(Re)building bridges

I much prefer construction over destruction, having a positive outlook over complaining and acknowledging instead of ignoring. Today, I’ll focus on the latter. During a very active live it’s hard to tend to the many acquaintances, friendships and other relations that we’ve accumulated since we were kids. As a result, many of these will drift away on the oceans of forgetfulness and indifference. One of the beautiful aspects of retirement is that it affords us more time and a chance to reconnect with many of these folks who have been cast away from our thoughts, attention and ordinary memories. When that reunion finally happens, be it by phone, email or in person, it’s as if we were reclaiming a piece of ourselves that had been lost or suppressed for too long. Very rarely is the outcome depressing; instead, it’s almost always enriching. A little something has been added; we’ve given a thought and someone has received the attention with absolutely no strings attached. Stevie Wonder’s beautiful song on the subject tells it so touchingly... Since the advent of internet and affordable world communications, I have been actively reconnecting; for the most part, it’s been incredibly rewarding and I'm determined to go on for as long as I can...

Time to involve religious leaders!

With 6.6 billion folks living on it, our planet, just like a massive aircraft carrier can no longer be turned on a dime culturally and otherwise. The astute leader will have to find the catalyst, let’s call it the yeast that will slowly, but surely turn it around and position it towards a sustainable future. I’ve said it before; we’re just too many on this place and are breaking the basic safe occupancy rules, so the first order of business would be to put a stop to an uncontrolled birth rate in some specific places of the world. In most cases however, and including my own state of Utah, religion is a major roadblock towards reducing human fertility. That’s where political leaders need to initiate a very serious dialog with their religious counterparts and place the subject on the center of the table. Not much has ever been done in that direction, because religion has always been a convenient conduit for controlling the masses and bringing in their votes and yet, has served as a major road-block in terms of sustainable living, environment best-practices and peace. Ecumenical rapprochement doesn’t seem to be in the best interest of the “big boys” whether they’re among others Catholic or Muslims as it might frail their rigid and fragile “book-based” doctrines, yet that job has to be initiated as we can’t count solely on Hollywood to reshape the human conscience. That step must be taken and the idea must be astutely conveyed so that theologians can realize and accept the fact that by overpopulating the earth we’re no longer the good stewards God had in mind, but rather a bunch of messy and irresponsible squatters. Because this issue has been traditionally pooh-poohed on grounds of religious taboo it’s now time to bring the subject into the open and place the monkey on the back of our religious leaders as an essential element of the “sustainability package.”

About last night…

Amidst drinking too much champagne and "irrational exuberance," I passed my normal bedtime hour, started to sleep and had a dream; I was on Grant Park in Chicago, ready to move out on the catwalk, toward the lectern to deliver my acceptance speech. Can you imagine, the first French-American to be elected at the nation's helm? Problem was, I was dressed like a bum; wearing a dirty sweat-shirt, a ragged pair of Levi’s with one hole over the right knee, an old pair of Adidas and my beret. I felt terribly self-conscious like you only can in dreams; I wish I had a nice Armani suit with a white shirt and a tie to go… Soon enough, I was addressing a crowd that didn’t sound overly excited and didn’t even look towards me; I started by thanking the usual suspects, my family, my campaign manager and the voters. I continued into painting what I thought was a bright picture of the future I'd offer, made sure I promoted my talents, inserted a few bad jokes along with some tired slogans that no one seemed to pick because of my accent and concluded with a loud “God bless America.” I woke up when the crowd that barely applauded was already walking off the field. Sweating and uneasy, I was relieved to remember that Obama - not me - had indeed been elected, and soon realized that for the first time this season, I had to get up and shovel ten inches of new snow…

An archaic rule

Today is election’s day in America, and while we voted more than a week ago, our vote for Obama won’t count in Utah. This insane rule started at the beginning of this nation when the Constitutional Convention created the Electoral College as a compromise to appease the less-populated Southern slave states, and thus win their support for the new Constitution. The Southern states were fearful of a popularly elected President from the more populous North that would voice opposition to slavery. By creating an "independent" electorate, the Convention hoped to isolate the Presidency from a prevailing popular sentiment, thus avoiding regional domination of the Presidency. Times have changed in America. The Electoral College is no longer the independent body of “intellectually and morally elite men,” as was originally intended. Most Americans have no idea who their “grand electors” are. The President is no longer isolated from public sentiments; it’s the public that elects him or her, although in an unfair and discriminatory manner. Each state is awarded an equal number of electors as its total number of congressional representative. While House districts are theoretically divided into equal population segments, there is no way to balance that equation into perfect equality. Each district has a constantly varying population, and each state has exactly two Senators. Given these variables, there are no two states in America where an electoral vote equates to the exact same number of popular votes.
The Supreme Court has ruled several times that pro-rating votes on a geographic basis is inherently discriminatory and against the spirit of the Constitution. The Court, however, does not have the authority to apply this on a national scale. The inequality created by the Electoral College and the unfair distribution of votes is built into the Constitution. The Court only has the authority to overturn unconstitutional laws, not to amend the Constitution itself. This is a decision that belongs to congress. This easy solution would allow for a direct election of the President. Logistically, there are no fundamental changes to make; the popular votes would be tallied to determine the awarding of electoral votes. The time has come to abandon this useless relic of a bygone era and relegate it to the pages of history with racial and gender discrimination.

Feast for the curious

Most people still underestimate the explosive potential of the internet and its enormous value to mankind. Having the tool at one’s fingertips is like sitting on the largest encyclopedia ever built by man and having unfettered access to it. Those who can take advantage of that situation will accumulate more knowledge and will advance much faster than any other of their peers, simply because knowledge is power and powerful knowledge can surely be superpower. What’s needed is some hunger for learning combined with an internet connection. I can see that at work for me, a person past his prime, who tires more quickly and is a bit more cynical than younger people; it’s literally given me a second lease on life. So my message is clear; the online culture is not something that ought to be tip-toed into, it should instead be embraced because no matter where your station in life is, time is always of the essence.

Shock absorbers, strike and self-reliance

My friend Philippe Grolleau responded to my recent posting, itself triggered by a message from Bill Bocquet. You can read what he had to say as the second set of comment pertaining to that message. Here is my reply.
We certainly all have made-up images or “clichés” of each national group and a bias for what we think is their own “conventional wisdom.” I also recognize that it’s very difficult not to see events and issues through some “cultural” lenses that we end up adopting after living in, and understanding various cultures. Much has been written about the current financial crisis and there is not a week that goes by without new revelations made or symptoms and causes unearthed by the media and sent through our information-hungry networks. I have copiously dispensed my point of view on that disaster and won’t return to it. Like Philippe, I would hope that some intelligent regulation are put in place that work in concert with a global scope, but I’m no longer naïve enough in believing they’ll be totally perfect and won’t be up for revision in another two years. As for expecting a rebalancing of wages and earning out of this crisis, I don’t believe this will happen. You see, the rest of the world doesn’t necessarily share the European and particularly the French ethos of an egalitarian system. Most societies have fully embraced a concept of a life in which the smarter, the luckier and the most daring get the top prizes. For some reasons, France is still held up in its revolutionary and utopist mantra of “liberté, égalité, fraternité” at all cost, even though each French citizen knows deep inside that it can’t quite work that way. The fundamental difference between the French and the American worker is that the former will have a tendency to go in the street and demonstrate, still believing in the effect mass protests might have on society, while the latter will take on a second job, pack up his or her stuff and move across the country or take classes at night to get a better position or a new job, believing solely in their rugged ability to master their own fate.

My election guess

Now is time to formulate a forecast for the upcoming election. While McCain claims that he’s closing the gap between him and Obama, while the latter urges his supporters to keep on working very hard. Like us, millions of Americans already have taken advantage of early voting and cast their ballots. At this point, I predict a landslide for Obama, with up to 350 electoral votes. I also predict that 58 senate seats and 265 congressional seats going to the Democrats. That’s it for my predictions; we’ll see next Wednesday how right my forecast was