Gandhi and Pluto revisited

I was remiss in not mentioning my respect for the Buddhist monks who just completed their 2300 mile walk (yes, walk) from Texas to Washington DC. Their "Walk for Peace" began in October from their temple in Fort Worth on October 26th, finishing in DC yesterday. While short, here is a link with some basic info and reactions to their journey.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/02/11/monks-celebrate-end-walk-for-peace-lincoln-memorial/88624584007/ 

While I can't say that I followed their trek daily, I did get updates from Nora. Such an inspiring effort by men who have made a commitment to their beliefs, but more importantly, try to live as those beliefs teach them. Such dedication and self sacrifice makes the raucous debate over Bad Bunny and the Super Bowl halftime show seem as trivial and petty as so much of the vitriol that is rampant in America today.

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I have altered my approach to updating my posts into a more readable (OK, a larger font) format. I am now systematically opening every post from newest to oldest and updating those which need the process. Fortunately, I began using the larger font in 2021, so last week I started accessing each entry beginning in December 2020. So far I have worked my way from 2020 through 2015, which leaves me with five years to go.

Today I updated a post called Gandhi and Pluto, from July 2015, and thought it appropriate to reprint it along with my reference to the monks walk. So, rather than a link, here is the post.

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The July edition of National Geographic has, among others, two articles I found very interesting.  One concerns the legacy of Gandhi's teachings in India today, the other the long awaited fly by of Pluto by the New Horizon spaceship.

I am not sure if the connection that occurred in my mind between the two articles would have happened had I not read them consecutively, but a connection nevertheless sprang to me as I walking the dog today.

Is it possible that other forms of life in the universe will only be discovered when mankind begins treating the forms of life on earth with respect and equality?

The Gandhi article recounted what many consider his penultimate action, the 1930 Salt March.  For those of you unfamiliar with this event, at the time, there was a tax on salt production, proceeds of that tax going to the coffers of Britain, as India was still part of its empire.  Gandhi's decision, in retrospect, to stage this march to the sea where he would illegally (not pay the tax) produce salt, is genius, but was not universally supported by those advocating for Indian independence.  As is so often the case with leaders who talk the talk but do not walk the walk, Gandhi understood that the way to reach the common people was to relate the need for freedom to their lives.  As Gandhi said, other than water and air, salt was the commodity most required by Indians considering the extremely hot weather of the country.  Noble concepts were one thing, salt was a part of everyday life.

What is so amazing about Gandhi was that his focus on salt, so basic yet so powerful, was just a part of his message.  During his walk, he stopped at some of the poorest villages in the area, and went out of his way to challenge the caste system by inviting the "untouchables", not only to be part of the walk, but as a symbol to those Indians who supported the caste system that they might understand that the meaning of freedom was not just freedom from British rule, but freedom from poverty and social injustice for all Indians.  To further that ideal, he encouraged spinning of cloth, not just, again, as a protest against Britain, but to encourage everyone to wear khadi, to look the same, as an analogy to his hope that by looking the same, everyone, high born or low, might be treated with similar fairness.

The thought that started the connection to Pluto, was Gandhi's belief that religions are not for separating men from one another, but to bind them.  He revered Jesus, could quote verses from the Bible and Koran, and was a devout Hindu, but he also knew that true  independence needed to be founded on a democracy based on laws not religions. Considering the misguided attempts by fundamentalists in many corners of the planet to fashion their governments from specific tracts of their religious tomes, Muslim and Christian, it is not surprising that Gandhi's dream is still illusive, both in India and in much of the world.

Perhaps, if we were to judge our religious leaders on their similarity to Gandhi, his lack of material possessions, his time spent among those with the least, his efforts to promote equal treatment of all people, we might find those leaders to be without moral high ground, and it might explain why too many of those leaders advocate messages of blame, isolation and hatred as opposed to unity, community and love.  It is far easier to get rich when your message promotes friction than it is when you advocate for tolerance and peace.

And, perhaps, despite our best efforts to find life in the universe, despite the myriad number of vessels we have cruising through the solar system and beyond, despite the radio and TV signals that even now communicate how we live and how we die, we have not found life outside planet Earth because we haven't learned how to treat life on planet Earth.  

Whether it be the animals that we slaughter for their skin or their bones, the sea creatures we poison via our dumping of trash in the oceans, the birds we kill by belching toxins into the air, or the people we dehumanize because their skin color, gender, age, or any trait that has been deemed different, our lack of love for life on this tiny blue ball spinning anonymously in the cosmos, might be the reason for this lack of success.

There are those who worry what life from afar might do to us, but perhaps they have not come forth because they worry what we would do to them.  Based on what we do to each other, it would not be surprising.

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In June of 2022, I wrote a story called the Universal Guild which concerns that very same premise that I touched upon in the last paragraph of Gandhi and Pluto. The idea that we will never find other life in the universe until we learn how to treat each other on this tiny blue planet we call Earth. Here is a link to that story. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-universal-guild.html

It is very clear to me as I reread those posts 2010 to 2016, up to 2020, that the exact problems that I discussed, the exact same issues that I wrote letters to my local newspapers about, the exact same topics that were being debated in our country, have not changed.

This, in itself, is not necessarily a bad thing, or a surprise if you were to research the debates that our founders had with each other as they developed the foundations for our country 250 years ago.

What is sad, nay, depressing, is not only the lack of progress, but the depth of the backsliding that has occurred in the years since I established wurdsfromtheburbs.

Are my feelings the result of being more politically aware than before? Perhaps, although I can recall having strong political views as far back as 1980 when trickle down economics under Reagan began the slow deterioration of middle class buying power. 

Certainly, the nature of the news media today with its extreme us vs them message that distorts everyone's opinions, may also be a factor. It is far more difficult to find unbiased news that it was even a decade ago.

But what if the real blame is actual reality? That there really is a decline in progress, and that is not just the normal pendulum swing that sometimes means two steps forward will always be followed by one step back. I would imagine that people who lived towards the end of other great civilizations, Roman or otherwise, may have felt the same foreboding but then may have just as readily chalked it up to the normal cycle of things, not knowing that their uneasiness was true.

Predicting doom is as old as communication between people, written or oral. I would think that since we are all mortal, if would be natural for us to have thoughts that broached our own mortality as well as that of the culture or society as a whole.

Yet it is still true that great civilizations that accomplished magnificent feats of creation, invented incredible mathematics, developed insightful philosophies and explanations of the world, eventually declined, some to be absorbed into the general knowledge base of humanity, some to be lost forever within our known history.

There is no guarantee that the American experiment of governance will last forever, no divine right that our vision will succeed. 

Whether the real truth is that we are one of millions of species in the vast universe, or the one and only sentient life form created as an experiment to see just how close we might come to a Great Awakening, it kind of doesn't matter in the short run, and frankly, as beings whose lifespans rarely exceed 100 years, we are the epitome of the short run.

What does matter is that we take seriously the lessons of the monks who just completed their walk, or of Gandhi, or even the person in our own lives whose example has inspired us to do better, to treat all those we meet as we would want to be treated. And, not just person to person, but nation to nation, and, perhaps, someday, planet to planet. 

  

Christmas Is

I have often recently mentioned that I am far less optimistic about the future of humanity, let alone America, than when I began posting in 2010. I have also speculated on how much of that increase in loss of hope is related to the mere fact that I have entered the last 20% of my life span, in other words, the fear of death and the confrontation with mortality. 

As I continue my process of editing the past posts which were created with a font that I now find far too small (again, a sign of getting older), I encountered this poem from January 2017, a poem I sent along with our yearly Christmas cards to family and friends and which I then posted for my "readers".

It clearly reflects a hopefulness, in addition to an acknowledgement of the blessings in my life at the time. And, to put a time stamp on it, was written as the first Trump Administration began.

Not to put too fine a point on why I might be less hopeful, nine years later, I feel we have gone backwards when thinking about the hopes I detailed in the poem. That our evolution towards a "spiritual enlightenment" has taken a back seat, way back in the communal bus we all share, to selfishness as depicted in America First, and to an embrace in cruelty as is playing out in the mass deportation policies that are wreaking havoc on American communities and American families. 

And, to be blunt, how such thinking is not considered "woke". 

Worse, that we now seem aligned with the other bullies of the world, in an almost choreographed plan which will create two or three areas of the world controlled by those with the biggest armies and most powerful weapons, a scenario which men like Stephen Miller not only seek, but believe is justified from past violent regimes which controlled large swaths of land in centuries past. 

Or as he says, "the real world is controlled by strength, by force, and by power."

Anyway, here is the poem I sent for Christmas, 2017, which, I believe actually reflects what most people wish for but are afraid, too selfish, or just unable to connect the path to such a time with the actual actions by those in power who prevent that future from developing, and our communal responsibility for electing such people in the first place. 

 

Christmas Is

It is not the presents we get

although it is nice to feel the love

that inspires our family.

It is not the gifts we give

although the delighted faces of

our loved ones warms the heart.

It is not even the time we spend

with our family and friends in

celebration of the holiday season.

Christmas is more than the wonderful

memories we accumulate over the years

in ornaments, pictures, and holiday meals.

Christmas is hope.

 

Hope that the New Year will bring happiness

and good health to our friends and families.

Hope that our country will focus on our similarities

and finding common ground, rather than elevating

our differences and points of debate.

Hope that humanity, all races, creeds, and nationalities

will continue to evolve towards a spiritual enlightenment

which results in tolerance, acceptance, and Love.

 

Just Kids

A book review in The Atlantic about Patti Smith's new book Bread of Angels prompted me to borrow Patti Smith's first book, Just Kids from the library, as I thought I would read that novel first before her newest effort. I was extremely happy I did.

For those of you who are not familiar with Patti Smith, and I include myself in that category, she is an incredibly versatile, talented woman who has mostly flew under the radar during her prolific career. Yes, her debut album Horses was met with wide acclaim for its originality and depth, but she is so much more than a rock star, punk rock star at that.

Born in 1946, Smith was one of the many millions of babies born after the atrocities of WW2. I believe it is a given that the horrible acts committed during that world wide conflict, led to millions of people to seek joy and a new perspective after such a horrific conflict, creating what we now call the baby boomer generation. To put numbers to it, in the eighteen years generally considered the baby boomer generation, 1946 to 1964, about 76 million babies were born to an American  population that was about 140 million in 1945. Talk about replacement theory! 

Just Kids recounts Smith's childhood days, her struggles in school, and her early search for her identity, a search which eventually takes her to New York City. It is there that she meets Robert Mapplethorpe, the yin to her yang.

As someone who often thought he was born a bit too late, having just missed the 60's and the social upheavals that fashioned the lives of those who entered that decade as teenagers rather than infants, I devoured this book imagining myself traversing the challenges of developing an artistic identity while working in menial jobs to pay the bills. 

This is not to say that Smith glorified those early days. To the contrary, bouts with lice and hunger, uncertainty about shelter, while seemingly the stereotypical experience of the struggling artist, were presented as the daily difficulties that she faced, often with tears and depression.

It is an honest depiction which does not ask for pity for the bad times or express a "I-knew-it-would-all-work-out" false bravado when she does start to achieve some success. 

Sadly, the book, although written in 2010, ends with the death of Mapplethorpe in 1989. In fact, Smith recounts the deaths of many of her acquaintances during that time, not to mention her reactions at the deaths of more famous people like Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin, among others. Although Smith is married to the late Fred Sonic Smith by then, and has two children, the loss of Mapplethorpe is palpable. She often states in the book that Mapplethorpe considered her his muse, but it is obvious that without his influence she would have never succeeded. Losing someone like that is true loss.

In my musings about being born in Smith's time, I wonder if I would have gravitated to New York's artistic scene, or perhaps California's campus protests. Smith only passingly touches on the Vietnam War, and as far as I can remember does not mention losing any friends to that overseas conflict although peak loss of American soldiers lives was from 1966 to 1970, which means that in took the lives of her contemporaries, people born between 1946 and 1950.

Of course, it is just as possible that I would not have survived those years. That like many of her friends I would have succumbed to a drug overdose or disease through an experimental homosexual encounter. Or perhaps I would have fled to Canada rather than serve in an immoral war, or fled merely because I was afraid to die. 

Another reason, a harsh truth if you will, to pretend that I would have pursued a writer's life had I been born eight or ten years earlier is to provide an excuse for not doing it regardless of my birth year. I certainly had the opportunity to follow a path of creativity in the years after I dropped out of college to "find my myself". Perhaps it was just a lack of discipline and persistence and focus. 

The good news is that I wouldn't trade my current life for these what-ifs. My life with my dear wife Nora, and the two children we raised, would never have occurred were it not for my path which resulted from the hand I was dealt by the birth lottery, and the decisions I made as I navigated my "life".

All of which increases my admiration for Patti Smith as she saw it through, stayed true to her belief that she had something to say, that all those early experiences added together enhanced her ability to create, to entertain, and to inspire others through her music and poetry. 

And, if I may be so bold to say, helps fuel my continued maintenance of this blog which is now approaching sixteen years of existence.   

It seems to be a very fine line which separates those who become famous in the worlds of music, art, writing, etc, and those who toil all their lives just below the point of "making it", who continue to write, perform, create, just for the love of it, and just to share it, and perhaps, at the odd moment, inspire someone as well. 

We are all the luckier for both those whose names are well known and those who create without achieving fame or fortune, especially when so many of the latter become teachers and mentors for those who are just beginning their own life paths. 

And, without appearing too metaphysical, I wonder if it the latter group will experience the more complete reward in the next life, the former having attained their reward in this one. 

Finally, two quotes from the book.

"In the war of magic and religion, is magic the ultimate victor? Perhaps priest and magician were once one, but the priest, learning humility in the face of God, discarded the spell for prayer." page 61.

Smith often touches on religion and spirituality, a result of her Catholic upbringing and her insatiable quest for truth.

"I learned from him that often contradiction is the clearest way to truth." page 200.

This quote appears towards the end of the book, as Mapplethorpe comes to grips with his homosexuality and his fear that by accepting that trait, it would deligitimize their relationship. That being categorized as a gay man would mean that his deep connection with Patti Smith, physically, emotionally, spiritually, would be deemed some type of false experience.

 

Slavery and Other Woke Subjects

Wonderful article in the January edition of the Smithsonian called The Life and Trials of Samuel Green. Now, of course, very few people, including me, have any clue who Samuel Green was, or why knowing about his life was important.

First though, I must say that I am grateful that the president's war against any facts and truth that annoy his sensibilities, including those battles against the Smithsonian, its magazine as well as the museums, has not gone so far as to prevent articles like the one to which I am referring to be stripped from publication. While some may take that as a hopeful sign, or perhaps even proof that his attacks on the truth are overblown, I offer the recent removal of references to slavery by the  National Park Service from the President's House in Philadelphia as a reminder that we are losing small battles every day in this war to whitewash our shared history.

So, to quickly summarize, Samuel Green who was born into slavery around 1802, and spent decades in bondage, was able to save enough money due to his being "hired" out to other farms to purchase his freedom in 1833, and then the freedom on his wife about nine years later, although their two children remained enslaved.

Despite this horrific fact in itself, Green spent the next few decades involved in preaching about the Gospel. Although, to be precise, his ministry was called "exhorting" as Black men were not allowed to become ministers even within the more advanced (for its time) rules of the Methodist religion.

Sadly, the times were moving in the wrong direction for free and enslaved Blacks as the country careened towards the eventual secession of the South, followed by the Civil War. Life for people like Green did not get better, only worse, as laws were created which enshrined the separation of the races in terms of voting rights and land ownership, and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act which compelled runaways, even in free states, to be returned to their enslavers.

By 1854, Green's son and sister, having recently been sold to a man they regarded as the worst man in Maryland due to his vicious whippings and abuse, decided to flee to Canada.

A note here. Is it me, or is telling American citizens that they must participate in what they regard as an immoral act, reporting the whereabouts of enslaved people so they can be returned to their "owners", not dissimilar to administration officials at DHS and ICE advising protesters in the various cities being invaded by armed, masked officers to stand back, or even help them locate, people, and yes, they are people, who are being targeted for their non-white skin color?

Anyway, at this point, the abolitionist movement was in full vigor with books like Harriet Tubman's Uncle Tom's Cabin being widely circulated. 

Sam Jr did escape successfully, which, along with other successful escapes from the various plantations and farms where slavery was in full bloom, caused even more backlash against Blacks, freemen as well as those who were slaves.

Which brings us to the day when Samuel Green was arrested for aiding, among others, his son to flee to Canada. 

And what was the most damning evidence presented? That Green owned a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin, an "inflammatory" book that "created discontent" and fomented "insurrection".

So, in April 1857, Green was convicted, to a great extent, for owning a book, and sentenced to ten years in prison.

Fortunately for Green, he was pardoned after only five years behind bars, a free man again, for the second time.

Learning about the atrocities committed by American businessmen who believed that their way of life was threatened by the abolition of slavery, about how even after the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted, Black people in America were subject to all sorts of cruelty, including lynching, but even worse, systemic bigotry embedded in the laws of our country, is painful. And that some type of divine intervention was instrumental in our nation's founding, seems ludicrous.

As I have said before, it is OK to have two thoughts in our heads at once, the belief that American democracy is a noble experiment, that "all men are created equal" is an axiom worth striving to prove, that the Constitution and Bill of Rights were created by men with foresight and great ideals, despite their owning slaves, dismissing women's rights, and believing that only land owners should have the right to vote. They were men, not gods, and men can be both good and evil in their deeds.

But people like Donald Trump seem incapable of this trait. They perceive that acknowledging faults equates to weakness, so better to pretend that only good things have happened in America, than to deal with the times when we fell far short of the ideals of our founders, who themselves fell short of their own noble words.

What really galls me, really makes me cheer, at times, for some type of calamity to befall our great country, is that along with the obsession with ridding America of DEI policies, those very same people think that we are a Christian nation. That deporting people whose only crime is that they violated an arbitrary line in the sand to attain a better life is what Jesus would do. And, that killing American citizens who believe that the real morality is standing against such cruelty is OK too.

I am not a believer that God intervenes in our daily lives, that She somehow favors people born in country A over those born in country B, or that natural disasters occur due to excessive sinning, or a lack of acknowledgement of who is really in charge.

But, if God is truly watching, is truly contemplating some form of punishment for those who have perverted or otherwise misinterpreted the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, I wonder if we would even recognize such an event in its true meaning. That perhaps:

extreme weather events are divine signs that we are on the wrong track in our abuse of our planet.

economic meltdowns (like 2008) are hints from above that our devotion to money and material possessions is off path.

the slaughter of humans, be it in Ukraine or Palestine, Sudan or Myanmar, should remind us that God expects us to seek peace, and to call out those who create chaos and violence, regardless of whether that nation or ideology aligns with our beliefs. Killing is killing.

All around America, especially in red states, there are active efforts to suppress the history of our country in the guise of a war against wokeness, even though those same people have a hard time defining what is woke. 

I maintain that the teachings of Christ are some of the most woke lessons ever presented which make it all the more insidious that those same people who are so fervently anti-woke, at the same time pretend to be Christian. I call them CHINOs, rhymes with RINOs, Christian in name only.

If you truly believe that diversity, equity and inclusion are horrible concepts then you must reject all the great accomplishments achieved by non-white men, women, first and second generation Americans, anyone with a disability, in other words, over 70% of the population because if it wasn't for policies that encouraged people that looked different from our founders, all white men, in the 250 years of our national existence, America would never have attained its current, although perhaps tenuous due to the current administration's egoistic policies, position in the world.

Better woke than asleep, or worse, just cruel. 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Shared Deficit

While a somewhat popular topic in terms of importance or when discussing threats to our nation, I believe that the national debt does not get the attention it deserves. To put it starkly, debt payments on our shared national debt is over 1 trillion, that is T for trillion, dollars a year. This expense is quickly becoming the biggest line item on the debit side of our national ledger, Trump's ridiculous statements that he wants to spend $1.5 trillion next year on defense aside.

First, I commented on this subject way back in early 2011. In that post I attempted to explain the research and information I had encountered before composing my commentary. In essence, I related that, at the time, 40% of the debt was owned by one United States Government agency over another, that, in essence we owed ourselves 40% of the debt. As an example, I had cited the accumulation of monies paid into Social Security that hadn't been paid out to beneficiaries yet.

The other 60% was held by various banks in America and around the globe. Upon learning this I commented that perhaps the prospect of those banks "calling our loans" was preposterous considering that bankrupting the United States would do great damage to the world economy as well.

Here is a link to that post.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2011/02/deficit-components.html 

Sadly, perhaps our politicians believed that as well, as, even though I go on to say that we need to begin having serious discussions about the trend that had added an average of $1 trillion each year to the overall debt from 2002 to that year 2011, (the national debt in 2002 was a bit over $6 trillion, 9 years later in 2011, it was close to $15 trillion), the trend has only worsened since.

Here is a link to a chart that I found which goes to 2023.   

https://www.thebalancemoney.com/national-debt-by-year-compared-to-gdp-and-major-events-3306287

It is startling! 

From 2011 to 2023, 12 years of budgets, the debt increased by over $19 trillion, an average of over $1.5 trillion each year. The chart also provides a column detailing the major event that may partially or primarily have caused the debt increase. Another column of this chart compares the ratio of national debt to GDP. Again very interesting data.

The last link I will supply is to access the current US debt clock. It is a real time estimate of our overall debt, with the last few days, increase or decrease, and the current number, in a clock type of format. As you will see, it is now about $38.6 trillion, another $4 trillion in the last 2+ fiscal budgets. (The fiscal year starts in October, so fiscal year 2026 is only 3 months old). 

https://www.us-debt-clock.com/ 

OK, so let's talk numbers.

Here is a current breakdown of who owns our debt. I am not sure where I got this data as I found it a few weeks ago, but I do remember thinking that it was relatively current as of fiscal year 2025. It appears that even more of the debt is held by America, less by foreign entities, and that Japan is the foreign country holder of the most debt, not China as some people might think. 

Breaking Down US Debt Ownership:

• 40% - US investors and institutions

• 20% - Social Security, Medicare, and other US agencies

• 13% - The Federal Reserve

• 25% - Foreign investors (only!)

• 3-4% - China (much less than most people think!)

 

Returning to that year by year debt chart, I especially focused on the debt to GDP ratio. As you see, this number doubled during WW2, surpassing the 100% mark in 1945 through 1947. At that point, even though the debt continues to increase, it does so very slowly. It stays below $300 billion, that is B for billion, from the mid 1940's all the way until 1963, then takes another 9 years, until 1972, to get to $400 billion. And, even though the debt does start to rise more quickly, reaching just short of $1 trillion by 1981, the debt to GDP ratio continued to drop. Remember, it was over 100% in 1947, but fell steadily through the 50's, 60's, and 70's to a low of 31% in that same 1981.

We wouldn't sniff such a low ratio ever again.

I have often commented that supply side economics was the beginning of the end for middle class buying power. While cause and effect are certainly hard to prove, it was during the Reagan presidency that this economic philosophy took hold. Remember, until the tax cuts that went along with supply side economics, the idea being to give the rich more money which would "trickle down" to the income classes below, tax rates for the rich were 50, 60, even 70%. 

In other words, the monies paid in taxes by the wealthy all during the 50's, 60's and 70's, trickled down much more efficiently through massive public work projects like the interstate highway system, and by keeping taxes for the not so rich reasonable, not to mention that the corporate structure did not exist yet, a system that has encouraged large amounts of money to be hidden in offshore accounts, untaxable. 

By the time Reagan left office in 1988, our national debt had doubled plus, from just under $1 trillion to over $2.6 trillion, but worse, the debt to GDP ratio had risen from that low of 31% to 50%.

Four years of Bush 1 added another $1.5 trillion to the debt while the ratio hit 61%.

Clinton's terms were better, adding another $1.5 trillion but over 8 years, while that ever important ratio dropped back into the mid 50% range.

Under Bush 2, the debt soared due to the War on Terror after the horrific attacks on 9/11. This is when we began our debt increase average of over $1 trillion per year. Remember, it took until 1981, over 200 years, to get to that first trillion dollar debt mark.

Bush 2 added $4.5 trillion in 8 years, ratio climbed to 68%. Then came the economic meltdown of 2008 which caused Obama's numbers to be even worse.

During Obama's 8 years, the national debt increased another $9 trillion and the debt to GDP ratio broke the 100% mark in 2014, staying over 100% ever since.

Trump's first term added another $8 trillion to the debt, COVID being the leading cause, then almost $7 trillion more in the first 3 years of Biden's term, also partly due to COVID. There were also stimulus packages under Trump and Biden that contributed to the now over $2 trillion, per year increase in the debt, with the debt to GDP ratio now over 120%.

So, what is the solution.

Well, first, we have to stop blaming our elected officials. We elected them, so if we really wanted national debt reduction, we would not reelect people who do not deliver. 

But, it is also possible that electing people who were serious about reducing the debt, won't work either. In the case of the current administration that has talked about a balanced budget, and has slowed the pace of debt increase a bit through the chaotic tariff policies (never mind if you think the American businesses and citizens shouldn't be paying more money as tariffs are a tax). Although, slowed is defined as only $500 billion dollar deficit in the first quarter of the new fiscal year, down from $600 billion for the same quarter last year. 

That still equates to over $2 trillion in new debt if we match that number, and may well be worse if Trump actually sends checks to 50 or 100 million Americans this summer, thereby negating the increase in tariff revenue. Again, in this isn't just a knock on Trump, but give the people money in an election year seems a far more compelling strategy for politicians of all stripes.

I have said repeatedly that income inequality, the fact that the richest in America own a disproportionate percentage of the wealth, while the bottom 50% own very little is a serious threat to America. And, while it is clear that the GOP advocates for policies that do nothing to reduce this situation, the fact remains that the rich have gotten richer under every administration, Democratic or Republican, since supply side economics has become our guiding principle.

So, yes, while many trillions of dollars of our national debt were the result of the economic meltdown of 2008 and the COVID pandemic, both of which resulted in massive amounts of money distributed to both save our large financial institutions, and to assist everyday people to pay their bills, the simple fact is that far too many people live on the edge, financially, so any disruption pushes millions of Americans towards food insecurity, bankruptcy, etc. 

Add to that the fact that we still, nationally speaking, have our heads up our communal asses in our resistance to create a universal health care program, which would provide basic health care to all Americans while also eliminating the really grotesque fact that each year far too many Americans find themselves claiming bankruptcy for medical bills, and it is clear that we choose to tolerate the causes of our soaring national debt by not addressing them.

One of the truly paradoxical features of the rise of Trumpism is that it is a populist movement. The very problems that I detail above resulted in millions of middle class, working people to reject Hillary who was effectively linked to the elite, a group who have been so effective in diverting resources upwards to the higher income brackets. The angst was real and Trump took advantage of it while the Dems ignored it, and/or were ineffective when they were in power to stop it.

Take the recent proposal to cap credit card debt at 10%. That is something that the left has been pushing for years, hence Elizabeth Warren's enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal. Of course, the powers in charge, the large financial institutions and the legislators that they own, have pushed back, claiming with straight faces that such a low rate would result in some people not having access to credit.

While this may be true, it is also true that the 25, 28 even 30% interest rates that are being charged to consumers with low credit scores or limited credit history, would make the loan sharks of the past quiver in ecstasy, and perhaps jealousy, that such usury rates are legal.

The simple fact is that interest rates that high only create debt that makes it very difficult to be free from. 

But again, we all must look in our collective mirrors and take some blame for this as well. Not being able to afford something should be a reason not to buy it. But since we all must have what we want, now, there are plenty of unsavory financial institutions that will loan us the money, turning a $2000 purchase into a $4000 payment over time.

Which circles us back to the fact that too many Americans live on the edge, financially, because we allow the rich to drive the narrative about all things income related.

Higher minimum wages? Can't have that, it would cause inflation, so they say, even though CEO pay has skyrocketed in the last 30 years, as has the pay for athletes, Wall street executives, movie stars, hedge fund managers, health insurance brokers and executives, the list goes on and on. 

But never retail workers, bus drivers, day care workers, sanitation workers, even police and firemen. Real income for the people who do the real work in our country has not kept pace so we feel it necessary to charge our way to comfort, a situation which big banks are all too eager to take advantage of.

But I digress.

The deficit will eventually lead to a financial reckoning. We can't continue to spend a trillion, even 2 trillion dollars a year more than we collect in revenue and taxes. It is unsustainable as any family who has faced unending escalation of their debt knows.

The rich must pay higher taxes, the working poor must receive livable wages, the middle class must prioritize where they spend their resources while avoiding the pitfalls of wanting everything new. Remember, supply and demand has two portions, so, while Trump's call for austerity by buying less pencils (who buys pencils?) seems to put all the blame on the working classes, he is right that we can be more discerning, more aware of wants as opposed to needs.

I called this post Our Shared Deficit because there are some Americans who choose to blame our elected officials or the Washington bureaucracies or, of course, immigrants. 

And that is the main problem. We, the people, are the problem and the fact that we can't or won't acknowledge that is what will doom our country more than anything else.  

  

   

 

 

 

The Sestercentennial

As 2026 progresses, celebrations, documentaries, and various other commemorations concerning the 250 year anniversary of our founding will be ubiquitous. 

Towards this tremendous milestone, the Atlantic devoted its entire November edition to the subject.

First, a note.

I want to express my gratitude to Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump for this, my first year of reading the Atlantic. You see, it was the SignalGate controversy that cemented my desire to obtain a subscription to this wonderful magazine. While I had occasionally read some articles in the year preceding that event, it was Hegseth's avoidance of responsibility for including an editor of a magazine, let alone one with a history of negative articles about the current administration, in his communication chain about an ongoing military action, as well as his assertions that this breach of secrecy did not reveal any classified information. 

And, if that wasn't bad enough, after the revelation of this incompetence, rather than being held responsible, the president instead attacked the magazine itself, calling it a failed entity and ridiculing both the person who was included in the breach, and the magazine, even though the Atlantic did not publish anything until after the strike. That they, in fact, were more responsible in withholding possible info that might have put our soldiers in harms way than the head of the Department of Defense himself. (No, I won't call it the Department of War!)

Since my subscription began in April of last year, I have not only been exposed to amazing online articles and news, but a monthly magazine filled with wonderful writing, relevant news, and insightful analysis of these dark times.

In addition, and unexpectedly, the Atlantic has introduced me, and inspired me to read a number of books by authors that either I had never heard of or whom I had never read despite knowing of their importance. From current writers like Ann Applebaum, Elaine Pagels and David Graeber to authors who have departed mortal soil such as Toni Morrison, James Baldwin and Kurt Vonnegut, the Atlantic has rekindled my love for reading, as well as discovering the perspectives of people different from myself. You know, learning about diversity, equity and inclusion, those three great traits that have contributed to the amazing history of our country.

Anyway, back to the November edition of the Atlantic which was titled The Unfinished Revolution and featured a flip out picture of 23 people, some famous, some infamous, and some unknown but just as important in our shared history.

The articles within the edition touched on topics as varied as our history itself, broken into five chapters, Defiance, Conflict, Independence, Memory and Crisis. Like the Ken Burns 12 hour documentary (I have seen the first two episodes), there is a lot of information about the years preceding the signing of the Declaration and the War for Independence, details that provide substance and background for the hows and whys that led to our eventual decision to seek separation from England.

So many details which, I am ashamed to say, were frequently unknown to me as the version of our history has been so often altered to present positive spins on dreadful situations or simply pretend they didn't happen. 

One of the many things I have learned is that the English openly and successfully recruited African Americans to fight against the colonists, offering freedom from enslavement as a reward. Sadly, our Independence resulted in many of those men, women and their families being chased down and returned to their former masters, or forced them to flee to Canada, some Caribbean Islands or even back to Africa.

Of course, for every black mark that was true of those times, for every hypocrisy that was revealed by the men who claimed that all men are created equal yet did not include women, Blacks or even the poor white people of the day, there are stories of inspiration, true belief in self governance as opposed to the divine rights of a king, and all sorts of sacrifices, cooperation and even compromises among the colonists despite their differences.

America is certainly a conundrum, if nothing else.

Which makes it all the more sad to see how some people seem obsessed with whitewashing our history, pretending that within all the good there weren't times when we have fallen very far short of the ideals of our founding documents.

Not to mention our seeming fascination, even acceptance by some to allow one man the power of a king, or autocrat. 

Anyway, if you see the November edition of the Atlantic, perhaps at your local library or at a friend's home or maybe even at a store that sells magazines, I heartily recommend you borrow or buy it.

You will be enlightened, perhaps even more proud of America since you will know more of the full story, not just the one which pretends that manifest destiny is real and that nothing bad ever happened here. That despite the flaws of our founders and the ways in which we have come up short to their ideals, we are part and parcel to a wonderful experiment in self governance, and in the attempt to assist all people in their efforts to seek life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, even when they live, love and identify their gender in unique ways.

Frankly, and despite my recent reduction in optimism, perhaps reading articles such as those included in The Unfinished Revolution and viewing Ken Burns' American Revolution documentary, the veil will be lifted from the eyes of my fellow Americans and the majority will reject the cruelty, the xenophobia, the bigotry, and the corruption of our current president, and seek to make the ideal that all men are created equal a reality.  

More on Christian Discrimination

A few months ago, my nephew recommended a book for me to read, one he had just finished himself; "Separation of Church and Hate" by John Fugelsang.

I located it within the library system from which I am now actively borrowing books, rather than purchasing them, and found that they had a number of copies, but 45 holds already placed. I added my name to the hold list, and checked every week or so to see how I was progressing in getting to the front of the line. 

It took a while, owing to the topic and the skill of the the writer to discuss it, I presume.

Finally, last week, I received a notice that the book had been transferred to my local branch and I quickly drove there to retrieve it.

As a quick summary, Fugelsang is the child of two people who had chosen to devote their lives to Christ, one was a nun the other a brother. But fate had different plans for them (can one say God rather than fate?), when they met one day when he was sent to the hospital for tuberculosis treatment, the hospital where she was working.

They became friends at first, out of respect for their divine choice, but as time went by and they continued that friendship through a copious amount of letters, they eventually broke their respective promises to God, and married.

I recount this so you know that Fugelsang was raised by two very strict Catholic parents who believed deeply in the teachings of Christ and the true meaning of Christianity.

The subtitle to Fugelsang's book is "A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds". Fugelsang makes his case, not by attacking the bible, but by quoting it, as only someone who has been taught it's words, but more importantly, it's spirit, by two people who had spent a number of years in dedication to the life of their savior, Jesus Christ.

The good news is that the book is not preachy as is so often the case when someone who "has read the bible" proselytizes. 

It is a great read, whether you have a Christian background or not, but especially so if you sense the hypocrisy of the mega church evangelists who seem extremely rich, or the man made rules of the Catholic Church which seem to hold more importance than the spiritual meaning of Jesus's teachings.

My own opus along these lines was written early in my blogging career. Here is a link to An Atheist For Christ, written in 2012, then revised, a bit, and posted in April of 2024.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2024/04/an-atheist-for-christ.html

I also recently posted a review of another wonderful book, concerning the history of Christianity, The Gnostic Gospels, by Elaine Pagels.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2025/07/gnostic-gospels.html

Also, as is my usual process, I reviewed some of my previous posts, in this case, concerning the topic of Separation of Church and State. One from June of 2024, discussed the recent decision by Louisiana to display the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. I actually agree with the basic concept of the idea, to provide moral guidance to our youth, but with a few additions, and a picture of someone high in government who has routinely violated those ten commandments, a visual warning of how not to behave.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2024/06/the-ten-commandments.html  

Another post about this topic is from 2012 about a Puritan minister who actively fought to keep religion out of government, believing that one's religious affiliation was a personal matter, not for government to dictate. While he was ultimately unsuccessful in his endeavors, in fact was ostracized from his community, his book "The Bloody Tenet of Persecution" influenced John Locke, whose work was instrumental in inspiring the founders when they created the great documents of our nation. I reference him in my discussion of the mandate within the ACA that required birth control to be provided for all health plans but was challenged by various religious groups. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2012/02/contraception-controversy.html 

Finally, a link to my original discussion of discrimination in a Christian nation, from 2016.  

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2016/04/discrimination-in-christian-nation.html 

Whether through Fugelsang's book, or Pagels, or from the many other comments about using Christianity to create laws, including my posts, it is clear that like all religions based on rules created by men, (and I mean men as there are very few which were established by women), there is hypocrisy galore, as well as excellent lessons and guidelines to help us live moral, positive, humane lives.

Which path we take, personally as well as nationally, is a reflection of whether we choose to honor the universal axiom which transcends culture and creed, do unto others as you would have done to you, or its negative injunction, don't do to others what you would not want done to you.

Perhaps then, phrases like Christian discrimination would fade away, and that acts which harm Christians for their faith, and those which some Christians advocate, Christians in name only, who use man made dogma to harm others, would fade with it. 

 

The Underdog and The Bully

Yesterday I watched Rocky. It had been quite a while since I viewed this movie, perhaps decades, to be honest. And, to be even more forthcoming, I have lost a bit of admiration for Sylvester Stallone, although certainly admire his tenacity and persistence in creating, not only the Rocky character, but his other successful iconic characters. 

It has been calculated that with a $1 million budget, the original Rocky movie grossed $225 million worldwide in box office revenue. A rags to riches story about a boxer conceived by a rags to riches actor/neighborhood club fighter. It is no wonder that his statue stands proudly on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, and that his famous run up those steps is reenacted, probably daily, by tourists, native Philadelphians, and Americans from around the country. 

Coincidentally, Rocky was released fifty years ago. I say coincidentally, because 1976 was also the year I graduated high school. 

I remember seeing the movie that year, tearing up when he finally made it to the top of the Art Museum steps, feeling every hit as Apollo Creed relentlessly pummeled him, then cheering when he came to his feet after being knocked down in the 14th round. It all came back to me as I watched again yesterday, especially his calls to Adrian as he awaited the decision, a decision, it seemed to me as I experienced the film all these years later, that didn't really matter to him. Even though he had admitted that he didn't think he could win, and that he just wanted to last fifteen rounds, I guess I missed that part when I first watched the movie. I expect I was disappointed when he didn't win in 1976, but understood far better in 2026 why it didn't matter. 

Why he was a winner none the less.

I mentioned in my last post that I often wonder how much of my waning optimism in America is related to my own personal aging. Certainly in 1976, having my whole life ahead of me, I was far more optimistic about my future, far more likely to identify with a rags to riches story and the idea that something similar could happen to me. Whether that is also part and parcel to my reduced hopefulness, that, in fact, nothing similar has occurred in my life, at least not in terms of recognition on a large scale, is debatable, and not entirely unlikely.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, America was the underdog of the world, taking on the biggest, most powerful military of the day. It is easy to understand why we identify with characters like Rocky as we see our own national origin story as a rags to riches epic journey. 

Which makes it all the more sad that America has become the bully that we always cheered against in movies, and life. 

Don't get me wrong, even in 1976 when I was in the full bloom of my youth, America had already belittled the accomplishment of defeating Hitler's attempt to rule by intimidation and violence, when we secretly but actively deposed the leaders of other countries, in addition to actually invading foreign lands, Korea and Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, to mention the worst debacles.

But now we have a leader who not only stands with bullies like Putin and Netanyahu, but has remade America into a country that has no qualms about invading another nation to take its resources, oil in this case. At least now we know that all that talk about drugs was just a line of bullshit, oil being the ultimate goal all along.

What makes me laugh, truly, in spite of the decline that this invasion marks, is that we have thrown away our reputation for decency, for democracy, and especially for being a Christian nation, for a natural resource that represents the past, not the future. 

No surprise considering that our president wishes to return America to the Gilded Age, but you would think that the masses, the people who do all the work, all the living and dying in this country (to quote "It's a Wonderful Life") would turn their collective backs on the outdated concept that fossil fuel extraction is our future. 

They say that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. For a man who has criticized our history of foreign entanglements, you would think that he would know that invading another country, generally unites that country against the invader, and rarely leads to the population of said country lining the streets in gratitude.

If Afghanistan didn't teach us just that one lesson after both Russia and the United States invaded it, the two most powerful nations in the past 75 years, trying, and failing, then I guess we deserve whatever comes from this atrocity. 

Somehow Trump thinks that he "holds all the cards" as he is prone to tell Zelensky when using Putin's talking points to convince him to give up parts of his country to an invading force. 

He has learned nothing from the past even though he lives there. 

Venezuela's recent leaders have done a piss poor job of running that country, as is reflected by the contested elections in the last decade, and the failing economy. But nothing unites a country quicker that an invading force. Just as the colonies were able to put aside their differences, differences that simmered below the surface and eventually exploded into the Civil War, it should come as no surprise if the Venezuelan people reject our notion of who should run their country, just as the majority of peoples do when invaded by a hostile enemy.

Bullies do well, sometimes for quite a while. But eventually, a bigger bully comes along, or perhaps tens of thousands of regular people who band together to fight, as occurred 250 years ago.

Perhaps when the first American soldier, or construction worker, or oil executive is killed on Venezuelan soil, the American voter might look up from their 72" TV's and their cell phones, and realize that we are just another bad guy country, no longer the underdog to be proud of and to cheer for. Maybe...

And so the decline continues.

 

Some Optimism, to start the New Year

I have not made it a secret that I am far less hopeful for humanity, in general, and America specifically, than when I began this blog fifteen years ago. I have also mused about how the mere fact that I am aging, in the last few decades (at least, hopefully) of my life, might be a factor in that loss of hopefulness. Yet it is also true that when I began this blog, I was already in my early fifties, not necessarily a time of life associated with the bloom of youthful optimism.

All that being said, I include a link to a post that I wrote in 2023 that touched on this topic, while also providing a few links to other posts which were also along the same vein. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2023/08/on-more-positive-note.html 

So, optimism. What still provides me with hope for the future?

On a personal level, my wife and I spent a very enjoyable five days with our children and their partners, at our home. We shared fabulous meals (thank you Nora), lots of laughs, and innumerable pleasant experiences. As I have said a few times in various posts, it is truly satisfying and heart warming to get to know our kids as people. And sure, while they will always be our babies, it is very rewarding to see them happy in their lives, but just as importantly, to have developed into good, kind, caring people. Who actually want to spend time with us!

Also, if it matters, and I guess it does if I am mentioning it, activity on my blog increased dramatically this past year. While my stats are minuscule when compared to the most popular influencers of the day, I have accumulated over 300,000 hits since the inception of this blog. Of those, just about 88,000 have occurred this past year with 59,000 in the last six months including a whopping 34,000 in August, my most active month, by far, ever.

To say that it is gratifying, and perhaps even a bit of an ego boost would not be an exaggeration, especially when considering that I have had many months where less than 1000 people accessed my blog yet have now experienced single days with 1500, 1800, even 2000 hits. 

The mere fact that I can sit at my desk in Pottstown and have my words read by people in such far flung countries as Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Gabon, Moldova and Tunisia seems as improbable as it does complimentary. In fact, my records show (yes, my numbers OCD strikes again) that I have had "hits" from 127 different countries to date, 20 new sources just this past year.

Of course, I have long since accepted that I may never achieve my personal 15 minutes of fame, let alone be a popular source for commentary, but I am satisfied to think that there are people I have never met, and will never meet, who have read a post or two of mine, not because they know or are related to me, but because they find something interesting, perhaps, dare I say it, inspirational, whether from my opinion pieces or stories.

As I continue to tell people, my current mantra is, global anxiety, which means being aware of the backwards trends that are occurring all around us, but also personal happiness, translated as appreciating the love in one's life, and the good times which come along, or are sought out and realized.

In other words, having the ability to have two thoughts in one's head at once, but not allowing one to dominate the other.

Finally, as I have mentioned multiple times in the past, I continue to read the Smithsonian Magazine which is often a source of positive articles.

The December issue featured two articles that inspired me to think more hopefully of the future, although one was about something that, while is still exists today, was built over 100 years ago.

In 1902 there was a horrific train crash on Manhattan Island which killed 17 people. From that horrible event, a man named William J Wilgus, a self taught engineer at that, would design the Grand Central Terminal, a building that catapulted the transportation industry into the future. His vision eliminated the steam driven trains that polluted the air while creating safety hazards, replacing them with electric trains, in addition to sinking all the train tracks below the surface while creating two levels, one for commuter trains, one for longer distance travel.

His concept was as revolutionary as it was costly. But here, again, he solved it with out of the box thinking by proposing the utilization of the concept known as "air" rights, which stated that whomever owns the soil, owns the air above it. As the railroad company owned all the land already, and since Wilgus's proposed design of underground rail lines included being covered with heavily reinforced girders and pavement, the resulting real estate above the structure could be leased to developers, reaping millions of dollars, in perpetuity.

Wilgus not only solved the challenge of completely re-imagining urban train travel, he solved the even more difficult question of funding.

So why does this inspire hope for the future? Because perhaps such grand ideas, which can occur at any time, anywhere are lurking in the ether, just awaiting to occur. Some soon to be "flash of light" as Wilgus described the genesis of his idea. An inspiration that will help us address climate change, or poverty, or income inequality, or any of the myriad problems that we face, personally, nationally, globally.

The other December article described the efforts being made to save and help regenerate kelp forests. I know, kelp isn't very sexy. Not like saving whales or leopards, or even the rain forests. But if you were to read the article, "The Kelp Comeback", you will understand that our neglect of the ocean is as critical an error as our profit driven attacks on land. 

The hope comes from the people, indigenous as well as non-indigenous, who are working tirelessly to restore kelp forests off the coast of California, as well as along other coasts across the globe. The article, like other such excellent reporting on recognizing the importance of respecting the interactions of nature, and the harm we do when we ignore that interconnectedness, also provides possible solutions to problems ranging from the acidification of the oceans to reducing the use of pesticides to grow our food to preserving sea animal diversity from which the next great medicine may be discovered. 

All in all, I begin 2026 on a positive note, notwithstanding the obvious threats that are on display every day. Whether this touch of optimism lasts a few days, weeks or months, Happy New Year. I hope you had a memorable holiday these past few weeks, and that 2026 brings happiness and health to you and your families. 

America

Whenever Nora and I listen to the radio at home, the dial is tuned to WXPN, the public radio station out of Philadelphia. It is an amazing source for new music as well as to walk down memory lane. We have been members for quite a long time, the initial membership the result of a Christmas gift from me to Nora soon after we discovered, and became regular listeners.

This past week, WXPN has been playing the top 885 cover songs, as voted on by the listeners. (WXPN is found at 88.5 on the FM dial, hence the number of songs).

Just a few minutes ago, at #35, the Yes version of Simon and Garfunkel's song "America" was played. I was immediately transported back to English class, freshmen year in high school, 1972 when Mr Topper used the song, the original, not the Yes version, as a discussion topic. He played the song a number of times, in its entirety, as well as portions, to spur the class to consider, and to interpret. 

Here are the words. 

 

[Verse 1]
"Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together
I've got some real estate here in my bag"
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies
And walked off to look for America

[Verse 2]
"Kathy," I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America"

[Bridge]
Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said, "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera"

[Verse 3]
"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat"
"We smoked the last one an hour ago"
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field

[Verse 4]
"Kathy, I'm lost," I said, though I knew she was sleeping
"I'm empty and aching and I don't know why"
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America
All come to look for America
All come to look for America

I can't say for sure that Mr Topper's introduction of this song had anything to do with the travels I embarked upon after leaving high school. I do know that after a lackluster semester at college as part of the track that was expected of students like me, I dropped out.

After a few years of bill paying but unsatisfying jobs, I began to travel, first by bus, then with my thumb. Although I never made it to Saginaw, I did take two cross country bus rides, both which began with Pittsburgh as the first stop. The first took me to the Grand Canyon, out and back with two days at the great crater, the second one more ambitious, all the way across America, and up to Seattle, then back to home, a dozen cities in 14 days. For those who are curious, a two week bus pass, if memory serves, cost $150. Total.

Once emboldened, I hitchhiked across the country and back in one incredible six week trip, then also made trips to Rochester, New York and Houston, Texas. I slept outside a lot, in places one doesn't normally sleep, but also at parks, local, state and national. 

And, of course, I encountered many other young people, doing the same, some traveling like myself, some working at national parks for the summer, some aimless, some with purpose, many Americans, but also many from Europe. All looking for a version of America that matched the version of themselves, or who they wanted to be. 

While I can't speak for anyone else, I gained a wonder and belief in our country, both of its natural beauty, and its inhabitants, my fellow Americans, that stuck with me for most of my adult life. After all, I was dependent on others to travel about, sometime even for food and shelter, but was never stranded for any substantial length of time. Always on the move, meeting new people who were looking for a conversation to help the miles pass quicker, or for ideas as to where to look for America, and themselves.

That's what makes it all the more sad, to see how we have changed, as a country, and as a people, since then.

How cruel our national policies have become to those whose only crime was to be born in a poor country, or in a place where sun exposure results in a darker skin color. 

Even worse, how we treat fellow Americans who choose to love someone of the same gender, or whose gender identity is not as black and white as some would prefer. Or who have spent their lives as public servants. Or choose to intervene when they encounter government sanctioned intimidation and violence in their communities. 

But the real shame is that I wonder if young people, born on American soil, brought here as an undocumented child, or living overseas in a country where opportunity is lacking, would still seek America as I did forty plus years ago. Would still think that all our welcome on our shores, especially considering the rhetoric that issues from the White House about people from certain countries. 

In those days, I traveled, and encountered other wanderers with very little resources. My recollection is that I spent about $120 during my six week trip. Today it seems clear that only people with money are welcome here, and that some of our leaders do not see America as a place to look for opportunity or one's self, but only for people with marketable talents or big bank accounts. 

When I hitchhiked in the 1980's, I was told that you can't do that today, it isn't the sixties anymore. When I recount my travels, I am told the same about today, that it isn't safe to travel in this manner anymore. I didn't believe that advice then, and while I often joke that I would like to recreate those days some time, to try it again as a senior citizen, I wonder how safe I would be. And that makes me even sadder than the thought that I might be too old to try.   

I don't know if Mr Topper is still kicking around somewhere, although I would like to think that he knows that he had an impact on at least one student. An impact that planted the seed of self discovery, and of understanding something about America by experiencing it up close and personal, one ride at a time, one adventure at a time, one new experience with a fellow American, at a time. 

 

 

Bullshit Jobs

I've posted twice before under the heading of Jobs. The first was in October of 2010. See link below.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2010/09/labor-costs-and-jobs.html

For those who don't remember, unemployment in America in October 2010 was just a few ticks under 10%, having barely moved from its high water mark in the previous October. It would take another year, October 2011, for the rate to drop below 9%, almost another year to get below 8%, almost two more years, September 2014, for the rate to drop below 6%, until May 2016 to drop below 5%, and then another 18 months or so to hit 4% and stay around that number or less. In other words, opinions about how to increase the number of available jobs/reduce unemployment, were a dime a dozen.

My post was a response to an opinion piece I read in the Inquirer which offered the solution of reducing wages so that employers could hire more people.  

The second post was from January 2011, a commentary on the movie Working Girl, a favorite of mine. My focus was on the comment, made by the lead character, that you can bend the rules once you make it to the top, but that everyday people can't do the same while they struggle for that big break. Here is a link to that post where you can read the word for word quote, and the rest of my comments. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2011/01/working-girl.html 

Today's post will be nothing like those, however, as it is inspired by the book I just read Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber.

This is not a recent book, having been published in 2018, the book itself resulting from the reaction and feedback Graeber received from an essay that he wrote in the spring of 2011 for a magazine called Strike. In it, Graeber suggested that a significant percentage of jobs that existed were not only not necessary, but that those who toil in those jobs are unhappy, both because the jobs are not satisfactory and because they know that the jobs could disappear tomorrow and no one would notice.

Be advised, Graeber is an avowed anarchist, in general, but also specifically when it comes to the topic of work. He truly believes that, not only is the 20, 25 hour workweek achievable, but that there are forces that actively work against the concept. 

It is not possible for me to adequately explain Graeber's theory, even though I will be commenting on it for the remainder of this post. If you are so inclined after reading my post to understand it more thoroughly, please read it. I got my copy from the library.

More specifically, if you have or have had a job that seems pointless, or even one that you have an inkling that if such a job disappeared tomorrow, the world would be a better place, read the book.

Further, if you have noticed that too many jobs seem to be soul sucking endeavors, and that these jobs form the basis as to why so many people "live for the weekend" or seek life satisfaction outside their mode of employment, read the book.

That being said, here are my comments.

This past week, Nora and I visited our children for the Thanksgiving holiday. I mentioned to my son that I was reading Bullshit Jobs and he seemed downright excited having known about Graeber and his theory long before I encountered it. Knowing he was aware of the book, I commented that he, along with his wife and sister, currently worked bullshit jobs. He did not disagree as his understanding of Graeber's theory is that complete. 

For me, the biggest, most salient points made by Graeber are that jobs that are actually the most necessary, that provide actual goods and services that people need, are often the least paid, while many of the jobs that pay the highest compensation do very little to enhance society.

He also believes that capitalism has created a plethora of these bullshit jobs due to the ego of the multitude of administrators and executives who need to brag about the number of assistants and junior whatevers that work below them.

And finally, that the powers that be vastly prefer that we toil 40, 50, 60 hours a week rather than having time to analyze and understand just how such a massive amount of the resources and wealth that are created by the workers of the world, end up in the hands of so few people. 

He ties this desire to "keep us busy" with the proliferation of entertainment devices. Like the battles between lions and humans and among gladiators, as occurred in the Coliseum, we have our own sports arenas where specialists play games for very rich owners who have convinced us that we should support "our" city's team. While today's distractions are highly paid, some progress there, the owners have no loyalty to us fans, as indicated when they hold us hostage for publicly paid for billion dollar stadiums with the threat of moving elsewhere. 

And let's not forget the athletes who salute the fans when winning, but flee for the next big contact to whomever pays their way.

What is really ironic, is that the vast majority of Americans will tell you that they want their government, their political leaders, their super rich businessmen, to create opportunities for the working classes. To provide compensation that allows livability, or affordability, if you will, and the possibility of providing a better life for our children. 

Yet at the same time, have been convinced, brainwashed even, to holler at the top of their lungs against the thought that we need a more equitable income distribution system, all because the rich have hijacked the narrative, by labeling it socialism, having successfully taught us that socialism is anti American, anti God even. 

As if the billionaires would take their ball and go home, as the characters in one of their bibles, Atlas Shrugged, do. The simple fact that without workers to run factories, distribute goods, provide services, and then actually purchase them, no one would be a billionaire.

They need us more than we need them, but they have bamboozled us into believing the opposite.

Again, Graeber is much better at enunciating his theory; I have done him a disservice by attempting to explain the details of his book.

But the down and dirty conclusions that he reaches, that too many hair dressers, bus drivers, retail workers, garbage collectors, police and firemen, nurses, teachers and day care workers, and all the people whose work provides the actual goods and services we need to survive and thrive, are paid far less than the hedge fund managers, myriad middle managers, executives, corporate lawyers, bankers and yes, government bureaucrats. 

Without the former, life would stop. Without the latter... well one can only wish to see what might happen. 

At the end of the book, Graeber dives into UBI. 

Universal Basic Income.  

But he discusses it with a twist, in that he believes such programs could make a real difference for, not only those struggling for whatever mental or physical reason, but for the everyday person who might have an artistic talent but works a 9 to 5 job to pay the bills, perhaps even at a job that provides no real social value. 

Who knows how many great works of art or sculpture or fiction have not been created because a child was discouraged to focus on music or the arts by parents (and society), but instead, directed towards a more lucrative career. 

Or what amazing medical discoveries have not been made because scientific research pays far less than almost any sales position.

Or, if you want to put a family values spin on it, how many children were without the proper parental supervision, or love, because their parents paid astronomical daycare fees so that very underpaid day care workers could raise their kids.

As I say very often, what America needs is a week long strike by all the people who get paid crap wages but whose work is critical to the functioning of our society.

Graeber's book provides even more reasons for me to believe that.