#454 – Dick Bernard: My Contribution to the Peace and Justice Community

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Message to the assorted groups that make up the Peace and Justice community (of which I am a part): this is a time of opportunity to convey your message; but it is long past time to change tactics and strategies. Public attitudes have changed pretty dramatically, but our approach has not. We need to act on this.

Today, I attended the demonstration marking the 10th anniversary of the bombing of Afghanistan in October, 2001. A small contingent of demonstrators on diverse issues got an enthusiastic response from motorists on the very busy Lake Street near the light rail station at Hiawatha. The speakers were the usual. I passed on joining the short walk to South High School for the rally [UPDATE Oct 18: Here’s a three minute segment from the rally at South High].
I was glad I went to the demo. (click on photos to enlarge)
(Attendance at this demonstration might have been smaller than expected due to another Occupy Wall Street demonstration in downtown Minneapolis perhaps four miles away.)

Lake Street, Minneapolis MN October 15, 2011



Today’s demo reminded me of the first demonstration I participated in after 9-11. Quite likely it was on October 15, 2001, one week after we commenced the bombing of Afghanistan, with overwhelming support of the American people Afghanistan Oct 7 2001001. As the article shows, 94% of us were quite okay with this violent response, though within that 94% were many varying attitudes about the how’s or why’s of that bombing.
I was in the 6%.
I simply could not see any long term benefit arising from the bombing. It was a lonely spot to be in at the time. But only one of 20 Americans agreed with me.
Ten years ago I wasn’t directly involved in the peace and justice movement in any way. That October day in 2001 I heard about an early evening vigil on the steps of the Minnesota Capitol and wandered over there. The crowd was roughly the same size as today’s. I don’t recall seeing or hearing anyone I knew. Nor do I remember any of the messages, except for the raucous gaggle across the street who were bomb-the-hell-out-of-’em-get-revenge-now-bunch, brandishing flags like weapons, trying to shout out the speakers on the steps. Their ranks included young children. I was to see a lot of those angry-as-hell folks the next few years.
I came home and got actively involved in the Peace and Justice movement.
These days I’m more involved than ever, but chances are many of those activists across the street from where I took today’s photos think I’m a deserter.
Hardly.
These are insane times. Our worship of war and the war economy, along with greed, is killing us. We desperately need to retool: exactly the opposite of going from a peace to war economy in WWII, but with the same positive results: jobs, jobs, jobs; but fewer of the negative: deaths, deaths, deaths. But we don’t seem to be paying attention. Change is very hard….

But I’m not sure that demonstrations like today’s are a good use of valuable resources in bringing about change: our resources are much better spent in engaging with the public.
Today there were no anti, anti-war folks along that Minneapolis street. There were lots of honking cars.
Any survey worthy of the title today will support the idea that Americans are very tired of war. The October, 2001, attitude is long gone. The worry is about survival in this mean economy.
Standing nearby me today was Barry Riesch, Vietnam vet 1969, and a man I greatly admire. He has made Memorial Day and Armistice (Veterans) Day very special for many years. At the demonstration, I matched his sign with my Veterans for Peace cap – I’m a member of Vets for Peace. The cap which goes with me everywhere in my car.

Barry Riesch, Minneapolis, October 15, 2011


Barry and I know each other, though not well, and he had recently been to demonstrations in Washington DC on the issue of war. He’s been a guest columnist on this blog.
I sensed that he generally agrees with me that the Peace and Justice movements need to get much more involved in true dialogue with those who are searching for ways to become engaged, but are either tired or or not ready to go stand on street corners.
This is a time to personally engage with these uncertain folks who don’t like the status quo but are not ready to get rid of the military or whatever else idealists would want to have happen.
Earlier this summer I attended another demonstration in the rotunda of the state capitol in St. Paul, and made some observations about that group which I feel directly apply to all of us. The blog post is here. The specific comment is this: “I am of the belief that the only effective way for ordinary people – people like myself – to have an impact is one person, one contact at a time. We are so overwhelmed with “information” that there is little left to learn. If we’re going to survive as a society, we need to talk with, even debate, each other, and really listen to other points of view. It isn’t easy – those people standing in a circle yesterday, to have effect, need to turn around and act outwards towards people outside the Capitol rotunda. The only way to do this is to practice honing the skill, be it letters to the editor, standing up in a small or large meeting, giving a presentation, etc….”
As the group marched west on Lake Street yesterday (below photo), I would hope that they are marching into more direct public engagement and true dialogue.
Without such public engagement, there is little hope.

Marching down Lake Street, October 15, 2011

#453 – Dick Bernard: Occupy Wall Street

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As I write, October 13, the Occupy Wall Street initiative seems to be gaining momentum.
Two weeks ago, September 30, I submitted an opinion piece on the issue to my local newspaper at a time when the metro newspapers were ignoring the happenings in New York. I was motivated by the video clip of the folks on Wall Street balconies sipping drinks while overlooking the protestors below. You can view the clip here.
My op ed, “Wall Street Protests Matter to Us”, appeared in yesterday’s Woodbury Bulletin, and speaks for itself.
Tomorrow there is a demonstration in Minneapolis which I will likely try to attend.
The protests are spreading.
But I am reminded of some cautionary thoughts, which seem different, but to me are very directly related.
1) Right or wrong, the Wall Street folks feel that they deserve their excess wealth. This time of year is bonus time “on the Street” and (I hear) $1,000,000 bonuses or more are not uncommon. Folks who get these bonuses are slaves to making money, and labor very hard to make that money for whomever, and have come to expect this wealth, whether deserved or not. If the bonuses are cut somewhat (a likelihood this year), you will hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth all the way out here in the hinterlands.
I recall conversations with a woman about my age at a workshop thirteen years ago. Her daughter was a young analyst on Wall Street, and the previous year had made $800,000. The number sticks in my mind because I was a hard-working guy, in what I felt was a pretty well paying job at the time, and this young woman’s annual take was ten times my own annual salary.
The Mom got some benefits from her daughters success, and who of us can argue when one of our kids makes good? And in our society, the almighty dollar is the usual evidence of making good.
As I say, “right or wrong, the Wall Street folks feel that they deserve their excess wealth.”
(There is nothing intrinsically wrong with money, in my opinion. The ‘devils in the details’ are abundant, however. First is greed, which affects not only aspiring billionaires, but can take root far down the economic ladder as well. As important, if not more, is the lack of long-term vision when it comes to money policy. Wall Street has come to look on this as short-term (annual bonuses for performance, for example); and has imposed even more harsh markers on Business. Talk with anyone in big business, and the “quarterly numbers” will come up. One doesn’t achieve long term goals by being stuck on short-term thinking….)
2) As for protests, they can be good, a means to an end, but they cannot be the end in themselves: (Here is a fascinating column about the New York City Occupy Wall Street group.)
As noted it is possible that I’ll be at the event in Minneapolis tomorrow, but it is unlikely that I will be there for more than that single event. It is a big commitment to drive a distance to such things, and there are competitions for one’s available time and resources.
The protests, which were largely invisible in the national news media when I wrote the op ed two weeks ago, have now become very visible, and they are spreading, and that is good.
But sooner than later they will ebb and once again become invisible on the national media screen. The opposition – the rich 1%ers – know this reality: you simply have to wait out the protests and go on with life as usual.
If the organizers and supporters of these protests are wise they are already planning the next steps beyond the protests.
Next steps include things like I did: submitting a letter or an opinion to the local paper; communicating with others we know, including lawmakers, etc., etc.
The reality is that the ‘system’ we love to hate will ultimately have to create a reasonable solution. Anarchy or the like isn’t a viable option, even though it’s fun for awhile.
3) Finally, there is an argument about “class warfare” out and about.
I don’t doubt at all that there is such a war, and it was a preemptive strike by the privileged 1% against the rest of the population.
But it is important to remember that those 1%ers are not a monolith, all thinking alike.
Always keep in mind the folks like mega-billionaire Warren Buffet who are out there, doing their part as well, and moderate views are an extremely important part of this struggle.
Protests are good, but they are only one tactic in what is a very long term struggle.

#452 – Dick Bernard: Heritage is alive and well! (Part 2 of 4)

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Related posts: here and here and here.
Earlier this summer I more or less formally resigned my volunteer position as family historian. Thirty years and several books was enough, I reasoned.
But one just doesn’t “resign” from such a “career”, I’ve learned, and the past week, which began with publication of this October 5 post on Heritage is evidence.
October 6 I was at the ND farm near Berlin where my mother grew up, helping “rescue” (a favorite term of my Dad) scrap iron for my uncle. In the junk behind a shed we recovered two pieces of farm history: the remnants of two single bottom hand plows (ploughs), the oldest of which (at right in photo below) probably turned the first furrows when Grandma and Grandpa began to plow the virgin sod prairie in 1905. This plow would have been pulled by a team of horses, and the accompanying wooden accessories have long since rotted away, but the business end remains, and is now safely stored in my uncle’s shed. A few days later, I saw a similar though larger plow in Ada MN, a monument to the pioneers who broke ground in that area. That is the second photo, below. (Click on photos to enlarge)
Both ploughs were surprisingly light and in surprisingly good condition, most likely having laid outside for as much as 100 years or more. When I picked them up I was symbolically reconnecting with my grandparents and their heritage.

Remnants of two one-bottom plows, October 6, 2011. Oldest at right.


Monument to pioneers, Ada MN October 10, 2011


A few days later, in Park Rapids MN, I had the privilege of helping lead a group of 59 people in a conversation about Heritage. The base of discussion was the list found here. There was a vibrant and rich conversation among the participants about what their heritage was, and what it might mean. Our 90 minutes flew by. Here’s a photo of the participants in the session:

Park Rapids MN Headwaters Center for Lifelong Learning October 11, 2011, meeting in Community Room of Northwoods Bank, Park Rapids MN


The very act of gathering and conversing about shared and diverse elements of heritage became a community building exercise in itself, one said.
Between October 6 and 11 came other examples of how the melting pot heritage of America is very rich.
October 7 and 8, I participated in the Midwest French Festival and Convention in Moorhead and Fargo. The below photos represent the tiniest view of a vibrant Festival. More photos on Facebook, here.
In order of appearance:
1) Timothy and Doree Kent discussed the Voyageur, Native and Metis life of the 17th Century before several hundred students and adults.

Tim and Doree Kent October 7, 2011


2) Several persons explained, in English, French and Norwegian, the statue of the Norwegian Rollo across from the Sons of Norway Lodge in Fargo. (Rollo had much to do with the history of the French province of Normandy.) (The inscription on the statue in Fargo: “Rollon. Born 860 A.D. at More, Norway. Founded the Dukedom of Normandy 911. His line through William the Conqueror became the Royal House of England 1066 and of Norway 1905.”)

Statue of Rollo, edge of downtown Fargo, ND, October 8, 2011


Reading the history of the Rollo statue in English, French and Norwegian, October 7, 2011


3) Parishioners at the rural Wild Rice ND parish of St. Benoit (Benedict) gave a most interesting tour of their Church, center of a community with a rich and long French-Canadian heritage.

A tour of St. Benoit Parish, Wild Rice ND, October 8, 2011


4) Dan Truckey, Director, Beaumier Heritage Center, Northern Michgian University, Marquette and Dave Bezotte, Archivist, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, gave a workshop, and performed French-Canadian music for the group. Both are involved in keeping French-Canadian heritage alive in the Upper Peninsula.

Dave Bezotte and Dan Truckey perform at the conference, October 7, 2011


5) In the evening, the great Quebec group Le Vent Du Nord gave a fabulous concert. Later this month they are among a select group of world musicians performing at a major gathering in Copenhagen, Denmark. Many samples of their music can be found on YouTube, and at their website is the Sep 17, 2011, performance of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, on which they were guest artists.

Le Vent du Nord, Fargo ND, October 8, 2011


Group Dance to the Musique of Le Vent du Nord October 8, 2011


There is, literally, no end to the potential for conversations about our heritage, and the conversations are interesting and indeed essential. We are, indeed, who we came from; and we live on in those who descend from us.
October 10, at Itasca Park, at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, we came across a family celebration. We don’t know the persons names: the elders had their first date at the headwaters in 1948. She was 17 from Osakis MN, he 21, from Floodwood MN. They married, lived and are now retired in California, and they were joined by some of their family. Their family, joined with others from many cultures, many countries and many places in the U.S., make up our collective country and world heritage.
Let us celebrate Heritage in the broadest and most positive sense.

At Lake Itasca MN, Headwaters of the Mississippi R, October 10 2011

#451 – Dick Bernard: Hummingbird. Lynn Elling and Wangari Maathai

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Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Wangari Maathai died September 25, 2011, in a Kenya hospital. I never met her, or knew much about her. I wish I had.
My friend Lynn Elling asked retired Minneapolis teacher Nancy Paxson to send along Ms Maathai’s obituary and her wonderful and inspirational recitation “I will be a Hummingbird”.
Lynn faces serious surgery Monday, October 10, and at 90 is an eternal optimist. “Can’t” or other negative talk is not part of Lynn’s vocabulary. That hummingbird had nothing on Lynn Elling, especially when it came to his absolute passion for peace.
As Monday approaches for Lynn, I want to share a memory that he shared with me recently.
Lynn is founder of World Citizen, and co-founder of the Nobel Peace Prize Festival, an annual event at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.
Each year since 1996, the Peace Prize Laureate of a preceding year has been invited to attend the Festival at Augsburg, and several laureates have attended.
Dr. Maathai was awarded the Peace Prize in 2004 for her Green Belt movement in her native Kenya, and she accepted the invitation to come speak to children at the March 2006 Augsburg Peace Prize Festival.
All was ready for the Festival except for the heavy snowstorm which brought the Twin Cities to a standstill. In early morning, the Festival organizers cancelled the event, and Dr. Maathai was marooned at the West Bank Holiday Inn in Minneapolis.
As Lynn recounted, he and several others managed to get to the hotel and at least give Dr. Maathai some company. She was in tears. She had so wanted to address the children at the Festival. Of course it wasn’t possible.
She made a huge contribution to the betterment of her country and the world in her lifetime.
The same can be said for Lynn Elling, though his accomplishments were more local.
Dr. Maathai’s Hummingbird lives on, thanks to Lynn.
Best wishes, Lynn, as you face your surgery next Monday.

Lynn and Donna Elling, September 22, 2011


More about Lynn Elling here.
UPDATE October 13, 2011:
After posting this item, my wife and I were on an out of town trip for the following six days.
Lynn’s surgery appears to have been successful, and he is back home.
On October 6, Nancy Paxson sent an e-mail, received on my return, which further comments on the snowy day in Minneapolis in early 2006: “Hi, I treasure recalling that day. My husband & I drove through the deep snow to her hotel and were honored to be included in the group to go to her hotel room. The Ellings were there, as well as Joe [Schwartzberg] and the Augsburg camera guys who video taped her telling the hummingbird story and greeting the festival children, all to be shown in April when we held the rescheduled festival. I have pictures of that morning in her hotel (someplace ) and sent copies to Ellings and others. My Keewaydin [school] Peace Choir was prepared to honor her, so she asked me to sing bits of the songs for her, and we presented her with a lovely photo book of trees and wrapped it in one of those rainbow bandanas that the peace choir wore to perform. She was tickled at that, because when she was in Japan, they had a tradition of gifting in lovely cloth wrapping. I forget the term. I was a special day, and I have shared it with many students over the years, as we study the laureates.”
And, of course, in the past few days three women, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen, were named the Nobel Peace Prize Award Winners for 2011. According to the Nobel official site, their Awards are “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”

#450 – Dick Bernard: Heritage (Part 1 of 4)

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UPDATE September 7, 2013: This post has evolved into time into a series of posts directly related to Heritage.
Directly related post are here. Also related is a post on Tin Type photographs accessible here. Also see Part 3 here, and Part 4.
Also at Nov 3, 2011; Dec 22, 2011; Apr 7, 2012; Sep 1, 2013.
This post was primarily intended for two groups of people I did not meet until October 8 and October 11. At both gatherings we explored Family Heritage, and what follows is the briefest of synopses of what what was done to encourage people to think of their own heritage in some organized fashion. (At the end of this segment is an update added after the October 11 segment.)
Here’s a standard definition of the word heritage:
her’it-age, n. [OFr. heritage, an inheritance, from heriter: LL. hereditare, to inherit, from L. hereditas, inheritance, from heres, an heir.]
1. property that is or can be inherited.
2 (a) something handed down from ones ancestors or the past, as a characteristic a culture, tradition, etc.; (b) the rights, burdens, or status resulting from being born in a certain time or place; birthright.
3. in the Bible, (a) the chosen people of God; Israelites; (b) the Christian church.
As being lords over God’s heritage. – 1 Pet. v. 3.
For over 30 years I’ve been delving into my family history. It began as an unintended excursion into the past, but once started I found it impossible to quit. So far I’ve put together five documents easily totaling 1500 pages which would qualify as ‘history’, though they are of interest only to a certain audience within my families of origin.
Succinctly, every one of us has our own idea of what our history is, and what is important within that history. Family History, like U.S. or any other history, is only part of the story. The parts hidden from us by our forebears, and hidden by ourselves from our descendants are the real history, perhaps never to be formalized, but nonetheless crucial to who we are.
At the upcoming workshops, I’ve decided to have the participants become the faculty and hopefully begin to get into a vigorous discussion of elements of their own heritage. At the workshop, they’ll get some handouts, and I’ll tell them of this blog post, and they can review things if they wish.
I plan to do a “flash card” kind of exercise, asking the participants to note the first thing that comes to mind, as it relates to any one of their parents or grandparents, when the following words are stated. (The words are strictly in random order, and will be further recited in random order. At the end of the exercise, everyone will get a copy of the words.)
The basic question: How would you respond (first impression) about your heritage when the following word is presented?
1. Graveyard (example: do you have any particular memory of a burial or a graveyard image – burial service, monument, lack of monument, etc?)
2. Artifact (is there some item, some thing, that comes to mind?)
3. Food/Recipe (similar to #2, and so on, for the other words)
4. Photo
5. Dance
6. Religion
7. Dress
8. Community
9. Language, if other than English
10. War/Peace
11. Nationality (self-designation)
12. Relationships with other nationalities
13. Country where born.
14. Immigrant/native born?
15. Music
16. Occupation/Work
17. Pets
18. Gardening/Food Preparation
19. Play/Recreation
20. Tradition
21. Dates/Places
22. Holidays
23. Sayings/Folk Wisdom
24. Significant Accomplishment
25. Inherited mannerisms/traits
26. Family Secrets
27. Letters
28. Books
29. Stories
30. Housing
31. Medical/Disease
32. Education
33. Games/Hobbies
34. Special Talents
35. Transportation
36. Tools/Utensils/Kitchen
37. Art
38. Homesteading
39. Names, naming systems (i.e. Lars son, etc)
40. Water matters
41. Mens Roles
42. Womens Roles
43. Skills, gifts, talents (i.e. sewing, mechanical knowledge)
We usually think of inheritance when we think of heritage: what was left to us in money or property sense.
Really, the far greater component of heritage is what came with us as our birthright. Definition #2 for heritage covers this waterfront well, I think.
I know there are far more than 43 elements to heritage, and I am guessing that a few more of these elements will be added at either or both of the upcoming workshops. If so, they’ll be added to the list.

Some access points to my own idea of family history:
German-American and French-Canadian
plus
assorted references at this blog. See tabs at right for Family History and Quebec/French-Canadian. A directly related link on Tin Type photographs is here.
UPDATE October 12, 2011:
The sessions on October 8 (very abbreviated in length) and October 11 were well attended and interesting.
The post session comments are in #452, posted October 12, 2011.
The handouts at the sessions were:
General thought starters on Heritage: HeritageThoughtStarters001
Quebec Marriage Contract from the year 1730: Quebec Marriage Cont001
As I developed my notion of what Heritage is, the following illustration evolved (which I didn’t have time to expand on at either workshop). (See illustration at right.)

The Box with the arrows represents the multiple “frames” people use when discussing Family History in any of its aspects. There are many boxes, as noted in the long (and incomplete) list above. But each of us have pieces in all of these frames.
The essence of the conversation on Heritage was this: we are, every one of us, the very definition of “Heritage” (note definition 2(a), especially the word “etc.”) We can perhaps modify the impact of our heritage by decisions* or choices we make through life, but the essentials of who we are came with our birth. If we are fortunate, we have something of a balance between B and A. “B” might be likened to a Balloon, which gives us the buoyancy to soar above our base; “A” might be likened to an Anchor, which can have positive or negative connotations. Either the anchor or the balloon can create problems for us.
For someone interested in Family History but daunted by the task, the key piece of advice, after 30 years, is to start where you are. Perhaps you only know tiny fragments. Write them down.
The letters in the description are:
K (Keep items that might be relevant to you or someone else in the future)
L (Label things like photos and newspaper articles, including date and newspaper, etc. It is amazing how often this is overlooked.)
R (Record things as soon as possible after they happen – it is amazing how quickly memories get foggy)
A (Ask, ask, ask…history comes available to people who inquire.)
There are infinite additions to this writing.
Add your own chapters.
* – There is an interesting and very simple distinction between the words Decide and Choose. The root word for “decide” is the same root word as for other words of obvious meaning: suicide, homicide, insecticide…. When one makes a decision, they tend to kill off other options. Choice implies more possibilities.
It’s your choice!

#449 – Dick Bernard: Heritage: The Tin Types

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Related posts here and here.

On my father’s death in 1997, I became custodian of our family photos.
While he came from an ordinary North Dakota family of French-Canadian descent, the family had an inclination to take pictures documenting important events, such as weddings, new births and such.
Within the box of photos was a May 7, 1954 Social Security envelope, and inside the envelope were seven most unusual photographs, very dark, on varied size pieces of tin.
They were of a genre called “tin types“, photography as practiced before photographic film.
The oldest – I can speak with some certainty as to its ID – is a photo of my great grandparents, Octave Collette and Clotilde Blondeau, who married in St. Anthony (later Minneapolis MN) in July 1869. While the photo was, like the others, unlabelled, there is no question, comparing with later photos, that it showed Octave and Clotilde, likely about the time of their marriage. The photo is below.
(click on all photos to enlarge).

The remaining six photos are also unlabelled, but most of them show a young Henry Bernard (born 1872), and were likely taken in the late 1880s and early 1890s, probably in Quebec, most likely as keepsakes for him to take along on his trip west to remember the folks back home. The album with the remaining photos is at the end of this post.
The photos vary in size: the smallest is of Octave and Clotilde (1 7/8″ x 3 1/8″); the largest of the two men (2 5/8″ x 3 1/2″). As can be noted on the above photo, the tin pieces were probably snipped out, rather than of a standard consistent size.
The tintypes obviously endured plenty of wear over the years. It is remarkable that they survived as long as they did, probably stuck in a trunk or dresser or such for as much as over 140 years. But they were meaningful enough to not be thrown out.
Four of the photos appear to have been taken by the same photographer at the same time. The evidence is a slight rosy tint to portions of the photos (note the cheeks), likely hand administered. Until I scanned the photos (at 800 dpi), I wasn’t aware of these rosy cheeks etc. on the four photos.
Precisely the who, where, when and why of the photos will likely remain mysteries except for the certainty that most include my grandfather Henry, and the other is of his future wife’s – my grandmothers – parents.
My best guess: the large group photo, with a young Henry Bernard in front, is probably of his family circle in Quebec, including the Parish Priest. Ditto for the photo of three men and three women. And the others are similarly related, in some ways to his family in Quebec (or so I believe).
The four photos with the rose tint were probably taken at Thetford Mines, Quebec, where young Henry was a miner, where a sister and family lived, and from which place he most likely embarked for then-booming Grafton ND in the early 1890s.
Family history mysteries: they fascinate, and they exasperate.
Consider labeling your present day photos, so that someone down histories road knows who is in the image.

Most likely Henry (Honore) Bernard in front center, his brother Joseph to his left. Perhaps taken in Quebec in late 1880s.


Most likely young Honore (Henry) Bernard





#448 – Dick Bernard: Ken Burns "Prohibition"

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We watched the first segment of Ken Burns latest documentary on PBS last night. (Part 2 of the 3 part series is tonight at 7 p.m. Sunday nights program here. More details including archived material here.)
I very highly recommend watching the entire series…and doing more than just watching: it is a natural for very serious reflection.
Disclaimer: I am not a tee-totaler. On the other hand, if I was the statistical average for consumption of beer, wine and spirits, the alcohol industry would scarcely exist. My parents were, I believe, tee-totalers. They never said why, but my guess is that for both of them, their opinion was formed through earlier family experience. I’m the family historian. I can speculate.
As I watched Prohibition last night, I kept thinking of the arrangement on my office bookshelf, which has been directly behind me whenever I’m at this computer screen, and has been the same for many years (you can click on the photo to enlarge).

Front and center is a Crucifixion in a bottle, one of several made by my Grandfather Bernard at some point in his life. The bottles, all the same, were said to be whiskey bottles. Grandpa in his early life was a carpenter, a lumberjack and miner, later in life chief engineer in a flour mill. According to my Dad he did these creations himself. They are rough yet precise works. It is unknown when he crafted them. He died in 1957.
To the left of the whiskey bottle is a goblet made of shell casings by my Uncle Frank, Grandpa’s son and Dad’s brother, in the machine shop of the ill-fated USS Arizona (where Frank died and his burial place). Behind the goblet is a model of the Arizona. To the right is a mini-Peace Pole given to me by my friend Melvin Giles some years ago. And behind all of them is a portion of an American flag. Invisible to the right is a model of the Destroyer Woodworth, on which my Mother’s brother, Uncle George, was an officer in WWII.
As I say, all of these have a long history at this particular place in my office, behind my computer screen. Together they evoke “America”. And at the center of it all is a Whiskey Bottle and a Crucifixion scene….
Part One of “Prohibition” recounts the nearly 100 year effort to ban alcohol in the United States. It is a story full of personal tragedies, zealots, charismatic evangelists, superb lobbyists, and the usual collection of political characters, saloon keepers and charlatans.
Prohibition became the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1920.
Part two and three of the series will detail the failure of this campaign prohibiting a behavior and the ultimate repeal of the Amendment – the first (and last) such action ever in the 224 year history of the Constitution. What good it might have done was likely exceeded by the negatives.
The learning opportunity from this film comes, in my opinion, not from the event itself, but how it relates to all manner of schemes and causes to require this, forbid that, or condemn the other.
The list is very, very long. Pick your particular bias – something that you think should be done, and required of everyone. It’s on my list. And there’s some charismatic leader who can sing a mean song, and some passionate zealous followers who cannot conceive a country or a world without their passion being enacted to their satisfaction. The cause is their crusade.
As prohibition proved, such things never ever work. The experiment in prohibition should be an object lesson.
But, you say, “that was then, and this is now”?
Sure it is.
Think.
UPDATE October 5, 2011: We watched Parts 2 and 3 of Prohibition on Monday and Tuesday evening.
I’d highly recommend the entire Prohibition series for stone-sober viewing and then deep reflection about what will (not “can”, but “will”) go wrong, for any zealots, ideologues, moralists, etc. who think they can successfully manipulate American diversity by their own scheme or design. This includes the ones who claim to have the objective truth, not to mention God firmly on their side.
As the five hour series demonstrates, you can reach a peak in power and influence, but it is a long and certain fall from the pinnacle in ways you could not anticipate, and in the process you inflict considerable damage upon the very society you proclaim to save.
As I mentioned, I am neither a tee-totaler nor a drinker worthy of the label.
Makes no difference, I’ve seen the ups and downs of this and many other issues over the years. The ideals collapse upon very different realities.
I never studied the subject of alcohol (and tobacco) consumption, other than by observation during my adult life. Legally mandated notice about such as the dangers of alcohol and tobacco use certainly did have a positive impact. But, I think, the greatest impact on the body politic was simple changes in the way people were, together. It used to be, for instance, that you could find accommodation for smoking everywhere. Today smoking is by no means an endangered vice, but it doesn’t hold a candle to what it used to be, and nobody had to pass a constitutional amendment to make that so.
This will not stop the power people from attempting to move their own political agendas, from attempt to outlaw certain kinds of marriage, to mandating war without end, to perpetual and enduring peace, to ridding the world of abortion, or to rendering irrelevant certain political factions which hold different opinions from the temporarily dominant majority. Dreams ultimately collide with reality.
All the carefully concocted schemes will, at minimum, collapse over time, leaving rubble in their wake.
Will our societ collapse along with them?
Go to the link at the top of the page to rewatch the series, or check with your local PBS station.
Don’t miss it.

#447 – Dick Bernard: A 1977 visit to the Renaissance Festival

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Today is the last day of the 2011 Renaissance Festival in suburban Minneapolis MN.
Friday’s local news brought a story about a fire at the Festival. Several food vendors shops burned to the ground. The fireman being interviewed said that they were hampered by the fact that they had to truck in water to fight the fire: there are apparently no fire hydrants on the grounds of this seasonal event.
No modern fire control measures on-site: that’s very renaissance, even medieval.
It happened that the Renaissance Festival had come to mind recently, as I had come across an old strip of negatives which were unidentified, and I took them in to get a few prints to hopefully date the strip.
It turned out that the pictures were taken in late summer of 1977, and four of them were taken at the Twin Cities Renaissance Festival that year (remaining photos at the end of this post, click to enlarge.)

Renaissance Festival, likely 1977, rural Shakopee MN. That young lady with the Turkey leg is likely over 40 years old today.


Though I have no “evidence”, I can remember being at the first Renaissance Festival, at the then “new town” of Johnathan MN in 1971. The Festival really expanded when it moved to rural Shakopee some time thereafter, and we usually joined the throng in those early years.
Being the Renaissance Festival, the event was frozen in time. It ends today, and until I saw the news had no particular thought of going out there, but maybe we’ll make the trek across town just cuz of the news combined with those old photos.
As part of the news program, one shop owner whose nook survived the fire, noted that a concrete wall between his and the other establishments probably saved his business. That’s very un-Renaissance.
In the real Renaissance times, indeed, much, much more recently in even recent history, a fire would have meant the end of the entire complex or town.
We’ve moved beyond that, with fire departments, and communities who fund such public services with taxes.
Thankfully for those folks who have businesses at the Festival, fire rigs with water could save most of them.
And how about that little girl in the first photo (above)? She’s likely now over 40. One would bet that the vendor preparing that turkey leg back then, and today as well, is fettered (and helped) by this-or-that governmental regulation to keep everyone’s food safe….


#446 – Dick Bernard: 2012. What if the radicals win?

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A few days ago, at a political fundraiser in St. Paul, a 3-term Congressman told us that “Congress” as an entity has a 12% approval rating. That is about as close to zero as it is possible to get. I knew this number from earlier reports, and I’ve always observed that we Americans, who select Congress, after all, must really be fools.
At about the same time as the fundraiser, I read a fascinating column by Steve Benin in the Washington Monthly about the American Congress and the U.S. President in the year 1983. It is here. The nub of the article was this: 1983 was a productive year, as such things go in Washington. There was a Republican President; the House of Representatives was heavily Democrat; the U.S. Senate was majority Republican but well below the 60 vote threshold needed to avoid possible filibuster. (You can see makeup of U.S. Government in recent history here: Congress 1977-2011001
The government composition in 1983 was essentially the opposite of today…but government worked, because the representatives of the two parties respected each other and worked together. Sure, they fought. But it was genteel compared with today.
There was no single-minded determination to destroy the opposition, to make the President fail, or to win by refusing to compromise, as is true with today’s radical leadership.
It is no secret that today’s Republican Party is different from the long ago versions. The current version is a take no prisoners, win at all costs, just say no, bunch. This is true in states as well as at federal level. (On the other side of the aisle, consistent criticism of President Obama has been that he has persisted in trying to work with the opposition – a la 1983 – rather than fight fire with fire.)
As we speak, there are many efforts around the United States to reconfigure legislative and congressional districts, and make it more difficult for people to vote, to bring about Radical Religious Republican nirvana: a Permanent Republican Majority.
I recently wrote to my two Republican state legislators saying “your party’s strategy of making the Democrats a permanent minority seems to be working – state and national. The sole Republican programs are to defeat President Obama, and refuse to raise taxes or support any recovery initiatives that work – these will just help Obama, they reason.
People have no clue about consequences they face with Norquist/Rove as their model long term.”
Of course, the Republican long-term strategy won’t work…long-term.
Probably, it won’t work short-term, either, even if the evidence (Republican President, Republican House, Republican Senate, Republican Governors in all State Houses, and Republican legislatures universally, and de facto Republican Supreme Court majorities) come to be in 2012.
It doesn’t take a genius to compute that the new era will not be ushered in by strains of kumbaya.
“As you treated others, so will you be treated” is an axiom that comes to mind.
An accomplished radical Republican dream will be a nightmare for everyone.
Even if they prevail in 2012, their dream of permanent dominance likely will not happen. If it does, refresh yourself on the American Civil War, 1861-65.
At another source, in the last few days, I read that in 2010 only 41% of Americans even bothered to vote. That means, of course, that of every 100 voting age Americans you come in contact with in an average day, 59 did not even show up at their polling place in 2010. It was a recipe for national disaster in 2010: the angry voters prevailed.
(The Congressman we saw on Wednesday described well the unreasoning anger. It goes something like this:
“You people have to cut wasteful spending.” (Government as “them”, not “us”)
“Fine. What do you suggest we cut, specifically things you benefit from.”
(Silence.)
Here’s the difference between good things happening and (in my opinion) horrid.

Be informed. Find out the rules for registration in your state, and help people get registered, and help them become informed about what is at stake if even more of the same we’re now experiencing is the aftermath of 2012.
NOTE: I’ve written frequently about political behavior, most recently here on Sep. 29, and expect to continue this practice, perhaps once or twice a week. Scroll down in the right column of this blog, and there is a category titled “Politics” which archives what I’ve written (and will write) on the topic.