Citizen Writers Fighting Censorship by Helping Americans Understand Issues Affecting the Republic.
Jeffery Marshall Ed.D., BG(R) 
Luck presents opportunities. They often come with risk and the need to leave security and stretch ourselves to develop the talents fortune provides to take advantage of the opportunity. Courage and boldness are critical to growth. If luck does not present opportunities, and fortune does not present the skills and the temperament to see the opportunity and employ them, growth and change are unlikely.
Creating the Monster: The American Bureaucracy Source: http://www.fernbyfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/photo-frankenstein-1931-2.jpg “The path toward the creation of the modern American state was not linear as some would suspect, but neither was it merely thrown off course by the Progressives in the early twentieth century. It began in the Founding era itself.” “The most powerful and lasting legacy of …
Education reflects and amplifies culture. If the military does not have a culture that supports the warrior ethos and excellence, it will not sustain a vital NCO corps. Education without this ethos might do more damage to the military than no education at all.
The Looming NCO Crisis, Part 3: Military Culture Part 1 of this series framed the problem of the looming NCO crisis. Part 2 examined why the recruiting base is so low and ended on the cautionary note that even if the military solved the recruiting crisis, if the culture does not support excellence and …
The Looming NCO Crisis Part 2: Why is the Recruit Base so Low? Part 1 of this series discussed the low recruiting base for the Army and how that will translate into an NCO crisis. The Chief of Staff of the Army reports that only 23% of Americans in the target age range are …
The Looming NCO Crisis: Introduction This blog is about a looming crisis that could happen in the US military’s Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) corps. But the same factors that affect the military can and probably will affect almost any organization. Today, there is a great deal of concern over recruiting. I am concerned about what happens …
Communism’s Dirty Secret (and Capitalism’s and Democracy’s as Well) Communism is a utopian philosophy, summed up by the quote from Karl Marx in the figure above. Communism’s secret is that it requires virtue to implement. Its dirty secret is that communism does not teach, induce, or want virtue. But it requires virtue in two dimensions. …
The Mad Scientists in the federal government created an unelected and largely unaccountable 4th branch of government. Path dependency keeps us locked into this approach and will require a significant punctured equilibrium to change.
Virtue, Wherefore Art Thou? The rise of Christianity buried pagan philosophy for centuries as Christianity took control of all aspects of western life. But in 1649, the Treaty of Westphalia broke Christianity’s stranglehold on western life. The treaty ended the brutally destructive Thirty Years’ War, which pit Protestants against Catholics and tore Germany and other …
Do oaths have any meaning in a society not underpinned by virtue or at least fear of punishment? I, for one, think we need to restore virtue to society.
The drive to green energy is a fine goal, but we have not laid the foundation for it. The result is a squeeze on the American middle class, source of stability.
China’s mercantilist strategy is patient. But will internal stresses and pressures force it to act?
China has a large, global presence that they use to enable a mercantilist strategy. They control key ports throughout the world and use their corporations to buy foreign assets that enable this strategy.
The vision for a peace treaty should guide and govern combat operations in Ukraine. The US is making $40B investment and should shape the peace.
The rule of law allowed the US to grow exponentially. It both facilitated foreign investment in railroads and other infrastructure and provided a stable set of rules for the growing civilization. But American culture is increasingly inclined to simply ignore laws people find inconvenient. As we ignore laws, we lose respect for the rule of law and the virtues that allows American to prosper.
The cardinal virtues and courtesy are essential for a healthy society and the formulation of policies and programs that solve problems rather than creating new ones.
A solutions-based approach requires critical thinking, objective analysis, and unbiased data. Leaders need to facilitate effective discourse and dialog.
The mind is a funny thing and what we bring into our thoughts shapes them and either reinforces prejudice and bias or cleanses them. If we want to avoid the two graves of revenge, we need clear, critical thinking.
Confucius was a pretty smart guy. His comment on revenge is spot on. We see it playing out now with the social justice movement. For many in Black Lives Matter (BLM) and other social justice organizations, the social justice movement is perhaps more about revenge than it is about justice.
Make no mistake, we are amid a social revolution that will fundamentally reshape American society and government. While social justice warriors use the term “woke” to discuss the organizations that enact their principals, concerned citizens need to wake up and understand what is happening and the long-term consequences to sustainable liberty and prosperity for all Americans.