The New Age of Independence
The major difference between people these days, is the extent to which they can, and do live lives independently and self-sufficiently -- while also realizing their connectedness to all of reality and others. But that recognition doesn't mean they have to be dependent on others to an increasing degree until they are totally helpless -- when there is much that they can and should do for themselves, in order to maintain their health, viability as self-sufficient individuals, and to actualize the meaning and purpose of their own lives -- apart from the purposes of others to dictate what that should be for their own ends.
Such new age individuals, are those who grow comfortable with the idea of learning and thinking for themselves, as opposed to being the pawns of somebody else's programs. There's always been that 5% of the population so constitutionally different from the average -- in every field of life and activities -- that they are notable in these proclivities through a combination of birth and subsequent nurturing, that provides the leadership for the greater population in that aspect. But there is also the other 5% on the opposite end of the spectrum, that indicates the diametrical opposite -- in this case, that a significant number of the population, becomes entirely dependent on the rest of society and its resources -- just to keep them breathing and alive, at a prohibitive cost! -- that could be an entire subsistence for villages and society on the brink, with greater chances of survival, and a future beyond an eternal, persistent vegetative state.
At some point, society has to debate what are the cut-off points for which no further extraordinary efforts can be devoted to lives with no or little hope for recovery, rehabilitation and resuscitation. It is just as unconscionable to keep those alive who will never know the difference -- and so one of the distinguishing qualities one should look for in determining the quality of their own lives, is whether one can tell this difference -- and how does one indicate it, and not just have a board of self-designated/appointed experts, make that call for everybody else.
I'm inclined to believe that is the wave of the future -- and not a return to the previous generation of mass society with their mass media indoctrination (education) programs -- as what everybody should know and think, as though the self-appointed few, knew better what that should be for everybody else -- and that includes the government bureaucrats of every stripe, the doctors, lawyers, and self-appointed directors of the public good, as though nobody knew any better than what they know. And what they know, is what has been taught for centuries now, if not millennia and for all time, as the ultimate truth, that they have now inherited the responsibility for perpetuating, propagating and defending -- as the meaning, purpose, and status of their lives. Or so they have been convinced.
On the other end of that spectrum, have been the 5% who are congenitally predisposed, to look for other ways -- as the evolutionary genius of every species for survival, even in a worst case scenario that decimates the other 95% who perished running headlong over the cliff -- in their reflexive instinct to be first. In such a manner, the last often becomes the first -- for those who are merely thoughtful and observant.
So the quality of life question, is clearly whether one is becoming more independent, or more dependent, in the choices, actions and decisions they make -- as the measure of their health and prosperity, and not just at the expense of it.
The Boat, The Rail, The Education
If the Hawaii Department of Education is substandard in every facet of the word, then obviously, more of the same at higher wages, pensions and benefits are not the answer -- but is the problem.
It is the kind of union teacher education that tells them what to think and chant (Hey, hey, Ho, ho, ...), and not how to think for themselves, that is the problem of "education" in Hawaii -- because it tells them that things are going splendidly, when sewage is breaking out all over the islands, and calling it "Paradise," so that real problems are never addressed, and keep compounding themselves while the people are in denial.
Look at the rail fiasco: the citizens are finally waking up to the reality that they were lied to, manipulated, bamboozled and reamed big time, and still they favor those who brought these calamities upon Hawaii, and want Mufi and Mazie to bring them more of the Boat, the Rail, the Education of Hawaii -- as though that was the salvation for anything in Hawaii. That is the problem -- More of the Same.
You need something different to change the sad story that has become "Hawaii." Especially The Education.
"Should You Exercise When You're Sick?"
An even better question is, "Can you exercise when you're sick?" -- because many people's idea of exercise, would make them even sicker, and even more vulnerable, rather than as it should be doing at any time, under all conditions, making them well and better. That should be obvious -- that the whole intent and purpose of exercise (practice) is to make one better -- and if it does not do that, then one is one practicing and preparing for one's own destruction.
And while that seems obviously preposterous, that is what most people are practicing and exercising -- making themselves unwell in their mistaken notion that it will produce the opposite effect (reaction), while totally rejecting the simple notion, that one should directly make themselves better -- as the objective of their practice.
The objective is not to fail but to succeed -- which is the flaw in the thinking that one should exercise to failure or near exhaustion -- instead of what they really hope to be doing, in increasing their reserves, readiness and responsiveness. That is the rationale for aerobic conditioning in the first place -- to build up one's oxygen reserves for the momentary challenge one might have to perform at those peak levels -- and not that they are too sick, exhausted and injured to do so.
Many athletes who never reach their peak, fail because they are never healthy when they need to be -- but always defer that best, until the day they are too old that nobody would ever expect that out of them anymore. So a large part of the proper conditioning, is understanding that point at which one fails -- and doesn't practice that. Because eventually, the off-day, becomes the off-week, off-month, and then they can't anymore, and never even think about it anymore.
That kind of conditioning is a failure -- because the right conditioning, has to be available and accessible when one needs it the most -- at their worst, and not only at their best. If they're already at their best, then they don't need to get any better -- and what is the point, if they are at their worst, that there is nothing they can do about it, without making themselves even worse -- and might even kill them, while there is nothing at their disposal to make themselves better but to simply rest (not do anything) but hope for that spontaneous, miraculous recovery -- until it doesn't come anymore.
Obviously, precisely at those moments of their greatest need, there should be some action that can aid their recovery, and daily, practiced, put them into their peak operating condition for living the actuality of their lives -- as their enhanced normal, until the day they die. Stopping way before then, ensures that they will be in a hopelessly deteriorating condition -- rather than going out at the top, doing what they enjoy doing most -- thoughts most have abandoned because they have conditioned themselves to thinking that that is what they cannot do.
But that is more than just adopting the latest courses in wishful-thinking and denial of their actualities. People can actually get better, and not just wish they would -- when they really believe such an actuality is no longer possible. The most dramatic proof of that, would be the rapid improvement from one's worst -- to one's best, virtually instantaneously -- because the operating conditions of the body have changed in the most meaningful and palpable way. It doesn't just happen.
There are definitive actions that bring that improvement about. That would be specifically increasing the flow of blood to the brain by effecting the pulse of rhythmic and regular muscular contractions alternated with relaxations to produce that enhanced effect -- that does not just come about by increasing the heart rate, burning more calories, and overheating the body to profuse perspiration -- but in directing that flow where there is the pulsing effect of rhythmic alternating contractions (movement) of the facial muscles and neck in simply articulating that range of expression and range.
When the brain is empowered foremost in that manner, all the other functions of the body will be greatly enhanced, and will recognize that the same economy and efficiency of effectiveness, can be achieved similarly throughout the body by simply producing that same muscular pulsing at the furthest extremities (hands, feet) in similar fashion -- because it is those movements, that require the fullest coordination of the neuromuscular and cardiovascular functioning that signifies peak and optimal health -- and not whether one acquires "six-pack abs" -- at the expense of optimizing and prioritizing the flow and health of the brain to the furthest extensions of the nervous system, which is the root of all human action and activities.
Fair Compensation for Public Service (Sector) Workers
Fair compensation for the public service (sector) workers should be the MEDIAN for all the private sector workers -- and not just the top 1% or even the top 10%, the unions select as their "peers."
If they were the top 1% or 10%, then they shouldn't be working in a government job, but should be creating new industries and jobs for many others, and not just (self-)promoting themselves themselves to the top 1% -- and then claiming they're underpaid -- and would have created Microsoft, Apple, Dell, Google, etc., if they hadn't sacrificed themselves to take a lower paying government job.
We need such people to leave the safety of guaranteed lifetime jobs at 2-3 times the median -- and double-dip at retirement, and create more jobs for everyone else, or if nothing else, be vested in increasing the median for all -- and not just themselves, as entirely self-serving government worker lobbyists.
When Exercise is Too Hard, People Just Don't (Can't) Do It
Almost all the thought and energy goes towards making exercise and activities harder -- rather than making them easier and more possible (probable). Exercise instructors think they are ingenious in advocating that every 90 year ought to be running a marathon at least yearly as their prescription of a national health program -- while failing to acknowledge that most at that age, have a great difficulty just running to the bathroom, and the many more injuries and deaths that would produce -- until anybody with any sense, would point out that the reason everything hurts, is because of what one is doing.
Even the champion bodybuilders usually all have to eventually stop because they can no longer move their shoulders and hips, knees and elbows -- after years of excessive wear and tear -- even if the spirit is still willing. The flesh (reality) won't allow it anymore. But that is just exercise as they have known it all their lives -- which is certainly not the limits of the possibilities of movement and conditioning. In fact, far greater ranges of motion exist than they've ever tapped and thought to express, than the few they have learned and been conditioned to think are the only ways people can move -- which are not even the best ways people can move, as well as the most efficient way so that they might.
Instead, they are usually advised to try harder and longer, to do those things that are painful and unsuitable to do -- like marathon running or walking, for those who have difficulty just getting from one room to another. That kind of advice (instruction) is harmful as well as discouraging -- mainly because of the limitations of their instructor's own understanding of the virtually unlimited possibilities of movement -- of which those most commonly done, are obviously already the problem, and the cause of their poor condition and prognosis.
So in this particularly, and as a general principle of overcoming one's limitations and problems, the solution lies in re-examining the actual limits -- rather than simply the limits of conventional wisdom and conformity to the groupthink of mass media -- including the schools. That, probably, is the great failing of most schools -- promoting their way of thinking about anything, as the only way it can ever be thought -- which is usually the source of the problem, mistaking the problem for its solution -- and thinking that what is needed, is more of the same. And of course because it doesn't work, they're just admonished to try harder -- until they give up entirely, or have battered themselves into submission, somnolence or depression (dementias). They just don't care anymore, and if they did, they don't let on that they do. They effectively stop relating, reacting and responding to the world in an immediate and appropriate way -- especially at the sites in which the greatest range of expression are possible -- at the head (face), hands and feet.
Thus the markers of diminishing health are usually measured at the hands (grip strength), feet (balance), and range of expression at the face and movement of the head effected by the neck muscles that are a telltale sign of liveliness (animation) and blood flow to the brain, as well as the ability to withstand a blow to this critical area. Obviously the health and appearance of these areas, imply the general health and condition of the body -- way before one takes any lab tests confirming this impression. There is a reason people look healthy -- and not in spite of it. This is the rule and not the exception or randomness the "experts" claim only they can divine beyond.
This is a source of great pride for those who claim attributes not apparent and obvious to everyone else. Such people inhabit "opposite world," in which everything is the opposite of what it obviously seems -- and only the clever can see that. They alone, will "beat the market," "defy the odds," "ignore the obvious," etc., proud in their knowledge that all phenomenon is random activity, signifying nothing. And the height of their skill, is to convince all the others in the mass hysteria (media) that is so -- as proof of their power to convince everyone of what is not true -- as the highest achievement of human intelligence.
The rest they dismiss as "anecdotal," because they are based on one's actual experiences instead of what everyone should believe to be true -- as though anybody knew that with certainty. The best one can do is find out for themselves whether any claim is true, and not merely accept it because a proclaimed expert (spokesperson) says so -- and we ought to believe it no matter how absurd it seems, because they were certified and anointed by all the politically correct organizations -- whose sole purpose, is to confirm their own authority and authenticity -- and not allowing it to any others.
Fortunately, the world of rigid social/political/economic hierarchies are disintegrating as we speak, allowing in their wake, a greater freedom of expression than the very narrow channels of expression and possibilities. People who can no longer walk, or to whom it is a great difficulty, have even greater ways of increasing their mobility -- and range of travel, without having to first be disabled to impel them to do so. Getting back to "normal," is not their prime motivation, as so many conditioning programs are based on. Nor should it matter even, to be the world champion at something with no usefulness beyond the title -- at one point in their lives before losing all those faculties. What matters, is to be at the top of their game, no matter what condition and circumstances they now face.
And why shouldn't that be all one's life? -- for one's life? The real failing of the human condition, is the inability to express and communicate -- even in their own self-isolating activity. Like the bicyclist or runner pursuing the exclusion of all else but their own heart beat is surely someone ensuring that their survival is not long -- as one whose conditioning is a heightened awareness of everything going on around them -- and becoming one with it, rather than against and oblivious to everything else. Surely that optimizes one's survival -- which is really what fitness is all about, to live a better life and not extinguish prematurely, senselessly and needlessly.
Yes, he could have had lights on his bike -- and yielded to that logging truck instead of demanding his right of way -- as the ultimate test of wills. The skills implied in surviving, is the measure of that fitness.
Death with Dignity
When a person on Oregon's Death Row cannot choose their own death, than you've seriously undermined people's right to die with dignity and the terms of their choosing..
Anybody who is still reading the newspapers, is aware and alarmed that suicides, suicide by cops, and murder-suicides are becoming increasingly commonplace -- because "health care" can keep people alive long past the time when the quality of their lives are no longer tenable and bearable. And as long as there is health care coverage, it is extremely profitable to deliver that premium care long past an individual's choice to be maintained in an irrecoverable condition. This is a huge dilemma for individuals as well as society going forward -- because it threatens to drain all resources for keeping people alive who are dying -- but now that dying can be prolonged for years and decades.
We need to allow those who have determined that their time is up -- to be able to make that choice, when they decide that that is the best choice for themselves and everybody connected and cares about them -- rather than having to be brutalized by their desperate means and actions. When people die, they can die peacefully in their sleep. They don't have to blow their brains out, or hang themselves, or the many other violent ways we associate with death. It can be done humanely, and painlessly if we choose -- because death itself is not pain, but the cessation of pain. We need to understand and be clear about that -- apart from the violence it has been associated with throughout history, when many suffered death prematurely.
But like affluence and obesity now, the problems and challenges are the opposite -- of disease, starvation, and medical care, keeping people alive at any cost -- just because we can. Life is now the denial of death, but death comes to every life -- in the many ways, some doing what they love to do, some through momentary thoughtless acts, but few when they are given it as an humane and intelligent ending -- which really needs to be the model for it in the future. But before then, we try to make the best of our lives, as much as we can -- and live it more fully too so that when the time comes, we can go in peace and comfort. We have made our peace with the world -- and not perpetuated violence and hopelessness, as the only ending that can be possible.
Where to, Hawaii?
Hawaii is not going anywhere until the unions and cliques lose their "Fuck everybody else but our group" mentality -- because if everybody wants maximum pay for minimal work, you have the present situation that all the money in the Islands can't buy anything of any value -- because everybody is screwing everybody else. That's why the houses, electricity and groceries are four times what it costs everywhere else -- for what everybody else doesn't want and was going to throw away anyway. but they ship it to the Islands because the4 people don't know any better -- and have come to expect and prefer getting screwed endlessly and relentlessly -- as long as they think their group is screwing everybody else more than every other.
So it is time for the people of Hawaii (Honolulu) to wake up and realize that is an unsustainable vision of a future, and that the only salvation, is that people have to produce more and better for less -- to build up a capitol surplus that the future generations can draw upon -- instead of everybody taking more than their fair share, as what they think they are entitled to. It should begin with the university professors -- and the teachers, and all the people one should look up to, and not just pushing their way to the front of the line to grab everything before the poor working people have a chance to even know about it.
Obviously if you're building a rail through vacant undeveloped land, there's no way the people can ride it -- and it is just one of these innumerable money grabs to create high paying jobs for the few, until the next scam. But by then, the rest of the country will wake up to the realization that the people of Hawaii (Honolulu) are just in it for the money -- promising results they have no intention of delivering -- as their Race to the Top, that all the politicians just look away admiringly.
So when somebody comes along and speaks the truth, undoubtedly it will not be the fantasy world they want to hear about with themselves at the top getting infinitely more while life in Hawaii becomes insufferable and more unequal for the privileged few the university professors and other government workers have become.
Hawaii for all -- and not just the government workers -- and their cronies.
