Is Corruption Inevitable?

Corruption is something we should all stand against but this isn't always the case. Social, racial, financial, religious, social and other complex issues come into play in a way that creates motivation to engage in and protect such acts. We could strengthen our corruption laws, protect whistle blowers, encourage people to stand up against corruption, not retaliate against legitimate complaints, and vote out officials cheating us out of our tax payer money and institutional resources. Yet to some there is no need to fix the things we find wrong even when the goal is more about correcting than punishment. Perhaps there is a little corruption in that as well? At least ideologically and morally speaking. Change is needed but unlikely to come unless there is greater focus on our shared principles. Talk is cheap, it's sustained effort that makes the difference. When we do discover corruption and we don't fix it is a sign that we lack such commitment to create the highest functioning systems we can. All of us suffer for the selfishness of a few. So I encourage a higher moral bar if it is set to low.

Application of Ethical Leadership

 Ethical leadership is important to business and society and when we can support it we should. We often strive to accumulate things and become more important and that can at times encourage us to overstep our bounds. Some people move and live in a unipolar world that somehow consistently aligns with their own personal needs. There is a lot of psychology and biology that comes with selfishness as a concept tied to self preservation. The Psychology of Selfishness. 

Ethics puts that in check so that we all share similar rules and codes of conduct.. If we didn't have values and ethics we would have a free for all with much of our behavior and it would be hard to build strong organizations. The very nature of the economy is built on exchange and collaboration. Companies thrive when people work together. 

Our ethical values determine how we act in any situation. If you want to know someone then watch how they act when given choices over self or society. Leaders who consistently choose themselves might not always be the most ethical or helpful for an organization. 

Escanaba City Council Meeting (August 15th, 2024) (: "Great Place for Boating and to Hang Out!"

Today is a day of infrastructure development and testimony that Escanaba is "Great Place for Boating and to Hang Out!" according to the Great Lakes Cruising Club.

Escanaba City Council Meeting Agenda August 15, 2024

Infrastructure Development in Esky

Wastewater Building

The Hypothetical Feather Party Encourages Open Dialogue on Important American Issues

Whether we are discussing the economy, healthcare, taxes, etc. it is beneficial to maintain as much open dialogue as possible and ensure that we are inclusive of the different ways in which to see issues and find as accurate solutions as possible (This is what creates critical thinking). That doesn't mean any one's perspective is necessarily purely right or wrong but that there are many different valid ways of viewing the same problem and when taken as a whole view can lead to new solutions. Nations that grow and build should always seek to find new solutions by learning and discussing issues as opening and freely as they can. As long as everyone is focused on the big picture prizes then serious solutions will be found.

An essential purpose of freedom of speech is to ensure that these dialogues occur without hindrance so that multiple perspectives can come forward to make the best decisions possible. One might argue that the very health of the republic relies on our strategic and ethical thinking abilities. Freedoms should always be protected to ensure the process functions as it should so we collectively as a society can decide issues, enact them and live by them (good and consequences). One sided conversations or pressure to silence ideas and thoughts (even when we disagree) leads to group think and less than optimal choices and outcomes. 

Attribution: Treehouse1977
for Creative Common background pic.

Before we go further, The Hypothetical Feather Party is a thought experiment designed to learn about shared perspectives that transcend in many ways current discussions. i.e. best practice management. It also might explore central American values from a neutral non-partisan way by focusing on the basics of good management. It seeks not to be conclusive but simply to explore and help discovery new ways to look at old problems.

Polar Opposites

Let us say you are discussing a topic with someone who seemingly has a polar opposite view. While you may not agree wholeheartedly you can pull apart the essential key points of their arguments as well as determine contextually what some of the motivations may be (They all are not bad.). What we find when we can break their arguments down to its most elemental truths is that they have a good point and if you can see that and adjust your own argument to consider that key point the discussion becomes constructive. More true the more people are truthful and open in their dialogue. Political gamemanship has a negative impact while open dialogue generally has a positive (except in some rare cases.)

Look at What is Said and What is Not Said:

Not everything that people say is an accurate reflection of what they want and desire. Much of our communication is not expressed in words but in non-verbal, contextual, emotional and other ways. If you pay attention to what is being said and what isn't being said you can begin to understand the needs of others better. That is a skill that provides a level of influence when you can cater your message and solutions to have the greatest impact. 

You can read about breaking out logic. The Logic of Science 

There always has been a root language of our species and if you learn about culture and you learn about people it is possible to get a glimpse of this communication style. Its hardwired and socially advanced. The Universal Language

We can gain insight into others and their logic through being in tune/aware of non-verbal communication. How much of communication is non-verbal?

The Goal:

The ultimate goal is to serve the will of the people and their best interest as much as humanly possible. This comes from being less rigid in ideology and more focused on shared solutions. Reducing of barriers between parties and varying perspectives can create unity. We should do this because it improves purity of purpose. Parties, social networks, business contracts, special interest, etc. should never cloud that judgement in any way. They should also never be used as tools to silence others. Open dialogue is necessary and we should treat each person with an opinion as a valued member of our society even when we don't agree. You can learn from different opinions even if you don't think they have put their ideas to the same level of scrutiny. One does not want to look at disproving their points but instead focused on finding alignment between the two (or more) potential solutions to extract what works for the most amount of people (The full constituents). 

The Importance of Solutions The Process of Dialogue and Effective Communications

*The Hypothetical Feather Party is for learning/thinking purposes only and is designed as a thought experiment on how certain ideas are central to strong management. it is designed to promote critical thinking for discussion. 

Breaking Down Corruption in a Hypothetical Example Through Its Implications on Democracy

Our democracy should seek to maximize its performance and position in the world. Most Americans agree with those values and believe it is inherent to protect our natural rights and freedoms. There are some who do not believe in those freedoms and will misuse their authority to further racial, religious, political or ideological divides at the expense of their communities and the nation at large. The following example is hypothetical and for learning purposes only so take with a grain of salt. It does highlight where some risks may lay. Let us keep in mind that the greatest risk to our nation is not from the outside but inside where these poor values are allowed to fester and grow. 

The Clan:

A homogeneous clan is spurred into action by a few clan leaders that had racial, religious, and financial incentives to act. Based on the bigotries and poor socialization, group members quickly began to target others as blind monkeys (term for people used as extensions of harm. Wizard of Oz.). A few officials within the group began to spread a hate narratives to help fellow clan members and that turned into wholesale attempts to cleans people out of town. People of different races and religions were intentionally targeted as "outsiders" and there were no backstops within the local justice system. The free hand of the group hinted at a much larger problem that spanned decades. 

(I use the term clan because of their homogeneous perceptions and affiliations but one might also think of this group as have characteristics similar to a Steven King type Cult. What is a Cult?)

Prior Complaints and Complacency:

There were numerous prior complaints over decades that were ignored and/or retaliated against. It appeared that the complaints were also shared with the perpetrators that furthered aggression against the targets to silence them. Extremist leaning groups used secretive lists to encourage wider harm to those they didn't like (not the purpose of these systems). Risks of assaults, intimidating environments, misuse of our systems, hate narratives, bullying, violations of basic laws became the norm. Major human rights violations. The coordination of the retaliation also indicated the potential of a much larger problem associated with violent extremists/terrorism in other areas; on official and unofficial levels.

The Pattern:

Over a number a number of years people who were tired of having their complaints ignored began to publicly report events and this seemed to have tipped the scales against the extremist leaning corrupted officials. Multiple people with evidence came forward and the house of cards began to fall as more and more victims came forward changing the narratives they used against minorities, the vulnerable, and women. Each seemed to point back to the central group that received certain benefits via association and had those benefits protected in local legal systems. As of today these systems told the perpetrators again "no, don't get yourself in trouble" but have not made any meaningful change nor adjusted their performance to better serve the public.

The Short and Long Term Result:

Perpetrators are typically rewarded and protected for their behaviors in a type of defacto default of justice. Yet there was too much evidence to sweep it under the carpet so they sought to minimize the perceptual impact in a way that also circumvents needed change. At present victims of the past, present and future have been dismissed (The example story isn't finished yet.). In a turn of events, the behavior created much more exposure and awareness of corruption and coordinated misbehaviors. It is now part of  people's conscious that the patterns are of corruption are present and the desire to protect the perpetrators is the goal of some officials who were entrusted by society to root out such corruption. 

Despite the lack of respect for our laws and our people, justice will be forced unwilling through natural checks n balance that come from our inner need to live in a free and safe society. While some of our leaders encourage mayhem by building unsafe environments, at the end of the day the will of the people will prevail. The path we take will be the determinant of how we connect perception and reality with rhetoric and outcome. I'm an optimist that despite the poor choices of such leaders they broke too many eggs to just use the mantra "it was the victim's fault".

The Victims:

While numerous victims have come forward they haven't received much protection or justice in the local system thus far. There appears on the surface to be more concern over protecting homogeneous clan members than there is for upholding the spirit and intent of the law. While there should be culpability for the creation of victims of the past, victims of the present unchecked corruption is likely to make victims of the future. We know when we willful choose perpetrators over the victims we are on the wrong moral path that must be corrected to maintain system integrity. Coordinating the victims and complaints so they can't be ignored might be important as reporting publicly seems to force rally of the wagons behaviors that are detrimental to positive change. Decision makers cannot pretend the people within their clan are not responsible for behaviors without looking like co-conspirators and supporters. Unfortunately, the victims take all the risks of the past and more recent threats and risks of assaults indicate a lack of commitment to dealing with this problem. The victims have few rights. 

What One Might Hope:

Instead of expending resources hiding crimes and protecting them we might embrace them and see it as an opportunity of improvement. It isn't all about getting people in trouble. It is about ensuring these local institutions are focused on our greater American cause and values and that where there is misalignment it is corrected. In other words, these systems are not aligned to our American values of liberty and freedom. One might even go as far and doing completely new things and exploring the possibilities of turning the chaos of lack of values into something helpful, cost effective, and highly functioning (Many things can be an opportunity if you look at them the right way.)

The Moral Implications:

The moral implications are pretty big. If we know that people did things wrong intentionally and directly against some core American values such as freedom of religion, free speech, civil rights, racial considerations, etc. along with less serious crimes such as harassment, defamation of character, discrimination, sexual assaults, bribery/extortion, manipulate the elderly, job rejection, etc. we have much bigger issues to deal with. It isn't just the perpetrators who committed the crimes that is the issue but also the environment that seemed to encourage such behaviors. The inability to listen to people's needs, retaliation against people reporting accurate complaints, and the intentional religious and racial harm of people is not acceptable in our society. No matter how powerful the players, no matter the misuse of our resources, or the ideology of extremism so on and so forth they sought to damage our indivisibility. Anyone from top to bottom that placates that or protects that is on the wrong side of history and not qualified for their roles. They are sell outs to our American cause. Our nation should bring forward the best and brightest to take leadership roles to ensure the long term health of our democracy. Assuming that is still important to people...that I can't answer for them. It would seem to me where intentional wrong doing has occurred our leadership has moral responsibility to do the right thing, correct those mistakes, and put in place safeguards. If they can't then I would question their leadership capacity and commitment to our American values. 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence, 1776

*This is a thought experiment on a hypothetical example on freedom of speech , freedom of religion, and our Constitution. Take with a grain of salt as it is for exploring and learning purposes only.

The Blue Marina: Giving to Charity Benefits Self and Society

As we get older we begin to realize that there are things we can do to make our world a little better. That is the wisdom that comes from experience and insight derived from the deeper truths we learn through a lifetime of meeting people and experiencing a large world. Lots of good people out there doing the right things but not everyone is fair, honest or necessarily wants to further humanity's interests. Its a tough life for some. I have done a few charitable things over the years just because it seemed like the right thing to do. Giving is a net positive for a better world in a sea of people's self interest. Much of my artistic and creative activities are philanthropic in orientation (Notice I didn't say they were actually good! 😅) 

A few articles on giving....

-The Science of Generosity

-Psychological Benefits of Donating

-Feeling Good About Giving

If your in a good mood or want to help yourself as much as others then consider giving to orphans. You can never be wrong when giving to needs like this. Kids should not go without anywhere in the world. I make no distinction on which kids from where or what their backgrounds are (Some do and that is sad. 😥). They got a bad roll of dice and put on the bottom of the pile in preference of other "more important" things. 

According to the articles above acts such as giving $5 to a good cause instead of that fatning latte may have health benefits.  Orphan Fundraising Page 

I had/have a pipe dream of a funding a whole orphanage someday and setting it up as one of the best enrichment orphan/institute for kids. You know the kids that were discarded by the rest of the world but hold potential to impact their and other's lives when they grow up.  My thought is if we spend billions on unfruitful activities then it would make sense to spend a few million a year to do something spectacular. My logic is not followed by most so it will someday maybe be self or sponsor funded if the great winds blow that way. I figure about $2 million a year for a smaller orphanage. Maybe or maybe not. Stats on World Orphans

Also if you like the picture consider buying a digital copy. I give the money away. Its not much but I'm sure it helps. 

The Blue Marina Picture in the Wooded Pathway Gallery

Escanaba City Council Meeting (August 1, 2024): Energy Independence, Super One, Events, and Fanticies

An abundance of interesting things going on in this meeting. I just put together a few key points below I thought were more or less beneficial to discuss. This is a town that is on the upswing and has been reversing its trends of decline over the past few decades. It is now a growth oriented with a plethora of activity and media buzz. Post COVID provides opportunities to discover the emerging investment and vacation destinations within our own neck of the woods. 

1. Power Supply: Energy Independence

There was a discussion on batteries and that is interesting because they can provide some level of protection from future projected blackouts as the national power grid struggles to take on new electrification of our society (Notice a need for locations to have localized energy sources if possible). If we can add a new power supply to solar or wind that feeds the local system first (at a cheaper rate hopefully) it would create sustainable energy independence. The questions of how much power is available as well as the overall costs of that power would naturally arise. Assuming the financial numbers make sense, I would see the benefit of a project like this. As a next step Delta County, Escanaba, Gladstone and surrounding might consider finding alternative energy sources that are focused on providing local energy before putting it out to the wider grid (Spoof on Electricity). 

Businesses and local industry can think of the benefits of consistent uninterrupted power somewhat insulated from issues. Finding a renewable local energy source that is cheaper than standard costs may help attract some industries where those savings count. Residents can think of reduced rates and uninterrupted power. Stakeholders can think of creating this energy independence locally and monitoring how it works and can be applied to other places in a sustainable way. Creates energy resilience and redundancy because power is generated locally, stored, and still has access to pull from the wider electric grid if needed. Energy Independence and Security and Americans Thoughts on Clean Energy Transition

There is also discussion training for local fire departments. As you know, I'm supportive of firefighting training so any money for that is great.  

2. Super One Redevelopment

Super One site is being redeveloped from a worn out pot hole strewn lot (Serious drive to the Dollar store and you might get a flat tire on the way!). It has been an eyesore for a while. Development also sort of opens up some justification for ensuring we know what happens with businesses and buildings when they no longer have a use for a property. To me, if you have land that was build on already and can be redeveloped it is a good idea to make that happen. 

The question of which businesses is debatable but you have an interested party so that is something worthwhile to consider. A hotel industry that coordinates advertising with local stakeholders can be helpful in creating a global market brand. You want to attract what provides the most benefit and is sustainable and/or enhances other industries. Quality of life is also another consideration because that is tied to economic growth (not exact but they are related). Brand to attract business and people interested in local quality of life.

There was a discussion on raising the taxable valuable which I thought was thought provoking. Some money from development would be placed into local brownfield fund. About $9 million of investment and 45 new jobs with good benefits. It's not massive but definitely helpful overall. Creating net positives where local tax revenue rises, jobs are created, blight is removed, and the overall community benefits are helpful. 

3. Events

Events have increased and tourism has started as a new industry in a way that helps support other industries such as the paper industry, boat manufacturing/repair industry, hotel industry, and downtown potential. Tourism brings new revenue and pushes business to improve their offerings. It also increases opportunities for new tourism related businesses downtown that enhances local quality of life. This is where communities can think strategically about what industries support each other but don't necessarily rely exclusively on each other (hedge in clusters). 

Anyways...if I want to start a small business I might consider putting it downtown I would think tourism related micro manufacturers can improve storefronts space as well as export out of the area. Products like custom golf clubs, candles, (polo mallets), custom snow shoes, etc. can be purchased locally and sold globally drawing resources into the area. With luck you may find a product takes off and Escanaba be their HQ for production. 🥳. We have commercial space for them to move into if their export sales grow. We seed businesses. 

Escanaba Coffee Culture
Purchase Here

Escanaba is our little fishing village where you start, grow, and retire back at. Funny spoof on business growth that seems to fit the American version of such a town Business Man Fisherman Joke. It would also be nice to see mom & pop businesses like a small fruit market/salad/smoothie place, butchery/sandwich shop, bakery/coffeeshop/bookstore/wine bar etc. type businesses develop naturally as a sign the downtown can support such entities. 

Once we get hotels/vacationers in the area and more visitors these type of businesses can develop and survive making the downtown increasingly fun place to spend time. I like to envision it as spending the morning fishing, casual breakfast, middle of the day on the beach like a beach bum (been doing a lot more of that now), lunch at a local coffee shop, a matinee movie, coffee shop, visit a local art event of museum, dinner, ice-cream, and cocktails before some live music and dancing (Sorry I'm just sort of fantasizing my perfect Escanaba Day. Yours might look different.)

August 1, 2024 City Council Meeting