Saturday

11 November 2017

— tulip bulbs now in the ground!

Good Morning All,

If you have the chance, read the poem in the Day Book, written by one of my professors at Rutgers. I’m guessing I took her class in 1966, her second year teaching, when she was twenty-nine. Lovely person, gifted teacher.

Three of the four college friends with whom I am in contact and try to see when  in America in the summer believe me to be a political conservative. The fourth, for all I know, may also think so, though he has not told me so, and I have not heard from him in recent months.

One of the three recently suggested I ask myself why I come off sounding like a conservative. So, I spent twenty minutes or so making a list of what I believe in and what I am opposed to. Here (if this is of any interest to you whatsoever) is my nonprioritized list: 

I believe in: 

1. The unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

2. The absolute sanctity of the First Amendment.

3. The 2nd Amendment to the extent a state can maintain “a well regulated militia”, and that individual citizens may own hunting rifles, but I do not believe the Second Amendment allows individual citizens to own automatic weapons and other military hardware.

4. The Equal Rights Amendment.

5. On-going affirmative action for minority groups until parity is reached.

6. Universal health care heavily subsidized by the federal government.

7. The right of two people to marry, regardless of gender.

8. The fairness of those who make the most money paying the most taxes.

9. Cutting the military budget by roughly half.

10. Strong unions.

11. The right of every citizen to a fair trial in a court of law.

12. The assumption of a person’s innocence until proven guilty in that court of law.

13. That the person who gets the most votes in a presidential election should become the president.

14. Freedom of the press even for Fox and the gossip rags.

15. Free access to public buildings and businesses open to the public, regardless of race, religion, gender, or age. 

16. A woman’s right to have an abortion.

17. What is written on the Statue of Liberty.

18. Separation of Church and State.

19. Freedom of religion.

I am opposed to:

1. Capital punishment.

2. Police profiling. 

3. Segregation, defacto and otherwise, especially in housing.

4. Censorship, whether it be governmental or socio/cultural.

5.  Statues honoring the enemies of America (i.e., Robert E. Lee). 

6. Standardized testing in public primary and secondary schools.

7. Corporate donations to political parties or candidates.

What does that make me?

Presumably, what the physicists call the “observer effect” (something like Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle) will come into play here. Putting a cold thermometer into a warm bath to measure the temperature of the water will effect the temperature of the water.

Or were I to ask you (which I am not doing) if the above list makes me a conservative, moderate, or liberal, your own beliefs would likely influence your answer.

For what it’s worth, I think that list up there suggests I am a moderate.

Go Well and Stay Well,

Bhekaron

P.S. One Holly snap and one snap from Jenny Gill who comments: Below is attached my pictorial viewpoint from Long Beach, CA after a 40 mile bike ride, downstream from Los Angeles at the precise cusp of October transforming into November!