Is This the Beginning of the End?

The Roman Republic rose to greatness, dominating the world as they knew it.  They lost their commitment to personal freedom, were transformed into an empire, and slowly faded away. 

The British Empire rose slowly for nearly three centuries, then faded over another century.

Nations and empires rise and fall.  We hope that the world gets a little better with the passing of each era.  And that may be so, to some extent.  Human history spirals upward, repeating itself over and over, but not in exactly the same ways…

So where are we on that spiraling path of human history today?  Well, we are at a time of transition.  Unless something drastic changes, we are witnessing the beginning of the end of America as we have know her.

This is not merely because of the passing of time.  Both of the empires mentioned at the beginning of this post lasted longer than our America has so far endured.  America is a young nation, in a sense, but aging quickly. 

America is coming to the time of her decrescendo partly due to global influences bigger than any individual or small group, forces sometimes called the “Tides of History.”  America is also beginning her decline because of specific actions by specific persons and groups.  Who can say whether one force is greater than another?  In truth, they create one another.

 I would like to share a few thoughts about specific influences that are becoming our undoing.  These comments are about the political realm.  There are social and sociological ways of looking at the situation that are quite valid, but to keep these comments short and focused I will write about them at another time and focus on government and politics today.

Three deadly blows have been instrumental in bringing America to the brink of catastrophic decline.  First is the loss of confidence in and respect for our government due to ongoing dishonesty, immorality, and corruption in high places.  Second was the administration that reacted to aggression by lashing out to impose imperialistic solutions.  Third is the administration that loathes traditional American values, and actively seeks to undermine them.  This one is also (is it coincidence?) demonstrably incompetent.  Strike three.

It would be wrong to blame just the ones at the top for our situation today.  We have not had a true leader for America in a generation, but there is more to it than that.  Perhaps even more so than our chief executives, our Congress has failed.  Congress has become even less competent than three misguided administrations, abdicating its responsibilities, inciting partisanship, finding ways to redirect wealth from the treasury to their accounts, concerned only with keeping power.  The economic leaders on Wall Street have been their coconspirators, cooperating in an unholy alliance.  They have put personal wealth and power ahead of their company , their country, their fellow citizens, and ethics, leading to scandals and business failures and raids on the public treasury.

Democracy has been usurped.  The free market has been usurped.  Palace intrigue is the rule. 

This has been allowed to happen because we have been too busy recriminating each other to manage our affairs in a responsible way.  Partisans from both sides of the political aisle talk trash.  Respect is a vanishing quality.  We are a nation divided. 

Political right and political left blast each other.  Religious forces and secularists damn each other.  Fascists who call themselves by a less offensive name meet socialists who  call themselves by a less offensive name to do deadly battle for the future of America.  Meanwhile, the ‘middle,’ that large silent group of non-extremists who are the heart and soul of America, find themselves increasingly under assault.  They are recruited to one extreme faction or another, scolded for their failure to participate in the mud-slinging.  They are reluctant to raise their voice in a call for moderation because they rightly understand that they then would be attacked by all the partisans at once.

We have lost our way, but all is not lost. 

The Roman Republic and Empire fell, but the city of Rome still stands.  The British Empire has lost its might, but the nation of the United Kingdom is still an important factor on the international stage.  America will likely suffer a loss of power and prestige, but we will endure in some form.  We can determine what that future America will look like by what we do today.  It is even conceivable that we might retain most of our power and prestige, but only if we drastically alter the course of our public behavior, and soon.

We have been here in this situation before, on earlier historical spirals.  Our nation was founded in a similar political environment as people who had considered themselves British fought a war to become separate from Britain.  Our ragtag forebearers had no realistic chance against the mightiest nation on Earth... but we did prevail.  We endured a deadly civil war among ourselves, killing each other by the hundreds of thousands.  Our nation survived and actually became stronger over time.  We muddled through the Klan rallies of the 1920s, the McCarthyist witch-hunts of the 1950s, the riots of the 1960s.  We do have experience in this sort of thing.

We might yet endure.  To quote an astute observer of the situation, Dr. Birinder S. Ahluwalia (a Canadian), “Greatness is… yours to build, to maintain, to sustain… Greatness is also… yours to lose, to let… slip away, to not tend and mend when necessary… It is all in your hands.”

Dr. Ahluwalia is right.  The future really does remain in our hands. It resides within us, and finds expression in the way we work with one another.

If we are to redeem our future, the first change we have to make is to stop hating and speaking of one another in spite and sarcasm.  Then we can undertake to stop working at odds and begin to forge a plan for the future of our America that is true to our heritage of freedom, natural law, and human rights.  Then we can begin to build an America that remembers with appreciation how much good America has done, while also acknowledging our need to improve in some ways.   Then we can start the creative process of making our America a place where all of us are safe, welcome, and respected.

Do we have the wisdom to do this? 

Are there leaders out there who can help us reject the hate and begin to focus on brotherhood and a positive future together?

Can each one of us stop acting like those who disagree with us are evil, or at least ignorant?  Can we then stop shouting, stop accusing, and listen to each other? 

Can we take a new look at our selfish pride, and perhaps rediscover pride in our America, the first nation in the world founded upon principles of human rights and dignity?

Can we let go of our grievances about the past, imagined or real, in favor of building a more just, free, and prosperous world for tomorrow?

Can we reaffirm our commitment to equal rights for all, and relearn how to work together in an atmosphere of mutual respect?

Yes, it IS possible.  But time is short. 

Is This the Beginning of the End?  Only if we decide it’s more important to win the shouting match than to build a better nation and world for those who will come after us.  It is all in our hands.

Gryphem

Business and Military: The Danger of Mismatching Motives

The issues raised in this post are complicated.  The praise of applying “business practices” in all areas of our public life is almost universal.  But the Emperor – or the CEO in this case – has no clothes.  As an organizational construct for the military, business practices are utterly inappropriate and incompetent.  I hope that message comes through in the paragraphs that follow. 

I ask readers to understand the limitations of this forum.  This is not about capitalism itself.  It is about the mixing and matching of methods and motives, and what may result from oversimplification or failure to consider unintended consequences.

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The Virtues and Limitations of Capitalism

Many who have dedicated their lives to achieving profit believe we can equate American values with capitalism.  They are so enamored with the material prosperity capitalism has brought to our nation that they think capitalism can accomplish anything.  They are wrong.  Capitalism is not an American value.  It is an American economic system. 

I support capitalism as an exceptionally effective economic system.  It does what it is intended to do: create profits and prosperity.  Capitalism is a logical economic system for a free people.  As our government is based upon individual rights and liberty, deriving its power from the consent of the people, so our economy is based upon economic freedom, deriving its profits from the free economic decisions of the people.   Our economic system presents a free market in which persons and corporations are unrestrained by oppressive government interference, free to pursue whatever economic goals they choose, and to achieve as much prosperity as they can.

Capitalism, properly regulated, is a wonderful means for creating material prosperity.  But being an economic system, it does not always work as well in other areas of public life.  Capitalistic principles are not capable of creating virtue, nor enlightenment, nor justice.  Capitalism should never have been expected to create virtue or enlightenment or justice. 

In their misplaced application of economic principles to other areas of our national life, some zealous disciples of capitalism have created problems.  They have cried long and loud for us to run everything from your neighborhood elementary school to the public library to the Marine Corps like a business.  In their enthusiasm to create “success” by forcing economic principles and measures into every aspect of our society, they have not only failed to create success - they may have damaged our public institutions, injured our national character, and diminished our security.

Business models of operations, which work well for creating profits, are utterly inappropriate for non-economic purposes.  You cannot use business principles to create a beautiful work of art, or to build an educated populace, or to protect the natural world for our great-grandchildren, or to make our nation secure.

Business Rules and the Armed Forces

Attempting to run our American military according to business rules has been a big mistake.  After a couple of decades of the forcing the military to adopt an economic orientation, we find we have a military force full of providers rather than patriots. 

I do not impugn the patriotism of the members of our military services.  That remains strong, due in part to the patriotic upbringing of many who choose to join, and in part to alternative paradigms such as the Army and Navy Core Values.  I only state that the patriotism of our armed forces in the second decade of the 21^st century remains in spite of the attempt to run our military by business principles – not because of it.

What has the imposition of business principles given us?  Instead of force and fleet commanders we emphasize the roles of force providers and employers, supporting and supported commands.  The chain of command has been weakened by the military version of market forces which emphasize collaboration and elaborate connectivity.  In place of combat expertise we build programs for effectiveness enhancement.  Instead of a coordinated attack, we plan for integrated action based on a common communication suite.   Instead of victory we emphasize power projection.  Instead of a field of honor we have a battle space.

Business aficionados tell us we can build a better military by applying the economic principle of competition to military training.  They are mistaken.  Economists tell us that applying free-market principles will improve the efficiency of the military hierarchy.  They are wrong.  

In a capitalistic economic system, businesses try to overcome the opposition, not to help it.  Business is essentially competitive.  Military training and operations, on the other hand, are essentially cooperative.  When military forces train, the intent is for all to gain expertise and ability.  When military forces operate, the intent is for all friendly forces to survive.  Military forces work together as one effective team to “compete” with the enemy.

That is not to say there is no element of competition in military training and operations.  Competition in training makes military elements more proficient and therefore more likely to be victorious when the opponent is an actual enemy.  The difference is that in military training, the competition is practice, formative, designed to make all participants more survivable.  In business the competition is real, summative, and deadly. 

No matter how much we wish it were so, buzzwords and bottom lines will never replace training and expertise, and business practices will never produce a fighting force as effective as traditional military methods.  The U.S. military is not Wall Street.

Profits and losses are relative.  In warfare, losses are measured in lives, not dollars.  Given the stakes, should we be experimenting on a large scale by manipulating the self-image and perception of purpose within our U.S. military?  Should we put economists in charge of our national defense? 

When the military truly is run like a business, then the lives of service members will have been reduced to the dehumanizing status of a cost of doing business.  Alarmingly, the term “human capital” is already in widespread use in both military and business circles.

And here is another totally separate reason for concern, which I will not elaborate due to the need to focus on one issue at a time.  When the military truly is run like a business, then the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about will be an irresistible force in all matters of government and economy.  Consider the implications of that.

Few seem to have noticed, but the essential motivations of military and business are drastically different.  That is not to say their skills are not transferable.  However, we should not expect an organization based on honor and virtue to be effective if forced to operate utilizing the practices of an organization based on wealth accumulation.  This is a huge logical disconnect for those who advocate for a ‘business-model military.’  Or for those who advocate for use of a business model of operations in other protector organizations such as police, firefighters, and Coast Guard. 

Do we expect our military and protector personnel to continue to behave altruistically, for the good of their comrades, the service, and the nation, in an organization where success is measured by some artificial 'bottom line'?  Do we expect them to adopt a profit motive?  We may end up with a force of mercenaries, or we may create a force of statisticians seeking better performance on assessment events, or - if we are fortunate - we may simply end up with patriots hampered by a bureaucracy that forces inappropriate standards and practices upon them.

Profit, whether in the form of dollars or of higher assessment outcomes, is not and should not be the goal of military service.  But if we impose business practices, and the prime motivation in the world of business is profit, then what will be the motivation for the military member?  If the motivation for the soldier or the sailor becomes self-interest, as in the business world, then by what stretch of the imagination can we expect them to put their lives on the line?  There is no profit in self-sacrifice.  There is no price to be placed upon honor or love of country.  In our American military, business practices should not apply.

Gryphem

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For those of you who doubt my commitment to a free-market economy, or who would like to read more about what capitalism is and is not, I recommend this blog post:

http://standupforamerica.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/capitalism-v-communism/

The article is thorough and clear.  The author clearly explains why capitalism is a great economic system for a free people, and also makes this unequivocal statement:  “Capitalism is not a socio-political system.”  I applaud the uncommon good sense.

Beau and Bambi, Again

Some of you might remember the introduction of the' Beau and Bambi' blog a few months ago.  You may also have noticed that the Brooks family encountered some difficulties immediately thereafter and suspended publication for a while.  Well, it should make everyone happy to hear that Beau has reworked and reposted his original comments, and now Bambi has joined him online.

Two simple posts are usually not much to get excited about.  But Beau and Bambi are hoping to become something big and interesting.  They tell me more posts will be forthcoming.  Visit them at your leisure at http://www.beau-bambi.blogspot.com/.

Gryphem

Lighten Up!

Note:  There are no visuals for this post.  We wouldn’t want the visuals to distract the reader from proper appreciation of the linguistic creativity to follow.
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Nearly a year ago, columnist R.P. Clark wrote a piece on the uncanny ability of a popular (and controversial) political figure to create neologisms.  You can find it at www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/07/23/clark.palin.language/index.html.

A neologism is a newly-created word or phrase.  Sometimes – and this is when they are best – they are created accidentally, almost as if the subconscious mind of the speaker is playing a trick.

Mr. Clark admired his protégé’s linguistic creativity even though he admitted not liking her political positions very much.  It was okay that he was not a fan of her politics, because he was writing about language and innovation and creative involvement with the listener.  He stated, "I'm for more fun and more color in political speech."  Me, too!  I’m always for more fun in my life.  And color.

Unfortunately, the great majority of those who commented on the story missed the point.  They wasted no time in attacking the poor politico because their opinions differed from hers.  Or maybe they just attacked her because attacking her had become a conditioned response.  In any case, attack they did.  And then they turned on the unfortunate professor who had the temerity (!) - the unmitigated gall (!) - to see something positive, even humorous in the object of their vile hatred.

I am sorry to have to report this, but that’s how it was.  He wrote a light piece about language.  Most of the readers damned him for not sharing their near-homicidal rage.  A concise example was the commenter who began his post with the statement, “I just wanted to say how much i hate…”  Stop right there.  We understand you more than you think.

Often my reaction to such hate-filled people is to be angry with them for their intolerance and hypocrisy, which are very real and much in evidence in this episode.

Other times, though, like this one, I feel pity for them.  In the first place, they must have very miserable lives.  One cannot always be spreading the gospel of hatred without being filled with negative emotions, despair, angst, and most likely a good portion of self-loathing.  And in the second place, they have lost their sense of humor.  Utterly and completely, it seems… if they ever had a sense of humor to begin with.

Of course, as they would point out, there are things that are not humorous.  Pathos, tragedy, cruelty, disaster, evil – these things are not funny.  Let me point out, though, that every difference of opinion is not a disaster, and those who disagree with us are not necessarily evil.  They might be simply - different.

I cannot imagine getting through life with anything like a reasonable degree of happiness or satisfaction without love and humor.  I am sorry for the ones who hate and despise and don’t know how to let go of their personal dramas long enough to laugh a little.

In the interest of replacing some of the negative melodrama with a bit of good humor, I would like to share with you some neologisms - and other remarks that made me smile - from the comments section following the story.  Some were from well-adjusted persons sharing a laugh.  Others were from despisers who inadvertently made a joke of themselves.  Others were innocent - but funny - miscues.  I paraphrased a couple to make them more concise.  Responses follow each quote.

“Not knowing a word makes you an idiot, not a tread setter.” 
So you can’t fix tires?

“She misdemeanored herself by gutting the English language.”
Two good example of “verbing” – one old and accepted, one new.

[She has a ] “noncanny lability to espew  funny wordisms.”
Obviously an expert in word creation.

“the u s of a would def be even more of a laffing stock than we already r...thanks to geo w…”
Kind of funny to see someone so illiterate criticizing another for lacking linguistic skill.

“this business of making up new words is fabtacular!”
I need to remember  this one.

“I was typing the name of my evil ex, Vernon. Word's suggestion was "vermin." I guess they already knew the guy.”
Cool.  I wonder what they could make of… well, never mind.  This isn’t the place.

“When you consider that English has been cobbled together out of spare parts of other languages over the centuries, neologisms are inevitable.”
Hey, a seriously intelligent observation!

“My vocabulary and grammar may be bad, but people always understand the message I delivery."
Do you do your message delivery in a car or on a bicycle?

"If the best criticism of Bush that you can come up with is his pronunciation of "nuclear", then he was obviously a damn find President.”
As opposed to a damn lose President?

“PALIN 201... never.”
Is that some new course at your junior college?

“The woman is stupid because she is.”
There’s a comment that’s hard to argue with.

“u right, an imbecil… go back 2 ur north pole, AMERICA does not need u. Even though some idiots think tht we need u. 4 real we don't.”
4 real u r a imbecil.

“Plain's an idiot.”
Who’s Plain?

[She] “has a better command of english and President Obama.”
So you’re saying she’s in charge of him? 

“The read states pay less in taxes than any other states.”
Reading gets you out of paying taxes?  Where’s the library?

“If the country is as fed up with this new change Obama has given us as the poles all suggest, then…”
Those crazy Poles!  The ones from Krakow are the worst!

“American appear to be loving the ignorent … and hating the intellegent.  Why is that… missouri loves company.”
That’s true.  I know some people from Missouri and they have people over all the time.

“Oh shuddup...”
That’s concise.  And so falls the final curtain…

Gryphem's advice of the day:  Stop the spite and enjoy life for a change.  There is more to life than dramatic hyperbole and partisan anger.  It’s okay to laugh.  If the laughter is a positive reaction to the ridiculousness or unpredictability of life – then go ahead and laugh!

Take it a little lighter.  Enjoy life.  It’s a far more pleasant experience that way.

Gryphem
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P.S.  Those of you who are paying attention to the relationship between chronology and content in the Gryphem blog may notice – Gryphem is finding ways to work through the existential angst.  Fabtacular!

Existential Angst Abides

Please indulge the author in a rare moment of personal introspection.  Gryphem is considering the option of an existential crisis. 

On the one hand, acknowledging a personal crisis tends to diminish the aura of omniscience so carefully cultivated via the Gryphem blog. 

On the other hand, with so much stress and responsibility in evidence, anyone not having some kind of personal predicament in response might be considered suspicious. 

So, in order to preserve the perception of good common sense for which he is well-known, Gryphem is prepared to acknowledge this flare-up of existential angst.

The reality of today.  A thousand duties at home, in organizations, in a new job.  Responsibility or obsessive compulsion to do more and ever more.  Insecurity about personal capability and resources.

The reality of tonight.  Most likely sleepless again, fretting over injustices or past failures, unable to stop worrying about next steps, planning ways to fix people or situations.  Definition of stress:  Having responsibility (real or perceived) for things over which one has little or no control. 

The reality of tomorrow.  Finding the boulder at the bottom again.  Pushing it up the mountainside again.   Like every other day.  So much effort should produce some enduring results, shouldn’t it?

A blunt summary of the real ‘sitz im leben’.  That’s a theological phrase in German meaning “setting in life,” or more loosely, “how it really is.”  One positive thought:  The author remembered this phrase today even though the last time he actually used it was in 1980, in seminary.

This is truth… or one aspect of truth, at least… a tiny spot of hope... the best identified option to date.  The issue:  Whether Gryphem has the wisdom and determination to transform his intellectual knowledge of this truth, and build a lifestyle change upon it.  

Thank you for sharing.  May your existential crises be mild, and may they bring you the priceless gift of spiritual enlightenment.  You should be feeling right now the results of a prayer for your present and eternal wellbeing.

Gryphem

Is This Any Way to Run a Scrap Yard?

This parable is not originally by Gryphem, although he has reworked the story to enhance its impact.  It is presented for your amusement and enlightenment.  You will most likely find it illuminating.  Read, think, learn.

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Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. The government administrators said, "Someone may steal from it at night."  So they created a Night Watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then the government administrators said, "How does the Night Watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a Training Department and hired two people, one to write the essential elements of the job, and one to plan a personnel qualification program for the Night Watchman.

Then the government administrators said, "How will we know the Night Watchman and the Training Department are doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control Department and hired two people, one to do efficiency studies and one to prepare reports.

Then the government administrators said, "We need specialists to ensure that the Night Watchman, the Training Department, and the Quality Control Department receive appropriate pay and benefits." So they created four positions, a Time Keeper, a Benefits Manager, a Contracting Officer, and a Payroll Officer, and hired four people.

Then the government administrators said, "We need someone to oversee these operations for us, and to be accountable for all of these people." So they created an Administrative Section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, an Administrative Assistant, and a Legal Secretary.

Then, because the staff had become so large, the government administrators authorized construction of a beautiful new facility to house the Bureau of Scrap.  They appointed a Secretary for the Bureau, to advise them on all matters pertaining to the scrap yard.

A year passed.  Then the Secretary of Scrap presented a report to the government administrators showing  that National Scrap Facility operations were $1.3 million over budget.  That is when the government administrators decided to lay off the Night Watchman.

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What the original parable leaves out is that the next year, in response to continuing budget overruns, the government administrators decided to liquidate the inventory of the National Scrap Facility to enhance revenue.  At the same time, they decided to increase the size of the Bureau of Scrap to gain efficiencies of scale.  They redesignated the Secretary of Scrap as the 'Secretary of Material Reutilization.'  Then, awash in virtue, they happily voted themselves a raise.
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...and they all lived happily ever after.  Even the Night Watchman, who had his unemployment benefits extended indefinitely.  Well, at least until the next recession arrived and tax revenue began to shrink.  Then the scrap hit the fan.  But that's a story for another time.  Isn't it?


Gryphem

In Defense of Liberal Arts

This morning I read an excellent short article by A.M. O’Neill urging people to be thoughtful about what they say to new college graduates in these difficult times.  It contained an uncommon amount of insight and good common sense.  You can read it if you like at www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/06/08/dont.tell.graduate.rs/index.html?hpt=hp_bn8

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Philosophy Nourishing
the Liberal Arts

Here is a short excerpt (slightly paraphrased):

While you are congratulating new college graduates, here are some things you should not say to them.

(1) What can you do with that degree?

No one poses this question to electrical engineering students.  But ask a roomful of liberal arts folks if they've heard and every hand goes up.  It's frustrating for them.  Ultimately, what really matters is whether they have developed the critical analysis skills to help them succeed.

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This is good advice.

Even though a technical specialty may present more immediate opportunities, a liberal arts degree is the key to a thousand opportunities over the course of a lifetime.  The value in the liberal arts degree, at least partly, is in the broad perspective it provides and the wide range of abilities it engenders.  In the long term, that is probably as financially rewarding as a technical degree to the individual who focuses his or her effort.  In the short term, it is probably not as lucrative.  But as any liberal arts major worth his salt will tell you, getting rich is not the point.

I have two major and two minor area of study in the humanities.  With my B.A. degree to open doors, I have traveled two wildly different careers, in the military and as an educator.  I feel that my professional experience would have been incomplete without either.  What technical degree offers such flexibility?  My liberal arts studies broadened my world view, made me a more well-rounded person, and trained me to grasp "the big picture."  My liberal arts background has kept me intrigued with the world in a way no technical degree ever could have.

And notice this:  Even three decades later, I am still fascinated with the subjects I studied.  They frame the painting that is my life.  I am pleased with and proud of my decision to study what I love.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

At this point, I feel the need to point out for some reader who may be confused that, contrary to popular misunderstanding, the term 'liberal arts' has nothing to do with political affiliation.  The word 'liberal' is from the Latin word 'liber,' which means 'free.'  Notice the similarity to the word 'liberty.'  Historically, the 'liberal arts' were understood to be those subjects appropriate for study by free people.

For those of you who are curious, my majors were in Religion and History, with additional study in Education.

My advice to people at all stages of life is this.  Seek what you value.  Do what you love.  Keep your mind and spirit free.  All else will follow.

Best wishes for your continuing education, whether in college, via self-study, or in the school of life.

Gryphem

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Postscript:  Scholars who are so inclined may want to follow up with more reading.

An excellent short article on a similar topic can be found at www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/liberal-arts-education.

For those of you who want to dive into this topic headfirst, a deep, dark, intelligent analysis of the current state of liberal arts education can be found at http://theteemingbrain.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/americas-colleges-at-a-crossroads-part-3/.

A New Way to Pray?

Here’s another picture worth a thousand words. But first, my apologies for the scarcity of new posts over these busy weeks. I have been traveling to visit family and on business, and unable to post as often as usual. I hope you’ll use the opportunity to read some of the older posts you may have missed.

So in the meantime, here’s a picture to make you think… or wonder… 


Look very closely and you might gain 

a new perspective on how prayer works

- at least in this congregation.

Thanks for reading.

Gryphem