America - The Land of Legal Scams

for the world when it comes to business, ethics, and politics. Our culture is viewed by the other 6.5 billion people on the planet as an example on so many levels. The most successful people here are role models for the entire civilized human population, whose influence is only second to the example set by the US government(s) in control of it all. That example has become a horrendous joke that rings somewhere between disgusting and unbelievable to vast millions of people across the globe. Not only does the government persecute it's own people, we allow big business to manipulate the well being of our children's future with lobbyist and bribes buying laws to poison and manipulate the masses. Right now, the most powerful nation on earth lays exposed and vulnerable as it pulls itself apart from the inside out.

The local and federal governments in the United Sates are a significant source of the types of policies that are destroying communities and building a state of distrust in America and beyond. Personally, I think it's the biggest scam in the world. The rules they use are dictated by what is in the best interest of big business, and the wealthy leaders of those operations. Their usage of financial and criminal penalties over retraining and rebuilding is a great example of such ideas.

As a country, we spend about 60 billion dollars each year to house the largest prison population in the world. That is largely impart to a war on drugs, which is a failure of epidemic proportions. Our government has wasted in excess of one trillion dollars on that war, while refuting hundreds of billions in tax revenues and making the suppliers south of the border some of the wealthiest men on earth. Don't get me wrong, I understand the dangers related to substance abuse. However, it is widely accepted medical science that these individuals abusing drugs and alcohol are people with psychological and emotional issues who are self medicating. Why do we criminalize the mentally ill? There are so many options for retraining people. Why are we stuck on using methods that are proven to further harm men and women from our very own neighborhoods?

If you want to see, there are plenty of examples of how to successfully manage this problem in many European cultures. Yet, we continue to feed our sons and daughters to the prison systems as opposed to building our communities, one person at a time. In most cases, these people could be retrained to become productive members of an economic ecosystem. Instead, they become another cow for the Department of Corrections to receive a payment for. The prison systems are so full that there is talk of re-instituting corporal punishment for this type of thing, as opposed to decriminalizing these behaviors all together. What kind of example would that set? For the first time in history the majority of people in the US favor legalizing marijuana. Let's see how long it takes the government to fall in line with the will of the people.

Another great example is the use of civil penalties. City's and States have set a widely accepted example that it is acceptable to make a large portion of the profits for your operation by finding incredibly ridiculous ways to financially penalize those within their reach. Any person with a tiny bit of common sense should be able to look at all the extras added to something so small as a simple speeding ticket and vouch for that. Those "extras" total a lot more than the fine for the infraction, which combine to a significant amount, in some cases equal to a weeks wages or more to a working class family. This method is becoming the new standard for corporations as well. Big business has learned a few lessons from Uncle Sam and now they too make a large portion of their revenues by finding impromptu ways to penalize their customers.

If you'd like to know why I believe that our laws and bought and paid for by the wealthy, just consider this for a moment. When you do see or hear about a fine levied on a large corporation, what does it actually cost them? In almost all cases, it is a pittance in comparison to what they make in just one hour. Why would any business stop doing something that still makes you money even when you are being penalized? Could you imagine how few big businesses would break the rules if it actually cost them a significant amount of money? Thus, I believe the use of civil penalties is being manipulated by the powers that be, and no one is attempting to stop them.

Another type of civil penalty being abused is code enforcement. I hear reports on the news and articles on the internet about people having their homes taken by local governments for not being up to code. Sadly, in most of those cases, it will cost more tax money to demolish the property than it would have for the city to have partnered with the home owner in an effort to improve the value and safety of the area in question. Our local governments are wasting our tax dollars, and destroying our communities as they do it.

There are approximately 25 million people without gainful employment in the United States

In the past few decades, more than 2 million Americans have been incarcerated

10% of the people in the country own 80% of all financial assets

The top 400 Americans have more wealth than the bottom 50%, totaling more than 150 million

Monetary policy is the number one factor contributing to it all

Sadly, the employment system is a broken scam as well. The way we have designed and implement the structure of working versus welfare is absurd. With minimum wage at 7.25 (roughly, depending on what state you are in) it is literally more profitable in many cases to go onto welfare or disability benefits than it is to work. That is a fatal flaw in our system. Even though I believe we should be our brother's keepers by having programs like welfare, I also believe that when you take away the majority of the incentive to work with handouts that outweigh the benefits of working, you will get exactly what we have, which is a lot of people who abuse the system. I happen to drive by the local SSI office occasionally and it never amazes me to see how many people who are disabled for what ever reason who drive brand new cars. When the people who sit either because they can't work or won't work have it better than the people who go out and put in the effort to succeed, you have created a real problematic state of affairs. Essentially, we are encouraging the weak minded to become dependent on a system that needs them to be a contributor, not a detriment.

These conglomerates are widely responsible for the political and social state of affairs in our country today. A large number of politicians are nothing more than puppets to these outfits. Industries like insurance, pharmaceuticals, energy, and auto manufacturing a a few of the behemoths that shape the landscape of America's laws. Even though seat belts offered great safety, our government allowing the insurance industry to manipulate our personal freedoms by requiring you to wear one is a prime example of what I am speaking of. Even though I respect the research that suggest your chances for survival are greater in an accident when wearing a seat belt, I strongly disagree with being required by law to wear one. How and when a person secures themselves inside of their vehicle is no one's business but their own. I've known more than one person who would have died in an auto accident had they been wearing their seat belt. The statistics say the odds are better for survival, but that does not control the outcome of an accident. Some people die BECAUSE they wore a seat belt. In a "free country", whose right is it to make that decision other than the individual taking the risk? This is just one example of a law that has been implemented by an industry for the sake of improving their profits. There are so many others. The bottom line is that our freedoms and futures are being manipulated for profit, and I do not like it, not one little bit.