Saturday, July 20, 2024

Republicans anoint anti-Christ for a third try...

My left coast education included high school Spanish where we read Bernal Diaz "Discovery and Conquest of Mexico," and English lit class where we read Malcolm X and MLK. At Foothill JC I learned about Semantics - and flunked Black Political Science when the instructor, a conservative black preacher didn't appreciate my "Last Poets" inspired term project.

Both sides of my family came from immigrants who left Europe to avoid World War I - Danish/Icelandic and German. Grandmother Anna Fredericksen was a founding member of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

I joined the USAF in 1962 and quickly discovered that my American experience differed from other geographies! The weight of generational tradition creates resistance to change, and a snarky dismissal of "California queers" and a reverence for "the South will rise again" sentimentality was (and probably still is) widespread and intransigent.

Respect and value for unbiased education seems antithetical to various manners of traditionalists who seek to promote narrow agendas cloaked as "faith based," "family values," "law and order" when in reality they are misogynistic, racially biased, historically entrenched, destructive and divisive. Those who relish their alignment with other blindered lemmings participate in a self-perpetuating alliance that is more a dance with the devil than a coherent and positive agenda for prosperity and necessary growth and change.

If one had the stomach to witness the RNC and suffer through the anointing of the son of a KKK sympathizer and insurrection promoter, as if the incongruity of a philandering deadbeat as a presidential candidate was no problem, then the vacuous applause and approbation accorded this thinly veiled anti-Christ should provide a clue to the intransigence and danger of a major political party bent on dismantling aspects of a democracy they don't understand and secretly deny and decry.

I'd like to think that media manipulation (broadcast that which helps sell products) and the focus on isolated sensational events is a distraction not shared by great numbers of hard working, essentially good-hearted fellow citizens. I hope the Democratic Party gets their act together and provides an alternative to the backsliding and decay of the "red hats." The first trick of the demagogue, the hawker of snake oil solutions, is to convince an audience that they have lost something that their "remedy" will revive. "Make America Great Again," my ass. Previously termed "the silent majority" in previous election cycles, I hope our true American patriots will quietly go to the polls and provide a resounding defeat for the nihilism we just witnessed in the Republican attempt to create a King Donald.

Monday, July 17, 2023

The fight and the plight of creative artists

 After watching, listening to Fran Drescher's rightfully impassioned comments regarding the state of her industry, the continued placement of profit above ethical and artistic concerns, I'm moved to provide my personal reaction to the money uber alles attitude that pervades our country, our world! 

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jul/14/fran-drescher-speech-actors-strike-writers-strike-sag-aftra-hollywood-ceos

  I'm keeping this as brief as I can. In 2011 I was diagnosed with kidney cancer and after a successful operation in December I spent the first four months of 2012 convalescing. (I'll be 70-ten in September - ready for another ten years in my seventies!) I have witnessed more than one miracle in my lifetime. I was on a prayer chain before my surgery. I always ask people to pray that the surgeon has a good hand! A long surgery complicated by two pea sized tumors joined together - if the doctor had broken the thread cancer would have spread through my body. After the operation, meeting with Dr. Chung at Stanford Hospital the next day, I was left with survivor guilt. No chemo, no months of grinding nausea and severe discomfort. Can't do a biopsy on kidneys, so I didn't know until the actual operation that it was cancer. It made me wonder if there was a cosmic reason for my survival, my minimal grief and pain. 

  Since then I feel like a character in a 60s comic book like "Tales From the Crypt." One of my favorites - two men in hospital - bed A and bed B. Bed A tells the guy in B (no window) about the kids on the playground, mothers pushing strollers, etc. But B becomes jealous, finds a way to poison bed A and moves to the new spot - only to find there is no window! In my story, I miraculously escape cancer, prayers are answered, longevity results. A blessing? At times I'm unsure. My knee-jerk Republican father passed before 9-11, didn't have to witness that atrocity, and the resultant idiocy of Bush junior's misdirected carnage in Iraq. Maybe there's a blessing in dodging disappointments.

  So what have I witnessed in my comic strip life after being saved from a sneaky death by cancer? One of my guiding principals has been "the greatness of a culture is determined by the art it produces." There are arguments against the mass-produced culture of the US (and others) but many gems are found in the cracks between the more publicized offerings. As a musician, and a sax player, I have a fondness for 60-70 year old R&B, especially what I call "third tier" offerings. Songs that never made the hit parade, not even the known "B" sides. But excellent compositions, on the "wrong" label, not on the airwaves because of lack of payola, poor timing, poor recording. Perhaps my destiny lies in mining these diamonds in the rough, cutting the stones to reveal their beauty?

  Or is it my fate to witness the ecological destruction of the planet, the plague of Covid, war in Ukraine, the madness of contemporary politics, the dumbing down of education, chauvinism morphing into misogyny, AI crushing creative outlets?! 

  Well, no matter the negatives, no matter the comic book ending, I remain secure in my morals and my core values. I'm fortunate to have had wonderful teachers and guidance from many inspirational people. I feel sorry for those who are denied such experience, since societal values are often skewed to serve authoritarian perspectives. But I'm not looking for trouble, simply tending to my art, won't let current events deter or depress me. It's not easy though - witnessing great atrocities, placing them in perspective - calming one's outrage. What's the antidote to adrenalin?

  Creativity! Exercising your artistic vision, maintaining intrinsic respect and value for the arts! And most importantly, following your own inner beacon. The sensitivities and DNA of every unique human are not to be disparaged. Quell the vestiges of the storm "out there," keep peace with your own instincts and aptitudes, shrug and "keep on keeping on." And respect and support those artists who tirelessly fight for our rights!

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Open letter to Mark Zuckerberg

   August 4, msn news: [A] survey of 1,552 U.S. adults, which was conducted from July 30 to Aug. 2, found that 66 percent of Republicans continue to insist that “the election was rigged and stolen from Trump,” while just 18 percent believe “Joe Biden won fair and square.” Twenty-eight percent of independent voters also said they think Trump was the rightful winner of the 2020 election, as did a small 3 percent of Democrats.

  How many Republicans are there? How many independents? How many Democrats think Joe "stole it fair and square" as the old American saying goes? In round numbers, 33 million Republicans X 0.66, 38 million Independent X 0.28, 37 million Democrats X 0.03 - figure about 33.6 million people, max. But surveys have a small sample base. If you just check one corner of the crate, odds of an accurate survey go down. Also, 27% of registered voters don't care to vote, so one might assume they don't care if an election is stolen, ho hum. Adjusting the Trump true believer numbers down a bit we still get 24 million. And out of that group I posit that 2/3 of the Republicans who answered the poll were either flaunting their anti-establishment "ism" or a friend, relative, spouse was there who would detect any rebellion against the family's public stance.

  Only a guess, predicated on some pragmatic logic, but I'm thinking there are about 8 million people who either believe the 2020 election was actually stolen, or they realize their vested interests, which ride with Republican fortunes, would diminish in a more egalitarian America. The primary motivator for the gerrymandering and voter restrictions is to insure minority rule by the not so nouveau rich. It's not for the love of power, although that enters into it and sometimes almost supercedes the love of money. And it's certainly not because of party principles, for the whining Republicans no longer have any. 

  How is it that these estimated 8 million true believers in "the steal" can bring America to the brink of a coup, a hijacking of the election certification, a storming of the halls of Congress, and our outrage seems contained? Are we so leveraged by the media in our information "silos?" Are we doomed to inertia and inaction because the moneyed few with their hands on the levers have negated truth and we are now pawns? The Universe of Orwellian thought control is here, but we're seeking it rather than suffering it!

  And what a shame that the marvelous inventions of the information age are so easily misused, because money, excuse the expression, trumps art, money trumps education, money trumps intelligence. Unfettered, unquestioned capitalism has had it's trial. Like an engine so powerful it needs a governor to keep it from blowing up, capitalism is whirling us to our mutual destruction. But we can't legislate morality. And corporations have no conscience anyway. They aren't human - just a sheaf of papers, legal counsel, a profit motive and money to back it all up.

  The whole thing going on in the US right now looks suspiciously like "Let's you and him fight!" The current state of affairs has developed over the course of generations. Generations of subterfuge, mind management, disassembling of liberal gains and a spate of profiteering that benefited from riding the infrastructure, allowing entropy in public education, and maintaining a broke-ass under class without hope where young people see a way out through military service - and still each generation keeps believing in the American Dream!

  So our strength is in belief, even when it's not evidently justified. And how strong we get when we believe in a just cause! So let's revisit our values - "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Lincoln at Gettysburg - but wait - he was a Republican! Could it be that the party has been hijacked? The Achilles heel of American Democracy: the paucity of a two-party dichotomy, and the ease with which ladder climbers and central committee members will embrace nihilism and disrespect for principle when it might further their own career and personal wealth.

  The system needs an overhaul, and quickly! We can't regain our lost years of decay and pork barrel politics, and the political system is so entrenched that it's flatly resistant to change, but change we must. Regaining the original spirit of the Internet as a uniting force elevating all humanity would be a good prerequisite. The great minds and dreamers that developed our wonderful information technology were motivated more by the vision of shared information and the development of a shining culture and society than the present sales motivated monolith that the Internet has become. Big Brother is here, and he wants to sell you something!

  So the solution to our larger problems will come from a freer and more complete distribution of information and the application of advances in knowledge and, dare I say it, science. Quantum computing advances will quickly solve seemingly intractable problems. A simulation could be created to test the effect on our economic system if lobbying were outlawed. How about a peer review system for legislators, tied to their compensation, to replace lobbying money? Provide a regulated process for campaigning that doesn't favor any party, doesn't require campaign donors, and wouldn't allow a party without a platform declaration, like the present day Republicans.

  In the interim, let's try to avoid civil war, and somehow return to rational discourse. Perhaps by outlawing foreign ownership of American media. And encouraging our own entrepreneurs to respect the technology they inherited and act in the public good!

Monday, May 31, 2021

Anti-vaxxer bad behavior has nothing to do with the topic



I have to write something to "clear my registers."

  I drove by my local high school on Friday and was angered by the sight of anti-vaccination protestors harassing a student Covid vaccination event - but I kept driving. The local paper's report on the incident pointed out what a poor example the adult "anti-vaxxers" presented to the students. I question calling the protestors "adults." In the report one of the protestors chides the school nurse, Johnny Kell, for his "condescending" attitude, because he asked "Where do you get your information?" 

  It's an appropriate question, but obviously the protestors were there to serve some inner need, quite possibly other than a fervent belief that the vaccine would cause sterility as at least one sign carrier claimed. Anyway, by the time a "protest" group assembles and the adrenalin starts to flow it's not conducive to a debate over the facts. And with the ever present misuse of technology to corral "reports" from undocumented sources in the same enclosure as valid reporting, we are no longer able to winnow our information to separate the wheat from the chaff, unable to agree on what is true or false.
To continue the analogy, we are now in the age of "chaff information!" I'll dub it CI. Even stoically fair and unbiased news sources have an editorial viewpoint, in the past carefully labeled as opinion. But today's media environment leaves us adrift in a sea of conflicting, unsubstantiated data. But is it "data" if I made it up, or rewrote a piece written by my AI bot? And not everyone uses the alphabet and the written word - even recorded audio and video can be faked to serve editorial purposes! 

  The First Amendment to the United States Constitution gives cover to truth abusers, when the intention was to protect truth tellers and make our society stronger by sharing information. The great act of faith performed by our founding fathers was to visualize a mature republic governed by an intelligent citizenry. We are falling short of our ideals through a perpetuation of ignorance. In a literal, factual sense - not as a pejorative - ignorance! Keeping the populace uninformed and under educated serves as a prelude for those who would control us through classic emotional ploys and semantic devices.

 If humans are denied access to education and never learn the art of critical thinking they may be more easily swayed by appearances, emotions, and the mood of their peer group. This allows us to be manipulated and guided by less than altruistic people who quite possibly have goals other than our well-being in mind. The manipulators seek to turn our attitudes and ideals to align with a concept or a cause when it's just a ploy to advance their program of self-aggrandizement, personal wealth creation and receive acclaim from their inner circle. One begs to ask, "what is the hidden objective here?" Who, and what purpose is served by misinformation? There certainly is a stark division of opinion evidenced by anti-vax protesting, widespread acceptance of election lies, and the sliming and trolling that goes on in online forums.

  I'm not being condescending, only searching for the right word here - one that can easily be found in an online dictionary - in it's unvarnished literal definition. And I think I found it. If I become angered by the inanity of the anti-vaxxers targeting an inoculation event for high schoolers, it serves no purpose to stop the car, get out and create further disgrace by confronting my fellow citizens, because I believe that, even though within their rights, they are getting "out of line." Then I have become equally inane and out of line my own (expletive deleted) self. So I recognize the seed of anger turning toward irrational action inside my being, and temper my response to extend compassion to all concerned, witness the spinning of the tao, and wonder how humans have made it this far! And witnessing the broader contemporary descent into irrationality, I wonder if we'll make it much farther. If we lose the ability to make decisions and unify on a course of action, it will be chaff information - CI, not AI - that does us in.

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Propaganda networks are draining America's lifeblood!

  I'm a second generation American. My grandparents immigrated from Germany, Iceland and Denmark, seeking a life far from the turbulence of World War I Europe. Born in 1943, I remember the years when Americans were unified by the sacrifices and victories of World War II. The U.S.A. moved from jingoism and colonialism to  become saviors of the planet! But then we lost the recipe, embarked on a series of undeclared wars and became the standard bearer for a soulless corporatism intent on securing offshore wealth, installing oppressive regimes, and opposing egalitarianism if it threatened our moneyed interests.


  From savior to threat in a single generation, elements already extant in our society conspired to maintain white supremacy, control of wealth by powerful "insider" families and a return to a false patriotism based on nationalism rather than morality and ideals. A generational conflict between these opposing forces brought us riots and internal threats of revolution in the 1960s as our government used forced conscription to wage a war of attrition in Southeast Asia. We took up the mantle of colonialism lost by our allies, the French, who were defeated by North Vietnamese nationalists at Dien Bien Phu in May, 1954.


  During my youth America became the enforcer of a destructive capitalism that placed profit over people. Maybe that's what we always were, that was always our value, the unspoken unifier for Americans ensconced in the halls of power. Perhaps our "nobility" in World War II was nothing but a by-product - defending continued exploitation in our quest for profit was likely the closet motivation for joining the battles of liberation in Europe. And the war in the Pacific nothing but a clash between two colonial powers for domination in that region!


  If one abandons the bias favored in our school books for a more pragmatic view - "follow the money" - things begin to make more sense. It always amazed me that we would allow foreign ownership of American properties, the sell-off of once independent Hawaii to Chinese and Japanese interests, French ownership of Bank of the West. Such things are kept under wraps, I only learned of these examples by living in Hawaii for three years, and because "BoW" was once my bank.


  The quiet alliances that favor corporatism have no respect for our founding documents. Our wars are fought to control wealth, not to promote democracy. The intellectual triumphs of the Enlightenment are a mere abstraction to be overcome in the pursuit of personal power and family enrichment. Given this seedbed of avarice, it's no small wonder that a foreign opportunist from Australia could use accumulated wealth to build a media empire: Rupert Murdoch and Fox, voice for the original enemy within. And now, off the radar for a majority of Americans, the cancer is metastasizing. Driven by a Mussolinic fascination for the narcissistic, immoral, culturally ignorant, racist deposed president #45, there are new networking websites, fountains of misinformation posing as news sources, armed militias waiting for a "go" signal. And the Republican party has become a blatant fifth column, opposed to equality, an advance guard for despotism! The GOP is now a neo-fascist shill for the vultures who use unadulterated capitalism for personal enrichment while crushing the middle class, seeking to perpetuate lack of opportunity for others so they may continue their monopolistic rape of the planet's resources regardless of consequence.


  I often wonder what I owe the country of my birth. If "no man is an island," what do I do to ensure the wellbeing of my fellow citizens? How can I serve humanity? I know war is an immoral "tool of the devil," I fervently believe in human rights - what can I possibly do to halt ignorance and destruction? My answer is to live humbly, "leave only footprints" and combat misinformation that would seek to divide us or rationalize evil.


  Can't do it by myself, so tell your Trumpublican friends they are being conned, advise liberals not to follow politicians, be aware of the hypocrisies inherent in all politics. And, dear people, learn to look within, cultivate your own spirituality. Ultimately, we are all one. When awareness of our connectedness becomes a given, not a remote concept occasionally touched upon in a pastor's sermon, or a sidebar to a TV interview, then you will have refined your shit-detector, become less prone to blandishments from any source whatsoever. We are all divine. In the process of learning critical thinking, we will also assimilate much that is false or misdirected. Once we accept and attune ourselves to the universal divinity we all share, the process of discarding that which is false and divisive may proceed. Life is not a zero-sum game where someone else must lose to enable my prosperity. Beware overly simple solutions that involve dehumanization or disrespect. The best solutions are inherently simple, at their core an expression of love!

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Ending America's 21st century embrace of fascism

 Neo-fascism, neo-libertarianism - a couple of terms used to describe the current political bent of the USA. Neither term is accurate enough to describe the peculiar mix of retrograde racism, misogyny and econo-Christian elevation of exclusionary capitalism being practiced by the Republican National Committee as it promotes the secret agenda of America's ultra-right wing. 

Our nation is suffering the effects of a 75 year plus program of subversion and propaganda. Instead of teaching inclusion and respect, we are being divided and steered toward internal conflict. Good people made unholy versus good people characterized as unholy. And I do mean to to use the term unholy. It has been said of the environment: There are no places that are not sacred - only the sacred and the desecrated. The opposing forces within our body politic are analogous to opposing attitudes on the environment. One point of view sees opportunity for transforming nature into monetary gain, the other sees evidence of a divine balance as the new science of ecology discovers the subtle interplay behind the scenes of our physical existence.

The unholy billionaire - some are well intentioned - but the unholy billionaire will use all manner of subterfuge, propaganda and pecuniary advantage to gain control of the resources that will advance their profit making, and taking. This is capitalism without a conscience, an ungoverned vehicle blindly racing toward destruction of the planet that nurtures us all. Zero-sum gaming and subjugation of a growing lower class are not goals, but merely consequences of this neo-fascism.

The traditional definition of fascism describes a state that has nationalized all the means of production in service of a central governance, often built around a charismatic central power figure. The all-powerful dictator controls systems previously administered by private enterprise - not content with being confined to the usual beneficial programs of government that exist to promote a common good. Services cost money and the only profit therein is elicited through graft and corruption, so the dictator will seize factories, transportation, banks - subsuming enterprise, redefining privately owned business as property of the state.

The difference with America's "neo-fascism" is that existing corporations band together behind the scenes to bend regulations, decrease their taxation (destroying a system designed to serve a citizenry that in fact supports their corporations) and thus control the means of production and generation of capital. As always, the problem is not with the system itself, the problem stems from the moral failings of the human condition.

There is no easy solution. Our current systemic inequity cannot be cured by legislation. One could design a capitalistic system with rational restraints, but however excellent the design, human beings will find a way to subvert the system for personal gain. This is why the search for a conspiracy will ultimately end in failure. Contemporary techniques for "gaming the system" exist in the mind of the gamer, and the supposed conspirators are merely a convenient collusion of like-minded amoral profiteers. In the fifties the US congress searched for an alleged crime conspiracy among Italian-Americans termed 'the Mafia,' with a code of silence called 'omerta.' One afternoon as a Congressman grilled a suspect, trying to gain an admission he was a member of this mythical crime organization, the frustrated mobster spoke out, "There's no such thing as a 'Mafia,' it's just a bunch of guys who know each other!"

  And so it is - no conspiracy - just a shared attitude. "Wink-wink." As long as you "know how to play the game" you're in the club, your personal chance for financial leverage is insured. And the goal of increased personal profit, no matter the cost to others, is normalized with never a thought for any "collateral damage," to borrow a popular immoral semanticism used to disguise the evil of warfare. And warfare as practiced by the United States is nothing but an extension of capital "c" Capitalism. It's a de facto religion of profit, and the savvy clergyman will reinforce the connection that profit is next to godliness! Corrupt churches reinforce, aid and abet the impoverishment of the populace while tossing out hints of a distant scriptural salvation.

  The saving grace of the planet will come from the secular, the agnostic and the atheist, and the occasional sincere church, mosque, ashram, kibbutz - anywhere individuals are exercising their own innate connection with creation, finding the "God" within. Finding the sacred in the scientific, finding the God of Einstein and Spinoza, the unity of the Buddha, this will save the planet! No political system or "ism" of any kind holds the key to our salvation as a species. Convincing our fellow humans to find the divinity within, and "wink-wink," realizing all is holy, worthy of respect and nurturing, this the task that will unite us. Then we will willingly harness the fruits of scientific knowledge, the power of the computer, to abandon destruction and work on building a sane future for our children and grandchildren.

Help ever, hurt never. Each one, teach one. Tell your friends...

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Patriotism or Nationalism? Americanism, or Racism? Ballot 2020

  I was born in Portland, Oregon in 1943.  When I was a child, America was emerging from the darkness of World War II. There was no particular ebullience in the air, more a sense of relief, and release from the hardships of rationing and deprivation that began with the great Depression and continued through the war years. Of course there was laughter and joy, but there was also caution with family finances and restraint when it came to any optimism about the future.

  While kids on our block were occupied with the joys of baseball in the street, spring kite flying, sling shots, clamp-on skates, winter sledding and snowball fights, we were also aware that while the great war was over, there was another war in Korea. And while some houses still had blue and gold stars in the window for sons who had been injured or perished in the second world war, there was now a new gold star mom up the street, and it was a neighborhood secret that one of the families had a draft dodger son living in their attic.

  The incongruity of one family losing their son while another hid their draft age son in the attic was not lost on us, whether child or adult. But being called to duty against the Chinese in Korea wasn't the same universal call to action that the simultaneous threats of Germany in Europe and Japan in the Pacific had presented. We would overhear the grownups: Korea was a "police action," "Truman's war," not even a real declared war. For a few brief years, America had enjoyed the role of a victorious savior. The "stars and stripes," the flag with 48 stars was flown proudly. A mock-up of the Liberty Bell on a short truck bed visited school playgrounds once a year. On Memorial Day soldiers with chrome helmets fired 21 gun salutes at the local cemetery. The 4th of July featured colorful parades and neighborhood fireworks included cherry bombs, "buzz bombs," Roman candles, and we would dance around and wave hand-held sparklers. Patriotism and national pride stemmed from the victories of the righteous. Egalitarian democracy had prevailed and would continue to keep the world safe for democracy! And we felt the spirit of American justice would buoy up the newly constituted United Nations as we looked forward to a future of world unity.

  That was my childish perspective, and I suppose that vision colors my outlook even now, as an adult in my seventies. But there's been a lot of "water under the bridge." The family moved to California, finding a home in midtown Palo Alto in early 1953. The Korean War was over, but the threat of Communist Russia - whether real, perceived, or manufactured - began to color our foreign policy and filtered through to our daily lives. For some, the "red menace" became a fixation. McCarthyism came to the fore. Labor unions were suspect. Were there spies in the neighborhood? In the workplace? Infiltrating the schools? It became imperative to develop the hydrogen bomb, and guided missiles. There were "duck and cover" exercises in the schools, and the light from atom bomb tests in Nevada could be viewed from our living room window when we got up to watch the tests on our black and white TV at 4:45am.

  In early 1954, inspired by Roger Bannister running a mile in under 4 minutes, we measured the perimeter of our schoolyard with the help of our 5th grade teacher and a bicycle wheel with a counter attached, calculating 4 and 1/2 laps would make a mile. The grammar school record came close to 6 minutes, and by 1956, local high school runner Ron Larrieu recorded a respectable 4:20.1 mile! While we were occupied with the challenge of the four minute mile, another seminal event had occurred within a day of Bannister's triumph, the fall of the French at Dien Bien Phu to Viet Namese nationalists in what was then known as French Indo-China. US loyalty to our French allies would later impel our country to blindly carry the torch of colonialism in Southeast Asia and ignore the request for alliance from the new leader of North Viet Nam, Ho Chi Minh. And in 1957 the Russians launched their little beeping Sputnik satellite and school curriculums suddenly became weighted toward math and science.

  Other seminal events of the mid to late fifties involved desegregating schools, notably in the Southern US, while championing civil rights in general, and overcoming ridiculously entrenched voter suppression. America's founding documents, while greatly inspired by the humanitarianism of the French Enlightenment, had been diluted by the necessity of compromise with the states whose economies depended on the slave trade. Sometimes termed as "America's original sin," the abhorrent treatment of people of color was rooted in an unenlightened philosophy of white male superiority. The fallacy of this thinking appears as a subconscious assumption that cripples our country yet, denying equality of education, limiting economic access, and equally subjugating both women and people of color - a double whammy for some!

  While Abraham Lincoln reunited a divided America after the Civil War, the freeing of slaves was likely a pragmatic move to bolster the strength of the Union Army as much as it was a moral imperative to, at last, live up to the letter of a founding document that maintained "all men are created equal." And even that noble phrase carries within it the great semantic dilemma of the English language, that the predominate pronoun for "human being" seemingly excludes the female of the species! Nearly 250 years into the history of this new nation that embodies the hopes of most of the planet for equality of opportunity and true justice for all, we still suffer from our original myopia, still strive to implement our highest ideals.

  And there are those among us who actually work against the achievement of our American dream. Some are blinded by an ethic of white superiority, basically misogynistic as well. A common feature of the denier of equality is holding a value that places individual property ownership above the health and well being of their community. We need to examine this belief in the elevation of property ownership over other more humane values! If the original American settlers had an ounce of humility, they would have recognized they were invading a pristine continent with an existing culture that lived in harmony with nature. Alas, the "civilized" culture that "discovered" America was not civilized at all, but instead carried the hubris of the conqueror. Unfortunately, the soldiers of fortune who would endure the hardship and loneliness of great sea voyages into unknown lands were often motivated by the opportunity to pillage, rape and return as heroes, honored by their country and venerated by society.

  Let's, for a moment, imagine what our present life might be like had the ancestors of our dominant ruling class came to the New World as somewhat enlightened souls with a hunger for knowledge and understanding rather than marauders intent on securing riches and the false honor of conquest. They would have endeavored to establish communication with the original people as morally ethical and equivalent human beings. First encounters are sometimes fatal to one or both of the parties involved, adrenalin running high! Depending on the needs of "tribal" protocols and protection for both the invader and the native, sometimes kindness is taken for weakness, or a good offense is considered a necessary defense. But when and if communication was established, through language and symbology, imagine the new attitudes and philosophies that could have been brought back to European societies.

  What a puzzle it would have been for what we call 'western civilization' to consider a culture where no one owns the land - instead, participating in a shared stewardship - perhaps too radical a concept! Or, perhaps - too gentle - to consider a harmonious relationship with planet and society, where actions are considered in the context of their effect seven generations hence? Alas the deed has been done. The clash of civilizations with concomitant human and cultural genocide and annihilation by disease - it's all history now. We missed our chance to learn values and techniques that would have mitigated the effects of the industrial revolution. We could have learned much from the values and dignity of other cultures, perhaps enough to avoid committing the evil sins of colonization and imperialism. Yes, save for the studies of cultural anthropologists, philosophical seekers and sages, as a species we lost the opportunity to learn from indigenous people worldwide, the true biblical "stewards of the earth!" Of course, their ranks decimated, they are still here, and much knowledge is still intact. But because male ego and aggression has dominated the global arena for centuries, we have developed a bias against the acceptance of external wisdom - let alone to actively seek its guidance!

  Nevertheless, embracing the knowledge and wisdom of all peoples, and organizing this learning - all learning - and applying it to our contemporary problems is our best chance to save the planet, improve our governance, and increase the quality of life for all humanity. Drop the dogma, eschew recognition for individual contribution, put 'profit uber alles' on hold. Use the burgeoning tool of Artificial Intelligence, meld planetary knowledge into a cohesive plan to mitigate, illuminate and set straight the damage caused by errors of the past. The resulting plan, or plans, to correct environmental devastation, design harmonized systems to carry us forward non-destructively, provide equal opportunity and access to capital for all - this challenges the pre-enlightenment acquisitive philosophy that drives us, and has driven us, to destructive individualism and the concentration of wealth that sits uselessly in the hands of an amoral few.

  Presently, we are stalled. "Business as usual" will not ask the proper questions, and perpetuates our inability to act for species self-preservation. "Zero-sum" philosophies found in libertarianism and self-aggrandizing capitalism are the antithesis of the Ubuntu inspired new philosophy we need to embrace in order to save our planet, improve the quality of life for every person and move to a balanced global economy that will improve rather than desecrate the earth.

  In this regard, because the US has amassed so much of the world's wealth and military power, the disintegration of our government into warring factions controlled by moneyed corporate interests has become the greatest threat to our planet's future. Starting as early as 1945, some Americans, suffused with racism and greed, have been planning a takedown and dismantling of all processes that would diminish their wealth and encourage non-white proliferation and power. Beginning with the candidacy of Barry Goldwater in 1964, the Republican party shifted away from the Eastern seaboard millionaires, who at least had a pragmatic political interest in the public well-being. The party is now controlled by a new cadre of self-serving hyper-libertarians intent on disenfranchising people of color, dismantling all government programs they imagine are depleting the pocketbooks of the ultra-rich (that they serve and hope to become). And as a matter of course they are altering statutes, laws and restrictions that would impede their minority takeover of our government.

  In order to seize power, they claim to respect the Constitution, but they disregard it - or warp its interpretation to serve their ends. These destructive millionaires cum billionaires disguised as Republicans promote their own twisted version of a selfish libertarianism. In reality, their philosophy only benefits the few at the top. The tenets they promote - small government, lower taxes, increased individual freedom through removal of restrictive laws - are attractive to some naive individuals as "pie in the sky" but in application the result is utter devastation for all but the favored few who would control all methods for the production of wealth. And because the only path to a total dismantling of all restrictions blocking this unholy pursuit is through minority rule, they must resort to factual obfuscation, legal distortion and emotional appeal.

  So in today's America of 2020, one of the two major parties, the Democrats, would hold on to their individual positions of power by attracting voters through a promise of increased governmental benefits. The assumption implicit in their approach is that everyone would enjoy an improved quality of life with thoughtful government services. The Democrat's philosophy has a certain appeal to their unique demographics, and the opposition that has taken the Republican name but trashed its former philosophy appeals to another set of demographics that values individualism, and money in the pocket because it's not being given away to the "undeserving." Citizens expect their government to provide certain basic services, so the nurturing and building that would be provided by the Democrats egalitarian view has a broader intrinsic appeal than the stripping away of services that results from a neo-libertarian small government. Thus the "Republicans" have developed all manner of subterfuge to achieve their goals.

   They have been developing their playbook in a concentrated way for 75 years, since the inception of the John Birch Society. The American right uses some very specific issues to attract splinter demographics that don't see their needs specifically addressed by the Democrats. These include anti-abortionists, whites unhappy with integrated schools, and business owners bristling under laws that increase expense even though they protect consumers and workers. Add ranchers, developers and industries that would profit from the opening of federal lands, and removal of environmental restrictions, to name a few. The right also uses gerrymandering, selective voter suppression, control of the courts and excesses of corporate PAC money to influence elections. Regardless of the emotional popularity of their positions, the net result of a full implementation of these retrograde goals would be a great rolling back of beneficial policies, removing hard fought gains developed over a century and a half of effort. 

  The 2020 presidential election will decide whether our country leads the way toward saving our planet, and finally fulfilling the American dream. Or instead we turn our back on science, allow the continued ravages of the Covid virus in the name of "herd immunity" and witness piece by piece destruction of the participatory democracy that was nobly designed and given to us by our nation's founders. At the present time, a few swing states could determine the outcome of the election because of the arcane nature of America's election process. We don't elect the president by popular vote - the archaic "electoral college" determines the winner through a patchwork of differing state rules and census determined apportionment. The current constituency of the Republican party is the de facto heir apparent to the Confederacy, and reality TV "star" Donald Trump is the enabler-in-chief for the dark destructive forces that care nothing of the high ideals that motivated the American revolution and the authoring of our founding documents.

  If you, or someone you know is planning to vote for Donald Trump, or a Republican candidate for the House of Representatives or Senate - don't do it - and talk them out of it. This election is our last chance to save America from a hostile takeover of our democracy by corporate neo-fascists employing a plan they've been building for decades! We must turn them back now. If you're a lifelong Republican, please wake up, your party has been taken over by a libertarian coup. As appealing as the antics of Donald Trump might be, to them, he is only a fortunate, temporary aberration! The Koch Bros, the Cato Institute, the Heritage Institute, i360 and a host of other ultra-minority traitors to the true spirit of American democracy are using him, and they're conning you! This is the one year to make an exception to your rule. If you love America, vote Democratic now! Retake and rebuild your party later, develop a new conservatism that returns to classic values, like a balanced budget, the rights of the individual, a rational gun control and licensing program. Your party has been hijacked, and if you vote Republican this year you'll be voting for a nationalistic, racist minority that embodies principles the very opposite of the ideals our nation was founded on! 

   Flag-waving Trump supporters, I'm sorry. No one likes to be told they've been played! Trump's only appeal is emotional, and sadly, somewhat juvenile. You've given the middle finger to the Liberals for four years, now it's time to "stand back and stand by" in the name of democracy. Joe Biden is a loving, concerned individual, a lot closer to the middle of the road than the Democrats favorite socialist, Bernie Sanders. Trump is a fool and a tool, it's time for a leader. You've had your fun, now grow up and vote blue. The stakes are too high to continue middle finger politics. The damage the secret billionaires behind the curtain will do, if you allow them, will affect you in many unimagined ways, and a Republican vote this year will betray the founders of our country. Vote blue, if only just this once. Then take some time to re-read the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Check out the writings of Thomas Paine, look up the nature of the debates that led up to the Constitutional Congress. You can regroup for 2022, 2024, and reconstitute the Republican party policies in a way that doesn't require re-districting or voter suppression to win an election.

  Save your party, save your country, save your planet!

  It's important to vote blue this time around, thank you!