Partisan Judges Should Be Removed from the Justice System (Moral Philosophy)

Americans deserve impartial and fair treatment and when they don't it creates long-term damage to trust. Partisanship has been a disease in our society and it has impacted officials and individuals (We should expect that and in some cases that is the intent.). Partisan judges pervert the rule of law to protect their personal-political values and beliefs with little consideration for the needs of society. When they protect corruption and encourage hate, they should be removed from the bench. 

(It's a party-neutral comment and there has been growing discussion on the damage to society from partisan judges of any kind.)

Seems simple enough, doesn't it? Yet things are not so simple, are they? 

The devil is in the details and protections when judges have agendas, biases (race and religion), or extreme political leanings. Protections are few and far between. The risks can grow if we do not find mechanisms to mute partisanship and its influence on our daily lives. Consider institutional damage in Trust and Confidence in Justice and some possible reasons in The Drives of Institutional Trust and Distrust.

We should protect what we all believe in and cherish as a community, people, and nation. Creating mechanisms that limit the influence of partisanship, ideological bigotries, clannism, and poor logical-moral judgments is important for maintaining long-term trust.

No partisanship is needed in keeping our streets and citizens safe. Where they can, it is beneficial to vote out partisan and political judges to protect the institution from itself. Support each other to draw our nation's leaders back to the center of our universalized American values. It's becoming increasingly important for the young to start moving into positions of authority to ensure the ship doesn't get too far off its agreed upon course. 

Reducing partisanship in judicial elections can improve judge quality: Evidence from U.S. state supreme courts

Side Note:

I'm less concerned about which religion or book these come from but for their deeper message. We can learn from almost all major religions on universal treatment of people. A few of our judges seem to have forgot the purpose of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. How do you sell the concept of America to them? Fundamental Freedoms

"Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right."- Psalm 106:3 💁  There is a statement posted in most/all courtrooms that does not differentiate on specific religion, race, clan, background, color or politics. 

A secular moral philosophy you can consider is "If it were not for injustice, man would not know justice."- Heraclitus

*This article is for illustrative purposes only and should be used for general philosophical learning. It is party neutral. There is always room for improvement.

Can Overconfidence in Executives be a Good or Bad Thing?

There are times when confidence makes a positive and constructive change in an organization and there are times when overconfidence can cost companies much more than they bargained. Executives are naturally more confident with higher self-efficacy when compared to the average population. That makes sense considering they needed to beat out the competition and move up the organizational ranks. 

(Let us also plug a caveat in there that those who rise from modest backgrounds are much more grit-oriented and confident than those who have had opportunities presented to them based on their family background and wealth. One worked for it and the other had to put in much less effort and with many more resources. )

The Queen of Hearts
Wooded Pathway Gallery

Confidence means betting on oneself. Approximately 83% of decisions are based on confidence in oneself and the expected outcome. 

Unpacking Overconfident Behavior When Betting on Oneself

Where we run into problems is when we are overconfident (Different than conviction). When this happens we can make big mistakes if we have not pondered alternative possibilities that may be more accurate. We know this when we listen to someone who has all the answers, talks as though they have all the answers, will not accept alternative perspectives and we find out in hindsight the major mistakes they made. You may read more about Finance and Overconfidence Bias.

Tip on Critical Thinking: 

What I have learned is that mistakes are a natural part of life. If one seeks to create multiple perspectives one should look at all the feasible other explanations and see which ones are the most parsimonious. If they all might have some likelihood then we know we need new information to solidify the possibilities. Sometimes, based on the strength of the information, I assign a percentage to each of the possibilities and adjust those likelihoods based on new information (i.e. game theory). 

If you leave room for doubt you are likely to rarely be wrong. In other words, accept that you don't know what you don't know and make your decisions accordingly to ensure you have maximum options in case you are wrong.

Life is Like Hiking: Climb the Hill and Let No One Hold You Back!

Nature's Way in Art Gallery

Hiking is like life, It may feel uphill but each day you get out there it gets easier with time. Once you climb some distance from the head of the trail you can look back at the people still lounging at the bottom. They are still there but have not found the courage to strap on their boots and look upon those who started the journey with a level of envy and disdain. 

The first challenge any person must take is to decide to take the journey. While you may have stood once at the bottom of the hill you are cut from a different cloth and took the first steps. You could ignore the decenters and naysayers and have confidence in yourself. 

There is a lot of wrong and good in this world and we know that just by walking out our door every morning. Some people have experienced everything from being lied about all the way over to witnessing free passes for racial and religious-based cleansings. 

As a matter of point, even when they look back and the folly of people's minds and lack of moral conscious (i.e. morally awake and aware) they do so because they are much higher on the path winding up the hill. They have a deeper understanding of law and morality far beyond the average.

Each calamity and setback is a learning lesson and one should thank those transgressors for the lessons they have taught. They improvised, adapted, and overcame where the vast majority would not have overcome or even recognized the challenges.

“Watch a man in times of…adversity to discover what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn from the depths of his heart, and the mask is torn off.” Titus Lucretius Carus

Life cannot define you, but your reaction to life creates your character and sharpens your skills. Those at the bottom of the hill cannot touch the sky nor do they understand the world in which they live. Their words and comments about you are about as useless as their thoughts about themselves.💁

IMF Study: Independent Central Banks Help Reduce Inflation

There is a long-term discussion on the value of central banks and how that influences our economy. The International Monetary Fund conducted a study of banks between 2007 and 2021 and found that strong and independent central banks make a significant difference in bringing inflation down. The ability to control and manage the money supply and policies does impact the cost of borrowing. 

In the big data era, there is going to be much more information on the economy and that will allow for greater assessment, theory, and understanding by central banks. How they handle inflation now may change as new information and research come forward to make decisions more accurate. 

Strengthen Central Bank Independence to Protect the World Economy

Source IMF

Could VE and RE Firefighting Training Help in Varied Environments?

Firefighters are no joke around Escanaba and are a central part of keeping the community safe. It is an occupation (whether FT, PT, or Vol.) that has an impact on our lives. For those who want to help in some way consider joining a local fire department and supporting your community. Training in rural areas with varying conditions requires diligence. Technology such as Virtual Equipment (VE) and Real Training (RE) can help. 

There are two incidents recently that are worth discussing. I try and do my best to raise positive awareness of the good things people do in the area and I'm a big-time supporter of firefighters. They do nothing but help people and that is a noble cause. Few occupations can say the same thing.

(Personally, I like those occupations that are known to do good things.)

In the first incident, we see that the firefighters came out and saved animals. That is awesome! We are rural so barn fires do happen. Grass fires are another concern. You will then notice a fire downtown and that requires slightly different skills. Firefighters in these areas must know multiple environments that include car accidents, ice rescue, forest search & rescue, urban and rural, industrial, and more.

A few Thoughts on How Virtual Training Might Help:

There is growing use of virtual equipment to help firefighters who work in multiple environments. This might be something that could help in places with a wide breadth of environments and seasons. There are a few free apps out there for VR headsets but for the most part, they come preloaded and that is more expensive. Hoping to find some grant opportunities for such equipment.

Assessing the perceptual equivalence of a firefighting training exercise across virtual and real environments

Two articles on local fires. Well-coordinated group. New equipment coming into the area in terms of trucks and stuff. That is always helpful. 

Barn, Camper Destroyed In Delta County Fire; Most Animals Escape Unharmed

BREAKING: Deadly Ludington St. fire in Escanaba may have been human-caused

Technology and Human Capital: The Link Between Productivity and Pay

Technology can do a lot of great things for our nation and it can lead to all levels of life enhancements. However, we do have growing concerns over growing wage disparities. That is happening at a time when technology is going to change much of what we understand about our world and that is against the backdrop of how money circulates through society to feed further growth. 

Is there a link to pay and productivity? When people relied heavily on human physical capacity pay and productivity were directly tied. Automation improved productivity and in turn, extended human abilities to produce by volume. Some did well and some did not. Ensuring that manufacturing still pays well can help attract people to those fields our nation needs. 

We now have advanced technologies that truly extend, not only the productivity of human abilities but also their creative outputs. These are smart technologies that connect more closely to the way people think and are partially intelligent so they extend the influence of individuals to create innovative products. Income growth may not filter to all members of society equally.

The study below indicates that wages are based on productivity. As we move into a new era of advanced technologies let us consider that ensuring people are paid well by using technology to hedge those costs. Technology is a good thing when it is used to enhance people's lives and their productivity. 

Remember that AI and technology should work for us and we should not have to work for it. It should have serious societal benefit for the average person and not just those at the top or otherwise wage disparities are going to create social inequality and in turn limit social stability.

We also find from this study that we have to increase the productivity of low-wage workers. That can happen through technology, training, education, small business, and many other avenues. Working in low-skilled labor and trying to compete with technology versus hedge technology isn't going to improve lives. We might need to rethink education and training in an advanced digital era. 

The Link Between Wages and Productivity is Strong

Deloitte's Global Economic Research Q1 U.S. Economic Projections. At Least 1 if not 2 Thumbs Up!

Deloitte's Global Economic Research Center came up with some interesting projections between now and 2028. Short-term projections are very good and the long-term ones are sort of limp in numbers. However, I don't think that is the end of the story. There are changes abuzz, not only here but in other places, and that could lead to new opportunities that we can further capitalize on as a nation. 

You can read this for yourself...

A random store I went into.
Cool place with unique stuff.
Consignment shop.

"Deloitte’s baseline forecast remains optimistic, and we expect the US economy to continue to perform well in the short term thanks to strength in the job market, consumer spending, and exports. For the first time since the pandemic, we have also included a scenario that is more optimistic than our baseline, as we see room for positive structural changes in labor markets and productivity." (Gibbard, 2024, para).

What I like in the near term is that exports are rising and imports are declining. That is half of the game. The other is quality of life (That includes human capital development). As our infrastructure improves, new youth come into full age, and new technologies emerge on the market, we may find further growth beyond this year. 

I'm not sure of the assumptions used in the long-term projections. The changes in the market are what I like to watch and reports like this are well thought out. However, no one can tell the future exactly so we can only follow the trends based on how they align after market disruptions. 

I like how they discussed their logic and break-down charts. It makes things easier to understand under each of the categories. 

There is a decent chance if we overcome our geopolitical issues, get more strategic about policy decisions, and encourage investments, that we may end up seeing further sustained growth. Remember, this is all about possibilities and likelihood based on factors drawn from a huge pile of global info to understand the internal and external market.

Deloitte US Economic Forecast: Q1-and On

(From a research standpoint, we are not done adapting as a nation. Covid may have just started that process and while a level of stability has occurred, the change is still ongoing. Economic, technological-AI, and cultural changes within a new geopolitical motivators that create a type of digital renaissance in the US; by necessity. 

Putting a huge percentage of society online has natural implications for the speed of transactions and the value of such transactions when they meet the proper infrastructure coming online soon. Such micro-transactions become faster and more efficient as they sustain implications. i.e. think of the Internet itself and now AI.

All this new technology, mixed with young minds and emerging challenges leads to change. Adapt well, and we will again be leading global manufacturers. That could have a tail effect when the tech-savvy youth grab the reigns from old grandpas and grandmas to ensure they fulfill their stifled opportunities-Yes and blame the parents! 

Well, let us wait and see what happens. )

 

Protecting Against Extremism and Corruption: Supporting Our Future!

Our nation is based on the fundamentals of human freedom that apply to every human being in the country and every person on the planet. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, and opportunity are universal values. We codified much of that in our Constitution as a democratic experiment. Extremism and misinterpretation of our values present a risk to the future health of our nation and the resonance of that message.  

We have two problems in keeping the message of freedom and opportunity at the forefront of national conscious. One is growing income disparity, which we can discuss at a later time, while the other is growing extremism mixed with racism/bigotries that limit the higher performance of our institutions. The latter becomes an important human capital topic on how mistreatment by some holds back the whole nation (btw. It's not their place to hold the rest of us back.) 

Because we humans can be biased in our thinking, based on the many anchored socio-cultural perceptions, we naturally judge different types of people differently (At least until we are familiar and integrated.). When extreme bigotries make their way into the local justice system it can create all types of havoc. Lost moral authority and lower institutional trust are just some of the consequences of poor management.

A hypothetical example of local corruption and extremism: Someone wants something and spreads a hate narrative widely to anyone willing to listen. They spread distorted values and hate speech throughout their local bully network and through several extremist-leaning corrupted officers. Threats of violence, corruption, targeting/damaging kids, theft, manipulation of the elderly, and so on were the virtues they promoted. A coordinated racial and religious cleansing in full view of witnesses and authorities. 

Their justification? Someone seen as a second-class citizen dared to tell them that corruption is destructive to our liberties and the health of our nation. As a veteran and someone who takes their oaths seriously retorted "No, corruption isn't a good thing and you can't do that to your fellow citizens." Their realized answer was in alignment with their discounting language of their fellow Americans, and that was to double down on further violence and corruption.

(Their language tells us how they view other Americans and how they will react when someone challenges poor behavior. Devalue and cleanse.)

Such behaviors present a long-term risk to our highly diverse nation where most people are minorities of some type (Muslim, Jew, Christian, Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, etc.). Failure to correct when crimes become apparent is also an indication that the positive opportunities and lessons learned from unchecked corruption have not sunk in. The consequence is a growing long-term trend of dissatisfaction and lost trust in some institutions by the young. 

Their answer to these growing dangerous trends? Double down on ignorance and dig in on distorted ideologies.

Is corruption and extremism a good idea? Well, it is a short-term gain but the long term typically doesn't turn out as well. I advocate for a universal justice system that tries to protect and serve all members of society fairly and equally as valued members. That requires fixing wrongdoing and correcting the mechanism that allowed those free passes to happen. 

What can you do as a citizen? Voting out those with extremist values and corruption is a first step. The second step is to teach your children the importance of our Constitution and ensure our values apply to every citizen. You can fight extremism and corruption with higher values and more truth. That of course doesn't mean you are free from the consequences of having higher national loyalties and moral consciousness. Expect extreme retaliation (It's common during sociological and technological shifts.).

Researchers should look at these problems to solve problems as hate breeds off misinformation. I created the Michigan Track and Solve method of dealing with extremism about 4 years ago. However, this didn't appear to be of particular interest. The study below indicates they believe in something similar. There is a need to find new solutions to domestic extremism and corruption. Protecting such behaviors is rarely a good idea.

(As a side note, you may notice that where people are aggressive with their extreme bias we might also find that by going after corruption you will also expose those who supported extremism. They are often tied together. There are about 3-4 other logic lines that can create objective data supported evidence from triangulation of truth. We can talk about that later. Feel free to discard such theoretical dribble, dribble.....)

Without handling extremism and corruption our future may be delayed. Not only by the decisions of those who should have duties to all Americans but also by the protections and normalization of such poor behaviors. 

Let us not let those with poor values to derail Americas destiny as a universal democracy (Many sociological and economic benefits to reaching the next rung.) Just in case you forgot, "....Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." There are those who will never believe, there are many who will help raise the light of liberty as a beacon of hope. 

Terrorism, Political Extremism, and Crime and Criminal Justice

*This article is for illustrative purposes. It is just for understanding and learning.

Long Term 45 year Study of Gifted Kids to Adults: Different Worlds and Lives

In our nation, we struggle with how to understand and manage gifted kids and adults to maximize their benefits to society. Early help and intervention are important to maximize their potential. There are substantial differences in their existence and their capacities that we ignore in ways that stifle their potential contributions to national development.

Different Quantitative and Qualitative Lives

The gifted have the gifted curse when they are in the wrong environment. Typically they have to stifle their natural abilities to fit in with the herd. The right environment can make a big difference in drawing out these talents. Advanced abilities that range from the physical to the intellectual lead to challenges in conformity environments designed to tear down performers.

A Few Examples?

Let us say that you can take in 1.5 x the amount of information from your environment, understand things faster, and can make more accurate connections when compared to others. You would see a different world that another might not understand. The richness of one can't be obtained by the other no matter how much they tried. 

It is the difference between understanding what a leaf looks like on a basic level versus understanding the leaf, its texture, smell, colors, trees, type of trees, root system, contour of different trees, the amount of sun needed, the right amount of water, how different leaves move in the wind, its environmental impact, leaf composting, and stats on declining forests. 

Would a person with rudimentary understanding and a 'better than you" chip on their shoulder be able to communicate effectively with a highly empathetic person who has a much much deeper understanding of the topic and life? The conversation is likely to be frustrating for both. 

The same could be said for moral sentiments. If one's morality is based on self-interest from their unexamined background and the other has layers of morality mixed with logic and self-reflection the conversation will keep circling back to confirming the distorted logic of the former. You can hear their self-interest in their language and their logic. 

Why Should the Nation Care?

Wasted resources are wasted resources. Gifted kids produce things, create things, lead things, and do amazing physical feats later in life that many others can't do. See Gardner's 7 Intelligences. Without the right environment, the vast majority will conform to the average and may only sporadically perform.

What is a Solution?

As with any problem, we must start with the right leadership that seeks to develop their nation and its resources. The lack of gifted support leads to serious loss including science, arts, and outcomes. Until we understand the purpose of education, we are likely to keep losing our gifted because the non-gifted make short-sighted decisions of self-interest.

A study has been following 'gifted' kids for 45 years. Here's what we've learned.