Words that keep coming up over and over and over again

Below are words that have frequently come up in the articles and text of what I have written and expressed. I hope that this will give you further insight and perspective about where the Hound is coming from.

Access - the ability, right, or permission to approach, enter, speak with, or use; admittance: We are all stakeholders in our government. So we all deserve access to its just and righteous cause.

Accountability - subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something; responsible; answerable. Our Elected officials and the Bureaucracy that they are responsible for hiring have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of the people they represent and not in their own specific interests.

Authoritarian - favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom: Our Elected officials and the Bureaucracy are supposed to work in the peoples' interest and not the other way around. Authoritarianism comes from leadership that is elitist and feels that they know all of the answers and have all of the solutions and they don't want input from the people. When this happens, it decreases ones Quality of Life.

Common Sense - sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like; normal native intelligence: Natural knowledge and instinct that give us an innate feeling as to whether specific instances are just, right, and/or truthful.

Consequences - the effect, result, or outcome of something occurring earlier: If certain things are done, then we should expect certain outcomes, especially where there is historical precedence to show us what is to be expected.

Credibility - capable of being believed; believable: Integrally related to honesty and integrity and built upon trust.

Expectations - to look forward to; regard as likely to happen; anticipate the occurrence or the coming of: My favorite example of this is when my grandparents would tell me that if I worked hard and did the right things that I would get ahead in life. Whatever happened to that premise.

Freedom - enjoying personal rights or liberty, as a person who is not in slavery: The condition of having opportunity and the right to make a choice as to whether to seize that opportunity. The more opportunity one has, the more choices they can make, and the more freedom they have. This increases one's Quality of Life.

Future - time that is to be or come thereafter. We cannot capture time and hold it hostage. Every action or reaction has consequences on the future. So the decisions we make today have a direct bearing on the future.

Innovation - something new or different introduced: We create new things as a result of evolution. Newness is brought about to improve the Quality of Life. This Progressivity helps to move society forward into the future.

Justice - The quality of being guided by truth, reason, justice, and fairness: In a just society; laws, regulations, codes, and ordinances are applied equally without regard to ones station in life. When this does not happen, then we are led onto a foundation that can't be trusted not to crumble. Lack of Justice leads to a lower quality of life.

Manage - to bring about or succeed in accomplishing, sometimes despite difficulty or hardship: This should not be confused with control. Control is a form of management by authoritarianism utilizing coercion, threats, or domineering action. We see ruling bodies trying to negatively control people and processes in every form of government in the current era. We do need to manage processes, but positively, by being just, accountable, and forthright and getting people to buy-in to the process, not by pushing them, whether expressively or inadvertently, away from the process. Good Management leads to a higher Quality of Life.

Perspective - the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship: Everyone senses things through their own being. People that truly bring an open-mind to the decision making process naturally have greater perspective in dealing with others.

Process - a systematic series of actions directed to some end: Every thoughtful action in life is brought into being by a Process. Good Processes based upon a firm foundation of justice, righteousness, and equality lead to good results, while Arbitrary Processes based upon personalities and special interests will lead to bad consequences.

Prosperity - a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, esp. in financial respects; good fortune. Prosperity is brought about by opportunity; whether you were born into it or it was presented to you by association or creation. Prosperity dwindles when economic conditions are put into a state of negative momentum. Progressive economic policies broaden horizons and opportunities, which increases the odds of someone obtaining prosperous circumstances - a rising tide lifts all boats. Many times it can be much better to accept being a smaller fish in an ever expanding pond, than to be the biggest fish in a shrinking pond.

Purpose - the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc. We all have a Purpose and in my opinion it is much better to have convictions that are real. How many people have you seen that join a cause because it is popular and not because their heart is in it. In the end, these types of people do more damage than good. Sometimes in life you've got to show a little backbone at all costs. Better to leave this earth on real terms to face the creator, than to leave behind popularity.

Opportunity - an appropriate or favorable time or occasion: Most people just want is to be presented with decent circumstances (odds) to succeed. Most of us don't expect things to be handed to us. We get more pleasure out of obtaining something we have to work hard for. If given a good opportunity to succeed, then it is up to us to make it happen.

Quality of Life - used by politicians and economists to measure broader social effects of policies. The Objectives of the Hickory Hound. Quality of Life is ambiguous, but to be true it should include positive progressive momentum economically, culturally, educationally, spiritually, and environmentally for all our citizens, not just those at the top. Special interest are selfish in the fact that they want an excellent Quality of Life for themselves and from their own perspective, but they aren't looking out for all of the citizens.

Results - to spring, arise, or proceed as a consequence of actions, circumstances, premises, etc.; be the outcome: In the end this is what we want from leadership, not excuses. People who expect to not be judged by results are telling us that they don't expect or deserve to ever be held accountable.

Transformation - to change in form, appearance, or structure; metamorphose. We need to move away from the needless attacks on people's personal being and a movement towards discussions of ideas and philosophies. Sometimes by winning, you can end up losing. The same ole people doing the same ole things will lead to the same ole results. This is not an attack on their personalities. It is taking the results of historical data and projecting them on the future. If we expect to change our economic circumstances and lack of progress, then we are going to have to change what we are putting into the system to move forward.

The Hound puts it all together by saying that results are important. Common Sense tells us that the consequences of this area's lack of leadership have been years of decline for the average citizen in this area. The real unemployment number in this area is around 25%, if you include underemployment.

We have to see a real transformation in our leadership process, if we want to move forward. The expectations of the citizenry have not been met. Our leaders tell us to put them back in office and things will get better. There is no accountability in this statement and therefore there is no credibility either. Isn't it time that we hear about our leaders' purpose? Why do they want to be on the council or in government?

Our local leaders talk about how they want the area to support a good Quality of Life. I understand that we all come at this from a different perspective. I have never been rich and some will say that makes me bitter. All I want to see is a fair governmental process. A city devoted to justice for all will open doors of access and opportunity to everyone and not just the privileged few who are well connected.

An authoritarian system arbitrarily chooses who the winners and losers will be. This takes away our freedom and in the end leads to a lack of prosperity for those who are not chosen. This is inherently a prejudice system that wreaks of the ways of the old South.

In the future, we need to change the philosophy about how our leaders manage this area. We need people who expressly understand that we need buy-in to the process from all sectors of the public. Innovation knows no boundaries. It can come from the poorest part of this city just as easily as it can from the richest, and that ingenuity can get us out of this hole we are in. We need people who understand that they don't have all of the answers and that we are all in this together. Until that happens, I hate to say that I believe the Hickory area will continue to fall further and further behind.