Thursday, February 2, 2012

This I believe

Another interesting day in Madison.  Rep. Joel Kleefisch is trying to move a rider on a already controversial piece of legislation that would allow people to hunt sandhill cranes.  Sandhill cranes are a very important and symbolic marsh bird in the state of Wisconsin.  If the robin wasn't already our state bird the crane would be the most likely candidate, we love these graceful creatures, almost like a northern flamingo one might say.

And all around questionable personality Kleefisch (husband of our lt. governor, at least for now) wants to blast them with a shotgun.  Well like I said these birds reside in marshes and wetlands so maybe he would just prefer to shoot them at a distance from dry land with a high powered rifle and leave the body behind.  Joel Kleefisch is our version of famous gun nut Ted Nugent, only instead of musical talent Kleefisch has a beer gut, a hatred of everything that lives, and a stunningly limited vocabulary.

But that is not what this posting is about.  Today's entry ties in with my candidacy for Wisconsin state assembly.  Today I will try to explain my philosophy in life and how it has affected my decision to run for elected office.

My motivations are basically very simple, I am motivated by one thing - the long term viability (survival) of the human species.  Forget race, we are one species, we are all the same.  Which is why I love the constitution of these United States as well as the constitution of the state of Wisconsin.  The concept that all people are to be seen and treated equally in the eyes of the government and the law is the pinnacle achievement of human civilization and government development so far on this planet.

I believe that for humanity to prosper and advance into a long reaching future, we must consider the species as a whole.  We are all genetically the same.  We all have the same basic needs as creatures.  We need food and shelter at the base level.  We also need companionship and love as well as we are sentient beings.  Along those same lines we all need a feeling of belonging, of being part of a community.  We need to feel that we are a needed part and supporter of that community.  We need to feel safe and secure from threat lest stress cause us undo physical ailments and emotional duress.  In these things we are all equal, whether because God or Nature just made us that way.  This is inherent and unchangeable.

For this equality to be achieved we first must have a place to live and a source of quality nourishment, in other words food, water and shelter.  For that to happen we must take care of and preserve the one and only planet that we all live on.  We must not taint the soil and water with pollutants that lead to disease, unnatural mutation and early death.  We must have the attitude that we are all farmers, stewards of the land, and protect it as there is no possible replacement when it is gone or spoiled.  And this applies to the whole planet equally, we can not destroy the land where someone else lives, to provide something we need where we live.  The human species is one, the planet is all one.  These things all link together and damage done anywhere will inevitably spread and corrupt the entire system.

We must have a safe community protecting all people equally.  We must all have a place and a purpose because if we don't all share that equally it will only lead to unrest and strife and ultimately war on some scale. War and violence are the ultimate enemies of our people, of our human species.  Peace is our best friend and the first necessary step to prosperity and long term survival.

Next we need community and a purpose.  A safe place to live and a sense of purpose.  We need a job that allows us to prosper and that also allows the individual to contribute to the common good of all.  And along those same lines we also need equality for all.  A fair wage that leads to a healthy standard of living and quality of life.  The current extreme difference in social class and wages is leading to strife and stress.  Do I think that everybody should have the exact same wage, home, consumer goods......No, absolutely not.  There are subtle differences between individuals of our species.  Some have a stronger preference for earthly goods and possessions, others not so much.  Some people would love to work at their job 80 hours per week in exchange for more buying power and thus more consumer goods, or a larger home.  Others would be happier to work 30 - 40 hours a week.  Happy in more modest accommodations in exchange for more time to live the way they choose and to pursue whatever personal interests that individual may have.

We need a fair wage system and an improved system of wealth to achieve this.  We need a living wage that reduces disparity and promotes peace and happiness for all people.  We also need medical care for all people as to be mentally/emotionally healthy (as we must or the entire system collapses) we must be physically healthy.  Physical and mental health leads to strength and stability and long term viability of the entire species and its civilization.

Likewise we need to provide a reasonable level of education for all.  Disparity here will once again destabilize people and or regions and lead to the fracturing and downfall of the entire species.  Education is needed to maintain the level of technology that we have achieved thus far.  We are dependant on our technology as our species grows and adapts.  Likewise our technology and application of technology, what we know and how we use what we know needs to improve with every generation.  We need to find safer forms of generating power as our species moves ahead through time.  We need this so we don't poison the one planet that we have, that we are all equally dependent upon.

We need to always work to increase our study and understanding of ourselves as physical creatures.  We need new medical advances to protect our health and our longevity.  We need to understand our mental/emotional health and what effects it so that we can always improve the conditions that lead to peace and prosperity.  We need to understand our mental/emotional health and related issues so that we can better protect ourselves from the single greatest possible threat that there is to humanity and our long term survival - ourselves.

The dark side of human nature, greed and cowardice, desire without discipline.  These are the things that have always led us down dark paths to injury, injustice, to death and destruction.  We need to figure out why some of us are happy to have a home and a job, to raise our families within the communities that we live in and serve and protect.  We especially need to learn what causes the desire to have more than others.  To never be satisfied, what causes some people to rip and shred, to cause damage and injustice simply for the sake of personal gain.  The desire for wealth and power regardless of how it is achieved and the cost paid for that behaviour by the rest of the species is dangerous beyond words.  We must understand where this mental illness comes from, how and why it exists, so that we can find a means of combating that illness.

Putting all people on a equal footing, with a home and loved one's, with a sense of place and purpose would combat much of the destructive side effects that are the result of greed and lust for power.  Not all of it by far, but it would definitely give us much head way into solving these issues.

When equality is achieved or nearly so, when people are prosperous and at peace, then we can truly go to work combating disparity and greed.  We can then see natural declines in crimes of necessity.  When nobody is hungry then the need to steal food to survive can be removed.  When nobody is cold, or at risk of physical injury, when suffering is minimized then we can truly begin to move forward.

These are the things that motivate me as an individual to work towards a better future.  These are the reasons I am motivated to seek public office.  If individuals who have the best interest of all people in mind holds office, then we can begin to move forward, to truly ensure the long term survival of humanity.  If people like myself and hopefully you who read this, don't seek office for the sake of the common good, than those positions will be filled by people who will not work within the rules to help all people.  Instead the ranks of government will be filled by those who would use any means to achieve only prosperity for themselves at the expense of all the rest of us and the future generations yet to come.  Weakening our society, poisoning our planet Earth, our only home.  In other words removing our ability to survive and continue onward to a better future.

For people to be content with the lives they lead, to feel secure in their own future, we must have leadership, government that people can have faith in.  Those who would lead must be those who hold the will and prosperity of all people the highest.

We need common people with common interests to lead us or else we will be led down the path of the self-interest of multi-generational leaders both political and economic.  People who produce nothing of value, nothing for the common good and down that road lies the ruin of all people and nations.

Hopefully some day we will truly be one people, one species without nations or borders, without prejudice or greed, concerned only by the good of all.  Along that path I see a golden and shining future for the entire human species.  Suffering minimally and prospering richly in that which sustains us all.  Here is to peace and prosperity and solidarity forever.

On Wisconsin!    FORWARD!!!!

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