THE STORY SO FAR: PART 349: SATURDAY

BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY ARE AUSTRALIAN PELICANS?

I was deep into my second sleep this morning—after having risen early to work for two hours—when I was woken by a gift of a large slice of a particularly delicious melon. I contemplated homicide—because my Saturday sleep is sacred—but I’ll confess the melon was, and is (what’s left of it), quite superb.  

The photo of pelicans is from my sister Lucy’s recent trip to Australia to see my sister Hermione. It seems to have been quite a trip.

Yes, I know I should really show a photo of her—or them—but I have a great weakness for pelicans.

How do I know they are Australian pelicans? Because Lucy is the glue that holds our family together—and entirely trustworthy.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 348: FRIDAY

IT’S A PARADOXICAL BUSINESS

I have spent today trying to catch up with my blogs. I won’t succeed completely, of course, but my hope is to get my recent blogs up to date by the close of the weekend. As of this last week, I am currently missing Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Why do I allow myself to get into arrears at all? I think it has to do with the fact that there is a limit to one’s creative energy—and sometimes I feel there are other priorities. I tend to swear under my breath when that happens because I know perfectly well that it is much easier to write a blog on the day than to backtrack.

Alternatively, one could argue that I lack adequate writing discipline—and I would plead guilty, though I am a very disciplined writer. But am I disciplined enough? Clearly not.

Writing—despite my passion for it, and the fact that I can focus on demand—remains a struggle with my own character and with the distractions of everyday life.

If that sounds somewhat depressing, you would be entirely wrong. It is also an immensely rewarding experience.

QUOTE:

All things must change

To something new, to something strange

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 347: THURSDAY

SHOULD THE PROFIT MOTIVE BE AT THE CORE OF WHAT DRIVES SOCIETY?

I’m far from convinced that the profit motive should be regarded as the driving force in our society.Certainly, we all aspire to a reasonable standard of living for both ourselves and our dependents, but that can be quite humble in material terms—and beyond that there is huge satisfaction to be gained from the work itself.

“Oh well, you’re creative,” you will say, “and couldn’t possibly understand;” but—as a practical matter—a whole slew of people, in a wide variety of walks of life, are content with a modest salary if the work drives them. Some work for non-profits, others are educators, many work for the government—and so it goes on to constitute a remarkably long list.

“But people love their private sector jobs,” I hear you cry. The evidence is, of course, to the contrary—a scarcely surprising fact given the very large number of U.S. jobs which are not rewarded by a living wage, combined with a culture which grants the worst worker rights in the developed world—from maternity leave to vacations—and where health care costs are increasingly being transferred to the worker. Beyond that, the defined pension is vanishing, private sector unions have been mostly crushed, and job security is the stuff of legend. And yet we are the richest, most powerful nation in the world!

There is palpably something wrong here.

It seems to me that we need to think about this stuff—and rebalance our culture. As matters stand, we are in moral, as well as financial, decline. And it’s a rapid process.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 346: WEDNESDAY

I STARTED OFF DEEPLY SCEPTICAL OF SOCIAL MEDIA—AND NOW I’M JUST SCEPTICAL

It is my belief that one of the greatest obstacles to informed discourse of how we live—or should live—is distraction rather than outright lies.

True, we are exposed to a seemingly endless stream of lies about every facet of our existence—from the quality of the food we eat (highly suspect) to our national prosperity (in serious trouble)—but the really dangerous elements in the propaganda that we are subject to from birth to death are best described as distractions. After all, what better way to stop people thinking and to make them malleable.

Here, I don’t want to overestimate the propensity of people to think critically—the evidence is not encouraging—but to make the point that deliberate, contrived distraction plays a much greater role in our lives than most of us are willing to admit. We delude ourselves that, of course we think about the issues—and make intelligent judgments—but the evidence does not support that conclusion. Essentially, we work, we slump, and we sleep—and, of course, we medicate to excess (much easier than thinking).

Such is the reality of human nature. We are a worthy species in many ways, but deeply flawed. We lie, we steal, we cheat, we kill—but, above all, we delude ourselves. Intellectual rigor is not our strong point. Instead, we cling to our prejudices and our comfort zones—virtually regardless of the evidence. And we are also hypocrites to an extent that is hard to over-state.

• We despise Congress but vote in the same corrupt members again and again.
• We preach fair play and democracy, but tolerate gerrymandering and the denial of the vote to many.
• A majority of us call ourselves Christian, yet show remarkably little social concern compared to the populations of the rest of the Developed World. Indeed, we seem quite content to cultivate an ever increasing sub-class, to tolerate nearly 50 million people on food stamps, and to treat the unemployed with contempt (bear in mind that not only is unemployment pay minimal, but, for various technical reasons, only about half who are eligible actually receive it).

All in all, such a mindset has made me regard the Social Media with great skepticism. They are, without question, both distracting and time-consuming. They flatter your ego—encouraging your narcissist side—and their motives are rarely yours.

And yet…

The jury is out as far as I am concerned. Possibly, far out. Nonetheless, I confess a weakness for LinkedIn—which seems to be of practical benefit—and for such book oriented sites as Goodreads and AuthorsDen.

But the core issue is distraction. Some of these peripheral activities may have merit, but the core issue is the writing itself. Such absolutely has to be one’s primary focus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 345: TUESDAY

WORLD WAR II TRIVIA

You might enjoy the following from Col D. G. Swinford, USMC, Ret and history buff. You would really have to dig deep to get this kind of ringside seat to history:  

This photo of Patton doesn’t show him actually peeing—as best I can determine—but it was taken on that day, March 24 1945. 

1. The first German serviceman killed in WW II was killed by the Japanese ( China , 1937), The first American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians ( Finland 1940); The highest ranking American killed was Lt Gen Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps.    

2. The youngest US serviceman was 12 years old: Calvin Graham, USN. He was wounded and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying about his age. His benefits were later restored by act of Congress.  

3. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the top US Navy command was called CINCUS (pronounced 'sink us'); The shoulder patch of the US Army's 45th Infantry division was the swastika. Hitler's private train was named 'Amerika.' All three were soon changed for PR purposes.     

4. More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine Corps. While  completing the required 30 missions, an airman's chance of being killed was 71%.  

5. Generally speaking, there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For instance, Japanese Ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.    

6. It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. This was a big mistake. Tracers had different ballistics so (at long range) if your tracers were hitting the target 80%  of your rounds were missing. Worse yet tracers instantly told your enemy he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of all was the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. This was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and their loss rate go down.     

7. When allied armies reached the Rhine, the first thing men did was pee in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest private to Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and Gen. Patton (who had himself photographed in the act).    

8. German Me-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York City, but they decided it wasn't worth the effort.  

9. German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.  

10. Among the first 'Germans' captured at Normandy were several Koreans. They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army until they were captured by the Russians and forced to fight for the Russian Army until they were captured by the Germans and forced to fight for the German Army until they were captured by the US Army.    

11. Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 United States and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands. 21 troops were killed in the assault on the island. It could have been worse if there had actually been any Japanese on the island.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 344: MONDAY

FINANCIALIZATION, TOO BIG TO FAIL, THE ECONOMIC DEATH SPIRAL

Despite all the hype about growth—minimal growth may I add—and despite recent statistical changes which have resulted in an increase in our reported GDP, plus the Fed buying $85 billions worth of bonds every month—some very disturbing things are happening to this economy which do not bode well for the majority of Americans.

• Income inequality is at an unprecedented level. A few are getting ever richer while the earning power of most Americans is actually decreasing.
• The share of our national income going to corporate profits is higher than it has ever been.
• The share of our national income being paid to people as wages and salaries is at its lowest since the figures were first recorded.
• The share of corporate profits going to financial institutions was 11 percent back in 1947. That share has now risen to 42 percent—and the Fed projects it to rise still further.
• Corporate investment in the kind of activities that create well paid jobs is way below the historical norm.
• Federal and state investment in infrastructure is way below what is actually required.
• Walmart’s U.S. sales have actually declined.

So what does all this mean? It means we have a financial economy based upon speculation rather than investment—and which is of little good to most Americans—operating side by side with a traditional economy which is suffering from under-investment, and where the labor force is being squeezed and squeezed and squeezed.

Decreasing earnings combined with higher prices leads inevitably to having less money to spend which, in turn, leads to fewer people being required to produce goods. That is a death spiral as far as jobs and the economy are concerned.

The above are only a few of the structural problems of this economy. There are many, many more.

IRONY: The primary blame for the recent Great Recession lies with the major financial institutions, yet not only have they scarcely suffered in an significant way, but they are now bigger than they were before the Great Recession and are the primary beneficiaries of the Fed’s $85 billion a month of quantitative easing. The total cost of the great recession has been estimated at $14 trillion plus—and it is being born by the average American taxpayer. That is injustice on a truly epic scale, but it is the logical outcome when the political system is effectively owned by the rich and their corporations.

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 343: SUNDAY

WE WRITERS LIVE WITH FAILURE—AND ENJOY IT!

I have never been to a greyhound race—my education is sadly lacking in some ways—but as I understand it, greyhounds are encouraged to do their very best by dangling a lure in front of them—which they never actually catch.

There is writing in a nutshell. No matter how hard you try, no matter how brilliant your prose, you will never write quite as well as you want.

It appears we are a bunch of masochists. What else can you call people who court failure so consistently?

Or perhaps we are dreamers? I’m damned if I know the answer. I will say that the effort—just in itself—is extraordinarily rewarding (albeit brutal in the effort it requires).