June 3, 2023

Today Saturday June 3 Rebecca and I walked to Pele's Chair a volcanic outcropping by Makapuu Lighthouse. We went along the shoreline and ate lunch up at Pele's Chair then walked back along an old trail now overgrown with mostly tall grass obscuring the trail.

The way to this hike Rebecca noticed a older restored wood paneled car with an elderly driver who looked intense almost like he was scowling. Rebecca also opined that she thought he was a very right wing loyal Trump supporter. Being a Trump supporter to us is strongly suggesting that the person may be somewhat unhinged probably supporting conspiracy theories and most likely unavailable to reason and conversations that allow other points of view. After all the Trump supporter believes that since Trump claims he won the last election, and he rallied supporters to invade the capital while the last election was being certified by congress declaring the winner Biden, that these invaders were patriots. Though the congress has shown through a thorough investigation that the results of this last presidential election was won by Biden and Trump and his supporters were reporting false information about the election, Trump supporters including elected officials were rallying around a husker and sore loser. So I've begun this blog marveling at the hutzpah of our human species reveling in fantasy and paranoid delusional thinking which includes acting on these beliefs with murderous intent at times. For example, we know that some of the mass murderers, using assault rifles did so intent on killing since white Caucasian people were being displaced, their privileges' of the upper caste in delusional thinking were in jeopardy, they were being pushed aside by lower caste people of color. Our mass killing frequency is mushrooming with numerous instances of mayhem, killing, and social disruption perpetrated by unhinged people who easily have access to assault rifles.

Our history in the United States has recorded similar incidents of mass murders over racial animus and exclusionary hatred. Peter Turchin and his research group have studied civil discord and the erosion of trust in our democratic way of life. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/12/can-history-predict-future/616993/Popular immiseration occurs when broad swaths of the people in the society decline. The other factor his group highlight is the problems attendant on the elite of a society not having room for more spaces to satisfy their ambitions. Currently the wealthier have become more wealthy while the income and wages of the median family has stagnated. He points out that we are over producing graduates with advanced degrees who are competing for fewer positions so this competition has corroded the social norms and institutions that govern society. He gives some data to highlight these issues. In 1983 66,000 U.S. households were worth at least $10 million dollars. By 2019 this figure has increased ten fold while the number of households worth $5 million dollars or more has increased sevenfold, and the number of millionaires four fold. Studying the wage earners during similar periods reveals significant economic pain. By 2010 the relative wages (wages divided by GDP per capita) of unskilled workers nearly halved compared to the 1950s. For 64% of people without a college degree wages have shrunk significantly while owning a home and having the money for children to attend college have become much harder to attain. Those with a college degree currently are seeking advanced degrees so now degree holders may find it very difficult to work in their degree field earning more money. Political careers also have become increasingly competitive. So the rich are becoming richer and the less fortunate are falling behind in wealth. History shows us similar periods in our history. With these factors present in the past riots with destruction of property and death occurred with the poorer and disenfranchised in conflict and the elites using political, economic, and police actions to hold onto power. The history and ramifications of this conflict is explored in the article from Atlantic Magazine https://apple.news/Ashvuxi_QSQG1aUiFDdjcoQ Mathew Desmond in his book Poverty in America strongly makes the point that poverty in America over 50 million people exists because our culture benefits the wealthier by having the poor! His book describes how the poor are paying more for rent in often substandard housing, often face barriers when applying for a mortgage through their monthly payments would be less as an owner, and face exorbitant charges for cashing their paychecks due to banks excluding them. We could eliminate poverty but then the more elite will have less wealth for example.

In the news and concerning for most Americans was our political negotiations between the Republican majority House of Representatives and President Biden over the federal budget and debt limit. With three days to go with an impending default on our federal debt and payments for federal programs in jeopardy of not paying for federal staff and benefits to recipients finally an agreement was negotiated for two more years. My news sources describe how some of the Republicans in the House of Representatives wanted to have the United States default on the debt unless they got the Democrats to agree to dismantle all the legislation that was passed to help rebuild the infrastructure, support cleaner energy, and improve Internal Revenue Service ability to collect taxes from the wealthy. Our democracy depends on our legislatures both federal and state to represent the people it serves but instead I'm experiencing anxiety since there are efforts to favor the elite and certain religious groups and exclude other groups with minority sexual orientation and immigrant backgrounds from participating actively in our civil society. Our Supreme Court has come up with rulings that further undermine our democracy while some of the justices seem to be now are using their influence for personal gain.

I will now exit from these subjects since our journey today brings me to other topics.

Sigmund Freud the founder of psychoanalysis co-authored a book concerning the analysis of President Woodrow Wilson. Freud's daughter Anna Freud attempted to suppress the publication since Freud had admonished his followers previously not to attempt to analyze and publish their findings of public figures they never interviewed. William Bullitt the coauthor held various post in the United States government and assisted Freud in escaping from Austria from Nazi capture. The convoluted history of their relationship and Wilson's role in history is partly explored in an article in the Smithsonian Magazine https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-drove-sigmund-freud-write-scandalous-biography-woodrow-wilson-180970042/. Wilson had understood that once Germany was defeated to terminated WWI the allies should not hamper Germany's economic future but Wilson became sick with probably a stroke and agreed to very harsh surrender terms which resulted in the U.S.A. not ratifying the surrender treaty. The terms of surrender with reparations severely hobbled Germany leading to the rise of Hitler subsequent genocide, war, attempted conquest, and the allied victory of WWII. Would this history be different without a WWII if Wilson did not have a stroke? Maybe so I'm struck with how history could change dramatically dependent on one person! Just think how our future might change if Trump prevails and is elected.

The COVID epidemic disrupted social cohesion, education, jobs, entertainment, and normal social intercourse. Government health safety rules required mask requirements, quota standards for businesses, and travel restrictions. In retrospect, many of the rules were unnecessarily restrictive and arbitrary. Rule breaking behaviors increased while skepticism increased. Various homeopathic preventive measures were suggested some very outlandish. Science, medical advice, and suggestions of authority figures were increasingly questioned and even ignored. Conspiracy paranoid delusional beliefs increased in their acceptance by some rabid fanatical adherents. News reported by certain media outlets became fake, made up, and very biased. The FOX news outlet endorsed Trump's allegations of voting machine tampering and other outlandish claims resulting in a recent admission of culpability awarding 787 million dollars to Dominion Voting System. The pandemic aggravated our social polarization. My blog reviewing the Constitution of Knowledge delves into these issues with some effort to encourage us to be skeptical, questioning, open to being wrong, and scientific in our efforts to find the truth.

Anton Rubenstein wrote Melody in F a piano piece I'm learning to play. Complicated yet simple in exploring chords and rhythm that is transporting. When I play it I get pleasure and challenges to make music meaningful. I just finished the three volume series Arc of Scythe by Neal Shusterman. Reading a science fiction novel in which artificial intelligence has improved human existence so diseases are no longer a worry, death can be overcome through revival centers, work is optional, and our planet can sustain an increased population without pollution. However, procreation continues so overpopulation is a potential problem. The Scythe group of humans is charged with culling. The AI had attempted to colonize the moon and other places but explosions under questionable circumstances occurred preventing further forays into space. The AI is forbidden to communicate with anyone Scythe and others and not eavesdrop as it does with others. The Scythe being special charged with killing others initially had a strict training and ethics to respect the humans they culled but as time went on some of the Scythes felt very entitled, privileged, and elite wanting more power with a very evil would be monarch. The reader must accept that the AI is benevolent but is hamstrung in intervening against the power hungry errant Scythe. How this series of books concludes is satisfying to me worth the read though the science fiction requires the reader to accept the magic of the AI's benefits.

I had never heard of Sister of Perpetual Indulgence before the controversy over their participation in the Los Angeles Dodgers' pride awards. Here’s as article that is chock full of points for discussion. LGBQ +, Disney, and Florida’s governor comes to mind. Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is an organization “The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence, is a charity, protest, and street performance organization that uses drag and religious imagery to satirize issues of sex, gender, and morality and fundraise for charity. Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisters_of_Perpetual_Indulgence)” and has been invited, disinvited, and invited again to a baseball event. The participants include men in drag inviting others to wear nuns clothing and welcome sexually diverse lifestyles openly lampooning certain Christian beliefs. I need not remind us of the Catholic and Christian male pastor revelations of sexual predatory (including pedophilia) behaviors and the more fundamentalist tenets that view homosexuality as a mortal sin (yes I know I should have also included orthodox Jewish faith, Muslim faith, Mormon faith, etc.). Is it disrespectful to lampoon a religion’s principles that in practice discriminate and harm the lampooners' lifestyle and safety? Is the former vice president Pence correct in calling this group a stain against his religion and requesting others to shun them while he’s reported to announce his candidacy for president? On a related subject, did you recall the controversy in Canada when the graves of Native American children were unearthed and the history of abuse, neglect, and caste racism was in the news. The pope came and sort of apologized. He said the church “schools” or prisons which were provided and mostly run by nuns were only caring out lawful mandates of the government (sorry but didn’t the church encourage their parishioners to support these mandates?).

Sorry I apologize to myself for looking at the current events highlighting hubris and irrational rhetoric. Maybe I should go back to Melody in F, listen to Bob Dylan and appreciate our heritage from the Castro district with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

Leonard