We Are Family!

A great old song filling the heart and soul with excitement and vigor. Remember it well. Not usually by sort of music, but then I was working with tens of thousands of young people, driving a lot (listening to the radio of course!) and remember the times, work, schedules were rough. A lot of effort in those days just to get from one day to the next. This song helped me do that.

Today the challenge is to once again support the ‘we are family’ message in spite of all our diversity and divisiveness. The mood is poor. The mood borders on violence. And that is exactly what we do not need.

If bullies must act out their frustrations in this manner, then let’s not give them any mind to do that. The authorities will answer violence with restraint, arrest, jail and court processing.

The rest of us can go about our purposeful lives and live our happiness.

Scanning Facebook posts I note those who disagree with my comments and positions. Mine are not vicious; theirs are. And, I add, uncalled for. So I merrily go on my way and leave them in their pooling acid and disposition.

If anyone wishes to calmly sit down and talk about issues in an orderly fashion, fine; I’m up for that and welcome the opportunity to hold an adult conversation. That exchange is likely to help me understand more than I do at the moment; hopefully that is the same for my conversationalist. It is in opening up our minds that we learn. Better yet, we come to understand more fully the issues at hand and then what we can do about them to make them more productive, not less.

I have long held that those who do not understand my positions on issues literally have not experienced life in the same manner as I. Well that’s a big DUH! That is precisely why people have differing views on the world. Our experiences are different and we come to those experiences with myriad feelings, needs, aches and pains. It is the human condition for each of us. Our views will be different.

Working through those views, however, is the process that gets quirky. It is not the same for each of us. It takes focus, work, exploration, and research to understand an issue. Hopefully each of us gains a good understanding of an issue before holding forth on it in a public manner. In the age of Facebook, Twitter and personal blogs, that is mostly not the case.

So we blast off on every issue regardless of our understanding or temperament. No wonder others react to our words.

Mea culpa. I am at fault with this. Perhaps you as well?

We can do better. We have to do better. If we are to reason together we must recognize our own faults and trip points. We must be open to hearing and actually working to understand other points of view.

Maybe that’s when we will find ‘we are family’ all over again.

I hope so!

August 31, 2017

Being An American

Black, Irish, Latino and Latina, Chinese, South American, female, male, gay, straight, transgender, bisexual, lesbian, foreign or native born – each and every one of us who lives here voluntarily is an American. Naturalized or native, still an American. Liberal, conservative, Muslim, Jewish or Christian, or simply an Atheist. What you think doesn’t matter. Who you are does matter. Do you tolerate people different from you? Or do you segregate yourself into a ghetto of your own making?

Nazi, white supremacist, you can think these things freely in America; but know that you speak hate and represent such; that creates reactions. Your action creates reaction. You are responsible for both the action and the reaction. Because you are so out of the mainstream of thought and values.

The dissonance is the trouble maker. Those holding on dearly to the dissonance and insist it be heard must be ready for the reaction. They alone cause it.

Yes you have free speech rights but you also have responsibility in the exercise of that right. If you create a danger to others by your speech, then you can expect all forms of trouble. Injury may result. Property damage may result. And yes, you are held responsible for all of it. You cannot shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theater. That is well-established law in the US. This principle has been expanded to include other common sense restrictions.

Just because you are free to think and speak with freedom doesn’t mean you are correct in any other sense. Facts, history and context are all important to what it is you say. If you are dissonant with any or all of that, then you are wrong. If you wish to live that way, fine; but learn to be isolated and shunned. Those are just the facts of life.

For the rest of  us, we learn to live lives of purpose and consequence. We tolerate you but do not celebrate you. If you are OK with that, fine.

Also, the rest of us have learned to tolerate people who we don’t understand or agree with on many levels of life. I’m gay; I don’t expect you to be gay, nor do I expect you to celebrate my being gay. I’ve learned to live with this situation; you do too, just like I have learned to live with your anti-American, hateful personality. Just don’t tread on me or my family or my property. In return we will provide you the same level of protection.

“Give me your tired, your poor, teeming masses yearning to be free…” is a deeply moving inscription on the base of the Statue of Liberty. We are a nation of immigrants. Whether born to parents who brought you here as an infant, or as the first generation born on this soil by immigrant parents, it doesn’t matter. You are an American. If you were born in the 5^th or 20^th generation of an immigrant family, such does not make you better or lesser a citizen of America.

We are Americans and that’s what counts. With that established we are all free to pursue life, liberty and happiness however we will and can. The rights and liberties of others are protected from our pursuits. We are not to damage anyone else’s rights. Getting along does count for a lot in America.

You and I have a responsibility to fulfill governance duties. We vote, we keep informed, we pay taxes, we volunteer our services, we serve on juries, and in many ways we support the operations of our governing units. We own those governing units; they do as we direct through the power of the ballot box and our relations with elected representatives. Those folks work for us, you and I. But they cannot do their jobs well in a vacuum. They need your input and help to do their jobs. So do yours.

Having said all that, understand you and I do not have the intrinsic power to pick and choose who our neighbors or fellow citizens are. We are all part of the same melting pot. The stew mixes well because of our unique differences. Learn to appreciate that.

I do appreciate it and I welcome your efforts to do the same.

Now, about voting for a simpleton bully like Trump; how could you? When did you stop reading or listening to the news? Or history?

We have work to do in this nation as we always have. The job is never done. A lot of people are hurting and they need our help. I’m hurting and need help. But each of us is required to pull our share of the workload. I’m doing mine. Are you?

August 30, 2017

Letting Go, Being Real

It is not an easy thing to be real. Authentic is a better word. Being authentic means being willing to just be, let go the restrictions of what others think about you and your thoughts, but actually daring to explore on your own and come to conclusions. Daring means willingness to share your thoughts and conclusions with others. See what they think about them. What criticisms do they have? Are you OK fielding those criticisms without losing faith that what you think and how you arrived at conclusions have validity on their own?

Are you able to act on the criticism and adjust your conclusions accordingly? Did some of the comments prove helpful to you and actually clarify your own thinking? Did they have a point you had missed? Great! You can take criticism and survive it; even benefit from it.

Benefiting from it means you are using thoughts from others and weaving them into your thought process; this action enhances the conclusions, the outcomes of the process. Fresh ideas often spring from this interaction. It is from such processes that teamwork forms among office mates and friends working on a common project.

And this leads to Collaboration. 

Now, collaboration is a special action of workers and thinkers. Their focus is on something common. Thinking out loud on the common project/task, raises questions, terms, phrases, all in need of definition. Group thinking begins to expand the subject matter more and more and finally some tasks are identified that, when worked on by separate sub teams, actually lead to some interesting findings.

Teamwork and collaboration. Cooperation, too. Three words that contain much promise for people of goodwill who trust one another (wait! that’s the definition of goodwill!). I started this piece talking about being real, being authentic. Getting to that point takes courage and freedom. It means you can let go of fear of judgment, fear of being wrong, fear of losing face, and just being you. You, in all of your richness and promise. And flaws.

If entire teams have members like you, just imagine what can be accomplished by you all! The possibilities take my breath away.

But it really starts with individual courage to just be yourself. Freed from restrictions of what others may think, you are now able to think freely and associate bits and pieces of the real world in relationships unimagined before. That's where invention comes from. Seeing the world differently however managed. Using old things differently for different results, or creating new things completely. All of this creation comes from serious thinking and personal courage.

Want to say something to the world community? Then write it down, edit it, and post it on a blog. The worst thing will be if it is entirely ignored. If you earn reactions, you know it was read. And if the reactions are reasonable and accurate criticisms, alter your message; make it better; then re-post it. Show the world you can change and adapt as well as think on your own.

It takes courage to do this. Your courage. I know because I have worked through this process on my own for several years now. I think I’m doing OK. No monsters have sprung from under the bed in the middle of the night and sucked air from my lungs yet!

Of course there is still time for them to creep out of their hidey ho’s but I doubt it very much. See? I still carry doubts with me. But I’m getting better. You will too. Try it!

August 29, 2017

Alt-Left vs Alt Right

There is no such thing. Alt-Right maybe is a thing, but there is no Alt-Left. In the old day – that would be at least 20 years ago and more! – descriptions of left and right were much different than they are today in 2017.

I recall a discussion last Thanksgiving with my former wife. She had been reading my blog posts and opined that I had become far more liberal than what she remembered. I calmly stated that I remain a centrist as I have mostly been in my adult life, but perhaps what she is noticing is the distance between what I espouse compared with her current conservative position. I queried: Is it possible you have moved farther right than you had noticed?

And that’s the point I wish to make today. The liberal, or so-called left, is really the old Democrat position of social programs that are large enough to care for the people who really need systemic assistance. The problems are so large only a large, central government program will suffice if we expect lasting change and outcomes. Caring for one another, building the commonweal of a nation, is actually what we are talking about here. How well is the health care system actually helping people be well and keep well? Is it so costly as to price out of reach the needs of the lower income folk? If that is so, then what do we need to do about that? Surely an American society we believe in and love would respond to such need?

That response is the liberal response. So is Planned Parenthood, educational standards that ensure all of our kids are getting a good, solid education in the public school systems.

Conservatives would say no to all of that. They would claim it is the responsibility of each individual and their family to care for their own. If they want more in life, they must work harder to earn the income that makes purchasing for their needs possible.

I understand that but I also understand that systemic misfiring of the economy, of the political system, and of so much more, actually holds many people back from doing well for themselves. And that holds the rest of us back as well.

Overall, I think the conservatives are getting more conservative. More reactionary, too. And they don’t realize it. So, in comparison with others, they think the others are becoming more liberal. I suggest they re-examine their situation and study if my idea might have merit in their case.

If I’m right then the alt-left vs alt-right argument is bogus and needs to be scrapped. That will go a long way in cooling hot tempers much on display these days.

I’ve suggested before – and I re-suggest it now – that we identify a list of traits we think should describe America. What are the characteristics that we Americans believe in and want to be known for? Those are the things we should focus on, not what is different among us. For example, I think we can agree that we do honestly care about those less fortunate than ourselves. What we do about the people with problems is an action item yet to be agreed upon. But if those folks hold the nation back from solving other issues intelligently, then we need to help those people sooner rather than later. We want them to be a plus for the nation, not a drag.

Same with infrastructure. I see it as an investment in our nation, in our ability to get things done. We can’t very well do that if storm water surges flood homes, streets and cities. We must have dams and waterways that control such periodic storm waters. Same for roads and bridges. We must provide those if we want people to get to and from work and shopping and service districts. And schools, we need an educated workforce to support employers. And we need intelligent voters to vote on facts and logical issues rather than feelings and suspicions.

All of those items are investments in our nation and its people. And for what reason? For the common good of everyone. We all benefit from this sort of investment.

Let’s face this one fact: commerce benefits from schools, roads and bridges. And many other aspects of social life in America as well. We all pay for that with taxes. Often businesses do not pay the same taxes; they are lessened to encourage more investment in commerce and industry. They benefit without realizing how much society is subsidizing them. Yes; that’s a fact! Most of those folks, however, think they are subsidizing society. They would be wrong in that conclusion.

So rather than fighting each other on the streets of Charlottesville or Phoenix, why not engage in worthwhile discussions that actually get us somewhere?

That would be a refreshing change from today’s vitriol. Worth a try?

August 28, 2017

Tax Cuts & Trickle Down Myths

No tax cut is free. By its very nature it is a reduction of income for the taxing body. That means either the taxing body does its job with less money, or finds new efficiencies to do more with less. It can be done. But care should be taken; some tasks are work intensive and do not lend themselves to common efficiency theory.

Of course amateur economists live among us and claim that we need not worry. With lower taxes come higher disposable incomes that will surely be spent in the economy and create more economic activity, taxable incomes, etc. The theory states that what was eliminated by tax cuts will be replaced with higher earnings. Such are taxed replacing the taxes eliminated.

All of that sounds good. But we have tried it. At times it worked as outlined above, but mostly it has not worked out well.

What the amateur economists have lost sight of is the shrinking Middle Class. We are not what we once were. Not only are their fewer of us, but those of us surviving – barely – are doing so with much less wealth, income and standard of living. To add to this misery, budget conscious politicians preach reduced entitlements and government programs in human services. They feel the beneficiaries of such programs are slothful ingrates who feed at the public trough.

They need to check the trough; first of all they are there feeding off of high government salaries for elected officials, and posh benefit plans as well as generous expense accounts and stipends. Second, they should check the troughs for those they know – like their Aunt Mary, Uncle Joe, and their own parents.

The so-called entitlements are benefit plans the ‘insured’ paid for through premiums and payroll taxes over a lifetime. So too Medicare; like Social Security, it is a benefit plan paid for by those covered by the program. Besides, if benefits were reduced in both of those programs, the poor will become poorer, and that will include retired people. All retired people.

The trickle down economic theory only works when it is early in a cycle of trying it. Pretty much all of the benefits from this theory were recognized a few decades ago; even President George H. W. Bush learned the truth; he tried extending trickle down methods and met with failure in a big way. The same would be true today. There is only so much blood in a turnip you can squeeze from it! Think about that.

Tax cuts today would benefit only the wealthy. They would pay less but the beneficiaries would receive less and in a more costly economy. Standards of living would drop steeply. The economy would contract and unemployment grow. Household incomes would likely stall once again. New job creation and adoption of new technology would also stall.

During the George W. Bush presidency an enormous social cost was transferred to the Middle Class when tax cuts for the wealthy were enacted. That move cost the US government $1 trillion. Then the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were waged endlessly for another $2 trillion. No wonder the federal deficit was a runaway! And the annual red ink gushing in the federal budget is easily explained.

To correct this mess tax increases are required on those who have the money with which to pay the higher taxes. It’s like gravity, folks; what goes up must come down and vice versa. There is no such thing as a free lunch. We can work hard to ease the pain on those who will be asked to pay, but please do not extract one more dollar from those who truly cannot afford it. That would be your disappearing Middle Class.

We’ve heard all of this before. Why don’t we listen and heed the facts and truth?

Because we are wishful thinkers trying to escape responsibility. ‘Not me Boss! Surely not me!’

Bosh!!

August 25, 2017

Writing

Writing anything at all is easy; having it mean something is another matter. One thing I have learned, though, having anything mean something comes from an honest expression of feeling and knowledge. That knowledge is not all wise. But it is real, taught by experience. What you feel in specific situation is real to you and only to you; a companion who experiences the same situation will feel something similar, perhaps, but he or she will most likely know it differently. If each of you wrote about your experience, they would be different. Sharing only the common happening, all else would be quite different.

So it is that reading another’s thoughts are unique and fresh. Trite are those words and phrases that are expected and often repeated by other writers. Conventions and patterns of speech are shorthand for sameness. And boredom? Maybe. That depends on where we the reader are coming from as we consume the prose on the page.

Imagine for yourself what it would be like to live through an event you’ve never experienced. What would it be like? How would you express the feelings and unfolding realizations of the happening?

That’s what I’m talking about; now remember an actual event and write about that. Compare the two blurbs and rate freshness of spirit. Which is more starkly present and real? Maybe you cannot judge this for yourself; perhaps another reader can.

I have a good friend on tour for 14 days. She is seeing for the first time the Canadian Rockies, Lake Louise and Banff. These are places I would love to experience; meanwhile photos must suffice. And she is sending those photos through. They are every bit what I expected them to be. Some are pictures taken from the dome car on the train, a passing view of a mountain lake, or mountain pass. In the still form the photo speaks volumes. Wondering the same scene as it unfolds is another experience to imagine for me, to feel for her. She is there and I am not. But the details of the still photo come alive as I explore the nooks and crannies and individual trees dotting the landscape. Breathtaking in its entirety. As a passing scene? I’m not sure I could do it justice.

So the imagination is one thing and reality another. But life is lived in motion not in still photography. The latter provides the details; the former allows experience.

Writing that paragraph gives satisfaction. A truth, small but wondrous, has appeared from the words. Would we have thought the truth in any other way? Is that the genius of putting words on pages and attempting to say something? And is it genius or accident? Most likely the latter.

At least living by accident is living in the present. Fleeting as it is the present is actually the only true thing of life. The rest is what? Memory?

Maybe so, but it is from memories we paste together the meaning of it all. It is then we know we have experienced something rich and real; before we only sensed it.

August 24, 2017

Trump’s Afghanistan

It was inevitable that America would wage military might in Afghanistan to rout out Al Qaeda and Bin Laden. George W Bush and Dick Cheney were right about that. And so it was done.

That’s how we got involved with Afghanistan. Like the French and Russians before us – and most likely many others as well throughout history – Afghanistan has been an allure for foreign nations. Regardless, we were there for Osama bin Laden.

For a time we did rout Al Qaeda. Eventually we got Bin Laden, too, only it was in Pakistan, an ally that knew well Bin Laden was living safely within its borders.

But we got sidetracked by many things: Afghanistan was a mess: its people living in squalor, its streets in chaos and violence, Taliban running amok, so too Al Qaeda. Buildings were demolished by enemy attack. American GIs trained Afghani troops only to have them turn on the GIs and kill them in sneak attacks. Who was Taliban and who was not? The enigma morphed continually to make mirrors not speak true reflections.

As reality and myth meshed, we happily were sidetracked into nation building. We were the good guys and we would leave Afghanistan whole and self determining. We learned long after that she was already self determining, we just didn’t think the conditions were wanted as such.

As the puzzling reality took shape we didn’t understand it. And so it was that the lure of Iraq took us out of Afghanistan (only we didn’t admit that openly) so we could play real war games on our own terms.

And that turned out badly as well.

Perhaps Americans should admit we do not understand the world community as well as we think? The Middle Eastern culture is everyman’s culture when you think of it. This is the cradle of civilization; we’ve all been here before; that doesn’t mean we know it and understand it. Biblical times. Koran times. Torah times.

Get it? These are the books of knowledge and wisdom we preach in many tongues throughout the globe. Yet we pretend to know of each other we actually do not. Pity. There is so much more we could be if only we invested the effort. And time.

Meanwhile we strike out in ways we know and continue the muddle. Muddling is what we do well when we don’t know any better. Only we should know better. We have trillions of dollars in military materiel and equipment and people. But we don’t have the knowledge of the current State Department to guide wise use of our assets. No; we continue to do as we usually do. Maybe we should stop digging the hole?

Trump’s speech to the nation Monday, August 21, 2017 was a rambling bit of froth. He clearly knows little of what he speaks. He blames others for the situation in which we find ourselves, only he thinks he is the only one in the mess. No; we are all in the soup on this one. How to manage the situation and not lose national face is the goal. That’s the same imagined outcome we’ve all had for some time.

Trump does not bring fresh eyes or ideas to the situation. But he did speak truth we all have come to know: Afghanistan is and was a mistake; Iraq is and was a mistake; Taliban and Al Qaeda own the ‘peace’ of the Middle East; leaders and ‘owners’ of the Middle East get wealth and satisfaction for themselves by keeping the area in chaos; the drug trade globally relies on Afghanistan’s crops of evil; in that is much wealth, for some.

The treasure and human life we have paid in Afghanistan will never be recovered. We grieve and regret. It is time to leave as cleanly as possible. Just keep our backsides covered as we turn and exit.

For Pakistan – the cowering two-faced ally – do the same. Turn and exit.

Focus instead on building lasting peace among allies in the region. Just be careful who we name as allies. So far all have wanted America as friend because of her money and might. It’s time to say no to that and insist on something better.

The ball is in their court. Let’s see what they come up with. And this mean Netanyahu as well.

I just shudder thinking trump is in the swing seat at a time like this!

August 23, 2017