Letter to the Editor – President Obama could echo FDR’s reelection speech

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May 312012
 

Letter to the Editor

Fort Dodge Messenger

 (Published May 16, 2012)

In 1936, FDR (that would be President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for the young whippersnappers) gave a speech in Madison Square Garden, New York, just days before his re-election. It was powerful; defiant; inspiring.

I was startled by how circumstances now reflect that time of monopoly, grave financial risk-taking, pocket government, and the resulting Great Depression. I was astonished at how FDR’s words could just as easily be coming from our current president.

“For twelve years this Nation was afflicted with hear-nothing, see-nothing, do-nothing Government. The Nation looked to Government but the Government looked away.

Nine mocking years with the golden calf and three long years of the scourge! Nine crazy years at the ticker and three long years in the breadlines! Nine mad years of mirage and three long years of despair!

Powerful influences strive today to restore that kind of government with its doctrine that that Government is best which is most indifferent. For nearly four years you have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. We will keep our sleeves rolled up.

We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace, business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs.

We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me, and I welcome their hatred.”

This speech was introduced as part of a “crusade to restore America to its own people.” FDR hoped that, as the forces of selfishness and lust for power had met their match in his first term, they would meet their master in his second.

FDR concluded: “…the recovery we seek, the recovery we are winning, is more than economic. In it are included justice and love and humility, not for ourselves as individuals alone, but for our Nation.”

After watching the recent PBS Frontline report on “Money, Power, and Wall Street,” I am more determined than ever to do what I can to help, yet again, restore America to its own people.

David Satterlee

Real Christianity is Liberal

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May 312012
 

Christianity started out as a very liberal way of life. Take a look at the things Jesus personally did and said. A red-letter version of the New Testament will help. I won’t cite chapter and verse, but if you’re up for this discussion, you will already feel right at home.

Above all, Jesus lived and taught love. He even made the blunt assertion that “God is Love.” Jesus pointed out that the greatest law was Love – of God and neighbor – and he used the parable of a good Samaritan to point out that everyone is our neighbor.

In contrast to the popular idea that “you are on your own,” a core liberal belief is that “we are all in this together.” That is, we are all neighbors and need to care about our common good at every level, not just our own family or religion.

While teaching personal responsibility, Jesus also taught us to not focus overmuch on individual liberties. He washed his disciples’ feet to set an example of submitting in service to others.

Jesus really came down hard on the Pharisees. These were the nation’s  religious and political leaders. Often the wealthiest, they created, enforced, and defended a system of traditions and laws that supported and sustained their own positions of privilege and power.

The Pharisees claimed the high ground of faith and values, but Jesus condemned them and called them hypocrites. Notably, he drove money changers, members of the privileged financial elites, out of the temple.

Jesus was tolerant of those in other social classes; He ate with tax collectors and sinners and he cared about the health and welfare of all. He gave his gifts freely to the poor and downhearted and he encouraged others to do so as well.

Finally, stop a moment to contemplate the fact that Jesus, along with folks such as Martin Luther. were the radical liberals of their time. They took issue with the existing systems of unfair power, privilege, and oppression. Without extending the point too far, they were, in fact, progressive community organizers.

©2012, David Satterlee

Liberal optimism and faith dispels fear of the future

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May 312012
 

Men of the fields, like all men of faith, are optimists. As defined at Acts 17:11, faith is the “substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Optimists are able to contemplate the future with eyes of hope. They can imagine the substance of a reality that does not yet exist.

Pessimists are more likely to behave as faithless men of fear. They contemplate the future and imagine losing what they already have. This motivates them to worry about preserving things the way they are and conserving resources already at hand.

As children, we are usually relatively weak and understand that we could lose anything at any time. Someone stronger, having more authority or power, can take property or liberties from us at will. This makes us more focused on near-term risks and immediate gratifications.

As adults, there are several typical reactions to this fear of loss. Some may store up that which they fear losing or, like a prodigal, spend carelessly on whatever they can get now. Some may follow teachers who prey upon their fear. They may work to undermine even the best parts of our own elected government-of-the-people. They may even arm themselves and prepare against a day of “Second Amendment remedies.”

Others, as they develop toward adulthood, exhibit the emotional maturity associated with accepting delayed gratification. This is related to “self-control” – one of the Fruitages of the Spirit. Without this, no one would effectively invest in the future of their children, community, or nation.

By being open to faith in a good outcome, either as the result of hard work, the blessings of a loving  God, or  both, these optimists are willing to invest their resources – energy, blood, and treasure – in an uncertain future.

The further out these liberals are able to imagine the “substance of things hoped for,” the more radically they are willing to invest in the common good of their communities – voluntarily walking in self-sacrificing love rather than fear.

©2012, David Satterlee

A liberal education is needed to participate in Democracy

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May 312012
 

Our Democracy requires the participation of informed citizens. How do citizens become competent to become active in government, working to create a better country for their neighbors? Education at home and at school is a key factor.

A successful democracy assumes that people are basically good and decent should make responsible choices for themselves. Without the general moral and intellectual capacity of its citizens, it would be impossible for a constitution to grant universal citizenship and self-governance.

Parents and schools are expected to bring out the best in our children. The best involves more than prescribed knowledge and obedience to authority; it includes self-knowledge, self-discipline, and the enduring desire to keep on learning. We hope to maximize every child’s potential. We want every person to have the liberty and ability to pursue the adventure of a productive and satisfying life. Further, we expect that the success of every person contributes to the collective success of our communities and our nation.

As children develop into mature adults, they should be able to understand their beliefs, form personal opinions, explain themselves, consider the needs of others, and make decisions that produce good results. Especially today, when few find secure employment for life, we need to be able to think critically about new situations, solve new problems, and work successfully with previously-unknown people.

It is not enough for a student to simply acquire the skills of a trade. Graduates need to be equipped with an expanded perspective and the mental flexibility to make their way on the unfamiliar landscape of our rapidly-changing world. This kind of preparation allows them to recognize and take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Even better, this kind of preparation allows them to network socially, work well in a group, maintain supportive relationships, and actually create opportunities.

Critical thinking should not be the private tool of the privately-educated elite. Critical thinking should be one of our most cherished values, and the birthright of every child willing to apply themself. Critical thinking should be an expected product of a rich family life. Critical thinking should be the core competency delivered by our public schools.

Some may recoil from all this be-the-best-you-can-be and prepare-for-your-future effort. Some may be content to do what they’re told, do only what is needed to get by, and blame others for their misfortunes. Some may realize that I have been describing a “liberal education,” and correctly conclude that the more of it you have, the more liberal you will likely become. Maybe that’s a good thing.

How can our individual, community, and national well-being be bad? I am convinced that we must prepare our children to successfully resist those who would take away our government of, by, and for the people. If we do not, we will see the completion of the efforts of a powerful few to seize our government and use it to enrich themselves.

©2012, David Satterlee

We don’t want no Agenda 21 sustainable development UN conspiracy to take our rights

 Articles, ChumForThought, Common-Destiny, DavidSatterlee, Ecology, Political Commentary, Politics  No Responses »
May 312012
 

Most of us have heard the phrase “sustainable development” and perhaps a little about United Nations and other initiatives related to sustainable development such as Agenda 21 and the Earth Charter.  Some of our communities are exploring these principals in the hopes of heading off, or at least moderating, future catastrophes.

The concept of organized sustainable development is described by critics as a massive international conspiracy to deprive you of individual and commercial rights. Yep, that’s pretty much how it is. This threat is so outrageous that I thought I would take this opportunity to speak out [with tongue firmly in cheek] in defense of UN-organized and UN-sustainable development.

[Our] people are guaranteed freedom and liberty.  These should not be trampled on, limited, or regulated regardless of consequences to others. We should be allowed to do whatever we want.

All natural resources are given by God to man to own, subdue, and have dominion over (Genesis 1:28).  Further man was given the physical and mental powers to accomplish this. This same scripture instructed him to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth – with no mention of limits.

Automobiles, the open road, and cheap gasoline are as quintessentially American as baseball and apple pie. A gas guzzling vehicle is not only larger and safer for its occupants but a public symbol of status and achievement. Free public roads are the right of every citizen. We should all have unlimited choice to live, work, play, shop, commute, and just drive around at will.

Trees are for lumber; just ask the long-missing inhabitants of Easter Island. They left behind mysterious rock statues, but no growing wood. Trees are also for burning; and when trees become scarce, one can always make more children to go out and forage for sticks.

Insecticides and pesticides are good for crops and lawns – to say nothing of bees, frogs, birds, fish, and shallow wells. But, who needs all that buzzing and chirping anyway? And do we really need water? I never drink water anyway ‘cause there’s plenty of beer.

We have lots of coal and it’s cheap, so we should be allowed to use as much of it as we want to generate as much electricity as we want. Never mind acid rain, millions of children with respiratory problems, or atmospheric heat retention from rising carbon dioxide levels.

Besides, I’m okay now and I don’t give a rip about my grandchildren or anybody else either. Speaking of which, I also don’t care about neutering pets, soil erosion, toxic waste, or even famine. Other people have those problems, not me… so far.

©2012, David Satterlee

Legislative Hostage Taking Hijacks any Chance of Improving Government

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May 262012
 

The 2011 debt limit crisis demonstrated beyond any doubt that our Republican-controlled Congress is willing to do damage to America and its people. They behaved like a kidnapper cutting off a finger and sending it back to distraught and fearful parents to get them to pay a ransom. We understand that Republicans speak for their financial and religious-right masters. They want money. They want power. They want full control. And, who knows who these terrorists are willing to shoot in the head and shove out the door next.

Effective government is a good and necessary thing. Good government serves its people. Government is a forum for debating issues, agreeing on compromises, managing common resources, and enforcing public decisions. Government should not be something that you try to destroy – or weaken so much that it can be bought. In 2011, “Young Guns,” Tea Party freshmen, and other leading Republicans actually called for the government to default – refusing to pay the bill for spending they had already approved.

What do these “Young Guns” want? They want to run the town, and they are willing to intimidate any citizen, shoot up any merchant, and face down any lawman to do it. They want to lock up the sheriff in his own jail and take him out at night to lynch him – or “drown it [government] in a bath tub” as Grover Norquist said. Too over-the-top? Extend the metaphor with President Obama in the role of Sheriff and replay Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell saying, “Making Obama a one-term president is my single most important political goal.”

Actually, Republicans seem hostile to the idea of America’s entire administrative branch and presidency. Let’s listen, again to their ranch-boss, Grover Norquist: “All we have to do is replace Obama. We are not auditioning for fearless leader. We don’t need a president to tell us in what direction to go. … We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don’t need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate. … Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.”

Since our founders designed our constitution, America has always depended on distributed power, with checks and balances, between three branches of government. Can you imagine a do-nothing rubber-stamp president? Now imaging that president appointing whomever he was told to the federal courts, including the Supreme Court! Well, now we’ve got a deal. The big ranchers now run everything. Because they can make any law, the town is effectively lawless. Now take it another step and imagine that all the preachers were in cahoots too. Yep, that would be the Republican radical religious right.

Of course, all this could never stand. Eventually the citizens would rise up with their sickles and pitchforks and charge headlong into a hail of bullets. We have done it before to overthrow tyranny and oppression and we could do it again. We would do it again. Is that what you really want?

This 2012 election could be that critical tipping point. Are you going to move forward, working together, committed in faith and goodwill, to a better world for our children? Or are you going to sit behind your windows, watching in fear and helplessness while thugs ravage your town, taking anything and everything they want?

©2012, David Satterlee

Access Bob Altemeyer on Conservative Authoritarianism – Free PDF

 Authorities, ChumForThought, Common-Destiny, Ego 4-Conformist, Moral 3-Accord and Conformity, Moral 4-Authority and Social order, Political Commentary, Politics, SocioDynamics, USA 2012 Elections, Value 4-TruthForce  No Responses »
May 232012
 

John Dean referenced Bob Altemeyer’s work extensively in his 2006 book, “Conservatives without Conscience.”

In case you wanted to dig deeper, your link is http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

Altemeyer explains: “This book is about what’s happened to the American government lately. It’s about the disastrous decisions that government has made. It’s about the corruption that rotted the Congress. It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country. It’s about the United States standing at the crossroads as the next federal election approaches.”

“The feedback I’ve gotten from those who have read The Authoritarians enables me to give you the major reason why you might want to do so too.   “It ties things together for me,” people have said, “You can see how so many things all fit together.” “It explains the things about conservatives that didn’t make any sense to me,” others have commented. And the one that always brings a smile to my face, “Now at last I understand my brother-in-law” (or grandmother, uncle, woman in my car pool, Congressman, etc.)”

 

Precision farming reboot – A new paradigm using sensors, robots, and lasers

 Articles, ChumForThought, Common-Destiny, DavidSatterlee, Science and Technology  No Responses »
May 222012
 

As my wife and I drove down a rural Iowa highway last week, we began speculating about the next revolution in field management. Currently, tractors blindly and mechanically groom rows of crops spaced wide enough to accommodate their massive tires.  Large quantities of herbicides and insecticides are broadcast, leaching into streams and aquifers. In turn, specially-bred seeds, resistant to these chemicals must be purchased as a part of a proprietary program.

Instead, I imagined swarms of spider-shaped robots with travel legs long enough to keep their body suspended above the crops. Work arms, tipped with cameras and tools, could maneuver to any spot.

  • Plants could be grown in an efficient honeycomb pattern, wasting less space.
  • A database of every plant, with its progress, could be maintained.
  • Instead of making care decisions on a whole-field basis, adaptive algorithms could adjust interventions for increasingly small areas.
  • Micro-doses of fertilizer nutrients could be injected under the surface, sufficient for each plant.
  • Individual weed plants could be identified and selectively uprooted.
  • Individual bugs could be identified and selectively destroyed.
  • Individual bugs could be harvested using a suction device. Some bugs contain valuable chemicals such as dyes or pharmaceutical components.
  • Crop plants could be automatically thinned or even transplanted to more-sparse areas.
  • Robots could work continuously, even at night, returning to an energy source to recharge or exchange batteries.
  • Some labor-intensive jobs, such as harvesting strawberries, currently require lots of labor for brief periods of time. Machines would be easier to store and transport from place to place than people.

The next day, I discovered that researchers at Leibniz University in Germany are exploring how to use lasers to kill weeds. Cameras feeding pattern-recognition software can identify multiple weed plants and distinguish them from the crop plants. Tunable lasers, aimed at the most vulnerable areas, can kill weeds. In the process, the German researchers found that lesser intensities of laser light actually stimulated weed growth. This raises the potential of non-chemical stimulation of crop growth.

Researchers in Israel are developing multispectral sensors for identifying fruits and vegetables along with their ripeness. They are already able to correctly identify 80-85 percent of fruit on a plant. They are also designing grasping tools that can remove individual pieces without damaging them.

This is a field (pun intended) to keep your eye on. The core issue of agricultural productivity has always been the limitations of manpower. Perhaps it is time to look away from ever-larger mega-machines. These are becoming highly-automated themselves anyway. The next step is to teach smaller highly-automated machines to perform the tedious judgment-intense precision farm work that we can no longer afford to do in person.

©2012, David Satterlee

How a Republican lawyer helped me meet my liberal wife

 ChumForThought, DavidSatterlee, Nonfiction, Political Commentary, USA 2012 Elections  No Responses »
May 212012
 

My sweet wife and I were sitting on the front porch swing, reading the Sunday paper and enjoying the cool breeze of the early morning. It still amazes me how many things we don’t know about each other, even after all these years. She was reading the obituaries. I knew something was up when she lowered the paper into her lap and just stared off into the distance. Eventually she explained, “I almost married a Republican lawyer.”

Being my usual smart-ass self, I quipped, “Yeah, that would have been tough. Lawyers like to argue, and they especially like to win arguments. And, you can’t argue rationally with a Republican.” Fortunately, my beloved knows that, once I get the smart-ass out of my system, it’s safe to move on as if nothing had happened. She finished her story.

“Someone I dated in high school died. I might have married him. It turns out he became a lawyer.” I put my arm across her shoulder. She likes to lean her head back and rest that way. “We were actually pretty serious for a while, and then I called it off.” She leaned her head back and rolled it toward my shoulder. “You know what a liberal hippie chick I was back then, with protest marches and folk songs. Well, he invited me to go with him to a Young Republicans Club meeting. So, we started comparing ideas and, pretty soon that was it.”

Well, that’s about it here too. When you’re been married for a long time, some of the best things are the quiet, delicate, unexpected joys that land on you, like the cool flutter of a butterfly, for just a moment. I kissed her gently on the head and told her that I loved her. And then I just stared off into the distance for a while, surprised that I would find myself so suddenly grateful to a Republican lawyer.

©2012, David Satterlee

A Parable About Mitt Romney, and Public Risk vs. Private Profit

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May 212012
 

Joe rolled his eyes after watching yet another cranky TV talking head take yet another pot shot at the other party’s candidate. “I just don’t get it,” Joe moaned, “They’re all crooks. If I even bother to vote this year, I’m tempted to just write in, ‘Someone Else.’” Linda looked at him quietly for a moment. If there was going to be a teachable moment, this was probably going to be it.

Linda had always been pretty quiet. Joe had always loved the gentleness in her touch, the light in her eyes, and the eagerness in her kiss. They had met in high school. Joe dated several of the pretty girls and Linda had let someone else take her to the Junior Prom. But, Linda loved Joe’s honest directness, his strong hands and character, and the attention and energy that he gave to the things he loved… and he said that he loved her.

Joe started working for his father early on. His dad owned a small, but reasonably successful, chain of retail stores. As soon as Joe could drive, he started driving a delivery truck for his Dad. Linda won a scholarship to a state university. Joe made the trip to see her the first weekend of every month. By the time she graduated and moved back home, Joe had been promoted to warehouse supervisor. They got married that fall, just like everybody always thought they would.

Linda took a breath. This was not a time to cite Macroeconomics or quote Noam Chomsky. So, Linda started, “The big difference between the political parties these days is all about who gets the goods. One party wants to make it easier to make a profit…”

Joe interrupted her: “There is nothing wrong with earning a profit. If you don’t earn a profit, you go out of business and then what good is that to anybody?”

Linda smiled her best disarming smile. “You’re absolutely right. Businesses and the people who buy from them keep money in circulation and make the economy healthier, and that is just as it should be. And, if a business makes a profit and wants to take a risk, they can invest in a new location, or a new product line, or something worthwhile. And, because they put their own money at risk, they stand to make an even greater profit and that’s a good thing too.”

Joe knew his woman well, so he just waited. The other shoe was about to drop. Linda regrouped, “The problem comes when you want to make your profits on transactions that put other people’s money at risk… or by buying and plundering other people’s companies and the pension plans of their employees. Some investors have even figured out how to keep profits while transferring risks and losses back into public society.”

Linda realized that she was going too fast when Joe replied, “Wha…?” It was quite obvious that he was experiencing some issues and had just barely not objected: “What the hell are you talking about?” Actually, that would have been better than some of her friends’ husbands who would just have gotten a beer and tuned in ESPN. All was not lost.

Linda remembered a paper that she had written for American History 202. “Actually this is nothing new. Andrew Jackson had a problem with the Second Bank of the United States. He said that those bankers had been using funds on deposit to speculate in commodities. And, when they won, they divided the profits, but when they lost they charged it to the bank. He said they were a den of vipers and thieves.

“Well damn.” Joe interjected, “I hope he closed them down.”

“He sure did,” Linda agreed, “and you can see how bad that kind of thing is. In fact, that is why the recent financial crisis was so hard on the country. That kind of financial abuse has been happening on a huge scale. And then, when their bad investments went south, it was us that had to bear the burden of the bailouts, protecting them from their losses, because they truly were too big to fail.”

Joe was still feeling angry. “The government should do something about that.”

“Well, your candidate actually sometimes did that kind of stuff for a living and his party is fighting hard for others like him to be able to keep on doing it. They want to keep on reducing government regulations that protect the public, people like me and you… and your dad with his business. I’m planning to vote for my candidate because I just can’t support such a den of vipers and thieves.”

Now Joe was feeling alarmed — with just the first twinges of regret. Some sort of penance was in order. He reached over, took Linda’s hands in his, and he promised to support her and vote for her when she ran for City Council.

©2012, David Satterlee

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