Trust

Our world is built on trust. Blunt statement. Truth, too.

The dollar bill is worth $1 because we expect it to be so; and we prove that every time we buy something that seems worth $1. If you read the text printed on the dollar bill, you will see the “In God We Trust” phrase. That is an assertion adopted by Congress in the 1950’s after the USA helped the world prevail against sinister enemies. That phrase, however, has nothing to do with the value of the dollar.

The ‘full faith and credit’ of the US Treasury is what makes the dollar’s value worth 100 cents.

The American government has functioned steadily and reliably for 250 years plus. Our nation’s word is its bond. The government says it will do something and we can believe that will happen. Our friends around the globe rely on us as well; that is why they sign treaties, compacts and agreements with us. They know we will live up to our word. If we say we will protect you and defend you against foreign powers, we will; we have. Our history supports the claim.

If we say we will be a trading partner with you on agreeable terms and quick currency settlement, we follow through on such agreements. If we say we will partner with you and your science community in space, we will do so, even though our relationship is very rocky much of the time. The International Space Station is a proof of point. Russian and American astronauts have been working together for many years keeping global science experiences operating at the station. We support shipments of materials and supplies to the astronaut crew regularly. We fund the operations, too.

When we visit the doctor, she tells us a diagnosis we can understand and the treatment plan suggested. We believe the medicines prescribed and the testing, hospital care and surgical procedures will be done expertly and safely. When they tell us results are 85% certain, we can trust the claim. Nearly 100% of the time the results are as expected or better.

When we get the bill for the medical treatments we know the insurance company will pay the bill, Medicare will pay its share, the medical provider will discount the costs accordingly to the government’s agreement, and we pay our co-payment as prescribed. The bills are paid and everyone is happy.

We send our kids to school and they come back mostly happy at the end of the day. In time they pass tests, participate in many life altering experiences and mature into fine adults and citizens. They have become educated and able to learn on their own throughout the rest of their lives. The school system is doing and has done its job. We all have benefited from these outcomes.

Our national boundaries and shores are defended well by our Navy, Coast Guard, Army and Air Force. Our intelligence agencies analyze events and covert activities 24/7/365 to protect our national security. It always has. It continues to do this complicated job. And we come to rely on it.

We trust our families to do the right thing and most of the time they do! Same with our places of employment. Not all works out fine, but then the world is constantly changing so we have to expect some agreements won’t be honored without some change.

For the most part, though, things are as they should be and we function daily in a world of stability and reliability.

Trust. It is everywhere. It is basic. And it is often invisible. How much do we assume will be OK when we really don’t have any way to know such is the case?  Most of the time, right?

I think we forget that we have much to be grateful for in spite of temporary difficulties from time to time. And yes, some people are not trustworthy. We learn to live with those disappointments and move on. Why? Because most of our fellow citizens are trustworthy.

Same with the aspirations and expectations of our foreign friends around the globe. Keep those relations healthy and we do rely on each other. That’s a good thing. May it ever be so.

April 28, 2017

Getting the Most Out of Life

Life has many challenges. We struggle on many fronts to build a happy life. Finding the right line of education that speaks to our interests and talents is one front. Finding a job that satisfies our sense of identity as well as offering a future to grow into is another front. Finding the right life partner consumes a lot of our time, and then making that relationship work for all time. Having children and being absorbed with them is not always easy. Balancing family and career promises many conflicts. Getting along with a diverse array of personalities is yet another daunting task!

The list of challenges goes on and on. No need to beat it to death.

Along with all of the above are the usual personal development tasks only you can labor over. These include: life philosophy, theology and spiritual beliefs, intellectual interests, self identity and mental health. I see these topics as shapers of the whole person when done in context with the other life struggles. Our menu of tasks is large. Challenging as well. No right answers in most of the cases, just bits and pieces that shift from context to context and from time to time. One size does not fit all. We are talking true custom features here!

Motivational speakers and writers usually advise us not to sweat the small stuff in life; then they go on to say all things are small stuff! Sort of defines the task and challenge out of existence, huh? Not much useful advice in those words.

Well, maybe a little. Life is complicated, but if we let each and every thing bother us the complication multiplies and upsets us. Best to keep things simple. Deal with each issue as it comes up, move on to the next thing, and keep on living your life.

If major problems pop up, and they will, focus on them for accurate definition, options available to manage them, and then decide on a course of action and follow through. Keep moving along.

Some things we have enjoyed in the past will be cut out to make room for more pressing matters. Aging brings a lot of such issues. But it is OK because we are simplifying life and enjoying what we have, not what we don’t have. Actually we need less and less as we age so yes, we actually become happier as life becomes simpler.

Oh, there are inconveniences and a need for more humility. That takes getting used to but it is OK. Besides, those things are not in our control. Plain and simple.

And that really is the point I want to make here: backing off of life’s complexity is a major method to get the most out of life. Simplify. Don’t let lifestyle or belongings own you and entrap you. Live freely and in the moment more than you have in the past.

I’ve found relationships a source of joy and pleasure. Getting to know someone well and sharing space and thoughts is meaningful and rewarding. Tasting food is another pleasure! Listening to music that informs the ear and mind is a deeply rewarding experience. So too the arts of many kinds.

TV programs are less and less a pleasure; too much noise and much too much pandering to the lowest common denominators living among us. There are good programs to seek out. TED Talks are great; National Geographic programming is very good. And most of PBS programming is trustworthy and balanced, especially in news reporting and issue discussions. The good is present; it just takes discipline and seeking it to find it.

Reading a book – fiction or non-fiction – pulls our mind from our inner recesses, and places us in the lives of others. Accessing this space is important. I am not the most important person on the planet. Others matter and have worthy points of view and feelings to consider.

Strangely, the more I do this the happier I become. To be real, however, it must be experienced on your own. If you haven’t tried this, allow yourself the freedom to explore it.

I think the oddest thing in life I’ve learned is simply this: I have found the best life has to offer when I wasn’t looking for it.

With that I have discovered joy. Not long ago I didn’t have joy. The lack was evident and haunting. But now that has all changed. I live outside of myself much of the time and intentionally. That has made all the difference.

Try it for yourself.

April 27, 2017

Free Speech; Free Elections

Our friends in France have had a rough election season. They have had many candidates for head of their government. Macron and Le Pen came out on top of the vote count. This is a favored result because of how it can be managed for the run-off election.

In France discussions were open, heated and often borderline violent. So too, were the presidential campaigns in America in Fall 2016; but the result came down to the clown winning the race. A clown. Running the most powerful nation in the world, or least the hoped for most powerful nation! That is all in doubt these days. Who knows what will happen in America or in the world, for that matter, because a clown resides in the White House?

We know France watched America’s election season closely. Their own campaign season was wild and alarming. Most of the candidates were not centrist or calming; no, they were hot headed, free speaking, manipulative and highly charged political games men. France was worried. Especially after Britain’s Brexit vote. Followed soon after by America’s election of Clown Donald. Yes, France was worried for their own nation. They reasoned that if two nations of sophistication and renowned leadership fell to populist unreason, then surely their own election could end badly. And then what of all of Europe and the rest of the global community?

Yes, France was worried. And we worried for them.

But look! Behold their results. Yes, a run-off election must be held, but the two finalists are poles apart with one reasonable and well versed in government. Plus, the major parties in France have already formed an alliance to support the centrist candidate Macron. All of this is in readiness to keep the Le Pen clown from winning the leadership role.

There is no doubt that populism today is swarming the free speech air waves. A lot of upset has occurred in recent years. The economies of the world have changed; home conditions have changed as a result all over the world. Wages are down. Jobs have been lost. International trade has seemingly wiped out entire homeland industries. Policies have been blamed. So too, ideologies. Conservative, liberal, centrist – all are labeled with denigrating terms.

Populism is quick to judge cause and effect, but they skip the result phase too fast; it is there they will learn the full meaning of change and what it brings into being. Those who are aware benefit; those who aren’t aware, lose out. Populism is lazy. Awareness takes discipline and work; study, too. And research. It is all of apiece. Populism takes the easy way out and focuses only on what appears to be ‘bad’, not what is the inevitable march of time and change toward new, different and possibly better eras.

Politics is about power. That comes from votes from the electorate in the main, and from blocs in seats of government centers. Votes. They are aligned often by short term whimsy, not long term study and benefit.

This is the Achilles Heel of democracy – the need for all of us to do our duty preparing for an intelligent vote. The lazy rely on mood and emotion driven by fear. Fear. Fear of change and what it may bring to my life. Fear. Raw and terrible.

Avoiding fear thus gathers votes. The political clowns know how to manage the formulas of fear. They play their games and win their spoils all too easily. Meanwhile the intelligent people are left to wonder.

Just not in France, hopefully. Good thinking. We wish you well in the final election! We wish this had happened in America!!

April 26, 2017

Left Behind

No, this post has nothing to do with the novel series about spontaneous, Christian redemption! Rather, this essay deals with the issue of leaving people marooned in dying or dead careers in dying or dead communities. What are they to do? How do they restart their lives and encounter an exciting, vibrant future?

I think this situation is one in which more and more citizens are involved. It often takes years to happen until one day you realize you are in a dead end. In rare cases the process is rapid and more shocking. Hopefully it involves a buyout of your employment and benefits and you receive a separation package. This package may even include outplacement counseling, job search support, and the like.

For most people there are no such supports. Only the unemployment line and temporary state and federal benefits. Although this provides a cushion, it is small and temporary. If prepared for this experience, a person can do OK and transition quickly to another job until they find something more satisfying.

If all of this happens while you are living in a dying or dead community, the problem is made much worse. Think Flint, Michigan, or Detroit. Both of these communities have suffered through major industrial dislocations and rapid technology applications at their job sites. These folks have also experienced loss of jobs to international markets.

Their home values have collapsed. Neighborhoods have decayed and become crime ridden. Social agencies are overworked and unable to keep up with demands of a public panicking in social and cultural dissolution. Where to turn next becomes a major challenge.

There are things these good people can do. The very first step is realizing their situation and allowing time to enter the grieving process. Loss is the primary element that must be recognized and assimilated. Like the death of a loved one, one’s own identity is wrapped up in career and jobs; loss of either is a loss in self identity and self esteem. That is a huge loss and challenge to overcome.

But the first step is knowing you are in this situation and a process will help you deal with it.

Reaching out to family and friends is one tactic that will help. More potent, however, is reaching out to the larger community. There are institutions and care agencies that are trained to assist you in this journey. The community has a stake in this because your job loss is not yours alone but also the community’s. There are others caught in the same cycle and most likely lost their jobs on the same day you did. A community reels with this economic punch; but more so are the emotional lives of the job losers. The hurt is real and must be healed.

Community life can pull people together to face the larger issues of economic development and a culture of change. This community is not alone, either. The process of change is one with national scope. Huge swaths of the country have endured economic change. Think of the Rust Belt and what became of it.

Those areas, however, are returning to economic vitality by adopting new education models, career development processes, and attraction of new industries to their communities. Akron, Ohio is an example. Albany, New York is another one. Simi Valley, California is not the only region experiencing a rebirth of invention and creative economics.

Hardship and loss are often needed to cause creativity to rise.

Change. It is a challenge. Change. It is a constant in our lives. Change. Can be prepared for and welcomed. Change is the breath of fresh air and new life in every society.

Partnerships are not all alive and working on these challenges. They should, of course. Chief among them are community colleges. Rather than struggling to become a four-year college or university, they should focus instead on their tax payers in the region and help them manage change and career development. They should also be engaged in the much larger task of economic development of their region and learning how they can support that development. They should be encouraging and motivating tax payers to constantly rethink their careers and help them morph into new careers as they emerge.

Government leaders at the municipal level should be aware of their community’s demographics and critical elements of career preparedness. A local labor pool ready to support new business and industry is a golden offering to attract new economic development.

Life is change. Always has been. Rather than finding someone to blame for a down turned economy, find what you can do to reverse the community’s fortunes. The job you find is an answer to your needs. And the community’s, too!

April 25, 2017

Visionary

I grew up in an age of realism. The ball was real; so too the bat. And the house, car, stove. Later we learned other words like fast, hot, cold and so forth. Then these words were joined to the other words and sentences were formed.

From this we practiced speech and conversation. Then reading. Followed by writing.

We dealt with the real in the here and now.

As schooling advanced to higher forms of logic we learned verb tenses – past, present, future. Later we were taught to form questions and seek answers. The ‘why, how, where’ statements came into our lives.

History was the past. Present is now. And the future is yet to be.

Still blocks of concepts rooted to the real.

With ‘future’, however, something snapped. What will be tomorrow is the future. OK. I get that. But what comes after tomorrow? What will longer term future look like? Feel like? Act like?

At night as a kid dreams formed easily in our sleep. Some were so good we serialized them and continued them night after night. Who knows how this worked out but a sense of future came into our lives at some time and in some fashion.

Dealing with the future is often left to dreamers, but then a negative value attaches to that. Dreamers are thought to be unhitched from reality and not very credible. Engineers, on the other hand, design systems that function in ways that previous systems didn’t. The role of designers emerged, and they worked mostly with how things looked, appeared.

Finally someone sat down and imagined what a future age or culture would look like. How would we move around on land? In the air possibly? On the oceans, too. How would locomotion of our transport happen? What forces would propel us distances? And what effect would this have on how we lived?

Dreamers dream. Engineers build. Scientists research. Historians study the past in eras of cause, effect and result. They do this so we can understand the present better. And maybe hint at the future, too? Anthropologists study cultures and how they worked, interconnected with other cultures, and morphed into yet different cultures. The passage of time and the humans then present acted with and upon others to produce what changed living conditions.

And if such changes can occur naturally, what would be the result if we intentionally engineered cultural change? What then would be happening, and would it be good and valued, or bad and destructive of what we value?

Conjurers of future conditions were not trusted very much. Today, however, we call them visionaries or futurists. They peer into the future to form ideas of what might be.

And such is valuable to all of us. If nothing changes in how we live today, what will result? What will happen? Living in any manner has consequences. We burn fuel for power and transport. We burn fuel for cool air and heated air. We eat and produce garbage, sewerage and so on. We consume water and the waste from that consumption produces waste water that goes where? We turn on the tap at the kitchen sink and it goes down the drain to where?

So simple these questions but really they are complex. All systems of mankind’s time on the planet are complex. Cause, effect, result – is the tempo of time, of history, and of culture’s consumption of resources. What becomes of all of this? What must we deal with that we didn’t calculate for?

Thinkers live among us. They think on these things and they produce ideas, concepts and designs that we later adopt. The cell phone is one of those ‘things’. So are all forms of travel and transport. Medical research and medicines, surgical procedures and a host of medical tests. These are things of today imagined in the past to produce a future.

Envisioning the future is a discipline. It is a calling, too. It is a functionality that is very valuable. It can warn us of dangers impending; it can identify changes ahead that are inescapable. Then, so it can imagine the good that can be.

All of this is about change, of course. The one immutable factor of life is change – or really there are three, right?  Birth, death, change. What happens between birth and death is what we call life. But that is characterized by change.

So let’s get with this element called ‘change’. Let’s deal with it intelligently.

Visionaries are still not trusted. But I ask each of us to look at our jobs and careers. What changes are imminent? What changes are planned? What changes are inevitable? What is seemingly a constant today is a mist tomorrow and replaced by something else.

Whole industries have disappeared. Whole new industries have appeared. It is easy to see that jobs are subject to change all the time. So let us constantly be preparing for what is yet to come. That is ‘where’ we will be living in the tomorrows ahead. The ‘how’ will take care of itself, but the reality is as much with us today as it will be tomorrow.

Why don’t we have a society of visionaries? Maybe we do. If we don’t, we ought.

April 24, 2017

Of Moment

All the pieces of the puzzle are on the table. The box lid claims 1000 pieces! The photo cover is interesting but complex, intensely so. Confidence runs high, however; I can put this puzzle together. And then I begin.

First colors are grouped. Then flat sided pieces are set aside in the hope they are edge pieces. These are then grouped in part with colors akin to them. Glances toward the lid cover and its photo are often; sometimes furtive. I can do this!

Shapes are next for sorting, but that rarely works; we don’t know the orientation of the pieces yet; are they vertical or horizontal; do we even have them right side up? And so it goes. Sorting and moving pieces around on the table.

A glance out the window shows it is still raining and gloomy. Best to remain indoors and continue work on the puzzle.

A quick trip to the refrigerator for a cool drink. Occasionally a snack is withdrawn and brought to the puzzle's side. We gaze and scan; scan and gaze. Every now and then two pieces click together. Then a few seem missorted and I move them to yet another grouping.

Eventually a moment of clarity dawns and three pieces are firmly joined. Together they still make no sense in the overall scheme of the puzzle but their shapes fit and for now that is all that matters.

Another moment and another piece fits.

A phone call provides interlude and refreshment of mind. Back to the puzzle. I can do this! And quickly four or five pieces fit together. Only 900 pieces to go…

A hint of something beckons. A thread of logic peeks through the rubble of pieces. Do I have a clue to the overall solution? Can it be that I spotted something? And then it is gone. The thread no longer remains active in the mind and I have lost it.

Back to the pieces.

And then it comes again – the thread – the clue that seems to connect many of the pieces together somehow. I see it again, and there it is. A faint coloration paints the pieces in a way that now makes more sense. Background color becomes more distinct from foreground details. And the picture begins to make a thin but ghostly sense.

Four or five pieces now go together quickly in groupings scattered all over the puzzle. Soon larger groupings begin to place themselves distinctly together. I move them into their proper position. The box lid photo is slowly taking shape on the table. Now only 700 pieces remain. Logic is rearranging the disconnected from the connected pieces. The mosaic moves from blur to focused patches. I can do this!

600 pieces left and we have pretty much the outline of the whole thing. Growing sections of the puzzle are taking their places. The picture is now making some sense. More clues are emerging.

Moments are adding to others and thoughts are forming. Pieces fit more readily now.

400 pieces left. Time for a break. Some fresh air on the porch. Still raining. Still gloomy. Still more hospitable indoors than out. A return to the puzzle with a fresh drink and more snacks. The puzzle from 8 feet away looks different than when sitting close. Structure, relationship, logic of the puzzle comes bit by bit, moment by moment.

Moments give us clues, not solutions. They meld jarringly at first and then more harmoniously. Their patterns become more obvious bit by bit.

Soon we are down to 100 pieces left to find homes for. This is doable to the max. yes, I can do this! And then we are down to 8 pieces and those are damnably slow to fuse into focus.

Twenty minutes later it is done. Now no longer a threat or a challenge. I did it. And without any help. The moments added up to a solution. All I had to do was give it time and focus. Patience and focus.

What other puzzles remain in life that can benefit from this patience and focus?

April 21, 2017

Death of Reason

It has been inching along for many years. Someone takes a bit of liberty with a story and what was intended to be a news report is now a tale, a fable, really. Not a true story but a made up one. Oh, I know, the original itch was to spice it up a bit but then it went too far and a novel was written instead. You know the old adage, “Truth is stranger than fiction”? Well the opposite is now the case. Truth is strange because it is so absent in much of what we read and act upon.

It is the latter bit that is important – ‘act upon’. We take actions based on what we know. If that is false then the action is built upon a lie and is inappropriate.

As a kid I learned what was down. Also what was up. Today that has been turned upside down. Same for ‘in and out’; it is now ‘out and in’ and we really don’t have a clear bearing on what’s what.

The White House is now the Lie House. Words come from there. We don’t know what they mean anymore because they are bandied about so loosely and reversed the next day, and expanded upon and then retracted from. Sean Spicer, the White House Press Secretary, has an unenviable job: to make sense and palatable the ramblings and tweets of a man few can understand. Like a piece of sticky tape caught on the end of a finger, we know it is there, it shouldn’t be, but try to get rid of it!

Trump-speak and Trump-logic is not. Both are oxymoron. We shall never wonder again what an oxymoron is because we live in a sea of them and they are so obvious.

My worry is how are we to know – going forward – what is true and what is not. How will we think, act and reason our lives. The touchstone has been moved. Maybe even misplaced.

If I sound sad, I am. The underpinnings of a great nation are shaking. And I wonder when this will stop, if it will stop, and what will happen as a result of so much confusion.

I feel a little like a participant at Alice in Wonderland’s tea party. But this is not a delightful child’s story. No sir, it is not a child’s story.

I am no innocent. I am rooted in reality. I study history and science and logic and philosophy. I think through issues and problems. Doing that I discover solutions and answers to puzzles. So far I have not encountered a solution to the trump.

Those of us who struggle with the workings of our society – its agencies, institutions, businesses, processes and what all – shake our heads in disbelief that all of our work is in question. It is being under funded and then ridiculed for poor performance! Even defunded to punish and reform. What answers are these?

Many times meeting participants ask plaintively – “Is there a grownup in the room?”

Ah yes; a grownup. We need someone to reassure us that what we have dedicated our lives to in building a great nation is actually valued and embraced.

You see the damage wreaked upon our nation? Do you? Really?

I think the elected authorities have lost their minds; or at least their bearings. Or maybe these are one and the same?

Whatever, correction and repair is in order. When might we expect this to occur? And who will do it?

April 20, 2017

Finding Solutions in Disagreement

Watched a TED talk on finding agreement amidst controversy. Specifically two conservatives – one a TV host and pundit, the other a New York columnist of reknown – talked of the current divide in American politics. They decried the divide. They even dissected it enough to show the pot holes among their thinking. Illuminating to me. I had come to believe conservatives were incapable of honest analysis and discourse. Of course that was an unfair assumption on my part, but so are their assumptions of me.

I’m no libtard. I can’t be; I don’t know the definition of the term!

What I found interesting is the many points of agreement possible among us. Thinking differently and focusing on divergent objectives, we tend to assume we have little or nothing to agree on. Such is not the case.

First off, we are all Americans. Second, we live in a society of vast freedom and opportunity. Third, our people are accepting and caring in the main. Those three elements I believe are common. We don’t all demonstrate them equally but close to the surface of even the worst curmudgeon are these three characteristics.

If a firestorm hit your town, or an earthquake or tornado, watch how complete strangers respond to your needs. They come out of the woodwork to assist, to share, to donate, to work with, to do anything to lessen your pain and horror. In blizzards strangers with shovels and snow blowers roam neighborhood streets looking for people to help. I’ve watched this happen many times.

The news – both TV and newspapers – quickly report such good news items.

It is a mark of our civility. It is natural. All we have to do is look for it and then work with it. The good is present. Just not always in full view.

I’ve often wondered why political discourse is so contrary. It appears to be about personality not substance. Or the how things should be done, not the objective. Or maybe the why is in debate, again, not the objective.

I know a natural detour is deafness. You know what I mean: I hurt and you do not acknowledge that; you hurt and I turn a deaf ear to your complaints. This deafness to one another becomes the bone of contention.

Vast numbers of Americans lost their jobs. Even larger numbers of Americans came to feel they were not valued or wanted. And this in their own nation where they ought to feel at home. These folks did not understand what had happened to them, just that their underpinnings disappeared. And seemingly no one cared.

But people do care. About you and the why and how you came to find yourself in your particular pickle. The same for me. I’m in a pickle. I raised my voice and few heard me. I know what it is like. If you’d like to compare notes some day, just let me know!

The important thing in all of this is just this: we care what happens to each other and want the best for our country. We do not always talk of the same matters at the same time and this causes confusion. At those moments we may not think you are hearing me or I, you. We do hear but it doesn’t register clearly the what, why or how. All we need to do is give each other some space and then refocus to listen to each other, hear each other, and think upon our messages.

Do not load those messages with projections of your own, or assumptions of bias. Just listen to the message and understand it as best you can. Discuss it with them. Ask questions. Listen to the answers. Compute and assimilate their messages into your own data base. Let it sink in.

Giving each other the space, time and consideration to communicate clearly, we will most likely find many points on which we agree.

Now that’s a great starting point.

We are going to do this locally in our Friday evening Nexus coffeehouse program at Trinity Lutheran Church in Warrenville, Illinois. If convenient for you, check us out beginning in June at 7 pm. Join our discussion and listen. Keep your judgment at bay. Try to understand each other and the topics that often separate us.

Common objectives are likely to appear. We fervently hope so. Upon such grounds much agreement and opportunity flourish. Perhaps we will discover them?

April 19, 2017

Wonder Power

While working with the teen addicts the other evening, I asked them to tell the group what they wondered about? What did they want to understand better? Did they ask a lot of ‘why’ questions? If so, what topics were they seeking information on?

One teen said she wondered about the future, what it would be like. She also admitted she worried about the future. Another wondered what his first job would be after all of his educational plans have been accomplished. Another wondered if there was life after death? Someone else wondered where she came from before birth, and will go to after death? Are our souls or selves some kind of cogent being moving from one personhood to another over the course of time? And if so, what would that experience be like? Yet another teen emphatically said he didn’t wonder.

The odd thing about the evening’s discussion is this: I had been asked not to press the teens for their life plans – education wants and interests, the likelihood of specific career paths, that sort of thing. I was told this might place too much pressure and expectation on the kids and create other problems. So I demurred.

However, I read an article on what kind of people one should hire for their business if they want a firm that will be forward looking, adaptable to change, and decidedly inventive. The answer is: hire people who actively wonder about all sorts of things. Such people are open minded, expansive in their thinking, seek new challenges and readily create new processes and products to solve problems. Moreover, these people tend to be long-term thinkers and avoid short term solutions.

These folks would be less clerical and more strategic thinkers. Furthermore, it was asserted they would make excellent team members because they naturally reach out to others to gain more perspective, knowledge and understanding.

That’s why I asked the kids what they wondered about. Just how curious were they about the world they inhabit? Might these topics be good platforms to build on for their self-knowledge and educational push forward?

The fellow who claimed he didn’t wonder at all is likely to end up doing tasks for others and not being very inventive or adaptable. Those who wondered about after-death experiences and the possibility of same, will likely be more philosophical and creative in their thinking. Some will be downright religious!  That’s a good thing for those prepared for it; more challenging if they are not prepared or willing to do the theological wrestling required.

All in all, though, these young people kept the discussion alive for nearly an hour and took it seriously. That alone is an achievement! Pulling and prodding them toward the future with mature instincts and purpose is quite the challenge. But the more we get to know each other the better the relationship and discussion value.

Progress. Progress is hopefully being made.

April 18, 2017

War and Peace

How long has it been since we were last involved in hostilities? Ever? How long was the peace we ever experienced in history as a nation? Surely there were periods when the US was not at war with some other nation? Surely?

Peace and War. Two terms that mean the opposite of one another. War is so frequent on the face of the globe that one wonders if statesmen even set peace as a goal? Transcendent, continuous peace? What would that be like?

Think about this. War has been a clear and present danger as well as an on-going thing for a very long time. I’m not talking just about the threat of war but actual armed conflict. Oh I know we call war by different names for political correctness, but if guns are firing, missiles released and soldiers and civilians dying, we are in a state of war. The definition is simple enough.

But what about mindsets of those people we entrust to keep the peace? Are they clear on the objective?

Threatening war is the stance of a weak and powerless state and statesman. North Korea is an example of that. No power; just threat. And a fairly serious one at that. The threat has the power, not the jerk issuing the threat. Of course North Korea is a puppet of other statesmen. Russia comes to mind. Better they have a fool run the fool’s errand than be directly involved in the mayhem, death and cost of senseless war. My question is, how much is China involved in this? A little I suspect; but not a lot. It is very foolish for them to be playing games with an erratic despot in North Korea. A hot war in the region would bruise China due to adjacency.

All the more reason for China to involve herself and cool off North Korea.

Russia plays her games to destabilize the global power lineup. That is her job to do so she looks formidable and powerful. But she is a shadow power; lots of land; lots of people; no money; no future prospects of money to replace the materiel of war used in manifesting such. Shadow power and foolish. Games only. Sad for a once powerful nation with rich culture and history to have slipped to such a stance.

The world deserves better leadership than this. Whether the USA is capable currently to project such leadership is in serious doubt. We have a deal maker in the White House, not an historian, strategist, or strategic thinker. He knows not what he is doing.

How I miss the cool, powerful thinking of his predecessor! And his cabinet of intelligent, capable advisors. They projected peace as objective. That is not a projection of weakness that politicians try to pawn off on the American psyche.

As voters and citizens we need insist that peace is the long term objective of our efforts. Not submission but cooperation and collaboration. Sharing the leadership and the goals with everyone. Inventing powerful means to sustain the peace for the good of all people everywhere.

I know this sounds pie in the sky. But how do we know we can’t have that pie in the sky if we don’t imagine it and work toward it? Power struggles are normal between nations and blocs of nations. But peace should be the objective, right?

I know there are those who want a perpetual state of war or readiness for war; it is good for their bottom lines and balance sheets.

It is not good for the rest of us, however. If you want to lessen tax burdens and government size, try peace for a change.

Then sit back and watch the dividends flow!

April 17, 2017

International Relations

It is no mystery why international relations are a key element of the President’s job. The most critical function of the Federal Government is the common defense of the nation. If peaceful relations are not present, then strong defense systems must be in place to safeguard our countrymen. This is the quid pro quo of global politics.

Russia knows this. So does China. And North Korea and drug cartels in South American countries.

You do this to me and we will do that to you. Like kids on the school yard but with larger, more deadly weapons.

North Korea wants respect or legitimacy. So it builds defense systems that are decidedly offensive in nature. The message is sent: you do anything to us we don’t like, and we will strike you where it hurts. In fact, we don’t trust you so we may strike you first! Hmmmm.

Same for Russia. They have their military equipment and personnel. They have the offensive capabilities and demonstrate it often to unnerve the world community. They are saying “you are a threat to our safety but see what we have to protect us and do you harm? Do not cross the lines.” Not that we had any plans, but a bully gets his jollies by making the threats and puffing out his chest. False bravado but threatening just the same.

So now the tensions are present when they need not be. Instead of talking and making peace we are caught in a network of assumptions and lies on both sides so that compromise and understanding are scantily possible. This is the situation in relations with Russia currently. Can China relations be far behind?

Bully-speak is a poor bargaining chip for building positive international relationships.

It takes smarts, research, understanding and clear goals to do the work of the global community. The State Department has a long and enviable history of success and earnest honest work. That history will always be on the edge of destruction if wrong words and actions are taken – in the department or out of it, say in the White House.

Actions not thought out in advance tend to turn around and bite the action figure. Such is likely the case in Syria, North Korea, and yes, in Russia.

Who are the grown ups in charge of this machinery in our current federal administration? Anyone there who can take cogent action and actually safeguard the nation? Or only bully speakers who create distrust and tensions?

I’m hoping that cool minds will prevail and proper policy and process will be administered before it is too late. All things considered I have little trust this will happen. but I am a positive soul and hope good things will come when good people step up to take proper action.

How spoiled we have become by past administrations who knew what they were doing!

April 14, 2017

Importance of Being Earnest

Being serious of mind and tongue takes discipline. Being flip of tongue shows not wit but unthinking. Bon mots are often entertaining but they really don’t represent intellect; just sloppy puns and witticisms. Those may be clever and enviable but the core of the statement means nothing. It is like a riddle. Entertaining and clever, but let’s leave it at that.

During this past presidential election we heard a lot of flips of the tongue. It is the nature of political campaigns. It is also the nature of raw political communication. It may be clever and attention grabbing but when the analysis and background work is done the statements are empty.

Name calling, too, occurs in political communications. Those are even emptier. There is no proof of the facts behind name calling. Put her in Jail! came with no facts and no criminal convictions. Nor would there be. Just campaign rhetoric and noise. Like “Make America Great Again!”  No facts or history lessons. But then there was no need for such was there? Just empty claims and suppositions hoping you and many others would believe in them. And they did. They worked. The bearer of the false statement won the election. Under false pretenses it was soon learned.

Trouble with tongue flips and political bon mots is that they set the stage for a lot of disappointment for supporters. The facts do not support the claims nor will they ever. History is, after all, based on facts and hard evidence. There are standards to be kept in history. There are no standards for political rhetoric; at least morally there are no standards. We see that sad circumstance constantly.

Look at the White House statements on Syria’s poisoning of its own people. “So sad and tragic” claims ‘he who shall not be named’. Really? When did this man ever demonstrate his empathy for the underdog? Even his supporters – many of whom are classically cultural underdogs – have been abandoned. His white house-ian actions do not track with his campaign rhetoric. But he claims jobs saved and jobs created. Those actually created came from policy tracks well established by his predecessor. Those saved were but shibboleths of false claims; none have been saved; all are still dwindling away toward Mexico’s border just as the unions had said they would.

But claiming credit is his style whether earned or not. Earnest statements appear to work among voters. So he states them. And he continues to earn support from die hard fans.

Say something false often enough apparently transforms it into fact for many Americans. I’m not sure I understand fully where this disconnect comes from but it is evident throughout our political system. Witness Illinois Governor Rauner’s claims that the state is broken and needs to be fixed. That statement is true enough but the implication is that he is bent on fixing the brokenness. Nothing much has been offered to do that but retain the on-going political war between upstate and downstate politicians and democrats and republicans. Same-o, same-o. The past continues apace to repeat itself endless ad nauseum.

The only thing that will fix broken Illinois is compromise fully understood and sincerely worked on. That requires people of goodwill. Inasmuch as our troubles are of longstanding, 40 to 50 years now, goodwill people are evidently not in good supply. So the troubles will continue.

The governor is insincere about his work and policy. He is earnest, though, so he will probably succeed in re-election. That is a sad reality of being earnest. Better to know the unsuccessful enemy than change to another lesser known? And so the horrors of a dysfunctional state continue.

Like white house polity. Nonsense confirmation hearings. Nonsense Supreme Court nominees. Nonsense press conferences. Nonsense facts and ‘alternative facts’.

Makes one wonder how the history books will be handling this travesty of dishonesty run amok.

At least historians will need to earn their reputations honestly. Now there’s earnestness for you! Why can’t that be installed in Congress and state legislatures? It could if voters were more diligent in their news reading and discernment. But then, that hasn’t happened for some time now. How else did we get here?

April 13, 2017

Positive Thoughts

Stores closing but retail sales up; on-line traffic soaring.

Cars smaller, more expensive; but safer by design, crush-zones, more electronic sensors.

Auto deaths climbing; cars safer; electronic gadgets in use while driving seems cause.

Global warming melting ice caps; seas rising; coastal areas see rise in flooding; colder

climates have mild winter; less snow

Work force shrinking; manufacturing plants dwindling; robots and automated processes

grow.

Americans have more time on their hands; depression rates rise; new careers possible.

Intellectual careers growing; creative ideas mushrooming; new businesses forming.

Change is uncomfortable. It forces us to make our livings differently. Change also forces us to drop old habits and find new ones. Sometimes change eliminates jobs and causes poverty, bankruptcies and other forms of suffering. But change can be forecast. People can prepare for change. They can even find new areas of interest and prepare to work on them before losing the old job. The more we think of these things the more flexible we become. Adaptability becomes a strength rather than the lack of it being a weakness.

What do you like to do? What makes you happy some of the time? All of the time? Rarely euphoric, but predictably capable of such happiness? Identify these things. Focus on them. Learn where to find them and how to make them more frequent in your life routines.

We deliberately avoid happy things that are destructive – drinking to excess, overspending, drug addictions and the like. These destructive lifestyles end in early death and lots of suffering. We are not talking about finding happy at all costs; no, we are looking for that which is not obvious and will continue to make you unique. And happy.

Like starting your own business, what makes your service or product unique in the marketplace? Are you sure it is unique? Will it be so temporarily until someone else invents a better widget to replace yours? Is it only a matter of time, or do you have this uniqueness tied up in a neat little bundle just for you to take advantage of?

How often do you think about these things? Do you have the freedom to do so? Do you get a kick from doing this type of thinking? Do you discipline your routines so you have the time to think freely?

This life style is at the heart of creativity. It teaches us to think outside the box, and to free-associate with ideas that otherwise are quite common. From such simplicity comes complexity. From complexity comes new simplicity. Who would have thought that?

You did. I did. A lot of us did, and do. And it is the future of our culture and our nation.

Don’t avoid this activity. It will free us up to discover the new in life that will propel us past so many other problems that are obvious to so many. So obvious they pay too much attention to them. They get glum and wallow in the negative. The negative controls them and they begin to complain and whine. They keep themselves busy doing this. And their complaints keep us busy combating them!

In no time they have no time; and they have no happiness either. They manage to find blame elsewhere but where the blame actually resides. They could find the elsewhere in any mirror they take the time to peer into. Ignoring the need to find the positive is the first slip on the down slope to unhappy endings.

All they need to do – needed to do – is flip their situation upside down and rethink it. The answers are already there. We know what to do; it just needs doing.

When do you suppose they will awaken? Meanwhile, what are you waiting for?

The sun shines somewhere on the planet each and every day. Know that and rethink your life.

April 12, 2017

So It Goes

Day after day. Hour after hour. Time passes. We survive. And wonder how that happened.

Before we wondered what it would be like if the awful occurred. And it did. And yet we lived on. What we thought was the end of life as we know it didn’t turn out to be so.

Repeat this many times during your lifetime and eventually it dawns on you that life is not as simple as we thought. Or think. Or wish. It is much more complex than that.

And so it goes. In work and career, in missed buses and trains. Even planes. There is always another one and, yes, we are late by our schedule. In real time, though, we are not missed for fifteen minutes or an hour. We show up, arrive, and join in the process. Our thoughts – contributions to the discussion – are noted and appreciated. Soon the lateness of our arrival is out of mind.

I lived for many years with a busy railroad track bisecting the town. Inevitably a train arrived to delay my commute. Even today I have a doctor’s appointment north of the tracks in a small town, and a dentist appointment nearby on the other side of the tracks in the same small town. I worry that I will be late to the dentist. I fret. I worry. But I learned to accept the annoyance of frequent delays and habitually brought a book with me ‘just in case’.

In time I looked forward to the delay so I could return to my reading!

With electronic readers available I am now always with reading material. Even the esoteric career reading material is with me! My mind is pulled toward positive considerations and mental exercise. It is far more valuable than fretting over a traffic delay.

Speaking of which, I learned to bring along a news magazine, or a newspaper column to read in my ‘spare time’ years ago, that’s when I thought to bring a book with me at all times. Odd how that works. We forget how habits begin until we think back on them almost by accident.

And so it goes. On and on. The annoying becomes an opportunity to do something better, more.

Like the moments in the night – say 2 or 3 am – when a thought pops into mind and you know instantly it matters to think on this. Somehow it is new and refreshing. In truth it is old but made fresh by its sole existence at a time when the mind can focus on it rather than the sea of context normally encountered. Pulling the wheat from the chaff is not easy then, but at 2 or 3 am? Easy peasy!

A quick trip to the computer or notepad upon getting out of bed and the thought is saved for use later in the day. Or on the commute delayed by a train or accident or snow…

Time caught without warning gives room for an idea to form and process.

The elusive is found. Discovered? Who really cares? It only matters that we now have it.

And so it goes. How about you?

April 11, 2017

Trust and NEXUS

The ‘nuclear option’ in the US Senate. Accusations of infidelity of public trust roiling among democrats and republicans over the Supreme Court Justice nomination. The line in the sand that keeps shifting over Syria. Fake News assertions and ‘alternative facts’.

One must ask: what’s up and what’s down? Even this: what’s in and what’s out?

Obviously the polarity of the answers depends on your loyalty to persons and ideologies. And such is the current condition of American politics. AND government, too. Let us not forget the latter! The two go together these days.

And that’s the problem, isn’t it? What is reliable? What is trust based on? What are the facts? What is reality? A colleague asked me recently what echo chamber am I stuck in? I queried which ones he was partial to? And the skirmish seems to have ended there.

Trust is a combination of elements. Reliability of fact is one; openness to discussion and pondering of the points in that discussion is another. Is a person participating in the discussion asking for feedback on his ideas, his statements? Or is he making a claim to fact? Causation and result are not automatically agreeable terms. What I think caused a result may be very different from your take on the matter. And so forth.

Remember gab fests among friends over the weekend when you were in high school? Or bull sessions in the dorm during college? The talk was not about staking claim to truth but rather an earnest effort toward understanding the issues from various points of view. Somewhere in all of that ‘data’ was fact and truth hidden from view. The group worked at uncovering it.

In those days I felt a ‘coming together’ rather than a one upsmanship game. Or ‘king of the hill’ mentality where a show-off attempted to sway group sentiment toward one viewpoint. The coming together was a joining or ‘nexus’, a hub to gain knowledge and understanding. The opposite of nexus is debate. Debate is argument to win, tactics and strategy.

Debate can be informative but only with an open and hospitable personality. Putting an edge on the debate makes it a game to win situation.

I much prefer a discussion that helps participants better understand terms, definition of issues, and potential solutions to same. This is a coming together to better understand not only issues but the people with the differing points of view. Accepting the people is different than agreeing with a point of view. One can be without the other. And that keeps participants free to be themselves yet open their minds to fresh thoughts.

If this appeals to you, join us in June for NEXUS, a discussion held every Friday evening at Trinity Lutheran Church in Warrenville (corner of Curtis and Warrenville). Discussion starts at 7 pm and runs for 90 minutes or so. A speaker with a point of view and facts will keynote the topic for 10 or 15 minutes. Then discussion is open and encouraged. Sensible, polite discussion. The kind of discussion in which you can explore your own understanding of the topic and grasp a better feel for it.

We are kind and respectful in the process. Just like we were taught to be in kindergarten!

Be a part of this coffeehouse process. It is interesting and may be habit forming.

Fridays at 7 pm. Trinity Lutheran fellowship hall. See you then and there?

April 10, 2017

Nuancing the Future

I sit at the computer keyboard. I think about the condition of our nation, our city, county, neighborhood. I look out the window at dreary spring weather with thick clouds and nearly constant rain. I think of TV but am turned away by the news; always negative; often fearful. Motives questioned. Intent of Congress or the state legislature. Politicians elected to do the people’s business but little gets done; most is argued incessantly. When will resolution emerge? Ever?

The last eight years in Washington DC were lived through with difficulty. Vicious political attacks and false accusations were constant elements of the news and commentary programs. Negative images of every key player in Washington were continuously crafted and aired in the newspaper and news magazines as well as on cable networks. Obama was the devil incarnate; no, Mitch McConnell was, or Paul Ryan, or someone else.

Truth be told the conjurers of the messages were the devils at work. There were many of them. And they had our attention 24/7/365. We gasped with pleasure with severe weather – blizzards, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods – anything to take our attention off the endless do nothingness of our elected officials. Somehow watching snow drifting over 12 feet was comforting; at least at that locale survival relied on moving snow, staying warm, and having warm meals available when needed. The tasks were simple and direct.

Not so the workings of government. This is especially true when so many are in disagreement of our direction, purpose, or agenda.

It is why I claim we need to focus on desired outcomes – identifying what we would like to see in our society and the output of our government apparatus. Do we want quality education for all citizens? At what phases of their life ought we provide such education? Only for young kids, pre-school through high school? What about college, trades, professional career education? Do we provide that or sell it to those interested and able to pay? Do we do anything for cultural development – music, dance, art, design, etc.? Do we help adults navigate through career changes unforeseen and devastating to the affected families?

Who provides this education? Who defines excellence in these programs? Is this a federal matter, a state, county or municipality concern? Who maintains the standards and accessibility of all this?

Government is a thing, an institution and a process. It is representative in America or we are taught that this is so. The representativeness doesn’t seem to be working very well. We are at loggerheads over direction, values, funding and motivation. Rather than do the wrong thing we wind up doing nothing. No budget passed. Programs eliminated through budget failures. Quality of programming underfunded and we watch the death spiral of many valuable programs. Health care for the indigent, the aged, the disabled, the disenfranchised. Education for everyone in bits and pieces and soon amassing to noticeable changes. Funding for the arts that have mostly been removed from the schools already. When will public safety go the way of the budget? If gun rights are twisted far enough isn’t our public safety directly threatened by the ‘freedoms’ of gun ownership.

How far do we let pendulums swing before we realize what we value is lost? Maybe forever?

We have a president in the White House who is point by point eliminating much of what the previous president put in place. The current president is encouraged to do this by political enemies of the previous president. Our society has so veered off course that the civilian management of the defense industry and military establishment is reverting to military hands; a direct disavowal of the US Constitution. How far will we let this go before public safety and civilian control is totally out of control? Is this what you want? Is it what I want? Is it what WE want?

A federal government that has a responsibility for managing the banking and monetary system is being deregulated into a paper shadow. So too commerce regulations that protect consumers against fraud, stock market manipulations, monopolistic powers forming and all the rest. Is this what WE want in our government? Are we really wanting government to be so weak and ineffectual? Do we disrespect all government so much that we are willing to throw the baby out with the bath water?

And in its place is who and what with the power to now do to or for us what we once empowered our governments to do?

Some serious discussion is needed in all of these matters. The train wreck has begun and its size is only a matter of calculation. Not of cause. That we know. But do we want this train wreck?

If not, what is it we do want? Is anyone prepared to answer that simple question?

I’ve been asking these questions for a long time. I’ve even offered a few answers from time to time. But I’m not hearing any feedback. No echoes, either. The silence is deafening. And worrisome.

Do you feel the dread as well?

April 7, 2017

Local Elections

Tuesday, April 4^th was election day throughout Illinois. Countless school funding referenda were considered by voters, as well as board and trustee members of many fire, library and park districts. School boards were also subject to elections. Mayors, city and town councils and other municipal positions were elected. In all the local government institutions were in full view of the electorate. Campaigns for elected office and referenda were waged. Public attention was begged and engaged.

The result? Far too many elections experienced low turnout. Social critics will often cast aspersions on local office holders when in truth these are the front line of our governance structure. For the most part it is an institutional strength of municipalities and local institutions. There will always be the sour notes lifted up over transparency when such is automatically available to anyone who visits city hall and asks questions.

Of course this requires a person to have a question in mind, and then research it and work it out in detail if you are to be fully informed on the specific issue. Or you can attend the city council meetings and maintain current knowledge on all matters related to the town. Elected officials and city staff will gladly meet with you and discuss the issues most on your mind. Local press outlets usually have a solid ear and eye on these matters as well, but then local press is dwindling along with the fourth estate throughout the nation.

To be an informed voter these days takes a little work. But it takes cooperation and an open mind as well. Addressing an issue with a preconceived notion does you no good or other citizens, too. Only gossip and anecdotal stories result from such sloppy work.

In our area a well respected mayor retained his seat. He is a leader in the county and region as well, studying the issues carefully, researching problems in depth, comparing notes with other municipalities, and asking for expert opinion and insight from those in the know at area universities, state offices of oversight, and city staff, of course. The city council was reconstituted with no surprises except one. Talented citizens stepping up to be counted nearly upset a long standing city councilman. Maybe next time she will prevail.

Local schools requested $132 million in construction and maintenance funding, essentially a mortgage with a long-term payoff with an aim to tear down one school and replace it, plus building maintenance concerns over roofs, heating, air conditioning, electrical and plumbing issues. The request was denied 52% to 48%; fairly narrow decision for such a large amount of money.

In another town a new candidate for the library board pledged to question every dollar budgeted with a mind toward reducing the tax levy. He won although the library is reasonably funded and working hard to meet the needs of a highly diverse population. Maybe fresh attention to the funding question will actually benefit the community when they realize what they already have and what it takes to improve it.

Still another community has a cliff hanger election for Mayor where the incumbent staged a fall 2016 campaign fund raiser for Mr. Trump; seems the municipality overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton in the presidential election and so his leadership of the city is in question.

Local investment in culture, governance and infrastructure is alive and well in the western suburbs of Chicago. The electorate generally votes knowledgeably but there are large exceptions. Too bad the issues closest to home are often the most overlooked by voters. This is in counterpoint to national and state elections in which voters have little actual say in what gets done by those running for office and actually win elections. To understand this just gaze upon the Illinois State Legislature which refuses to solve its budgeting problems, pension funding debacle and crumbling infrastructure. A travesty in the making for decades and now extending on toward another decade. How very sad this is.

But Congress is not much better. Why beg this question? Much is yet to develop regarding leadership change nationally and impeachment proceedings are sure to follow in a few months. Whether successful or not, the process will function as it should. And the voters will get another civics lesson.

The most important lesson, however, is voting with a prepared mind on all the issues that truly matter. It’s the job of each of us; all that’s left is our doing that job.

April 6, 2017

Gutting Communities

I read a story carried by MSN this yesterday. It was on the dwindling fate of Lancaster, Ohio. The full story is told in a book entitled Glass House, written by Brian Alexander. The MSN article was written by CBS News reporter Aimee Picchi. You can read both the article and the book on your own time, but for now here’s a summary.

Anchor-Hocking is a glass maker and a once proud manufacturer. Lancaster was one of those hometowns that had a dynamic economy, strong population, good schools, pretty downtown and a community vibe that echoed ‘small town America’. It was a place you were proud to call hometown. Roots were good, deep and healthy.

But things began to go wrong in the 1980’s when Carl Icahn made a play to buy Anchor-Hocking. A buyer-seller game was played during this attempt and Icahn was paid to go away. His reward was a one time payment of $3 million. Instead of this being the end of the story, Wall Street took notice of the action and Newell Brands stepped in later and bought Anchor-Hocking outright. They sucked the profits out of the company and weakened it. Cerberus Capital Management then entered the picture and bought up the assets. From there it was all downhill.

How it works is simple: take a healthy balanced company and sell its products at cut rate prices in large lots; beat the hell out of production and keep the product flowing without reinvestment in the company’s production facilities. Freeze wages and hiring and squeeze as much profit out of the operations as possible.

This weakens the company’s ability to move forward, grow and prosper. Rounds of cost cutting take a toll on both personnel of the company and its community participation and financial contributions to that community. Once healthy and vibrant, community relations lessen and sour. The local tax base is damaged along with employment security. Then wage agreements and benefit plans are trimmed. Worker security is pummeled. Moods shift to defense and staying out of the poor house.

A capital management firm from Wall Street enters the picture and buys the company. Locals think they are saving the firm for a better day in the future. What they have really done is buy a gutted firm and continue the process. Benefit plans and their values are sucked dry. They are not replaced. Benefits disappear. Plant closings are announced and new investment in the firm disappears entirely.

In the 1980’s hourly plant wages averaged $21; now they are $12. No retirement plans and very slim healthcare plans. The middle class of Anchor-Hocking in Lancaster has been surgically removed. Now it belongs to the poor and part-time.

Curbs have crumbled, so too schools. Unemployment has soared. Property values have plummeted. Drug use among the bored and disenchanted youth has grown exponentially and moved to the adult populations as well. The town is down and out. And its people trapped with nowhere to go.

The importance of this story is this: a corporation is more than its products and corporate culture. It is the lifeblood of many communities. It certainly is the lifeblood of families dedicated to working for the corporation and supporting its successful operation. It is attitude in addition to work. And that makes the company successful. People and attitude.

Wall Street views it differently. Milton Friedman, a conservative economist from the University of Chicago in the 1980’s, championed money as the value center of all economic theory. He preached that corporations’ sole purpose was to make money out of assets and initiative. The money flowing from that enterprise was the value of it in whole and ought to be managed accordingly. He did not place a value on the company’s people or their lives in family or community. Those were collateral elements not central to the formula of success in economics.

At the time my economic education labeled Friedman’s theories as nonsense and dangerous. It would take many years for the truth of that viewpoint to become evident.

With investment in the company gone – bare bones maintenance of function only – so too disappeared investment in its people and its surrounding community. These are the hearts and souls of corporate life. The bean counters don’t notice such; but real people do.

And this, folks, is why economics matter. It is also why corporations are not real citizens under the law although the Supreme Court seems to think so.

Take the people out of economics and economics becomes a husk of misspent potential. It will fall of its own weight. In Lancaster, Ohio such is the case. And for Anchor-Hocking. And for all of its people.

How very sad is this tale. We can do better. We have to do better.

Follow trump if you will but this is his tale as well. He does not value people and community; only wealth matters. Better if that wealth belongs to him.

But the communities throughout the land? What of them? Well, it seems that has been left to you and I to watch over and manage in spite of the Friedmans and Trumps of the world.

Where oh where are the Fords, Rockefellers and Roosevelts when we need them?

April 5, 2017

Three Different Pieces

Here are a just a few key issue areas now in the news: what to do about North Korea; do wealthy public servants matter for the common good of the citizenry; and the pending SCOTUS Fight [confirming the nomination of the next appointment to the Supreme Court Of The United States]. Do these three topics matter to us? If no, why so? If yes, why are they important?

Why they don’t matter, let us take a peek at that and try it on for size.

North Korea doesn’t matter to the US citizen because no matter what we have done nationally for generations hasn’t worked. This is not an American issue. It is a world community issue. Korea is a thorn in the side of most nations in its own region, and that upsets the apple cart in the United Nations and all such partners. It is their issue to manage, not the USA’s. China, Russia and Japan are the key players in this drama. Let them propose solutions. And then let us all cooperate with managing the solution. I suggest a strong role for the UN.

Wealthy public servants don’t matter. Why would it matter to me that wealthy people volunteer to perform government service? As long as their fingers and hands are not in the conflict of interest machinery, we should accept their contributions of service and move on to accomplishing the work to be done. Ethics and oversight are needed to maintain honesty. That’s it.

SCOTUS confirmation is a continuation of the nasty partisan politics infecting Washington DC for the past 30 years. It is an embarrassment but the system has not stopped functioning. Let it continue. If it is a disaster forming, it will fall of its own weight. Confirm Gorsuch and be done with the issue for now. Let’s get back to work.

Now, that’s one side of the discussion. What is the other?

Yes, they are all important to the average citizen. And they are all in the interest of the common good of the American people. Here’s why:

North Korea: this nation has a deplorable human rights history and record. Her own people are dying from starvation and poor healthcare. The government elite are wealthy and privileged. They live well while the people live in poverty and misery. The elite do not have great lives, though; if they make a mistake or cross their boss, they are likely to be executed and/or publicly shamed.

For many years North Korea has received the benefits of the world’s charity: healthcare, education, financial assistance, food and technology. As their public policy worked to the disadvantage of the world community, sanctions were imposed on North Korea. Although these hurt the nation, the elite continued unaffected while the common citizen sank farther into the morass of poverty and early death. Nothing the global village has done with and for North Korea has worked. They continue to get away with thumbing their noses at the rest of us and we are powerless to do anything about it. Well, not exactly.

The world community could assign the UN the role of managing the country. But first China, Russia and Japan will need to disarm the country and control the military. The UN would be tasked with reordering healthcare, food distribution, nutrition and education throughout the nation. In time some form of democratic selection of North Korean leadership and governance would be put in place with the full cooperation of the native population. This process will take years to accomplish but the war machine of the past needs to be removed and destroyed. America should have no role in this process other than its supporting function in the UN. It is a task for the global community to manage.

Wealthy Public Servants is an oxymoron. I have nothing against wealth or wealthy people. I do have a problem when such are in control of our government and dictating what is good for themselves but not in the common interest of the citizenry. And I automatically believe they will self-serve. Think back on Nelson Rockefeller and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They were wealthy men from wealthy families. They accomplished good things for the nation, not for themselves. We had ethics rules and policies in effect then and they were taken seriously. Not so today. The oversight committees in Congress are in political cahoots with the wealthy elites in both Congress and the White House. The foxes are in the hen house and up to no good.

The ideological skirmish we have been dancing around for several decades is Big versus Small government. It is in the interest of the wealthy to have small government. They have fewer regulations to contend with and limit their grab to even more wealth; plus they pay lower taxes. Shameful excess for them; increasing threat to the common good for everyone else.

I don’t care if wealthy people volunteer to be a public servant; I do care if they misrepresent the people to serve their own ends. If ethics and oversight machinery are effective, let them serve; if the machinery is ineffective, fix it immediately.

SCOTUS confirmation is of critical importance. The ideological balance or imbalance of the court is at stake. We currently have a court that believes corporation are people. Ludicrous. Such should be corrected. Justice is supposed to be blind. Ideologues are not blind, they just have poor vision. And that infects the quality of justice. Merrick Garland’s nomination should be adopted by the Senate and he should be confirmed. Mr. Gorsuch’s nomination should be vacated. The role of politics should be lessened as much as possible in the justice nomination and confirmation process. How this is to be done I leave to those folks who have law, due process of law, and justice in their blood to figure out. The travesty shaping up in the last 12 months is a national embarrassment. The history books of tomorrow will have a field day with this absurdity.

April 4, 2017