Thoughts About My Daughters

I know I’m going to stumble on this one. But what father wouldn’t stumble a bit in describing his thoughts about his daughters? I've been thinking about our two daughters quite a lot- more than usual lately. Both of our daughters have had very eventful years, with welcomed additions to the family and advancements in both of their careers. Our youngest daughter Emily is celebrating her birthday this week, and that happy occasion has given this old dad a special reason to contemplate our daughters’ lives and, by association, my life.

Lee and I had always planned to have two kids. It was possible during those child-bearing years to have known the gender of our children prior to their births, but the practice wasn’t as common then, so we waited until the big moment to find out “it’s a girl”. In both cases we were very happy to have a little girl. I suppose it was fate that we had daughters because, for the life of us, we just couldn’t settle on a boy’s name. A few of the old fashioned guys around took me aside for a moment of quiet grieving that I didn’t have "a boy" to teach sports to, or be able to attend "my boy’s" sporting events. They wanted to (ever so gently) impart sympathy for the disappointment they knew I must be feeling. Jeez, were they wrong!

Because this is her birthday week, let me tell you about our younger daughter Emily. She came along a little over two years after our first-born Erin. Emily had the distinct advantage of having a two year old sister with a case of early-onset “caregiver” in her character. Emily’s mobility and need to develop speech were just a little late because she always had a big sister to drag her from room to room and dutifully inform us when her little sister needed a cookie. Of course you can’t just give the baby a cookie without one for the big sis too. Somehow Emily managed to find her independence and, from an early age, developed one of the most engaging smiles you’ll ever see- a trait she possesses to this day.

I won't chronicle every aspect of Emily’s growth and development for the last thirty-four years. But I can tell you she grabbed childhood by the neck and hung on for all she was worth. As a kid she was smart, energetic, inquisitive, and social. Physically, she always had athletic gifts that made her a winner in just about physical activity she tried. Team sports were never her favorite thing because her sense of empathy caused her to feel badly for the kids on the bench who didn’t get much playing time. As an athlete she settled on track where she was a real stand-out. The culmination of that effort was a State Championship for her track team, with a couple of gold medals at State for herself in the process. Academic ventures were always successful for her too. Emily is smart- but she always worked hard too. I think her competitiveness played a part in her school success.  Of course she had some stumbles along the way with her “social” life during those pesky teen years. Again, I won’t go into that. But like all of us, the hard lessons in life make us who we are.

Emily is that strange combination of an adventurer and yet deeply grounded to home- and one who finds change difficult.  As a parent it leaves you wondering which Emily you’ll be talking to on any given day. The adventurer took her away from us all the years she was in college. She ended up in Georgia by way of California- about as far from Washington as you can get and still be in the country. But I know it was a great experience for her and in the end she came back a wiser, wonderfully educated, and fully adult person.  I remember her mom and I were visiting her in Georgia during her senior year, and being so impressed at how she had prepared her studies, and how adept she had become in handling school and work. I knew then our little girl was all grown up. She left again for a short while after college to make her way in the world, but her Lee and I always felt she would be back home again.

While Emily was gone after college she found her place in the business world. Good luck smiled on us again when her company opened a big new facility right here. She came back. Soon she married a great guy, also from here, and soon thereafter had her own child. In the years that came afterward Emily has risen very fast in her business, and only last January had her second child. To say we’re proud of her is such an inadequate expression of our feelings for her. She is so special. I can say with all honesty, I’ve never met a person who doesn’t  genuinely like that kid. That makes a parent happy. I have seen her in her work environment and I've seen her with her children and the whole family. She's always the same- she can light up a room.

But we have two daughters and our first born is very special too. I know this sounds like so much bragging, and in truth it is. I’ll get to the point in the end, I promise. First, you have to know a little about Erin. Erin has always been the quieter of the two girls (on the outside), but a child much older and wiser than her years. She had great success in school too- but preferred the "under the radar" approach.  I think it was difficult for her to be in school during the rise of the neo-conservative movement, having come from such liberal parents. What a burden to listen to all of her classmates pouring out the politics of their conservative homes, and her stuck with the politics of her liberal home. I know she was in the minority. In the end I think it helped hone the great mind she has. We spent the years watching Erin grow up, endlessly wondering what was going on in that head of hers. She was quiet and not given to sharing many of the thoughts percolating in her mind. Still we could sense her deep feelings about the world round her, and for those close friends she valued so much. Still waters do run deep. Her way of dealing with us and a little sister was to get very technical and legalistic when conflicts arose. A consummate negotiator, she was constantly brokering family deals. I remember finding a “contract” Erin had written and presented to us around age 9 or 10. I kept it for many years because it was so “her”. The contract was meant to remedy some horrible injustice having to do with bedtimes. I recall that Erin felt it was manifestly unfair that Emily’s bedtime was past the hour set for her, when she was Emily’s age. It contained a preamble,  point by point rational arguments, and a detailed five-point solution that logically paved the way to her point of view. There were proper signature and  date lines, of course.  Well, that was Erin.

For all of Emily’s success in athletics, it was Erin who always went there first. Be it dance, softball, soccer or track- Erin was the one to try new things and quietly pushed herself through uncharted land. Although Erin didn’t have Emily’s athletic success (or body type) I always thought Emily did many of the things she did, just because her big sister showed her the way. Erin left us to go to college too.  Her higher education kept her closer to home, only one State away. Her compassion for others and her inquisitiveness drew her to social work, in spite of my dire warnings. But I’m happy to report she has a brain to match her enormous heart. Her success in college led her to the profession she wanted. The turns of life had her returning to her home town, where she has now flourised. Being in social work myself I often run into people who know her professionally and report to me or Lee how well respected she is our community. Of course, she is also a wife and mom extraordinaire. Even with her depth of feeling and emotion, she is a student of good parenting and family relationships. She practices the art parenting like craftsmen practices their art.

I look back now, and somehow I didn't imagine myself or Lee with children in their mid-thirties. I have always enjoyed my kids more the older they got (and still do). But I didn’t envision them as such fully evolved adults. I guess that’s the part of being a parent that reminds us they are always our kids. Now as I look at them and the great children and families they’ve formed, I have a much more profound appreciation for what they’ve accomplished in life. I also have a tremendous respect for the places they’ve carved out for themselves. It's particularly important that women have all the  opportunities in life to act on their ambitions. Even though they both have hectic lives, both girls have really distinguished themselves as young women who have created great families and still contribute so wonderfully to their chosen professions.

Our two daughters have each reached a place in life that calls for a parent to just step back and say: Good job girls! I can never forget the memories of their years as young children. I still have vivid memories of small tender moments, or times I beamed with pride at some accomplishment where I just want to shout to everyone around, “hey, that’s my kid!” I also have memories of doing all the "parental" stuff when they misbehaved or got into some crazy teenage trouble. But that’s all part of the deal. None of it seems important now, beyond the satisfaction of seeing how they turned out. It’s the ultimate prize.

I’m not the only one who feels these things for our kids. Their mom has the very same sense of them as people –and such deep feelings for them as our two little girls. Much of what they came to be happened by following the example their mother set for them. You can’t imagine how grateful I am they had that template to follow. Even now when they need a word of advice about a family matter or some professional issue, they always turn to their mom.

Having children in the mid-thirties is a strange thing for me- but a good thing. I know the time of having any kind of traditional “dad” role is over. I miss that a little. But this new, different role of being a colleague in life is pretty great too. All of us care about our kids and relish moments of pride and affection. The feelings for our own two kids aren’t much different than the feelings most parents have, I’m sure. I just wanted to express my gratitude and affection for the kind of people they’ve turned out to be. I don’t believe in a spiritual afterlife. I think our afterlife exists in the children we raise, and in their children. I couldn’t ask for better ones.

Thanks for looking in.    

  

The Frog and the Scorpion

The following is a folk tale retold by people around the world. The origin of this story is not clear and several cultures have taken credit for it, but the meaning never changes. It offers a valuable lesson, and it goes like this:

A frog and a scorpion both came to the river bank. The frog was frightened by the scorpion, but the scorpion spoke to him and said. “Don’t be frightened. You see, I need to get to the other side of the river and I can’t swim. I would like you to help me get across.” The frog was still frightened, but reluctantly he asked how he could help. The scorpion said that we wanted to climb on the frog’s back and have the frog swim him across the river. The frog said “I’m scared that you’ll sting me if I let you get on my back”. Then the scorpion said the frog’s help would be a big favor, and he wouldn’t sting him.  The frog thought about it for a while, then agreed to help the scorpion cross the river. The scorpion crawled on the frog’s back and they started swimming to the other side. About half way across the river the scorpion stung the frog.  The scorpion’s sting was painful and the venom was starting to kill the frog. The frog looked back at the scorpion as he was dying and said, “why did you sting me? Now we will both die. I did as you asked and I helped you”. The scorpion just looked at frog and said, “look, you knew I was a scorpion- it’s my nature”.

This story tells us that sometimes, no matter what someone says, we need consider their nature. Is it the scorpion’s fault that he stung the frog? No, probably not, because it was simply his nature. The frog should have trusted his first instinct and let his natural fear of the scorpion guide him away from danger, and not be persuaded by what the scorpion said. I often think that we let ourselves be convinced by words that are both persuasive and pervasive; when it would be better to just consider someone’s nature and let our natural instincts guide us, along with our knowledge. I’m a big proponent of thinking through situations, and not being drawn in by heated rhetoric or easy slogans meant to persuade. One way to be thoughtful is to consider “the nature of things” when our best decisions are required. Nothing has brought this point home to me more over the last week or two than the Mitt Romney Presidential campaign.

Let’s consider what Mr. Romney told us about why he should be President. His most persistent claim is that he should be President because he has the business experience we need to fix the economy. He doesn’t talk much about his time as Governor, because he was a pro-choice, moderate, (Obama style) health care guy then. So let’s look at that business experience. He was a very successful venture capitalist at Bain Capital. Nothing illegal about that- and by all accounts he was great at it. But, what is a venture capitalist? Venture Capital firms use investor’s funds to search for troubled companies . They calculate whether they can buy these firms at a low price and make money from short-term ownership. They do this by employing one of several methods. If an infusion of cash can make the company healthy again, they simply beef up investment until the company regains market share- then re-sell. Another way is to evaluate the company’s assets to determine if liquidating remaining assets (like inventory, properties, pension funds etc.) will produce a positive return on their investment. Break-up value can often be more valuable than the actual business- but of course the company and its employees are gone in the end. Another method is to re-make the company by re-directing the business model and turning it into another business. This usually involves restructuring the business model and existing cost structures (like wage and benefit reduction- outsourcing jobs- plant closures and/or relocation). That’s venture capitalism in a nut shell. More importantly that’s Mr. Romney’s nature. It is who and what he is. He told us so, and he said that’s why he should be President. And because he’s been so good at it we have to take him seriously on this point. He comes from wealth. He has created enormous wealth for himself. It is his nature to behave like the very wealthy behave.

Now let’s look at the examples of his behavior and statements that illustrate this nature:

U.S. Auto Loan Program: Mr. Romney was pretty clear on this issue at the time. “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt”. That was the editorial he wrote in response to the Obama plan to loan GM and Chrysler money to stay in business-and we shouldn’t be surprised. It’s exactly what a Venture Capitalist would do. They would allow a company (or an industry) to go broke, then pick it up on the cheap and force all sorts of concessions. They would then either restructure the business (including worker compensation packages), or sell off the assets. This is a businessman’s solution, but it would have been devastating for the country.

Mortgage Crisis: Mr. Romney said we should just let the foreclosure process takes its course. There should be no government program to assist homeowners who are underwater- even those put there by predatory lenders. Again, no surprise. A Venture Capitalist would behave that way in order to allow investors and other profiteers to pick up real estate very cheaply. This course shows no regard for the unfortunate homeowner who is now out of a home, and saddled with a foreclosure on his credit report and no personal assets left. But, people with money could profit nicely by acquiring under-valued property. That's business!

Corporations: “Corporations are people, my friend”. This speaks for itself. In the land of the very wealthy, corporations are people- very rich people don't distinguish a human entity from their corporate identity. It's their nature. In the real world, real people know the difference.

Middle Income: Last week Mr. Romney was asked where the income limit of the middle class was. He responded that you are middle class if you earn $250,000.00 or less. For the very rich it’s their nature to assume this. A middle class earner in Mr. Romney’s reality earns a million dollars every four years. Median income in the US is now about $26,500.00. It would take that person 37.7 years to earn a million. The average US income is about 47,000.00 (and that average includes the millionaires), and it would take that earner 21.2 years to earn a million. When his detractors say he can’t relate to middle class economics and realities, this is why. One's view of "the middle" is influenced by the perch from which one views it. 

His Income Taxes: Mr. and Mrs. Romney have simply refused to release their full tax records. The reason they’ve given is that they “would be attacked” if they released them. Let’s face it; rich people don’t want their records exposed. It’s their nature. To expose their records would likely cause the rest of us to be upset at the tax advantages they have, and average folks don’t have. Last Friday’s release of the partial 2011 return doesn’t count much now (it leaves more questions than it answers). Mr. Romney has calculated that showing us his full tax history would be far worse for him than the heat he takes for not showing them. Of course, he wanted see 10 years-worth of returns on the VP hopefuls. It’s his nature to play by a different set of rules. That is the entitlement of the rich.

College Assistance: Mr. Romney has advocated for higher interest on student loans, and limiting student loans and Pell Grants as part of the Ryan budget he supports. His solution: “shop around then borrow the money from your parents” if you want to go to college. Mr. Romney, middle class parents have to borrow money too. Middle class families usually don’t have an extra 30k a year lying around- we’re not rich like you. But to the very wealthy, this reality just doesn’t occur to them. It’s not in their nature.

Lack of Specifics (on anything): Wealthy people don’t like to be questioned by the little people. It is their nature to simply decree their wishes. Mr. Romney’s lack of specific policy solutions to the country’s problems are no surprise. I’m sure in making his case for his Presidency he knows that detailing his plans would either cost him support from his wealthy base, or cause the rest of us to vote for the other guy. The point is that very rich people hate to share specifics because they just don’t believe the rest of us will get it, or we're not entitled to comment on it. (rich folks tend to get enamored with their own success) He’s as much as said so in answering the critics who have begged for specific answers.

The 47%: Last week was the big one. Mr. Romney was caught on tape telling a small group of wealthy investors (eh, donors) that 47% of all Americans will vote for Mr. Obama because we see ourselves as victims and we don’t pay taxes. He said we are satisfied to be “entitled” to government hand-outs, get dependent on government, and that’s why we will vote for Obama. He went on to say is not his role to worry about those people. He later said he was “in-elegant” in the way he said it- but he means it. He said he was speaking “off the cuff” or what the rest of us call, BEING HONEST. It probably doesn’t occur to Mr. Romney that those who don’t pay income taxes, pay other forms of taxes, and the group he so roundly dismissed and disrespected include the working poor, (Earned Income Credit) students, many single working parents, disabled military vets, 16 million seniors and a few of his rich pals. I might add that we purposely set up a tax structure that allows our seniors a way to avoid taxes in old age. (remember IRAs and Roth IRAs?) It’s just his nature to assume all those he was referring to are just lazy (read: welfare-minority) people looking for a hand-out- you know, “those people”; people satisfied sit on their butts and be dependent on the government. This was a pretty wrong-headed thing to say if you want to be President of all the United States. It is also just wrong. After courting Latino business people earlier in the day the tape came out, he also made some insulting remarks about being Mexican during the same discussion with his investors- sorry, “donors”.

I’ve always believed Mr. Romney is probably not an evil guy, and I believe that. But I do believe he is true to his nature, just as the scorpion was true to his nature. His nature is to behave like the very wealthy, entitled man he is. He has also demonstrated that he doesn’t possess the “core” values that lifted an FDR or a JFK beyond their wealth to loftier national ideals. His own party has always mistrusted him and disliked him for this reason. There is no greatness in Mr. Romney beyond the ambition of a successful businessman. He constantly shifts his positions from day to day, but they are always shrouded in the secrecy of generality.  There is never a real plan or a specific remedy. If Mr. Romney gets elected because enough people just don’t like President Obama, at least we should never claim that we didn’t know his nature. We can never be the frog who ignored Mr. Romney’s nature because we believed what he said in public, instead of seeing what he is.

Thanks for looking in.

"Workingman's Blues"

The Monday before last was a national holiday, Labor Day. I suppose most of us celebrate these Monday holidays with the same enthusiasm we would work up for an extra Saturday in any given week. Labor Day for most of us is marked as the last official weekend of summer. It’s a day to get that last boating trip in, do that last camping trip, or have a big family picnic before the kids go back to school. Most years I’m guilty of this inattention to the meaning and purpose of the Labor Day too. Most of us slough off the minor holidays without much thought, saving our enthusiasm for the “gift giving holidays” or the major over-eating occasions.

This year I gave Labor Day a lot more thought. This is a very important year, and the idea of “labor” should be taking a front row seat in how our future is decided. If the politicians are going to make hay talking about the unemployed, they might start by showing a little respect to those who are employed- most particularly this year.  I did a  little research and discovered that Labor Day was first celebrated in 1882 in New York City. Then it was just a local event. For years afterward different States and Municipalities enacted laws and ordinances making Labor Day an official holiday in their jurisdictions. Labor Day became a National Holiday by an act of Congress in June of 1894. The purpose of Labor Day is to set aside one day “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country” (USDOL). That sounds like a fairly important aspect of our national life to take note of, and appreciate. Sadly, I doubt many of us really did that. I didn’t.

Later, as I was thinking about this Labor Day I tried to find some big news about national-level politicians really celebrating American Labor. Yes, there were events for the Presidential candidates and some parades organized by union labor, but there was nothing big. In most of the examples I found, Labor Day was just another opportunity to make a stump-speech or pander to already dedicated followers. I found one notable speech made by Congressional Majority Leader, Republican Eric Cantor where he gave a speech congratulating the wrong people on Labor Day. His speech praised big business owners and gave no recognition to those who provide the labor to keep the machine of business running. Only a Republican could speak on Labor Day and praise business owners instead of employees-you know, “labor”. Good evidence about where that Party stands. Don’t get me wrong; I have a great deal of respect for the small business owner, or the sole proprietors who work long hours and give there all to make a business run. But, I don’t think that’s who Mr. Cantor was talking about.

The whole idea of celebrating Labor’s contribution to the country was originally a celebration of organized labor, and then expanded to the idea that we ought to show some appreciation for all the dedicated people who just do the work in this country. Over the last thirty or forty years the pendulum has swung away from honoring labor, to the point that labor is being portrayed as the problem in this country- with organized labor being vilified in ways that would make our grandfathers cry. About the time when America was really expanding into an industrial power, a lot of men, women, and children sacrificed immeasurably to secure rights and privileges we take for granted now. Many of those in that struggle literally gave their lives or suffered great hardships in the struggle with those Teddy Roosevelt called the “Robber Barons”- the industrialists who only sought to use people in the most egregious fashion to maximize profits. Every minor comfort or worker protection laborers have today was won in a hard fought battle. Consider the changes that have taken place. We no longer allow child labor. We have a forty-hour work week. We have safety protections on the job. We have laws that protect us from discrimination and harassment. We have laws that guarantee fair payment practices, and permit us to keep a job when children are born or illnesses overtake us. And in some cases we have the right to organize and bargain collectively. It is so important that we don’t forget what organized labor did for this country, and what the work of Americans built in this country. But, I’m afraid we have forgotten.

The political winds have shifted against Labor. In the seventies nearly 1/3 of all workers in this country were union. Now only about 6% in the private sector are unionized. Over the span of those years the wage standards for working people have remained stagnant, while the wealthiest Americans have reaped the benefits of higher worker productivity to increase their own wealth almost beyond measure. This is no coincidence! I won’t go into the statistics on this- they are plain and easy to see. The real question is what to do about it. We know that labor’s efforts built the country, particularly after World War II -along with a better educated work force. We know that period created the greatest expansion of a middle class in the history of the world and that’s what led to America’s prowess in the world. I can’t understand why these principles were abandoned, other than there came a time when the conservative movement (the Reagan era) was able to convince us that making the wealthiest of us wealthier, would make us rich too. We bought the ‘trickle down” nonsense and we have witnessed the the steady decline of the middle class ever since. Again, this is no coincidence. The American worker is no longer valued for our skills or talents or even our humanity- Labor is now nothing more than a commodity to be gotten at the cheapest price. Our captains of industry and the politicians they own just view the worker like any other commodity in an international market place- nothing special remains of us, no matter what they say in their speeches. 

To reverse this trend we must choose leaders that will once again value the workers in this country and champion the cause of rebuilding the middle class. We must reject those who make the teachers and public employees the bad guys and show no regard for the merchants, the firefighter, the truck drivers, the carpenters, the computer techs, the salespeople, the grocery workers, the nurses, social workers and all those who work for a living. In other words the people Labor Day was supposed to honor.

If you’re a Bob Dylan fan you probably know his song called Workingman’s Blues. The lyrics are good reminder of the times and our forgotten laborer:           (partial lyrics- two verses)

There’s an evening haze settlin’ over town, Starlight by the edge of the creek
The buyin’ power of the proletariat’s gone down, Money’s getting shallow and weak
Well, the place I love best is a sweet memory, It’s a new path that we trod
They say low wages are a reality, If we want to compete abroad.

I got a brand new suit and a brand new wife, I can live on rice and beans
Some people never worked a day in their life, Don’t know what work even means
Meet me at the bottom, Don’t lag behind
Bring me my boots and shoes, and
Sing a little bit of these workingman’s blues

Thanks for looking in.

 

 

               

Bill Nye is Going to Hell

You know Bill Nye. Bill Nye is the “Science Guy”. For a period during the late 1990’s Bill Nye had a children’s television show that both explained and exposed science in a way children could easily relate to. Bill Nye is a scientist, but he is also an entertainer, a mechanical engineer, author, and TV personality. His show was very popular because he could relate so well to children, and because he had an uncanny way of making complicated material easier to understand. He has the manner and affect of Mr. Rogers while possessing a keen, scientific mind. “Bill Nye the Science Guy” became a household name.

Recently, The Science Guy made some news by putting out a video asking parents not to teach creationism to their children. This, of course, caught the eye of major news organizations who promptly replayed the video and followed-up with Mr. Nye for interviews. The Science Guy was making the point that teaching creationism to children will harm them in the long run, saying point blank this kind of thinking was “not appropriate” for children. Considering a recent Gallup Poll indicating that 46% of Americans believe some version of  biblical creation, with 31% of Americans believing the literal truth of Genesis in the Bible, I’m almost sure a lot ofpeple think Bill Nye is going to hell.

At this point I’m asking you to stop reading this blog, and go watch the video Bill Nye released. You can find it at Bigthink.com or at CNN.com or by just going to YouTube.com and putting in “Bill Nye”.  You’ll find it in just seconds- then give it a listen. It only lasts two minutes. If you only have a few minutes, listen to him-not me. I’ll welcome you back when you’re done.

Welcome back! I hope you watched Bill Nye’s statement on how and what we teach our children. He clearly made the point that teaching children that which science tells us just isn’t true, creates a very complicated and difficult world for our kids. Bill is saying there are certain truths about the world we live in, and I interpret that to mean we have a duty to impart the world to our children the way it is. Denying the facts of science and the clear evidence about our world can only lead to two things: one, it reinforces neglect of future inquiry needed for our survival as a species; and two, it endangers the human spirit by stunting the growth of our intellects and our need to explore and understand. Bill Nye is careful to point out that he is not asking anyone to forgo their religious faith or beliefs about how the world came to be. He is, however, pointing out that we have an obligation to tell our children about the scientific facts concerning our world.

The conflict between faith and science is nothing new. In one of the earliest examples from our European/Christian heritage, we remember that Galileo was tried by the Church in the 17^th Century for being a heretic. The alleged crime against God was to note, from scientific observation, that planet Earth was not the center of the Universe. Galileo was found guilty in spite of the fact that his astrological observations and charting clearly proved his claims. Examples of this denial process in the face of religious dogma are many. In this country the most famous of these conflicts took place in what is called the Scopes Monkey Trial. In 1925 a teacher names Scopes was criminally tried for violation of the Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools in Tennessee. The case was famously tied by the country’s two preeminent attorneys, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryant. The case pitted Darwinian Evolution against the creation story in the Book of Genesis. It was primarily a “show trial” but Scopes was convicted. (later reversed on a technical error at trial). Think about all the ideas that have their roots in religion or superstition, and how those ideas have simply melted away with the advancement of science and human knowledge.

Our most sensitive area is the religious conflict between the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection concerning human evolution and religion inspired creation, most particularly for Judeo/Christians. I suppose this area is so rife for conflict because it goes to the heart of who, and what we are as a species- it’s about our humanness. Just about every religion has a creation story. Most religions differ from one another on the details, but the common theme is that there was a moment of human creation, while Darwin’s theory says that our humanness (as we are today) came from millions of years of the evolutionary process. Judeo/Christian beliefs hold that humans are made in the image of God, therefore any notion that our humanness came from another source is antithetical to this basic belief.  

As Bill Nye reminded us, the evolutionary process is “the fundamental idea of all life sciences”. Of course he was not only referring to human evolution, but to the evolution of all life on the planet. I think we’ve all heard the zealots make the argument that evolution is only a “theory”- and therefore has no more claim to truth than any other idea or teaching. I think those folks must have skipped 8^th grade science class where the Scientific Method was explained. The scientific method holds that inquiry starts with the question, from which we form a hypothesis (which is vigorously tested), then formulate a “theory”. Some theoretical truths can become laws of science. The test for a “Law” is usually confined to theoretical events that can be reproduced over and over without fail. The definition of a scientific theory is: a well substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation or experiment. So theories aren’t some random notions that might be true- on equal footing with any other explanation. They are well tested and established facts about the world that have not been disproved by other hypothesis or other theories. It’s very likely that the Evolution will remain a “theory” (in scientific terms) because it is impossible to reproduce the time factor (billions or millions of years) necessary to reproduce it.

Evolution is a well-established fact. We have evidence about the age of the earth and we can retrace the beginnings of life here. We have the evidence of human evolution. We have the fossil record that shows a clear lineage to a common ancestor and the various species that sprang forth. Our ancestors have existed for (between) 85 and 55 million years. Our species, Homo Sapiens have existed for (between) 200,000 -150,000 years with other hominids existing for millions of years before we developed. I am so concerned to know that 3 of every 10 American adults believe the earth is only 8,000-10,000 years old, for no other reason than the Bible says so- and nearly half of all Americans believe (some less literal) version of Genesis.    

I have to agree with Bill Nye’s point about our children. I have to believe that it’s possible to instill religious values (if we as parents view them as important) while at the same time representing the world to our children as science and our intellects tells us it is. I see a grave danger in allowing dogma and religious absolutism to prevent us accepting what our senses and our reason tell us about reality. The implications for the future are incredibly important. Too often we (and our government) make decisions based on what we believe instead of what we know. A good recent example is climate change. Every legitimate climate scientist (i.e. not working for oil or coal companies) has verified the phenomenon of man-caused climate change that is threatening our future on the planet. For political or religious reasons, or pure greed, deniers say it isn’t so. The evidence is so overwhelming, and the consequences of denying it are deadly. Yet we see it every day. Consider the notion of renewable energy development vs. “drill baby drill”. Which is smarter for our survival?

 The problems of the future will be enormous and our children will have to solve them- so let’s at least help them realistically recognize the challenges that await them. We need scientists and engineers and mathematicians, and a well-educated populace to survive as a species. If we are to lead the way, we need a culture that values and accepts the truths of science over the dogma of faith when dealing with real world issues. There has been a trend away from this I fear. The fact that the US ranks 25^th out of the 34 most advanced countries in the education of our youth, may be an outgrowth of this trend. We have already dropped to 16^th world wide in the percentage of our people with a college education. Our politics reflect entrenched belief systems rather than well-reasoned argument when determining public policy. I hope this cultural trend does not continue. For us to remain an exceptional people we must produce exceptionally well educated children. That starts with rekindling the need to use science and real knowledge to educate, not belief systems rooted in dogma or antiquated beliefs. Thanks to Bill Nye for helping make that point.

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Summer Nights with My Dad

In Walla Walla where I grew up the summer days get pretty hot. The problem was the night, and how the nigh-time stayed pretty hot too. Those were the days when central air conditioning was not the norm in our neighborhood. That made most of the month of July and about half of August kind of miserable. But by the time mid-August hit the days began to shorten and darkness brought merciful cooling to the evening air. Of all the times I remember most vividly growing up, the summer nights are the best of those memories. There was our house, my aunt and uncle’s house, and my grandparents’ house clustered together with gravel driveways separating the homes. A single large rectangular yard actually joined our house to my grandparents’ house. Each of the three yards for these houses had its own unique purpose for our constant games. Our back yard was the football field. My cousin’s side yard was the baseball diamond and, the driveway and front of a garage was the basketball court. Smaller games like badminton took place in our aunt and uncle’s back yard. The entire complex could be converted into a bicycle race-track, circumnavigating all the houses, or becoming a giant layout for hide-n-seek. Across the road were more relative's homes and large fields, garages and barns with the opportunity for expansion of things to do, and places to do them on a summer night.

Our routine was very predictable. My dad would get home from work at 5:40 p.m. Dinner took place immediately upon his arrival. By 6:15 the meal was over and clean up occurred. Then it was out the door. Aside from the activities and games my cousins, and my sister, and I engaged in, my clearest memories are of what the "grown ups" did almost every one of those summer nights. By 6:30 p.m. there was a gathering of the adults in one of those back yards. This happened most evenings. The times when it didn’t happen were the exception. Lawn chairs were placed on the grass in a roughly circular pattern. All the men smoked, so my grandfather with his Roi-Tan Presidents, and my dad and uncle with their cigarettes, and my uncle Jake with his pipe and Sir Walter Raleigh tobacco settled in for conversation. My grandmother, my aunt Virginia, and my mom were there too. No one wanted to be in the house until the cooling began and windows could be thrown open to an evening breeze. The conversations were wide-ranging. It seemed very few topics were out-of-bounds, but of course there was  nothing that could have gotten more than a PG-13 rating. Politics, religion, business, the price of Sweet Onions,  tales of the work-day, neighborhood gossip- it all happened here.

I found these conversations fascinating, particularly the political talk . They discussed (and argued) a number of political topics ranging from a local County Commissioner’s quirky behavior to national and international policy. My dad was what you might call an “Eisenhower” Republican. He was quite literally a Main Street Republican. He didn’t like the whole “Kennedy thing”, and he had a healthy distrust of big government. My uncle was pretty much in that same conservative mold. My grandfather, on the other hand, was an Italian immigrant and a Democrat all the way. As my grandfather got older, his opinion wasn’t held in much regard, and he was drowned out by more forceful voices. The entire group was staunchly Catholic, so church matters were discussed as well. I learned a great deal just listening and occasionally asking a question. There were times when I was far more interested in listening to the adult conversation than doing the many things I could have been doing instead. It was the sixties, and there were major things happening in politics and current events. I particularly looked forward to those after-dinner forums on days when something big was going on. There were no shortages of opinions in this gathering.

It was during these years I was also learning more about the world around me. My parents had us attend Catholic school, but even the church was in upheaval at the time- Vatican II, you know. It was a time of explosive new ideas all around us. Naturally the events of those times lent themselves to great opportunities to learn and become interested in the politics of the day.  I believe these summer nights watching and listening to my dad and the others was the beginning of my own deep interest in politics. My dad was a knowledgeable guy and fairly up-to-date with current events. I don’t think he ever achieved his full intellectual potential, but he did know basic civics and government, and he knew where he stood on the political spectrum. Poor guy, he used to become irritated to know that his Republican vote was probably going to be cancelled out by my mother’s (immigrant’s daughter) Democratic vote.  

When the sun began to set on those summer nights we all retired to our own houses. Usually the TV would come on and the house was laid open to night air flowing through a screen door. Every four years my dad and I had the special treat of watching the  major Party Conventions in those summer nights. My first awareness of this crazy ritual was 1964. All I can remember was the manic celebrations of the Democrats knowing that LBJ was a shoe-in for President-funny hats, balloon drops and all. At that time we were all still deeply affected by the assassination of President Kennedy. Johnson was building “the Great Society” and they seemed pretty secure about the election outcome. Nonetheless my dad patiently explained this “Convention” business to me in language a 10 year old could understand. He had a little tougher time explaining the Republican convention and the darkness of Barry Goldwater’s bid.

 Four years later “the sixties” were in full bloom and I was old enough to know what I was seeing. He didn’t need to explain as we watched the conventions unfold. First were the Republicans and the mechanics of the roll-call votes from the various states. I think Nixon got it on the second ballot- but had shocked everyone by picking Agnew for VP. I was a bit amused by the elaborate and endless naming of the states by the State Party Chairmen: “the great and illustrious state of Blah, home of the blah-blah, and proud blah-blah-blah boldly and enthusiastically casts its 20 votes for the next blah of the United States (shortened version). On it went- but the news men of the time were also carefully explaining all the behind-the-scenes politicking that was common at the time. Then we had real journalists like Cronkite, Sevareid, Brinkley, and Smith to tell us the truth. Before the Democratic convention of ‘68, George Wallace had been shot, Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated, and Robert F. Kennedy had been murdered on his inevitable road to the White House, all in the few months just before the convention. My dad and I watched in disbelief as the Chicago convention became a shameful spectacle of violence and mayhem.  He and I were rooting for different sides; me rooting for the protesters and him rooting for Daly’s police. He liked order and I favored change. I think it got a bit muddled in my dad's mind when the violence moved inside the hall and we watched as security henchmen did their best to control rowdy delegates and then beat up Dan Rather on live TV. No one could understand that. Humphrey came out of the convention a wounded warrior, the Party was severely damaged- and we got Nixon in November. But my dad was happy with the outcome.

1972 was the last of those summer nights with backyard debates and Conventions that actually made news. I went off to college right after the Conventions. The inept McGovern never had a chance against the entrenched and devious Nixon who gave us Watergate and generations of skeptics that followed. I never experienced those summer nights learning about politics with my dad again. By 1976 I was married and off on my own. I miss those conversations and arguments. Talking about things with real people is a great way to learn.

I also miss the time when political Conventions were an opportunity to see events being formed before our eyes. News got made, and decisions were made at these gatherings- and it was something to see. Speeches were important because they were more than pre-packaged stump speeches. Both Parties have now turned an event of substance into a four-day infomercial. The commercial TV networks quit covering them except for an hour or so a night. I don’t blame them. There is little to see. The platform is pre-packaged, the VP Candidate has already been chosen, the speeches have all been heard before, and the outcome is settled months beforehand, now that (almost) every state has a primary. The entire process has become shallow and empty. I suppose young kids are going to have to learn about how government and politics works in a different way than I did. It is a most worthwhile endeavor to teach our children how we’re governed- it’s how we manage ourselves as a people. I hope in this new tech-media reality, parents will take the time on a summer night to teach their children about our government and our way of life. With the sniping and hate-filled rhetoric all around us, parents must show their children what is important and how this all works. Summer nights with my dad, holding backyard debates was my way to learn and I'm grateful I had that. As I got older and joined the debate, my dad and I rarely agreed, but there is value in disagreement too. We grow by exploring issues,testing our thoughts and ideas, and discovering our own beliefs.

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