Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
I support LGBTQ+ because I am an American. I will not fear my neighbor because of who they are. I believe all humans are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I believe in limited government. I am a liberal. I will love my neighbor as my neighbor as myself.
Natural Monopolies
In 1776, Adam Smith published a ground breaking book, The Wealth of Nations. Smith introduced the French phrase laissez-faire to the English speaking world. The phrase best translates as “free market.”
Smith criticized European monarchs for subsidizing domestic production and granting monopolies for foreign trade. He argued that monarch redistributed income from small farmers and artisans. Removing the subsidies and monopolies would allow the little guy to compete fairly.
The justification for laissez-faire remains the same. The reality, however, is much different. American policy makers only follow laissez-faire when it hurts big business, but they interfere in the economy to help big business.
This pattern started with first real national corporations. Federal and state governments leapt to the aid of railroads. Both gave these corporations large tracks of land as capital to finance construction. The railroads then sold the land to developers along the tracks.
In the town along the railway, farmers and ranchers had to deal with a whole new set of monopolies. Obviously, there was only one railroad company in town, but there was also only one stockyard, one grain elevator and one bank.
These monopolies could, and often did, squeeze every bit of profit out of farming and ranching. Farmers and ranchers complained about unfair market practices, and they want government protection. The free market was crushing them.
The cries for help were drowned out by big businesses’ crocodile tears. American oligarchs loved their natural monopolies and didn’t want the government helping anyone else.
Making matters worse, farmers and ranchers faced global competition. While the owners of railroads, stock yards, grain elevators and banks controlled a local monopoly, food products traded in a distant commodities market.
Once the product left the farm or the ranch, the producers lost control. Prices now depended up regional, national and even global supply. Traders knew the numbers and bid to keep their own cost down, leaving less money in the pockets of farmers and ranchers.
The New Deal tried to remedy this imbalance. At the height of the Great Depression, voters turned to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR ignored the screams of big business. The reforms FDR introduced stabilized rural communities for generations. Some like Social Security still provide a steady stream of income.
Unfortunately, Ronald Reagan sold the free market snake oil in the 1980s. Protections for family farms and ranches vanished. Large commercial farms and processors replaced small businesses. Thanks to conservatives Rural America again faces big business alone.
Watch Your Step
Escalators are a modern marvel. The English word is derived from the word, escalade, meaning to climb. An escalator actually takes the effort out of climbing. They are a welcome sight in a mall or a subway station.
Unfortunately, there are times in life when an escalator is not welcome. Sometimes we make decisions with unforeseen consequences. We step on a path, and we lose control.
During the Cold War (1947-1991), American and Soviet leaders were very careful not to step on an escalator. Most of these men lived through World War One and World War Two. They saw conflicts escalate quickly.
Cold War leaders understood that escalation meant MAD, or Mutually Assured Destruction. Both sides had nuclear weapons and threatened to use them if attacked.
MAD encouraged the Americans and the Soviets to avoid direct conflict. Each Superpower had a free hand in their own sphere of influence. For the United States, this meant shepherding a democratic, free market system in Western Europe. For the Soviet Union, this meant imposing a totalitarian, command economy in Eastern Europe.
In other areas of the world, both sides used proxies to undermine their opponents. The Soviets famously supported the North Vietnamese against the Americans. The Americans funded the Mujahedeen to fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Soviets, however, invaded Eastern European countries twice to maintain control. In 1956 they invaded Hungary, and then in 1968 Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia. Both invasions prevented democratic reforms and kept the countries firmly in the Soviet Bloc.
Neither President Dwight Eisenhower nor Lyndon B. Johnson escalated the crisis. The United States had already created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to contain the spread of communism. Its mission did not include attacking the Soviet Union. A direct fight would have been MAD.
The world changed in 1989. The General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan and refused to intervene when Eastern European nationalists asserted their independence.
Gorbachev’s decisions were so unpopular among the Soviet generals and party elite; they orchestrated a coup and deposed him. By this time, the coup was too late. The Soviet regime crumbled under mounting nationalist pressures inside the Soviet Union.
American and Western European leaders collectively stood up to the Soviets during the Cold War. They contained the spread of communism and avoided Armageddon. Our generation can do the same, but we need to avoid stepping on the escalator. Reaching the top would be MAD.
What Was Old Is New Again
I will never forget my childhood trip to Berlin. My dad was stationed in Bamberg, Germany, and my parents wanted their children to see as much as possible. The trip to Berlin was different than others.
The trip started with a night train. On most trips, we traveled in our huge red, Plymouth station wagon. It had room for all six of us. When we traveled in a larger group, we rode on a bus.
I knew about the geopolitics of the trip, because every kid in Europe knew “the mission.” Our moms and dads were there to protect Europe from a Soviet invasion. The trip to Berlin required us to travel through the Soviet sector.
We had specific instructions to keep the curtains shut. We were not allowed to look outside the train. Not that we could have seen much. It was a night trip for a reason. The Soviets had a closed society and liked it that way.
Berlin itself was a new city. Allied forces had reduced the old city to rubble. The highlight was a visit to Check Point Charlie. This gate marked the crossing, by car and foot, from the American Zone to the Soviet Zone.
Check Point Charlie had an observation platform to look across the wall. By the 1970s, the Berlin Wall was a modern wonder designed to prevent any unauthorized crossing. East German Guards stood ready to shoot anyone who dared.
Visit the Mauermuseum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin
Next to the Check Point Charlie was a museum celebrating illegal crossing. It had pictures of narrow tunnels dug under the wall. I saw a car with a hidden compartment to smuggle humans to freedom.
The wall seemed so permanent. This feeling made it hard for me to believe the stories in 1989. I was sitting waiting for a college history class when someone said the wall had been breached. Like Thomas, I refused to believe until I saw it for myself.
That moment of celebration and joy produced an era of optimism and hope. We were supposed to enjoy a peace dividend. Unfortunately, we didn’t.
American advisors rushed into Eastern Europe and launched a vast social experiment. They encouraged Post-Soviet governments to value property rights over anything else. Americans wanted protections for business owners and discouraged protections for workers.
This free market paradise had a huge human cost. High employment. Crushing alcoholism, drug addiction and depression. Plummeting life expectancy.
One by one former communist states have turned to strongmen. They were fleeing from freedom. Men like Vladimir Putin have convinced them that bigotry, violence and oppression can make Eastern Europe Great Again.
Pawpaw Lloyd’s Corn and Shrimp Soup
Based on the stationary, I’m pretty sure this recipe came from Pawpaw Lloyd. we use butter instead of oleo.
The Strong Should Not Harm The Weak
Around 1755 BCE, the Babylonian King Hammurabi proclaimed a law code. For thousands of years it lay hidden in the ruins of Susa in modern Iran. It revealed the ancient origins of government.
The text on the granite stele began with a preamble. Hammurabi claimed the gods called him by name to rule. They expected the king “to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak.”
The code then listed 282 requirements for anyone living in Hammurabi’s realm.
Some of these are famous, “If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.” Others are not so famous, “If a builder build a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.”
The promulgation of laws was meant as a deterrent. Everyone could see the law and its corresponding punishment. Hammurabi’s subjects knew he was charged by the gods to enforce the laws.
When it came to international affairs, however, there was no government. No one country was strong enough to act as the world’s policeman. More importantly, no one country could write a binding code for the world.
The strong often trampled on the weak. The wicked invaded their neighbors and exploited their people and resources.
After the Second War, the United States actively tried to break this cycle of violence and conquest. The United States created systems of collective security to protect both large and small states alike. Organizations like the United Nations and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) offered help against territorial aggression.
NATO was the more successful of the two organizations. NATO provided a credible deterrent in Europe during the Cold War, while the US and the Soviet Union bickered at the UN. That bickering often deteriorated into Proxy Wars like Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.
For Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, the Cold War represented the good old days. His country was one of two superpowers and could trample on the weak. There was no Hammurabi to prevent his country from exploiting its neighbors.
Since 2014, Putin has been bullying its neighbor Ukraine because its voters rejected subjugation to Moscow. Putin took direct control over the Crimea and sponsored a proxy war in Eastern Ukraine.
The United States and NATO are trying to restrain Putin. He will pull back if he sees a united NATO in Europe, and Americans standing behind President Joe Biden. Ukraine is in a weak position. It needs a strong United States to maintain the peace.
Put Loyalty to America First
Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell couldn’t have been any clearer about January 6. “It was a violent insurrection with the purpose of trying to prevent a peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election. … That’s what it was.”
McConnell made this statement in response to the Republican National Committee endorsing the insurrection. The RNC called the January 6 insurrection “legitimate political discourse.”
The Senator’s statement was the strongest from him since January 19, 2021. “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”
The facts surrounding January 6 have been clear. Donald Trump violated his oath of office. Like so many other times in his life, Donald broke his word.
We shouldn’t be surprised that the Republican Party is trying to cover up his crime. When he ran for office, Republicans heard Donald brag about raping married women. They heard him brag about watching teenage girls undress. Republicans knew he bankrupted multiple casinos.
Republicans didn’t care about rape. They didn’t care about perversion. Republicans didn’t care about bankruptcy.
In fact, Republicans twisted themselves into knots and concluded Donald was a Christian. Conservative Christian flocked to him because he said what they wanted to hear.
Donald denigrated immigrants and their children. Donald longed for the good ol’ days of mob violence. Donald said it was smart to cheat on taxes and dumb to pay them. Most of all Donald lied about Covid 19 and watch our thousands of our neighbors die.
If Republicans could justify the lies and death of 900,000 Americans, then it was a small, next step to kill our democracy. They had made the deal with the Donald. They placed their bet on a cheating husband, cheating businessman and cheating politician.
A handful of Republicans are pulling back from the brink. Representatives Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY) both serve on the bi-partisan committee investigating the crimes of January 6. They have made it clear that the mob attacked our constitution.
Both the RNC and Donald demean them and question their loyalty to the Republican Party. All of my life I have heard the words of John F. Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”
McConnell, Kinzinger, and Cheney have put loyalty to America first. Will you give your vote to candidates who will destroy the Constitution for political gain? Will you put America first?
Poisoned Fields
In Matthew Chapter 13, Jesus told a parable about a sower. Since farming was a common occupation, it wasn’t hard to understand. Seeds, like words, require fertile soil to grow. Teachers can only do so much.
Anyone familiar with growing plants knows, however, that with a little work, a farmer can prepare the soil. Adding nutrients to soil can make it more productive. Adding mulch helps retain moisture.
The opposite is also true. After winning the Punic Wars against Carthage, Rome salted the defeated city’s fields. The fields became unsuitable for crops.
Words can have the same impact as salt. Words can poison a conversation and make it impossible to hear the truth. Lies make it difficult to teach the truth.
In February 2020 Donald Trump knew the truth about Covid 19. In a recorded interview with Bob Woodward, Donald admitted the truth.
Publically, Donald lied. He poisoned the soil. He salted the fields making it impossible for the truth to grow in the minds of his followers.
On February 7, 2020 he said, “We’re going to be pretty soon at only five people. And we could be at just one or two people over the next short period of time. So we’ve had very good luck.”
5,701,666 Americans have died because of Covid. Were they lucky? Nearly 80,000 Texans have died because of Covid. Were they lucky? Poisons spread sickness and death.
We have a tool to reduce the sickness and death: vaccinations. They are safe and effective. A large number of Donald’s supporters, however, refuse to help make American life better. Their hearts and minds were poisoned.
Last December, Donald made a direct personal appeal for a Dallas audience to get the vaccine. They were his people. They booed him. They refused to hear the truth.
We, as Americans, want to get on with our lives. We want to teach our classes. We want to treat our patients. We want to serve our clients. We want to live.
The poisonous lies make our desire to live more difficult. If you, like me, want a way forward, then don’t support public figures who promote lies. Prepare a field for the truth to grow.
Who Needs Enemies?
Some of the most tragic war stories involve friendly fire. There is nothing friendly about guns firing during war. The adjective friendly is added to indicate that the bullet hit an ally instead of an enemy.
During the last legislative session, Republicans crafted one of the most suppressive voter bills in the country. Republicans saw black and Hispanic voters turn out in record numbers over the two previous elections. They targeted minorities with voter suppression legislation.
They had been some of the least likely Texans to show up at the polls. Republicans banked on this low turn out to keep their grip on power. In 2021 they crafted laws to drive minority voting back down.
County officials around Texas, however, are now reporting that the voter suppression effort is hurting our seniors and disabled. The weapon doing the most damage is a requirement to list a driver’s license number, or the last four digits of Social Security, on a Vote by Mail Ballot request.
Republicans invented this requirement to fight imaginary voter fraud. Instead of catching or stopping fraud, County Election officials must reject thousands of applications. Texans who are legally eligible to vote by mail will now be denied because they listed numbers that don’t match the voter file.
This issue is important to me because I have two sons serving in the United States Armed Forces. They are true patriots, but Republican red tape could keep them from voting.
How do we stop this madness? Here are some things to watch when making your request.
1) Use the new form that has a field for the ID numbers. Don’t use an old form. There is no way to comply with the restrictions without the new form. Old forms will be rejected.
2) Fill the form out completely. The law requires perfect compliance. Small mistakes or omissions violate the law and will force rejection.
3) List BOTH IDs. You have no way of knowing what the county has on file. Don’t guess. Write both numbers on the request.
4) Sign the request. The legislation requires the County to reject unsigned requests.
5) If you already mailed your Vote By Mail Ballot request, call your local Election Administrator. The Republicans tired their hands and they have limited options to reach out to you. You need to reach out to them and fix your request.
None of these hoops were necessary. Republicans had no evidence for voter fraud. They simply wanted to win elections. Their hardball tactics, however, have hit seniors and disabled voting rights hard. Don’t fall victim to dirty politics.
Science over Superstition
Just over a year ago, I took a call from my cardiologist, Nikhil Joshi. My general practitioner had referred me to this heart specialist because I had a couple of unexplained fainting spells. I thought that I was healthy, but I still decided listened to my doctor.
This recommendation was his second referral. In the previous year, Dr. Grant Craig suggested a sleep study. I had told him about my wife’s observations.
Jackie told me that I had often snored and would pause breathing while sleeping. In both instances she would nudge me to reduce my noise or to kick start my breathing.
The sleep study concluded that I had sleep apnea, and Dr. Craig prescribed a CPAP machine. Everyone told me that this would be life changing. I would wake up refreshed and ready to go.
It took some time to get used to the mask while I slept. Once I finally understood the adjustments for the headgear harness, the machine was quieter, and I did sleep better. I say better because I still woke up tired.
Only after treatment from my cardiologist did things really improve. He discovered that my heart paused for about six seconds. The pause was infrequent and irregular.
Dr. Joshi only found it using an experimental device. He had put me through a traditional battery of stress tests. Nothing. He used a sonogram. Nothing. He used a 24 hour heart monitor. Nothing.
He then recommended a monitor implanted under the skin of my chest. It would watch my heart 24 hours a day and 7 days per week.
In January 2021, Dr. Joshi found that my heart paused about once per month for six seconds. I really didn’t think this sounded bad. He insisted it was dangerous.
He recommended a pacemaker and scheduled the surgery right away. It only took a few minutes in the morning, and I was out by the afternoon. Normally, a pacemaker patient would stay overnight, but Covid 19 filled the hospital.
It has now been a year, and I can report that the surgery was a game changer. I sleep uninterrupted for at least 8 hours per night. I don’t need naps anymore. I don’t fall asleep when riding in a car.
In other words, I really do start the day rested and ready to go. I have a breathing machine to keep my airway open. I have a pacemaker to keep my heart pumping. Best of all, no more fainting spells.
As a historian I am very happy to live in an age of science instead of an age of superstition. Science provides a reliable way to solve problems and improve our lives. Doctors Craig and Joshi certainly improved my quality of life.