“What’s “just” has been debated for centuries, but let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then, tell me how much of what I earn “belongs” to you — and why?”
– Walter Williams
Williams was born into an AfricanAmerican family. His family during childhood consisted of himself, his mother, and his sister. His father played no role in raising either child.[3] He grew up in Philadelphia. The family initially lived in West Philadelphia, moving to North Philadelphia and the Richard Allen housing projects when Williams was ten. His neighbors included a young Bill Cosby. Williams knew many of the individuals that Cosby speaks of from his childhood, including Weird Harold and Fat Albert.[4]
Williams was a talented high school student who displayed a very inconsistent performance in his studies. Following high school he came out to stay with his father in California, and attended one semester at Los Angeles City College, in regard to which he would later state that he was not ready yet to be a serious student.[5] In 1959 he was drafted into the military, and served as a Private in the United States Army.[4][6] While serving in the Army, he “waged a one man battle against Jim Crow from inside the army (where he was nearly court-martialed for challenging the racial order).”[4] Williams:
wrote a letter to President John F. Kennedy denouncing the pervasive racism of the American government and military. “Should Negroes be relieved of their service obligation or continue defending and dying for empty promises of freedom and equality,” Williams demanded of the president. “Or should we demand human rights as our Founding Fathers did at the risk of being called extremists….I contend that we relieve ourselves of oppression in a manner that is in keeping with the great heritage of our nation.”[4] (Link)
The above article, or at least part of the article from Wikipedia and the beginning quote should be an inspiration to all Americans, it talks of Faith, faith in the American system, faith in self and faith in humanity. It talks of self-reliance and justice, not handouts and welfare. It talks about picking yourself up and taking care of business, your business, and not relaying on the government to do it for you. I like that!
So what is “just”?
As a Catholic, social justice is a huge part of my faith, we have Bishops and everyday pew sitters working on this issue daily, we have documents coming from the Vatican and our local Church. I could spend hours reading and re-reading the documents, many of them online and available for free. I can read the words of many a great men, saints and some not so saintly. But in the end, I think that simple quote above states it very distinctly:
…I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then, tell me how much of what I earn “belongs” to you — and why?”
That about states it all… Now I can hear everyone asking, what about the poor, who is going to help them… We need to take and give to them.. True, I agree, you are correct. But… And this is a big but… It’s not the government’s job to decide who or what charities I want to support, it is not the governments job to decide how much is too much. That my friends, it totally up to me… That is “just”.
Humanity will, if allowed, care for herself. In the United Stated we have proven this, prior to big government stepping in, it was left to the local communities to care for one another, and they always did. During the many recessions and depressions this country has gone through, the local community always cared for their own. As it should be. The “Great Society” and the “New Deal” and all other forms of Social Engineering has done nothing to change the simple fact that we will always have the poor. But what it has done is created a whole generation that is now dependent upon the government to fix and provide for all there needs. No longer is it a community coming together, but now it laws and regulations and dependency.
The local out reach programs, Faith based community services and alike are now governed by the Federal Government, bogged down with regulations and paperwork that much of there “good deeds” go undone due to lack of resources to meet the ever-expanding hands of Big Brother. Prior to the government handing out the tax payers money, the local community gathered its resources from the community itself, depended on the community and thrived with in the community it served.
The Catholic church was the prominent provider in many communities, depending upon the Church and the community at large to provide free services to whomever needed them, regardless of their faith. Look at Boys Town as a perfect example. Fr. Flanagan did not ask the Federal Government for moneys to build his Town, nope, he depended upon the common person to send in donations, and the work of building the town, well that was left up the him and the boys. In todays “regulated” world this could never happen, the government would not allow the young men who made up the community of Boys Town to do the labor, they would consider it “degrading” and “child labor”, were as Fr. Flanagan and his boys considered it “Character building” and “Edifying” . How times have changed.
The government would have required trained social workers were as Fr. Flanagan required love and respect. There is not law or regulations for love and respect, so the government would not consider them to be important. How times have changed…
“Charity” and “Social Justice” and not be regulated or forced, they have to be organic in nature. they have to come from the souls of the ones offering. When government sticks its hands into our pockets and forces us to “give” the act of Charity and Justice has just become an act of redistribution and extortion.
In the books “Who Really Cares” and “Gross National Happiness” Arthur C. Brooks, the author, makes the case that charity is a human act, not a governmental act. That it is the benevolence of man and not the redistributionist of government that keeps charities rolling. Both books are well worth the reading.
The Catholic Church, like many organization, has its fair share of redistributionist, who feel that humanity in-of-its-self is not able or capable of caring for each other. To me this is a travesty and a slap in the collective face of man kind! But, truth be told, we allowed this mind-set to happen, we, as a nation have become “dependent” upon the government to not only govern our national affairs, but also our personal affairs.
A return to a simpler time, a time when communities cared for each other, relied upon each other and depended upon their neighbors was when true social justice existed in this nation. We now live in a nation of not social justice, but a nation of social engineering, other wise know as socialism, tyranny or any other work to describe personal liberties and personal responsibilities being replaced by group think. We are teaching our children not to depend upon themselves and the community at large, but rather to look to and depend upon the government. We have generations of Americans that have no concept of charity and giving, of time, talent and treasure. But we do have generations of Americans who understand the concepts of give me, I deserve and “fairness”. Using the term “fairness” not as it was meant, “Equal opportunity” but rather as “Equal treasures” regardless of effort put forth.
The America of pre-New Deal and The Great Society is not yet lost, but is quickly becoming so. We have the opportunity and obligation to change the course of this great nation. To right the wrongs and return American and her citizens back to personal responsibility and community minded obligations. We have a unique opportunity in America, the opportunity to wage a revolution with our guns and blood, a revolution that uses the most powerful weapon ever know to man, the vote. This November we must vote to return America back to Americans, to restore Charity and Social Justice back to the people. It is time to take up the mantel of liberty and forge a new path to prosperity by returning to the founding principles of this great nation. Principles spelled out in our founding documents, the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Documents that outline the path to prosperity and freedom, documents that never, not once, call upon the Government to care for the personal lives of its Citizenry. But rather call upon its Citizenry to care for the Government.
It has been 25 years since the space shuttle Challenger exploded upon lift-off, and our space program has never truly recovered. After the tragic explosion President Reagan comforted the American public but also pledged to continue with space exploration. With the second space shuttle tragedy President Bush began the process of grounding the shuttles altogether. With only three more flights scheduled, Americas domination in space is set to end. And along with it our investment in our future is also set to end.
Our vision of one day traveling space, the final frontier, like Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise is becoming a pipe dream. The reality of it ever happening is becoming less and less. America needs NASA and all her innovation, the space program has saved lives made our day-to-day living more pleasurable and is a source of pride for all Americans.
One of President Obama’s fist acts as President was to reshape and refocus NASA, with the directive to become a quasar diplomatic are of the US government.
“Bolden: I am here in the region – its sort of the first anniversary of President Barack Obama’s visit to Cairo – and his speech there when he gave what has now become known as Obama’s “Cairo Initiative” where he announced that he wanted this to become a new beginning of the relationship between the United States and the Muslim world. When I became the NASA Administrator – before I became the NASA Administrator – he charged me with three things: One was that he wanted me to re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, that he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.” (source)
NASA as an outreach to the Muslim world, really, that’s our space program. Yes President Obama also had some ambition that also included space, but the simple fact that NASA is not in public relations with the Muslim world sets a new tone for our space program. One that is not space oriented, but rather one that is diplomatic in nature.
This is a new tone for NASA, one that is as far as you can get from the tone that JFK set for America:
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” (Kennedy’s Speech: + HTML Excerpt, + PDF Excerpt, + Full Text) (source)
The American space program is part and parcel to American exceptionalism, we must continue to spend time, talent and money in this endeavor. American needs NASA now more than ever, we need something to place our dreams in and we need to see achievements that we once thought were impossible. The Space Program has given us many modern technologies, such as:
1. SATELLITE TELEVISION: Our world would not be the same without the satellites now in orbit around the Earth – all thanks to the space program. They not only give us satellite broadcast television and radio but also power telecommunications including mobile phones and terrestrial TV networks.
2. SAT NAV: The global positioning system on which our in-car navigation systems are based was developed by the US Department of Defense. They would not exist without the space satellites.
3. GOOGLE EARTH: Mapping was never as accurate as the images we can now get thanks to satellites which from space can even see a dog in your back garden.
4. VIRTUAL REALITY: NASA-developed research and advanced technology devices allow users to project themselves into a computer-generated environment. When coupled with a stereo-viewing device and appropriate software, it creates a feeling of actually being there.
5. ARTIFICIAL LIMBS: Prosthetic limbs are not new but advancements in space robotics are being adapted to create more lifelike, functioning limbs.
6. DIALYSIS: Modern machines to do the work of the kidneys – for patients waiting for or unable to have transplants – were developed as a result of a NASA-developed chemical process.
7. MRI AND CAT SCANS: NASA did not invent magnetic resonance imaging but it has contributed to major advances thanks to research into computer enhancement of pictures sent from the moon. Digital image processing has led to enhanced images of human organs.
8. BREAST CANCER SCREENING: A silicon chip originally developed for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope makes the testing process less painful, less scarring and less expensive than traditional biopsy methods.
Heroes … Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin
9. ULTRASOUND TO ASSESS SKIN DAMAGE: An advanced instrument uses ultrasound technology to assess the depth of burn damage immediately, improving patient treatment and saving lives in serious burn cases.
10. EAR THERMOMETER: Removing the need to use intrusive, mercury-based thermometers on newborn babies and critically ill patients, the ear thermometer uses infrared astronomy technology to measure the amount of energy emitted by the eardrum. This is how NASA measures the temperature of stars and planets.
11. ATTENTION GETTER: Techniques used to measure brain activity in NASA pilots are being used to improve attention spans for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
12. ROAD SAFETY: The cutting of grooves in concrete to increase traction was developed to reduce space shuttle accidents on runways. It is now applied to roads and has cut US traffic accidents by 85 per cent.
13. IMPROVED RADIAL TYRES: Goodyear developed a fibrous material five times stronger than steel for NASA to use in parachutes to land the Viking explorers on Mars. They expanded the technology to produce a harder-wearing radial car tire.
14. LANDMINE REMOVAL: Surplus rocket fuel is used for a flare that can burn a hole in the case of a mine and burn away its explosive content.
15. STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS: NASA software engineers have created thousands of computer programs to find imperfections in aerospace structures and components which has proved invaluable in air safety.
16. WATER FILTERS: Water-cleaning technology has existed since the early Fifties but NASA came up with ways to filter it in more extreme situations. The activated charcoal with silver ions used in commercial filter systems cleans the water and kills bacteria.
17. FREEZE-DRIED FOOD: NASA carried out extensive research to reduce the weight of food to be carried on missions. The result was a method for cooking food, freezing it quickly, then slowly heating it in a vacuum chamber to remove the ice crystals. The end product weighs one fifth of the original, while retaining 98 per cent of its nutrition.
18. TEMPER FOAM: NASA developed a soft, high-energy-absorbent padding to improve crash protection in aircraft. Now ?memory foam? is used in mattresses, pillows, military and civilian vehicles, sports safety equipment, amusement park rides, furniture and artificial limbs.
19. SCRATCH-RESISTANT LENSES: A modified version of a process developed by NASA involves coating the lenses with a film of carbon that helps avoid scratches and decreases friction and reduces water spots.
20. RIBBED SWIMSUITS: The swimsuit worn by Olympic sensation Michael Phelps was developed with NASA technology. Aerodynamic research came up with material which give 15 per cent faster speeds than any other swimsuit thanks to small, barely visible grooves that reduce friction and drag.
21. AERODYNAMIC GOLF BALLS: Technology is behind the design of golf balls with 500 dimples in a pattern of 60 triangles which allows the ball to maintain its initial speed longer and produce a more stable flight for better accuracy and distance.
22. ATHLETIC SHOES: Moon-boot material has been incorporated into running shoe midsoles to improve shock absorption and provide better stability and motion control.
23. PERSONAL ALARM SYSTEMS: A pen-sized ultrasonic transmitter used by prison guards, teachers, the elderly and disabled to call for help is based on space technology.
24. SPACE PENS: Most pens depend on gravity to make the ink flow to the ballpoint. The space pen was developed for the gravity-free space environment so that the ink cartridge contains pressurized gas to push the ink towards the ballpoint, so you can write upside down.
25. CORDLESS POWER TOOLS: The household and DIY products firm Black & Decker came up with a portable drill capable of extracting core samples from below the lunar surface during the Apollo missions. The same technology has been used on cordless miniature vacuum cleaners. (source)
Think cell phone, microwaved dinners and the computer I am using to post this blog. NASA may not have invented all of them, but it is because of NASA and the innovations created for our space program that I am able to post to the net at all.
So instead of looking to high-speed trains as an investment into America, look to NASA. I would consider that to be a nobler investment, and one that would have a far greater impact on American than a train that can get me from Detroit to DC in 1 hour. With NASA fully funded and achievable goals the sky truly is the limit for the American Dream.
Barack Obama represents American Catholics better than the Pope does
– Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend
The above quote is from a feature article she wrote for Time.
As I sit here reading and enjoying my Labor day this quote jumped off the page of the latest issue of “Town Hall” magazine, a conservative political magazine. I have already read “Our Sunday Visitor” and “The Michigan Catholic” and just started in on “Town Hall”. The quote is a a page called The Word, just a few pages that include tid-bits and quotes from people over the last month of so.
Man what a scary thought, that anyone would say that Obama was more Catholic than the Pope, or that he [Obama] represents Catholics more. As a Catholic I am insulted! Not that it really matters what I [a white, male Catholic] think. My opinions don’t matter to the secular world, and to tell the truth it really don’t matter in the Catholic world also. I am. for all statistical purposes a non-entity, but that is for another blog.
What offends me is the audacity of Mrs. Kennedy-Towsend, for her to presume that a pro-abortion, socialistic president who is not even Catholic represents my faith. If truth be told, Mr. Obama is anti-Catholic, anti-life and anti-American. And Mrs. Kennedy-Towsend may have misspoken, maybe she meant to say that Mr. Obama represented her form of the Catholic Faith better than the Pope. Maybe that’s it…. That would make since, because the Kennedy’s are pro-choice (pro-killing babies). As we know Mr. Obama not only believes this but is also trying to make it the norm and forcing it upon all.
It sickens me and makes me very angry that people like her can get “coverage” to state her sick form of the Catholic Faith, yet you will be hard pressed to find a true Catholics writings in Time or any other national magazine or paper. It is almost as if they are scared to print the truth. Maybe that’s it, maybe they feel that is the truth of the faith is printed than they, the press and elite will seen as they are, for what they are and what they stand for.
Paul
(Just wanted to get this off my chest, maybe I will explore it more sometime this week or so)
The death of Ted Kennedy is an end to an era for America. We have seen the last of an American family that has been woven in to the American fabric and our political lives, for many of us we have never known a time with out a Kennedy in some sort of political office.
To listen to the TV, Radio or read a paper it would seem that Kennedy was the King or supreme leader of America, and to some I am sure he was. Mr. Kennedy deserves respect and his family is entitled to their privacy, but I know the American Press and People and privacy will be hard to come by. And I know that some will make MR. Kennedy a saint and others will make him the devil. The family will be hounded and asked hundreds of stupid questions and the tabloids will have a field day with Ted and the alien love child and such.
Why do we do this, what makes us turn the death of someone in to this feeding frenzy? We saw it with Michael Jackson and now with Ted, what is with all this? It’s not only well known singers or politicians that get this treatment, we see it in the road side memorials we hear it when they interview the victims of a deadly shooting or we read about it online in blogs and newspapers.
We seem to have this need to create heroes out of the everyday. Mr. Kennedy is credited with many great acts, he is portrayed as a hero for the civil rights movement, and maybe he is. He signed in to law many bills giving protection to many minorities, he was a champion for woman’s rights. For the most part all very good deeds, and I am sure he signed them with a clear mind and only with the best of everyone’s interest at heart. I may be a conservative, but I find it hard that anyone would willing hurt people, even liberals.
But let us not forget the other side of Saint Ted, as a Catholic he committed several major sins, as we all have. He supported abortion, the killing of the least among us, he claimed in speeches to be looking out to protect the ones who can not protect themselves, yet he votes for abortion on demand. How can one claim to be looking out for the least among us yet participate in the killing of unborn babies? Now some may be saying that he did not actively participate in the abortion, well ok, but by his inaction to stop them and his direct action to support the law that allows them is an indirect killing. But that is for a different blog, this one is on Mr. Kennedy and why Americans feel the need to turn him in to a saint.
If I may, lets look back at a few things that may seem unrelated, but to me are a driving force to what has changed the fabric of America. This fabric that once took truly great men and woman and place them upon a pedestal to today were the average person is turned in to a celebrity or a saint. It takes the Catholic Church years, sometimes hundreds of years to canonize a person to give them the title of Saint, it take the American public one night to do the same. But first lets look at what I consider the reasons for the shift.
Sometime over the past 50 or 60 years we have shifted our views or outlook and our values, and in doing so we have lowered our standard of who and what makes a great person, and we have, out of prejudice or ignorance, or some will say enlighten, discounted or totally disregard true heroes and saints.
We look for the heroes and saints that fit our needs at the moment, not the ones that stand the test of time. Our discontentment with our Government our Life our faith our everything’s has created a society that strives for nothingness therefore we look for saints and heroes who fit in to this nothingness, who allow us to do as we please, as they did or do, allowing us to be a saintly or heroic as they were or are. For example, one nun stated she was proud to be a Catholic because Kennedy was. Mr, Kennedy who supported Abortion and was divorced and remarried in the church, who received annulments like they were nothing . Now I do not pretend to know the heart of Mr. Kennedy, but I do know the teachings of the faith, How can a nun state that a baby killer is a good example of be Catholic, how can that make her proud? It is this falseness that confuses the American landscape, it is this willingness to forget all transgressions, even thought the transgressor has not.
We have created a society that does not look past it’s own nose, a society that allows the sins of others to become there battle scars and there red badge of courage. We have allowed the counter culture the ability to dictate the culture, in the name of equality. We have allowed the truly great among us dissolve in to the back ground as we celebrate the “ideals” of the fallen. Ideals that lead to dead ends and one-way streets, ideals that reject conventional wisdom in the name of the ideals themselves. We, the American people, have created a generation of nothingness, and we have celebrated this nothingness so much that we have created two new saints, Saint Michael Jackson and Saint Ted Kennedy and we have elected the “messiah” in to the highest office of the United States of America. Each person deserving our respect as fellow human beings and fellow Americans, and each having achieved a certain level of greatness, but non quite the quality of Sainthood that will stand the teat of time.
As for me, I will stick to the tested saints of the times, give me a St. Theresa or St. Peter any day or even a John Paul the Great or a Fr. Salanus Casey, truly great people, with a greatness that will stand the test of time.
Now please understand I mean no disrespect to My. Kennedy or anyone else, I will pray for his soul and ask that God grace his family during this difficult time. But I will also ask God to bless America and help her find the path once again, that path that will lead us to greatness, a path that will restore our national fabric back to its original condition. Until than I will keep on loving American and I will keep praying and working towards an America that once again honors true greatness.
The death of Ted Kennedy is an end to an era for America. We have seen the last of an American family that has been woven in to the American fabric and our political lives, for many of us we have never known a time with out a Kennedy in some sort of political office. 
values, and in doing so we have lowered our standard of who and what makes a great person, and we have, out of prejudice or ignorance, or some will say enlighten, discounted or totally disregard true heroes and saints. 
supported Abortion and was divorced and remarried in the church, who received annulments like they were nothing . Now I do not pretend to know the heart of Mr. Kennedy, but I do know the teachings of the faith, How can a nun state that a baby killer is a good example of be Catholic, how can that make her proud? It is this falseness that confuses the American landscape, it is this willingness to forget all transgressions, even thought the transgressor has not. 
of greatness, but non quite the quality of Sainthood that will stand the teat of time.
Could Boys Town work today? And other thoughts on Charity and Social Justice.
Cover of Boys Town
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Posted by Paul Sposite on January 19, 2012 in Catholic, Change, church, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, conservative, Conservative Catholics, Control, Election, Faith, Family, Founding Fathers, History, Improvement, liberal, Liberal Catholics, Life, Media, Politics, Religon, selfhelp, social justice, Tax
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