CONSERVED AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM AND THE PRIMACY OF IDEAS
VINCENT FRANK DE BENEDETTO BECAUSE THE NATION NEEDS AT LEAST ONE ADULT IN THE ROOM* INTRODUCTION The One Thing You Can't Buy On Amazon My Fellow Americans, my Brothers and Sisters: if you seek a Presidential candidate, be apprised that this Internet resource, Vincent2024.com / Conserved.us, will probably be unlike any other that you have visited, for I, myself, am unlike any other candidate for President. I am:
As you begin, then continue, to acquaint yourself with me, I hope you find my explicit honesty in all things refreshing, gratifying, respectful, and confidence-and-trust-inspiring. I'm not a politician. I'm a writer, political philosopher, and in larger terms, a Teacher, interested in one thing above all, as every philosopher should be: TRUTH. "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" . . . . . -- President Ronald Reagan, at a press conference on August 12th, 1986 WE ALL HAVE MORE TO LEARN If you are:
If you are any of the above, you may come off this website thinking, "I barely understand a thing this guy is talking about." This would actually be good. It would suggest that you have a lot to learn, and there's nothing wrong with that. Just get moving, and start learning! And as you'll see, I'm going to do everything that I can to assist you--which is, in part, why I describe my candidacy as a learning candidacy. I'm going to teach you, and you're going to teach me, and we're all going to teach, and learn from, each other. This will strengthen us individually, and as a nation. Regarding your understanding of the content at this Internet resource, Vincent2024.com: simply take it a page, a paragraph, a sentence, a phrase (i.e. part of a sentence), or even a word at a time. Proceed slowly and carefully, and consult other learning materials including a dictionary, as required. I have full faith in each of you to slowly begin to understand the material, here. I present a lot of information about military and national security matters, here, and in fact my work in this area was cited-and-quoted by the New York Times just after 9-11. You do want a fully secure nation, do you not? Think about it--do you really want a President who is not far smarter, more knowledgable, and more experienced than you? IMPORTANT INTRODUCTORY NOTES
Presidential Pedagogy Program Or simply Presidential Pedagogy/P2 Our valued American teachers obviously also have a critical role to play. I'd like every teacher, at all grade levels save perhaps the lowest, to ensure that they and their students view all my Presidential broadcasts, especially those specifically intended, in part, to facilitate learning, such as my Presidential Pedagogy learning sessions (described below). After the broadcast, I'd like you, the teacher, and your students to review the vocabulary terms (i.e. words) that I (and others) had used during the broadcast. I assure you that they'll be words that every educated young American should know; it's likely that you may have taught or reviewed some of the terms with your students, already. In such cases our use of these words and your post facto review will simply reinforce your excellent work. Learn with the President As President my mandate will be to learn as much as I can about any and every subject that bears upon my presiding as a competent national leader, and ensuring that the members of my Administration and their respective Teams Actualize in their own jobs, as well (perform to their utmost capacity). I therefore intend to hold an ongoing series of televised Presidential Learning Sessions with a panel of participants expert in a given area, many of these areas to be very specific. I expect all sessions to be highly informational and deeply interesting, and indeed some will be especially exciting as they include all past living Presidents. I'd like the American people, especially children, to view these sessions; I queried myself: "Why should I be the only person to benefit from this series of high-level "crash courses," presenting a range of information important, if not vital, to the entire American people?" ELEVATING YOU - While on the subject of words, be apprised (i.e. informed, told) that my candidacy, and indeed Presidency, is and will be rooted in the positive and salutary (i.e. good for us) realities, perhaps in good measure just objectives, so far, in American society, represented by words such as:
"GOOD MORAL CHARACTER IS THE FIRST ESSENTIAL IN A MAN." . . . . . -- George Washington STUDY THIS SITE - To young people, others of shorter or incomplete life-experience, or those deliberately in a learning mode: to gain full advantage of the content of this website, and in some good measure to understand it, at all, you'll probably have, not merely to read it, but to actually study it. Learn now that this is not uncommon if you're reading the work or thoughts of someone extremely intelligent or knowledgable. I suggest that you read this entire site at least three times. Don't even click any links for these initial reads. Then, start digging in and actually studying the site. Start clicking links, reading further, and thinking. For many of you, the perspectives and principals will start to really come alive after, perhaps, a year, but the journey, I assure you, will be an enriching and enthralling (i.e. extremely and deeply exciting) one. And thankfully, Fellow Americans and Brothers and Sisters, we have three years until the next Presidential election, plenty-of-time to get to know each other! Take the time to study the content at this site, and you will not merely begin to properly understand whom to vote for, and why, but you will begin to greatly increase your own level of knowledge about the world, and in so doing, by the way--about yourself. Whom you really are, or want to be. For how can you know who to be, whom to become, if you don't know what options the world holds for you? And how can you know what options the world holds for you, if you know nothing of the world? Acquainting yourself with my work, much of which is either summarized or otherwise presented, here, or linked to from here, will comprise* the start of this process, for you. Good luck! (*comprise, verb: constitute, make-up, be, be made up of) SITE UNDER DEVELOPMENT - I am a thinking human, writing this site in real time and continually and dynamically thinking it through as I go. So you will likely find some material in some sections under construction, or thoughts not fully formed, or penned (i.e. written), yet. This is clearly not the first-time that I've thought about most of the ideas and issues presented here: I'm a writer and philosopher, cited-and-quoted by the New York Times in 2003, just after 9-11, and I've been thinking and writing about many of these issues for a long time. So if something, here, a section, an idea, somehow seems incomplete, it may be. Please bear with me! Come back a few days or a week later and that section or that thought will likely be finished, or at least more complete. READ OVER AND OVER - An important factor that we both must consider in reading this website is how it's generally written, and what I'm writing about. Many people are simply not used to reading. And they are definitely not used to reading the way that I write. That is, in a fairly sophisticated (i.e. not simple) way, using my full command of language. If you're comfortable reading an organ (i.e. publication) like, say, The New York Times, you shouldn't have too much trouble reading my work. And as you continue to slowly acquaint (i.e. learn about) yourself with my writing, an interesting and amazing thing will start to happen: you'll find yourself getting better and better at understanding sophisticated and elegant writing on important topics. In other words, your mind will start improving--and in this, you will, in other words, be "Actualizing," (ak' shoo ull eye' zing) that is, becoming closer to the best person that you can be. (You'll read about Actualizing and Actualization, below.) For my part, I'm writing my content, here, to be as comprehensible (i.e. understandable) as I can. For your part, I want you to read this material over, once, in its entirety (i.e. completely, all of it). Then take a second read, and a third, allowing the ideas to slowly become more clear to you. Or--and this can happen, too--upon further reads the ideas could actually become less clear to you! Things might seem even more confusing upon your third or fourth read. This happens sometimes but is simply part of the learning process. Don't run from it; stay with it and continue stretching those mental muscles. I am completely amenable (i.e. open to the idea) of accepting your email messages, telephone calls, and even in-person conversations to help you understand my ideas--and BTW, for me to hear yours. Brothers and Sisters, I want to hear YOUR ideas! Perhaps what is going right, or wrong, in your life, and what we can do about it, with, of course, implications for our larger American national community, as we're all suffering from the same basic set of problems. Addressing your problem also means helping someone else who has the same, or a similar, problem. NOTE TO LOCAL NEIGHBORS. It is difficult to engage in the complex, unwieldy, and difficult endeavor of seriously running for President of the United States with present neighborhood levels of noise and other distractions. Principal offenders are gas-powered leafblowers and lawnmowers, especially large commercial units. Additionally, it is obviously also more difficult to engage in the extensive thinking and research required to continue to fashion the powerful ideas and accompanying programs and policies that would make a De Benedetto Presidency desirable and worthwhile in the first place. Moreover, and critically, the devastating new report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations climate science research group, makes it abundantly clear that climate change is real, is human-caused, is and will continue to cause abnormal and often deadly weather patterns, and is coming faster than we thought. Therefore, and this is now candidate De Benedetto speaking: all unnecessary devices and technologies that contribute to climate change must, and under the DE BENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION will, be eliminated, and the so-called leafblower is #1 on my personal, professional, and, should I win the Presidency, Executive hit list. This largely unnecessary device causes serious injury of many kinds to both people, and planet. Now suffering Tinnitus, an incurable hearing-related malady caused in whole or part by the misguided sonic ministrations of local landscapers, enabled by neighbors lacking adequate native intelligence, moral education, or both, I can personally provide powerful testimony to the injurious nature of this device. My mantra (i.e. word or phrase said repeatedly to provide focus), my mantra (pron. mon' chruh) in these matters, for homeowner and landscaper, alike, has been, and remains that of time-tested tools: rake, broom, shovel, bucket, gloves, and reel mower. If you elect to do the work yourself, it makes for a wholesome weekend family activity! If you'd like: 1.) to see someone from right within your community run for, and possibly win, the Presidency of the United States, thereby putting this town on the map in a way, and on a scale, never seen, and 2.) you and your own family to benefit from the unique, powerful, and innovative ideas that will begin to influence policy, and thus your own lives, directly, in the United States were I elected, please completely refrain from generating, and permitting generation of, all noise, especially the kinds cited, above. Contractor Assistance My Family and the De Benedetto Campaign are putting out a general call to contractors including landscape, electrical, plumbing, roofing, mason & building, fencing, and others to perform work required at Campaign Headquarters that you'll provide gratis (i.e. without charge), in support of my 2024 Presidential Campaign. VOTE FOR THEM Fellow Americans, Brothers & Sisters: if you can find another 2024 candidate for President with a...
...by all means vote for them! If not, join THE DeBENEDETTO CAMPAIGN and let's get moving and win this election! GREETINGS As candidate for President, I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear. But I will tell you what you must hear, if you, your family, your state, and your nation (and the world, which often emulates, or imitates, America) is to be given the best chance for happiness, in the complex, difficult, and often disturbing world of today. Pandemic, terror (i.e. terrorism), 9-11, climate change, George Floyd, cyberhacking, foreign interference in U.S. elections, ransomware, rising suicide rates among both teens and middle-aged persons, loneliness, low wages, bigotry (i.e. racism) against African-Americans and now even Asians, the recent murder of Gabby Petito, too many families going without a mom or dad, hunger, poverty, mental illness...where does it all end? And how about a set of problems that may, indeed, affect America greatly, but which are presently known to far fewer people, such as the imminent global water shortage crisis? Can you believe nations going to war over access to water? In fact, Water.org writes: "According to a report by the World Economic Forum, the water crisis is the #5 global risk in terms of impact to society." Fellow-Americans, Brothers & Sisters: is there a root cause for all of this, or many different causes? Maybe just some kind of crazy, or very unusual, period in American and world history? I believe that I have the answers. THREE DIMENSIA OF MY CAMPAIGN
INACTUALIZED In my book draft LOVE, PROPERLY UNDERSTOOD I use the term (i.e. the word) "Inactualized," (pron. in AK shuw ul eye' zd) as in: the problem with the United States, and the world, is that they are morally and functionally Inactualized. But for our purposes I'm going to express this idea a little more simply, using simpler language. To "actualize" simply means to be the best that you are capable of being. Look it up in your psychology textbook. This idea can pertain to an individual, group, company, or country. The term Inactualized can also be represented in writing or speech as "non-actualized." "In" means "non." In short, Inactualized means not actualized. Not the best that you, or your team, or your company, or your community, or your state, or your country, can be. Becoming Actualized, or not becoming or remaining Inactualized is a key concept in my work in social science. The problem is that American (and global) society is rife with the functional mistakes that comprise (i.e. make up) Inactualization: these mistakes appear in every form, kind, and severity, making the simple living-of-life inordinately difficult, complex, and, in fact, dangerous for all of us. The Real Cause of Death Having the power of the Philosopher, I can tell each of you, in general terms, how you're going to die. In fact, I've already told you, above. Inactualization is the root cause of death, whether the proximate (i.e. immediate) cause is cancer, heart attack, automobile accident, falling down the stairs, murder, drug overdose, gunshot, animal attack, or anything else. Because persons and systems remain Inactualized, they engage in behaviors, or permit or even encourage others to engage in behaviors that inevitably lead to injury, and then death, and sometimes simply death, itself, immediately. Every death of every human being, through the ages to the present, save those genuinely occurring from "old age" or inescapable natural disaster, is an example of this. ME I am certainly Inactualized. My campaign for President is Inactualized. Meaning, neither are yet the best they can be. I'm looking for your gracious, loving, and knowledgeable support and help in improving both! THE PROBLEM: OUR TWIN DEFICITS deficit, (DEF ih sit) noun: shortage or lack. The fact is, there are two root causes of just about every problem humankind (i.e. every human being) has. The two deficits that drive and generate our entire host of problems, are:
USE THE POWER THAT I'M GIVING YOU The two elements above that comprise the basic divisions of my Platform, 1.) Love and Connection, and 2.) Functional Competence, are sorely missing in America, and together their absence is, and forms, a pernicious force, and pair. A representative example of this phenomenon exists in the world of nutrition and health: what are called "vegetable seed oils" such as Soybean, Canola/Rapeseed, Sunflower, Safflower, Cottonseed, and others are ubiquitous; in other words they are found in almost every food item, at least every packaged food item such as frozen dinners, sold in America (and elsewhere). Yet their injury to the arteries and other blood vessels of the human body, leading directly to cardiovascular disease, stroke in particular, is an open secret. Consumption of these oils has, does, and will continue to put more Americans in a box (i.e. casket), especially older Americans, far faster than would otherwise be the case. Yet they are widely used and their use shows zero sign of slowing down. If you have (or are) parents of middle-age or older, it is imperative that they immediately discontinue consumption of these oils (see dedicated section below, for more). Do not eat what is not food. And vegetable seed oils are not food. The root cause of this continuing use of vegetable oils, in my present example, is obviously either one, or the other, or likely both, of my two identified factors, above. But whether you ascribe this continuing use to my Presidential Plank #1, above, immorality, that is, lack of Love, manifesting in this case in lack of concern for their fellow citizens by corporate food interests, or to my Presidential Plank #2, above, absence of functional competence, manifesting in corporate food interests, and even consumers, themselves, remaining unaware of the hazards of vegetable oils, or ascribe the continuing use to both phenomena, the result is the same: continuing large-scale injury and death to you, your family, and many of our fellow Americans. My identification of these two elements as the foundational cause of every American (and human) problem comprises a powerful discovery in Philosophy and Social Science, generally, and Political Philosophy in particular--let's make full use of this unique and powerful conceptual tool now that we have it. Of course, as President this is precisely what I and my Administration, working in concert with You, the American People, will do. America was, and arguably remains, a Great nation by all objective standards. One such standard, however, has either been absent from the start, depending on your reading of history, or is missing-in-action now: Love, properly understood, the "parent" (i.e. source or originating) concept of such characteristics as ethics, morality, and the feeling of connection between us. If this missing element, Love, largely responsible for our decline, is not meaningfully rebuilt and restored, America will never be great again, nor great, period. Luckily, MY PRESIDENCY IS GOING TO COMPLETELY CHANGE ALL THIS, and solve this fundamental problem--presuming, of course, that you get me elected. FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCE & ACTUALIZATION WEBLOG As you read through the entries, below, you'll begin to understand the troubling pattern of incompetence and inadequacy that I'm talking about. You'll also begin to realize that there is, in fact, no way I could easily record every instance, large, small, and moderate, of in-or-semi-competence that I, and you, run across each and every day. It's a staggering problem, that has compromised America in every way. And, Brothers & Sisters, the problem is going to get a lot worse as dope (i.e. marijuana, hashish) becomes legal across the country, leading to an increasingly sprawling subset of Americans walking around stoned. Insidiously, because of the often-subtle nature of the marijuana high, you'll probably never know that your doctor, nurse, auto mechanic, bus driver, waiter, tax-preparer, police officer, the teacher or teachers of your child, or even your priest, rabbi, or imam, is high, on the job, or off. And given that no person will ever really know what other person or persons whom they are interacting with are high, indeed in many cases persons whom they are depending on, sometimes in serious or even life-and-death situations, how will people ever trust each other again? What happens to trust, already rated low in America, between person and person, person and business, and person and government? Trust--that foundational element without which you simply cannot have a healthy and functioning society? Trust will obviously be gravely injured, if not destroyed. Fellow Americans, how do we maintain, and build, a healthy and prosperous society under such conditions? We don't. We simply shed a tear as we watch America continue to inexorably (i.e. can't be stopped) decline from Great Power to third-world-nation. Fight, and terminate, this powerful and destructive enemy by A.) reading my book GRASS NOT GREENER, and B.) electing me President. Here is the Blog. ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY -- President John F. Kennedy, from his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961 HYBRID SYSTEM As some of you may realize as you increasingly acquaint yourself with my political beliefs and the Presidential candidacy they inform, my value and belief system is a hybrid (hi' brid), this latter term defined by dictionary.com as: "anything derived from heterogeneous sources, or composed of elements of different or incongruous kinds" My beliefs are often, but not always, conservative, though always ground in Agape (uh gop' aye), which is "brotherly love" in the language of Greek philosophy, as taught by Christ, Martin Luther King, Jr., Erich Fromm, myself, as a system, and others, including my page of Agape Mentors, link on left-side NavBar at that site. A large part of the seminal nature of my politico-philosophical corpus is my frequent ground of conservative assertions and beliefs in Agape, that is, Brotherly Love, not egoism, egotism, narrow forms of political conservatism, arguments based solely on "Constitutional principles," or Christian ideology, as such, but simply Agape, that is, Love, which should please thinking liberals, moderates, and radicals, indeed, anyone who values the love ethic and its possible ground for personal behavior, social reform, or even the erection of a society. Mine is a truly unique, seminal, and powerful conceptual engine for change, spanning or rooted in the full range of socio-and-politico-existential bases, pleasing everyone. Whether conservative, or liberal, buckle up your psycho-cognitive seat belt and prepare to be taken on the wildest political ride of your life, as your beliefs are both affirmed, in some measure, and denied, in another, as you encounter Conservative-position after Conservative-position ground purely in Love, a standard for behavior, or more broadly, for adoption of programs, associated with Christian theorist Joseph Fletcher, based on which is understood as the more loving option in a given situation (I don't imply that I accept Joseph Fletcher's entire philosophical system or critique). Conservatives, and Liberals, as well as persons, in fact, of every political stripe may find themselves greatly surprised at the unique and wholly unexpected path to Conservatism that I've laid out: Love. Indeed, persons on the Left likely think that following a path of Love will lead to a left-wing or Progressive agenda: unrestricted immigration, liberal drug policies, unrestricted abortion, reduction in military and police spending, stricter gun laws, and automatic expansion of homosexual rights. I'm arguing that Love, properly understood, just as easily, perhaps far more easily, lends itself to a Conservative agenda. Example, one of many: Americans believe that National Security should exist and remain optimal at all times in service of the security of the nation--and of course this is correct. But from an AGAPE standpoint, National Security exists to keep us secure because 1.) protecting ourselves is an act of self-Love, 2.) protecting ourselves, collectively, the United States, is also an act of Love toward our allies, who benefit when the historical standard-bearer and Western protector is seen as, and is, strong and secure, 3.) insofar as this historical standard-bearer and world leader, us, is seen as, and is, strong and secure, it tends to keep the world stable, and thus comprises an act of Love toward the world, 4.) it's difficult to Love others if one doesn't Love themselves, and thus is this and other acts and forays into collective self-love necessary, for a weak America would be in a poor position to assist any other nation, and, last, 5.) Love of both others and self comprise the proper structure of AGAPE; anything less would detract from principle and practice. What you just read in the preceding paragraph is my striking and seminal "Argument-from-Love" in favor of a robust national security. My definition of Love, officially established at another of my foundational projects THE AGAPE ORDER, and consistent across all my work, is presented as: Agape, the principle of love, commonly referred to as "brotherly love," the "love ethic," or sometimes "universal love," is defined as follows: "Agape, or Brotherly Love, is the active consideration of, and acting upon, the interests of all people to their long-term benefit (or short-term, if more acute or their long-term benefit cannot be reasonably established), in more-or-less the same proportion as you consider (and usually act upon) your own interests."
Even the most fundamental of human social behaviors such as civility and basic courtesy are expressions or manifestations of their parent principal, Love. Thus, were the Love ethic adopted and implemented in American society there would be an immediate basic elevation of all social interaction, by everyone, from the man on the street to the woman in Congress. This elemental step, alone, would comprise a huge improvement in our current abysmal standard of social interaction in this country--and it would certainly help prevent any further treasonous incursions into U.S. Government buildings or other facilities. In fact, everyone's lives would actually get a touch brighter, as those around them displayed a smile and a bit of warmth. Such is the power of Love, properly understood, even in its most routine application. There is simply no question that this country is going nowhere without it, but will simply continue its present moral, ethical, and even political and technological descent and devolution, since a minimum of regard and respect for each other, which we're rapidly losing at every level of American society and governance, is required even for basic cooperation in any area or sphere of social endeavor or activity. Our lack of connection to each other impedes our moving forward as a nation in at least three ways:
CONSERVATISM Conservatism is clearly the future of this country, and this world, perhaps especially now that the Love-based path to this political perspective that I've created (see HYBRID SYSTEM, above) may more readily bring Liberals and Moderates to this view, if not to the movement, itself. Let me define what I mean by Conservatism. For the same powerful and expansive intellect that I bring to every other idea on this page, is at work in formulating and understanding our most helpful conception of Conservatism. Some prelims on my brand of Conservatism:
And it bears reminding that, for Christians (and persons of other Love-oriented belief systems), this is already supposed to be our orientation to the world. For example, Thomas Jefferson is a defining figure in and for America. Ergo (i.e. therefore) should his thought, likeness, and general legacy be conserved, preserved, taught, and learned. His ownership of human beings is not defining of America, ultimately, however, so we rightly deconstruct, critique, and reject such practice today, while adopting the intelligent and common-sense understanding that President Jefferson was a product of his time, as we are a product of ours. In presumably rare cases where said likeness of Thomas Jefferson, or indeed any historical figure, be it in a painting, statue, or other artistic form, is credibly reported by one or more individuals as genuinely and substantively subjectively injurious, our Love for all our Brothers and Sisters would certainly warrant an inquiry. A positive finding, however, could not facilitate wholesale removal of all artistic and other works bearing the likeness called injurious, only that or those deemed most injurious to the individual complainant or complainant class, such instances of said likeness reasonably expected to be few in number. Suppose, for example, that on a country road in South Carolina stands a statue memorializing a Mr. McHale, a slaveowner in the Antebellum (i.e. prior to the Civil War) South. Every day a young African-American woman, Rose, must travel down this road to get to work, the only such road. Rose is the great-grandniece of Robbie Evans, a slave "owned" by Mr. McHale, and thus has an intimate knowledge of his murderous abuse by Mr. McHale. As such, comprehensibly, Rose is traumatized each time she must pass this statue. In this circumstance, since the case meets three relevant criteria: 1.) special injury, 2.) to a limited class of persons, 3.) unavoidably, it would be reasonable and indeed the loving response to remove, and perhaps relocate, this artifact. This action would not affect other statues of Mr. McHale, elsewhere, that did not meet these three criteria. I have just presented you with what is perhaps the most powerful and explicitly utilitarian Conservative argument regarding such matters, balancing the desideratum of conservation, with the equal desideratum to practice Love, whether based on Christianity, or another system of belief or philosophy. There is neither kneejerk reflexion from the Conservative perspective, nor blind political correctness from the Moderate or Liberal, in my argument; simply a negotiation between two genuine competing claims, based on a single value system, Love. Use the most reasonable and comprehensible criteria to determine which claimaint is suffering more, unavoidably, and favor that claim. Regarding the desirability of honoring, or at least remembering such historical figures, whether Thomas Jefferson or Robert E. Lee, a key question to ask is: "Do you really expect such persons to exceed the morality of their day?" How many persons through history, and today, are able to exceed the morality of their day? Such persons are few and far between, and when history does produce them, they are rightly recognized and lauded. Ultimately, persons responsible for the suffering of others, especially that large-scale or especially pointed, should not be publicly celebrated, whether in the form of events such as holidays in their name, or artistic commemorations such as the commission and display of statues or paintings. Small scale remembrance, such as regional, or family or other private commemoration, is always appropriate and is permitted. YOUNG PEOPLE PROBLEMS OF YOUNG PEOPLE This section under construction. But some of these topics (i.e. subjects) are already remarked upon here, in the PICK YOUR ISSUE section. Note: the PICK YOUR ISSUE section recommended above resides at the website of an explicitly "utopian" political project of mine of years past, neither reflective of, nor relevant to, my present Presidential endeavor, which roots in the America of today and our present American system. As a philosopher and moralist I'm always drawn to serious discussion of utopian or hyper-optimized systems of any kind, but they are irrelevant to my present exploratory Presidential endeavor.
INTRODUCTION Let's begin at the beginning, shall we? What constitutes a "young person"? The first key fact that must be placed on the table for the benefit of young persons, that can be a powerful assist in them understanding themselves, is that the human brain is not fully developed until at least age 24, with some researchers asserting the age of 30, or even a few years beyond. What is the significance of this if you're young? It will help you to understand your own behavior: why perhaps you do or say things that, shall we say, represent less than your best. Once you understand this, you can give yourself a break, and not be so hard on yourself if you make a mistake. Ease up! Also benefitting from this research in human development are adults in regular intercourse with young persons, such as educators, law enforcement, and even business leaders whose products and services are marketed to young people, were this a culture based on genuine concern for others and not simply the accumulation of as many dollars as possible, with young people as a whole seen and identified as the "youth market," this or that segment of which is seen and understood as just another exploitable business opportunity. I have great respect for young people and what they must go through today, to survive and try to be happy, to try to build a life for themselves. And I have respect for, and a strong belief in, their intellect and their ability, and willingness, to learn. If I didn't, I wouldn't be presenting so much complex and sometimes difficult information and content here, at my Presidential website, and in my larger campaign. IF YOU'RE A YOUNG PERSON I BELIEVE IN YOU. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT IF YOU CAREFULLY AND SLOWLY ACQUAINT YOURSELF WITH MY UNIQUE AND POWERFUL IDEAS, YOU'LL JOIN ME, AND TOGETHER WE WILL GO FAR IN CREATING A FAR BETTER, MORE PEACEFUL, MORE SANE, AND SIMPLY HAPPIER WORLD. FOR YOU, ME, OUR FAMILIES, THE NATION, AND, I BELIEVE, THE WORLD. PROBLEMS & TOPICS Abortion Bigotry (i.e. racism) B*tch, being a Body Issues & Self-Image Bullying Cannabis (i.e. dope) College Confidence, & Confidence, Lack of - see Insecurity, below. Crime Culture. I'll be asking African-American professional Classical Music expert, scholar, enthusiast, and host Terrance McKnight to embark upon a 1000-city speaking, listening, and playing tour to various schools around the entire United States, to introduce our young people of every social class to Classical Music. In further service, fellow Americans, to the power of healthy human hearing and the places to which it can transport us physically, psychologically, spiritually, I want to begin exposing American kids of every social class, as well as the rest of us in this increasingly-noisy culture, to the notion and phenomenon of silence, increasingly identified not as a luxury, but an absolute necessity to maintain physical and psychological health. The drive to eliminate such damaging beasts as the so-called "leafblower" for various reasons, starting with 1.) its categorical destruction of quality-of-life via noise and other pernicia, and 2.) significant contribution to climate change, are consistent with, and support, what will be our newfound acquaintance with healing silence. We can begin to do this through an introduction to the work of Acoustic Ecologist Gordon Hempton, which includes, notably, the quest to preserve the last remaining 12 quiet places in the United States. Death Depression Dope Drinking Drugs, Drug Use Education Gender (i.e. being homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual) Illness, psychological Illness, physical Insecurity. In making a mistake, many young people (and even older persons) will berate themselves with rebukes like, "God how f*cking stupid can you be? I DON'T F*CKING DESERVE TO LIVE." Forget that, kids. Instead, in making a mistake, remain silent for about 20 seconds to calm down. Then say to yourself, quietly, yet firmly: JUST DO BETTER NEXT TIME. Loss Marijuana Mental Health Money & Career Obesity Pain, psychological, emotional: (PAIN --> PROFUNDITY [i.e. deep thoughts] --> PROGRESS) Pain, physical Parents Partying Police Porn Pressure (from Parents, Boss, BF, GF, etc) Racism, see Bigotry, above Rape Religion Romantic Relationships Sex Sexual Abuse Social Media Suicide Work & Job Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Young People: What am I missing? Email me! HYPOTHETICAL QUERY FROM A VOTER Q. I'm Beth, a 17yo girl voting in 2024 for the first time--I'm really excited! But I have pink hair and a belly-button ring, I'm into rock and punk and a little hip-hop, I try to look sexy but I definitely also consider myself a feminist. And to be honest, I tune-out about 90% of what my parents tell me, lol. Your ideas seem a little conservative. Mr. D, What do you have to offer somebody like me? A. Beth, as President, the first, or certainly the most important thing that I'm going to do for you, is literally: SAVE YOUR LIFE. I'm going to save your life, and the lives of your family, friends, boyfriend, and everyone you know. If you've been following the vicissitudes (i.e. difficult, unexpected changes) of the Pandemic, you know that the medical authorities haven't always had a handle on how to respond to the virus, and they still don't, especially as it continues to mutate from variant to variant. They posit a first-line defense of vaccination. This is incorrect, however, and as the Coronavirus continues to mutate, the tenuous foundation of this approach becomes increasingly apparent. A vaccine is effective against one variant, but not necessarily against another, and what of the next variant, and the one after that? Is modification required of the various available vaccines, manufactured now by at least five companies? Who's keeping track of it all, and can such a sprawling and unwieldy phenomenon even be kept track of? Clearly, vaccinations are an important tool in the toolkit--but not our most important tool. Our most important tool has been left to collect dust in the toolkit, when, in fact, it is our most potent tool and must be restored, immediately. You've already heard of the tool of which I speak: it is masking. Mandatory masking on a global scale is the only real solution that our species has. The only answer that will save your life, and the only methodology that will give you your life back, that is, your old existence. After a specified period of mandatory mask-use every variant of the virus will have been eliminated, and will be gone. This is because the virus is transmitted through air, propelled along in the airstream from one person to another. As you know, this is how it survives, and thus reproduces. But if every person is masked, the virus is stopped dead in its tracks--it will have been robbed and deprived of its vector (i.e. means) of transmission--air. I'm evidently the only leader on planet Earth who sees this. As President and leader of the free world, I'm going to immediately call for a global summit of all world leaders to present our case and our argument: they must mandate that everyone in their country, with few exceptions, wear a mask all the time, for a specified duration, probably four months. Result? The end of the mandatory-masking period will see the end of the virus. No more virus means no more masking (or vaccinations) necessary, meaning you now get your life back, in full. This is precisely what I'm going to do for you as President, Beth--keep you alive. And give you your life, back. "...this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine." -- Dr. Robert R. Redfield, former Director, Centers for Disease Control (CDC). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "If the American public all embraced masking along with social distancing and hand-washing...we could bring this outbreak to its knees within four to eight weeks." -- Dr. Robert R. Redfield, former Director, Centers for Disease Control (CDC)ACTUALIZATION Real-Life Example Beth, under my Presidential governance, you and the rest of the country are going to learn, and have repeated opportunities, to Actualize, that is, to be and do the very best of which you are capable, and do so as a way of life, transforming that life and the life of the nation, in amazing ways! Here's an example. Suppose your final exam in history is coming up, and I asked you how well you might do. You respond, "Well if I study every night this week I'll probably get a B." Then I say, is that really the very best you can do on the test? You respond with a nervous laugh, not quite sure where I'm going with this, and you say, "Well, if I study every night this week, *and* all weekend, *and* Dad relieves me of chores all week and I use all that extra time to study, I think I could probably get an A or even an A+." So I respond back: Well, I just spoke with your Dad. You're free of your chores for the entire upcoming week so you can study for your history final, provided you also study every night this week, and the entire weekend, as you said--agreed? Now, boxed in, you agree--"OK!, you affirm. OK." So, the entire week and weekend pass, you're studying your a** off, and you take the exam, and two days later you receive your grade: A+ ! You did it ! We can say that in regard to that exam, your History final--you ACTUALIZED. You performed the very best of which you were capable! Now imagine performing this way in regard to everything that you do, in your life! And imagine everyone around you doing the exact same thing: everyone performing at a rate much higher than they usually do, with real excellence, if not actual perfection. Imagine the kind of America this would give us! In the economy, medicine, military, technology, education, poverty, everything! This is precisely what we'll be shooting for under a DeBENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION--ACTUALIZATION! Regarding this possibility, Beth, renewal of a slowly devolving America, I quote the Alicia character from the powerful film A BEAUTIFUL MIND: - "I NEED TO BELIEVE THAT SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY IS POSSIBLE" - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NOTE: had you done all this studying and received a grade of B, or even C, it would still be true that you Actualized, because you tried to perform the very best of which you were capable. You're still not always going to succeed. SANITY, SECURITY, LOVE In general, if elected I'm going to give you a world of Sanity, Security, and Love. A world of that duality (i.e. something made of two parts) presently and fatally missing from this planet: 1.) beautiful social harmony as we encourage the natural connection between persons and groups of persons, all Brothers and Sisters in One Human Family, and 2.) social and economic functionality as people are encouraged toward competence, at least, and excellence, at best in what they do and how they do it, whether their job or anything else. Here's a quick-and-dirty example of #2, above: are you tired of people screwing up your food order at Burger King? Or hearing your Mom b*tch and moan because she ordered the blue couch but they delivered the brown one? Or feeling really sorry for your Dad because he went into the hospital for a simple procedure and came out with a punctured lung? Because some doctor or nurse made a stupid or obvious mistake? Many times the mistakes that we all make, and their consequences, are far more severe even than those I just mentioned. For example, how about millions of people who had their credit card information stolen from the Home Depot or Target databases? Or reading every other month that yet another American military helicopter crashed? Or how about a planeful of religious extremists who, in 2001 flew their planes into the (former) Twin Towers in Manhattan--a multi-tier act of Terror that our own American intelligence agencies (especially, acting in concert with those of our allies) arguably could have, and should have, detected and prevented? You get it, Beth? The price for incompetence, or even mediocrity (i.e. poor quality or performance), whether in a family, community, school, state, region, country (or even the world) is often high--sometimes VERY high. Yet this phenomenon (i.e. thing happening, often not fully understood) is ubiquitous (i.e. all over the place) and seemingly endemic (i.e. an actual part of what it means to be American). My Presidential platform and program calls for an end to this retrograde state of affairs, and instead, for we as Americans, and human beings, to begin striving to become the very best that we can be, in everything. So once the nation adopts this new ethic of behavior, you can see that everything around you is going to change dramatically, for the far better--including your own life. In essence, Beth, I'm going to work tirelessly every moment of every day to provide you with a world of Sanity, Security, and Love. You can't beat this combination, and I'm just the guy to do it--it was my idea. More to come. "WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?" . . . . . Ask this question all the time, and you'll likely never make a mistake. MY PLATFORM BROAD OR GENERAL ISSUES THE MIND - Every American shall be taught critical thinking skills, and such skill shall be reinforced through their lifetime. And the physical and operational integrity of the brain shall be carefully guarded, as: anything that human beings have done, are doing, or will ever do, is based completely and solely on one thing, and one thing, alone: the human mind, and its physical repository, the human brain. Accordingly, anything that compromises the human mind, as is ubiquitous today, simply cannot, and under my Administration will not, be tolerated, including: stress, poor-quality food and beverages, chemicals in the air, water, and soil, and needless to say, drugs. Alcohol is of a different intoxicant class, and has a lengthy, already-established history of legality in the United States, but wise use must be regularly and substantively encouraged. Without my Presidential influence, substantially adding to the decline of mind will be the continuing legalization of dope, including marijuana. We need the erosion of the human mind and brain that will undoubtedly accompany widespread national legalization and use of drugs, in this case marijuana and hashish, like a hole in the head, as such erosion will accompany an already existing decline in cognition and cognitive structure because of the rapidly-rising epidemic of dementia, explained, below. Marijuana and all drugs will be strictly illegal under the De Benedetto Administration. Accordingly, then, and ultimately: factors contributing to the decline in physical and mental health, and ability to think and perform other sensate (i.e. of the five senses) functions, starting with armed forces personnel and other citizens performing critical functions, shall be corrected. Fast food, for example, known to be nutritionally bankrupt and interfere with optimal physical and mental development and maintenance, shall be made more nutritionally sound. What will the giants in fast food like the McDonald's Corporation think of this exhortation? I don't know--are they patriotic Americans? Regarding drugs, all laws legalizing and even decriminalizing dope will be completely repealed as soon as possible. Legalization of dope also injures public behavior and the public intellect, thus strengthening the hand of our enemies. On the day that dope is legal in all 50 states, we can expect the enemies of America to host the biggest victory party the world has ever seen. NOT ON MY WATCH. NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE Today, February 25, 2022, the second day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, New York Times guest essayist Chris Miller, in a piece entitled "Why Is Putin at War Again? Because He Keeps Winning," writes: "We are 50 percent plus of global G.D.P.," Jake Sullivan, President Biden's national security adviser, argued recently, contrasting this to Russia's unimpressive 3 percent share of the world's economic output. However, economies don't fight wars; militaries do. America's economic power was tested when Mr. Biden threatened tough sanctions if Russia were to invade Ukraine; Mr. Putin did so anyway, betting that hard power would carry the day. There's still no doubt that America's military has better trained soldiers and more capable systems in aggregate. However, what matters is not theoretical military matchups but the ability to use force for specific aims. Russia has developed precisely the capabilities needed to rebuild its influence in Eastern Europe. The United States, meanwhile, has watched its room for maneuver in the region steadily shrinking, hemmed in by Russian antiaircraft systems and cyber and electronic warfare threats. Letting the military balance in Europe shift in Russia's favor was a choice. The United States has itself partly to blame. Even after Russia's first attacks on Ukraine in 2014, America's reinforcements on the continent were only enough to slow the rate of improvement in Russia's position. The Biden administration has presided over military spending cuts once inflation is considered. America's roughly $700 billion defense budget may look impressive, but Russia has the advantage of paying less for soldiers' salaries and for domestically produced equipment. Adjusting for these differences, Russia's defense budget has grown far more rapidly than America's over the past two decades. European allies have even more to answer for: Germany and other European countries must wake up from the fantasy that peace is their birthright. They used to have serious fighting power. It is time to rebuild it." Here is my own emphasis regarding what was just quoted: "Russia has developed precisely the capabilities needed to rebuild its influence in Eastern Europe. The United States, meanwhile, has watched its room for maneuver in the region steadily shrinking..." ... "Adjusting for these differences, Russia's defense budget has grown far more rapidly than America's over the past two decades." Moreover, reports the New York Times of February 28, 2022: "...if American intelligence agencies picked up on the kind of crippling cyberattacks that someone -- presumably Russian intelligence agencies or hackers -- threw at Ukraine's government, they do not have the infrastructure to move that fast to block them."
Why the Hell not? Aren't we the United States of America? Not to mention, we invented this technology! Do you still doubt the critical necessity for keeping drugs strictly illegal in America? We must foster the social, environmental, and cultural conditions to ensure the Actualization of the American mind and its physical repository, the brain: its full development and acuity. As it's the human mind and brain that is at stake, the sole determinants of all things, military, and in every other sphere of human civilization, drug offenses must be addressed with gravity, including possession of even "small" amounts of dope. First offense of a small quantity, such as a joint (i.e. marijuana cigarette ) or two will carry no penalty, but simply require a court appearance and conversation with a judge. Second offense, however, of even a single joint will carry a mandatory 30-day jail sentence. I, a 64-year old man in 2024, will serve all, or a portion, of that sentence with the first offender to receive it, to show solidarity with the offender, and to illustrate that if a 64-year-old man can serve 30 days, so can any younger person. JUST SAY NO. This admonition represented wisdom when Nancy Reagan enunciated it--and so, today. Dementia Doubling As mentioned above, greatly hastening the attack on the human brain will be the massive increase in cases of Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias, with global dementia cases forecasted to triple by 2050, and doubling in the United States by 2060: "The burden of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in 2014 was 5 million people, which is 1.6 percent of the U.S. population in 2014 - 319 million people. This burden is projected to grow to 13.9 million, nearly 3.3 percent of the population in 2060 - 417 million people." "...as the U.S. population increases, the number of people affected by Alzheimer's disease and related dementias will rise, especially among minority populations," said CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, M.D." This troubling forecast on the explosion in growth of dementia in America presents yet another reason that we cannot permit the use of drugs: as if dementia, itself, weren't bad enough, and drug use, itself, weren't bad enough, each a personal catastrophe and threat to the nation, once drugs are legal these two pernicious and insidious phenomena will sometimes co-exist within the same individual, exacerbating their cognitive decline and making it a virtual certainty that no healing can ever take place. With legal access to marijuana, hashish, and other drugs, nationwide, this phenomenon will likely destroy and disable thousands of Americans over a period of time--perhaps millions, eventually. NOT ON MY WATCH. KNOWLEDGE & INFORMATION - Though a little known, if not recondite issue, inefficient, inconsistent dissemination and use of knowledge is a foundational reason that America, and indeed the world, generally remains mired in problems that never seem to go away. Consult any variety of sources online or off on a given topic or question, and you'll receive a diverse and numerous array of responses and perspectives, as well, far worse, of disagreement on fact. Such a scattershot distribution of knowledge in a society keeps it largely groping in the dark in regard to, well, everything. Such an inferior ordering of our common existential possession--knowledge--is unacceptable to any society aspiring to Actualization, Greatness, and perhaps even survival, and is certainly unacceptable to me. As President one of my projects will be a series of open discussions with persons knowledgeable in this area, to arrive at some conclusions regarding adoption of a new paradigm for the optimal dissemination and employ of knowledge. I refer to this Actualized process the Standardization of Knowledge. Perhaps nowhere is this emasculated maintenance of knowledge more evident and injurious than in medicine. Have a serious illness? One doctor may know little about its treatment, while another knows a bit about it, while a third doctor, practicing next-door or a world, over, has the cure. Why don't they all possess the same knowledge? Because in this country and world there is insufficient, perhaps non-existent, standardization of knowledge. Starting to understand? More to come. CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC - Vaccination has become the global first-line defense of choice in fighting the Coronavirus. This, however, is a huge mistake. Vaccination is a modality (i.e. medical method) inferior to masking to counter and eliminate the coronavirus, COVID19 (heretofore referred to as C19). Vaccinations are high-tech, complex, expensive, and difficult to store and administer. Masking, by contrast, carries almost none of these liabilities and limitations, and has the staggering advantages of 1.) actually preventing spread of the virus between people in the first place, which means that through masking--mandatory global masking--we can actually eliminate the virus completely and permanently, and 2.) virus variants no longer hold any power, for masking is immediately and automatically effective against any and all viral variants. In 2024, if the pandemic is still raging, or even remains substantive, the DE BENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION, at my direction, is going to effect a wholesale shift to mandatory global masking, starting with calling for a global pandemic summit, a meeting of all world leaders to receive this argument and corresponding plan, in order to eliminate the virus completely and permanently. I understand that masking is seen as inconvenient by some persons, including me, and is not universally accepted, but a relatively brief period of masking will return planet Earth to complete normalcy, and is the only thing that will, with vaccination continuing as a second-tier modality. The only question and consideration for you, therefore, is: do you want your life back? If so, and vaccination combined with masking hasn't done the trick by 2024, Mandatory Global Masking categorically will. I have laid out my entire argument, and had contacted the Biden Administration, and a number of other world leaders and governments. Brothers and Sisters: No pain, no gain. REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH/RESOURCE - What is commonly termed the UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME (UBI) is a key plank in the DE BENEDETTO Presidential platform. Most likely consider this a new and novel idea, when in fact famed social psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm proposed it in 1955 in his famous, and urgently recommended, work The Sane Society. The UBI notion is a prime exemplar of the fact, and power, of my combination electoral program that pairs 1.) Love, properly understood, with 2.) functional competence (if not, excellence, in this case). The kernel of the UBI approach is that every citizen is to possess, either through their own direct effort, or the redistribution of social resource, a minimum income, reside at a minimum income floor, sufficient to, and in accord with, a minimum decent human condition of existence. The idea demonstrates Love as it comprises all of us ensuring that each of us can live decently. And it comprises functional competence insofar as it represents a more efficient and effective system of needed redistribution of resource. There exists in this idea, however, a third socially and economically salutary benefit. UBI is a direct expression and implementation of a key Conservative principle and desideratum: reduction in the size of government, since all, most, or many existing bureaucratic structures of redistribution will, in fact, be completely eliminated, in favor of a singular structure. This is one of the rare examples in human history when our entire multifarious body of stars align, to the relief of some, and delight of many. As 2024 Presidential candidate, I am both relieved and delighted, and thus is our best implementation of the Universal Basic Income an integral and key part of my Presidential program. FOUNDATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE - The election and presidency of Donald J. Trump illustrates that owing to the complex technological and geopolitical character of the modern age, Article II, Section 1, of the United States Constitution should be amended to provide for additional requirements to run for President the United States. The Founding Fathers specified as formal qualifications: 1.) an age of 35 years or older, 2.) a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years, and 3.) a natural-born citizen. Through official amendment, to this set should be added a basic test of political, economic, historical, and geographical literacy. While true that the long election process characteristic of the United States does, in theory, provide ample time for the electorate to discern the fitness of a given candidate, a formal mechanism is required, as well. A second modification to the election requirements should be seriously considered, that of a basic test of psychological fitness. Governance by ignorance, ego, and prevarication can simply no longer be tolerated, given, for example, the formidable set of existential threats facing the United States, from climate change to unyielding global terror. CHARACTER; OUR HUMAN FAMILY - Every American shall be taught, and such teaching shall be reinforced, that all persons in this world are brothers and sisters in one human family--and should treat each other accordingly. Accordingly, the United States shall act as a force for good in the world, although not at the expense of national security. In the case, for example, of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, apparently by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Trump is correct in asserting that severing relations with Saudi Arabia would be unwise. However, had Mr. Trump, or someone in, or associated with, his administration a strong moral center--Vice-President Pence, are you listening--they could have sat down privately with the Crown Prince to discuss and indeed meaningfully rebuke him on this matter. Such a conversation could have been accompanied by a symbolically punitive economic or social rebuke of some kind. "...power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic." . . . . . Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ASSISTANCE & OUTREACH As we are all brothers and sisters in one human family, we're finally going to embark upon Humanity's most critical socio-existential task, that which we must begin if we're to Actualize, that is, be the best human family we can be, and perhaps even if we are to survive: start helping each other. Nursing Home Abuse As we've got to begin somewhere, we'll consider abuse of residents, typically elderly and ill, at nursing homes and similar facilities, a longstanding problem across America. The problem is most prevalent in cases of residents who: "...don't have regular visitors or have friends who come visit them, they are the most vulnerable," states New Jersey's Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Laurie F. Brewer. Here is a more extended quote: Laurie F. Brewer, the state's ombudsman, believes the actual number of incidents involving abuse and neglect in the state are "dramatically" undercounted. Some residents are reluctant to report any problems, she explained, fearing retribution. ... "You are in the most vulnerable position in your life at the end of your life. People are fearful of reporting, especially people who don't have family members," she said. "It's heartbreaking. The thousands of people who don't have regular visitors or have friends who come visit them, they are the most vulnerable." The DeBENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION is going to implement a series of programs designed to take persons seeking, or needing, to put their time to better use, from housewives with little to do during the day, to gang members who have plenty to do, much of it nefarious, and emplace them, through a program of strong encouragement, in helping situations, where their intellect and energies can do good, helping their lonely and vulnerable brothers and sisters. In the above scenario, for example, we will accept volunteer applications to emplace people to regularly visit lone, family-less residents of nursing homes and similar facilities, so that they are not so easily preyed upon. Homeless Children "The number of homeless children in the United States is at its highest in more than a decade, according to a recent study by the National Center for Homeless Education. More than 1.5 million public school students nationwide were homeless at some point during the 2017-2018 school year, according to the report published last month. That figure was the highest recorded in more than 12 years." This is the United States of America. Accordingly, the state and condition of American children reported in the following recent news piece, excerpted above, is categorically unacceptable, and will be permanently rectified under the DEBENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION. I'll be pleased to employ market-based solutions, if possible. You'll notice that this topic is treated here under Character, not Economy. A nation with character doesn't permit children to be homeless. Nor does it permit adult homelessness, but adults can arguably weather periods of dislocation far better than children. In fact, our implementation of the U.B.I., Universal Basic Income (see above) may be robust enough to eliminate all homelessness. Sole Survivor Trauma The loss of any of we human beings, any brother or sister, is so tragic, horrible, grievous, and overwhelming, that we must ensure that no loss leaves a sole survivor or two alone during the wake and funeral of their loved one, our lost. The DeBENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION will encourage formation of a network of funeral homes working with mobile or floating grievers, persons committed to ensuring that no person or two must stand in attendance at the death of their loved one at their wake, or funeral, alone. The Floating Griever will stand, sit, and grieve with the family member or friend at the wake, funeral, and repast (i.e. meal, especially following a funeral). These blessed volunteers will also make themselves available for a short period afterward, perhaps three months, as needed by the survivors. Of course, in regard to clinical depression or any apparently excessive or unceasing death reaction, the Floating Griever will recommend professional counseling to the Bereaved, and can even set it up. This DB ADMIN program of Bereavement Accompaniment can be seen as falling under, and manifesting, my edicts that 1.) we Americans must re/discover our connection to each other, and become cohesive again as a citizenry and polity, and even a community, and 2.) under my Presidency, NO AMERICAN GETS LEFT BEHIND, even emotionally, if preventable. What is more Conservative, even primeval, than proper and natural attention to the bonds between member of tribes, clans, villages, or any common ancestral or similar population--including a country, during events of significance? And what is more Christian? AFFIRMATIVE ACTION The most usual recipients, or intended recipients, of Affirmative Action benefits are our African-American Brothers and Sisters, who came to America, unfortunately, in the most disadvantaged position possible: slaves. Thus, we must assist them. However, disadvantaged job candidates can be moved into positions only after they have mastered the necessary skills for the job. We cannot permit unqualified or semi-qualified candidates to fill jobs. Additionally, the shift today, whereby so much of the attention of the nation finds itself on African-Americans, their concerns, and their culture, is a mistake. Must we actively assist those who are, or were, in a catastrophic position, whether African Americans, Jews, the handicapped, or the unborn? Yes, of course. But our singular mission, and thus everyone's principal focus must remain America, herself, not any one individual or grouping, for if America diminishes for lack of full attention, every American will be hurt as the country finds itself enjoying fewer resources, from tax revenues to international respect and reputation, and is thus less able to assist those Americans, such as African-Americans, who require it. CRITICAL RACE THEORY Haven't acquainted myself with it, yet. Corporate Ethical Optimization (the other CEO) A conventional corporate structure typically sees all or some of the following segments or departments:
It's the job of the marketing and advertising departments to assemble the most persuasive version of the truth concerning their product or service and present it to the public, or other target audience, with the usual objective of spurring sales, and most do so aggressively. There is typically something lost in this process, however, that should be of concern to every American, and American CEO: truth. I therefore propose, and will sponsor through legislation, that every American company or company operating in America create and maintain an Ethics Department, a counterpoint to the Marketing and Advertising Departments, its objective being a balanced and honest representation of all products or services marketed by its company. The necessity for such a department for an ethical society that wishes to act with character and honor, that is, Love, properly understood, toward its citizens and others, including international customers, becomes clear once one understands the dynamic of the typical Marketing department. The employees in Marketing in America typically and pointedly represent their product in the absolute best possible light, often whether such representation bears any full relationship to reality, or not. Like the baked goods company proclaiming that its products remain "simple" and "old-fashioned" in their creation and manufacture, while its ingredient list reads like a veritable chemistry set, complete with bioengineered (i.e. GMO) ingredients. There are innumerable examples of such overwhelming contradictions and juxtapositions in the marketplace of products and services, and they do not suggest a society that is being honest with itself, and the world. My predicate (i.e. foundational assumption) is that in America we can have an honest, or relatively honest, capitalism, making for an ethical people, and good business, as well. As with all the planks in my Presidential platform: everybody wins. ENERGY PRODUCTION - I will explain the basics of energy production, in the United States and around the world. But I can tell you immediately that based on my research thus far, all roads lead in one direction, and one direction, alone: POPULATION CONTROL. If we as a species are ever to gain a rational foothold on the continuing problem of permanent provision of clean, safe, and healthy energy, the principal reality, and our overarching directive, must be that captured in those provocative two words. Without serious and sustained population control, I don't see how we will ever solve this problem, for the reality of Earth is that we simply have too many people, consuming too much, too fast. It's as simple as that. So-called "green" solutions such as wind and solar, when scrutinized, are revealed as highly problematic, chiefly because neither wind nor sunshine sustains itself constantly, meaning a polluting technology, usually coal, must always be kept at-the-ready to prevent blackouts. Moreover, commonly-proposed so-called "green" or "renewable" solutions such as wind and solar, themselves, require an inordinate amount of power to produce, again, coal usually the power source of choice. Relatedly, equipment such as wind turbines and solar panels eventually break down and must be replaced, forcing a repeat utilization and expenditure of money, time, energy, and manpower. The last problematic element in conventional "green" thinking and alternative energy proposals is that the substitution paradigm that has emerged globally, and is being widely implemented, is the burning of wood chips or pellets that are called "biomass." This refers to the burning of small wood chips instead of burning coal. Biomass means trees and requires aggressive deforestation of just about every forest the power industry can get its hands on. This "green" solution has and continues to obliterate the forests of the world at an alarming rate, in a process called deforestation, injuring our efforts to fight climate change among other deleterious consequences of the large-scale obliteration of forests. Biomass fuel is considered, and described as, a renewable resource, at least nominally, because the trees that it's made from "will grow back." While functionally true, many or most won't grow back for many years, and in the meantime we see the likely permanent loss of forests critical to the amelioration of climate change, provision of elemental substances or proto-materials for new drugs and health or medical remedies, native animal habitats and biodiversity, and that which simply comprises the soul or spiritual center for humankind. RESOURCES The following two documentary-style films are essential to understanding the probable dead-end that is our present environmental course. We don't need, nor can we really sustain, at least not as our front-line defense against environmental threats present or future, yet more resource-intensive technologies and equipment, whether solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal dams, electric cars, or anything else the Green industry and its financial ecosystem might conceive. What we actually need is a rediscovery of, and commitment to, a simpler way of life that involves fewer human beings, leading simpler lifestyles that require far fewer resources to sustain. Likely the kind of existence that American Transcendentalist writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau would have approved of. ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION - Until such time that moral law predominates, and while we as a human family work toward this objective, the United States shall meaningfully recommit to the standard of conventional law. Meaning, for example, that all persons having come here illegally shall be deported, with exceptions for those whose life would be genuinely imperiled or present other especially compelling reasons to remain. Persons brought here unknowingly, especially children, are exempt from these guidelines. CULTURAL & ECONOMIC COHESION LANGUAGE Deadline All immigrants must learn basic English within one year, additional year extension upon approved application. Partial ESL (English-as-a-Second-Language) financial assistance can be applied for by new citizens suffering genuine hardship. I'd also like to see a second test administered after five years, demonstrating a more advanced level of English literacy. There would be no further testing after that, but immigrants would be encouraged to continue their cultural and linguistic educations. The DeBENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION will, of course, be friendly to the common-sense English-as-Official-Language idea. Immigrants today will be expected to demonstrate the same drive toward citizenship, cultural and linguistic literacy, and assimilation into America and American society that previous generations of immigrants, such as Italian, German, and others, demonstrated. Entrance into America remains a privilege, so entrants will be expected to understand and behave accordingly. You must strive to be an asset to America, your new country, as America will undoubtedly be an asset to you, and your family. Pronouns According to The Free Dictionary: Pronouns are some of the most useful words in the English language. They are used in the place of a noun to avoid it having to be named twice. For example: Suzy threw the boomerang and it came back to her. In this sentence, "it" is a pronoun that represents the boomerang, and "her" is a pronoun that refers to Suzy. Without pronouns, we'd have to say Suzy threw the boomerang and the boomerang came back to Suzy. Without pronouns, how would we even say "we"? There is, however, a current within American culture seeking to distort-unto-death our conventional pronoun system, based on what they assert, or what indeed may be, latter-day shifts in gender identification. Grossly-misguided brother columnist John McWhorter explains and exemplifies it thusly: The other day I had occasion to use the pronoun "they" in the new way, referring to a specific person. Not your grandfather's singular "they" with its generic meaning - "A student can hand their paper in early if they want to" - but "they" as in, "Roberta wants a haircut, and they also want some highlights." In negotiating the latest attack, or at least concerted attempt to undermine the structure of our English system of pronouns (ESP), the language is going to remain traditional and standard under my Administration. Standard English will remain as it is, as it has well-served this nation and indeed the entire English-speaking world, which is to say just about all of Humanity. In terms of the substance, let's make short work of this perverse idea, shall we? Yes, language changes, has changed and will continue to change--when it has to. When there's a genuine and substantial reason for it to change. There is no such reason, now. Regarding our pronoun structure, changes have already occurred over the years--leaving us with the workable and intuitive system that we now have. All the changes and shake-outs that had to occur to pronouns under standard English have already occurred, leaving usage at its proper resting point, or point of equilibrium or balance. There is nowhere else to go now--such usage is perfect. The only possible direction that we could go in, were our opponents to really push this issue--is down. Sorry...NOT ON MY WATCH. Standardization of Knowledge Pronoun use, already flexible enough to accommodate any and all social dynamism, will also remain as it is because of the necessity in this technical age for what I term the standardization of knowledge, presented and discussed, above. That is, the protocol and guideline that all knowledge, theoretical and practical, be available, passively and actively, to all people. This method of operation and communication objective becomes overly-complex when not just information must be standardized and disseminated, but the language of dissemination is or becomes nonstandard, as will occur if our longstanding framework of pronouns is compromised. I assure you that none of this is occurring to persons advocating this perverse shift in our system of pronouns. Luckily, like so much else that's critical to consider in the governance and management of this nation, it's occurring to me--and I'm communicating it to you. ![]() - Make English the Official Language of the United States - NATIONAL DEFENSE - The armed forces shall be rebuilt into a fearsome and advanced fighting force, able to win full-scale wars on at least two fronts. Impediments to effective fighting such as fast or junk food, inordinate time spent continually fiddling with smartphones, or inordinate focus on pornography or sex, shall be severely discouraged. Additionally, U.S. Force Readiness, i.e. training and equipment maintenance, shall no longer suffer in favor of acquisition of new weapons systems. Moreover, the Readiness and national security absurdity of relying on Chinese or other foreign industry for key components for American military and related systems must be stopped. Our own capacity to create such components must be developed immediately. As of May 2019 there is a similar problem in the pharmaceutical industry that must be stopped: in yet another example of the general and overall decline of America, U.S. pharmaceutical companies lack manufacturing plants to produce generic drugs, and must therefore rely inordinately on foreign manufacturing facilities in China and India, where tainted product is routinely manufactured, and companies often falsify records and destroy evidence to deceive the FDA, and compromise its inspections. NATIONAL SECURITY - Clearly, one of, if not the, most potent threats to the physical security of the United States is the legalization, and even decriminalization of dope, including and perhaps especially the drug marijuana. There is nothing an enemy would like better, and that would serve as a predictable prelude to American defeat or stalemate in both cold and hot war, than a stoned American fighting force, and stoned persons among the wide variety of support personnel, military and civilian, spread throughout the country and even the world, that our fighting force depends on.
Nor do any of these individuals need be actively stoned. A week of refraining from getting high means absolutely nothing for a person who's been getting high all the time, or even on a regular basis, for weeks, month, or years. The THC buildup in the bloodstream and fat cells, in concert with the multifarious weakness of mind and laxity of drive that regular drug use creates, will be more than sufficient to place our fighting forces at a decided, and likely critical, disadvantage, in any cold or hot war. For these and other critical reasons Marijuana and all drugs will be strictly illegal under the De Benedetto Administration. Whether you're military personnel or a weekend warrior enjoying parachute-jumping: all things being equal, whom do you want folding your parachute--the person who smokes dope, or the person who does not? If the latter, then you needn't continue agonizing or simply wondering whether you advocate the legalization or even decriminalization of dope--you don't. And if your wife, kids, family, friends, manager, co-workers, and neighbors want you alive after your jump--then they don't advocate the legal./decrim., either. Tell them. All laws legalizing and even decriminalizing dope will be completely repealed as soon as possible. Legalization of dope injures the public intellect, and public behavior notably including resolve and will, critical in a time of hot, and even cold, war, thus strengthening the hand of our enemies. On the day that dope is legalized and even decriminalized in all 50 states, we can expect the enemies of America to host the biggest celebratory victory party the world has ever seen, in honor of the permanent evisceration of the strength of American spirit, character, will, and resolve, and thus American power, and the newfound relative ease of their continuing efforts to undermine this nation and its values, and by extension and extrapolation the entire West and all that it is. NOT ON MY WATCH. My full National Security argument is found here. Immediate Investigation Immediately upon taking office I'm going to order our security agencies--all of them--to begin a serious inquiry into precisely who is advocating for the legalization and decriminalization of dope in America. For it's possible that our enemies, using front groups and persons, could be behind the apparent large-scale effort in the United States to legalize and decriminalize marijuana and related drugs. Please also see a more extensive treatment of this vital National Security issue in the free online draft of my new book arguing against any introduction, with a possible medical exception, of drugs into American society. JOHN MCCAIN - Voting for John McCain for President in 2008, I will never accept the ChickenHawk Donald Trump attacking and insulting the good name of John McCain--clearly, an American hero. On the basis of these attacks, alone, neither Conservatives, nor anyone else should ever cast a vote for this out-of-order chickenhawk, although Donald Trump's baffling obsequiousness toward all-things Putin suggests that Mr. Trump doesn't even deserve the "hawk" portion of the pejorative "chickenhawk." POLICE - I have formulated a seminal policing paradigm that I call T.A.B. POLICING. The T.A.B. component, to be revealed later, refers to an unusual approach to, or philosophy of, protection, rooted in Agape (i.e. Love of Neighbor) that can be incorporated into the basic policing function. It most certainly will NOT involve de-funding the police. Brothers & Sisters, Fellow Americans, there is but one way that the concept of "police" could ever become irrelevant: when there is a change in the human heart toward goodness, rendering the police, as presently defined, unnecessary. Moreover, as a general protection paradigm or philosophy, T.A.B. can even reshape the way gun owners approach their weapons, for home and personal protection. More to come. NATIONAL DEFENSE, MILITARY SERVICE - Every able-bodied American shall serve a minimum of two years in the Armed Forces; three years recommended. Persons who cannot serve in a conventional capacity owing to age or disability, shall serve in administrative or other non-combat positions. Once elected, or before, I, myself, as President will either begin basic training in a branch of our Armed Forces, or will assist at a local recruiting center. It's impossible for me to do so at the present time, as I remain the sole full-time caregiver to my Mother, 90yo and bedridden. Reasons for Compulsory Service Introduction In my book draft LOVE: PROPERLY UNDERSTOOD I assert that only Philosophy will save the world. By this I don't necessarily refer to the academic or even pragmatic discipline of philosophy, but more the focus of Philosophy on ideas. On ideas as drivers of both human behavior and change. We can subscribe to the "Great Man" theory of history, provided we understand, in keeping with my admonition that we always seek the root of a problem, idea, or circumstance, that a great man or woman is usually thought so because of something they have accomplished, some act or action in which they have engaged. But not any act would be seen as laudatory, only certain acts. Which ones? Why, those in keeping with our value system, that is, those that represent or embody those ideas that we consider most valuable. For a simple, perhaps simplistic example, a man who murders ten people would not be considered a great man, for we don't generally value such a casual appreciation of life, whereas a man who feeds ten people likely would be considered a great man, or certainly a good man, for the preservation and indeed expansion of life is a value that we revere. Ideas, then, drive the world, and Philosophy, among all disciplines, takes the idea as its foundational element: it's chunk of clay to be molded, its bloc of stone to be chiseled. Why compulsory military service? Because America is, above all else, an idea, and a revolutionary one, at that, and every man, woman, and child must learn what it means to defend an idea. Must learn to defend those ideas that matter most, that they and their culture revere. Under the De Benedetto Administration, each of us will serve two years in the United States Armed Forces, a time for which each of you will come to be thankful, for the ways that it has bountifully enriched, added to, not subtracted, or detracted from, your lives. Seraph, an interesting and powerful character in the second and third installments of the The Matrix film series, asserts, in defining his role and raison d'etre: "I protect that, which matters most." And so must we. VETERANS & VETERAN'S AFFAIRS - We don't have to support every war to support those who fought in them. Some wars, of course, such as WWII, are universally supported. ![]() - Support United States Combat and other Veterans - ![]() - Support Paralyzed & other Severely Injured United States Combat Veterans - ![]() - NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MUSEUM - - Young People, Learn Your History! - INADVERTENT INJURY TO AMERICA - Of which the legalization of dope, as briefly outlined above, is an excellent example, occurs in other ways, as well. For example, if one listens to political talk radio, one is familiar with various "conservative" hosts who routinely hurl oceans of invective, sometimes vulgar, at various politicians and figures of the opposing political point of view. The excoriation is routinely so harsh that, if you didn't know that the host was referring to an opposition American politician--often the President of the United States--you'd think that they must have been, indeed could only have been, impugning one of America's enemies, likely her worst. The problem is that if the most extreme language is used by American radio hosts in slander of American politicians, what kind of language is left to describe the genuine enemies of America? We'd want to use the strongest possible language to condemn and indict our enemies, yet it seems that this body of opprobrium has already been used to tear down our own leaders. Accordingly, I intend to study this phenomenon and attempt to redress, or at least curb, it. Media commentators will be educated on this problem and urged to restrain themselves. I believe that the fact that we're all Americans, media hosts and politicians, alike, in concert with the new ethic of Love that will partially underpin my Presidency, will comprise a potent enough mix, force, to curb this insidious phenomenon. EDUCATION - Mathematics and gymnastics will be returned to every school district in America. The former sharpens the mind, the latter, the body and the mind. A central and permanent question that my campaign, like my work in social science for a long time now, will continue to pose, is: could the United States produce another Einstein? My Fellow Americans, Brothers and Sisters; I assure you that the loss of two of the activities most relevant to the development of the mind, gymnastics and mathematics, will not assist in, nor increase the likelihood of the latter-day appearance of such a figure. Between this and the amount of distraction in our modern culture--from smartphones, to fast food, to deafening leafblowers, it doesn't, at present, look good. This is going to change under my Administration, however--I assure you. American theoretical physicist and wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, J. Robert Oppenheimer, credited, among others as "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II research project that developed the first nuclear weapons, said: "There are children playing in the streets who could solve some of my top problems in physics, because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago."
Who, then, will our next Einstein be? If a younger person, it could well be you! If a parent, your son or daughter! Let's find out, shall we? History The teaching of history, from world to local, to all students, at all grade levels, will be a priority under the DE BENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION, for, as issued by George Santayana it's likely that "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it," because history provides a frame of reference for understanding the basic logic, importance, and significance of the events and personages of today, that frame a vital key to understanding, and thus the ability to negotiate the events of today with competence, resolve, creativity, insight, and in a manner congruent with, if not Actualizing, our most important values. And of course, full knowledge of history is a key assist in coming to understand what those values are, in the first place. The attempt to negotiate the present with little or no knowledge of the past, is like attempting to traverse a dense jungle with neither map nor compass. History, American Students and young people today know little of the history of America, their own country. This is going to change under my Administration. In fact, here are some resources for use in starting to learn American history, right now. Why wait? THE MEN WHO BUILT AMERICA - This enhanced documentary series provides of the "Robber Barons," America's legendary group of pioneering industrialists and bankers, this superbly-done series remains of note, and a must-watch and discuss. It provides a detailed portrayal of four of America's most famous, or infamous, if you prefer, "Robber Barons," those industrialist tycoons who, while generally acting without concern for the common man, or indeed any man including each other, built colossal, influential, and indeed vital industries often from nothing, that would form the industrial and financial backbone of America, permitting it to rise to global prominence, and then dominance, a role it would categorically occupy for many years to come. To learn of these men and their exploits is to learn, at once, much of what can be seen as bad about America, and much of what can be seen as great. After watching and absorbing this narrative, you will understand America, your own country, and its values good and bad, far better, likely better than you ever have or could. While this enhanced documentary series does not properly convey the misery and suffering among the American public (and likely, peoples elsewhere) caused by the actions of the "Robber Barons," America's legendary group of pioneering industrialists and bankers. Their often poor, if not abysmal treatment of their workers, the American population, and the country, generally, is not properly represented in this production, but could be, in a Zinn-style separate documentary series.COMPETENCE & THE WORK ETHIC - Permanent public education campaign to dramatically increase the functional (and moral, see Love Ethic, above) excellence of America: all persons on the job are to get their noses out of their smart phones and focus competently on their job and their work. This exhortation directed to every role and occupation from police officer, to construction worker, to doctor, secretary, to armed forces member. Under my Administration, America will see dramatic movement toward Actualization, that is, being the best nation that it is capable of being. Needless to say, large-scale successful introduction of such an ethic would put America back on the map in a huge way in terms of the worldwide appeal of its entire suite of products and services. Jackpot! None of this is even remotely possible, however, if the American population is fatigued, ill, distracted, high, or otherwise suffering any substantive form of what I term the decline of mind, which is largely why we must act with intelligent deliberation to preserve the mind, and why, therefore, we cannot permit engagement in any activity nor use of any substance or agent that compromises the mind, that is, our ability to think or engage any sensate function. GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION - The Department of Homeland Security will be renamed. Labeled under the George W. Bush administration, the lack of facility in language of the President may have been why this vaguely Nazi-sounding name was selected. Homeland...Fatherland? Additionally, to my knowledge there is no tradition in America of conceptualizing the nation as our "homeland." Replacement names might include Department of National Security. This title has bothered me since it was first ascribed, and under my administration it will be changed, forthwith. COLLABORATION - Upon my election as President I will convene a round-table series of conversations with every former President, televised in whole or part, repeated as often as necessary. As far as I'm concerned the Presidency in the modern age is a position of great complexity. Though one's vision for the country may be straightforward, as mine generally is, the devil is always or often in the details, and to wade through those details the experiences, and in some cases the intellect, of the former occupants of that Office could prove invaluable. Such conversations, at the very least, will demonstrate the politically expansive perspective of the De Benedetto Administration. Nor am I averse to inclusion of persons of other parties in my Administration, as exemplified by the Abraham Lincoln, then Barack Obama Administrations (note: I did not vote for Barack Obama). ABORTION - We've got to stop killing Americans, so abortion shall be outlawed. A large scale, effective, nationwide network of adoption shall be created and fully funded, so as to integrate into the life of the nation and its culture. Said effort shall be promulgated globally to influence every other nation to stop the global genocidal holocaust of humans emerging in and from the womb. The assertion that a woman's body is hers to control as she wishes is easily corrected, as it requires only a small technical correction: once conception occurs, there now exists a second body, not the mother's. This becomes clear enough after only a few weeks of development, when the new being will have formed their own hands, feet, and beating heart. As a separate body, and being, in accord with both American, universal, and natural law, it has de facto, and implicitly, it's own right to exist. The abortion question, in large measure, is a consideration and examination of whether a given mother will enforce, or destroy, that right. Termination of abortion rights will be of no real consequence, however, as no woman will have to keep and parent a child whom she does not want. All children are to be born, but unwanted children will be given for adoption immediately. This addresses the concern of the mother about keeping a child, while still sparing the life of the child. Of course, those of us of age*, who have been around the block, know that after carrying her child to term and then giving birth, rare will be the woman, young or otherwise, who will look into the eyes, and at the face, of that infant and still elect to relinquish it. Further fact and perspective can be found in my anti-abortion essay. Phil "Murderin'" Murphy The Governor of New Jersey, Phil "Murder & Marijuana" Murphy, besides being instrumental in the legalization of dope in this state, and advocating abortion right to term, seeks to expand abortion in N.J., and, in fact, make us a sanctuary city for women wanting to abort. In asserting this, I couldn't believe that I heard him use the explicitly oxymoronic descriptor "abortion care" at 11:13am (around May 10, 2022) in a news segment on NPR. He was noting his attempt to expand the murderous procedure in N.J. and he actually used that phrase. Murderin' Murphy's advocacy of both dope and abortion makes perfect sense: smoking dope will likely encourage promiscuous, irresponsible sexual activity, probably leading to pregnancy. However, as Phil Murphy would probably tell you: a simple abortion clears this problem right up. _________________________ *I've always proffered a mild objection to the de facto vaguely preferential descriptor "of color," used only to describe persons with brown-hued skin. As a Caucasian, I'm "of color," as well--my skin is beige. Beige is a color. In of age, however, I've found a counterbalancing descriptor that I think is not just clever, but possessive of actual descriptive and explanatory utility (i.e. usefulness), as well. I define persons of age as minimum 50 years old. I, then, at almost 62 years old, am clearly "of age." Are you? CRIME - Crime is a human phenomenon that is very easy to understand. Strictly speaking, crime is a rubric, that is, a category, that refers to and includes the aggregate acts of violation of the set of established laws, known as "The Law," in short, of a given society. One would typically say, for example, "He broke the law." Crime, as a rubric, a class of violative actions, consists of acts such as theft, assault, murder, rape, slander, libel, trespass, transport of narcotics, use of narcotics, transport of child abuse imagery, creation of child abuse imagery, forgery, fraud, and many other acts that violate at least one established law. CRIME, REVEALED DeBenedetto Diagnosis Let's understand what crime actually is. Crime is a template, an overlay that we place on certain kinds of transgressive behavior. If a kind of transgression is prohibited by a law, then its commission is called crime. It's important to understand this because once we do, we understand that in regard to these violations, whatever they may be, we're not actually dealing with a "crime" problem. There is actually no such thing as a "crime" problem, because there is actually no such thing as crime. There's only transgression against others, some forms of which are officially prohibited by man-made rules against that form of transgression, these rules being called laws. Crime is an excellent example of our lack of connection. Is your mother or father going to mug you? Is your son or daughter going to steal your car? Is your next-door neighbor going to burn your house down? Is your cousin going to rape your wife? Is your best friend going to hit you with a baseball bat? Is your child's school principal going to commit fraud against you? The answer to all these questions is: "Highly unlikely." Why? Because in all these cases the possible assailant has a human connection to you--husband, wife, son, daughter, cousin, grandmother, grandfather, best friend, neighbor, high-school principal, and persons don't generally harm others with whom they have or feel a connection. So even the crime problem would greatly benefit were there a greater sense of connection among people. Thus, when we apply the DeBenedetto Diagnosis the crime problem evaporates, and we're left simply with we had before and, in fact, have always had, nothing less and nothing more: human transgression, the mistakes that we all make, of every kind. I've claimed in this Internet document that Love, properly understood is the foundational answer to every human problem. So-called crime is another excellent example, as even crime is affected by Love--in the presence of Love crime is virtually non-existent. Now that we've cleared the field conceptually, and clearly understand what we're dealing with, we can address the problem. NOISE - OUR NEXT GREAT AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE As this Internet document will, and many other on-and-offline print and other resources have, documented, noise, a problem garnering essentially no attention from those in authority nor even our mainstream environmental organizations, is, in fact, an utterly horrific problem for everyone. Noise is a many-headed hydra whose aggressive tentacles reach directly into every sphere of American life, and directly into the human mind, itself. The most egregious, pernicious, and insidious noise problem today is probably the gravely-misnamed leafblower. For the most tentative of beginnings, please see Quality-of-Life, below. QUALITY-OF-LIFE - Among the key issues eroding American's quality of life is noise, so this issue will be aggressively redressed by the De Benedetto Administration. Redress of this problem is also, like restoration of gym and math considered above, relevant to whether the United States could ever produce another Einstein. Given present noise levels across much of America, especially from that now-ubiquitous device, as odd as it is injurious as it is superfluous--the so-called "leafblower," one can't even hear themselves think, much less generate the intensive and extended streams of thought required to achieve Einsteinian excellence in Physics, or any other discipline. Another Einstein? In fact, with present levels of noise and cultural distraction I wonder whether the United States could even produce another Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. These unnecessary devices, moreover, are significant contributors to climate change, a problem now of existential proportion, so for this reason, as well as the noise, vibration, and toxic airborne mix that they generate--they must, and will, be gone under my Administration. In fact, you'll find this "Another Einstein," the "AE Question," serving as the grand referent or arbiter on many questions of policy and program: if a given action would tend to increase the likelihood of producing another Einstein, the De Benedetto Administration will tend to support it, and vice-versa. Best, Brightest, by the Boatload "Quality of Life" (Q.O.L.) is a notion and reality that covers a lot of ground in terms of what it means, and to whom it applies. For example, besides describing the relative satisfaction of life in America for our own native-born citizens, Q.O.L., poor Q.O.L., can affect the flow of talented foreign students and professionals who elect to emigrate to America for her premier educational institutions, and later to live, work, and we presume achieve here at the highest levels, further enhancing and burnishing the image of America, as both the center for global innovation and the country offering the most advanced, robust, and world-class post-graduate education and research facilities, programs, and opportunities.Questions, then, pertaining to noise, levels of violence, and a number of other Q.O.L. parameters remain key for short-and-long term viability of this nation for everyone, native-born and foreign, alike, and as such will remain fixed on my radar as President. GUNS - I assert to owners of firearms that my policy toward their guns can be summarized in one word. What is the DeBenedetto Administration going to do about your guns? Nothing. There will be no changes to federal, state, or local policy, unless said changes would tend to expand the rights of gun owners. Yes--expand. Yes, aggressive encouragement of voluntary safety checks and secure storage. Occasional reminders that, as intelligent policies bear fruit and citizens tend to feel safer, we do want, as biblically prescribed, to voluntarily beat as many of those guns into plowshares as we can, as soon as possible. And we must and will seriously consider the views of the law enforcement community, as this is the group going up against firearms every day. I take this general policy position because:
In fact, rather than any subtraction from the firearms-owning experience, through my new T.A.B. paradigm for personal defense and protection, briefly introduced above in my POLICING section, I'm going to bring an interesting, exciting, and certainly challenging addition! Fellow Americans, being a gun culture doesn't mean that this is all we can be--the America that I know, that I've always known for her excellence and exceptionalism is a place that is nothing if not tough, confident, innovative, successful, and flexible on all counts. Ergo (i.e. therefore), America can have and be a gun culture and a culture of love, respect, and support for one another, and, in fact, as many hard-core firearms enthusiasts are also Christians, we might remind ourselves of our roles not just as gun enthusiasts, but Christian gun enthusiasts, and thus our duty and desire to remain committed to the continuing maintenance, and growth, of our American Christian culture. We want our hard-core gun ownership and enthusiasm to bring with it hard-care, that is, the active attention to, and assistance in, the welfare of others that is the radical love that Christ taught, the Second Great Commandment of Christ, in fact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . No, to my firearm-owning brothers and sisters in the Southern United States and other Conservative parts of the country--as President, I'm not messin' with your guns. I'll tell ya whose guns I might mess with: Vladimir Putin. "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." . . . . . -- V, Protagonist in the Film "V for Vendetta" HOMOSEXUALITY (i.e. being gay) - Persons feeling themselves to be homosexual shall undergo a prescribed period of psychological counseling, perhaps three years, to ascertain the validity and veracity of said feelings. Said counseling shall include humane, collaborative attempts to de-emphasize homosexual impulses in favor of heterosexual. Homosexual individuals are brothers and sisters in our one human family as any other person, and, as such, are to be loved and respected. Cultural elements that tend to confuse sexuality, or homosexualize men (or women), such as "transsexual" pornography and Drag Queen Story Hour, shall be sharply discouraged, or outlawed. MEN, DE-MASCULINIZATION OF - American culture, without question, has shifted toward an amelioration of the traditional qualities of masculinity. This cannot stand, and will be redressed under the De Benedetto Administration. Are you aware that the Chinese government, wisely attempting to curb what is perceived as the feminization of its men, has implemented a formal program to this end? And what of the United States? In disturbing and unacceptable contrast, we have, instead, Drag Queen Story Hour. The De Benedetto Administration will reinforce natural, appropriate, traditional gender roles. DEBT, INCLUDING STUDENT LOANS - THOUGHTS PENDING! ECONOMY - There shall be a serious reconsideration of reinstatement of the gold standard, with all unsupported currency withdrawn from circulation. Additionally, we shall likely centralize, streamline, and thus economize all government income distribution plans such as General and Unemployment Assistance into one stream, the Universal Basic Income. Though presently under discussion in America, in fact this idea was far earlier proposed by social philosopher Erich Fromm in his 1955 masterpiece THE SANE SOCIETY. Brothers & Sisters, study this book, along with Dr. Fromm's noted THE ART OF LOVING, particularly his chapter on Brotherly Love (also called Agape [ugg opp' ay] in the language of Greek philosophy). UNIONS TO CEOs If you wish to deter the formation of unions at your facility or across your company or industry, I suggest that you dig down deep into your religious beliefs or other spiritual system to reacquaint yourself with the values they teach regarding other people. Most such belief systems and traditions instruct care and concern for others; some religions, such as Christianity make such direction explicit and unmistakable. The Second Great Commandment of Christ is to love your neighbor, your neighbor being, of course everyone. Traditional Conservatism, moreover, always includes a strong component of Christianity and Christian belief. If you want to deter the formation of unions, be the kind of CEO whose behavior makes it clear to your employees that you are sincerely and comprehensively looking out for their interests. And bring sufficient wisdom and life-experience to bear to understand that this active connection to others should form the basis of your moral posture and orientation to the world regardless of your corporate position. As CEO, the most visible post in your organization, your obligation to set, and act upon, the strongest and most credible moral standard is absolute. Moreover, while collusion is a crime, cooperation between companies for the benefit of workers is to be encouraged. For example, you'll lose your fear of raising employee wages if you know that all other companies in your industry are doing the same thing. There is nothing wrong with coordinating with those companies to effect this, and indeed everything right and moral with it. An intense interest by employees in union formation suggests a lack of a Love ethic in whole or part at the workplace on the part of the owner, or in the particular industry by the group of owners. Love, properly understood, can be the solution to the potential problem of union formation, as well as to essentially every other social and economic problem in this country, and across our world, as my Presidential platform and other writing, and that of many other powerful thinkers on Love, make clear. Love, and Love, alone, as a seminal dynamic, robust, and extensible force and principal, brings the country into social, economic, political, and personal balance. Use it to the benefit of your company and industry. REGULATION I will not blindly jettison established nor pending regulation--but I certainly will conduct intelligent, good-faith review of any and all regulation. Those that genuinely serve no purpose will be offered for revocation. PRESERVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE - The United States shall lead an international effort to build a powerful planetary defense, in case of extra-terrestrial attack, which scientists increasingly consider possible. I will not permit America (nor the human race) to get caught with its pants down, however unlikely some consider this possibility. HEALTH NUTRITION - Here's a suggestion or tip that you and your family can, and indeed, I would argue, must begin using immediately to improve all aspects of health. Such change will make an immediate and likely discernible (i.e. noticeable) difference: discontinue consumption of sugar, in all its forms, as soon and as severely as possible. As one interested in health and nutrition for years, I tell you confidently that sugar is poison. Neither should you consume artificial sweeteners, however, such as Splenda, as they are unhealthy, as well. Your best course, if you must consume sugar, is to consume real sugar, but severely limit your intake. Keep your kids off of sugar, as well. Fruit, in moderation, and preferably organic, is a wise choice. In building and maintaining the health of the body, the two most pernicious and insidious conditions, that must be guarded against mercilessly, are:
Sugar causes and increases both. Jobs In proffering this advice, against use of sugar, I do what persons of liberal politics tend not to: raise concomitant concern for our brothers and sisters in the sugar industry. Were the American population to greatly curb its consumption of sugar, some persons, perhaps many, in the sugar industry would find themselves without a job. We cannot permit this. With the slow elimination of jobs in the sugar industry must come a serious, concerted national effort to retrain these brothers and sisters for other jobs and industries. Better jobs, as well, whenever possible. Ditto workers in every industry, coal is often cited, that must sunset per our increasing awareness of personal and planetary health. I will work tirelessly to ensure that no worker, no citizen, no brother or sister, no American is left behind. And I will endorse well-conceived market-based solutions, whether from inside or outside the White House. MONO-AND-DIGLYCERIDES Moreover (i.e. also), studiously avoid any food item that contains Mono-and-Diglycerides, or any variation such as Monoglycerides, as these are actually hidden forms of the dreaded Trans-Fat, the worst thing that you can put into your body. I'm telling you that any form of trans-fat will, over the long-term, and perhaps not-so-long in the case of older or unhealthy persons, put you into a casket, probably through heart attack or stroke, though dementia is a possibility, as well. Have I made myself clear? Healthline.com states: "Mono- and diglycerides contain small amounts of trans fat. They're classified as emulsifiers and not lipids, so the FDA ban doesn't apply to them. As trans fat is phased out, food companies may turn to mono- and diglycerides as low-cost alternatives." ..."Currently, there's no way of knowing how much trans fat is in products with mono- and diglycerides listed on the label. ... "Food products with mono- and diglycerides are also likely to be high in other fats, as well as refined sugar and flour." Did you catch that? "...no way of knowing how much trans fat is in products with mono- and diglycerides..." May turn? They have turned--with a vengeance. And in turning to MAD (apropos acronym, huh?) these companies have turned on us--the consumer and fellow citizen. VEGETABLE OILS Last, studiously avoid any food item containing even one vegetable oil, listed on the nutrition panel of the bottle or jar as either Canola or rapeseed, safflower, sunflower, corn, cottonseed, soy, soybean, simply "vegetable," or any other oil save olive or coconut. These man-made industrial seed oils damage arteries and blood vessels, setting you, or perhaps your parents or grandparents, up for a stroke, which is caused by compromised blood pathways, especially arteries. This is also a key reason that deep fried foods such as French fries and onion rings must avoided at all costs. If you take this urgent recommendation seriously, you'll quickly see that you're going to have to effect a wholesale shift in the way you eat, as most foods contain vegetable oil of one kind or another. My Mother just suffered a small-moderate severity stroke, almost certainly in part because of her consumption of vegetable oils. Fellow Americans--don't let it happen to your family. WHAT'S FOR DESSERT For moms and dads seeking to solve the "dessert problem" for their kids, or themselves, that is, providing a dessert item that genuinely tastes good yet does no damage to health, I present my Presidential concept of: DESSERT and DESSERT+ Notwithstanding that there actually should be no such thing as "dessert," a sweet, dessert-style item must always be a piece of fruit, or two. Nothing more. However, for kids, or adults with a sweet tooth that simply won't be argued with, DESSERT can easily be enhanced into DESSERT+, which is fruit topped with ingredients that are tasty, even a bit luscious, but don't harm health, and in fact can even enhance it. A banana, for example, is DESSERT, while a peeled banana in a dish, covered with a good drizzle of chocolate sauce or syrup, and cinnamon, perhaps even a dollop of whipped cream, as well, is DESSERT+. Cinnamon is understood to help lower blood-pressure, though such therapeutic use probably requires its consumption in large amounts--so have your banana DESSERT+ every other day! I assure you that DESSERT+ is going to be very delicious and satisfying, especially after you and your family get used to this new way of eating. Best to use organic ingredients, and the whipped cream would best be heavy whipping cream that you beat yourself. Parents, this is going to solve your dessert problem! There--I've solved yet another problem for you, and I'm not even President yet! AMY'S "NATURAL" FOODS FRAUDULENT Amy's natural foods are fraudulent, as so many of them, from frozen dinners like their cheese enchilada, to their canned Minestrone soup, actually contain the aforementioned vegetable oils! They are listed uniformly across all Amy's products that contain them as "...high oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil." Each Amy's customer who imagines that in purchasing and consuming Amy's products they are maintaining, and in fact extending, their lives is laboring under a very dangerous and insidious misconception, insidious because the Amy's line is marketed as categorically healthy, and most persons spending the extra money for these products thinks that this is exactly what they are. The truth, however, is far different: regular consumption of any Amy's product containing these vegetable oils will put they who consume them in a box (i.e. a casket) far faster than would otherwise naturally occur. I registered my concern to Amy's, itself, in the form of an email communication on March 01, 2022: March 01, 2022 Greetings, This is the first of what could generate a wider conversation. Myself and my family have been consuming Amy's products for years, and you have much to be proud of. However, many Amy's products seem to contain "high oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil." Many health authorities consider vegetable oils to be very unhealthy, damaging the arteries, for example, and safflower oil is probably considered the worst of the bunch. Your thoughts? PS. I'm exploring a run for President in 2024 and I certainly want forward-thinking companies like yours to flourish, not just nationally but internationally. Yet we must always ensure that success does not compromise our commitment to actively look out for each other as Americans. We must restore that sense of connection that we used to have for each other, or continue to slowly devolve as a people and a nation. My other principle plank concerns, and seeks to redress, the low level of functional competence among many Americans. I'm advocating, for example, that we get our noses out of our smartphones and start paying much better attention to our jobs, and all our productive activities both at work and even home. This will produce a far more creative, industrious, and competitive America, in all spheres, from economics, to defense, to familial and personal relationships. Warm Regards, VINCENT FRANK DE BENEDETTOVincent2024.com Amy's responded thusly: ![]() Response from Amy's Foods As you can see, Amy's elected not to take the opportunity to work mutually with me to find Truth, that is, whether my initial statement of the dangers of vegetable seed oils (VSOs) as I understand them have merit. Instead, they ignored my assertions, framing them as a prosaic matter of simple personal preference. How, then, does this make Amy's any different than any fast-food company, such as McDonald's or Burger King? These companies sell injurious food to earn profit--Amy's sells injurious food to earn profit. And the mere presence of these oils in Amy's products implies their healthfulness; implies that they're not harmful and won't injure us. But they will, everyone knows that they will, and moreover, I just explicitly pointed this out to Amy's, to which their bland, amoral reply was a slap in the face to every Amy's customer. Amy's then, is lying. To us, if not at very least, to themselves. "There's a sucker born every minute" is the cynical assertion attributed to American showman P.T. Barnum. Is this the company ethic to which Amy's subscribes? Would that we could create a society where the predicates and operation of all social spheres are based on the mutual search for Truth. Such a society would, indeed, represent the Actualization of human society--an explicit objective of my Presidency, were I to win. My tagline, above, refers to the "primacy of ideas," and, indeed, there are few ideas more powerful than Truth. Insofar as America embraces the most powerful ideas such as Truth and integrates them into what she is, she will, indeed, continue to build, maintain, and even perfect her Exceptionalism. Nor is any of this incompatible with a morally and ethically-informed free-enterprise. Amy's & Socialism To Conservatives who decry the tendency of many of our young people toward socialism, or what they understand socialism to be, I will add that from this political standpoint, behavior such as that exhibited by Amy's and similar companies informs and strengthens the argument of persons opposed to capitalism, itself. For it suggests that the varied options available in the marketplace is less true than suggested by proponents of free-enterprise: if one seeks to refrain from what is understood as the unhealthy food sold by outlets like McDonald's they can always buy and consume the healthy food sold by outlets like Amy's--well, not really. Not when Amy's ingredients are just as deadly as those of McDonald's. If Amy's feels it absolutely necessary to utilize food agents such as VSO's, yet do so ethically, they should include a warning label on their food package. Will this impact sales? It might. Which gives Amy's and similar American companies a sufficient incentive to find a healthier approach, thereby adopting a more loving posture toward its customers, most of whom are Americans, by the way, and helps to create and preserve an image of truth, health, and integrity around American products and services, generally, which will help American competitiveness tremendously in the global marketplace. In fact, I call upon the CEO of every American company to emplace a small mousetrap or replica on their desk as a continual reminder of America's historic reputation: the nation that simply builds "the better mousetrap." Whatever your product or service, I want you to spend more time, or better utilized time, perfecting it, thus increasing your own sales, while doing it all in an ethical manner that displays respect, which is a function of Love, to your customers both here, and abroad. I've set down as a guiding principle, above, the notion that we're all brothers and sisters on this planet, in one human family--and I mean it. Must this view be incompatible with success in the global marketplace? Let's find out. In underscoring such hazard and hypocrisy as evidently displayed by Amy's, then, I intend no injury to American corporations, companies, or entrepreneurs--to the contrary, as a careful read of this web document reveals. What I intend is for American corporations, companies, or entrepreneurs to conduct business ethically, as this shows fidelity to fellow Americans, and is simply the right thing to do. That is, the moral, even loving, thing. Moreover, such responsibility also makes American products and services more competitive in the global marketplace, as it helps create and reinforce the idea around the world that in purchase of American products and services foreign consumers are getting those that both function well, with good design, and are presented truthfully as what they are, no more and no less, thereby earning a credible American promise and imprimatur like: "DESIGNED USA SMART - BUILT USA TOUGH" American business has nothing to fear from me. To the contrary, as a careful read of this web document readily indicates. My ideas will enhance and optimize business. For example, the stamp shown, above, will be just one of several that my Administration will create to denote a new standard of both quality and safety for American products, and fully re-establish the American brand around the world. And it should go without saying that political conservatives, who are usually Christian, should find the exhortation to ethical business appealing and highly desirable, economically and morally, as it is a proper expression and manifestation of the Second Great Commandment of Christ: Love Your Neighbor. EASY TRIPARTITE CARDIO PROTECTION Just now, 5:19p, Monday, March 14, 2022, my beloved Mother's 91st birthday, I took my first draught of a healing mixture that I recently read about whose nutritional logic made immediate sense to me: tomato sauce. I intend, and strongly recommend, daily medicinal consumption of a small amount of low-sodium tomato sauce, as this miracle concoction contains at least three superfood-type ingredients especially protective of cardiovascular health: extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, and potassium. All three ingredients will protect the heart and cardiovascular system, reducing the possibility of heart attack and stroke. Watch your overall level of Potassium, however, as an excess of this electrolyte can actually damage the heart. Opt for low-sodium tomato sauce as standard recipes have high levels of sodium, which can be very dangerous in leading to stroke. Also elect for a tomato sauce product that is, at least, GMO-free and packed in glass. Organic sauce, of course, packed in glass, is best. THE 911 CALL YOU WON'T HAVE TO MAKE If your family doesn't own a blood pressure monitor, run, do not walk, to purchase or order one. Hypertension, that is, high blood pressure, "The Silent Killer," has wrought a path of destruction across this country and everywhere else, with heart disease the #1 cause of death worldwide. Unless you regularly take your, and your family's blood pressure, you simply don't know who is walking around--parents, grandparents, siblings--with a ticking time bomb inside them. Don't relegate the task of monitoring to the occasional visit to the doctor. The haphazard nature of this kind of approach to blood pressure monitoring is completely inconsistent with the gravity of what are routinely the pernicious consequences of unrecognized and untreated hypertension: grievous physical and mental injury--or death. Purchase, locally, or order a blood-pressure monitor right now, this very second, while you're reading this and the idea is fresh in your mind. YOU'RE WELCOME Fellow Americans, I'm an American, and I'm running for President, but the truth is, if you want to avoid a life that will likely end in physical or psychological suffering, possibly including madness, followed by death, you've got to unplug, to disengage, from American culinary culture. Whether you ultimately vote for me, or not, it's likely that through my health counsel here, teaching you 1.) to recognize and avoid the most common killers found in our food, and 2.) most common potentially deadly health threats such as hypertension, or 3.) through another of my Internet projects such as my effort to promote use of masks, which, if implemented in my specified manner would quickly bring the entire Pandemic to a halt, I will actually save the life of yourself and your loved ones--possibly several times, over. If you elect me President, I will continue saving your life, as well as leading the effort to Actualize yourself, everyone you know and love, and our entire nation, that is, the effort for each, and all, of us to be the absolute best that we are capable of being. To fully live up to our potential. TOUCH EVERY LIFE Why am I, right in the middle of my campaign platform document, inserting fragments of information about health? As one interested in health and nutrition for years, I state categorically that these are not fragments, they are just about the most important health counsel anyone could give you--far more important, in fact, in the immediate than even a change in President. Who says that I can't start saving American lives now, even before entering the White House? The point is to assist, even save, the nation. Being in the White House is simply a method to permit me to do this far more quickly, efficiently, and effectively. As President it's my duty and my pleasure to take as active a role as possible in improving the lives of the entire American population--every single one of you. The U.S. Census Bureau projects the United States population was 332,403,650 on January 01, 2022. If you want to begin saving the life of yourself and your loved ones, co-workers, and neighbors, carefully watch and heed this guidance on eating. And again, any workers displaced as America transitions to a healthy or healthier lifestyle will receive active assistance from the DeBenedetto Administration, to secure new and better positions. Indeed, one of the taglines of my campaign--because I genuinely feel this--is that I want my work and the work of my Administration to Touch Every Life. I want to ensure, and I'm going to so instruct my Cabinet, that it is our mandate to ensure that at some point during my tenure in office something we do will touch a life, such that every life, yes, all 332M of you, are helped in some way, large or small, during my time in office. Touch Every Life means--touch your life. MY PLATFORM SPECIFIC, MORE NARROW ISSUES
BLOCKCHAIN / CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Analysis Pending. Preliminary judgment on Cryptocurrency: Do not support, as U.S. currency is already global standard, helping maintain American dominance in world economic and financial matters. Additionally, as technology grows more complex and thus drives an increasingly complex world, key or foundational systems, or at least the principles, predicates, and paradigms that underlie them must remain relatively clean and simple. One national currency is optimal based on this standard. Complex systems paired with complex foundational ideas are simply too overwhelming for beings of a finite lifespan, the point of which, after all, is to create and maximize human happiness and freedom. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 4.0 Analysis Pending. MURDER - PETITO, GABBY Firstly, our Deepest Condolence to Ms. Petito and her family. Crime is a natural part of a society devoid of any formal and official adoption of the Love ethic. Ms. Petito was killed, and indeed many other horrible things happen in this country and world. People ask "Why?" This is the wrong question. In a society absent Love, the question is: Why not? Why wouldn't people commit transgressions and violations of every kind, as there's no genuine and widely promulgated and adopted moral code to inhibit them? "The Law" alone is not enough, for, how many laws can we possibly pass? Can we pass a law to cover every single violation and transgression that human beings are capable of conceiving and executing, now, and a hundred years from now? Impossible! The only real answer is the one that no one considers, and insofar as they do, dismiss as unrealistic: a change in the human heart. Indeed, brothers and sisters, if you're a serious Christian, or a member of any of the belief systems underpinned by Love, you already accept and believe this thesis, or are supposed to. Given such an ethico-existental change or shift, the many violations and transgressions that we commit against each other will simply not occur in the first place, from corporate corruption to street crime and everything in-between. I say that what's unrealistic is the assumption that the human race can continue hurting itself as it does, and still think that it's going to survive, much less flourish. And happily, Love, properly understood, is powerful enough to accommodate the necessary shift to a Love-based culture. This is why every major philosopher and theologian through history has venerated Love as essential. As stated above, incorporation of Love into our society is a core part of my Presidential platform, as contained in the document that you are now reading. MURDER - BUFFALO, N.Y. TOPS MARKET Firstly, my Deepest Condolence to the family of the ten victims. As stated, above, in regard to the Gabby Petito murder: crime is a natural part of a society devoid of any formal and official adoption of the Love ethic, and the larger argument and reasoning thereto remains the same and applies. In terms of the necessary task of removing euphemisms and conceptual overlays, "crime" simply refers to the phenomenon of violation or abrogation of existing laws and the deleterious consequences of this violation or abrogation, referring in the first place to actual codified laws, as opposed to natural, moral, or spiritual laws, or other of those that exist only conceptually. Now, specifically, I'm struck, first of all, by the near-ubiquitous reference to the 18-year-old child who committed these murders as a "man." His professed reason for the crime is based on the so-called Replacement Theory. I'll also add, for now, to be expanded, that I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Replacement Theory or something like it, as these recurring images suggest. More pending. JANUARY 06, 2021 CAPITAL INSURRECTION - Contrary to what some conservatives and others assert, that the insurrection holds no importance, likely because they want former President Trump exonerated of implied guilt for it, I assert the obvious: that incident is one of the most significant for the country in modern times, for it cogently illustrates that:
Why I am Not a Republican In reading my policy positions, which are generally conservative, one might wonder why I haven't simply declared myself a Republican. Aside from my respect for the progressive, small "P," work of the Democratic Party over its recent history, and general posture of actual and active care and concern for all peoples, I remain generally enthralled with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a figure who, while not perfect, himself remains a man both titular and practical for so much of the values of love and goodness that this country, and indeed this world simply must have, if it is to survive, no less, Actualize. Moreover, the Republican Party has shifted character dramatically, indeed radically, in its continuing embrace of Donald Trump, and especially his continuing, preposterous claim of victory in the 2020 Presidential election, a short-sighted and ignorant figure who appears, in regard to the January 06 Capital insurrection, to have inspired it, if not provided a de facto authorization. Regarding the absurd assertion that former President Trump actually won the 2020 election, I'm just one of a string of writers and commentators who note the broad spectrum of authorities who have soundly and thoroughly debunked that claim. In fact, the former President and his legal team were fined several times for initiation of frivolous lawsuits in this regard. Yet, inexplicably, the Republican Party, at least broadly in terms of on-the-ground electoral politics, have essentially made concurrence with this fantastic assertion a litmus test for election. And I wish to point out, in defense of a proper Conservatism, that it is agreement, or at least acceptance, of the verdict of the established electoral mechanisms and bodies of one's own society that constitute the clear Conservative posture, while Mr. Trump's view that so many Republicans now seem to accept as an article of faith, that he won the Presidential election, and his attempt to reject, and indeed violently or otherwise forcibly overthrow that result, thereby defying established governmental mechanisms, is not the Conservative response, at all--but the RADICAL one. Of this there is no question. Thus, much of what appears to be the Republican Party of today actually embraces the same theory and ethic of to-the-ramparts, violent revolutionary action that is the stock-in-trade, the coin-of-the-realm, of radical political groups and figures. In this, the Republican Party appears to have fueled its own devolution and retrogression into some kind of proto-party: an earlier, amorphous assemblage with yet-forming ideals and principles, the civic and moral courage and clarity forged by years of Republican thought and action--gone. Were I a Republican, I'd be asking in this regard, not merely what Jesus would do (always ask this), but what Nixon, Reagan, Eisenhower, and indeed just about any Conservative (or moderate, or liberal) politician would do, were they in Mr. Trump's electoral position at the finish of the 2020 election. I don't see any of these vaunted figures humiliating themselves and America with infantile antics in conjunction with a very real quasi-violent attempt at overthrow of staid and traditional electoral principal, praxis, and institution of the Republic. There is a very important recent article by Francis Fukuyama proffering a cogent and highly pedagogical initial deconstruction of this event, the continuing Republican response and posture, and their pointedly deleterious effect on the role and status of the United States in the world, therefrom. In essence, then, I do not declare myself a Republican because that party has now devolved into something else: group now not merely of extremism--but violent extremism, and as such, no longer a sound, legitimate, and productive example, expression, and part of what America is. Witness, indeed, the gathering effort of groups like the Renew America Movement to restore practical and philosophical competence to the American system of governance. Ranting & Raving Secondarily, I don't declare myself a Republican, nor fully relate to that party, as so many of its most public de facto or purported representatives, typically media personages such as radio talk show hosts, like Mark Levin or Michael Savage, seem little more than small-minded, vindictive, purveyors of little more than invective. I've listed, particularly, to many hours of both of these hosts and in my view they represent the Republican Party, or at least Conservatism, poorly. Where is the focus, not on who's right, but what's right? Where is the assumption that the Democrats are the loyal opposition? Younger readers may be wholly unacquainted with the latter notion. During the Obama Presidency, I heard Michael Savage level Ad hominem invective at the President any number of times. It was clear that Mr. Savage despised him personally, and he made no attempt to hide it, but was actually profligate in his attacks. Note that I never voted for Barack Obama. Mark Levin, whom I've listened to any number of times, besides having a poor radio voice, is, to me, almost unlistenable as his monologue follows its predictable pattern: he slowly works up to an enraged fever pitch that is always my cue to switch him off. He also appears to engage in personal attacks, or at least focus on persons and personalities, not just ideas, theory, and programs. Where is the reasoned, soft-spoken, magnanimous Conservative commentary and analysis? The fact that Christianity comprises a traditional part of American Conservatism calls unequivocally for a loving posture on the part of Conservatives, at least Christian Conservatives. I hear nothing like this in major radio media such as WABC-RADIO NYC. Commentator David Brooks strikes me as an able and emulatable representative of a general Conservatism. Thirdly, I don't declare myself a Republican, nor fully relate to that party, because, though my own present-day political programme calls for market-based solutions whenever possible, the Republican party in the main appears to hue to the blind dictates of capitalism too reflexively. I was surprised to learn recently that no less a guru and exponent of free enterprise than economist Milton Friedman asserted that markets cannot be permitted to operate with no supervision or governance: FRIEDMAN QUOTE PENDING "The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions." . . . . . Leonardo da Vinci BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT/ORGANIZATION - Do not support BLM. Support Dr. King. Do black lives matter? Of course, this goes without saying. In fact, I have a knowledge of what I presently understand as the dark underbelly of the BLM movement: the sub-movement to "breed out" the entire Caucasian ethnic lineage. Not on my watch. Every culture has the right to survive, including, and in America especially, European culture, if that's its natural path. See Affirmative Action, above. RUSSIA UKRAINE INCURSION "To subdue an enemy without fighting is the greatest of skills." -- Sun Tzu And such is NATO and the Biden Administration rightly trying to subdue Russian President Vladimir Putin without firing a shot. Gross restriction of Mr. Putin, his associates, and Russia, itself to operate freely and to its own benefit, including in the area of economic activity, may prove an effective counter, and should be and is being attempted. For example, oil, in particular, is a mainstay of the mediocre Russian economy, and thankfully, longstanding U.S. ally and key NATO member Germany has finally gotten on board in threatening to cancel all further development and operations of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, a major project to convey oil from Russia directly to Germany and the larger European Union. For Russia, this has got to hurt--let's hope so. Of course, it goes without saying that we must give Mr. Putin's complaints a hearing, in other words, listen to and consider them. War, I have said, is almost categorically unacceptable and is to be eschewed and urgently avoided because, among many other deleterious consequences, it will make one child cry. The child can have no understanding of what is happening around them; can have no full, mature understanding of the violence, terror, and physical destruction at their feet. Bad enough we traumatize adults this way; we cannot do it to children. My Platform includes several key steps intended to strengthen U.S. military capabilities and project that newfound strength to the world, thus, itself, comprising an effective counter to untoward action by Russia or any other state actor. TRUMP, DONALD - Did not write The Art of the Deal; this book was ghost-written. It should come as no surprise that former President Trump lied about this: persons with ghost-written books generally don't disclose it, and, Mr. Trump, even before becoming President had publicly stated that he sometimes considers it necessary to lie. This fact alone fatally indicts Donald Trump's character, and with it his qualifications to be President, for the originating and First Principle for the role and position of President of the United States is complete candor (i.e. frank honesty) with the American people--us. I cast one vote for Mr. Trump, but once his behavior in-office, as President, was demonstrated, his fatal deficits become clear, a second vote was obviously out of the question. Likely the worst President we've ever had. For this and other reasons to be discussed, it is critical to the fate of, not merely America, but the world, that this gentleman remain in the real estate and entertainment businesses, roles for which he has clearly shown great interest and occasionally excelled, and where he clearly belongs. As opposed to further deleterious involvement in, as he gracelessly put it, "This politics stuff." I support RENEW AMERICA, the organized Congressional movement to eradicate the Trump stain on America, and what has unfortunately and, indeed, inexplicably, become his long coat-tails. See link, below. THE REAL COST OF DECEIT Tyranny, Truth, & Trump In stark contrast to former President Trump's non-authorship of his famed book, I wrote every word of my approximately thirty web sites, providing voters and non-voters alike more-than-ample opportunity to fully acquaint themselves with just about every parameter necessary to judge and assess me, to determine whether I deserve their vote. But what of the so-called "little white lie"? Firstly, there's no evidence that in his Declaration of Deceit the former President was referring only to "little white lies." Secondly, in the context of an especially volatile political and social "kindling" such as arguably exists in the United States, today, even a little white lie can spark, then ignite, the volatile and highly flammable kindling to generate a social, political, or economic conflagration. Comparatively, a given assertion may be little, that is, limited in the scope of its ill effect, either because it concerns a subject of little perceived consequence or a subject of great perceived consequence, but an element of that subject perceived as of little importance or consequence. Comparatively, a given assertion may be little, that is, limited in the scope of its ill effect, and a given assertion may be a lie, that is, a deliberate misstatement of reality, but such an assertion will never be white, that is, fully devoid of any ill-effect since rooted in good intention. In fact, a small lie can be more pernicious and insidious than a larger lie, for, just as marijuana, the drug perceived as milder than other drugs and thus less damaging, may actually be more harmful than other kinds of drugs because its very mildness obscures its ill-effect, and the extent of the damage to the mind, thereto, so too, can a small lie generate worse effects than a big one for numerous reasons. For example, the small lie may require continual reinforcement with assertions supporting it, themselves lies, and thus initiate a pattern, perhaps even a cascade, of dishonesty, that, in the end, can prove extremely damaging. In fact, Brothers & Sisters, historically the greatest criminals of all time, including Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and others, from the most pernicious ideological camps of all time, such as fascism and (faux-)communism, skillfully utilized the lie as a key weapon in their authoritarian armory. MAKE AMERICA GREAT I'm afraid that this is another key area in which I must respectfully disagree with our former President. This was, and presumably again will be, Donald J. Trump's ubiquitous (i.e. widespread) political slogan. It recalls (i.e. remembers or refers to) a time in recent American history, probably the period from about 1940 to about 1980, especially the decade of the 1950s, when America was, and remains, perceived to be stable, strong, peaceful, and prosperous. However, congruent (i.e. consistent) with my Actualization principal, I do not intend to make America great again; in other words, I'm not going to restore the America that was, which, admittedly did speak to and reflect greatness, while suffering bigotry and other problems, I'm going to EXCEED that standard and make America the best that she's ever been, create America anew, the best that she's capable of becoming! Do What You're Good At Your doctor, automobile mechanic--and President of the United States--are all essentially detectives who must have superior analytical skill to do their job and manage that to which they are assigned and trusted. Moreover, just as your mechanic can't be versed only in older, more traditional or conventional vehicles, but must possess expertise in the new and very advanced automobiles of today, your President, similarly, must be versed in knowing, understanding, and negotiating the most advanced and up-to-the-second realities of America and the world today, in technology, medicine, defense and military affairs, terror, environment, quality-of-life, and every sphere and area relevant to life today. This was the problem with our former President: hire him to construct you a hotel, or put you on a television show or in a beauty pageant. These are his longstanding, demonstrated strengths. Hire people to do that at which they excel, and for which they show a natural affinity. Therefore, based on this commonsense standard: DON'T hire Don Trump to govern your nation--he just doesn't have the analytical skill (among other shortcomings). ![]() - RENEW AMERICA MOVEMENT - - DEFUSE DISINFORMATION - ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEAS In the continuing spirit of Love toward, faith in, and respect for, the American people, including both our entrepreneurs and established companies, of all kinds and sizes, I offer the following set of my original entrepreneurial ideas, free for the taking by anyone, to help generate new business and economic activity, and propel America to the very pinnacle and summit of the economic mountain. In my capacity as President, I will assist in securing and building business based on these, and other, ideas. {LIST PENDING} More About Me I am a 61+ year old native born American, holding a B.A. in Philosophy from Seton Hall University. My original writing on Terror has been quoted and cited by the New York Times. The gist of my piece: that, for eight substantive reasons, the Twin Towers must be rebuilt to a minimum of their original 110 stories. This is why the web site where I published the piece was, and remains, called 110Again.org. It's now a general anti-terror portal, though updated infrequently. In terms of real-world politics I consider myself a conservative Democrat. I did not vote for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, or Joe Biden. It's a virtual certainty that I'd never vote for any Democratic candidate, again, in my life, as they all seem to advocate abortion. Generationally, I'm a Baby Boomer, of which Wikipedia asserts: "The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the post-World War II baby boom..." My generational status and identification is likely one of the reasons that many of my beliefs and corresponding political postures are conservative. Though a huge Star Trek fan, I, by choice, have not seen even one episode of Star Trek: Discovery, nor will I, as, for one thing, I reject a Star Trek series with an explicit homosexual theme, or at least explicit homosexual behavior. Over my many years as a fan, I've always understood Star Trek to be a family program. I even objected strongly, and still do, when the Data character used an epithet (i.e. curse word; vulgar term) in the ST film Star Trek: Generations. So what am I--some kind of boy scout? Response: what's wrong with the Boy Scouts? Other than the fact, ridiculously, that they've been forced to let girls in, a decision condemned in the first place by none other than the Girl Scouts organization, itself. Consistency! I eschew Star Trek series or episodes trading in unsavory or nontraditional themes such as homosexuality or displaying such behavior for the same reason that I elect not to restrict gun ownership: because I respect, and thus elect to conserve what is, especially when what is is generally working, including that which represents a more elevated morality or moral position. Regarding guns, America is a gun culture, rooted in our very Constitution and it's not my place as President to try to use my governmental power to change this. Regarding Star Trek, similarly, this series, for much of its earlier history has always been known, gratifyingly so, as family entertainment, and this is the show character that I've retained in my intellectual and emotional memory. So I will and do reject any Star Trek content that departs from this desirable standard. This obviously does not mean that I fail to recognize the reality of homosexuality. Our homosexual brothers and sisters must be loved as we love everyone in our human family. I do ask, as President, for everyone's benefit, that they undergo certified therapy or a similar formal process for at least three years to confirm their professed gender-orientation and identification. I am a writer and philosopher working with unique and powerful social and political ideas; comprising a statement of principle, plan of action, and personal and social belief system. Were I to become President I would attempt to recast the nation based on this programme. I am working with this plan now, prior to becoming President, and I'll be working with this plan after my bid for the Presidency, whether I'd won, or not. The only difference is that were I to win, I'd have the opportunity to implement this unique and powerful plan and likely improve the country immeasurably, in a way that, frankly, no other candidate likely could. A substantial introduction to my intellect, value system, and general world-view is available through a careful examination of the free online draft of my upcoming book LOVE: Properly Understood, the most Powerful Social Force Available to Humankind, an Internet resource for which I wrote every word. Please also see THE BEST OF WORLD CULTURE, a kind of companion site to this one, presenting and describing what I feel is important in society, and OUR BETTER SELVES, my Internet resource containing several of my politically-related essays. Last, search my name as presented for my 30+ web sites, each conceived, researched, written, and built by me, and incorporating my basic perspective. Take Hold of the Flame A lifelong music fan, I enjoy almost all forms though favor selected metal and hard rock such as Queensryche, Black Sabbath, and Dokken, and love classical music, as well, and country. I lament the apparent recent loss of the one country radio station broadcasting in the New York City area, where I reside. The official song of the DeBenedetto Campaign is Get Together by the Youngbloods. See above. I remain an amateur metal guitarist, composer, and vocalist. I remind fellow Conservatives and others that "metal," though perhaps not to everyone's taste, remains a European musical form, and thus close to the classic American cultural project. ...children of the world Listen to what I say If you want a better place to live in Spread the word today Show the world that love is still alive You must be brave Or you children of today are children of the grave... -- Children of the Grave, Black Sabbath, 1971 Touche'. My Day to Day What is my life like, day-to-day? With neither hyperbole nor sentimentality, I state that my day-to-day existence is characterized by one word: PAIN. Many, if not most of the moments of my life are painful, psychologically, physically, or both. Primarily the former. Illness has made my adult years difficult: physical illness in my family, and the overwhelming social illness of my society. In social science the usual term is pathology. So substantial, injurious, and shocking has the latter been, that it has generated its own volume, NEIGHBORS OF DEATH, publication pending. Yet, I endure. And in the realm of political theory, and the construction of a philosophical paradigm that can save this country (and this world)--I achieve. I live principally in the life of the mind though my ideas are battle-tested in real life, as much as they can be. And this works out rather well in terms of me representing you as President, because you know who else lives largely in pain? You. Or certainly many of you. The truth is, we all do in some measure. That is, to one degree or another. Working together, however, let's turn PAIN into PURPOSE, PRINCIPAL, POWER, and a PARADIGM of achievement and Actualization. For ourselves, America, and the human race. No, I'm not kidding. Agape is simply that powerful. DECLARATION "Somebody has to save our skins." -- Princess Leia, Star Wars: A New Hope Why do I want to run for President? I don't want to run for President. But I look around me and see a country that's lost its way, has lost its identity, is being grossly mismanaged, all at a time of global military, technological, epistemological (i.e. concerning knowledge), environmental, and personal crisis. I readily see through the problems to their solutions, and so I run as a duty. Writing today, then, Tuesday, September 21, 2021, at 3:57 pm, I declare that, over the last two or so weeks I've decided to attempt a run for the Presidency of the United States. Such decision and its consequent action is not rooted in ego in any measure, I have little interest in ego, but in confidence that the confluence of 1.) my intellect, and 2.) knowledge of Agape (i.e. brotherly Love), these both filtered and burnished through my unique life experience, can, in good measure, right many of the very many wrongs afflicting this nation, and in the best of cases, the world. I did not begin my volume, LOVE, PROPERLY UNDERSTOOD, nor its two sister volumes, my AGAPE TRILOGY, in support of a Presidential run, but study of that work will be vital to understanding my approach to governance. My governance of this nation, and the influence that such management will likely have on the world, will be based on Agape, as this principal is unquestionably powerful, dynamic, robust, and extensible (i.e. scalable) enough to comprise such a foundation. Of course, the principle is generally misunderstood even in regard to what is traditionally understood as its native area of relevance, personal and social relationships. Many will find its application to practical politics baffling. I'll explain all in due time, however, and the nation and world may just find itself surprised, amazed, and eminently cheered. There is one thing and one thing alone that can change the face of humanity, and that is Love, properly understood (my Plank #1). Especially in concert with a dramatic improvement in our competence and functional capacity (my Plank #2). BECAUSE THE NATION NEEDS AT LEAST ONE ADULT IN THE ROOM I AM THAT ADULT
ABORTION TEST As another Presidential candidate (or simply a citizen), do you imagine yourself to be "an adult in the room"? Fair enough. But--reality check. Do you support abortion? This is a procedure by which an unwanted nascent human being, whose tiny "heart" tube is already beating 65 times a minute by the end of their fourth week of life, is either cut up in the womb, then their remains sucked out with a medical vacuum cleaner, or is salted to death, their remains then sucked out with a medical vacuum cleaner, or sometimes is simply vacuumed out, period. In all cases, their body and remains are literally thrown in the trash can. As of the fifth week of development, the fingers, toes and eyes of this emerging human in the womb (© VFD) are also forming. This is clearly a human being, separate from its mother: a separate and distinct individual, whose existence is its own, and belongs to no one else--not even its biological mother. Yet, Mr. or Ms. opposing candidate, you support the right of another human being to kill this human being or have it killed? It might be the mother wishing to kill it, the father, the mother's parent or parents, a relative, or a close "trusted" friend. In civilized society we consider and call the deliberate killing of a human being murder. You support murder, yet consider yourself an adult in the room? You are clearly an unthinking child in the room, and in this appellation I'm being charitable, as some might call you a criminal in the room, as murder is a crime. Definition: Criminal, noun. One who commits a crime. Women need not worry; no rights will be abrogated. If you don't wish to keep your child, they will be shifted to the integrated NATIONWIDE ADOPTION NETWORK that the DeBENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION will establish. See ABORTION elsewhere in this document. I don't support any of the narcissistic brutality that is abortion, as described, above, and neither will my Administration. For this, and many other reasons, I am the adult in the room. Especially now, at this time of unprecedented complexity, challenge, and change in medicine, technology, military affairs, terror, environment and climate change, and social relationships of every kind, including the unique difficulties faced by our young people (due partially to the C19 Pandemic), it is absolutely imperative that America have, finally, an actual adult in the room, that is, governing the nation. America is desperate for this, and as she remains a leading nation in the world in every way (though not by much at this point), we're still both widely emulated and looked upon both to keep the peace and set the moral standard, the world, itself, plagued with every manner of difficulty, is also desperate for an adult in the room in America. That is, for a restoration and renewal of the unique, powerful, wise, and moral guardian that America has historically aspired to, and often been. I assure you, Fellow Americans, and Brothers and Sisters, for this, you need the DeBENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION. CAN DO. DRUG TEST SHOULD WE CONSIDER A DRUG USER, DEALER, OR ADVOCATE "THE ADULT IN THE ROOM"? WHAT ABOUT WHEN OUR POLITICAL LEADERS, THOSE WE PRESUME ARE THE ABSOLUTE SMARTEST AND MOST CAPABLE TO LEAD US, ARE THEMSELVES DRUG USERS, like New Jersey Senate President Nick Scutari? "The Senate president also told reporters that he will "probably" buy recreational marijuana "at some point." "Not today," he said. "I'm not gonna wait in line." Does young Mr. Scutari sound like the adult in the room to you? Your Support is Critical I ask for your active support in this interesting and likely inordinately (i.e. extremely) challenging endeavor. Please begin by 1.) contacting me so I can add your name to my email list, 2.) talk to as many others as you can about me, my ideas, and my Presidential run. Persuade others of like mind to add their names to my email list, as well. And last, 3.) begin to study and think deeply about my nascent (i.e. just starting) platform statements, presented at this website. If you like the genuinely unique and powerful ideas that you've read here, please assist this campaign by providing financial support: describing this nascent (i.e. just forming) campaign as operating on a shoestring would actually be glorifying it! PayPal DONATE button, below. Fellow-Americans, Brothers & Sisters, do you want a genuinely, dramatically, and permanently changed world? Now is our chance. Let's not miss this rare, emerging opportunity. Contact & Copyright Concepts, terminology, and language at this website Copyright (©) 2021 Vincent Frank De Benedetto. Use permitted with no changes and full name and website attribution. Contact Vincent Frank De Benedetto at v4p @ sent.com. In addressing your mail, omit the space before and after the "@" sign. This site went live on September 07, 2017. It was substantively updated on September 22, 2021, reflecting my newfound serious intention to actually attempt to run for President. This site can also be accessed using Conserved.us, Vincent4President.com, and Vince4Prez.com. The Opera browser, without warrant, fails to access this site. THEME: October 03, 2021 saw it go live with it's changed theme, from beige/brown to black/white, a far cleaner and more modern look. Contemplative Music During this period of tumult and stress, Brothers & Sisters, I offer you a piece of ethereal, near-magical music to cheer, inspire, calm, uplift, & elevate you. I speak of the seminal 1987 release Glass Green by Tim Story. If desired, you can listen as you read and consider my thoughts on this page, and form and consider your own. I've found Tim's creation an utterly unique and compelling piece of contemplative music for years now, and still routinely listen to it. I believe and hope that it will transform, or at least lift, you, as it has, me. Official Song of the DeBenedetto Campaign Get Together by the Youngbloods. Not to say that I agree with every word and line, but in the main I do, and the song in lyric and tone speaks generally to what we must have in this country (and ultimately this world) if we're to Actualize, at most, and avoid annihilation, at least: Love and Connection. And I've tried to make clear at this site that Love and Connection is a key part of what my Presidency will bring us, explicitly, and implicitly as the foundation for everything that the DeBENEDETTO ADMINISTRATION will do, although, as explained, above, Love, properly understood and applied, often brings us, logically and organically, down paths marked by political and social Conservatism that most would not initially associate with this notion. YOU MIGHT WELL ASK WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO FOR ME IF I VOTE FOR YOU ? Regarding some issues and concerns, yes, I'll do something "for you." In regard to others, I'm going to open heretofore closed or non-existent conduits (i.e. pathways) to permit you to do for yourself. Much of the answer to this question is contained in, or relatively easily inferred from, all above content. The first thing I'm going to do if elected, if COVID19 remains prevalent and virulent, is SAVE YOUR LIFE, through the proper mechanism for eliminating this virus: the time-limited implementation of masking. And the second thing I'll have done, since the virus will be eliminated, is given you your life, back, no further vaccines or masks generally required. "...this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine." -- Dr. Robert R. Redfield, former Director, Centers for Disease Control (CDC). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "If the American public all embraced masking along with social distancing and hand-washing...we could bring this outbreak to its knees within four to eight weeks." -- Dr. Robert R. Redfield, former Director, Centers for Disease Control (CDC)Please see my response to "Beth," above, for further detail. Yes, There's More Additionally, based on my knowledge of health and nutrition, partially shown, above, in my discussion of sugar, trans-fat, and vegetable oils, I will lead the effort to have removed from the American food supply its most common killers--again, explicitly and directly saving the life of yourself, your loved ones, and every other American. Moreover (i.e. additionally), as a unique and far-thinking NATIONAL SECURITY CANDIDATE, I'm going to restore to full vigor the image of the United States around the world and across the globe, in terms of the two M's that matter: MILITARY and MORALITY. See information, above, in my NATIONAL SECURITY section. If you elect me President, I will continue saving your life, as well as leading the effort to Actualize yourself, everyone you know and love, and our entire nation, that is, the effort for each, and all, of us to be the absolute best that we are capable of being. To live fully up to our potential. And much, much, much more: read every word of this online document (i.e. this site) carefully, if you have not done so, already. In general, if elected I'm going to give you a world of Sanity, Security, and Love. A world of that duality (i.e. something made of two parts) presently and fatally missing from this planet: 1.) beautiful social harmony as we encourage the connection between persons and groups of persons, all Brothers and Sisters in One Human Family, and 2.) social and economic functionality as people are encouraged toward competence, at least, and excellence, at best in what they do and how they do it, whether their job or anything else. In essence, if elected, I'm going to spend every waking moment working to provide you, provide us, a world of Sanity, Security, and Love--a world that we most decidedly don't have now, and in fact seem to be moving quickly away from. Join my campaign and stay tuned. "Genius sees the solution before anyone even realizes there's a problem." . . . . . Vincent Frank De Benedetto PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS TAKE MONEY. LOTS AND LOTS OF MONEY.
IN FACT, the Federal Election Commission doesn't even consider me an official candidate until I've raised or spent $5,000.
Accordingly, my Fellow Americans & Brothers & Sisters: if you are genuinely enamored (i.e. strongly drawn toward) of my intellect, value system, personality, and devotion to, and protective posture toward, the nation, and especially my many unique and powerful ideas, and wish to see them manifest (i.e. turned into reality) in America and the world, please donate to THE DeBENEDETTO PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, and do so monthly. And spread the word! -- YES, THIS IS A SERIOUS ATTEMPT TO WIN THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES -- SUGGESTED DONATION AMOUNTS: $25 / $50 / $100 THANK YOU! If the PayPal button does not appear, below, simply refresh (i.e. reload) your page. |
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![]() - VINCENT FRANK DE BENEDETTO - Presidential Candidate, 2024, Conservative Democrat Intellect - Innovation - Wisdom - Patience - Caring - Courage - OLD PHOTO - |
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