An Un-American Life

This years' corn got off to a slow start in May, but now they're out there harvesting it - just a tad early I think. Same for the tomatoes. Maybe they've planted new, faster growing crops. They have to do that to make a buck: agriculture is a tough business. The farmer's crops may be trained, but my patio crops are confused. The big, red pomegranate bloomed, looked good and then dropped them all during a cool spell. Then, it started over and bloomed again, but looks like just a few pomegranates will be produced. Meanwhile, the green pomegranate (which grows wild around here) is sporting fruit all over. Our kumquat, which was doing nothing suddenly bloomed, started some fruit, and then bloomed again. The lemon tree dropped its bloom, seemingly in sympathy with its neighboring pomegranate, but hasn't done a thing since. While the Thompson grape appears to be more productive this year (last year was a bust), the grapes haven't ripened up. So, it's schizophrenia just beyond the patio door.
 

Most of each day, I am confined to our downstairs "living room," just a few steps from the patio. From here, as
their caretaker, I can watch whatever spectacle the plants put on. They do it all in a year, sometimes faster. I am lucky not to be plant: I get to think about my life, and what it means, before I wilt.
 

Last Gaffes

I doubted I would make it this far: I expected to be dead sooner. Since being told I was diabetic a decade ago, the disease progressed faster than I thought it would. Now, however, it appears I'll make it to 65 next spring and get Medicare. I don't know about reaching 70; 75 seems unlikely. Diabetes eats you alive, slowly but surely. All of that caused me to undertake a great deal of reflection.
 

I decided the most important thing I need to do was write, write, write. I wanted to set out what I've thought for the last 50 years or so. There's nothing else about my life which was important or dramatic or interesting. Unlike most of you, I made no money; what I did save was lost in the recent Stock Market Crash. So, I am broke and live on the generosity of my significant other. I have been disconnected from most relatives and childhood friends since leaving my place of birth. I have had very few friends, even if I've been lucky enough to have a lot of acquaintances. All of this is the result of my "lifestyle" choices; more accurately, my attitudes which result in political choices.
 

In Marlon Brando's famous line, "I could have been a contender." I've been near a lot of people who almost made it, or who did make it for a short time. For example, I was associated with Jerry Rubin, who was important in the late 1960s, declined in the 1970s and died ignominiously a decade ago. One of my good friends, Dr Glen King, came close to being associated with a Nobel nominee. [He died in1992 after a long bout with brain cancer.] I was shocked when I learned that a 1960s friend (JS) was, in fact, an East German agent; he says a CIA double agent. I often felt I could be among the leaders, and sometimes I wanted to be one; but it seems I never wanted it enough. So, I was mostly an often-hired extra in life's "B" movies. I guess that's better than never having had any part at all.
 

I've spent a lot of time thinking about politics, economics and ethics (value theories) generally. I studied philosophy in undergraduate and graduate school, but felt frustrated because it didn't allow me to meet the economic demands placed on me. Also, I've had a deep interest in science since childhood, which many philosophers (and liberal arts types generally) do not share. So, I spent a lot of time studying science. In the end, having achieved no formal degree or accredited position, I do feel I learned as much as most professors. Unfortunately, I cannot prove it any more, as old age gradually takes away my memory. In short, a lot of work resulted in practically nothing, except this website and some other offline scribbling. The reason I keep on writing and posting to the web is simple: it feels like my last chance. I am writing as much as I can about the things I've thought about most: ethics, politics, and economics. I still have a lot more to say about ethics, which is the foundation of my political, economic and social views.
 

While I was busy with reflection and writing, the Iraq war and the 2004 Presidential Election came along. It seemed for a short time the Democratic party might actually reform itself and become a party of the Left; but that was not to be. After making a fool of myself, by supporting the worthy Dr. Dean, I felt it was time to clarify my politics. Just exactly what do I believe? Who am I? That's what this Circular is about
 

One day, you realize ...

I have traveled very little, mostly because I couldn't afford it. Having always made just a little more than "poverty line" wages, while working 6 or 7 days a week and rarely going on vacation, I wasn't able to go to Europe or Asia or even Canada. I did spend one day in Tijuana, Mexico about 35 years ago. In the early 1970s, I looked into emigration to France, New Zealand and Australia. However, at that time, those countries were not interested in accepting people like me, unless I gave them a bundle of money or an American corporation would send me there. I learned the major interest other countries have in Americans is American money. Since travel and emigration were not feasible, I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about what it's like to live elsewhere. What I've seen of the world is mostly a very occasional peek at the TRAVEL channel, or what I can read on the Internet.
 

I haven't thought of myself as an American for at least a decade. I don't know exactly when I stopped seeing myself as an American, but I do remember thinking I was like "average" Americans some 15-20 years ago. That was an unusual feeling, since I did not identify with the majority of Americans during the 1950s and early 1960s. My major feeling about American culture most of the time has been complete rejection. The counter-culture revolutions of 1965-75 were the most hopeful times for me: they allowed me to consider myself potentially an American, even if I wasn't part of whatever America is. I hoped that America would change enough to accept me. During the 1970s, the revolution faded, things got worse and worse, and eventually Thermidor set in. Despite that, I would not give up my 1960s dreams, hoping that the Reagan-Bush regimes were temporary, an aberration in history. It was not until 1995, during Clinton's Presidency, that I recognized my delusion. Finally, I understood the revolution was lost, America was not going my way. Since then, I have felt more and more un-American.
 

European Surprise

In my anomie, I never imagined I had much in common with Europeans. Europe was never a great interest, until the Iraq War. Then I discovered I had not spent two years learning French for nothing: in many matters, I was just an "average" Frenchman. In France and much of Europe, how I feel and think is just run of the mill. I wouldn't be an oddity there. This has led me to hope that someday I might be able to retire to the Italian or French Riviera, whichever is cheaper. Here's some things I learned from various polls and articles published in American newspapers and magazines.
 

For one thing, only 10% of the French bother to attend a church regularly; over 2/3 of them say religion has nothing to do with their lives. This lack of connection to "Western culture," as Americans define it, is common all over Europe. Slavs, and Russians particularly, are far more religious than their Southern and Western neighbors. Keep in mind that Christianity and Islam, both Western religions, are not popular in Asia (except Indonesia), which is Buddhist. Despite their best efforts, the Christian missionaries have failed to interest more than a small minority of Asians. Even in that pseudo-Christian hotbed, Korea, Rev Moon's strange practices are the most dominant. Once "mentally outside" what passes for Western civilization, it is clear just how fanatical, how crazy the Christians and Muslims are. No sane, prudent person would want to be associated with that, not even the supposed founders and heirs of Western Civilization √ Europeans √ and certainly not me.
 

Europeans understand the necessity of the Welfare State in order to protect human life and values. Yes, we all want "progress," all of us would like to be rich and famous; but, no, it isn't worth sacrificing one's life for those things. Life is lived a little bit at a time. It's the daily siesta. It's taking off to the beach in August. It doing something else besides make a buck. On the other hand, Americans think of nothing but shipping another carton of Yuppie-Pooh Shampoo. For Americans, "Western Civilization" is a bunch of story book lines and cartoon characters, starting with the Bible; culture happens at Sunday School, but in their lives. It's a matter of balancing ends and means: Americans don't do that very well.
 

Most civilized countries have rules and regulations intended to protect their nationals. There is State control of unemployment, medical care, vacation time, schools, housing and a myriad of other details. The United States is a First World country, meaning it has a very high per capita income, but that's not the same thing as being civilized. (Americans confuse money with culture.) Europeans are civilized, and so are the Chinese, Japanese and Hindus. The Europeans have a mere 2,500 years of civilization under their belts, whereas the Chinese have been around for about 5,000 years. The Japanese have, at most, a 2,000 year history. The United States claims European heritage, but doesn't act on it and hasn't assimilated it. In reality, the United States has at most 400 years of history behind it, which is possibly the reason for the shallowness of what passes as culture in America.

The Europeans, Germans particularly, believe the company should be managed in the interests of all the stakeholders. That's stakeholders, who are not just shareholders, but also workers, management, consumers and the public at large. The general idea is that a business is not a selfish enterprise, but exists for the benefit of the entire public because it is licensed by the public. In the European view, business owners and managers are not free to do whatever they please; they are free to act in accord with their license. It's a matter of who's in charge: the capitalists or the people. I see it the European way, which is the way European social democratic parties see it. In Europe, I would be slightly left of center.
 

Especially in the reign of George W Bush √ the last 3.5 years √ it is commonly appreciated that Europe and America are drifting apart. They are at odds over all sorts of things, but, at the bottom, it comes down to different cultures with different purposes. Europe has a civilization; America has its barbarians.
 

Here I recognize the root of my persistent and progressive un-Americanism: I don't want to be a barbarian. I consider myself a civilized person.