🐘🐴 From Mascots to Monetary Malaise: How America's Political Parties Became Guardians of a Broken System

The donkey and the elephant—symbols so familiar they’ve become shorthand for American politics—have long represented the Democratic and Republican parties. But beneath these mascots lies a deeper story: one of ideological drift, systemic entrenchment, and a monetary system that both parties have failed to confront meaningfully. This article traces the evolution of these symbols and the parties they represent, ultimately arguing that neither is equipped—or perhaps even willing—to challenge the economic forces that undermine the republic.

🐴 The Donkey: From Insult to Identity

The Democratic donkey dates back to the 1828 presidential campaign of Andrew Jackson. Opponents mockingly called him a “jackass,” but Jackson embraced the image, using the donkey on his campaign posters to symbolize stubbornness and populist grit. Over time, the donkey became synonymous with the Democratic Party’s self-styled advocacy for the “common man.”

🐘 The Elephant: A Cartoon’s Legacy

The Republican elephant emerged later, in 1874, through Thomas Nast’s political cartoon “The Third-Term Panic.” In it, an elephant labeled “Republican vote” is frightened toward chaos—specifically inflation and instability—by a lion-costumed donkey. Ironically, the cartoon’s themes of monetary fear and political dysfunction remain eerily relevant today.

🏛️ Factions Before Parties: The Founding Era

Before mascots, before platforms, there were factions. During George Washington’s presidency, political divisions were informal: the “Administration” faction (aligned with Alexander Hamilton and John Adams) favored a strong central government, while the “Opposition” (led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison) championed states’ rights.

By the fifth Congress (1797–1799), these factions had solidified into formal parties:

• Federalists: Advocated centralized power and commercial interests.
• Republicans (later Jeffersonian Republicans): Defended agrarianism and state sovereignty.

The term “Democrat” was initially a slur, evoking mob rule and the chaos of the French Revolution. Yet over time, the Jeffersonian Republicans embraced democratic ideals and rebranded themselves accordingly.

🔄 Party Evolution: Names and Ideologies Shift

As the 19th century progressed, party names and alignments shifted dramatically:

• Adams Republicans became National Republicans.
• Jackson Republicans became Democratic Republicans, then simply Democrats.
• National Republicans evolved into the Whigs, opposing “King Andrew” Jackson’s populism.
• The Whigs dissolved over slavery, giving rise to the Republican Party by the 34th Congress.

These transformations weren’t just semantic—they reflected deep ideological battles over federal power, economic policy, and civil rights.

💰 Platforms of Principle: 1856 vs. 2012

Compare the platforms of 1856 to those of 2012, and the contrast is stark.

🧾 1856 Democratic Platform:

• Opposed a national bank, warning of “deadly hostility” to liberty.
• Advocated separation of government funds from private banking.
• Defended presidential veto power as a safeguard against financial tyranny.

🧾 1856 Republican Platform:

• Condemned slavery and polygamy as “twin relics of barbarism.”
• Decried violations of constitutional rights in Kansas Territory.
• Called for accountability and justice in the face of government overreach.

These were platforms of conviction—rooted in principle, not marketing.

📢 2012 Democratic Platform:

• Opens with a testimonial about auto industry recovery.
• Mentions Al-Qaeda and 9/11 in the second paragraph.
• Reads more like a corporate brochure than a political manifesto.

📜 2012 Republican Platform:

• Emphasizes constitutional fidelity, but selectively.
• Reinterprets the First and Second Amendments without acknowledging foundational context.
• Lacks the moral urgency of its 19th-century predecessor.

📉 The Monetary System: A Shared Blind Spot

The 1856 Democrats warned that a centralized “money power” would become “dangerous to our republican institutions and the liberties of the people.” Today, that prophecy has come true.

• Federal and consumer debt rise regardless of party control.
• Waste and overproduction persist across administrations.
• Incarceration rates climb, untouched by partisan promises.

Both parties treat economic “growth” as a metric of elite prosperity, not sustainable development. Their platforms speak volumes but deliver little. They operate within an ideological box—Republicans shape it, Democrats fill it—and neither can escape it.

🛠️ Rhetoric vs. Reality

Modern political platforms say ten times as much, mean half as much, and do even less. The disasters each party warns of move slowly, but they are real—and still rectifiable. What’s needed is not another mascot or slogan, but a reckoning with the monetary system itself.

Until then, the donkey and the elephant will continue their dance—each blaming the other, each failing to fix what matters most.

The "money powers" agent, inflation, " is a man-made scourge, made possible by the fact that most men do not understand it. It is a crime committed on so large a scale that its size is its protection: the integrating capacity of the victims’ minds breaks down before the magnitude—and the seeming complexity—of the crime, which permits it to be committed openly, in public. For centuries, inflation has been wrecking one country after another, yet men learn nothing, offer no resistance, and perish—not like animals driven to slaughter, but worse: like animals stampeding in search of a butcher." As put by Ayn Rand.

I'll end with my favorite line from a movie called "Waking Life".

You can't fight city hall, death and taxes. Don't talk about politics or religion.This is all the equivalent of enemy propaganda rolling across the picket line " Lay down, G.I. Lay down, G.I." We saw it all through the 20th Century. And now in the 21st Century, it's time to stand up and realize...that we should not allow ourselves to be crammed into this rat maze. We should not submit to dehumanization. I don't know about you, but I'm concerned with what's happening in this world. I'm concerned with the structure. I'm concerned with the systems of control, those that control my life and those that seek to control it even more! I want freedom! That's what I want! And that's what you should want! It's up to each and every one of us to turn loose and just shovel the greed, the hatred, the envy and, yes, the insecurities...
because that is the central mode of control-- make us feel pathetic, small...so we'll willingly give up our sovereignty, our liberty, our destiny.
We have got to realize that we're being conditioned on a mass scale. Start challenging this corporate slave state! The 21st Century is gonna be a new century, not the century of slavery, not the century of lies and issues of no significance...and classism and statism and all the rest of the modes of control! It's gonna be the age of humankind... standing up for something pure and something right! What a bunch of garbage-- liberal Democrat, conservative Republican. It's all there to control you. Two sides of the same coin. Two management teams bidding for control!
The C.E.O. job of Slavery, Incorporated!
The truth is out there in front of you, but they lay out this buffet of lies!  I'm sick of it, and I'm not gonna take a bite out of it! Do you got me?
Resistance is not futile. We're gonna win this thing. Humankind is too good! We're not a bunch of underachievers! We're gonna stand up and we're gonna be human beings! We're gonna get fired up about the real things, the things that matter: creativity and the dynamic human spirit that refuses to submit!" -driving megaphone guy

The Vicious Cycle: Faith, Reason, and the Cost of Silence

“A time comes when silence is betrayal.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King’s words, spoken in opposition to the Vietnam War, still resonate today. His “Beyond Vietnam” speech challenged Americans to question the motives behind U.S. foreign policy. But his message goes beyond war—it’s a timeless call to break silence in the face of injustice, inefficiency, and moral decay.

Echoes from the Past

Ancient philosophers, prophets, and scholars left behind texts, artifacts, and traditions that illuminate civilizations we’d otherwise forget. Though each culture is unique, recent discoveries show how deeply interconnected they are. Sacred texts across traditions warn of behaviors that lead to cycles of violence and suffering—and offer paths to liberation.

The Illusion of Reason

Most citizens accept the world as it is, believing “things are the way they are for a reason.” That belief offers comfort—but it can also mask fallacious reasoning. In a representative republic, we delegate moral judgment and sound reasoning to elected officials. Yet increasingly, profits and political favors seem to replace those ideals.

Thomas Jefferson: “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency... their children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered.”

Usury: The Ancient Warning

• Matthew 21:12–13: “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
• Manu Smriti 11:62: Condemns commodifying human life.
• Qur’an 2:275: “Those who devour usury... are companions of the Fire.”

The Machinery of Inefficiency

The Zeitgeist Movement: “The global economy requires cyclical consumption... regardless of environmental impact or human necessity.”

This system prioritizes profit over quality. Even jokes about a new car losing half its value upon leaving the lot reflect this reality.

The Dangerous Servant

George Washington: “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence—it is force!”

Today, that servant has become a master, equipped for self-preservation and enabled by a media that flatters power. The society envisioned for America’s future—one that aligns with the people’s affections—is at risk of revolution, with the world as its stage.

A Revolution of Character

Ayn Rand: “When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice... you may know that your society is doomed.”

Robert Kennedy: “A revolution is coming... peaceful if we are wise enough, compassionate if we care enough...”

This isn’t conspiracy or apocalypse—it’s a systemic disorder rooted in usury and its consequences. We now have the tools to observe and define these effects with unprecedented clarity.

Breaking the Cycle

To break this cycle, we need a revolution of character equal to the deficiency we’ve witnessed. Through peaceful civil disobedience, empathic wisdom, and compassionate education—with a curriculum tailored to diverse communities—what may seem like a “leap of faith” could become a “leap of trusted calculation.”

A Neurotic Mathematician

A neurotic mathematician believes he can document every equation describing the slope of a line tangent to a circle. But as he continues, the equations grow increasingly complex—spiraling into infinity. His goal, though noble in intent, is ultimately unattainable. Still, he finds correct answers within his self-contained world of circles, lines, and tangents, which fuels his persistence. Until he lets go of the original ambition to catalog every equation, he remains on a fool’s errand with no foreseeable end.

In varying degrees, this story mirrors the mindset of many who are mentally stagnant—“set in their ways.” These are people who believe, “All I need is this, this, and a steady supply of this to be happy for life.” They often perceive new ideas or technological advancements as threats. In an effort to soothe their cognitive dissonance, they irrationally cling harder to falsehoods, while more fruitful opportunities and deeper understandings pass them by.

The mathematician, endlessly calculating slopes, operates primarily through deductive reasoning—struggling to engage with abstraction. In contrast, those who accept the infinite and the inconceivable on faith—belief in something without proof—are able to engage the abstract.

Extremes of either mindset can be detrimental when they fail to engage the other. A healthy balance and acknowledgment of both deductive logic and abstract thought seems optimal, and less likely to result in cognitive dissonance.

Faith and reason, when working together, can achieve more than either alone. Consider Isaac Newton and the birth of Calculus. Newton had faith that the movements of the heavens could be calculated—an absurd notion to the dogmatically faithful of his time. Through rigorous reasoning and hard work, he devised Calculus. His blend of faith and reason yielded a powerful set of deductive tools. Yet it would be neurotic to believe that all phenomena can be explained through Calculus alone.

🌀 Irony in Plain Sight: Why “In God We Trust” Doesn’t Belong on Our Money

A proper beginning, I suppose, would be a definition of irony.

Irony (noun): Incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result.

Few examples are more ironic than the phrase “In God We Trust” printed on American currency. I’ve seen fundamentalists react with outrage at the mere suggestion of removing it—as if the idea were a personal attack. But let me assure you: God, trust, and money do not mix. And as the saying goes,

“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”

Let’s explore this irony in a language the faithful might understand.

📜 The Commandments and the Contradictions

In the West, many of us are introduced early to the Ten Commandments. The first three are especially difficult to grasp—even into adulthood—and it’s here that the irony begins:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…

Yet we routinely contradict all three.

We create symbols—crucifixes, icons, constellations, even words—to represent God. These are seen as badges of faith, but they violate the second commandment. And if we can be led to believe in things we’ve never witnessed, we can also be led to witness things we never believed possible.

💸 The Love of Money and the Name of God

“The love of money is the root of all evil.”

And yet, the name of the God we are taught to love with all our heart, mind, and soul is printed on every dollar bill. Alongside it: Trust.
But trust in what? In a system built on usury—specifically, Fractional Reserve Banking—which many historical accounts describe as a slow but certain form of social decay.

Even the Bible warns us.
Ezekiel 18:13 says that the man who lends money at interest “shall surely die.”
We may not enforce that penalty today, but the warning remains dire—and relevant.

⚠️ A Better Inscription

“In God We Trust” should be removed from our currency. In its place, we should inscribe a warning:

“Beware: The pursuit of material wealth and social status may rob you of your true value in society.”

The current phrase acts as a subterfuge—a spiritual smokescreen that masks the exploitative nature of our economic system. It conflates divine trust with financial manipulation, and in doing so, it undermines both.

🧩 Humanity’s Puzzle: Faith, Philosophy, and the Future

Imagine a 200-billion-piece jigsaw puzzle. Each piece represents an individual’s responsibility—cut in roughly the same shape, yet shaped by unique histories and experiences. The image that emerges depends on the lives of those who hold the pieces. When every piece fits within the border—defined by the Laws of Nature—we begin to see the big picture.

A reasonable approach to assembling this puzzle is to start with the border: the straight-edged pieces that give structure. From there, we group pieces by color and hue, assembling clusters—“colonies”—that represent civilizations. As more pieces connect, these civilizations merge and link to the border, revealing greater clarity. That is, unless a man-made or natural disaster disrupts the process, altering the image. History has shown us both kinds of catastrophe.

“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” — Edmund Burke

✝️ Faith and Reflection

As a child, I was baptized at age eight in a Church of Christ in Great Bridge, Virginia. I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, but I later discovered that faith isn’t always simple. I’ve come to deeply respect the message attributed to Jesus—especially the “red words” of the Bible. These teachings have shaped my worldview, rooted in Judeo-Christian values.

Let it be understood: a closer advancement toward a “Kingdom of Heaven” is possible.

I don’t take the virgin birth as literal truth. Figuratively, Jesus was a Son of God—much like other cultures honor their great ones. Siddhartha Gautama, for example, is revered as the greatest Buddha in Buddhism. Literally, I believe these figures were men with missions:

• Newton to calculus
• Hawking to theoretical physics
• Aristotle to logic

Their purpose? Higher knowledge, righteousness, and the reduction of suffering for future generations.

I believe Jesus may have studied at the Library of Alexandria before returning to Judea. Armed with wisdom, he challenged the religious authorities of his time and positioned himself as the prophesied messiah. Yet today, many focus more on his divinity than the moral clarity of his teachings.

The simplest rule—found in every major philosophy and religion—is this:
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

🧠 Philosophy, Logic, and the Human Condition

People often quarrel over semantics and translation. They fail to connect new ideas to old ones. They think without the big picture in mind. Logical fallacies dominate modern discourse. We anthropomorphize the indescribable, blame imagined entities, and ignore reasonable causality. We justify exclusion of those who think differently, forsaking a greater good.

In 2013, we lived in an era vulnerable to man-made disaster. Humanity’s potential for greatness is matched only by its capacity for destruction. Our industrial abundance is shackled by a monetary system that inhibits production, generates waste, and fosters social dysfunction.

America—born of the Enlightenment—has a global responsibility. Yet that duty has been undermined by economic corruption and a profit-driven motive that justifies planned obsolescence and widespread exploitation.

🌾 Harvesting Wisdom for Posterity

As in the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, the time has come to harvest history and knowledge. We must:

• Inventory what is Right and what is Detrimental
• Eliminate harmful practices (but never forget them)
• Prepare the soil for humanity’s future

Our global heritage demands it.

Organizations like The Zeitgeist Movement and The Venus Project are raising awareness and proposing sustainable models for planetary well-being.

🕊️ Universal Wisdom

“Behold! The Kingdom of God is within you.”

• Buddhism’s Eightfold Path offers eight integrated ways of living with purpose.
• Confucianism teaches that we cannot live fully in the present without honoring the past.
• Sethian Gnosticism and Platonic tradition affirm that salvation is self-actualized and always within reach.

🇺🇸 A New Lens on Immigration: Empathy, Policy, and America's Role

I’ve worked alongside undocumented immigrants on construction sites. I’ve seen their work ethic, their fear, and their humanity. I’ve also seen the other side—cartel violence, corruption, and desperation in Latin America. It’s easy to judge from a distance, but when you’re close enough to see the sweat on someone’s brow or the fear in their eyes, the conversation changes.

We need to stop viewing immigration solely through the lens of legality. Instead, we should use a phoropter—the device eye doctors use to find the right prescription—and ask: which lens brings the picture into focus? Empathy? Justice? National interest? All of the above?

🧱 The Undocumented Dilemma

Many undocumented immigrants are not criminals. They’re people who crossed borders to escape poverty, violence, or hopelessness. They work jobs most Americans won’t. They pay taxes. They raise families. Yet they live in fear—of deportation, of exploitation, of being invisible.

Yes, some commit crimes. But so do citizens. The difference is that undocumented immigrants are often judged as a monolith, while citizens are judged individually.

🌎 A Hemispheric Responsibility

America has long played a role in Latin America—sometimes helpful, often harmful. The Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary asserted our influence in the Western Hemisphere. If we claim that influence, we must also claim responsibility.

That means investing in Latin American stability, fighting corruption, and supporting economic development. It means treating immigration not just as a domestic issue, but as a hemispheric one.

🧭 Policy with a Human Face

We need immigration reform that balances security with compassion:

• Pathways to citizenship for long-term undocumented residents
• Smart border security that targets traffickers, not families
• Foreign aid that addresses root causes of migration
• Regional partnerships to share the burden and the benefits

❤️ Seeing Clearly

Empathy isn’t weakness. It’s clarity. It’s seeing people as they are—not as threats, but as fellow humans. If we can adjust our lens, maybe we’ll finally see the full picture.

The People Deserve the Truth Concerning September 11, 2001

      Patriot Day 2013: Obama's Message

President Obama’s 2013 Patriot Day Proclamation honored the nearly 3,000 lives lost on 9/11 and called for unity, compassion, and service. He emphasized:

• The heroism of first responders
• The unity Americans showed in the aftermath
• A call to community service as a tribute to those lost

His message was one of remembrance and resilience, urging Americans to live up to the selfless example of those who gave everything that day.

📘 The 9/11 Commission Report and Its Critics

The 9/11 Commission Report was published in 2004 as the official account of the attacks. It detailed:

• The timeline and execution of the attacks
• Failures in intelligence and preparedness
• Recommendations for preventing future terrorism

However, many scholars, engineers, and activists have raised concerns about its completeness and accuracy.

🏗️ Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth

Founded by architect Richard Gage, AE911Truth is a nonprofit that disputes the official explanation of the Twin Towers' collapse. They argue:

• The buildings fell in a manner consistent with controlled demolition
• Fires and plane impacts alone couldn’t account for the destruction
• Building 7’s collapse is especially suspect

Their claims are controversial and not widely accepted in mainstream engineering communities.

🧠 The Toronto Hearings (2011)

Held on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the Toronto Hearings brought together experts to present evidence challenging the official narrative. Topics included:

• Eyewitness accounts of explosions
• Analysis of building collapses
• Alleged insider trading and intelligence anomalies
• Psychological and sociopolitical implications of public discourse

The hearings culminated in the Toronto Report, which called for further investigation into the events of 9/11.

💡 Empathy and the Pursuit of Truth

Your closing thought—empathy as the unifying force—is profound. Whether one accepts the official account or questions it, empathy allows us to:

• Honor the victims and their families
• Understand the emotional and psychological toll
• Engage in civil discourse about difficult truths

Empathy doesn’t demand agreement—it demands understanding.

📖 On Writing a Novel of Empathy

A novel like this would be no easy task. Where would one begin? How could characters or a plot develop? Perhaps the reader’s own character is the one meant to evolve—to be enriched through reflection and experience.

The possibilities are vast enough to induce writer’s block in even the most seasoned author—or team of authors.

Maybe a structure that moves from present, to past, to future would offer a meaningful direction. Chapters could focus on specific aspects of life: identity, conflict, love, justice, mortality. Yet keeping the attention of readers would be a challenge—not to mention the difficulty of maintaining a coherent design across such philosophical terrain.

The bibliography would need to be extensive. It would draw from:

• Religious texts
• Philosophers and cynics
• Idealists and warlords
• Pacifists and agitators
• Idiots and geniuses
• The apathetic and the impassioned
• Every stereotype we’ve contrived—and their paradoxes

But amid this mosaic of voices, I nearly forget the one thing that could bring such a novel to life, to cohesion, to resonance:

Empathy—the intellectual identification with, or vicarious experiencing of, the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

👓 The Phoropter of the Mind: Prescribing a Clearer Vision for Society

The phoropter—that curious device used by ophthalmologists and optometrists—is designed to measure the exact correction needed for our eyes. We’re asked to look at a screen of letters, and as the doctor flips lenses, we judge which view is clearer. Eventually, the line representing 20/20 vision comes into focus.

This process is more than medical—it’s metaphorical. It mirrors how our minds perceive the world and our place within it.

🧠 Vision as a Mental Construct

Just as the phoropter helps clarify physical sight, a thoughtful approach to education, history, and culture can sharpen our mental vision. Consider:

• 📜 World history: An honest inventory of global events and struggles
• 🌍 Representative cultures: Understanding diverse perspectives and values
• 📚 Customized education: Tailoring learning to individual strengths and needs

Each flipped lens in the phoropter represents an element of curriculum. Whether it improves a student’s clarity depends on their unique prescription—their background, interests, and cognitive style.

The “writing on the wall” we use to judge this prescription is the vision of an empathic society—a goal hinted at by great minds and shaped by generations of struggle. Vision correction is ongoing, and so too must be our educational evolution.

🧒 Montessori as a Model for Early Clarity

The Montessori method emphasizes:

• Independence
• Freedom within limits
• Respect for natural psychological, physical, and social development

A trained Montessori instructor can be invaluable in identifying a child’s strengths—forming the foundation of their educational prescription. This approach nurtures early cognitive development and empowers children to become informed, self-directed learners.

🌎 One History, Many Lenses

We all come from different backgrounds, shaped by unique experiences. But we share one history. Its facts—when viewed through the figurative phoropter—may help restore us to a standard vision: one of clarity, empathy, and purpose.

🔥 Keeping the Flame Alive: A Call to Intellectual Camaraderie

Every four years since 1896, the Summer Olympic Games have brought the world together to celebrate human achievement. Millions gather in admiration of athletic prowess, united by a spirit of camaraderie and sportsmanship.

Before the games begin, the torch is run across nations. Its flame symbolizes the endeavor for protection and struggle for victory, and also the light of spirit, knowledge, and life. It is a beacon of hope for those who reject cries of despair—“The end is nigh!”—and instead proclaim, “It’s about to bloom more magnificently than before.”

But could this spirit of camaraderie exist beyond the physical arena—in a more intellectual sense of sport?

🧠 The Power of Intellectual Honesty

One does not need a college degree, wealth, or mastery of every detail to make a difference. What is required is concern—and what philosopher Ayn Rand called intellectual honesty:

“Knowing what one does know, constantly expanding one’s knowledge, and never evading or failing to correct a contradiction.”

This honesty is the foundation of meaningful civic engagement.

🧬 A Hypothesis for the Future

To paraphrase a 20th-century philosopher, three elements shape the future of a nation:

1. Its present political trends
2. Its sum of intellectual achievements
3. Its sense of life, formed by each child’s early impressions—of the ideas they’re taught (which they may or may not accept), and the behaviors they observe (which they may evaluate correctly or not)

This sense of life is the flame of our purest childhood aspirations—imagination, curiosity, and the right to be.

🗳️ A Call to Candidates—and Citizens

We, as knowledgeable citizens, must demand more from our leaders. Candidates for any office must rise above rhetorical bedlam and fallacious debate. They must demonstrate the ability to:

• Apply abstract principles to concrete problems
• Recognize and articulate those principles in specific issues
• Advocate a consistent, reasoned course of action

📚 Drawing from Our Intellectual Legacy

A review of past intellectual achievements offers a wealth of inspiration:

• Scriptural wisdom
• Scientific and technological innovation
• Philosophical insight
• Artistic expression

These are not just relics—they are tools for empathy, vision, and progress.

🌱 Preserving the American Flame

The American sense of life—that flame of imagination and possibility—must not be extinguished by indoctrinated fear or cultural complacency. A citizenry that promotes candidates with this ambition may be the only way to keep the flame burning bright.

Would you like to turn this into a series—maybe one post on each of the three elements shaping a nation’s future? Or I can help you design a banner image that visually captures the Olympic flame as a metaphor for civic and intellectual renewal.

👁️ A Vision for 2020: The Introduction

In seven years, it will be 2020—a number we associate with optimal vision at the optometrist’s office. This blog is a quest to restore America’s vision by that year: to confront our past iniquities with honesty, illuminate present realities with knowledge, and prepare ourselves for the obstacles ahead.

🔧 The State of Our Society

Our society isn’t broken, but it does require:

• Routine maintenance
• Thoughtful upgrades
• Replacement of defective parts

Let each component’s performance speak for itself. These are not insurmountable problems—they are correctable conditions. To label them as “problems” gives them undue power.

🏛️ What Needs Inventory

To move forward, we must take stock of:

• The three branches of government
• Business ethics and economic practices
• The morale and mindset of the individual citizen

Reason and religion were meant to flourish independently within our borders. Our government was designed to be balanced by a system of checks and logic—with the citizenry as its ultimate beneficiaries.

📚 Why History Matters

A knowledge of history and an honest inventory of our lives will reveal the necessity of a renewed approach to the future of life on Earth—starting now.

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."- James Madison