We all need somewhere or something in whose presence we can remember departed friends and loved ones.
A grave is ideal. We can go there and reflect on our relationship to the departed. I often did this on my way to visit my Mother in the nursing home. I would stop by the cemetery, only a few hundred yards from her, and stand by my Dad's grave and remember how much he loved me, how much I loved him, and how much I missed him.
Now when I go that site, I can remember both Mother and Daddy. She joined him in 2005.
I had the same experience visiting the grave of Eloise, my first wife.
Cremation means the ashes can come to us and be a focal point of reminiscence.
Tears flow in either case, and we feel better afterwards.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Certainly We Need More of This
A typo in the NYT in a reader response indicated that if we reduced unneeded military expense, we could have more of this:
"clean elegy" research." Who could disagree with that?
"clean elegy" research." Who could disagree with that?
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Babies and Animals Don't Talk like Adults
I hate seeing babies and animals talk on TV. The first 99,999 times maybe it was cute, but now it looks like a cheap substitute for creativity.
McCain and Graham
Is everybody getting as sick of John McCain and his puppet Lindsay Graham as I am? If so, say "Amen."
Only One A+ TV Commercial
Commercials are a necessary evil if we are to have free TV. Necessary but still an evil. There is one exception that is valuable in and of itself -- the Alka Seltzer ad starrimg Ralph:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFKifpMtlNs
Rating an A and coming in second is the Holiday Inn Express series on staying smart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jo_x7ecIFg
Beyond that it's mostly a wasteland.
Thursday, September 05, 2013
Syria: All Options Bad, Well Maybe Not
Sometimes the choice is between better and worse. In Syria the choice is between bad and less bad.
This is why even Jim Wallis could not come up with much. His suggestions about how to proceed are weak. He makes a good case against military intervention, but his positive suggestions rely on moral suasion, international cooperation, and the like. Well and good, but will anything come of it? Not much is my guess.
Go to this address and scroll down to see the article by Jim Wallis:
http://go.sojo.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=32721.0&dlv_id=40041
My problem is trying to avoid despair and to find the least bad option. I do not know what that is yet. Like Wallis, I am wary of military intervention for the reasons he cites. My hunch is that in time the choices may become clearer. Meanwhile, the best we can do is muddle through.
I don't see how a military strike can be avoided at this point. I hope for the best and fear the worst.
PS Good news today (9/9/2013): Russia has urged that Syrian chemical weapons be put under international control and Syria has responded positively. The Washington Post tells the story:
Syria ‘welcomes’ Russia proposal on chemical arms
This is why even Jim Wallis could not come up with much. His suggestions about how to proceed are weak. He makes a good case against military intervention, but his positive suggestions rely on moral suasion, international cooperation, and the like. Well and good, but will anything come of it? Not much is my guess.
Go to this address and scroll down to see the article by Jim Wallis:
http://go.sojo.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=32721.0&dlv_id=40041
My problem is trying to avoid despair and to find the least bad option. I do not know what that is yet. Like Wallis, I am wary of military intervention for the reasons he cites. My hunch is that in time the choices may become clearer. Meanwhile, the best we can do is muddle through.
I don't see how a military strike can be avoided at this point. I hope for the best and fear the worst.
PS Good news today (9/9/2013): Russia has urged that Syrian chemical weapons be put under international control and Syria has responded positively. The Washington Post tells the story:
Syria ‘welcomes’ Russia proposal on chemical arms
The statement provides the first indication that a diplomatic solution to the international standoff may be possible. http://www.washingtonpost.com/Sometimes the news is good. Let us rejoice. Or, maybe as Fareed Zakaria suggests on CNN, it is just a Russian ploy to reduce support for Obama's threat to attack Syria. Time will tell.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Reinhold Niebuhr and Biblical Myth
Reinhold Niebuhr believed that certain central myths of Scripture should be taken "seriously but not literally, e. g., Creation, Incarnation, and Last Things. "Seriously" means that these myths convey truths and meanings essential to "biblical faith." Who determines what these truths and meanings are? Reinhold Niebuhr, of course. So RN uses these myths as a vehicle for transmitting his view of essential biblical truths. He is no different from any other theologian. Theology is the expression of religious belief. The Nature and Destiny of Man, 2 vol. is the best source for Niebuhr's thought
Rudolf Bultmann thought that myth meant (1) prescientific cosmology, e. g., three-story universe, miracles, etc. and (2) use of spatial metaphors for transcendence. God is up in heaven means that God is transcendent to people and earth. He thought he had to find the religious meanning in the myth taken in non-supernatural terms,
RN thought that RB reduced biblical myth to Heidegger's philosophy of existence, specifically human existence. RB therefore lost something essential to biblical truth, according to RN.
This is for my friend Ben Jordan and others who are interested.
Rudolf Bultmann thought that myth meant (1) prescientific cosmology, e. g., three-story universe, miracles, etc. and (2) use of spatial metaphors for transcendence. God is up in heaven means that God is transcendent to people and earth. He thought he had to find the religious meanning in the myth taken in non-supernatural terms,
RN thought that RB reduced biblical myth to Heidegger's philosophy of existence, specifically human existence. RB therefore lost something essential to biblical truth, according to RN.
This is for my friend Ben Jordan and others who are interested.
Saturday, August 03, 2013
Windows 8--Love and Hate
I have a new computer with Windows 8. It was not love at first sight. It is much different from previous iterations of Windows. The first reaction was dislike approaching something akin to hatred.
The major change is the elimination of the START button. Instead you get a panel of installed programs and features. One choice is DESKTOP. That location is the familiar one, and you can proceed much as usual. But other surprises await.
Another innovation is the touch feature. Mostly you can click or touch, but sometimes you can only touch and swipe. This is a modernistic feature familiar to users of smart phones, etc. My dumb cell phone only makes telephone calls.
I tend to forget that the first reaction to every new computer is similar. You spend a lot of time getting rid of all the installed stuff you don't want. But 8 takes more than the usual reshaping to approach toleration rather than throwing the &^%$ thing out the !@#$% window.
After a week my distaste is weakening but has not disappeared. But I can feel a warm feeling that may yet blossom into appreciation. But accommodation to its demands requires patience. As you know, you do the adapting. It just does what it does do and you can come to terms with it or not. It is a literalist and does exactly what you tell it to do and not what you want it to do. Such is the nature of computers.
This is a first report. I may yet fall in love with W8. Stay tuned.
8-16-2013
PS1 I downloaded a free non-Microsoft program that restored the start button.
PS2 Windows 8.1 due in October will have the traditional start button-- a sign that Microsoft engineers have repented of the error of their ways. Rumor (I just started it) has it that one of them had a dream about New Coke, awoke, and said "OMG, Windows 8.0 is New Coke."
The major change is the elimination of the START button. Instead you get a panel of installed programs and features. One choice is DESKTOP. That location is the familiar one, and you can proceed much as usual. But other surprises await.
Another innovation is the touch feature. Mostly you can click or touch, but sometimes you can only touch and swipe. This is a modernistic feature familiar to users of smart phones, etc. My dumb cell phone only makes telephone calls.
I tend to forget that the first reaction to every new computer is similar. You spend a lot of time getting rid of all the installed stuff you don't want. But 8 takes more than the usual reshaping to approach toleration rather than throwing the &^%$ thing out the !@#$% window.
After a week my distaste is weakening but has not disappeared. But I can feel a warm feeling that may yet blossom into appreciation. But accommodation to its demands requires patience. As you know, you do the adapting. It just does what it does do and you can come to terms with it or not. It is a literalist and does exactly what you tell it to do and not what you want it to do. Such is the nature of computers.
This is a first report. I may yet fall in love with W8. Stay tuned.
8-16-2013
PS1 I downloaded a free non-Microsoft program that restored the start button.
PS2 Windows 8.1 due in October will have the traditional start button-- a sign that Microsoft engineers have repented of the error of their ways. Rumor (I just started it) has it that one of them had a dream about New Coke, awoke, and said "OMG, Windows 8.0 is New Coke."
Friday, February 01, 2013
Why is there a Mexican Immigration Problem?
Answer: because of the massive subsidies to grain farmers in the US by the federal government. Go to Google, type in "immigration and corn subsidies," and check it out. The following are typical of what you will find:
http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2012/02/29/corn-subsidies-root-us-mexico-immigration-problems
http://economyincrisis.org/content/illegal-immigration-and-nafta
Remember NAFTA? That's when the big problems began.
Hmmmm! Why don't we cut off these subsidies?
a. failure of the political process
b. corruption of the political process
c. a and b
d. all of the above
Too simple? Yes, and some progress is being made, But we are many years too late.
PS Senator Obama of Illinois voted consistently for corn subsidies. (Iowa and Illinois are the two biggest corn producing states.)
See also post of October 15, 2009.
http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2012/02/29/corn-subsidies-root-us-mexico-immigration-problems
http://economyincrisis.org/content/illegal-immigration-and-nafta
Remember NAFTA? That's when the big problems began.
Hmmmm! Why don't we cut off these subsidies?
a. failure of the political process
b. corruption of the political process
c. a and b
d. all of the above
Too simple? Yes, and some progress is being made, But we are many years too late.
PS Senator Obama of Illinois voted consistently for corn subsidies. (Iowa and Illinois are the two biggest corn producing states.)
See also post of October 15, 2009.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The Second Amendment Is a Curse
Whatever its historical merit, the Second Amendment in 2013 is a hindrance that we would be better off without. That every discussion of gun rights has to be mediated through this anachronism is an unmitigated disaster that serves no useful purpose.
Even if it were repealed, the legislatures of the land could not be counted on to produce laws that would help much. The problem is much deeper. It lies in our culture. In the final analysis, culture governs politics.
While Newtown may generate helpful changes in laws and practices, the fundamental transformation that is needed awaits the dissolution of our perverse fascination with guns and our fanatical pursuit of individual rights to the neglect of social responsibility. It waits for the willingness to sacrifice a personal pleasure in owning and shooting instruments of mass murder like assault rifles if it would reduce their availability to criminals and mentally and emotionally sick people.
I do not see any evidence of that basic reordering of ideas, habits, values, and practices yet. I expect that we will continue to be the worst example of child killing with monstrous weapons among the nations we would like to be compared with.
This is a form of American exceptionalism that we cannot be proud of. How many more Newtowns will it take to produce the kairos that is needed, that right and ripe moment when all the preconditions of redemptive transformation are present? Enough, I expect to break our hearts many more times.
See also posts of 12/23/2012 and 1/22/2013
Even if it were repealed, the legislatures of the land could not be counted on to produce laws that would help much. The problem is much deeper. It lies in our culture. In the final analysis, culture governs politics.
While Newtown may generate helpful changes in laws and practices, the fundamental transformation that is needed awaits the dissolution of our perverse fascination with guns and our fanatical pursuit of individual rights to the neglect of social responsibility. It waits for the willingness to sacrifice a personal pleasure in owning and shooting instruments of mass murder like assault rifles if it would reduce their availability to criminals and mentally and emotionally sick people.
I do not see any evidence of that basic reordering of ideas, habits, values, and practices yet. I expect that we will continue to be the worst example of child killing with monstrous weapons among the nations we would like to be compared with.
This is a form of American exceptionalism that we cannot be proud of. How many more Newtowns will it take to produce the kairos that is needed, that right and ripe moment when all the preconditions of redemptive transformation are present? Enough, I expect to break our hearts many more times.
See also posts of 12/23/2012 and 1/22/2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Letters and Logic: Fallacies Galore
Many decades ago a colleague of mine suggested that students in his logic class look in the letters to the editor section of the paper for examples of sloppy thinking. His advice still works.
It would take a textbook to cover all the errors in thinking. But read the letters critically, and you should have no trouble finding a treasure of sloppy reasoning.
A common error is identifying correlation with causation. If a state with the death penalty has a higher murder rate than a state that does not, some take this to mean that the death penalty has no or little deterrent effect. Maybe, but there could many causes that affect the murder rate in a given state besides the presence or absence of the death penalty.
Perhaps even more widespread is drawing too large a conclusion from too few facts, too big a generalization from too few particulars. If the first ten people you see entering a new town are white, you might conclude that the population is mostly white, whereas they might be the only whites in a village with twelve hundred blacks.
On and on it goes.
Thinking is hard work, and few of us do it well. Just take a look at tomorrow's newspaper.
It would take a textbook to cover all the errors in thinking. But read the letters critically, and you should have no trouble finding a treasure of sloppy reasoning.
A common error is identifying correlation with causation. If a state with the death penalty has a higher murder rate than a state that does not, some take this to mean that the death penalty has no or little deterrent effect. Maybe, but there could many causes that affect the murder rate in a given state besides the presence or absence of the death penalty.
Perhaps even more widespread is drawing too large a conclusion from too few facts, too big a generalization from too few particulars. If the first ten people you see entering a new town are white, you might conclude that the population is mostly white, whereas they might be the only whites in a village with twelve hundred blacks.
On and on it goes.
Thinking is hard work, and few of us do it well. Just take a look at tomorrow's newspaper.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Our Gun Aberration: Dangerous and Foolish
The United States is the country with the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world. (The second highest is Yemen, where the rate is nevertheless only half that of the U.S.) No civilian population is more powerfully armed.
We have a thing about guns that sets us apart--to our shame and disgrace. The fact is that "guns are involved in a much higher percentage of deaths in the U.S. than just about any other place in the world. . . and guns are more likely than any other weapon to be involved in mass murder in the U.S."
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Newtown: Seeking Wisdom in the Words
Accept Complexity
Marshall Schulman
Amos 5:19
Words, words all around, but is there a drop of wisdom to drink? H. Richard Niebuhr claimed that defensiveness is the greatest source of error. There is plenty of that going around. A. N. Whitehead noted that a great source of error is making too large a generalization from too small an insight. Lots of that everywhere. Perhaps a "bits and pieces theory" of truth is the best we can do while devising helpful laws and practices in a spirit of bricolage.
Amos 5:19
Words, words all around, but is there a drop of wisdom to drink? H. Richard Niebuhr claimed that defensiveness is the greatest source of error. There is plenty of that going around. A. N. Whitehead noted that a great source of error is making too large a generalization from too small an insight. Lots of that everywhere. Perhaps a "bits and pieces theory" of truth is the best we can do while devising helpful laws and practices in a spirit of bricolage.
Fallacies abound. Just because something worked in Australia or Norway doesn't mean it would work here in the same way or that it would be politically possible to begin with. Our history and culture are different. Statistical correlations become causal connections without regard for context. Absolute statements are commonplace. Things are said to work or not work, but they may work to some extent in some times and places but not or as well in others.
No general law or practice can prevent every specific act involving multiple murders. The NRA wants armed guards at every school. Sometimes that might save lives. But what will prevent one of them for unpredictable reasons from slaughtering a dozen first-graders before he can be stopped? Unlikely, yes, but how likely was the Newtown massacre?
Better control of gun possession, improving the mental health system to locate and render harmless potential killers, making ammunition with mass-murder potential hard to get, having armed guards in our schools, and much more-- all of these and many other laws, steps, and practices large and small might help in some cases but will not likely be effective in all instances, even if they are possible in a locality or the country as a whole. Taken separately or together, they are not likely to prevent all future mass murders. Individual people kill with specific weapons at given times and places under particular circumstances with varying motivations. Some will get through every net of laws and practices we can devise. The next horror may be in a crowded church committed by a middle-aged female.
Are there any commonalities, any recurring patterns and profiles? Yes, of course, and we must look for them and devise remedies accordingly. We need to act on many fronts in many ways learning from the past and using what experience has taught us to make better what cannot be made perfect. But we can only do so where public opinion and political means make it possible.
Are there any commonalities, any recurring patterns and profiles? Yes, of course, and we must look for them and devise remedies accordingly. We need to act on many fronts in many ways learning from the past and using what experience has taught us to make better what cannot be made perfect. But we can only do so where public opinion and political means make it possible.
Every measure has an opportunity cost, may have unexpected side effects and cause new and unforeseen problems. Bureaucracy will complicate and frustrate enforcement of well-intended laws.
The Second Amendment is not the Word of God for all time but an anachronism that we might be better off without, especially given our present Supreme Court. Nevertheless, we could still permit responsible people to have guns for legitimate purposes though not without risking abuse and massacres. There is no fool-proof, risk-free system with or without the Second Amendment.
It would help if the absolutists and dogmatists would just shut up, but they won't, and they threaten to drown out calmer voices with modest proposals that have a chance of helping.
The Second Amendment is not the Word of God for all time but an anachronism that we might be better off without, especially given our present Supreme Court. Nevertheless, we could still permit responsible people to have guns for legitimate purposes though not without risking abuse and massacres. There is no fool-proof, risk-free system with or without the Second Amendment.
It would help if the absolutists and dogmatists would just shut up, but they won't, and they threaten to drown out calmer voices with modest proposals that have a chance of helping.
Finally, and most importantly, a fundamental issue is a cultural peculiarity in our society regarding guns rooted in our history.* We value individual freedom in this regard at a terrible cost, whereas an increased measure of social control might promote the common good.
An important prerequisite, then, is a change of heart, of ideas, assumptions, attitudes, values, sentiments, and feelings. Change is possible when a given system breaks down in the presence of an attractive alternative. Perhaps the horror of Newtown will be for us a kairos--a right and ripe moment when healing can begin. Our deep-rooted individualism and political culture lead me to expect only modest changes for the better in the near future. But we can hope for more.
An important prerequisite, then, is a change of heart, of ideas, assumptions, attitudes, values, sentiments, and feelings. Change is possible when a given system breaks down in the presence of an attractive alternative. Perhaps the horror of Newtown will be for us a kairos--a right and ripe moment when healing can begin. Our deep-rooted individualism and political culture lead me to expect only modest changes for the better in the near future. But we can hope for more.
Meanwhile we are on a badly damaged ship on the open seas that must be repaired where we are with what we have--bricolage.
Consider the wise words of Alfred North Whitehead:
Consider the wise words of Alfred North Whitehead:
"Philosophy may not ignore the multifariousness of the world--the fairies dance, and Christ is nailed to a cross."
"Seek simplicity--and distrust it."
_________________________________________________________
*http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/04/23/120423fa_fact_lepore?currentPage=all
Cf. Japan at the opposite end of the individual freedom versus social control value spectrum:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/a-land-without-guns-how-japan-has-virtually-eliminated-shooting-deaths/260189/
_________________________________________________________
*http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/04/23/120423fa_fact_lepore?currentPage=all
Cf. Japan at the opposite end of the individual freedom versus social control value spectrum:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/a-land-without-guns-how-japan-has-virtually-eliminated-shooting-deaths/260189/
Friday, December 07, 2012
We Need a Speculation Tax
Tax stock trades to raise money on speculators:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67533.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204394804577009823316771852.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67533.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204394804577009823316771852.html
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Forbidden Words
The following cannot be used henceforth until further notice:
campaign trail
drill down
balanced approach
the American people (especially forbidden to politicians)
fiscal cliff
mandate
we'll see how it all turns out
Season's Greetings
emotional (especially by TV journalists when something obviously emotional comes on)
exclusive (especially regarding a news report)
Objectify (as in objectify women). Just substitute the definition and leave out this abstraction
campaign trail
drill down
balanced approach
the American people (especially forbidden to politicians)
fiscal cliff
mandate
we'll see how it all turns out
Season's Greetings
emotional (especially by TV journalists when something obviously emotional comes on)
exclusive (especially regarding a news report)
Objectify (as in objectify women). Just substitute the definition and leave out this abstraction
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
It's Been One of Those Days -- so Far.
I am writing this from my hospital room. When about about to go down some stairs, I glanced at a sign that said, "Be Careful Going Down Stairs."
The above is not true, but it might have been. The night was full of weird dreams whose details I have mercifully forgotten. Sleep was interrupted by a mild anxiety attack accompanied by the illusion that a stranger was in the room touching me. Awakening two hours later than usual, Gloria and I went to "Eco Park" only to learn that it was the right day but the wrong hours to recycle a broken dehumidifier and leave some outdated medicines. I would have dropped off some unneeded clothes and a collection of old eyeglasses but we couldn't locate the glasses that we had put where we could be sure to find them.
The telephone company was supposed to come to see if they could find out why my defibrillator and pacemaker will not transmit data to the doctor to indicate whether my heart is in trouble. They haven't even called. Maybe their phones will not work.
The garage door people are due shortly to reattach the piece that connects the door to the lift chain.
Stay tuned for updates, unless I fall down the stairs that must be descended so that I can fix my lunch. Hope my heartburn does not return.
The above is not true, but it might have been. The night was full of weird dreams whose details I have mercifully forgotten. Sleep was interrupted by a mild anxiety attack accompanied by the illusion that a stranger was in the room touching me. Awakening two hours later than usual, Gloria and I went to "Eco Park" only to learn that it was the right day but the wrong hours to recycle a broken dehumidifier and leave some outdated medicines. I would have dropped off some unneeded clothes and a collection of old eyeglasses but we couldn't locate the glasses that we had put where we could be sure to find them.
The telephone company was supposed to come to see if they could find out why my defibrillator and pacemaker will not transmit data to the doctor to indicate whether my heart is in trouble. They haven't even called. Maybe their phones will not work.
The garage door people are due shortly to reattach the piece that connects the door to the lift chain.
Stay tuned for updates, unless I fall down the stairs that must be descended so that I can fix my lunch. Hope my heartburn does not return.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Founding of Israel a Mistake?
I repeat an older post because it seems so pertinent at the moment.
Does Israel Have a Right to Exist?
Hamas
is condemned because it refuses to accept the right of Israel to exist. A
good case can be made for Hamas on historical and moral grounds. It
may have been a mistake to establish the state of Israel in 1947 by
bringing in thousands of mostly European Jews to a land largely
populated by hostile Arabs and where few Jews had lived until well into
the 19th century. Jewish possession of the land had been lost for more
than a thousand years.
The
result has been constant hostility, hatred, wars, and violent conflict
with no end in sight. It is the source of Muslim hatred of Europe and
America, constant turmoil, and a threat to peace in the entire region.
The notion that Palestine belongs to the Jews on the basis of a divine
promise three thousand years ago is plausible only to those who find it
plausible, including Jewish and Christian fundamentalists. Granted, some
solution was needed for the constant persecution of Jews in many lands
including Europe and America, but in my opinion the formation of a
Jewish state in Palestine was probably not it.
A
distinction needs to be made between accepting the moral right of
Israel to exist and the full acceptance of the fact that Israel does
exist, will exist, and must be dealt with accordingly with all the
implications thereunto appertaining.
For
practical reasons Hamas needs to come to terms with Israel as a
reality, no matter how much they despise the fact. But pragmatism does
not flourish in the presence of deeply rooted ideology and hostility
toward Jews. The refusal of Hamas to accept this inexorable reality
practically, if not theoretically and morally, is fraught with dire
consequence for Jews and Arabs. To contest the full implications of the
actuality of Israel as a Jewish state is futile and will be the source
of continuing bloodshed and hateful agitation on and on. Sending
missiles to explode in the cities of Israel solves nothing and
perpetuates hatred and retaliation.
On
the other hand Israel needs to stop the settlements and withdraw to
their 1967 borders. This swap of land for peace needs to be accompanied
by some plan, probably internationally mediated, for compensating
Palestinian refugees for loss of their homes and livelihood because of
their expulsion from Israel in the years following Jewish statehood.
Israel needs to start treating Arabs in their territory with decency,
and full respect and guarantee them all civil and personal rights that
Jews have.
This
is not likely to happen on either side. This, after all, is the Middle
East where too few are willing to say with Yitzhak Rabin “enough of
blood and tears.” So "two communities of suffering" (Edward Said) will
continue to suffer and bleed and hate until reason or sheer exhaustion
leads to a resolution tolerable to both if not loved or welcomed by
either.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Update:The Importance of Geography
Note the following maps of three presidential elections. What stands out?
2012 Electoral Map
2008 Electoral Map
1860 Electoral Map
What strikes me most in these maps is the continuity of geographical pattern. 2012, 2008, and 1860 are much alike in terms of the states that voted for the Democratic and Republican candidates in these three elections. (Of course, in 1860 the parties are reversed, i. e., blue is Republican, and red represents Southern Democrats, but the regional pattern is similar with border states both illustrating and complicating matters.)
I will retreat from my thesis as brutal facts annihilate another beautiful theory, but I find it interesting to play with.
As I said to my daughter regarding a similar issue, "It all begins with climate and soil." Cf. Montesquieu (1689 – 1755). Begin with cotton-growing dirt and favorable weather, add the invention of the cotton gin, and, Voila, you have important clues to the Civil War. Anybody likely to read this can spell all this out as well as I can.
Is this all there is to it? Does geography explain it all? Of course not, but it is often an important and fascinating element in the total picture. It reminds us that we are not pure minds contemplating the eternal essences but flesh and blood made from mud (Genesis 2:7) who are very much earth creatures. At the same time we have amazing capacities for inventing technologies and cultures that set us apart. Just don't forget geography, i. e., what we can learn from climate and location.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*The present-day pattern is evident also in 2004 though the continuity is a less evident than between 08 and 12.
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Friday, May 25, 2012
A Geographical Theory of Same-Sex Marriage
The acceptance of same-sex marriage is coming. With a few exceptions it
is coming and will come geographically: Northeastern states -- including
New York and Maryland, West coast, Upper Midwest, and eventually the
Southwest, and the Southeast. Mississippi or Utah may be last. Of course,
anomalies and deviations from this geographical pattern will occur, but
overall it will generally hold. One could predict more accurately
perhaps by using zip codes -- still a geographical factor.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
A Geographical Theory of Winning in 2008
Look at the electoral maps of 2000 and 2004. The geographical pattern is
striking, allowing for minor exceptions. The blue Democratic states are
the Northeast, the upper Midwest, and the states bordering the Pacific.
The red Republican states are the Southeast, Southwest, lower Midwest,
mountain and plains states. A pre-Civil War map showing free (blue) and
slave (red) states and territories almost exactly matches the electoral
map of 2004.
While electoral maps of many other years would not be this striking, a geographical factor is present, except in blowout years like 1936, 1972, and 1984. Look at it another way. Democrats won the large cities, while Republicans won the small towns and rural areas, with the suburbs split. Divisions are also noticeable with regard to income, education,, religion, race and ethnicity, age, marital status, and gender, but geography is relevant to many of these as well. Zip code is an important clue all by itself.
Since this is a blog and not a book, what can we learn from this? Geography is a useful clue to many other things -- history, economics, religion, and culture. The geography of the South, e. g., was conducive to cotton growing and therefore slavery, which has deeply affected its entire history. Geographical factors account in part for immigration patterns and the Protestant domination of the South.
Geography is a component of, if not clue to, how things work out in other areas with regard to economics, culture, and religion.
While electoral maps of many other years would not be this striking, a geographical factor is present, except in blowout years like 1936, 1972, and 1984. Look at it another way. Democrats won the large cities, while Republicans won the small towns and rural areas, with the suburbs split. Divisions are also noticeable with regard to income, education,, religion, race and ethnicity, age, marital status, and gender, but geography is relevant to many of these as well. Zip code is an important clue all by itself.
Since this is a blog and not a book, what can we learn from this? Geography is a useful clue to many other things -- history, economics, religion, and culture. The geography of the South, e. g., was conducive to cotton growing and therefore slavery, which has deeply affected its entire history. Geographical factors account in part for immigration patterns and the Protestant domination of the South.
Geography is a component of, if not clue to, how things work out in other areas with regard to economics, culture, and religion.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Muddling Through-- Now More than Ever
The best way to unite idealism and realism, on the one hand, with principles and practice, on the other hand, is to embrace a philosophy of "muddling through" (first known use 1864). Especially in matters of national concern and even more so in foreign policy, muddling through appears to be the best approach. Just review your own life to get the individual perspective.
Muddling through means to do the best you can with what you have at the moment. You do so without forgetting your ideals but embrace a realism which acknowledges that noble ideals are daily crushed by brutal facts. You hold steadily to your principles but compromise them for small gains when the available alternatives are worse. Or you take the least bad when all other options are badder.
Revising Lucy from Peanuts, this is my old and continuing philosophy.
For today think Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Israel, Syria, Pakistan, Palestine, Iran, and on and on. Or think about many choice you have to make in your own life where the only available l paths have major consequences you wish to avoid and you have to to muddle though somehow, someway.
And don't forget that sometimes life is really, really good.
Muddling through means to do the best you can with what you have at the moment. You do so without forgetting your ideals but embrace a realism which acknowledges that noble ideals are daily crushed by brutal facts. You hold steadily to your principles but compromise them for small gains when the available alternatives are worse. Or you take the least bad when all other options are badder.
Revising Lucy from Peanuts, this is my old and continuing philosophy.
For today think Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Israel, Syria, Pakistan, Palestine, Iran, and on and on. Or think about many choice you have to make in your own life where the only available l paths have major consequences you wish to avoid and you have to to muddle though somehow, someway.
And don't forget that sometimes life is really, really good.
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