Barry, your writing here reminds me that the vast majority of people that many believe are doing evil, believe they are doing good. I do my best to keep that in my mind when I perceive/witness evil. Furthermore I know that God wants all people to be saved, so my judging others to be dammed; helps no one. These principles help me get in that “I - thou” mode ( I gotta’ long way to go). Certainly these are positive steps towards seeking peace instead of judgment, blame, and conflict (war). We need diplomacy in Ukraine. We need peace. There will be no winner in this war. We need peace.
As ever, I enjoy your essays Barry. If we consider the 'enemies' of 1963 may still be relevant, I feel strongly that our greatest enemies today are those within the once understood western and democratic alliances. The standards of politicians of nowadays bare no resemblance to 60 years ago, when we all had a far better understanding of what they stood for, in terms of party constitutions and political direction. Today, I look at the UK Conservative Party, for example, and have not an inkling as to what they stand for. They appear more a bunch of pretty incompetent Neo-Liberals rather than conservative in nature.
'Government of the people, by the people, for the people......' has already perished from the Earth in my honest opinion. It will be a long haul to ever get it back.
Your prognosis is very likely, yet the vitality of the RFK Jr. candidacy shows that many people are waking up. Will it be enough? The stakes, as you say, are very high.
We can only hope so, Barry. In terms of people waking up, I was given a degree of hope by Steve Dewey's analysis of a recent US Gallup pole, which shows that the American public's trust in its institutions is now at an all-time low since the poll was started in 1979. From the opinions on 16 institutions surveyed, only two had 2023 trust ratings greater than 50% -- Small Business at 65% and the Military at 60%. Five institutions had very poor 2023 trust ratings below 20% -- Newspapers at 18%, the Criminal Justice System at 17%, TV News at 14%, Big Business at 14%, and Congress at 8%.
From this, the path towards the recovery of trust from electorates, not only in the USA, is going to take a lot more than the election of good and honest political leaders. The salami slice changes of the last three decades (I still pinpoint the watershed as 1992) has, in my opinion, moved the levers of power away from sovereign governments to the globalist powerhouse where, it certainly appears, decision making is not made in our respective parliaments, but by unelected power brokers from NGOs such as WEF and I certainly no longer recognise the UN as an organisation for good and with protection of human rights as its core value.
Even with an incredible shift back towards the power of people majorities and the pulling down of faux democracy, sadly, I cannot see 'Mr Global' giving up their power, which is driven my hubris, greed and avarice, without a fight. We would certainly need to hope that the public are right to still have a 60% level of trust in our military but even there, there would need to be a good clear out of many senior positions, where it is evident that loyalties do not lie with their respective 'Commanders in Chief' and the people of their country. We have watched military leadership behaviour that would once have been correctly labelled as treason or high treason and this will need to be dealt with.
Peter, I agree with you. It will, as you say, "take a lot more than the election of good and honest political leaders." Yet, someone like RFK Jr. can only be elected with a seismic shift in the mindsets of the public. Will that shift happen in time?
Barry, have you had an opportunity to watch the film 'Sound of Freedom' yet? I've been writing about the subject matter for several years and am so relieved that we now have a film that will again have people sitting up and taking notice at last. I understand that is not an 'easy watch' and nor should it be. I hope it will shock the majority out of their torpor and get them asking the obvious questions that should arise. As I've stated before, highly organised criminal gangs only concentrate on activities with a huge return. The fact that human / child trafficking has surpassed illegal arms dealings and drugs in terms of revenue generated is simply mind blowing. Hopefully it will pose the question about who the 'end customers' are, because it sure isn't Joe and Joanna Public.
Barry, your writing here reminds me that the vast majority of people that many believe are doing evil, believe they are doing good. I do my best to keep that in my mind when I perceive/witness evil. Furthermore I know that God wants all people to be saved, so my judging others to be dammed; helps no one. These principles help me get in that “I - thou” mode ( I gotta’ long way to go). Certainly these are positive steps towards seeking peace instead of judgment, blame, and conflict (war). We need diplomacy in Ukraine. We need peace. There will be no winner in this war. We need peace.
Chris, I appreciate your honest reflections and wisdom. We are all learning, Thank you!
A wonderful peace Barry. Wonderful. Thank you. Love ... John
You are very kind, John! Thank you.
As ever, I enjoy your essays Barry. If we consider the 'enemies' of 1963 may still be relevant, I feel strongly that our greatest enemies today are those within the once understood western and democratic alliances. The standards of politicians of nowadays bare no resemblance to 60 years ago, when we all had a far better understanding of what they stood for, in terms of party constitutions and political direction. Today, I look at the UK Conservative Party, for example, and have not an inkling as to what they stand for. They appear more a bunch of pretty incompetent Neo-Liberals rather than conservative in nature.
'Government of the people, by the people, for the people......' has already perished from the Earth in my honest opinion. It will be a long haul to ever get it back.
Thanks for the kind and wise comments, Peter.
Your prognosis is very likely, yet the vitality of the RFK Jr. candidacy shows that many people are waking up. Will it be enough? The stakes, as you say, are very high.
We can only hope so, Barry. In terms of people waking up, I was given a degree of hope by Steve Dewey's analysis of a recent US Gallup pole, which shows that the American public's trust in its institutions is now at an all-time low since the poll was started in 1979. From the opinions on 16 institutions surveyed, only two had 2023 trust ratings greater than 50% -- Small Business at 65% and the Military at 60%. Five institutions had very poor 2023 trust ratings below 20% -- Newspapers at 18%, the Criminal Justice System at 17%, TV News at 14%, Big Business at 14%, and Congress at 8%.
From this, the path towards the recovery of trust from electorates, not only in the USA, is going to take a lot more than the election of good and honest political leaders. The salami slice changes of the last three decades (I still pinpoint the watershed as 1992) has, in my opinion, moved the levers of power away from sovereign governments to the globalist powerhouse where, it certainly appears, decision making is not made in our respective parliaments, but by unelected power brokers from NGOs such as WEF and I certainly no longer recognise the UN as an organisation for good and with protection of human rights as its core value.
Even with an incredible shift back towards the power of people majorities and the pulling down of faux democracy, sadly, I cannot see 'Mr Global' giving up their power, which is driven my hubris, greed and avarice, without a fight. We would certainly need to hope that the public are right to still have a 60% level of trust in our military but even there, there would need to be a good clear out of many senior positions, where it is evident that loyalties do not lie with their respective 'Commanders in Chief' and the people of their country. We have watched military leadership behaviour that would once have been correctly labelled as treason or high treason and this will need to be dealt with.
Peter, I agree with you. It will, as you say, "take a lot more than the election of good and honest political leaders." Yet, someone like RFK Jr. can only be elected with a seismic shift in the mindsets of the public. Will that shift happen in time?
Barry, have you had an opportunity to watch the film 'Sound of Freedom' yet? I've been writing about the subject matter for several years and am so relieved that we now have a film that will again have people sitting up and taking notice at last. I understand that is not an 'easy watch' and nor should it be. I hope it will shock the majority out of their torpor and get them asking the obvious questions that should arise. As I've stated before, highly organised criminal gangs only concentrate on activities with a huge return. The fact that human / child trafficking has surpassed illegal arms dealings and drugs in terms of revenue generated is simply mind blowing. Hopefully it will pose the question about who the 'end customers' are, because it sure isn't Joe and Joanna Public.
I have not watched, Peter. Thank you putting the film on my radar!
Still enjoying your posts, Barry. I love your reference to Martin Buber.
Thanks, Max. I'm honored that you find my posts valuable.
For those of you who don't know Max. His many books inspire and teach of new possibilities for Liberty. See his Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Max-Borders/author/B07BZW2VKW?