#99 – Dick Bernard: "Capitalism: a Love Story"

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(As you see this film, I’d like your comments to add, here.)
October 8, 2009:  We saw “Capitalism: A Love Story”, this afternoon.  It is well worth the time, and it’s messages will be conveyed in a later post.  Even if you think that Capitalism is all there is, this film will cause you to wonder….
October 3, 2009: We were planning to go to Michael Moore’s latest film, “Capitalism: a Love Story“, today, but scheduling problems (even retired people have scheduling problems!) interfered.
So, we don’t have bragging rights to having seen the film on its first day of release, or even the second.   The people who watched the film in over 1,000 theaters across the country can see it first.  There’ll be plenty of time.  Maybe early next week….
I’m a creature of Capitalism. Everyone of us in the U.S. are.  Even those who loathe Capitalism and live in the U.S. are in Capitalism’s clutches.  It surrounds us; it’s what we grew up with; it’s likely what we’ll die with, perhaps not a normal death.
(As I was writing the previous paragraph, an e-mail came in from Michael Moore’s mailing list, captioned “A Great Opening Night – – Do Not Put Off Seeing “Capitalism: A Love Story“.  Michael Moore’s take at #mce_temp_url#)
Capitalism is and has always been great for the serious Capitalists, the people who make the financial killing from business as usual.
What has always been a source of curiosity for me is why the foot-soldiers in behalf of Capitalism are ultimately its intended victims: the middle class types (like me) who are exhorted to spend what they don’t have on things that they don’t need to put cash in the hands of the people who will lay them off on a moments notice to help prop up a sagging profit and loss statement.
There are many ways that this nefarious goal is accomplished:  fear and loathing is an obvious one.  People, at Capitalism’s encouragement, rail on against the evils of “socialism” without even knowing what it is, except as defined by the Capitalist.  (We are a surprisingly “socialist” nation as it is…and we value the many socialist elements of our daily life.  Yet we’re supposed to despise socialism…and almost by rote, we do.)
Most working people are in effect “chained” to a corporate work station.  They are free to leave, yes, but terrified to do so, especially at this down time in the economy.  Capitalism generally abhors things like labor unions, and convinces the people who might benefit by labor unions to rail against them.
Or it can be seen at really great events, like Sunday’s Twin Cities Marathon, where the corporate face is very, very positive, and tens of thousands of people participate, and watch, an outstanding event largely run by volunteers (and, of course, the runners are “volunteers” as well.)  In the end analysis, though, it is the corporate sponsors, and the winners in the competition, who get the payoff.  Everyone else simply contributes to the corporate greater good.
The stories go on and on.
But, yes, we are all part of Capitalism.
In the end, I think that Capitalism will succeed only in killing itself*, in a final, slow but certain, act of self-immolation.  It won’t take a movie like 2012 to do us in.  We literally can’t survive living in as unbalanced a way as we currently continue to live.  It’s only a matter of time.  The only unknown is how much time….
By the time the Capitalists figure this out it will be too late.
Watch Michael Moore’s film, get in a lather (including against him, if you like – but the film is highly rated), and go to work for deep change.  You won’t get rid of Capitalism, but you can help get it reformed.
* – an older story: a friend of mine, a history buff, recalled reading an apparently true account of an old-time Capitalist venture that went severely awry.  Seems a group of European businessmen, in business to make money, saw an opportunity to make a bundle by selling armaments to a neighboring country.  They struck a deal, made their pile…and their country was promptly overrun by their newly well armed enemy.
I’d name the countries, but won’t.  Most any self-respecting Capitalist would do the same stupid thing if opportunity knocked….
Update October 6, 2009:  We’ll likely go to the film tomorrow.  In the interim, I’ll simply add some comments that have come to mind since my initial scribblings, above.
In the U.S. we’re immersed in Capitalism.  It’s ubiquitous, impossible to avoid.  Sunday I was over at the Twin Cities Marathon – first at the starting line at the Metrodome; then at the Finish Line (no, not as a runner!).
Everything about the marathon was a commercial event, from major sponsors, frequently named, company names on all products dispensed, probable tax write-offs for their “contributions” to the community.  Such events are marketing bonanzas for the corporate world.
But when I think of Capitalists, as a group, I mostly think of the really fat cats that make the really, really big bucks off the rest of the population.  These folks used to be called by terms like “Robber Baron”, “Captain of Industry” and the like.  In the present day you can see them in local, regional, national and international folks who are extremely wealthy (or appear to be so, till they’re busted for fraud, as has happened to some big operators in my area recently.)
These truly “rich” folks, as defined by almost anyone, are today’s Capitalists.  They are only the most recent in a long, long line of people whose god is money, and who exercise power against all the rest of us.
Most of them are probably “good” people.  But if it comes to accumulating power and money (synonymous terms, in my opinion), they can be pretty ruthless.

#97 – Dick Bernard: Killing a civil society

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On the afternoon of November 4, 1995 – it was a Saturday – I was on the way to afternoon Mass at my then-Parish, St. Peter Claver in St. Paul MN.  Nearing the church, an announcement came over the car radio: Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had been shot.  I passed the word along to the Parish Priest Kevin McDonough, who blanched, and as I recall, I was allowed to announce to the congregation what I had just heard on the radio.
At the time of the announcement we weren’t certain of any details, including who had shot the Nobel Prize winner, or even if he had died.  By the time Mass was concluded we knew Rabin had been assassinated, and soon learned that his killer was a radical right-wing Israeli Jew, at the far fringe of those incensed that Rabin was working for a durable peace with Palestine.
As it happened, two and a half months later I was with a group that visited Rabin’s still-fresh grave in Jerusalem.  I still see it all.
This vignette comes to mind because of a September 29, 2009, column by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times.  The NYT column headline is “Where did “we” go“, and opens recalling Friedman’s visit with Rabin in Jerusalem shortly before the assassination.  He says, early on, “extreme right-wing settlers…were doing all they could to delegitimize Rabin…They questioned his authority.  They accused him of treason.  They created pictures depicting him as a Nazi SS officer, and they shoulted death threats at rallies.  His political opponents winked at it all.”
Of course, the story ended with a righteous crazed zealot killing Rabin.  A single murderer, but endless accomplices who in effect encouraged the insane act.
Friedman goes on at length in his column to raise the parallels he sees in today’s United States of America.
We see hate speech being legitimized in our country, and outlandish behavior being sanctioned as simple political free speech.  All of this is duly reported (if not encouraged) by news media, legitimate and not so legitimate.  And unlike in Rabin’s day, the means of technology for disseminating hate and outrageous and deliberate lies is much more sophisticated than it was only 14 years ago.
One can only wonder what Rabin and others could have accomplished in Israel/Palestine had he lived.
The merchants of hate won, and everyone (including the hate merchants) lost.
If you can, read Friedman’s column.  For a limited time it is available on the web. Here’s the link: #mce_temp_url#
If you’re one who’s amused by, or admires, the politics of hate and deceit, get over it.  If you despise this kind of behavior, call ’em out whenever you witness it.
Change needs to happen person-to-person.

#93 – Dick Bernard: A political afternoon.

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This is the first of three posts on this topic.  The others are Sep 28 and 29, 2009.
This past summer I met a young organizer who made a presentation on health care policy.  She did an impressive job, I felt, and we shared e-mail addresses.
Time passed by, and a few weeks ago she sent a note about a kickoff program on “A Vision for a reNEWed Minnesota.”  This Saturday afternoon, September 26, would have discussion, and all of the potential candidates for the 2010 Governors race had been invited.  I had a mild amount of interest, and after a reminder or two, I decided to attend.
The program was a few hours ago, on a perfect day, weatherwise.  I drove to the high school not knowing what to expect.  Who’d want to be in a meeting on a day like this?  I soon found out.  The place was jam-packed with over 700 pleasant people, most of them young people or slightly older.  People my age were there, but we were in the small minority.  Young leaders ran the meeting, and facilitated the table groups.
The afternoon went splendidly.  Everything was on-time and on schedule, and all the content was relevant.
All the potential Democratic candidates for Governor were there – eleven in all – and they spoke for their allotted three minutes each, no more. Nobody even tried to push the rule.
I went to the meeting wondering if there was any youthful political energy left after 2008, and if people have become discouraged by the reality of politics in Washington and St. Paul.
I left the meeting reassured that there is a very strong movement in existence and continuing; that kids (as I define them) are becoming actively engaged in taking charge of their own future.  I hope I’m right.
Time will tell.
TakeActionMinnesota has my attention.
What the organization is about is at the website #mce_temp_url#.  reNEW is a project of TakeActionMinnesota, whose website is #mce_temp_url#.  Do take a look at both.  Let others know about this grass roots organization.

Saturday afternoon September 26, 2009 St. Paul

Saturday afternoon September 26, 2009 St. Paul


The prospective Democratic (DFL) candidates for Governor, in random order:
Thomas Bakk

Thomas Bakk


Chris Coleman

Chris Coleman


Susan Gaertner

Susan Gaertner


Margaret Anderson Kelliher

Margaret Anderson Kelliher


Matt Entenza

Matt Entenza


Mark Dayton

Mark Dayton


John Marty

John Marty


Tom Rukavina

Tom Rukavina


Paul Thissen

Paul Thissen


Steve Kelley

Steve Kelley


R. T.Rybak

R. T.Rybak

#89 – Dick Bernard: A salute to two veterans

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This morning, at the State Capitol Rotunda in St. Paul, I’m honored to read two brief tributes to WWII veterans which appear in the 2009 edition of the MN Blue Book, being released today.
I saw a flier on “Vote in Honor of a Veteran”  in the summer of 2008, and wrote the two tributes a year ago this month, forgetting I’d done them until recently when I was informed they’d be in Minnesota’s official book.  They are among quite a number of other tributes to veterans living and dead.  It will be an interesting morning.  10:30 a.m. at the State Capitol Rotunda if you happen to be in the area and interested.   (The event was originally scheduled in a smaller venue, but apparently there is a lot of public interest.)
The tributes are to my Dad’s cousin, Marvin Campbell, many years a resident  of Brainerd and Crookston, who passed on in 2006, and to another, an important mentor of mine, 88 year old Lynn Elling of Minneapolis.
MARVIN CAMPBELL
Marvin and Frank 7 14 35001
Pictured above are buddies Marvin Campbell and Frank Peter Bernard (my Dad’s brother), July 14, 1935.  Marvin idolized Frank.  At the time of the photo, Marvin was 16, and Frank had just turned 20.  Two months later, Frank reported for basic training in the Navy.  Six months later Frank reported for what turned out to be his permanent and last assignment: the USS Arizona.
The brief thumbnail of Marvin Campbell tells most of the rest of their veteran story.  #mce_temp_url#
Unfortunately, rough drafts of history (as mine was, last year) are sometimes hurriedly done, and thus have errors.  So it was with the piece I wrote which appears in the book.  Marvin Campbell was indeed a bank president, but much of his time as a bank president was in Brainerd MN.  He was active in the National Guard there, and proud of the recognition the Brainerd Guard gave to the casualties and survivors of the Bataan Death March in 1942, many of whom were from Brainerd.
LYNN ELLING
Lynn Elling had just completed his degree at the University of Minnesota when he was called up for Navy duty in 1943.  His time in the Navy was spent as a junior officer on LST 172 in the south Pacific.  (“LST” officially means Landing Ship Tank; but in Navy gallows humor, it meant Large Slow Target.)  They were the workhorses for the military, endlessly hauling materiels within the war zone, thus the gallows humor.

Lynn Elling on LST 172 1944

Lynn Elling on LST 172 1944


The tribute to Lynn is at  #mce_temp_url# .  The millioncopies website referenced there includes a longer description of Lynn and his work which I wrote a couple of years ago.  Do take a look.  #mce_temp_url#
It may seem odd that someone like me who is pro-Peace (and anti-War as a solution to problems) will write tributes to veterans.  It’s not at all odd to me.  I am a veteran myself, from a family full of military veterans.  Service mattered.  We thought (and we probably were) generally working to protect our country.  In recent years, the orientation seems to have changed.
We work towards Peace in the ways available to us, and at the times we see wrong, and work to right it (to borrow a quotation from Ted Kennedy, at his brother Robert;s funeral in 1968).
In particular, Lynn Elling’s work for Peace lives on in the organization World Citizen, of which I am currently Vice-President.  Do visit #mce_temp_url#

#88 – Dick Bernard: A Happy Birthday to Annelee, and a time to reflect on War

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See comment at end of post
Annelee Woodstrom is 83 years young today, and what a remarkable 83 years it has been.  She’s one of my role models.  What a life.  What an example.
We saw her reading from her book “War Child, Growing Up in Adolf Hitler’s Germany” one week ago today.  We were among 75 people in a church conference room, all listening carefully.  You could “hear a pin drop”, literally.  Each time I hear her speak, her presentation is more compelling and powerful.

Annelee Woodstrom September 13, 2009

Annelee Woodstrom September 13, 2009

I met Annelee when I ordered a copy of her book in 2003.  I had read a column about the book in the Fargo (ND) Forum, and sent her a note.  We’ve been good friends ever since.
Annelee wrote the book when she was 77.  It is about to go into its third printing.  Last year, she wrote a followup, Empty Chairs, about 60 years in the United States, beginning as a war bride of an American GI from northwest MN.  Their marriage of 51 years ended with his death in 1998.  Empty Chairs has also been a success for Annelee.  She has a powerful story to tell. ( #mce_temp_url# for details about the books.  Both are well worth reading.)
Annelee was 7 years old when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933.  She lived in a town of about 6,000 people within walking distance of what is now the CzechRepublic.  There were two Jewish families in her town.  Both were forced to leave, both survived.  At the end of the war, Annelee was 18 and a telegrapher in Regensburg, and near the end of the war she and a friend walked 90 miles home: better to die at home than through the bombs, they felt.  They like other Germans were starving.  Earlier she had been under the carpet bombing of the allies and survived.  The detonation caused severe hearing loss.
What had seemed to be a glorious war for Germany, re-building national pride and securing additional land and resources, had an inglorious end for the Germans. There’s a lesson in that for us.
In the official public accounts of the winners (as in schoolbook history) of WWII, the war usually begins with 1938; the U.S. engagement begins with Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. WWII ends with the surrender of Germany in May, 1945; and with Japan in September of that year.  It was our heroic war, liberating good from evil.  When asked when the Germans saw the end was coming, Annelee readily says “1943”.  She was 16, then.
Annelee began her talk by recalling German history between the end of the “war to end all wars”, WWI, in 1918, and her birth in 1926.  This was a time of destitution for ordinary Germans, rarely seriously discussed.  The Nazis promised jobs and national pride and prosperity, and for a while produced on their pledge, especially for those who were loyal party members.  Her parents refused to become party members, and refused her requests to join the Hitler Youth, whose parades and splendid uniforms enthralled her as a young girl.
There is almost literally a black hole in information about the privation of ordinary Germans after WWI.  But it was this privation, and the resulting humiliation at the loss that probably were the major factors making ordinary Germans susceptible to Hitler and the Nazis propaganda.
Winners of wars write the always heroic official history; losers retain and pass down the memories and consequences of the loss.  There is always a “black hole” – a story not to be told.  Personal memory is powerful for the losers.  There is no surrender of memory.
Annelee to her great credit remembers, and chooses to share.
Happy Birthday, Annelee!
**
Annelee’s s story last Sunday reminded me of an earlier story I had read about Germany in the aftermath of WW I.
This story came in the form of a November 5, 1923, letter written by my great-uncle Herman Henry Busch of Dubuque Iowa to a nephew in Germany.  At the time, HH had lived in the United States for over 50 years and he was a prosperous land developer.  The original letter was in German, and I had it and several others translated for a family history I first wrote in 1993.
In relevant part, here’s what HH Busch said about the consequence of WWI five years after it had ended.  Bear in mind, he is writing from America, and at the time he writes has lived in the U.S. for over 50 years.
“The last letter [unavailable,  apparently written in pre-war or WWI times] I counseled [a cousin] to shake the [German] dust from his feet and come over [to the U.S.].  It was the time when the bishop from Lemberg was taken into captivity by the Russians.  He answered me that [Germany] had a good Kaiser and good times.  My warning was justified.
The American millionaires and the government had loaned the Allies so many millions that against the will of the common folk, President Wilson was pulled into the War.  England had nine million for newspaper propaganda (for war) in American newspapers about the brutal German and that the German-Americans had come to suffer under it, they were held for unpatriotic and were required to come before the court for little things as if they were pro-German[*].  The damned war was a revenge and a millionaire’s war and the common people had to bleed in this bloody gladiator battle.  Yes, until now the world still has no peace because of the revenge of France [**].
So now the Catholics of America have a nine day novena for peace, in our beautiful Marian church.  The novena ends on the feast of All-Saints Day. It would be desirable for the strong God of the warring armies to let justice reign here and give the whole world the peace so that, at Christmas, the world can experience peace and good will to all.  We Americans must now bear the war debt of fifty billion through taxes and it makes me happy that you [Germans] do not need help us pay the war debt.  The last occupation map that I saw had  [his home area between the Ruhr and Netherlands] Borken on the borderline, is Borken occupied?  Is Borken included in the occupied area or not?  Where do the garrison occupation lines run near you?  Was the harvest good?  Are many people in the area in misery?  What is your business?  Who lives in my old home now.  I forgot nothing of the beautiful hunting grounds of my youth.  If the hunt is still as good as then, it would be my utmost wish to make a hunt there in Soison.  Report also of your family. If Germany will become more divided through loss of the Rhinelands and the revolution of the socialists and communists [***] then there is still a  crisis to get through, and we very surely hope that the whole confusion is soon rectified and order comes.  If Germany had been able to overflow the American newspapers with propaganda during the war like England, then America would have been on Germany’s side instead of England’s and it would be in a completely different position now in the world.  One hears that the need in the cities is big and farmers fare the best….”  (page 271, Pioneers: The Busch and Berning Families of LaMoure County ND, 1991, 1993, 2005)
* – German-Americans, especially those who spoke German, were considered suspect in the U.S., much as the Japanese-Americans were considered suspect in WWII, and the Arab-Americans today.  The old patters continue unabated.   If we do the same things in the same ways we will always get the same results…but it is a very hard lesson to learn.
** – In another letter, HH recounts a story told by his grandparents about the early 1800s when Napoleon overran their homeland of Westfalia, and for a number of years they were governed by France.  No love was lost for France by this German.
*** – H. H. does not define “socialist” or “communist” in his letter, and no later record is known from later writings.  The Nazis did eliminate the communists as competition, and the more I learn about the Nazis, they were, rather than “socialist”, really a mother-lode for the capitalists of the day, both in their country and elsewhere.  They were really the very epitome of the “military-industrial complex” which President Eisenhower feared in his farewell address to the U.S. Congress in January, 1961, and which is now a troubling reality.  In his address, Eisenhower had actively considered adding reference to government to his phrase, but in the end did not.

In background, Annelee's family in 1943

In background, Annelee’s family in 1943

Annelee’s father was ultimately drafted into the German Army in a construction engineering capacity.  Except for coming home around Christmas of 1943, he was never seen again.  They believe he died in a Russian prison perhaps after the war, but no one is absolutely sure.
H.H. Busch died in 1933, the year Hitler came to power, and the Great Depression was raging in the United States.  Except for the above letter, I have no further accounts by or about him.
UPDATE SEP 20, 2009 from Jim Fuller:
A key point in the piece is that the period between WWI and WWII is a “black hole” for most people, which means that they can have no real understanding of why the Nazis in Germany and Fascists in Italy rose so readily to power in their respective countries.
A painless way to gain considerable knowledge of that era, and have a great time in the process, is to read the novels of Alan Furst.  They are superb, and beautifully written stories of spies and emigre intrigue in Europe between the world wars, but they also are filled with factual detail that one rarely, if ever, finds in history books. Another excellent novel that provides great historical insight is Erich Maria Remarque’s “Black Obelisque.”  (Remarque was the author of “All quiet On the Western Front,” which in its early chapters also tells much about that between-wars period.

#87 – Dick Bernard: Stomping on ACORN

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Wednesday’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune carried a long front-page article about a U.S. Senate action “to prohibit the Department of Housing and Urban Development from giving federal housing money to [ACORN #mce_temp_url# ]… because of some “ACORN workers, who appeared to blithely encourage postitution and tax evasion…[through] amateur actors, posing as a prostitute and pimp and recorded on hidden cameras in visits to ACORN offices….”   The vote was 83-7, meaning 7 voted “no” and 9 did not vote.
ACORN is a national organizations  which conservative activists love to hate.Its website (noted above) has the other side of the story, worth noting.
Because ACORN likely has tens of thousands local activists, the odds of a problem here or there is 100% certain.  (I worked an entire career for a very large teacher union, and periodically every teacher, and, of course, by extension their union, would be ‘indicted’ because some teacher did something stupid, and the union had represented the member to at least assure that his/her due process rights were protected.  It was an ugly game played to discredit (and punish) the whole, based on the sin of the few.  So it is with the ACORN flap….
I wrote a letter to the editor of the “STrib”, and a portion of the letter was published in today’s edition, as follows:
“Apparently the Senate has administered a “that’ll show’em” blow at ACORN, condemning the whole for the sins of the few.
Oh, for the justice that might require the sanctimonious judgmental blowhards who promoted this action to be individually called to account for the sins of their collegial “birds of a feather”, or of their supporters back home.”
In the same edition which carried my letter, another headline trumpeted “Governor ends state funding for ACORN”.  In the body of the article, it was revealed that the group has not received any money from the state since May of 2008, and “had received a total of $109,000 since 1996.”    That was about $10,000 per year from 5,000,000 or so Minnesotans – less than a pittance, two tenths of a single penny per Minnesotan per year.  That’ll show ’em!
Governor Pawlenty is running actively as a Republican candidate for U.S. President in 2012.  His base has adopted ACORN as the enemy du jour.
The portion of my letter which was not printed in the newspaper continues:
“Ah, the dream…
Succinctly, we’re witnessing bullying behavior in all of its obnoxious forms, the taking down of ACORN only the most recent.
As we should know by now, backing down in the face of a bully only assures an escalation in the bullying behavior.  Who’ll be next?”
I’m sending my entire letter to the editor to my Senators and Congresswoman and the Governor along with a handwritten note.  
You can never satisfy a bully; but a bully can and should be called out on his (or her) bad behavior. Deep down, they’re really cowards….
And I’ll send a check to ACORN, too.
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE:  Some months ago I participated in a most interesting on-line seminar on managing fear.  It remains accessible at #mce_temp_url# .  The power point specifically references the relationship of bullying to personal fear.

#86 – Dick Bernard: Two sides of "entitlement"

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Saturday, during President Obama’s time in Minneapolis, a friend of mine did a little experiment with the protestors outside.
Bruce explains it best: “At the Obama rally on Saturday, I approached several anti-reformers as a panhandler asking for a handout to help me pay my lapsing health insurance premiums,  Some told me to ask the people standing in line to see Obama.  Some said get on Medicaid (ironically, a government program).  Some stuck their hands in their pockets and asked me how much I needed and gave me $5 and $10.  I had the money in my hand and gave it back saying “I can’t take your money, you are a good person, and you put your money where your mouth is.”  Many of the anti-reformers are caring and generous people who truly believe what they are against, a government incursion on their freedom and liberty.  They should be taken for real, as people with substantive concerns.  The problem is how we bridge this gap and ease the fear of our fellow human beings so they can help ease ours.”
There is a lot of wisdom in what Bruce has to say.  At the same time, it reminded me of the simple distinction between “charity” and “justice”.  The people who gave the money to Bruce knew what he looked like and could judge him worthy or not for their money (charity).  (Bruce is a professional man ‘by day’ and would likely not be able to disguise his ‘responsible’ appearance and actions.  He probably looked like he “deserved” help.)
On the other hand, these same benefactors would likely not want their money to go to someone whose name they don’t know, in some place far away (even the next town), because they can’t personally judge the recipient who might be given the money.  He or she or might use the money, they say, for something they don’t approve. Their giving lacks justice.  Justice, it seems to me, is by its very nature less judgmental.  
Bruce’s comment reminds me of the frequent times when I see a handbill asking to help the family of someone whose house burned down, or one of whose members has a serious injury or disease, and no insurance to cover the costs.  In such circumstances, there is often a community outpouring of compassion and concern and even money, and spaghetti dinners become an important community event to help the afflicted.  But I wonder about what happens after the spaghetti dinner…people may toss a twenty in the kettle once; how about $20 a month for years till the debt is paid?
This is where “society” (a synonym is “government” in my opinion)  has to come in, to spread the risk.  The protestors want a very constricted view of what society is.  At least that’s my opinion.
But there is another side to this as well, not quite as comfortable to contend with.  And I’ll pick on someone who I’ll call “Jan” who runs in the circles that I do.
For awhile, Jan came to meetings of a group that I was part of.  She had no shortage of opinions and complaints.
Our $8 dues (per year) was pretty steep, she felt, but she thought that we should send our newsletters by mail to those who didn’t have e-mail, or take them to the libraries so that people like her could read them close to home.
We tend to empathize with the Jan’s of the world, but sometimes they really challenge our understanding.
Probably the last time I saw her at a meeting, was almost a year ago, after she had done her usual litany of complaints.  She told us she was buying a bus ticket – a couple of hundred dollars – to go to DC for the Presidential inauguration week activities.  As I listened, it didn’t sound like she felt it to be too pricey for her budget.
I couldn’t help think of that too pricey $8 dues she’d complained about, (and never did pay).
We can look outward; but as we look outward, we need to look inward as well.
Thanks, Bruce.
UPDATE from Bruce, after he read the above:
“At first I was disappointed with the compassionate response of those who gave money to me.  I wanted to see them as evil without compassion.  The first responses I received were what I expected, “get in line with the Obama people”.  That made more sense to me.  But after getting the hand in the pocket response a few times, it dawned on me that some of the anti-reformers are serious caring people.  Another side note, the women anti-reformers were the most militant and dismissive of my panhandling.”

#79 – Dick Bernard: President Obama speaks to the nation on Health Care

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Since anyone and everyone is predicting what Pres. Obama will say tonight, and what he means by what he says, I have my right to my own opinion, which is, I would say, as informed (and uninformed) as that of anyone else.  
I am deliberately posting this before Obama’s speech, rather than after.
As time has gone on, I am more and more of the opinion that what is happening now in the debate on Health Care Reform is very similar to what happened as the tide turned against the Vietnam War in the late 1960s early 1970s.  There came a tipping point in that conflict when public opinion turned against the war.  Nixon won a landslide victory in 1972; by 1975 the last frantic refugees lifted off from the U.S. embassy in Saigon; Nixon was already history.  The turn started earlier, but reached a crescendo quite rapidly.  The end wasn’t perfect, and the future wasn’t either, but for certain, change began to occur.  The past began to end…and lasted till we got mired in our next war – Iraq/Afghanistan.
If I’m correct, the current divisive atmosphere is a very good omen for the beginning of long term and very substantive change.  The Health Care Reform debate is being waged in the Congress, but far more importantly, it is being waged in the public square.  By no means is Health Care Reform “dead on arrival”; nor will it get stuck in cement after the first round of legislation is passed this fall.  
(On August 31, I was among those senior citizens who spent some time in the DFL (Democratic party) booth at the Minnesota State Fair.  I have done this before.  This time we were concerned about being attacked by irate people, to the extent that we had a training session before hand.  The training was a waste of time.  If anything, the people were more polite and serious minded than in previous similar events.  Sen. Al Franken was very politely received.  The people, I think, get it.)
I am not particularly concerned about what finally ends up in this first Health Care Reform bill.  There never was, and there will likely never be, a massive sea change in the general attitude of the body politic. So many of us, and so much of our economy, is wrapped up in the business of medicine that it would be unrealistic that revolutionary change would occur (though I think such a change would ultimately be for the betterment of all of us.  Who would miss those endless television ads for this or that pharmaceutical or treatment – the true cost of “competition”.)
A friend predicted earlier today that Obama would throw the progressives “off the bus” tonight.  
I am certain that, whatever he says, he will be interpreted as having gone too far, or not far enough, or this, or that, or the other.   Whether he throws progressives off the bus or not is going to be strictly an item of interpretation by the viewer, and we will have an opportunity to hear and see lots of comments about what it all means afterwards.  I will take every comment with a grain of salt, particularly if it comes from someone with a particular vested interest in the outcome of the debate.
Personally, I hope the advocates for revolutionary change prepare themselves for some realistic response, and rather than saying “we were sold out”, treat whatever positive changes which end up being made as the positive changes that they are, and then redouble their efforts for more and better changes down the road.
The debate is being waged, and we can thank the President of the United States for this.  
If we want “change we can believe in”, we now have an opportunity to help make it happen, one small and difficult step at a time.
To those tempted to throw the President “off the bus”, I don’t wish you well.

#77 – Dick Bernard: The political execution of Van Jones (and a possibility or two)

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Van Jones is now history, at least insofar as an office in the White House is concerned.
I heard Van Jones speak in person twice.  The last time, in March, 2009, was apparently his last public speech before joining the Obama administration.  I bought his book, “The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems” (HarperOne 2008).  It comes with an all-star list of endorsers.  It’s well worth reading.  He is a phenomenal person.
Of course, Mr. Jones has now been publicly executed, resigning from his post within the Obama administration for what appears to have been two ‘sins’: signing a petition, and using colorful language about Republicans.  I’m quite certain I signed the same petition some time (questioning the truth of 9-11*); and as for colorful language, my guess is that Jones ‘executioners’ were at least equally colorful in their description of him in their private meetings.  But that is now simply history.  Jones would be a distraction if he remained on the White House staff.  Life goes on.
Jones ‘demise’ is just the latest example of a contemporary political reality: anyone aspiring politically is fair game for anything, whether true or not.  There is no such thing as a truly personal life for a political figure.  We are all quite literally surrounded by our past, remembered or not.  This is a matter of consequence for our version of democracy.  We need gifted people in government; many gifted people say “no thanks” to public life, and not only because they can make more money elsewhere.  The ‘costs’ of the job are simply too high.
Van Jones is a gifted speaker and visionary.  That was obvious the first time we heard him in June, 2008, at the National Media Reform Conference, and the second in March, 2009. At the conclusion of the 2009 speech (at the University of Minnesota) we were told that he would likely not be doing more public speaking. There was another assignment in the offing, we were told.  It was not hard to put two and two together.  Not long after we saw him, he appeared on the White House roster.
Now, presumably, Van Jones can again speak as an individual.
But I really hope that persons interested in nurturing and development of a “Green Economy” don’t sit back and expect Van Jones to do the heavy lifting.  There is a real danger that could happen; perhaps it already had.  After all, one can reason, he’s in the White House, we don’t have to do anything more.  Not true.  In fact, the opposite is true.  With the opportunity comes the work.    
What better a development than have a million or more advocates for the change that Van Jones sought doubling their personal efforts to make his dream not only stay alive, but grow more quickly?
Personally, I don’t need to hear him speak again, and I doubt many others do either.
What is needed are “boots on the ground” doing what needs to be done; putting in place the multitude of ideas he so well articulated for the future of this nation.
Perhaps the Republicans have done the movement a favor – if we make it so.
* – This reminded me of a 9-11 project I need to do: check the July 23 posting at this blog for details.  You may wish to participate as well.

#76 – Dick Bernard: "Taking Woodstock" (and "zipping to Zap")

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UPDATE ON THE ZIP TO ZAP:  Subsequent to the September 6 update I received two most interesting items:  my brother, who had been involved in the event sent a research piece that was most interesting #mce_temp_url#   .  Then I ordered the 1991 documentary on the event, an equally fascinating summary of what happened during those interesting few days in rural North Dakota in 1969, a few months before Woodstock.  I’d recommend the 53 minute video to anyone with an interest in the topic.   It can be ordered through #mce_temp_url#
UPDATE September 6: see comment re Zip to Zap, as well as link references at end of this post.
Original Post:
Yesterday we went down the street to see the just released “Taking Woodstock”, a film I thought would give me a retro look at Woodstock 1969.  Maybe it would be a temporary release from the bizarre country we seem to be living in today:  A country where some people are terrified that the President of the country might have some unsupervised time with unsuspecting school children when school begins this week (more on that on Tuesday morning.)  A country where health care for all is somehow un-American.  One wonders where we’re headed, and my concern is not our President; my concern is the collective us.
“Taking Woodstock”  turned out to be a very good choice of movie.  It had a comedy aspect to it, and was not a documentary, but in the over two hours in the theatre it gave a pretty decent picture of how Woodstock impacted on small town New York state and the participants in the drama.  I wouldn’t call it an exciting movie – for a while I wondered where it was going – but it was interesting, and gave lots of food for thought.
In the end, it seems, Woodstock 1969 was an unintended very major event that was simply allowed to happen.  One wonders how such an event would play out today, with “cowboys” wandering the streets, armed and dangerous; moralists tut-tutting about immoral behavior, and all the rest.
The 1969 bottom line, or so it seems: in an atmosphere that could well have been chaotic and violent, Woodstock participants did their thing, peacefully, and the area recovered.  Even in the midst of a disastrous Vietnam War, there was a sense of sanity and civility that we seem to have lost today.
(There’s plenty of information available about Woodstock: a good source seems to be http://www.woodstock.com/1969-festival; for more about the film, http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_Woodstock )
For the record, I totally missed out on Woodstock in 1969.  I don’t remember a thing about it “back in the day”.  I remember hearing about the famous “Zip to Zap” in the spring of 1969 (my kid brother almost scored with Life magazine with photos he took there, in western ND); and about the moon-landing in the summer, but nothing about Woodstock.  Had I known about Woodstock, I would not have been interested. Wasn’t my thing.  Plus I was going to graduate school, building a new house, getting ready for a child who arrived August 25, 1969, etc.  On my priority list, Woodstock wasn’t….
Still, Woodstock has been an object of fascination for me over the years.  
I could grant that lots of the folks who hung out at Woodstock in the summer of 1969 – perhaps even most of them – engaged in one or another kind of dangerous or even self-destructive behavior.  But best as I know, their only potential victims were themselves.  They were surrounded by a genuine ad hoc community of sorts that cared whether the neighbors lived or died.  The atmosphere was live and let live.
Today the moralists would be out there with their National Guard troops and their blazing news releases raging moralism and hell-fire and damnation, and doing their best to quiet other voices.
The Woodstock.com site (URL above) gives a pretty decent summation of what seems to have been Woodstock 1969: “…a community of a half million people who managed to peacefully co-exist over three days of consistent rain, food shortages, and a lack of creature comforts. “Woodstock is a reminder that inside each of us is the instinct for building a decent, loving community, the kind we all wish for,” according to Joel Rosenman. “Over the decades, the history of that weekend has served as a beacon of hope that a beautiful spirit in each of us ultimately will triumph.”
If you can, see the film….
Note:  The person posting the comment on “Zip to Zap” has an interesting website #mce_temp_url#, which includes an astonishingly beautiful piece of music by San Franciscan Matt Venuti.  Do visit and share.