My Musings on a Saturday Morning

1. Corporate Influence on Wealth & Ethics

Most production, and therefore wealth, in our country comes from corporations. Though owned by individuals, corporations function as collective entities driven solely by profit.
Unlike individuals, who navigate ethics across all aspects of life, corporations adhere only to financial ethics—what serves their bottom line.

2. Government’s Role in Wealth & Power

The government derives revenue from taxing producers and from monetary manipulation (e.g., Federal Reserve policies) that detach money from real economic value.
To maintain power, government supports corporate interests in exchange for financial backing, fostering crony capitalism.

3. The Cycle of Political Control

Lawmakers secure votes by redistributing wealth from producers to non-producers, ensuring electoral support.
Corporations, controlling major media, amplify distractions, divisive narratives, and selective viewpoints, keeping the public confused and disengaged.

4. The Resulting Stagnation

People remain trapped in a cycle of confusion, passive consumption, and manipulated political participation.
While corporations are not inherently bad, unchecked cronyism, economic manipulation, and controlled education systems are the root of national decline.

The Core Issues & Their Solutions

1. Monetary Reform

The Federal Reserve must be abolished or restructured, tying money to tangible commodities.
Fiat money enables artificial economic manipulation, weakening the system.
Money must reflect real productivity and confidence in economic exchange.
Update: February 2025. Bitcoin, a finite commodity, free from government control or that of any entity, has come about since this article was originally written. It is very promising.

2. Economic Incentives & Taxation

Rewarding non-production weakens society.
Laws must align with the principle that productivity should be encouraged and penalizing it (e.g., progressive taxation) should end.
Wealth transfers from producers to non-producers create dependency and diminish overall prosperity.

3. Education Reform

The education system must be restored to its fundamental purpose: enabling survival and competence.
Learning should focus on practical application, logical reasoning, and data evaluation rather than indoctrination.
Education should be based in understanding of words, practical application and approaches that are not so steep a gradient as to leave folks behind.
Humanities should be taught as perspectives, not absolute truths.
Psychology must be exposed as an ideological framework rather than a science.
Drugging children for behavior management should cease.
True literacy and self-reliance must be restored.

Conclusion

Fixing monetary policy, economic incentives, and education will naturally correct the broader systemic issues. Calls for term limits or tax policy tweaks miss the root causes. A functional system relies on able individuals playing on a level field, not manipulated actors in a rigged game.

Ken Risley 5 October 2013 – updated Feb 2025

Our Problems in a Nutshell