Your Prayers Have Been Answered

This is a message to all who believe in God and pray for peace (and also to all who desire peace and do not believe in God). 

If you really want peace, your prayers have been answered.  God has given you a roadmap for achieving peace, justice, and prosperity but God will not make you follow that path.  It is your responsibility to open your heart and your mind in order that you might see and respond appropriately to the gift that has been given to you. 

God is not going to make you do anything, for God loves you in freedom.  Part of the responsibility of having been given the freedom to think for yourself is the responsibility to take appropriate action if it is within your purview to do so, and to move towards the goals you wish or pray for once you have been given the tools and the insight you need to proceed. 

If you are expecting God to relieve you of the responsibility and necessity of advancing your goals through your own purposeful and responsible behavior of which you are capable, then that is an expectation that probably will not be fulfilled, at least not in a way that you might hope. 

If you are somewhat confused by the options available to you and question your own ability to separate that which is real from that which is illusion, then you might rightfully ask God for help in sorting it all out.  If you ask with an open heart and with sincerity, that help will be given. 

I can tell you this.  God is real and not a myth.  Your prayers and desire for peace and justice have been heard, and a path to their fulfillment and/or appropriate clues to spark your imagination, have been provided.  The rest is up to you.  To follow this path does not require a belief in God, but it does require a belief in the power of the truth and a commitment to intellectual integrity. 

Who am I?

I am a messenger.  Over the last seven years I have been delivering the message.  On a number of occasions I have even repeated myself, thinking that perhaps repetition might be useful, particularly since there are always newcomers to the realization that a better world requires personal responsibility and participation.  Now that I've told you I am a messenger and have delivered a body of work which I refer to as the message, "the ball is now in your court". 

I do, in fact, sympathize with you, for the task before you is not an easy one.  A lot of what you believe or think you know are illusions propagated by religious and cultural institutions steeped in dogma.  Religions are attempts at explaining what is not very well understood by its proponents.  One common illusion is that having an exquisite relationship with God requires a religion.  It does not.

It is not always easy to let go of misunderstandings, particularly when the misunderstandings were presented to you by people you love and trust.  These people did not betray you... they only shared with you what they were taught; what they believed to be true. 

But human history is a story of discovery.  Old beliefs rightfully die and illusion is replaced with something closer to the truth, as human beings gain experience and learn more about their universe.

There will always be greater knowledge and deeper understanding ahead of you if you allow and keep yourself open to that possibility.

In any event, these are interesting times and God has not, will not, betray you.  But your happiness, success, and freedom will require that you actually use the full measure of your intelligence and abilities.

God loves you and so do I.

Mark A. Goldman
www.gpln.com

Open Letter to the People of Planet Earth

Dear Friends,

I would like to say something about oil and also make a few other comments:

It took nature probably 200 to 300 million years to create the entire supply of earth’s oil and we have, in approximately 150 years already used up about half of it. To think that it is right and proper for us to continue to search for and extract more oil now is quite improper. The rest of the oil does not rightly belong to us (we have inadvertently already used much more than our fair share… the rest belongs to future generations).

It is unconscionable to continue to search out new sources of oil, or to deplete the sources we can already identify, in the face of what we now know.  Any additional oil we use from this point forward, no matter where it's located, is wanton theft from our own progeny.   

Even with our limited scientific knowledge, we know that oil can be converted into wonderful products and miracle-like compounds, such as medicines and plastics. We need to conserve the rest for these kinds of uses, some of which we might not even be able to imagine right now.  We should not continue to extract as much oil as we can find to burn up as fuel when other alternatives are available or could be made available if we had the political will.

Is there anything more selfish and malicious than for us to continue to extract more oil for fuel, when our fervent hope is that our children and grandchildren and their progeny will continue to make Earth their home perhaps at least for as long as mankind has already been here. Whether estimates from experts conclude that the current amount of oil left in the ground will last another 50, 100, or 1,000 years is not the point. We should be preserving as much of the remaining supply as possible for future generations.

Fortunately, a little research can demonstrate quite clearly that there is no need whatsoever for us to be so dependent on oil. And there’s no need whatsoever for us to mismanage our land either, as we are now doing, having foolishly embarked on a new project to squander our rich soil to grow plants that we intend to burn as fuel just like we did with oil. We and future generations will surely need that land for food. 

Managing our resources the way we do now is insane when you consider that other technologies are already available or nearly so, and better suited. Every day the sun sends us more energy than we will ever need.  We would be wise to focus our sights on learning how to use it.

What needs to be done…

1. We need to restructure and repair our government so that our most capable, wise and responsible citizens are the ones who end up representing us.
2. We need to insist that corporations do not and should not be treated as if they had human rights.  Only people should have human rights.  People who run corporations need to be held accountable and should not be able to hide behind a corporate veil in order to absolve themselves of culpability when they make decision that do not serve the public interest.
3. We need to believe in the power of telling the truth and we need to make justice and peace our personal and national purpose and goal… not as rhetoric, but as true intention.

Please consider these thoughts and see how you might contribute to expanding and refining them as you participate in the various aspects of your life. 

Very truly yours,

Mark A. Goldman

www.gpln.com

The Last Man Standing

George Bush is one of the best teachers we’ve ever had. His administration offers us a great opportunity. The lies and incompetence of his administration are so transparent that it gives us the opportunity to gain insight into things that we don't usually get to see... things that went on in other administrations as well as this one... but were better hidden.  (Read Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner).

Evidently the powers that be are so confident that they have the situation so under control that they can now afford to have us come to the realization that we are powerless to stop them and/or turn things around. All that’s needed to complete their strategy is for us to admit to this new reality and then resign ourselves to it. We might still have a chance to change this reality but this window of opportunity, once closed, probably will not open again for a long time.

Last week I got an email informing me that the Chamber of Commerce in my community was hosting a meeting where local business leaders were to discuss “traffic flow, parking in town and recent breakins.” Everyone was invited.

This was a good thing for the Chamber to do I thought. But it got me to wondering if and when the Chamber would ever consider hosting a meeting to discuss the loss of our purchasing power due to war inspired inflation, wide spread government corruption, the degradation of our Constitution, and the loss of our civil liberties.

I was going to go to the meeting and ask this question but I decided that for me to do so would be counter productive. People barely tolerate my ramblings in our free local newspaper. Some people say I am a left wing radical and so anything I say now is viewed by them as not worth the time of day.  I personally don't see anything radical about any of my views, but obviously that depends on your point of view.   In any event, I believe that if I had gone to the meeting I would have been told that these are not the kinds of questions that fall within the purview of the Chamber of Commerce and, of course, that would normally be true.  But these are not normal times.  Two years ago I was told the same thing by our local Community Council when I tried to ask whether or not George Bush and Dick Cheney’s should be allowed to keep their jobs. That same question is even taboo in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Where do responsible citizens go when it's time to defend our country and our rights, and the people who we hired to do that job are too afraid to do it and have gone AWOL?

People don’t think they have much to worry about. They figure, “As long as I don’t break any laws, cause a ruckus, or be too annoying, what do I have to worry about… I don’t see where my civil liberties are being impinged.” 

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not so much that folks don’t care about their freedoms and financial security. It’s that maybe they don’t care that much about the freedom and financial security of other people, particularly the kind of people who always seem to be making a fuss or getting into trouble with the powers that be.

But here’s the problem. The George Bush’s of the world say they are out to fight evil. Right now, according to them, most of the evil people in the world seem to live in places that have lots of oil. Once those people are brought under control or gotten out of the way, perhaps most of the so-called evil people will then be those who are always complaining about how administrations lie, cheat, invade privacy, inhibit free speech, offer tax breaks to the rich and no bid contracts to their friends or just have the wrong color skin, practice the wrong religion, or speak the wrong language. 

Somehow people who are out to fight evil are never at a loss at finding evil in whoever seems to be in their way now, or might be in the future. In that consciousness, the only real way to get rid of evil once and for all will be when the only folks left are The Last Man Standing… and his or her slaves. If you want to play that game, and eventually have that game be what your life is about, then all you have to do is… nothing.

I Can Show You How To Build An Empire

So if it’s an empire you want, I can show you how to build an empire. But I see no reason to do it like a bungling fool. Why would I spread nuclear waste on property that will one day be part of my own empire? Why would I build an empire in a way that causes people to despise me... forcing me to spend all my wealth constantly defending my gains… making up lies, arresting people, building prisons? What a waste after all that work.

The problem is that these would-be builders of empire have no imagination or finesse. They haven’t the sense to look at history and see that what they are doing has already been tried and failed. They repeat the same stupidities like greedy idiot lemmings. They make war, waste resources and leave ruin and animosity in their wake. They lie, plunder, cheat, and hide behind secrets… proliferating distrust, decay, and incompetence. 

Building an Empire might actually be a good idea if, it weren’t always being pursued by idiots and fools.

Even those who get rich fanning the flames of war, end up depressed and morally bankrupt. They live their lives in the shadow of lies, forced to hide their methods and accomplishments even from their own children.  All they are ever able to enjoy are the accoutrements of wealth… they don’t even know what real wealth is.

The problem is, these empire builders really don’t understand the power of intelligence, creativity, or wisdom. They could be wealthy, admired and loved. Instead they trade true riches for personal power and then wonder why joy eludes them. Theirs is the work of pretenders and fools.

Their empire is collapsing. One day mine will rise from the rubble. 

Truth, honor, dignity, compassion, courage, love.

www.gpln.com

Nothing to Fear

I have been offering commentary for quite a while in an attempt to alert the community at large as to certain dangers that we all face now. I think there is a war going on and I’m not talking about the death and destruction that’s going on in Iraq and Afghanistan or the death and destruction that soon might be visited upon Iran.

I’m talking about a war that is silently being pursued by some of us against the rest of us right here at home. What I observe is a shift in consciousness that has taken place in our culture. It is the result of powerful people using their money and influence to slowly dominate and corrupt whoever they can in order to further their own purposes. They do this without understanding or caring how their behavior undermines the quality of life for everyone else. It is a cancer that has in fact led to the end of our republic as we know it or once thought we did.  

Our resources and our wealth are being diverted into the hands of a few. The means of accomplishing this are varied but we see it happening in the manipulation of markets, in the cloak of secrecy and the unaccountability of government, and in the pursuit of war, among other things. We have been lied to in order to pursue war. We have been lied to in order to have us turn a blind eye to the emptying of our treasury. We have been lied to in order to influence us to become indebted and therefore enslaved… usually without being aware of what is happening. We have been lied to in order to make us ignorant, preoccupied, divided, weak, and compliant.  Why are our children fighting in far off lands when the real war is going on right here?

There is not enough space here to recount, nor am I aware of all the lies and deceptions that are being used to destroy our wealth and undermine our culture and happiness. But what I can say is that this pernicious state of consciousness is being fed and nurtured (consciously by some and unconsciously by others), not by any one person or institution, but rather by a great many people and institutions who have unwittingly accepted their role as competing participants in a perceived reality that functions only as a zero sum game. In this reality, winning is everything. If you live in a reality where winning is everything, then you do not believe in freedom, democracy, justice, truth, honor, dignity, compassion, courage, love, or peace.

W.C Fields once said that, “you can’t cheat an honest man.” That is generally true but not always. People who have certain gaps in their education, experience, or training can be cheated even if they start out honest. Once a person comes to believe that winning is everything, they are then willing to deceive and cheat to win, even though they may still think of themselves as honest.  In some circles, this is how things are and the results are tragic. 

I have identified in my writings some of the hypocrisy we live with because of how confused we are now... and I have also offered solutions (www.gpln.com). 

What you should realize is that the only solutions available require self-awareness and a commitment to personal responsibility. There is no institution that can change consciousness for the better. Only individual human beings can do that one person at a time -- alone -- through personal determination and commitment.  No government can do it, no corporation can do it, no religion can do it. 

Why should you believe what I am saying rather than what you have been taught to believe or have come to believe? I’m afraid I don’t have a good answer for you other than to offer you the opportunity to read the body of work that I have created.  In those writings I have attempted to share with you just about everything I could think of that might be useful to responsible people who want to live in peace and in freedom.  

Our ship of state is in rough waters now. I explain how we can navigate these rough seas and sail this boat safely home. But neither I nor anyone else can be of any use without your permission and your own intention. Why? Because you are free to choose. You are loved in freedom. I’ve charted out one way home; there are many others who will suggest another way. You are free to seek your own destiny. No one can take that away from you. You will choose your own destiny… actively or passively, consciously or unconsciously.  

I can assure you that no one is going to come and save you from your future. The future is not something to be saved from. One thing worth remembering is that no matter how fierce the winds blow; no matter how off course you might think you’ve drifted, the truth is, you have nothing to fear. One day you will reach the far shore… and on your way there, you will never be alone, you will not be forgotten, and you will always be loved.

Debating Iraq

In arguing why we should stay in Iraq during a recent debate, Republican Mike Huckabee, on stage with other candidates, gave this as his reason why:

He spoke about a lesson he learned from his mother when he was a child. What he learned from her, he said, was that if he went into a store and “if I picked something off the shelf at the store and I broke it, I bought it. I learned, I don’t pick something off the shelf I can’t afford to buy.” He went on to say, “Well, what we did in Iraq, we essentially broke it. It’s our responsibility to do the best we can to try to fix it before we turn away…” He then went on to say that he agrees with Senator McCain, that we shouldn’t leave Iraq until we can leave with honor.

First of all, we must all understand that Iraq wasn’t something sitting on a shelf that was for sale, something that was ours to pick up, handle, break, or pay for. It wasn’t a toy or a dish that we broke. And we didn’t just break something that can be replaced. How do you buy back the missing arms and legs of thousands of innocent men, women, and children? And how do you fix the brain damage that your bombs caused or replace the eyes that your shrapnel ripped from heads. How do buy back the dead parents, the dead children, the dead brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who were murdered because you walked into that ‘store’. How do you apologize to parents for the birth defects of their children yet to be born for possibly generations to come because you poisoned their country with depleted uranium. How do you buy back the innocence of youth that you stole from millions of children who are now afraid to sleep at night for fear of the dreams they will encounter there. How do give back the homes, the savings, the joy that you took away; the basic human rights you stole; how do you fix the grief and insanity that you caused through torture and your blind negligence, malfeasance, and inhumanity. How do you replace the years you stole and dreams you killed. How do you bring back the neighborhoods and the goodwill that once existed between neighbors? Tell me how do you fix that? What would your mother say?

And what honor is there if you don’t pay full price for what you broke? The only honor possible would require more courage than anyone on that stage or anyone on just about any other stage has yet to demonstrate.

The only honor possible is the repudiation of the mindset and consciousness that allows people to stand by and quietly allow atrocities to take place and the rule of law to be demeaned.

To take responsibility would require that you understand and admit your crimes and be able to honestly ask forgiveness… and then lay out your plan for how you will respond once you understand what you have done.

Figure it out… what do we all owe the Iraqi people, our own people, all people, for what we took from them without honor, without decency, without permission, without reverence for life, and without love.

There are those who will argue that we went into Iraq for an honorable purpose and/or we did the best we could there. I don’t believe either of those propositions is true. At least Huckabee recognizes that we broke it. I don’t believe he understands what we broke, how bad we broke it, or what kind of people we have unconsciously become to allow ourselves to break it in the way that we did.

Before there can be any honor in action, particularly in debate, there must be a willingness to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about what you know. And that includes being willing and open to understand what you currently don’t know.

If you go into a store and destroy the merchandise, poison the building, kill the owner and his children, you don’t get to buy your way out of it. Not this time. The only honor that is left to you is your own transformation. That begins with recognizing what you have done. Until you have done at least that much, you will not even begin to understand what responsibility is.

And you know what, we are all in this together, as individuals, as a country, and as world citizens.

Until we acknowledge what we have done; until we understand that what we did and what we are still doing is dishonorable, there is no honor. Leaving Iraq is not good enough. Staying in Iraq is not good enough. Until you understand what is good enough, you will not have your honor back and you will not understand who is or who is not qualified to be President of the United States.

http://www.gpln.com/commentary.htm

On Sub-Prime Behavior

The way I see it, it was trickle down economics, a penchant for war, along with outright corruption and fraud that will cause the economic dislocations and poverty for so many Americans in the months and years to come.

It is estimated that before Bush’s (our) wars have ended, Congress will have pumped perhaps two trillion inflationary dollars into these misadventures, much of this money squandered into the coffers of corrupt war mongering corporate vultures, the managers and stockholders of which, having become bloated with their illegitimate war profits, poured them into hedge funds hoping to leverage their gains into even more undeserved wealth. These hedge funds, using as much leverage as they could, turned around and, through their corrupt intermediaries, used this money to lure unsuspecting, unqualified home buyers to purchase homes they could not afford.

The wars are illegal, Congress is criminally negligent, the profits were fraudulent, the hedge fund instruments were deceptive, and the lenders were cheats, as were many of the home buyers themselves who were willing to lie about their incomes on mortgage application papers in order to get them approved. In some cases it was only ignorance and not dishonesty that allowed this to happen, but corruption and dishonesty were the main events.

Between the tax cuts for the rich and war, the US treasury was wiped out. In the final analysis it was outright theft. These policies stole the healthcare, education, hope, and financial security from millions of Americans to secure political payoffs for a wealthy few. The booming economy is and was an inflationary illusion characterized by a dismantling of our manufacturing base and replaced with a temporary bubble of housing prices. Stupified, many Americans mortgaged their illusions to buy toys. And in the coming months a lot more of their illusionary wealth will continue to disappear through a hidden tax called inflation.

There are those who will generate all kinds of theories as to why the housing bubble came to pass including the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, but the reason is crystal clear and bright: Poverty in the richest country in the world is self-induced and engineered. Where do you point the finger… the proper direction is always straight ahead to the person you see in the mirror. Every lie, every deception and self-deception, every dishonesty that we think we can get away with hurts someone, very often someone we love, and always ourselves.

People who are lucky enough at some point in their lives to have been truly nurtured and loved will be inspired to want to improve themselves as human beings. In that effort they eventually will come to realize that for that to happen ignorance must give way to education, formal or otherwise. On the way to becoming educated, a diligent person will learn that intellectual integrity is necessary for anyone who wants to be able to separate truth from fiction. And the search for truth leads one to the understanding that before one can know the truth, he or she must strive always to unflinchingly tell the truth… to oneself and to others… even when no one else is looking and when no one else will ever know the difference.

In the end, having traveled this path, we discover that the search for truth leads to love, which is how it all began in the first place.

Truth, honor, dignity, compassion, courage, love… the answer and the way।

http://www.gpln.com/onwork.htm
http://www.gpln.com/howiseeit.htm