Mastering Self: A Worthy Goal

By Donald G. Hanna

Mastering Self is a worthy goal in a culture preoccupied with self. It is a journey that consists of warnings to heed, pitfalls to avoid, hazards to shun, detours to seek, options to assess, precautions to take, opportunities to embrace, and lessons to learn. This journey requires conviction—purpose. Many adults lack the courage of conviction because they have no conviction: no colors to nail to their mast. Conviction has formed and fashioned this book in the context of 120 white papers: essays to describe issues, ideas, and ideals that intersect to inform, instruct, interpret, and inspire in the lifelong journey of mastering self.

The human condition, influenced by culture and politics, has a propensity to ignore or reject the lessons of history, practical philosophy, and basic theology. It replaces timeless virtues with temporary values. Consequently, mastering self has cultural, political, historical, philosophical, and theological implications for learning and understanding who and what you are. This discernment does not exist naturally in the human condition. It requires lifelong study. This book is for serious thinkers who want to clarify their worldview for wise living. It represents crucial truths, virtues, choices, and consequences for reference, reflection, or rumination. Understanding them fortifies relationships. Embracing them increases personal influence. Applying them benefits leadership. Practicing them sustains through difficulty. Cultivating them makes life worth living.

These papers provide perspective about what matters in life: written with concise, clear, cogent context and correlated for coherence and continuity. They result from my reading, teaching, writing, and pondering to keep my heart with all diligence regarding issues in life (Prov. 4:23). Collectively, they pertain to what the exceptional few consider. Some pinch the comfort zone, give pause, stretch the mind, or unsettle settled assumptions. Those politically incorrect come from old-school insight by a stubborn gadfly with stubborn ideas regarding stubborn facts and stubborn problems. The insight comes from twenty-four years as a police chief leading and managing police affairs in an urban area with a large university.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664259072

Donald G. Hanna

Donald G. Hanna has thirty-two years experience in policing and teaching command officers at police academies, plus fourteen years teaching leadership and police courses at a university. He was police chief twenty-four years in two Illinois cities and at Ohio State University. His experience provides a practitioner’s perspective for this commentary. He earned a BA in police administration from Indiana University and an MA in public administration from the University of Illinois. Scotland by heritage, Indiana by birth, and Hoosier by the grace of God.

Book preview

Books by the Author

A Police Chief’s Handbook: Developmental and Power Management

How to Manage Your Police Department: Handbook for Citizens, City Officials, and Police Managers

Criminal Law for Illinois Police

Police Executive Leadership

Mastering Self: to Lead Self and Others

Mastering Self: a Biblically Based Commentary

Books Coauthored

A Guide to Primary Police Management Concepts with William Gentel

Modern Police Management and Organization with Victor Cizanckas

A Law Handbook for Ohio Law Enforcement Officers with John Kleberg

A Law Handbook for Illinois Police with John Kleberg

A Police Records System for the Small Department with John Kleberg

MASTERING

SELF

A WORTHY GOAL

Donald G. Hanna

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Copyright © 2022 Donald G. Hanna.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Unless otherwise noted, scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture marked (NKJV) taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked (ISV) from The Holy Bible: International Standard Version. Release 2.0, Build 2015.02.09. Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5908-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5906-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5907-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022903480

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/25/2022

For My Precious Barbara

the Lady of My Life —

Soulmate and Kindred Spirit

Arrived home a glorified soul

in a transitional body

awaiting her resurrected

glorified body

Meaningful moments in life

invariably include an extraordinary person—

always cherished,

but most are over before starting.

They reside in my memory

and make the person unforgettable.

DGH

O Spirit,

unite my heart to fear God,

draw me to hallow His name in prayer and thought,

enable me to worship Him in spirit and truth,

implant in my soul an attitude of gratitude,

bind my conscience in truth,

open my mind to discern and learn Yeshua, and

keep me vigilant of my corrupt nature.

DGH

Contents

Books by the Author

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgement

Introduction

Part 1: Foundations: The Transcendence

1. The White Paper Connection

2. Truth

3. The Existence of God

4. Life’s Great Divide

5. The Great Warrior King

6. Why Scripture Is Believable

7. The Anthropic Principle

8. The Anthropic Principle: a Postscript

9. The Uncaused Cause

10. God’s Great Salvation

Part 2: Culture, Politics, and History: The Commentary

11. Culture

12. It Is as It Is

13. Disconnecting from Reality

14. Thinking Historically

15. Currency Devaluation

16. Humanity

17. A Tipping Point

18. A Tipping Point Postscript

19. Financial Prudence

20. Self-Appraisal

21. Self-Deception

22. Personality and Character

23. Who Controls What?

24. The Word-Sword Nexus

25. Words and Thoughts

26. The Reformation

27. Four Types of Persons

28. The Contemporary Publican

29. The Zealot and the Publican

30. The Amazing Jew

31. The Nonconformists

32. The Apatheist

33. Butterflies and Black Swans

34. Gray Rhinos and Black Elephants

35. Conspiracy Theory

36. Stubborn Facts

37. Critical Race Theory

38. The Public Dump

39. The Cancel Culture

40. The Black Factor of Crime

41. Thinking

42. Thinking Again

43. The Year 2020

44. The Cop Mind

45. A Fallen Warrior

46. Warriors and Guardians

47. The Anatomy of Deconstruction

48. Defund or Abolish the Police?

49. A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

50. Political Commentary

51. The Coherence of Justice

52. Two Dimensions of Justice

53. Our Warriors

54. Casualties of War

55. A Fleeting Ideal

56. Persistence and Perseverance

57. Espionage and Surveillance

58. Legend and Tragedy

59. Teaching and Learning

60. Repetition and Retention

61. The Autodidact

62. Philosophical Razors

63. Aphorisms

64. A Thread of Interest

65. Memories

66. A Quiet, Unassuming Professor

67. Another Quiet, Unassuming Professor

Part 3: Basic Theology and Practical Philosophy: The Reason

68. Basic Arguments for God’s Existence

69. Apologetics

70. The Names of God

71. Indicatives and Imperatives

72. Words and Books

73. Making Sense of Common Sense

74. Watershed and Hinge Moments

75. An Afterthought

76. Practical Philosophy

77. Philosophy Based on Yeshua

78. By Way of Explanation

79. Balance in Life

80. Calling in Life

81. The Wisdom Books

82. Knowing Yeshua

83. The Written Word

84. Crucial Distinctions

85. A Pensive Mood

86. Introspection

87. Thoughts

88. Thought Life

89. Thoughts and Assumptions

90. Thought Life While Jogging

91. Flawless

92. In the Image of God

93. Heart and Mind

94. Body and Soul

95. The Virtuous Lady

96. Virtue

97. Meditation and the Conscience

98. Yeshua’s Bema

99. Comfort

100. God’s Providence

101. God’s Moral Law

102. The Forensics of God’s Moral Law

103. The Eternal Judge and His Law

104. My Pleas to the Eternal Judge

105. The Human Heart

106. Dogma

107. Christian Baggage

108. Perspective

109. Worship and Worldview

110. The Triune God

111. The Essence of God

112. The Mystery of God

113. The Sovereign God

114. God’s Use of Evil

115. Dystopia

116. The Faith

117. Principles of the Faith

118. The Snare of the Fowler

119. A Sojourner’s Perspective

120. Hoosier by the Grace of God

Afterword

Preface

A preface reveals the book’s purpose. This book completes a trilogy with the title Mastering Self and different subtitles: to Lead Self and Others, a Biblically Based Commentary, and a Worthy Goal. Each consists of commentary through white papers: essays describing issues, ideas, and ideals that intersect to inform, instruct, and inspire in the lifelong journey of mastering self. This book presents 120 papers—most based on timeless truth or virtue applicable to the journey and wise living. Written for my benefit, they clarify my beliefs: what to trust in a changing culture where news, media, marketing, and conspiracy concepts confront me with cacophonous confusion. The pronoun me and the determiner my recur. The definite article is deleted for soul and self to shape them as proper nouns for particularity without capitalization—a form of poetic license that deletes of and on in the phrase this side the divide or the other side. This license often deletes articles for brevity—an old habit from writing police reports. These deviations do not lose clarity, and the Oxford comma appears without apology.

These brief essays affirm my conviction that mastering self is a worthy goal in a culture preoccupied with self. The journey of mastering consists of warnings to heed, pitfalls to avoid, hazards to shun, detours to seek, options to assess, precautions to take, opportunities to embrace, and lessons to learn. My conviction has purpose and rationale that form and fashion this book. Many in our culture lack consistent courage of conviction because they have none—no colors to nail to their mast.

Some papers result from midnight thoughts when my mind refuses sleep. Others result from thoughts during my early morning jogs when the mind is fresh. Thoughts are gathered and refined later at the keyboard with a hot mug of tea to clarify my worldview beliefs and ethos juxtaposed with God’s precepts and manner of living. These papers focus on culture, politics, history, philosophy, and theology. They are organized into three complementary parts. Part 1 presents ten foundational papers that affirm transcendence and give context for the other two. Part 2 comments about culture, politics, and related history. Part 3 focuses on basic theology and practical philosophy to guide in mastering self. These five subjects correlate. The cultural focuses on conditions that do not edify. The political criticizes a bloated federal debt and bureaucracy. The historical presents a way to think—historically. The theological gives a biblicist position. The philosophical proposes a practical philosophy of life.

These papers have a chronological provenance. The first papers were given to command officers while instructing leadership at police academies (published in the first book of this trilogy). More papers were shared with my students for fourteen years as a professor at a liberal arts university teaching police and law courses to young souls aspiring to become police officers. The most recent papers were shared with one hundred persons in twenty states.

These papers are published with conviction they have important implications for mastering self. They are based on biblical indicatives, imperatives, and interrogatives that distinguish between soul and self. God created and placed eternity in the soul (Eccles. 3:11) that consists of intellect (mind), will (volition), and affection (emotion). A person makes the self with distinctive qualities that distinguish from other persons. God or self? This ultimate question is the underlying, recurring theme of these papers.

Mastering self requires context. A search engine reveals eighty million results with all manner of secrets, steps, tips, ways, keys, and techniques, often given as a quick fix. A pill or an app is the answer in our culture—a temporary expedient for whatever and whenever. Disciplined mastering is a lost virtue for many: intellectually, emotionally, volitionally, and physically—the costly casualty of instant gratification in a culture where many are absorbed in self, apathy, or sloth.

Mastering self is not a short process of techniques. It is a lifelong journey—not destination but direction: not perfection but correction, not perfection but connection for well-being. Knowing who and what you are does not exist naturally in the human condition. This knowing is wise understanding cultivated through lifelong learning involving interpretation of information, issues, ideas, and ideals with a cultural, political, historical, theological, and philosophical nexus—each with explicit or implicit value for well-being. Mastering self provides cogent context for coherence and continuity during the journey.

The mastering is a commitment of soul to excel over self for well-being in wise living. Mortal self made by the person is distinct from immortal soul created by God. Culture and politics often persuade self to ignore the lessons of history, practical philosophy, and biblical precepts whereby transient values replace timeless virtues. These papers have a basic theological and practical philosophical perspective relevant for public, private, and personal life.

Our culture is captivated by idols, gadgets, and media. The mindset of many is entitlement. Most of us live like kings with income compared to the rest of the world. If you doubt this, enter your annual income into a few global-income calculators on a search engine. We live in a changing culture consumed with consumption, possessed by possessions, and preoccupied with pastimes that indulge self. But what about the immortal soul? Most persons ignore this question, but mastering self doesn’t.

The sequence of these papers provides cohesive continuity for their collective significance. They are the work product of my journaling to cogently clarify my beliefs. They are beneficial for serious thinkers who want to clarify their worldview with a biblical basis. These papers present information, ideas, issues, and ideals for consideration and contemplation to be perused that may call for a second reading—those that stretch the mind, pinch the comfort zone, or unsettle settled assumptions. Read them as presented or selectively regarding personal interest or need.

These papers result from a deep conviction that God counsels and confides in those who fear Him (Ps. 25:14). They are the product of my reading, teaching, writing, and pondering to keep my heart with all diligence regarding issues in life (Prov. 4:23), contemplation of soul in solitude. They focus on fundamental issues in life with concise, clear, cogent context, correlated for coherence and continuity. Some are politically incorrect—those about troubling aspects of the culture and the federal bureaucracy bloated in debt. These papers reveal an old curmudgeon and gadfly with old-school insight and stubborn ideas about stubborn facts and stubborn problems. They reflect a practitioner’s perspective based on thirty-two years in police service, twenty-four as police chief in an urban area with a large university in three cities. These years included cultural and political challenges in one of the most disruptive eras on the domestic scene in American history sixty years ago.

The how and why of this book leads to the who. Authorship affects the product, so personal disclosure is appropriate. My character is sturdy as an octogenarian—in the autumn season of life: years fall like leaves to rest in the memory of the coming winter season. My marital status is a widower—miss her daily. My spiritual pedigree is Publican—pardoned by his penitential plea to God for His mercy. My birthplace is 1936 Indiana—Hoosier by the grace of God away from Hitler’s Gestapo and Stalin’s secret police. My heritage is Scotland—26th generation influenced by the Scot Puritan tradition. My conscience has a faithful companion—the Scot within. My ethos is different—a contrarian, outlier, and nonconformist as part of my Scot DNA. My education is lifelong learning—a gentleman scholar. My worldview is biblical—an interpretative lens to discern truth and reality. My theological persuasion is biblicist—not religionist. My political persuasion is conservative—often politically incorrect and critical of a bloated, federal bureaucracy and debt. My cultural emphasis is equality—not entitlement and equity. My personality is reticent—value and enjoy privacy. My disposition is authenticity—a concern for credibility, consistency, and candor. My predisposition is to be my own person—a tendency to make my own decisions and be responsible for them. My propensity is a realist—not a pessimist or optimist. My work ethic is self-reliance—not self-sufficiency. My lifestyle is simplicity—not clutter. My financial prudence is practical—keep the greedy bureaucrats, brokers, and bankers away from my billfold. My investment strategy is contrarian—a simple return with noninvestment through careful spending. My economy is frugal—use it up, wear it out, make do, do without. My preference is edification—not intellectual indolence. My nemeses are assumptions—usually wrong. My interests include excellent books and chess—a bibliophile but not a patzer. My taste embraces refinement and aesthetics—distinctive discernment for true excellence and beauty in music, art, and literature: the classics and the masters. My focus is quality—the exceptional and extraordinary. My philosophy is Stoic—disciplined choice for what really matters. My perspective is old school—timeless truths and virtues. My mindset is skeptical—a propensity to doubt and question. My life journey is transient and temporary—a sojourner passing through. My leisure is armchair theologian, backseat philosopher, and pastime historian. These thirty factors influence and cultivate the content of this book.

Acknowledgement and appreciation

are sincerely given to

my daughter Nancy

for her

invaluable assistance

in

obtaining and photographing the

Hanna tartan

for the

book cover.

To Be Fit For God

Thou Maker and Sustainer of all things:

Day and night are Thine,

Heaven and earth declare Thy glory;

but I, a creature of Thy power and bounty,

have sinned against Thee by resisting

the dictates of conscience,

the demands of Thy law,

the calls of Thy gospel;

yet I live under the dispensation of a given hope.

Deliver me from worldly dispositions,

for I am born from above and bound for glory.

May I view and long after holiness

as the beauty and dignity of the soul.

Let me never slumber, never lose my assurance,

never fail to wear armor when passing through enemy land.

Fit me for every scene and circumstance;

Stay my mind upon Thee and turn my trials to blessings,

that they may draw out my gratitude and praise

as I see their design and effects.

Render my obedience to Thy will holy, natural, and delightful.

Rectify all my principles

by clear, consistent, and influential views of divine truth.

Let me never undervalue or neglect

any part of Thy revealed will.

May I duly regard the doctrine and practice of the gospel,

prizing its commands as well as its promises.

Sanctify me in every

relation, office, transaction and condition of life,

that if I prosper I may not be unduly exalted,

if I suffer I may not be over-sorrowful.

Balance my mind in all varying circumstances

and help me to cultivate a disposition

that renders every duty a spiritual privilege.

Thus may I be content,

be a glory to Thee

and an example to others.

An Old Puritan Prayer

Thomas Shepard (1605-1649)

Introduction

This book focuses on mastering self—a worthy goal in a culture beginning to disconnect from reality. Mastering self is the exception in a society mostly absorbed and obsessed with self. The mastering is an arduous process of becoming—a lifelong practice that begins with self-dissatisfaction. Self is vulnerable in the human condition and susceptible to indulgence, gratification, indolence, and sensuality—traits to be subdued. The verb mastering is overcoming or controlling by skill. The word self is a noun, pronoun, adjective, or prefix. Self is not static. It changes.

Self is the distinctive characteristics that distinguish a person: qualities, character, personality, flaws, strengths, weaknesses, and demeanor in becoming by developing. To be is not perfectly achieved in the flawed human condition this side life’s great divide—only realized the other side. Becoming this side prepares for the other side. Becoming is mastering self—a worthy goal in understanding who and what you are.

Self is not soul. Self is my identity and temperament. Self is mortal and made by me. God creates the immortal soul. Soul consists of mind (intellect), volition (will), emotions (affection), and conscience (the cricket within). These four do not reside in self that is subordinate to soul—or should be! Mastering self requires soul to be in charge—not self. However, soul is vulnerable to pride, illusion, blindspot, deception, assumption, and rationalization. Soul needs transcendent enablement to deal with self, a topic of several papers.

The divide is a frequent term in this book—this side and the other side. Another subsequent paper explains the divide, but a few comments are appropriate. The divide is separation from one state of existence to another—irreversible. It is crossing a vast immensity in a moment. It is universal. All persons cross the divide as the ultimate experience—the common denominator in life. The divide is the core paradigm upon which all else in life hangs. We are all mortals with fallible natures, finite minds, and flawed dispositions marching through time and space on our way to crossing the divide. This side has temporal implications, but the other has eternal. Preparing to cross is the first step in learning, mastering self, and living a practical philosophy.

The next three paragraphs introduce practical philosophy. It is based on Yeshua (Col. 2:8) and uses wisdom for disciplined decisions in skilled living. It is wise living revealed through the lens of biblical precepts. It is more about what you do than what you know—map-making for the soul, particularly cartography for the journey this side the divide destined for the other side. It is a search-and-rescue mission for the soul to determine the direction for life this side that prepares for the other side.

This journey and mission need not be a meandering and exploratory expedition. The biblical Wisdom Books help discern the times and lay of the land, particularly regarding four variables: hazards to avoid, circumstances to exploit, opportunities to embrace, and timing to utilize. Sometimes these variables have warning signals that must not be ignored in the vagaries and vicissitudes of life when you don’t know and don’t know that you don’t know. These blind spots abate awareness, adaptation, and application in the changing circumstances of choices and consequences.

Yeshua is the basis for practical philosophy (Col. 2:8)—the one verse with the word philosophy. It warns against deceptive speculations, ideologies, and isms based on finite knowledge and conjecture (the sand Mt. 7:26) instead of Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew). He personifies wisdom in Proverbs as the source for practical philosophy that answers the main, abstract, existential questions of human philosophy: Why existence instead of nothing? Does God exist? Does life exist after death? Existence is inevitably particular and personal—a matter of being. Only in Yeshua is life (Jn. 14:6). He is Lord, Savior, and Philosopher. Yes, Philosopher: the eternal Logos (Word) and Logic (reasoning) (Jn. 1:1) as explained in a few subsequent papers.

Practical philosophy prepares this side the divide for the other side. This crucial preparation has a theological and philosophical emphasis in journaling through white papers—essays with reciprocal nexus to clarify my basic beliefs and principles that form my code of conduct: what to follow after, fight for, flee from, and be faithful to in a continual struggle between confusion and clarity for a cogent, coherent, crucial connection among conscience, conviction, and consequence that cultivates character.

Connection is a logical sequence of relational, rational thoughts. It gives crucial, clear construct and context for coherence and continuity based on biblical indicatives, imperatives, and interrogatives. The papers in this book have a sequence with rational purpose. They are an intellectual inquiry to inform my soul—thoughts, values, beliefs, desires, distinctions, and decisions that edify to improve intellectually, morally, and spiritually. Edification has become a casualty of the culture, particularly for the soul.

Most papers in this book have reciprocity for a practical philosophy of life and mastering self. Some subjects recur for comprehensive fullness and emphasis on significance. Repetition reinforces recollection and shifts skill or information from the conscious to the subconscious for retention and ease of use. Repetition is the first principle of learning, but it must not numb the mind to erase interest or initiative. Hopefully, my papers do not numb or erase but give pause to think carefully.

Several papers are candid. Some comments are politically incorrect about our culture: critical of those who embrace it. Some will call me a censorious curmudgeon. Hopefully, my papers will give pause to think carefully. My comments reveal a stubborn gadfly about stubborn facts about stubborn problems in our culture. What is often considered culturally driven—marketing, advertising, politics, church, media, and entertainment—is God’s unfolding providence for an arrogant nation that has abandoned Him. He permits that nation to go its way with consequences such as legalized abortion, same-sex marriage, transgender delusion, eliminating the bible and prayer from public schools, removing the Ten Commandments from public buildings, and censuring persons in the public arena who practice their faith.

Life’s journey requires discerning the times (Lk. 12:56) and understanding the lay of the land (Jer. 12:11)—what to shun, avoid, embrace, exploit, and notice. These conditions and circumstances provide construct and context during the confusion or conflict that confronts a culture consumed with consumption and credit (aka debt). Our culture is addicted to large screens with noise pollution and small screens with trash. These often promote self: self-fulfillment, self-indulgence, and self-gratification, particularly self-absorption that ignores self-examination. No wonder self requires mastering—overcoming self for the well-being of soul.

God or self? This question is the benchmark in mastering self this side the divide in preparation for the other side. Knowing God, who and what He is, inevitably leads to knowing self—a prerequisite to mastering self. His precepts are prescriptions and proscriptions stated as indicatives and imperatives in Scripture. His precepts help answer this question: God or self? It is all about mastering self.

A subsequent paper distinguishes four persons: Pharisees, Pagans, Philistines, and Publicans—old biblical terms but applicable and relevant. The first three embrace the culture, but the fourth doesn’t. The first three personify my flawed condition as descriptive metaphors that typify my inherited, corrupt nature and its vulnerability to whatever does not edify my soul. The justified Publican is described in a subsequent paper as a model to emulate—a believer who lives his faith.

The Publican does not conform to conditions in the culture that do not promote intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement. This nonconformance makes a person different in the culture on a biblical basis (Rom. 12:2). It discerns errors in manmade religion, doubts mainline news media, scorns political propaganda, disdains bloated bureaucracy, and questions unnecessary regulation. My disposition is Publican with a propensity to criticize federal fiscal irresponsibility. My lifestyle avoids unedifying conditions in the culture. My papers may offend some but no apology. A few papers present stubborn comments regarding stubborn facts about stubborn problems with stubborn consequences from a stubborn old gadfly with thirty-two years in policing. The gadfly comes from the experience that questions with irritating annoyance.

My nonconformist predisposition draws me to rebels and pariahs with a worthy cause for freedom and justice that resists oppression and injustice—the nonconformist! Many examples exist throughout history. As a pastime history buff, my interests are captivated by these circumstances and conditions. A few papers present a person or people who were rebels, pariahs, or nonconformists against overwhelming opposition. Some survived, and many didn’t. Their fight involved bloody battles, guerrilla tactics, conspiracy, espionage, intrigue, treachery, and injustice. The last page of this book is an example of a pariah who was a warning about not mastering self.

My nonconformist propensity exists deeply in my Scot DNA—a characteristic of my lineage. Centuries of war with England stained the Scot bloodline. Lowland Scots forced from their land resettled in Ulster, Ireland. Scot by way of Ireland to South Carolina to slave-free Indiana Territory defined the journey of my great-grandfather (fifth removed). He survived Revolutionary War battles and the treacherous, vicious South Carolina backcountry where most battles occurred. His frontier skills prepared him as a guerrilla fighter with a strong dislike for British aristocracy and arrogance. Scots by way of Ireland were 40 percent of the patriots.

Some papers reflect my disdain for the federal bureaucracy. It is tyranny without a tyrant through massive regulation and debt sustained by politicians (not statesmen) returned to the swamp by an undiscerning electorate—a few exceptions but true. Stubborn facts reveal stubborn problems—a federal debt of about 31 trillion dollars by the end of 2022 (usdebtclock.org), unfunded Medicare and Medicaid liability of 52 trillion, and Social Security liability of 37 trillion (accountingtoday.com). This is an incredible fantasy because one trillion is a stack of thousand-dollar bills sixty-seven miles high! The government discontinued these bills in 1969. Fantasy? Indeed!

These factors exacerbate the swamp: a Tax Code of 74,608 pages; a Code of Regulations with 185,474 pages; an untethered tangle of 137 executive agencies plus 268 departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, administrations, institutes, and services (USA.gov); and 11,541 lobbyists who spent 3.5 billion dollars for clients in 2020 (opensecrets.org) to advance special interests. Big Tech, Big Corp, and Big Pharma with big cash have replaced Big Oil and Big Tobacco as the new power players in the swamp.

However, Big Tobacco and its 236 lobbyists spent 13.7 million dollars in 2021 for twenty clients (opensecrets.org). This affirms the industry is formidable despite adverse publicity, 440 thousand deaths annually caused by smoking (cdc.com), government regulations, 246 billion dollars to settle a lawsuit, and fewer smokers. Tobacco revenue was 52.8 billion dollars in America in 2020 (ibisworld.com), and advertising costs were 123 million dollars. Sixteen million Americans struggle with diseases caused by smoking (cdc.com). This affirms the failure of many persons to discern consequences and avoid hazards—two crucial prerequisites in mastering self.

These cultural and political factors should agitate and anger critical thinkers concerned about future repercussions. Discerning thinkers are the exception in the culture and swamp. Swamp is a pejorative for the path to wealth for most in Congress. Most have an indifference of business as usual. More than half are millionaires (opensecrets.org). These political conditions link to the culture that drives politics, specifically by a