Relationships

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Usually in this little corner of the world called Thoughts Towards a Better World I have one or two opinions in progress.  As I write this is the 7th in the draft file.  It is that kind of week.

I title this one “Relationships”.

Top of the list is the U.S. Intelligence Community Assessment on Foreign Threats to the 2020 U.S. Federal Elections.  You can read it here.   Just Above Sunset summarizes its findings in last nights post, “From Russia With Love”.   These are not Twitter-length.  Take some time to at least scan through them.

Then there is the tragic murder spree in Georgia, which left 8 people, 6 who were Asian-American, and 7 women, dead.  And the resurgence of fear-mongering about foreigners coming across the border, especially from Mexico and Central America.  It is all about fear, period.

Personally, this week, I had a chance to take a mini-deep dive into the humanitarian crisis of the YAZIDI’s of Iraq.  Last week I watched on-line the film, “On Her Shoulders” about a young Yazidi woman, Nadia Murad, who has become the face of her beleaguered people, threatened with extinction by ISIS in northwest Iraq.

Nadia was a co-winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, and her website, Nadia’s Initiative, is here.  The film is available on Amazon Prime and is well worth your time.

Thursday night, 15 of us engaged in conversation with Abid Shamdeen, Yazidi, who is Executive Director of Nadia’s Initiative.   He, like Nadia, was very impressive, and informative.

One aspect of the story that most engaged me was the Yazidi religious philosophy, which seems well described in a Huffpost article seven years back.  At the time, the article estimated Yazidi’s to number about 600,000 (roughly the population of North Dakota).  Their natural area was in northwest Iraq, in the area of Mt. Sinjar.  They are neither Christian nor Muslim nor any other commonly known religion and this made them a target of ISIS.

Each of us who had the opportunity to see the film, and to meet Abid on-line would have our own individual impressions, and I hope some of the folks will share their impressions as comments here.

For me, I saw in Nadia a young woman thrust into a leadership role flowing out of violent and tragic circumstances.  History is full of unsung heroes like Nadia – people who didn’t intend to become noted; people who often perished in the process.  Her life script, as she articulated it herself, did not have her testifying at the United Nations, or receiving a Nobel Peace Prize.

Then there is the matter of being a refugee.  For the Yazidi’s, outside of their neighboring countries,  Germany was a major destination.   The Norwegian Refugee Council has a very interesting graphic about refugees, which you can access here.  Note how the U.S. compares.

There are many opportunities to learn from the above, and other current and past events.

We’re in all sorts of relationships, from personal, to community, to state, to nation, to the entire planet.  We’re in this world together.

COMMENTS: 

from Gail: Personally, I thought that “On Her Shoulders” was the most boring documentary I’ve ever seen – just Nadia speaking at various places, saying the same thing.  I hadn’t been aware of the plight of the Yazdis, so I appreciate the film for that; but it could have been so much more interesting and informative if it had provided a broader context.

Pot…Kettle

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A recent e-mail reminded me of the old saying, “pot calling the kettle black” (“a person who is guilty of the very thing of which they accuse another and is thus an example of psychological projection, or hypocrisy.”).

Here’s an opportunity, whether you’re “pot” or “kettle” to consider both sides of the story.  Comments are welcome.  After reading the following, I’d encourage you to read this long article about truth and fiction, titled “The Value of Truth”: Michael Patrick Lynch Boston Review; as well as Michael Patrick Lynch Boston Review (2) (click to enlarge).

“Pot’s” e-mail, from Feb. 22, is down the page, the second half of this post.

I’m the “Kettle”, and since this is my piece of real estate I’ll go first…though you can certainly read “Pot” first if you wish.  It would be nice to get a few responses on either/both.

What I don’t say below, is the most important comment which I add here:  I have followed American politics for years, not obsessively, but often with interest, and often, active involvement.  What “Pot” seems to forget is that his ‘side’, has attacked we others viciously and incessantly for many, many years.  In retrospect, in my opinion, a definable ground zero goes back to folks, Republican warriors, like Lee Atwater, Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh and others, back to more murky roots in the 1970s.  Politics in the U.S. has always been a contact sport, but until recent decades it has generally been decent, and in recent years with unfettered and instantly and universally transmittable “speech” through twitter and the like, often transparently false, we have created our own problem, which only we can undo.  Attack politics works, ultimately to the detriment of everyone, losers and winners.

(Following “Pot’s” comments, I’ll relate again my own political biography as a citizen.)

Kettle: As you know you and I are almost exactly the same age, along with Nancy Pelosi – 1940 kids.

My natural affinity and affiliation is liberal, and I’m active.  So over the years a great many of the people I know best would consider themselves liberals, and it would not surprise you to know that they are nice people who tend to have a “big tent” philosophy.  They are not easily pigeon-holed, or regimented.  The old saying of Will Rogers, “I am not a member of any organized political party, I’m a Democrat”, comes to mind.”  Hard as it can be, we take democracy seriously.

It is rather odd to hear that the liberals haven’t been nice: “For more than 4 years…was continually bashed by liberals”. I happen to be liberal, and for years and years the right wing has attacked, attacked, attacked…and your guy just joined the parade, which even preceded Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh.  Maybe you don’t remember, but when you first corresponded with me back in the summer of 2011 you sent about 35 ‘forwards’ all on the favorite talking points of the radical right.  One of them was from the guy who was President from 2017-21.  His broadside came six years before he became President….

Then there’s the matter of that alleged $50,000,000 from teacher unions to Biden.  You can search information on such things on the internet.  The NEA and AFT (disclosure: I was staff primarily for NEA locals for 27 years) are large nationwide organizations with thousands of large and small locals.  NEA alone has about 3 million members, but it is a wild misrepresentation to make a statement such as you did.  The closest I could come to what seems to be a fairly reasonable representation of reality comes from a group called Blue Tent, as it describes itself here.    Its article on the subject can be read here.  Scroll down to the section on NEA and AFT.  Here’s the pull quote from the article: NEA and AFT “…spent $5.7 million and $1.5 million, respectively, on outside expenditures as of October [2020].”  MAYBE we’re talking $2.00 per member towards politics, and assuredly teachers are not a bloc who all think alike, politically or otherwise.

Back to Pot.

Pot:  Dick, Why is it that most liberals in the media, Hollywood, and in universities are filled with hatred, intolerance, condescension, and racism? If you disagree with a liberal you are called a racist, a bigot, misogynist, or any other demeaning word they choose. For more than 4 years Trump was continually bashed by liberals. Now that Biden is President have you heard the questions he gets, like what kind of ice cream do you like, what is your dogs name, how do you feel about being President?  Soft balls and mushy questions that give people the urge to purge.  All the liberals have switched into the defensive mode rather than the offensive mode like during Trump’s term.  When Rush Limbaugh died the roar of liberal hatred filled the airwaves.

Biden ran on creating jobs but on his first day he fired 11,000 pipeline union members and thousands of collateral workers.  They probably did not contribute to his election.  Biden accepted around $50,000,000 from teacher unions, which is why he won’t run roughshod over them.  Money talks, students silence!  He is going to drag the covid crisis as far as possible, remember the “never let a crisis go to waste” comment?  Would you want your daughter beaten in a race by a man who identifies as a woman?  Biden would!  Is it fair for a motorcyclist to enter a bicycle race if he identifies as a bicyclist?  Biden probably would agree.  Why can’t we all choose to be whatever we want?  Can I put on a Marine uniform and call myself a Marine?  Can I wear overalls and call myself a farmer?  Biden talks unification but acts divisive.  He is polarizing the people even more than they are.
Have you noticed we are no longer “Americans”, we are called “African Americans”, “Asian Americans”, “White Americans”, “Hispanic Americans”. “Latino  Americans”, “European Americans”, etc?  Division and victimization seems to be the reason. Do you agree with all of Biden’s actions?  I sure do not.
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POSTNOTE: Dick Bernard, personally: I turned 21 in 1961.  At that time, 21 was the voting age.  I was a senior in college, and I too young to vote in the 1960 election.  The candidate I best remember in college years was Nelson Rockefeller, who I saw speak in person in a park in my North Dakota college town.  I’ve written about that event: Politics 1960 vs 1996001 (click to enlarge).
I first dove in, supporting Jimmy Carter in 1980.  He was and remains a singularly decent person in the office of President.  He and Rosalyn set a very high bar.  I admire him.
Subsequent, I’ve always supported Democrats.
I’d like to see more honesty in political rhetoric.
COMMENTS:

from Peter: My first thought was “troll”. More likely, deep emotional wounds. A person grasping for dignity.

In my experience, people with a problem only begin recovery in the moment when they recognize the problem. Before that point they are often desperate to bond with others over their phobias.

Lots of us have family members in this condition and cannot just move on. In that case having it out in public is hurtful, and maybe even dangerous.

I see no opening for dialog there. My question is what (if any) difference a rejoinder could make, to anyone.

A useful question for them might be: “Where do you hurt?”

response from Dick: “Pot” isn’t a troll – at least not here – having been on my distribution list for many years, and never asked to be taken off the list. Pot has previously expressed a point of view, which I have shared in this space.  We don’t agree, obviously.  I will comment to the individual directly as well.   Similarly, Peter has been a good friend for many years.  He and I tend to be kindred spirits philosophically.

Common $en$e

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Today Congress passed the stimulus bill today, probably with no Republican votes.  There will be talk about numbers too large for us to comprehend: $1.9 Trillion; national debt of $29 Trillion, on and on.

I keep thinking of perspective, on several grounds.  (There are numerous sources of data.  My choices, below, are not ‘cherry-picked’ by ideology.  I basically picked the first one I saw in internet search which seemed reasonably credible.)

Here’s the U.S. deficit data over the past few years.

Here’s the average American personal debt.

Then there’s the American wealth relative to the rest of the world: Wealth of UN Countries.  Note the column headings and look specifically at the United States data (which is from 2017).  We remain far and away the wealthiest country, but the inequity in wealth within our country has increased.

And that wealth in America is increasingly concentrated in the very richest Americans.

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I’d encourage you to look at the charts, and to give them context relating to yourself, and those around you who you know, family, friends, other.

Think outside the box – how does someone opposite of you in philosophy think, and why.  We are a dangerously divided country.  I’m not saying one side is right, the other wrong.  But there are polar opposite views.  Personally, I think today’s action in Congress was outstanding, and needed.

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Some thoughts:

Even with the pandemic, the U.S. is incredibly wealthy.  Among the United Nations countries – 193 of them – the U.S. has about 4% of the world population, and nearly one-fourth of the world’s wealth.

As to debt, that too is relative.  American personal debt is about 14 trillion dollars – home mortgage, credit card, etc., etc.  That is serious money, granted.  The national debt about double.  (See next paragraph).

What is never said is that debt is what fuels the American economy.  I’m no recommending that but I think that is true.  The rare individual who pays with cash is, in a sense, not a patriot. We’re accustomed to debt.  We depend on debt.  Think back to the first time you had a credit card.  It’s not ancient history.  What role does credit play in your life today.  Think back to the home(s) you lived in, or your grandparents, and compare them to the very large homes even first time homebuyers demand in these days.

One of the old sayings that comes to mind today is “nest egg” – the savings account.  If you’re fortunate, and most everyone who reads this is very fortunate, you have a rainy day fund of some size set aside.  Everybody has a different idea of what this should be.  I knew a person who literally had almost no furniture because she’d been advised that she needed $5 million to retire.  She was obsessed with saving for the future.  I’m being only a little dramatic here.  She had no perspective.

There are examples of course, on the other end of this.  People who will consider the stimulus as mad money.  Most of us are between the poles.

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Here are the main data points over the last 20 years as I see them.

  1. Huge outlays to pay for war in the wake of 9-11-01.  We’re still engaged.
  2. The near collapse of the American Economy in late 2008, in large part by careless fiscal management particularly in the arena of real estate.
  3. The stimulus to restore the economy in 2009, which probably should have been greater.
  4. The immense and ill-advised tax cuts in 2017, which aggravated conditions and were fuel for very large increases in the national debt in the previous four years.
  5. The impact of Covid-19, now in its second year.

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Today is a single step.  As the President likes to say, “we are all in this together”.

POSTNOTE 1, March 11: Yesterday, each member of Congress had one minute to make a final argument about the bill described above.  There are 435 members of the House of Representatives.  That is over seven hours if anything went perfectly.  It is a huge opportunity for sound bites, that can be produced by anybody, for anyone, at great length, posted anywhere, said at any meeting….

I made my very imperfect attempt – how I saw it – above.

In the end, the real “legislators” are, really, every one of us, the vocal and the quiet, the beneficiaries.

A democracy is ‘we, the people’.  We truly elect our redemption or our doom in this temporal world.

Yesterday was extremely significant.  Just Above Sunset, overnight, goes into more detail, trying to condense those 435 comments (which also must include the 100 Senators on the other side of the Capitol.)

Just Above Sunset: “Doing some good”.

Today, March 12, is the one year anniversary of the Covid-19 Pandemic.  The date is as determined by the World Health Organization (WHO), and I yield to The WHO Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, for his remarks, which you can see/read here.  We are a part of, not apart from, the rest of the planet.  We survive by working together for solutions.

POSTNOTE 2, March 11: Already, the folks who voted unanimously against the package, are fashioning ways to take credit for it.  It was anticipated.

How much is “$1.9T”, as headlined, for some reason, in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune.

It is a big number: 1,900,000,000,000 – 1,000 million.

There are, more or less, 330,000,000 Americans, men, women, children.

That is $5,756 per person, surely a large number.

But view it from your own vantage point of your own current debt, particularly if you have a mortgage or a car payment.

In fact, those whose hands wring when talking about this aid package secretly worship debt as a driver of wealth in our society.  It is a secret, untold.

Keep it in perspective, particularly looking at how the money will be used to help the economy recover.

POSTNOTE 3, March 12: It occurred to me that this American Rescue Plan was the second Covid-19 related initiative in Congress.  The first was what was called the CARES Act, passed unanimously by the Senate, and easily and bi-partisan by the House of Representatives in the spring of 2020.  The House vote was more ambiguous than the Senate.  There were only 6 “no” votes, 5 of them Republican in the House; on the other hand, there was a fairly large number of “no information” non-votes in the House of Representatives – it appears about 36 of these in the 435 member chamber, most of these Democrat.  More information on the House split vote is here.

In the American Rescue Plan, there were no Republican Yes votes.

Why the difference in the votes?  A good topic for discussion.

POSTNOTE 4, sent byJeff, March 13: Ron Insana at CNBC, here

 

International Women’s Day

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Time very well spent: the film “On Her Shoulders”, about Nadia Murad.  See “Related and timely”, below.

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Yesterday, March 8, was International Women’s Day.  March is Women’s History Month.  This year has celebrated the centennial of Women’s Suffrage in the United States.  There’s been much progress; still a very long ways to go….

We celebrate different people in different ways.  Most of us, women and men, are uncelebrated, which is unfortunate.  For without ordinary people with persistence and passion and ideals, making a difference in small and large ways, we would not have a society at all.

Yesterday, my friend and colleague Jim Nelson sent a two page commentary on “Women’s contributions in “Building a Better World”.  You can read it here: Women’s Contributions.

Jim, Minneapolitan, has a long career as an active participant in peace, justice, international and sustainability matters, and he profiles a few of many positive role models in his life as an activist.  Mostly they have no books written about them, nor special notoriety, but they, like us, can make a real difference.

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Related, and timely: A group of which I’m part, Citizens for Global Solutions MN, has its virtual Third Thursday Film discussion upcoming on March 18.  Details here.  Scroll down to Third Thursday Global Films.  This months focus is Nadia Murad, co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.

Note: you need to RSVP to join the discussion on March 18, and are asked to watch the film, available on-line at Amazon, before the meeting. [POSTNOTE Mar. 13.  I watched this film, On Her Shoulders, this evening.  It is very powerful.  Do watch the film, available on Amazon, and join the conversation on Thursday, March 18.]

Union

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An early and continuing part of my daily drive during the Covid-19 year was through portions of nearby suburbs Newport, St. Paul Park and Cottage Grove, and Grey Cloud Island, all of which are along and part of, the Mississippi River environs.

In St. Paul Park is an oil refinery, a long-time fixture there that I knew little about.

My knowledge has ratcheted up lately.  In late January, the Union representing workers  there went on strike, and in recent days the action broadened to information bannering such as freeway exits by another union.  Yesterday, I stopped by one of the bannering sites, and the friendly union members gave me a brief and useful information flier: St. Paul Bldg Trades – Marathon.  This unions newsletter has more information.  As noted in the newsletter, this began as a Teamster Strike, apparently a response to a lockout.  (Such events are rarely as clear as they appear.)

I’m glad I talked with the folks holding the banner Sunday afternoon.  I wish the workers success.  Theirs is no frivolous action.

Summit Ave exit on Hwy 61, St. Paul Park March 7, 2021.

St. Paul Park Refinery Mar 7, 2021

I’ve been a union guy for over 50 years.  I was staff for groups that on occasion went on strike.  I’ve been retired over 20 years.  One time, about 1979, I was President of the Union staff group which went on Strike against the Union that was our employer (it made news).

There’s no crossing of picket lines for me; I honk in support when I go past the pickets.  I don’t pretend to know the specifics of the issues or process at St. Paul Park.  I do know, union members don’t strike for the fun of it.

Anyone who’s ever gone on strike – or been on the other side – knows that a work stoppage is one thing when the walkout occurs; something different to resolve differences and get back to work.  To strike is a difficult decision to make; one with consequences for both sides, which is why strikes are rare.  The players on both sides know the realities.  A path is always found to settlement.  The only question: how long the strike will be.  The enterprise itself is at risk if there is no settlement.  Then everyone is affected.

The workers on Strike against Marathon are out for a reason.  The dispute is probably cast in economic terms – that is something everyone can understand – but likely the real issues are deeper, relating to matters generally described as working conditions.  Regardless, both sides know that once out, they’ve got to get a settlement agreeable to both sides.  In this case, a refinery without workers is as handicapped as a worker without work.

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Unrelated to the above Strike, but at about the same time as the Strike began, I was nurturing an interest in seeing how many of my former Union colleagues I could reconnect with.  I started with old e-addresses, about one-fourth of which were bad addresses (no surprise there), and of the remaining 42, I’ve reconnected with perhaps a dozen, and out of these may come some memories of our union days by Memorial Day.

Some years ago a fellow staff rep, I think it was John B., gave me some photographs someone had taken at a PSA (Professional Staff Association – the staff Union) meeting about 1976 or so.  If you’ve ever wondered what teacher union staff actually looked like 45 years ago, here are over 20 (click to enlarge)  I’ve only labeled myself, though I remember all of those pictured: PSA circa 1976.  We were once young….

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Unions are easy to kick around – you know this.  Having been, and still being, one of the people whose career was representing people in a Union, I know that organized workers are the ones who built and made the prosperous society in which we still live.  Money earned is money which can be spent, a fact often overlooked in the rhetoric about things like minimum wage and anti-union rhetoric.

Unions however named, are like every organization, take your pick, including corporate structures no matter how big or sophisticated.  All organizations of people reflect the strengths and weaknesses of their members and leadership.

When I retired from union work.  I was about 60 years old, which made me old within the union; but now, for me, 60 is just a kid, and when I was with the group in the 1976 PSA pictures above, I was in my 30s, not the oldest nor the youngest.  (The photos were taken at a union meeting at the end of a long day of assorted meetings.)  None of us were ‘fresh’ – in other words, we were tired.  I’m amused at my picture in the group.  I was pretty well exhausted by the days work, and hiding out by the chairs in the corner was a little opportunity to refresh.

A couple of years later I became President of this group and in my term we went on Strike.  As the saying goes, I’ve “been there, done that”.

Having said all this – and this is my message to colleague elders – the world ahead will be made by todays youngsters, not people like ourselves.  Watch the people in their 30s and 40s, especially.  They’ll make the world they’ll like…or hate…in 30 years.

I wish the Marathon workers, through their Unions, the very best.

POSTNOTE March 13:  The labor dispute remains unsettled as of Saturday.  The bannering continues and there seems more public visibility by those striking.  The Union staff photos drew quite a lot of attention.  They were likely taken in 1979, not 1976 as I first thought.  Unions contributed to a better society then, and still do.

 

One Year of Covid-19

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POSTNOTE: from the Sunday, March 7 2021, Washington Post: well worth your time.  Excerpt from Chaos Under Heaven.

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March 6, 2020 – it was a Friday – I stopped at my daughter Lauri’s home to tell her about an upcoming program of the Minnesota Orchestra I thought would interest the grandkids.  The previous day I’d read about it at the concert we attended at Orchestra Hall.  She expressed serious concerns about Covid-19, and got my attention.  We’d been to the Orchestra, and another event, the previous day, and at both there was some unease – like the calm before the certain storm – which prepared me for her concern.

Back home, the Minneapolis Star Tribune had Covid-19 on the front page.  I still have the paper, and you can read the article here: Covid-19 Mar 6, 2020.  The article didn’t read like 9-11-01 did on 9-12-01.  Vice-President Pence had been at 3M, a half dozen miles from where I type, on March 5, about N95 masks.

There were 200 Covid cases at the time.  Lauri gave us hand-sewn face masks.  I still wear mine each day.

I doubt anyone could imagine the upcoming year.

My Covid Year started March 6.  Life as I knew it was cancelled.  The Orchestra like most everything else I valued shut down.  Of course, other folks have other stories, other dates.   What are yours?  It’s good therapy, I’m finding.

Monday of this week we had our monthly Zoom family call – there were nine of us, from New York to California to Texas, and a tenth sent a note – and I asked all of those on the call when their Year of Covid began.

The earliest was early February.  My sister, Mary, had been in Seattle and Vancouver, including a big conference in Seattle.  Hindsight, there were harbingers of the future.  The others gave various dates, the latest in mid-March.  My personal ‘life’ as it was ended March 15 – the last Sunday I ushered at Church.

Basilica of St. Mary March 15, 2020. Final open-to-all Mass day.

And on it went.

We each have our own stories of this 12 months in our own lives: thoughts, feelings, impressions.  All important.  Experiences we’ve shared, or not….

There is something to be said about new habits which I’ve needed to learn: masks, social distancing, washing hands…part of the caution litany of the year.  New habits can serve us well.

For me, I tend to follow the rules, and the science as known and conveyed.  We now know the evolution of the science as efforts were made to identify remedies to the looming crisis, which was looming by January, 2020.  I made mistakes on occasion.  But, as this first year ends, formerly unusual behaviors have become habitual.  I think this is good.  Recently someone said that mask wearing is as much a courtesy to others, as they are a necessity to the person wearing them.  It makes sense.  “Stop the spread” is a useful mantra.

A major “therapy” for me this past year was to take a drive every day, sometimes twice.  These weren’t long drives, mostly to rural areas nearby.  It was good to get out, helped keep cabin fever at bay, without risky behavior.

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I turned 80 this year.  It was May 4.  Most everything was in lockdown.  A few days before, I took a photo of a street sign I had just passed by.  A nearby resident asked me why I was taking a picture of it.  He apparently thought I was up to no good.  He was at least nice about it.  I told him my story.  Oh…  May 4 there was no birthday party…a family reunion had been in planning….

80th and Kimbro Ln Cottage Grove MN May 2, 2020

Wednesday of this week, March 3, I made my periodic “pilgrimage” over to the block where Gandhi Mahal restaurant, a favorite, stood one year ago.  It happened, this March day, that the apparent final truckload of dirt was filling the final hole remaining from what had been, a year ago, a busy vibrant block.  To my knowledge, no perpetrators have been arrested as of yet.

27th Avenue S, Gandhi Mahal block, just south of Lake Street, Minneapolis March 3, 2021.

Gandhi Mahal block from the north, morning May 29 2020.

A year ago, Ruhel Islam and I had sat in the restaurant as I was planning an 8th annual program there for April 15.  That event was, of course, cancelled.

As I write, the trial for the policeman who killed George Floyd last Memorial Day – the genesis of the protests of last spring – is about to begin in Minneapolis.  The burning and the killing directly relate to each other.  All that is unknown is who burned down the block, and why….

At “my” Caribou Coffee – the place I started my day near every day since 2000, they now have reopened three tables, time limit a half hour, to see how it goes.  I sat there once, just to try it out!  First time in almost a year.  Strange how the familiar attracts.

The manager talked about the trip she hopes her family can take this summer…but will the attractions they want to take the kids be open?  They don’t know.  Uncertainty.

The manager of the FedEx next door, who I’ve gotten to know over the years, chatted about business.  The package delivery has been consistent and good, she said.  Walk-ins, like myself, have been way down.  People preparing advertising materials of all sorts, etc., have dropped off precipitously.  More people work from home.  Even retirees.  This week three Zooms for me.  It’s becoming a common week.  A year ago, Zoom was mysterious and rare.

What will the future look like, the two of us mused.  I said I thought that we would enter a new normal – the pandemic won’t end, like a bad dream, with no changes in how our environment looks and how people feel and act.  I think she agreed, but sadly.  We won’t go back to business as usual.

On and on go the stories…brief casual chats with cashiers and the like.  Most everyone has been adversely affected.  Not all.  The rich got much richer – the gift of 2017 tax cuts.  Deficits?  Not to worry…until now.

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There will be life after this, though not for the half-million already killed by the pandemic thus far, and that’s just in the U.S.

I have sensed some positive changes that I think may stick.  Wednesday at the post office a lady at the post office held the door open for me, as I was holding the other door open for her.

We laughed.  “You can’t be too polite”, I said, masked.  She was walking away, masked, and agreed.  You can’t be too polite.

Let’s make the best of this, folks.  We have no other choice.

COMMENTS: 

from Peter: This year has been shockingly normal for me, except not spending nearly so much money (probably gasoline), and not having to drive to work.

It has been a year of annoyances, watching the tourists rushing to the ski resorts, sparking small outbreaks among my neighbors and friends who work at those places. The community heaved a great sigh of relief this year, when the Sackler family [oxycontin] sold their interest in one of the big ones.

I had retired from driving the local school bus, so missed the heroic food-distribution and wellness-checking duties that my cohort then had to engage in, while the system worked out how to keep children learning what we want them learning, and not becoming useless and dangerous attention-addicts like the president.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

from Molly: directly relevant to the Covid year here.

…and oh, how tragic that it is still relevant…
Be sure to read the part about the author at the end, too.

from Sharon:  I really enjoyed reading your article. As I look back, the year has gone fairly fast which is surprising to me. I have to admit that we have not been bored, even though we have really missed theatre, music, church and sporting events. I have enjoyed going through old pictures, articles, etc. that I have saved over the years and getting more organized in our home. I so remember March 13th as that was the day that two granddaughters were sent home because of the COVID. Hannah, who was a member of the Concordia concert choir was on choir tour in the southeast. The choir was sent home after a concert in Nashville. She certainly did not know that it was the end of  choir, no more in school classes, and not even a graduation ceremony for her. Meredith, our other granddaughter, was on her way to dive in the NCAA diving championship finals in Ohio, when they were turned away from that on the final night. She still became an All American diver. In fact, she qualified again this year, and will be going to Alabama this year for the the championships. She is a sophomore at St. Cloud State University.

We have been seeing our family often, but friend lunches, etc. have been cancelled. We have lost many friends, only two from COVID, but have only attended one funeral.
I too, turned 80, and the family had a surprise family party for me for my January 4th birthday. We had more fun than a family could have. By the way, I liked your clever picture of the the 80th street sign.
Thanks for the great article.

March 4

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  1. For the first 140+ years of the United States the inauguration of the President of the United States was March 4.  In 1933, the date was changed to January 20.  I really had no knowledge of this until the current chaos.  It’s just another learning opportunity.  If you wish to learn more, here’s an article from the Library of Congress.  The inauguration of Abraham Lincoln is briefly discussed in this article.  It occurred on March 4, 1861.  As noted in the continuing series on Lincoln (CNN, Sunday night, 9 Central time) Lincoln died by assassination a short time after inauguration for his second term as president.
  2. Those who regularly visit this site know that I appreciate and respect and very often refer to the frequent blogs at Just Above Sunset.  The two most recent are especially worth your time: Freeing the Vote and Purist Madness.  [Postnote Mar. 5: also Potato Head Politics.]
  3. March 6, Saturday, is my personal one year anniversary of recognizing that Covid-19 was a threat.  I’ll post about my reflections on Saturday.  All previous posts for any month are easily accessed via the archive tab at right.

POSTNOTE:  Coincident with the publication of this blog came an e-mail from Jeff, which I find very interesting.  Jeff: Bruce Bartlett (@BruceBartlett) tweeted at 7:51 AM on Thu, Mar 04, 2021:
Philosophers and public intellectuals have ignored the study of epistemology (the study of knowledge itself; how to tell the difference between fact and opinion etc.) for too long.  More here.  (I also have this article in pdf form – the second page is the last page of the article: Michael Patrick Lynch Boston Review and Michael Patrick Lynch Boston Review (2)

White Nationalists/”Antifa”

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Today is the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about January 6.  Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, is testifying.  It is interesting.  Only the most hardy will watch it all (I’m not among that group, but I’ll catch quite a bit of it.)

The opening statements of Sen. Dick Durbin and Sen. Chuck Grassley were of particular interest to me.  One focuses on White Nationalists and January 6; the other one might loosely be called “Antifa”, largely in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.  Of course, the intent is to try make one equivalent to the other.

There is no equivalence.

For a number of years after 9-11-01 I was a peace activist (I’m still very active, but not necessarily an activist – there is a difference, much relates to simply getting older!)

Peace March Minnesota Sep 1, 2008 photo Dick Bernard

My “peak years” so to speak would probably be late 2001 through late 2008.  Three of those years I was president of an organization called Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers, of which I’m still a member, as an organization, AMillionCopies Initiative, whose sole intent is positive.  I also have been active in matters relating to Haiti, which I visited twice, in 2003 and 2006.  All the evidence about that remains on-line and accessible to anyone.

And in May, 2020, the restaurant of a friend of mine was torched and destroyed in Minneapolis.  I thus have a personal investment in this issue.  In that incident, to my knowledge, no perpetrator has yet been identified.  The restaurant owner was very much involved in community issues that would be considered “progressive”.

In all these past years, I have yet to meet, or have identified to me, anyone who would fit the “antifa” label.  I was never in a demonstration which was anything other than peaceful.

There are doubtless violent kinds of people around – in a country of 330,000,000 people those people exist.  But they are in the underworld, and most likely unorganized.  They exploit opportunities like parasites.  Anyone who wishes to believe that there is such an organized group called “antifa” ought to seek out a neutral source of information.  About the best I can do for starters is the wikipedia entry, which you can read here.

As I write I think back to the first demonstration I attended after 9-11-01.  It was in the first week of October, and the occasion was a demonstration on the steps of the Minnesota Capitol.  It was my first demonstration.  I had heard about it and went over to listen.  I knew no one.  It was a relatively small group.

I don’t remember who spoke.  What I do remember was the counter protestors on the other side of the street.  They were very loud and brandished their American flags almost like weapons.

I thought of the when I saw the demonstration become a riot become a catastrophe in Washington DC on Jan. 6, 2021.

As I close this blog the Senator is using his time to question Wray about the right wings other favorite bad guys: street gangs, Isis, al Qaeda, etc.

Stay tuned.

Minneapolis Star Tribune front page Jan 10, 2021

 

Insanity

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Sometime today the Former Occupant is supposed to make an appearance at a conservatives conference in Orlando.  I’m writing and publishing this before the appearance, and while I’ll probably watch whatever pieces are accessible, I won’t have any comments.  We all know what is ahead, there.

A worthwhile read came overnight via Just Above Sunset.  I think you will find it interesting.  “That Odd Golden Statue”.

*

Meanwhile, we remain in the aftermath of January 6, and the 77 or so days between the 2020 election and inauguration.

The March, 2021 Smithsonian Magazine arrived this week, and there was an interesting short article: DC Peace Monument Smithsonian Mag (click to enlarge).  It tied the previous attack in 1812, and the Civil War, as analogs to our very recent past.

*

Earlier this week, I was watching the Senate hearing about the infamous January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The estimable Sen. Ron Johnson (WI), entered into the record some blog entry from someone like me.  Johnson suggested that the real problem on Jan. 6 was Agents Provocateurs, people like me, “antifa’s” who came in to stir things up, while the real patriots came in to support the real President whose election had been stolen.  A news report is here.  A visit to Johnson’s website didn’t find the report.

He gave his testimony with a straight face…later were similar declarations in other hearings from other members of Congress on the same topic, all in sound bite length for their favorite news media.  Only losers, not winners like his side, could do such dastardly things.  I suppose the courts will decide in coming months.

Yesterday a friend sent one of those ‘forwards’ we’ve all seen.  This one recycled some very old news in a newly edited way.  It featured a single sentence of a column written by a columnist in 1995, who died in 2013, and rambled on forever.  I’ll leave it at that.

*

Insanity.

“Disrupt and confuse” are words that come to mind.  They’re in quotes, because they were in the strategy game plan of a group trying to defeat my group in a representation election 47 years ago.  If we wish to be governed by lies and deception, it is our very unfortunate choice.

*

The recent events cause me to think back to the days when I became an activist, which began with a national event whose 20th anniversary is this year:

September 12, 2001

This is in the memory of anyone who happens to read this post.  My feelings are an open book about 9-11.  Occasionally I still share my written opinions from then: Post 9-11-01001; also, 9-11-01 Aftermath001.

There were lots of demonstrations in the days that followed, all peaceful.  I was in many of them.  Most related to the opportunistic wars that followed 9-11.  I could see nothing good coming out of our reaction – bombing somebody else to avenge terrorism didn’t calculate out to ultimate success.

Thence comes Jan. 6, 2020, where home-grown terrorists work their evil on the U.S. seat of government, terrorizing friend and foe alike…and then come forward people like Sen. Johnson, casting blame on people like myself.  He wouldn’t do that if it didn’t work to further incite his fellow partisans.

And the threat continues to be real.  The real President returns on March 4?  Insurgents plan to blow up the Capitol when President Biden next speaks there?   Is this what we have become?

It all seems so insane.  As a society, we’re stuck with this, until enough of us decide to say enough…and mean it.

Terrorism, Jan. 6, 2020.

 

$15 Minimum Wage

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As I write, the Senate Parliamentarian has not yet issued her ruling on the $15 minimum wage provision proposal to be voted on this week.

If you’re reading this, you know the rest of the public details from your source of news.  I simply want to add a personal opinion about this long-standing issue.  I have a perspective that I rarely hear from any other source.  You be the judge.

The objection/rationale for low wage earners being against the the minimum wage seems very simple:  “you have a choice: low wage, or no wage”.  In other words, if the minimum wage goes up, we’ll have to lay you off, and you, worker, won’t have any income.  There won’t be business to hire you.  Too bad, so sad.

It is an attractive anti-argument: scare off the potential recipients of the benefit.

*

There is another point of view that I never hear, which I offer for your consideration.

First, here’s a little background:  I posed this three years ago to a friend, a retired very high level vice-president in a major international corporation.

My friend had been gently jabbing me, a retired Union representative, about a new Supreme Court opinion, outlawing mandatory payment of union dues by non-members.  In my sector, this was called “Fair Share”.  You didn’t have to belong to the union representing the workers, but if you received union negotiated benefits (which all employees receive) the union should be able to charge non-members a fee.  I’ve been retired a long time, my recollection was that this amount was typically about 85%.  Off limits for the fee would be things like political action fees and the like.  Fair enough.

Many managements chafed at the very mention of “Union”.  It meant trouble, a certain sharing of power.

An allied victim of fair share, and thus Unions, was found to centerpiece a lawsuit which wended its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The suit was entitled Janus v AFSCME.  There are numerous references, including the actual U.S. Supreme Court Ruling of June 27, 2018, which you can reference by simple internet search.

The anti-union position prevailed.  Down with Unions!  Good riddance.

*

Bill (not his name) and I are friends, and occasional ‘parries and thrusts’ between us, representing corporate management and union thug,  were never hostile.  My friend brought the Janus decision into our conversation – doing something of a victory lap.  He knew my career was as a union representative.  I knew his career ended near the pinnacle of one of the worlds largest corporations.  He was a very good guy.

In my turn in the conversation I laid out a simple argument:  the purpose of a union – in this case workers – is to represent the interests of the members.  In the case of a labor union, as AFSCME, and my own, was negotiating things like wages, hours and working conditions.  Other provisions, such as crew size, are management rights by universal definition.

How, I asked my friend, can a corporation be against increasing wages and benefits to workers of all kinds?  After all, isn’t the corporations objective to make money, and isn’t it necessary for the corporation to have consumers with enough money to buy its products, and thus help the bottom line of the corporation?

*

My friend said, and I think he meant it as I heard and saw his reaction, that I’d given him something to think about.

It’s might seem irrelevant – he is, after all, retired and even if he bought my argument he was only one cog in the machinery of this major corporation.

But it is worthy to think about.  A living wage for all helps everyone.  Paul Wellstone said it best, years ago: “we all do better when we all do better”.

In the next day or two we’ll see how the sausage mill that is the Congress deals with this most important issue.

POSTNOTE Feb. 27:  In re-reading what I wrote, above, there is one critical point to be added.  My friend was with no question a person with far more than usual power within his sector.

Power People, like all of us, can have serious blind spots causing them to lose perspective.  They can’t imagine another comparable point of view, and any move to diminish their power is consciously or unconsciously resisted.

In an earlier blog at this space, I discussed this matter.  You can read it here, from Nov. 17, 2011: The Occupy Movement.