Titanic Post

By Joseph L. Galloway | McClatchy Newspapers

It took just eight decades but H.L. Mencken’s astute prediction on the future course of American presidential politics and the electorate’s taste in candidates came true:

On July 26, 1920, the acerbic and cranky scribe wrote in The Baltimore Sun: ” . . . all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily (and) adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” (more…)

The following are my notes from the Forum on Substance Abuse held by the Otero County New Mexico Chapter of PDA June 25th – Ken Nicholson

The Otero County chapter of Progressive Democrats of America hosted a panel discussion on the substance abuse situation in the county. Panel members Dr. Gil Heredia, physician and chair of the Otero Libertarian Party, Sharon Hodges of the New Mexico Department of Health, and Ken Larson, Certified Peer Specialist and Recovery Mentor presented a comprehensive survey of the drug problems we are facing in Otero County to an interested audience of local activists. Al Kissling of PDA NM was the moderator.

Dr. Heredia said that the so called “War on Drugs” was having a more devastating effect on our community than the actual use of drugs. He cited the emphasis of the drug war being on law enforcement and leading to incarceration rather than treatment and rehabilitation. When those caught in the system have finished their time, they are released back into the community, still addicted, without the root of their situation being addressed. Heredia noted the high cost of incarceration versus treatment. Also, drug crimes are crimes against oneself and not directly against the community. He said that if drugs were legal, market forces would pressure dealer profits, and the supply of drugs would dwindle. One community activist added that the prison industry has lobbied for mandatory minimum sentences to the benefit of the private prison industry while removing judges’ discretion. (more…)

I have always suspected that we citizens are not too bright or very well informed about a lot of things. In the back of my mind, I suspected that this ignorance had something to do with the dismal state of affairs in this country and that our politicians were getting along without our input. Supposedly, democracy still depends on a well informed electorate to function well or at all. To find out more and what we can do about it, I recommend you read “Just How Stupid Are We?” by Rick Shenkman.

This weekend, I spent some time in the mountains. It was cool (literally) and peaceful and it smelled good, too. I need to go there periodically to keep my head straight and to put myself in a proper perspective regarding the rest of the universe.

Did you realize that planet earth is already in outer space and that we don’t really need space ships to explore space? This weekend my theme was materialism and how it makes me unhappy and dissatisfied and worry about money and things. I came to the conclusion that most people don’t really enjoy the material things they have collected, as they are too busy working and earning money for their future security to have much pleasure in anything.

I do buy things that give me pleasure. I enjoy my motorcycles. The things I do on a motorcycle give me pleasure. A bank account does not. Eating a slice of fresh mozzarella with a home-grown tomato, basil, and garlic sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper and live virgin olive oil gives me pleasure. Life insurance does not. Technically this makes me a materialist, but not a very secure one.

There is an interesting correlation between security and freedom. Actually they are inveresly correlated. It appears that the more security you have, the less freedom and vice-versus. Makes you wonder what our Department of Homeland Security is all about, doesn’t it? It makes me wonder, too, why we allowed them to do it to us again. By ‘them,’ I mean our political leaders, although I don’t really have a need to be led by anyone. I don’t follow other peoples goals well. I don’t even follow my own goals well.

In the mountains, walking along a pine covered trail, I realized that the trick with living is to live artistically, to be able to love, and be loved, while at the same time avoiding narcissistic loneliness, crippling addictions, or fanatical allegiance to some grand overlying goal.  I have just discovered a philosophy of life that allows me to go ride anytime I want.  And how easy it was!

We Americans tend to think of oppression as something external, something that happens to minorities, somewhere far away. The reality is that oppression exists everywhere and in every society. Every human alive today is locked into both oppressed and oppressor roles and this mechanism is implanted in all of us during childhood.

The universal and historical existence of oppression is generally recognized by all except for the American white male who believes that it is something that happens to others because of their laziness, lack of intgelligence, or lifestyle choices. That we could be the oppressor is unthinkable. Yet we are able to accept almost any kind of oppression, because We still think that we are on the same level as the very rich and it is only a matter of time until we are economically independent as well. The American Dream floats on denial.

Out in the world, the realization that everyone in our societies has been forced into operating within both oppressor and oppressed roles is still almost unknown and unfaced. Until we understand the deeper nature of oppression our struggle to end it will be in vain. We will continue looking for “the enemy out there” and thus carry on the long sad history of desperate, bewildered human beings substituting a Czar for a Stalin, a Shah for an Ayatollah.

Our parents gave us our first experience of oppression. Parents must take charge of their relationship with their children. By presenting the world as a dangerous place with murder and hurtful people along with a “That’s the way it is” attitude they instill powerlessness in children. As new forms of oppressions are later introduced, we now accept them without fighting back. Born with an open, zestful and cooperative relationship to everyone, we are hurt very early by this irrational behavior of adults. While we are in emotional distress, our vast human intelligence momentarily seems to shut down and the new information is stored wrongly or “jams up” in a tied-up knot, and we are blocked.

Since we cannot understand or evaluate - such early information from a distress experience, subsequent information tends to get stuck in the same pattern, which over the years becomes chronic - or like a recording which now plays us! Finally we end up with a “distress pattern” of rigid, illogical behavior not unlike that of our parents or other adults. Having gone through such oppression, we then reenact our own experiences on others.

SOJOURNERS - It’s sadly rare for a church leader, or for the leaders of most of our dominant institutions, to demonstrate a spirituality that attracts millions of people around the world - particularly so many young people. But the scene of millions lining up to simply pass by the body of John Paul II in Rome this week is remarkable indeed. The enormous attraction to this pope goes far beyond agreement with all the positions of the Catholic Church or even all of the decisions of his papacy. Indeed the “ecumenical” and even “interfaith” attraction to John Paul II reflects his own practice of reaching out to more people in more faith traditions than any other pope ever has.

One of the great attractions of Pope John Paul II’s spirituality was his consistency. At the core of Catholic social teaching is the idea of a “consistent ethic of life,” an ethic that seeks to protect and defend human life and dignity wherever and whenever they are threatened, and which challenges the selective moralities of both the political left and right. (more…)