Category Archives: Uncategorized

Who Are You? Who?

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by Daniel Arthur J., January 26, 2014
arthbuus@gmail.com

Aarhus, Denmark, October, 2013

Aarhus, Denmark, October, 2013

Are you your surname? Let’s just say that you are much more than that, as cool as your last name might be.

Many of us have been raised with the idea that we are to honor our last name or surname. That is generally a good idea. Often we become very surname-centric about our concept of what our ancestry might be. Our ancestry is so much more complex and interesting than where our last name leads. We were thoughtfully loved by so many more ancestors than we might have ever imagined.

Most people realize that in the generally practiced naming convention of taking on the father’s last name, their mother is most likely to have a different last name. They usually don’t know any family names much beyond that. It is interesting to note that it is only in recent times that surnames have become handed down generation by generation. People used to take on surnames of all kinds prior to that, or they didn’t really use a surname as much as a second place name or just their name.

Whatever you were brought up as, you are much more than that. And, you are likely related to many, many more different ethnic backgrounds and races of people than you had thought of. If you are a Smith, Jones, Johnson, Williams or whatever, you have many other ancestors with many different backgrounds and names. Sure, some people have within recent generations become more homogenous than others, but the further you go back in time the more likely you are to find a grouping of very diverse ancestors.

I have looked at many family trees over the last year, and I have learned much about mine and the ancestors of others. I now associate many more names with my heritage including Ford, Franklin, Allen, Street, Raymond, Bosworth, Pearson, Sheldon, Hatch, Brown, Parker, Sims, Evans, James, Johnson, Morse, Mark, Davies, Sanford, Sinco, Gibson, Weeks, Choate, Laffoon, Riley, Phillips, and Pope. This is just but a few. I know I have descended from people from just about every country in Europe and have close or fairly close cousins from all over the Earth. And, it is amazing what they have been, done and accomplished, too.

Your name is worth honor, and your heritage is much greater than you can imagine You don’t need to know it with official verifiable documentation, but I wish you luck in finding out what you can. Honor each other.

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Read, interact, think and create.

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Yes, our government needs to balance the budget. In fact, we need to pay down the debt . . . lawmakers certainly expect voters to do so. We will spend more than we should at times, but we’ve got to pay it back. I think some people should pay more based on the ability-to-pay-principle.

Social Revolution

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by Daniel A. Jones, August 18, 2013
arthbuus@gmail.com

Summer Hike at Grizzly Creek in Colorado, August, 2013

Summer Hike at Grizzly Creek in Colorado, August, 2013

The world is going through significant change, and it is important for all of us to adapt and help our social institutions to adapt as well. This includes government, at all levels including local, specialized, states and federal, corporations, non-profits, clubs, religions and more. The relationship that people have with property and other capital and productivity is rapidly changing. Automation and artificial intelligence is actually taking over historically human roles. Cultural activities including religion are becoming more important.

People need to have access to ownership as well as jobs. Equal status opportunity is becoming even more important. As we transition to a more capital intensive society, citizens will need better safety nets for housing, health care, transportation, education and other essentials than we have known in the past. Freedom is becoming a more complex issue, but even more important to assure to everyone than ever.

It is more important now more than ever to reduce behavioral problems from corruption, financial attacks and other abusive acts. People with the means to look forward will be able to weather personal storms much more readily. Problems can be solved more gently, carefully. Corrections can become much more humane.

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I have been observing and participating in democratic processes in the United States of America. The leaders appear to be working hard, and they are sincere in their attempts to improve government and our society. As we go through these revolutionary times, whether slowly or more quickly, it is good to know that we have at least some empathetic participants to counter the sloths of current wealth.

May we all become wealthy in a holistic way.

Environment

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by Daniel A. Jones, March 6, 2013
arthbuus@gmail.com

Data. Statistics. How important are they? They can be helpful, but they can be misused and the user can cause harm, even unintentionally. No matter what the data or statistics say or have indicated in their limited range of accuracy, we would like a good or better off outcome.

We can only have so many variables and constants that we consider in a study. We know we would like to improve conditions to have peace in our lives. It doesn’t matter if we are considering health, employment, crime, nature or anything else – we want an outcome that improves our lives. But, we need to innovate sometimes to find these better outcomes, not just look at one variable or the same tired scenarios. How are we going to get a breakthrough in helping children to learn? How are we going to help a victim of disease to thrive?

I think we need to be more holistic in our approach to solving problems or gaining a positive outcome. I think many successful studies and implementation of results of studies have. We need to just improve conditions sometimes. We need to believe that government goods and services can be valuable, more so than many political leaders have believed in recent years. There is a place for robust, high quality government goods and services – not only to help the wealthy with airports and foreign embassies, but to help the relatively less fortunate to have better education, security, housing, transportation and parks.

And, the private sector is a very valuable part of the world economy too of course. It is imperative to continue to work at having a good, sensible regulatory environment that fosters fair competition and good labor practices. The free market isn’t free or independent, but good government will enhance markets and innovation.

A peaceful environment is what we want as rational, loving people. We need to work at enhancing what we have, and resist the temptation to become too harsh. Certainly strength is a good quality we should want our government to have, but we should also want it to foster an environment that doesn’t need it much. We are not quite there, yet. We have a good deal of work to do to create the peace for everyone.

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I’m continuing a campaign called Tubman on the Twenty. It’s an effort to get Harriet Tubman’s likeness on the twenty dollar bill to honor her courage and leadership.

About Harriet Tubman

Working Economy, Payne Field, Everett, WA, March, 2013

Working Economy, Payne Field, Everett, WA, March, 2013

Sign the Petition: Tubman on the Twenty