escape from freedom

"Nice democracy you had there, America."  We who live under freedom tend to think that is the natural state of man.  It isn't.  Mankind has generally lived under some form of authoritarian rule.  Form dynastic tribes to current dictators, people have rarely demanded true freedom.  The idea of a dictatorial father figure getting his power from God is somehow comforting to many people.  Erich Fromm may have been right.

competitive or cooperative society

There are two competing views of how society should work, competitive and cooperative.  The competitive view is the Ayn Rand view, it's every man for himself and the best man wins.  It is the Spencer view of society, survival of the fittest.  The cooperative view is what every single religion teaches: We are responsible for each other, a moral society is one that takes care of its weakest members.  The competitive view is not simply wrong on the facts, it offends my sense of right and wrong.  It is wrong on the facts because successful people are generally have more luck and cheat better.  In spectacular economic times, perhaps we can afford a competitive society, now is not such a time.

luddites

The world is changing.  It has changed before.  One of the changes produced the Luddites.  What the Luddites ultimately learned was that progress always wins, we can’t go back.  We either adjust or become irrelevant.  It is time the modern Luddites accepted what is happening:  Coal is dead, robots are taking your jobs and we live in a global economy.  We can’t go back, we’ll have to learn to adjust or become irrelevant.

predictions

Here are my predictions for the Donald Trump presidency, mark them down and check back in four years:
1. Unemployment will be over 12%
2. The down will be under 12000
3. Inflation will be over 6%
4.. Interest rates will be over 6%
5.  As a result of loosening regulations, there will be a humanitarian catastrophe, perhaps a bad drug,perhaps an oil spill, but something.
6. There will be a financial scandal that will make Teapot Dome look like a minor shoplifting case. Greedy thieves do not change their spots when they get more power.
7. There will be a foreign crisis that will be badly mismanaged and result in massive casualties.

politics as sport

I have a favorite sports team.  I am happy when they win, unhappy when they lose.  But I would hardly give that team the keys to my house or entrust them with my life savings.  My emotional investment the day after the season ends, I understand that while I may be invested in my team, it is hardly invested in me.  Whether my team wins or loses will ultimately have no effect on my life.  Those who view politics as sport fail tu understand that basic difference.  Political allegiance should be dependent on policy not emotion.

Adam

The happiest and saddest day of a man's life is when he realizes his son is better.  Adam:
 Americans who voted for Trump are the same type of people who fall for the Nigerian Prince scams, who buy into pyramid schemes, who buy expensive time shares and extended warranties, and who buy massive home security systems. They were conned. Scammed. Hoodwinked. They were sold a paper thin argument from a fake populist. An argument that promised them safety, wealth, and greatness. As with all of these scams, they will receive none of the benefits they are expecting. They were taken by a conman. 

Trump is already backpedaling hard on his campaign promises. There will be no "big, beautiful wall". Congressional aides are already reporting that they expect to put up "less costly" fencing instead. So much for the issue that did the most to rile up his base.

How about this for hypocrisy? Jamie Dimon, the Chase CEO who Trump called the "worst banker in America", is now the most likely candidate to be head of the Treasury Department. But Trump tells it like it is, right? He's a populist. He's not a bought politician...

Yeah, Trump isn't another establishment politician, and he's actually looking out for the common man. Right? Well... The Hill reports that "business groups are lining up to work with the incoming administration" because, "it could make many of their policy dreams come true" and "corporate interests are throwing caution to the wind." Surprise surprise, Donald Trump is another corrupt, corporatist politician. The exact qualities these people felt disqualified Hillary.

So why did people fall for this scam? The same reason they fall for scams all the time. They're struggling. They're upset. They're desperate for something to change for the better. AND, they lack critical thinking skills. They're told that a time share is a great investment, that an ADT home security system will keep them safe, or that they can get rich selling Mary Kay cosmetics... and that's as far through as they think it. They hear the surface level argument, it sounds great to them, and they fully buy in. That's exactly what they did with Trump. Until we have an electorate capable of in-depth analysis, catastrophes like President Trump will continue to happen. And no one should be surprised.

truth

Here are some truths that people need to know: 1.  Blue collar jobs are disappearing and will not come back, not because of trade but because of robotics.  My father would tell me that I could be replaced by a simple, inexpensive machine.  He said it as a joke, it is true now.  The Luddites fought technological progress and lost.  Fighting against technological progress today is a losing proposition.  It is important to understand the changes that are happening to society and try to figure out the best way  to move forward in the face of those changes.  2.  A society can be cooperative or competitive.  It can be altruistic, each helping others, or hedonistic, each member only concerned about his own welfare.  I believe, as an axiom, that cooperation is best.  I can justify that axiom by saying that cooperative societies fare better in the long run, but hedonists may very well do better for themselves in the short run, or even in the long term.  However, there is a book that supports my side, the Bible.  Actually, sacred scripture for every religion that I know of says that we are responsible for each other, so there is that.  3.  If the most important thing in our life is that others fail, we will be miserable indeed.   We should stop worrying about other people or groups doing well and concern ourselves with how we are doing. When politicians tell you, "We'll screw those other people." you'd better be aware that you are most likely those other people.  4. If we are going to solve our problems, we must first identify both the problem and proposed solution.  In other words, we mutt know what we want.   5.  We live in  a global world, that's just way it is.  If we want our lives to be better, we'd better work on making the lives of our fellow earthlings better as well.

the white rose

There is a new movement afoot, The White Rose Revolt.  I have a few thoughts on this movement. The White Rose was originally a student led revolt against the fascist HItler, as opposed to the present movement against the fascist Donald Trump.  The leaders of the original movement were Hans and Sophie Scholl.  One of the most intriguing verses of the “bible is,

“Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt – how…he surprised you on the march when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear.  Therefore…you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!”  Deut. 25:17-19  The worst that we can do to someone is not to merely kill him, but make it as if he never was.  We can do that by blotting out his memory, yet we forget Sophie Scholl and remember Hitler.  As I look at my life, I feel comforted that I am better than some people, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, Donald Trump, other sociopaths, but then I think of how I am not close to the real mensch that I could have been.  I realize that in my greatest fantasies I am not the person that Sophie Scholl, Fred Mayer and Louis Zamperini were.  There are many, perhaps almost all, people better than me.  There are not only those more courageous and admirable in actions, but those much wiser.  I’ve always understood that in each generation there will be a prophet who will tell us what we need to know.  There are those amongst us now, but we stopped listening in 1980.  Now the prophets we listen to are the Gordon Gekkos of the world.  Politicians now treat the public as complete idiots.  The question is whether the public is generally stupid because they are or because politicians treat them like they are.  I think any new movement should start by telling the truth.  It shouldn’t make silly promises, crude insults or lies but rather simply tell people what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear?

more on thinking

The scientific method says that we start with a hypothesis, develop facts to test that  and then reach a conclusion based on those facts.  Many people think they are following that method every time that they express an opinion.  The problem is that what they have actually done is state an axiom and then given justifications for that axiom.  Arguing with those people is impossible because facts become irrelevant.  Thus, there are no facts which could convince him to change his mind, he already has his axiom.

change

A man finds a bottle, rubs it and out pops a genie who grants him a wish.  "I have an allergy that causes me to sneeze intermittently.  I would like a different condition," he says. "Wouldn't you rather get better, rather than have a change.  There are, after all, conditions far worse than having the occasional sneeze,"  the benevolent genie says.  "How would that work," the guy says.  "Well, we would diagnose your condition and determine how to cure it," says the genie.  "Nah, I'll just take something different."  "Okay, bam, there your go."  And that is the story of the Trump voter.  Butt if they really want change, why elect Republicans to Congress?