A Blessing for my Enemy

May my enemy see the love in my heart, that I wish them a long and healthy life, full of prosperity and happiness.   May they be free from want, fear and anger, and spared from all other suffering as well.  Where true injustice has occurred, let it be truly redressed.   Where people have committed injustice, may they perceive their error and make it right with those they have injured.

May innocence replace prejudice and equanimity replace entitlement in me and in all beings.   May we all see past the fear and anger and entitled feelings of others, and see within them the spark of the Divine that ultimately defines all of us.   Let the spark burn brightly in all of us, plain for all to see.

Let the burden of ill will toward others be lifted from me and all beings.  May all realize that hatred is the most lethal disease; its greatest victim is its host.

May the abundance of the universe be manifest to all, and may all equally enjoy its bounty.  May no one withhold their helping hand; may no one hide their purse from needy; and may all of us always support the weakest and most vulnerable among us.

Among Presidents

 

Although no American Presidents have been elevated to sainthood, some are more memorable than others.  President William Harrison is memorable primarily because he died after only one month in office.  He was one of the few Presidents of the United States to have been spared the crucibles of scandal and political conflict.  Four Presidents, so far, have won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Three Presidents, so far, were impeached.

History judges Presidents of the United States by both their merits and circumstances; their deeds within the context of the times in which they led determines their stature in our collective memory.  Presidencies all had their high and low points; none were free of conflict or missteps.

President Lincoln is widely regarded as the best American President, but was elected over the objections of more than half of the electorate, and his election can be seen as a significant event in the country’s movement toward civil war.  Under his administration, slavery was abolished, but more than 600,000 Americans died in the civil war.  It could be argued that it is the contrast of the light and darkness of the times that framed his presidency that make him so highly ranked as an American President.

Similarly President Franklin Roosevelt, also ranked highly by historians as one of the best presidents, presided over trying times.  Elected by a landslide at the height of the Great Depression, he led America out of the depths of economic trouble through World War II.   His presidency was unprecedentedly long, layered and complex.  Under his largely personal management, supported by a numerous, impressive and contentious group of very qualified advisors drawn mainly from the pool of associates he acquired as governor of New York, a flurry of legislation called the “New Deal” was enacted that helped stem the downward spiral of the American economy, and a second flurry was enacted to better the affairs of the working class.  From this “Second New Deal” resulted the Social Security program and workers rights such as collective bargaining, a defined work week, overtime pay and the minimum wage.

Even administrations we remember as unsuccessful had their accomplishments.  Though judged by many the worst presidency in U.S. history, the tax cuts (largely for the wealthy and corporations) enacted by President Harding‘s administration helped restart the American economy at the time, together with the Federal Highway Act and Harding’s support for the growth of new technologies.  However, the Teapot Dome scandal, in which the the Department of the Interior gave away oil drilling rights on federal lands in exchange for bribes and perks, sealed the fate of the Harding Presidency to be remembered as the worst.  Also, not long after Harding died in office came the Great Depression, which the economic policies of Harding and his replacement, Coolidge, failed to prevent.

Like FDR, Harding staffed his cabinet with associates from his past, but unlike FDR, whose associates were experts in their fields, Harding’s cabinet was staffed with unscrupulous folks prone to unethical behavior.  Perhaps one good way to choose the next American President would be to take a good look at the candidates’ associates, because the staff of the incoming administration will likely be chosen from among them.  This is easier to do with an incumbent President, because we can review the choices of their first term.  Did the presidential appointments succeed, or did they leave in disgrace?   Why were they chosen?  If not for their expertise, were they chosen for their supposed loyalty, or because they contributed to the president’s campaign funding?  Did they use their power to help the country, or to help themselves at the country’s expense?  What do the candidate’s cabinet choices say about the candidate?

I hope my fellow voters will seek the answers to these questions as we choose our next president.  Thank you.

Babel

A Story from the Torah

The people of the earth used words to express their thoughts, ideas and feelings, and there was no misunderstanding. Each of their words transmitted the thought of its author perfectly, such that each listener or reader understood the other’s thought perfectly. Thus they were able to reach a perfect accord, undiluted by dissent, untainted by individual interpretation. We might say they were of the same mind. Such a saying would have had no meaning then.

Armed with the power of unanimous universal agreement, they set out to build a tower to heaven and thereby make for themselves a name so that they could remain together and not be scattered. They acquired new technology – bricks and mortar – to make it happen.

As the tower rose, God took notice and they were not pleased. According to the story, the facts noted by the Almighty were (1) the people have united, and (2) they have begun to build a tower. These facts prompt the Universal Power to ask something like, ‘Now that they can do this, what can’t they do?’ and decide to “… confuse their language, so that one will not understand the language of his companion,” and scatter them all over the world – exactly what they did not want to happen.

Then Adonai named the place, ‘Babel,’ because it was where God confused the language of humans. Hence the term, ‘babbling,’ I guess.

The moral of the story: Always tell the boss(es) what you’re up to, and, most importantly, get prior approval. (That isn’t in there. I made it up.)

Contrasting ourselves with the builders of the tower, we easily see that we do not enjoy the harmonious existence that they enjoyed. They had no misunderstanding, deliberate or otherwise. There was no reason to question anyone’s motives, or ask for an explanation. If one spoke, the other understood the underlying thought of the speaker perfectly.

We use imperfect words to express our thoughts, ideas and feelings. Before we speak the word, our brain creates a thought. (This is the start of all trouble, by the way.) Putting thoughts into words requires effort because a word often doesn’t represent the thought perfectly, or completely.

So we speak a word that fits the thought like a shoe that is two sizes too big. We launch it upon the air as a vibration, modified by inflection, emphasis and general acoustics and backed up with our body language as a visual cue. It sails across the space between us and vibrates the eardrums of the listener, signaling through the small ear bones like a kind of Morse code and transmitted to their brain to interpret (through thought) what they have heard.

How could this ever work?

Written on a page, the word must be bolstered by strong context and clarity to convey its meaning, and the reader is much freer to interpret, since there is no inflection or body language to clarify intent. This is one of the great shortfalls of the scourge we call, “Email.” Someday we will look back on the carnage of broken friendships caused by email and shake our heads.

It seems we are as far from universal understanding as the Great Spirit intended us to be. Meanings are constantly misconstrued, and words themselves are often found inadequate to express complex ideas and emotions. In addition, we constantly impose our preconceptions on what we hear or read based on the not-so-reliable thoughts we think about the source, or based on other ‘information’ we’ve received, audible or written, from sources we like better because they reinforce what we already believe.

We are scattered across the the face of the earth, and distrust and enmity between us abounds – not without reason. None of us need search long for the misdeeds of those we perceive as enemies. However, how much of our discord is due to misunderstanding? It seems that humans prefer short, easy-to-understand answers that can be applied to large segments of the population as a remedy to the myriad variations of humanity that confront us daily. Yet in the face of so many possibilities, can such generalities hold any real, useful truth?

While universal understanding among humans is almost certainly unachievable except by Divine intervention, and it seems The Creative is not interested in it, we can take simple measures to improve understanding between us.

First, keep an open mind. Always allow that you might be wrong. Perhaps the person with an opposing view raises questions to which you do not know the answers. Be prepared to honestly research the truth in places you might not normally look for it.

Second, take the words spoken at face value and avoid superimposing meanings on them that may not have been intended. Ask honest, non-leading questions to clarify your understanding before launching into any rebuttal.

Third, show respect. As when listening to your teenage child refuting everything you ever taught them, take a deep breath, let it out, and then say, “I can see your point, but I think… “ In the end you can agree to disagree, and in the process you both may learn something.

Hierarchies

“If all results are of equal quality, and if ‘A’ can do the job in an hour, ‘B’ can do the job in two hours, and ‘C’ can do the job in twenty minutes, why not have ‘C’ do it?”

This is an hierarchy based on ranking by efficiency that is a basis for competition, improvement, creative thinking … and backstabbing, cheating, dangerous shortcuts…

Yet the question, “Why not let ‘C’ do it?” persists. Indeed, in a world where time is money, why not?

Perhaps the answer is another question: “Why not have ‘C’ work with ‘B’ so that ‘B’ can improve?” Over the long term, surely this is a better strategy:  improving an organization by improving the performance of the individuals within.  Yet it also indicates a natural hierarchy in which one is the student and the other is the teacher.  If someone knows something you need to know, you need them to share that information with – or teach – you.  They have the power and you have the need: this is hierarchy.

I have observed that career teachers are usually older and more experienced than their students.  They are generally more settled in their lives, having acquired their knowledge over time.  Students are less settled, since they are seeking knowledge in order to become something, be it a second-grader, a doctor or a CEO.  Often teachers remain teachers and observe their students surpass what they might perceive as their own success in life.

At a university, teachers may enable people to improve their lives, but the teacher’s prospects are limited.  To break out of this box requires extra talent.  If they attract students to the school, or publish notable papers and gain standing in their field, or demonstrate administrative talent, they can aspire to become part of the school administration:  dean, provost, and at the top of the heap, president.  Above the president there is a board, usually comprised of very wealthy people who ultimately call the shots.

In America, we call people who risk their lives for others “heroes.”  They may be soldiers, emergency personnel like firefighters or EMT’s, or ordinary people.  They receive ‘honors,’ and sometimes monetary rewards, but they are not made wealthy as a reward.  If the entertainment industry can make a salable product out of their story, they may profit from that and perhaps become wealthy as a kind of byproduct or accident.  An enterprising writer creates the raw material for the product; an acquisitions person imports the raw material into a corporate entity; and the corporate entity churns out the entertainment product that generates the wealth.  The wealth is divided, with some going to the hero, some to the writer, some to the corporation, some to the shareholders, and some to the very wealthy people who sit on the board and ultimately call the shots.

It seems to me that there are naturally-occurring leaders and followers.   Leaders are risk-takers who may start and grow successful businesses or climb the corporate ladder to leadership positions; followers are risk-avoiders who seek good leaders, either in the entrepreneurial or corporate worlds.  The dream of the follower is to secure a rewarding and secure position; the dream of the leader is to rise as high as they can, accumulating wealth and power along the way.  The corporate pyramid has employees, managers and supervisors at the bottom, executives above them, and at the top a board, usually comprised of very wealthy people who ultimately call the shots.

Entrepreneurship is invaluable in a society that aspires to be free. Leaders inside a corporation who rise only to the level of manager or junior executive may find themselves hitting a ceiling past which they can rise no further.  Entrepreneurs are leaders who build their own pyramids, and may enjoy a life free from the oversight of corporate boards and shareholders if they keep their company privately held and resist the seduction of “going public.”  Or they can retain a big enough portion of the stock to maintain control of the company, they have the freedom to do whatever the law allows, or whatever they can get away with.  They have the most money, so they get to call the shots.

In might be okay that very wealthy people get to call all the shots if they were a well-rounded, compassionate bunch, dedicated to making America (and perhaps the world) better for everyone, but sadly, this is not the case.  Too often we see that the very wealthy are insulated from and out of touch with the world in which those lower in the hierarchy live, and that they are more inclined to make decisions that swell their own good fortune rather than improve the existences of the whole.

It’s important to remember that hierarchies, like time, space, matter and energy, are illusions, as unreal as the physical existence itself.  And a lot of the people at the top of the hierarchy don’t have it any better than you, and some of them have it worse!  So please, feel free to break the rules.  You, too, can be the one calling the shots, anytime you want.

 

 

Luck

During the Great Depression, after his family lost their farm, my Dad and his dad (my grandfather) went to work at a hay farm that catered to the horse racing industry.   While folks were selling apples in the street to earn money for supper, race horse breeders were still importing fancy hay from Nebraska.  My Dad and Grampa were lucky to have a job.

After the housing bubble burst, only mansions were selling.  Many people could not get out from under their mortgages.  I and my family were lucky to have a mortgage company that was interested in working with us to help us avoid being homeless.

When there were no CoronaVirus test kits, NFL football players got tested.

Success in this life has a lot to do with luck.  By ‘success’ I mean survival until such time and place as you can make your last stand.  Youthful strength of mind and body begin to fade, and it gets to be time to bank the fire against the cold of the darkness that must eventually come.  Hopefully the embers will still be glowing as you close your eyes for the last time.

There is the oft-told tale of the farmer and his luck.  The farmer’s horse ran away.  The neighbors said, “What bad luck!”  The farmer replied, “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?”

Two days later the horse came back and brought four wild horses with him.  “What good luck!” said the neighbors.  But the farmer replied, “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?”

A week later the farmers son was thrown by one of the new horses and broke his arm.  “What terrible luck!” said the neighbors.  Yes there’s a pattern.  “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?” replied the farmer.

The next day the army came looking for recruits for their war.  Of course, the son could not go because of his broken arm.

Lucky.

The story does not continue, so we do not know how things went after that.  There are only two things we know for sure, because he was a farmer:  he had to pay taxes, and he eventually died.  There are people who don’t pay taxes, but they are more than lucky.  They are sleazy.  But since they die, too, I guess it kind of evens out.

By the way, I have been writing some instrumental music lately.  Here’s some of it now:

 

 

 

 

Scrooge You

In Dickens’ story, “A Christmas Carol,” the character, Ebenezer Scrooge said of people who might potentially die, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Facebook as presented me with another dubious opportunity to debunk certain theories, notwithstanding that my doing so is very much akin to reasoning with an oak plank.

There is a Facebook rumor that a Narragansett doctor of chiropractic medicine said:

“The facts are that this virus only adversely effects .1-.2% of our population and we have identified the vulnerable group of people. Continuing to hold captive our local businesses and quarantine healthy people instead of those at risk and those exhibiting symptoms has now become completely a political game, and is not founded on reason or statistical data from the CDC that is currently available.” 

As a member of the so-called ‘vulnerable group,’ I find this just a bit offensive.  Let’s take this apart, shall we?

1. “The facts are that this virus only adversely effects .1-.2% of our population…”i. I will shortly show that the chiropractor’s numbers don’t add up.  No fault of his:  no one’s numbers add up.  But if we go with his math, one tenth of one percent of the population = almost 4 million people.  (Almost 8 million if .2%.)  Notice the double-speak here, using the percentage-of-one percent-language to make the number seem small.

   ii.  “…adversely affects..” in many cases means permanent lung damage.  In about 6 percent of cases, that is, this means death for about 2.4 million people.  I am not sure what the chiropractor is basing his stats on, but (sorry) statistically speaking, the potential threat is much greater.

1. “… we have identified the vulnerable group of people.”

   i.  Have we, in fact, identified the vulnerable group?  In hot spots we see new demographics emerging, such as in New York, where the death rate of age group 45-64 is equal to the death rate of the 65-74 age group.  Toddlers have died in New York, Wisconsin and California.  Some folks in South Korea who have recovered from Covid-19 have become reinfected.  Everything is a moving target.ii.  The CDC says the ‘vulnerable population’ is:
   – 65 years old or older (about 50 million Americans)
   – live in a nursing home (about 1.5 million Americans)
   – any age with serious lung issues (about 37 million)
   – any age with serious heart issues (about 120 million)
   – any age with compromised immune system (about 11 million)
   – any age with a BMI of 40 or higher (about 69 million)
   – any age with diabetes (about 27 million)
   – any age with kidney disease (about 30 million)
   – any age with liver disease (about 4 million)

   Of course there is overlap, however, the National Institute of Health said that as of March, 2018, 133 million Americans suffered from one or more chronic diseases.  Statistically speaking, (forgive me), for 6 percent of folks in this group infected with Covid-19 the experience tends to be fatal; that is, about 8 million potential deaths – a number exceeding the death toll of the Holocaust.  And that estimate does not include healthy folks over 65 years old who are also, like me, part of the ‘vulnerable group.’

2. “…hold captive our local businesses and quarantine healthy people instead of those at risk and those exhibiting symptoms…”

   i.  On the face of it, this seems like the chiropractor is recommending holding the vulnerable and sick hostage instead of healthy folks and local businesses.  Well, that might work.  Maybe they could segregate us in internment camps somewhere out it the desert.  Oh, and since a lot of people will die there, let’s call them ‘death camps.’  That has a nice ring to it.ii.  Like so many seemingly intelligent people, the chiropractor seems not to understand that ‘those exhibiting symptoms’ are not the greatest threat;  it is those who are infected with the virus but who are NOT exhibiting symptoms who are the most likely to spread the disease.

Conclusions:

1. If the Facebook rumor is true, the chiropractor’s statement cherry-picks statistics and then uses minimizing language to obscure the potential threat of the pandemic.
2. Again, if the chiropractor was quoted correctly (a long shot at best), it seems his motive is to urge his local government to roll back safety measures.

My impression is that he is showing us that he values his business above public safety.  But if he is urging his local government to abandon safety measures that could potentially save the lives of vulnerable people, it is like he is saying, “If you’re going to die, get it over with so I can get back to work.”

As a member of the ‘vulnerable group,’ I take offense.  So Scrooge you, doc.

Charade and Masquerade

I love the song, “Charade,” by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, particularly Bobby Darin’s performance of it.  Mercer’s lyrics rhyme the word, charade, several times:  played, serenade, made, masquerade…

In America, we have a societal charade and masquerade going on now in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.  I’m speaking of wearing homemade cloth masks to help stop the spread.  Now, as sometimes happens in the game called charades, the face value of the word, so to speak, in this case, “mask,” becomes the focus and misconceptions are not addressed, because that is part of the game of charades.  The misconceptions are the funnest part.   I hear terms like freedom, rights, control, liberty, deep state, etc., thrown around and before you know it we have another conspiracy theory.

Many smart people I know sneer at the idea of wearing a mask, saying a mask will not stop you from getting the virus.  Well, that’s true.  But those who sneer have it backwards.  The purpose of covering your face and mouth is not to protect you; it is to protect others from you.

In a recent article, the Cedars-Sinai health organization of Los Angeles said this:  “Wearing a mask will keep respiratory secretions within that barrier and help protect others if you’re sick with COVID-19, even if you have minimal or no symptoms. It’s also a helpful reminder not to touch your face.”

So it’s multifaceted.  First, you wear the mask to protect others, because even if you’ve tested negative, you have no way of knowing for sure if you are carrying the virus.  The virus is primarily transmitted in droplets emanating from an infected person as they cough, sneeze or breathe.  The cloth mask will mostly stop those droplets.  I would substitute “infected” for “sick” in the above statement, because if you are asymptomatic you do not feel ‘sick.’

Second, you wear a mask to remind you not to touch your face.  The primary delivery system for infection, they say, is touching your face.  I don’t know about you, pal, but I find it damn hard not to touch my face.

What Would You Do to Save A Life?

Would you go and get a haircut if doing so could maybe put someone else’s life in danger?

Say you’re less than 60 years old, in great shape, with no health issues, but your wife is 65 and has MS and high blood pressure.  The number of new Covid-19 cases in your area has decreased for 21 days in a row, Lockdown was lifted and your barber’s shop has been open for a week.  So you go for a haircut.  During the week, your barber has given a couple of dozen haircuts.  Did any of those clients bring the virus to the barber?   Did he give it to you?  Are you now going to give it to your wife?  Was the haircut worth the risk?

The rapidly changing landscape of what we know and don’t know about Covid-19 makes returning to business as usual a gamble.  It is a gamble that most of us will have to take at some point, because we need our economy to feed, clothe and shelter us.  We’d all like things to get back to normal so we can go where we want to go and do what we want to do as Americans should.  But lack of testing makes reopening the economy a bit like buying a pig in a poke, or, to use a more modern comparison, like buying a used car in ‘as is’ condition over the Internet; you can’t be sure what you’re getting.

What we know about Covid-19 is that a little over a million people in the United States have tested positive, and out of that million, just under six percent have died.  However, aside from the rich, famous, or politically connected, the majority of Americans tested are people who have symptoms, and we know that folks without symptoms can have, and spread, the disease; and we know that the majority of people who are infected show few or no symptoms.  The critical information we lack is:  how many people are actually infected?

Reliable testing would tell us who is infected, and with that information we could isolate only those who need to be isolated.  Unfortunately, even the tests we have in place are not 100% reliable.  A friend’s mother who recently passed away in an assisted living facility tested negative at the facility, however, when the physician who pronounced her dead tested her body, she tested positive.  Why did the first test produce a negative result?  Defective test?  Lack of skill on the part of the person administering the test?  Was the first test a false negative, or the second a false positive?

Scientists have tried to learn from the swiftly unfolding examples of China, Europe, South Korea and others, but the playing field keeps changing.  For example, advice from the CDC tells us to call our doctor if we have trouble breathing, but now it is reported that some patients who have just begun to have difficulty breathing not only test positive for Covid-19, but have actually had pneumonia for days, and their chances of survival are reduced.  For another example, at the outset of the pandemic there was talk of ‘herd immunity,‘ but as of April 17th, some patients in South Korea who have recovered from Covid-19 are testing positive again.  For a third example, the overwhelming majority of deaths from Covid-19 in the U.S. and elsewhere are among patients who are over 65 years old and have other serious health issues, however, a 5 month old baby with a heart condition died in New York; one thousand people between the ages of 25 and 45 have died; and 1% of Covid-19 fatalities in China had no other medical issues prior to contracting the virus.

I’d like to stress that no one really seems to know for sure, but current thinking says that the disease is primarily spread through prolonged contact, not by touching an object that an infected person has touched, but through prolonged contact with an infected person.  That means working within six feet of another person all day, attending a crowded event for a few hours, or riding public transportation.  But it could also mean shopping at a crowded store, getting your teeth cleaned, or even getting a haircut.

Personally, I ordered a hair clipper from a large online retailer with questionable scruples.  I know I will enjoy my haircut less, and it will not come out as well.  I don’t think I will be using public transportation in the foreseeable future, although I believe it is the best choice for the well being of the world.  I’m not sure when I will be playing music before a live crowd again.

But it is a time to think differently about the world, because the world has changed.

Peace and safety to you and yours.

You, I

You, I:  as opposed to UI (Unemployment Insurance).  Many of us are struggling with this, but there are folks better versed in the art than I, so I’ll leave it at that.

Back to you and I.

The physical existence is a highly personal experience.  Trapped in our vehicles of flesh, we can feel isolated.  Our senses constantly report data to our brains, initiating fear or desire and the long stories we create to frame these feelings.  Truly, everyone’s point of view is unique, yet so often we see that others experience the same things we do, with only small variations in circumstance or texture.

If one reaches deep inside they can feel connection to all things, and in doing so realize we are all parts of the same universal state:  being.

Questioner: “How are we to treat others?”

Ramana Maharshi: “There are no others.”

Ramana Maharishi’s response to this question is kind of an extension of western core beliefs like, “Do unto to others as you would have them do unto you,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Think of the empathy of someone who was so connected to you that when you experience pain, they also experience it.  In reality, this is the a way of it.  The pain of the other is your pain; though it is not transmitted to your brain via your nervous system, it is transmitted to your heart by the part of you that has the ability to feel for another.

Be kind to each other in these difficult times.

Making the Biscuits

Lack stands opposite Gratitude in the arena of life.  Focus your attention on that which you do not have and you will soon find another thing you lack, and then another.  Focus on Gratitude and you will find more to be grateful for.  We can choose what to focus on, though it may take much effort.  For both Lack and Gratitude are mere characters played by the true contestants, Fear and Love.

Fear hides.  Love is curious.  Fear looks for someone to blame while Love extends a helping hand.  Love trusts, believes, perseveres; fear mistrusts, disbelieves, retreats.  Love sees the divinity even in its enemy.  Fear sees only its own reflection.

One of the things we Jews do to remember our deliverance from slavery during the Passover holiday is to abstain from eating foods made with certain grains and yeast.  Yes, that means no beer.  I’m not having any beer anyway, because alcohol weakens the immune system, but that’s another story.  Suffice it to say that we have had no bread (except Matzo, the bread of affliction) for a week, and boy, we want some.

Unfortunately we can’t get a pickup or delivery at any market and this week is supposed to be “the surge” of Covid-19 cases in our state, so we are not going into a grocery this week.  So no bread for us.

But we have flour, and we have oil, so I made biscuits.

And I am grateful for them.