20 December 2024

I have been doing some research into earlier essays about what is happening to us now. Instead of just quoting from them I am presenting two from the end of 2021 for your inspection. I think they were good essays and have stood the test of time. I hope you think so. Happy Holidays!!

12/1/21

Nostalgia

~1220 words

Nostalgia is the pain or ache or longing for something "ours," principally something including home. The word is related to "nostrum," meaning "our-making" or "home-made." It is also related to the expression "cosa nostra," which means "our thing." Several of my readers are "nostalgic." They yearn for the stability of the solid past they knew very well, the arrangement of things and people, the tricks and methods they learned: how to tie one's shoes, how to open a can of soup, how to frug, how to do the twist, Chevy Bel Air, Olds 442, Eisenhower, Elvis, snowy Christmas scenes, sandy beaches, the security of neighborhood, the reverence for church and the nation's war casualties, a huge enemy far away, commies to hate, high school football, apple pies and fritters, less crime, fewer foreign people or of different, darker races, school principals and teachers, literally thousands, maybe millions of things and people who seemed to fit into a stable picture of the way things were and ... which changed, but only slowly.

These words: secure, solid, strong, steady, firm, sure, steadfast, level, unwavering, unvarying, unfaltering, unfluctuating, unswerving. established, long-lasting, long-lived, deep-rooted, well founded, well grounded, abiding, durable, enduring, lasting, constant, permanent, reliable, dependable, true. That list is copied from a Google search of the word "stable," which I misspell too often. There is no doubt that the vast majority of people hope for stability in their lives in order to be able to plan for education, career, retirement, but the news gives us jolts of instability on a daily basis. We learn that people in other countries do not play our football, eat apple pie, worship our god, drive big colorful automobiles, play red rover, marry the person they met in high school or college, know what kind of man Eisenhower was, or even depend on the kind of stability we believe to be essential. The last word in Googles list was "true." In effect all those things constituted reality and many things and events since are aberations, seemingly, sometimes, not "true."

Yesterday I encountered one of those lists of bad cities in America. Here is one such list, not the one I saw yesterday, but very similar. Yesterday's list had a lot of New Jersey cities and California cities (principally in Los Angeles County), but Michigan had a few and Louisiana and Missouri. That list mentioned that General Motors had closed cities' factories, so unemployment was high and devastating. Crime prospered in these places. New Jersey is the most densely populated state, while California has the largest population. The problem is not the masses of people, but the way we all construct the present, or allow it to be constructed, whenever it is.

A lot of the bad parts of old cities is the result of human behavior. My cousin Nick was told by his company that he would be moving his lightbulb factory to Puerto Rico. Instead, he quit. The company saw labor as a variable in the cost equation, not really as people willing to work—needing to work to live—and regarded everything around their factory and warehouses as "legal externalities," and had done so for many years—decades! Accordingly, they took no interest in the human beings, only the product and service. You have to wonder how accountants and senior managers get so detached from reality!

But, change happens! Changes sometimes pile up on one another, especially during and after wars. The US spent most of the 20th century at war. And, one of the things that wars produce are inventions useful in war, some of which are useful—repurposed—in civilian life: communications, cybernetics; transportation, etc. Each new thing brings in change. The globalization of commerce begun with Marco Polo (we suppose) took off after 1492 and then with gusto after WWII and the Vietnam War and was accelerated by advanced computing, AI, and ubiquitous communications—cell phones. The changes were such that instructions for using new devices in America were written by people who barely understood English, but worse yet, the devices were conceived and manufactured with ideas different from what we were used to. A button used to be a binary switch, now a button is "virtual" and it has one binary function and perhaps several multiple functions if you continue to press on it. I know a button that has at least two levels of continued pushing: 3 seconds and then 10 seconds. Drives me crazy.

But, I must contend with it. My "watch" tells time, day, date, steps, pulse, sleep, blood oxygen, blood pressure, and shows messages. It cost $30.00, was delivered to my door, less than 24 hours after I ordered it. I am good with this change. I now have a drawer of old watches. I watch movies and series on Netflix, but after probably two hours of fiddling two of us could not register on Apple TV, which is the great grandchild of iTunes, which was amazing not too long ago. My CRV tells me when I am diverging from my lane, when I am too close to another vehicle for my speed, my MPG, range, and stuff I have not discovered in the four years I have owned it. It drives me crazy.

Yet, I feel almost no nostalgia. I read lists of minute things from the past and think that it is good they are part of the past, but not part of tomorrow or the real future. I can hardly wait for human beings to land on Mars. I was told by a high-school counselor that being an astronaut interested in "space-medicine" was not going to happen. I am proud that my daughter can be an attorney at law or that her sisters can be astronauts or CEOs or astronomers or physicians or vice president! I did not know any colored people in my youth—only the janitor of our part of the apartment project. Since then I have dated a Black woman, a Chinese woman, a Russian Woman. My country is strong, leading the world financially—ours is the reserve currency for the entire planet—militarily our fleets and armies in being protecting at least a billion people who cannot reasonably protect themselves. I am a guy in the present, slightly confused by some new things, but seeing improvements all over the world and promise of much more to come ... and ... with lots of change.

There are millions who have not adjusted to things like I have. It has a lot to do with family, but also mobility and education and small-scale courage, all of which are available.

All of this affects my politics, too, of course. I will strongly resist the politics of nostalgia. We cannot restore the past we remember fondly or not. I think we should not want to restore it, even if it were possible. Believe me, it is not. The past was full of moral and legal errors. The present is now real and "out of the tube," and it is impossible to get it back in or erase it. There is one political party in American that dangles this prospect in front of those whose need for stability is greater than mine, but that is not what they are really selling. They are selling political exclusion, White supremacy, misogyny, paternalism, and simplistic authoritarian nostrums wrapped in nostalgia! Fuhgeddaboudit!

JB

(Society)

11/19/21

Reconstruction and Charlottesville

I have been working (as an historian) on the problem of "forgiving and forgetting" for a very long time. I have inserted and sometimes substituted the terms "learning" and "unlearning" into the equation with some success. Let me say, right now, that forgiving is not to be confused with forgetting, even with so-called deliberate forgetting.

All learning involves physical changes within the brain, the kindling of new pathways and, therefore, new "arrangements" among the new and the old matrices of neurons. I must leave aside for this essay that learning and memory does not take place in just one neuron or even one part of the brain, but instead involves old and new parts of the brain, lateralized parts, and process-specific parts like the amygdala, hippocampus, and those associated with motor and sensory function. So, in a word or two, learning is very complex and so is forgiving and forgetting and especially "unlearning."

"Unlearning" is in quotation marks to indicate, somewhat surprisingly, that the imagined symmetry (put in, take out) between unlearning and learning is probably meaningless. Given that learning is based in physical reality of the brain, unlearning would then also have to be a physical process, maybe something short of extirpation or destruction, but something sufficiently emphatic to "seal off or shunt past" the learned matrix as seamlessly as possible. In other words not a reversal of the learning process, but a repair, or detour, or cover-up.

To forgive is to rationalize an affront or injury toward insignificance to you as a person. It is a high order decision to stop thinking about and doing things that rekindle and, therefore, strengthen the matrix of physical neurons associated with the affront or injury. We say, "let it go, Jimmy, it is not worth your time and energy." Bullies depend on you not being able to "let it go."

Deliberate forgetting it is also a rational process which requires you to kindle detours, new neural pathways around the matrices of the affront or injury, a process that can—but does not require—that you involve a higher order "forgiveness" routine.

Non-deliberate forgetting is another story. I was very impressed by the two movies I saw ("Away From Her" and "The Notebook") each featured a marital partner regressing into Alzheimers. The stories included an emotional hurdle the unfortunate characters were unable to surmount. In sum, though, I would be willing to bet that most non-deliberate forgetting is either caused by a) physical deterioration of the brain tissue, or b) a completely sub-conscious but nevertheless "deliberate" forgetting process, or c) probably both. The sub-conscious (aka pre-conscious) is very smart and runs a lot of your daily events.

The other day I found on the web a quotable thought from Oprah Winfrey:— "Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could be [have been] any different." It is an important idea that pivots on the word "hope." Hope is the desire for something to happen, so it is person-positive, but not necessarily socially-positive. I think Oprah's using "be" instead of "have been" is an important error, and also probably the most common way of holding this idea, since it allows history to be read to suit the needs of the reader.

So, thank you for holding on to the title I have given this essay. I lived in Charlottesville eight months in each of four years while at the University. I know nothing much about the city, which has doubtlessly grown and improved over the intervening sixty some years. But, we all know that there is a civil trial taking place in Charlottesville right now, and it is nearing its conclusion. The defendants are White Nationalists, Fascists, Hitlerites, racists, ruffians, proto-KKK members, and the like. They are all destitute at the moment so the awards for damages they caused, if found guilty, will not act as balm for the aggrieved persons' injuries and harm. In fact, I believe the Kabuki of this trial will not assist anyone's brain to forgive the miscreants, found guilty or not, nor will they forget the rampage these people perpetratated on the city and my alma mater.

And, certainly the trial will not extirpate the grievances that motivate the perps and to which they cling like grim death, that is, the feckless, inconsistent, and often vindictive Reconstruction of the American South after the Civil War, as well as the responses to which resulted in the kindling of hatred, fear, and victimhood, learned from family, friends, neighbors, officials, schools, and dog-whistles galore statued all over the South. The war we are now IN was caused just like the aftermath of WWI caused WWII.

So what is the point? Is it Kabuki or judicial formality or what? I think that solace from a guilty verdict will be thin gruel, indeed. But, it will be fact, and maybe the fact that it is a public fact will give some heart to all of us. Heart may not be enough to avert what is coming next! But we do need courage!

The real problem is throbbing right next to each of us. I think we may have to inspect other cultures for what seems like their success in forgetting, if not entirely forgiving the past. Perhaps we must look in the other direction, too, perhaps to Russia, a country that was subjugated by the Mongols for nearly two hundred and fifty years—and most importantly with some of their own number complicit in that horror—then continuing when the Tatar Yoke was caste off. The horror is literally unforgettable and renewed by endless subjugation under authoritarian leaders.

The approach to a solution for Rusians and for us will be tortuous and what emerges at the most favorable outcome may not be anything we will would recognize today. Truthfully, I think that is the most likely thing. It's is just a matter of how badly we beat each other up along the way.

This general line of thought will continue in near-future postings. Stay tuned. Watch this space.

JB

(Society)

12 December 2024

I cannot bring myself to think of this period as business-as-usual. We have limited time to bring the nation to the understanding that nothing we expect to function to save our country will function. We have been assured and reassured that there will be no need for mid-term elections in 2026 or a presidential election in 2028. That means everyone's hopes to throw the bastards out at those times is utter fucking foolishness.

If the President can act with IMPUNITY and break the law day after day there is no rule of law. Period. Please let that sink in. If upstarts charge his minions with breaking the law, he will simply pardon them. Literally, all the mechanisms and traditions and processes for achieving free and fair governance will become a colossal joke. The joke is not funny. It is deadly serious. Those who conspire to destroy our federal government have no respect whatsoever for the nation that exists now and until January 20th.

The Constitution under which we expect to live until January 20, 2025, provides for an orderly process for amending, for evolving itself. It is the amendment process which has several modalities.

Article V

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

Under any "Rule of Law" worth discussing any attempt to change the form of government by other means is unlawful, and when mounted by a conspiracy of those intending to carry out changes by other than Constitutional means, is treason and punishable (often by death). If we let go of the current government and the rule of law, there is no way of recovering short of civil war. Passive disbelief is no excuse. It is aid and comfort to a lethal enemy.

Time is on the side of the conspiracy. The normal pace of government and civic activity must be paused to allow for sufficient time to be clear in our minds that the intention of the conspiracy was justified and ratified by the Presidential Election of 2024. Clearly it was not! WE have not given permission to Donald J. Trump to trample our freedoms and destroy our hard won national institutions, property, and associations.

JB

19 November 2024

You should listen to MSNBC "laying out the case" against the pre-inauguration "decisions" being made by President-Elect Donald Trump. It is a decision they have made that the Constitution, fragile as they have been saying for the past eight or more years, must be protected in normal ways, and perhaps silently saying it cannot survive. They are indicating that they are unwilling to recognize the actual enormity of the situation. "Preserve and Protect" are words in their vocabulary, but they think those actions must be prescribed, only useful if already written into the Law.

The MAGA Republicans and those other Republicans afraid of and bending to the will of them are planning out loud to literally destroy the federal government and replace it with a dictatorship, so as to be able to compete with other dictatorial regimes like China and Russia. Is there any reason to believe they are kidding? Who is going to stop them?

Do people kid about destroying a government, especially "fragile" governments? Well, the Constitutional Republic they want to destroy has the built-in right and duty to resist destruction, and it can. Every person who has taken the oath of office is required to protect and defend our Constitution and the government formed under its authority, which is the authority of We the People.

I recommend everyone read the Wikipedia entry online for Martial Law. It turns out that martial law and suspension of habeas corpus have been done 68 times for situations quite a bit much less existential than avowed destruction of the federal government. Given that the Attorney General Merrick Garland is a eunuch and incapable of finding law to support Protect and Defend, DoJ must be reserved for the aftermath. Martial law may be the only thing the Executive Branch has left.

President Biden can, but probably will not, order martial law. He is weak, tired, increasingly prone to rigid sets of his conservative jaw. He is out of touch with the essence of the threat against the government. He is an "institutionalist" in a unique situation ... LOST. Nothing could be worse. He could, should, and must resign. NOW! That would give Kamala Harris two spare months in which to right the ship of state.

Vice President Harris can order martial law. She has more at stake, of course, including getting to the bottom of the Elon Musk funding of the Trump campaign. It is likely that Musk literally bought many more than the margin of voters for Trump. The NYTimes is reported on MSNBC on November 18th to have reported a day earlier that the election results are razor thin, 250k votes over three states. As it stands at this moment six Electoral votes are in the wrong column. It is a moral duty to investigate that. In any case, she already has the solemn responsibility to the Constitution to preserve and protect it and the government it creates. She must act now!

Would the imposition of martial law cause a civil war? No one knows, but if Trump carries out the planned destruction —"burning to the ground"— of the federal government, there is no way to stop it once he has again taken the oath of office.1 In any case, civil war is possible, will be frightening, and will probably be very short. The number of armed MAGA troops is considerably fewer than those defending the nation.

"Preserve and Protect," as MSNBC mentions from time to time, and "fragile" as they mention often are the two concepts that tell us NOT to hand over the powers of the Presidency to a person publicly dedicated to the destruction of the government. But, there are many other reasons domestically, including the derangement of the economy and, thus, the probable collapse of the world financial system. But, in Ukraine, millions of lives depend on the US continuing unabated its policy that Ukraine is of a right a free and independent nation, sovereign, and fighting for its life and for democracy throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

This sounds strident, I know. But, this situation has never, ever occurred before. No one and yet everyone knows how easily Trump can destroy a century of American leadership and democratic ideals. Who among the ignorant are willing to take the chance they will figure it out in time to stop it? Martial law is the two-minute time-out ... a pause just to gather our resources and to act to save the country before it is too late. It will be too late if Trump is inaugurated.

JB

¹ One might wonder if the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will actually believe Trump's or Vance's oaths, given the out-loud declaration of destruction also coming from both mouths.

SPECIAL

15 November 2024

The Presidential Election of 2024 was corrupted by the richest man in the world who was —right before our bleary, hopeful eyes— asked by his candidate to take over the funding of his on-the-ground campaign during its last weeks. As you read this, the richest man in the world now has well over one-third of a trillion dollars, from his various enterprises in automobiles, space rockets, satellites, and many others. The richest man in the world paid voters not only to vote, but HOW to vote.

The election was fraudulent. Donald Trump is not the President-Elect.

People do not understand really big numbers and so they have assumed it would be impossible to coax so many people into voting for a candidate on a scale that would register as a sweep across the nation. But it is very much possible.

One percent of the richest man's pre-election-day money ($309 billion) is $30.9 billion. FYI, it increased by $20 billion on November 7th. By the time you get around to asking Google, his wealth will be over $350 billion.

How many times would $2000 of vote-producing, pocket change go into that 1% number? It goes 15.45 million times: that many votes. Big numbers!

So, it is unlikely that he had time or wherewithal to purchase the votes of 15.45 million voters directly. But he could easily get party bosses to pay party loyalists to distribute $2000 each to 15,450 million voters, or some combination of that, which does not exceed $30 billion by much! Cash is good for sticky fingers all along the way. Big numbers are weird; they are hard to imagine when you are not familiar with them. Remember, he recouped most of the money two days after the election, and his money machine keeps on going! He pulled it off against "the odds," against the "common sense" of millions of politically astute, but big-number innocent observers. He (they) bribed 15 million people in less than a month. That's the big secret!

And now the nation and her Fourth Estate passively squirm in the agony of seeing a mentally ill, socially malignant, pathological liar about to burn a 240 year old, very slowly evolving democracy to the ground ... just because he needs to assuage his self-loathed being and its twisted ego.

None whatsoever!

Moreover, this is not about Racine, Wisconsin, or Savannah, Georgia, or Flagstaff, Arizona! The entire world, has grown to depend for physical safety, freedom of conscience, and surety of finances on the USA. The world financial order is the paramount concern of us now. We could plunge into a world depression lasting centuries! The Roman Empire's expiry left Europe bereft for half a millennium. Is there anyone in Washington who wants that on their resume? Joe? Kamala? Blinken? Austin? Yellen? Jeffreys? Schumer? Off your butts! All your temporizing and your simplicity have finally come home to roost!

It is manifestly obvious and beyond a shadow of doubt that Donald J. Trump is literally not capable of being President of the United States under the Constitution. Neither is J.D.Vance. They must not be permitted to assume the offices to which a corrupted election seems to have elected them! The damage to the nation, but more importantly, THE WORLD ORDER, is too great to give them a chance to undertake the dismantling of our democratic republic and the lives of human beings across the world!

Those who voted for him were deluded into thinking they would get even with the system that failed them and allowed them to fail themselves. The insults to the intelligence of the vast majority of the country already in plain view are a sufficient and urgent casus belli against them.

The sitting President must declare martial law and completely remove from society the perpetrators of this assault on civilization!

JB

SPECIAL