Teen Mind

The collective mental state of the US populace does not exceed the tender age of fourteen, I swear.  What is that constant fear of state involvement in private matters? 

Whether healthcare, pensions or redistribution, the hysterics are always the same.   Fear sets in when it comes to the spectre of the all powerful parent…uh, state, which threatens to take away decision making powers, curtail painfully obtained freedoms, and generally stifle individuality.

NOT FAIR UGH !!!

The impression of dealing with an immature collective further solidifies when one considers that state involvement in health care (most recently through the introduction of “Obamacare”), redistribution of wealth through taxation, and pensions as currently suggested by Teresa Ghilarducci does exactly that:  provide freedom (from hardship) by providing basic services to allow individuals to focus on the more meaningful aspects of their lives.

The incensed vitriolic launched at anyone suggesting that opportunities may need to be created in the first place so that a greater number of players can participate in the creation and enjoyment of wealth appears truly irrational and bare of any empathetic notion. 

May I suggest that not only are we dealing with an adolescent collective mentality, but actually with that of a bully – most likely male.

For further readings, I strongly recommend Teresa Ghilarducci’s blog:

http://teresaghilarducci.org

Back

At least I saw a couple of DON’T FRACK MICHIGAN stickers on bumpers on this last visit back to the US.

But they were still attached to the same SUV and oversized pick-up truck bumpers. 

I only saw one wind turbine and one house with solar panels in a place that outdoes Northern Europe in sunny days by 4 to 1– and that was on the roof of a self-declared environmental community.  Most new houses just had one outstanding feature:  SIZE. 

Small here is XL.  And most new homes are 2XXL, just like the T-Shirts that say “ Lake Michigan Unsalted” written in fat print across the front.

As always, being back, really feels like being back.

In 1990.

Thanks, but no Sam !

Here is what's great about homeschooling: 

My job ends at the beginning of summer, I don't have to write reports because I know where my kids are at and I have a fairly good idea what we will have to cover when we get back. 

I don't have to clean up my classroom in addition to my house and I also won't have to come back in August to paint the walls (I will do that in November).  

Granted, I don't get baskets filled with crackers, chocolate and Thank You cards, but then, I don't have to put in my time&energy&idealism for $25,000/yr, find childcare, transportation AND worry whether the Earned Income Tax Credit will still be in place when I file in April !!!

What "Mr President"didn't say....

Every once in a while I check out the White House page to see what El Gran Queso has to say.  For the very eager there even is a Sign up option so that Obama’s speeches will be automatically sent via email, entitled “What the President said today.” 

Apparently it seems, that we are facing serious consequences from something called "climate change."  The President informs us that carbon levels are on the rise, mostly emitted by energy producing industries.  Oh my!  This, he states, is worrying as globally temperatures are rising and weather patterns are becoming more extreme!!  Ten of the hottest years on record have occurred since 1998! Can you imagine??  Even UN secretary Ban Ki Moon was seen marching with a crowd of demonstrators against climate change in New York recently...Well, if THAT doesn’t say something!!  Thank you for letting us know, Mr. President...!

Meanwhile, our committed leader fights like a berserker by supporting studies and rallying support for commitments for the Paris Climate Summit in 2016!!  Aaawwww!!  He also has increased the wind and solar energy, we are told as polished graphics depict green swirling wind turbines and solar panels on little green houses.  

But, of course, it is far more interesting to read between the lines and to list all the items “The President DIDN’t say...”  

Nowhere does he admit that hydraulic fracturing, an industry aggressively pushed by the Obama government (and its lobbyists) continues to contribute growing amounts of carbon emissions.  After all hydrocarbon extraction is its goal  It is, let’s say, OLD SCHOOL i.e. not up-to-date with newly set targets for CO2 reductions.  

Nowhere does he admit that the wasteful method of flaring is contributing at disturbing levels to greenhouse gas emissions, including Methane, the second largest contributor to global warming.  

Nowhere are there any actual figures about US greenhouse gas emission reductions, although he did admit that efforts haven't yet been sufficient...

Every time I drop him a line inquiring about of Fracking and the US government’s commitment to promoting this most damaging extraction of carbohydrates, I receive the same PR blah about The Presidents commitment to alternative energies.

Clearly.  Fostering carbon intensive energy production while pointing fingers at end users (who have been duped by promises of cheaper fuel prices), he does only ONE thing:

Making us all wanting him to SHUT UP !!

On Democracy and Narcism

An electoral system is by no means a guarantor of democracy.  Multi-party banana republics abound, where a ruthless clique at the top behave like rabid monkeys.  

But even though the system of checks and balances may function better in so-called Western Democracies, one is well-advised to double check.  

How independent is the media?  Can one trust the information on public networks?  In fact, is there any relevant information transmitted at all?  The BBC, for instance, revels in atrocities...children abducted, quartered, raped - but rarely provides in-depth political analysis. 

What links do political leaders have to key industries such as oil&gas and the media?  How closely are their ties to weapon manufacturers?  

How much of the state budget is appropriated to education & health versus defense and industry subsidies...?

How independent is the judiciary?

Barak Obama is maintaining an aura of transparency by having an active online interface where he (his PR unit) provide information about current policies and solicit comments from the public.

At least, he and his staff thereby acknowledge the existence of a populace for whom fast food and HBO don’t work as tranquilizers.  But let’s not be fooled...his goal is no different from all of the other ones who made it to that most distinguished spot where all eyes are focused on them day and night...

Oh, look at his turd...isn’t it sublime!

The Greedy One

The bully, the diva, the tyrant, the ruthless deal-pusher - what they all have in common is a great fear.  

Like terrified two-year olds they clamor for control, because they fear that otherwise their survival is at stake.  The bully dominates the class room, the diva controls anyone who comes into contact with her, the tyrant is obsessed with security and the arm twister, the greedy One Percent of this world, tries to control it all. 

Psychology would point to a fragile self-image, possibly a damaged parent-child relationship, while spirituality might suggest a tormented soul working its way through these sad biographies, but what is striking above all that there is a recurring theme.  In every society, the air gets thinner at the top.  

There seems to be a cynical element as well, since there over time any human group develops hierarchal structures.  Just like chimpanzees we huddle around the one who is actually the most scared simply because we know what he is capable of....  

In human society there seem to be certain leveling events, which have a tendency to temporarily shake up social structures, moments throughout our history, where that hierarchy eroded and where the middle came to be strong and wide.  Natural or human catastrophes, such as war, starvation, disease, migration initially form strong liens between survivors.  Cooperation between all ensures the survival of the group in the aftermath of such an event.  But eventually, individual interests take over and the all to common pattern reshape themselves as one witnesses the formation of pyramids where few at the top control the lives of many at the bottom.   

And so over time, any tribe, any organization, any economy tends to go pear shape once the dust of the founding years has settled. 

Just check out the tenets of the latest free trade agreement between the US and the European Union (TTIP) and witness how the greedy 1% is trying to take control over entire economies and manipulate their legal frameworks and democratic principles.   

If this treaty passes there is no stopping the tyranny of the most fearful!!

Click to inform yourself!!

Was that the Doorbell...?

I wonder whether among PoliSci departments around the US, there is one whose faculty openly decries the systemic corruption enshrined in the US constitution... A worthy endeavour, I would think, and really never out-of-date.   

How else to describe the the U.S. democracy where, intererst organisations of different coleurs, i.e. “lobbyists” pay elected government officials “contributions” to their electoral campaigns (which they get to keep and never ever mention again even if they don’t get elected)...?   

The more powerful the interest organisation such as in the case of oil&gas, pharmaceuticals, media, and military, the more likely their interests will get considered, right?  Bigger means more (cash) and hence more influence over policy issues.  

But, wait, aren’t senators and members of the House of Representative supposed to represent their electorate’s interests?  Hm.  

I wonder whether it is still legal to think beyond this point...or whether the  NSA will be on my doorsteps any moment now.  After all, it surely cannot be legal to question the only true guarantor of justice and peace in the world, right?!

Not OK

Sometime in the seventies, most Western school system moved away from the idea that children’s heads simply had to be filled with information to produce a desirable outcome.   

My generation grew up relatively free of pressure and expectations. We did what we were asked and often more.  We played instruments, joined orchestras, theatre groups and sport clubs in our free time.  

On warm summer days we would all meet at the pool or go for bike rides.  We listened to music, hung out together and engaged in heated discussions about nuclear power and the the cold war.  During our holidays we plowed through mountains of books, wrote songs and travelled on InterRail from Athens to Amsterdam.  

Despite all the tough talk of cold war politics and all the acid rain in the world, life was good.  We were okay.  

Why can our children not grow up with that same certainty?  Why is the generation, that enjoyed all the freedoms and opportunities one could wish for, so adamant about testing children, measuring their achievement and suggesting that it is all not good enough and that they are not enough?  

Education is on the agenda in many countries in the EU - but mostly for the wrong reasons.  Everywhere policymakers are bemoaning low standards of education.  South Korea and China now are being hailed as the great paragons of educational achievement, while the considerable wealth of worthwhile educational philosophy and experience that has been generated in Western societies since the Enlightenment is blatantly being tossed over board. 

Be curious! Be industrious! Be independent! Be interested! Be self-motivated! Is what we are telling our children, thereby hoisting our own existential angst on their narrow shoulders.  

However, isn’t the most important role of an educator to create a safe space for exploration, questions and ideas?  

Shouldn’t we demand an education system that respects individual creative forces instead of expecting normed results?

What are we so afraid of?

Nein !

There are bounderies that I set at times where I may find myself alone on the other side - but that has never bothered me.  

In fact, I don’t believe that majorities are right.  Nevertheless I usually respect majority decisions, even if I don’t necessarily let them dictate my life.  

When George W. Bush decided to terrorise the good Americans and send their children into battle unter false pretense, I gathered our belongings and moved our family to Costa Rica. When George W. was re-elected, we decided to stay away and later on moved everyone to Europe, where life seemed less volatile.  

For a few years we came to enjoy the benefits of a state health care system and a generous yearly leave as well as affordable child care.

Life seemed more secure and with the abundance of cultural events and endless trails and sprawling natural beauty for everyone to enjoy, life quality also got a considerable boost.  For a while, the hair raising deals of Wahington lobbyists seemed a thing of the past.  The NRA, Halliburton & Co., Texaco et al., they all  seemed to recede into the background.  

In the meantime, England was getting rid of its airplane carrier and, in the wake of the financial crisis, it went after banker bonuses.  All seemed good.  

But of course, no honeymoon lasts forever...and now, once again, I find myself googling after everyone else has gone to bed.  

Once again, I am looking for an escape route.  But in this gung-ho winner-takes-all euphoria of our post-industrial age, is there really anywhere to go?

Collective Blindspots

Every country, every nation has them, collective blindspots.  Those aspects of a given culture that just like with your best friend who holds on to his ponytail although he is going bald, are unflattering but somehow unchangeable.

Gun ownership and the obsession with private property are the top of my list when I think of the US. 

Elitism and classism are the obvious ones in the case of the UK.

In Germany, it is the fascination with efficiency that has  allowed asphalt wielding maniacs to turn landscapes into transit routes.

  

France, uh where shall I begin?  Vive la France!!

But this phenomenon of collective amnesia can be applied to all kinds of groups from families to institutions and from religions to men and women.

Similar to individuals, groups of people like to believe that they have figured it all out when, really, we all are but scattered ants on a forest floor.

No wait.  Not even that.

No Easy Time

It seems that the longer a society experiences peace and stability, the more likely its social cohesion is to weaken.  

In the immediate wake of war, a degree of social leveling can be observed, where the haves and have-nots are brought together by the shared misfortunes of violence and destruction.  A society pulls together by forming solidarity pacts on local and even national levels that transcend differences.  

Carefully crafted identities tied to income, heritage, education and religion are overcome for the common good.  The trauma of suffering is shared by all and acts of compassion by those who are more fortunate than others provide a bridge between the camps.

But this empathic phase usually diminishes within a generation.  As peaceful times provide the basic needs of shelter, food and clothing and welfare systems see to the provision of secondary goods such as healthcare, education, and safety, cohesion erodes.  Social strife supercedes social collaboration.

These dynamics can be traced throughout human history.  The peaceful Beaker Culture was replaced by warmongering societies whose chiefs bolstered their prestige by amassing precious metal works.  

Great civilizations were not immune to it and in fact generally thrived on the exploitation of many by few - that is unless they failed to provide the basic necessities, which then would lead to civil uprisings, revolutions and coup d’Etats.  Examples of this abound and often mark the cornerstone of a new era, such as the beginning of the Roman  Republic, the drafting of the Magna Carta, and the passing of the Code Napoleon.  But none will withstand our competitive nature - the call of the wild.

After the extensive rebuilding of civil society in the aftermath of two horrific wars, many European countries experienced a phase of social stability and shared prosperity which culminated in the nineteen eighties and early nineteen nineties.  However, a gradual erosion has set in since as we witness income gaps increase and wealth distribution curves move away from the median.  

Primatologist Frans de Waal likes to evoke the image of the empathic ape in making an argument for our human potential to build empathic societies.  However, I tend to keep to a  an old adage when dealing with humans:  trust is good, watchfulness is better.