Monthly Archives: January 2020

One person one vote – Hah!

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The following paragraph is copied from the fivethirtyeight.com newsletter:

“As much as we try to remind you all about how uncertain elections can be — pleas that sometimes fall on deaf ears — it’s important to keep in mind in advance of the Iowa caucuses. To begin with, primaries are much harder to poll than general elections, and caucuses are even harder to poll than primaries, as they introduce a number of complications. Caucuses require a long time commitment, which can make turnout harder to predict. They aren’t a secret ballot, so voters can literally try to persuade their neighbors to change sides. And Iowa Democrats employ a viability check — we’ll talk about that more before the caucuses on Monday — that asks voters to switch candidates if their first choice doesn’t clear a certain threshold, usually 15 percent of the vote at that caucus site. That makes second choices important, and even opens up the possibility of strategic alliances between the candidates.”

In the last presidential caucus mariner and his wife were not allowed to cast their vote for a qualified candidate. Mariner was quite unhappy about this injustice and threatened to leave the Democratic Party if it ever happened again. The time is nigh.

– – – –

A few bloggers and political pundits have made the case that it isn’t democrat versus republican, its status quo versus everyone else, ergo, Biden will lose just like Al Gore. Those who believe this have not studied campaign polls in depth and have forgotten that Al was the ‘progressive’ compared to W. True, the younger voters prefer the progressives but the real weight class is the millennials – voters in their forties and fifties; voters who fear that their economic stability will disappear; fear that a burdened retirement will be made worse by shrinking federal discretionary programs (Social Security, Medicare, etc.); fear that artificial intelligence will decimate the careers of their children and may even cut their own jobs.

One polling statistic is undeniably clear: Donald has not improved his popularity beyond his base and conservative republicans during his entire tenure. He still is vulnerable to defeat by the national vote. It is the battle at the state level that threatens the democrats. Status quo or not, if six states return to the Electoral College with Donald winning the popular vote again, Donald will win a second term.

Finally, many more voters can see the elephant in the room: global warming. Even heartless corporations are modifying their investment strategies to accommodate global warming. Donald, of course, up to his hips in fossil fuel interests, frequently calls global warming a hoax.

Ancient Mariner

 

It is time to pick

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The final nomination for president is growing close. Virtually all the democratic literature flowing profusely into citizens’ mailboxes make the case for each candidate based on differences in policy or what ‘lane’ the candidates are in; race and age are tossed about. The Democratic Party has a way of defeating itself as presidential campaigns enter later stages of the process. There is a tendency toward this because the Democratic Party is a true umbrella party with many facets of the political spectrum represented.

Ever heard the phrase ‘herding cats’? Mariner thinks it may be time to shape the battleground rather than chase cats. True, with so many candidates, voters still have not decided which cat to catch but the statistics in all the polls suggest there are only four left. Mariner suggests voters ask one question by which to decide the democratic nominee: Who will win the most states – especially the states that unexpectedly voted for Donald?

In the 2016 election, the list below represents four states where the popular vote unexpectedly went to Donald. Donald won the emboldened states by 2 percent or less. The total number of votes by which Donald won the 3 can fit in a stadium – 107,330. Donald won Michigan by less than 12,000 votes.

Florida   29 electoral votes for Donald

Michigan 16 electoral votes for Donald

Pennsylvania 20 electoral votes for Donald

Wisconsin 10 electoral votes for Donald

Donald stole six electoral votes from states where Hillary won the popular vote.

How are the 4 states doing today vis-à-vis the top four democrats?

Florida   Biden by 20 points

Michigan Biden by 6.5 points

Pennsylvania Biden by 11 points

Wisconsin Biden by 4 points

Given Donald’s razor thin wins in these states, states where policy wars don’t seem to be important, perhaps the Democratic National Committee needs to focus on states that switched or almost switched to Donald. All told that includes 11 states that are called ‘battleground’ states:

Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Most agree the remaining 39 states always are true to their color – red or blue. Looking at many other states, the fact comes home that the reason to vote is to beat Donald; there is time later to talk about policy.

If, indeed, Joe is the favorite in many of the 11 battleground states, perhaps the DNC should focus on raising his profile. For example, Joe doesn’t inspire like Warren; he doesn’t cogitate like Buttigieg; he doesn’t rant like Bernie. Face it – Joe is a compromise. The DNC should roll out a national platform to help deal with the policy issues; perhaps toss around some Cabinet names; help Bloomberg spend his billions in Senate races.

It seems Joe sells comfort and lack of surprise more than anything else – something about which the whole umbrella can agree – certainly as an alternative to Donald.

Ancient Mariner

 

Before mariner starts his main topic

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Bon Voyage to Jim Lehrer. He was a newscaster when the news was real and meaningful and more of the moment than broadcasting is today; for much of mariner’s life MacNeil and Lehrer were mariner’s go to newscasters. (Those were the days when news did not have to make a profit – it was a public service. Since Sixty Minutes in 1977, not only did news have to report news, it had to entertain – the beginning of pundits, gossip and, if not fake, trumped-up news.)

– – – –

As to the main topic, evidence of plutocracy and corporatism:

֎ Top twenty corporations in lobby expenses:

U.S. Chamber of Commerce: $58.2 million (versus $64.1 million in 2018)

Open Society Policy Center: $48.5 million (versus $31.5 million in 2018)

National Association of Realtors: $41.1 million (versus $72.6 million in 2018)

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America: $28.9 million (versus $27.5 million in 2018)

American Hospital Association: $22.2 million (versus $19.9 million in 2018)

American Medical Association: $20 million (versus $19.8 million in 2018)

Business Roundtable: $20 million (versus $23.2 million in 2018)

U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform: $18 million (versus $29.8 million in 2018)

<Facebook: $16.7 million (versus $12.6 million in 2018)

<Amazon: $16.1 million (versus $14.2 million in 2018)

National Association of Manufacturers: $14.6 million (versus $9.5 million in 2018)

NCTA — The Internet & Television Association: $14.2 million (versus $13.2 million in 2018)

Boeing: $13.8 million (versus $15.1 million in 2018)

Comcast: $13.4 million (versus $15.1 million in 2018)

Northrop Grumman: $13.3 million (versus $11.9 million in 2018)

Lockheed Martin: $12.9 million (versus $13.1 million in 2018)

United Technologies: $12.7 million (versus $10.1 million in 2018)

National Association of Broadcasters: $12.7 million (versus $14.2 million in 2018)

CTIA — The Wireless Association: $12.4 million (versus $11.4 million in 2018)

Southern Company: $12.2 million (versus $12.3 million in 2018)

֎ WHO’S AFRAID OF THE IRS? NOT FACEBOOK. The social media behemoth is about to face off with the tax agency in a rare trial to capture billions that the IRS thinks Facebook owes. But onerous budget cuts have hamstrung the agency’s ability to bring the case. [ProPublica]

֎ WHAT FORMER LAWMAKERS WHO WENT TO K STREET ARE UP TO: More than a dozen lawmakers who lost their seats or chose to retire in 2018 announced they were heading to K Street (‘Lobbyist Street’) last year. The former representatives are allowed to lobby their former colleagues . . . [Politico]

֎ EFFORTS TO REFORM FINANCE CAMPAIGN LAWS in the United States invariably disappoint or enrage some people. In 1976, Sen. James Buckley (R-NY) became the latest in a long line of politicians to take his outrage all the way to the Supreme Court. He argued Federal Election Campaign Act limits on campaign spending violated free speech rights. The Supreme Court agreed, and the act was amended to allow unlimited spending by political candidates. This decision opened the floodgate of political advertising that pours through television sets from coast to coast in the run-up to a major election. [Wikipedia]

֎ LET NO GOOD DEED GO UNPUNISHED. The latest attempt to level the financial playing field among federal candidates was the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Coming together in relative solidarity, Republicans and Democrats sought to ban non-federal contributions to campaigns, limit spending by federal candidates and also ban political issue ads from airing within 30 days of an election. This development might have been music to the ears of those Americans weary of listening to the steady stream of political advertisements that emanate from radios and televisions every four years. However, several aspects of this law were challenged less than a year after it was enacted. The U.S. Supreme Court has subsequently struck down many provisions of the act. [Wikipedia]

֎ The DISCLOSE Act (S. 3628) was proposed in July 2010. The bill would have amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit government contractors from making expenditures with respect to such elections, and establish additional disclosure requirements for election spending. It went nowhere. [Wikipedia]

For many decades mariner’s position on campaign financing has been twofold: (1) All financing for an elective position, local, state or federal, is limited to the jurisdictional boundaries of that specific election subject to local election regulations. (2) The election of the President and other inter-jurisdictional positions (including referendums) are funded by the Federal Election Commission and disallow private funding.

There is an underlying belief that explains the Supreme Court’s willingness to be complicit in unfair election practices: Money and speech is the same thing and protected by the First Amendment – an idea the Supreme Court has upheld a number of times. The flaw in this philosophy is that a zillionaire has a zillion votes and the common man has one – if they’re lucky.

Ancient Mariner

Whose Government?

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For readers that believe the nation’s laws are passed by a Congress representing the people, they are right – if corporations are people. Certainly those who defend corporations make arguments based on citizen ethics as though a corporation were a human being. The following paragraph is from Propublica:

“For years, [Microsoft] has moved billions in profits to Puerto Rico to avoid taxes. When the IRS pushed it to pay, Microsoft protested that the agency wasn’t being nice. Then it aggressively fought back in court, lobbied Congress and changed the law.”

To read the entire article link to https://www.propublica.org/article/the-irs-decided-to-get-tough-against-microsoft-microsoft-got-tougher?utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter The article also was published in Fortune Magazine.

Many human citizens from every walk of life do not deny that the United States is run by corporations. Corporations have the profits to buy the federal government. Two democratic candidates are billionaires and a lot of noise is made about them ‘buying the election.’ They can’t buy it; they can only rent the presidency from the corporations – especially the big data tech corporations.

Every walk of corporate life has an open channel to buy the government through lobbyists, election buy-outs, and hidden support for the lifestyle of ‘the citizen’s representatives in Congress.’ Just mention Koch Brothers, insurance companies, banks, health services and not to be overlooked the fossil fuel industry.

Through ‘their’ elected officials, the tax code is controlled by the corporations. Add insult to injury, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been gutted of staff and budget.

Read the article.

Vote with your brain!

Ancient Mariner

 

More on Great Divides

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Sometimes it seems like mariner’s news sources have been reading mariner’s posts:

“Businesses are leading the way on crises like climate change and health care, because institutions like media and government are no longer seen as ethical and competent, Sara Fischer writes from the 20th annual Edelman Trust Barometer.

“Business has leapt into the void left by populist and partisan government,” Edelman CEO Richard Edelman said.

-> But that’s only by default: 56% of the online survey’s respondents (34,000 people in 28 countries) said capitalism as it exists today does more harm than good in the world.

The survey, out today, shows a stark class divide — a growing gap in institutional trust between wealthier, more educated people vs. the rest of the population.

-> For the first time, a record number of developed countries — including Australia, France, Germany and the UK — are experiencing double-digit divides in trust between the informed class and the mass population.” [Axios]

– – – –

The western world has emulated the Greek and Roman empires in magical similarity and has sustained their motivations as if time had stopped, carrying forward their principles of war, classism, politics and consumption economics.

But wait – is it time now for the Peloponnesian wars? Is Donald our Nero? Is it time for another Mount Vesuvius? Who will play the role of Attila? Who will be Alexander?

Will artificial intelligence emulate the dark ages? Will global warming purify humanity as the flood did in Genesis? Which new plague will erase millions of humans?

As the twenty-first century begins there is a scent in the air. It isn’t pleasant; more of a wafting that won’t dissipate. It doesn’t have an aroma of the Fullness of Time that is proposed by science and optimistic futurists; it seems more like a day in criminal court. Where is Apostle Paul when you need his reassurance?

It is sentencing time. Humans must pay for their casual dalliances with Mother Nature; humans must pay for raping the environment; humans must pay as the cause of the Sixth Extinction. In regard to the treatment of humankind it is time, in our contemporary emulation of Rome, for a sequel to the fall of Rome in 476 CE.

Ancient Mariner

The Biggest Great Divide

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The last post on perception is a lead-in to this post about a great divide. What are our perceptions of the future – not the far future but starting now until 2050? An emerging perception is that millennials (born 1981 – 1996) will live their lives on the fence between two very different social and economic cultures. They will bear the burden of financially supporting both offspring and elders; their own careers and roles in society will be tumultuously tossed about and fraught with uncertainty.

Millennials started their lives in an Adam Smith world (he married capitalism to reformation ethics) and will end it in an economic and social world beyond description today – though many futurists believe the concept of ‘job’ will be divorced from Adam Smith’s marriage; artificial intelligence will disrupt existing class perceptions; Planet Earth will play havoc with resources from Helium gas to the disappearance of vast stretches of dry land, to a shift in weather patterns that will collapse significant agricultural markets.

Progressive economists suggest if the economy isn’t soon redistributed from its advantages to oligarchs, the US may experience rebellion similar to that in other countries in the news today. Data tech corporations are so pervasive and so uncontrolled that a new retail culture may evolve with a US Congress of self-appointed data tech CEO’s and Jeff Bezos as President. (mariner speculates)

Presuming all these hotspots of change may happen, what is the core cultural issue? What will people experience day-to-day? What persistent event will cause foment and disorder as society rewrites itself?

Greater than identity politics, greater than economic imbalance, greater than global warming – it is the educated versus the uneducated; the elite versus the useless; those who can participate in society and those who can’t.

These perspectives are not new. Social philosophers and futurists have suggested this great divide since the 1970’s. But today it is a fresh subject in journals, magazines and online science sites. There are characteristics of the divide that exist today. For example, those who accept that the successful will be successful and others never will be are the same people who don’t believe in welfare, Medicare and Social Security. In other words, if a person hasn’t made it, they are not allowed to have any value in society – they are useless even to themselves.

The French term is ‘raison d’êtra’, which means reason to be or role in life or in personal terms, why am I here? The feeling of uselessness is a struggle often among retirees, young adults without links to society, and especially those who by their class and education are denied the right to succeed or interact with the participating members of society. Psychologists long have defined the emergence of gangs in destitute neighborhoods as a result of not being allowed to participate in society therefore they create their own role within their neighborhood.

Society is only a decade from the first waves of white collar job loss. It is a common statistic that artificial intelligence may eliminate from fifty to eighty percent of jobs across every discipline, every skill, and every function that constitutes the ‘common workforce’ today. It does not help that income for middle and lower income people already is suppressed and hasn’t kept up with inflation. Donald’s base, suffering job loss and massive reduction in salary, is a current example of a segment of workers that has fallen on hard times and claim they are forgotten in today’s economy. Indeed they are.

As the months roll by, the issue of joblessness and especially the denial of the right to pursue happiness, success, etc., otherwise known as a raison d’êtra, will reach a breaking point where violence may be the proletariat’s only option.

The federal government has no choice even given polarized parties, wealth-driven politics and the cost of global warming, but to address joblessness which may be at a level commensurate with Venezuela today. The tax code, ensconced for generations as a capitalistic friend, must be dismantled in order to accommodate a very large portion of the US population.

Already in today’s democratic campaign for president, Andrew Yang has proposed a minimum income supported by taxes. A monthly distribution to citizens, especially those shut out of social participation, may be one way of preventing violence and stabilizing feelings of personal worth.

In a recent post mariner suggested that a new concept of having a job was to create a self-managed job. This is a job that a person assumes on their own for the good of their society. A pure example of this is a member of mariner’s family who has taken it on himself to improve the bare space around the base of trees along the sidewalk; he plants flowers and attractive greenery. He is satisfactorily employed but has taken on a role to improve his neighborhood. In the future, this approach to raison d’êtra will be a major way of defining work – and – it will need to be a source of income as well.

Another example is mariner’s neighbor who has chosen to maintain the gravel alley for his block. Again, income was not involved but, given the idea of a monthly distribution from the government, many otherwise unemployed citizens will find roles to play that will, mariner suspects, greatly improve the civility that is in short supply today.

If artificial intelligence and the corporations that control it are brought under control; if the tax structure shuts down abusive wealth and redistributes economic participation to the proletariat; if new job growth can be harnessed to deal with global warming; if international cooperation can be modified to support the economics of sustainability – maybe there will be some fun moments learning a new culture and new economics.

Ancient Mariner

 

Perceptions

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Mariner once heard a politician complain about the (liberal) New England states and that the fathers of our country should have just continued the forty-ninth parallel past the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean and left New England to Canada. This happened some fifteen or twenty years ago; even then mariner knew that the forty-ninth parallel crossed into the Atlantic at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River just south of Newfoundland. Self-perception, whether of one’s importance or one’s knowledge of facts, is not a good view of reality. A lesson for all of us; if we are to represent reality, it must be only after a fact check.

Mariner mentions this story because today perception, in whatever form it will take, has replaced reality in its entirety. One of the bad things about perception is that it is short lived. Whether the presumption was useful or not, it quickly becomes useless. It is difficult to step out of one’s perceptions and see reality. Often, one’s immediate perception distorts historical perspective or situational reality. Some examples:

֎ Often, citizens today interpret the US Constitution as if it were written for today’s Internet world and its rapid travel options and its ability to know what’s happening in Winner, South Dakota in seconds, but that perception wasn’t even in the fantasy world of politicians in 1789.

> The fathers of our nation, who suddenly had most of a large continent to manage and states that were suspicious of federal power and jealous of other states if they had more influence, had to manage the situation with nothing more than travel by horse carriage or letters carried in that same horse carriage. Further, enemy nations were present on the continent and wanted to control the new wealth to be had. Certainly the perceptions of today and the perceptions of 1789 are vastly different.

> A well-known perception is the right to bear arms. What else would the fathers recommend since there was no army large enough or transportable enough to police the continent? Authorize the citizenry to defend themselves. Mariner notes the use of the word ‘bear’ implying the right to fight rather than simply to ‘own.’ Over the eons of history, Congress should have recognized the dangers of allowing this militarily important measure to continue in the Constitution but it did not and today guns kill more people than cars or disease – disregarding the realities of 1789. Mariner will not prosecute this case here but wants to demonstrate clearly that perception is not reality.

> “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence. The phrase gives three examples of the “unalienable rights” which the Declaration says have been given to all humans by their creator, and which governments are created to protect. Even as the document was created that ideological perception did not reflect reality: African Americans and Native Americans are humans, too. This is an example of how a perception can be deliberately applied knowing full well it is just a perception that would not hold up to a fact check.

֎ Perception is a cousin to prejudice. In many cases perception simply will be a misrepresentation of reality whereas prejudice has a vindictive side to it. Today, in this time of identity politics, prejudice helps its cousin more often than not.

> Donald’s base is a good example. The serious issue of wage suppression and disappearance of profit sharing began during the Reagan administration and has been sustained as a national economic policy by political conservatives, typically the Republican Party. The base, largely disgruntled democrats, perceived that their government had abandoned them; it was the “establishment” that was not protecting them. Given that Hillary had political baggage, did not campaign for the labor class, and proposed an uninspiring image of the future, she became a target of a perception (aided by prejudice) that defeating her would be vindication. They chose an outsider with no record to defend, and who spoke in vindictive terms.

If only the electorate would check the facts. Unfortunately, both news media and social media have no interest in facts, just market share.

Ancient Mariner

 

The US has a bad transmission

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The ol’ federal bus doesn’t move very well. The clutch is totally blown because legislators become more and more bound up in polarization, some want to shift gears, some don’t. Unengaged, the bus drifts down the road in neutral, ever slowing; other national buses rush by at the speed limit. Adding insult to injury, the gear box is a skip and miss experience even if the clutch worked.

Each gear tooth, a principled thrust applying torque to society, is bent, missing or warped. If the clutch worked, if the gear box worked, the bus at best would stutter and jump down the highway.

The sparkplugs, a vibrant electorate spark of energy and focus, are old and misfire, not knowing exactly when or even why they should energize their respective pistons.

The carburetor, instead of measuring and controlling the cash flow, leaks profusely, placing the whole bus in peril as hot spots grow and may combust even as the pistons run lean.

So it’s time to take the ol’ bus to the repair garage. A lot of work needs to be done:

The camshaft, sometimes called the Electoral College, causes misfiring. A better grease called National Public Vote (NPV) needs to be applied to restore smooth synchronization.

The valves are worn and should be replaced with newer, unified roles for state voting.

The clutch should be rebuilt with non-binding redistricting.

The entire transmission must be rebuilt with properly applied representation that synchronizes legislative energy with the sparkplugs.

Looking at the bus, many seats are missing and torn; there aren’t enough seats for every kind of rider that wants to go home.

No question new tires are needed that understand the meaning of “where the rubber meets the road.”

The repair had better be sound and functional; the storms of global warming are just down the road.

Ancient Mariner

 

Observations in Passing

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֎ Has anyone noticed that constraints on nuclear weapon manufacturing, in place since the cold war days, are gone? Has anyone noticed that mature nations with sound ethos like North Korea, Iran, Russia, China and the US are building these weapons again? Perhaps this is preparation for uncontrolled climate change – something like euthanasia . . . .

֎ Science Magazine had a couple of new insights: the African Grey Parrot has compassion – the only bird known to comprehend the act of sharing between adults without recompense. If a parrot can pass it forward, one would think humans may be capable as well.

The second insight is that the average body temperature of human beings has been dropping for the last 160 years. Traditional perception is a temperature of 98.6 m/l; it has dropped to an average of 97.5. That drop may be a product of lower overall levels of inflammation, thanks to antibiotics, vaccines, and improved water quality.

֎ Rather quickly, Iran announced it was culpable for downing the Ukrainian passenger aircraft. Likely, it was because evidence to the cause of the explosion was available around the world. Nevertheless, mariner thinks Donald would never admit culpability if it were his fault. His Base would have a good guess at whose fault it was – Hillary or Nancy.

It isn’t that mariner is an advocate of continued identity conflict; the US is a nation torn apart and flailing a bit. Still the electorate, mariner’s nemesis, is required to think – even a tiny bit – about the cause and effect of reality. Even if the nation’s ‘astute’ politicians suddenly were to economically repair forty years of wage suppression across the country, the Base would attribute that gift to their emotional and irrational interference with democracy without any concern for the facts and would thumb their noses at Hillary and Nancy. Democracy is a thinking person’s philosophy of government, dammit.

֎ In a similar model to Russia meddling in US elections, China is doing the same to Taiwan elections. However, the democratic forces won in Taiwan rejecting China’s “one country, two systems” model for unification that China has used in Hong Kong which promises a “high degree” of autonomy, was soundly debunked by the recent election that re-elected Tsai Ing-wen, the current president of Taiwan.

During his career Mariner spent some time in Taiwan and he was impressed with the democratic aura of the nation. It has a tough row to hoe being only 110 miles from the China coast. Three cheers for the solid rejection despite China’s political invasion.

Ancient Mariner

 

 

The First Face of America

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Mariner watched a PBS Nova broadcast about the oldest evidence of a Native American in the Americas.[1] All of Nova’s broadcasts are above average not only in reporting historical information but in providing insights into those moments. “The First Face of America” matched that quality.

Much of the broadcast displayed the effort and luck of a group of scientists exploring the lattice of caves underlying the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Today, these caves are underwater but 20,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age they were above sea level and dry. In fact, the Yucatan was exceptionally dry and early Americans often explored the caves looking for pools of water.

The great find was a complete skeleton of a sixteen-year old girl. Evidently she had entered a labyrinth in search of water and had fallen into a chasm. Carbon dating places her back 13,000 years and is the oldest evidence of humans in North and South America.

Most of us know the general story of how humans crossed over what today is the Bering Strait and followed the coast through Alaska into North America. During the ice age, the Bering Strait was a large, dry plain between Russia and Alaska. It was larger than many may assume – ranging more than a thousand miles North to South. It has been given a regional name, Beringia, because it was a busy, continuously moving place for nomadic tribes following herds and hunting opportunities. Constantly moving, they left little in the way of artifacts.

The skeleton provided a lot of implications about the life of a sixteen-year old girl in a nomadic culture 13,000 years ago. The scientists gave her the name Naia. Naia was 4 feet ten inches tall and led a rough life we today could not tolerate. There was evidence of damaging rape, and likely a stillborn child; she had bone damage on her limbs one of which was a spiral fracture, meaning someone had twisted her arm violently. Insightful to her lifestyle was that her thigh muscles at age 16 were as large as those of an adult male today – evidence of day-in, day-out walking and running; certainly evidence of a nomadic hunter culture.

Mariner ponders how complex society could have been not having a sense of place. These nomads were always moving to find the next meal. There was no expectation of something called ‘home’ – not even for one night! Did these nomads ever feel lost? Probably not but it’s certain there were other anxieties.

Remember this was 13,000 years ago on an undiscovered continent. Civilization as we understand it had not hit its stride; the earliest evidence of semi-permanent civilization outside Africa was on the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East around 15,000 years ago.

So how well have humans fared over the years? Civilization certainly has learned how to be complex but rape and violence still abide.

Ancient Mariner

[1] On PBS at https://www.pbs.org/video/first-face-of-america-m6dgpn/