Character and policy; a confession

Listening to political pitches and trying to evaluate past history we all need to consider many factors to make a reasonable choice.  For those who think about policy a few character flaws might be acceptable if their policies are moved forward.  I confess getting what I really want helps me to overlook or forgive minor transgressions and believe most people are not much different.  On the other hand policy is difficult and is almost always in a context with other policies that requires prioritizing and bargaining.  So character can be a decisive factor in a vote decision.  Yet both these factors have to fit into whatever system is operating.

Successful politicians must somehow convince a wide range of people to get elected.  They will offer policies and promote their integrity.  Any policy they do offer is likely to offend some voters so they are careful to minimize.  A good blend of policies supported by a good image may gather enough voters to gain power even if a majority are displeased.

Policies I support include dealing with climate change, with injustice, with the danger of nuclear war, with the displacement of refugees and the quality of life.  There are a lot of powerful vested interests that oppose policies that effectively deal with these concerns.

The Republicans have a set of policies that represent the wants and needs of the wealthy.  In all cultures the rules are made by the powerful, but to some extent it is necessary to placate the masses.  This has been done by such things as offering "bread and circuses," and catering to prejudice.  Humans seek pleasure and avoid pain.

The conservatives feel they deserve to enjoy their wealth to the maximum and resent others who want to be treated fairly at their expense.  This is natural and if you don't believe me take a closer look.  This doesn't mean there are no benevolent wealthy and powerful people, but to get to the very top it is easier to discard or minimize weaknesses.

In order to win the co-operation, especially in a nominal democracy something must be offered to the masses.  There are many prejudices that can be sparked by pointing out how one group gets some "advantage"  Outsiders are always easy prey.

Some issues lay dormant until someone points them out.  We go about our daily pursuit of the good life with little thought to bigger issues.  Climate change, nuclear proliferation, pandemics, injustice, displacement of refugees and the international economic order do not dominate most of our daily thinking, but can upend everything.  Government policies affect not only our daily battles, but also these overarching concerns.  Nobody has exactly the same views on these issues, nor can anyone understand all the complexities so in one sense integrity over rides policy.

All this to say Donald Trump is a big mistake for character and policy.  Rich powerful people like some of his policies (and he has determined which ones attract their attention) and smart people have determined how to attract the attention of enough voters to force a package of policies onto the citizenry.

Two examples of what concerns the wealthy are taxes and regulations.  Taxes mean they have to share their wealth with others and regulations restrict their profits.  Both these concerns often work against those less powerful.

Examples of catering to prejudice include laws surrounding minority rights and immigrants.  Sex is a big area of righteousness.  Promiscuity is sinful.  Abortions and contraception (any promotion of sex) are evil as is homosexuality.   Guns make people feel safer against violence and others feel powerful against outsiders.  It is amazing that even here in my opinion people are voting against their own interests.  The rich and powerful can to some extent ignore laws.

Evangelicals who form an integral part of Trump's base are convinced Israel is a key to the resurrection of Christ and insist on supporting Israel regardless of the Palestinian occupation.  This feeling is so strong they are able to overlook major character flaws that are normally considered unforgivable.

If a politician is willing to cater to one issue voters they can enact their agenda no matter how it impacts the rest of the population (including those one issue voters).

Being a politician is an impossible job.  If you aren't elected there is nothing much you can do except protest and somehow hope that reason wins the future.  Perhaps the most practical thing is to develop and support particular policies and use both logic and marketing skills to make the policy improvement.   Working with others with compatible policy ideas strengthens both, but inevitably at some point compromises have to be made.  My bottom line is people need to be educated.

For voters it really is complex deciding who to support.  In many systems there are basically two choices that can get power.  There is a package of policies and characters to  decide.  In multi party systems  with a first past the post setup a voter can decide which package makes the most sense, but often it is complicated with the practical desire to prevent an undesirable outcome.  As usual I favor the proportional system where you can decide the best package (policies and character) and your voice will have a greater impact, although maybe not as strong as you wished.

For one explanation of how proportional voting reflects the will of the people:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/12/your-guy-didnt-get-in.html

The photo is of immigrants at a location near where I live.

GREED--WILL IT DO US IN?

There are scientists who believe there are other life forms in the unfathomable universe.  Some are concerned that although they believe there has to be intelligent life it is suspicious that nothing has reached our attention.  Some speculation is that when a civilization reaches a certain point they self-destruct.  Who knows?

Our problem is right now on the one planet we are living in.  To many observant people it seems there is a self-destructive mechanism in effect.

Mankind (together with women) has progressed in scientific awareness and in wealth, but is there a limit?

Greed is a problem we can all point to in others.   Most of us in the 99% think that if those greedy rich people weren't so selfish and dishonest the rest of us would enjoy life a lot more.  We hear the rich denigrating the laziness and entitled feelings of the rest of the population.  Could there be truth in both assertions?  I think so.

At our core the goal of all humans is to seek pleasure and avoid pain.  This has been necessary for survival and to be fruitful.  Having climbed up from the brutal realities of our primitive beginnings we still retain our core.  Now we have different tools, different awarenesses and very definitely different circumstances.

It is true the world can be divided between leaders.  In the early days there were more constraints on the leaders.  What is a leader, but someone who gets other people to do things that the leader wants and that pleases them.  What is a follower but someone who delegates some responsibilities to a leader so that they as followers are free to enjoy what they can and avoid what they don't want.  Another perspective on leaders and followers:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/07/selected.html

Despite all the individual freedoms we value we have attained progress through groups.  Controlling the groups has been by definition a skill developed by a limited number of people.  But in essence the leaders are those who have been best at harnessing the skills and labours of the group.  Now we have been evolving towards a global village.

Inequalities have always been with us, but the Global Village is more unequal than in any one country.  At the same time global threats are more serious than ever.  The Global leaders are more powerful than ever and have their own agenda.  Power is more complicated in modern times  The leaders are by no means totally united and in fact there are extremists who are able to threaten the rest of us.  The invention of the inter-net has given power to the billions who have access to it.  The power of information flows across the globe and secrets that were easily hidden from the hoi polloi are very accessible so that people can make more informed decisions.  But technology and psychology enable those in power to manipulate opinions in many ways.

It does boil down to a mix of power and greed that is threatening our future.  Nuclear weapons mean that a small number of people by a mistake or deliberation can obliterate the rest of us--certainly put any survivors into a new Dark Age.  There are other weapons of violence including chemical, biological and technological.  Ideologues, vain and egotistical are eying these weapons or the threat of these weapons as a way to impose their will on the rest of us.  But we are doing other things by neglect--is climate change a threat--scientists overwhelmingly say it is so, but those whose power is based on fossil fuels use their resources to assert otherwise.  Pollution is tolerated because it helps a few rich people.  Poisoning our food supply is accepted as fewer and fewer control this vital resource.

Capital is globalized in that investment money can be shifted in seconds, factories can be relocated easily, workers easily replaced to get the lowest wages and avoid stifling regulations.  Workers for the most part are not globalized--it is true many can move if they have a lot of talent, but if they are relatively unskilled they are hampered by the expense of re locating, and legal barriers.  Politically the average voter has little power even in their own jurisdiction.

The desire to amass more money than any one person could spend in a lifetime appears to have more power than the long range interest of the vast majority.  At the same time as they are using psychology and technology to manipulate people into spending more than is prudent, Business owners are trying to lower costs of goods and services.  It seems like the purpose of the majority is to enrich the few.  An irony is the necessity of an income source to spend.

Those who have power use that power to maintain and boost their position in life.  Power and wealth doesn't end with one life, but is passed on in as controlled a fashion as the leaders can arrange.

Followers seem to value their own comfort more than protecting the rights of others. It is true that either in the voting booth or with armed combat the followers could displace corrupt greedy leaders, but there is a lot of risk.  Risk of failure is perhaps not as high as risk of embarrassment or jeopardizing their own comfort levels

The problems of the future do not just affect the 99%, they also affect the 1%.  What I see to be necessary if our civilization is to last long enough to communicate with another enlightened civilization in the universe is a shift from short term thinking to long term thinking.

I remember reading Ayn Rand who argued the virtues of selfishness, and went on to suggest that long term thinking is really more self serving than short term.  As one example of a problem is the tendency for investors to value quarterly results is that manipulation is increased at the expense of long term strategies.  We (as investors or followers) aren't valuing long term thinkers so in effect the leaders see an opportunity to manipulate us for their benefit.  You cannot legislate greed away, but hopefully more people can be induced to long term thinking.

The whole world seems to have been on a credit card binge.  At the lower end we find ourselves wanting things we had never thought of before and finding our fantasies can be fulfilled.  At the top end politicians learn to get elected they have to make lots of enticing promises.  Owners of businesses find that in order to be competitive to the consumer  they use automation, outsourcing and disrupting union efforts.  We get trapped by our short term thinking.

When things go out of whack and the logical thing is to make cuts, we can't bear it. We think someone else should bear the pain.  Humans can accept some sacrifice as long as they aren't the only ones suffering.

When we all realize we are inter-connected we can better co-ordinate our efforts to solve problems.

The greatest danger might be weapons of mass destruction.  We need leaders that can work together. We need to understand and tolerate a much wider range of views in the world.  Choices made at the lowest levels do impact higher levels.

Unlike our cave dwelling ancestors we can no longer take the environment for granted.  Now that there are billions of people inhabiting the planet and generating previously unimagined amounts of waste we need to realize we are impacting the environment and making it a less healthy bubble. Followers can lead by example and leaders can study in greater depth and set examples as well. Reaching across and understanding differing attitudes we can make improvements for all our benefit.

A core problem relating to the environment is over population.  A delicate issue to be sure.  We have learned  key factors include education of women and urbanization.  These two factors have proved themselves so powerful that we have to be concerned about declining population in some parts of the world.  This issue requires study and monitoring.  There is danger of unexpected consequences such as gender based abortions, policies with underlying racist motivation etc.

A planet teeming with billions of pleasure seeking hedonists is not my goal or purpose nor do I favour a few at the top treating the rest of us as slaves.  The most critical goal is for everyone to have a sense of purpose that can be synergistic.  Traditionally that goal has been attempted through employment.  We work to make useful things or provide helpful services for other people and are rewarded.  Automation and technology have been used to reduce the need for human labour and thereby limiting the number of opportunities for a sense of purpose. Violent revolutions occur when enough people lose their sense of purpose.

To make life meaningful for more people (which is a higher goal than just creating wealth) everyone has to rethink our past.  Work as we have known it is not likely to disappear, but with fewer man hours required it might make sense to spread it around.  There has been a trend from making things to providing services that has been recognized by tax authorities.  This trend can be accelerated if we would acknowledge a few things.  Knowledge of all kinds is desirable so one possibility is to turn more of us into teachers not just learning job skills, but also life skills.  Ignorance of the world is still profound and tourism if it could be made easier could provide more employment.  A big opportunity would be organic farming.  Get away from factory production of food with chemicals, heavy equipment and forced low wages--it would be more expensive, but that means more people could have a more significant income and we would all eat healthier food and live in a more sustainable environment.  Green jobs in general lead to healthier people and are often more desirable jobs.

Each individual has to realize they do have power.  They need to understand the long range consequences of their decisions.  Education is part of the solution.

A SALEMAN'S INTROSPECTION AS A BUYER

A lot of money is applied to understanding the buyer. At some point many sales people despair of ever understanding the crazy, stupid and even sometimes seemingly vicious behavior of buyers. The prospects just don't understand the life changing opportunity they are being offered.

A good place to start, is with your self.  You have chosen selling as hopefully a good way to get enough money to help you be a buyer.  Most of us love to spend money and are trying to figure out how to get more so we can spend more. A few of us are security conscious and can't get a big enough pile to protect us against that rainy day when we will need money to buy the necessities.

Many of us are dipping into our credit and have planned expenditures for money we assume will come our way.  Modern society has so many "new" things and some of us feel we have to keep on top of whatever is new.

What is the problem? As some Wall Street analysts have figured out there are two main motives that fuel investors (and I would include consumers) which are Greed and Fear. They are both easy to identify with if you are really honest.

Greed, is that insatiable desire to have more and better things (including experiences). We don't all want the same things for the same reasons, but we all want more. So why isn't that prospect like everybody else and buy the excellent value we are offering at some inconvenience to ourselves?

Counterbalancing Greed is Fear. At some point everyone fears losing something. Often it is concrete goods, or something semi-concrete like money.   For most of us a big fear is losing the good will or respect of people we love or fear.  We know if we spend too much money on unimportant things we may not have enough for the really important things.  If we share our goals with others we fear they might be upset with our mistakes.

Young people are accused of spending their money on superficial things and not saving for the rainy day. But at some point they realize there is a limit to what they can spend. For some it goes beyond their cash and bank account to include credit in one form or another.

To actually buy something we all go through stages. I will use an example I wrestle with. I am going about my business trying to make a living when I realize I am slightly hungry and I crave the taste of a chocolate bar and there are some just a few steps away.  Mind you, I only have so much change in my pocket and I have struggled about my need for a big financial plan so I can get a newer car or go on vacation. Do they have my favorite?  If they don't I might be able to resist a little bit. Did the weigh scale scare me a little?  It is only this once. If the lineup is not too long and my time is relatively free. Sooner or later I give in and gobble it down before I have time to regret my decision. Then I reflect on it--tasted good, feel a bit fuller and more energetic. Probably gained some weight and don't have any money for a newspaper or parking meter. Better to be more discriminatory and focused on finances. So there are some positives and negatives as other priorities are weighed.

We are all hit with the messages. As a salesman I hit people with messages and I hope my superiors are spending money on advertising with the latest technology and psychology to deliver reinforcing messages. We all, and I mean you as well are very resistant to most of the messages. We have to be--we couldn't give in to all the pleas or we would be in debt well over our heads. We know if we are to get more of what we really want we have to hold onto as much money or credit as we can.

On top of fear is the limits of time. You don't have time to even listen to all the buying opportunities. Be honest you want more time to do what you want to do and that doesn't allow a lot of time to listen to even more sales propositions.

Do you trust sales people? Do you suspect hidden motives? Do you blame a sales person for a bad buying decision, but personally take credit for good decisions? Has a sales person ever let you down?  How did you feel? Has a sales person ever exceeded your expectations? How did that feel?

Before you try to analyze the motives of your prospects take a good look at your motives. They aren't all that different..