America needs a reason to exist

Jimmy Carter was slightly premature when he called for an examination of American priorities in the 1970s. At the time we still stood as the bastion against Soviet domination. World powers still played on a game board set up by World War II and argued over ideologies that had peaked in the 1930s.

When the Soviet Union -- for various reasons -- finally collapsed as the 1990s came upon us, we enjoyed a period of celebration. But no one has a good idea what to do next. The massive adversaries and threat of global destruction that brought not only fear but stability have gone away.

We still risk global destruction. We still live on a globe populated by a paranoid species that can't seem to outgrow conflict. But in a dawning human consciousness that war really isn't the answer, a couple of superpowers grinding together like tectonic plates is no longer an acceptable scenario. Our enemies are the enemies of peaceful freedom, but they are dispersed. Their motives are diverse. Their resources are limited, yet they are theoretically capable of ending everything. No fortress will withstand them because they can walk through walls by projecting their philosophies into the receptive troubled minds of people already inside.

If our goal is to preserve the geographical entity of the United States and to keep its flag flying no matter what goes on beneath it we may continue to spy on our own citizens and use more police forces to send more people to more prisons. Bit by bit we turn into the kind of repressive regime we said we staunchly opposed throughout our history. But we still exist...technically.

Extremists destroy our system of government from within and without. Whether they're on the "right" or the "left" doesn't really matter. It's their inflexible adherence to their positions that causes the strain. Foreign enemies gather their followers based on their own various grievances. At least some of the grievances may be legitimate, even if their choice of remedy won't really help. Domestic agitators attack the government claiming that its destruction will purify it and free the ordinary citizens from the red tape and tax bills that keep them from succeeding. Benevolent billionaires who could pay their employees a lot more right now are instead financing this revolution, this economic civil war. Why have none of their mob asked them for a raise instead of just writing semi literate signs and waving the flags of sedition?

We have nothing for which to unite. The rich tell us our enemy is our own government. Our government fights with itself over whether to tax the rich who have accumulated far more than a reasonable share of the nation's wealth. Genuine enemies from foreign lands send not only their stealthy fighters but their own ideas to inspire susceptible Americans to join their fight. We are a nation splintering. What can stop it? In the past we have only united in the face of a common threat. We would temporarily put aside internal squabbles, gloss over our own ugliness and turn our phalanx toward the enemy. Those are short-term solutions to a long-term problem.

The solution to the long-term problem is nowhere near as exciting as a good war. Our long term problem really is a malaise, a human condition residing in every individual. It can only be fought alone, even with a support group. The question we have to answer is, "are we better together?"

I think our next national mission may be therapy.

We reward achievement

A meritocracy is only as good as the people deciding what constitutes merit.

How do you know if you have done well at an assigned task? Usually, someone in a superior position praises you. This may include a financial reward. For a student the reward may take the form of scholarship assistance for further education. For a worker it takes the form of pay, benefits and bonuses. Is your achievement meritorious if it doesn't interest someone with the power to give you something tangible, like money, prestige, power or possessions?

In human history and legend a few outsiders have achieved fame and great levels of influence outside the system of entrenched power and wealth. Jesus Christ, whose brand has since been bought out by profit-driven interests, started out as a critic of the establishment whose popular philosophies centered on rewards other than the conventionally accepted wealth and power. Mahatma Gandhi was not known for living like a televangelist either. Those examples spring quickly to mind because they're so darn easy. And they will suffice to illustrate the point that the idea of spiritual rewards and principles without a price tag appeal to something in the human mind. But they can't really stand up to the time-honored tradition of cross-generational brown-nosing that we call achievement. If you're not worth money to the controllers of money, what are you worth?

Gandhi was a political leader. After the idealistic struggle to free India from the British grasp, the country had to function economically. Jesus never had to deal with the compromises of governing. He was an idea man. If he hadn't had that "eternal life" trick to fall back on, he would have been just another troublemaker crushed by the wheels of power. If you live in this material world you have to deal with the self-proclaimed judges of your merit.

Up to this point in history, to achieve merit you must help people who want money make money or you must help them feel good about themselves. This can mean everyone on the economic spectrum, but the best yields come from pleasing people who can bestow the most reward on you for your efforts. You can also make money by scamming people, as in the financial services industry, but then you have to use your wealth to fund the sort of merits that support your lifestyle. Within the financial sector your merits include lining up the chumps for the greater good of your company and manipulating data in a way that maintains a positive cash flow and does not draw attention from the nearly nonexistent regulators.

You can also make money by entertaining people. The superstars of sports and entertainment make it look like a high achiever could amass a fortune largely by personal effort combined with some level of initial talent. However, even there the players have to attract cash just to get started. One person with a guitar and some snappy lyrics might soar to prominence, but only if they get discovered by the right promoter. Merit tends to favor commercialism. You can do some edgy, challenging work, but only if that's what is selling right now.

In science, earnest nerds toil in obscurity, known only to their geeky peers, until one of their discoveries looks like it could have economic or military value. Other types of achievement might get a little "gee whiz, wouldya look at that" kind of publicity, but the real interest perks up only when the work in question looks lucrative.

Free market capitalists will say, "That's what we've been trying to tell you all this time." But their kind has been in charge of defining merit since before the term "capitalism" was coined. People didn't cross wide oceans on tiny ships just to look at the scenery and say hi to the natives. People looked for stuff they could use, even if they had to slap someone else around to get it. Explorers who made it there and back, and exploitative expeditions that followed them had great merit in the eyes of those who financed them.

The net result of centuries of meritorious achievement has been a sprawling human population overrunning a planet battered and smouldering from our ambitious ministrations. We should do something about that, but there's not enough money in it. You might mention that we threaten our very existence, but when you look at the number of people who drink and drive, text and drive, ride motorcycles and bikes without a helmet, take up smoking, and a host of other things we know are bad ideas you realize that warnings fall on deaf ears, while the jingle of coins carries across miles.

Vacation Photos

Here's a picture of the full moon rising above Commercial Street on Portland, Maine's waterfront. The cellist and I were dining at The Farmer's Table with Scruffy.

And here I am with Dr. LeeAnn Cote at NH Endodontics, in the middle of a root canal. Dr. Cote is very good. Nothing hurt until the Novocaine wore off.

The dog's ambition

Scruffy, our adopted terrier, has left behind the touchingly grateful phase of his assimilation. He now feels safe to reveal the less endearing traits like raiding the bathroom trash can for incomprehensibly disgusting snack items and getting up 30 to 60 minutes ahead of the alarm clock to demand service.

This morning he took it to heights I don't want to imagine he can surpass.

He began as he has begun for the last four mornings (at least), with shrill, insistent barks at 5 a.m. The cellist dragged herself from already shallow sleep to escort him to the door so he could go relieve himself. All this was still part of our routine of sleep deprivation.

"Scruffy! No!" I heard the cellist yell. And then "SHIT!"

Her announcement that the dog had chased a skunk under the deck arrived more or less simultaneously with the skunk's own announcement through the open windows that had been admitting the refreshing night air.

The dog is now quarantined in a pen while we wait for the store to open where we hope to obtain de-skunking chemicals. The ever-helpful Internet provided a couple of alternatives with great reviews.

Because the incident happened under the deck, the overspray is wafting in through the foundation vents, so the basement now smells like skunk. We have to figure out how to rinse away the residue from the space beneath the deck, an area we would not want to enter at the best of times, let alone now that it harbors a prodigious stench.

An additional way to frustrate myself

After several years thinking about it I picked up a nice starter mandolin to add to my musical endeavors. Tuned like the violin, it can play much of the same repertoire, particularly in the folk realm. There are also some nice classical pieces for it.

The mandolin can be played more quietly than the violin/fiddle. It can also be played in a more confined space. My fiddle teacher says it comes out of the case more than any of her other instruments because of its convenience and versatility for exploring new tunes or bringing back old ones from the depths of brain storage. My violin teacher approves.

The picking pattern is actually very precise. That has taken some of the free-form fun out of playing around with it, but will lead to more solid technique. I don't think I could get any worse, so solid is good.

Antarchitecture

These tiny towers, suggestive of something from the desert southwest, were built by the little red ants living in the sandy soil next to the front of the foundation. All the rain has driven them up and out from the saturated soil. The moisture helps their sand grains stick together to form these fragile structures.

Visiting Bear

Daisy the cat alerted the cellist to the arrival of this young bear. The cellist called me quietly to the window. We did have to protest when it looked like it might pull down the feeder for a sweet snack.

When I discouraged it from taking the feeder it made its way around to the driveway and headed across the road.

I was going to bring the feeders in for cleaning anyway.

Right after the bear left, a gray fox came through.