It’s harvest time!!!

The seasons are changing, and many fruits and vegetables are now being harvested.  I do believe it’s also time to harvest the nuts (both real and people).  We’ve now moved into fall and the general election season.

What does this harvest of nuts entail?  There are the signs popping up everywhere (although their growth does seem to be stunted this year, but the early crop was good), as well as sounds galore (TV and radio ads – not too many so far, but it’s a little early so I have no doubt this will increase as we move further along in the election season).  But the animal voices indicative of the change in season really seems to be picking up. 

     Why do I call them nuts?  It is because all they do is try to convince me (the general me, not the specific me) not to vote for someone.  I have not seen or heard anything telling me who to vote for in a positive sense.  Even if there’s a ‘you should vote for (Romney/Obama/Ron Paul/whoever) because…..(wait for it)……the others are (Mormon/Muslim/socialist/evil rich person/fruitcake).  Really?  That’s supposed to convince me who to vote for?  If I use those arguments and believe them as to why I shouldn’t vote for that person.  Then the only logical conclusion I can draw is not to vote for anyone.

     It seems more and more this is what modern politics is about.  I want to put a challenge out there:  is there someone who can tell me why I should vote FOR someone without using a negative argument about someone else?

     I have to admit there are some times I wish politics would go away.  If there were no such thing as politics, I think our lives would be SO much better.  Then again, maybe we have to deal with the (seemingly) annual harvest of of nuts.  At least for now.

I love lemonade

Many times, adversity gives us an opportunity for growth. Recent events in my household have provided a healthy dose of adversity. The number of operating vehicles in my family has shrunk from two to one, as our family van is having mechanical issues. The one remaining working vehicle cannot safely hold the entire family, so going anywhere as a group requires significant logistical planning. We also ‘lost’ a computer (hard drive issues) so our school and personal computer schedules required adjustment as well. Hopefully these adjustments are temporary, but resolving them requires money, which a family on a budget does not have a lot of. However, I have been able to pull out a couple of positives from this situation and would like to give you my thoughts.

First, I discovered I don’t need to be on the computer as much as I was before the other computer went down. Of course, we justify our time on the computer, but is what I’m doing really important? When you have to justify what you’re doing and when you’re doing it, not only to yourself but to others around you, the reality of whether or not you’re making the best use of your time gives you clarity in what your priorities are.

Think about how much of your computer time is spent doing something ‘mindless’. Whether it’s flipping through emails, Facebook, blogs (am I cutting off my own nose to spite my face?), or playing games. There are other uses of your time that can exercise your body and/or mind (reading a book, taking a walk, you get the idea). The end result is you will be energized and ultimately feel better about yourself and others.

Second, I have ‘rediscovered’ reading.  Those who knew me growing up can remember how much I enjoyed reading (slipping a reading book inside of a school textbook – who needs to learn?).  Life, and other entertainments (to include computers) took my reading time away. I can read things on a computer as well as a book, but there is something different, and even magical, when you sit and read a book (either physical or on a Nook/Kindle).

I think part of it is the ‘quiet’ that comes when you are reading. The stillness allows your soul to be quiet. This is often missing when you are clicking or scanning through emails, web pages, or blogs. Also the colors involved in web pages are designed to catch the eye, which stimulates the brain. The simple, calming colors of paper and ink in books give a calming effect.

The bottom line for all this? Just as the old adage says ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’, when life jolts you out of your comfort zone, use it as an opportunity for positive change in your life.

I do believe ‘the inmates run the asylum’

I am doing my best to ‘disengage’ from the more partisan elements of politics and try to be balanced in my ideas and concepts. This is a rather difficult proposition right now, as the partisans are filling the airwaves and websites with their opinions and vitriol. Sifting through the rhetoric is a much more daunting task. I don’t doubt the fact this is an election year is exacerbating the situation.

All of this anger and frustration tends to beg the question, why are so many Americans so focused on positions and ideas which are on the the extremes of the spectrum? When I think about this, I tend to believe this reflects our society’s general displeasure and/or dissatisfaction with our government. One of the books I have on my shelf is ‘How Democratic is the American Constitution?’ by Robert Dahl. Part of the book relates a survey conducted in eleven European democratic countries in 1990. They matched the answers to questions regarding satisfaction with their government to whether they voted for the ‘winning’ or ‘losing’ parties in the previous election. What the researchers found was in countries where the system was more ‘consensual’ (Holland was an example of this), the ‘losers’ were almost as satisfied with the government as the ‘winners’  (within 5%). Countries where the system was more ‘majoritarian’ (England’s government fits this), ‘winners’ were far more satisfied with the government than ‘losers’.

What does this tell me? Dahl’s book claims the U.S. system is a ‘hybrid’ (neither consensual nor majoritarian). This may be true from a political scientist’s point of view.  However, people in this country perceive there are political parties that ‘win’ and those that ‘lose’ and there are consequences of those elections.  Also, there has been (at least in perception, although it may not be reality) a continuing trend of political parties not wanting to ‘reach across the aisle’ in order to enact legislation or policy. The goal (stated or otherwise) of the political parties today is to obtain and retain the majority.  With that as the goal, the situation quickly devolves into an ‘ends justify the means’ situation where people will say and do anything to achieve their goal. Power, not what is best for everyone, is now the goal. Our sensibilities (and sensitivities) are assaulted as the parties and their faithful ‘go for broke’ in an effort to obtain power. It is obvious to me that they believe in ‘the other golden rule’ (not ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’, it’s ‘whoever has the gold [in this case power equals gold] makes the rules).

I am sure when the election’s over, there will be a great wailing and gnashing of teeth, no matter who ‘wins’ (and I’m not sure an electoral victory really equals a ‘win’) complete with threats of moving to another country for asylum.  Somehow, I think we will survive no matter who is in office.  We will just get the government we justly deserve.

Squirrel!!!! Rabbit!!!!! Chicken!!!!!

 

(Note:  This is something I worked on a little while ago, but my points are still valid)

     I watched, with just a little amusement, the whole issue with Chick-fil-a over the last couple of weeks.  To me, this was one person who isn’t in government or running for office expressing his opinion.  I looked at the plethora of opinions floating around the internet and the phrase ‘opinions are like belly buttons, everybody has one’ ran through my head.  I am not going to add my opinion on the issue of same-sex marriage to those already out there.  My reasoning for doing that are:  1) It isn’t relevant to what I want to talk about.  And 2) it would distract from the points I want to make.

     My thoughts boil down down to two points:  1) All the talking and ranting about the Chick-fil-a ‘incident’ (for lack of a better term), both pro and con, gave them free publicity.  2) This discussion about a fast food restaurant and the personal views of it’s president distracted people from issues truly deserving of our focus.

     There is a saying, primarily in business and advertising circles, ‘there is no such thing as bad publicity’.  If you look at this from that perspective, the net effect was:  people who had no idea that Chick-fil-a existed now do.  Any of those people who chose to patronize them as a result of this probably made up for anyone who stopped.  Look at the different celebrities who ate there in support of the company president, additionally, look at what the sales were for ‘Chick-fil-a appreciation day’.  On the surface, it looks like a net positive for the company.  Now, if I were the kind of person who believed in conspiracy theories, I might think the whipping up of this furor was deliberate in order to improve their bottom line.  Looking at this whole situation in that way, you could say the company was ‘crazy like a fox’.  A conspiracy like that is extremely difficult to prove without rock-solid evidence, so I leave the idea to the realm of conspiracy theories.

     The second point I mentioned above is the more important one in my opinion.  This country has issues to resolve, especially in an election year.  The country is still trying to recover from a recent economic downturn, and there are governmental issues needing attention and discussion.  Instead, we spent our time and energy discussing whether or not Chick-fil-a should be banned, protested, or supported.  The net result, in my opinion, was valuable time and energy that could be better used discussing and dealing with the issues this country faces and how the government and/or the people can deal with them was wasted.  Is same-sex marriage an issue?  We only need to look at the furor this one statement raised to conclude it is. If the discussion focused on federal, state, and local laws and educating each other to our perspective, it would have been more profitable.  If you want to hurt a business owner for their ‘less than intelligent’ statements?  Just don’t do business there.  And be clear when speaking to others about why you won’t do business there.  We as a country cannot hope to resolve the economic issues of this country if we keep losing our focus like a dog chasing squirrels and rabbits.

I Think I Got Off the Merry Go Round….And I Feel Fine

 

(Image credit artofmanliness.com)

     Well, life got in the way again.  One of these times, I’m going to get life to not interfere when I start thinking ‘I haven’t blogged in a while, I should get back to that’.  I did have an idea or two I kicked around, but by the time I could have posted them, they no longer seemed relevant.  Maybe I’ll post them anyway and put a little disclaimer at the beginning.  Yeah, that’ll fix it.

     So, we are now hot and heavy into the political season.  The national conventions are occurring, complete with candidates and speeches.  Not sure there’s a whole lot of substance there (choose your favorite cliché – all flash no heat, no ‘there’ there, or any others I’ve missed).  I was talking with my father the other night and he asked if I had been following the convention.  I had to think a minute before I said something about just catching the highlights.  Afterward, I began to think about how little I had been involved in following the political process this year.  Part of it has to do with what I discussed here.  As far as I’m concerned, the end is known, the drama is going on for the sake of the play itself.

       I’ve been working my way through a rather interesting book this summer.  The theme is how the colonists weren’t following God’s laws when they rebelled against England.  I cannot say I agree with everything the author was saying, but there are a number of points where we do agree.  A particularly interesting section of the book contained a quote from John Wesley.  Wesley was confronting the colonists on their claims of ‘no taxation without representation’, among other things.  Here is the quote:

‘If Parliament cannot tax you because you have no representation therein, for the same reason it can make no laws to bind you.  If a freeman cannot be taxed without his consent, neither can he be punished without it.  For whatever holds true with regard to taxation holds true with regard to all other laws.  Therefore he who denies the English Parliament the power of taxation, denies it the right of making any laws at all.  But you have never disputed this power over the colonies.  You have always acknowledged statues for the punishment of offences and for the preventing or redressing of civil wrongs.  And the reception of any law draws after it by a chain which cannot be broken, the necessity of accepting taxation.

But I object to the very foundation of you plea.  You have confidently asserted that “every freeman is governed [only] by laws to which he has consented.”  But that is absolutely false.  In wide-extended dominions, a very small part of the people are involved with making laws.  As with all public business, this must be done by delegation, and the delegates are chosen by a select number.  And those who are not voters, who are by far the greater part, stand by as idle spectators.

But the case of voters is little better.  When they are near equally divided, almost half of them must be governed, by not only without, but even against their own consent.  And how has any man consented to those laws which were made before he was born?  Our consent to these, nay and even to the laws now made in England, is purely passive.  And in every place, as all men are born the subjects of some state or another, so they are born passively, as it were, consenting to the laws of that state.’ (italics mine).

     I think, in this highly contentious political season, we would be well served to keep in mind Wesley’s comment about voters.  Somewhere, whether national, state, or local, a political majority is not what we chose and is governing against our consent.  There is nothing wrong with trying to get your particular candidate or number of people in the party you prefer elected.  But treating elections like an all-or-nothing proposition is a prescription for disaster.

     Personally, I am more than willing to let the political process (I’d call it Kabuki Theater, but I don’t want to insult Kabuki) go through its’ motions and let the chips fall where they may.  No matter which party wins the race, I still have my responsibilities to take care of.  That is where my focus is going to be.  I will be educated of course before I put my ballot in the mail (we do all-mail voting here), but I find myself a much better person when I’m not dealing so much in the minutiae.