Good and Decent People

That is a phrase stated by Michelle Obama on Tuesday, July 25^th while in Denver giving a speech to a women’s group. She had been asked which shard of the glass ceiling hurt her most when she broke that ceiling by being the first African American First Lady in America’s history. She cited the racist jabs at her for looking like an animal or shaming her body appearance. These were intentional barbs aimed at her. They were personal and meant to hurt. And all based on the color of her skin.

She went on to claim that all women in America bleed everyday from tiny cuts caused by discrimination and callous treatment just because they are women. So her wounds caused by racist sentiment were minor compared with everyone else’s wounds of historic discrimination based on gender alone.

After this frank discussion she closed by saying don’t give up on America because of this discrimination. We all have to work to get beyond it. She stated firmly that the people of America are good and decent people and they will keep America safe and on the right track going forward.

An abiding faith in the good and decent people.

She’s right, I think; the vast majority of We The People in America are good and decent. We are also feeling and respectful of others. We care about what is done in our name and what isn’t. We are inclusive and diverse. Good thing we are inclusive! Our diversity is tremendous because we are the melting pot of countless ethnicities and foreign born peoples. It is our history, this diversity. It is who we are.

Pretending otherwise does damage to those who hold that view. Oh sure, it hurts that they feel this way; we all feel it. Straight or gay, young or old, white or black or brown or any other color, we are different in so many ways; that is what makes each of us unique. But it also makes us one under the American flag. It is our diversity that defines us. The fact that we are of one nation only brings that point home more strongly.

Imagine judging anyone for who and what they are rather than what their behavior may mean? How shallow is that? Behavior at least portends something tangible and meaningful. But best not to judge at all; so much is assumed in those judgments; so much is wrong.

Better if we accept people and learn to work with them as best we can. Inclusion is the goal and the reward. Too bad so many among us still don’t get this valuable lesson

July 31, 2017

Looking Forward

No more blaming. No more faulting. Just focusing on issues that matter.

How to handle those issues? Here’s a quick primer:

First, list the issues that concern you.

Second, revisit the issues list and define each item clearly.

Third, think about each item and determine in your own mind which issue is part of another issue on the list. Is one issue a building block of another issue? Then that issue is in primary order to the other issue. Are there any other issues on the list that can be viewed in this same way? If so, reorder the list.

Fourth, which of the issues on the reformed list are more important than another? Can you place them all in priority order? Which one should be tackled first? Which one second, and so forth.

Fifth, go back to the prioritized list and select the first issue. Consider what talents will be needed to work the issue and begin the process of solving it. Who should be on the team? What skill sets or talents are needed? Find the right people to work on the issue team.

Sixth, charge the issue team with researching the issue as thoroughly as possible: how do we define the issue in all of its parts?  Which elements are of critical importance and which are not, in fact, maybe superfluous and should be discarded? Keep working the issue assessment and determine what research is needed to best understand the issue as we have defined it.

Seventh, do the research. Parcel it out among team members with the most knowledge for each element under study. Report back to the whole team frequently on what has been learned. Together encourage the team to decide what research is relevant and should be saved for use; jettison the rest and keep our project file as lean as possible.

Eighth, continue to manage the issue project until the team is satisfied it has learned all that is relevant on the issue. Make sure they note to return to this ‘agreement of satisfaction’ from time to time to test whether their understanding has shifted enough to re-open the agreement and revise it. This phase should be producing some conclusions of note that will help the team define its path forward.

Ninth, work with the conclusions and explicitly define options that could be pursued to ease the problem, solve the problem, or in some other way relieve society of this issue.

Tenth, select the solution options that appear to be most realistic. Select three if available; save the rest for future consideration if necessary.

Eleventh, ask the team to self assign which options to work on and split into sub teams to do this work on all three solution options at the same time. Report back to the team frequently to determine if some solutions share common research and can benefit from each other’s work. Continue to press forward with realistic implementation options for each of the three solutions.

Twelfth, as a team determine which of the three solution options is the best; if of equal value, select the one solution to work on going forward; save the others for future consideration if needed.

Thirteenth, the entire team now works to determine how to implement the solution. How much will it cost? What resources will be needed other than funding? How realistic is this solution in the real world of restricted resources? Do values clash or are they comfortable with existing norms? Will there be a fight to win acceptance of the solution and gain resources to implement the solution?

Fourteenth, polish the final package supporting the solution. Determine where to pitch it for acceptance and implementation.

Report your results to the press and bring the issue, and its solution, to the public for discussion and possible adoption.

The discussion will use all of the files of the team of collaborators. The options pursued, the ideas left on the wayside, and the retained ideas that were thought of lesser value. Help the public understand the breadth and depth of the issue and the suggested solution.

Lobby the appropriate government entity to adopt the solution and make it a priority for action.

With the above in consideration for adoption, go back to your lists and identify the second issue you think should be handled in similar fashion to the first issue. Begin work all over again on that issue and work forward toward a solution. The rest of the issues on the list will also be handled in similar fashion. It's hard work and long. But this is our way forward.

This outline is a discipline of an educated and thoughtful society. It is the way we used to do things in America. It is the way we need to reacquire. We have important work to do for the common good of all America. Let’s get down to these tasks and make the future happen the way most of us think it should. Be open to suggestions but keep eyes on the desired outcomes. In time it will happen. In time our investments will yield results.

Meanwhile, work hard and respect others. And be kind to one another, too! It makes all of our efforts so much nicer.

July 28, 2017

Imagine This

I am sitting in a quiet room, calm and peaceful. I am comfortable. I can feel my body sink into the cushions and be supported. The tension drains from my muscles. I become limp. I am relaxed.

Images swirl in my mind. I ‘see’ a peaceful surrounding with happy people. The sun is shining and people are getting along. I am hoping for a good future in which people of all kinds get along with one another. I love the thought of people working together, creating together. I’ve seen it in the past. I’ve worked on teams where this was the norm and the outcomes were terrific!

Working together. Collaborative energies merging with one another seeking commonality. Seeking worthwhile outcomes. What marks their work together? Friendliness and fun, joking and laughter. We respect one another. We value one another’s mind and talent. We want to share that with what we have inside, too. I want to share what I have and deeply need them to respect and value it. Wonder of wonders, they did! Together we are creating something new. Something that will be used by others to live better. To live well.

Collaboration is like that; it doesn’t reward one person for a thought and process created and worked by the whole team. The collaborative team focuses on the end result it hopes to create. Outcome. The fruit of our work together. A desired outcome.

This image of a result did not come out of thin air. It came out of the team working together and asking critical questions: What should we spend our time on? What is happening in the present that we wish wasn’t happening? What would we rather be doing with our time and our future? What are the outcomes we should be striving toward?

That kind of thinking was done by the group. That kind of work was accomplished. Out of it came defined outcomes hoped for by the team. And then? What then, you ask? Well, then they sat down and asked this basic question: We know where we are and where we want to end up; what do we have to do to make that happen?

Together they figured out what should be going on to make good things happen. They listed resources needed for the work. They identified what they knew and what they didn’t know. They figured out what needed research and discovery if progress were to be made at all.

Yes, together they did all of this. The groundwork was developed. It was recorded. It was measured and defined. They were then ready to get down to solving the problems. They were ready to create, to discover and find. They were ready to try out theories and ‘what ifs’ endlessly until they had a workable model they could push forward toward the desired outcome.

This is what we need to do in America.

This type of work is done throughout the nation at think tanks and corporations and universities and research labs. It is a common theme of collaboration and collegiality. Remember when we expected this behavior and got it in our federal and state governments? Well, times have changed, I guess.

Watch Congress in session. Watch their words, actions and body language. It is nothing like collegiality or collaboration. It is more like gamesmanship and open warfare. Same in the state houses of many states, certainly in Illinois that describes the situation!

I don’t like seeing my government brought down to this level. I expect them to respect one another, respect each other’s views and values. Theirs is not a killing ground for success to be achieved.

No; theirs is the prime place where desired outcomes are defined and discussion makes them happen.

We need a nation of collaborators doing the business of our nation. In government and out, respect and collegiality ought to be the norm every day.

How do we get our politicians to mend their ways? When do we get this rescue mission underway? Whose country is it? Yours and mine, right? Why then are we not on the front lines making good things happen?

July 27, 2017

Postive Mental Attitude

PMA – positive mental attitude – has been around for many years. Napoleon Hill was a huge proponent, so was W. Clement Stone, Og Mandino, and many others. Some of these names may be familiar to you; Norman Vincent Peale is another name, a larger than life Presbyterian Minister in Manhattan, New York.

Believers of PMA adopt the foundational thought that ‘believing is being.’ If you can conceive an idea, you can achieve that idea. If you want to be a positive force in your community, believe that you can and it will become a reality. Feel down and blue? Your work will reflect that, and so too your performance.

For a few years I worked for Combined Insurance Companies of America, the creation of W. Clement Stone. Stone was a self-made millionaire in Chicago. He started with $100 borrowed from his mother and built an insurance empire. It has since been bought by Aon, an international giant in risk management and insurance services.

W. Clement Stone for years taught his employees the PMA method of managing life and our dreams of the future. He wove this value structure into his human resource management and watched it work wonders among people who were not used to being achievers. He convinced many they were achievers, and his company prospered.

Later, my career took many twists and turns but PMA stuck to my mental bones. It turned me into a positive person, looking for answers to broad problems in society. I learned to first define the problem and imagine it repaired or absent; what would be going on if things were running well, efficiently? Seeing that image clearly gave the mind something to think about, mainly what could we be doing to build that fresh new image? That image became the goal; the how was designed into an action plan.

That mental process became like a mantra to me. I followed it most of the time. when I did, good things happened. Those good things produced good feelings among the people who were involved in making the good things happen. In turn more good things were imagined and achieved. PMA in action, I think.

Many years ago I wondered about many things. Mostly I wondered about defining circumstances, events and developments. What was happening, why was it unfolding in this manner, and was anyone in charge of it? If not, how could we find a way to manage it?

I became a definer of issues then. I read and studied issues in their broad context to determine what was happening and what effect those events had on the whole, as well as the ripple effects that also occurred. Again, the context of happenings – or history – lends a better understanding of what happened and why.

Properly defined, most issues can be better managed. Not all at once, but in digestible chunks. Want a population of achievers? Train them. Want them to design and create entire new systems for the future? Educate them broadly in sciences – both hard and soft sciences. From this America became a great educator. From this huge library systems evolved. From this great universities grew and prospered. An educated America emerged from modest beginnings.

In time America took on leadership roles in world affairs. It came to the rescue of many nations in trouble. Many of these rescues were in humanitarian services, but some were in war and foreign affairs. These we know well as World War I and II and many skirmishes since then. Not always a fond memory, but one cast by a world in need.

Today our leadership is in question. We have lost our mojo. One wonders if we have a negative cast these days? Have we been too critical of ourselves? Have we replaced PMA with NMA?

“Make American Great Again” is a campaign slogan that spoke to the downcast NMA believers, I think. Believers in PMA can handle this. Rather than succumbing to negative thoughts and anger at the NMA-ers, why not turn the tables and rekindle active PMA?

That belongs with each of us. Together we can believe our way out of the doldrums of trumpian logic and malfeasance. Together we can produce great imaginings and with PMA make them real achievements.

In the dust will be the non-believers and the negative souls. But we are responsible for ourselves and our national spirit.

I say, ‘return to the ramparts with PMA.’ Best if we do this sooner rather than later!

July 26, 2017

Chaos and Collapse?

It was not an auspicious start for Sean Spicer. Rather than announcing statements of fact he did so of fancy. Right off the starting block: “The greatest inauguration crowds ever in the history of the nation.” Remember those statements? And then they were followed by press reports and aerial views of the ‘crowds’ in comparison with both an empty space (before the event was held) and the Obama inauguration. Stunning differences. Clearly the Trump inauguration was no match for Obama’s special day. And the nation's inauguration of its first African-American President!

The more push back the press corps played, the more Sean retaliated. Months later he was moved to remove live TV coverage from the press briefings, and then sound recordings, too. Hiding behind a wall of privacy and privilege, the Press Secretary announced the news whether he had any support of the facts or not. And mostly it was not.

Slow forward a bit and stand-in press spokeswoman Sanders filled in for Sean but continued the abbreviated witness of electronic media.

Finally, the White House Communications Director position was announced and it wasn’t Spicer. Instead it is Scaramucci. Sean thought this was a mistake, told the president that and resigned on the spot.

Sanders appeared before the press corps and announced Scaramucci’s appointment and introduced him. He in turn announced Sanders’ promotion to Press Secretary. And all of this was recorded live on TV and audio tape. One hopes that the electronic witness is back for good.

The press has a job to do. It is to report factually on what happens and piece together the meaning of the event and why it occurred. This is what the press does. It writes history with the facts hour by hour, minute by minute and day by day. Years later historians pore over it and build the minutiae into a larger picture; from that they are able to deduce historical weight for an era, a president’s administration, and so on. This is the process. It takes time. And it takes serious research and thinking. Theories of what things meant then and now, are tested and researched more. In this fashion history is written slowly and surely.

Even then years later history is tweaked to reflect even more perspective and facts that finally emerge.

For now we live with the immediate facts. Spicer is out; Sanders is in; Scaramucci is on scene calling the shots; somewhere in the background is the president. An olive branch has been extended to the press by Scaramucci. That’s a beginning to re-order what has been chaos.

The chaos has been reminiscent of collapse. That is how serious this 6-month episode of White House ‘history’ has been. It is up to the doyens of the White House to extend this turn of events into a solid plane of performance that spells order and confidence.

Without that order and confidence the trump administration continues on a trajectory of ill will, factoid manufacturing, and destabilization. Let’s be clear here: the American federal government is in free fall without stable leadership. Instead of building, everything of order is being torn down without a clear plan of replacement. Opposites appear to be the rule of the day.

The clean air agency is touted for closure or at least severe limiting of its authority. The education agency is hell bent on destroying the agency and its authority over establishing just and fair education standards that will support new generations learning how to sustain their own lives through education and self discovery. The health agency is pulling scientific research from the table and limiting research in total from the university community.

Academia itself is suspect and down graded to background noise of society.

Healthcare standards and insurance coverage is thrown in the air into little pieces with no idea on reorganizing it into a cohesive whole. It appears the government has abandoned its people in the name of something yet un-named.

Does this describe chaos or intended management reform? Does this describe Wholistic movement forward toward a desired objective? Is that goal even defined? Do we have cohesion or disintegration?

If I have to write this here, isn’t that proof enough that chaos and collapse is imminent?

All I’m asking is this: what is the plan Mr. trump? What is the goal? We live in a democracy where we the people have a hand in defining such major goals. You do not have the power of edict to make anything so. Let us in on your secret so we can judge if you and we are on the right path.

If you don’t have a defined goal, say so. If we don’t agree with your defined goal, be prepared for democratic opposition. This is how America operates. You propose and we dispose. It is not the other way around!

Speaking of disposal, perhaps you should consider your words and actions very carefully at this point. 330 million people are listening. And we have the power to remove you from office. Unlike your administration, our procedure is spelled out clearly in the US Constitution.

So speak carefully and clearly. We are listening and paying attention.

July 25, 2017 

Pew Research Findings

Government doesn’t do everything. Some people think it does. Others tend to believe the first group that government is overstepping its authority and doing way too much and thus is taking over our lives. I think all of these people should calm down and examine the facts.

Some of those facts are these:

1. We the people authorize most government programs to exist; we do that through public discussion and outright lobbying of our elected reps. We ask them to vote for various bills and initiatives.
2. Churches and other human care charities do a lot of base line services to people in need. This includes emergency financial help, emergency housing, transportation to hospital or clinics for care of urgent symptoms, talk and pastoral counseling to calm the distressed so they can think more clearly, and so on and so forth.
3. Private foundations provide a lot of assistance to those in need; such assistance is in housing, healthcare, mental health and subsistence aid. Food, basic necessities of life (clothes, toiletries, paper products, transportation, etc.) are provided as well.
4. Corporate foundations provide charitable assistance to those less fortunate.
5. Private foundations support research and development of new technologies, medical knowledge and procedures.
6. Private entities form hospitals, clinics and other massive health care services without government subsidy.
7. Companies conduct research and development activities to ensure they have the best products in the market place and plan for the next generation of products that are sure to emerge over time. When in doubt these companies fund university research projects to create new standards in science and technology
8. Many universities and K thru 12 schools are privately funded and serve the public. This has been a common feature throughout American history. 

Itching for something new, many organizations fund research initiatives. Ask the Pew Foundation what their own research has found over the years. They self fund this research, and also fund academic research in addition. What’s going on in America? Ask Pew and you will learn the what and the how. They’ve been around for a long time and have an enviable record of unbiased, true research.

A lot is going on in America. We are not people who sit back and rest on our laurels. The very nature of our society and culture is to strive for unique products and services and make a name for ourselves in doing so. This value structure has built a healthy, competitive society willing to use native intelligence and genius to improve mankind. We give away much of what we produce. We share our wealth with those countries less fortunate. We give them our healthcare services and pharmaceuticals. We send engineers and materials to drill fresh water wells, build dams and harness and manage water resources. Agricultural equipment and know-how is also shared so other nations can grow their own food sustainably long into the future. We export education support to these same nations.

Developed nations buy our goods and services, but often they produce their own. We collaborate with many nations to manage peace and thwart wars. We work together to safeguard the planet’s environment.

Why we are so bent on misrepresenting government, private parties, and organizations efforts and gifts, is beyond me. The government is not all things to all people; nor should it be. But it isn’t that now here in our nation. Never has been. A proper balance between public and private will always be a healthy discussion. This is the cutting edge of many new initiatives, and rightly so.

So, rather than decrying over reliance on government, know that much of this work really begins with and is done by private parties. And that’s a good thing. May there be more of the same!

July 24, 2017

Investing in the Future

Scary times today. Over and over again we read news accounts of budget impasses and program cuts. Again and again financial support is withdrawn from programs that matter. We could talk about a long list of these programs. But the ones I’m most concerned with are the ones that represent an investment in our future. Let’s take a look at those.

            Public Education, Kindergarten through High School.

            Public Universities

            Space Research

            Public Health

            Infrastructure

            Environmental Protection

There are others we are concerned about, too. We just don’t have the time and resources to address all of them all of the time. We have choices to make. Some of the topics listed above are building blocks for other programs that will further our advancements into the future. So we make discerning selections now, and plan for future ones a little later.

For now let’s drill down a bit into each of the above topics:

Public Education: the building blocks of social life and culture is education. Pre-school, kindergarten, elementary grades, middle school and high school. Each and every grade is an important developmental phase for each student. They learn about themselves. They learn about capabilities and talents. They learn, too, how to get along with one another. This is not a one and done lesson, but one that is accumulative over a life-time of experience. In that sense we never cease being a student! We are always learning – or ought to be.

Public schools are the bed rock of a society’s ability to continue its trajectory. It teaches values, facts, science, logic, history, emotions and how to handle them. These are the socialization and acculturation years of life. Doing it during early years of life is when the human brain learns the most and how to learn in and of itself. Later it is able to continue learning because it learned how long before. Life long learning is a goal; it is also a value of principle of long standing. Never cheat the public schools; doing so only cheats us.

Public Universities: these are where dreams are made, nourished and developed. Students come with basic educational skills and learn to delve deep to acquire skills that support understanding of life sciences, logic and theory. Career development emerges from this mass of learning. Core interests are identified by students in the process. Self sustaining life plans come about, life plans that are capable of regenerating themselves into new paths of understanding and accomplishment.

Public universities pass on previous known facts and history. They do this in a way that allows new discoveries to merge with the past and build toward a larger understanding of our environs. Future possibilities come from these efforts. More important, universities pass on our collective social memory. We have context for our thinking and understanding of the new. We are not inventing the wheel at every step. We are outfitted with building blocks.

And, too, public universities are the laboratories of discovery. We invest public dollars – and private corporations, too – in expanding the boundaries of understanding. Theory is written, then tested, then refined and finally conclusions are drawn; later these conclusions are tested and refined, too. Over time we invent new things, discover the workings of the planet and the universe. All of these become assets from which we benefit.

Space Research: the Space Program fueled enormous advances in human understanding. Products, too, and technologies that continue to fuel expansion of technologies yet again and again, emerge from the reach into space. The benefits are many. Yes they were costly but they also benefited us in so many ways. Stretching the human brain to consider new things, strange things, and enormous problems, is the most important part of the Space Program. We should continue to push back the frontiers of space for our own good, now and long into the future.

Public Health: The National Institutes of Health coordinate major research projects into health concerns and methods to address most of them. From this work comes progress in battling cancer and genetic mutations. Also addressed are common standards of health care that reduce many problems later on. Many advances have come from the NIH and its research programs involving partner institutions, laboratories and universities. If we pull back our investments in this work we only stunt ourselves and increase the financial cost of the health problems left unattended.

Infrastructure: All of public life, and private, too, relies on basic infrastructure: water delivery systems; safe water sources; sewage treatment and processing systems; dams, storm water controls; roadways, bridges and highway systems; power grids and energy support systems. All of these and more support the very fabric of our lives – alone or in society. Not maintaining this infrastructure or replacing it with new efficient designs is another stunting behavior we can ill afford. The future relies on it. The present, too.

Environmental Protection: Protecting the planet gives us a healthy place in which to live. If we don’t pay attention to it, all the other investments shown above are for naught.

Investing in ourselves – you and I and all the others – is a belief in the future. Together we must make the sacrifices to yield a fruitful future. Invest in America.

July 21, 2017

Future Development?

Every now and then it pays to think about what can be. Not something we know for certain, but surmise it can happen. And then we should think on it a little longer and think what needs to happen if we are to be happy and successful as a culture long into the future.

A lot of negativity surrounds us these days. Elections last year were nasty and uncomfortable. A good and knowledgeable people allowed nasty, unkind behavior to invade every nook and cranny of our election and political life. It was not a good year. It was not a shining moment for America.

Yes, we know that democracy is not always pretty; but it is able to adapt to a lot of change and challenge. Just not in 2016. The election was a flop. I say that not because my candidate of choice did not win, but the issues we should have been talking about weren’t universally discussed and aired. Sound bites happened. Not logical discussion that helped others understand complicated matters better. If anything, confusion and misunderstanding reigned.

With the winners of the political contests now ensconced in their positions, misunderstanding continues to reign, so we are not in a good place and, frankly, I don’t see improvement happening anytime soon.

So, the question is: What will the future hold for us?

I am an optimist so I feel confident that logic and calm will carry the day eventually. I just won’t hazard a guess as to when that might happen. There are other developments, however, that we can look forward to. Let’s take a look at some of them.

First, energy sources will become more plentiful and cheaper. That’s because energy resources will be renewable and self sustaining. Unlike current finite energy supplies, an infinite supply of the new exists. The only reason we have continued to use old dwindling supply is because we have found new ways of finding more of the scarce resources we were unable to reach in years gone by. Also, technology has improved our efficient use of energy. Oh sure, we still waste a lot, but we do so more intelligently now. Auto fuel efficiency measures have improved mightily for the last 30 years. And we continue to improve this.

Our homes are better insulated and heated and air conditioned using better technologies and efficiency that continue to lessen our reliance on expensive energy.

Add to these advances the discovery and improved use of other energy sources and finite supplies are stretched even further. Solar, wind, thermal and nuclear energy continues to grow in supply and use.

Electric automobiles will continue to expand in use. But entirely new energy sources are yet to be discovered and developed. Physics will offer several new energy sources in the next 10 or 15 years. I know this will happen. We are closer and closer to break through discoveries. And these new energy forms are self sustaining and renewable. Not like natural gas, coal or oil. Fossil fuels will eventually be an interesting story told in history classes.

On other fronts of the future, technology will improve how we teach our kids and how we adults learn new skills to keep current in our life-long learning pathways. Our careers will challenge us, but our knowledge and skill sets will grow faster. As old jobs disappear with new products, services and industries, new jobs will replace them at a faster rate. We will earn our living in different ways but those ways will be more engaging and rewarding.

A fresh and exciting life will not necessarily spell a wealthy one in a financial sense. No, we will be better compensated with environmental enrichment, interesting things to consider, ponder and live with, and rewards of helping others and finding new ways to be happy. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness will be an entirely new thing in our lives. And that is a very good thing.

We don’t need wealth to be happy. We just need enough resources to pay for our cost of living and to ensure that we have health care, education and comfort enough to enjoy the time we have on this earth. That’s it. It’s nice to have money and wealth; it’s also enticing to have influence and power. But none of those things actually make us happy.

The simple things in life are the sources of our happiness. Family. Loved ones. Relaxation. Time to meditate, ponder and wonder. Time to share good friendships with others. The smells, tastes and sounds of a full life cover many aspects of life. We don’t need to experience it all. We don’t have to travel the globe over and over again. But we do need to take the time to know ourselves and know and care for each other. That’s where satisfaction lies. That’s where happiness is.

The future is before us. It will happen with us or without us.  It doesn’t rely on you and I. It will be what it will be. Better, however, if we engage with the future and make our own mark on it. Be a part of learning, discovery, research, understanding and new past times.

So make a decision to partner with the future. Get involved and experience the change. Or else you won't know what you missed.

July 20, 2017

Saying It's So Doesn’t Make It So!

With the evident collapse of Mitch McConnell’s attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, now we hear he will attempt to pass a bill that repeals Obamacare without a replacement bill. That means we go back to public healthcare policy and insurance standards that existed prior to Obamacare.

McConnell’s strategy here is to then move toward a new healthcare bill that is designed from the ground up. But we know that won’t happen. Congress doesn’t invent things very well other than problems. Trying to cohesively solve problems is not one of their strong suits. Alas, but it is true!

The point of today’s blog isn’t the above; rather it is about the rhetoric and language used by republicans concerning Obamacare. Mitch has repeatedly stated Obamacare is failing and collapsing. He and his colleagues (including the current White House resident) claim the same. Trouble is it is not the truth.

Obamacare was enacted after many attempts at compromise; finally it was passed with compromises and missing parts. This was true so republicans would vote for the bill. Although they hated to do so, they ultimately agreed to the bill in weakened form hoping it would fall apart in operation. They hoped for a collapse regardless of what that would cost individual Americans and the federal government.

Surprise! Obamacare started rockily due to glitches in the computer platform, but it stabilized and thrived. It became a success. Some changes were adopted to smooth its operation but all in all, even in a weak position, the program worked and was gratefully accepted by the American people. The hoped-for collapse did not materialize.

Republicans, however, refused to believe this and said the opposite. They consistently claimed the program was failing and refused to do anything to fix it. With all this brouhaha going on, insurance companies became nervous and began to pull out of some states, thrusting the program into a serious bout of higher premiums for some people. The truth is, however, that most insurance exchanges throughout the nation are doing pretty well despite the negative rhetoric. Those insurance companies who remain in the exchanges or return to abandoned ones, are doing quite well.

In short, the American people like Obamacare and wish Congress would tweak it to strengthen it where it is wanting. Republicans know exactly where those fixes are needed because they put them there in the first place!

So, saying something is so does not mean it is so. This is 2017 and the republicans are in control of the House, Senate and White House. They are arguably in control of the Supreme Court. So what they say may seem persuasive but the facts belie their statements.

Interesting time we are living in. All because some people don’t trust their own government. Funny. When they should have been paying attention they didn’t. They trusted their elected representatives who were not truly representing them, only their own selfish interests. And now that the government is out of whack and can’t make things happen properly, they mistrust their government?

Seems to me they are the cause of the current situation.

We all need to go back to our Civics Classes and relearn how the nation functions. Ours is a nation OF, BY and FOR the People. It is not of, by and for the representatives. They only do our bidding, not the other way around.

If you are unhappy with your life because of poor housing values, low wages and household incomes, poor motivation among employers and employees, you need to pay attention and do some reading. There are fixes to all of the above. Allowing someone else to do your work and make your value judgments for you, is NOT the way to fix things.

Avoid the liberal and conservative biases. Return to the middle road to regain a better perspective of what needs to be done. Our system of government cannot be done by robots. It requires caring, intelligent people dedicated to studying the issues honestly to guide the representatives to reasonable decisions supporting reasonable solutions. That is not being done currently.

It’s time we got back to the basics and back to work.

If your response to this is a nasty sound bite, forget it. You are part of the problem! Sound bite people don’t solve problems, they continue them.

So let the grownups in the room get to work. The rest of you go outside and stare at the sun.

July 19, 2017

Big Oil Awakens to Demand for Electric Vehicles

Well, where have they been? And no, this is not a threat to Big Oil.

I’ve said this countless times before – the oil industry is not in the oil and natural gas industry; it is in the energy business. If they don’t know that, then they should sell to people who do get this primary point.

Energy is energy whether it is in a pipe in liquid form, a gas, or in a conduit with electricity flowing through it. Or a truck with coal ready for delivery to a furnace complex or smelter, or electric generation plant. Hopefully the latter are fading away entirely, but still, the source of energy is a fact. It is not the industry itself. It hasn’t been for at least a decade, probably two.

What does this mean? It means that energy should be accumulated in locations from which it can be distributed to users of that energy. Whether it is oil, gasoline, natural gas, or electricity, it makes little difference.

Solar, wind, thermal and nuclear energy all have their place in the energy resource lineup. Oil, natural gas and coal do as well. One hopes to eliminate coal from this formula unless it can be processed economically and consumed without polluting. Not a likely outcome, so it should face complete elimination.

Fracking and other resource processes used to extract energy from mother earth should be studied for elimination as well. We need to find energy resources that do not harm the earth in any way. That means pollution of air, soil and water is eliminated from the energy equation; or subsidence from removal from the earth. Thermal pollution is another issue that needs studying and controlling.

Clean, sustainable and renewable energy resources are the primary outcome we need to pursue. Relentlessly. Until it is fully true in our lives.

Fighting change, technology, and science does little good. Facts should be the basis of our consideration and decision making process. Observe how Illinois legislators bankrupted the state over pension shenanigans. They goofed and willingly so. Theirs is a criminal act but not likely to be punished. But in energy discussion and solutions, we need to use fair and just methods relying on facts and accessible methods to produce energy supplies reliably.

If the oil and gas companies can’t handle this, nationalize those corporations and put them in better hands for managing the public’s energy requirements for the coming ten decades. If the oil and gas companies are on top of their game, then allow them to continue in ownership and management. But the end results belong to the common good of all people on the planet, not the owners of these churlish, greedy companies.

I think we need to call a spade a spade in times of duress. These are such times. And we need to do a better job managing the outcomes of mankind. Now.

July 18, 2017

Folly and Fizzle

The folly is the fun and games that entice us away from duty and chore. The fizzle is the promise the fun holds in store but never quite delivers. Especially true is the larger mass of task and duty that has built up yet to do.

Putting off needful work for present satisfaction is not always a good choice. We may be due for some relaxation at some point and need to restore our batteries before continuing with work. That is understandable as long as it is an honest appraisal of the situation.

When we were kids we were reminded often to ‘not put off ‘til tomorrow what you can do today.’ Remember hearing that from you parents? Or worse, your grandparents? It seemed such an old person’s rant at the time; and yes we resented it!

But they were right. Then and now as we recall the long ago lessons.

Here’s a folly: Illinois legislature balancing the budget over the past 70 years by most often not paying the full funding of pension plans. At the time it put a stop to bickering among politicians while citizen programs were fully funded. Well, not all were funded.

The pensions were not funded. Those who were relying on those pensions cautioned the legislature to reform their folly so we wouldn’t face a dire problem in the future. I know this to be true; I worked at the U of I at Chicago for 17 years. I paid into the SURS pension plan (State University Retirement System). So did the University. But the state did not; it merely paid the short fall pay outs for current benefits paid to retirees. The payments into the endowment funds/actuarial investment fund were not paid. The shortfall represents investment dollars which, when allowed to compound interest earnings from investments, would swell the trustee funds steadily to meet future pay out funding needs.

SURS beneficiaries lobbied the legislature actively in those days (70’s and 80’s) to reform their ways. They didn’t. And now?

And now we have the fizzle.

SURS is a smaller pension fund than the other big three: teachers retirement system, state employee retirement system, and municipal employees retirement system. There may be other retirement programs connected with these four systems, but taken together the unfunded liability for future benefits payable is estimated conservatively at $100 billion. Some estimates are much higher, but most likely not accurate at $230 billion.

Whatever the grand dollar total, the state is in serious financial trouble because our elected officials played folly and now we the people have to pay for the fizzle.

What makes this problem so galling to me is the fact that so many knowledgeable people told the state government what the problem was decades ago and how to fix it with little trouble. But no, they took the easy way out and now we all have a problem.

I have heard many taxpayers say that the benefits should be reduced to fix the problem. That means all current retirees would have a cut in their benefits they now receive, and most likely would be made to pay more for the insurance benefits they are now receiving. Future retirees would have to do with much lower benefits as well. At least they have some time to prepare for the challenge being suggested.

Current retirees, however, have no time to make changes other than live on less and pay out more. The stark reality of this is, however, that many of those retirees cannot do this. They would lose homes, lose apartments, lose automobiles, and most likely lose healthcare benefits. Not a very nice reward for decades of commitment and good work for state institutions.

Has this sort of thing happened to people in the private sector? Yes it has; but usually those cases were rare and occurred because a private corporation went broke and mismanaged pension and benefit accounts on their road to bankruptcies. A federal pension guarantee program safeguards some of the benefits for those marooned retirees, but the benefits are a fraction of what they were promised and worked hard for.

The full faith and trust of the state and federal government is just that. They are trusted to perform as promised. The thought of cutting benefits for current retirees and for future ones is unconscionable.

Add to this the realization that these employees have been working for the common good of the state of Illinois. If that trust is ultimately broken and abandoned, who will we hire to do this important work in the future? Do you suppose they will trust the government to fulfill their promises? If not, maybe they won’t work for the state. And those that do may demand and get much higher salaries. Think of the programs that will cease to exist as a result. Those higher costs will be paid from what we used to pay for other programs that are now dumped.

The quality of life is a two way street. The state works for the benefit of its citizens. The citizens pay for this with tax dollars. Those who actually do the work for the citizens, are people just like you and I. They deserve a quality of life measure for the work they have been dedicated to. And they pay taxes just like you. Cheating them because your and our legislators screwed up in spite of knowledgeable warnings, is not the answer. Removing the guilty legislators (all voting to approve these actions in the past) should be done post haste; also, all previously serving legislators who voted for these actions should be denied all financial benefits of their elected service. They performed poorly and owe us money, not we they.

July 17, 2017

Getting Things Done

You go to work and face another day of tasks, projects and long term goals yet unaddressed. The workload seems unbearable at times. The same looms over you at home at the end of the day.

Home front duties vary by gender (alas!). Females have cooking, laundry, cleaning and child care high on their list of things to do. Males have bills, home project planning, auto maintenance, and home maintenance issues to plan, balance and budget for.

Pressure is more on the single person – with or without kids – but with kids the pressure is magnified. Mostly this falls on females in our society, but increasingly, males are ramping up their presence in this arena these days.

To escape all of the above we sit calmly (!) in our chairs in front of the TV to catch up on the day’s news. Bad decision! The news reports mostly negative topics, and many are based on political realities and hostilities. Worse: both national and state governments appear to be unable to get much done due to bickering and drop dead rivalries.

To actually acquire some calm, we turn off the TV. The audio system is switched on for familiar music. Then we read the mail and chat with the family. Something – anything, to capture a breath of relaxation. But beware: reading the mail is most likely going to add to the to-do list!

Okay. We live in fractious times that keep large swaths of public life unproductive. The image alone weighs on us. Wondering what will happen and how it will affect us is part of that weight we feel. But a lot of other things are getting done. Think about it: trains run, buses, too, and planes. Highways are bustling with traffic except in rush hour – jammed but hardly bustling. Our employers are getting things done and the balance sheet remains mostly healthy. Our homes, too, are functioning well in spite of all the challenges and competition with external demands. We get things done. We get along with one another.

In quiet times we ponder important matters that need attention. In most of these arenas tasks are created and accomplished. Feed My Hungry Children continues to pour out packaged meals for kids throughout the region, by the thousands of meals. Homeless shelters are set up and supervised by volunteers. Soup kitchens are opened and feed tens of thousands of people in most metro areas in the US. Needy families get a helping hand to pay rent or utilities, or simply buy food. Elders are driven to doctors and clinics and hospitals for care and tests.

School children are tutored. After school programs are invented and staffed by volunteers or non-profit agencies. Entire school systems of the private nature are developed and become home to low income children.

Businesses are counseled, mentored and nurtured toward success for free by many organizations. New jobs are created by newly formed businesses; many jobs are preserved by helping a failing small business right itself and go on to success.

Churches and helping-hand agencies throughout the nation are abuzz with activity reaching out to communities, households and individuals providing them with countless acts of charity, love and hope.

Not any of these is reliant on government really; no, all are reliant on the presence and energy of volunteers. Were you aware that non-profit organizations support about 13% of all labor in the US? Education, medical care, arts, museums, music ensembles, dance groups, sports programs and nutrition work is performed by volunteer entities. Of course some of those people are supported by paid staff, but the work that makes other good works happen is made possible in this manner.

Walk outside your home and observe your neighborhood. How much of your surroundings are cared for and made possible by non-profit organizations?  How many non-profits do you regularly interact with yourself, volunteering your expertise and energy?

Yes, a lot is being done and accomplished everyday. If you talk with others about this subject, you will learn what they are doing to make our community, state, region and nation better. This is a people power thing. We the people make our nation work and succeed. It is a very basic positive aspect of America. The land of the free, brave – and volunteer!

I hope you are able to feel a renewed sense of calm knowing this. Better yet, join the efforts to gather more calm unto yourself.  Enjoy!

July 14, 2017

Caring For One Another

Throughout life we are asked to care for one another, even love one another. All the great religions have commanded their followers to love one another as yourself. Not an easy commandment to follow. Probably the hardest of them all as well.

It helps if you love yourself. That sound obvious, and simple. It is not obvious and it is not simple.

Ask any psychologist or psychiatrist to name the central problem most people suffer. I bet they’ll say something like: ‘people have a hard time loving themselves first; after that it is easier to love others and get along in the world.’

If any doctors care to differ with me, fine; just share what it is you think the number one problem with most of your patients is. Not the symptoms, the causal problem. I’ll be happy to share the statistics of what you all report back to me. Confidentiality is assured.

Back to my point, if people can’t love themselves or do so poorly, then their ability to love others is hindered or absent.

Life’s lessons teach us again and again how caring for others is the key to living a happy life. Caring for others is a form of loving others. If this comes hard for you, then you might delve into what you feel about yourself.

As an exercise, however, help someone less fortunate than yourself and see how this affects what you think about the problems you think are frustrating your own life. We worry about how clean our home is and whether it is ready to receive visitors. Bosh! Help a homeless person and watch your cleaning standards evaporate. If you are worried about weight gain, feed the hungry and I bet you will find changing your diet a much simpler task.

Help a child understand a lesson or homework. Struggle with them to understand the assignment, the subject matter and the lesson to be learned. Struggle along with them. I bet that will be hard. As successful as you may be, education terminology has changed and you most likely will be very confused. Just think about ‘new math’ for a taste of what I’m getting at here.

Anyway, helping a child with their homework will teach you about patience, the process of learning and a whole lot of logic. Time, patience and care. That’s what it takes to help someone else and help ourselves at the same time.

No; it’s not magic. This is the central point of all human interaction. We need to be cared for, and we need to care for others. The one is dependent on the other. Strength comes from the practice of such care. And the community of mankind improves. So does the common good improve.

Take housing for senior citizens. Although independent for most of their lives, and helping younger generations gain their own independence, they now face some stark realities of reliance on others to maintain a good life. They become more limited doing chores, they can’t reach high enough to change light bulbs near the ceiling; they can’t safely climb ladders. Nor can they spend hours maintaining a yard and lawn.

More and more aging senior citizens either hire this work done, or, if lacking funds, they ask for help from neighbors or family. Failing that – more likely, not willing to be thought useless! – they downsize their living arrangements and move to a smaller home space and maybe one with assisted living features.

Our society is living longer. Health care has extended life span. This means more of us will live longer among the younger citizens and need a level of care that we have not had to worry about so much. Now we do need to prepare for it.

When you look for alternative housing options for you, your spouse, or an aging family member, you will quickly learn how limited the choices are. Mainly the choices are few because of high costs. Basically anything and everything is possible if enough money is available. Most of us don’t live in that world, however. Careful examination of the options will be necessary. Still few options exist.

This is where the caring comes into the picture. You may not be your brother’s keeper, but if you wish to be treated kindly, you will need to treat others kindly as well. Basic caring strengthens our society. Responding to the needs of others is a first step in making this a reality in your life.

It is also the primary step of caring.

Welcome to this new chapter of your life’s journey!

July 13, 2017

Doing the Difficult

The man said he climbed Mount Everest simply because it was there. The woman demurred her artistry and merely said making the quilt was easy and the natural thing to do. The carpenter was bashful at praise given him for the exquisite cabinet he made. The mother hugs the crying child to comfort and goes on to make dinner for the family of four.

Dad mows the lawn in the heat and among a swarm of mosquitoes. The leaking faucet is repaired and checked off the list; this house is old and has a long list of needs begging for attention. Not quite the money pit, the home represents to the man an onus of major proportion; but he ministers to it because it is the accepted role.

Then comes a knock on the door and a neighbor has trouble and asks for help. Uncomfortable is the request but we venture out the door, sit on the porch, and begin mapping out a response to the problem. One is drafted; the role uncomfortable, but the need so very great. Dad goes next door and speaks with the husband who is drunk and angry. He is surprised by the neighbor’s presence in his own home and listens as Dad soothes the upset man.

An hour later calm is restored. Husband and wife are embracing and dad comes home to fix a squeaky door. As he does he ponders what he has done. He notes surprise at the role he assumed without training. It worked; more surprise. He learned he can do more than commute to a job and fix an old house. He hadn’t had time to consider the risks, just the doing.

Years later the pastor asks dad to give a sermon when she is on vacation. For some reason he agrees but wonders how on earth he will be able to come up with a preaching topic. And how will he tie the topic to the church’s scripture reading for the day? And who in the congregation will need a soft approach? And who a humorous note? Suddenly he panics at what he has agreed to do.

For three weeks he labors over the assignment. He wonders how a priest or minister is able to do this week in and week out for years on end? And yet they make it seem so normal, like a conversation among friends. Dad realizes that’s just the tone he will take but what of the topic, the theme?

The news provides ready hints for topics. But no, that would never do; only examples of struggles, maybe, but not the main topic. Such would be making the church political, and we don’t need that added to the mission of the church!

The concept of struggle enters his mind. He grabs at the thread and works it forward a bit. An idea takes shape and he feels certain a theme has been presented to him. Out of thin air it came, like a gift.

So the theme is ‘getting along in the world’ through our many challenges. And then he is on task writing on this theme. Before long he lays open a lesson for the reader/listener. That lesson is stepping forward and accepting whatever role is needed to be done. At that moment the present comes alive and later can be appreciated for what it meant. A role tried with no preparation stretches the inner self and expands it.

By the end of his written message dad realizes he is living his message by creating a sermon for his church, a role he has never attempted or thought about. By doing this he is learning more about himself than the task itself. Delivering the sermon will be yet another learning experience.

And the day has come! Dad steps to the pulpit and is about to speak the script he labored over so long. With heart pounding he looks up and out at the congregation. They are his friends and fellow members. They smile up at him expectantly. He murmurs a ‘good morning’, they rousingly respond Good Morning!

And then he is presenting the written message, remembering to slow down, enunciate each word, present in phrases short and easy to hear. He recalls the need not to recite the sermon but to deliver it so it will be heard and understood. Twelve minutes later he is finished. He says ‘Amen’ and returns to his seat. The organ springs to life with the hymn of the day and he celebrates by singing it with gusto.

The sermon is done. He is drained. But the congregation seems to have accepted his message without any repercussions. He did OK. And he survived. They are shaking his hand at the door.

He drives home and realizes he has done something totally new to him. Not that he wants to do it anytime soon, but now he knows he can, and survive it!

Dad has done this four times in recent years. Each time with trepidation but with a little more confidence. Still he is cowed by the solemn task. But he has learned that he can rise to it and do little damage. Not a bad lesson to learn in life.

Step up and do what is needed, comfortable or not. This is what expands our life and mind. Not a bad lesson to learn. No, not bad at all.

July 12, 2017

Religious Freedom Myths

In America freedom of religion is misunderstood by many people. Religion is a very personal belief – more, a belief system. In America you are free to study, learn, research and adopt any religious belief you wish. No one tells you what to believe. Only you can do that. It is a choice.

Your religion, however, belongs with and in you to help you understand life and make the best of it. Religion is not your license to tell someone else how to live their life or what to believe. If your religion impels you to help someone, be certain that someone wants your help! Otherwise you are imposing on them.

Same is true in community life. Your religious belief and church life is yours to nurture and live by. It is not yours to impose on others. A local ordinance or law that applies to everyone else, is not an infringement on you and your religion. So if everyone has to abide by property standards, or behaviors that ensure peace, assembly and lawfulness, then you are supposed to abide by the same rules and regulations. It is not made specifically for you in order to control your religious practices.

In our nation, therefore, laws regarding religion are avoided; nothing the state does legislatively should harm or promote a specific religion, or religion in general. The governance of the people is not connected with the religion of the people. Period.

Today there are groups claiming that a law that allows abortion is specifically against religion – individual ones and religion in general. Nonsense. The laws they claim are so are not directed at religion or spiritual belief systems.  This means religious people may follow their own dictates as to not having an abortion for themselves, their married couples or family members. They can only be responsible for their own actions and lives. Don't believe abortion is moral? Then don't have one.

Abortion is a medical procedure and is a helpful remedy for many situations, mostly medical. As abhorrent as you or I feel about abortion itself, that has nothing to do with the law. Whether you or I follow conscience rather than law is a choice we make. The person needing or wanting an abortion should be able to have it done with no drama from those opposed.

Same with equal rights. You may be among those who don’t ‘get’ homosexuality. Whether you do or not is not the point. The point is people who are gay should have the right to get married, have kids and live their lives without others limiting their lives based on a narrow set of beliefs.

Americans are free because of the US Constitution, to pursue life, liberty and happiness based on their own beliefs; not your beliefs, but their own. That’s what freedom is about, and the equal rights to live within that freedom.

A gay couple’s marriage has no affect on a straight couple’s marriage. Both couples have chosen a life of commitment to another person. For better or worse, in health or illness… You know how it goes. Why do we have to talk about the obvious?

I get that some people are uncomfortable about many things gay. I can’t do anything about that. They can’t do anything about the gays. Just don’t be gay if you are not one. Live and let live. Gay couples allow non-gay couples to such freedom.

Saying that marriage is a contract between a man and a woman is a false argument. The primary point of argument over marriage is religion. And we have determined that the US Constitution does not take sides on that issue. It is a religious issue; if you belief Gay is wrong, then ban gay marriage in your church and religion. Don’t legislate your religion onto those who are not a part of your belief system.

There are many other points that can be made here. But I don’t want to beat a horse that is likely quite dead already. Just leave it at this: we do not impose our beliefs or values on others in America. We persuade and debate them, but we don’t impose them under the force of law.

Enough said?

July 11, 2017

Memories

I read a book the other day – Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Jarring challenge to reality it is. It was written in 1985 and published in the US in 1986. A dystopian novel by Canadian Atwood, the story hearkens to Orwell’s 1984 and provides the reader with as much mind bending – and more – as Orwell. Hard to imagine that, but it is just the same.

The narrator tells her tale in her present tense with a parallel memory of past experiences. The joys of the past when she was free to explore her own body, life and mind, constantly reminded her of what she had lost.

Her present is a heavily enforced enslavement to someone else’s conception of a woman’s role in society. A major war has occurred among nations and within nations. The war was for control over the minds of others rather than power over other nations. The struggle focused much on the purpose of women – not just the role.

Women, you see, were seen as God’s chalice for reproducing the human race. The ideology of the day imposed on everyone was to produce the purest form of humans as possible. Women were valued mainly for their reproductive ability followed by nurture of youth. Female babies were seen as creating the next generation of women to do the same. Women cooked by labor class; others cleaned the homes and offices by another labor class; other women were enlisted and trained to control the disciplined approach to each women’s class of worker. One class was just used to reproduce a fresh supply of babies.

Men, of course, were the ruling force of the social order. Strict military discipline and hierarchy were maintained. We don’t see much of men other than their power and labor role – commander, chauffeur, guardian-soldier, spy master-enforcer – and so on. This is a novel of and by and for women; but only for the benefit of the male population. Hideous.

Cracks appear in this harsh society. It seems men still recalled their gender thirsts and secretly created a hidden culture of sex and debauchery. Of course women were needed for this sideline purpose; they were cultivated in secret and maintained in secret as long as they were able to entice and please men however the men wished.

This crack in the social order proves more than a mere interest. The novel suggests a cataclysmic change coming but we don’t see it in the book’s chronology. What we do see are the dehumanizing forces at work attacking the humanness of all women.

Rejects of women are openly categorized. Culling occurs. Each woman found wanting of purpose is relegated to the outer edges of society and finally to the dustbin of existence. Each tier of labor is of lower and more dangerous status until death gives them final relief.

The dystopian force throughout the novel is not the obvious dehumanizing of women. Rather it is the political ideology that created the hideous distortion of social order.

The ideology is that of conservatism taken to the extreme. Purity of thought. Purity of purpose. God’s order. Religious order. Logical extensions of order. Soon love is lost but lust is not erased; evidently Atwood feels this is the lasting human remain of culture.

Lust uncovers the dimensions of humanness that defies man made order.

This reminds me of the three dimensions of social discourse. We do not speak or think in two dimensions. Rather we speak in three dimensions. Ideas flow east and west, north and south, and also front and back. Three dimensions. But what of northeast and southwest? Are those dimensions or directions?

Imagining a globe helps me with this thought. An equator runs around the globe; starting at one point and labeling it the ‘center’ gives only a starting point; at that it is arbitrary. Now argue a rightist or leftist ideology and watch where the ideas go. If the argument is heated they repel one another farther from the center point. If allowed in the continuum, the ideas flow rapidly around the equator until they meet up on the opposite side of the globe. Only now they have reversed their polarity: rightist dogma has become fascist and represents the worst of the leftist extreme. The leftist has become authoritarian to the extreme and has demanded purity of thought to survive. The argument impels them ‘forward’ until they are back at the center point once again. Only the rightist is now the leftist and vice versa.

The Handmaid’s Tale demonstrates the results of such folly.

Mind boggling to the reader. Unthinkable to the social scientist, but really? Think about it. And then realize that we don’t live in a three dimensional world but actually a multidimensional one. We have four, no five, no six or more dimensions happening all at the same time. There is no right or left. There is only right and wrong and gray areas in between; while at the same time another ideology is fighting for existence in yet another dimension.

We experience it all in the same moment; and then add passage of time to make matters more complex.

Isn’t it about time we simplified some of our political discussion? I suggest that we are over-complicating things a bit. It is time to make the best of our situation, respect others and move on toward a more inclusive, caring society in which we take care of each other in addition to ourselves.

Love is difficult. But oh so necessary.

July 10, 2017

Value of Journaling

This blog is my personal journal. It allows me to think about and reflect on matters that arise in daily living that may have longer term effects and value. Often the value is not evident. Working out random thoughts that coalesce with others in magical ways is a value I’ve noted now for nearly 6 years.

The act of writing is creation. Creation of ideas and connections of ideas that seem to make more sense.

The more one writes the better one becomes at it. Sort of like practicing the piano; hours of drudgery surprisingly have an effect. The piano piece labored over for quite some time now sounds good. With more practice the artistry the piece demands becomes quite transparent. And the pianist responds with such artistry. That is one reason why we like some ‘versions’ of a performance piece by one artist over another by a different artist. The voice of the composition is entirely different. It calls forth a different intellectual and emotional response.

That’s what I’m getting at here.

My journaling effort began as a need to explain things I felt I understood when others didn’t. So I tried to ‘explain’ my understanding for others. The act of writing it down, however, demonstrated to myself that I hadn’t fully understood the thing I was writing about. Writing it, however, did fill in the gaps and I grew understanding on the spot. It’s a logic thing. Truly, it is.

In a few months of blogging/journaling, I came to some basic conclusions that remain true today. First, publishing the journal as a blog makes my writing transparent to all who will see it, read it, consume it. That requires of me a level of clarity and honesty I had not expected. I now readily welcome it.

Second, my brain did not implode from anxiety and worry over the condition of the world. I couldn’t control the world’s condition – hell I can’t control my own household! Instead of fretting over it I now write about it. That act frees my mind and spirit. My head will not implode from such knotty problems.

A third benefit is my mind now absorbs many new ideas and incorporates them with my previous understanding. This process expands my mind and its data base. More challenging is expanding the meaning and value of it all. In this manner my mind is now in danger of exploding with the new and expanded realities it is exposed to.

So journaling – initially intended to keep the mind from imploding – is now responsible for keeping my mind from exploding. I write about this stuff so I can manage the mind and move on to new things.

Journaling is a good thing for me. And for those people who care enough to read this material, they know me well. Probably better than I do!

But don’t tell me. Keep it a secret. When I get to that part of the story, I’ll write about it.

July 7, 2017

Trials of Technology

Today’s topic is the source of much humor. Youth will wonder what the humor is about. Elders know intrinsically what the hullabaloo is. Technology requires skills and adaptations. Not all of us have skills equal to others; and adaptability is a characteristic very personal to each of us.

One day several years ago, my son was home from college for a week or so. He walked into my home office where I was deeply involved writing a consulting report. He stood behind me and watched silently. Then, he reached over my shoulder and said, “why don’t you just hit this key and let the program take care of it?” With that he hit ‘the key’ and wow! In a flash things happened on screen (and in the report) that I had intended but was painstakingly doing slowly and manually.

How did he know? He knew what my problem was by simply watching me. And, of course, he was visiting home after months of campus life at which computer use was constant and everywhere. He had picked up complex understandings of software and hardware that I was totally unfamiliar with. Period.

This is what I mean about adaptability. The mental network of logic in my mind was acquired over decades of education, practice and exposure to new things. Youth, on the other hand, do not have that baggage; instead, they are exposed to the new thing as a total living experience and it makes sense. It becomes intuitive. That word – intuitive – is how my mind works on many levels, just not with technology!

And that’s the crux, isn’t it? Some of us learn technology the hard way using our old syntax and logic streams. The young have the advantage of starting out with the new from the beginning and have short cuts past the old in a zip.

I watch my grandkids manipulate computers and cell phones (more powerful probably than the lap tops they use). They fly through complicated manipulations while I thumbsy through the same thing getting entirely different results!

Now, I have the ability – the experience edge, really – of developing the questions that need to be asked. Applying those questions to the computer technology and data bases they connect with then pulls the answers needed to think through a problem or challenge. We called it research in our day; I don’t know what they call it today among younger people. But I will say my experience tells me they don’t know yet what it is they are looking for because they are not asking the right questions.

That’s where we older people may have a value for the younger. We ask the questions that bridge the gap between experience levels of living life.

We can act as translators for them. Beware, however; this is not an appreciated intrusion. One must take care in suggesting a translation is needed!

I know I am not alone in my addled-ness over technology. While at the auto dealer the other day for an oil change, a young woman sat opposite me at a computer table in the waiting room. I was catching up with reading on my phone, while she set up a workstation an envy to behold. We struck up a conversation and she informed me she was there for 4 or 5 hours while the needed repairs to her new car were being done. Seems she ran into a quality problem and the dealer was slow to realize it was that sort of problem. Now the engineers and parts were ordered and ready for installation.

She demonstrated a keen sense of understanding the car’s problem and was way ahead of the dealer’s personnel. On another note she observed me working on my phone and complimented me on my skill (obviously an oddity with someone as old as I!). She admitted that she had I-phones for as long as they had been on the market. In fact she had seven of them! Each had failed to work properly in short order and she surmised she had a negative effect on technology. Apple has been unable to determine what her problem is with their product line but she is adamant that theirs is the best on the market, so she remains a loyal buyer/user of their I-phones.

Meanwhile her computer skills have her in business operating from home. So sitting in a dealer’s waiting room for the better part of a day didn’t phase her in the least. She merely set up her office via computer at the dealership. Now, if she would stop talking with me, she could resume her business, and I could complete my reading assignments.

Clearly she is intuitively enmeshed in today’s tech culture. I am not. I use the techy-world as a tool only. It is not an intuitive thingy for me. Probably never will be.

And so the juxtaposition of all this provides much meat for humor.

Well, our world of today needs a good laugh. Hope you’ve had fun reading this piece!

July 6, 2017

Political Footballs

Not literally, of course, but figuratively, politics kicks around a lot of ‘footballs.’

Healthcare is one; so is gun control; another is environmental protection regulations. There are many more of course, but that’s not the point. The point is each of these issues is important in and of itself. Each has a vital importance for Americans of all stripes and ages. We all rely on common sense to guide and manage all of these issues.

When they are hijacked for political purposes, the common good of the American people is lost. Here are examples:

Gun Control: mass murders and gun violence stats are horrendous and getting worse in America; not elsewhere, but true here. Oh sure, there are some exceptions in South America, but then that’s another cultural dysfunction unrelated to American gun control issues.

Healthcare, too: what we have is better than what we had before; many political camps swore they would handicap Obamacare to the point of extinction and they followed through on their promises. They damaged several elements of Obamacare because those same powers made certain the weak points were installed in the program during the compromise haggling prior to final legislation enacting the ACA. If congress would cooperate and collaborate for the good of the American people, these problems could be fixed long enough to give time for other comprehensive repairs to be made.

The ACA is a giant experiment. For the most part it worked and millions of uninsured got coverage. Many more got better coverage than they already had. Cost of coverage generally stabilized; some went down; others went up; the rest rose in cost but at a smaller rate of increase than previous years.

The ACA still needs a lot of fixing to better serve the public. But with half the congress bent on destroying the bill for a reason that does not compute for the rest of us, fixing ACA is not in the cards.

Environmental regulations have been misrepresented as jacking up prices for many goods and services. That, too, is nonsense. If some prices rise because those business producers are forced to find cleaner means of producing their goods for market, then we all benefit from a cleaner environment. If nothing were done, some businesses would be making unfair profits while the rest of us pay for the repair of the environment, or suffer the health consequences of living in a polluted environment. China anyone? Would you like to live in industrial regions of China, including Bejing? Have you seen their pollution recently?

I grew up in southern California. We had smog back then; serious smog, the kind that made you short of breath by supper time. It was a common malady in the 40’s and 50’s. Not so today. When I moved to New England in the mid-50’s, my asthma and shortness of breath nearly disappeared. Smog was not a problem in Massachusetts.

The cost to Californians living with smog and polluted water and soil was enormous. And the taxpayers were the ones who had to pay for that, not the producers or businesses who were responsible for creating the pollution. Not so today. The responsibility is properly fixed on those industries and producers who cause the problem.

Regulations keep them honest and the rest of us dealing with apples and apples, not apples and oranges.

Healthcare issues need to be discussed in full. What are appropriate care standards? Who should be responsible for defining these? Who pays for these? Are there elements of consumer choice in some of these matters? Or are life standards universal enough that standard healthcare access is considered a given in our developed society?

Who are the winners if our citizens are more healthy than not? All of us; certainly you and I who have better health because of it. But what about employers? They are winners, too, because their work force is healthier and more productive. Lost hours and productivity due to health and unattended disabilities are expensive to the employer. Better that our healthcare system work for the benefit of all.

It very well may be that we need a single payer system. I doubt a privately owned company can do as well as a government agency. Too many deep pockets get attention in private industry. And regulation cuts both ways in keeping private and government agencies honest and accountable.

So it is in the interest of only a few people that we have a disrupted healthcare system. Those interests are billionaires or wannabe billionaires. The greed requires us to avoid private control of this industry. Plain and simple.

If we dare to ask the simple questions, I’m sure we will find reasonable solutions that will benefit the common good of us all. That goes for all political footballs, not just the three identified here.

When will we the people insist that this process be engaged and implemented? It is up to us.

July 5, 2017