THE ROAD

I can’t speak to the road women travel from being girls to becoming

women, but I can about the road boys take to becoming men.

 

It is a road that begins at birth, and not always an easy one.

Some will make it and some will fall by the wayside.

 

Their journey will be influenced by such variables as the quality

of parenting, the examples they are provided, education, and the

physical elements of their environment- if they’re born with a silver

spoon in their  mouth or a bottle of watered down powdered milk.

 

Some things can be compensated for to a degree- things like the powdered 

milk or poverty-but an abusive home cannot.

 

Children are at once the least among us due to their dependency, but

also the most valuable, as they are the future that change will come

through.

 

Not a one of them asked to be here, nor did they have option to

pick and choose where and what they would be born into. 

 

That to me speaks to a tremendous responsibility on the parents

behalf-too often we hear that a child was an “accident”, not planned,

or maybe even conceived as a a result of rape.

 

As to accidents, in this day and age removing rape from the equation

it’s a little difficult for me to understand how a child could be conceived

“accidentally”, but I suppose it happens.

 

Yet the fact remains the nations have always referred to children as

a gift, as sacred-something too many among us seem to be forgetting.

WE’VE BEEN LIVING IT 2

 I had a discussion today with a person who is fully supportive of the blog.

A conversation that was meant to encourage and to address another aspect-that people tell me on occasion that I often blog  about issues some may not want to hear about or confront, and in fact may make them angry-that We’ve Been Living It is one such blog.

They may be right but things don’t go away if they are ignored, and there’s certainly a wealth of sites doing just that.Or if they do address such issues they almost always do so in a patronizing manner.

That being the once proud and independent nations we were comes with some sort of exemption-that all we have to do is say we’ve been victims and then everything makes sense.

Well, maybe it does to some, or maybe it’s just a convenient excuse to latch on to, but it doesn’t to me.

As a people we sacrificed and bleed for our children,our women,  elders, and our communities in the past when we we’re outgunned,  out manned, and out resourced-yet somehow today it’s a different story?

Now it’s about complaining and making excuses rather than taking control of our lives and communities?

There’s a significant amount to complain about- and we generate our share of it.

Compounding a bad situation can hardly be referred to as a solution-it’s pouring fuel on the fire, self immolation.

Every time we tolerate another rape in our midst, another abused or neglected child, suffer so much as single gang banger in our communities we strike another match to the fire that is consuming  us-that is making a mockery and lie of everything we have been, and every sacrifice our ancestors made.

If we don’t like being victims then we should stop victimizing ourselves and our own.

As to whether someone doesn’t like what I say it doesn’t alter the reality, because these are truths everyone should be speaking and seeking to correct….and if any believe it can be shown to be otherwise then they need to step up and offer a rebuttal.

FROM WITHIN

In a sense we have become trapped by our own hands and the expectations of others – we are caught up in promoting a romanticized version of who we are-of meeting the expectations of others.

Expectations that we live individual and communal lives wrapped in spirituality-that we are in tune with all forces large and small…and nothing could be further from the truth.

Crime is rampant, gangs, alcohol and substance abuse are as well.

Rape and the abuse of our women and children are off the charts, and it all results from breaking with tradition-a trend that is growing as our beliefs become increasingly corrupted and commercialized.

There are a lot of good people among the nations, but there’s  also our share of sorry sobs, our share of thieves, drug dealers, and con artists.

Our communities are generally smaller and lack the “conveniences” that others have and consider a given. You don’t have to worry about your electricity being cut off when you have none to begin with.

Or your water either if you collect it in a bucket.

You don’t have the option of discount shopping or looking for a bargain when there’s only one or two stores colluding to price fix.

With this reality all the negatives that exist outside the rez such as crime, or abuse in it’s varied forms are exacerbated within ours, their presence and impact is felt by all, not just in the “burbs” or  the “inner city”.

Law enforcement is woefully understaffed and inadequate-and historically when it has come to matters of federal jurisdiction for the most part indifferent.

We are burdened by the expectations of the non indigenous, whether they be confined to this hemisphere or global in nature.

And predictably some will play to this expectation as though it is some kind of cure all or escape from the reality.

We are burdened by all the new age crap that seeks to infuse itself into the core of who we are, and likewise burdened and betrayed by our own who seek to capitalize from it.

We are in a very real fight to survive, to be who we are and were created to be-no one can deny we have been victims, but to victimize ourselves isn’t going to change anything.

Neither will waving a crystal around, talking about “ascended masters,  reincarnation, sacred chalices, or getting caught up in the expectations of others who know nothing about us or lived so much as a single day of the life.

We’ve got people who haven’t a drop of the blood calling themselves pipe carriers, giving themselves laughable names and going on about how they were instructed in the “sacred teachings” by a medicine man or elder- that’s bs from front to back, and any who buy into it and get separated from their wallet deserve it in my opinion.

Worse than that, we have people who are of the nations calling themselves “chief of chiefs” and selling everything that is ours except for the clothes off our back-and if they can figure a way to do that they will.

We’ve got con artists calling themselves leaders, liberators, and patriots, who contrive to profit in any way possible off of every misery known to us.

We’ve got ignorant punks undermining the very communities they live in calling themselves warriors and strutting about like peacocks.

Men who father children and abandon them-women who birth them and leave them with another to go party and get passed around.

We are in trouble regardless of all the high talk-serious trouble-everything we have and are is threatened. YT videos, the expectations of others, and talk isn’t going to change any of it.

The change must come from us-from within. We cannot dance to anothers tune, or attempt to mimic their behavior and values.

THE SHADOWS THAT FOLLOW

SAND CREEK

Wounds-everyone has been wounded in some way either physically or emotionally during the course of their life -an inevitable part of the human experience.

What wounds one may heal in time and be overcome-while the same wound inflicted upon another may fester as a life long burden, a part of the shadow they cast that follows them everywhere they go.

In addition to individual wounds there are communal, tribal, national, and even global wounds that few if any can escape from.

As nations we inflicted wounds upon others long before they were in turn inflicted upon us with the arrival of the first foreign invaders and the age of steel set foot upon this hemispheres shores.

If theses wounds we inflicted can be remediated in any way all that can be said is that they were localized-they weren’t continental in nature, driven by a desire to own the width and the breadth of the land, or characterized “with the cross of Jesus going on before”.

As a people we were truly viewed in the context of the below refrain as being evil, demonic savages-something upright and bipedal perhaps but of a lesser humanity, much the same as blacks and other ethnicities have been portrayed.

At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
on then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.

This song Onward Christian Soldiers I am quoting from goes on to say that the same path trod by “saints” is being trod, a united effort characterized by “charity”, and implores others to press “Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng”.

Charity and happiness-precious little of that to be found in the history that unfolded nor of circumstance that continues to this day.

Still, as a people we have a measure of our own happiness, practice charity in what remains of the tradition of tending to the needs of one another.

There is no greater gift than to help another in need, it is an effort to bind wounds, to soothe and heal.

If it is a physical wound, even an emotional one, the process can involve enduring a pain, brief in comparison to the time involved if left untreated, but necessary.

Some say it is better to ignore, to let that go, regardless of how deep a wound may run-that time heals all things -yet we have seen it does not, and is the reason we seek remediation in the courts to address them.

It is something of a military axiom to say never leave an enemy behind you- I say it applies to wounds as well, never leave them behind without first addressing them-if not they never heal. They become a part of the shadow that follows us through the course of our lives.

As a people we are inflicting wounds upon ourselves-the wounds of alcoholism, drug addiction, of spousal abuse, rape, commercializing ceremonies, and sadly, too often,  a dereliction of responsibilities to our children and communities.

We allow others to organize into gangs and so called movements to inflict their own brand of wounds upon us-some of them driven to prominence by a fawning media that is exempt from the bleeding, misery, and the enhanced spiritual decay and corruption of tradition suffering that ensues.

We can no more escape our shadow than we can the history and the present that is a part of ours, no matter how fast we run, unless we choose to live in darkness-a pallor that has been cast upon us for centuries.

We are children of the land who walk upright with the sun in our face and on our shoulders-the darkness that divides the day from night is essential, it is a time of rest, something natural not meant to contend with.

But there is another darkness that has haunted us these last few decades, an unnatural one-a darkness that inflicts wounds and comes in the night of lies like the proverbial thief-we can either leave that wound untended or seek to heal ourselves.

We have our own Manifest Destiny- and that is to be a free and sovereign people secure in our communities- free from oppression originating either internally or externally.

The treaties have been a lie- AIM and it’s leadership have been shown to be a lie- it’s time to heal those wounds and move on-time to rid ourselves of their shadow and feel the Sun on our face and the face of our children again.

BETRAYAL

All of humankind is being betrayed on some level-betrayed by corporations who seek only profit regardless of the cost to people and the environment.

Betrayed by governments and politicians who are career minded rather than  service minded and will do the bidding of corporations and the rich and powerful.

Betrayed by the media who no longer adhere to the principle of even handed reporting, opting instead to pursue advertising revenue and an audience based on what resonates and what does not.

Betrayed by banks with their manipulations and hidden fees.

Betrayed by the insurance and health industry where proper healthcare is predicated on what is covered, what isn’t, the amount of a deductible, whether you have insurance and  what the associated cost will be.

Betrayed by charitable organizations with inflated CEO’s, “operating” expenses, and salaries.

Betrayed by an educational system with declining standards and effectiveness, by failing to set a performance standard for teachers to adhere to as a qualification.

Betrayed by law enforcement which will lie or suppress evidence for the sole purpose of gaining a conviction and seemingly becoming infatuated with tasing people-man, woman, or child-pregnant or handicapped.

A standard of betrayal has been set and permeates every aspect of society-from massive multi national conglomerates to individuals-from such diverse organizations  as churches,to the Boy Scouts where sexual abuse has taken place.

Parents betray their children with a lack of good parenting, in abuses and molestations directed upon them.

Men betray women with rape, physical abuse, a wandering eye, and preferring to remain idle on the dole rather than working when they are capable of it.

And women in their own ways betray men.

Adults betray their parents in the form of elder abuse and turning  to them as a personal bank account, which is a form of elder abuse in it’s own right.

Communities betray themselves in allowing the presence of gangs and drug activities, failing to repair the “broken window” that leads to such things.

Inevitable then one might say that an organization like AIM would in turn adopt betrayal as a standard-that it’s leadership would place their welfare above that of others.

That they would lie, cheat, steal, betray, and even murder to protect their interests, and in turn  depend on the betrayal of others to support them or remain silent.

Betrayed in the attempts by some to rewrite history in their passing, casting them as anything other than what they were.

Perhaps it is inevitable as well then that the nations betray themselves in corrupting  traditions and ceremonies, or in allowing others to. I for one would like to think it isn’t so.

SONGS OF OUR MOTHERS

I kind of have a difficult time when a person not of the nations attempts to tell me about our traditions or interpret them for me.

Visiting a rez is a lot different that living on one-reading a book doesn’t make someone an expert, nor is it an immersive experience-never having lived in the language or hearing your mother sing to you the songs that belong to our generations is different than watching and listening to a youtube video.

Going to pow wow and watching dancers is a visual experience, and while I might encourage someone to read a book, watch a video, or attend pow wow, existing differences remain.

We as a living people are not a Smithsonian exhibit, nor a petting zoo, or an internet phenomena-we are neither quaint nor primitive anachronisms, we belong in this time and this land as much if not more than anyone.

We are not obligated to respond to “how do you say this” or pose for a photograph, though we may choose to do so.

We are not native Americans or Indians-we are indigenous to this land, the first people-we are Arapahoe, Apache, Dine, Hopi,Cheyenne, Crow,Cherokee, Mohawk,Ojibwe, Comanche, Zuni,Pima, Papago, and a multitude of other distinct tribes whose names for ourselves in our languages translates to “the people”.

Some things can and may be shared, others can’t and won’t.There is no debt-we owe no one nothing-not our language, our beliefs, or our ceremonies-and any claiming we do expose the same attitude that led to papal bulls and Manifest Destiny that they harbor within themselves.

It is a presumption born of arrogance and entitlement, a mindset that some of ours will cater to on a commercial level, and in doing so sell the songs our mothers sang to us.

I have a greater respect for my mother, and her mother, and her mother’s mother than to engage in any of that. I have a greater respect for the nations,for true warriors that fought and died,for the responsibilities we as indigenous people have, for myself and those close to me-a respect that will endure and has no price tag.

I offer nothing for sale, will cede nothing.

There is a certain universality in belief systems across the world, a commonality that recognizes a Creator, an afterlife, and accountability for the things we do and the way we have lived.

But it is a mistake to think that one size fits all among the nations, that we all believe the same-our creation stories are the same, or that one nations beliefs and ceremonies takes precedence over others, is more representative, or has a greater value.

Creator gave us each to our their what would serve us best in geography, language, and understanding, and none can claim Creator favored them more.

In times past a part of our history has been to take what was given to others, and now we find what we have has been and is being taken from us.

And within our communities we take from each other and ourselves-the pride of manhood or womanhood is taken by alcohol,drugs,and poverty. The security and pride of communities by gangs, liars, and thieves. The respect and honor due a woman by rapists, lives by murderers.

The innocence of children by dysfunctional parenting, incest, pedophiles, and the stark reality of rez life.

Much of what was gifted us has been corrupted-the land, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and what we believe-some by our own hand and some by others.

We follow and honor the wrong people while those deserving are seldom spoken of, we pursue the wrong things, titles are not earned and bestowed, they are appropriated and becoming meaningless.

I believe every nation, every individual within our nations, has the seeds of greatness within them, our past speaks to that, but seeds, like all living things, like our children, must be nurtured, must be cultivated and tended or they will fall upon barren inhospitable ground.

OUR FINEST IMPULSES

“Every day we slaughter our finest impulses.” Henry Miller

Slaughtered by the choices we make, and slaughtered by the choices
of others that are imposed upon the people of the nations.

Choices by others who corrupt traditions and ceremonies, others
who speak of the value of truth and yet do not speak it themselves.

Drugs and alcohol are slaughtering us, as are the rape and abuse
of our women and children. Everything we knew and were is being
trampled-thieves, murderers, and liars are being glorified while
parents struggle in anonymity to do the right thing, to provide
and set an example, to put food on the table and a blanket on the
bed.

Self appointed leaders speak in the generality of numbers, who
unlike them suffer and endure, and never provide a face other than
their own, nor a voice other than their own.

Poverty dulls the spirit, dashes hopes, breeds anger, and even
acceptance-fertile ground for the Means, Banks, and Crow Dogs of
the world who may be able to talk the talk but cannot walk the walk.

Poverty allows things to slip away, and in their absence when it
is recognized what is substituted is seldom the same, and a new
bondage is created. A new poverty that stifles the finest of
impulses-the finest of who we are.

If the land is not for sale we as a people cannot be either, and yet
we are-all too often by those among us.

JUAN MANUEL SANCHEZ- GORDILLO, THE MAYOR OF MARINALEDA

A lot of craziness going on lately. I was reading an article about a fifty year cycle of social unrest and how we are on the cusp of another one.

Maybe this in some way explains current events, but I believe there is more to it.

Protest is a time honored and essential ingredient of a free people-it is in fact what precipitated the formation of this country. I believe it is an inalienable right- a part of the checks and balances independent of any written document or time line.

A human right regardless of governments or location-yet one that is increasing being assailed not just in this country but worldwide.

There is a man named Juan Manuel Sanchez- Gordillo, the mayor of a city in Spain by the name of Marinaleda, who is also a member of a regional Parliment.

Sanchez Gordillo has not only encouraged but participated in raids upon local grocery markets where people walk in, fill their grocery bags, and walk out without paying for it due to their poverty and inability to.

“There are people who don’t have enough to eat. In the 21st century, this is an absolute disgrace,” Gordillo is quoted as saying. And I think it is difficult to disagree that poverty, hunger, and desperation are a disgrace.

I’m not advocating for people here or elsewhere to do likewise-only that I see it as a portent of things to come, and I will never characterize a mother or father for taking food to feed their families as criminals-they are victims of a systemic indifference, of manipulative robber barons, and the banking system.

Sanchez Gordillo is being referred to by many as a modern day Robin Hood, and perhaps he is-but he also much more than that, he is an example of what a politician should be, someone who champions the most basic rights of people.

Something that despite all the rhetoric is sorely lacking in this country.

Germany along with the assistance of the IMF looks for all the world as if they are attempting to establish a Fourth Reich in Europe with Germany in the monetary drivers seat-since this is a globalist agenda that will serve global banking and corporate interests other non Euro countries are falling in line.

The current presidential campaign is an absolute joke-nothing either side won’t stoop to, no lie or fear mongering too low to embrace-it is the stuff of school yards and I know you are but what am I-yet people wave the banner, froth at the mouth, and elect to close their eyes to the bipartisan idiocy of it all while claiming they are a part of an informed electorate.

In doing so little wonder the nation finds itself where it is.

What is needed is a government of champions, a nation of champions-not blind mice, or the see, hear, and speak no evil that is so much a part of the bipartisan party centric model.

Protest and the desire for something better, for equity, doesn’t require “anarchists-it requires unity, dedication, and the willingness to admit what are truths and demand something better.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2189003/Juan-Manuel-Sanchez-Gordillo-Spanish-Robin-Hood-mayor-cult-hero.html?ITO=1490

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48494948/ns/technology_and_science..

THE METRIC OF PRODUCTIVITY

Photographs have a way of speaking to things that words cannot-below is link to photograph taken after the Dustbowl and the mass migration to California of the “okies”, where they were soundly abused and taken advantage of.

I’ve read the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, seen an old movie made in the late 30′s I believe adapted from the book, and viewed several documentaries, and have remained impressed by all.

This is the disenfranchisement I spoke of in the Poverty blog- a disdain that will encompass even those of ones own race, and the primary reason I’ve selected the photographs I have.

These were a people held in low esteem. How much more so for those of a different ethnicity that have been routinely and historically seen as a “problem”?

Recently I read an article by climatologists addressing the temperature increase during Roman times-the deniers will seize on this to denounce the reality of climate change, despite the fact that the report was very specific in attributing the temperature increase during those times as a decrease in volcanic activity and the shielding effect of the ash it produces in the atmosphere.

They were also specific in saying what is taking place today is not a natural event, but one produced by man. Much of this country is experiencing a drought and record setting temperatures.

People should read the article in the link below and any links and photos they might search and discover related to the Dustbowl itself, and understand that they could well be looking at the future.

We may have the right to make detrimental choices as adults that will effect us as individuals-but we do not have the right to do the same for others, children, or their future-neither do governments, the one percenters, or corporations.

To be dependent on social programs may be a necessity for some, and that is part of the social contract that exists between governments and people that cannot be argued-what can be argued is a resignation to it or an acceptance of it by those who find themselves in that position.

As climate change and global economies worsen resources and the allocation of them will as well-we can sing and dance like the grasshopper or we can begin the preparations necessary to endure-change is coming and it will be catastrophic in nature-even in times of plenty there were eugenic movements.

If such movements become a reality again regardless of how they present themselves, we as a people would be well advised to understand we are on the list, as will be every poverty stricken person.

This is what Capitalism run amok and global economics is about-”production”-you either produce something tangible and marketable through your efforts or labor or through shuffling paper and manipulations that increases the wealth and assets of others or you don’t-any who aren’t viewed as productive are deemed expendable for the common welfare.

And it is they-not us-who define what and who is productive.

It is the same mindset that threatens uncontacted tribes in the Amazon, “ethnic cleansing”, and religious wars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl

 

POVERTY

This is a heartbreaking photo-I hope those who view it are cut to the quick and it serves to galvanize awareness and the demand for something better. Such a glaring inequity, injustice of epic proportions-we all must rise to the occasion.

“While welfare and subsidized housing was cut for the poor, spending for incarceration burgeoned. Public spending for the prison industry went from $33 billion in 1990 to $216 billion in 2010, an increase of 660%. The largest increase in incarceration rates for the poor happened under Clinton’s watch when “welfare as we know it” ended. During the 1990′s the federal corrections budget increased by $19 billion while the federal budget for subsidized housing under HUD was slashed by $17 billion.[1] A nation that discards its poor to “balance the budget” for more money than it costs to help the poor does not practice the “personal responsibility” it preaches. Our society really hates the poor and will spend money to destroy the poor before spending that same amount to help the poor. This was done in the name of “law and order” as poverty itself was criminalized”.

The above quote from Jacqueline S. Homan from her book Classism for Dimwits should be taken as a ominous warning-a portent of further things to come.

The entire history of not only this nation but “developed” ones whether in Europe or now in Asia has been a defacto criminalization of poverty.The more blatant examples have been debtors prisons which are effectively being revived.

The linkage that exists between poverty and crime is well established- in saying so I make no attempt to condone criminal activity-only to say that the linkage is a reality.

The approach to crime and punishment has been schizophrenic at best, and while “officially” recognizing that poverty is a breeding ground for crime, focusing on the reduction of it through poverty mediation hasn’t exactly been the approach.

At one point not that long ago an emphasis was placed on rehabilitation, due in part I think to an understanding that the majority of those incarcerated would be freed at some point, the current approach seems to be hang ‘em high.

In a world of such great abundance and TRICKLE UP economics poverty becomes a simmering pot of disenchantment, needs that are never met, and for too many an oppressive sense of desperation- the conditions and influences are well understood.

Societies emphasis is success, translating to wealth and the acquisition of it. The proofs are what you drive, how much you make, where you live, and what you own-all bolstered by the media even down to advertisements-advertisements that illustrate the gap between those who have and those who do not-in those illustrations discontent, desperation, and anger are often born.

Poverty stigmatizes, incurs disdain, and I think on some level creates a tension birthed by the understanding that a growing number of cracks exist that others above the poverty line could fall through-more and more people are a paycheck or two away from a personal free fall.   A belief that the poor are barbarians at the gate, a threat to the status quo, an anchor dragging one and all down,

The current trend is the privatization of prisons as a for profit entity- in such a climate the numbers of those being imprisoned is increasing- a simple business model predicated on numbers, and poverty lends itself to being a target rich environment producing the necessary harvest to feed the machine of privatization.

As the economic situation deteriorates poverty increases and a union between poverty and imprisonment for profit results.

The problem isn’t production but the distribution of what is produced-the manipulation of it by a few. The existence of wealth isn’t the issue, only the access to and distribution of it.
Things like “speculation” and “futures” both manipulate and control distribution.

Poverty is the ultimate crime perpetrated upon people when wealth and well being ascends to a small percentage and it’s existence is the result-the manipulations of Wall Street, the banking industry, and Corporations are the ultimate criminal acts as they are crimes committed not against a lone individual, but entire nations, against the world at large-yet their wealth and all too often favorable legislation insulates them-and as Homan points out poverty is then criminalized.

What is needed is not a perpetuation of poverty-especially that of a generational nature-human warehousing isn’t the answer either-what is needed is a hand up in lieu of what is referred to as a handout. Not the gift of the fish but the teaching of how to fish that will lead to non dependency and self reliance.

A hand up as in making education available to one and all without the burden of indenture student loans create-a prioritizing of jobs creation rather than the exportation of them and rhetoric and corruption that often accompany it- a realistic tax code, and an end to military adventurism.

Available affordable healthcare, or a system of socialized medicine would go a long way in securing people from bankruptcy related illnesses or the inability to acquire needed medical attention and significantly rein in the profit takers.

What the nations need to understand is that whatever ills befall this country the impact will be exacerbated among us-the reality of that should be a  motivation to focus on becoming as self reliant as we can-we must demand more of ourselves and those who would lead. We need to abandon the one percenters among us and look to each other.

Sound bites like telling America welcome to rez have little value-America by and large kicked us to the curb long ago, and when push comes to shove we will be further disenfranchised- whatever resources we have will be coveted and rigorously pursued. much as they are presently- whatever needs we will have will amount to even less than that of secondary importance.

We shouldn’t delude ourselves into thinking that while we may  have prevailed in some court cases that will be the way of it. “Laws” are always subject to revision and new interpretations, the treaties are a prime example-referred to in 1905 by the Supreme Court as being the Supreme law of the land and yet we see they are not.

We know the face of poverty only too well, any thinking it can’t become worse are fooling themselves-we, and those existing in poverty, will indeed be cast aside to “balance the budget”.

The poor are seen as either an exploitable workforce for starvation wages or expendable-and raises the question-do you see yourself or your children as being worthy only of exploitation or expendable?

Poverty is systemic among the nations, none have sole ownership of the effects or misery it produces-and it sure as hell isn’t a tool to be employed by poverty pimps -theirs is a poverty of spirit that wounds all in their path.

They in their way manipulate, speculate, and profit from it.