CURSE

The Curse of Knowing

We are the only creatures
who know the shape of nothing.
Not by touch,
not by sight,
but by the mind’s cruel gift
of looking beyond itself.

Before the first breath,
there was no waiting room of souls,
no quiet hallway of light.
There was not even darkness.
There was no “there” at all.
And one day, there will not be again.

The trees do not carry this burden.
The tide does not rehearse its ending.
The sparrow does not wake at dawn
and calculate the odds against existence.
They live inside the moment
as if it were the whole universe
because, to them, it is.

But we stand in time
with one eye on the cradle
and the other on the grave,
condemned to measure every joy
against the knowledge
that it vanishes absolutely.

We love while knowing
love will be erased.
We build while knowing
the hands that build will rot.
We speak while knowing
the last word is silence
so complete it erases the speaker.

This is our curse:
not that we die,
but that we know we will.
Not that we came from nothing,
but that we can imagine it
and call it by name.

And yet, inside this sentence of awareness,
something defiant still rises.
We laugh, though laughter proves nothing.
We write, though the page will not survive us.
We reach for one another
across the thin instant called “now,”
as if to say to the void:

You may have before us.
You may have after us.
But you do not have this moment
while we are in it.

And in that brief rebellion of consciousness,
that flicker between two eternities,
we carve meaning out of nothing
and call it
a life.

WJS 

BEYOND RELIGION AND POLITICS

 

Beyond Religion and Politics: Humanity’s Next Stage

For thousands of years, two systems have dominated human life: religion and politics. One claimed authority from the heavens; the other claimed authority from the people. Together they shaped cultures, created nations, justified wars, inspired art, and built civilizations.

But both systems share something more profound, and darker, in common:

They are rooted not in clarity or evidence, but in superstition, fear, and tribal survival strategies that predate reason by a long time.
And today, both are failing us.

The truth is simple and unavoidable:
Humanity has already moved beyond religion and politics, even if our institutions have not yet caught up.

We are living in the early years of a new era—one that demands intelligence, not superstition; systems, not slogans; and thinking, not tribalism. Religion and politics can no longer provide that.

I. Religion as Evolution’s Old Ghost

Religion was humanity’s first operating system:
a way to explain storms, disease, birth, death, and the terrifying unknown. It offered stories, rituals, and a sense of community that helped early humans survive.

But its foundation was always the same: superstition built on fear.

Faith replaced evidence, myth replaced inquiry, and dogma replaced evolution.

Today we know better.

We understand biology, physics, consciousness, and the universe in ways no ancient religion ever imagined. We no longer need supernatural explanations for natural events. And with each scientific breakthrough, from Darwin to Hubble to AI, the grip of superstition weakens.

It is not that religion is disappearing; somewhat, it has already been superseded.
Its usefulness as a unifying community structure has eroded.
Its teachings no longer guide modern ethics.
Its political entanglements now harm more than they help.

We are not “losing religion.”
We are outgrowing it.

II. Politics: The Obsolete Machinery of Human Organization

If religion were our first operating system, politics would be the second.

Politics evolved to allocate power, mediate conflict, and organize society. But like religion, it is rooted in ancient instincts:

• tribal loyalty,
• fear of outsiders,
• dominance,
• hierarchy,
• emotional manipulation,
• and us-versus-them thinking.

These instincts served us in small bands of hunter-gatherers.
They are catastrophically unfit for a global civilization of eight billion people.

Politics today does not represent intelligence, morality, empathy, or progress.
It represents the worst of human psychology, amplified by the media and weaponized by demagogues.

And like religion, politics now impedes the survival of the species:

• It blocks cooperation on climate.
• It undermines truth.
• It rewards rage over reason.
• It fractures communities instead of building them.
• It elevates power over problem-solving.

Humanity has evolved, but politics has not.
It is a 4,000-year-old tool trying to manage a 21st-century world.
And it can’t.

We are not “approaching the limits” of politics.
We have already gone beyond it.

III. Artificial Intelligence: The Third Operating System

Standing on the horizon is the next great force: artificial intelligence.
Unlike religion, AI does not rely on myth.
Unlike politics, it does not rely on tribal instinct.

AI amplifies both the best and worst of human nature, but it does so using logic, structure, and evidence, the very qualities our older systems lack.

AI is not a replacement for religion or politics.
It is something more profound:

A new organizing intelligence.

On the good side, AI can:

• Expose falsehoods and propaganda
• Replace superstition with knowledge
• Fix systems of governance
• Optimize resource distribution
• Reduce conflict through prediction
• Advance science, medicine, and human welfare

It can help us evolve beyond the limits of our ancient wiring.

On the negative side, AI may control, manipulate, or dominate us if left unchecked.
That is a genuine and urgent concern.

But here is the point:

Whether we fear it or embrace it,
AI is the force that will move humanity beyond religion and politics, because nothing else can.

We can no longer be governed by superstition.
We can no longer be organized by tribal conflict.

We require systems driven by truth, reason, evidence, and fairness.
AI is the only system capable of operating at that level.

IV. The Transition Has Already Begun

Look around:

• Young people are turning away from religion in historic numbers.
• Political institutions are collapsing under their own corruption.
• Truth is devalued.
• Old structures are hollow.
• Traditional authorities no longer command respect.
• AI is creeping into every dimension of life.

We are not waiting to go beyond religion and politics.
We are already there.

What remains is to acknowledge it and to shape what comes next.

The question is no longer whether religion or politics can save us.
They cannot.

The question is whether human intelligence, natural and artificial, can create a new system that finally matches the potential of our species.

V. Conclusion: The Future Is Not What We Were Promised

Humanity has outgrown its old myths and its old machinery.
Religion and politics, once essential for survival, are now obstacles to it.

They divide us when the world demands unity.
They cling to superstition when the world demands knowledge.
They reward tribal conflict when the world demands cooperation.

The future will belong to those who can imagine life beyond these ancient systems. And who can guide AI toward helping us evolve, not regress?

We are entering the third great chapter of human organization:

The only question now is whether we shape the future,
or the future shapes us.

William James Spriggs

THE DANGEROUS TRUTH ABOUT ILLEGAL ORDERS

THE DANGEROUS TRUTH ABOUT ILLEGAL ORDERS

We often hear the comforting phrase:
“The military will not obey an illegal order.”
It sounds reassuring, but it leaves out the most crucial fact:

No system determines in real-time whether an order is legal or illegal.

That gap is the danger.

1. What the Rule Really Means

The U.S. military teaches that service members must obey lawful orders and refrain from disobeying any unlawful orders.
This principle comes from:

• the Nuremberg trials,
• the My Lai massacre case,
• and the military’s own codes and training.

So yes, the rule is absolute.

But the process behind it is almost nonexistent.

2. Courts Won’t Review Orders Before They’re Carried Out

If a president issues a questionable order, the military cannot ask a judge:

“Is this legal?”

Civilian courts do not provide advance answers.
Military courts only review orders after someone has obeyed or refused.

That means:

• If a soldier obeys an illegal order, they can be punished later.
• If they refuse an order, they can also be punished, unless the court agrees with them afterward.

There is no safe way to test the order up front.

Someone has to take the risk.

3. The Constitutional Blind Spot

This creates a vulnerability in our system:

A president who wants to misuse power can give orders in the “gray zone,” knowing:

• courts cannot review them ahead of time,
• Congress cannot act fast enough,
• and military officers may hesitate to be the one who refuses.

The unlawful-order rule exists,
but it depends entirely on the courage of individuals, not on a working legal process.

That is too fragile a foundation for a modern democracy.

4. What We Need

To protect the Republic, we should establish:

• A rapid, independent review process to judge questionable orders,
• Legal safeguards for officers who refuse unlawful commands,
• Clearer standards defining what constitutes an illegal order, especially in domestic situations.

Right now, none of this exists.

5. The Bottom Line

The military is trained to disobey illegal orders,
but no one determines legality in the moment.

Until this gap is addressed, the safety of the Constitution relies on personal bravery rather than the law.

That is a risk we can no longer afford to ignore.

William James Spriggs

  

UNLAWFUL MILITARY ORDERS

THE UNLAWFUL ORDER DOCTRINE AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL VOID

For months, commentators have been repeating a reassuring mantra:
“The military is not required to obey an unlawful order.”

It is true.
It is also dangerously incomplete.

Most Americans assume there is a clear legal pathway for determining whether a presidential order is lawful, enforceable, or binding on a military officer. They imagine there must be a statute, a defined process, or a court that can step in if a president, any president, attempts to misuse the armed forces for illegal or unconstitutional ends.

But this belief is false.

The unsettling truth is that while the doctrine exists, the mechanism for enforcing it does not. This creates a constitutional void at the precise point where the republic is most vulnerable.

I. What the Law Actually Says

Contrary to popular misconception, there is no single statute that says a service member “shall disobey unlawful orders.” The duty is derived from several overlapping principles:

1. The UCMJ binds service members only to “lawful” orders.

Article 92 criminalizes failure to obey “a lawful order,” implying that an unlawful one carries no force.
But it does not define how to determine that lawfulness in the moment.

2. The Manual for Courts-Martial

It states that a lawful order must relate to military duty, must not conflict with the Constitution or statutes, and must not violate rights or the law of war.

3. The Nuremberg Principles

Adopted into U.S. military teaching, they reject “I was just following orders” as a defense when the order is manifestly unlawful.

4. U.S. v. Calley

After the My Lai massacre, the court held that soldiers remain liable for obeying “manifestly illegal” orders, even in wartime.

Together these sources form the doctrine.
But they share one weakness: none provides a mechanism for advance review.

II. The Conundrum: No Court Will Review an Order Before It Is Carried Out

This is where the warm reassurance of the doctrine dissolves into dangerous ambiguity.

Civilian courts will not intervene.

The Supreme Court has long held—most notably in Gilligan v. Morgan—that courts cannot supervise military operations or review hypothetical or anticipated orders.

Federal courts cannot issue advisory opinions.

A service member cannot ask a judge:

• “If ordered to deploy troops domestically, must I obey?”
• “If ordered to arrest political opponents, may I refuse?”
• “Is this presidential directive unlawful?”

The case would be dismissed for lack of ripeness, standing, and justiciability.

Military courts only act after the fact.

The only venue where legality is reviewed is a court-martial, and only after a service member has:

1. Disobeyed the order, or
2. Obeyed it and is being prosecuted for the resulting act.

In other words:

The system resolves unlawful order disputes only by punishing the person who made the incorrect guess.

There is no channel for a declaratory judgment.
No injunction.
No emergency review.
No real-time constitutional referee.

---

III. Who Carries the Burden? The Individual Officer

The unlawful-order doctrine relies entirely on the courage and conscience of individual service members.

There is no institutional safeguard.
No supervisory court.
No administrative review panel.

A lieutenant colonel, a JAG officer, a sergeant, or a four-star general must make a split-second determination:

• Is this order legal?
• Constitutional?
• Within the President’s authority?
• A violation of the law of war?
• A domestic deployment forbidden by the Posse Comitatus Act?
• A misuse of force?

If they guess wrong, they face court-martial, prison, or career destruction.

If they guess right and obey an unlawful order, they face criminal liability.

This is not a system designed for clarity or stability.
It is a system designed for deterrence through fear, not prevention.

IV. The Trump Problem (and Any Rogue Executive)

The danger is not ideological; it is structural.

A president inclined to misuse power could exploit the void:

• by issuing orders in a gray zone,
• by couching political objectives as national security operations,
• by relying on commanders’ reluctance to risk their careers, and
• by knowing that no court can intervene unless someone first refuses.

This is not about Donald Trump alone.
It is about any president, now or in the future, who discovers how much room the law leaves for mischief.

The safeguards are not judicial.
They are not legislative.
They are not procedural.

They are personal.

They depend on the integrity of individual officers.

That is a terrifying place for a republic to leave its constitutional survival.

V. What Must Be Done

If the republic is to protect itself, we need reforms that introduce:

1. A mechanism for pre-order legal review.

An emergency panel of federal judges, or a standing constitutional review board, could issue binding determinations on the legality of contested orders.

2. Statutory clarification of unlawful orders.

Congress can define:

• what constitutes an unlawful domestic deployment,
• limits on use of force,
• restrictions on political uses of the military, and
• explicit officer protections for refusing unlawful commands.

3. A safe-harbor statute.

Service members who refuse orders based on good-faith constitutional objections should be shielded from retaliation until lawfulness is determined.

4. Public transparency.

The nation must understand the fragility of this area of law.
Silence empowers the worst actors.

VI. The Conclusion No One Wants to Say Aloud

The American military is trained to obey lawful orders.
It is also trained to disobey unlawful orders.
But there is no reliable way to know which is which in the moment.

That is the flaw.

That is the danger.

And that is why merely repeating “the military won’t follow illegal orders” is not enough.
We must revise the law, clarify the process, and protect the officers who safeguard the republic, not after the fact, but before the damage is done.

Until then, the survival of constitutional government rests on individual judgment, individual courage, and the hope that no president will test the system to the point of failure.

Hope is not a legal safeguard.
We need real ones.

William James Spriggs

 

THE LOST SENSE OF COMMUNITY

The Lost Sense of Community — And the Republic That Cannot Survive Without It

For most of human history, the real value of religion was not its creeds, its doctrines, or its promises of reward. Its value was community.

Religion once brought people together in circles of mutual care. It taught neighbors to look after one another, to share burdens, to visit the sick, to lift the poor, to comfort the grieving, and to make the lonely feel less alone. At its best, religion was a social institution of beneficence, a place where people formed bonds of empathy and responsibility that extended far beyond the sanctuary walls.

That was the true strength of religion in America:
not the theology, but the community;
not the sermons, but the shared humanity;
Not the miracles, but the mutual support.

But that world is gone.

Religion Has Shifted Away From Community

Over the past half-century, organized religion in America has drifted from its communal purpose to something fundamentally different:

• Political machinery, mobilized to win elections, punish opponents, and impose ideology.
• Economic enterprises, focused on prosperity, wealth, and celebrity pastors.
• Cultural combat units, waging war against perceived enemies instead of building bridges between neighbors.

In this transformation, religion has lost the one thing that made it indispensable:
Its role is the builder and sustainer of community.

Today, religion can no longer be trusted to support the moral cohesion a republic requires. It is too fragmented, too politicized, too financially driven, and too invested in tribal identity. Its attention has turned away from the local and the human, toward the national and the partisan.

And with the decline of religious community, something even more profound has collapsed: people have lost the habit of belonging to one another.

Where Is Community Now?

Look at America today and ask a simple question:
Where is the sense of community?

It is not in our churches, too political.
Not in our politics, too hostile.
Not in our neighborhoods, too transient.
Not in our digital world, too remote and shallow.

We live in a nation of isolated individuals, each convinced of their own righteousness, each defending their own grievances, each living inside a sealed bubble of curated information and emotional insulation. The result is a fractured abstraction of “freedom” that leaves citizens adrift, unmoored from one another.

No republic can survive that.

A functioning republic depends on a shared sense of belonging, recognizing that we are responsible not just for ourselves but for one another. Democracy is not merely a system of voting; it is a system of community. Without that, the political structure collapses, because nothing binds the citizens together except anger and fear.

And we are living that collapse now.

The Repair of the Republic Begins With Community

If America is to be repaired, morally, politically, socially, our first task is not constitutional reform or economic restructuring.
It is the reconstruction of the community at every level:

• Local community, where people rediscover neighborliness, responsibility, and the human face of empathy.
• State community, where civic identity transcends political branding.
• National community, where we remember that a nation is not a collection of warring tribes but a union of people with shared stakes in one another’s future.

We must restore what religion once nurtured but can no longer guarantee: a fabric of mutual care.

A New Moral Leadership

This work requires a new kind of leadership, as the old institutions cannot be relied upon. We need:

• Leaders who understand empathy not as weakness but as civic necessity.
• Leaders who see morality as a lived practice, not a rhetorical weapon.
• Leaders who serve all people, not just their own political tribes.
• Leaders who know that a democratic republic is only as strong as the compassion of its citizens.

The restoration of America will not come from ideology, dogma, or false piety. It will come from communities rebuilt, empathy rekindled, and moral leadership reclaimed.

Religion once helped us do this.
Today, it cannot.
So the responsibility now falls on us, citizens who still believe in humanity, decency, and the shared moral destiny of a free people.

Sermons will not save the republic.
It will be saved by the community,
reborn.

William James Spriggs

AI AND THE END OF THE MIDDLE CLASS

Alarm: The Artificial Intelligence Race and the End of the Middle Class

The American middle class is vanishing before our eyes. Wages stagnate, costs soar, and our tax system rewards those who already have far too much. But an even greater danger is upon us, one that could make today’s inequality look mild by comparison. That danger is the unchecked rise of artificial intelligence.

Across every industry, billions of dollars are being poured into AI development. From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, corporate executives are racing to deploy automation at any cost. And while they celebrate “innovation” and “efficiency,” the reality is darker: the owners of AI will get richer, while millions of middle and working-class Americans lose their livelihoods.

This is not a distant threat. It is happening now.

A Machine for Transferring Wealth Upward

Artificial intelligence, as currently developed, is a machine for concentrating wealth. It automates tasks once performed by humans, boosts corporate profits, and eliminates payroll costs. The gains flow upward to shareholders and tech oligarchs while the displaced workforce is left scrambling for part-time, low-pay, “gig” work that offers no security or benefits.

The argument that “new jobs will replace the old ones” is a comforting myth. The Industrial Revolution built new industries that required human hands. The AI revolution eliminates the need for them. Once knowledge itself can be replicated and deployed by a machine, the worker, the teacher, the accountant, the driver, the lawyer, is no longer essential. Without intervention, this dynamic will collapse what remains of the middle class.

Government’s Abdication

The federal government, rather than acting as a guardian of fairness, has chosen to serve the interests of the wealthy. Recent proposals in Congress, backed by lobbyists from Big Tech, have sought to ban states from regulating AI altogether. The message is clear: prioritize corporate profits over public welfare.

This administration, like its predecessor, refuses to confront economic reality. Its tax policies remain regressive, its priorities tilted toward corporate contributors, and its blindness to middle-class suffering is complete. The public is told to “adapt,” while the very technologies threatening their jobs are subsidized by their tax dollars.

What Must Be Done

If democracy is to survive, Congress must act now. The development and deployment of AI cannot be left to those who profit from it. The people’s government must assert control, just as it once did over railroads, monopolies, and unsafe industries.

Here are specific measures that must be enacted immediately:

1. Establish a Federal AI Regulatory Authority
   A new, independent, transparent, and robust agency should oversee every central AI system, with the authority to audit, approve, or ban deployments based on their social and economic impact. No AI that destroys jobs on a mass scale should be unleashed without public consent and compensatory safeguards.
2. Require Economic Impact Assessments
   Every significant AI deployment must include a public report detailing expected job displacement, wage effects, and community impacts. Companies that profit from automation must contribute to funds for retraining, transition assistance, and social reinvestment.
3. Implement an AI Wealth Tax and Value Dividend
   The wealth created by automation should not be privately hoarded. A portion of AI-driven profits must be taxed and redistributed to the public through universal basic services, guaranteed income programs, or public ownership of AI infrastructure.
4. Protect and Empower Workers
   Workers should have the legal right to negotiate and bargain over the implementation of AI in their workplaces. An algorithm without negotiation, notice, and compensation should replace no employee. Unionization and retraining must be encouraged, not undermined.
5. Slow or Halt Deployment in High-Risk Sectors
   Where AI threatens massive job losses in transportation, logistics, customer service, and education, the government should impose moratoriums until protective frameworks are in place.
6. Ensure Transparency and Accountability
   Any AI system that makes decisions affecting human lives, employment, credit, and healthcare must be fully explainable and subject to human review. Black-box algorithms must not rule our future.
7. Coordinate Internationally
   The U.S. must not join a global race to the bottom in deregulation. We must lead an international compact that ties technological progress to human progress, not exploitation.

The Moral Imperative

We cannot allow a technology designed by the few to dictate the fate of the many. Unchecked, artificial intelligence will not liberate humanity. It will enslave it economically. It will transform citizens into data points, workers into relics, and democracy into an oligarchy.

This is not science fiction. It is unfolding in real time. And without government control, public oversight, and redistribution of AI’s gains, we are engineering a future in which freedom belongs only to those who own the code.

A Call to Courage

This is an alarm, not a lament. We can act, but only if we act now. Congress must reclaim its duty to govern in the public interest. The American people must demand that AI serve humanity, not replace it. And those of us who still believe in fairness, equality, and the moral worth of every citizen must raise our voices before the machine drowns us out.

Artificial intelligence must not become a form of artificial democracy.
The choice is ours while we still have one.

William James Spriggs

 

 

They Stood for Us

They stood for us — young once, strong once,
In places far from home.
Where orders came from voices firm,
And fear was overflown.

 

They wore their country’s cloth with pride,
Its flag upon their sleeve,
And in that trust, they carried hope
For all who still believe.

 

The Army marched through foreign fields,
Through mud and steel and flame,
“First to fight for right and freedom,”
They earned a nation's name.

 

The Navy sailed on restless seas,
Where courage met the storm,
From carrier decks to PT boats,
Their valor was the norm.
And Bob, our comrade still with us,
Who braved the waves and pain,
You brought the wounded safely home,
And we will not forget your name.

 

The Air Force soared where eagles climb,
Above the clouds of fear,
“Off we go into the wild blue yonder,”
They carried freedom near.

 

The Marines — my brothers in arms,
“From the halls of Montezuma” still rings true,
Their creed of honor, courage, and commitment
Binds the old Corps to the new.

 

The Coast Guard stood “Semper Paratus,”
Ready day and night,
To guard our shores, our ports, our seas,
Their vigilance our light.

 

Across the decades, wars have changed,
But one thing never will:
The hearts of those who serve still beat
With duty, faith, and skill.

 

They traded youth for liberty,
Their dreams for our tomorrows,
They bore the weight so we could rest
Free from tyrants’ sorrows.

 

Now gathered here at Merrill Gardens,
We honor those who gave,
Not just their strength, but their example,
Their courage, calm, and grace.

 

To every veteran in this room,
And those who rest in peace,
We say with deepest gratitude,
Your watch secured our peace.

 

So when the bugle’s final call
Echoes through the years,
May we remember what you gave
Through laughter, and through tears.

 

You stood for us.
Today, we stand for you.
Semper Fidelis, and thank you.