Integrity In Life Creates More Than Is Known.

What with all the fiascos in banking, government, even personal life, there is one theme I have noticed. A serious lack of personal integrity.

There is the old story of porkbarrelling in politics, and that goes to even the city or village level. When someone in an office is more interested in buying friends and buying influence than becoming a good leader, the whole of society suffers. Add to that secrecy and you have a very volatile mix.

The most obvious examples are those of Idi Amin, George Bush, and many others who abused the office of leader. What most everyone forgets is that there are really NO secrets that will remain secret. The truth will always come out, somehow, somewhere. Perhaps it is revealed from simple, honest, and wondering curiousity, perhaps it comes from wanting to find that very truth.

There have been people who have lived openly, honestly, with few, if any secrets, and they find that integrity is easy, almost automatic. What most people who keep things secret find out is that telling someone, even a stranger, of the secret, will take away the power, the condemnation that the secret holder fears. Try it! When you reveal a secret, most of the time people will shrug, maybe be surprised, but there is also a feeling of release of the power of the secret to bind us up, make us fearful.

The contrast between two people can be very stark. We instinctively know when someone is NOT telling us the entire story, the real truth, and we become suspicious, less trusting and definitely want to know the truth. When we try to keep something secret, we develop a habit of keeping more and more of those secrets. Yes, we can do this from very good intentions, to avoid hurting someone we love, to avoid revealing the whereabouts of someone who can be killed (think of the Holocaust and Schindler) and sometimes those secrets have to be kept. BUT, unless there is a literal life and death situation, secrets can cause more problems than just being honest enough to reveal what we know.

Integrity means taking these chances, taking the risk that someone may just understand and learn a lot by us being honest enough, strong enough, to allow someone to know what we may THINK is the worst of us. Again, think of Schindler. After the war, his story was revealed, the truth did come out. So, again, the secrets do become revealed.

Now, think of someone like O.J. Simpson. The evidence, for me, gives compelling truth that he did kill. He may have been found, in a court, to be innocent, but the underlying instinct we all use makes us want to avoid him, to question every word he utters. Our instincts may be far more accurate than any jury, court, or other official institution.

Integrity is part of our human heritage. We rely on it when we go to buy a new car, find a flawed product and expect to have the product either taken back or replaced. We rely on integrity to form a basis of our personal relationships. So where do things to haywire? When we try too hard to please, perhaps our parents, or our bosses and let our own integrity fail. When it comes to things like politics and business, integrity is often ruined, denied, and the outcome is that we find out the truth and feel betrayed.

This may be the one lesson that the world needs right now. That huge, deep, painful sense of being betrayed by Wall Street hogs, presidential secrecy in several countries, and above all the betrayal of the very people we choose to stand up for us in our elections has become pandemic, or so it seems.

Leaders are rare, it seems. Leaders will be honest enough to tell what we need to know, even if it shows our own failings, or our own successes. Leaders will be the ones who LISTEN more than talk, and actually want to understand the situation from all points of view, then take the path of BEST choice, not necessarily the most expedient, the easiest, or even the most profitable.

Business needs LEADERS, people who work and demand integrity within and from those who work with them. The plumber who is known by the locals as being the best, the honest person, is often the busiest, yet we will wait. The food server who is good, honest, and works to the goals of doing the best they know how, with honesty and integrity, are the ones we ask for. The business man who stands by his company, who works to improve not only the bottom line, but the working conditions, the spirit of his company, the integrity that will be his own bottom line, we all want to work for. Why? Because THEY LISTEN! They grow and learn!

Now, to the dark side of this. Torture, no matter where or who does it, violates all of us in some way. It violates our sense of integrity, our sense of human being. When someone like Cheney or Bush or Idi Amin or anyone else chooses to use their power to try to keep things like this secret, we find out, one way or another. The ripples of this DO go out, tarnishing the countries, the people, and, like each individual in any relationship, we feel betrayed, soiled, and the instincts of others around the world become suspicious, mistrusting and the entire population of whatever country has tortured is lessened in integrity. Not fair, maybe, but that is the price of living with a democracy, with elected officials. Idi Amin being the exception here.

The dark side is less obvious when it comes to business, because we don’t elect those people, but rely on them to be honest. But the ripples STILL go out. We all mistrust a company that will pollute then keep that a secret. We feel betrayed by companies that will hide dangerous practices, such as hiding the dangerous chemicals they use on our food, our land and put into our water.

So, for each individual, no matter whether you are president, prime minister, premier, or the local farmer, truck driver, student, teacher or business owner, take the time to check on your integrity. Are we living up to the goal of being honest and open? Are we listening and learning?

We WANT to have the farmer who will NOT use hormones that screw up our health, we WANT the teacher who demands the best from themselves and us, we WANT the business owner to have a decent company that we can trust, we WANT leaders to be open with us, to LEAD, not be bought out because of some monetary rewards or status. we WANT integrity.

President-Elect Obama Has A Job I Sure Would Not Want

Where, indeed, to begin, literally?

People often think of the President as a powerful post, and sometimes they are right. Barack Obama is taking on a daunting task here, and for once, I seriously would not want to be the president. It seems that there is a huge lineup at the door, all beggars, seeking monetary aid, bailouts, and all screaming over the other.

Barack Obama got it right in his campaign, putting the emphasis on the people. Without people, the government is an empty place. Government NEEDS people, people don’t NEED government.

Paulson finally woke up! All the toxic debts and CDS banks “invented” to circumvent laws are now going to stay with the banks, investment houses, and those who abused the financial system are just going to have to deal with the mess of their own making! Finally some common sense. Unfortunately, those banks “played” consumers, taking what should have been a simple contract called a mortgage and turning that into a splintered, then shattered, mess. Like I said previously, it would be worth a few hundred dollars to find out if banks et al breached those mortgage contracts. Re-selling and manipulating the housing markets by allowing “invisible” parties to endanger the entire world economy, personal mortgages, and then asking for the Fed to bail them out is ludicrous!

Obama has to deal with issues that are so complicated it takes at least 20 different people just to make the map, nevermind navigate it! Balancing the interests is tricky, at best. The two wars need to be mapped, understood, and navigated so that Iraq and Afghanistan both come out at least with some semblance of stability, otherwise the world may well end up going back in to restore them again. Not my idea of fun, trying to figure this out!

The banks and investment houses created a mess so large it has foundered the world economies! You can bet that anger is definitely NOT limited to the US, as most of the world is so very angry at those “fat cat” jackasses who tried to pull these scams off. Personally I would love to put on my steel-toed boots and give at least 20 of them a very well aimed kick in the ass! Then see all those “perks” they took taken back, liquidated, and the proceeds put into welfare programs, to enable families tossed about like “collateral damage” the lifeline of some food, clothing and, wow, even shelter! I have no problem with putting every bloody “fat cat” behind bars, say in Guantanamo Bay, for a while. Maybe then they would truly appreciate being alive and find a far more human set of priorities. This should start with the woman in Merrill Lynch who designed the base for CDS etc.

Obama has to figure out how to get a far “greener” path started, which means weaning the US off of wasteful behaviour. There are kits and instructions on the net for making wind turbines, solar panels, and lighting that is LED. Time for the common person to get busy saving things, remaking what used to be discarded into products again. Recycling soda cans, glass bottles, plastics, and using cloth bags, all would be a good start. This is where Obama may be able to lead by example. Install solar panels on the White House, use low wattage bulbs, and get a composting program going for the gardens.

Obama can lead his country well, if some of the petty, stupid games quit. I am amazed at how unbelievably childish some of the “adults” in Congress and the Senate are. Wow! “Gimme!” “I Want!” “No, you can’t play with my toys!” ” You cannot change things, because ‘that is the way things have always been'” Phooey! Grow UP! This is a new world here, things have changed, and get your head out of the bloody sand! In short, Obama can do a lot, but it DOES take us to help him out, not put childish, self-serving blocks in the way, “just because”.

The auto industry may have BEEN a major industrial engine, but the technology they use is from the last century, not pertinent now. Obama can tell car makers to get with the change. Take a look at the Tesla automobile! It is totally electric, can go like greased lightening, and has a range for driving that is as good as most people will ever need. Get rid of the hydro-carbon, gas guzzling technology and devise other choices.

President-Elect Obama, if you want to see a banking system that is the best in the world, I strongly suggest you check out the Canadian system. None of the banks there are even close to being in trouble, lending is going on, and they got hit in a very minor way with any of the CDS or other “funny-money” ways the US banks did. Look at the regulations! Those banks are NOT government owned, but they are regulated in ways that have allowed them to continue to work effectively! Amazing!

Health care, it needs to be changed. No question. People are dying, kids are getting sick and dying because the costs are far too high, the paperwork is eating up a huge chunk of the cost of doing business. What the hell? Paperwork accounts for a huge part of the costs? If anyone gets into an accident, it can mean death from untreated injury, or bankruptcy if the injury is treated. Talk about living between a rock and a hard place. I agree with Obama, get the costs down.  But it can be done by those who are not sick working to demand answers, demand better service, and certainly demand the FDA get off it’s butt and realize that most of the generic drugs coming from developed countries ARE made to high standards. Help the president by joining in, not making his job harder. It means demanding generic equivalents be prescribed by the doctors, hospitals, so all of the people get a better deal. Remember the “name brand” companies make huge, fantastic profits, and they have a vested interest in YOU buying them.

Jobs, and more jobs, the necessity for people to have meaningful work, we all need them. President-Elect Obama has the correct focus, here, but there is no way in hell he can do THIS ONE ALONE! This is where the recycling and reusing all those discarded materials could make work. It takes imagination, thinking, and yes, even work to find new uses for all those discarded things once used. For example, take plastic soda bottles and turn them into automated watering devices. It is as simple as filling the bottles with water, then turning the bottle upside down and pushing them into the soil around plants.  Start making solar panels, then put them on every house in town! Wind turbines work with even small breezes if they are made with a governor on them. There are some that can be made at home, and if at least 10% of the houses have them, the power grid is boosted! There are literally millions of ways to turn garbage going to landfills into useful things again, from braided rag rugs to vehicles. Help your president and your environment all in one! If nothing else, set up a recycling depot for local things.

International relationships need attention too. Wow, this list is getting long, but with help via the internet, it can be achieved! Talk to people around the world, listen and discuss issues with them. President-Elect Obama got that one right! He did go to the internet to talk and listen. Give the US the help in returning to a better international status by being a little more concerned about others, listening to other ideas. Why? Because maybe someone elsewhere in the world has the answer you need to solve your own problems, or you have the answer they are looking for!

Yep, the President-Elect has his work cut out, but with help from all of those in the world, maybe, just maybe, we all can lighten his load just a little bit.

History Has Been Waiting for Black President

I live where a lot of the black community did not face segregation, did not face the Jim Crow Law, and often the black community here made themselves a valuable part of  this place.

When I did some looking, I found out this,” March 24, 1837 – Canada gives African American citizens the right to vote.” This means that we had people who were from the US and happened to be black the vote. They needed to have some form of land or income, but when they were already here for years and could own land, work, and go to school (albeit in some places black only) they could vote.

When Barack Obama was declared the next President of the US, I punched the air, yelled “Yes!” and was so glad to see the end of President Bush I cried with happiness. Imagine the contrast here. A white, Texan man is now replaced by a man, a real man, who just happens to be black and very intelligent. The contrast is totally amazing! This changes the dynamics of an entire country, mentally, emotionally and certainly politically. About bloody high time!

Without living within a society where the black community was ostracized, it has been a lifetime of confusion for me. What is the difference between a person with darker pigmentation and someone with a lighter pigmentation? I still may not get it yet.

This may be because I was raised in a community where the families were integrated. I went to school with kids who were German, French, First Nations, Black, Ukrainian, Polish, Italian, virtually all the world. I do remember one day vividly though. My parents had just moved into a new development and a new house. One day a woman showed up at our door with a petition. My mother answered the door and was shown the petition, which was being signed  by some of the neighbours. The petition was designed to demand that a family of black ancestry be barred from buying a home in the new community.

My mother took one look at the petition, one look at the woman and became furious. Certainly not the reaction the woman was looking for. Mom told that woman, ” Take this piece of filth away from my house, and take yourself with it. I have no problem with any family who can buy a home here to do so. ” My mother had a voice that would make most sargeant majors quiver when she got angry, so her fury must have been spectacular! The woman tried to argue that the property values would go down if this family were allowed to move in. That did it!! Another woman Mom recognized from a local church appeared and tried to join in. Oh Oh!! Not a good idea when dealing with fury! Mom glared at both women, then her voice got icy hard, cold and her fury broke completely. “Get off my doorstep! Get out of my yard! Get away from my family, my children, and NEVER, EVER darken this doorstep AGAIN!”

The following month all those who signed that petition, knowing Mom had seen all their names, avoided her, and if they couldn’t, they knew she would speak in fury to them.  Then the family that did want to buy the house found one in the community, bought and I went to school with them all. The family learned of my mother’s fury, her absolute support, and they were always glad to see us.

This was in the mid 1950’s, mind you, long before emancipation walks, Martin Luther King, and all those protests. We had lived with all kinds of people moving here to overcome prejudice, overcome political abuse, overcome the Second World War and it’s bloody heritage. Germans in most of the world were seen as ugly, blamed for everything Hitler did. My best friend in school for years was born here, but both parents were german speaking immigrants. I just accepted them as part of our school, part of the community, and never did realize just how much they faced from the residue of the war. So, for me, this election seems in one way perfectly natural, and yet, long, long overdue in a modern society.

Blacks in this country have moved here since the early beginnings of the US, some of them from the war of independence, to own property, to become leaders, to have voting rights, to live among the society here. Yes there were some who, like those two women, who tried to make trouble, but for the most part, we lived together.

Black Pioneers