May 21, 2021

From May 4 to 17th we left Hawai'i for Temecula, Las Vegas, Zion, Valley of Fire and San Diego. Over one year social isolating, eating take outs and cooking at home, and wearing masks. Now vaccinated with our country hopefully on the mend we ate out, congregated with some crowds such as in the Bellagio and Area 51 in Las Vegas and socialized with friends and family. The hikes were beautiful after we found places to go in Zion out of the valley since we could not get on the bus system due to crowds.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/leonardsjacobs/albums/72157719279157645

I'm a quarter way into a book Life's Edge The Search For What It Means to Be Alive by Carl Zimmer. It's very revealing with some historical snippets that today are somewhat humorous. ie in the 1800's because some people who were pronounced dead recieved a bell attached to a string in the coffin that was placed to alert people to disinter the person if they were buried by mistake. The definition of being alive or dead now has become less certain in some cases of humans and even less so with other organisms since some can be revived after centuries of being dried like dust. Likewise, the definition of life and intelligence is being explored in one celled organisms such as slime mold which can navigate a maze to get nutrition from two sources for its protein and carbohydrate needs. Before this book I read Drifts by Kate Zambreno which reads like a diary of an unhappy struggling author who become pregnant. It reveals here everyday issues of living in New York, worrying about finances, observing odd neighbors, and relieving her frustrations through masturbation. 

On my trip an old friend now very disabled with physical and mental health issues wrote an email describing how discouraged he was with living with his pain, eye sight problems, hearing problems, arthritis of his feet, peripheral neuropathy, and anxiety, anger, and severe depression. He gave a list of all the doctors, treatment, medications, etc. he was involved with and wrote he decided to stop all prescribed medications since he had no faith in them. After a brief email while on the mainland, I called him and he told me he was doing much better with water therapy and had future plans to relocate to his home on the mainland with his partner. He declined my offers to meet, walk in a botanical garden or just hang out. The next day he sends me an email of recycled anti immigrant and anti non american culture propaganda that just burned me so I responded with the following. First here's the article he wanted me to read.

 Make up your own mind regarding the presentation below.Victor David Hansen and Richard Lamm are warning of armageddon.We know Dick Lamm as governor of Colorado. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Recently there was an immigration overpopulation conference in Washington DC., filled to capacity by many of America's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor [and farmer] by the name of Victor Davis Hanson talked about his latest book, Mexifornia, explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal - was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would soon march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of the American dream. Moments later, former Colorado governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the united states. He said, "if you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'an autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.' "here is how they do it," Lamm said:"first, to destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bi-cultural country. History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures it is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, seymour lipset, put it this way: 'the histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy.' Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion france faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, Corsicans and Muslims.'Lamm went on:  "second, to destroy America, invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. Make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal; that there are no cultural differences. Make it an article of faith that the black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds."third, we could make the united states a 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin schwa said in the Atlantic monthly recently: 'the apparent success of our own multi-ethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.' Lamm said, "i would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."fourth, i would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, un-assimilated, under-educated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school. and growing. "my fifth point for destroying america would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and i would establish the cult of 'victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority."my sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precept. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. 'e. Pluribus unum' -- from many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of the 'unum,' we will 'balkanize' America as surely as Kosovo."next to last, i would place all subjects off limits. Make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bi-cultural country, having established multi-culturalism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'victimology,' i would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: that because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them." In the last minute of his speech, governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally, he said, "last, i would censor victor Davis Hanson's book Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy america. Unless you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate "diversity." American jobs are vanishing into the third world as corporations create a third world in America - take note of California and other states. To date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book, 1984. In that story, three slogans are engraved in the ministry of truth building: "war is peace," "freedom is slavery," and "ignorance is strength." Governor amm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a california wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially the American dream.If you care for and love our country as I do, take the time to pass this on just as i did for you. Nothing to counteract this is going to happen if you don't!

Here's my reply.

   "Wow!  you are wedded to prejudice and racism! From Sweden your parents came and gave birth to two children who achieved the American dream. You have told me how you admire the Swedish culture and your relatives in Sweden and not long ago you shared with me your prejudiced views of Somalian immigrants ruining the Swedish culture! You like to talk in Swedish language and admire its culture.  I of course responded with factual information refuting your emailed rant. Immigrant people who are less educated and live in poverty in their host country are prone to have all the problems of a poor uneducated group of people. It's their living circumstances and history of discrimination and trauma that make thier adjustment very difficult so let's help them rather than label them.  Now you quote some people who rant about Mexican and South American groups who don't want to learn English and have loyalty to their country of origin (similar to your interests in Sweden?). The conclusion is that these groups are ruining the wonderful country of U.S.A. and leading to its downfall. Well, I'm sure of one thing: you don't like diversity and immigration. My reading of our evolution and history leads me to conclude that immigration, migration, invasions, and cultural domination with suppression of minorities is our human history from our ancient migrations from Africa to today. The Conquistadors came to supplant a cruel hierarchy of domination by indigenous people to a crueler oppression and exploitation of peoples and environment to this day. Marie Arana wrote a great book describing these events in Silver, Sword, and Stone in which she describes how Europe and U.S.A. exploited Central and South America exporting the minerals and agricultural wealth leaving the dregs to the poor. U.S.A. helped create and perpetuate a system of exploitation so we are wealthier than our neighbors. Who can blame their hope for a better future by coming to the U.S.A. like your parents and my father's parents (and father who was an infant when coming)! Of course, our immigration policies should receive some attention.   Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares (A Memoir) by Aarti Namdev Shahan is a very well written book that describes how our policies create second class workers in our country who are denied what your parents and my parents got; a chance to have a better life! Our constitution and Bill of Rights purports to give all peoples who are citizens of the U.S.A. basic rights to pursue their lives without prejudice. This rant you want us to read wants to abolish these rights by sowing hate and prejudice. Look at Biden's cabinet picks for a different view. A diversity of ethnicities and backgrounds including minority sexual orientation. Biden got these outstanding people simply by looking for the best qualified but wanting diversity in his cabinet to find solutions to our many problems. Would you rather have a different president who will give us just white conformists who will attempt to stifle and take away voting rights from minorities and people of color? 

Oh well! I am aware that you are impaired with your medical handicaps and depression. Your recent email of despair was heart felt by me and we had a nice chat today on the phone.  Since you recycle prejudice and biased viewpoints I give you the benefit of the doubt since you did not write the recycled email. But falling for the suggestion that you pass the email along is wrong. Stop It! 
Leonard"
Since this decade old talk by Lamm here’s a well written rejoinder to this recycled post. It’s not long but deserves consideration in my view.
Leonard 


If we read a narrative that explains our unhappiness and suggests solutions that will bring us closer to our nostalgic longing for safety and companionship we can accept the narrative without questioning its factual errors and logical inconsistencies. Coming from a more liberal viewpoint and exposed to debate tactics (when in college I was in the debate club)  my viewpoints will fall on deaf ears with those who want the narrative to be true. Stop immigration policies that allow freedom of expression, inculcate the American white culture into the immigrants family and their educational lives, and be suspicious of their intentions which requires policing before it's too late! 

Well, onto another subject that I've been thinking about. 
Bureaucracy describes how government functions to carry out its duties through hiring people and managing the work through supervision. Max Weber the father of the study of bureaucracy wrote that  "
that bureaucracy constitutes the most efficient and rational way in which human activity can be organized and that systematic processes and organized hierarchies are necessary to maintain order, to maximize efficiency, and to eliminate favoritism. On the other hand, Weber also saw unfettered bureaucracy as a threat to individual freedom, with the potential of trapping individuals in an impersonal "iron cage" of rule-based, rational control.[10][11] (Wikepedoedia) 

I agree that there is a good argument that many government programs are inefficient. Workers may be given poor management, oversight, and training and some workers are ill suited for their position or may be incompetent and even detrimental to the goals and functioning of the program. Rules requiring redress and supervision may be arcane and therefore dead wood accumulates without solutions so poor morale and burnout occur. However, without clear rules and boundaries graft. bribery, and other criminal activities occur. The libertarian point of view looks at these factors with the bias that bureaucracy should be at the minimum. We can not due away with bureaucracy. We can better manage it but styles of leadership and approaches for management vary some with promise but hard data on leadership styles and management is still lacking. Even if we had more direction in management new political administrations may gut programs or so hobble them because of political considerations that discount rational management. 

On our return from the mainland we met a man who retired from a bureaucratic job where he was an inspector from the government to various businesses. He was glad to now be retired mainly saying that he was now away from some workers that made his job more stressful. So we’re faced with working with some people we do not relate to and may be toxic to us. Since we can not dissolve government and bureaucracy better to study and try solutions to the inefficiencies given that politics may rule the day.

Leonard




This 1885 cartoon reflects the disappointment of office seekers who were turned away from bureaucratic positions they believed their political commitments had earned them. It was published just as the U.S. bureaucracy was being transformed from the spoils system to the merit system primarily in use today.








Comments

Popular posts from this blog