Perspective

Perspective is the natural enemy of hypocrisy. 

The US is celebrating its independence the weekend of 4 July, 2020. But we are missing the perspective of the people that are not enjoying the self-evident truths and the Rule of Law that our Constitution supposedly guarantees. From children in immigration concentration camps, to African-American racism among law enforcement; Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is still somewhat far off.

It is fitting then, I suppose, that the actual declaration of independence was made on July 2nd, 1776, not July 4^th. History and perspective are captives of time and culture. 

I was under the mistaken impression, some 30 years ago, that the culture of white privilege in this country was eroding; by the 21^st century we would be far beyond where we are now.  

My perspective was to blame. As a white Marine Corps veteran, with as many black friends as white, I had put my racist upbringing to a peaceful rest.  My admiration for Martin Luther King, and the later success of Barack Obama, made me all the surer that we were slowly coming out of our racial dark ages. 

I could not have been more wrong if I tried. The new millennia gave rise to Social Media and right wing tabloids that elevated persistent white nationalism. And, in 2016, we reaped what they had sown. 

So, on this July 4^th, let’s reflect, more than party, for a change. Let us reflect on the promise of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Just celebrating that we have them does not seem like enough right now.

The Worship Wars

The term ‘worship’ is not listed as one of the seven deadly sins of Christian lore. But it probably should be.  It is also not one of the seven virtues – which is promising.

Worship has connotations beyond a Sunday church service. Cults worship leaders; religious orders worship gods, prophets and supernatural deities; cultures can worship monuments, flags, the pledge of allegiance, sports heroes, a national anthem,… you name it – we humans will figure out some way to make it something worth ‘worshiping’.

The terms ‘worship’ and ‘faith’ are often used together, if not interchangeably, but they are not interchangeable. You can have faith that something is going to happen without worshiping the result. You cannot worship anything without faith in its infallibility. To me, that is one of the deadliest sins.

Today in America there is widespread destruction due to civil unrest. Destruction of what some people, and entire cultures, worship.  Confederate flags, monuments and memories are challenged. The U.S. flag and monuments to founders are being challenged.  Monuments to explorers, conquers and empire builders are being challenged.

The current President (worshiped by many) wants a mandatory 10 year sentence for anyone caught defacing or damaging a monument (worshiped by many) or desecrating the American flag (worshiped by many).  Young people, many teenagers, with a can of spray paint, will not be sentenced to clean, repair or pay for restorations, they will be sent to federal prison. Where, I am told, they worship teenagers.

As a military veteran I thought I was serving my country for a different purpose. I was serving to protect the Rule of Law and the right to dissent; the right to assemble; the right to burn a flag (if I owned it, of course).

While I agree that civil destruction of public or private property is NOT one of the rights I fought for, I can see where 400 years of systemic racism can boil over into the destruction of all things worshiped by my oppressors. When they react with more oppressive tactics – like a 10 year sentence – it justifies the unrest all that much more.  

It also shows the white right will never learn – because they never listen. They only worship.

Our Common Purpose

Two years ago, the 240-year-old American Academy of Arts and Sciences created a bipartisan commission to analyze the state of American democracy. The group [Our Common Purpose] is now issuing a report detailing 31 recommendations for how to strengthen it.  Read the summary here: https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/report/section/3

Several takeaways from the report give me hope that we are on the right path.

• Ranked-choice voting for House of Representatives. In other words – you can rank candidates in the order you approve of their polices and representation of your interests - regardless of party affiliation. The top ‘n’ candidates all go to congress. This also eliminates the ‘winner-take-all’ model that can leave as much as 50% of a district without symbolic representation.
• Congressional districts defined by the citizens themselves, rather than politicians and courts. Independent citizen redistricting commissions that are federally funded would ensure all constituents have a voice in representation.
• Establish eighteen-year terms for Supreme Court justices with appointments staggered such that one nomination comes up during each term of Congress. No more ‘loading the court’ in one election cycle.
• Amend the Constitution to authorize the regulation of election contributions and spending to eliminate undue influence of money in our political system. This is a BIG deal. It is a recommendation, in essence, to overrule the ‘Citizens United’ Supreme Court decision that allows corporations undue financial influence in elections.
• Automatic voter registration. Yea! I often wondered how the IRS new exactly who and where you were and what you owed no matter where you moved or how often you changed jobs. But yet we will send voter mail-in ballots to hundreds of long gone or dead ‘voters’.  Let’s use the same system – one Social Security # one vote – no matter where you are.
• Mandatory voting.  Yes – just like Jury Duty – it’s a required responsibility for all ‘citizens’. You can vote for ‘none of the above’ – but you must vote. If you do not vote you pay higher taxes than those that do (or a fine - I like the tax idea myself).  Love It!
• Turn Veterans Day into a national election day.  Love this too. What better way to honor veterans than to exercise the basic rights they fought for! Not to mention election day should have always been a federal holiday. Having it on a workday makes it extremely hard for the middle & lower class citizens to take off work, manage day care, commute to polling stations, etc. Of course, the entitled among us had no intention of making it easy for the rest of us.

There is much more to this than these seven points, so I hope everyone takes the time to review it in detail. And I sincerely hope our congressional leadership gives these proposals weight.

I see two formidable omissions from this report, however.

1. No mention of congressional term limits.
2. No mention of tax reform.

Now, I understand the need to focus on what is ‘possible’ with such a report, but I’m dismayed that two of the most corrupting policies in American politics were not addressed. 

On Term Limits see my post: Terms & Conditions

On Tax Reform see my post: Taxing Caesar

Let's make We The People really MEAN something!

George Floyd

In Minneapolis, Minnesota at around 8:35 PM on May 25, 2020, videos recorded the death of a petty theft suspect at the hands of police officers. The victim was a 46 year old black man, George Floyd. Civil unrest ensued on a global scale.

Persecution and abuse of non-white suspects at the hands of predominately white law enforcement has an ugly history in the US. Successes of black leaders from Martin Luther King to President Barack Obama, have had little effect on the racist undertow of white privilege.

There is, however, one ‘privilege’ white America still has. It is only white America that can end this plague of unjust and bigoted law enforcement.  We need to recruit and train law enforcement officers as examples of justice – not examples of authority.

The militarization of local police is seen as one of the causes. But most of the military weapons and training are in direct response to the availability, and frequent use, of military style weapons by the general public. You can write a thank you letter to the NRA.

Militarization, in and of itself, leads to an authoritarian and dominating command structure. A structure that is essential in the military – but can be disastrous in local law enforcement. The mentality of militarization has much more to do with the problem than military equipment and training.
 

The threats that law enforcement face vary and range from simple human emotions to outright assassination.  It is always prudent to prepare for the worst; a fully armed public can pose the worst scenarios.  I expect further militarization of law enforcement is inevitable as long a gun laws are as liberal as they are today.  However, some of the highest profile police misconduct came not from the use of military weapons - but from physical abuse (choking, beatings, etc.). A mentality of 'authority'.

I see several possible approaches in cities and states that employ 25 or more officers:

1. Police training that emphasizes being purveyors of justice - not dispensers of justice. This includes: 
• Learning to be a shield more often than a sword; 
• Staying in top physical condition and becoming experts in martial arts;
• Applying lethal force only when other means have failed. 
2. Mandatory body cameras and 360 degree vehicle cameras:
• Recordings sent immediately to the cloud - not held in the field. 
• These cameras cannot be turned off or deactivated. 
• Loss of signal means the officer (or vehicle) is recalled immediately.
3. Today, camera footage is only reviewed when an incident is reported. Thus, aggressive tendencies can go unnoticed until it's too late. 
• All camera footage should be reviewed - possibly by AI programs - to look for excessive force, questionable actions or language on part of officers. 
• Having a recording of every license plate, every person's face, every street corner,... - every day for every officer - could be a trove of investigative data later on.
4. Removal of officers that show tendencies to use undue force or react with violence BEFORE they are instrumental in an incident. 
• If reports are correct - this policy alone would have saved George Floyd's life.
5. Lastly, and more to the point on #4 above, we need to overhaul and give greater responsibility and accountability to Police Unions. 
• Unions should preserve the integrity of the profession, not promote immunity of individuals. 
• It would be a fine day when Internal Affairs is all but eliminated due to the effectiveness of the Union.

Technology is a tool. How we use it is the key. Technology that links every police officer with a permanent record may be objectionable by some rank and file. But if you START a new police officer recruit under this policy, they will learn to adjust and adapt. If they are told that every working hour of their police career will be part of a training video - they will adapt - and act accordingly.

We will have a much more professional and accountable police force for the time, effort and money needed.  The federal government should lead and provide resources for such a process.

You have ideas or experiences? Please share.

The Politics of Temperature

I was perusing Google News the other day and noticed something I had missed before. The temperatures in the weather section had three possible measurements: “C, F and K”.  While it was 88°F it was also 31°C and a staggering 304°K.

I thought to myself, “The same data, interpreated differantly, with completely different results and renderings”. Reminded me of politics. So I did a little reading and, sure enough, there is a correlation.

The Independent:

The Fahrenheit scale is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736).

The lower defining point, 0 °F, was established as the freezing temperature of a solution of brine (salt water) made from equal parts of ice, water and a salt (aka: ammonium chloride). It was a basis that no one understood. Later the freezing point of pure water was added (32°F).

Fahrenheit is the most arbitrary and independent of temperature measurement in use today. Its use is limited to the United States and some Caribbean islands. Few people in the world use this measure. It is ‘Independent’ of any mathematical or scientific principle – outside of ‘brine’.

The Conservative:

The Celsius scale, also known as the centigrade scale, is a temperature scale used, literally, by the rest of the world.

In 1742, Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744) created a decimal temperature scale that was the reverse of the scale now known as "Celsius": 0 represented the boiling point of water, while 100 represented the freezing point of water.

A year later, in 1743, the French physicist Jean-Pierre Christin, working independently of Celsius, developed a scale where zero represented the freezing point of water and 100 represented the boiling point of water.

The initial problem with Celsius arose from the fact altitude will affect the boiling point of water. So, the scale was amended to “…100 °C for the boiling point of water - at one standard atmosphere” or, in layman’s terms, sea level.

This is the most conservative because it has a lower and upper limit (0-100) and even a location (sea level) assigned to both its range and accuracy. All the other scales are open ended with no defining upper limit. Not to mention, its origins are inverse to its naming convention. Celsius got the nod only because he invented a decimal system of measurement – not because he got it right.

The Liberal:

Named after the Belfast-born, Glasgow University engineer and physicist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), the Kelvin scale is the most scientific, and most refined, of all temperature measurements. Zero degree Kelvin is exactly −273.15 °C. Better known as ‘absolute zero’, it is the point at which nothing can get colder.

On 20 May 2019, the kelvin was redefined so that its value is now determined by the definition of the Boltzmann constant rather than being defined by the triple point of water (VSMOW).

If this sounds confusing, it was meant to be: It’s liberal.

Conclusions

Other similarities strike me too. For instance, politicians and weather forecasters alike have the only jobs in America where they can be wrong over 50% of the time and still keep their jobs.

I often see political ‘alternative facts’ interpreted as if there were actually some measurement that justified the conclusions. Maybe they are just the same data with political measurements. We need to start placing temperature conversion symbols next to every political statement or opinion. Like:

“The crowds at Obama’s first inauguration were the largest^(k) in history.” However, “The crowds at Trumps first inauguration were also the largest^(c) in history.” But in truth, “Many people^(f) did not see much of a difference.”

I’m cool with that. No pun intended.

COVID-19

Well. I never saw this coming. OMG.

It could not have come at a worse time for America. It's as if the stars have aligned against us. If you believe in that sort of thing.

Probably the worst governance this country has seen since its founding is in power. On the left and right. An election year - with enough power mad and self righteous idiots to go around. Immigrants locked up in what amounts to concentration camps. Add to that an economy that was on a bull run with an unemployment of around 3% - and chaos ensues.

I know not how this will end. No one does. But I can be pretty sure that given the social and political ignorance of the current governing body, we may see a whole new America in five years.

I don't believe in prayer. Praying for something is the same as hoping for something. Hope is not a strategy. We have no strategy for progressing our experimental democracy beyond a capitalist vision in time of social crisis. No idea what it will take to bring us back together. As divided as we have been over the last decade, we have an impossible task ahead.

The only thing that might work is if the HAVEs and the HAVE NOTs come together; in some way. I don't know how that will happen. I only HOPE that it will.

Damn I hate that word.

The Family Name

If you have read all my posts you know I was adopted by my namesake. My birth name and my natural father were both inconstant with the truth of my life.  My Mother existed in an age where women were judged by the men in their lives, rather than the life in their lives. She wanted desperately for me to have a name that matched hers; social stigma being what it was. This meant any man that married her had to adopt me. It was part of the bargain she made with herself and her ethos. 

Speed now through a seventy two year odyssey of life that included teenage years in trouble with the law; a stint in the Marine Corps; and a wandering period that took me from Indiana to the Virgin Islands to southern California. Tired of odd jobs and living off girlfriends, I went to school on the GI Bill - Software Programmer. It was a new thing back then.

In the 50 years that followed I have made and lost a million dollars at least twice; had two successful small companies; received a Master Degree in IT Management; and had three great kids. I still do consulting to Fortune 100 companies today. I've done ok.

Thank's mom. 

I also had three failed marriages and a couple bankruptcies. No one's perfect.

Back in 1968, after I returned home from the Marines, mother told me who my natural father was. By that time he had four daughters. Apparently I was his only son. She spoke at length about how they met. The aftermath. The pain she endured. Her decisions. And even though it had been 21 years - I could tell she still carried a torch. It was quite a story. She told me all this in one hour, on one day, and never spoke of it again.

Fast forward to 2018 and we find a seventy two year old man that had always wondered who were the people in his 'other' family.  A new process that allowed DNA analysis might be the tool to find missing relatives. I wondered: Who are they? Did they ever find out about me? Do they have kids that are my half-nephews, etc? Were they good people? Were they happy? Did they need help? Were they even still alive? And what ever happened to my real dad?

I submitted my DNA test to both of the leading DNA testing companies at the time. When I got the results back, I found nothing. No close matches in either. Well, it was a long shot anyway.

Then after about a year, in the summer of 2019, I received an update on one of my DNA result reports. I had a "close 1st cousin with 1,700+ matching strands".  That's almost exactly what a half-sibling would see. 

I won't list names or identifying information here, but suffice to say that discovery started a series of blind emails, texts and high hopes that culminated in me finding my four sisters.  The resemblance is unmistakable. Two of my sisters and I were preparing to meet for the first time. 

Ok - So why am I posting this in a "Fixing America" blog? What does this personal tidbit have to do with anything?

Well, before our scheduled first meeting, I received an interrogatory request from the sisters via text message. The four questions were, in this order:

1. Did I have any other brothers or sisters? (not 'Do you have any children...' - not sure why this one - since they would share no DNA with my mother's other offspring)

2. Am I a Trump Supporter? (yes - that's the second most important question after 72 years)

3. Am I a Christian? (more important than my service record, but not as important as Trump support)

4. How long was I in the Marines? 

So this is america today. Of course I'm going to tell them that their long lost brother is NOT a Trump supporter and NOT a Christian, and both my other half-sister and half-brother are long gone.  

I'll miss that reunion.

However, I am proud of the four years in the Marines. And I am proud of America. I just wished we once again lived in an America where the questions were different.

JWB

UPDATE: My sister responded: They don't care about my beliefs, they are still anxious to meet their only brother! See, there IS hope left for America. We are all good people at heart.