The Green Thing

The following little story was posted on the internet.

“Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment. The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." The older lady said that she was right our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day.”

“The older lady went on to explain: Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.”

“Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.”

“We walked up stairs because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the "green thing" in our day. Back then we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days.”

“Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day. Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.”

“We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the "green thing" back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the "green thing" back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.”

“But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then? Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off... Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.”

During the Second World War (1941-1945, for those that do not remember) American industrialization expanded enormously, but after the war when the production of military machines and arms was no longer needed, industries could not just shut down. Instead, productive power was turned in the direction of the homeland and the household. The 1950s saw production expanding in all directions — new automobiles, new refrigerators, new gas and electric ranges, new means of communication, new clothing fabrics, and on-and-on. Everything, more-or-less, was aimed at making life easier.

It is now 70 years later and life could not be easier, in most respects. Unfortunately, this has also come at a great cost, and no one foresaw that cost. The expansion of human presence on earth has taken a heavy toll on nature. Already by the ’60’s Rachel Carlson’s “Silent Spring” was documenting this. Meanwhile, even the oceans were being over-fished. So it is not very surprising that by the 21st Century these developments of human economies have begun to impact the earth itself.

The question is Where, along this line, could we have been smart enough to stop this? Today, the majority of Americans don’t even seem smart enough to realize that it MUST stop.

The basic problem is that we see something that we can make or do that will “make things easier.” A is considered as a solution for B. But we fail to look forward and consider that B is related to C. My favorite example of this short-sightedness is the case of leaded gasoline. Early gasoline engines were less efficient and were being beaten up by ordinary gasoline. Engineers saw a beautiful answer to this problem in the creation of leaded gasoline. Under high heat and pressure, the lead caused changes in standard gasoline that made engines run smoother and more powerfully. Great. But the lead was harming the engines. Solution. Add ethylene dichloride to the gasoline. In the explosive mixture of tetraethyl lead and ethylene dichloride, the lead was transformed to lead chloride, which is a gas at high temperatures and could exit the engine through the exhaust. Problem solved? No. Beginning in the 1940s when tetraethyl lead was introduced, the annual deposition of lead in the Arctic Icecap increased and continued to increase until lead was finally banned from gasoline engines.

This is only one example. Consider the wonderful creation of plastics. Almost anything of potential use can be made out of plastics. But we now have plastics everywhere and they do not go away easily.

I think it is wonderful that young people today are taking up the torch for environmental control and asking our leaders to seriously address climate change. But blaming it all on my generation is foolish and just too easy. It is a product of a mentality that still operates and that is as much embraced by the young as by the old.

Bread and Wine

I have been re-reading “Bread and Wine” by Ignazio Silone. I first read this in the 1960s, probably in Mudd’s senior seminar class, “Science and Man’s Goals”. Silone’s novel was first published in 1936 and it tells the story of the rise and impact of fascism in Italy. What is very upsetting is the close similarity between Italian Fascism and what is happening in America today.

The church, the banks, and the big corporations take over rule as embodied in an unlikely hero patriot. Mussolini was viewed as a great revolutionary who would “make Italy great again.” One of the first demands of fascism is absolute conformity and the abolition of criticism. Then, the heroic leader begins to explore aggressive moves around the world. All of this is in the  name of patriotism and returning to some classic era of the nation’s history. Meanwhile, both emigration and immigration are strictly controlled. Italy went to war in North Africa in 1936 and added Ethiopia to its list of colonies in Africa. Anyone who wanted to advance himself needed to show absolute support for the regime; the opposition was everywhere suppressed. Meanwhile, the peasants were driven further into poverty. The fascist hero wastes no time on liberal governments and seeks relations with the world’s totalitarian leaders.

We may not be there entirely yet, but give Trump another term and there will be no turning back, I am afraid.

The Way Things Go

The Republicans and all their Right Wing friends have a unique way of deflecting any criticism that comes their way. Instead of dealing with the issue being criticized, they come back with an entirely different subject.

Trump has a big problem with the truth. "Oh, Obama was an illegal alien and a crook to boot." Or, "Hillary ought to be jailed for those thousands of emails."

Trump's border policy should be less aggressive. "Oh, didn't Obama gas immigrants every day?" Or, "Well the Democrats just want completely open borders."

I am not denying that these other issues should be addressed and discussed at some point. The point is that raising these other issues allows the Republican to avoid talking about the actual point. They can sail along without defending Trump or the present by dwelling on the past.

We have to stop allowing this. Turn the corner and just go right back to the point in question.

Kavanaugh and SCOTUS

I am frustrated by the fact that the entire discussion of Kavanaugh’s ascent to the Supreme Court has been badly off track. In the shadows of his ascent we have headlines like “Sex offender sent to the Supreme Court.” No, “Lier, Bully, bad Drunk, and Politician sent to Supreme Court” is what we should be saying.

I have no argument with the MeToo Movement as such and I believe it was correct that Ford’s accusations were brought forward. I believe the other women should also have been heard and I believe that the FBI should have been given complete freedom to investigate all of these matters. The fact that almost none of that happened is the fault of a hugely powerful Republican political machine.

But in the end, when the Senate was finally ready for a vote, what should they have been thinking? In my mind, the most important aspect of Kavanaugh’s series of hearings was his present behavior —- precisely who he is today, how he thinks, and how he behaves. Is Kavanaugh really the kind of person Americans want on the highest court of the land? In this respect, Kavanaugh had already been failing well before the allegations of sexual misconduct came forward. While Republican Senators stroked him, Democratic Senators tried to probe with serious questions. Kavanaugh repeatedly avoided giving direct answers, refused to reveal his beliefs, and hid 90% of his judicial record from examination. When he was forced to testify with respect to Ford’s allegations on that infamous Thursday, he behaved like a monster — angry, resentful, altra-political, and a bully. Clearly, also, he lied numerous times under oath. Now that should have disqualified him from a position on the Supreme Court right there.

I do not believe that sexual misconduct in high school or college, for that matter, should itself disqualify the man (or for that matter a woman). People do grow up and become better people. The sexual issue is disqualifying only if we find it appearing in the present and recent past as well, signaling that growth of character has not occurred. This is the case of Donald Trump, a sexual predator that should never have been allowed into political office. Neither of them should have a high public office, but in the case of Kavanaugh, I believe, it is not for his sexual misconduct.

Two Problems

Problem #1

People of my political persuasion keep saying, "That is not who we are." I agree with that idea but the question remains, "Who are we really?" I am afraid that the "we" is very ambiguous. The "we" has been a progressive movement that has sought to move the country into a state of tolerance for racial justice, sexual freedom, etc. But the "we" as in "who we are" --- the actual USA --- is very different, as we have learned in the last two years. It may be that when Trump boasts about the women he has abused, loves dictators around the world, lies and cheats, and orders immigrant families to be criminalized and separated, that IS who we are --- as a nation, that is.

Problem #2

Many of us keep observing that the German people accepted Hitler's Nazism too easily but begin to see, under Trump, how easy it is. All of that is sad but true. The really important issue, however, is how to get out from under Fascism once it has progressed. I cannot think of a country in recent history that has gotten out from under Fascism once it became a fact. The Spanish tried and failed (even with outside help). In the cases of recent history, it took the rest of the world to come and rescue them. And "rescue them" looks a little optimistic when you look at what happened to the Germans and the Japanese as a consequence. The lesson is that the people under Fascism wind up being blamed for their regimes and pay a big price.

The Image

I am possessed by an image. It is June 6, 1944 —- 74 years ago —- and a young man is in full battle regalia standing at the very front of an LST landing craft that is bucking waves toward Omaha Beach. He has trained on American soil and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to England and has nervously set off that morning for a beach in France. The landing craft finally reaches waste-deep water at the beach and the huge front door slams downward. Suddenly the beach is in full view ahead and at that very instant a bullet slams right through the front of his helmet into his brain and he is gone — doesn’t even remember being alive —- snuffed out like a bug. Perhaps 5,000 other young men died on the very same day and on that very same beach. Why?

It was all about Hitler. He just wanted to make Germany great again.

Hitler’s Nazi Party won popular support in 1933 and many Germans remained faithful to him to the very end. They paid a heavy price for that, as did Americans, French, and British men and women. All in all about 60 million people died because Hitler wanted to make Germany great again.

What Is to be Done?

You have to wonder where all of this will end --- with Trump, that is. He praises tyrants around the world and then he turns on all our traditional allies. He thinks the president of China is a hero because he has somehow placed himself in a lifetime position. Doesn't Trump wish. Apparently he does.

He has been in office for almost a year and a half. Hitler had essentially taken on all power in Germany after about two years. Can Trump manage that? One wonders when you see the arguments that come out of his lawyer team. Basically, he has all power and no one can check it.

The whole thing is an amazing test of our Constitution and, unfortunately, we are discovering that our Constitution may not be up to this challenge.