Monthly Archives: June 2019

Postmodernism

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Mariner was drifting through the endless world of the Internet last evening when he came across the author Frederic Jameson, a prolific writer in the 1980s and 1990s who contributed ideas about postmodernism. Mariner hasn’t thought about postmodernism since the 1990s. It is refreshing to revisit the perceptions of Jameson and others about the philosophical interpretations that underlie the way people perceive the world today.

Most readers are aware of ‘the age of enlightenment’, a movement that occurred in the 18thcentury. It evolved because of new scientific understanding at the time and the beginning of industrialization – both of which changed how people lived and identified with society (Luddite rebellion in 1811).

Then, from about 1900 to 1965, came modernism. To keep the post short, mariner cites Wikipedia:

[Modernism, in general, includes the activities and creations of those who felt the traditional forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, philosophy, social organization, activities of daily life, and sciences, were becoming ill-fitted to their tasks and outdated in the new economic, social, and political environment of an emerging fully industrialized world.]

It is intriguing to note that the end of modernism was imprinted in American history by three significant assassinations: John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. As an example of the breadth of philosophic change at the time, one of mariner’s favorite authors, Paul Tillich, wrote “Christianity and the Encounter of the World Religions” in 1963 and “Situation Ethics: The New Morality” by Joseph F. Fletcher was written in 1966. Since then the role of Christian doctrine in American culture has been changing dramatically.

Postmodernism is the next interpretation of society, religion, art, economics, etc. It defines how everyone today experiences society and daily ethics. In the turbulence of the sixties, from Viet Nam to Woodstock, a conservative resurgence occurred to quell general disruption and was empowered by the election of Ronald Reagan. During this conservative period especially during the 1990s, philosophers like Jameson began to realize a new world was emerging that would be culturally segmented and institutions of every kind would not be sacrosanct.

Just like the earlier periods of enlightenment, change has been brought about by scientific advancement, an emerging new kind of economy, and a separation of human values from religious and ethical traditions. Today, the polarized conflict between conservatives and liberals in all walks of life represents the same conflict experienced at the end of earlier periods of philosophical change. It is interesting that shifts in global philosophy occur more rapidly each time.

Ancient Mariner

 

Democratic Debates – 2

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Kamala Harris won the ‘remember me’ contest with her impassioned description of being bussed to school. It also pointed out something about Joe. Joe is an old school politician. His career was in a time when legislators were collaborators and in public, at least, dialogue was polite. Make no mistake, Joe is a seasoned politician but his perspective on the realities of Congress does not match the Congress of the 21st century. Today party politics is a dirty business devoid of statesmanship. What counts is raising lobby money and voting a hard line in an effort to beat the other party.

Donald doesn’t help. He provides no reasoned leadership to help balance the agenda of Congress. Congress is no more sophisticated than dodge ball. One could legitimately say that the Federal government is in disarray – including the Supreme Court who, similar to the political parties, produces decisions that don’t help the nation.

Many sociologists blame all this dysfunction on the high speed shift of world politics, technology, the Internet, morphing economics, and an over extended era of out-of-date mores. In the gap between yesterday and tomorrow, plutocracy and authoritarianism grow like nasty weeds in the garden of democracy.

It is a good sign that 15.3 million people viewed debate number one. The electorate has a degree of awareness that the 2020 election is not just another election. With a single election, a broken government must be repaired and a new leader must be found to steer the ship of state into the troubled waters of tomorrow.

Simultaneous to the time of the election, Congress must, must create a new economic direction. At the moment, the only concept on the table is the Green New Deal. It will restore honest jobs and wages to a lean working class; it will set an agenda for technology; it will redirect energy resources away from fossil fuels; most importantly, it will focus the nation’s attention on a war greater than any in history: climate change.

22 republican senators face reelection in 2020. Even more important than defeating Donald – if that can be imagined – is to take the Senate out of the hands of republicans. Republicans need time to reflect on how the world has shifted the concept of conservatism – else they will only increase the pain of dealing with rapid change.

Ancient Mariner

 

Democratic Debates – 1

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Mariner watched the democratic debates tonight, the first of two to cover all the candidates. Mariner is eager to see the viewer ratings. Likely, most citizens did not want to suffer pontification for two hours plus analysis for another two hours. Nevertheless, this is everyone’s job as a citizen in a democracy. Voting is the single most important responsibility for every citizen. These electoral activities are how the voter learns who is who and what they represent.

Mariner was impressed with the honesty of the candidates. It is refreshing to hear positive contributions to the reality of the US in this moment of history. It was refreshing not to hear rebuttals to Donald – a psychological need of Donald always to be the topic of the airwaves regardless of logic, truth, contribution or value.

It is obvious that the Democratic Party has moved to the left to deal with issues, if not caused by Reaganism, that are radical and never experienced until the 21st century.

It was good to hear that new candidates to office are aware of climate change as a world-shaking reality that will alter every nation’s role around the world.

There was a small tribute to the role of unions. Mariner felt it was an old world view. If unions are to play a representative role in the future, they must not be a club of members but a partner in the shape of corporate accountability to the citizenry.

Mariner agrees with MSNBC that Julián Castro, among the ‘other language’ candidates, made a good case for his continued candidacy. Other than that, Elizabeth Warren held her own to pursue another day.

Tomorrow, it is another debate with four campaign leaders on the stage.

Ancient Mariner

 

 

Reparation Revisited – the Native Americans

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Readers raised the question whether the US owed the Native American reparation. Setting aside the fact that Europeans arrived on the Atlantic shores and proceeded with a policy of genocide, some may contend that the Native Americans received reparation via the establishment of indian reservations. This is as rewarding as saying the Japanese Americans that were forced into internment camps during WWII were pleased about the fact they were put in prison.

Andrew Jackson’s order to relocate the Cherokee Nation to Oklahoma (Trail of Tears) is more demonstrative of the fact that reservations were no reparation. The land for reservations was the poorest that could be had. During the Trail of Tears, 4,000 men, women, and children died and included Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, and Chickasaw that were relocated under the Indian Removal Act of 1830. For centuries the original Cherokee land occupied the entire area from the Mississippi River in the West to the Blue Ridge Mountain in the East. There was pressure to claim those lands to find gold and expand farmland for those who weren’t Native Americans.

Mariner doubts anyone then or now claims that exile to useless internment camps (reservations) was reparation. In a recent post travelogue, mariner noted the poor state of reservation economics; the average Native American has assets averaging 10% of the rest of the US population.

Taking into consideration the displacement of Neanderthal by Homo sapiens, the propensity for invasive genocide throughout the ages, the desire to eradicate via multiple terrorist wars in Africa and the Middle East, humans are of the same propensity as the black plague, jackal, hyena, Komodo Dragon, and of course, our predecessor, the chimpanzee.

Food for thought: For those without money, plutocracy is a form of slavery by deprivation without constraints or interest in a person’s whereabouts or bodily wellbeing – for now.

Ancient Mariner

 

About Reparations

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This is a knotty issue. The idea of reparation has existed since the Emancipation Proclamation. Every decade or so the issue is raised to a level of public awareness and becomes an issue in US governments, especially the Federal government. Reparation is an unusually complex idea that doesn’t fare well in politics. In part this is due to the mechanics of political discourse which seek compromise through procedural bargaining; reparations are not something that can be resolved with bargaining. The idea exists or it doesn’t. This post is, in part, a review of arguments during a Hearing before Congress on Juneteenth Day (June 19th).

Even more complex is the fact that three clearly distinct social functions are forced together: racism, economics and citizen parity. Can racism, today still a major social conflict, be reconciled with money, that is, will racism disappear among whites because the blacks received some money? Is slavery’s $75 billion contribution to the US GDP an investment that deserves reconciliation? Is it fair to poor whites that, because one is black, the blacks get a leg up on surviving in a plutocratic age?

In Congress Wednesday, most debates centered on whether today’s blacks can represent black slaves in the first place. Inevitably the three aforementioned social functions cloud the rationality of that debate. One witness’s testimony stated, “If I receive reparation, it means I am still a slave.” Ta-Nihisi Coates, a respected black journalist, made the case that American history is a continuous flow that encompasses all that has transpired in the nation. Senator Mitch made the common case that none of us alive are responsible for slavery and that introducing reparation would be disruptive. Coates jumped on that argument citing:

“But well into this century, the United States was still paying out pensions to the heirs of Civil War soldiers. We honor treaties that date back some 200 years, despite no one being alive who signed those treaties. Many of us would love to be taxed for the things we are solely and individually responsible for. But we are American citizens, and thus bound to a collective enterprise that extends beyond our individual and personal reach.”

Coates also made the point that throughout history even to the present, blacks continue to suffer injustice often in brutal and savage ways – implying that, in a cultural way, slavery still exists.

. . . .

As mariner alluded to in the first paragraph, debating (a) was there an immoral act; (b) whether there is financial culpability; (c) whether accountability for slavery has a statute of limitations; (d) the impact of reparation on life in a contemporary plutocracy and many other lesser opinions, mariner senses that these arguments are disparate – pieces from a larger puzzle that don’t fit together in the space of reparation.

The puzzle that accommodates these pieces rearranges their relationships.

Today’s racial war began with a profiteering invasion of Africa for the sole purpose of establishing slavery in the US. There was never any intention by the pirates to reimburse their native countries. There was never any intention of equality for slaves. The Civil War ended ‘legal’ slavery and destroyed a southern economy that was based on slaves as chattel. Intense animosity remains to this day sustained by differences in color, culture, financial class and political identity. In other words, the conflict associated with African blacks is not over. The Civil War is over; actual ownership of another person as chattel is over; but a tribal war between races continues to this day. Is it possible to apply reparations when the war hasn’t ended?

While it may seem irrelevant to dialogue today, the original sin was against the nations of Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Should there be reparations to these African nations for profiteers spiriting away 75,000 citizens? Reparations can be negotiated for this because that chapter of history is complete. All that remains were it desired, is to settle on an amount.

Rather than try to create reparation that cannot be defined, perhaps the primary effort should be to end the war. Mariner is of the opinion that paying out some cash to end white responsibility is a cop out. End the war. End racism. There is no amount of reparation that would equal the end of the race war with blacks. The economic parity isn’t a payback, its equal pay for equal work; equal opportunity for education, medical care and other opportunities assumed by white people without notice.

Ancient Mariner

 

 

Climate

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Climate change isn’t just an issue in the western hemisphere or in big cities.

The Indian Sundarbans—a 4,000-square-mile archipelago that has been designated a World Heritage site[1], sits on the Bay of Bengal and is shared by India and Bangladesh. The region has a rich ecosystem that supports the world’s largest mangrove forest and several hundred animal species, including the endangered Bengal tiger. It is home to approximately 13 million people.

All of this could disappear in just a few decades. The Sundarban archipelago is one of the most vulnerable areas to climate change in the world; 70 percent of the land is just a few feet above sea level. In some parts of the region, the sea already is advancing about 200 yards per year. Mousuni Island, in particular, is experiencing the worst effects of the changing climate. Coastal erosion, floods, salinity ingression, and increasingly violent storms have rendered most of the land barren.[2] [Atlantic video]

How does one relocate 13 million people?

Further . . .

According to a new report from the United Nations, the population of the planet could rise from its current 7.7 billion to 10.9 billion by the year 2100. [Fivethirtyeight.com]

It occurs to mariner that climate change is extremely pervasive not only to physical stuff like buildings, roads or financial stuff like economic stability but to the scale of managing humans – moving them around, feeding them, housing them, sustaining social functionality – is a massive problem governments haven’t thought about. It makes the current global immigration issue look miniscule.

It occurs to mariner as well that individual governments are charged first with the wellbeing of their own population and economy which automatically creates political conflict when addressing the hardships of other countries in the same bind. Let’s hope the United Nations is up to overseeing a truly global confrontation above and beyond national sovereignty.

And last . . .

Permafrost in the Arctic is not so perma anymore. A University of Alaska Fairbanks team on expedition in the Canadian Arctic was “astounded” to find that permafrost there was thawing 70 years earlier than predicted. The permafrost — “giant subterranean ice blocks” — had been frozen solid for thousands of years. [The Guardian]

Ancient Mariner

 

[1] a natural or man-made site, area, or structure recognized as being of outstanding international importance and therefore as deserving special protection. Sites are nominated to and designated by the World Heritage Convention (an organization of UNESCO).

[2] To view video, see https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/591832/climate-refugees/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=video-series-editors-picks&utm_content=20190618&silverid-ref=NDkwMjIzMjA1Mjg2S0

New Things

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֎ “Flesh-eating” bacteria that live in the ocean may be spreading to previously unaffected beach waters thanks to climate change, according to a new report.

In the report authors described five cases of severe flesh-eating bacterial infections in people who were exposed to water or seafood from the Delaware Bay, which sits between Delaware and New Jersey. Such infections have historically been rare in the Delaware Bay, as the bacterium responsible for the disease, called Vibrio vulnificus, prefers warmer waters, such as those in the Gulf of Mexico.

But with rising ocean temperatures due to climate change, V. vulnificus may be moving farther north, making these infections in areas previously off-limits, the authors said. [Livescience.com]

֎ Also from Livescience.com, Scientists Develop New Laser That Can Find and Destroy Cancer Cells in the Blood.

Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood. And now, researchers have developed a new kind of laser that can find and zap those tumor cells from the outside of the skin.

Though it may some time before becoming a commercial diagnostic tool, the laser is up to 1,000 times more sensitive than current methods used to detect tumor cells in blood, the researchers reported June 12 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

News programs have been announcing that Facebook will have its own digital currency, largely circumventing traditional banks. In Africa Senegal has had such an arrangement since 2011. The reason Senegal moved to independent digital cash is because there are very few banks in Senegal. Virtually all cash transactions are made between special smartphones called E-Wallets. This device-to-device method has its good side in that it is difficult to track an individual’s transactions without a credit card that is tracked by banks who leverage financial information to other sources and, of course, it is more convenient than writing checks or carrying cash.

The downside is Facebook. If every cell in one’s body had a unique name, Facebook would know the names and sell them to anyone. The same is true of personal likes, dislikes, friends, family, possessions, religion, politics, daily habits, cuisine – and now where one spends their money, how much they have and the state of their finances.

Soon there will be as many types of cryptocurrency as there are paper currencies. Be prepared. Cryptocurrency is here to stay and will be an independent adjunct to every large corporation’s products. Just watch Walmart and Amazon as they incorporate their own version of cryptocurrency. Paypal has a great future as a blockchain.

By the way, does anyone have a real quarter? This pinball machine still requires cash.

Ancient Mariner

Speaking Generationally

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If it weren’t so depraved, it would be funny. Donald has fired his pollsters when the polls show Donald is behind Joe and other Democratic contenders. He calls the polls ‘fake polls.’

Joe Biden presents an interesting choice for President. Like Hillary, he clearly represents the status quo establishment. He has a smoother personality and he isn’t a woman so that may help with those voters who switched or stayed home in 2016. Mariner’s wife is quick to point out that men don’t like women’s voices – it has nothing to do with politics.

Those with the most to lose in the coming election are the recent generations known as millennial and z (born after 1980). Wages have been suppressed for forty years; housing is limited and too expensive; jobs do not have long term residency (note the term ‘gig’ which means working as a contractor without benefits); taxes are more exorbitant for lower income workers; tech data gathering diminishes competitive retail pricing; climate change will be expensive and destroy job markets; the education industry is in shambles because of high cost, irrelevant methods, political constraints, lack of trade/business schools and disappearing union training; finally, the whole benefits package will disappear if health and insurance are not deeply restructured.

How can a young person win? Who can they vote for – even if their local representative or senator wins, what about the destructive nature of war between political parties and the influence of capitalistic lobbying?

It is common knowledge that the US, indeed the whole world, is changing rapidly and completely. New concepts for money, privacy, longevity and personal independence are emerging. An eighteen year old voter, new to a world that changes day-to-day, has a lot at stake.

As parents of the millennial and z generations, the silent generation, baby boomers and generation x can help out by seeing to it that three things are fixed as rapidly as possible: gerrymandering, Electoral College and election financing. Amos would throw in elimination of the Senate but that’s another war for another time. If the older generations can repair the voting process, that will be a big help to the youngsters.

Ancient Mariner

 

Put a Stamp on it

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A good friend of mariner’s suggested a way to express dissatisfaction with Donald. She said that from this point forward, she would place her American Flag postage stamps upside down until Donald was gone. How insightful – a rebellion with postage stamps. Mariner endorses her energy and commitment. One without animosity, a public statement of dissatisfaction that mariner finds more influential than the base’s crudity. Mariner encourages all his readers to join in this subtle, expressive gesture.

The antithesis of mariner’s good friend is Mitch McConnell. He really doesn’t care about the ethics of governance; he doesn’t even care for Donald. As he comes to the end of his career, his ‘upside down stamp’ is very conservative Federal judges. He likely will not survive his next campaign; the last one was close and polls show he is not popular even in Kentucky.

One must understand that the Republican Senate stands between the past and the future. There are several bills passed by the House that will go nowhere in the Senate. The House Democrats have lived up to their promise to pass legislation that will redirect the Federal government to pay attention to the electorate and not to moneyed interests or antique conservative concepts. The GOP Senate, i.e., Mitch, has taken no action on even one bill.

What adds insult to injury is that the Senate, no matter which party dominates, does not represent the public citizen proportionately. The founding fathers incorporated a republic philosophy into a democracy by allowing each state two senators, population notwithstanding. This won over states to support the new federal government but that was when there were only 13 states and a population of 2.5 million. Today, with 50 states and 325 million citizens (2017), grotesquely unbalanced between states, the Senate has lost any ability to fairly represent the republic, let alone a democracy.

Oh well. Mariner has ranted about the weird Senate and Electoral College before. Everyone should think deeply about what America means to them when they vote in 2020.

Ancient Mariner

 

In the News

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֎ [Newsy] New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that would eliminate religious exemptions for children’s vaccinations amid an ongoing measles outbreak. Under the new law, children who attend school or daycare can only be exempted from vaccine requirements if they have a medical reason. In a statement, Cuomo said: “The science is crystal clear: Vaccines are safe, effective and the best way to keep our children safe. This administration has taken aggressive action to contain the measles outbreak, but given its scale, additional steps are needed to end this public health crisis.” Opponents of the bill say it violates religious freedoms and that they’ll continue to fight for their rights. The U.S. is currently facing one of the worst measles outbreaks in decades. In Rockland County, New York, there have been more than 260 confirmed cases since June 12.

Vaccination is a classic example of confrontation between freedom of religion and freedom of state. The largest religions address the common good in their doctrine but there are uncountable variations and assumptions in religious practice. The same is true of most governments; they are founded on principles of common good but the interpretation of common good runs to irrational extremes.

Common good must prevail else humanity may not survive. At its simplest, humans are a tribal species. Sans an available vaccine, the black plague wiped out sixty percent of Europe’s population in the fourteenth century. Regarding the issue of vaccination, whose freedoms take priority? Solutions require some doctrinal or legislative adjustment; whose common good is more important? Can one imagine a Venn diagram solution? Mariner leaves this issue with the reader to reconcile.

Ancient Mariner