tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53442315884970668012024-02-10T07:41:18.733-08:00Preserving American ValuesOur nation stands under attack … not from without, but from within. Both our politics and our culture have been corrupted.AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.comBlogger331125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-48246559735222039462024-02-10T07:40:00.000-08:002024-02-10T07:40:16.421-08:00Trump's Provable Lie<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12px;">Donal Trump has finally given this country a gift: he has lied - made a baseless claim - about something about which there can be no question that he has lied. Everyone, even his most ardent supporters, will have to agree that he has lied.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Recently, Trump claimed in a post on his Truth Social online account that Nikki Haley was not eligible to become president because her parents were not U.S. citizens when she was born.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He did this by reposting an article from @gatewaypundit based on constitutional interpretation by @paulingrassia making this claim.</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">What a perfect example of misinformation and how it becomes viral in social media.</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution clearly states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Thus children born in the U.S. of a parent or parents who are not U.S. citizens are nevertheless U.S. citizens.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>PERIOD.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>No ifs, ands, or buts.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Nikki Haley is a "natural-born" U.S. citizen and thus eligible to be president.</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The post refers to the 12th Amendment, but the 12th Amendment stipulates how the Electoral College works.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It has nothing to do with citizenship.</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Trump may claim in the future that he was just reposting this article.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>No, by reposting the article with no caveats he endorsed it and thus it became a statement of his.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Or he may say, "I'm not a legal scholar; I don't know."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Well, it is the responsibility of anyone, certainly someone running for President, to check facts before broadcasting them.</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Most of Trump's lies are not so easily proven to be lies.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But here you have the clear, unambiguous wording of the Constitution.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is not a matter of interpretation.</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">He should be called on this.</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And yes, I'm back.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I don't know how often I will be posting, but I have spent time in the "wilderness" and have no more craving for the acknowledgment of others.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My faith is absolute; there is no more fear.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I am just sharing my opinions, my thoughts.</p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-76517706747231521552022-12-26T16:06:00.000-08:002022-12-26T16:06:11.473-08:00Fear v Faith, and Why I Am Taking a Hiatus From Blogging<p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">If you've been reading this blog, you will be aware that spiritual practice is an essential part of my life as I observe the state of the world and comment on it. I watched a powerful video recently in which Latoya Okela taught that the spiritual struggle comes down to fear v faith. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And that fear is stronger than faith. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Therefore, we must double down on our work to find absolute faith.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> (To define what I mean by "faith" is to complicated for this post. If you are interested go to my Buddhist website, noted below, and read some posts on faith. )</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">And we must find that faith within us, not just say to ourselves that we have faith. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The latter has some value, but I can guarantee based on my own experience, that if there is a shred of doubt within you about your faith, that the mind will assert itself and take control.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Everything that we think, say, or do that causes us suffering is at its core a function of fear. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even insecurity, which I have written is at the core, is based on fear.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I must face it. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>You must face it. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Everyone must face it. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And the only way to finally overcome fear is through absolute faith. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Without that faith, all effort to free oneself of fear by embracing it, having compassion for it, saying "Not me!" or any of the other means I have suggested in my posts will not work. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Because some part of you, regardless how small, does not really believe in your faith and therefore your efforts lack the force of faith.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I have learned to be dispassionate in my reaction to things that had previously caused anxiety, nothing pushes my buttons, and I thought that meant fear was no longer there, but I realized one recent morning in my meditation that it is; it just doesn't express itself in the obvious way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I have written several posts on faith in my Buddhist blog, www.thepracticalbuddhist.com, and they remain of value. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But I have realized that there is a hole in the dyke of my faith. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And it is because of that hole that I keep on experiencing situations in which my mind asserts itself and controls my actions, which I always am surprised at and share in my posts.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Usually I have dug deeper into my trauma and found something I hadn't been aware of before. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But that's not the problem. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The problem is the hole in my faith. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Bach wrote a famous hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The same can be said of faith. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But if your faith has a weak point, it will crumble and not protect you, just like a fortress that is built on a weak foundation.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So I need to work on making my faith absolute.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">For that reason, <b>this will be my last post for some time</b>. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Why?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have discovered that this blog and other writing of mine has been my mind's way of showing that I am right, that I have knowledge, and gaining the acknowledgment and respect of others. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is a craving of mine.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This is an example of the weakness of my faith. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If it were absolute, I would not crave the acknowledgment of others. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It would not be a driving force in almost everything that I do.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">In one of my books, I said, after going through a list of suggested actions, "just do it."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And that is the case here as well. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And so I will stop feeding that craving until I find that my faith is absolute.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p><br /></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-41975498152044464522022-10-01T18:09:00.000-07:002022-10-01T18:09:13.847-07:00The Census Race and Ethnicity Questions Don't Work – Change Them<p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Today, we, meaning the United States, commonly use the following categories to classify a person's race, both in the census as well as countless documents: white, black or African American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, or Pacific Islander. There is a separate question that identifies someone as Latino or non-Latino, since one can be Latino and either white or black or brown; it is thus not a racial category. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Note, however, that if a Latino is of Central or South American Indian descent, there is no race category that fits. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They are stuck with using "some other race."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">People would be surprised, and white supremacists shocked, to learn that the U.S. Census defines "white" as "A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>People who are Middle Eastern or North African are thus categorized as "white" by the Census.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is based on the classic definition of "Caucasian" used when the first racial categories were established in the 1700s.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>At some point afterwards, "white" was often used instead of Caucasian.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Clearly, "white" does not mean what white supremacists and people in general think. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But beyond that fact, the classification of "white" is a misnomer in another, obvious way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>"White," even if confined in many people's mind to mean of European descent, covers a broad range of skin colors from the pale skin of northern Europeans to the darker tones of southern or Mediterranean Europeans. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Many "whites" are also thus people of color in the broadest sense.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Why then this term, "white?"<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>One could say that the change recognized that the science behind the phrase "Caucasian" was debunked a long time ago. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I suggest, however, that it became common usage because it simply and graphically expressed the difference between and superiority of people of European descent compared with the people they colonized.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>White is pure and in stark contrast to color. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Since much of the justification for the global colonial enterprise was based on racial superiority, the stark difference between white and all other categories served its purpose.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Also, the categories are interesting in that if you were white, it didn't matter what your ethnicity was – you were superior. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>On the other hand, if you were black, it didn't matter what your ethnicity was, you were inferior.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Likewise, if you were Asian, it made no difference what your country of ancestry was, you were inferior..<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This post does not pretend to have any impact on racism, because racism has nothing to do with semantics or logic. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Instead, the post has to do with how the government collects data on people, which ultimately influences how we, the average person, categorize people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The government can change the way it classifies people. The OMB had proposed changes to the race and ethnicity questions for the 2020 Census, but they were overruled by the Trump administration.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But although those proposed changes would have brought more nuance and coherence to the resulting data, combining race and ethnicity in one question, we would still have been left with the use of the category "white." Given that "white" is not a word that is descriptive of the people in that category, in effect the government is saying that if you're not black, or Asian, etc, then you're white; you're not one of them. This is not helpful from any rational perspective.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Why then does the government keep using the term? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I suspect because it is embedded in so many documents and the minds of so many.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But beyond this question of semantics, why does the government still have a question that seeks to identify race? Race theory has been thoroughly debunked and discredited. We need to get everyone away from the idea that race impacts, in and of itself, what becomes of people. What does impact people's future is the culture that they come from and remain part of, and the way people react to it.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is precedent in the current Census questions to make the switch from race to culture, We use the category "Asian" and "Pacific Islander" not because that is their race or country or identifies where they were born, but because of their ancestry and their culture; how they self-identify.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Black or African American is of data value not because it defines one's race, but defines one's culture. So we wouldn't lose any valuable data by making this switch. Also, practically speaking, many racists are really more against blacks because of their perceived culture than the color of their skin. Their blackness is just an easy, short-hand, way of registering that prejudice.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It would also solve the awkward situation of Latinos who are not white or black but of Indian stock having no race category that fits them. .</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I would therefore suggest that we say what we in fact mean when referring to "whites," and use the term "European-American" instead of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>"white." There is no white race or culture. There is a European culture. People who are Middle Eastern or North African should have a separate category, as was proposed, not European.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">While I dislike categories like "Italian-American" because we are all American, for this purpose I think it is valid because someone's culture is a hybrid of the country of ancestry and the United States. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We are all Americans, but from a cultural standpoint, we are all hybrids. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Thus I would use the term "European-American."</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I recognize that there are many subcultures for each of these cultures. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There is, for example. no one black or Asian culture.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Through cross-referencing other census data on an individual's education, location, SES, and country of ancestry, a rough approximation of the subcultures should be able to be gleaned.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Recognizing that culture is really the defining factor, not race, in what people make of their lives is also important because it makes clear that regardless one's race, it is your cultural habits and perceptions that are determinative of your opportunities and future. Making this change is thus empowering, because each person can change their culture, or aspects of it; they cannot change their race. </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is past time for the Census to stop gathering information on race, which is of questionable use, and instead to focus on information about a person's culture which is more determinative.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-60269117504862209442022-08-20T15:50:00.000-07:002022-08-20T15:50:13.537-07:00An Epidemic of Troubled Children. Why?<p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We read in the papers about the rising rate of suicide and other emotional problems among teenagers. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>People point to societal causes to explain what is happening, but while those factors have an effect, that is not the real problem.</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We have seen articles questioning the role of parents in mass shootings. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>These articles focus on parents not observing or acting on signs that their sons are radicalized. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But while this is often true, that is not the real problem,</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The uncomfortable and inconvenient truth is that every troubled child, boy or girl, is troubled primarily because of the way they have been raised, the interactions they have had first and foremost with their parents as well as with siblings, their peers, and the world around them.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's not that most parents don't love their children and show them affection and attention. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It's that parents have their own problems and needs, their own distractions, and so they both cannot provide their young child with the love and attention he or she needs and they often react to their child out of anger, short temper or stress, for example calling the child bad, or stupid, lazy, or other pejorative phrases.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This interaction, this accumulation of life experiences by the child, results in him or her feeling insecure and not good about themselves, feeling fear and anxiety. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is the beginning of a life pattern that grows and deepens, like a cancer, until if the hurt is deep and bad enough, the child becomes a sociopath, capable of inflicting the harm caused by a mass shooter.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But these children who commit mass shootings are just the tip of an iceberg, of an alarming problem in our society. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They are the extreme case of an epidemic of children who feel insecure, who don't feel good about themselves.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I see this every day in the elementary and middle schools where I teach. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Children exhibit behavior problems which are not part of the natural process of growing up or experiencing new hormonal urges. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>These are problems which are well established in these children by the time they reach school age and continue to deepen.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is no exaggeration to say that in a class of 20 children, there are typically only one or two who are well balanced and obviously feel good about themselves. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And by that i don't mean that they feel they are great or special, better than others; I mean that they simply feel good about themselves, they are comfortable in their skins.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Why is this happening?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The problem is that child raising in our society has been a case of insecure parents raising insecure children who become insecure parents who raise insecure children who<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>. . .<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To some extent, this has perhaps always been the case, but it has become much worse since the industrial revolution and then in modern times as parents have become involved in work or activities which are not fulfilling and leave them stressed, as money and material things have gained importance, and as technology has separated human beings more from each other rather than brought them together.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This problem exists in all strata of society, whether rich or poor.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The result of the prevalence of this insecurity is that we see increasing violence and dysfunction at all levels of society – in the home, workplace, politics, and the international arena. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When people argue or act out, it is their inner child who is arguing or acting out,</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Children are our future. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A child is a fragile, vulnerable person. From the moment the child leaves the womb, and even before, a child is deeply and permanently impacted by his parents’ moods and actions, as the young child is totally dependent on those around him for sustenance and nurturing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Every child has the potential to live a happy, wholesome, constructive, and fulfilling life regardless of their intelligence, ability, or looks.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There is no such thing as a "bad" or "stupid" or "ugly" child. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Every child deserves a happy life; that is their birthright.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And so, it should be parents' primary responsibility to raise their children in a way that fosters in them the feeling that they are secure in themselves and happy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We must protect children's psychic health. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But where do we start when only a happy, secure parent can raise a happy, secure child?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Are we in a cycle that cannot be stopped?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I believe the answer is that it can be. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It requires first that parents understand the impact they have on their children. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Few parents intend to harm their children, but most in fact do, despite loving them. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It's a fact of life. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The point is not that parents should feel blame; the point is to be aware of your impact.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Second, it requires that parents take active steps to improve their own security and happiness. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>These include (in brief): smiling mindfully, cherishing each passing moment, accepting ourselves/cultivating a compassion heart, accepting life, and staying grounded. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This does not require therapy, but it does require commitment and discipline because the control of our mind over our actions is great.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When parents have stepped back from the mental forces that grip them, they are able to stop and ask themselves, "Is what I am about to do or say good for my child's sense of well-being," as opposed to being on auto-pilot or doing whatever comes naturally based on their own childhood or their situation in life, be it their work, family or relationship with themselves.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Parents cannot control what their children experience in the world out there. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But they can assure that their children are raised with a sense of self that will protect them from being damaged by the abuses they will inevitably face.<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px;"></span></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-35323755325635335262022-07-25T18:29:00.004-07:002022-07-25T18:29:56.271-07:00Will the Real RINO Stand Up?<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Trump and his allies have been extremely effective at changing the meaning of words in the minds of their supporters. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Thus, for example, "fake" news came to define any news from sources other than Fox News, Trump, and his allies. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>While just the opposite was in fact true. The fake news is what came out of their mouths. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The other news was the truth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The same is true for the way RINO has been applied. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It has become the epithet for any Republican who disagrees with the Trump mantra.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In fact, it is Trump and his allies who are truly RINOs – Republicans in name only. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Because what they stand for is not an expression or outgrowth of the traditional policy positions of the Republican Party nor what the Party has stood for during its history.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The question that every American must ask is, how has Trump been able to so successfully manipulate the minds and hearts of the Republican base. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And we're talking not just die-hard Trump supporters, but almost the entire Republican voting base, as has been shown in recent polls regarding the "truth' of the stolen election claim.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are multiple reasons. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But two predominate. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The first is that a large block of these<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>voters,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>formerly Democratic working class voters, carried huge grievances against the Democratic Party because they felt the Party had failed them and was more concerned with the plight of Blacks. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And so when Trump came and vociferously championed their cause, they supported him and continue to do so, even though he has not improved their lives in any way and actually has often acted in ways contrary to their interests.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Second, the existence of Fox News and right-wing alternative media sources. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Before the advent of cable TV and the internet, everyone in the country got their national news from the Big 3 networks, which were solidly middle-of-the-road, nonpartisan, in their approach to the news. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The national nightly news anchors were respected by a broad spectrum of Americans. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Someone like Trump with fringe ideas could yell and scream all they wanted, but no one would hear them because their voice wasn't amplified by news coverage.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Now, everyone watches the news that fits their beliefs. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And so Republicans watch Fox News and those on the far right have their internet outlets that fan their beliefs. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>These media not only amplify the voice of Trump and his allies, but they give them credibility by mouthing their positions as their own. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The combination of their faith in Trump and their faith in their chosen media outlet makes the "fake" news phenomenon possible.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Trump once said that he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and he wouldn't loose any voters. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That is not only probably true but it shows how far the brainwashing of Republicans has gone and that Trump is well aware of his power.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is nothing that I can imagine happening that will shake the trust of the vast majority of Republicans in Trump and his allies. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even after Germany's loss in WWII, most Germans did not renounce their faith in Hitler. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They did not turn on him. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I fear the attachment of most Republicans to Trump lies in this same vein and they will never abandon him. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px;"></span></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-16643015830193375712022-05-15T09:28:00.001-07:002022-05-15T09:28:57.209-07:00How the West Made the War in Ukraine Almost Inevitable<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Soviet Union had collapsed, the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe were free, the world balance of power had changed; the cold war was over.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Russia was starting to work with the US and Europe as a friend.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But then policy makers and Europe decided to take advantage of the situation and expand NATO right up to Russia's borders. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Was there a threat current or future that caused this move?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">No. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It was instead a visceral desire to contain Russia; a never again vow. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Russia would not even be allowed to have a reasonable zone of influence in Eastern Europe, such as the US has in the Americas.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But by so doing, the west embarked on a new cold war. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There was no question that Russia would react negatively to this move. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It was an in-your-face aggression prompted by the weakness of Russia.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Putin became obsessed with preventing Russia from being hemmed in. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He reached out to China to secure his southeastern flank. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He fought the war in Chechnya and the Crimea.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And then he clearly made moves indicating that he was planning on invading Ukraine. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There was lots of rhetoric about the Russian people and mother Russia, but it was mostly really all about stopping the accretion of NATO.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The question is, given these basic facts, why didn't President Biden and the EU, prior to the Russian invasion, offer to keep the Ukraine out of NATO in exchange for Russia guaranteeing that it would never invade Ukraine?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Ukraine did say it was not pursuing NATO membership.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This would have been no loss to the west, and a huge gain for Putin. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But Biden and other western leaders don't like to appear to give in to bullies like Putin. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And they certainly don't like giving Putin a big win domestically. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So Ukraine is being bombarded and lives destroyed because of a desire by Biden and others to save face.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But at it's core, it's much the same mentality that has always viewed as a friend a country that was friendly to US interests regardless how barbaric and undemocratic its leadership, and to see as a foe any country that was not friendly to our interests, regardless how democratically elected they were. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is the desire for empire, not in the old sense but in tactical control and influence.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But we aren't willing to go to war to defend this empire. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We instead use other means such as sanctions. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That's because it's really not about national interests in any true sense, certainly not one that the American people would support.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And so the Ukrainian people suffer.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They are caught in the middle of the West and Russia not wanting to loose face and power, but the West not willing to put its military force into the equation and so leaving the ground to Russia.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-37677675402900480912022-02-26T07:21:00.003-08:002022-02-26T07:21:55.030-08:00 The Vanished Frontier<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Throughout all of man's development, there have always been frontiers, places either geographic or intellectual, where an individual could go to grow, to make a new person of himself, to make his fortune – places where anything was possible because it was an open book, man had not been there or done that before</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For most of man's history, however, it was only exceptional individuals who had that opportunity. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For the vast majority of mankind, the present was their only reality and there was no knowledge of and therefore no longing for something different.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They were grounded in the knowledge of their place and value in their society.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There was no significant change in this societal dynamic until the enlightenment, when the masses came to realize that a better life was their due, resulting in revolutions occurring throughout the western world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Later, the industrial revolution provided significantly expanded frontiers.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As recently as 100 years ago, the United States still had ample geographic frontiers and untold intellectual ones. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even big cities like New York were frontiers because they were evolving and growing at such a rate that so much was possible, the opportunities were endless.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After WWII, the geographic frontier shrank to almost nothing. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Not that there weren't still vast areas in the country that were wild or semi-wild, but there were no areas where man had not left his footprint, where he had not made his claims. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The days of homestead9ing were long gone.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But intellectual frontiers were expanding at an incredible rate. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Especially in the sciences, technology, the questions to be explored were endless.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Fast forward to the present. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There are no more frontiers really. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Not that there aren't still scientific questions to be answered, but the questions have gotten either smaller and smaller, and the payback or reward less and less, or they are so large and basic as to be Einsteinian, that even the questions are beyond the grasp of most.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One could say that the frontier of technology in endless. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In one sense that may be true, but one can see already that advances in technology are not improving our lives; it is not as we once thought it would be.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Also we've reached the point of diminishing returns, in that technological changes are only incremental.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In one sense, one could say that the only frontier left is making money. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There seems to always be new ways to be found to make money. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There are those who find that a driving force. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But for many, that is not the holy grail, and for those that it is, it is a spiritually empty grail.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There is nothing that enlarges man, enlarges his spirit, by making more money.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Which brings me to the point of this post. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Much has been written about the phenomenon of millennial boys and young men having little ambition; that they lack the drive that people had in the past. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They seem to be drifting.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some have looked to the increased role of women in the formerly exclusive masculine world of business and science to explain this. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But I think that hypothesis is not warranted.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instead, I think that boys and young men have no drive because they don't see possibilities open to them. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There are no frontiers that excite their imagination. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They don't see a way to be free of their past and present. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Part of that may be a failure of their education – everything seems blah to them – but I think the real reason is the lack of frontiers, the lack of challenge. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Instead they escape into the fantasy world of video games and seek refuge in technology. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This does not bode well for America's future in any sense – economically, politically, or socially.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So what are we as a society to do?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The world is the way it is and there's nothing to be done to change it. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Perhaps the only frontier left is the spiritual one. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This has been a dead issue for a long time. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>True spirituality has had no place in our society. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Yet it is needed now more than ever.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If boys and young men came to have faith in themselves, to not look to outside things to make them feel somebody, worthy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If they came to be open to the presence of God/Buddha inside them – not the Evangelical's God full of vengeance and hatred towards all who don't follow his lead – but the Divine essence that we are born with and can be found in our heart, which is love, light, faith, trust, humility, gratitude, compassion, joy, contentment, strength, courage, and wisdom.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If boys and young men thus became the full potential of human beings, then they would face the world and their future with energy, to do whatever it is that they decided was meant for them. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is my hope for the future.</span></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-60703422180290923212022-02-08T18:22:00.000-08:002022-02-08T18:22:03.868-08:00Republican's "Legitimate Political Discourse" <p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Is there no end to the mendacity of Republican Party leaders; have they no shame? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We've heard them labeling real news, "fake" news, whereas it is their news which is fake. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We've heard their claims that the 2020 election was stolen by fraud, whereas they are the ones who have perpetuated fraud in an attempt to steal the election.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Now we have the Republican National Committee criticizing the January 6 Special Committee, and Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, for the "persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse."</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Although Party leaders said afterwards that that description was not meant to apply to the rioters who stormed the capitol, how deceitful are they. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That is precisely what and whom the January 6 investigation is looking into. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Republican leaders – Trump acolytes all – want to have their cake and eat it too. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Not so fast!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222;">All thinking Americans regardless of Party allegiance should rise up against this mendacious statement and say, "The attack on the capitol was not legitimate political discourse."</span> </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-84265506720624562492022-01-26T10:21:00.000-08:002022-01-26T10:21:21.018-08:00Making the Titans of Finance and Industry Accept Social Responsibility<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Why is our society, our world, ignoring the warnings of climate change, destroying our environment, creating ever-larger inequality even as more people are lifted out of poverty?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Why is it that the U.S. middle class, which used to be such a strong, vibrant element of our society has become weak and stagnant?</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The reason for all of this lies not with the mass of people on this Earth, who have no or little control of anything, even in their own lives. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The reason lies with those with ultimate power – the corporate titans of finance and industry.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is they who decide what is in their corporation's best interest, which is what will make the most money in the short run, and implement that plan of action without any concern for the plan's impact on the public good or the welfare of their workers.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And it is they who largely determine the regulatory scope of government, regardless which Party is in power, and so they are in most critical areas effectively unregulated.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">This is not an indictment of capitalism, as I made clear in my post, "</span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Is the Problem Capitalism or Our Society?"<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Regardless the economic system, it is the holders of capital – whether they be aristocrats, political dictators (Communist, fascist, or otherwise), or corporate titans – that have determined the fate of their economies, their workers, and the general public. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is thus instead an indictment of man-made society going back millennia.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Until the dawn of the 20th century, those who controlled capital pretty much had their way. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Whether it was the robber barons of the industrial revolution or the aristocrats of the old social/political order, these people could do what they wanted and treat people, whether their workers or cottagers, as they wanted.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Income inequality was huge with the large mass of people being both poor and illiterate. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Slavery may have been the most egregious example of this system, but it was definitely part of the system.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It was only with the ascendancy of Teddy Roosevelt, of all people – a wealthy Republican – that finally some people with political power felt the huge damage that those with unregulated power wreaked on the masses, while acquiring astronomical wealth. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And so the progressive era was born. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The trusts were broken up, anti-trust laws were passed, and workers were protected and empowered for the first time, both through protective laws as well as government support for the growth of labor unions. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This movement gained further momentum in the 30s because of people's reaction to capitalism during the Great Depression and the election of F.D.R. with his crusading New Deal.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As a result, the middle class grew from a small segment at the turn of the 20th century (15 - 20%) to become the largest single bloc in the population (around 70%) and the backbone of the country's economic prosperity at its highpoint in the 1970s.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This increase came about because the lower working class had largely become middle class. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In 1970, 62% of the nation's aggregate income went to middle-class households, compared to 29% for upper-income households.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Then Ronald Reagan was elected President and things started changing. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Central to that change was the famous Reagan line, "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From that perspective, the dismantling of government regulations that had protected the public and workers began and gathered steam in the decades that followed. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Culminating perhaps most significantly in the repeal of the Steagall-Glass Act which was passed to regulate banks in the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This repeal happened during an otherwise liberal Democratic administration (Clinton), but with wall street insiders in key cabinet positions and Republicans in control of both the House and Senate. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Efforts to reenact Steagall-Glass after the 2008 market crash and recession failed, as did efforts to regulate derivatives – all of this again under a Democratic administration with full control of Congress.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The result of this disempowering of workers/empowering of corporations together with the forces of globalization, which began in the 1970s, resulted in the stagnation of worker's salaries.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>While wages have risen (26%), their purchasing power has stayed the same during the 50 years between the 1970s and 2020; or said another way, salaries adjusted for inflation have remained the same. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>While those in the top 1% rose 160% during the same period, unadjusted for inflation.</span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">As a result of that stagnation together with many formerly middle-class workers falling back into the lower-class income category, the middle class in 2015 accounted for just under 50% of the population </span><span class="s3" style="font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">– a significant drop since the 70s – and accounted for only 43$ of the nation's aggregate income, down from 62% in 1970.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The middle class was also the main victim of the finance industry's predatory lending schemes, made possible when Steagall-Glass was repealed, that were a major cause of the 2008 recession. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The recession cost the middle class not only jobs but also resulted in the foreclosure of millions of homes. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(I do not include the upper class as a main victim of the recession because although they lost heavily, they generally regained their wealth when the market rebounded.)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Another measure of how the middle class have fared during this period is to look at income inequality. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>One measure of this is that in 1929, the richest 0.1% of Americans held 25% of the country's wealth. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>By the 1970s, that percentage had fallen to below 10%. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Over the past 40 years, it has again risen to around 20%.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We have gone back to the future, with those with the control of capital being largely unregulated. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Yes, we don't have child labor anymore and various other controls remain in place. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But so many have been weakened or repealed that corporations have been empowered to consider almost no interests other than their own greed. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Workers are no longer considered an asset to be nourished and grown but as a cost center to be controlled.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Clearly, if left to their own devices, corporate leaders will not do what is in the best interest of anyone other than themselves. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They only act as responsible members of society when they are forced to by government laws.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And so, in one post, "Toward a Reformed Capitalism," I urged the laws of incorporation be changed to force companies to consider their workers' interest as well as the public good. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Let me quote from that post:</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"We must reexamine what a corporation is.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>What is its function in our economy and society?</span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Corporations are a creature of the law.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Corporations are allowed the benefits of incorporation because they provide something of value</i> … they are critical to the economic health of the country and of their workers.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They also thus meet a societal need.</span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So from a governmental/societal perspective, corporations exist to enhance the greater good.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Unfortunately, as we have seen repeatedly ever since the industrial revolution, corporations have been mostly intent on making money and so have done much that harms, that is not in keeping with, the greater good.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And typically with full knowledge of that harm.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And they have been abetted by the government's action or inaction.</span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The answer to this conundrum is to reform the laws under which corporations are organized by restructuring their governance.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The goal of this effort should be to make consideration of the greater good … the public interest as well as worker interest … an integral part of the corporate decision making process. "<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Specific recommendations are made in the post.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">These recommendations are not unrealistic or totally novel. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Most countries in the EU require employee board-level representation.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They also require a number of "independent" directors; but these are not directors who are tasked with representing the public good, they are just tasked with preventing conflict of interest in decision making. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My recommendations go much further.</span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This will take strong political leadership and lock-step support from Democrats in Congress because this will certainly not be a bi-partisan effort, not in the current political climate.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This may result in the end of corporations as we have known them, but they will still be strong and financially profitable.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As I noted in the post, this proposal does not in any way eliminate the profit motive in corporate decision making, nor the amount of profit they seek to make. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It just ensures that the public good and workers' interests are considered in the adoption of corporate plans, and so it will most likely impact the amount of profit.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Republicans will scream, "socialism."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But this is not socialism in any form; government is not taking over the role of the private sector. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is not even the government hovering over or involving itself in corporate decision making; it is just setting the law which corporations must follow.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Clearly this is a change in the way things have been done. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But it is a change that is wholly in keeping with the reason why corporations are sanctioned by the government, why government gives corporations the benefits of incorporation. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And it is past due because of the havoc corporations have caused in the economy, the environment, and people's well-being due to the unregulated effect of corporate greed over the past four decades.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is important to note that in the period between the passage of Glass-Steagall in 1933 and its repeal in 1999, the U.S. suffered no major financial crisis – there were recessions but they were due to monetary policies or other factors. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Further, during the period of progressive corporate regulation and increasing government measures supporting low income families, income inequality decreased.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Since the repeal of that act we have had a major financial crisis and economic downturn, major stuck market volatility. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That together with the decrease in regulation and lower-income supports since the 80s (pre-Biden) returned income inequality to its pre-Depression levels. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>One measure of this is that in 1929, the richest 0.1% of Americans held 25% of the country's wealth. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>By the 1970s, that percentage had fallen to below 10%. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Over the past 40 years, it has again risen to around 20%.</span></span></p><p class="p8" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: white; color: #222222;">If we want to maintain a sound, stable economy and one that fosters greater income equality, then government must take this step to reform capitalism and our society.</span> </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-71257332384395792302021-12-27T18:09:00.001-08:002021-12-27T18:09:44.192-08:00An Open Letter to Democratic Party Leaders<p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My fellow Democratic colleague:</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In 2004, I warned in my book, <i>We Still Hold These Truths, </i>that our democracy was being attacked from within.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I stated that the new radical Republicans were seeking to destroy our historic values. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That the argument with them was not just about big v small government. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>"At risk is the heart of our democracy, our historic values. "<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A claim that found little support at the time; it was felt to be over the top. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And in that book, I set forth a vision for the Party that would counter that threat.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Recently in <i>The</i> <i>New York </i>Times, there was an op-ed piece about whether Democrats were adding to the strength of the Republican take-over effort in 2022 and 2024 by alienating middle-class voters through it's policies.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One commentator, expressing the same view as several others, said that "the Democratic Party over the past few decades has gotten into the position of appearing to oppose and scorn widely cherished institutions — conventional nuclear family, religion, patriotism, capitalism, wealth, norms of masculinity and femininity, then saying “vote for me.” Doesn’t sound like a winning strategy to me." </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The key word here is "appearing."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As I wrote in my book, <i>We Still Hold These Truths</i>, the Democratic Party doesn't take second place to Republicans when it comes to supporting the family, religion, patriotism, capitalism, etc. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>record of the Party, both past and present, is clear.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What has happened is that Democrats have for several decades allowed Republicans to successfully define them in these anti-American-values terms, distorting the essence of the Party's Liberal policies.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is nothing, for example, in our pro-choice policies or those supporting the LGBTQ community, that are anti-family, anti-religion, or other core historic American values; indeed, they spring from them. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They may be against what many people feel are traditional American norms, but they are not against our historic values. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And it is up to Democrats to explain this fact.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The question that I addressed in writing the book was how to combat this Republican assault and their distortion of the Democratic position. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is not by back-tracking on Democratic support for the right to abortion, for the LGBTQ community, for fairer taxes, and other matters that are labeled by Republicans as anti-family and anti-capitalism.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But it is certainly not in the strident positions of AOC and her fellow progressives, which alienate not only the middle class but many liberals.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The answer, I argued, is to frame the Democratic position on these and other issues in terms of American core values – our historic documents, and especially the Declaration of Independence. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>These are the sole, the heart of our democracy; they are as American as apple pie, familiar to all. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I argued at the time that Democrats must win back the hearts and minds of the American people. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The need is more acute today than ever; I just pray it is not too late.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none;">James Fallows, National Correspondent, <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i>, urged Americans to read <i>We Still Hold These Truths</i>, saying it "</span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">is a systematic and serious effort to make [the national values and policy] debate as clear and valuable as it can be. Agree or disagree with his specific conclusions, the questions he is asking are the right ones for the public this year."</span></span></p><p class="p4" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I urge you to read <i>We Still Hold These Truths </i>and watch the YouTube video, "We Still Hold These Truths: The Democrats' Vision", <a href="https://youtu.be/NNlt8hc7GM4"><span class="s3" style="font-kerning: none;">https://youtu.be/NNlt8hc7GM4</span></a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For more information on the book, go to www.westillholdthesetruths.info.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sincerely,</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ronald L. Hirsch</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">www.westillholdthesetruths.com</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PreservingAmerifcanValues.blogspot.com<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-45797220384203484212021-11-28T11:12:00.003-08:002021-12-18T15:31:45.339-08:00The State of American Democracy, the Body Politic<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Over the course of almost 250 years, American democracy has often been a raucous place, both at the level of the citizenry and elected officials. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But throughout those years, despite the divisions caused in our country by racism, income inequality, and ethnic bigotry, when it came time for receiving the results of elections, they have always been respected. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Majority rule has prevailed.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And despite many people, especially Blacks, having ample cause to be aggrieved by the physical, psychic, or economic violence they experienced, America has been a place of overwhelmingly peaceful coexistence, on the surface. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Yes, there have been riots and protests that have resulted usually from cataclysmic events, but these disturbances generally did not result in a hardening of the divisions among us.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The centripetal force has been greater than the centrifugal force. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>One could be cynical and say that the centripetal force was mostly due to the aggrieved's weakness. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>While that was certainly a factor, I believe that the fact that people felt that we were all Americans, regardless of our backgrounds and place of origin, and that we shared a history even though it was not really ours, because we believed in the promise of America regardless how distant it was – this was the essence of the centripetal force. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There was at some level a belief in the good-hearted nature of the body politic, there was hope, despite all the nastiness that was observed at an individual or even group level.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The threat to our democracy now is not coming from these traditionally aggrieved groups, the classic source of revolution, but ironically from those who have been privileged but feel threatened by the aggrieved groups.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Starting during the Reagan years, the attitude of those on the right began to harden. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The sense of conviviality with their opponents, and later even civility, was lost. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>People became angry.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Partly it stemmed from Reagan's famous line that, "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And so the division came to be not just the traditional liberal/conservative argument about big government v small government, but government v private rights, often the de facto rights of white privilege.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The other factor was the advent of Lee Atwater and his combative, dirty tricks, form of campaigning. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This was the beginning of the Republican's national embrace of the big lie, racial fear-mongering, smears and winning at all costs.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And so over the next three decades, the Republicans became obstructionists when they weren't in power because they saw that as the best way to win the next election, by making it difficult if not impossible for the Democrats to make good on their promises. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Bi-partisanship was out the door, except when they were in power.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With the election of Obama, this principle reached a fever pitch.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The epitome was probably Senator McConnell's not giving Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, a hearing, flouting all precedent, the excuse being a presidential election 7 1/2 months off.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The election of Obama did something else. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The election of a Black President enabled the Republicans to really put fear into the hearts and minds of their base – the fear of whites losing their privileged position in American society and workplace. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Now not only were legislators in Washington nasty, people on the streets became nasty.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But that was all just rehearsal for the real "show" - the election and presidency of Donald Trump. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Trump was able to build on the long held-in-check fears and bigotry of many Americans – towards non-whites, be they Blacks, Hispanics, or Muslims and their distrust of government, and Evangelicals' frustration at being excluded from the halls of power and not being listened to by the larger society – and turn his base and the majority of Republicans into a mob that hates liberals and distrusts the government as an agent of liberals. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He gave bigotry, distrust, and hatred legitimacy; people no longer needed to keep their voices to themselves.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The explosion of social media during this same period provided an unchecked petri dish for the expansion this animus, misinformation, and outright lies into the deepest recesses of the minds of most Republicans. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That this is no longer just the state of what was thought of as Trump's core base can be seen in the fact that 75% of Republicans surveyed by PEW Research in January 2021 believed that the election of President Biden was not legitimate; they bought the Trump argument, they bought the fake news.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We have reached a point in the public arena where most Republicans will believe anything they are told by Trump, his allies, and FOX News, and will not believe anything the Democrats or the rest of the media says to the contrary. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>What is up is down for them; there is no objective truth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Irrationality has been mainstreamed.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This distrust has even impacted the legitimacy of government and science regarding efforts to control the pandemic.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The misinformation coursing through social media regarding the vaccine is beyond bizarre, yet that is what these people believe. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And when Republican leaders tell them that vaccine mandates and mask mandates are an assault on their Constitutional freedoms, they believe that too.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Trump said once during the campaign that "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters. " <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That unfortunately might be true. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is hard to imagine anything happening that would discredit Trump and his sycophantic allies in the eyes of their base, because all Trump has to do is label the truth "fake news" and his minions will believe him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The latest act of hypocritical mendacity by the Republican leadership is that they are calling President Biden to task for not meeting his campaign pledge to control the virus, when it is their stand against vaccine mandates and mask mandates that has removed the only power he potentially had to control the virus. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The large number of unvaccinated Americans, and thus the ongoing surges, is largely a product of their failure to support science and proven epidemiological methods.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Regardless whether Democrats manage to maintain power in the midterms and 2024, it is highly likely, given Republican gerrymandering and the situation I've described, that Congress will remain evenly and combatively divided. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I fear we will have reached a situation in which the electorate, the body politic, is divided more deeply than at any time in our history, except for the Civil War.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And I can think of nothing that would turn the tide, barring a near-total turnabout by Republican elected officials. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But even when Trump at some point ceases to be in the picture,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and it is inevitable that that will occur, it is pretty clear that they will not lead but instead pander to their base in order to get elected. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They have created a monster and it must be fed. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They have no ethics and they have no shame.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It seems likely that we are struck with this dynamic until there is a generational change or some major event occurs that shakes up the status quo. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How sad. </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-91025177526243430912021-10-05T14:43:00.001-07:002021-10-05T14:43:54.010-07:00The False Promise of the Future<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We as a society/culture are very future-oriented. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Why?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Because we feel the future holds the promise of having better lives, often through advances in science and technology.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This perspective was boldly stated 50-60 years ago by companies such as DuPont, "Better living through chemistry," and General Electric, "Progress is our most important product."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The common thought was that everyone's lives would be made easier, not just housewives', by advances in science and technology. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As a result we would spend less time working – it was expected that the work-week would shrink to 35 hours – and more time relaxing and playing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As we know, however, although women do spend less time, certainly less arduous time, in keeping house and clothes clean and cooking than they did pre-WWII, it is safe to say that no one's life has gotten easier, that our work time has reduced and play time increased. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In fact just the opposite.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We live now in a world where everyone is constantly connected through technology and is therefore expected to be available at all times, whether for work or otherwise. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We live in a world where the demands of work have become more oppressive. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And where mothers, while they spend less time on certain tasks, have been given a whole new set of tasks which take up a huge amount of time and energy, e.g. soccer moms.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Everything has become more complicated, not easier, and with it, the frustrations of completing tasks, of knowing how to move forward has increased. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is not how it was supposed to be. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is not what the prophets of progress, of the future, had promised us.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But it gets worse. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It's not only that the promise hasn't panned out, the whole premise is an example of wrong thinking.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What would make our lives truly better than they are now?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Let me list a few things for starters. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Feeling secure. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Feeling good about yourself. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Feeling you are loved. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Feeling you can trust others. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Feeling you will be ok regardless what life throws your way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is safe to say that for most people, the feelings I just listed would not be descriptive. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Yet what is life if one does not have these feelings/knowledge. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>You can have all the material wealth in the world, and still not be happy, still not feel secure. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We see evidence of that all around us, both among the rich and powerful and those at the other end of the affluence/power scale.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The problem is how our culture – and it's not just America's, it's now the world's – defines happiness. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Happiness in this scenario, as portrayed in countless movies, ads, and media, consists of having the financial ability to acquire the things that make for the "good" life. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>To get what you want, to be successful, on any level. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If you do, you will be happy; if you don't, you will be frustrated and upset.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From practical experience we all know this is not true. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even when people get what they want, they still want more, they aren't satisfied, they worry about losing what they have. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Our masked insecurity gives us no peace.</span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is needed to allow the vast majority of people to lead a meaningfully better life, to experience peace, happiness, and security, not necessarily materially, is a major shift in how our culture defines happiness.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Luckily we don't have to look very far. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The teachings of Buddhism and that of the mystical traditions of all three major Abrahamic faiths (not the organized religions) all teach that happiness means to be at peace with oneself, to have good self-esteem, to know that you will be ok regardless what life throws your way. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That happiness comes from within and is not dependent on anything outside you.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But how do we get to there from here?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The answer is back to the future. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Advances of science and technology are all well and good. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But they are meaningless, if not destructive, if people are not grounded in the past – not in the sense of <i>their</i> past, but the past of mankind. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And first and foremost, that involves a connection to and faith in a cosmic force larger than ourselves, and derivatively faith in ourselves.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Whether it's the cosmic force of the Buddhist universe (Buddha is not a God, a deity, so the faith is not in him) or the Divine essence that the mystical traditions of the Abrahamic faiths teach is in each of us, or whether it's a more new-age concept of God, or the Universe or your higher power – humans must know that they are not put on this earth to fulfill some banal material or sexual desire.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They are instead put on earth to be good human beings. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Human beings are born with the divine essence inside them. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And what is that divine essence?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is light, love, faith, trust, compassion, humility, gratefulness, joy, contentment, strength, courage, and wisdom. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A human being treats other people with kindness, which is why inhumanity is defined as cruelty. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A human being has lived his life well if he has offered joy to himself and others and made a positive difference in the lives of others.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If we were grounded in this faith in ourselves and the universe, we would have no fear of the future, of death, or of anything else.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We would do, commit our lives to, whatever we felt inside us that we were meant to do, not what our culture or our parents want us to do.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And we would be happy doing what we felt we were meant to do, regardless whether we were "successful. "<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>True happiness is derived from the doing, not by the outcome.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And if we lived in a world where everyone was grounded in this faith, we would not be faced with the competitive forces we experience today. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Society would be more communal in nature with people helping others. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Everyone would have their acknowledged place at the table (not as in 'know your place"). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And if people could not provide for themselves, government would provide the resources so all people could live a life of dignity and respect.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There would still be the rich and the poor, but the difference would be far less and the poor would want for none of the essentials of life or of the equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Does this sound like a utopia? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I guess the answer would have to be, yes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But the sad thing is that man has it in his ability to create such a world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He has been given a highly developed brain but has not used that brain to make human life better, on a higher plane, than animal life. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Instead, man's brain, his mind, has in many ways made his life worse; there is no such thing as a neurotic animal, unless he has come under the control of man; whereas neurosis in man, psychic suffering, is universal. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Animals are wise in ways which men have ceased to be.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I don't know what the answer to these observations is. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But the observation, the truth, needs to be spoken. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If there is any hope for man, it is with people becoming aware of this truth, understanding its impact, and vowing to change their approach to life accordingly. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The change will come one person at a time. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Perhaps over the course of a generation, this movement will create a sufficient mass to have an impact on the rest of society. </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-82088285055845891192021-09-02T17:34:00.000-07:002021-09-02T17:34:03.674-07:00Are the Reborn Truly Reborn?<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For years now, it's been a common experience to hear of people, even politicians, boast of being reborn; that they have a personal relationship with Christ. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Yet they never act very Christ-like. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>What are we to make of this?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Buddhism teaches that we are all born with a luminous mind, with the true Buddha nature inside us. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But as in the Garden of Eden, we partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which is learned experience, and so are drawn into the world of conflict, insecurity, and suffering.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In Buddhism, spiritual rebirth is a mind-altering experience.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It takes you back to that time when you were freshly born and were free of all judgmental thoughts, all learned emotions and cravings – free of the products of your temporal mind – and were at one with Buddha nature, your divine essence. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>While anyone can have this experience, few do because it means disavowing all one's learned experience, all one has learned from the prevailing culture.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It requires not just deep faith but great discipline.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To be reborn in Christianity means something quite different. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Evangelical community is particularly rife with people saying they are reborn and have a personal relationship with Christ because it is a rite of passage. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But Evangelical rebirth means being saved; it is a commitment to Christ in the form they have been taught. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>While they thus may no longer be "sinners" and have this personal relationship, and in that sense begin a new life and are reborn, they have not connected with their divine essence, with the fundamental teachings of Jesus Christ, and so they are not spiritually reborn.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The proof is in their actions. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The God they connect to, as they have been taught he exists, is a God who views with skepticism if not contempt those, including other Christians, who do not accept his truths as stated in the Bible, which they view as His word and inerrant.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They thus have a holier-than-thou, a self-righteous attitude towards both other Christians and other religions. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They are prideful.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And on moral/cultural issues, anyone who argues against their view of God's truth is viewed with prejudice and hatred for they are not just against God, but they are trying to influence others in their belief, which is a threat to the Evangelical's duty to spread the word.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This threatens the salvation of those who as a result, in their view, walk in error.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thus the reborn Evangelical will typically express emotions that are not reflective of divine essence. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is quite astounding to a non-Christian, and I'm sure disconcerting to many Christians, to see people who claim to be fervent followers of Jesus Christ act and think in ways that are massively contrary to "what Jesus would do" as evidenced by his teachings and actions as related in the New Testament.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On one level, you could say, "So what."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>To each his own. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But Evangelicals feel it is their duty to spread the word, which has come to mean forcing others to follow their belief in God's truth through the force of law.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For example, in the abortion debate, from their perspective, any threat to the mother's health by not having an abortion is irrelevant; saving the unborn fetus, not murdering it, predominates in importance. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Thus right-wing pro-life legislation of late does not provide for an exception if the mother's life is endangered.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To be convinced that you have a lock on the truth, and that those who disagree are not only wrong but therefore against God, anti-Christ, is a dangerous state of mind. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Certainly if one is a leader with enormous power, such as President George W. Bush.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">His religious conversion, being reborn, was a major influence in his life; he thought that God wanted him to run for President, and he thought in the Presidency that he was doing God's work. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There was thus no ambivalence; there was a moral certainty to his actions that was scary. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And he brooked no disagreement . <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As he famously said, "You're either with us or against us."</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This feeling of moral certainty among the religious Right is one reason why the current political divide in our country is so deep.</span></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-36665769804977704472021-08-28T18:13:00.000-07:002021-08-28T18:13:28.322-07:00Last Month in Afghanistan - The Month that Could Have Been<p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This post is not about the last 20 years in Afghanistan and all the wrong policies that have been implemented. Nor is it about the fact that the Taliban wanted to surrender after several months of American bombing in 2001, but the Bush administration said that the U.S. does not negotiate surrender. That is, the Taliban would have to surrender; no terms. Nor is it about Trump's terrible decision to negotiate our withdrawal with the Taliban.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This is about what could/should have happened in the last month or two leading up to the departure of U.S. troops. Everyone, including <i>The New York Times</i>, says that regardless what Biden would have done, the pullout would have been a mess. I respectfully disagree. </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">While our forces did not have the advantage in the wilds of Afghanistan - it never has the advantage in a guerrilla war - it still had the advantage in the plains around Kabul. What the President should have done, before the collapse of Kabul security, was </span>announce that he has ordered the military to redeploy in order to:</p><ol class="ol1"><li class="li1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">secure the airport,</span></li><li class="li1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">secure the road to the airport</span></li><li class="li1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">secure Kabul until all Americans and Afghans [situated in Kabul] who helped our effort and wanted to leave were evacuated.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></li></ol><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Only then, would U.S forces withdraw and leave. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This last phase should not have been left to the Afghan security forces. Yes, American intelligence thought they would hold on for a few months, but that wasn't a chance they should have taken</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This would have been a conditioned withdrawal, rather than time-certain, which Biden has rejected. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But it would have been a pullout in which the U.S. would have been in control and it would have been orderly. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>No repeat of Saigon.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Instead, it appears to the world as if the Taliban is in control, which they are, and the greatest military force in the world is running around like a chicken with its head cut off, depending on the Taliban to protect them from ISIS. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Not pretty. <span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-49396829503739097052021-08-14T14:49:00.000-07:002021-08-14T14:49:13.903-07:00Trump and the Vaccine Conundrum<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Where is Trump when you need him?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Did I really say that?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Unfortunately, yes. There is only one person who could convince most of the rest of the country to get vaccinated – Trump. If he came out with a strong PSA, stressing his role in getting the vaccines developed and approved ASAP to stop the virus from crippling our country, and urging his supporters to do their patriotic duty and get vaccinated, that probably would make a major difference.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Between his personalizing the issue and making it an act of patriotism, his supporters would probably march lock-step to the vaccination clinics.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is really our only hope. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There is no chance that the federal government, or most state governments, will follow the example of New York City and San Francisco and impose vaccination passport mandates. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That and a renewed mask mandate would have sufficed to get the virus under control again. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But that's not going to happen.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So someone must appeal to Trump. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is no time for politics or self-righteousness. Right now, we need Trump.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">President Biden can't make that appeal because Trump doesn't recognize him. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And it can't be one of his allies. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It must be someone from the other side who comes to him asking for his help. And who better to make the appeal probably than Dr. Fauci? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Someone Trump respects despite past disagreements.</span></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-82984117386209338482021-08-08T07:47:00.000-07:002021-08-08T07:47:16.765-07:00We Must Stop the Virus NOW<p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Most of the country – both governments and people – has diddled over the course of the last 17 months while the virus has taken its toll, surged again, taken its toll, and surged again. With the availability of effective vaccines last January (I hate to say it, but thanks to Trump's urgency), we all breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that if the vast majority of people get vaccinated, the virus would be stopped, even if not eliminated. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">But there was a major problem with this scenario: almost half the people did not want to get vaccinated for one reason or another. Whether the reason was political, misinformation, or fear, the result is the same. And despite the best efforts of government and NGOs to turn this around, nothing to date has been effective. </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The only solution, short of declaring a national health emergency and forcing everyone to get vaccinated, is to separate the vaccinated from the unvaccinated to the extent possible. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Requiring a vaccine passport to enter any indoor establishment that is not essential, including airplanes. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For essential indoor venues, like grocery stores, it means mandating masks for everyone..</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Airplanes must be included because if you look at the <i>New York Times </i>hot spot map, what is clearly happening in the coastal south is that unvaccinated tourists are bringing the virus to resort areas and from there it is spreading. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>To control unvaccinated people driving to resort areas, hotels must be told to require proof of vaccination (that was done in New England earlier in the pandemic).</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This must be done nationally, not left to the states.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And it must be done now. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> States like Texas and Florida are actually prohibiting both vaccine mandates and mask mandates by local governments. </span>There<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>can be no hesitation. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We know what hesitation brings. Actually, we have already hesitated again and the horse is out of the barn, but the virus can still be corralled. </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">If people continue to choose not to get vaccinated, then they cannot be allowed to infect others. This is not about their freedom not to get vaccinated to protect themselves; it's about their not having the freedom to infect others. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They must pay the price for their socially irresponsible behavior by being segregated. <span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-18882433477383430602021-08-01T08:40:00.000-07:002021-08-01T08:40:48.241-07:00The Present Holding Pattern<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I haven't written a post in a month. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The reason is that there is really nothing new to post about.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">1. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Republicans </b>are being true to their conversion to Trumpism, whether at the national or state level (although it is more rabid at the state<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>level). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In Congress, they are either just interested in blocking Biden's agenda, regardless of the interests of their constituents, whose interests they are supposed to represent. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Or they continue to further the falsehood that Biden won the election fraudulently and the January 6 storming of the capitol had nothing to do with Trump and the people in the riot were just patriots.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I would love to see a video that juxtaposed Speaker McCarthy's statements on January 6 and immediately thereafter, and his statements now. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>You can't even call it a shift. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It's a total reversal from truth to lies.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The man and his party have no shame, no ethics.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">2. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The <b>virus</b> is doing its thing, and the millions of unvaccinated people in the US are enabling it to have another surge with the Delta variant which is causing, in areas with low vaccination rates, numbers of cases to rival the worst part of the pandemic. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And when these unvaccinated people get infected and travel to areas with high vaccination rates and partake in crowded indoor activities (restaurants, bars, dance clubs), even those vaccinated (who aren't wearing masks anymore) get infected.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is no indication that anything much will change on this front. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Many people who choose not to be vaccinated are adamant. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Some are undecided still, and so perhaps they will get the shots, but the majority are in the first group.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Bottom line, while we were never going to be free of the virus, it looks like our return to normal in most areas of the country is a thing of the past. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even the vaccinated will have to wear a mask indoors, certainly in a reasonably crowded venue.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some places, like Broadway theaters, are requiring people to be fully vaccinated and wear masks in order to attend.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Some employers are requiring works to be vaccinated,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>All indoor venues, except those that are essential, should have this requirement. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This includes airlines. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And if they aren't essential, all visitors must be required to wear a mask.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">3. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>No news on the <b>climate change</b> front. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We continue to experience increased numbers of and severity of natural disasters, whether it's heat, rain, flooding, drought, wildfires, etc. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As with the virus, too many people take no responsibility for their actions and efforts by the government will have minimal impact, and too late. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We are it seems past the tipping point and the only question is how bad will it get. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That's the only thing we/government can impact now.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So we as a country and as a government are in a stalemated, holding, pattern. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is in all regards a sad state of affairs. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Whatever euphoria and hope there was after Trump lost the election are long since gone. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For the foreseeable future,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>posts will come when matters warrant or there is some important observation to make.</span></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-35731412654148858722021-06-22T07:11:00.000-07:002021-06-22T07:11:15.020-07:00Trump as Pandora - The Unleashing of Evil<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">None of the hate and bigotry, the meanness and self-centeredness, that has become a prominent aspect of our society, our body politic since Trump ascended to the presidency<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>was created by Trump. These feelings and tendencies have always existed across a broader section of our society than we would care to admit.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But until Trump, these feelings were held down by the vast majority of people because such feelings were not approved by society, or better put, by society's leaders - neither those on the left or on the right. Even before the term "politically correct" was coined, voicing such feelings was not done, except among friends. Only those on the fringes of society voiced such feelings openly and freely.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thus our society with its laws and public presence had the facade of a body politic, of people who agreed to disagree, of a social contract. Even an underlying racism was held down in most parts of the country. And that facade was strong enough to withstand the pressures of events, even riots.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But that has all changed. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Trump has opened the proverbial Pandora's box. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And all the venomous feelings that had been held down were given fresh air to breathe and permission to let themselves be heard.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Trump as President, as this country's leader elected by basically half of the people, saw that his route to power and control was to give voice to these long-denied feelings. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It doesn't matter where Trump stood on these issues as a person. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He knew that by harnessing the energy of these pent-up feelings that he would have the undying loyalty of his base and thus the support to be the autocrat that he was.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Trump was defeated in the 2020 Presidential election by a good, decent man, who good, decent people rallied behind.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But the fact that half of the people again voted for Trump is not just a consistent sign of our divided politic (the popular vote in most presidential elections in recent times has been very close), but it shows that half the people were more attracted to than repelled by his venom.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And the actions of Republican elected officials in both state legislatures and Congress show the power that he still wields due to the continuing undying loyalty of not just his base but the majority of the Republican Party. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A just released, well-respected, Monmouth University poll found that 65% of Republicans believe that Biden won because of voter fraud.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I wrote more than 15 years ago that the new radical Republicans have become masters of the Big Lie, and like Joe McCarthy they had no shame. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That perspective within the Party has morphed into a monster that is out of control, that knows no bounds.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Last December I wrote a post, "Where Do We Go from Here?" and stated, "Even if Trump ends up in jail, convicted of tax fraud or whatever, it won't make a difference to his minions. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Indeed, they will just think he was unjustly convicted; a victim of the very establishment that he fought against." There is nothing one can do in the short term to disabuse people of their faith in Trump. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In world history, leaders who held such sway over their people, such as Hitler or Mussolini, only fell from power because they lost a war. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even after that, many people continued to revere them as leaders.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I fear that once Pandora's box is opened there is nothing that anyone can do, beyond hopefully the passage of time, that will return us to a civil society, where we believe that we are all true Americans, where we all agree to disagree, where we support the integrity of our democratic institutions, and where we let the majority rule. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Until such time, it's going to be a bumpy ride.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-88756975192471766522021-06-05T13:10:00.001-07:002021-06-05T13:10:43.026-07:00The Delusional COVID Honor Code and Its Risk<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We are at a critical point in our fight against COVID. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We have finally reached the point in the pandemic when, as a result of mass vaccinations and new case numbers coming down drastically, most states have fully reopened, several are scheduled for June. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Only two have set no date.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But there's a catch. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Roughly half of the population has not been vaccinated. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And what is government's response to this catch? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Regarding mask mandates, it ignores the problem.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The general guidance is that if you are fully vaccinated you don't have to wear a mask except in the limited situations defined by the CDC - airplanes, public transportation, etc. By deduction, that means that if you aren't fully vaccinated you should still wear a mask in all situations. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But I have not seen a sign anywhere that says, "If you are not fully vaccinated you must wear a mask to enter."</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Everyone is operating on an honor system. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That is, if someone is not fully vaccinated they will wear a mask.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Clearly in many situations, like stores, it would be impossible to police mask wearing, so one has no choice but to follow the honor system. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But at least the sign at the entrance should clearly state that if you are not vaccinated you must wear a mask to enter. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Or one could say, recognizing the risk, that everyone still must wear a mask, whether vaccinated or not.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But even at the gym I go to, they are using the honor system. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Here it would be very easy to require people to present proof that they are vaccinated when entering the gym.<br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So what is the problem with an honor system? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It sounds very American.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The problem is that many of those who have decided not to be vaccinated, for political or anti-government reasons, are the very people who were against mask mandates to begin with. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They will not now voluntarily don a mask because they haven't been vaccinated.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And so you have half of the population that is still highly susceptible to infection by COVID most likely not wearing masks and thereby putting both themselves and those around them at risk. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For those who are vaccinated the risk may be relatively low, at least for the infection to be serious, but the risk is still there.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We are thus risking another COVID surge. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Granted it may be limited to half the population, but that would still be bad for the economy, schools, our return to normalcy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At one point, there was discussion about having vaccine passports for entrance to all sorts of venues that put people in close indoor quarters - such as planes, theaters, restaurants.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That idea has been discarded because it was felt that it would impinge on people's right of freedom of movement. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But does one have a right to risk infecting another individual?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">No.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Masks mandates should still be mandatory for those who are not fully vaccinated. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And in all situations where it is practical, proof of vaccination should be required before being allowed to enter without a mask.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Where it is not practical, until we reach herd immunity, everyone should still have to wear a mask.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From a public policy perspective, perhaps such a policy would even encourage some people who weren't going to get vaccinated to get it. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That would be helpful.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Bottom line, the government must do what it can to protect us from more damage from this pandemic.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-35162192351141570222021-05-09T11:09:00.001-07:002021-05-09T11:09:14.624-07:00Man Is Not Wired for the World He Has Created<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Why is man so beset with the ravages of insecurity and fear? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This lack of a feeling of security and the endless competition of modern life has left man unable to experience any peace with himself. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>One may point to those with strong egos as being an exception, but in reality those who exhibit a strong ego have been found at their core to be very insecure. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Man is typically fully functional, but he is not at peace.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Why does it matter?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If man is fully functional, so what if he is insecure and not at peace?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The reader may think that sounds like new-age hogwash.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If man is insecure and not at peace, he cannot have, despite his best efforts, healthy relationships with his spouse, children, parents, and colleagues; he cannot act rationally in his best interest; and the insecurity leads to the violence, cruelties both large and small, and inhumanity that we see evidenced everyday. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And so there is no end to the dysfunction and the psychic suffering in this world.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Take a moment, or actually many, to think about your relationship with yourself and others. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If you think deeply, allowing reality to replace illusion, you will know that what I have just said is true.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But back to my original question, why is this the almost universal state of man. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A strong clue comes from the comparison of aboriginal people* with not just contemporary man, but really man since he left the aboriginal life style. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Certainly man since the time of the Buddha, which was 3500 years ago, which predates the period when the Old Testament is thought to have been written.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From what we know of aboriginal man, primarily from first-hand experience of aboriginal groups which remained intact, that is to say isolated, as late as the first part of the 20th century, aboriginal man lived happy lives not consumed by fear and other neuroses and emotions normally associated with man. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Close to home, we know this about American Indians before they were corrupted by contact with the White man. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Hence the phrase, "noble" or "innocent" savage. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But while they were certainly innocent of the world of modern man, innocent in a similar sense to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they were not innocent of the world they lived in.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They were aware of the significant natural and physical challenges that they faced in life. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But despite the hardships, or what we would certainly view as hardships, it did not impact their spirit and their sense of self. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Why?</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Although aboriginal man was able to speak a different, and we believe a more exact and nuanced, language than animals spoke, and they had a more developed brain, their lives were in important ways more similar to that of our immediate primate ancestors, the large apes, than to modern man. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They lived off the land much as animals do and were deeply connected to it. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Their communal life was similar to that of the larger apes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Perhaps most importantly, for their psychic health, was their after-birth experience and the way they raised their young.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Birth, being thrust out of the womb, has to be a scary experience. When an animal is born, it is typically licked all over by the mother and is always next to the mother’s warmth until weaned. Aboriginal mothers, sans the licking, cared for their babies in much the same way. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But now when a baby is born, at least since Victorian times, it is slapped on the behind, washed by a stranger, rolled up in a blanket and given to its mother to be held and fed before being put in a basinet by itself. Not a nurturing environment.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When a child is born, he has four basic needs:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>food, freedom from pain, warmth/nurturing, and physical security. These are what I have called the four irreducible needs of all human beings, indeed probably of all sentient beings. In particular, a baby’s need for nurturing, for unconditional love, is almost without limit. So from the moment of its birth, a modern baby finds that its needs are not met, and the first seeds of insecurity are sown.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>An animal's needs, on the other hand, unless it is the runt of the litter, are met.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Aboriginal children are raised much as young animals are raised . . .<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>communally.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Thus they play together with other children from an early age, they are watched over by all adults, not just their mother, and they practice through their games basic, necessary, functions of life. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>From the very start, the "I" of the child is more an "i," and all thoughts are in the context of "we."</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Man is an advanced animal.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He is another species but not another life-form, class, or order. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And so he is biologically and developmentally "wired"<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>- </span><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">–</span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">meaning all of his mental and other functions - for life as an animal.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And there has been almost no evolutionary development, mutations, of man since he appeared on this earth tens of thousands of years ago. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He has developed his brain and his skills, but these have not been evolutionary changes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He is wired as he was at the dawn of man.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So what happened when aboriginal man moved into a non-communal setting where he had to fend for himself?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How did he function?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Uprooted, he did what he had to do, he depended on his wits for survival and growth. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And so the "we" and "i" of communal life became the "I" of modern life. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Whether living on a farm, in a small village, or in a modern city, he has had to depend on himself. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He had to compete with others for his livelihood, especially once he left the farm.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At some point also the way newborn babies were cared for and children raised changed because of the new lifestyle. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Except for the rich, where children were given over to the care of wet-nurses and nannies, babies were cared for pretty much as was "natural" until the advent of modern medicine and the establishment of hospitals. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As to being raised, for most children in the West, being inducted into adult life meant childhood labor, acting as an individual, not being part of a communal group that passed into adulthood together. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For those with money, they were not sent to work, but they passed through their lessons and education as individuals, competing with their peers. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In all cases, whether rich or poor, they were left totally adrift of the security of both parents and communal peers and instead needed to survive based on their own wits.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And this has affected man terribly. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Some may be successful, powerful, rich, but they are at their core insecure, unhappy persons. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And of course the mass of people are not successful, powerful, or rich, but they are still at their core insecure, unhappy people because they are a product of our society.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So if man is not wired for the world he has created, what do we do?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We can't change the world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is what it is. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There is no chance of reverting to the past, to a "back to the past" future.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The only thing we can do is do what the Buddha and other prophets have taught:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>change the way we relate to ourselves and the world around us. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Learn to accept things the way they are, know that you will be ok, safe, regardless what life throws your way because you have everything you need inside you to be at peace and happy, and thus be able to react to whatever you experience with dispassion, free of labels, free of the intervention of your mind.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Obviously your mind will have other ideas. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It won't be agreeable to this way of looking at yourself and the world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And so you must free yourself from your mind; all the emotions, judgments, cravings, and attachments that cause you pain and suffering are a product of your mind. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So say to them all, "Not me!"</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And so you will rest undisturbed, and when you do, nothing offends, and when nothing offends there is nothing that interferes with you taking joy in each moment and having faith that you will be ok, safe. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Yes, there is something circular here, but that is typical of Buddhist thought.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This perspective will allow you to be in this world, interact with it, but respond to it in a spiritual way, not the way you've been trained and raised to do, through the mind. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This way of approaching life is not about separating yourself from the world; this is about changing how you interact with it.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">_______________</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">*I use the word aboriginal not as a synonym for indigenous, but in an anthropological sense, denoting a simple, often hunting-and-gathering, village-oriented communal society. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Many such societies may make up a tribe or a people, but the societal unit is the village commune. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is in contrast to indigenous people such as the Inca and Astec who developed complex civilizations that were not communal. </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-52434573891226239562021-04-26T18:24:00.000-07:002021-04-26T18:24:17.787-07:00Vaccine Passports Should Be Required<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is much controversy over whether airlines and other close-quarter non-essential venues can require proof of vaccination for entrance. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As a public health measure, not only should companies be able to require it, the government should mandate that vaccination is a prerequisite whether to boarding a plane or going to a movie or live theater or dining-in at a restaurant. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If you are not vaccinated, you potentially endanger the life of another person and so you must pay the price.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Such restrictions on people who are not vaccinated are not without precedent. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Many schools require that children are current with their vaccinations, barring religious or health exceptions, in order to attend school. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And in states with mask mandates, people who don't wear a mask in enclosed venues, even essential ones like grocery stores, are denied entrance.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Is this step necessary to protect the public?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Yes. Despite the fact that the US vaccination percentage was increasing at a good pace, the number of new cases per day climbed again, due probably to a combination of spring break travel and the newer variants spreading more quickly, together with people not wearing masks. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Recently the number of daily vaccinations has decreased. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It cannot be said at this point that the virus is under control.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From a public health perspective, the virus must be brought under control. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The human cost of the pandemic in the United States has been huge. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In another month, we are likely to be at 600,000 deaths. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This virus cannot be beaten by half measures.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The problem we face is two-fold. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>One problem is that a sizable portion of the population (surveys show a range from 25 - 39%) is hesitant or has actually indicated that it will not be vaccinated. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The problem is worst among Republicans, those in rural areas, Blacks, and those aged 18-49. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The other problem is that again a sizable portion of the population (anywhere from 15% to 50%) refuses to wear masks and take other measures to reduce the potential of both transmitting or becoming infected with the virus.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>While there is no data on the overlap of these two groups, it is probably more likely than not that these two population subsets are largely coterminous and therefore especially dangerous.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If such a large percentage of the adult population does not get vaccinated and if a similar proportion refuse to wear masks in public, we will not be able to get the virus under control. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The numbers will surely go down, but there will remain a sizable risk and masks with social distancing will continue to be required of all. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A return to normalcy is not in the offing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Given this underlying public health and social problem, which is created not by the virus but by the attitudes of people, people who are not vaccinated should be refused entry to all non-essential enclosed spaces, such as airplanes, restaurants, and theaters.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But the reader may ask, if everyone has to wear a mask on airplanes or in a theater, why should being vaccinated be required?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Two reasons.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>First, many people are careless about how they wear their masks, not covering their nose, so they may be wearing a mask but still present a risk. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Second, at least in planes, people often take off their mask for a period of time either to eat, drink, or just because they're tired of wearing a mask; you can bet the same would happen in a dark theater.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And as a side note, we all long for a return to normalcy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If everyone in an airplane or theater was vaccinated, we wouldn't have to wear masks. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>What a relief that would be.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">People may have a right not to get vaccinated or not to wear masks, but they don't have a right to thereby endanger the health and lives of others. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thus if you insist on this personal choice, you have to accept the limitations placed on your movements for the public safety.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-36726640549127741972021-03-08T07:25:00.003-08:002021-03-08T07:25:50.527-08:00Reform the Filibuster<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The filibuster's purpose used to be to achieve an important government objective - foster bipartisan compromise and thus have measures pass with support from both parties. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Filibusters today have a totally different purpose - to prevent the majority from moving forward with its agenda with absolutely no intention of compromise and support.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Understandably, therefore, talk is rife among Senate Democrats (not just the progressives) to kill the filibuster. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is hardly likely in this highly partisan atmosphere that voting rights legislation, or any of the key Biden initiatives will be able to get the key 60 votes, which would require 10 Republicans in this Congress, needed to move a measure to a vote.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The filibuster was designed in and for a different political world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>One where the partisan lines were not so hardened, where party discipline was not so strict.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In the current atmosphere, the filibuster promotes minority rule. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That goes against the principles of our democracy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But rather than kill it, i would suggest the following reforms. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>First, require that those choosing to filibuster work for it, as in the original rules. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Require that Senators truly filibuster, hold the floor with non-stop speeches. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And second, require that the filibuster end within a given time frame, perhaps a few days. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If negotiations for a bipartisan compromise are not successful, the majority should be able to pass it's desired legislation.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That would allow opponents to make their point and encourage negotiations, but it would not allow minority rule.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-58346844132662150372021-02-28T07:51:00.003-08:002021-03-04T13:59:24.513-08:00The White Man's Burden — Revisited<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The white man's burden</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Rang loud and clear</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Trumpeted by church and state alike.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Exercise dominion over the colored savages.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Cleanse them of their heathen ways.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Civilize them in Western manners,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And bring wealth and power</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Back to your homeland.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And so in search of his holy grail</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The white man plundered</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The colored world.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">He stole the riches of the</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Incas, Aztecs, and Native American Indians,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Vietnamese and Asian Indians,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Yoruba, Ashanti, Maasai, and Zulu,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Not just gold and gems</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But land, precious ancestral land.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The white man created a world of</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Homeless people,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Uprooted from their land,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A key to their sustenance and sense of self.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">He forced his faith, the Christian faith,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Upon the conquered peoples,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Belittling the faith of their fathers,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Robbing them of another aspect of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Their sense of self.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Much as he tried to do with his fellow white man,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Jews, who although not heathen</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Were held to be infidels, Christ-killers.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The self-righteousness of the Christian white man</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Knew no bounds.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And in the process of plundering and colonizing,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The white man committed genocide</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Against the colored man.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In Mexico, Central and South America,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A population of 38 million when the Spanish arrived</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Was reduced to 6 million 200 years later.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In North America, a population of 7-12 million</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Was reduced to 237,000 by the end of the Indian wars.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In Africa and Asia numbers are not available,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But the slave trade stole 17 million from their</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ancestral African homes and way of life</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To toil under the lash of slavery.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Although the majority of deaths were caused by Western disease.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Acts of purposeful violence and population control were common.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The record of United States history<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Against Native Americans in this regard</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Is clear and transparent.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">These lands were not, as the white man likes to say,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Uninhabited and available for settlement.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They were home to millions of people in</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Long-established civilizations, with</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Vibrant cultures and religions.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The white man will say that</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Slavery was abolished, recognizing its evil.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But while it was abolished, not the Civil War</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Nor the 13th and14th Amendments,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Nor the Civil Rights laws</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Restored the Black man to his<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Rightful dignity and respect</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As a human being</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because the dominant white culture</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Would not accept that;.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Though no longer slave</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The black man was held inherently inferior.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As a result, now in the 21st Century</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The white man, or better put,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Christian white man</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Has a very different burden.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is the burden of having committed</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Crimes against humanity</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For hundreds of years</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the quest for power, dominance, and wealth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To relieve himself of this</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Spiritual and social burden,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Christian white man must</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Atone for his sins,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Both those of today and those of his forebears.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Atone by acknowledging these</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Acts of inhumanity and genocide</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Through public commissions and hearings.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">By changing all history books to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Accurately state the abundance of</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Indigenous culture,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's destruction by the white man,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And the role of even these<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Decimated populations and imported slaves,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And their descendants, in the development,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And yes, often even the defense, of</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The new nation state.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Atone by adopting an attitude of</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Remorse and understanding<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For the suffering that his actions</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Have caused colored people<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Both in the past</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And continuing to this day.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Atone, most importantly, by finally offering</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The colored man respect and true equality.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The white man's burden is huge,</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">His responsibility for past evil is vast.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The need for him to atone for past sins</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Is self-evident if he wishes to be considered</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A human being,</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A child of God.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-90903910596930577882021-02-22T11:07:00.002-08:002021-02-22T11:07:44.325-08:00Mourning the Loss of Gay Neighborhoods<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It may seem insignificant or self-indulgent in the era of Trumpism and the pandemic, but I mourn the loss of gay neighborhoods. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Across the country, whether in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, or San Francisco, and I’ve read also around the world, the vibrant gay neighborhoods (“ghettos”) that provided shelter (in the broadest sense), nourishment, and a feeling of community to gays and lesbians for decades have become a pale stand-in for their former selves.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What happened?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The most common explanation is that with the greater acceptance of gays and lesbians by the broader society, culminating in the legalization of same-sex marriage, people no longer felt the need to congregate and they chose instead to assimilate.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Some point to real estate pressures, but I feel that is mostly bogus.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It has to do with the desire to assimilate.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But the question remains, “Why?”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Why would you forsake the feeling of community and camaraderie of living in a heavily gay and lesbian neighborhood for life among straights?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Why would you trade the vibrancy of these neighborhoods for the relative sterility (from a LGBT perspective) of straight urban areas let alone the suburbs?</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The clear answer to me is not a pretty one.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Despite 5 decades of burgeoning gay pride activities and marketing, that feeling is trumped by the more deeply-rooted internalized homophobia that is still strong among gays (I cannot speak for lesbians).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is what the experience of societal and familial homophobia has done to us as individuals.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That is why so many choose assimilation over community.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Why the desire to see themselves as “normal” is so strong, and why they themselves still define “normal” with reference to straight norms, not the norms of the LGBT community.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is a lot of talk and display about celebrating our difference.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There is much flaunting of that difference in Gay Pride Parades. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For many, if not most, however, it is just talk.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>People mouth the words, but they have no deep meaning.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I do not minimize the valid importance for many gays and lesbians of marriage and having children.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But I do think that part of that importance is the stamp of normality that it provides.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Yes, we are out today.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In that sense we have come far in the last 50 years since Stonewall.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But with the greater acceptance, and now even marriage, comes the temptation to fulfill the desire to be “normal" while still being gay.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I have been out for 50 years.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>During that time, I have cherished my straight colleagues and their embrace of me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I was very fortunate.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We were of one mind about politics and values, what a human being should be.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We had complete respect for each other.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But I never wished to adopt a straight persona, to be like them.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I cherish my gayness.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We <i>are</i> different, blessedly so.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Sometimes outrageously so.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I came out while living in Chicago’s “Boystown.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Gays were everywhere at all hours of the day … on the streets, in the grocery store, the local bookstore.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The community was not just defined by gay bars. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">More recently I have lived in Philadelphia’s former gay neighborhood, NYC, and Boston, and the scene was not what it once was.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Now it is just defined by the bars; so few gays still live in these neighborhoods that they are invisible unless you have Gaydar.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I missed the comfort and easy camaraderie of being, of living, among fellow gays. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Even knowing what I understand now, I still find it hard to accept that people would give that up for living in straight neighborhoods.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We live our work lives in a straight world, and as I’ve experienced, it can be very rewarding and enriching. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But we should want to be at home in a neighborhood where we are part of a gay culture, a milieu, an ambiance that is special and that affirms who we are.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For the same reasons that ethnic neighborhoods are special and worthy of preserving - for the city, it creates a vibe which is stimulating; for the neighborhood residents, it fosters maintenance of their identity and provides a sense of belonging which the larger culture never provides.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As with many aspects of culture, what is lost is irretrievably lost.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Assimilation is healthy for society up to a point; it is important that citizens feel a commonality, that there be a social compact. Beyond that, however, assimilation is destructive of the richness of diversity that makes life interesting and a society vibrant.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our society, unfortunately, aided by the conforming influences of technology and globalization is marching towards a homogenous world.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How sad.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344231588497066801.post-7617539090044297672021-02-14T10:57:00.005-08:002021-02-14T10:59:33.155-08:00America's Broken Towns and Cities<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For the first 300 years of its existence, the towns of America's colonies and then states were more or less self-sufficient. Yes, they brought in goods that were manufactured in other cities or states, but the fabric of the daily economy was all local.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even as late as the 1950s, you bought all of the goods you needed in local stores owned by locals.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Yes, there were supermarket chains already then, like A&P, but even they were embedded in the town and felt local. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There were no malls and suburbs were just starting to grow. The focus of everyone's life was the local downtown, whether it was a small town or a larger city.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Downtown was where the action was, whether it was making a needed purchase, socializing with friends, or seeking entertainment.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It was vibrant.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Even the major shift from the United States being an agricultural economy to an industrial economy, with its migration of people from rural areas into urban ones, did not change this basic aspect of local life.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even though things weren't quite what they once were, rural America was still functional<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Towns were real towns with stores and services. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If you needed something not available locally, you ordered it from the Sears and Roebuck catalog.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But with the advent of mass-produced suburbs and expressways courtesy of Eisenhower's interstate highway program, and the suburban malls that they spawned, the focus of the America's local economy and life changed. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In rural America, the nearest Walmart became the new village.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I don't know if because the malls were spanking new or because they consisted mostly of chain stores which were known through advertising, but Americans deserted their local stores in favor of these flavorless, characterless, shopping and eating venues.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For example, within the course of two decades, by the 1980s, downtown Reading, where I grew up, the 3rd largest city in Pennsylvania, was a dead zone. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Soon to be recreated as an office center by tearing down many of the old buildings and replacing them with brick office buildings. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Many store fronts were empty. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Many filled with low-priced merchandise catering to the now-poor in-town population. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The movie theaters were all shuttered. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even the fabled Crystal Restaurant was no more. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Pomeroy's Deparmtent store held on for a few more years, but it was hopeless. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The changed dynamic of the life of the city was clear.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is the pattern that has repeated itself across all of America. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Virtually no place was spared. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And in time, this pattern of modern development even took root in Europe, even in France. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I read an article in The New York Times a while ago that told how the old regional centers in France were now empty of local commercial life, which had been replaced by the suburban shopping mall. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I read an article about how local bakeries, once the epicenter of local German life, no longer existed. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Bread was now baked in large bakeries and sent around the country. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>No more freshly baked rolls from the corner bakery for breakfast!</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This change from local self-sufficiency to big box stores is the reason why our cities, not just our rural areas, are mostly dead zones, except for offices. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And this is why rural small-town America has turned into a lifeless space, where drug-addiction is a major problem. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Further, people may still be living in the country, but they have lost all connection to the land. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They are not inspired by the land or nurtured by it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Not only don't they farm, but they typically don't even have a vegetable garden.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It's more convenient to go to the local Walmart or supermarket and buy groceries.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If there is to be any hope in saving America, it does not lie in some "new idea."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It requires going back to the future.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It means rebuilding a local economy based on local business in a local downtown. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have no idea how one goes about doing that. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Perhaps a smaller city that still retains the infrastructure of their downtown could through government grants encourage the rebirth of local storefronts and restaurants, and a rebirth of local life downtown. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This should be a focus of HUD in the Biden administration.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If we don't change the dynamics of local economies and life, if we don't rebuilt local communities, then we will continue down a path with less meaning, more ennui, more drugs, less social interaction, and eventually a total breakdown of all social norms in a technologically-addicted society.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p>AmericanSpiritVoicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13882149817538785247noreply@blogger.com0