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Dabbling in its Dark, Cruel Possibilities
It was one of the brisk winter mornings that begins in a fog, promising the cold to come. A mist was rising from the fruit orchards as I dropped down the hill into Llanada Villa in the valley below the mansion. It was a fair-tale mansion, all turrets and towers, stained glass and plush Victorian gardens, sitting majestical on the most valuable plot of land. As I entered my home, I heard the music playing softly from the morning room. I sat sipping coffee at nine thirty, glad it was Saturday. I knew that life was going to be vastly more complicated now. Well, it was going to be more dangerous, too. Overhead, the morning sky had turned a vivid blue, intersected by fading vapor trails. It was bright enough blue, the sky. However, it had a depth and stillness suggestive of the steady retreat of sunlight and a slight warmth. I have seen real ghouls in my home, and I knew that magic was something that could be harnessed and exploited and there were people in the World with hunger for power and influence enough to risk dabbling in its dark, cruel possibilities. The whisper of water dropping on to leaves as the rain began to fall could be heard. The lights flicked on and off. I looked around, half-waiting for the sound to stir again. The rain strength. I heard drops begin to fall on the roof. For many years the staff reported hearing a little girl crying. She has been seen on occasion, and is described as about seven years old. She has been seen in the house at the main stairwell, on the lawn, and on the third floor. I passed on through the passages of crystal and rooms of silver—spacious chambers, empty and silent. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
This house felt older than the memory of man. It was an accursed mansion. There were strange noises in the mansion. Every night the wailing of a woman could be heard above the moaning of the wind. If ghost must walk the Earth, they could find no spot on the globe where their appearance would be more natural, or better understood. The staff tells tales of disembodies footsteps, lights that switch themselves off and on at will, and objects moving. The Daisy Bedroom has lights that switch themselves on and off after dark and phantom footsteps are often heard in the hallway near the room. One day a housemaid was speaking to a guest as she served dinner downstairs. To everyone’s surprise, the serving tray sitting on the table picked itself up and tipped itself upside down. The tray was filled with plates of hot foot that went everywhere. The sacrificial stones of the Druid priests, oriented after the fashion of the ruin of ruins of Stonehenge, the blood-vats, imperishable adjuncts to human sacrifice, have stood through the ages, grim guardians of the mysteries of the haunted fruit orchards. If someone were to tell me that the fruit orchards at Llanada Villa echoed nightly with the shrieks of sacrifice and that the ghost fires of forgotten priestcraft still glowed in the morning, I would find it hard to disbelieve. That ghastly curse remained on my family and fortune. The mansion has picked up a few permanent guests. One evening, from the observation tower, I saw a huge black figure gliding along the grounds. It could not be human because of the rate of speed it was going. I felt not just fear, but absolute dread. I experienced a bone-chilling could throughout my body. I ran down nine flights of stairs, while crying uncontrollable and my heart was pounding. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
Only in the understanding of the stock from which the Victorian mansion’s ghosts are sprung can one appreciate the immortality with which long-accepted tradition has endowed them. Ghostly itself is the history of the Winchester Mansion. While the carpenters were painting on the fourth floor, one of them was startled to see the word MURDER appear in the freshly rolled paint, as if written with someone’s finger—only the words were backwards, as though being written from the other side of the wall. One of the painters explained: “We were quite surprised when a shadow started moving towards us.” As they realized that the “shadow” was approaching them, they also realized that area of the mansion was a very lonely place, especially at night. Not many people ventured up there. And although in their haste to leave, they could only give brief glances at the dark figure, they were sure of one thing: “The only outstanding feature was the outline of a wide brim hate.” Another evening while the carpenters were painting, they heard a quiet creaking emanating from the wood floors. They steeled their nerves before investigating. That is when they saw a young woman sitting in a chair directly behind them. The woman was there for just a moment before disappearing. Later the evening as the farmers were picking fruit in the fields, the dark figure “floated” diagonally across the field. It drifted rapidly to a clump of trees with two flat rocks near by and disappeared over a slight drop-off beyond. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
One of the farmers screwed up his courage and, in spite of the bizarre, dark figure’s mysterious and even menacing appearance, volunteered to walk down to the spot where the apparition disappeared. After five minutes of observation, he returned, like an efficient scout, with his report, unsettling as it might be. He said when he reached the far side of the hill there were two “soldiers-dressed” figures stilling on the two flat rocks near the clump of trees. Neither one spoke to the other; nor did they acknowledge the other’s presence. Instead they just sat, seemingly rigidly fixated, staring down into the field. Other ghost haunting the mansion include those of two little boys, who have been heard running on the second floor. One night, while I was preparing for company, I found two sets of muddy boot prints coming from the door to nowhere and crossing the room. When I told Daisy about the boot prints. She said they must be made by the same boys who keep coming in the door the opens to the wall, and we had locked them out. Looking toward the door she said, “It’s OK, if you prefer this door, go ahead and use it.” Immediately the door swung open. Needless to say cold chills ran through both of us. We never worried about the door that opens to the wall again. My idea for the mansion was not only to create a place for the spirits, but also to build an estate that would inspire awe. The gorgeous series of fields gardens, forests, and grassy acres are as fascinating as they are beautiful. However, when the sun goes down, the shadows creep and spread, giving the Victorian Mansion an entirely different look and feel. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
With grounds lit by a full moon hanging low in the sky, just to the side of the columns of the mansion, one begins to ponder the many mysteries surrounding the Winchester Mansion. One night I was putting out a candle when I heard the sound of a singing voice. At first I thought: “Oh, that sounds nice.” However, then I wondered what it was and where I could be hearing singing from. After all, the staff was asleep and there was no one around, and the sound definitely was not coming from outside. It was frightening, but it was not explainable. It was just a couple of phrases of singing and it took me by surprise. I could faintly see the hazy shape of a woman moving down what the hallway. One night, a group of farmers were packing up for the evening. A they looked around with a lantern for their tools, they were shocked to see what appeared to be the black form of a man moving toward them. The figure was larger than human and had no features—it was a black mass that seemed to sway toward them in the bright light. The man wielding the lantern quickly put it out and they all ran away. For weeks the men thought about what they had seen; they just could not forget it. They spoke to other servants about the vision or sighting. They were quite disturbed and unable to let the subject drop. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Take heed! Come, all Spirits! By the virtue and power of your king, and by the seven crowns and chain of your Kings, all Spirits of the Hells are forced to appear in my presence before this circle of Solomon, whensoever I shall call them. Come, then, all at my order, to fulfil that which is in your power, as commanded. Come, therefore, from the East, South, West, and North! I conjure and command you, by the virtue and power of Him who is three, eternal, equal, who is God invisible, consubstantial, in a word, who has created the Heavens, the sea, and al which is under Heaven. I conjure thee, Lucifer, by the living God, by the true God, by the holy God, who spake and all was made, who commanded and all things were created and made! I conjure thee by the ineffable name of God, ON, ALPHA, and OMEGA, ELOYM, YA, SADAY, LUX, MUGENS, REX, SALUS, ADONAY, EMMANUEL, MESSIAS; and I adjure, conjure. I command you, O all ye demons dwelling in these parts, or in what part of the World soever ye may be, by whatsoever power may have been given you by God and our holy Angels over this place, and by the power Principality of the fernal abysses, as also by all your brethren, both general and special demons, whether dwelling in the East, West, South, or North, or in any side of the Earth, and, in like manner, by the power of God the Father, by the wisdom of God and the Son, by the virtue of the Holy Ghost, and by the authority I derive from our Savior Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
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All is Well that Ends Well?
The family is sacred to the ultimate concern and is the most important social unit in time and eternity. The ultimate cause established families to bring happiness to its creations, allowing them to learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and prepare them for eternal life. The home is the best place to teach, learn, and apply virtuous principles. It is where individual learn to provide love, food, clothing, respect, shelter, security and other necessities they require. The mother and father, as equal partners, should help each family member. However, sometimes things do not go as planned. Because we live in a World with many influences, people may become criminals. Men and women can both become involved in crime. When it comes to burglaries, for the females who worked as partners, this could involve a variety of tasks. Many of these tasks were indistinguishable from those traditionally associated with men, such as gaining entry, searching the house, carrying goods outside, and disposing of them. The following interview segment describes some of the tasks performed by a female acting as a partner. Although this was her first offense, she heled to find the transportation to reach the target (by stealing a truck) and took part in the actual break in: “Well, it wasn’t up on me, somebody else who was in there different, not state, in a different county. He just came up and told me he knew about it, a rich guy that was gonna be gone for the weekend. He knew this person, knew who it was, and he knew about it. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
“When he left that night about two or three in the morning, we went down there. We had stolen a truck, we had stolen my ex-boyfriend’s father’s truck, went down there. We tried to get in, but we couldn’t get in. Everything was locked. Right…We couldn’t get in for nothing, so what we does was, we had some sh*t in back of the truck and we took some tape. Then we put it over the window real tight, then we busted it, and then we took the tape down and the window was shattered. It had no window in it. So—everybody used gloves of course—so we went in there, you know, and we knew when we went, we knew nobody was gonna be home. There wasn’t a house around for two blocks, each way you went. So…my first one was basically the easiest one.” The target often was located by a female partner, who also took the lead in planning the offense. In these cases the women had a substantial say in determining how the proceeds of the crime were divided: “…whatever you chose to give to the other person. We tried to split everything equally. We were all good friends, you know, so I got the best deal out of it because of the fact that I needed the money more than everybody else. Me and my sister needed the money more than everybody did and…we were the ones that said hey, we pointed it out, we found a way to get in, we knew where everything was, we told them how, we had everything planned out down to the TV. This is where this is at and this is where this is at.” #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
The roles played by female burglars are dynamic and can chance over time. Many of the women who currently participate in offenses as partners started out as accomplices. The woman quoted below clearly has an equal relationship with her co-offender, but this was not always the case: “The first burglary I ever committed, I was in the house and I was smoking weed at the time. A friend came in and said ‘I want to go in this house.’ I said ‘Okay, it was around the corner….what part am I going to play?’ He says ‘All you got to do is watch the doors for me. The bags I bring down, take them out, and you also drive the car for me.’” As should be obvious from above, women who work as accomplices in burglary play much more limited roles. They seldom participate in planning the crime, and often do not even enter the dwelling. Some claimed to prefer working with others because they lacked the skills needed to be a successful burglar: “I can’t do all by myself…I haven’t mastered that yet.” Others simply felt more comfortable when relying on a colleague’s expertise; they were uncertain about their ability to work alone. In the following case, a woman reports that she deferred to her boyfriend’s judgment in determining the suitability of a given target. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
“He can look at them and tell. He’s better at it than me. Sometimes I give him tips to go on, but he checks them out. I feel safer for him to check them out.” A common work assignment for accomplices was acting as a lookout or driver. Several of the women stated that driving was their primary job in burglaries: “Well, see, me and my boyfriend had been together for a year, and he done them all the time. Well, not all the time, but it was no big deal, and all I had to do, all I ever do, is drive. I just go like he’ll go, him and his friend. He don’t do ‘em every week or anything like that. Like it’s not really ‘cause we need the money or anything either. Like he’ll go during the day and he’ll look at a house and he’ll find one, and then he’ll tell me about where the house is…all I have to do is drive to the place and wait for them to start bringing out the stuff, and then drive off.” Other said that they typically kept a lookout for their colleagues: “They came and picked me up with a stolen automobile. I didn’t know that it was stolen. We went out there to this house and they got out. I just assumed—I didn’t know what was going on at first. We got out and they went in first, and then they came back out. One of the men came back out and told me to come in and to keep an eye out to see if anybody was there or anybody comes down the sidewalk or if anybody drives down the street or anything.” In both of these cases the women, as accomplices, did not choose to perform these secondary tasks. Instead the tasks were assigned to them by a dominant co-offender. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
What light does this quantitative and qualitative information shed on the nature of female criminality? Our sample was not generated randomly; with this fact in mind, the quantitative findings suggest that women involved in residential burglary do not differ significantly from their male counterparts on a number of relevant dimensions (exempli gratia, drug and alcohol use, degree of offense specialization). Nevertheless, the results show that some important differences may exist as well. Compared to the males, for example, the females more often committed burglaries with others, began offending at a later age, and had less contact with the criminal justice system. Further examination of these apparent differences is warranted. The qualitative data demonstrate that women’s involvement in residential burglary is marked by diversity and that the debate about whether women play a primary or a secondary role in the offense is probably a red herring. In fact, as among males, some assume primary roles exclusively, some adopt secondary roles exclusively, and others move from one type of role to another s they become more experienced. This observation has important implications for research into women’s involvement in crimes committed more often by males. To be sure, a much lower percentage of women than of men participate in residential burglary. Even so, our qualitative data reveal substantial similarities be tween males and females. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
This fact suggests that the activities of women who do engage in such offenses may be explained by some of the same factors that explain men’s participation. When it comes to the stole property system (SPS), we must consider the law of supply and demand shape the SPS. This term refers to the loosely formed relationships that bring about the theft of property and the subsequent repackaging and resale of these goods via the “black market.” We use contacts with law enforcement authorities to formulate a revised view of property crime. Instead of viewing burglaries as isolated incidents of theft, we argue that we should conceive of the acts and actors involved as spanning a more broadly defined set of roles and behaviors. They identify the thief, fence, and person who buys the stolen goods as key players in the SPS. They also identify multiple stages in the process: research and planning, extraction, exchange (id est, conversion of the goods to money), marketing, residtribution/resale, and evaluation. Moreover, the roles and behaviors of the various players are said to be interchangeable and flexible. In the end, we reconsider the way that we think about property crime. We become more sensitive to the potential for business concepts such as division of labor, entrepreneurial spirit, supply and demand, and marketing to manifest themselves in the World of property theft. In doing so, we are able to drive home the complexity and fluidity tht can beset property crime events. Moreover, we illustrate how the criminal calculus can lead to mutually beneficial relationships and roles that allow the criminal subculture to expand and innovate. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
Perhaps no area of contemporary criminal activity holds more potential for improved understanding and successful intervention through analytical reorientation than does that of property theft. This area of crime is by no means new, a situation which may in fact constitute the greatest barrier to fresh thinking on the subject. Centuries of experience with thefts of property have give us a fairly strong conceptualization of this crime area, a conceptualization which centers almost exclusively on the thief. There is of course nothing illogical or erroneous about a concern for this individual; it is one after all who steals property. What is argued here, however, is that an exclusive concentration of the thief yields a myopic view of the process of theft, a view which draws the boundaries of the crime too tightly around that individual. It is a view which tends therefore to consider each incident of theft as a unique event, determined and constrained by the motivations, needs, and skills of the perpetrator. This “conventional view of theft” (if we can use this phrase) prescribes a response to this crime which largely consists of a fairly sophisticated sorting process, linking one individual (or one group of individuals) with each event as it occurs. Such an “individualistic” approach to crime and criminals is not, of course, confined to the property theft area. For example, we suggest that it is the most prevalent approach to crime in general. Consistently, both the popular and scientific tendency is to view the criminal’s behavior as a problem of individual maladjustment, not as a consequence of his participation in social systems. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
Perhaps it is for this reason that in criminology we have had thousands of studies that have sought some damaging trait in the personalities of individual criminals, but very few studies of the organizational arrangements among criminals who commit crimes in concert. The tendency toward an individualistic interpretation of criminal behavior cannot be laid to the idiosyncrasies of either the public or the scientist, but rather is undoubtedly influenced by the nature of the legal systems, with their concepts of individual responsibility an intent, upon which most democratic societies are based. However, while such an interpretation may conform well to the needs of a legal system, it may have the additional effect of causing us to ignore some important dimensions of contemporary criminal behavior. It is the perspective that property theft is one area of criminal behavior that has sorely suffered both conceptually and practically from a failure to probe the relationships among criminals (and)…the structure and operations of illicit organizations. Perhaps the mot glaring evidence of this failure concerns what the President’s Crime Commission called “little research…done on fencing,” id est, on the criminal receiver of stolen property. This crime figure, although tallying an impressive list of protestations to one’s importance over several centuries has remained little explored, while one’s relationship with the thief has been virtually ignored by the criminologist. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
However, if the popular and scientific tendency has been to overlook the fence, the police detective assigned the responsibility of dealing with property theft has not found it possible to do so. Instead, as the authors discovered in the course of an ongoing study of patterns of criminal receiving, police detectives possess a great deal of information about the fence. Other researchers have reported similar experiences. Because the police know about the fence does not imply that one’s activities are either successfully or efficiently interdicted, for the police agency is as influenced by an individualistic approach to crime as is the social scientist. Thus the bulk of enforcement resources and activity against theft is directed to the thief, and the situation in which police effort is devoted directly and exclusively to the fence appears to be rare indeed. The criminal receiver remains a curiosity to the criminal justice system, being infrequently arrested and even less often convicted. The model of property theft employed here—the Stolen Property System—is an operationally based one, derived from the author’s research into patterns of criminal receiving in a large urban area of the northeastern United States of America. As a part of this study, access to police intelligence reports on the activities of burglars and fences has been obtained, as well as records of these activities maintained in a special investigative unit in the office of the district attorney. Now, as burglaries are crimes of economics, this indicates that economics plays a kay factor in our lives. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
China is an economic power house, and it growing production and export power enhances its financial strength as well. This is natural. However, compared to its sensational emergence as a leading manufacturing and trading nation, the process of its ascending to the position of a major financial power is more fragmentary and complicated. China has by far the largest foreign exchange reserves in the World, about three times as large as Japan, which is number two. It is also rapidly emerging as the leading international lender. In contrast, China’s role as a foreign direct and portfolio investor is still considerably smaller than that of America, major European countries, and Japan. For the time being, the story of China’s growing financial clout is, first and foremost, the story of the unprecedented increase of the financial power of the Chinese state. As of the end of 2021, the gross financial assets of China increased 13.6 percent to USD $29,689 billion. That is an increase of USD $25,563 billion since 2010. In December 2022, the reserves of China stood at USD $3,120 billion. The exact composition of China’s foreign exchange reserves is classified information. Foreign direct investment into China totaled $42.5 billion between July and December 2022. That constituted a 73 percent decline on the year. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
China’s net international investment position reached USD $2,531.328 billion in December 2022. As of the year 2022, the United States of America’s net international investment position was USD -$16.12 trillion. The United States of America is currently the World’s largest debtor nation. Thinking about the pre-cybernetic machine—with minor exceptions, state socialism had led not to affluence, equality, and freedom, but to a one-party political system…a massive bureaucracy…heavy-handed secret police…government control of the media…secrecy…and the repression of intellectual and artistic freedom. Setting aside the oceans of spurting blood needed to prop it up, a close look at this system revealed that every one of these elements is not just a way of organizing people, but also—and more profoundly—a particular way of organizing, channeling, and controlling knowledge. A one-party political system is designed to control political communication. Since no other party exists, it restricts the diversity of political information flowing through the society, blocking feedback, and thus blinding those in power to the full complexity of their problems. With very narrowly defined information flowing upward through the approved channel, and commands flowing downward, it becomes very difficult for the system to detect errors and correct them. In fact, top-down control in the socialist countries was based increasingly on lies and misinformation, since reporting bad news up the line was often risky. The decision to run a one-party system is a decision, above all, about knowledge. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
The overpowering bureaucracy that socialism created in every sphere of life was also, a knowledge-restricting device, forcing knowledge into pre-defined compartments or cubbyholes and restricting communication to “official channels,” while de-legitimating informal communication and organization. The secret police apparatus, state control of the media, the intimidation of intellectuals, and the repression of artistic freedom all represent further attempts to limit and control information flows. In fact, behind each of these elements we find a single obsolete assumption about knowledge: the arrogant belief that those in command—whether of the party or of the state—know what others should know. These features of all the state socialist nations guaranteed economic stupidity and derived from the concept of the precybernetic machines as applied to society and life itself. Second Wave machines—the kind that surrounded Mr. Marx in the 19th century—for the most part operated without any feedback. Plug in the power, start the motor, and it runs irrespective of what is happening in the outside environment. Third Wave machines, by contrast, are intelligent. They have sensors that such in information from the environment, detect changes, and adapt the operation of the machine accordingly. They are self-regulating. The technological difference is revolutionary. While Mr. Marx, Mr. Engels, Mr. Lenin all bitterly assailed the philosophy of “mechanical materialism,” their own thinking, reflecting their era, remained steeped in certain analogies and assumptions based on pre-intelligent machinery. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
Thus for Marxian socialists the class struggle was the “locomotive of history.” A key task was to capture the “state machine.” And society itself, being machine-like, could be pre-set to deliver abundance and freedom. Mr. Lenin, on capturing control of Russia in 1917, became the supreme mechanic. A brilliant intellectual, Mr. Lenin understood the importance of ideas. However, for him, symbolic production, too—the mind itself—could be programmed. Mr. Marx wrote of freedom, but Lenin, on taking power, undertook to engineer knowledge. Thus he insisted that all art, culture, science, journalism, and symbolic activity in general be placed at the service of a master plan for society. In time the various branches of learning would be neatly organized into an “academy” with fixed bureaucratic departments and ranks, all subject to party and state control. “Cultural workers” would be employed by institutions controlled by a Ministry of Culture. Published and broadcasting would be monopolies of the state. Knowledge, in effect, would be made part of the state machine. This constipated approach to knowledge blocked economic development even in low-level smokestack economies; it is diametrically opposed to the principles needed for economic advance in the age of the computer. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
The Third Wave wealth-creation system now spreading also challenges three pillars of the socialist faith. Take the question of property. From the beginning, socialists traced poverty, depression, unemployment, and the other evils of industrialism to private own-unemployment, and the other means of production. The way to solve these ills was for the workers to own the factories—through the state or through collectives. Once this was accomplished, things would be different. No more competitive waste. Completely rational planning. Production for use rather than profit. Intelligent investment to drive the economy forward. The dream of abundance for all would be realized for the first time in history. In the 19th century, when these ideas were formulated, they seemed to reflect the most advanced scientific knowledge of the time. Marxists, in fact, claimed to have gone beyond fuzzy-headed utopianism and arrived at truly “scientific socialism.” Utopians might dream of self-governing communal villages. Scientific socialists knew that in a developing smokestack society such notions were impractical. Utopians like Charles Fourier looked toward the agrarian past. Scientific socialists looked toward what was then the industrial future. Thus, later on, while socialists regimes experimented with cooperatives, worker-management, communes, and other schemes, state socialism—state ownership of everything from banks to breweries, rolling mills to restaurants—became the dominant form of property through the socialist World. (So complete was this obsession with state ownership that Nicaragua, an imitative latecomer to the socialist World, even created “Lobo Jack,” a state-owned disco). Everywhere, the state, not the workers, thus became the chief beneficiary of socialist revolution. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
Socialism failed to meet its promise to improve radically the material conditions of life. When living standards fell in the Soviet Union after the revolution, the decline was blamed, with some justification, on the effects of World War I and counterrevolution. Later the shortfalls were blamed on capitalist encirclement. Still later, on World War II. Yet thirty years after the war, staples like coffee and oranges were still in short supply in Moscow. In the period preceding Mr. Gorbachev’s perestroika, the diet of a middle-class researcher at a state institute in Moscow was heavily based on cabbage and potatoes. In 1989, four years after the start of Mr. Gorbachev’s attempt at reforms, the U.S.S.R. had to import 600 million razor blades and 40 million tubes of shaving cream from abroad. Remarkably, though their number is declining, one still hears orthodox socialists around the World calling for the nationalization of industry and finance. From Brazil and Peru to South Africa and even in the industrialized nations of the West there remain true believers who, despite all historical evidence to the contrary, still regard “public ownership” as “progressive” and resist every effort to de-nationalize or privatize the economy. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
It is true that today’s increasingly liberalized global economy, uncritically hailed by the great multinational corporations, is itself unstable and could suffer a massive coronary. The distended debt balloon on which it rests cold be punctured. Wars, sudden interruptions of energy or resources, and any number of other calamities could cause its collapse in the decades ahead. Under catastrophic conditions, one might well imagine the need for temporary emergency nationalizations. Nevertheless, incontrovertible evidence proves that state-owned enterprises mistreat their employees, pollute the air, and abuse the public at least as efficiently as private enterprises. Many have become sink-holes of inefficiency, corruption, and greed. Their failures frequently encourage a vast, seething black market that undermines the very legitimacy of the state. However, worst and most ironic of all, instead of taking the lead in technological advance as promised, nationalized enterprises, as a rule, are almost uniformly reactionary—the most bureaucratic, the slowest to reorganize, the least willing to adapt to changing consumer needs, the most afraid to provide information to the citizens, the last to adopt advanced technology. For more than a century, socialists and defenders of capitalism waged bitter war over public versus private property. Large numbers of men and women literally laid down their lives over this issue. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
What neither side imagined was a new wealth-creation system that would make virtually all their arguments obsolete. Yet this is exactly what happened. It is super-symbolic. It is knowledge. The same knowledge can be used by many people simultaneously to create wealth and to produce still more knowledge. And unlike factories and fields, knowledge is, for all intents, inexhaustible. Neither socialist regimes nor socialists in general have yet come to terms with this truly revolutionary fact. An established firm in an industry stands to gain by keeping out new competition. Then it can raise prices to monopoly levels. Since monopoly is socially harmful, the antitrust authorities try to detect and prosecute firms that employ strategies to deter rivals from entering the business. In 1945, the Aluminum Corporation of America (Alcoa) was convicted of such a practice. An appellate panel of Circuit Court judges found tht Alcoa had consistently installed more refining capacity than was justified by demand. In his opinion, Judge Learned Hand said: “It was not inevitable that it [Alcoa] should always anticipate increases in the demand for ingot and be prepared to supply them. Nothing compelled it to keep doubling and redoubling its capacity before other entered the field. It insists that it never excluded competitors; but we can think of no more effective exclusion than progressively to embrace each new opportunity as it opened and to face every newcomer with new capacity already geared into a great organization. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
This case has been debated at length by scholars of antitrust law and economies. Here we ask you to consider the conceptual basis of the case. How could the construction of excess capacity deter new competitors? What distinguishes this strategy from others? Why might it fail? An established firm wants to convince potential new competitors that the business would not be profitable for them. This basically means that if they entered, the price would be too low to cover their costs. Of course the established firm could simply put out the word that it would fight an unrelenting price war against any newcomers. However, why would the newcomers believe such a verbal threat? After all, a price war is costly to the established firm too. Installing capacity in excess of the needs of current production gives credibility to the established firm’s threat. When such capacity is in place, output can be expanded more quickly and at less extra cost. It remains only to staff the equipment and get the materials; the capital costs have already been incurred and are bygones. A price war can be fought more easily, more inexpensively, and therefore more credibly. This makes sense in the logic of strategy, but will such a device work in practice? There are at least two qualifications that limit its success. First, if there are many firms already in the industry, then discouraging newcomers gives more profit to all of them. Will any one firm bear the costs of capacity when it gets only a part of the benefit? #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
This is a standard prisoners’ dilemma. If one firm is large enough, it may in its own interest provide such a service to the rest of the industry. Otherwise the firms must collude in building capacity; this may be hard to hide from the antitrust authorities. In the Alcoa case, only may not regard the dilemma of whom will install capacity as a serious problem, because Alcoa had a 90 percent share of the primary aluminum ingot market. However—and this is the second qualification—is that the relevant market? Even if there are no other producers of primary ingots, secondary production from scrap is a source of competition. So is Alcoa’s own future production. Many aluminum-based products are highly durable. If Alcoa puts more aluminum on the market in the future, then the values of these durable goods will decrease. If the company cannot credibly guarantee the users that it will restrict its own future, output, they are willing to pay for aluminum now. This is just like IBM’s problem of pricing mainframe computers. The solution of renting is much harder here: you cannot rent aluminum as such; Alcoa would have to extend its operations into all sorts of aluminum-based products. In accordance with the directions of the ultimate concern, and in view of the critical time through which the World is passing, every expression, “view,” or theory which we hold concerning things should now be examine carefully, and brought to the proof, with open and hones desire to know the pure truth of the ultimate concern—as well as every statement that comes to our knowledge from the experience of others, which may throw light upon our own pathway. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
Every criticism—just or unjust—should be humbly received and examined to discover its grounds, apparent or real; and facts concerning the verities from every self-actualized being should be analyzed, independent of their pleasure or pain to us personally—either for our own enlightenment or for our equipment in the service of the ultimate concern. For the knowledge of truth is the first essential for warfare with the lying offenders, and truth must be eagerly sought for and faced with earnest and sincere desire to know it and obey it in the light of God: truth concerning ourselves, discerned by unbiased discrimination; truth from the virtues, uncolored, unstrained, unmutilated, undiluted; truth in facing facts of experience in all members of the hierarchy of self-actualization. Sometimes we are we can be too engrossed in our own internal struggle to intervene and prevent someone else from being hurt, but gradually the fragments and splinters and hurts began to disturb us. We may experience internally the broken moments, shattered dialogues, and cruelty of neutral faces. Here were people committed to the rescuing of “dropouts” and “rejects” from the public school, blatantly ignoring the crucial feelings being expressed. In this room, in the many passing hours and in that moment were people who hungered for a vital, active, listening human presence. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
However, what they get are intellectual arguments and words with little or no feeling. What they get are dead faces and lifeless bodies. Within one is growing an indignation against these denials or elemental human values until at last one’s own existence, one’s own isolation, one’s own desire for a solitary state crumbles away and vanishes. For the first time in weeks, one may experience intense and vital feelings from within, a full response to others. One’s anger mounts at the surface way in which fundamental matters are handled, at the ignoring of potential for intensity and depth, and at people committed to serving abused and rejected children failing to reach out, recognize and affirm each other. It may take one back to another time and place. This may cause of to reflect on the coldness and indifference others have to the personal struggles and feelings, an avoidance of intensity and depth in interactions, an intellectualizing and professionalizing or values and concepts of the ultimate concern. Mystery, spirit, feeling, the human sense, the unspoken and ineffable, the sense of awe and wonder, aesthetic appreciation—all might be missing. What else is the ultimate concern but a willingness to submit to the unknown, to learn from the unseen and intangible what we must fulfil? Where else do powers of life, actions to living in the deepest and fullest sense, come but from felt presences that awaken us to a fuller realization of what it means to be unique and human. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24
There will be pronouncements, lineal objectives and goals, definitions, rules, all carefully edited and articulated. We must be concerned with deviance and social injustice, and be aware of the importance of using political and economic powers to being about beneficial social changes. We have to speak about poverty and war, the end of killing and hunger. However, these are devotions to abstractions: for there before us are instances of human suffering, and individuals struggling to rise, and they are being met with indifference, with a refusal or inability to listen and respond. Some may speak glibly of the value of love in enlightenment, but these words do not strengthen and affirm, not support or encourage individuals in their search and struggle. The words are empty. The soul of life dies quickly in the presence of doctrines, rituals, and intellectual reactions. The central concern, the only immediate and intense here-and-now feeling, is a fear of the people who rate us, an incessant anxiety boarding on paranoia that they are being judged in every detail and nuance. Without exception, the fear of being tossed out, or of being put on probation, is paramount. The way to success is to be silent, to speak in abstractions, to avoid action in any living, breathing terms. They will be startled at one’s indignation, at one’s efforts to arouse genuine caring, interpersonal involvement, and decent human responses. When we examine the sacred of the “is” namely, actual purity, or the present reality of the revered it is the mysterium tremendum et fascinosum. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
The mysterium tremendum et fascinosum is the experience of ‘the ultimate’ in the double sense of that which is the abyss and that which is the ground of man’s being. The mysterium tremendum et fascinosum is the beneficial side of sacredness; it attracts because, as the ground of being, it implies the fulfilment and the beatitude of the creature. The negative side is the mysterium tremendum et fascinosum which terrifies because, as the abyss of being, it implies an infinite, unbridgeable distance between the finite and the infinite. In the ecstatic experience of revelation one feels both the elevating power of the divine presence and its annihilating power. This is the experience of the actual sacredness of the ultimate concern. A man who has never tried to flee from the ultimate concern has never experienced the ultimate concern that is the ultimate concern. The ultimate concern of our own making, fashioned after the image of man, is easy to live with, but man cannot stand the ultimate concern that is really the ultimate concern. Man tries to evade the ultimate concern, and hates it, because one cannot escape it. The protest against the ultimate concern, the will that there be no ultimate concern, and the flight to nihilism are all genuine elements of profound philosophy. Such is the shaking power of the mysterium tremendum et fascinosum. The eyes of the Witness we cannot stand are also the eyes of One of infinite wisdom and supporting benevolence. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
The center of being, in which our own center is involved, is the source of the gracious beauty which we encounter again and again in the stars and mountains, in flowers and animals, in children and mature personalities. The scared can be viewed not only from a phenomenological point of view, but also from an ontological one. The sacred contains the meaning of individuals and of the whole, and is the ground of meaning. It is also the abyss of meaning because it transcends every individual meaning and cannot be fully grasped in any act of meaning. Unconditioned meaning is the mysterium tremendum et fascinosum, the abyss and the ground of the meaning of things, not only in so far as they are, but also in so far as they ought to be. Against this ontological background, the sacred is not unperceptible, but it is not objective. The sacred is contemplated not as an object; it I contemplated as transcendent meaning. To be sure, there exist also sacred objects to see them as purity is to grasp through them the meaning of the unconditioned. The sacred is being-itself or the power of being. What is required in the professional sense is the fullness and depth of a truly human commitment to self and others, and the love that connects one man with other men. This love must be allowed to develop because love is immediate and grows out of a willingness to enter into interpersonal dialogue and communication, out of the willingness to permit the unknown in one’ self to connect with the unknown in others. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
Ruin is the Destination Toward Which All Men Rush
With equality and gender-based studies becoming more important, it is a goo idea that we take a look at a gender-based analysis of residential burglary. The study is based on interviews with 105 active residential burglars, 87 of whom were males and 18 were females. The project employed a snowball sampling strategy in which an ex-offender recruited known burglars who were presently operating in a city. The gender-based compassion suggests that, in many way, female burglars resemble their male counterparts. For example, both group display long criminal histories that span a variety of property, violent, and public order offenses categories. Both groups accumulate long, diverse substance abuse histories that overlap with and contribute to their involvements in burglary. At the time, the gender-based comparison reveal several differences. Female burglars begin offending at a later age, are more likely to co-offend, and have less contact with authorities. The typology of female burglars describes offenders as either accomplices or partners. Factor of motivation, levels of target selection and planning, and patterned work roles serve to differentiate these two conceptual categories. Despite growing interest in female criminality, little is known about the nature of women’s participation in crimes statistically dominated by males. Certainly that is the case for residential burglary, an offense labeled as an overwhelmingly male enterprise. For example, we hardly know how female become involved in such offenses or what roles they play. Are they tempted into these crimes, for instance, by the influence of delinquent peers or by the use of drugs? #RandolphHarris 1 of 21
Because we lack detailed knowledge, we cannot assess the extent to which the processes underly burglaries committed by females differ from those underlying burglaries by males. This lack also restricts our capacity to detect important differences among female burglars. An assessment of these difference, however, is crucial in formulating effective policy responses to female criminality and to developing theories of lawbreaking by women. Short of observing burglaries, perhaps the best way to acquire this information is to go to the offenders themselves. The most pressing need today, in researching the agenda for feminist criminology, is observation and interviewing so we can plunge more deeply into the social Worlds of girls and women. Such a strategy will allow researchers to comprehend women’s crime on its own terms. Often it is claimed that offenders are versatile and commit a wide range of offense. This observation, however, is derived largely from studies of males conducted in criminal justice settings rather than on the street. During our interviews we asked the subjects whether they ever had committed other sorts of crimes beside residential burglary. We did so because we were concerned primarily with prevalence—that is, whether the subject ever had engaged in other kinds of offenses. Stealing (which includes shoplifting and corresponds to the legal definition of this activity), auto theft, and assault were the offenses most commonly reported by males. Stealing and assault were mentioned most frequently by the females; these offenses were comparable in rank of frequency to those reported by the males. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21
Beyond these two offenses, however, little other criminality was reported by the females. The only meaningful differences between the men and the women for this measure was found in regard to auto theft. This crime was fairly common among the males, but unknown among the females. The explanation for this difference might reside in a strong cultural tradition linking masculinity to driving and car ownership. Alternatively, males may have “cornered the market” in auto theft; to be profitable, such a crime requires sophisiticated coneections with garage owners, automotive recycle yard employees, and car dealerships. One important aspect of offending style concerns the degree of crime specialization—that is, the extent to which offenders concentrate on one particular type of offense. When we asked offenders whether they had been involved in crimes other than residential burglary during their most recent period of offending, thirty-four percent of the males and 42 percent of the females claimed that they had committed only residential burglaries during this period (roughly the last six months). This finding is consistent with a substantial body of previous research showing that offenders display considerable diversity over the course of their criminal careers, but may specialize in a particular “line” for short periods. This phenomenon is labeled as “short-term specialization.” Another element of offending style concerns the inclinations to work with others in carrying out cries. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21
Previous research demonstrated that more often than not, [burglary] is committed by two or more persons acting in concert. The results of our study bear this out: 79 percent of the males and all of the females reported that they had worked with others in the past. The males showed considerable variation in frequency of working with others: 39 percent said they “seldom” worked with others, while another 39 percent reported that they “always” did so. For the women, however, the picture was much clearer: an overwhelming 83 percent reported that they “always” worked with others, and the remaining 17 percent states that they “usually” did so. The final aspect of offending style that we examined here relates to drug and alcohol use among our respondents, as well as to their perceptions of the role played by intoxicants in leading them to commit such crimes. Our research reveals that there is little difference between the males and the females in self-report drug use. When the drug users were asked whether addiction had anything to do with their burglaries, 71 percent of the males and 82 percent of the females answered affirmatively. A majority of those in both groups said they committed burglaries to obtain the money they needed to buy more drugs. In addition, slightly more than three-quarters of the users in each group—76 percent of the males and 79 percent of the females—claimed that they used drugs before committing their burglaries. A higher percentage of females than of males started that they “always” or “usually” used drugs beforehand. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21
One explanation seems to be that many female burglaries arise from crack “runs.” This point, however, is difficult to determine conclusively because use of the drug is heavily stigmatized. We explore male-female differences on three dimensions designed to measure burglary offending histories: age at first burglary, total number of lifetime burglaries, and lambda, the mean number of annual burglaries. The ages at which males and females committed their first residential burglary differed significantly: the males generally started much earlier in life. None of the female burglars had committed their first offense before age 12, but 22 percent of the males had done so. The modal category for males was the 13-16 age bracket, which accounted for 53 percent of the cases. Sixty-one percent of the females, on the other hand, were over 16 years old when they carried out their first burglary. Given that the females started to commit burglaries later, on average, than their male counterparts, we are not surprised that a greater proportion of females had been involved in fewer than 20 residential burglaries in their lifetime. Perhaps more interesting, 39 percent of the females had committed more than 70 lifetime residential burglaries, a proportion roughly comparable to the males’ figure of 41 percent. The bimodal distribution of the females’ responses suggests that women are likely to engage in burglary at two very distinct levels, and perhaps to employ two different styles. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21
The males were more likely than the females to have had contact with the system for offenses of all types. This difference was most notable at the stage of the criminal justice process that resulted in incarceration. Over ninety percent of the respondents in each group had been arrested previously, but only one woman (6 percent) had been convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment. In contrast, 26 percent of the males had served time in the past. This difference may exist in part because the females began offending later and consequently had fewer “years at risk.” Other factors, however, are probably at work as well including an assumption by the police that most burglars are male, which allow females to remain above suspicion and a tendency for those females who are arrested to receive preferential treatment in the courtroom. Certainly the women in our sample believe that their gender conferred a degree of protection from the law. Several expressed the belief that authorities would not take action against them simply because they were female. Is it not becoming clear, in light of the existence of deceiving offenders and their methods of deception, that close examination is needed of modern theories, conceptions, and expressions regarding things in connection with the ultimate concern and its way of working in man? For only the certainty of ultimate concern, apart from “views” of truth, will avail for protection or for successful warfare in the conflict with wicked offenders in the self-actualized hierarchy. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21
When we reach self-actualization, we are at the highest hierarchy of the pyramid, and this is denoted by morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts. There are five levels in the pyramid. At the very bottom, people are interested in physiological functions only which include: breathing, food, water, pleasures of flesh, sleep, homeostasis, and excretion. At the second level of the pyramid, individuals are concerned with safety and this entails security of: body, employment, resources, mortality, the family, healthy and property. At the third hierarchy most are concerned with love and belonging. This includes friendship, family, sexual intimacy. At the fourth hierarchy, this realm focuses on esteem: self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others. All that is in any degree the outcome of the mind of the “natural man” will prove to be but the weapons of straw in this great battle, and if we rely upon others’ “views of truth,” or upon our own human conceptions of truth, offenders will use these very things to deceive us—even building us up in these theories and views so that under cover of them he or she may accomplish one’s purpose. We cannot, therefore, at this time, overestimate the importance of believers having ready minds to “examine all things” they have thought, and perhaps taught, in connection with the things of ultimate concern and the self-actualized realm—all the “truths” they have held, all the phrases and expressions they have used in “virtue teachings,” and all the ideas they have absorbed through others. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21
For any wrong interpretations of truth, any theories and phrases which are man-conceived and which we may build upon wrongly, will have perilous consequences to ourselves and others in the conflict with truth and individual self-actualized people passing through. Because in the present offenders will comes to them with deceptions in DOCTRINAL form, self-actualized individual must examine carefully what they accept as “doctrine,” least it should be from the emissaries of the deceiver. Some people are tired of struggling and want only to know a quiet silence. This can be a shock to one’s own awareness of who he or she is. One may have always considered struggle essential in growth, and in many crises and conflicts it has provided the turning point in one’s life. Not wanting to be burdened and overwhelmed by heavy feelings and thoughts or by complicated searching and painful of what is wrong with oneself, people, and life, this can create the desire to turn away from the struggle. And this is what causes the requirement to be alone in simple and ordinary ways. Once one goes through this process of healing in solitude, and by only engaging in simple routine, gradually, with each day, an individua is able to listen a little more to what others are saying. (This is why during a break up, space, instead of forcing the issues is important. Of course, there are times when you need to know what the reason it so it may be a good idea to press for answers to start a dialogue and not necessarily to just focus on getting back together.) #RandolphHarris 8 of 21
Slowly it becomes each to be interested in and comfortable with other people’s problems. Although there may be some drawbacks. Some individual may be able to be with others while you struggle to make decisions, but one may not be opened to questions or personal comments and responses directed to one. This may cause one to offer nothing of oneself and comment only on what one is hearing and understanding from others. During this period, some find work a truly rewarding activity; it is a place that feels like home. It does not matter whether the work takes the form of writing—reports, references, and letters—or reading. Or, if it involved physical activities, one may become totally absorbed in what one is doing, get lost in the activity and experience a full sense of relief. Active mental and physical involvement in solitary projects can be a sense of salvation. By surrendering to powers within to powers within and sources of light in the universe, in some mysterious way, a miracle happens. It is the loss of the old man and the discovery of the new man. When the light reveals itself, the individual is ready to accept it. This reduces the need to force or push or beseech. One simply waits with firm faith that one is meant to be whole again and that one will live more in a full and complete way. It becomes clear that people one loves and those who love one cannot reach the individual going through changes. And so, life has to come from another source, and that new direction will emerge in solitude. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21
The problem of the truth of faith presents itself from both the subjective and objective sides. Subjectively, faith is true if it adequately expresses an ultimate concern, that is, if the symbols of faith are alive and speak to the heart with an urgency of concern that impels to action and replay. This criterion is more a rule of thumb that works best for obviously dead symbols and is not so useful in judging contemporary ones. However, it is the objective truth of faith that interests us here. The content of faith is true if it is really and not just apparently ultimate. The great danger is demonization, elevation of the symbol to ultimacy, which results in idolatrous faith. Therefore, the criterion of faith is self-negation. The true symbol not only conveys the ultimate, but proclaims its own non-ultimacy. It pronounces a Yes and a No. For the Christian the Cross of the Christ is such a symbol. Name for this criterion—the No that follows immediately on the heels of the Yes—is the Protestant principle. The Protestant principle pervades in this whole theology, both systematically and chronologically. Chameleon-like, it changes its formula of expression against the background of diverse theological problems. Hence, a rapid rundown of its various formulations is useful for identifying it. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21
In addition to being the objective criterion of faith, the Protestant principle expresses man’s infinite distance from God and his dependence upon the divine initiative. The Protestant principle is the prophetic protest against every form of self-absolutizing—for example, the demonic elevation of the churches, of the Christian Bile, and the priesthood to absolute validity. The Protestant principle is “resistance to idolatry,” that is, it stands for non-conformity in family, school, state, and church. The Protestant principle protests the objectifying of grace (die Vergegenstandlichung der Gnade) and so smashes the barriers between the holy and the secular. For, by the Protestant principle, God is as near to the lowest as he is to the highest, as close to the material as to the spiritual. These manifold expressions of the Protestant principle can be summarized in and derived from the basic doctrine that the Protestant principle is justification by grace through faith. We reject the traditional Protestant formula of “justification by faith” on the grounds that is has been misunderstood to mean that the human act of faith sets in motion God’s justifying act. Faith itself is a gift of grace, all justifying actions is entirely on the part of God, and, consequently, the more accurate formula is “justification by grace through faith.” The Protestant principle ultimately rests upon an experience of God’s majesty that attributes absoluteness and holiness to him alone and denies such dignity to all else. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21
Untrammeled choices of individuals could lead to disaster for society. Picture a paster open to all. It is to expected that each herdsman will try to keep as many cattle as possible on this commons. Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels one to increase one’s heard without limit, in a World that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing one’s own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Overpopulation, pollution, excessive fishing, and depletion of exhaustible resources are all part of the problem. People Worldwide must recognize the necessity of restricting individual freedom in these choices, and accept some mutual coercion mutually agreed upon. Depending upon the circumstances, the tragedy of the commons could be a many-person prisoner’s dilemma (each person grazes too many cows) or a spillover problem (too many people choose to become herdsmen). The economist’s favorite solution would be the establishment of property rights. This is what actually happened in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in England: the common land was enclosed and claimed by the local aristocrats or landlords. When land is private property, the invisible hand will shut the gate to just the right extent. The owner will charge grazing fees to maximize one’s rental income; the grazing fees will make the owner richer, and the herdsmen poorer. This approach is not feasible in some instances. Property rights over the high seas are hard to define and enforce in the absence of an international government, as is control over air that move from one country to another carrying pollutants. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21
For this reason, whaling and acid rain must be handled by more direct controls, but securing the necessary international agreements is no easy matter either. Population is an even harder problem. The right of decision about one’s family, including its size, is enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in many countries bills of rights. Countries like China and India that have at times used some coercion in their population-control efforts have evoked widespread disapproval. Sometimes, when the group is small enough, voluntary cooperation solves the problem. When two oil or gas producers have wells that tap into the same underground deposit, each has the incentive to speed up one’s uptake, to get more of the resource before the other does. When both of them follow this policy, the excessive speed of depletion can actually lower the total amount that can be recovered from the deposit. In practice, drillers recognize the problem and seem able to reach production-sharing arrangements that keep at the proper level that total flow from all wells tapping one deposit. All’s well that ends well? For the less developed countries (LDCs), as for the rest of the World, power stems from the holster, the wallet, and the book—or, nowadays, the computer. Unless we want an anarchic World, with billions of poverty-stricken people, unstable governments led by unstable leaders, each with a finger on the missile launcher or chemical or bacteriological trigger, we now need global strategies for preventing the de-coupling that looms before us. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21
In the years immediately ahead the LDCs will acquire sophisticated new arms—enormous firepower will be added to their already formidable arsenals. Why? As LDC economic power diminishes, their rulers face political opposition and instability. Under the circumstances, they are likely to do what rulers have done since the origins of the state: They reach for the most primitive form of power—military force. However, the most acute shortage facing LDCs is that of economically relevant power is no longer through the exploitation of raw materials and human muscle but, as we have seen, through application of the human mind. Development strategies make no sense, therefore, unless they take full account of the new role of knowledge in wealth creation, and of the accelerative imperative that goes hand in hand with it. With knowledge (which in our definition includes such things as imagination, values, images, and motivation, along with formal technical skills) increasingly central to the economy, the Brazils and Nigerians, the Bangladeshes and Haitis must consider how they might best acquire or generate this resource. It is clear that every wretched child in Northeast Brazil or anywhere else in the World who remains ignorant or intellectually underdeveloped because of malnutrition represents a permanent drain on the future. Revolutionary new forms of education will be needed that are not based on the old factory model. Acquiring knowledge from elsewhere will also be necessary. This may take unconventional—and sometimes even illicit—forms. Stealing technological secrets is already a booming business around the World. We must expect shrewd LDCs to join the hunt. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21
Another way of obtaining wealth-making know-how is to organize a brain drain. This can be done on a small scale by bribing or attacking teams of researchers. However, some clever countries will figure out that, around the World, there are certain dynamic minorities—often persecuted groups—that can energize a host economy if given the chance. The overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, Indians in East Africa, Syrians in West Africa, Palestinians in parts of the Mideast, Jews in America, and Japanese in Brazil have played this role at one time or another. Transplanted into a different culture, each has brought not merely energy, drive, and commercial or technical acumen, but a pro-knowledge attitude—a ravenous hunger for the latest information, new ideas, skills. These groups have provided a kind of hybrid economic vigor. They work hard, they innovate, they educate their children, and even if they get rich in the process, they stimulate and accelerate the reflexes of the host economy. We will no doubt see various LDCs searching out such groups and inviting them to settle within their borders, in the hopes of injecting a needed adrenaline into the economy. During World War II the Japanese military actually drafted a plan to bring large numbers of persecuted European Jews to Manchuria, then called Manchukuo, for this purpose. However, the “Fugu Plan,” as it was known, was never implemented. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21
Smart governments will also encourage the spread of nongovernmental associations and organization, since such groups accelerate the spread of economically useful information through newsletters, meetings, conferences, and foreign travel. Associations of merchants, plastics engineers, employers, programmers, trade unions, bankers, journalists, etcetera, serve as channels for rapid exchange of information about what does and does not work in their respective fields. They are an important, often neglected communications medium. Governments serious about economic development will also have to recognize the new economic significance of free expression. Failure to permit the circulation of the new ideas—including economic and political ideas, even if unflattering to the state—is almost always prima facie proof that the state is weak at its core, and that those in power regard staying there as more important than economic improvement in the live of the people. Governments committed to becoming part of the new World will systematically open the valves of public discussion. Other governments will join knowledge consortia—partnerships with other countries or with global companies—to explore the far reaches of technology and science and, especially, the possibility of creating new materials. Instead of pandering to obsolete nationalist notions, they will purse the national interest passionately—but intelligently. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21
Rather than refusing to pay royalties to foreign pharmaceutical companies on the lofty ground that health is above such grubby concerns, as Brazil has done, they will gladly pay the royalties—provided these funds stay inside the country for a fixed number of years, and are used to finance research projects carried out jointly with a local pharmaceutical firm’s own experts. Profits from products that originate in this joint research can then be divided between the host country and the multinational. In this way the royalties pay for technology transfer—and for themselves. Effective nationalism thus replaces obsolete, self-destructive nationalism. Similarly, intelligent governments will welcome the latest computers, regardless of who built them, rather than trying to build a local computer industry behind tariff walls that keep out not merely products but advanced knowledge. The computer industry is changing so fast on a World scale that no nation, not even the United States of America or Japan, can keep up without help from the rest of the World. By barring certain outside computers and software, Brazil managed to build its own computer industry—but is products are backward compared with those available outside. This means that Brazilian banks, manufacturers, and other businesses have had to use technology that is inefficient compared with that of their foreign competitors. They compete with one hand tied behind them. Rather than gaining, the country loses. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21
Brazil violated the first rule of the new system of wealth creation. So what you will with the slowly changing industries, but get out of the way of a fast-advancing industry. Especially one that processes the most important resource of all—knowledge. Other LDCs will avoid these errors. Some, we may speculate, will actually invest modestly in existing venture capital funds in the United States of America, Europe, and Japan—on condition that their own technicians, scientists, and students accompany the capita and share in the know-how developed by the resulting start-up firms. In this way, Brazilians or Indonesians or Nigerians or Egyptians might find themselves at the front edge of tomorrow’s industries. Astutely managed, the program could well pay for itself—or even make a profit. Above all, the LDCs will take a completely fresh look at the role of agriculture, regarding it not necessarily as a “backward” sector but as a sector that potentially, with the help of computers, genetics, satellites, and other new technologies, could someday be more advanced, more progressive than all the smokestacks, steel mills, and mines in the World. Knowledge-based agriculture may be the cutting edge of economic advantage of tomorrow. Moreover, agriculture will not limit itself to growing food, but will increasingly grow energy crops and feed stocks for new materials. These are but a few of the ideas likely to be tested in the years to come. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21
However, none of these efforts will bear fruit if the country is cut off from participation in the fast-moving global economy and the telecommunications and computer networks that support it. The maldistribution of telecommunications in today’s World is even more dramatic than the maldistribution of food. There are 7.33 billion unique mobile phones users in the World today, which makes 91.40 percent of people in the World cell phone owners. The lopsided distribution of computers, data bases, technical publications, research expenditures, tells us more about the future potential of nations than all the gross-national-product figures ground out by economists. To plug into the new World economy, countries like China, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, India, as well as the Soviet Union and the East European nations, must find the resources needed to install their own electronic infrastructures. These must go far beyond mere telephone services to include up-to-date, high-speed data systems capable of linking into the latest global networks. The good news is that today’s slow countries may be able to skip over an entire stage of infrastructure development, leapfrogging from First to Third Wave communications without investing the vast sums needed to build Second Wave networks and systems. The Iridium systems, for example, announced by Motorola, Inc., placed 77 tiny satellites into low orbit, which make it possible for millions in remote or sparsely populated regions like Soviet Arctic, the Chinese desert, or the interior of African to send and receive voice, data, and digitized images through handheld telephones. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21
It is not necessary to lay cooper or even fiber optic cable across thousands of miles of jungle, ice or sand. The portable phones communicate directly with the nearest overhead satellite, which will pass the message along. Other advances also similarly slashing the huge costs of telecommunications, brining them within reach of today’s impoverished counties. Large scale production and hyper-competition among American, European and Japanese suppliers will also drive down costs. The new key to economic development is clear. The “gap” that must be closed is informational and electronic. It is a not gap between the North and the South, but between the slow and the fast. However, China’s inadequacy in services is of a structural character. It has it historical and cultural roots, especially the legacy of several decades long epoch of Soviet-style socialism. The mentality of many Chinese service companies and workers may have exceeded those in America. When I was in China, I was impressed by their customer service. They were extremely polite, spent time talking to me, even offered me candy and gave me a soccer ball for shopping at one of their malls. They did treat me like a king. I did not want to come back to America because I loved China so much. Maybe people have different experiences? #RandolphHarris 20 of 21
The overall picture of the service economy in China is not gloomy. Even on the airplane they were polite and told me to stop being so “Western.” The hotels were awesome, as well as the recreation facilities and restaurants. As local consumers’ demand for a variety of good services is increasing, American, European and Japanese service providers have a good chance to exploit their competitive advantage in this area, establishing a stronger position at the Chinese market. Here, however, comes a surprise. You may expect that, in the wake of what was written earlier, America and Europe are enjoying substantial surpluses in their services trade with China, not incomparable to their huge deficits in merchandise trade. But the thing with the people in China, one cannot tell when they are just being nice. Things are so different. They try so hard to like people and make them happy that it seems like they really like you. And they try really hard to keep a neat appearance, are very careful with their work, and take pride in what they do. Because their image and reputation depends a lot on word of mouth, they are very careful not to hurt your feelings and to conceal negative topics, ideas, thoughts and behavior. And their houses are really clean, many of them have never heard of “racism” and the student work very hard in school. It is amazing how many hours a day they spend studying. They really went out of their way to impress us, like hosting us in a restaurant, but making it a private event, of course it meant getting up at 3 A.M. in the morning, but I was happy to. They are so polite and taught me if something is meant to be, you will meet that person again. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21
Hallowed by the Life of Blood
The rain lashed with vindictive fury at the windows of my mansion. My skin was crawling with gooseflesh, listening to the mournful recording crackling with static under the needle of the gramophone as the song grew louder through the rain. There is an eerie undocumented history that simmers below the surface and appears periodically to frighten and confuse people. The last thing I wanted to do is see whatever sight might accompany it. The wind was strong up here on the fourth floor and I could hear rain spatter hard against the sitting-room window. I walked on into the room, past the beckoning Hall of Fires, looking out and down at the night. I could see the dome to the nine-story observation tower through the stir of trees surrounding it. A swath of rain bleared the glass in front of my face and made me blink and recoil slightly. “Hello, Aunt Sarah.” The voice of my niece Daisy. “What I have to say concerns this mansion.” A few items of lovely furniture occupied the room. Two of these were armchairs. Daisy sat in one of them. She had paused, perhaps for effect. “I’m sorry to intrude on you. But there really isn’t a choice. A visitor, strolling along the ground near the fruit orchard, heard wisps of strange tunes. Listening more closely through the dusky evening, he was lured inside of the mansion. And he is now dead.” I took my head into my hands. “Aunt Sarah, I need you. There is no time for prevarication on this.” “Daisy, I will meet you in the Venetian Dining Room this evening,” I replied. I rose from my chair thinking that God had very little to do with anything that ever occurred within the grounds of the walls of my mansion. From wars to executions, to suicides and untimely death from injury, plague, or disease, Victorian mansions are, for all their majesty and splendor, tragic places where death stalked the cold lonely corridors. These are the places of the bloodiest history, whether it be a place raided by the unlawful, or a battle for ownership. With such a history of violence and tragedy, it is little wonder that this mansion is regarded as haunted? #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
I walked back to the window. It was a quarter to six. Strange noises and an occasional sighting of the larger-than-average soldiers with the oddly pointed hats have been seen roaming the grounds. Any attempt to speak with them or approach them, they simply vanish into the mansion. Odd doors and gated entrances punctuated the length of the mansion. There was a Gothic, deliberate atmosphere about my home, a sepulchral character to the mass of its wooden buttresses andre treats. Geometrical shapes snatched inexplicably at the eyes. And often one could hear laughter, high-pitched with contempt or teasing mockery that made one hurry on, even though it may be rationalized as the cold wind gusting through the elaborate masonry. The wind whistles in the trees and leaves and wisps of thick mist blow across the farmland. With the trotting of horses and constant sounds of construction, the heart is suddenly racing, and one thinks they hear something behind them. After all, this is an ancient land, a house built by spirits, occupied by ghosts, pixies, goblins and all sort of mythical creatures of the night. Anything is likely to happen. Looking around the interior of the estate, one can discern a deep, foreboding blackness that seems to be following one, as if it is alive and in pursuit. Stepping out into the fruit orchard, the wind suddenly drops and one’s senses are heightened. Indeed, one can hear one’s very heart beating in their chest as they continue to canter forward into the night. The mist becomes thicker, darker, and as one glances furtively from side to side, the darkness of shadows of the orchards hides their secrets, but perhaps you are not alone. Sometimes I tell myself that the scraping sounds at the window is simply a branch being blown in the breeze and the footsteps heard in the hallway are old timbers creaking and groaning with a change in the air or weather. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
If there was something serious going on, the housekeeper and the butler would try to keep it quiet. They might talk together, but they would be tight-lipped in front of me. The clock struck seven. I met Daisy in the dining room. “Aunt Sarah, we all talked. We weren’t meant to,” Daisy said. “We were all talking about it. We didn’t know what to make of it. The body was found on a cold stone passage, that was said to lead directly into the opulent state rooms where you normally conducted meetings.” Not a moment too soon, five housemaid trooped into the dining room. Taking off their white starched aprons, they formed up in a line. The room, echoing with their footsteps and voices, as in a church. The mahogany floor, almost three thousand square feet of it had to be hand polished. It was an onerous task, one of the housemaids least like doing. Bending down, they placed their tins of wax of the floor. “Daisy, it looks like we will have to continue this conversation later,” I said. “Goodnight, Aunt Sarah,” she replied. The maids stooped on their hands and knees, their long black dresses spread out around them. Working in union, they dabbed their clothes in wax; then they rubbed the floor vigorously in quick tight circle. The observation tower staircase was the place the servants feared most. The observation tower sits ominously over the mansion, along with sever distinctive turrets jutting proudly into the skies. Sweeping down to the Guard Room eight floors below, it was the main thoroughfare in the tower. Family portraits adored its walls. The steps, of bare stone—framed by a wrought-iron balustrade, topped by a mahogany rail—were wide and shallow. “We were all scared of the tower’s stairs,” said Elsa. “I was coming down them one evening, halfway down, I felt somebody push me. They were behind me, trying to push me down the stairs. I turned round, and of course there was no one there.” The Winchester Mansion is a land of appealing features seemingly embedded in the sense of a deep-rooted and permanent history that emanates from almost every corner of the land. It has rustic grounds and quaint gardens, a hulking mansion with many towering features, having been fostered over decades to create a comfortable and pleasing landscape that guests recall like their favorite arm chair. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
A number of the male servants, skeptical of ghost as they were, had experienced a similar sensation. “I used to keep an eye on the mansion,” Edvin recalled. “I would walk around the dark with the dogs, no lights on, no torches, or anything. One night, I was coming across the first floor of the tower—and I got up to the stairs and felt hot breath on the back of my neck. I turned round. There was nobody there. But the dogs wouldn’t go any further, their hackles went right up. It was ages before I could get them to move.” I often examined the possibility of evil. I had a notion that evil was communicable. Something that can, as it were, contaminate. However, one must not confuse evil with manifestations. My secret rooms, by their very nature, held the servants in thrall. It was an area that they never entered, never saw or ever knew what went on. It was a place of mystery. The rooms were subjects of wild speculations, fueled by the servants’ fear of me, and their knowledge of my eccentric interests. My servants knew I was fascinated by the occult and this played to their fears. They knew the mansion was haunted and I often had the mediums in. However, they never whether any ghosts or sprits were actually summoned. It went on behind closed doors. Of course, they knew of the ancestral curse. It had been cast in the mid-19th century by a coven of witches. The curse had also been cast over future generations; aimed at Winchester heirs; it determined that the children would die before they reached the age of thirteen and those who survived would be haunted by ghosts and demons. For decades, it had seemed to me and my servants that this was a cruse from which the family could never escape. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
One night, it was shortly before three o’clock in the morning when a shadowy figure, dressed from head to foot in back, crossed the landing of the staircase. The night was cloudless, the moon almost full. There was a blackout and the mansion was shrouded in darkness. The light from the moon set tiny point of balance dancing in the darkened windows. I could hear footsteps moving stealthily across the floor and the occasional cry of an animal from the fields. A headless horseman was riding near the tower. I got out of bed, and turned the corner into a passage in one of the parlors. As the men worked in the hallways, they froze. Coming down the hallway was a pair of green eyes belonging to a child. The eyes were about two or three feet up from the floor, leading me to believe that child was three years old. They eyes simply floated up the hall, and then turned into one of the maid’s room where we lost sight of them. That night I also saw dark shapes. There was a dark shadowy thing flying from the Grand Ball Room to the and down the hallway. Then above the chandelier there were several dark shadowy things. They flew outside, barely illuminating the background of the trees and then were blocked out by an even darker shadow, moving slowly, methodically along the tree line. Meanwhile another shadow ran through the hallway, it was tall. The carpenters looked at each other in suspense. Closing the heavy steel door behind me, I had left the Grand Ball Rom to find my way long the labyrinth passages. A long passage reached into the distance. It was gloomy, lit by only the strip lighting in the display cases that ran along with wall. Ahead was a solid oak door, carved in the Gothic style. Another passage led off to my right, I could see that it branched in two. One end led into a small hall. It was in darkness. “No one goes in there,” a mysterious voice whispered. The spirit gave me a fright. Everyone, it seems, even hardened sceptics and disbelievers, has seen a ghost. For some reason, in the back of their minds, ghosts may be real. Everyone has known the feeling of their heart racing for a second when they see a shadow moving in the corner of their eye or they feel some sort of presence standing over them. Or worse still, a tortured face in a window that paralyses their body and retards their breathing to the point that they can hear the blood pumping around their own body. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
I took the left passage. I went on some distance ahead, there was a kink in the passage. A man emerged from it and started waling me. He was wearing knee breaches and a nineth-century coachman’s jacket. As we drew level, he stopped. “Mrs. Winchester, those rooms are forbidden,” he said, “What are you doing in this part of the house?” Once again, he repeated, “Those rooms are forbidden.” I did not want to stop and talk; I was anxious to get back to my room. I assumed that the servants were being proprietorial. Finally, I had made it to my destination sometime later. The bedroom was not dark, because the bright light of a full moon entered through the window. I had just lain down, ready to go to sleep, when I suddenly noticed that I was not on my own. I heard a rasping breath in the darkness only a few feet away. Right in front of the wardrobe and looking directly at me was a middle-aged man, dressed like a Catholic priest. I rubbed my eyes and pinched my arms to make sure I was fully awake Yes, I most certain was. Was I having hallucinations? The priest was still standing there, looking at me. He was a rather frail man with hollow cheeks. His face showed traces of a hard life and illness. If he had any hair at all, it was covered by his hat. He looked so real, not like a ghost. I was not a bit scared, because he radiated vibrations of utter peace and tranquility. There was nothing to be afraid of, so I decided to talk to him keeping my voice as low as possible. “Hello, Father,” I said. “God bless you.” “And God bless you, my child,” came the priest’s prompt reply. He was well-spoken, his voice was soft. His English accent was not hard to distinguish. After giving me a few personal messages and stressing the point that there is survival after death, he told me who he was. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
His name was John Ogilvie, and in had lived in Scotland from 1580 to 1615, he wanted hanged at Glasgow Cross for his faith. When I remarked that at the time of his hanging, he was only 36 years old, he confirmed this. After quietly talking about religious matters for a few moments, he bade me farewell and disappeared. It seems that he refused to pledge allegiance to King James, and it was for this crime that the was tried, found guilty and hanged. After his execution, his followed were apprehended and put in jail. If this was not a genuine case of a visit from beyond the grave, what is it? Most of the time, the mansion is benign. Unfortunately, sometimes people find exactly what they are looking for. I had been in bed half an hour when I heard the music playing softly from my sitting room next door. I listened to the same, faintly relentless song. Starting to sweat and grow cold in bed, I recognized the song. Or I thought I did. And it continued. It wavered through the wall and door frame in strained, distended chords, and choruses, swelling and facing, ragged and persistent. The door was to my right. I pulled back the duvet and got out of bed and walked through the door to the sitting room. Where the music was louder. The must persisted, repetitious, frighting me. As I turned the corner, I discovered that Gerhardt hanged himself from the cross beams. Badly wounded, Mr. Hansen carried to the attic to await medical attention, but he died there. Since that time people have claimed that he haunts the attic room. He has been seen and heard there from time to time. Servants have reported hearing the creaking of a rope and the soft thud of a body swaying against the wall. Though they often look for the source of the sound, they never find it. There is a disheveled, aged specter, bound at feet and hands and rattling chains haunting the basement. A journey through my mansion is a passage through history. A real history, one that you can live and breathe, one that you can feel and be part of. You can walk serenely miles through my mansion, it is a place that inspires contemplation and wonderment. It is a living history, of memories as far back as history recalls. It is a place of myth, legend, of ghosts and ghouls, of giants, and dwarves, mermaids, cupid, another other half-remembered, half-whispered-about creatures. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
If a sudden, horrifying death is what it takes to make the spirit linger, surely, this place—is a candidate. Certainly, where men grappled back and forth, engaged not only in the struggle for their own precious lives, but for the life of their respective countries, where in the balance was the future of the very world, and this place produce the mechanism of defense, if that does not qualify for the lingering-place of souls wondering for eternity the outcome of their struggles, then we cannot name a place. https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
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Los Angeles Will be Two and a Half Hours from Tokyo
Given that burglars are disproportionately young, poor, city-dweller, they tend to have frequent contact with other habitual offenders. There are various structures and processes that go along with the “stolen property system”—the underground market through which in-demand goods are stolen, housed, marketed, and resold on the street of America. Burglary is a crime that is marked by varied levels of social organization. Only on rare occasions do we find burglars who work as loners or within formal organizations. More often, burglars will operate as colleagues—the offender commits the crime along but relies on other members of the criminal subculture to supply him or her with inside information or to assist in converting stolen property into cash. Burglars who take the situation to the next level and enlist help in the actual break-in follow a more peerlike existence. Here, loose partnerships are maintained and invoked when a burglary opportunity presents itself. A primitive example of the peer model would be two or three drug users who randomly stumble upon an unlocked home or unsupervised business and decide to work together to take it down. In some cases, burglary offenders will align themselves in a teamlike format. These offenders invoke a division of labor with each participant serving an owned predetermined role and duties. One person might be assigned to lookout/driver role. Another might serve as the entry specialist, defeating any lock and alarms that are confronted. Still another person can take on the “muscle” role, responsible for doing the heavy lifting. #RandolphHarris 1 of 16
Socialization scripts play an important part in how and why burglars commit their crimes. Interview-based research suggests that novice or occasional burglars often rely on the tutelage of more seasoned offenders as a way of learning the proverbial ropes of burglary. Novices receive advice and instructions on issues such as target selection, how to foster informants, how to defeat burglary countermeasures, and how to best convert stolen goods into cash. This socialization generally takes shape as informal street corner conversations or jailhouse bravado. On paper, burglary appears to receive serious treatment from the criminal justice system. The Model Penal Code classifies burglary as a felony in the third degree. In most jurisdictions, such as offense is subject to 1 to 5 years in prison. If the burglar is armed or threatens or inflicts bodily harm on another while unlawfully within a dwelling, that individual might see the charges elevated to second degree felony. In practice, however, burglary receives mixed levels of formal response from the various components of the criminal justice system. First, let us consider the response of law enforcement authorities. Police agencies were able to effect an arrest for only 13 percent of the nearly 2.1 million burglaries that were reported to them in 2022. No other form of index crime yields such a dismal clearance rate. Some of this slippage can be attributed to the covert nature of the crime—police often have no witnesses and minimal clues to guide the investigation. However, these low clearance rates are also impacted by the fact that many police officers and police agencies afford a low priority to burglary cases. #RandolphHarris 2 of 16
Court data reveal a different trend in terms of the veracity with which burglary cases are adjudicated. U.S.A. courts produced nearly 90,000 felony burglary cases in 2022. This figure represents 10 percent of all felony convictions that year. In fact, 68 percent of the burglary cases that were tried resulted in a conviction for the same offense and only 24 percent avoided some sort of conviction. The researchers found that burglary defendants do not receive a reprieve from the courts when it comes time for sentencing. A full 74 percent of the convicted burglars were sentenced to time behind bars. This rate was surpassed only by murder, robbery, drug trafficking, and driving-related offenses. While the median prison sentence for a convicted burglar was 41 months, nearly 10 percent received sentences in excess of 10 years. Our correctional system does not appear to be particularly forgiving to persons who are convicted of burglary. On average, burglary offenders can expect to serve almost half of their sentence—roughly two years. These time-served figures are on par with those of other property offenses (theft, fraud, and motor vehicle theft) but somewhat lower than that observed for violent (54 percent) and weapon-related offenses (60 percent). Accounts from known burglars clearly suggest that informal social control efforts go as long way to deter and/or displace burglary activity. A minimal amount of vigilance on the part of homeowners can go a long way. Measures designed to combat the relatively small population of high incidence “professional” burglars tends to overemphasize the skill and determination of most burglars. #RandolphHarris 3 of 16
Burglaries are expensive, complex, and require long term commitment at many levels. In fact, most burglars are young, unskilled, and opportunistic. This suggests that emphasis should be directed at such factors as surveillability, occupancy, and accessibility. More specifically, dogs, good locks, and alarm systems deter most burglars. Community-level informal social control can also play an important role in burglary prevention. When it comes to surveillability cues, burglars tend to avoid neighborhoods with a lot of foot traffic or active neighborhood watches. This implies that observant or even nosy neighbors can have a measurable impact on burglary. However, these types of collective efforts are difficult to enact and maintain in the areas that burglars most prefer—urban neighborhoods. If nothing else, tenants of “crime prevention through environmental design” should be considered at a neighborhood level. Simple environmental characteristics such as cul-de-sac street design, high levels of lightening, and well pruned landscaping that minimizes unobservable entry and exit points can have a significant impact on burglary victimization levels in a given community. The aforementioned informal social control efforts represent examples of target hardening strategies aimed at deterring would-be burglars from victimizing a given house or displacing offenders from a given community. Also, measures should be designed that aim to undermine offenders’ strong attachment to street culture. Expanded employment opportunities are one possible, but foreboding avenue to lure offenders out of street life. #RandolphHarris 4 of 16
There exist even more simple and realistic measures that might effect change in this area. For example, a coordinated burglary prevention program that was implemented in a midsize U.S.A. city during the early 1980s. Community activism and community involvement (id est, block meetings, neighborhood cleanups, and raised awareness of vulnerabilities and potential offenders) showed promise for reducing burglary. If community members care about the condition of their neighborhood and are willing to take steps to clean it up and exercise vigilance over problem people and places, there is hope for reducing burglary and other forms of street crime. Most crime occurs during the nighttime. A close examination of NCVS and UCR data suggests that 50 percent to 60 percent of all residential burglaries go unreported. The figure reported here was derived by adding the NCVS data on residential burglaries to an adjusted estimate of nonresidential burglaries that were reported in the UCR—one that factors a 60 percent nonreporting rate. These data must be viewed with caution because 50 to 60 percent of all burglaries go unreported to police and only 14 percent of these lead to arrest. Over time, the crime of burglary has slowly slipped down the list of crime fighting priorities. At present, less than half of all burglaries get reported to police, and only 13 percent of those result in an arrest. What kinds of social and legal factors have contributed to this present level of empathy when it comes to the formal and informal society control of burglary? #RandolphHarris 5 of 16
Adjudication data suggest that accused burglars face a high certainty of being convicted and sentenced to prison. This should send a message to police that burglary is a high priority for our nation’s prosecutors and judges. Still, burglary investigation and arrest efforts remain lukewarm at best. What kinds of factors contribute to police officers’ attitudes and behaviors regarding burglary patrol and enforcement? Considerable evidence suggests that burglars refine strategies and cues that help them identify soft and potentially lucrative targets. Does this mean that burglars are more rational and planful than other types of criminals? The Lord has declared that “no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of Heaven,” reports Alma 11.37. Our sins make us unclean—unworthy to return and dwell in the presence of our Heavenly Father. They also bring anguish to our soul in this life. Repentance is sometimes a painful process, but it leads to forgiveness and lasting peace. The power of sin is great. To become free from it, we must turn to your Heavenly Father, pray in faith, and act as He asks us to. The Holy Spirit should never become the center and object of thought and worship, place which He Himself does not desire, and which it is not the purpose of the Father in Heaven that He should have or occupy. “He shall not speak from Himself,” reports John 16.13, said that Lod Jesus before Calvary, as He foretold the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost. He would act as Teacher (John 14.26), but teaching the words of Another, not to Himself (John 15.26); He would only glorify Another, not His own; He would bear witness to Another, not Himself (John 16.14); He would only speak what was given Him to spear by Another (John 16.13). #RandolphHarris 6 of 16
The Spirit’s entire work would be to lead souls into union with the Son and give proper knowledge of the Father in Heaven, while He Himself directed and worked in the background. If a man who is untaught in the scriptural statements about the work of the Triune God makes “obeying the Spirit” his supreme purpose, the deceiver will aim to counterfeit the guidance of the Spirit, and even the presence of the Spirit Himself. It is just here that the ignorance of the seeker about the spiritual Word now opened to one, the working of evil powers in that realm, and the conditions upon which God works in and through one, gives the enemy his opportunity. It becomes the time of greatest peril for anyone unless one is instructed and prepared by the Lord, as the disciples were for three whole years. The danger lies in the area of supernatural “guidance,” for one must know the conditions of cooperation with the Holy Spirit in order to discern the cooperation with the Holy Spirit in order to discern the will of God and be able to recognize counterfeit manifestations. The “discerning of spirits” is required to detect the workings of the false angel of light, for he is able to bring about counterfeit gifts of prophecy, tongues, healing, and other spiritual experiences connected with the work of the Holy Ghost. Those who have their eyes opened to the opposing forces of the metaphysical realm understand that very few believers can guarantee that they are obeying God and God only, in directly supernatural guidance, because there are so many factors liable to intervene, such as the believer’s own mind, spirit, or will and the deceptive intrusion of the powers of darkness. #RandolphHarris 7 of 16
Knowledge is essential here. Scripture teaches that there is a God-given gift of “discerning of spirits” (1 Cor. 12.10) which enables one to detect that an unwelcome spirit is at work, but there is also a test of spirits which is doctrinal (1 John 4.1-6). In the former, a believer can discern in his spirit that lying spirits are at work in a meeting, or in a person, but one may not have the understanding needed for testing the doctrines being set forth by the teacher. One needs a level of knowledge in both cases: knowledge to read one’s spirit with assurance in the face of all contrary appearances, that the supernatural workings are not “of God,” and knowledge to detect the subtlety of “teachings” bearing certain infallible indications that they emanate from the pit, even while appearing to be from God. As to personal obedience to God, the believer can detect whether or not one is obeying God in some “command” by judging its fruits, and by being aware of the character of God—such as the truth that God has always a purpose in His commands, and He will give no command out of harmony with His character and Word. Often times people wait for something to happen, for some sure way to nurture oneself, to live from within. Music, art, poetry, hot baths, savory foods, wind, rain—nothing affects them. In the past, within days after a solitary retreat, many had found solace and strength in their loneliness. They had always found a way, at least a beginning that would lead to action and to life with others. #RandolphHarris 8 of 16
However, it is impossible to find what one is looking for, and one is still on a lonely journey, waiting from a spark from within. Because some people feel empty and eroded inside, they avoid all significant communication. More than anything else the interpersonal aspects of living exhaust some and move them to withdraw from real meetings with others. This leaves an individual certain that one does not want to struggle anymore. Doubt, risk and anxiety—inherent elements of faith—can be overcome only by another of its elements, courage. Courage is an ontological concept, the self-affirmation of being in spite of non-being. Faith is the experience of the holy; it is the state of being grasped by the power of being-itself. From this experience flows the power to assert oneself in the face of anxiety. Faith is participation in the object of faith, and yet is the separation from it. In spite of separation, courage expresses participation in the power of being and meaning. This in spite of element is the courage that takes all doubt, risk, and anxiety into itself and overcomes them without removing them. Faith, then, is the basis of courage, and courage is the manifestation of faith. In the extreme situation of a person seized by radical doubt and confronted with the specter of universal meaninglessness, the question arises: Is there such a thing as the courage of despair? Such a courage is entirely possible, for that act of accepting meaninglessness is in itself a meaningful act. #RandolphHarris 9 of 16
The courage of despair enables one, even while in the grip of meaninglessness, to declare one’s situation, and this declaration has meaning. In other words, there cannot be an infinite regression of negatives—in this case, negativity of meaning. At least, one has to admit, negation of meaning is meaningful, or meaninglessness will have lost all meaning. The faith which feeds the courage of despair is called “absolute faith,” for it can have no specific content. Its content is indefinable, since everything defined is dissolved by doubt and meaninglessness. However, certain elements that constitute absolute faith can be discerned. There is an experience of the power of being in the face of nonbeing, an awareness of a hidden meaning within the destruction of meaning. There is the dependence of nonbeing upon being, of meaninglessness upon meaning, of the negative upon the positive. And, lastly, there is the acceptance of the power to accept meaninglessness. Thus, absolute faith is faith which has been deprived by doubt of any concrete content, which nevertheless is faith and the source of the most paradoxical manifestation of the courage to be. Faith is without a special content, yet it is not without content. The content of absolute faith is the “God above God.” When people speak of God, they usually refer to the God of theism. Now theism can mean either a vague, unspecified affirmation of God, or a divine-human encounter of persons, or theological theism which makes God a being beside other beings. However, the God of absolute faith is above and beyond the God of any theism, for the God above God is the power of absolute faith as experience of the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety of doubt. #RandolphHarris 10 of 16
The morning traffic from Oakland to San Francisco across the Bay Bridge gets backed up from 7.30 to 11.00 A.M. Until the jam clears at 11.00, each additional car that enters the traffic makes all those who come later wait just a little longer. The right way to measure this cost is to sum up the additional waiting-times across everyone who is delayed. What is the total waiting-time cost imposed by one additional car that crosses the bridge at 9.00 A.M.? You may be thinking you do not know enough information. A remarkable feature to this problem is that the externality can be calculated based on the little amount you have been told. You do not need to know how long it takes the cars to cross the toll plaza, nor the distribution of cars that arrive after 9.00. The answer is that same whether the length of the traffic jam stays constant or varies widely until it cleans. The trick is to see that all that matters is the sum of the waiting time. We are not concerned with who waits. (In other circumstances, we might want to weigh the waiting times by the monetary value of time for those caught in the jam.) The simplest way to figure out the total extra waiting time is to shuffle around who waits, putting all the burden on one person. Imagine that the extra driver, instead of crossing the bridge at 9.00 A.M., pulls his car over to the side and lets all the other drivers pass. If he passes up his turn in this way, the other drivers are no longer delayed by the extra car. Of course, he has to wait two hours before the traffic clears and the road is clear. #RandolphHarris 11 of 16
However, these two hours exactly equal the total waiting time imposed on all the other drivers if he were to cross the bridge rather than wait on the sidelines. The reason is straightforward. The total waiting time is the time it takes for everyone to cross the bridge. Any solution that involves everyone crossing the bridge gives the same total waiting time, but distributed differently. Looking at the solution in which the extra car does all the extra waiting is the easiest way to add up the new total waiting time. Looming on the horizon is a dangerous de-coupling of the fast economies from the slow, an event that would spark enormous power shifts throughout the so-called South-with big impacts on the planet as a whole. The new wealth-creation system holds the possibility of a far better future for vast populations who are now among the planet’s poor. Unless the leaders of the less developed countries (LCDs) anticipate these changes, however, they will condemn their people to perpetuated misery—and themselves to impotence. For even as Chinese manufacturers wait for their steel, and traditional economies around the World to crawl slowly through their paces, the United States of America, Japan, Europe, and in this case the Soviets, too, are pressing forward with plans to build hypersonic jets capable of moving 250 tons of people and cargo at Mach 5, meaning that cities like New York, Sydney, London, and Los Angeles will be two and a half hours from Tokyo. #RandolphHarris 12 of 16
Jiro Tokuyama, former head of the prestigious Nomura Research Institute, and now a senior adviser to the Mitsui Research Institute, heads a fifteen-nation study of what are called the “three T’s:” telecommunications, transportation, and tourism. Sponsored by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference, the study focuses on three key factors likely to accelerate the pace of economic processes in the region still further. According to Tokuyama, Pacific air-passenger traffic is likely to reach 134 million…at the turn of the century. The Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies, Tokuyama adds, estimates that five hundred to one thousand hypersonic jets must be built. Many of these will ply Pacific routes, speeding further the economic development of the region, and promoting faster telecommunications as well. In a paper prepared for the Three T’s study, Tokuyama spells out the commercial, social, and political implications of this development. He also describes a proposal by Taisei, the Japanese construction firm, to build an artificial island five kilometers in length to serve as a “VAA,” or “value added airport,” capable of handling hypersonics and providing an interactional conference center, shops, and other facilities to be linked by high-speed linear trains to a densely populated area. In Texas, meanwhile, billionaire H. Ross Perot is building an airport to be surrounded by advanced manufacturing facilities. As conceived by him, planes could roar in a day and night bearing components for overnight processing or assembly in facilities at the airport. The next morning the jets would carry them to all parts of the World. #RandolphHarris 13 of 16
Simultaneously, on the telecommunications front, the advanced economies are investing billions in the electronic infrastructure essential to operations in the super-fast economy. The spread of extra-intelligence nets is moving swiftly, and there are now proposals afoot to create special higher-speed fiber optic networks linking supercomputer all across the United States of America with thousands of laboratories and research groups. (Existing networks are regarded as too slow. The proposed new nets would send 319 Terabits per second streaming across the country). The new network is needed because the existing slower nets are already choked and overloaded. They argue that the project merits government backing because it would help the United States of America keep ahead of Europe and Japan in a field it now leads. This, however, is only a special case of a more general clamor. In the words of Mitch Kapor, a founder of Lotus Development Corporation, the software giant, “We need to build a national infrastructure that will be the information equivalent of the national highway-building of the ‘50s and ‘60s.” An even more appropriate analogy would compare today’s computerized telecom infrastructures with the rail and road networks needed at the beginning of the industrial revolution. What is happening, therefore, is the emergence of an electronic neural system for the economy—without which any nation, no matter how many smokestacks it has, will be domed to backwardness. #RandolphHarris 14 of 16
In its commercial service trade, in 2021, India trade balance for 2021 USD$-79.19, a 665.96 percent increase from 2020. The United States of America is the largest services exporter in the World. In 2019, U.S.A. exports of service were USD $875.8 billion, up 1.6 percent (USD $13 billion) from 2018. U.S.A. exports of services account for 35 percent of over all U.S.A. exports in 2019. Germany World Development Indicators (WDI) 2020: trade balance in USD$221,534 million. Trade services as a percentage of GDP is 5.82 percent. Trade in services with the United Kingdom (exports and imports) totaled an estimated USD $140.7 billion in 2019. Services exports were USD $78.3 billion; services imports were USD $62.3 billion. The U.S.A. services trade surplus with United Kingdom was USD $16.0 billion in 2019. Trade in services with China (exports and imports) totaled an estimated $56.0 billion in 2020. Services exports were USD $40.4 billion; services imports were USD $15.6 billion. The U.S.A. service trade surplus with China was USD $24.8 billion in 2020. Trade in services with Japan (exports and imports) totaled an estimated USD $68.6 billion in 2020. Services exports were USD $38.0 billion; services imports were USD $30.6 billion. #RandolphHarris 15 of 16
The U.S.A. services trade surplus with Japan was USD $7.4 billion in 2020. Japan was the United States of Americas’ 4th largest goods export market in 2020. As for the services, France exported around USD $303 billion worth of services in 2021, while it imported services for the total value of USD $258.3 billion. Service trade in Italy in 2020, Italy exported $73.1B worth of services. The outsized U.S.A.-Ireland commercial relationship, which exceeded USD $1 trillion in 2021 is significant by international standards and is particularly impressive relative to the country’s population of five million people. In 2021, U.S.A. good exported to Ireland exceeded USD $13.8 billion. The statistics for services from 2012 record the value of U.S.A. service exports to Ireland at $74.8 billion. In 2021, global services exports were valued at USD $6.1 trillion, representing 6.3 percent of total World trade in both goods and services. Overall, as far as the nations’ trade balances are concerned, the picture in the services sector is almost the opposite of the one in the merchandise trade. In services, the West has a significant competitive edge versus China and is in a good position to establish a much wider presence in the Chinese market. #RandolphHarris 16 of 16
Lifestyle Built Around Immediate Gratification
People are responsible for their own motives, attitudes, desires, and actions. Our words, works, and thoughts will condemn us. Burglary offenders generally exhibit pronounced criminal careers. Only 32 percent of the 4,000+ defendants who stood before the courts on felony burglary charges were without a prior felony arrest record. One third has a rap sheet containing ten or more arrests. Moreover, half had a prior felony criminal conviction under their belt and 10 percent had been convicted five or more time in the past. Four of ten burglary defendants were in an active criminal justice status (id est, on probation, parole, or pretrial release) at the time that they were arrested for the burglary offense in question. The criminal history patterns of the burglary defendants were more pronounced than any other type of defendant. Research on active burglars suggests that they engage in only limited specialization of offense. Most live a lifestyle that is built around immediate gratification (drug or drinking habits and frivolous spending) and are this almost constantly in need of cash. They are not picky about the exact source of the funds and tend to pursue a host of illicit income-generating avenues (exempli gratia, motor vehicle theft, robbery, larceny, fraud, drug sales). In a recidivism study, nearly 74 percent of the burglars got in trouble with the law within 3 years of release into the community, only 23 percent were rearrested on a new burglary charge. When specialization does occur among burglars, it tends to take on a “short term” quality. #RandolphHarris 1 of 14
Thirty three percent of burglars restricted their criminal activities solely to the crime of burglary during the past 6 months. This finding suggests that some habitual street offenders may fall into a groove and rely exclusively on burglary to support their drug use or fast-paced lifestyle. Over time, factors such as an opportunistic introduction to other criminal outlet, increased perceived risk, or saturation of “desirable” targets will inevitably lead them astray from their short-term specialization. Burglary is a crime that is principally guided by shallow instrumental motives. Most would-be offenders are drawn to the crime because of its monetary payoff. Habitual offenders describe burglary as a low-risk, high-yield form of crime. These risk perceptions are shaped by several factors. First, by implementing a minimal level of vigilance and commonsense, most offenders know that they can get in and out of a home or business without being identified. Second, they know that in lieu of physical evidence or eyewitness testimony, burglary offenses are difficult for police to solve. Third, seasoned offenders know that urban burglary victims (especially repeat victims) tend to have little faith in the police department’s ability to remedy their property losses or effect an arrest and thus may not be inclined to pursue the matter with the authorities. Finally, criminals know that burglary offenses are a low priority for law enforcement—numerous urban police forces now funnel burglary calls for service into an automated phone system that does little more than generate a police report for home owner’s insurance purposes. #RandolphHarris 2 of 14
Most burglars become accustomed to a fast-paced lifestyle and/or are addicted to drugs and thus continue to commit burglaries in the face of increasing risks and diminished rewards. In rare instances, burglars are known to exhibit expressive motivations. Inquiries reveal that burglars sometimes commit their crimes for excitement, revenge, or while in a drug- or alcohol-induced stupor. Issues of planning and target selection are critical to the burglar’s decision-making process. Planning refers to any prevent preparations that the burglar might put in place to assist him or her in more smoothly accomplishing goals. These preparations might include recruiting of accomplices with specific skills, “casing” the targeted establishment, or arranging for transportation. Research indicates that most burglars engage in only minimal prevent planning. They see no need to spend a lot of time thinking through the how, when, and where of their offending. Instead, they tend to operate in advance. There is a term known as opportunistic planning, which refers to the more spontaneous breed of burglar who identifies break-in opportunities as they arise and quickly formulates and implements a plan of attack. Alternatively, seasoned professionals often engage in search planning, whereby they are willing to spend considerable time looking for lucrative targets or wait for tipsters to supply them with such locations. These burglars might even limit their offending to specific types of dwellings (supermarkets, hotels). #RandolphHarris 3 of 14
Once a target is acquired, the offender(s) will formulate a predetermined division of labor, become familiar with the dwelling, and map out a contingency-based extraction and escape scenarios. Interview data reveal that these meticulous prowlers view planning as the cornerstone of low-risk, high-yield approach to the trade. Target selection refers to the strategic criteria that attract or repel a would-be offender from a given dwelling. Oftentimes, offenders wait for someone lese to direct them toward desirable targets. More precisely, they may rely on inside information from someone who is familiar with the dwelling. For example, an acquaintance, an employee, subcontractor (pest control worker, landscaper, maid, cable guy, manager, et cetera), or pizza deliver driver might identify a home or business as being particularly susceptible to a break-in. These informants sometimes go as far as to leave the doors or windows unlocked or provide the location and type of valuables that are available for the taking. Such tips are invaluable to the burglar and usually result in some form of payoff for the informant before or after the crime is committed. Or, in high scale neighborhoods, they will have pretty white girls case the block looking for houses they want to hit, and then knock on the door, ask to use the phone, start a conversation, visually memorize the layout of the homes and where the valuable are. Then, they draw a blueprint of the house and highlight things to get, and give it to their team. #RandolphHarris 4 of 14
Much of what we know about offender decision-making processes comes from a series of innovative studies specifically undertaken to assess the “in-the-field” thought processes of active burglars. Collectively, these studies suggest that burglars are sensitive to the physical space and architectural design. These characteristics play an important role in whether they follow through on a desire to victimize a given home or business. Offenders’ target selection processes are broken down into three categories: occupancy probes, surveillability cues, and accessibility cues. Occupancy cues allow the offender to determine if the dwelling is currently vacant. Empty homes or businesses are ideal because they minimize the likelihood that the assailant will be observed, interrupted, or reported while engaging in the crime. Burglars, therefore, become well versed at scanning the environment for signs of occupancy. Cues such as cars in the driveway/garage, silhouettes in the windows, or the sound of voices tell them that someone is home and that they are wise to keep moving along their way. A burglary might go so far as to look for newspapers on the stoop or a mailbox full of mail. Some will even knock on the door or call on the phone to see if anyone is inside. The most seasoned burglars will take a few days to study the daily routines of the occupants and even the neighbors. #RandolphHarris 5 of 14
Surveillability cues direct attention to the perimeter of a potential target. Here, the offenders seeks to determine whether they will be able to get into and out of an unoccupied structure without drawing the attention of neighbors or passers by. Ideal targets are poorly lit, secluded, fenced-in locations with minimal traffic and easily accessed entry and escape points. Conversely, nosey or nearby neighbors, significant foot traffic, neighbors with dogs, and the absence of shrubbery or fencing can encourage a burglary to move along their way. Som burglars seek to blend into the environment by wearing uniforms or driving service vehicles that deflect attention. Accessibility cues focus on the issue of entry. Here, the assailants seek out soft targets with unsophisticated or inoperable security devices. Unlocked doors or windows are appealing, while target hardening devices such as deadbolt locks, burglar alarms, burglar bars, or dogs sever as deterrents. Some burglars claim to have knowledge or skills regarding how to defeat sophisticated locks or alarm systems but, in practice, almost always chose to avoid undertaking the task. It appears that offenders are pragmatic on these issues; namely, they see no reason to take on a challenging target when they can bank on the fact that a “soft” one exists somewhere nearby. Drug and alcohol use appears to have an important impact on the thought processes of burglary offenders. Survey of federal and state prison inmates found that the majority (56 percent) of incarcerated burglars were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of their most recent offense. #RandolphHarris 6 of 14
Urinalysis testing of arrestees suggests that the actual level of offense-related substance use may be even higher—nearly 80 percent of the burglars who were tested via the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program were shown to have drugs or alcohol in their system. These alarming statistics have led some to look more closely at the relationship between substance use ad burglary (id est, drugs/crime relationship). We interviewed active burglars with established drug habits. Several significant trends were revealed. As expected, these offenders explained that they relied on burglary as a primary source of money to support their drug habit (id est, instrumental motive source). Somewhat unexpectedly, drug use was said to facilitate the actual commission of burglars. That is, the burglars claimed that they routinely used drugs to enhance their skills (alertness, steadiness, et cetera) or to calm their nerves just prior to offending. Respondents described a tenuous relationship between burglary and drug use—they recognized that some drugs such as cocaine or other stimulants will predictably yield poor decision making and increased risks. Burglars appear to rely on simple and pragmatic normative neutralizations to account for their criminal indiscretions. Most burglars attach a sense of necessity to their crimes. For those with substance abuse problems, burglary is viewed as a primary means by which they can feed the habit and thus avoid withdrawal. For the nonaddicted offenders interviewed, burglary represents a reliable source of illegitimate income (along with robbery, theft, and drug dealing) by which they could solve pressing financial crises and/or sustain their free-wheeling lifestyle and delicate social status. #RandolphHarris 7 of 14
In our premortal life we had a moral agency. One purpose of Earth life is to show what choices we will make. If we are forced to choose the right, we would not be able to show what we would choose for ourselves. Also, we are happier doing things when we have made our own choices. The Lord has said that all people are responsible for their own actions. Even though we are free to choose our course of action, we are not free to chose the consequences of our actions. The consequences, whether good or bad, follow as a natural result of any choice we make. “The Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him,” is the principal phrase giving rise to the expression “obey the Spirit.” It was used by Peter before the priestly council in Jerusalem, but nowhere else in the Scriptures is the same thought given. The whole passage needs to be read carefully to reach a clear conclusion. “We must obey God” (Acts 5.29), Peter declared to the Sanhedrin, for “we are witnesses…and so is the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey Him” (v. 32). Does the apostle mean “obey the Spirit” or “obey God,” according to the first words of the passage? The distinction is important, and the sense of the words can be rightly grasped only by noting the teaching of other parts of Scripture, that the Triune GOD IN HEAVEN is to be obeyed through the power of the indwelling Spirit of God. For to place the Holy Ghost as the object of obedience, rather than God the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit, creates the danger of leading the believer to rely upon, or obey, a “spirit” in or around one, rather than God on the throne in Heaven. #RandolphHarris 8 of 14
God is to be obeyed by the child of God untied to His Son—the Holy Spirit being the medium, or means, through whom God is worshipped and obeyed. Sometimes in life, we may experience a strong desire to be alone, and may deliberately cut ourselves off from others. We may seek within, not for an answer, but for a way to live, but sometimes nothing will come. Each day, some wait for the sun to rise, but only darkness persists. The World may look remote, strange. Its color may fade away, its breath becomes cold. One may see everything through a cloud…a thick veil alters the hue and look of everything. Persons mov like shadows, and sounds seem to come from a distant World—there are no longer any past for one; people appear so strange; it is as if one cannot see any reality, as if one was in a threatre; as if people are actors, and everything is scenery; one can no longer find oneself; one walks, but why? Everything floats before one’s eyes, but leaves no impression. Each day some people experience a continuing feeling of detachment and a desire to be alone, immune to life. One only wants internal dialogue, and believes that through an internal sign one will discover the next step. The concreteness of the content of faith brings in its wake doubt, risk, and anxiety. Elementary psychology dictates a direct ratio between concreteness and concern; one can be far more concerned about a concrete object than an abstract one. However, the more concretely the content of faith is expressed in a symbol, the greater is the possibility of error, for the element of absoluteness, of transcendence, may be edged out. #RandolphHarris 9 of 14
A preliminary concern, so alluring in its concreteness, may become the content of faith. Nor do we enjoy any immediate awareness that the content to which faith has committed us is truly ultimate. Consequently, doubt is an element which is always and will be always present in the act of faith. This doubt is neither methodological doubt, which is a mode of scientific inquiry, nor sceptical doubt, which is really a cloak for concealed faith. It is existential doubt arising from the tension between the ultimacy of concern and the concreteness of content. To complement the appearance of doubt, mention must be made also of risk and anxiety. Risk can be used to include both objective doubt about the concrete content of faith and subjective commitment to it. Risk is decision for the uncertain. Anxiety is a much broader concept, and, in fact, we build an ontology of anxiety. In this ontological sense, anxiety is the existential awareness of nonbeing. Nonbeing can threaten in several different ways. The way it threatens man’s spiritual life is by the anxiety of meaninglessness, an anxiety aroused by the loss of a spiritual center, of an answer, however symbolic and indirect, to the question of the meaning of existence. The doubter has lost God, truth, and the meaning of life, but one cannot rest in this loss, for one encounters the demand to what one has lost. One is gripped by the relentless power of truth, and, since one cannot fulfill the law of truth, one falls into despair. One doubts about one’s salvation, except that in one’s case loss of salvation is not the divine sentence of condemnation, but the abyss of meaninglessness. Radical doubt is not an ethical problem of flight from God. It is the struggle for participation in the unconditioned meaning of life. #RandolphHarris 10 of 14
The justification of the doubter (die Rechtfertigung des Zweiflers) paradoxically is accomplished by faith. For faith is ultimate concern, not the acceptance of theological truths, even truths about God and Christ. It is legalism to insist upon adoption of creedal beliefs before God grants justification. With the principle of justification by faith being applied to the religious-intellectual life—nothing only the sinner, but the doubter, too, is saved by faith, by one’s ultimate concern. The more serious the doubt and the more despairing the doubter, the greater is one’s concern for the meaning of life. This unconditional seriousness is the expression of the presence of the divine in the experience of utter separation from it. Faith is found in the depths of doubt. To put doubt in its proper context, attention is called to the fact that we intend to analyze the structure of faith, not describe an actual state of mind. Consequently, doubt is not a permanent experience within the act of faith. However, it is always present as an element in the structure of faith. Similarly, extreme anxiety is not a common occurrence, but the rare occasions in which it is present determine the interpretation of existence as a whole. In an economic sense, China has a lot to do with existence of the United States of America. China’s sensational performance as a manufacturing superpower left in the shadow its rapidly growing presence in the global market of commercial services. On other hand, in the services sector the West retains a significant edge it can sharpen even further. Here it is in a good position to capture the rapidly expanding markets of China and other large developing countries, but at this point its services exports to those countries are surprisingly small. #RandolphHarris 11 of 14
As of 2022, global services exports are estimated at USD$7 trillion. International services exports account for 6.3 percent of World GDP. With USD$795 billion worth of services sold internationally in 2021, the United States of America remained the World’s leading exporter, capturing a 13 percent share of the global market. It was followed, at some distance, by the United Kingdom (USD$418 billion), China, the leading exporter among developing economies, ranked third (USD$392 billion). The top five service exporters from developing exporters are: China, India, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, China, Hong Kong SAR. The top five service exporters from developed economies are: United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, and France. In exports of commercial services by country, the top seven are: United States of America, UK, Germany, France, China, Japan, Spain, Italy, India. In the transportation and especially travel services, the sectors where China achieved most is still significantly lagging behind the Western powers. The latter continue to command global markets. Growth of India’s exports of those services was remarkable, but in absolute terms they remain minor. In the financial and telecom services sector, China’s global presence is almost invisible: It is not among the top 15 exporters (here and in the flowing, the EU is counted as a single exporter). India, at number seven, accounted for 1.9 percent of global exports of telecom services. Its share of the global financial services market was 1.4 percent. In the latter sector it is about to catch up with Japan (1.9 percent of the World’s total), though remaining far behind the United States of America (21.1 percent) and the EU (25.6 percent). #RandolphHarris 12 of 14
The only sector where Western countries are not leading is computer and information services. Computer service export were dominated by the European Union, India and China in 2019. With a dominance distant from the rest, although en bloc, the European Union registered external sales of these services for USD$250.616 million, after, India with USD$55.472 million, and China USD$44.96 billion, other exporters of computer services were the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Israel, Singapore, Canada, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates. When it comes to economical labor, a jolting blow is likely to hit the Less Developed Countries (LDCs) even harder and change power relations among within them. Every since the smoky dawn of the industrial era, capitalist manufacturers have pursued the golden grail of inexpensive labor. After World War II the hunt for foreign sources of inexpensive labor became a stampede. Many developing countries bet their entire economic future on the theory that selling labor inexpensive labor would lead to modernization. Some, like the “four tigers” of East Asia—South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore—even won their bet. They were helped along by a strong work ethic, cultural and other unique factors, including the fact that two bitter wars, the Korean conflict in the 1950 and Vietnam in the 1960s and early ’70, pumped billions of dollars into their region. Some Japanese referred to this dollar influx as the “divine wind.” #RandolphHarris 13 of 14
Because of their success, it is now almost universally believed that shifting from the export of agricultural products or raw materials to the export of goods manufactured by inexpensive labor is the path to development. Yet nothing could be further from the long-range truth. There is no doubt that the inexpensive-labor game is still being played all over the World. Even now Japan is transferring plants and contracts from Taiwan and Hong Kong, where wages have risen, to Thailand, Malaysia, and China, where wages are still one-tenth those in Japan. No doubt many opportunities still exist for rich countries to locate pools of inexpensive labor in the LDCs. However, like leasing military bases or shipping ore, the sale of inexpensive labor is also reaching its outer limits. The reason for this is simple: Under the newly emerging system of wealth creation, inexpensive labor is increasingly expensive. As the new system spreads, labor costs themselves become a smaller fraction of total costs of production. In some industries today, labor costs represent only 10 percent of the total costs of production. A 1 percent saving of a 10 percent cost factor is only one tenth of a percent. By contrast, better technology, faster and better information flows, decreased inventory, or streamlined organization can yield savings far beyond any that can be squeezed out of hourly workers. This is why it may be more profitable to run an advanced facility in Japan or the United States of America, with a handful of highly educated, highly paid employees, than a backward factory in China or Brazil that depends on masses of badly educated low-wage workers. Inexpensive labor, is no longer enough to ensure market advantage to developing countries. #RandolphHarris 14 of 14
One Who Lasts Last Lasts Best?
It is possible that depictions of violence often glamorize vicious behavior. They offend the Spirit and could possibly make one less able to respond to others in a sensitive, caring way. They also may contradict the Savior’s message of love for one another. The second portion of our interviews with carjackers dealt with the aftermath of carjackings. Here, we are concerned with basic questions: What did they do with the vehicles? What did they do with their money? Given the propensity of many carjackers to target other offenders, how did they mange the threat of retaliation? The majority of our respondents immediately disposed of the vehicle, liquidating it for cash. As Corleone put it, “there’s a possibility they report[ed] the car stolen and while I’m driving around the police [could] pull me over. I ain’t got time to hop out [of the vehicle] and run with no gun. I just want to get the money that I wanted.” Although most of our respondents immediately delivered the vehicle to a chop shop or dismantled it themselves, a fair number of them chose to drive the vehicle around first, showing it off or “flossing” to other neighborhood residents and associates. Despite the possibility that the vehicle’s owner or the police might catch up with them, they chose to floss. INT: “What do you like to do after a carjacking?” Binge: “Well, what I like to do is just like to, see my friends. They don’t give a damn either, I just go pick them up and ride around, smoke a little bit [of] weed, and get some gals, and to partying or something like that you know. I know it’s taking a chance but, you know like I say, they don’t give a damn. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21
INT: “Is that what you did with the car that you took off the guy at the Lightrail?” Binge: “Yeah. I was just riding around listening to the music, picked up a couple of friend of mine. We rode around. I told them it was a stolen car. It was a nice little car too. Black with a hard top. Oh yeah, oh yeah—[it had] nice sounds. I was chilling man, I was chilling, you know? I was driving along with the music playing up loud. Ha ha. You know I wasn’t even worried. I was just feeling good. ‘Cause I’m not used to driving along with music playing up loud. Ha ha. You know I wasn’t even worried. I was just feeling good. ‘Cause I’m not used to driving that much you know ‘cause I don’t have a car you know. That’s why when I do a carjacking I just play it off to the tee, run all the gas off, keep the sounds up as loud as I can, keep the heat on, you know just abuse the car you know. That’s all about carjacking like that.” C-Low described his desire to floss as having to do with the ability to gain status in his neighborhood. C-Low: “Put it this way, you got people you know that’s driving around. We just wanna know how it feels. We’re young and we ain’t doing sh*t else. So they [people from the neighbourhood] see you driving the car, they gonna say, “Hey, there’s C-Low!” and such and such. That makes us feel good ‘cause we’re riding, and then when we’re done riding we wreck the car or give it to somebody else and let him ride. We took the car and drove around the hood, flossing everything. And then we wrecked it on purpose We ran it into a ditch. I don’t know, we were f*cked up high, we were high man, just wild! Wrecked the thing.” #RandolphHarris 2 of 21
However, for offenders like these, the prospect of getting caught and losing profits eventually began to outweigh the benefits of showing off. INT: “So how long did you drive around in the [Chevrolet] Suburban before you stripped it?” LOCO: “Oh, we was rolling that. We drove for a good thirty minutes, then I said that I want[ed] to get up out of it because they might report it stolen. We was [still driving] right there [near] the scene [of the crime] and they [the police] would probably tried to flag me [pull me over]. And if they tried to flag me, I would [have to] have taken them through a high-speed chase. F*ck that.” Sleezee-E informed us (as did other respondents) that disposing of the vehicle quickly was the key to getting away with a carjacking. Indeed, almost all respondents were aware of the police department’s “hot sheet” for stolen vehicles (although their estimations of how long it took for a vehicle to show up on the hot-sheet varied greatly, from as soon as the vehicle was reported stolen to 24 hours or even longer afterwards). Sleezee-E: [People think that] the cops will wait 24 hours just to see what you are going to do with the car. Because some idiots, when they jack a car, they just drive it around and then they leave it someplace. I don’t do that. That’s how you get caught. Driving it around. You take that car right to the chop shop and let them cut that sucker up.” Once the vehicle was stripped, most carjackers disposed of the vehicle by destroying it somehow. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21
Littlerag: “’Cause it was hot man! It was too hot. All I [wanted] was to take the rims, take the beats, the equalizer, the detachable face. Got all that off, then I just pour gas on it and burnt that mother*cker up. I had finger prints [on it]. I didn’t have no gloves on. I had my own hands on the steering wheel. I left my fingerprints.” Nicole and a boyfriend chose a less conventional method of getting rid of their stolen vehicle. Nicole: We got rid of the car first. We drove the car two blocks and went back down a ways to the park. We drove the car up there, we parked right there and sat for about ten minutes, made sure how many cars come down this street before we can push it over there. It’s a pond, like it’s a lake out there with ducks and geeses in it.” While a few respondents reported that they used the proceeds from carjacking to pay for necessities or bills, the overwhelming majority indicated that they blew their cash indiscriminately on drugs, women, and gambling. We had interviewed Tone on a number of previous occasions for his involvement in strong-arm drug robbery. Although robbery was his preferred crime, he engaged in carjacking occasionally (about once every two months) when easy opportunities presented themselves. During his most recent offense, he and three of his associates took a Cadillac from a neighborhood drug dealer and made $6000. When we asked what he did with his portion, he indicated that he, “…spent that sh*t in like, two days.” #RandolphHarris 4 of 21
INT: “You can go through $1500 in two days?” Tone: “Sh*t, it probably wasn’t even two days, it probably was a day, sh*t.” INT: “What did you spend fifteen hundred on?” Tone: “It ain’t shit that you really want. Just got the money to blow so f*ck it, blow it. Whatever, it don’t even matter. Whatever you see you get, f*ck it. Spend that shit. It wasn’t yours from the getty-up, you know what I’m saying? You didn’t have it from the jump so…Can’t act like you careful with it, it wasn’t yours to care for. Easy come, easy go. The easy it came, it go even easier. F*ck that, f*ck all that. I ain’t trying to think about keeping nothing. You can get it again. INT: “So what does money mean to you? Tone: “What money mean? Sh*t, money just some sh*t everybody need, that’s all. I mean, it ain’t jack sh*t.” INT: “Ok, so it’s not really important to you? Tone: “F*ck no. Cause I told you, easy come, easy go.” Mo had taken a Mercedes-Benz from two men residing in another neighborhood. He had planned the offense over the course of a month and finally, posing as a street window cleaner, carjacked them as they exited a local restaurant. The vehicle’s after-market items netted $5000 in cash. INT: “I’m just kind of curious how you sped like $5,000!” MO: “Just get high, get high. I just blow money. Money is not something that is going to achieve for nobody, you know what I’m saying? So everyday, there’s not a promise that there’ll be another [day] so I just spend it, you know what I’m saying? It ain’t mine, you know what I’m saying, I just got it, it’s just in my possession. This is mine now, so I’m gonna do what I’ve got to do. It’s a lot of fun. At a job you’ve got to work a lot for it, you know what I’m saying? You got to punch the clock, do what somebody else tells you. I ain’t got time for that. Oh yeah, there ain’t nothing like gettin’ high on $5000!” #RandolphHarris 5 of 21
Binge and others confirmed that the proceeds from their illegal activities went to support this form of conspicuous consumption. Binge: “I just blowed it man. With the money me and my girlfriend went and did a bit of shopping, stuff for Christmas. But, the money I got from his wallet? I just blowed that, drinking and smoking marijuana.” For Corleone, the motivation to carjack was directly related to his desire to manage the impressions of others in his social milieu. His remarks served as a poignant comment on sociocultural and peer pressures experienced by many inner city youths. The purpose of carjacking was to obtain the money he needed to purchase clothing and items that would improve his stature in the neighborhood. Corlone: “[$1500 is] a lot. [I bought] shoes, shoes, everything you need. Guys be styling around our neighborhood. The brand you wear, shoes cost $150 in my size. Air Jordans, everybody want those. Everybody have them. I see everybody wearing those in the neighborhood. I mean come on, let’s go get a car. I’m getting those, too.” INT: “How man pairs of sneakers have you got?” Corleone: “Millions. I got, I got, I got a lot of shoes. Clothes, gotta get jackers. INT: “Well, why do you have to look good, what’s so big about looking good?” Corleone: “You can’t. Not nowadays, not where I’m from. You try to walk up to a girl, boy, you got on some raggedy tore up, cut up shoes they’re gonna spit on you or something. Look at you like you crazy. Let’s say you walking with me. I got on creased up pants, nice shoes, nice shirt and you looking like a bum. Got on old jeans. And that dude, that dude, he clean as a mother*cker and you look like a bum.” #RandolphHarris 6 of 21
INT: “So you’re competing with each other, too?” Corleone: “Something like that. Something like a popularity contest.” INT: “Well, you know, you can look nice and clean and not have to spend $150 bucks on shoes, you know.” Corleone: “It’s just this thing. You aint’ going [to] understand, you don’t come from the projects.” In the extraordinary onslaught of the deceiver which will come upon the whole of Christendom at the close of the age, through his army of deceiving spirits, there are some, more than others, who will for a particular reason be attacked by the powers of darkness. These individuals need clear light as to his deceptive workings, so that they may pass through the trial of the “last hour” and be counted worthy to escape that hour of greater trial which is coming upon the Earth (Luke 21.34-36; Rev. 3.10). These are the ones who are recklessly ready to follow the Lord at any cost, and yet do not realize their unpreparedness for the contest with the spiritual powers of the unseen World as they press on into fuller spiritual things. They are believers who are full of mental conceptions wrought into them in earlier years—views and opinions which hinger the Spirit of God from preparing them for all they will meet as they press on to their coveted goal, and which also hinder others from giving them from the Scriptures much that they need to know regarding the spiritual World into which they are so blindly advancing. These sentiments lull them into a false security, and give ground for, and even help bring about, that very deception which enables the deceiver to find them as easy prey. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21
Being spiritual prey can make one feel that family companionship and activities can be a little nerve-racking, and they may want to get away from the constant harping. Some may even think other groups look appealing, until they join them and find out they have nothing in common. While these individuals sit alone, they may feel isolated, yet content. After being involved in an accident and being in a hospital, one may feel aloneness and emptiness. They may not be terrified because one understands why things are done; but one still feels the pain, and no one is able to share it with the individual. It is a very personal experience. Many people are connected with their childhood because they still live in a World of fantasy. Anytime during the day or night when one is not actively thinking or doing something specific, one may have dreams of something they like or admire. Sometimes these fantasies have something to do with the lack of “participant” love that one has felt all of one’s life. They know they are loved by their families, but I think that want non-familial relationships. Yes let there be loneliness, for where there is loneliness, there also is love, and where there is suffering, there also is joy. If faith strike a chord so deep in human nature, the question can be posed: Is faith universal? There are two forms of faith: the formal and the material. The formal definition of faith is valid for every kind of faith in all religions and cultures. Faith, formally or generally defined, is the state of being grasped by that toward which self-transcendence aspires, the ultimate in being and meaning. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21
This formal or universal definition of faith is particularized in the material definition of faith which is the Christian faith, the state of being grasped by the New Being as it is manifest in Jesus as the Christ. Whatever is said of formal faith applies to material faith, although the reverse is not true, because material faith contributes a specification not found in formal faith. It suffices for the present to say that we reconcile the two definitions by holding that Christianity, as the particular (material) definition of faith, expresses the fulfilment toward which all forms of faith are driven. The note of universality enters through the formal definition of faith, for in this formal sense of faith as ultimate concern, every human being has faith. Every human spirit drives toward the unconditional in the direction of self-transcendence. One who is not able to perceive something ultimate, something infinitely significant, is not a man Faith is a universal human potentiality because the human heart is aware that it is ordered to the infinite, but is not yet in possession of it. The seeds of faith are sown in the restlessness of man’s spirit, his striving to transcend the stream of transitory, preliminary concerns in which one is submerged. Thus, the state of being ultimately concerned is a state which is universally human, whatever the content of the concern may be. Of course, the content of ultimate concern can be demonically distorted so that faith becomes idolatrous faith, but it remains faith despite this ambiguity. Our ultimate concern can destroy us as it can heal us, but we never can be without it. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21
Faith in Capitalism is also important to some people. However, things that work well for Western companies to be able to survive in the global market, pose big problems for Western economies as a whole, narrowing their domestic manufacturing base and worsening the employment environment. No easy solutions are in sight. However, these problems can and should be tackled more actively at the national policy level. What can be done? To begin with, the West has to accept that trying to keep its ailing industries afloat by pressing China to appreciate the yuan will not provide a genuine solution. (Though it does not mean that the West should not press China to appreciate yuan—it should, but for a different reason; we will come back to this point later on.) Protectionist measures like punitive import tariffs are an even worse option. Doing effectively nothing to protect industries, they create risks of trade wars, harm consumers, and send the wrong signals to domestic producers: wrong because today it is basically more efficient to produce mass products in China than in the West. Two closely interrelated strategies are vital to address the challenges posed by China’s export offensive. First, Western governments have to do more to encourage differentiation and upgrading of products by domestic factories (in other words, to help them shift from segments one and two to segments three and four) in order to expand the cohort of domestic manufacturers, especially SME, with high non-price competitiveness. The task of primary importance is to promote exports of such upgraded and differentiated products, especially to China and other emerging countries. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21
If an active export promotion policy is not in place, market constraints can critically weaken companies’ motivation to differentiate and upgrade and, as a result, erode the technological base the West has already created, threatening its command over core manufacturing technologies. Here is a quote from a conference address by Haruhisa Gai, the president of Tsubamex, a well-known Japanese manufacturer of mold models and the first company in the industry that introduced a three dimensional CAD-CAM system to speed up product development and raise its quality. The topic under discussion was globalization and challenges from Chinese and other companies from the emerging World. Mr. Gai said: “Costs aside, today there are only two countries in the World that can make any kind of a prototype: Japan and America. Even Germany cannot produce certain customized models. The levels of Japan’s manufacturing technologies is very high, but these says there is no work—and makers do not introduce new machines. If there are no new machines, no new technologies will be born. It is a very big problem…One of our major headaches is that even if we get orders it is uncertain whether we will get the payment in due course—especially from overseas. It is very difficult to collect the money we have to be paid. It would be nice if this can be done by the state…We count a lot on our link with overseas, but there are a lot of obstacles.” The fragment quoted brilliantly articulates the problem and expresses concerns existing in Japan’s business community. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21
To address the Chinese challenge, Western governments have to orchestrate a large-scale export counteroffensive on the Chinese market. In broader terms, they have to come out with a wide-range export promotion policy, centered on those domestic small and medium-size producers that are really capable of differentiating their products and climbing up the value chain. The promotion package can include far more active assistance in market research and sales promotion, in the establishment of overseas distribution industry people. Stage advertising campaigns. Do not be shy about allocating sufficient budget funds for these purposes. And, of course, do all you can to make China reduce its tariff and nontariff import barriers. Much more can be done at the local administration level. Establish and expand direct province-to-province and city-to-city relations. (How many America and European cities have sister relations with Chinese cities? Not too many, really.) Organize various public events, and let the Chinese audiences know how good and attractive the products from your homeland are. They will be interested, without any doubt. Establish trade representative offices—and not only in Beijing and Shanghai, but also in other Chinese cities, effectively acting as export agent for your homeland’s producers and their associations. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21
Studying the feasibility of the U.S.A.-China and the EU-China free trade agreements would be a great idea. Can American and European leaders show enough vigor and courage to come out with such strategic initiatives? (Japan and South Korea are already working with China on a trilateral FTA, and the process seems to be gaining momentum.) It may not be as simple as endless debates about currency manipulators, but it is worthy trying. The range of options is wide. Without drastic steps of this kind, the West’s deficits in its trade with China will continue to increase, and more and more Western manufacturers will have to being down the curtain. The new system for making wealth consists of an expanding global network of markets, banks, production centers, and laboratories in instant communication with one another, constantly exchanging huge—and ever-increasing—flows of data, information, and knowledge. This is the “fast” economy of tomorrow. It is this accelerative, dynamic new wealth-machine that is the source of economic advance. As such, it is the source of great power as well. To be de-coupled from it is to be excluded from the future. Yet that is the fate facing many of today’s “LCDs,” or “less developed countries.” As the World’s main system for producing wealth revs up, countries that wish to sell will have to operate at the pace of those in a position to buy. This means that slow economies will have to speed up their neural responses, lose contracts and investments, or drop out of the race entirely. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21
The earliest signs of this are already detectable. The United States of America in 1980s spent $125 billion a year on clothing. Half of that came from inexpensive-labor factories dotted around the World from Haiti to Hong Kong. Tomorrow much of this work will return to the United States of America. The reason is speed. Of course, shifting taxes, tariffs, currency ratios, and other factors still influence businesses when overseas investment or purchasing decisions are made. However, far more fundamental in the long run are changes in the structure of cost. These changes, part of the transition to the new wealth-creation system, are already sending runaway factories and contracts home again to the United States of America, Japan, and Europe. The Tandy Corporation, a major manufacturer and retailer of electronic products, not long ago brought its Tandy Color Computer production back from South Korea to Texas. While the Asian plant was automated, the Texas plant operated on an “absolutely continuous” flow basis and had more sophisticated test equipment. In Virginia, Tandy set up a no-human-hands automated plant to turn out five thousand speaker enclosures a day. These supply Japanese manufacturers, who previously had them made with low-cost labor in the Caribbean. The computer industry is, of course, extremely fast-paced. However, even in a slower industry, the Arrow Company, one of the biggest U.S.A. shirtmakers, transferred 20 percent of it dress-shirt production back to the United States of America after fifteen years of off-shore sourcing. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21
Frederick Atkins Inc., a buyer for U.S.A. department stores, has increased domestic purchases from 5 percent to 40 percent in three year. These shifts can be traced, at least in part, to the rising importance of time in economies. The new technology is giving domestic apparel makers an important advantage over their Asian competitors. Because of fickle fashion trends and the practice of changing styles as often as six times a year, retailers want to be able to keep inventories low. This calls for quick response from apparel makers that can offer fast turnaround on smaller lots in all styles, sizes and colors. Asian suppliers, half a World away, typically require order three months in advance. By contrast, Italy’s Benetton Group delivers midseason reorders within two to three weeks. Because of its electronic network, Haggar Apparel in Dallas is now able to restock its 2,500 customers with slacks every three days, instead of the seven weeks it once needed. Compare this with the situation facing manufacturers in China who happened to need steel. In 1988, China suffered the worst steel shortages in memory. Yet with fabricators crying out for supplies, 40 percent of the country’s total annul output remained padlocked in the warehouses of the Storage and Transportation General Corporation (STGC). Why? Because this enterprise—incredible as it may seem to the citizens of fast economies—makes deliveries only twice a year. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21
The fact that steel prices were skyrocketing, that the shortages were creating a black market, that fraud was widespread, and that companies needing the steel faced crisis meant nothing to the managers of STGC. The organization was simply not geared to making more frequent deliveries. While this is no doubt an extreme example, it is not isolated. A “great wall” separates the fast from the slow, and that wall is rising higher with each passing day. It is this cultural and technological great wall that explains, in part, the high rate of failures in joint projects between fast and slow countries. Many deals collapse when a slow-country supplier fails to meet promised deadlines. The different pace of economic life in the two Worlds make for cross-cultural static. Officials in the slow country typically do not appreciate how important time is to the partner from the fast country—or why it matters so much. Demands for speed seem unreasonable, arrogant. Yet for the fast-country partner, nothing is more important. Delivery delayed is almost as bad as delivery denied. The increasing cost of unreliability, of endless negotiation, of inadequate tracking and monitoring, and of late responses to the demands for up-to-instant information further diminish the competitive edge of low-wage muscle work in the slow economies. So do expenses arising from delays, lags, irregularities, bureaucratic stalling, and slow decision-making—not to mention the corrupt payments often required to speed things up. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21
In the advanced economies the speed of decision is becoming a critical consideration. Some executives refer to the inventory of “decisions in process,” or “DIP,” as an important cost, similar to “work in progress.” They are trying to replace sequential decision-making with “parallel processing,” which breaks with bureaucracy. They speak of “speed to market,” “quick response,” fast cycle time,” and “time-based competition.” The increase precision of timing required by systems like “just-in-time delivery” mean that the seller must meet far more rigid and restrictive schedule requirements than before, so that it is easier than every to slip up. In turn, as buyers demand more frequent and timely deliveries from overseas, the slow-country suppliers are compelled to maintain larger inventories or buffer stocks at their own expense—with the risk that the stored parts will rapidly become obsolete or unsalable. The new economic imperative is clear: Overseas suppliers from developing countries will either advance their own technologies to meet the World speed standards, or they will be brutally cut off from their markets—casualties of the acceleration effect. Manager generally take a rosy view of time: markets expand, better technologies become available, information improves. However, where there is growth, there is also decay. More than 10 percent of the United States of Americas’ manufacturing output was accounted for by industries whose real output had shrunk during the 1970s. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21
These declining industries range from core manufacturing such as steel, tire, and rubber to fibers and chemicals, to aby foods and vacuum tubes. The reasons for the decline are varied, ranging from technological progress (transistors over vacuum tubes) to improved foreign competition (steel) to regulation (chemicals) to changing demographics (baby foods). In these declining industries, someone must reduce capacity in order for the industry to remain profitable. Each firm would like its competitors to shoulder the reduction; that way they can capture the remaining market by themselves This case examines the questions of whether survivability is related to size. In declining markets, do Davids cut Goliaths down to size or do they get stepped on? David is a small producer. He manufactures one slingshot per quarter. Goliath is twice David’s size. He produces two slingshots per quarter. The two competitors have no flexibility in choosing output. If they are in, they are in; once they stop, they cannot come back. Their battle has some of the same characteristics as Time versus Newsweek. Each quarter they decide whether to produce or to exit, without knowing their competitor’s coeval choice. However, then they find out last period’s move and get to repeat the battle next quarter (provided neither exited). Starting in the first quarter of 1988, if David is a monopolist, he can expect to make $3 on his one slingshot. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21
If David exists and leaves Goliath as a monopolist, Goliath gets a lower unit price since his output is bigger; in the case, he gets $2 per slingshot. (Of course, $2 on two slingshots is better than $3 on David’s one.) If both David and Goliath produce, they are said to be duopolists. In that cause they saturate the market, and the prince (net of cost) falls to 50 cents. The declining market is evident from the price chart. The first column shows the price net of cost if David captures the market for himself. The second column details the price net of cost if Goliath is a monopolist. The third column details the price net of cost if both firms continue to produce in a duopoly. In each quarter after January 1988, the price falls by 25 cents for any output level brough to market. As can be seen from the cart, the pressure to exist begins in the third quarter of 1988, when the duopolists first lost money. By January 1990, Goliath is no longer profitable even as a monopolist. A year later, even David can no longer expect to make any money. Over the twelve quarters from 1988 to 1991 the slingshot industry will become extinct. But when do the firms exit? Who gives up first? When do they exit? This problem can be solved using the technique of sequentially eliminating dominated strategies. To get you started, note that staying past January 1990 is a dominated strategy for Goliath, as he forevermore loses money, irrespective of whether David stays or exists. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21
Now work backward and ask what you would do if you were David and it was the third quarter of 1989 and Goliath was still producing. (In calculating the value of the worst-case scenario, you can simplify the mathematics by assuming a zero interest rate; profits (losses) tomorrow and today are equally valuable.) In this problem, it does not matter how much money you make, just how long you can make it. The firm that can hang on the longest can force out its more profitable rival as soon as duploy profits begin to turn negative. As suggested in the hint, if David can hold on until the third quarter of 1989 he is home free. From then on, the worst possibility is that Goliath stays in the market through the fourth quarter of 1989. This will cost David $2.25in duoploly losses. However, when 1990 comes, Goliath must exit, since he suffers losses either as a duopolist or as a monopolists. Thus, David can count on making $2.50 in monopoly profits during the 1990s, which is enough to tide him over any possible losses during the final two quarters of 1989. Now, the power of backward reasoning picks up steam. Given that David is committed to staying upon reaching July 1989 (exiting is a dominated strategy), Goliath can expect to earn only losses from July 1989 onward. Thus, he will exit immediately if he ever finds himself as a duopolist on that date. That means that David can expect to make the $2.50 as a monopolist in 1990 and $2.75 as a monopolist in the final two quarters of 1989. This windfall of $5.25 more covers the maximum duopoly losses up until that date ($1.50), and therefore David should never exit before January 1991. Given that David is committed to staying, Goliath should leave as soon as duopoly profits turn negative, July 1988. Note that Goliath cannot make the same commitment to stay in the market for the same length of time. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21
That commitment breaks down first in January 1990, and then the guarantee exist by January 1990 translates into a forced exit by July 1989. The slippery slope for Goliath brings him back to October 1988, the first instance when the market is not big enough for the two of them. This simple story of fighting for a market share in declining industries may help explain the observation that large firms are often first to exit. Charles Baden Fuller, an expert in the decline of British markets, reports that when the demand for U.K. steel casing fell by 42 percent over the period of 1975—1981, executives of the two largest firms, F. H. Lloyd and the Weir Group, “felt that they had borne the brunt of the costs of rationalization; they accounted for 41 percent of the industry output in 1975, but for 63 percent of the capacity that was withdrawn over the 1975-1981 period, reducing their combined market share to 24 percent. Remember that size is not always an advantage: in judo and here in exit strategies, the trick is to use your rival’s bigger size and consequently inflexibility against him or her. This strategy can be applied to China. A big battle for the Chinese market is starting. In 2009, China became not only the World’s top exporter, but also the second-largest importer. It is the number one market for an increasing amount of both capital and consumer goods. For instance, its share of the World market optical fibers has been the largest producers in the World with a 62 percent share of the global total in 2022. According to the study, shipments from machine tool plant in China accounted for a whopping 30 percent of the $92.7 billion total produced by 28 countries around the globe, and China manufactures 36 percent of the World’s electronics. In addition, with nearly one-fifth of the World’s population, China is the second-largest final consumption market—after the U.S.A.—for electronic devices embedded with semiconductors. It is the largest market for cars and brand fashion goods and is about to become the number one for luxury goods. The list can be continued. Yet, the competition for tapping this market is becoming increasingly fierce, and more often than not Western companies appear to be not on the winning side. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21
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The Fear Was Terrible
In was December. The air was ripe with the promise of the new year. The estate was full of life and sound. After the years of supernatural violence and denunciation, it seemed the demons had set their sights elsewhere and, for a while, we were at peace. There were, of course, the usual shadows lurking about. As we walked about the gardens, a boy came running out of the orchards. He was in a state of shock, swallowing his words and talking too fast for me us to hear what he was saying. Ms. Daisy managed to calm him and, with great patience, coax out of the terrified child that there had been massacres. That villages lower down the road had been put to the torch. If old men, women, cut down where they stood. Children, too. I turned cold. “Oh, dear Heavens.” We had no ways of knowing if the report was true. True or false, his testimony would spread panic and alarm. Far better to wait until to verify the stories and then decide what action to take. When I arrived at dinner, everyone was in good spirits. Living as we did, to come together to celebrate, with food enough for everyone and in the warmth, my heart wept at the knowledge that in a matter of hours, all this might be lost. So I sat, knowing what I knew and yet having to conceal it. And all the time, I was watching the door, waiting for my niece, Ms. Daisy. Later I learned she had questioned the boy further and was satisfied that she was telling the truth without embellishment. I instructed the servants to be on alert. My head was spinning with so much information. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
I instituted a search of the house. I sighed as I sat down in my chair. It was a grueling day. It was the middle of winter and the wind howled down the chimneys. Shuddering, I pulled my chair a bit closer to the fireplace. Listening to the domestic sounds from the kitchen made me smile. I was home and warm for the night. Tomorrow’s problems were not yet to be faced, and the warmth of the fire slowly lulled me to sleep. The sound of knocking at my front door startled me awake. The sounds seemed a bit faint, but they were persistent. I hurried to the door, wondering who could be out on such a bitter evening and what emergency would I find on the other side. I flung open the door and at first thought that no one was there, but then I was shocked to see a thin little girl no more than nine or ten years old, standing just before me. She was woefully underdressed for the blustery night. She wore thin shoes, a tattered dress, and a blue shawl that she had pulled tightly around her tiny shoulders. I wondered how the child stayed upright against the wind that buffeted her. The little girl did not wait for me to speak. “Mrs. Winchester, you must come, my mother’s sick bad and she won’t make it through the night without your help. Hurry!” Something about the wispy child and the intensity of her pleas moved me to action. “Some in my child, come in at once,” I said and shut the door. I quickly gathered my coat and scarf, pulled on my gloves and hat, and grabbed up my bag. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
We moved swiftly to one of the Victorian cottages on my estate. She ushered me into her home. Her mother was one of the housemaids. She was normally a sassy lass, but now she was reduced to a skinny rack of bones. Her body was woefully undernourished and she was indeed extremely ill. Upon closer examination, she was gravely ill. Indeed, the lass would not last through the night without quick intervention—she was suffering from pneumonia. As I tended the fire, I talked to the woman. I told her that she would be all right and that and that my servants were coming with medicine. I also spoke to her about the brave little girl who had come to fetch me. I inquired as to the child’s whereabouts. The ill woman looked at me with honor. “My daughter died a month ago. Her shoes and shawl are there in the little cupboard.” The woman broke off with a sob. I felt compelled to look in the close. Inside hung the little blue shawl that I seen the little girl clutching earlier. Her shoes lay on the shelf. I reached out to feel them and they were dry. It would have been impossible for those articles to have been worn that same night. I tended to the woman for a bit longer. As soon as the servants arrived, I ordered the cottage searched for the child I had seen. No child was found. I was amazed at the power of human love and the lost child who reached beyond the grave to save her mother from death. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
I returned home. The evening was nearly over, when I noticed a dark shadow to my left. However, when I focused my eyes directly on the spot, I could see nothing. I decided that perhaps my eyes were undoubtedly becoming tired. It was, after all, nearly midnight. A few moments later, I saw the shadow again. This time it crossed directly in front of me, moving toward the sofa. However, once again, when I focused directly on the thing, I saw nothing but the shadows of the dark room. I shrugged, distracted from the heading to bed. “Are you a ghost?” I asked, speaking toward the area in front of the sofa where I had last seen the shadow. There was no response. I went upstairs to bed. By the morning I had forgotten the entire episode with the mysterious shadow. Several moments later, a peculiar sound caused me to raise from my slumber, and I was surprised to see the shadow again. It crossed in from of my bed, then sat on an arm chair. Sometime between two and four in the morning I was awakened by the sound of artillery firing from the fields. It sounded like cannons firing one-at-a-time. I could hear there reloading between the shots. The fire lasted about ten minutes, then faded out, back into some mysterious fold of Time. Frightened, I did not look outside. I work my niece Ms. Daisy in the middle of the night to ask if she heard it. Unfortunately, she had been sound asleep and did not. However, I did not believe the sounds were figments of my imagination. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
My mansion served as the venue for a most remarkable connection between the dead and the living which seems to spanned the ages. I tried to sleep, but there was another odd noise that echoed across the fields of my estate. Faint at first, the sound was soon recognizable: drumbeats. I finally fell asleep, never understanding the source of the sound. Once again, I was awakened by bone chilling cold, so cold it sent me running from my room. There was an icy apprehension as I ran forward, as if I was running for my life. I came to a new pathway in my mansion and entered it. I felt the sharp coldness of the air, but I knew I had to keep going. The fear was terrible. As I came around a curve, blood ran through the corridor like water. A strange haze formed. The haze was a visage of a young man with brown hair and a moustache, sideburn in front of his left war, with his eyes gazing to the right. Then a woman walked through the streams of blood, she was moving at a fast walk. She had blonde hair and seemed in a hurry. As I moved down the pathway, she vanished, but there, hanging on the wall, was a shriveled, mummified, human arm. The hand was a contorted claw. I was also astonished to see, floating before my eyes, a white, glowing, disembodied arm pull back and vanish into darkness of the room. The pathway severed never-ending abyss of darkness and horrors than any human being could imagine. A strong hand grabbed me by the shoulder and shook me so violently that I passed out. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
I forced my eyes open once more, and I saw a pair of wooden clogs. I was lying on the fell, which was covered in blood. I struggled to push myself into a sitting position, dragging my legs round from under me, then tried to stand. “Let me help you,” an apparition said. The ghost’s strong hand was under my elbow, guiding me back to a parlor on the second floor. “Here.” I slumped down and leaned forward, elbows on my knees, waiting for the spinning to stop. I looked around the room. Clearly, it was morning. Everything was bathed in a flat, white light. The fire had burned out, leaving a pyramid of soft, gray ash in the grate. “We were concerned when you did not come down to breakfast, Mrs. Winchester. Why are you covered in blood? Have you been injured,” the butler demanded. “No. I slipped and fell in a puddle of blood in the new pathway recently built,” I said. “But Mrs. Winchester, the entire estate is as clean as we left in yester evening.” I frowned, trying to get the sequence of events clear in my mind. I had taken a bath, come back to the room, and enjoyed a cup of tea. Then I heard a cat in the room. As I looked around the room, there was nothing there. Within a short while, the tea cups started dancing about the table. Extended across the table, just inches from me and draped with what looked like some lacy fabric, was a woman’s arm, from the elbow down, the pale fingers eerily entwined in the tea cups. I screamed. The butler came running and saw the phantom limb. “What is it, devil is it Mrs. Winchester?” “There are forces in this house. Such power does not come from the devil. Do you see those books around you? They are full of stories of such persons, called in one place sorcerer, and in another witch, but what has the devil to do with such things? If you have such powers, what can and can they not do?” #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
The butler’s eyes grew large but his face was hard. His hands tightened on the arms of the chair and he cocked his head to the left as he looked the room up and down. I saw the look of fear coming to his face. The housemaid whispered: “She is reading our thoughts, Morgan, she can hide her own thoughts from us.” “Morgan,” Mrs. Winchester said, “what you have witnessed is terrible. I can see spirits. I have powers.” Morgan’s face was transformed from cold suspicion to sudden contempt. “Ah, witch!” he cried. “Why did you not tell me? Your house is full of witches! You are an order of Satan. This house is expanding so quickly because you have the power to stop time.” And then as tears poured down his face, I sobbed. He wrapped his arms around me. “We are all damned,” he said, “and you hide here in this mansion where they can’t burn you! Oh, clever, clever witch in the devil’s house!” “Wicked am I? A witch am I? Stopper of time? I will not have you speak to me in that manner!” Mrs. Winchester moved into the very center of the room and looking up and out the window, it seemed to the blue sky, she cried: “Come now Caim and you 30 Legions of Spirits Infernal! I entreat thee to favor me in the adjuration which I address to thy might minister LUCIFUGE ROFOCALE! Come hither to speak with me.” And at once a great dark shadow appeared in the window, as if the spirit upon whom she had called condensed himself to become small and strong within the room. “Damn you into hell, witch. I shall not be your warlock,” Morgan cried, and as the books began to fall around he, he feld the mansion, and the door slammed front doors shut after him and no one could pry it open ever again, try as they might. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
Phantom limbs hovering over us, or playfully touching, or roughly shoving us. What could it be that allows the many manifestations of an active, viable, yet impossible World, sometimes seen, more often unseen, that apparently exists right next to us? What aberration in Time or Physics or Mass or Energy reveals to us this other land, usually unheard and invisible, that seems the dwelling place of the dead? https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
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And Finally the Spirits Drew Blood
Life-changing, miraculous, beautiful—it has been the scene of serious studies by aspiring intellectuals, of raucous parties filled to the brim with youthful enthusiasm. It was also been the dwelling place of Death. There was a persistent malevolent visitor within the walls of the house, who had an agenda of pursuit and manipulation for evil all of his own. By the time they reached my estate, Hendrick had a fairly good understanding of what the Winchester Mansion was, and he had assured Mr. Hansen that he would keep confidential forever what he was about to read in the files. Henrick loved the idea of the Winchester Mansion, the flashing, sparkling panorama of Santa Clara Valley. However, he grew coldly and unexpectedly calm as he puzzled over the catacombs, and reviewed in his mind all the popular myths he had heard about the apparitions, and this brief interlude of excitement began to fade. “Mrs. Winchester, I have to go on leave,” Hendrick explained. “It’s unavoidable.” How calm his voice sounded as all the color drained out of his face. I insisted that we go at once to a small screened porch off the back of the second story, and there, overlooking a formal garden with miles of green grass and fountains, we could sit down to eat. However, Hendrick insisted that he had to leave at once. Mr. Hansen showed him to the door. The atmosphere began to change. I felt a whisper of fresh air on my face. The floor suddenly veered precipitously upward. Tiny drops of blood began to fall from the ceiling. Rappings shook the walls. Then a large butcher knife appeared and menacingly headed in our direction. When ran into the morning room, and all the chairs therein fell over and danced about noisily. “The spirits are angry,” said Mr. Hansen. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
I felt light-headed, intoxicated by the danger. There were noises, a myriad of them and terror-filled cries of the wounded and dying echoing long and pitifully into the night; disembodied rumblings from artillery, and even more mysterious, unidentifiable rustling in the darkness just behind my shoulder. Several knives and a large glass paperweight were thrown at us by invisible intruders, narrowly missing our heads. “Do angels really lack knowledge of the heart?” I asked Mr. Hansen as I wept. There was the dark melee, horrifying screams in the night. Night was always a time of icy fear and apprehension. It must stem from our most primal subconscious. It can bring sudden death. And sleep, if it should come, steals consciousness, our last warning system and makes us more vulnerable to Earthly creatures who would do us harm. Or to other entities not of this Earth with perhaps the same ambition. Perhaps sleep was the main portal through which ghosts came into our lives. I felt Mr. Hansen’s brown eyes sweep across my face. He shook his head. There was something about the translucent moon that gave me the impression he was made of air or water, rather than blood and bone. I looked at him more closely, scared that he might have slipped away. But he was still there. “I feared you had…” “Not yet,” Mr. Hansen said, reading my mind. Around and around the room an unexplainable jingling went, pausing first in one corner, then at another wall, until the sound was right next to us. Then it became a plopping sound like water dripping. We were being troubled by entities that seemed set upon us by a curse of black magic. Suddenly, a hooded figure appeared and was moving about the house. It appeared to be the image of a man with thinning white hair on the sides, and bald at the top. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
There were secret passageways in the mansion, hidden from view. The tiniest opening in the mahogany walls lead to tunnels, hiding places, a labyrinthine sequence of passageways and caverns. As we entered a secret passageway to escape the ghost, I heard a whole bunch of voices whispering, but I could not understand them. They were all jumbled together. As we walked along the pathway, Mr. Hansen said my name right in my ear, and when I turned to look at him, he was gone. The voice was a demon voice: throaty, hoarse and very mean. It said to me, “Sarah, show yourself to me!” I could not actually pinpoint the exact location the voice had come from. But there was a black, floating swirling mass, about four feet high and three feet wide. It unnerved me so much that I feld the catacombs, and as I came out where the dining room was, something hit the wall with such a force that it knocked down several of the paintings. It looked like there had been an earthquake. And I was about to fall. However, something grabbed the collar of my collar of my shirt, and pulled me back to safety. No apparition could be seen, but the collar of my shirt had been pulled back. It was midnight when I went back to my room in the north wing. I rose early the next morning. Drawing back the curtain, then I saw a dark shadow of a woman entering my home. I could hear the dark figure ascending up their stairs and towards my room. The footsteps and voices got louder. The shadow of the woman appeared in the doorway to the room I was in. It disappeared as quickly as it manifested. I felt a cold wind pass by me, and the curtains closed and billowed as a shadowy figure. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
I decided to stay in my room until I fell asleep. Not only did I lock the door, but I put a chair against the door as an added safety measure from intruders. Late into the night, I was awakened by the loud rattling of the door and the chair. Frighteningly, the sound came from inside the room and not outside the door. It was as if someone was trying to get outside the room, not in. The room was dimly illuminated by a faint, green-glowing light. On the wall hangs a mirror, into which the light casts its luminescence. In a semi-awakened state, I gazed into the mirror and saw the reflected light begin to take the shape of a woman dressed in a beautiful dress. As I continued to stare at the apparition in the mirror, she was suddenly accompanied by a man dressed as a cavalry man, complete with high cavalry boots. How long I had been sitting in bed, I scarcely know; I had been half meditating, half dozing, mixing broken snatches of thought with brief glimpses of dreaming, when I was startled into wakefulness by a sound that was strange to me. As I opened my eyes, the sun risen. I inspected the chair and found that somehow it had been pulled out, away from the door about an inch. I stood transfixed. When suddenly my entire body flew back, and on to the floor. My eyes rolled into the back of my head. Mr. Hansen and Ersula overheard the commotion and burst into the room. “Mrs. Winchester, are you okay, where have you been?!” Ersula demanded as she and Mr. Hansen lifted me off the floor. “You are as pale as a ghost!” he said. “Never mind the sal volatile,” I said at last. “I am not ill; I have been startled, that is all.” Even now, I get the chills thinking about that night. I do believe there was something evil in the house. I have been quite reluctant to tell about the hauntings, for most people just do not want to know the truth about what is out there. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
The spinning in my head slowed and then finally stopped altogether. As the last chime of the clock struck ten, I came downstair to the reception area. I felt my heart expand with the beauty of the same old World but seen through new eyes. Glancing out the skylight, a white winter sun hung low in the sky and it was bright but cold. A bird was singing. My plans for construction where castles in the air, dreams of sliver days. Places where I could spend countless dusks watching the sun sinking down into the Earth. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move. A flash of blue, perhaps. I could not tell. A shiver crept down my spine. For a moment, I stood motionless. Everyone looked very dead now, very empty. There was no odor yet, but they were dead. The rigidity of Ersula’s face absorbed me. The body of Hendrick on the floor was dry and wrinkled. Not even murmuring melodies to myself of the songs I most liked to play meant anything to me. In my ears, I heard a din as if the imps of Hell were making a horrid music to drive me out of my mind. I whispered to myself to silence it. Shortly after discovering the bodies, I heard muffled voices and noises on the second floor, followed by a sharp crash. I rushed up stairs to find a large painting in the hallway had been flung violently across the hall into a freshly painted wall. The wall had been damaged by the force of the crash. I was terrified to hear the wails of a baby coming from the wall. Petrified, I remained on the second floor with the terrible cries until carpenters began a search and found me. Nearly incoherent when I was taken to my chamber, I told the carpenters about hearing the baby cry. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Emperor Lucifer, Master and Prince of Rebellious Spirits, as the agent of the strong living God, of His beloved Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and by the power of the Great ADONAY, ELOIM, ARIEL, and JEHOVAM, please appear instantly. I command thee to surrender me the nearest treasure, and I promise thee as a reward the first piece of gold or silver which I touch with my hands on the first day of every month. Such is my demand. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, O Lord! And I shall be clean: Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. I Do invocate and conure thee, O Prince of the Rebellious Spirits; and being with power armed from the SUPREME MAJESTY, I do strongly command thee, by BERALANENSIS, BALDACHIENSIS, PAUMACHIA, and APOLOGIAE SEDES; by the most Powerful Princes, Genii, Liachidae, and Ministers of the Tartarean Abode; and by the Chief Prince of the Seat of Apologia in the Ninth Legion, I do invoke thee, and by invocating conjure thee. And being armed with power from the SUPREME MAJESTY, I do strongly command thee, by Him Who spake and it was done, and unto whom all creatures be obedient. Also I, being made after the image of GOD, endued with power from GOD and created according unto HIS will, do exorcise thee by that most mighty and powerful name of God, EL, strong and wonderful; O thou Emperor Lucifer. And I command thee and Him who spake the Word and His Fiat was accomplished, and by the names of God. Also by the names of AFONAI, EL, ELOHIM, ELOHI, EHYEH, ASHER EHYEH, ZABOTH, ELION, IAH, TETRAGRAMMATON, SHADDAI, LORD GOD MOST HIGH. Come thou peaceably, visibly, and affably, now, and without delay, manifesting that which I shall desire. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Something awakens you from a fitful sleep. You roll over in your bed and there, right at the foot of it, is a misty shape resembling a human. However, its features are hazy, unclear. The dress it wears is recognizable, but from an era long past, and it is tattered, as if it had spent too much time hanging in a closet, or lying in the damp mustiness of a coffin. The figure is, at first, an object of curiosity, since you immediately assume you are dreaming. However, its tendril-like arms begin to wave, to move towards you—no, to beckon you—and the face twists into the mockery of a smile. Now you begin to panic as you realize-despite your hoping it is not true—that you are fully awake, that this is no dream and there is no explanation for the horrid sight before you, except that it is real, in all its dead splendor. It is well known that, possessions, apparitions, and other supernatural intrusions have occurred what is now known as The Winchester Mystery House.
Disturbing the Dead is Never a Good Idea
So time passed and did not move at all. Ten years of voices in my head, of memories that were more real, more vivid, than the World outside my window. Ten years of constant construction. All this might suggest that I was very far adrift from reality, that I was incapable of distinguishing true from false. Were there hideous dream coming in the night? Visitations, or more of glowing, late-night specters suddenly visible just outside my bedroom window? Had I really seen blood ooze from behind the walls? It had got quite dark, as if a sudden storm was sweeping up over the sky. Others were near me, but I could not see them. We were standing by the palm trees at the turn of the drive, and as Mr. Hansen came to me, I passed behind the palm trees and, in the darkness, I hurried back to the house. And a queer thing was that as I reached the door the black cloud vanished, and there was the transparent twilight again. In the house everything seemed as usual, and the caretakers were busy about their work; but I could not get it out of my head that a shadow of a cloud had concealed the sun. I paused for breath, and began again. In the hall I stopped at the annunciator to call for help, but unknown forces seemed to answer my call. A mass fog started hovering at the end of the hall, and out of it came a tall thin man with a pocket watch in his vest and black garters on his arms. He was carrying a lantern down the hall toward me. He was extremely pale as if suffering from a high fever. When the phantasm’s eyes met my own, his features appeared quite tranquil and not at all disagreeable, but I could not help being filled with some sort of nameless dread. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
Suddenly, there came a fierce bombardment of stones against the roof and doors. Fearing an attack by bandits, I ran to grab my revolver, and shouted an alarm. Cautiously looking out into moonlit fields, I saw nothing. No one. Then, as I blinked my unbelieving eyes, the front gate was wrenched from its hinges by an invisible force and tossed high into the air. Venturing out to investigate, my revolver clenched firmly in my hand. A volley of stones was suddenly hurled at me, and I feld back into the mansion. As I slammed and barred the front door behind me, the caretakers shuttered the windows. However, shutters made no difference to the stones. In they came, through glass, through shutters, rolling down the chimney, smashing against the door. Objects in the room began to hurl themselves at me. Candles were blown out. The bars on the doors began to bend under the solid blows of an invisible hammer. A tea cup smashed itself against a wall. Somehow, I managed to survive this night of horror. However, much to my dismay, the stone-throwing spirit had not vanished with the coming dawn and the rooster’s crowing. That day, haystacks in the fields were broken up and the hay tossed into the high branches of trees. As the farmers attempted to go about their farmwork, stones pursued them. This could not be the work of naughty little boys. One of the boys who had been helping put up the hay was struck so hard on the back that he began to cry. This spirit never developed a voice, but was quite proficient at snorting and whistling. It smashed pottery and slammed furniture about the room. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
One night I was standing on the stairs, talking to a stonemason who told me his tools were being knocked out of his hand while he was working by an invisible demon and others went missing. As we were talking, we both caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure floating down towards us carrying the tools. The farmers has also had sickle blades broken by stones, and several rows of corn had been uprooted. If passion, fear, anger or other emotions must be expended to create a haunting, then it should be no surprise that my mansion was host to its share of ghost. Staff often reported hearing what sounded like heated arguments coming from the Blue Séance Room, and the sweet smell of smoking tobacco, despite no one ever smoked in my home. On December 24, 1896, two men using a key opened the safe in the Grand Ball Room and stole over $1,000,000 in money and bonds were removed from the vault, but the bonds were thrown away and they took what gold and silver they could carry without attracting attention. The sheriff was dumbfounded. However, they soon leaned that two locksmiths, Robert and David Bowles had recently changed the locks, so they were arrested. The two of them lived in the attic of my home. There was not enough evidence to hold the men, so the men were set free. They both contracted yellow fever while in jail, and died a week later. Soon after their deaths, reports began to surface that the staff of the Winchester mansion were being haunted by Robert and David. Loud banging or dragging noises came from the attic and the hallway just outside it. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Since the late 1880s, there has been a persistent sight of a young woman, dressed all in white. We believe her name to be Astrid, she was one of my caretakers who fell in love with one of the farmers Baldur. It seems that they used to meet in the greenhouse, and that his family disapproved of her. However, he was certain their love would prevail, and promised he would be with her forever in marriage, eventually. Their meetings continued, her love growing deeper and deeper for him. But even the strength of love has its limits. He finally told her that it would not work out, the problems that they faced were insurmountable, and that he would have to break his promise that they would be together in marriage. They met in the greenhouse one last time. She committed suicide and died in his arms. Now, whenever a promise is broken, there, among the deep green plants, a pale phantasm hovers in the greenhouse. Forever, mourning a broken pledge, forever haunts the Woman in White. Frequently on Easter Sundays, clocks would move about on the mantelpiece in the Hall of Fires and the room would be lit up by a vibrating glow. I had been naturally a fearless child; now I live in a state of chronic fear. Fear of what? I cannot say—and even at the time, I was never able to formulate my terror. It was like some dark undefinable menace, forever stalking my steps, lurking, and threatening; I was conscious of it wherever I went by day, and at night it made sleep impossible, unless a light and caretaker were in the room. However, whatever it was, it was most formidable and pressing when I was returning from my daily walk. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
During the last few years, and while I waited on the door-step, I could feel it behind me, upon me; and there was any delay in opening of the door I was seized by a choking agony of terror. It did not matter who was with me, for no one could protect me. This species of hauntings lasted seven or eight years, and I was a young lady with long skirts and my hair up before my heart ceased to beat with fear if I stood a minute on the door-step! Then one day, at the very front door, I looked up and saw an officer, dressed in Union blue, tall, gaunt, and apparently a modern re-enactor moving rapidly down the wide open lawn, toward my home. He seemed in a hurry to reach the front doors. I looked away to make sure they were opened, and as I looked back at him, he had completely vanished. I immediately had the front doors sealed so that his soul would rest in my estate. From the day on, the Devil had appeared to me on a number of occasions, the first time offering me a purse of silver. I was lost. Bewilderingly, heart and soul, lost. There was a promise that there was an entire life to be lived if I could only take the chance. I can still recall the sense of possibility that came over me then, a kind of lightness. Every sinew, every muscle, every vein in my body seemed suddenly to vibrate, to be alive. If I could find the courage to speak, people would listen. I took a deep breath and then slowly, steadily exhaled. Finally, I began to talk. I noticed that I could speak in languages that I had never learned. I remember everything about that day. Every tiny detail. The smell and the texture of it, every second before and after the Devil appeared. The purple leaves on the copper beech turning and there was condensation on the inside of the window in the early morning. The fire had been lit for the first time since the previous winter and there was a pleasant smell of pine in the room. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
I did not hear the knock at the door, but I remember being aware of footsteps on the floors in the hall. Even then, I think I knew. There was something in the quality of the silence that shouted out that this caller was unwelcome. I stopped what I was doing and listened, listened to the silence. Then I heard a voice in the hall. I ran. Sending the door flying back against the wall, I ran down the stairs. From the hall below, a sound that tore through me like a butcher’s knife. Not screaming exactly, more a howling, a wailing, the same word repeated over and over, “Mine, mine, mine.” I was struck on the head by a falling hammer. Laying on the floor unconscious, I awoke, and it was the Devil, he told me that I must live and continue to build my estate and that every coin of silver in his purse represented the years I had to live. If I wanted to see my husband and my darling daughter again, it was an offer I could not refuse. When I awoke, my most valued pieces of furniture were rudely destroyed by the violent and unbidden guest, but there were nearly one hundred silver coins in a purse. I had no visible injuries, nor suffered any terrible mental or emotional pain. But there was a piercing scream, followed by a raucous cacophony of voices filling the room. That night as I lay in bed, I thought about seeing my husband and daughter again. I thought about how I would devote this mansion, not only to the spirits, but also to the spirits of my family. My face was stained with tears. I thought about the pact I had made. I got up, put on my clothes, keeping my revolver in my pocket, and went down the steps of my home, past the two caretakers playing cards in the living room. One of the me got up. “Mrs. Winchester, you want something, a cup of tea maybe?” “I need to walk,” I said. No one stopped me. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
I went outside and walked around the gardens. I noticed the lay the leaves looked in the trees that were nearest the lamppost. I noticed how the branches of the evergreen trees were gleaming with dew. I studied the tall steep shingled roofs of the house. I looked at the glint of light in the diamond-paned windows. I listened to the sound of grass under my feet, and came to the cupid fountain that was running in spite of the cold, and watched the water erupt from the jet and fall down in an airy white shower into the basin that boiled under the dim light. The air smelled of pine needles and of burning wood. There was a freshness and a cleanness I had not experienced. There was a deliberate beauty. I made my way back to the house slowly. I could not sleep. Then a strange thing occurred, as I drew near the mansion. From within the house, I heard a subtle stirring music. Surely a window was open to the cold for me to hear something of such tenderness, and subtle beauty. I knew it to be a harp. There was the window up ahead, tall and made of leaded glass and opened to the cold. From there the music was coming: a long swelling note, and then a cautious melody. Finally, the music stopped. I glanced up and saw a black shadow jump out the window toward me. I found myself shaken, frightened without reason by the sound of voices crying out in pain and the echoes of sobbing. Looking over to the nine-story observation tower, there was a ghostly guard walking his eternal watch. My home seems to be a place haunted by shadows and furtive ghosts. It seems to have been taken over by spirits. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
The Winchester Mystery House
The Winchester Mansion is one of the World’s most haunted places. For more information on the site and the haunted house events, please visit: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
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Randolph Harris II International Institute 