Justice: Aspiration, Hubris, and Morality

Sigmund Freud quipped: “The first requisite of civilization is that of justice.” Albert Einstein was quoted as saying: “In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.” One madman named Adolph Hitler said: “As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice.” In today’s digital world of information at our fingertips, a Google search of the word justice’ returns over two-hundred-and-eleven million items. The point is, that we all know that justice has been a central topic of theory, debate, and controversy throughout recorded history (and likely since the dawn of humankind). Justice will preoccupy our minds, hearts, and hopes forever. Humans aspire to justice. But is it an arrogant assumption that human beings believe they can understand and deliver justice? Then too, is the profession of justice within our moral ability? Of course there are no universally acceptable answers to such questions, and yet if we are to hold order to civilization, there is no alternative but to attempt justice, as imperfect as it will always be. “A man is a little thing while he works by and for himself; but when he gives voice to the rules of love and justice, he is godlike” (Ralph Waldo Emerson).

Emerson used the words: “the rules of love and justice” Perhaps most persons of reason will agree that in a discussion of the virtues love’ and justice’, the most basic of rules that apply must concern that which is right, versus that which is wrong. Further, many might venture to agree that these sentiments are avowed and realized within the heart of goodwill. In each facet and phase of a discussion of justice, relative terms are unavoidably encountered; what is just to one is not to another, as what is right to one is not to another. Even so, we desire knowledge of justice, for it is a virtue to be held precious, securing us insulate from fear and consequence. Justice is the indispensable obligation of a civilization of law and order.

For the purposes of this series of articles, justice is referenced as it relates to crime and punishment in America. For the purpose of this particular article, justice within our nation’s system, is addressed from the point of view that we aspire to justice, knowing full well that the pursuit of justice is in some part hubris or arrogantly authoritative to attempt, and unavoidably begs issues of morality application.

Our world is smaller than ever due to the marvels of technology. As we are bombarded daily with media, our lives are touched by stories of justice, crime, and punishment. Many of us are directly and profoundly impacted on a personal level by the trappings of our Criminal Justice System. America has a Justice Department, ostensibly dedicated to the pursuit of justice.

Clearly, we humans seek justice within the context of crime and punishment. So many factors affect our method of justice, altering its intended nature. Many consider that justice can be bought by the hiring of a high-power attorney, or perhaps through bribery. Still others believe that our structure is intrinsically flawed because of human elements, such as mistakes, weakness, mercy, and outright corruption. Then too, many deem that our system works, for the most part, in spite of its inherent flaws. Even so, our practice of justice survives, albeit through an evolution of legislation, amendment, and precedent. We use this organization even without confidence and belief in its integrity, for it is the status quo.

Is it hubris to profess to practice justice? Perhaps. As with the concept itself, it could be argued from numerous perspectives. And, as is true with the concept of justice itself, it becomes a philosophical question, propped upon relative terms, subjective postulates, and eclectic interpretation. The mere existence of juries is evidence of the need to remove any single judgment or analysis, and perhaps objectively bring a measure of democracy to the process. Perhaps it is authoritative arrogance to perform justice in light of the array of factors involved, but it is currently our finest option. Hubris or not, we have no choice.

Regardless of human aspirations and egotism, our methods of justice are arguably a reflection of the moral character of society. Which activities are criminal and to what degree, and how we remedy each offense must necessarily stem from our collective (and at times individual) morals. Einstein said: “issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.” What does that mean? To me it means that it is people who treat other people, and therefore it’s all the same. People treat other people against or within the fabric of their beliefs, values, and morals. Thomas Jefferson is noted to have said: “I believe that justice is instinct and innate, the moral sense is as much a part of our constitution as the threat of feeling, seeing and hearing.” Is it moral to put to death someone convicted of premeditated murder? Of course this is posed as a rhetorical question within the context of this article.

In conclusion, throughout recorded history humans have debated and projected justice as an obligatory function, to achieve law and order in society. Countless people have endured corporal punishment for their crimes, while countless others have been pardoned. What was heinous within the Aztec civilizations of ancient Latin America may not have been so judged in the Egyptian, or American Indian moral structure, etcetera. What is justice on earth is only human justice. Indeed it may be human arrogance to practice justice, but we have no choice but to endeavor, lest we suffer chaos. Because the concept of justice is fundamentally subjective and affected by numerous variables, the very best we can do is keep trying, refining, and evolving. This is ideally why our processes include legislators, appellate courts, remedial actions, and a Supreme Court. Our system of justice is certainly unavoidably flawed, yet we must continue to measure risk, make informed judgments, and ultimately act in accordance with our moral character, within the status quo.

© 2009, . All rights reserved.

The prevalent educational philosophy is that success skills are left to the parent(s) in the home (or arguably ‘the streets’, or the child’s peers); it is not the responsibility of our educational system to teach abundance and success. The skills needed to enjoy a successful life deal in the realm of the inexact, the intangible, and the arbitrary or capricious, as opposed to the realm of letters, numbers, empirical data, scientific hypothesis, and events in history. We can readily teach “uniform subjects” that are widely accepted as truths, proven, de facto empirical, but teaching essential emotional management skills, effective and realistic goal setting, and across the board abundance acquisition is messy, highly subjective, relative, and inconsistent. It appears that to our educators and those who determine proper educational curriculum, our school agenda and teachers cannot be adequately “equipped” to teach such controversial and “inconsistent” (non-uniform) subject matter. They cannot conceive of a universally acceptable curriculum to teach lifelong success skills. And beyond the educational philosophical matter, perhaps, is the political aspect. To enter into the responsibility of teaching “success” is intrinsically perceived as politically impossible; we cannot all “universally” agree on exactly what those skills to be taught would be – or what would be overwhelmingly acceptable – and conceivably it borders on the spiritual, or perchance the individual belief system, and therefore laissez faire.

Let’s take a peek at the murky waters of the subject of success (and why it is not taught in school). So much has been written about success. So many success programs, books, CDs, and other media exist on the subject. A Google search (conducted on 10/21/2009) on the keyword “success” returns over 312-million results. The term is like one tiny star in the cosmos. I think it’s safe to say that ‘success’ is/has been an over-used word throughout our human world and throughout (recorded) history. It’s also fair to say that success means something different for each and every person, and yet most would agree that a simple and accurate definition might be: to obtain a desired result (or results).

Perhaps Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993) was among the first of the modern-day success gurus with his “Power of Positive Thinking” work (circa 1956). And today we have success consultants, coaches, lecturers, and millions more people who make their living in one fashion or another from/on the subject of success (I wonder if there would be fewer of these private instructors if success were a scholastic subject?). In just my amazing lifespan (I’m 47), the technology boom has contributed (information) so overwhelmingly that it has made our world smaller in many senses, and yet so much more confusing because of all the voices that are now heard, increasing sensory overload. But success has not changed, in and of itself; as mentioned, only the “terms of measurement” are ever changing.

I remember thinking as a teenager in school: why is there no ‘owner’s manual’ for living a successful life? I would ponder being alone in a cold world; born unto inadequate role models, cloned teachers, and empty influencers, and realizing that ultimately we must invent our own ‘success manual’ for living. An extension of much of my early thoughts was to be in awe of the humility of life; the more I learned, the more I realized how little I truly knew. As time progressed I studied the success gurus and motivational experts. It was then that a ‘success manual’ did emerge from my thoughts, and I committed it to book format; the content would easily serve as course curriculum.

As I’ve noted, the body of work on the subject of success is nearly limitless. Therefore it must be hubris to suggest that I have something of value to add to the issue of human success, right? No, I do not believe that to be true. I believe that I have conceived something of extreme value. At the risk of being perceived as turning this article into a promotional piece, what I have developed and refined is a six-step system that virtually guarantees success and abundance in all areas of life, and the ability to maintain success over a lifetime. It is only recently that I understand how effortlessly these materials could be hugely useful in our schools. In brevity, the six steps are these: 1) Motives/Motivation, 2) Preparation (emotional/mental/physical), 3) Goal Setting (workshops), 4) Research and Development (of a plan or vehicle for attaining goals), 5) Consistent Action, and 6) Flexibility (in order to account for the human element).

Every once in a while something special and unexpected comes along. True, not very often does something new appear on the scene, but it certainly happens. Yes, even though it might seem that success is an exhausted, and exalted subject – and thus far academically or scholastically taboo – I have assembled in detail the exact six steps that are necessary to achieve lifelong success.

The book is entitled: “Lifetime Success in 6 Simple Steps”. It is my sincere promise – as the result of decades of study – that this is a brand new approach, encompassing the very best of what is known about the components of success, and combining that knowledge into teachable, logical, and progressive steps that ensure sustained, lifelong success. I invite you to check it out for yourself. If this work helps a pondering teen, makes our educational system take notice, or helps any of the millions of unemployed to a new, successful life then I am thrilled! Here is the link for the book: http://success-dude.com/lifelong-success/. Let’s teach our children to be a success!

© 2009, . All rights reserved.

By the same token, focus can be blinding, paralyzing, or even disastrous. Consider the metaphor of the child learning to ride a bicycle. Suddenly the child has a front tire caught in a rut or trough and begins to fall. The temptation is to focus in the direction of the fall, which causes a crash instead of focusing the other direction (a new stimulus/idea), bringing the bike upright and back into balance. Once again, we see only as we focus.

In the world of modern business, a company must be flexible and open minded in its operational philosophy and overall approach, lest that business subsist or fail entirely. This flexibility means more than simply adapting to changing economic factors; it means a willingness to reexamine any or all business practices, from sales and marketing to all aspects of operations; it means listening and hearing as well as measuring and planning. Some enemies of flexibility are closed minds, a focus on the bottom line only, managerial incompetence, and selective blindness.

A healthy corporation that is indeed flexible and open to change must achieve balance, boundaries, exactness, perhaps genius-level ideas, and above all a genuine Cause, all of which bring about new focus, and a focal power that creates a winning combination for the company, as well as its adopted Cause.

When I was a child, I loved to watch a professional plate spinner entertaining a crowd. The plate spinner would balance multiple plates, each at the end of a stick, and keep adding more sticks with spinning plates, keeping them all balanced. The balance between gravity and centrifugal force would eventually win over the plate spinner and finally plates would begin to fall. I always mused that the plate spinner was a good metaphor for life; we rush around trying to keep all of our “plates” spinning (balanced), but it tends to become too much too fast, and we must reduce our spinning plates.

According to a current definition in Wikipedia, “balance” in the metaphysical or conceptual sense is defined as follows:
“balance is used to mean a point between two (or more) opposite forces that is desirable over purely one state or the other…” Sounds reasonable.

But as the plate spinner metaphor illustrates, balance is not achieved without boundaries. We achieve balance in all aspects of our lives by selecting exact limitations. Boundaries come from exactness, from limiting scope through a highly selective process. Another useful metaphor is the gymnast on the balance beam: without exactness of movement through limitation of scope, she forfeits balance and falls. Her highly selective process of developing balance is called practice.

Now I want to relate boundaries, exactness, and balance to an overused – in fact obsolete – concept called “networking” and “networks”.

Networks and networking – at their core – are designed to compound or multiply effectiveness or results through the power of multiple people and the resources of those in the network. The terms networking and networks are obsolete not only because they have become buzzwords, stretched and pulled into whatever shape is desired, but also because networks and networking typically means few limitations, the more the merrier, a shotgun effect. Most often the results of any given network are a function or reflection of the sheer numbers involved in that network. In this model there are intrinsic side effects, including chaos, lack of focus, lack of defined structure, lack of unity, and so many more negatives.

To achieve the highest levels of effectiveness and the strongest results, a network must have clearly defined boundaries and balance…it must be exact! In an Exact Network, each member is selected or recruited based upon their particular expertise, talent, and necessary contribution. In an Exact Network, the members are defined according to the essential and critical function that each serves within the network. One “macro” example of an Exact Network is government, although over time it has become a bureaucracy as opposed to a highly effective Exact Network. A better example is the hand picked executive team of a well-respected corporation, all focused on a coalition of goals and results. But even this is often times missing crucial elements in planning, execution, and vehicle for achievement.

The best imaginable results and desired return means Uber success, or the best possible success that can be imagined, nothing could be better. Therefore, an Exact Network that is focused on a coalition (unified and defined) of goals and results, is the best way to achieve “Uber Success”, provided they have an effective vehicle to reach their destination.

We create the opportunity for pure GENIUS, when we Generate Exact Networks to Institute Uber Success. Further, if such an Exact Network is provided with a clearly defined and entirely structured vehicle for attaining the goals of the Exact Network, the guaranteed result is uber success. I suggest that this vehicle is “Neologic Omnipotent Workshops” (NOW); a succession of goal-oriented, structured, pre-defined “workshops” wherein the most current ideas (Neologic), and all imaginable variables (Omnipotent) are entertained within pre-defined, structured workshops.

Focus, focal power, balance, boundaries, genius ideas / events, and a great Cause will grant a corporation uber success, and empower a Cause to create the miracle of change.

The result of all this is “G.E.N.I.U.S. NOW: The Mastermind Blueprint”, which is a guaranteed method for any business, group, or organization to easily achieve genius-level events, balance, boundaries, extreme focus, and Uber Success for their organization or group. This new e-book, will become a true groundbreaker when it is “discovered”. Right now it is too new and therefore unknown. Get your copy now and learn everything necessary to achieve uber success, leaving behind any past failures and negative economic conditions. There is nothing more to buy; this is the real deal, revealing all the details of this “genius” method for unimaginable success.

© 2009, . All rights reserved.

I am afraid. I am troubled that war is not only likely, but imminent, unless the power structures around the planet (and the little people) use the current financial crisis as a wake-up call. Pressures tend to lead to conflict, to warfare, to resolution, and finally to renewed stability. Those at the helm around the world know this recipe, and therefore we the people must realize this formula as well. For we the people have the ultimate responsibility – through a coalition of conscience – to keep the ‘powers that be’ accountable and away from inciting war.

Financial tensions affect relationships on the micro level and on the macro level. Just as a family will be shaken by an interruption of income or financial crisis, our “national family” is traumatized by economic instability. The parents in the challenged family must discover a solution, lest they fall victim to ruin. The leaders of nations must ascertain financial answers, lest the world fall victim to devastation.

Financial power mongers more than any other factor have placed men (primarily) in their political offices. These politicians are hesitant to turn against the powerful interests that made their career success possible. In fact, very seldom are these “insider” relationships ever exposed for what they really are; special alliances, preferential treatment, huge contracts, covert funds, and so much more…are certainly all involved in these “clandestine” dealings. Absolute power corrupts, as we all know. It seems that the citizens of the United States did not heed the precise warnings asserted by President Eisenhower in his farewell address to the nation.

So as tensions heat up, those at the center seek to shift the spotlight away from acceptance and accountability. What typically follows is war. Then too, there must always be a patsy, a victim. Most often this scapegoat – when exploited – serves the interests of the ruling class. Who and what will this be next time?

Historically, war is the financial and social solution to hardship and intense tensions. And, invariably there are incredible casualties and collateral damages. In this age of nuclear weapons it is war that is the clear enemy. We must end the proven cycle of history.

I am afraid and yet hopeful. I pray that the integrity of the collective conscience will wake up and find peaceful solutions to the tensions of our times and succeed in making lasting and abundant peace and prosperity.

© 2009, . All rights reserved.

So here it is. I have discovered a method (stemming from 2 concepts that I conceptualized years ago) for any organization or business to easily create a “genius-level event” (or several events), resulting in huge revenue increases, a renewed, diamond-and-Teflon image, incredible name/brand recognition, and unimaginable ancillary returns. In fact, if every business were to use GENIUS NOW, there would be no recession, and chances are that all of our charities would see huge gains as well. I kid you not! This is everything I claim it to be.

My method, called: G.E.N.I.U.S NOW: The Mastermind Blueprint has no fluff, and is only 40-pages in length. If I were to spell out the details right here, nobody would have the need to purchase the book! But I also recognize, of course, that no one will pay for an unknown book from an unknown author! So I am willing to do something very special. But before I go there, let me add that GENIUS NOW is complete; there is nothing more to buy, and no gimmicks or scams of any kind involved.

Because I need people to read GENIUS NOW, and obviously I need endorsements and people to help promote this wonderful piece, I am willing to let some very select individuals download and view it absolutely free. I only need to be convinced that you are the CEO or one of the head decision-makers of your organization. I say this NOT because I want to sell you something, but because it is most likely that only a “project originator” will be able to use this method readily. And, I will only do this for a short time. After all, I need to make a return as well. You can email me (kurt@thedudebrands.com), or DM me on Twitter (TheDudeBrands), or call me directly (508) 826-2345 and I will talk to you. I can be found on TheDudeBrands.com, Facebook, and Linked-in as well.

Once again, GENIUS NOW is a complete, honest method for any group, business, or organization to create a genius-level event (or several such events) and realize “uber success”. To these statements I will add: every once in a while – and not very often indeed – a very special item comes along that defies being “too good to be true”.

Kurt Turrell
TheDudeBrands.com

© 2009, . All rights reserved.

Today I am as frustrated as a writer-entrepreneur can possibly be! Yes, I know that my story is familiar to hundreds of thousands of web-preneurs and bloggers, and yet it is different because it is mine! Because of all the data overload, empty hype, schemes and scams, and otherwise lousy products and information on the web, we’ve all ‘heard it before’ and therefore I am but one more lone voice in the wilderness. I feel like a tiny, single seal swimming in the oceanic ethers of the net, waiting for a great white shark to pounce (again) as I surf the web. What do you do when nobody is listening and you’re alone in the vast sea of bits and bytes?

My “accidental career” in hotel management had been eating me alive for nearly two decades, slowly at first, and then with a greater voracity. I had to end that living-death immediately with a re-birth into a golden online career and intentionally free lifestyle. We all share the dream. Yet (for me) abundant monetary wealth was/is only a bi-product of my intentions. A wise man once told me: “The only way to affect change in the world is to work on changing our own little corner of it.” God willing, I have such a goal and will achieve it. After all, I have strong integrity and founding postulates. Indeed, my first products are ground-breaking, of true-quality, and profoundly novel concepts, but again, nobody is listening. Suffice it to say that my plans go well beyond hotel management or realizing a profitable business, and yet I remain frustratingly lost at sea. Again, how does one get the world’s attention with no marketing budget, no useful contacts, and no website traffic…and an immediate need for success?

The catch-22: in order to attain my business goals for TheDudeBrands I must have funding…and yet to have funding I must have a profitable business. I know you feel my pain. Hence the extreme frustration: it has become a steadfast determination and passionate endeavor to build meaningful websites and write excellent e-books that comprise TheDudeBrands, yet the clock ticks on. I am completely confident that my products (e-books) and web business are both feasible and profitable. I am basing and staking my future on it. Often times, though, I feel as if I am staring through the window of my locked car at the keys in the ignition. If only the answer to my dilemma were as simple as calling AAA!

It is one thing to know the elements of what to do (much like the steps to success suggested in my first e-book: “Lifetime Success in 6 Simple Steps”), but it is entirely another matter to put that knowledge into practice and realize results! Again, my frustration is a comprehensive understanding of the elements necessary to build, operate, and grow my business, juxtaposed by the lack of immediate resources – or startup web knowledge – to make it happen!

Sure, there are those “out there somewhere” who are qualified to contribute directly in non-monetary terms, such as web marketers and startup experts that could be committed to my concepts, or some other form of sponsorship. Such a deal could be sweet! Here we are again, at yet another catch-22! Nobody is listening.

And finally I repeat the question that I have not answered: what does one do when nobody is listening? My suggestions: first I must practice tenacity! Never give up! Next, do all the usual promotional tasks. And thirdly, be unique and eye-catching, while NEVER compromising my sense of self, of integrity. Bottom line: keep working! Perhaps someone will listen and rescue me from the sharks, dragging me onto the shoreline of success.

© 2009, . All rights reserved.

1. To make claim for; demand.
2. To assume or assert the truth, reality, or necessity of, especially as a basis of an argument.
3. To assume as a premise or axiom; take for granted. See Synonyms at presume.
noun
1. Something assumed without proof as being self-evident or generally accepted, especially when used as a basis for an argument: “the postulate that there is little moral difference between the superpowers” (Henry A. Kissinger).
2. A fundamental element; a basic principle.
3. Mathematics An axiom.
4. A requirement; a prerequisite.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

TheDudeBrands.com

TheDudeBrands Postulate #1: Integrity is everything; one either has it, or not. It can never be compromised or shaken. It is an absolute.

TheDudeBrands Postulate #2: “The only way to ‘change’ the past is to make the future what the past could have been.”

TheDudeBrands Postulate #3: Change the world by making your corner of it better than you found it!

TheDudeBrands Postulate #4: A person should not be measured by how much they love, but by how much they are loved by others.

TheDudeBrands Postulate #5: Business need not be complicated: provide true value at a great price, and serve the world excellently.

TheDudeBrands Postulate #6: Ultimately it is ignorance that is the heart of all human shortfalls.

TheDudeBrands Postulate #7: Live life with laughter; never grow up completely; play every day.

TheDudeBrands Postulate #8: You gain the attention of others by doing the unexpected and the extra with goodness in your heart.

TheDudeBrands Postulate #9: Children are the future of our world and therefore they are our real treasure to be valued above all else.

TheDudeBrands Postulate #10: Don’t treat other people as you want to be treated! Treat them better than you want to be treated.

© 2009, . All rights reserved.

I read an article two years ago claiming that in the year 2010 there will be two kinds of business: those who have an internet presence, and those who are going out of business. Although I do not agree with that assertion, I absolutely agree with its implication; we saw the atomic-like explosion of internet popularity in ‘Web 1.0’ (that is, before the dot-com bubble burst wide open), and the internet’s continued exponential growth currently in ‘Web 2.0-3.0’. Never has it been easier to own an internet presence. Less than ten bucks for a domain name, a nominal monthly hosting plan, and a (free) website, and you’re there! According to “Internet World Stats” (www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm), out of the 6.6 billion people in the world (in 2007), more than 1.3 billion are using the internet. North America has the highest penetration of the population, at over 70%! Wow! In North America, over 70% of the population uses the internet! Although Asia accounts for more than 56% of the total world’s population, the 2007 internet penetration estimate is less than 14% (which is still a larger number of internet users than North America: North America 238 million versus Asia with 510 million). These are some fascinating and staggering figures. I can only imagine what this year’s estimates will be. As any internet user knows, there are millions upon millions of online businesses (legitimates and not). You name it and you can find it online! In the future, there will surely still be physical, ‘brick-and-mortar’ businesses in the world that are not on the internet – absolutely – but it is evident that the bulk of the world’s economy will eventually be the internet, or whatever digital backbone follows it.

But we all know that the internet is gravely dangerous in so many ways. It is the modern day equivalent of the wild west of old. Yes, the digital age has brought us so many luxuries and conveniences, but it has also ushered in new venues for the decomposers of the world to operate, make huge money, and victimize people. There are millions of brilliant, cunning, clever, viscously shrewd “sharks” in the vast ocean of the digital ethers. There is spyware that exposes the data in your personal system, countless money scams and schemes, hackers robbing business of valuable customer data, chat rooms where people hide in the shadows watching for their prey, child pornographers, and so much more! I cannot begin to describe the “invisible” pitfalls of the internet.

So how do we protect our businesses, our homes, our children, and ourselves in the digital age? This question is continually debated, and debated, and debated some more. In the interim, there is little change. Collectively, people are not willing to trade some measure of privacy for the desired security of personalization. Even so, it is my belief that in the arena of e-security, cyber terrorism, and other internet crimes, we patrons of the internet are reactive instead of proactive in the fight against the shrewd e-beasts, e-terrorists, and e-criminals. The time has come to implement drastic changes, regulations, and therefore proactive protections.

So finally I get to the point. My IDEA is this: an “E-Pol Network”. The idea has three parts: 1) funding the E-Pol Network, 2) the structure and composition of the E-Pol Network, and 3) the challenges that must be overcome from inside and outside the network. By the way, my assumption is that the US would take the lead in this endeavor as a model for other countries.

Part One: First I must talk about funding the E-Pol Network; otherwise the idea has no feasibility. The only way I can see to “police” (for lack of a better term) the internet is through an “e-tax”. We must convince all internet businesses that it is in their best interest to support the E-Pol Network by paying a small tax, based upon their gross revenue. This pool of money funds the E-Pol Network, and is perhaps supported by some federal and/or state funds as well. Certainly there are intrinsic challenges with the funding piece of the idea (see Part 3 below).

Part Two: What exactly is an E-Pol Network? It is a network of e-pol (or e-police) “pods” that oversee and investigate internet usage within their respective region, according to an umbrella of policies and procedures that governs the entire network. So, imagine that each state is divided on an imaginary map into regions, according to population. Each region would have one e-pol pod ‘to protect and serve’ that e-community. One e-pol pod is simply one office of internet police that are watching a region. Obviously, then, each e-pol pod is part of the E-Pol Network. The “umbrella policy” would set forth the mission, the goals or mandates, and the overall procedures by which the network operates and would evolve as the system grows. The central mission of the E-Pol Network is to proactively “catch” e-crimes and e-criminals that make the internet so dangerous. The E-Pol Network would work in conjunction with the police, the Criminal Justice System as a whole, and the international police as well. This basic concept has already been shown to be effective in catching some sexual predators who use the internet as their playground, but it must be expanded to include all forms of e-crime. Again, there are challenges to overcome with this piece (see Part 3 below).

Part Three: What are some of the challenges and problems with the concept of the E-Pol Network? Perhaps at the top of the list is privacy. We are all concerned with the Orwellian idea that ‘Big Brother’ is watching, invading our personal freedoms or rights. Even though inherently within the E-Pol Network there must be some degree of privacy invasion, my belief is that the benefits outweigh the risks. Then too, if you have nothing to hide, you have no worries, except that the E-Pol Network itself might become corrupted. Which brings me to the point of E-Pol Network integrity. An oversight committee might have to be mandated. My hope is that there is a way to build and maintain the honesty of the E-Pol Network. Further, there is the matter of the e-tax funding, its parameters, and its distribution, etc. Heck, I’ll leave that one to the experts and my readers. And of course there is the issue of the policies and guidelines of the E-Pol Network. As I have stated, the central mission is fighting online criminals and crimes. Beyond that, let’s discuss it! There are a host of challenges that would come with this conceptual territory.

This idea is intended as the footings of the foundation of a structure built to protect us from the online universe. I do not claim that it is the answer to all related matters, nor do I profess to know or fully comprehend those issues. I do know that something tangible must be done now to kill the outrageous virus of e-crime.

© 2009, . All rights reserved.