Honest Dialogue

Who will be next?

2010-03-03T17:34:00.001-08:00

I am so proud of all the people who have been getting involved in politics for the first time over the last year and a half. It's so inspiring to me to see people all over the country stand up to be counted as something other than sheep.

So much bad has been delayed or avoided by making sure that our congress critters know that we completely disapprove of the things they want to force on us and the changes they've made over this last year. The Tea Party Protests and demonstrations, the Pink Slip campaign and all the of the countless phone calls, emails and letters have communicated that there's something here that they didn't count on. The sleeping giant called the American people is waking again, and there are few forces more powerful.

The challenge is what to do beyond voicing dissatisfaction. I'm pretty sure that the message is getting across. Ultimately, many, if not most of the people in congress and other legislatures can not ever be counted on to do the right thing. So it's time to think of replacements and get them into office. I'll ask the same questions of everyone who reads this post.

Do you know what the timeframe and process is to get a candidate on the ballot where you live?
And who do you know that can become the next Adams, Jefferson or Washington?

I crave people to support, and if you let me know who they are, I have a few things I can do to help them.

Keep being great, America!

Today is Flag Day!

2009-06-14T00:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Flag Day!

One of the fun things about being a parent is making conscious choices about the traditions we focus on with our boy. This year, I’m really feeling called to make Flag Day special. My flag is going out in the morning light, and we’ll be talking about everything it represents.

Did you know that flag days goes back quite a way, commemorating the day in 1777 that the continental congress approved our flag? There is a nice article on Wikipedia (Wikipedia,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Or as I call it – lots of information, occasionally researched, sometimes requiring a grain of salt, and good critical thinking skills. Still and all, a fun site.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Day_in_the_United_States

I know that some of you receiving this have concerns about what our flag represents. I’d encourage you to take this day to remember the best of what makes being American special, and bring to it your own hopes for what you’d like it to be. Perhaps this is a good time to reflect on what you might do to make it more what you’d hope. Would this be a good week to call or write your congress critters, volunteer for a city commission or otherwise take action?

This has been a really interesting year, which a lot more political engagement than I can remember for a long time. I think that’s a good thing. So I had another idea you might enjoy. Since this isn’t the 4^th of July, and it’s not a TEA party, why not make it a movie night. Spend some time with friends and family and watch something patriotic. A few of my personal favorites that I’d recommend include:

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

Meet John Doe (Aw Heck! Anything by Frank Capra would do)

1776

Top Gun

The Right Stuff

I’m sure you get the idea. I’m a silly, romantic, populist at heart, and anything that shows regular folk taking on something bigger than themselves, growing in the process, and has the underdog winning in the end is just my cup of … oops, wrong beverage. Just floats my boat!

Have a happy Flag Day – long may it wave!

Nick

Public Service

2008-06-04T23:23:00.001-07:00

My wife and I took our son with us to the polls yesterday. And this is from some correspondence with a friend that I thought might bear sharing.

I'm thinking a lot about the idea of public service lately. If not for the founding fathers, including one John Hart who sacrified much in the revolution, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hart) we wouldn't be free to have this dialogue. Then something happened to changed the concept of public service to being serviced by the public.

Perhaps the example of Cincinnatus is helpful. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Quinctius_Cincinnatus) Every public servant should return to the farm from time to time until called for. It's hard to quibble about the life-long service of a John Adams. But, he did carry his own bag before that. It's some of the more contemporary public servants, who have never earned a private sector paycheck, and who don't have to live in the environment that they affect, that concern me.

What ever one thinks of their specific policies, I admire Grover Cleveland's two non-consecutive terms far more than Franklin Roosevelt's generation in office, because the American people chose to return him to office after experiencing an alternative.

So perhaps the need is for an over-all balance - A call to serve, and a call back to the farm. Both are important to protect our freedoms from complacency, corruption, and arrogance.

I wonder where the Cincinnati are today?

Best to you, citizens!

Nick

90 seconds of complete attention

2007-07-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

Here's a little update on that was very powerful last year. See http://honestdialogue.blogspot.com/2004/12/silly-new-holiday-tradition.html

Back a few years ago, I tried an experiment I called the new years genie. The idea was to ask my friends and colleagues what professional wishes this new mythical character called the New Years Genie might grant for them. For those that took it seriously enough to be the genie's master and command a wish, the experiment took off beautifully, unbelievably well.

More than 75% of the wishes were actually "granted". Employers and employees were matched up. Investors and investments came together. New ventures and partnerships started. Oh, and sales definitely happened. And all told, many millions of dollars of commerce happened, all because of a few moments of focus. And we all had some fun doing it.

90 seconds of complete attention - If you take 90 seconds to think seriously about what would be the absolute most valuable sort of contact or resource, right now, to help you accomplish your goals for the next quarter or year, I will spend at least 90 seconds seeing who and what I can steer your direction to help you accomplish them.

I know it's not even close to new years. But, I figure, what's the point of our being connected, if I can't do you some good. Still no guarantees, but the shipping is always free. Now we know you've got a 75% chance of it paying off in some way. A lot of people find that the simple exercise, of thinking through what the most useful thing would be, is helpful in itself.

So what will it be? What's your goal and what will help the most. If I can grant you one wish, would it be that special customer or client you've been trying to land, new investors, a board member or new talent for your team? What one thing would make the biggest difference for you and your business this year?

I look forward to hearing from you in 90 seconds!

Best wishes for an amazing Q3 and the rest of 2007.

Nick

About my father

2007-07-09T22:34:00.001-07:00

The rest of the story, after we developed the talk, and all became masters of communication with the doctors, is that my father did not survive. Here are some thoughts that I shared at his memorial:

I had the opportunity to read some of the cards, letters, and e-mails that so many of you were kind enough to write about my father. There were a number of recurring themes: steady, reliable, dependable, patient, a gentlemen, kind, and always had a twinkle in his eye.
I often think about Dad and the times that he lived in. And as we were preparing for today, we've been looking through pictures of him and our family. Something extraordinary jumped out at us. As you look through the pictures of our family, there are a number of ways to tell about when it was taken: What my sisters and I look like, our hairstyles and height, sometimes cars and clothes. One way to try telling the period, that doesn't work, is looking at Dad. Dad looks, and basically was, the same from year to year.
It's been a bit of a family joke for years that, whenever someone spoke of a person's age, we might say, "All ladies are timeless." and manage to avoid a numerical answer. And Dad, being the gentleman that you all mentioned, certainly treated the ladies as such.
There's another thing about timeless-ness, though. In the Bible, especially in parts such as
1 Corinthians 15 it says (depending on the version):
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So we have some confidence that someday we'll have bodies that won't age or wear out. It's a glimpse of what our heavenly nature may be. And Dad, being the gentleman who really didn't change much from year to year, who was always steady, reliable, dependable, patient, a gentlemen, kind, and always had a twinkle in his eye, had something genuinely heavenly about him.
While he may have been timeless, he lived in such wonderful times. Dad saw-in the advent of international air travel, jet planes with vectored thrust for high maneuverability, flying platforms, airplanes that swing their wings, and even the space shuttle. And he not only saw them, he participated in their development. Not that Dad was one to seek the limelight, but in his quiet way, he was, one of those people, who was comfortable in the background, working on some of the most exciting developments of the 20th century.
A few years ago, I attended one of the Hiller reunions of the employees and families who helped make the Hiller helicopters what they were. Stan Hiller remarked, as he looked over the group and the aircraft at the Hiller Museum, that "your fingerprints are all over this place." Meaning that all of those wonderful people, including Dad, had made a critical contribution to the amazingly creative aircraft that Hiller produced.
I loved visiting with Dad when he was working over at places like NASA Ames and seeing the latest programs and aircraft he worked on. But, for us, Dad was the guy that we turned to, and relied on, in other ways. One evening, not long after I turned 16 and got my driver's license, I managed to hit a deer with a car. For those of you instantly alarmed by that, I'll get right to the point of suspense and tell you that the deer got up and ran off into the woods. Getting to the point of the story, though, the car didn't, and Dad needed to come to the rescue. At some silly late hour, poor Dad came out to where the car was, and we worked out towing it home.
I'd like to tell you that that was an isolated incident, and Dad never needed to come help me out again with something stupid that I did with cars or anything else. But that wouldn't be a true statement. What would be a true statement is that, no matter the inconvenience, or difficulty Dad would come and do what it took when he was needed.
And when things were not in crisis, Dad was wonderful to simply be with. We could talk for hours about the things we enjoyed, usually things that moved, likes boats, cars, motorcycles, helicopters, airplanes, trains, and how they worked, how they were built, and what made them special. I certainly fell in love with all those things through Dad's passion for them, and my son Andrew loves them all too. I'd have to say that one of my own proudest moments was when I got my pilot's license, and Dad was my very first passenger. (And, no, he didn't need to rescue me or tow the airplane home.)
Of course, it wasn't all seriousness, technology, and important things. As kids, Dad taught us deep songs such as "Do your ears hang low?" "Shaving Cream" and something very lyrical about a bullfrog that fit perfectly into Dad's vocal range. That's what I meant by deep songs: Not important - just deep notes. He loved to laugh, and that twinkle in his eye was always close by.
Many things in life change. Not Dad, of course. But now we are learning a new way to experience his steadiness, reliability, patience, and the twinkle in his eye. I confess that I haven't quite got this new way figured out yet. But I'm thankful for all the time we've had.
I love you Dad.

The one thought that I have now, is that we shouldn't wait until it's too late to make sure that people know how much they matter to us. Go celebrate someone's life - right now - while they're here to enjoy it!

Giving Your Doctor "the Talk"

2007-05-11T02:55:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit distracted lately by the fact that my father is in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer. Before I get rolling into anything else, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has been sharing their prayers and good wishes.

This experience has been enormously eye-opening. I'm trying to maintain my faith in people and belief that there are no villians here. But, there are a lot of people with a wide variety of styles of care-giving in the hospital. And, frankly, not all of the styles really fit in with the basic theme of meeting Dad's needs and keeping him alive. At one particularly low point in our relationship with his doctors, I conferred by phone with a personal friend, who is also a doctor. And I was delighted when he endorsed the use of something called "the Talk" with any and all of Dad's care-givers.

Though I hope you never do, you may find something similar helpful some day. Here is a rough outline of "the Talk."

We know what the odds are and we are not deluding ourselves about Dad's chances.
We are, however, choosing to do everything we can to maximize his chances of sucessfully surviving his cancer. We are choosing life.
As you probably know, a very critical aspect of his recovery is his own attitude. If you think you can, you will. If you think you can't, you won't. We can and we will.
We need you to be on the same page with us about this. We need you to take every opportunity to build Dad's spirits and support his hopes for surviving to return home to his new normal life.
If you choose to join us in this, you may find that you will be a better health care professional in almost everything you do.
If you find that you can not support the program, we can't use you on this team.
Will you join us in choosing life for Dad?

If you ever do find yourself in this situation, you may also find a poster that is on the wall in Dad's room helpful. You can see a copy at: http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/C6635523-8F35-405F-8306-2EA04AC249FF/0/SpeakUp_Poster.pdf

Best wishes for good health for you and yours.

Nick

My Toddler and North Korea

2006-10-11T06:28:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about the situation with North Korea having nuclear weapons, the flow of diplomacy with them, and how it may impact my little boy.

When I was a kid in the 60s and 70s, we actually did practice "duck and cover" drills in school. We lived with the threat of nuclear annihilation, and followed the progress of various negotiations with the old Soviet Union to try to avoid MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). Apart from all that, it was a pretty great time to be a kid.

Then, of course, in the 80s and 90s, we saw the beginnings of détente and the eventual end of the Soviet Union, and all of us who had images in our heads of "The Day After" breathed a sigh of relief.

Moving on a bit, as my wife and I try to be good parents to our son, we have learned that one of the best ways to discipline him is calmly. It's not always easy, but it is most effective when giving him a time out to say something like, "Aw, Andrew, it's really too bad that you chose to do that. Now it's time for a time out." The lessons seem to be learned a lot faster than when we allow our upset to show, and he's much calmer in experiencing discipline.

So now I wonder if it would make sense to communicate to our friends in North Korea something along the lines of, "Aw, Kim Jong-il, it's really to bad that you chose to build nuclear weapons, after agreeing to not do that. Now it's time to go to your room for a time out." (Meaning that you can live with the stick of Mutually Assured Destruction, not the carrot of lots of trade and goodies.)

Yep, toddlers of all ages learn much faster when you set clear boundaries and stick to them. I wonder if we have any adults in the room in our State Department.

Nick

How to Find the Lowest Price on Gas.

2006-10-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a great way to find the lowest price on gas in your area. There is a website called Gasbuddy that actually lets regular people like us report and search for the lowest gas price. You can check it out at http://www.gasbuddy.com/. Or to go directly to the prices for here in the Bay Area, you can go to http://www.sanfrangasprices.com/ or http://www.sanjosegasprices.com/ for the South Bay. Judging by the lowest and highest prices at the moment, it could save you as much as 30 cents a gallon. And these days, that can really add up.

Freedom Cheese

2006-02-16T23:47:00.000-08:00

I know it’s been ages since I’ve put anything here. And this doesn’t seem like much after such a gap. But I thought I’d share my latest bit of political incorrectness, and let you know that, in the wake of the Danish Mohammed cartoons, I decided to show my support the other day with a pointed serving of Danish cheese. (Not a cheese Danish, as a point of clarification.) It wasn’t anything terribly deep, but it was a nice helping of the stuff.

The way I see it, and I’m probably not saying anything new, I am very privileged to live here in the United States, where people have struggled, fought, lived, and died to protect my freedom of speech, among other freedoms. Having peeked at the cartoons, I’m not really very impressed by them, (I confess I didn’t actually “get” a couple of them) but I absolutely support the right to put them out there.

And before someone accuses me of being religiously insensitive, I’ll support the “punishment” of the cartoonists and editors, the moment I see some punishment, or apologies or any other acknowledgement from our offended friends around the world for the offenses in cartoons, on the TV, in the press, and art galleries toward Christians and Jews that have occurred over a much longer duration and with far greater frequency, not to mention a mea culpa or two for 9/11.

Here’s a really basic example of how this all strikes me. Many years ago, I was joining a line of passengers about to board an airplane. A man near me and I were approaching the line about the same time, and to get along, and in a gesture of friendly courtesy, I waved him ahead of me and said, “After you.” What has stayed with me, for more than 20 years, was the way that person looked down his nose at me, and said, “Of course.” He communicated in two words and a glance a remarkable arrogance, a complete expectation that moving ahead of me was his absolute privilege, and that it was foolish of me to consider the possibility of things being any other way. In short, he made me completely regret my courtesy that day.

Live has moved on, but until I see a little courteous reciprocity from all those offended people burning, rioting, and killing in their outrage over some cartoons, here’s to the Danes.

a silly new holiday tradition...

2004-12-12T16:15:00.000-08:00

Hi and Happy Holidays!

Please take this in the spirit intended. I'm in the mood to do something a little silly and outrageous, and possibly do some good for you professionally for the new year. With that in mind, I'm dubbing myself the New Year's Genie, and I'm opening up shop for trying to grant your professional wishes for 2005.

Keep in mind that I'm brand new at this, so there are no guarantees. But at least I'm including free shipping. So what will it be? If I can grant you one wish, would it be that special customer or client you've been trying to land, new investors, a board member or new talent for your team? What one thing would make the biggest difference for your business this year?

(My wife wants something to do with Tom Cruise, but I confess I'm a little conflicted on that one.)

So come sit on the old New Year's Genie's knee and tell him your wish. (Boy, is that ever confusing story lines!) And here's my best wishes for a safe and prosperous New Year!

Nick

This is not an assertion about the spiritual nature of the universe, the existence of genies or other mythological beings. This is not an offer for investment and there is no relevant prospectus. I could make more small print disclaimers, but why hurt your eyes and keep you from enjoying the Holidays? Get off the computer and go get 'em!

Everything About Something

2004-12-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

Looking at yesterday's post, something struck me. I mentioned that I took the step of reading the text of the proposed ballot measures on the election that I was uncertain about. One might well ask, shouldn't we read every word of the new law that we are being asked to vote for? It's kind of like a contract. But that would be unreasonable others might say. There isn't enough time in the day to go through all that. So how do we make our decisions?

My own process isn't very complicated. I look at what's being proposed, and first ask myself whether it's something I'd like to see happen. "Vote for Measure A - Apple pie for everyone." So I'll ask myself, "Is voting for apple pie for everyone a good thing." Well, of course it is. And if I stopped there, I might just vote for the measure. But silly, over analytical person that I am, I take another step. I ask myself, "Will this measure actually accomplish apple pie for everyone?" Sometimes I can see that despite the promises of those who proposed the measure, it just has no chance of actually delivering, or delivers in an unreasonable way (one apple pie for everyone at the price of two.) (Hmmm, delivering apple pie - next million dollar idea? But I digress.)

If I'm not sure, I like to take a look at the arguments against, for, and rebutting each other about the measure. I like to look at the arguments against and the rebuttal first, because I have a natural bias against new laws to begin with. And then, If I'm still not sure about whether it's a good thing, and can do what it promises, I'll read the text itself.

Now that's all a long winded way of demonstrating that I try to make decisions about important things with the least information necessary to do the job. But how do I know that I have enough information? I suspect for many of us, we have an intuitive sense that we've reach a sort of logical critical mass and the bell goes off to say the decision's done. And I suspect that we are all often wrong.

So strolling into the office this morning, I wondered, if I really did have complete and perfect information about something (as though that were possible) would I make better decisions? Of course not, because in the process of gathering all the complete, perfect information, the decision is generally not relevant anymore (Oh, I'm sorry! The judges say we're out of time!) Assuming that the "correct" decision was to do something other than wait, I would have just blown it.

As a complete side note, would it even be possible to try to know everything about something? Try to think of the simplest item you can; a paperclip, a shoelace, a thumb tack, a button. What is everything that can be known about it? Who made it? What is it made of? Where did those things come from? How was it made? Who sold it to whom before it got to me? What were the financial terms? Was the process of it becoming what it is one that benefited the people involved with it? Were any animals, plants or people harmed in the making of my paperclip? Good lord! There's a lot I don't know!

What's the utility in all this meandering thought. Perhaps a little comfort in the notion that we all try do our best with the information we have, and we might be just a little more humble if we knew a little more.

Have a great day!

Delegislation

2004-12-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

Does anyone think that we don't have enough laws these days? Not whether or not they are the right laws; Is there enough sheer volume of law to go around? During my preparation for the recent election, as I was reviewing the various local and state ballot measures, there were a few that I was sufficiently uncertain about that I took the step of reading the actual text of the proposition. I think the last time I read anything so riveting was when I re-financed. This is mighty dry stuff, no matter the merits of how it's supposed to impact society. But there was one little highlight in doing that reading. In the midst of the big blocks of boring legalese, there would be sections that were struck out. As an example, "~~there would be sections that were struck out~~."

What a refreshing change! How would it be if we elected some delegislators instead of legislators. These would be people who would peruse the existing laws and come to the conclusion that we are better served by eliminating this one and that. You've probably seen articles over the years that talk about arcane local laws such as not hanging men's and women's clothes on the same clothes line, or don't parade your alligator down main street after dark. We all get a kick out of such irrelevancies. But I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of laws that are a lot more consequential that could be removed as well.

I understand that various legislators such as California State Assemblyman Steve Samuelian from Clovis, and Pennsylvania Representative Douglas Reichley have contests for school children to write essays called, "There Ought To Be A Law." Let's send a few legislators some ideas about, "This shouldn't be a law anymore."

Even better, next election, would you vote for someone who ran, not to be a legislator, but a delegislator?

Thinking About Healthcare

2004-11-17T15:53:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I've been a little under the weather recently, and so I'm thinking about Healthcare. We have an amazing system in this country. We produce innovative therapies, and we have a great average lifespan. People come from all over the world to be treated here. It's a really great time to be alive. Most of the diseases that killed people prior to the 20th century are now preventable or curable.

At the same time, just getting through all the hassles with the insurance companies can be a source of new stress related syndromes. Sure, it's great that so many people do have insurance coverage. And I certainly understand the need to reduce waste and fraud. But I know people who have spent literally years trying to get compensated for their out of pocket medical payments from the insurance companies whose premiums they have paid, and still haven't received a penny of what they are owed by the terms of their plans.

So I was toying with an alternative or two. I've heard that in some countries, you don't pay your local utility for Kilo-Watt-Hours, or BTUs of gas. You pay them for light and heat. That way it's up to the utility company to deliver them to you in the most effective manner possible. What would happen if we could pay our healthcare providers to provide us with health?

Could I find a doctor or medical group who would take 10, 20 or 100 bucks, or whatever makes sense, a month to provide me and my family with health? That way, I would go to the doctor once or twice a year, follow his advice, and be healthy. If I'm not healthy, he would be required to fix it at his expense. Of course, if I'm injured in an accident, that wouldn't be the doctor's responsibility. But the provider of catastrophic coverage would have lower costs if the doctor is doing the regular scheduled maintenance. It would be like taking care of a car with warranty coverage, no-fault collision damage and liability, and warranty against defects, so to speak.

Either way, like a car, I would be taken care of by the shop, and not have to wait for weeks, months or years to be reimbursed.

What is Truth?

2004-11-12T11:33:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone!

I just received this message and I'm including my response verbatim. Kathryn raises some good questions, and today's post just looks at them.

Have a great day!
Nick

###

Nick, What a brave endeavor! You website is very attractive and well written. I have a couple of suggestions on the introduction which I'm sending to you separately as I wasn't sure how to respond to just the introduction, or for that matter, how to post an idea or comment that isn't in reply to one of your postings.

I was going to suggest you use common words as I found myself pulling out the dictionary to get through the first two paragraphs. After looking up screed and recidivist, I understand why you chose them and congratulate you on an impressive vocabulary. Still, it might be off putting to some. Perhaps you could include definitions when you use uncommon words. Or, if that breaks the flow of your writing, perhaps the words could be linked to a definition that opens if someone clicks on the word. If that is too complicated, don't worry about making changes; I'll just keep the dictionary nearby.

In your introductory paragraph I'd suggest changing "explore the truth" to "explore ideas" or "explore opinions". Someone told me years ago that the truth is constantly changing and is different for different people. I was shocked and offended. I argued vehemently that truth is constant and never changing -- that's why it is the truth. I never considered truth could vary from person to person. Opinions could vary, experiences could vary, and values could vary but not the truth ! I was wrong. My truths are simply deeply held convictions and core values I that never questioned believing they were universally shared. Turns out they are not. One of the fundamental problems today, is that people are so committed to their own truths that they cannot see beyond them and they haven't examined what shaped them. Getting to the bottom of our different truths, means getting very personal and exposing the raw building blocks of who we are, what makes us tick and putting that out there for the world to see and comment upon. Very few people will do that.

Kathryn,

You're very kind. I can't take any credit for the appearance of the site, since I just picked one of the Blogger.com standard templates. I'm just a couple of days into it, so I'm not as familiar with the functionality as I would like. If you would like, I'll just post your comments verbatim in a new post, with my acknowlegement.

Good point about vocabulary. I've gotten so used to keeping a google window open with ___ definition in the search window, I sometimes forget that not everyone does the same. I'll give it some thought and figure out a way to make it more accessible.
I appreciate the point about truth, but I don't happen to agree. (And very importantly, I disagree with a good will, and remain fond of you; A statement I haven't heard in much in political discourse lately.) Although there is an element of Rashômon to any discussion of public policy, objective data do remain.

The sky is blue, measurable with certain scientific instruments to specific bandwidths with understood tolerances. There are x numbers of people engaged behavior y. We can disagree about how things are measured, how to interpret the data, what our working hypotheses should be, and what actions to take. So I will continue to extend my invitation to explore the truth together, and dialogue about our responses to it.

It may come down to a symantic subtlety, and it might be because we often use the word truth, when we mean some combination of beliefs and values.

The challenge I'm taking on is this; Can people of profoundly different world views, beliefs, and values, drill into the details together, get past their strongly held positions and come together in action that allow them to achieve some progress? I can well imagine in some cases it isn't even possible. But for others, I think people can surprise themselves.

As an example, one of the most hotly contested issues these days is abortion. It feels as though there are about 3 people on the planet that are lukewarm about it. For the rest, the other guys are so very wrong. But if the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life (Anti-Life and Anti-Choice, which ever way you want to describe it) folk could just sit down without hurting each other, they could discuss the actual situation. There are x millions of women who are pregnant every year, who may not want to be. Couldn't Pro-Choice and Pro-Life people both support efforts to help women avoid becoming pregnant in the first place, without compromising what they feel should be the public policy toward the unwanted pregnancies themselves? In the course to that work, the people from both sides could get to know each other as people, come to respect that they are acting on their convictions, and bring the level of discourse to another level. That's the sort of thing I hope for with this.

You may be right that many people wouldn't be willing to go through the self examination involved, but wouldn't it be a rewarding experience for those who do?

Thank you so much for writing.

Another Kind of Veteran

2004-11-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

"Madam, I am the civilization they are fighting to defend" said Oxford Poetry Professor Heathcote William Gerard, when he was asked about why he didn't fight during World War One. On one level, that's a pretty arrogant statement. But on another level, it was perfectly true. Apart from that educator's not very self effacing assessment of his role and importance, it occurs to me that it may indeed be a very good way to honor the veterans that fought and sacrificed for him and us.

I never had the opportunity to serve, although I actually looked into it on more than one occasion. I love flying and thought the coolest thing in the world would be to be a pilot. When I found out that my eyesight wasn't good enough to be a pilot in the armed forces, I eventually achieved that dream on my own time and nickel (An awful lot of nickels, actually.)

As I thought more about it, I was drawn to the Coast Guard for a time. While the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines have very important jobs to do, they do pretty much come down to killing people and breaking things. It has it's place, but I found the Coast Guard's additional missions of protecting boaters, saving lives and property, getting in the way of drugs coming in the country, and otherwise doing good, pretty compelling. So I applied for admission to the Coast Guard Academy. Didn't make it. They only take the best, and no political appointments. I sure would have liked to sail on the tall ship, Eagle, though.

A few years later, I looked into just joining up as an enlisted person. And they let me know that my sad old body just wasn't fit enough for them. So I never have been, and never will be a member of the military. I sure admire them though.

Right now, we have kids (don't I sound old?) with their lives on the line. And I'm thinking about what the best way is to honor them. Perhaps they would take some satisfaction in my living the life that their struggle allows me to lead; going to work, raising my son, loving my wife, voting in elections, going to the store, and enjoying the freedom that we've all got to share for almost 230 years. I'll even try to be a little civilized, if it helps.

...And all the weapons would just rust.

2004-11-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

Many years ago, I had a wonderful professor in college named John Dumitru. He taught anthropology with a zest and enthusiasm that made all of us students curious about other cultures. He was also my faculty advisor when I was working on a special research project about, what we called transients then, now called the homeless. He encouraged me to get up close to them, talk to them, become one of them for a time, experience how they live, what it feels like. And he made it seem, not only ok, but safe, fun, and cool to do it. Not that being cold, hungry and dirty was safe, fun, or cool, but the complete immersion experience gave me a great deal of understanding I couldn't get any other way.

The reason I'm thinking of Mr. Dumitru today is that I came across a fascinating bit of recent research that reminded me of him. Mr. Dumitru had shared a hypothesis in his class one day that there is a correlation between war and affluence in a society. The thought was (in a very loose paraphrase) that when a very basic society is barely subsisting, there simply aren't the resources to risk on the venture of taking your neighbors goods. But as you get a little grain in your shack to come back to if you were to lose, then you are more willing to set out on a venture of conquest. Then as you become increasingly affluent, you lose the motivation to go taking the other guys things, because you have much more than enough. So the end game was that, if all societies just had enough stuff, they would stop fighting each other. And the direct quote I remember so vividly from a couple of decades ago was, "...and all the weapons would just rust."

As a 19 year old, I found that line of reasoning, and the vision, very compelling. And growing up in what would become Silicon Valley, the place where fortunes are created and dreams come true, it seemed just possible that I could work to create greater wealth for everyone, and they would all just get along.

Now there is a recent study from Harvard, that indicates that the correlation between terrorism isn't to poverty, but to liberty. http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/11.04/05-terror.html. Associate Professor Alberto Abadie looked at the world with the assumption that terrorism has its roots in poverty, and when he tested that, found it wasn't so. Instead, he found a continuum similar to the one described by John Dumitru, but linked to the amount of freedom in a society. So when a society is totalitarian, there isn't sufficient freedom to commit a terrorist act. As more freedom is permitted, then there is the ability. And then when there is enough freedom, there isn't the motivation. I'm sure that's a gross over-simplification of Professor Abadie's work, but I hope I'm capturing the gist of it.

As compelling as Mr. Dumitru's vision was, I also questioned it's validity, since we do seem to be living in extremely affluent times. For a fun romp through just what strides have been made in providing material goods to the world, I highly recommend the first few chapters of Gregg Easterbrook's The Progress Paradox. It's a great mood lifter.

In the meantime, here's to a world with enough stuff, and the freedom to enjoy it.

I could be wrong...

2004-11-09T18:52:00.000-08:00

The very first point I would like to make is that I could be wrong. I have my own opinions about elections and voting, abortion, God and religion, economics, business, international trade, technology and all the sorts of things that I hope you're interested in too. And I hope you enjoy exploring those opinions with me.

But first and foremost, I'm interested in discovering as much as I can about truth. Whatever my opinions may be today, I flatter myself as being rational enough to know I could be wrong. So I'm going try to do something that you might enjoy trying too. I'm going to try to explore the issues as though I was explaining them to someone from another planet, in language that is neutral, and makes no assumption about what that person may already know.

And I'm going to be open to being pursuaded by you that you may have a better way. If I'm sufficiently impressed by your reasoning, I just might change my mind. It's happened before.