gray areas...

(first appeared on my MySpace blog...)

"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: and a people who mean to be their own governours, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."

James Madison to W.T. Barry, August 4, 1822



The news media, rather than bringing light to the current situations that face our nation, rather obfuscates our predicaments... Too often the media functions as entertainment and propogates the latest sound byte...

It is important that we seek to tease out the truth of things; that we do not attach ourselves to the easy, didatic, view but instead sort out events and cause and reason... This moment does not exist outside of history but rather is an extension of it...

All are wronged and all are guilty... we must find the way that represses/opresses least and we must lead...



The following is quoted from:
United Nations Resolution, November 28, 1947 #A/RES/181(II)(A+B)


PLAN OF PARTITION WITH ECONOMIC UNION

PART I

Future constitution and government of Palestine


A. TERMINATION OF MANDATE, PARTITION AND INDEPENDENCE


1. The Mandate for Palestine shall terminate as soon as possible but in any case not later than 1 August 1948.

2. The armed forces of the mandatory Power shall be progressively withdrawn from Palestine, the withdrawal to be completed as soon as possible but in any case not later than 1 August 1948.

The mandatory Power shall advise the Commission, as far in advance as possible, of its intention to terminate the Mandate and to evacuate each area.

The mandatory Power shall use its best endeavours to ensure than an area situated in the territory of the Jewish State, including a seaport and hinterland adequate to provide facilities for a substantial immigration, shall be evacuated at the earliest possible date and in any event not later than 1 February 1948.

3. Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem, set forth in part III of this plan, shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948. The boundaries of the Arab State, the Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem shall be as described in parts II and III below.

4. The period between the adoption by the General Assembly of its recommendation on the question of Palestine and the establishment of the independence of the Arab and Jewish States shall be a transitional period.

history...

How will history judge this moment?

As the Middle East sinks into unrestrained warfare... what will prevent its spread?

Will future generations wonder why we didn't take this opportunity to work for peace? The U.S., we are the most powerful nation in the history of the world; to what ends will we use that power?

tomkat and nuclear proliferation...

The news is entertainment. Only a segue separates the superflous from the profound.

Socrates disciples...

Reason and logic are rarely practiced in the public conversations of contemporary Western Culture. What is constructed through language, a sense of the truth, is often irreconcilable with empirical evidence.

The Earth is warming… Humans may play a part in this… “Junk science” and Al Gore attempting to resurrect a failed political career.

The art of specious argument; an illusion of reason…

(So how many angels can fit on the head of a pin?)

the logic of it all...

Off the cuff...

One hears often debates concerning gay marriage, gay rights, the proper roles of women, etc., etc., etc. and all these issues that rightfully belong in venues relating to theology, morality, etc. are regularly trotted out into the political arena. These issues should not be debated in the context of the US constitution. The intent of the founders is clear... The rights, protections, and privileges extended by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are extended to all citizens equally. To abridge those rights in any way is to deny full citizenship and is a subversion of the founders' original intent.

Some would argue that embedded within these documents is an implied intent to submit to the will of "God." I would argue "Whose God and what theologian gets to interpret that will so that it might be applied to our governance?" It is clear that the founders intended all citizens to believe as they chose... whatever that belief. There is no mandate for a particularly Christian worldview. One has only to examine the lives of men like Franklin to know this. Further examination of our documents of charter make it clear that while a god is acknowledged, there is no clear specificity of the nature of that god... Further, while this reference may denote the personal beliefs of many of the early signators, the stipulation that there be freedom of religion provides for views other than the beliefs of those drafting said documents.

The individual is free to hold whatever religious beliefs she or he may see fit. This is clear. The fact that those beliefs should not be an impediment to citizenship is equally clear.

In sum... We do not have the right to legislate the morality of our fellow citizens. We get to make our own choices.

If Jesus or God wanted to control "the people" through the devices of government, he would have run for emperor...

nonsequitur...

There are people... uncomfortable, unhappy with passionate opinions differing from their own... how do we begin the conversation about _anything_ if we can't tolerate another position.

In art, it is the same... I think it would surprise people if they knew how closed many, if not most, artists are... a view other than my own... I cannot tolerate and I must wipe it out. It is our religion... I am... conceptual, perceptual, experiential... This is the only art there can be... my view is the right view. It must be human nature to be so intolerant -- but somehow it seems more interesting to me if we have it all.

(I have my own list of things I cannot tolerate... but of course my list is the right list to have.)

In the end -- at some point -- we still walk out that door for the last time, maybe with a watch in hand, maybe with angry words, maybe not meaning to leave at all -- and then the future overtakes all those things we fought for -- and the next generation will, of course, make the art they choose and usually it will be in spite of us and not because of us.

Still -- I cannot help but love that empty space waiting to be filled. It is my ultimate joy and if you think that I have any ambitions other than that, or helping others to that place, ... then you don't know me.

crossing the line...

Events over take me… personal and work related… so I haven’t had much time to post.

I do have a number of thoughts concerning the immigration debate… I am interested in the need to maintain an inexpensive unprotected service class… It serves Capital's aims. If we had a system for workers to come in legally and a means for them to immigrate after certain criteria had been met, then laissez faire would be served… It would simplify monitoring the borders, fewer terrorists slipping over from Mexico… Oh wait, but that would mean that rights would have to be granted and protection extended to the workers… and that would make them more expensive… and where would their “otherness” go? We have an awful lot of encoded language that is about protecting the “whiteness” of the U.S.

So when does equality for all really mean equality for all?

thought for the day...

What if Bush had been president during the Cuban missle crisis?

one more time...

...and with feeling


Russ,

You and I have fundamental disagreements that cannot be reconciled...

I am infinitely concerned with the ethics of government. I find a particular evil to government by pragmatism. It fails to recognize what makes us human... It prevents us from becoming "the angels of our better natures"...

...but in a world ruled by pragmatism... why should we protect the innocent? (Culture of Life) Does that serve our best interests? The people of Darfur... are they more guilty? If we're concerned about threats, what about Korea?

"Meanwhile, I would like to note that you never seem to engage the central themes of my critiques… notably the conflation of Christianity with political and economic agendas. That Bush, and many other politicians, continually proclaim their religious devotion… yet their actions and their policies seem out of line with what they say they believe."

You know really... What would Jesus do?

Capitalism, Marxism and other ideal states...

(The following is a response to a comment made by Russ on "the benevolence of the butcher post...")

Dear Russ,

The website you suggested presents an alternative definition of Capitalism (and there are many such definitions). The website’s definition is as idealized as any theory put forward by Marx and Engels -- and equally unrealizable. The website, http://www.capitalism.org, conflates the religious doctrine of “Free Will”, with a personal ideology of “Free Will” and uses the term(s), in what I find to be a rather odd jump in logic, as a synonym for “laissez faire…” which, as I’m sure you know, means “to allow to do” and is an economic ideology that is in opposition to government intervention in business (in other words, it is an advocacy for business free of regulation). At the same time the site argues for “objective laws” and a system of Capitalism which doesn’t require force or exploitation. – This would seem to imply that some sort of regulation would be in order to ensure the proper functioning of such an economic system… (Additionally who determines what are to be these “objective laws” and how do we ensure that all citizens, within a political system that privileges those with the resources to hire superior legal counsel, have the equal benefit of these “objective laws…)

My most fundamental disagreement with the website, however, has to do with the idea that there is this “absolute truth.” This post would stretch into far too many lines if I were to actually address this statement… Suffice to say that the only absolute truth that I know is that there is no “absolute truth.”

Still… if this is the definition of Capitalism for which you or others prefer to advocate… I am glad to hear it… any ideology which opposes force and exploitation I can find overlap with…

Meanwhile, I would like to note that you never seem to engage the central themes of my critiques… notably the conflation of Christianity with political and economic agendas. That Bush, and many other politicians, continually proclaim their religious devotion… yet their actions and their policies seem out of line with what they say they believe.

Just a few of the questions that these inconsistencies in action raise… Why, if we are committed to freeing the people of Iraq and bringing them Democracy, are we not equally committed to the people of Darfur…? How do we alleviate the suffering of others, including our own people? Why are our own children sometimes allowed to go without proper education or medical care? Why does our president, who promotes a “Culture of Life,” also support the death penalty? And how, by the way, does the Culture of life and the war in Iraq make sense together???? As caretakers of the “Garden” just how are we doing?

I am extremely critical of many of the decisions made by this Administration and the current Congress… I see no leaders currently that are up to the task of truly leading us. And on the anniversary of the war in Iraq… I am fearful of the path we are on as a people…

...the benevolence of the butcher...

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.”
- Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

Bush is a Capitalist… pure and absolute; a particular type of Capitalist, one that embraces an absolute free market. It is revealed consistently through the policies large and small which he promotes. He truly, deeply believes that the market and profit will create a better society; a better culture. His Capitalism is not mitigated, as was Smith’s, by the belief that government take a role in those industries that fail to profit entrepreneurs. Bush believes, rather, that education, healthcare, retirement, etc. are all best served by the private sector and implemented most effectively by those who seek profit.

It is a 19th century mindset that has at its core the idea that all those with material wealth have it because they deserve it. If one has inherited wealth, then it was paid for by the labors of one’s predecessors… if one has wealth through investment, business or personal labor, then it is by virtue of industry and personal character that it has been accrued. The lesser classes are just that, lesser, and it is due to the inadequacy of their own devices that they find themselves so. If “they” were of sturdy enough character, then they would rise above their circumstance and accomplish as their betters have … Under the prevail of this thinking, business operates without government imposition. Laws regulating fair wages and much of fair practice disappear, as do those regulations that restrain the natural growth of businesses by placing an undue burden on them by charging them with concern for the environment. This philosophy promotes the interests of business secure in the belief that successful entrepreneurs create jobs and benefit the greater good. The market will demand that business do those things that are in the best interest of all… To impinge on business is to impinge on the welfare of the people.

Add to this an underlying certainty that all things are so because God wills it… Those that have, have because God has decreed it… Those that have not, have not because God wills it and it is justifiably so…

In the United States, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the barons of industry were building their fortunes, free from much of contemporary regulation, we had child labor, we had sweat shops, we had the Triangle Factory Fire (March 25, 1911), we had the Depression, we had slums and poverty on a scale irreconcilable with the precepts of our espoused philosophies… those that became unimaginably wealthy built on the suffering of those that had not… many of their descendants still maintain that wealth – (while many of the descendants of those sweat shop workers, share croppers, and slave laborers have inherited the “wealth” of their ancestors’ “privilege.”)

Our systems are built to benefit the wealthy… to privilege the privileged… it is as much a matter of classism as anything else…

We pretend that it’s the best we can do… Schools funded through property taxes so that the wealthy neighborhoods have the better schools… We can’t possibly afford universal healthcare… but we can afford the war in Iraq. Do the sons and the daughters of the wealthy go to Iraq? Do they, in large numbers, lay down their lives for what our leadership says is worthy of blood? Our greatest protection against a draft is that it will make clear the mechanisms that exclude some from the cost of war. This is the value that is placed on human life… and now many of our middle class are enslaved through a growing debt… We have sold ourselves to the masters of industry for the cost of a disposable culture… We are awash in apathy… and there is a move among some to push education from the realm of contemplation and critical thinking into the realm of trade-school type training… skills without thinking… and all the time education and its benefits become more and more costly so that those who undertake its pursuit are more deeply enslaved…

…and somehow Capitalism, and Christianity have become conflated…

I would advocate for an economic policy fomented upon the theories of John Nash rather than Adam Smith. Until we recognize the value of our true capital, the lives of our citizens, and cease squandering so much of it for the benefit of the few… until then we will continue to build a culture predicated on struggle, meanness, exclusion, and apathy...

mel chin...

January 19, 2006 – April 2006
Mel Chin exhibition...
Station Museum of Contemporary Art
"Do Not Ask Me"

If you're in or around Houston, Texas stop by the Station...

1502 Alabama
713-529-6900

worthy of viewing...

Alabama is on fire...

It saddens me... these fires... What is the reason, ever, for this kind of thing? Raise your voice against injustice... struggle against voices that drown out dissent... but why take vengence on the comfort of others? What is the goal of such acts?

When we will we stop celebrating the accomplishments of the peacemakers and make them instead our own?

Brazil in 1984...

I fear we are slipping into darkness. The “war on terror” which is polarizing appears endless. We allow ourselves to be pulled into a conflict of competing ideologies and cultures. We vilify the “other” and allow ourselves to play the part of the villain.

This vague and formless war, executed by individuals – driven by personalities – proffers a situation conducive to the maintenance of a militarized state. The pundits say Americans are willing to give up some civil liberties in order to remain safe… in a war without a foreseeable end… what kind of culture, what kind of life will we make of this? How long into the future will these concessions continue to erode the thing that we call freedom?

It’s 1984 in Brazil and who knows where the children are?

the instruments of revolution...

From time to time I consider the priorities and values of my country and a great grieving overtakes me.

Again I return to what has become a recurrent theme… what is it that we… as a culture, as a society… value?

Prejudice, racism are complex issues. If we take the time to tease it out, it is not so simple as “Do I hate you for the color of your skin? for your religion, your sexual preference, your heritage…” Handed down to us is more than our genes. We live in a framework of expectations, wealth and privilege, social status and opportunity that is our inheritance. We are still living out the implications of the beliefs and attitudes of an endless chain of generations.

There are those who have been born to money and position and invariably that condition was provided for by past labor. In some instances this labor was the sweat equity of their own ancestors, in others, it was the sweat of slaves, share croppers, or a multitude of other exploited laborers. Even attitudes concerning self-worth, education and possibility might be said to some degree to be an inheritance from those who came before us.

Some still suffer under the prejudices, racisms, discriminations of the past. The impoverished of cities like New Orleans are often examples of this. Rather than teasing out carefully the cause and remedies for these situations, too often we apply a myopic vision to the scene and wonder at the inability of the poor to take charge of their own lives and better its cause.

From Casablanca:

Captain Renault: I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

The Croupier: (Handing Renault a roll of bills.) Your winnings, sir.

It was the same in New Orleans after Katrina… “I am shocked, shocked to find that there are poor people here!” …shocked to find that so many were without the resources to “just drive away.” What hypocrisy! We’ve been playing the system all along. It’s built in from generations back… the wealthy have a right to wealth, health care and other “privileges.” If you can’t afford it, you don’t have a right to it…

Would we deny medicine, shelter, or opportunity to poor children? Like a giant elephant we tromp around defending our national security… Our national security, our future rests with our ability to open opportunities up for all our children. We must accept this responsibility. Education can no longer be tied to property value or the economic status of the immediate community. All education must be rigorous, competitive and available to all our citizens who have the wherewithal to pursue it. “Higher” education, quality secondary and preschool education… is the responsibility of the People.

Education: a value of educators-child care-healthcare; these are the instruments of revolution. These are the tools of a future of promise. We must make a commitment to our environment and to our children and move beyond the concerns of instant gratification.

Mike...

This is Mike when he was in his 20s...

The last time I talked to him... he was so worried about everything that needed to be done... so worried about taking care of other people.

I think about the "moral" battles that go on in politics and I can't find anything moral about them.

Free Will... Judge not...

If someone wants an opportunity for a kind of life... to live openly... to not have to lie about who they are to be loved... if one would want to enter into a contract with another for the sake of love and to endow that person with all their worldly goods and with that the rights of family... who is Hecuba, or who is anyone, to say that it is not their choice... their right to pursue that happiness?

Is not my soul my own?

au revoir les enfants...

I spoke to him last Wednesday… He was upbeat, yet anxious… concerned about what needed to be done at home to take care of his parents, his dogs, his brother, car stuff, house stuff – the business of life… Almost all of his thoughts had to do with taking care of his family. “I’m afraid to know what I’m going to find...” he said “…when I get home.”

He had been in the hospital for three weeks.

Last night I spoke to Chris in New Zealand. I wanted to make sure he knew that Mike was gone. We talked about the mysteries of Mike’s life and the secrets that our family keeps. (Are they my secrets to share with you now?)

Those secrets – who have they helped? What life have they made easier?

It seems to me they have caused more pain than anything else. When family cannot smile generously and embrace one another, when we can’t make room for those that our loved ones love, what does it benefit? And when, after all, are we worthy to judge the life of others?

What are the limits of love? What does love look like? How does it act?

When do we love for the sake of loving?

That much of Mike’s life was hidden, that even at the end he worried about what others might know – wouldn’t it have been better if he could have just known that we loved him?

How do we open our arms to the whole person?

Part of me falls away with you but still part of you stays.
----

Michael Cooper
Native of Hamilton, Alabama
Sign Aries
Birthday March 28, 1959 (I might be a little off on this.)
Mike lived for a time in Birmingham, Alabama and then lived for many years in Los Angeles. In the 90s, while living in LA, he was the victim of a knife attack. He returned to Alabama in the late 90s to help care for his parents.

He was my first cousin. I grew up with Mike. My other cousin, Chris, and I are concerned that those who knew him (loved him) are aware of his death. We would also like to hear from anyone who may have known him. Please leave a post or pass this along to anyone you know who might have known him.

... and so this is Christmas...?

Thursday in the mall… Christmas shopping with my other and his son… I often buy lots of small boxes of chocolate for friends and family… small, delicious treats they wouldn’t normally buy for themselves but I know they enjoy… I’m waiting at the kiosk. They have three people working, all young. The young man is helping his friend. They are exchanging tales and the sales person is cajoling his friend into trying a particular piece of candy. It is a slow and lazy exchange. One young lady is waiting on someone on the other side, and the third sales person is in front of me organizing chocolates in the display case. She looks up. My other and his son are standing several feet away. She spots the son, a very attractive young man. She makes a bee-line for him. She has to walk around me to get to them. She asks them if they need help. My other motions toward me. The young lady looks disappointed. She walks back by me and begins again to arrange things in the display case. Someone else walks up and she waits on them. By this time the other young lady is free. She too arranges things in the case. I stalk away, surprisingly angry and strangely hurt. No chocolates this year.

Then we go to a store where they sell videos and dvds. The wait is long. The young lady who finally checks us out looks up after we pay and says with great sarcasm the line I’m sure they’ve been ordered to utter… “Have an enchanted evening…” “You too…” was my sad response.

Looking out over the humanity that fills the mall; the clinging couples, the packs of teens, the floating solitares, friends arm in arm, crying babies and beleaguered parents and grandparents struggling with packages and the transport of their young – all of us consuming as an act of celebration, I’m wondering about the meaning of Christmas.

Friday, the grocery store… We have people coming into town and so we brave the crush of shopping carts and people. For breakfasts and dinners we search for what will make our Christmas like a Rockwell scene. Did you get cream? bread? sugar? What else do we need? More babies and parents, and older people who use their carts as walkers as they move down the aisles alone… how many are far from family?... We stand in line, another line, to check out. $160 is the cost of a small feast for six.

Then home… we walk in the door and his son stands there… reaching out to take bags from us. “They’ve had a wreck… (a heartbeat)… but they’re ok.”

“What?”

“They’ve had a wreck but they’re ok. They flipped the car twice. It’s totaled but they’re ok. A few cuts and bruises, but they’re ok.”

“You’re kidding, you’re lying.” (A response from a childhood Christmas when I awoke and was told our house had burned down. The same incredulousness.)

“No, No… they’ve had a wreck… but they’re ok.”

Phone calls, phone calls… “Go to the hospital.” “No we won’t go.” “Back to Alabama?” “No… we’ll come on to Cleveland…” “Are you sure?” “If we change our minds, we’ll let you know.”

Christmas Eve, another day of shopping, my other and I are trying to find the gaps we need to fill with gifts and to decide which gifts need to fill those gaps. We try to be efficient and thoughtful all at once. I eye with welled up emotions the chocolates. (Still no chocolate for friends. My pride won’t let me.) We finally struggle home. Done or not, we have to get ready. Not completely sure if they’re coming… my other’s two other children; another son and a daughter, his former and now her other too. The day is long and tense. Lots of getting on nerves. Reports from the road confirm that they are in fact heading toward Cleveland, now packed tight into his former’s other’s car. Near midnight they arrive.

All the fears finally fall away as we see them face to face and they are whole. The work that kept hands and minds busy has done its job and suddenly things seem reordered. The girl at the chocolate kiosk doesn’t matter. The money doesn’t matter. The fact that all those gaps weren’t completely filled doesn’t matter. They’re here and they’re whole. A second’s worth of difference and our world would have changed and instead of waiting to open presents we might have waited in the hall of a hospital. (I am glad to see them all including my other’s former and her other too.)

A re-ordering of the universe… a setting into place the value of things…

what remains...

To deny humanity beauty is to deny the human soul...

what remains is a hard and bitter shell,

unfit for habitation.

Peace be with us.

oh my God!

Even Bush admits that 30,000-- yes I said 30,000 civilians have died in Iraq!

We lost approximately 3,000 on 9/11.

30,000.