Free Trade

Free Trade simply means Freedom of Choice.  Free Trade means for example; I am willing to do "this", or offer “this” in exchange for something that someone else is offering that I might want.  Everyone has the opportunity to reject or accept any offers or trades or to further negotiate the terms of that particular trade.  Each action of Free Trade stands on its own and once an agreed upon Free Trade is completed that is the end of that particular trade and all parties are certainly open to bargain for other trade opportunities.  Why would anger or resentment be a part of interactions?  Everything is Free Trade. 

 

The lost "HELLO" .... the undoing of our world

    The word "Hello" originates from an early African society that means: "I see you, therefore you exist."  "Hello" is the absolute, literal core of the principle of "Quantum of Solace."

Quantum ... the most basic unit of measure.

Solace ... humanity and caring. 

    Ian Fleming put forth the concept that NO relationship, of ANY kind, can exist for long without a Quantum of Solace.  The short story, "Quantum of Solace," by Ian Fleming is incredible illumination of how merely a measure of kindness can make the world a better place within which to live.  (Fleming's "Quantum of Solace" is a short story in the book of short stories; "For Your Eyes Only." The only connections between the stories written by Fleming and the commercial abuse by the movies are the titles by Ian Fleming.) 

    Who would even consider, for a nano-second, that the downfall of our society, and the world in general, could possibly have begun with the loss of a simple "Hello?" 

    Over the last couple of decades, "Hello" has gradually slipped away from all meaningful phases of life.  Not many years ago, on the Llano Estacado, everyone waved as they passed each other, either on a highway or a sidewalk.  The people of the Llano always acknowledged the other person whether they actually knew them or not.  The people of the Llano acknowledged that other people existed.  No longer is this simple acknowledgment the norm.  Some time ago I was driving in the desolate plains of Eastern Colorado.  The roads were barely wide enough for two cars to pass.  As I passed the very few cars that were on the road, I waved to each.  Not one wave of mine was returned.  Suddenly I was overcome by the thought that if I had car trouble on that road, I was totally on my own and that no one would offer to help a person in distress.  It was a horrible realization of a truth that no one had a Quantum of Solace.   

    I believe that the polarization of the world's people lies in not saying "Hello" to everyone that you encounter.  Saying “Hello” means that you know that that person exists and you start every relationship with level of humanity and curiosity.  The loss of "Hello" was the beginning of everyone "Bowling Alone."  There are very few actual conversations (a conversation is an "exchange" of ideas) that occur today, conversations (of old), have become incongruous monologs.  When one person speaks, the other is not listening but merely forming what they will say, given their next opportunity to speak. 

    The next step in society’s deterioration is the iPhone (iPad, etc.).  It is extremely difficult to have the determination to express a complex thought on a tiny touch screen.  The afore mentioned toys are designed for entertainment and short attention spans.  I carried a Blackberry for years and when I wanted to really communicate a complex thought, I would type into my Blackberry; “I will get back to you when I return to my computer.”  I have lost several friends and I have missed establishing meaningful relationships because of the iPhones.  Short tweets come from the iPhones as replies to complex questions that I have asked.  The short replies are not meant to be inconsiderate, but they appear and function as inconsiderate.  Back in the days when everyone wrote email on a computer I had a girlfriend that would say, “Buster, your replies to me better be equal to my questions and my thoughts to you.”   

    Beginning in 1989, I observed that I was only one of few that exercised intellectual curiosity in an attempt to have a real conversation.  I experience a very few that ask, "Rusty, how are you today?"  I am always eager to share and to learn from others, but there are few to "share" with.  In 1989 national congruency in the United States began to vanish and this loss of solace accelerates every day.

 

Health Care Today

      I recently was forced to come face to face with the reality of the Arthritis that I was suffering from.  Arthritis was not what I had intended to talk about in this blog, but sharing my experiences may be beneficial to many. I have (I used to have had) crippling arthritis in my hip. Upon reflection, I now realize that arthritis had been destroying my hip for a very long time.

      My son is an analyst in DC.  He researched what was globally available for me for hip replacement.  He found Israel and Costa Rica to be the two best medical options for my hip replacement surgery.  I liked the concept of warm beaches and cool breezes, so he arranged for my surgery to take place in Costa Rica.  I enjoyed a glorious medical experience in Costa Rica, and one that used to be available in the United States.  My son paid the necessary costs up front; Passport Medical, my travel, the Doctors, the hospital, the hotel, the therapy and the food.  All of those people delivered exactly what he paid them for and each participant delivered those services very graciously and in a very professional caring manner. 

 

     When I was in the building business, I had a single paragraph contract.  It said, “I will build your building and you will pay me for what I build.”  Insurance, legislation, and bureaucracy have made the "normal" cost of a building 40%-50% more than the cost should be.  Insurance, legislation and bureaucracy have driven the medical cost to a multiple of what it should be with a devastating loss in the quality of service.  I could not find a doctor that I trusted in the US …. all anyone in medicine wanted to talk about was insurance.  All I wanted to talk about was having my arthritis go away.

 

      Until I had my Costa Rica medical experience, I did not recognize what huge obstacles exist in the US medical field today.  My first-hand experience and then the analysis of my experience made the problems crystal clear.

 

All causes in the in the life of Yahoos start as a movement, become a business then a racket.

 

      In the United States we now have so many levels of parasites that consume all that the medical insurance market will bear.  The doctors must employ a staff, not for medical purposes, but they must employ a staff to successfully extract their fees from those feeding at the medical trough.  I built an office for a neurosurgeon that had to have a room for depositions.   How incongruous is this situation, to have to devote money, time and effort to insurance, legal and advertising before you devote one minute to medicine?   The medical moochers offer no added value to the medical process, yet they take the lion's share of medical expenditures; they exist to take, not to help. 

 

      The United States no longer provides a supportive environment for those in need of medical treatment.  The US no longer offers an attractive environment to encourage the best and brightest to practice medicine.  Why would anyone want to be a Doctor today when the medical structure dictates how you are to practice "medicine"? 

 

      I asked a friend how well his health insurance worked.  He said, "As long as I make my payments and file no claims, my insurance works just fine."  Medical services should be straight forward and easy, those medical services in the US used to be a direct relationship between only the doctor and the patient.  That direct relationship between a Doctor and a Patient, exists in Costa Rica right now.... for a while anyway. 

 
      The most powerful, enticing, calming and misleading word in the English language is “FREE.”  I have a fit, full of life 91 year old friend that I have known for over a year.  During the year that I have known him, the US medical system has tried to kill him twice with two infections resulting from two surgeries.  He reacts with a big smile on his face saying, “It did not cost me one cent!”  The total “bill” from two surgeries along with two follow-up lifesaving maneuvers comes to a total of around $200,000 medical  US "monopoly" dollars.  In fact, my friend did not have to pay one penny, but the real “cost” to his 91 year old body has to be significant.  Yet, he is happy as a clam because the medical abusers used the drug “FREE” on him.  Everyone in the medical sham got their fraudulently “earned” money and in addition, he was merely their money vehicle.  When the drug "FREE" is applied, all accountability vanishes in the mist.  In all of my years of building many doctor's houses and knowing them personally and professionally, I have never heard one doctor even pretend that their work even remotely approached the condition of the original equipment. 

Proposed AMENDMENT to the US Constiution

AMENDMENT to our Constitution

On all ballots (Federal and local), for every election (primary or final), there will be an additional candidate: "None of the Above." If "None of the Above" receives a plurality of the votes, a legal US citizen will be randomly drawn from the voter registration rosters. The requirements to serve will be; 1) Past or current Military Service. 2) A minimum of a Bachelor's degree. 3) A US Property owner. 4) No outstanding tax debts, either local and Federal. 5) No convictions, past or pending.

If "None of the Above" is elected, "None of the Above" will serve for a term of 4 years at a salary of $125,000/year, or the average net income of their last 3 years on "None of the Above's" Federal Tax Returns, whichever is greater. Or, "None of the Above" can choose to not serve, and will immediately serve a full 45 days evaluating the Federal Penal System from within.

United States Senators will, once again, be chosen by State Representatives to serve a 6 year term. All elected officials will serve one term only to enable them to return to their real avocation. The path of continuity must be broken to eliminate the entrenched corruption. All elected officials will be properly paid, day by day, to eliminate the "carrot trap" that has "tricked" everyone since the beginning of time. The elected officials will have no benefits or rights that are beyond the laws or rights of the general population of United States Citizens. The moral codes of our United States Military Academies will control conduct in every walk of life. If you lie, cheat or steal.....you are out….no questions or appeals.

ALL laws, codes, agencies and regulations, down through, and including Little League Sports, will revert back to their status before 1960.

In Education, an average effort will be marked as a "C". There will be only one educational opportunity. There will be no holding back at Grade Levels. In school you will receive either, "Completed" or "Graduated" at each step. If you lie, cheat or steal you will be suspended for that day.

Herding Bison

Claudine and I made a trip to the Painter Outpost located a few miles south of the Wyoming-Montana border on the eastern edge of Yellowstone Park.  We saw an incredible picture of a Bison chasing a Grisly Bear in the snow.  If you have never been face to face with these enormous creatures you have missed an understanding that is beyond words.  I asked the proprietor about the Bison and the Grisly Bear.  He told us many interesting facts.  One fact in particular caught my attention.  He said, “You can herd Bison any way that they want to go.”  The words were no sooner out of his mouth than Claudine said, “Rusty, that is exactly the way that YOU are!”  We laughed because of the precise truth in her statement.

Over the following days I gave a lot of thought to these statements and I realized that the statements represented a major principle in the lives of all creatures.  I was raised on a cattle ranch. And, since I was the most expendable member of our family I was often charged with the task of herding our Hereford Bulls from one pasture to another.  If the weather was hot, the Bulls were annoyed to begin with, and they certainly did not want to go on any long country strolls.  As I would whistle and yell to encourage them to another location they would snort, kick the ground and head butt anything that was handy to demonstrate what they could do to you.  These Hereford Bull images came to my mind as I turned the recent Bison/Claudine story over in my mind.  Quickly, the images of herding the Herford Bulls became images of me herding my two wives.  When herded, and annoyed, my wives would snort and demonstrate other aggressive behavior.  The images of my wives morphed into images of the reactions of my two boys being herded.  The visions of the actions of my two boys being herded changed into visions of me herding architects.  It just does not work to herd any creature in a direction that they do not want to go.  Herding creates resistance, resistance creates drama and drama is a very unhealthy, unproductive state of mind. 

LAWS

 

"Laws are the crystallization of community prejudices." - Ayn Rand

    "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - C.S. Lewis

            For 10 years I served on the board that directed building activities for Amarillo. As I served as Chairman, I helped create an Ordinance that would require additional cost to make homes safer. The policy in Amarillo required that each new Ordinance be approved in a Public Hearing. At the public hearing for "MY" ordinance a few local builders appeared at a hearingto protest. "MY" ordinance was soundly defeated. Why do we not go through this process for every additional law? "MY" ordinance was 90% ego driven and 10% good practice. It took time and energy for the Builders to fight this new encumbrance. They were totally right in their objections. Everyone should have a "choice" to make their homes safer.

     King Arthur's creation of the Round Table was an ambitious step in people's endeavor to create a just world. Quickly however he put himself in an untenable position because a law that he created went against human nature. The law stated that infidelity was a crime punishable by death. As grand as his intentions were, he was dictating a prejudice that he felt would never affect him personally. Here is the historic rub. As good as he was, King Arthur was a moral busybody. His best friend, Sir Lancelot fell in love with his wife Guinevere. The problem was not Sir Lancelot and Guinevere, the problem was the ill-conceived law. Should King Arthur burn his wife at the stake and kill Sir Lancelot because his two most beloved friends fell in love with each other. Love's process is not understood nor is it manageable. Insurmountable drama has been created in our world based on the faulty overreaching of omnipotent moral busybodies trying to control elements that cannot be controlled? How well did US prohibition work? All prohibition accomplished was to allow, even promote, the success of gangsters at the cost and peril of US citizens.

     I personally loved everything about the construction business that I perfected, for me, for 35 years. It became time for me to abandon my love when I realized that federal terrorists were everywhere. These (OSHA & EPA) terrorists could subjectively take everything that I had worked a lifetime for, whenever they chose to. I have personally known some of their victims. When the "probable" risk in business overwhelms the "possible" rewards from that business, the prudent man will no longer offer that service.