Talking to myself

 

Talking to myself

In the several months I have been working at home and have been mostly alone due to COVID-19, I have developed the habit of having conversations with myself. It is so important to have someone with whom to discuss issues and ask questions. As my students can attest, I am mostly inclined to ask questions, so it has been good to have someone here to answer those questions. These conversations with myself have led me to identify a number of hypocrisies which are the focus of these remarks. I only recently realized how hypocritical I have become, so I have my interlocutor to thank for that realization.

Q: If one really supports the first amendment and free speech, and, how can one protest speeches on a campus which conflict with one’s beliefs, such as opposing the rights of the KKK to come to campus and give a talk on white supremacy (see http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/education/all_amendments_usconst.htm)? 

A: Let them talk and avoid any confrontations with those people while they are on campus. Then, schedule a talk by others about the many contributions to society and the country made by non-white citizens (see https://www.nortonlifelock.com/blogs/diversity-inclusion/black-innovators-who-made-huge-impact-technology_/   and   https://www.times-news.com/african-americans-have-made-valuable-contributions/article_cea03a6a-c58b-5918-905b-b71d851bca7c.html).

Q: How can one protest wearing a mask when out and about during COVID-19 on the basis of freedom of choice, but gladly acknowledge the importance of having everyone wear seat belts in cars?

A: One cannot reconcile such dissonant beliefs, nor can two, but one might initiate a conversation about the social contract that is the foundation of all democracies (see https://iep.utm.edu/soc-cont/).

Q: How can a person who claims the right not to wear a mask on the basis of freedom of choice, deny freedom of choice to a woman wishing to have an abortion?

A: Mind your own business, and think about the possibility of you harming others by not wearing a mask (see https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/p0714-americans-to-wear-masks.html).

Q; How can a person reconcile a belief in minimizing the role of the national government and the budget for the national government with the significant increase in the national government’s budget and intrusion into the everyday affairs of citizens?

A: Ask #45 (see also https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS721US721&biw=1222&bih=573&sxsrf=ALeKk02xUrK-fIyKAzwuQ0MA4EB6yyWYlw%3A1596305321546&ei=qa8lX_LlII_SsAWwq6LoCg&q=trump+budget+deficit&oq=trump+budget+deficit&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzoECAAQRzoECCMQJzoOCC4QsQMQgwEQkQIQiwM6CAgAEJECEIsDOg4ILhCxAxDHARCjAhCLAzoLCAAQsQMQgwEQiwM6BwgAEEMQiwM6DggAELEDEIMBEJECEIsDOhQILhCxAxDHARCjAhCLAxCnAxCoAzoLCC4QsQMQgwEQkQI6CwgAELEDEIMBEJECOggIABCxAxCDAToECAAQQzoFCAAQsQM6CAguEMcBEK8BOgIIADoFCAAQkQI6BAgAEAo6BQguEJMCUPsgWOFGYIJIaABwAXgAgAGTAYgBihGSAQQ2LjE0mAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpergBAsABAQ&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwiy3pLdzPrqAhUPKawKHbCVCK0Q4dUDCAw&uact=5).

Q: How can #45 ban TicTok from the Internet but let consumers continue going to AMC theaters?

A: See https://www.axios.com/working-for-china-1515542281-d4bc0ab4-bed6-4085-a26e-c5d7c66be74c.html and start thinking for yourself.

Okay, I will try to start thinking for myself, which is what my students often advise me to do (and they referred me to #276 in Nietzsche's "The Gay Science" - https://web.stanford.edu/~jsabol/existentialism/materials/nietzsche-gay-science-hurry.pdf00).

 

J. Michael Spector, 1 Aug 2020

Thinking about John Robert Lewis

Random Quotations/Thoughts for the Conscience of America Who Lies in State in Washington, DC                    (credits on the right)

 

“Do not go gentle into that good night”                              (Dylan Thomas)

He left behind “footprints in the sands of time”                (H. W. Longfellow)

He dared “to disturb the universe”                                     (T. S. Eliot)\

He is still waiting for a” rebirth of wonder”                       (Lawrence Ferlinghetti)

He said what “people did not want to hear”                       (Friedrich Nietzschd)

His “life showed what he thought of himself”                     (Oets Kolk Bouwsma)

He asked “if I am only for myself, what am I?”                  (Rabbi Hillel)

He showed us that “beauty is in one’s heart”                       (Kahlil Gibran)

He would rather prevent poverty than give charity             (Maimonides)

His wisdom emanated from how little he understood          (Socrates)

He respected himself and his beliefs, as did others               (Confucius)

He did his best to bring out the best in others                       (Rabbi Spector)

He did not mistake paradise for fame of fortune                   (Bob Dylan)

 

 

J. Michael Spector

July 27, 2020

 

 

Untimely Reflections

As my 75^th birthday approaches, I find myself engaged in the 9^th phase of my critical thinking framework. I added reflection to all the other critical thinking competencies we found in the research literature. These reflections were prompted by the deteriorating relationship between China and the USA. I have had many rewarding experiences in China and with Chinese colleagues in the last ten plus years. Those experiences brought to mind many other enriching experiences in other countries including most especially Norway and Indonesia. I unconsciously grew up with a belief that America was the best in almost any category one could name. I have come to a much different conclusion late in life.

We are products shaped by our families, friends, education and experiences. My mother was a plain-spoken woman who did not hold her tongue nor hesitate to tell you directly what she thought. My father was more tactful and aimed to instill a sense of responsibility and respect in us. His words - “be the voice that encourages, the ear that listens, the eye that reflects, the hand that guides, the face that does not turn away” – still echo in my conscience. My older brother, Danny, was an accomplished Middle East scholar who embodied both of my parents strong attributes. My sister Peggy was someone dedicated to family, friends and strangers who was always willing to lend a helping hand. My sister Minnie overcame a childhood disability and raised two amazing children who live close to me here in Round Rock, Texas.

My five children have taught me far more than they are able to realize, And I am learning so much from my six grandchildren … children are such amazing creatures … learning … always learning … doing amazing things … always amazing.

My early friends disappointed me in many ways but I managed to find many friends in other countries, including Norway, Germany and Australia. My education at the United States Air Force Academy and the University of Texas at Austin have helped my professionally as well as personally. My experiences with scholars in other countries, though, are what have been most prominent in my reflections on my past, due in part to the global pandemic and worsening international relationships among so many countries.

I met a colleague in Norway who considered hiking on Sunday in the seven mountains around Bergen as his weekly religious obligation experience. Indeed, giving thanks for the beauty and bounty of this planet seems an appropriate way to say thanks to something higher. I met parents in a remote village in Java who said they wanted their sons and daughters to go on to high school in a faraway city and get an education even if it eventually led to demise of their remote mountain village. They valued education of their children more than their livelihood. Such a humbling experience and  not one I can ever forget.

After many years of collaborating with colleagues in Shanghai, Beijing, and Fuzhou I have come to the conclusion that there are many things in China which are getting better than things in the USA = and vice versa. Respect for elders is one thing I see very strong in China and from which I have personally benefitted – some Chinese doctoral students even call me their grandfather – the highest degree of respect I never earned. I see both China and the USA exceptionally adept at political spinning of truth and facts, although I doubt the Chinese leader has uttered 20,000 lies since becoming President. National unity seems much stronger in China than in the USA although my experience there is quite limited. The Chinese are apparently repressing Muslims in Xinjiang and the USA is repressing blacks in many places. Just as no individual is flawless, no nation is flawless. Individuals with integrity seem capable of admitting their flaws and striving to do betters. Perhaps it is the same with countries. Germany has admitted to the flaws of the Nazi regime and has systematically done better in the years since WWII. I am not sure the USA has fully admitted to dropping atomic bombs on Japan in the year I was born. We can do better. All of us can do better. Every nation can do better. I can do better however many years I have left to apply what I have gathered from coincidence over the years.

I so appreciate my many friends and colleagues in China, in Indonesia, in India, in Malaysia, in Hong Kong, in Taiwan, in Thailand, in Tunisia, in South Africa, in Chile, in Brazil, in Canada, in Mexico, in Norway, in Germany, in Belgium, in The Netherlands, in Portugal, in Spain, in Crete, in Greece, in Italy, in Turkey, in Israel, in New Zealand and in many places across the USA. From them I am slowly learning what it means to be human, to be flawed, to be capable of becoming still more human.

The [b]right side?

When I wrote the  note below in my journal, aside from the irony and sarcasm I suppose I was really hoping that things would improve significantly and that reason, tolerance, and respect would return to dominance … and then I wondered if those values and others were ever widely embraced … there are wonderful stories and memories of people who lived those values – for example Franz Jägerstätter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDvW42iSeVs) comes to mind for me often … but then the story of Cain and Able, the first two brothers, is not all that encouraging … I used to joke about the first words in the Jewish bible … “In the beginning there was chaos and the void …” and then I would add that not much has changed since then. And then I imagine my father telling me from the grave that my interpretation is correct and that the message is for us to make needed changes … his words from the great beyond haunt me … what changes have I made to make things better … less chaotic … less empty of meaning …  my father's message echos: "the gift we have been given (life) is the opportunity to make things better." “If not now, then when?” as Hillel asked.

-----------------------------------------

Okay … I admit it. I tried listening to DJT and looking at the good things that have come to pass under his reign. I start with an advance organizer and a disclaimer pertaining to DJT’s advice about stemming the spread of the coronavirus by drinking or injecting disinfectant. Being cautious and somewhat creative, I thought that it made more sense to start with one’s feet rather than one’s mouth or arm. So … I soaked my feet in Lysol last week, and I am now happy to report that there is no evidence that my feet are contagious. More good news in what follows.

Because I believe that we should let evidence be the key arbiter in difficult situations, I have been examining several different bodies of evidence … but not any of the 134,000 American bodies lost to COVID-19 as access is restricted. So, a second disclaimer is that the evidence reviewed herein is basically evidence gathered due to the convenience of samples.

Mass shootings in the USA in 2020 are on a track similar to the number of mass shootings in the USA in 2019. However, there are many fewer mass shootings in schools, universities, shopping malls, movie theaters, concerts, and churches in 2020 compared with the previous year. Our analysis shows that this is one major benefit of the coronavirus … looking on the bright side. It should be noted that a possible confounding variable could be the percentage of schools, universities, shopping malls, movie theaters, concerts, and churches that have been closed or cancelled due to the coronavirus. Analysis continues.

Also, the number of foreigners wishing to enter the USAm, legally or illegally, has declined significantly in 2020. This means that those children currently held in cages at the border can be released, and the worries about an invading horde from the South can be set aside, except perhaps those seeking to leave Brazil where the coronavirus is spreading faster even than in the USA and where the rich-poor gap is even greater than that in the USA.

So, in closing, I am encouraging an attitude of hope along with that encouraged by DJT. Things could have been much worse. He could have bombed North Korea or sold Alaska to Russia or moved to Greenland. DJT has probably added more to his ego than to his bank account, although the evidence has yet to confirm that conclusion. And as a final note, air pollution due to automobile traffic seems to be declining in 2020 in the USA Take heart, America ... DJT is the one responsible for this new climate of hope.

mike spector

Rethinking the 10 Commandments

Perhaps it is time for a new ten commandments:

1.      Thou shalt not resort to violence to settle disagreements.

2.      Thou shalt not put the rights of others behind your rights.

3.      Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s success.

4.      Thou shalt respect the life, liberty and livelihood of everyone.

5.      Thou shalt respect differences and diversity as much as similarities and homogeneity.

6.      Thou shalt respect lawful displays of disagreements.

7.      Thou shalt support the health and livelihood of everyone.

8.      Thou shalt live in peace and harmony with your neighbor.

9.      Thou shalt value tolerance, learning, and openmindedness.

10.  Thou shalt not hate.

FFor those unable to remember or recall ten things (see http://www2.psych.utoronto.ca/users/peterson/psy430s2001/Miller%20GA%20Magical%20Seven%20Psych%20Review%201955.pdf), here is a shorter version:

1.      Thou shalt not hate.

2.      Thou shalt not resort to violence.

3.      Thou shalt value the health and welfare of everyone.

Alternatives are open for discussion.

Jonathan Michael Spector, A Worlizen

June 25, 2020

Actions - Not Just Words

I have been home bound, first due to COVID-19 and then to a back operation leaving me with not much energy to do much more than answer occasional emails and listen to the news. I have been hearing lots of words about how best to respond to COVID-19 (frequent hand washing, wearing a mask in public, and practicing physical distance); such practical advice is easy to implement and I have been doing so although on my rare trips out, I notice that many others are not – the hospital and doctor’s office are notable exceptions where everyone is following those best practices. 

I also am hearing a lot about how best to respond to the murder of George Floyd and other abuses by police in recent times including pushing a 75 year old white man to the ground leaving him in critical condition. Since I turn 75 next month, I identify with that old man. The police initially said the old man simply tripped. My lying eyes watching the video tell me otherwise. Then I try to imagine being choked for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Cold-blooded murder when I watch that one. As I am out of shape, I might last 2 minutes and 46 seconds at most. 

Then I think about this country I once swore to defend as an officer in the Air Force. What was I defending? The right of the President to lie on a daily – or hourly – basis. Is that the right of free speech I was defending? The right of the Senate to confirm someone who assaulted women to the Supreme Court? I cannot remember when I voted for a Senator who was elected. And I certainly did not vote for anyone who confirmed an attorney general who is behaving as the President’s Himmler. I did vote twice for a person running for the Presidency who got the most votes but was not elected. So, I have been reflecting about things that I have seen develop over the years. Well, my remarks may seem partisan, so I should add that a Republican Representative (Howard Baker) nominated me to become a cadet at the Air  Force Academy and a Democratic Senator (Albert Gore Sr.) initiated an investigation that led to my honorable discharge from the Air Force. Over the years I have mostly voted for Democrats although I have voted for a Republican and an Independent. I think of myself as a principled citizen, although others think of me as a foolish old man. Go with the majority.

I think there are three laws that would solve many of the problems we have experienced in this fractured democracy. Number one is to change the way we elect the President and Vice President so for that most important election it is simply one person, one vote – no electoral college – and the one with the most votes wins. If more than two are running, then the winner must have more than 50% of the votes, which might require a run-off election. Second, make a law that encourages early voting and voting by mail so that many more people have easy access to this most important right of citizenship. Third, thinking about healthcare and the virus that has killed more than 100,000 Americans with a significant majority being persons of color and persons of advanced age (like me), this nation should commit to universal medical coverage similar to what members of Congress or what retired members of the military or civil service  have or to what postal workers have. Medical care should be provided for all just as primary and secondary education are provided to all at no cost to citizens (e.g., funded by taxes).

I have many other changes I would like to see enacted in law. Those three changes strike me as fundamental, and they address the current crises confronting our fragile democracy. Moreover, each and every citizen would benefit from those three changes, unlike the tax breaks given to corporations and the wealthy. 

Mike Spector (June 6, 2020)

What is the right question to be asking?

In these trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic, one might wonder what questions we should be asking.

There are plenty of people and websites telling us how to stay safe and healthy (i.e., minimize contact with others, wear a mask, maintain six or more feet from others, wash hands often, check your temperature frequently, eat your veggies, and say nice things to everyone you meet).

There are also people telling us what we should start doing as soon as possible (i.e., go out for dinner, get a haircut, meet your friends at a bar, meet those you want to impress at a place of worship, get a tatoo of Mara Lago, get a massage, and if you happen to have any finger nails left, get your nails done).

One might ask how many people in the USA will die of the virus this year? Will it exceed 100,000? Should we create a betting site for the unemployed as a new lottery game?

One could ask when a reliable vaccine will be widely available. Will it be this year?

Who is likely to win the next presidential election in these divided states of America? DJT? JRB? AMC? MLRO? I plan to vote for Elmer Fudd as I think that he also has an outside chance and I like his hair style.

When is Mara Lago going to be underwater as a result of climate change? “When will the American eagle really spread its wings and straighten up and fly right?” (LMH)  “Is there balm in Gilead?” (EAP)

Seriously speaking, though, should we be worried about the degradation of the rule of law? Of pervasive e and pernicious racism? Of another civil war, less civil than the last one? Of being overrun by people scaling the imaginary Southern border wall? Of a new CSA (not the Confederate States of America – the Canadian States of America or the Chinese States of America?) Of becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon? (If it involves the star of the recent Wonder Woman movie about an Amazonian princess, I will go for that option.)

More seriously speaking … I mean asking … what kind of country do we want our grandchildren to grow up and thrive in?

Is it the earth that the meek inherit or is it the dirt?

My new mantra for 2020 – bullies of the world unit and move to Mara Lago.

Easter

With more than a half million COVID-19 cases in the US and more than 20,000 deaths, many in the US are waking up to Easter Sunday to hail the size of tennis balls. Meanwhile, gun sales are at record highs, the stock market is doing well, and many are praising Trump, as he so much loves, while people are dying and crying. Instead of worrying if your neighbor is infected, now you have to worry if your neighbor is armed and dangerous. I have been watching the Andy Griffith show instead of the news while hunkered down at home, remembering how different things were in the 1950s - sure, the show exaggerates but I do recall simpler times and a more caring atmosphere back then as I was growing up in East Tennessee. Now I look at this map of the virus -  https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/health/coronavirus-us-maps-and-cases/ - and I see suffering almost everywhere. 

I read T.S, Eliot looking for something I know not what - "April is the cruellest month, breeding, Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing, Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain."

And then there is the voice of the Rock:

"o world of spring and autumn, birth and dying

The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to GOD.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?"

And then I think of #45 ... maybe my neighbor with the 44 will do something about that ... maybe there is "balm in Gilead" ... 

maybe "truth crushed to earth will rise again" ...maybe "the American eagle will finally spread its wings and straighten up and fly right" ... 

Maybe some us will survive and learn to live in peace and respect those who are different and help those who are less fortunate ...

Meanwhile, #45 expands his fortune and disparages those who fail to praise his bone spurs ...

Meanwhile, the Rock reminds us:

" The desert is squeezed in the tube-train next to you,
The desert is in the heart of your brother.
The good man is the builder, if he build what is good. " 

And #45 wants to keep building walls ... and dividing ... and gathering in all the praise and benefits he can at any cost ..

Today is a sad day but there are always little glimmers of hope ... someone bringing food to the elderly and disabled ...

and a still small voice voice still says, someday ...

Happy Passover, Easter and Ramadan ...

Unbelievable

I find it hard to believe, that when the international deaths from COVID-19 exceeds100,000 and American deaths from COVID-19 approaches 20,000 with nearly a half million Americans infected already, that someone can brag about how good the American response is working. More and more people are getting infected and dying and someone can look past that to economic recovery ... people are dying and crying and yet some are bragging and boasting ... it is not right ...

So comforting to have a leader who has perfect phone calls, who always has someone else to blame,  who knows everything, and who is doing all the right things ... especially for the rich and powerful ...

Abou Ben Adhem (Leigh Hunt)

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said,
“What writest thou?”—The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered, “The names of those who love the Lord.”
“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still; and said, “I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men.”

The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blest,
And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest.

A True Story

This is a true story from my years as an Air Force Intelligence Officer during the Vietnam conflict. This happened when I was an analyst at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. I worked swing shifts gathering and reading and filtering and synthesizing information that came in through several top secret coded channels. Every Friday there was a briefing for Colonels and Generals that took a standard format to give the brass a weekly update of the state of the war. Some of my good friends who were also intelligence officers did those briefings. 

JC was one of my closest friends and this was his day to do the Friday morning briefing that I had prepared Thursday night. Rather than go home, I stayed for the briefing so that I could meet and talk with my friend after the briefing. So I sat in the back row of the briefing room waiting for JC to complete the briefing. One item that was always part of the Friday briefing was a casualty update – the number of Americans, South Vietnamese, and North Vietnamese killed in action that week. There was a bar chart on the slide I had prepared that showed virtually no difference in the number of Americans killed that week. The slide showed many more North Vietnamese killed that week even though I knew we had killed the entire population of North Vietnam several times over if one believed these reports. JC simply spoke the numbers ending with the American casualties, and JC said there was a significant increase in the number of Americans killed that week and then the next slide came up. 

The general stopped the briefing and said to go back to the casualty slide which the slide controller did. The general then said I thought I heard you say there was a significant increase in the number of American casualties but the slide shows hardly any difference and the numbers only show a difference of one. Without hesitation, JC said that if you were that one you would think it was a significant difference. I fell out of chair laughing and everyone turned around to look at me. After the briefing, the Colonel called both JC and me into his office. He gave JC a verbal reprimand and told him to leave. He then gave me a verbal reprimand and said he was putting a letter to that effect in my file, which I later learned that he did. The lesson I learned is that day was that the death of a single person is not a laughing matter, although I think the Colonel wanted me to learn a different lesson.

It is our responsibility to save lives in the midst of this pandemic.