Revolution 2.0

Introduction: “The 9/11 terror attacks on America changed our country forever.” Wrong. Not even close. “Never forget.” We forgot shortly after September 11th, 2001. The only permanent change is the ever-powerful, and marginally useful, TSA. We profess to commemorate those who died, and to honor the first responders, with vows of unity and remembrance. Yet in our ever increasing and aggressive disunity, from all parts of the political spectrum, we dishonor them–and ourselves. That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode. Continuing: Today’s Key Point: Neither those terrorists nor the TSA are the core problem: We are. We’ll get back to this and elaborate, but first let’s look at the history of 9/11. Everyone, at least everyone over 30, remembers the horror of the 9/11 attacks. President’s Bush’s stirring speech at the site of the destroyed towers. Fresh rows of American flags on homes. For those who don’t remember, we have had days of a virtual media blitz, showing and talking about

Introduction: Sometimes slippery slopes are indeed slippery. When President Bill Clinton announced in 1992, just shy of 30 years ago, that abortions should be, “Safe, Legal and Rare,” I am guessing that a lot of people bought into that as a standard. And others saw it as the camel’s nose under the tent, which is why we are where we are today. And today, both sides of this most controversial issue are getting it all wrong; both sides beg the basic questions with their emotional arguments. Those supporting abortion cry out, “It is a woman’s right to choose!” and “My body, my choice!” Those opposing abortion are equally emotional when they say that there is no Constitutional right to kill innocent babies. Both sides ignore the key questions: 1. When does life begin?, and, When is it appropriate for the state to sanction the taking of a human life? And tying into one of the two fundamental principles here at Revolution 2.0™, do these unborn beings qualify as our Brothers as in “Am I my Brother’s Kee

Introduction: The world will have a top cop, a nation that uses its strength to instill its preferred way for the world to be and to act. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, international politics will fill the void if a world cop is either not obvious, or, as today, abdicates. With America stepping away, running away, from the role, will the top cop be Russia, or China. Or…? The question is not whether the world needs a cop, but which nation will fill that role. Being the world cop does not necessarily mean that the cop needs to indulge in “nation building”. Historically the nation acting as the world cop has its own interests in mind; it is not interested in the welfare of the nation it seeks to control. The only nation it seeks to build is itself.  It is naive to think that any nation would seek to spend its blood and treasure to create benefits for other nations if the cop nation’s national interests were not at stake. Ah, but perhaps we should be exactly that naive. That is the subject of today’s 10 minu

Introduction: The wording on a bumper sticker I saw was, “Young, Poor and Angry”. I did not add the italicized emphasis. And from the looks of the car, the young male driver was hardly poor. For purposes of the discussion in this episode, I substituted “Misled” for “Poor.” He was not poor; he has been misled into thinking that he is poor, that he is oppressed and disadvantaged. And misled to the point where he was proudly advertising his adopted anger. Does this embraced angry demeanor, this angry lifestyle, explain causes and movements like microaggressions, CRT, and the collapse toward socialism? That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode. Continuing: I saw this colorful, professionally done bumper sticker on a late model car driven by what looked like a mid-20s, white male. “Young, Poor and Angry,” screamed the sticker, with “Angry” in italics. Why? What was he angry about? Today’s Key Point: This young man has joined the ranks of the perpetually angry. He and the millions of others like him ar

Introduction: There are three things I know about God: 1. There is one, 2. You are not Him and 3, Neither am I.  Wait, Will, why are you talking about God? Isn’t https://revolution2-0.org/ (Revolution 2.0™) about culture, society and politics?  That is the subject of today’s 15 minute episode. Continuing: Core to everything we do, including culture, society and politics is having a moral compass. Mine is God, yours might be something else; in a moment we will talk about what a moral compass must be to be effective. But back to God for now. My first point is that there is a God. Some believe that the Big Bang theory explains things without needing a God, but who said “Bang!”, and who put the stuff together to go bang in the first place? Oh, and show me the person, the scientist, perhaps, who can make a blade of grass. No, don’t tell me you will start with dirt, seeds, water and sunlight. Just stand there and give me your best, “Let there be grass,” and show me what happens. And God clearly would wa

Introduction: Vice President Harris waited months before doing anything after being assigned by President Biden to take charge of our southern border, and deal with the huge and growing problems there. She basically sat on her hands, not wanting photo evidence of her being anywhere near the cages, and the desperate people with no direction about where to go or what to do. All after being essentially invited in with the promise of more “humane” immigration policies under the new administration.  VP Harris is again AWOL (military: absent without official leave) in Afghanistan, leaving her overwhelmed boss to twist in the wind. Remember, this is the same Kamala Harris who accused Mr. Biden of being racist during the primaries.  We all know that VP Harris wants to be President Harris. What we don’t know, but we are getting strong hints about, is the lengths she will go, including being outright diployal to the man who rescued her after her failed campaign in the primaries. She seems quite willing to thro

Introduction: The beautiful, misty contrails, condensation trails, that we can see behind planes high in the sky are primarily made of water, in the form of ice crystals. Some believe them to be “chemtrails,” consisting of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_weapon (chemical) or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_agent (biological agents) left in the sky by high-flying aircraft, sprayed for nefarious purposes undisclosed to the general public. They say that is the only explanation for the longer lasting trails. The moon landings were the fulfillment of many dreams, and a point of pride for all of us on earth. Moon landing conspiracy theorists claim that some or all elements of the Apollo program and the associated moon landings were hoaxes staged by NASA, possibly with the aid of other organizations. Before we scoff at, then dismiss, those who hold those beliefs, let’s remember that tens of millions believe that COVID vaccines are either ineffective or even do more harm than good. And some e

Introduction: The question is not whether https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden (Mr. Biden) is a great, or even good, President. The question is whether or not he is even barely competent; can he at least adequately handle the tasks that face him and our nation. Afghanistan gives us our first real clues about how to answer this key question.  We were never going to get an answer to that question until he became President. Mr. Biden has never worked in private industry where you are responsible for specific tasks, small or large, with bosses giving you feedback, rating you as competent, incompetent or perhaps even very good at your job. Biden has certainly never run anything, even a corner hotdog and hamburger joint, where he would have been responsible for staffing, inventory, accounting, meeting payroll and making a profit so he could give raises, hand out promotions–and just do what was necessary to stay in business.  He was never a governor, or even a mayor. The United States of America is the

Introduction: Abandoning tests and other standards of success as  measurements of admittance to better schools, and no longer requiring even minimal proficiency in reading, writing or math prior to graduation from high school, is far worse than what it has been labeled: The soft bigotry of low expectations. It should be called what it is: cruel and dysfunctional application of racist beliefs. Those determined to succeed, despite their strong academic record and test scores, will find a way to earn a great education even in this anti-merit environment. And the elites will be there to tax these hard working students as they succeed in life, and give those tax proceeds to the people and groups they cruelly allowed to slide by. Continuing: Let’s start with an example from the Wall Street Journal. “Politicians and school officials in Oregon are embarrassed that too many minority children fail tests designed to confirm they’ve mastered the ‘essential skills’ that high school is meant to teach. So in the na

Introduction We have a massive, entirely avoidable and inexcusable crisis at our Southern border. But the crisis is merely a symptom; the disease is in DC–and in us.  That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode. Continuing The Democrats want more voters who will be in their camp, with the idea of ensuring that no Republican will ever again be elected to national office–and fewer to state offices. The Republicans in part want cheap labor, and in larger part have no idea how to either get their act or their courage together and get the right things done. And as is often the case the right thing is so very clear. More clear specifics on border and immigration solutions in a few minutes. https://www.foxnews.com/media/ny-times-washington-post-ignore-biden-admin-admitting-error (The Washington Post) criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border crisis and pushed for a coherent strategy to deal with the record number of migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally.

Introduction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity (Sean Hannity), stalwart in his opposition to taxpayers paying off student loans, voices a full-throated commercial in support of people who owe money to the IRS using his recommended solution to be relieved of some or all of that obligation. When someone does not pay his student loans, the taxpayers get stuck. When someone does not pay what they owe to the IRS, the taxpayers get stuck again. When a credit card holder defaults on his bill, his fellow card holders pay up. And when an insured takes advantage of an insurance company, his fellow insured are harmed.  We are all in this waterbed of life together. When someone defaults or cheats, millions of others get stuck. And not just with student loans. That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode. Continuing Today’s Key Point: We are all in this water bed of life together. It is impossible to lie down or even push ever so gently anywhere without affecting others.  Ducking out on our financial o

Introduction Having a tough week, or even a tough year, does not constitute a mental health issue. This includes the exhausted, over stressed stay-at-home parents, performers of all types, and, well, you and me.   The overwrought claims of mental health issues, both by the person involved and certain politicians and media, are, like so much of what is going on today, agenda driven, not fact and circumstance driven. That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode. Continuing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fonda (Henry Fonda), a WWII vet and one of the greatest stage and screen actors of his time, would vomit every time before he walked onto the stage. Fonda, the winner of 2 Academy Awards an Emmy, a Tony and numerous other honors, would throw up each and every time. Did that mean that he was suffering from mental illness? No, not at all. He simply had something going on in his head and he was dealing with it. Successfully.  A hitter in baseball in a two-month slump does not indicate the need for co

Introduction Get the jab to protect yourself and others. People who assert the My Body, My Choice argument in defending actions like getting abortions and not getting vaccines beg the question of whether it is indeed their body or only their body. In other words, if government simply allows certain actions, or mandates others, is the government doing the right thing by protecting others from our actions, or doing the wrong thing by protecting us from ourselves? Oh, and if you care about your life, and the friends and loved ones who need you and want you here, get the jab. Stop pretending that you know how clinical trials should be conducted, or that you are waiting for more data to examine, as if you know how to gather and examine volumes of data in the first place. That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode. Continuing We have all accepted the argument that smoking around others affects their bodies; no rational person makes the My Body, My Choice argument with smoking. Now, what about seatbelts;

Introduction Universal Service speaks to what we feel that we owe to our fellow countrymen and the nation itself. Universal Income speaks to what we feel those very same people and nation owes to us. Universal Service speaks to what we feel that we owe to our fellow countrymen and the nation itself. Universal Income speaks to what we feel those very same people and nation owes to us. Are we asking what our countrymen can do for us, or what we can do for our countrymen? That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode. Continuing Universal Service is also known as Universal Mandatory Service, or Universal Compulsory Service. I don’t like either term, because words like mandatory and compulsory make the service provided sound more like a hated task than something we all ought to know that we owe our neighbors and our country–and want to provide.  I am not suggesting Universal Military Service; I am suggesting Universal National Service. The duration of the service could vary with the type. For

Introduction “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is an instructive and prophetic folktale written by Danish author https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hans-Christian-Andersen-Danish-author (Hans Christian Andersen), about a vain emperor who is easily swindled and then exposed before his subjects. Today’s version of the swindlers who deceived the vain emperor are the leaders, media and others who, for personal and political gain, substitute race for Karl Marx’s dangerous and failed views of class, i.e., wealth-based discrimination and oppression.  That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode. Continuing At first blush, doesn’t this sound like a little child’s fantasy? I mean, here is an emperor walking round stark naked in front of crowds of his people, believing that he is wearing the most magnificent of regal robes. Instead of seeing himself as the vain fool that he is, even after a child cried out, “But he hasn’t got anything on,” and the people saw that the child was right,

Introduction God is First. When I am getting it right, I am working so that I and my 7.5B fellow human beings all finish in a pack as a strong second to Him. That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode. Continuing People of faith will sometimes say, “I am second,” an appropriate recognition of their place in the universe as not being God. I once heard a speaker say, “There are 3 things I know about God: 1. There is one. 2. I am not God and 3. Neither are you.” As we often do here at Revolution 2.0™, we are taking a truth and adding another, related and important truth, in this case adding our responsibility to help everyone, here, there and everywhere, to be in a worldwide tie for that precious and valuable second place. You know, like in court, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We will need to define how we decide who is ahead, behind or tied in that event we call life. In a footrace, we look for who crossed the finish line first; if it is a team game, the score settles that.

Introduction No voter suppression exists or is planned for anywhere, including the “headline” states of Texas and Georgia.  That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode. Continuing In Texas, early voting starts 17 days before the election, and ends 4 days prior. Mail-in ballots can be requested by mail, fax or email. You may vote by absentee ballot in Texas if you are 65 years or older, disabled, or otherwise unable to vote in person. Polls are open 7 AM to 7 PM on election day.  In Georgia, early voting starts the fourth Monday prior to the election, ending the Friday before. The State of Georgia allows absentee voting by mail and in-person; no excuse is required to vote by mail. Absentee ballots may be requested up to 78 days prior to the election. Ballots may be returned by mail, fax or as an email attachment. Polls are open from 7AM to 7 PM on election day. What voter who cared at all about exercising his voting franchise, who was willing to expend even minimal effort for his voice to be heard

Introduction Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s loyalty to his home state of Virginia and not the United (key word here) States was the reason that the Civil War lasted for four years, created more casualties than all of our other wars put together, tore our country apart, and reduced the South to ashes.  President Lincoln first offered command of the Union Army to Lee, who turned it down saying that his loyalty was to Virginia, not the Union. Days after he refused Lincoln’s offer, he resigned his commission in the US Army, accepted a commission as a Major General in the Confederate Army, and fought brilliantly against the US under the Confederate flag, winning victory after victory despite being outmanned and outgunned. How is that any different from people and groups today who turn their backs on the flag? And none of them are leading an army determined to defeat the US in combat.  Had Lee accepted Lincoln’s offer, seeing himself as an American first, and a Virginan second, we would have had 90% f

Introduction “Peace with honor,” was the phrase President Richard Nixon used on January 23, 1973 to describe the Paris Peace Accords that ended the Vietnam War. What really happened was a disorderly evacuation, appropriately ending as a CIA officer helped the last, desperate evacuees to get onto the last Air America helicopter to leave the rooftop of the American Embassy in Saigon on April 29th, 1975.  We disgraced ourselves in Vietnam. After promising to lead South Vietnam to freedom and democratization, tens of thousands of real and suspected American sympathizers were tortured and killed by the North Vietnamese after we fled.  We are doing it again in Afghanistan, where we once again promised to lead a country to freedom and democratization. With President Joe Biden saying that he “trusts” the Afghan Army because it is “well trained and well equipped”, once again, thousands of real and suspected American sympathizers will be tortured and killed by the Taliban after we run away.  That is the subject of

Introduction Yes, Affirmative Action is reverse racism, supposedly intended to right historical wrongs. Any racism, reverse or not, is wrong. Today’s episode is not an argument against reverse racism. Today’s episode is an appeal to common sense and a clear knowledge of what works–and what does not work. People, individuals or groups, succeed when they are motivated, work hard over time, and know what to do when they do the hard work. They grow strong, succeed, and know how to lead others in the same direction. Handouts, regardless of the motivation, produce the opposite effect.  That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode. Continuing This issue goes to the heart of how differently we think, or at least how we think we think differently. Despite the political and media swirl, we all know, don’t we, that growth comes when a person digs in, despite what the odds are, works hard over time and moves forward. And helps others to do the same. That’s why the best parenting includes lessons in earning