The murderous, stalking darer I never told you about seems to have risen from Hell. The liberty or freedom of a moral agent is the power one has over the determinations of his or her own will—a power of acting or not acting according to the determinations of the will. Nothing happens without a cause, everything that changes is changed either by some other thing or by itself. Not all causes, then, are antecedent and external causes. Some things, such as humans, are sometimes the causes of their own behavior. Humans are beings are an agent—namely, they are beings who act, not merely the one acted upon. To speak of an agent being caused to act by something other than oneself is a contradiction, so that acting freely amounts to the same thing, whereas the idea of a necessary agent amounts to a contradiction. A cause is not merely some change that always accompanies another. It is always something that has the power to produce a change, whether in itself or in something else, and no one can understand any philosophical definition of a cause if one did not first have the idea of causation from the awareness of oneself as an agent. #RandolphHarris 1 of 12

My dad has been quite pleasant. However, I think if I have a fear, it would be my father. I eventually did stand up to him about going into medicine, but if I had not does as poorly as I did my last semester, I would not have had such an easy time of it. Even after all of this talk about me “becoming a man,” I still live under his roof, like a child, obeying his rules. He does not approve of anything I do or anyone I do it with. I have always found it funny that my friend Harris is the one person my dad should approve of but in actuality is the person he disapproves of the most. Harry has to be one of my oldest friend. We went to school together as children, pored over my father’s anatomy texts, went on our first dates together under the philosophy of “safety in numbers.” Harry’s family moves in the same social circles, he is actually completing his medical studies, he is absolutely brilliant, he is flawlessly polite. What could my father find fault with? It has been quite a few years since Harry set off for Oxford. We write back and forth—not nearly as much as I would like to—and I am looking forward to seeing him. #RandolphHarris 2 of 12

It is fairly common to suppose that an individual’s acts—in fact, must act—in response of one’s strongest motive and that voluntary behavior is therefore always causally determined by such motives. Philosophical determinists frequently fall into this line of thought, sometimes substituting strongest desire for strongest motive. I have spent the past four years working on two case studies. Both were men in their forties who were deeply troubled and showed extreme mental problems. In both cases, I found that trying to teach these men compassion, love, responsibility, and reciprocity actually only makes them more dependent and they simply go from being hostile, angry, and antisocial to becoming dependent, sarcastic, and sinister. With both test subjects, I saw early into the case study that they were a waste of time. However, one really started to go off the deep end and the other threatened suicide, so I got stuck with each one, two years at a time. Although these men were in their forties, both behaved like one would expect a teen age boy. Case study A, we will call “Homeboy” and case study B we will call “Philer Date.” #RandolphHarris 3 of 12

Homeboy is a drug addict, does not have a car, has a job, but engages in illegal activities, which his employers seem to condone and defend. He does not seem to know boundaries, has poor hygiene, and displays a lack of respect for others. His attire is not professional and he seems to use every person he comes into contact with for their assets and like a bad youth, when he does not get his way, he starts to get aggressive, sneaky, and will damage your assets and spread rumors and stalk you. Philer Date and Homeboy actually work for the same corporation and their employers know these men are troubled and do nothing to reprimand them. Philer Date started off a hostile and aggressive, but after a few months of behavioral therapy, he lightened up, but as I worked with him more, he seemed to just manipulate and use me. As Philer Date aged, he actually went from being a professional to looking more like a thug. I guess he is having a midlife crisis. He also uses every person he comes into contact with, thinks like it a joke, and never does anything good or beneficial to those who help him. From my dealing with Philer Date and Homeboy, I think it is clear, once men are in their forties and display serious mental problems, they are helpless. #RandolphHarris 4 of 12

Any supposition of acting without adequate motive leads at once to a self-contradiction; for we always judge of strength of mote by the action that prevails and, further, the action which follows upon deliberation testifies which motive has in the end proved strongest. You cannot help them no matter how much understand you give them, nor how much they beg for help. Using psychology, philosophy, and religion did not help at all. Unlikely teens or youth who know they must modify their behavior or be punished, men in their forties have lived all of the lives being slick and hustling, and all you do by trying to help them is inflate their sense of self important, teach them to become more slick and cunning and make them dependent on you to the point if you cut them off they will try to hurt you. Both men had daily behavioral therapy for two years each, mostly every day and were taught to use logic, but I do not think it helped them become better people. They do seem to be less hostile and polite to people they do not know, but still think life is a game and when you try to help them, it is almost as if they look at you like their parent and do not care what danger they put you in because they believe you can deal with it. It seems that their strongest desire for strongest motive is well illustrated. #RandolphHarris 5 of 12

They probably used to be animals in a past life, and that is why their souls are so unruly and disobedient. In the absence of prohibition, [an agent’s] decision follows the strongest motive; being in fact only test of strength of motive on the whole. Most rational beings commonly experience the feeling of being strongly motivated to do some things from which we nevertheless refrain from purely for sane considerations, for example, or perhaps from moral ones. Philer Date and Homeboy are both of the dominant group in America, and therefore are generally less scrutinized than others, and grew up privileged and led privileged lives, and have never really been punished for their bad and unlawful behavior, and as a result, they never grew up. These men can be very chamming and know how to maneuver their way through society and manipulate people very well. A motive is not a cause but a rational consideration of reason. As such, it is something purely abstract, which has strength or weakness only in the sense of expressing wisdom, prudence, or the opposite. For these case studies, a conflict of motives is nothing at all like the conflict of opposing forces, one of which overcomes the other by superior force. It is more to be likened to the conflicting pleas of contending attorneys. One of these can be stronger or have the force or weight than the other only in the sense that it is more reasonable and persuasive. #RandolphHarris 6 of 12

Some human acts are reasonable and intelligible and independent of whether they are caused, and there is no absurdity in describing an action as both free, in the sense of being avoidable and not the effect of antecedent conditions, and rational. Men often do certain things in order to achieve certain results, and this appears to distinguish human behavior of inanimate things in a fundamental way. Desires, purposes, and intentions are, moreover, desires for this or that is caused by one’s purpose, desire or intention. The connection is conceptual rather than casual. Being part of a privileged class and never taking responsibility or being punished for one’s actions can lead to mental problems later in life and an inability to mature.  Thus, they are what we sometimes called intentional concepts, and there seems to be nothing that completely corresponds to them in the realm of physical science. No inanimate thing, for example, can without metaphor be spoken of as behaving as it does in response to its desire for something which perhaps has never and never will exist, and no engineer who speaks in this manner of even the most sophisticated machine would ever suppose that he had thus given a causal explanation of anything. #RandolphHarris 7 of 12

More and more philosophers are inviting attention to certain fundamental differences between the way men view the past and future. The future, some have wanted to suggest, is a realm of possibilities in a sense in which the past is not. The idea that anything goes and is acceptable in modern times it counterproductive. Allowing a certain group of men to have privilege and escape punishment and emulate behavior of people who have had hard lives and group up on the streets and faced gang violence is not cool. There is a fundamental difference between finding something true and making something become true, a contention that renders the concept of action more fundamental than it was once supposed to be and raises anew the question of what is meant by acting freely.  Tattoos tend to be gang related and are not acceptable. People who have their skin littered with ink generally do not make good professionals. Also, men in their forties, wearing street attire, such as baseball cap, tee shirts, and shorts or genes every day, much like you learned in home economics are dangerous men, cannot be taken seriously and are not worth going into business with nor are they suitable for a relationship with anyone who has goals or aspirations. These people usually have drug problems, mental problems or are engaged in unethical, unlawful, and extremely risky behavior. #RandolphHarris 8 of 12

All people who are of the dominant and privileged class are not bad, nor should they all be judged the same. Some really earn their place in society and deserve everything they have earned and more. The question is whether people have free will is concealed in a vast array of more fundamental questions, the answers to which are largely unknown. However, men and women in their forties, who deviant and immature are a lot like children who suffer from conduct disorder—you cannot love, council, reason with, nor medicate the devil out of them. If they are expected to become good people you either need to spank them or make them suffer extreme consequences so they learn that bad behavior will not be tolerated. God could create no World but the best and by allowing these people to be disobedient and break the law, you are robbing them of their free will and the chance to go to Heaven because they are sinners and will never do right because no one is teaching them how to behave. The human agent may be sad to determine in his or her will, what will happen in a process he or she monitors and manipulates. If you love your children, you will punish them and even when they become adults, you have a right to chastise them. #RandolphHarris 9 of 12

Many Christians estimate difficulties in the light of their own resources, and thus attempt little and often fail in the slight challenge. All God’s giants have been weak people who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and presence with them. God has great things in store for His people; they ought to have large expectations. God has Himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you. Father God, I may not see how it can happen, but I know You have explosive blessings coming my way. Thank You that You make rivers in the desert and streams in barren places. I am expecting a sudden, widespread increase. I am expecting to rise to a new level. I believe that I will see the surpassing greatness of Your favor and blessings that will catapult me years head. My hopes and dreams are in your hands. I trust You. Where you are is not permanent. God has explosive blessings in your future. Blessings that will blast you to a new level. Immeasurable, limitless, surpassing favor is coming that will take you beyond previous limitations. #RandolphHarris 10 of 12

We all have things in our lives that seem permanent. Maybe it looks like you will never get out of debt, or like you will stay at the same earning level the rest of your life. However, just as the builders used dynamite to blast away the rock so they could create that mountain road to Hearst Castle, God has explosive blessings that will remove obstacles, which may look permanent now. One touch of God’s favor can blast you out of debt. One good break can blast you to a new level. All the facts may be telling you that it is impossible that things will improve, but God has ways to increase you that you have never dreamed of. He is saying: You need to get ready. I have explosive (sudden, widespread increase) blessings coming your way. I will take you higher. I will increase you beyond your income. I will suddenly change things for the better in your life. That is what God will do for you. Suddenly, you are not expecting anything. It is out of the ordinary. It is not small. It is not mediocre. It is widespread increase. It is so amazing you will know it is the hands of God. #RandolphHarris 11 of 12

I have learned that God does not always take us ahead in normal increments. There are times where God takes us little by little. We have to be faithful day in and day out, but when you hit an explosive blessing instead of moving up from seven to eight, you will go from seven to thirty-four. That is widespread increase. This is the generation for the surpassing of greatness of God’s favor. The economy in Heaven is doing just fine. As long as we stay connected to the vine, putting out trust in Him, then you and I are connected to a supply line that will never run dry. Release your faith for extraordinary blessings. Believe that you can break out of what is holding you back and become everything God created you to be. Incredible power is released when we believe. God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessings can come out of the difficulty. #RandolphHarris 12 of 12