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Indeed, chaos reigns these days. At least in America. The Donald Days are proof of that. Nonsense Executive Orders that have little precedent, slim logic, and no legal consequence. That’s their point, you see. EOs are issued for immediate effect, then when reaction time ensues, lawsuits occur. Court sessions engage and chaos happens. Chao from the EO immediate effect, then lawsuit chaos, then court chaos. That is the plan. Meanwhile, millions think the EOs are legitimate and both public and government employees abide by the order. Chaos follows. International friends and enemies alike are baffled but think the actions are real. They make decisions accordingly and chaos ensues. International power hubs meet to discuss the issues and chaos expands. No one knows what to think other than America has turned a corner, is nuts, and allies must take actions that focus on their own needs. Alliances crumble, international markets crumble, and soon even opinions crumble. We observe the ...

Conclusion What truly matters to us is important. These last several days I have posted a series of 9 blogs which explored the whole and the details of this topic. I found myself needing to explore what matters to me because so much of what is happening in life is alien to my philosophy and value system. It is also alien to most of our philosophy and value system. I’m sure there are those who disagree with me, and you on this. But there it is, anyway, matters that are important to you and I simply do not resonate with others in the same manner. I’m also certain that much of what we agree with that matters they agree with, too. It’s just that they have exceptions in some items. Strange that this would be so when all of life appears to be so interconnected. How can some of us find value in similar things and yet be so different in others? And that is precisely what governance deals with all the time. When I worked for the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Dean and I wrestled...

I interrupt my Matters series for this post on the death/assassination of Charlie Kirk. First, I did not like the man. I thought he was a conservative troublemaker first, last and always. His purpose was to foment discussion centered on difference and hatred of same. That appears to be his primary calling card. Second, the conservative cause is not on governance but on power of the few. They name it as governance so they may seem worthy of consideration. But this is a fake face. Conservatism is mostly about the power of the few over the many, so wealth accumulates for those few. Simple as that.  Third, attracting the college aged population into this discussion was Kirk's way to build a larger conservative base. Fourth, Kirk's methods generated a lot of money mostly destined for him personally. He became a wealthy man. He hoped to maintain this for a long time. Fifth, he apparently wasn't conservative enough for some people. One of them shot and killed him. Sixth, the conse...

Commerce, Banking and Economics People live in proximity to one another. They rely on them for small, personal actions and services. Help with building a fence, working some farm tasks, sewing clothes, sharing or trading produce, celebrating special events and sharing meals and their preparation to mark the festivities. For larger transactions, we buy and sell things to one another. This micro commercial activity expands to the community, and then to larger regions and markets. Trading on scale requires a means of compensating trading partners in some form of money. In early days such ‘money’ was in the form of gold, precious stones, and similar small entities of value. Establishing stable values for each was a problem, so currency and coinage were created by state governments, soon followed by the national government in 1750. Alexander Hamilton came up with the idea for a Federal Reserve Bank and system. That established the means of managing the national economy through these fun...

Governance Operations, Democracy We the People is the core of Governance, whether federal, regional, state or municipality. It is we who authorize the creation of government in the first place. All power begins with us – We the People. Without that, no system of governance exists. Yes, it is that simple. Operating the governance system is another matter, and a complex one at that. Not only is the design difficult to come up with, but making it work at many levels simultaneously is tricky. Our Founding Fathers in the late 1700’s struggled with this. Amazingly, they succeeded. Yes, their document was incomplete. They worked to amend it several times, the Bill of Rights the first example. It embraces the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, including the several freedoms we know and love. Freedom of Speech is one, Freedom of Assembly is another, Freedom from Religious constraints created by government is yet another. The Right to Bear Arms is another of those freedoms. Proo...

Education and Critical Thinking: A baby is born and the immediate family cares, nurtures and educates it for the next few years. In truth, they continue such efforts for many years, even decades, but they seek and receive help in formally educating the child in public and private schools. Kindergarten is usually the first formal foray into education outside the home. That is followed by the elementary grades of one through eighth. Seventh and eighth grades are commonly referred to as junior high school or middle school. Then the high school years are added covering nineth through twelfth grades. K through 12 was long considered sufficient education for most people, but the commonality of college educations followed as international relations grew exponentially following the second world war. Being well educated soon was thought to include a college education of four more years. In the 1960’s graduate education became increasingly expected, at least including a master’s degree in so...

Health and Human Services: there is no leap from safety of person and property to a governing role in providing and ensuring access to health and human services. All sorts of these services include: healthcare and clinics, hospitals and nursing facilities, research on causes and treatments for illness and injury, manufacture, distribution, research and invention of pharmaceuticals need in healthcare overall; accessibility to adequate shelter, food and nutrition, and clothing. All these things are considered basic components of living standards. It can and should be argued at what standard these services are guaranteed by government, but the basic nature of their presence and accessibility cannot be argued because without these services life and property would not exist or survive. When a child is born, the first service provided is healthcare. The act of birth requires that service. Even in a remote location, a family member or friend is present to assist the mother in giving birth...

Safety of Person I can be only if I am safe to be. You as well. In early days, weapons were gathered to protect us from others we did not know or trust. In time those weapons became tools to hunt and gather game for food. But the focus on safety came in the form of shelter, family members, groups of others, and social structures designed for the purpose. Sheriffs and their posses, came into being in rural areas. Police and marshal services were used in urban areas. Nationally, defense groups were formed, first in the army, then the navy. Weaponry came later but it did so in a dizzying array of materials, systems and personnel. The modern-day military is not just enormous, it is also sophisticated and based on high technology. So, national defense became a thing and was most likely the primary function of the federal government. Regional and local policing agencies came afterward and a function of state government. The role of government focused on these primal needs, personal...

Note: Matters 3 was unavailable; using Matters 4 today Safety of Things : similar to Safety of Person, safety of things refers to all forms of property. This includes property, buildings, equipment, furniture, appliances, clothing and all sorts of physical things. These are typically owned by an individual or a group of people like associations, corporations and that sort of thing. Things are an important feature of American life. Keeping up with the Joneses was a common saying through much of my early life. Buying bigger or better than someone else was the mark that a person was better than another. Much effort was invested in looking better than others through the clothing and styling of our hair and other worn accoutrements. A biggie was the shinier, bigger and more costly car adorning the driveway. Or the house, its exterior décor and size being a major measure of superiority. And property, of course, was a huge mark of better than. Its location, size and features (mountains, r...

Freedom of Self. Who am I, who are my core family members and a whole lot more is involved here. Growing up, we get clues on who we are. It is not automatic that we know. It builds and evolves day by day. We know first who responds quickly to our cries and wails. Our needs are met by this person who normally turns out to be mom. Alternatives appear soon thereafter – dad, aunts and grandmothers. A sitter or day nurse perhaps, but mom is the primary person for caring. We learn we are somehow important to them so we must be important to our self; only we can’t really think that because we don’t have words or comprehension to know any of this. It’s just a beginning we have here. In these early days of life. Over many days, weeks, months and years, we come to know our self. We come to know the self as distinct from others, but we still don’t know the language that helps our thinking of this, knowing this. That comes of course with a lot of experience. Later we even know what is more impor...

Given the chaos of American democracy in 2025, what are we to do? What matters and what doesn’t? Before attempting to answer that question, perhaps we need to define the current situation, so we know we are focusing on the right circumstances in the first place. Understanding situation, its boundaries, causes and agents, will help direct our attention and energy to satisfactorily address the situation. In days gone by, Americans have come to expect expertise in our social order and government structures, our institutional lives, to know what is going on and the what and how of it. That then leads to solutions that we can depend on solving the problems. But today’s Trumpian chaos begs serious examination, study and research before taking action. Or does it? We are encountering a decline in public trust in our institutions of culture, society, and government. We are not certain the people in positions of power and accountability are actually trustworthy enough for us to rely on for...

Southwest : I was born in southern California. I traveled often to Arizona and New Mexico. Love both states. Stunning scenery unique to the region. Wonderful weather mostly. Have to watch winter temps and clouds; will it be rain or snow, or an ice storm? One has to take care about this. The scenery of open land, sand and rock, mesa and mountain, are super fulfilling for me. The animal life is another dimension of fascination. The internet is alive with phots of Zion and Bryce canyons in Utah, and of course the Grand Canyon in Arizona. All favorite haunts of mine. I dream of another car trip to the region. Each photo and video on the internet pose a calling to me. When will this happen Dogs : the internet, especially Facebook, is jam packed with videos of small, furry dogs too cute to describe. Fascinating and memories of my own past dogs. All adorable and loving. They needed to be close and cuddly. I needed it too. But now I can’t afford to foster them, even walk them. A big miss in li...