There were two interesting, related articles in different sections of this morning's Washington Post. The first, on page B3 of the Metro section, was titled "Proposal for an Islamic Envoy Brings Cautious Hope" (read it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/29/AR2007062901684.html). It discussed President Bush's plan to appoint a representative to the Organization of the Islamic Conference to improve America's battered image in the Muslim world and encourage more dialog between the two sides. While the general tone of the article was that Muslims were "cautiously optimistic" about the initiative, one quote in particular struck me: a Muslim parking lot attendant from Maryland said, "I don't think the U.S. is doing enough to have good relations with Muslims. They always blame Muslims for anything that happens, for everything that happens in the world."
Let's think about that statement for a moment.
If there is anyplace in the world where America is blamed for everything negative that happens, it's the Islamic world. Islamic television (al Jazeera, al Arabiya, etc) delivers a constant bombardment of anti-American denunciation, some of it earned, but most of it the most outrageous drivel lapped up by populations with no ability to filter (or interest in filtering) the informational wheat from the chaff of bigoted propaganda. Islamic newspapers and websites are the same - if it's bad, it's by definition American.
Now, let's consider why Americans might have a negative opinion of Muslims. Take a look at the number of terroristic acts committed in the course of a single week, then take a look at the perpetrators. Chances are that the vast majority were committed by Muslim extremists citing religious justifications for their acts.
Any questions?
The second article in this morning's Post was a small piece at the bottom of page C7 of the Style section, titled, "Mickey Mouse 'Twin' Killed on Hamas TV" (read it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/29/AR2007062902105.html) This article chronicled the death of the character "Farfour," a Mickey Mouse look-alike featured on the show "Tomorrow's Pioneers" - in a skit on the show, Farfour was beaten to death by an actor playing an Israeli official who wanted to buy his land. Sara, the teenage host of the program, told the audience that "Farfour was martyred while defending his land," and that he had been killed "by the killers of children."
The brutal and uncompromising actions of Hamas have been clearly in evidence over the last few weeks, and the despicable use of a childen's television character to incite hatred and violence in the young is beyond contempt. Does the parking lot attendant in Maryland who thinks Americans blame Muslims for "everything" know the effect that things like this have on American observers? Does he support filling the heads of young children with thoughts of murder and "martyrdom?" If so, he shouldn't need to ask why Americans have a negative view of Muslims; of not, he needs to open his eyes and educate himself a little better about the awful things being done in the name of his religion.
I for one don't wonder that Americans are fed up and disgusted with the lunatics of the Middle East. What I don't understand is why we are expected to make every effort to improve relations with and better understand people whose concept of civilization has stagnated since the seventh century.
No, wait - I understand why: because, peace be upon us, we stand to be beheaded if we do not unquestioningly accept and submit to a religion that brooks no question, no compromise, and no independent thought...and sees nothing wrong with killing us if we don't agree.
Who needs to do the reaching out and understanding, here?
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Cultural Literacy and Valley Girls
This week's issue of Newsweek magazine looks back 20 years to the publication of E.D. Hirsch's book Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, and the furor that surrounded it. Hirsch contended in his book that there is a certain essential body of knowledge that every American needs in order to understand what is going on in the world around him (or her). At the time, Hirsch was roundly criticized by many who viewed his list of basic elements of cultural literacy as being insufficiently inclusive of diverse, multicultural information.
I, of course, loved it.
Newsweek has used the 20th anniversary of the publication of Cultural Literacy to again raise the issue of what we need to know to function as aware, involved citizens in the 21st century...to understand the historical and cultural meaning of events. An example used in the article is the comparison of Iraq to Vietnam - if you don't know about the war in Vietnam (and many young people today don't), the meaning of the comparison will be lost.
I've believed for many years that cultural and historical literacy are very important. Back in the mid-80's when I was taking the Air Force's Air Command and Staff College correspondence course, one of the required readings was a fascinating article by Benjamin Stein titled Valley Girls View the World. In that article, Mr Stein described the lack of knowledge of history, geography, and general culture evidenced by the friends of his teenaged daughter. He noted that, among other things, many of these young ladies didn't know who won the Civil War, or even when the Civil War was fought.
By the way, if you didn't understand the meaning of the term valley girl, you too are lacking an element of cultural literacy...the little piece that helps you understand that a valley girl is a young, unsophisticated woman, stereotypically from California, happily living in a sheltered world of friends, entertainment, and shopping without an understanding of events in the larger world around her.
In one of my earliest posts to this blog, I wrote about a friendly young waitress in a hotel restaurant in Colorado Springs who asked a customer where he was visiting from. When he answered, "Qatar," she asked, "Where's that?" At the time (and still today), I was a little shocked that she didn't recognize the name of a Gulf emirate where many American troops are stationed as part of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's part of cultural literacy.
No one will ever be able to agree on a single list of things every American needs to know. The country is too big, too diverse, and changes too rapidly to make such a list worthwhile to compile. But the need is clear: there are things we all need to know to make sense of events. There is essential information we need to make informed economic, political, and social decisions if we are to be active, involved, aware citizens.
Unfortunately, many Americans not only don't have such cultural literacy...they aren't even aware they're lacking it.
And that bodes ill for the future.
Read the July 9th issue of Newsweek and think about whether you are culturally literate. You need to be.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
I, of course, loved it.
Newsweek has used the 20th anniversary of the publication of Cultural Literacy to again raise the issue of what we need to know to function as aware, involved citizens in the 21st century...to understand the historical and cultural meaning of events. An example used in the article is the comparison of Iraq to Vietnam - if you don't know about the war in Vietnam (and many young people today don't), the meaning of the comparison will be lost.
I've believed for many years that cultural and historical literacy are very important. Back in the mid-80's when I was taking the Air Force's Air Command and Staff College correspondence course, one of the required readings was a fascinating article by Benjamin Stein titled Valley Girls View the World. In that article, Mr Stein described the lack of knowledge of history, geography, and general culture evidenced by the friends of his teenaged daughter. He noted that, among other things, many of these young ladies didn't know who won the Civil War, or even when the Civil War was fought.
By the way, if you didn't understand the meaning of the term valley girl, you too are lacking an element of cultural literacy...the little piece that helps you understand that a valley girl is a young, unsophisticated woman, stereotypically from California, happily living in a sheltered world of friends, entertainment, and shopping without an understanding of events in the larger world around her.
In one of my earliest posts to this blog, I wrote about a friendly young waitress in a hotel restaurant in Colorado Springs who asked a customer where he was visiting from. When he answered, "Qatar," she asked, "Where's that?" At the time (and still today), I was a little shocked that she didn't recognize the name of a Gulf emirate where many American troops are stationed as part of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's part of cultural literacy.
No one will ever be able to agree on a single list of things every American needs to know. The country is too big, too diverse, and changes too rapidly to make such a list worthwhile to compile. But the need is clear: there are things we all need to know to make sense of events. There is essential information we need to make informed economic, political, and social decisions if we are to be active, involved, aware citizens.
Unfortunately, many Americans not only don't have such cultural literacy...they aren't even aware they're lacking it.
And that bodes ill for the future.
Read the July 9th issue of Newsweek and think about whether you are culturally literate. You need to be.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Victor Davis Hanson on Hypocrisy-vs-Civilization
One of my favorite commentators, historian Victor Davis Hanson, has once again hit the nail on the proverbial head.
In an article titled "Hypocrisy That Undermines Civilization" (read it at http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson062407.html), Hanson skewers the hypocritical attitudes that are undercutting the rule of law and subverting the values Western civilization has painfully developed over many centuries. In particular, he decries the double standard that accuses the developed West for every ill of the world while giving a free pass to the racism, bigotry, and intolerant savagery so pervasive in the Middle East.
This is an article very much worth reading from a writer whose clear-eyed and analytical summary is impossible to refute without utterly ignoring the evidence. Read it and think about it.
Hanson's summary paragraph is worth quoting in full:
"Finally, remember that there is a reason why millions flood into Europe from the Middle East and to America from Mexico - and not vice versa. There is a reason why Democrats and Republicans don't shoot each other in the streets of Washington, or why blue-state America does not mine red-state highways. And there is a reason why a Shiite mosque in Detroit is safer in the land of the Great Satan than it would be in Muslim Saudi Arabia. It's called civilization - a precious and fragile commodity that is missed even by its destroyers the minute they've done away with it."
Think about it.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
In an article titled "Hypocrisy That Undermines Civilization" (read it at http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson062407.html), Hanson skewers the hypocritical attitudes that are undercutting the rule of law and subverting the values Western civilization has painfully developed over many centuries. In particular, he decries the double standard that accuses the developed West for every ill of the world while giving a free pass to the racism, bigotry, and intolerant savagery so pervasive in the Middle East.
This is an article very much worth reading from a writer whose clear-eyed and analytical summary is impossible to refute without utterly ignoring the evidence. Read it and think about it.
Hanson's summary paragraph is worth quoting in full:
"Finally, remember that there is a reason why millions flood into Europe from the Middle East and to America from Mexico - and not vice versa. There is a reason why Democrats and Republicans don't shoot each other in the streets of Washington, or why blue-state America does not mine red-state highways. And there is a reason why a Shiite mosque in Detroit is safer in the land of the Great Satan than it would be in Muslim Saudi Arabia. It's called civilization - a precious and fragile commodity that is missed even by its destroyers the minute they've done away with it."
Think about it.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Eric Hoffer on Stupidity
While reading Eric Hoffer's book The Passionate State of Mind, I found the following wonderful, pithy observation:
"The hardest thing in the world to cope with is not selfishness or vanity or deceitfulness, but sheer stupidity. One needs the talents of an animal trainer to deal with the stupid."
One of the things I've found as I get older is that my level of tolerance for stupidity has greatly decreased, and the overload light on my BS detector spends more time glowing steadily than occasionally flashing. We're all stupid at one time or another (yes, believe it or not, even I have done some stupid things in my time), but it seems lately as if we've managed to raise stupidity to an art form. Consider the following:
* A useless twit like Paris Hilton gets front-page treatment in major newspapers.
* Our senators and representatives stubbornly refuse to make the compromises necessary to pass desperately-needed immigration reform legislation.
* Islamic militants singlehandedly devastate Gaza, Lebanon, and Iraq while glorifying murder and death...and somehow it's our fault.
I could go on, but there's no point in getting overly depressed this early in the morning. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll just pick up my whip and chair and go forth to practice my talents as an animal trainer.
Unfortunately, I'll have plenty of opportunities to practice.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
"The hardest thing in the world to cope with is not selfishness or vanity or deceitfulness, but sheer stupidity. One needs the talents of an animal trainer to deal with the stupid."
One of the things I've found as I get older is that my level of tolerance for stupidity has greatly decreased, and the overload light on my BS detector spends more time glowing steadily than occasionally flashing. We're all stupid at one time or another (yes, believe it or not, even I have done some stupid things in my time), but it seems lately as if we've managed to raise stupidity to an art form. Consider the following:
* A useless twit like Paris Hilton gets front-page treatment in major newspapers.
* Our senators and representatives stubbornly refuse to make the compromises necessary to pass desperately-needed immigration reform legislation.
* Islamic militants singlehandedly devastate Gaza, Lebanon, and Iraq while glorifying murder and death...and somehow it's our fault.
I could go on, but there's no point in getting overly depressed this early in the morning. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll just pick up my whip and chair and go forth to practice my talents as an animal trainer.
Unfortunately, I'll have plenty of opportunities to practice.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
The 65 Million Dollar Pants - Part 2
Finally, a sudden blast of common sense has blown through Washington, DC. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have affected the Executive or Legislative branches of the government yet, but it's very welcome in its own way. DC Superior Court judge Judith Bartnoff has decisively dismissed the stupidest lawsuit of the century: a claim by another judge (!) for $54 million (down from an original $65 million) against a local dry cleaner for losing his favorite pair of pants.
In her 23-page finding of fact, Judge Bartnoff wrote: "A reasonable consumer would not interpret 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' to mean that a merchant is required to satisfy a customer's unreasonable demands or accede to demands that the merchant has reasonable grounds to dispute." She also concluded that the plaintiff had "not met his burden of proving that the pants the defendants attempted to return to him were not the pants he brought in for alteration." The attorney for the defendants said, "Judge Bartnoff has chosen common sense and reasonableness over irrationality and unbridled venom."
This ridiculous lawsuit has provided fun for late-night talk show comics and has been a staple of local discussion for months. But beyond being utterly stupid, it has had the unfortunate collateral effect of making a laughingstock of the law.
If you've been reading this blog for long, you know that I strongly believe in justice and the rule of law. The guarantee of fair and impartial justice is one of the bedrock principles that makes America the great country that it is. When the system is abused (as in ludicrous lawsuits like this one) or ignored (as by those who argue for limitless rights for illegal immigrants), it demeans the dignity and power of the law and encourages people to ignore laws they don't think they should obey. And when we decide not to obey the law, it doesn't take long for the veneer of civilization to peel away.
It's a shame that it took so long for a sensible judge to throw out this ridiculous case and order the plaintiff to pay the court costs. She should have ordered a bailiff to throw the moron out of court on his backside as well, and I hope she also orders him to pay the defendants' legal fees. It's too bad tar and feathers are no longer part of the sentencing guidelines, because I think these would be appropriate, too.
Respect for the law is what separates us from the animals. A strong, fair, and impartial legal system is what separates America from paradises on earth like Saudi Arabia and Iran. To the extent that he has undermined respect for the law and caused financial loss and anguish to the defendants, administrative law judge Roy L. Pearson deserves the ridicule and condemnation he has so richly earned.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
In her 23-page finding of fact, Judge Bartnoff wrote: "A reasonable consumer would not interpret 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' to mean that a merchant is required to satisfy a customer's unreasonable demands or accede to demands that the merchant has reasonable grounds to dispute." She also concluded that the plaintiff had "not met his burden of proving that the pants the defendants attempted to return to him were not the pants he brought in for alteration." The attorney for the defendants said, "Judge Bartnoff has chosen common sense and reasonableness over irrationality and unbridled venom."
This ridiculous lawsuit has provided fun for late-night talk show comics and has been a staple of local discussion for months. But beyond being utterly stupid, it has had the unfortunate collateral effect of making a laughingstock of the law.
If you've been reading this blog for long, you know that I strongly believe in justice and the rule of law. The guarantee of fair and impartial justice is one of the bedrock principles that makes America the great country that it is. When the system is abused (as in ludicrous lawsuits like this one) or ignored (as by those who argue for limitless rights for illegal immigrants), it demeans the dignity and power of the law and encourages people to ignore laws they don't think they should obey. And when we decide not to obey the law, it doesn't take long for the veneer of civilization to peel away.
It's a shame that it took so long for a sensible judge to throw out this ridiculous case and order the plaintiff to pay the court costs. She should have ordered a bailiff to throw the moron out of court on his backside as well, and I hope she also orders him to pay the defendants' legal fees. It's too bad tar and feathers are no longer part of the sentencing guidelines, because I think these would be appropriate, too.
Respect for the law is what separates us from the animals. A strong, fair, and impartial legal system is what separates America from paradises on earth like Saudi Arabia and Iran. To the extent that he has undermined respect for the law and caused financial loss and anguish to the defendants, administrative law judge Roy L. Pearson deserves the ridicule and condemnation he has so richly earned.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Monday, June 25, 2007
Alan Johnston, Gaza, and the Death of Sympathy
Alan Johnston, the BBC's Gaza-based reporter who was kidnapped back in March by a radical Islamist group, has reappeared in a video - wearing an explosive suicide vest and asking not to be rescued.
Once again, radical Islamists have taken the step which most undermines any residual sympathy they might have had among Western audiences. Alan Johnston was the only Western reporter actually living in Gaza and trying to present a balanced depiction of the desperate situation there. By kidnapping and threatening him, the radicals have convincingly shown that they have no respect for human life and no sense of how to go about redressing their grievances. Of course, those grievances are held against everyone but themselves. As I have often pointed out, events have shown, and most of the world overlooks, the Palestinians have no interest in looking inward and helping to solve the many problems that beset them - it's much easier to sit in misery and squalor, squandering each chance for peace and security while thundering that the situation is the responsibility of (choose one or more):
(1) Israel;
(2) The United States;
(3) Anyone else.
My heart goes out to Alan Johnston, a prisoner of bigoted morons without either conscience or any sense of how to go about achieving their end goals...whatever those are. My heart used to go out to the Palestinians, but they've long since forfeited any sympathy I had for their plight.
My father was always fond of saying that "God helps those who help themselves." It's not a wonder that He seems to have abandoned those in the sorry Middle East who most frequently invoke His name.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Once again, radical Islamists have taken the step which most undermines any residual sympathy they might have had among Western audiences. Alan Johnston was the only Western reporter actually living in Gaza and trying to present a balanced depiction of the desperate situation there. By kidnapping and threatening him, the radicals have convincingly shown that they have no respect for human life and no sense of how to go about redressing their grievances. Of course, those grievances are held against everyone but themselves. As I have often pointed out, events have shown, and most of the world overlooks, the Palestinians have no interest in looking inward and helping to solve the many problems that beset them - it's much easier to sit in misery and squalor, squandering each chance for peace and security while thundering that the situation is the responsibility of (choose one or more):
(1) Israel;
(2) The United States;
(3) Anyone else.
My heart goes out to Alan Johnston, a prisoner of bigoted morons without either conscience or any sense of how to go about achieving their end goals...whatever those are. My heart used to go out to the Palestinians, but they've long since forfeited any sympathy I had for their plight.
My father was always fond of saying that "God helps those who help themselves." It's not a wonder that He seems to have abandoned those in the sorry Middle East who most frequently invoke His name.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Five Generations
Agnes and I just returned this morning from a visit to my oldest son and his family in Ohio, where he hosted a mini-family reunion. My younger son flew in from Los Angeles, and my sister and her family drove over from Pennsylvania and brought my father so that he could see his newest great-grandchild.
Naturally, a few photos were taken...enough that we all had to wear sunblock to protect from the flashes. One of the photos Agnes shot was a Four Generations picture of my father, myself, my two sons, and the two male grandchildren:
Naturally, a few photos were taken...enough that we all had to wear sunblock to protect from the flashes. One of the photos Agnes shot was a Four Generations picture of my father, myself, my two sons, and the two male grandchildren:
From left to right in the back row: my son Jason; Jason's son Noah, held by my son Matt; myself, and my father. In the front row is Jason's son Joe.
I think this is a great picture. But my sister also brought along a huge bag of loose photos she'd collected from drawers at home, and found this one:
This picture, shot in August of 1974, shows a very, very young-looking (some might say, 'geeky') Bilbo, my paternal grandmother, and my very young-looking father holding my son Jason - age three months...yes, the same Jason on the left of the other photo with two of his three children.
Thirty-two years separate those two photographs, which document five generations of the family. Time flies. And it's important to remember what has gone before so that we have the history and the stories to pass on to our children and grandchildren. Someday these photos will be pulled out of drawers or called up on computer screens to show to new generations of the family...people to whom we in those photos may be only dimly-remembered memories. But it's important to keep those memories, so that we always know where we came from, and can keep a connection to those who have gone before.
I have always regretted that I didn't take more of an interest in family history sooner, but I'm frantically trying to make up for lost time now. Someday Marcy and Joe and Noah will grin for photographs holding their children, and great-grandpa Bilbo may not be around to pose with them. But I want them to know who I was, and who their ancestors were, as we continue through the generations yet to come.
History is made by people who lived, laughed, cried, tried, failed, and pressed on to make the best world they knew how for their children. We owe it to those children to protect and preserve the story so they can ground themselves in time.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Ideas for Google Maps
I hadn't planned to post again until Sunday, when I come back from visiting my grandchildren, but I have a few minutes before heading to the airport, and wanted to share this with you...
The blog "Listoff" (http://listoff.blogspot.com) offers - as the name implies - lists of all sorts. A tongue-in-cheek list of suggestions for maps that Google Maps ought to offer includes this one: "Sites where peace agreements were signed and conflict broke out less than five years afterwards."
Isn't it a shame that there are enough such places that someone even thought about the need for such a map?
Off to the airport! I'll be back on Sunday and will post again after downloading the 9 billion photos I plan to shoot of the world's most adorable grandchildren. Life is good.
Have a great weekend. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
The blog "Listoff" (http://listoff.blogspot.com) offers - as the name implies - lists of all sorts. A tongue-in-cheek list of suggestions for maps that Google Maps ought to offer includes this one: "Sites where peace agreements were signed and conflict broke out less than five years afterwards."
Isn't it a shame that there are enough such places that someone even thought about the need for such a map?
Off to the airport! I'll be back on Sunday and will post again after downloading the 9 billion photos I plan to shoot of the world's most adorable grandchildren. Life is good.
Have a great weekend. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Thou Shalt Not Drive Like a Moron
I've often complained in this space about the drivers who try to kill me every day as I cross the street on my way to work. A bad driver is like the weather - everybody complains about it, but nobody does anything. Until now.
The Vatican has issued "Ten Commandments for Drivers," the first of which is "Thou shalt not kill." If I remember correctly, that commandment has already been published, but that's neither here nor there. You can read the entire list at: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/19/vatican.road.rage.ap/index.html. I also did a quick search on the Vatican website (http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm), but wasn't able to find them.
The Ten Commandments for drivers aren't a bad thing. Every one is sensible and worthwhile. Of course, they may not apply if you are a Buddhist or a Hindu, and certainly not if you are a Muslim (as you don't recognize the validity of any other religion and are promised paradise for killing us infidels, anyhow). If they help reduce the toll of death and injury on the roads of the world, though, I suppose that's great.
I can't help thinking, however, that the Vatican, with all its spiritual and temporal power and prestige, could take on some more important issues. Feeding the hungry, nursing the sick, and clothing the naked are all mentioned in the Bible, but don't generally have anything to do with safe driving. Condemnation of evils done in the name of religion would be a good start.
But I guess that's driving too fast for political conditions.
Have a good day. Drive safely.
I probably won't post again until Sunday, as I'll be on the road to visit my grandchildren. More thoughts when I return.
Bilbo
The Vatican has issued "Ten Commandments for Drivers," the first of which is "Thou shalt not kill." If I remember correctly, that commandment has already been published, but that's neither here nor there. You can read the entire list at: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/19/vatican.road.rage.ap/index.html. I also did a quick search on the Vatican website (http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm), but wasn't able to find them.
The Ten Commandments for drivers aren't a bad thing. Every one is sensible and worthwhile. Of course, they may not apply if you are a Buddhist or a Hindu, and certainly not if you are a Muslim (as you don't recognize the validity of any other religion and are promised paradise for killing us infidels, anyhow). If they help reduce the toll of death and injury on the roads of the world, though, I suppose that's great.
I can't help thinking, however, that the Vatican, with all its spiritual and temporal power and prestige, could take on some more important issues. Feeding the hungry, nursing the sick, and clothing the naked are all mentioned in the Bible, but don't generally have anything to do with safe driving. Condemnation of evils done in the name of religion would be a good start.
But I guess that's driving too fast for political conditions.
Have a good day. Drive safely.
I probably won't post again until Sunday, as I'll be on the road to visit my grandchildren. More thoughts when I return.
Bilbo
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Of Graphs and Chicken Entrails
As part of the research for a paper I'm trying to write, I have re-read several books by Eric Hoffer, the "Longshoreman Philosopher." Hoffer was a self-educated man who, after recovering from eight years of blindness brought on by a childhood injury, read everything he could get his hands on, then began to write his own works. I've often cited his book The True Believer, a brilliant study of the psychology and motivation of individuals who become fanatics and join mass movements; at the moment, I'm reading another of his works, Reflections on the Human Condition.
Hoffer's books are easy to read, being mainly collections of aphorisms generally a page or less in length, but packed with insight and wisdom that keep you thinking long after you've closed the cover. Reading Reflections on the Human Condition yesterday, I came across this interesting observation:
"It is a paradox that in our time of rapid, drastic change, when the future is in our midst, devouring the present before our eyes, we have never been less certain what is ahead of us. Our need for predicatability is far more urgent than in times past, and we are addicted to forecasters and pollsters. Even when the forecasts are wrong we go on asking for them. We watch our experts read their graphs the way the ancients watched their soothsayers read the entrails of a chicken."
Hoffer wrote this in 1973, but it applies today more than ever. Political candidates slavishly depend on their pollsters to see which way the winds of public opinion are blowing. Government and academic "experts" frantically try to predict the future of the Iraqi disaster to see what can be salvaged from the wreckage of the well-intentioned, but abysmally considered adventure. Duelling scientists and economists try to out-shout each other about the dangers (or not) of global warming. We're choking in data, but starved for knowledge.
Yogi Berra (another underappreciated philosopher) once said, "The future ain't what it used to be," and he was right. We are less able to predict the future than ever before. We look to the future less with traditionally American hope and optimism than with dread and resignation.
The future appears to be written less in graphs and charts than in entrails - not of chickens, but of the victims of intolerance, terrorism, and war.
It would be nice if we could just go back to the graphs.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Hoffer's books are easy to read, being mainly collections of aphorisms generally a page or less in length, but packed with insight and wisdom that keep you thinking long after you've closed the cover. Reading Reflections on the Human Condition yesterday, I came across this interesting observation:
"It is a paradox that in our time of rapid, drastic change, when the future is in our midst, devouring the present before our eyes, we have never been less certain what is ahead of us. Our need for predicatability is far more urgent than in times past, and we are addicted to forecasters and pollsters. Even when the forecasts are wrong we go on asking for them. We watch our experts read their graphs the way the ancients watched their soothsayers read the entrails of a chicken."
Hoffer wrote this in 1973, but it applies today more than ever. Political candidates slavishly depend on their pollsters to see which way the winds of public opinion are blowing. Government and academic "experts" frantically try to predict the future of the Iraqi disaster to see what can be salvaged from the wreckage of the well-intentioned, but abysmally considered adventure. Duelling scientists and economists try to out-shout each other about the dangers (or not) of global warming. We're choking in data, but starved for knowledge.
Yogi Berra (another underappreciated philosopher) once said, "The future ain't what it used to be," and he was right. We are less able to predict the future than ever before. We look to the future less with traditionally American hope and optimism than with dread and resignation.
The future appears to be written less in graphs and charts than in entrails - not of chickens, but of the victims of intolerance, terrorism, and war.
It would be nice if we could just go back to the graphs.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
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