Wheeler Writes

Discrimination:  When an individual is denied a job, a raise, a civil right, due to their race, gender, age, religion or sexual orientation, that defines discrimination.  It is illegal and in my opinion immoral.  It is also counter productive to whatever an organizations goals (both private and public) happen to be.

Diversity:  When an individual is given a job, a raise, special privileges, etc. due to their race, gender, age, religion or sexual orientation it is legal but will always be counter productive to an organization’s goals.  With such diversity employee performance will reach the lowest common denominator.

Too many “professional politicians” don’t seem to understand this and believe that individuals are interchangeable. The goal is to make the pool of employees reflect the same makeup as the general population.  It’s not their seemingly lack of intelligence, it’s their lack of experience working in the private sector.  In the private sector there is a need to have a positive bottom line and as a result the strategy is to hire and promote the most qualified individuals regardless of their race, gender, age, religion or sexual orientation.

In the public sector there is no incentive to excel, just do your job and you will get your paycheck.  So perhaps diversity is the proper way to divide the budget provided by taxpayers, but diversity will never work in the private sector.  Politicians on the left know this and that is why they want to minimize or totally eliminate the role of the private sector in the U.S.  The goal is diversity and the methodology is called “affirmative action”.  It may work in the public sector but the “all knowing politicians” should not be allowed to determine how those in the private sector manage their employees.  Market forces are much more efficient at teaching those lessons.     

 It is rare, in both Political Parties, to find candidates with any work experience in the Private Sector.  That is until they retire or get voted out of office.  They will then accept a position in the Private Sector to collect on all the IOUs earned while in office.  But that is a discussion for another day.     

Are you as confused as I am as to why the Media calls professional politicians on the left “progressives”?   In my 74 years we have obviously made a lot of progress in many areas:  science, the environment, human relations etc.  We still have, and will always have, a need to progress further.

That progress will come as individuals seek the truth and adapt to make the World a better place for all.  It will not come from centralized governments telling us what we are supposed to believe and do.  Centralized governments have always restricted the freedom of individuals, stifling creativity and retarding progress.

Over the past two thousand years, the failure of centralized governments is well documented, the Emperors, the Pharos, the Kings and Queens, and most recently, our lovable socialist Dictators, Mao and Stalin, who slaughtered millions of their own people, individuals who questioned their authority.  Their mentors, Marx and Lenin, would be thrilled to know that their ideas, as to how people should be governed, has taken root in the United States, the most successful Democracy in history.

It’s a free country (at least for now) so all you politicians on the left, can choose your own beliefs, but for God’s sake please stop calling yourselves “progressives”. The lack of progress during the 20^th Century, for all the former countries of the USSR*, should tell you why so many Americans disagree with you.   

 *union of soviet SOCIALIST republic 

I will be among those boycotting the NFL tomorrow.  For me, I am not protesting anyone’s right to speak or protest against the ills of our society.

I am a Vietnam veteran who volunteered to fight for my country and while I was one of the lucky Marines, many of my friends were not.  Kneeling during the National Anthem shows a total lack of respect for our Country and every other veteran who has fought for our Country.

More importantly, I want to ask these players if they considered how it must feel to the spouses, the parents, the children, the brothers and sisters and friends of all those who lost their lives serving our country.  All they have is the pride of knowing that someone they loved dearly gave his or her life for their country.

It raises the question of why fight for a Country where many of the most gifted and privileged in our midst show such little respect for this country.  Perhaps that was not their intent but that is what they’ve done.  It’s shameful!

I understand, we have problems, but for one who has been in 64 countries, both rich and poor, I feel so lucky to have been born in the U.S.

By boycotting the NFL perhaps it will get everyone to focus on solving our problems rather than taking away the pride we feel for those who sacrificed so much for this Country!

After writing my last Post, I started wondering if there were any major problems that could be solved as a result of this current stand off between Trump and the Political Establishment. And then I got it!

I spent the last 30 years of my life striving to make “Financial Services” a “profession” rather than a “business”, and a lot of progress has been made.  Unfortunately, “Health Care” has evolved in the opposite direction.  What used to be a highly respected profession has become a profit driven “business”.  What’s ironic is, it’s not the Doctors, Nurses and others who work with patients making the big bucks!  It’s the Hospitals, Pharmaceutical and Insurance Companies who are driving the costs of health care (and their profits) higher every year.

Medical Groups train Doctors how to speed up patient exams so that they can see more patients every day.  Hospitals are encouraged to buy very expensive diagnostic equipment and earn a profit by scheduling unnecessary procedures, etc. etc.  And the Media, they make a fortune from T.V. ads pushing drugs to treat diseases we have never heard of.

So why is the U.S., the richest country in the world, the only developed country in the World that does not have a “National Health Care” system? The blame goes to our career politicians who are not going to bite the hands that feed them.  I have worked and lived in Countries that have National Health Care systems and I’ve never heard one person say they would prefer the “profit driven system” that has evolved in the U.S.

Now if you check, you will find that President Trump spoke about the need for a National Health Care system before he ever ran for office.  And after he was elected President, he told the Prime Minister of Australia how much he admired their Health Care system.  Trump the “independent” just might have the opportunity to make it happen.  As a Republican he has no chance, but as an “independent” who has already shown his willingness to work with members of both Parties, he might just might find the required votes.

I’m hoping that the Executive Order issued by President Trump blocking the entry into the United States of people from seven predominantly Muslim countries has accomplished at least one thing.  Americans are now looking at maps to locate these countries, reading to learn something about the Muslim religion, and developing their own opinions rather than just parroting the views of celebrities and the media.  At least that is my hope.

Some believe the ban is Trump’s attempt to restrict freedom of religion.  (Which is ironic considering there is no freedom of religion in any of those seven countries.)  Others are angry simply because Trump issued the Order, not bothering to recognize that the list was initiated by President Obama.

Those who believe we should readily accept tens of thousands of refugees need to be careful what they are wishing for.  I am sure Angela Merkel is wishing she had pursued a more cautious approach to accepting refugees from these same countries.  Assimilating these refugees is going to be a huge challenge and we need to learn from the experience of others.

What is motivating these refugees to flee their countries is the daily hell in which they are living, and we have contributed to creating that hell with our misguided foreign policy over the last twenty-five years.  To many, we are “the enemy”.  Our two cultures could not be more different.  However this does not give us an excuse to turn our backs on these refugees.

The American people are the most generous people in the world when it comes to helping those in need and we have a moral obligation to help, but we must be careful that we do not create another problem while trying to solve this one.

Young male refugees, with no family, could create a significant risk if given easy entry into our country.  They may have lost friends or family and blame us.  Estimates of civilian casualties since we invaded Iraq in 2003 vary but even the most conservative estimates are in the hundreds of thousands.  You and I may not think of these refugees as our enemy, but what do they think of us?  Try empathizing with them.  They will arrive “here” with little or no education, no marketable skills, and no ability to speak English or Spanish.  They may have escaped the hell of war but life will not be easy.  It is my fear that we may end up creating a pool of “dream candidates” for  Jihadist Recruiters to radicalize.

Perhaps our intentions in the Middle East were good, but like all occupying forces throughout history, any goodwill created was lost long ago.  And now it’s not clear whom we should support in these civil wars.

Our current immigration procedures and policies fall well short of what we need to do if we truly want to help, but it is going to require more than a strict vetting procedure.  If we are serious about helping these refugees we need to establish a government program enabling Americans to sponsor these refugees and assist in their assimilation.  Surely out of a country of 325 million people we could find a 100 thousand individuals or families throughout this country willing to help.  If not there will be very little assimilation.    Simply giving them permission to legally live and work in the United States is not a solution.

So when we hold up a sign that says “You Are Welcome Here” we need to think of what “here” means to each of us.  Do we mean you are welcome “here in the United States”, “here in our own community”, “here in our neighborhood”, or “here in our spare bedrooms”.  It’s easy to hold up a sign expressing support for these refugees but we need a comprehensive plan of action and not just demonstrations and slogans.