Loving ourselves:):):)...even the manipulative shitheads that we are:):):)...

Things at work seem to be moving in a much more positive direction, these days:):)...

Both in terms of behavior and in terms of productivity we were slipping last week:)...

But this week...on both counts...we seem to be moving in a better direction:):)...we're on schedule, at this point, to avoid mandatory overtime:):)...

The guys have been really shitty to me at times:):)...

But I have to say that I love these guys:):)...I mean that:):)...no matter how shitty they've been with me:):)...

And hopefully what I'm sharing with them:):)...is that we can all love ourselves:):):)...

No matter what manipulative shitheads that we can all often be:):)...

Noone escapes that:):)...

Conservatives are right that people are really just often shitheads, unfortunately:):):)...

But liberals are right that we can love ourselves no matter what shitheads we often are:):):)...

In fact:):):)...the bigger the shithead we are:):):)...the more we need to love ourselves:):):)...and the love we need from others:):) (though our whiny little asses can deal until people are able to dig deep enough to find that love for them:):):)...

We're responsible for ourselves:):):)...that's for sure:):):)...

But if perfection is required for us to be loved:):):)...we are all in the some deep ass shit:):):)...

Because those human beings don't exist...never have existed:):):)...never will exist:):):)...

We are who we are:):):)...and we get better over time as we learn to love ourselves and others:):):)...

We're kind of shitheads in the meantime:):):)...

Doing everything we can to avoid responsibility for our behavior and its consequence on everyone else's life:):):)...

But...over time:):):)...as we learn to love ourselves and one another:):):)...

We become less and less of the shitheads we have been in the past:):):)...

And more and more the better people we all knew we could be:):):)...

If you haven't seen the testimony of the Schindlerjuden -- the survivors of the Holocaust saved by Oskar Schindler -- on the Schindler's List DVD, by the way, you definitely need to...it's really touching...

And a powerful testimony...that perfection is not necessary to do enormous good in the world:):):)...

Love,
Ben

The physics of human aggression and force:):)...

I've been playing around with the idea of human aggression or force as a physical property with concepts like valence theory in organic chemistry...

But it just occurred to me, today, that physics would be the best place to start:):)...

Force as a physical property...

I have a lot of studying up to do:):)...

Ben

Jacques Derrida on 9/11...

I ran across this today:):):)...

9/11 and Global Terrorism: a dialogue with Jacques Derrida

Why again do so many people (including myself at one point) take this fool so seriously?:):):):):):):)...

Apparently Jacques never learned the distinction between being clever and being smart:):):):):):):)...

What a moron:):):)...

Having said that...especially as I am reminded of it after reading Kenny's blog, today:):):)...

I totally respect Jacques Derrida's efforts to understand language and politics and world as best he could:):)...

And don't wish to disrespect someone who has passed from us...who taught me a lot...even if it was learning, often, about how to avoid intellectual obtuseness:):):)...

And, as Kenny points out on his blog...is a real human being...with friends and family...and a life beyond just being an intellectual:):):)...

Thanks for being with us, Jacques:):):)...

Love,
Ben

Least possible necessary aggresion: military and criminal applications...

I'm in the middle of U.S. Air Force (I know, Phoenix:):) LTC (Lieutenant Colonel?) Tony Pfaff's fascinating discussion of the overlap of police and military rationales for use of force in complex military/peace-keeping/criminal law enforcement situations...

Ethics in Complex Contingencies: New Demands on the Warrior Ethic...LTC Tony Pfaff...

I was kind of curious whether others were writing/discussing principles like least possible necessary force or least possible necessary aggression...

And LTC Pfaff's article was the first I happened upon...

It's a fascinating discussion of military and police ethics that I highly recommend to anyone interested in the use of force and the practical implications of the ethics of its use...

I'm still not done with it...so I'll try to comment more later...

But two things in the meantime...

First...this is a really welcome look at the emerging need for joint efforts by law enforcement and military personell in combat and law-enforcement efforts (Tony gives an example of joint police and Marine efforts during the 1992 Los Angeles riots that is a really fascinating illustration of how law enforcement and military personell differ when they use the term "cover")...

...and of the general philosophical issues around the use of force...

I understand and yet disagree with Tony's dichotimization of least possible force and most possible force between law enforcement and military...I don't think Tony's thinking broadly enough about what would constitute "most possible force" (he clarifies this in a graph below that illustrates, better, I think, that Tony is talking about more and less force...not most possible force as I think he mislabels it...most possible force could involve an awful lot of force, if one really thinks about it...including the use of atomic or nuclear weapons to resolve all matters of military conflict...something that I don't think that Tony is advocating)...

Tony is not arguing literally for the most possible force, as he argues later...he is arguing for most possible force by military personell with the restraints of proportionality and discrimination...which he goes into with some detail in this paper...

The graph, I think, helps to illustrate what Tony is arguing...that law enforcement uses less force -- though, while I wish they would use the least possible necessary force...they often, do not...and often with full consent of civilians...not as a matter of violating any law enforcement ethic -- and that the military tends to use more force...for reasons that are understandable...something I totally agree with, of course...

Tony uses deontological principles as the principle to limit force in military situations...which I think is a mistake...deontological principles, as Tony rightly argues, are absolutes...

"You don't do such and such because it's wrong...period" (I ran a deontological case my freshman year of college in debate and it was a bitch to defend because of all of the problems inherent in the flawed logic of deontology...Immanuel Kant, notwithstanding:):):)...

But...as Tony argues later in his paper...this is a really problematic way of arguing that often leads to "morally self-defeating logic," as Tony appropriately calls it when he argues against an absolute principle of no risk to non-combatants during military operations when civilians can be used as human shields (a really fascinating example of the "morally self-defeating" logic, as Tony puts it, of arguing from moral absolutes...which I think applies more generally than Tony is arguing here, beyond just this one example of combatants putting non-combatants at risk during military conflicts)...

I agree, obviously, that military conflict involves more force...though not the most possible force, as Tony argues and, I think, wrongly labels his own argument (which he is not arguing in practice throughout the paper...which is why I think it's a mislabel rather than just a disagreement between Tony and I)...

But I still think that in both military and law-enforcement practice that the least possible NECESSARY force is the principle that should guide how force is used...

Meaning...and I don't think Tony would take issue with this...

If military operations can be undertaken WITHOUT risking civilian lives, they should (as I imagine many if not most military personell in democratic countries, at least, do as much as possible and as much as they think to as is)...

And while I agree with Tony that the use of force can minimize the risk to law enforcement and military folks...

I think Tony is seriously underestimating (and maybe I just haven't gotten to a fuller discussion of this in the paper, yet) how the use of force can INCREASE the risk to military and law-enforcement, which, to my mind, has clearly occurred in Iraq...and to a lesser degree, in Afghanistan...

As Tony argues in the paper...collateral damage means that someone's father, mother, brother, sister, wife, husband, child, girlfriend, boyfriend, friend...whomever...has died...and an awful lot of people want to take revenge in that situation...as well as withholding support for soldiers, in warfare, and police, in law enforcement, who make those mistakes erring on the side of more force and killing or seriously hurting civilians...and, unfortunately, supporting terrorists and insurgents and other actors who are hostile to both those soldiers, democratic countries, generally, and specific democratic countries, like the United States...

I whole-heartedly agree with Tony that military and law-enforcement officials must do more joint training (as I think happens, de facto, a lot, as is...since many of my military friends go on into law enforcement careers like police and prison guard duty)...but Tony and I are thinking of something that more formally explores the overlap and needed collaboration between these groups in dealing with a whole range of issues...

From the Los Angeles riots...to peace-keeping...nation-building...to terrorism...

There are many places where important distinctions need to be made as law enforcement and military responsibilities increasingly overlap...

I think a better way of arguing Tony's case is not that the military use the most possible force (which it clearly doesn't now...and shouldn't in the future)...nor that law enforcement use the least possible force (which is also a complicated principle...I changed the principles I was working with from least possible aggression to least possible necessary aggression to avoid the confusion that somehow I was expected people to adopt "morally self-defeating," (as Tony would put it) principles of pacifism in the face of aggression...which I don't think are appropriate principles at all...but rather that they use the least possible NECESSARY aggression or force, to avoid the unintended consequences that often come with the use of aggression either, one, when it is not necessary...or two, using too much force, when lesser force would accomplish the mission, in a military context, or secure the situation, in a law enforcement context...

Tony's conclusions are important to ponder, I think...both because of his appropriate focus, I think, on a better developed professional education that deals with law-enforcement and military joint exercises...and his focus on the political benefits from taking the moral high ground in warfare...and remembering that the moral high-ground -- not a morally self-defeating moral absolutism...but authentic moral high ground that comes from the better use of moral judgment based on utilitarian principles, properly understood -- not the morally bankrupt principal that the ends justify the means...as is too often practiced in contemporary politics and warfare...but the moral utilitarian principles that long term moral ends should be considered when choosing means... more than based on morally absolute deontological principles...which are inherently, I believe, morally self-defeating, as LTC Pfaff so eloquently puts it:):):)...

"US operations over the last decade are filled with stories of where Coalition forces restrained the use of force in order to preserve civilian lives, even when the law and morality of war did not require it. This author does not question the commitment of the military, as an institution, to upholding the principle of noncombatant immunity. However, what is lacking is a conceptual framework that accounts for how to apply the principle in the wide variety of environments members of the military find themselves—often within the scope of a single operation. This is necessary if we are to have consistency in the face of this complexity.

What also follows from this discussion is that it will not always be clear what threat soldiers are facing, which means it will be up to military professionals to rely on their experience and judgment to discern which approach, criminal or enemy, is appropriate to apply. This underscores the need for a professional education curriculum that accounts for the demands of both models. Further, while the discussion of proportionality and discrimination was meant to suggest the kinds of obligations, permissions and prohibitions that exist regarding the use of military force in complex contingencies, it is by no means complete. The restoration of civic peace is not only a job for the military and more work needs to be done to build a comprehensive approach that draws on the professional resources and experience of civilian institutions which are necessary for creating the conditions for civic peace.

Some may argue that placing such constraints on fighting a deadly enemy needlessly and irresponsibly restrains soldiers from pursuing courses of action that allow them to effectively to protect themselves, as well as the civilians they are sworn to defend. But it is also true that prosecuting a war in a way that violates our own values risks undermining the political will necessary to successfully see the war to a successful end. Coalition forces should pursue an aggressive policy by which they engage insurgents and terrorists wherever and whenever they find them. But they must also must recognize when violations of individuals’ right to life and liberty is not permissible and restrain the use of force accordingly.

This requires policies and procedures that recognize necessity must be constrained and interpreted in different ways, depending on the situation in which it is applied. In some cases it means using the most force permissible, given the restrictions of proportionality and discrimination. In others, it means using the least possible and never in such a way that civilians are knowingly put at risk. Furthermore, even if in particular situations conforming to moral obligations leads to restraint and perhaps missed opportunities, this may be the short-term price to pay in order to gain the long-term benefit maintaining the moral high-ground brings.[41]"

I definitely encourage those who are interested in the use of force in international policy, in warfare, in law enforcement, and even just in everday life to check out Tony's very thoughtful discussion of its use in this article:):):)...

I'll write more as I finish the article:):):)...

Ben

More on Tony's article:):)...

There are many issues that I would want to touch on in Tony's article...

But one, in particular...is Tony's discussion of the distinctions between what he calls fourth generation warfare and previous military conflicts and dealings with terrorism...

Tony, I think, is trying to deal with the complex discussion of how terorists should be treated...terrorism, Tony rightly argues, I think, is a complex matter for military and law enforcement officials...it is crime, in the sense that is is murder for political ends...and it generally uses low-level warfare...but it is distinct from warfare between states or populations in the sense that is is warfare that is generally regarded as illegal, often and generally in the states or among populations where it is conducted...

So the need for some kind of military response is present since conventional law enforcement are not prepared or armed to deal with such matters...and yet...terrorists, as much as possible, need to be brought to justice to account for their crimes, rather than treated as simply enemy combatants...but their armed resistance and their threat to the lives, bodies, and property of civilians and others complicates this effort...

But Tony is wrong to argue, I think, that 9/11 represents some kind of qualitatively different form of terrorist crime that existed pre-9/11...terrorism, in its nature, involves a threat from those engaged in some kind of guerrila warfare to states and civilians, as much as a form of organized crime...

What separates terrorism, as a category of crime and warfare, from, say, the mafia...is that mobsters do not typically engage in guerilla warfare to accomplish their ends...and that mobsters are not typically engaged in organized crime for political reason...they usually use criminal means to violently enforce their desire for money, power, influence, etc...

But neither of these groups of criminals are sanctioned by a government or by law...which clearly doesn't necessarily make combatants legitimate, as the principle of just war, itself implies...since, in order for war to be just, one set of combatants needs to be engaged in unjust or less just warfare...and another set of combatants needs to be engaged in just or more just warfare...noone argues, for instance (I hope) that Saddam's troops were justly governing Iraq and fighting American forces...if they are, they either are naive about the nature of Saddam's totalitarian regime...or callous to the oppression experienced by the Iraqi people...

Terrorists, in their nature, typically target states...and, often, civilians...contrary to Tony's analysis of the situation...

Meaning...the challenge we face today...is not because the threat has changed necessarily...

It is because our view and reasoning about the situation has both filled out in terms of the complex realities, initially...and because we are beginning to think about these matters, differently, given those new realities...we are all becoming, hopefully, better policy thinkers, in other words...

And one of the most important realities of terrorism that has changed...is that we have found more successful ways to deal with terrorism than simply trying to crush terrorist forces...which has been largely unsuccessful in the past...

And...in Northern Ireland...in Israel...at Guantanamo...at Abu Grahib...and in a whole host of situations...

We have learned that rationalizing "by any means necessary" has consequences that we never intended in dealing with terrorism...that necessitates a more sophisticated way of dealing with this very sophisticated form of crime and guerilla warfare...

We've made a lot of mistakes over the course of dealing with these and other various challenges...we...as a country...and as a culture...not just individuals that we might scapegoat for our general failures in reasoning and responses...

And we owe a lot of slack to individual soldiers who are charged with conducting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places around the world that we have both engaged with good intentions...and that we've made serious mistakes around, especially larger policy mistakes, over the course of our operations in the last 5 years or so...

As LTC Pfaff makes clear in this article...the problems associated with the complexities in these wars and in dealing with terrorism are not "attitudinal," as Human Rights Watch charges...

They are theoretical...they are at the level at which we think...not just at the level at which we feel...

And LTC Pfaff makes a very admirable effort to think at a broader level on these matters that we should all take seriously if we are to treat both civilians and service people with the kind of respect for their lives and their freedoms and their judgments and consciences that they deserve...

Education...and life after grad school...

Welp...I was right...

After several months of this whole non-speaking about my education...

I finally confirmed, today, what I've been suspecting for almost the entire time I've been in shipping at Amarr...

Which is that the issue I've been dealing with...

Is peoples' pettiness and jealousy and bullshit around my having so much education...

It came out today in a conversation I had with our supervisor...a guy I respect and like quite a bit, actually...but whom I've been suspecting and was right was treating me bullshit at least in part because of my education...

My friend Deway and I starting having the much more honest conversation, today, about education...about it's importance in life...like it or not...why...how...etc...

I had been getting treated like shit for far too long, up to this point...and it was the only honest conversation to have, at this point...given all the bullshit I've dealt with...

And Ben very nicely, I thought...was making sure that Deway and I weren't going to be at each others' throats:):):)...but clearly with more appreciation for Deway's perspective than mine...since he largely shared Deway's perspective, I think...

That this punk college kid just doesn't ever listen...that it, of course, has nothing to do with anything Ben or Deway may be doing or not doing:):):)...

Deway, remember, is one of my very closest friends at Amarr...I still consider him one of my closest friends...even though he acted colder today...

And Ben I respect quite a bit...he knows his shit...and I respect that in a lead...that they know what they're doing...and didn't just get promoted through the ranks for stupider reasons...including that they have more education...which is a really stupid reason to promote or hire people into management positions, I think, generally...since education doesn't guarantee a damn thing -- at least with making and shipping garage doors -- in terms of knowing what you're doing and working with people...though it can help:):)...

But having an education...and being book smart, as people with less education often refer to it...doesn't hurt for goodness fuckin' sakes...and it doesn't at all mean that you can't learn on the job...to the contrary...it's definitely an advantage...

If you're not dealing with the huge fuckin' chips that most people carry on their shoulders about how smart they think they are or aren't all the time, that is...

And what Ben and Deway are having a hard time facing...

Is that I am learning quite a bit from them...

But the truth is...they are both stubborn as hell about learning much from me...

And in the meantime...on the inside...they are saying to themselves...

"Fuckin' college kid...thinks he knows everything...I don't need no college...college don't mean shit..."

Blah...blah-blah...blah-blah...blah-blah...
blah-blah...

A whatever million other rationalizations that people like Deway and Ben have for why college is no good anyway...and it's not their own stubborness that keeps them from learning...that it's the uselessness of college or education or whatever...

Not that they're just stubborn motherfuckers not wanting to face their own limitations on this one...and how it impacts even something as simple as shipping garage doors at Amarr...

So...

Ben's asking me -- jokingly -- how a college kid like me could make mistakes that I make at Amarr...and -- jokingly -- why I didn't learn about this kind of stuff in college:):):)...

And I'm like, "Of course they don't teach about working tiers in college"...

And I'm thinking...this is a fuckin' garage door warehouse...it's not like it's rocket-science to work a fuckin' tier for goodness fuckin' sakes...because if it was...this department would be in deep fuckin' shit:):):)...because I don't see any fuckin' rocket scientists around here:):):)...

I'm taking Deway's and Ben's feedback, mind you...and try to make that clear as much as possible...

But what Deway and Ben are both working on is how they have tough conversations...Ben is better at them...but he also feels uncomfortable with conflict in a way that I am not...because I do policy for a living for goodness fuckin' sakes...conflict is the name of the game in my line of work...and not just any conflict...but the deepest, most profound issues in life are the subject of the conflict that I am used to engaging in:):):)...

So garage doors seem like a piece of cake to have an argument about, really:):):)...because...at the end of the day:):):)...they're just garage doors:):):)...

Anyway...the point for me is...

That...paradoxically...

I think these really honest conversations (I hope) have brought all of us closer together, actually...rather than further apart...

I know that Deway and I are fairly close (no matter what he was saying last night:):):)...

And I'm positive that Ben and I have gotten closer than when he first became our supervisor:):):)...when I was still just this punk college kid who he was sure thought had all the answers (which wasn't and still is not true)...

Now I'm someone he can rely on to be fairly reasonable, I think...and to explain, better, his reasoning on issues that he needs communicated with the guys...which they don't always understand very well, at first...

And hopefully he notices that I'm not someone who bitches about every last little stupid thing at Amarr...as most of the guys do...

That the conflict I engage in involves important shit...not the menial bullshit...which I let go of all the time...

It's a start, this conversation...

After feeling really discouraged...

And for me it was a serious reality check...and a confirmation of what I've been concerned about...

That many of the issues that I've had with people in the last 2 and a half years out of school...

Have involved this conversation in the background...

That I'm just some punk college kid...some Ph.D. wannabe...some overeducated idiot...or whatever...

That rationalizes for people...why I'm not worth listening to...and why I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about...even when I do...

And often...even when I clearly do...and more than the person I'm talking with...

Because often it's not about having an honest and fair conversation...

It's about a big emotional defense...a big chip on peoples' shoulders...that people just don't understand their brilliance...and people with more education than them DEFINITELY don't understand their brilliance...because they've got all that useless education...and they just don't have common sense (meaning they're not stupid enough:):):)...

And it's one long load of bullshit...

That I am far beyond sick and tired of getting from people...

And my attitude at this point is...

If you want to be left behind with all the dumbasses of the world...

Then by all means...

But it wasn't because I didn't try to as nicely as possible bring you into a smarter world...

It's because you were too goddamned stubborn to get over yourself...and to realize that, generally...though I was probably also challenging you...I was also, generally, supporting the hell out of you too (there are some exceptions I can think of to that rule...and they involve people who have been nasty with me with no let up...so they can fuckin' deal, frankly...little fuckin' babies)...

But the truth is that when I say I don't want anyone left behind...

I mean it...

Meaning...

A lot of intellectuals give up on the idea that everyone can be smart...

Because of all the bullshit that I'm dealing with now...

But I believe that everyone is smart, in some way, at least...and everyone can be smart...in the conventional way that we think of smart...

And in the meantime...I don't think it's healthy to have this world of have and have-nots when it comes to smarts...which impacts the world of haves and have-nots in so many other ways, as well...

And the truth is...that though I'm sure I can always get better at this...

That...generally...I am probably one of the coolest motherfuckers that you will meet around this issue...

For one, I really care about people...even when they don't reciprocate...

And I don't condescend people...

But if you're not going to be condescended...

Then you're going to have to deal with being challenged...

Because it's the only way to improve...

And I'm up to the challenge of working at a garage door warehouse...

The question is if the guys I'm with are up to the challenge of learning that things I have to offer to make this place run better...

And I think they are...

And if they're not...then they need to just be honest with me and with themselves about their conceding defeat...

Rather than treating me like shit because they don't want to face their own goddamn egos...

I am really tired of this in my life, frankly...

I haven't had to deal with this like I've had to deal with it until the last couple of years out of grad school...

And saying that it and its consequences for my life have been overwhelming is putting it really mildly...

I've lost jobs over this...I've been treated really seriously unfairly several times over this...at jobs...by friends...by family...by my professors, I'm convinced...by my best friend, up until recently...Brandi...

By everyone I am close to and not so close to in my life...

And it's bullshit...and it's unfair...and I'm tired of it...

And it's about goddamn time that people started doing the tough work...of taking responsibility for their bullshit on this one...

Ayn's Rand wrote a really excellent novel about this theme...it's called Atlas Shrugged (actually it's a theme in much of Ayn's work)...

It's about a engineer -- John Galt -- who convinces brilliant businessmen all over the world...to leave their businesses...and to join him in a secret society of rationalists...to shrug, so to speak...and, as if the Greek hero, Atlas...allow the globe -- that Atlas was fabled to carry on his back -- to fall from their shoulders and to come tumbling down...

And I've been learning that shrugging only goes so far...

That...eventually...people have to start learning to pick up the ball on this one...

And stop being so damned stubborn and self-centered...and stop being such assholes...

To face their bullshit like big people...

And stop treating me like shit...

Because I'm goddamn tired of it...

And I can't keep being friends with people who are going to treat me like shit...and then pretend that they're not really treating me like shit...

If that's what you're doing...FUCK YOU...you deal with your own bullshit...and stop treating me like shit because you feel bad about yourself...

Get over yourself...and get some humility...so you can get smarter...not keep trying to bring me down to make you feel good...which isn't gonna work....for you or for me...

And the irony is...that...generally...I totally support people at what their good at...

Even working a fuckin' tier or loading or staging or whatever the fuck at a fuckin' garage door warehouse...

But most people don't ever support me with a hundreth of the support that I give to them...so much do they take it for granted...

And fuck you for both taking me for granted...and taking all the support I give to you for granted in the meantime...

Face the bullshit...and stop making me eat it...so you won't have to deal with it...

I'm tired of dealing with this...

And if I'm not hanging out...this might have something to do with that, I imagine...

I could talk about this for hours...but I'm not going to...so I don't tax people more than I already tax them...

But I needed to talk about it...

Because it was nice to finally get it out in the open, at work, at least...and get a serious reality check for the bullshit I've been dealing with for the last 2 and a half years...

I hope everyone has a good day:):):)...

Love,
Ben

It's just beginning to occur to me:):):)...

...just how much the last 6 years or so, in American politics...

...has been this really great exploration of what honesty and intelligence in politics and honest and intelligent policy looks like...

...as well as one long rationalization, for far too many people, of why honesty and intelligence -- in politics...but...by extension...in life -- really just doesn't matter...

Bill Bradley was the smartest candidate I think I've ever seen run for the Presidency...

Alan Keyes has a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard (if I'm remembering that correctly)...

But definitely not that intelligent, by my lights...

I don't say that at all because I disagree with Alan's social conservative politics...

I say it because Alan never really had much new to say, ever, about most issues...his big issue was abortion...he didn't really say much new about that...nor really many of the other really important political or other issues of the day...

Alan was an excellent example of an overeducated man without too much intelligent to say (the other version of that joke is a little harsh...but you get the jist)...

Bill Bradley, on the other hand...while only having an undergrad from Princeton (I'm not even sure what it was in, to be honest:):):)...

Was one of the most thoughtful Senators and Presidential candidates I've ever seen, frankly...

Bill Clinton is pretty thoughtful, too...

Bill Clinton's real stregth (arguably better than Bill Bradley's...or...rather...more public than Bill Bradley's similar behind the scenes work in a similar vein) was how he brought people together...

Both Bill's understand that they are not the only or often even the most important actors in the political process...

That people from all different sorts of backgrounds must be brought together to resolve important policy matters...

Bill Clinton's race dialogue initiative and his work to bring environmentalists and business people to the table to resolve environmental matters are excellent examples of how Bill excelled as a more collaborative President than the traditional command and control model that President Bush has tried more -- with much less sucess than his predecessor -- to engage in...command and control, remember, is what brought down the Soviet system and model of governance...and no matter who engages in it -- liberals, conservatives, socialists, theocrats...whomever -- it functions far less effectively than a more collaborative approach to governance...as the last 5 years have served to demonstrate for us, I hope...

But Bill Bradley both is engaged in such efforts -- Bill is associated, you will notice, with the democratic dialogue efforts cited on the center-left of this blog with groups like America Speaks...but really...Bill is involved with a million groups like this...either personally...or more indirectly -- and he is/was just a more honest player in those discussions, as well, I think...

What I really admired about Bill...is that he was not ashamed of being smart...and of talking smart...even when he got all kinds of hell for doing so...

And he was/is honest...about himself...about the political process in America...

Bill Bradley -- unlike President Clinton -- talked honestly about his marijuana use in the 2000 primaries...

And Bill was willing to be thoughtful and critical of the more fundamental problems/issues in American politics...namely...the way that money corrupted the process...but I would add...the way that power is often averse to a more honest intellectual discussion...and was willing to be critical of both parties when they allowed that money and power to wag the dog, so to speak...and to hold himself and his campaign to a higher standard on the issue...even if it didn't win the election for him...

And here's the real irony...

Whereas other candidates were skittish about talking about the money/power nexus...and the ways that it undermined confidence in American democracy...for fear of pissing off the money folks, as much as anything else...

Guess how Bill Bradley's been making his living for the past few years?...

Bill Bradley...Wikipedia...

As an investment banker...and a corporate consultant:):):)...

Ironic, huh?:):):):):)...

That a guy who would be honest with the money world about how it exercised too much influence over politics:):):)...

Would go on to make his living (I'm sure quite well, knowing Bill:):):)...

As a investment banker and corporate consultant:):):)...

I suppose investment banking and the corporate world need honest people just like anyone else:):):)...

And Bill Bradley is just about as honest as they come:):):)...

Ironic, huh?:):):)...

That Americans would spend so much time in the last 6 years or so:):):)...

Trying to argue for themselves and one another:):):)...

That honesty and intelligence just don't matter:):):)...for the general culture...and definitely not for their personal welfare:):):)...

And that the one guy who served as our best example of intelligence and honesty in the last few elections:):):)...

Would be making what I imagine is pretty decent bank as an investment banker and a corporate consultant:):):)...

Isn't it ironic?...don't you think?:):):)...a little too ironic:):):)...but yeah I really do think:):):)...

The truth is that too many people are not just not honest enough:):):):):)...

They're just kind of dumb, I think:):):):):)...

Thinking that somehow the world can function as well without us being more and more honest with ourselves and with one another:):):):):)...

How dumb:):):):):)...

We'll get better, I think:):):)...we already are, think:):):)...

I've got to get ready for work:):):):):)...

Have a great day, everyone:):):):):)...

Love,
Ben

Bill Bradley...a walk down memory lane...

As we gear up for the 2008 election...

As I've commented on the prospects of various Presidential candidates:)...

I always come back to the person I thought was the last great American Presidential candidate:):)...

Bill Bradley...former New York Knick...and former Senator from New Jersey:):)...

It was so nice to hear Bill's voice again on these two clips:):):)...

Bill Bradley...One on one with PBS Online Newshour's Margaret Warner...

...and...

Bill Bradley/Al Gore...The Last Debate of the 2000 Election...Online Newshour...

Bill and I disagree on a lot these days...two issues, in particular, we agreed on during that election...and I disagree with him on them now...campaign finance regulation and gun rights...

But I COMPLETELY support Bill's intentions with such efforts...and still support voluntary efforts to clean up the American democratic process and to promote responsible gun ownership...but the Bush Presidency made completely clear for me what big and arrogant government looks like...how people view such government...and how that leads to reactions and responses to legislation that even the best-intentioned leaders, like Bill, never imagine...and how the best policy thinking must account for those realities, no matter how great and honest Bill's intentions are with these two and other important policy ideas that he has shared with the American and world democratic community...

So...I don't think Bill was the last great candidate because I agree with him on everything...campaign finance reform and gun control, after all, are two of his signature issues...

And I don't just support candidates that I've voted for in the past...

In 1992...like a ghost that will forever haunt me:):):):):)...I voted for George Herbert Walker Bush for President over Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton:):):)...a collosal error of judgment on my part, I think:):):):):):)...not because George senior was a bad President...he was a pretty good President, actually, I think:):):)...FAR better than his much more stubborn and foolhardy son:):):)...

It was an error of judgment on my part because -- by all really important data on the positive consequences of a Presidency, I think -- Bill Clinton was, by far, the better of the two candidates as President:):):)...

So I don't just support Bill because I voted for him:):):)...if I make a mistake, I acknowledge it:):):)...

I support Bill...meaning I would LOVE if he would throw his much needed hat into the ring for this Presidential election and elevate the public discussion...

For who Bill is...

Bill Bradley...in addition to being the smartest man, I think, to run for the Presidency...smarter than Bill Clinton, I think...

In addition to being the most kind and decent and genuine:):):)...

Is also the man with the most integrity, I think, that I've ever watched run for the Presidency:):):)...

He is an essentially decent and good man...and I was so proud to work on his campaign in the months leading up to the Iowa caucuses for the Democratic Primaries:):):)...

If you listen to these audio clips...I think you'll get the jist of what I mean...

Bill was a real inspiration during that campaign...and he raised the standard for what, eventually, became a really nasty and bitter battle for the Presidency between Al Gore and George Bush...

And he is the proudest vote I've ever made in an American election...

And I'd love to do it again this next election...if he'd consider running again:):)...

But mostly I love Bill Bradley...because...as he said in that interview with Margaret Warner:):):)...

Because he's just himself:):):)...

And because I really respect that a lot about him:):):)...

And miss his brilliant, creative, decent, and kind-hearted contributions to the democratic discussion...from a broad worldview with a long-term perspective...

I miss what a good man Bill Bradley is...and how good Bill demonstrated that American politics can be...given the commitment by a leader to be that good:):):)...

Thanks, Bill...for all the memories (including looking up at you and Bill Russell and the HUGE men that you two are...and having you sign an autograph for me with me, in one of the rare moments of my life, speechless...because I just couldn't think of anything to say to you that didn't leave me feeling like you'd think I was an idiot:):):)...

And a really lovely trip up to Iowa with Brandi...to join the other really idealistic campaign workers, there:):):)...and to just appreciate the warmth that comes when a lot of people -- especially young people -- get together to do good...for goodness sake...not because we know it will win...not because it will make us any money...or doing anything for us, personally...

But just to do good:):):)...

Thanks, Bill...

For demonstrating that politics can be that good:):):) (and perpetually better:):):):):):):)...

Love,
Ben

Please check this really beautiful book out:):):)...

My very good friend from high school...Kryson in the last comments section:):):)...has written a beautiful story to accompany the really gorgeous artwork of a friend that I think is definitely worth checking out:):):)...

Hitomi...www.project-ayanami.com...

I was just in the mood for a love story:):):) (who am I kidding?:):):)...I'm ALWAYS in the mood for a love story:):):):):):)...

Check it out when you get a chance:):):):):):)...

Love,
Ben

Could life get any more unfair?...

Why am I work so much more than the President?...I haven't had a vacation...period...in almost 3 years now...and I've been working 6 days a week for much of the time that I've been in shipping at Amarr...

And making so much less money?...

Because the President is smarter than me?...

No...definitely not:):):)...

Because he's secretly working harder than me and I don't know about all that he has to deal with?...

Hardly...I've been writing and dealing with the same issues and more that the President has had to deal with in the last 5 years...and despite many more handicaps...I've come up with far more constructive solutions to many of the most pressing issues that he's faced in the last 5 years than he has...

Because he's better than me?...

Hardly...the President may be more self-righteous...but self-righteousness hardly makes one a better person...

Because he's President?...

I don't really see why that should matter, frankly...I want the President to be able to think clearly about issues in front of him...but I want everyone to be able to do the same, frankly...and regardless...thankfully...he's only been President 5 years...he's had similar perks much of his life...without the Presidency...or the hard work...or the smarts...

Why does the President work so much less than me?...

Because he has more money and power...

And why does he have more money and power?...

Because he and his family have had the money and access to power long before this President became President...and thus, the wherewithal to get more...

Could this life get more fucked up, I wonder, sometimes?...

Ben

Time Magazine never fails to suprise me:):):)...

Melissa has this free subscription to Time...it's the only reason I read one of American's "Big Three," as we refer to them in forensics...a reference that was not a favorable one when I was competing...Big Three meant it was one of the three major newsmagazines -- Newsweek and U.S. News being the other two -- that you gave to novice extempers and speakers to research current events...because they were easy to digest...and that you avoided like the plague as you got more experienced and smarter:):):)...

But...I have to say that Time Magazine has pleasantly surprised me this week:):):)...

Despite the incomparably stupid cover story proclaiming Kanye West "the smartest man in pop music" (what the fuck?:):):):):)LOL:):):):):)...is Josh Tyrangiel, who wrote the story, just kissing Kanye's ass...or is he really that dumb?:):):)...

There is a very nice story on John McCain and Hillary Clinton as the two leading candidates for President in 2008 (though the collection of polls I cited earlier show Rudy Guliani leading the pack among Republicans by slight margins)...

Joe Klein writes his best editorial yet...I've always thought, reading Joe's pieces, that he had something out for President Bush, too often, frankly...but this most recent piece is a very balanced view of both a war that we can't walk away from...and the failures of a President who can still not come to terms, publicly, with the human cost of his failures as a leader...Joe's comments on the naivete of Cindy Sheehan's protest in Crawford...and yet the need for the President to acknowledge the anguish of a mother who has lost her son without a peep of acknowledgement on his part that his and many other lives may not have been lost had the President seriously considered this war before he engaged it...are some the best work I've ever seen Joe write...spending time with servicepeople has clearly brought home for Joe the gravity of both this war...and of the need for a public acknowledgement of failures and mistakes in the conception of this war...

And Barrett Seaman, a former Time editor and correspondent and author of the book Binge: What Your College Student Won't Tell You, writes a very nice article arguing for lowering the drinking age titled, "How Bingeing Became the New College Sport...And why it would stop if we lowered the drinking age"...

Though his comments on drunk driving are similarly counterproductive as the minimum drinking age that he is rightly critical of:):):)...the article overall is a very honest and realistic look at both the problem of binge drinking on campuses...and on the value of lowering the drinking age to better account for that problem by allowing young people an opportunity to learn to drink responsibly:):)...

Why in the world would we want to look MORE like places like Iraq and China and North Korea and Afghanistan and other more repressive places in the world to presumably solve problems that are clearly better resolved and dealt with in America and other free countries in the world, where and when that freedom is taken seriously?:):):)...

I'll never know:):):)...

The most important source of hopeful reality on this question...that people -- like the University presidents that Barrett talks to for his book who largely agree that lowering the drinking age would help prevent binge drinking -- do seem to love freedom more than repression, over time...even as they naively romanticize repression as a means of dealing with problems they have no solutions for:):):)...

And speaking of which...the best article in the magazine is Chris Whittle's book excerpt on his ideas to improve schools and learning:):):)...

For those of you not familiar with Chris, he is founder of Whittle Communications, Channel One, and the Edison Project, an effort to reinvent public education by offering to run public charter schools for school districts...

I student taught for an Edison Project school in Wichita -- Jardine Junior Academy --that made amazing progress in dealing with school violence...and made moderate progress, academically...and I like Chris' view of the need to innovate in schools and school governance...and not to get lost in old ways of doing things in schools for their own sake...

Chris has clearly thought very deeply about how to improve education in America...and this excerpt in Time reflects that...and some very good ideas -- a serious focus on independent learning being one of his best -- about improving education and public education in America:):):)...

Have a great day everyone:):):)...

Love,
Ben

Personal ad (after all that venting:):):)...

Thanks for reading/listening to me vent:):):)...I needed it:):)...I was getting really frustrated/upset/angry about the whole policy discussion situation:):):)...for quite some time now:):)...

But now that I'm done venting:):):)...

I'm taking out a personal ad, I think:):):)...

So here goes:):):)...

Me: Nice, smart, politically-inclined guy...so hot he sizzles:):):):):)...loves and misses making and sharing homemade, candlelit dinners...soft, sad music...wine...exotic flowers...serenades...going out to or taking in an artsy movie...engaging in meaningful, purposeful, inspired conversation...and generally saving the world:):):)...

You: The same...but a girl:):):)...I like all size boobies:):):)...but I really, really love candlelit dinners, soft, sad music, wine, exotic flowers, serenades, artsy movies, meaningful, purposeful, inspired conversations, saving the world, and generally being in love...

Inquire within...

benfrankln@yahoo.com
bfrankln@hotmail.com
...or in the comments section below:):):)...

Also...when you get a chance:):):)...check out William Golding's essay, Thinking as a Hobby, which you can find at of the bottom of the page at...

William Golding...Wikipedia...

Love,
Ben

I'm kind of feeling discouraged about this little experiment...

I started this blog pretty soon after I left grad school...and I've written in it and engaged policy conversations since leaving grad school out of commitment to both share myself openly...personally...my more serious policy work...a chance for me to vent...everything...

One of my commitments...was that I wanted to -- very much like Stephen King's comments on this subject -- to dispel the snottiness of too many intellectual discussions about the capacity for everyone to be smart and brilliant and for genuine equity in education/intelligence to be a reality...and a potential reality -- since equality just isn't possible...I'll never be a surgeon...no matter how much potential I might have to be a surgeon...my expertises' are education, policy, and psychology...I'm not a surgeon...and never will be...I may have the potential...but I will never have a knowledge base comparable to a surgeon...

But everyone should have and feel like they have that shot, I think...and many people in scholarly circles -- including very equity-oriented scholars like Nobel-prize winning poverty economist Amartya Sen -- have many serious doubts about the possibility of that...

I believe in it...and much of that is because I don't just identify as an intellectual (though it gets put in my face just about every day of my life that that is how most people think of me)...

I identify as an average person...I identify as white trash...I identify as an actor and a singer and an avid theater lover...I identify as a passing sports fan...as a major connoisseur of music of all kinds (I have some of broadest music interests I've ever encountered, really:):):)...

And while I share the commitments of my grad program...that expertise shouldn't be lorded over people...and ESPECIALLY in policy contexts...

I also identify as a policy expert...

And I get really frustrated in conversations with people who don't study policy more formally...and don't think of policy and political science in this way...

That they have such a hard time understanding that...

To me...

Politics is not just about having opinions...

Policy and politics is about studying and understanding important issues and accounting, as much as possible, for the totality of the realities associated with them...

That policy is serious work...not just having an opinion...

Just as medicine is serious work...that people can choose to listen to or ignore...but I'm for damned sure going to listen to a doctor about their thinking on my health...because it's what he does for a living...

We had this conversation a million times in grad school...

It's the old John Dewey/Walter Lippman debate...

Does expertise matter?...

And I came out of that discussion with a pretty integrated view...that Dewey was right that democratic and equitable discussions of important matters is necessary...and Lippman's thesis (that I'm not convinced, at all, really, that Dewey seriously disagreed with) that expertise was still important, independent of the need for more casual observers to be involved in such discussions...

As I argued in grad school...

I want a surgeon to operate on me...and not a witch doctor...because a surgeon knows what the fuck he's doing...and a witch doctor doesn't...no matter how much a less developed culture might rationalize the expertise of the latter...

And similarly...

While I have no interest in lording policy expertise over others...

There is an objective reality that policy thinkers, generally, hold themselves accountable to, better, than do average folks...

Because they study it for a living...

They're just better at it...

Lots of people have opinions about this war...

But I take most seriously the opinions of folks like Joseph Nye and Benjamin Barber and Robert Kagan and Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright and James Rubin and James Baker and Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and Warren Christopher and Cyrus Vance and Paul Wolfowitz and Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell and others with international policy backgrounds or who have proven themselves to be competent international policy thinkers...and anyone else who has relevant and important things to say about international policy, really...because they know better what they're talking about, frankly:):):)...as well as better military historians like James McPherson, David McCullough, John Keegan, and the work of the late, great Stephen Ambrose...because these military historians understand, better, the role of policy as guiding better military decisions...rather than the romantic fantasies of Victor Davis Hanson, for instance, who lets the tail wag the dog in his histories of warfare, to often, I believe...Hanson is an excellent tactical military historian, exploring the details of battle very thoroughly...but his understanding of the policy realities that surround warfare is pretty lacking in his writing, in my experience with Victor...which is why, though a brilliant writer, he is not one of the great military historians of our time, I don't think...

And anyone else, really, who has interesting and relevant things to say about any policy, for that matter...

But I'm kind of frustrated, right now...that in conversations with people who don't have that kind of background...

That they don't take it seriously...

I know...

Lots of people don't take medicine very seriously either...

But...personally...I would go to a doctor if I had what I knew was a medical problem...many mental health problems are misdiagnosed as medical problems, I think...in which case, I would go to a social worker or a psychologist or a psychiatrist or someone else with a mental health background that might help out...

But I would definitely go to someone with credible expertise in the area...rather than just any random person...

I guess there's just a part of me that just wants to go hang out with other policy people...and, often, just more educated people, generally...because you get a much more intelligent discussion, frankly...where that level of intelligence is taken more seriously...it's not that Ph.D.'s are always smarter...too many times, they're not...but they do tend to appreciate a more intelligent conversation, more...and take more seriously the idea that intelligence and expertise matters...even if it's always and perpetually not the last say on the matter...

But I don't want to do that because my commitment as a person is that I don't want to be exclusive about the people I hang out with...I have friends from a million different backgrounds...and I like it that way...

But my frustration is that while I take THEIR expertises' seriously...they never seem to reciprocate that respect...and it pisses me off quite a bit, really...

And it makes me want to just go hang out with people I can count on to respect that level of conversation...

Namely...policy thinkers...

But that's the problem, as is...

That too much of politics is run on peoples' random opinions...rather than consulting with people who have a diversity of views, to be sure...

But who also share common commitments...

Like being accountable to objective realities independent of those opinions...

Like thinking deeply about policy matters and not just getting lost in the current political moment...

Like considering the culture and the international environment, generally...and not just localized cultures, like Washington, D.C...

Like taking freedom and democracy seriously...or at least their study...given how remarkably free and democratic countries outperform their counterparts in improving the quality of the lives of their peoples...

Like a lot of stuff that I can just expect, better, in conversation with someone who's studied these things...even just a little bit...

I ran into a friend from college forensics competition, the other day...a public speaker from Kansas State University named Chris (I'm forgetting your last name, Chris...I'm so sorry...we competed with one another for 2-3 years, at least, together, almost every weekend...and I forgot Chris...I sincerely apologize)...Chris isn't a policy person, per se...but he extemped and was a pretty smart guy, overall...

And in just about 5 minutes of that conversation, I remembered what it was like to discuss political matters with someone who thinks about them seriously...and not just as a random opinion...

It really doesn't take that much, frankly, to impress me on these matters...just enough to know that someone has thought about these things seriously...and that they hold themselves to a higher standard than their egos, on the matter:):):)...

Because ego is a pretty common standard for almost any subject...and policy and politics, especially:):):)...

But with all the ego going around this political season...

I am definitely learning why a policy education is so important...

To separate what really matters...from all the bullshit...

Because there is DEFINITELY A LOT OF BULLSHIT out there...propaganda out the whazoo...especially in a heated political time...

And political wisdom, as the conventional political wisdom goes, generates more light than heat...

And this is definitely a political moment when we need more light than heat...

Because it is too goddamned hot in American and international politics, these days...and not only does the room need to cool down...but we need a lot more thought and a lot less bullshit to get us closer to important solutions to difficult problems...

We need more light...and less heat...

And policy thinkers are the people with the most light to offer...

I am not giving up on this experiment...

But I am getting kind of exhausted having political conversations full of heat...

And lacking nearly enough light...

And what is at stake...just so everyone without policy backgrounds know...

Is whether decisions that are politically popular in one moment keep getting made...no matter how bad of decisions they turn out to be down the line...

And whether policy people -- who spend their lives trying to help political representatives make better decisions based on objective observations of reality -- keep having largely cloistered discussions...because they often feel...as I do now...that people without policy backgrounds just don't get just how in the dark they are about policy matters...

And too often feel that their random opinions on important political matters...should be taken more seriously than they should...

I'm not giving up...

But I am frustrated...

And I can understand, now, better, why policy people give up on this course...this path of trying to include non-policy folks in serious policy discussions...

Because too many average folks just don't get it, frankly...

And just as many people want to give up on that obnoxious sister-in-law or father-in-law who just doesn't seem to get it...

Policy people...and people with all kinds of expertises, really...get kind of frustrated, as I do now, with how too many people just don't get it...

And that kind of frustration leads to arrogance, long term, I think...which is what I want to avoid both for myself...and which I want to make a change in the policy community, and intellectual communities, generally, around...

But I can't do that if people keep pretending that intelligence and education and expertise just don't matter...

Because they do...whether people want to admit that to themselves or not...

And because people with those kinds of education know that better than people who don't have those kinds of education...

It's a no-win argument for people without that level and kind of education...

Because it's just a fact...like it or not...

And it is a fact that I'm getting weary of arguing about any more...

If it has to be resolved with...fine...policy folks go their way...and everyone else goes there's...

Then so be it...because it's pretty clear to me who knows what they're talking about better:):):)...

But I just don't think that's a really good course for all of us to take...including policy thinkers...because the stakes are just too serious to not take equity in those conversations seriously, I think...

So...

I'm really frustrated, right now...

But I'm not giving up...

I'm just trying to figure out how best to navigate this little obstacle...

With integrity to what I do...

I don't know...

I just know I'm really frustrated with this, right now...

And sometimes I want to give up...because it just seems like a bridge that's not bridgeable...

Because it requires more humility that people are willing or able to offer...

For my friends who are being really hard-headed about this one...and there are two, in particular, that I can think of with whom I know their stubborness on this issue has seriously affected our relationship...

If you make me choose between my own self-respect and respect for my professional expertise...and our friendship...

I will choose my self-respect...and respect for my professional expertise...and choose to give up the friendship...

And I would expect you to do the same if I demeaned your livelihood, knowledge and expertise...nevertheless you passion in life...

I'll just sleep on it, I suppose...and see what I think when I wake up:):):)...

Have a good day, everyone:):):)...

Love,
Ben

It just dawned on me...

...the irony of the idea of a theology of cynicism...

...or a theology or religion based on the premise that people are bad...

...how inherently contradictory the whole idea is...

The idea that people are bad...or that cynicism about people is warranted...

...reflects a profound lack of faith...

...not faith...

Faith involves believing even when the evidence isn't always immediately present...not ignoring the evidence at all...just not always relying on the most immediately available evidence...

And cynicism...or believing that people are bad...

...only relies on immediately available evidence...

...and not on their whole lifetimes...their whole selves...

The times when they are children...the times and places where they do good with noone looking...the times and places where they improve and get better...

Lack of faith is the common sentiment in almost all bad behavior and mistakes of conscience in the world...

And faith is one of its most important correctives:):)...

I've got to get to work:):):)...

Have a great night, everyone:):):)...

Love,
Ben

How often can I be wrong...let me count the ways...

I was looking into the possibility that I read in a news report that Chuck Hagel, Republican from Nebraska, who has been critical of the war and the President over the war, might be running for President...

Chuck Hagel...at Wikipedia...

When I happened upon this fairly comprehensive review of potential Presidential candidates in 2008...

Wikipedia review of the 2008 Presidential election...

I've been saying for a while, given the falling poll numbers for the President, that a Democrat was likely to win the Presidency in 2008...

But the poll numbers don't seem to bear that out...

If you'll scroll down to the bottom of that page...

You'll find a list of polls of potential races between Democrats and Republicans...

John McCain seems to be the slightly better candidate, in terms of facing off with potential Democrats, over Rudy Guliani...though polls of Republicans just a little bit lower on that page seem to indicate that, at this point, Rudy seems to be the slightly favored choice of his party...

Jeb Bush, apparently, would be beat by almost every Democrat put against him (as it should be with his rightward lurch in all the wrong ways Florida, right now)...

And though Hillary Clinton is the clear front-runner among Democrats right now...

She would be beat by both Rudy and John according to those polls...John Edwards could edge out Rudy, but not John...

I think I could even vote for John McCain over Hillary Clinton, actually...even though he is pro-life...and he and Ms. Clinton are pro-choice...

Abortion isn't likely to get more restricted much, I don't think...which is just fine with me...though removing restrictions would be a fine thing in my mind...so Rudy and Hillary have appeal to me on that front...

And I am no fan of campaign finance regulations that John would impose on campaign spending...I agree with John's aims...while looking squarely at what to me seems like the pretty clear evidence that campaign finance regulations -- like drug control and gun control -- are regularly circumvented by politicians...Tom Delay being one offender among a whole sea of them in Washington, D.C...it's kind of laughable, really, to have Washington riding Major League Baseball about steroids as a federal offense when so many of their own get away with a much more serious moral, nevertheless legal, offense against American democracy...

Having said that...I oppose campaign finance regulations (this was not always the case...I supported them and one of their other major supporters, Bill Bradley, in the 2000 election) as an unrealistic, counter-productive, and ultimately speech-limiting influence on American elections...George Will did a very nice column on this last facet of this issue that he is so rightly passionate about referring to an abrogation of free speech, I believe, in an August 22nd, 2004 editorial for the Washington Post...

Campaign Cops and Car Ads...

...that outlines the very sad case of Russ Darrow, the Republican challenger to Congressional campaign finance champion Russ Feingold...whose used-car business ads were challenged by Common Cause, the leading non-profit champion of campaign finance regulation, in their 2004 Senate campaign...

And, as George argues...essentially because Russ Darrow was running against Russ Feingold...who Common Cause saw as their man to end the ugliness of money having so much influence in Washington and over the political process...

Having said that...

I like John McCain's integrity a lot...like Bill Bradley...though I disagree with them on one of both of their signature issues...

I like them as men...

I like the kind of temperament (I like John's temper, frankly...tells me he lays everything out on the table...and doesn't hide it under layers of pretense and denial) and gravitas they would bring to the office of the Presidency...I like both of their genuine desires to look out for the little guy and the underdog...

Bill was pro-choice...as is Hillary Clinton...as is Rudy Guliani...which I prefer...

But Rudy's stances on crime I take issue with him...again...clearly I agree with his intent...but Rudy both took way too much credit for the bettering crime situation in New York I think (which had started -- both in some of the constructive approaches and in their consequences, before his Administration)...and engaged in some really questionable practices to reduce crime in the Big Apple, his signature issue...

Rudy Guliani...Wikipedia...

I love that Rudy is both pro-choice and supports gay rights (staying with a gay couple while he was divorcing his first wife...and I don't like that he cheated on his wife, of course...but I prefer a sinner to the self-righteous, any day...so it kind of endears me to him, actually:):):)...as it endears me to John McCain, as well, whose shown a lot of remorse for cheating on his wife...though I imagine Rudy feels some remorse, as well)...

But the best thing that I love about all of these candidates...

Is that there are some very fine, decent, intelligent people running for the office of the Presidency in 2008...they have disagreements...I have disagreements with them...I'm sure everyone does...

But they would all make fine Presidents...well...each of these would...and many of the others running for office would, as well...

It's not a perfect process...democracy...including American democracy...

But that's the beauty of it...

That it is so diverse...that there are so many different ways at coming at issues...and that we learn to respect one another, as much as possible, in the meantime...I've learned that sometimes people need a little check on their democratic behavior when its aggressive and not civil...but...all in all...learning to respect and embrace and support one another as people...is far more important than any of the issues, alone...

We so lose track of this in politics, I think...

That the whole purpose of the whole spectacle is to help people...to support them...not just in the abstract...but real, live, breathing people...including the politicians who volunteer to enter the muck that is American and democratic politics, much of the time...and to still try to do some good amidst all the cynicism and assumptions of bad faith...

The reason why I think each of these people would make fine Presidents, actually...is because I've now had the pleasure of meeting the politically cynical and apathetic, up close...

And the truth is that cynicism in a democracy is one of the most corrosive influences within it...

Idealism really does matter...and it is a damned shame when people lose track of the ideas...to validate their bitterness and disappointment that the world doesn't live up to their expectations...

Rather than simultaneously to having better expectations for the world...making their expectations more realistic for the world we live in...rather than being perpetually disappointed that the world we live in is not the world we wished we lived in...

I'm disappointed by that quite a bit, actually...but in the context of also accepting people as they are...and expecting them, realistically, to get better:):):)...

And...the more time I spend doing them...expecting more from people, really, as I do from politics...

As Alexis DeToqueville quite insightfully noted almost 200 years ago...

American...and all democracy, really...is more dependent on the quality of the efforts by its people...than just by its politicians...

And Americans and democratic citizens all over the world...perpetually get a pass in how they corrode their own communities and societies with their cynicism...

And then...for whatever asinine reasons...they're completely and utterly surprised when the world matches their cynical expectations...

Rather than making their expectations more realistic and more idealistic simultaneously...developing an idealism that is not romantic...but that is based squarely on the realities in front of you...

That is democracy at its best...and these candidates do a fairly good job of doing it...and the American and democratic peoples all over the world need to do a better of it, as well, I think:)...

Many of them do...despite my concerns about democratic backsliding in the last 4 or 5 years, or so...

This is one of the most robust times for freedom and democracy in the history of freedom and democracy and humanity and the world...

The enlightenment thinkers who made all this possible would be quite proud, I think...that we have so surpassed their expecations...by far, I imagine...

We take those thinkers so for granted...when they made so much of the freedom and equity that we love possible for us...

When they dreamed of a better world...when there was much more darkness in that world...and only glimmers of the light...

We live with more light in our world...and with the possibility of even more light...if we open up the dark places within ourselves...and find room for the light in our own hearts and minds...

It takes work...loving and caring about people...it takes a lot of work...

But it's work well worth it...those who wanting to hope and believe that we can be better with and to one another...

I believe...more and more each day:):):)...

Have a great day, everyone:):):)...

Love,
Ben

Bullying...

When we bully like we do...and it's all around, like it is...

Why are we surprised when our children turn out to be bullies?...

And that the worst of those bullies go into their schools and kill other children?...

Why does that surprise us?...

Why is it so hard to see that the bullies that our children become...

Are generally a reflection of us...

I'm tired of that legacy...

I want it to end...

Ben

Right on the fuckin' money...

I need to vent, here, for a moment...

Ron Hutcheson of Knight Ridder is right on the fuckin' money in this brilliant defense of the mainstream news media...

Mainstream media suffer collateral damage from Iraq war...

Folks on the left are upset that the media didn't criticize the war, enough, they said (even though many members of the media far anticipated most Americans in their criticism of this war)...and that they don't show enough of the gruesome details of the war (even though body counts are reported almost literally every day)...

Folks on the right complain that it is the media's fault that support for the war has dropped off...

Instead of the clear, objective evidence that the number of troops being killed has increased...which really is kind of a nuisance to self-righteous activists looking to buttress and defend their view...not test its validity...not question it...and themselves...

And Ron Hutcheson hits the nail right on the fuckin' head...

That...for the most part...the American and international news media have done a pretty amazingly admirable job covering this war...and that the diversity and free, democratic, and independent nature of that same media is one of the strongest and most taken for granted guarantors of democracy, right now...no matter what self-righteous advocates say -- who will never be satisfied until they have bullied their way into dictating exactly how every single American and international citizen reads, thinks, and votes in exactly the directions they want...the persistent attacks on the news media being just one example of that bullying...

No matter how mindless that course might be...

Because the truth is that too many activists (of which I count myself one...though I try not to be of the self-righteous variety) don't really care about the truth nearly enough, really...

It's kind of a bother, really...

It requires that they do something that they don't like normally doing...

Thinking...

And thinking hard...

Meaning...

Having to do what most people have to do...

Which is acknowledge that they just might not know exactly how the world works and functions...

Because the truth is that to admit that they might not know...

Scares the living shit and bejeesus out of them...

Because what will they do if they have to navigate this uncertain world without knowing everything?...

Like the rest of us have to...

They just might have to face up to what nasty, mean, bullying motherfuckers they've become...

Right or wrong...

They just might have to acknowledge that they have been playing God...trying on their armor of omniscience and omnipotence in a world of uncertainty...

...in a world that has enough people playing God, right now...thank you very much...

They just might have to do what the rest of us have had to do...

To admit that they don't know everything...

That they're just not quite sure what is best...what is right...what, exactly, is wrong...

That...like the rest of us...

They're trying to piece through the whole thing...

They're just too scared to cut anyone any slack...

Because surely being right is more important than being open to being wrong...

I want to repeat the fucked up logic that animates peoples' self-righteousness...

That being right is more important than being open to being wrong...

And if we can never acknowledge that we might be wrong...because we are so obsessed with being right...

How will we ever find out what it means to be right, for real, at all?...

Maybe it's because we just don't know what it's like to even be very close...so lost are we in our own fear...

Well...you know what...

I understand that people are scared of the dark...

But when you are scared of the dark...

You need to move toward the light...

And there is no light at the end of the tunnel of self-righteous activism and journalism and blogging and conversation and what the fuck ever that claims to have all the answers...

Because that world doesn't exist...

And in the meantime...that dark fantasy fucks a lot of shit up...

And most important of the things that it fucks up...is that it seriously distorts both truth and an honest pursuit of the truth...

In its desperate attempt to maintain it's own self-righteousness...

And the reason I think an article like this is so late-coming?...

For the same reason that I haven't given too much of a shit when morons argue that I should agree with them Because They Say So...

Because when you don't know what you're doing...

And you're not even making much of an honest effort to try...

It's pretty easy to see...and those who don't...will see...

Because you can only bitterly harass people who don't have all the answers you want for so long...

Until...as the old adage goes...

You either have to put up...or shut up...

And self-righteous activists are often long on bitching...and short on constructive alternatives...

And much of the time...I do have a secret fantasy...

That those who aren't serious in thinking about alternatives...

Would just shut the fuck up...

But...then again...if they did...this wouldn't be democracy...and American democracy, at that...one of the strongest and most robust democracies in the world...

So the major media outlets will weather this storm...

The most intelligent and independent of the media will come out smelling prettier, after this, I think...at least in my book...

And activists will be sure again the next time...

Except...next time...we will all shrug...and hope that next time we can trust activists to bring us smarter alternatives...

Because they're doing a shitty job of it, generally, thus far...

And the really hard truth...

Is that if you don't have some kind of constructive alternative to a situation you don't like...and you aren't trying to develop an honest and humble understanding of the world...and you can't share in the human frailty that is involved with doing so...

Who the fuck really cares at all what you're opinion is?...if you're not even trying to work on behalf of better options and better solutions...and patient and supportive of those who are...

The media...the President...the troops...everyone...

If you're not making an honest effort to support these folks to come up with better answers in an uncertain world where noone has all the answers...no matter how much they self-righteously assert them...

Who the fuck cares what your opinion is?...

I know I don't...

A little...but not a lot...

Because...if you're not trying to do better in this world...as the old saying goes...opinions are like assholes...everyone's got one...and I don't really give a shit what anyone's is unless it gets us closer to dealing with this war or any issue better and more realistically...

And if not...pardon my french...

But fuck off...I just don't give much of a shit what you're opinion is...

Until you start coming up with something better than...

"You know what I really hate?..."

No...and until you start thinking about what you want to do to make it better...and you take seriously the idea of accounting for the realities and not just your dark fantasies or wishful thinking about the matter...

I don't care...

And if you don't like that...

Then tough fuckin' titty you little fuckin' whining baby...

I've needed to vent about this one for quite some time now...I am tired of being bullied by folks who are not only not curious enough about how to make things better...but don't seem to want to be bothered with such a minor detail...

I want everyone to have a say in democracy...

But until your say is wrapped around some really serious thinking about how to improve situations...and a commitment to consider and reconsider your ideas in light of concerns and legitimate criticisms and an open and patient pursuit of better understanding of issues...

It is often self-righteous and bullying...

And I've had my fill of that this political season...

Great performances by EMU Theater's annual 10-minute play festival, tonight:):):)...brilliant stuff:):):)...

Have a great night, everyone:):):)...

Love,
Ben

What's the alternative to a theology of cynicism?...

Alasdair Palmer writes a brilliant and terrible opinion piece for Great Britain's Daily Telegraph, this morning:):):)...

Wickedness shouldn't be treated as an illness

And Laughing Wolf writes the brilliant and terrific rebuttal:):):)...

Lost

Alasdair's headline is right...

But his conclusion -- that there are just irredeemably bad people in this world -- is wrong...

And people just like Alasdair have been wrong for the entirety of humanity...

And Laughing Wolf is largely right (though I think there is a still more hopeful view of humanity than even this very hopeful view:):):):)...

Jesus was right...and so was Martin Luther King...and so was Ghandi...and so were all those goody-two-shoes that cynics of the world all over wish would just go away so that the task of finally ending all that wickedness can finally be undertaken...

People do bad things...they make mistakes...and they are redeemable...

And it is only that faith that makes our stay on this little planet possible...nevertheless bearable...

Because humanity has cursed itself and perpetually curses itself every generation...

And it always finds redemption...

Because it's the only thing that takes us forward...

And it's kind of sad and frustrating, really, that the self-righteous like Mr. Alasdair Palmer...

Can't see what a terrible thing it is to permanently foreclose on the life of another...

How this line of reasoning is one long rationalization for what an asshole a guy like this must be...

And can't see that his is a life completely riding on the back of the stronger of humanity...

To make the world better...

His load is heavy...

But Laughing Wolf...and I...and the rest of those who choose the stronger, more courageous, more compassionate route...

Will carry him as long as he needs...

But it would be nice if he could learn to walk for himself, someday...

Just saw Magnolia again, tonight...highly recommend it:):)...very intense...so intense that the first time I watched it with my then and still brother-in-law (then, technically, since he was still married to my sister, at the time)...we joked about it all the way through:)...because it was just too intense and quite a bit over the top to take in one sitting:):):)...

But if you can get past the drama and the hyper-intensity:):):)...

It's a pretty good little flick, actually:):):)...

There's a scene in the movie...after watching for most of the movie the very fucked up lives of almost all of the primary characters...

That a plague of frogs falls from the sky to cover the city below it...

Very biblical:):):):):)...

Do people really still think that it will take a plague of frogs to make humanity better?:):):):):):):)...

Or that humanity just can't get better:):):)...equally as naive...and foolish...and lacking in the very faith that is the most important base of theology...or lack of it, depending on your convictions:):):)...

It takes exactly what Jesus and Buddha and King and Ghandi and all the wisest people have said over the long course of humanity:):):)...

Forgiveness...compassion...decency...learning...growth...and love:):):)...

...and better ideas:):):)...

We better come up with better ideas than the lazy theology of Alasdair, here:):):)...

Because we are in a world of fuck and hurt if Alasdair's word is the last one on this planet:):):):):):):)...

As Laughing Wolf says:):):)...

"If you really and truly believe that, why are you alive? What purpose does your life serve?"

Good goddamned question...

We all might want to answer that one for ourselves:):):)...

Have a good weekend, everyone:):):)...

Love,
Ben

It's getting better all the time...

I'm exhausted after a long night at work:):)...

It was a particularly long night, last night...even as we are making some really great progress in how the guys are treating one another...

Far less verbal aggression (as psychologists would more technically refer to being an asshole) last night and last week than in the past...

Definitely some serious issues...Deway and Kevin (the new Kevin) traded barbs all over first break...then they chilled out...neither wanted to do a lot of work for awhile...and then, by the end of the night, they seemed to working with each other better again...

Kevin and I have some issues that we had some fairly cool-headed conflict about, last night...Kevin just started and has the dual tendency to be both 1) not the most proactive member of the team, shall we say, and 2) bossy...now...if you don't want to work...no real issue with me...as long as you stay out of my way...but if you want to avoid work AND boss me around, like I'm some kind of servant...then we are likely to have issues...and that was Kevin's and my issue last night...

My lead, Fred and I, both addressed the need to take more responsibility...me nicely and Fred nicely but less nicely:):)...and I addressed the bossiness/condescension issue at the end of the night(there is nothing I hate more, I think, than someone calling out orders on something they know nothing or close to nothing about to people who know, better, what they're doing:):):)...very tedious, as Brandi would say:):):)...

And we made a lot of progress on these smaller issues...but also on the bigger issues of chilling everyone out...

The biggest and most pleasant surprise was our supervisor (the big boss), Ben, really chilling out by the end of the week...Ben is no longer riding crew members...and after an unsuccessful bid to have leads crack down on crew members, only to lead to open rebellion that solved not one goddamned thing (when will people learn, I always wonder:):):), he and leads are focussing on the path that will lead to more progress...namely...joking with guys...talking honestly...getting realistic about expectations (especially since our expectations have just changed pretty sharply...when all you're focussed on is numbers, ours is an easier game...but when it becomes numbers and ship confirm errors and quality product -- meaning noting and preventing damage to doors -- then you just can't keep pushing the aggressive numbers game...if you want people to be careful...then you got to give them time to do so)...

I can tell that Ben has this feeling like many efforts he makes to make things better aren't appreciated...so I try my best to tell him thank you and that's he's doing a good job in a way that won't leave him feeling condescended, which is certainly not my intention...

When I think about it...one thing I totally take for granted with Ben is that he has learned, to a great degree, how to pick his battles...

Meaning...contrary to the really terrible advice of conservatives like James Q. Wilson and George Will...

Ben doesn't nitpick every rule/expectation in the book, at all...he knows what things are really important -- at least in an Amarr context -- and which one's aren't...in fact...most of the conservatives I've worked with know better than to apply to foolish bit of theoretical fancy...

Ben wears a King of the Hill hat, a lot, these days...which totally endears me...since I love that show...and how much it speaks to average mom and pop conservative America...and their desire not to be condescended by liberals and intellectuals, like me...I love Hank Hill:):)...and Mike Judge's ability to make fun of the people that I most identify with:):)...other than intellectuals:):)...and poets and novelists and people who write cheesy, hopeful self-help books:):):)...

And the thing I respect most about Ben is that when he has an issue with you, he does seem to address it with you...granted...he is unfair, often, in the exchange...meaning he wants to be able to talk honest with you...but he doesn't want you to talk as honestly back...and he does have a little bit of the, "I'm a lead therefore I get special privileges, including the perogative to treat you however I damn well please" bullshit going...

But...overall...he's a decent guy...and he's getting and has gotten a lot better...slowly...over time...

I guess what's been really hard for me is how much I feel that Ben, as one really important example, and too many of the guys have just kind of checked me off, up front, as not possibly competent in a warehouse setting, because I'm book smart...it's kind of tedious, really...and what's so frustrating about it is they just don't know just how incredibly committed I am about facilitating intelligence and proving to intellectuals that everyone can be smart and is smart, in different contexts, given enough patience and support and challenge...

And then I get all kinds of shit about not having some elusive quality that serves as one long defense for why smart doesn't matter (when it clearly does if folks would get their heads out of their asses)...even as I am probably their most powerful advocate...

It's very much like poverty work, in many ways...

The very people who you want to open up possibilities for...are the ones who, too often, treat you like the most shit...

Except...then I remember that unchecked arrogant intellectuals are just as bad if not worse...

The truth is that we all kind of treat each other like shit, too often...

And instead of acknowledging this...we spend an awful lot of time trying to rationalize it...so we don't have to face what pricks we can often be...

This has always been true...we have gotten better at it...and the difference for me, now, and me, when I was younger, on this question, now...is that now I am a part of a process that has had slow, progressive demonstrable results in terms of change...

Whereas...when I was young...I just wished all the bullshit away...waiting...elusively...for the day when I would escape all the assholes...and hang out with just the nice people...

Which doesn't exist, as it turns out...

But...as we get better at it...it gets better...and we get closer to something like that:)...

Which would be nice, really:):)...if we could all just face, better, what assholes we can be...

The guys are still assholes, too much of the time, at Amarr...they still boss me and each other around, too much of the time...there is still too many trying to prove themselves, too much, especially around issues that really don't matter, in the big picture...and there is still far too little sensitivity toward one another...

But it's changing:):):)...slowly:):):)...

And I always have to take a step back and remember why I like working with assholes more than with passive aggressive victims...

Because assholes have their bullshit all out in the open, to see...they aren't necessarily trying to pretend that they are better than they are, much of the time...and long term...that means that you can effect change with them, better...because the one person that needs to stop being fooled by their pretenses -- themselves -- has less space to hide:):):)...

I learned that lesson with my mom and my dad...

My dad was kind of an open asshole, often, when we were young...but that just made him more open to learning how to improve his behavior, I think, because, unlike my mom, he wasn't looking to self-righteously defend what an asshole he was...

And today...he is definitely the better parent of the two...and I am definitely closer with my dad than with my mom:):):)...because I would much rather you be an asshole, openly...and then take responsibility for it...than self-righteously defend what an asshole or a bitch you are and pretend like you're doing a better job of treating people well than you are...because you're just too chickenshit to face your own bullshit...and too small a person to learn how to say, "I'm sorry"...even if its just in your own heart...

I'm exhausted...I think I'm going to go to bed...

Hope everyone has a great weekend:):):)...

Love,
Ben