusades to either convert or wipe out the great unwashed heathens. So Reverend Solomon, how can you be a Christian and admit this you're thinking, and what is your angle.

Well consider first that not all Christians are fundamentalists, we recognize that there are as many flaws in our theology, dispensational and otherwise, as it is in any other group. And in order to cut to the chase, let me put it another way, 'love trumps doctrine and fanaticism any day and anytime! Most religious if you will talk about love, but not all of them believe that what they are saying, that love is superior to mental comprehension for example.

I heard a man say to another person on occasion, if they took one of my thoughts and put them into your head, it would burst". Christians are not unique in terms of becoming fanatics, however, speaking in this context, and why he have been witnessing what we have been in Washington DC, with the uncompromising Republican Right, T-Party, neocons, going all the way back to Ronald Reagan, is the spirit of fanaticism, that is found in most fanatical churches has been brought to Washington.

Clearly, whether you believe in God, Jesus Christ, the church ..., you will recognize that spirit of the bible teaches one to love, listen, be willing to hear, avoid self-righteousness, and if nothing else, there is a way that seems right to a man, but the ends thereof is the ways of death. Most religious people would laugh if you tried to convince them that that scripture might be speaking to them, the holier than holy.

I have a lot of friends who wonder what is going on with me, have I lost it. No, I never had it. And what is it. The spirit of cockiness, arrogance, intolerance, my mind is greater than all before me and those that will come behind, and therefore, I know that I am right when everyone else is wrong.

Does Reverend Camping, a fundamentalist, who needed only the Canon and his great mind, who predicted the end of the world, and a resurrection come to mind.

You can read and digest something long enough until you will come to believe your own press. Now, imagine what happens when that spirit gets into enough powerful individuals who aggregate their power, and combine it with the power of a strong military force, what you get is crusade, jihad, extermination, blitzkrieg, ... and typically, in every scenario you will discover some fanatical religious component involved.

This spirit is entrenched in the fabric of Washington DC and its ruling government, the spirit of the fundamentalist church. Many of the fellows on the right are crusaders, not only in America but around the world. Senator John McCain will criticize a Moammar Qadafi, and refer to him as a dictator, or he and others like him can see a strongman, warlord under every rock.

However, John McCain, a man who claims to reject the fundamentalist religious spirit is unable to see the similarity between an American Jihad and a Middle-Eastern one. Folks, how many nations of the world are there, which have lived under a threat that is far greater than a Middle-eastern one. America invades sovereign nations at will, strangulates their economics, isolates their people, and we have been doing so since the end of WWII.

However, there is no shame in the name, because most Americans believe that they have been chosen by God to order the world. Perhaps they are right, just think about the ancient Chaldean's, and the biblical writers interpretation that God chose the warlike Chaldeans to order the world, to the chagrin of the people of Israel, but afterwards he destroyed the Chaldeans. Hmm.

I use Senator McCain as an example of the similar clogged thinking that I see in proud fundamentalist on the Right. John does not believe that he is a fundamentalist,m however, the truth of the matter is that he harbors the same spirit, politically. He and they are both unbending, I am right no it all, and the rest of you will come over to our way of thinking or else. Else what, we will control the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government.

And most of the people who who see causing trouble in Washington, or are in the majority on the Supreme Court, who often vote in a bloc, are fundamentalist, even though they would deny it. Antonin Scalia, is a dyed-in-the wool, I am right, fundamentalist. He hails from an area 35 miles from where I was born, an area that has been referred to as the Rubber City, of late Jamestown (thanks ot Lebron James) an Action Ohio. Scalia's world-view had been shaped long before he came to DC by the area that he was raised in, the Catholic Church, and perhaps by his own stubborn love that he has for his own mind.

It troubles me that they individuals who live in a Representative Democracy, or how about a Republic, where representatives are sent to represent the will of the people, do just the opposite. Okay, I know, let's put it another way - they find individuals who believe as they do and represent or force their wills upon other people. What a bunch of knuckleheads. John Bonner, Mitch McConnell, Lindsay wagoner, shall I go on?

These fellas and many like them are ideologues, they have taken a position and they are fighting for that position, not for the will of God, or the American people. They remind me a lot of Governor Pilate of scripture, they listen to a minority who shout, crucify him or them (the rest of us in this context), and sacrifice what we believe in, freedom, love, kindness of our maker among other things, but instead we have to deal with this nut jobs, and still self-proclaimed righteous, all the time.

And again,where did they learn the art of noncompromise, they learned it at church. I could see way back in the 70's that America was heading in the wrong direction, however, the problem with Americans as I saw it then, and see it now is that they are too comfortable with outsourcing the responsibilities for their lives too other people, so that they can get on with the business of making money, buying homes, taking their families on vacation, going out to dinner or the old ballgame ...

However, during their Rumplestilskin type sleep, the power of the nation, the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislative branch ... was stolen right from under their feet. The legislatures have turned their backs upon, their churches have veered off and come up under the controls of wealthy dictators, the corporations that once put them to work serve only the interests of their shareholders, and could care less about them. America and the American Idol, is now 'The God that Failed'.

Why do I say that? I will tell you. Too many Americans over the course of America's prosperous history have confused the American Idol with God. Why? For awhile, prosperity was every where, and to borrow a phrase from the Canon, the land flowed with milk and honey, and on top of that Americans believed that they were free. However, a group that was as powerful as the Pharisees of Scriptures were, have taken control of the land. They filibuster and still come out on top. Ask President Obama about that!

Part II. In effect, they are behaving in Washington, on the floor of Congress, in the Executive Branch (George Bush Jr. did), on the Supreme Court, in the manner that fundamentalists behave in their churches - I am right, it is my way or the highway. Comport, or be tossed, voted out or excommunicated.If you have never been raised in a fundamentalist church, you won't fully understand what I mean. If you have been raised in a fundamentalist church (especially an evangelical one), then your reaction will be what's the point, we are doing the work of the Lord. If you are a non-evangelical fundamentalist, you are worn over by political evangelicals whose crafty use of scriptures in order to put their political agenda in place, you are completely confused, and understandably so. No one is better at using scriptures in order pursue a political agenda.

Most Christians, are influenced by the Bible, or what most Christians will tell you is "the unadulterated word of God". Who then can argue with that, or when someone invokes the 'unadulterated word of God', for political gain.

I was amazed several over a decade ago when Christians that I knew, supported the George Bush Jr.-Dick Cheney ticket for this reason. Most non-believers do not believe in homosexuality, and they will tell you that it is an abomination against God.

And what was so shocking about their behavior was, Vice-Presidential candidate Dick Cheney, invokes the rights of the states, interposition and nullification to decide. If you will recall, he never spoke out against homosexuality, and could it be because his daughter was purportedly a lesbian.

My point: Christians are fickle, confused and most of them don't know what they are doing when it comes to being inveigled by shrewd Republicans. Within their think tanks, their strategy-makers, know that most Christians know what buttons to push, in order to get a sufficient number of Christan's to vote their way, without considering what is behind the scenes.

Next, you must know something about the spirit of fundamentalism, not just about its text, but more its praxis. When you are taught that you have uniquely received and understood God's will, and you are obligated to follow, support and practice it - that spirit soon comes to organize and direct your lives, in terms of everything that you do.

even when something doesn't make sense, you have already been taught that what God wants does not always comport with human logic, therefore not to be surprised when what you are told doesn't make sense.

So what happens to a fundamentalist, be he an evangelical or other, you learn to dispatch with reason, logic and common sense. Someone preaches a sermon or teaches a lesson, that you are not permitted to interpret, and you adapt, subscribe to and begin teaching what you have heard.

A pastor, who i sat under before, and I love him by the way, would often make statements lie, "OH, You have got some sense now", if you did not accept wholeheartedly what he was teaching or preaching. In other words, you were not supposed to think. Why not?

The reason that was that God was talking to him or his board of Presbyters, and they in turn would tell you and you were simply to obey.

Sadly, most of us did it for awhile, until "we got some sense". The problem with America today, in my opinion, particularly Washington DC, and every branch of our federal government is this: Fundamentalist, are pretty much deciding who is going into office. And how are they being so successful, they are using 'fundamentalist tactics', the same that are used in their churches ... in order to get their way in Washington.

Even when they lack a clear majority, they have used their church-learned tactics to conscript, manipulate and and cause others to join 'their way or the highway tactics". Fundamentalism, teaches you that you are right and everyone else is wrong. It is one of the first tenets if you will of the faith. To be sure, you are intolerant and proud of it. You alone, are God's chosen and everyone else is going ahead. Poor fools you are taught, they simply don't understand and they are wasting their time, even the other ones who purport to follow God.

And what's wrong with them, they simply don't have an exclusive relationship with God as you have. Now, how do I know this. I know it for 2 reasons. One, I was raised in a fundamentalist church that believed in and taught intolerance. The second reason that I came to understand the totalitarian spirit that operated within our churches, and I witnessed that same spirit being used within fundamentalist politics.

Just as fundamentalists are taught to be unyielding, unbending and uncompromising, and in church no less, they have taken that spirit to their homes, in the streets and now we can clearly see it taking place in Washington DC.

No, they don't call themselves fundamentalists in Washington DC, they use fancier terms like conservative, the Right (not there is a play on terms that is accompanied with a deeply rooted psychological message). And along with everyone else, even in Washington DC, everyone understands that these individuals are Christians and therefore they are doing the work of the Lord.

Poppycock folks, it is a bad spirit that we are talking about, that has confused its stridency with that of fulfilling God's purposes, when most thinking Americans know that the individuals, particularly on the Republican, so-called Right are pursuing a political agenda that favors their interests.

For America and Americans to solve its problems, its citizens are going to have to realize that politics per se is not the solution. The solution will come when Americans learn to look at what's underneath and to do something about it.

And what lies beneath, it is a venal use of Jesus Chris, the Church, the Christian in politics, being done by politicians on the Right, who have tried and failed using other methods of stridency, in order to accomplish their one-sided objectives. They are using what works and is at the core of every Americans belief system, whether they agree with it or not.

God is being used in order for some to accomplish a Republican agenda. Wake up dummies. If it was God, would the uber rich v the urban poor and America's permanent underclass be the current reality in America?

What a certain elite group control the power stations, like government, in our nation, or would the true spirit of God drive this nation? Would their be a spirit of Koinoia, read Acts the 4th chapter be in place, not a giveaway program, but a program that takes into consideration the needs of the common wealth.

I have had a few of my religious friends to distance themselves from, even clerics, and I know why. What I am saying flies in the face of what every Evey evangelical is being told that they have been taught, the truth. Evangelicals are no different from anyone else in this regard, except for one thing, they will use God in order to accomplish their political aims, to include enriching themselves, including preachers, to include owning the finest homes, automobiles, clothing, accoutrement, church buildings ... while the people that they are indoctrinating with their forms of the truth, are suffering like they were in time when there was no America.

And the people, all I can is at some point you have to wake up and smell the roses. I can recall years ago when Jim Baker was beginning to go astray. During a television interview, members of his congregation were asked if they were aware of the rumors about their pastor and his lavish lifestyle.

One gentleman responded: We don't care what Jim does with the money. I bet those words came back to harm him. Does my point have to do with ministers only. No, however, they are the shepherds who are leading their flocks to follow a venal political agenda that has resulted in their being ravaged by the wolves. And these wolves, that their shepherds have lead them to are shearing these poor babies in terms of unemployment, a refusal to share the wealth, sub-standard housing and living -- shall I go on.

Fix the church and you will fix the problem in Washington DC. And this phenomenon is not new. If you are smart enough to, read the canon. There you will find that it was customarily the shepherds, the spiritual leaders, who ended up leading the sheep to the slaughter. Jesus taught, that he was uniquely the good shepherd.

Jesus does not lead his people to a place to be sheared by the vehement and the evil, he leads them besides still water. And if you will look at the leaders in the T-Party, on the Christian Right to include many evangelical and pentecostals, inquring minds will inquire and ask themselves, how come they are doing so well, and the majority of us are not?

You may not believe it, but this is a Love Message. Wake up little lambs and sheep, you are being fleeced everyday, and your spiritual leaders, are much in part responsible for it. They are leading you in the wrong direction.

And don't forget that during Jesus' time, the religious establishment taught the problem that he was the problem, when they were the problem. Watch these religious right-wingers, especially when they come to you and lamb's clothing or purportedly in the name of the war. For them, it is really all about 'The American Idol', and ironically the same, I am right and everyone else is wrong, fascist spirit, that gave us Hitler and the third Reich. How long will it take for these knuckleheads to wake up and change their behavior, brother, don't hold your breath. Eventually they will have to be overthrown both at church and in the political arena, by individuals who are simply seeking to follow after truth, while caring for his fellow woman and man.

Instead, these individuals are employing worldly methods to accomplish their purported spiritual objectives. It has been done before. It was wrong before, and it is still wrong today. Wake up people of God, you are being deceived. And do I believe that religious people can be as wrong as non-religious people are, the answer is , yes, albeit many times they are sincerely wrong, and have simply been brainwashed, as a result of being intellectually lazy, or willing to change the powers that be, even the ones who wear a Rabat, a Robe, a Mask or diamond rings while driving a Ferrari, Rolls or Mercedes Benz.

Thee folks might be quoting scriptures from the Bible, however, their agendas differ by and large from what is written in the Bible. Try the Spirits, and you understand how good people can be deceived by misguided or intentional religious sycophants. Has anyone seem Abramoff or Tom Delay around lately!

Solomon

1st draft

The American Capitalist Church and World Monetary Political System?

2011-08-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the 666 Beast (Bull and Bear Market System)? You've heard of Star Wars before? Today, I will introduce you to the political infighting that is, surreptitiously and quietly taking place between factions within the American Christian religious community. The opponents are the true conservatives, that follow the principles of Jesus Christ, and the modern-day pseudo-religious conservatives, often referred to as evangelicals.

At times, it is hard to tell the two groups apart, however, do not be deceived. One group with all of their foibles and impotence, I believe, are harbingers of the spirit of Christ, and the other group is a modern day pseudo-Christian American political capitalist organization. The latter is pursuing a political agenda under the cover of following Jesus Christ.

Even though churches are restricted by Law from endorsing political candidates, many 501(c)3 churches permit politicians to stump in their pulpits, and to endorse politicians as much or more than any other non-political or special interest groups does.

However, keep in mind that some churches openly ignore the laws on the books that pertain to churches, invoking their first Amendment right which states that the government shall not make any laws pertaining to religion. The Tom Delays of the world (is he still in jail), have exploited this law, along with other Christian leaders, more than anyone else has done.

He and ilk were permitted to use the church as their bully pulpits, in the manner that many other famous protestant clerics, use their media time, Radio, TV and the Internet, to get their message across to their followers. It is understood that the politicians that they helped to elect, will remember and pay their political debts to their churches, once they get elected. Again, keep in mind that the Tom Delays of the world, and other Christian conservatives on the American political right believe that they are above the law!

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There used to a time when the church taught probity and encouraged religious values among its followers. However, more and more the church that has become settled in the world, that is more and more an integral part, as well as a supporter of the American Capitalist Church Political System agenda, has lost its way, that is if it ever found it.

For having left the righteousness of God, they have gone about to establish their own righteousness, having been influenced with Dominionism and white-supremacist cultural values and a dream of American-Christian conservative superiority. To them the former is synonymous with the vision of Jesus Christ.

I am convinced that Jesus Christ might repeat what was written before, and tell them to depart from [you had an agenda of your own], I never knew you., and you never knew me. Instead, you created an agenda of your own, which is far from God's. And from that agenda, you set out to, and almost succeeded in creating what looks like instead, an American capitalist military-political-economic theocracy.

The church world, once considered to be a unified body of Christ, has of late been divided into 2 camps, the true conservatives, individuals who adhere to biblical principles, and the pseudo-conservative church, that more and more is a growing Evangelical real time monetary-political group, that has its own theology. In fact, one of its stars, Bishop Jakes said, and I quote, 'the church is a business'. The new conservative America church, more and more, looks just like that, a business, as opposed to a spiritual organism.

The sheer size, accumulated financial resources and media exposure for churches in the conservative Right, has been and still is responsible for drawing millions of church members away from smaller, less than 100 member conservative church congregations. Many of their former members, could not resist the allure of being members of larger, more prosperous looking, wealth carrying, entertaining, camping trip going …. and in many ways, everything that is offered in the world church centers.

The strength of these organizations, lies not only in their crazy numbers, however, but in their ability to construct a large political bloc in order to pursue a political agenda, by teaching, preaching and translating scriptures in a manner that bolsters their political positions. And even though, people of color are being attracted and added to their memberships in large numbers, make no mistake about the political agenda of what the political agendas of these churches is what members from minority groups will be expected to follow. And if they don't, they won't be considered to be 'good evangelical Christians'.

Typically, minority pastors that join these alliances will fare better for a time, many of them will even be asked to come and to be teach or preach to these more conservative congregations, although they will be summarily ignored, corrected or chastised if they were to veer from the proscribed script.

And even though members of minority churches, join in with these larger mostly white conservative conventions, other than the pastor and a few members of the inner core, will continue to languish in poverty.

The conservative faction of the church (the ones who do not believe in the American Christian Political Church) v. the pseudo-conservative faction, is comparable in many respects to what Jesus encountered, when faced with the the Pharisee/Sadducee conflicts found in scripture. The Pharisees, a powerful group, were rebuked by Jesus, and told that not only would they not enter the Kingdom, they were keeping others from doing the same. The question today, is the same as it was then, which group is really following God. And, which Kingdom have they become a part of, God's or the American Capitalist Christian Church system

It is easy for a church and its leaders to go astray. In fact the scriptures warn believers to beware of false prophets ... to test spirits, and to know them who labor among you in the world. Why? Because according to scripture, our wrestling is against the spirit, that is behind a movement or leader who may not be aware of what motivates him or her. And Solomon explained in the book of Ecclesiastes, that the end of a thing is better than the beginning.

And I believe that we are beginning to witness the beginning of the end of the dangerous Mega-rich, religious political church phenomenon. Interestingly enough, Bill O'Reilly and other TV commentators on the Right, were instrumental in having the Federal government to go after the N.A.A.C.P., Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton , NAACP … and other non-conservatives for 501(c) infractions when campaigning. And at the same time, other political candidates on the Right, who used 501(c) organizations to stomp, they summarily ignored.

To boot, the whole crop of 360,000 or so conservative ministers who signed on to a petition to stop the so called liberal agenda ... and to have it and them condemned, spend every day, engaging in mixing in conservative politics and politicos.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington DC, sound legitimate , has been instrumental in disseminating fascist religious materials and positions, from Washington DC, that favors the right, to the rest of the American Religious Capitalist Church System.

Let's be honest, right now the Conservatives, have the power , religious, military, political and economic power, and they also have the wealth, however, when you consider the condition that they country is in today, given the candidates that they are responsible for having placed into office and on the Supreme Court, in Judgeship …, I believe that the Beast, that has risen up from among the Sea of the people, is about to have its legs cut off. Why? The people of the sea, have become restless, and even though for a time, many of them drank the conservative Kool-Aid, more and more thinking Americans, are beginning to recognize how poison it is, and that it is flavored to represent only a few on the Right.

Investigative and inquiring minds recognize that the political Rightest-Church is as responsible for America's political problems , as is the T-Party along with other conservative Republicans politicians.

The incredible transference of wealth from the people, since the Right, with the aid of the Rightist Church, disposed of Bill Clinton, recovered it and placed that wealth solely into the control of a minority group of conservatives on the right, has begun to awaken a sleeping giant. Four hundred Americans, currently have the equivalent wealth of 60% of Americans on the bottom rung. In other words, 400 Americans have the equivalent wealth of 180M other Americans, who are mostly laid-off, underpaid, living outside, on public assistance … So what God was the conservative church on the Right praying to, given their participation, direction and support in such a debacle?

Now, do I have a personal dog in the fight? Factually, I like some of these fellows personally, and others I find to be amusing. And before you say, “you are being disrespectful”, I am a minister, pastor on hiatus too – so I can talk about my fellow members of the cloth. Some of them are political, others greedy and extravagant, and a few I believe are genuinely confused. In my opinion, too many of them gave up on Jesus Christ a long time ago, and are following after the spirit of this world.

Why the comparison. Because there are many ministers who, similar to Jesus, languished in poverty, while preaching to their small followings (while they went about doing the work of the Lord), having watched their brothers in Christ, amass large land-holdings, wealth, huge followings and bloated salaries (not to mention that they stole away the few members that they had), decided, well, if you can't lick 'em, you might as well join them.

Suddenly, the liturgies in these once traditional churches changed, to a rocking, finger-popping, hand-slapping, joke telling, rapping, preacher driving Benzes, Airplane flying, and other luxury car, living in near mansions … while other people suffer, has became their new reality. Go and sell what you have today, give it to the poor, and your income stream will be replenished tomorrow - oh come on!

And their new sermons became, money-oriented, God wants you to have money, and show me the money sermons. And guess what, for a while, it worked. What brought people into these churches, is what I believe in the end will lead them back out of the door, money and the lack of many. Already, some of these mega-moolah land churches that succeeded for awhile, are being fore-closed upon, and I suspect that might be a good thing. The teaching, training and personal attention that these parishioners once received, was forfeited, for fast-singing, hand-slapping performance oriented Sunday morning weekly presentations. The better you are at telling jokes these days, the better you happen to be as a preacher. David Letterman, could make more money if he were to crossover as a preacher, than 20M or so that he makes a year, working on the television.

Based upon what I have observed, the people are not being taught to follow God, they are being conditioned to pursue wealth through religious means, and to support a white American political agenda. Okay, I said it!

Now here is what is so ironic, on the way up, the wealthy politicians who required the help of the church to make their ascent, are beginning to abandon the mega churches, during these church groups time of financial need. Good I say, that is what you get for getting in bed with the devil in the first place. Besides, conservative churches were paid back given President Bush's Faith-based Pay-off initiative.

I can recall several years ago, when Senator John McCain, switched sides. At first he stood for principles, and recognized that when it came to political and religious issues, that the two should remain separate. It is a part of the American implied social contract, that is that the two would remain apart. He insisted that he would not be dominated by the Religious or Christian Right, pander to the Right, Bob Jones University … but later, when he needed the support of the Religious Right, off to Bob Jones … he went.

He is making similar comments about the T—Party today, but trust me, that craving to get elected, will eventually lead him to give in again, but this time to the T-Party faction of the Rightist Christians, mostly members of the evangelical church. In some circles, Klan members, would be wise to abandon their robes, and to join mainstream evangelical churches.

You might not get to burn a cross anymore, and you might have to admit invoking the name of Jesus, while at the same time that you hate Jews, but on the other hand, you will be a part of a group that will legitimately keep minorities in their place.

People who believe in what is real ought to pursue what is real, I believe, And much of the American church world, especially political evangelicals, are a part of one massive money-making religio-political organizational stream, and their politics are both local, national and international, and I do not believe that Christ is at the center. Remember, conservative Christians in Germany and Hitler, individuals who had similar views as conservative churches in America have, supported Adolf Hitler.

Be careful folks, and trust me, I don't believe that a lot of these guys and gals are bad people, I believe that the majority of them have simply been seduced, or have been sincerely misdirected! Their ways and their words, are neither the ways nor the words of Jesus Christ. Show me the money Christianity, that is not the power agenda that Jesus pursued or recommended for his followers?

The rest of us must continue to pursue what is real, and to beware of false prophets, even the ones who are simply misguided it would appear, and have good intentions. What they are saying and doing in practice, are often 2 different things.

What is my motive: It's simple, as a minister, I have a responsibility to warn the innocent and misguided to be careful of trends and what appears to be God. What is taking place in America today, giving the mixing between evangelicals especially, and the church ,is a dangerous phenomenon. Isn't it amazing that Christian churches criticize the Theocratic forms of governments that exist in other parts of the world, while sanctifying the spirit of a conservative theocracy in the West, that is driven by monetary-power values.

Never forget, no matter how they use the Canon, to make their points that Pat Robertson, Late Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, Dr. Dobson, Parsley, Perkins, Delay … shall I go on,? All of these folks are, or were in bed with the politicians on the Right. And look where they has got America, following 8 years of George Bush Jr., and obstructionist Christian conservatives on the Right. They might as well as had a seat on reserve in the House.

And Pat Robertson, actually tried to run for President, a couple of decades ago? Of course, God, told him not to, but he attempted a reprise a few years afterward. And he wanted President Hugo Chavez knocked off? Folks beware of wolves who come to you in sheep’s clothing.

And I expect that you will be told that I am the wolf in sheep's clothing – but I am not one. However, Christians, ought to remember what happened to Jesus and others in the Canon, when he and they spoke truth to conservative religious power – in Jesus's case, he became a picture hangar with nails in his hands in feet, a sentence that was insisted upon and carried out, as a result of a conservative religious poltical agenda, similar to the one that America has been confronted with, 2000 years later!

Much like the Klan did, these churches are white supremacists organizations (that includes minority members), and they are still following and supporting a white supremacist-capitalist agenda) . “The end of a thing, is better than the beginning”, Solomon wrote. And in time, the truth will be revealed, or better yet understood I believe. In the meantime, and I repeat, the rest of us, let's pursue what is real and at the same time do all that we can to repeal, repel and stand up against the spirit of error that operates in a church world that supports an agenda that favors the few and the privileged.

And before you think it, I do not believe that all whites are white supremacists, on the other hand, I believe that there are whites who are, but do not know that they are, they simply believe that they are right!

Peace and corrections and revisions later - 2^nd draft.

A Change in Direction

2011-07-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

Social Engineering: What is the explanation for, and the solution to the current on steroids supply-side poverty policy paradigm in America - seeing how it has failed to produce the desired yield and ROI for its investors, the American people. Frankly, and in deference to all of the planning, resource allocation, capital utilization and sweat equity that has been applied (the results have been disheartening, with regard to the issue of homelessness)!

Could the answer be, that an antipodal, non supply-side empowerment paradigm, that permits equal access, by all Americans (even the ones who lack capital and fixed assets), to the opportunity structures of this nation, should replace the one that is currently in place? Hegel comes to mind, i.e., "Man's inhumanity to man is based on the ownership of property, and the pursuit of power through class struggle".

At HOP, the outdoor citizen's think tank and coalition of Santa Clara County, we will attempt to answer the question, and fight to change the current dynamic.

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First of all, in terms of a cost benefit analysis, have the trillions of dollars that have been spent already, by concerned taxpayers, faith-based organizations, government and charities yielded an appropriate return-on investment, ROI? The prevailing wisdom would seem to suggest that the appropriate ROI, has not and is not being derived for every dollar that has been and is still being spent to address the phenomenological American-homeless, social pandemic.

Instead of a decrease or improvement, there has been a substantial expansion of the outdoor citizens demographic, here and elsewhere, among the well-fed clothed, temporarily sheltered ... attendant outdoor citizen's demographic. If the overall objective is to keep the outdoor citizens where they are, seeking handouts, then the plan in place is working.

Westerners may 'put their money where there mouths are' when it comes to confronting social issues and war, (behavior that is often a substitute for direct involvement), however, can or will money alone, "answer all things", in this context?

The phrase, "Money answers all things", ironically, is taken directly from the Christian Canon, Ecclesiastes 10:19. Even though most westerners are not aware that this scripture exists, too many Americans, including religious organizations, often practice 'money as a solution problem solving techniques' - churches all too often practice it!

The author, apparently King Solomon (we are not related), may have been correct, whatever his pretext may have been at the time. However, we believe that out of context, the author was wrong. In fact, money does not answer all things. Human and other social problems, require more than money to deal them. For example, if your infant child were crying, would a five-dollar bill placed into tiny hands, appease him or her?

Or, might a gentle touch, a bottle, pacifier, love or touch, satisfy the infants longing or hunger? Other means or methods need to be employed besides money, to answer some things, including what is already in place, to address, not confront, the byproduct of other issues, that results in one ending up homeless in a rich western nation.

The failure to attenuate the root causes, has resulted in a larger problem, that has resulted in too many individuals and families, in a land of plenty, falling outside of, a non-existent safety net, but rather an inclusion net, in the expansive American 2-classes system.

The author of the book: The Greening of America, Charles A. Reich, recognized and wrote about the insidious nature of this phenomenon, just over 4 decades ago. And what should we conclude and interpolate, with respect to this 'living beside the housed', growing phenomenon 40 years later - and the dollars being misspent to address it.

Americans have historically attempted to address the issue of homelessness, in a similar manner that America has often addressed other issues, that has often resulted in America's engagement in war, with so many other nation's of the world. One has to wonder just just long will it take before F14, F16, F18s, drones and satellite surveillance, appear over the growing number of homeless camps, that are popping up, many of them ironically being populated with American war veterans, all over America.

It would be interesting to see if we could, what America's domestic policy for homeless Americans happens to be. Sooner or later, we all know what 's coming, Project Apache for outdoor citizens, perhaps? Sooner or later, someone will recognize, besides HOP and few other individuals and organization, that the expenditure of dollars alone, as opposed to to addressing the the insidious root causes of homelessness as a condition, will have to be addressed prior to sending in the Marines to "get her done".

We have thrown money at this expanding problem, to the tune of trillions of dollars being spent, without achieving the desired result.

Could the money have been better spent, and can the dollars being thrown at the problem, be better spent today? At HOP, we believe that it will take more than money to address not only the issue, but the root causes that result in too many individuals who choose not to do so, ending up living a homeless, not just out of doors, lifestyle!

Part 2

When I, and a group of outdoor citizens came together to form a badly needed self-help empowerment organization 2 years ago, among the yet to be named 'outdoor citizen's demographic', we did so with this idea in mind: We recognized that an army of helping organizations and individuals were already in place in the Santa Clara Valley that were in need of conversion. We also recognized that an incredible amount of resources were apparently being misspent to address the problem of homelessness.

We immediately recognized, that although dollars were changing hands that were to be used to address the problem, that not much had changed for the targeted group of outdoor citizens. In fact, the majority in the outdoor citizen's demographic,were still living in cars, camps, parks, ravines, backyards, garages, foyers, floors, standing in food and feeding lines, or riding buses and the lite-rail into the wee hours of the morning.

In the land of plenty, there have been an abundant amount of resources, financial and other, spread around; who can deny that? However, given the current state of America's, and the worldwide economy for that matter, in the final analysis, those scarce resources have begun to slowly dry up, and in some instances, and in some instances have ended up in the pockets of the few, at the top.
Where there used to be a flood of available resources being spread around, today the Ronald W. Reagan styled trickle down system- dynamic, is firmly in place – something that the misguided late President, worked hard to achieve for his favored class group.

It kind of reminds me of what the Prophet Elijah experienced, when the brook at Kidron begin to produce a trickle, and subsequently dried up, read the old testament scriptures. Can a ocean, river or stream of dollars ... dry up altogether? The answer is in the question my friends, and most Americans are painfully aware that the stream is no longer trickling in some neighborhoods. Nevertheless, the late President, posthumously, got what he wanted, a massive transfer of income for his favored group of Americans!

At HOP, we are hoping to motivate the 2 interested party groups, both the providers and recipients to change course, rather than adopt or adapt to Ronald Reagan styled trickle-down/voodoo economics, (something that his successors are championing to this day). If we succeed in changing the mind of the misinformed, I can envision living in a time when there will be a policy shift in the massive compensatory bureaucracy, that manages supply side programs. Meager resources that pacify the the under-served, will be replaced with opportunities for the under-served, to become viable self-supporting individuals again.

With respect to the outdoor citizens demographic, the recipients of the dwindling welfare streams, we are hoping that each one of them, will recognize the value-ad, in terms of buying into our proposition. We reject the legacy and the current proponents of the Ronald Reagan voodoo economics paradigm. , And as a result, we are teaching outdoor citizens to begin thinking outside of the customary dependency box.
The policies of the former president, have resulted in what appears to be an expanding and firmly entrenched 2-part, haves and have not system, with subsistence programs for a permanently unemployed and underemployed underclass - and at the same time a boundless, unlimited financial opportunities cache, for a near wealthy, wealthy or uber-wealthy tax-avoidant upper class.

We believe that waiting for the recipients of Ronald Reagan's voodoo economics largess, to alter the course of Ronald Reagan styled trickle down, for veterans and other excluded Americans, is simply a waste of time. Instead, HOP has been aggressively moving in a radically different direction. We have been reaching out to other organizations, and outdoor citizens, encouraging both groups to change their missions as well as their strategies. We have asked all concerned, on both sides, the would be helpers and those who are need of help, to HOP on board, before it is too late to change course!

The reification of the 2-classes, welfare-state dynamic, that is to continue subsidizing the welfare state and its expanding permanent underclass, is neither the correct response nor the answer to the expanding problem. HOP hopes to pull the rug out from under the harbingers, as well as the protectors and protagonists for the current paradigm. We hope to have them to join with us, and to funnel wasted resources into recovery initiatives, instead of permanent underclass maintenance programs.

The latter will result in dynamic retraining programs being put into place, also to underwrite the new emerging working class of former outdoor citizens ... who will rise from the ashes of despair, and become contributors in the new inclusive American economy, perhaps an economy with a 30 trillion dollar GDP.

The time has come for all reasonable Americans to not only think outside of the box, but to get themselves out of the box, that has been and is being imposed by the privileged in America, once and for all. We need to work on reform, and whatever is done, in the meantime, please government officials: don't send in the Marines. Besides, someday, many of them will likely end up living in civilian homeless camps themselves, when you are done with them!

Solomon

America: What Does Its Future Hold?

2011-07-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

Anarchy or Another American Revolution:

The problem as I see it, with the 235 year old American experiment, is that America and the majority of its people, not all citizens mind you, are being held hostage by a powerful minority elite. This closed and conniving power elite, the tail that is wagging the American dog, is in control of the reigns of power and wealth in this nation.

The former includes America's political systems, the judiciary, the executive branch, the military, the police, the media, America's financial systems, the American capitalist church system, the American people (and a a burgeoning group of undocumented aliens).

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And when you factor in the recent Supreme Court decision that pretty much sanctified the political relationship between the wealthy and corporations, the fate of the average American citizen has been sealed, at least for the time being. What the Supreme Court ruling established was this, that an American corporation has pretty much the same rights that an American citizen has (within the American political process). And, seeing how major corporations in America are owned by the wealthy, well, you do the math.

Is it any wonder then that the majority of Americans are in financial trouble, while members of the minority elite have never fared better, financially and politically. If the majority of America's citizenry continues to accept the current arrangement, and fails to wrest power away from the closed powerful minority elite, the majority will continue to struggle under a venal arrangement that favors the few. The latter is what occurred with America's founders, a legacy that was restored in modern times by late president and reformer, Ronald W. Reagan.

Ronald Reagan. after being elected America's 40th president, immediately began his reign of terror by consolidating military, economic and political power, and concentrating all of it into the hands of a favored few. He also began implementing his redistribution of wealth, scorched earth policies that favored the rich, and began busting and taking away the power of unions. By terminating PATCO employees, and subsequently going after other major unions that fought for working class Americans, (something that the government failed to do under his leadership), a new corporate elite aristocracy was born.

And as a result of weakening the unions, concentrating wealth in the hands of a chosen few and mitigating the power of the people (the proletariat to dissent) an immediate transfer of power and wealth in this nation, from the majority of the American people to his favored power group, white American conservative males, ensued.

Also, as a result of Reagan's institutionalized favoritism towards the wealthy and corporations, coupled with his catastrophic leadership, the reification of a self-centered power elite; in just under 4 decades, the American economic and mercantile system, along with America's citizen-majority teeters on the brink of economic disaster. At the same time, the beneficiaries of Reagan judicial and political reform are enjoying incomprehensible wealth and power, at the expense of the majority. Reagan's policies were halted, for a brief period of time (during the Clinton years), however, President George Bush Jr., followed by President Barack Obama have replaced prosperity for all American's with Reagan's, and the founders doctrine.

And as a result, when you think about the group of Americans who will soon represent America's future, America's children, young adults, adults and a burgeoning group of septu and octogenarians (who will have outlived social security, their savings, 401K plans, Roth IRAs and other investments), they will continue to experience what they are beginning to experience now, living in deep Republican doodoo)!

The remaining citizens of the not to distant future, both young and old, will continue doing what they have begun doing of late, standing in unemployment lines, begging on the streets, going hungry and depending on unemployment, medicare and medicaid. And at the same time, a small group of Americans will be living in the lap of luxury, and enjoying the kind of uncommon wealth that was realized by America's founding class. Is it any wonder that the members of this group and their descendants, have hated any policy that even hints at the fair distribution of America's wealth?

Jealous? No, I am not jealous at all, however, a system designed to reward the few, while a growing majority suffers, is a broken system as far as I am concerned. And these people call themselves Christians. Come to think about it, many of America's founders considered themselves to be Christians too, having escaped from the kind of oppression that they currently practice against others in the United States. And in the words of a former southern executive from Buckhead Georgia, who provided our organization with an executive briefing just over a decade ago,

"THAT DOG DON”T HUNT"!

The continued failure of the American sleeping dog, to wrest power back from a rich and powerful closed group-elite, once and for all, will result in bankruptcy for the masses, and instant failure for the majority of America's citizens. And what will have to take place to change this dynamic?

Americans will have to learn and practice a new economic paradigm, and that is to stop believing that America cannot exist without self-serving corporations or by subsidizing them and their condigned power. Corporations will continue to prosper, only as long as the majority provides them with protections under the law, or by purchasing their goods, products and services. Every dollar that you spend with self-serving corporations, represents a vote for corporate supremacy. It is time to revert to mom and pop stores, and cottage industries.
Americans will also have to learn to exist in a reformed society, one in which small businesses provide income-producing opportunities for the average American citizens, and a living wage for all of its participants. There will no longer be a gap between the rich and the poor.
Americans will have to wrest power back from the 3 existing branches of power in Washington DC, and to put teeth into the laws, and power back into the hands of the majority.

If we fail to make these and other changes soon, the space shuttle generation along with the space shuttle program, will also come to an end, only to be replaced by commercial interests of the rich. Or in terms of a phrase, that President George H. Bush Sr. once made famous, the majority of Americans are going to find themselves in "deep doo doo"!

Americans also need forfeit their desire to get rich or die trying, and instead to work to install the kind of commonwealth where all Americans, prosper. The latter will not only dispense with the current gross economic disparities that currently exists between different class groups, but will also result in each individual or family, being empowered in a way to take care of itself, and to eliminate inflation, reduce the crime rate and the number of criminals who participate in the American underworld economy.

Otherwise, if the majority of Americans, continue to sit on their laurels and view American capitalists as heroes, while doing nothing for themselves, it won't be long before America, as we know it, will cease to exist -and we are almost there now.

And what are the chances of change occurring? Actually, the chances are good. Why? Because the group of angry Americans who recognized, during the run-up to the 2008 election, that there was a need for change, are still out there. The only mistake that they, an activist majority made before, was when they selected and elected the wrong candidate, Barack Obama to lead a populist people's revolution.

At the time, an overly confident neophyte, lacked the vision, skills, fortitude, aptitude, courage and conviction, to do what needed to be done at the time - to represent the majority of America's people, and to put the Reagan and founder's genie, back into its bottle. Fortunately, that disparaged group of voting American citizens, that was responsible for electing him in 2008, I believe, have since learned how to amend their ways. That groups is still looking for change, and they won't make the same mistake the next time, let's hope!

All that needs to be done, is to stoke the fire that is still simmering in a wounded and disappointed majority, for with respect to neophyte President Barack Obama, we simply do not not have time to wait for him to come into his own. For similar to Ronald H. Reagan (his hero), George H. Bush Senior and Junior, the Republican presidents that preceded him - the needs of the majority were never his top priority.

Frankly, I am impressed with United States Representative Dennis Kucinich from Cleveland Ohio. I believe that if the majority were to elect him to be the next president of the United States, that we would begin to see abrupt changes in America and abroad, similar to what Secretary of State Hilary Rodham-Clinton proposed, and her husband President Bill Clinton implemented, when she ran for president of the United States.

Congressman Kucinich, would stand up and fight, unflinchingly, for the needs of the majority, and against the vast right-winged conspiracy minority, that is still holding this nation hostage. Keep in mind that Republican Presidents have controlled the American narrative and its military, economic and political power, for the majority of the past 30 years.

Otherwise, if America will keep doing what it has been doing in the past, it will continue getting what it has been getting in the present, disappointment among the majority.

I would love to hear your comments!

Solomon

The Supply-Side Poverty Paradigm in Santa Clara County and Beyond

2011-06-11T18:26:00.001-07:00

Part 3

Prior to leaving Washington (in 1983), neither my first nor my last time working on social, urban and public-policy issues by the way at the Congressional level, there was a change of heart. Many of the individuals who came there to bleed for America's permanent underclass, as opposed to coming up with some realistic proposals and solutions, helped to put together something with teeth before we left, that we could present to the politicians.

Initially, many of them wondered whether or not I had inadvertently joined the wrong discussion group - I sounded very conservative to them, at first. But soon, they felt that I made sense, and asked me to speak for the group.

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It is our hope, at HOP, that some of our bleeding hearts in the Valley will eventually recognize that they will have to do the same in The Valley, engage in introspection. Let me put it another way, 'stop enabling the able-bodied outdoor citizens, would you please'? Many of our outdoor citizens need to feel the kind of pain that will shock their sensibilities, and hopefully, spring them back into action, so that they can jump start their lives. Pain, can be a powerful motivator for positive social change, and to reverse lethargy and inaction.

Given the number of individuals that are unhoused in the area and living on someone elses's floor... given all of the manpower and resources that have been expended and distributed, wouldn't you say at some point, that what has successfully worked before, is simply not working today? The crisis is worsening, and the Republican House has already proposed to role HUD Funding for example, back to 2007 levels, as a starting point.

It is time for disruption, and a change from the old ways of doing things to take place. For example, when outdoor citizens come to you and beg for handouts, either on the streets or at your agency: “Tell Them WhereTo Go", in other words where you send your money to in order to assist them and where they can be held accountable and put into recovery programs. Explain to them that a organization with skilled personnel will help them to get going again. Whatever you do, stop supporting begging and dependency, you are reinforcing bad habits, which will only result in re-enforcing long-term chronic dependency. Again, tell them where to go 'to meet your money', in order to get help!

Jesus believed and taught individuals to be responsible. It seems to me that some of the faith-based groups, agencies, and recipients of all of the public's and their congregation's largess in this area, are intent upon doing just the opposite. Many of them are busily maintaining the "we will take care of you status quo”. Let me give you an example. The outdoor citizens get everything for free in this area, to the extent that other outdoor citizens travel to this area from other parts of the state and the nation,because they have heard 'just how sweet it is in Santa Clara County'.

Even, San Franciscans travel down the peninsula (to the Southbay) in order to get what they can no longer get in San Francisco. Our current Lieutenant Governor, Gaven Newsome, when he was mayor of San Francisco, recommended that Bay Area cities, work together in order to deal with this cross-pollinating phenomenon.Outdoor Citizens from as far away as San Diego... come here to take care of the area's largess, which impacts already limited resources.

From all across the nation they come, knowing that if you can make it to the Bay Area's shores, that you will be taken care of, shortly, after you arrive. And even though I admire the spirit of giving in this area, I was even helped when my fortunes turned, however, with this caveat: I immediately engaged in a personal recovery plan.

My plan worked for me, and now I am teaching other outdoor citizens how a well thought out recovery plan can work for them.

However, many of the helping organizations in this area neither understand when they are doing too much without a return on their investment, nor when the able mind and bodied outdoor citizens are not doing enough to help themselves

Many of our outdoor citizens have not sat down to consider or to construct a recovery plan for themselves yet, and some of their professional and semi-professional helpers don't seem to mind! And having said that, what they are doing is contributing to cultural dependency and social anomie. Outdoor citizens, ought to be required to take action steps themselves before receiving more than the very basic help.

And afterward, when they are helped, benchmarks need to be set, with targets in mind, accompanied with frequent compliance reviews. Otherwise, permit the ones who refuse to do anything, to experience The Pain Station. Let them know up front that help will be measured, and it will be cut off in time. The by-product of all of the, 'we will solve your problems for you', that too many of our chronic outdoor are experiencing, some for a decade or more, is that many of our outdoor citizens have remained right where they were long before I, and others like me, got involved in the fight.

While being supported without condition, many outdoor citizens who lost jobs, homes, apartments ... did so before the most recent recession, and some before the recession in this region in 2001. Has there been any accountability? What happened, given all of the resources that have been expended over the past 3 years alone. I can't see any results. We can blame what has transpired on the the economy ... however, that is not the whole story.

Reliance on a free-handout economy, with the expectation of a guaranteed job is the problem. It is time for a new way of thinking and reckoning to be put into action - consider HOP's model. Sadly, I can't seem to get some faith-based groups to understand that not even Jesus, continued his 'miracle healing feeding crusade', once he realized that his program enabled individuals (who were merely following him in order to obtain fish food, and other miracles).

At HOP, the Think Tank and Advocacy organization, one that is comprised of current and former outdoor citizens mind you - we are teaching a new paradigm. Hopefully, others will get on board and try something new for a change. One HOP member proposed a slogan 2-days ago that will be incorporated, with regard to street and other beggars, and it is: REFUSE TO GIVE CHANGE TO PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO CHANGE. This slogan compliments, the new TELL THEM WHERE TO GO slogan that we came up with!

In other words, don't give any more money to anyone on the streets, or at the expressway exits.

Instead, give the money to responsible and ethical organizations; and at the same time tell the beggar where to go where he can be helped, supervised, monitored and given a helping hand (if he or she will do what they are told in order to help themselves. Giving on the streets ... have only buttressed begging and the lack of accountability, but more importantly, the lack of effort and change in the lives of beggars.

We know some things that some don't know, because we've been there. Many of our team members are already working to turn their lives around - instead of being dependent on a system that doesn't work to help individuals to get up and to get going again, sadly. During my last person-to-person meeting with late Congressman Augustus Hawkins of the 21st district in Los Angeles when in Washington DC and before he passed on - he told me something. He said, you can actually do more back at home by working with the ones who are in need in the community, than you can get down here in Washington DC …”

Many other Representatives in Washington, for example late Representative John Seiberling of Ohio ... echoed the same sentiment and shared similar advice. Practically every Representative that I spoke with, admitted that Washington was in gridlock. Representative Conyers from Michigan, once explained to a group of us in DC, that a certain bill that he tried to get on the floor for 25 years, was never permitted to come to the floor, out of committee ... for a vote. Washington, as most Americans already know, has been deadlocked - well that is unless you are an organization that owns one or more of the 300,000 or more registered (mostly corporate) lobbyists in this nation (who will do your bidding for you), then you will likely get you what you want.

Is it any wonder that many of the residents in the District of Columbia refer to it as 'Dodge City', not, because of the killing that goes on there. They are also referring to the crime that is taking place on Capitol Hill. There are hundreds of corporate lobbyists for every congressperson. HOP, and several other well-intentioned institutions in America and this area, are not the place to go if one does not intend to alter their plight, and that is in consideration of individuals on both sides of the spectrum. At HOP, we are essentially teaching outdoor citizens, the ones who will listen to a new perspective, a new paradigm, and it includes the following:

That the world has changed since the Post WWII economic boom that America experienced (which lasted more than a half century).

That Europe was devastated, and broke at the end of the war, while America's blue collar industry, factories, its banking and mercantile system, among other things, was booming.

And as a result, there were jobs aplenty. (Many Americans in the rust belt where I hail from, held more than one job at a time). I can recall when I held 2 jobs and was working 16 hours a day around the age of 18.

However today greed, coupled with globalization, corporate down-sizing, loss of market share to the emerging global economies, corporate down-sizing, the depression and the slow economic recovery (not to overlook the psyche of the entitled to a job Americans), too many Americans have lost that one well paying job - that they used to have. And more more and more of them are sitting in a stupor, while waiting for 'their job' to come back.

That the shrinking manufacturing base, currently at about 27% of what it was decades ago, has resulted in many of blue collar workers having been simply put, eliminated. And as a result, homes, apartments, rooms and families have been broken up and lost...

That even if you were able to garner a job, typically short-term, you would not be able to earn a sufficient amount of money to cover your living expenses, particularly, if you live in northern California.

That the solution is within you coupled with solid supportive help, of the kind that teach and help you to take back charge of your lives, and therefore your destinies with this in mind; you must take the responsibility for your comeback, and create income-producing opportunities for yourself. In other words, you will hone and depend on your current skill-sets, return to school if you must, and use what you have already in your toolbox, to compete in the market place.

We remind our people (outdoor citizens), that each one of them possesses 'not only marketable skills, but income-producing skills'. We also explain that the American citizen will have to learn to compete against both American and global interests in the new paradigm. And finally, with our support and hopefully yours, outdoor citizens will learn to garner a slice of the American and global pie - the former ship has sailed.

Maintenance programs are just that, maintenance; and they will result in many Americans being on the dole for the rest of their lives - we lost over 50 outdoor-citizen lives in the area, last year alone, along with several outdoor citizens in this region just over the past 3 weeks...

Finally, we help outdoor-citizens understand that more and more of the jobs that they were accustomed to having before, have been and are being shipped overseas, automated or outsourced. This phenomenon has occurred with the full consent of lobbied American government officials by American corporations.

Both entities are competing for their own survival and to satisfy campaign-financiers and their stockholders. The dangerous nexus that currently exists between government and corporations, is only hurting the American people. However, we have to fight back!

Item III.

John Maynard Keynes or Kenneth Galbraith would be appalled, if they were alive and could witness the current economic conditions in America, particularly what is taking place in the American corporate marketplace, on Wall Street and with America's mercantile system (particularly in a nation with a 14T GDP, piled-up debt and Americans living in the streets). Who knows what Mr. Friedman would have to say if he were still with us today, with respect to current market conditions. And we all know that he was a dyed-in-the-wool Republican and supply-side economist.

Thomas Sowell, my soul brother, formerly at the Hoover Institute at Stanford (in 1984, someone asked me to read his books) I don't understand you, but at the same time. However, and at the same time we are moving on with our own economic recoveries and an economic recovery plan to benefit other outdoor, and indoor citizens for that matter. I feel that it is safe to say that the contract with America ala Hobbes and Lockes is DOA, at this juncture it appears to be, every person for themselves! And as far as I am concerned, the majority in Washington are interested in the few, not the masses.

Mr. Volcker has had very instructive things to say from time to time. Mr. Greenspan, has to defend himself, since he presided over the Fed, during the downturn and slide, ergo, he has been somewhat muted and more of an apologist. Mr. Geithner at the the Treasury Deparment and Mr. Bernanke at the Fed are presiding over the current debacle and economic recovery.

All of us know, I believe, what the real problem is and where it originated, in addition to all of the above (to include job losses, corporate down-sizing, repositioning, job furloughs, the stock-market crash), can you say hedge funds though? Where I disagree with many of the outdoor citizens and organizations that I am involved with, many of them accept the status-quo and fail to understand that it is time to to alter the status quo. Why?

Because with the best of intentions many of them are doing the wrong thing, and very little to address the systemic issues of our time. One thing that is needed for sure, in the Santa Clara Valley and other regions of the nation, is DISRUPTION, including in Washington DC.

In other words the same organizations that have prevented a crises of hunger in and among our demographic, have fallen into a separate rut of their own. Today, however, it is time to get on with the business of rehabilitation, by partnering with outdoor citizens in a way that will help them to get back to creative ways of producing economic returns on their best investments, themselves - in deference to whatever the rich and politicians do!

Certain institutions did an admirable job before, however, late President Ronald Reagan shifted the gears. There has been a massive redistribution of wealth in this nation, since that time, having said that, individuals who needed it the most, are not going to give it back/invest in the American people. The word when Ronald Reagan was President was, 'what's wrong with greed', right Tony Blankley, Editor of the Washington Times?

In summary and I repeat that we believe the following:

That organizations in the area need to adapt to a new paradigm, one in which individuals working with those who want to help themselves to recover, ought to be helped. The ones who do not, and will not help themselves, ignore them.

That outdoor citizens must be encouraged, taught … those who can be taught, to begin working to create income producing opportunities for themselves, with support (to include cleaning, sweeping, painting curbs, mowing lawns, using their computer-skills, starting their own hi-tech businesses some have advanced degrees you know).

That outdoor citizens must volunteer to work, when one is capable of doing so, instead of receiving the gifts that they have been receiving of late, gratis.

That a certain amount of pain being felt, will inspire some of our able-bodied, but spoiled outdoor citizens to get back to work or to create income-producing opportunities for themselves. We are living in a new day, and certain jobs aren't coming back!

That organizations must channel more dollars into self-help organizations, not only HOP, who are trying to create self-sustaining and independent human beings instead of dependents (and the latter is what is taking place all over the area today.

In conclusion: I wonder what our critics will have to say when we, HOP, a year and a-half old organization that began without money, a place and not very much of anything else, helps to alter the current paradigm and status quoin this region; or on the other hand, when the ones who are being served by status quo organizations make the turn around? Motivated outdoor-citizens, are turning to us already. The rest are staying in the parks, and relying on government, faith-based groups … to sustain them, to do their work for them - however, they are watching us.

We plan to help individuals who desire to and are willing to work, to stand and to walk again. The answer is on the porch, not on the streets, or under another person or institution's control. And why are we doing what we are doing, because of LOVE!

And if what you or you group has been and is doing currently works for the good of the people (not your group...) then by all means keep doing it. On the other hand and in the words of Dr. Phil, ask yourself or your group ... "how is what you have been doing, working for the individuals or groups that your group or you serves or has served in the past?"

If nothing else you will be able to determine why you or your group are doing what you are or have been doing, and who really benefits! Sadly, and at times, we can do the right thing the wrong way!

And here is one final shameless, but hopefully helpful plug. During my years as a psychiatric counselor, where I received plaudits from my team members, who wondered why I had been more successful than many of them who had been there long before me.

My response was, "the clients in our Mental Health center told me that the difference between you and the other therapists is that you care about us, the others are here using us in order to acquire their advanced degrees". Sadly, and in many instances, I knew firsthand that they were correct - several of my peers were using the clients to get what they wanted, their PhDs.

To be informed, is to be armed! Do some introspection and self-actualization, those of you who want to help. And ask yourself, why are you doing what you are doing? In other words, are you doing what you are doing for the ones who need help, or are you doing what you are doing for yourself?

Solomon

President of HOP Hope for Outdoor People

www.hoppeople.org

email us at hopeforoutdoorpeople@gmail.com

The Supply-Side Poverty Paradigm in Santa Clara County and Beyond

2011-06-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

The Issue of homelessness: Part 2

We refer to ourselves as Outdoor Citizens. We are working to change the existing crippling, supply-side dependency dynamic that persists in this and other regions of the country.

Supporting dependency is neither the solution to the problem of homelessness in the Santa Clara Valley nor elsewhere in America, we believe. And if you disagree, simply consider what has been taking place with outdoor citizens in your community.

Or in the words of Dr. Phil, "how has what you or your community have been doing ... working for you and your community so far"?

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Author Derrick Bell, in his book, 'Faces At The Bottom of the Well', wrote: "if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting". And most Americans know firsthand, that not only are we getting what we have been getting, there appears not to be an end in sight.

The give and give more again paradigm is solidly in place in American cities!

HOP, with a vision, minuscule resources (the work is all being done here by unpaid volunteers, former and current outdoor citizens and with the help of a few donors), is using these resources, our experiences, our wits and a new paradigm in order to help to turn lives around.

Already, we are witnessing lives being transformed, and outdoor citizens taking charge of their lives, their personal destinies and standing upright again - and we just got started.

What we are doing at HOP, that is working, benefits outdoor citizens, the city, county, state and the entire nation. We provide space, a place, professional training, desks, computers, business and marketing plans ... where research can be done and ideas put into practice. This is not the mission of poverty supply-siders.

The winds of change are blowing in the valley, the nation and the world for that matter. Individuals and organizations that learn to shift with the current tide, will succeed, we believe.

It is our hope that other outdoor-citizens (who up to this time have preferred the methods that are currently in place, (that have not worked) and rather supports dependency, or receiving something for doing nothing, will be motivated to try something different - at the very least we can help to save the next generation. It is also our hope, that organizations in the area who support dependency will soon follow suit and join us (even when it means swallowing pride, and simply admitting that what worked before is not working today – given that the problem is expanding).

Even the Apostle Peter, a fisherman who still had fish to give, stopped giving alms, and instead helped to lift a man to his feet so that he could walk on his own 2 feet again, but only when the Apostle's paradigm changed.

Readers who are familiar with 'disruption theory', understand that from time to time there has to be a change in the customary manner and with the methods that have been used before, if an individual or an organization plans to keep pace. In other words, adaptability is required.

Even a once great idea (the free delivery ice wagon, black and white TV, typewriters … eventually runs its course and needs to be replaced). Smart leaders, and managers on the cutting-edge, recognize when it is time to do, improve or create something different. Several organizations, some of notoriety in Silicon Valley, failed to forecast or re-evaluate their processes, the ones that worked for a period of time in the past, and they suffered as a result. America, and Americans have also failed to heed the signs of knowing when to change.

To that end, several once venerable organizations, in the once booming Silicon Valley have recently been overtaken by upstart organizations that didn't exist a decade ago. Why? Because the leaders of the organizations failed to keep up, or to recognize that from time to time, even a venerable organization has to recognize when it is time to change its mission, its methods and ways of doing things. Some of them ignored, the Law of Accelerating returns, and failed to keep up with the pace. Consider, what has taken place in the the Republic of China and the other emerging global markets today, and the 'huge sucking sound', that we hear coming from the American economy.

The ROC tried something different, given new leadership at the top, and has come out of the dark ages in a few decades, and is threatening the existing world order. America, on the other hand stayed too long with what had been working before, and it is costing all of us. Arrogance, over-confidence, elitism at play, perhaps? Successful businesses that plan to survive and to thrive under existing changing conditions, also recognize the need to be as effective as they are efficient and therefore to modify or change their practices at certain peak and off-peak junctures.

The Valley, in my opinion, with Federal and State help, has effectively underwritten what appears to be a burgeoning and expanding permanent underclass, that costs billions to support, when you take into consideration what is already in place. There are an estimated 7,000 outdoor citizens in the region, who will continue to depend on the system for life-long support, get it life-long support.

The composition of the outdoor-citizen's demographic includes women, children, men from a number of ethnic groups, both American and foreign born. Members of this permanent underclass have been on the dole, in some instances, for 5, 7, 10 and 12 years however, a period that has eclipsed either of the two major Silicon Valley and national recessions.

The supply-side provisioners will continue to respond to the demand and do it their way, instead of helping to change the dynamic. Several of these organizations, as HOP has experienced already, operates like a impenetrable syndicate of who's who's in the valley. We have observed that some of the political figures in our area, are a part of these syndicates. HOP, has made numerous attempts to get our Councilmen and some ministers to respond to the numerous messages that we have left for them. Hmm!!

Item I

Since my return from the nation's capitol several years ago, I ended up living in a shelter, a church's rear office, on a park bench and at the Salvation Army for a few night (and did I mention with very special and caring friends). I recognized 'my problem', and that of my new cohort groups and the helping community and agencies, as a result of living among the outdoor citizens' demographic in Santa Clara Valley.

I especially took note of what was taking place with well-intended government, social services and faith-based groups in the area. During the time that I lived among the outdoor citizens in the Valley, I not only made observations, I also took notes on both sides of the Bay, to include the People's Park in Berkeley, and parks, shelters, feeding programs ... in Santa Clara Valley.

The First Church of Christian Science on Dwight Way in Berkeley was most helpful, Priscilla, a member of the church, was my teacher and guide. Rosie, a long-time resident of the People's Park and Terri (who was affectionately known as 'the Compost Lady', because she planted flowers and vegetables in the park to feed the outdoor-citizens there, were also extremely helpful.

I began to collaborate with outdoor citizens, as well as with service providers and faith-based groups on both sides of the Bay, in hopes of trying to determine what course of action should be taken in order to change the current dynamic, in the most prosperous state in the world, as far as I was and am concerned.

The first thing that I observed and took note of, was that the outdoor citizens were mostly non-participants in their own recoveries, they were often missing from the policy and planning table. Second, I noticed that there was a percentage of the outdoor-citizens demographic who were satisfied with the way that things were operating at the time, 'receive, and you shall receive more types I call them'!

And then there was the group that I will refer to as 'the helping-naive, or the helping beneficiaries might be a better term. These individuals appeared to be involved for personal or political reasons, at the expense of the individuals that they were supposed to be helping. .

Some outdoor citizens required support help true enough, however, others were and still are unabashed moochers to this day. What kind of help was needed, was the question that I attempted to answer. The latter group, the chronics who business it was to beg, I concluded, needed what the lame beggar at the temple needed, someone to help to lift them from the ground begging, so that they could get on with their lives instead of depending on handouts. Providing them with alms, was not the solution.

I also recognized that there were physically and mentally handicapped individuals, in need of a supportive lift, not a wheelchair for life. Project Hired, convinced me that there were motivated handicapped individuals, working every day, and they wouldn't have it any other way. However, the De-institutionalization Act, one of late President Ronald's proud accomplishments, has been disastrous for many individuals, who are in need of round the clock in-house mental health services. Too bad they weren't rich, he would have protected them1

Helping people is a balancing act, one that requires training,vision, wisdom, sincerity, an ear to hear, analysis, strength and discernment. Otherwise, good caring people, end up being pawns in a sleighter’s hand! Many caregivers ... have, unwittingly become pawns in someone elses manipulative (occasionally political) games.

Aside from the fact that some outdoor citizens who lack a conscience, will pull the whole system down with them in deference to the ones who require genuine help and appreciate it - at times it appears as if many of the supply-siders (who are supposed to be change agents), have experienced Stockholm Syndrome.

In other words, they have become one with the individuals that they are supposed to be serving, even the bad ones! Retired Stanford professor, from the Department of Psychology, Dr. Zimbardo, could explain this phenomenon firsthand given his work with the Stanford Prison Experiments, and what took place at Abu Ghraib.

In fact, I was stunned, given the responses and feedback that I received from several service providers in the region. Several of them were were more perturbed with my suggesting that change needed to take place than they were with the individuals (some malingerers), who were co-dependent with them, their agencies and other faith-based groups.

Again, in too many instances, outdoor citizens are still not participating in their own recoveries - and too many services providers, faith-based groups, agencies ... prefer to rescue them, rather than to help their clients to get up so that they can walk again. This is what happens whenever you outsource your responsibility to another person or agency.

It was incredible to me, the amount of resources that were being expended, to include dollars and human capital, to solve a problem for outdoor citizens wherein which outdoor citizens had zero input or involvement. At present, HOP and several other organizations and individuals in the area are ahead of the curve (in terms of recognizing a need for disruption in the systems in this region).

We have joined forces with current and former outdoor citizens, who want to make a difference in the lives of our demographic. We will be doing this while too many of the rest are saving us, instead of working along with us. Thee incredible amount of resources being expended on a daily basis, including direct handouts on the streets, from government programs, faith-based and other institutions in the region, have reached critical mass.

And still, there are approximately 7,000 outdoor citizens, who remain outdoor citizens in arguably of most populate and leading state in this Union (1 out of every 7 or 8 Americans, is a Californian). In other words, instead of providing crisis-altering measures being implemented, most institutions in the area, have accepted homelessness, I believe, as a condition.

They are providing change (in a monetary sense), instead of helping individuals who need to work to change themselves and their plights!

HOP, hopes to change minds and attitudes in time. HOP, other individuals and groups in the area who believe in what we are doing - are intent upon changing the current dynamic. And we plan to do so, not only among the outdoor citizens' demographic, but also among agencies, faith-based groups and services providers that are co-dependent with chronic outdoor citizens in time.

Individuals who are capable of helping themselves, and have found that “it is cheaper to keep her', the freebies, require inspiration (to include negative sanctions) in order to motivate them to get up and to get going again.

I am speaking about the ones that can help themselves with a minimal amount of supervisorial help, but have given in to supply-side handouts ...

In order to do so, HOP had to create its own creative think tank agency. Now what is truly sad is this, some individuals and institutions who make their living off of the homeless, don't seem to want to have much to do with a professional outdoor citizen's organization that has an understanding of the problem, and is staffed with recovering individuals who have been there and are still there in some instances. Hmm!

Well, who is this Solomon dude anyway, they are likely thinking, a man who popped up in town from Washington DC several years ago, we're in charge here? To some, I am certain, that I am a loud mouth, who has as much as said that the service-providers … in this area ... are co-dependent with the outdoor citizen's demographic in this area, many of them.

And besides that, some are thinking at first I guess, "I have been in this fight for awhile and who is he (an outdoor citizen) to come walking in here, Mr. High and Mighty, to tell us or me, what to do with our money? The problem is, it is not anyone of our money, it is typically taxpayer money ... that is being referred to.

And the answer to their question is, I am their friend. I could turn the question around and ask, who are you to turn away an outdoor citizen who wants to help outdoor citizens. Remember, even Jesus had to stop the miracle feeding crusade that he started during his public ministry, because the people were only following him for food and miracles - not to turn their lives around.

Can our missionaries today, public and private, alter a course that is not working?

Oftentimes, my fellow members of the cloth need to hear this the most. Some of them are 'hell-bent' on rescuing people, or let's put it another way 'doing works'. One leading church located in downtown San Jose has been blessed with incredible financial resources. This church is intent upon rescuing people, by doing good works, the latter also makes them feel good about themselves. However, is it good works that the outdoor citizens really need. Sadly, these kind of churches often end up being used, and worst than that; by using their methods, the outdoor citizens that they purport to serve remain destitute, dependent and in the same place.

This prominent church with a dearth of financial resources, (their pastor mostly believes that by simply spending money, that problems are being solved. I recall what happened when Jesus, and a boy with a few fishes and a few loaves of bread, helped a group as large as the Valley's outdoor citizens group, without money.

In other words, 'stop spending pastor and get God, the right vision and the people involved'! How dare I? I am a minister, on sabbatical dude. Paul withstood Peter, and some of our clerics need someone to confront them from time to time!

At times, I can be very curt, when I want to be, however, it is intended for a useful purpose. To these type of individuals who I make angry, all I can say is: Take your thumb out of your mouth because there is more at stake than your damaged egos. Truthfully, I've own experienced a couple of individuals (even clerics) that I would consider to be 'true jerks that are on mission of their making. God ways, are not our ways?

Am I a T-Partier, or an individual on the Right who believes in a redistribution of wealth that will inure to the benefit of a certain class group, the one that needs it the least? Nyat! However, will the rest of us sit on our laurels, and help the rich to get richer and turn around and cry about it. Each one of us has the same right to compete with anyone else, even to steal market-share, inside and outside of America. In other words, why criticize either the organizations or individuals that you continue to patronize, and wait for to employ you? Figure out a way, to start your own business, instead.

Anyway, don't get upset with me, I am on the side of right and I would like to help if I can to break through the powerful matrix of caregivers ... that exists in this area, whose apparently misdirected hard-work is not reaching the desired result. Someone pointed out that when the President was in town, and spoke at Facebook, in downtown Palo Alto, he even failed to stop and speak with the outdoor citizens who were a block away. Instead, he raised money for his campaign. Just imagine what all of those millions could have done to create opportunities for the outdoor citizens demographic in this region?

And don't feel bad if you feel turned off at first by me, many of the outdoor citizens who have been enjoying a comfy existence as a result of the area's largess, wish that I would shut up and go away too. Can you blame them? Solomon is creating disruption, and spoiling the party for some of them, when I start shouting from my porch.

I understand it too, for how would you like it if someone was tampering with a way of living that costs you nothing? In fact, when you think about it, some of our outdoor citizens are confirmed whiner-babies. You can't say it, I know, however, I can, and oftentimes I do just that, I say it to them! This combination of supply-siders and whiners, is another big part of the problem to deal with the area's homeless issues.

These are 2 polarizing power groups!

Some years ago, I actually argued a similar position with a group of do-gooier social workers ... who converged on Washington DC, just over 2 decades back. I was an invited delegate. Service providers came from all other the nation, in order to focus on nationwide social and public policy issues in 1984.

Approximately 1,000 of us, spent the week in the nation's Capitol at a forum that was put together by The United Neighborhood Centers of America. Our mission was to, among other things, discuss ways to solve the problems of America's permanent underclass in the inner cities. We caucused every day for one week, listened to speakers, engaged in discussions and debates, met with Representatives, created policy papers ... Eventually, the bleeding hearts among us came around.

On one occasion, when we were drafting a policy paper, I explained to my colleagues that they were guilty of being idealistic, but not very realistic. The latter is a problem that often persists and plagues most service providers and service provider agencies.

Why? Services-providers typically are people who have hearts of compassion (I wish everyone did), and want to help. Our downside is that oftentimes idealism, trumps realism or pragmatism – we don't care what it costs, let's just do it. Not good, I explained! Our delegates were not being very realistic when it came to addressing the needs of America's permanent underclass back then.

At the time, the average per capita income in the inner city was around 9K. Nearly 3 decades later, the average per capita income in some urban centers still hovers around 15K, one area is adjacent to Capitol Hill just on the other side of the Anacostia River.

please read part 3

Solomon (the Proud President of HOP)

Please respond, or send your rebuttals

The Supply-Side Poverty Paradigm in Santa Clara County and Beyond

2011-06-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

The Issue of homelessness: Part I

We refer to ourselves as Outdoor Citizens. We are working to change the existing crippling, supply-side dependency dynamic that persists in this and other regions of the country.

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________________________________________

Or in the words of Dr. Phil, "how has what you or your community have been doing ... working for you and your community so far"? Oftentimes, the end result of goodwill, faith-based and institutional supply-side government ... subsidies programs is that too many outdoor citizens remain in the same place, homeless, underemployed, unemployed, begging, living in city parks and ravines or surviving on handouts.

We believe that it will require massive disruption among outdoor citizens, as well as fundamental changes to the existing institutional structures before we will see any appreciable or lasting changes. At the very least, a more synergistic multi-modal approach, to include direct participation from the outdoor citizen's community to solve the problem of homelessness, will be necessary!

If not, we do not expect to see any appreciable differences or improvements, with regard to America's expanding homeless and downwardly mobile permanent underclass anytime soon.

Hope for Outdoor People (the Outdoor Citizen's Coalition and Think-Tank of Santa Clara County), recently incorporated in the state of California. In less than 1.5 years in existence our 501(c)3 federally exempt, non-profit corporation is already making an impact, even in terms of defining the narrative.

We believe that our critical policy analysis is second to none, and might just be more realistic than anything else that is out there at present. I also serve on several boards including The Santa Clara County Collaborative, West Valley Community Services and soon several others if confirmed. HOP's opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any of these organizations.

All of us, HOPPEOPLE, are proud to be citizens of the United States of America, and individuals and families that are entitled to all of the rights and protections of the United States Constitution. And in deference to our current status, we are committed contributors and problem-solvers. It is our intention to help solve the growing and pernicious problem of homelessness that is growing by leaps and bounds within the American Commonwealth.

We are currently working alongside numerous government and faith-based institutions in the area (the one's who will receive input from the class group that they purport to serve. And we are doing so without any financial support from any of these institutions when helping to address America's current social pandemic.

Clearly, the problem has reached monumental proportions - and what has been done so far, minus the direct input and involvement of the identified patient-homeless-community, is not working.

More and more displaced Americans have been and are being relegated to streets, parks, shelter-programs and ravines, while houses, condominiums and apartments (some foreclosed upon) sit empty.

Having said that, several institutions in the Valley, however, are being impacted by our message. And more than a few organizations are already modifying their programs, based upon HOP's input and its business model. HOP's model consists of helping people to understand that if good intentions are not properly channeled, that they will only exacerbate the problem, and lead to further dependency.

Although not as quickly as we would like to see it happen, outdoor citizens are beginning to understand that they will also have to make changes and work to solve their own problems - as opposed to waiting for someone or some other agency or institution ... to do their work for them. Partnerships are what is needed in the Valley and beyond, we believe.

To wit, we are teaching our erudite outdoor citizens to be both accountable and responsible, and to come up with creative ways, with our assistance, to make an honest living for themselves and their families - despite current conditions.

In other words, a change in both practice and strategy on either side is desperately needed - the helpers and the individuals who are being assisted. The mentally capable outdoor citizens will, themselves, need to take ownership of 'their problems', if their problems are ever to be resolved.

The solutions that are currently in place, are there, all to often to appease a portion of society that believes that it can pay to have the menace go away. Other caring individuals or institutions, faith-based, government and otherwise, should provide strategic, tactical, sincere and meaningful partnering support.

How have we been so successful in terms of helping outdoor citizens and helping-institutions to revamp their programs and to modify their ways of thinking? We created tension, made our voices heard and began to teach a new and improved paradigm to former supply-side organizations in the region, and to outdoor citizens, the ones who would listen.

The organizations that have helped consist of government agencies, as well as faith-based groups.

The church that permitted us to use its facility in order to create and organize HOP, free of charge, once served over 1200 meals a week. We helped them to understand, that with the best of intentions, they were only supporting the problem and therefore creating more dependency.

The individuals who were being served, were consumers only, 99% of them, instead of participants within their own recovery. We have helped other churches, begrudgingly in some instances, to understand that they were guilty of doing the same, supporting and bolstering dependency!

Sadly, some of our people wanted to be paid if they were expected to clean up the feeding areas, or to place their own trash in a trash container, in deference to all of the meals that they consumed each week (often 3 or 4 days per week) at not charge.

HOP urged this and several other faith-based communities to stop providing something for nothing, in particular to long-term and chronic outdoor-citizens. After all, they were unwittingly conditioning our people to be co-dependent and to have a sense of entitlement!

Today, in the manner that Jesus, Paul and Peter of scriptures did, the church who helped us has created a new recovery, help, participate and receive style program, that includes employment training ... More organizations need to eat a bit of humble pie in the region and to make similar changes.

Another prominent church from Milpitas, changed its former, come, help, cook, feed, provide gifts ... and afterward the outdoor citizens simply walked away without doing anything to help, modus operandi.

They didn't care for my interference initially, however, I used scriptures to show them how they were doing just the opposite of what Jesus did, among the outdoor people of his time. Today, we are all friends, and the outdoor citizens are being asked to be participants and not recipients only in programs that benefit them the most.

By sharing our experiences, as informed outdoor citizens, and participating in public policy planning in the area or offering constructive criticisms, other organizations along with their personnel and members, are not only listening - they are beginning to sing a different tune. It hurts to have to correct individuals, whose only intent was to offer sincere help our people.

However, more resources, from hereon, will be used to help individuals who are capable of and will work to overcome destitution and homelessness, as opposed to rewarding slovenly behavior. I had begun to wonder at one time, just how long would slovenly behavior be rewarded?

And there is and has been a payoff; in the final analysis our people will be, and some have already become contributors as opposed to beggars and dependents that are living in parks, begging on the streets or in the city and county's thoroughfares.

Second, by employing our methods, eventually, we will be able to expose and isolate the malingerers, the ones who will require a different method of intervention. And certainly, we will have to come up with something else for malingerers to do, and there are more than a few outdoor citizens that fit into this mode. For some, malingering has become a satisfying lifestyle. Many of these individuals sadly have become drug and alcohol dependent!

And still, there are some great people living outdoors, the majority of them happen to be, I might add!

Having said that, there are an estimated 2 million outdoor citizens living in the USA at present, and the number is growing, exponentially. Keep in mind that for every domicile that is being foreclosed upon, one or more outdoor citizens were former residents!

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Examine this article from HOP's blogsite, www.hoppeople.org, entitled: Addicted to Homelessness, using a text from the bible found in Acts 3:9-11

9. And all the people saw him [who sat begging before] walking and praising God:
10. And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.
11.And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.

A follow-up to last quarter's article, entitled, 'Addicted to Homelessness': After the people saw this man who sat for years, walking again, many of them ran to Solomon's colonnade (or porch). And they wondered, how could this be? Actually, that is what we are attempting to do at HOP, 'The Outdoor Citizens Coalition & Think Tank of Santa Clara County California'. We are attempting to do the miraculous, to assist individuals to walk again, and hopefully others will come running.

Our work is cut out for us in that we are attempting to change existing paradigms, methods, and social and , public policy along with their questionable practices that often fail to work. And we are doing so in a region where faith-based groups, government institutions and the working public are arguably the most generous in the nation.

Giving is what our people do in the Santa Clara Valley and beyond. However, we believe that the resources that are currently being expended, are not being used optimally. The same effort, along with the proper distribution of shrinking resources, could be put to work to help motivate outdoor citizens to do the same, and the ones that are already trying.

Resources should not be provided ad hominen, to able bodied individuals, who refuse to do anything to help themselves!

In other words, I am referring to the carrot and the stick approach! However, by simply giving more and more, or expending more and more, without any accountability being in place, is not representative of America at its best.

Frankly, many Americans are lost, confused and shocked by what has and is transpiring in the American economic market place. In fact, other than by going to school, sending out resumes or signing up at employment centers or online to apply for a position that does not exist, too many Americans are lost.

Many displaced American workers don't have a clue how to take care of themselves or their loved ones under America new rubric of high unemployment (the result of greed, globalization, consolidation, automation, ... and a former sense of entitlement!

For over half-a-century, high-paying jobs were abundant in America, however, that is not the case anymore.

And therefore the second part of our challenge is to do the following: Help to convince the recipients of the area's and the government's ... supply-side largess programs (to include food, clothing, medical help, medicine, shelters, free bus passes, housing ...), that times have changed - and they will have to adapt.

We have to make an effort to get displaced Americans to understand that if they intend to make it in the new American/World-wide competitive economy, without becoming dependents, that they will have to do things in a different way than they did in the past. Depending on job creation by others, has become a thing of the past.

The shrinking middle-class, faith-based groups and government agencies, won't be able to take care of a expanding, formerly employed working class in perpetuity. Teaching the underemployed and unemployed to complete resumes, or to simply practice their interviewing skills in an economy where the jobs are going away, is not the solution.

HOP compliments Stanford grad and CEO, Peter Thiel co-founder of PayPal and current president of Clarium Capital, for encouraging entrepreneurship, and investing seed money in would be entrepreneurs. Here is a wealthy individual, who is doing something realistic to help solve America's unemployment problem in a realistic manner.

He is not rewarding dependency - instead he is giving individuals a real chance to help themselves, and likely others by providing future employment for themselves and other people. Give that man a cigar!

There are a lot of outdoor citizens with advanced degrees, that are living in parks. Imagine, if 10 of them came up with business ideas that could result in them re-employing both them and a few of their counterparts, as opposed to waiting on handouts?

Similar to President Thiel, we believe that by teaching individuals who can't find work, how to work for themselves is the answer - even when it means cleaning gutters, painting numbers on curbs, mowing lawns, shearing hedges, farming or by coming up with the next Facebook or Google perhaps.

All too often, displaced American workers who have been down-sized out of companies spiral down and become completely dependent on handouts in a system where the resources are already drying up or ending up in the pockets of a few. The latter I often refer to as an economic watershed.

The same individuals have forgotten their years of training and experience, that which they already have underneath their belts. We are teaching outdoor citizens how to use those same skills and experiences to make a living not only for themselves but for their families (in an even more specialized economy).

Or as I heard on a television program last night, some may have to attend "Rap University", in order to earn a living!

We are creating a new crop of entrepreneurs and hopefully, several future employers, who will be able to to learn to think outside of the box. Our methods include teaching individuals to take 'baby steps' first, and eventually to stand up on their own 2 feet and to walk again.

The end result is that individuals who have given up this far, will be able to become productive achievers in the new world-wide economy.

Clearly, either side is dependent upon the other for survival when operating under the current paradigm, one to receive government aid, grants, donations and other freebies without merit - and the other (typically inside of an agency) to receive a paycheck ... for distributing the free goodies. Something has to give!

The first group, the dependency supply-sider's group typically offers their clients unconditional positive regard or support, however, and on the other hand, they are oftentimes unconditional and unintentional enablers.

The reason being that maintaining paid positions (under the guise of solving the problem oftentimes on the inside of a massive bureaucracy that is rife with fraud and corruption), they only bolster and create more dependency. Why?

All too often, these organizations fail to hold their own feet or their client's feet to the fire, and lack creativity. And on occasion, there is a lack of oversight and accountability in place, to assure that the dollars being spent are receiving the desired results - the kind that the public would like to see, especially taxpayers.

If their clients were to have their problems solved, or to simply walk away, they would loose their reason for existing. And sadly, the end result is that they are perpetuating the problem that they are supposed to be fixing - the supply sider bureaucracy.

Ergo, no pain and no gain, and an enormous sum of resources that could be used to help invest in individuals to get going again, continues to go down into a massive sink hole, to the tune of billions of dollars. Many of our outdoor citizens recognize that it 'pays to be homeless', unfortunately.

And it is truly unfortunate that the indiscriminate amounts that are being spent on outdoor citizens, actually reward dependency, inertia and slovenly behavior - this is not discretionary spending!

On the other hand, institutionalized begging has become a growing cottage industry locally, and across the nation. I don't have to tell you that! Neither side, the suppliers or the recipients up to this juncture, wants to see the other go away. Both the recipients of government, social services and faith-based largess, all have a stake in the supply-side dynamic.

Waste and fraud in the housing sector, costs American taxpayers billions of dollars each year. Consider this, a person who is out of work will eventually receive free-housing, in some instances, paid-insurance, free transportation, food, medicine, clothing, sleeping bags ... while doing nothing to merit it!

So you are thinking, what motivates HOP's outdoor citizens (over 100 of us at last count and still growing), to behave any different from our malingering counterparts? Or, you are thinking, haven't your people benefited from some of the very programs that you have benefited from, and now are criticizing?

Our answer is, yes on both counts. And as result “we have learned by experience what can take place when subsidies are not used as a stop gap, instead of with the intent to stop the bleeding, instead of making it a permanent condition. We learned quickly!

And the fact of the matter is that we are not trying to close the door on others who are in need of emergency support. At the same time we are attempting to get all sides to understand that participation must be required on the part of the recipients of the country's and individual largess.

We are trying to open a new door of opportunity, and as citizens of the United States of America ourselves, don't forget that, it is our desire to protect the treasury, and the good-hearted Americans who give.

We have a responsibility to use what should be a temporary gift or grant, to help us to get up and to get going again (I am speaking of any outdoor citizen), as opposed to turning giving and receiving into a lifestyle. Many outdoor citizens who were present when we fell, are still living off of and enjoying the largess of other Americans.

By making good use of the resources that we received, we are (outdoor citizens) repaying the public and other charitable and faith-based groups for the temporary assistance, which can be used to help other individuals to get going again - by doing what we are doing today!

Some of us believe that our having ended up where we did before, albeit for a short period of time, may have been a part of our destiny - that is to take what we have learned and share it with both groups (in order to help turn things around in America).

The members of what appears to be a permanent and growing American underclass needs our help, even though it may be painful for them to listen to us, however, at first. I learned a long time ago, that you can do the right thing, the wrong way, which can also lead to disastrous results.

"We believe that by feeding the problem, no pun intended, or by supporting dependency that either tactic will only help to prolong and to expand the problem".

A substantial portion of the nationwide outdoor citizens demographic, are veterans of foreign wars. Thankfully, the Federal government is coming to grips with the problems of homeless Vietnam-era veterans who are returning from both Afghanistan and Iraq. Warehousing able veterans under unsanitary condition, isn't the solution either. Consider what was discovered at Walter Reed in DC, several years ago.

Exactly, what will happen to America once 2 out of every 4 Americans, perhaps 150m or so, rely on government agencies, subsidies, strapped faith-based organizations ... to supply survival needs? Under the current paradigm, that is where we seem to be headed, if things don't soon change. It time, we would have to tear down houses and buildings in urban centers and replace them with park lands, because the majority of Americans will be living outdoors again - while domiciles sit empty or are no longer need.

At the OCCTT, we recognize the direction in which the nation is headed. Why? Because we have been there, and many of our members are still experiencing both sides of the divide – even though we are working daily and often alone mostly, to help to change the current dynamic and to stream the tide. If something isn't done to alter the nation's current heading, we believe that the nation is heading to the economic abyss, of the kind that will rival, if not surpass what took place during the Great Depression.

Perhaps America will have to foreclose before it wakes up. Apparently, that is what the Republicans in the House seem to believe! We are doing all that we can, as outdoor citizens, to help both sides to alter America's present heading towards an economic collapse. We are in the process of creating income-producing opportunities for ourselves, in some instances opportunities that we would not have considered before, and did not train for initially.

And don't forget that if the nation keeps heading in the wrong direction, once it reaches its destination, there will still be hundreds of millions of Americans, hungry and homeless - along with a soaring national debt.

Should the rich share their wealth? The question is moot. The real question is do they look like they are going to share the wealth?

Many of our billionaires talk about sharing the wealth, and giving money to charity, however, besides Bill Gates and a few others, when will that happen, and should it happen? Hopefully, whenever they decide to share the wealth (tee hee), they will share the wealth with organizations that help people to get up and to get going again.

Too much money is simply sitting in hedge funds ... that could be used to help retrain individuals and to get the economy going again. Sadly, the individuals who are sitting on incredible wealth, that they can never spend in hundreds of lifetimes, aren't helping either.

Now even though they are reticent to help, giving to charity is a write-off, oftentimes for the reasons that I have mentioned before, there are legitimate causes that many of them can give to that will result in a return on their investment (ROI), as opposed to sinking more money into the Supply-Side sink holes.

We invite them to simply do the math, and instead to help to underwrite the costs of sound recovery plans in organizations that have them already in place. A cheap plug for HOP did you say, and why not? We are trying to help - we are not asking to be supported the rest of our lives. At the very least, poverty should not be underwritten, encouraged or buttressed by anyone. Supply-siders, will have to learn that by doing so, it only helps to keep impoverished individuals in poverty for a longer period of time, if not forever.

Too often, even though we are beginning to witness some improvement in this area, outdoor-citizens are often an afterthought when it comes to developing or shaping social and public policy that will work. Often it would appear that the supply-siders, who are not accustomed to having representatives from our unique demographic at the planning table, would prefer that we stay away.

The attitude of some institutions, even faith-based ones, appears to be, “shut up”, or on the other hand, "we will tolerate you as we go about the business of saving your worthless lives". I have also sat at the table with many a do gooder organization, who have their own agendas in place to 'save the whales', without knowing a thing about the whales or outdoor citizens in this context! Can you say, waste?

With these types, not even an outdoor citizen that has input or a plan to help, is going to interfere with their faustian ideas or self-conceived ideals. Clearly, that kind of attitude, and the policies that follow will not help to resolve the problem, it only perpetuates the problem. And as a result, a lot of money, time and energy has been and will still be wasted or lost, and conditions will pretty much remain the same. Too many supply-siders have not spent one day experiencing homelessness, or in some instances abject poverty for that matter.

Sadly, supply-siders are often do-gooders who are on a personal mission of their own. They are creating their own self-inspired, I know what you need, policies and practices. However, speaking at public forums … increasing one's own personal visibility, or rising up the societal ladder is not working to solve the problem of homelessness, or to come up with lasting solutions. Simply consider the current unemployment rate in California, or the nation for that matter. No matter which indices you subscribe to, more and more Americans are either unemployed, underemployed, furloughed, part-time workers, or going to food banks.

And, many of outdoor citizens remain un-housed. Many Americans are seeking help, even working Americans, in hopes of garnering staples and other items that will supplement their shrinking and inadequate incomes. Disruption , of the fork-grade uplift type, is needed on both sides. It is is the answer that we believe will eventually take America into a new heading, one that will yield the desired results. And what are the desired results?

The answer is that not only Californians, but all Americans, to include young-adults, college graduates, seniors … will learn to use their ingenuity and skill sets, as they prepare to earn a living again under the new paradigm as opposed to living from hand to mouth. Yes, the growing senior class is already suffering! We believe that in time (real-time hopefully), that the groups that helped to create, sustain and maintain the poverty status quo in our region and elsewhere, along with the beneficiaries of crippling supply-side economic paralysis (who have been lying around and begging, at the temples), will come running in order to be transformed.

The miracle of a lame-man being able to get up and to walk again instead of begging, happened, when Peter, employed a different method, that of helping a man to stand and walk instead of providing him with another handout. The net result was that decades of co-dependency and begging at the Temple, immediately came to an end, and a man was able to go and take care of himself again and to inspire others to do the same, apparently.

The same thing can happen in the Valley and beyond, however, it will require change on both sides, just as change was required with Peter and the lame man. However, we must change the current paradigm and belief system in the Valley and elsewhere. Service, should not be confused with crippling someone by giving them too much. Already, we are reaching out to other agencies ... and speaking in front of a variety of audiences, to include other outdoor-citizens in the area in order to teach change. If something isn't done soon, there will be more and more unabashed beggars on the streets of America, in front of Target and Safeway stores or on sidewalks and American thoroughfares.

There will also be more robberies, burglaries and shakedowns taking place all over America. Keep in mind that many of the individuals that are ending up on the streets, are ex-convicts. And some of these dudes are mean, not all, just some of them, and they are teaching others to be con men and women!

continued see part 2

Solomon is the Proud President of Hope for Outdoor People

Learn more about the growing supply-side dynamic and the outdoor citizen's demographic in Santa Clara County, by visiting 'The Outdoor Citizens Coalition of Santa Clara County's website at www.hoppeople.org! We have our own think tank, and are working to bring about positive social-change for our demographic in the Santa Clara Valley and beyond.

We need more HOP chapters around the nation. And please read our inspiring articles. Through The Window of Kathy's Eyes, is the featured article the week - please read it.