I worked under Zafer Diab's direction when he was the software manager at Conexant in Cupertino in 2004. Zafer Diab and I share a lot such as our Christian faith, a love of California, the French language, a knowledge of high definition TV technology, having lived in Canada, a love for soccer but most of all a respect for peoples and the complexities of human traditions.
Here is what he posted for Christmas 2015.
"Let's not be so focused on whatever God we worship, rather lets believe deeply in the human being inside each person and live every moment in mutual respect. In this day of Christmas when Muslims also celebrate the birth of their prophet, lets share peace and love and also share joys and pains. To live thus is the best and the only way to fight terrorism."
Somehow it seems that we have forgotten the most basic of things, such as how we related to others that are different, and how we share this planet. Here is another example, from my friend Vincent Gerace and his wife Juliana from St. John Neumann's church in Irvine. For some context, it is currently 43 degrees Fahrenheit in Southern California so it is cold, it is 68 degrees in Boson.
"What an amazing Christmas. Juliana and I came out of Mass on Christmas Day and encountered Maryanna (Megan) and Joseph, two homeless kids. Their mother died and they had been on the streets for 4 days. Juliana got us all to pray together, thence gave them some money and told them to call us in the evening if they didn't have a place to stay. All day we called friends and homeless shelters only to learn that undocumented minors would be turned over to INS for processing. To them that meant they'd be deported to Tijuana with no relatives to go home to. They called us on Christmas evening and said they had no placed to stay, so we picked them up and got them a room in a hotel. This morning when we met them again, we learned that their uncle called them in the middle of the night and agreed tot are them to his home in San Francisco. We dropped them off at the Amtrak station in the morning."
I certainly won't deny that some fantastic progress has been made today in California. For example, the city of San Francisco recycles 90 percent of its waste today and has set itself a goal of recycling all of its waste by 2020 but the way we treat people, including the terminally ill, the homeless, and the unborn could use some change.
When we suggest that private initiatives such as Uber, self driving cars, and others will reduce global warming we are fooling ourselves. Wouldn't be better to start by improving our public transportation system.
Powerful people such as Mary Nichols, David Boies, Ted Olson, Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris and Senator Harry Reid have certainly contributed to the public debate about what the future should bring. In the spirit of democracy it is time for them to accept that they are only one out of 40 million people in California and to take a haircut to their ego.
People need access to electricity and that is simply common sense. I talked to a Hispanic student, Brendan, at Harvard University he came from a poor community. That is fantastic but we also need better access to education such as is being done by President Michelle Bachelet in the Chile University System
In the Lord of the Rings, Galadriel says "even the smallest of persons can change the future." It is time for the powerful people I have named to accept that hope and change does not only come from them. As the saying goes, one is either part of the problem or part of the solution.
It's certainly true that this raises some very difficult issues such as regarding reproductive freedoms, how we deal with nuclear power or with relations with the Muslim world, economics, and reform in our health care system. Still this is the only road that lies ahead and there is no point burying our head in the sand.
As Vincent Gerace goes on to write : "This reminds me of another story of two people, Mary and Joseph, who also were homeless. They took shelter in a cave."
Ain't it the truth. What is wrong with us?
Like Frodo in the Lord of the Rings, I wish it would not have happened in my time. Still all we can do in life is to make the best of the times and opportunities that we have been given and that is what I am doing.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Friday, December 25, 2015
A Call to Action
Christmas Eve 2015 the high temperature was a record of 20 degrees Celsius or 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Coming out of from Midnight Mass at Boston Cathedral I told the priest the I was from California and he thanked me for bringing the good weather.
I'm not sure that was a compliment. It's pretty obvious that if Santa Claus can't have snow for his sleights in Boston then a lot of children will only get coals for presents, haha.
There is nothing new in the world since 1974 when I first met Dennis Ritchie at the University of Waterloo. There was already an energy crisis and the science behind global warming was already known simply there were a lot more opportunities for publication back then. Socialist and co-operative movements had a history of 100 years at that time. Notwithstanding what Chad Griffin states in "Redeeming the Dream" it was easy to meet and interact with gay people. Ideological lines between those favoring community ownership of wealth and private ownership were drawn in the line. The world was not that far from nuclear Armageddon or straining of resources from over population. Religious differences were already close to sparking an explosion as is evidenced by what happened a few years later in Iran.
The difference, so it seems to me, is that we had a little more common sense back then. It may seem strange to describe the 1970s this way but it was a more sensible time. Vladimir Brezhnev did not push the button, nor did Richard Nixon nor Mao-Tse-Tung. At a more personal level. Neil Docherty and myself bitterly disagreed but we were able to set aside our differences and when we could not to conflict in an honorable way on the Chevron
Dennis Ritchies death in 2011 went almost unnoticed initially as compared to the death of Steve Jobs. It was first announced by a blog post by Robert Pike of Google, What was truly amazing about Ritchie and his generation was that they were engineers with a spirit of humility.
This is what California can bring to the world.
There's no doubt that the state has welcomed a lot of people with oversized egos including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, David Boies, and Barry Bonds. This is nothing new. In their time, James Lick and William Randolph Hearst were no different but they left a legacy that built California. These people need to be shepherded using reason, respect, and restraint that is all.
A lot will have to be done to turn California around and the first thing is to come up with a plan to combat global warming. Here again, engineering has not changed and the same common sense solutions using nuclear fission are absolutely required as well as the possibility of recycling nuclear waste into plutonium.
There is a lot of righteous anger in California, fueled by the recall of Gray Davis in 2002, by the failure of Proposition 8, by the foreclosures, and by the feeling that Washington simply is not moving fast enough and is deadlocked by partisan bickering. At the same time Hispanics are deprived of rights due to the lack of bilingual education and there is increasing persecution of the Catholic Church in violation of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
As with the crowning of George III in the 18th century, the likely elections of Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Newsom are likely to fuel the fire. As George Washington realized in the case of London, Washington is not likely to change.
What is needed is to fuel that energy, to take people from the California Democratic and Republican party that are of good will, and to prepare a revision of the California State Constitution redefining our status in the Union. There is no reason we cannot have a status such as that of Puerto Rico.
Revolutions need to be prepared without violence and with care.
We are 12 percent of the United States, that deserves respect, God and right are on our side and our opponents know it, and you can't keep a good man down.
I'm not sure that was a compliment. It's pretty obvious that if Santa Claus can't have snow for his sleights in Boston then a lot of children will only get coals for presents, haha.
There is nothing new in the world since 1974 when I first met Dennis Ritchie at the University of Waterloo. There was already an energy crisis and the science behind global warming was already known simply there were a lot more opportunities for publication back then. Socialist and co-operative movements had a history of 100 years at that time. Notwithstanding what Chad Griffin states in "Redeeming the Dream" it was easy to meet and interact with gay people. Ideological lines between those favoring community ownership of wealth and private ownership were drawn in the line. The world was not that far from nuclear Armageddon or straining of resources from over population. Religious differences were already close to sparking an explosion as is evidenced by what happened a few years later in Iran.
The difference, so it seems to me, is that we had a little more common sense back then. It may seem strange to describe the 1970s this way but it was a more sensible time. Vladimir Brezhnev did not push the button, nor did Richard Nixon nor Mao-Tse-Tung. At a more personal level. Neil Docherty and myself bitterly disagreed but we were able to set aside our differences and when we could not to conflict in an honorable way on the Chevron
Dennis Ritchies death in 2011 went almost unnoticed initially as compared to the death of Steve Jobs. It was first announced by a blog post by Robert Pike of Google, What was truly amazing about Ritchie and his generation was that they were engineers with a spirit of humility.
This is what California can bring to the world.
There's no doubt that the state has welcomed a lot of people with oversized egos including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, David Boies, and Barry Bonds. This is nothing new. In their time, James Lick and William Randolph Hearst were no different but they left a legacy that built California. These people need to be shepherded using reason, respect, and restraint that is all.
A lot will have to be done to turn California around and the first thing is to come up with a plan to combat global warming. Here again, engineering has not changed and the same common sense solutions using nuclear fission are absolutely required as well as the possibility of recycling nuclear waste into plutonium.
There is a lot of righteous anger in California, fueled by the recall of Gray Davis in 2002, by the failure of Proposition 8, by the foreclosures, and by the feeling that Washington simply is not moving fast enough and is deadlocked by partisan bickering. At the same time Hispanics are deprived of rights due to the lack of bilingual education and there is increasing persecution of the Catholic Church in violation of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
As with the crowning of George III in the 18th century, the likely elections of Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Newsom are likely to fuel the fire. As George Washington realized in the case of London, Washington is not likely to change.
What is needed is to fuel that energy, to take people from the California Democratic and Republican party that are of good will, and to prepare a revision of the California State Constitution redefining our status in the Union. There is no reason we cannot have a status such as that of Puerto Rico.
Revolutions need to be prepared without violence and with care.
We are 12 percent of the United States, that deserves respect, God and right are on our side and our opponents know it, and you can't keep a good man down.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Rent Control in Santa Clara
The cost of living in Silicon Valley has drawn a lot of attention lately. Two neighbouring houses on my street have been sold for more than $900,000. When I bought my house 17 years ago it cost less than $400,000.
There has been a similar effect on renting costs. I know of someone with a two bedroom in San Jose in a middle income neighbourhood whose rent has gone from $1700 to $1850 a month on a one year lease. That's an increase about eight percent which is a lot more than what people are paid. Finally, it can be argued that this leads to an increase in the number of homeless.
Rent is currently controlled in San Jose for apartments other than duplexes built before 1979. The maximum allowable rent increase is eight percent. What is being proposed in San Jose is to extend that protection to duplexes and also introduce a "just cause" ordinance. This would in effect prevent the landlord from terminating the lease under most circumstances. However, the protection would not apply to any apartments built in the past 35 years which are the most expensive.
I'm not in favor of rent controls. When I ran for city council in 2008, one of the planks I was running under was affordable housing. I do think that is a big issue in Silicon Valley, however I do not think rent controls are the best way to address it.
Although rents are increasing all over the United States, the effect is particularly evident in Silicon Valley because we have a booming economy with Santa Clara County being the 15th richest in the United States. When Apple builds a new corporate headquarters costing $6 billion, and when the Santa Clara 49ers build a $1 billion stadium this draws people to the valley and it has a corresponding effect on rent.
In calling for rent controls, people are blaming the landlords while at the same time many of our neighbors are profiting from selling their house. New laws like a just cause ordinance make it much more difficult to evict a problem tenant, such as a user of methamphetamines or a prostitute. Finally, a lot of people in Silicon Valley are very rich but the only property tax is on landowners -- why add to this imbalance.
I think it would be better to change the zoning laws, to provide for the development of more new multi-family units inside single family neighbourhoods. Possibly the city could buy houses during an economic downturn and build on the land. Measures could be taken to help seniors move out of their homes while protecting their economic interests. The new units would be required to be affordable and targetted for the middle class.
The risk in propositions such as those I am making is that renters in these new units would have an advantage over others on the open market. This could be mitigated by limiting leases to 3 or 5 years, or by renting a number of units to deserving individuals such as teachers and police officials. The intent obviously would be to balance this against salary and pension demands. Obviously these proposals would come at a significant cost.
City planning should prepare for higher density housing in Silicon Valley by allowing, through a variety of means, housing at different income levels. It should prepare for better public transit by placing these units as well as stores close to transit lanes.
I realize my views will not be popular with many. I nonetheless think that if rent control is introduced, there will be a number of unprovided for side effects. I have lived elsewhere and the pace of public spending has been much more constrained. The issues of housing cost, jobs, and homelessness are complex and need more than a knee-jerk response.
There has been a similar effect on renting costs. I know of someone with a two bedroom in San Jose in a middle income neighbourhood whose rent has gone from $1700 to $1850 a month on a one year lease. That's an increase about eight percent which is a lot more than what people are paid. Finally, it can be argued that this leads to an increase in the number of homeless.
Rent is currently controlled in San Jose for apartments other than duplexes built before 1979. The maximum allowable rent increase is eight percent. What is being proposed in San Jose is to extend that protection to duplexes and also introduce a "just cause" ordinance. This would in effect prevent the landlord from terminating the lease under most circumstances. However, the protection would not apply to any apartments built in the past 35 years which are the most expensive.
I'm not in favor of rent controls. When I ran for city council in 2008, one of the planks I was running under was affordable housing. I do think that is a big issue in Silicon Valley, however I do not think rent controls are the best way to address it.
Although rents are increasing all over the United States, the effect is particularly evident in Silicon Valley because we have a booming economy with Santa Clara County being the 15th richest in the United States. When Apple builds a new corporate headquarters costing $6 billion, and when the Santa Clara 49ers build a $1 billion stadium this draws people to the valley and it has a corresponding effect on rent.
In calling for rent controls, people are blaming the landlords while at the same time many of our neighbors are profiting from selling their house. New laws like a just cause ordinance make it much more difficult to evict a problem tenant, such as a user of methamphetamines or a prostitute. Finally, a lot of people in Silicon Valley are very rich but the only property tax is on landowners -- why add to this imbalance.
I think it would be better to change the zoning laws, to provide for the development of more new multi-family units inside single family neighbourhoods. Possibly the city could buy houses during an economic downturn and build on the land. Measures could be taken to help seniors move out of their homes while protecting their economic interests. The new units would be required to be affordable and targetted for the middle class.
The risk in propositions such as those I am making is that renters in these new units would have an advantage over others on the open market. This could be mitigated by limiting leases to 3 or 5 years, or by renting a number of units to deserving individuals such as teachers and police officials. The intent obviously would be to balance this against salary and pension demands. Obviously these proposals would come at a significant cost.
City planning should prepare for higher density housing in Silicon Valley by allowing, through a variety of means, housing at different income levels. It should prepare for better public transit by placing these units as well as stores close to transit lanes.
I realize my views will not be popular with many. I nonetheless think that if rent control is introduced, there will be a number of unprovided for side effects. I have lived elsewhere and the pace of public spending has been much more constrained. The issues of housing cost, jobs, and homelessness are complex and need more than a knee-jerk response.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Big Corporations, Big Unions, and Big Government
Conservatives and libertarians say that in order to make our society better we need limited government. They are partially right. My father used to say that there are three evils, big corporations, big unions, and big government.
Consider the example of China. It is often said that in China, the government is rich and that private individuals including companies are poor. By contrast, in California it can be said that we have state of the art corporations and a backward and inefficient government.
Because corporate leaders such as the CEOs of Apple, Google, and TelMex do not have the common good at heart, they cannot be trusted. Similarly, people who depend on the government for their survival such as the very poor, the marginalized, and the undocumented cannot always be expected to follow the best ethical standards.
This is confirmed by Aristotle's saying that good government requires governing by the middle class.
At the same time, such corporations are very good at using national rules specifically as regards taxes to escape jurisdiction. One example is the Double Irish Dutch Sandwich
Corporations seem to have forgotten their fundamental role which is economic. For example,
Google London had its employees participate in a same sex marriage announcement at work. Isn't it in China that this is supposed to happen? And whatever happened to the work-life balance?
Companies such as Apple and Google routinely lobby the United States government so as to bring more people to California from abroad. Google has been reported to be visiting the White House once a week. It's no surprise that seven billion dollars was spent in the 2012 cycle electoral races.
Consider Apple who has become rich by selling unnecessary luxury devices to people all across the world. Didn't Margaret Thatcher say that spending other peoples money would cause it to run out?
Finally, these huge corporations do not respect the basic rule of subsidiarity which is that they are owned by their shareholders. Google is a good example of this. It's no surprise Sergey Brin is an expert in oligarchy, after all Russia was his birth-place.
What is needed is to reduce debt and increase savings of the lower and middle classes as well as to limit wealth accumulation by the very rich. The existing situation, where interest rates are kept artificially low and total public debt is increased, is unsustainable and is harmful to the common good. A good first step would be to introduce a property tax on financial assets for individuals of high net worth.
I have worked at large multinational corporations such as Philips and banked at companies such as HSBC. I won't deny at all the positive contribution these organizations have had over a hundred years, the problem is the trend.
Some sensible first steps would be to require corporations and unions to keep out of politics, to improve corporate and union governance, and to institute a property tax on financial assets. It would make sense to take the burden of providing health care and retirement away from employers and unions and have funds for this as in France.
Lobbying should be limited and corporations should be encouraged to invest in the common good both in their neighbourhoods, in California, and abroad. The courts need to stop being complicit in scandals such as the Lago Agrio oil field and in manipulations of the international financial system by vulture funds.
The underlying issue is that without a good system of laws and a good government it does not matter how progressive our corporations in California. In fact, due to a convergence of factors things will only get worse as well explained in the Los Angeles 2020 report. At some point, our corporate leaders need to wake up.
Consider the example of China. It is often said that in China, the government is rich and that private individuals including companies are poor. By contrast, in California it can be said that we have state of the art corporations and a backward and inefficient government.
Because corporate leaders such as the CEOs of Apple, Google, and TelMex do not have the common good at heart, they cannot be trusted. Similarly, people who depend on the government for their survival such as the very poor, the marginalized, and the undocumented cannot always be expected to follow the best ethical standards.
This is confirmed by Aristotle's saying that good government requires governing by the middle class.
At the same time, such corporations are very good at using national rules specifically as regards taxes to escape jurisdiction. One example is the Double Irish Dutch Sandwich
Corporations seem to have forgotten their fundamental role which is economic. For example,
Google London had its employees participate in a same sex marriage announcement at work. Isn't it in China that this is supposed to happen? And whatever happened to the work-life balance?
Companies such as Apple and Google routinely lobby the United States government so as to bring more people to California from abroad. Google has been reported to be visiting the White House once a week. It's no surprise that seven billion dollars was spent in the 2012 cycle electoral races.
Consider Apple who has become rich by selling unnecessary luxury devices to people all across the world. Didn't Margaret Thatcher say that spending other peoples money would cause it to run out?
Finally, these huge corporations do not respect the basic rule of subsidiarity which is that they are owned by their shareholders. Google is a good example of this. It's no surprise Sergey Brin is an expert in oligarchy, after all Russia was his birth-place.
What is needed is to reduce debt and increase savings of the lower and middle classes as well as to limit wealth accumulation by the very rich. The existing situation, where interest rates are kept artificially low and total public debt is increased, is unsustainable and is harmful to the common good. A good first step would be to introduce a property tax on financial assets for individuals of high net worth.
I have worked at large multinational corporations such as Philips and banked at companies such as HSBC. I won't deny at all the positive contribution these organizations have had over a hundred years, the problem is the trend.
Some sensible first steps would be to require corporations and unions to keep out of politics, to improve corporate and union governance, and to institute a property tax on financial assets. It would make sense to take the burden of providing health care and retirement away from employers and unions and have funds for this as in France.
Lobbying should be limited and corporations should be encouraged to invest in the common good both in their neighbourhoods, in California, and abroad. The courts need to stop being complicit in scandals such as the Lago Agrio oil field and in manipulations of the international financial system by vulture funds.
The underlying issue is that without a good system of laws and a good government it does not matter how progressive our corporations in California. In fact, due to a convergence of factors things will only get worse as well explained in the Los Angeles 2020 report. At some point, our corporate leaders need to wake up.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Golden State
In her critically acclaimed novel, Golden State New York Times best-selling author Michelle Richmond describes a future in which California is on the edge of secession. In her personal blog, she describes this as an actually possible scenario based on fiscal reasons.
Michelle Richmond's blog
For California to secede would require a disruptive change. As described by Horace Deidu, disruption is when the strong defeat the weak, more precisely when those with unlimited access to resources have them taken away by those with limited or no resources.
Understanding Disruption
For example, the economic development of India and China in the past fifty years can be considered to be a disruptive change which occurs in the case of asymnetric competition.
On the contrary, Scotland and Greece recently attempted disruptive change and it was not succesful. With Proposition 8, California had a taste of the same thing closer to home.
According to Deidu for disruptive change to be succesful, the weak must not be taken seriously by their strong, indeed their actions are initially welcomed. A second factor for disruptive change to be succesful is for it to take place over an extended time period so that mentalities can change.
Recent political events in California, such as a declaration that the consumption of gasoline needs to be halved, the granting of drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, or the statement that Hispanics form the largest group in the population draw a lot of attention. They also contribute to disruptive change.
So-called progressive businesses in California such as Google, Facebook and Apple that contribute to technological innovation also support policies at the national level by political donations.
There is no resulting innovation however in government, education, or health care and the money goes simply down the drain.
What can be expected is that within the next ten years federal taxes will have to increase to pay outstanding debt. There have been suggestions also that private savings in 401-K accounts be redirected to Guaranteed Retirement Accounts
Currently the federal government owes a large amount of money to Japan and China and taxing citizens is a natural attempt at resolution.
Time will tell how people will react given the burden on seniors. Let's not forget what happened with Proposition 13.
Michelle Richmond's blog
For California to secede would require a disruptive change. As described by Horace Deidu, disruption is when the strong defeat the weak, more precisely when those with unlimited access to resources have them taken away by those with limited or no resources.
Understanding Disruption
For example, the economic development of India and China in the past fifty years can be considered to be a disruptive change which occurs in the case of asymnetric competition.
On the contrary, Scotland and Greece recently attempted disruptive change and it was not succesful. With Proposition 8, California had a taste of the same thing closer to home.
According to Deidu for disruptive change to be succesful, the weak must not be taken seriously by their strong, indeed their actions are initially welcomed. A second factor for disruptive change to be succesful is for it to take place over an extended time period so that mentalities can change.
Recent political events in California, such as a declaration that the consumption of gasoline needs to be halved, the granting of drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, or the statement that Hispanics form the largest group in the population draw a lot of attention. They also contribute to disruptive change.
So-called progressive businesses in California such as Google, Facebook and Apple that contribute to technological innovation also support policies at the national level by political donations.
There is no resulting innovation however in government, education, or health care and the money goes simply down the drain.
What can be expected is that within the next ten years federal taxes will have to increase to pay outstanding debt. There have been suggestions also that private savings in 401-K accounts be redirected to Guaranteed Retirement Accounts
Currently the federal government owes a large amount of money to Japan and China and taxing citizens is a natural attempt at resolution.
Time will tell how people will react given the burden on seniors. Let's not forget what happened with Proposition 13.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
The Natural Law of the Iroquois Confederacy
In the words of Pope Francis in his second encyclical Laudato Si, "Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us."
I was discussing current events with a friend of mine who has cancer and he used the following analogy. What do you do if you are on a ship crossing the ocean and it starts to leak water?
I was discussing current events with a friend of mine who has cancer and he used the following analogy. What do you do if you are on a ship crossing the ocean and it starts to leak water?
You will have one group of people who say that everyone should plug the leaks with their fingers and keep on going across the Atlantic. Others will say that it would simply make sense to turn back and take the ship to dry land.
There is no solution here that does not involve an openness to humility and to mercy. Consider the contrast between the present behavior of our country and that expressed by the Six Nations in their Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy when they held their councils.
"The Onondaga Lords shall .. make an address and offer thanks to the earth where men dwell, to the streams of water, the pools, ... to the maize and the fruits, to the medicinal herbs and trees, to the forest trees ... to the animals that serve as food and give their pelts for clothing ... and to the Great Creator who dwells in the heavens above"
Our public discourse centers on personal autonomy: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” (Associate Justice Anthony_Kennedy)
It is a fact that none of us lives in a bubble -- we live in Planet Earth -- so I think that's plain wrong.
There is a disturbing loss of common sense in the public sphere. We take it for granted that a politician is a little like Humpty Dumpty.
When my State Senator Bob Wieckowski proposes assisted suicide for the terminally ill, nobody has the good sense to ask him sensible questions because it would pierce his bubble and hurt his feelings.
Contrast this situation with the attitude advocated by the Iroquois:
When my State Senator Bob Wieckowski proposes assisted suicide for the terminally ill, nobody has the good sense to ask him sensible questions because it would pierce his bubble and hurt his feelings.
Contrast this situation with the attitude advocated by the Iroquois:
"Neither anger nor fury shall find lodgment in your mind and all your words and actions shall be marked with calm deliberation. In all of your .. efforts at law making ... self interest shall be cast into oblivion. Cast not over your shoulder behind you the warnings of the nephews and nieces should they chide you for any error or wrong you may do, but return to the way of the Great Law which is just and right. Look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the present but also the coming generations, even those .. unborn of the future Nation."
I think my friend with cancer is right. There is a problem with our Great Law and plugging holes will not stop the ship from sinking.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
How can you be so crazy ?
When reading my previous post, the question comes to me. What on earth, and what in particular in this post, could cause anyone to justify splitting up such a wonderful country as the United States?
The United States is renowned throughout the world for having been a values and has acted boldy to end two World Wars in Europe and stood up against Communism. It is seen as the leader of the free world.
The question: How can you be so crazy suggests several possibilities: that the person in question may have a diseased mind, or that they have an overfertile imagination or simply that the position is unreasonable. I will reject the first two objections and retain the third.
I say I am not unreasonable because we are losing our values on which our country was built on, we are wasting time, and we are failing to listen to the warning signs from our own children.
Our country was founded as good example of the Judeo-Christian moral system, an excellent work ethic, and political democracy. I claim that for several decades these three values have been slowly eroding.
I say we are wasting time because of an across the board consensus on our foreign and fiscal policy and free trade. We are also wasting time because of an excessive polarization on other issues, specifically the culture wars. We are wasting time because we are unable to adapt our Constitution to the realities of todays world and there is breakdown of the separation of powers and our federal system.
We are not listening to our own children. When I grew up I earned of the existence of dissidents in the Soviet Union, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Vaclav Havel, and Andrei Sakharov. While there were people outside of the political mainline in the United States, the idea of an individual dissident did not make sense. Today we find these dissidents in the Western world and they are young people. This is a bad sign, like a canary in a coal mine.
The United States is renowned throughout the world for having been a values and has acted boldy to end two World Wars in Europe and stood up against Communism. It is seen as the leader of the free world.
The question: How can you be so crazy suggests several possibilities: that the person in question may have a diseased mind, or that they have an overfertile imagination or simply that the position is unreasonable. I will reject the first two objections and retain the third.
I say I am not unreasonable because we are losing our values on which our country was built on, we are wasting time, and we are failing to listen to the warning signs from our own children.
Our country was founded as good example of the Judeo-Christian moral system, an excellent work ethic, and political democracy. I claim that for several decades these three values have been slowly eroding.
I say we are wasting time because of an across the board consensus on our foreign and fiscal policy and free trade. We are also wasting time because of an excessive polarization on other issues, specifically the culture wars. We are wasting time because we are unable to adapt our Constitution to the realities of todays world and there is breakdown of the separation of powers and our federal system.
We are not listening to our own children. When I grew up I earned of the existence of dissidents in the Soviet Union, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Vaclav Havel, and Andrei Sakharov. While there were people outside of the political mainline in the United States, the idea of an individual dissident did not make sense. Today we find these dissidents in the Western world and they are young people. This is a bad sign, like a canary in a coal mine.
Friday, April 3, 2015
What is the California Question
The question California is facing is whether or not it will remain in the United States under a changed status or become an independent country.
In a little more than 200 years since it was settled, California has undergone amazing developments first under Mexico and then as part of the United States of America.
These include the building of the transcontinental railroad, the founding of Stanford University, and the creation of world class companies such as Apple and Google.
One out of 200 people in the world lives in California and the population is growing rapidly. The population of California is expected to reach 60 million by the year 2060. There is an incredible diversity and it is possible to hear dozens of languages being spoken in the streets of Los Angeles.
People come to California to start a new life. We thank Almighty God for our freedom in the first words of our State Constitution.
Recently California has been going through some growing pains.
A nuclear reactor in Southern California had to be shut down at a cost of billions of dollars because badly designed boilers were bought from Japan.
California used to have the best high schools in the United States. The University of California is still one of the best universities. Today there are many problems in school today, including unequal opportunities based on racial or economic factors, and a lack of opportunity for those that are able to graduate from the University of California. Our best students are from China not L.A.
There is a worsening drought and the state government seems incapable of adopting common sense measures. A pistachio costs a gallon of water to grow but the government can do nothing.
Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose tried to reform public service pensions and got little thanks for trying.
We need to put people into school not into prison. A friend of mine's son, Aaron Swartz, was hounded to death by the federal government for doing the kind of stupid thing I did when I was young.
We have a growing young population, a culture of tolerance, good weather, and populations from around the world with good moral values.
What is needed is that people of good will that are willing to think out of the box get together to propose solutions. We need to break down walls. Class, racial, or political barriers should not prevent us from working together. Only a lack of integrity is unacceptable.
The example of Poland and the civil society in the 1970's is an excellent one. The present situation is untenable, long term. Our elected Washington officials seem to be simply unaware of what is happening.
We need to give young people hope, not false promises. There will be a reckoning.
In a little more than 200 years since it was settled, California has undergone amazing developments first under Mexico and then as part of the United States of America.
These include the building of the transcontinental railroad, the founding of Stanford University, and the creation of world class companies such as Apple and Google.
One out of 200 people in the world lives in California and the population is growing rapidly. The population of California is expected to reach 60 million by the year 2060. There is an incredible diversity and it is possible to hear dozens of languages being spoken in the streets of Los Angeles.
People come to California to start a new life. We thank Almighty God for our freedom in the first words of our State Constitution.
Recently California has been going through some growing pains.
A nuclear reactor in Southern California had to be shut down at a cost of billions of dollars because badly designed boilers were bought from Japan.
California used to have the best high schools in the United States. The University of California is still one of the best universities. Today there are many problems in school today, including unequal opportunities based on racial or economic factors, and a lack of opportunity for those that are able to graduate from the University of California. Our best students are from China not L.A.
There is a worsening drought and the state government seems incapable of adopting common sense measures. A pistachio costs a gallon of water to grow but the government can do nothing.
Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose tried to reform public service pensions and got little thanks for trying.
We need to put people into school not into prison. A friend of mine's son, Aaron Swartz, was hounded to death by the federal government for doing the kind of stupid thing I did when I was young.
We have a growing young population, a culture of tolerance, good weather, and populations from around the world with good moral values.
What is needed is that people of good will that are willing to think out of the box get together to propose solutions. We need to break down walls. Class, racial, or political barriers should not prevent us from working together. Only a lack of integrity is unacceptable.
The example of Poland and the civil society in the 1970's is an excellent one. The present situation is untenable, long term. Our elected Washington officials seem to be simply unaware of what is happening.
We need to give young people hope, not false promises. There will be a reckoning.
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