EthicsBlackHole: 2015

Friday, December 25, 2015

Aequanimitas

* Aequanimitas is clarity of judgment in face of peril, a battle cry of Roman soldiers, a motto of the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine. Sometimes I want to shout: aequanimitas cable news, aequanimitas talk radio, aequanimitas politicians, aequanimitas fellow citizens. More clarity of judgment please.
* Aequanimitas would be proportional responses to life’s risks. Between 2002 and 2013 terrorism deaths on US soil averaged 4 per year. Between 1985 and 2013 (including 9/11) such deaths averaged about 110 per year. In contrast, deaths from medical errors average more than 150,000/y, from car wrecks about 40,000/y, from gun violence about 10,000/y, and these are small compared to deaths from heart disease plus cancer 1,500,000/y or compared to total deaths 2,400,000/y. (See previous post.)
* Based on the past 30-year average, the probability of an individual American being killed on US soil by terrorism has been 1 in 22,000. Based on the past 10-year average, it is 1 in 600,000. We do not fear other hazards of such low probability. While efforts to prevent terrorism are rational, the fear stirred up by pundits for profit and by politicians for power is irrational.
* Aequanimitas would include objective discussion of xenophobic/tribal/racist/acquisitive instincts and the need to control them in service of civilization. Objective discussion seems unlikely to happen in the popular media. !!!Aequanimitas popular media!!!

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

US Death Statistics

Death causes and annual incidence
http://seggleston.com/1/wp-content/custom/ds_index.php
Tobacco:   529,000
Medical Errors: 195,000
Alcohol Abuse: 107,400
Vehicle Accidents: 42,000
Suicide: 29,350
Drug Abuse: 25,500
Firearm Homicide: 10,828

In 2007 There Were 2,423,712 Total Deaths from All Causes
We List 53,196 Deaths from the Top 10 Causes in the Tables Below
http://seggleston.com/1/wp-content/custom/ds_2007_vio_by_age.php
1 Suicide Firearm   17,352
2 Homicide Firearm 12,632
3 Suicide Suffocation 8,161
4 Suicide Poisoning 6,358
5 Homicide Cut/pierce 1,981
6 Homicide Unspecified 1,846
7 Suicide Fall 731
8 Homicide Suffocation 637
9 Suicide Cut/pierce 619
10 Homicide (Other) 586
11 Suicide Drowning 358
12 Legal Intervention Firearm 351
13 Suicide Other Spec., classifiable 331
14 Suicide (Other) 236
15 Homicide Other Spec., classifiable 186
16 Homicide Struck by an Object 173
17 Suicide Unspecified 163
18 Suicide Fire/burn 157
19 Homicide Fire/burn 141
20 Suicide Transportation Related 131

http://seggleston.com/1/wp-content/custom/ds_2002.php
Major Cardiovasular Diseases 936,923
Malignant Neoplasms   553,091
Chronic Lower Respiritory Dis. 122,009
Diabetes Mellitus 69,301
Influenza and Pneumonia 65,313
Alzheimers 49,558
Motor Vehicle Accidents 43,354
Renal Failure 36,471
Septicemia 31,224
Firearms 28,663

Accidental deaths
http://seggleston.com/1/wp-content/custom/ds_2007_acc_by_age.php
1 Motor Vehicle Traffic   42,031
2 Poisoning   29,846
3 Fall   22,631
4 Unspecified Cause 6,019
5 Suffocation   5,997
6 Drowning   3,443
7 Fire/burn   3,375
8 Other Land Transport   1,617
9 Other Specified Cause, Classifiabl 1,542
10 Natural/ Environment   1,449
11 Pedestrian, Other 1,138
12 Other Cause, Not Elsewhere Classed 1,113
13 Other Transport   1,039
14 Struck by or Against Object(s) 832
15 Machinery 659
16 Firearm 613
17 Pedal cyclist, Other 242
18 Cut/pierce 111
19 Overexertion 9

1 Heart Disease 616,067
2 Malignant Neoplasms 562,875
3 Cerebrovascular 135,952
4 Chronic Low. Respir Dis 127,924
5 Unintentional Injury 123,706
6 Alzheimer's Disease 74,632
7 Diabetes Mellitus 71,382
8 Influenza & Pneumonia 52,717
9 Nephritis 46,448
10 Septicemia 34,828
11 Suicide 34,598
12 Liver Disease 29,165
13 Hypertension 23,965
14 Parkinson's Disease 20,058
15 Homicide 18,361
16 Pneumonitis 16,988
17 Perinatal Period 14,599
18 Benign Neoplasms 14,204
19 Aortic Aneurysm 12,986
20 HIV   11,295

US Deaths from Terrorism
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/terror-rate.html
1985 2
1986 2
1987 0
1988 0
1989 2
1990 2
1991 1
1992 1
1993 15
1994 7
1995 171
1996 2
1997 2
1998 4
1999 218
2000 0
2001 2,998
2002 15
2003 0
2004 0
2005 0
2006 1
2007 0
2008 2
2009 18
2010 4
2011 6
2012 9
2013 5

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Default Respect, civilization's essential

* Stephen Colbert should apologize to America for an event on his Nov-9 show. One of his guests, after playing a bassoon threw it on the floor to destroy it. Colbert joined in the destruction. The sensational way several rock-and-roll and/or country artists have ended their performances should not be blessed by anyone with a conscience.
* Years ago, a poor musician friend told me that stars should just give their instruments to needy musicians, sensationalistically if they wish.
* But there is another reason for eschewing instrument destruction. It adds to the superabundance of contempt in our society, as do Rush Limbaugh and Donald Trump.
* Colbert should investigate the dedication, devotion, knowledge, skill, care and patience that go into a hand-crafted musical instrument. It deserves great admiration and appreciation, ie respect.
* If we ever have a great civilization, its prime characteristic will be default respect -- that is, respect for everyone who hasn't earned disrespect.
* I believe Colbert could present these ideas persuasively in a thoughtful apology.

Sing and Ring

* Recreational music has contributed greatly to my enjoyment of life. Recently I've been arranging a carol for small chorus and four instruments, a song that I translated to English back in 1995, Sing and Ring by Corner 1631. The recent arrangement is for a very small church, Bellevue Christian Church. I'm attempting to mimic the main musical themes created and performed by Michael Graham with a large chorus and small orchestra in Woodmont Christian Church about y2001.
* Here is our performance, Dec 13, 2015 in the little church: Sing and Ring , Bellevue Christian Church

Keyboard/Voice Score:

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Bridled Capitalism

Re: “Follies of socialism” by Wesson Smith, Tennessean Oct 25.
* Mr Smith wishes us to know that he is self-sufficient and that he resents government expenditures to help those who aren’t. He can expect a life of resentment, since the unbridled capitalism that he seeks is unsatisfying, unsustainable, unstable, corrupting and unjust.
* With each increase of productivity (goods & services) and each spread of production over a wider base, the US man hours needed to satisfy society's needs and desires falls below US man-hour capacity. White American males feel this especially, as work they once monopolized moves to women, minorities, foreigners, computers, robots, etc. Ever smaller fractions of people can be fully employed unless we reduce the full-employment hours well below 40 h/wk.
* Macroeconomic actions to increase employment are futile, resource destructive and debt intensive. Needed are regulations to achieve steady-state economics. That would include limits on annual conversion of non-renewable resources to waste, international family-planning cooperation, incentives to provide goods and services needed by society (Bridled Capitalism).

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Spring Valley High Confrontation

* All public commentators that I have heard and also my wife condemned the School Resource Officer who pulled the recalcitrant girl from her chair in a South Carolina math class. Among other things, they say that the SRO was too aggressive and that such interventions criminalize discipline problems.
* The girl was disturbing the class by using her cell phone in defiance of her teacher. She responded disrespectfully when asked by an administrator to leave the class. School policy presumably required bringing in the SRO at that point.
* The SRO spoke to the girl before the altercation. It is said that he attempted unsuccessfully to take the cell phone. It is said that the girl struck the SRO early in the altercation. The SRO attempted to lift her up but she stuck to the chair tenaciously, so that the chair with her in it fell over backward. It appears that the SRO held the back of her neck, possibly so her head wouldn’t hit the floor. Then the SRO jerked her from the downed chair and pulled her a few feet from the chair along the floor. A detailed account is at Daily Kos.
* I would be surprised if the girl was injured. (Based on two years playing football and two years wrestling with football players outweighing me by 70-90 pounds, having been slung more than eight feet out of the ring into the third row of folding chairs.)
* On seeing the videos of the incident, I immediately felt that the SRO was too aggressive. One always empathizes with the underdog. But, on further thought, I recognized the responsibility of a law-enforcement officer to control any offender. A law-enforcement officer should never confront an offender on even terms. He/She must have the clear advantage. Otherwise the probability of surviving to retirement is small. It can look ugly.
* Therefore, one shouldn’t be surprised or disappointed if the officer is eventually found to have acted responsibly. To consider this matter objectively, one might imagine this incident were it a tough 17-year-old boy defying and insulting his teacher and assistant principal, refusing to comply with the SRO, even hitting the SRO as he attempts to raise the boy from his seat. Should the responsible authority exhibit gender discrimination? Imagine yourself trying to teach a class of resistant teenagers with an especially surly one defying reasonable requests for necessary participation. As Barney Fife said about disruptive behavior: "nip it in the bud!"

Monday, October 26, 2015

Depraved Sanctimony

* Republicans owe America an apology for acts of depraved sanctimony. Two examples:
* 1) Reacting to election of our first black president, Tea Party chapters sprang up across the country to deprive Obama of his mandate. Under Carl Rove’s urging they applied for 501(c)(4) tax exemption, claiming that less than half their resources would be used for politics, contrary to their past. Republicans sanctimoniously drove Lois Lerner from office for exercising due diligence to prevent tax fraud by those formerly purely political groups. Last week DOJ declined to prosecute Lerner. Actually, the fault was with Congress for establishing the 501(c)(4) category with its impossible-to-verify qualifications.
* 2) After Libya’s revolution, we attempted to facilitate establishment of governing institutions by treating them respectfully. We didn’t prepare for the rare combination: dereliction by law enforcers of duty to protect foreign missions plus a mob with deadly mortars, these developing in a matter of minutes. Republicans sanctimoniously attacked Hillary Clinton for failing to protect our four personnel in the compound. Such preparation was the responsibility of career State-Department professionals and CIA agents, not of Hillary Clinton. The underlying fault was the Neocon/Vulcan doctrine of robust US presence in the middle east. Benign neglect would be better.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Wailing for Wuv

To print song lyrics: Left click on lyric image, right click middle of resulting graphics page, select Copy Image. Open new word-processor page, click Edit and select Paste, click File and select Print.)

(+ = duet , | = female solo, – = male solo)

After the fire is gone

D I V O R C E

Golden Ring

Hard times come again no more

If teardrops were pennies

Just someone I used to know

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Middle East

* This blog, EthicsBlackHole, was started in 2007 (when I learned about blogging) to protest our criminal invasion of Iraq. Below are 23 protests of our Middle-East meddling:
0701 Iraq-War Decision
0701 World better sans Saddam
0701 Just-war theory
0701 Naive Iraq Plan
0701 Iraq-war runup
0702 Iraq Peace
0702 US-Iranian Relations
0702 Guantanamo detainees
0703 Mistakes were made
0704 Female oppression
0710 No more preemptive wars please
0801 Iraq War Cost
0901 Israel / Gaza
1302 My Dick Cheney Ramblings
1305 Conventional wisdom from both sides
1312 Israeli security
1402 Less harmful coercion
1409 Arab spring
1503 Appeal of Jihad to Western Muslims
1503 Of cells, people, tribes, nations and tumors
1507 What about Iran
1509 Migration Dynamics
1509 US Middle-East Policy
* Last week, Vladimir Putin announced Russia’s plan to take the government’s side in the Syrian civil war. One can see in several of the above entries that I agree with Putin’s characterization of the Arab Spring and Syrian Civil War. We should have stayed out of those conflicts. Obama, Clinton and Kerry still fail to understand the factors preventing democratic rule in those countries, as did Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the conservative think tanks.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

US Middle-East Policy

* A nation's foreign policy is supposed to advance its interests in terms of prosperity and security. Much of our policy in the Middle East has been to assure oil availability, to limit Soviet influence, to protect allies.
* Since 1948, our actions have harmed Palestinians, Iranians, Iraqis, Libyans and Syrians. I wonder what the Middle East would be like today had we not recognized Israel, deposed Iran's elected leader, blitzkrieged Iraq twice, facilitated Gaddafi 's murder, encouraged Syrian rebels. Would the affected populations be more satisfied and peaceful or less?
* Much as I like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, I believe that their cheering for the Arab spring was harmful, especially their condemnation of al-Assad. It is naive to believe that gentle democratic rule could have succeeded in Syria, a country with arbitrary and porous borders, with mutually incompatible tribes and religions within those borders and outside them, with negative agricultural reserve, with historic drought, with insufficient industrial capacity, with clan-based society, having been overrun by millions of Iraqi refugees for several years. Had al-Assad capitulated, millions of minority subjects (including Christians) would have been dispossessed by Sunnis or butchered by ISIS.
* Putin's Russia is bringing the needed forces to Syria, and we should adjust our actions and rhetoric to be compatible with their agenda. Syria's problems need definitive ruthlessness that we cannot provide.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

David Hume’s moral philosophy

David Hume sought to build a moral philosophy from a few objectively defensible principles.
It is described in: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/
under:
7. Moral Philosophy
7.1 Moral Rationalism: Critical Phase in the Treatise
7.2 Sentimentalism: Constructive Phase
7.3 Self-Interest Theories: Critical Phase in the Enquiry
7.4 Justice: Constructive Phase

Republican mythology

Re: TENNESSEAN Sep 21 Opinion/Voices, Glen Casada, Democrats abandon long-held beliefs:

Before the mid 1960s, political white supremacists in Southern States were in the Democratic Party, the south having been defeated by the north under Republican leadership a century earlier. Casada misses fondly that good-old-boy Democratic party.

After the Civil-Rights and Voting-Rights acts nurtured by the Kennedy/Johnson administration, white supremacists jumped to the Republican Party. Casada abhors the supremacist-depleted Democratic party.

Casada faults the Democratic Party for no longer reflecting the beliefs of its conservative founders. Both exploited slaves -- one raped his 15-year-old slave girl and enslaved their issue, the other dispossessed whole tribes of native Americans, murdering thousands in the process.

The Reagan code -- conservatism, low taxes, small government, personal responsibility, trickle-down job creation, welfare cheat, market forces -- is about perpetual white advantage.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Migration Dynamics

* Migration evokes sentiments in destination nations and in onlookers. What sentiments are justified, instinctive, ethical, practical, enlightening? Worry or despair might qualify for all of these.
* After WWII, European nations implemented reforms to reduce the chance of war among themselves and to restrain racism, eventually uniting economically. They committed to protecting refugees, contrary to their tradition and to tribal drives instinctive to us all. Several European leaders recently sought to help thousands of immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East, but this required an ability to distribute migrants rationally among European countries, a plan that was rejected by most countries. Because of this and the overwhelming numbers, several of the initially welcoming countries now try to stop the flow. A refugee-distribution plan might be doomed by visa-free travel among European countries.
* I believe that civilization will be better with Europeans than with Moslems controlling Europe. If so, Europe needs to stem the immigrant flow upstream – destroying smuggler's boats, supporting governments faced with rebellion, helping failed countries achieve economic balance, promoting birth control worldwide.
* What about the justice and ethics of stemming immigration? Perhaps Europeans deserve the immigration as punishment for their(our) crimes against all non-Europeans, centuries of stealing lands, resources and lives of non-Europeans in all continents but Antarctica. As a product and beneficiary of such crimes, I would deserve such punishment but can't wish for it. A just and omnipotent observer might very well encourage and facilitate the migration we are witnessing, unless she sees something valuable and irreplaceable in European culture -- for example, a half century of reason, fairness and responsibility, earlier Shakespeare, Vivaldi and Beethoven. They(we) might be partially forgiven, since it seems impossible for tribes with more communication, organization and technology to resist dominating and exploiting tribes with less.
* Considering how much Europeans have harmed and exploited non-Europeans for centuries, we should at least recognize a debt to the descendants of the harmed and exploited. Can we help the latter in some way that partially discharges that debt, short of welcoming them to over-run Europe and lands now dominated by Eurotypes?
* Migration pressure spiked this year due to conflicts in the source countries, but that pressure has been high and rising for decades and is becoming explosive due to unconstrained reproductive drive, as argued in an earlier essay: Of cells, people, tribes, nations and tumors .
* Actual fertility rates of various countries are listed in the Table below. Those countries with fertility rates above 3 are irresponsibly setting the stage for an exploding Population Bomb. Every country with a fertility rate below 3 should band together to exclude migration from and economic aid to the exploding regions that do nothing to bridle their fertility. Note the insanely high rates in arid regions and middle Africa. How much of that is due to the Reagan/Republican gag rule?
* The idea that a country with a fertility rate < 2 needs immigrants is simple minded. There are plenty of ways for reproductively responsible nations to achieve prosperous steady states. Unbridled free-trade capitalism isn't one of them.
* Consider the tar-baby character of foreign conflicts. As a world-entangled nation, we are expected to and feel compelled to pass judgement on combatants, to stick our noses in where benign neglect would be better. We often side with ignorant populations against greedy leaders, encouraging rebellion where stability would be better for all. Perhaps we did too little of this in Latin America over the past century, but we probably did too much of it at the end of the cold war. I postulate that the the west and the Arab states would be better off had we kept our hands and mouths out of Arab politics after 1991. Iraq is a cauldron of ISIS toxins. Tunisia is suffering increased Islamist crimes and is cultivating ISIS soldiers. Egypt illegitimately returned to military rule rightly fearing duly elected Islamist rulers. Libya now hosts an endless struggle among clans and militias. The Syrian rebellion created ISIS, as al-Assad warned. We couldn't resist meddling in these conflicts on the side of destruction.
* Syrian rebels are guilty of massive and widespread harm, and we are guilty of encouraging them. Those wishing to condemn al-Assad should consider the impossibility of governing a nation with permeable borders overrun by Iraqi refugees, with several irreconcilable tribes/religions, with an unprecedented global-warming drought and with few marketable resources. We revere Abraham Lincoln, who mobilized all deadly weapons available against our rebellion.
* Plausibly leaders cling to power in Arab and African countries because they fear retribution for tyrannical rule, and/or they are of a tribe or clan that would be oppressed after losing control of the police and military. More stable countries like us could help such countries transfer power peacefully by providing attractive retirement packages for their leaders.

Niger 7.6 Egypt 2.8
Mali 6.9 Belize 2.7
Somalia 6.7 Morocco 2.7
Chad 6.4    Saudi Arabia 2.7
Burundi 6.1 Botswana 2.7
Dem Rep Congo 6.0 Kuwait 2.6
Nigeria 6.0 Fiji 2.6
Angola 6.0 Guyana 2.6
Uganda 6.0 Ecuador 2.6
Gambia 5.8 Kazakhstan 2.6
Zambia 5.7 Nicaragua 2.5
Burkina Faso 5.7 Uzbekistan 2.5
Malawi 5.5 Dominican Republic 2.5
Timor-Leste 5.3 India 2.5
Tanzania 5.3 Panama 2.5
Mozambique 5.3 World Average 2.5
Afghanistan 5.1 Peru 2.4
Republc of Congo 5.0 Mongolia 2.4
South Sudan 5.0 Guam (US) 2.4
Guinea 5.0 Venezuela 2.4
Guinea-Bissau 5.0 South Africa 2.4
Senegal 5.0   Libya 2.4
Equatorial Guinea 4.9 Seychelles 2.4
Benin 4.9 Nepal 2.4
Côte d'Ivoire 4.9 Indonesia 2.4
Liberia 4.9 Turkmenistan 2.4
Cameroon 4.9   Sri Lanka 2.3
Eritrea 4.8 Cabo Verde 2.3
Comoros 4.8 Colombia 2.3
Sierra Leone 4.8 Suriname 2.3
Mauritania 4.7 Maldives 2.3
Togo 4.7 Jamaica 2.3
Ethiopia 4.6 Bhutan 2.3
Rwanda 4.6 Mexico 2.2
Madagascar 4.5   El Salvador 2.2
Sudan 4.5 Bangladesh 2.2
Kenya 4.5 Curaçao (Netherlands) 2.2
Centrl Afrcn Repubc 4.5 Grenada 2.2
Samoa 4.2 Kosovo 2.2
Yemen 4.2 Argentina 2.2
Sao Tome & Principe 4.1 Tunisia 2.2
Gabon 4.1 New Caledonia (France) 2.1
Solomon Islands 4.1 Antigua and Barbuda 2.1
Iraq 4.1 Bahrain 2.1
Gaza Strp & West Bnk 4.1 French Polynesia (France) 2.1
Ghana 3.9 Turkey 2.1
Guatemala 3.8 Uruguay 2.1
Papua New Guinea 3.8 New Zealand 2.1
Tajikistan 3.8 Population Replacement 2.1
Tonga 3.8   Iceland 2.0
Zimbabwe 3.6 Qatar 2.0
Djibouti 3.5 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 2.0
Vanuatu 3.4 Brunei 2.0
Swaziland 3.4 Ireland 2.0
Micronesia 3.3 France 2.0
Jordan 3.3 Azerbaijan 2.0
Pakistan 3.3 North Korea 2.0
Bolivia 3.3 Greenland (Denmark) 2.0
Haiti 3.2 Malaysia 2.0
Laos 3.1 Myanmar (Burma) 2.0
Namibia 3.1 St. Lucia 1.9
Kyrgyzstan 3.1 Australia 1.9
Lesotho 3.1 Iran 1.9
Philippines 3.1 Sweden 1.9
Honduras 3.1 United Kingdom 1.9
Israel 3.0 Bahamas, The 1.9
Syria 3.0 United States 1.9
Kiribati 3.0 Norway 1.9
Paraguay 2.9 Barbados 1.8
Cambodia 2.9 Chile 1.8
Oman 2.9   United Arab Emirates 1.8
Algeria 2.8 Sint Maarten (French part) 1.8
_____________________________________________________
Georgia 1.8 Liechtenstein 1.5
Brazil 1.8 Bulgaria 1.5
Costa Rica 1.8 Lebanon 1.5
Virgin Islands (US) 1.8 Cyprus 1.5
Finland 1.8 Moldova 1.5
Trinidad and Tobago 1.8 Cuba 1.5
Belgium 1.8 Czech Republic 1.5
Vietnam 1.8 Austria 1.4
Bermuda (UK) 1.8 Latvia 1.4
Albania 1.8 Macedonia 1.4
Armenia 1.8 Malta 1.4
Denmark 1.7 Mauritius 1.4
Netherlands 1.7 Thailand 1.4
Aruba (Netherlands) 1.7   Japan 1.4
Montenegro 1.7   Italy 1.4
China 1.7 Germany 1.4
Puerto Rico (US) 1.6 Slovak Republic 1.3
Belarus 1.6   Greece 1.3
Canada 1.6    Hungary 1.3
Lithuania 1.6 Spain 1.3
Russia 1.6    Serbia 1.3
Slovenia 1.6 Poland 1.3
Luxembourg 1.6   South Korea 1.3
Estonia 1.6 Singapore 1.3
Ukraine 1.5   Hong Kong (China) 1.3
Romania 1.5    Portugal 1.3
Switzerland 1.5 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.3
Croatia 1.5    San Marino 1.3
Croatia 1.5   Macau (China) 1.1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_fertility_rate

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Problems in the GOP stable

* By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 7:16). You can't judge a book by its cover. I have confirmed these maxims many times, seeing that the most accomplished of my colleagues showed no outward signs of it. Yet prejudice is so natural. We naturally judge people by their appearance or other irrelevancies: race, religion, gender, age, language, lineage, dress, cosmetics, trappings. Visual appeal sells cars, clothes, homes, mates, entertainers and leaders.

* The US is lucky that Obama came along to bring previously missing contemplation and objectivity to the presidency. That his ascendance was attended by fear and loathing among Fox-News followers before his initiatives were implemented can only be attributed to his race or other irrelevancies.

* I now find myself indulging in prejudice. Since he came on the scene decades ago, I could never countenance Donald Trump's voice or face. That was before he revealed himself to be so conceited, entitled, narcissistic, disrespectful, shallow, vulgar, dismissive, before he stiffed investors and creditors in his four bankruptcies. It was probably my existential abhorrence of conspicuous consumption upon hearing about his gold faucets. If Trump wins the presidency, my life will end in transcendental torment even if he leads wisely.

* On further reflection, though, the other GOP contenders have pledged to enrich the rich at the expense of essential social programs, so Trump might be the least subversive of the lot. He is, however, unpredictable and impulsive, might start a war on a whim, like Bush/Cheney.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Recreational Discussion

* Discontentment and discouragement are widespread. Much is suboptimal or harmful. Responses to discontentment often seem misguided and ineffective. Can one identify procedures that would produce satisfactory responses and results? Perhaps the following framework would be worth considering.

1) Characterize the unsatisfactory condition.
2) Analyze the chain of events that gave rise to the unsatisfactory condition.
3) Describe the condition as it should be.
4) Consider counterfactual but possible chains of events that might have resulted in the should-be condition.
5) Imagine possible chains of events that might lead from the actual condition to the should-be condition.
6) Imagine unfavorable side effects of these remedial chains of events.
7) Consider alternatives that might improve the target condition with less undesirable side effects.

How might this framework be improved?
Can one describe or identify a satisfactory society, beyond amelioration? How might it not be too boring?

* Among the unsatisfactory conditions that might be discussed with the above framework are the following:
a) The prevalence of discouragement and disaffection among black citizens.
b) The widening income disparities among US population segments.
c) The gratuitous resource-to-waste conversion rate.
d) The growth of ISIS in population, influence and space.
e) Expansion of water-limited or land-limited populations.
f) The substance abuse among native Americans.
g) The absence of satisfaction even among successful people.
h) The prevalence of loneliness.
i) Tribes lacking rights (titles) to their native lands.
j) Turmoil due to infiltration of non-european tribes in Europe.
k) Imbalances in human resources, inclinations and societal needs.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

LGBT weddings in church

* In hopes of limiting harm to my church incident to its decision on same-sex weddings, I’m imagining characteristics of the decision and of the opposition, and the consequences thereof – the dynamics of the controversy as it might evolve. In the short run, the church might decide either way, to prohibit or to allow such weddings.
* Eventually, my church will surely allow them, as will most churches, because extending rights, protections and respect beyond ones tribe is consistent with the golden rule, the good Samaritan, the great commandment, Micah 6:8, Hebrews 13:2 and Matthew 25:35-40. In implementing these lessons, it helps to imagine oneself as the other person or as an objective well-wishing observer. Moreover, marriage is good for public health and social order, as well as happiness from companionship and from safely satisfying primitive drives with a loving and helpful mate.
* About 15 years ago, my church’s most prominent member belittled and berated me for celebrating advancements in LGBT rights in a Letter to the Editor. As an athlete himself, he should have known that I couldn’t enjoy success on a field tilted to my advantage with referees calling fouls in my favor. Also, my Second-Sunday-Singalong banjoist left in anger. Long, mutually beneficial relations may not survive this issue.
* Judging from informal surveys, most of my contemporaries will oppose LGBT weddings in the church – based on scripture, personal taste, preference for like-minded company (tribalism), and evidence that liberalism poisons churches. Those contemporaries led lives of integrity and kindness. They supported good causes with their time, treasure, sweat and blood. In their declining years, they deserve to be content with their righteousness and to see the church they built remain healthy and hospitable to them. To protect their contentment, I didn’t join the retirees club.
* I believe my anti-LGBT-wedding contemporaries should acquiesce when they see that LGBT weddings will happen at our church in the foreseeable future. Trying to prevent the inevitable will harm the institution and their places in it. They should take comfort in the fact that they needn’t witness any wedding that they don’t approve of. Now that most Americans and their government approve of same-sex weddings, our church can conduct them without getting the feared liberal reputation. They should recognize that their reasons for prohibiting LGBT weddings cannot justify humiliating LGBTs.
* If my anti-LGBT-wedding contemporaries win, the consequences might be worse for them than acquiescence. Many younger and more energetic members disappointed with that win might leave, showing that more conservatism in church than in society might be toxic. Others might stay and continue lobbying for same-sex marriage, reducing the overall gladness titre. All that strife for a temporary delay.
* On life’s final glide-path, I contemplate purpose, meaning and value, what matters enough to care about and work for. I still hope to discover something enlightening and to share something beautiful. I hope to make choices that contribute to a less harmful, less painful, less fearful, less hateful, more just and happier society – a nobler civilization. That civilization would be inclusive. Read the scriptures cited above.