Trump's booming economy will cost us dearly.

Our economy is surging largely due to Trump’s policies but those trumpeting this success need to keep four things in mind.

First, while the average US house-hold income rose for the for the third consecutive year – in 2017 it was $61, 372 – about as high as it was in 2007, the last year before the Great Recession.  But ‘median’ household statistics do not reflect the “realities of American life”.  The typical household’s net worth today remains about 20% lower it was in early 2007.

   

Second, Obama’s contribution to preventing another Great Depression laid the foundation for any future growth which Trump’s current growth is built on.   Most economists now agree that the near total collapse in 2008 was driven largely by GOP economic priorities.  Some of those priorities have been revived by Trump and the GOP led congress with virtually no concern for the future beyond the midterm elections.  Such economic growth is ultimately unsustainable, especially given our government’s habitually dysfunctional reactionary federal budgeting process.   All policy makers lack the courage to do what’s needed in terms of appropriating investments for preventing costly problems cost.  Even Trump administration’s own statistics predict catastrophic economic costs due to global warming alone.  Yet his denial of human induced climate change persists and is supported by most GOP policy makers and their civic enablers.

Third, conservatives condemned Obama for his contribution to our nation’s debt and deficit, yet most remain gutless in condemning Trump and his policies for further accelerating both.  

Last, such ‘growth’ in our consumption driven economy is neither environmentally or civilly sustainable.   A majority of ‘We the people’ see little or no raise in our living standards and most are not optimistic about the future.  I’m predicting the highest midterm election turnout in US history in both numbers and percentages.  And more people are becoming aware that Mother nature ALWAYS has the LAST vote.  The "Laws of Nature and Nature's God" can always veto any prosperity, security, and freedom.   If you doubt that consider the human, political, social and economic costs of pandemics, natural or man-made disasters amplified by human folly, and the unstoppable proliferation of WMD to groups or individuals carrying legitimate grievances with the status quo -- with those in power largely ignoring a multitude of persistent global injustices.  These are threats that no level of military spending or wall building will protects us from. 

Useless UN Speeches

This week’s UN talks by world leaders should NOT leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.  The trajectory of global threats appears to be accelerating with few leaders offering legitimate solutions. 

December 10, 2018 marks the 70^th anniversary of the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  We need to urgently remind our policy makers about the motivation behind its creation -- as well as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals now essential to reducing the underlying global drivers of war, genocide, pandemics, hunger, poverty, economic instability, refugees, and environmental destruction. 

President Trump asserted that our nation’s security is a function of our “sovereignty” and suggested that others pay more for their own nation’s defenses.   But security is not a function of more military spending, national sovereignty, walls, or disarmament.  It is a function of justice.   And the failure of the UN and every national government to protect human rights, instead of worshiping national sovereignty is the greatest source of injustice.

Trump misused the word “sovereignty”.   God gave sovereignty to people, not nations.  National sovereignty is a human creation birthed with the treaty of Westphalia over 400 years ago.  Hyper globalization of economics, travel, trade, communications, environmental problems, free trade, corporations, and dual-use technology (WMD precursors) cannot be effectively controlled or abolished by 197 nations acting independently.   Insisting on independent policies in an interdependent world is suicidal. 

It appears the only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.

 "Don't be taken in when they paternally pat you on the shoulder and say that there's no inequality worth speaking of and no more reason to fight because if you believe them they will be completely in charge in their marble homes and granite banks from which they rob the people of the world under the pretence of bringing them culture. Watch out, for as soon as it pleases them they'll send you out to protect their gold in wars whose weapons, rapidly developed by servile scientists, will become more and more deadly until they can with a flick of the finger tear a million of you to pieces": Jean-Paul Marat (May 24, 1743 - July 13, 1793), was a Swiss-born scientist and physician

Warnings and opportunities:  Why do we keep ignoring them?  The human minds belief that human laws are superior to the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God”.   How’s that working out for the three billion people who combined have as much wealth as the world’s richest 67 individuals?   Does anyone really believe that is sustainable?

The dual-use nature of all technology and it’s increasing affordability and availability now enables any committed group or individual to acquire the capacity for mass death, destruction, disruption or distraction. Recent UN speeches focusing on Disarmament (nuclear and conventional weapons) without effectively addressing underlying drivers of violence (injustice) is wasted time.   Time is not on our side.   Connect the dots! 

See the web (of life). Work for global justice. Or, prepare for the consequences.

"And say, finally, whether peace is best preserved by giving energy to the government or information to the people. This last is the most legitimate engine of government. Educate and inform the whole mass of people. Enable them to see that it is their interest to preserve peace and order, and they will preserve them. And it requires no very high degree of education to convince them of this. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." -  Thomas Jefferson -

Truth, Trust and Justice. Who be you?

Truth, Trust and Justice:  Critical to civilization’s survival.

Only by knowing the truth can we trust any person, place, system, or structure to keep us safe.
The very fabric and survival of our civilization requires that these twin engines of progress run smoothly.    Justice remains the only fuel that keeps these twin engines running smoothly.  Wars, sanctions, diplomacy, military power, and freedom without responsibility/accountability prove entirely inadequate as our nation and the world continues to devolve into lethal chaos.  From the nomination of Bret Kavanaugh, to US condemnation of the International Criminal Court, to the US/UN demands that North Korea unilaterally nuclear disarmament -- the need for truth, trust, and justice remain paramount.

If ‘we the people’ are to sustainably maximize our freedom, security, and prosperity we must find a relatively fast and maximumly effective means of detecting things that cannot be trusted.  And, an effective means of maintaining accountability and means of correcting people or things that cannot be trusted.

Since our creation human creativity, aided by opposable thumbs, has enabled us to develop adequate technological capacity to wipe all advanced lifeforms off the face of the earth -- or spread nature’s (divine?) creation to other planets before ours is inevitably destroyed by events beyond our control or the evolution of human made systems and structures that we failed to control.

The evolution of weaponry (and war) should convince us with zero doubt that our reliance on technology and the goodness of people alone are insufficient to sustain civilization on a finite earth, within a fragile biofilm we depend on for our survival.  

Some believe religion is an answer, but after 2000 years of wars inspired by flawed religious doctrines and our failure to follow profound universal religious doctrine (the Golden Rule) has only delivered us a perilous future where Armageddon, and other threats to our species are clearly growing.   

Others who have relied on their own government, favorite economic system, or an overwhelming military power to deliver and maintain our freedom and security – are delusional in thinking and relying on these to effectively protect either our freedom or security.

The irreversible dual-use nature of almost any technology to be used for weapons of mass disruption or destruction -- by virtually anyone (or small group) with a real or imaginary grievance – has been obvious for at least two decades.   Yet our response to this unprecedented and accelerating threat environment has been limited by three human behaviors we can no longer accept.   Ignoring it, looking backward for answers, or being too timid in advocating for the obvious solutions (creating human laws consistent with the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God) essential to best preventing the abuse of technology.

Unfortunately, there are now two relatively new technological advances that put even this possibility at risk.  In the near future either technology will limit if not obliterate our capacity to control things.  Things that up till now we could have largely controlled…preventing untold human deaths, suffering, and environmental destruction -- but chosen not to for political, religious, economic, or selfish reasons.

First is Artificial Intelligence (AI).  Like every technology AI is dual use.  It will be used according to the intent of the human entity behind it -- until AI gains consciousness and develops its own intentions.  A decades old NASA joke had their scientists hooking together all of their computers to ask the question “Is there a God?”.  When all were connected the question was asked.  The super computer answered, “Now there is”.   I’m aware of only two optimistic scenarios of the inevitable outcome of AI gaining consciousness.  One is integrating our advances of this technology into human brains, so we might maintain some modem of control.  Or, AI rapidly grasping our planets existential dilemma, and controlling all global systems and structures to hold destructive humans accountable for their actions.

The other technology advancing faster than our minds and government can adapt is due to existing AI capacity.  It’s called “Deep fakes” -- the digital capacity to create/generate virtually real audio and visual presentations with the intent of manipulating the thinking and actions of those who view it – thus effecting every aspect of life on this irrevocably interconnected planet.   Given our existing human mind’s capacity to believe literally ANYTHING and even discard ‘self-evident truths’ the developments in this technology will only exacerbate an already predictably chaotic future.

Mobilize founder, Steven Jay, and his associates are attempting to engineer a dependable means for others who are committed to preserving trust, telling the truth, and bringing ‘justice to all’ to cooperate and propose a more hopeful and functional alternative to the devolution of existing media channels.  There is NO guarantee this can be done.  There is a guarantee that if this or some other solution fails, our nation and our world will never achieve a “more perfect Union”.    
After the first use of nuclear weapons on Japan in WW II, Albert Einstein was asked what weapon he thought WW III would be fought with.   He replied “I don’t know. But I do know WW IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” 

We are rapidly running out of time to rediscover and codify the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” that were offered as the great “Truths” that were held to be “Self-evident” in our 1776 Declaration of Independence.

Given the accelerating chaos, there is not enough time to globally codify the inalienable rights of “Life, liberty and the pursuit if Happiness” for all.  The only practical hope now is globally achieving the list of rights listed in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (70^th anniversary this coming December 10^th) by meeting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030. 

Given the current debts and deficits of nearly every nation there is only one source of funding available and capable of securing without making matters worse.  And, most of these finances were originally intended to improve human lives.  According to experts tracking massive treasures in offshore accounts there is over $32 trillion stashed there by kleptocrats, international criminal cartels, and wealthy capitalists avoiding taxes.  Freezing and seizing at least half of their booty would do much to address the root causes of so many local and global problems in every nation and natural environment.

What’s missing is the coming together of souls committed to ‘justice for all’.  These souls are most abundant in four increasingly connected movements.  The environmental movement, the peace movement, the social/economic justice movement, and the millions of Americans willing to make good on their repeated pledge of “liberty and justice for all.”  Only such a Movement of Movements can achieve the global justice required restore the trust our civilization needs to thrive and survive.   

And anyone unwilling to act on this self-evident truth cannot be considered truthful or sane.

Either with us, or against the truth, trust, and justice essential to the future of civilization.   Who be you?

ICC: John Bolton vs Albert Einstein

John Bolton’s rant against the ICC is exactly why we are in an endless war against terrorism, a tactic that cannot be readily defeated and part of an evolving conflict that we cannot win.    Our freedom and security is increasingly vulnerable given the ever more rapid evolution of war and the continuing development of ever more destructive weapons.   

The Trump Administration that Bolton represents puts us at even greater risk.  It is accelerating our government’s dysfunction by moving us backward toward nationalism instead of forward toward increasing global cooperation that is essential for effectively addressing the growing array of global threats to all of our cherished freedoms as well as both our individual and our national security.

Bolton claims that protecting our national sovereignty is essential to protecting our national security, but just the opposite is true.  If Bolton and the American people understood exactly what unlimited national sovereignty really involves, they would understand it is literally a dead end.  

 “Unlimited national sovereignty" is essentially the freedom of every national government to do as it pleases regardless of how its actions affect the human rights of individuals inside or outside of its boundaries.  When our U.S. government puts our national interest above the human rights of those in other nations, we invite accusations of injustice from those individuals and governments. 

Those who fashioned the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the 70th anniversary of that declaration is this coming December 10th) knew what was needed to prevent future wars and even greater threats to human life in the future (unprecedented new weapons technology, genocidal governments) and the lethal consequences of poverty (hunger, infectious diseases and pandemics).

    

Why would anyone want to mass murder Americans?  Real or perceived injustices drive extremist action.  U.S. foreign policy has consistently put the protection of powerful and often murderous and repressive governments above our greatest ideal of protecting human rights.  Claims that terrorism is blowback to our wavering from our pledge of “liberty and justice for all” has some legitimacy.  The chant “No justice, no peace” should be changed to “No justice, no security” because 

without security we can kiss our freedoms goodbye.

The passage of the Patriot Act and our intelligence agencies' mass violation our 4th Amendment in an all-out effort ‘to keep us safe” was only the beginning.  Imagine the future as those hostile to our irresponsible foreign policy acquire increasingly affordable and powerful dual-use technologies (bio, chemical, robotic, drone, cyber and so on) to use against this country.   Nothing and no one will be safe. 

We have two basic choices in moving forward.  We can choose the “Rule of Law” which requires justice and the protection of human rights for all, or we can continue down the path of the "law of force,” better known as “war," which involves no concern for either justice or protection of human rights.  

The International Criminal Court intends to move us in the right direction by holding powerful individuals accountable for mass murder when it results from genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.   So far the ICC is not yet what it can and should become, but that is only because murderous leaders of nation states are still not being brought to justice, partly because the ICC still lacks full support from the U.S.A.  

Every major religion holds at its heart the idea of the Golden Rule.  That’s what justice is all about.  Our founding Fathers knew that the only way of maintaining our freedom was to use our freedoms responsibly.  If we use our national sovereignty to irresponsibly invade any nation, assassinate any suspected terrorist, allow collateral damage (the unintentional killing of innocent men, women and children), and sanction other nations to get what the USA wants, residents of our country should not be surprised by the lethal blowback.  

 

Abraham Lincoln once said that the Declaration of Independence was a "golden apple" and the Constitution its “silver frame.”  Until we adjust our Constitution to fit the "golden apple" and enforce "liberty and justice for all" globally, as the ICC attempts to do, our freedoms and security will increasingly be threatened. 

 

Trying to preserve a system of global governance that puts the protection of national sovereignty above the protection of human rights is unsustainable given the evolution of weaponry and war. 

 

Albert Einstein, a believer in the global rule of law, was once asked what weapons would be used in World War III.  He said he didn’t know but that he did know that World War IV would be fought with sticks and stones.  That makes him not just a smart man but a very wise one.  And John Bolton?  He’s neither. 

AI and Deep Fakes: Resistance is futile.

 AI and Deep Fakes:   Human resistance is futile.  National controls are impossible.  Even global controls are unlikely. 

The evolution of either technology will inevitably pose existential threats to our freedom and security.  Together their combined impact is unpredictable and virtually incomprehensible by the best human minds.  They will also be immune to any individual, corporate, or government control.   In spite of our species profound intelligence we and our governing systems appear to be incapable of preventing even the preventable threats such as war, pandemics, global warming, species extinction, hunger, illiteracy, WMD proliferation, and terrorism. 

One possibility/hope is that AI will evolve an ethical and moral consciousness that exceeds ours thus far in our evolution.  It would then eliminate or use deep fakes to engineer sustainable global systems and structures that are based on fundamental principles (“the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” – the self-evident truths offered in the Declaration of Independence as ‘unalienable rights’) instead of alternative principles like ‘national sovereignty’ or ‘peace through strength’ that we humans invented.

Next it would need to hold individuals, corporations, nations and violent extremists accountable for any crimes of omission and omission  that have violated such fundamental principles.  Hopefully, with special emphasis on ‘liberty and justice for all’. 

Having no such global justice system means inevitable and unsustainable global chaos.  An condition that even AI would be unlikely to survive. 

DEEP FAKES:  Fake news is about to get so much more dangerous, By Thomas Kent  September 6, 2018    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fake-news-is-about-to-get-so-much-more-dangerous/2018/09/06/3d7e4194-a1a6-11e8-83d2-70203b8d7b44_story.html?utm_term=.61d5e1fae32e

AI:   Defense Department pledges billions toward artificial intelligence research.  By Drew Harwell   September 7, 2018  https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/09/07/defense-department-pledges-billions-toward-artificial-intelligence-research/?utm_term=.3e850b6a8f7e