It’s just too much!

California is burning. World record temperature in Death Valley, record all time high temperatures set all over the state. Yet we talk about “forest management” and ignore global warming.

Siberian forest fires are burning an area over 3 times the size of the state of Minnesota. But there is no one to fight most of them.

Permafrost is adding greenhouse gasses to atmosphere at record levels. But our government sells leases to oil companies to explo(it)er in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Greenland is becoming green as its glaciers melt at a record pace. No doubt making it easier to extract rare earth minerals and you guessed it oil that the US wants, ergo, our overture to buy the island.

The Amazon rain forests are burning at a rate greater than last year’s record fires. Called the lungs of the planet now they have their own case of pneumonia.

The Antarctic ice shelves have been losing massive amounts if ice for over 25 years. A testament to our ignorance as a species.

By the time you read this the United States alone will have had over 200,000 people die from the Covid-19 virus. Yet we have no national health plan or system.

Racism in the United States has been unmasked as violently systemic. We have become the world leader in promoting white supremacy and nativism.  

Black Lives Matter. Apparently, it matters that they are kept as an economically deprived underclass in the richest country in the world so that the richest 1% can get even richer.

A legal titan of women’s rights dies and before her body is cold the political firestorm begins over the process of choosing her replacement to the supreme court.

The list goes on and on and on, of these big issues that the people and our government must address if we are to survive and thrive in our communities and on our planet.

What choices do I have? An ego maniac who sows division to consolidate his own power or a well intentioned old white guy with the energy of a 5 watt refrigerator bulb.

God help us all!

What is our problem?

In case you hadn’t noticed we as a society – and I use that term loosely – are not particularly happy campers. Oh sure we have some problems like a raging pandemic set to off over 200,000 US residents by Labor Day, 11% unemployment, rampant racism codified into our police departments, a justice system collapsing under the weight of injustice, and a petulant child who has the nuclear codes. Of course, all of this might be meaningless if we don’t take immediate actions to affect climate change. So yeah, we have some problems but those are not our REAL problem.

Our real problem is that we have lost our humanity. In our advanced age of enlightenment and capitalism we have focused so strongly on science hence our intellectual well-being, and on the economy hence our physical well-being, that we have lost our souls hence our spiritual well-being.

It is our spirit that transcends our own self and allows us to experience a greater universe. However, with our obsessive focus on the here and now and on the getting mine, we have stilted our spiritual development. Oh you can say you are “spiritual” but unless you’ve experienced some spiritual guidance or instruction along the way you are as likely to transcend your own self-interest as you are to be hit by a bus while crossing the street.

One has only to look at the dramatic decline in religious affiliation over the past decade to get a sense of our souls. While religious institutions, being human constructs, are certainly flawed it is undeniable that the focus of the worlds great religions is the transcendence our self in order to encounter Tillich’s “Ultimate Concern” and the ultimate other of those human beings that surround us. To wit every major world religion has a version of the golden rule. These rules universally focus their intent not on how you should behave but WHY you should behave in a particular way. In Christianity it goes something like this, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In Islam, “None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” The Bahá’í Faith states it most clearly, “Blessed is he who prefers his another before himself.” The list goes on and on of religions holding this universal spiritual teaching of considering others before we choose to act or not act. Simply said we must LEARN to put ourselves in the shoes of the other person if we are to actually become fully human.

If, being fully human, we thought of others first there would be no debates over wearing masks, no debate over giving relief to the unemployed, no crushing the life out of an already subdued human being, no prisons disproportionately full of young black men, no petulant child with nuclear codes, and no debate over actively addressing climate change.

Permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Looking Ahead – Sad Predictions

Any human being who witnessed the cold-blooded murder of George Floyd last week can not help but be appalled by the viciousness and lack of any moral compass shown by the four police officers that perpetrated this crime. It was an incendiary act by its self then fanned by the omnipresence of social media much of it less than reliable.

No one should have been surprised by the subsequent response of black communities to protest and riot. Burning and looting are sadly predictable outcomes of the pent-up anger of a lifetime of racial and economic inequality. That this response occurred in over 75 cities is a barometer of the depth of racial and economic inequality in the United States.

Peaceful protesters took to the streets by the tens of thousands to demand radical changes in our society. They demand reform of our justice system from the cop on the street to the supreme court. They demand a job that has dignity and pays a living wage. They demand some semblance of hope in the future. In the end, it is hope that has been rung out of the social fabric of our nation. Now that social fabric is shredded and in tatters. Anarchy is fast becoming the new societal norm.

Our country, if it is to survive and thrive, needs radical change. It needs visionary and strong leadership. It needs a charismatic and fearless crusader to confront the systemic racial and economic injustices that are perpetrated by those who own our current government. Unfortunately, there is no longer a candidate for president that possesses these qualities.

As a response to the current events I have seen signs of what I believe is “white fright.” Suburban businesses are boarding up for fear of vandals and looters although there is scarce evidence of suburban violence. Grocery hoarding was rampant in advance of the weekend. Gun buying continues at a record rates. Frightened and unthinking white folk are demanding a stronger police response to the rioters and advocating for their use of force. One can only suppose that they mean the police should have fired on the crowds rather than the measured response showed by local authorities in the Twin Cities. In their view, a few dead people would surely have solved the problem and kept some buildings from being destroyed. Worse of all this white fright, like Nixon’s silent majority, may have bolstered the re-election hopes of Donald Trump.

With the coming of summer and the continuing Covid19 pandemic – remember that – there is little chance for hope expanding in our society. One should expect a collective sense of anarchy to grow. With diminishing hope, those who peacefully took to the streets in righteous protest will become less and less likely to be motivated to vote. Those who long for law and order will become more likely to hold their collective noses and vote for Trump.

We are at a crossroads in our society. One road is hard and very difficult. It will require sacrifice and participation from everyone to attain a better future for our children and their children and our planet. The other road is easier but will cost us our freedoms and our future. Four more years of Donald Trump will lead to a militarized police presence in our cities and a planet that will continue to burn.

Sadly, people have seldom acted in their long-term best interests when there is a less painful short-term alternative.

“Learn from history or you’re doomed to repeat it.”
                                                                                                                           ~ Jesse Ventura

State of The Donald Address

Here we are a day before The Donald has to give his annual State of the Union address. It is an archaic requirement of the Constitution. Who knows perhaps The Donald can get the Supreme Court to do away with that too.

Here are my predictions:

• The Donald will talk about HE delivered “the biggest” tax cuts in U.S. history and how it will benefit the middle class. Two quick points: 1) It is not the biggest tax cut in U.S. history – JFK owns that. 2) The middle class got only a token cut – wow I guess I can take my wife out for a moderately priced steak dinner although certainly not Manny’s
• The Donald will tout how HE has made government smaller. This is true with almost all the cuts coming in consumer, financial, and environmental protection positions. Guess we don’t have to worry about consumer safety or Wall Street having another meltdown since we will not have air to breath or water to drink in the future anyway.
• Finally he will address the need to overhaul U.S. intelligence gathering abilities and that is where of course he will go off script for sure. Sadly that will make the headlines so no one will notice the emperor has no clothes on.

 

Rebuilding After Hurricanes

OK I admit that I would love a beautiful beach outside my veranda overlooking the ocean. Sunrises and sunsets, strolls along a white sandy beach, boiling shrimp and drinking margaritas – what is not to like! And as I’m getting older the winter season of northern latitudes has lost the appeal it once had. The warmth of southern climes calls to me like the siren’s song. So what is the problem? It’s obvious – hurricanes.

After every disastrous hurricane we have the opportunity, the technology, and the resources (if we cut some military spending) to rebuild in responsible and sustainable ways.

Ways that will not result in the massive ruinous effects on families and massive loss of personal property.

As we begin to recover, we should be asking ourselves some hard questions, such as:

• Should people be allowed to rebuild along low-lying coastal areas?
• What sorts of national building codes (since we all subsidize federal flood insurance and federal disaster aid) should we demand of new/rebuilt structures in coastal areas?
• Why do we allow utilities to continue to rebuild their infrastructure with overhead wiring in urban areas in storm zones?
• When will we review and update flood control nationwide in an era of increasingly intense storms where every storm is a new record? (So don’t cut the spending to the Army Corps of Engineers!)
• Ought people be allowed to build homes in these new flood plains if we choose not to increase flood controls?

In the meantime our prayers and donations should be focused on reliving the misery of those caught in these latest of these two record storms.

https://handinhand2017.com/donate.html

We’re #1!!!

A recent comic in the newspaper – (You do remember newspapers right?) – caught my attention and focused it on our shared national perception of being “Number 1.”

Here are a few of the areas in which we lead the world:

#1 in military spending (more than the next 10 nations combined)
#1 in healthcare spending
#1 in the number of people in prison (22% of the world’s prisoners)
#1 in consumption of oil and natural gas
#1 in global personal wealth

To be fair, here are a few areas where we don’t:

#4 in income inequality (behind Turkey, Mexico, and Chile)
#41 in life expectancy
#48 in Maternal Mortality Rate (mothers dying as a result of child birth)
#50 in quality of healthcare
#54 in infant mortality
#110 in % of renewable energy used
#114 as a peaceful nation (Forbes Magazine – down 11 places from 2016)

So while this may seem a bit surprising to many, there is one meta statistic that  probably explains why we continue put up with this:

Ignorance IS bliss.

A Road Trip Across the Western States – Philosophically Speaking

The curmudgeon and his lovely spouse took the last couple of weeks off to drive to the East Bay area of San Francisco in order to visit our daughter. The trip was a hasty plan “B” to going to Tennessee to look for land. The land search having become irrelevant after finding a move in ready bungalow in New Brighton to call home. We did have a number of sites we wished to see and a limited number of hours we wanted to drive each day. So, with broad expectations we departed.

It had been at over a decade since our last road trip across Route 66 and the years were telling. Also the terrain of the Great Plains and the Great Salt Lake basin were occasion for much thoughtful meditation – just so long as we did not fall asleep at the wheel. We spent several days on U.S. Highways and the remainder on the Interstate system trying to make some time. We spent a total of 11 days of driving an average of 6 hours a day.

What was different about this trip was our attentiveness to the enormity of the western states and to the enormity of our impact on the environment. There was no where that the impact of our industry was not evident. Pipelines and power lines were everywhere. Yet even in Wyoming – a state dedicated to fossil fuel production – the occasional juxtaposition of windmills and even a solar farm with oil wells and coal mines was hopeful.

So what did I come away with other than the touristy stuff (which I will post to Facebook later this week)?

• The realization that we have the ability to reduce our carbon footprint dramatically starting today – but lack the political will to overcome moneyed interests to do so.
• We have almost a whole generation of young adults that have not gone a road trip of over 1000 miles one way and have no reference point to gage our shared environmental impact.
• To this day we have no respect of the land or the spirituality of the land that is so much a part of Native American peoples. We continue to exploit them. A simple trip from Mt. Rushmore to Crazy Horse will symbolize the effect and might lead you to continue on to visit Wounded Knee.
• Finally, on our return trip, the climate inversion between Portland, experiencing an all time record high temperature and heat wave, and the Twin Cities experiencing highs in the 50’s and 60’s reinforced my belief that we have truly screwed up the planet and we had better pay attention.

My own guilt at driving our car and polluting was offset by my perceived impact of jet air travel. Yet I still added to the problem. I long for a functioning passenger rail system – but we dismantled and privatized the rail system long ago in favor of endlessly long coal and oil trains.

Bottom line: We must both be and demand the changes we need if we are to survive as a species.

Where have all the people gone?

Yesterday was a totally beautiful Father’s Day. The afternoon was mostly sunny, warm not hot, with a light breeze. I know this because I spent time on my postage stamp sized deck in my townhome complex playing backgammon with my significant other and latter grilled three dozen brats for my bridge club’s game later in the evening.

Here’s the thing, I can see the playground, the picnic pavilion and its two gas grills, the pool, the community center, and at least a dozen other patios of townhomes that face our common area. What I saw, other than an indoor party at the community center was almost no one. Certainly no one grilling on their grills although almost everyone has one on their deck. No one enjoying the afternoon sunshine on their patio, only the occasional dog owner taking their four legged live-ins to the dog park. Late in the afternoon while on the way to our bridge club I noticed that there was backyard after backyard with no one in them. The only place other than the indoor party at my community center where there were people was at the golf course – it was packed with what I suppose were dads and sons playing a round on father’s day (sexual stereotype noted).

I wondered aloud whether there was a connection between our environmental woes and the seeming disconnect of people living apart from the great outdoors. Sure there are people who grew up on farms or were actively involved in scouting or camping. However, it appears few of us have developed an adult relationship with the natural world around us. Except for those golf course dads, whose idea of the great outdoors might be a tad skewed toward well manicured lawns, no ponds, and only an occasional well placed tree kept well out of the way.

Happiness?

I have to tell you that this past two weeks have been the happiest weeks of my retired life. I have given up my part time gig as a cognitive skills trainer, enjoyed the first blast of summer weather, and might even have found a new church home. Oddly while flush with this overwhelming sense of happiness that comes with deeper feelings of joy and peace the world has continued to spin out of control. Theresa May looks to be getting reelected, cementing Brexit in the UK, and Donald Trump has made his assault on the environment in the name of greed official by withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement. Also on a personal note, my bridge game has continued to suffer in morbid mediocrity. Yet despite all this I am consumed by happiness and a sense of enduring joy.

Perhaps it is the feeling of openness to opportunities, perhaps it is warmth of the sun on my face, perhaps it is the feeling of being genuinely welcomed by a church community (not all are), perhaps it is the realtor we stumbled on over the weekend that gave me a large number of potential building sites to check out today. Why even Joe Soucheray seems to have succumbed to happiness by writing a human interest column on Sunday.

In the end, I firmly believe that it is one’s own personal perspective that determines a person’s reaction to the reality of the world. Having the opportunity to take a week off and disappear – except for playing bridge every day – has given me the distance to see the world I inhabit for the gift that it is. Yes messed up though it may be it is a world overwhelmingly about life and love.

Perchance the world needs a break from the fear mongers that dominate the news and those who rape our planet in the name of greed so that we can have a bit of a reality check and see the giftedness we have been given in this world. Then we can discard these side show fakers and demonic profiteers and get on with the real work of making the world a much better place for future generations to inherit.

Happiness generates healthiness.

Garbage Disposals

It has been a number of decades since I last had a garbage disposal.

Apparently there are all sorts of “garbage” that you are not supposed to put in the disposal. I think a number of them are not really bad for your disposal but I’ll just term them “fake” advice. I have been told to variously not put coffee grounds, banana peels, egg shells, pineapple rinds, apple cores, and silverware down my disposal.

I seem to remember from prior clogged drains that coffee grounds are a definite no-no for the disposal and unless you are going for the distressed look for your silverware you are probably better off not trying to add them to the leftovers from dinner.

In the final analysis, it seems to me that composting is a much better way to deal with garbage than disposing of it down the drain.

Guess that carries over to government too. We never seem to dispose of the garbage we elected. We just recycle it into legislative compost pile. At least that accounts for the stink.