“It’s Simple”

“It’s Simple”

Nouns really mean something. Water, rocks, people – the descriptive power is infinite. We also use them to describe intangibles – “fact”, “right”. And then we use them in declarative exclamations “that’s the truth”, “we did the right thing.” And, of course, the ongoing political and meme darling “it’s simple .”

But “it” rarely is. “An elephant exists” is simple enough. But calling an elephant “simple” would be insane. Defining an elephant one can listen to the various blind men saying “it’s simply like a tree”, “it’s simply like a wall” based on the relative position of the blind man. Even when we grasp the whole and understand an elephant is simply not a mouse, we have no idea of the complexity of an elephant at all levels.

The world is infinitely complex, fractally intertwined, especially when time and conditional decisions are involved. Something can be contradictory, both true and untrue, irrelevant or useful, dependent on circumstances. Only a few actions are irreversibly simple: “jump off the cliff” might be one.

When any leader tells you something “is simple”, beware. It’s one way to end all arguments, but it can “simply” be wrong, untrue, or irrelevant. And certainly ignoring all complexity and conditional options: “it’s simple – we must cross the flooded river” ignores that there are many ways to cross a river, and at various times a river might be lower, and we might really not need to cross the river at all.

But leaders exist to provoke actions. None as simple as they like to pretend .

Bitter Winners

“Nobody likes a sore loser.” To me, worse by far, is a “bitter winner.” They seem to be in full bloom these days, in politics, corporate life, and even among my acquaintances .

These are the folks who by any normal standards have it all. Charmed lives, power, prestige, and especially great wealth. They think they have gained it by simple hard work and smart moves. They think everyone else is a complete loser. They don’t understand why all those losers don’t worship them (although there are many who do.) And, like Napoleon with Russia, they obsess about doing something so outrageously stupendous that they will “finally” be recognized for how great they are .

Their defining attitude seems to be whining. They have been “cheated of their rightful due.” They are not “appreciated” enough. The peons too often ignore their “invaluable” advice and dispute their “absolutely perfect” opinions. They remain bitter that they have achieved what they wanted, but have never found what they needed .

Bitter winners have existed throughout history, but our affluent world seems to have thrown up a bumper crop. And the weeds surrounding them are filled with lesser folk who also believe that they have been cheated by someone out of their rightful place .

Sad and dangerous specimens of humanity .

Ethical Rituals

I do not believe there is or ever could be an absolute universal code of ethics for humans or the cosmos they inhabit. I do believe there is a code of ethics implicit in every civilization. This indicates what should be done even if it is not legally necessary. And cultural rituals enforce and recognize these ethics .

For example as a sign of respect in different places one may offer a handshake, or a bow, or a kiss on the cheek. Customs indicate how strongly one is affected by statements or arguments. Expectations of acceptable behavior when shopping range from blind acceptance of prices to extensive haggling. Beginnings of romances vary greatly. “Telling the truth” means different things in different situations .

Sure, laws are necessary. But the web of “ethical” behavior and its rituals may be the real glue of civilization. In fact, too many “petty” laws trying to enforce former common rituals may be a sign of the decline of any society.

People are, in general, surprisingly social. Amazingly adaptable. And generally quite content to “go native” and “when in Rome .”

A culture which has lost most of its ethical rituals and instead relies on enforced laws is probably not much fun. Rituals have a way of expanding personal freedom, which laws usually do not .

Camel Nose

“The camel nose under the tent”, “the slippery slope”, “the gateway”. These are all expressions currently in vogue by absolutist extremists. No matter that such ideas are generally nonsense .

The extremist is certain of two things 1. that he or she alone knows the perfect truth. 2.that such a perfect truth sits at the tip of a cone from which the slightest movement only leads down to horror.

Now, the usual way to criticize such concepts is to claim that each particular “truth” is wrong or partial. And certainly such may often be the case. But I criticize the concept of the cone of correctness rising above a sea of sin .

Life, in particular, is not built of perfect points but of antagonistic forces kept in balance through tensions and self-corrective mechanisms. There is no “perfect” blood pressure – it varies considerably – but when it gets too high or too low in healthy people, homeostatic reactions bring it back to “normal” range. such is true all the way down to cellular activity. So much more our consciousness. No perfect mood. No perfect path. Everything a balance. Not a cone, not even a tightrope, but more a net.

Because of their self-centered righteousness, extremists are usually insufferable. And unfortunately, dangerous. Nothing in life is a cone and should not be treated as one .

Tall Tales

Ancient Greeks had the labors of Hercules. The Midwest had Paul Bunyan and his blue ox. Our frontier heroes were Davy Crockett “killin’ a bar when he was only three.” Recent giants were JP Morgan or Howard Hughes. Tall tales, absurd stories, grand exaggerations have always been entertaining .

The Greeks half believed in the half god Hercules, think of that as you will. Only children thought the giant and his immense ox once roamed the prairies. Those who cared realized that a lot of the stories about real life folks were apocryphal.

But the internet age has turned into a festival of credibility. Folks seem to believe anything at all, as long as it fits in with their worldview and is entertaining. If some AI visionary presented a Paul Bunyan “documentary” I think half the people who saw it would think him at least as real as the aliens shown on other channels .

All in great fun. Until it gradually slides into malicious lies from entertainers who wish to be rulers. There is no greater example of how power and fame corrupt absolutely. Promise anything. At least some of the voters will believe it .

Somewhere, obviously, our education system – designed to preserve a reasonable citizen democracy – has completely failed. Anyone who claimed to be Paul Bunyan or Hercules reincarnate could probably get elected. Oh Tempe! o mores!

Old Grump

Both political parties this year have suddenly become aware of exactly how fast changes can occur as a person goes through their late ’70s. No matter what protestations of ” being as sharp as ever” there are significant mental and physical issues, some minor, some worse, and all only afflicting sporadically .

The two biggest obvious changes from being, say, 60, are 1) the daily energy level fluctuates a lot and 2) the mind works best in unchanging “safe” zones. Old people dislike the way the world has gone “wrong.” It’s happening to me and to everyone I know my own age. Let us alone in our familiar routine at our own pace and we are usually as good as anyone. Hit us with surprises – especially any that require a vigorous response and out of the box thinking – and our natural response is an angry lashing out .

It rarely makes us incompetent. After all (especially by our late ’70s) our lives have usually settled down considerably. We are happy that it is so. Why can’t everyone else understand?

The classic problems are encapsulated in the highly contentious debate about “should we take the car keys away from Grandpa?” Obviously, he and Grandma are fine most of the time driving to the same old store to get bread. Equally obviously they too often get in an accident or near accident. And mostly they don’t even realize .

Well, our politics has arrived at the same dilemma. It’s never easy, especially concerning politicians (or industrial titans) who are used to power and always think only they are right .

1789 Redux

Large organized societies always contain a latent mob of people who feel they are being cheated and who think they are helpless to change things. Usually their ire is directed at “the government” or at least at those who nominally lead that government. But the mob itself rarely revolts on its own. Its leaders usually come from the “upper” classes.

In the French revolution, for example, the mob was initially provoked by aristocrats who wanted more power (less taxes) themselves. They were aided by an intelligentsia who thought people should be treated better. Those dreamers soon lost control and were swept away in a bloodbath, when fanatic monomaniacs such as Robespierre took over.

Eventually, insurrection collapsed into brutal anarchy, the army sorted itself out, seized power and (being fully heirarchic in principle) installed a dictator/emperor. The mob was killed off in the streets or in wars. Life went on .

History is fun and can be misleading as a guide to the future. But it is interesting to draw comparisons between our current politics and those of Ancien Regime France, which was _ in fact _ better run and more “liberal” than the Napoleonic rule that replaced it.

The mob only listens to demagogues, but were I one, I would tell it to be careful what it wishes for .

90 Days

When the United States was founded 250 years ago, it took three or four days for the fastest message to travel from Boston to Philadelphia. Current print and cable journalists seem to believe the same rules are in effect now. Or so I gather from the consensus that “90 days” is a “frantic whirlwind” for a political campaign .

The saying used to be that “a lie can travel around the world before truth can get its boots on.” Now a meme can “go viral” almost before it is created. A gigantic news sheet in 1795 had maybe a hundred local readers. An internet post instantly informs millions or even billions. A day is an eternity.

In those olden days, the world had very little, very delayed, effects. Crossing the Atlantic could take a month or so, most remote happenings were of no relevance whatsoever. New markets crash now at bank news from Japan, and the entire planet can be incinerated in an hour or so, at the whim of any angry old fart who feels particularly cranky .

In that context 90 days is far longer than most news cycles ever were. People “meet” candidates in minutes on media. A true whirlwind might be 9 days. But then what would all the writers and talking heads have to talk about ?

I’m afraid that this is symptomatic of the endless cynicism I’ve developed about just about every political discussion lately. What “they” say doesn’t quite match my own reality, in distance, speed, or effect

Glad You’re You?

The ” future should look like the past” crowd would try to have everyone live as as they imagine people lived in the 1950s. Presumably all songs written after 1955 would be banned. They should listen to a few of those cheerful tunes written during depression, dust bowl, and war. One that I like is “aren’t you glad you’re you?” Which neatly expresses my own take on a good life .

Reactionaries are always Cassandras. Their future is always bleak, and more horrible the more distantly they imagine. They are infected with lollipop nostalgia of a past that never was, and they are too dumb or too ignorant or too lazy to investigate actual history .

These days we are sandwiched between dour polarized fanatics. On one hand the future is evil because of climate change, computers, population growth, anthropocene extinction, and so forth. On the other side we are doomed by government, laws, social breakdown, and flagrant selfish individualism .

Are they right? Maybe. The one true axiom in all of economics is Keyne’s observation that “in the long run we are all dead.” Looking too far ahead, planning beyond yourself, worried about uncontrollable possibilities, have always been bad bets for living honestly, well, productively and – yes – socially .

So – “every time you’re near a rose, aren’t you glad you got a nose?” Spend each moment as joyfully and consciously as possible. Maybe we all die tomorrow. True history and our own common sense say “probably not.” And memory of the perfume of that flower will last as long as anything else in this unknowable universe .