Humans as Fractals

First let me offer a few words about fractals and also this link should my explanation not be to your liking.
Fractals is a word that should be closely associated with the word fractions.
The science of fractals suggests that all things take on a similar look when a fraction of them is viewed closer and closer and closer still.
For example a coastline as viewed from outer space will show many inlets, outlets, craggy points and offer a generally ragged look.  If you were to view just a small portion of the same coastline, say a one tenth fraction you might be surprised to notice the same features as the original view.  A further diminution of the new coastline view will offer another similar view.  Keep moving closer by a factor of ten and you should be rewarded with similar rugged looks all the way down to the molecular level!
In fact if you placed a view of the molecular level alongside that of the original outer space view you might be surprised at their overall similarities.
Fractals also appear in nature in the veins and structure
of a leaf.

But how about human nature?  Can we find fractal similarities in groups of people?
I argue that the same is true about the ins and out-lets of the human animal, at least when viewing financial wealth from a safe and lofty outer space-like perch.
Let's look at the tremendously wealthy, the uber wealthy, the top one tenth of one percent of Americans.
Here you will see a group of people who jockey for position and power versus each other nearly all the time.
They do this almost without realizing it as one might prepare breakfast or pick up a newspaper to read.
And they do so for many reasons not the least of which is sport but also for increased power and more control over their personal environment.
Left alone they will continue to move in the same way constantly looking for more money and more ways to get more money.
What will they do with the increased wealth?
It doesn't matter, it's all part of the game.
These people hardly notice any of the fractals below them. But they should since  without there can be no wealth!
Let's move down the financial fractal chain by an order of ten and view the extremely wealthy or so-called one per-centers.
This group of people will not live long enough to spend half their massive fortunes yet they too jockey for position versus their peers in a never ending struggle to move ahead.
Their constant desire to 'win' also eggs them on for more money and more control of their sheltered environment.
They are somewhat aware of the group above them but pay them less heed than the group just below as those are to be shunned and feared as social climbing wannabes.
In their own circles or rather bubbles they act very much like the obscenely wealthy only a bit less so.
Still they have problems that keep them up at night such as, 'How can we afford to buy a second yacht and next to which home would we moor it?'
Take the next move down the food chain with another fractal drop of ten percent and view now the upper middle class, the nouveau riche, the 'well to do' working class.
This group has made it, as far as they are concerned but nevertheless still maneuver and think and plan on getting further ahead.  They include groups such as snowbirds, who have a home up north perhaps at a ski resort and a winter home in Florida or some other warm clime.
They are the ones usually thought of when using the phrase keeping up with the Joneses.  They would love to move up but they too are more aware of the groups below and sometimes feel it is their duty to keep the division and distinction alive lest others move into their neighborhood.
You all know the ones they mean!  Better sell now before it's too late.
And the next leap, or rather drop of ten percent brings us into the heart of America, the bulk of the working class, the steady sturdy middle class.
This former backbone of the country now finds itself being used as fodder by the groups above.
It is the largest populated group in all of fractal land.
If the upper fractals can take just ten dollars from each of the people in this group it would add up to massive amounts for them.  And surely no one would miss ten dollars a year, would they?
The inhabitants of this middle class fractal are also constantly jockeying for position with regards to their friendly fractal neighbors.
They realize how close they are to being dropped down a fractal and have recently all but given up on hopes of rising up and out.  With them it's all about keeping the tide from flooding their coastline and sending them into ruin.
And this brings us to the lowest fractal of all, the molecular level if you will of feared financial fractal-dom, the poor. They are also known as the needy, the indigent, the homeless.
This group with the least is feared the most by all fractals above it.
Yet they too only wish to make their environs livable and jockey, albeit at a much slower pace for morsels and pennies to help them eat and survive.
There will be scuffles in this group since human nature exists in all of us.
They must get ahead of others to survive another day.
And just like the creatures on the sand of an ocean beach who may never see the big picture their universe consists of the immediate.
Many fight over a few square feet of a sidewalk living space or a cardboard box in which to sleep.  Some covet a well trafficked street corner from which to beg for donations from higher fractal passers by.
They go mostly unnoticed by society.
Every fractal above this group uses them to some degree to stoke the fires of fear and promote the 'there but for the grace of God' feeling they hear or preach to others.
Each group has a NIMBY attitude toward the lesser fractals.
But we are all basically the same with the major difference merely being the size of our bank account or the lack thereof.
And just as the coastline viewed from outer space knows nothing of it's molecular sized fractal the top financial fractal group of Americans spends little or no time thinking of the homeless.
Yet once again remember that without the lower groups these people would not have their cushy lifestyle or even exist.
A wave crashing onto the coastline cares not for the sands it causes to disappear but perhaps it should.

FRACTALS ARE FOREVER

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

The title of this post is an oft used comeback against someone who says something you think is outrageous or at least insincere.

But many do put their money where their mouths are or at least where they silently want everyone else’s mouths to be.

I am speaking of the silent majority of political backers also known as lobbyists.

These days the more money some people have the more they want and they’ll do anything to get it.  And if it means hurting or harming a majority of others to reach their goal so be it!

The bottom line IS their bottom line and money is the way they keep score.
Today my newspaper showed three candidates running for county supervisor but a quick glance merely showed their photos and the amount of money they have collected in donations.  The subliminal message was clearly we do not need to vote because the man with the most will most likely win!  And sadly the trend of putting the worst man or woman for the job in place will most likely continue.

Of course power enters into the equation as well but without money you may find yourself powerless.

Grass roots movements are definitely not a thing of the past but certainly not as powerful as they used to be and that is by design.  And the designers are those in power and those with enough money to keep them there.

President Obama won his first election by obtaining an incredible amount of money with which he was able to get his message across.  He did this with a grass roots organization that collected enough small donations to make the total impressive even by today's standards.

You can be the smartest person in the world and have the best ideas for the most people alive but without money or backers with cash your message remains in your dreams.

The Republican Party is nothing if they are not deviously smart and they see how to keep or get power in America.

Most of the candidates on the proverbial right side of the aisle probably do not believe half the things they say or promote, at least one can hope, but they know their constituents do so they say them.

But the real problem in America today lies in the wallets of the wealthiest greedy power hungry few who spend millions like most of us spend quarters.

These quiet behind the scenes types are insidious.  They know how to dangle their bait in front of unscrupulous politicians afraid of losing a seat in Congress and thus having to actually work for a living!

Their money allows the words they wish to say to come out of their puppets mouths.

If every American of the so-called 98% group donated one dollar to the same cause it would amount to around $300,000,000!  That is approximately half the amount Sheldon Adelson threw away backing the Mittster in the 2012 Presidential campaign And he is promising to double it going forward!

Now admittedly he has only one vote and the 98%ers have around 200 million votes assuming everyone went to the polls next time so he could easily be outvoted but… (I left out those under the voting age.)

Let’s face it, there are too many among us in the country that have little knowledge of what is going on in government and many more who just don’t care.  Then there are the ones who actually believe the crap spewed by the puppets of Adelson and friends.  And his friends while not that many have wealth nearly beyond belief!

Take the Koch brother, Please!

The basically useless Koch boys inherited daddy’s business and starting from the humble amount of billions have been able to make even more billions in their effort to pollute the world. Their causes are generally bad ones for the future of mother Earth but they know they’ll be long gone before our children and grandchildren have to wear gas masks and protective clothing and move to higher ground merely to survive so they continue their quest for more money at all cost!

And they too donate and donate wildly.

One such donation was recently uncovered as David tried to block a PBS documentary entitled Citizen Koch.  An obvious reference to one of the greatest films of all time, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane which was about a ruthless wealthy man hell bent on having his views become those of the world.  The movie was a loosely veiled shout out against Citizen Hearst and clearly not a love note.
And with the money flowing the Republican Party has turned to voter suppression as an additional way to secure a long future in power for their wealthy backers.
In other words the more their money helps their mouths speak the less they listen to yours!
Be afraid - Be VERY afraid!

So how can we stop the creeping creepy creeps who flaunt their wealth and get their way by silently pulling strings in the public sector?

Well for one when we hear a politician say something odd or espouse a cause that may not be right for the majority of Americans we can look to see from whose mouth the words are actually emanating.  Follow the money back to its source.

Then ask yourself if you would want that puppet master to run your City or State or you America.

The answer will most likely be a resounding no!

Then use your hand next November and every November from now on to put your vote where your head is!