Children need authoritarian parents who gradually share their power as their children mature in knowledge and decision-making. Citizens of a democracy do not need authoritarian leadership unless they aren’t taught or lose the knowledge and decision-making ability for maintaining their democracy.

My view after 87 trips around the sun: There is a difference between spending taxpayer dollars on the prevention of war and spending taxpayer dollars on the practice for war. The U.S. spends more on readiness than the next several highest spenders combined and most of those are allies.

I grew up on family farms in Nebraska. My father always said there are two kinds of people in the world; the farmers and those who live off of them. Support sex education. We need to better manage our sexuality with family planning so more people in the future can have their own gardens and farms.

My sense of it: The biggest mistake that taxpayers make is not adequately funding public education. When voters are well practiced in critical thinking, they find more truth in news outlets and make the best choices for government leadership. This saves taxpayers the most money in the long run.

Scientists gain knowledge by asking questions
News reporters unpack news events by asking questions.
College students practice critical thinking by asking questions.
When conservative political, religious, and corporate leaders provide answers, they don’t seem to want any more questions.

I don’t know about yours, but my ancestors survived our evolutionary history by becoming social creatures surrounded by Nature with DNA for trusting, caring, helping, and sharing. Those with the capacity to remember passwords and sit in a room with the latest computer technology did not make it.

Note: there is a difference between the competition of ideas for the benefit of people and the competition of people for the benefit of ideas. Support free higher education and free health care, including family planning. The Best Legacy: Love all children and create no more or one or two if none.

Most questions do not have just yes or no answers. That’s why higher public education to be exposed to more perspectives and critical thinking is of utmost importance. Everyone should have the opportunity. Loving all babies while creating less mean more future opportunities for grown-up babies.

My view after 87 trips around the sun. People who grow up in a rigid authoritarian system of religious, political, or economic beliefs will have a harder time adapting to real democracy as adults. A Far Right congress, a U.S. president, even some U.S. Supreme Court judges can’t seem to get there.

My view after 87 trips around the sun: Think self-reliance with a garden and local business for securing food and shelter. Think community socialism for optimizing health and peace. Think government regulation for local ecosystem protection. Think education and family planning for sustainability.

Question from 87 trips around the sun: Gross National Product supposedly measures the growth of the economy: Is that subtracting inflation? Is that subtracting non-regenerative resources? Is that subtracting government spending? Is that subtracting future generations' costs due to climate change?

Overpopulation creates competition. Competition creates greed and poverty. The new Golden Rule: “Who has the gold, makes the rules.” To increase freedom, health, and peace follow The Legacy Rule: “Love all your children and create no more, or one or two if none.”

PEACE
Given all the forces in play,
everyone does their best each day.
Should you want a better return,
study the facts, see what you can learn.
There’s one more step that you may find.
You’ve got to be able
to change your
mind.

EN34U-VPU41

Today is World Contraception Day promoted by a coalition of human rights and health advocates to raise awareness of the need for convenient contraception. Along with real sex education and family planning, the goal is that every pregnancy is desired. Our planet has more people than it can handle.

To add to my introduction, I did 4 years in the Air Force, earned credits at 5 different universities over a 16-year span, ended up with a Ph.D. in social psychology and made a living working part-time for 28 years as a licensed psychologist, licensed marital therapist, and certified sex therapist.

Note. There is a difference between being on a mission to question and discover facts about peaceful living and a mission to spread a closed, settled set of beliefs about peaceful living. Science is always open to further questioning, making its findings more accurate and self-correcting over time.

I barely graduated from high school in 1956. A misfit in my community, I have been on a mission ever since to discover the best ways to live. In time, best ways to live became most peaceful. I am about to complete my 87th trip around the sun and find it most meaningful to share my conclusions.