Blog

I just read an autobiographical sketch by one of my Facebook friends. I was impressed by the detail he shared about his life and the details of the people who impacted him. My life has not been as orderly as his. I think back over my 84 years and feel a little like a pinball…

Stable Economy 1

I have been hearing a lot recently about inflation. I have had some thoughts about the source of this menace to a rational economy. Imagine that there was a commodity that could be purposed and repurposed to provide for every physical need for a society to include food, shelter, clothing, transportation as well as every…

Sacrifice

The invasion of the nation of Ukraine troubles me greatly. When I hear of rocket and missile attacks on hospitals, nursery schools and sacred historic locations, I am moved to what I hope is righteous indignation. I pray for the people of Ukraine. I also pray that my righteous indignation not be turned into unreasoning…

Transportation

I have some thoughts about transportation. I suspect that some will consider my ideas unrealistic or too costly. For that reason, I intend to begin my proposal with a quotation from George Bernard Shaw “You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?’” Shaw was…

I just heard reference to an expression that has been used frequently during my life experience. It is, “the cold hard truth.” In thinking about it, I opine that the truth is not cold and hard. The truth is warm, gentle, and comforting. What is cold and hard are lies, particularly those lies that are…

The year was 1946. I was just a innocent nine year old. The country was going through a massive transformation from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy. Formal rationing had just ended. I still have some of my ration cards from that time. Only two people participated directly in the story I am about…

Power and authority

Recently I have been aware of statements regarding the power of the Presidency and the power of Congress. Those statements have directed my mind to the relationship between power and authority. Power is the capacity to make another do something whether they would ordinarily do it or not. Every society, in fact, every social system,…

What is America?

What is America to me? There are two Americas. The first America is the land of my hopes and dreams. It is the land of my youth. It is the land I was introduced to by my parents, my grandparents, my church, and my community. This America I have envisioned is a place where the…

Pride

Civic pride is a concept that has occupied an increasing part of my thoughts for some time now. I have reached two conclusions. Civil society is inherently divisive. Community is inherently unifying. I am basing these two conclusions on my reading of the work of prominent sociologists and social anthropologists. Civic pride is an expression…

Unity

I grew up proud to be an American. When I was in my childhood, I paced emphasis on the word United when I referred to the nation my ancestors fought for and built. When I recited the Pledge of Allegiance, the phrase “one nation, indivisible” stirred me. Over the years I have become increasingly aware…